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XI. Trade and Commerce.

193. The barter of commodities is necessarily coeval with the first formation of society. One man might have too much corn; and another too much wool; and each would be willing to give what he had to spare of his own superfluity, for what he might want of the superfluity of the other.

194. In time, such barter would become a system; otherwise, every family would have to grow every article it consumed, and to manufacture every commodity it wanted. The taylor would make clothes for the farmer, and take provisions for his labour. The carpenter would build on the same principle of reward; and hence would arise all the distinct trades which we now see exercised.

195. One farmer too would cultivate wheat; and another would make cheese and butter, according to the nature of their respective soils.

They would either exchange on the spot, or each would carry his peculiar produce to a conmon market, and exchange it for gold or silver, articles of universal currency, which he could exchange at any time, for whatever else he wanted.

196. The application of labour to particular or individual objects, has also tended greatly to improve every manufacture. est di com dur

A man who is nothing but a taylor, is far more expert at making clothes, than if he were

also, a shoemaker, carpenter, and blacksmith; and still more so, if, instead of making all kinds of clothes, he work at particular parts of garments.

This is called division of labour.

197. The utility of dividing labour is exemplified in making pins.

Were a piece of metal given to a man to make one pin, he could scarcely do it in a day,

In pin-manufactories, however, each pin passes through twenty-five hands: one draws out the wire, another straightens it, another cuts it, another points it, three or four prepare the head, two or three put it on, and others finish them, and put them on a paper,

Twenty-five persons, thus, make one hundred and twenty-five thousand pins in a day; or five thousand to each person!

198. Labour likewise subdivides itself numerously in every branch of the elegant and useful arts.

Thus, in building, there are, the brickmaker, the stone-mason, the architect, the surveyor, the bricklayer, the sawyer, the carpenter for rough work, the joiner for fine work, the slater, the plasterer, the plumber, the glazier, the ironmonger, and the painter; all neces sary in their several departments.

190. In villages and remote countries, where every separate branch could not meet with suf ficient employment, the same person often pursues two or three branches; for example, the stone-mason, bricklayer, slater, and plasterer,

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are often united in one workman; so the carpenter and joiner; also the plumber, glazier, and painter; and the carpenter or bricklayer takes upon himself, to act also as architect and surveyor. See the Book of Trades.

200. In the arts connected with the furnishing of a house, there is the smith, the ironmonger, the joiner, the cabinet-maker, the looking-glass maker, the frame-maker, the carpetmaker, the bedstead-maker, the feather-merchant, the blanket-manufacturer, the oil-clothmaker, the copper-smith, the venetian blind. maker, the tinman, the print-seller, the bookseller, and the painter; all necessary for the house of a man of taste and fortune.

201. In branches of trade connected with the clothing of a man, we have the wool-man, the comber, the spinner, the weaver, the fuller, the dyer, the presser, the packer, and the woollen-draper.

For cottons, there is the planter, the merchant, the cotton-spinner, the weaver, the bleacher, the dyer, the presser, the packer, the warehouseman, and the draper.

202. In the silk trade, there is the importer, the silk-throwster or spinner, the weaver, the dyer, the presser, and the mercer.

In the iron and metallic trades, called the hardware-manufacture, there is the miner, the smelter, the iron-master, the founder, the scythesmith, the button-maker, the gun-smith, the sword-blade manufacturer, the, cutler, the po

lisher, the plater, the finisher, the sorter, the packer, the factor, and the hardwareman.

203. In connexion with books and literature, there is the author, the designer, the publisher, the rag-merchaut, the paper-maker, the staoner, the type-founder, the press-maker, the ink-maker, the pelt-maker, the chase-maker, the compositor, the pressman, the gatherer, the folder, the stitcher, the leather-seller, the binder, the copper-smith, the engraver, the woodcutter, the copper-plate printer, and the bookseller in all 25 trades, to produce the Universal Preceptor.

Obs. 1.-The author requires, too, his quill-merchant and his ink-maker; the designer, various branches of trade; as the pencil-maker, the colour-grinder, &c. &c. the rags require sorters; the paper-maker has his vatmen, bis dryers, pickers, sorters, pressers, &c. &c. and so on in each department, extending the 25 even to 100.

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204. A pack of wool, weighing 240 pounds, employs 200 persons, before it is ready for sale,

in the form of stuffs, cloths, &c.; to be made into stockings, it will occupy 184 persons for a week; as 10 combers, 100 spinners, winders, &c. 60 weavers or stocking-makers, besides dyers, pressers, &c.

A sword made of steel, the original metal of which was not worth a shilling, is sometimes sold for 300 guineas; and a watch-chain has produced 50 guineas: the metal of which, before it was wrought, was not worth three-pence.

In like manner, a yard of Mechlin lace will fetch 20 guineas; the flax in which was originally not worth three-pence.

So likewise, a painting, not two yards square, has been valued at 25,000/.; and a shawl, which contains but a few ounces of wool, and may be drawn through a curtain ring, sells for 60 or 80 guineas.

205. As it is with individuals, so it is with distant nations: what one nation possesses in superfluity, it is desirous to exchange for some article it wants, with any other nation which possesses a superfluity of that article. Anciently, England had tin, wool, and coals, which it exchanged for wines and manufactures.

Obs. A people, who have no superfluities desirable among other nations, can have no trade, nor can they enjoy any foreign commodities; but if they had such superfluities, they can exchange them, and trade, Gold or silver are superdnities which command trade, and pay the balance of trade, when the goods received exceed the goods delivered. Hence arises the wealth, in gold and silver, of all fruitful and industrious countries, 200. Such was the origin, and such is the

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