trouble possible, appears to be the basis of all the passions. Hence,
envy, jealousy, friendship, and the endless train of second-rate effects,
appear all to be produced by that primary passion; {9} and as from

---
{9} The very learned and ingenious author of the Inquiry into the
Origin and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, traces all this to an innate
propensity to barter. But barter is only a means, and not even the
means to which mankind shew the greatest pro-[end of page #5]
pensity; for, wherever they have power to take by force or pillage,
they never barter. This is seen both in an infantine and adult state;
children cry for toys, and stretch at them before they offer to
exchange; and, conquerors or soldiers never buy or barter, when they
can take, unless they are guided by some other motive than mere
natural propensity. A highwayman will pay for his dinner at an inn, as
willingly as a traveller, because he acts from other motives than
propensity, but he will strip the inn-keeper when he meets him on the
road.
-=-

this originate the wealth as well as the decline of nations, the history
of the revolutions in wealth and power, during the two first periods,
are by no means unimportant; besides, as their duration was much
longer than that of the latter, they lead to a more certain conclusion.

The review of what has taken place will occupy the first book; and
serve as a data for an inquiry into the nature and causes of the fall of
nations.

The first part of the second book will be dedicated to investigating the