These lines come from a book first published in 1714, which directly attacked the optimistic prognostications of Lord Shaftesbury.  
"Millions endeavoring to supply / Each other's Lust and Vanity / Whilst other Millions were employed / To see their handy-works destroyed." These lines come from a book first published in 1714, which directly attacked the optimistic prognostications of Lord Shaftesbury.  It put forward the controversial argument that private vice could lead to public benefit.  FTP, name this allegorical book, ostensibly dealing with a colony of insects, by Bernard Mandeville.
"Millions endeavoring to supply / Each other's Lust and Vanity / Whilst other Millions were employed / To see their handy-works destroyed."
A Fable of the Bees