mented by success, and diminished by any thing of a contrary description. The rising nation has always an increased energy, and that which is about being rivalled a sort of discouragement and dismay. This is one cause, but there are others.So far as methods of working and machinery are connected, the imitating nation has the advantage; it copies the best sort of machine, and the best manner of working at once. The workmen have neither an attachment to the old inferior methods, nor do they use old inferior machines, to avoid the expense of new ones. {172} In short, they adopt all improvements without much additional expense; and, as men's minds are always more occupied in thinking about a new object than an old one, they are even more likely to make improvements.As to difficulties in rivalling a nation in skill, in any mechanical art, there are none. The only difficulties in manufactures are in the inventions and improvements, and those have been overcome by the leading nation, and are no difficulties to that which follows. There are, indeed, some arts which require particular talents, and a real exertion of genius; but those are so few in number, and have so little connection with the common affairs of mankind, or the wealth of nations, that they do not deserve to be noticed.There is nothing in the art of weaving, or working in metals, or in any other material for common use, that is of such difficulty but that any man, with a common capacity, may do it nearly as well as any other man. The habits and manners of mankind, their disposition to labour, and the nature of the government under which they live, may encourage or discourage manufacturing; but both the strength and capacity of any of the natives of Europe, taking them on an average, are fully sufficient to enable them to excel in any work.---{172} Where machines are very expensive, new improvements, that require other machinery, are sometimes crushed and rejected on that account. To adopt them, a man must sometimes begin by sacrificing half his fortune, by destroying his old machinery.There have been several instances of this seen, particularly in the making of iron, when it was proposed to convert the rough gueze into good malleable iron bar, by rolling it at a welding heat, instead of hammering it by a forge-mill.-=-[end of page #212]{Here appears at page 212 the third chart, entitled"ChartShewing the Amount of theExports and Imports-of-ENGLANDto and from all partsfrom 1800 to 1805"}The British nation has begun to seek for wealth from agriculture. It had long been the mode to pay attention and give the preference to manufactures; but the current is, for the present, set in, in another direction. Calculation has, till of late, been confined to mercantile men; but, after all, they have not carried it to a very great length: and, as to their speculative wisdom, it consists chiefly in taking a ready advantage of some immediate object.EXPLANATION OF PLATE NO. III.The space from right to left is divided into years, each line representing the year marked under and above. From the beginning of the last century, till the year 1770, every tenth year only is expressed, and the average amount of exports and imports only is shewn; but, from 1770 to the present time, every year is separately represented by a line going from the top to the bottom.The divisions from top to bottom are millions of pounds sterling, each representing a million, measuring from the bottom, the number of millions indicated is marked on the right margin.As the exports, which are expressed by a red line, increased or diminished, the red line rises or falls, crossing the division representing the year at the line which indicates the number of millions to which the exports amounted that year.The yellow line is drawn on the same principle, and represents the imports for the same years; the difference between the two, which is stained green, being the balance for or against England.Thus, for example, we see that, till the year 1775, the exports rose very fast, and were far above the imports, but that then their proportion begun =sic= to vary; insomuch that, in 1781, the yellow line rose above the red, when the balance in favour of England turned against it, to the amount of a million for one year. In 1782, the balance again became favourable; but, though the trade was increasing, the balance was once more, in 1785, against England; ever since which it has been more or less in our favour.The difference between the two lines is stained pale green, when the balance was favourable, but of a pale red when against England.[end of page #213]The advantages proposed by this mode of representing matters are the same that maps and plans have over descriptions, and dimensions written in figures; and the same accuracy is in one case as the other; for, whatever quantities can be expressed in numbers may be represented by lines; and, where proportional progression is the business, what the eye does in an instant, would otherwise require much time.The impression is not only simple, but it is as lasting in retaining as it is easy in receiving. Such are the advantages claimed for the invention twenty years ago, when it first appeared; the claim has been allowed by many, and not objected to, so far as the inventor knows, either in this or in any other country.EXPLANATION OF PLATE NO. IV.Chart of revenue, from the time of Queen Elizabeth to the present day.Till the accession of William III. in 1688, the materials for this are not altogether accurate; but they are not far wrong, and indeed, the low state of the revenue, previous to that period, is such that it is a matter of little importance whether or not they are very exact. It is represented here rather as a contrast to the present high revenue, and a matter of curiosity, than as being of much importance.The pale red part expresses the free revenue, or what is over, after paying the interest of our debt.This free revenue has not increased so fast as the value of money has decreased, previous to the year 1793; and certainly, at that time, the annual sum of 7,000,000 L. was no equal to 4,000,000 L. in the reign of Queen Anne.The green part shews the annual interest of the national debt, and proves, beyond contradiction, that, under such a system, expenses of war (for the whole debt has been contracted for wars) augment in much more than a simple proportion.The yellow part, bounded by a curved line, shews the manner in which the sinking fund will increase in its operation of paying off the debt, on the supposition that the nation continues to borrow as it has [end of page #214] done for the last twelve years; setting apart one per cent. on every new loan, for its liquidation.As comparative views are the great object of these charts, a yellow dotted line is made, representing the amount of the revenue of France during the same period, till 1789, when the revolution stopped its progress; since which its amount has not been regularly known. {173}---{173} The author published an Atlas, containing twenty-seven charts of the different branches of commerce, revenue, and finance, of England, which was translated into French. The fifth edition, much improved, and brought to the present time, is now printing, and will be published in November.-=-[end of page #215]CHAP. III. [=sic= - error in printer's copy, should read II.]Of Education, as conducted in England.-- Amelioration proposed.