Pandects of Justinian, or under ρáyμara-goods and chattels, or xohμara-wealth, in the Basilica, the revised code of Justinian, promulgated by the Basilian dynasty in the 10th century. Out of several passages we may select the following: Digest, 50, 16, 23-Rei appellatione et causæ et jura continentur. Basil, 2, 2, 21—τῇ τοῦ πράγματος προσηγορίᾳ καὶ αἰτίαι καὶ τὰ δίκαια περιέχεται. Under the name of "goods" both causes and rights are included. Digest, 50, 16, 49–Æque bonis adnumerabitur etiam si quid est in actionibus * * nam hæc omnia in bonis esse videntur. Under "goods," too, are properly reckoned rights of action * * because all these seem to be part of our property. Digest, 50, 16, 222-PECUNIÆ nomine non solum numerata pecunia, sed omnes res tam soli quam mobiles, et tam corpora quam JURA continentur. Basil. 2, 2, 204—τῷ ὀνόματι τῶν χρημάτων οὐ μόνον τὰ χρήματα, ἀλλὰ πάντα τὰ κινητὰ καὶ ἀκίνητα, καὶ τὰ σωματικὰ καὶ τὰ δίκαια, δηλοῦται. Under the name of WEALTH, not only ready money, but all things, immoveable and moveable, corporeal as well as RIGHTS, are included. So merx, merchandize, in Roman Law was applied to anything which could be bought and sold, whether it was Corporeal or Incorporeal. Digest, 18, 34, § 1, 2.-Omnium rerum, quas quis habere, vel possidere, vel persequi potest, venditio recte fit. A person may lawfully sell anything which he has or possesses, or has the right to sue for. And this includes besides all material property, all Incorporeal Property, such as servitudes, obligations, or Debts, or rights to sue for money, and all rights of action whatsoever : and also besides the right of demanding something from some specific person, the emptio spei, or emptio rei sperata, the expectation of an uncertain profit, which includes Copyright, Patents, the Goodwill of a business, Shares in commercial companies, &c. These subjects are more fully entered upon a few sections further on, where we consider the classification of L property; our only object at present is to ascertain the different species of quantities to which the title Wealth is applicable. Thus we see that the word xonμara was used in Greek to include all the three species of exchangeable quantities: material substances; labour, services, or sciences; and incorporeal property of all sorts. The words merx, res, bona, pecunia, were used in Roman Law to include all property corporeal and incorporeal. We are not aware whether they were ever used to include services and labour, but if such a discussion had been raised, we do not doubt but that it would have been decided in the affirmative. These kinds of property are also included under the French words biens or choses. So in English law, Obligations, such as Notes, Bills, and Debts of all sorts, are included in the words "goods and chattels " or "effects" in an Act of Parliament. ' We have shewn that Smith expressly enumerates paper currency of all sorts, which is Credit, under the title of Capital. So J. B. Say says "The exclusive possession which in the midst of society, clearly distinguishes the property of one person from the property of another, in common usage, is that to which the title of Wealth is given. The blessings of Nature which every one enjoys in common are not included in the inventory of a man; but there are included in it that portion of social riches which belong to him individually, which he has acquired by his own labour, or which he holds by gift, or inheritance. Under this title are included not only things which are directly capable of satisfying the wants of men, either natural or social, but the things which can only satisfy them indirectly, such as money, instruments of credit (titres de créance), the public funds, &c. Whately is the only English Economist, that we are aware of, who has called special attention to Incorporeal Property. He says "The only difficulty I can foresee as attendant on the language I have now been using, is one which (i. e., defining Political Economy as the Science of Exchanges) vanishes so readily Clayton's case, 1 Slade v. Morley, 4 Co., R. 92 b. Lytt. 86. Ryal v. 2 Cours. Part I., ch. 1. Ford's case, 12 Co., R. 1. 3 Lectures, p. on a moment's reflection, as to be hardly worth mentioning. In many cases, where an exchange really takes place, the fact is liable (till the attention is called to it) to be overlooked, in consequence of our not seeing any actual transfer from hand to hand of a material object. For instance, when the copyright of a book is sold to a bookseller, the article transferred is not the mere paper covered with writing, but the exclusive privilege of printing and publishing. It is plain, however, on a moment's thought, that the transaction is as real an exchange, as that which takes place between the bookseller and his customers, who buy copies of the work. The payment of rent for land is a transaction of a similar kind, for, though the land itself is a material object, it is not this that is parted with to the tenant, but the Right to till it, or to make use of it in some other specified manner. Sometimes, for instance, rent is paid for a right of way through another's field, or for liberty to erect a booth during a fair, or to race or exercise horses, &c." And he says in a note to this passage-"This instance, by the way, evinces the impropriety of limiting the term Wealth to material objects." Thus we see that Whately includes all the three species of quantities we have spoken of under the title of Wealth. On Mr. J. S. Mill's Definition of Wealth. 