exclusive privileges meant monopoly (Free Trade, 1622); I. R.'s The Trades Increase (1615), p. 51, and Brent's Discourse (1645), anticipated

Violet's conclusions. Three extensions of these principles were more or less original: (1) the abolition of "alien customs"-a device tried in 1539 (Schanz, Englische Handelspolitik, vol. i. pp. 86, 372); (2) the plantation of foreign capitalists and artificers, and their NATURALIZATION (q.v.), with power to buy land-this scheme was inspired, not by Francis Bacon, whose suggestions were dictated by an old-world contempt for traders (Works, ed. Spedding, vi. 449), but by those twin panegyrics on trade, H. ROBINSON'S England's Safety in Trades Encrease (p. 18) and L. ROBERTS' Treasure of Traffike (p. 14); (3) his policy of "free ports," whence imports could be re-exported without duty, had been anticipated by James I.'s and Charles I.'s dispensations (Misselden's Circle of Commerce, pp. 121, 127; 16 Car. I. c. 25, 29, 31), and by Robinson's Briefe Considerations (1649), and MUN's not yet published English Treasure by Foreign Trade (p. 21), and was endorsed by B. W.'s Free Ports (1652), the author of The Merchants' Remonstrance (1659), and in a tentative way by the legislature in 1656 (Scobell's Parliament Acts, p. 388) and 1662 (14 Car. II. c. 11, §§ 25, 27). MADDISON (1655), like Robinson in his earlier works, also urged free ports, but not for aliens. The object of this policy was to divert the carrying trade from Holland.

In advocating the prohibition of or high duties on imported luxuries, a political lent, a bank, and mercantile courts, he followed ROBINSON (q.v.), but his scheme for the latter is more matured than those of Robinson, Roberts (1641), Philopatris (1651), LAMBE (1657), the author of The Merchants' Remonstrance (1659), or CRADOCKE (1660), and may be compared with CHILD'S scheme.

He also wrote pamphlets, e.g. Humble Declaration (1643), Proposals (1656), True Discovery (1659), Appeal to Caesar (1660), in support of the most reactionary bullionism; and in these he often borrows the language of MALYNES. Not that he did not know better (Cal. of State Papers, Dom. Ser., 1651-52, p. 25), but penal laws against melting down and exporting bullion had been meat and drink to him. Persecutor by tastewhether of Jews or the East India Companyand goldsmith by trade, he had smuggled bullion (ib. 1661, p. 13), then prosecuted his fellowsmugglers in the Star Chamber (1635-43), and had played these same tricks under the protectorate (ib. 1659, p. 273), and his sinister advocacy of bullionism-including royal dispensations and Star Chamber prosecutions-in his Appeal to Caesar (1660) doubtless contributed to the antibullionist reaction of 1663. Like other bullionists of that date he wished also to penalise the export of corn, wool, leather, munitions of war, etc. His resistance to milled coin, Answer to Libels of Blondeau, 1653, and his advocacy of royal exchangers (see EXCHANGER ROYAL), and private coinages of copper, were merely interested.

[SNELLING, View of Silver Coin, pp. 43, 44. View of Copper Coin, p. 35.]

J. D. R.

VIRGA. The steward of a MANOR, when

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admitting a new customary tenant, usually handed to him a rod (virga), received from the out-going tenant, as a symbol of the transfer of rights, and an entry being then made in the court roll, the transaction was complete. This custom has descended to modern times. R. H.

VIRGATE. One-fourth of a HIDE, which was the Domesday unit of assessment. The hide cannot be viewed as a measure of surface of land, for it really expressed the value as regards taxation of that portion of 120 acres which was in cultivation during the current year. This would vary according to the mode of working the land. Under the two-field system it may be regarded as the tax value of sixty acres. Under the THREE-FIELD SYSTEM (q.v.) it would be the equivalent on eighty acres. The share of pasture land annexed to each holding is thus not reckoned in the acreage. An average virgate was therefore about thirty acres scattered in strips over the common fields of a manor ; but there were great variations in some places. It was the usual holding of a VILLEIN. From fifteen to twenty acres of it would be ploughed each year, and a proportion of the pasture land and waste would be held with it.

