-- He affirmed, that a mouse, which, in the
article of self-preservation, might be supposed to act from
infallible instinct, would always prefer oats to wheat, as
appeared from experience; for, in a place where there was a
parcel of each, that animal has never begun to feed upon the
latter till all the oats were consumed: for their nutritive
quality, he appealed to the hale, robust constitutions of the
people who lived chiefly upon oatmeal; and, instead of being
inflammatory, he asserted, that it was a cooling sub-acid,
balsamic and mucilaginous; insomuch, that in all inflammatory
distempers, recourse was had to water-gruel, and flummery made of
oatmeal.
'At least (said I), give me leave to wish them such a degree of
commerce as may enable them to follow their own inclinations.' --
'Heaven forbid! (cried this philosopher). Woe be to that nation,
where the multitude is at liberty to follow their own
inclinations! Commerce is undoubtedly a blessing, while
restrained within its proper channels; but a glut of wealth
brings along with it a glut of evils: it brings false taste,
false appetite, false wants, profusion, venality, contempt of
order, engendering a spirit of licentiousness, insolence, and
faction, that keeps the community in continual ferment, and in
time destroys all the distinctions of civil society; so that
universal anarchy and uproar must ensue.
Pages:
488
489
490
491
492
493
494
495
496
497
498
499
500
501
502
503
504
505
506
507
508
509
510
511
512