228 Of increasing JVealth, ^c. Bk. iii. 



them will not only have sufficient means of subsist- 

 ence, but be able to command no inconsiderable 

 quantity of those conveniences and comforts, 

 which, at the same time that they gratify a natural 

 or acquired want, tend unquestionably to improve 

 the mind and elevate the character. 



On an attentive review, then, of the effects of 

 increasing wealth on the condition of the poor, it 

 appears that, although such an increase does not 

 imply a proportionate increase of the funds for 

 the maintenance of labour, yet it brings with it 

 advantages to the lower classes of society which 

 may fully counterbalance the disadvantages with 

 which it is attended ; and, strictly speaking, the 

 good or bad condition of the poor is not necessarily 

 connected with any particular stage in the pro- 

 gress of society to its full complement of wealth. 

 A rapid increase of wealth indeed, whether it 

 consists principally in additions to the means of 

 subsistence or to the stock of conveniences and 

 comforts, will always, cceteris paribus, have a 

 favourable effect on the poor ; but the influence 

 even of this cause is greatly modified and altered 

 by other circumstances, and nothing but the union 

 of individual prudence with the skill and industry 

 which produce wealth can permanently secure 

 to the lower classes of society that share of it 

 which it is, on every account, so desirable that 

 they should possess. 



