Human Affairs, at leaſt of the ſecret Pretenſions of every civilized Heart.
Compare without Prejudice the State of the Citizen with that of the Savage, and find out, if you can, how many Inlets, beſides his Wickedneſs, his Wants, his Miſeries, the former has opened to Pain and to Death. If you conſider the Afflictions of the Mind which prey upon us, the violent Paſſions which waſte and exhauſt us, the exceſſive labours with which the Poor are overburthened, the ſtill more dangerous Indolence, in which the Rich lie ſunk, and which bring to the Grave thoſe through Want, and theſe through Exceſs. But reflect a Moment on the monſtrous Mixture, and pernicious Manner of ſeaſoning ſo many Kinds of Food, the corrupt State in which they are often made uſe of; on the Sophiſtication of Medicines, the Tricks of thoſe who ſell them, the Miſtakes of thoſe who adminiſter them, the poiſonous Qualities of the Veſſels in which they are prepared: but think a little ſeriouſly on the epidemical Diſeaſes bred by bad Air among great Numbers of Men crowded together, or thoſe occaſioned by
