(9.) It comes from an order of men whose interest is never exactly the same with that of the public; who have generally an interest to _deceive and even to oppress the public_, and who accordingly have, upon many occasions, How true of your prophet Bright! both deceived and oppressed Free Trade is another fearful it. (Wealth of Nations, example of the _deception and by Adam Smith, Bk. I. oppression_ practised by Chap. XI.) this class. You will probably, attempt to discredit your sacred writings when they do not support your own views. You will argue that Adam Smith wrote when the conditions of society and commerce were very different from what they are now. Mathematicians say, that when a formula will not accommodate itself to altering conditions and circumstances, it is unsound. It is the same with political science. Either the political science of Adam Smith is unsound, and he is not reliable, or the serious indictments against Free Trade given in the quotations above are well-founded. CHAPTER XVIII. THE VAMPIRE. What is the nature of a country-life that it should breed such a vampire,--such a monster of iniquity,--such a “squanderer of national wealth” as the landlord whom your Free-trading friends hold up to public execration? The old classical idea “procul a negotiis” would indicate that it had a contrary influence. How is it then that it produces the unmitigated miscreant whom Bright delights to denounce,--whom Gladstone loves to pursue with ruinous enactments,--and whom Parnell, with his murderous crew, takes pleasure in “boycotting,” maiming, and assassinating? The external appearance of this monster gives no clue to his character. From personal acquaintance with men of this class in England I should have said, that, on the average, they were well-meaning, harmless, good-natured men; not always of the widest of views, or shrewdest intelligence, but with the best intentions, anxious in bad times to help their tenants, and in good times to improve their property. Even your prophet Adam Smith appears to have been deceived by them.[63] Again, appearances are deceptive; for, to my inexperienced eye, there seemed to be a large amount of kindly sympathy between tenant and landlord.