-- Necessity of Government interfering, without touching the Liberty of the Subject.THE importance of education has been already mentioned, as it in general regards all nations, and certainly when we have examples to shew what are the lasting and terrible consequences of degradation of national character and manners, it is impossible to pay too strict an attention to that subject.The natural tendency in a nation, while growing richer, to alter its character, owing to the different manner in which the children are educated and brought up, applies particularly to England, and to every nation getting rich by trade or manufactures. In another part, it has been observed, that where the wealth of a country circulates amongst the labouring classes first, it alters the manner of living more than when it originates with the higher; it produces, also, a greater change on the education of children.No part of the general inquiry is so particularly applicable to England, in an excessive degree, as that relative to education. In proportion as ignorant people arrive at that sort of affluence, which manufactures and trade produce, in that same proportion do they ruin their children. The manners, the nature of the government, and the way of thinking of the people, all lead to this in England; and so far as it is possible to observe the effect, it may be said to appear as if it operated with rapidity at the present period.Many volumes have been written on education, by the ablest men; but it has already been observed, that they have all treated the subject in a manner much too intricate and complex. Fully aware of the importance, they seem to have thought that it could not be treated too much at length, or investigated too minutely; and, by this means, what they have said is little applicable to general purposes; for, if to educate a man for common life were a difficult complicated operation, it would very seldom be performed. [end of page #216]{Here appears at page 216 the fourth and final chart, entitled"ChartRepresenting theIncrease of the Annual Revenues-of-ENGLAND AND FRANCE,from the beginning of the 17th Century tothe present time"}The word education itself appears to be misapplied or misunderstood, owing, probably, to its original construction and use, and no other word having been substituted in its place.By education was meant, in former times, the teaching to read and write; and these accomplishments, which, at that time, distinguished a gentleman from the lower classes, and, by that means, education is still considered as only applying to the learning of what is taught at schools or universities. It is principally in this light that those who have written on it have viewed it, though in factwell brought up(bien eleve) comes nearer to the meaning than beingwell learnt, which is equivalent to well educated.In this, as in every other thing, the end in view should never be forgotten; but, as it happens with respect to the middling and lower orders, it is forgotten so soon as affluence has made a little progress in a country.The education of the higher classes is generally pretty well conducted; and, indeed, human beings, when beyond the reach of want, who do not inherit the necessity derived from Adam, of gaining their bread by the sweat of their brows, require much more teaching than others, whose conduct is regulated by necessity, and who have not the means of giving way to the passions that beset human nature.With respect, however, to the higher classes, it is scarcely possible for a government to interfere to much purpose. Those who are possessed of fortune will act according to inclination; and, in respect to this class of society, in England, it is already in less need of reform or interference than any others, while the lower and middling classes require it more.There is no possibility for an ignorant man to become of any importance in this country, even with the aid of wealth and fortune. An immoral character, or a mean selfish one, has not a much better chance, while, by talents and good conduct, every thing desirable may be obtained: perhaps, nothing further can be done to excite men of rank and fortune to emulation and virtue.With respect to the learned professions, the modes by which students are brought up to them are by no means unexceptionable; but that is not a point of very great national importance; at any rate, [end of page #217] it is not the part in which England stands the most in need of attention {174} and interference from the government of the country.The two classes to whom bringing up, as it is generally understood, would apply better than the word education, are the middle rank of society, and the lower order of people in trade.The middle rank of society is, in all countries, the most important in point of principles and manners. To keep it pure is always of the highest importance, and it is the most difficult, for there a baneful change is the most apt to take place.Gentlemen of rank, in all countries, resemble each other very nearly; not, perhaps, in exterior, because that depends on fashion, which is arbitrary, but in mind and manners there is less difference than between men in a second rank of society.The lower orders, so far as they are forced, by necessity, to labour, resemble each other also; they are pressed by necessities and passions on one side, and the desire of rest on the other; and a fair allowance being made for variety of climate, of circumstances, and of natural dispositions, there is nothing very different amongst them. {175}What applies with respect to the higher and lower orders does not---{174} Our lawyers (barristers) are probably superior to those of any other nation, and the clergy are, at least, equal. This is not, indeed, saying a great deal; but it is so difficult, in matters of religion, to temper zeal, and draw a line between emulation and fanaticism, that, perhaps, it is better that they should be a little remiss than righteous overmuch. It is not in the education of churchmen, but in the manner of paying and providing for them, that the error lies; and that subject is treated elsewhere.{175} Cervantes, in his admirable romance of Don Quixote, paints the mind of a gentleman, which all countries will acknowledge to be like the truth. The madness apart, the manner of thinking and acting was that of the gentleman of Spain, France, Germany, or England. Neither was he the gentleman of the fifteenth or eighteenth century, but of any other century. His dress was Spanish; his madness and manners belonged to the ages of chivalry and romance, but the mind and principles of the gentleman suited all ages and all countries.Sancho, again, barring likewise his oddities, is the peasant of all countries; studying to live as well as he can, and labour as little as he may. In short, a mind continually occupied about personal wants, and alive to personal interest. In the middle ranks of society there is no such similarity.-=-[end of page #218]apply at all to the middling classes, nor even to the most wealthy class of labourers in a manufacturing country: in those we can find no fixed character; it is as variable as the circumstances in which the individuals are placed, and it is there that a government should interfere. It should interfere in guiding the richer classes of working people, and the middling ranks, in the education of their children, and in assisting those of the lower orders, who are too much pressed upon by indigence.The end in view in all education is to make the persons, whether men or women, fill their place well and properly in life; and this is only to be done by setting a good example, instilling good principles, accustoming them, when young, to good habits; and, above all, by teaching them how to gain more than they are habituated to spend.It follows from this, that industry, and a trade, are the chief parts of education, that reading and writing are not, being but of a very doubtful utility to the labouring class of society.On this subject, it is absolutely necessary to advert to what Dr. Smith says relative to apprenticeships; the opinion of so great a writer is of too much importance not to be examined, and refuted, if found wrong.Apprenticeships, or teaching a trade, is the basis of the future happiness and prosperity of the individual in the lower and middle classes. On this subject, however, Mr. Smith says quite the contrary. That the idleness of apprentices is well known, that their inducement to industry is small, and that, as to what they have to learn, a few weeks, or sometimes a few days, would, in most cases, be sufficient. In short, he maintains, that they would learn better, be more industrious and useful, if employed on wages, than if bound for a term of years; and, finally, that there were no