THE WEALTH OF NATIONS. 127

much more judgment and discretion, tliau that of those whichare always the same, or very nearly the same.

Not only the art of the farmer, the general direction of theoperations of husbandry, but many inferior branches ofcountry labour require much more skill and experience thanthe greater part of mechanic trades. The man who worksupon brass and iron, works with instruments and upon mate-rials of which the temper is always the same or very nearlythe same. But the man who ploughs the ground with a teamof horses or oxen, works with instruments of which the health,strength, and temper, are very different upon different occa-sions. The condition of the materials which he worksupon too is as variable as that of. the instruments which heworks with, and both require to be managed with much judg-ment and discretion. The common ploughman, though ge-nerally regarded as the pattern of stupidity and ignorance, isseldom defective in this judgment and discretion. He is lessaccustomed, indeed, to social intercourse than the mechanicwho lives in a town. His voice and language are more un-couth, and more difficult to be understood by those who arenot used to them. His understanding, however, being ac-customed to consider a greater variety of objects, is generallymuch superior to that of the other, whose whole attentionfrom morning till night is commonly occupied in performing-one or two very simple operations. How much the lowerranks of people in the country are really superior to those ofthe town, is well known to every man whom either businessor curiosity has led to converse much with both. In China and Indostan accordingly, botlr- the rank and the wages ofcountry labourers are said to be superior to those ofthe greaterpart of artificers and manufacturers. They would probablybe so everywhere, if corporation laws and the corporationspirit did not prevent it.

The superiority which the industry of the towns has everywhere, in Europe , over that of the country, is not altogetherowing to corporations and corporation laws. It is supportedby many other regulations. The high duties upon foreignmanufactures and upon all goods imported by alien merchantsall tend to the same purpose. Corporation laws enable theinhabitants of towns to raise their prices, without fearing tobe undersold by the competition of their own countrymen.Those other regulations secure them equally against that offoreigners. The enhancement of price occasioned by both is