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Dr Smith has not explicitly stated what was the precise meaning attached by him to the term wealth; but he most commonly describes it to be "the annual produce of land and labour." Mr Malthus, however, has justly objected to this definition, that it refers to the sources of wealth, before we know what wealth is, and that it includes all the useless products of the earth, as well as those which are appropriated and enjoyed by man.

The definition now given does not seem liable to any of these objections. By confining the science to a discussion of the laws regulating the production, distribution, and consumption of articles or products possessing exchangeable value, we give it a distinct and definite object. When thus properly restricted, the researches of the economist occupy a field which is exclusively his own. He runs no risk of wasting his time in inquiries which belong to other sciences, or in unprofitable investigations respecting the production and consumption of articles which cannot be appropriated, and which exist independently of human industry.

Capacity of appropriation is indispensably necessary to constitute an article wealth. And I shall invariably employ this term to distinguish those products only which are obtained by the intervention of human labour, and which, consequently, can be appropriated by one individual, and consumed exclusively by him. A man is not said to be wealthy, because he has an indefinite command over atmospheric air, for this is a privilege which he enjoys in

common with every other man, and which can form no ground of distinction; but he is said to be wealthy, according to the degree in which he can afford to command those necessaries, conveniences, and luxuries, which are not the gifts of nature, but the products of human industry.

The object of Political Economy is to point out the means by which the industry of man may be rendered most productive of those necessaries, comforts, and enjoyments, which constitute wealth; to ascertain the proportions in which this wealth is divided among the different classes of the community; and the mode in which it may be most advantageously consumed. The intimate connection of such a science, with all the best interests of society, is abundantly obvious. There is no other, indeed, which comes so directly home to the everyday occupations and business of mankind. The consumption of wealth is indispensable to existence; but the eternal law of Providence has decreed, that wealth can only be procured by industry,-that man must earn his bread in the sweat of his brow. This twofold necessity renders the production of wealth a constant and principal object of the exertions of the vast majority of the human race; has subdued the natural aversion of man from labour; given activity to indolence; and armed the patient hand of industry with zeal to undertake, and patience to overcome, the most irksome and disagreeable tasks.

But when wealth is thus necessary, when the desire to acquire it is sufficient to induce us to submit to the greatest privations, the science which teaches the means by which its acquisition may be most effectually promoted, by which we may be enabled to obtain the greatest possible amount of wealth with the least possible difficulty,-must certainly deserve to be carefully studied and meditated. There is no class of persons to whom this knowledge can be considered as either extrinsic or superfluous. There are some, doubtless, to whom it may be of more advantage than to others; but it is of the utmost consequence to all. The prices of all sorts of commodities -the profits of the manufacturer and merchantthe rent of the landlord-the wages of the day-labourer-and the incidence and effect of taxes and regulations, all depend on principles which Political Economy can alone ascertain and elucidate.

Neither is the acquisition of wealth necessary only because it affords the means of subsistence: without it we should never be able to cultivate and improve our higher and nobler faculties. Where wealth has not been amassed, the mind being constantly occupied in providing for the immediate wants of the body, no time is left for its culture; and the views, sentiments, and feelings of the people, become alike contracted, selfish, and illiberal. The possession of a decent competence, or the being able to indulge in other pursuits than those which directly tend to satisfy our animal wants and desires, is necessary to soften the selfish passions; to improve the moral

and intellectual character, and to ensure any considerable proficiency in liberal studies and pursuits. And hence, the acquisition of wealth is not desirable merely as the means of procuring immediate and direct gratifications, but as being indispensably necessary to the advancement of society in civilization and refinement. Without the tranquillity and leisure afforded by the possession of accumulated wealth, those speculative and elegant studies which expand and enlarge our views, purify our taste, and lift us higher in the scale of being, can never be successfully prosecuted. It is certain, indeed, that the comparative barbarism and refinement of nations depend more on the comparative amount of their wealth than on any other circumstance. A A poor people are never refined, nor a rich people ever barbarous. It is impossible to name a single nation which has made any distinguished figure, either in philosophy or the fine arts, without having been at the same time celebrated for its wealth. The age of Pericles and Phidias was the flourishing age of Grecian, as the age of Petrarch and Raphael was of Italian commerce. The influence of wealth is, in this respect, almost omnipotent. It raised Venice from the bosom of the deep, and made the desert and sandy islands on which she is built, and the unhealthy swamps of Holland, the favoured abodes of literature, of science, and of art. In our own country its effects have been equally striking. The number and eminence of our philosophers, poets, scholars, and artists, have ever increased proportionally to the

increase of the public wealth, or to the means of rewarding and honouring their labours.

The possession of wealth being thus indispensable to individual existence and comfort, and to the advancement of nations in civilization, it may justly excite our astonishment, that so few efforts should have been made to investigate its sources; and that the study of Political Economy is not even yet considered as forming a principal part in a comprehensive system of education. A variety of circumstances might be mentioned, as occasioning the unmerited neglect of this science; but of these the institution of domestic slavery in the ancient world, and the darkness of the period when the plan of education in the universities of modern Europe was first formed, seem to have had the greatest influence.

The citizens of Greece and Rome considered it degrading to engage in those occupations which form the principal business of the inhabitants of modern Europe. Instead of endeavouring to enrich themselves by their own exertions, they trusted to the reluctant labour of slaves, and to subsidies extorted from conquered countries. In some of the Grecian States, the citizens were prohibited from engaging in any species of manufacturing and commercial industry; and in Athens and Rome, where this prohibition did not exist, these employments were universally regarded as unworthy of freemen, and were, in consequence, exclusively carried on either by slaves or by the very dregs of the people. Even Cicero, who had mastered all the philosophy of the ancient world,

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