The Finest Minds Seem To Be Formed

The Histories Of Mankind Are Histories Only Of The Higher Classes.

The Exertions That Men Find It Necessary To Make, In Order To Support Themselves Or Families, Frequently Awaken Faculties That Might Otherwise Have Lain For Ever Dormant, And It Has Been Commonly Remarked That New And Extraordinary Situations Generally Create Minds Adequate To Grapple With The Difficulties In Which They Are Involved.

Thirty Or Forty Proprietors, With Incomes Answering To Between One Thousand And Five Thousand A Year, Would Create A Much More Effectual Demand For The Necessaries, Conveniences, And Luxuries Of Life, Than A Single Proprietor Possessing A Hundred Thousand A Year.

There Is Scarcely Any Inquiry More Curious, Or, From Its Importance, More Worthy Of Attention, Than That Which Traces The Causes Which Practically Check The Progress Of Wealth In Different Countries, And Stop It, Or Make It Proceed Very Slowly, While The Power Of Production Remains Comparatively Undiminished, Or At Least Would Furnish The Means Of A Great And Abundant Increase Of Produce And Population.

In A State Therefore Of Great Equality And Virtue, Where Pure And Simple Manners Prevailed, The Increase Of The Human Species Would Evidently Be Much Greater Than Any Increase That Has Been Hitherto Known.