Excerpt from Britain Independent of Commerce, or Proofs, Deduced From an Investigation Into the True Causes of the Wealth of Nations, That Our Riches, Prosperity, and Power, Are Derived From Sources Inherent in Ourselves, and Would Not Be Affected, Even Though Our Buonaparte, agreeably to his usual custom of heaping abuse upon those he cannot seriously injure, as the most cutting appellation, which his Billings gate common-place-book presented to bim, bas given us the title of a nation of shopkeepers. He judged rightly, that we should be more indignant at'such an appellation, than if he had called us a nationof kn aves, or of fools; for, though the age of chivalry be gone, and other professions than that of arms are now deemed honourable, still, there is something con temptible attached to the idea of trade, which makes those engaged in it, willing enough to have their occupation kept in the back ground. Yet though we affect to be offended with this title, our words and our actions evince, that we are neither willing nor able to deny, that it is given to us with justice. Out of a hundred persons with whom you converse, ninety-nine will maintain, that all our greatness is' derived from our commerce, and.that our ruin will be inevitable when it declines in any great degree.' And such Opinions you Will hear, not only from the ignorant Vulgar, not merely from the manufacturer, or merchant, whose individual interes't naturallyin clines him to such a belief, but from the man of li tera'ture and science, from the proprietor of land. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.