company.

Politeness. from being acceptable in the best Acvery knowledged sincerity gives the same ornament to character that modesty does to manners. It would abundantly atone for the want of ridiculous ceremony, or false and unmeaning professions; and it would in no respect diminish the lustre of a noble air, or the perfection of an elegant address.

the different classes of men will frequently meet together, Politeness. all parties must so contrive matters, as to combine the useful and agreeable together, so as to give the greatest delight at the time, and the greatest pleasure on reflection. An attention to these principles would make the man of pleasure and the man of learning meet together on equal terms, and derive mutual advantage from their different qualifications. With due attention to such ideas, we proceed to mention the kinds of knowledge which are most fitted for conversation. Those who wish to please should particularly endeavour to be informed in those points which most generally occur. An accurate or extensive knowledge on learned subjects is by no means sufficient: we must also have an accurate and extensive knowledge of the common occurrences of life.

If integrity be the foundation of that character which is most generally acceptable, or which, in other words, possesses the power of pleasing in the highest degree, humanity and modesty are its highest ornaments.

The whole art of pleasing, as far as the virtues are concerned, may be derived from the one or other of these sources. Humanity comprehends the display of every thing amiable to others; modesty removes or suppresses every thing offensive in ourselves.

This modesty, however, is not inconsistent with firmness and dignity of character; it arises rather from the knowledge of our imperfection compared with a certain standard, than from conscious ignorance of what we ought to know. We must therefore distinguish between this modesty and what the French call mauvaise honte. The one is the unaffected and unassuming principle which leads us to give preference to the merit of others, the other is the awkward struggling of nature over her own infirmities. The first gives an additional lustre to every good quality; while some people, from feeling the pain and inconveniency of the mauvaise honte, have rushed into the other extreme, and turned impudent, as cowards sometimes grow desperate from excess of danger. The medium between these two extremes marks out the well-bred man; he feels bimself firm and easy in all companies, is modest without being bashful, and steady without being impudent.

A man possessing the amiable virtues is still farther prepared to please, by having in his own mind a perpetual fund of satisfaction and entertainment. He is put to no trouble in concealing thoughts which it would be disgraceful to avow, and he is not anxious to display virtues which his daily conversation and his constant looks render visible.

The next ingredient in the art of pleasing, is to possess a correct and enlightened understanding, and a fund of rational knowledge. With virtue and modesty, we must be able to entertain and instruct those with whom we associate.

The faculty of communicating ideas is peculiar to man, and the pleasure which he derives from the interchange alone is one of the most important of his bles sings. Mankind are formed with numberless wants, and with a mutual power of assisting each other. It is a beautiful and bappy part of the same perfect plan, that they are likewise formed to delight in each other's company, and in the mutual interchange of their thoughts. The different species of communication, in a highly polished age, are as numerous as the different ranks, employments, and occupations of men; and indeed the knowledge which men wish to communicate, takes its tinge from their peculiar profession or occupation.

Thus commercial men delight to talk of their trade, and of the nature of public business; men of pleasure, who wish merely to vary or quicken their amusements, are in conversation light, trifling, and insincere; and the literati delight to dwell on new books, learned men,. and important discoveries in science or in arts. But as

It is the knowledge of mankind, of governments, of history, of public characters, and of the springs which put the great and the little actions of the world in motion, which give real pleasure, and rational instruction. The knowledge which we communicate must. in some shape be interesting to those to whom we communicate it; of that nature, that the desire of receiving it may overbalance every kind of disgust, excited too often on the score of envy and self-love, against those who happen to possess superior endowments, and at the same time of that importance, as to elevate the thoughts somewhat above the actions and the faults of the narrow circle formed in our own immediate neighbourhood. On this account it is recommended by an author who fully knew mankind, as a maxim of great importance in the art of pleasing, to be acquainted with the private character of those men who, from their station or their actions, are making a figure in the world. We naturally wish to see such men in their retired and undisguised moments; and he who can gratify us is highly acceptable. History of all kinds, fitly introduced, and occasionally embellished with pleasing anecdotes, is a chief part of our entertainment in the intercourse of life. This is receiving instruction, without. exciting much envy; it depends on memory, and memory is one of those talents the possession of which we least grudge to our neighbour. Our knowledge of history, at the same time, must not appear in long and tedious details; but in apt and well chosen allusions, calculated to illustrate the particular subject of conversation. But the knowledge most necessary is that of the human heart. This is acquired by constant observation on the manners and maxims of the world, connected. with that which passes in our own minds. This leads us from the common details of conduct, from slander and defamation, to the sources and principles of action, and enables us to enter into what may be called the philosophy of conversation. We may see both the practicability of this kind of discourse, and the nature of it, in the fol-lowing lines of Horace :

Sermo oritur, non de villis domibusve alienis ;
Nec male necne Lepos saltet: sed quod magis ad nos
Pertinet, & nescire malum est, agitamus: utrumue
Divitiis homines, an sint virtute beati ?

