and a Description of Amsterdam (3 vols., folio, 1760), and some polemical treatises on theological subjects. WAGERING rance.)

POLICIES. (See Insu

WAGES. The cost of an article is made up of that of the materials consumed, and the compensation for the use of the land, buildings and implements employed, and the labor, skill and superintendence requisite in its production, with interest on these outlays until the product is completed and ready for the market. When we inquire respecting the rate of wages, we are first to consider what extent we give to the term; whether we comprehend the compensation given for skill and industry, of all descriptions, employed in the production, distribution, and even use and consumption, of all sorts of commodities; for wages are paid to a servant who waits at a table, or a coachman who drives a pleasure coach, as well as to a miller, teamster, or seaman, though the former are not, like the latter, employed in giving any additional value to any article by producing or transporting it. If we divide the whole annual value produced in a community into three parts, and assign one to pay rent, another to pay for the use of capital, and a third for wages, taking wages in its most comprehensive sense, as including all that is paid for industry and skill of all descriptions, then the first material consideration is, What is the mass of the products in proportion to the land, capital and labor employed? for the same quantity and quality of land, capital and labor will yield a greater annual product in one community than in another. What is the aggregate mass or fund out of which the dividend is to be made? The aggregate productiveness of England, for instance, will vastly exceed that of Spain in all these particulars; for the lands are made more productive, the labor is more skilfully applied, and the capital is more rapidly carried through the different forms of production, and transported through the different places in its way to that of final consumption; and, consequently, the same capital is more effective, or, in other words, contributes to a greater mass of production in the same time. We institute this inquiry as to the aggregate mass of annual production in comparing the condition of one community with that of another. One community may have twice as great a fund to divide as another, from the same aggregate means of production; and if the distribution is made in

precisely the same proportions among the several interests, the compensation will be twice as great in one case as in the other. This effectiveness of the labor and means of production in a community, is a matter of the most weighty consideration, and goes far in determining the condition of the population. This gives us two modes of comparison, as to the rate of wages in any two communities, the results of which may be very different. If we ask whether labor and skill, taking the whole mass of both, of all descriptions, be better rewarded in England or in Spain, the answer may be, that a greater quantity of corresponding articles goes to compensate the same labor and skill in England, but that a greater proportion of the whole mass of annual products goes to compensate labor and skill in Spain. To make the distinction more plain-a laborer in England may earn a yard of cloth, and one in Spain but half a yard, of the same quality, in a day; so that the English laborer gets absolutely twice as much compensation as the Spanish. But, owing to greater skill and advantages, the English laborer may produce four times as much cloth, or materials for cloth, as the Spanish laborer in the same time. Therefore, though the English laborer gets twice as great a quantity, the Spaniard gets twice as great a proportion of the whole product. The wages of one will accordingly be twice as great as that of the other, and vice versa, according as we make the comparison in one or the other way. The ordinary mode of comparison has reference to the absolute compensation, that is, the quantity of valuable vendible things commanded by the same labor. All laborers want food, clothing and shelter; and he that can command the best for the same labor is the best paid. In making the comparison, we may regard the money that each can earn; but then we must go further, and inquire what the same weight of silver or gold will purchase in each of the two countries. To the man who expends his wages where they are earned, a given amount of silver or gold is valuable only in proportion to the things that he can produce in exchange for it. To all practical purposes, therefore, labor may be higher paid in the U. States at a dollar than in the West Indies at two dollars. It is, therefore, surprising to see economists making comparisons of the money rate of wages in different countries, as if that gave any practical satis

factory result, without also inquiring further what the same money will purchase in each of the two countries. For instance, a laborer at Buenos Ayres can earn an ox in three days, which, in New England, would cost him from one to three months' wages, and in England still more; whereas the English or New England laborer can earn more cloth in the same time than the one at Buenos Ayres, though the money price of wages is highest in the latter place. In all the speculations and treatises upon this subject, we do not know of any full and satisfactory comparison of the real rate of wages, for the corresponding kinds of labor, in different countries. If we limit the inquiry to the same community, we first ask what is the aggregate production, and how great a proportion of the whole annual product goes to labor and skill, and how much to rent and capital. And here we readily perceive a gradual change in the course of the progress of a community; for, in the early stages of improvement, and while the population is comparatively thin, as in the U. States, the rent, and so the value, of lands is low; that is, the holder of a particular piece of cultivated land receives but a small proportion of the annual products; but, as the population thickens, the proprietor of the same tract will receive a greater proportion of the whole products of the same cultivation than his predecessors. Take the instance of the same crop of grass, on the same piece of ground, for a hundred successive years, from the time of felling the forest, until a populous town has grown up in the neighborhood; the wages for cutting and securing the crop will, at first, be one half or three quarters of its value, and will diminish, by degrees, to one fifth or one tenth, and the value and rent of the land will rise accordingly; that is, land becomes comparatively scarce in proportion to the population, and the demand for its use; and all raw products, that is, all products the value of which consists mostly of rent, will rise in comparative value. This may take place, in a great degree, through a whole country, as has been the case in England. But the whole territory does not continue to produce merely the same quantity, since, as the wants and consumption of the community increase, the labor bestowed upon the same area will be increased for the purpose of augmenting the quantity of products, so that the land-owner may, in fact, receive a less quantity, and a less proportion of the prod4