R. H.

VIRGILIO, JACOPO (1824-1891). Virgilio taught for many years at the technical high school of Genoa, and founded and directed the higher school of commerce in that city.

Virgilio left several economic works-chiefly practical in nature; of these the principal is on emigration; he advocates spontaneous and individual emigration, which he considers very advantageous, and he shows the objections to the steps taken by governments to prevent emigration. In another work on the fundamental conception of economics, he combines a dissertation on the theory with the modern scientific train of thought, giving especial importance to the inductive method.

Virgilio in his other works discusses the merchant navy, railways, and the history of trade with much ability.

Delle migrazioni transatlantiche degli italiani, 1868. La questione dell' emigrazione, 1874.Principii di economia politica, 1865-66.-Concetti fondamentali della scienza economica, 1882.Storia del commercio, 1891.

U. R.

VIRGINIA COMPANY, THE. This company took its origin from a charter granted by Queen Elizabeth to Walter RALEGH, in 1584. The charter authorised him "to discover such remote heathen and barbarous lands, not actually possessed by any Christian prince nor inhabited by Christian people, as to him. . . shall seem good," with licence to remain there and to fortify them, notwithstanding the statutes against subjects departing the realm. licence was given "to take or lead such of our subjects as shall willingly accompany him," and to employ such shipping, etc., as might be necessary. Enjoyment was granted to Raleigh and his heirs of "all the soil of such lands or towns in the same," the fifth part of the gold

Full

and silver obtained being reserved to the crown. The land was to be held by homage. The conception of "Greater Britain" was involved in the clause conceding to the settlers and their children "all the privileges of free denizens and persons native of England." The widest legal jurisdiction over life and property was granted to Raleigh and his heirs. In a word, a tributary kingdom was created. Armed with these prerogatives Raleigh despatched two vessels on a voyage of discovery in the spring of 1584. They took possession of the island of Roanoke, five miles from the coast of North Carolina, and returned in September with a glowing account of their acquisition. Raleigh thereupon equipped an expedition consisting of "a fleet of seven sailes with one hundred householders and many things necessary to begin a new state," which left Plymouth in April 1585 under the celebrated Sir Richard Grenville. The territory to be colonised was already designated by the name of Virginia, as a compliment to the queen. The settlers disembarked at Roanoke, and explored the coast of the mainland, but scarcity of provisions and the hostility of the natives caused them to re-embark for England with Sir Francis Drake, who at the head of an English fleet anchored at the island in June 1586. In 1587 Raleigh made an effort to retrieve this disaster. granted a charter of incorporation to thirty-two persons, nineteen of them merchants of London, under the style of "Governor and Assistants of the city of Raleigh in Virginia." His purpose was to establish a colony at Chesapeake bay, and 150 settlers were despatched on board three ships. They returned to Roanoke, intending to pick up some men who had been left there by Sir R. Grenville, and with them to proceed to Chesapeake Bay. The men were not to be found, and after a sojourn at Roanoke of more than a year this colony was massacred by the Indians. Thus ended the Virginia Company. Its work was afterwards taken up with more success by the London Adventurers' Company, called also the South Virginia Company, which received a charter from James I. in 1606. The

He

-was

rest of Virginia-at this time the name assigned to the vast territory between the thirty-fourth and forty-fifth degrees of north latitudeassigned to another chartered company called the PLYMOUTH ADVENTURERS. The modern Maryland, Virginia, and Carolina fell to the first-Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and New England to the second company.

[D. Macpherson, Annals of Commerce, London, 1885, vol. ii.-E. Edwards, Life of Sir W. Raleigh, London, 1888, vol. i.-J. A. Doyle, The English in America, London, 1882, vol. i.-G. Bancroft, History of the United States, New York, 1884, vol. i. J. Winsor (ed.), History of America, London, 1886, vol. iii.-G. Cawston and A. H. Keane, The early Chartered Companies, London, 1896.] I. S. L.

