PEOPLE MENTIONED IN WALDEN

MENTIONED IN WALDEN:

ADAM SMITH AND THE WEALTH OF NATIONS

“NARRATIVE HISTORY” AMOUNTS TO FABULATION, THE REAL STUFF BEING MERE CHRONOLOGY

“Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project The People of Walden

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PEOPLE OFWALDEN

WALDEN: If I wished a boy to know something about the arts andsciences, for instance, I would not pursue the common course,which is merely to send him into the neighborhood of someprofessor, where any thing is professed and practised but the artof life; –to survey the world through a telescopeor a microscope, and never with his natural eye; to studychemistry, and not learn how his bread is made, or mechanics, andnot learn how it is earned; to discover new satellites to Neptune,and not detect the motes in his eyes, or to what vagabond he isa satellite himself; or to be devoured by the monsters that swarmall around him, while contemplating the monsters in a drop ofvinegar. Which would have advanced the most at the end of a month,–the boy who had made his own jack-knife from the ore which hehad dug and smelted, reading as much as would be necessary forthis, –or the boy who had attended the lectures on metallurgy atthe Institute in the mean while, and had received a Rodgers’penknife from his father? Which would be most likely to cut hisfingers? –To my astonishment I was informed on leaving collegethat I had studied navigation! –why, if I had taken one turn downthe harbor I should have known more about it. Even the poorstudent studies and is taught only political economy, while thateconomy of living which is synonymous with philosophy is not evensincerely professed in our colleges. The consequence is, thatwhile he is reading Adam Smith, Ricardo, and Say, he runs hisfather in debt irretrievably.

ADAM SMITH

DAVID RICARDO

JEAN-BAPTISTE SAY

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June 5, Wednesday (Old Style): Adam Smith was born in Kirkcaldy, Scotland.

NOBODY COULD GUESS WHAT WOULD HAPPEN NEXT

1723

The People of Walden “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project

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THE THEORY OF MORAL SENTIMENTS, by Adam Smith.

THE FUTURE CAN BE EASILY PREDICTED IN RETROSPECT

1759

SCOTLAND

“Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project The People of Walden

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Henri-Louis Duhamel du Monceau made additions to ART DE L’ÉPINGLIER (THE ART OF THE PIN-MAKER) in Tome 5 of the ENCYCLOPÉDIE DE DIDEROT, in which in an analysis of production efficiency he made use of a concept “division of labor”: a major task, divided carefully into a series of subtasks, with each labor item in the series potentially to be enacted by a different person of limited skills. There are those who credit this with having been the inspiration for Professor Adam Smith’s 1776 insight into THE NATURE AND CAUSES OF THE WEALTH OF NATIONS.

LIFE IS LIVED FORWARD BUT UNDERSTOOD BACKWARD?— NO, THAT’S GIVING TOO MUCH TO THE HISTORIAN’S STORIES.

LIFE ISN’T TO BE UNDERSTOOD EITHER FORWARD OR BACKWARD.

1761

“Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project The People of Walden

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Edmund Burke had been serving as private secretary to William Gerard Hamilton, Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, but in this year after reciprocal accusations they broke apart.

“The Club” was formed, with 54-year-old Dr. Samuel Johnson and 41-year-old Sir Joshua Reynolds and 34-year-old Oliver Goldsmith as charter members. Eventually this group would come to include Joseph Banks, James Boswell, Edmund Burke, Charles Burney, Charles James Fox, David Garrick, Edward Gibbon, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Adam Smith, and William Windham.

Goldsmith’s AN HISTORY OF ENGLAND IN A SERIES OF LETTERS FROM A NOBLEMAN TO HIS SON.

1764

AN HISTORY OF ENGLAND

AN HISTORY OF ENGLAND

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François Quesnay’s “La despotisme de la Chine” appeared in the journal Éphémérides du citoyen. Looking at Chinese despotism and liking what he saw, this “European Confucius” (as he was known) would translate the Chinese wu-wei principle into French as laissez-faire1:

I have concluded from the reports about China that the Chineseconstitution is founded upon wise and irrevocable laws which theEmperor enforces and which he carefully observes himself.

The Chinese, it would seem, are profound enough to just let things that are going to happen anyway, just happen of themselves — knowing that their cabbage seedlings are going to grow, they don’t go around tugging at their stems to accelerate their development. A lesson from the East for us all.

THE FUTURE IS MOST READILY PREDICTED IN RETROSPECT

1767

1. Adam Smith would pick up on this useful French concept, severed entirely from its Chinese roots — and the rest is (economic) history.

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July 4, Thursday: It was a cloudy day, and the temperature was but 76 degrees Fahrenheit. In North America, the process that had begun when a crafty old politician named Benjamin Franklin had been placed on a Constitutional Committee of Pennsylvania to draft a declaration of the independence of the former North American seacoast colonies of Great Britain was brought to fruition, in that a broadside to that effect was on this date roughly printed off in Philadelphia.

