Chapter XVI: Book III: ========= (5)

--- {214} Suppose that, of the waste lands, eleven millions of acres were cultivated, and that as much as possible (suppose five millions) were always in grain, those five millions would be able to supply the nation nearly in an ordinary year. A law might also be made, compelling all landlords and farmers to have only three-fourths in grass; this could be no hardship. There would then be always corn in plenty; monopoly would be prevented, because anxiety would be avoided; for a real deficiency to a small amount gives cause to great anxiety and grievous monopoly. The waste lands, when disposed of, might have whatever condition attached to them was thought fit.

{215} We say persisting in this system, for when bread fell to be at a moderate price, last summer, (1804,) the outcry amongst the farmers was great and violent, and the legislature altered the law about exports; the consequence of this was, that the price of wheat rose regularly every week till it was doubled. All this was the effect of opinion, for the price of corn rose too quickly to allow any to be sent out of the kingdom, by the new law. -=-

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trade is a principle not to be adopted without limitation, but with due regard to times and circumstances; let it then never be invoked upon a general question, without examination. Though this is the true way of arguing the question, let freedom of trade be taken in another way; let it be considered as a general principle, it will then be immutable, and cannot be changed. {216} The present corn-laws must on that principle be done away, and no bounty allowed for exportation or for importation, which indeed would be the best way; but, at all events, let us have one weight and one measure for both parties, and not invoke freedom of trade to protect the corn-dealers when prices are high, and enact laws to counteract the effects of plenty, which produces low prices.

On this subject, government must set itself above every consideration, but that of the welfare of the country: it is too important to be trifled with, or to be bartered for any inferior consideration.

The prices of our manufactures will soon become too high for other nations. Our inventions, to abbreviate labour, cannot be perpetual, and, in some cases, they can go no farther than they have already gone; besides, the same inventions, copied by nations where labour is cheaper, give them still a superiority over us.

If increased consumption was the leading cause of the destruction of Rome, to which money was sent from tributary nations, and employed to purchase corn, (so that its supply was independent of its industry,) how much more forcible and rapid must be its effects in this country, living by manufactures, and having no other means to procure a supply from strangers, when that is necessary? {217}

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

--- {216} When corn was dear, and the public cry was for regulation, it was announced, in the highest quarters, that trade was free. Ministers acted as if they had been the colleagues of of =sic= the economist Turgot; but, when prices fell, the language was changed, and new regulations were made. Compare the Duke of Portland's letter, in 1799, with the act for the exportation of grain, in 1804.

{217} The money sent out of the country for corn is a direct diminution of the balance due to us from other nations, and it now amounts to near three millions a year on an average. The balance in our favour is not much more than twice that sum at the most, and was not equal to that till lately: the imports of grain may soon turn the balance against us. -=-

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the poor increasing, our means diminishing; what could possibly produce a more rapid decline?

The danger is too great and too evident to require any thing farther to be said; particularly as the last ten years have taught us so much, by experience.

It is unnecessary to repeat what was said about the mode of reducing the interest of the national debt without setting too much capital afloat; without breaking faith with the creditors of the state, or burthening the industry of the country.

On the increase of the poor and the means of diminishing their numbers enough has been said. That must originate with government in every case and in some cases exclusively belongs to it. They must act of themselves entirely, with respect to the very poor and to their children. With those who are not quite reduced to poverty, they should grant aid, to enable them to struggle against adversity, and prevent their offspring from becoming burthensome to the public.

The other affairs well attended to, capital and industry will lose their tendency to leave the country; and, if they should continue to leave it, the case will be desperate; for, after the lands are improved, and the best encouragement given to the employment of capital, and to the greatest extent nothing more can be done. It will find employment elsewhere.

The efficacy of a remedy, like every thing else in this world, has a boundary, but the extent and compass of that depends, in a great degree, on exertion and skill, and particularly so in the present instance. It remains with the government to make that exertion, either directly itself, or by putting individuals in the way to make it.

The government of a country must then interfere, in an active manner, in the prevention of the interior causes of decline. As to the exterior ones, they do not depend on a country itself; but, so far as they do, it is exclusively on the government, and in no degree on the individual inhabitants.

The envy and enmity which superior wealth create, can only be diminished by the moderation and justice with which a nation conducts itself towards others; and if they are sufficiently envious and [end of page #283] unfair to persist, a nation like Britain has nothing to fear. But we must separate from envy and enmity occasioned by the possession of wealth, that envy and enmity that are excited by the unjust manner in which wealth is acquired.

In respect to Britain, it has been shewn, that the envy and enmity excited, are chiefly by her possessions in the East Indies; we have seen, also, that the wealth obtained by those possessions is but very inconsiderable, and that they have, at least, brought on one-third of our national debt; it would then be well, magnanimously to state the question, and examine whether we ought not to abandon the possession of such unprofitable, such expensive, and such a dangerous acquisition; till we do so, it is to be feared that we shall never have a true friend, nor be without a bitter enemy.

We have had experience from America, which is become precious to us now, that we have lost it, and which was a mill-stone about our neck, while we were in possession of it. Let us take a lesson from experience, and apply its result to what is at this moment going on, and we cannot mistake the conclusion to be formed. Let the nation be above the little vanity of retaining a thing, merely because it has possessed it. {218} Let the great general outline of happiness, and of permanent happiness, be considered, and not that ephemerical splendour and opulence, that gilded pomp that remains but for a day, and leaves a nation in eternal poverty and want. Britain can only be firm and just in its conduct towards other nations, give up useless possessions, defend its true rights to the last point, encourage industry at home, and take every step to prevent the operation of those causes of decline that we have been examining; let merit be encouraged, and

--- {218} In this country, public opinion would be against a minister, who proposed to give up any possession abroad, however useless. This is owing to the pride occasioned by wealth. The people are not rapacious for conquests, but once in possession they are very unwilling to let them go.

