Note 389 — Chapter II · INDUSTRY: MILLERS, BAKERS, VINTNERS, MARKETS, ETC.

Lord Bacon, whose opinions were chiefly based on the study of antiquity, observes, after Plato and Aristotle, that military nations will always be somewhat inclined to idleness, and should rather be indulged in it than otherwise. Essays, p. 79. But both the Athenians and Romans were a hardworking people, and better soldiers have never been known. The best soldiers in the English army are drawn from the central provinces, where industry most abounds, and the laborious Normans are the best troops in France. Cf. Plut. Ages. § 26.