The Fortunes They
Daily Acquire In Every Province, From The Misfortunes Of Their
Fellow-Citizens, Are Surprising!
The most ignorant, the most
bungling member of that profession, will, if placed in the most
obscure part of the country, promote litigiousness, and amass more
wealth without labour, than the most opulent farmer, with all his
toils.
They have so dexterously interwoven their doctrines and
quirks with the laws of the land, or rather they are become so
necessary an evil in our present constitutions, that it seems
unavoidable and past all remedy. What a pity that our forefathers,
who happily extinguished so many fatal customs, and expunged from
their new government so many errors and abuses, both religious and
civil, did not also prevent the introduction of a set of men so
dangerous! In some provinces, where every inhabitant is constantly
employed in tilling and cultivating the earth, they are the only
members of society who have any knowledge; let these provinces
attest what iniquitous use they have made of that knowledge.
They are here what the clergy were in past centuries with you; the
reformation which clipped the clerical wings, is the boast of that
age, and the happiest event that could possibly happen; a
reformation equally useful is now wanted, to relieve us from the
shameful shackles and the oppressive burthen under which we groan;
this perhaps is impossible; but if mankind would not become too
happy, it were an event most devoutly to be wished.
Here, happily, unoppressed with any civil bondage, this society of
fishermen and merchants live, without any military establishments,
without governors or any masters but the laws; and their civil code
is so light, that it is never felt.
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