The proposition is self-evident; and nothing but the malignity,
perverseness, and ill-governed passions of mankind, and particularly the
envy they bear to each other's prosperity, could prevent their seeing
and acknowledging it, with thankfulness to the benign and wise Disposer
of all things, who obliges men, whether they will or not, in pursuing
their own selfish interests, to connect the general good with their own
individual success.
But who are to judge what that profit and advantage ought to be?
Certainly no authority on earth. It is a matter of convention, dictated
by the reciprocal conveniences of the parties, and indeed by their
reciprocal necessities.--But if the farmer is excessively
avaricious?--Why, so much the better: the more he desires to increase
his gains, the more interested is he in the good condition of those upon
whose labor his gains must principally depend.
I shall be told by the zealots of the sect of regulation, that this may
be true, and may be safely committed to the convention of the farmer and
the laborer, when the latter is in the prime of his youth, and at the
time of his health and vigor, and in ordinary times of abundance. But in
calamitous seasons, under accidental illness, in declining life, and
with the pressure of a numerous offspring, the future nourishers of the
community, but the present drains and blood-suckers of those who produce
them, what is to be done? When a man cannot live and maintain his family
by the natural hire of his labor, ought it not to be raised by
authority?
On this head I must be allowed to submit what my opinions have ever
been, and somewhat at large.
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