VOL. XIII.

ucts, and yet have a higher rent for his ground every successive year, because the quantity which he does receive, on account of its increased comparative value, will command, on the whole, more of the things for which he wishes to exchange it. During the same time, the laborer will receive, for the same labor, a less quantity and less proportion of the raw products; and yet, taking into consideration all that he wants to consume, he may, on the whole, continue to have as high wages as at first, whether we regard the absolute quantity of consumable things which he can command by his labor, or the proportion which it will bear to the whole annual product of the community. Though some parts of his food, and all his fuel, may cost him more labor, other parts of his food, particularly that brought from abroad, and his shelter and clothing, and especially all those articles that come under the class of moderate luxuries, will probably cost him less labor. In the progress of a community in which property is well protected, accumulation gradually reduces the rate of interest, thus reducing the proportional amount of the cost of production, as far as it depends on the use of capital, whereby a compensation, in part at least, is made for the enhancement of rents. All the inventions and facilities to production, transportation and exchange, also contribute to make a similar compensation. these causes, it may happen that, in the advancement of the population, wealth, arts and industry of a community, though a smaller proportion of the whole products goes to compensate mere labor, still a greater absolute amount of products may go to compensate the same labor; that is, a laborer may be able to supply himself, by his industry merely, with a greater quantity of necessaries and luxuries. In some respects, the laborer suffers by the advancement of a community; in others, he is benefited. But another view of the subject is of the very greatest importance in considering the condition of a people, namely, the distribution of that portion of the annual products that is allotted to industry and skill among the different classes of the industrious. It is not possible to estimate exactly what proportion the compensation for making out a legal process, visiting a patient, officiating at the celebration of public worship, superintending the concerns of a bank, commanding a ship or a regiment, &c., ought justly, or for the best interests of a community, to bear to the wages of mere

From

manual labor, requiring very little skill; nor, if we could determine this proportion, would it be practicable to establish it. The law has interposed, in many instances, in different countries, to regulate the price of labor and commodities; but it is now universally admitted that any such interpositions are most usually ineffectual, and always prejudicial. But though positive regulations, in this respect, will never remedy the evils of an unjust distribution, yet a community may be so constituted, and so situated, that the spontaneous operation of internal causes will effect a nearly just apportionment of the rewards of skill and industry among the various classes of the industrious. To ascertain what circumstances will have this operation, we must inquire what class first suffers from an inequality; and we find it to be those who depend wholly on their labor for subsistence. This is the part of the population where misery begins; and thence it spreads and accumulates until it is felt by the whole; for every part of the population will inevitably sympathize, more or less, with every other. It is utterly impossible for any class so to separate itself from the rest as not to be affected, directly or indirectly, by their enjoyments and sufferings. How, then, can the wages of mere labor, requiring very little skill, be sustained at a just rate, so that the laborer shall have his fair proportion of the annual products? This can be done only by diffusing and maintaining good habits, industry and intelligence among the poor class. It should be the policy of every society to make all the influences, moral, political, economical and social, bear, with the greatest possible energy, upon this point. It is not practicable to sustain this class by external helps when they have once become degraded, it is scarcely possible to renovate and restore them. The true doctrine is that of prevention.

WAGNER, Ernest; a German poet, born in 1768, and died in 1812. His poem, called Wilibald's Views of Life, is celebrated. His complete works were published in 1827 et seq., at Leipsic.

WAGNERITE; a mineral, found in complicated crystals, the primary form of which is an oblique rhombic prism, whose lateral planes incline under angles of 95° 25 and 84° 35'. Lustre vitreous; color several shades of yellow, sometimes nearly orange-yellow, often inclining to gray; streak white; translucent; hardness nearly that of feldspar; specific gravity 3.11. It consists of

It is found in veins of quartz, embraced in clay-slate, and occurs near Werfen, in Salzburg.

