ABSTRACT
A portion of the objects of public consumption have been provided by a private individual. The private opulence of the ancients was commonly the fruit of domestic, or provincial, plunder and peculation, or perhaps the spoil of a hostile nation, purchased with the blood of fellow-citizens. In most modern states, there is some territorial property vested, cither in the nation at large, or in the subordinate communities, cities, towns, and villages, which is leased out, or occupied directly by the public. But local administration and local institutions of utility, pleasure, instruction, or beneficence, appear to yield a benefit exclusively to the place or district where they are situated. Small states have an advantage over more extensive ones. They have more enjoyment from a less expenditure upon objects of public utility or amusement; because they are at hand to see that the funds, destined to the object, are faithfully applied.
