it has no business; where it is not beneficial, but hurtful. A great deal of the delicacy of language depends upon an accurate knowledge of the specific meaning of single terms, and a nice

а attention to their relative propriety.

Hen. Have all nations manufactures?

Fa. All that are in any degree cultivated; but it very often happens that countries naturally the poorest have manufactures of the greatest extent and variety.

Hen. Why so ?
Fa. For the same reason,

I I apprehend, that individuals, who are rich without any labour of their own, are

, seldom so industrious and active as those who depend upon their own exertions : thus the Spaniards, who possess the richest gold and silver mines in the world, are in want' of many conveniences of life which are enjoyed in London and Amsterdam.

Hen. I can comprehend that; I believe if my uncle Ledger were to find a gold mine under his warehouse, he would soon shut up shop.

Fa. I believe so. It is not, however, easy to establish Manufactures in a very poor nation; they require science and genius for their invention, art and contrivance for their execution; order,

; peace, and union, for their flourishing; they require a number of men to combine together in an undertaking, and to prosecute it with the most patient industry; they require, therefore, laws and government for their protection. If you see extensive Manufactures in any nation, you may be sure it is a civilized nation, you may be sure property is accurately ascertained and protected. They require great expences for their first establishment, costly machines for shortening manual labour, and money and credit for purchasing materials

from distant countries. There is not a single Manufacture of Great Britain which does not require, in some part or other of its process, productions from the different parts of the globe, oils, drugs, varnish, quicksilver, and the like: it requires, therefore, ships and a friendly intercourse with foreign nations to transport commodities, and exchange productions. We could not be a manufacturing, unless we were also a commercial nation. They require time to take root in any place, and their excellence often depends upon some nice and delicate circumstance; a peculiar quality, for instance, in the air or water, or some other local circumstance not easily ascertained. Thus, I have heard that the Irish women spin better than the English, because the moister temperature of their climate makes their skin inore soft and their fingers more flexible: thus again we cannot dye so

beautiful a scarlet as the French can, though with the same drugs, perhaps on account of the superior purity of the air. But though so much is necessary for the perfection of the more curious and complicated Manufactures, all nations possess those which are subservient to the common conveniences of life-the loom and the forge, particularly, are of the highest antiquity.

Hen. Yes: I remember Hector bids Andromache return to her apartments, and employ herself in weaving with her maids : and I remember the shield of Achilles. Fa. True : and

you

likewise remember, in an earlier period, the fine linen of Egypt: and, to go still higher, the working of iron and brass is recorded of Tubal Cain before the flood.

Hen. Which is the most important, Manufactures or Agriculture ?

Fa. Agriculture is themost necessary,

because it is first of all necessary, that man should live; but almost all the enjoyments and comforts of life are produced by manufactures.

Hen. Why are we obliged to take so much pains to make ourselves comfortable ?

Fa. To exercise our industry. Nature provides the materials for man. She pours out at his feet a profusion of gems, metals, dyes, plants, ores, barks, stones, gums, wax, marbles, woods, roots,skins, earth, and minerals of all kinds ! She has likewise given him tools.

Hen. I did not know that Nature gave us tools.

Fa. No! what are those two instruments you carry always about with you, so strong and yet so flexible, so nicely jointed, and branched out into five long, taper, unequal divisions, any of which

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VOL. II.