diff options
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 3 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 8646-8.txt | 10817 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 8646-8.zip | bin | 0 -> 234453 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 |
5 files changed, 10833 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/8646-8.txt b/8646-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..890eeac --- /dev/null +++ b/8646-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10817 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of An Essay on the History of Civil Society, +Eighth Edition, by Adam Ferguson, L.L.D. + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: An Essay on the History of Civil Society, Eighth Edition + +Author: Adam Ferguson, L.L.D. + +Release Date: August, 2005 [EBook #8646] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on July 29, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY OF CIVIL SOCIETY *** + + + + +Produced by Stan Goodman, William Craig, Charles Franks +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + +This is an authorized facsimile of the original book, and was produced in +1971 by microfilm-xerography by University Microfilms, A Xerox Company, Ann +Arbor, Michigan, U.S.A. + + + + +AN ESSAY on the HISTORY OF CIVIL SOCIETY. + + * * * * * + +BY ADAM FERGUSON, L. L. D. + + + +CONTENTS + + * * * * * + +PART I. OF THE GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF HUMAN NATURE. + +SECTION I. Of the question relating to the State of Nature + +SECTION II. Of the principles of Self Preservation + +SECTION III. Of the principles of Union among Mankind + +SECTION IV. Of the principles of War and Dissention + +SECTION V. Of Intellectual Powers + +SECTION VI. Of Moral Sentiment + +SECTION VII. Of Happiness + +SECTION VIII. The same subject continued + +SECTION IX. Of National Felicity + +SECTION X. The same subject continued + +PART II. OF THE HISTORY OF RUDE NATIONS. + +SECTION I. Of the informations on this subject, which are derived from +Antiquity + +SECTION II. Of Rude Nations prior to the Establishment of Property + +SECTION III. Of rude Nations, under the impressions of Property and +Interest + + * * * * * + +PART III. OF THE HISTORY OF POLICY AND ARTS. + +SECTION I. Of the Influences of Climate and Situation + +SECTION II. The History of Political Establishments + +SECTION III. Of National Objects in general, and of Establishments and +Manners relating to them + +SECTION IV. Of Population and Wealth + +SECTION V. Of National Defence and Conquest + +SECTION VI. Of Civil Liberty + +SECTION VII. Of the History of Arts + +SECTION VIII. Of the History of Literature + +PART IV. OF CONSEQUENCES THAT RESULT FROM THE ADVANCEMENT OF CIVIL AND +COMMERCIAL ARTS. + +SECTION I. Of the Separation of Arts and Professions + +SECTION II. Of the Subordination consequent to the Separation of Arts and +Professions + +SECTION III. Of the Manners of Polished and Commercial Nations + +SECTION IV. The same subject continued + + * * * * * + +PART V. OF THE DECLINE OF NATIONS. + +SECTION I. Of supposed National Eminence, and of the Vicissitudes of Human +Affairs + +SECTION II. Of the Temporary Efforts and Relaxations of the National Spirit + +SECTION III. Of Relaxations in the National Spirit incident to Polished +Nations + +SECTION IV. The same subject continued + +SECTION V. Of National Waste + +PART VI. OF CORRUPTION AND POLITICAL SLAVERY. + +SECTION I. Of corruption in general + +SECTION II. Of Luxury + +SECTION III. Of the Corruption incident to Polished Nations + +SECTION IV. The same subject continued + +SECTION V. Of Corruption, as it tends to Political Slavery + +SECTION VI. Of the Progress and Termination of Despotism + +AN ESSAY + +ON THE + +HISTORY OF CIVIL SOCIETY. + + * * * * * + + + + + +PART FIRST. + +OF THE GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF HUMAN NATURE. + + + * * * * * + + + + + +SECTION I. + +OF THE QUESTION RELATING TO THE STATE OF NATURE. + + +Natural productions are generally formed by degrees. Vegetables are raised +from a tender shoot, and animals from an infant state. The latter, being +active, extend together their operations and their powers, and have a +progress in what they perform, as well as in the faculties they acquire. +This progress in the case of man is continued to a greater extent than in +that of any other animal. Not only the individual advances from infancy to +manhood, but the species itself from rudeness to civilization. Hence the +supposed departure of mankind from the state of their nature; hence our +conjectures and different opinions of what man must have been in the first +age of his being. The poet, the historian, and the moralist frequently +allude to this ancient time; and under the emblems of gold, or of iron, +represent a condition, and a manner of life, from which mankind have either +degenerated, or on which they have greatly improved. On either supposition, +the first state of our nature must have borne no resemblance to what men +have exhibited in any subsequent period; historical monuments, even of the +earliest date, are to be considered as novelties; and the most common +establishments of human society are to be classed among the encroachments +which fraud, oppression, or a busy invention, have made upon the reign of +nature, by which the chief of our grievances or blessings were equally +withheld. + +Among the writers who have attempted to distinguish, in the human +character, its original qualities, and to point out the limits between +nature and art, some have represented mankind in their first condition, as +possessed of mere animal sensibility, without any exercise of the faculties +that render them superior to the brutes, without any political union, +without any means of explaining their sentiments, and even without +possessing any of the apprehensions and passions which the voice and the +gesture are so well fitted to express. Others have made the state of nature +to consist in perpetual wars kindled by competition for dominion and +interest, where every individual had a separate quarrel with his kind, and +where the presence of a fellow creature was the signal of battle. + +The desire of laying the foundation of a favourite system, or a fond +expectation, perhaps, that we may be able to penetrate the secrets of +nature, to the very source of existence, have, on this subject, led to many +fruitless inquiries, and given rise to many wild suppositions. Among the +various qualities which mankind possess, we select one or a few particulars +on which to establish a theory, and in framing our account of what man was +in some imaginary state of nature, we overlook what he has always appeared +within the reach of our own observation, and in the records of history. + +In every other instance, however, the natural historian thinks himself +obliged to collect facts, not to offer conjectures. When he treats of any +particular species of animals, he supposes that their present dispositions +and instincts are the same which they originally had, and that their +present manner of life is a continuance of their first destination. He +admits, that his knowledge of the material system of the world consists in +a collection of facts, or at most, in general tenets derived from +particular observations and experiments. It is only in what relates to +himself, and in matters the most important and the most easily known, that +he substitutes hypothesis instead of reality, and confounds the provinces +of imagination and reason, of poetry and science. + +But without entering any further on questions either in moral or physical +subjects, relating to the manner or to the origin of our knowledge; without +any disparagement to that subtilty which would analyze every sentiment, and +trace every mode of being to its source; it may be safely affirmed, that +the character of man, as he now exists, that the laws of his animal and +intellectual system, on which his happiness now depends, deserve our +principal study; and that general principles relating to this or any other +subject, are useful only so far as they are founded on just observation, +and lead to the knowledge of important consequences, or so far as they +enable us to act with success when we would apply either the intellectual +or the physical powers of nature, to the purposes of human life. + +If both the earliest and the latest accounts collected from every quarter +of the earth, represent mankind as assembled in troops and companies; and +the individual always joined by affection to one party, while he is +possibly opposed to another; employed in the exercise of recollection and +foresight; inclined to communicate his own sentiments, and to be made +acquainted with those of others; these facts must be admitted as the +foundation of all our reasoning relative to man. His mixed disposition to +friendship or enmity, his reason, his use of language and articulate +sounds, like the shape and the erect position of his body, are to be +considered as so many attributes of his nature: they are to be retained in +his description, as the wing and the paw are in that of the eagle and the +lion, and as different degrees of fierceness, vigilance, timidity, or +speed, have a place in the natural history of different animals. + +If the question be put, What the mind of man could perform, when left to +itself, and without the aid of any foreign direction? we are to look for +our answer in the history of mankind. Particular experiments which have +been found so useful in establishing the principles of other sciences, +could probably, on this subject, teach us nothing important, or new: we are +to take the history of every active being from his conduct in the situation +to which he is formed, not from his appearance in any forced or uncommon +condition; a wild man therefore, caught in the woods, where he had always +lived apart from his species, is a singular instance, not a specimen of any +general character. As the anatomy of an eye which had never received the +impressions of light, or that of an ear which had never felt the impulse of +sounds, would probably exhibit defects in the very structure of the organs +themselves, arising from their not being applied to their proper functions; +so any particular case of this sort would only show in what degree the +powers of apprehension and sentiment could exist where they had not been +employed, and what would be the defects and imbecilities of a heart in +which the emotions that arise in society had never been felt. + +Mankind are to be taken in groupes, as they have always subsisted. The +history of the individual is but a detail of the sentiments and the +thoughts he has entertained in the view of his species: and every +experiment relative to this subject should be made with entire societies, +not with single men. We have every reason, however, to believe, that in the +case of such an experiment made, we shall suppose, with a colony of +children transplanted from the nursery, and left to form a society apart, +untaught, and undisciplined, we should only have the same things repeated, +which, in so many different parts of the earth, have been transacted +already. The members of our little society would feed and sleep, would herd +together and play, would have a language of their own, would quarrel and +divide, would be to one another the most important objects of the scene, +and, in the ardour of their friendships and competitions, would overlook +their personal danger, and suspend the care of their self-preservation. Has +not the human race been planted like the colony in question? Who has +directed their course? whose instruction have they heard? or whose example +have they followed? + +Nature, therefore, we shall presume, having given to every animal its mode +of existence, its dispositions and manner of life, has dealt equally with +the human race; and the natural historian who would collect the properties +of this species, may fill up every article now as well as he could have +done in any former age. The attainments of the parent do not descend in the +blood of his children, nor is the progress of man to be considered as a +physical mutation of the species. The individual, in every age, has the +same race to run from infancy to manhood, and every infant, or ignorant +person, now, is a model of what man was in his original state. He enters on +his career with advantages peculiar to his age; but his natural talent is +probably the same. The use and application of this talent is changing, and +men continue their works in progression through many ages together: they +build on foundations laid by their ancestors; and in a succession of years, +tend to a perfection in the application of their faculties, to which the +aid of long experience is required, and to which many generations must have +combined their endeavours. We observe the progress they have made; we +distinctly enumerate many of its steps; we can trace them back to a distant +antiquity, of which no record remains, nor any monument is preserved, to +inform us what were the openings of this wonderful scene. The consequence +is, that instead of attending to the character of our species, where the +particulars are vouched by the surest authority, we endeavour to trace it +through ages and scenes unknown; and, instead of supposing that the +beginning of our story was nearly of a piece with the sequel, we think +ourselves warranted to reject every circumstance of our present condition +and frame, as adventitious, and foreign to our nature. The progress of +mankind, from a supposed state of animal sensibility, to the attainment of +reason, to the use of language, and to the habit of society, has been +accordingly painted with a force of imagination, and its steps have been +marked with a boldness of invention, that would tempt us to admit, among +the materials of history, the suggestions of fancy, and to receive, +perhaps, as the model of our nature in its original state, some of the +animals whose shape has the greatest resemblance to ours. [Footnote: +_Rousseau_ sur l'origine de l'inegalité parmi les hommes.] + +It would be ridiculous to affirm, as a discovery, that the species of the +horse was probably never the same with that of the lion; yet, in opposition +to what has dropped from the pens of eminent writers, we are obliged to +observe, that men have always appeared among animals a distinct and a +superior race; that neither the possession of similar organs, nor the +approximation of shape, nor the use of the hand, [Footnote: Traité de +l'esprit.] nor the continued intercourse with this sovereign artist, has +enabled any other species to blend their nature or their inventions with +his; that, in his rudest state, he is found to be above them; and in his +greatest degeneracy, never descends to their level. He is, in short, a man +in every condition; and we can learn nothing of his nature from the analogy +of other animals. If we would know him, we must attend to himself, to the +course of his life, and the tenor of his conduct. With him the society +appears to be as old as the individual, and the use of the tongue as +universal as that of the hand or the foot. If there was a time in which he +had his acquaintance with his own species to make, and his faculties to +acquire, it is a time of which we have no record, and in relation to which +our opinions can serve no purpose, and are supported by no evidence. + +We are often tempted into these boundless regions of ignorance or +conjecture, by a fancy which delights in creating rather than in merely +retaining the forms which are presented before it: we are the dupes of a +subtilty, which promises to supply every defect of our knowledge, and, by +filling up a few blanks in the story of nature, pretends to conduct our +apprehension nearer to the source of existence. On the credit of a few +observations, we are apt to presume, that the secret may soon be laid open, +and that what is termed _wisdom_ in nature, may be referred to the +operation of physical powers. We forget that physical powers employed in +succession or together, and combined to a salutary purpose, constitute +those very proofs of design from which we infer the existence of God; and +that this truth being once admitted, we are no longer to search for the +source of existence; we can only collect the laws which the Author of +nature has established; and in our latest as well as our earliest +discoveries, only perceive a mode of creation or providence before unknown. + +We speak of art as distinguished from nature; but art itself is natural to +man. He is in some measure the artificer of his own frame, as well as of +his fortune, and is destined, from the first age of his being, to invent +and contrive. He applies the same talents to a variety of purposes, and +acts nearly the same part in very different scenes. He would be always +improving on his subject, and he carries this intention wherever he moves, +through the streets of the populous city, or the wilds of the forest. While +he appears equally fitted to every condition, he is upon this account +unable to settle in any. At once obstinate and fickle, he complains of +innovations, and is never sated with novelty. He is perpetually busied in +reformations, and is continually wedded to his errors. If he dwells in a +cave, he would improve it into a cottage; if he has already built, he would +still build to a greater extent. But he does not propose to make rapid and +hasty transitions; his steps are progressive and slow; and his force, like +the power of a spring, silently presses on every resistance; an effect is +sometimes produced before the cause is perceived; and with all his talent +for projects, his work is often accomplished before the plan is devised. It +appears, perhaps, equally difficult to retard or to quicken his pace; if +the projector complain he is tardy, the moralist thinks him unstable; and +whether his motions be rapid or slow, the scenes of human affairs +perpetually change in his management: his emblem is a passing stream, not a +stagnating pool. We may desire to direct his love of improvement to its +proper object, we may wish for stability of conduct; but we mistake human +nature, if we wish for a termination of labour, or a scene of repose. + +The occupations of men, in every condition, bespeak their freedom of +choice, their various opinions, and the multiplicity of wants by which they +are urged: but they enjoy, or endure, with a sensibility, or a phlegm, +which are nearly the same in every situation. They possess the shores of +the Caspian, or the Atlantic, by a different tenure, but with equal ease. +On the one they are fixed to the soil, and seem to be formed for +settlement, and the accommodation of cities: the names they bestow on a +nation, and on its territory, are the same. On the other they are mere +animals of passage, prepared to roam on the face of the earth, and with +their herds, in search of new pasture and favourable seasons, to follow the +sun in his annual course. + +Man finds his lodgment alike in the cave, the cottage, and the palace; and +his subsistence equally in the woods, in the dairy, or the farm. He assumes +the distinction of titles, equipage, and dress; he devises regular systems +of government, and a complicated body of laws; or naked in the woods has no +badge of superiority but the strength of his limbs and the sagacity of his +mind; no rule of conduct but choice; no tie with his fellow creatures but +affection, the love of company, and the desire of safety. Capable of a +great variety of arts, yet dependent on none in particular for the +preservation of his being; to whatever length he has carried his artifice, +there he seems to enjoy the conveniences that suit his nature, and to have +found the condition to which he is destined. The tree which an American, on +the banks of the Oroonoko [Footnote: Lafitau, moeurs des sauvages.], has +chosen to climb for the retreat, and the lodgment of his family, is to him +a convenient dwelling. The sopha, the vaulted dome, and the colonade, do +not more effectually content their native inhabitant. + +If we are asked therefore, where the state of nature is to be found? we may +answer, it is here; and it matters not whether we are understood to speak +in the island of Great Britain, at the Cape of Good Hope, or the Straits of +Magellan. While this active being is in the train of employing his talents, +and of operating on the subjects around him, all situations are equally +natural. If we are told, that vice, at least, is contrary to nature; we may +answer, it is worse; it is folly and wretchedness. But if nature is only +opposed to art, in what situation of the human race are the footsteps of +art unknown? In the condition of the savage, as well as in that of the +citizen, are many proofs of human invention; and in either is not any +permanent station, but a mere stage through which this travelling being is +destined to pass. If the palace be unnatural, the cottage is so no less; +and the highest refinements of political and moral apprehension, are not +more artificial in their kind, than the first operations of sentiment and +reason. + +If we admit that man is susceptible of improvement, and has in himself a +principle of progression, and a desire of perfection, it appears improper +to say, that he has quitted the state of his nature, when he has begun to +proceed; or that he finds a station for which he was not intended, while, +like other animals, he only follows the disposition, and employs the powers +that nature has given. + +The latest efforts of human invention are but a continuation of certain +devices which were practised in the earliest ages of the world, and in the +rudest state of mankind. What the savage projects, or observes, in the +forest, are the steps which led nations, more advanced, from the +architecture of the cottage to that of the palace, and conducted the human +mind from the perceptions of sense, to the general conclusions of science. + +Acknowledged defects are to man in every condition matter of dislike. +Ignorance and imbecility are objects of contempt: penetration and conduct +give eminence and procure esteem. Whither should his feelings and +apprehensions on these subjects lead him? To a progress, no doubt, in which +the savage, as well as the philosopher, is engaged; in which they have made +different advances, but in which their ends are the same. The admiration +which Cicero entertained for literature, eloquence, and civil +accomplishments, was not more real than that of a Scythian for such a +measure of similar endowments as his own apprehension could reach. "Were I +to boast," says a Tartar prince, [Footnote: Abulgaze Bahadur Chan; History +of the Tartars.] "it would be of that wisdom I have received from God. +For as, on the one hand, I yield to none in the conduct of war, in the +disposition of armies, whether of horse or of foot, and in directing the +movements of great or small bodies; so, on the other, I have my talent in +writing, inferior perhaps only to those who inhabit the great cities of +Persia or India. Of other nations, unknown to me, I do not speak." + +Man may mistake the objects of his pursuit; he may misapply his industry, +and misplace his improvements: If, under a sense of such possible errors, +he would find a standard by which to judge of his own proceedings, and +arrive at the best state of his nature, he cannot find it perhaps in the +practice of any individual; or of any nation whatever; not even in the +sense of the majority, or the prevailing opinion of his kind. He must look +for it in the best conceptions of his understanding, in the best movements +of his heart; he must thence discover what is the perfection and the +happiness of which he is capable. He will find, on the scrutiny, that the +proper state of his nature, taken in this sense, is not a condition from +which mankind are for ever removed, but one to which they may now attain; +not prior to the exercise of their faculties, but procured by their just +application. + +Of all the terms that we employ in treating of human affairs, those of +_natural_ and _unnatural_ are the least determinate in their +meaning. Opposed to affectation, frowardness, or any other defect of the +temper or character, the natural is an epithet of praise; but employed to +specify a conduct which proceeds from the nature of man, can serve to +distinguish nothing; for all the actions of men are equally the result of +their nature. At most, this language can only refer to the general and +prevailing sense or practice of mankind; and the purpose of every important +enquiry on this subject may be served by the use of a language equally +familiar and more precise. What is just, or unjust? What is happy or +wretched, in the manners of men? What, in their various situations, is +favourable or adverse to their amiable qualities? are questions to which we +may expect a satisfactory answer; and whatever may have been the original +state of our species, it is of more importance to know the condition to +which we ourselves should aspire, than that which our ancestors may be +supposed to have left. + + + + +SECTION II. + +OF THE PRINCIPLES OF SELF PRESERVATION. + + +If in human nature there are qualities by which it is distinguished from +every other part of the animal creation, this nature itself is in different +climates and in different ages greatly diversified. The varieties merit our +attention, and the course of every stream into which this mighty current +divides, deserves to be followed to its source. It appears necessary, +however, that we attend to the universal qualities of our nature, before we +regard its varieties, or attempt to explain differences consisting in the +unequal possession or application of dispositions and powers that are in +some measure common to all mankind. + +Man, like the other animals, has certain instinctive propensities, which; +prior to the perception of pleasure or pain, and prior to the experience of +what is pernicious or useful, lead him to perform many functions which +terminate in himself, or have a relation to his fellow creatures. He has +one set of dispositions which tend to his animal preservation, and to the +continuance of his race; another which lead to society, and by inlisting +him on the side of one tribe or community, frequently engage him in war and +contention with the rest of mankind. His powers of discernment, or his +intellectual faculties, which, under the appellation of _reason_, are +distinguished from the analogous endowments of other animals, refer to the +objects around him, either as they are subjects of mere knowledge, or as +they are subjects of approbation or censure. He is formed not only to know, +but likewise to admire and to contemn; and these proceedings of his mind +have a principal reference to his own character, and to that of his fellow +creatures, as being the subjects on which he is chiefly concerned to +distinguish what is right from what is wrong. He enjoys his felicity +likewise on certain fixed and determinate conditions; and either as an +individual apart, or as a member of civil society, must take a particular +course, in order to reap the advantages of his nature. He is, withal, in a +very high degree susceptible of habits; and can, by forbearance or +exercise, so far weaken, confirm, or even diversify his talents, and his +dispositions, as to appear, in a great measure, the arbiter of his own rank +in nature, and the author of all the varieties which are exhibited in the +actual history of his species. The universal characteristics, in the mean +time, to which we have now referred, must, when we would treat of any part +of this history, constitute the first subject of our attention; and they +require not only to be enumerated, but to be distinctly considered. + +The dispositions which tend to the preservation of the individual, while +they continue to operate in the manner of instinctive desires; are nearly +the same in man that they are in the other animals; but in him they are +sooner or later combined with reflection and foresight; they give rise to +his apprehensions on the subject of property, and make him acquainted with +that object of care which he calls his interest. Without the instincts +which teach the beaver and the squirrel, the ant and the bee, to make up +their little hoards for winter, at first improvident, and where no +immediate object of passion is near, addicted to sloth, he becomes, in +process of time, the great storemaster among animals. He finds in a +provision of wealth, which he is probably never to employ, an object of his +greatest solicitude, and the principal idol of his mind. He apprehends a +relation between his person and his property, which renders what he calls +his own in a manner a part of himself, a constituent of his rank, his +condition, and his character; in which, independent of any real enjoyment, +he may be fortunate or unhappy; and, independent of any personal merit, he +may be an object of consideration or neglect; and in which he may be +wounded and injured, while his person is safe, and every want of his nature +is completely supplied. + +In these apprehensions, while other passions only operate occasionally, the +interested find the object of their ordinary cares; their motive to the +practice of mechanic and commercial arts; their temptation to trespass on +the laws of justice; and, when extremely corrupted, the price of their +prostitutions, and the standard of their opinions on the subject of good +and of evil. Under this influence, they would enter, if not restrained by +the laws of civil society, on a scene of violence or meanness, which would +exhibit our species, by turns, under an aspect more terrible and odious, or +more vile and contemptible, than that of any animal which inherits the +earth. + +Although the consideration of interest is founded on the experience of +animal wants and desires, its object is not to gratify any particular +appetite, but to secure the means of gratifying all; and it imposes +frequently a restraint on the very desires from which it arose, more +powerful and more severe than those of religion or duty. It arises from the +principles of self preservation in the human frame; but is a corruption, or +at least a partial result, of those principles, and is upon many accounts +very improperly termed _self-love_. + +Love is an affection which carries the attention of the mind beyond itself, +and is the sense of a relation to some fellow creature as to its object. +Being a complacency and a continued satisfaction in this object, it has, +independent of any external event, and in the midst of disappointment and +sorrow, pleasures and triumphs unknown to those who are guided by mere +considerations of interest; in every change of condition, it continues +entirely distinct from the sentiments which we feel on the subject of +personal success or adversity. But as the care a man entertains for his own +interest, and the attention his affection makes him pay to that of another, +may have similar effects, the one on his own fortune, the other on that of +his friend, we confound the principles from which he acts; we suppose that +they are the same in kind, only referred to different objects; and we not +only misapply the name of love, in conjunction with self, but, in a manner +tending to degrade our nature, we limit the aim of this supposed selfish +affection to the securing or accumulating the constituents of interest, of +the means of mere animal life. + +It is somewhat remarkable, that notwithstanding men value themselves so +much on qualities of the mind, on parts, learning, and wit, on courage, +generosity, and honour, those men are still supposed to be in the highest +degree selfish or attentive to themselves, who are most careful of animal +life, and who are least mindful of rendering that life an object worthy of +care. It will be difficult, however, to tell why a good understanding, a +resolute and generous mind, should not, by every man in his senses, be +reckoned as much parts of himself, as either his stomach or his palate, and +much more than his estate or his dress. The epicure, who consults his +physician, how he may restore his relish for food, and, by creating an +appetite, renew his enjoyment, might at least with an equal regard to +himself, consult how he might strengthen his affection to a parent or a +child, to his country or to mankind; and it is probable that an appetite of +this sort would prove a source of enjoyment not less than the former. + +By our supposed selfish maxims, notwithstanding, we generally exclude from +among the objects of our personal cares, many of the happier and more +respectable qualities of human nature. We consider affection and courage as +mere follies, that lead us to neglect, or expose ourselves; we make wisdom +consist in a regard to our interest; and without explaining what interest +means, we would have it understood as the only reasonable motive of action +with mankind. There is even a system of philosophy founded upon tenets of +this sort, and such is our opinion of what men are likely to do upon +selfish principles, that we think it must have a tendency very dangerous to +virtue. But the errors of this system do not consist so much in general +principles, as in their particular applications; not so much in teaching +men to regard themselves, as in leading them to forget, that their happiest +affections, their candour, and their independence of mind, are in reality +parts of themselves. And the adversaries of this supposed selfish +philosophy, where it makes self-love the ruling passion with mankind, have +had reason to find fault, not so much with its general representations of +human nature, as with the obtrusion of a mere innovation in language for a +discovery in science. + +When the vulgar speak of their different motives, they are satisfied with +ordinary names, which refer to known and obvious distinctions. Of this kind +are the terms _benevolence_ and _selfishness_, by the first of +which they express their friendly affections, and by the second their +interest. The speculative are not always satisfied with this proceeding; +they would analyze, as well as enumerate the principles of nature; and the +chance is, that, merely to gain the appearance of something new, without +any prospect of real advantage, they will attempt to change the application +of words. In the case before us, they have actually found, that benevolence +is no more than a species of self-love; and would oblige us, if possible, +to look out for a new set of names, by which we may distinguish the +selfishness of the parent when he takes care of his child, from his +selfishness when he only takes care of himself. For, according to this +philosophy, as in both cases he only means to gratify a desire of his own, +he is in both cases equally selfish. The term _benevolent_, in the +mean time, is not employed to characterize persons who have no desires of +their own, but persons whose own desires prompt them to procure the welfare +of others. The fact is, that we should need only a fresh supply of +language, instead of that which by this seeming discovery we should have +lost, in order to make our reasonings proceed as they formerly did. But it +is certainly impossible to live and to act with men, without employing +different names to distinguish the humane from the cruel, and the +benevolent from the selfish. + +These terms have their equivalents in every tongue; they were invented by +men of no refinement, who only meant to express what they distinctly +perceived, or strongly felt. And if a man of speculation should prove, that +we are selfish in a sense of his own, it does not follow that we are so in +the sense of the vulgar; or, as ordinary men would understand his +conclusion, that we are condemned in every instance to act on motives of +interest, covetousness, pusillanimity, and cowardice; for such is conceived +to be the ordinary import of selfishness in the character of man. + +An affection or passion of any kind is sometimes said to give us an +interest in its object; and humanity itself gives an interest in the +welfare of mankind. This term _interest_, which commonly implies +little more than our property, is sometimes put for utility in general, and +this for happiness; insomuch, that, under these ambiguities, it is not +surprising we are still unable to determine, whether interest is the only +motive of human action, and the standard by which to distinguish our good +from our ill. + +So much is said in this place, not from a desire to partake in any such +controversy, but merely to confine the meaning of the term _interest_ +to its most common acceptation, and to intimate a design to employ it in +expressing those objects of care which refer to our external condition, and +the preservation of our animal nature. When taken in this sense, it will +not surely be thought to comprehend at once all the motives of human +conduct. If men be not allowed to have disinterested benevolence, they will +not be denied to have disinterested passions of another kind. Hatred, +indignation, and rage, frequently urge them to act in opposition to their +known interest, and even to hazard their lives, without any hopes of +compensation in any future returns of preferment or profit. + + + + +SECTION III. + +OF THE PRINCIPLES OF UNION AMONG MANKIND. + + +Mankind have always wandered or settled, agreed or quarrelled, in troops +and companies. The cause of their assembling, whatever it be, is the +principle of their alliance or union. + +In collecting the materials of history, we are seldom willing to put up +with our subject merely as we find it. We are loth to be embarrassed with a +multiplicity of particulars, and apparent inconsistencies. In theory we +profess the investigation of general principles; and in order to bring the +matter of our inquiries within the reach of our comprehension, are disposed +to adopt any system. Thus, in treating of human affairs, we would draw +every consequence from a principle of union, or a principle of dissention. +The state of nature is a state of war, or of amity, and men are made to +unite from a principle of affection, or from a principle of fear, as is +most suitable to the system of different writers. The history of our +species indeed abundantly shows, that they are to one another mutual +objects both of fear and of love; and they who would prove them to have +been originally either in a state of alliance, or of war, have arguments in +store to maintain their assertions. Our attachment to one division, or to +one sect, seems often to derive much of its force from an animosity +conceived to an opposite one: and this animosity in its turn, as often +arises from a zeal in behalf of the side we espouse, and from a desire to +vindicate the rights of our party. + +"Man is born in society," says Montesquieu, "and there he remains." The +charms that detain him are known to be manifold. Together with the parental +affection, which, instead of deserting the adult, as among the brutes, +embraces more close, as it becomes mixed with esteem, and the memory of its +early effects; we may reckon a propensity common to man and other animals, +to mix with the herd, and, without reflection, to follow the crowd of his +species. What this propensity was in the first moment of its operation, we +know not; but with men accustomed to company, its enjoyments and +disappointments are reckoned among the principal pleasures or pains of +human life. Sadness and melancholy are connected with solitude; gladness +and pleasure with the concourse of men. The track of a Laplander on the +snowy shore, gives joy to the lonely mariner; and the mute signs of +cordiality and kindness which are made to him, awaken the memory of +pleasures which he felt in society. In fine, says the writer of a voyage to +the North, after describing a mute scene of this sort, "We were extremely +pleased to converse with men, since in thirteen months we had seen no human +creature." [Footnote: Collection of Dutch voyages.] + +But we need no remote observation to confirm this position: the wailings of +the infant, and the languors of the adult, when alone; the lively joys of +the one, and the cheerfulness of the other, upon the return of company, are +a sufficient proof of its solid foundations in the frame of our nature. + +In accounting for actions we often forget that we ourselves have acted; and +instead of the sentiments which stimulate the mind in the presence of its +object, we assign as the motives of conduct with men, those considerations +which occur in the hours of retirement and cold reflection. In this mood +frequently we can find nothing important, besides the deliberate prospects +of interest; and a great work, like that of forming society, must in our +apprehension arise from deep reflections, and be carried on with a view to +the advantages which mankind derive from commerce and mutual support. But +neither a propensity to mix with the herd, nor the sense of advantages +enjoyed in that condition, comprehend all the principles by which men are +united together. Those bands are even of a feeble texture, when compared to +the resolute ardour with which a man adheres to his friend, or to his +tribe, after they have for some time run the career of fortune together. +Mutual discoveries of generosity, joint trials of fortitude redouble the +ardours of friendship, and kindle a flame in the human breast, which the +considerations of personal interest or safety cannot suppress. The most +lively transports of joy are seen, and the loudest shrieks of despair are +heard, when the objects of a tender affection are beheld in a state of +triumph or of suffering. An Indian recovered his friend unexpectedly on the +island of Juan Fernandes: he prostrated himself on the ground, at his feet. +"We stood gazing in silence," says Dampier, "at this tender scene." If we +would know what is the religion of a wild American, what it is in his heart +that most resembles devotion; it is not his fear of the sorcerer, nor his +hope of protection from the spirits of the air or the wood: it is the +ardent affection with which he selects and embraces his friend; with which +he clings to his side in every season of peril; and with which he invokes +his spirit from a distance, when dangers surprise him alone. [Footnote: +Charlevoix, Hist. of Canada.] + +Whatever proofs we may have of the social disposition of man in familiar +and contiguous scenes, it is possibly of importance, to draw our +observations from the examples of men who live in the simplest condition, +and who have not learned to affect what they do not actually feel. + +Mere acquaintance and habitude nourish affection, and the experience of +society brings every passion of the human mind upon its side. Its triumphs +and prosperities, its calamities and distresses, bring a variety and a +force of emotion, which can only have place in the company of our fellow +creatures. It is here that a man is made to forget his weakness, his cares +of safety, and his subsistence; and to act from those passions which make +him discover his force. It is here he finds that his arrows fly swifter +than the eagle, and his weapons wound deeper than the paw of the lion, or +the tooth of the boar. It is not alone his sense of a support which is +near, nor the love of distinction in the opinion of his tribe, that inspire +his courage, or swell his heart with a confidence that exceeds what his +natural force should bestow. Vehement passions of animosity or attachment +are the first exertions of vigour in his breast; under their influence +every consideration, but that of his object, is forgotten; dangers and +difficulties only excite him the more. + +That condition is surely favourable to the nature of any being, in which +his force is increased; and if courage be the gift of society to man, we +have reason to consider his union with his species as the noblest part of +his fortune. From this source are derived, not only the force, but the very +existence of his happiest emotions; not only the better part, but almost +the whole of his rational character. Send him to the desert alone, he is a +plant torn from his roots: the form indeed may remain, but every faculty +droops and withers; the human personage and the human character cease to +exist. + +Men are so far from valuing society on account of its mere external +conveniencies, that they are commonly most attached where those +conveniencies are least frequent; and are there most faithful, where the +tribute of their allegiance is paid in blood. Affection operates with the +greatest force, where it meets with the greatest difficulties: in the +breast of the parent, it is most solicitous amidst the dangers and +distresses of the child; in the breast of a man, its flame redoubles where +the wrongs or sufferings of his friend, or his country, require his aid. It +is, in short, from this principle alone that we can account for the +obstinate attachment of a savage to his unsettled and defenceless tribe, +when temptations on the side of ease and of safety might induce him to fly +from famine and danger, to a station more affluent, and more secure. Hence +the sanguine affection which every Greek bore to his country, and hence the +devoted patriotism of an early Roman. Let those examples be compared with +the spirit which reigns in a commercial state, where men may be supposed to +have experienced, in its full extent, the interest which individuals have +in the preservation of their country. It is here indeed, if ever, that man +is sometimes found a detached and a solitary being: he has found an object +which sets him in competition with his fellow creatures, and he deals with +them as he does with his cattle and his soil, for the sake of the profits +they bring. The mighty engine which we suppose to have formed society, only +tends to set its members at variance, or to continue their intercourse +after the bands of affection are broken. + + + + +SECTION IV. + +OF THE PRINCIPLES OF WAR AND DISSENTION. + + +"There are some circumstances in the lot of mankind," says Socrates, "that +show them to be destined to friendship and amity: Those are, their mutual +need of each other; their mutual compassion; their sense of mutual benefit; +and the pleasures arising in company. There are other circumstances which +prompt them to war and dissention; the admiration and the desire which they +entertain for the same subjects; their opposite pretensions; and the +provocations which they mutually offer in the course of their +competitions." + +When we endeavour to apply the maxims of natural justice to the solution of +difficult questions, we find that some cases may be supposed, and actually +happen, where oppositions take place, and are lawful, prior to any +provocation, or act of injustice; that where the safety and preservation of +numbers are mutually inconsistent, one party may employ his right of +defence, before the other has begun an attack. And when we join with such +examples, the instances of mistake, and misunderstanding, to which mankind +are exposed, we may be satisfied that war does not always proceed from an +intention to injure; and that even the best qualities of men, their +candour, as well as their resolution, may operate in the midst of their +quarrels. + +There is still more to be observed on this subject. Mankind not only find +in their condition the sources of variance and dissention; they appear to +have in their minds the seeds of animosity, and to embrace the occasions of +mutual opposition, with alacrity and pleasure. In the most pacific +situation, there are few who have not their enemies, as well as their +friends; and who are not pleased with opposing the proceedings of one, as +much as with favouring the designs of another. Small and simple tribes, who +in their domestic society have the firmest union, are in their state of +opposition as separate nations, frequently animated with the most +implacable hatred. Among the citizens of Rome, in the early ages of that +republic, the name of a foreigner, and that of an enemy, were the same. +Among the Greeks, the name of Barbarian, under which that people +comprehended every nation that was of a race, and spoke a language, +different from their own, became a term of indiscriminate contempt and +aversion. Even where no particular claim to superiority is formed, the +repugnance to union, the frequent wars, or rather the perpetual hostilities +which take place among rude nations and separate clans, discover how much +our species is disposed to opposition, as well as to concert. + +Late discoveries have brought to our knowledge almost every situation in +which mankind are placed. We have found them spread over large and +extensive continents, where communications are open, and where national +confederacy might be easily formed. We have found them in narrower +districts, circumscribed by mountains, great rivers, and arms of the sea. +They have been found in small islands, where the inhabitants might be +easily assembled, and derive an advantage from their union. But in all +those situations, alike, they were broke into cantons, and affected a +distinction of name and community. The titles of _fellow citizen_ and +_countrymen_, unopposed to those of _alien_ and _foreigner_, to which +they refer, would fall into disuse, and lose their meaning. We love +individuals on account of personal qualities; but we love our country, +as it is a party in the divisions of mankind; and our zeal for its +interest, is a predilection in behalf of the side we maintain. + +In the promiscuous concourse of men, it is sufficient that we have an +opportunity of selecting our company. We turn away from those who do not +engage us, and we fix our resort where the society is more to our mind. We +are fond of distinctions; we place ourselves in opposition, and quarrel +under the denominations of faction and party, without any material subject +of controversy. Aversion, like affection, is fostered by a continued +direction to its particular object. Separation and estrangement, as well as +opposition, widen a breach which did not owe its beginnings to any offence. +And it would seem, that till we have reduced mankind to the state of a +family, or found some external consideration to maintain their connection +in greater numbers, they will be for ever separated into bands, and form a +plurality of nations. + +The sense of a common danger, and the assaults of an enemy, have been +frequently useful to nations, by uniting their members more firmly +together, and by preventing the secessions and actual separations in which +their civil discord might otherwise terminate. And this motive to union +which is offered from abroad, may be necessary, not only in the case of +large and extensive nations, where coalitions are weakened by distance, and +the distinction of provincial names; but even in the narrow society of the +smallest states. Rome itself was founded by a small party which took its +flight from Alba; her citizens were often in danger of separating; and if +the villages and cantons of the Volsci had been further removed from the +scene of their dissentions, the Mons Sacer might have received a new colony +before the mother country was ripe for such a discharge. She continued long +to feel the quarrels of her nobles and her people; and kept open the gates +of Janus, to remind those parties of the duties they owed to their country. + +Societies, as well as individuals, being charged with the care of their own +preservation, and having separate interests, which give rise to jealousies +and competitions, we cannot be surprised to find hostilities arise from +this source. But were there no angry passions of a different sort, the +animosities which attend an opposition of interest, should bear a +proportion to the supposed value of the subject. "The Hottentot nations," +says Kolben, "trespass on each other by thefts of cattle and of women; but +such injuries are seldom committed, except with a view to exasperate their +neighbours, and bring them to a war." Such depredations then, are not the +foundation of a war, but the effects of a hostile intention already +conceived. The nations of North America, who have no herds to preserve, +nor settlements to defend, are yet engaged in almost perpetual wars, for +which they can assign no reason, but the point of honour, and a desire +to continue the struggle their fathers maintained. They do not regard +the spoils of an enemy; and the warrior who has seized any booty, easily +parts with it to the first person who comes in his way. [Footnote: See +Charlevoix's History of Canada.] + +But we need not cross the Atlantic to find proofs of animosity, and to +observe, in the collision of separate societies, the influence of angry +passions, that do not arise from an opposition of interest. Human nature +has no part of its character of which more flagrant examples are given on +this side of the globe. What is it that stirs in the breasts of ordinary +men when the enemies of their country are named? Whence are the prejudices +that subsist between different provinces, cantons, and villages, of the +same empire and territory? What is it that excites one half of the nations +of Europe against the other? The statesman may explain his conduct on +motives of national jealousy and caution, but the people have dislikes and +antipathies, for which they cannot account. Their mutual reproaches of +perfidy and injustice, like the Hottentot depredations, are but symptoms of +an animosity, and the language of a hostile disposition, already conceived. +The charge of cowardice and pusillanimity, qualities which the interested +and cautious enemy should, of all others, like best to find in his rival, +is urged with aversion, and made the ground of dislike. Hear the peasants +on different sides of the Alps, and the Pyrenees, the Rhine, or the British +channel, give vent to their prejudices and national passions; it is among +them that we find the materials of war and dissention laid without the +direction of government, and sparks ready to kindle into a flame, which the +statesman is frequently disposed to extinguish. The fire will not always +catch where his reasons of state would direct, nor stop where the +concurrence of interest has produced an alliance. "My father," said a +Spanish peasant, "would rise from his grave, if he could foresee a war with +France." What interest had he, or the bones of his father, in the quarrels +of princes? + +These observations seem to arraign our species, and to give an unfavourable +picture of mankind; and yet the particulars we have mentioned are +consistent with the most amiable qualities of our nature, and often furnish +a scene for the exercise of our greatest abilities. They are sentiments of +generosity and self denial that animate the warrior in defence of his +country; and they are dispositions most favourable to mankind, that become +the principles of apparent hostility to men. Every animal is made to +delight in the exercise of his natural talents and forces. The lion and the +tyger sport with the paw; the horse delights to commit his mane to the +wind, and forgets his pasture to try his speed in the field; the bull even +before his brow is armed, and the lamb while yet an emblem of innocence, +have a disposition to strike with the forehead, and anticipate, in play, +the conflicts they are doomed to sustain. Man too is disposed to +opposition, and to employ the forces of his nature against an equal +antagonist; he loves to bring his reason, his eloquence, his courage, even +his bodily strength to the proof. His sports are frequently an image of +war; sweat and blood are freely expended in play; and fractures or death +are often made to terminate the pastime of idleness and festivity. He was +not made to live for ever, and even his love of amusement has opened a way +to the grave. + +Without the rivalship of nations, and the practice of war, civil society +itself could scarcely have found an object, or a form. Mankind might have +traded without any formal convention, but they cannot be safe without a +national concert. The necessity of a public defence, has given rise to many +departments of state, and the intellectual talents of men have found their +busiest scene in wielding their national forces. To overawe, or intimidate, +or, when we cannot persuade with reason, to resist with fortitude, are the +occupations which give its most animating exercise, and its greatest +triumphs, to a vigorous mind; and he who has never struggled with his +fellow creatures, is a stranger to half the sentiments of mankind. + +The quarrels of individuals, indeed, are frequently the operations of +unhappy and detestable passions, malice, hatred, and rage. If such passions +alone possess the breast, the scene of dissention becomes an object of +horror; but a common opposition maintained by numbers, is always allayed by +passions of another sort. Sentiments of affection and friendship mix with +animosity; the active and strenuous become the guardians of their society; +and violence itself is, in their case, an exertion of generosity, as well +as of courage. We applaud, as proceeding from a national or party spirit, +what we could not endure as the effect of a private dislike; and, amidst +the competitions of rival states, think we have found, for the patriot and +the warrior, in the practice of violence and stratagem, the most +illustrious career of human virtue. Even personal opposition here does not +divide our judgment on the merits of men. The rival names of Agesilaus and +Epaminondas, of Scipio and Hannibal, are repeated with equal praise; and +war itself, which in one view appears so fatal, in another is the exercise +of a liberal spirit; and in the very effects which we regret, is but one +distemper more, by which the Author of nature has appointed our exit from +human life. + +These reflections may open our view into the state of mankind; but they +tend to reconcile us to the conduct of Providence, rather than to make us +change our own; where, from a regard to the welfare of our fellow +creatures, we endeavour to pacify their animosities, and unite them by the +ties of affection. In the pursuit of this amiable intention, we may hope, +in some instances, to disarm the angry passions of jealousy and envy; we +may hope to instil into the breasts of private men sentiments of candour +towards their fellow creatures, and a disposition to humanity and justice. +But it is vain to expect that we can give to the multitude of a people a +sense of union among themselves, without admitting hostility to those who +oppose them. Could we at once, in the case of any nation, extinguish the +emulation which is excited from abroad, we should probably break or weaken +the bands of society at home, and close the busiest scenes of national +occupations and virtues. + + + + +SECTION V. + +OF INTELLECTUAL POWERS. + + +Many attempts have been made to analyze the dispositions which we have now +enumerated; but one purpose of science, perhaps the most important, is +served, when the existence of a disposition is established. We are more +concerned in its reality, and in its consequences, than we are in its +origin, or manner of formation. + +The same observation may be applied to the other powers and faculties of +our nature. Their existence and use are the principal objects of our study. +Thinking and reasoning, we say, are the operations of some faculty; but in +what manner the faculties of thought or reason remain, when they are not +exerted, or by what difference in the frame they are unequal in different +persons, are questions which we cannot resolve. Their operations alone +discover them; when unapplied, they lie hid even from the person to whom +they pertain; and their action is so much a part of their nature, that the +faculty itself, in many cases, is scarcely to be distinguished from a habit +acquired in its frequent exertion. + +Persons who are occupied with different subjects, who act in different +scenes, generally appear to have different talents, or at least to have the +same faculties variously formed, and suited to different purposes. The +peculiar genius of nations, as well as of individuals, may in this manner +arise from the state of their fortunes. And it is proper that we endeavour +to find some rule, by which to judge of what is admirable in the capacities +of men, or fortunate in the application of their faculties, before we +venture to pass a judgment on this branch of their merits, or pretend to +measure the degree of respect they may claim by their different +attainments. + +To receive the informations of sense, is perhaps the earliest function of +an animal combined with an intellectual