G3-1 THE NATUKE AND CAUSES OE

prosper only under a certain precise regimen, the exact re-gimen of perfect liberty and perfect justice. He sterns notto have considered that in the political body, the natural ef-fort which every man is continually making to better his owncondition, is a principle of preservation capable of prevent-ing and correcting, in many respects, the bad effects of a po-litical economy, in some degree both partial and oppressive.Such a polical economy, though it no doubt retards more orless, is not always capable of stopping altogether the naturalprogress of a nation towards wealth and prosperity, and stillless of making it go backwards. If a nation could not pros-per without the enjoyment of perfect liberty and perfect jus-tice, there is not in the world a nation which could ever haveprospered. In the political body, however, the wisdom of na-ture has fortunately made ample provision for remedyingmany of the bad effects of the folly and injustice of man; inthe same manner as it has done in the natural body, for re-medying those of his sloth and intemperance.

The capital error of this system, however, seems to lie inits representing the class of artificers, manufacturers, andmerchants, as altogether barren and unproductive. The fol-lowing observations may serve to shew the impropriety ofthis representation.

First, this class, it is acknowledged, reproduces annuallythe value of its own annual consumption, and continues, atleast, the existence of the stock or capital which maintainsand employs it. But upon this account alone the denomi-nation of barren or unproductive should seem to be very im-properly applied to it. We should not call a marriage bar-ren or unproductive, though it produced only a son and adaughter, to replace the father and mother, and though it didnot increase the number of the human species, but only con-tinued it as it was before. Farmers and country labourers,indeed, over and above the stock which maintains and em-ploys them, reproduce annually a neat produce, a free rent tothe landlord. As a marriage whichatlordsthree children is cer-tainly more productive than one which affords only two; sothe labour of farmers and country labourers is certainly moreproductive than that of merchants, artificers, and manufac-turers. The superior produce of the one class, however,does not render the other barren or unproductive.

Secondly, it seems upon this account altogether improperto consider artificers, manufacturers, and merchants in the