Opinion of Fenelon, &c. as to commerce.-Anecdote of Rousseau. despise labour and economy; if the arts should no longer be deemed honourable; if they should "cease to observe good faith towards strangers; if they should violate, in the least degree, the laws "of free commerce; you would soon see them fall "from that power which is now the object of your "admiration." 5. A modern economist has, also, successfully refuted this anti-social paradox, so often repeated in our time.(270) M. Vital Roux thus speaks of com (270) In 1777, the Academy of Marseilles, proposed the following prize question: "Quelle à eté dans tous les temps, l'influence du commerce sur l'espirt et les mœurs des peuples." What has been, in every age, the influence of commerce on the spirit and manners of nations? How could a society of learned men, established in a city which owes every thing to commerce, support and crown by their suffrages, a discourse, the object of which is to prove, by specious sophisms, and ingenious paradoxes, that commerce has always enervated the spirit, and depraved the morals of a nation, and is, in its nature, and effects, incompatible with great virtues?* * The anwer is obvious. Learned men, les savans, are often lovers of paradox, and take more pleasure in exercising their ingenuity, in defending absurd opinions, than in supporting the simple truth. The following anecdote will serve to illustrate this remark, and may amuse the reader. In a conversation between Marmontel and Voltaire, of which J. J. Rousseau was the subject, the former related, what Diderot once told him, of the philosopher of Geneva. "I was," says Diderot, "a prisoner at Vincennes ; Rous66 seau came to see me. He had made me his Aristarchus, as he expressed "himself. One day, during a walk, he informed me, that the Academy of "Dijon had just proposed an interesting question, and that he was desirous "of discussing it. The question was, Has the restoration of the arts and "sciences contributed to refine manners? Le retablissement des sciences et "des arts, a-t-il contribue a epurer les maurs? Well,' said I, which side Commerce promotes the happiness of nations. merce: "Barbarous nations, whose conquests have "so often laid waste the fairest portion of Europe, "would not have gone so far in search of un"known wealth and happiness, if they could have "drawn them, by means of traffic, to their own "homes. If commerce had penetrated their de"serts, it would have transformed their vast forests "into fertile fields, their lonely huts into pleasant "towns, and their country, thus endeared to them, "would not have been abandoned without regret. "But what can a nation do whose sole employment "is the chase, that serves only to nourish ferocity? It devours itself, or vents its impatient fury "on distant objects. Society cannot exist where "labour is not necessary; idleness is the nurse of insubordination, that breaks forth within, or seeks for gratification abroad; for he who creates nothing, loves only to destroy. Commerce, on the "contrary, excites a love of labour; the ease which "it produces, attaches us to our country, and thereby invigorates the government; commercial na 66 66 "do you mean to take? He answered, 'the affirmative.' 'That is,' I repli "ed, 'the asses' bridge; men of moderate talents will take that path, and you will find in it nothing but common ideas, whereas the other side presents a new, rich, and fertile field for philosophy and eloquence.' 'You #s are right,' said he, after a moment's reflection, and I will follow your ad. "vice.' Thus, from that moment, his part and his mask were decided. 'I " am not at all surprised,' said Voltaire; this man is factitious from head to "foot, in mind and soul. But he has played well, at one time the stoic, at "another the cynic; he will always betray himself, and his masque will sti. "fle him." See Oeuvres Posthumes de Marmontel, tom. 2, page 240, Paris, (1804)......T. Influence of commerce on the conduct and manners of nations. "tions direct all their attention to the promotion of "industry, because it produces the greatest sum of happiness. Ambition, which impels barbarous na"tions to war and devastation, inspires a commercial people with patriotism. The happiness of the one, is placed in destruction; the felicity of the "other consists in the prosperity of all." ઃઃ 6. As soon as the spirit of commerce acquires strength and ascendancy in a state, a new genius is seen to animate its government, to direct its alliances, its wars, and negociations. The most decided proofs of this are exhibited in the history of the Italian states, the Hanseatic league, and the cities of the Netherlands, during the period which elapsed from the ninth to the sixteenth century. In proportion as commerce spread among the different nations of Europe, their views were directed towards those objects, which engage the attention of polished states, and to the adoption of the manners by which they are distinguished.(270) Commerce does not, therefore, corrupt manners, continues the learned Peuchet; it does not produce a declension of morals; it is not the cause of those vices which arise from increased population; otherwise, agriculture must participate in the anathema, which is hurled exclusively against commerce, since, it may be justly, (270) See, Robertson's Introduction to the History of Charles V. Commerce necessarily connected with navigation. and emphatically termed, the nurse of the human race, and the chief cause of population.* 7. Commerce soon became linked with navigation, by those necessary ties of correspondence, which draw towards each other different nations and countries. To derive advantage from this union, it was necessary to establish a communication with the different parts of the world, which could not be accomplished without inventing an art, by means of which seas might be traversed. Such was the origin of navigation. 8. Navigation is one of those arts the commencement of which is veiled in the deepest obscurity; arts which are the tardy fruits of necessity, chance, activity, experience, and pride. This idea is most happily expressed by Lucretius, in three lines of his immortal poem.(271) Navigia atque agriculturas, moenia, leges, 00 : : : : : : : : : : : : : Usus, et impigræ simul experientia mentis Navigation having reached a certain degree of perfection, gave wings to commerce and maritime in * Some new and interesting views of the necessary connexion between subsistence and population, and its effects on the happiness of society, are to be found in the work of Mr. Malthus, entitled, "An essay on Population," second edition, 4to......T. (271) Lucretius, de natura rerum, lib. 5, 1. 1447-Sec ante p. 2, and 3, of chapter 1. Rapid progress of navigation after the invention of the compass. dustry. Man, disdaining the narrow limits of his native soil, boldly advanced into unknown seas, and with the help of the compass, before invented, but not brought into immediate use,(273) found out a passage to the East-Indies by the Cape of Good Hope, discovered the West-Indies, or America, and measured the circumference of the globe, not to gratify a vain curiosity, but to extend the blessings of commerce, to procure new enjoyments, and satisfy new wants. 9. The mariner's compass changed the principles of navigation. Hitherto, mankind possessed only gallies with sails and oars, a kind of vessel, at best adapted only to keep along the coast, which they seldom dared to quit beyond a certain distance. Until this period, navigation was, according to the generally received opinion, no more than a sort of coasting; but, as soon as the use of the compass was perfectly understood, its progress was followed by a marine. Men began to brave, on the high seas, adverse winds and tempests; to learn the course of the monsoons, to avoid rocks and currents, no longer to fear being lost when out of the sight of land, and to become masters of that terrible element that had often made them tremble. Vessels of a different size, and fit to navigate in every latitude, soon appeared on the ocean. Voyages be (273) See my dissertation sur l'origine de la Boussole, in the introduction to the second edition, printed at Venice, 1797. |