nature; and one great +accomplishment of the living agent consists in the force and sensibility of +his animal organs. The pleasures or pains to which he is exposed from this +quarter, constitute to him an important difference between the objects +which are thus brought to his knowledge; and it concerns him to distinguish +well, before he commits himself to the direction of appetite. He must +scrutinize the objects of one sense, by the perceptions of another; examine +with the eye, before he ventures to touch; and employ every means of +observation, before he gratifies the appetites of thirst and of hunger. A +discernment acquired by experience, becomes a faculty of his mind; and the +inferences of thought are sometimes not to be distinguished from the +perceptions of sense. + +The objects around us, beside their separate appearances, have their +relations to each other. They suggest, when compared, what would not occur +when they are considered apart; they have their effects, and mutual +influences; they exhibit, in like circumstances, similar operations, and +uniform consequences. When we have found and expressed the points in which +the uniformity of their operations consists, we have ascertained a physical +law. Many such laws, and even the most important, are known to the vulgar, +and occur upon the smallest degrees of reflection; but others are hid under +a seeming confusion, which ordinary talents cannot remove; and are +therefore the objects of study, long observation, and superior capacity. +The faculties of penetration and judgment, are, by men of business, as well +as of science, employed to unravel intricacies of this sort; and the degree +of sagacity with which either is endowed, is to be measured by the success +with which they are able to find general rules, applicable to a variety of +cases that seemed to have nothing in common, and to discover important +distinctions between subjects which the vulgar are apt to confound. + +To collect a multiplicity of particulars under general heads, and to refer +a variety of operations to their common principle, is the object of +science. To do the same thing, at least within the range of his active +engagements, is requisite to the man of pleasure, or business; and it would +seem, that the studious and the active are so far employed in the same +task, from observation and experience, to find the general views under +which their objects may be considered, and the rules which may be usefully +applied in the detail of their conduct. They do not always apply their +talents to different subjects; and they seem to be distinguished chiefly by +the unequal reach and variety of their remarks, or by the intentions which +they severally have in collecting them. + +Whilst men continue to act from appetites and passions, leading to the +attainment of external ends, they seldom quit the view of their objects in +detail, to go far in the road of general inquiries. They measure the extent +of their own abilities, by the promptitude with which they apprehend what +is important in every subject, and the facility with which they extricate +themselves on every trying occasion. And these, it must be confessed, to a +being who is destined to act in the midst of difficulties, are the proper +test of capacity and force. The parade of words and general reasonings, +which sometimes carry an appearance of so much learning and knowledge, are +of little avail in the conduct of life. The talents from which they +proceed, terminate in mere ostentation, and are seldom connected with that +superior discernment which the active apply in times of perplexity; much +less with that intrepidity and force of mind which are required in passing +through difficult scenes. + +The abilities of active men, however, have a variety corresponding to that +of the subjects on which they are occupied. A sagacity applied to external +and inanimate nature, forms one species of capacity; that which is turned +to society and human affairs, another. Reputation for parts in any scene is +equivocal, till we know by what kind of exertion that reputation is gained. +No more can be said, in commending men of the greatest abilities, than that +they understand well the subjects to which they have applied; and every +department, every profession, would have its great men, if there were not a +choice of objects for the understanding, and of talents for the mind, as +well as of sentiments for the heart, and of habits for the active +character. + +The meanest professions, indeed, so far sometimes forget themselves, or the +rest of mankind, as to arrogate, in commending what is distinguished in +their own way, every epithet the most respectable claim as the right of +superior abilities. Every mechanic is a great man with the learner, and the +humble admirer, in his particular calling: and we can, perhaps with more +assurance pronounce what it is that should make a man happy and amiable, +than what should make his abilities respected, and his genius admired. +This, upon a view of the talents themselves, may perhaps be impossible. The +effect, however, will point out the rule and the standard of our judgment. +To be admired and respected, is to have an ascendant among men. The talents +which most directly procure that ascendant, are those which operate on +mankind, penetrate their views, prevent their wishes, or frustrate their +designs. The superior capacity leads with a superior energy, where every +individual would go, and shews the hesitating and irresolute a clear +passage to the attainment of their ends. + +This description does not pertain to any particular craft or profession; or +perhaps it implies a kind of ability, which the separate application of men +to particular callings, only tends to suppress or to weaken. Where shall we +find the talents which are fit to act with men in a collective body, if we +break that body into parts, and confine the observation of each to a +separate track? + +To act in the view of his fellow creatures, to produce his mind in public, +to give it all the exercise of sentiment and thought, which pertain to man +as a member of society, as a friend, or an enemy, seems to be the principal +calling and occupation of his nature. If he must labour, that he may +subsist, he can subsist for no better purpose than the good of mankind; nor +can he have better talents than those which qualify him to act with men. +Here, indeed, the understanding appears to borrow very much from the +passions; and there is a felicity of conduct in human affairs, in which it +is difficult to distinguish the promptitude of the head from the ardour and +sensibility of the heart. Where both are united, they constitute that +superiority of mind, the frequency of which among men, in particular ages +and nations, much more than the progress they have made in speculation, or +in the practice of mechanic and liberal arts, should determine the rate of +their genius, and assign the palm of distinction and honour. + +When nations succeed one another in the career of discoveries and +inquiries, the last is always the most knowing. Systems of science are +gradually formed. The globe itself is traversed by degrees, and the history +of every age, when past, is an accession of knowledge to those who succeed. +The Romans were more knowing than the Greeks; and every scholar of modern +Europe is, in this sense, more learned than the most accomplished person +that ever bore either of those celebrated names. But is he on that account +their superior? + +Men are to be estimated, not from what they know, but from what they are +able to perform; from their skill in adapting materials to the several +purposes of life; from their vigour and conduct in pursuing the objects of +policy, and in finding the expedients of war and national defence. Even in +literature, they are to be estimated from the works of their genius, not +from the extent of their knowledge. The scene of mere observation was +extremely limited in a Grecian republic; and the bustle of an active life +appeared inconsistent with study: but there the human mind, +notwithstanding, collected its greatest abilities, and received its best +informations, in the midst of sweat and of dust. + +It is peculiar to modern Europe, to rest so much of the human character on +what may be learned in retirement, and from the information of books. A +just admiration of ancient literature, an opinion that human sentiment, and +human reason, without this aid, were to have vanished from the societies of +men, have led us into the shade, where we endeavour to derive from +imagination and study what is in reality matter of experience and +sentiment; and we endeavour, through the grammar of dead languages, and the +channel of commentators, to arrive at the beauties of thought and +elocution, which sprang from the animated spirit of society, and were taken +from the living impressions of an active life. Our attainments are +frequently limited to the elements of every science, and seldom reach to +that enlargement of ability and power, which useful knowledge should give. +Like mathematicians, who study the Elements of Euclid, but, never think of +mensuration; we read of societies, but do not propose to act with men; we +repeat the language of politics, but feel not the spirit of nations; we +attend to the formalities of a military discipline, but know not how to +employ numbers of men to obtain any purpose by stratagem or force. + +But for what end, it may be said, point out an evil that cannot be +remedied? If national affairs called for exertion, the genius of men would +awake; but in the recess of better employment, the time which is bestowed +on study, if even attended with no other advantage, serves to occupy with +innocence the hours of leisure, and set bounds to the pursuit of ruinous +and frivolous amusements. From no better reason than this, we employ so +many of our early years, under the rod, to acquire, what it is not expected +we should retain beyond the threshold of the school; and whilst we carry +the same frivolous character in our studies that we do in our amusements, +the human mind could not suffer more from a contempt of letters, than it +does from the false importance which is given to literature, as a business +for life, not as a help to our conduct, and the means of forming a +character that may be happy in itself, and useful to mankind. + +If that time which is passed in relaxing the powers of the mind, and in +withholding every object but what tends to weaken and to corrupt, were +employed in fortifying those powers, and in teaching the mind to recognize +its objects, and its strength, we should not, at the years of maturity, be +so much at a loss for occupation; nor, in attending the chances of a gaming +table, misemploy our talents, or waste the fire which remains in the +breast. They, at least, who by their stations have a share in the +government of their country, might believe themselves capable of business; +and, while the state had its armies and councils, might find objects enough +to amuse, without throwing a personal fortune into hazard, merely to cure +the yawnings of a listless and insignificant life. It is impossible for +ever to maintain the tone of speculation; it is impossible not sometimes to +feel that we live among men. + + + + +SECTION VI. + +OF MORAL SENTIMENT. + + +Upon a slight observation of what passes in human life, we should be apt to +conclude, that the care of subsistence is the principal spring of human +actions. This consideration leads to the invention and practice of +mechanical arts; it serves to distinguish amusement from business; and, +with many, scarcely admits into competition any other subject of pursuit or +attention. The mighty advantages of property and fortune, when stript of +the recommendations they derive from vanity, or the more serious regards to +independence and power, only mean a provision that is made for animal +enjoyment; and if our solicitude on this subject were removed, not only the +toils of the mechanic, but the studies of the learned, would cease; every +department of public business would become unnecessary; every senate house +would be shut up, and every palace deserted. + +Is man therefore, in respect to his object, to be classed with the mere +brutes, and only to be distinguished by faculties that qualify him to +multiply contrivances for the support and convenience of animal life, and +by the extent of a fancy that renders the care of animal preservation to +him more burthensome than it is to the herd with which he shares in the +bounty of nature? If this were his case, the joy which attends on success, +or the griefs which arise from disappointment, would make the sum of his +passions. The torrent that wasted, or the inundation that enriched, his +possessions, would give him all the emotion with which he is seized, on the +occasion of a wrong by which his fortunes are impaired, or of a benefit by +which they are preserved and enlarged. His fellow creatures would be +considered merely as they affected his interest. Profit or loss would serve +to mark the event of every transaction; and the epithets _useful_ or +_detrimental_ would serve to distinguish his mates in society, as they +do the tree which bears plenty of fruit, from that which only cumbers the +ground, or intercepts his view. + +This, however, is not the history of our species. What comes from a fellow +creature is received with peculiar emotion; and every language abounds with +terms that express somewhat in the transactions of men, different from +success and disappointment. The bosom kindles in company, while the point +of interest in view has nothing to inflame; and a matter frivolous in +itself, becomes important, when it serves to bring to light the intentions +and characters of men. The foreigner, who believed that Othello, on the +stage, was enraged for the loss of his handkerchief, was not more mistaken, +than the reasoner who imputes any of the more vehement passions of men to +the impressions of mere profit or loss. + +Men assemble to deliberate on business; they separate from jealousies of +interest; but in their several collisions, whether as friends or as +enemies, a fire is struck out which the regards to interest or safety +cannot confine. The value of a favour is not measured when sentiments of +kindness are perceived; and the term _misfortune_ has but a feeble +meaning, when compared to that of _insult_ and _wrong_. + +As actors or spectators, we are perpetually made to feel the difference of +human conduct, and from a bare recital of transactions, which have passed +in ages and countries remote from our own, are moved with admiration and +pity, or transported with indignation and rage. Our sensibility on this +subject gives their charm in retirement, to the relations of history and to +the fictions of poetry; sends forth the tear of compassion, gives to the +blood its briskest movement, and to the eye its liveliest glances of +displeasure or joy. It turns human life into an interesting spectacle, and +perpetually solicits even the indolent to mix, as opponents or friends, in +the scenes which are acted before them. Joined to the powers of +deliberation and reason, it constitutes the basis of a moral nature; and, +whilst it dictates the terms of praise and of blame, serves to class our +fellow creatures, by the most admirable and engaging, or the most odious +and contemptible denominations. + +It is pleasant to find men, who in their speculations deny the reality of +moral distinctions, forget in detail the general positions they maintain, +and give loose to ridicule, indignation, and scorn, as if any of these +sentiments could have place, were the actions of men indifferent; or with +acrimony pretend to detect the fraud by which moral restraints have been +imposed, as if to censure a fraud were not already to take a part on the +side of morality. [Footnote: Mandeville.] + +Can we explain the principles upon which mankind adjudge the preference of +characters, and upon which they indulge such vehement emotions of +admiration or contempt? If it be admitted that we cannot, are the facts +less true? Or must we suspend the movements of the heart, until they who +are employed in framing systems of science have discovered the principle +from which those movements proceed? If a finger burn, we care not for +information on the properties of fire: if the heart be torn, or the mind +overjoyed, we have not leisure for speculations on the subjects of moral +sensibility. + +It is fortunate in this, as in other articles to which speculation and +theory are applied, that nature proceeds in her course, whilst the curious +are busied in the search of her principles. The peasant, or the child, can +reason, and judge, and speak his language with a discernment, a +consistency, and a regard to analogy, which perplex the logician, the +moralist, and the grammarian, when they would find the principle upon which +the proceeding is founded, or when they would bring to general rule, what +is so familiar, and so well sustained in particular cases. The felicity of +our conduct is more owing to the talent we possess for detail, and to the +suggestion of particular occasions, than it is to any direction we can find +in theory and general speculations. + +We must, in the result of every inquiry, encounter with facts which we +cannot explain; and to bear with this mortification would save us +frequently a great deal of fruitless trouble. Together with the sense of +our existence, we must admit many circumstances which come to our knowledge +at the same time, and in the same manner; and which do, in reality, +constitute the mode of our being. Every peasant will tell us, that a man +hath his rights; and that to trespass on those rights is injustice. If we +ask him farther, what he means by the term _right?_ we probably force +him to substitute a less significant, or less proper term, in the place of +this; or require him to account for what is an original mode of his mind, +and a sentiment to which he ultimately refers, when he would explain +himself upon any particular application of his language. + +The rights of individuals may relate to a variety of subjects, and be +comprehended under different heads. Prior to the establishment of property, +and the distinction of ranks, men have a right to defend their persons, and +to act with freedom; they have a right to maintain the apprehensions of +reason, and the feelings of the heart; and they cannot for a moment +associate together, without feeling that the treatment they give or receive +may be just or unjust. It is not, however, our business here to carry the +notion of a right into its several applications, but to reason on the +sentiment of favour with which that notion is entertained in the mind. If +it be true, that men are united by instinct, that they act in society from +affections of kindness and friendship; if it be true, that even prior to +acquaintance and habitude, men, as such, are commonly to each other objects +of attention, and some degree of regard; that while their prosperity is +beheld with indifference, their afflictions are considered with +commiseration; if calamities be measured by the numbers and the qualities +of men they involve; and if every suffering of a fellow creature draws a +crowd of attentive spectators; if, even in the case of those to whom we do +not habitually wish any positive good, we are still averse to be the +instruments of harm; it should seem, that in these various appearances of +an amicable disposition, the foundations of a moral apprehension are +sufficiently laid, and the sense of a right which we maintain for +ourselves, is by a movement of humanity and candour extended to our fellow +creatures. + +What is it that prompts the tongue when we censure an act of cruelty or +oppression? What is it that constitutes our restraint from offences that +tend to distress our fellow creatures? It is probably, in both cases, a +particular application of that principle, which, in presence of the +sorrowful, sends forth the tear of compassion; and a combination of all +those sentiments, which constitute a benevolent disposition; and if not a +resolution to do good, at least an aversion to be the instrument of harm. +[Footnote: Mankind, we are told, are devoted to interest; and this, in all +commercial nations, is undoubtedly true. But it does not follow, that they +are, by their natural dispositions, averse to society and mutual affection: +proofs of the contrary remain, even where interest triumphs most. What must +we think of the force of that disposition to compassion, to candour, and +good will, which, notwithstanding the prevailing opinion that the happiness +of a man consists in possessing the greatest possible share of riches, +preferments, and honours, still keeps the parties who are in competition +for those objects, on a tolerable footing of amity, and leads them to +abstain even from their own supposed good, when their seizing it appears in +the light of a detriment to others? What might we not expect from the human +heart in circumstances which prevented this apprehension on the subject of +fortune, or under the influence of an opinion as steady and general as the +former, that human felicity does not consist in the indulgences of animal +appetite, but in those of a benevolent heart; not in fortune or interest, +but in the contempt of this very object, in the courage and freedom which +arise from this contempt, joined to a resolute choice of conduct, directed +to the good of mankind, or to the good of that particular society to which +the party belongs?] + +It may be difficult, however, to enumerate the motives of all the censures +and commendations which are applied to the actions of men. Even while we +moralize, every disposition of the human mind may have its share in forming +the judgment, and in prompting the tongue. As jealousy is often the most +watchful guardian of chastity, so malice is often the quickest to spy the +failings of our neighbour. Envy, affectation, and vanity, may dictate the +verdicts we give, and the worst principles of our nature may be at the +bottom of our pretended zeal for morality; but if we only mean to inquire, +why they who are well disposed to mankind apprehend, in every instance, +certain rights pertaining to their fellow creatures, and why they applaud +the consideration that is paid to those rights, we cannot assign a better +reason, than that the person who applauds, is well disposed to the welfare +of the parties to whom his applauses refer. Applause, however, is the +expression of a peculiar sentiment; an expression of esteem the reverse of +contempt. Its object is perfection, the reverse of defect. This sentiment +is not the love of mankind; it is that by which we estimate the qualities +of men, and the objects of our pursuit; that which doubles the force of +every desire or aversion, when we consider its object as tending to raise +or to sink our nature. + +When we consider, that the reality of any amicable propensity in the human +mind has been frequently contested; when we recollect the prevalence of +interested competitions, with their attendant passions of jealousy, envy, +and malice; it may seem strange to allege, that love and compassion are, +next to the desire of elevation, the most powerful motives in the human +breast: That they urge, on many occasions, with the most irresistible +vehemence; and if the desire of self preservation be more constant, and +more uniform, these are a more plentiful source of enthusiasm, +satisfaction, and joy. With a power not inferior to that of resentment and +rage, they hurry the mind into every sacrifice of interest, and bear it +undismayed through every hardship and danger. + +The disposition on which friendship is grafted, glows with satisfaction in +the hours of tranquillity, and is pleasant, not only in its triumphs, but +even in its sorrows. It throws a grace on the external air, and, by its +expression on the countenance, compensates for the want of beauty, or gives +a charm which no complexion or features can equal. From this source the +scenes of human life derive their principal felicity; and their imitations +in poetry, their principal ornament. Descriptions of nature, even +representations of a vigorous conduct, and a manly courage, do not engage +the heart, if they be not mixed with the exhibition of generous sentiments, +and the pathetic, which is found to arise in the struggles, the triumphs, +or the misfortunes of a tender affection. The death of Polites, in the +Aeneid, is not more affecting than that of many others who perished in the +ruins of Troy; but the aged Priam was present when this last of his sons +was slain; and the agonies of grief and sorrow force the parent from his +retreat, to fall by the hand that shed the blood of his child. The pathetic +of Homer consists in exhibiting the force of affections, not in exciting +mere terror and pity; passions he has never perhaps, in any instance, +attempted to raise. + +With this tendency to kindle into enthusiasm, with this command over the +heart, with the pleasure that attends its emotions, and with all its +effects in meriting confidence and procuring esteem, it is not surprising, +that a principle of humanity should give the tone to our commendations and +our censures, and even where it is hindered from directing our conduct, +should still give to the mind, on reflection, its knowledge of what is +desirable in the human character. _What hast thou done with thy brother +Abel?_ was the first expostulation in behalf of morality; and if the +first answer has been often repeated, mankind have notwithstanding, in one +sense, sufficiently acknowledged the charge of their nature. They have +felt, they have talked, and even acted, as the keepers of their fellow +creatures: they have made the indications of candour and mutual affection +the test of what is meritorious and amiable in the characters of men: they +have made cruelty and oppression the principal objects of their indignation +and rage: even while the head is occupied with projects of interest, the +heart is often seduced into friendship; and while business proceeds on the +maxims of self preservation, the careless hour is employed in generosity +and kindness. + +Hence the rule by which men commonly judge of external actions, is taken +from the supposed influence of such actions on the general good. To abstain +from harm, is the great law of natural justice; to diffuse happiness, is the +law of morality; and when we censure the conferring a favour on one or a +few at the expense of many, we refer to public utility, as the great object +at which the actions of men should be aimed. + +After all, it must be confessed, that if a principle of affection to +mankind be the basis of our moral approbation and dislike, we sometimes +proceed in distributing applause or censure, without precisely attending to +the degree in which our fellow creatures are hurt or obliged; and that, +besides the virtues of candour, friendship, generosity, and public spirit, +which bear an immediate reference to this principle, there are others which +may seem to derive their commendation from a different source. Temperance, +prudence, fortitude, are those qualities likewise admired from a principle +of regard to our fellow creatures? Why not, since they render men happy in +themselves, and useful to others? He who is qualified to promote the +welfare of mankind, is neither a sot, a fool, nor a coward. Can it be more +clearly expressed, that temperance, prudence, and fortitude, are necessary +to the character we love and admire? I know well why I should wish for them +in myself; and why likewise I should wish for them in my friend, and in +every person who is an object of my affection. But to what purpose seek for +reasons of approbation, where qualities are so necessary to our happiness, +and so great a part in the perfection of our nature? We must cease to +esteem ourselves, and to distinguish what is excellent, when such +qualifications incur our neglect. + +A person of an affectionate mind, possessed of a maxim, that he himself, as +an individual, is no more than a part of the whole that demands his regard, +has found, in that principle, a sufficient foundation for all the virtues; +for a contempt of animal pleasures, that would supplant his principal +enjoyment; for an equal contempt of danger or pain, that come to stop his +pursuits of public good. "A vehement and steady affection magnifies its +object, and lessens every difficulty or danger that stands in the way." +"Ask those who have been in love," says Epictetus, "they will know that I +speak the truth." + +"I have before me," says another eminent moralist, [Footnote: Persian +Letters.] "an idea of justice, which if I could follow in every instance, I +should think myself the most happy of men." And it is of consequence to +their happiness, as well as to their conduct, if those can be disjoined, +that men should have this idea properly formed. It is perhaps but another +name for that good of mankind, which the virtuous are engaged to promote. +If virtue be the supreme good, its best and most signal effect is, to +communicate and diffuse itself. + +To distinguish men by the difference of their moral qualities, to espouse +one party from a sense of justice, to oppose another even with indignation +when excited by iniquity, are the common indications of probity, and the +operations of an animated, upright, and generous spirit. To guard against +unjust partialities, and ill grounded antipathies; to maintain that +composure of mind, which, without impairing its sensibility or ardour, +proceeds in every instance with discernment and penetration, are the marks +of a vigorous and cultivated spirit. To be able to follow the dictates of +such a spirit through all the varieties of human life, and with a mind +always master of itself, in prosperity or adversity, and possessed of all +its abilities, when the subjects in hazard are life, or freedom, as much as +in treating simple questions of interest, are the triumphs of magnanimity, +and true elevation of mind. "The event of the day is decided. Draw this +javelin from my body now," said Epaminondas, "and let me bleed." + +In what situation, or by what instruction, is this wonderful character to +be formed? Is it found in the nurseries of affectation, pertness, and +vanity, from which