Quidve ad amicitias, usus rectumne, trahat nos?
Et quæ sit natura bəni, summumque quid ejus? &c..
By this means constant materials are supplied for free,
easy, and spirited communication. The restraints which

are

contrary to the bienseances: they should seldom seem Politeness, to dissent, and always use some softening mitigating ex- Politian. pression.

Politeness. are imposed on mankind, either from what their own character may suffer, or from the apprehension of giving offence to others, are entirely taken off, and they have a sufficient quantity of current coin for all the common purposes of life.

In addition to virtue and knowledge, which are the chief ingredients in the art of pleasing, we have to consider graceful and easy manners. Lord Chesterfield indeed considers these as the most essential and important part; as if the diamond received its whole value from the polish. But though he is unquestionably mistaken, there is yet a certain sweetness of manners which is particularly engaging in our commerce with the world. It is that which constitutes the character which the French, under the appellation of l'aimable, so much talk of, and so justly value. This is not so easily described as felt. It is the compound result of different things; as complaisance, a flexibility but not a servility of manners, an air of softness in the countenance, gesture, and expression, equally whether you concur or differ with the person you converse with. This is particularly to be studied when we are obliged to refuse a favour asked of us, or to say what in itself cannot be very agreeable to the person to whom we say it. It is then the necessary gilding of a disagreeable pill. But this, which may be called the suaviter in modo, would degenerate and sink into a mean and timid complaisance and passiveness, if not supported by firmness aud dignity of character. Hence the Latin sentence, suaviter in modo, fortiter in re, becomes a useful and important maxim in life.

Genuine easy manners result from a constant attention to the relations of persons, things, time, and places. Were we to converse with one greatly our superior, we are to be as easy and unembarrassed as with our equals ; but yet every look, word, and action, should imply, without any kind of servile flattery, the greatest respect. In mixed companies, with our equals, greater ease and liberty are allowed: but they too have their proper limits. There is a social respect necessary. Our words, gestures, and attitudes, have a greater degree of latitude, though not an unbounded one. That easiness of carriage and behaviour which is exceedingly engaging, widely differs from negligence and inattention, and by no means implies that one may do whatever he pleases; it only means, that one is not to be stiff, formal, and embarrassed, disconcerted and ashamed; but it requires great attention to, and a scrupulous observation of, what the French call les bienseances; a word which implies" decorum, good-breeding, and propriety." Whatever we ought to do, is to be done with ease and unconcern ; whatever is improper, must not be done at all. In mixed companies, also, different ages and sexes are to be differently addressed. Although we are to be equally easy with all, old age particularly requires to be treated with a degree of deference and regard. It is a good general rule, to accustom ourselves to have a kind feeling to every thing connected with man, and when this is the case, we shall seldom err in the application. Another important point in the bienseances is, not to run our own present humour and disposition indiscriminately against every body, but to observe and adopt theirs. And if we cannot command our present humour and disposition, it is necessary to single out those to converse with who happen to be in the humour the nearest to our own. Pe remptoriness and decis1on, especially in young people, is

There is a bienseance also with regard to people of the lowest degree; a gentleman observes it with his footman, and even indeed with the beggar in the street. He considers them as objects of compassion, not of insult; he speaks to neither in a harsh tone, but corrects the one coolly, and refuses the other with humanity.

The following observations perhaps contain the sum of the art of pleasing:

1. A fixed and habitual resolution of endeavouring to please, is a circumstance which will seldom fail of effect, and its effect will every day become more visible as this habit increases in strength.

2. This resolution must be regulated by a very considerable degree of good sense.

3. It is a maxim of almost general application, that what pleases us in another will also please others in us. 4. A constant and habitual attention to the different dispositions of mankind, to their ruling passions, and to their peculiar or occasional humours, is absolutely ne

cessary.

