CHAP. XXIV.: The Changes which happened in Europe, with regard to the Number of the Inhabitants.

IN the state Europe was in, one would not imagine it possible for it to be retrieved; especially when under Charlemain it formed only one vast empire. But by the nature of government at that time, it became divided into an infinite number of petty sovereignties; and as the lord or sovereign, who resided in his village, or city, was neither great, rich, powerful, nor even safe, but by the number of his subjects; every one employed himself with a singular attention to make his little country flourish. This succeeded in such a manner, that notwithstanding the irregularities of government, the want of that knowledge which has since been acquired in commerce, and the numerous wars and disorders incessantly arising, most countries of Europe were better peopled in those days, than they are even at present.

I have not time to treat fully of this subject. But I shall cite the prodigious armies engaged in the crusades, composed of men of all countries, Puffendorf Introduction to the history of Europe, chap. 5. of France. ^†349

It is the perpetual re-union of many little states that has produced this diminution. Formerly, every village of France was a capital; there is at present only one large one: every part of the state was a center of power; at present, all has a relation to one center; and this center is, in some measure, the state itself.