It is not necessary to quit the trade to India, or abandon all our possessions, but to diminish our establishments, circumscribe our conquests, and not aim at possessing more than we had thirty years ago. That moderation would conciliate all nations, and envy would find its occupation gone. -=-

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let it never be forgotten or lost sight of, that wealth and greatness can only be supported, for a length of time, by industry and abilities well directed, guided by justice and fair intention. This is the truth of which we are never to lose sight. We may keep sounding for the bottom, and reconnoitring the shore, the better to direct our steps, but we must never lose sight of the beacon, with the help of which alone we can safely enter the wished-for harbour.

There is a great disposition in the human mind to give the law, when there is the power of doing it. The abuse of power appears to be natural and dangerous; yet, we have seen, that most nations, both ancient and modern, have fallen into that error. The hour of British insolence has also been mentioned, and, certainly, with regard to America, we did not more materially mistake our power than we did the rights of those with whom we had to treat.

It is much to be questioned, whether the undaunted and brave spirit of our naval commanders does not, in some cases, lead them too far in their rencontres with vessels of other nations on the high seas, and we ought not to forget that, in this case, the match played is that of England against all the world. As no other nation is under the same circumstances with this, no one will be inclined to take our part, or to wink at, or pardon, any error we may commit.

The Hans Towns, at one time, were paramount at sea; they could bid defiance to all the world; and, at first, they did great actions, and employed their power to a good purpose. They destroyed the pirates, and humbled the Danes, after they had robbed both the English and French, and burnt both London and Paris; but they also had their hour of insolence. They began to be unjust, and to be insolent, and the cities that had begged to be united to them, in the times when their conduct was honourable and wise, withdrew from the participation of their injustice, pride, and arrogance. While they attended to protecting themselves, and to following their own affairs, they did numberless good offices to the ships of foreign nations; they had universal good will and commanded admiration. But, when they became supercilious, and a terror to others, their pride was soon humbled, never again to rise. [end of page #285]

In considering the whole, there is a considerable degree of consolation arises to British subjects, to see the very mistaken comparisons that have, in the first place, been made between Rome and Carthage; and, in the second place, the still more unfair comparison made between those two rival powers, and France and England.

As opinion and belief have a great power over the minds of men, whether they act in conformity to their views and wishes, or in opposition to them, it is of great importance to remove an error, which was of very long standing, very general, and had the direct tendency to make the people of both countries think the parallel well drawn, and therefore conclude that this mercantile country must, sooner or later, sink under the power of France. But, when it appears that most authors have been inadvertently led into the same mistake, with respect to those two ancient republics, and that, even if there had not been the mistake, the parallel drawn would not have been true, then France will probably cease to found her hopes on that comparison, and we may, at least, cease to feel any apprehension from so ill-grounded a cause.

That a nation once gone on in the career of opulence can never go back with impunity is as certain as its tendency to going back is. The possession of riches is of a transitory nature, and their loss attended with innumerable evils. Though nations in affluence, like men in health, refuse to follow any regimen, and use great freedom with themselves, yet they should consider there is a vast difference. A man, well and in health, is in his natural state; yet even that will not resist too much liberty taken with his constitution; but a nation that has risen to more wealth than others is always in an artificial state, insomuch as it owes its superiority, not to nature, but either to peculiar circumstances, our =sic--sc.: or = superior exertion and care; it is therefore not to be supposed capable of being preserved, without some of that attention and care, which are necessary to all nations under similar circumstances, and which, in the history of the world, we have not yet seen one nation able to resist.

There are sufficient circumstances, new and favourable in the [end of page #286] case of Britain, to inspire us with the courage necessary for making the effort.

There is one part of the application of this Inquiry, to the British dominions, left intentionally incomplete. It has been left so with a design to keep clear of those discussions that awaken a spirit of party, which prevents candid attention. It is of little use to enquire, unless those who read can do it without prevention or prejudice. It is therefore, very necessary not to awaken those feelings, by adding any thing that may rouse a spirit of party; and it is difficult to touch matters that concern men, deeply interested in an object, without that danger. What seems impartial to an unconcerned man, seems partial to those who are concerned; and sometimes the observer is blamed by both the parties, between whom he thinks he is keeping in the middle way.

The advantages of the form of government adopted in Britain have been fairly stated in account; but constitutions and forms of government, however good, are only so in the degree; they are never perfect, and have all a tendency to wear out, to get worse, and to get encumbered. The French were the first, perhaps, that ever tried the mad scheme of remedying this by making a constitution that could be renewed at pleasure. But it was a violent remedy, to implant, in the constitution itself, the power of its own destruction, under the idea of renovation. The English constitution has taken, perhaps, the best way that is possible for this purpose; it has given to king, lords, and commons, the power of counteracting each other, and so preserving its first principles. Without going into that inquiry, it is sufficient to say, that the advantages which may be derived from the British constitution can only be expected by the three different powers having that will, and exercising it; for, if they should act together on a system of confidence, without an attention to preserving the balance, they must overset, instead of navigating the vessel.

The individuals of whom a nation is composed, we have seen, never can, by their efforts, prevent its decline, as their natural propensities tend to bring it on. It is to the rulers of nations we must look for the [end of page #287] prolongation of prosperity, which they cannot accomplish, unless they look before them, and, in place of seeking for remedies, seek for preventatives.

It is very natural and very common for those who wield the power of a great nation, to trust to the exertion of that power, when the moment of necessity arrives; but that will seldom, if ever, be found to answer. The time for the efficacy of remedy will be past before the evil presents itself in the form of pressing necessity; and that very power, which can so effectually be applied in other cases, in this will be diminished, and found unequal to what it has to perform.