apprentices amongst the ancients. As to there being no apprentices in the ancient world, if that was the case, is no argument with respect to the present state of things; for, while most part of working men were slaves, there could not possibly be much occasion for apprentices; but are we quite certain, that the freed men, so often mentioned, were not people who had served apprenticeships? Freed men are so often mentioned, that there must have been probably something else to which they owed their freedom, besides the goodwill or [end of page #219] caprice of their masters, particularly as that goodwill must have been exercised to deserving objects, and consequently the sacrifice made in giving liberty was the greater. {176}As men cultivated difficult arts; that is, as luxury increased, it must have become difficult to get labour done by slaves, merely by compulsive means; there must have been bargain and mutual interest settled between the master and the slave, so as to accomplish the end intended. {177} Amongst rewards to a slave, liberty, at a certain period, is not only the greatest, but is the only one that effectually serves the slave; for, while he remains the property of a master, his rewards can consist of little else than good treatment, as all property given is liable to be taken back again.Supposing, however, the point yielded, and that there were no apprentices in the early ages; but that the practice originated in the days of ignorance; in the dark ages, under the feudal system, together with the invention of corporations and privileged bodies, against whose existence the whole set of economists have leagued together, as the Greeks did against Troy; still the obscurity of the origin is no objection. A constitution like that of Britain, for example, is not an invention of antiquity; it took its rise in the dark ages and in times of ignorance, but it is not for that the less an object of admiration. Many other examples may be furnished of the admirable things that took rise in the dark ages; and amongst them, not the least, is the abolition of slavery itself. {178}Let us, however, examine the effect of apprenticeships in those places where they can be compared with persons brought up entirely free.---{176} We may form some idea of the difficulty of getting work done by people in no way interested in the success, by the workhouses in this country. The smallest quantity, and of the most simple nature, is all we get done, because the overseers are ignorant, and the nation inattentive, and the labour compulsive.{177} In Egypt, and most other ancient countries, the son followed, by law, the trade of his father: this was equivalent to an apprenticeship.{178} Whether it arose from the mixture of a northern with the southern people, or from what other cause, it is certain, that, during the ages of ignorance, the foundation was laid for almost all that is great, at the present time.-=-[end of page #220]If there are trades, where it is true, (as Mr. Smith affirms,) that the art of working may be learnt in a few weeks, what are the consequences? At the age of sixteen or seventeen, a boy can get as much money as he will be able to earn at any future time in his life; he will be able to get as much as a man, who has a wife and five or six children to maintain. There will be required a very great share of moderation and wisdom, indeed, under such circumstances, to prevent such a boy from wasting his money in ways that will incapacitate him from living easy when he shall become a father of a family himself, or from idling away the spare time that his gains afford him. He will, naturally, do part of both: but the way that is generally done is this. Without controul from a master, and totally independent of parents, who are quite left behind in poverty, (not having more to maintain their whole family than the youth himself earns,) he despises them, saves a little money at first, and purchases finery. The novelty of dress soon wears off, and the more immediate pleasures of eating, drinking, and keeping company, as it is termed, take the lead. The consequence of the same is idleness and rags. Ashamed to shew himself amongst persons of better conduct, the youth changes his place of residence and work; habit has got hold of him, and labour becomes hateful; a soldier's life appears the best for a youth of such a description; and, it is an undoubted fact, that, at those places where trades are carried on, that can be learnt in a short time, {179} there are more recruits obtained for the army than in any other districts of equal population. It is also an undoubted fact, that, in these same districts, the most respectable people bind their sons apprentices; and, in doing so, they are guided by experience, and affection for their children, not by interested motives.---{179} This is not the case with many trades, and Mr. Smith is under a mistake as to the fact; but, granting it to be true, the places in question, Birmingham, Sheffield, Manchester, and other towns where the division of labour reduces every operation to great simplicity, are the best for recruiting the army. In those places, all respectable people, who can afford it, bind their sons apprentices, to prevent the danger.-=-[end of page #221]In the other case, again, where a trade is not easily learnt, how is skill to be obtained but by an apprenticeship. The bringing the son up to his father's trade, a practice that prevails in the eastern parts of Asia, is one way; parental authority needs not the aid of a written indenture; but, where this is not the case, who is to teach a youth, if he is not to be bound for a certain number of years, but to go away as soon as he has learnt a trade? The father, in some cases, may be able to pay for his son learning the trade, and this experiment has sometimes been tried, but generally with very imperfect success. The youth, for the most part, in those cases, considers himself as independent of the master, and gives himself very little trouble to learn his business.Where the reward of the master, or rather the remuneration for his pains and trouble, is to arise from the labour of the boy, the master is interested in his learning; and the other feels an obligation, as well as an interest in learning. Though the apprentice is not absolutely paid for what he does, he finds his ease, his importance, and comfort, all depend on his proficiency; and, with young minds, such motives are much more powerful, and act through a better channel than avarice.The power that the legislature gives to a master over his apprentice appears not only to be wise but necessary; and, if rewards for earning a trade could be given, in addition to that without infringing on liberty, or burthening the state, it would be a great advantage.But learning a trade is not the only advantage of an apprenticeship; a good moral conduct, fidelity, and attention to his duties, are all acquired at the same time, or ought to be so; whereas, the youth who, at an early age, is left without control, is apt to learn just the contrary.Where people have fortune, circumstances give them a control over their children by expectancies; but, where there is no fortune, and children must provide for themselves, an apprenticeship is a substitute for expectancies, which appears highly necessary; and it is wonderful how so discriminating and profound a man as Dr. Smith could overlook so material a circumstance. It shews how far prejudice, and an [end of page #222] opinion once adopted, will lead men of the first judgement and genius astray; {180} for it is not to be supposed that any person will stand forward of himself to maintain an opinion against which experience speaks so decidedly.To learn a trade, and be taught a good moral conduct, and attention to one's duty, is certainly the essential part of education, both in the lower and middling classes; and that portion of education, which appears to have got an exclusive title to the name, reading and writing, are, with the working classes, a very inferior object.One of the duties of government, then, is to watch over the