5. A man who would please, must possess a firm, equal, and steady temper. And,

6. An easy and graceful manner, as distant from bashfulness on the one hand as from impudence on the other. "He who thinks himself sure of pleasing (says Lord Chesterfield), and he who despairs of it, are equally sure to fail." And he is undoubtedly in the right. The one, by his assuming vanity, is inattentive to the means of pleasing; and the other from fear, is rendered incapable of employing them.

A variety of excellent rules for acquiring politeness, with strictures on particular kinds of impoliteness, may be found in the Spectator, Rambler, Idler, Lounger, Mirror, and other periodical works of that kind; in Knox's Essays, and among Swift's Works; see Good MANNERS, Chesterfield's Art of Pleasing, and his Letters, are also worthy of perusal, provided the reader be on his guard against the insincerity and other vices which those books are calculated to infuse, and provided he always bear in mind, what we have endeavoured to show in this article, that true politeness does not consist in specious manners and a dissimulating address, but that it must always be founded on real worth and intrinsic virtue.

POLITIAN, ANGELO, was born at Monte Pulciano in Tuscany in 1454. He learned the Greek tongue, of which he became a complete master, under Andronicus of Thessalonica. He is said to have written verses both in Greek and Latin when he was not more than 12 years of age. He studied also the Platonic philosophy under Marsilius Ficinus, and that of Aristotle under Argyropylus. He was one of the most learned and polite writers of his time. The first work which gained him a reputation was a poem on the tournament of Julian de Medicis. The account he wrote some time after of the conspiracy of the Pazzi's was very much esteem ed. He wrote many other pieces which have merited approbation; and had he lived longer, he would have enriched the republic of letters with many excellent works; but he died at the age of 40 years. His morals answered the homeliness of his face rather than the beauty of his genius; for Paul Jovius informs us, that "he was a man of awkward and perverse manners, of

Politian a countenance by no means open and liberal, a nose remarkably large, and squinting eyes. He was crafty, Political satirical, and full of inward malice: for his constant Arithmetic. way was, to sneer and ridicule the productions of other men, and never to allow any criticism, however just, upon his own."

He was, nevertheless, as all acknowledged, a man of most consummate erudition; and not only so, but a very polite and elegant writer. Erasmus, in his Ciceronianus, calls him a rare miracle of nature, on account of his excelling in every kind of writing; his words are remarkable: "Fateor Angelum prorsus angelica fuisse mente, rarum naturæ miraculum, ad quodcunque scripti genus applicaret animum. Some of his poems were so much admired, that several learned men have made it their business to comment on them. It has been often report ed that he spoke of the Bible with great contempt; and that, having read it but once, he complained he had never spent his time so ill. But this is not probable, for it must be remembered that he was a priest and canon of Florence; and we learn from one of his Epistles that he preached a whole Lent. It does not indeed follow hence, that he did not think contemptuously of the Bible, because many of his church, especially among the better sort, have not been very good believers, and he might be one of them but it is not likely he would speak out so freely. "I could (as Bayle says) much more easily believe the judgment he is said to have made on the Psalms of David and the Odes of Pindar: he did not deny that there are many good and fine things in the Psalms; but he pretended that the same things appear in Pindar with more brightness and sweetness. The two Scaligers have spoken highly of Politian: the elder has preferred a consolatory elegy of his to that which Ovid sent to Livia upon the death of Drusus, and says, he had rather have been the author of it: the younger calls him an excellent poet, but thinks the style of his epistles too elate and declamatory.

His works have been printed at various times, and in various places: his epistles have probably been most read, because these are things which the generality of people are best pleased with.

POLITICAL, from was, "a city," signifies any thing that relates to policy or civil government.

POLITICAL Arithmetic, is the art of reasoning by fi. gures upon matters relating to government, such as the revenues, number of people, extent and value of land, taxes, trade, &c. in any nation.

These calculations are generally made with a view to ascertain the comparative strength, prosperity, &c. of any two or more nations. With this view, Sir William Petty, in his Political Arithmetic, p. 74, &c. computes the land of Holland and Zealand to be about 1,000,000 acres, and that of France to be 8,000,000; and yet the former is one-third part as rich and strong as the lat

ter.