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_Application of the present Inquiry to Nations in general_

IF there is a lesson taught by political economy that is of greater importance than any other, it is, that industry, well directed, is the way to obtain wealth; and that the modes by which nations sought after it in the early and middle ages, by war and conquest, are, in comparison, very ineffectual.

Notwithstanding that princes themselves are now convinced of the truth of this, by a strange fatality, the possession of commercial wealth has itself become the cause of wars, not less ruinous than those that formerly were the chief occupation of mankind.

It was discovered a few centuries ago, that small principalities, and even single cities, acquired more wealth by industry, than all the mighty monarchs of the middle ages did by war; but we are not yet advanced to the ultimate end of the lessons that experience and reason give in regard to the interests of nations, with regard to wealth and power.

To suppose that mankind will ever live entirely at peace is absurd, and is to suppose them to change their nature. Such a reverie would only suit one of the revolutionists of France; but let us hope that there is still a possibility to lessen the causes of quarrels amongst nations. The true principles of political economy lead to that, and the object is sufficiently important.

By _agriculture_ and _manufactures_; that is, by producing such things as are conducive to the happiness of man, the _aggregate wealth of mankind_ can alone be increased.

By _commerce_, which consists in conveying or selling the produce of industry, the aggregate wealth of mankind is not increased, but its _distribution is altered_. {219}

--- {219} Though the produce of soil is not obtained without industry, yet, to make a distinction that is simple and easily understood and retained, we suppose manufactured produce to go by the name of the produce of industry. -=-

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As individuals, and sometimes nations, have obtained great wealth, not by producing, but by altering the distribution of wealth produced; that is, by commerce, that seems, to those who aim at wealth, to be the greatest object of ambition.

If every nation in the world were industrious, and contented with consuming the articles it produced, they would all be wealthy and happy without commerce; or, if each nation enjoyed a share of commerce, in proportion to what it produced, there would be no superiority to create envy.

Variety of soil and climate, difference of taste, of manners, and an infinity of other causes, have rendered commerce necessary, though it does not increase the aggregate wealth of mankind: but nations are in an error when they set a greater value on commerce than on productive industry.

Some nations are situated by nature so as to be commercial, just as others are to raise grapes and fine fruits; therefore, though one nation has more than what appears to be an equal share of commerce, it ought not to be a reason for envy, much less for enmity.

Some nations also find it their interest to attend chiefly to agriculture, others may find it necessary to attend more to manufactures; but that ought to be no cause of enmity or rivalship.

With a view, if possible, to diminish a little the envy and rivalship that still subsists, let us take a view of this business in its present state.

Britain, the wealthiest of nations, at this time, sells little of the produce of her soil, and a great deal of the produce of her industry; but she purchases a great deal of the produce of the soil of other countries, though not much of their industry: in this there is great mutual conveniency and no rivalship. In fact, her wealth arises nearly altogether from internal industry, and, by no means from that commerce that is the envy of other nations; for it is clear, that whoever produces a great deal may consume a great deal, without any exchange of commodities, and without commerce.

The English, number for number, produce more, by one-half, than [end of page #290] any other people; they can, therefore, consume more; they are, therefore, richer.

If France would cultivate her soil with the same care that we attend to manufactures, (at the same time manufacturing for herself as much as she did before the revolution,) she would be a much richer country than England, without having a single manufacture for exportation. Her wines, brandies, fruits, &c. &c. would procure her amply whatever she might want from other nations. Let France make good laws to favour industry; and, above all, render property secure, and she will have no occasion to envy England.

Russia, part of Germany, Spain, Italy, and Portugal, are all in a similar situation with France in this respect; they will each be as rich as England the moment they are as industrious, and have as many inventions for the abbreviation of labour.

Holland, Sweden, Denmark, Prussia, and some parts of Germany, are, more or less, in the same situation with England; they require to pay attention to manufactures, for they have not the means of raising produce enough to exchange for all they want.

If there is any occasion for rivalship, or ground for envy, it is then but very small, and it happens that the rivalship which exists is between those nations that, in reality, ought to be the least envious of each other, the nations who have the fewest quarrels are those who really might be rivals.

Rivalship is natural between those who are in similar situations. France, Spain, and Portugal, might be rivals. England, Holland, Prussia, and Denmark, might also be rivals; but there can be no reason for France envying England her manufactures and commerce, any more than for England envying France for her climate, soil, extent, =sic= of territory and population.

The way to produce the most, being to give industry its best direction. Nations, differently situated, ought never to be rivals or enemies, on account of trade.

If those, who regulate the affairs of nations, were to consider this in its true light, there would be less jealousy and more industry. [end of page #291]

There appears to be only one real cause for war, so far as it is occasioned by a wish to obtain wealth; and that arises from possessions in the East and West Indies, and in America.

If there were no such possessions, or if they were more equally divided, there would be very little cause for war amongst nations.

It may, very possibly, at some distant time, be an object for a general congress of nations, to settle this point; so that it shall be no longer an object of jealousy. This can be done only by abandoning entirely, or dividing more equally; but, at present, the animosity and enmity occasioned is considerable, though not well founded.

The Spaniards are not envied for the possession of Peru, nor the Portuguese for the Brazils, though they draw more wealth from them than ever England or Holland did from their foreign possessions; yet, England is, and Holland was, an object of envy, on account of possessions abroad. This is the more unreasonable, that the Spaniards and Portuguese keep the trade strictly to themselves, while England allows nations, at peace with her, the most liberal conditions for trading with her Indian possessions: conditions, indeed, that give them a superiority over ourselves. {220} This conduct ought not to bring down upon England, envy or enmity, (though it does); for the fact is, that if all nations were at peace with England, they might, if they had capital and skill, (and that they have not is no fault of England,) trade with India to great advantage, while we should have the trouble of defending our establishments, and of keeping the country.

