of the People should fall in with
them, so I don't expect the Approbation of the Multitude. I write not
to Many, nor seek for any Well-wishers, but among the Few that can
think abstractly, and have their Minds elevated above the Vulgar._ Of
this I have made no ill Use, and ever preserv'd such a tender Regard to
the Publick, that when I have advanced any uncommon Sentiments, I have
used all the Precautions imaginable that they might not be hurtful to
weak Minds that might casually dip into the Book. When (_page 255_) _I
own'd, that it was my Sentiment, that no Society could be raised into a
rich and mighty Kingdom, or, so raised, subsist in their Wealth and
Power for any considerable Time, without the Vices of Man, I had
premised what was true,_ that I had _never said or imagin'd, that Man
could not be virtuous, as well in a rich and mighty Kingdom, as in the
most pitiful Commonwealth;_ mind Sir, p. 257. _When I say, that
Societies cannot be raised to Wealth and Power and the Top of Earthly
Glory without Vices, I don't think, that by so saying, I bid Men be
vicious, any more than I bid them be quarrelsome or covetous, when I
affirm, that the Profession of the Law could not be maintain'd in such
Numbers and Splendour, if there was not Abundance of too selfish and
litigious People._ A Caution of the same Nature I had already given
towards the End of the Preface, on Account of a palpable Evil,
inseparable from the Felicity of _London_. The Words are these, _There
are, I believe, few People in London, of those that are at any Time
forc'd to go a-foot, but what could wish the Streets of it much cleaner
than generally they are, whilst they regard Nothing but their own
Cloaths and private Conveniency: but when once they come to consider,
that what offends them, is the Result of the Plenty, great Traffick and
Opulency of that mighty City, if they have any Concern in its Welfare,
they will hardly ever wish to see the Streets of it less dirty. For if
we mind the Materials of all Sorts, that must supply such an infinite
Number of Trades and Handicrafts as are always going forward, and the
vast Quantities of Victuals, Drink, and Fuel, that are daily consumed
in it; the Waste and Superfluities, that must be produced from them;
the Multitudes of Horses and other Cattle, that are always daubing the
Streets; the Carts, Coaches, and more heavy Carriages, that are
perpetually wearing and breaking the Pavement of them; and, above all,
the