Page:A Vindication of Natural Society - Burke (1756).djvu/100

 no less obvious, that the Number of the former bear a great Disproportion to those of the latter. The whole Business of the Poor is to administer to the Idleness, Folly, and Luxury of the Rich; and that of the Rich, in return, is to find the best Methods of confirming the Slavery and increasing the Burthens of the Poor. In a State of Nature, it is an invariable Law, that a Man's Acquisitions are in proportion to his Labours. In a State of Artificial Society, it is a Law as constant and as invariable, that those who labour most, enjoy the fewest things; and that those who labour not at all, have the greatest Number of Enjoyments. A Constitution of things this, strange and ridiculous beyond Expression. We scarce believe a thing when we are told it, which we actually see before our Eyes every Day without being in the least surprized. I suppose that there are in Great Britain upwards of an hundred thousand People employed in Lead, Tin, Iron, Copper, and Coal Mines; these