Note 36 — THE ESSENES.
Reading edition
“If one of them is sick, he is cured from the common resources, and is attended to by the general care and anxiety of the whole body. The old men, even if they happen to be childless,36 end their lives in a most happy, prosperous and tenderly cared for old age, as if they were not only the fathers of many children, but were even also particularly happy in an affectionate offspring. They are looked upon by such a number of people as worthy of so much honour and provident regard, that they think themselves bound to care for them even more from inclination than from any tie of natural affection.