REGULATE THE INTERCHANGE OF COMMODITIES. 181 



tion, but the result of personal inquiry and examination of evidence, 

 knowing also how many around me take different views, which they 

 doubtless think important, I have judged that a correct summary of 

 what seems to me the real state of the case might not be useless, or, 

 as a discussion of a controverted point in science, altogether out of 

 place, and if I should influence those who think me mistaken, to ex- 

 press and defend their sentiments, I shall, as seeking only what is 

 true and consequently useful, be pleased to listen to their remarks, 

 and to contribute, through them, to your satisfaction. 



I begin, then, by observing that man is naturally disposed to barter 

 or exchange objects which by his exertions he has produced or appro- 

 priated. Other animals quietly use what comes in their way, or obtain 

 ■what they want by violence or artifice : few accumulate, and those 

 few are among the less intelligent ; and only under the guidance of 

 mere instinct, prepare for changes of the seasons. Animals will fight for 

 the possession of a desired object : they will seize or steal from others 

 what they want ; but the voluntary giving up of anything in order to 

 obtain another thing, is unknown amongst them, and is above their 

 comprehension. Man, in a rude state, imitates the violence ; in a 

 corrupt and degraded state, the fraud of the brute, — both of which 

 civilization, knowledge, and moral improvement lead him, for his own 

 good as well as that of others, to abandon ; but with the reason God 

 has given him, it requires but small progress for him also to seek ad- 

 vantages by barter. He is sometimes successful in obtaining more of 

 a desirable object than he can immediately consume ; and he per- 

 haps finds, when labouring for any product, a very slight additional 

 exertion will greatly increase the quantity obtained. In these circum- 

 stances, to a reasoning animal, the idea of barter, as a means of in- 

 creasing his advantages, naturally suggests itself; nor can the prin- 

 ciple have been long applied before it was found out that each one 

 doing what he liked best, or was most skilled in, would produce a 

 much larger amount altogether of all desirable things, and a better 

 share to each, than every one providing as nearly as possible all things 

 for himself. Thus intimately is the tendency to barter connected 

 with the division of labour. The earliest exchanges would of course 

 be conducted with very imperfect approximations to accuracy in 

 valuing —inexperience and the force of desire rendering the terms ar- 

 bitrary and unequal ; but it would soon be found that objects are 

 valuable in proportion to the time and labour required for obtaining 



