Conquests and colonies are wrested from nations suddenly and by force; arts and manufactures leave them in time of peace, silently and by degrees, without noise or convulsion; but the consequences are not the less fatal on that account; nor, indeed, is the effect slower, though more silent. Though colonies or conquests pass away at once, such changes only take place after a long chain of causes have prepared the way for them; whereas, manufactures are perpetually emigrating from one country to another: the operation, though slow and silent, is incessant, and the ultimate effect great beyond calculation. A good government, and wise laws, that protect industry and property, and preserve, in purity, the manners of the people, are the most difficult obstacles for a rival nation to overcome. Prosperity, which is founded upon that basis, is of all others the most secure. There are sometimes customs and habits that favour industry, the operation of which is not perceptible to those who wish to imitate and rival successful and wealthy nations. In general, it is not to be expected that the southern nations can come in competition with those living in more northerly climates in --- {170} The individual German workmen have not been excelled by the workmen of any other nation, but the German nation itself has been outdone. -=- [end of page #209] those manufactures, where continued or hard labour is necessary. Nature has compensated the inhabitants of such countries for this incapacity, by giving them a fine climate, and, in general, a fertile soil; and, when they do justice to it, they may live affluent and happy. But, since industry and civilization have got into northern countries, it is impossible for the southern ones to rival them in manufactures. It would be impossible for any people living on the banks of the Nile, where the finest linen was once manufactured, to rival the cloths of Silesia, or of Ireland: as well might we think to bring back the commerce with India to Alexandria by the Red Sea. The fine manufactures of India, notwithstanding the materials are all found in the country, the lowness of labour, and the antiquity of their establishment, are, in many cases, unable to keep their ground against the invention and industry of Europeans. The art of making porcelain- ware, from a want of some of the materials, has not, in every respect, equalled that manufactured in China; but in everything else, except material, it excels so much, that the trade to that country in that article is entirely over. Many of the finest stuffs are nearly sharing the same fate, and they all probably will do so in time. Those whom we hope to surpass are determined to remain as they are, while Europeans aim at going as far in improvement as the nature of things will allow.