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The fcarcity of hands in this country j 

 is at prefent loudly talked of; and attri- 

 buted to the drainages, inclofures, and 

 turnpike roads, carrying on ; thefe public 

 works acl: like a war in taking from the 

 farmers abundance of hands they uicd to 

 employ : But if employment does not create 

 indufirious people, how comes the prefent 

 harveft to be in iuch forwardnefs ? From 

 whence thefe troops of hands I fee in the 

 fields ; The inftance of this angle of coun- 

 try is peculiarly ftrong, as they employ no 

 travelling Scotch or Iri/b harveftmen ; 

 common in many other places. Here I 

 behold fome hundreds of men employed by 

 public works, the commiflioncrs of which 

 carry one their bufinefs fo eagerly, that be- 

 fore the harveft began, ihey cried z s. 6 d. 

 a day, for a common fpadefman : Now how 

 can fuch works be carried on, at a time 

 that all the bufinefs of hufbandry is feafon- 

 ably performed, and yet hands be really 

 wanted ? It is impoflible. 



But here I am aware it will be urged, 

 that the reality of the fcarcity of men is 

 proved by the rife and height of wages and 

 pay, which are very great: But this proves 

 nothing ; for iure every one mull be fen- 

 fiblc, that if men were not in being, 

 money could not buy them ; a rife of 

 wages is a contingency, a circumftance 

 that operates we know not how, and is 

 7 founded, 