education of the children of the middling and lower orders, which has a tendency to grow worse, as the nation advances in wealth.In England, the pride of the middling classes is to have their children educated at boarding-schools, where the business of eating, sleeping, dressing, and exercise, is pretty well understood; where the branches of education, pretended to be taught, are little attended to, (writing, and some exterior accomplishments, of which the father and mother can judge, excepted,) where moral conduct, the duties in life, and the conduct necessary to be followed, are scarcely once thought of.It is true, that, till a certain age, it is generally not known for what particular line of life a young man is intended; but, there are certain things necessary to every line of life, and those should never be neglected. The habits contracted at schools are very often of a sort never to be got the better of; and how can good habits be contracted when no attention is bestowed on the subject?The consequence of this is, that, when the good sense of the father or mother, or of the boy himself, does not correct the evil, he is bred up to consider himself as born to be waited on, and provided for, without any effort of his own; he is led to suppose that he is to indulge---{180} In the notes upon the Wealth of Nations, this case is argued, but the matter is too important not to be examined on every occasion and opportunity. The opinion here alluded to is that general way of thinking, respecting corporations, privileges, and regulations, or restraints of every sort imposed on trade, which the writers on political economy, in general, think ought all to be entirely done away.-=-[end of page #223]in a life similar to that his father leads at home, where a few indulgencies =sic= are the natural consequences of age, and the fair returns for a life employed in care and industry.In England, it would be absolutely necessary to make school-masters undergo an examination; not only at first, and before the school should be licensed, but the boys should be examined twice a year, and the result enregistered, so that the business would really be to learn something, and not merely to spend the time.The small proficiency made in the schools, in England, and around London in particular, is incredible. It is even difficult to conceive how the boys avoid learning a little more than they generally do, during eight or ten years. {181} The masters pretend, for the most part, to teach boys Latin, by way of teaching them English, but without almost ever accomplishing it. In arithmetic, the common rules are taught, but scarcely ever decimal fractions, and almost never book-keeping, so useful and so easy an art.Writing and spelling are better taught, perhaps, than in any other country, and, certainly, those are great advantages; but, according to the time and money spent, it is the least that can be expected. Here we may remark, that those are the only acquirements with the proficiency in which the father and mother are necessarily acquainted; it therefore gives reason for thinking, that, if the same check were held in other branches of their education, they would be excited to make equal progress.When the time comes that it is fixed on what line of life a young man is to adopt, then there should be schools for different branches, where---{181} Without contesting the point, whether dead languages are of any use, it will be allowed that the study costs pretty dear. Three-quarters of the time, for seven years employed on that is equal to five years employed constantly, and twenty pounds a year, at least, is the expense. Not above one in one hundred learns to read even Latin decently well, that is one good reader for every 10,000 L. expended. As to speaking Latin, perhaps, one out of one thousand may learn that, so that there is a speaker for each sum of 100,000 L. spent on the language. It will, perhaps, be said, that Latin is necessary to the understanding English, but the Greeks, (particularly at Athens,) who learnt no language but their own, understood and spoke it better than the people of any other country.-=-[end of page #224]there should be knowledge taught, analogous to the profession. For the mercantile line, for agriculture, for every line of life, boys should be prepared; and, above all, it should never be neglected to instil into them the advantages of attention to industry, to doing their duty, and in every case making themselves worthy of trust.Public examinations, such honours and rewards as would be gratifying, but not expensive, for those that excelled, would produce emulation. Though, perhaps, it is not of very great importance to excel in some of the studies to which a young man applies at school, yet it is of great importance to be taught that habit of application that produces excellence.With regard to the education of the lower classes, it would be no great additional burthen to the nation if there were proper schools established in every parish in the kingdom, at the expense of the public, in order that there might be a proper control over those who teach, and over what is taught. {182} Without going so far as to compel people of the lower classes to send their children to school, they might be induced to do it for a short time, and, at all events, care should be taken that the teachers were fit for the office they undertake.In no country do the lower classes neglect the care of their children more, or set them a worse example, than in England; they are mostly brought up as if the business of eating and drinking were the chief purpose of human existence; they are taught to be difficult to please, and to consider as necessary what, in every other nation in Europe, is considered, by the same rank of people, as superfluous.Although the lower orders have as good a right as the most affluent to indulge in every enjoyment they can afford, yet to teach this to children, without knowing what may be their lot, is doing both them and society an injury. A great number of crimes arise from early indul----{182} As there are between nine and ten thousand parishes, twenty pounds given in each, to which the schoolmaster would be allowed to add what those who were able could pay, might perhaps answer the purpose, and would not amount to a great sum.-=-[end of page #225]gence of children, and from neglecting to instil into them those principles which are necessary to make them go through life with credit and contentment. {183}The Spartans used to shew their youth slaves or Helots in a state of intoxication, in order to make them detest the vice of drunkenness; but this was the exhibition of a contemptible and mean person in a disgraceful situation. The effect is very different when children see those they love and respect in this state; it must have the effect of either rendering the parent contemptible, or the vice less odious, it perhaps has some effect both ways; but, at all events, it must operate as a bad example, and, amongst the lower classes, it is a very common one.When a nation becomes the slave of its revenue, and sacrifices very =sic= thing to that object, abuses that favour revenue are difficult to reform; but surely it would be well to take some mode to prevent the facility with which people get drunk, and the temptation that is laid to do so. The immense number of public houses, and the way in which they give credit, are undoubtedly, in part, causes of this evil. It would be easy to lessen the number, without hurting liberty, and it would be no injustice if publicans were prevented from legal recovery for beer or spirits consumed in their houses, in the same manner that payment cannot be enforced of any person under twenty-one years of age, unless for necessaries. There could be no hardship in this, and it would produce a great reform in the manners of the lower orders.
mented by success, and diminished by any thing of a contrary description. The rising nation has always an increased energy, and that which is about being rivalled a sort of discouragement and dismay. This is one cause, but there are others.
