According to this rule, every merchant will endeavour to manage his exchange business to the best advantage to himself. If the balance be against his country, he will sell his bills on the country creditor as dear as he can; that is, he will endeavour to raise the price of exchange as high as he can against his country, whatever hurt may thereby result to the general trade of it; and in so doing, he only does what duty to himself requires; because it is by minding his business only, that he can trade upon equal terms with his neighbours, every one of which avail themselves of the like fluctuations, when they happen to be in their favour. From this I conclude, that since the loss upon high exchange against a country, affects principally the cumulative interest of the whole, relative to other trading nations; it is the business of the statesman, not of the merchants, to provide a remedy against it. The whole class of merchants, no doubt, exchangers excepted, would be very glad to find the course of exchange constantly at par. This is also greatly the interest of the state; because it is from the _balance_ in its favour, not from _the profit made in drawing that balance_ from the debtor, that the state is a gainer. This must be explained. I am to shew how it happens, that a nation is only benefited or hurt by the net balance which it receives from, or pays to her neighbours: and that the whole expence of paying or receiving that balance, is not national, but particular to individuals at home; consequently, it would be the interest of all states, that balances, both favourable and unfavourable, were paid by the nation debtor, at the least expence possible. The great difficulty in communicating one’s thoughts upon this subject with distinctness, proceeds from the ambiguity of the terms necessary to express them. This may be avoided by adopting the technical terms of merchants; but these are still more difficult to be comprehended by any one not conversant in commerce. I shall acquit myself of this difficult talk the best way I can. When we speak of a balance between two nations, we shall call the nation who owes the balance the _nation-debtor_; the other to whom it is owing, the _nation-creditor_. Balances imply reciprocal debts; consequently, reciprocal debtors and creditors. To avoid, therefore, confusion in this particular, we shall use four expressions, viz. the debtors to the nation-creditor; the debtors to the nation-debtor; the creditors to the nation-creditor; the creditors to the nation-debtor.