PREFACE TO THIS EDITION. SINCE the last Edition of this work was published in 1838, some important changes have been effected in our domestic policy. Among others may be specified the regulations with regard to Paper Money and Banking, introduced in 1844; the abolition of the Corn Laws; the repeal of the greater portion of the Navigation Laws; and the assimilation of the Scottish Law of Entail to the English, are measures of primary importance. And though it would be rash to speculate too confidently on their results, our conviction is, that, on the whole, they will be found to be eminently beneficial. We have endeavoured to give some account of these and other important measures, and to estimate their probable influence. If we have succeeded in our object, this Edition of the "Wealth of Nations" will be found to be adapted to the present state of our internal and foreign policy, and to be on a level with the improved science of the time. We have not hesitated in reviewing the doctrines and measures that have come under our notice, to express our opinions upon them openly and plainly. But, we trust, not with unwarranted confidence, and certainly with no personal or party bias. LONDON, December 1849. PREFACE TO THE EDITION OF 1828. ADAM SMITH put the last hand to the "Wealth of Nations" in 1786, since which period Political Economy has made a rapid progress. The shock given by the French Revolution to old systems and prejudices, the stimulus which it imparted to the public mind in every part of the civilised world, and the wars and convulsions to which it led, produced a nearly total change in the internal organisation and foreign policy of many powerful states. The fetters by which industry was clogged, and the partial and oppressive imposts by which it was burdened, in France, Germany, and Italy; the feudal privileges of the nobility; and the immunities enjoyed by the clergy of these countries in the days of Dr Smith, have been mostly swept away. Representative goverments have been established in France, Holland, Belgium, and some other continental states; and the downfall of the old colonial system, and the emancipation of America, have enabled her inhabitants to avail themselves of all the advantages of their situation, and to enter, with the spirit and energy inspired by freedom, on the career of improvement. Nowhere, however, have the events of the last half century produced more interesting results than in Great Britain. We have not, indeed, been overrun by foreign armies, and continue to enjoy that free system of government to which we are mainly indebted for our prosperity. But the struggle pro aris et focis in which we were so long engaged, and the changes in the situation of the surrounding nations, have had a powerful influence over our condition; and have furnished abundant materials for the investigations of practical and speculative politicians. The increase of the public debt and taxes; the restrictions on the importation of foreign corn; the suspension of cash payments at the Bank of England in 1797, and their resumption in 1819; the prodigious growth of the manufacturing population of Great Britain, and of the agricultural population of Ireland; the rapid increase of the poor rates since 1795; and a variety of other topics of nearly equal importance, have excited, and will long continue to excite, the anxious attention of the Legislature and the public. Few periods of equal duration have ever been so productive of |