<5 INTRODUCTION. [No, 



a nation permanently great, consisting, for the greater 

 part, of wretched and miserable families. 



4. In every view of the matter, therefore, it is de- 

 sirable, that the families of which a nation consists 

 should^ be happily off: and as this depends, in a great 

 degree, upon the management of their concerns, the 

 present work is intended to convey, to the families of 

 the labouring classes in particular such information 

 as I think may be useful with regard to that manage- 

 ment. 



5. I lay it down as a maxim, that for a family to be 

 happy, they must be well supplied withybotZ and rai- 

 ment. It is a sorry effort that people make to persuade 

 others, or to persuade themselves, that they can be 

 happy in a state of want of the necessaries of life. 

 The doctrines which fanaticism preaches, and which 

 teach men to be content with poverty, have a very per- 

 nicious tendency, and are calculated to favour tyrants 

 by giving them passive slaves. To live well, to enjoy 

 all things that make life pleasant, is the right of every 

 man who constantly uses his strength judiciously and 

 lawfully. It is to blaspheme God to suppose, that he 

 created man to be miserable, to hunger, thirst, and 

 perish with cold, in the midst of that abundance 

 which is the fruit of their own labour. Instead, there- 

 fore, of applauding " happy poverty," which applause 

 is so much the fashion of the present day, I despise the 

 man that is poor and contented; for, such content is a 

 certain proof of a base disposition, a disposition which 

 is the enemy of all industry, all exertion, all love of 

 independence. 



6. Let it be understood, however, that, by poverty, 

 I mean real want, a real insufficiency of the iood and 

 raiment and lodging necessary to health and decency ; 

 and not that imaginary poverty, of which some per- 

 sons complain. The man who, by his own and his 

 family's labour, can provide a sufficiency of food and 

 raiment, and a comfortable dwelling-place, is not a 

 poor man. There must be different ranks and degrees 

 in every civil society, and, indeed, so it is even amongst 

 the savage tribes. There must be different degrees of 



