f us, another Set of them are freezing in the_ North,
_to fetch Potashes from_ Russia.
_When we are thoroughly acquainted with all the Variety of Toil and
Labour, the Hardships and Calamities, that must be undergone to compass
the End I speak of, and we consider the vast Risques and Perils that
are run in those Voyages, and that Few of them are ever made, but at
the Expence, not only of the Health and Welfare, but even the Lives of
Many: When we are acquainted with, I say and duely consider the Things
I named, it is scarce possible to conceive a Tyrant so inhuman and void
of Shame, that beholding Things in the same View, he should exact such
terrible Services from his innocent Slaves; and at the same Time dare
to own, that he did it for no other Reason, than the Satisfaction a Man
receives from having a Garment made of Scarlet or Crimson Cloth. But to
what Height of Luxury must a Nation be arriv'd, where not only the
King's Officers, but likewise his Guards, even the Private Soldiers,
should have such impudent Desires!_
_But if we turn the Prospect, and look on all those Labours, as so many
voluntary Actions, belonging to different Callings and Occupations,
that Men are brought up to for a Livelihood, and in which Every one
works for himself, how much soever he may seem to labour for Others: If
we consider, that even the Sailors, who undergo the greatest Hardships,
as soon as one Voyage is ended, even after a Ship-wreck, are looking
out and solliciting for Employment in another: If we consider, I say,
and look on these Things in another View, we shall find, that the
Labour of the Poor is so far from being a Burthen, and an Imposition
upon them, that to have Employment is a Blessing, which, in their
Addresses to Heaven, they pray for; and to procure it for the
Generality of them, is the greatest Care of every Legislature._
_FINIS._
PUBLICATIONS OF THE AUGUSTAN REPRINT SOCIETY
FIRST YEAR (1946-47)
Numbers 1-6 out of print.
SECOND YEAR (1947-1948)
7. John Gay's _The Present State of Wit_ (1711); and a section on
Wit from _The English Theophrastus_ (1702).
8. Rapin's _De Carmine Pastorali_, translated by Creech (1684).
9. T. Hanmer's (?) _Some Remarks on the Tragedy of Hamlet_ (1736).
10. Corbyn Morris' _Essay towards Fixing the True Standards of Wit,
etc._ (1744).
11. Thomas Purney's _Discourse on the Pastoral_ (1717).
12. Essays on the Stage, selected, with an Introduction by Jos
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