Before the revolution, France obtained more produce from Saint Domingo alone, in one year, than Britain did from all her West India Islands together, in three years, and much more than England did from all her foreign possessions together; yet, France was never obnoxious to other nations on that account.

--- {220} This may seem strange, but it is literally true; the quarrels between the India Company, and the free trade, as it is called, are an ample proof of the truth of it. The free-trade-merchants chiefly act under the name of agents for Swedish and Danish houses, so liberally has England acted with regard to neutral nations. -=-

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It appears, then, very evident, that the envy and jealousy do not arise from the _magnitude or value of foreign possessions_, but from some other cause, though it is laid to that account. This cause is worth inquiring into.

It appears that Holland and England have, alone, been causes of jealousy to other nations, on account of foreign possessions; but, that Spain, Portugal, and France, never have, though there was more real reason for envy and jealousy.

The reason of this appears to be, that those nations, who excited no envy, escaped it, because their indolence, or internal economy, prevented them from becoming rich; but, that Holland and England, which, in reality, owed their wealth chiefly to internal industry, and very little of it to foreign possessions, have excited great envy, and that England does so to the present hour. {221}

It is, then, wealth arising from industry, that is the object to be aimed at, and that cannot be obtained by war or conquest. The purpose is not advanced, but retarded, by such contests; and if those, who rule nations, would condescend to enter into the merits of the case, they would find, not only that the happiness of the people, and every purpose at which they aim, would be better answered than by contesting about the means of wealth, which, consisting in internal industry, does not admit of a transfer. One nation may be ruined, and another may rise, (as, indeed, they are continually doing,) but one nation does not rise merely by ruining another; the wealth of a nation, like the happiness of an individual, draws the source from its own

--- {221} From both the East and West Indies, England never has, till within these last ten years, drawn three millions a year, that could be termed profit or gain, and, even in the last and most prosperous times, not eight millions, which is not equal to more than one-twentieth part of the produce of national industry at home. Even the foreign commerce of England, except so far as it procures us things we want, in exchange for things we have to spare, is not productive of much wealth. Supposing the balance in our favour to be six millions a year, which it has never uniformly been, it would only amount to one- twenty-fourth of our internal productive industry. In short, we gain five times as much by a wise division of labour, the use of machinery, ready and expeditious methods of working, as by the possession of both the Indies!!! -=-

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bosom. The possession of all the Indies would never make an indolent people rich; and while a people are industrious, and the industry is well directed, they never can be poor.

It is to be hoped, that the time is fast approaching, when nations will cease to fight about an object that is not to be obtained by fighting, and that they will seek for what they want, by such means as are safe and practicable. [end of page #294]

====== INDEX. ======

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

ABSOLUTE monarchy, in some particular instances, has an advantage over limited monarchy; particularly in preventing the infringement made by corporate bodies or professions on the public, 117, 118, 119.

AGES, middle, commerce made slow progress during them, 3.--What places flourished in them, 44 to 50.

AGE, golden, the tradition, if that founded in any thing, must have been a very ignorant one, though very happy, 214.

ALEXANDER, the Great, history confused before his time, 20.--His conquests had no permanent consequences, 24.--The only permanent consequence was Alexandria supplanting Tyre, 52.--His expedition to India was on purpose to get possession of the fine countries that produced aromatics and precious stones, 53.

ALEXANDRIA, rendered Egypt first a commercial country, and brought on the decline of Carthage, 24.--Loses its commerce in the 7th century by the conquests of the Mahomedans, 54, 55.

ALFRED the Great, made many efforts to render the people happy, 118.

AMBASSADOR. See Diplomacy.

AMBITION, sometimes renders labour an enjoyment, 82.

AMERICA, its discovery forms a new epoch in the history of commerce, 3.--Little similarity between it and other nations, 103.-- United States, of, their revenues, ib.--May take all the goods Britain can manufacture, 195.--British exports to, consist nearly all of manufactured goods, 204.--Probability of its great increase and consumption of English manufactures, 268, 269.--Encourages arts and inventions, but agriculture a better object to it, 273.

ANCIENT nations. See Nations.

ANIMAL food, much used in northern nations and by manufacturing people, 138.--Its effects on population, 139 to 146.--Price compared with bread, 147.--In case of the demand becoming too great, a remedy proposed, 155.

ANTWERP, at one time acted as a sovereign, 47.--Became, in the north, what Venice was in the south of Europe, 57.

APPRENTICES. See Education.

ARABIAN Gulf. See Red Sea.

ARKWRIGHT, Sir Richard, as an inventor met with great difficulties, 203.

ARTS. See Manufactures.

ARTS, fine. See Fine Arts.

ARTISTS, not unfit for soldiers, 32.--Banished by luxury from a country, 113.

ASIA, passage to it by the Cape of Good Hope a new aera in commerce, 3.--Its mode of fighting with elephants only disconcerted the Romans once, 31.

ASSIGNATS. See France.

ATHENS. See Greece.

AUGUSTUS, his resolution to kill himself when supplies of corn were likely to fail, 35.

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

BABYLON. See Syria.

BALANCE of trade, of England, has never much exceeded five millions.--To be seen on the chart 3, p.213, during 105 years.--Is not equal to more than one twenty-fourth of the produce of industry, 293.

BALANCE of power could not preserve a nation from interior causes producing decline, 185.

BALTIC Sea, manufacturers early established on its southern shores, 45 to 48.

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

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

BIRMINGHAM division of labour renders business easy, 217.-- Apprenticeships not necessary to learn the art, but for other reasons.-- Recruiting service succeeds there, ib.

