Through the revenue alone the body politic can act in its true
genius and character, and, therefore, it will display just as much
of its collective virtue, and as much of that virtue which may
characterize those who move it and are, as it were, its life and
guiding principle, as it is possessed of a just revenue. For from
hence not only magnanimity, and liberality, and beneficence, and
fortitude, and providence, and the tutelary protection of all good
arts derive their food and the growth of their organs; but continence,
and self-denial, and labor, and vigilance, and frugality, and whatever
else there is in which the mind shows itself above the appetite, are
nowhere more in their proper element than in the provision and
distribution of the public wealth. It is, therefore, not without
reason that the science of speculative and practical finance, which
must take to its aid so many auxiliary branches of knowledge, stands
high in the estimation not only of the ordinary sort but of the wisest
and best men; and as this science has grown with the progress of its
object, the prosperity and improvement of nations has generally
increased with the increase of their revenues; and they will both
continue to grow and flourish as long as the balance between what is
left to strengthen the efforts of individuals and what is collected
for the common efforts of the state bear to each other a due
reciprocal proportion and are kept in a close correspondence and
communication.
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