I. BOOK occafion for them. The greater part of his occafional wants are fupplied in the fame manner as those of other people, by treaty, by barter, and by purchase. purchase. With the money which one man gives him he purchases food. The old cloaths which another beftows upon him he exchanges for other old cloaths which fuit him better, or for lodging, or for food, or for money, with which he can buy either food, cloaths, or lodging, as he has occafion. As it is by treaty, by barter, and by purchase, that we obtain from one another the greater part of thofe mutual good offices which we ftand in need of, fo it is this fame trucking difpofition which originally gives occafion to the divifion of labour. In a tribe of hunters or fhepherds a particular perfon makes bows and arrows, for example, with more readiness and dexterity than any other. He frequently exchanges them for cattle or for venison with his companions; and he finds at laft that he can in this manner get more cattle and venison, than if he himself went to the field to catch them. From a regard to his own intereft, therefore, the making of bows and arrows grows to be his chief business, and he becomes a fort of armourer. Another excels in making the frames and covers of their little huts or moveable houses. He is accustomed to be of ufe in this way to his neighbours, who reward him in the fame manner with cattle and with venison, till at laft he finds it his intereft to dedicate himself entirely to this employment, and to become a fort of houfe-carpenter. In the fame manner a third becomes a fmith or a brazier, a fourth a tanner or dreffer of hides or fkins, the principal part of the clothing of favages. And thus the certainty of being able to exchange all that furplus part of the produce of his own labour, which is over and above his own confumption, for fuch parts of the produce of other men's labour as he may have occafion for, encourages every man to apply himself to a particular occupation, and to cultivate and * I. and bring to perfection whatever talent or genius he may poffefs for CHA P. that particular species of business. THE difference of natural talents in different men is, in reality, much less than we are aware of; and the very different genius which appears to distinguish men of different profeffions, when grown up to maturity, is not upon many occafions fo much the cause, as the effect of the divifion of labour. The difference between the most diffimilar characters, between a philosopher and a common ftreet porter, for example, feems to arife not fo much from nature, as from habit, custom, and education. When they came into the world, and for the firft fix or eight years of their existence, they were very much alike, and neither their parents nor play-fellows could perceive any remarkable difference. About that age or foon after, they come to be employed in very different occupations. The difference of talents comes then to be taken notice of, and widens by degrees, till at laft the vanity of the philofopher is willing to acknowledge fcarce any refemblance. But without the difpofition to truck, barter, and exchange, every man must have procured to himself every neceffary and conveniency of life which he wanted. All must have had the fame duties to perform, and the fame work to do, and there could have been no fuch difference of employment as could alone give occafion to any great difference of talents. As it is this difpofition which forms that difference of talents, fo remarkable among men of different profeffions, fo it is this fame difpofition which renders that difference ufeful. Many tribes of animals acknowledged to be all of the fame fpecies, derive from nature a much more remarkable diftinction of genius, than what, antecedent to cuftom and education, appears to take place among men. By nature a philofopher is not in genius and disposition I. BOOK half fo different from a ftreet porter, as a maftiff is from a greyhound, or a greyhound from a spaniel, or this last from a fhepherd's dog. Those different tribes of animals, however, tho' all of the same species, are of scarce any use to one another. The ftrength of the mastiff is not, in the leaft, fupported either by the fwiftnefs of the greyhound, or by the fagacity of the spaniel, or by the docility of the shepherd's dog. The effects of those different geniufes and talents, for want of the power or difpofition to barter and exchange, cannot be brought into a common stock, and do not in the leaft contribute to the better accommodation and conveniency of the fpecies. Each animal is still obliged to fupport and defend itself, feparately and independently, and derives no fort of advantage from that variety of talents with which nature has diftinguished its fellows. Among men, on the contrary, the most diffimilar geniuses are of use to one another; the different produces of their respective talents, by the general difpofition to truck, barter and exchange, being brought, as it were, into a common ftock, where every man may purchase whatever part of the produce of other men's talents he has occafion for. CHA P. III. That the Divifion of Labour is limited by the Extent of the Market. С S it is the power of exchanging that gives occafion to the c H À P. III. divifion of labour, fo the extent of this divifion must always be limited by the extent of that power, or, in other words, by the extent of the market. When the market is very fmall, no person can have any encouragement to dedicate himself entirely to one employment, for want of the power to exchange all that furplus part of the produce of his own labour, which is over and above his own confumption, for fuch parts of the produce of other men's labour as he has occafion for. THERE are fome forts of industry, even of the lowest kind, which can be carried on no where but in a great town, A porter, for example, can find employment and fubfiftence in no other place. A village is by much too narrow a sphere for him; even an ordinary market town is fcarce large enough to afford him conftant occupation. In the lone houfes and very fmall villages which are scattered about in fo defart a country as the Highlands of Scotland, every farmer must be butcher, baker and brewer for his own family. In fuch fituations we can fcarce expect to find even a smith, a carpenter, or a mason, within less than twenty miles of another of the fame trade. The fcattered families that live at eight or ten miles distance from the nearest of them, muft learn to perform themselves a great number of little pieces of work, for which, in more populous countries, they would call in the affiftance of those workmen. Country workmen are almost every where obliged to apply themselves to all the different branches of industry that have fo I. BOOK fo much affinity to one another as to be employed about the fame fort of materials. A country carpenter deals in every fort of work that is made of wood: a country smith in every fort of work that is made of iron. The former is not only a carpenter, but a joiner, a cabinet-maker, and even a carver in wood, as well as a wheel-wright, a plough-wright, a cart and waggon maker. The employments of the latter are ftill more various. It is impoffible there fhould be fuch a trade as even that of a nailer in the remote and inland parts of the Highlands of Scotland. Such a workman at the rate of a thousand nails a day, and three hundred working days in the year, will make three hundred thousand nails in the year. But in fuch a fituation it would be impoffible to difpofe of one thousand, that is, of one day's work in the year. As by means of water-carriage a more extenfive market is opened to every sort of industry than what land-carriage alone can afford it, so it is upon the fea-coaft, and along the banks of navigable rivers, that industry of every kind naturally begins to fubdivide and improve itfelf, and it is frequently not till a long time after that those improvements extend themselves to the inland parts of the country. A broad-wheeled waggon, attended by two men and drawn by eight horses, in about fix weeks time carries and brings back between London and Edinburgh near four ton weight of goods. In about the fame time a fhip navigated by fix or eight men, and failing between the ports of London and Leith, frequently carries and brings back two hundred ton weight of goods. Six or eight men, therefore, by the help of water-carriage, can and bring back in the fame time the fame quantity of goods between London and Edinburgh as fifty broad-wheeled waggons, attended by a hundred men, and drawn by four hundred horfes. Upon two hundred tons of goods, therefore, carried by the cheapest land-carriage from London to Edinburgh, there must be charged carry the |