So far as methods of working and machinery are connected, the imitating nation has the advantage; it copies the best sort of machine, and the best manner of working at once. The workmen have neither an attachment to the old inferior methods, nor do they use old inferior machines, to avoid the expense of new ones. {172} In short, they adopt all improvements without much additional expense; and, as men's minds are always more occupied in thinking about a new object than an old one, they are even more likely to make improvements.
As to difficulties in rivalling a nation in skill, in any mechanical art, there are none. The only difficulties in manufactures are in the inventions and improvements, and those have been overcome by the leading nation, and are no difficulties to that which follows. There are, indeed, some arts which require particular talents, and a real exertion of genius; but those are so few in number, and have so little connection with the common affairs of mankind, or the wealth of nations, that they do not deserve to be noticed.
There is nothing in the art of weaving, or working in metals, or in any other material for common use, that is of such difficulty but that any man, with a common capacity, may do it nearly as well as any other man. The habits and manners of mankind, their disposition to labour, and the nature of the government under which they live, may encourage or discourage manufacturing; but both the strength and capacity of any of the natives of Europe, taking them on an average, are fully sufficient to enable them to excel in any work.
---
{172} Where machines are very expensive, new improvements, that require other machinery, are sometimes crushed and rejected on that account. To adopt them, a man must sometimes begin by sacrificing half his fortune, by destroying his old machinery.
There have been several instances of this seen, particularly in the making of iron, when it was proposed to convert the rough gueze into good malleable iron bar, by rolling it at a welding heat, instead of hammering it by a forge-mill.
-=-
[end of page #212]
{Here appears at page 212 the third chart, entitled
"Chart
Shewing the Amount of the
Exports and Imports
-of-
ENGLAND
to and from all parts
from 1800 to 1805"}
The British nation has begun to seek for wealth from agriculture. It had long been the mode to pay attention and give the preference to manufactures; but the current is, for the present, set in, in another direction. Calculation has, till of late, been confined to mercantile men; but, after all, they have not carried it to a very great length: and, as to their speculative wisdom, it consists chiefly in taking a ready advantage of some immediate object.
EXPLANATION OF PLATE NO. III.
The space from right to left is divided into years, each line representing the year marked under and above. From the beginning of the last century, till the year 1770, every tenth year only is expressed, and the average amount of exports and imports only is shewn; but, from 1770 to the present time, every year is separately represented by a line going from the top to the bottom.
The divisions from top to bottom are millions of pounds sterling, each representing a million, measuring from the bottom, the number of millions indicated is marked on the right margin.
As the exports, which are expressed by a red line, increased or diminished, the red line rises or falls, crossing the division representing the year at the line which indicates the number of millions to which the exports amounted that year.
The yellow line is drawn on the same principle, and represents the imports for the same years; the difference between the two, which is stained green, being the balance for or against England.
Thus, for example, we see that, till the year 1775, the exports rose very fast, and were far above the imports, but that then their proportion begun =sic= to vary; insomuch that, in 1781, the yellow line rose above the red, when the balance in favour of England turned against it, to the amount of a million for one year. In 1782, the balance again became favourable; but, though the trade was increasing, the balance was once more, in 1785, against England; ever since which it has been more or less in our favour.
The difference between the two lines is stained pale green, when the balance was favourable, but of a pale red when against England.
[end of page #213]
The advantages proposed by this mode of representing matters are the same that maps and plans have over descriptions, and dimensions written in figures; and the same accuracy is in one case as the other; for, whatever quantities can be expressed in numbers may be represented by lines; and, where proportional progression is the business, what the eye does in an instant, would otherwise require much time.
The impression is not only simple, but it is as lasting in retaining as it is easy in receiving. Such are the advantages claimed for the invention twenty years ago, when it first appeared; the claim has been allowed by many, and not objected to, so far as the inventor knows, either in this or in any other country.
EXPLANATION OF PLATE NO. IV.
Chart of revenue, from the time of Queen Elizabeth to the present day.
Till the accession of William III. in 1688, the materials for this are not altogether accurate; but they are not far wrong, and indeed, the low state of the revenue, previous to that period, is such that it is a matter of little importance whether or not they are very exact. It is represented here rather as a contrast to the present high revenue, and a matter of curiosity, than as being of much importance.
The pale red part expresses the free revenue, or what is over, after paying the interest of our debt.
This free revenue has not increased so fast as the value of money has decreased, previous to the year 1793; and certainly, at that time, the annual sum of 7,000,000 L. was no equal to 4,000,000 L. in the reign of Queen Anne.
The green part shews the annual interest of the national debt, and proves, beyond contradiction, that, under such a system, expenses of war (for the whole debt has been contracted for wars) augment in much more than a simple proportion.
The yellow part, bounded by a curved line, shews the manner in which the sinking fund will increase in its operation of paying off the debt, on the supposition that the nation continues to borrow as it has [end of page #214] done for the last twelve years; setting apart one per cent. on every new loan, for its liquidation.
As comparative views are the great object of these charts, a yellow dotted line is made, representing the amount of the revenue of France during the same period, till 1789, when the revolution stopped its progress; since which its amount has not been regularly known. {173}
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{173} The author published an Atlas, containing twenty-seven charts of the different branches of commerce, revenue, and finance, of England, which was translated into French. The fifth edition, much improved, and brought to the present time, is now printing, and will be published in November.
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CHAP. III. [=sic= - error in printer's copy, should read II.]
Of Education, as conducted in England.-- Amelioration proposed.-- Necessity of Government interfering, without touching the Liberty of the Subject.
THE importance of education has been already mentioned, as it in general regards all nations, and certainly when we have examples to shew what are the lasting and terrible consequences of degradation of national character and manners, it is impossible to pay too strict an attention to that subject.