VIRICULTURE. Under this name G. de MOLINARI proposes the foundation of a new branch of science to be based on data provided both by moral sciences such as economics, and by natural sciences such as biology. This word has scarcely yet hitherto been used in French; it is formed on the model of such words as agriculture, apiculture, viticulture, etc., which are often met with in French literature.

Premising that we now witness a phenomenon exactly opposite to that which excited the fears of MALTHUS, namely the stationary or even decreasing tendency of population in several nations of Europe, accompanied by a parallel tendency towards the physical and moral deterioration of the race, M. de Molinari suggests that the threefold object of this new science of the cultivation of man ought to be the investigation and study of the means by which—(1) the numbers of population might be adjusted to its means of subsistence, without legally interfering with liberty of marriage and of sexual intercourse; (2) the progress of human deterioration might be arrested, and the standard of the moral and physical qualities of mankind might be raised; and (3) prostitution might be suppressed, or at least circumscribed within the narrowest possible limits.

[G. de Molinari, La Viriculture, Paris, 1897.]

E. Ca.

VISA. The financial expedient known as the visa was only brought into operation after the downfall of John LAW. It was a violent reaction from his policy. The decree which established it appeared 26th January 1721; PARIS DUVERNEY was entrusted with its execution. He had, the year before, in 1720, sought to undermine the SYSTÈME, and to compete with it by establishing the anti-système, but, by an arbitrary act, Law had absorbed this to the advantage of the système. Hence the natural arimosity of Pâris Duverney to Law can be understood, though he could not show this till

the removal of Law from France left him a free field.

The visa consisted in making an inventory of every description of the property of those who, either directly or indirectly, had shared in the profits of the système. It was needful to trace their right of possession back to its source, and to classify the property according to this complicated investigation.

It was spoliation legally organised, rigorously carried out, or rather, what was worse, under cover of protection and favouritism.

The decree of 26th January 1721 ordered that all the contracts for income from the state.. both perpetual and life annuities-the shares of the India Company, all the certificates of bank accounts, accounts of deposits, all the bonds, contracts for annuities, as well as the notes of the royal bank, in fine, all the proofs of personal property created by the système, should,

within two months, a time which might be extended to the 30th June, be presented before a commission to be appointed by the king. The accounts which were rendered from the 1st to the 15th of July were, as a commencement, to be reduced by a third; those which were rendered from the 16th to the 31st of July by two-thirds. If not presented before the last date mentioned they lost all value.

Every one was obliged to declare by what title they had acquired the securities, and what value they had given in exchange for them. As may be supposed, a severe drop in prices followed immediately. The shares of the India Company, which, in 1720, had been worth 27,000 livres, fell to 30 livres, and even, it is said, to six livres, the nominal value being 750 livres. Still Pâris Duverney was not satisfied.

The Hommes Nouveaux (les Mississipiens) might escape by concealing their wealth.

The notaries were obliged, within a month, to produce copies of all contracts passed since 1st July 1720. As gold and silver retained their value, what was held thus could only escape by being carried out of the country. Denouncements were frequent, and the property often confiscated before crossing the

was

frontier.

This was to the advantage of the countries north and east of France, where many people prudently sought a refuge for themselves and their property. Law and his système met, as may be seen, their match in Pâris Duverney.

The depositions before the commission actually reached 511,009 in number, and in value, 3,060,474,441 livres, of which amount 2,233,786,719 was in Paris. According to their character they were divided into five categories, each of which was further divisible into fifteen classes, according to the manner in which the property had been acquired.

All, more or less, were submitted to reduction according to a scale-small sums less than large, not so much out of consideration for small properties, but because the large were easier to get at, and brought more profit to the operation of the visa.

Finally, the above-mentioned sum was reduced to 1,613,911,481 livres, the final amount. But the reductions were far from being proportionate. The figures varied from the absolute admission to the absolute rejection of the claim.

To crown the work of Paris Duverney, and to reach those who had hitherto been able to escape, the council of state, on 15th September 1722, issued a decree enforcing an additional poll-tax, namely the levy of a fine on all immovable property belonging to the hommes nouveaux, which produced 187,893,661 livres. The expenses of the visa, another loss to the country, were 9,045,874 livres.

