ſtroy the Conſtitution; ſuch as the digging and preparing of Metals and Minerals, eſpecially Lead, Copper, Mercury, Cobalt, Arſenic, Realgar; thoſe other dangerous Trades, which every Day kill ſo many Men, for Example, Tilers, Carpenters, Maſons, and Quarrymen; let us, I ſay, unite all theſe Objects, and then we ſhall diſcover in the Eſtabliſhment and Perfection of Societies the Reaſons of that Diminution of the Species, which ſo many Philoſophers have taken Notice of.
Luxury, which nothing can prevent among Men ready to ſacrifice every thing to their own Conveniency, and willing to purchaſe at any Rate the Reſpect of others, ſoon puts the finiſhing Hand to the Evils which Society had begun; and on Pretence of giving Bread to the Poor, which it ſhould rather have avoided making, impoveriſhes all the reſt, and ſooner or later diſpeoples the State.
Luxury is a Remedy much worſe than the Diſeaſe which it pretends to cure; or rather is in itſelf the worſt of all Diſeaſes, both in great and ſmall States. To maintain thoſe Crowds