BOARDING Schools. See Education.

BODIES Corporate and Public, their tendency to trench on the public, 117 to 124.

BOULTON, M. Esq. his spirited conduct in bringing forward the improvements, invented by Mr. Watt, on the steam-engine, 203.

BORROWING. See Money.

BRAZILS. See Portugal.

BREAD, proportion between the price of, and butchers meat, 140.-- Prices in Paris and London,164.

BRITAIN, in what its power and wealth consist, 191.--Its interior situation and exterior, 192, 193, 194, 195.--Its conquests and colonies, 196 to 200.--Its great increase, 201.--

[end of page #295] Farthest advanced in manufacture, the consequence of that investigated, 203, 204, 205.--Comparison between its general trade and that to India, 206 to 211.--Begins to encourage agriculture, 213.--Its exports and imports represented in chart 3 described, 213, 214.

BRUGES acted once as a sovereign, 47.--Became a depot for India goods in the north, as Venice was in the south, 157.

BURKE, Right Honourable Edmund, his opinion relative to exterior causes of decline, 176.

BUTCHERS meat. See Animal Food.

C.

CAPE of Good Hope. Its passage a new epoch in commercial history, 3.

CAPITAL, the result of past industry, 161.--Commands trade, but supplies poor countries at the expense of richer ones, 181.--Tends to leave a country when it becomes too abundant, 161, 162, 163.-- Would leave England if the sinking fund were to operate long in time of peace, 242.

CARTHAGE, of wealthy places alone escaped the conquests of Alexander, 24.--Mistake relative to its state, 32, 33.--Its fall ruined the Roman manners, ib.--Comparison between it and Rome unfair, 36, 37, 38.--Was never so degraded as Rome, ib.

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

CHANGES, interior, take place by degrees, 89.--Most rapid and observable amongst the Romans, 91.

CHARLEMAGNE, from the fall of the Roman empire till his time, nothing like wealth or power, 44.--Paved the way for civilizing and enriching the north of Europe, 45.

CHARTS, description and explanation of, illustrating the rise and fall of nations, 78, 79, 80.--Statistical explanation of, 190.--Of commerce, exports and imports, 213.--Of revenue and debts, 214.

CHILDREN. See Education.

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

COMMERCE, progress slow in feudal times, 3.--Changed its abode when the magnet rendered navigating the ocean practicable, 4.-- Commercial wealth degrades a nation less than wealth obtained by conquests, 33.--Commercial spirit, its operation on national character, 37.--Commerce with India, the only one in the ancient world, 51.-- How carried on, 52.--Its vicissitudes, the envy it created, quarrels and revolutions it occasioned, 53 to 59.--Of Britain during the last fifteen years; the increase great, but not arising from any permanent cause, 193.--Its dependence on credit, 201.

CONSTANTINOPLE shares in the trade of India, 56.--Revolution occasioned partly by the contests about that commerce, 57.--Sunk before the discovery of America, by the conquest of the eastern Empire by the Turks, 68.

CONSUMPTION of food regulates the population of a country, 140.-- Its nature and tendency in northern nations, 141, 142, 143.--Requires attention from government, 146.

CONQUEST first altered the natural state of the world, 2.--Its first effect to lessen taxes, 35.--Ultimately degrades a nation, ib.

CONDUCT in life. See Education.

CORN, donations of at Rome, 35.--State of crops in England, 145.-- Impossibility, if it fell much short, to find ships to bring over the quantity wanted, ib.--calculations concerning, 146 to 154.

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

CRUSADES tended to extend civilization and commerce, 45.

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

CURING herrings, an improvement in the mode of, raised Holland above Flanders, 47.

D.

DEAD languages. See Education.

DECAY. See Decline.

DECLINE of nations. Though it cannot be finally prevented, may be considered as if it never were to come on in this Inquiry, 7.--Are of two sorts, 10.--Of the Carthaginians attended with less degradation than that of the Romans, 36.--Mistaken or misrepresented by historians in the instances of Rome and Carthage, 37.--Cause of it amongst the Romans, 39, 40, 41, &c.--Cause of in Flanders, 47.-- General in all nations that had been wealthy at the time of the discovery of the passage to India and of America, 49.--Of the Turkish government, 69.--Occasioned by taxation, 167.--How to be prevented or retarded, 169.--Interior causes may be counteracted, ib.-- In general hastened by the conduct of governments, 171.--Might be otherwise, ib.--Certain causes of, common to all nations, 173.-- External causes of operating on a nation, envy, enmity, &c. 176, 177, 178.--Causes of peculiar to Great Britain, 257, 258, 259, 260.

DENMARK. Example of comparative power.--Occasions the Hanseatic League by its piracies, and is afterwards pillaged and nearly ruined by that confederacy, 48.

DEPRECIATION of money counteracts the effect of taxation, 114, 115.--Takes place where ever wealth is, 164.--Its effects in dealing with poor nations, 165.

DIPLOMACY. The circuitous conduct ascribed to ambassadors, partly necessary and not to be blamed, 186.

[end of page #296]

DIVISION of land. See Property.

DIVISION of property. See Property.

DUTCH. See Holland.

E.

EAST INDIES. See India.

EASTERN Empire. See Constantinople.

EDUCATION of children in all countries grows worse as a nation grows more wealthy, 90.--Brings on a change of manners, 91.-- Would be better managed if parents were aided by govetnment, =sic= 94.--Cannot be properly taken care of without the aid of government, 95.--In what it consists generally, 96, 97, 98.--Has been in general wrong understood =sic= by writers on it, 98, 99.--Female, its importance, ib.--Has been ill understood and conducted, 100, 101.-- Its importance, 216.--Of the higher classes of society is well enough, 217.--Not so of the lower, ib.--Apprenticeships, their advantages, 218.--To become a good member of society, the end of all education, whatever the rank or situation, 219.--Dr. Smith's opinion about apprenticeships examined, ib. and 220, 221, 222, 223, 224, 225, 226.-- Of females in England badly conducted, 227, 228.

