of labour, is owing to three different circumstances; first, to the increase of dexterity in every particular workman; secondly, to the saving of the time which is commonly lost in passing from one species of work to another; and, lastly, to the invention of machines. Everybody must be sensible how much labour is facilitated and abridged by the application of proper machinery. In the first fire engines [= steam engines], a boy was constantly employed to open and shut the valves as the piston ascended or descended. One of those boys observed that, by tying a string from the handle of the valve to another part of the machine, the valve would open and shut without assistance, and leave him to divert himself with his play-fellows. One of the greatest improvements was thus the discovery of a boy who wanted to save his own labour. Consider the coarse woollen coat which covers the day-labourer, the bed which he lies on, the kitchen-grate at which he prepares his victuals, the coals he uses for that purpose, the furniture of his table, we shall be sensible that, without the assistance and co-operation of many thousands, the very meanest person in a civilized country could not be provided for. Compared with the extravagant luxury of the great, his accommodation is extremely simple; and yet it may be true that the accommodation of an European prince does not so much exceed that of an industrious peasant, as the accommodation of that peasant exceeds that