Capitalism may even be identical with the restraint, or at least a rational tempering, of this irrational impulse. Indeed, medieval mercantilism is an excellent example of irrational greed, and did much to impoverish Europe centuries before Adam Smith was born. It seems tragic with all the wisdom we could derive from those forgotten Spanish scholars, Adam Smith and many other sound economists, plus the blunders of history, we still persist in making the same mistakes. This doctrine was still a significant factor in national thinking at the time of me Constitutional Convention in 1787, when Colonel Mason18 warned his fellow Americans that God would judge us if we persisted in retaining the institution of slavery. The western people are already calling out for slaves for their new land.
Slavery discourages arts and manufacture.
The poor despise labor when performed by slaves. They produce the most pernicious effect on manners. Every master of slaves is born a petty tyrant. They bring the judgment of Heaven on a country. As nations cannot be rewarded or punished in the next world, they must be in this.