APPENDIX. 177' 



in proponion to Ids knowledge; is lie likely to remain in tlie 

 country at low wages, or to become the servant of the highest 

 bidder? Close-fitting: an accurate eye and practised hand are 

 :ibsoldtely necessary to effect this, which is a main cause of perma- 

 nence in a gun-lock, as thereby all parts bear their even proportions 

 of stress, and (the temper and position of all parts being correct) 

 an even wear is the resalt. But the most practised workman 

 requires an extension of time, in some degree proportionate to the 

 goodness of his work, comparing it with that of others less skilful, 

 and this he adds to the price; the London maker can best afford to 

 pay that price. i . , i 



" Lastly, the fitness of the parts for the duties they have to 

 fulfil. It may be said here, that the greater the quantity of 

 material manufactui-ed, the greater degree of knowledge must be 

 attained by the manufacturer. Assuming then that the superiority 

 of material is shown, we have to prove that the cheap manufac- 

 turer either cannot, by quantity, obtain such a knowledge of tlie 

 requisite shape of the parts of a gun, as, when put together,_ shall 

 make it equal to that of a London maker ; or, if in possession ot 

 that knowledge, cannot, in the same degree, avail Imnself of it. 

 Sapposuig, then, that he does take the pattern of the most approved 

 shape for his guide (a circmnstance we find not to be commonly the 

 case), or even in the absence of equal opportunities of comparison, 

 that great spur to improvement, can invent a better_ shape than 

 others, tliis can only refer to the handlmg of the gun; its working, 

 putting together, that it possesses the form of goodness only, without 

 as before shown, dependuig so much upon material, temper, and 

 the reality ; and as well might you expect to procure an article of 

 dress equally convenient, lasting, and fitting, of a country tailor, 

 as that which may be had of a first-rate workman m London, as 

 procure an article of the natiu^e of a gmi of the same degree of 

 excellence in the country as in town. 



" Agilis. Have you not omitted the consideration, that all work- 

 men can work cheaper in the country, from the dhnmished price of 

 food and house-rent, than in larger towns ; as also the enormous 

 profits made by London gun-makers ? 



"Ferities. The advantage you here mention, does not come into 

 play— it is a matter of consideration for the workman alone. I 

 would admit it, did I consider that the workman himself was ill- 

 paid, but the contrarv is the fact. It has already been conceded, 

 that, although a gun progresses in value as it progresses m price, 

 yet not in an equal ratio, and part of the difference consists in the 

 greater (I might most say undue) pay, in proportion to his labour, 

 which a first-rate workman can procure; and secondly, m the 

 great credit which any one maker may obtain over others from the 

 known excellence of his w^ork : these latter are two little monopo- 

 lies, and must Ije paid for while they exist ; but it is your Ijusmess 

 to fix a limit upon this by selecting from the best makers, and pro- 

 curing the most for yom- money ; and you may be certain, that 



