iiM: J ' ih!i {>■ 1^ t i!" r ,') \i:iiK|i 111 I - 1 1 V UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES ■'Li[)piii.s, and clicrrics coino in, tliut il' they . Avould again take plums, dainazins, and strawberries for tliein, they should have free exchange. And when they bring in glasses, puppets, rattles and such like things, they should have like trifles for them, if any such were to be had within their realm, as there be many ; but if they come for our wools, for our cloths, kerseys, corn, tin, lead, yea, our gold and silver, and such substantial and necessary things, let them bring in again flax, tar, tiles, fish, and such like ; and not to use them like little children, give them an apple for the best jewel that they have about them. And thus we are impoverished of our treasure and chief commodities, and cannot perceive it. Such is the fineness of strangers' wits and the grossness of ours." I have quoted this passage at length, as it is curious to observe how difficult it is for the human under- standing to disenthral itself from prejudices which our feelings dispose us to cling to. The doctor, in various parts of the treatise, displays his disapprobation of the growing taste of the day for luxuries — " iEtas parentum, pejor avis, tulit Nos nequiores." Hence, indeed, the consumption of luxuries was re- garded by him as wasteful, and a man who should have exchanged a necessary of life for a luxury was held by him to have made a bad bargain, as the con- sumption of the luxury would be an unproductive consumption. Again, the exchange of a durable for a perishable article would appear to him to be an un- equal exchange. He seems in this respect to have imagined utility to be an absolute, not a conditional quality, and to have forgotten that it is not the capa- city of satisfying natural wants or ends alone which limits the idea of utility, but that whatever is capable of satisfying any want or end, is relatively to the satis- faction of that want or end useful; and that men are led to exert their energies for the attainment of ap- tions entail waste. PROHIBITION ENTAILS WASTE. 31 parent good, and their desire of such apparent good lecture requires satisfaction as intensely as any natural desire. . It seems not to have occurred to the bailiff of Car- prohibi- marthen that there was any national waste in the apples being allowed to putrify and be lost. Had the trade of the apple merchant not been interfered with, he would have been the medium of transferring the broad cloths of Carmarthen to some other part of England, where they would either have been made up for use at home, or exchanged for commodities from abroad. The apples would have been consumed partly by the clothiers of Carmarthen, partly by the wool growers, with whom the clothiers would have exchanged a portion either directly or indirectly which they did not themselves wish to consume ; and the clothiers with the wool which they would receive for a portion of the apples, would have continued their occupation, and prepared a fresh stock of cloth for the merchant, when he should return on a future occasion with corn. As it was, in the first place there was an absolute loss of so much produce : in the second place the merchant would have no pro- duce at his command to take to another market and procure another cargo ; he would therefore not return to Carmarthen, and the clothier not having sold his cloth, would have had no means of buying more wool, and would thus remain unrequited for the past, and unoccupied for the future. The interference of the bailiff would thus be prejudicial to all the in- dividuals whom he restrained from trading, with no advantage to the commonwealth ; on the contrary, the commonwealth would have suffered from the operations of the clothier's industry being suspended. Yet the worthy doctor was anxious that the exam[)lc of the good town of Carmarthen should be imitated by all the great commercial cities of the kingdom. In contrasting this writer with Da\anzati. lie 32 COMPARATIVE MERITS OF STAFFORD. LECTURE seems to have perceived all the commercial con- t sequences of a debased coiiin;^e as fully and clearly as the Florentine, and to Ikinc Jiad much sounder notions as to the ])riiici[)les which determined the value of money, and in this respect 1 have no liesitation in placing him on a higher pedestal than his con- temporary ; but when we compare his views on the subject of manufactures and general commerce with those of Serra, the palm of intelligence must be awarded to the Calabrian. In both writers we see the elements of that preference for manufactures over agriculture, which lay at the foundation of the system, which has been subsequently denominated Colbertism from the great minister of Louis XIV. Serra considered one of the great elements of national wealth to consist in an abundance of artizans skilled in producing the necessaries, and conveniences, and luxuries of human life, in this respect rising above the sumptuary prejudices of the English author: and such a condition of things, he conceived, for the various reasons above enumerated, to be more ad- vantageous for a country than superior fertility of soil ; the English author, on the other hand, was not unwilling that heavy duties should be imposed upon the exportation of wool to discourage pasturage, whilst he suggested that the example of the Vene- tians might be followed with good results, " who, if they may hear of any cunning craftsman in any faculty, will find the means to allure him to dwell in their city." But Serra's great merit consists in the clear view Avhich he took of the course of the ex- change between countries, and his bold suggestion, that specie ought to be allowed to be exported, be- cause it would never be exported except it was pro- fitable to do so, and that it would return in due course of time through the natural operation of the exchanges. ALDERMAN COCKAINE'S PATENT. 33 It has been already observed that Serra's treatise lecture seems to have exercised no effect upon the policy of , '^ , the Neapolitan viceroy. In regard to the English treatise, which was dedicated to (^ueen Elizabetli, if any attention was paid to it, that attention was bestowed on the errors and not on the sound and more intelligent views of the author. Thus the suggestions as to the prohibiting the exportation of undressed cloth, and of wool, were actually put into practice by the statesmen of King James's reign. Rapin informs us that " Alderman Cockaine and some rich citizens, having, as was said, promised Rochester, Northampton, and the Lord Treasurer, great sums of money to procure them a patent for the dressing and dying of cloths, and that the king would seize into his hands the charter of the Merchant Adventurers for transporting white and undressed cloths ; Cockaine pretending that besides the enriching of the nation, multitudes of poor people might be employed to the benefit of the nation, which now were a burden to it. Hereupon the king seizes upon the Merchant Ad- venturers' patent, and grants to Cockaine and others cockainc's a new patent for dressing and dying of cloths. But p*'**^"'- Cockaine's project succeeded both ways quite con- trary : for the Dutch prohibited the importation of dressed and dyed cloths from England, and Cockaine and his company not only dyed and dressed cloths worse and dearer (which are ever the consequences of monopolies) than they were in Holland ; but these being restrained to a company, they could not dress and dye the cloths made in England. AVliereupon the making of cloth stood at a stand, and iniiuite numbers of poor people, Avhich Avere employed in making cloths, lay idle and Avere reduced to a starving condition." The result was that, the Commons in tlie next Parliament voting Cockaine's patent to be a monopoly and grievance, it was recalled and cancelled, 1) 34 rOr.If'V OK JAMKS I. rolicy of James I. and the vent oC Avliite clotlis left free. Camden in liis annals gives I (lid as tlie date "**- their cloth Avithout our English wool," was similarly refuted by the fact, that the demand for English cloth did not in any way increase in foreign markets, although its price might well be reduced still lower, from the fall in the price of wool ; on the contrary, it steadily declined, as was pointed out by E. Misselden, J- Missei- the opponent of Malynes, in his treatise, entitled " the Circle of Commerce," 1623. D '2 36 VA?CO DE GAMA. LECTURE IT. LECTURE During the greater portion of the sixteenth century, t • . with which the inquiry in the previous Lecture was concerned, the condition of the leading states on the continent of Europe must be considered to have retrograded in an economical point of view, and. the capacity of the statesmen, who directed their councils, was unequal to the task of reorganising the national resources. The seventeenth century opened with fairer prospects for France, but Spain was condemned to an accumulation of financial em- barrassment mth the accession of each new sovereign of the dynasty of Hapsburg. A total change had meanwhile taken place in the commercial relations of the various European states, consequent on the suc- vasco de ccssful entcrprizc of Vasco de Gama, at the conclusion of the fifteenth century, and the weapons of monopoly, wdiich Venice had so long wielded against the world, were now borrowed from her own armoury, and turned against her. The combination of the great abundance produced by Venetian commerce, with the great mercantile security resulting from Venetian credit, had, to a certain extent, reconciled Europe to the exclusive system which Venice had of late rigidly maintained ; but the yoke was felt to be oppressive, and there existed a general disposition to shake it off, on the first fiivourablc opportunity. Tlie struggle was commenced innnediately upon the accession of Charles V. to the Spanish throne, when he set an Gama. PROHIBITORY SYSTEM OF EUROPE. 37 example to the other states of Europe, of retaliating lecture upon the Merchant Queen of the Adriatic her own . prohibitory laws. From this period we may date the prohibitory oriofin of that systematic warfare which the various f/^^*^'" "' states of Europe have carried, and still carry, on with one another, by means of hostile custom-house regula- tions, from which there has resulted a series of what may be regarded as Cadmean victories, Avhicii have proved more exhausting to the conquerors than to the vanquished. On this occasion it was supposed that Avhat had been employed so effectively by Venice, could not but be productive of similar advantages to other states. Venice, however, had established her greatness by the early freedom of her commercial and industrial institutions, and by that ver}^ greatness she had been tempted, as she had been enabled, to adopt an entire change of policy. Europe, on the other hand, beholding her great prosperity in later times, combined with a most exclusive system, con- nected them as effect and cause ; and thus the vari- ous states, as they threw off the yoke of Venice, hastened to follow the example of Spain, and to fence tliemselves in with prohibitory regulations, as barriers against unequal competition. Henceforward tlie com- mercial policy of the European states centred in the attempt to achieve an impracticable result, viz., " the selling to strangers more than strangers sold to them." With this object, measures were devised in order to prevent gold and silver, reputed to be the sole elements of wealth, from being exported. Tlie importation of foreign merchandise was restricted by heavy duties, or totally proiiibited, as it might cause specie to leave the country ; and even tlie exportation of raw pro- duce, as supplying materials for foreign industiy to work upon, was in many cases forbidden. '1 he per- fection of economical Avisdom was lield to consist in the combined attainment of these several results. n -3 398618 38 SULLV, I'll I", .MIMSriCIi OV IIKMM IV. LE('TUr{K II. Condition of England. Character of Sully. Spain liad made greater ])r();i;ress tliaii any other couiitiy towards tlie realization of" an Utopian self- sufficiency, and before the termination of the sixteenth centur}', her Austrian rulers had almost isolated her in sombre gloom from the rest of Europe. In France, on the other hand, the dawn of a brighter order of events was discernible upon the accession of Henri of Navarre (TV.) to the throne. England, at this period, "svas somewhat in advance of her continental neighbour, as the reign of Eliza- beth, which had opened under disastrous auspices, had concluded with most happy results to British in- dustry and commerce. England had, besides, enjoyed a period of domestic repose, while France had been distracted by the wars of the League, and when Henri Quatre engrafted the Bourbon branch upon the inhe- ritance of the House of Yalois, he found the finances of the country in the utmost disorder, and the state on the verge of bankruptcy. Fortunately for France, and the monarch who was so suddenly called to guide her fortunes, the ability of the Marquis de Eosny, his minister of finance, better known as the Due de Sully, was equal to the emergency, and by the happy com- bination of great discernment with an unconquerable firmness of purpose, he achieved the restoration of order and plenty in a department, which seemed but a short time before to be irretrievably embarrassed. Sully, indeed, must not be regarded as a mere financier ; he did not content himself Avith temjwrary expedients, or with measures devised solely with a view to the immediate replenishment of the state- coffers, but he fully appreciated the truth which arbitrary power so generally and so strangely over- looked, that the surest way to enrich the sovereign, was to enrich the subjects of the sovereign. In the dialogue which was referred to at length in the ]n-c- vious lecture, entitled, a ''Brief Conccipte of English Sully's predilection for agriculture. 39 Policy," the principle seeins to have been almost for lecture the first time recognised, " that the Queen's majesty "' cannot have treasure when her subjects have none ; " and as for the subsidies, it is asked, "how can they be large, when the subjects have little to depart with ? and yet that way of gathering treasure is not always most safe for the prince's surety ; and we see many times the profits of such subsidies spent in the ap- peasing of the people that are moved to sedition, partly by occasion of the same." To a similar pur- port. Sully was aware " that if he made money pass through the hands of the people, there would neces- sarily flow into the public treasury a proportionate quantity, which no one would regret ; if the people have little money, it can give up but little, and that little must be wrested from it." The measures, therefore, which Sully adopted with a view to reanimate the dormant industry of France, and promote the growth of national wealth, as they were based upon a system, and Avere attended Avith striking results, will merit examination, the more so as Sully is considered to have been the first states- man in France entitled to the character of a political economist, and there are writers even in the present day, Avho Avould set him up as a fit model for states- men of our own time to copy. Sully was in an especial manner the friend of agriculture ; his favourite saying is Avell knoA\m, that " tillage and pasturage were the nursing mothers of «siiii>': the state (les deux mamelles)," and his legislation left '•''«''""'"•■ little to be desired in respect of its encouragement to agriculture. The abolition of the arbitrary and vexa- tious taxes, hitherto levied upon tlie cultivators of the soil, the removal of the ancient restrictions which the narrow jealousy of the provincial states or parlia- ments had imposed upon the trans[)ort of corn from one province to another, and the relaxation of the D 4 s pro- ioii foi agriculture. 40 CJIAUACTKli OF 8L'JJ.Y\ LEf'TrKi: ]>r(j]iil)iti()iis against IIk; <'X])()rtatioii of ^n'aiii and ^, otlici' raw produce to foreign eountries, could iifjt but lead to results jis surprising as tlic}' wei-e satisfactory to the French monarch. Within iifteen years Sully abolished five millions of direct taxes upon the culti- vators of the soil (la taille) ; reduced by one half the amount of duties levied on the internal trade of tlie country, and yet the annual revenue had increased ibur millions. In the mean time one hundred millions of the state-debt had been paid off; thirty-five millions' worth of royal domains, alienated by the king's i)re- decessors, had been repurchased, and upAvards of forty-one millions of livres were accumulated in the state treasury, lit- prohibits In regard to monetary questions, Sully, fully par- tatioii of ticipated in the popular prejudices of his age; and specie. although the exports to Spain secured an influx of gold and silver, he did not hesitate to prohibit the ex|X)rtation of specie and coin. A strong political motive most probably influenced him on this occasion, viz. a desire to accumulate the means of carrying on war at some future opportunity with Austria, without the necessity of increasing the taxes upon French in- dustry. Sully, it may be remembered, had been brought up as a soldier, and his fame as an oflicer of artillery was hardly inferior to his reputation as a financier. Some allowance may therefore be made for him personally on this score. Forbonnais, in his " Recherches sur les Finances de France," in discussing the economical bearings of this accunuilation of treasure, one efi'ect of which was to withdraw from general circulation a very large amount of coin, seems to have overlooked one con- sideration. The free exportation of corn and other produce to Spain entailed a continued influx of the precious metals, whilst the prohibition to re-export them necessarily restricted French merchants from DEPRECIATION OF SILVER. 41 dealing with other nations that exported manufactured goods, irrespectively of the direct impediments, which Sully on principle raised up against the introduction of them into France. The consequence was that the nominal prices of all commodities Avould have risen very considerably, and general inconvenience have resulted, had not a certain portion of the annual im- ports of silver been thus as it were absorbed. For instance, in the kingdom of Castile, according to Ortiz, a Spanish writer, the continued influx of silver ^^p''^<^|; ' ^ . ^ , ' , ation ot had caused it to fall in the early part of tlie 16th cen- silver, tury to one sixth of its value prior to tlie discovery of the New World. What limit was to be assigned to such absorption, must totally have depended upon the rate of influx: thus it has been calculated by Forbonnais, that be- tween 1492 and 1724, one half of the gold and silver, which America had supplied to Europe, was absorbed by the Levant, the India, and the China trade ; and Mr. Jacob, in his work on the Precious Metals, (vol. ii. p. 213.,) calculates that during the 18th century, the quantity of gold and silver which was converted into other objects than coin, amounted to two thirds of that which was left in Europe, after the part which was conv^eyed to Asia was subtracted from the totiil produce of the mines. Under the circumstances, then, in which France was placed, it seems probable, that the withdraAval of a large amount of specie from circulating, as coin, neu- tralized some of the prejudicial results, tliat could not but attend the withholding it from commercial uses, as a commodity. That the influx of specie must have been very large, may be inferred from the fact tliat Sully was enabled to reduce the rate of interest from 10 and 8 to 6 per cent. " The pistoles of Spain," says Forbonnais, " were more common in France tlian in Spain, because we sold them freely our corn, our wine, tures. 42 sully's aversion to forkign commerce. and our liriUidics, and because the interest of money with us Avas lower than in other states," i. c. because our i'armers could procure money on easier terms. " Ueciprocally the interest of money liad fnllen, be- cause the trade in corn bein«r free, attracted money." Sully's dis- I" respect of manufactures and commerce, Sully courage- exhibited all the scruples of a Spartan legislator. manufac- Combining apparently an aristocratic aversion to artisans, as a class, with a philosophical indifference to the comforts and luxuries of life, he did not hesitate to engage in a resolute, though ineffectual, struggle aa'ainst his soverei":n, who was anxious to introduce the cultivation of the silk- worm, and the working of silk, into France. The king was persuaded that his own wealth depended on that of his subjects, and that to multiply the sources of individual occupation was to multiply the sources of national Avealth. Sully, on the contrary, believing tliat the sedentary occuj)ation of the artisan incapacitated him from the duties of a military life, held that the geographical situation and political state of France made it a question of the last importance to maintain the race of robust agricul- tural labourers. AVhilst, then, the production of silk fabrics would enervate a portion of the people, the consumption of such articles of luxury would corrupt another portion. " Plave we not already," he said, " in France, a sufficient number of useless citizens, who under robes of gold and scarlet hide all the feeble- ness of women ?" A Roman censor, as Mr. Blanqui justly observes, could not have expressed himself better, but a mi- nister of agriculture and commerce ought to have entertained other views, when the 16th century was drawins: to its close. In respect of foreign commerce. Sully regarded it sion to simply in the light of a drain upon the specie of the country. Foreign fabrics he considered to be vicious His aver- fore ign commerce OVERLAND TRANSIT THROUGH FRANCE. 43 superfluities, which good citizens should dispense lecture with. The king, liowever, adopted a different view, . and invited by large bounties workmen from Flanders and Holland to establish themselves in France, and bring with them the art of making tapestry. The greatest blot, however, in the system of Sully, Transit seems to have been the indifference with which he per- through mitted France to lose a great portion of the transit ^'""*^^* trade from the Levant to the north of Europe, by which the important cities of Marseilles and Lyons had formerly attained great prosperity. Li 1540, Francis L had established duties upon the importa- tion of foreign silk fabrics into France from Spain and Italy, by the coasts of the Mediterranean. They were required to be brought to Lyons, and a duty of five per cent was levied on goods which were intended for home consumption, two per cent on those which were to be exported again to other countries. In 1,554, the city of Lyons was allowed to levy a toll {octroi) in addi- tion of 2^ per cent, which four years afterwards the Crown incorporated into the general customs. In 1585, Henry III. extended these duties to all commo- dities from the Levant, making no distinction between articles intended for home consumption and those for transit. French subjects could not avoid paying these duties ; but foreign merchants hastened to relieve themselves from the obligation, by seeking another route. It is from this period that the commerce of Italy Avith England and Flanders quitted, once and for all, the overland route across tlie continent of Eu- rope, and adopted the longer but surer course by sea. There were not wanting men of intelligence to dis- cern the tendency of this policy, and men of courage to represent to the minister the disastrous workings of it. " Alread}'," said a deputy from Lyons to the Exp.>sf„ia- /^TN ^ • f 1 T 1 1 ii li t ions from estates of Dauphuic, whose discourse lias been tliougnt ,.j.„„s. worthy to be handed down to us by the historians of 44 THE CANAL OF IJUIARE. tlijit (lay, "since tlie passage of tlie Rhine lias fallen into disrepute, and nicrchants prefer all other rislvs to the injustice to which they have been exposed, the city of Jjyons, illustrious and flourishing as it has been, is hastening to become a desert, unless liberty is restored to traffic. Already the merchandise which came from the Levant to ^larseilles, and thence to Lyons, has deserted its ancient course, and sought a more secure road. Let it not be supposed, however, that we have been taught so imperfectly the duty of obedience, the most precious lesson which a subject can have learnt, that we wish to thwart the intentions of the king or diminish his revenue. The burdens which nations bear, although they may be heavy, have ever been considered as sanctioned by Divine and hu- man law ; but they are intended to serve the same purpose for a state, which sails serve for a vessel, namely, to propel it in an onward course, and to keep it upright, not to overload and sink it." Although similar complaints were heard in all parts of France, Sully's innate aversion to every thing con- nected with foreign commerce caused him to turn a deaf ear to them. On the other hand, when the interests of agricul- ture were concerned. Sully was not dull to perceive the importance of promoting the circulation of pro- duce by the improvement of the existing lines of communication, and by the creation of new ones. The The caniii caual of Briarc, the first artificial line of water com- of Jirjare. ...-p^ .,,.,. . , mumcation m i' ranee, was with tins object projected by him to unite the Seine and the Loire rivers, though it was not completed until 1740, under the reign of Louis XY. " He w^as aware," says Forbon- nois, " that money could not find its way into the in- terior of the country without the necessary means were established to facilitate the transport and con- sumption of agricultural produce. And with a NEW OUTLETS FOR TRODUCE. 45 similar object he established a line of public passage- lecture boats on the great rivers, and organised on the great . roads a service of post-horses for travellers. These measures were but the complement of Sully's other reforms for the encouragement of agricultural in- dustry in France. The key to his agricultural system was a very simple one ; whilst with one hand he removed the ancient obstacles to production, with the other he opened new outlets for produce : Avhilst he relieved New outlets the agriculturist from an overwhelming load of direct """ p'"''* "'-'^" taxes, which cramped the exercise of his productive powers, he secured for him access to new markets. We should, therefore, be prepared to expect the most favourable results from so simple and sound a policy, in respect of this branch of industry in a country like France, the soil of which is so Avell adapted for tillage ; but when it is proposed to set up the general system of Sully as a suitable model for imitation in the present day, let it not be forgotten that the evil results of his erroneous views in regard to the opera- tion of manufactures and foreign connnerce upon national wealth, were not fully discovered, until he had ceased to be minister. The good effects of legislative changes, based ui)on sound principles of public economy, are, generally speaking, appreciated more readily and more immediately than the bad effects of erroneous measures ; and the reason of this may be supplied by an illustration. A steel spring Avill unbend itself more readily than you can bend it. So it is with the industry of man. It exhibits an analogous elasticity and resistance to compression, and the re- moval of restrictions to its development has been in- variably attended by an immediate increase of pros- j)erity ; whereas industry will struggle long and silently against the obstacles Avhicli an unwise policy has created or neglected to remove, and the tale of its 46 THE EAST INDIA COMPANY. LECTURE strup^frle will rarely be known, until it lias terminated "• fatally. It has been observed, that Sully participated in the popular prejudice of the day, as to the inexpedieiny of allowing the exportation of gold and silver. On the other hand, England set an example to the great states of Europe, of abandoning this ancient error: but this result was arrived at by an experimental and indirect process. The establishment of a direct in- tercourse with India by the Cape of Good Hope, as observed by Mr. Macculloch in his introductory dis- course to Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations, seems to have had the greatest influence in effecting this change. East India The East India Company, on its earliest institution, in inTboo.^ IGOO, obtained leave to export annually foreign silver coin, or bullion, to the amount of 30,000/., on con- dition of re-importing within six months after the conclusion of each voyage, which occupied generally rather more than thirty months, as much gold and silver as should, together, be equal to the value of the silver exported. It so happened, that a com- merce of specie could be carried on with the East under great advantage, from gold being there more plentiful, and therefore cheaper than in Europe, and silver being rarer, and therefore dearer. The enemies, however, of the Company, to use Mr. Macculloch's words, " contended that this condition was not com- plied Avith, and that it M'as besides contrary to all principle, and highly injurious to the public interest, to permit gold and silver to be sent out of the coun- try. The merchants and others interested in the sup- port of the Company could not controvert the reason- ing of their opponents without openly impugning the ancient policy of absolutely preventing the exporta- tion of the precious metids. They did not, however, venture to contend, nor is there, indeed, any good reason for thinking that it really occurred to them, MR. THOMAS MUN. 47 that the exportation of bullion to the East was advan- lecture tageous, on the ground that the commodities pur- . chased by it were of greater value in England. But they contended, that the exportation of bullion to India was advantageous, because the commodities im- ported from thence were chiefly re-exported to other countries, from which a much greater quantity of bullion was obtained, than had been required to pay for them in India. Mr. Thomas Mun, the ablest of the Mr. Thomas Company's advocates, ingeniously compares the opera- ^""' tions of the merchant, in conducting a trade carried on by the exportation of gold and silver, to the seed- time and harvest of agriculture. " If we only behold," says he, " the actions of the husbandman, in the seed- time, Avlien he casteth away much good corn into the ground, we shall account him rather a madman than a husbandman. But when we consider his labour in the harvest, which is the end of his endeavours, we shall find the worth and plentiful increase of his actions." It was thus attempted, as it were, by a side blow to introduce the wedge into the ancient fabric of com- mercial restriction. Men required first of all to be persuaded to allow the precious metals to fulfil, under limitation, the same office in regard to foreign com- merce, the need for which, in respect of the home market, they had long since admitted. They could not deny that at home the precious metals facilitated the exchange of commodities, and that such exchange in some way or other was advantageous to individuals and the state : they were now asked to allow the Company to employ in an analogous manner a limited amount of specie to facilitate the interchange of commodities in the foreign market, the Company un- dertaking that by the transaction the stock of s]X'cie in the country should not ultimately sutler a diminution. Even so sliglit an advance towards sounder opinions 48 SIR DiJDiJiv i)i(;(;s. LECTUTiE ill coiimu'roc; could ii(;t Ijut provoke frequent uttacks J from the partisans of tlie ancient system, and tlie sup- porters of tlie Company thought it advisahle, not so much to meet these attacks with arguments, as to parry them with facts, by pointing out the gain to the nation upon the quantity of cloths and other woollen goods exported to the East, and the saving in the price of the spices and other produce of India, imported by the Company. Such are the topics on which Sir Sir Dudley Dudlcy Diggs, iu his pjunphlet entitled ' The Defence so*. ^^ Trade,' published in 1615, lays the chief stress. One step was decidedly gained ; namely, by the con- cession of the Charter it was admitted in theory that the exportation of bullion might be productive of advantage to the state ; and a petition, embodying the same views as those j)ut forth by Mr. Mun in his ' Treasure by Foreign Trade,' above cited, was pre- sented by the East India Company to Parliament in 1628. The returns of the Company, which had been published by Mr. Mun in 1620, fully confirmed the truth of the theory. He shows in his ' Discourse on Trade,' reprinted, in Purchas' Pilgrims, that the ex- ports to India, during the first twenty years, had amounted in value to 840,376^. : that the jiroduce brought from India had cost 356,288/., and had pro- duced here the very large sum of 1,914,600/.: that the quarrels of the Dutch had caused a loss of 84,088/., and that the Company's stock in hand amounted to 400,000/. In the face of such facts, it was hardly possible to maintain that the permission to export gold and silver had so far been prejudicial to the national interest : on the contrary, a new order of ideas, which has been called the ^Mercantile System, came into vogue, the supporters of which, without abandoning the received notions as to the precious metals being the only real element of wealth, allowed the field of their employment, as the medium of facili- PROGRESS OF IDEAS IN ENGLAND. 40 tatino^ exchano^es, to be enlaro'ecl under certain con- lecture T • II clitions. These were, either, that the commodities . obtained in exchange for them should realise in some other foreign market a larger amount of specie, or that the value of the increased exports of native produce should more than equal the value of the increased imports of foreign commodities, whereby the balance must necessarily be made good by importing specie. Waiving for a moment our examination of this system, let us review the progress of ideas in England progress of in reference to the exportation of specie. The sup- EngJ^JJIi^ porters of the East India Company, having success- fully impugned the ancient notions, began gradually to inculcate more enlarged views of the part which the precious metals fulfilled in the circle of commerce. They at last boldly maintained that specie was nothing but a commodity, and that its circulation should be as unrestricted as that of any other commodity. The success of the Company in their commercial transac- tions could not but give countenance to any doctrines, which they might put forth on the subject of trade, and merchants unconnected with the Company began to distrust the ancient maxims of commerce, and to lend a ready ear to wider and more comprehensive views. " The new ideas," as Mr. Macculloch observes, " ultimately made their way into the House of Com- mons, and in 1663, the statutes prohibiting the ex- portation of foreign coin and bullion were repealed, and full liberty given to the luist India Company, and to private traders, to export those articles in un- limited quantities." In regard to other economical questions, there had been great vacillations in the public policy of England during the first half of the seventeenth century, owing to the antagonism of the two first sovereigns of the Stuart dynasty and their Parliaments. Tlie The si. nn latter body was certainly the reforming body in ^*>""'*>- E 50 Tiir: STL'Airr dynasty. mutters oi" rniaiicu ; but tlic tlcturmiiiat'KJii of" botli these monarchs to govern without the aid of ]*arlia- meiit led to apparent inconsistencies of conduct on botli sides. James I., by virtue of his prerogative, imposed prohibitions upon various branches of the export trade, in order that merchants might buy licences from the Treasury. lie granted monopolies of the import trade, in order that he might make money by the sale of letters patent. In a similar manner Charles I., by royal proclamation, prohibited the exportation of wool and all raw materials em- ployed in woollen fabrics in 1630; restricted the transportation of corn and other agricultural produce from one county to another in 1632 ; confined the exportation of woollen cloths into Germany and the Netherlands in 1634 to the company of the Mer- chant Adventurers, contrary to the resolution of the Commons House of Parliament, which had thrown open the trade, in 1624, to all merchants indiscrimi- nately ; but licences to trade might still be purchased. So that during the reigns of both these monarchs we must consider that the relief of financial embarrass- ment Avas paramount to all other considerations of general policy. As long as the Pdrliament was not convoked, no one ventured to point out the evils of such a system, for the fear of the Star Chamber was before his eyes ; but with the assembling of the Long Parliament in 1640, the general dissatisfaction found a vent. It is curious, however, to observe, how even in the case of the Parliament, similar considerations of finance controlled their decisions. Thus we learn from Whitlock's Memorials, that in 1643, although a petition against the monopoly of the ^Merchant Adven- turers was referred to a committee of the House of Commons, an ordinance was passed to continue their charter in return for a loan of 30,000/., to enable the Parliament to make war upon the Sovereign. THE MERCANTILE SYSTEJr. 51 The new order of ideas, called the mercantile system, to which I have above briefly alluded, as having^ now come into voo-ue in England, obtained general acceptation in Europe in the course of the 17th century. To what writer, or to what country, the origin of this system is rightly to be referred, is still a matter of discussion. M. Blanqui, in his Histoire de 1' Economic Politique, refers the invention of the theory to the Spaniards ; and quotes, in illus- tration of the ideas of the latter part of the 1(5 tli century, a passage, which M. Ustaritz, an ex-minister t-staritz of Spain, published in 1740, in his treatise on the theory and practice of commerce. " We must rigorously adopt those means which will enable us to sell to foreigners more of our productions than we buy from them of their productions : herein consists the sole secret and sole advantage of commerce." riorez-Estrada, on the other hand, a Spanish writer, considers that the Italians are entitled to claim for Antonio Serra, what was at one time held to be the serra. merit of the discovery. No writer has been more unfortunate than Serra. His treatise seems to have been neglected or forgotten till the Abbe Galiani brought it into pfiblic notice more than a century after it was written : and now that his name is to be found in the pages of most histories of the science, he is praised by one writer, or blamed by another, for views which he really did not maintain. The object of Serra's treatise was simply and solely to persuade the Neapolitan government to allow the free exporta- tion of gold and silver. He assumes, at the com- mencement of the treatise, that it is advantageous for a country to be well supplied with gold and silver; but he lays it down, that a country which has plenty of artisans who can produce the luxuries, and com- forts, and necessaries of life, will never want gold and silver. Yet M. Blanqui, having alluded to Serra's 52 THE MERCANTILE SYSTEM. treutisc, disinisses it witli the observation, tliut its object was " to prove that gold and silver were the sole articles of wealth (et il s'attachait a prouver qti'a ses ycux Ics seulcs richesses etaieiit les matieres d'or et d'argeiit)." On tlie contrary, Serra, having enume- rated the various causes which operate to bring money into a country, proceeds to state the reasons why it should be allowed to be exported. " No merchant will export it, except with the object of making profit. He will make that profit either by buying goods to be sold again in the home, or the foreign market, or by the rate of exchange being favourable, and money being of more value in the country to which he im- ports it than in his own. If he buys goods for the home market, his own country has the benefit of consuming those goods, and they must be paid for somehow or other ; and it is immaterial whether they arc paid for with the produce of the country, or with money, not the produce of the country, but for which the produce of the country has been previously ex- changed away. If he buys goods for the foreign market, he will sell them there for more money than he gave, and so the money Avhich he brings home will exceed in amount what he exported. If the ex- chan«"e on other countries is favourable, he will of course gain by exporting money thither ; but re- peated exports of money will in due course turn the exchange in favour of his own country; and then, for similar reasons, the merchant will import money back again." These views, if I do not here over- state them, for the style of Serra is obscure, and the idiom is antiquated, entitle him most decidedly to a place far in advance of the advocates of the mercantile system ; although the principle on which the mercan- tile system was based did not escnpe his recognition. Sully. France, on the other hand, under Sully, can hardly be considered to have reached that stage to which the MR. MUN. 53 mercantile system was applicable. Sully's policy was lecture much more simple. He was content to limit French . exports to agricultural produce ; and his systematic opposition to the establishment of manufactures in France, excepting those of articles of the first neces- sity, precluded France from any varied trade with foreign countries : besides, he maintained the ancient prohibitions upon the exportation of specie, under all circumstances. It is, on the other hand, reasonable to suppose tliat such a system must have originated in a country which had not the command of mines ; and, for this reason, Spain may be set aside. The claim of England remains, and Mr. MaccuUoch seems to be fairly justified in assigning to Mr. Mun the credit of Mr. Mun. having first popularised the principles, upon which was founded the celebrated doctrine of the Balance of Trade. " Although a kingdom," says JMr. Mun, " may be enriched by gifts received, or by purchase taken from some other nations, yet these are things uncertain and of small consideration, when they happen. The ordinary means, therefore, to increase our wealth and treasure is by foreign trade, wherein Ave must ever observe this rule, to sell more to strangers yearly^ than ive consume of theirs in value ; for, suppose that when this kingdom is plentifully served with cloth, lead, tin, iron, fish, and other native commodities, we do yearly export the overplus to foreign countries to tlie value of 2,200,000/., by Avhich means we are enabled, be- yond the seas, to buy and bring in foreign wares for our use and consumption to the value of 2,000,000/., by this order duly kei)t iu our trading, we may rest assured that the "kingdom shall l)e enriched 2()(),0 British Merchant " says was either written, or superintended ^'^''■'^^'^^"^• by Sir Josiah, it is most explicitly maintained, that " Silver and gold coined or uncoined, though they are used for a measure of all other things, are no less a commodity than wine, cloth, stuff, ^c, and may in many cases Ije exported, as much to national advan- tage as any other commodity, and that no nation ever was or will be considerable that prohibits the expor- tation of bullion." It was, however, perfectly possible for a writer at this period to regard bullion as a commodity ; yet to attach superior importance to it above other connno- dities from its durability and other natural (|ualities, and so to support heartily the doctrine of the lialanee 64 silt W. I'KTTY. m;( rrKK of trade, as the safest criterion of ii nation's progress , J , in wealth. Thus we find Sir W. Petty giving, in Sir w. 1()G7, a clear exposition of the conditions of value in ^^"^■- his work on " Taxes and Contributions ;" yet in Ifilil maintaining, in his "Political Arithmetic," the ad- vantage of foreign trade, from its bringing in not Avealth at large, but particularly abundance of silver, gold, and jewels, which are not perishable nor so mutable as other commodities, but are wealth at all times and all places; whereas abundance of wine, corn, fowls, flesh, &c., are riches but hie et nunc ; so as the raising of such commodities, and the following of such trade, which does store the country with gold, silver, jewels, &c., is profitable before others. But the labour of seamen, and the freight of ships, is always of the nature of an exported commodity, the overplus whereof, above what is imported, brings home money, &c. It will be better perhaps to refrain from entering on the question of value in this lecture, as the analy- sis of it was only commenced towards the latter part of the seventeenth century, and it will deserve more than a cursory notice. The great practical result of progi-css of the conflict of ideas in the seventeenth century was wTh ccn- the establishment of the doctrine that gold and silver tury. Avere commodities, and were not exclusively articles of wealth ; but the question remained still undeter- mined, viz. under what conditions a connnodity like the precious metals became the measure of the value of other commodities — in fact, what were the consti- tuent elements of value ? Distance lu othcr rcspccts, tlic distaucc was still very great, I'inh ecu- which separated the seventeenth from the nineteenth tury. centiny. It was then believed that the precious metals passed from one country to another as money, for the payment of balances ; it is now understood that they are transferred as commodities, according as PROGRESS DURING XVIITII CENTURY. their market value rises or falls in diiFerent countries. It was then believed that you could sell your own commodities to foreign nations without purchasing any of their goods ; it is now understood tliat every nation must discharge its debts with the produce of its own soil and labour : it was then believed that the excess of the value of exports over imports was the best evidence of a prosperous commerce with other nations ; it is now understood that a profitable trade with foreign countries is shown by the superior value of the goods brought home as compared with the commodities sent abroad : it was then believed that gold and silver were the most profitable articles of importation ; it is now understood, that it is imma- terial what kinds of commodities are imported, pro- vided they are of equal value : it was then believed that the gain of one nation was the loss of another ; it is now understood that "an exchange of equivalents is the foundation of all commerce, from the simple barter of the untutored Indian to the most com- plicated and extensive operations of the London merchant." 66 iJlSOUIJEliS IN FllANCE. LECTURE III. Disorders in France after death LECTURE The antaironism and rivalry of the Chartered Trad- III. "^ . . . ing Companies, established during the reign of Eliza- beth, had materially contributed to tlie great progress towards sounder opinions, which England had made during the seventeenth century, and which was alluded to in the previous Lecture ; whilst the termi- nation of the struggle between the House of Stuart and the Commons House of Parliament, in favour of the latter body, led at once to the removal of many practical obstacles in the way of further advancement. In France, on the other hand, after the death of Henri IV., and the retirement of Sully from public affairs, the ancient elements of disorder, which the firm hand of that minister had restrained, resumed otHcnriiv. their disastrous influence, and the good effects of his ■wise administration were obliterated within a brief interval, in the struggle which soon ensued between the crown and the creat nobles. The Wars of the Roses had fortunately released England from the trammels of feudalism ; the Wars of the League, how- ever, had not accomplished this desirable result for France, inasmuch as the accession of Henri lY. had effected a compromise, rather than a conclusion of the conflict, and with the death of that sovereign it re- commenced. It was on this, the last occasion, indeed, with tlie exception of the more memorable one of the year 1789, that the Crown of France called in the aid of the third estate (tiers etat) of the kingdom, and in 1614, a meeting of the States General was convoked. The constitution, however, of this body was very different from that of the English Parlia- ACCESSION OF LOUIS XIV. 67 ment, and the two privileged chambers of the nobles, lecture and the clergy respectively, could hardly be expected ,^ ^^^' to assent to the reforms which were suggested by the third estate, upon which, almost exclusively, the pub- lic burdens pressed ; and the third estate in France could not venture to speak with the same boldness, as it had not the same privileges, with the Commons in England. Nothing, therefore, was accom[)lished on this occasion, and the successive administrations of Richelieu and JNIazarin were too anxiously occupied with foreign and domestic warfare, to admit of their attention being directed to the interests of peace. AVith the termination of the quarrels of the Fronde, the struggle for supremacy between the Crown and the Nobles may be considered to have concluded, and with the death of Mazarin in 1661, the monarchy in France once more resumed, in the person of Louis XIV., Accession of its long abandoned duty of governing the country. "^""'^ ■^'^' A new era now dawned upon French industry. Mazarin's last act had been to recommend to the con- fidence of Louis XIY. a man, whose name lias since been identified with a system, and whose spirit has apparently never ceased to influence the councils of his country. Colbert, the intendant of the late minis- coiherfs ter, brought with him into the king's service the tio"^'""*'"" habits of a laborious and plodding man of business, to use Adam Smith's own words, combined with great integrity and great clearness of intellect. But tlic very ability which fitted him so well for the task of introducing order into the collection and expenditure of the public revenue, was likely to engender a spirit of system, and a disposition to apply its rules to other subjects than those of finance. Sismondi, in his Histoire des Franqais, c. xxviii. says, that in the great encouragement which Colbert gave to manufac- tures and commerce, he merely executed the measures which his predecessor, Fouquet, had designed. It is 08 Colbert's administration. LECTURE iinmatcriiil wlietlicr tlie wliolc credit Le due to Colbert "'• or not, as most assuredly the execution of a great political measure has always been deemed a more trying test of statesmanship than the conception of it. After having re-established order in the public finances, Colbert directed his attention to the sources of revenue. His views, in regard to the best mode of developing the national resources, were diametrically His predi- opposcd to the previous system of Sully. As the inanufac-"^ graudsou of a wool-merchant at Rheims, Colbert turcs and inio;ht bc exDCCted to have a bias in favour of the commerce. ^ . n ^ • -, ti n t ^ ' pursuits 01 his ancestor, and accordingly we find his ruling idea to have been, that the promotion of agri- culture might justly be made subordinate to the en- couragement of manufactures and commerce : that the manufacturer and merchant were more efficient pioneers of national wealth than the cultivator of the soil ; and that the welfare of the two former classes would entail, as a necessary consequence, the pros- perity of the latter, by increasing the demand, in the home market, for agricultural produce. Having, therefore, relieved the cultivator of the soil from a portion of the oppressive burden of direct taxes, which since Sully's time had been once more reck- of'com'^lo" l^ssly beaped upon him, Colbert did not hesitate to hibited. prohibit the exportation of corn. In this respect his discerinnent of the connexion between cause and effect was not so clear as that which Sully had shown. The latter had fully appreciated the principle, that if we would encourage production, we must open outlets for produce. Colbert, on the other hand, seems not to have formed a correct estimate of the extent to which, from the nature of the relations between sup- ply and demand, production would be discouraged by closing up the existing outlets for produce, and to have overlooked the fact, that the cost of production would be increased with every diminution in the quantity of the produce. EXPORTATION OF CORN TROIIIBITED. 09 We learn from Forbonnals, that since Sully's aclnii- lixture nistration, the price of wheat in France had now more , than doubled ; but at the same time the burdens ui)on the cultivator had been more than doubled. In addi- tion, the troubled state of the country, during the ad- ministration of the two cardinals, must have in- terfered with the pursuits of agriculture ; so that we should not be surprised to find that the supply of the home market occasionally fell short of the de- mand. Instead, however, of attributing the rise in the price of corn to the circumstances just alluded to, which seem quite sutlicient to account for it, since most assuredly had there not been some such ob- stacles in the way, the agriculturists would have readily met the growing demand with increased sup- plies, where the price was apparently highly re- munerative ; the consumers at once referred the occasional dearths of corn to the incautious policy of Sully in according freedom to commerce in grain, and raised their voice against allowing any longer the exportation of corn. Colbert had thus the popular feeUng in favour of his regulations, and he may pro- bably have conceived that the reduction which he had made in the direct burdens upon agriculture was altogether a boon to the producers, and Avould enable agricultural industry to maintain its ground against a temporary depression of prices. In the mean time, tlie diminished cost of maintenance would encourage the growth of a manufacturing i)opulation, and its increasing consumption of agricultural pro- duce would in time replace tlie extinguished demand of the forein^n consumer. The pursuits in wliich Colbert had been trained, disposed liim to overlook tlie operation ol" disturbing causes, for wliich a statesman, no less than an engineer, must make allowances. Accustomed to su})erintend the department of a public office, and to see his own r 3 70 EFFECTS U1'(JN TILLAGE. LECTURE well-adjustccl system of checks and counter-checks work . with admirahlc precision, lie conceived it possible to regulate the industry of a great nation upon a similar model. J>ut his first experiment Avith agriculture signally failed. The immediate effect of his measures was, that the price of wheat fell one half. This he had most probably foreseen : but he could not have contemplated the consequences which ensued upon this great reduction of price ; namely, that one half the land would be immediately Y)utout of cultivation, and that the ultimate result would be a return of the very dearth, which his measures were intended to counteract, and Avith that dearth again an increase in the cost of food for the manufacturer. " What were the effects," writes Forbonnais, i. p. 293., "of this unwise policy ? Tillage was every- Effectsupon where reduced, but more especially on the indifferent ^ ^^' or bad soils, which required a considerable outlay. Marsh lands remained undrained, and it seemed useless to put the plough into fresh land, upon a very simple calculation. The highest price, which the cul- tivator could expect to obtain for his produce, would, not compensate him for the expense of cultivation." Such was the result of tampering with connnercial outlets. Similar results have invariably attended similar experiments. Thus, confining our attention to France, we find, in 1714, the exportation of tur- pentine and pitch prohibited, upon which the cultiva- tion of the pine tree was abandoned in the district of the Landes, and the ruin of the population was only averted by the trade being again made free. The cultivation of the teazle, likewise, the use of which in manufactures is well known, had for a similar reason been abandoned ; but it was once more revived upon the substitution of a moderate export duty in lieu of the attempted prohibition. Colbert's next measure was to abolish or reduce the transit duties on the rivers and great roads, and TARIFF OF 1664. 71 thereby facilitate the internal commerce of the country, lecture He then applied himself to his favourite task, the eii- . couragement of the manufacturing industry of France. With this object he combined under one system the custom duties, Avhich had hitherto been farmed out in five departments, and then drew up his tariff of Tariff of 1664. The object of this tariff was to promote, by a reduction of duties, the exportation of French raw materials and manufactured goods, and the importa- tion of such foreign raw materials as were needed for French manufactures, but to discourage by heavy duties the importation of foreign manufactured goods. The combination of these two results constituted the distinguishing feature of Colbertism, according to tlie friends of the system. The scale of duties was at first comparatively moderate, but within three years they were raised enormously, and the amended tariff of 1667 was equivalent to a declaration of war against the Dutch. Actual hostilities, however, were deferred for a short time, whilst retaliatory measures of exclusion were adopted by the Dutch against the wines and brandies and manufactured goods of France ; but after a series of ineffectual negotiations, Avar ensued, and it was not until the peace of Nime- reacc of -..-r^^ T-i n 1 Til KimcRucn guen, m lb<8, that Prance allowed some moditica- in igts. tions to be introduced into the later tariff. " It was about the same time," observes Adam Smith, " that the French and English began mu- tually to oppress each other's industry by the like duties and prohibitions, of Avhich the French, how- ever, seem to have set tlie first example." He might have gone back as far as 1649, when the King of France having prohibited all trade with England, tlie House of Commons prohibited in return tlie importa- tion of wine, wool, or silk, from^ France. " Tlicre may be good policy," says the same author, " in retaliations of this kind, wlien there is a proba- F 4 72 I'KACK 01" NIMEGUEN. LKCTiiKK bility that tlicy will procure the ropwil oftlichigh '"• duties oil proliibitions complained of. Wlun there is ' no probability that any such repeal can be j)rocure(l, it seems u bad method of compensating the injury done to certain classes of our people, to do another injury ourselves, not only to those classes, but to almost all the other classes of them. When our neighbours prohibit some manufacture of ours, we generally prohibit, not only the same, for that alone would seldom affect them considerably, but some other manufacture of theirs. This may no doubt give encouragement to some particular class of work- men among ourselves, and by excluding some of their rivals, may enal)le them to raise their prices in the home market. Those workmen, however, who suffered by our neighbour's prohibition, will not be benefited by ours- On the contrary, they and almost all the other classes of our citizens, will thereby be obliged to pay dearer than before for certain goods. Every such law, therefore, imposes a real tax upon the whole country, not in favour of that particular class of workmen who were injured by our neighbour's pro- hibition, but of some other class." M. Blanqui, in discussing the modifications which the system of Colbert underwent after the peace of ]Sime- guen, observes, " that the prodigious development of the manufacturino^ interest of France under the en- couragement which it afforded to them, has contri- buted more than any thing else to propagate the mis- chievous doctrine of the natural enmity of manufac- turing nations." Hence have originated the senseless, though proverbial, expressions of " of becoming tribu- tary to the foreigner," " allowing our markets to be invaded by foreign merchandize," "letting our gold be taken from us," and such like. These, and similar metaphorical phrases, with Avhich we are still familiar in the 19th century, are gradually losing their in- of Colbert- ism. VOCABULAKY OF COLBERTISM. 73 fluence over the imagination of men. They are an instance of that subtle abuse of language by which the whole question is assumed in the selection of the nomenclature, and it would be idle to discuss the wis- dom or folly of Colbert's system, if its supporters are to be allowed, without question, the use of the voca- bulary which they have invented. Thus, if we were discussing the question, whether vocabulary the use of foreign products was advantageous or pre- judicial to a nation, the Colbertist would at once assert it to be prejudicial to a country, that it should pay tribute to foreigners ; and tlius the introduction of the word tribute would at once settle the question, un- less we dispute the application of it to the relations of commerce. Let us see then what tlie real fact is, which the word tribute is employed to denote. Let us suppose France to have purchased a thousand pieces of cotton goods from England, and to have given in exchange 10,000 francs in silver or wines. According to the language which we have been discussing, the Col- bertists would declare that France had paid tri])ute to England for the cotton. But England has not received the 10,000 francs for nothing, as men do who receive tribute, but has given 1000 pieces of cotton in exchange for 10,000 francs in silver or Avines. England has thus paid a tribute of cotton goods to France for her silver or wines, as the case may be. But this reciprocal payment of tribute on both sides is equivalent to a receipt of tribute on neither side. In other words, there has been no payment of tribute at all, in the proper sense of the term, which signifies a gratuitous offering, but there has been simply an exchange of produce for mutual convenience. The term tribute may probal)ly have crept into use at a very early period of the mercantile system, Avlicn bullion had not yet come to be regarded as a com- modity, and when the exchanging it for foreign 74 KNCOUIIAGEMENT OF COMMERCE. LECTDRE commotlitics ini^lit with some plausibility be repre- , ^^^' ^ sented Jis e(|iiivalcnt to the payment of tribute. The next great object of Colbert was to devise mca- Encouva«c- surcs for thc revival of commerce, and the establish- ment of lYXQut of a mercantile marine. Of the 20,000 vessels whicli were at this time supposed to be employed in the general commerce of the civilized world, it was computed that the Dutch alone possessed from 15,000 to 16,000, and the French not more than 500 or 600. Colbert applied the system of bounties to navigation, as he had already done to manufactures. In a me- moir presented to the king in 1681, which Forbonnais has preserved, the minister's views in respect of the policy of bounties are made to accord with those of the supporters of the mercantile system. " The principal point in finance," he writes, " consists, according to my notion, in employing every year at least 100,000 francs, and whenever it should be possible, at least 500,000 francs, in gratuities to those who carry on maritime commerce, who form new companies, and introduce new manufactures: because these means serve to maintain and preserve money within the realm, to make that which goes out of the country return, and to keep foreign states always deficiently supplied with money." * In furtherance of the same object, he permitted the free exportation of gold and silver ; he abolished the Droit d'Aubaine at ^Marseilles, in order that opulent foreio'n merchants eno'ao-ed in the Levant trade mi"-ht be induced to settle there; and by an edict in 1669, the king declared the occupations of commerce to be an honourable profession, compatible with nobility. Free ports were now established where foreign mer- * Le principal point des finances consiste, selon moi, a employer tous les ans au moins cent mille livres, et lorsqu'il sera possible, au moins cent mille ecus pour gratificr ccux qui font Ic commerce ile uur, qui entreprennent lie nouvelles com- pagnics, de nouvelles manufactures ; parceque ces moyens servent a maiutenir et conserver I'argent dans le rojaume, a faire rcvenir celui qui en sort, et a tenir toujours les etats etrangers dans la nccessite et le besoin d'argent ou ils sont. — Vol. i. p. 529. l'ordonnance de la marine. 75 chandise miglit be deposited, and whence it might be lectire re-exported free of duty; and the transit dues on , "^' foreign products passing overland through France were reduced. The canal of Languedoc was now pro- jected to unite the IMediterrancan with the Atlantic; and finally, the Code of Commerce, knoAvn as L'Or- L'ordon- donnance de la ]Marine, was dra-\\ii up in 1672. "iTdne.*^ These were all admirable measures, consistent with sound principles, and their ultimate results were in harmony with their immediate effects. It was observed in the review of Antonio Serra's treatise in the first lecture, that that writer, in his classification of the causes which make gold and silver to be plentiful in any country, gives a preference to the common cause of an abundance of skilful artisans over the peculiar cause of a7i extraordinary fertility of soil : on the grounds tliat the operations of the manu- facturer are not dependent upon the seasons, and are capable of being carried on to an unlimited extent, and that his produce finds access to a greater number of markets, and is in more varied demand. These are very different notions from those which the sup- porters of Colbertism put forward, who contended that the profits upon manufactures were fifty fold or a hundred fold greater than those of agricultural industry, and that therefore a manufacturing country, if it can only contrive to secure markets for its manu- factures, must make much more rapid strides in wealth than an agricultural country. These notions were directly combatted by Mengotti, in his treatise Mmpotti. on ('II Colbertismo') Colbertism, to which in 1792 the prize was awarded by the Koyal Agricultural Society of Florence. He contended therein " that tlie value of a piece of cloth is determined by precisely the same considerations as the value of a sack of wool. Thus, the price of a piece of cloth is composed of the price of tJie raw materials, and the price of the corn, II CollK-rt- ismo. 70 MENGOTTl's COLUKKTISMO. the wine, tlic oil, tlic meat, tlie fruit, una other tilings which have been consumed by the scourer, the carder, the s})inner, the dyer, the weaver, and the rest who have ttiken any part in the preparation of the cloth. The prices of all these commodities heaped up one upon another, like stratum upon stratum, will form the value of the manufactured article. The wool, itself, has not increased in value, as some believe, but has merely served as a nucleus round which other Aalues have been accumulated, until at last the whole; value is concentrated in one object, the price of wdiicli is but the sum of all the expenses of the workmen which has been added on day by day, until the completion of the work. Consequently, the price of the cloth is only the aggregate of many values, Avhich already existed in their own peculiar and sepa- rate forms, and now are combined in the manufac- tured article, and under a different form. " Instead, however, of the cloth being exported, let us suppose that the wool, the corn, the oil, the wine, the fuel, and the other articles, which Avould have been consumed by the manufacture]', have been ex- ported. The return to the nation will be nearly of the same value. I say, nearly so, since the manu- facturer does not create new values, which did not before exist, but only adds to the first value of the raw material, a second value of the bread, a third of the meat, a fourth of the fruit ; and so from day to day, by repeated additions of expenditure upon ex- penditure, and of consumption upon consumption, he at last succeeds in coml)ining in one form the value of the linen, or the stuff, or the jewellery, or the por- celain, or whatever the manufactured article may be. But during this process, the nation loses on the one hand the value which it gains on the other, and in proportion as a piece of cloth or embroidery advances towards completion, the mass of products continues to IILS THEORY OF VALUE. 