352 



The ftate is that landlord ; the people, at large are the tenantry ; 

 the rent they pay, confifts in their ordinary taxation, and in their 

 extraordinary exertions, in times of want and danger. Had Doftor 

 Smith's principle of private economy, been uniformly applied to public 

 conduft, by England, Are would not flourilh, as flie does, in manufac- 

 tures, at this day ; — her woollen manufafture might never have ex- 

 ifted. There was a time, when her manufaftures were in their m. 

 fancy, and thofe of neighbouring flates, (as the Flemings, and others) 

 cheap, and in high perfe£lion. What became of Doftor Smith's prin- 

 ciple, in the interval, while Britijh manufaftures were, as yet, imper- 

 feft, and, as I may fay, ferving their apprenticefliip ? — As the fuuation 

 of individuals in fociety, though it is frequently compared to that of 

 independent ftates, is yet diftinguifhable, in fome refpefts, from it ; fo, 

 there are ftrong reafons, which may lead us, to conclude, that many 

 of the principles, which apply to the conduft of flates, either in their 

 internal regulations, or their intercourfe with other dates, may be dif- 

 ferent from thofe of private economy ; and that the prudence, and good 

 economy, of the individual may be wholly diftinft, and of a very dif- 

 ferent character, from the prudence and economy of the commu- 

 nity. 



The firft circumftance of diftinftion, which muft flrike the mofl in- 

 dolent obierver, with refpeft to individuals in fociety, is this. — Neigh- 

 bourhood is generally the pledge of friendfhip and good-will. The very 

 term neighbour is an amicable appellation, and the people, who inhabit 

 the fame vicinity, are ufually difpofed, to confider each other as of the 

 fame family ; to fupport each other, in all their quarrels ; to afllfl: each 

 other, in all their diiSculties, and diftreffes; and, in fiiort, to cement 

 the union, begun in mere juxtapofition, by the praftice of all manner 

 of mutual good ofEces. Now, it will appear, from the uniform tenor 

 of hiftory, that, with refpeft to flates, the direft contrary is the cafe ; 

 and that the mere circumftance of vicinity is, in itfelf, a conflant fource 



of 



