27 



facturing: again, they are rather more manufacturing than 

 commercial. The reason, why agriculture prevails over 

 manufactures, is manifest: the safety and comfort of the 

 subject, in despotic states, depend much on his being un- 

 known. If we except the ministers of the government, who 

 exercise the oppressions of the tyrant, individuals are only 

 observed by the sovereign to their cost. Men wish, there- 

 fore, to withdraw themselves from sight; they fly the po- 

 pulous city; they seek the quiet and retirement of the 

 distant plain: " see, from their mother earth, not God's 

 " blessings spring, but mei'e subsistence; and eat their 

 " bread in peace and privacy."* Under a despotism, sim- 

 ple unambitious professions are most eligible: such is agri- 

 culture. Mechanics are led to associate in greater num- 

 bers; their callings are usually exercised in a gregarious 

 manner: this exposes them to the notice of government; 

 their number makes them objects of its jealousy, or its 

 avarice: collected in herds, as they<are, it is easy to pounce 

 down upon them, and, at one grasp, to oppress and fleece 

 them. Artisans are naturally led, also, to resort to cities; 

 where they are more readily supplied with the raw mate- 

 rials of their respective manufactures, and find a more cer- 

 tain and advantageous market for their pi'oductions. There 

 they are under the superintendance, and heav^' hand, of a 

 severe and terrible police ; their elaborate and costly ma- 

 nufactures are collected in shops and warehouses, and serve 



D 2 to 



* Mason. 



