Worth noting that suspicion towards 'merchant' types was not new back then, afaik it dates back at least to Ancient Athens and was one of the tenets of their democracy: rich people were excluded from the political process entirely. You could either become rich or participate in politics, not both — in a direct democracy, no less.
The rationale, which apparently seemed quite well-accepted back then, is anachronically explained above by Adam Smith — who I'm sure was well-written in his Ancient studies.
The rationale, which apparently seemed quite well-accepted back then, is anachronically explained above by Adam Smith — who I'm sure was well-written in his Ancient studies.