Mastersofallsorts，therefore，frequentlymakebetterbargainswiththeirservantsindearthanincheapyears，andfindthemmorehumbleanddependentintheformerthaninthelatter。Theynaturally，therefore，commendtheformerasmorefavourabletoindustry。Landlordsandfarmers，besides，twoofthelargestclassesofmasters，haveanotherreasonforbeingpleasedwithdearyears。Therentsoftheoneandtheprofitsoftheotherdependverymuchuponthepriceofprovisions。Nothingcanbemoreabsurd，however，thantoimaginethatmeningeneralshouldworklesswhentheyworkforthemselves，thanwhentheyworkforotherpeople。Apoorindependentworkmanwillgenerallybemoreindustriousthanevenajourneymanwhoworksbythepiece。Theoneenjoysthewholeproduceofhisownindustry;theothersharesitwithhismaster。Theone，inhisseparateindependentstate，islessliabletothetemptationsofbadcompany，whichinlargemanufactoriessofrequentlyruinthemoralsoftheother。Thesuperiorityoftheindependentworkmanoverthoseservantswhoarehiredbythemonthorbytheyear，andwhosewagesandmaintenancearethesamewhethertheydomuchordolittle，islikelytobestillgreater。Cheapyearstendtoincreasetheproportionofindependentworkmentojourneymenandservantsofallkinds，anddearyearstodiminishit。
AFrenchauthorofgreatknowledgeandingenuity，Mr。
Messance，receiverofthetailliesintheelectionofSt。
Etienne，endeavourstoshowthatthepoordomoreworkincheapthanindearyears，bycomparingthequantityandvalueofthegoodsmadeuponthosedifferentoccasionsinthreedifferentmanufactures;oneofcoarsewoollenscarriedonatElbeuf;oneoflinen，andanotherofsilk，bothwhichextendthroughthewholegeneralityofRouen。Itappearsfromhisaccount，whichiscopiedfromtheregistersofthepublicoffices，thatthequantityandvalueofthegoodsmadeinallthosethreemanufactureshasgenerallybeengreaterincheapthanindearyears;andthatithasalwaysbeengreatestinthecheapest，andleastinthedearestyears。Allthethreeseemtobestationarymanufactures，orwhich，thoughtheirproducemayvarysomewhatfromyeartoyear，areuponthewholeneithergoingbackwardsnorforwards。
ThemanufactureoflineninScotland，andthatofcoarsewoollensintheWestRidingofYorkshire，aregrowingmanufactures，ofwhichtheproduceisgenerally，thoughwithsomevariations，increasingbothinquantityandvalue。Uponexamining，however，theaccountswhichhavebeenpublishedoftheirannualproduce，Ihavenotbeenabletoobservethatitsvariationshavehadanysensibleconnectionwiththedearnessorcheapnessoftheseasons。In1740，ayearofgreatscarcity，bothmanufactures，indeed，appeartohavedeclinedveryconsiderably。