t 59 ] 



nuan fells one machine for fifteen guineas, he might 

 fell fifty for fivt guineas each. It is eafy for every 

 inventor, on this fuppofition, to calculate which 

 would be mod for his intereft. 



The excelleace of all inventions is meafured by 

 the quantity of good they afibrd the publick. Every 

 inftrument or machine, therefore, be it ever fo ia- 

 genioufly c6nftru6led, and competent to its intended 

 ufe, becomes almoft ufclefs, and of very litde value 

 to the publick, if the price be fo high as almoft to- 

 tally to obftrudt and prevent the fale of it. It is a 

 kind of filo deje^ and may be fitly compared to a 

 law which permits the importation of certain arti- 

 cles of commerce, upon the payment of cuftoms io 

 immoderate as to all intents and purpofes to amount 

 to an efFedual prohibition, by which no one is a 

 gainer but the illicit trader. 



Here then the ingenious inventor miftakes his 

 intereft egregiouflyj he facrifices the virtue of the 

 patriot, not to the real but to the imaginary intereft 

 of the individual, and fuffers at once both in his 

 intereft and his credit. The fureft and moft du- 

 rable patent is moderation of price ; thofe that are 

 purchafed confine and reftrain the fale, but reafon- 

 able prices encourage and promote it, whatever be 

 the commodity at market. 



Immoderate 



