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CHAP. IX. 



Of the Commercial System. 



A COUNTRY which excels in commerce and ma- 

 nufactures, may purchase corn from a great variety 

 of others ; and it may be supposed, perhaps, that, 

 proceeding upon this system, it may continue to 

 purchase an increasing quantity, and to maintain 

 a rapidly increasing population, till the lands of 

 all the nations with which it trades are fully culti- 

 vated. As this is an event necessarily at a great 

 distance, it may appear that the population of such 

 a country will not be checked from the difficulty 

 of procuring subsistence till after the lapse of a 

 great number of ages. 



There are, however, causes constantly in ope- 

 ration, which will occasion the pressure of this 

 difficulty, long before the event here contemplated 

 has taken place, and while the means of raising- 

 food in the surrounding countries may still be 

 comparatively abundant. 



In the first place, advantages which depend 

 exclusively upon capital and skill, and the present 

 possession of particular channels of commerce, 

 cannot in their nature be permanent. We know 

 how difficult it is to confine improvements in ma- 

 chinery to a single spot ; we know that it is the 