77 diminish. At the very moment, therefore, that we lectire sell to foreigners a certain portion of our manufac- "^• tures, we sell to them in a compendious form and under ' a different aspect, our raw produce ; and when a ship sails from our shores Avith a rich cargo of Hnen, and stuffs, and cloths, and crapes, and mirrors, we may- rest assured that we are witnessing the departure of our grapes and our grain, our milk and our butter, our fruits and our vegetables ; in short, of the various products of our soil encased as it were in a shell, and converted into the form of manufactures. The ad- vantage of this change is very great, since, by com- pressing into a narrower space the raw products of the soil, which are often heavy and bulky, we render the transport of them less expensive, and the saving of this expense becomes to us a source of profit. But this falls very far short of the enormous multi^^lication of value which has been attributed to manufactures." It will be hardly necessary to observe that Mengotti's Mengottrs own theory of value is in its turn essentially defective, vanalf " though his dissertation is interesting, and will repay the perusal of it. The term value is apparently used in the above passages to denote the original cost of a commodity, or what Adam Smith distinguishes as its natural price, in which average profits are included. In this sense it is obvious, that the value of manufac- tured goods is determined by no different consider- ations from those, which reo-ulate the value of a^iricul- tural produce. In the case, therefore, of equal values, there cannot be more profit upon manufactured ar- ticles, than upon raw materials. If, however, the profits of the manufiicturer, as a fact, exceed in the aggre- gate the profits of the agriculturist, it is not by reason that the mode in which the industry of the former is emplo3'ed, creates a superior kind of value to that which results from the industry of the latter, but by reason that the manufacturer lias a wider field fur liuiiiufac- tures. 78 colbkrt's encouragement of manufactures. LKcTiKK the o])criitioiis of his industry, iiiid lias coiiscMjUontly '"■ greater opi)ortuMities of making profit ])y the eniphjy- ment of a large capital. coihcrfs j^(j^ ^jj^ j-jQ^y consider l)ricfiy the mode, in Avhicli imntof Colberts measures Icn* tlie encouragement ot manu- facturing industry must have affected the gro^vth of national wealth in France. ITe had prohibited the exportation of corn in order that tlic manufacturer should have provisions cheap. The result, as we have already seen, was, that half the arable land in France was thrown out of cultivation. In that proportion then there was a diminution in the amount of na- tional wealth, as far as agricultural produce was one of the elements of it. But to compensate for this loss, France was no longer tributary to foreigners for manufactured goods : these were now made at home ; and the value which France had hitherto been obliged to part with to other countries in exchange for them was saved to the nation, to which was to be added the value which France would receive in return for such of her manufactures as were exported. The aggregate of these two values, namely, the value saved, and the value created by reason of France becoming a manufacturing country, it was contended, would more than counterbalance the value lost by reason of France ceasing to receive foreign commodities in exchange for her agricultural produce. In regard, then, first of all, to the value saved by France ceasing to pay for foreign manufactured goods, it is obvious that France under the previous system, where gold and silver were not allowed to be ex- ported, obtained those goods cither directly or indirectly in exchange for a portion of her agricultural produce. But that portion of her agricultural produce which ceased to be exported, ceased also to be raised, inas- much as the former demand for it no longer existed. HIS SYSTEM OF BOUNTIES. 79 France, therefore, gained nothing by this arrange- ment : on the contrary, the supposed saving was a clear loss to her, for she had no more agricultural produce than before, for her own consumption ; and, in addition, she had lost the enjoyment of so much foreign manufactured produce. But the gains from her domestic manufactures, it may be supposed, more than made up for this loss. If, indeed, through the natural advantages of climate, water, mineral wealth, Sec. France was enabled to produce at home manufactured goods at a less cost of labour and capital, than the agricultural produce which she had previously exchanged away for foreign manufactures, she would evidently be a gainer by the alteration. She would both save the cost of what she herself consumed, and gain by the profit of the sale of her goods in the foreign market, as she would be able to undersell other nations. But if this system of manu- factures was kept alive by bounties and drawbacks, without which the manufacturer could not bring his goods into the market at a price at which he could find purchasers, the state would be losing whilst the posi- tion of the manufacturer himself might be stationary ; for the state would be taking money out of the pocket of the nation to enable the manufacturer to continue working at a loss. The state would be likewise en- couraging the manufacturer to send goods into the foreign market to be sold at less than their cost of pro- duction ; and by every transaction between the French manufacturer, to wlioni the state gave a bounty, and the foreign consumer, the French nation would part with a certain amount of produce without an equiva- lent, and would so fixr be the poorer. France would thus be really tributary to the foreigner, at the moment when she conceived herself to be levying a tribute. As far, then, as the export of manufactures was con- cerned, tlie bounty upon production would evidently Bountits. 80 I'lll'Jl DICIAf. TO NATIONAL WKAI/I'lf. <)l)L'nite ill the samo way as a bounty ii])oii exportation. r»y means of tliis bounty tlic J-'n-ncli manufacturer would be eiuil^led to sell his goods us clieap, or cheaper than his rivals in the foreign market. A greater quan- tity would thus be exported, and the balance of trade, according to the views of those who supported the mer- cantile system, would be turned more in favour of France. France could not of course give her workmen a monopoly of the foreign market, nor force foreigners to buy her goods ; but in order to promote their con- sumption, she might pay them for buying them ; in other words, pay her manufacturers to let foreigners have the articles at less than the cost price. " Those trades only require bounties," says Adam Smith, " in which the merchant is obliged to sell his goods for a price which does not replace to him his capital, together with the ordinary profit, or in which he is obliged to sell them for less than it really costs him to send them to market. The bounty is given in order to make up this loss, and to encourage him to continue, or perhaps to begin, a trade of which the expense is supposed to be greater than the returns, of which every operation eats up a part of the capital employed in it, and which is of such a nature, that if all other trades resembled it, there Avould soon be no capital left in the country." rrcjiuiiciai " The trades, it is to be observed, which are carried on by means of bounties, are the only ones which can be carried on between two nations for any consider- able time together, in such a manner as that one of them shall always and regularly lose, or sell its goods for less than it really cost to send them to market. But if the bounty did not repay to the merchant what he would otherwise lose upon the price of his goods, his own interest would soon oblige him to employ his stock in another way, or to find a trade in which the price of the goods would replace to national wealth CAUSES OF REVIVED PROSPERITY. 81 to him, with the ordinary profit, the capital employed lecture in sending them to the market. The effect of bounties, "^• like that of all the other expedients of the mercantile ^' ' system, can only be to force the trade of a country into a channel much less advantageous than that in which it would naturally run of its own accord." It will be seen then that Colbertism, embodied as the peculiarities of the system are considered to have been in the tariff of 16G7, was based upon two dis- tinct errors ; the one connected with the balance of trade, the other with the profit of manufactures. That France should exhibit signs of revived pros- perity and augmented wealth, under the administra- tion of Colbert, was to be attributed to similar causes to those which had operated under the system of Sully; viz., the re-establisliment of order in the causes of finances of the countrv, and the removal of various «^'^'« ^ _ prosperity obstacles which impeded the operations of certain in France, branches of industry. Sully, as we have seen, had freed agriculture from its fetters ; but he forged new chains for manufacturing industry and commerce. Colbert set the two latter branches free ; but he reimposed upon agricultural industry its ancient shackles. France throve in spite of the restrictions of Sully, not by virtue of them : in a similar way she prospered under Colbert's system ; but it was in spite of its peculiarities. In the very year in which Colbert's revised tariff of 1GG7 was put forth, we find a writer in Kngland, Sir W. Petty, taking the lead in impugning the cur- sirw.ivtty rent notions respecting value, and laying down, in a "" ''''"■■ clear and original manner, the principle upon which price is regulated. In his treatise on Taxes and (-Con- tributions, he says, " If a man bring to London an ounce of silver out of the eartli in Peru, in tlie same time that he can produce a bushel of corn, the one is the natural price of the other : now, if by reason of G 82 rilEVALKNT i;KKn|{ AS TO VALUE. new and more easy mines, a man can ;^et two ounces of silver as easily as formerly he did one, then corn will be as cheap at ten shillinffs the bushel as it was before at five shillings, ca'teris paribus." Again, " Let a hundred men work ten years upon corn, and the same number of men the same time upon silver : I say, that the net proceed of the silver is the price of the whole net proceed of the corn, and like parts of the one the price of like parts of the other." These views were very different from those enter- tained by the author of the Brief Conceipte of English policy nearly a century before, where he says, " I think not so little as a hundred thousand pounds a year is fetched of our treasure, for things of no value of themselves, but only for the labour of the workers of the same, which are set a work all on our charges." As long as the utility and value of a commodity were confounded, a false theory of exchanges could not but prevail, and the true principles of commerce were inevitably kept out of sight. Each nation at one time supposed its own exports to be necessaries ; whereas it held its neighbour's exports to be super- fluities : so that commerce with foreign nations was but a continued repetition of losing exchanges, by the barter of highly useful commodities for trifles, which might easily be dispensed with. Prevalent Wc cauuot therefore be surprised that, as long as men were ignorant of the fundamental doctrine, that the value of all commodities was determined by one and the same consideration, they should be ignorant that commerce might consist in the exchange of equiva- lents, and should overlook the fact that it would be impossible for commerce to be carried on for any length of time, if one party always surrendered up a certain amount of value in the exchange. "■' It were better," says a writer in the 16th century, " for us to error as to value. SIR DUDLEY NORTH. IBS pay more to our own countrymen for these wares, L^^^^ruRE than to strangers less; for how little gains so ever ■ goeth over, it is lost to us clear, but how much so- ever the gain is that goeth from us to another, it is all saved within the realm." It is here evidently supposed that the greater value of the manufactured article, as compared with the raw material, was so much gain to the workman, and so much loss to the consumer who purchased it from him, and that the loss would be saved to the nation by an interchange of products in the home market ; whilst, if the consumer became a customer in the foreign market, that loss must be incurred. There is the same confusion in this notion, as in the idea, that the profit on manufactures Avas much greater than that on agricultural occupations : as if profits in any one branch of industry can be maintained at a higher rate than in others, except there be a monopoly, or some artificial obstacle exist to prevent capital and labour flowing into their natural channels. Opposed to the doctrines of the school of Colbert, as to the natural enmity of manufacturing nations, in which prejudice several English writers fully partici- pated, we find an able statement of the true prin- ciples of commerce, in the Discourses on Trade by Sir sir Dudley Dudley North, published in 1G97. This writer had passed a considerable portion of his time in Russia and Turkey, and was intimately conversant with the details of the Russian and Levant trades. On his return home he held an official situation in the Cus- toms, and thus had ample opportunities of observing the operations of commerce. The tract itself, which had been long consigned to oblivion, has been recalled to public notice of late by Mr. Macculloch, in his Introductory Discourse on the Wealth of Nations : — " That the whole world, as to trade, is but as one nation or people, and therein North. 84 DISCOUIISKS ON TliADE. LECTnitK nations as persons," is one of the first propositions > maintiiined in it; the truth of wliich is only, in our Discourses owii liincs, befrinninir to be rccof^nised. " Tliat to force men to deal in any prescribed manner may profit such as happen to serve them, but the public gain not, because it is taking from one subject to give to another," was another proposition, quite at variance "svith the prevalent notions of Sir Dudley's own time, in regard to the gain which Avould accrue to nations by fostering artificial branches of industry; and the statement " that money is a merchandise, whereof there may be a glut as well as a scarcity, and that even to an inconvenience," was a direct assault upon the popular doctrine of the balance of trade. This treatise, as Mr. Macculloch states, does not seem ever to have obtained any general circulation, or to have been referred to by any subsequent writer on commerce. It may be observed, in corroboration of this, that no reference to it is found in Watts' Bibliotheca Britannica. AYe have seen that, as far as the constituents of wealth were concerned, the ancient notion of gold and silver being exclusively entitled to consideration as such, had been successfully assailed ; but with the new views as to the precious metals being only com- modities, the problem of the laws which regulated the proportions in which commodities should be exchanged — in other words, from what sources com- modities derived their exchangeable value — would at once demand solution. The philosophers of olden days had not fathomed this question. Aristotle had certainly drawn a distinction between the excliange- able quality and the useful quality of commodities. He was aware that commerce consisted in the ex- change of equivalents ; but he conceived the value of a commodity to be measured by the demand for it, and that money by convention was made the repre- Aristotle's tolitics. 85 sentativc of demand : A^j" a^a. kvi nvi raura [xs- lecture T^iiaSai, wGTTrsp sAs^^iry TrpoVspov touto o so-r) rf] txsv ^ ' dj^rfizia vj X?-'^^^^ '^ Travra (Tuvsyjr z\ yap [xrfiiv O-oivro^ Tj [xri rj[xouogy rj oux sTrrxi a/\.Aayrj, -^ oyp^ 73 wjrrj. Com- modities must be measured by some one common measure, and this common measure is in truth de- mand, which is the great connecting link ; for if man do not want any thing, or do not want it equally, there will either not be any exchange at all, or there will be an exchansre not on the same terms. In the " Politics," however, though Aristotle adopts the same Aristotle's view as to money being by convention a symbol of ^"''*'^*- value, yet he expressly allows it to be a commodity : Aio TTpos Tag ayO^OLyctg roiouTou ri (ruvs^svro Tvolg tn^oig auro'jg OiOovai xa.) Xa'x^avsiv, ratv -yor^fj iixcov auro ov el^z rrjU ypsiav eufxsrcf^sioKTTOV Trprig to ^TJy, olov (nor^oog xai apyj^og xav s'l ri toioutov srsodv. From this and other piissages it would appear that Aristotle had no idea of the exchangeable value of commodities depending on other considerations than their utility, the word x?-^^'-i "^^"^^icli was held to be the true measure of the value of all commodities, signifying demand founded on utility. On the other hand, in re- gard to money, so far was he from considering it to be the only article of wealth, that he held its value to rest entirely upon opinion : thus in the " Ethics" he writes oTov S* bira.'h'kayixrx rr^g p^^pr/atr to v<)y.KJ-[xcx. 7=- yovs xaroL (rmbr^xr^v xai fna touto TO'juofxa. sysi )/o[xi(T[xa, QTi o'j C^yVrJ, a/^?v,a vo/xto s(tt)j xa) £«$-' y,ixliv /x=Ta/iaX- y^ziv xa\ TToirio-ai a.-y^r^og to a level with the xdirrfkog. A philosophic mind, as acute as Aristotle's, however, tliough perhaps not so compreliensive, Avas led, in the process of analysing the nature of civil government, and the origin of property, to discriminate bctAveen what he terms the natural intrinsic value or usefulness of things, and what may be called their actual value, and to ascribe the difference, not to the demand or de- sire of possessing them, but to the labour bestowed on their production. "Nor is it so strange," to quote from Locke's Essay on Government, b. ii. c. 5., " as per- haps, before consideration, it may appear, that the property of labour should be able to overbalance the community of land ; for it is labour, indeed, that puts the difference of value on every thing : and let any one consider what the difference is between an acre of land planted with tobacco or sugar, sown with wheat or barley, and an acre of the same land lying in common without an}'' husbandry upon it, and he will find that the improvement of labour makes the far greater part of the value." Again, " Let us but trace some of the ordinary provisions of life, through their several progresses, before they come to our use, and see how much of their value they receive from human industry. Bread, wine, and cloth, are things of daily use, and great plenty : yet, notwithstanding, acorns, water, and leaves, or skins, must be our bread, drink, and clothing, did not labour furnish us with these more useful commodities : for whatever bread is more worth than acorns, wine than water, and cloth or silk than leaves, skins, or moss, that is wholly owing HIS IDEA OF VALUE. 87 to labour and industry ; the one of these being tlie lecture food and raiment which unassisted nature furnishes "'• us with ; the other, provisions which our industry and pains prepare for us ; which, how much they exceed the other in value, when any one has com- puted, he will then see how much labour makes the far greater part of tlie value of things we enjoy in this world : and the ground which produces the ma- terials is scarce to be reckoned in as any, or at most, but a very small part of it ; so little, that even amongst us, land that is left wholly to nature, that hath no im- provement of pasturage, tillage, or planting, is called, as indeed it is, waste, and Ave shall find the benefit of it amount to little more than nothing." In these and other passages, too long to quote, there may be perceived the germ of the doctrine of value, which was ripened and matured under the hand of Adam Smith ; but it may be doubted whether Locke was on the verjje of discoverinsr the fundamental principle, upon which the industrial system of political economy was built up. Locke evidently means by Locke's idea the term value, the capacity of satisfying the Avants of man : by natural intrinsic value^ the capacity of satisfying his natural wants, in other Avords, of sup- porting man in a rude condition of life : by actual or acquired value, the capacity of satisfying his actual or acquired AA^ants, in other words, of supporting him in a state of civilisation. Greater value, Avith him, Avas identical Avith greater usefulness. l>read Avas Avorth more than acorns, because it Avas a moi-e useful commodity. Still the distinction was most important, more particularly in reference to the ap- proaching reaction against Colbertism in France, when the most erroneous notions as to the origin ot value obtained general circulation under the counte- nance of the agricultural school of M. (^lesnay, the leader of the so-called " Economists." G 4 88 INTKINSIC AND ACTUAL VALUIO. LECTURE III. Intrinsic and actual value. Actual value, then, accordiii*,^ to Ivockc, was a com- pound quality made up of what he terras real useful- ness, tlie gift of nature, and ac(|uircd usefulness, the work of man's labour. But there were certain arti- cles of little real use, but great actual value, such as gold, silver, and diamonds : these, he says, are " things that fancy or agreement hath put the value on, more than real use, and the necessary support of life :" that is, fancy or agreement have attached to the quality of durability a value, corresponding to tlie intrinsic value of goods, which are useful to the life of man ; but the labour of man was held by him to be the measure of what we have called the actual value of these articles : for he elsewhere says, '• Since gold and silver, being little useful to the life of man in propor- tion to food, raiment, and carriage, has its value only from the consent of man, whereof labour yet makes, in great part, the measure." Here, indeed, Locke seems to have had his hand upon the key, without being aware of the lock wdiich it would open. Elsewhere, indeed, in his treatise on money, he says, " Money has a value, as it is capable by exchange of procuring us the ne- cessaries or conveniences of life, and in this it has the nature of a commodity ; only with this difference, that it serves us commonly by its exchange, never almost by its consumption. But though the use men make of money be not in its consumption, yet it has not at all a more standing, settled value, in exchange with any other thing, than any other commodity has, but a more known one, and better fixed by name, number, and weight, to enable us to reckon what the propor- tion of scarcity and vent of one commodity is to another." Here we certainly seem to have a distinc- tion between value in use and value in exchanije : the value of money in use being conventional, the value in exchange being determined by the same considera- tions as that of other commodities, which he elsewhere SIR W. TETTY. 89 explains, as the proportion which the quantity in the lecture market bears to the vent, or, in other words, the pro- ^ ^^' portion of the supply to the demand. Still we may seek in vain for that clearness of statement with which Sir W. Petty's original genius announced " that if sir w, 100 men work ten years upon corn, and the same ^'^"^' number of men the same time upon silver, the net proceed of the silver is the price of the whole net pro- ceed of the corn :" and again, " corn will be twice as dear when there are 200 workmen to do the same work which 100 could perform." DO Locke's treatlsk on money. LECTURE IV LECTURi: The commencement of the 18th century may be con- IV. sidered to have been the transition period in ]'2iirope in respect of the science of wealth (v) ;)/pr^//,aT/o-T/xrj). The ancient notion of gold and silver being the sole articles of Avealth had been successfully impugned, and these metals were now deemed by many persons to be commodities, more desirable, indeed, to possess than other commodities from their natural and con- ventional qualities, but still subject to variations and inequalities of value, as other commodities. Thus Locke, in his " Treatise on Money," writes : " In ex- Locke's chanoino; coined silver for any other commodity Treatise on _o O _ ^ J J Money. (wliich is buviiig and selling), the same measure governs the proportion you receive, as if you ex- change lead, or wheat, or any other commodity." How, indeed, that proportion was determined, and whence commodities derived their value in exchanore, remained still to be investigated. Some writers con- ceived that the value of money w^as purely conven- tional ; that mankind had tacitly agreed to employ it as a common measure, by which they might reckon the proportion which " the scarcity or vent " of one commodity bore to that of another. For instance, w^here a commodity measured according to its bulk, as a hogshead of wine, had to be compared w^ith a commodity measured according to its weight, as a hundred weight of iron, or with commodities mea- sured according to their number, as a score of sheep, it is evident that a common measure would very much facilitate the determination of the proportions in value which given quantities, numbers, and weights, bore to one another. Such an office money was ob- THE REGENT ORLEANS. 91 served to fulfil, and as a system of tokens or counters lecture nnght be agreed upon to discharge such functions, ^ analogous to those which arbitrary symbols are em- ployed to fulfil in mathematics, a large class of per- sons were content to acquiesce in such an hypothesis, to explain how money had come to serve as a common measure. Others, on the opposite hand, admitting the theory of a general tacit agreement to employ money as a common measure, still held that its value ■svas not wholly conventional, but was partly influ- enced by similar conditions to those which determined the value of other commodities ; but what those con- ditions were, was not yet settled. The most obvious explanation was, that they were the conditions of supply and demand, for it w^as on the surface of things that the market value fluctuated according to those conditions ; but it could not escape notice that the market value continually as it were gravitated to- w^ards a standing settled value ; and the reason of this remained to be discovered. Some few had perceived tliat the rarity of a commodity corresponded to the difiiculty of procuring it ; but how that difliculty was to be measured, and to what causes it was to be re- ferred, eluded discovery. Whilst, therefore, this prob- lem remained undetermined, there would be an open- ing for much unsound speculation, and we should not be surprised to find financial embarrassment, as it had been already the cause of the adoption of imperfect systems, now disposing statesmen to lend too ready an ear to the recommendations of plausible experi- mentalists. An adviser of this cliaracter presented liimself in the person of the well-known John I>aw, to the Regent Orleans in France, at a most critical pe- The Regent riod in the history of Frencli finance. The gorgeous ^'■'*'''"*- extravagance of Louis XIA'. hadcxliausted all the re- sources, which the ingenuity of Colbert's successors 92 .JOHN LAW. IV. LECTtiKK could JcvisG, iUid luul ovci-wlielmc'd the treasuiy In debt, and the accompanying embarrassment was not confined to the state, but extended throu;,dK)Ut all classes of society. The capital of the public debt on the demise of Louis XIV. amounted to 300 millions of French livres, and in the first council of state held by the liegent, it was proposed to sacrifice the credi- tors of the state, as being the smaller number, whose ruin might justly be a subordinate consideration to the John Law. preservation of the country. Law had previously appeared in Paris during the lifetime of Louis XIV., full of grand but visionary conceptions as to the ex- tent to which public credit might be safely developed, and conventional values be substituted in the place of real values : but his plans, which he laid before the controller general Desmaretz, were rejected, as fraught with greater dangers than the difficulties which they were intended to obviate. Law had studied the operations of commerce and credit in most of the great cities of Europe ; he had beheld great results apparently flowing from the establishment of banks of deposit, such as that at Amsterdam, of which the bank-money or credit in the books of the bank, representing the value of the deposits of gold and silver in its cellars, was current at a higher rate than specie money. He had seen the foundation of an incorporated bank of circulation in Encrland, attended with most advantageous results to the state, through the assistance which the issue of a paper currency of 1,200,000/. enabled it to funiish to the government. He was likewise aware that the notes of the bank in Scotland, which, however, had not main- tained itself for a very long time, had circulated at their nominal value, at a time when there was no gold or silver in the coffers of the bank, though their accep- tance was voluntary. Law reflecting on these different facts, had come to the conclusion that it was by mis- CONSIDERATIONS UPON MONEY AND TRADE. 93 take that mankind had come to employ the precious lecti-re metals as the agents of circulation, and that paper ^^'• money, if made the representative of value, would fulfil all the purposes of a common measure, Avith much better effect, from not being a commodity, and so not being liable to fluctuation in its value. The bank in Scotland, to which allusion has just been made, had not succeeded, and it was proposed to establish one on a different plan. On this occasion Law sub- mitted his views to the Parliament of Scotland, in a memoir, entitled " Money and Trade considered, with con>i- ployer ; but it is not necessary to enable those rela- tions to be maintained. Circulating credit would answer precisely the same purpose, where it is ade- quately guaranteed ; but a similar guarantee will be requisite to enable credit to circulate, to that which causes money to circulate universally, namely, the assurance that it may be exchanged at any time for food, clothing, ii(>y cqunl to H 2 100 NOTKS ON SECURITY OF LAND. tlieir value. Five ounces of gold is ('(jual to 20/. (of silver), and may be made money to that value. An acre of laud, rented at 2 bolls of victual (the victual at 8/., and laud at 20 years' purchase), is equal to 20/., and may be made money equal to that value, for it has all the qualities necessary in money. But that acre of land cannot be coined to the value of .50/., no more than the five ounces of gold ; and though the five ounces of gold, the 20/. silver money, and the acre of land be now equal in value, yet they cannot well continue so ; for, as I have shown already, any disproportioned change in the quality, quantity, or in the demand of either of them, will make the same quantity of the one equal to a greater or less quantity of tlie others. Land is what, in all appearance, will keep its value best; it may rise in value, but cannot well fall : gold and silver are liable to many accidents whereby their value may lessen, but cannot well rise in value." The grounds why Law considered land must rise in value, seem to have been, that it was capable of improvement, and that the demand for it would daily increase, w hilst the quantity w^ould remain the same. Law pro- Law accordiugly proposed to the Parliament of i'ssi? notes Scotlaud that 40 responsible commissioners should on security Ijq appointed by it, having power to coin notes, and to lend them on the security of land under certain restrictions, the land to be assigned to the commis- sioners, but to be redeemable within a term of years. The land w^as to be valued at 20 years' purchase, ac- cording to w^hat would be given for it in silver money. The commission was to receive no other money than these notes, and no person who had contracted for these notes should be obliged to receive silver or metal money. It was contended that this proposed paper money would be equal in value to silver, as it would have a EXPERIENCE OF HOLLAND. 101 value of land pledged equal to the samesuiu of silver lectire inoiiey that it was given out for, and that it would ^ ^^" . not fall in value like silver money, because the com- missioners giving out what sums were demanded and taking back what sums were offered to be returned, the supply would be always uniformly proportionate to the demand, and there would be always as nmch money as there would be occasion or employment for, and no more. In other respects land would have a more certain value than any other goods, for it could not be increased in absolute quantity, nor was it liable to lose any of its uses like other goods: on the con- trary, whilst these goods would be liable to lose a part of their value, if the use of them by custom should be taken away, land could always be turned to produce whatever was most used, and would therefore ahvays maintain its value ; and if it at all varied, it would increase in value. It was further contended that the superior qualification of paper, when it has a value, to serve the purposes of money, was shown by the practice of most trading nations : in Holland, for Experience instance, silver was pledged, and paper used for """''"• money ; but land is undeniably a better pledge than silver. If it should be objected that paper passed current in Holland, because silver could be got for it when demanded, or at a certain time, it might be replied that the value of silver itself might, in the mean time, fall, so that the security pledged for that paper money could not be depended upon ; whereas the security pledged for the pro2:)osed paper money would be land, and land, if it changed at all, would increase in value ; so that whilst paper money issued on the security of silver money, might fall below tlie value of other goods, paper money issued on the security of land would, in all appearance, not only keep equal to other goods, but rise above them. Let us now, for a moment, consider, what is tlie II 3 li-^cd Ciipi- r.i 102 SILVKK, UHALISKI) CAITIAL. M.i Tiui: (liflerciK'c Ijetwccii ])ay)cr money issued on the security ^ ■ , of silver, and j)a[)er money issued on the security ot" land. Silver, like any other commodity, is so much accunudated produce, it is therefore a portion of the capital of the country. Land, on the other hand, is an instrument of production which nature has fur- nished to man's hand, like the air or the sea ; but of itself it forms no part of the capital of a country. Silver, re- TIic sccurity of silver, therefore, is the security of so much actual produce, the result of past labour ; the security of land is the security of an instrument of production, the efficient operation of which is contin- gent on tlie combined employment of actual produce, such as seed and tools, and man's labour, subject even then to the influences of natural disturbing causes. Realised capital, whatever be its form, will always possess value, as its use will save labour to a purchaser, and so long it will always be exchange- able, and silver, like other commodities, is so much realised capital. But men exchange produce for produce, with a view to the ultimate consumption of some commodity, which mil contribute to their sup- port or comfort. Land, on the contrary, does not, under all circumstances, possess value, for its use mil not always save labour : labour itself, either rude, or combined with capital, must be applied to it, before it can possess value. When these conditions have been fulfilled, it may become an article of ex- change, because its use will save so much labour to the purchaser ; the use of cleared land, for instance, will save the labour of clearing it ; the use of en- closed land will save the labour of enclosing it. The improvements of the land are thus so much realised capital. It is not, however, all realised capital, which will answer the purposes of money. One most im- portant qualification, is the absence of any tendency to deteriorate in quality by the influence of natural CAPITAL COMMANDS MONEY. ] U3 causes. From such a tendency the improvements ol" the lectl rk Jand are least exempt of all realised capital, as with- , ' out the continued application of fresh labour and fresh capital they will rapidly deteriorate ; they will thus lose the quality of saving laljour ; they will con- sequently lose their exchangeable value. As long as a country has plenty of capital, it mil capital have no difficulty in procuring silver for the purposes m^^y" '' of money : the fact of its having no silver is evidence that it has little or no capital : it has exported its silver to other countries in exchanw for foreio;n corn- modities : its silver has not returned, because it has no other commodities to export in their turn in ex- change for it. A country is wealthy which has plenty of capital, that is, plenty of accumulated produce suitable for consumption, or applicable to further pro- duction. But a country which has plenty of accu- midated produce Avill need some commodity to em- ploy as a medium of exchanging commodities ; it will therefore exchange away some portion of its capital for such a commodity, which will replace that portion of its capital. A rich country, therefore, as it re- cjuires money, and as it can purchase silver with its produce, will always have plenty of silver money : its wealth will thus be the cause of its having silver money. The use of such money will facilitate ex- changes, but those exchanges are exchanges of labour and capital : such exchanges will in their turn acce- lerate the growth of wealth. Where money does not follow in the train of capital, it cannot contribute to the growth of wealth in a country, for it is not the exchange of money, as such, for money, which stimu- lates the industry of a country, and so contributes to the development of its resources, but the exclumgc of produce for produce, of capital for ca})itul, which the use of money facilitates. The com growrr ex- changes away a portion of his surplus produce for a 4 104 Ml{. IMCA1U)0 ON CRKDIT. IV. LKCTURE money ; not for tlie sake of the money, but for the sake of the money's wortli, namely, a portion oi' the pro- duce ol" the labour of the wine grower, the tailor, or the shoemaker, which the money will enable him to procure at any future period. He gives up the en- joyment of so much food which he has himself pro- duced, for the enjoyment of so much wine, and clothes, and shoes, and money facilitates the transfer. ]jut these products, which are so much capital, must already exist, or no exchange will take place, and consequently no medium of facilitating exchanges would be needed. Money, therefore, will not flow naturally into a country so circumstanced; and the artificial introduction of money would not be attended with results in any degree corresponding to those, which attend upon its natural influx. The only way in which the presence of money can further the growth of wealth is by facilitating exchanges amongst the producers. If, however, there be no produce to ex- change, if the appearance of money is made to pre- cede the existence of capital, there will be no field for its operation as an instrument of exchange, and its local value as a commodity, if such be its nature, will be indefinitely depreciated from the forced supply far exceeding the natural demand. But it may be urged, that paper credit issued upon the security of land, in a country where there is little capital, will enable industry to carry on more extensive operations with that capital. Let us liear what ^Ir. Kicardo says in reply to a similar sugges- tion, before a Committee of the House of Lords in 1819. (Report as to the resumption of Cash Pay- ments by the Bank of England, p. 1 92.) Mr.Ricardo '' Do you not know," he was asked, "that when there is a great demand for manufactures, the very credit which that circumstance creates, enables the manufacturer to make a more extended use of his Oil credit. CAPITAL INCAPABLE OF TWO USES. 105 capital in the production of manufactures?" His llctlri: reply was, " I have no notion of credit being at all . J , effectual in the production of commodities : commo- dities can only be produced by labour, machinery, and raw materials ; and if these are to be employed in one place, they must necessarily be withdrawn from another." He was further asked, " Is not the capital in- vested in land, for example, capable of two uses ? 1 . Is it not productively used as vested in the land ? 2. May not money be raised by credit on that land, which may be applied to the purposes of manufac- tures?" Answer. " The question supposes two capitals — the land and the instruments employed in manu- factures. The money which circulates them forms no part of the productive stock ; it determines only by whom it shall be employed." " But," he was asked, " may not a man get credit from a bank on the security of his capital, which is profitably employed, whether vested in stock or land ; and may he not, by means of that credit, purchase or create an additional number of labourers, Avithout dislodging capital from any existing employment in the country?" This question seems to be directed to the very point at which Law was aiming. Mr. Ricardo's answer was to this effect : " Impossible ! an indivi- dual can purchase machinery and raw materials with credit : he can never create them. If he purchases, it is always of some one else ; and consequently he dis- places some one else from the employment of capital." " Are you of opinion, then, that there can never be rapitui in- in any country two uses of the same capital — one to [l^o^uses! acquire an annual revenue by the mode in which it is invested, and the other to HC({uire a capital or credit, which may also be profital^l}' employed by the person 106 USE OF CIKCULATING CliEDIT. LECTUKi; wlio acquires it, and wliicli will be so wherever there . is an increased demand for commodities?" Answer. " Ca[)ital can only be acquired by saving. It is impossible that one capital can be employed l)y two persons at the same time, or for two objects. The greatest advantage will be sought and obtained at all times by the employer of capital : that is, capital will always be directed towards that one employment, which is most advantageous." Credit, then, according to the above view, is but the means of transferring the use of capital from one to another person, or from one to another employ- usc of cir- inent. Circulating credit, for instance, in the form of credit?^ notes payable on demand, enables specie to be trans- ferred from an unproductive employment as a medium of exchange, to a productive employment as an article of commerce. For instance, when a person opens an account with a banker, he deposits a certain amount of capital with the banker, who in his turn lends his credit to the depositor. Let us suppose the capital to be the commodity of gold or silver, in the form of money. The depositor would have contented himself with using this capital unproductively, simply as an instrument of exchange, to procure for himself, from time to time, its equiva- lents ; the banker, on the other hand, will employ it as a commodity, in discounting bills, &c. The deposi- tor will, meanwhile, employ the credit of the banker, the use of which is transferred to him in exchange for the use of his capital, as an instrument of exchange. Will it therefore be correct to say that the capital of the depositor is now employed for two uses ? Namely, by the banker as a commodity, and by the de- positor, through the banker's credit, as an instrument of exchange ? If we admit for the moment a double use, it will be seen that these tAvo uses are not in the same sense MR. NOKMAN's letter ON MONEY. 107 [>roductive uses. The banker uses his depositor's lecture capital as a commodity, productively ; the depositor '^' uses the banker's credit, as an instrument of ex- change, unproductively. Had the depositor retained his capital in the form of money, and used it as an instrument of exchange, he would have been using it unproductively, just as he now uses the banker's credit. J3y depositing it with the banker, he enables it to be used by the banker productively, and contents liimself with using the banker's credit unproductively. Consequently a bank of credit enables a part of the capital of the country, which would have been em- ployed unproductively as money, to be employed productively as a commodity ; but it does not enable capital to be employed in two ways productively : it enables more capital to be employed productively, because in combination with the credit of the banker a comparatively small reserve of capital, whatever be the amount which experience determines to be suf- ficient to answer occasional demands, will fulfil all the purposes of a circulating medium of exchange. Now when gold or silver is employed as an instru- ment of exchange, it is employed in a different way from that in which it is generally employed as a com- modity : in the former case it is employed in small (quantities; in the latter in masses. And so it happens that the credit of the banker, which has been lent to the depositor of capital, is employed very seldom indeed in one mass, but for the most part in portions. Hence a large portion of the credit of the banker per- forms no monetary function, it remains in the banker's book, set down to the depositor's account. And Mr. Norman in his Letter on Money, addressed in 1841 to Mr. Nor- the present Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr. Charles [^^"n^^' Wood) says that the aggregate minimum of deposit M""o- accounts existhig at any given time, hardly falls short of from sixty to seventy-live per cent. Now it is 108 11 1 10 LONDON CLKAHINO HOUSE i,i:("Ti Hi; evident, tliut the amount of eapital correspouding to '^ these accounts, if retained by the depositor in liis o\vn cliest, would have not been used at all ; whereas it will now be einployed by the banker productively, as an article of connnerce. Again, of the remaining 40 or 25 per cent of credit, of which the depositor is making use from time to time as an instrument of exchange by means of orders upon his banker, a con- siderable portion discharges the function of money by being transferred from the account of one banker to that of another, and so through the medium of a set- off between different bankers, the use even of credit is further economised. To what extent this economy of credit can be carried on, may be inferred from the return, in the Second Eeport of the Committee of Banks of Issue, of the extent of business transacted The Lou- in the Clearing House in London in 1839, from which hlTnouse. it appears that 970,000,000/. passed through that house in a single year, and about one fifteenth of that sum in bank notes, viz., 66,000,000/. was all the cir- culating credit required in settling the balances. When, however, a person invests his capital in the purchase of land, he hands over a certain amount of capital to the owner of a natural agent, who in his turn transfers to him the ownership of that natural agent. The purchaser of the land, in this case, has parted with, and relinquished all control over his capital. The vendor, on the other hand, has the free disposal of that capital, and may use it at his plea- sure. The investment, however, as it is termed, of capital in the purchase of the land misleads many persons to suppose that the capital is as it were en- cased in a shell, and that the capital is as it were deposited in the land, instead of its having been ex- changed away for it. They consequently imagine that the capital, which has really been parted within exchange for the land, is still under the control of the BANKS OF CIRCULATION. 109 purchaser, just as if it were stored up in a chest, and therefore that it may at any time be used produc- tively, if occasion should require. But if the owner of the land should wish to use the capital, which he has invested in the land, under any other form than that of the natural agent, he must obtain it from some other person in exchange for his land, just as the OAvner of so much capital deposited in the hands of his banker, if he wishes to employ that capital pro- ductively, must obtain it back from the banker at the sacrifice of his credit at the bank, or he must ex- change that credit with a third person for capital ; but he cannot use his capital in two forms ; he cannot at the same time employ it both as fixed, and as circulating capital. Now a bank of circulation, resting on deposits of Banks of , . -,. 1 • 1 circulatioi capital, may use its credit, as money, unproductiveh', and its capital, as a commodity, productively. It may on the one hand issue notes, on the other discount bills. In the former case, it borrows money on its credit without paying interest ; in the latter, it lends money with interest, on the credit of others. It thus uses the capital of those who use its credit ; but it uses that capital only once, instead of its customers using it, namely, when it lends it at interest. But it may be said that the depositors may use the credit of the bank productively by lending it at interest. Not so. No one pays interest for the use of credit, but for the use of the capital, of which that credit enables him to command the employment. Interest is defrayed from the net profits of capital. If A. pays 10 ]ier cent interest to B. for the use of his credit Avith C, a banker, it is the same as if A. paid it to C. for the use of the capital which B. has deposited with him. If again A. transfers B.'s credit with his banker C to D., in exchange for D.'s capital, A. trans- fers the use of B.'s capital deposited with C. to I ).. .md no BANKS OF DISCOUNT. LECTHRi: IV. Banks of discount. I), having exchanged with A., lor tlie momcTit, capital for credit, will ultimately realise the credit by demanding jjiick B.'s capital from C. It is this capital, of which the use was transferred by B. when he lent his credit with his banker. The credit which he lent, was but the medium of the ultimate transfer. A bank of circulation resting upon land, or upon shares in a commercial undertaking, is a bank resting not on capital, but on credit. A bank, on the other hand, founded on deposits of money, may act in the double capacity of a bank of issue and a bank of dis- count. It may issue notes in exchange for deposits of money, which notes are, in fact, merely acknow- ledgments of such deposits, and promises to repay them ; and again, it may use those deposits in dis- counting the promissory notes of merchants. But let us suppose for a moment a bank of issue to be grafted not upon deposits of money, but upon the security of land. The bank issues notes pay- able on demand in money, upon the security of its land : in other words, instead of so much cir- culating capital, it sets afloat so much circulating credit on the security of so much fixed capital. But supposing difficulties to arise, and circulating capital of a certain amount to be required for a time in the place of circulating credit, from what sources will it be forthcoming ?' The security of the land is but the mortgage of eventual, not realised capital; but realised capital is required for circulation to set labour in operation, and when the credit of the land cannot purchase raw materials, the land itself cannot create them, or be a substitute for them. It has been already observed that Law had studied the operations of the Banks of Amsterdam and England — the former a bank of deposit, the latter of circulation — and he contemplated the combining the advantages of tlie BANKS OF DEPOSIT. 1 1 1 two in one establishment. It may be as well to keep in mind the distinction between a bank of deposit, in its proper signification, and a bank of circulation. In the former, as at Amsterdam, are deposited values, as silver, for instance, or gold, and in return a certifi- cate of the value deposited is issued, payable on de- mand, and this certificate is put into circulation, and passes current as bank-money. The advantage of such a system consists in the convenience of employ- ing paper certificates, or notes, instead of metal ; and at a time when the weight and quality of metal coin was continually subjected to arbitrary alterations, such certificates being convertible into a given quantity of metal of a given purity, had a more certain value, and would thus be preferred as a common measure. A bank of circulation, on the other hand, has a more extensive field of operation : it examines the promissory notes of individual merchants ; and, where it considers the solvency of the merchant may be relied upon, it dis- counts his note, lending on its security the notes of the bank, which circulate as money. Its business therefore consists in giving circulation to the unre- cognised credit of the merchant, by lending him its own established credit. In order, however, to do this with safety, it must have a fund first of all set apart, sufficient to make good any losses which it may incur from discounting securities, which prove ultimately worthless ; secondly, it must keep a reserve of bullion or coin, as its own notes are convertible into specie on demand, and their credit will only be maintained by the demand being immediately complied with. Tlie issues of a bank of deposit do not then increase tlie quantity of the circulating medium, but merely sub- stitute a paper for a metallic currency ; but the issues of a bank of circulation, on the other hand, do augment the circulating medium, because after set- ting aside the necessary reserve to meet the average 112 NOTICE IIISTORIQUE SUR LAW. LECTURE demand for specie, it lends the remainder of its specie, '^- ill addition to its notes, for the purposes of commerce. The disadvantn;:^e indeed which those countries are exposed to which have only ])anks of deposit is, that a large portion of their capital remains unproductive, whereas those Avhieh have banks of circulation use all their capital productively, except that portion which is kept in reserve to meet the occasional demand for specie. It must never be forgotten that the capital of a country which is employed as money, is not em- ployed as an instrument of production, but simply as an instrument to facilitate the exchange of other capital. We may now proceed to follow Law through the various stages of his financial enterprise at Paris. Havino; in vain submitted various schemes for a Na- tional Bank to the Council of Finance, he at last ob- tained permission to establish (2d May, 1716) a pri- vate bank, the capital of which should consist of six millions of livres, divided into 1200 shares of 5000 livres each. At this time the public debt had been reduced by a succession of ordinances from 600 mil- lions of various securities, to 250 millions of (Billets d'Etat) State Notes. The shares of the bank were purchaseable with State Notes, to the amount of three fourths of their value ; the remaining fourth was re- Notice His. quired to be paid in silver. The author of the " No- lTw"' '"'' tice Historique sur Law," in the Collection of Econo- mistes Financieres du 18 siecle, justly calls atten- tion to this fact, as showing that the interests of the bank were, from its origin, bound up with those of the State. It is believed that Law had privately divulged to the Regent Orleans the ultimate scope of his plans, which were only to be disclosed to the public with the result. The bank discounted mer- cantile bills, undertook to keep the accounts of mer- chants by transfers in its books, and issued notes pay- SUCCESS OF law's BANK. 113 able on demand, in bank specie, that is, in livres of a lecture fixed weight and fineness of metal. ^ ^* The success of the bank was, as might have been ex- success of pected, immediate. The existing high rate of dis- Law-sBank. count in France, and the perpetual variations in the value of the metallic currency, had created almost a necessity for some such institution. The Regent, from the first, accorded his protection to it. The government set the example of employing its notes ; it gave and received them in all payments. The bearers of them, finding the greatest facility in having them cashed at the bank, began to feel confidence in them, and to communicate it to others. Their being payable in bank specie, of a settled weight and fine- ness, gave them a stability of value, which the circu- lating medium had never possessed in France since the reign of Philip le Bel. A stipulation for pay- ment, in notes of the bank, now became an equivalent to a stipulation for payment in livres of the same weight and fineness as those of the 2nd May, 1716. The public could not but avail themselves gladly of a settled common measure, and hastened to deposit their silver money in the bank, that they might ob« tain the use of its paper. During the first year of its establishment, the extension of the circulation of bank paper was left to the operation of ordinary infiuences. Their efi^ect, however, was not sufiiciently complete to satisfy the wishes of Law and the Regent. The cir- culation of the notes was, as yet, confined to Paris and a few large towns. It was desirable to make them circulate generally in the country. An ordi- nance was consequently issued on 10th April, 1717, that all official persons connected with the public revenue, should accept payment in the notes of the bank, and further, should cash all such notes on de- mand. From this moment all remittances between Paris and the country were made in bank notes ; as it I 114 ITS EFFECT ON THE CTUCULATION. The effect on the cir- culation. LF.rTURK -\vas unnt'cossiiry to send specie backwards and for- , wards, and bank notes were more easy of transport. The money from the country now found its way into tlic coffers of tlie bank, and Law belield his project begin to be realised, of a bank of circuhition having, for its reserve, all the metallic money of the country. With a capital of six millions, tlic bank, at last, ac- cording to ]M. Thiers, had succeeded in issuing from 50 to 60 millions of notes, without its credit being in any way shaken ; but reasonable doubts may, I think, be entertained of the issues of Law's Private Bank having ever reached so large a sum. Now, had there been 50 or 60 millions of capital in France remaining unemployed, for want of a stable circulating medium, to enable it to be transferred from the hands, in which it was lying idle, to the hands which would employ it productively, then, in- deed, the credit of the notes of the bank might have supplied the means of transfer with great advantage to the state. Or again, if there had been a large quantity of specie in France, employed as money in facilitating the exchanges of capital, the substitution of bank notes as a medium of exchano:e would have released a portion of specie from its unproductive occupation as money, in the home market, and, at the same time, caused it to be employed productively, as a commodity, in the foreign market. The process by which the latter result would be brought about would be as follows. The issue of a given quantity of paper money would, at once, raise the money prices of commodities, the circulating medium would become in proportion depreciated, and specie, if it formed a portion of the circulation, would share in the depreci- ation. As soon as that depreciation had reached a cer- tain level, as soon as a given amount of specie would purchase in France a less quantity of certain commo- dities, common to France and England, than in Eng- IDEA OF A NATIONAL BANK. 115 land ; specie would be sent from the dear to the lecture cheap market, with advantage to France, and it ^vould ^^" be employed productively, in the foreign market, as a commodity, until such time as its exportation had so reduced the amount of the circulatins: medium in France, that money prices had sunk once more to that level, which made it profitable for the merchant to reini[)ort specie. This will always be accomplished more speedily, according as the industry of a coun- try is employed in the most advantageous manner ; for this circumstance will further a more rapid accu- mulation of capital, which, in its turn, will tend to re-adjust the old proportion between the circulating- medium and the various elements of capital in the country, and so reduce money prices. The very ex- portation of specie, under the circumstances just spe- cified, will contribute to cause a more rapid accumu- lation of capital ; for, in return for it, foreign com- modities will be imported ; and though what is termed, technically, the balance of trade, will be against a coiuitry exporting specie, yet she will be evidently carrying on an advantageous trade, by exporting her surplus specie in return for commodities which may be employed in the extension of some branch of in- dustry, and will thereby accelerate the growth of her capital. LaAv, in his grand conception of a national bank, Law's proposed that it should have the entire management 5J];^i"n.|I of the public revenue ; that it should replace the va- ^^^"k. rious companies which had hitherto farmed the public taxes, and which were in the habit of making enor- mous profits, not merely by the surplus which they actually received above the amount of their contracts with the state, but also by the high interest which they required for all advances which they madi' to the government; that it should negotiate all stale loans, and make all payments in belialf of the state : all 1 2 116 LA COMPAGNIE d'OCCIDENT. LECTURE which it might accomplish at a dimiiiislicd charge to , ^^' tlio state by means of its issues of paper money. In addition, tlie bank was to have the exchisive enjoy- ment of all the privileged branches of commerce, and thus was to unite the business of a merchant and a banker with the most important functions of the public exchequer. Its capital was to be divided into shares, and the shareholders were to participate in the profits. By combining the double character of banker and merchant, it would be enabled to offer its notes to those Avho wished for circulating capital, and its stock to those who wished to invest their capital. Unable to obtain the sanction of the government to the entire scheme. Law had succeeded, as we have seen, in establishing the first part of the machinery, namely, the bank, and its operations had been most prosperous. A favourable oj^portunity now presented itself of combining with it the business of a privileged mer- cantile company, of which he did not hesitate to avail himself. Shortly before the death of Louis XIV. a charter of exclusive commerce with the recently dis- covered country of Louisiana had been granted to Antoine Crozat ; but his undertaking had not pros- pered, and he was anxious to relinquish his privilege. Law was admitted by letters patent, of August 1717, to succeed Crozat, and was authorised to form a com- pany, to be entitled La Compagnie d'Occident, to which the king granted the sovereignty over the whole of Louisiana and the Illinois, an exclusive commerce ■svith that portion of North America for 25 years, and the monopoly of the beaver trade of Canada. The capital of the company was fixed at 100 millions of livres, and it Avas divided into 200,000 shares of 500 livres each, payable in full, according to Dutot, one of the cashiers of the Company of the Indies, in (billets d'etat) state notes; but according to M. Thiers, in his article " Law," in the Encyclopedic Antoine Crozat's patent. La Com- pasnie d'Occident, ITS ACTUAL CAPITAL. 1 1 7 Progressive, in the same proportions as the shares of lecture the bank. Dutot's account may, I think, be preferred. ^ ^^' The income of the company would thus amount to four millions of livres, when all the shares were sub- scribed for, being the interest payable from the state upon 100 millions of state notes, which four millions would represent the amount of capital really available for commercial enterprise. The billets d'etat were at this time at a discount of from 66 to 72 per cent. The state, by this arrangement, transferred to a portion of its creditors the revenue from the lands and com- merce of Louisiana ; yet the holders of state notes did not readily avail themselves of the opportunity of ex- changing them for shares in the company, though Law at once invested the whole of the state notes, which the bank possessed, in the stock of the company. Henceforward, then, a portion of the capital of the bank would be invested in the lands of Louisiana, and in the commercial transactions of the company. It will be obvious that no new capital, in the proper sense of the word, would be created by the issue of shares by the company ; it would merely determine in what manner a certain amount of capital represented by 100 millions of state notes should be employed. If those 100 millions were equal to a real capital of 25 millionsof French livres, the notes being at a discount of three fourths their nominal value, the shares of the company would only represent that amount of real luactuui capital. Until, therefore, the colonial and commercial '"'"'"'''■ operations of the company had succeeded in creating new capital, the remainder of the nominal capital of the company was so much fictitious capital, and its use could not in any way act as a stimulus to production. In order, therefore, to affect public opinion in their favour, Law determined upon attaching a real revenue as soon as possible to them ; and with tliis object the company took a lease of the tobacco duties from the I 3 118 THE ROYAF. HANK. Royal Bank. LECTURE govcrnmciif, wliich caused a slif^lit rise in the market , ^^' value of their shares. The prosperity of tin; l):iiik in the mean time was on the increase, and tlie llegent determined at last to take it into the hands of the government, liy an ordinance of December 4, 1718, in which it was an- nounced that the Kegent had repaid the sliareholders their capital of six millions in specie, it was declared a royal bank. The soundness of the principles upon which Law had hitherto conducted the transactions of the bank, can hardly be considered to have been sufficiently tested. It had certainly existed for two years and a half without its credit having been shaken; but its paper had been forced into and kept in circu- lation by the influence of the government, and its ex- perience could scarcely be held to have solved the question, as to what amount of reserve in specie would support a given circulation of bank notes. The Regent, however, had perceived that the bank, by issuinof its notes, had drawn into its coffers a laro:e amount of specie ; he therefore determined upon trying the experiment for the benefit of the state upon a much more extensive scale, and as there was now a general confidence in paper money, he deter- mined not to hamper the state with the lialiility, which had been imposed upon Law's bank, of paying its notes on demand in silver coin of a given weight and fineness. Accordingly, the royal bank issued notes payable either in bank specie, as before, or in current silver coin. The two propositions, which Law had always boldly enunciated, were now to be tested practically: 1st, that money was the source of wealtli ; 2nd, that it rested with the government to maintain a just equilibrium between the supply of and demand for money, so that it should be never too dear or too cheap ; for whilst the royal bank, which an ordinance could at any time empower to issue notes, could sup- Law's Bank. ISSUES OF law's bank. 119 ply money to any amount, the shares of the Com- pany of the West would furnish the government witli the necessary machinery for maintaming the circu- latmg medium at its just level. It has been already observed, that it seems issues of doubtful whether tlie issues of Law's bank, not the royal bank, ever amounted to sixty milhons. Its nominal capital consisted of six millions, of which three fourths were billets d'etat (which were at a discount of three-fourths their nominal value), and one fourth silver. It thus had a reserve in specie of one and a half jnillions, which subsequent experi- ence has shown to be barely sufficient to maintahi a circulation of six millions. M. Thiers may, however, be correct in saying that it had issued in the course of two and a half years notes to the amount of sixty millions ; but of these a very large mimber must in the mean time have been cancelled, as they found their way back. For to increase the con- venience of employing them, the public were allowed to endorse them over to one another till they were presented for payment at the bank, when they were invariably withdrawn from circulation and new notes issued in their place. The average circulation of the notes may perhaps be estmiatcd at about twelve millions at the most, and for this reason. Six months after the establishment of the royal bank, an ordinance informs us that seventy-one millions of bank notes had been issued, twelce la'dHoiis payable in hank silvei', as if this Avas the amount of the former circulation, and fifty-nine millions in current silver coin. It would seem as if this plan had been adopted to lull to slet'p any suspicion in the j)ublic mind as to the notes of the royal bank payable in silver coin no longer representing the same certain fixed value which the notes of Law's bank liad done: and the plan had succeeded if the words of tlie ordi- I 4 120 • NEW COINAGE. LECTURE nance were not a mockery, wliich stated, tliat as the ^^' notes of the new standard were preferred by the * public to those of the old standard, the issue of them wouhl be raised to 100 millions. New coin- It may be as well to state tliat during the period ''^'^' when the bank had been in Law's hands, the state had issued a new coinage, the weight of which was reduced one third, the mark of silver being now divided into 60, instead of 40 livres. So that notes of the royal bank, payable in livres of the current silver coinage, were really a third less valuable than those payable in the old bank silver. Coincident with the increased issue of notes, the government passed several regulations to enforce the use of them, instead of metal money, and guaranteed that they should not be exposed at any time to the same de- preciation as the silver money. Law now considered the moment to have arrived when the bank could be successfully engrafted on to the " Company of the West." In order then to raise the price of the com- pany's shares. Law determined to rig the market, as it is now technically termed. He bought 200 shares on account at par, and paid a deposit of two fifths, when they were at two-fifths discount, and undertook to forfeit his deposit, if he did not complete the pur- chase; and meanwhile mysterious rumours were adroitly circulated of the brilliant prospects of the company. The attention of speculators was at- tracted to the shares by Law's purchase, and within less than a fortnight's time, the shares had actually reached par. In a short time it was announced that the merchants of St. Malo had abandoned their ex- clusive privilege of trading to the East Indies to the Company of the West, which in the mean time had acquired the rights of the Company of Senegal, which had a monopoly of the African trade. The Company of the West had thus acquired the combined mono- COMPANY OF THE INDIES. 