<p>This is not really an economics question  </p>

<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hume" rel="nofollow noreferrer">David Hume</a> "by far the most illustrious philosopher and historian of the present age" who Adam Smith appears to be quoting here, is saying that paying priests of the established church a state salary would reduce their incentives to be undesirably active, in contrast to a unsubsidised competitive market for religion which could lead priests "to pervert the truth, by infusing into it a strong mixture of superstition, folly, and delusion" with "no regard paid to truth, morals, or decency"</p>

<p>The sentence is actually structured the other way round, but in any case the <em>than</em> is to contrast "to be farther active" (seen as undesirable) against "merely to prevent their flock from straying in quest of new pastors" (seen as acceptable); the use of <em>farther</em> and <em>merely</em> shows that a contrast is intended</p>

<p>Smith did not agree with Hume on the dangers and benefits of competitive religion </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-14T00:20:35.363Z
2018-11-14T00:20:35.363Z
Henry
<p>What does the last phrase after the last comma in this sentence mean?</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>And, in the end, the civil magistrate will find that he has dearly
  paid for his intended frugality, in saving a fixed establishment for
  the priests; and that, in reality, the most decent and advantageous
  composition, which he can make with the spiritual guides, is to bribe
  their indolence, by assigning stated salaries to their profession, and
  rendering it superfluous for them to be farther active, than merely to
  prevent their flock from straying in quest of new pastors.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Could the word "than" be replaced with the word "and" to mean what Smith intended?</p>

<p>It seems that the rendering of something superfluous would be along the lines of merely preventing something.  But I think of the word "than" to refer to contrasting two elements.  Was the word "than" a typo?  If not, what did Adam Smith mean?  Or did the word "than" mean something different back in Adam Smith's day?</p>

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2018-11-14T02:40:20.937Z
I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it's not an economics question. [ell.se] and [english.se] exist for these sorts of questions.
410 gone
<adam-smith>
Did the word "than" mean something different in The Wealth of Nations?
William
# Did the word "than" mean something different in The Wealth of Nations?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-11-13)

What does the last phrase after the last comma in this sentence mean?

> And, in the end, the civil magistrate will find that he has dearly
> paid for his intended frugality, in saving a fixed establishment for
> the priests; and that, in reality, the most decent and advantageous
> composition, which he can make with the spiritual guides, is to bribe
> their indolence, by assigning stated salaries to their profession, and
> rendering it superfluous for them to be farther active, than merely to
> prevent their flock from straying in quest of new pastors.

Could the word "than" be replaced with the word "and" to mean what Smith intended?

It seems that the rendering of something superfluous would be along the lines of merely preventing something. But I think of the word "than" to refer to contrasting two elements. Was the word "than" a typo? If not, what did Adam Smith mean? Or did the word "than" mean something different back in Adam Smith's day?

**Tags:** adam-smith

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it's not an economics question. [ell.se] and [english.se] exist for these sorts of questions.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2018-11-14. Score: 1

This is not really an economics question

[David Hume](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hume) "by far the most illustrious philosopher and historian of the present age" who Adam Smith appears to be quoting here, is saying that paying priests of the established church a state salary would reduce their incentives to be undesirably active, in contrast to a unsubsidised competitive market for religion which could lead priests "to pervert the truth, by infusing into it a strong mixture of superstition, folly, and delusion" with "no regard paid to truth, morals, or decency"

The sentence is actually structured the other way round, but in any case the *than* is to contrast "to be farther active" (seen as undesirable) against "merely to prevent their flock from straying in quest of new pastors" (seen as acceptable); the use of *farther* and *merely* shows that a contrast is intended

Smith did not agree with Hume on the dangers and benefits of competitive religion


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