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[Du Hautchamps, Histoire du système des fi nances sous Louis XV., 6 vols. 12mo, 1739, The Hague. Du Hautchamps, Histoire générale et particulière du visa, etc., 9 vols. 12mo, 1743, The Hague.-A. Thiers, Histoire de Law, Paris, 1858 (last edition); 18mo.-Alph. Courtois, Hist. des banques en France, 2nd ed., Paris, 1881 (pt. i.).]

A. C. f.

VISSERING, SIMON (1818-1888), born at Amsterdam, studied law and philology at Amsterdam and Leyden (1835-42); for some time practised as a lawyer, was editor of a newspaper (1847-48), and in 1850 was appointed professor at the university of Leyden; during two years, 1879-81, he stood at the head of the department of finances.

His first economical work was a series of articles on the anti-corn-law movement in England, which he thoroughly approved; when the reform was accomplished he wrote its history.

His principal work is Handbock voor prac tische staathuishoudkunde (Manual for Practical Economy), Amsterdam, van Kampen en zoon In this and his 1860-65, 1872, and 1878.

other writings he shows himself an adherent of the school of Bastiat, whose theories we meet with as well in the speech which Vissering delivered in 1850 on "Liberty in Economy," as in his last article "Prosopographia socialistica," combating modern state-socialism. A. F. v. L.

VIVANT DE MÉZAGUES. See MÉZAGUES.

VIVES, JUAN LUIS (1492-1540), one of the most notable humanists (see HUMANISM) of the 16th century, deserves a place in the history of economic thought for his treatise De subventione pauperum, written in 1524 and printed in 1532.

In this tractate, addressed to the magistrates of Bruges, who had consulted him on the subject, he proposed a complete reform of the existing methods of poor relief. The destitute should be properly registered and classified; those unable to work should be provided for in well-administered hospitals and almshouses; those able to work should be found employment; and mendicancy should be prohibited. The work is significant of the new current of thought on the subject of the relief of the poor which was making its way in western Europe, and itself contributed to still further stimulate the work of reform.

The dedicatory letter is dated 6th January 1526 (i.e. 1525). The De subventione pauperum libri duo, was printed at Lyons in 1532. It will be found in both the collected editions of Vives' Opera, that in 2 vols., Basel, 1555 (ii. 889-922), and that in 7 vols., Valencia, 1782-1790 (iv. 420494). It was translated into French, Italian, and Spanish a modern reprint of the Spanish version

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is given in Biblioteca de autores españoles, vol. lxv. (1873).

[Of modern writers, the first to call attention to Vives' tractate was Franz Ehrle, in his Beiträge zur Geschichte u. s. w. der Armenpflege (Freiburg, i. B. 1881), who followed by Ashley, Economic History, pt. ii. 343. The best biography of

Vives is that by Rudolf Heine, prefixed to Vives: Ausgewählte pädagogische Schriften (Pädagogische Bibliothek, xvi., Leipzig, 1882). The traditional account of Vives' residence in England is there subjected to a necessary criticism]. W. J. A.

is not to have an excess of men, but to make those we have as little unhappy as possible" (article "Population" in the Dictionnaire Philosophique). With his strong sense of equity in administration, he consistently claimed an equitable apportionment of taxation, and became, towards the end of his life, a warm and sincere admirer of TURGOT: see in the Correspondance the letter addressed to the Abbé BAUDEAU in 1775, and in his poem, the Épître à un Homme, addressed to Turgot after his fall. Only a few years before, in 1772, in a note

Vivorio was the author of numerous pamphlets on various subjects, among others one on corporations, written for the prize competition at the academy of Verona (see MARACHIO). In this Vivorio briefly and clearly discusses the evils of corporations; he recognises their merits in the past, and the good side they still preserved, observing, however, that this was entirely destroyed in his day by abuses and disadvantages. concludes by advocating the absolute abolition of all corporations, and granting the greatest freedom in the pursuit of all industries.

