WEALTH OF NATIONS. 247 



i. The expenses of the commonwealth aie -first, 

 those of defence ; secondly, those of justice ; thirdly, 

 those of public works and institutions ; fourthly, those 

 for supporting the sovereign's dignity. 



1. In treating of defence, we are led to consider 

 the progress of the military art. At first, all the clan 

 are warriors, and the chief is the first warrior. In the 

 hunting state, very small bodies can be collected ; in 

 the pastoral state only, large bodies may be gathered 

 together ; in the infancy of the agricultural state, also, 

 large forces may be raised. But as society advances, 

 manufactures are introduced, and the ruder art of war 

 is improved. It thus becomes doubly necessary to 

 have a certain class of the community trained to arms, 

 and alone called out to serve ; for without this, manu- 

 facturing industry could not go on, and the military 

 art could not be learnt. If this plan be pursued, 

 a regular army is raised ; if the whole citizens in rota- 

 tion are called upon to serve, it is a militia. The 

 superior efficiency of standing armies has been felt in 

 all ages. Philip of Macedon by their help conquered 

 Greece, and his son conquered Persia. The victories 

 of Hannibal, and, after the second Punic War, those 

 of Rome, were owing to the same superiority. The 

 history of modern wars reads the same lesson. The 

 expense, however, of this mode of defence, now be- 

 come necessary, is very great in all countries. 



2. In early times, the administration of justice in 

 the hands^pf the sovereign, or of his delegate, was not 

 an expense, but a source of revenue ; and hence the 

 greatest abuses, the most sordid corruption, the most 

 cruel injustice, disfigured the administration. After- 

 wards, justice was said to be administered gratis, that 

 is, by persons whom the sovereign paid; but in all 

 countries fees were exacted from the suitors. Dr. 

 Smith is very far from perceiving the evils of taxing 

 law proceedings ; and, indeed, this is one of the parts 

 of his work in which he seems to have taken the least 



