2 
116 HISTORY of the SOCIETY. 
Aecungeee of that ftate of fociety which prevails in this quarter of the 
globe. His obfervations on this fubje&t tend to fhew, that thefe 
circum{tances were, in their firft origin, the natural and the 
unavoidable refult of the peculiar fituation of mankind during a 
certain period; and that they took their rife, not from any general 
fcheme of policy, but from the private interefts and prejudices 
of particular orders of men. 
Tue ftate of fociety, however, whiclr at firft arofe from a fin- 
gular combination of accidents, has been prolonged much be- 
yond its natural period, by a falfe fy{tem of political ceeconomy, 
propagated by merchants and manufacturers ; a clafs of indi- 
viduals, whofe intereft is not always the fame with that of the 
public, and whofe profeffional knowledge gave them many ad- 
vantages, more particularly in the infancy of this branch of. 
fcience, in defending thofe opinions which they wifhed to en- 
courage. By means of this fyftem, a new fet of obftacles to- 
the progrefs of national profperity has been created. Thofe 
which arofe from the diforders of the feudal ages, tended di- 
rectly to difturb the internal arrangements of. fociety, by ob- 
ftructing the free circulation of labour and of ftock, from em-. 
ployment to employment, and from place to place. The falfe- 
fyftem of political ceconomy which has been hitherto preva- 
lent, as its profeffed object has been to regulate the commercial 
intercourfe between different nations, has produced its effect. 
in a way lefs dire@ and lefs manifeft, but equally prejudicial 
to the ftates that have adopted it. 
On this fyftem, as it took its rife from the prejudices, or rather- 
from the interefted views of mercantile fpeculators, Mr Smiru 
beftows the title of the Commercial or Mercantile Sy{tem; and 
he has confidered at great length its two principal expedients 
for enriching a nation; reftraints upon importation, and en- 
couragements to exportation. Part of thefe expedients, he ob- 
ferves, have been dictated by the fpirit of monopoly, and part 
by 