fashion is propagated, and the genteel is announced? In +great and opulent cities, where men vie with each other in equipage, dress, +and the reputation of fortune? Is it within the admired precincts of a +court, where we may learn to smile without being pleased, to caress without +affection, to wound with the secret weapons of envy and jealousy, and to +rest our personal importance on circumstances which we cannot always with +honour command? No: but in a situation where the great sentiments of the +heart are awakened; where the characters of men, not their situations and +fortunes, are the principal distinction; where the anxieties of interest, +or vanity, perish in the blaze of more vigorous emotions; and where the +human soul, having felt and recognised its objects, like an animal who has +tasted the blood of his prey, cannot descend to pursuits that leave its +talents and its force unemployed. + +Proper occasions alone operating on a raised and a happy disposition, may +produce this admirable effect, whilst mere instruction may always find +mankind at a loss to comprehend its meaning, or insensible to its dictates. +The case, however, is not desperate, till we have formed our system of +politics, as well as manners; till we have sold our freedom for titles, +equipage, and distinctions; till we see no merit but prosperity and power, +no disgrace but poverty and neglect. What charm of instruction can cure the +mind that is stained with this disorder? What syren voice can awaken a +desire of freedom, that is held to be meanness and a want of ambition? Or +what persuasion can turn the grimace of politeness into real sentiments of +humanity and candour? + + + + +SECTION VII. + +OF HAPPINESS. + + +Having had under our consideration the active powers and the moral +qualities which distinguish the nature of man, is it still necessary that +we should treat of his happiness apart? This significant term, the most +frequent, and the most familiar, in our conversation, is, perhaps, on +reflection, the least understood. It serves to express our satisfaction, +when any desire is gratified; it is pronounced with a sigh, when our object +is distant: it means what we wish to obtain, and what we seldom stay to +examine. We estimate the value of every subject by its utility, and its +influence on happiness; but we think that utility itself, and happiness, +require no explanation. + +Those men are commonly esteemed the happiest, whose desires are most +frequently ratified. But if, in reality, the possession of what they +desire, and a continued fruition, were requisite to happiness, mankind for +the most part would have reason to complain of their lot. What they call +their enjoyments, are generally momentary; and the object of sanguine +expectation, when obtained, no longer continues to occupy the mind: a new +passion succeeds, and the imagination, as before, is intent on a distant +felicity. + +How many reflections of this sort are suggested by melancholy, or by the +effects of that very languor and inoccupation into which we would willingly +sink, under the notion of freedom from care and trouble? + +When we enter on a formal computation of the enjoyments or sufferings which +are prepared for mankind, it is a chance but we find that pain, by its +intenseness, its duration, or frequency, is greatly predominant. The +activity and eagerness with which we press from one stage of life to +another, our unwillingness to return on the paths we have trod, our +aversion in age to renew the frolics of youth, or to repeat in manhood the +amusements of children, have been accordingly stated as proofs, that our +memory of the past, and our feeling of the present, are equal subjects of +dislike and displeasure. [Footnote: Maupertuis; Essai de Morale.] + +This conclusion, however, like many others, drawn from our supposed +knowledge of causes, does not correspond with experience in every street, +in every village, in every field, the greater number of persons we meet, +carry an aspect that is cheerful or thoughtless, indifferent, composed, +busy or animated. The labourer whistles to his team, and the mechanic is at +ease in his calling; the frolicksome and gay feel a series of pleasures, of +which we know not the source; even they who demonstrate the miseries of +human life, when intent on their argument, escape from their sorrows, and +find a tolerable pastime in proving that men are unhappy. + +The very terms _pleasure_ and _pain,_ perhaps, are equivocal; but +if they are confined, as they appear to be in many of our reasonings, to +the mere sensations which have a reference to external objects, either in +the memory of the past, the feeling of the present, or the apprehension of +the future, it is a great error to suppose, that they comprehend all the +constituents of happiness or misery; or that the good humour of an ordinary +life is maintained by the prevalence of those pleasures, which have their +separate names, and are, on reflection, distinctly remembered. + +The mind, during the greater part of its existence, is employed in active +exertions, not in merely attending to its own feelings of pleasure or pain; +and the list of its faculties, understanding, memory, foresight, sentiment, +will, and intention, only contains the names of its different operations. + +If, in the absence of every sensation to which we commonly give the names +either of _enjoyment_ or _suffering,_ our very existence may have +its opposite qualities of _happiness_ or _misery;_ and if what we +call _pleasure_ or _pain,_ occupies but a small part of human +life, compared to what passes in contrivance and execution, in pursuits and +expectations, in conduct, reflection, and social engagements; it must +appear, that our active pursuits, at least on account of their duration, +deserve the greater part of our attention. When their occasions have +failed, the demand is not for pleasure, but for something to do; and the +very complaints of a sufferer are not so sure a mark of distress, as the +stare of the languid. + +We seldom, however, reckon any task, which we are bound to perform, among +the blessings of life. We always aim at a period of pure enjoyment, or a +termination of trouble; and overlook the source from which most of our +present satisfactions are really drawn. Ask the busy, where is the +happiness to which they aspire? they will answer, perhaps, that it is to be +found in the object of some present pursuit. If we ask, why they are not +miserable in the absence of that happiness? they will say, that they hope +to attain it. But is it hope alone that supports the mind is the midst of +precarious and uncertain prospects? And would assurance of success fill the +intervals of expectation with more pleasing emotions? Give the huntsman his +prey, give the gamester the gold which is staked on the game, that the one +may not need to fatigue his person, nor the other to perplex his mind, and +both will probably laugh at our folly: the one will stake his money anew, +that he may be perplexed; the other will turn his stag to the field, that +he may hear the cry of the dogs, and follow through danger and hardship. +Withdraw the occupations of men, terminate their desires, existence is a +burden, and the iteration of memory is a torment. + +The men of this country, says one lady, should learn to sew and to knit; it +would hinder their time from being a burden to themselves, and to other +people. That is true, says another; for my part, though I never look +abroad, I tremble at the prospect of bad weather; for then the gentlemen +come moping to us for entertainment; and the sight of a husband in +distress, is but a melancholy spectacle. + +The difficulties and hardships of human life are supposed to detract from +the goodness of God; yet many of the pastimes men devise for themselves are +fraught with difficulty and danger. The great inventor of the game of human +life, knew well how to accommodate the players. The chances are matter of +complaint; but if these were removed, the game itself would no longer amuse +the parties. In devising, or in executing a plan, in being carried on the +tide of emotion and sentiment, the mind seems to unfold its being, and to +enjoy itself. Even where the end and the object are known to be of little +avail, the talents and the fancy are often intensely applied, and business +or play may amuse them alike. We only desire repose to recruit our limited +and our wasting force: when business fatigues, amusement is often but a +change of occupation. We are not always unhappy, even when we complain. +There is a kind of affliction which makes an agreeable state of the mind; +and lamentation itself is sometimes an expression of pleasure. The painter +and the poet have laid hold of this handle, and find, among the means of +entertainment, a favourable reception for works that are composed to awaken +our sorrows. + +To a being of this description, therefore, it is a blessing to meet with +incentives to action, whether in the desire of pleasure, or the aversion to +pain. His activity is of more importance than the very pleasure he seeks, +and languor a greater evil than the suffering he shuns. + +The gratifications of animal appetite are of short duration; and sensuality +is but a distemper of the mind, which ought to be cured by remembrance, if +it were not perpetually inflamed by hope. The chase is not more surely +terminated by the death of the game, than the joys of the voluptuary by the +means of completing his debauch. As a band of society, as a matter of +distant pursuit, the objects of sense make an important part in the system +of human life. They lead us to fulfil the purposes of nature, in preserving +the individual, and in perpetuating the species; but to rely on their use +as a principal constituent of happiness, were an error in speculation, and +would be still more an error in practice. Even the master of the seraglio, +for whom all the treasures of empire are extorted from the hoards of its +frighted inhabitants, for whom alone the choicest emerald and the diamond +are drawn from the mine, for whom every breeze is enriched with perfumes, +for whom beauty is assembled from every quarter, and, animated by passions +that ripen under the vertical sun, is confined to the grate for his use, is +still, perhaps, more wretched than the very herd of the people, whose +labours and properties are devoted to relieve him of trouble, and to +procure him enjoyment. + +Sensuality is easily overcome by any of the habits of pursuit which usually +engage an active mind. When curiosity is awake, or when passion is excited, +even in the midst of the feast when conversation grows warm, grows jovial, +or serious, the pleasures of the table we know are forgotten. The boy +contemns them for play, and the man of age declines them for business. + +When we reckon the circumstances that correspond to the nature of any +animal, or to that of man in particular, such as safety, shelter, food, and +the other means of enjoyment, or preservation, we sometimes think that we +have found a sensible and a solid foundation on which to rest his felicity. +But those who are least disposed to moralize, observe, that happiness is +not connected with fortune, although fortune includes at once all the means +of subsistence, and the means of sensual indulgence. The circumstances that +require abstinence, courage, and conduct, expose us to hazard, and are in +description of the painful kind; yet the able, the brave, and the ardent, +seem most to enjoy themselves when placed in the midst of difficulties, and +obliged to employ the powers they possess. + +Spinola being told, that Sir Francis Vere died of having nothing to do, +said, "That was enough to kill a general." [Footnote: Life of Lord +Herbert.] How many are there to whom war itself is a pastime, who choose +the life of a soldier, exposed to dangers and continued fatigues; of a +mariner, in conflict with every hardship, and bereft of every conveniency; +of a politician, whose sport is the conduct of parties and factions; and +who, rather than be idle, will do the business of men and of nations for +whom he has not the smallest regard? Such men do not choose pain as +preferable to pleasure, but they are incited by a restless disposition to +make continued exertions of capacity and resolution; they triumph in the +midst of their struggles; they droop, and they languish, when the occasion +of their labour has ceased. + +What was enjoyment, in the sense of that youth, who, according to Tacitus, +loved danger itself, not the rewards of courage? What is the prospect of +pleasure, when the sound of the horn or the trumpet, the cry of the dogs, +or the shout of war, awaken the ardour of the sportsman and the soldier? +The most animating occasions of human life, are calls to danger and +hardship, not invitations to safety and ease: and man himself, in his +excellence, is not an animal of pleasure, nor destined merely to enjoy what +the elements bring to his use; but like his associates, the dog and the +horse, to follow the exercises of his nature, in preference to what are +called its enjoyments; to pine in the lap of ease and of affluence, and to +exult in the midst of alarms that seem to threaten his being, in all which, +his disposition to action only keeps pace with the variety of powers with +which he is furnished; and the most respectable attributes of his nature, +magnanimity, fortitude, and wisdom, carry a manifest reference to the +difficulties with which he is destined to struggle. + +If animal pleasure becomes insipid when the spirit is roused by a different +object, it is well known, likewise, that the sense of pain is prevented by +any vehement affection of the soul. Wounds received in a heat of passion, +in the hurry, the ardour, or consternation of battle, are never felt till +the ferment of the mind subsides. Even torments, deliberately applied, and +industriously prolonged, are borne with firmness, and with an appearance of +ease, when the mind is possessed with some vigorous sentiment, whether of +religion, enthusiasm, or love to mankind. The continued mortifications of +superstitious devotees in several ages of the Christian church; the wild +penances, still voluntarily borne, during many years, by the religionists +of the east; the contempt in which famine and torture are held by most +savage nations; the cheerful or obstinate patience of the soldier in the +field; the hardships endured by the sportsman in his pastime, show how much +we may err in computing the miseries of men, from the measures of trouble +and of suffering they seem to incur. And if there be a refinement in +affirming that their happiness is not to be measured by the contrary +enjoyments, it is a refinement which was made by Regulus and Cincinnatus +before the date of philosophy. Fabricius knew it while he had heard +arguments only on the opposite side. [Footnote: Plutarch in Vit. Pyrrh.] It +is a refinement, which every boy knows at his play, and every savage +confirms, when he looks from his forest on the pacific city, and scorns the +plantation, whose master he cares not to imitate. + +Man, it must be confessed, notwithstanding all this activity of his mind, +is an animal in the full extent of that designation. When the body sickens, +the mind droops; and when the blood ceases to flow, the soul takes its +departure. Charged with the care of his preservation, admonished by a sense +of pleasure or pain, and guarded by an instinctive fear of death, nature +has not intrusted his safety to the mere vigilance of his understanding, +nor to the government of his uncertain reflections. + +The distinction betwixt mind and body is followed by consequences of the +greatest importance; but the facts to which we now refer, are not founded +on any tenets whatever. They are equally true, whether we admit or reject, +the distinction in question, or whether we suppose, that this living agent +is formed of one, or is an assemblage of separate natures. And the +materialist, by treating of man as of an engine, cannot make any change in +the state of his history. He is a being, who, by a multiplicity of visible +organs, performs a variety of functions. He bends his joints, contracts or +relaxes his muscles in our sight. He continues the beating of the heart in +his breast, and the flowing of the blood to every part of his frame. He +performs other operations which we cannot refer to any corporeal organ. He +perceives, he recollects, and forecasts; he desires, and he shuns; he +admires, and contemns. He enjoys his pleasures, or he endures his pain. All +these different functions, in some measure, go well or ill together. When +the motion of the blood is languid, the muscles relax, the understanding is +tardy, and the fancy is dull: when distemper assails him, the physician +must attend no less to what he thinks, than, to what he eats, and examine +the returns of his passion, together with the strokes of his pulse. + +With all his sagacity, his precautions, and his instincts, which are given +to preserve his being, he partakes in the fate of other animals, and seems +to be formed only that he may die. Myriads perish before they reach the +perfection of their kind; and the individual, with an option to owe the +prolongation of his temporary course to resolution and conduct, or to +abject fear, frequently chooses the latter, and, by a habit of timidity, +embitters the life he is so intent to preserve. + +Man, however, at times, exempted from this mortifying lot, seems to act +without any regard to the length of his period. When he thinks intensely, +or desires with ardour, pleasures and pains from any other quarter assail +him in vain. Even in his dying hour, the muscles acquire a tone from his +spirit, and the mind seems to depart in its vigour, and in the midst of a +struggle to obtain the recent aim of its toil. Muley Moluck, borne on his +litter, and spent with disease, still fought the battle, in the midst of +which he expired; and the last effort he made, with a finger on his lips, +was a signal to conceal his death; [Footnote: Verlot's Revolutions of +Portugal] the precaution, perhaps, of all which he had hitherto taken, the +most necessary to prevent a defeat. + +Can no reflections aid us in acquiring this habit of the soul, so useful in +carrying us through many of the ordinary scenes of life? If we say, that +they cannot, the reality of its happiness is not the less evident. The +Greeks and the Romans considered contempt of pleasure, endurance of pain, +and neglect of life, as eminent qualities of a man, and a principal subject +of discipline. They trusted, that the vigorous spirit would find worthy +objects on which to employ its force; and that the first step towards a +resolute choice of such objects, was to shake off the meanness of a +solicitous and timorous mind. + +Mankind, in general, have courted occasions to display their courage, and +frequently, in search of admiration, have presented a spectacle, which to +those who have ceased to regard fortitude on its own account, becomes a +subject of horror. Scevola held his arm in the fire, to shake the soul of +Porsenna. The savage inures his body to the torture, that in the hour of +trial he may exult over his enemy. Even the Mussulman tears his flesh to +win the heart of his mistress, and comes in gaiety streaming with blood, to +shew that he deserves her esteem. [Footnote: Letters of the Right +Honourable Lady Mary Wortley Montagu.] + +Some nations carry the practice of inflicting, or of sporting with pain, to +a degree that is either cruel or absurd; others regard every prospect of +bodily suffering as the greatest of evils; and in the midst of their +troubles, embitter every real affliction, with the terrors of a feeble and +dejected imagination. We are not bound to answer for the follies of either, +nor, in treating a question which relates to the nature of man, make an +estimate of its strength or its weakness, from the habits or apprehensions +peculiar to any nation or age. + + + + +SECTION VIII. + +THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED. + + +Whoever has compared together the different conditions and manners of men, +under varieties of education or fortune, will be satisfied, that mere +situation does not constitute their happiness or misery; nor a diversity of +external observances imply any opposition of sentiments on the subject of +morality. They express their kindness and their enmity, in different +actions; but kindness or enmity is still the principal article of +consideration in human life. They engage in different pursuits, or +acquiesce in different conditions; but act from passions nearly the same. +There is no precise measure of accommodation required to suit their +conveniency, nor any degree of danger or safety under which they are +peculiarly fitted to act. Courage and generosity, fear and envy, are not +peculiar to any station or order of men; nor is there any condition in +which some of the human race have not shown, that it is possible to employ, +with propriety, the talents and virtues of their species. + +What, then, is that mysterious thing called _Happiness_ which may have +place in such a variety of stations, and to which circumstances, in one age +or nation thought necessary, are in another held to be destructive or of no +effect? It is not the succession of mere animal pleasures, which, apart +from the occupation or the company in which they engage us, can fill up but +a few moments in human life. On too frequent a repetition, those pleasures +turn to satiety and disgust; they tear the constitution to which they are +applied in excess, and, like the lightning of night, only serve to darken +the gloom through which they occasionally break. Happiness is not that +state of repose, or that imaginary freedom from care, which at a distance +is so frequent an object of desire, but with its approach brings a tedium, +or a languor, more unsupportable than pain itself. If the preceding +observations on this subject be just, it arises more from the pursuit, than +from the attainment of any end whatever; and in every new situation to +which we arrive, even in the course of a prosperous life, it depends more +on the degree in which our minds are properly employed, than it does on the +circumstances in which we are destined to act, on the materials which are +placed in our hands, or the tools with which we are furnished. + +If this be confessed in respect to that class of pursuits which are +distinguished by the name of _amusement_, and which, in the case of +men who are commonly deemed the most happy, occupy the greater part of +human life, we may apprehend, that it holds, much more than is commonly +suspected, in many cases of business, where the end to be gained, and not +the occupation, is supposed to have the principal value. + +The miser himself, we are told, can sometimes consider the care of his +wealth as a pastime, and has challenged his heir, to have more pleasure in +spending, than he in amassing his fortune. With this degree of indifference +to what may be the conduct of others; with this confinement of his care to +what he has chosen as his own province, more especially if he has conquered +in himself the passions of jealousy and envy, which tear the covetous mind; +why may not the man whose object is money, be understood to lead a life of +amusement and pleasure, not only more entire than that of the spendthrift, +but even as much as the virtuoso, the scholar, the man of taste, or any of +that class of persons who have found out a method of passing their leisure +without offence, and to whom the acquisitions made, or the works produced, +in their several ways, perhaps, are as useless as the bag to the miser, or +the counter to those who play from mere dissipation at any game of skill or +of chance? + +We are soon tired of diversions that do not approach to the nature of +business; that is, that do not engage some passion, or give an exercise +proportioned to our talents, and our faculties. The chace and the gaming +table have each their dangers and difficulties, to excite and employ the +mind. All games of contention animate our emulation, and give a species of +party zeal. The mathematician is only to be amused with intricate problems, +the lawyer and the casuist with cases that try their subtilty, and occupy +their judgment. + +The desire of active engagements, like every other natural appetite, may be +carried to excess; and men may debauch in amusements, as well as in the use +of wine, or other intoxicating liquors. At first, a trifling stake, and the +occupation of a moderate passion, may have served to amuse the gamester; +but when the drug becomes familiar, it fails to produce its effect: The +play is made deep, and the interest increased, to awaken his attention; he +is carried on by degrees, and in the end comes to seek for amusement, and +to find it only in those passions of anxiety, hope, and despair, which are +roused by the hazard into which he has thrown the whole of his fortunes. + +If men can thus turn their amusements into a scene more serious and +interesting than that of business itself, it will be difficult to assign a +reason why business, and many of the occupations of human life, independent +of any distant consequences of future events, may not be chosen as an +amusement, and adopted on account of the pastime they bring. This is, +perhaps, the foundation, on which, without the aid of reflection, the +contented and the cheerful have rested the gaiety of their tempers. It is, +perhaps, the most solid basis of fortitude which any reflection can lay; +and happiness itself is secured by making a certain species of conduct our +amusements; and, by considering life in the general estimate of its value, +as well on every particular occasion, as a mere scene for the exercise of +the mind, and the engagements of the heart. "I will try and attempt every +thing," says Brutus; "I will never cease to recal my country from this +state of servility. If the event be favourable, it will prove matter of joy +to us all; if not, yet I, notwithstanding, shall rejoice." Why rejoice in a +disappointment? Why not be dejected, when his country was overwhelmed? +Because sorrow, perhaps, and dejection, can do no good. Nay, but they must +be endured when they come. And whence should they come to me? might the +Roman say: I have followed my mind, and can follow it still. Events may +have changed the situation in which I am destined to act; but can they +hinder my acting the part of a man? Shew me a situation in which a man can +neither act nor die, and I will own he is wretched. + +Whoever has the force of mind steadily to view human life under this +aspect, has only to choose well his occupations, in order to command that +state of enjoyment, and freedom of soul, which probably constitute the +peculiar felicity to which his active nature is destined. + +The dispositions of men, and consequently their occupations, are commonly +divided into two principal classes; the selfish, and the social. The first +are indulged in solitude; and if they carry a reference to mankind, it is +that of emulation, competition, and enmity. The second incline us to live +with our fellow creatures, and to do them good; they tend to unite the +members of society together; they terminate in a mutual participation of +their cares and enjoyments, and render the presence of men an occasion of +joy. Under this class may be enumerated the passions of the sexes, the +affections of parents and children, general humanity, or singular +attachments; above all, that habit of the soul by which we consider +ourselves as but a part of some beloved community, and as but individual +members of some society, whose general welfare is to us the supreme object +of zeal, and the great rule of our conduct. This affection is a principle +of candour, which knows no partial distinctions, and is confined to no +bounds; it may extend its effects beyond our personal acquaintance; it may, +in the mind, and in thought, at least, make us feel a relation to the +universe, and to the whole creation of God. "Shall any one," says +Antoninus, "love the city of Cecrops, and you not love the city of God?" + +No emotion of the heart is indifferent. It is either an act of vivacity and +joy, or a feeling of sadness; a transport of pleasure, or a convulsion of +anguish; and the exercises of our different dispositions, as well as their +gratifications, are likely to prove matter of the greatest importance to +our happiness or misery. + +The individual is charged with the care of his animal preservation. He may +exist in solitude, and, far removed from society, perform many functions of +sense, imagination, and reason. He is even rewarded for the proper +discharge of those functions; and all the natural exercises which relate to +himself, as well as to his fellow creatures, not only occupy without +distressing him, but, in many instances, are attended with positive +pleasures, and fill up the hours of life with agreeable occupation. + +There is a degree, however, in which we suppose that the care of ourselves +becomes a source of painful anxiety and cruel passions; in which it +degenerates into avarice, vanity, or pride; and in which, by fostering +habits of jealousy and envy, of fear and malice, it becomes as destructive +of our own enjoyments, as it is hostile to the welfare of mankind. This +evil, however, is not to be charged upon any excess in the care of +ourselves, but upon a mere mistake in the choice of our objects. We look +abroad for a happiness which is to be found only in the qualities of the +heart: we think ourselves dependent on accidents; and are therefore kept in +suspense and solicitude. We think ourselves dependent on the will of other +men; and are therefore servile and timid: we think our felicity is placed +in subjects for which our fellow creatures are rivals and competitors; and +in pursuit of happiness, we engage in those scenes of emulation, envy, +hatred, animosity, and revenge, that lead to the highest pitch of distress. +We act, in short, as if to preserve ourselves were to retain our weakness, +and perpetuate our sufferings. We charge the ills of a distempered +imagination, and a corrupt heart, to the account of our fellow creatures, +to whom we refer the pangs of our disappointment or malice; and while we +foster our misery, are surprised that the care of ourselves is attended +with no better effects. But he who remembers that he is by nature a +rational being, and a member of society; that to preserve himself, is to +preserve his reason, and to preserve the best feelings of his heart; will +encounter with none of these inconveniencies; and in the care of himself, +will find subjects only of satisfaction and triumph. + +The division of our appetites into benevolent and selfish, has probably, in +some degree, helped to mislead our apprehension on the subject of personal +enjoyment and private good; and our zeal to prove that virtue is +disinterested, has not greatly promoted its cause. The gratification of a +selfish desire, it is thought, brings advantage or pleasure to ourselves; +that of benevolence terminates in the pleasure or advantage of others: +whereas, in reality, the gratification of every desire is a personal +enjoyment, and its value being proportioned to the particular quality or +force of the sentiment, it may happen that the same person may reap a +greater advantage from the good fortune he has procured to another, than +from that he has obtained for himself. + +While the gratifications of benevolence, therefore, are as much our own as +those of any other desire whatever, the mere exercises of this disposition +are, on many accounts, to be considered as the first and the principal +constituent of human happiness. Every act of kindness, or of care, in the +parent to his child; every emotion of the heart, in friendship or in love, +in public zeal, or general humanity, are so many acts of enjoyment and +satisfaction. Pity itself, and compassion, even grief and melancholy, when +grafted on some tender affection, partake of the nature of the stock; and +if they are not positive pleasures, are at least pains of a peculiar +nature, which we do not even wish to exchange but for a very real +enjoyment, obtained in relieving our object. Even extremes in this class of +our dispositions, as they are the reverse of hatred, envy, and malice, so +they are never attended with those excruciating anxieties, jealousies, and +fears, which tear the interested mind; or if, in reality, any ill passion +arise from a pretended attachment to our fellow creatures, that attachment +may be safely condemned, as not genuine. If we be distrustful or jealous, +our pretended affection is probably no more than a desire of attention and +personal consideration; a motive which frequently inclines us to be +connected with our fellow creatures; but to which we are as frequently +willing to sacrifice their happiness. We consider them as the tools of our +vanity, pleasure, or interest; not as the parties on whom we may bestow the +effects of our good will, and our love. + +A mind devoted to this class of its affections, being occupied with an +object that may engage it habitually, is not reduced to court the +amusements or pleasures with which persons of an ill temper are obliged to +repair their disgusts: and temperance becomes an easy task when +gratifications of sense are supplanted by those of the heart. Courage, too, +is most easily assumed, or is rather inseparable from that ardour of the +mind, in society, friendship, or in public action, which makes us forget +subjects of personal anxiety or fear, and attend chiefly to the object of +our zeal or affection, not to the trifling inconveniences, dangers, or +hardships, which we ourselves may encounter in striving to maintain it. + +It should seem, therefore, to be the happiness of man, to make his social +dispositions the ruling spring of his occupations; to state himself as the +member of a community, for whose general good his heart may glow with an +ardent zeal, to the suppression of those personal cares which are the +foundation of painful anxieties, fear, jealousy, and envy; or, as Mr. Pope +expresses the same sentiment. + + "Man, like the generous vine, supported lives; + The strength he gains, is from th' embrace he gives." + [Footnote: The same maxim will apply throughout every part of + nature. _To love, is to enjoy pleasure: to hate, is to be + in pain._] + +We commonly apprehend, that it is our duty to do kindnesses, and our +happiness to receive them; but if, in reality, courage, and a heart devoted +to the good of mankind, are the constituents of human felicity, the +kindness which is done infers a happiness in the person from whom it +proceeds, not in him on whom it is bestowed; and the greatest good which +men possessed of fortitude and generosity can procure to their fellow +creatures, is a participation of this happy character. + +If this be the good of the individual, it is likewise that of mankind; and +virtue no longer imposes a task by which we are obliged to bestow upon +others that good from which we ourselves refrain; but supposes, in the +highest degree, as possessed by ourselves, that state of felicity which we +are required to promote in the world. "You will confer the greatest benefit +on your city," says Epictetus, "not by raising the roofs, but by exalting +the souls of your fellow citizens; for it is better that great souls should +live in small habitations, than that abject slaves should burrow in great +houses." [Footnote: Mrs. Carter's translation of the works of Epictetus.] + +To the benevolent, the satisfaction of others is a ground of enjoyment; and +existence itself, in a world that is governed by the wisdom of God, is a +blessing. The mind, freed from cares that lead to pusillanimity and +meanness, becomes calm, active, fearless, and bold; capable of every +enterprise, and vigorous in the exercise of every talent, by which the +nature of man is adorned. On this foundation was raised the admirable +character, which, during a certain period of their story, distinguished the +celebrated nations of antiquity, and rendered familiar and ordinary in +their manners, examples of magnanimity, which, under governments less +favourable to the public affections, rarely occur; or which, without being +much practised, or even understood, are made subjects of admiration and +swelling panegyric. "Thus," says Xenophon, "died Thrasybulus; who indeed +appears to have been a good man." What valuable praise, and how significant +to those who know the story of this admirable person! The members of those +illustrious states, from the habit of considering themselves as part of a +community, or at least as deeply involved with some order of men in the +state, were regardless of personal considerations: they had a perpetual +view to objects which excite a great ardour in the soul; which led them to +act perpetually in the view of their fellow citizens, and to practise those +arts of deliberation, elocution, policy, and war, on which the fortunes of +nations, or of men, in their collective body, depend. To the force of mind +collected in this career, and to the improvements of wit which were made in +pursuing it, these nations owed, not only their magnanimity, and the +superiority of their political and military conduct, but even the arts of +poetry and literature, which among them were only the inferior appendages +of a genius otherwise excited, cultivated, and refined. + +To the ancient Greek, or the Roman, the individual was nothing, and the +public every thing. To the modern, in too many nations of Europe, the +individual is every thing, and the public nothing. The state is merely a +combination of departments, in which consideration, wealth, eminence, or +power, are offered as the reward of service. It was the nature of modern +government, even in its first institution, to bestow on every individual a +fixed station and dignity, which he was to maintain for himself. Our +ancestors, in rude ages, during the recess of wars from abroad, fought for +their personal claims at home, and by their competitions, and the balance +of their powers, maintained a kind of political freedom in the state, while +private parties were subject to continual wrongs and oppressions. Their +posterity, in times more polished, have repressed the civil disorders in +which the activity of earlier ages chiefly consisted; but they employ the +calm they have gained, not in fostering a zeal for those laws, and that +constitution of government, to which they owe their protection, but in +practising apart, and each for himself, the several arts of personal +advancement, or profit, which their political establishments may enable +them to pursue with success. Commerce, which may be supposed to comprehend +every lucrative art, is accordingly considered as the great object of +nations, and the principal study of mankind. + +So much are we accustomed to consider personal fortune as the sole object +of care, that even under popular establishments, and in states where +different orders of men are summoned to partake in the government of their +country, and where the liberties they enjoy cannot be long preserved, +without vigilance and activity on the part of the subject; still they, who, +in the vulgar phrase, have not their fortunes to make, are supposed to be +at a loss for occupation, and betake themselves to solitary pastimes, or +cultivate what they are pleased to call a taste for gardening, building, +drawing, or music. With this aid, they endeavour to fill up the blanks of a +listless life, and avoid the necessity of curing their languors by any +positive service to their country, or to mankind. + +The weak or the malicious are well employed in any thing that is innocent, +and are fortunate in finding any occupation which prevents the effects of a +temper that would prey upon themselves, or upon their fellow creatures. But +they who are blessed with a happy disposition, with capacity and vigour, +incur a real debauchery, by having any amusement that occupies an improper +share of their time; and are really cheated of their happiness, in being +made to believe, that any occupation or pastime is better fitted to amuse +themselves, than that which at the same time produces some real good to +their fellow creatures. + +This sort of entertainment, indeed, cannot be the choice of the mercenary, +the envious, or the malicious. Its value is known only to persons of an +opposite temper; and to their experience alone, we appeal. Guided by mere +disposition, and without the aid of reflection, in business, in friendship, +and in public life, they often acquit themselves well; and borne with +satisfaction on the tide of their emotions and sentiments, enjoy the +present hour, without recollection of the past, or hopes of the future. It +is in speculation, not in practice, they are made to discover, that virtue +is a task of severity and self denial. + + + + +SECTION IX. + +OF NATIONAL FELICITY. + + +Man is, by nature, the member of a community; and when considered in this +capacity, the individual appears to be no longer made for himself. He must +forego his happiness and his freedom, where these interfere with the good +of society. He is only part of a whole; and the praise we think due to his +virtue, is but a branch of that more general commendation we bestow on the +member of a body, on the part of a fabric, or engine, for being well fitted +to occupy its place, and to produce its effect. + +If this follow from the relation of a part to its whole, and if the public +good be the principal object with individuals, it is likewise true, that +the happiness of individuals is the great end of civil society; for, in +what sense can a public enjoy any good, if its members, considered apart, +be unhappy? + +The interests of society, however, and of its members, are easily +reconciled. If the individual owe every degree of consideration to the +public, he receives, in paying that very consideration, the greatest +happiness of which his nature is capable; and the greatest blessing the +public can bestow on its members, is to keep them attached to itself. That +is the most happy state, which is most beloved by its subjects; and they +are the most happy men, whose hearts are engaged to a community, in which +they find every object of generosity and zeal, and a scope to the exercise +of every talent, and of every virtuous disposition. + +After we have thus found general maxims, the greater part of our trouble +remains, their just application to particular cases. Nations are different +in respect to their extent, numbers of people, and wealth; in respect to +the arts they practise, and the accommodations they have procured. These +circumstances may not only affect the manners of men; they even, in our +esteem, come into competition with the article of manners itself; are +supposed to constitute a national felicity, independent of virtue; and give +a title, upon which we indulge our own vanity, and that of other nations, +as we do that of private men, on the score of their fortunes and honours. + +But if this way of measuring happiness, when applied to private men, be +ruinous and false, it is so no less when applied to nations. Wealth, +commerce, extent of territory, and the knowledge of arts, are, when +properly employed, the means of preservation, and the foundations of power. +If they fail in part, the nation is weakened; if they were entirely +withheld, the race would perish: Their tendency is to maintain numbers of +men, but not to constitute happiness. They will accordingly maintain the +wretched as well as the happy. They answer one purpose, but are not +therefore sufficient for all; and are of little significance, when only +employed to maintain a timid, dejected, and servile people. + +Great and powerful states are able to overcome and subdue the weak; +polished and commercial nations have more wealth, and practise a greater +variety of arts, than the rude: but the happiness of men, in all cases +alike, consists in the blessings of a candid, an active, and strenuous +mind. And if we consider the state of society merely as that into which +mankind are led by their propensities, as a state to be valued from its +effect in preserving the species, in ripening their talents, and exciting +their virtues, we need not enlarge our communities, in order to enjoy these +advantages. We frequently obtain them in the most remarkable degree, where +nations remain independent, and are of a small extent. + +To increase the numbers of mankind, may be admitted as a great and +important object; but to extend the limits of any particular state, is not, +perhaps, the way to obtain it: while we desire that our fellow creatures +should multiply, it does not follow, that the whole should, if possible, be +united under one head. We are apt to admire the empire of the Romans, as a +model of national greatness and splendour; but the greatness we admire, in +this case, was ruinous to the virtue and the happiness of mankind; it was +found to be inconsistent with all the advantages which that conquering +people had formerly enjoyed in the articles of government and manners. + +The emulation of nations proceeds from their division. A cluster of states, +like a company of men, find the exercise of their reason, and the test of +their virtues, in the affairs they transact, upon a foot of equality, and +of separate interest. The measures taken for safety, including great part +of the national policy, are relative in every state to what is apprehended +from abroad. Athens was necessary to Sparta in the exercise of her virtue, +as steel is to flint in the production of fire; and if the cities of Greece +had been united under one head, we should never have heard of Epaminondas +or Thrasybulus, of Lycurgus or Solon. + +When we reason in behalf of our species, therefore, although we may lament +the abuses which sometimes arise from independence, and opposition of +interest; yet, whilst any degrees of virtue remain with mankind, we cannot +wish to crowd, under one establishment, numbers of men who may serve to +constitute several; or to commit affairs to the conduct of one senate, one +legislative or executive power, which, upon a distinct and separate +footing, might furnish an exercise of ability, and a theatre of glory to +many. + +This may be a subject upon which no determinate rule can be given; but the +admiration of boundless dominion is a ruinous error; and in no instance, +perhaps, is the real interest of mankind more entirely mistaken. + +The measure of enlargement to be wished for in any particular state, is +often to be taken from the condition of its neighbours. Where a number of +states are contiguous, they should be near an equality, in order that they +may be mutually objects of respect and consideration, and in order that +they may possess that independence in which the political life of a nation +consists. When the kingdoms of Spain were united, when the great fiefs in +France were annexed to the crown, it was no longer expedient for the +nations of Great Britain to continue disjoined. + +The small republics of Greece, indeed, by their subdivisions, and the +balance of their power, found almost in every village the object of +nations. Every little district was a nursery of excellent men, and what is +now the wretched corner of a great empire, was the field on which mankind +have reaped their principal honours. But in modern Europe, republics of a +similar extent are like shrubs, under the shade of a taller wood, choaked +by the neighbourhood of more powerful states. In their case, a certain +disproportion of force frustrates, in a great measure, the advantage of +separation. They are like the trader in Poland, who is the more despicable, +and the less secure, that he is neither master nor slave. + +Independent communities, in the mean time, however weak, are averse to a +coalition, not only where it comes with an air of imposition, or unequal +treaty, but even where it implies no more than the admission of new members +to an equal share of consideration with the old. The citizen has no +interest in the annexation of kingdoms; he must find his importance +diminished, as the state is enlarged. But ambitious men, under the +enlargement of territory, find a more plentiful harvest of power, and of +wealth, while government itself is an easier task. Hence the ruinous +progress of empire; and hence free nations, under the show of acquiring +dominion, suffer themselves, in the end, to be yoked with the slaves they +had conquered. + +Our desire to augment the force of a nation is the only pretext for +enlarging its territory; but this measure, when pursued to extremes, seldom +fails to frustrate itself. + +Notwithstanding the advantage of numbers, and superior resources in war, +the strength of a nation is derived from the character, not from the +wealth, nor from the multitude of its people. If the treasure of a state +can hire numbers of men, erect ramparts, and furnish the implements of war; +the possessions of the fearful are easily seized; a timorous multitude +falls into rout of itself; ramparts may be scaled where they are not +defended by valour; and arms are of consequence only in the hands of the +brave. The band to which Agesilaus pointed as the wall of his city, made a +defence for their country more permanent, and more effectual, than the rock +and the cement with which other cities were fortified. + +We should owe little to that statesman, who were to contrive a defence that +might supersede the external uses of virtue. It is wisely ordered for man, +as a rational being, that the employment of reason is necessary to his +preservation; it is fortunate for him, in the pursuit of distinction, that +his personal consideration depends on his character; and it is fortunate +for nations, that, in order to be powerful and safe, they must strive to +maintain the courage, and cultivate the virtues, of their people. By the +use of such means, they at once gain their external ends, and are happy. + +Peace and unanimity are commonly considered as the principal foundations of +public felicity; yet the rivalship of separate communities, and the +agitations of a free people, are the principles of political life, and the +school of men. How shall we reconcile these jarring and opposite tenets? It +is, perhaps, not necessary to reconcile them. The pacific may do what they +can to allay the animosities, and to reconcile the opinions, of men; and it +will be happy if they can succeed in repressing their crimes, and in +calming the worst of their passions. Nothing, in the mean time, but +corruption or slavery can suppress the debates that subsist among men of +integrity, who bear an equal part in the administration of state. + +A perfect agreement in matters of opinion is not to be obtained in the most +select company; and if it were, what would become of society? "The +Spartan legislator," says Plutarch, "appears to have sown the seeds of +variance and dissention among his countrymen: he meant that good citizens +should be led to dispute; he considered emulation as the brand by which +their virtues were kindled; and seemed to apprehend, that a complaisance, +by which men submit their opinions without examination, is a principal +source of corruption." + +Forms of government are supposed to decide of the happiness or misery of +mankind. But forms of government must be varied, in order to suit the +extent, the way of subsistence, the character, and the manners of different +nations. In some cases, the multitude may be suffered to govern themselves; +in others they must be severely restrained. The inhabitants of a village, +in some primitive age, may have been safely entrusted to the conduct of +reason, and to the suggestion of their innocent views; but the tenants of +Newgate can scarcely be trusted, with chains locked to their bodies, and +bars of iron fixed to their legs. How is it possible, therefore, to find +any single form of government that would suit mankind in every condition? + +We proceed, however, in the following section, to point out the +distinctions, and to explain the language which occurs in this place, on +the head of different models for subordination and government. + + + + +SECTION X. + +THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED. + + +It is a common observation, that mankind were originally equal. They have +indeed by nature equal right to their preservation, and to the use of their +talents; but they are fitted for different stations; and when they are +classed by a rule taken from this circumstance, they suffer no injustice on +the side of their natural rights. It is obvious, that some mode of +subordination is as necessary to men as society itself; and this, not only +to attain the ends of government, but to comply with an order established +by nature. + +Prior to any political institution whatever, men are qualified by a great +diversity of talents, by a different tone of the soul, and ardour of the +passions, to act a variety of parts. Bring them together, each will find +his place. They censure or applaud in a body; they consult and deliberate +in more select parties; they take or give an ascendant as individuals; and +numbers are by this means fitted to act in company, and to preserve their +communities, before any formal distribution of office is made. We are +formed to act in this manner; and if we have any doubts with relation to +the rights of government in general, we owe our perplexity more to the +subtilties of the speculative, than to any uncertainty in the feelings of +the heart. Involved in the resolutions of our company, we move with the +crowd before we have determined the rule by which its will is collected. We +follow a leader, before we have settled the ground of his pretensions, or +adjusted the form of his election; and it is not till after mankind have +committed many errors in the capacities of magistrate and subject, that +they think of making government itself a subject of rules. + +If, therefore, in considering the variety of forms under which societies +subsist, the casuist is pleased to inquire, what title one man, or any +number of men, have to control his actions? he may be answered, none at +all, provided that his actions have no effect to the prejudice of his +fellow creatures; but if they have, the rights of defence, and the +obligation to repress the commission of wrongs, belong to collective +bodies, as well as to individuals. Many rude nations, having no formal +tribunals for the judgment of crimes, assemble, when alarmed by any +flagrant offence, and take their measures with the criminal as they would +with an enemy. But will this consideration, which confirms the title to +sovereignty, where it is exercised by the society in its collective +capacity, or by those to whom the powers of the whole are committed, +likewise support the claim to dominion, wherever it is casually lodged, or +even where it is only maintained by force? + +This question may be sufficiently answered, by observing, that a right to +do justice, and to do good, is competent to every individual, or order of +men; and that the exercise of this right has no limits but in the defect of +power. Whoever, therefore, has power, may employ it to this extent; and no +previous convention is required to justify his conduct. But a right to do +wrong, or to commit injustice, is an abuse of language, and a contradiction +in terms. It is no more competent to the collective body of a people, than +it is to any single usurper. When we admit such a prerogative in the case +of any sovereign, we can only mean to express the extent of his power, and +the force with which he is enabled to execute his pleasure. Such a +prerogative is assumed by the leader of banditti at the head of his gang, +or by a despotic prince at the head of his troops. When the sword is +presented by either, the traveller or the inhabitant may submit from a +sense of necessity or fear; but he lies under no obligation from a motive +of duty or justice. + +The multiplicity of forms, in the mean time, which different societies +offer to our view, is almost infinite. The classes into which they +distribute their members, the manner in which they establish the +legislative and executive powers, the imperceptible circumstances by which +they are led to have different customs, and to confer on their governors +unequal measures of power and authority, give rise to perpetual +distinctions between constitutions the most nearly resembling each other, +and give to human affairs a variety in detail, which, in its full extent, +no understanding can comprehend, and no memory retain. + +In order to have a general and comprehensive knowledge of the whole, we +must be determined on this, as on every other subject, to overlook many +particulars and singularities, distinguishing different governments; to fix +our attention on certain points, in which many agree; and thereby establish +a few general heads, under which the subject may be distinctly considered. +When we have marked the characteristics which form the general points of +coincidence; when we have pursued them to their consequences in the several +modes of legislation, execution, and judicature, in the establishments +which relate to police, commerce, religion, or domestic life; we have made +an acquisition of knowledge, which, though it does not supersede the +necessity of experience, may serve to direct our inquiries, and, in the +midst of affairs, give an order and a method for the arrangement of +particulars that occur to our observation. + +When I recollect what the President Montesquieu has written, I am at a loss +to tell, why I should treat of human affairs; but I too am instigated by my +reflections, and my sentiments; and I may utter them more to the +comprehension of ordinary capacities, because I am more on the level of +ordinary men. If it be necessary to pave the way for what follows on the +general history of nations, by giving some account of the heads under which +various forms of government may be conveniently ranged, the reader should +perhaps be referred to what has been already delivered on the subject by +this profound politician and amiable moralist. In his writings will be +found, not only the original of what I am now, for the sake of order, to +copy from him, but likewise probably the source of many observations, +which, in different places, I may, under the belief of invention, have +repeated, without quoting their author. + +The ancient philosophers treated of government commonly under three heads; +the Democratic, the Aristocratic, and the Despotic. Their attention was +chiefly occupied with the varieties of republican government, and they paid +little regard to a very important distinction, which Mr. Montesquieu has +made, between despotism and monarchy. He too has considered government as +reducible to three general forms; and, "to understand the nature of each," +he observes, "it is sufficient to recal ideas which are familiar with men +of the least reflection, who admit three definitions, or rather three +facts: that a republic is a state in which the people in a collective body, +or a part of the people, possess the sovereign power; that monarchy is that +in which one man governs, according to fixed and determinate laws; and a +despotism is that in which one man, without law, or rule of administration, +by the mere impulse of will or caprice, decides, and carries every thing +before him." + +Republics admit of a very material distinction, which is pointed out in the +general definition; that between democracy and aristocracy. In the first, +supreme power remains in the hands of the collective body. Every office of +magistracy, at the nomination of this sovereign, is open to every citizen; +who, in the discharge of his duty, becomes the minister of the people, and +accountable to them for every object of his trust. + +In the second, the sovereignty is lodged in a particular class, or order of +men; who, being once named, continue for life; or, by the hereditary +distinctions of birth and fortune, are advanced to a station of permanent +superiority. From this order, and by their nomination, all the offices of +magistracy are filled; and in the different assemblies which they +constitute, whatever relates to the legislation, the execution, or +jurisdiction, is finally determined. + +Mr. Montesquieu has pointed out the sentiments or maxims from which men +must be supposed to act under these different governments. + +In democracy, they must love equality; they must respect the rights of +their fellow citizens; they must unite by the common ties of affection to +the state. + +In forming personal pretensions, they must be satisfied with that degree