Page:Thoughts on civil liberty, on licentiousness and faction.djvu/116

 But "The of, as above distinguished, are of a Character essentially different from both These. The landed Gentry, the Country Clergy, the more considerable Merchants and Men in Trade, the substantial and industrious Freeholders and Yeomen," possess a middle State of Life, which guards them from many of those Temptations that surround the higher and the lower Ranks. Their imaginary Wants are fewer than those of the Great: Their real Wants are fewer than those of the Poor: Hence Their Appetites are less inflamed to Evil.—Their Education generally seconds this happy Situation, in a certain Degree: Though imperfect, it is commonly more consistent with the main Outlines of public Law, than that of the superior or inferior Ranks.—Their Principles of Religion confirm this Education: They stand not generally exposed to the Infection of dissolute Opinions.