Cli. i. Wallace. Condorcet. 5 



lege of great fortunes, and yet giving it a basis 

 equally solid, and by rendering the progress of in- 

 dustry and the activity of commerce less depend- 

 ent on great capitalists. 



Such establishments and calculations may 

 appear very promising upon paper ; but when 

 applied to real life, they will be found to be abso- 

 lutely nugatory. M. Condorcet allows that a class 

 of people which maintains itself entirely by in- 

 dustry, is necessary to every state. Why does he 

 allow this ? No other reason can well be assigned, 

 than because he conceives, that the labour ne- 

 cessary to procure subsistence for an extended po- 

 pulation will not be performed without the goad 

 of necessity. If by establishments upon the plans 

 that have been mentioned, this spur to industry be 

 removed ; if the idle and negligent be placed upon 

 the same footing with regard to their credit and 

 the future support of their wives and families, as 

 the active and industrious ; can we expect to see 

 men exert that animated activity in bettering their 

 condition, which now forms the master- spring of 

 public prosperity ? If an inquisition were to be 

 established to examine the claims of each indivi- 

 dual, and to determine whether he had or had not 

 exerted himself to the utmost, and to grant or re- 

 fuse assistance accordingly, this would be little 

 else than a repetition upon a larger scale of the 

 English poor-laws, and would be completely de- 

 structive of the true principles of liberty and 

 equality. 



But independently of this great objection to 