The natural tendency in a nation, while growing richer, to alter its character, owing to the different manner in which the children are educated and brought up, applies particularly to England, and to every nation getting rich by trade or manufactures. In another part, it has been observed, that where the wealth of a country circulates amongst the labouring classes first, it alters the manner of living more than when it originates with the higher; it produces, also, a greater change on the education of children.
No part of the general inquiry is so particularly applicable to England, in an excessive degree, as that relative to education. In proportion as ignorant people arrive at that sort of affluence, which manufactures and trade produce, in that same proportion do they ruin their children. The manners, the nature of the government, and the way of thinking of the people, all lead to this in England; and so far as it is possible to observe the effect, it may be said to appear as if it operated with rapidity at the present period.
Many volumes have been written on education, by the ablest men; but it has already been observed, that they have all treated the subject in a manner much too intricate and complex. Fully aware of the importance, they seem to have thought that it could not be treated too much at length, or investigated too minutely; and, by this means, what they have said is little applicable to general purposes; for, if to educate a man for common life were a difficult complicated operation, it would very seldom be performed. [end of page #216]
{Here appears at page 216 the fourth and final chart, entitled
"Chart
Representing the
Increase of the Annual Revenues
-of-
ENGLAND AND FRANCE,
from the beginning of the 17th Century to
the present time"}
The word education itself appears to be misapplied or misunderstood, owing, probably, to its original construction and use, and no other word having been substituted in its place.
By education was meant, in former times, the teaching to read and write; and these accomplishments, which, at that time, distinguished a gentleman from the lower classes, and, by that means, education is still considered as only applying to the learning of what is taught at schools or universities. It is principally in this light that those who have written on it have viewed it, though in factwell brought up(bien eleve) comes nearer to the meaning than beingwell learnt, which is equivalent to well educated.
In this, as in every other thing, the end in view should never be forgotten; but, as it happens with respect to the middling and lower orders, it is forgotten so soon as affluence has made a little progress in a country.
The education of the higher classes is generally pretty well conducted; and, indeed, human beings, when beyond the reach of want, who do not inherit the necessity derived from Adam, of gaining their bread by the sweat of their brows, require much more teaching than others, whose conduct is regulated by necessity, and who have not the means of giving way to the passions that beset human nature.
With respect, however, to the higher classes, it is scarcely possible for a government to interfere to much purpose. Those who are possessed of fortune will act according to inclination; and, in respect to this class of society, in England, it is already in less need of reform or interference than any others, while the lower and middling classes require it more.
There is no possibility for an ignorant man to become of any importance in this country, even with the aid of wealth and fortune. An immoral character, or a mean selfish one, has not a much better chance, while, by talents and good conduct, every thing desirable may be obtained: perhaps, nothing further can be done to excite men of rank and fortune to emulation and virtue.
With respect to the learned professions, the modes by which students are brought up to them are by no means unexceptionable; but that is not a point of very great national importance; at any rate, [end of page #217] it is not the part in which England stands the most in need of attention {174} and interference from the government of the country.
The two classes to whom bringing up, as it is generally understood, would apply better than the word education, are the middle rank of society, and the lower order of people in trade.
The middle rank of society is, in all countries, the most important in point of principles and manners. To keep it pure is always of the highest importance, and it is the most difficult, for there a baneful change is the most apt to take place.
Gentlemen of rank, in all countries, resemble each other very nearly; not, perhaps, in exterior, because that depends on fashion, which is arbitrary, but in mind and manners there is less difference than between men in a second rank of society.
The lower orders, so far as they are forced, by necessity, to labour, resemble each other also; they are pressed by necessities and passions on one side, and the desire of rest on the other; and a fair allowance being made for variety of climate, of circumstances, and of natural dispositions, there is nothing very different amongst them. {175}
What applies with respect to the higher and lower orders does not
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{174} Our lawyers (barristers) are probably superior to those of any other nation, and the clergy are, at least, equal. This is not, indeed, saying a great deal; but it is so difficult, in matters of religion, to temper zeal, and draw a line between emulation and fanaticism, that, perhaps, it is better that they should be a little remiss than righteous overmuch. It is not in the education of churchmen, but in the manner of paying and providing for them, that the error lies; and that subject is treated elsewhere.
{175} Cervantes, in his admirable romance of Don Quixote, paints the mind of a gentleman, which all countries will acknowledge to be like the truth. The madness apart, the manner of thinking and acting was that of the gentleman of Spain, France, Germany, or England. Neither was he the gentleman of the fifteenth or eighteenth century, but of any other century. His dress was Spanish; his madness and manners belonged to the ages of chivalry and romance, but the mind and principles of the gentleman suited all ages and all countries.
Sancho, again, barring likewise his oddities, is the peasant of all countries; studying to live as well as he can, and labour as little as he may. In short, a mind continually occupied about personal wants, and alive to personal interest. In the middle ranks of society there is no such similarity.
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apply at all to the middling classes, nor even to the most wealthy class of labourers in a manufacturing country: in those we can find no fixed character; it is as variable as the circumstances in which the individuals are placed, and it is there that a government should interfere. It should interfere in guiding the richer classes of working people, and the middling ranks, in the education of their children, and in assisting those of the lower orders, who are too much pressed upon by indigence.
The end in view in all education is to make the persons, whether men or women, fill their place well and properly in life; and this is only to be done by setting a good example, instilling good principles, accustoming them, when young, to good habits; and, above all, by teaching them how to gain more than they are habituated to spend.
It follows from this, that industry, and a trade, are the chief parts of education, that reading and writing are not, being but of a very doubtful utility to the labouring class of society.
On this subject, it is absolutely necessary to advert to what Dr. Smith says relative to apprenticeships; the opinion of so great a writer is of too much importance not to be examined, and refuted, if found wrong.