of +consideration they can procure by their abilities fairly measured with +those of an opponent; they must labour for the public without hope of +profit; they must reject every attempt to create a personal dependence. +Candour, force, and elevation of mind, in short, are the props of +democracy; and virtue is the principle of conduct required to its +preservation. + +How beautiful a pre-eminence on the side of popular government! And how +ardently should mankind wish for the form, if it tended to establish the +principle, or were, in every instance, a sure indication of its presence! + +But perhaps we must have possessed the principle, in order, with any hopes +of advantage, to receive the form; and where the first is entirely +extinguished, the other may be fraught with evil, if any additional evil +deserves to be shunned where men are already unhappy. + +At Constantinople or Algiers, it is a miserable spectacle when men pretend +to act on a foot of equality: they only mean to shake off the restraints of +government, and to seize as much as they can of that spoil, which, in +ordinary times, is engrossed by the master they serve. + +It is one advantage of democracy, that the principal ground of distinction +being personal qualities, men are classed according to their abilities, and +to the merit of their actions. Though all have equal pretensions to power, +yet the state is actually governed by a few. The majority of the people, +even in their capacity of sovereign, only pretend to employ their senses; +to feel, when pressed by national inconveniencies, or threatened by public +dangers; and with the ardour which is apt to arise in crowded assemblies, +to urge the pursuits in which they are engaged, or to repel the attacks +with which they are menaced. + +The most perfect equality of rights can never exclude the ascendant of +superior minds, nor the assemblies of a collective body govern without the +direction of select councils. On this as account, popular government may be +confounded with aristocracy. But this alone does not constitute the +character of aristocratical government. Here the members of the state are +divided, at least, into two classes; of which one is destined to command, +the other to obey. No merits or defects can raise or sink a person from one +class to the other. The only effect of personal character is, to procure to +the individual a suitable degree of consideration with his own order, not +to vary his rank. In one situation he is taught to assume, in another to +yield the pre-eminence. He occupies the station of patron or client, and is +either the sovereign or the subject of his country. The whole citizens may +unite in executing the plans of state, but never in deliberating on its +measures, or enacting its laws. What belongs to the whole people under +democracy, is here confined to a part. Members of the superior order, are +among themselves, possibly, classed according to their abilities, but +retain a perpetual ascendant over those of inferior station. They are at +once the servants and the masters of the state, and pay, with their +personal attendance and with their blood, for the civil or military honours +they enjoy. + +To maintain for himself, and to admit in his fellow citizen, a perfect +equality of privilege and station, is no longer the leading maxim of the +member of such a community. The rights of men are modified by their +condition. One order claims more than it is willing to yield; the other +must be ready to yield what it does not assume to itself; and it is with +good reason that Mr. Montesquieu gives to the principle of such governments +the name of _moderation_, not of _virtue_. + +The elevation of one class is a moderated arrogance; the submission of the +other a limited deference. The first must be careful, by concealing the +invidious part of their distinction, to palliate what is grievous in the +public arrangement, and by their education, their cultivated manners, and +improved talents, to appear qualified for the stations they occupy. The +other, must be taught to yield, from respect and personal attachment, what +could not otherwise be extorted by force. When this moderation fails on +either side, the constitution totters. A populace enraged to mutiny, may +claim the right of equality to which they are admitted in democratical +states; or a nobility bent on dominion, may choose among themselves, or +find already pointed out to them, a sovereign, who, by advantages of +fortune, popularity, or abilities, is ready to seize for his own family, +that envied power which has already carried his order beyond the limits of +moderation, and infected particular men with a boundless ambition. +Monarchies have accordingly been found with the recent marks of +aristocracy. There, however, the monarch is only the first among the +nobles; he must be satisfied with a limited power; his subjects are ranged +into classes; he finds on every quarter a pretence to privilege that +circumscribes his authority; and he finds a force sufficient to confine his +administration within certain bounds of equity and determinate laws. Under +such governments, however, the love of equality is preposterous, and +moderation itself is unnecessary. The object of every rank is precedency, +and every order may display its advantages to their full extent. The +sovereign himself owes great part of his authority to the sounding titles +and the dazzling equipage which he exhibits in public. The subordinate +ranks lay claim to importance by a like exhibition, and for that purpose +carry in every instant the ensigns of their birth, or the ornaments of +their fortune. What else could mark out to the individual the relation in +which he stands to his fellow subjects, or distinguish the numberless ranks +that fill up the interval between the state of the sovereign and that of +the peasant? Or what else could, in states of a great extent, preserve any +appearance of order, among members disunited by ambition and interest, and +destined to form a community, without the sense of any common concern? + +Monarchies are generally found where the state is enlarged, in population +and in territory, beyond the numbers and dimensions that are consistent +with republican government. Together with these circumstances, great +inequalities arise in the distribution of property; and the desire of +pre-eminence becomes the predominant passion. Every rank would exercise its +prerogative, and the sovereign is perpetually tempted to enlarge his own; +if subjects, who despair of precedence, plead for equality, he is willing +to favour their claims, and to aid them in reducing pretensions, with which +he himself is, on many occasions, obliged to contend. In the event of such +a policy, many invidious distinctions and grievances peculiar to +monarchical government, may, in appearance, be removed; but the state of +equality to which the subjects approach is that of slaves, equally +dependent on the will of a master, not that of freemen, in a condition to +maintain their own. + +The principle of monarchy, according to Montesquieu, is honour. Men may +possess good qualities, elevation of mind, and fortitude; but the sense of +equality, that will hear no encroachment on the personal rights of the +meanest citizen; the indignant spirit, that will not court a protection, +nor accept as a favour what is due as a right; the public affection, which +is founded on the neglect of personal considerations, are neither +consistent with the preservation of the constitution, nor agreeable to the +habits acquired in any station assigned to its members. + +Every condition is possessed of peculiar dignity, and points out a +propriety of conduct, which men of station are obliged to maintain. In the +commerce of superiors and inferiors, it is the object of ambition, and of +vanity, to refine on the advantages of rank; while, to facilitate the +intercourse of polite society, it is the aim of good breeding to disguise, +or reject them. + +Though the objects of consideration are rather the dignities of station +than personal qualities; though friendship cannot be formed by mere +inclination, nor alliances by the mere choice of the heart; yet men so +united, and even without changing their order, are highly susceptible of +moral excellence, or liable to many different degrees of corruption. They +may act a vigorous part as members of the state, an amiable one in the +commerce of private society; or they may yield up their dignity as +citizens, even while they raise their arrogance and presumption as private +parties. + +In monarchy, all orders of men derive their honours from the crown; but +they continue to hold them as a right, and they exercise a subordinate +power in the state, founded on the permanent rank they enjoy, and on the +attachment of those whom they are appointed to lead and protect. Though +they do not force themselves into national councils and public assemblies, +and though the name of senate is unknown, yet the sentiments they adopt +must have weight with the sovereign; and every individual, in his separate +capacity, in some measure, deliberates for his country. In whatever does +not derogate from his rank, he has an arm ready to serve the community; in +whatever alarms his sense of honour, he has aversions and dislikes, which +amount to a negative on the will of his prince. + +Entangled together by the reciprocal ties of dependence and protection, +though not combined by the sense of a common interest, the subjects of +monarchy, like those of republics, find themselves occupied as the members +of an active society, and engaged to treat with their fellow creatures on a +liberal footing. If those principles of honour which save the individual +from servility in his own person, or from becoming an engine of oppression +in the hands of another, should fail; if they should give way to the maxims +of commerce, to the refinements of a supposed philosophy, or to the +misplaced ardours of a republican spirit; if they are betrayed by the +cowardice of subjects, or subdued by the ambition of princes; what must +become of the nations of Europe? + +Despotism is monarchy corrupted, in which a court and a prince in +appearance remain, but in which every subordinate rank is destroyed; in +which the subject is told, that he has no rights; that he cannot possess +any property, nor fill any station independent of the momentary will of his +prince. These doctrines are founded on the maxims of conquest; they must be +inculcated with the whip and the sword; and are best received under the +terror of chains and imprisonment. Fear, therefore, is the principle which +qualifies the subject to occupy his station; and the sovereign, who holds +out the ensigns of terror so freely to others, has abundant reason to give +this passion a principal place with himself. That tenure which he has +devised for the rights of others, is soon applied to his own; and from his +eager desire to secure, or to extend his power, he finds it become, like +the fortunes of his people, a creature of mere imagination and unsettled +caprice. + +Whilst we thus, with so much accuracy, can assign the ideal limits that may +distinguish constitutions of government, we find them, in reality, both in +respect to the principle and the form, variously blended together. In what +society are not men classed by external distinctions, as well as personal +qualities? In what state are they not actuated by a variety of principles; +justice, honour, moderation, and fear? It is the purpose of science not to +disguise this confusion in its object, but, in the multiplicity and +combination of particulars, to find the principal points which deserve our +attention; and which, being well understood, save us from the embarrassment +which the varieties of singular cases might otherwise create. In the same +degree in which governments require men to act from principles of virtue, +of honour, or of fear, they are more or less fully comprised under the +heads of republic, monarchy, or despotism, and the general theory is more +or less applicable to their particular case. + +Forms of government, in fact, mutually approach or recede by many, and +often insensible gradations. Democracy, by admitting certain inequalities +of rank, approaches to aristocracy. In popular, as well as aristocratical +governments, particular men; by their personal authority, and sometimes by +the credit of their family, have maintained a species of monarchical power. +The monarch is limited in different degrees: even the despotic prince is +only that monarch whose subjects claim the fewest privileges, or who is +himself best prepared to subdue them by force. All these varieties are but +steps in the history of mankind, and, mark the fleeting and transient +situations through which they have passed; while supported by virtue, or +depressed by vice. + +Perfect democracy and despotism appear to be the opposite extremes at which +constitutions of government farthest recede from each other. Under the +first, a perfect virtue is required; under the second, a total corruption +is supposed: yet, in point of mere form, there being nothing fixed in the +ranks and distinctions of men beyond the casual and temporary possession of +power, societies easily pass from a condition in which every individual has +an equal title to reign, into one in which they are equally destined to +serve. The same qualities in both, courage, popularity, address, and +military conduct, raise the ambitious to eminence. With these qualities, +the citizen or the slave easily passes from the ranks to the command of an +army, from an obscure to an illustrious station. In either, a single person +may rule with unlimited sway; and in both, the populace may break down +every barrier of order, and restraint of law. + +If we suppose that the equality established among the subjects of a +despotic state has inspired its members with confidence, intrepidity, and +the love of justice; the despotic prince, having ceased to be an object of +fear, must sink among the crowd. If, on the contrary, the personal +equality which is enjoyed by the members of a democratical state, should be +valued merely as an equal pretension to the objects of avarice and +ambition, the monarch may start up anew, and be supported by those who mean +to share in his profits. When the rapacious and mercenary assemble in +parties, it is of no consequence under what leader they inlist, whether +Cćsar or Pompey; the hopes of rapine or pay are the only motives from which +they become attached to either. + +In the disorder of corrupted societies, the scene has been frequently +changed from democracy to despotism, and from the last too, in its turn, to +the first. From amidst the democracy of corrupt men, and from a scene of +lawless confusion, the tyrant ascends a throne with arms reeking in blood. +But his abuses, or his weaknesses, in the station he has gained, in their +turn awaken and give way to the spirit of mutiny and revenge. The cries of +murder and desolation, which in the ordinary course of military government +terrified the subject in his private retreat, sound through the vaults, and +pierce the grates and iron doors of the seraglio. Democracy seems to revive +in a scene of wild disorder and tumult; but both the extremes are but the +transient fits of paroxysm or languor in a distempered state. + +If men be anywhere arrived at this measure of depravity, there appears no +immediate hope of redress. Neither the ascendancy of the multitude, nor +that of the tyrant, will secure the administration of justice; neither the +license of mere tumult, nor the calm of dejection and servitude, will teach +the citizen that he was born for candour and affection to his fellow +creatures. And if the speculative would find that habitual state of war +which they are sometimes pleased to honour with the name of _the state of +nature_, they will find it in the contest that subsists between the +despotical prince and his subjects, not in the first approaches of a rude +and simple tribe to the condition and the domestic arrangement of nations. + + + +AN ESSAY ON THE HISTORY OF CIVIL SOCIETY. + + + * * * * * + + + + +PART SECOND. + +OF THE HISTORY OF RUDE NATIONS. + + + * * * * * + + + + + +SECTION I. + +OF THE INFORMATIONS ON THIS SUBJECT WHICH ARE DERIVED FROM ANTIQUITY. + + +The history of mankind is confined within a limited period, and from every +quarter brings an intimation that human affairs have had a beginning. +Nations, distinguished by the possession of arts, and the felicity of their +political establishments, have been derived from a feeble original, and +still preserve in their story the indications of a slow and gradual +progress, by which this distinction was gained. The antiquities of every +people, however diversified, and however disguised, contain the same +information on this point. + +In sacred history, we find the parents of the species, as yet a single +pair, sent forth to inherit the earth, and to force a subsistence for +themselves amidst the briars and thorns which were made to abound on its +surface. Their race, which was again reduced to a few, had to struggle with +the dangers that await a weak and infant species; and after many ages +elapsed, the most respectable nations took their rise from one or a few +families that had pastured their flocks in the desert. + +The Grecians derive their own origin from unsettled tribes, whose frequent +migrations are a proof of the rude and infant state of their communities; +and whose warlike exploits, so much celebrated in story, only exhibit the +struggles with which they disputed the possession of a country they +afterwards, by their talent for fable, by their arts, and their policy, +rendered so famous in the history of mankind. + +Italy must have been divided into many rude and feeble cantons, when a band +of robbers, as we are taught to consider them, found a secure settlement on +the banks of the Tiber, and when a people, yet composed only of one sex, +sustained the character of a nation. Rome, for many ages, saw, from her +walls, on every side, the territory of her enemies, and found as little to +check or to stifle the weakness of her infant power, as she did afterwards +to restrain the progress of her extended empire. Like a Tartar or a +Scythian horde, which had pitched on a settlement, this nascent community +was equal, if not superior, to every tribe in its neighbourhood; and the +oak which has covered the field with its shade, was once a feeble plant in +the nursery, and not to be distinguished from the weeds by which its early +growth was restrained. + +The Gauls and the Germans are come to our knowledge with the marks of a +similar condition; and the inhabitants of Britain, at the time of the first +Roman invasions; resembled, in many things, the present natives of North +America: they were ignorant of agriculture; they painted their bodies; and +used for clothing the skins of beasts. + +Such, therefore, appears to have been the commencement of history with all +nations, and in such circumstances are we to look for the original +character of mankind. The inquiry refers to a distant period, and every +conclusion should build on the facts which are preserved for our use. Our +method, notwithstanding, too frequently, is to rest the whole on +conjecture; to impute every advantage of our nature to those arts which we +ourselves possess; and to imagine, that a mere negation of all our virtues +is a sufficient description of man in his original state. We are ourselves +the supposed standards of politeness and civilization; and where our own +features do not appear, we apprehend, that there is nothing which deserves +to be known. But it is probable that here, as in many other cases, we are +ill qualified, from our supposed knowledge of causes, to prognosticate +effects, or to determine what must have been the properties and operations, +even of our own nature, in the absence of those circumstances in which we +have seen it engaged. Who would, from mere conjecture, suppose, that the +naked savage would be a coxcomb and a gamester? that he would be proud or +vain, without the distinctions of title and fortune? and that his principal +care would be to adorn his person, and to find an amusement? Even if it +could be supposed that he would thus share in our vices, and, in the midst +of his forest, vie with the follies which are practised in the town; yet no +one would be so bold as to affirm, that he would likewise, in any +instance, excel us in talents and virtues; that he would have a +penetration, a force of imagination and elocution, an ardour of mind, an +affection and courage, which the arts, the discipline, and the policy of +few nations would be able to improve. Yet these particulars are a part in +the description which is delivered by those who have had opportunities of +seeing mankind in their rudest condition; and beyond the reach of such +testimony, we can neither safely take, nor pretend to give, information on +the subject. + +If conjectures and opinions formed at a distance, have not sufficient +authority in the history of mankind, the domestic antiquities of every +nation must, for this very reason, be received with caution. They are, for +the most part, the mere conjectures or the fictions of subsequent ages; and +even where at first they contained some resemblance of truth, they still +vary with the imagination of those by whom they are transmitted, and in +every generation receive a different form. They are made to bear the stamp +of the times through which they have passed in the form of tradition, not +of the ages to which their pretended descriptions relate. The information +they bring, is not like the light reflected from a mirror, which delineates +the object from which it originally came; but, like rays that come broken +and dispersed from an opaque or unpolished surface, only give the colours +and features of the body from which they were last reflected. + +When traditionary fables are rehearsed by the vulgar, they bear the marks +of a national character; and though mixed with absurdities, often raise the +imagination, and move the heart: when made the materials of poetry, and +adorned by the skill and the eloquence of an ardent and superior mind, they +instruct the understanding, as well as engage the passions. It is only in +the management of mere antiquaries, or stript of the ornaments which the +laws of history forbid them to wear, that they become even unfit to amuse +the fancy, or to serve any purpose whatever. + +It were absurd to quote the fable of the Iliad or the Odyssey, the legends +of Hercules, Theseus, or Oedipus, as authorities in matter of fact relating +to the history of mankind; but they may, with great justice, be cited to +ascertain what were the conceptions and sentiments, of the age in which +they were composed, or to characterize the genius of that people, with +whose imaginations they were blended, and by whom they were fondly +rehearsed and admired. + +In this manner fiction may be admitted to vouch for the genius of nations, +while history has nothing to offer that is entitled to credit. The Greek +fable accordingly conveying a character of its authors, throws light on +some ages of which no other record remains. The superiority of this people +is indeed in no circumstance more evident than in the strain of their +fictions, and in the story of those fabulous heroes, poets, and sages, +whose tales, being invented or embellished by an imagination already filled +with the subject for which the hero was celebrated, served to inflame that +ardent enthusiasm, with which so many different republics afterwards +proceeded in the pursuit of every national object. + +It was no doubt of great advantage to those nations, that their system of +fable was original, and being already received in popular traditions, +served to diffuse those improvements of reason, imagination, and sentiment, +which were afterwards, by men of the finest talents, made on the fable +itself, or conveyed in its moral. The passions of the poet pervaded the +minds of the people, and the conceptions of men of genius, being +communicated to the vulgar, became the incentives of a national spirit. + +A mythology borrowed from abroad, a literature founded on references to a +strange country, and fraught with foreign allusions, are much more confined +in their use: they speak to the learned alone; and though intended to +inform the understanding, and to mend the heart, may, by being confined to +a few, have an opposite effect. They may foster conceit on the ruins of +common sense, and render what was, at least innocently, sung by the +Athenian mariner at his oar, or rehearsed by the shepherd in attending his +flock, an occasion of vice, or the foundation of pedantry and scholastic +pride. + +Our very learning, perhaps, where its influence extends, serves, in some +measure, to depress our national spirit. Our literature being derived from +nations of a different race, who flourished at a time when our ancestors +were in a state of barbarity, and consequently, when they were despised by +those who had attained to the literary arts, has given rise to a humbling +opinion, that we ourselves are the offspring of mean and contemptible +nations, with whom the human imagination and sentiment had no effect, till +the genius was in a manner inspired by examples, and directed by lessons +that were brought from abroad. The Romans, from whom our accounts are +chiefly derived, have admitted, in the rudeness of their own ancestors, a +system of virtues, which all simple nations perhaps equally possess; a +contempt of riches; love of their country, patience of hardship, danger, +and fatigue. They have, notwithstanding, vilified our ancestors for having +resembled their own; at least, in the defect of their arts, and in the +neglect of conveniencies which those arts are employed to procure. + +It is from the Greek and the Roman historians, however, that we have not +only the most authentic and instructive, but even the most engaging +representations of the tribes from whom we descend. Those sublime and +intelligent writers understood human nature, and could collect its +features, and exhibit its characters, in every situation. They were ill +succeeded in this task by the early historians of modern Europe; who, +generally bred to the profession of monks, and confined to the monastic +life, applied themselves to record what they were pleased to denominate +facts, while they suffered the productions of genius to perish, and were +unable, either by the matter they selected, or the style of their +compositions, to give any representation of the active spirit of mankind in +any condition. With them, a narration was supposed to constitute history, +whilst it did not convey any knowledge of men; and history itself was +allowed to be complete, while, amidst the events and the succession of +princes that are recorded in the order of time, we are left to look in vain +for those characteristics of the understanding and the heart, which alone, +in every human transaction, render the story either engaging or useful. + +We therefore willingly quit the history of our early ancestors, where Cćsar +and Tacitus have dropped them; and perhaps till we come within the reach of +what is connected with present affairs, and makes a part in the system on +which we now proceed, have little reason to expect any subject to interest +or inform the mind. We have no reason, however, from hence to conclude, +that the matter itself was more barren, or the scene of human affairs less +interesting, in modern Europe, than it has been on every stage where +mankind were engaged to exhibit the movements of the heart, the efforts of +generosity, magnanimity, and courage. + +The trial of what those ages contained, is not even fairly made, when men +of genius and distinguished abilities, with the accomplishments of a +learned and a polished age, collect the materials they have found, and, +with the greatest success, connect the story of illiterate ages with +transactions of a later date. It is difficult even for them, under the +names which are applied in a new state of society, to convey a just +apprehension of what mankind were, in situations so different, and in times +so remote from their own. + +In deriving from historians of this character the instruction which their +writings are fit to bestow, we are frequently to forget the general terms +that are employed, in order to collect the real manners of any age from the +minute circumstances that are occasionally presented. The titles of +_Royal_ and _Noble_ were applicable to the families of Tarquin, +Collatinus, and Cincinnatus; but Lucretia was employed in domestic industry +with her maids, and Cincinnatus followed the plough. The dignities, and +even the offices, of civil society, were known many ages ago, in Europe, by +their present appellations; but we find in the history of England, that a +king and his court being assembled to solemnize a festival, an outlaw, who +had subsisted by robbery, came to share in the feast. The king himself +arose to force this unworthy guest from the company; a scuffle ensued +between them; and the king was killed. [Footnote: Hume's History, chap. 8. +p. 278] A chancellor and prime minister, whose magnificence and sumptuous +furniture were the subject of admiration and envy, had his apartments +covered every day in winter with clean straw and hay, and in summer with +green rushes or boughs. Even the sovereign himself, in those ages, was +provided with forage for his bed. [Footnote: Hume's History, chap. 8. p.73] +These picturesque features, and characteristical strokes of the times, +recal the imagination from the supposed distinction of monarch and subject, +to that state of rough familiarity in which our ancestors lived, and under +which they acted, with a view to objects, and on principles of conduct, +which we seldom comprehend, when we are employed to record their +transactions, or to study their characters. + +Thucydides, notwithstanding the prejudice of his country against the name +of _Barbarian_, understood that it was in the customs of barbarous +nations he was to study the more ancient manners of Greece. + +The Romans might have found an image of their own ancestors, in the +representations they have given of ours; and if ever an Arab clan shall +become a civilized nation, or any American tribe escape