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 five feet, with narrow shoulders, and puny limbs? It may be answered, God and nature have ordered it so, and have made great inequalities in all their works; but it is the business of philosophers to correct God and nature; and effectually to prevent civil and political inequalities, let there be none in nature. Buffon informs us, that five feet seven is the average height of adult Europeans: then get the bed of Procrustes, so only can you equalize stature; and the experiment would not be more impracticable than an attempt to equalize talents for government.

But a noted argument in favour of the destruction of established governments was, that complete democracy would be much cheaper than any mixed government which contained a portion of monarchy. If the chief perfection of society were cheapness, by living in