1776

JOHN TRUMBULL

The more alterations Congress made on his draft, the more miserableJefferson became. He had forgotten, as has posterity, that a draftsmanis not an author.

READ THE FULL TEXT

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This date saw, also, the publication of Adam Smith’s AN INQUIRY INTO THE NATURE AND CAUSES OF THE WEALTH OF NATIONS.

The point at which Professor Smith writes about pin-manufacture (Chapter 1, page 3), as the basis for division of labor and therefore for the wealth of nations, is displayed on a following screen.

An extract from its section “The cost of Empire” is on subsequent screens:

[see following]

Certain American business types would come to regard this latter document, possibly on account of its publication date and possibly for some other reason, as their real Declaration of Independence, although by 1844 Friedrich Engels would be challenging such an attitude toward freedom in his THE CONDITION OF THE WORKING MAN IN ENGLAND and by 1855 Herman Melville would be challenging such an attitude toward freedom in his BENITO CERENO.

Only John Hancock, president of the assembly, and Charles Thomson, secretary of the assembly, signed the draft of “A Declaration by the representatives of the United states of America, in Congress assembled” accepted on this day, which was declaring itself as being issued “in the name and by the authority of the good people of these ... free and independent states.” That draft incorporated markup of the changes made by the delegates, along with symbols inserted by Jefferson to indicate the points at which a person reading it orally ought to pause for rhetorical effect. The printer who typeset this document inserted quotation marks to represent Jefferson’s symbol, and then found he had to pull them out in general replacing them by extra spaces.

This draft was not preserved and, it seems, nobody made any particular effort to preserve any copies of this

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original printing. Of the 25 copies that by the sheerest chance have survived, the 25th was to be discovered as the paper backing of a painting that had been bought at a flea market in Pennsylvania in 1989 for $4, and this copy seems now to be worth more than $8,000,000 on the open market as it has become the sole copy not owned by an institution. It would not be until after the delegation from the colony of New York had belatedly received instructions to cast their vote also for independence and thus render the vote of the Continental Congress unanimous, that the delegates would be able to insert the word “unanimous” into this title. At the same time they would delete the reference to mere “representatives,” thus strengthening the affirmation of colonial consensus. Although the JOURNALS OF CONGRESS did identify the members of the committee that had prepared the draft for this Declaration document and thus listed the name of Thomas Jefferson among the others, there was no mention made at this time of his having provided a contribution that was being considered unique. –In fact Jefferson himself would make no such public claim, until the year prior to his death.

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Adam Smith on “The cost of Empire,” from AN INQUIRY INTO THE NATURE AND CAUSES OF THEWEALTH OF NATIONS:

The countries which possess the colonies of America, and which tradedirectly to the East Indies, enjoy, indeed, the whole show and splendourof this great commerce. Other countries, however, notwithstanding allthe invidious restraints by which it is meant to exclude them,frequently enjoy a greater share of the real benefit of it. The coloniesof Spain and Portugal, for example, give more real encouragement to theindustry of other countries than to that of Spain and Portugal.... Afterall the unjust attempts, therefore, of every country in Europe toengross to itself the whole advantage of the trade of its own colonies,no country has yet been able to engross to itself anything but theexpense of supporting in time of peace, and of defending in time of war,the oppressive authority which it assumes over them. The inconvenienciesresulting from the possession of its colonies, every country hasengrossed to itself completely. The advantages resulting from theirtrade it has been obliged to share with many other countries.

At first sight, no doubt, the monopoly of the great commerce of Americanaturally seems to be an acquisition of the highest value. To theundiscerning eye of giddy ambition, it naturally presents itself amidstthe confused scramble of politics and war, as a very dazzling object tofight for. The dazzling splendour of the object, however the immensegreatness of the commerce, is the very quality which renders themonopoly of it hurtful, or which makes one employment, in its own naturenecessarily less advantageous to the country than the greater part ofother employments, absorb a much greater proportion of the capital ofthe country than what would otherwise have gone to it.... It is notcontrary to justice that ... America should contribute towards thedischarge of the public debt of Great Britain.... a government to whichseveral of the colonies of America owe their present charters, andconsequently their present constitution; and to which all the coloniesof America owe the liberty, security, and property which they have eversince enjoyed. That public debt has been contracted in the defence, notof Great Britain alone, but of all the different provinces of the empire;the immense debt contracted in the late war in particular, and a greatpart of that contracted in the war before, were both properly contractedin defence of America.... If it should be found impracticable for GreatBritain to draw any considerable augmentation of revenue from any of theresources above mentioned; the only resource which can remain to her isa diminution of her expense. In the mode of collecting, and in that ofexpending the public revenue; though in both there may be still room forimprovement; Great Britain seems to be at least as economical as any ofher neighbours. The military establishment which she maintains for herown defence in time of peace, is more moderate than that of any Europeanstate which can pretend to rival her either in wealth or in power. Noneof those articles, therefore, seem to admit of any considerablereduction of expense. The expense of the peace establishment of thecolonies was, before the commencement of the present disturbances, veryconsiderable, and is an expense which may, and if no revenue can be drawnfrom them ought certainly to be saved altogether. This constant expensein time of peace, though very great, is insignificant in comparison withwhat the defence of the colonies has cost us in time of war.

