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Goldsmith proposed
that, "The depopulation the poem deplores is nowhere to be seen, and the
disorders it laments are only to be found in the poet's own imagination. I
inveigh against the increase of our luxuries; and here also I expect the
shout of modern politicians against me. For 20-30 years past, it has been
the fashion to consider luxury as one of the greatest national advantages;
and all the wisdom of antiquity in that particular, as erroneous." |