EGYPT, one of the first countries settled, 20.--Its fertility, &c. 21.-- Its surplus industry appears to have belonged to the sovereign, 22.-- Shared in the commerce to India at an early period, 51, 52.--Became the chief channel for the trade to India after the founding of Alexandria, 54.

ELIZABETH, queen, Spanish armada in her reign not equal to the privateers of our merchants now, 8.--Endeavoured to enrich the country, 118.

EMIGRANT ladies, astonishment shewn by them at the little progress made in female education at public schools in this country, 228.

ENERGY of those who attack greater than that of they =sic= who defend, 17.--Occasioned by poverty, and necessity the cause of changes and revolution, 19.

ENGLAND began to see the advantages of manufactures and commerce very late, 48, 74.--Its form of government a great advantage, 191.--Manners likely to change, 193.--Increase of its trade since 1791, owing to temporary causes, 195.--The American and Russian markets great and increasing, 204.--Envy and enmity excited by its conquests in India, 206.--Effects of taxation on it, 229, 230, 231, 232, 233.--Its national debt, 234 to 246.--Causes of decline peculiar to it, 257 to 260.--Circumstances peculiarly favourable to it, 261 to 270.--Ought not to be envied for its possessions in India 291.-- Owes its wealth chiefly to internal industry, 293.

ENVY leads to rivalship in peace and brings on war, 14.--One of the external causes of the fall of nations, 175.--Occasioned the fall of Jerusalem after the death of Solomon, 177.--Excited by the wealth of England, and particularly by its possessions in the east, 206.

ESPRIT DE CORPS. See Bodies public and corporate.

EUPHRATES. See Syria.

EUROPE, wealth and power unequally divided in it, 13.--Division of states, with the population and revenues, illustrated by a statistical chart,190.

EXCISE, established long after the customs, 107.

EXPENDITURE of England consists chiefly in interest of debt, 233.-- Cannot by any economy be much reduced in time of peace. ib.

EXPORTS, chart shewing, 213.

EXTERNAL causes of decline, cannot be prevented altogether by internal arrangements, but their effect greatly diminished, 173.--More simple than the internal causes, 175.--Envy and enmity, ib.--Opinion of Mr. Burke, 176, 177, 178.--Causes arising from poor nations having the advantage over rich in all dealings, 179.--High value of money in poorer nations, 182.--Conclusion of exterior causes, 184 to 187.

F.

FALL. See Decline.

FINANCES. See Revenue.

FINE arts do not flourish in a very wealthy country, 113.--Very different as to their improvement, from the mechanic arts.

FLANDERS enriched by manufactures, 3, 46.--The discovery of a bettar =sic= method of curing herrings by the Dutch is hurtful to it, 47.

FLORENCE served as a refuge for the nobles of Rome, when the city was taken by the Goths, 44.

FOOD. See Animal Food and Corn.

FORCE, human, the superiority it gave nearly done away by the invention of gun-powder, 4.

FORESTALLING. See MONOPOLY.

FRANCE has, since the revolution, invented new modes of fighting, 31.--Does not resemble Rome, 38.--Its assignats the principal cause of the nature of the revolution, 48.--Its monied capital was sent away when the revolution broke out,163.--Its burthens before the revolution, 169.--It expended great sums in the last war, 189.--It, before the revolution, gained more by the west-India trade than any other nation, 193.--Have now nearly lost it, ib.--Its capital greatly diminished, ib.--Will probably never possess great West-India trade again, 195.--Will never cease to be an enemy to England, 196.

FREED men.

FREE revenue. See Revenue.

FUND, public. See National Debt.

FUND, sinking. See National Debt.

G.

GAMING, though attended with painful sensations, is oftener followed from propensity, as a mode of occupying the mind and interesting it, than from a love of gain, 83. [end of page #297]

GENTLEMEN resemble each other pretty nearly in all countries, 218.

GEOGRAPHICAL discovery so far as connected with the rise and fall of nations nearly at an end, 12.

GENOA, why put with Venice in the chart of commercial history, 56.-- Its greatness, ib.--Loses its superiority, 57.--Its power in the Black- Sea, ib.

GOLD. See Money.

GOLDEN Age. See Age.

GOVERNMENTS ought to aid in the education of the lower and middling classes, 94, 95.--Neglect education in the useful arts, 98.-- Should counteract the internal causes of decline, 172, 173, 187.-- Government of Great Britain should take care of education, 225.

GRAIN. See Corn.

GREEKS, their education peculiar to themselves, 25.--Studied Egyptian learning, 98, 99.

GUN-POWDER changed the art of war, 4.

H.

HANS Towns rose first to wealth in the north of Europe, 3.--Became formidable towards the end twelfth century, 45.--Arose from the circumstances of the times and necessity.--Became conquerors, 48.-- Began to decline through pride and luxury, 49.

HERRINGS, a new mode of curing them, discovered by the Dutch, raised that country, and began to make Flanders decline, 47.

HISTORY, an appeal to the best mode of inquiry, 1.--Dr. Robertson's complaint about the scarcity of materials, ib.--Is confused previous to the conquests of Alexander the Great, 20.--Commercial chart of, for 3005 years, 78.

HOLLAND compared to the Phoenicians, 46.--New method of curing herrings raised it above Flanders. Great industry and economy, 48.-- Triumph over Spain at home, and Portugal in India, 62, 63, 64, 65.-- Increase in wealth till the end of the seventeenth century, 66.--The best example of overcoming difficulties, ib.--How it began to fall, 67.--How it at last sunk before France, 68.

