The World Neither Ever Saw, Nor Ever

Ask Any Rich Man Of Common Prudence To Which Of The Two Sorts Of People He Has Lent The Greater Part Of His Stock, To Those Who, He Thinks, Will Employ It Profitably, Or To Those Who Will Spend It Idly, And He Will Laugh At You For Proposing The Question.

It Seldom Happens, However, That A Great Proprietor Is A Great Improver.

It Appears, Accordingly, From The Experience Of All Ages And Nations, I Believe, That The Work Done By Freemen Comes Cheaper In The End Than That Performed By Slaves.

To Hinder, Besides, The Farmer From Selling His Goods At All Times To The Best Market, Is Evidently To Sacrifice The Ordinary Laws Of Justice To An Idea Of Public Utility, To A Sort Of Reasons Of State; An Act Of Legislative Authority Which Ought To Be Exercised Only, Which Can Be Pardoned Only In Cases Of The Most Urgent Necessity.

Among Civilized And Thriving Nations, On The Contrary, Though A Great Number Of People Do No Labor At All, Many Of Whom Consume The Produce Of Ten Times, Frequently Of A Hundred Times More Labour Than The Greater Part Of Those Who Work; Yet The Produce Of The Whole Labour Of The Society Is So Great, That All Are Often Abundantly Supplied, And A Workman, Even Of The Lowest And Poorest Order, If He Is Frugal And Industrious, May Enjoy A Greater Share Of The Necessaries And Conveniencies Of Life Than It Is Possible For Any Savage To Acquire.