121 poly of the trade to Asia, Africa, and America, and lecture it assumed the name of the Company of the Indies. ^^'• Fifty thousand new shares of 500 livres were now issued, representing a capital of twenty-five millions, pany oTthe which could only be subscribed for by shareholders of ^"'^'"• four times the value in the Company of the West. On these a deposit of ten per cent was to be paid by the subscribers, who were allowed twenty months to pay up the remainder of the principal. This transaction cannot but remind us of the present system of the established railroad companies issuing new shares, to which the holders of old shares are alone entitled. These skilful combinations caused the new shares to be eagerly sought for ; they were termed " Filles," ^'"^»- Daughters, and their Mothers, the shares of the Com- pany of the West, rose in value at the same time. Law's original manccuvrewas put in execution towards the end of April. Before the end of July the shares in both companies bore a premium of 100 per cent. Law pushed on his success. He obtained for the company at the end of July a lease of the mint for nine years, for the sum of fifty millions, to be paid within fifteen months. It became necessary, there- upon, to issue new shares in order to raise this sum. Fifty thousand shares, a nominal capital of twenty- five millions, were consequently created on the same system with the Daughters, to be called " Petites rctitcs Filles," or Grand-daughters ; and they were to be ^'"'■'" issued at a premium of 100 per cent, which the earlier shares now bore ; by which means fifty mil- lions, the desired sum, would be raised. It was at the same time announced, that after January, 1720, a dividend of 12 per cent Avould lie paid to the share- holders of the Company of the Indies. No person was to be entitled to subscribe to the new shares unless he held five of the old shares. The Grand-daughters became even more popular with the speculators than 122 law's final measure. i.ix'TruK tlic Diinglitcrs, and by tlic moiitli of Au;:,mst, 1710, . ^^' , tlic original shares of the Company of the West, which were bought in 1717 for 500 livrcs in state notes, equivalent to 150 or IGO livrcs in money, were selling in the market for 5000 livrcs. i-uw's final J^aw was now prepared to make his last grand inoasuiv. movc. By an ordinance of the 27tli of August, it was announced that a lease of what were termed the "fermes g6neralcs," the five great branches of the custom duties, which it had been hitherto usual for the state to lease out to contractors, and which had been farmed by an opposition company, headed by the Brothers Paris, (termed L'Anti-Systeme, as Law's was known by the name of Le Systeme,) was granted to the Company of the Indies, and that it had likewise offered to lend the state 1500 millions Undertakes at 3 pcr ccut, to cuablc it to pay off the public debt, thJ'pibUc ^^^^ discharge its most burdensome liabilities. The •'e'Jt. state at present was paying four per cent interest ; and this proposal Avould at once save it fifteen millions annually. A second ordinance followed in a few days, directing the public creditor to pay his govern- ment securities into the treasury, which would deliver in exchange orders upon the cashier of the Company of the Indies, payable either in specie or stock of the company. To meet tlie alternative of so large a demand. Law calculated, first of all, on the assistance of the bank to provide money ; secondly, upon an issue of 300,000 new shares to provide stock. These new shares, of the same nominal value of 500 livres as the old shares, were not to be issued under a less premium than the others bore, which were now selling for 5000 hvres. By this means they would realise 1500 milHons, the sum required. A deposit of 10 per cent was required from the subscribers, and ten months were allowed for the pa}-ment of the principal. The public creditor, who nou' was forced ISSUE or CINQ-CENTS. 123 to accept these shares in lieu of his state notes, was lecture forced to accept a share representing a capital in the . ' . books of the company of 500 livres, at the market price of 5000 livres ; so that he Avould be really ex- changing a government security for 200 livres for the company's security for 20 livres of annual re- venue, the state and the company both paying four per cent interest. Law, in the mean time, issued the new shares in three equal portions of 100,000, and within the space of twenty days the whole quan- tity was subscribed for. They were termed cinq- issue of cents^ five hundreds, from the amount of the de- ""^''^^^ *■ posit per share. They attained a premium of more than 50 per cent within a few days ; and to prevent all chance of the first call coming too soon upon the subscribers, and so causing a fall in the price of the shares, the interval of payment was extended to three months. Speculation was rife in the mean while be- fore the first three months expired, and by the end of November the shares were quoted at from 1 8 to 20,000 livres, and they maintained this monstrous premium till the 15tli of December, about which time the first call became due. In the mean time the bank had issued 640 millions issues of of notes, and by the commencement of the next year "^'' it had increased its issues to upwards of one thousand millions. The public creditors, who were certainly entitled by an ordinance of Sep. 2Gth to purchase the new shares, for wliich the treasury receipts or state notes (billets d'etat) were exchangeable, had now the choice of two alternatives — either to pay the premium on the shares, or to decline them, and con- tent themselves with notes of the bank. At the end of November, 1719, the market price of the whole of the shares of the Company of the Indies, which were issued to represent a capital of 800 millions (C-ompagnied'Occident, lOOmilHons, Filles, 25 millions, 124 FALL OF THE SHARES. LECTURE Pctitcs FiUcs, 25 millions, Cinq-cents, 150 millions), ^' . liad reached the enormous amount of 12,000 millions. It was high time for the speculators, who understood their game, to withdraw themselves from the concern. In all great bubble transactions three classes of per- sons will invariably be found to be engaged. The large mass will consist of rash speculators, who pur- sue an unskilful system, and simple-minded persons, who do not reflect, but act as they see others acting : the remainder is made up of shrewd speculators, who are fully alive to the risks of the undertaking, and who form a comparatively small body. AVhen this last class, on the present occasion, found the shares of the Company of the Indies quoted at 20,000 livres, about the end of November, knowing the enormous amount of fictitious capital in the market, and that a call upon the shareholders was approaching, they thought it high time to convert their fictitious capital into some better kind of security. For an entire fortnight the high premium was maintained by skil- ful management, during which they disencumbered themselves of their shares. As the call drew near, other persons, from inability to meet it, brought their Fall of shares into the market. As the supply now out- sharcs stripped the demand, a depreciation of the shares ensued. The mass of the shareholders took alarm : buyers were only to be found in the ranks of the unskilful speculators ; the foundations of the edifice of credit were shaken ; it began to crumble to pieces. Difficulty At the opening of the new year. Law had at last to grapple with the great difficulty of his system ; namely, he had to keep up the price of the shares and the notes of the bank at one and the same time. The shareholders, for instance, hastened to convert their shares into bank notes, only for the purpose of exchanging the notes at the bank for money. But the bank had issued upwards of one thousand millions of of Law's system THE PRECIOUS METALS DEMONETISED. 125 notes ; and though the convenience of bank paper for lecture the negotiations of the share market had caused . specie to flow into the coffers of the bank for the last three months of 1719, yet its reserve of specie was quite unequal to the present emergency. The only resource was to proscribe the use of gold or silver money, excepting for small payments, and to main- tain the circulation of the notes by state regulations. A series of ordinances with this object succeeded each other, and ultimately, after various enactments, to reduce, if possible, the value of all property, parti- J^'e^'iTde- cularly of precious stones, by prohibiting their use^ as monetised, if value and utility were coincident, the precious metals, as they are termed, were demonetised — gold not being allowed to circulate as money at all, and silver only in coins of the actual value of pieces of ten and five sous, in the present day, equal to about two- pence and one penny respectively of English money. Law's fundamental idea had meanwhile been car- Laws- fun- ried into final execution by an ordinance, which fixed fj^f°*^ the value of the shares at 9000 livres, and esta- blished an ofiice for the mutual conversion of shares into bank notes, and bank notes into shares. By the agency of this new machinery, he calculated upon preventing any redundancy or deficiency of the cir- culating medium. He conceived that the bank now formed a sort of reservoir for money, and that through the medium of the shares of the Company of the Indies the supply could be kei)t at a just level. If the circulation of bank notes became redundant, pro- vision was made for their being exchanged for the stock of the company : if it should become deficient, the stock of the company would find its way to the bank, and be converted into bank notes. And as the use of metallic money was abolished, there was sup- posed to be no other standard of value but the notes of the bank. 126 TOTAL STOCK OF THE COMPANY. LECTURK VI. The working of the machinery did not, however, fuHil the expectations of the projector. The hoklers of the company's stock coutiiiued to flock to tlie bank to exchange it for bank notes, which entailed an in- creased issue of the notes. Within two months after the final development of the system, upwards of IGOU additional milUons of bank notes were put into circulation, being more than double the supposed average amount of the metallic money of the whole country. So that at the be- ginning of May, 1721, there had been issued by the bank,notesofthenominalvalueof 2,696,400,000 livres. The whole stock of the Comj)any of the Indies, at stock of the this time, including a few additional shares, which had omiuiiy. .^^ ^1^^ interval been created, represented a nominal capital of 312 millions, the interest of which, at 4 per cent, would be 12 millions 480,000 livres. But the company had in the course of its transactions gua- ranteed a dividend of 200 livres per share, equivalent to 40 per cent upon its original capital. Dutot, the cashier of the company, represents that its revenues were fully equal to make good the undertaking, and supplies a table of them in his " Reflexions sur le Commerce et les Finances." If such were really the case, the shares of the company might in due course of time have recovered their character in the market, after the alarm of the public had subsided, though they would have been subjected to a very great depre- ciation, had not the bank increased its issues to keep up their price. The inevitable effect, however, of so much paper money being launched into circulation was, that the money price of all articles was more than trebled, which proved the fallacy of the system as to its capa- bility of duly regulating the circulation. Had the business, indeed, of the bank not been mixed up with the affairs of the company, and had the shares of the Dutot's opinion of its solvency. GENERAL RISE OF MONEY TRICES. 127 company been left to find their level, the shareholders lecture would have been much distressed, and, in the majority . of cases, utterly ruined ; but the connection of the bank with the company led to the operations of the former being made subsidiary to the assistance of the latter; and thus the general public, who had not specu- lated in shares, became greatly inconvenienced by the rise of money prices, and those classes who had to ti.c rise lepend for support upon their labour, would be almost of money prices. ruined by it. The Ilegent, acting upon the advice of D'Argenson, his former minister of finance, whom he had recalled to his councils, and contrary to the expostu- lations of Law, issued an ordinance reducing gradually the value of the shares of the company from 9000 to 5000 livres, and that of the notes of the bank to one half of their current value. Law had the discredit of beino^ the author of this measure. The public, who had hitherto been completely in the dark as to the cause and meaning of the rise of prices, understood as little of the real purport of the last measure. They were not aware that they had been already robbed of two thirds of their capital, when they were forced to accept state notes, which would oidy command a third of the commodities, Avhich silver of the same nominal value, as the notes, would have commanded previous to their issue. They now imagined that the state had by its decree robbed them of half the value of their notes; whereas, although the nominal value of the notes would have been re- duced one half, money prices would soon have sunk proportionately. The outcry was in consequence universal, and the Regent had the feebleness to revoke the ordinance. I think the term feebleness may be justly ap})lled to Forbionew J , . iif the Ke- the conduct of the llegent, for as M. Thiers observes, gci or. " if the ordinance was injudicious, its revocation was ''""'• more so." A declaration that the shares (>i the com- 128 DEPRECIATION OF BANK NOTES. Deprecia- tion of bank notes, LECTURE pany and the notes of the bank should l^e a^rain of the IV 1. J ^ ^ ~> value which their title announced, Avas really nuga- tory ; because no person could be a^^ain persuaded of the fact, and consequently, they could not recover their former place in public estimation. It was but the repetition of a legal falsehood, and without relieving those who were already ruined by it, it entailed ruin upon those who would be obliged once more to receive the notes at their original nominal value. The results showed that public confidence in a circulation based upon an inadequate amount of capital, when once shaken, cannot be restored by artificial means. The prepossession in favour of the bank note, which had naturally grown up from its original convertibility on demand into silver money of a given Aveiglit and fine- ness, was gone ; and in spite of the revocation of the ordinance of the 21st of May, its market value fell within a short time to ninety per cent discount. The shares of the company were for a short time sustained by purchases on the part of the bank, but ultimately participated in the common depreciation. It is un- necessary to trace the various steps by which at last a return to a metallic currency was effected. The investigation of the working of Law's system has been entered upon for a double purpose, partly to show from the history of events, how erroneous were the prevalent notions of his day as to the nature of value, and partly to exhibit the dangerous results to which such, erroneous notions may lead. Law had confounded money mth wealth ; credit with capital. Money con- Instead of rcfj^ardino; money and credit as merely founded , . c , ,- ■ • ^ r i i withwcaitii. media oi transierring capital irom one hand to ano- ther, and so indirectly stimulating productive indus- try, by enabling it to be set more readily in motion, he considered them to be as directly operative as capital itself, and thus he was led to suppose that a well devised system of credit might enable a country FAULTY FOUNDATION OF LAW's SCHEME. 129 to make two uses of the same capital. Such, it is con- ceived, was the fundamental principle involved in his scheme of a national bank issuing notes on the security of the land of the country, and such, it is conceived, was the fundamental idea on which he constructed his system in France, of a national Ijank issuing notes on the security of the shares of the Company of the Indies. IHO ECONOMISTKK FINANCIKKS. LECTURE V. Systems of The distinctivG pGculiaritics of the systems of taxa- France aid tion, wliich prevailed ill France and England respec- i:ngi;iiui. tively, will in some measure account for the different tendencies of speculative inquiry in the two coun- tries on questions connected with national wealth. In France, a considerable portion of the taxes were direct, in England, on the other hand, they were chiefly indirect ; in France, they were imposed at the arbitrary discretion of the king's council, in England, they could not be levied Avithout the consent of the representatives of the Commons, and an instance occurs, as early as in the reign of Henry YIL, of a general subsidy having been refused. (Roper's Life of Sir Thomas More.) Accordingly, we find the investigations of the earliest writers in France more immediately directed to the circumstances which re- gulate the distribution of wealth, as they perceived that the burdens of taxation were distributed most unequally : whereas, in England, Avhere the taxes were mainly levied indirectly upon articles of con- sumption, and so bore a definite proportion to the means of each contributor, as measured by his con- sumption of such articles, the determination of the laws which regulate the production of wealth, seems to have been a subject of more immediate interest. Thus the earliest French -writers, in the collection of the works of the most distinguished economists of the French and English schools, now publishing in Econo- Paris, are classed under the head of " E'conomistes Financitrs. Financiers," including Le Marechal Yauban, Le Sieur de Boisguillebert, John Law of Laiiriston, as a natu- LE MARECHAL VAUBAN. 131 ralisecl French subject, Jeun Fran9ois Melon, Law's lecture secretary, and M. Dutot, the cashier of the Company ^' of the Indies. The three hist names have ah'cady been alluded to in the preceding Lecture. The traditions of the Feudal System were not Traditions entirely extino-uished in France until the revolution f^^*-'*"^"- J o (lal system of 1789. Amongst these was the legal inequality of in France, the Tiers Etat, which comprised all the productive classes of the nation, and its subjection to a system of direct taxation, from which the nobles and the clergy were both exempt. The Taille, for instance, the Capitation tax, the Vingti^mes, and a host of petty imposts, bore almost exclusively upon profits, and rents contributed little or nothing to the state. Of course there might be some exceptions ; but this would be the general rule. The tendency of such a system was clearly to check the accumulation of capital, and so to limit the means of setting pro- ductive industry to work, the inevitable result of which would be a retardation of prosperity, and most probably an actual impoverishment of the country. Vauban was convinced by a variety of facts, which a vauban. course of statistical inquiries had brought under his notice, that the continuance of the existing system, such as he found it, would be most ruinous to France, and he therefore proposed to substitute, in the place of the Taille and other taxes, a Dime Koyale, the king's tenth, similar to the clergy's tenth, to be levied in kind on the annual gross produce of the land, and in money on the annual gross income from personal property and other sources. It is not necessary to examine the details of his plan, which he termed " Projet d'une Dime Royale," J,'.3!„;,,,^. as to its applicability to furtlier the end which lie itoyaU'. had in view. Sir James Steuart, in the 4th volume of his Principles of Political I^^conomy, has assigned a steuart-* chapter to its examination, nnd points out :i viii-icty ,,•,'.',„',',', jj^. K 2 132 PROJET DUNK DlMK HOVALK. i.i.cTtmE of objections to it. There can be no doubt tliat lia«l ^ ^ Louis XIV., to wliom the Marechal presented a copy of his work, entertained a favcjural^le view of tin* principles advocated in it, many modifications would have been found necessary in executing the scheme. But the work did not secure for its author the con- sideration to which he was entitled. It was published by him in 1707, without his name, and its sale was immediately prohibited by an order of the king's council ; and, if we are to believe the memoirs of the Due de St. Simon, the illustrious author, to whom both his sovereign and his country were in other respects so deeply indebted, met with so ungracious a reception from the king, that he Avithdrew in grief and disappointment to his chateau, where he died shortly afterwards. His work, however, with all its defects, is still valuable, from the information which it supplies in regard to the condition of the indus- trious classes in France, towards the conclusion of the reign of Louis XIY., and the general embarrass- ment then pervading every rank of society. " From the researches," Yauban writes in his pre- face, " which I have been enabled to make during several years since I have given attention to the subject, I have observed, that of late about one-tenth part of the people is reduced to beggary, and actually begs subsistence ; that of the nine other parts, there are not five which are able to assist the first part, because they are themselves almost reduced to the same unfortunate condition. Of the remaining four parts, three are in any thing but easy circumstances, and are hampered with debts and lawsuits ; and the tenth division, in which I include the military, the legal and clerical professions, all the hereditary nobi- lity, the nobility of distinction, all the civil and mili- tary officials, the merchants, and the tradesmen of property, does not comprise more than 100,000 fami- Reign of Louis XIV. General rnisery in France. LE SIEUR DE BOISGUILLEBERT. 133 lies ; and I think I shall be within the mark in say- lecture ing, that there are not ten thousand of these, great , ^ or small, whose circumstances are in every respect easy; and of this latter body, the majority, in some way or other, with the exception of a few merchants, receive payments from the Crown." Almost contemporaneously Avith the interdict against the sale of \ auban's work, the resentment of the ministers of Louis XIV. was directed against the Sieur de Boisguillebert, one of the chief magistrates of ^'^."'" ^'^ Normandy, as the author of a work entitled " Fac- bert. tum de la France." The practical object of this treatise was to recommend the adoption of certain modifications in the mode of levying the taille, and the substitution of a capitation tax of one tenth, pay- able in money upon real and personal property, in lieu of the indirect taxes usually farmed out to con- tractors. This alteration, it was contended, would secure a large increase in the revenues of the Crown, whilst the demands upon the funds of the subject would at the same time be mucli reduced. AVith these changes it was proposed to combine the aboli- tion of all duties upon the transport of commodities from one province of the kingdom to another, as well as upon the exportation of them, and the reduction of the duties upon foreign imports. " AYealth," he writes, " consists in the continual exchange of the surplus which one individual possesses for the sur- plus which another possesses ; for the moment that the means of effecting this exchange are wanting, a country becomes distressed in the midst of abun- dance. Now such will be the result whenever the just proportions of commodities are destroyed, and whenever one party to the transaction cannot effect an exchange, except at a loss, in respect of the cost of production ; in which case commerce is suspended and distress ensues, for as the opulence of a state K n 184 TAXi;S ox AGRKJI'LTI'IU-:. LKCTURK consists ill tlic iiiaiiitciuuicc of" all the vari(jus depart- , J , rncnts of labour, and as they reciprocally depend upon one another for support, the depression of one branch of industry acts injuriously upon all the others." (('hap. X.) Such De Boisguillebert contended had been the Xl-icuitur a ^^^^^* of ^^^^ heavy taxes levied upon agricultural iiroduce. produce. They had raised the market price so high that the consumption of wheat, wine, &c., was checked by it, and the growers were obliged to abandon their produce to the tax-gatherer ; and as the cessation of consumption entailed as a necessary consequence the cessation of production, with every diminution of production there was a corresponding diminution of national wealth. " How can the peasant of Picardy or Normandy afford to drink the wine of Anjou or the Orleanais, when he has to pay twenty or twenty- four sous for what the wine-grower sells for a single sou ? And how can the wine-grower continue to cultivate the vine, when the single sou, which he receives for his produce, will not defray the expense of cultivation ? One effect of levying indirect taxes upon the consumption of domestic produce is to dry up the sources of the direct taxes ; and whilst a great portion of the indirect taxes is lost to the Cro^vn from the expenses of collecting them, they have checked cultivation to that extent, that the Crown has lost six times as much by the diminution in the direct taxes on produce (la taille), as it has gained by the indirect taxes on consumption." We find that at this time a growing disposition existed in France to attribute the distress of the country to a deficiency of money. This notion De Boisguillebert combats as fuU of absurdity, point- ing out, that although a country like Peru, -whose only produce was silver, and wdiere silver was used not as a measure of exchangeable value, but as the only article of exchange, the people would die of famine, if they had no silver, since they would have no V. SUPPOSED DEFICIENCY OP MONEY. 135 coniinodity to exchange for food and clothing ; yet lectlke in a country like France, where it is used only as a medium of exchange, other articles, such as a promissory note, or even the word of a merchant, might perform the same function. De Boisguille- bert had a clear appreciation of the distinction in the separate employments of silver, as money, and as a commodity, and that when it was employed as money it was not employed productively, and the reverse, when employed as a commodity. " Silver is anything but an element of wealth in a country which does not produce it : it is the medium by which connnerce is carried on, and the guarantee of the future enjoyment of a commodity, which is not at once handed over on the part of one of the parties to the exchange, and it discharges this function in common with such a host of other articles, such as verbal promises, paper, parchment, and commodities themselves, that the use of it is dispensed with, for the most part, in transactions where some had supposed it to be in- dispensable. Nay, it is never required except where no confidence is placed in the verbal or written undertaking of one of the parties. It is immaterial whether there is much or little of it in a country, for the purposes of its opulence ; that is, its enjoyment not merely of the necessaries, but the luxuries of life. One thing only is indispensable : whether prices are high or low, everything must be in proportion : otherAvise, without proportion, there will be no com- merce, and then no wealth, or rather great distress, as experienced at present in France. A person who possessed 1000 francs of annual revenue in the reign of Francis I., was as wealthy, and passed Iiis life as comfortably and luxuriously, as one who now enjoys 15,000 francs of revenue, because the same measure of wheat then only cost 20 sous, which now costs 15 or 16 francs, and the price of shoes was at that time K 4 136 FACTUM DE LA FRANCE. I)e Bois- guillebert's notion of value. Factum de la France. only five sous. The liibourer, however, who sohl liis wlieat for 20 sous, and the shoemaker who sold his shoes for five sous, found the transaction answer, be- cause the just proportions were maintained. 15ut if in the present day, wheat were sellin;^ for 15 francs, the shoemaker would starve if he could only sell his shoes for five sous: as in like manner the labourer would be stripped of everything, if he had to sell his wheat at 20 sous, and to pay four francs for his shoes." (Ch.IV.) Entertaining such views, De Boisguillebert, had he lived, would have been found amongst the opponents of Law's scheme, the success of wdiich in reviving the prosperity of France, depended on the soundness of Law's doctrine that the presence of money was the cause, not the effect, of wealth. De Boisguillebert, however, had not advanced in the analysis of the in- trinsic value of money, beyond the position, in which Locke had left the subject. " The vendor of a com- modity," he says, " rarely, if ever, trafficking with the possessor of the particular commodity which he w^ishes to procure in exchange for his own, and not being able to obtain it except by the intervention of a numerous body of vendors and purchasers, there Avas a necessity for a guarantee on the part of the first purchaser, that the wishes of the vendor should be ultimately satisfied. The services of silver have thus become necessary, by a certain agreement and general consent of mankind, that in every country, except under very extraordinary circumstances, the bearer of a given quantity of silver should be secured the enjoyment of that proportion of the connnodity which he wishes for, which will compensate him for having parted with his own commodity, with the same certainty as if the original transaction had been one of barter." (Ch. IV.) The work from which I have quoted, " Factum de la France^'' which caused its author to be exiled from DETAIL DE LA FRANCE. 137 the seat of his magistracy, was but a practical ex- lecture position of views already set forth in 1697 by the . publication of the " Detail de la France,'^ which, how- ^^^^^ ^^ ever, had not attracted much attention. The same la France, enliglitened principles pervade both treatises ; and although, as De Boisguillebert's biographer, M. Daire, observes, his glance can not be said to have at once embraced all the numerous and complex phenomena of production, yet the lessons which he gave to his contemporaries are not unworthy of our regard in the present day. It certainly had not escaped him, that a moderate tariff of custom duties was calculated Moderate to secure a larger revenue than an exorbitant scale, duties. Of this fact he gives a curious illustration in ch. xv. of the " Detail." Having alluded to the ruin Avhicli the farmers of the French customs had formerly ex- perienced in consequence of Henri IV. 's retaliating measures on Philip the Third of Spain for having raised the duties enormously on exports and imports, he states that such heavy duties Avere imposed in France on the exportation of French brandy to J^ngland, that the farmer of the customs in one of the maritime towns of France received in his first year no returns upon brandy. On inquiry, he found that the English despatched small boats to the coast, and that the exports of brandy were lowered at night over the cliffs by bodies of smugglers ; so tliat in fact no duty at all was paid upon it. He theiv- forc determined to exact only half the duty to which he was entitled, which not merely brought him a very considerable profit upon his contract, but by reviving the legitimate trade of the town, restored it to its ancient prosperity. Law's " Considerations sur le Numeraire etlc Com- merce" would come next in order of time; but as that work lias been discussed in the last Lecture, we may pass on to the " Essai T^olitiquc sur le Commerce," of .Tean Fran- Jean Fran9ois Melon, who had been secretary to Law *'°" 138 MELON .S KSSAI SCK LK COM.MKUCK. LKC'I'tU Melon's view of commerce. 1)6 Bois- guillebert's definition of com- merce. until the dowiital of the system in 1720, and suhse- (j[ucntly secretary to tlie Regent Orleans. This work was publislied in 1734, and the fame which it procured for its author jiresents a curious contrast to the dis- grace which had attended i)e Uoisguillebert's labours. Melon's work recommended itself to the prejudices of tlie age in which he lived, by advocating the prin- ciples of tlie mercantile system ; and as his exposition of the system was clear and lucid, its doctrines were made intelligible to the minds of many persons who had hitherto supported it, without understanding its theory. Commerce, according to Melon's view, was the exchange of a superfluity for a necessary. Hence, liberty of commerce was held, by him, to consist in a licence to merchants not to export and import freely all kinds of merchandise, but only those commodi- ties, which would procure for every citizen the means of exchanging his superfluities for the necessaries which he might require. " There are regulations for all manufactures ; there are fixed measures and weights ; there are marks and seals, which control the workmen, and obviate the fraudulent cupidity of the merchant. All this is established for the sake of the consumer ; so that, in order to ascertain whether or not new regulations are opposed to liberty of commerce, we must not inquire whether the merchants or the workmen are harassed by them ; it is not for their sake that they are made. We must examine whether the proprietor of the raw material has a better vent, and whether the consumers have a cheaper and more certain supply. If these two conditions are fulfilled, then the merchant and the workman cannot be too much favoured, nor have too many facilities for their undertakings." (Chap. XV.) Now De Boisguillebert had virtually, though not in terms, defined commerce to be the mutual e.vchange of superfluities. It will be perceived that, according CONTRADICTORY VIEWS OF COMMERCE. lott as the one or the other of these definitions is adopted, llc tl kl the advantages of commerce will appear to be one- ^" sided, or reciprocal, and we thus find that whilst the bitterest jealousy of trade has prevailed between states which have held to the mercantile theory, a recipro- cal liberty of commerce has been fostered in coun- tries, where statesmen have been trained up in the opposite school of ideas. " It is false," wrote Condillac, in 1776, " that in condiiiacs exchanges an equal value is given for an equal value. '^""''" On the contrary, each of the parties to the bargain always gives a less for a greater value." On the other hand, Mr. Huskisson, in 1810, declared, that Mr. hus- " the exchange of equivalents is the foundation of all J^inilu. commerce, from the simple barter of the untutored Indian, to the most complicated and extensive opera- tions of the London merchant." In comparing state- ments, apparently so contradictory, we must be care- ful not to be misled by the ambiguous Avord value. In the language of the mercantile system, the word value comprises what Adam Smith distinguishes as utility or value in use, which he keeps separate from the idea of exchangeable value. Adam Smith would admit, that, in commerce, a person generally ex- changes away an article relatively less useful to luni- self for one relatively more useful ; but such qualities do not determine the respective values of the two articles. The greater or less utility of a connnodity may furnish a motive for the exchange, but will not decide the proportion in which one commodity will exchange for another. Those proportions nuist be decided by some other consideration than the capacity of commodities to satisfy our Avants, namely, by some relation which they bear to a common standard, and it is that relation which expresses their value. T\ni notion of tlie value of money being purely ;V';,;;!';.;;";_ conventional had paved the way for the repeated agi-. 140 DUTOT SUR LES FINANCES. LKcrrRi; exercise of the [)rerogative of the Crown, in aiif^nent- , ^ ing and dimiiiisliing tlie value of money at its plea- sure. Money was said to be augmented in value, when a given weight of silver was coined into a greater number of pieces of a given denomination, the value of the coin being held to be augmented as its weiffht was diminished. Melon maintained that the augmentation in the value of the coin was always advantageous to the Crown, and to the people, in their mutual relation of debtors, inasmuch as the revenues of the Crown would be collected, and the charges would be defrayed with greater ease to all parties, in proportion to the greater abundance of money. This doctrine, ^vith its various corollaries, could not but challenge opposition, and it gave occa- Dutot. sion to Dutot, the cashier of the Company of the Indies, to publish a refutation of it in a series of letters, which appeared ultimately in their complete form, in 1738, in a work entitled " Reflexions Poli- tiques sur le Commerce et les Finances." This trea- tise contained the ablest exposition of the principles of currency hitherto attempted; and although the author's relations with Law somewhat biassed his judgment, in examining the operations of credit, yet the sound and lucid doctrines which he propounded, in discussing the operations of money, relieved the question from much of the embarrassment, in which Melon's work had involved it. Dutot's book was, in its Paris-Du- turn, ably criticised by Paris-Duverney, one of Law's verney. niost vigorous opponcuts, wliosc intimate connexion with the measures of finance adopted by the French Government upon the failure of LaAv's system, had subjected him to some unfavourable reflexions in the course of Dutot's work, (" Examen des Reflexions Politiques sur les Finances, par Paris-Duverney.") Forbonnais. Tlic addition of the name of Forbonnais Avill complete the list of Financial Economists. His Avork, however. M. quesnay's novel theory. 141 entitled " Recherches et Considerations sur les Fi- nances de France," is not so much a treatise upon finance, as an historical review of the three great economical experiments, which had hitherto been tried in France, namely, the agricultural system of Sully, the manufactural and commercial system of Colbert, and the financial system of Law. The partisans of the mercantile system had, for the most part, supported Law's financial measures ; so that the failure of Law's scheme could not but weaken the hold which Colbertism had over men's opinions. We should, consequently, not be surprised at seeing the standard of revolt openly raised against the mercan- tile system, by a philosophical mind, Avhich had studied the phenomena of agricultural industry, and had conceived its importance, as the productive instru- ment of national wealth, to be paramount. ]\I. Ques- m. Ques- nay, the originator of a new order of ideas, was chief "hf,,! ■""''' physician to Louis XV. of France, and was enabled, by his position, to secure for his opinions the ready attention of the Court, as well as of the chief mem- bers of the King's Government. His views were made public, for the first time, in 1756, in the French Encyclopcklie, under the articles " Fermiers" and " Grains," and their publication formed the com- mencement of a new era in the mode of treating such subjects. Up to this time, indeed, the opponents of the mer- cantile system had carried on a kind of " Guerilla," one writer assailing its views of money, another its principles of exchanges, a third, its doctrine of pro- fits ; but no system of combined operations against it had as yet been organised. Its outposts had certainly been stormed and carried, but the citadel had not been as yet assailed. Quesnay, however, liaving, at a glance, discovered the key of the enemy's position, An:,i>sis of determined to subject the nature of wealth itself to a w;'ii»»- 142 HIS NOTION OK I'UODUCTIVE LAIJOi:j{. Productive labour. Turcot sur les Rich- esses. iVcsli aiiiilysis, knowiiif!; that il liu c(juld hut hjucci'cd in showing, that the end, which the tnercantile system sought to accomplisli, was not the true end to whicli all combinations of industry should be directed, tin; means, which were, of course, subordinate to that end, would at once be discredited. Quesnay assumed, as the ])asis of his system, thiit " the earth was the sole source of wealth, and agri- culture that which multiplied it." Labour, applied to land, he held, was the only labour that produced something more than the wages of the labourer, i. e. more than the equivalents of the expense of produc- tion, and it was exclusively the surplus [)roduce of the land, that formed the fund out of which the wages of all other kinds of labour were defrayed. The first kind of labour was thus the sole kind employed j>^'0- ductiveh/, in extracting from the earth new materials, upon which the other kinds of labour might be sub- sequently employed, in modifying their form, and adapting them to the different uses of mankind. So- ciety thus at once divided itself into two great classes — the productive class, consisting of the cultivators of the soil, and the stipendiary class, subsisting entirely on the produce of the former class, of which it re- ceives a portion in exchange for its services. In course of time, however, as the produce of the land was found to be more than sufficient to support these two classes, the cultivator, in many cases, de- volved the task of cultivation, and a portion of the produce, to another party, reserving to himself the remainder of the produce in the character of proprie- tor. Such is the theoretical outline which Turgot has traced in his " Reflexions sur la Formation et la Distribution des Richesses," and such the practical division which Quesnay assumed in his " Tableau Economique." To use his own words, '*■ La Nation est reduite a trois classes de citoyens : la classe pro- TABLEAU ECONOMIQUE. 143 ductive, la classe des proprietaires, et la classe sterile." According to this division, the whole revenue of the land belongs to the proprietary class, who have for their own enjoyment the net produce^ which remains Quesnny's over and above, after the advances of the cultivator '{f*^'^"" ' ^ L'cono- have been repaid. The cultivator's advances consist mnw. in the food, &c. which he has himself consumed, and the wages -which he has paid for the services of the unproductive class, which has likemse furnished him with his farming implements, &c. The gross revenue of the land will thus be the measure of the annual reproduction of wealth. " In economical langua":e," writes the Abbe Baudeau, " the i-'^bbe word ' reproduction signiiies the entire aggregate of food and raw materials, of which the one part will be consumed rapidly, by living beings, the other will be used slowly, after having been more or less modified in form." (Introduction a la Pliilosophie Economique, chap. i. s. 4.) It is obvious, that the conclusions of the school of Quesnay are involved at once in their definition of wealth. The proposition "Laterre est Tunique source de richesses," implies that wealth consists ex- clusively in the raw produce of the soil : hence, of ^^'■''*''^' ^^^"^ •J i- ^ _ " raw i)ro- course, no labour except that employed in agriculture tiuce of the could be productive of wealth. In this sense the labour of the artisan was termed unproductive; for Quesnay, achiiitting that the artisan produced forms, and that his labour added value to the raw material, denied that he produced really wealth. "I do not deny," he says in liis second dialogue, " Sur les Travaux des Artisans," " that there is an addition of wealth to the primary materials of the works fashioned by artisans, since labour augments in effect the value of the primary material. JUit we must distiiiguisli between an addition of wealth by combination, from a production of wealth : tliat is, ])etween an augmen- 144 TIIK ARTS UNPRODUCTIVE OF WEALTH. The labour of the arti- san unpro- ductive. F.KcrrRK tation of it, by tlie combination of raw materials witli ^ ""' ^ a certain expenditure in the consumption of articles wliic.h were in existence before this augmentation, and a generation or creation of wealth, which forms a re- newal and real increase of it (renaissante)." The supposed production of wealth by the artisan would thus be in truth nothing more than the preservation of wealth, by encasing it as it were in new forms. Quesnay, however, in terming the labour of the artisan unproductive and barren, did not deny to the arts utility, inasmuch as by the forms which they im- parted to matter, they adapted it to the comfort and preservation of human life; but, according to his view, they did not create value, the essential charac- teristic of an article of Avealth, but only utility, inas- much as by the new forms which they produced they created a new use, but the value of their work was made up of the value of the new materials em- ployed, and the commodities consumed by the arti- san in the course of his occupation. If, he con- tinued, the labour of artisans were productive of wealth, the greater the number employed upon any work, the higher would be its exchangeable value, and the greater the addition to the national stock of wealth ; but it is generally admitted that the greater the economy of labour and other expenditure in the arts, the greater is the advantage resulting to the state from a diminution in the price of the ccmmo- dities. " This drinking-glass," he ^mtes, in the dialogue above referred to, " only cost one penny : the raw material of which it is made cost a farthinof : the labour of a glass-blower has quadrupled the value of this material. AVe have here a production of wealth equivalent to treble the original amount : it would therefore be advantageous, according to your view, to discover a mode of making a similar glass, which would employ the labour of two workmen for quesnay's view of value. 145 a year : and still better, if it wei'e to employ the labour lectire of four workmen for a year : consequently, you would ^ say that it would be very disadvantageous if a machine were to be invented which would make, with- out cost, or with very little cost, beautiful lace and splendid pictures. In reality, the invention of print- ing gave occasion for very serious discussions upon the diminution of the labour of copiers ; nevertheless, after a careful examination, printing was fully adopted. You must thus, my good friend, reconcile your ideas, if you can, with these contradictions ; otherwise the object of the pretended production of wealth, by the labour of artisans, does not seem worthy of consideration." Now Quesnay had said in his " Tableau Econo- Tableau mique" that it was by the sale of the productions of f 1^°°°." the soil, at first hand, that the value of the annual re- production of the wealth of a nation was known ; and, in his 18th maxim, " Telle est la valeur venale, tel est le revenue : abondance, et non valeur, n'est pas richesse. Disette et cherte est misere- Abondance et cherte est opulence." And again, " Qu'on ne croie pas que le bon marche des denrees est profitable au menu peuple, car le bas prix des denrees fait baisser le salaire des gens du peuple, diminue leur aisance, leur procure moins de travail et d'occupations lucratives, et an(3antit le revenue de la nation." Quesnay seems thus to employ the word value, in regard to agricultural produce, in a different sense from that in which he uses it with respect to manufac- tures. In regard to the latter, their selling value, ac- vaiuc ac- cording to Quesnay's own views, represented precisely Qj^sna>-s* the cost of their production. An increase, therefore, in ^^'^• their value, in this sense, Avould only imply an increase in their cost; and this would evidently entail, not tlie production, but the consumption of wealth : l)ut when it was admitted, in the course of tlie argument, tliat the L 146 AMBIGUITY OF THE TERM VAT-HE. i.KCTiiRE labour of the urtisiui uugiriciited in cH'cct the vuhie ^ , of the raw material, the exchangeable value must have been meant ; inasmuch as, in the first place, the raw material is expressly distinguished from the com- modities required ihv the suljsistence of the workmen ; and, secondly, it would have been a mockery for the speaker, in the dialogue, who represents Quesnay, to avow that he did not deny that the labour of the artisan increased the cost of production. The fallacy of the entire argument seems to consist in the am- biguous use of the word " value, " which he docs not merely employ in the twofold sense just enumerated of exchangeable value and cost of production ; but at one time he uses the term collectively, at another disiributively . Thus, he says, those who do not dis- tinguish between the real and the fictitious augmen- tation of wealth, believe that the production of wealth, which results from the labour of the artisan, consists in the auo'mentation of the exchanijeable value of his work, which is inconsistent. Now, it would be quite possible for the exchangeable value of the work of the artisan class to be augmented without the cost of its production being augmented, if the quantity of that work were only to be augmented, in Avhich case its exchangeable value, collectively, might be increased, though the exchangeable value of each portion of the work, i. e., its exchangeable value distnbutively, might remain unchanged, or even be diminished : so that there would not of necessity be any contradiction in supposing the mass of manufactured produce to be in- creased, and its collective value augmented, yet the price of each separate article audits cost of production to be diminished. Quesnay was aware, in all probability, that the argument which he employed, was rhetorical, as, after making his opponent retort it unskilfully upon him in reference to agricultural labour, he charges him with wishing to escape from the difficulty quesnay's idea of commerce. 147 by changing his ground, and thereupon he himself lecture proceeds to another topic. > ^ , In a similar manner the labour of the merchant was not admitted by Quesna}- to be in any way produc- tive : commerce, he maintained, was but the exchange commerce, of value for equal value (le commerce n'est qu'un echange de valeur pour valeur egale), and that rela- tively to these values there was neither gain nor loss to the parties. " As for me," he says, " 1 have always seen in commerce nothing more than the exchange of value for equal value ^vithout production, althougli this may be profitable from circumstances, to one or other of the parties, and even to them both. In fact, one may always presume that it is profitable to botli parties ; for, on the one side and on the other, they procure the enjoyment of wealth, which they could not obtain, except by an exchange ; but invariably tliere is an exchange of one kind of wealth of a certain value for another kind of wealth of an equal value, and con- sequently, no real augmentation of wealth." " The productions, which I want to sell and the artisan wants to buy, exist, l^efore I can sell them, or the artisan can buy them. Thus, our commerce, in the sale and purchase of these productions, does not give them birth. It is not, therefore, productive of the things which I want to sell, and which the artisan wants to buy." Again, " as it is the interest of the purchaser to buy at as low a price as possible, and of the vendor to sell at as high a price as possible, and both are compelled to make a sacrifice of interest, there are other conditions, independent of the will of the vendor or purchaser, which determine the price of merchan- dise ; their commerce, therefore, is not productive of the wealth, or the exchangeable value of the produc- tions, which they exchange with each other, since both 148 ANNUAL REPRODUCTION OF WEALTH. LECTURE V. Annual in- crement of national wealth. Impot Unique. the merchandise uiid tlic silver have their price settled before the exchange." This theory of commerce at once exploded the whole tariff-apparatus of the mercantile system. If commerce was nothing but an exchange of equiva- lents, the balance of trade was an airy pliantom, and it would be no more disadvantageous to buy manufac- tured goods than raw materials. Otherwise, how could the commerce of two countries be maintained if the gain was all on one side? and if it were really disadvantageous for a country to buy manufactured goods from foreigners, how could it be expected that foreiorners should consent to receive her manufactures o in exchange for their own raw materials? " Of the gross produce of the land, the annual reproduction of wealth, a large portion is at once required to make good the advances of the cultivator. The surplus represents the annual increment of national wealth, and it constitutes the disposable capital of a country, just as the proprietors constitute the disposable class for the general purposes of the state, other than those of production." Hence sprung Quesnay's suggestion of repealing all the existing taxes, and imposing in their stead a single tax (impot unique), which should be levied at once upon the net produce of the land. He contended that all taxes, however indirectly imposed, must ulti- mately be defrayed out of this net produce. If they were paid by the productive class, they would form a portion of their outgoings, which would have to be replaced out of the gross produce of the land : if they were paid by the unproductive class, as the latter body earned its subsistence by working for the pro- ductive class, the funds from which the tax must be defrayed, would again have to be furnished by the productive class out of the gross produce of the land, and in both cases the amount of net produce would be IMPOT UNIQUE. 149 equally reduced. By levying, therefore, a single tax lecture at once upon the net produce, much of the expenses , J' of collection under the existing system of diffused a single tax taxation -would be saved. On Quesnay's theory of "p*'" ^^'^ •' *^ net pro- wealth and productive labour, the advantages of a duce. single direct tax, in a mere financial point of view, were self-evident, inasmuch as the revenues of the state would be augmented by the saving of ex- penditure without the burden of taxation being in- creased : in addition, however, such a tax was less objectional)le in its operation than indirect taxes, inasmuch as it did not check the growth of national wealth to the same extent. Indirect taxes, for instance, operate as obstacles to consumption ; but the consumption of an article is what stimulates its reproduction, " Tel est le debit, telle est la reproduc- tion." All obstacles, therefore, to the consumption of agricultural produce, such as liea\'y transport duties, restrictions upon exportation to foreign coun- tries, &c., were so many discouragements to agricul- tural industry, and every such discouragement tended to reduce the quantity of net produce. Again, every obstacle thrown in the way of the manufacturer and merchant increased their expenditure, and conse- quently the cost of their work or merchandise ; but the increase cost of their Avork had to be defrayed from the net produce of the land : the greater there- fore the saving in the expenditure required for pro- curing a given quantity of manufactures or mer- chandise, the greater would be the residue of net pro- duce. It could not, therefore, be for the interest of the proprietor of the land to throw impediments in the way of the industry of the manufacturer or mer- chant, as they would react upon himself, nor could it be for the interest of the manufacturer or merchant to restrict the production of the agriculturist, for with every increase in the gross revenue of the land tliere L 3 150 LIBERTY OF COMMERCE. Lilurty of commerce. De Bois- guillebert Mr. Mac- culloch. "Would be Jill iiicrcjisc in tlie IuikI for tliu payment of tlie services of the unproductive class, and a corre- sponding increase in the demand for their work. " Qu'on maintienne," saysQuesnay in his 25th maxim, " I'entiere liberty du commerce ; car la police du com- merce interieur et exterieur la plus sure, la plus exacte, la plus profitable a la nation et a I'etat, con- sistc dans la pleine liberte de la concurrence." Although the spirit of Quesnay's system was so liberal and generous in its results, it cannot be denied that his definition of wealth and productive industry was only less narrow, than tliat which we meet with amongst the supporters of the mercantile system. De Bois- guillebert entertained juster views when he said that wealth consisted in an abundance of commodities suit- able for consumption, and that opulence was nothing else than a great consumption of such commodities. Mr. Macculloch, in the introductory discourse pre- fixed to his edition of the " Wealth of Nations," after reviewing the leading features of Quesnay's system, observes, " that in assuming agriculture to be the only source of wealth, because the matter of which all commodities are composed must be originally derived from the earth, M. Quesnay and his followers mistook altogether the nature of production, and really sup- posed wealth to consist of matter ; whereas, in its na- tural state, matter is very rarely possessed of imme- diate and direct utility, and is always destitute of value. It is only by means of the labour which must be laid out in appropriating matter, and in fitting and preparing it for our use, that it acquires exchangeable value, and becomes wealth. Human industry does not produce wealth by making an}- additions to the matter of our globe, this being a quantity susceptible neither of augmentation nor diminution. Its real and only effect is to produce wealth by giving utility to matter already in existence ; and it has been re- quesnay's theory of prices. 151 peatedly demonstrated, that the labour employed in lectdre manufactures and commerce is just as productive of . ^' utility, and consequently of wealth, as the labour em- ployed in agriculture. Neither is the cultivation of the soil, as ]\I. Quesnay supposed, the only species of industry which yields a surplus produce aifter the ex- penses of production are deducted. When agriculture is most productive, i. e. when none but the most fertile soils are cultivated, no rent, ov produit 7iet, is obtained from the land, and it is only after recourse has been had to poorer soils, and when, consequently, the pro- ductive powers of the labour and capital begin to di- minish, that rent begins to appear ; so that, instead of its being a consequence of the superior productiveness of agricultural industry, rent is really a consequence of its becoming less productive than others." This is rather a startling mode of stating the fact, tliat in every country there is some land under culti- vation which returns no produit net, but merely repays the outlay of labour and capital in the form of wages and profits, and that agricultural industry is not uni- versally productive, in Quesnay's sense of the word, but in some cases is as stip>endiary as the labour of the manufacturer and the merchant, and must be con- tent with earning bare subsistence. One of the most questionable positions which M. Quesnay maintained was, that low prices were preju- dicial to the lower orders. " Qu'on ne croie pas que Quesnay's Ic bon marche des denr6es est profitable au menu peuple ; car le bas prix des denrdes fait baisser le salaire des gens du peuple, diminue leur aisance, leur procure moins de travail et d'occupations lucra- tives, et aneantit le revenu de la nation.'* Now both facts and the reason of the thing arc op- Mr. Mau posed to this statement. Mr. Malthus, in his " Princi- ples of Political Economy," has shown, from various periods of English history, that the bullion price of 1. 4 theory of prices. 152 M. \)i: GOURNAY. LFXTTiRE labour does not rise and fall with the bullion price of . corn ; but, on the contrary, that tlie bullion price of hibour has risen, wliilst the bullion price of corn was falling. As far as the reason of the thing is con- cerned, there is no necessary connexion between the price of labour and the price of raw produce : they may both rise and both fall together in common with all other commodities, if money becomes more plenti- ful or more scarce ; but this will be merely a nominal rise and fall, and cannot affect the condition of the labourer ; but raw produce may fall Avhilst wages rise in price, if only the supply of raw produce be greater than the demand for it, and the demand for labourers be greater than the supply of them ; and raw produce may rise in price in consequence of an increased de- mand for it, yet the labour market may be overstocked with labourers, and wages continue low. By the side of M. Quesnay, though under an inde- pendent banner, we find M. de Gournay, the Inten- dant-general of Commerce, combating the restrictions of the mercantile system, and by his station and repu- tation for talent contributing greatly to the dissemi- nation of more enlarged and comprehensive views with respect to commerce. With him, according to many writers, originated the saying, " laissez faire, laissez aller," leave labour to itself, leave produce to itself ; though its origin is by others attributed to a merchant of the name of Legendre, on occasion of his being consulted by Colbert as to his proposed tariff. Neither Quesnay nor M. de Gournay contemplated the formation of a school ; but the system of Quesna}', which became distinguished by the name of " La La Physio- Physiocratic," awakened curiosity by the novelty of its theory, and arrested attention by the scientific mode in which its doctrines were stated ; so that in a short time Quesnay numbered a large body of ad- mirers and disciples, who were distinguished by the M. de Gournay cnitie. TURCOT. 153 name of " Les Economistes." Amongst these the lecture V. most illustrious for their writings were Le Marquis ^^ (le Mirabeau, Dupont de Nemours, Mercier de la Les e'w- Riviere, I'Abbe Baudeau, and Le Trosne. The works nomistes. of the last four, in conjunction "vvith Quesnay's own publications, make up the list of " Physiocrats " in the collection now publisliing in Paris. Turgot must Turgot. be considered as the statesman of this school, although he was not a blind disciple of the system. His work upon the formation and distribution of wealth has been already alluded to. It is the clearest and most attractive of all the treatises based on the principles of the Physiocrats, and it comes nearest to the work of Adam Smith in its exposition of the general princi- ples of the science of national wealth. M. Necker was the most distinguished adversary of m. Necker the Economists in France. They had at once raised a most important practical question, as to the removal of the existing restrictions upon the trade in corn. Colbert had prohibited the exportation of grain with a view of securing for the manufacturers an abundant supply at low prices. His policy, as was to be ex- pected, had entailed consequences most prejudicial to agriculture. Dupont and Necker were before long Dupont de engaged in a controversy on the subject ; but the most vigorous supporters of the mercantile system in op- position to the doctrines of the French Economist School were to be found amongst the ranks of the Italian economists : amongst these the Abbe Galiani Abbe stands pre-eminent, whose celebrated dialogues " Sur le Commerce des Grains," which he wrote in Paris when secretary of the Neapolitan embassy, drew Mercier de la Riviere into the controversy. In Italy itself, Beccaria raised his voice against the doctrines Bcccaria. of the Physiocrats in his lectures on political economy delivered before the university of Milan in 1768 and 1769 ; but the most complete exposition of the funda- 154 I'IKIUO VHKRI. Li.cTi Ki. mental error of their system in maintaining the , ^j exclusive productiveness of agricultural labour ap- riitioVirri. pearcd in 1771, when Pietro Verri published his " Meditazioni sulla Economia Politica." " Reproduction," he writes, " is just as much attri- butable to labour employed on manufactures as to agricultural labour. All the phenomena of the world which are produced by the hand of man, or rather by the universal operation of natural laws, gives us the idea, not of an actual creation, but only of a modifi- cation of matter. To combine and to separate are the only elements which the human mind can discover in analysing the idea of reproduction, and it is as much a reproduction of value or wealth, if the earth, the air, or the Avater in the fields is converted into grain, as if with the aid of the hand of man the glutinous secretion of an insect is transmuted into velvet, or certain little bits of metal are organised so as to pro- duce a sound. Whole cities, and entire states, are sup- ported by nothing else but the produce of this most fertile unproductive class, whose reproduction com- prises the value of the raw materials, the consumption proportionate to the hands employed, and a further share which goes to enrich the person who has embarked in the undertaking, and prosecuted it with successful talent." Reproduc- Again, "the reproduction of value is shown by that tionof amount of price which the wares or manufactured value. J- . . goods bear above the original value of the raw ma- terials, and the cost of the commodities consumed during the process of fabrication." Again, " the price of all commodities depends upon the combination of the two elements of demand and scarcity." These are very different opinions from those enter- tained by the Physiocrats. AVe must not, however, suppose that either Beccaria or Yerri were partisans BANDINI. 