HORSES, there =sic= great consumption of food, 147, 157.

HOUSE rent. See Rent.

HUME, David, Esq. his errors respecting national debt, though a man of great abilities, 114.

I.

JAMES I. did not understand the true reason, why the Scotch were greater lovers of liberty in his time than the English, 280.

IDLENESS, incompatible with riches in a nation, in every case, but not so with an individual, 82.

IMPORTS of, England, chart of, 213.

INDIA. Its productions seem to have been the first objects of commerce, 51.--Digression concerning this trade, 51 to 69.--Its trade and possessions excite envy, 193, 194, 195.--Our possessions too great, 197.--Budget, its statement and calculation of sums remitted home, 198.--Has lost the cotton trade notwithstanding the low rate of labour, 200.--Its trade compared with that of the country at large, 206, 207.--A peculiar cause of other nations envying England, 257.-- Ought not to be so, as they produce very little wealth compared with what springs from national industry, 291.--The division of labour, ready methods of working, and inventions produce more wealth than both the Indies, 293.

INDIES, West, the trade of, lost to France, 193.--Trade of England to, of a permanent nature, 195.--A cause of envy, 196, 197, 198, 199.-- Ought not to be a cause of envy.

INDIVIDUALS, some may live without labour, but all those of a country never can, 82.--Can pay for certain things, for which they cannot provide, 95.

INDUSTRY caused by poverty and necessity, 19.--A more permanent source of wealth than any other, 42.--Industry in youth, the great advantage of through life, 84.--Diminishes as wealth increases, 90.--Tends to leave a wealthy nation after a certain time, 161.-- Industry of England, the great support of its wealth, and if other nations were as industrious, each in the way most advantageous, they would be as rich as England, 292.

INTERIOR causes of decline enumerated and examined as habits of life and manners, 81 to 93.--Arising from education, 94 to 101. The effects on the people and the government, from 102 to 115.--Arising from public bodies, from 116 to 124.--Arising from unequal division of property and employment of capital, from 125 to 136.--Arising from the produce of the soil, becoming unequal to the consumption, from page 137 to 160.--From the tendency of industry and capital to leave a wealthy country, from 161 to 166.--Conclusion of interior causes, from 166 to 174.

INTEREST, compound, its progress, more certain in paying off debts than in accumulating capital, 241.

INVENTIONS, three great ones almost totally changed the state of mankind, 4.--Inventions render more capital necessary to commerce, 126.--Is one of the things that renders our superiority in manufactures secure, 202.--A nation that remains stationary will soon be surpassed, 203.

JOHNSON, Dr. would have been a greater man if he had lived in a poorer nation, 113.

ITALY was unable to supply its inhabitants with food in the splendour of the Roman empire, 43.

L.

LABOUR, some individuals may, but a nation never [end of page #28] can exist without it, 82.--Division of, produces great wealth.

LAND, price of, two centuries ago, and comparison of the profit of purchasing, or lending on interest in a nation increasing in wealth, 130.--Its unequal division discourages industry, 132, 133, 134.--Total amount of rent in England, 153, 154, 155.

LANGUAGES, dead. See Education.

LAWS better administered in England in criminal than civil cases, 119.--Tend to become more complicated, 123.

LAWYERS, their ESPRIT DE CORPS, 120, 121, 122.--Individuals have no means to resist their incroachments, 123.--Government ought to do it, 124.

LIVERPOOL fitted out privateers last war, equal in tonnage and men to the Spanish Armada, 8.

LOANS. See National Debt.

LOCAL situation, one of the causes of wealth, 2.--The discoveries in geography and navigation have changed that with regard to particular nations,

LONDON burnt by the Danes, 9.--Rent and taxes heavier than in any other place, 237.--People prefer living in London, where all is dear, to the cheaper parts of England, 238, 239.

M.

MISERS, never a race of them for three or four generations, 83.

MOGUL, the prodigious and rapid decline of his empire, 197.

MONEY corrupted every thing at Rome when its decline begun, 46.-- Money to borrow, only to be found in Italy and Flanders, 48.--Let =sic= out at interest, loses; laid out to buy land, gains in a country growing rich, 163.--Its value less in England than any country except America, 165.--Though the best measure of value is not accurate, being different in different countries, 182.--Its great value in poor countries serves to enrich them in dealing with wealthy nations, 183.

MONARCHY. See Absolute Monarchy.

MONOPOLY not an imaginary evil, 49.--Dr. Smith's opinion contradicted by experience, 150.--Proof of its existence, 151, 152, 153, 154.--Augments rent, and labour, and prices, 153.

MONTESQUEU, his mistake relative to Rome and Carthage, 32.-- His opinion of the affairs of Rome, 40.

MONTAGUE, chancellor of the exchequer, attended by the lord mayor and sheriffs, went from shop to shop in London to borrow money, 239.

MORALS. See Education.

MOTHERS. See Education.

MACHINERY. See Manufactures.

MAHOMEDAN RELIGION, its rapid establishment, 54.--Its effects on the commerce with India, ib.

MANNERS greatly corrupted at Rome, 43.--A change in them constantly going on, and tending to bring decline,

MANUFACTURES settled early on the shores of the Baltic, 3.-- Those who possess them first, lose them by imitation of others, 14.-- India surpassed in them by England, 63.--In ancient times, only, extended to luxuries for the great and simple necessaries for the poor, 73.--Manufacturers less splendid than merchants, 143.--The working men consume more animal food than the same rank of people in any other nation, 144.--England considered as excelling all other nations for manufacturers =sic=, 200.--The effects of the inventions of the steam engine and spinning machines, 203.--Scarcely any thing sold to the American states, except our own manufactures, 204.--Southern nations cannot rival northerly ones, 210.--Manufactures, and agriculture, more conducive to wealth than commerce, are not the same thing, 209.