The shipping of Europe he computes to be about 2,000,000 of which Britain has 500,000; Holland 900,000; France 100,000; Hamburgh, Denmark, Sweden, and Dantzic 250,000; and Spain, Portugal, Italy, &c. the rest. The exports of France he computes at 5,000,000l. of which one-fourth came Britain; of Holland 18,000,000l. of which 300,000l. came to Britain. The money raised yearly by the king of France was about 6,500,000l. Sterling; that of all the Dutch provinces 3,000,000l. of which 2,100,000 VOL. XVII. Part. I. +

to

was raised in Holland and Zealand. The number of Political people in England he computed to be six millions, and Arithmetic. their expences, at 71. per annum a head, 42,000,000l.; the rent of land 8,000,000l. and the interests, &c. of personal estates as much; the rents of houses 4,000,000l. and the profits of labour 26,000,000l. The people of Ireland he reckoned 1,200,000. The corn spent in England, at 5s. a bushel for wheat, and 2s. 6d. for barley, amounts to 10,000,000l. a-year. The navy of England then required 36,000 men to man it, and other trade and shipping 48,000. In France, to manage the whole shipping trade, there were then required only 1 500 men. The whole people of France were 13,500,000; and those of England, Scotland, and Ireland, about 9,500,000. In the three kingdoms are about 20,000 churchmen, and in France more than 270,000. In the dominions of England were above 40,000 seamen, and in France not more than 10,000. In England, Scotland, and Ireland, and all their dependencies, there was then about 60,000 ton of shipping, worth about 4,500,000l. in money. The sea line round England, Scotland, and Ireland, and the adjacent isles, is about 3800 miles. In the whole world he reckoned about 350,000,000 of ple; and those with whom the English and Dutch have any commerce, not more than eighty millions; and the value of commodities annually traded for in the whole not above 45,000,000l. That the manufactures exported from England amounted to about 5,000,000l. per annum; lead, tin, and coals, to 500,000l. per annum. The value of the French commodities then brought into England did not exceed 1,200,000l. per annum ; and the whole cash of England in current money was then about 6,000,000l. Sterling.

peo

He

With these calculations Dr Davenant was dissatisfied; and therefore, from the observations of Mr Greg. King, he advanced others of his own. He reckons the land of England 39 millions of acres: the number of people 5 millions and a half, increasing 9000 a-year, making allowance for wars, plagues, and other accidents. reckons the inhabitants of London 530,000: of other cities and market-towns in England 870,000; and those of villages, &c. 4,100,000. The yearly rent of land he reckons 10,000,000l.; of houses, &c. 2,000,000l.; the produce of all kinds of grain in a tolerable year 9,075,000l.; the annual rent of corn lands 2,200,000l. and the net produce 9,000,000l.; the rent of pasture, meadows, woods, forests, commons, heaths, &e. 7,000,000l.; the annual produce by cattle in butter, cheese, and milk, about 2,500,000l.; the value of the wool yearly shorn about 2,000,000l.; of horses yearly bred about 250,000l.; of the flesh yearly spent as food about 3,350,000l.; of the tallow and hides about 600,000l.; of the hay yearly consumed by horses about 1,300,000l.; of the hay consumed by other cattle 1,000,000l.; of the timber yearly felled for building 500,000l.; and of the timber yearly felled for firing, &c. about 500,000l. The proportion of the land of England to its inhabitants is now about 74 acres per head; the value of the wheat, rye, and barley, necessary for the sustenance of England, amounts to at least 6,000,000l. Sterling per annum; of the woollen manufacture about 8,000,000l. per annum; and exports of all kinds of the woollen manufacture amount to above 2,000,000l. per annum ; the annual income of England, on which the whole people subsist, and out of which all

taxes

Political taxes are paid, is reckoned to be about 43,000,000l. that Arithmetic. of France 81,000,000l. and of Holland 18,250,000l. See Davenant's Essay on Trade, in vol. vi. of his works. For calculations respecting mortality, see Major Grant's Observations on the Bills of Mortality, and our article Bills of MORTALITY.