155 of the mercantile system. They had sufficient acute- lecture iiess to detect the falseness of Quesnay's principles, ^ whilst they recognised the truth of many of his con- clusions. Thus Verri maintained that "liberty of commerce in respect of grain could never, under any circumstances, be prejudicial either to the subsistence or the abundance of a nation; " that " the balance of trade, as it is called, is not sure evidence of a prosper- ous commerce," for the real question is, whether more or less annual reproduction has taken place in conse- quence of the commerce. " No one can be a vendor without being a purchaser. A nation composed of vendors alone would be a chimera; it would be an eiFect without a cause." We must not, however, in turning over this page of Bandini. our inquiry, which the system of the French economists occupies, omit to notice the writings of Bandini, whom the Italians regard as the precursor of Quesnay in the leading principles of his system. His " Discorso Eco- nomico," was written as early as 1737, though accord- ing to his biographer, it was not published till 1775. Its object was to call the attention of the Grand Duke Francis to the condition of the district of the Siennese Maremma, comprising about two fifths of Tuscany, which was little better than a pestilential swamp, and of which the cultivation had been almost totally aban- doned. He contended that, under the combined operation of heavy indirect duties, and restrictions on the commerce of grain, it was impossible for the culti- vator to make head against his expenses. "If," he says, " the consumption is not proportioned to the quantity of produce, the latter loses estimation, and its price falls. This fall in price entails a loss upon cultivation, which leads to the ruin of the country ])eoj)le, to poverty, to the distress of the towns, and, finally, to scarcity." 15G OBSTACLES TO EXCHANGES. " Nature," he elsewhere says, " has given to the earth a fertility proportioned to the wants of its inhal)itants. Providence, too, has filled the world with ample supplies ; but, in order to keep up inter- course between men and between countries, he has so disposed them in his ^visdom that no one should j^ossess all that is designed for him. " From the earliest period of the world neither has grain been gathered by shepherds, nor wool pro- duced by the earth to clothe the labourer; but, by the shepherd and the labourer innocently exchanging their mutual surplus, all have found themselves adequately fed and adequately clothed. One district produces wine in superabundance, but is deficient in grain : another, though most fertile in grain, has not a climate adapted to ripen the grape so as to make wine. Providence has provided these two countries with grain and with wine, respectively, without any other obligation than that each should hand over its surplus to the other. Artificial " But if ouc couutry, swerving from this benefi- exchanges*.° ^^^^ ^^^j ^^ Order to augment unjustly the value of the superfluity which it parts with, loads it wath a duty or raises difficulties in the way of commerce, as for the most part resulted upon the breaking up of the Roman empire, both countries will soon begin to be distressed from a scarcity of grain and of wine. Inasmuch as wine, for example, being raised in price by^ the duty imposed upon it, will require more measures of grain than before to compensate for the expenditure upon it ; the natural equilibrium between the respective surpluses being destroyed, the surplus of grain mil balance a less quantity of wine : hence the poor man, who was before just able to procure for himself a supply of wine during the year, in exchange for the surplus of his grain, will be obliged TAX UPON RENT. 157 to drink water during several months, and to con- lectire sume a less quantity of wine. In this manner, the ^" consumption being diminished, a glut of wine will ensue: it will lose its value in the market, and it will no longer answer for the labourer to cultivate the vine, much less to plant it." Quesnay himself could not have pleaded the cause of the cultivators of the soil in more expressive lan- guage. Bandini, having incidentally stated that agricultural labour, when not discouraged from exerting its full powers, will be found not merely to pay its expenses, but to secure a double or even a quadruple return, proposes the repeal of the esta- blished duties on the transport and consumption of agricultural produce, and that a direct tax should at direct tax once be levied upon rent. '• It appears to me," he writes, " that a tenth, or a certain per centage, ought to be paid on account of all arable lands, and pas- tures, and ground-rents (terratici), but not by the labourers, nor the shepherds, nor the farmers (coloni), but by the proprietors of the land, and that it ought to be doubled upon all who do not effectively discharge their duty, as inhabitants, without any exemption founded upon privilege or naturalization." For this apparent sacrifice, lie contended, that the proprietors would be fully indemnified by the in- creased rental from new lands being brought into cultivation, and l^y the reduction of indirect taxes. It is impossible to deny to Bandini the credit practical which his comi)atriots have claimed for him : and ^f'*^^ . ... Banili under the enlightened administration of the Grand work. Duke Pietro Leopoldo, the principles which he liad advocated, were found to lead in their application to the happiest results. The population of theMaremma mul- tiplied : it rapidly acquired, by the exercise of a free commerce of raw produce and other commodities, the ts of ni'g 158 EFFECT OF BANDINl'S WORK. means of increasing the fertility of the soil, as well as of improving the character of its products. It thus became more industrious, more wealthy, and more happy. " Such," observes Count Pecchio, in his history of Political Economy in Italy, " were the effects of a good book upon a good Prince." IMPORTANCE OF DEFINITIONS. 159 LECTURE VI. A DISTINGUISHED writer has observed, in reference lecture to the great importance of appropriate definitions of , ' , the fundamental terms of political economy, that the comparative merits of the system of the economists of the school of M. Quesnay, which was discussed in the previous lecture, and that of Adam Smith, depend upon their different definitions of wealth and of pro- ductive labour. If the definitions which the eco- impo'-fance nomists have given of them be the most useful tions, and correct, the system, Avhich is founded upon them, is the correct one. If, on the other hand, the wider meaning assigned to these terms by Dr. Smith be more appropriate, then his system must be consi- dered as superior both in utility and correctness. In this passage it would seem to be assumed, that in political economy, equally as in geometry, no cor- rect definition of a term can be devised which shall not imply everything which belongs to the term, or, in other words, that the meaning of the term and the nature of the thing shall be one and the same. We must not, therefore, be surprised at the almost entire absence of definitions in Adam Smith's " Inquir}^ into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations," since his object was rather to explain the true charac- ter of the facts which the terms in ordinary use denoted, and he, no doubt, felt convinced that a more precise nomenclature would follow, as a neces- sary consequence of a more accurate tone of thought on such subjects. Writers, antecedent to Adam Smitli, who under- took expressly to treat of political economy, included, IGO ADAM SMITHS VIi:\V OF POLITICAL KCONOMV Political economy distinct from the political Adam Smith's view of political economy. under that tcriii, a much wider range of subjects than those to wliicli, by the unassuming title of his work, he professed to confine his investigations. The great end of the pohtical science is the liappiness of the community, and its fiekl of view embraces all the great variety of means which tend to further that end. But politic/il economy, by its very name, im- plies a more limited department, whether we regard it as a specific branch of the political science, which the poverty of our language does not allow us to dis- tinguish by a specific name, or merely as the science of managing the affairs of a household, applied to the corresponding portion of the concerns of a com- munity. In Adam Smith's view, " Political economy, con- sidered as a branch of the science of a statesman or legislator, proposes two distinct objects : first, to pro- vide a plentiful revenue or subsistence for the people, or more properly, to enable them to provide such a revenue or subsistence for themselves ; and, secondly, to supply the state or commonwealth with a revenue sufiicient for the public services. It proposes to en- rich both the people and the sovereign." An inquiry, therefore, into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations would, according to the above statement, be identical with an investigation of the fundamental principles of the science of political economy ; and to this more limited field the English, as distinguished from the Continental school of writers, have adhered since the publication of Adam Smith's work. The great founder of what has been termed the industrial system, as distinguished from the mercantile and agricultural systems, showed his usual discernment in selecting a title for his work, which should express its subject matter, rather than denote the nature of the science of which he was about to give a novel exposition. SPHERE OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 161 The circumstance, that political economy had hitherto been confounded with the science of govern- ment, had been calculated to mislead writers as to the proper province of their inquiry, and we thus find Deviations some of the most distinguished leaders of the French S^ri'ttrl'''^ economist school, such as Mercier de la Riviere and the Abbe Baudeau readily diverging into the exclusive domain of politics, and at last discussing questions affecting the distribution of power, rather than the distribution of wealth. Such results could not but excite a jealousy on the part of statesmen, and a prejudice on the part of the public against political economists, as theoretical innovators in state matters ; more particularly as writers who considered them- selves employed on a science whose subject was tlie welfare of communities, felt it to be their duty to recom- mend the adoption of particular measures, as calcu- lated to promote a certain distribution of wealth, according, as they conceived, to the best interests of society. From such objections political economy has been at last set free by the judicious limitation which Adam Smith adopted in excluding the element of government from his inquiries, and so confining his discussions to that sufficiently large class of means, which are embraced under the term wealth, and the command of which contributes, in a material form, to the welfare of communities. The functions of tlie noli- Fu'i^^t'o'is tical economist were thus kept quite separate from those liucai eco. of the statesman, and made justly subordinate to "'"""^• them ; the former being employed upon the investi- gation of one set of causes and effects, the latter upon the operation of those effects in their turn, in common with many others, as causes of further effects. The business of the statesman tlius commences wlicre tlie political economist concludes his labours; niid it falls within the province of tlie former, exclusively, to decide to wliat extent tlie conclusions of the latter 1G2 SUBJECT OF A. SMITHS WORK, Subject of Adam Smith's work. should be acted upon. Many })ersons, not being aware of the comparatively narrow sphere which the })(^litical economist of the school of Adam Smith is content to occupy, and that he does not intrude his advice, but merely supplies certain general principles for the use of the statesman, leaving it to his discre- tion to determine whether or not the occasion is suit- able for their application, have objected to his con- fining his attention to wealth, as falling short of his duty. This objection might have some plausibility, if the political economist of the present day, who con- fined his attention to wealth, asserted his subject to be of the paramount importance which the economist of olden time claimed for his studies, when he pro- fessed the happiness of mankind to be the object of them. There have doubtless been incautious writers, who have brought discredit on political economy, by seeming to recommend measures solely on account of their being productive of wealth ; but if this error be avoided, the objection above alluded to will not be well founded, and may be safely disregarded. " The annual labour of every nation is the fund which originally supplies it with all the necessaries and conveniences of life, which it annually con- sumes, and which consist^ always either in the im- mediate produce of that labour, or in what is pur- chased with that produce from other nations." Such are the opening words of the introduction to the " Wealth of Nations," in w^hich it will be observed that Adam Smith, by implication, assumes the subject matter of his treatise to be identical with the national stock of the necessaries and conveniences of life, and defines such stock really to be the produce, either immediate or mediate, of the annual labour of a nation. Again, at the commencement of Chapter V. he writes, " Every man is rich or poor according to the earlier statonicnt. LOCKE'S ESSAY ON GOVERNMENT. 163 degree in which he can afford to enjoy the necessaries, lecture conveniences, and amusements of human Hfe." We . ^^' behold here the torch burning more brightly as it approaches us, which Antonio Serra kindled, and which has been handed on along the chain of writers which we have traced, and of which De Boisguillebert was the last link. Antonio Serra had been the first to point to the serra-; arts of industry, which provided mankind with the necessaries, conveniences, and delights of life, as the efficient causes of wealth, Avhich one country might equally with another set in operation. De Boisguille- bert had likewise said that wealth was nothing else than the power of procuring for oneself the comfort- able maintenance of life, by the enjoyment of super- fluities as well as necessaries ; that money was only a means to secure this end : so that a country might be rich without much money, and the possessor of money, on the other hand, might be much distressed, if he could not exchange it aAvay for the necessaries and conveniences of life. Adam Smith, however, was not content to hand on the torch merely unextinguished. He imparted new fire to it, and, as it were, kindled it afresh by defining wealth to be the produce of human labour. Locke, indeed, in his Essay on Civil Government, re- Locke's ferred to in the Third Lecture, in explaining]: how ^***y ' 1 O Civil C>. " the property of labour had been able to over- vemnunt. balance the community of land," had shown that it is " labour indeed that puts the difference of value on everything," or, as he elsewhere expresses himself, that " the impr()^'emcnt of labour makes the far greater part of the value:" but, as Mi-. M'CuUocli aptly observes, Locke does not seem to have l)een fully aware of the importance of the principle whicli he had elucidated, nor did he deduce from it any notable practical conclusion : on the contrary, in M 2 on Go- 164 GALIANIS TREATISE ON MONEY. LECTDKF, VI. * ■ Guliani's Trattato dellu Mo- neta. What con- stitutes a discovery. Lis tract on " Raising the Value of Money," i)u])lis]ied two years later, lie laid it down l^roadly that all taxes, howsoever imposed, must ultimately fall upon the land; which was a conclusion quite in accordance with the princi[)les of the Physiocrats, but totally inconsistent with the doctrine that " labour is the creative instrument of value." The same kind of consideration seems to be due to a passage in the Abbe Galiani's " Trattato della Moneta," to which M. Say, in the Preliminary Discourse to his Traite d'Economie Politique, calls attention, as being to a certain extent an anticipation of Dr. Smith's doctrine. " Whilst speaking of labour, I may remark, that not merely in the case of pure works of art, such as pictures, sculptures, engravings, &c., but also in many substances, such as minerals, rocks, wild plants, &c., their value is due exclusively to labour. The quantity of matter in these substances does not con- tribute to their value further than by increasing or diminishing; the labour." Yet Galiani in the same work says, that, whatever one person gains, some other person loses ; which is a proposition e\'idently at variance with the obvious conclusion, that if labour creates wealth, a person may acquire wealth himself without depriving a neighbour of it. The originality of the Abbe Gahani's view may per- haps be questioned, as he seems to have been acquainted with Locke's writings ; but we might go as far back as to Sir W. Petty, whose work on Taxes and Con- tributions has been elsewhere quoted, if it were the scattered spark, and not the kindled flame that we sought for. It is not, however, the incidental discern- ment of a truth, but the clear appreciation of the principles on which it rests, and of the conclusions to which it leads, that constitutes a discovery. Ser- vetus and Ctesalpinus rightly discerned the passage of the blood through the heart; but the disco- DIVISION OF LABOUR. 165 very of the circulation of the blood was peculiarly lecture the work of Harvey. Caesalpinus, to use the ex- ^^' pressive language of Professor Monti of Pavia, touched it, handled it, and was on the very point of raising the veil and discovering it ; but whilst the great discovery sparkled around him on every side, it mocked him, and eluded his gras|). So it was with the precursors of Adam Smith. They had perceived that the labour of man was productive of wealth. Galiani all but raised the veil, and discovered the con- sequences to which the principle led : it was reserved, however, for Adam Smith to make known how the circulation of wealth in great states originated and was maintained. Labour in its rudest form seems to have been barely capable of providing support for all the mem- bers of a community ; but amongst civilised nations, " the produce of the whole labour of society is so great, that all are often abundantly supplied, and a work- man, even of the lowest and poorest order, if he is frugal and industrious, may enjoy a greatei* share of the necessaries and comforts of life than it is possible for any savage to acquire." This has been chiefly effected by the division of labour, which enables labour to be applied with greater skill and judgment ; and tiip du the result is the greater productiveness of it. In li'bourr*^ illustration of this fact Adam Smith selects the trade of a pinmaker, and shows how the important business of making a pin is divided into about eighteen dis- tinct operations, which, in some manufactories, are each performed by distinct hands : the result of which is, that the same number of persons, who, if they wrought separately and independently, and Avithout the skill which continued practice alone brings with it, could not have made more than 200 pins in all probability, now make, in consequence of a ])roper M 3 166 EXCHANGEABLE VALUE. LECTURi: VI. * , ' Maltiplicji- tion of produc- tions. Exchange- able value. division and conibinatioii of their diiR-rcnt occupa- tions, upwards of 48,000 pins in a day. " It is the great multiplication of the productions of all the different arts, in (consequence of the division of labour, which occasions in a well-governed society that universal opulence, which extends itself to the lowest ranks of the people. Every workman lias a great quantity of his own work to dispose of beyond what he himself has occasion for ; and every other workman being exactly in the same situation, he is enabled to exchange a great quantity of his own goods for a great quantity, or what comes to the same thing, for the price of a great quantity of theirs. He supplies them abundantly with what they have occa- sion for, and they accommodate him as amply with what he has occasion for, and a general plenty diffuses itself through all the different ranks of society." " When the division of labour has thus been once thoroughly established, it is but a very small part of a man's wants which the produce of his own labour can supply. He supplies the far greater part of them by exchanging that surplus part of the produce of his own labour, which is over and above his own con- sumption, for such parts of the produce of other men's labour as he has occasion for. Every man thus lives by exchanging, or becomes in some measure a mer- chant, and the society itself grows to be what is pro- perly a commercial society." Having then traced out in what manner money has come to be the great medium of commerce. Dr. Smith proceeds to examine the rules which men observe in exchanging their pro- duce. These rules determine what may be called the relative or exchangeable value of goods. Now the exchangeable value is distinct from the value in use or utility of an object, and things which have the greatest value in use, such as w^ater, have frequently little or no value in exchange ; and on the contrary, PRICE DISTINGUISHED FROM VALUE. 167 those which have the greatest value in exchange, such lecture as the diamond, have frequently little or no value in .. use. What then are the principles which regulate the exchangeable value of commodities ? In a civilised community, a man's own labour can supply him with a very small portion of the neces- saries and conveniences of life ; he must derive the O /^,^ greater part of them from the laboui' of other people, ^ and he will thus be rich or poor according to the ,^ . * V.^-X quantity of that labour which he can command, or which he can afford to purchase. " The value of any DcHnition commodity^ therefore, to the person who possesses it, "^ ^'^"^' and who means not to use or consume it himself, but to exchange it for other commodities, is equal to the quantity of labour ichich it enables him to pur- '"- ' • chase or command. Labour, therefore, is the real measure of the exchangeable value of all commodities. " The real price of every thing, what every thing Real price. really costs to the man who wants to acquire it, is the toil and trouble of acquiring it. What every thing is really ujorth to the man who has acquired it, and who wants to dispose of it, or exchange it for something- else, is the toil and trouble which it can save to himself and which it can impose upon other people. What is bought with money or with goods is purchased by labour as much as what we acquire by the toil of our own body. That money or those goods, indeed, save us this toil. They contain the value of a certain quantity of labour^ which ice exchange for ivhat is supposed at the time to contain the value of an equal quantity. Labour was the first price, the original purchase-money that was paid for all things. It was not by gold or by silver, but by labour, that all the wealth of the world was origin idly purchased ; and its value, to those who possess it, and who want to ex- change it for some new productions, is precisely eipial M 4 168 TIIK rUOFITS OV STOCK. LECTURi: to the quantity of labour, which it can enable them to ^ purchase or command." Such is the foundation upon which the system of Dr. Smith was built up, and such the rule which de- termines the exchangeable value of goods in a simple and rude state of society : but as society advances, the real price of a commodity is no longer deter- mined by the amount of labour immediately employed in its production. Before any exchanges can be made, an accumulation of produce, beyond what is required by the producer for his own consumption, nmst have taken place. This surplus he may either exchange away, as we have already seen, for the produce of other men's labour, by the consumption of which he will increase his own enjoyment of life, or he may employ it to supply himself with additional materials and tools for his work, and so increase the productive poAver of his own labour. In exchanging then the subsequent produce of his labour, he will seek an equivalent for the produce or stock w^hich he has applied to improve the productiveness of his labour, and this equivalent is termed the profits of his stock, being in reality the indirect return to the labour originally expended in the production or acquisition of the stock. It thus happens that " in the price of almost The profits all commoditics the profits of stock form a component part distinct from the wages of labour, and in this state of things the whole produce does not belong to the labourer, but nmst be shared by him with the owner of the stock, wherever they are distinct per- sons." There are certain things, however, the quan- tity of which cannot be augmented, and amongst these is land. AVhen the whole of the land of any country has become private property, a new element of price springs up. Hitherto it has been supposed that the application of labour rests solely with the will of the labourer and the owner of stock; but of stock. RENT OF LAND. 160 when land is no longer open to fortuitous occupancy, lecture but has all been appropriated, the person who seeks . ^ ^' to employ his labour, or his stock, or both upon land, must acquire the power of doing so ; and for this power he must give to the owner of the land a por- tion of his produce ; and this constitutes the rent of land, and forms an element of the cost of production. Rent, according to this view, would seem to be tlie Kent or indirect wages of the labour originally employed in the appropriation of the land ; but Dr. Smith refers its origin to the selfishness of human nature, from which the owners of the soil are not exempt, " who love to reap where they never sowed, and demand a rent even for its natural produce." Rent would thus be merely the consequence of a monopoly. Now this seems to be both incorrect and likewise in- oiijcctions consistent with what had been previously laid do^vTi re- smith-r specting exchangeable value. It is incorrect, because ^■"'^'' °^ there is always some appropriated land which Avill not yield rent, which the owner must cultivate in the joint capacity of labourer and capitalist, and which he cannot let to another person to cultivate, because there is no surplus after wages and profits are de- frayed, and therefore no value for which he can ob- tain rent. It is also inconsistent with the definition of exchangeable value, as the creature of human labour, and the representative of labour. Thus, if A.'s land is twice as fertile as B.'s farm, A. will obtain the same amount of produce at the expense of half the labour and capital which I>. employs. Whilst the whole of B.'s return will just compensate his outlay, A. will have a considerable surplus, which has resulted from the superiority of the natural powers of the soil. The use of those natural powers will thus save to any cultivator a certain expenditure of labour and capital: those natural powers will tiius possess exchangeable value, and the price of them rent. 170 NATURAL I'HICE. Natural price. is what is properly termed the rent of tlie liuul. Doubtless, as soils of superior fertility are limited in quantity, this circumstance f^ives to rent the a[)pear- ance of originating in a monopoly, but the price of the productive power of such lands is determined by totally different considerations fromi those which a monopoly gives rise to. Thus, whilst the produce of B.'s farm will fetch 100?. in the market, such being the necessary return for the labour and capital expended in raising it, the produce of A.'s land will be worth just as much, be- cause the acquisition of it will save the expenditure of an equal amount of labour and capital. The value, therefore, of the produce of A.'s farm is determined by considerations altogether independent of the pay- ment of rent : rent, indeed, is paid, inasmuch as the sale of the produce secures more than the ordinary rate of profit, and it is paid on account of the supe- rior quality of the soil. Hence, when Dr. Smith says that the natural price of commodities, meaning thereby the price which is sufficient to pay the rent of land, the wages of the labour, and the profits of the stock employed, varies with the natural rate of its component parts, of wages, profits, and rent, he appears to have confounded variations in the proportions in which produce is shared amongst the producers, with variations in the proportions in which produce is exchanged ; but the latter proportions can only be affected by changes in the circumstances under which some of the commodi- ties are produced, and which will derange their mu- tual relations. Variations in rent cannot cause prices to fluctuate ; for rent, properly speaking, is not an element of price, and variations in the rate of wao-es and profit, where the proportion of fixed capi- tal is unchanged, aftect all commodities in the same de"-ree, so that their relations, in respect of such vari- PRODUCTIVE LABOUR. 171 ations would remain undisturbed, and their exchange- lecture able value not be altered. ^ ^^' The economists had limited the term productive productive labour to labour employed upon land, inasmuch as '^''""■■• such labour alone realised an amount of net produce. Adam Smith extended the application of the tenn to all labour from which value results. " There is one sort of labour," he writes, "which adds to the value of the subject upon which it is bestowed ; there is another which has no such effect. The former, as it produces a value, may be called productive, the latter, unproductive labour. Thus the labour of a manufac- turer adds generally to the value of the materials, which he works upon, that of his own maintenance, and of his master's profit. The labour of a menial servant, on the contrary, adds to the value of nothing. Though the manufacturer has his wages advanced to hiin by his master, he in reality costs him no expense, the value of those wages being generally restored, together with a profit, in the improved value of the subject upon which his labour is bestowed. But the maintenance of a menial servant never is restored. A man grows rich by employing a multitude of ' manufacturers : he grows poor by maintaining a mul- titude of menial servants. The labour of the latter, however, has its value, and deserves its reward as well as that of the former. But the labour of the manufacturer fixes and realises itself in some particu- lar subject, or vendible commodity, wliich lasts for some time, at least after that labour is past. It is, as it were, a certain quantity of labour stocked and stored up, to be employed, if necessary, upon some other occasion. That subject, or what is the same thing, the price of that subject, can afterwards, if necessary, put in motion a quantity of labour cfjunl to that which had originally [)i'oduced it. The labour of the menial servant, on the contrary, does not lix or 172 UNPRODUCTIVE LABOUU. LECTURE VI. Unproduc- tive labour. realise; itsell' in any particular sul)ject, or vendible commodity. His services gcTierally perish in the very instant of their performance, and seldom leave any trace or value behind them, for which an equal quan- tity of service could afterwards be procured." " This mode of applying the term productive lahour to that labour which is directly productive of wealth, however wealth may be defined, is obviously," as Mr. Malthus observes, " of the greatest use in ex- plaining the causes of the increase of wealth. The only essential objection to it, is that it seems to un- derrate the importance of all other kinds of labour, at least the term unproductive labour used by Adam Smith to express all other kinds of labour, has been frequently so interpreted, and has formed, in conse- quence, the great objection to the classification." One of the greatest embarrassments to the political economist arises from the necessary employment of terms, which have already an established acceptation in common use. On the one hand, if he employs them in their ordinary sense, the reader may, perhaps, be perplexed by the vagueness of their meaning, and if he extends or limits the scientific sense of them, his language becomes continually subject to misinterpre- tation. On the other hand, as he must frequently make innovations in the use of terms, for the sake of precision and consistency in so doing he runs the additional risk of misleading himself. Thus, when Adam Smith, at the opening of his treatise, laid it doAvn, that " the annual labour of every nation is the fund which originally supplies it with all the neces- saries and conveniences of life which it annually con- sumes, and which consist always either in the imme- diate produce of that labour, or in what is purchased with that produce from other nations," he is evi- dently speaking of the whole annual labour of a nation, and not of a part of it ; and by so doing, he DOMESTIC SERVANTS. 173 affixes at once to the term labour^ a meaning which is lecture inconsistent with the subsequent application of the ^^' epithet " unproductive " to it, under any circum- stances. His division, therefore, of labour into pro- ductive and unproductive, seems at once to be objec- tionable, as being at variance with the scientific sense of the word " labour," which he had previously adopted. The popular meaning of the word would allow us to speak even of the labour of consumption, and, as he who does not produce, by the law of our nature consumes, unproductive labour, in the popular sense of the word, seems " ex necessitate rci " to be identical with consumption. For instance the boy, who blows bubbles, consumes soap and water; the cook, who fries fish, consumes coals and butter ; the servant, who cleans boots and clothes, consumes blacking and brushes. In a word, are we not entitled to regard domestic servants, if it is convenient to do Domestic so, as instruments of consumption, in the use of *''''^'^"*'- which an opulent proprietor indulges himself to fur- ther his enjoyment, just as he might employ a boy to blow bubbles for his anmsement ? But Adam Smith says, " their labour has its value, and deserves its reward." If this be so, this reward apparently con- sists of food, and clothing, and lodging ; in a word, of a multitude of products or commodities, the value of which will correspond to the value of their labour. On this supposition there is an exchange of equiva- lents between the parties, although the product of their labour is not readily appreciable. On the other hand, if there is no product resulting from their la- bour, there can be no element of value on their side, and consec[uently no exchange of values, and that which Adam Smith calls a reward, is a conditional gift: and that which seems to be an exchange of values, is, in fact, nothing but a distribution of wealth. Mr. Malthus, considering the principle of the divi- 174 MH. MALTIIUS'S DOCTRINK, LKCTURE sion ado])te(l l)y Adam Smith to be Tn(jst important in ^'' elucidating the growth of national wealth, proposes that tiic term personal services should be substituted for unproductive labour. " Lalwur, then," he says, " may be distinguished into two kinds, productive labour, and personal services, meaning by productive labour, that labour which is so directly productive of material wealth, as to be capable of estimation in the quantity or value of the object produced, which oljject is capable of being transferred without the presence of the producer ; and meaning by personal services, that kind of labour or industiy, which however highly useful and important some of it may be, and however much it may conduce indirectly to the production and security of material wealth, does not realise itself on any object which can be valued and transferred with- out the presence of the person performing such ser- vice, and cannot therefore be made to enter into an estimate of national wealth. " This, though differing in name, is essentially the doctrine of Adam Smith." Admitting fully the advantage of adopting the suggestion of ]\Ir. Malthus, I cannot so readily acquiesce in his view, that his proposed division of labour is identical -svith that of Adam Smith. Accord- ing to Mr. Malthus, all sorts of labour are productive; but some are directly, others indirectly so. But indirectly productive labour is a very different thing from unproductive labour, as it is, in fact, a species of productive labour ; whereas, in Adam Smith's system, unproductive labour is a species of labour altogether distinct from productive labour. Thus, Adam Smith ^vi'ites, " the labour of some of the most respectable orders in society is, like that of menial servants, unproductive of any value, and does not fix or realise itself in any permanent subject, or vendible commo- tlity, which endures after that labour is past, and for Distinction between Adam Smith and Mr. Mal- thus. M. quesnay's view. 175 wliich an equal quantity of labour could afterwards be lecture procured. The sovereign, for example, with, all the . officers both of justice and war who serve under him, the whole army and navy, are unproductive labourers. They are the servants of the public, and are main- tained by a part of the annual produce of the industry of other people. Their service, how^ honourable, how useful, or how necessary soever, produces nothing for which an equal quantity of service can afterwards be procured. The protection, security, and defence of the common Avealth, the effect of their labour this year, will not purchase its protection, security, and defence for the year to come. In the same class must be ranked some both of the gravest and most important, and some of the most frivolous professions -, church- men, lawyers, physicians, men of letters of all kind ; players, buffoons, musicians, opera-singers, opera- dancers, &c. The labour of the meanest of these has a certain value, regulated by the very same principles which regulate that of every other part of labour ; and that of the noblest and most useful produces nothing which could afterwards purchase or procure an equal quantity of labour. Like the declamation of the actor, the harangue of the orator, or the time of the musician, the work of all of them perishes in the very instant of production." This appears to be one of the most objectionable passages in the whole of Dr. Smith's work. We see evidently the leaven of the " net produce " of the French Economist School working in the writer's mind, and though he could not acquiesce in the narrow definition of production Avhich M. Quesnay had adoj)- ted he was unwilling to reject altogether the princi- ple implied in it, namely, that there was a difference in kind between certain sorts of labour. ^I. (^ucsna)^ m. qucs. drew the line at once at that limit where labour "".^'^ ^■'^•''• ceased to be employed directly upon land, and ad- i7(; MR. SIONIOR.S STATEMENT. Mr. Senior's statement. mittod (liffcrenccs of c/cipre in tho jjroductivciiess of labour within this limit. Adam Smith advanced the limit to the point where the results of labour ceased to be realised in what he terms " a vendible commo- dity," and beyond that limit he conceived a difference of kind to commence. Distinctions of this sort, it is obvious, are perfectly arbitrary, and resolve themselves into questions of convenience, provided they do not give rise to inconsistencies in the nomenclature ; if the latter provision be not observed, they may at once be justly objected to. One of the most philosophical statements on this branch of our subject is to be found in Mr. Senior's article on Political Economy in the Encyclopajdia Metropolitana. " It appears to us," he writes, " that the distinc- tions that have been attempted to be drawn between productive and unproductive labourers, or between the producers of material or immaterial products, or between commodities or services, rest on diifer- ences existing not in the things themselves, but in the modes in which they attract our attention. In those cases in which our attention is princij^ally called, not to the act of occasioning the alteration, but to the result of that act, to the thing (as) altered, economists have termed the person who occasioned that alteration a productive labourer, or the pro- ducer of a commodity or material product. AA'here, on the other hand, our attention is principally called not to the thing (as) altered, but to the act of occa- sioning the alteration, economists have termed the person occasioning the alteration an unproductive labourer, and his exertions, services, or immaterial products. A shoemaker alters leather, and thread, and wax, into a pair of shoes. A shoe-black alters a dirty pair of shoes into a clean pair. In the first case our attention is called principally to the things as NEWCOJMEN'S STEAM ENGINE. 177 altered. The shoemaker, therefore, is said to make or lecture produce shoes. In the case of the shoe-black, our attention is called principally to the act as performed. He is not said to make or produce the commodity, clean shoes, but to perform the service of cleaning them. In each case, there is of course an act and a result ; but in the one case our attention is called prin- cipally to the act ; in the other, to the result." It might have been perhaps more correct to have represented the shoe-black as altering blacking and dirty shoes into clean shoes. If the shoe-black is a private servant, he is simply an instrument of his master to assist him in the consumption of blacking, which consumption takes place, not when it is applied to the boot, for a clean boot is of more value than a dirty boot, but when the boot is soiled afresh. The master, therefore, really consumes the blacking, and the servant assists him. On the other hand, the shoe-black may keep a stall, as is frequently seen in the streets of Paris, and his services may be at the command of the public : in this case, he is a trader, and supplies clean shoes in exchange for dirty shoes and money. M. Arago, in his Eloge Historique of James AYatt, read before the Academy of Sciences, on Dec. 8th, 1834, relates the following anecdote : — The first machine of Newcomen (constructed in Ncwcomen's 1765) required the most unremitting attention on the part of the person whose business it was to close and open incessantly certain cocks (robinets), by which at one moment the steam was admitted into the cylin- der, at another, ajetofcold water entered to condense it. It happened on a particular occasion that whilst a boy named Humphrey Potter was thus employed, his comrades, who were ut p'av, excited liim so mucli by their cries, that he found himself at last unable to resist the temptation to join them. But the task im- N steam-en- gine. 178 NATURAL TRICE. LECTURE posed upoTi liim was OTIC which he could not venture . , to abandon for a sinfrle minute. The excitement of the moment, however, kindled in him a spark of genius, and suggested to him certain relations between the parts of the machine, which he had before not observed. Of the two cocks, one required to be opened at the moment when the balance-rod, which Newcomen first introduced, completed its descending oscillation, and to be closed at the conclusion of its ascending oscillation. The operations of the second cock were just the reverse. There was thus a neces- sary dependence between the movements of the balance-rod and the opening and shutting of the two cocks, and it occurred to Potter that the balance-rod might be made to communicate the necessary motion to the other parts of the machine. He at once attached cords from the handles of the cocks to cer- tain parts of the balance-rod, and found that the tightening and loosening of these cords, "s\ath every ascending and descending oscillation, would produce the same effect that he hitherto produced with his hand. For the first time the Steam-engine worked by itself, without any further care than that of feed- ing the furnace with coals. More complicated con- structions were soon adopted to replace the simple contrivance of the child ; but the origin of them all was owing to the mere longings of a boy to join his play-fellows. According to Adam Smith's division, this boy would be classed under the head of unproductive labourers ; yet without his co-operation in opening and shutting the cocks, the power of the Steam-engine in its infancy could not have been exerted to keep in motion the machinery, by means of which the labour of the c ntinuous spiuuer or the weaver became immediately produc- links in the tivc. Tlic first link of a chain-cable is just as instru- prXction. naental as the last link in holding a ship by its anchor ; MARKET PRICE. 179 and so each individual, who forms a link in the great lecture chain of operations of human labour, however far re- ' mote his place may be from that of the person out of whose hands the product issues, in its finished state of preparation for the consumer, as he has in his place contributed a share to that general result, seems justly entitled to be considered a productive labourer equally with the last workman. Having shown that value in exchange was the creature of human labour, Adam Smith proceeds to point out the distinction between the real and the nomi- nal prices of commodities. The value of money being determined bj'' the same considerations which affect all other value, the nominal or money price of com- modities may fluctuate with variations in the value of money, whilst their real price, measured by the amount of labour or labour's worth, which is required for their production, will be undisturbed. The distinc- tion between the real and the nominal price of com- modities may thus be of material importance, because the same nominal price may at different times cor- respond to very different real prices. At the same time and place, indeed, the real and nominal prices of all commodities will be in proportion to each other ; so that the nominal price is generally regarded with more attention than the real price ; but if contracts are ex- tended over a considerable period of time, as in the case of land let out upon long leases, a corn rent would be likely to represent a more constant value than a money rent. Whenever an article is sold for its real cost, under which term the ordinary rate of profits is comprised, in addition to what may be called the prime cost, it is sold, according to Adam Smith's phraseology, for its natural price. But the actual price at which any commodity is commonly sold is called its market ^,^^^^^1 "' price, which may exceed, or fall short of, or corre- i"-icc. N 2 180 ELEMENTS OF PRICE. LECTURE spond to the natural price. Thismarket price dopenrls ^^' on the proportion whicli the supply bears to the effectual demand ; but it has a tendency to settle in the same level Avith the natural price, wherever the production of a commodity admits of free compe- tition. Particular accidents, or natural causes may keep up the market price for a long time above the natural price ; but the market price can seldom con- tinue long below the natural price, for in such a case the market price will not afford the ordinary rate of profit. But the profit of the capitalist is the proper fund for his subsistence ; he cannot, therefore, con- tinue to produce unless he is enabled to subsist. When there is perfect liberty, fresh stock, as Adam Smith terms it, or as we might say, fresh capital will flow towards that particular investment, the produce of which maintains a higher price in the market than its natural price, until by the competition of an in- creased number of vendors, the quantity brought to market is sufficient to supply the effectual demand at the natural price of the commodity ; and, on the other hand, if the market price becomes depressed below the natural price, labour, or capital, or land, will be withdrawn from the particular employment until its produce is no more than sufficient to supply the effectual demand. The terms labour, or capital, or land, have been used in this last Sentence, inasmuch as Adam Smith, Component resolving price into the component parts of rent, and elements of n, ^ , •tji.t- price. pront, and wages, seems to consider that a dimmu- tion in the price of a commodity may in one case affect rent, in another profit, in another wages, and that according as it affects one or other of these com- ponent parts, the landlord, or the capitalist, or the labourer, will withdraw from the particular employ- ment, and so reduce the supply of the commodity. Such, however, does not seem to be a correct view of diminished prices. EFFECTS OF DIMINISHED PRICES. 181 the case. The worst machine will evidently be forced lecture out of employment first; but the worst machine . simply repays the real cost of production ; that is, it replaces the amount of capital actually expended in purchasing the raw material and the labour of the workman plies the subsistence of the capitalist. A fall of price, therefore, below the level of the na- tural price at once disables the capitalist from sub- sisting upon the produce of the Avorst machine in use. He ceases, in consequence, to invest capit^d in its employment, because the profits of such investment would be below average profits. It is thus by imme- Effect of diately influencing profits that a diminution of price brings about a diminution of supply. The withdrawal of capital, however, from any par- ticular branch of industry in its turn affects the rent of all the machines employed in it. The competi- tion of the capitalists for the hire of the machines which previously earned rent, decreases with the fall of profits, and the worst machine that previ- ously earned for its o-svner a rent, finds no longer any bidder for it, inasmuch as under the alteration of circumstances its actual produce will now only secure a subsistence for the workman and the capital- ist. A diminution of price, therefore, below the natural price of an article at any given time, if it continues for a long period, will affect the rent of the machines employed in the production of the article. Labour and capital are transferable to other employ- ments, and they will be transferred, until they secure for the labourer and capitalist a return of average wages and profits; but a machine can seldom be adapted to produce more than one particular com- modity. Land is, perhaps, the great exception to this rule, and in this respect nature asserts her great superiority over art. We have seen in the course of our inquiry that the N 3 182 PROFITS OF MANUFACTURERS. LECTURE partisans of the mercantile system entertained the most exaggerated notions of the value of the results of labour when em[)loyed in manufactures. Melon, in his Essai Politique sur le Commerce, Chap. X., in ad- vocating the policy of prohibiting the exportation of raw materials, and the importation of manufactured goods, observes, " certain raw materials augment prodigiously (in value) under the hand of the work- man : a pound of flax, converted into linen, doubles and trebles its price, and if converted into fine lace, multiplies it more than a hundred fold." On the other hand, the economist school maintained, to use the words of M. Turgot in his " Memoire sur les Importa- tions," that the owner of land possessed alone a real revenue (c'est que le proprietaire de fonds est le seul qui ait un veritable revenue), which consisted of the net produce, this net produce being, according to the Abbe Baudeau, the surplus of the gross produce, or its value, after the expenses of cultivation have been deducted. According to their classification of all other branches of labour, not immediately employed upon land, under the head of Sterile, the manufac- turer earned only wages, inasmuch as the cultivator of the soil advanced to him the raw material or capital. The expenses of cultivation, on the other hand, were twofold, being made up of the wages of the culti- vator, and the interest upon the capital which he advanced, which the Abbe in his reply to M. Xecker's book upon the corn trade, considers might fairly be calculated at 10 per cent, under the various circum- stances of waste, as well as of risk. The surplus produce went to the landlord, who in some cases had shared in advancing capital, for which after the necessary interest had been deducted, the remainder would constitute the net produce. " The produce of the land," writes Mercier de la Riviere, divides itself into gross produce and net produce. As in general, produce can only be ob- INEQUALITIES OF WAGES AND PROFITS. 183 tained by means of previous expenditure, it appears ^jecture first of all as gross produce, that is, a mass, more ^ ' . or less great, of products, charged with replacing the value of the expenditure to which they have given rise : when these expenses have been replaced out of this mass, the surplus which remains is net produce : it is so much gain to the comnmnity, Net pro- because it is by itself, and in every respect an in- ^^'^^' crease of wealth to the community ("il est tout gain pour la societe, parcequ'il est par lui-ineme, et a tons egards, un accroissement de richesses pour la societe). L'Ordre Naturel des Societes Politiques," ch. ii. The economists thus assigned to agriculture in their system an analogous position to that which manufactures occupied in the mercantile system. One of the most imj^ortant divisions of Adam Smith's work contains an indirect refutation of the doctrine of both these schools. Ilis tenth chapter is dedicated to the investigation of the causes of the apparent inequalities of wages and profits in different* inequalities employments, in which he shows that these differences and of pro- arise partly from natural circumstances in the em- ^^^' ployments themselves, partly from artificial regula- tions, founded on particular views of state policy. Na- tural circumstances, however, affect the rate of profits less than the rate of wages. The risk or security with which an investment is attended, seems to be the only natural circumstance, that causes any real difference of importance in the rate of profit. There are often great apparent differences in the profits of different trade, but wages are frequently concealed under the garb of profits. For instance, the great apparent profit of an apothecary is really to a very great ex- tent, but the reasonable wages of his labour, and the price which he charges for his drugs, is iiiaiidy tlie recompence of his skill, which, if it be valued, and its price deducted from the seemingly great profits N 4 184 OBSTRUCTIONS TO LABOUK. of State policy LECTURE of liis Capital, tlierc will remain hut the ordinary , ^' profits of capitaL On the other liand, natural cir- cumstances affect very much the apparent wages of labour: the disagreeableness of the occupation, the necessity of severe exertion, the risk of life, the incon- stancy of employment, will cause the rate of wages to be peculiarly high ; but high wages are in these cases not so much the recompence of ordinary labour, as the compensation for surmounting certain extraordinary difficulties in the undertaking. Many of the artificial Regulations regulations of state policy to which A. Smith calls attention, have been abolished in our own country since his work was written. Of this kind were the restrictions of apprenticeship, and the exclusive pri- vileges of corporations, which, as they restrained com- petition, tended to keep up the rate of profits and wages in certain branches of industry. On the other hand, the multiplication of charitable foundations for the education of indigent people to the learned pro- fessions, has tended rather to produce an unnatural supply of teachers, and so to reduce the price of their labour, by increasing competition. The operation of this cause does not seem likely to diminish in influ- ence ; but, as A. Smith observes, this inequality is, upon the whole, perhaps, rather advantageous than hurtful to the public. It may sometimes degrade the profession of a public teacher; but the cheapness of literary education is surely an advantage which greatly overbalances this trifling inconvenience. The obstructions which have been raised in almost every state against the free circulation of labour, occasion in some cases very inconvenient inequalities in the rate of wages. In our own country, indeed, the transfer of labour from one employment to another is now set free by the repeal of the statute of appren- ticeship, in 1814, by 54 Geo. III., c. 96. ; but the free circulation of labour from place to place is still par- Free circU' lation of labour. NATURE OF CAPITAL. 185 tially, and, perhaps, unduly impeded. It is true, that lectcre the obstruction which Corporation Laws gave to the ^ ^ ^' free circulation of the labour of artisans and manufac- turers is for the most part removed ; but our peculiar Law of Settlement obstructs very considerably the ^^^^^ ^ •^ "^ - settlement. circulation of the ruder kinds ot labour, and tends to keep down the wages of it. The propriety, how- ever, of modif}dng the existing law has been admitted, and the attention of the legislature is at present directed to it. Adam Smith having, in his first book, analysed the productive powers of labour, and traced the effects of improvements in them upon the real price of raw produce, and likewise of manufactures, pro- ceeds in his second book to anah'se the nature of Nature of CtiuitQ] capital, and to point out the different effects result- ing from the different employments of it. Capital, according to his view, is that part of the national stock or accumulated produce of labour, which is employed so as to yield a revenue. In the rude state, each individual derives his revenue from his labour only ; but, as soon as the produce of his labour supplies more than is needed for his imme- diate consumption, he begins to accumulate a stock of produce. " r)ut when he possesses stock sufficient to main- tain him for months or years, he naturally endea- vours to derive a revenue from the greater part of it, reserving only so much for his immediate con- sumption as may maintain him till his revenue begins to come in. IJis whole stock, therefore, is distin- guished into two parts. That part which he expects is to afford him this revenue, is called his capital. The other is that which supplies his immediate con- sumption, and which consists either, first, in tliat portion of his whole stock which was originally re- served for this purpose j or, secondly, in his revenue, 18G CIItCULATING AND FIXKD CAPITAL. Perplexity of Adam Smith's statement. LECTURE from whatever sources derived, as it gradually conies . in ; or, thirdly, in such things as have been pur- chased by either of these in former years, and which are not yet entirely consumed ; such as a stock of clothes, household furniture, and the like. In one or other, or all of these three articles, consists the stock which men commonly reserve for their own immediate consumption." This passage furnishes, amongst many others, an apt illustration of the logical perplexity of many of Adam Smith's statements. Either his powers of abstraction were not equal to cope with the mass of facts which had come under his observation, or he did not think it prudent to tax the attention of his readers too rigorously. Otherwise we can hardly account for his classing under the head of stock, which is so much produce already accumulated, " re- venue as it gradually comes in," and " supplies his immediate consumption." Adam Smith was doubt- less correct in considering the annual consumption of almost every owner of stock to be supplied partly from the reserved produce of the labour of former years, i. e. his stock ; partly from the incoming pro- duce of the labour of the present year, i. e. his re- venue : but the classing of the incoming revenue serving for immediate consumption under the head of stock, seems to be at variance with the previous division of produce, upon which the definition of stock itself is based. Revenue, as it gradually comes in, is incoming produce ; stock is accumulated pro- duce : that portion of produce which is consumed as it comes in, is never accumulated ; it therefore can- not form, correctly speaking, a part of a man's stock, which is the aggregate surplus of revenue which has not been immediately consumed. The propriety, likewise, of confining the term capital to that portion of a man's stock which is actually employed in in- MR. RICARDO'S DIVISION. 187 creasing the productiveness of labour, has likewise lecture been questioned, with good reason ; but at present we . may pass on to the further division which Adam Smith adopts, of circulating and fixed capital, circulating " Capital," he writes, " may be employed in raising, l^'l.^""^ manufacturing, or purchasing goods, and selling them again with a profit. Capital thus employed yields no revenue or profit to its employer whilst it remains in his j)ossession or continues in the same shape. The goods of the merchant yield him no revenue or profit till he sells them for money, and the money yields him as little till it is again ex- changed for goods. His capital is continually going from him in one shape and returning to him in another, and it is only by means of circulation or successive exchanges that it can yield him any profit. Such ca})itals, therefore, may very properly be called circulating capitaiy Or capital " may be employed in the improvement of land, in the purchase of useful machines, and in- struments of trade, or in such like things as yield a revenue or profit without changing masters or circu- lating any further. Such capitals, therefore, may very properly be called j^tf^r^ capitals. ^^ ■ This division of capital is convenient for many purposes. It is also of real importance that the capi- talist should be aware, in determining upon the mode of employing his capital, that fixed capital requires the co-operation of a certain amount of capital in circulation, in order that it should yield a revenue: that all fixed capital requires to be continually su[)- ported by circulating capital ; and that the pro- portions in which circulating and fixed capitid must be combined, vary in different occupations. Mr. Iticardtr^has adopted a diftercnt use of tlic Mr. Ricar- terms circulating and Jixcd^ in whicli lie has been ttu< terms followed by Mr. Mill and Mr. M'Cullocli. " Ac- , ;';j",;^;;';;6 188 COST 01- PllODUCTION. LECTURE cording as capital is rapidly perishable," ^vritc^ Mr. ^^' Kicardo, " and requires to be fro(|ueritly reproduced, or is of slow consumption, it is classed under the head of circulating or of fixed capital" (Ch. I. Sect. 4.). " A brewer, whose buildings and machinery are valuable and durable, is said to employ a large por- tion of fixed capital : on the contrary, a shoemaker, whose capital is chiefly employed in the payment of wages, which are expended on food and clothing, commodities more perishable than buildings and ma- chinery, is said to employ a large portion of his capital as circulating capital." This division of ca- pital is based upon totally difi*erent considerations from those which Adam Smith had in view ; and the members of the two divisions will not always coin- cide : as, for instance, gold and silver money, which is classed by A. Smith under the division of circu* lating capital, will come, as it is amongst the most durable articles, under Mr. Ricardo's division of fixed capital. Mr. Ricardo, in analysing the efi*ects on the relative value of commodities resulting from the employment of perishable or durable capital in different proportions, perceived that variations in the rate of wages, or the rate of profits, "will evidently affect the cost of production very differently, ac- cording as the use of perishable or durable capital preponderates in any branch of manufacture. The food of the labourer being perishable, as compared with the tools with which his labour is assisted, the former requires to be reproduced at once after each operation ; whereas the latter may be reproduced at intervals, and not till after several operations. In order, therefore, that the capital of the manufacturer may be preserved, as the cost of an article in which perishable capital of 100/. value, and durable capital of 20/. have been employed, will have been much greater than where durable capital of the value of Propor- tions afTect the cost of produc- tioQ. OB.TECT OF ADAM SMITH'S DIVISION. 189 100/. and perishable capital of the value of 20Z. have lecture been employed, a far greater return of expenditure . ^ ^' must be at once obtained in the former than the latter case, or the manufacturer will not be able to continue to produce the commodity. Consequently the remunerating price of commodities, in the pro- duction of which human labour is chiefly employed, will be much higher than the remunerating price of commodities in the production of which self-acting mnchinery is mainly instrumental, although equal capitals are employed in both cases. Adam Smith, on the other hand, was investigating the different wa3^s in which capital might be employed so as to yield a revenue or profit to the employer. One great object of his work was to show that labour emploved in manufactures and commerce was entitled ^anufac- L J ^ tures and to be called productive, equally as labour employed commerce in agriculture, inasmuch as value resulted from its p'""'^'^'^^'^^' employment ; and with this object he divides capital into circulating and fixed capital, and shows how, in the one case, a person makes a profit by continually changing the shape of its investment, in the other by keeping it invested under one and the same form. There is one inconvenience in Adam Smith's em- inconveni- ployment of the terms, circulating and fixed, which Adam mav be noted in contrastini^ them with Mr. Ricardo's smith's ...-,. r> division. nomenclature. The money of an individual is part of his circulating capital, and he can only derive a reve- nue from it by parting with it ; but the money of a society has more of the character of fixed capital, as a greater revenue accrues to a society, from its use as an instrument for facilitating exchanges at home, than from exchanging it as an article of commerce with foreign countries. For instance, the first divi- sion of articles, in which capital is fixed, according to Adam Smith, consists of " all useful machines and instruments of trade, which facilitate and abridge 190 rNCONVENIENCE OF IT. liihour." Now money is most useful to a nation as an instrument for facilitating exchanges, and aljridg- ing the tedious operations of barter ; and as by such exchanges the production of national revenue is indi- rectly stimulated, and the result is an augmentation of produce, it seems, in its character of money, to be rather a portion of the fixed capital of a country ; more particularly as the waste of it requires to be made good from the circulating capital. Adam Smith seems to have overlooked this productive use of money. Again ; of the four parts of which the circulating capital of an individual is composed, according to Adam Smith, e. g. money, provisions, materials, and finished work, the three latter form part of the gross revenue of a nation : but the money of a society makes no part of the revenue of the society whilst employed as money. On the contrary, the expense of keeping up the national stock of money must be deducted from the revenue of a nation. Money, therefore, seems to have all the characteristics of fixed capital, in reference to a nation ; and every sav- ing in the expense of supporting it is an addition to the revenue. Dr. Smith, however, was unwilling to dis- turb his classification, and contented himself •with admitting, that that part of the circulating capital of a society which consists in money, bears a very great resemblance to fixed capital, so far as the revenue of the society is affected, and thereupon proceeds with his investigation of money as a particular branch of the general stock of a society, as if it were a part of its fixed capital. In the case of an indi\adual, it is his circulating capital which furnishes the materials and the wages of labour, and puts industry in motion. " Every saving, therefore, in the expense of maintaining the fixed capital, which does not diminish the productive PAFER CURRENCY. 