He

Although this work is far inferior to that of VASCO, it deserves notice for its clearness and fluent explanations.

Sopra i corpi delle arti-risposta ad un quesito accademico, 1792 [Alberti, Le corporazioni d'arti e mestieri, etc., 1888].

U. R.

VOLTAIRE, FRANÇOIS MARIE ÅROUET DE (1694-1778). In his long and active literary career Voltaire, whose life is too well known to require narration here, often touched on topics connected with economics. He had never studied them, however, systematically, and simply expressed the superficial commonsense views of his times, upholding with the same sparkling wit both truth and fallacy. Writing under the impulse of the moment, he frequently contradicted his former assertions. Thus we find him upholding the theory of the balance of trade and of the necessity of preventing the export of money, though at other times he remonstrated against trammels imposed on the corn trade. He saw no great harm in alterations of the currency, and only insisted that they ought to be gradual, as a nation which is its own creditor does not, according to his views, impoverish itself. Heavy debts, as well as a free spending of public and private money, are incentives to industry. The two thousand millions of debts bequeathed by Louis XIV. to France, the ruin of many families, the resulting bankruptcies, and the excessive taxation, were simply the "misfortunes of a happy nation" (Observations sur Law, Melon, Dutot, le Commerce, le Luxe, les Monnaies et les Impôts). At other times he sneered at the enthusiastic promoters of population. "The principal point

very bitter against the ÉCONOMISTES (q.v.), calling them " people who, being bankrupt themselves, teach the art of becoming rich through trade, travel round the world without leaving their closet, and, never having owned a plough, fill our granaries with corn." It is also against them that, almost a quarter of a century before, he had composed his celebrated tale, L'Homme aux quarante écus; in fact, the only one of his publications on a distinctly economic subject. The dogmatic and often pompous and heavy style of the PHYSIOCRATS had probably bored him, as well as their abstract and subtle mode of reasoning. L'Homme aux quarante écus, directed against MERCIER DE LA RIVIERE'S (q.v.) Ordre naturel et essentiel des sociétés, is the history of the owner of a small estate yielding a net income of forty crowns a year, who has been frightened by the appearance of several edicts promulgated "by a few gentlemen who, having some leisure, have undertaken to govern the kingdom from their firesides." In the preamble they stated that the government "being by divine- and birthright co-proprietor of his land, he at least owes it one-half of his income," and that "as all wealth proceeds from land, land is to bear the whole burden of taxation.' Overflowing with wit and sarcasm, the book consists of conversations between the man with the forty crowns and the most motley succession of people, and, with the author's usual unfairness, is not free from misrepresentations and gross exaggerations of Mercier's real meaning.

"

In various passages of the Dictionnaire Philosophique (article on Natural Law), Voltaire, in the insulting controversial tone which he frequently adopted, rails at ROUSSEAU'S theories on the illegitimacy of private ownership in land. How little of an optimist he was may be gathered from his Candide ou l'Optimisme.

[On Voltaire's social and economic opinions see the article Voltaire in the Nouveau Dict. d'Econ. Politique (Paris, 1892), and on his Idées Générales, Faguet's Études littéraires sur le dix-huitième siècle (pp. 219-239).]

E. Ca.

VOLUME OF MONEY. See MONEY. VOLUNTARY DEED. In English law a promise not made for valuable consideration is said to be voluntary. Such a promise is not

legally binding unless couched in the form of a deed under seal. Even then it is not binding if made in restraint of trade. English courts do not enforce specific performance of a voluntary promise under seal, but the person claiming under such a promise has a remedy in damages.

F. C. M.

In case of the insolvency of the estate of a deceased debtor, persons claiming under voluntary deeds are postponed to creditors whose claims are supported by valuable consideration, but they are preferred to legatees.

