nted to
72,433 pounds. What a fund of treasure arises from his pasture lands,
which breed such innumerable flocks of sheep, and afford such fine herds
of cattle, to feed Britons, and clothe mankind! He rears flax and hemp
for the making of linen; while his plantations of apples and hops supply
him with generous kinds of liquors.

The land-tax, when at four shillings in the pound, produces 2,000,000
pounds a year. This arises from the labour of the husbandman: it is a
great sum; but how greatly is it increased by the means it furnishes for
trade! Without the industry of the farmer, the manufacturer could have
no goods to supply the merchant, nor the merchant find any employment
for the mariners: trade would be stagnated; riches would be of no
advantage to the great; and labour of no service to the poor.

The Romans, as historians all allow,
Sought, in extreme distress, the rural plough;
_Io triumphe!_ for the village swain,
Retired to be a nobleman[2] again.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] From the Universal Visiter, for February, 1756, p. 59.--Smart, the
poet, had a considerable hand in this miscellany. The very first
sentence, however, may convince any reader that Dr. Johnson did not
write these Thoughts: they are inserted here merely as an
introduction to the Further Thoughts, which follow, and which are
undoubtedly his.

[2] Cincinnatus.

FURTHER THOUGHTS ON AGRICULTURE[1].
[1] From the Visiter for March, 1756, p. 111.

At my last visit, I took the liberty of mentioning a subject, which, I
think, is not considered with attention proportionate to its importance.
Nothing can more fully prove the ingratitude of mankind, a crime often
charged upon them, and often denied, than the little regard which the
disposers of honorary rewards have paid to agriculture, which is treated
as a subject so remote from common life, by all those who do not
immediately hold the plough, or give fodder to the ox, that I think
there is room to question, whether a great part of mankind has yet been
informed that life is sustained by the fruits of the earth. I was once,
indeed, provoked to ask a lady of great eminence for genius, "Whether
she knew of what bread is made?"

I have already observed, how differently agriculture was considered by
the heroes and wise men of the Roman commonwealth, and shall now only
add, that even after the emperours had made great alteration in the
system of life, and taught men to por