Apprenticeships, or teaching a trade, is the basis of the future happiness and prosperity of the individual in the lower and middle classes. On this subject, however, Mr. Smith says quite the contrary. That the idleness of apprentices is well known, that their inducement to industry is small, and that, as to what they have to learn, a few weeks, or sometimes a few days, would, in most cases, be sufficient. In short, he maintains, that they would learn better, be more industrious and useful, if employed on wages, than if bound for a term of years; and, finally, that there were no apprentices amongst the ancients. As to there being no apprentices in the ancient world, if that was the case, is no argument with respect to the present state of things; for, while most part of working men were slaves, there could not possibly be much occasion for apprentices; but are we quite certain, that the freed men, so often mentioned, were not people who had served apprenticeships? Freed men are so often mentioned, that there must have been probably something else to which they owed their freedom, besides the goodwill or [end of page #219] caprice of their masters, particularly as that goodwill must have been exercised to deserving objects, and consequently the sacrifice made in giving liberty was the greater. {176}
As men cultivated difficult arts; that is, as luxury increased, it must have become difficult to get labour done by slaves, merely by compulsive means; there must have been bargain and mutual interest settled between the master and the slave, so as to accomplish the end intended. {177} Amongst rewards to a slave, liberty, at a certain period, is not only the greatest, but is the only one that effectually serves the slave; for, while he remains the property of a master, his rewards can consist of little else than good treatment, as all property given is liable to be taken back again.
Supposing, however, the point yielded, and that there were no apprentices in the early ages; but that the practice originated in the days of ignorance; in the dark ages, under the feudal system, together with the invention of corporations and privileged bodies, against whose existence the whole set of economists have leagued together, as the Greeks did against Troy; still the obscurity of the origin is no objection. A constitution like that of Britain, for example, is not an invention of antiquity; it took its rise in the dark ages and in times of ignorance, but it is not for that the less an object of admiration. Many other examples may be furnished of the admirable things that took rise in the dark ages; and amongst them, not the least, is the abolition of slavery itself. {178}
Let us, however, examine the effect of apprenticeships in those places where they can be compared with persons brought up entirely free.
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{176} We may form some idea of the difficulty of getting work done by people in no way interested in the success, by the workhouses in this country. The smallest quantity, and of the most simple nature, is all we get done, because the overseers are ignorant, and the nation inattentive, and the labour compulsive.
{177} In Egypt, and most other ancient countries, the son followed, by law, the trade of his father: this was equivalent to an apprenticeship.
{178} Whether it arose from the mixture of a northern with the southern people, or from what other cause, it is certain, that, during the ages of ignorance, the foundation was laid for almost all that is great, at the present time.
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If there are trades, where it is true, (as Mr. Smith affirms,) that the art of working may be learnt in a few weeks, what are the consequences? At the age of sixteen or seventeen, a boy can get as much money as he will be able to earn at any future time in his life; he will be able to get as much as a man, who has a wife and five or six children to maintain. There will be required a very great share of moderation and wisdom, indeed, under such circumstances, to prevent such a boy from wasting his money in ways that will incapacitate him from living easy when he shall become a father of a family himself, or from idling away the spare time that his gains afford him. He will, naturally, do part of both: but the way that is generally done is this. Without controul from a master, and totally independent of parents, who are quite left behind in poverty, (not having more to maintain their whole family than the youth himself earns,) he despises them, saves a little money at first, and purchases finery. The novelty of dress soon wears off, and the more immediate pleasures of eating, drinking, and keeping company, as it is termed, take the lead. The consequence of the same is idleness and rags. Ashamed to shew himself amongst persons of better conduct, the youth changes his place of residence and work; habit has got hold of him, and labour becomes hateful; a soldier's life appears the best for a youth of such a description; and, it is an undoubted fact, that, at those places where trades are carried on, that can be learnt in a short time, {179} there are more recruits obtained for the army than in any other districts of equal population. It is also an undoubted fact, that, in these same districts, the most respectable people bind their sons apprentices; and, in doing so, they are guided by experience, and affection for their children, not by interested motives.
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{179} This is not the case with many trades, and Mr. Smith is under a mistake as to the fact; but, granting it to be true, the places in question, Birmingham, Sheffield, Manchester, and other towns where the division of labour reduces every operation to great simplicity, are the best for recruiting the army. In those places, all respectable people, who can afford it, bind their sons apprentices, to prevent the danger.
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In the other case, again, where a trade is not easily learnt, how is skill to be obtained but by an apprenticeship. The bringing the son up to his father's trade, a practice that prevails in the eastern parts of Asia, is one way; parental authority needs not the aid of a written indenture; but, where this is not the case, who is to teach a youth, if he is not to be bound for a certain number of years, but to go away as soon as he has learnt a trade? The father, in some cases, may be able to pay for his son learning the trade, and this experiment has sometimes been tried, but generally with very imperfect success. The youth, for the most part, in those cases, considers himself as independent of the master, and gives himself very little trouble to learn his business.
Where the reward of the master, or rather the remuneration for his pains and trouble, is to arise from the labour of the boy, the master is interested in his learning; and the other feels an obligation, as well as an interest in learning. Though the apprentice is not absolutely paid for what he does, he finds his ease, his importance, and comfort, all depend on his proficiency; and, with young minds, such motives are much more powerful, and act through a better channel than avarice.
The power that the legislature gives to a master over his apprentice appears not only to be wise but necessary; and, if rewards for earning a trade could be given, in addition to that without infringing on liberty, or burthening the state, it would be a great advantage.
But learning a trade is not the only advantage of an apprenticeship; a good moral conduct, fidelity, and attention to his duties, are all acquired at the same time, or ought to be so; whereas, the youth who, at an early age, is left without control, is apt to learn just the contrary.
Where people have fortune, circumstances give them a control over their children by expectancies; but, where there is no fortune, and children must provide for themselves, an apprenticeship is a substitute for expectancies, which appears highly necessary; and it is wonderful how so discriminating and profound a man as Dr. Smith could overlook so material a circumstance. It shews how far prejudice, and an [end of page #222] opinion once adopted, will lead men of the first judgement and genius astray; {180} for it is not to be supposed that any person will stand forward of himself to maintain an opinion against which experience speaks so decidedly.
