66 Of Poor-Laivs. Bk. iii. 



house, and give him what I have cat off, I then 

 benefit him without depressing any but myself 

 and family, v^^ho perhaps may be well able to 

 bear it. If I turn up a piece of uncultivated land, 

 and give him the produce, I then benefit both him 

 and all the members of society, because what he 

 before consumed is thrown into the common stock, 

 and probably some of the new produce with it. 

 But if 1 only give him money, supposing the pro- 

 duce of the country to remain the same, I give him 

 a title to a larger share of that produce than for- 

 merly, which share he cannot receive without 

 diminishing the shares of others. It is evident 

 that this effect in individual instances must be so 

 small as to be totally imperceptible ; but still it 

 must exist, as many other effects do, which, like 

 some of the insects that people the air, elude our 

 grosser perceptions. 



Supposing the quantity of food in any country 

 to remain the same for many years together, it is 

 evident that this food must be divided according 

 to the value of each man's patent, or the sum of 

 money which he can afford to spend in this com- 

 modity so universally in request. It is a demon- 

 strative truth, therefore, that the patents of one 

 set of men could not be increased in value without 

 diminishing the value of the patents of some other 

 set of men. If the rich were to subscribe and 

 give five shillings a day to five hundred thousand 

 men, without retrenching their own tables, no 

 doubt can exist, that as these men would live more 

 at their ease, and consume a greater quantity of 



