ABSTRACT
The free intercourse to which commerce leads, has also been the principal means by which the blessings of civilization, and religion, and knowledge have been diffused throughout the world; and the spark that is kindled in one country, quickly spreads into a flame which illuminates every other nation. By commerce too, the advantages of every soil and climate are imparted to the entire globe, and the disadvantages by which they are frequently attended in their native place, do not accompany them to the foreign countries which participate in the enjoyments. As money is used as the general medium of exchange, it is also naturally resorted to as the measure of value. By the mercantile system, the trade of a nation was considered, like that of an individual merely to be a mode of making money. The wealth of a nation consists of the products of its land, labour, and capital—minus its exports, plus its imports.