the poison which is +administered by our traders of Europe, it may be from the relations of the +present times, and the descriptions which are now given by travellers, that +such a people, in after ages, may best collect the accounts of their +origin. It is in their present condition that we are to behold, as in a +mirror, the features of our own progenitors; and from thence we are to draw +our conclusions with respect to the influence of situations, in which we +have reason to believe that our fathers were placed. + +What should distinguish a German or a Briton, in the habits of his mind or +his body, in his manners or apprehensions, from an American, who, like him, +with his bow and his dart, is left to traverse the forest; and in a like +severe or variable climate, is obliged to subsist by the chase? + +If, in advanced years, we would form a just notion of our progress from the +cradle, we must have recourse to the nursery; and from the example of those +who are still in the period of life we mean to describe, take our +representation of past manners, that cannot, in any other way, be recalled. + + + + +SECTION II. + +OF RUDE NATIONS PRIOR TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF PROPERTY. + + +From one to the other extremity of America; from Kamtschatka westward to +the river Oby; and from the Northern Sea, over that length of country, to +the confines of China, of India, and Persia; from the Caspian to the Red +Sea, with little exception, and from thence over the inland continent and +the western shores of Africa; we every where meet with nations on whom we +bestow the appellations of barbarous or savage. That extensive tract of the +earth, containing so great a variety of situation, climate, and soil, +should, in the manners of its inhabitants, exhibit all the diversities +which arise from the unequal influence of the sun, joined to a different +nourishment and manner of life. Every question, however, on this subject, +is premature, till we have first endeavoured to form some general +conception of our species in its rude state, and have learned to +distinguish mere ignorance from dulness, and the want of arts from the want +of capacity. + +Of the nations who dwell in those, or any other of the less cultivated +parts of the earth, some entrust their subsistence chiefly to hunting, +fishing, or the natural produce of the soil. They have little attention to +property, and scarcely any beginnings of subordination or government. +Others, having possessed themselves of herds, and depending for their +provision on pasture, know what it is to be poor and rich. They know the +relations of patron and client, of servant and master, and by the measures +of fortune determine their station. This distinction must create a material +difference of character, and may furnish two separate heads, under which to +consider the history of mankind in their rudest state; that of the savage, +who is not yet acquainted with property; and that of the barbarian, to whom +it is, although not ascertained by laws, a principal object of care and +desire. + +It must appear very evident, that property is a matter of progress. It +requires, among other particulars, which are the effects of time, some +method of defining possession. The very desire of it proceeds from +experience; and the industry by which it is gained, or improved, requires +such a habit of acting with a view to distant objects, as may overcome the +present disposition either to sloth or to enjoyment. This habit is slowly +acquired, and is in reality a principal distinction of nations in the +advanced state of mechanic and commercial arts. + +In a tribe which subsists by hunting and fishing, the arms, the utensils, +and the fur, which the individual carries, are to him the only subjects of +property. The food of to-morrow is yet wild in the forest, or hid in the +lake; it cannot be appropriated before it is caught; and even then, being +the purchase of numbers, who fish or hunt in a body, it accrues to the +community, and is applied to immediate use, or becomes an accession to the +stores of the public. + +Where savage nations, as in most parts of America, mix with the practice of +hunting some species of rude agriculture, they still follow, with respect +to the soil and the fruits of the earth, the analogy of their principal +object. As the men hunt, so the women labour together; and, after they have +shared the toils of the seed time, they enjoy the fruits of the harvest in +common. The field in which they have planted, like the district over which +they are accustomed to hunt, is claimed as a property by the nation, but is +not parcelled in lots to its members. They go forth in parties to prepare +the ground, to plant and to reap. The harvest is gathered into the public +granary, and from thence, at stated times, is divided into shares for the +maintenance of separate families. [Footnote: History of the Caribbees.] +Even the returns of the market, when they trade with foreigners, are +brought home to the stock of the nation. [Footnote: Charlevoix. This +account of Rude Nations, in most points of importance, so far as it relates +to the original North Americans, is not founded so much on the testimony of +this or the other writers cited, as it is on the concurring representations +of living witnesses, who, in the course of trade, of war, and of treaties, +have had ample occasion to observe the manners of that people. It is +necessary however, for the sake of those who may not have conversed with +the living witnesses, to refer to printed authorities.] + +As the fur and the bow pertain to the individual, the cabin and its +utensils are appropriated to the family; and as the domestic cares are +committed to the women, so the property of the household seems likewise to +be vested in them. The children are considered as pertaining to the mother, +with little regard to descent on the father's side. The males, before they +are married, remain in the cabin in which they are born; but after they +have formed a new connection with the other sex, they change their +habitation, and become an accession to the family in which they have found +their wives. The hunter and the warrior are numbered by the matron as a +part of her treasure; they are reserved for perils and trying occasions; +and in the recess of public councils, in the intervals of hunting or war, +are maintained by the cares of the women, and loiter about in mere +amusement or sloth. [Footnote: Lafitau.] + +While one sex continue to value themselves chiefly on their courage, their +talent for policy, and their warlike achievements, this species of property +which is bestowed on the other, is, in reality, a mark of subjection; not, +as some writers allege, of their having acquired an ascendant. [Footnote: +Ibid.] It is the care and trouble of a subject with which the warrior does +not choose to be embarrassed. It is a servitude, and a continual toil, +where no honours are won; and they whose province it is, are in fact the +slaves and the helots of their country. If in this destination of the +sexes, while the men continue to indulge themselves in the contempt of +sordid and mercenary arts, the cruel establishment of slavery is for some +ages deferred; if, in this tender, though unequal alliance, the affections +of the heart prevent the severities practised on slaves; we have in the +custom itself, as perhaps in many other instances, reason to prefer the +first suggestions of nature, to many of her after refinements. + +If mankind, in any instance, continue the article of property on the +footing we have now represented, we may easily credit what is further +reported by travellers; that they admit of no distinctions of rank or +condition; and that they have in fact no degree of subordination different +from the distribution of function, which follows the differences of age, +talents, and dispositions. Personal qualities give an ascendant in the +midst of occasions which require their exertion; but in times of +relaxation, leave no vestige of power or prerogative. A warrior who has led +the youth of his nation to the slaughter of their enemies, or who has been +foremost in the chase, returns upon a level with the rest of his tribe; and +when the only business is to sleep, or to feed, can enjoy no pre-eminence; +for he sleeps and he feeds no better than they. + +Where no profit attends dominion, one party is as much averse to the +trouble of perpetual command, as the other is to the mortification of +perpetual submission. "I love victory, I love great actions," says +Montesquieu, in the character of Sylla; "but have no relish for the languid +detail of pacific government, or the pageantry of high station." He has +touched perhaps what is a prevailing sentiment in the simplest state of +society, when the weakness of motive suggested by interest, and the +ignorance of any elevation not founded on merit, supplies the place of +disdain. + +The character of the mind, however, in this state, is not founded on +ignorance alone. Men are conscious of their equality, and are tenacious of +its rights. Even when they follow a leader to the field, they cannot brook +the pretensions to a formal command: they listen to no orders; and they +come under no military engagements, but those of mutual fidelity, and equal +ardour in the enterprise. [Footnote: Charlevoix.] + +This description, we may believe, is unequally applicable to different +nations, who have made unequal advances in the establishment of property. +Among the Caribbees, and the other natives of the warmer climates in +America, the dignity of chieftain is hereditary, or elective, and continued +for life: the unequal distribution of property creates a visible +subordination. [Footnote: Wafer's Account of the Isthmus of Darien.] But +among the Iroquois, and other nations of the temperate zone, the titles of +_magistrate_ and _subject_, of _noble_ and _mean_, are as little known +as those of _rich_ and _poor_. The old men, without being invested with +any coercive power, employ their natural authority in advising or in +prompting the resolutions of their tribe: the military leader is pointed +out by the superiority of his manhood and valour; the statesman is +distinguished only by the attention with which his counsel is heard; the +warrior by the confidence with which the youth of his nation follow him +to the field; and if their concerts must be supposed to constitute a +species of political government, it is one to which no language of ours +can be applied. Power is no more than the natural ascendancy of the mind; +the discharge of office no more than a natural exercise of the personal +character; and while the community acts with an appearance of order, +there is no sense of disparity in the breast of any of its members. +[Footnote: Colden's History of the Five Nations.] + +In these happy, though informal proceedings, where age alone gives a place +in the council; where youth, ardour, and valour in the field, give a title +to the station of leader; where the whole community is assembled on any +alarming occasion, we may venture to say, that we have found the origin of +the senate, the executive power, and the assembly of the people; +institutions for which ancient legislators have been so much renowned. The +senate among the Greeks, as well as the Latins, appears, from the etymology +of its name, to have been originally composed of elderly men. The military +leader at Rome, in a manner not unlike to that of the American warrior, +proclaimed his levies, and the citizen prepared for the field, in +consequence of a voluntary engagement. The suggestions of nature, which +directed the policy of nations in the wilds of America, were followed +before on the banks of the Eurotas and the Tyber; and Lycurgus and Romulus +found the model of their institutions, where the members of every rude +nation find the earliest mode of uniting their talents, and combining their +forces. + +Among the North American nations, every individual is independent; but he +is engaged by his affections and his habits in the cares of a family. +Families, like so many separate tribes, are subject to no inspection or +government from abroad; whatever passes at home, even bloodshed and murder, +are only supposed to concern themselves. They are, in the mean time, the +parts of a canton; the women assemble to plant their maize; the old men go +to council; the huntsman and the warrior joins the youth of his village in +the field. Many such cantons assemble to constitute a national council, or +to execute a national enterprise. When the Europeans made their first +settlements in America, six such nations had formed a league, had their +amphyctiones or states general, and, by the firmness of their union and the +ability of their councils, had obtained an ascendant from the mouth of St. +Lawrence to that of the Mississippi. [Footnote: Lafitau, Charlevoix, +Colden, &c.] They appeared to understand the objects of the confederacy, as +well as those of the separate nation; they studied a balance of power; the +statesman of one country watched the designs and proceedings of another; +and occasionally threw the weight of his tribe into a different scale. They +had their alliances and their treaties, which, like the nations of Europe, +they maintained, or they broke, upon reasons of state; and remained at +peace from a sense of necessity or expediency, and went to war upon any +emergence of provocation or jealousy. + +Thus, without any settled form of government, or any bond of union, but +what resembled more the suggestion of instinct, than the invention of +reason, they conducted themselves with the concert and the force of +nations. Foreigners, without being able to discover who is the magistrate, +or in what manner the senate is composed, always find a council with whom +they may treat, or a band of warriors with whom they may fight. Without +police or compulsory laws, their domestic society is conducted with order, +and the absence of vicious dispositions, is a better security than any +public establishment for the suppression of crimes. + +Disorders, however, sometimes occur, especially in times of debauch, when +the immoderate use of intoxicating liquors, to which they are extremely +addicted, suspends the ordinary caution of their demeanour, and, inflaming +their violent passions, engages them in quarrels and bloodshed. When a +person is slain, his murderer is seldom called to an immediate account; but +he has a quarrel to sustain with the family and the friends; or, if a +stranger, with the countrymen of the deceased; sometimes even with his own +nation at home, if the injury committed be of a kind to alarm the society. +The nation, the canton, or the family endeavour, by presents, to atone for +the offence of any of their members; and, by pacifying the parties +aggrieved, endeavour to prevent what alarms the community more than the +first disorder, the subsequent effects of revenge and animosity. [Footnote: +Lafitau.] The shedding of blood, however, if the guilty person remain where +he has committed the crime, seldom escapes unpunished: the friend of the +deceased knows how to disguise, though not to suppress, his resentment; and +even after many years have elapsed, is sure to repay the injury that was +done to his kindred or his house. + +These considerations render them cautious and circumspect, put them on +their guard against their passions, and give to their ordinary deportment +an air of phlegm and composure superior to what is possessed among polished +nations. They are, in the mean time, affectionate in their carriage, and in +their conversations, pay a mutual attention and regard, says Charlevoix, +more tender and more engaging, than what we profess in the ceremonial of +polished societies. + +This writer has observed, that the nations among whom he travelled in North +America, never mentioned acts of generosity or kindness under the notion of +duty. They acted from affection, as they acted from appetite, without +regard to its consequences. When they had done a kindness, they had +gratified a desire; the business was finished, and it passed from the +memory. When they received a favour, it might, or it might not, prove the +occasion of friendship: if it did not, the parties appeared to have no +apprehensions of gratitude, as a duty by which the one was bound to make a +return, or the other entitled to reproach the person who had failed in his +part. The spirit with which they give or receive presents, is the same +which, Tacitus observed among the ancient Germans; they delight in them, +but do not consider them as matter of obligation. [Footnote: Muneribus +gaudent, sed nec data imputant, nec acceptis obligantur.] Such gifts are of +little consequence, except when employed as the seal of a bargain or +treaty. + +It was their favourite maxim, that no man is naturally indebted to another; +that he is not, therefore, obliged to bear with any imposition, or unequal +treatment. [Footnote: Charlevoix] Thus, in a principle apparently sullen +and inhospitable, they have discovered the foundation of justice, and +observe its rules, with a steadiness and candour which no cultivation has +been found to improve. The freedom which they give in what relates to the +supposed duties of kindness and friendship, serves only to engage the heart +more entirely, where it is once possessed with affection. We love to choose +our object without any restraint, and we consider kindness itself as a +task, when the duties of friendship are exacted by rule. We therefore, by +our demand for attentions, rather corrupt than improve the system of +morality; and by our exactions of gratitude, and out frequent proposals to +enforce its observance, we only shew that we have mistaken its nature; we +only give symptoms of that growing sensibility to interest, from which we +measure the expediency of friendship and generosity itself; and by which we +would introduce the spirit of traffic into the commerce of affection. In +consequence of this proceeding, we are often obliged to decline a favour, +with the same spirit that we throw off a servile engagement, or reject a +bribe. To the unrefined savage every favour is welcome, and every present +received without reserve or reflection. + +The love of equality, and the love of justice, were originally the same; +and although, by the constitution of different societies, unequal +privileges are bestowed on their members; and although justice itself +requires a proper regard to be paid to such privileges; yet he who has +forgotten that men were originally equal, easily degenerates into a slave; +or, in the capacity of a master, is not to be trusted with the rights of +his fellow creatures. This happy principle gives to the mind its sense of +independence, renders it indifferent to the favours which are in the power +of other men, checks it in the commission of injuries, and leaves the heart +open to the affections of generosity and kindness. It gives to the +untutored American that sentiment of candour, and of regard to the welfare +of others, which, in some degree, softens the arrogant pride of his +carriage, and in times of confidence and peace, without the assistance of +government or law, renders the approach and commerce of strangers secure. + +Among this people, the foundations of honour are eminent abilities, and +great fortitude; not the distinctions of equipage and fortune: the talents +in esteem are such as their situation leads them to employ, the exact +knowledge of a country, and stratagem in war. On these qualifications, a +captain among the Caribbees underwent an examination. When a new leader was +to be chosen, a scout was sent forth to traverse the forests which led to +the enemy's country, and upon his return, the candidate was desired to find +the track in which he had travelled. A brook, or a fountain, was named to +him on the frontier, and he was desired to find the nearest path to a +particular station, and to plant a stake in the place. [Footnote: Lafitau] +They can, accordingly, trace a wild beast, or the human foot, over many +leagues of a pathless forest, and find their way across a woody and +uninhabited continent, by means of refined observations, which escape the +traveller who has been accustomed to different aids. They steer in slender +canoes, across stormy seas, with a dexterity equal to that of the most +experienced pilot. [Footnote: Charlevoix.] They carry a penetrating eye for +the thoughts and intentions of those with whom they have to deal; and when +they mean to deceive, they cover themselves with arts which the most +subtile can seldom elude. They harangue in their public councils with a +nervous and a figurative elocution; and conduct themselves in the +management of their treaties with a perfect discernment of their national +interests. + +Thus being able masters in the detail of their own affairs, and well +qualified to acquit themselves on particular occasions, they study no +science, and go in pursuit of no general principles. They even seem +incapable of attending to any distant consequences, beyond those they have +experienced in hunting or war. They entrust the provision of every season +to itself; consume the fruits of the earth in summer; and, in winter, are +driven in quest of their prey, through woods, and over deserts covered with +snow. They do not form in one hour those maxims which may prevent the +errors of the next; and they fail in those apprehensions, which, in the +intervals of passion, produce ingenuous shame, compassion, remorse, or a +command of appetite. They are seldom made to repent of any violence; nor is +a person, indeed, thought accountable in his sober mood, for what he did in +the heat of a passion, or in a time of debauch. + +Their superstitions are groveling and mean; and did this happen among rude +nations alone, we could not sufficiently admire the effects of politeness; +but it is a subject on which few nations are entitled to censure their +neighbours. When we have considered the superstitions of one people, we +find little variety in those of another. They are but a repetition of +similar weaknesses and absurdities, derived from a common source, a +perplexed apprehension of invisible agents, that are supposed to guide all +precarious events to which human foresight cannot extend. + +In what depends on the known or the regular course of nature, the mind +trusts to itself; but in strange and uncommon situations, it is the dupe of +its own perplexity, and, instead of relying on its prudence or courage, has +recourse to divination, and a variety of observances, that, for being +irrational, are always the more revered. Superstition being founded in +doubts and anxiety, is fostered by ignorance and mystery. Its maxims, in +the mean time, are not always confounded with those of common life; nor +does its weakness or folly always prevent the watchfulness, penetration, +and courage, men are accustomed to employ in the management of common +affairs. A Roman consulting futurity by the pecking of birds, or a king of +Sparta inspecting the entrails of a beast, Mithridates consulting his women +on the interpretation of his dreams, are examples sufficient to prove, that +a childish imbecility on this subject is consistent with the greatest +military and political conduct. + +Confidence in the effect of charms is not peculiar to any age or nation. +Few, even of the accomplished Greeks and Romans, were able to shake off +this weakness. In their case, it was not removed by the highest measures +of civilization. It has yielded only to the light of true religion, or to +the study of nature, by which we are led to substitute a wise providence +operating by physical causes, in the place of phantoms that terrify or +amuse the ignorant. + +The principal point of honour among the rude nations of America, as indeed +in every instance where mankind are not greatly corrupted, is fortitude. +Yet their way of maintaining this point of honour, is very different from +that of the nations of Europe. Their ordinary method of making war is by +ambuscade; and they strive, by overreaching an enemy, to commit the +greatest slaughter, or to make the greatest number of prisoners, with the +least hazard to themselves. They deem it a folly to expose their own +persons in assaulting an enemy, and do not rejoice in victories which are +stained with the blood of their own people. They do not value themselves, +as in Europe, on defying their enemy upon equal terms. They even boast, +that they approach like foxes, or that they fly like birds, not less than +they devour like lions. In Europe, to fall in battle is accounted an +honour; among the natives of America it is reckoned disgraceful. [Footnote: +Charlevoix.] They reserve their fortitude for the trials they abide when +attacked by surprise, or when fallen into their enemies' hands; and when +they are obliged to maintain their own honour, and that of their own +nation, in the midst of torments that require efforts of patience more than +of valour. + +On these occasions, they are far from allowing it to be supposed that they +wish to decline the conflict. It is held infamous to avoid it, even by a +voluntary death; and the greatest affront which can be offered to a +prisoner, is to refuse him the honours of a man, in the manner of his +execution. "Withhold," says an old man, in the midst of his torture, "the +stabs of your knife; rather let me die by fire, that those dogs, your +allies, from beyond the seas, may learn to suffer like men." [Footnote: +Colden.] With terms of defiance, the victim, in those solemn trials, +commonly excites the animosities of his tormentors, as well as his own; and +whilst we suffer for human nature, under the effect of its errors, we must +admire its force. + +The people with whom this practice prevailed, were commonly desirous of +repairing their own losses, by adopting prisoners of war into their +families; and even, in the last moment, the hand which was raised to +torment, frequently gave the sign of adoption, by which the prisoner became +the child or the brother of his enemy, and came to share in all the +privileges of a citizen. In their treatment of those who suffered, they did +not appear to be guided by principles of hatred or revenge; they observed +the point of honour in applying as well as in bearing their torments; and, +by a strange kind of affection and tenderness, were directed to be most +cruel where they intend the highest respect; the coward was put to +immediate death by the hands of women; the valiant was supposed to be +entitled to all the trials of fortitude that men could invent or employ. +"It gave me joy," says an old man to his captive, "that so gallant a youth +was allotted to my share; I proposed to have placed you on the couch of my +nephew, who was slain by your countrymen; to have transferred all my +tenderness to you; and to have solaced my age in your company; but, maimed +and mutilated as you now appear, death is better than life; prepare +yourself therefore to die like a man." [Footnote: Charlevoix.] + +It is perhaps with a view to these exhibitions, or rather in admiration of +fortitude, the principle from which they proceed, that the Americans are so +attentive, in their earliest years, to harden their nerves. [Footnote: +_Ib_. This writer says, that he has seen a boy and a girl, having +bound their naked arms together, place a burning coal between them, to try +who could endure it longest.] The children are taught to vie with each +other in bearing the sharpest torments; the youth are admitted into the +class of manhood, after violent proofs of their patience; and leaders are +put to the test by famine, burning, and suffocation. [Footnote: Lafitau.] + +It might be apprehended, that among rude nations, where the means of +subsistence are procured with so much difficulty, the mind could never +raise itself above the consideration of this subject; and that man would, +in this condition, give examples of the meanest and most mercenary spirit. +The reverse, however, is true. Directed in this particular by the desires +of nature, men, in their simplest state, attend to the objects of appetite +no further than appetite requires; and their desires of fortune extend no +further than the meal which gratifies their hunger: they apprehend no +superiority of rank in the possession of wealth, such as might inspire any +habitual principle of covetousness, vanity, or ambition: they can apply to +no task that engages no immediate passion, and take pleasure in no +occupation that affords no dangers to be braved, and no honours to be won. + +It was not among the ancient Romans alone that commercial arts, or a sordid +mind, were held in contempt. A like spirit prevails in every rude and +independent society. "I am a warrior, and not a merchant," said an American +to the governor of Canada, who proposed to give him goods in exchange for +some prisoners he had taken; "your clothes and utensils do not tempt +me; but my prisoners are now in your power, and you may seize them: if you +do, I must go forth and take more prisoners, or perish in the attempt; and +if that chance should befal me, I shall die like a man; but remember, that +our nation will charge you as the cause of my death." [Footnote: +Charlevoix.] With these apprehensions, they have an elevation, and a +stateliness of carriage, which the pride of nobility, where it is most +revered by polished nations, seldom bestows. + +They are attentive to their persons, and employ much time, as well as +endure great pain, in the methods they take to adorn their bodies, to give +the permanent stains with which they are coloured, or preserve the paint, +which they are perpetually repairing, in order to appear with advantage. + +Their aversion to every sort of employment which they hold to be mean, +makes them pass great part of their time in idleness or sleep; and a man +who, in pursuit of a wild beast, or to surprise his enemy, will traverse a +hundred leagues on snow, will not, to procure his food, submit to any +species of ordinary labour. "Strange," says Tacitus, "that the same person +should be so much averse to repose, and so much addicted to sloth." +[Footnote: Mira diversitas naturae, ut idem homines sic ament intertiam et +oderint quietem.] Games of hazard are not the invention of polished ages; +men of curiosity have looked for their origin in vain, among the monuments +of an obscure antiquity; and it is probable that they belonged to times too +remote and too rude even for the conjectures of antiquarians to reach. The +very savage brings his furs, his utensils, and his beads, to the hazard +table: he finds here the passions and agitations which the applications of +a tedious industry could not excite; and while the throw is depending, he +tears his hair, and beats his breast, with a rage which the more +accomplished gamester has sometimes learned to repress: he often quits the +party naked and stripped of all his possessions; or where slavery is in +use, stakes his freedom to have one chance more to recover his former loss. +[Footnote: Tacitus, Lafitau, Charlevoix.] + +With all these infirmities, vices, or respectable qualities, belonging to +the human species in its rudest state; the love of society, friendship, and +public affection, penetration, eloquence, and courage, appear to have been +its original properties, not the subsequent effects of device or invention. +If mankind are qualified to improve their manners, the materials to be +improved were furnished by nature; and the effect of this improvement is +not to inspire the sentiments of tenderness and generosity, nor to bestow +the principal constituents of a respectable character, but to obviate the +casual abuses of passion; and to prevent a mind, which feels the best +dispositions in their greatest force, from being at times likewise the +sport of brutal appetite, and of ungovernable violence. + +Were Lycurgus employed anew to find a plan of government for the people we +have described, he would find them, in many important particulars, prepared +by nature herself to receive his institutions. His equality in matters of +property being already established, he would have no faction to apprehend +from the opposite interests of the poor and the rich; his senate, his +assembly of the people, is constituted; his discipline is in some measure +adopted, and the place of his helots is supplied by the task allotted to +one of the sexes. With all these advantages, he would still have had a very +important lesson for civil society to teach, that by which a few learn to +command, and the many are taught to obey: he would have all his precautions +to take against the future intrusion of mercenary arts, the admiration of +luxury, and the passion for interest: he would still perhaps have a more +difficult task than any of the former, in teaching his citizens the command +of appetite, and an indifference to pleasure, as well as a contempt of +pain; in teaching them to maintain in the field the formality of uniform +precautions, and as much to avoid being themselves surprised, as they +endeavour to surprise their enemy. + +For want of these advantages, rude nations in general, though they are +patient of hardship and fatigue, though they are addicted to war, and are +qualified by their stratagem and valour to throw terror into the armies of +a more regular enemy; yet, in the course of a continual struggle, always +yield to the superior arts, and the discipline of more civilized nations. +Hence the Romans were able to overrun the provinces of Gaul, Germany, and +Britain; and hence the Europeans have a growing ascendancy over the nations +of Africa and America. + +On the credit of a superiority which certain nations possess, they think +that they have a claim to dominion; and even Caesar appears to have +forgotten what were the passions, as well as the rights of mankind, when he +complained, that the Britons, after having sent him a submissive message to +Gaul, perhaps to prevent his invasion, still pretended to fight for their +liberties, and to oppose his descent on their island. [Footnote: Caesar +questus, quod quum ultro in continentem legatis missis pacem a se +petissent, bellum sine causa intulissent. _Lib_. 