A voluntary disposition of property, whether by deed or otherwise, may be declared invalid under the statute of 13 Elizabeth, if it was made with the intention of "delaying, hindering, or defrauding creditors." And under the Bankruptcy Act 1883, a voluntary settlement may be declared void: (a) if the settlor be adjudged bankrupt within two years from the date of the settlement; (b) if he be adjudged bankrupt within ten years from such date, unless he or his representative can prove that at the time of making the settlement he was able to pay all his debts without the aid of the property comprised in the settlement. Another statute of Elizabeth was, prior to 1893, interpreted as meaning that a voluntary conveyance was defeated by the subsequent conveyance of the same property to a purchaser for valuable consideration, but the Voluntary Conveyances Act 1893 has repealed this interpretation; a voluntary conveyance of land effected with a fraudulent intent may, however, still be defeated under the same statute. A deed by which property is conveyed or settled in contemplation of marriage is deemed to be made for valuable consideration.

E. 8.

VON BIELFELD, JAKOB FRIEDRICH (17171770), belonged to a family of Hamburg merchants, and filled his sphere in a practical public life.

As a young man he travelled through Holland, England, and France, and stayed at universities in these countries. In 1739 he received some notice from Frederick the Great, at that time crown prince, who shared his taste for the French language and literature, and was drawn by him into the circle of friends at Rheinsberg. Later he was employed by the king as a diplomatist, and in this capacity spent some time in London. In 1747 he was appointed curator of all the universities of Prussia by Frederick II.

In 1758 he withdrew to his country seat at Treben in the duchy of Altenburg, to devote himself quietly to literary work. The result of this was the publication, in French, of his Institutions politiques, 2 vols., 1760, a German translation of which appeared a year after, under the title, Des Freiherrn von Bielfeld Lehrbegriff der Staatskunst, 1761. This work is dedicated to the brother of the king, Prince August Ferdinand, whom Bielfeld had been summoned to teach. The author explained that he aimed at giving instruction to statesmen concerning the objects of their vocation, not only in the art of government, but in all things connected with political economy.

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The subject of this clearly-written book was Politische Oekonomie, which expression appeared here for the first time in German literature (after the French Economie politique). It dealt almost exclusively with French authors, as VAUBAN, St. PIERRE, MELON, MONTESQUIEU, FORBONNAIS, DUTOT, Nichols (DANGEUL), etc. The practical details were drawn from the Dictionnaire du commerce of SAVARY. COLBERT was described as the "greatest financier in history." The predominating idea in the work appears in the following passage imbued with the theories of the MERCANTILE SYSTEM (q.v.). "The political system of Europe at the present day is such that one state can only raise itself at the expense of some other, either by conquest or by trade." In these matters German authors did not appear to Bielfeld to have any part. In the chapter on Political Arithmetic (see ARITHMETIC, POLITICAL), the ENGLISH SCHOOL is applauded for their labours in this science; particularly GRAUNT, PETTY, HALLEY, DAVENANT, HUME, etc. In this chapter two Germans are also mentioned, SÜSSMILCH and KundThe Institutions politiques, soon translated into Russian and Italian, was an epoch-making work for German CAMERALISTIC SCIENCE, in so far as it drew this out of its national isolation and under the influence of foreign thought. The professor of cameralistic science at Frankfurt on the Oder, J. G. Darjes, wrote a preface to the second German edition of the work 1764. In a later edition, after his death, a third section on practical politics was added. He had foreshadowed the appearance of this in a concluding note to the second volume.

mann.

VUITRY, ADOLPHE (1803-1883), born at Sens, died at St. Donnin (Seine-et-Marne). He studied engineering first 1834, and afterwards changed his profession, graduating as

doctor of laws 1838. He then entered the government employ, became governor of the bank of France 1863, president of the council of state 1864, chairman of the Paris, Lyons, and Mediterranean Railway 1871.

He retired from public life in 1870, and devoted his leisure to writing the historical works on the finance of France mentioned below, Études sur le régime financier de la France avant la Révolution de 1789, 3 vols. 8vo, 1876-1883, ending with the death of Charles V. (1380), he was not able to carry this to the accession of Louis XI. (1462) as he had planned. Le désordre des finances et les excès de la spéculation à la fin du règne de Louis XIV. et du commencement du règne de Louis XV., 18mo, 1885 A selection from his numerous reports and speeches was published in 1887.

A. o. f.