In vol. xlix. of the Philosophical Transactions we have an estimate of the number of people in England by Dr Brakenridge, from considering the number of houses and quantity of bread consumed. On the former principle he computes the number of people to be 6,257,418 of all ages, counting in England and Wales 911,310 houses, and allowing six persons to a house. From a survey of the window-lights after the year 1750, the number of houses charged in England and Wales was 690,000, besides 200,000 cottages that pay nothing; the whole number therefore was 890,000, and the number of people, allowing six to a house, 5,340,000. On the latter principle, he estimates the number of quarters of wheat consumed at home to be 2,026, 100; and allowing a quarter for three persons in a year, or seven ounces a day for each person, he concludes the number of people to be 6,078,300. Of this number, according to Dr Halley's rule, he supposes about 1,500,000 men able to carry The country he supposes capable of supporting one half more inhabitants, or 9,000,000; for, according to Mr Templeman's survey, England contains 49,450 square miles,thatis,31,648,000acres, of which 23,000,000

arms.

Political

acres are proper to be cultivated; and allowing three acres, well manured, for the maintenance of one person, Arithmetic. there will be maintenance in England for 8,430,000 people; to which add the produce of fishing, and it will enable the country to support 9,000,000. In Ireland, Mr Templeman reckons 17,536,000 acres, of which Dr Brakenridge thinks 12,000,000 are capable of cultivation; and allowing four acres to each person, and the number of inhabitants to be only 1,000,000, Ireland could maintain 2,000,000 more people than it has now. In Scotland, containing 1,500,000 people, and 17,728,000 acres of land, of which there are 11,000,000 good acres, allowing five for each person, he supposes. there may be provision for 2,200,000 people, or for 700,000 more than there are at present. Hence he infers, that were both the British isles properly cultivated, there is a provision for 6,000,000 inhabitants beyond the present number. Extending his survey to the whole globe, he supposes the whole surface to be to the quantity of land as 8 to 3, i. e. as 197,819,550 to 74,182,331 square miles; out of which deducting one-third for waste-ground, there will be 49,454,887 square miles, or 31,651,127,680 good acres. And stating the whole number of inhabitants on the globe to be 400,000,000, there will be 79 good acres to each person. See Dr Halley's Calculations on the same subject, and Dr Price's (for a list of whose works see his life at the word PRICE), and King on the National Debt.

MAY be defined the science which relates to the proAY be defined the science which relates to the production, multiplication and distribution of Wealth.

HISTORY.

THE acquisition of wealth must at all times have been an object of interest and attention to mankind. Yet it was not for a long time reduced into a science, but was left merely to the industry and practical observation of men engaged in the different branches of industry. We find little or nothing in the ancient writers which can be considered as belonging to this department of science. Among them agriculture appears to have been more honoured and attended to, than either trade or manufactures. The latter especially were considered as unworthy of freemen, and were abandoned entirely to slaves. Yet the ancient world had its commercial states; and perhaps had the monuments of Phenician or Carthaginian literature come down to us, they might in some measure have supplied this blank.

During the middle ages, the reign of disorder and violence checked the practical, and still more the theoretical pursuit of these important objects. The feudal system, in which the lordly baron ruled with licentious sway over his little territory, and carried on almost perpetual war with his neighbours, was hostile to all im proved agriculture, and absolutely precluded any progress in manufactures and commerce. These took refuge in the large maritime town3, where fortifications secured the inhabitants from lawless inroads, and a regu

lar police placed person and property in safety. The gradual growth of these cities constituted the grand cause which induced the civilization of modern Europe. The models of beautiful workmanship which were produced, and the various means which ingenuity discovered for multiplying the accommodations of life, gradually brought about a complete change in the habits of landed proprietors. Power, not wealth, had formerly been their object; and to promote this power, they spent almost all their revenues in maintaining a crowd of idle retainers. But when, by the improvement of arts, they had got a taste for luxury, the gratification of which required an augmentation of wealth, their object came to be, how to turn their estates to the best account. This could only be done by granting the farmer a longer lease, which, enabling him to make improvements, led to a better system of agriculture. The same tastes drew them to large cities, and thus led them into extravagant babits, which often brought their estates to market, and placed them in the hands of the commercial and industrious. Thus the improvement of modern Europe, contrary to the natural course of things, began with the manufacturing and com. mercial classes, and was from them reflected to the agricultural part of the community. The consequence was, that commerce and manufactures were long looked upon as the grand source of wealth, and were the objects of peculiar favour to the legislator. Hence arose the mercantile system, which, till about the middle of the last century, was completely predominant in Europe. A sketch of its leading principles will be introduced in the course of

the

made also some important additions and corrections to Nature of the doctrine of Smith. Wealth, &c.

History. the present treatise, and they are fully detailed and supported in the writings of Davenant, Petty, Child, and other writers by whom its tenets were adopted.

