DIVISION OF LABOUR. 237 



and populous earth which we behold, — where cities pour 

 wealth on the fields, and the fields, in their turn, send plenty 

 to the cities, — where all are conferring aid and receiving 

 aid, and the most sensual and selfish cannot consume a sin- 

 gle luxury, without giving, however unintentionally, some 

 comfort, or the means of comfort to others, — instead of this 

 noble dwelling-place of so many noble inhabitants, we should 

 have had a waste or a wilderness, and a few miserable strag- 

 glers, half famished on that wide soil which now gives abun- 

 dance to millions. Brown. 



Question. — What reasons may be given for the institution of pro* 

 perty ? 



LESSON 106 



Division of Labour. 



Smelling, the melting of ore in a furnace so as to extract th« 

 metal. In the more precious metals this is called refining. 



That separation of employments, which, in political eco- 

 nomy, is called the division of labour, can take place only in 

 civilized countries. In the flourishing states of Europe and 

 America we find men not only exclusively engaged in the 

 exercise of one particular art, but that art subdivided into 

 numerous branches, each of which forms a distinct occupa- 

 tion for the different workmen. Observe the accommoda- 

 tion of the most common artificer or day-labourer in a civiliz- 

 ed and thriving country, and you will perceive that the number 

 of people, of whose industry a part, though but a small part, 

 has been employed in procuring him this accommodation, 

 exceeds all computation. The woollen coat, for example, 

 which covers the labourer, though it may appear coarse and 

 rough, is the produce of the joint labour of a great number 

 of workmen. The shepherds, the sorter of the wool, the 

 carder, the dyer, the spinner, the weaver, the fuller, the 

 dresser, with many others, must all join their different arts to 

 complete even this ordinary production. How many merchants 

 and carriers, besides, must have been employed in transport- 

 ing the materials from some of those workmen to others who 

 often live in a distant part of the country ! How much com- 



