Wesley Corpus

I have known another gathering the bones which the dogs. had left in the streets, and making broth of them, to prolong a wretched life I I have heard a third artlessly declare, “Indeed I was very faint, and so weak I could hardly walk, until my dog, finding nothing at home, went out, and brought in a good sort of bone, which I took out of his mouth, and made a pure dinner !” Such is the case at this day of multitudes of people, in a land flowing, as it were, with milk and honey! abounding with all the necessaries, the conveniencies, the superfluities of life Now, why is this? Why have all these nothing to eat? Because they have nothing to do. The plain reason why they have no meat is, because they have no work. 2. But why have they no work? Why are so many thousand people, in London, in Bristol, in Norwich, in every county, from one end of England to the other, utterly destitute of employment? Because the persons that used to employ them cannot afford to do it any longer. Many that employed fifty men, now scarce employ ten; those that employed twenty, now employ one, or none at all. They cannot, as they have no vent for their goods; food being so dear, that the generality of people are hardly able to buy anything else. 3. But why is food so dear? To come to particulars: Why does bread-corn bear so high a price? To set aside partial causes, (which indeed, all put together, are little more than the fly upon the chariot-wheel,) the grand cause is, because such immense quantities of corn are continually consumed by distilling. Indeed, an eminent distiller near London, hearing this, warmly replied, “Nay, my partner and I generally distil but a thousand quarters a week.” Perhaps so.