VOYAGE TO MADAGASCAR. jg 



they behold with an eye of envy thofe who 

 are above them ; they lofe all affedion for 

 their fellow-creatures, and at length difdam 

 labour and innocence. Ought we to be fur- 

 prifed, that, in fo reverfed an order of things, 

 the poor, more preffed down by the weight 

 of their mifery, than dazzled by the vain 

 enjoyments of the rich, and the falfe fplen- 

 dour of opulence, fhonld feek in vice and 

 villany the means of rendering their lot 

 more fupportable ? Can they be reflrained 

 by the dread of punifKment, when they are 

 every tnoment in torture, and compelled to . 

 deleft their exlftence ? Did thefe fatal difor- 

 ders caufe the fame ravages in the country' 

 as in cities, the luxury and population of 

 which are fo much boafted of, agricul- 

 ture would be negle£ted, and the earth 

 become a defert« But the laborious life 

 of the people of the country, the fimpH- 

 city of their tafte and manners, and ftill 



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