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Adam Smith on “The cost of Empire,” from AN INQUIRY INTO THE NATURE AND CAUSES OF THEWEALTH OF NATIONS:

The last war, which was undertaken altogether on account of thecolonies, cost Great Britain ... upwards of ninety millions. The Spanishwar of 1739 was principally undertaken on their account; in which, andin the French war that was the consequence of it, Great Britain spentupwards of forty millions, a great part of which ought justly to becharged to the colonies. In those two wars the colonies cost GreatBritain much more than double the sum which the national debt amountedto before the commencement of the first of them. Had it not been forthose wars that debt might, and probably would by this time, have beencompletely paid; and had it not been for the colonies, the former ofthose wars might not, and the latter certainly would not have beenundertaken. It was because the colonies were supposed to be provincesof the British empire, that this expense was laid out upon them. Butcountries which contribute neither revenue nor military force towardsthe support of the empire, cannot be considered as provinces. They mayperhaps be considered as appendages, as a sort of splendid and showyequipage of the empire. But if the empire can no longer support theexpense of keeping up this equipage, it ought certainly to lay it down;and if it cannot raise its revenue in proportion to its expense, it oughtat least, to accommodate its expense to its revenue. If the colonies,notwithstanding their refusal to submit to British taxes, are still tobe considered as provinces of the British empire, their defence in somefuture war may cost Great Britain as great an expense as it ever hasdone in any former war. The rulers of Great Britain have, for more thana century past, amused the people with the imagination that theypossessed a great empire on the west side of the Atlantic. This empire,however, has hitherto existed in imagination only. It has hitherto been,not an empire, but the project of an empire; not a gold mine, but theproject of a gold mine; a project which has cost, which continues tocost, and which, if pursued in the same way as it has been hitherto, islikely to cost, immense expense, without being likely to bring anyprofit; for the effects of the monopoly of the colony trade, it has beenshown, are, to the great body of the people, mere loss instead of profit.It is surely now time that our rulers should either realise this goldendream, in which they have been indulging themselves, perhaps, as wellas the people; or, that they should awake from it themselves, andendeavour to awaken the people. If the project cannot be completed, itought to be given up. If any of thee provinces of the British empirecannot be made to contribute towards the support of the whole empire,it is surely time that Great Britain should free herself from the expenseof defending those provinces in time of war, and of supporting any partof their civil or military establishments in time of peace, andendeavour to accommodate her future views and designs to the realmediocrity of her circumstances.

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July 17, Saturday: Adam Smith died in Edinburgh, Scotland.

1790

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Christian Garve’s translation into German of Professor Adam Smith’s 1776 AN INQUIRY INTO THE NATURE AND CAUSES OF THE WEALTH OF NATIONS (its four volumes would be complete by 1796).

From this year until 1800, Jean-Baptiste Say would be editing La Decade philosophique, litteraire, et politique, a periodical favoring the doctrines of Professor Smith.

CHANGE IS ETERNITY, STASIS A FIGMENT

1794

PEOPLE OFWALDEN

WALDEN: If I wished a boy to know something about the arts andsciences, for instance, I would not pursue the common course,which is merely to send him into the neighborhood of someprofessor, where any thing is professed and practised but the artof life; –to survey the world through a telescopeor a microscope, and never with his natural eye; to studychemistry, and not learn how his bread is made, or mechanics, andnot learn how it is earned; to discover new satellites to Neptune,and not detect the motes in his eyes, or to what vagabond he isa satellite himself; or to be devoured by the monsters that swarmall around him, while contemplating the monsters in a drop ofvinegar. Which would have advanced the most at the end of a month,–the boy who had made his own jack-knife from the ore which hehad dug and smelted, reading as much as would be necessary forthis, –or the boy who had attended the lectures on metallurgy atthe Institute in the mean while, and had received a Rodgers’penknife from his father? Which would be most likely to cut hisfingers? –To my astonishment I was informed on leaving collegethat I had studied navigation! –why, if I had taken one turn downthe harbor I should have known more about it. Even the poorstudent studies and is taught only political economy, while thateconomy of living which is synonymous with philosophy is not evensincerely professed in our colleges. The consequence is, thatwhile he is reading Adam Smith, Ricardo, and Say, he runs hisfather in debt irretrievably.