This system had a powerful influence on the legislation of the different European nations, England not excepted. But in France, above all, it reigned with absolute sway. Colbert, the celebrated minister of Lewis XIV. in his zeal for the promotion of trade and manufactures, not only neglected, but even depressed agriculture, by laying absurd restraints on the exportation of corn. One extreme leads to another. Thinking men in France, observing the pernicious consequences of this system, were led to the adoption of one directly opposite. According to them, agriculture formed the only real source of wealth. This opinion was first advanced by M. Quesnay, a physician of Paris; he was followed by a multitude of philosophers, who espoused his opinion with all the union and zeal of a sect. Accordingly they went under the name of Economists, and the Economical Sect. The Encyclopedie of Diderot and D'Alembert was conducted entirely upon their principles, and tended to give them a wide circulation. Turgot, in the reforms which he undertook during his short administration, was chiefly guided by the principles of the Economists.

Soon after this, Scotland had the honour of produeing a system, which has obtained the general approbatior of thinking men, and has gradually superseded all others. Adam Smith, being professor in the first commercial city of Scotland, had his attention naturally drawn to these subjects. In his class he had already begun to illustrate the true principles of political economy. Travelling afterwards in France, he became acquainted with the leading members of the Economical school. On his return he spent nine years in maturing his ideas, and preparing his great work "On the Wealth of Nations," which was published in 1776. Here, like the Economists, he shewed the errors of the mercantile system, but in a much more solid and satisfactory man

ner.

He shewed also their own principles to be in many respects erroneous; and he investigated the effects of the division of labour, and various other circumstances which had not occurred to any former writer.

Although the system of Smith gave general satisfaction to all who were able to investigate the subject, and though it was even adopted by Mr Pitt as the basis of his financial and commercial arrangements, yet it did not for a long time acquire a very general currency with the public. It was adopted by the learned only, and not always by them (A). In this respect, the publication of the Edinburgh Review may be considered as forming an era in the history of this science. This celebrated journal, by illustrating in a popular manner the leading subjects of political economy, and by beating down, with its keen powers of ridicule, the opinions of those who still adhered to the obsolete system, has done more towards diffusing the true principles of the science, than any former publication. Lord Lauderdale also has recently published a work, in which, with some paradoxes, he has

In the following sketch, considering Smith as the father of political economy, we shall closely follow his steps, adopting however a somewhat different arrangement, and including such improvements as the science has received since his time.

The subject, it appears to us, may be treated with advantage under the following heads:

I. The nature and different species of wealth.
II. The sources of wealth.

III. The manner in which wealth is produced and distributed.

IV. Views of he mercantile and economical systems. V. Public revenue.

These topics will form the subjects of the following chapters.

CHAP. I. On the Nature and different Species of

Wealth.

SECT. I. Of the Definition of Wealth; and of Price.

i. Edin

WEALTH has been defined to consist of every thing which can be exchanged for another. Lord Lauderdale gives a more general definition, and considers it as consisting of every thing which is useful or agreeable to man*. We conceive, however, that this must be limit- Lauder. ed to objects of external accommodation; for knowledge dale on and mental qualifications of every kind, though most Wealth, ch, useful and agreeable, cannot be said to constitute wealth, burgh Renor to form the subject of political economy. Again, view, No. external accommodations, which are in complete and vit art. 8. universal abundance, the air we breath, the light of heaven, are not wealth. To constitute this, the article must exist in some degree of scarcity. It is then only that it can possess an exchangeable value, that its possessor can procure other commodities in return for it. Thus there are two circumstances to be considered in any commodity; its value in use, and its value in exchange. Water, air, &c. are of the greatest use; but from their great abundance, nothing can be got in exchange for them. Diamonds, on the contrary, are of very little use, but from their great rarity, their exchangeable value, or price, is beyond that of any other substance.

The price of an article depends entirely upon two circumstances. 1. The demand, or the number of persons who desire to possess it, and have something to give in exchange. 2. The supply, or the quantity brought to market. The price is directly as the demand, and inversely as the supply; the former raises, the latter sinks it. Where there are many bidders, and where the quantity is small, the competition must be increased, each must seek to outbid the other, and the price of the commodity must rise. On the contrary, if the bidders are few, and the commodity in great abundance, the possessor, in order to dispose of it, will be under the necessity of offering it at a low price. O 2

SECT