191 powers of labour, must increase the fund which puts industry into motion, and consequently the annual produce of land and labour, the real revenue of every society. " The substitution of paper in the room of gold and ^J^^^^H^^ silver money, replaces a very expensive instrument medium. of commerce, with one much less costly, and some- times equally convenient. Circulation comes to be carried on by a new wheel, which it costs less both to erect and to maintain than the old one." Adam Smith then proceeds to explain the prin- ciples which should govern the operations of banks 'of circulation, and leaves very little to be desired, excepting a less digressive style of discussion. It is to be regretted that he did not combine together the various portions of his work, in which he treats of monetary questions, such as the digression which he introduces into Book I. chap, xi., concerning the vari- ations in the value of silver; the chapter on metallic and paper money. Book II. chap, ii., to which our attention has been already directed ; a digression concerning banks of deposit, particularly concerning that of Amsterdam, introduced in Book IV. chap. iii. ; and a discussion upon the advantages of a moderate seignorage upon the coinage, engrafted on an Account of the Methuen Treaty, in Book IV. chap. vi. These various disquisitions supplied by far the richest mine, both of facts and sound principles, which, up to the time of their publication, had been laid open to the student of finance, and they will well repay a careful examination in the present day. The French Economists, in considering all the The French labour of a society, that was not employed in agri- ^'^°""™*=''^- culture, to be unproductive, and that the various classes of manufacturers and merchants merely re- produced, annually, the funds which the ngncul- turists provided for their subsistence, held that the 192 PAHSIMONY. LECTURE wealth of a mercantile or manufacturing society could , never be in the slightest degree augmented by its in- dustry, unless it annually de])rived itself of the enjoy- ment of a portion of the funds destined for its subsist- ence. Whereas the labour of an agricultural society annually afforded a net produce over and above the funds required for its subsistence, and thus its reve- nue and wealth was continually augmented by its in- dustry, without the necessity of its submitting to any privation. Adam Smith, on the other hand, con- tended that in all cases, parsimony, and not industry, is the immediate cause of the increase of capital. In- dustry, indeed, provides the subject which parsimony accumulates. But whatever industry might acquire, if parsimony did not save and store up, the capital would never be greater. Parsimony. " Parsimony," he writes, " by increasing the fund which is destined for the maintenance of productive hands, tends to increase the number of those hands, whose labour adds to the value of the subject upon which it is bestowed. It tends, therefore, to increase the exchangeable value of the annual produce of the land and labour of the country. It puts into motion an additional quantity of industry, which gives an additional value to the annual produce." A similar, and equally correct view, has been adopted by the author of the article on Political Eco- nomy, in the " Encyclopa}dia Metropolitana." " The most laborious population," he writes, " inhabiting the most fertile territory, if they devoted all their labour to the production of immediate results, and consumed its produce as it arose, would soon find their utmost exertions insufficient to produce even the mere necessaries of existence." Mr. Senior, accordingly, sets up a third productive principle by the side of labour, and the agency of nature, and to this principle he proposes to give the INCIDENCE OF TAXATION. 193 name oi abstinence, which he defines to be the conduct of a person, who either abstains from the unproduc- tive use of what he can command, or designedly pre- Abstinence fers the production of remote, to that of immediate, results. A still greater divergency from the doctrines of the economists was to be expected on the part of the author of the " Wealth of Nations," on the subject of taxes, and respecting the ultimate in- cidence of taxation. They had contended that the incidence of fund from whicli all taxes were finally paid, was the net produce of the land. On the other hand, Adam Smith maintained, that as the private revenue of in- dividuals arose from three different sources, rent, profit, and wages, every tax must finally be paid from some one or other of those three different sorts of revenue, or from all of them indifferently. He fully admitted with the economists that taxes were, in many cases, not finally paid from the particular source of revenue upon which they were intended to fall ; but his analysis of the ultimate incidence of taxation is necessarily incomplete, from the defects in his theory of rent, and also from the circumstance that he has, for the most part, considered taxes as partially imposed, in which case their ultimate inci- dence may be very different from what woidd be the result when they are generally imposed. The most valuable portion of his discussion upon the sources of the public revenue of a society, is to be found in the maxims whicli he lays down with regard to taxation in general. Although the primary importance of the principle, whicli his first maxim inculcates, Necessary namely, the equality of taxation, has been impugned, oj'jj^auon. it has been generally admitted, that if tlie conditions of certainty in the amount, convenience in the mode and time of payment, and the absence of waste and vexatiousness in the collection, which form the o 194 NECESSARY CONDITIONS OF TAXATION. LECTTTRE substaiicG of tlic last three maxims, are not combined , ^J , in a tax, tlic prejudice that will result to private in- terests from its imposal, will outweigh all the advan- tages that can possibly accrue to the public service. The sketch which has been attempted in the pre- sent Lecture of Dr. Smith's great work, is necessarily incomplete ; but the main features of it have, it is hoped, been faithfully delineated, and the most im- portant steps Avhich he made in advancing the science, been pointed out sufficiently in detail. Subsequent writers have contributed to complete the analysis of the causes of the production of wealth, whose works will be referred to in their proper place. RELATION OF TRODUCE TO POPULATION. 195 LECTURE VII. The doctrines of Adam Smith, as set forth in his lecture " Inquiry into the Causes of the Wealth of Nations" , ^ ^^' recommended themselves at once to the acceptance of his contemporaries, and obtained a ready recei:>tion among economists in all countries, in respect of the groundwork of the science. The labour of man was henceforth recognised as the primary productive agent ; exchangeable value was referred to its true source, and the functions of capital, in its ancillary relation to labour, were more clearly appreciated. In a word, the plienomena of the production of wealth were satisfactorily explained ; but the circumstances which determine its distribution, demanded a furtlier and fuller investigation than Adam Smith liad be- stowed upon them, whose views in this branch of the subject, were not so happy and exempt from question, as in the earlier analysis. " The annual labour of every nation is the fund Avhich originally supplies it with all the necessaries and convenienc(.'S of life which it annually consumes." Such were the opening words of the " Wealth of Nations," and the truth of the statement cannot be impugned. It has, however, formed the groundwork of a common error, according to which, an augmen- tation of national wealth accompanies every multi- plication of the number of labourers, or, in other words, the productive power of a state bears an in- lU'i^ition of . ., f . . , . prodiic'i' to variable proportion to its population. iwpuiation. 196 NOTIONS OF ANTIQUITY. Notions of antiquity. Sucli an opinion liiid vycn roceivod countenance from Adiim Sniitli, wlicn lie laid it down in treating of the wages of labour (B. I. c. viii.), that " the most decisive mark of the prosperity of any countrj^ is the increase of the number of its inhabitants." Such also had been the general notion of antiquity, as we may gather from its laws and its philosophy. Still further, with the exception indeed of a few states, we find in the ages which connect antiquity with the modern order of ideas, national encouragements universally held out to stimulate a more rapid increase of num- bers. "Av^psg 7^f> 7roX£ij xu) ob tsi^Yj, are the well known words of Demosthenes, and the historian of the Peloponnesian war places the same sentiment in the mouth of the greatest of Athenian states- men. The privileges which were awarded under the Spartan system to the fathers of three and four children respectively (Aristot. Pol. II. c. 6.), had their counterpart in Western Europe, at a subse- quent period, in the ordinances of the "Lex Papia Popprea (anno 762), which established the jus trium Hberorum in the capital, the jus quatuor liberorum in Italy itself, and the jus quinque liberorum through- out the provinces of the Roman empire. The ex- emptions which this law awarded to fathers of fami- lies, were still further enlarged by the emperors Arcadius and Honorius, and that which had hitherto been a privilege dependent upon an imperial grant, became ultimately a matter of general right. Cod. viii. tit. 59. c. 1. : " Nemo posthac a nobis jus libe- rorum petat ; quod simul hac lege omnibus conce- dimus." It is true that Justinian subsequently modified the harshness of the law as far as the civil disabilities inflicted upon celibacy were concerned (Cod. vi. tit. 51. c. 1. de caducis tollendis), but the civil immunities attendant on marriage -were main- MODERN LEGISLATION. 197 tained, and the spirit which dictated them pervades lecture the legislature of subsequent ages. . Not to diverge too widely from the main object of our inquiry, we must refrain from tracing the opera- tion of this spirit in foreign codes, and may content ourselves with directing our attention to our own statute law, whereby, as by 46 G. III. c. 56, exemp- tions from taxes were specifically granted to the fathers of more than two children, born in la-\vful wedlock. This statute, indeed, has been repealed by Lcgisiatioa 56 G. III. c. (jG ; but it serves to illustrate the spirit °in"es. *^™ of British legislation in the early part of the present century. To a similar effect the laws of France and Italy accorded exemptions from military service or pecu- niary contributions, not indeed to the industrious and careful father of a family, who had reared up one or two sons physically and morally well qualified to do good service to the state, but to him whose wife had brought forth the greatest number of children, irre- spectively of their being weak or strong, well or badly brought up, able to earn their livelihood, or depend- ent on others for their support. The father, who had trained up two brave and industrious sons, his only offspring, to advance their country's best interests, met with no favour from the legislator, whilst he who had ten idle children loitering at home, and consum- ing what others had toiled to produce, was treated with the greatest consideration. Such was the legacy which Rome in her degeneracy had bequeathed to succeeding ages. The idea which gave birth to such institutions, identified the population with the power of a country. It may be beyond dispute, that a powerful country Popular will be a well peopled country ; but it woidd be to confound a necessary condition with a cause, if it should be imagined that the power of a country is o 3 198 I'DI^JLAR ERROR. LECTURE augmented pari pasmc with its population. Yet no . uphorisms were so unfjuestioned, as those wliich affirmed this fact. I^A'ents, however, occurred in the hitter part of the last centuiy, which aiTcsted the attention of ohser- Re-exami- vaut minds, and led to a re-examination of the data, "he'tubjcct upon which the received opinions on this subject had been founded. The British colonies in North America were the scene of phenomena altogether at variance with the experience of the Old World. The " \yealth of Nations" was published in 177G, and in the 8th chapter of that work, the author observes, " that in Great Britain and most other European countries, the inhabitants are not supposed to double in less than 500 years. In the British colonies in North America, Contrast jt has bccu fouud that they double in 20 or 25 years. I>ctw6en the two hcmi. Nor in the present times is the increase principally spheres. owiug to the contiuual importation of new inhabitants, but to the great multiplication of the species. Those who live to an old age, it is said, frequently see there from 50 to 100, and sometimes many more descen- dants." It thus appeared that under other circum- stances than those which existed in the Old World, the advance of population was so much accelerated, as to baffle all the received rules of calculation. The term of doubling, which in Europe was supposed to correspond to a period co-extensive with the Magnus Annus of Egyptian Astronomy, being found in America to be shorter even than that usually assigned to a single generation of mankind. About the same time that these facts were awaken- ing surprise by the strong contrast which the con- ditions of human life presented in the two hemi- spheres, an event occurred in Europe which threatened to shake to pieces the established foundations of society, and gave an unlooked-for importance to cer- FRENCH REVOLUTION. 199 tain questions connected with the distribution of lectuhe wealth. . It can hardly be disputed that the revolution of The French 1789 was an attempt on the part of the French peo- ^«^<>^"^i°°- pie to find a pohtical remedy for great social evils : although it cannot be denied, that there were simul- taneously great political evils, that called for political remedies. But it was the social misery of the French people that rendered such a revolution possible, and the experiment was made by men who had faith in the efficacy of political institutions tq influence the material as well, as the moral welfare of a population. That most mysterious yet most important social problem, " Why are the conditions of life so unequal? " was now submitted to a rigorous investigation. Why are the means of subsistence so unequally distri- buted ? Why is there so much misery amongst man- kind ? These and such like questions were now mooted on all sides, and the boldest essays were made to solve them by actual experiment. It was natural for minds that referred the social evils of the ancient I'cgimc to political causes, to seek for a remedy in the operation of opposite institutions, and thus we find the remnant of feudal privileges and feudal obliga- tions swept bodily away, and replaced by a system of equal political rights, whilst the free disposal of pro- perty as well as the rights of primogeniture were abolished, and an equal parcelling of estates substi- tuted for the ancient feudal entirety. These were the chief permanent measures, but a host of tem- porary expedients were adopted as occasion seemed to call for them, in contradiction to the experience of past ages. To meet the demands of the consumers, a maximum of prices was established in 1793, which was attended with the inevitable result of uneiiliance- ment of prices. A paper currency was forced into circulation by arbitrary enactments only to become o 4 200 GODWIN'S POLITICAL JUSTICE. LECTURE cleprcciatod. All indirect taxes were snpyn'cssed, and . forced contributions were levied upon property. Still there was no diminution in the number of the desti- tute ; on the contrary, society daily became more and more steeped in })auperism, whilst the disappointment of the philosophers who had suggested the measures, was only equalled by the dismay of the statesmen who had aj^proved the execution of them. The solution, then, of this great social question, " Why is there so much destitution and misery amongst mankind ? " seemed to be as remote as ever, when a work appeared in this country, in which views of a similar kind to those which French writers had made popular, upon the causes of social evil, were Godwin's boldly and energetically advocated. j\Ir. Godwin's justice. treatise upon Political Justice, to which allusion is here made, was first published in 1793. The scope of this work may be explained sufficiently for the present purpose in the words of the author. " May it not happen," he writes, " that the grand moral evils that exist in the world, the calamities by which we are so grievously oi')pressed, are to be traced to its de- fects (i. e. the defects of government) as their source, and that their removal is only to be expected from its correction ? " Monarchical institutions were, accordin«r to this writer, the primary cause of existing social evils, whilst the great secondary cause was to be found in the established administration of property. Established " Accumulatcd property," he 'wi'ites, "treads the tion'of prcZ powcrs of tliouglit iu tlic dust, cxtinguishcs the sparks perty. of genius, and reduces the great mass of mankind to be immersed in sordid cares, besides depriving the rich of the more salubrious and effectual motives to activity. If superfluity were banished, the necessity for the greater part of the manual industry of man- kind would be superseded, and the rest, being ami- cably shared among the active and vigorous members FAULTY DISTRIBUTION OF PROPERTY. 201 of the community, would be burdensome to none." lecture The extravagant doctrines of Plato's " Polity " are re- . produced by Mr. Godwin, -svith an apparent fervour of conviction in the certainty of his conclusions, unlike the misgiving, which other advocates of the perfecti- bility of the human race could not but entertain. *' There is one other circumstance," he elsewhere writes, p. 460, " which, though inferior to those above enumerated, deserves to be mentioned. This is po- Population, pulation. It has been calculated that the average cultivation of Europe might be improved, so as to maintain five times her present number of inhabitants. There is a principle in human society, by which popu- lation is perpetually kept down to the level of the means of subsistence. Thus, among the wandering tribes of America and Asia, we never find through the lapse of ages that population has so increased as to render necessary the cultivation of the earth. Thus, among the civilised nations of Europe, by means of ter- ritorial monopoly, the sources of subsistence are kept within a certain limit ; and if the population became overstocked, the lower ranks of the inhabitants would be still more incapable of procuring for themselves the necessaries of life. There are, no doubt, extra- ordinary concurrences of circumstances, by means of wdiich changes are occasionally introduced in this re- spect ; but in ordinary cases the standard of popula- tion is held, in a manner, stationary for centuries. Thus the established administration of property may he Faulty dis- considered as strangling a considerable portion of onr ^^^''^/^'J'" "' children in their cradle. Whatever may be the value of the life of man, or rather, whatever would be his capability of happiness in a free and equal state of society, the system we are here opposing, may be consi- dered as arresting upon the threshold of existence fcJhr fifths of that value and that happiness." This was a startling position lor a writer to take up in England, 202 CONDOKCETS THEORY. Condorcet. LECTURE at a time wlien the political liovizon across tlic Chan- . ncl was lighted up with the glare of the French Kevo- lution. Mr. Godwin seems, as already observed, to have had no doubts, that the equalisation of conditions would furnish a panacea for all existing social evils. On the other hand, one of the most distinguished leaders of the new order of ideas in France, whose gifted in- tellect, however, could not save him from being swept away by the furious tide of the revolution — I allude to Condorcet, could not resist some misgiving as to there being a limit to the amelioration of man's con- dition. In his " Esquisse d'un Tableau Historique des Progres de rEs2)rit Humain," having intimated the probability of such improvements in the various modes of applying man's labour as to secure much greater returns for a greatly diminished expenditure, so that not only would the same extent of soil support more individuals, but each individual would be less labori- ously and more productively emj^loyed, he con- tinues, p. 362, " But in this advance of industry and comfort (bien-etre), from which there mil result a more advantageous proportion between the wants of man and his means of satisfying them, each generation will be called to a greater share of enjoyment, and, by consequence of the physical constitution of the hu- man species, to a proportionate increase in its num- bers. Must there not, then, arrive a period when these laws, equally necessary, will counteract each other, when the augmentation of numbers surpassing that of the means of subsistence, there will necessarily result either a continuous diminution of comfort and population — a movement really retrograde, or at least a kind of oscillation between good and evil ? In socie- ■fifes arrived at this stage, will not this oscillation be a continually operating cause of periodical misery, as it were ? Will it not mark the boundary where further His theory of an oscil- lation. ESSAY ON AVARICE AND PROFUSION. 203 amelioration becomes impossible, and where there is lectcre set a term to the perfectibility of the human race, . which it may a,ttain in the infinite lapse of ages, but perfecti- can never hope to pass ? " ^''^^^J ^^« These, and suchlike, were the speculations in which race. the ardent spirit of inquiry indulged itself towards the conclusion of the last century, and, backed as they were by the formidable experiments of the Frencli nation, they assumed an importance which, in the present calm state of thought on such subjects, it is difficult for us to appreciate. An essay of Mr. Godwin's, published in the "En- Mr. God. quirer," on the subject of avarice and profusion, called on Avarice forth a writer of a totally opposite school of thought. •^"'^ ^'"""f"- AVhilst jMr. Godwin attributed the evils of society to the imperfection of political institutions and the vices of government, and regarded the passions of man as the results of the prevailing administration of pro- perty, his opponent declared that the great obstacles to social progress were to be found in those very pas- sions inherent in man's nature, which he was too little disposed to control, and that the improvement of the individual must be a condition precedent to the im- provement of society. The first edition of the Essay upon the Principles Mr. Mai. of Population made its appearance in the concluding £s"^y ^pon year of the 18th century. Its author, Mr. Malthus, *^'^'^^;'"''" struck at the same time with the acknowledged dis- population, order of European society, and with the subversive tendency of the doctrines advanced in explanation of them by the advocates of political remedies, had re- course to a careful study of facts, and extended liis inquiry over the entire range of clime and countr}^, that modern enterprise had laid open to the inves- tigation of modern science. It was an incontestable fact, as had been established more than once Ijy tlie experience of North America, that under certain cir- 204 5IR. MALTIIUS ON POPULATION. cnmstanccs tlic human race had (lou1j](id its numbers in twenty-live years: it was equally beyond dispute tliat the rate of increase amidst the various nations of Europe was inconceivably slower ; so much so, that the species might almost be supposed to be subject to different pliysiological influences in the two hemi- spheres. To refer these variations to political causes was, on the surface of things, unsatisfactory. When Adam Smith pointed out the strong contrast between Europe and North America, the British colonies were subject to the laws of the mother country, and were ruled with a somewhat more arbitrary sceptre than the j)arent state : on the other hand, the population of the United Provinces as well as that of the Swiss Confe- deration, when compared with the subjects either of the representative of the Roman Emperors, or the descendant of the Grand Monarque, exhibited a rate of increase in no way proportionate to the respective peculiarities of their political institutions. Some other solution seemed then to be required than that which Mr. Godwin and other writers had suggested. No hypothetical calculations were on this occasion needed in order to shape the problem. The question population, j^y witliin a very narrow compass. What are the obstacles which prevent the law of population, as ascertained by the experience of the British Colonies in North America, from being universal ? How has it come to pass that within the same period of twenty- five years England has only received an increase of one-sixth of its numbers ? Common sense at once suggested the reply : that either a given number of children had not been born, or a given number had been hurried on from the cradle to the tomb in the intervening period. In the former case, man, in the exercise of his freewill and responsibility, had refrained from giving them origin : in the latter, nature, in obedience to certain mysterious laws, had withheld sus- Variations ia the in- crement of INCREASE OF TOPULATION GEOMETRICAL. 205 tenance from them : in the former case, moral causes lecture would have saved the species from the operation of ^"' those physical correctives, to which in the latter case it would have been subjected in common -^vdth the inferior orders of created life. It was of the highest importance to ascertain which of the explanations was supported by experience, as the former would imply the maintenance of a people in the most mature con- dition which human nature is susceptible of; the latter might be consistent with a very low standard of mental and physical development. Mr. Malthus having ascertained, as it were, by two Experience observations, that the human race had doubled itself worid. "^"^ twice over within the space of fifty years, in a country where there was an unlimited extent of virgin soil open for settlement, assumed the North American Colonies to furnish the type of that condition of things, which would universally prevail unless disturbing causes intervened. Hence he inferred that the human race would invariably multiply in geometrical pro- increase of c;ression within periods of time, the extent of wliich P*>P"'«tion o .111 geometrical, would be determined by the greater or less mterfe- rence of artificial obstacles. We might arrive at the same conclusion from ab- Argument stract considerations. If a living product possesses "' '"^'°"' a power of reproduction equal to the productive power of that which gave it origin, a mass of products must ultimately result, if the power of reproduction be freely exercised, which will constitute an ascending geometrical series : if the reproductive power be less than the productive power, however freely it be ex- ercised, the species will ultimately become extinct: if it be greater, it will multiply indefinitely. Of course in a calculation of this kind it is assumed tliat the productive power of individuals is uniform, the exceptional cases of defect being compensated ]>y exceptional cases of excess. 206 EXrERIENCE OF THE TWO HEMISPHERES. LECTURE "^f iiQ population of Sweden, according to Mr. God- ■ win, had only doubled itself in the course of a whole Population ccntury. It was impossible, in contrasting this phe- of Sweden, j^q^^^^^^jj^ v^'ith that wliich North America presented, to overlook the different character of the two coun- tries : the one rich in certain mineral treasures, but with a surface little adapted to support either vege- table or animal life; the other teeming Avith the pro- duce of both the temperate and torrid zones, and Cca- pable of supplying food and clothing to millions of human beings as yet unborn. Was this a mere coin- cidence, or was there some necessary connection be- tween the relations of population and produce ? Mr. Malthus appealed to experience to decide the ques- tion. If it should appear as a fact that food and population obeyed one and the same law ; that in Sweden an entire century had elapsed before the means of subsistence had undergone a twofold in- crease, whilst in the Western Hemisphere the same result had taken place in a quarter of a century, it would be reasonable to infer, that there was some necessary connection between the supply of food and the advance of population, between the means of sup- port and the numbers to be supported. To the Old World, therefore, Mr. Malthus deter- mined to look for the rule as to the increase of the means of subsistence, if, by any means, it might throw light upon the relative retardation of the increase of the human species. That the produce of land might be doubled in some given period, e. g., twenty-five years, he admitted to be perfectly possible, but that it should be quadrupled after the lapse of a second period of equal length, he maintained to be contrary to our experience of the known qualities of land. " The very utmost," he writes, " that we can conceive is, that the increase in the second twenty-five years might equal the present produce. Let us then take Experience of the Old World. progression. INCREASE OF PRODUCE ARITHMETICAL. 207 this for our rule, though certainly far beyond the lecture truth, and allow that, by great exertion, the whole , ^"' produce of the island might be increased every twenty-five years by a quantity of subsistence equal to what it at present produces. The most enthusi- astic speculator cannot suppose a greater increase than this. In a few centuries, it would make every acre of land like a garden. " Yet this ratio of increase is evidently arithmetical, increase of It may be fairly said, therefore, that the means of arithme- subsistence increase in an arithmetical ratio." *^'^^^^- It may be as well, in order to prevent ambiguity, lest any of my readers should not be famihar with mathematical terms, to explain the distinction be- tween arithmetical and geometrical progression. A series of numbers or quantities is said to be in J^"^'^'""^ '^^ arithmetical progression, when they successively ex- ceed or fall short of one another by a certain constant number or quantity ; in other words, increase or de- crease, by a common difference ; e. g. 1. 3. 5. 7. 0. On the other hand, quantities are said to be in geo- metrical progression, when each succeeding term is respectively a certain multiple or quotient of the pre- ceding term ; that is, when the series increases or de- creases by a common multiplier or divisor; e. g. 1. 2. 4. 8. 16. Now it is evident, that the terms of an ascending geometrical series, whose common multiple is 2, Avill very soon outstrip the terms of an arithmetical scries, whose common difference is 2, and that the sum of the former will far exceed the sum of the latter ; for instance, the sum of 5 terms of the simple geome- trical series above cited will be 31, whilst that of the corresponding arithmetical series will be only 15. It being therefore assumed that population is ca- pable of increasing in a geometrical ratio, whilst the supply of food can only be augmented in an arithme- 208 INFLUENCE OF SUITLY OF FOOD. LECTTiRE tical ratIo, po])ulation will absolutely tend to outstrip . food; but us a fact, it is found tliat the supply of food Supply of food con- trols the growth of population. controls the growth of population ; so that in a given period the increase of population will be represented by a geometrical series, consisting of fewer terms than the arithmetical series which represents the increase of the supply of food. For example, the sum of an arithmetical series of five terms, 1. 2. 3. 4. 5., equal to 15, will correspond to the sum of a geometrical series of four terms, 1. 2. 4. 8., equal to 15. Unless this correspondence of the results be secured, it is clear that the condition of the population Avill retrograde, as its numbers increase, inasmuch as the share of food of each individual will be diminished in proportion to the excess in the aggregate number of individuals. As long as all the soil of the best quality in a coun- try has not been brought into cultivation, it is evi- dent that the terms of the arithmetical series which represent the increase of the supply of food, may succeed one another at shorter intervals of time, than will be the case in countries, where the most fertile districts have all been long occupied. In the former case, labour alone is required to set in operation the productive powers of the soil; in the latter, capital, or accumulated produce, must be combined with labour ; in the former case a double amount of labour alone will secure a proportionate return : not so, how- ever, in the latter case ; for a double amount of return can only be secured by a certain sacrifice of capital, which is so much continually deducted from the accu- mulated stock ; the alternative being that of allowing the land to remain fallow, and thereby the process of production to be interrupted. " Xo limits," writes Mr. Malthus, p. 26, " what- ever are placed to the productions of the earth. They may increase for ever, and be greater than any as- signable quantity ; yet still the power of population OSCILLATION OF TOPULATION. 209 being a, powor of a superior order, the increase of the lecture human species can only be kept commensurate to the ^ ^^^' mcrease of the means of subsistence, by the constant operation of the strong law of necessity acting as a check upon the greater power. Such is the alternative where it is impossible to Alternative, shorten the intervals at which the terms of the arith- metical series representing the supply of food succeed each other: in such a case, the intervals which sepa- rate the terms of the geometrical series, representing the numbers of the population, are lengthened by the increased activity of destructive elements. For in- stance, the interval of twenty-five years, which pre- vailed in N. America, corresponds, with respect to the increase of population, to the interval of 100 years in Sweden. The period of doubling has thus a fourfold extension in the latter country. How is this brought about ? " We will suppose," writes Mr. Malthus, p. 29, " the means of subsistence in any country just equal to the easy support of the inhabitants. The constant effort towards population, which is found to act, even in the most vicious societies, increases the number of people before the means of subsistence are increased. The food, therefore, which before supported seven millions, must now be divided between seven and a half or eight millions. The poor, consequently, must live much worse, and many of them be reduced to severe distress. The numberof labourers, also, being above the proportion of the work in the market, the price of labour must tend towards a decrease, wliilo the price of provisions would, at the same time, tend to rise. The labourer, therefore, must work harder to earn the same as he did before. During this sea- son of distress, the discouragements to marriage, and the difficulty of rearing a famil}', are so great, that population is at a stand. In tlie mean time the r 210 EXPERIENCE OF THE NETHERLANDS. LECTURE VII. Oscilla- tions. M. Que- telet. Belgium. cheapness of kil)our, tlic plenty of lal)oiirers, and the necessity of an increased industry amongst tlicm, en- courage cultivators to employ more labour upon their land; to turn up fresh soil, and to manure and im- prove, more coinplctel}', what is already in tillage ; till, ultimately, the means of subsistence become in the same proportion to the population as at the period from which Ave set out. The situation of the labourer being then again tolerably comfortable, the restraints to population are, in some degree, loosened, and the same retrograde and progressive movements with respect to happiness are repeated. " This sort of oscillation will not be remarked by superficial observers ; and it may be difficult even for the most penetrating mind to calculate its periods : yet, that in all old states, some such vibration does exist, though, from various transverse causes, in a much less marked, and in a much more irregular manner, than I have described it, no reflecting man, who considers the subject deeply, can well doubt." In illustration of Mr. Malthus' position, we may refer to a table which M. Quetelet has given in his " Essai de Physique Sociale," 1. 1., ch. ii., § 14. ; " Influence des Annees," which has reference to the Netherlands. {See page 211.) The year 1817, it will be observed, presents a greater number of deaths, both in the towns and in the country, than the preceding years, whilst the births and marriages, on the contrary, diminished. This year, as well as that of 1816, were years of great dearth. Again, in 1826, the price of bread rose in Belgium, and there ensued an increased mortality, combined with a very considerable diminution of marriages and births, whilst in 1821, and 1824, which had been years of plenty, we may observe that both the mortality was diminished, and the COINCIDENCE WITH THEORY. 211 Births. Deaths. Years. Marriages. Towns. Country. Towns. Country. 1815 59,737 135,625 49,007 88,592 48,854 1816 58,095 138,507 47,327 88,796 40,801 1817 55,207 122,348 55,240 97,368 33,881 1818 55,665 128,041 49,169 91,247 39,218 1819 61,788 143,504 49,738 98,659 42,401 1820 61,263 133,685 50,681 94,496 43,258 1821 65,356 145,003 49,706 88,414 44,796 1822 67,794 151,747 52,078 95,475 46,949 1823 65,318 148,299 48,815 91,877 45,424 1824 67,030 151,636 47,662 87,253 44,665 1825 68,078 153,813 50,689 95,449 47,097 1826 67,919 153,970 58,749 110,155 48,054 Total 753,250 1,706,178 608,861 1,127,781 525,398 Average 62770 142,182 50,739 93,981 43,783 number of marriages and births was much augmented in the following years, 1822, and 1825. This is precisely the kind of oscillation, the occur- coinci- rence of which ]\[. Condorcet, in the passa;>;e already '^'"°'^^ "''^'^ •* Coiidorcct's quoted, could not but admit to be theoretically inevi- theory, table. That history does not furnish us with re- peated instances of the same kind, may be readily accounted for from the circumstance that the annals of the past are a record rather of poHtical than social movements, which have influenced the fortunes of the rulers of connnunitics more than the communities themselves. M. Condorcet, indeed, held that the period at Avhich such an oscillation might possibly be experienced was so remote, that for the purposes of his argument it might be safely dis- regarded ; but a careful observation of facts warns us against admitting such a delusive liypothesis. On the contrary, in the absence of preventive obstacles, such oscillations must repeatedly occur ; but a wise p2 212 PREVENTIVE AND POSITIVE flllECKS. Classifica- tion of the checks on population. Preventive and positive checks. forctlioii'j.lit iiKiy conti'ibute to extend tlic intervals between such oscillations ; and such a result is one ol' the most unerring tests of un advancing civilisation. ]\lr. IMalthus, then, assuming the tendency of population to be positive and constant, proceeded to classify the obstacles to its free development, accord- ing as they operated by reducing the proportion of births, or by increasing the proportion of deaths, dis- tinguishing the former by the name o^ preventive^ the latter by that oi positive checks. M. Rossi, the distin- guished Professor of Political Economy in the College Royal of France in 1836-7, observes, that the latter of these terms has not been hap2:)ily chosen, and suggests the word " repressive" as conveying a more definite meaning. I have myself on a previous occa- sion ventured to make a similar remark, and to suggest the term " diminutive," at that time being un- acquainted with M. Rossi's criticism. I must, however, admit, that neither of the proposed substitutes are altogether free from ambiguity ; and the original ob- jection may perhaps be considered more verbal than substantial. The cause of the retarded progress of population in the principal states of modern Europe, as Mr. Malthus considered, was clearly not traceable to the degeneracy of the race, in respect of its powers of reproduction, but to the operation of a twofold obstacle, e. g, " the foresight of the difftculties attending the rearing of a ftimily acts as a preventive check, whilst the actual distresses of some of the lower classes by which they are disabled from giving the proper food and attention to their children, acts as a positive check." The greater or less degree in which these checks wiU respectively operate, must depend upon the predominance of the middle class of society, amongst whom considerations as to the difficulties of providing the increased amount of comforts, which a ALTERNATIVE OF MISERY OR VICE. 213 family will require, will have greater weight than lecture amongst the lower classes, who are disposed to trust ^^' . to the chance of events for the requisite supply of the necessaries of life. But we cannot close our eyes against the fact that this restraint, which certainly does operate more strongly amongst those whose own exertions, or the exertions of Avliose predecessors, have secured, for them the enjoyment of something more than the mere necessaries of life, may entail a recourse to vicious substitutes ; and thus it would appear probable, that the superior power of population cannot any- how be checked, without producing misery or vice. But whilst misery is a necessary consequence of popu- Alternative lation outstripping subsistence, vice is not an inevit- vice"no7 "'' able attendant on population being restrained within "ec^ssary. the limits of subsistence. The occasions when a positive check comes into force are invariably marked by similar calamities to those which now (1847) desolate Ireland ; whereas the opportunities for the exercise of a preventive check may be furnished by prudent self-control ; so that it is possible for a community to advance in moral and material welfore under the restraint which social institutions should encourage, but it will remain stationary, or even re- trograde, before the evils which individual recklessness gives rise to. One great object of j\Ir. Malthus' work was to warn ohjeet of statesmen of the shoals towards which the course of thus* work, previous legislation was rapidly setting the vessel of the state. Of the necessity of his task we have the best evidence in the remarkable unpo])ularity which it entailed upon the author ; for the harshness of tone, and the occasional exaggeration of statement in his work, w^hicli might reasonably be attributed to its con- troversial character, cannot of themselves account for the extraordinary outcry which assailed him from V .3 214 CASE OF IRELAND. LECTURE every quarter. Tlic ^reiit tnitli wliicli lie wished to . ^"' . impress upon society was this ; tliat the natural in- stinct of the human race more than supplied a suf- ficient stimulus to the increase of population, and that the legislator, who should furnish either directly or indirectly any artificial incentive, was entailing physical evil or vice upon the coming generation. Let us, for example's sake, observe the'results of an indirect stimulus having been supplied by the legis- lature in the case of Ireland. The following data are available from the returns furnished by the col- lectors of the hearth-money : — Case of Ireland Years. 1754 17G7 1777 Population. 2,372,634 2,544,276 2,690,556 From which it appears that during the interv^al of the 10 years, subsequent to 1767, the increase had been 146,280, and during the preceding 13 years, the increase had been 171,642 ; a rate tolerable con- stant for 23 years. In 1784, by 23 and 24 Geo. III. c. 19., bounties were granted by the legislature on the exportation of corn, in order to stimulate by artificial means the con- version of pasture lands into tillage, the Agistment Act having been passed in 1 7 6 4 : and whereas in 1 7 7 3, the average export of corn had not exceeded 66,248 barrels, the effects of the Bounty Act, within five years after it came into operation, was to raise the quantity to 648,894 barrels (a. d. 1789). About the same thne, and with a similar object, the practice was introduced Partnership of granting partnership leases to groups of labourers, very often 20 or more. Mr. AVakefield, in his account of Ireland, in describing the condition of Galway under the system of partnership leases, says : " These leases. INCREASE OF POPULATION. 215 people divide the land, and give portions to their lecture children, which consist of one fourth or one fifth of ^_J^^' what they call a man's share ; that is, of the land which originally belonged to one man in the lease. A certain portion of the whole farm or take^ is appro- priated for tillage, and this portion is then divided into lots, perhaps 20 or 30 : these lots are a^rain subdivided Minute ,. T 1 1 • 1 • • 1 • n 1 subdivision into lields, which are partitioned into smaller lots, of lands. each partner obtaining one or two ridges ; but these ridges do not continue in the hands of the same occu- pier longer than the time they are in tillage. The pasture is held in common, and the elders of the vil- lage are the legislators, who establish such regulations as may be judged proper for the community, and settle all disputes that arise among them. Their houses stand close to each other, and form what is here called a village." The indirect effect upon \\\q population may be Effect upon gathered from the altered rate of increase, as shown of Ireland. by the following returns : — 1785 2,845,932 1788 3,900,000 1791 4,206,612 It seems hardly credible, that in the four years following the introduction of the bounty system, the population should have increased one fourth in num- bers ; yet the returns of the number of houses show a still greater rate of increase : — 1785 474,322 1788 650,000 1791 701,102 Still further, in 1805, the population of Ireland Rate of in- was estimated by Mr. Newenham at 5,395,456; ex- to that m F 4 21G rECULIAllITY OF ITS AGRICULTURE. North America. LECTURK hil)iting thus a rate of increase during the previous . ^"' , twenty-five years only second to tliat wliicli the Britisli colonies in North America had furnished, and confirmatory of ^Ir. ]\Ialthus's inference, as to the capability of the human race to double its numbers in about a quarter of a century. Now, had the food of the Irish population consisted of corn — had the exported grain in this case been the surplus of the annual crop, after a sufficiency had been reserved for seed and the support of the labourer, however inconvenient it might have been to the English consumer to be compelled to buy at so dear a market, for the bounty which the state sup- plied was so much paid indirectly by the English consumer of Irish corn, still the state might have been secured from being called upon at any subse- quent time to feed the Irish corn-growers ; but inas- much as the corn grown by the greater part of the cultivators of the soil in Ireland was grown almost exclusively for the foreign market, the exports of corn were no index of the surplus power of the people so to feed themselves. Grain crops, indeed, were raised in Ireland just as silk or cotton manufac- tures were produced in Lancashire, as articles of exchange, not of consumption, the food of the culti- vator in Ireland consisting of a far cheaper, but far more uncertain article, the potato. Of the extent to which this esculent has been cultivated we have the best information in the returns which have lately been furnished by Mr. Griffiths, and which the Chief Secretary for Ireland referred to iu the House of Com- mons, January 19, 1847 : — £ Oats, 4,000,000 acres, at 3/. 10^. - - - 14,000,000 Wheat, flax, grass crops, 2,000,000 acres, at 7/. - 14,000,000 Potatoes, 1,500,000 acres, at 10/. - - - 15,000,000 Pasture, meadow, 6,500,000 acres, at 1/. os. - 8,125,000 £51,125,000 Grain not grown for home con- sumption. OPERATION OF BOUNTY ACTS. 217 Now, it lias been calculated that two thirds of tlie lecture Irish population live entirely upon potatoes, so that , ^"' half the entire grain crop of the country is in all probability exported ; whereas, liad the food of the people been grain, the whole produce of the grain crop would only have sufficed to support two thirds of the existing population, it behig calculated that 15,000,000/. worth of potatoes will support a popula- tion that would consume grain of double the value. Yet Ireland continues to export grain, and the agri- cultural families constitute about two thirds of the whole population. It would thus seem that the operation of tlic operation Bounty Act has been to stimulate unduly the cultiva- Ict*^""'^ tion of corn, for tlie i?uri')ose of exportation^ not for the purpose of food ; and thus that agriculture in Ireland has assumed quite an unnatural character under its influence, and corn-tillage is, as it were, a factitious kind of industry. An undue demand has thus been rndue de- created for labour, not otherwise self-remiaierating, iTbour.""^ and thus the growth of the agricultural population has been inordinately stimulated. Had not the state held out a bounty, the landlord would not have allowed his pasture lands to be broken up, nor the middleman have invested liis capital in clearing and enclosing them, nor would the race of labourers have been un- duly encouraged to multiply their numbers by the fatal facility of renting small patches of land for the produce of their grain crop, and been led to trust tlie support of their families to an inferior kind of Ibod. The schools of writers opposed to ]\Ir. jMalthus opponent* divide themselves into two great classes, both of Maithus. which seem to consider that the march of population is natural and providential, and should not be inter- fered with, and that it is within the province of the state to control the operation of positive checks. The earlier school, whose doctrines provoked Mr. 218 EMIGRATION ]\[nlf1ms' work, mnintninod that the existinn- rlistri- but ion of wealth was faulty, and that under an im- jiroved distribution, there would be always sufficient ]:)i'oduce for the support of any number of labourers. The later school, which seem to have originated subsequently to his Avork, admitted, indeed, the possi- bility of a surplus population at times, but considered emigration to be the natural remedy under such an emergency. Both these questions deserve consideration ; but as the latter is of more immediate interest, it may claim our attention first. EmigraUon. That emigration is one of the modes by which in the natural order of Providence the human race is to fulfil the injunction of " be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it," is unques- tionable, but that it can ever be regarded as a remedy for over-population, may be more than doubted. Its advocates, however, are generally men of benevolent feelino; ; but thev are also men of imasri- native minds, who do not consider that the emigrant, who is thrust out by a community under the pres- sure of population against food, is a man of little or no capital, whose existence depends upon his finding an immediate market for his labour, in a country of strangers, in the expectation of which he is not unfre- quently disappointed, and condemned to drag out a lingering existence of mental mortification and bodily suffering in his adopted country, far more painful than all that he would have undergone at home. It has been aptly observed by M. Rossi, that the advo- cates of emigration resemble physicians, who, when they despair of their patients' recovery, recommend them to try change of climate. But what is the real fact ? Is emigration ever more A palliative than a palliative of the evil ; or is it not rather one of of the evil, ^^^^^^ daugcrous palliatives the employment of which is A PALLIATIVE OF THE EVIL. 219 followed by a recurrence of the symptoms in an ag- lecture gravated form, because, meanwhile, the true remedy . is neglected ? Nay, is it not probable, that emigra- tion, by relieving the immediate pressure, will thereby remove for a time the necessity of seeking an appro- priate remedy, the application of which will always be irksome ? It was shown in a previous course of lectures, that the rate of increase in the case of the po- pulation of Ireland seemed to have been accelerated in consequence of the emigration of numerous bodies of labourers, and such a result, we should be led by theory to expect. Either the best workmen emigrate, two classes in which case the productive power of the country '^^rants" in proportion to its population is reduced ; or the worthless and idle emigrate, in which case the pres- sure of population against food is relieved, and that relief at once gives an impulse to the movement of population. Experience thus seems to negative the supposed Local emi- positive effect of emigration in readjusting the pro- ^""°°- portions of population to food. In its operation it seems to be equivalent to a short pestilence ; but it is more discriminate for the most part in its victims. Its effect upon the labour market is rather to stimulate the demand for new hands by creating an export trade of old hands. It may, indeed, under certain circumstances, be of temporary use as an in- dustrial safety-valve, to let off the steam, when the action of the engine is checked, but its being let off does not afi'ect the further generation of steam, unless the fire is reduced. Local emigration, if such a term may be used to denote the transfer of labour at home from localities where it is in excess, to localities where the supply is deficient, is undoubt- edly of service, as any other commerce, and such transfers of labour may safely he encouraged, as 9 '•JO ^^^ COLONISATION. ^^^'^y^^' tlicy fiirtlicr tlic division of ]{i1)onr, and promote tlie ' iidvjincL'inunt of a country in productive power. coionisa- On a similar principle the effects of colonisation, as distinguished from emigration, may not be disad- vantageous where its direction is judicious. On the contrary, it may be beneficial by opening new mar- kets, from the colonists producing new articles of exchange, and so creating a demand for the produce of the mother country. But it must be remem- bered that the industry of an infant colony is essen- tially agricultural, and unless the mother country is prepared to admit without restriction the raw l^roduce of the colony into the home market, colo- nisation will be as barren in its results as a forced emigration. Under any circumstances, if it be looked to as a direct remedy for what is termed over-popu- lation, its advocates ^vill be disappointed, for the evil, which it is customary to refer to over-popula- tion, is really to be attributed to a faulty organisation of productive power. On the other hand, if colonisation be regarded as a system of industrial conquest, by which the waste spots of the earth's surface are to be occupied and cul- tivated, and by which the commerce of a great race is to be extended, and greater scope given to its pro- ductive power, there is no reason to doubt that such results will attend it, where the mother country does not tie up the hands of the colonists. But colonisa- tion, in its most favourable aspect, A^dll in one sense rather act as a stimulus to population, for it will create a demand for labour, and thus it must be cautiously and sparingly pursued, or it may over- stimulate population, and the advantage accruing to the mother country be so far proportionately dimin- ished. Vicious dis- As for that section of ]\Ir. ^lalthus' opponents, who ?/weaiS. uiaintained that a vicious distribution of wealth is OVER-EAUNESTNESS OF MALTHUS. 221 entailed by the existing constitution of society, and lecture that a more equal partition is all that is required to . secure abundant subsistence for an unlimited increase of numbers, their suggestion is open to similar objec- tions to those, which make emigration nugatory. If it be admitted, for the sake of argument, that it would be possible to organise by political changes a more equal distribution of wealth, so that the exist- ing extreme classes of society should be brought in- definitely near to the middle class, such a state of things would not furnish any new element of resist- ance to the principle of population : on the contrary, so large a mass of the community becoming for a time exempt from the operation of positive checks, their rate of increase would be accelerated, and there- by more than compensate for any retardation in the growth of the comparatively few families, who com- posed the former upper class. In addition, the means of indulging in any save almost necessary expenses would no longer exist, as in the present constitution of society, and there would no longer l)e any reserve fund of food corresponding to that which at present is employed in the maintenance of animals subservient to our comfort or luxury : so that a de- ficient harvest, which now leads to a dearth, would invariably produce a famine, no class having any superfluous store to bestow upon those who might want the necessaries of life. The correctness of this view is too well established by the events now passing in Ireland, where so large a proportion of the popu- lation engaged in agriculture are, upon one and the same level, just above starvation. It must, however, be admitted that Mr. Malthus, over with the ardour that a new career of discovery fre- oJ^r!*""' quently awakens in the human mind, pushed on his Maituus. argument with a reckless disregard for all other con- siderations than that of maintaining a just equi- 222 DEFECTS OF HIS SYSTEM. VII. LECTDRE libriiim between population imd subsistence. On the otlier liand, luiniaii benevolence is not sufficiently indiscriminate in its choice of objects, nor sufficiently careful in its selection of means; and it frequently happens that institutions, such, for instance, as found- ling hospitals, lead to consequences foreign from the in- tentions of the founders, and give rise to evils greater than those which they were meant to mitigate. i\Ir. IMalthus, therefore, did good service both to the state and to individuals, when he pointed out the true ten- dency of many existing practices which had their origin either in the hereditary prejudices of an un- inquiring public, or in the unreflecting impulse of individual feeling. He has himself admitted the pro- bability that, having found the bow curved too much one way, he had bent it back too much in another direction, in order to straighten it. The real objection, however, to Mr. ]\Ialthus' sys- tem is not that it is untrue, but that it is incomplete. The history, indeed, of civilisation displays a course of social advancement at variance with the assump- tion, that the human race tends absolutely to increase faster than the means of subsistence. There are other powerful counteracting tendencies in human nature developed with the occasion for their use. Thus, in- deed, man, in the social state, experiences new desires to which he is a stranger when moving in the nar- rower circle of domestic life. By his own hearth side, surrounded with the objects of his tenderest affection, he thinks not of himself; but the feeling of self-love is at once awakened when he finds himself thrown amidst strangers, with whom he has no sympathies, and from whom he cannot expect co-operation ; whose opinions are influenced by appearances, and whose very numbers make distinctions between individuals inevitable. The grounds of classification, indeed, may vary in different societies ; but the distinction of Defect of Mr. Mill- thus' sys- tem. Distinction of classes. DISTINCTION OF CLASSES. 223 classes is recognised equally beneath the tent of the wandering Arab as in the palaces of European princes : the form, indeed, -which it assumes, may differ on the banks of the Thames and of the Ganges, but the prin- ciple is of universal application. New feelings are thus called into play by the dis- tinction of classes — feelings which moderate and counterbalance the strong, natural impulse hitherto predominant ; viz., the fear of sinking through im- provident self-indulgence, and the hope of rising by prudent self-restraint. These feelings are as much a part of man's nature as the feeling which impels him to continue his race, and their operation is as inevi- table as the increase of population itself, though it must be admitted that their action may be neutralised by bad social institutions. AVhen this fact was pressed upon his attention, Mr. Malthus, in his published correspondence with Mr. Senior, in 1829, maintained ^°""^- " that the desire of bettering our condition, as far as with Mr. it affects the direct increase of food^ is perfectly feeble, ^^""*'"* compared with the tendency of population to in- crease:" but there appears to be some slight con- fusion of thought in this statement, which is not strictly in point. If Mr. Malthus meant to impugn Mr. Senior's position, that " the desire of bettering our condition is as natural a wish as the desire of marriage," he should have said that the desire of bettering our condition, as far as it affects the direct increase of population, is perfectly feeble, comj)ared with the desire of marriage ; for no one ever main- tained that restraint and self-denial, the offspring of the desire to better one's condition of life, could directly increase food. Their indirect operation, however, may affect the relation which food and population bear to each other in such a degree, as to diminish the pressure of population against food ; and so wherever this pressure tends to diminish, 224 COUNTERACTING TENDENCIES. i.F.rTjTRE society may be considered to be advancinf^ in ifM natural course, Olov yaf> exaa-rrju ia-ri Trig yevsarscns ts'a;- aOsifrrjg, rauTr^v ^aixkv slvrxi Tr,v (^'jtiv ixcirrTO'j. Aristot. Pol. 1. i. c.i. Mr. j\raltlius unhesitatingly maintained tliat the superior power of popuhition could not be checked without producing either misery or vice. Tliis is an unnecessarily gloomy view of the prospects of society : but M. Rossi has well observed, that it is not in the midst of misery and that stupid indifference, which is frequently the result of it, that we can expect a wise forethought to grow up, which shall lead to future self-restraint. He who has ceased to fear, has ceased to hope ; and, with hope and fear, all calculation of consequences departs. The question, however, may be asked, IIow happens it that we find certain nations have kept steadily advancing in moral and material prosperity, in spite of most severe dearths, which seems at first sight paradoxical ? The explanation is to be sought for, not so much in the political, as in the social institutions of nations. The mass that survives, is a different class from the mass that perishes. We must never forget that na- tions are not homogeneous compounds, any more than individual men, and that nations may differ very con- siderably from one another, according as different classes of men predominate in them. Wherever, in- deed, the institutions of a community contribute to call into exercise the higher faculties of our nature, we shall there find the class, which is capable of re- flecting, and thereby duly controlling the instincts of animal life, continually augmented in numbers, and tending to form the predominant class. It is under these circumstances that one nation in spite of occa- sional dearths, attains to a high degree of civilisation, whilst another, difiin'cntly composed, is kept station- ary, or even retrogrades. The class whom famine Effect of social in- stitutions. THE MIDDLE CLASS. 225 sweeps off in the former case, is but a small iiiiiiorit\-: i-i:cture in the latter they are the mass, or a great majority. , That political institutions may favour the growth of The middle the middle class, which is the distinctive element of ''^^^^• modern society, is undeniable ; but the measures which Mr. Godwin and similar writers advocated, were not calculated to promote this result, 226 INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION IN KNGLAND. LECTURE VIII. LECTURE The last quarter of the eighteenth century supplied . ^"^' ^ ji most ample harvest of facts to the new School of Economists, which had adopted the principles of Adam Smith, and pursued the experimental method, which he had introduced. The great social experi- ments, to which the Political Revolution in France had given rise on the continent of Europe, have been already alluded to. Contemporaneous with those Industrial exDcriments, an industrial revolution was silently revolution. ^ , •x-iiiit i -n operating m England, leadmg to results, still more remarkable, and more important in their bearings upon economical questions ; for the conditions, under which human labour was henceforth to be applied, were thereby undergoing a modification, only second f) in extent to that, which Attic piety commemorated of , old in the Eleusinian mysteries. Watt and The great motive power, which the genius of Watt rkvNTig . j^^^i ^^^^^ disciplined (his earliest patent was taken out in 1769) was applied, about the year 1785, in furtherance of the discoveries of Arkwright, and the combination of the steam-engine with the spinning- frame, as it changed the aspect of production, so it gave rise to a new class of problems, bearing upon tlie distribution of produce. At the same time the emancipation of so large a portion of the American continent from the dominion of European interests gave a new face to many great questions of commerce. Tlie prosperity of the United States of North Ame- Baianceof ^^^^> ^'^^' iiistaiice, inflicted a death-blow upon the trade. auciciit thcoiy of the Balance of Trade, whilst the WATT AND AEKWRIGHT. 