Page:Works of the Late Doctor Benjamin Franklin (1793).djvu/245

235 of idleneſs and folly. Hence the increaſe of good buildings, farms cultivated, and populous cities filled with wealth, all over Europe, which a few ages ſince were only to be found on the coaſts of the Mediterranean; and this notwithstanding the mad wars continually raging, by which are often deſtroyed in one year the works of many years peace. So that we may hope, the luxury of a few merchants on the coaſt will not be the ruin of America.

One reflection more, and I will end this long rambling letter. Almoſt all the parts of our bodies require ſome expence. The feet demand ihoes; the legs ſtockings; the reſt of the body clothing; and the belly a good deal of victuals. Our eyes, though exceedingly uſeful, aſk when reaſonable, only the cheap aſſiſtance of ſpectacles, which could not much impair our finances. But the eyes of other people are the eyes that ruin us. If all but myſelf were blind, I ſhould want neither fine clothes, fine houſes, nor fine furniture.