10. Mr. Mill's work is so extensively read in this country, that we must examine what he says about Wealth. He says, p. 2-"It is no part of the design of this treatise to aim at metaphysical nicety of definition, where the ideas suggested by a term are already as determinate as practical purposes require;" and that "every one has a notion sufficiently correct for common purposes, of what is meant by wealth." shall now have to examine whether this be so or not. We He says "Money being the instrument of an important public and private purpose is rightly regarded as wealth; but everything else which serves any human purpose, and which Nature does not afford gratuitously, is wealth also. To be wealthy is to have a large stock of useful articles, or to have 1 1 Preliminary Remarks. the means of purchasing them. Everything forms therefore a part of wealth, which has power of purchasing." Now here is a definition clear, simple, and comprehensive, exactly agreeing with the ancient definition of Aristotle and Roman Law, that Wealth is anything which is exchangeable. We certainly hoped that we had got rid for ever of the notion that wealth is the "annual produce of land and labour," and it is clear that Mr. Mill's definition is large and general enough to include all three species of Exchangeable Quantities. According to this definition, the production of wealth must mean the production of something which is exchangeable. What then is our surprise to read a few pages further on-" The production of wealth the extraction of the instruments of human subsistence and enjoyment from the materials of the globe." Now this passage is in complete contradiction to his former definition. For we are once more plunged into Physiocracy, from which we hoped to have been free; we are once more brought back to the "produce of land and labour,” and all idea of exchangeability has disappeared from the definition. Now, leaving out labour and sciences for the present, Bank Notes, Bills, &c., are exchangeable: they have power of purchasing, therefore they are wealth by Mr. Mill's own definition; but how are they extracted from the materials of the globe? Again, a little further on, we are plunged into still further confusion. In the chapter on Unproductive Labour, he says, that productive labour is not labour productive of utility, but of wealth'-"Productive labour means labour productive of wealth. We are recalled therefore to the question touched upon in our first chapter, what Wealth is, and whether only material products are to be included in it. 2. Now the utilities produced by labour are of three kinds. They are First, utilities fixed and embodied in outward objects; by labour employed in investing external material things with properties which render them serviceable to human beings. This is the common case, and requires no illustration. Secondly, utilities fixed and embodied in human beings; the labour being in this case employed in conferring on human beings, qualities which render them serviceable to themselves 1 Book I., Ch. 3, 1, 2. and others. To this class belongs the labour of all concerned in education; not only schoolmasters, tutors and professors, but governments, so far as they aim successfully at the improvement of the people; moralists and clergymen, as far as productive of benefit; the labour of physicians, as far as instrumental in preserving life and physical, or mental efficiency, of the teachers of bodily exercises, and of the various trades, sciences, and arts, together with the labours of the learners in acquiring them; and all labour bestowed by any persons, throughout life, in improving the knowledge, or cultivating the bodily or mental faculties of themselves or others. "Thirdly, and lastly, utilities not fixed or embodied in any object, but consisting in a mere service rendered; a pleasure given, an inconvenience or a pain averted during a longer or a shorter time, but without leaving a permanent acquisition in the improved qualities of any person or thing; the labour being employed in producing an utility directly, not (as in the two former cases) in fitting some other thing to afford an utility. Such, for example, is the labour of the musical performer, the actor, the public declaimer or reciter, and the showman. Some good may no doubt be produced, and much more might be produced, beyond the moment, upon the feelings and disposition, or general state of enjoyment of the spectators; or instead of good there may be harm; but neither the one nor the other is the effect intended, is the result for which the exhibitor works, and the spectator pays; nothing but the immediate pleasure. Such, again, is the labour of the army and navy; they at the best prevent a country from being conquered, or from being injured and insulted, which is a service, but in all other respects leave the country neither improved nor deteriorated. Such, too, is the labour of the legislator, the judge, the officer of justice, and all other agents of government in their ordinary functions, apart from any influence they may exert on the improvement of the national mind. The service which they render is to maintain peace and security: these compose the utility which they produce. It may appear to some that carriers, and merchants or dealers, should be placed in this same class, since their labour does not add any properties to objects; but I reply that it does, it adds the property of being in the place where they are wanted, instead of being in some other place, which is a very |