227 colonial traditions of Europe were annihilated b}' tlie lectcre mother countries becoming tributary to their former , ^"'' subjects for the raw material of their staple manu- factures. The Science of Finance, likewise, received science of a new impulse, from the extraordinary development ""^"^'^• which manufacturing industry underwent, and tliat branch of the system which Avas more particularly concerned with indirect taxation, was subjected to a most complete revision. The protracted struggle, whicli England was maintaining against the system of the French Revolution, could not but hasten the march of events. It was impossible to diminish the burden of taxation, as long as this struggle lasted : hence it became of the last importance to augment the means of supporting the burden ; and thus the indirect result was a more rapid development of the elements of change. Adam Smith had explained, with sufficient preci- Adam sion, those branches of economical inquiry, wliicli were work not more peculiarly connected with the production of ^""'piff*'- wealth, as far as agriculture and the arts were con- cerned ; but his investigations were not so complete in reference to commerce. On the other hand, as his system was essentially experimental, based upon an examination. of facts, the operations of indufttr}j^ pro- perly so called, in distinction from labour, had not assumed that importance which entitled them to a special analysis. Tlie course of events, however, subsequent to the publication of the " Wealth of Nations," had given prominence to many commercial and industrial ques- tions, which consecjuently demanded solution at tlie hands of his successors. Amongst the first and the most distinguished writers of the Continent, who justly appreciated the value of the " rnqiiiry into tlic Nature and Causes of the Wealtli of Nations," was m. Jean M. Jean Baptiste Say, " who, not merely," to use sry.^'^**^ d 2 228 .iKAN i5Ai"rrsri': sav. Traite d'Economie Politique. Utility. Mr. Mai- thus' Prin- ciples of Political Economy. Mr. Kicardo's Avords, " Jia.s done more tliaii all other coiitiiieiitul writers taken together, to recommend the principles of that enlightened and beneficial system to tlie nations of Europe, but who has succeeded in placing the science in a more logical and more in- structive order, and has enriched it by several dis- cussions, original, accurate, and profound." His earliest work was his " Traite d'h^cononiie Politique, ou Simple Exposition de la Maniere dont se forment, se distribuent, et se consomment les Rich- esses," published in 1803, whilst Napoleon Buona- parte was First Consul. The science of Political Economy was now, for the first time, formally limited to the legitimate sphere, which Adam Smith had by implication marked out for it, namely, the investigation of the laws which govern the formation, distribution, and consumption of wealth. M. Say, however, extended the meaning of the term wealth, under which head he embraced immaterial as well as material products : in this respect, differing entirely from the English School. He enlarged the signification of the word " utility," defining it to be " cette faculte qu'ont certaines choses de pouvoir satisfaire aux divers besoins des hommes :" and thus, whatever was capa,ble of satis- fying the wants of man was, according to M. Say, an article of wealth, as such a capacity was the first foun- dation of value. It is not proposed, on the present occasion, to do more than allude to the discussion of this question, which is to be found in " Mr. ^Nlalthus' Principles of Poli- tical Economy." jMr. Malthus, who, in several re- spects, was strongly opposed to M. Say's views, in regard to rent, for instance, considers that this en- larged definition of wealth has led ^I. Say almost inevitably to contradictions and inconsistencies. " One motive," he says, " which seems to have in- MALTims' PRINCIPLES OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 229 duced M. Say to force into his definition of wealth i^i^cture ' les phis nobles vertus et les plus rarcs talens,' is to . enlarge and exalt the domain of Political Economy, objections which he says has been reproaclied with occupying d"fi^iltfon * itself upon worldly goods, and encouraging a spirit of "f wealth. avarice. But even if such a classification would ""ive o the subject more importance, this additional import- ance would be dearly purchased at the expense of the precision of its conclusions. The question, however, is not whether the results of useful labours may not, very properly, find a place in a Treatise on Political Economy, as they have done in the Inquiry of Adam Smith, but whether the specific term wealthy should be so defined, as to make not only its own meaning quite indistinct, but to introduce still greater indis- tinctness into the terms of the science of morals." " The fact really is," he continues, " that if we once desert matter in the definition of wealth, tliere is no subsequent line of demarcation which has any tolerable degree of distinctness, or can be maintained with any tolerable consistency, till we have included such a mass of immaterial objects as utterly to confuse tlie meaning of the term, and render it impossible to speak with any approach towards precision, either of the wealth of difi^erent individuals or different nations. " If then we wish, with J\I. Say, to make Political Economy a positive science, founded on experience, and capable of making known its results, we must be particularly careful in defining its principal term, to embrace only tliose objects, tlie increase or decrease of which is capable of being estimated, and tlie line, which it seems most natural and useful to draw, is that which separates material from immaterial objects." It was observed, in the Sixth Lecture, that Adam iiuinat.riai Smith's classification of labour, under the heads of ''""""'"• productive and unproductive labour, was oik'ii to grave objections. M. Say, on the othei* hand, by in- u 3 services. 230 INTERNATIONAL COMMKRCE. eluding- inimiiteriul jn'oducts urulor the name of ]-iches, enlarged tlie domain of productive labour in- definitely. Mr. Malthus, considering this indiscrimi- nate sense of the word productive to be even more objectionable than the confined sense in which Adam Smith liad used it, suggested that it might be desir- Personai able to substitutc the term perfjo^ial services for un- productive labour. In reference to this, Mr. Senior observes, in the " Encyclopasdia Metropolitana," " those who thought the principles of Adam Smith's division convenient, feeling, at the same time, the difficulty of terming unproductive the labour, without which all other labour would be inefficient, invented the term services., or immaterial products, to express its results." After investigating the origin of those distinctions, and tracing it up rather to the mode in which the objects are considered, than to the objects themselves, Mr. Senior proposes to retain the distinc- tion between services and commodities as convenient, applying the term services to the act of occasioning an alteration in the existing state of things, the term commodity, to the thing as altered, and including use of the botli commoditics and services under the general term pro- , duct. term product. Interna- '^^^^ most Valuable portion of M. Say's labours are tionaicom- to bc fouud in liis discussious on international com- "^^'^'^'^' merce. Adam Smith had observed that it was " the great multiplication of the productions of all the different arts, in consequence of the division of labour, which occasions in a well governed society that universal opulence which extends itself to the lowest ranks of the people." He had likewise pointed out, that "as it is the power of exchanging that gives occasion to the division of labour, so the extent of this division must always be hmited Iw the extent of that power, or, in other Avords, by the extent of the market. When the market is very small, no person Mr. Senior's ON COMMERCIAL OUTLETS. 231 can have any encouragement to dedicate himself lecture entirely to one employment, for want of the power to , "_ , exchange all that surplus part of the produce of his own labour, which is over and above his own consumption, for such parts of the produce of other men's labour as he has occasion for." Tlie extension of the market would thus seem to be re- garded by Adam Smith as a condition precedent to any further subdivision of labour. It remained for M. Say to show that every sub- subdivision division of labour, causes of itself an enlargement of the market, where it is judiciously carried out. Adam Smith had been the first to point out that the powers of production Avere rendered most ef- fective by the introduction of a division of labour amongst the producers, which led first to an increase of dexterity ; secondly, to a saving of time ; thirdly, to an improvement of machinery. M. Say completed Adam Smith's work by showing that no conceixable increase of these powers, provided there be a pro- portionate increase in the division of labour, can ever lead to a general overloading of the market, in- asmuch as each new commodity forms a new equiva- lent for purchasing some other commodity, and each new product renders the market so much the more extensive. In the fifteenth chapter of his " Traite de I'E'cono- rommerciai -» r o 1 1 • • OUtktS. mie Politique," M. Say first expounds his views under the title of " Des Debouches," or, to adopt an English equivalent, " On Commercial Outlets." " It is usual," he writes, " for persons engaged in the several branches of industry to say that they find a difficulty not in producing, but in selling ; that there would always be an abundant supply of goods, if it were easy to find a market for them. When they can- not dispose of their produce readily and advantnge- ously, they say ' money is scarce ; ' and the great ci 4 232 MONKY A COMMODITY Lixrri'Ki; ()l)ifci of (heir desires is a rapid consumption, which , will tend to multiply sales, and keep up prices, liut if they are asked what circumstances favour the dis- posal of their produce, it will be perceived that the mass have only confused ideas on the subject, are bad observers, and still worse interpreters of facts, hold for certain that which is as yet doubtful, desire that which is directly opposed to their interests, and seek to obtain an authoritative sanction to a system of protection, fertile in evil consequences to them- selves." In order then to obtain clear and just ideas upon a subject, which occupies so wide a field when we re- gard its bearings upon international commerce, it w^ill be desirable to analyse certain facts which are within the compass of each individual's observation. Every product then possesses a certain utility, i. e. a certain quality of satisfying some desire of man. By virtue of this utility it becomes an object of de- mand to those who seek the satisfaction of the desire to which it is adapted. If the product costs nothing, each person who desires it will provide himself with a sufficiency ; but on any other supposition, those who wish to enjoy it, must either furnish the cost, or its equivalent. Now it is customary to regard money as the equivalent in certain proportions of all com- modities. Let this be admitted to be a fact : but the question then suggests itself, by w^hat means does Money a mouev find its w^ay into the hands of those who wdsh commodity. J J ^ to purchase any given commodity ? Is it not the case that money itself, for we must exclude from con- sideration the representatives of money, which, under certain conditions of credit, frequently fulfil its func- tions, consists in a commodity which has itself been procured at a certain cost, i. e. by the sacrifice of a certain quantity of produce given in exchange for it ? Before a person is in a condition to purchase a com- modity with money, he must have purchased the luce. PUKCHASED WITH PEODUCE. 233 money itself, and that purchase he must have effected lectikk by the sale of his own produce, or of produce that ' belongs to him. The proprietor of land, if he lets it to the cultivator for a produce rent, sells, on his o^Yl\ account, the portion of produce which accrues to him as the proprietor : if lie lets it for a money rent, the farmer sells a portion of produce on his account, and hands over to him its equivalent in money. If tlie capitalist, who has lent money on interest to a manu- facturer, does not himself sell a portion of the manu- facturer's produce, the manufacturer assuredly sells it on his account, and j)ays him the money which he ^io"i'y pur- has obtained in exchange for it. No purchaser is in IrTai a condition to give money in exchange for a commo- dity, unless he has previously exchanged away some product of his own for money. It would argue but narrow intelligence on the purt of a manufacturer if he were to declare that it is not an abundance of all sorts of produce which really makes the market firm, but plenty of money. " It might well be said in reply to him," writes M. Say, " the farmer will buy your goods if his har- vest is productive ; he Avill buy so much the more, according as he produces more : he can buy nothing if he produces nothing." " You, yourself, even, cannot buy his corn or his wool, unless you produce manufactured goods. You pre- tend that it is the supply of money which is deficient. I tell you, that it is other products. In a word, why do you want money ? Is it not in order that you may buy raw materials for your manufactures, or provi- sions for your own subsistence ? You must see clearly that it is produce which is deficient, not money. The silver, for instance, which will lia\e furthered the sale of your own produce, and the pnr- cliase of another person's produce, will pass on into other hands a moment afterwards, and serve for a 234 MONEY TIIK VEIIICLI': OF VALUE. Money tlic vehicle of value. Scarcity of produce makes the market dull. similar purpose between two otlier dealers, and so on l)etwecn others, without any limit to its circulation, in the same way as the vehicle, which has conveyed your produce to market, will convey in its turn some other person's produce thither. When you cannot sell your produce readily, do you ever say, it is he- cause purchasers have no vehicles to convey it away? Well ! money is the vehicle of value. Its only use is to convey into your hands the value of the produce, which the purchaser of your goods has sold in order to purchase them ; and to convey in return into his hands the value of the produce, Avhich you have al- ready sold to others. " It is thus with the value of your own produce transformed for the moment into a sum of money, that you purchase, in a word, that all the world purchases the articles of which each is in want. Otherwise, how could it be possible to purchase, now-a-days, in France, six or eight times the quantity of articles dur- ing the year, that were purchased in the miserable reign of Charles YI. ? It is evidently because six or eight times more articles are produced, and that one commodity is purchased with another commodit3\" Whenever, therefore, it is said, " the market is dull, because money is scarce," the means are mistaken for the end. For the market is dull, not because money is scarce, but because some particular kind of produce is scarce, which would exchange for the produce which is abundant. There is always money enough for the purposes of a circulating medium, or in its absence convenient substitutes will be adopted to facilitate the exchange of values, wherever those values really exist. Money is never long wanted for mercantile transac- tions, for such transactions imply an abundance of valuable commodities, and with some portion of these the particular commodity, which serves the purposes of money, may be procured to satisfy the emergency. DULNESS OF THE MARKET. 235 But money will always be scarce in countries where le(-t[re the labour of the people is badly organised, as there '" will be little, if any, exchange of values, because there will be scarcely any variety of products to form the basis of an excliann of a poor country would infallibly ruin itself. A coun- try," he writes, '' which always exports less than it receives, maintains an equilibrium by impoverishing itself; it will continue to receive less, until it will have reached a state of extreme poverty, when it will cease to receive any thing." The same author elsewhere (1. xx. chap. 2.) writes, " the natural effect of connnerce is to carry peace with it. Two nations Avhich trade together, render each other nmtually dependent : if the one has an interest in buying, the other has an interest in selling, and all alliances are based on mutual wants." Yet, in the conclusion of the same book, he savs, " It is not for me to decide the question, if Spain, not being able to conduct the trade of the Indies alone, had better leave it open to strangers. I will only say that it would be advantageous for her to set as few oljstaclcs in the way of this branch of commerce as her political system Avill allow her to do. When the goods, which diilerent nations carry to the Indies are dear, the Indians give a great deal of tlicir nu-r- chandize, which is gold and silver, for a small (pian- tity of Ibreign merchandize: the contrary result takes place when the former are chea[). It would, perhaps, be R 242 voLTAiiu:. desirable, tliat tlicse nations sliould liurt one another, in order that tlie merchandize uliicli they cai-ry to the Indies sliould ha always clieap in the Indian market." Here, lie seems to suppose that the opening of the trade with the Indies would create so great a competition amongst foreign merchants, that they would injure each other by lowering their prices, and at the same time benefit the Indians. Tliis seems voiciirc. almost to square with Voltaire's doctrine, as set forth under the article " Patrie," in his " Dictionnaire Philosophique," quoted by M. Say. " Such is the condition of humanity, that to wish the greatness of one's own country, is to wish evil to one's neighbours. It is clear, that one country cannot gain, except ano- ther loses." " II est clair qu'un pays ne peut gagner sans qu'un autre ne perde." It has been thought worth while to refer to this passage, as well as to the extracts from Montesquieu, in order to show how great a gulf separates these writers from j\I. Say, and how the most powerful intellects of the eighteenth century were quite unequal, by a priori reasoning, to grapple with the questions which the experimental method of the nineteenth century has thoroughly elucidated. ronign So far from the truth is it, that the operations of foreign commerce are prejudicial to what Montesquieu terms a poor country, under which head he classes all countries exclusively agricultural, that on the contrary, the importation of foreign produce must favour the sale of home produce. For such foreign produce must be paid for, either directly or indirectly, Avith home produce, and so effectively stimulate pro- duction. For, if it be said, foreign commodities will be paid for with money, let it not be overlooked that the gold or silver, which is given in exchano-e for foreign commodities, is exchanged away as a conuno- dity, and not as money : the sovereigns of England, comnicvce. OPERATIONS OF FOREIGN COMMERCE. 243 for instance, and tlio dollars of Spain, enter into lectdre foreign commerce, not as money, but as metal of a , ^ "^' certain pnrity and weight : and if it be true, that certain branches of commerce entail an export of gold and silver, other branches of commerce promote an influx of those commodities. Let us consider, for a moment, the true condition of an agricultural coun- try, in its relation to other countries. Do the ex- ports of grain from Odessa impoverish the southern provinces of the Russian empire ? Is it not notori- ous, in the case of what Montesquieu terms poor countries, that gold and silver form a much larger item of their traffic with foreign nations, than in case of rich countries, and that a very small quantity of bullion is required to adjust the dealings of rich countries ? We must never lose sight of the fact, that gold or silver, strictly speaking, is never productive when discharging the functions of money, but only when it is exchanged as a commodity ; and that it is in the character of a commodity, that gold or silver becomes an article of foreign commerce. A prosperous nation ought rather to be regarded Nations in- as a useful friend, than a dangerous rival. A\^e i,', ',^u- ouo:]it, no doubt, to protect ourselves a^-ainst the """f'^^'";^* '-' , I ' •■• . ~ . prosperity. ambition or anger of a neighbour, who may misunder- stand his own interests so, as to be anxious to embroil himself in war ; but after taking the necessary mea- sures to secure ourselves from unjust aggression, it is not our interest to weaken other nations. It has been said tliat merchants, at London and Marseilles, were alarmed at the prospect of the independence of Greece, and the competition which they would, in consequence, be exposed to. l>ut what proiital)le commerce could Greece carry on Avith France or England, that would not encourage tlie industry of tliose countries? Could the (jreeks import their pro- duce into France or England without exporting in 24 i CAUHE OF GLUTS. return the full ((juiviileiits of it? Could they force J)i'itisli merchants to trade, or "would Freueli iner- clumts consent to deal, on terms wliieli were not favour- able to themselves? On the contrary, if the (jreeks were ever to acquire a high station amongst nations, they would have wherewithal to pay for the gratifica- tion of new wants, and they would become important customers to the other European states. It is not a wild and indiscriminate philanthropy which suggests such a result, but a pure regard for self, operating upon an enlightened appreciation of one's own true interest. Cause of Thc objcctors to M. Say's views on this subject occasional ^^'^g ^^ ^ proof that production may be carried too far, the occasional glut of British produce in foreign markets. This superabundance, however, is only a proof that production itself is behind-hand in those countries, where such a glut happens to be ex- perienced. If the Brazils raised sufficient produce wherewith to purchase the goods which are imported from England, there would be no glut of the latter ; but it may be possible that there is no natural de- ficiency, but only an artificial dearth of Brazilian produce, suitable to be exchanged for British goods, which the Custom-House regulations of Enfrland alone create, by prohibiting or restricting the im- portation of certain produce of the Brazils. Modern Tlic bcariugs which restrictions on commerce ex- sh'icthl'^ ercise upon the industry of a country, have assumed a system. totally different aspect since the adaptation of steam power, as an agent of production. The combination of machinery, worked by steam, with a restrictive system of customs, has entailed the sacrifice of the labourer to the capitalist. The restrictive system, by blocking up certain inlets of trade, closes up certain outlets for produce ; machinery, meanwhile, creates a redun- dancy of produce, and the market becomes glutted. COMMERCIAL NEUTKALITY. 215 Hence suspension of employment, or diminution of lecture Avages, and the consequent demoralization of the la- ^''"• bouring classes. Thus it results that tlie restrictive ' ' system makes man's ingenuity hurtful to himself, and changes into instruments of harm those wondrous inventions, which Providence has intended for tlie amelioration of the condition of the masses, and the general advancement of civilization. From these considerations it would appear, that as rntpma. the interests of the individuals, which compose a vi"ionof nation, are furthered by everything which facilitates '■'''"*"•■ the mutual exchange of the fruits of their separate labour, so the interests of nations, which make up the great human family, will be best promoted by analo- gous facilities of commercial intercourse. And as the field of international commerce is enlarged by every- thing which extends the international division of labour, so reciprocally with freedom of international commerce, each nation will be at liberty to employ its capital and labour to the greatest advantage, ac- cording to the nntural peculiarities of its soil and climate, and the genius of its people. But considera- tions of national policy are held to forbid that mutual interdependence of nations, which an unrestricted com- merce Avould tend to produce, and it is ui'ged that the evils wliich would ensue from the interruption of in- ternational trade by war, would more than counter- balance the good which could accrue during inter- vals of peace. But may it not with more reason be contended that tlie greater tlie mischief which would result from war, the more indisposed will nations feel to sanction that ruinous ])astime of ])riiices ? An enlightened philanthro}>y has indeed suggested, com- that it would be consistent with the free action of U|.',|",'',.'.^|i,,. nations to adopt universally the principle of a com- mercial neutrality, viz. of perpetual peace for all legi- timate purposes of trade and friendly intercourse, H 3 246 INSTITUTIONS OF THK AnDDMC AGKS. Institution of middle ases. LECTruE even in the case of war, and ex[)(;rience lias been ap- . pealed to as confirniin:ono- inie und Polizeiwissenschaft." Heidelberg, 1842. One position, however, of Dr. List's is so extra- ordinary, that a few moments may be excusably bestowed upon its examination (p. 24.). " The pro- duction of raw material and food (rohstoffen und Raw mate- nahrimgstoffen — which latter Avord seems to be the f^ai""^ German equivalent of the American phrase " bread- stuffs,") is of high importance amongst the great nations of the temperate zone only with regard to their internal commerce. By the export of grain, wine, flax, hemp, wool, and such like, a rude or poor nation, in the infancy of its civilization, may signally raise its agriculture ; but a great nation has never thereby arrived at wealth, civilization, and power. " One may lay it down as a rule, that a nation is d.-. List's so much the more wealthy and powerful the more it "'1*''^!'? ^^ exports manufactured products, the more it imports nation. raw material, and the more it consumes the products of the torrid zone." The old leaven of the exploded error is evidently . M'orking in the writer's mind, if his words arc a true criterion of his thoughts, wliicli attributed to manu- facturing industiy an exaggerated productiveness, when contrasted with agricultural labour, and wliich was employed with great efiect l)y ^lelon and the writers of his day, in support of the proliibitive sys- tem. (" Essai Politique sur le Conuuerce, par ]Melon," c-x.) . _ If Dr. List, in the passage just cited, means merely n.-futrd in- to say that a nation which has a flourishing imjiort *'''i'''"^"'^'- and export trade, and consumes colonial wares, is a rich and powerful nation, he prop(junds a truism in 250 KXAMINATJON OV LIST's TIIKOUV. LECTURE uu uniicccssurily c(jinplicatcd tbrm : l)ut if he means, . ^" ^' that no state which exports raw materials and im- ports manufactured goods, and does not consume the produce of the torrid zone, is a wealthy and power- ful nation, experience contradicts him. Montesquieu had attributed to economical causes, in the case of roiiiiKi. Poland, what was really to be referred to its social system. It was not the exportation of its agricul- tural produce that was injurious to the serfs of Po- land, but the distribution of the foreign produce that was imported in return ; and if Poland had not had any foreign connnerce, its people woidd not have been more happy. Montesquieu assumed that, on this latter supposition, the corn would have been dis- tributed by the proprietors amongst their serfs, and the fleeces and hides would have remained at home to clothe them, and the nobles would have employed them to produce articles of luxury, as they would have no longer procured such articles from foreign coun- tries. But if the stimulus to the agricidtural proprie- tors were withdrawn, as long as the same social system prevailed, so long production would flag, in the ab- sence of a demand for it from other countries, that would influence the proprietors, and, in the absence of sufficient inducements to industry, that would aftect the cultivators. United Montesquieu had not the opportunity, which Dr. North ""^ List has neglected to profit by, of studying the de- Ameriin. vclopment of the United States of Xorth America. Until the commencement of the present century, these states were purely agricultural countries ; yet thei r capital accumulated with unexampled rapidity, and, though manufactures were already established in the New England States, yet, previously to the tarift" of 1828, they were of no great consequence; and. if we look to the foreign commercial relations of the States in the present day, they are still those of a purely LIMITS TO CONSUMPTION. 251 agricultural country, exporting raw material to a lecture vast extent, and importing manufactured and other , ^"^' . goods in return, with a tendency at the present mo- ment to become more and more exporters of that primary article of agricultural produce, which Dr. List contends is only of importance to the nations of the temperate zone, with respect to their home com- merce. Yet, according to Dr. List, poverty and rudeness are inevitable accompaniments of the agri- cultural state, because they coexisted with it in cer- tain European countries during the 17th century. One consequence of the doctrine of M. Say seems to be, that there is no limit to the amount of produce which may result from the labour and capital of a country being judiciously employed. For, if in- creased production supplies a demand for produce, it will be possible for an unlimited amount of produce, if sufficiently varied in kind, to find a market. Still there are circumstances peculiar to each country which will limit the consumption of produce. Either Limits the tastes of the people may be not sufficiently civi- sump'tion. lized and refined to enable them to appreciate the product ; or the process of production may be too costly to allow of a general demand ; or state regula- tions may control the manufacture and augment the necessary expenditure by exorbitant duties ; or po- pulation may have reached that limit when a day's l:il)()ur will not procure a day's subsistence, from the natural powers of the soil being overtaxed, and in consequence a check will be given to the progress of population, and thereby to the further growth of demand. Tlie three first obstacles, some or other of which arc of every day occurrence, may be removed : the last, when it occurs, will be beyond our control, but its occurrence may be indefinitely deferred by the practical sagacity of an enlightened statesman- ship. 252 ENLIGUTENEl) VIICWS OF SKLF-IXTKKKST. The advocacy of these docti-ines, as to international commerce, which M. Say Avas tlie first to propound systematically, has entailed upon their supporters the reproacli of leasing the peaceful relations of nations E^li^Ilt- upon sordid motives of self-interest, rather than upon of sl'if in-^ the generous dictates of benevolence. Such, how- tcrcst. ever, is an imperfect view of the subject. On the contrary, whilst the advocates of restriction maintain tliat self-interest forbids a nation to listen to the dic- tates of benevolence, in regard to its dealings with otlier nations, the supporters of an unrestricted inter- national commerce contend, that the dictates of self- interest, when rightly apprehended, are in perfect accordance with those of benevolence, and that an enlightened self-interest is one of the most effective engines to promote the welfare of mankind. It is by no means unfrequent to hear doctrines condemned as Reproach of bcino; of an utilitarian tendency ; but persons who utilitarian- .,,. i-nii • r ism. indulge in such idle declamation, seem to lorget tliat self-interest is one of those mysterious moving principles, which Providence has implanted in man, and to whose dictates he is disposed to listen more implicitly than to any other guide. He was assuredly no ordinary benefactor to the human race, who first pointed out that the interest of the producers was in- timately bound up with the interest of the consumers ; and that by neglecting to consult the interest of the consumers, the producers would invariably inflict the greatest injury on themselves. It was at one time supposed that the secret of foreign commerce con- sisted in selling to foreigners more than you bought from them ; in other words, in giving to them more than you received from them in exchange. The Exploded patent of this discovery has happily expired. Another sophisms, gophism is gradually losing its influence before the o-rowino; convictions of the ao;e ; namelv, that the produce of foreign labour cannot be admitted into EXI^LODED SOPHISMS. 253 tlie home market without superseding a proportionate lecture quantity of domestic labour. But it is clear that, for . that produce, an equivalent must be given, Avliich must be supplied by some one or other kind of do- mestic labour. There may indeed be a displacement of domestic labour, as is the inevitable consequence of the invention of a new macliine, but there will be a new demand created for some one kind of lal)()ur, which will be employed more advantageously tlian the other kind of labour, which was formerly in demand. Where, indeed, domestic labour is what is familiarly termed j^^'otected., it is employed disadvan- tageously, otherwise it would not require to be de- fended from foreign competition : where, however, labour is left to its own resources, it will direct itself to those pursuits in which it has some natural ad- vantage : it will thus be employed with the greatest efficiency, and be most likely to afford, after the con- sumption of the labourer has been satisfied, the greatest possible surplus to be exchanged away for any other commodities, which are produced more easily and more abundantly, or of better quality, in other districts of the world. 254 GOVERNMENT LOANS. LECTURE IX. LECTURE IX. Public Credit. Bank of England. Seven years' war. Govern- ment loans. American war. The events of the concluding portion of tlie 18th century, and the earlier portion of the 19th, whilst they gave rise to new combinations of circum.stances, which served to test existing theories, furnished at the same time subject matter for fresh scientific dis- cussion, and so led to the determination of many new and important laws of Political Economy. The ques- tion of Public Credit, for instance, had not assumed at the time when the " Wealth of Nations " appeared, that overwhelming importance, which subsequent cir- cumstances have attached to it. The first establish- ment of a bank of circulation in England dates no further back than 1694, at which time the Governor and Company of the Bank of England were incorpo- rated by Act of Parliament, and up to the year 1758, no notes had been issued of a less value than twenty- pounds. It is a curious coincidence that in this latter year the first instance occurs of the forgery of a bank note, being one for twenty pounds, the smallest amount then in circulation. The bank commenced in the next year issuing notes and post-bills of 15/. and 10/., and during the Seven Years' War, which did not terminate till 1763, the Government contracted loans to the amount of 51,000,000/. A brief respite from foreign expenditure ensued; but the breaking out of hostilities between the mother country and her Xorth American colonies led to the contraction of further loans to the amount of 75,000,000/., between 1776 and 1784. During this latter period the commercial interests of this country were unavoidably exposed to great BANKING MANIA. 255 embarrassment ; but the return of peace afforded at lecitre last an opportunity for setting in active operation the , ^^' great productive power, which the inventions of Watt and Arkwright had given birth to, just as the expen- diture of the war, having been thrown upon the future resources of the country, furnished occasion for its activity. No sooner then was peace re-established lutmn of than these inventions, by increasing the efficiency of British labour in producing exportable connnodities, enabled it to obtain at a diminished cost and sacrifice an adequate supply of foreign commodities, amongst which of course the precious metals may be ranked. This advance in the manufactures of England could not but exert a favorable influence upon her agricul- ture and commerce, and with the increasing activity of all branches of industry, public confidence was re- vived, a spirit of enterprize was awakened, and in- creased facilities were sought for in Public Credit to enable the operations of peace to be conducted on an enlarged scale, commensurate to the demands which had been entailed by the burdens permanently im- posed upon the labour of the country. The result of this was the establishment of a bank of circulation in Bunking every market town, Avhich discounted bills of ex- '^'""''" change as readily, or, T may say, as greedily as the drawers could present them. All sorts of notes were thus put into circulation, and were held in iiearh' the same estimation ; and as they were not issued in ex- change for money, but in the form of loans, the notes of individuals and the coin of the country circulated side by side. The first and inevitable result of this was a rise of prices, aWl as i)rices rose, tlie spirit of Risiof spccukition was further stinudated, as all [)urchases for the purpose of resale would be advantageous. Tliis tendency of profits to rise would dispose persons to purchase readily. The general rise of prices would meanwhile render it profitable to import many foreign jirti I'i 2M) T5EDUNDANT CURRENCY. The cur- rency re- dundant. Reaction. Gilbavt's Hi-tory of Banking. commodities, -wliicli liitlierto would not luivc borne the expense of transport ; whilst many articles of home produce would no longer be in demand for foreign mar- kets, from their enhanced price. The necessary re- sult would be, that the exports of produce would fall off, the exchange become what is termed unfavorable, and gold and silver would be exported to make np the balance ; the more so, as these commodities would be depreciated in the home market. Such seems to have been the condition of things in 1792. The cur- rency had become redundant, the exchanges were unfavorable, and the Bank of England was obliged in consequence to contract its issues. The check which this measure gave to the accommodation, hitherto so recklessly afforded, entailed a stoppage of payments upon one or two large firms. Their iailure created a panic, and the result was what is termed a run upon the country banks. AVhen this reaction commenced, there are said to have been about 350 country bankers in England and Wales, of which not fewer than 100 stopped payment, and of these more than 50 were totally ruined. Mr. Gilbart, in his " History of Banking," states that in this year twenty- two commissions of bankruptcy were issued against country bankers. " The ease," writes Mr. M'Culloch, " with which supplies of paper were procured from the country bankers, naturally occasioned its employment in an immense number of transactions that had previously been carried on by means of specie, and idtimately occasioned that overflow of the currency and fall of the exchanges which led to the crisis. It is obvious, however, that but a very small portion, indeed, of that frightful mass of bankruptcy and ruin, whose accumulation signalised the close of 1792, and the beginning of 1793, can be fairly ascribed to that con- traction of the currency which had become necessary FALL OF THE EXCHANGES. 257 to restore the exchange to par ; and that by far tlie lecture greater portion of it was really occasioned Ly the un- . ^^' substantial and worthless foundations on which many of the country banks rested, and the consequent Avjuit of confidence in these establishments. Had the bankers possessed adequate funds to meet the claims upon them, and had the public been aware tliat such was the fact, the contraction of their issues could not have caused any panic or run, and would have been effected Avith very little difficulty and embarrass- ment." It may be perfectly true that the extent to which any reaction Avill be felt from a contraction of the circulating medium, must very much depend upon the soundness or holloAvness of the system upon which the commercial transactions of a country are based, and that in the instance just alluded to, the system was so unsound that the failure of one or two houses, from whatever circumstance it might have arisen, would have entailed indiscriminate dis- credit upon all : but there is no doubt that on this occasion the ruin of several great establishments was caused by the Bank of England contracting its issues. Tiiomton's Mr. H. Thornton, in a note to his well-known Inquiry i,3papcr into the Nature and Effects of the Paper Credit of *^'"'''^''- Great Britain, states positively, p. 174, that at the time of the distress of 1793, some great and opulent country banks applied to the Bank of England for aid, in the shape of discount, which was refused on account of their not offering approved London securities : some immediate and important l^iilures were the conse- quences. The pur[)ort of which seems to be, citlier that the Bank of England refused to issue notes for the relief of the country banks, excepting upon secu- rities that co\dd be readily realized, but wliicli were not forthcoming; or the Bank was unwilling to })art with its specie, lest it sliould be unable to satisfy tlie s 258 FINANCIAL EXrEIlIMENTS IN FRANCE. LECTURK IX. Fall in the exchanges in 1792. E.xpcrimcnt of M. Necker in France. Caisse d'Escompte. (k'lnaiids to which its own extended cireulatioii might at any moment subject it. It has been maintained by some writers that this crisis was not occasioned so much by the exces- sive abuse of a paper currency, as by the interruption to which tlie commercial circulation, both foreign and domestic, of En<2;Laiid was unavoidaljly sul)jected on the breaking out of hostilities with France. i>ut a fall in the exchanges with foreign countries, attended with an exportation of bullion, had been experienced in the early part of 1792, considerably before hosti- lities Avere declared between the two countries ; and Mr. Chalmers in his estimate of the comparative strength of Great Britian, states that none of the great houses that failed at this period had suti'ered damage by the war, but that the onus of the distress and ruin fell upon the country bankers, and the country traders dependent upon them. In the mean time the experiment had been made in France, originating with the genius of M. Necker, wdiich was calculated to exhibit in striking outline, from the enormous scale upon which it was conducted, the mischievous effects upon prices of a redundant paper currency. Necker had originally supported the state expenditure by borrowing from the Caisse d'Escompte, which being secured from all prosecutions by virtue of an arret de surseance, had lent him a sum in its paper, exceeding its entire capital by about four millions sterling. Controlled in the financial scheme, which he had presented to the Constituent Assembly in 1789, and baffled by the unproductive results of the Contribution Patriotique, which had been substituted for his proposed income tax of one- fourtli, he projected an extension of the Caisse d'Escompte which Turgot had instituted with a special object, (Bailly, Hist. Financiere de la France, ii. p. 212.), so as to adapt it to the purposes of a na- tional bank. His plan, having been variously objected OPINION OF GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 259 to and remodelled, led ultimately to the great financial lecture bubble of the French revolution, the issue of assignats. . The Minister of the United States (Gouverneur jMorris), oouvemeur resident at that time in Paris, in a letter to George ^^°"'*- Washington, writes (January 24. 1790), "By way of giving some base to the present operation, it is pro- posed and determined to sell about ten or twelve mil- lions sterlino' of the crown and church lands : both which are, by the resolution of the assemblee, declared to belono; to the nation : but as it is clear that these lands will not sell well just now, they have ap- pointed a treasurer to receive what they will sell for hereafter, and they issue a kind of order upon this treasurer, which is to be called an Assignat, and is to be paid (out of these sales) one, two, or three years hence. They expect that on these assignats they can borrow money to free the engagements of the Caisse d'liscompte, and they are at the same time to pa}' some of the more pressing debts with the same assignats." The state of monetary affairs in France at this m. Thiers, period is well described by M. Thiers in his Histoire de i./nevo'iu-'^ la Revolution Francaise, c. 5.: — " Another considera- ^'""• tion Avas decisive : there was a Avant of money, and the dearth of it was ascribed to the emigration which carried out of the country a considerable stock of coin, to the payments which were required to be made to foreign countries, and to the malice of individuals. It is by its circulation that money shows itself. AVhen confidence reigns, exchanges become active ; money passes rapidly from hand to hand ; displays itself in all directions, and its quantity is supposed to be great, because the use of it is general ; but when political troubles spread alarm, capital languislies, money circulates slowly, and it is supposed to be al)sent from the country, because its presence is concealed. " The desire of suf^lying tlie place of the metal money, which was supposed to have been drained 260 OI'INION OF I'.AILLV. LKCTURE nway, of giviii;j;' tlie public creditors sonictliiii^r better ^ ^'"^ thiiii an unproductive title, the necessity of providing for II host of pressing wants led to a forced circula- tion of these assignats. The creditor was paid by them, as he could oblige others to accept the paper which lie had received, and so could discharge his engagements. If he did not wish to purchase lands, those who received the paper from him, in the course of circulation, must be the eventual purchasers of them. These notes were to be destroyed as soon as they found their way back to the public treasury — whilst, as long as they remained in the hands of the holders, they bore interest." Opinion of Shrcwd obscrvcrs were not backward in predicting ^'""^' the failure of this plan. HoAvever good the security, it was manifest that the paper was not like specie, a reality, or, according to the expression of Bailly, " a physical actuality." Specie, indeed, bore its own value ; but the paper, on the contrary, would require a further operation, viz., a purchase of land, to realise it. It would, therefore, of necessity on this account bear a lower 23rice in the market. In addition, the represen- tative of land would not bear so high a value as the universal representative of all commodities, for various reasons ; such as the greater trouble of management, the contingency of outgoings, and the increased diffi- culty of conversion. Money, therefore, could not be raised upon such paper, except at a considerable dis- count ; and as no one would be willing to cash such paper at par, its forced circulation would drive money still more out of the market. This would create a greater demand for paper, and with the increased sup- ply, the evil would become more intense, until at last the difference between the nominal and real value of the assignats Avould become so great, that public con- fidence would be destroyed, ai^d a great crisis ensue. An observer of passing events at Paris, describes the progress of this great financial juggle in these MIRABEAU. 2G1 Avords : — " There is a plan for paper money now be- fore the Assembly. The Assembly is divided in their opinion, and so are the commercial toAvns ; but the people, who fill the galleries, and who surround the Assembly House, often in crowds, seem to be unani- mous in favour of it. Mirabeau undertakes to prove Mirabcau. that it is not paper money. Tt is true, that it is a paper which you may force the creditor to receive ; but still he swears, and so do many others, that it is not paper money, because it has land for its pledge. Some insist on calling it ' papier-terre,' and the idea was near passing." — William Short to Gouvernenr Morris, Sept. 12, 1790, Paris. Necker had now resigned the department of Public Finance, which was entrusted to a less cautious spii'it. Gouvernenr Morris, to whom the letter, just quoted, was addressed, in reply to his correspondent, who doubted that the Assembly would sanction the pro- ject, expresses himself with singular foresight : " It Avill be long before political subjects will be reduced to geometric certitude. At present the reasoning on them is a kind of arithmetic of infinities, Avherc tlie best information, the wisest head, and clearest mind, can only approach the truth. A cautious man should therefore give only Sibylline predictions, if, indeed, he should hazard any. But I am not a cautious man. I therefore give it as my opinion, tliat tliey will issue the paper currency, and substitute therel)y depreciation in the place of Ijankruptcy, or rather sus- pension. " Apropos of this currency, this papier-terre: I could tell them of a country where there is n papier- terre, now inort et enterre. The Asseml)ly have com- mitted many blunders, which is not to l)e wondered at. They have taken genius, instead of reason, for their guide, adopted experiment instc^ad of experi- ence, and wander in the dark, because they j)rcl"ci- s n 262 ISSUK or ASSIGNATS. Li:CTUUE li<2:lltnillir to lirrllt O o o IX. Issue of assignats Their de- preciation. I tliiiik you arc mistaken in sup- po.sini;- that tlic emission of paper will destroy the pi-oportion of prices. This ])roportion is independent of the medium of trade. The one results from a re- lation of things, the other is only an ideal standard, by which to measure those things. Your height and mine would be the same, and consequently the pro- portion of one to the other the same, although a mea- sure of six inches should be called a foot." The first issue of assignats took place in May, 1700, and the amount was limited, by law, to 400 millions of francs. By September, however, 1200 millions had been circulated. Before three years had elapsed, the sum had been raised to 3626 millions, and by the autumn of 1796, upwards of 45,000 millions had been issued, of which, not more than 12,744 millions had been withdrawn from circu- lation. The consequences of so enormous a supply of paper money may easily be conceived ; its value di- minished daily, whilst the price of other commodities Avas enhanced beyond the existing proportion of their relative supply, by the apprehension of that propor- tion being still further disturbed. And as these assig- nats were circulated with increased rapidity, owing to their liability to deteriorate in value by keeping, there grew up, as it were, a competition amongst the sellers of assignats, which contributed still more to their depreciation. It was attempted to prevent this constantly in- creasing depreciation, by a law, which made it crimi- nal to circulate assignats at less than their nominal value. This law was passed in April, 17P3; but before two months had elapsed the paper was depreciated to one third of its nominal value. Two more months had scarcely expired, when this depreciation had increased twofold further, and, in spite of heavier penalties being attached to the MANDATS. 263 transgression of the law, in 1796, an assignat, profess- lecture ing to be worth 100 francs, was currently exclianged , [f* for 5 sous 6 deniers ; in other words, a paper note, pro- fessing to be worth 4/. sterling, passed current for less than threepence in money. The assignats were at last called in, and were replaced by a new species of paper money, termed mandats, being, as it were, orders Manddts. upon the confiscated estates. Such, however, Avas the distrust of the public in all kinds of paper money, that they came out at a discount, and sunk, in the ^°^f^' course of three or four months, to less than a seven- rt'Economic tieth of their nominal value, — when they were extin- " ""'"'^' guished. — Storch, Cours d^Economie Politique^ note 16. t?drde-^ The depreciation of the assignats, and the subse- prcciation. quent paper substitutes for them, Avas referable to two causes. They Avere, strictly speaking, paper money, consisting, indeed, of engagements for the payment of specific quantities of land, but issued, not strictly speaking, upon the credit of the land, but in compul- sory payment of the expenses of the state, and circu- lating under its sanction and authority. The issuing of such paper, then, on the part of the government in payment of its debts, was in the nature of a forced loan, Avhich in itself implied a want of credit. From this circumstance alone, then, its value fell at once below par ; and this original depreciation was soon increased by the necessity of augmenting the issues in proportion to their diminished value, and thus the excess of the issues co-operated with public mistrust to augment the depreciation. Great liritain, in the mean time, was rapidly ap- proaching to a great crisis in the history of its pa])er currency. The promissory notes of the liank of I'^ng- The Bank land had now for more than a century formed a very *'''''•"''''•'"''• large proportion of the circulating credit of the coun- try. These notes, being engagements for the payment on demand of a specific sum of money, from the 8 4 2G4 BANK OV ENGLAND. LixTiutE fi^encral coiilidciicc ivsiiltin"; from sucli enfrajjemeiits . beiiif;^ jainctually fuHilled, liacl come to be substituted for money in tlie domestic commerce of the country. From the first estaljlishment of the Bank, in 1 094, down to tlie year 1707, there liad l)een no interru})tion to the convertibility of its notes into money, nor had tlie state ever interposed its authority to promote or check the issue and circulation of them. The Com- pany were simply the Bankers of the State, and its agents for the payment of the interest of the national debt. In 1797, however, a combination of circumstances, partly commercial, and partly political, led to an in- terference of the legislature, which gave for a time a totally new character to Bank paper. Owing partly to the greatly increased foreign expenditure of the government by reason of the war in which Eng- land was then engaged, and partly to the enlarged issues of notes in consequence of advances made by Exchanges the bank to the government in 1794, the exchanges became unfavourable in 1795, and in that and the following year there was a call upon the Bank for large quantities of specie. These and similar causes were of a commercial character, and had they alone operated, the directors would have discovered, in all probability, an effectual method of checking the drain of specie. But political causes supervened. Mr. Huskisson states that the directors tried and found unavailing all those means of checking the demand for gold, which had been efficacious on previous occa- sions, and that instead of abating, the drain increased every day in spite of their contracting the amount of their issues. Alarms of invasions, and reported descents of the enemy upon the English coast, were in continual circulation during the latter part of 1796 and the commencement of 1797. And thus many of the small farmers and tradesmen became iinfavour able in 1795. Political causes. RESTRICTION OF CASH PAYMENTS. 265 anxious to convert as much as possible of their pro- lecti're perty into casli, which they might carry away witli ^^' them. This feeling led to heavy demands upon the country banks, and the stoppage of some of the northern banks gave an impulse to the panic. Run upon The result was a general run from all quarters upon the Bank of England ; and the stock of specie in lier cellars, which liad amounted in IMarch, 1795, to 7,940,000^., was thereby reduced to 1,272,000/., on Saturday, February 25th, 1797, with every prospect of an increased demand upon the following ^londay. In this embarrassment the Bank had recourse to the interposition of the government. A meeting of the order of privy council was held, at which it was resolved to °'^"*^' " authorise the directors at once to forbear issuing any cash in payment, and an order to that effect Avas issued on Sunday, the 26th of February — so pressing Avas the emergency. Immediately afterwards, the House of Commons appointed a Committee to inquire into the affairs of the J3ank ; and on March 3rd, the Bank was authorised to issue notes under the value of five pounds. In the following ^lay an act of Parliament was passed. Restriction continuing for a limited time the restriction of cash mcnts. ^^^' payments, and indemnifying the directors against .nil ])roceedings under the previous Order of Council. Mr. hus- Mr. Huskisson has well observed, that this act Jl^^""* made no fundamental alteration in our prc^•ious monetary system, neither did it make Bank notes, strictly speaking, a legal tender ; but it suspended for a time the liability of every debtor, who should have made a tender to his creditor of the amount of his claim in notes of the Baidv of England. It was no doubt intended and supposed by the legislature that this expedient would be l)ut of temporary dm-atioii, so that Parliament did not trouble itself to inijuire into the remote and possible consequences of st;iiii[)ing 2GG MONETARY SYSTEM OE ENGLAND. LECTURK SO lai'gc ti portioii of the circulating credit of tlie , '^' , country with the character of paper money. This yg- striction, hoAvever, after sonic intermediate continua- tions, "vvjis ultimately extended to six months after tlie conclusion of the war, and continued actually in Boili'h"^ force for nearly a quarter of a century, viz. down to 1810 1822. The result of which was, that in the year 1810 every creditor, to whom the law had secured the payment of a pound weight of gold for every 46/. 145. Q)d. of his just demand, was obliged to accept, in full satisfaction, about 10^ ounces, or not more than seventeen shillings in the pound. The means by which this result was brought to pass may require explanation. Under the monetary system established by 39 G. III. in this country, one povmd or twelve ounces of gold is divided into 44^- guineas, or 46/. 14-$. Qd. A pound of gold, therefore, and 46/. 14.5. Qd. being equivalent, being in fact the same thino; measured in the one case accordinf? to a standard of quantity, in another according to a standard of number, any circulating credit which purports to represent 46/. 14.s. Qd. ought, by the law of this country, to be exchangeable at will for a pound of gold. Xow the object of the statute of 37 G. III. c. 45. was not to diminish the quantity of gold, for which a specific amount of circulating credit should be exchangeable, but merely to suspend for a time the option of the exchange. There was therefore nothing in the Bank Restriction Act to alter the existins: relation between a pound's weight of gold and the sum of 46/. 145. Gd. in Bank paper; yet it resulted, that in 1810 the sum of 46/. 14.9. 6ank note. I do not propose to enter minutely into the various steps by which the state has endeavoured to secure this object, partly by measures calculated to reduce the liabilities of the country banks, such as the abolition of country notes under 5/., partly by provisions, likely to ensure tlie solvency of banking establishments, from the number of partners in them being increased. The extension of branch establishments from the Bank of England into the country, and tlic concession ill lb26. 282 BANK CIIARTKK ACT OF IHll. Sir RolKM-t IVcl's B;ink Chai-ter Act in 1844. Converti- bility of Bank notes gua- ranteed. Security against de- preciation of cur- reney. of cluirters to joint-stock banks of issue were amongst the peculiar features of the act of 182G. Subsequent experience, however, has proved the in- adequacy of tliese measures to secure the desired end. At last the great change hy which the convertibility of the l)ank note into gold has been most effectually guaranteed, was accomplished in 1 844, by what has been termed Sir Robert Peel's Bank Charter Act, the nature and purport of which may be briefly consi- dered. Hitherto, no limit had been imposed by law upon the Bank as to the amount of its issues, but it was left to the judgment of the directors to regulate their issue of notes according to the ordinary prin- ciples of banking under the obligation of paying them on demand in gold. The Bank of England, as ob- served in a previous Lecture, unites in itself the cha- racter of a bank of issue and a bank of discount ; and its notes circulate partly upon the faith of deposits, partly upon the credit of securities. Now it has been found by the experience of private banks, that a reserve in specie of one third the amount of notes in circula- tion will be sufficient to meet the ordinary demand for gold (Lect. iv. p. 108 ), so that, as a matter of fact, two thirds of the capital of a bank of circulation may be invested in securities without endangering the con- vertibility of its notes. Supposing, therefore, a bank to have 21 millions of notes in circulation, if it has seven millions of specie deposited in its coffers, it will be enabled to meet all ordinary demands upon it for specie, and the convertibility of its notes will be guaranteed by such a proportion being maintained between its reserve and its circulation. In addition, however, to a practical guarantee of convertibility, it was advisable to provide, if possible, a like guarantee against the depreciation of the cur- rency. Now the best index of fluctuation in the value SECURITY AGAINST DEPRECIATION. 283 of the currency, which in ahnost every country con- lectcre sists of coin and bank notes, is to be found in the rate ^^' of exchange with other countries : for example, if the rate of exchange on Paris is high in England, it is evident that a given amount of the currency of Eng- land will not buy the same amount of the currency of France, and the currency of England is so far depre- ciated ; if, on the other hand, the exchange is at par, then the currencies of the two countries will be at par. If therefore it be supposed, that the exchange between England and France has been at par for a certain time, whilst the circulation in England has been maintained at a certain level, the presumption will be, that as far as prices are affected by the value of the currency, the maintenance of that amount of currency will prevent any disturbance of prices, at least on that account. The Bank Charter Act consequently pro- vided that there should be an absolute limit to the amount of notes issued upon securities, such an amount being taken as would keep the currency at par with foreign currencies, according to past experience. It combined a further provision for an expansion of the currency to suit the convenience of commerce, upon a basis which should preclude the depreciation of it ; namely, by allowing an unlimited issue of notes upon bullion. These appear to be tlie distinguishing features of Sir Robert Peel's bill, and the present con- dition of monetary affairs in England appears likely to test most severely the w^orking of it. If it should be found by experience that no monetary panic takes place after the extravagant speculation of last year, (1846), it would seem that one great evil at least has been obviated by it : but it seems probable that a pn.tabic greater benefit may result from it, namely, that the '"''"""*• difficulty of procuring money will be recognised sooner than heretofore, and that the spirit of rash spc- 284 rROBABLE RESULTS. culatioii will thereby be controlled, so tliut umidst the general pressure which must follow the reaction, the disastrous cases of individual ruin will be less numerous than on any of the previous occasions above alluded to. I N D E X. Abstinence, Mr. Senior's definition of, 193. Agriculture, relation of the arts to, 238. America, United States of, purely agricultural countries, until the com- mencement of the present century, 250. Arago, his anecdote of Newcomen's steam engine, 177- Aristotle, Public Economics of, translation of by Camerarius, 4 ; the writings of, their influence in the universities of Europe, 4; Politics of, 85 ; extracts from, 85; on the natural course of society, 224. Arkwright, discoveries of, 22() — 255. Arts, relation of the, to agriculture, 238. Assignats, 259 l letter of Governeur Morris, minister of the United States, upon, 259 ', issue of, 262 ; their depreciation and its cause, 263 ; replaced by, mandiits, 263. B. Bailly, on the monetary affairs of France, 260. Balance of trade, 53, 54. 115. 226. Bandini, regarded as the precursor of Quesnay, 155 ; his observations on the effect of heavy duties and restrictions, 155 ; on tlie obstacles to exchanges, 156; recommends a tax upon rent to be paid by the proprietors of the land, 157; practical effects of his work, 157. Bank of Amsterdam, <)7— 110. Bank of England establisliment of, 254; up to tlio year 1758 issued no notes under twenty pounds, 254 ; the first forgery of a Bank of England note, 254 ; notes and post-bills issued during the seven years' war, terminating in 1763, 254 ; loans contracted with govern- ment, 254 ; further loans for carrying on tlie American war, 25 I- ; obliged to contract its issues in 179- > panic and ruin occasioned thereby, 256, 257 ; interference of tlie legislature in 1797, 2()4 ; the run upon, for gold in 1796' and 1797, 264, 265 ; order of council authorising the suspension of cash payments issued Sunday, 26th of February, 1797; ^ committee of inquiry appointed by the House of Commons, 265 ; authorised to issue notes under the value of five pounds, 265; act of parliament for the restriction of cash payments. 28G INDEX. Z65 ; Mr. Iluskissoii's view of this act, 26*5; value of gold in IHIO, 2()6'; Mr. MaccuUocirs ohstrvatioiis on the IJank issues at this j)eriod, 267 ; Mr. H. 'I'hornton upon the depreciation of the hank paper, 208; Lord King's " 'rhoughts on the Effects of the Hank llestric- tions," 270 ; Mr. llicardo's ])aniphlet, " The high Price of liullion a proof of the Depreciation of Hank Notes," 272 ; Of)servations of Mr. Bosanquet on the Hullion Question, 273 ; Suggestion of the Bullion Committee on the period for Resumption of Cash Payments refused sanction by the House of Commons, 274; opinions of Mr. Vansittart, 274 ; Mr. Musliet on the restriction bill, 274 ; the Bank encouraged by Lord Stanhope's act to increase its issues, 277 ; Mr. Peel's Bill, 279; resumption of cash payments in 1822, 27.9; the panic of 1 825, 280 ; the directors induced by the continued drain of bullion to contract their issues, 281 ; Mr. Harman's evidence, 281; the preservation of the Bank owing to the accidental discovery of a box of one-pound notes, 281 ; Lord Liverpool's declaration as to the necessity of a system to exclude the possibility of discredit and bankruptcy, 281; the convertibility of the Bank note into gold effectually secured by the Bank charter act of Sir R. Peel in 1844, 282; security against depreciation of currency, 282; probability of Sir R. Peel's bill being severely tested by the present condition of monetary affairs, 283. Bank of France (Law's), 112; amount of its issues according to Thiers, 114; its effect upon the circulation, 114; taken into the hands of the government, and declared a royal bank, 118; issues of Law's bank, 119; effects of the new coinage upon the notes of, 120; amount of issues of Royal bank, 123 ; the circulation of its notes maintained by state regulations demonetising the precious metals, 12 j; depre- ciation of its notes, 128. Bank, national, Law's idea of, 115. Bank of Scotland, 9'^. Banking mania, 255; result of, in 179~> 25(). system, 97. Banks of Circulation, IO9. , Country, MaccuUoch on the causes of the ruin among, in the years 1792 and 1793, 257 ; excessive issues of, one of the main causes of the unprecedented rise in rents prior to 1814, 278; ex- tensive failures of, and misery occasioned thereby, 278 ; statements of Mr. MaccuUoch and Mr. Horner, 278. of Deposit, 106; Mr. Norman's observations upon, 107: dis- tinction between, and banks of circulation. 111. of Discount, 110. Beaudeau, L'Abbe, on reproduction, 143. Beccaria on reproduction, 154. Blanqui, his work " Histoire de I'Economk Politique," 51; extract from, 52. Boisguiliebert, De, his treatise "Factum de la France," 133: practical object of his treatise, 133; remarks on agricultural produce, 134; on the employment of silver as money, 135; his notion of value, 136; curious illustration in his "Detail de la France" of the policy of INDEX. 