WAGONS most probably originated from rude vehicles dragged on cylindrical logs, which must soon have suggested the idea of the axis and solid wheel, even now used in Portugal by the peasants. According to Moses, Egypt was the country where wagons were first used. The Chinese call the inventor Hiene-Yuene. The Greeks attributed the invention to Erichthonius, fourth king of Athens, and say that he used them in consequence of lameness. Wagons with two wheels may have been the first constructed; but Homer mentions four-wheeled wagons, the invention of which was ascribed to the Phrygians. Whoever first conceived the idea of an axis was a most ingenious man; and he who applied it to wheels and wagons has become one of the greatest benefactors of mankind. Much time elapsed before wagons were used for pleasure carriages. The sedan chair and horseback were long preferred. In war, use was sooner made of the wagon. Moses mentions the war-chariots of Pharaoh. Theseus is said to have introduced chariots among the Greeks. The horses were covered with iron scales. At the end of the pole lances were fastened, and at the side and below were scythes. These chariots were driven into the ranks of the enemy. The Greeks, besides, used two-wheeled chariots, each containing two persons, one of whom drove while the other threw spears. The chariots were open behind, and had low wheels. The Romans used them early. In the twelve tables (q. v.) the arcera is mentioned. The Romans gave different names to the wagons, according to the purpose to which they were applied, as carpentum, a two-wheeled vehicle, with a vaulted covering, used particularly by the Roman ladies ; carruca, a kind of state coach (q. v.); cisium, essedum, &c. They had also triumphal chariots (currus triumphalis). Wagons are drawn by men or beasts, or propelled by machinery. It is reported that, at the panathenaa, a galley was moved through the city by internal wheel-work. From the time of Roger Bacon (in the thirteenth century) to our

days, many trials of locomotive wagons have been made, of which the steamwagon, lately brought to such perfection, is the most important. The wind has also been frequently used to propel wagons. Simon Stevin, of Bruges, invented a sailing wagon for twenty-eight persons, which, on even ground, is said to have travelled fourteen Dutch leagues in two hours! Mr. Slater, an Englishman, travelled in a sailing wagon from Alexandria to Bassora.-Respecting the invention of wagons, harnesses, &c., among the ancients, see the work of Ginzrot (Munich, 1817, 2 vols.). Kites have also been used to propel wagons. (See Velocipede, and Steam.)

WAGRAM, BATTLE OF, on July 5 and 6, 1809, gained by Napoleon over the arch duke Charles. It decided the fate of Austria, on the same field on which Rodolph of Hapsburg (q. v.), in 1278, had been victorious over the proud Ottocar, and laid the foundation of Austria's power. The severe loss which Napoleon had sustained in the battle of Aspern (q. v.), on the occasion of his unsuccessful attempt to pass the Danube, made repose necessary for his army. He also needed reinforcements. These he received in the army of the viceroy of Italy, who had forced the Austrians, at last, from that country to Hungary. Bernadotte was also approaching with the Saxons; and other divisions were on the way. The archduke Charles, on the left bank of the Danube, was in a less fortunate situation. His loss, also, had been severe; and his army consisted, in a great measure, of raw troops hastily levied. Napoleon remained in Vienna, and prepared every thing for a decisive struggle, whilst his antagonist appeared to stand merely on the defensive; at least nothing was done by him to disturb the French in their preparations on the islands of the Danube. Heavy ordnance was carried from the arsenals of Vienna to the well-constructed works on these islands. Materials for bridges were provided, and every precaution taken to prevent a second failure in the attempt to pass the river. The position of the antagonists permitted the most accurate knowledge of all the movements of both armies. July 1, Napoleon concentrated his forces, and fixed his head-quarters at Lobau. Presburg had been occupied by Davoust a few days previously. Vandamme guarded the Danube as far as Lintz. The whole number of the French forces has been estimated at 180,000; and if this number is over

rated, it is certain that the Austrian force was not half as great. From July 2, the French attempted, at several points on the islands, to establish a secure communication with the opposite bank, without being prevented by the fire of the Austrians; and on July 4, Napoleon concentrated the greatest part of his troops on the island of Lobau. At ten o'clock in the evening, the first troops, in small numbers, passed in boats over the Danube, and established themselves on the left bank, during a tremendous storm, and supported by a warm fire from all the batteries, directed against Enzersdorf and the Austrian redoubts erected on those spots where a landing was expected. Enzersdorf was in flames, and shed a brilliant light on the Danube. With great skill and promptness, excellent bridges were thrown over the river, and as early as two o'clock, the whole army had reached the left bank. It seems to have been in consequence of a settled plan, that Charles did not endeavor to prevent the passage of Napoleon, and that the Austrians immediately made a retrograde movement. On the morning of the 5th, the French army extended itself in the Marchfeld (a plain many leagues in length, on the left bank of the Danube, and containing the town of Wagram). A numerous artillery along the whole French line played incessantly. The Austrians were slowly forced back during the day. In point of fact, the archduke Charles had at this time but three divisions to oppose to the French forces. It was not till towards night that his other forces could be brought into action. It is impossible for us to give the details of the battle, or to describe the repeated assaults on Wagram by the Saxons. The French army bivouacked on some places very near the enemy. Some have believed that the retreat of Charles, on July 5, was in order to place the French troops between his forces and those which were approaching, under the archduke John, from Hungary. But the army of the archduke John was much too weak to 'produce a decisive effect, and, moreover, would have been opposed by the disposable French divisions, and the 10,000 Bavarians under Wrede. Early in the morning of July 6, the extreme left wing of the French, under Bernadotte and Masséna, was extended to Hirschstätten; the centre, comprising the guards and the Italian army, was at Raschdorf; to the right were Marmont and Oudinot; and Davoust was on the extreme right. The archduke

