theshopkeepersarericher。Theserving—man，theartisan，andthehusbandman，haveamorecopiousandpalatablesupplyoffood，betterclothing，andbetterfurniture。Thisisnoreasonfortoleratingabuses，orforneglectinganymeansofamelioratingtheconditionofourpoorercountrymen。Butitisareasonagainsttellingthem，assomeofourphilosophersareconstantlytellingthem，thattheyarethemostwretchedpeoplewhoeverexistedonthefaceoftheearth。
WehavealreadyadvertedtoMr。Southey’samusingdoctrineaboutnationalwealth。Astate，sayshe，cannotbetoorich;butapeoplemaybetoorich。Hisreasonforthinkingthisisextremelycurious。
\"Apeoplemaybetoorich，becauseitisthetendencyofthecommercial，andmoreespeciallyofthemanufacturingsystem，tocollectwealthratherthantodiffuseit。Wherewealthisnecessarilyemployedinanyofthespeculationsoftrade，itsincreaseisinproportiontoitsamount。Greatcapitalistsbecomelikepikesinafish—pondwhodevourtheweakerfish;anditisbuttoocertain，thatthepovertyofonepartofthepeopleseemstoincreaseinthesameratioastherichesofanother。Thereareexamplesofthisinhistory。InPortugal，whenthehightideofwealthflowedinfromtheconquestsinAfricaandtheEast，theeffectofthatgreatinfluxwasnotmorevisibleintheaugmentedsplendourofthecourt，andtheluxuryofthehigherranks，thaninthedistressofthepeople。\"
Mr。Southey’sinstanceisnotaveryfortunateone。ThewealthwhichdidsolittleforthePortuguesewasnotthefruiteitherofmanufacturesorofcommercecarriedonbyprivateindividuals。
Itwasthewealth，notofthepeople，butoftheGovernmentanditscreatures，ofthosewho，asMr。Southeythinks，canneverbetoorich。Thefactis，thatMr。Southey’spropositionisopposedtoallhistory，andtothephaenomenawhichsurroundusoneveryside。EnglandistherichestcountryinEurope，themostcommercialcountry，andthecountryinwhichmanufacturesflourishmost。RussiaandPolandarethepoorestcountriesinEurope。Theyhavescarcelyanytrade，andnonebuttherudestmanufactures。IswealthmorediffusedinRussiaandPolandthaninEngland？ThereareindividualsinRussiaandPolandwhoseincomesareprobablyequaltothoseofourrichestcountrymen。Itmaybedoubtedwhethertherearenot，inthosecountries，asmanyfortunesofeightythousandayearashere。Butarethereasmanyfortunesoftwothousandayear，orofonethousandayear？ThereareparishesinEnglandwhichcontainmorepeopleofbetweenthreehundredandthreethousandpoundsayearthancouldbefoundinallthedominionsoftheEmperorNicholas。TheneatandcommodioushouseswhichhavebeenbuiltinLondonanditsvicinity，forpeopleofthisclass，withinthelastthirtyyears，wouldofthemselvesformacitylargerthanthecapitalsofsomeEuropeankingdoms。Andthisisthestateofsocietyinwhichthegreatproprietorshavedevouredasmaller！