See INSURANCE, and MORTALITY. The subordinate parts of the science of political economy have been treated in separate articles of this work, with the fulness which their importance seemed to require. The present article, therefore, will be principally confined to an attempt to define the objects and limits of the science—to trace its progress—to exhibit and establish the fundamental principles on which it is founded—and to point out the relation and dependence of its different parts. In doing this, we shall have occasion to examine some of the more prominent theories advanced in this field of inquiry; our object being, not merely to lay before the reader what we conceive to be a true theory of the science, but also to present him with as full an exposition as our limits will allow of the doctrines advocated by the more celebrated of its professors.

PART I.

DEFINITION AND HISTORY.

Definition of the Science.—Causes of its being neglected in Greece and Rome, and in the Middle Ages.—Species of Evidence on which its Conclusions are founded.—Rise of the Science in Modern Europe.—Mercantile System.—Progress of Commercial Philosophy in England in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries.—System of Quesnay and the French Economists.—Publication of the "Wealth of Nations."—Distinction between Politics and Statistics, and Political Economy.