variety, the original productions of tlie earth come very un- 

 equally into the possession of individuals, and necessarily in 

 such forms and quantities as to be quite inconsistent with a 

 proportional and satisfactory participation, until a distribution 

 is effected by a general exchange. And as there is that variety 

 in the productive conditions of the earth, no less than in the 

 abilities of men to work out and economise her resources, it is 

 also an indispensable law, that, to insure the utmost beneficial 

 result of their skill, the labours of men must be divided. 

 They must severally devote themselves to particular arts, so 

 as to acquire a thorough comprehension of them, and a ready 

 expertness in their exercise, or their energies cannot be applied 

 with due advantage and success. Were each man to attempt 

 to produce all the commodities he wants, he would never 

 obtain them, as the acquisition in that way is naturally 

 impossible. 



"And if each man be devoted to the production of one, or 

 a few tilings, out of the numbers that are desired, and the 

 sum produced by all be sufficient for the wants of all, then 

 each must produce more in his own line than is wanted for 

 himself ; and in order that his productions may be available to 

 others, as theirs may be to him, a mutual exchange must be 

 effected. 



"It is, in fact, by this division of labour, that the wants of 

 mankind are supplied, and their happiness secured to an extent 

 wliich is quite impossible otherwise to attain. 



"In England, where the extent of the earth's surface is 

 small in proportion to the population, the division of labour 

 and the economising of human power, is followed up to an 

 extent without example. Hence it is of the last importance, 

 that her teeming people segregated under these circumstances, 

 should have material on which profitably to expend their 

 energies, and that the divisional productiveness of each may 

 be made duly available for the supply of all. Without this 

 arrangement, our productions and acquisitions would fall far 