MEDITERRANEAN, its shores the first abodes of commerce, 3 and 4, 20.--Lost its importance by the discovery of America, the magnet, and the passage to India by the Cape,

MERCHANTS less splendid than conquerors and planters, 143.--Can have no rule of conduct in transactions but their own advantage, 181.

N.

NATIONS, none that ever submitted to pay tribute, ever flourished long, 40.--Enriched by commerce, not so certain to decline as by conquests, 41.--There =sic= situation with respect to wealth and power previous to the discovery of America, 49.--Feeble nations have some advantage in knowing their weakness, 171.--Exterior causes of their decline of less importance than interior ones, 184.--Should consider which is the best object on which to employ their industry, 210, 211.--Their comparative extent, revenues, and population, illustrated by an engraved chart, 213, 214.--Nations of Europe, application of the present inquiry to them, 284.

NECESSITY consisting of a desire to supply wants, the cause of industry and wealth, 14.--Necessity ceases its operation on the nation that is risen highest, 15, 16.--Operated very powerfully on the Dutch, 47.--Habit prolongs the action of it, 81.--With young men that can, alone, produce industry, 84.--Less and less on each generation as wealth increases, 85. The consequences of this, 87.--Its operation prolonged to a certain degree by taxation, 239.--

NORTHERN countries most favourable to industry, 44.

NILE. See Egypt.

P.

PALMYRA founded by Solomon, King of Israol =sic=, for the purpose of trading with India,

PARIS burnt by the Danes soon after the death of Charlemagne. Prices of bread at, compared with those of London, 150.

PARISH-OFFICERS defend themselves against the public at the expense of the public, 122.--Bad administrators, 123, 124.--Rough, vulgar, and a disgrace to the country, 249.

PATENTS, laws of, its utility, 200, 201.

PETER the Great endeavoured to improve his country, and make his people happy, 118.

PITT, Right Hon. W. his estimate of national property, 243, 244.

POLAND, causes of its decline, and subjugation, different from that of most other nations, 75.

POOR, their wretched state at Rome, 43.--Of England cost six times as much, in proportion, as in Scotland, and fifty times as much in reality, 88.--Increase, as capital becomes necessary for industry, 156.-- Causes of their increase, &c. &c. 157, 158, 159, 160.--Of England, cost more to maintain, than the revenues of many kingdoms, 247.-- Causes, inquired into, and remedy, 248 to 256.

POPULATION, 142.--Connected with wealth, and the manner of living, so that a nation may not require to import ordinary food in great quantities 159.--May be considered as diminished in a double ratio as the poor increase, 249.

PORTUGAL, 65.

POWER in nations, sometimes united with wealth, sometimes not, 7.-- Definition of, 8, 9.--Sought after by the Romans, and most nations, too eagerly, 39.--Quitted Rome when wealth was too great, 36.

PRICES of animal and vegetable food; highness of price diminishes consumption, 161.--Those of the late dearth at Paris compared with London, ib.--When known to the corn-dealers, they can combine without any express stipulation, 152, 153.--Rises to that of monopoly as soon as an article of necessity becomes scarce, 154, 155.--Of rent and wages have advanced more within these last twelve years, than in half a century before, 155.

PRINCIPLES. See Education.

PRIORITY of possession of settlement, or of invention, one of the causes of wealth and power,

PRODUCE, indulging in eating animal food renders it unequal to maintaining the population of a country, 138, 139.--Of Italy, inadequate to its population in the time of Augustus, 3.--Easier purchased than raised when a nation is rich,

PROPERTY at Rome very unequally divided before its fall, 43.--Has a natural tendency to accumulate in particular hands as a nation gets rich, 125, 126, 127.--Its accumulation and unequal division, one of the causes of decline, 128.--In land, the accumulation is the most dangerous, 129 to 136.

PROSPERITY. See Wealth and Power.

R.

REFORMATION favourable to manufactures and industry,

RELIGION, Christian, more favourable than any other to industry and good moral conduct, 264.--Protestant still more favourable than the Roman Catholic, 265, 266, 267.

RENT. See Prices.

REVENUE of Rome wasted on soldiers and public shews, 43.--Want of, tended to ruin Poland, 75.--Digression concerning, 187, 188, 189, 190.--When it becomes the chief object of, to government, encourages vice, 226.

REVOLUTIONS in ancient nations traced, 17, 18, 53, 54, 55.--Of Poland, the account of, 75, 76, 77.

ROBINSON, Dr. his complaint about ancient history, 1.

ROME, her rise not accidental, but from the most unremitting perseverance, 27.--An account of her conduct in war, and internal policy, 28 to 33.--Lost her purity of manners, neglected agriculture and the arts, when she became rich by her conquests in Asia, and the fall of Carthage, 34, 35.--Became more degraded than ever Carthage was, 36, 37.--Her courts of justice became venal, property divided in a very unequal way, taxes became oppressive, her armies enervated, and she fell, 38, 39, 40.

S.

SARACENS got possession of Egypt, &c. 44.

SCHOOLS. See Education.

SINKING Fund, its progress shewn in a stained chart, 215.--Will not immediately diminish the taxes, 241.--When the capital was reimbursed to individuals, part of it would leave the country, 242.--If it completely paid off the debt in time of peace, would be productive of much mischief, ib.--Plan proposed to be substituted for it, 243.--If ever so effectual, its operation in time of war will never obtain credit amongst ourselves, and much less with the enemy, 244, 245, 246.

SMITH, Dr. Adam, did not make proper allowance about national debt, 114.--His opinions concerning monopoly, examined, 149, 150.-- His opinion about apprentices, 219.