287 moderate customs' duty, 137; his definition of commerce, 138; on the causes of vveaUh, iGS. Bosanquet^ Mr., observations of, on the bullion question, 273. Bounties, Colbert's system of, 7.9 ; Effects of, 79 ; Adam Sniitli's remarks on, 80 ; prejudicial to national wealth, 80 ; on the exporta- tion of corn from Ireland, 214 ; effect of the system upon the popu- lation, 21.5-217 ; operation of, 217- Briare, canal of, projected by Sully, 44. Bullion, Adam Smith on the market price of, 270; Lord King's observations, 271; Mr. llicardo's pamphlet upon, 272; committee appointed by the House of Conunons to inquire into the high prices of, 272 ; opinions of Mr. Bosanquet, 273 ; opinions of Mr. Van- sittart, 274 ; Mr. Huskisson on, 275 : vide also ' Specie,'' ' Gold,' ' Silver,' ' Metals, Precious,' 274. C. Camerarius, his translation of Aristotle's " Public Economics," 4. Canal of Briare, to unite the Seine and the Loire, projected by Sully, 44. of Languedoc, to unite the Mediterranean with the Atlantic projected, 75. Capital, accumulated produce, 103 ; invested in land, incapable of two uses, 105, 10(5, 108 ; nature of, 185 ; Adam Smith on, 185 ; cir- culating and fixed, 18G. 189; Bicardo's use of the terms /.iw/ and circLilutiiuj, adopted by Mr. Mill and Mr. Macculloch, 187; incon- venience of A. Smith's division, 18}). Carmarthen, anecdote of a bailiff' of, and remarks thereon, 29-31. Chalmers on the panic of 1792, 258. Charles L, prohibitions and monopolies by, 50. Charles V., his insatiable thirst of warlike aggrandizement, 7 ; his reckless expedients, 15. Child, Sir Josiah, arguments of, in behalf of the East India Company, 62 ; tI>(/\o7ra7-p(c, a pamphlet, attributed to him, (J3, Cinq-cents, issue of, 123. "Circle of Commerce," a treatise, by i}. Misselden, ^~i. Classes, distinction of, 223 ; the middle class the distinctive element of modern society, 225. Clearing-house, extent of business transacted in, 108. Cloth, patent for dressing and dyeing, granted by King James to Alder- man Cockaine, 33. Cockaine, Alderman, patent for dressing and dyeing cloth granted by King James to, 33. Coinage, Melon on alterations in, 140. Colbert, minister of Louis XIV'., his character and inffuence. 6'7 ; his predilection for manufactures and commerce, ()8 ; proliiljits the exportation of corn, 08 ; effects of his policy, 70 ; modifications of his system after the peace of Ninuguen, 72 ; his mcasun-s for the revival of commerce, 74; permits the free exportation of gold and silver, 74; his encouragement of manufactures, 78; his system of bounties, 79- Colbertism, or system founded upon a preference for manufactures over 288 INDEX. aj^riculture, 3'2 ; tlic elciiicnts of that prrferoiice to be seen in the writings of Stafford and Serra, '.V2 ; vocahuiary of, 73; Mengotti's treatise on, 7-'> ; the system erroneously based, 81. Colonisation really beneiieial when the raw jiroduce of the new colony is admitted to the home market without restriction, 220. Commerce, an exchan};;e of equivalents, the foundation of all, 65 ; defined by l)e lloisguillebert as the mutual cxchanj^e of superfluities, 1'38 ; contradictory views on, 139; Condillac's view, 139; Uuskis- son's opinion, 139; Quesnay's idea of, 117 — 150; international, 230; Montesquieu on, 2+0 ; Voltaire's doctrine, 2 i2 ; evils of restrictions on, 2 ll ; free international commerce the best promoter of national interests, 21'5 ; freedom of its tendency to extinguish war, 247; the advocacy of an unrestricted international commerce supposed to pro- ceed from sordid motives of self-interest, 252 ; an enlightened self- interest one of the most effective engines to promote the welfare of mankind, 252 ; reproach of utilitarianism, 252 ; exploded sophisms upon the subject, 252. Commercial neutrality, remarks on the proposal for, 246 ; probable tendency, 246. Commodities, Stafford's views on the interchange of, 27, 28. Companies, Joint Stock, in 1825, 280. Company, East India, 46 ; exports and imports of, in specie, 46 ; extent of its trade during the first twenty years, 48 ; advantages of its trade to the nation, urged by Sir Dudley Diggs, in l6l5, 48; arguments against, 60 ; treatise of Sir J. Child in behalf of, 62. Company of the West (Compagnie d'Occident), ll6; its actual capital, 117 ; takes a lease of the tobacco duties from the government, 118 ; acquires the monopoly of the trade to Asia, Africa, and America, and assumes the name of the " Company of the Indies," 121 ; issues new- shares under the title of " Filles " (daughters), 121 ; issues further shares under the title of " Petites Filles" (granddaughters), 121; rise and fall of the shares, 124. Condillac's Views of Commerce, 139. Condillac, his A'iew of Commerce, 139. Condorcet, his theory of oscillation between good and evil, 202 ; on the perfectibility of the human race, 203 — 211. Constantinople, the fall of, led to the revival of letters in Western Europe, 1. Corn and wool, comparison of, by Stafford, 24 ; on the exportation of, 26 ; exportation of prohibited, by Colbert, minister of Louis XIV., 68 ; treatise of Galiani " Sur te Commerce des Grains," 153 ; boun- ties on the exportation of from Ireland, 214. Countries, mutual dependence of, 27. Credit, use of, 106 ; importance of, 254 ; opinion of Mr. Ricardo on, 104. Crozat, Antoine, charter of exclusive commerce with Louisiana granted to, 116. Currency, effects of the redundancy of, 256 — 258 ; on the possibility of regulating, to meet the fluctuation of the foreign exchanges, 269 ; Ricardo's observations on, 272 ; Mr. Mushet's inquiry, 274 ; Mr. Huskisson's pamphlet, 275 — 278; on the depreciation of, 277; INDFA'. 289 Mr. Peel's bill in I8I9, 279; Sir R. Peel's Bank Charter Act in 1844, 282. Customs, Stafford's suggestions for the increase of, 24 ; curious illustra- tion of the policy of a moderate duty, 137. D. D'Alembert, observations of, upon tlic periodical revolutions in tlic human mind, 1. Davanzati, writings of, on the abuses in the monetary system, 9- 15. his confusion of utilit;i with value, 1(). Definitions, importance of, 1 59- 1 72. Dependence, mutual of countries, Stafford's remarks on, 27. Descartes, the philosophy of, laid the foundation of a new era in science, 1. Diggs, Sir Dudley, pamphlet of, entitled " I'hc Defence of Trade" 48 ; points out the advantage to the nation from the trade of the East India Company, 48. Discovery, what constitutes a, l64. Dupont de Nemours on the exportation of grain, 1,5'}. Duties, rate of, levied on goods imported into France for home con- sumj)tion, 43 ; for overland transit, 43 ; policy of moderate, 137. Dutot, treatise of, entitled " Reflexiona PoUtiques sur le Commerce et les Finances," 140; criticism on his works, by Paris-Duverney, 140. E. Economics, Public, of Aristotle, translation of by Camerarius, 4 ; doubts as to its authenticity, .'). " Economistes Financiers," 130. Economy Political, proposed review of the various doctrines of, 2 ; Mr. Malthus's principles of, 151 ; the sphere of, Kil ; deviations of earlier writers in the French school, l6'l ; the subject confounded with the science of government, 1()1 ; the element of government judiciously excluded in the inquiries of Adam Smith, I6I. Edward III., enactments on the transportation of wool, ,'■).">. Emigration, 218 ; a more than doubtful rentrdy for over-population, 218 ; its advocates aptly compared by Rossi to physicians recom- mending change of climate to patients past recovery, 218 ; its oper- ation and effects, 219 ; two classes of emigrants, 21 J); distinguished from colonisation, 220. Enclosures, Stafford's observations on the system of, 20. Europe, ])rohibitory system of, 37- Exchange, course of, 11 ; par of, 11 ; inefficiency of laws limiting the rate of, 12 ; course of unfavourable, in 179.'), 2()1 ; in 1824, 280; rate of with foreign countries the best index of fluctuation in the value of the curicncy, 282 ; foreign, on the jjossihility of regulaliiig the circulating medium to meet, 2()9 ; fall in, in 17!)2, 2.')8. Exports, excess of, over imports erroneously supj)osi'd to be the best evidence of a prosperous commerce, ().'>. U 290 JNDKX. F. Finance^ science of, 227. Flanders ; exportation of wool to, temp. Kd. 1 1 1. FA) ; prohibition, l)y tlie Duke of Ikabant, against tlie exportation of gold and silver from, 5f). Forbonnais, calculations of on the supply of gold and silver, 41 ; on the policy of Colbert, 70 — 74 ; character of his work, 141. Forgery of a Bank of England note, the first instance, 2.'54. France, transit trade through, in the ifJth century, 43 ; disorders in, after death of Henri IV, and retirement of Sully, G6 ; Colbert's ad- ministration in, 70, 71 ; Tariff of, l6i4, 71 ; exportation of tur- pentine and pitch ])r<)hibited, 1714, 70 ; traditions of the feudal system of, 131 ; condition of the industrious classes and general misery in, during the reign of Louis XIV., 132 ; state of monetary affairs in, in 1 790, described by M, Thiers, 2.59 "> opinion of Bailly, 263 ; letter of Short to Governeur jNIorris, 2G1. Galiani, Abb;', liis " Tmttato dellu Moneta,^' l6i ; remarks of, on An- tonio Serra, 8. 51 ; his dialogues " Sur Ic Commerce des Grains," 153. Gluts, origin of, 236 ; the result of a faulty application of productive power, 237 ; Mr, M'CuUoch's observations upon cause of occasional, 244. Godwin, his treatise upon " Political Justice," 200 ; his views of mo- narchical institutions, 200 ; on the established administration of property, 201 ; on population, 201 ; his essay on " Avarice and Pro- fusion," 203. Gold, run upon the bank for, 2()4 ; its value in 1810, 266 ; as a fixed measure of value, Mr, Huskisson's remarks on, 275 ; and silver, Stafford's observations on the value of, 19 ; exportation of, 23 ; cal- culations of Forbonnais, 41 ; calculations of Jacob, 41 ; and silver, prohibition against the exportation of, from Flanders, 56 ; or silver, strictly speaking, never productive when discharging the functions of money, 243. Gournay, De, his views of commerce, 152. H. Harman, Mr., evidence of, on the panic of 1825, 281. Hearth Money in Ireland, 214. Holland, experience of, as to paper money, 101, Horner, Mr., on the misery occasioned by the failure of the country banks, 278. Huskisson, his opinion of Commerce, 139; f" golil 3s a fixed measure of value, 275. INDEX. 291 India, intercourse with, by way of the Cape of Good Hope, and its effect upon commerce, tfi ; East India Company, 60. G2 ; Kast Iiidi;i trade, 54. Indies, discovery of, 6. Indies, Company of, 121 ; rise and fall of its shares, 124' ; total stock, 126'; Dutot's opinion of its solvency, 126; reduction of the value of its shares, 127- (See also Conipuin/ of the West.) Institutions, social, effect of, 224 ; of the middle ages, 246. Ireland, present calamities in, 213. 221 ; population of, 214, 215 ; Mr. AVaketield's account of, 214; partnership leases, 214; minute subdivision of lands, 215 ; bounties on the exportation of corn, 214 ; effect of the bounty system on the population, 215 ; operation of the bounty acts, 217 ; the exports of corn no index of the surplus power of the people to feed themselves, 216; cultivation and consumption of the potato, 2l6 ; returns furnished by Mr. Griffiths, 2lC. J. Jacob, calculations of, in his work on the ])recious metals, 41. James, King, I., jjolicy of, in his prohibitory laws, ,14; prohibitions and monopolies by, 50. K. King, lord, his "Thoughts on the Effects of the Bank restrictions," 270. L, Labour, on the division of, 165; .\dam Smith's illustration, 165; Adam Smith's application of the terms jiroduciice and uu productive labour, 171, 172; opinions of Mr. Malthus upon, 174; M. Ques- nay's view, 17-'5; Mr. Senior's, 176"; obstructions to, 1S4; state regulations as to, 184; free circulation of, 184; effect of the law of settlement upon, 185; views of the French economists, 1<)2; Say on subdivision of, 2.31 ; international division of, 21'5. Land, proposal of John Law to issue notes on security of, 100 ; inquiry as to the security of, compared with that of silver, 102 ; opinions of Mr. Ricardo upon the subject, 105 ; remarks on invest- ments in, 108. Law, John, submits to tlie parliament of Scotland in 1705 his memoir entitled " Monvij and Trade considered, with a proposal for supplying the State with JMnney," .03; his arguments against a metallic currency, f)2 ; his opinions upon value, f).'?, J) !• ; his remarks on the atlvantages of paper money, })() ; his proposal to the parlia- ment of Scotland to issue notes on security of land, 100; contem- plates uniting the advantages of the bank of Amsterdam with those 202 INDEX. of the Hank of Kngland, in one establishment, 110; establishea a private bank in I'raiu-e, 112; " Not ire llixUpriqur. aur Law," 112; success of Law's bank, 11.3; its effect u|>on the circulation, 114; his idea of a national bank to have the entire management of the public revenue, 115; authorised by letters patent to form " La Com- pagnie d'Occident," llH; his bank taken into the hands of the government and declared a royal bank, 1 1 hi- classification of the checks on population, 212 ; on the cause of the retarded progress of popu- lation, 212 ; object of his work, 213 ; his opponents, 217 ; and their opinions on the vicious distribution of wealth, 221 ; his over- earnestness, 221 ; defect in his system, 222; his correspondence with IMr. Senior, 223 ; his objections to M. Say's definition of wealth, 229. INDEX. 293 Malyiies, Gerard, opinion of. that the Dutch could not subsist without English cloths, 'AB ; opposed by jNIisselden in liis Circle of Cum- invrcc, 35. Manufactures, profits of, 182. Melon, Jean Francois, Essai Politique sur le Commerce of, 138 ; his view of commerce, 138; on the alterations in the coinage, lJ-0. Mengotti, his treatise on Colbcrtism, 15 ; his theory of value, 77. Mercantile system, theory of, attributed by IJlanqui to the Spaniards, 51 ; extract from the treatise of M. IJstaritz on the theory and prac- tice of commerce, 51 ; observations of Mr. Mun upon, 53 ; evils of, 57. Merchant Adventurers, petition against the monopoly of, 50. Metals, precious, Serra's theory of, 10 ; views upon, by Antonio de Santis, 10 ; demonetised by the French government, 125. (See also Specie, Bullion, Gold, Silcer.) Misselden, treatise of, entitled Circle of Commerce, 35. Money, inefficiency of law's prohibiting the exportation of, 12 ; func- tions of, 95 ; Law's idea of, 98; Air. Norman's letter on, 107; De Boisguillebert on the supposed deficiency of, 1 35 ; Say's remarks upon, 232. 234. iMonopolies and prohibitions in reigns of James I. and Charles I. 50. Montesquieu upon commerce and its effects, 240, 241 ; on trade with the Indies, 242 ; remarks upon the exportation of produce from Poland, 250. Mon-is, Governeur, his letter to ^Vashington on the issue of assignats, 259 ; letter of William Short to, 2()1. Mun, Thomas, ingenious comparison of, 47 ; his treatise entitled " Trea- sure by Foreign Trade," presented by the East India Company to Parliament in l6"20, 48; his Discourse on Trade, reprinted in Furchuss Fihjrims, furnishing a summary of the East India Com- pany's trade during the first twenty years, 48 ; arguments of, 53. Mushet, his inquiry upon the currency, 274. N. Nations, interests of, reciprocal, 239- 243 ; beautiful theory of M. Say, 239. Necker, projects an extension of the Caisse d'Escompte, 258 ; eftVct of his policy on agriculture, 153. North, Sir Dudley, his Discourses on Trade, S3 ; referred to by Mr. M-Culloch, in his Introductory Discourse on the AVealth of Nations, 83, 84. Nimeguen, peace of, 72. O. Occupations, Staft'onl's observations on the decay of, 21. Orleans, the Regent of France, 91; financial state of France under, 92. Osiander, treatise of, upon the system of Dr. List, 24S. 294 inj;ex. raiiic, of 1792,256. 258; of 1825, 280, 281. Pa]icr-money, opinions as to its advantages, QG ; experience of Holland ill, 101; opinions of Mr. Ilicardo, 104-; Adam Smitli on, I9I ; Tliornton's Encjuiry into the Paper Credit of Great Britain, 257. 268. (See also Currenri/.) Paris-Duverney, his criticism on Dutot's treatise Sur /es Finances, 140. Parsimony. Adam Smith on the effects of, 1 <)2. Patent for dressing and dyeing cloth, granted by King James to Alder- man Cockaine, 'Mi ; voted by the Commons a monopoly and grievance, and cancelled, 33. Pocchio, Count, on the effect of Bandini's Avork, 158. Peel, Mr., bill of, for the resumption of cash payments, 279 ; ^'r ^^^ Peel's Bank Charter Act, 282. Petty, Sir A\'illiam, his work on Taxes and Contributions, 6i. iGi ; his Political Arithmetic, 6i ; genius of, 89. fbiXoTTciTpLc, a pamphlet, attributed by the Britinh Merchant, to Sir Josiah Child, 63. Poland, remarks of Montesquieu on the exportation of produce from, 250. Policy, A Briefe Conceipte of English, a work published in 1581, 17; reprinted in 1751, as the work of " William Shakspeare, gent," 17 ', proved to be the work of " William Stafford, gentleman," 18. Population, its relation to produce, 195; its increase considered by the antients a decisive mark of national prosperity, I96 ; i)rivileges and exemptions granted to fathers of families, I96; modern legisla- tion, 197; exemption from taxes granted by stat. 46 Geo. 3. to fathers of more than two legitimate children, 197; laws of France and Italy upon the subject, 197 ; consideration of the subject, I98 ; contrast between the two hemispheres, I98 ; Godwin's remarks, 201 ; Condorcet, 202 ; essays of Malthus on, 203. 205 ; variations of in- crease, 204; experience of the old and new worlds, 205, 206 ; in- crease of, geometrical, 205 ; controlled by the supply of food, 208 ; tables of Quetelet, 211 ; natural course of society, 224; misery a necessary consequence of population outstripping subsistence, 213 ; vice not an inevitable attendant on population, being restrained with- in the limits of subsistence, 213 ; present desolation of Ireland, 213; returns of population in Ireland, 214, 215. Price, real, defined, 167; distinguished from value, l67; natural, 170; natural and market, 179; elements of, 180; effects of diminished, 181 ; Adam Smith on, 77- Produce, net theory of, of the French Economists shown to be untenable by Adam Smith, 3; Mercier de la Riviere on, 182 ; on the scarcity of, 234 ; relation of population to, 19^; its increase arithmetical, 207 ; effects of the policy of excluding foreign from the home mar- ket, 2c>9 ; circumstances which may limit the consumption of, 251. Products immaterial, 229 ; Mr. Senior's use of the term, 230. Production, on the cost of; views of Ricardo and Adam Smith, 188; opens outlets for produce, 235. INDEX. 21).5 Profits of manufactures, 182 ; inequalities of, and wages, 183. Progression, arithmetical and geometrical, the distinction explained, 207. Prohibition of foreign wares, Stafford's observations on, 22 ; prohibi- tions in the reigns of James I. and Charles I., 50. Prohibitory system of Europe, 37. Property, (Jodwin on the faulty distribution of, 201. Q. Quesnay, the errors of the mercantile system exposed by the scliool of, S ; the leader of the so-called " Economists," 87 ; novel theory of, 141 ; his analysis of wealth, 141-143 ; on productive labour, 142 ; his " Tableau Ecotioniiqiw," 142. 145 ; his view of value, 145 ; his idea of commerce, 147 ; on the annual reproduction of wealth, 148 ; his proposal for a single tax (impot unique) upon the net produce of the land, 148 ; his theory of prices, 151 ; on the liberty of com- merce, 150; his system, distinguished by the name of "La Phy- siocratie," 152. Quetelet — " Essai de Phi/sique Sociale," the position of Mr. Malthus illustrated by, 210, 211. Quintus SixtuSj the prosperity of Rome under, 10. K. Rau, Professor, on the system of Dr. List, 240. Rent, Adam Smith's doctrine of, 3 ; objection to Adam Smith's view, 1 6'f) ; sudden rise of, 278. Riviere, Mercier de la, on Produce, 182. Revolution, P^ench, an attempt to find a political remedy for great social evils, 19.0; disappointments of those who had suggested the remedies, 200 ; industrial in England, 220". Ricardo, his pamphlet on the high price of bullion, 272 ; edition of his works, and notice of his life and writings, by M'C'ulloch, 272 ; his observations on the currency, 272. Rome, prosperity of, inulcr Sixtus Quintus, 10. Rossi, Prof., observations of, 212. 224; apt comparison of, 2 IS. Santis, Antonio de, views of, concerning the ]>rccious motals and ex- change, 1 1. Say, Jean Baptiste, his work, " Trait <'■ <(' Erotinm'u' I'oUdqur" 1^4. 228 ; Ricardo's eulogium upon his writing-;, 228 ; his discussions on international commerce, 57. 230 ; on subdivision of labour, 2.S1 ; on commercial outlets, 231 ; on money as a commodity, 232 : on j)ro- ducts, 232; money purchased with produce, 2.')3 ; beautiful theory of, on the mutual interests of nations, 2.';.0 ; wise and noble doctrine on the consequences of wars, 21-0. Scarwfli, writings of, on the abuses in the monetary system. J) — 15. 290 i\i)i:x. Sfiiior, Mr., on labour, 17'). I!)2; liis correspoiKlcnce with Mr, Mal- tlius, '22li. Serra, Antonio, treatise of, on economical science, 8 ; remarks of Abb'j CJaliani thereon, 8 ; compared to Melon in France, and Locke in J^ngland, 8; tiieory of, on the precious metals, 10; his suggestion that specie ouglit to be allowed to be exported, 32, 51, .02 ; unfor- tunate as a writer, 51 ; his treatise neglected for more than a century after it was written, 51 ; remarks on the causes of wealth, IG.'J. Servants, domestic, on the value of the labour of, 17.3 ; distinction be- • tween the views of Adam Smith and Malthus, 174. Services, personal, 174. 2.30 ; Senior's remarks, 230. Settlement, law of, its effect upon labour, 185. Shakspeare, a work falsely attributed to, entitled, " A Briefc Conceipte of English Policy," 18. Short, A\'illiam, letter of, on the monetary affairs of France, 26'1. Silver, Stafford's observations on the value of gold and, 19; exporta- tion of, 23 ; depreciation of, in Spain in the lf)th century, 41 ; gene- ral depreciation of, 99 ', I^e Boisguillebert's remarks upon the em- ployment of as money, 135. Smith, Adam, his opinion of Colbert, 67 ; on the mutual prohibitions of the French and English, 71 ; on natural price, 77 ; on value and commerce, 139; Jiis view of political economy, l60 ; subject of his •work upon the " Wealth of Nations," 1()2 ; comparison between him and Harvey, the discoverer of the circulation of the blood, l65 ; objec- tions to his view of rent, l6"9 ; on capital, 185 ; perplexity of many of his statements on the cost of production, 188; on paper cur- rency, 191 ; on the effect of parsimony, 192 ; his work incomplete in reference to commerce, 227 ; quoted passim. Spain, prohibitive system of, 6" ; the treasures of drained by the waste- ful wars of Charles V., 6. Specie, the suggestion of Serra that the exportation of should be allowed, 32 ; commerce in, by the East India Company, 4() ; pro- gress of ideas in England in reference to its exportation, 49 ; the statutes prohibiting its exportation repealed in l663, 49 — 58; debate in the House of Commons upon the subject in 1(5S0, 58 ; remarks on the exportation of, 115. (r/(/e also 'Bullion,' 'Gold,' 'Silver,' 'Metals, precious.') Stafford, Wm., review of his work entitled, "A Briefe Conceipte of English Policy," 18 ; liis comparative merits, 32. Steam-engine, anecdote of Newcomen's, 177« Steam power, effect of, combined with a restticiivt; system of customs, 244. Steuart, Sir James, political economy of, 131. Stock, on profits of, l6S. Storch, his " Coitrs d' Economic Politique," 263. Stuart dynasty, vacillations in the public policy of England during the, 49- Sully, Due de, character of, 38 ; his preciilection for agriculture, S*^ ; financial condition of France under his management, 40 ; prohibits the exportation of specie, 40 — 4G ; his discouragement of manufac- INDEX. 297 tures and aversion to foreign commerce, 42 — i4 ; his agriryltural and other improvements, 45 ; his policy, 53. Taxation, system of, in France and England, 130; subsidy refused in the reign of Henry VII., 130 ; incidence of, 193 ; necessary condi- tions of, 193. Taxes, Sir W. Petty's treatise on, 81 ; on agriculture, De Boisguille- bert's remarks upon, 134. Thiers, " Histoire de la Revolution," 259; ^lis remarks on the monetary affairs of France, 259. Thornton, his inquiry into the paper credit of Great Britain, 257 — 268. Trade, balance of, 53, 54. 115. 22G ; "Discourses on," a treatise by Sir Dudley North, 83, 84 ; East India, 54. Trent, Council of, its effect upon the Romish and reformed churches. 1. Tribute, sense in which the term is used by the Colbertists, 73. Turbolo, writings of, on the abuses in the monetary system, 9- Turgot, his work, " Sur la Formation et la Distribution des liichftises.' 142—153 Turkey Company, 60. U. Ustaritz, extract from, in his treatise on the theory and practice of commerce, 51. Utility and value, distinction between, 20, Value and utility, distinction between, 20 ; prevalent errors as to, 82 ; Locke's idea of, 87; erroneous notions of, 87; distinction Ix^tween actual and intrinsic, 88 ; John Law's idea of, 93, })4 ; De Bois- guillebert's notion of, 136; Quesnay's, 147; ambiguity of the torni, 139, 146; Adam Smith's distinction, 139 ; on relative or exchange- able, l66; definition of, l67; price distinguislicd from, 167- Vansittart on the bullion question, 274. Vasco de Gama, effects of the successful enterprise of, 3(^. Vauban's " Projvt d'tine Dmu; Itoijak," 131; Sir James Steuart's ex- amination of, 131; the work interdicted, 132. Verri, Pietro, on the reproduction of value, 1 54. W. Wakefield, his account of Ireland, 214. Wares, foreign, Stafford's observations on, prohibition of, 22. Wars, wise and noble doctrine of M. Say upon the subject of, 240 ; would be extinguished by freedom of commerce, 21-7- Watt, discoveries of, 226 — 255. Wealth, Quesnay's analysis of, 141, 143, 144; annual reproduction 298 INDEX. of,, 148; distribution of, 221; Say's definition of, and objections thereto, 228, 22.0. Whitlock's " Memorials " quoted on the petition against the monopoly of the merchant adventurers, 50. Wool, price of, in reign of James I., 34 ; enactment concerning the transportation of, in reign of Edward III., 55; chiefly exported to Flanders at that time, 56" ; wool and corn, comparison of, by Stafford, 24 ; prohibitions and monopolies during the reign of James I. and Charles I., 50. THE END. London : Spottiswoodb and Shaw, New-Street-Square. April 1847. NEW WORKS IN iHiSrellanecius; and General iCittrature, PUBLISHED BY MESSRS. LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, AND LONGMANS, PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON. CLASSIFIED INDEX. Agriculture and Rural Affnirs. Pages. Bavldon On Taluini; Rents, &o. - 4 Br.iy's Kssajr on Asriculture, &e. • 4 Crocker's Land-Suneying - - 7 Davy's Asriculturai Chemistry - 8 Johnson's Farmer's Enryciopmdia 15 Loudon's Encvclop. of Agriculture 17 " Self: Instruction - - 17 " Lady's Country Compan. IT Low's Elements of Affriculture - 18 " Cattle Breeds " - - - 18 " On Landed Property - - 18 " On the Domesticated Animals 18 Parnell On Ro.ids - - - 23 Thomson On I'attenins Cattle - 30 Topham's Aanrulturul Chemistry 30 Whitley's Agricultural Geology - 3'J Arts and Muiiufuclures. Brande's Dictionary of Science,&c. 6 Bucklers' St. Alban's Abbey - 6 Bud:;e'8 .Miner's Guide - - - 5 Cartoons (The Prize) . . . G ('resy's Civil Engineering - - 7 De liurtin On Pictures - . • 8 Dresden Gallery - ... 9 Gwilt's Encyclop. of Architecture 11 Hav ion On Painting .and Design - 12 Holland's Manufactures in Metal - 12 I.erebours On Photography - - 16 Loudon'sEncycl.ofiiural Architect. 18 Moseley's Engineering & Architect. 'i2 Porter's Manufacture of Silk - . 'H '• •• Porcplaini Glass 24 Reid (Dr.) On Ventilation - - 25 Steam Engine, by the Artisan Club 4 t're's Dictionary of Arts, Ac. - 31 Wilkinson's Engines of VVar - - 31 Wood On Railroads - - -81 Aikin's Life of Ad.lison - - - 3 Bell's Eminent British Poets - 4 Dover's Life of the King of I'russia 9 Dunham's Early British WriU-rs - 9 " Lives of British Dramatists 9 Forster'B Statesmen - - -10 •' (Rev.C.)Lifcof Bp.Jehh 10 Gleig's British Military Commanders 10 Grant's Memoir & Correspondcnco 11 James's Life of the Black Prince - 14 " Foreign .St.»tesmen - - 14 Leslie's Life of Constable - - 16 Mackintosh's Life of Sir T. More - 19 Maunder's Bmgr.iphical Treasury - 20 Maurv's Statesmen of America - 21 Moh:in Lai's Mohammed - - 21 liosonc's Li^esof llntish Lawyers- 26 Uussell's Bedford CtirresponJencc 4 Shelley's Literary Men of ItJily, &c. 27 " Livesof French Writers - 27 Southey's Lives of the Admirals - 28 " Life of Wesley - - m Townsend's Eminent Judges - :iO Waterton's Autobiograiihy & Essays 3i Bonks of General Utitily Acton's (!ookery - - - - 3 Black's Treatise on Brewing - - 4 " Supplementon Bavarian Beer 4 Collegians Guide (The) - - 6 I inn. .\:in's Domestic Economy - ft ll.inilliook of Taste - - - 12 lliiils ,m Etiquette - - - Ji Hudson's Parent's Hand-book - 14 ** Executor's Guide - > 14 " On Making Wills - . U Loudon's Self- Inst ruction - - 17 '* Lady's Companion - 17 " Aniutenr Gardener 17 .Maunder's Treasury of Knowledge 20 •* Biographical Treasttry - 20 " Scient. and Lit. Treasury 2(1 ** Treasury of History -' '20 Parkes's Domcs'ic Duties - - 23 Pyrrolt's (Rev. J.) English Reading 24 Pagi'S. Reader's Time T.ables ■ - - '25 Riddle's Latin-Eng. Dictionaries '2,1 Robinson's Artof Curing, Pickling&c.26 Rowton':. Debater - - - - 'J6 Short Whist 27 Thomson On the Sick Room - - 30 Thomson's Interest Tables - - 30 Tomlins's Law Dictionary - - 30 Walker's Dictionaries, by Sm.lrt - 31 Webster's Domestic Economy - 32 Bilany and Gardening. Abercrombic's Practical Gardener 3 " andMain'sGardener'sComp. 3 Callcott's Scripture Herbal - - 6 Conversations on Botany - - 7 Drummond's First Steps to Botany 9 Heoslow's Botany - - - - 12 Hoare On Cultivation of the Vine - 12 " On the Roots of Vines - 12 Hooker's British Flora - • - 13 Jacksfin's Pictorial Flora - - 14 Lindley's Theory of Horticulture - 17 " Orchard* Kitchen Garden 17 ** Introduction to Botany - 16 " Flora .Medica - - - IB " Synopsis of British Flora 17 Loudon's Hortus Britannicus - 18 " " Lignosis Londincnsis IS " Amateur Gardener - 17 " Self. Instruction - - 17 " Trees and Shrubs - - 17 •* Gardening - - - 17 " Plants . - . - 17 '* Suburban Gardener - 18 Repton's Landscape (iardening - 2-^ Riverss Rose Amateur's Guide - 2-5 Robertson the Grape Vine - - 26 Rogers's Vegetable Cultivator - 26 Schleiden's .'Scientific Botany - 26 Smith's Introduction to Botany - 27 English l-lnra - - ■ 27 " Compendium of Kng. Flora 27 Specimen Flora of British Botany - 10 Chronology. Blair's Chronological Tables - 4 Xieolas's Chronology of llisiory - 22 Ritl.Ue's Ecclesiastical Chronology 2S Tute's lloratius lU-stitutus - - 29 Commerce&\ Mercantile Affairs. Baylis' .\rithmetic of .Annuities - 4 Gil'hait On Banking ... 10 M'Cullocb's Dict.olComm.* Navig. 19 Reader's Time Tables . - ". iS Steel's Shiimiaster's \ssistant - 28 Symond's .\Ierch.int-S<'anicn's Law 29 I'liomson's Interest Tables - . 30 Walford's Customs' Laws - . 31 Gengrapliif and Aliases. Butler's Geograjihy ... 6 •' Allasof Modern Geography 6 " " Ancient do - . 6 " " General do. - - 6 Cnoley's World Surveyed - • 7 De Slrrelerki's New South Wales . 8 Forster'slllst. (jeographyof Arabia 10 Hall's Large General Atlas - - II M'tullocli's Geographical Diction.ary 19 .M'l.CM.IsSarred Geography . - 19 Muri:iyB Encyrlop. ol GiH>graphy- 22 Ordnance Map., *c. - - . 23 Parrots .Ascent of .Mount Ararat 7 Histurii anil Ciiticism. Adair's Mission to Vienna . 3 *' " Const-intinople 3 Barrett's Bible Criticisms - 3 Bell's History of Russia ■ • 4 Blair's Chron. snd Histor. Tables . 4 Blooinfleld's Edition of ThueyJid«B 5 TninOaiion ofdo. - S Cnoley's History of I hsfovery - 7 Crowe's History of France - - 7 De Sismondi's fall of Roman Empire 6 " Itilian Reliiiblirs ■ a Dunham's Spain and Portugal - 9 " Middle Ages . . 9 " German Empire - - 9 " Denmark, Sweden, &c. 9 " Poland ... 9 Dunlnp's History of Fiction - 9 Eccleston's English Antiquities - 9 Fergus's United stales - - - 10 Grant's Memoir & Correspondence II Grattan's NeUierUnds - . . |i Grimhlot's Wm. III. * Louis XIV. II Guicciardini'a Historical .Maxims- II Halsted's Lifeof Itichurd III. 12 Hnydon On Painting and Desi^m • 12 HisUirical Pictt. of the Middle Ages 12 " Charades . . - 13 Horslcy's 'Bp.; Biblical Criticism- 13 Jetfrevs (Lord; Contributions - 14 Keighllev's Outlines of History - 14 Laing's fCings of Norway - - IS Lcmpriere's Classical Dictionary - IS .Macaulay's Crit. and Hist. Essays 18 Mackinnon'slIistoryofCivilisation 19 Mackintosh's .Miscellaneous Works 19 " History of Engl ind - 19 M'Culloch'sGeographieslDictioasry 19 Maunder's Treasury of History - 20 .^Iaury's Statesmen of America - - 20 Milner's Church History . - 21 Moore's Hist^.ry of Ireland - - Ji Mosheim's Ecclesiastieal History 2i Nicolas's Chronology of History - 23 Rankesllislorvofllie llrformation i\ Rome, llistory'or - - - . 2« Russell's Bedf'ord Correspondence 4 Srhopenbauers Autobiography - 36 Scotls History of Scotlind - 20 Sinncll's Bvwa.s of History . - 27 SU-bbing'»lli«tnry of the ('hurch - 2'« " History of Rrformstion ** " Churcd History - JM Switrerland, History of - - - 19 Sydney Smith's Works - . . 2i ■rtiirlwalls History of Greece . yi Tookes History ol" Price. - . Sil Turner s 11 isloVv of England - 31 Tyllcr's General lli.t.iry - - 31 Zumpt's Latin Grammar - - 3i Juvenile Bo>ks. Amy Herbert 3 Boy's own Book (The) . - . 4 Gertrude ..... |if Haxes'a Tales of the Indisns . Ij llowitfs ( Wm.'/ Boy's Country Book 14 I Laneton Parsonage . . |a Marcet'sCoiiverm.itlons — On the Hisiorv of England - >> OndiemiMrj' - - . 19 On Natural Philnsnphr - . 19 On I'olili. al rcnomy . - 19 On Vegetable Physiology . ■• On Land and Water . 211 f)n Lniigutiire . . . .31 Margaret Perelval - . - . an Mairvst's Mnstrrmsn Resily ■ ■ at " Mission .... an " iieltleni In Canada . >l " Privateers man . . 31 My Ynutlif\il C'ompanlins • • '3U Fycrofl's ( Iter. J . ; English IIeaJin< 24 Medicine. Bull's Hints to .Mothers . . . t " Man«i;em. iitof Cbildrfn . 6 Copland s Ilictionar) of M.dl. me . 7 Elllolson's Human l'h;si..l.,..-y . 9 Exlaile's Ml smrrism in India . 9 Hollan.ls Medical Notes - - 13 Lane On the Water rare . - 16 l'er>'ira On I'oisl and Diet . - M Reeres Mefliral nuj,!, . . . 24 Sandbr On .Mesmerism - . M Thnmiin On Fo.«l . . JO Miscellaneous. Vtftt*. Adiihead on Pri»onii ... 3 Dray'n Pliilonophy ot Neceatity - S " Swinl SyHtilDi ... ft PnrtoonH (Tlic Prile) ... 6 (riiivtTH'i. Korc-sl Life ... Cocli«'« Ilonlrnux, itn WinCH.&c. - Coll.cinni. Ciuidc (The) - - fi Colton. I.aion . . . . 1 I)e Hurt in on Pirluren - . - tt I)f Mnr^iin On Prolmt.ilitii'« - B 111- StrT.l.rkiM Nrw Snulh Walct - 8 Di.mI™ liull.ry - . . - » Dunlo|r» llmtory of Firtion - - Good'» Uook orNnture - - - l" Ginli.im'a English - - - - II Grnnt'k I.ittir» from the Mountains II Guenl's Mabinogion - - - II Ilnnd-bookofTiiiitc - - - 12 Higgins's Anacalipsis - - • Vi " Celtic Druids- - - Vi Holibes (Tlios.), Works of - - 12 Hoivitfs Uural Life of Knpland - 13 •• Visitsti) Kemarkubkl'laces 13 " Student- Life of Germany 13 " Social I. ill' (iftjermnny - 13 " CiilciHsiiliiiii^ riirifctianity 14 Jaenisch (111 (lies- (ipcium;s - 1-1 Jeffrey's (Lord) (iiiUnl'Ulions - 15 Kins's ArL'entine Itepuldii- - - 15 Lane's Lift at the \Vat<'r-(ure - 15 Loudon's Ladv's Country Comp. - 17 Macaulav'sCrit.and Hist. Essays 18 Ma. kmtnvlrs Miscellaneous Works 19 Mail 1;. nil schunhm the Catacombs la Micliilct!. Tl..- r. (iple - - - 21 Moi.rc On Uic I :.c of Ihe Body - '22 " " Soul and Body - 'Zi Necker De Saussuie On Education 22 PerryonGermanUniversityEducation'23 Peter Plvmley'9 1-etlers - - 'Zi Plunkett On the British Navy - H Pycrolt's Course of Eng. Reading 24 Rogers Cliess-Board - - - 2G RoMton's IJchater - - 26 Sandford's Church, Scliool, & Parish 26 Seacard's Narrative ot hisShipnreck26 Smith's (Rev. Sydney) Works - 2» Southey's Common place Book - 2S " The Doctor, &c. - - 2h Thomson On I'ood - - - 30 Twelve Years Ago - - - 31 Walker's Chess Studies - - - 31 Willoughby's{Lady) Uiary - - 32 Zumpt's Latin G rainmar - - 32 Katiirnl History. Cation's Popular (^onchology - 6 Doubleday's Butterflies and Moths 8 Drummond's Letters to a Naturalist 9 Gray's Molluscous .\nimals - 11 " and Mitchell's Ornithology - 11 *' " Accipitres - 11 Kirby and Spence's Entomology - 15 Lee's Taiidermy - - - - 16 " Elements of Natural History 16 Newell's Zoology of the Eng. Poets 22 Stephens's British Coleoptera - 29 8 n ainson On Stud y of N atural Hist. 29 nals " Taxidermy - - 29 " Quadrupeds - - 29 Birds - - - - 29 " Animals ill Menaseries- 23 " Fish, Amphibia, Jtc. - 29 Insects - - - - 29 " Malacol.igv - - - 29 " Habits iinJ Instincts - '29 Turton'sSlalls.irthcUiitishlslands 31 Waterton's Essays en Natural Hist. 32 Westwuod's t:i,issitic.itn>n of Insects 32 Zoology ol HM^S. Erebus and Terror 32 Novels and Worhs of Fiction, Bray's (Mrs.) Novels ... 5 Dunlop's History of Fiction - 9 Fawn of Sertorius - - - 10 Marryat's Masterman Ready - - iO " Settlers in Canada - 20 Misi " Privateers- man - - '20 Pericles, a Tale of Athens - '23 Southey's The Doctor, &c. ■. - 28 Willis's (N. P.) Dashes at Life . 32 Ivvl.CyclitpcdiasSc Dictionaries. Blaine's Uural Sports - - . 4 Brande's Science. Literature, & Art 5 Copland's Dictionary ol Medicine - 7 Cresys Civil Engineering - 7 Gnilt's Architecture - - - 11 Johnson's F irmer's Encycloptcdia- 1ft Loudon's Agriculture '- - - 17 " Rural Architecture - IS " Gardening - - - 17 " Plants . - . . n " Trees and Shrubs - - 17 M't.ulloch'sCeognipiucal Dictionary 1'.) '* DieUoiiary (..f (^oi^merce 19 P.ge.. Murmy's Encyclop. of Geography - 22 1,'re'i Dictionary of Art., &c. - - 31 Webiter & Purkei'a Dom. Economy 32 Poetry and the Drama. AiVin's fT)r.) British PocU - - 27 Burner's I..„n.,ra .... 6 Cli.ilenor'i. Walter Gr«T - - « C.dhir'M Il<.xl.uri;he Balladii. . 7 CostelU.N Per»ian Hose Garden - 7 Gold«mith'«Poem« - - - 10 Grav's Kl.gy. illuminated - - II Gutch's Boi' in llniMl Ballad! - II Horace, by Talc - - - - 29 Howitts BmILmIs - - - - 13 L. E. L.'a Poetical Works - - 16 Linwood's Anthologia Oxoniensis- 17 Macaulav's Lavs of Ancient Rome IH Mackay's Engfish Lakes - - 19 Montgomery's Poetical Works - 21 Moore's Poetical Works - - 21 " Lall.1 Rookh - - - 21 " Irish Melodies - - - 21 Moral of Flowers - - - - 22 Poets' Pleasaunce - - - - 24 Pope's Works, by Roscoe - - 24 Reynard the Fox - . - - 25 Sliiikspearr, hv Bowdler - - 27 Sheldon's Minstrelsy - - - 27 Sophocles, by Linn oo.l - - - 28 Southey's Poetical Works - - 28 " British Poet* - - - 27 Spiritof the Woods - - - 28 l^iomson's Seasons ... 30 Watts's Lyrics of the Heart - - 32 Political Fxonomy 8f Statistics. Gilbart on Banking . - - lo M'CuUoch's Geog. Statist. &c. Diet. 19 ** Dictionary of Commerce 19 " Political Economy - 19 " Statistics of Gt. Britain 19 " On Funding & Taxation 19 Marcefs Conversa. On Polit. Econ. 19 Registrar-General's Reports - 25 Symonds' Merchant Seamen's Law '29 Thornton On Overpojiulation - 30 Tooke's History of Prices - - 30 lieligious and Moral Works. Amy Herbert 3 Barrett's Old Testament Criticisms 4 Bloomfield's Greek Testament - 6 " College and School do. 5 " Lexicon to do. - - 6 Burder's Oriental Customs - - 5 Burns's Christian Philosophy - 6 " " Fragments - 6 Callcotts Scripture Herbal - - 6 Cooper's Sermons . - - - 7 Dale's Domestic Liturgy - - 8 Dibdin's Sunday Library - - 8 Doddridge's Family Expositor - 8 Englishman's Greek Concordance 9 Englislnnan'sHeb.&Chald. Concord. 9 Etheridge's Syrian Churches - 9 Fitzroy's Scriptural Conversations 10 Foistcr's Hist. Geography of Arabia 10 " Life of Bishop jebb - 10 From Oxford to Rome - - - 10 Gascoyne On tlie Apocalypse - 10 Gertrude ----- 10 IIook's( Dr.)Lecturef onPassionWcekl3 Home's Introduction to Scriptures 13 " Abridgment of ditto - 13 Hoisley's (Bp.j Biblical Criticism- 13 " " Psalms - . - 13 Jebb's (Bp.) Correspond, with Knox 14 " " Trans of the Psalms - 15 Kip'j Christma» in Rome - - 14 Knox's (.Alexander) Remains - 15 Laing's Notes on Rouge's Schism - 15 Lanelon Parsonage - - 15 Letters to Mv UnknowTi Friends - 16 Maitlund's Cliuich in theCatacombs 19 Margaret Peici\al - - - - is MicfielefsPriests, Women,* Families21 " and Qumefs Jesuits - 21 Milner's Church History - - 21 M'Leotl's Sacred Geo::raphy - - 19 Moort On tlie Use of "the Body - 22 ** *' Soul and Body - 22 Mosheim's Ecclesiastical History - 22 Mv Youthful Companions - - 23 Parables of Our Lonl - - - 23 Parkes's Domestic Duties - - 23 Pearson's Prayers - - - - 23 Peter Plymleys Letters- - - 24 Pitman's Sermons on the Psalms - 24 (Juinet's Christianity - - - '25 Riddle's Letters fruin a Godfather - 25 Sandford's Pai-ochialia - - - '26 " Female Improvement - 26 " Cm Woman - - 2S Sermon on the Mount(Thc) - - 26 Shepherd's Hone Apostolicce - 27 Smith's (G.) Perilous Times- - 27 " " Rtiigionof.\nc. Britain 27 Page.. Smith'! Female Diiriple - - 27 " (Sydney! Sermona - - '/7 Soutbey. Life of Wmley . . 2« stel.b.nit's Church Hi«t/)ry . - 21* Steeplrtim 2H TaU's History ofSt. Paul - - 29 Tayler's Dora .Melder - - . 20 " Lady Mary - - - 29 " Margaret; or, the Pearl - 29 '* Sermons - - - 29 30 Trollope's Analecta Tlieologic* Tumf r'a Sarred Hiitory - - - iil Twelve Years Ago - - - 31 Warrllaw'. Socinian C.mtroveniy - 31 Wiils Bible, Koran, and Talmud 32 Wilberforce's View of f'hristianity 32 Wilkinson's Catech. ofChurch Hiat. 32 Willouehby's (Lady) Diary - - 3Z Woodward's Sermons, Essays, &c. 32 Rural Sports. Blaine's Dictionary of Sporta - 4 Ephemera on Aneline - - - 9 Hansard's Fishine in Wales - 12 Hawker's InstructionstoSportsmen 12 Loudon's Lady's Country Comp. - 17 Stable Talk and Table Talk - - 28 The Sciences and Mathematics. Bakewell's Introduction toCefilogy 4 Balmam's lA's.'ons on ("hemistry - 4 Brande's Dictionary of Science ,'&c. 5 Brewster's Optics - - - - 5 Conversations on Mineralogy - 7 '"rrsys Civil Enzincerin? - - 7 DelaBcche'sGeoloey ofComwal!,&c 8 Donovan's Chemistry - - - 8 Farev On the Steam feneine - - 9 Foshroke On the Ancient Arts, &c. 10 Gower's Scientific Phenomena - 10 Greener On the Gun - - - II Herschcl's Natural Philosophy - 12 " .\stronomy - - - 12 Tlolland's Manufactures in Metal . 12 Humboldt's Cosmos . . - 14 Hunt's Researches on Lieht - - 14 K.iter and Lardner's Mechanics - 15 La Place's System of the World - 15 Lardner's Cabinet Cyclopa-dia - 18 " HydrostaticsA.Pneumatic8l6 " and Walker's Electricity 16 " Arithmetic - - - 16 " Geometry - - - 16 " Treatise on Heat - - 16 Lerebonrs on Photography - - 16 Lows Chemistry - - . . 18 Mai-cet's (Mrs.) Conversations 19-20 Memoirs of the Geological Surrey 2'! Moseley's Practical Mechanics - TZ " Engineering&.\rchitecture 2'2 Nesbit's Mensuration - - - '22 Owen's Lectureson Comp Anatomy 2:' Pearson's l*ractical Astronomy - 2'. Pesthel's Elements of Pbvsics - 2! Phillips's F'o&sils of Com-.'iall, fee. 21 " Guide to Geology - - 2-i " Treatise on Geblogr - 24 Poisson's Mechanics - . . ui Portlock's Geoloav of Londonderry '24 Powell's Natural Philosophy- - 24 Quarterly Journal of tlie Ge<>l. Sjc. 24 Ritchie On Railways - - - 25 Topham's Agricultural Chemistry 30 Whitley's Agricultural Geology - 32 Travels. Allan's Mediterranean - - - 3 Cooley's World Sur\ eyed - - 7 Costello's (Miss) Nort'h Wales - 7 De Custine's Russia - - - 8 De Strzelecki's New South Wales - 8 Erman's Tr.avels tlirouirh Siberia - 7 Harris's HighUnds of -Ethiopia - 12 King's .\rgentine Republic - - 15 Kip's Holydays in Rome - - 15 I.aing'sTour in Sweden - - 15 Mackay's English L.Tkes - . 19 >lonlauban's Travels in the East - 21 Parrot's .\scent of Mount Ararat 7 Raton's [X. A.) Strvia - - - 23 " " Modem Syrians - 23 Pedestrian Reminiscences - - 23 Schopenhauer's Pictures of Travel 26 Seaward's Narrative - - 215 Tischendorf 's Travels in the East - 30 Von Orlich'sTr-ivels in India - 31 Veterinary Medicine, &;c. Miles On the Horse's Foot - - 21 Stable Talk and Table Talk - 28 Thomson On Fattening Cattle - 30 Turner ()a the Foot of the Horse 31 Winter On the HorM - - - 32 New Works and New Editions PUULISHED BY Messrs. Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, ABERCllOMBIE'S PRACTICAL GARDENER, And Improved System of Modem Horticulture, alphabetically arranged. 4tli Kdition, with Introductory Treatise on Veijetable l'liysiolo;;y, anil I'lates, by \V. Salisbury. I'inio. Os. bds. ABERCROMBIE & MAIN-TIIE PRACTICAL GARDENER'S (COMPANION; or, Horticultural Calendar: to which Is added, the Garden-seed and I'iant Estimate. Edited from a MS. of J. Abercrombie, by J. Main. 8th Edition. 32mo. 2g.6d. sd. ACTON (ELIZA.) -MODERN COOKERY, In all its Branclie.s, reduced to a System of Easy Practice. For the use of Private Families. In a Series of KecL-ipts, all of whic-li have been strictly tested, ami are given with the most minute exactness. By Eliza Acton. New Edition, to which are added, Directions for Carving. Fcj). 8vo. with plates and woodcuts, 7s. Gd. cloth. ADAIR (SIR ROBERT). -AN HISTORICAL MEMOIR OF A MISSIO.N'to the COURT of VIK.VNA in ISOG. By the Ris?lit lionourab'.eSir Kobkht Auami, G.C.B. \Vith a Selection from his Despatches, published by permission of the proper Authorities. 8vo. 18s. cloth. ADAIR (SIR ROBERT).-THE NEGOTIATIONS FOR THE PEACE of the D.^RDANELLliS, in 1808-9: with Dispatches and OlHcial Documents. By the Right Honourable Sir Uouhkt Auaih, G.C.B. Being a Sequel to the .Memoir of his Mission to Vienna in 1806. 2 vols. 8vo. 28s. cloth. ADSIIEAD.-PRISONS AND PRISONERS. By JosBPii Adsheau. 8vo. with Illustrations, 7a. Od. cloth. AIKIN.-TIIE LIFE OF JOSEPH ADDISON. Illustrated by many of his Letters and Private Papers never before published. By Locy AiKiN. 2 vols, post 8V0. with Portiiiit from Sir Godfrey Kneller'a Picture, 18». cloth. ALLAN (J. H.)-A PICTORIAL TOUR IN THE MEDITER- AMY HERBERT. By a Lady. Edited by the Rev. William SK.WhLL, B.D. Fellow and Tutor of E.\eter College, Oxford. New Edition. 2 vols. fcp. 8vo. Us. cloth. ARTISAN CLUB (TIIE)-A TREATISE ON THE STEAM ENGINE, in its Application to Mines, -Mills, Steam Navigation, and lOiilvvays. By the Artisan Club. Edited by Joii.\ Bouii.Nii, C.E. 4to. with 'M Steel I'lates and 34y \>ootl Engravings, 27s. cluth. BAKEWELL.-AN INTRODUCTION TO GEOLOGY. Intended to convey Practical Knowledge of the Scieii-c, and c ith Woodcuts, 6s. cloth. NEW WOUKR AND NPiW EDITIONS BARRFJT.-A SYNOP.^TS OF ORTTTCTS^TS UPOX THOSE I ASSA(;i'.S of tlie OLD TKSTAMKNr in which Modern OiniinciitaforH havp differcil from thn Aiithnriscd Version : toi;<'ther with iin Kxplaniition of variouH Ditfii'iilties in the Hebrew and Knirlish Texts. Uy the Rev. Riciiaud A. F. IUiikktt, M.A. Fellow of Kin^^'a College, Cambridge. Vol. I. 8vo. 2Hs. cloth ; or, in '2 Parts, price 14s. each. *»* To be continued quarterly, in half-volumes. Vol. II. Part I. will be published on July 1st. BAYLT)ON.-ART OF VALUI^sTt RENTS AND TILLAGES, And the Tenant's Riifht of Knterini; and Quitting Farms, explained by several .Specimens of Valuations; and Iteniarks on the Cultivation pursued on Soils in different Situations. Adaptetl to the Use of Landlords. Land-Apents, Appraisers, Farmers, and Tenants. By J. S. Uayldon. 6th Edition, corrected and revised, by John Donaldson. 8vo. lOs.Gd. cloth. BAYLIS (E.)-THE ARITHMETIC OF ANNUITIES AND LIFE ASSIIRANC'E; or. Compound Interest Simplified: cxplainin? the Value of Annuities, certain or continsent, on One or Two Lives, and the Values of Assurances in Sin;fle an(l Annual Payments ; and compreheudinR the Values of Leases, Pensions, Freeholds, and Reversionary Sums, in possession or expectation, immediate, deferred, or temporary. Illus- trated with practical and familiar Examples. By Euvvard Baylis, Actuary of the Anchor Life Assurance Company. 8vo. 5s. cloth. BEDFORD CORRESPONDENCE. -CORRESPONDE?sCE OF JOIIX, FOURTH DUKE OF BEDFORD, selected from the Oriyinals at Woburn Abbey (1742 to 1770). With Introductions by Lord John Russf.ll. 3 vols. 8vo. with Portrait, 48s. cloth. *»* Separately : Vol. I. (1742-1748), 18s. ; Vol. II. (1749-1760), 15s.; Vol. III. (1761-1770), 158. BELL-LIVES OF THE MOST EMINENT ENGLISH POETS. By Robert Bell, Esq. 2 vols. fcp. 8vo. with Vignette Titles, 12s. cloth. BELL.-THE HISTORY OF RUSSIA, From the Earliest Period to the Treaty of Tilsit. By Robert Bell, Esq. 3 vols. fcp. 8vo. with Vignette Titles, 18s. cloth. BLACK.-A PRACTICAL TREATISE ON BREWING, Based on Chemical and Economical Principles: with Formulse for Public Brewers, and Instructions for Private Families. By William Black. Third Edition, with considerable Additions. 8vo. 10s. fid. cloth.— Also, REMARKS OX BAVARIAN BEER, London Porter, the Influence of Electricity on Fermentat By William Black. Being a Supplement to his "Treatise on Brewing." 8vo. 2s. 6d. sev BLAINE.-AN ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF RURAL SPORTS ; Or, a complete Account, Historical, Practical, and Descriptive, of Hunting, Shooting, Fishing, Racing, and other Field Sports and .\thletic Amusements of the present day. By Delabf.kk P. Blaine, Esq. .\uthor of " Canine Patholog>',"&c. Illustrated by nearly 600 Engravinarson ■\Yood, by R. Branston, from Draw ings by Aiken, T. Landseer, Dicke's, &c. 8vo. £2. 10s. cloth. BLAIR'S CHRONOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL TABLES, From the Creation to the present time: with Additions and Corrections from the most authen- tic Writers ; including the Computation of St. Paul, as connecting the Period from the Exude to the Temple. Under the revision of Sir Henry Ellis, K.H., Principal Librarian of the British Museum. Imperial 8vo. 31s. 6d. half-bound in morocco. BLOOMFIELD.-HISTORY OF THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR. By Tn ucv di des. A New Recension of the Text, with a carefully amended Punctuation ; and copious Notes, Critical, Philological, and Explanatory, principally original, partly selected and arranged from the best Expositors: accompanied by full Indexes, both of Greek Words and Phrases explained, and matters discussed in the Notes Illustrated by .Maps and Plans. By the Rev. S. T. Bloo.m field, D.D. F.S.A. 2 vols. 8vo. 38s. cloth. BLOOMFIELD.-HISTORY OF THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR. Bv Thucydides. Translated into English, and accompanied by very copious Notes, Philological and Explanatory, Historical and Geographical. By the Rev. S. T. Blucmfielu, D.D. F.'s.A. 3 vols. 8vo. with Maps and Plates, x2. 5s. boards. BLOOMFIELD.-THE GREEK TESTAMENT : With copious English Notes, Critical, Philological, and Explanatory. Especially formed for the use of advanced Students and Candidates tor Holy Orders. By Rev. S. T. Bloomfield, D.D. F.S.A. Cth Edition. 2 vols. Svo. with a .Map ot Palestine, jt2j cloth. ion. sewed. BLOOMFIELD.-ACOLLEGE&SCnOOLGREEKTESTAMENT; With shorter English Notes, Critical, I'liiloloj^ical, and Explanatory, formed for use in Colleges and the Public Schools. By the Rev. S. T. Uloomfield, D.D- F.S.A. *th Edition, greatly enlarged and improved. Fop. 8vo. 10s. 6d. cloth. BLOOMFIELD.-GREEK AND ENGLISH LEXICON TO THE NEW TESTAMENT; especially a(la])ted to the use of Colleges, and the Higher Classes in Public Schools; but also intended as a convenient Manual for Uiblical Students in general. By Dr. Bloo.mfillu. 2d Edition, enlarged and improved. Fop. 8vo. 10». 6d. cloth. BOY'S OWN BOOK (THE) : A Complete Encyclopedia of all the Diversions, Athletic, Scientific, and Recreative, of Boy- hood and Youth. 23d Edition. S(iuare r2mo. with many Engravings on Wood, 68. boards. BRANDE.-A DICTIONARY OF SCIENCE, LITERATURE, AND ART; comprising the History, Description, and Scientific Principles of every Branch of Human Knowledge; with the Derivation and Definition of all the Terms in General ^'^e. Edited by W. T. Brande, F.K.S.L. &E. ; assistedby J. Cauvin. 8vo. with Wood Engravings, st'i, cloth. BRAY'S (MRS.) NOVELS AND ROMANCES, Revised and corrected by Mrs. Bray. In 10 vols. fcp. 8vo. with a Portrait, Frontispieces, and Vignettes, uniformly with "The Standard Novels," jt3, cloth.— Or, 8. Trials of the Heart, Cs. 9. Henry de Pomeroy, 6s. 10. CourtenayofWalreddon,6g. 1. Tlie White Hoods, Cs. 2. De Foix 6s. 3. The Protestant, 6s. 4. Fitz of Fitz-Ford, 6s. 5. The Talba, 6s. 6. Warleigh, 6s. 7. Trelawny of Trelawne, 6s. BRAY.-AN ESSAY UPON THE UNION OF AGRICULTURE WITH MANUFACTURES, AND UPON THE ORGANISATION OF INDUSTRY. By Charles Bray. 12mo. Is. sewed. BRAY.-AN OUTLINE OF THE VARIOUS SOCIAL SYSTEMS and COMMUNITIES which have been FOUNDED on the PRINCIPLE of CO-OPER.VriO.V. Preceded by an Essay on the Union of Agriculture with Manufacture, and on the Organisation of Industry. By Charles Bray. Post 8vo. 58. cloth. BRAY.-THE PHILOSOPHY OF NECESSITY ; Or, the Lawof Consequences as applicable to Mental, -Moral, and Social Science. By Charles Bray. 2 vols. 8vo. los. cloth. BREWSTER.-TREATISE ON OPTICS. By Sir David Brewster, LL.D. F.R.S., &c. New Edition. Fcp. 8vo. with Vignette Title, and 176 Woodcuts, 6s. cloth. BUCKLER (J. C. AND C. A.)-A HISTORY OF THE ARCHITECTURE of the ABBEY CHURCH of ST. ALBAN, with espe( iai reference to the Norman Structure. By J. C. and C. A. Buckler, Architects. 8vo. with numerous Illustrations. [yearly reads/. BUDGE (J.)-THE PRACTICAL MINER'S GUIDE; Comjirising a Set of Trigonometrical Tables adapti'd to all the purposes of (tblicpie or Dinironal, Vertical, Horizontal, and Traverse Dialling; with their appliration to the Dial, Exercise of Drifts, Lodes, Slides, Levelling, I nacce.'^sibie Distimces, Heights, &c. By J. BruuE. New Edition, considerably enlarged. 8vo. with Portrait of the .Viilhor, 128. cloih. BULL.-THE MATERNAL MANAGEMENT OF' CHILDREN, in HEALTH and DISEASE. By T. Bili,, .M.D. Member of th.' Ko\;dColl.-e of Physician*, Physician-.\ccucheur to the Finsbury .Midwifery Institution. 2d Edition. IVp. 8vo. 7s. clotb. BULL.-HINTS TO MOTHERS, For the Maiiageinent of Health during the Period of Prp£rnnncy and in the Lying-in Room; with an Exposure of Po])ular ICriors in connection with those Kubjects. By Thomas Bull, .M.D. &c. otli Edition. Fcp. 8vo. 7s. cloth. BURDER.-ORIENTAL CUSTOMS, .Applied to the lllustnition of tlie Sacred Scriptures. By Dr. Samuel Buroer. 3d Edition, with Additions. Fcp. Svo. 8s. 6d. cloth. BURGER.-THE ''LEONORA" OF BURGER. Translated by Julia M. Camkron. With Six large IlhistratiDus, drawn on Wood by D. Maclise, R.A. and engraved by John Thompson. Crown 4to. 15s. cloth. NEW WORKS AND NEW KDITIONS BURNS. -TITE rRTNCTPLKS OF CHRISTIAN PHILOSOPHY; cuntniiiiiiK- the Doctrines, Duties, Admonitions, ami ("oiisolationH |'i.am>, M.D. Consulting I'hysician to Queen Charloltfi's Lyi.i:r-in liospiial, &c. &c. &:c. Vols. 1 and 2, Svo. .^3, cloth ; and Parts 10 and II, 4s Gd. each, sowed. *»* To be completed in One more Volume. COSTELLO (MISS.)-THE ROSE GARDEN OF PERSLV. A Series of Translations from the Persian Poets By .Miss Louisa Stuart Costkli.o, .\ufho» of " Specimens of the Early I'octry ot France," " .\ Sumn.er amongst the Bucaires anil the Vines," &c. I»iig8v(). with Illuminated Pages and Borders printed in rose-colour, IHs.buardd; or 31s. 6d. bound in rose-coloured morocco (Persian atyle) by Huyday. COSTELLO (MISS).-TIIE FALLS, LAKES, AND MOUNTAINS OF NORTH WALE.S; beinsr a Pictorial Tom- tliioiigh the most interestin;;- parts of tiie Country. By L< risv Sttaiit Costki.'.o, Author of "Ihe Rd by upwards <)!' Three Tlo;;s!ind Kngruvings on Wood, explanatory of the Principles, .Machinery, and Constructions whicli come under the Direction of the Civil Engineer. One very lar^c Volume 8\o. j£3. 13s. lid. cloth. CROCKER'S ELEMENTS OF LAND SURVEYING. Fifth Edition, corrected tlironjrho'.it, and cotisideiablv itnprovcd niid nioilerni/.i-d, bv T. G. Bunt, Land Snr\eyor. To whirli are iidled, TAUI.ES OF SI.X-FIGl UK LtMiAld I HM.■^, &c.,superinte:.Uedby K.FAKi.Kv,ofilie.\uiitical .Mmunuc Ehtablishnient. Posthw). I2ii.r.u;li. CROWE.-TIIE HISTORY OF FRANCE, From the Earliest Period to the .Midicatiuu oi' Napoieun. By E. E. Ckowk, Esq. 3 vols. fcp. Svo. with Vignette Titles, ISs. cloth. D.\LE (THE REV. T.)-TIIE DOMESTIC LITURGY AlVD FAMILY CHAPLAIN, in two Parts: tlin first Part Itfinp Cliurrli ScrvircH adapted for (linncstic use, with I'riiycrs for every day of tlie week, selected excliinively from tlie Hook of Common Prayer; I'nrt 2 coiiiprisinif an appropriate f?crmon for everv' Sunday in the year. By the Kev. Thomas Pai.k, ^I.A. (.'anoii-Kesidentiary of St. P.inl'K, and Vicar of .St. Panrras, London. l'ost4to. handsomely printed, 21s. cloth : or,' bound by Hayday, 3l8. 6(1. calf lettered ; it'l. lOs. morocco, witli golVered edf^es. DAVY (SIR IIUMFIIRY).-ELEME^'TSOF AGRICULTURAL (."IIKMISTUY, in a Conrseof Lectures. Hy Sir Himiiiiry Daw. With Notes by Dr. Jon. s Davy. 6th ICdition. 8vo. with 18 Plates, 15s. cloth. DE BURTIN.-A TREATISE ON THE KNOWLEDGE NECES- SARY to AMATRUIIS of PICTURF.S. Translated and Abride^ed from the French of M. Francis Xavier Dk Uiirtin, First Stipendiary Member of the lloyal Acarlemy of Brus:>eU in the Class of .Sciences, &c. Ky Roukrt VVhitk, Esq. 8vo. witli four Plates, 12s. cloth. DE CUSTINE. -RUSSIA. Bv the AlARauis De Custixe. Translated from the French. 2d Edition. 3 vols, post S\o. 31s. 6d. cloth. DE LA BECHE.-REPORT ON THE GEOLOGY OF CORN- WALI-, DKV IN, and ^VEST SOMERSKT. By Henry T. 1)k i.a Bkchk, F.R.S. &c., Director of the Ordnance Geoloarical .Survey. Publistied by Order of the Lords Commissionera of H..M. Treasury. 8vo. with Maps, Woodcuts, and 12 large Pates, 14s. cloth. DE MORGAN.-AN ESSAY ON PROBABILITIES, And on their .\pplication to Life (Contingencies and Insurance Offices. By Al'g. de Moroax, of Trinity Colleii;e, Canibrid;e. Fcp. 8vo. with Vignette 'lltle, 6s. cloth. DE SISMONDI.-THE HISTORY OF THE ITALIAN REPUB- LICS; or, of the Orifrin, Prog-rcss, and Fall of Freedom in Italy, from A.D. 476 to 1806. By J. C. L. Sis.MoxDi. Fcp. 8vo. with Vignette Title, 6s. cloth. DE SISMONDI. - THE HISTORY OF THE FxVLL OF THE ROMAN E.MPIRE. Comprising a View of the Invasion and Settlement of the Barbarians. By J. C. L. De Sismoxdi. 2 vols. fcp. 8vo. with Vignette Titles, 12s. cloth. DE STRZELECKI (P. E.)-THE PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION of NEW SOUTH WALES and VAN DIRMAN'S LAND; accompanied by a Geological .Map Sections, and Diagrams, and Figures of the Organic Remains. By P. E. De Strzelecki. 8vo. with coloured Alap and numerous Plates, 24s. cloth. DIBDIN (THE REV. T. F.)-THE SUNDAY LIBRARY: Containing nearly One Hundred Sermons, bv eminent Divines. With Notes, &c. by the Rev. T. F. DiBnix, D.D. 6 vols. fcp. 8vo. with Six Portraits, 30s. cloth ; or, jfc 2. 12s. 6d. neatly half-bound in morocco, with gilt edges. DODDRIDGE.-THE FAMILY EXPOSITOR; Or, a Paraphrase and Version of the New Testament : with Critical Notes, and a Practical Improvement of each Section. By P. Doddridge, D.D. To which is prefixed, a Life of the Author, by A. Kippis, D D. F.R.S. and S..\. New Edition, 4 vols. 8vo. £\. 16s. cloth. DONOVAN.-A TREATISE ON CHEMISTRY. By M. Donovan, M.R.I. .\. Fourth Edition. Fcp. 8vo. with Vignette Title, 6s. cloth. DONOVAN.-A TREATISE ON DOMESTIC ECONOMY. By M. Donovan, Esq. M.R.l..\. Professor of Chemistry to the Company of Apothecaries in Ireland. 2 vols. fcp. 8vo. with Vignette Titles, 12s. cloth. DOUBLEDAY AND HEWITSON'S BUTTERFLIES. - THE GENERA of DIURNAL LEPIDOPTEKA ; comprising their Generic Characters-a Notice of tl'.e Habits and Transformations— and a Catalogue of the Species of each Genus. By Edward Dot'BLKDAY, Esq. F.L.S. &c.. Assistant in the Zoological Department of the British Museum. Imperial 4to. uniform with Gray and Mitchell's Ornithology; Illustrated with 75 Coloured Plates, by W. C. Hewitson, Esq. Author of" British Oology." *»* Publishing in .Monthly P.trts, 5s. each ; each part consisting of 2 coloured plates, with accompanying Letter-iiress, giving the Generic Characters, a Short Notice of the Habits, and a Catalogue of the Species of each Genus. Part VU. will appear on the 1st of May. DOVER.-LIFE OF FREDERICK II. KING OF PRUSSIA. By Lord Dover. 2d Edition. 2 vols. 8vo. with Portrait, 2Ss. boards. The History of Poland. By Dr. Dunham. Fen. 8vo. with Virnette Title, 6s. cloth. The Lives of the Eaulv Writers OF Great Britain. By Dr. Dunham, R. Bell, Esq. &c. Fcp. 8vo. with Vijjnette Title, 6s. cloth. The Lives of British Dramatists. DRESDEN GALLERY.-THE MOST CELEBRATED PICTURES of the lUJYAL GALLERY at DRK.SDRX, drawn on Stone, from the Oriirinals, by Franz Hanfstaenejel : with Descriptive and Bioirniphical Notices, in French and German. Nus. I. to XLIV. imperial folio, each containing 3 I'lates. with ar-conipanvinap Letterpress, price 20s. to Subscribers; to Non Subscribers, 30s. Singfle I'lates, 12s. each'. *»* To be completed in a few more numbers, DRUMMOND (DR. J. L.)-LETTERS TO A YOUNG NATU- RALIST, ON THK STUDY OF N.VTURK AND NATURAL THEOLOGY. *By .Iamls L. Drummond, M.D. Author of " First Steps to Botany," &c. Second Edition. Post 8vo. with Wood Engravings, 7s. 6d. boards. DRUMMOND.-EIRST STEPS TO BOTANY, Intended as popular Illustrations of the Science, leading: to its study as a branch of general education. By J. L. Drummond, .M.D. 4th Edit. 12iiio. with numerous WoO(icuts, 9s. bds. DUNIIAM.-TIIE HISTORY OF THE GERMANIC EMPIRE. By Dr. Dunham. 3 vols. fcp. 8vo. with Vignette Titles, 18s. cloth. The History of Europe during the Middle Ages. By Dr. Dunham. 4 vols, fcp. 8vo. with Vignette Titles, .st'l. 48. cloth. The History of Spain and Portugal. By Dr. Dnnham. 5 vols. fcp. 8vo. with Vignette Titles, £1. 10s. cloth. The History of Sweden, Denmark, AND Norway. By Dr. Dunham. 3 vols, i By Dr. Dunham, R. Bell, Esq. &c. 2 vols, fcp. 8vo. with Vignette Titles, 18s. cloth. fcp. 8vo. with Vignette Titles, 12s. cloth. DUNLOP (JOHN). -THE HISTORY OF FICTION : Being a Critical Account of the most celebrated Prose Works of Fiction, from the earliest Greek Romances to the Novels of the Present Age. By John Dunlop, Esq. 3d Edition, complete in One Volume. 8vo. 15s. cloth. ECCLESTON ( JAMES. )-A MANUAL OF ENGLISH ANTIQUI- TIES. By James Eccleston, B.A. Head :Master of Sutton Coldfield Grammar School. 8vo. with numerous lUustrutious ou Wood. [/« f/ie prets. ELLIOTSON.-HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY : With which is incorporated much of the elementary part of the " Institutiones Physiologica;" of J. F. Blumenbach, Professor in the University of Giittingen. By John Flliotson, M.D. Cantab. F.R.S. Fifth Edition. 8vo. with numerous Woodcuts, jt'l. 2s. cloth. ENGLISHMAN'S GREEK CONCORDANCE OF THE NEW TESTAMENT: being an Attempt at a Verbal Connexion between the Greek and the English Texts; including a Concordance to tlie Proper Names, with Indexes, Greek-English and English-Greek. 2d Edition, with a new Index. Royal 8vo. 42s. cloth. ENGLISHMAN'S HEBREW AND CHALDEE CONCORDANCE of the OLD T1'^ST.\.MKNT; being an attempt at a A'erbal Connection between the Original and the ICnglish Translations: with Indexes, a List of the Proper Names and their occur- rences, &c. &c. 2 vols, royal 8vo. .*3. 138. 6d. cloth; large paper, ^4. 14s. 6d. EPHEMERA.-A HAND-BOOK OF ANGLING ; Teaching Fly-fishing, Trolling, Bottom-fishinir, Salnion-lishing; the Natural History of River Fish, and the best modes of Catching them. By Ephk.mera, of Bell's Life in London. Fcp. 8vo. with Illustrations, 9s. cloth. ESDAILE (DR. J.)-MESMERISM IN INDIA; And its Practical Application in Surgery and Medicine. By Ja.mks Esdaile, M.D. Civil Assistant-Surgeon, li.I.CS. Bengal. Fcp. 8vo. Gs. Gd. cloth. ETHERIDGE (J. W.)-THE SYRIAN CHURCHES: Tlieir Early History, Liturgies, and Literature. Willi a literal Translation of the Four Gospels from the Peschito, or Canon of Holy Scripture in use ainoim- the Oriental Chrintinns from the earliest times. By J. W. Etiikridok, Author of "Horn: Arniaicn-." l2mo. 7s. Gd. cloth. FAREY.-A TREATISE ON THE STEAM ENGINE, Historical, Practical, and Descriptive. By John Fahky, Engineer. 4to. illustrated by numerous Woodcuts, and 23 Copper-plates, jCS. 5s. boards. FAWN (THE) or SERTORIUS. 2 vols, post Hvo. IHs. riotli. " As II niiik tlint rnntninii lively nnd );rn|iliir pirturen of lift' nnd mnnneri in a diatant agr, wc commrnd it to thr pfriiMl of our reniliTM."— Cbitic. FERGUS-HISTORY OF UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Fi-oin tlic Discovery of Aniorirn to tlii' Klrctioii of Ccnrra] .Iaflvsr)n to tlii; ['rfsidcncy. Uy the K«'V. II. 1''kkou.s. 2 vols. fcp. 8vo. with ViKiictte Titlrs, 12s. cloth. FITZROY (LADY). -SCRIPTURAL CONVERSATIONS BE- TWKEN CH.\KLE.Sand his MOTIIliK. liy Lady Charles Fitzhov. Fcp. 8vo. 4s. Gd. cloth. FLORA.-TIIE SPECIMEN FLORA ; Or, British Hotaiiy exemnlitied by Plants from a Collector's Cabinet. Arranged by the Author of "The Pictorial Plora." 8vo. 21s. in uatcred silk. FORSTER.-THE STATESMEN OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF KNGLAND. With an Introductory Treatise on the Popular ProuTess in Rnirlish History. ]Jy John Forster. Esq. 5 vols. fci>. 8vo. with (Original Portraits of Pyin, Eliot, Hampden, Cromwell, and an Historical Scene after a Picture by Cattermole, ±1. 10s. cloth. The above 5 vols, form Mr. Forster's portion of the Lives of F.minent British State.smen, by Sir James Mackintosh, the Riu;lit Hon. T. P. Courtenay, and John Forster, Esq. 7 vols. fcp. 8vo. w ith Vignette Titles, ^2. 2s. cloth. FORSTER (REY. C.)-THE HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY OF ARABIA ; or, the Patriarchal Evidences of Revealed Relifrioii. A Memoir, with illustrative Maps and an Appendix, containinj^ Translations, with an Alphabet and Glossary of the Hamyaritic Inscriptions recently discovered in Hadramaut. By the Rev. Charles Forster, B.U. Author of "Mahonietanisin Unveiled." 2 vols. 8vo. 30s. cloth. FORSTER (REV. C.)-THE LIFE OF JOHN JEBB, D.D. F.R.S., late Bishop of Limerick. With a Selection from his Letters. By the Hev. Charles FoRSTKR, B.D. Rector of Stisted, and forn>erly Uomestic Chaplain to the Bishop. Second Edition. &vo. with Portrait, &c. 16s. cloth. FOSBROKE.-A TREATISE ON THE ARTS, MANNERS, MANUFACTURES, and INSTITUTIONS of the GREEKS and ROMANS. By the Rev. T. U. FosBROKE, &c. 2 vols. fcp. 8vo. with Vignette Titles, 12s. cloth. FROM OXFORD TO ROME ; And, How it fared with some who lately made the Journey. By a Compa.mox Traveller. Fcp. 8vo. with Frontispiece, 6s. cloth. GASCOYNE.-A NEW SOLUTION, IN PART, OF THE SEALS, TRUMPETS, and other SYMBOLS of the REVELATION of ST. JOHN : beins: an Attempt to prove that, as far as they are fulfilled, they denote the Kise, Increase, and Maturity of the Man of Sin, and the Coming of our Lord Jesus Clirist for his Destruction. By the Rev. R. Gascoyne, A.m. 18mo. 5s. cloth. GERTRUDE. A Tale. Bv the Author of " Amy Herbert." Edited by the Rev. William Sewell, B.D. of Exeter College, Oxford. New Edition. 2 vols. fcp. ^vo. 9s. cloth. GILBART (J. W.) - THE HISTORY AND PRINCIPLES OF B.\NKING. Bv James William Gilbaut, General .Manager of the London and West- minster Bank. 3d Edition. 8vo. 9s. boards. GLEIG.-LIVES OF MOST EMINENT BRITISH MILITARY CO.M.MANDERS. By the Rev. G. K. Gleig. 3 vols- fcp. Svo. with Vignette Titles, 18s. cloth. GOLDSMITH. - THE POETICAL WOKRS OF OLIVER GOLDSMITH. Illustrated by Wood Engravinirs, from the Designs of G. W. Cope, V.R.A., Thomas Creswick, A.R.A., J. C. Horsloy, R. Redgrave, A.R.A., and Frederick Tay l er .M te- bers of the Etching Club. With a Biographical Jlenioir. and Notes on the Poems. Edi d by Bolton Cornev, Esq. Square crown 8vo. uniform with "Thomson's Seasons," 2ls. cloth ; or, bound in morocco, by Hayday, ^1. 16s. *»* One Hundred Copies, £2. 2s. each, printed on prepared paper of great beauty. GOOD.-THE BOOK OF NATURE. A Popular Illustration of the General Laws and Phenomena of Creation. Bv Joh.n Maso.n Good, M.D. F.R.S.,&c. Third Edition, corrected. 3 vols. fcp. 8vo. 24s. cloth. I PUBLISHED BY MESSRS. LONGMAN, BROWN, AND CO. 11 GOWER.-THE SCIENTIFIC PHENOMENA OF DOMESTIC LIKE, familiarly explained. By Charles Foote Gotver. New Edition. Fcp. 8vo. with Wood Engravin-fs, 5s. cloth. GRAIIAM.-ENGLISH ; OR, THE ART OF CO^IPOSITION : e.xplainod in a Series of Instructions and E.xainples. By G. F. Gh.\ham. \cw Edition, revised and improved. Fcp. 8vo. "s. cloth. GRANT (MRS.)-LETTERS FROM THE MOUNTAINS. Being the Correspondence with her Friends, between the years 1773 and 1803. By Mrs Grant, of Lag-fcan. Sixth Edition. Edited, with Notes and Additions, by her son, J.P.Grant, Esq. 2 vols, post 8vo. 2Is. cloth. GRANT (MRS.)