MISCELLANEOUS ESSAYS. 



383 



And behold in the cities of that 

 country, there dwelt persons p-o- 

 fessing different occupations j and 

 these persons met together, and said, 

 " What is this that we hear? The 

 king that reigned over us has fled, 

 and his nobles are banished from 

 the land, and the husbandmen are 

 driven from amongst us, and their 

 servants are now possessors of the 

 soil. Why should this be suffered ? 

 We live in crowded cities j we 

 breathe unwholesome air j we toil 

 for others more than for ourselves ; 

 wc can procure but a bare sub- 

 sistence. Let us join and act to- 

 gether. Our enemies are scattered 

 over the face of the land. We 

 will soon drive them before us, and 

 cnjov their possessions in peace." 

 And they assembled together, and 

 took arms, and went against the 

 servants of the husbandmen, and 

 drove them out of the country, and 

 those who resisted they put to 

 death. 



And the men of occupation now 

 possessed the whole land, and they 

 said, " Let us divide it equally 

 amongst us, tliat none may have 

 more than his neighbour, and that 

 all may share alike." And they 

 quarrelled about the division, and 

 no man was satisfied with what he 

 got, and they had no means of cul- 

 tivating the soil, and they had no 

 skill to do it, and famine spread 

 over the land, and they wept bit- 

 terly, and said, " When we had no 

 land, we got what it produced in 

 abundance, and now we have land, 

 it yicldeth us nothing," and they 

 cried, " Give as some bread to 

 cat." 



And the Lord saw what the 

 people suffered, and how much they 

 repented of their transgressions, and 

 he had compassion upon them, and 



he sent a prophet to announce it 

 them the way in which they shouli 

 walk, and the prophet said unto 

 them, " Let the men of occupation 

 return to their professions by the 

 exercise of which they obtain their 

 share of the produce of the soil. Let 

 the servants labour for their masters, 

 that the earch may be duly culti- 

 vated. Let the husbandmen hire 

 their laftd, from those who lawfully 

 inherit it, for no man must possess 

 the territory of another without his 

 consent. Let the nobler be restored 

 to their property, and they will 

 watch over the interests of the state. 

 Let the king be re-established on 

 his throne, that he may protect his 

 people from injury. And let pro- 

 perty be held sacred, the sure basis 

 of the prosperity of a state, AND 

 ALL SHALL i3E WELL." And 

 it was so ; and the people blessed 

 the Lord, and said, " Now we see 

 what IS good for us, and how alone 

 a multitude of people can dwell to- 

 gether." And they lived happily, 

 and increased in numbers, and all 

 the neighbouring nations rejoiced 

 with them. 



On planting, ly Arthur Young, esq. 

 Jrom the same. 



THERE can hardly be a more 

 interesting quest ion in political 

 agriculture, than thatof the national 

 benefit resulting from plantations of 

 the many sorts of trees which are 

 made to occupy various soils and 

 situations, — some good, some bad. 

 Great merit is assigned, by many 

 writers, to such works ; and socie- 

 ties have confirmed the opinion, by 

 ofl'cring numberless premiums for 

 the encouragement of similar under- 

 takings. 