Charles now projected an attack, en echélon, from his right, against the French left. Thus it was hoped that the Austrian army might relieve itself from the extreme pressure upon its left wing. At first, this attack was successful: the French were forced back as far as Enzersdorf. The Austrian centre was not so fortunate: it could not advance equally with the right wing, and thus a dangerous extension of the Austrian forces took place. Napoleon knew how to keep them in this situation, and thus to obstruct their further attacks; and soon after, having turned the Austrian left wing, he began to act on the offensive, and endeavored to decide the battle by destroying the enemy's centre. Masséna attacked Aderklaa most violently; and, had he succeeded, all would have been lost; but the Austrians fought with great bravery against the cavalry, artillery and guards, and repeated attacks were repulsed. Had the archduke John arrived at this time on the left wing, as he was ordered to do, a favorable result might have been obtained; but he did not come up, and the French troops spread far to the right. Upon the third attack, they occupied the height of Markgrafen-Neusiedel, and the Austrian right wing was deprived of the advantages which it had gained. The Austrians retreated. The archduke John, it is said, was detained near Presburg in collecting his corps. It was not until late in the evening, that he heard from the field of battle that every thing was decided. To save his own troops, he again retreated from the Marchfeld. Both armies had displayed great valor. The loss of the Austrians may have amounted to 27,000 men killed and wounded (they had taken, however, 7000 prisoners, twelve eagles and colors, and eleven cannons). The loss of the French cannot be reckoned at less. On the 7th, 9th and 10th, the archduke retreated, constantly fighting, to the heights of Znaym, where Marmont and Masséna reached him. On the 11th, a battle was fought, which, however, was interrupted by the armistice offered by Austria, and concluded, July 12, at Znaym, after which the negotiations for peace commenced. For information respecting the whole campaign, see general Pelet's (aid-de-camp of Masséna) Mémoire sur la Guerre de 1809, en Allemagne, avec les Opérations particulières des Corps d'Italie, de Pologne, de Saxe, de Naples, et de Walcheren (Paris, 1825, seq., 4 vols., with an atlas).

WAGTAIL (Motacilla); small birds which

seem to be peculiar to the eastern continent. They differ from the warblers only in their longer legs, more slender form, and longer tail. They never perch on trees or shrubs, but frequent the margins of ponds and water-courses, and are continually elevating and depressing the tail; hence the name. The common European wagtail (M. alba) is a familiar bird, which seems to seek the society of man and domestic animals, and is even seen frequently to rest upon the backs of cattle while they are grazing. The vicinity of mills is observed to be its favorite resort. The plumage is a mixture of black, white and gray. It is widely diffused throughout the eastern continent.

WAHABEES, WAHABITES, or WECHABITES, is the name of several Arab tribes, who profess the religious faith which Sheik Mohammed, son of Abdel Wahab, taught in the middle of the eighteenth century, and, like the founder of the religion of the Koran, sought to propagate by art and courage. Sheik Mohammed, belonging to the great tribe of the Tamini (born in 1729, in the town of Ajen, situated near the desert, in the district of Al Ared), had acquired great learning in Bassora, Bagdad and Damascus. He taught at first in Ajen, and soon made proselytes of the inhabitants of the district of Al Ared. Claiming divine inspiration, he taught, like the Koran, the doctrines of which he but partially received, the existence of an only God, the Author of the world, the Rewarder of the good, and the Punisher of the bad; but he rejected all the stories contained in the Koran, especially those concerning Mohammed, whom he considered merely a man beloved of God, but branded the worship of him as a crime directly opposed to the true adoration of the Divinity. He also prohibited the wealth and splendor which are found in the mosques of the Mohammedans. All who should oppose this new doctrine were to be destroyed by fire and sword. Mohammed first converted to his newdoctrines the sovereign of Derayeh and Lahsa, Ebn-Sehud, whom he proclaimed prince (emir) and protector of the new sect, of which he declared himself high-priest, thus separating the spiritual and secular authorities, which were afterwards hereditary in the families of Ebn-Sehud and Sheik Mohammed. The principal seat of the Wahabees was the city of Derayeh, in the province of Nedsjed, and Jamama, 250 miles west of Bassora. As the votaries of the new faith were all inspired with the highest enthusiasm, prepared for