-MEMOIR AND CORRESPONDENCE OF the late Mrs. Grant, of Lagpan, Author of " Letters from the Mountains," " Memoirs of an American Lady," &c. &c. Edited by her Son, J. V. Grant, Esq. 2d Edition. 3 vols, post 8vo. with Fortrait, 31s. Gd. cloth. GRATTAN.-THE HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS, From the Invasion by the Romans to the Belgian Revolution in 1830. By T. C. Grattan, Esq. Fcp. 8vo. with Vignette Title, lis. cloth.' GRAY (THOMAS).-GRAY'S ELEGY, Written in a Country Churchyard. Illuminated in the Missal style. Bv Owen Jo.xes, Architect. Imp. 8vo. 31s. Cd. elegantly bound in patent relievo leather. GRAY-FIGURES OF MOLLUSCOUS ANIMALS, Selected from various Authors. l-Uched for the Use of Students. By Maria E.mma Ghay. Vol. I. 8vo. with 78 plates of Figures, 12s. cloth. GRAY AND MITCHELL'S ORNITHOLOGY.-THE GENERA Of BIRDS ; comprising their Generic Characters, a Notice of the Habits of each Genus, and an extensive List of Species, referred to their several Genera. By Georoe Robert Gray, Acad. Imp. Georg. Florcnt. Soc. Corresp. Senior Assistant of the Zoological Department, British Museum ; and Autlior of the " List of the Genera of Birds," &c. &c. Illustrated with Three Hundred and Fifty imperial quarto I'lates, by David William Mitchkll. In course of publication, in .Monthly Parts, 10s. 6d. each ; each Pait consisting generally of Four imperial quarto coloured Plates and Three jilain, and accompanying Letterpress ; givinj; the Generic ("haracters, short Remarks on the Habits, and a List of Species of eacli Genus as complete as possible. The uncoloured Plates contain the Characters of all the Genera of the various Sub-families, consisting of numerous details of Heads, Wings, and Feet, as the case may require, for pointing out their distinguishing Characters. *»* The work will not exceed Fifty Monthly Parts, of which Thirty -Six have apjieared. Order I.— Accipitres, has been completed, and may be had separately. Imperial 8vo. with 15 coloured and 12 plain Plates, .4 2. 8s. boards. GREENER -THE GUN ; Or, a Treatise on the various Descriptions of Small Fire-Anns. By W. Greknkr, Inventor of an improved method of Firing Cannon by Percussion, &c. 8vo. with Illustrations, I3s. boards. GRIMBLOT (P.)-LETTERS OF WILLIAM III. AND LOUIS XIV. and of their Ministers. Illustrating the Domestic and Foreign I'nlicy of Knirlantl durin); the period which follo\ve20, to the Time of the Declaration of Independence. By Barbara Hawes. Fcp. Svo. with Frontispiece, 6s. cloth. HAWKER.-INSTRUCTIONS TO YOUNG SPORTSMEN In all that relates to Guns and Shooting. By Lieut. -Col. P. Hawker. 9th Edit, corrected, enlarged, and improved, wth Eighty-five Plates and Woodcuts by Adiard and Branston, from Drawings by C. \ arley, Dickes, &c. Svo. A 1. Is. cloth. HAYDON.-LECTURES ON PAINTING AND DESIGN : Delivered at the London Institution, the Royal Institution, Albemarle Street, to the University of Oxford, &c. By B. R. Haydox, Historical Painter. With Portraits of the Author and of Sir David Wilkie, and other Illustrations, from Designs drawn on Wood by the Author. 2 vols. 8vo. 24s. cloth. HENSLOW.-THE PRINCIPLES OF DESCRIPTIVE AND PHYSIOLOGICAL BOTANY. By J. 9. Henslow, M.A. F.L.S. &c. Fcp. 8vo. with Vignette Title, and nearly 70 Woodcuts, 6s. cloth. HERSCHEL.-A TREATISE ON ASTRONOMY. By Sir John Herschel. New Edition. Fcp. Svo. with Vignette Title, 6s. cloth. HERSCHEL.-A PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE ON THE STUDY OF NATURAL PHILOSOPHY'. By Sir John Herschel. New Edition. Fcp. Svo. with vignette title, 6s. cloth. HIGGINS.-ANACALYPSIS ; Or, an .\ttempt to draw aside the Veil of the Saitic Isis: an Inquiry' into the Origin of Languages, Nations, and Religions. By G. Higgins, Esq. F.S.A. F.R. Asiatic Society, &c. 2 vols. -ito. .i^5 cloth. HIGGINS.-THE CELTIC DRUIDS; Or, an Attempt to show that the Druids were the Priests of Oriental Colonies, who emi- grated from India, and were the Introducers of the First or Cadniean Systfm of Letters, niid the Budders of Stonehenge, of Carnac, and of other Cyclopean works in'Asia and Europe. By G. HiGGi.xs, F.S.A. F.R. Asiatic Soc. &c. 4to. with numerous Illustrations, ^3 cloth. HINTS ON ETIQUETTE AND THE USAGES OF SOCIETY: With a Glance at Bad Habits. By /iyaiyos. '• Manners make the man." 26th Edition, revised (with additions) by a Lady of Rank. Fcp. Svo. 2s. 6d. cloth, gilt edges. General Observations; Introductions— Letters of Introduction — Marriage — Dinners — Smoking; Snulf— Fashion— Dress— Music— Dancing— Conversation— Advice to Tradespeople — Visiting; Visiting Cards— Cards— Tattling— Of General Society. PUBLISHED BY MESSRS. LONGMAN, BROWN, AND CO. 13 HISTORICAL CHARADES. By the Author of "Letters from Madras." Fcp. 8vo. 5s. cloth. HISTOillCAL PICTURES OF THE MIDDLE AGES, In Black and White. Made on the spot, from Records in the Archives of Switzerland. By a Wanderi.vg Artist. 2 vols, post 8vo. 18s. clotli. HOARE.-A DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNT OF A NEW METHOD of PLANTING and MANAGING tlie ROOT.S of GRAPE VINKS. By Clemknt Hoark, Authorof" A Treatise on the Cultivation of the Grape Vine on Open Walls." 12nio. 5s. cloth. HOARE.-A PRACTICAL TREATISE ON THE CULTIVATION OF TJIK GRAPE VINE ON OPEN WALLS. By Clkment Hoake. 3d Edition. 8vo. 7s. Gd. cloth. HOBBES. -ENGLISH WORKS OF THOMAS HOBBES, Of Miilmesbury; now first collected by Sir William Molesworth, Bart. IG vols. 8vo. 8s. cloth. *»* Separately : the English Works, in 11 vols. ses. 10s. ; the Latin Works, in 5 vols. ^2. lOs. HOLLAND.-A TREATISE ON THE MANUFACTURES IN MET^VL. By J. Holland, Esq. 3 vols. fcp. Vignette Titles, about 300 Woodcuts, 188. cloth. HOLLAND.-MEDICAL NOTES AND REFLECTIONS. By Hexkv Holland, .M.D. F.R.S. &c. Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, Physician Extraordinary to the Queen, and Physician in Ordinary to His Royal Highness Prince Albert. 2d Edition. 8vo. 18S. cloth. HOOK (DR. W. F.)-THE LAST DAYS OF OUR LORD'S MINISTRY : a Course of Lectures on the principal Events of Passion Week. By Walter Fauuuhar Hook, 1) D. Vicar of Leeds, Preljendary of Lincoln, and Chaplain in Ordinary to the Queen. 4th Edition. Fcp. Svo. Os. cloth. HOOKER.-THE BRITISH FLORA, In Two Vols. Vol. 1 ; comprising Pluenoganious or Floweringr Plants, and the Ferns. Ry Sir William Jackson Hookicr, K.H. LL.D. F.R.A. and L.S. &c. &c &c. Fifth Edition, with Additions and Corrections ; and 173 Figures illustrative of the Umbelliferous Plants, the Compo:-ite Plants, the Grasses, and the Ferns. 8vo. with 12 Plates, 14s. plain; with the plates coloured, 24s. cloth. Vol- 2, in Two Parts, comprising the Cryptoirainia and Fungi, completing the British Flora, and forming Vol. 5, Paris 1 and 2, of Smith's Englisli Flora, 24s. boards. HORNE (THE REV. T. II.)-AN INTRODUCTION TO THE CRITICAL STUDY anti KNOWLEIIGE of the HOLY SCRIITURKS. By Thc.mah 11 AiiT.vKi.L HoKNE, B.L). of St. Johu's College, Cambridi^e ; Rvctor of the united I'urislies of St. Edmund the King and .Martyr, and St. .N'icholas Aeons, Lombard Street ; Prebendary of St. Paul's. A New Edition, revised and corrected. 5 vols. Svo. with numerous .Maps and Facsimilies of biblical .Manubcripts, C3s. cloth; or jt5, bound in calf hall'-exlra, by Hayday. HORNE (THE REV. T. H.)-A COMPENDIOUS INTRODUC- TION to the S'lUUY' of the BIBLE. By Thomas Haiitwkll Hornk, B.D. of St. John's College, Cambridge. Being an Analysis of his "Introduction to the Critical Study ami Knowledge of the Holy Scriptures." 7tli Edition, corrected and enlarged. Timo. with .\luj>8 and other Engravings, 9s. boards. HORSLEY (BISIIOP).-BIBLICAL CRITICISM On the first Fourtc.Mi Historical Books ol' the Old Tcstamtnt ; ami on the first Nine Prophetical Books. BySA.MUKL Hoiisi.ky, LE.l). F.R.S. F.S.A. Lord Bishop of St. Asaph. 2il l-.dilion, containing Translations by the .\uthi r never before ]>ublislied, together with copious Indices. 2 vols. 8yo. stl. 10s. clolh.— By the same Author, THE BOOK of PSALMS; translated from the Hebrew: with Notes, explanatory and critical Fourth Edition. Svo. Pis. cloth. HOWITT (MARY).-BALLADS AND OTHER POEMS. BY .Mary Howitt. Square crown 8vo. «iih a Portrait, from n picture by .Miss Gillies, beautifully engraved by W. H. Egleton, IHs. cloth ; morocco, 3(>s. (bound by Ihiydai/.) HOWITT.-THE RURAL LIFE OF ENGLAND. By William Howitt. 3d Edition, corrected and revised. Medium 8vo. with Engravings on wood, by Bewick and Williams, uniform with " Visits to Remarkable Places," 21s. cloth. HOWITT.-VISITS TO REMARKABLE PLACES; OIil Ilnlls, HattIo-l'i( Ids, nnd .Scenes illustrative offitrikinp I'assagc* in KngliRli History and I'octrv. Hy WiM.iAM llowrrr. New Edition. Medium 8vo. with 40 Illustrations by S. VViiliains, 21s. cli>th. SKCOM) SKKIKS, clilony in the Counties of DUIUI.VM and NORTHL'MHERLAM), with a Stroll nloiiR the HOKDKK. Medium 8vo. with upwards of 40 hiKhly-finiKlicd Woodcuts, from Draw ini^s made on the spot lor this work, by Messrs. Carmichatl, Uii.hardsous, and Weld Taylor, 21s. cloth. IIOWITT.-TIIE RURAL AND SOCIAL LIFE OF GERMANY : With Characteristic Sketches of its Chief Cities and Scenery. Collected in a General Tour, and durin^r a Residence in that Country in the Years 1840-42. Uy William Howitt, Author of "The Rural Lifcof Enj^fand," &c. Med. Svo. with above 50 Illustrations, 2l8. cloth. HOWITT.-TIIE STUDENT-LIFE OF GERMANY. From the Unpublished M.SS. of Dr. Cornelius. By William Howitt. Svo. with 24 Wood- Enj;raving;s, aud Seven Steel I'lates, 21s. cloth. liOAVITT.-COLONISATION AND CHRISTIANITY: .\ I'opulnr History of the Treatment of the Natives, in all their Colonies, by the Europeans. By UiLHA.M Howitt. Post «vo. 10s. 6d. cloth. HOWITT.-TIIE BOY'S COUNTRY BOOK: Beins;- the real Life of a Country Boy, written by himself; exhibiting all the Amusements, Pleasures, aud Pursuits of Children in the Country. Edited by William Howitt, Author of " The Rural Life of England," &c. 2d ICdition. Fcp. Svo. with 40 Woodcuts, 8b. cloth. HUDSON.-PLAIN DIRECTIONS FOR MAKING WILLS In Conformity with the Law, and particularly with reference to the Act 7 ^^ ill. 4 and 1 Vict, c. 26. To which is added, a clear Exposition of the Law relating to the distribution of Per- sonal Estate in the c.ise of Intestacy ; witli two Forms of Wills, and much useful information, &c. By J. C. Hudson, Esq. New Edition, corrected. Fcp. Svo. 2s. 6d. HUDSON.-THE EXECUTOR'S GUIDE. By .1. C. Hudson, Esq. of the Lesacy Duty Oflice, London ; Author of " Plain Directions for Making Wills," and "The Parent's Hand-book." New F.dition. Fcp. Svo. as. cloth. *»* These two works may be had in one volume, 7s. cloth. HUDSON.-THE PARENT'S HAND-BOOK; Or, Guide to the Choice of Professions, Employments, and Situations ; containing useful and practical Information on the subject of placing out Young Men, and of obtaining their Edu- cation with a view to particular occupations. By J. C. Huuso.x, Esq. Author of "Plain Directions for Making Wills." Fcp. Svo. 5s. cloth. HUMBOLDT (BARON). -BARON HUMBOLDT'S COSMOS: A Sketch of a Physical Description of the Universe. Translated, with the Author's Sanction and Co-operation, under the superintendence of Lieutenant-Colonel Edward Sabine, R..\. F'or. Sec. R.S. Vol. I. Post Svo. 12s. cloth. [Vol. II. is in the press. HUNT.-RESEARCHES ON LIGHT : An Examination of all the Phenomena connected with the Chemical and Molecular Changes produced by the Influence of flie Solar Rays , embracing all the known Photographic Pro- cesses, and new Discoveries in the .Vrt By Robkrt Hunt, Keeper of Mining Records, Museum of Economic Geology. Svo. with Plate aud Woodcuts, 10s. Gd. cloth. JACKSON.-PICTORIAL FLORA ; Or, British Botanv delineated, in 1500 Lithographic Drawings of all the Species of Flowering Plants indigenous' to Great Britain ; illustrating the descriptive works on English Botany of Hooker, Liudley, Smith, &c. By Jiiss Jackson. Svo. 15s. cloth. JAENISCH & WALKER.-JAENISCH'S CHESS PRECEPTOR: A New Analysis of the Openings of Games. By C. F. DeJAENiscH, of St. Petersburgh. Translated fioin the French, with copious Notes, by Gkorgk Walkkk, Author of " Chess Studies," aud various other Works on the Ga:ne of Chess. Svo. I5s. cloth. JAMES.-LIVES OF MOST EMINENT FOREIGN STATESMEN. By G. p. R. James, Esq., and E. E. Ckowe, Esq. 5 vols. fcp. Svo. Vignette Titles, 30s. cloth. JAMES.-A HISTORY OF THE LIFE OF EDWARD THE BLACK PRINCE, and of various Events connected therewith, which occurred during the Reign of Edward 111. King of England. By G. P. R. James, Esq. 2d Edition. 2 vols. fcp. Svo. Map, las. cloth. PUBLISHED BY MESSRS. LONGMAN, BROWN, AND CO. 15 JEBB.-A LITERAL TRANSLATION OF THE BOOK OF PSALMS ; intenile. Rector of .stisted, formerly Domestic Chaphiiu to liishop Jebb. 2d ICdit. 2 vols. 8vo. 288. c-1. JEFFREY. - CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE EDINBURGH REVIKW. By Francis Jkffrey, nowOneof the Judges of the Court ofSession in Scotlar.d. New Edition. 3 vols. 8vo. 42s. cloth. JOHNSON.-THE FARMER'S ENCYCLOPtEDIA, And Dictionary of Rural Aftairs: enibracin;^ all tin? recent Discoveries in .\ffricaltural Clie- mistry ; adapted to the comprehension of unsciciitilic readers. By Cuthbert W. Johnson, Esq. F.R.S. Barrister-at-Law; Editor of the " Farmer's Almanack," &c. 8vo. illustrated by Wood Engravings, .±2. 10s. cloth. KATER AND LARDNER.-A TREATISE ON MECHANICS. By Captain Katek and Dr. Lardnkr. New Edition. Fcp. 8vo. with Vignette Title, and 19 Plates, comprising 224 distinct figures, 6s. cloth. KEIGHTLEY.-OUTLINES OF HISTORY. From the Earliest Period. By Thomas Keiohti,i;v, Esq. New Edition, corrected and con- siderably improved. Fcp. 8vo. 6s. cloth ; or 6s. 6il. bound. KING (COL. J. A.) - TWENTY-FOUR YEARS IN THE AR(;ENT1\E REPUBLIC; embracing the Author's Personal .\dventurcs, with the Civil and Militaiy I listciry of the Country, and an Account of its Political Condition beiorc and during tlii' Ailniinistration of Governor Rosas, his course of Policy, the Causes and Character of his Interlerence with the Government of Monte Video, and the circumstances which led to the Interposition of England and France. By Col. J. Axthony Kino, an Officer in the Army of the Republic. 8vo. 14s. cloth. KIP.-THE CHRISTMAS HOLYDAYS IN ROME. By the Rev. W. Ingraham Kip, M.A. Edited by the Rev. \V. Sewbll, B.D. Fellow and Tutor of Exeter College, O.\ford. Fc)). 8vo. 5s. cloili. KIRBY&SPENCE.-AN INTRODUCTION TO ENTOMOLOGY; Or, Elements of the Natural History of Insects : comprising an account of noxious and useful Insects, of their Metamorphoses, Food, Stratagems, Ilaliitations, .^^ocieties, Motions, Noises, Hybernation, Instinct, &c. By \V. Kirhy, .M.A. F.R..";. & L.S. Rector of Barham ; and \V. Spence,Escrt," and " (icrtrudc." Kditi-il by tlio Rev. W. Sewkll, U.D. Fellow of Kxeter College, Oxford. New Kdltion. Fcp. 8vo. Ss. cloth. LAPLACE (THE MARQUIS DE).-T1IE SYSTEM OF THE WORIJ). Hy M. Lk MARai'is 1)e Laplack. Translated from the French, and elucidated with Explanatory Notes. My the llev. He.nry H. Habte, F.T.C.D. M.K.I. A. 2 vols. 8vo. 24s. boards. LARDNER'S CABINET CYCLOPAEDIA; Comprisinir a Series of Oriefinal Works on History, Biography, Literature, the Sciences, Arts, and Manufactures. Conducted and edited by Dr. Larunek. The Series, complete, in One Hundred and Thirty-three Volumes, .:6'39. 18s. The works, separately, Cs. per volume. LARDNER AND WALKER -A TREATISE ON ELECTRICITY, MAGNETIS.M, and .METEOROLOGY. By I). Lardnf.r, LLD. F.R.S., and C. V. Walker, Secretary of the Electrical Society. 2 vols. fcp. 8vo. with Vignette Titles, 12s. cloth. LARDNER.-A TREATISE ON HEAT. By D. Lardner, LL.D., &c. Fcp. 8vo. with Woodcuts and Vignette Title, 6s. cloth. LARDNER.-A TREATISE ON HYDROSTATICS AND PNEU- MATICS. By Dr. Lardner. New Edition. Fcp. 8vo. with Vignette Title, 6s. cloth. LARDNER.-A TRE.VTISE ON ARITHMETIC. By D. Lardner, LL.D. F.R.S. Fcp. 8vo. with Vignette Title, Gs. cloth. LARDNER.-A TREATISE ON GEOMETRY, And its Application to the Arts. By Dr. Lardner. Fcp. Svo. Vignette Title, and upwards of 200 figures, 6s. cloth. L. E. L.-THE POETICAL WORKS OF LETITIA ELIZABETH LANDON. New Editic-i, 4 vols. fcp. Svo. with Illustrations by Howard, &c. 28s. cloth lettered; or hanilsoir.e.y ucund in morocco, with gilt edges, jb2. 4s. The following Works separately: — ThelMPROVISATRICE. Fcp. 10s. 6d. cloth. , The GOLDEN VIOLET. Fcp. 8vo. 10s. 6d. cloth. The VENETIAN BRACELET. 10s. Gd. cloth, i The TROUBADOUR. Fcp. Svo. 10s. 6d. cloth. LEE.-TAXIDERMY; Or, the Art of Collecting, Preparing, and Mounting Objects of Natural History. For the use of Museums and Travellers. By Mrs. R. Lee (formerly Mrs. T. E. Bowdicht, .\uthor of "Memoirs of Cuvier," &c. 6th Edition, improved, with an account of a Visit to Walton Hall, and Mr. Waterton's Method of Preserving Animals. Fcp. Svo. with Woodcuts, 7s. cloth. LEE.-ELEMENTS OF NATURAL HISTORY, For the use of Schools and Young Persons: comprising the Principles of Classification, interspersed with amusing and instructive original Accounts of the most remarkable Animals. By Mrs. R. Lee (formerly Mrs. T. E. Bowdich), Author of "Taxidermy," "Memoirs of Cuvier," &c. 12mo. with Fifty-five Woodcuts, 7s. 6d. bound. LEMPRIERE.-A CLASSICAL DICTIONARY; Containing a copious Account of all the proper Names mentioned in Ancient Authors; with the Value of Coins, Weights, and Measures, used amongst the Grteks and Romans; and a Chronological Table. By T. Lempriere, D.D. 20th Edition, corrected. Svo. 9s. cloth. LEREBOURS (N. P.)-A TREATISE ON PHOTOGRAPHY ; Containing the latest Discoveries appertaining to the Dasruerrc^otype. Compiled from Communications by M.M. Daguerrc and Arago, an. cloth. LINDLEY.-A SYNOPSIS OF THE BRITISH FLORA, Arranged accordinii-tcj the Natural (Jrders. Hy Profeosor Jons Li.ndley, Ph.D , l'".K.S.,&c. 3d Edition, with numerous addition.s, correction.-:^, and inij)roveiueut;>, l:2mo. lOb. CJ. cloth. LINDLEY.-THE THEORY OF HORTICULTURE; Or, an Attenii)t to explain the Principal ()i)erutioiis of Gardeuini; upon PhysioIo^ricalPrin- ciples. Hy Joh.n Linuli-Y, I'li.D., l'".K.ri. t>\o. with illustrations on Wood, PJs. cloth. LINDLEY. GUIDE TO ORCHARD AND KITCHEN GARDEN; Or, an Account of the most valuanle I'ruits and Ve'^etables cultivated in tjreut Mritain : M'ith Kaleudars of the Work reiiuired ;ntbe Orchard and Kitchen Garden durin;^ every month in the year. Uy G. Li.NDLiiY, C.M.H.S. Edited by Prof Linulev. 8vo. lOs. bJb. LINWOOD (WJ-ANTHOLOGIA OXONIENSIS, Sive Florilo;;ium e lusibu.s poelici.s divcrsoruni O^onie!l^ium Gra;cis et Latinis decerptuiu. Curante Guliiclmo Linwdo , J\I.A> .Edis Oin-isci .\luninio. >ivo. Hs. clolli. LOUDON(MRS.)-THEAMATEURGARDENER'SCALENDAR; IJeing a .Monthly Guide as to what should be avoided, as well as what should be done in a Garden in each Month, with plain Rules Aoio lo tlo what is requisite. By .Mrs. Loi'do.n, Author of" The Lady's Country Companion," "Gardening for Ladies," &c. Fcp. 8.0 with numerous Ulustratious. [In u Jew Jai/s. LOUDON (MRS.)-TIIE LADY'S COUNTRY COMPANION; Or, How to Enjoy a Country Liie nationally. Uy Mrs. Loudo.v, Author of '• Gardeuin;r for Ladies," &c. New Eilition. Fcp. 8vo. w ith a Steel Plate and Vioud Enj^raviuijs, 7s. od. cloth. LOUDON -SELF-INSTRUCTION For Younjf Gardeners, Foresters, HadiiFs, Land Stewards, and Farmers; in Arithmetic, Book- keeping, Geometry, Mensuration, Practical Triijonoinetry, Mechanics, Land-Surxeyinj;, Levellina:, Planning; and .Maj[»piiii;, Architectural Drawing, and Isonietrical Projection and Perspective ; with K.\aniples sliewing; tlieir applications to llorticultnre »nd .V^ricultnral Pur- posi's. Uy the late J. C. Loudon, F.L.S. U.S. &c. With a Portrait of .Mr. Loudon, uud a Memoir by Mrs. Louiion. 8vo. with Wood iCii:;ravin;;s, 7s. Od. clotii. LOUDON.-AN ENCYCLOP.EDIA OF GARDENING; Presenliiij;, in one systematic vie.v, the History ami Present Slate of Gardciiin^f in all Coun- tries, and its Theory and Practice in Great Britain: with the .Manai^^enient o( the Kitchen Garden, the Flo>>er Garden, Layinjf-out Grounds, S;c. By J. C. Lot'iiu.v, F.L.S. &c. A New Edition, enlarged and improved. 8vo. with neiuly 1,000 En;;ravin};s on Wood, 30s. cloth. LOUDON.-AN ENCYCL01M^]DIA OF TREES AND SHRUBS; lieinjf the " .Vrboretum et Frulicetuni Britaniiicuni" abridired : containing the Hardy Trees and Shrubs of Great Britain, Native and Forei;;n, Scienlilically and I'opulurly Described: with their Propatration, Culture, and Uses in the .\rls; and with ICn^ravinirs of nearlv itll the Species. Adapted for the use of Nurserymen, Gardeners, and Foresters. By J. C. Loudon, F.L.S. &c. 8vo. with 2,000 En^ravin,i;s on Wood, J:'2. 10s. clotli. The Ori^fii.al Work nniy be had in 8 vols. 8vo. with abo\e -400 Octavo Plates of Trees, and . upwards of 2,500 Woodcuts, .*. 10, cloth. LOUDON.-AN ENCYCLOP.EDIA OF AGRICULTURE; Compiisinjf the Theory and I'ractice of the \ alnatioii, Transfer. l.ayinK^-oectiuic it which is useful and interestinif. By J. C. Li)ii»o.«, F.L.S. &c. The SiH-cilic Characters by an Kininent Botanist; the Diuwin-s by J. D. C. Sowerby, F L.S. A New Edition witb Supplement, and a new General Index. 8vo. with nearly 10,0U0 Wood EnKntvinffs,.«3. 13*. ikL cloth.— The Supplement, xcpara/c/i/, 8vo. 15s. cloth. LOUDON.-AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF COTTAGE, EARM, AND VIM.A ARCHITKCTUUKhikI I'URMTURK; rontainiti)? iiuiiioroim Dcniens, from tho Villa to the Cottiiiri- 1111(1 tlic I'aiiii, iiicliuliiiK Fiiriii IIoiikch, KariiicricK, hikI other Aifriniltural HuililiiiKs ; Country Inns, ruhlic IIoiikl'h, and r.'irocliial Sfliools ; witti the rcijuiKite Fittini^s- ii|>, Kixtiircs, and Kiirniturc, niiil approiiriate Ofrici-B, Gardens, anrl Garden Scenery: each Di'sif^n ncconiiianied by Analytical and Critical lloinarks. Hy J. C. Louoon, F.L.S. &c. New Kditidii, edited by Mrs. Loudon. Svo. with more than 2,000 Engravin);!* on Wood, jfS. 3s. cloth. — Tlie .Suppleiiient, separately, Svo. 7». Cd. sewed. LOUDON.-IIORTUS BRTTANNICUS: A Cataloijiie of all the Plants indipfennus to or introduced into Britain. The 3d Edition, with a NewSupflkment, prepared, under the direct on of J. C. Loudo.v, by W. H. Caxtek, and revised by George Don, F.L.S. Svo. 31s. 6d. cloth. The SfPPi.KMF.NT separately, Svo. 2s. 6d. sewed. The LATER 'Avvvv.v.yiv.'st separately, 8s. LOUDON.-IIORTUS LIGNOSIS LONDINENSIS; Or, a Catalog:uc of all the Ligneous Plants cultivated in the neipfhhourhood of Ix)ndon. To which are added, their usual prices in Nurseries. IJy J. C. Loudon, F.L.S. &c. Svo. 7s. 6d. cL LOUDON. -THE SUBURBAN GARDENER AND VILLA COMPANION; coniprisinsi the Choice of a Villa or Suburban Residence, or of a situation on which to form one; the Arrangement and Furnishing: of the House; and the Laying--out, Plantinpf, and general Management of the Garden and Grounds; the wholeadapted forgrounds from one perch to tifty acres and upwards in extent; intended for the instruction of those who know little of Gardening: or Rural Affairs, and more particularly for the use of Ladies. By J. C. Loudon, F.L.S. &c. Svo. with above 300 Wood Ensrravings, 20s. cloth. LOW. -ON THE DOMESTICATED ANIMALS OF GREAT BRITAIN ; comprehendinfT the Natural and Economical History of the Species and Breeds; Illustrations of the Properties of External Form; and Observations on the Principles and Practice of Brcedinj!:. By David Low, Esq. F.R.S.E. Professor of .\a:riculture in the Uni- versity of Edinburgh, &c. ; Author of "Elements of Practical Agriculture," &c. Svo. with Engravings on Wood, 25s. cloth. LOW.-THE BREEDS OF THE DOMESTICATED ANIMALS Of Great Britain Described. By David Low, Esq. F.R.S.E. Professor of Agriculture in the University of Edinburgli, &c. The Plates from Drawings by W. Nicholson, R.S..V. reduced from a Series of ( )il Paintings, executed for the Agricultural .Museum of the University of Edin- burgh, by W. Shiels, R.S..\. 2 vols, atlas quarto, with 5G plates of animals, beautifully col'd after Nature, .;fc 16. I6s. lialf-bound in morocco.— Or iu four separate portions, as follows : The OX. 1 vol. atlas quarto, with 22 plates, jfeC. I6s. 6d. half-bound in morocco. The SHEEP. 1 vol. atlas quarto, with 21 plates, ^6. 16s. 6d. half-bound in morocco. The HOUSE. 1 vol. atlas quarto, with 8 plates, AZ, half-bound in morocco. The HOG. 1 vol. atlas quarto, with 5 plates, d,1. 2s. half-bound in morocco. LOW.-ELEMENTS OF PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE; Comprehending the Cultivation of Plants, the Husbandry of the Domestic Animals, and the Economy of the Farm. By D. Low, Esq. F.R.S.E., Prof of .\griculture in University of Edin- burgh. 4th Edit, with Alterations and Additions, and above 200 Woodcuts. Svo. 21s. cloth. LOW (PROFESSOR).-ON LANDED PROPERTY | And the ECONO.MY of ESTATES; comprehending the Relation of Landlord and Tenant, ! and the Principles and Forms of Leases ; Farm-Biiildings, Enclosures, Drains, Embank- ments, and other Rural Works; Minerals; and Woods. By David Low, Esq. F.R.S.E. I Professor of Agriculture iu the University of Edinburgh, &c. ; Author of " Elements of ' Practical Agriculture," &c. Svo. with numerous Wood Engravings, 21s. cloth. MACAULAY.-CRITICAL AND HISTORICAL ESSAYS CON- TRIBUTED to The EDINBURGH REVIEW. By the Right Hon. Tho.mas Babinoton Macaulay. 4th Edition. 3 vols. Svo. 36s. cloth. MACAULxVY.-LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME. By the Right Hon. Thomas Babinoton Macaulay. 8th Edition. Crown 8vo. 10s. 6d. cloth. MACAULAY.-MR. MACAULAY'S LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME. A New Edition. With numerous Illustrations, Original and from the Antique, drawn ou AVood by George Scharf, Jun. and engraved by Samuel Williams. Fcp. 4to. 21s. boards ; morocco, 42s. (bound by Hayday.) lilACKAY (CHARLES)- THE SCENERY AND POETRY OF THE ENGLISH LAKES ; a Summer Ramble. By Charles Mackay, Esq. LL.D. Author of " Legends of the Isles," "The Salamandrine," "The Thames and its Tributaries," &c. Svo. with beautiful Wood Engravings from Original Sketches, 14s. cloth. PUBLTSIIED BY MESSRS. LONGMAN, BROWN, AND CO. 19 MACKINNON. -THE HTSTORY OF CTYTLTSATTON. By Wm. Alexandkr Mackixxon, F.U..S., M.l'. for Lyininarton. 2 vols. 8vo. 24s. cloth. MACKINTOSir (SIR JAMES).-SIR JAMES MACKINTOSH'S MISCELLANKlJUS WORKS; includiiit,' his Contributions to The lidinburKh Review. Edited by Robekt James Mackixtosii, Esq. 3 vols. 8vo. 428. cloth. MACKINTOSH, &C.-TIIE HISTORY OF ENGLAND. IJy Sir Jamks Mackintosh; W. Wallace, E.s(i. ; and Rouert Bell, Ksii. 10 vols, fcp 8vo. with Vignette Titles, £3. cloth. MACKINTOSH (SIR JAMES).-TIIE LIFE OF SIR THOMAS MORE. Ry the Riffht Hon. Sir James Mackintosh. Rejirinted from the Cabinet Cyclo- pa;dia ; and' intended as a I'rosent Hook or School Prize. I'cp. Svo. with Portrait, 5s. cloth ; or bound in vellum gilt {old stijle}, 8s. M'LEOD. -THE GEOGRAPHY OF PALESTINE OR THE HOLY LAND, includinar Phoenicia and Philistia. Hy W. M'Lkod, Head .Master of the Model School, Royal Military Asylum, Chelsea; late Master of the Model School, Hattersea. 12mo. [//J the pres*. M'CULLOCH (J. R.)-AN ACCOUNT, DESCRIPTIVE AND STATISTICAL, of the HRITISH EMPIRE; exhibiting its Extent, I hysical Capacities, Popu- lation, Industry, and Civil and Religious Institutions. Hy J. R. .M'Culloch, Esq. 3d Edit, corrected, enlarged, and greatly improved. 2 thick vols. 8vo. jH'I. 2s. cloth. M'CULLOCH. -A DICTIONARY, PRACTICAL, THEORETI- CAL, AND HISTOKICAL, OF COMMERCE AND CO.M.MF.RCIAL NAVIGATION. Illus- trated with Maps and Plans. Hy J. R. M'Culloch, Esq. An entirely New Eilition, corrected to March 1847 ; with a Supplement. 8vo. 508. cloth ; or 558. half- bound russia. 'Ilie SurPLEMKXT to the Editions published in 1844 and 1S4G, maybe had separately, price 4s. Cd. sewed. M'CULLOCH.-A DICTIONARY, GEOGRAPHICAL, STATIS- TICAL, AND HLSTORICAL, of the various Countries, Places, and Principal Natural Objects in the WORLD. Ry J. R. JI'Culloch, Esq. A New Edition. 2 vols. Svo. with Six large Mai)s, .i4. cloth. *»* The new Articles have been printed separately, as a Supplement to the former Edition. They comprise a full Account of the Present State of the United Kingdom, the Oregon Terri- tory, &c. 8vo. 5s. sewed. M'CULLOCH. -THE LITERATURE OF POLITICAL ECO- NOMY ; being a Classified Catalogue of the jirincipal Works in the dillorent departinents of I'olitical Economy, with Ili^^torical, Critical, and Riugraphical Notices. Uy J. R. .M'Culloch, E:sq. Svo. 14s. cloth. M'CULLOCH.-A TREATISE ON THE PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICAL INELUEN(;E of TAX.Vi'ION and the FUNDING SYSTEM. Uy J. R. M'Culloch, Esq. Svo. 15s. cloth. MAITLAND (DR. CHARLES). - THE CHURCH IN THE CATACOMBS: a Descriiition of the Priinitive Chnrrli of Koine. Illustrated by its Sepulchral Remains. Uy Chahles M.vitlano, M.D. Svo. with numerous Wood Engravings, 14s. cloth. MARCET.-CONYERSATIONS ON CHEMISTRY; In which the Elements of that Science arc familiiirly Ivvphiini'd and Illustrated by E.\|)oriinent8. Uy Mrs. Makcet. New Edition, enlarged and iiiipri)ved. 2 vols. fcp. 8V(i. 14s. cloth. MARCET.-CONYERSATIONS ON NATURAL PHILOSOPHY; In which the Elements of that .Science are familiarly explained. Uy .Mrs. .Makcet. New Edition, enlarged and corrected. Fcp. Svo. with 23 Plates, 10s. Cd. cloth. MARCET.-CONYERSATIONS ON POLITICAL ECONOMY; III which the Elements of that Science are familiarly explained. Uy .Mrs. .Makcet. New Edition revised and enlarged. I'cp. Svo. 7s. fill, cloth. MARCET.-CONYERSATIONS ON YEGETARLE PHYSIO- LOOV; comprehending the Elements of Botany, with their application to Agriculture. By Mrs. Makcet. New Edition. Fcp. Svo. with 4 Plates, Us. cloth. MAKCET.-CONVERSATTONS ON LAND AND WATER. Hy Mrs. !\lAnri:T. New Kdition, r'^visf-d and rorrcrti-d. Fcp. 8vo. with c-oloiired Map, sliewiii); the coinpnrntivo altitude of .Mountains, 58. Cd. rlotli. MARCET -CONVERSATIONS ON LANGUAGE, For the use of Children. Uy Mrs. Makckt. 18mo. 4». 6d. cloth. MARCET.-CONVERSATIONS ON THE HISTORY OF ENG- LAND, for the use of Children. By Mrs. Marckt. 2d Edition, witli Additions. ISmo. Ss. cl. MARGARET PERCIYAL. By the Author of " .\niy Herbert." " Gertrude," and " Laneton Parsonatre." Edited by the Rev. VV. tjKWKi.i., B.I).' Fellow and Tutor of Exeter Colletfe, Uxfoid. New Edition. 2 vols, fcp. 8vo. 12s. cloth. MARRYAT -MASTERMAN READY ; Or. the Wreck of the Pacific. Written for Younj^ People. By Captain F. Marrtat, C.B. Autlior of "Peter Simple," &c. 3 vol.s fcp. 8vo. with \\ood En^ravinRs, 22s. Gd. cloth. MARRYAT. -THE PRIVATEER'S-MAN ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO. By Captain F. Marryat, C.B. Au.hor of " Mastertnan Ready," &c. 2 vols, fcp. 8vo. I'is. cloth. MARRYAT.-THE SETTLERS IN CANADA. AVrilteii for Youn? People. By (Captain F .Marryat, C.B. Author of "The Privateers-man One Hundred Years Aro," &c.' New Edition. Fcp. 8vo. with 2 Illustrations, 7s. 6d. cloth. MARRYAT (CAPT.)-TnE MISSION ; Or, Scenes in Africa. Written for Young: People. By Captain F. M\Ri5YAT, C.B. .Vuthor of "The Settlers in Canada," &c. 2 vols. fcp. 8vo. 12s. cloth. MAUNDER.-THE SCIENTIFIC & LITERARY TREASURY; A new and popular Encyclopsedia of Science and tlie Belles-Lettres ; indudin? all Branches of Science, ant) every Subject connected ^n ith Literature and Art. The whole written in a familiar style, adapted to the comprehension of all persons desirous of acquirins? information on the subjects comprised in the work, and also adapted for a jManual of convenient Reference to the n)ore instructed. BySA.MUBL Maunder. New Edition. Fcp. 8vo. 10s. cloth; bound in roan, 12s. MAUNDER.-THE TREASURY OF HISTORY; Comprising aGeneral Introductory Outline of Universal History, Ancient and Modern, and a Series of separate Histories of every principal Nation that exists; their Rise, Proarress, and I'resent Condition, the Moral and Social Character of their respective inhabitants, their Rf'lisrion. Manners, and Customs, &c. By Samckl .Mait.nper. New Edition. Fcp. 8vo. lOs. cloth; bound in roan, 12s. MAUNDER.-THE BIOGRAPHICAL TREASURY; Consistina; of .Memoirs, Sketches,4ind brief Notices of above 12,000 Eminent Persons of all Aa^e. and Nations, from the Earliest Period of History; forminsr a new and complete Dictionary of Universal Bioirraphy. By Samuel .Maunder. New "Edition, revised tlirouiihout, and containinp: a copious Supplement, brought down to December, 1844. Fcp. Svo. 10s. cloth ; bound in roan. Pis. MAUNDER.-THE TREASURY OF KNOWLEDGE, And LIBRARY of REFER1"NCE: in Two Parts. New Edition, thoroughly revised and enlarged. Fcp. Svo. 10s. cloth ; bound in roan, 12s. *^* The principal contents of the present new and thoronsrhly revised edition of " Tlie Treasury of Knowledge are— a new and enlarsreil English Dictionary, with a Grammar, Verbal Distinctions, and Exercises; anew Universal Gazetteer; a con.pendious Classical Dictionary; an Analysis of History and Chronology; a Dictionary of Law Terms; a new Synopsis of tlie British Peerage; and Various useful Tabular Addenda. MAURY.-THE STxVTESMEN OF AMERICA IN 1S46; With a Sketch of the President and People oi the United States, and Notes on the Mexican War. By Sarah MTxro.N iMaury. Svo. 7s. Od. cloth. MEMOIRS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GREAT BRITAIN, and of the Museum of Economic Geology in London. Published by order of the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury. ' Royal Svo. with Wowlcuts and 9 large Plates (seven coloured), 21s. cloth. rUBLTSITF.D BY MESSIIS. LONGMAN, BROWN, AND CO, 2] MICHELET (J.)-PRIESTS, WOMEN, AND FAMILIES. By J. MlcHi.LKT. Transiated from tlie Frem li Clhinl i:i Tand QUIN'KT. Translated from the Seventh Edition, with the approbation of the Authors, by C. Cocks, B.L., Aiitlior of " bordeau,\, its Wjnes, and the Claret Country." New Ed.tiOn. 16mo. Is. 6d. .sewed. *»* Mr. Cocks's Authorised Translations of MM. Arirhelet and Quinet's "The Jesuits," and M. Quinet's " Christianity," in one vol. ICnio. 4s. cloth. MILES (¥ILLIAM).-THE HORSE'S FOOT, AND HOW TO KEEP IT SOUND. By William Milks, Esq. New Edit. Royal 8vo. v. ith EnRravinffs, 78. cl, MILNER (REVS. J. & I.)-THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCn of CIirLl.-T. By the Rev. .Toscph Milnf.k, A.M. With Addirifins and Corrections by the late Kev. Isa.\c Milnku, J).1). F.K.S. A New Edition, revised and corrcled throughout, by the Kev. T. Grvntham, B.D. Uector of Brainber, and Chaplain to the Lord Bishop of Kildare. 4 vols. 8vo. .£2. 12k. cloth. A Continuafion of the nho'-e. THE IIL^TORY of the CHURCH of CHRIST, from the Diet of AnT?burY iMlition. Fcp. Kvo. with Four En;rravinijs, from Paiiitin;;s by Wcstall, 10s. Cd. cloth ; or, bound in morocco, 14s. MOORE'S IRISH MELODIES. Illustr.Tfcilby D. Maclisk, R.A. Imp. 8vo. with 161 Dcsiirns enirnivod on Steel, ^8. In. bdn. ; or.*!. 14s. I <1. bound in morocco, by Hayday. Proof Impressions (only 200 ctipies printed, of which a few remain), .t.G. Gs boards. *»* India Proofs before Letters of the ICl Desipns, on Qu.irter Coloinbier, in IVirtfolio (only 25 copies printed, of which a few rcmaini, Jt3l. 10s. India Proois before Letters of the 51 l,:ir!;e DcsigTi.s, on Quarter Colombier, in Portfolio (only 25 copies printed, of which a few remain), i 18. 18s. MOORE'S IRISH MELODIES. New Editiim. Fcp. Svo. with Engraved Title and Vijfnette, IDs. cloth ; or, bound in morocco, 133. Cd. 22 NEW WORKS AND NKW EDITIONS MOORE.-THE HISTORY OP IRELAND, I'rom the Karliest Kiiiirs of tliiit Uciilin down to its Lnat Chief. By Thomas .^tooRK, K»q. 4 vols. fcp. 8vo., with Viffiictte Titles, 248. cloth. MOORE.-THE TOWER OF THE SOUL OVER THE BODY, Considered ill relation to Heiilth and Morals. JJy Gkobok Moohk, M.I). Member of the Uoyal ColIeRc of Physicians, London &c. New Edition. Post 8vo. 78. Cd. cloth. MOORE.-THE USE OF THE BODY IN RELATION TO THE MINI). Hy Gi:oii(iK :Moore, M.U. .Mcinher of the Royal CoUc-e of I'hysicians, London, &c. Post 8vo. 'Js. cloth, MORAL OF FLOWERS (THE)/ 3d Edition. Royal 8vo. with 24 beautifully-coloured Engravings, £^. lOs. half-bound. MOSELEY.-THE MECHANICAL PRINCIPLES OF ENGI- NKERING AND ARCHITECTUKE. By the Rev. H. Mosklkv, .M.A. F.R.S., Profe.ssor of Natural Philosophy and Astronomy in King's College, London; and Author of " illustrations of Mechanics," &c. 8vo. witli Woodcuts and Diagrams, 24s. cloth. MOSELEY.-ILLUSTRATIONS OF PRACTICAL MECHANICS. By the Rev. U. Mosklky, ^LA., Professor of Natural Philosophy and Astronomy in King's College, London ; beiiisr the First Volume of the Illustrations of Science by the Professors of King's College. New Edition. Fcp. 8vo. with numerous Woodcuts, 8s. cloth. MOSHEIM'S ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY, Ancient and Modern. Translated, with copious Notes, by Jamks Murdock, D.D. Edited, with Additions, by Hkxrv Soames, M.A. Rector of -Stapleford-Tawney, Essex. New Edition, revised, and continued to the present time. 4 vols. 8vo. 48s. cloth. MURRAY.-ENCYCLOPiEDIA OF GEOGRAPHY; Comprising a complete Description of the Earth : exhibiting its Relation to the Heavenly Bodies, its Physical .Structure, the Natural History of each (Country, and the Industry, Com- merce, Political Institutions, and Civil and Social State of all Nations. By Hugh Murray, F.R.S.E. : assisted by other Writers of eminence. New Edition. 8vo. with 82 .Maps, and up- wards of 1000 other Woodcuts, ^3, cloth. MY YOUTHFUL COMPANIONS. By the Author of " My School-boy Days." 18mo. with Frontispiece, 2s. 6d. cloth. NECKER DE SAUSSURE.-PROGRESSIVE EDUCATION ; Or, Considerations on the Course of Life. Translated and abridsred from the French of Madame Neckek De Saussure, by Miss Holla.vd. 3 vols. fcp. 8vo. 19s. 6d. cloth. *»* Separately, Vols. I. and II. 12s. ; Vol. III. 7s. 6d. NESBIT (A. )-A TREATISE ON PRACTICAL MENSURATION; Containing the most approved Metboils of drawing Geometrical Figures ; Mensuration of Supei-ficies ; Land-Surveying; Mensuration of Solids; the use of "the Carpenter's Rule; Timber Measure, &c. ByA. Nesbit. 12th Edition. 12mo. with nearly 300 Woodcuts, 6s. bd. KEY. 7tii Edition. 12mo. 5s. bound. NEWELL (REV. R. H.)-THE ZOOLOGY OF THE ENGLISH POETS, corrected by the Writings of Modern Naturalists. By the Rev. R. H. Newell, Rector of Little Horuiead. Fcp. 8vo. with Engravings on Wood, 5s. 6d. cloth. NICOLAS.-THE CHRONOLOGY OF HISTORY. Containing Tables, Calculations, and Statements indispensable for ascertaining the Dates of Historical Events, and of Public and I'rivate Documents, from the Earliest "Period to the I*resent Time. By Sir Harris Nicolas, K. CM. G. Second Edition. Fcp. 8vo. 6s. cloth. j ORDNANCE MAPS (THE), AND PUBLICATIONS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE UNITED KINGOOM.-Messrs. Lonu.man and Co. have been appointed by the Board of Ordnance Agents for the sale of the Jlaps of the Ordnance Survey of Great Britain. Also, sole .\gents for the sale of the Maps, Sections, and Books of the Geological Survey of the United Kingdom, and of the Museum of Economic Geology, under the Chief Commissioner of Her Majesty's Woods, Works, and Land Revenues. *»* Complete detailed Catalogues of both Series may be had on application. PUBLISHED BY MESSRS. LONGMAN, BROWN, AND CO. 23 OWEN. - LECTURES ON THE COMPARATIVE ANATOMY and PHYSIOLOGY of tlie INVKRTK UKATK ANIMALS, delivered at the Roval College of Suiiieons in 1843. l?y Kichaud Owkn, F.K.S. Hunterian Professor to the College. From Notes taken by William White Coojier, M.R.C.S. and revised by Professor Owen. With Glossary and Index. 8vo. with nearly HO Illustrations on Wood, Us. cloth. OWEN.-LECTURES ON THE COMPARATIVE ANATOMY and PHYSIOLOGY of the VKUTKBR.VIK ANI.MALS, delivered at the Royal Colleffe of Surgeons in 1844 and 1840. l!y Riin.\m) Owi;n, K.R.S. Iluntcrian Professor to the College. In 2 vols. Vol. 1. tivo. with numerous Woodcuts, 14s. cloth. [I'u/. //. /* in the presi. PARABLES OF OUR LORD (ILLUMINATED). PAR.\HL1-:S of OUR LORD, richly illuminated, witli apiiropriate Horders, printed in Colours and in Black and Gold; with a Dcsijrn from one of the early German Knyravers. Square fcp. 8vo. uniform in size with the " Sermon on the .Mount," 21s. in a massive carvetl I bindinjj in the style of the bejjjinning of the SLxteenth Century ; or 30s. bound in morocco ' in the Missal style, by Hayday. , PARKES.-DOMESTIC DUTIES ; Or, Instructions to Youmr Married Ladies on the Manasrementof their Households, and the Regulation of their Conduct in the various Relations and Duties of Married Life. By Mrs. W. Pakkes. 5th Edition. Fcp. 8vo. '0. 10s. Od. cloth. PEARSON.-PRAYERS FOR FAMILIES : Consisting ot a short but conqirehensive Form for the .Morning and Evening of every Day in the Week. Collected by the late I^dwa iso Pkakso.n, D.D. With a Biographical .Memoir of the Author. New Edition. 18mo. 2s. Gd. cloth. PEARSON.-AN INTRODUCTION TO PRACTICAL ASTRO- NOMY. By the Rev. W. Pearson, LL.D. F.R.S., &c., Rector of South Killworth, Leicestershire, and Treasurer to the Astronomical Society of London. 2 vols. 4to. with Plates, £T. 7s. boards. PEDESTRIAN AND OTHER REMINISCENCES, AT HOME AND ABROAD. With Sketches of Country Life. By Svlvanus. Post 8vo. with Frontis- piece and Vignette, 10s. Cd. cloth. PEREIRA.-A TREATISE ON FOOD AND DIET: WMth observations on the Dietetical Ri'ximen suited for Disoidered Stales of the Di«f«tive Organs; and an Account of the Dietaries of some of the principal Metjopolitan and other Establishments for Pau)ters, Lunatics, Criminals, Children, the Sick, *:r. By Jon. Pekkira, M.D. F.R.S. & L.S. Author of " Elements of Materia Mcdica." 8vo. lf>H. cloth. PERICLES. A Tale of Athens in the 83d Olympiad. By the Author of " A Brief Sketch of Greek Philosophy." 2 vols, post 8vo. 18s.' cloth. PERRY (DR. W. C.)-GERMAN UNIVERSITY EDUCATION ; Or, the Professors and Students of Gej many. To whiih is ailded, a brief Account of ihc Public Schools of Prussia ; with Observations on the Inlhience of Philosophy on the Studies of the German Universities. By Waltku C. Perry, Phil. D. of the University of GOttingcii. 2d Edition. I2mo. 4s. Gd. cloth. PESCITEL (C.F.) -ELEMENTS OF PHYSICS. Hy C. !•". I'KscHKL, rrinripal of the Royal .Mililiiry Colli-'fe, Drchdcn. Translated from the German, with NoU-s, h, K. \VKsr. 3 voIh. (r\>. 8vo. witli iJiu^raiiis and Woodciitu, 21b. cluth. {I'art 1. The I'hysics of I'oiidi-ralde Huilies. Fcp. 8vo. 7s. 6d. cloth. Part 2. Iiiipoiiderable Bodies (Li<:ht. Heat. Mairnetisiii, Electricity, and Klcctro- Dynaiiiicsj. 2 voi6. fcp. UVo ISs. 6d. cloth. PIIILLirS.-FIGURES AND DESCRIPTIONS OF THE PAL.EOZOIC FO.-.SILS of CORNWALL, OKVO.S, and WK.ST JiOMICRHKT; observed in tlie coiirs;; of the Ordnance (Jeolotrical Survey of tiiut District. IJy John I'iiillips, K.R.S. F.G..'". &c. I'ublisheil by Order of the Lor.ls ConiciiNjiouerii of U.M. Treasury. 8vo. with 60 Plates, coniprisin^ very numerous figures, 9s cloili. PHILLIPS -A GUIDE TO GEOLOGY. By John Phillips, l''.R.S.G..S., &c. l<'cp. 8vo. with Plates, fis. cloth. PHILLIPS.-A TREATISE ON GEOLOGY. By John Phillips, I'.ll.s.G.S., &c. 2 vols. fcp. bvo. with Vi^jnette Titles and Woodcuts, 12s. cloth. PITMAN (REV. J. R.)-A COURSE OF SERMONS On some of the chief Subjects in the Hook of Psalms ; containinn 8vo. with very numerous Illustrations on Wood, en;;raved in the best manner. [Jutt ready. POISSON (S. D.)-A TREATISE ON MECHANICS. ByS. D. Poisso> Notes, by the ^1. 8s. cloth POPE (ALEXANDER). -THE WORKS OF ALEXANDER POPE. Edited by Thomas Roscoe, Est]. With the Author's Life. .\ New Edition. 8 vols. 8vo. j6'4. 4s. clotb. PORTER. - A TREATISE ON THE MANUFACTURE OF SILK. By G. R. Porter, Esq. F.R.S. .\uthor of" The Proarress of the Nation," S:c. 1 vol. 8vo. vfith vignette Title, and 39 Engraviiiss on Wood, 6s. cloth. PORTER.-A TREATISE ON THE MANUFACTURES OF PORCEL.VIX AND GLA.-S. By G. R. Pouter, Esq. F.R.S. Fcp. 8vo. with Vi-nette Title and iO Woodcuts, Cs. clolh. PORTLOCK.- REPORT ON THE GEOLOGY OF THE COUNTY of LON'UONDERRY, and of Parts of Tyrone anil Fermanasrh, examined and described under the Authority of the Master-General and Board of Ordnauce. By J. E. Portlock, F.R.S. &c. 8V0. with 48 Plates, 24s. cloth. POWELL.-THE HISTORY OF NATURAL PHILOSOPHY, From the Earliest Periods to the Present Time. By Ba r)Kx Powell, M.A., Savilian Professor of -Mathematics in the University of Oxford. Fcp. 8vo. Viirnette Title, 6s. cloth. PYCROFT (REV. J.)-A COURSE OF ENGLISH READING, adapted to every Taste and Capacity : with Anecdotes of Men of Letters. By the Rev. Ja.mks Pvcroft, B.A. Editor of " Viriril, with Mari;inal References'' ; .Author of "Latin Grammar Practice," and " Greek Grammar 1 racticc." Fcp. Svo. 6s. 6d. cloUi. QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY of LONDON. Edited by Daviu Thomas Ansteu, .M. A. F.R.S. Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridfre; Professor of Geolos^y in King's College, Loudou ; Vice-Secretary of the Geolo- gical Society. 8vo. 43. each uuuiber, sewed. _^ _ X. 2d Edition. Tianslated from the French, and illustrated with Explanatory Notes, by the Rev. He.sry H. Harte, late Fellow of Trinity College, Dublin. 2 vols. Svo. QUINET. -CHRISTIANITY IN ITS VARIOUS ASPECTS, From the Birth of Christ to the French UevoUition. By K. QuiNKT, of tlie College of Fcance. Translated, >^'ith the Autlior's apiirubutiun, hy C. Cucks, B.L. 16iuo. 2s. sewed. RANKE'S HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. Translated by Sarah Ai;stin', Translator of lUnke's" History of the i'i»i)es." Vols. Land IJ. 8ro. 30s., VoL m. ISs., clotk. READER (THOMAS) -TIME TARLES On a New and Siinplilicd Plan; to facilitate the Operation of Discountinir Hills, and the Calculation of Interest on IJaiikin;? and Current Accounts, &c. : shewing, withoit calcu- lation, the Nundjer of Dajs front every Day in the Year to anv other l>ay, for any |HTiod ijot exceeding 365 Uays. lly Thomas Kkauer, Post hvo. Us. cloth ; or 178. rjUf lettered. REGISTRAR-GENERAL -THE SEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT oftneKEGISTKAR-GlvNliR^VL of lilUTHS, DEATHS, and MAKIUAUICS, in t:>UL.V.\U, ■1845. 8V0. 5s. cloth.— Also, First Report (1839), 8vo. 3s. I Tlrird Report (18-41), 8vo. 4s. I Fifth Report (18;3), 8vo. St. Second lleport (1840), 8vo. 4s. | FoortU Rejiort (1842). bvo. 4s. | Sixth Uepurt (.Jt>44), J*vo. 5«. REECE.-THE MEDICAL GUIDE, For the uscof the Clcrny, Heads of Families, Seniinnries, and Junior Practitioners in Medi- cine; comprising a complete -Modern Dispensatory, and a Practical Treatise on the Distin- puishinff Symptoms, Causes, Prevention, Cure and Palliation, of the DiseaKes incideut to the Human Frame. I5y R. Rkbck, M.O. 16lh Edition. 8vo. 12s. boards. RETD (DR,)-ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE of WAR.MJXG and VENTIL.ATING, with Preliminary Remarks on Health ami Leiij^thof Life. By D. B. Rkid, M.D. F.R.S.E. 8vo. with Diajframs and \Voodcut^^ IGs. cloth. REPTON -THE LANDSCAPE GARDENING & LANDSCAPE ARCIUT'ECTURE of the late Hu.mphuy Reiton, Est).; l>eiu|^ his entire works on lhc«e subjeuts. New l-xlition, with an historical and scientific Introduction, a systematic Analysis, a Bioirraphical Notice, Notes, and a copious alphabetical Index. By J. C. LounoN, F.L.S.Ax- 8vo. witL 250 Engravings, and Portrait, 30i>. cloth ; with coloured plaUc&, ^3. Cn. cloth. REYNARD THE FOX : A renowned Apologue of the Middle Affe. Reprortnced in Rhyme. F.mbellished thronRlioirt with Scroll Capitals, in Colours, from Wood-block Letters made expressly for thi.s work, after Deei^rns of the 12th and I3th Centuries. With an Introductiou, by Samukl NAVLoH,lat« of Queen's College, Oxford. Large square 8vo. lbs. clotlu RIDDLE. -A COMPLETE ENGLISH-LATIN AND LATIN- E.N'GLISH DICTION.VRY, compiled from the best sources, chiefly German, iiy the Um'. J. E. RiDDU:, M.A. Gth Edition. 8vo. 31s. 6d. cloth. Seoaratelv ^'""-' E'lgl'sh-LatLn Dictionary, lOs. C(L cloth, (The Latin-English Dictionary, 2is. cloth. RIDDLE. -A DIAMOND LATIN-ENGLISH DICTU^NARY. For the Waistcoat-pocket. AGuide to the .Meaning, Qunlily, and right .\rcentiiation of l.jitin Clusbical Words. By the Ucv. J. K. Riddlk, M..\. New Edition. Uoyal 32mo. 4ii. kouiuL RIDDLE. -ECCLESIASTICAL CHRONOLOGY; Or, .■\nnals of the Christian (Church, from its FoundKtion to the present Time. Containintra View of General Church History, and the Course of S<'cular Events; the Limits of the Church and its Relations to the State; Controversies; Sects and Parties; Kitrs, Institutions, and Discipline; Ecclesiastical Writers, &c. By the Uev. J. K. KluuLk, M.A., Author of" A (Jomplete Latin Dictionary." 8vo. 15s. cloth. RIDDLE.-LETTERS FROM AN ABSENT GODFATHKR; Or, a Compendium of Religious Instruction for Youn',' Persons. By the Rev. J. E. IUmols, M.A. ; Author of " .\ Complete Latin Dictionary." Fcp. 8vo. Tis. ciotU. RITCHIE (ROBERT.) -RAILWAYS: THEIR RISE AND PROGRESS, and CONSTRUCITO.V. With Remarks on Railway Accidents, and l'r«po»aU for their Prevention. By Rubkut Ritchik, Eso. F.R.S. S.A. Civil Engmeer, AKKucmle v( the Institute of Civil Engineers. Fcp. 8vo. « ith Woodcuts anil Diagruius, 'Js. cloth. RIVERS.-THE ROSE AMATEUR'S GUIDE; Containing amiili' Descriptions of all the line leading varietiejt ol RoBes, regularly cU»«ed in their res))cctiv('l^iniili<'s; theirllistory and mode of Culture. ByT. Rivlks, Juu. 4Ih Edition, corrected and improved. Fcp. 8vo. Gs. cloth. *,* In thin (tlilion •nilv tbo mosi nrli'ct viiriitJi'i nrc dcsr.nlml, boUi old and nrw; Uuw« of lnCnri«r intimt hata hecu omitted ; tuad suvcrai |JA^ca of « ew aiattvr have Imvii aililr^t. 26 NEW WORKS AND NEW EDITIONS RORERTS.-A COMPREHENSIVE VIEW OF THE CULTURE of the VI NK under GLASS. Hy Jamks Korkktb, Gardener to Matthew Wilion, Esq. Kshton Hull, Skiiitoii, Yorkshire. 12ino. 5». fid. cloth. ROBINSON (JAMES). -THE WHOLE ART OF CURING, I'irKLIN(i, AND SMOKING MKAT AM) FISH, both in the Uritish and Foreitrn Modfu. With mniiy iisfful Misfcllancniis Ki-c-cipls, any Or. Aikin. A New ICdition. with Supplement, by Lucy Aikix ; consisting of a^ion.s ot Antichristian lOrroron ."scriptural Cliristinnitv, considered in reference to the Dangers and Duties of Protestants. By Gko. SMirii, F..\.ri.'&c. Fcp. 8vo. 68. cloth. SMITH (GEORGE). - THE RELIGION OF ANCIENT iilllTAIN lUSTOUICALLY CONSIDKKKD: or, a Succinct Account of the several |{eli;,'i..us Systems which have obtaiiieil in this Island from the Earliest 'limes to the .Xormun ('ontpiest : incluiljii;; an Inveslisation into the Karly Pro;;ress of Krnir in the (hristinii Church, the Introduction of the Gospel into Britain, and the State of lU-lision in Enj^lnnd till Popery liaid gained the ascendancy. By Gkokue Smith, F.A.S. &c. 2d liUition. Svo. "s. Cd. cloth. SMITH.-THE ENGLISH FLORA. By Sir Jamks Kdwauii S.mitii, .M.D. F.K.S., late President of the Linna-an Society, &c. fi vols. 8vo. .*3. 12s. boards. Contents .—Vols. I. to IV. The Fi.ow'kuinq Plants and the Fern.s, ^2. 88. Vol. V. Part 1, I2s.— CiiYrrofiAMiA ; comprisiii/f the Mos-ses, Hepaticic, Lichens, Chnracor, and Alffa;. By Sir W. J. IIookkk. Vol. V. Part 2, 12s.— The Funoi— completing the work, by Sir J. W. Hooker, and the Ucv. M. J. Berkeley, F.L.S. &c. SMITH (S. n.)-THE FEMALE DISCIPLE OF THE FIRST TIIRKKCKNTURIES of the CHRISTIAN LRA : hurTrials and her Mission. By.Mrs. Me.nkv Smith. Fcp. Svo. Gs. cloth. SMITH.-COMPENDIUM OF THE ENGLISH FLOR.\. By Sir J. K. Smith. 2il Edit, with Additions, \c. By Sir W. J. IIoiikiu. Uiiuj. 7». fid. cl. THE SA.ME IN L.VTIN. 5th Edition, 12mo. 7s. Gd. 2& NEW WORKS AND NEW EDITIONS SMTTTT -AN INTROPUCTTON TO THE STUM OF BOTANY. Uy Sir J. E. Smith, Intc l'resitit (if tlip LJnnoRii Soricty, 7tl) Kdition, corrortpil ; in wliirh the olijfctof Sinith'K " (Jraiiiiiiar (if Ilotaiiy" i» coniliined with tliat of tlic " liitroddction." J\\ Sir Wii.i.iAM.lArKSdN llooKicR, K.I I., LL.D., &c. 8vo. with 30 Steel I'latcs, 16». cloth j with tlie I'liitcs coloiired, /62. r>s. Gd. clotii. SMITH (SYDNEY).-SERMONS PREACHED AT ST. PAUL'S Cathedral, the roniidlina: Hospital, and several Churches in London ; together with others addressed to a Countrv C'onjjretratioi). Hy the late ilcv. sJydney Smith, Canon Retidentiary of St. Paul's Carht-drai. 8\o. 128. cloth. SMITII.-TIIE WORKS OF THE REV. SYDNEY SMITH. 3(1 Kdition, with Additions. 3 vols. 8vo. with Portrait, 36s. cloth. *,* 'litis collection conitists of the nutlior's cuntrlbutioim to-th« EJuiburgh iivrivw^ PpUi Plymlej't X*«tt«r9 on the Catholics, and other mieteUftn^ourt work'*. SOPHOCLES, BY LINWOOD. S(1PH<)CLIS TUAGffiDI^ SUPKRSTITES. Rerrnsnit, et brevi adnotatiOTie instrnxit UuLiKLMrs LiNwooD, A..\l. yEdis Christi apud Oxonienses Alumnus. 8vo. 16s. cloth. SOUTHEY'S (ROBERT) COMPLETE POETICAL WORKS; Containina: all the Author's last Introductions and Notes. Complete in one volume, with- I Portrait and View of the I'oet's Residence at Keswick, uniform with Byron's and Moore's I Poems. 8vo. 21s. cloth ; or 42s. bound in morocco, by Hayday. [ Also, an Edition in 10 vols. fcp. 8vo. with Portrait and 19 Plates, ^2. 10s. cloth ; morocco, .€4.I0a. I SOUTHEY (ROBERT) -THE DOCTOR, &>. i Vol. VI. From the Papers of the late Robert Soirthey, LL.U. Edited by his Son-in-Law, f the Rev. John Wood W.vRTKu. Post 8vo. 10s. 6d. cloth. i SOUTHEY (ROBERT). — THE LxVTE MR. SOUTHEY'S i CO.M.M OX- PLACE HOOK ; comprisin? his Rcadinirs and Collections in History, Biojfraphy, | Manners and Literature, Voyages and Travels, &c. &c. ; systematically arrang-ed. [//» the press, SOUTHEY.-TIIE LIFE OF WESLEY; And Rise and Profjress of Methodism. By Robert Southey, Esq-. LL.T>. 3d Edition, vF;tb Notes liv the late Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Esq.. and Remarks on the Life and Character of John Wesley, by the late Alexander Kno.K, Esq. Edited by the Rev. Charlks Cutheert SoiTTH EY, A.M. Curate of Cockermouth. 2 vols. Svo. with 2 Portraits, 28s. cloth. SOUTHEY, &c. -LIVES OF THE BRITISH ADMIRALS; With an Introdu(;tory View of the Naval Historv of England. By R. South ev, Esq. and R. Bell, Esq. 5 vols. fcp. Svo. with Vignette Titles,^]. 10s. cloth. SPIRIT OF THE WOODS (THE). By the Author of "The Moral of Flowers." 2d Edition. Royal 8\-o. with 23 beaotifulh-- coloured Engravings of the Forest Trees of Great Britain, i£l. lis. 6d. cloth. STABLE TALK AND TABLE TALK; or, SPECTACLES for YOUNG SPORTSMEN. By Harry Hieover. 2 vols. Svo. with Portrait, 24s. cloth. "This work will become a great fsrouritt with all persons who ate cnnnectcd with the turf, the eh»«<-, and th« world of manly sports. It is writttn in a pleasant, otf-liand, dashing muiuer, and contains an iinmcE«« Taricty ef information and entertaining matter." — Weekly DisrixcH. STEBBING.-THE HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH, from its Foundation to a.d. 1492. By the Rev. H. Stebbing, M..\. &c. 2 vols, fc^ . 8vo. with Vignette Title-, 12s. cloth. STEBBING.-THE HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. By tl»e Rev. H. Stebbing. 2 vols. fcp. Svo. with Vignette Titles, 12s. cloth. STEEL'S SHIPMASTER'S ASSISTANT : Compiled for the use of .Merchants, Owners and .Masters of Ships, Officers of Customs, and all Persons connected with Shipping or Commerce: containing the Law and Local Regulations nrtecting the Ownership, Charge, and Management of Ships and their Cargoes ; together with Notices of other Matters, and all necessary Information for Mariners. New Edition, rewritten throughout. Edited by Graham Willmork, E.sq. .^L.\. Barrister-at-Law ;— The Customs and Shipping: I>epartment, bv George Clements, of the Customs, London, Compiler of "The Custoiiis Guide;— The E.xchanges, &c. and Naval Book-keeping, by William Tate, Author of " The .Modern Cambist." "8vo. 28s. cloth ; or, 29s. bound. STEEPLETON ; Or, High Church and Low Church. Being the present Tendencies of Parties in the Chnrch, exhibited in the History of Frank Faithful. By a Clergyman. New Edition. Fcp. 8vo. 6s. cioth. STEPHENS— A MANUAL OF BRITISH COLEOPTERA ; or, BKKTLK^: containinsjn nescriptionof all the Species of Beetles liiUu-rto aKrertained to inhaliit Great Hritain an(l Ireland, &c. With u Complete Index of the (ienera. By J. V. Stkhhuns, F.L.S. Author of" lllnstrations of Entomology." Post 8vo. 14s. cloth. SWAINSON.-A PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE ON THE STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY, lly W. Swainsg.n, Ksq. Fcp. 8vo. 6s. cloth. A Trkatiseox the Natural History and C'LA.S.SIFICATION OK A.MMALS. iiy W. Swainson, Ksq. Fcp. 8vo. Cs. Natural History and Classification Of QiiADKtii'KDS. Hy W. Swainson, Ks<|. Fcp. 8vo. with ^Yoolk^lts, 6s. cloth. Natural History and Classification op Birds. Hv \V. Swainson, Ksq. 2 vols. fcp. 8vo. with .SOO Woodcuts, TJs. cloth. History and Natural Arrangf-mknt of Insixts. Uy \\. Swainson, ICsq.. and W. E. Shuckard, Ksq. Fcp. 8vo. 6s. clotli. Animals in Mknaokries. Ry \V. Swainson, Ks(|. Fcp. 8V0. \iKnette Title and numerous AVoodcuts, Cs. cloth. Natural History and Classification OK Fish,.\mhhibians, AND Rkitilks. Hy W. Swainson, Esq. 3 vols. fcp. 8vo. 12s. Habits and Instincts ok .\nimal». Hy W. Sxvaiii>on, I';hi|. Fcp. Kvo. with Yif^nettc and numerous Woodcuts, Cs. cloth. A Treatise on Malacology ; or, the Natu- ral Classification of Shells and Shell-fish, lly W. Swainson, Esq. Fcp. 8vo. 6». cloth. ATrf.atise onTaxidkrmy; with the Bio- graphy of Zoologists, and Notices of their Works. By W. Swainson, Esq. Fcp. 8vo.Cs. SWITZERLAND.-THE HISTORY OF SWITZERLAND. (In the Cabinet Cyclopasdia.) Fcp. 8vo. with \ iijnettc Title, Cs. cloth. SYMONDS.-THE LAW RELATING TO MERCHANT SEAMEN, Arranired chiefly for the Use of Masters and Olficers in the .Merchant Sprvire. With nn Apy)eiidi.\, containing the Act 7 nnds Yic. c. 112 ; the Ueijulations uniler which Lascars may be employed; and i^onu; forms of I'loceedinirs before .Magistrates. By i;. W. Svmomus, Esq. Chief Clerk to the Thames I'olice Court. 3d Edition. r2mo. js. cloth. TATE -HORATIUS RESTITUTUS ; Or, the Books of Horace arranged in Chronological Order, according to the Scheme of T>r. Bcntley, from the Text of Cesiwr, corrected and improved. Witha Preliminary Dissertation, very much enlarged, on the Chronology of the Works, on the Localities, and on tlie Life and Character of that I'oet. By the Kev. Ja.mks Tatk, .M..\. 2d Edition. 8vo. V2*. cloth. TATE.-THE CONTINUOUS HISTORY OF THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OP ST. PAUL, on the basis of the Acts; with Intercalary Matter of .Sacred Narrative, supplied from the Epistles, and elucidated in occasional Dissertations: with the Hora- Paulina' of Dr. Paley, in a more correct edition, subjoined. By Jamks Tatk, M-.\. Canon Residentiary of St. Paul's. 8vo. with Map, 13s. cloth. TAYLER (REV. CHARLES B.)-MARGARET ; Or, the Pearl. By the Rev. Cmarlks B. Ta vlkr, .M.A. Rector of St. Peter's, Chester, Anthor of" May You Like It," " Records of a Good Man's Life," &c. 2d Edition. Fcp.wvo. Cs. cloth. TAYLER (REV. CHARLES B.)-LADY MARY; Or, Not of the World. By the Rev. Charles B. Tayler, Rector of St. Peter's, aicstcr; Author of " Margaret, or the Pearl," &c. Fcp. 8vo. Cs. fid. cloth. TAYLER (REV. C. B.)-TRACTARIANISM NOT OF GOD: Sermons. By the Rev. C. B. Tayli;r, M..\. Rector of St. Peter's, and Evening Lecturer of St. Mary's, Chester ; Author of" Records of a Good .Man's Life," S;c. Fcp. 8vo. Cs. cloth. TAYLER (REV. C. R.)-DORA i\IELDER ; A Story of Alsace. By Mkta Sander. A Translation. Edited by the Rev. C. B. Tayler, Author of " Records of a Good .Man's Life," &c. Fcp.Svo. with two Illustrations, 7k. cloth. TAYLOR (JEREMY).-RISHOP JEREMY TAYLOR'S WORKS. With the References verified. A -New and Ihoroiighly-revisetl Edition. *»* This Work is in the hands of a competent Kilitor at 0.xfi>rd. anil will be pnblinhiMl in voluines, price 10s. Gd. each ; to be complelcd in 12 volunu-s, each of CUOcloiirly.iirinted pages, published lit intervals of two months. 'I be fust volume will probably be pubbkhvd lU May, 1847. Subscribers' Names received l>y the Proprietors, and all BuokM-llem. THIRLWALL.-THE HISTORY OF GREIXE. Bv the Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of St. David's (the Riv. Connop ThirlwnlP. A New Edition, revised ; with Notes. Vols. 1. to III. 8vo. with .Majis, .Ifis. cloth. To In- conipbted in 8 volumes, price 12s. each. [Vol. JW it nfiirlv rf,. *»* Also, nn Edition in 8 vols. fcp. 8vo. with Vignclle Titles, .O. 8«. cloth. THOMSON'S SEASONS. Kilitcd l)y Uoi/roN ('-ixty-five Days, in a regular iJro.Tession of sinirle Days; with Interest at all the above Rates, from One to Twelve Months, and from OnetoTen Years. Also, nnnierous other Tables of Ii.\clianvo Centuries. By Thomas TooKE, Esq. F.R.S. 3 vols. Svo. ^2. 8s. cloth. *»* Separately, Vols. 1 and 2, 36s. ; Vol. 3, 12s. TOPHAM- CHEMISTRY MADE EASY, For the Use of Affriculturists. I'y John Toimiam, A.M. Rector of St. Andrew, St. Mary Witton, and St. Nicholas, Droitwich. 3d Edition. IGino. 2s. sewed. TOWNSEND (CHARLES). - THE LIVES OF TWELVE EMINENT JUDGES of the LAST and of the PRESKNl" CKNTURY. By W. Charlks Townsend, Esq. A.M. Recorder of Macclesfleld ; Author of " Memoirs of the House of Commons." 2 vols. 8vo. 28s. cloth. TREVOR; OR, A Tale for the Times TROLLOPE (REV. W.)-ANALECTA THEOLOGICA : A Critical, Phi'olojrical, and Exegct!cal Commentary on the Neiv Testament, adapted to the Greek Text : compiled and dia:ested from the most approved sources. L'ritish and Foreiffn, and so arranged as to exhibit the comparative weight of the diflerent Opinions on Disputed Texts. By the Rev. William Tkollope, M.A. New Edition. 2 vols. Svo. ^1. 12s. cloth. TURNER.-THE HISTORY OF ENGLAND, From the Earliest Period to the Death of Elizabeth. By Sharon TraxER, Esq. F.A.S. R.A.S.L. New Editions. 12 vols. Svo. ^8. 3s. cloth.— Or, separately, THE HISTORY of the ANGLO-SAXONS. 3 vols. Svo. .i-2. 5s. boards. THE HISTORY of ENGLAND duriu? the MIDDLE AGES. 5 vols. Svo. £3, bds. THE HISTORY of the REIGN of HENRY VIII. 2 vols. Svo. 26s. boards. THE REIGNS of EDWARD VI., MARY, and ELIZABETH. 2 vols. Svo. 32s. bds. THE NEW SAINT FRANCIS. , Fcp. 8vo. 6s. cloth. TURNER -THE SACRED HISTORY OF THE WORLD, Pliilosophically considered. IJySHARON Tuiinkb, I'.S.A.U.A.S.L. New Edit. 3vl8.8vo. 42».cl. TURNER.-A TREATISE ON THE FOOT OF THE HORSE, Anil a New System of Shoeiiii;-, by one-sided Tiuillns; and on tlie Nature, Ori'^'in, and Symptoms of the Navicular .loint Lanieneits, with Preventive and Curative Treatment, lly Jamkh TuuNKK, IM.K.V.C. Koyal 8vo. "s. 6d. boards. TURTON'S (DR.) MANUAL OF THE LAND AND FRESH- WATKll SHKLLS of the HKIllSH ISLANDS. A New Kdition, tborou^'ldy revised and with considerable Additions. HyJoH.v Kdwaud Gra v, Keejier of the Zoolo'^-ical Collection in the IJiitish Aluseum. Tost iivo. with Woodcuts, aud 12 Coloured I'lates 15s. cloth. TWELVE YEARS AGO. By the Author of " Letters to my Unknown Friends.'' I'cp. 8vo. [Xearly ready. TYTLER (PROF.) — PROFESSOR TYTLER'S ELEMENTS OF CICNRRAL IIISTUKY, Ancient and Modern, with Dr. Nahks' Continuation. A New Kdition, revised and continued to the Death of William IV. 8vo. with 7 Maps, Us. cloth. URE.-DICTIONARY OF ARTS, MANUFACTURES, & MINES ; Containing: a clear KxposiUon of tlieir Principles and Practice. Hy Andkkw L'kk, .M.D. KR.S. M.G.S. M.A.S. Loud.; M.Acad. N.L. Philad. ; S. I'h. Soc. N. Germ. Manov. ; Mulii. &c. &c. 3d Kdition, corrected. 8vo. with 1,240 Enpravings on Wood, 50s. cloth.— .Vise, SUPPLE.MENT of llECKNT I.MPROVE.M KNTS. 2d Edition. 8vo. with Woodcuts, Us. cloth. VON ORLICH (CAPT.)-TRAVELS IN INDIA; Includinf^Scinde and tlie Punjab, in lS42and 1843. Hy Cai)t.Li:oi>oLD Vo.vOrlicu. Translated from the Gerinna, by H. Kv.vns Lloyd, Esq. 2 vols. 8vo. with coloured I'routispieces, and numerous Illustrations on Wood, 25s. cloth. WALFORD (J. E.)-THE LAWS OF THE CUSTOMS, Conipileii by Direction of the Lords Commissioners of Her MajcNty'sTreasury, and published nndcr the Sanction of the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Customs; with Notes and a General Index. Edited by J. G. Walfobd, Esq. Solicitor for the Customs. 8vo. 10s. Cd. cloth. WALKER'S PRONOUNCING DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, adapted to the present .'^tate of Literature and Science. I?y H. H. S.mart, Author of "Theory and Practice of Elocution," &c. 2d Edition. To which are now added, an eiilargfed Etymoloj;ical Index ; and a Supplement, containing nearly 3000 Words not in- cluded in the jirevious edition of the Dictionary. 8vo. Ids. clotli. *»* The Supplement, with the Etymological Index, may be had separately. 8vo. 3s. Cd. swd. tlS^ Walker's Pronouncing Dictionary Epitomised, by Smart. New Edition. ICmo. "8. 6d. cl. WALKER (GEO.)- CHESS STUDIES; Comprising One Thousand (ianes elected and arranged by Geokok Walkuk, Author of" Chess made Easy," &c. 6vo. 10s. Od. sewed. WARDLAAV.-DISCOURSES ON THE PRINCIPAL POINTS Ol' THE SOCINIAN CONTKOVKUSY— the Unity of(;od, and the Trinity of Persons in the G'odhead ; the Supreme Divinity of Jesus Chri>t ; the Doctrine of the Atonement ; the Christian Character, &c. Jly IIalimi Wauulaw, D.D. 5th Edition, mvo. 15s. cloth. WATERTON.-ESSAYS ON NATURAL HISTORY, t'hielly Oruitholngy. IJyCiiAUi.KS Watkkto.n, Esi|., Author of " Wanileringa in South America." With an Autobiography of the Author, and u View of Walton ilalL New Edition. Fcp. 8vo. 8s. cloth. Sl'COND SERIICS. With Continuation of Mr. W'atiuiton's Autobiography. Nevr Edition. Ecp. 8V0. with Vignette by T. Creswick, .\.K..\. Gs. Gd. cloth. WATTS (A. A.)-ALARIC WATTS' POETRY AND PAINTING. LYRICS OF THE HEART; «ith other I'oenis. lly Al.UMC A. Watts. Illustrated by Forty hiulily finished Line-Engra\ inu's, from the Designs of many of the most celelirateil niodrrn Painters, by some of the most eminent Enirravers of the age. Sipnire cro«n Hvo. printed an(l (■mbcliished uniformly with Rogers's " Italy" and " Poems," 31s. Gd. boards; or proof impressions, 63s. boards; proofs before letters, on quarto colombier, liidiu paper, (only bO copies printed), jt 5. 5s, [/« the prett. WEBSTKR.-AN ENCYCL0P;EDTA OF DOMESTIC ECONOMY; Coiiinri.siii^^ siirti subjects us arc most iminciliatcly roiinci tnl with II(m.sck<-<-|iiriK : ax, I h(.• ('<)llstrll(•tioIl of Doincstii; KdilircK, with tlic modes of Warmiii:,', Veiitilatini', aiihich the Diary refers. 5th Edit. Square fcp. 8vo. Ss. boards; or 18s. in morocco by Hayda>. WINTER (J. WJ-THE HORSE IN HEALTH AND DISEASE : Or. Su"-o-estions on his Natural and General History, Varieties. Conformation, Paces, Age, Som.dn?ss. Stabling, Condition, Training, andShoein-. With a Digest ol^ f "'"^.fV ^'f^"^'^?- By James W. Winteh. M.R.C.V.S.L. Member of the Association Litt^-ra re d Eg>pte, late Veterinar> Surgcou to Mehemet Ali and Ibrahim Pasha. Svo. 10s. Gd. cloth. WOOD.-A PRACTICAL TREATISE ON RAILROADS, And Interior Communication in General ; containing numerous Experiinents on the Powers of the Improved Locomotive Engines, and Tables of the comparative Cost of Coine>ance on Canals, Railways, and Turnpike Roads. By Nicholas Wood, Memb. Inst. Ci\. bug. a^c. 3d Edition. Svo. with Plates and Woodcuts, 31s. 6d. cloth. WOODWARD.-ESSAYS, SERMONS, ETC. , , , ^ , Bv the Rev. Hknry Woodwaud, A.M. formerly of Coi-pus Chnsti Co! ege, O.xford ; Rector of Fethard, in the Diocese of Cashel. 4th Edition. 2 vols. 12ino. 14s. cloth. By the same Author, THE SHUNAMMITE -. a Series of Lectures and Reflections on 2 Kings, iv. 2 vols. 12mo. 12s. cloth. Vol II. separately, 6s. cloth. ZOOLOGY OF THE VOYAGE OF H.M.SS. EREBUS AND TERROR. Under the Command of Capt. Sir Jamks Clark Ross, lt.N. F.R.|?. dunng the years 1S39, 40, 41, 42, 43. l\iblished bv Authority of the Lord's Commissioners of the Admiralty. Edited by John Richarhso.v, M.D. F.R.S. &c. ; f"'/ J""^\^''"„-^'*" 9'^-^"*' Esq. F.R.S. Parts I. to X. royal 4to. with numerous coloured and plain Plates, 10s. eacn. ZUMPT (PROF.) -A GRAMMAR OF THE LATIN LANCJUAGE. By r. G. Zi-.MPT. Ph. D. Professor in the l-niversity of Berlin, and Member of tl'f Ko>«l Academy of Berlin. Translated from the Ninth Edition of the ""ginal, and adapted for the use of English Students, bv L. Schmitz, Ph. D., Rector of the High Schoo of Edinburgh, with many Additions and Corrections communicated by the Author. Svo. I4s. cioin. «ILSUK A!0) OOUTl, SKIS^EB SIEIBT, »>0'nrBItt, LO^BU^. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. FormL9 — 15w-10,'48 (B10o9)444 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS AiNGiiLES LIBRARY i J UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY AA 001 168 831 4 ■K% ,.n^ I III I III I i.i ■'''!:!;'|