To learn a trade, and be taught a good moral conduct, and attention to one's duty, is certainly the essential part of education, both in the lower and middling classes; and that portion of education, which appears to have got an exclusive title to the name, reading and writing, are, with the working classes, a very inferior object.
One of the duties of government, then, is to watch over the education of the children of the middling and lower orders, which has a tendency to grow worse, as the nation advances in wealth.
In England, the pride of the middling classes is to have their children educated at boarding-schools, where the business of eating, sleeping, dressing, and exercise, is pretty well understood; where the branches of education, pretended to be taught, are little attended to, (writing, and some exterior accomplishments, of which the father and mother can judge, excepted,) where moral conduct, the duties in life, and the conduct necessary to be followed, are scarcely once thought of.
It is true, that, till a certain age, it is generally not known for what particular line of life a young man is intended; but, there are certain things necessary to every line of life, and those should never be neglected. The habits contracted at schools are very often of a sort never to be got the better of; and how can good habits be contracted when no attention is bestowed on the subject?
The consequence of this is, that, when the good sense of the father or mother, or of the boy himself, does not correct the evil, he is bred up to consider himself as born to be waited on, and provided for, without any effort of his own; he is led to suppose that he is to indulge
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{180} In the notes upon the Wealth of Nations, this case is argued, but the matter is too important not to be examined on every occasion and opportunity. The opinion here alluded to is that general way of thinking, respecting corporations, privileges, and regulations, or restraints of every sort imposed on trade, which the writers on political economy, in general, think ought all to be entirely done away.
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in a life similar to that his father leads at home, where a few indulgencies =sic= are the natural consequences of age, and the fair returns for a life employed in care and industry.
In England, it would be absolutely necessary to make school-masters undergo an examination; not only at first, and before the school should be licensed, but the boys should be examined twice a year, and the result enregistered, so that the business would really be to learn something, and not merely to spend the time.
The small proficiency made in the schools, in England, and around London in particular, is incredible. It is even difficult to conceive how the boys avoid learning a little more than they generally do, during eight or ten years. {181} The masters pretend, for the most part, to teach boys Latin, by way of teaching them English, but without almost ever accomplishing it. In arithmetic, the common rules are taught, but scarcely ever decimal fractions, and almost never book-keeping, so useful and so easy an art.
Writing and spelling are better taught, perhaps, than in any other country, and, certainly, those are great advantages; but, according to the time and money spent, it is the least that can be expected. Here we may remark, that those are the only acquirements with the proficiency in which the father and mother are necessarily acquainted; it therefore gives reason for thinking, that, if the same check were held in other branches of their education, they would be excited to make equal progress.
When the time comes that it is fixed on what line of life a young man is to adopt, then there should be schools for different branches, where
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{181} Without contesting the point, whether dead languages are of any use, it will be allowed that the study costs pretty dear. Three-quarters of the time, for seven years employed on that is equal to five years employed constantly, and twenty pounds a year, at least, is the expense. Not above one in one hundred learns to read even Latin decently well, that is one good reader for every 10,000 L. expended. As to speaking Latin, perhaps, one out of one thousand may learn that, so that there is a speaker for each sum of 100,000 L. spent on the language. It will, perhaps, be said, that Latin is necessary to the understanding English, but the Greeks, (particularly at Athens,) who learnt no language but their own, understood and spoke it better than the people of any other country.
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there should be knowledge taught, analogous to the profession. For the mercantile line, for agriculture, for every line of life, boys should be prepared; and, above all, it should never be neglected to instil into them the advantages of attention to industry, to doing their duty, and in every case making themselves worthy of trust.
Public examinations, such honours and rewards as would be gratifying, but not expensive, for those that excelled, would produce emulation. Though, perhaps, it is not of very great importance to excel in some of the studies to which a young man applies at school, yet it is of great importance to be taught that habit of application that produces excellence.
With regard to the education of the lower classes, it would be no great additional burthen to the nation if there were proper schools established in every parish in the kingdom, at the expense of the public, in order that there might be a proper control over those who teach, and over what is taught. {182} Without going so far as to compel people of the lower classes to send their children to school, they might be induced to do it for a short time, and, at all events, care should be taken that the teachers were fit for the office they undertake.
In no country do the lower classes neglect the care of their children more, or set them a worse example, than in England; they are mostly brought up as if the business of eating and drinking were the chief purpose of human existence; they are taught to be difficult to please, and to consider as necessary what, in every other nation in Europe, is considered, by the same rank of people, as superfluous.
Although the lower orders have as good a right as the most affluent to indulge in every enjoyment they can afford, yet to teach this to children, without knowing what may be their lot, is doing both them and society an injury. A great number of crimes arise from early indul-
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{182} As there are between nine and ten thousand parishes, twenty pounds given in each, to which the schoolmaster would be allowed to add what those who were able could pay, might perhaps answer the purpose, and would not amount to a great sum.
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gence of children, and from neglecting to instil into them those principles which are necessary to make them go through life with credit and contentment. {183}
The Spartans used to shew their youth slaves or Helots in a state of intoxication, in order to make them detest the vice of drunkenness; but this was the exhibition of a contemptible and mean person in a disgraceful situation. The effect is very different when children see those they love and respect in this state; it must have the effect of either rendering the parent contemptible, or the vice less odious, it perhaps has some effect both ways; but, at all events, it must operate as a bad example, and, amongst the lower classes, it is a very common one.
When a nation becomes the slave of its revenue, and sacrifices very =sic= thing to that object, abuses that favour revenue are difficult to reform; but surely it would be well to take some mode to prevent the facility with which people get drunk, and the temptation that is laid to do so. The immense number of public houses, and the way in which they give credit, are undoubtedly, in part, causes of this evil. It would be easy to lessen the number, without hurting liberty, and it would be no injustice if publicans were prevented from legal recovery for beer or spirits consumed in their houses, in the same manner that payment cannot be enforced of any person under twenty-one years of age, unless for necessaries. There could be no hardship in this, and it would produce a great reform in the manners of the lower orders.