the Agriculture of their People,
who took due Care, that every one manag'd their Grounds, in the most
skilful and useful Manner, and to instruct the Ignorant and punish the
Refractory. At this Day, _Pere du Halde_ assures us, that the _Chinese_
do in the most rigid Manner, oblige every one to sow their Grounds or
forfeit them; and they appoint judicious Surveyors, who every Year,
make Returns to the Magistrates, of the several Plow-Lands, and their
different Fertility. This may convince us, what these two wise Nations
thought, of the Benefit of Agriculture; and if any Thing cou'd make us
renounce our destructive Passion for Grazing, one might tell them, that
'tis recommended by him that made the Earth, in many Passages of holy
Writ; and if you remember, _Moses_ also Assigns it, as one Reason for
God's creating _Adam_, That Man was wanted to Till the Ground. When I
was talking of the _Roman_ and _Chinese_ Inspectors of their Tillage, I
shou'd have mention'd that the _Jews_ had such also; for we find the
Names of those who in _David_'s Time, were Superintendants of such
Matters, recorded in the [3]_Chronicles_. Possibly in these blessed
Times for Acting and Thinking freely, we shou'd not relish such
Dictators to the Plow, nor any penal Laws to enforce our Tillage; but
certain I am, that without some Laws that will execute themselves, (how
averse soever we may be to them) we shall still continue in the utmost
Danger of Beggary and Famine. We may very well submit, even to such
compulsatory Laws in this Kingdom, since every one may read in our
Histories, that _England_ was often oblig'd, to force her Subjects to
return to the Plow, when the lazy Method of pasturing Cattle, had
distrest that Kingdom; and 'tis chiefly to the Statutes made by the two
last _Henries_ and _Edward_ the VIth, that she owes the Blessing, of
her being now the Granary of _Europe_, and of her enjoying the
Advantages of having improv'd her Agriculture, beyond all other
Nations. It is to be hop'd, if our late Act to encrease our Tillage,
was properly amended, and form'd so as to make the Recovery of the
Penalties more easy, it wou'd have very happy Effects here; as
Agriculture is the Source of Plenty, and the nursing Mother of Arts and
Manufactures. We observ'd before, that to see Beggars in any well
regulated State, is a reproach to its Laws and Government; but to see a
Nation of Beggars, is too scandalous to have it exemplified in any
Kingdom but _Irela