ADAM SMITH

DAVID RICARDO

JEAN-BAPTISTE SAY

The People of Walden “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project

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Henceforward Adam Ferguson would reside successively at the castle of Neidpath near Peebles,

at Hallyards Farm on the Manor Water,

1795

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and at St. Andrews on the northeast coast of the Fife peninsula of Scotland.

The Reverend James Fordyce, D.D.’s ADDRESSES TO YOUNG MEN (2d edition, two volumes in one, Manning & Loring, 287 pages). This edition would be in the personal library of Henry Thoreau with, in it, the autograph of John Thoreau, Sr.2

Posthumous publication, under the title ESSAYS ON PHILOSOPHICAL3 SUBJECTS, of Adam Smith’s writings on the topics in the history of science and philosophy, made up of a history of astronomy, a history of ancient physics, and a history of the ancient logics and metaphysics

For it may be observed, that in all Polytheistic religions,among savages, as well as in the early ages of heathen antiquity,it is the irregular events of nature only that are ascribed tothe agency and power of the gods. Fire burns, and waterrefreshes; heavy bodies descend, and lighter substances flyupwards, by the necessity of their own nature; nor was theinvisible hand of Jupiter every apprehended to be employed inthose matters.

2. Most unfortunately, Google Books has not as yet scanned this 1795 edition that had belonged to Father John. The closest I can come to it right now, electronically, is the 1777 edition in two volumes. I have no idea whether this is an exact match, or not.3. Note well that prior to the year 1839, a term such as “scientist” had not been imagined.

ADDRESSES TO YOUNG MEN, IADDRESSES TO YOUNG MEN, II

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Newell Convers Wyeth illustrated an edition of JINGLEBOB by Philip Ashton Rollins.

Vernon Parrington had written in MAIN CURRENTS IN AMERICAN THOUGHT (NY: Harcourt, Brace and Co., 1927-1930) that “the single business of Henry Thoreau, during forty-odd years of eager activity, was to discover an economy calculated to provide a satisfying life. His one concern, that gave to his ramblings in Concord fields a value as of high adventure, was to explore the true meaning of wealth.... WALDEN is the handbook of an economy that endeavors to refute Adam Smith and transform the round of daily life into something nobler than a mean gospel of plus and minus.”

“MAGISTERIAL HISTORY” IS FANTASIZING: HISTORY IS CHRONOLOGY

1930

TIMELINE OF WALDEN

“Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project The People of Walden

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COPYRIGHT NOTICE: In addition to the property of others,such as extensive quotations and reproductions ofimages, this “read-only” computer file contains a greatdeal of special work product of Austin Meredith,copyright 2010. Access to these interim materials willeventually be offered for a fee in order to recoup someof the costs of preparation. My hypercontext buttoninvention which, instead of creating a hypertext leapthrough hyperspace —resulting in navigation problems—allows for an utter alteration of the context withinwhich one is experiencing a specific content alreadybeing viewed, is claimed as proprietary to AustinMeredith — and therefore freely available for use byall. Limited permission to copy such files, or anymaterial from such files, must be obtained in advancein writing from the “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo”Project, 833 Berkeley St., Durham NC 27705. Pleasecontact the project at <Kouroo@kouroo.info>.

Prepared: December 8, 2014

“It’s all now you see. Yesterday won’t be over untiltomorrow and tomorrow began ten thousand years ago.”

– Remark by character “Garin Stevens”in William Faulkner’s INTRUDER IN THE DUST

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ARRGH AUTOMATED RESEARCH REPORT

GENERATION HOTLINE

This stuff presumably looks to you as if it were generated by ahuman. Such is not the case. Instead, someone has requested thatwe pull it out of the hat of a pirate who has grown out of theshoulder of our pet parrot “Laura” (as above). What thesechronological lists are: they are research reports compiled byARRGH algorithms out of a database of modules which we term theKouroo Contexture (this is data mining). To respond to such arequest for information we merely push a button.

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Commonly, the first output of the algorithm has obviousdeficiencies and we need to go back into the modules stored inthe contexture and do a minor amount of tweaking, and then weneed to punch that button again and recompile the chronology —but there is nothing here that remotely resembles the ordinary“writerly” process you know and love. As the contents of thisoriginating contexture improve, and as the programming improves,and as funding becomes available (to date no funding whateverhas been needed in the creation of this facility, the entireoperation being run out of pocket change) we expect a diminishedneed to do such tweaking and recompiling, and we fully expectto achieve a simulation of a generous and untiring roboticresearch librarian. Onward and upward in this brave new world.

First come first serve. There is no charge.Place requests with <Kouroo@kouroo.info>. Arrgh.

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