the charcoal to be made use of in the smelting-house,
the brickmaker, the bricklayer, the
workmen who attend the furnace, the millwright,
the forger, the smith, must all of them
join their different arts in order to produce
them. Were we to examine, in the same
manner, all the different parts of his dress and
household furniture, the coarse linen shirt
which he wears next his skin, the shoes which
cover his feet, the bed which he lies on, and
all the different parts which compose it, the
kitchen-grate at which he prepares his victuals,
the coals which he makes use of for that purpose,
dug from the bowels of the earth, and
brought to him, perhaps, by a long sea and a
long land-carriage, all the other utensils of his
kitchen, all the furniture of his table, the
knives and forks, the earthen or pewter plates
upon which he serves up and divides his
victuals, the different hands employed in preparing
his bread and his beer, the glass window
which lets in the heat and the light, and
keeps out the wind and the rain, with all the
knowledge and art requisite for preparing that
beautiful and happy invention, without which
these northern parts of the world could scarce
have afforded a very comfortable habitation,
together with the tools of all the different
workmen employed in producing those different
conveniencies; if we examine, I say, all
these things, and consider what a variety of
labour is employed about each of them, we
shall be sensible that, without the assistance
and co-operation of many thousands, the very
meanest person in a civilized country could
not be provided, even according to, what we
very falsely imagine, the easy and simple manner
in which he is commonly accommodated.
Compared, indeed, with the more extravagant
luxury of the great, his accommodation must
no doubt appear extremely simple and easy;
and yet it may be true, perhaps, that the accommodation
of an European prince does not
always so much exceed that of an industrious
and frugal peasant, as the accommodation of
the latter exceeds that of many an African
king, the absolute masters of the lives and
liberties of ten thousand naked savages.
CHAP. II.
OF THE PRINCIPLE WHICH GIVES OCCASION TO
THE DIVISION OF LABOUR.
This division of labour, from which so many
advantages are derived, is not originally the
effect of any human wisdom, which foresees
and intends that general opulence to which it
gives occasion. It is the necessary, though
very slow and gradual, consequence of a certain
propensity in human nature, which has in
view no such extensive utility; the propensity
to truck, barter, and exchange one thing for
another.
Whether this propensity be one of these original
principles in human nature, of which no
further account can be given, or whether, as
seems more probable, it be the necessary consequence
of the faculties of reason and speech,
it belongs not to our present subject to inquire.
It is common to all men, and to be
found in no other race of animals, which seem
to know neither this nor any other species of
contracts. Two greyhounds, in running down
the same hare, have sometimes the appearance
of acting in some sort of concert. Each turns
her towards his companion, or endeavours to
intercept her when his companion turns her
towards himself. This, however, is not the
effect of any contract, but of the accidental
concurrence of their passions in the same object
at that particular time. Nobody ever saw
a dog make a fair and deliberate exchange of
one bone for another with another dog. Nobody
ever saw one animal, by its gestures and
natural cries signify to another, this is mine,
that yours; I am willing to give this for that.
When an animal wants to obtain something
either of a man, or of another animal, it has
no other means of persuasion, but to gain the
favour of those whose service it requires. A
puppy fawns upon its dam, and a spaniel endeavours,
by a thousand attractions, to engage
the attention of its master who is at dinner,
when it wants to be fed by him. Man sometimes
uses the same arts with his brethren,
and when he has no other means of engaging
them to act according to his inclinations, endeavours
by every servile and fawning attention
to obtain their good will. He has not
time, however, to do this upon every occasion.
In civilized society he stands at all times in
need of the co-operation and assistance of
great multitudes, while his whole life is scarce
sufficient to gain the friendship of a few persons.
In almost every other race of animals,
each individual, when it is grown up to maturity,
is entirely independent, and in its natural
state has occasion for the assistance of no
other living creature. But man has almost
constant occasion for the help of his brethren,
and it is in vain for him to expect it from their
benevolence only. He will be more likely to
prevail if he can interest their self-love in his
favour, and shew them that it is for their own
advantage to do for him what he requires of
them. Whoever offers to another a bargain
of any kind, proposes to do this. Give me
that which I want, and you shall have this
which you want, is the meaning of every
such offer; and it is in this manner that
we obtain from one another the far greater
part of those good offices which we stand
in need of. It is not from the benevolence
of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker
that we expect our dinner, but from their regard