Switzerland. 3 89
Branch of the publick Revenues $ the
Com being sold out at a much dearer '
Rate than ’tis bought up. So that the
greatest Income of the Common-wealth,
which pays the Pensions of moil of
its Officers and Ministers, is raised on
Strangers and Travellers, or such of their
own Body as have Mony enough to
spend at Taverns and Publick-Houses.
It is the Custom in Geneva and Swit-
zerland to divide their Estates equally
among all their Children, by which
means every one lives at his Ease with-
out growing dangerous to the Repub-
lick, for as soon as an overgrown E-
state falls into ‘ the Hands of one that
has many Children, it is broken into so
many Portions as render the Sharers of
it Rich enough, without railing them
too much above the Level of the rest.
This is absolutely necessary in these lit-
tle Republicks, where the Rich Mer-
chants live very much within their E-
states, and by heaping up vast Sums ,
from Year to Year might become for-
midable to the rest of their Fellow-Ci-
tizens, and break the Equality, which is
so necessary in these kinds of Govern-
ments, were there not means found out
to distribute their Wealth among seve-
ral Members of their Republick. At
Geneva^ for Instance, are Merchants
S 3 reckon’d