RetroffeR'rve v':env of ylgr] culture — Nr-rfo/l. ef,^ 



every man Is faid to exhibit two characters, h tliefe objods must be 

 conlicicrcd as ftnndiiig in the fame predicament. Tiicy have their 

 brifrbt and their gloomy afpecls, (heir lights and their' fliadc'-, confc- 

 qucntly their advocates and their enemies. Thus commerce, to tiiofa 

 who obferve its bright fide, oidy appc.rro all amiable. It i.> the chain 

 that coimccls the moft diflant parts of the habitable world, diffurnn'' 

 the luxuries, the elegancies, and the neceiTaries of life ; enlarges 

 our ideas, nu.liorates and improves our fecial virtue*:, fjnooths thofe 

 afpcrities, and rubs olf thofe unbecoming prejudices wl-iich ad- 

 here through evej-y period, to beings who never travel out of the view 

 of their own chimnies, or ever wander with the intelligent traveller, 

 through thofe icenes which his pencil or his pen happily and forcibly 

 dclcribe. Commerce introduces (continues its advocate,) an infinite 

 number of raw materials, to be wrought up by Britilh ingenuity, for 

 home confumption or exportation; thus alibrding employment for 

 thoufands. In fliort, it enriches individuals, flrcngthens the nerves 

 and finews of the ftate, and protects, with its v.oodeh wdis, tho 

 deareft rights and interefts of focicty. 



Another perfon, however, may obferve the fame object through a 

 different medium, or view only the gloomy tide. He may allow, 

 indeed, that commerce introduces the luxuries and elegancies of life 

 into a country, but contends that thefe luxuries and elegancies often 

 prove the bane of its happinefs, creates artificial wants unknown to 

 our loberer forefathers, corrupts the heart and inervates the arm, 

 by miniitring to wants, at iirfl: indeed artihctal (fnys he) but by 

 habit rendered necelTary. Corruption of principle iucceed.s even, 

 the ftern monitor, confcience grows every day more and more plianr, 

 and the peop^^ degenerate into (what 1 believe the ^illanous Chief 

 Conful, at this moment tauntingly calls us) a nation of tricking ihop- 

 keepers ; and as to that univerfal p>hilanthropy fo much boafled of, 

 it becomes fo diluted, fo inHpid, fo completely divefied of all genuine 

 fpirit, that it is rendered perfectly ufelefs for any good purpoie, and 

 is a bad exchange for that * Amor Patriae,' that love of country which 

 ought to glow, with undiminifhcd fpirit, in every Britiih bofom. 



Manufadlures have alio their advocates and their enemicf. The 

 former tell you, th?t wherever they are introduced, they give employ- 

 ment to thoufands and tens of thoulands, who muft ctlierwife llarve cr 

 remain a dead weight upon the flate ; eiirich individuals, incrcaic 

 the comforts, the commerce, and the importance of the cojintry, 

 which encourages and protetfts them. This eulogium is allowed by 

 its adverfary, to be in ionie meaiure juft ; but he bids you entjuirc h.c-vv 

 many lives are facriliced in the attainment of thele objtcls ; and point. •» 

 to the fqualed fickly countenances of young victims, crowdtdtogetht r 

 in large manufactories, and maintains thnt the contagion is not con- 

 fined to the vitals of exigence, but that it corrupts and laps alfo the 

 fountain of morality itielf. 



Leaving however, the Pro''s and the (7c;,'.f to fcttu: tbcfc in;portant 

 difputes in which it appears, fo much n'-iv ]>c faid on bolh (ides ; let 



us 