4.] + +There is not, perhaps, in the whole description of mankind, a circumstance +more remarkable than that mutual contempt and aversion which nations, under +a different state of commercial arts, bestow on each other. Addicted to +their own pursuits, and considering their own condition as the standard of +human felicity, all nations pretend to the preference, and in their +practice give sufficient proof of sincerity. Even the savage, still less +than the citizen, can be made to quit that manner of life in which he is +trained: he loves that freedom of mind which will not be bound to any task, +and which owns no superior: however tempted to mix with polished nations, +and to better his fortune, the first moment of liberty brings him back to +the woods again; he droops and he pines in the streets of the populous +city; he wanders dissatisfied over the open and the cultivated field; he +seeks the frontier and the forest, where, with a constitution prepared to +undergo the hardships and the difficulties of the situation, he enjoys a +delicious freedom from care, and a seducing society, where no rules of +behaviour are prescribed, but the simple dictates of the heart. + + + + +SECTION III. + +OF RUDE NATIONS UNDER THE IMPRESSIONS OF PROPERTY AND INTEREST. + + +It was a proverbial imprecation in use among the hunting nations on the +confines of Siberia, that their enemy might be obliged to live like a +Tartar, and have the folly of troubling himself with the charge of cattle. +[Footnote: Abulgaze's Genealogical History of the Tartars] Nature, it +seems, in their apprehension, by storing the woods and desert with game, +rendered the task of the herdsman unnecessary, and left to man only the +trouble of selecting and of seizing his prey. + +The indolence of mankind, or rather their aversion to any application in +which they are not engaged by immediate instinct and passion, retards the +progress of industry and of impropriation. It has been found, however, even +while the means of subsistence are left in common, and the stock of the +public is yet undivided, that property is apprehended in different +subjects; that the fur and the bow belong to the individual; that the +cottage, with its furniture, are appropriated to the family. + +When the parent begins to desire a better provision for his children than +is found under the promiscuous management of many co-partners, when he has +applied his labour and his skill apart, he aims at an exclusive possession, +and seeks the property of the soil, as well as the use of its fruits. + +When the individual no longer finds among his associates the same +inclination to commit every subject to public use, he is seized with +concern for his personal fortune; and is alarmed by the cares which every +person entertains for himself. He is urged as much by emulation and +jealousy, as by the sense of necessity. He suffers considerations of +interest to rest on his mind, and when every present appetite is +sufficiently gratified, he can act with a view to futurity, or, rather +finds an object of vanity in having amassed what is become a subject of +competition, and a matter of universal esteem. Upon this motive, where +violence is restrained, he can apply his hand to lucrative arts, confine +himself to a tedious task, and wait with patience for the distant returns +of his labour. + +Thus mankind acquire industry by many and by slow degrees. They are taught +to regard their interest; they are restrained from rapine; and they are +secured in the possession of what they fairly obtain; by these methods the +habits of the labourer, the mechanic, and the trader, are gradually formed. +A hoard, collected from the simple productions of nature, or a herd of +cattle, are, in every rude nation, the first species of wealth. The +circumstances of the soil, and the climate, determine whether the +inhabitant shall apply himself chiefly to agriculture or pasture; whether +he shall fix his residence, or be moving continually about with all his +possessions. + +In the west of Europe; in America, from south to north, with a few +exceptions; in the torrid zone, and every where within the warmer climates; +mankind have generally applied themselves to some species of agriculture, +and have been disposed to settlement. In the north and middle region of +Asia, they depended entirely on their herds, and were perpetually shifting +their ground in search of new pasture. The arts which pertain to settlement +have been practised, and variously cultivated, by the inhabitants of +Europe. Those which are consistent with perpetual migration, have, from the +earliest accounts of history, remained nearly the same, with the Scythian +or Tartar. The tent pitched on a moveable carriage, the horse applied to +every purpose of labour, and of war, of the dairy, and of the butcher's +stall, from the earliest to the latest accounts, have made up the riches +and equipage of this wandering people. + +But in whatever way rude nations subsist, there are certain points in +which, under the first impressions of property, they nearly agree. Homer +either lived with a people in this stage of their progress, or found +himself engaged to exhibit their character. Tacitus had made them the +subject of a particular treatise; and if this be an aspect under which +mankind deserve to be viewed, it must be confessed, that we have singular +advantages in collecting their features. The portrait has already been +drawn by the ablest hands, and gives, at one view, in the writings of these +celebrated authors, whatever has been scattered in the relations of +historians, or whatever we have opportunities to observe in the actual +manners of men, who still remain in a similar state. + +In passing from the condition we have described, to this we have at present +in view, mankind still retain many marks of their earliest character. They +are still averse to labour, addicted to war, admirers of fortitude, and in +the language of Tacitus, more lavish of their blood than of their sweat. +[Footnote: Pigrum quin immo et iners videtur, sudore acquirere quod possis +sanguine parare.] They are fond of fantastic ornaments in their dress, and +endeavour to fill up the listless intervals of a life addicted to violence, +with hazardous sports, and with games of chance. Every servile occupation +they commit to women or slaves. But we may apprehend, that the individual +having now found a separate interest, the bands of society must become less +firm, and domestic disorders more frequent. The members of every community, +being distinguished among themselves by unequal possessions, the ground of +a permanent and palpable subordination is laid. + +These particulars accordingly take place among mankind, in passing from the +savage to what may be called the barbarous state. Members of the same +community enter into quarrels of competition or revenge. They unite in +following leaders, who are distinguished by their fortunes, and by the +lustre of their birth. They join the desire of spoil with the love of +glory; and from an opinion, that what is acquired by force justly pertains +to the victor, they become hunters of men, and bring every contest to the +decision of the sword. + +Every nation is a band of robbers, who prey without restraint, or remorse, +on their neighbours. Cattle, says Achilles, may be seized in every field; +and the coasts of the Aegean were accordingly pillaged by the heroes of +Homer, for no other reason than because those heroes chose to possess +themselves of the brass and iron, the cattle, the slaves, and the women, +which were found among the nations around them. + +A Tartar mounted on his horse, is an animal of prey, who only enquires +where cattle are to be found, and how far he must go to possess them. The +monk, who had fallen under the displeasure of Mangu Chan, made his peace, +by promising, that the pope, and the Christian princes, should make a +surrender of all their herds. [Footnote: Rubruquis.] + +A similar spirit reigned, without exception, in all the barbarous nations +of Europe, Asia, and Africa. The antiquities of Greece and Italy, and the +fables of every ancient poet, contain examples of its force. It was this +spirit that brought our ancestors first into the provinces of the Roman +empire; and that afterward, more perhaps than their reverence for the +cross, led them to the east, to share with the Tartars in the spoils of the +Saracen empire. + + +From the descriptions contained in the last section, we may incline to +believe, that mankind, in their simplest state; are on the eve of erecting +republics. Their love of equality, their habit of assembling in public +councils, and their zeal for the tribe to which they belong, are +qualifications that fit them to act under that species of government; and +they seem to have but a few steps to make in order to reach its +establishment. They have only to define the numbers of which their councils +shall consist, and to settle the forms of their meeting: they have only to +bestow a permanent authority for repressing disorders, and to enact a few +rules in favour of that justice they have already acknowledged, and from +inclination so strictly observe. + +But these steps are far from being so easily made, as they appear on a +slight or a transient view. The resolution of choosing, from among their +equals, the magistrate to whom they give from thenceforward a right to +control their own actions, is far from the thoughts of simple men; and no +persuasion, perhaps, could make them adopt this measure, or give them any +sense of its use. + +Even after nations have chosen a military leader, they do not entrust him +with any species of civil authority. The captain among the Caribbees did +not pretend to decide in domestic disputes; the terms _jurisdiction_ +and _government_ were unknown in their tongue. [Footnote: History of +the Caribbees.] + +Before this important change was admitted, men must be accustomed to the +distinction of ranks; and before they are sensible that subordination is +requisite, they must have arrived at unequal conditions by chance. In +desiring property, they only mean to secure their subsistence; but the +brave who lead in war, have likewise the largest share in its spoils. The +eminent are fond of devising hereditary honours; and the multitude, who +admire the parent, are ready to extend their esteem to his offspring. + +Possessions descend, and the lustre of family grows brighter with age. +Hercules, who perhaps was an eminent warrior, became a god with posterity, +and his race was set apart for royalty and sovereign power. When the +distinctions of fortune and those of birth are conjoined, the chieftain +enjoys a pre-eminence, as well at the feast as in the field. His followers +take their place in subordinate stations; and instead of considering +themselves as parts of a community, they rank as the followers of a chief, +and take their designation from the name of their leader. They find a new +object of public affection in defending his person, and in supporting his +station; they lend of their substance to form his estate; they are guided +by his smiles and his frowns; and court as the highest distinction, a share +in the feast which their own contributions have furnished. + +As the former state of mankind seemed to point at democracy, this seems to +exhibit the rudiments of monarchical government. But it is yet far short of +that establishment which is known in after ages by the name of +_monarchy_. The distinction between the leader and the follower, the +prince and the subject, is still but imperfectly marked: their pursuits and +occupations are not different; their minds are not unequally cultivated; +they feed from the same dish; they sleep together on the ground; the +children of the king, as well as those of the subject, are employed in +tending the flock; and the keeper of the swine was a prime counsellor at +the court of Ulysses. + +The chieftain, sufficiently distinguished from his tribe, to excite their +admiration, and to flatter their vanity by a supposed affinity to his noble +descent, is the object of their veneration, not of their envy: he is +considered as the common bond of connection, not as their common master; is +foremost in danger, and has a principal share in their troubles: his glory +is placed in the number of his attendants, in his superior magnanimity and +valour; that of his followers, in being ready to shed their blood in his +service. [Footnote: Tacitus de moribus Germanorum.] + +The frequent practice of war tends to strengthen the bands of society, and +the practice of depredation itself engages men in trials of mutual +attachment and courage. What threatened to ruin and overset every good +disposition in the human breast, what seemed to banish justice from the +societies of men, tends to unite the species in clans and fraternities; +formidable indeed, and hostile to one another, but, in the domestic society +of each, faithful, disinterested, and generous. Frequent dangers, and the +experience of fidelity and valour, awaken the love of those virtues, render +them a subject of admiration, and endear their possessors. + +Actuated by great passions, the love of glory, and the desire of victory; +roused by the menaces of an enemy, or stung with revenge; in suspense +between the prospects of ruin or conquest, the barbarian spends every +moment of relaxation in sloth. He cannot descend to the pursuits of +industry or mechanical labour: the beast of prey is a sluggard; the hunter +and the warrior sleeps, while women or slaves are made to toil for his +bread. But shew him a quarry at a distance, he is bold, impetuous, artful, +and rapacious; no bar can withstand his violence, and no fatigue can allay +his activity. + +Even under this description, mankind are generous and hospitable to +strangers, as well as kind, affectionate, and gentle, in their domestic +society. [Footnote: Jean du Plan Carpen. Rubruquis, Caesar, Tacit.] +Friendship and enmity are to them terms of the greatest importance: they +mingle not their functions together; they have singled out their enemy, and +they have chosen their friend. Even in depredation, the principal object is +glory; and spoil is considered as the badge of victory. Nations and tribes +are their prey: the solitary traveller, by whom they can acquire only the +reputation of generosity, is suffered to pass unhurt, or is treated with +splendid munificence. + +Though distinguished into small cantons under their several chieftains, and +for the most part separated by jealousy and animosity; yet when pressed by +wars and formidable enemies, they sometimes unite in greater bodies. Like +the Greeks in their expedition to Troy, they follow some remarkable leader, +and compose a kingdom of many separate tribes. But such coalitions are +merely occasional; and even during their continuance, more resemble a +republic than monarchy. The inferior chieftains reserve their importance, +and intrude, with an air of equality, into the councils of their leader, as +the people of their several clans commonly intrude upon them. [Footnote: +Kolbe: Description of the Cape of Good Hope.] Upon what motive indeed could +we suppose, that men who live together in the greatest familiarity, and +amongst whom the distinctions of rank are so obscurely marked, would resign +their personal sentiments and inclinations, or pay an implicit submission +to a leader who can neither overawe nor corrupt? + +Military force must be employed to extort, or the hire of the venal to buy, +that engagement which the Tartar comes under to his prince, when he +promises, "That he will go where he shall be commanded; that he will come +when he shall be called; that he will kill whoever is pointed out to him; +and, for the future, that he will consider the voice of the King as a +sword." [Footnote: Simon de St. Quintin.] + +These are the terms to which even the stubborn heart of the barbarian has +been reduced, in consequence of a despotism he himself had established; and +men have in that low state of the commercial arts, in Europe, as well as in +Asia, tasted of political slavery. When interest prevails in every breast, +the sovereign and his party cannot escape the infection: he employs the +force with which he is intrusted to turn his people into a property, and to +command their possessions for his profit or his pleasure. If riches are by +any people made the standard of good or of evil, let them beware of the +powers they intrust to their prince. "With the Suiones," says Tacitus, +"riches are in high esteem; and this people are accordingly disarmed, and +reduced to slavery." [Footnote: De moribus Germanorum.] + +It is in this woful condition that mankind, being slavish, interested, +insidious, deceitful, and bloody, bear marks, if not of the least curable, +surely of the most lamentable sort of corruption. [Footnote: Chardin's +Travels.] Among them, war is the mere practice of rapine, to enrich the +individual; commerce is turned into a system of snares and impositions; and +government by turns oppressive or weak. It were happy for the human race, +when guided by interest, and not governed by laws, that being split into +nations of a moderate extent, they found in every canton some natural bar +to its farther enlargement, and met with occupation enough in maintaining +their independence, without being able to extend their dominion. + +There is not disparity of rank, among men in rude ages, sufficient to give +their communities the form of legal monarchy; and in a territory of +considerable extent, when united under one head, the warlike and turbulent +spirit of its inhabitants seems to require the bridle of despotism and +military force. Where any degree of freedom remains, the powers of the +prince are, as they were in most of the rude monarchies of Europe, +extremely precarious, and depend chiefly on his personal character: where, +on the contrary, the powers of the prince are above the control of his +people, they are likewise above the restrictions of justice. Rapacity and +terror become the predominant motives of conduct, and form the character of +the only parties into which mankind are divided; that of the oppressor, and +that of the oppressed. + +This calamity threatened Europe for ages, under the conquest and settlement +of its new inhabitants. [Footnote: See Hume's History of the Tudors. There +seemed to be nothing wanting to establish a perfect despotism in that +house, but a few regiments of troops under the command of the crown.] It +has actually taken place in Asia, where similar conquests have been made; +and even without the ordinary opiates of effeminacy, or a servile weakness, +founded on luxury, it has surprised the Tartar on his wain, in the rear of +his herds. Among this people, in the heart of a great continent, bold and +enterprising warriors arose; they subdued by surprise, or superior +abilities, the contiguous hordes; they gained, in their progress, +accessions of numbers and of strength; and, like a torrent increasing as it +descends, became too strong for any bar that could be opposed to their +passage. The conquering tribe, during a succession of ages, furnished the +prince with his guards; and while they themselves were allowed to share in +its spoils, were the voluntary tools of oppression. In this manner has +despotism and corruption found their way into regions so much renowned for +the wild freedom of nature: a power which was the terror of every +effeminate province is disarmed, and the nursery of nations is itself gone +to decay. [Footnote: See the History of the Huns.] + +Where rude nations escape this calamity, they require the exercise of +foreign wars to maintain domestic peace; when no enemy appears from abroad, +they have leisure for private feud, and employ that courage in their +dissentions at home, which in time of war is employed in defence of their +country. + +"Among the Gauls," says Caesar, "there are subdivisions, not only in every +nation, and in every district and village, but almost in every house, every +one must fly to some patron for protection." [Footnote: De Bello Gallico, +lib. 6.] In this distribution of parties, not only the feuds of clans, but +the quarrels of families, even the differences and competitions of +individuals, are decided by force. The sovereign, when unassisted by +superstition, endeavours in vain to employ his jurisdiction, or to procure +a submission to the decisions of law. By a people who are accustomed to owe +their possessions to violence, and who despise fortune itself without the +reputation of courage, no umpire is admitted but the sword. Scipio offered +his arbitration to terminate the competition of two Spaniards in a disputed +succession: "That," said they, "we have already refused to our relations: +we do not submit our difference to the judgment of men; and even among the +gods, we appeal to Mars alone." [Footnote: Livy.] + +It is well known that the nations of Europe carried this mode of proceeding +to a degree of formality unheard of in other parts of the world: the civil +and criminal judge could, in most cases, do no more than appoint the lists, +and leave the parties to decide their cause by the combat: they apprehended +that the victor had a verdict of the gods in his favour: and when they +dropped in any instance this extraordinary form of process, they +substituted in its place some other more capricious appeal to chance; in +which they likewise thought that the judgment of the gods was declared. + +The fierce nations of Europe were even fond of the combat, as an exercise +and a sport. In the absence of real quarrels, companions challenged each +other to a trial of skill, in which one of them frequently perished. When +Scipio celebrated the funeral of his father and his uncle, the Spaniards +came in pairs to fight, and by a public exhibition of their duels, to +increase the solemnity. [Footnote: Livy, lib. 3.] + +In this wild and lawless state, where the effects of true religion would +have been so desirable, and so salutary, superstition frequently disputes +the ascendant even with the admiration of valour; and an order of men, like +the Druids among the ancient Gauls and Britons, [Footnote: Caesar.] or some +pretender to divination, as at the Cape of Good Hope, finds, in the credit +which is paid to his sorcery, a way to the possession of power: his magic +wand comes in competition with the sword itself; and, in the manner of the +Druids, gives the first rudiments of civil government to some, or, like the +supposed descendant of the sun among the Natchez, and the Lama among the +Tartars, to others, an early taste of despotism and absolute slavery. + +We are generally at a loss to conceive how mankind can subsist under +customs and manners extremely different from our own; and we are apt to +exaggerate the misery of barbarous times, by an imagination of what we +ourselves should suffer in a situation to which we are not accustomed. But +every age hath its consolations, as well as its sufferings. [Footnote: +Priscus, when employed on an embassy to Attila, was accosted in Greek, by a +person who wore the dress of a Scythian. Having expressed surprise, and +being desirous to know the cause of his stay in so wild a company, was +told, that this Greek had been a captive, and for some time a slave, till +he obtained his liberty in reward of some remarkable action. "I live more +happily here," says he, "than ever I did under the Roman government: for +they who live with the Scythians, if they can endure the fatigues of war, +have nothing else to molest them; they enjoy their possessions undisturbed; +whereas you are continually a prey to foreign enemies, or to bad +government; you are forbid to carry arms in your own defence; you suffer +from the remissness and ill conduct of those who are appointed to protect +you; the evils of peace are even worse than those of war; no punishment is +ever inflicted on the powerful or the rich; no mercy is shown to the poor; +although your institutions were wisely devised, yet, in the +management of corrupted men, their effects are pernicious and cruel." +_Excerpta de legationibus._] In the interval of occasional outrages, +the friendly intercourse of men, even in their rudest condition, is +affectionate and happy. [Footnote: D'Arvieux's History of the wild Arabs.] +In rude ages the persons and properties of individuals are secure; because +each has a friend, as well as an enemy; and if the one is disposed to +molest, the other is ready to protect; and the very admiration of valour, +which in some instances tends to sanctify violence, inspires likewise +certain maxims of generosity and honour, that tend to prevent the +commission of wrongs. + +Men bear with the defects of their policy, as they do with hardships and +inconveniencies in their manner of living. The alarms and the fatigues of +war become a necessary recreation to those who are accustomed to them, and +who have the tone of their passions raised above less animating or trying +occasions. Old men, among the courtiers of Attila, wept when they heard of +heroic deeds, which they themselves could no longer perform. [Footnote: +Ibid.] And among the Celtic nations, when age rendered the warrior unfit +for his former toils, it was the custom, in order to abridge the languors +of a listless and inactive life, to sue for death at the hands of his +friends. [Footnote: + Ubi transcendit florentes viribus annos, + Impatiens aevi spernit novisse senectam. +Silius, lib. i. 225.] + +With all this ferocity of spirit, the rude nations of the west were subdued +by the policy and more regular warfare of the Romans. The point of honour +which the barbarians of Europe adopted as individuals, exposed them to a +peculiar disadvantage, by rendering them, even in their national wars, +averse to assailing their enemy by surprise, or taking the benefit of +stratagem; and though separately bold and intrepid, yet, like other rude +nations, they were, when assembled in great bodies, addicted to +superstition, and subject to panics. + +They were, from a consciousness of their personal courage and force, +sanguine on the eve of battle; they were, beyond the bounds of moderation, +elated on success, and dejected in adversity; and being disposed to +consider every event as a judgment of the gods, they were never qualified +by an uniform application or prudence to make the most of their forces, to +repair their misfortunes, or to improve their advantages. + +Resigned to the government of affection and passion, they were generous and +faithful where they had fixed an attachment; implacable, froward, and +cruel, where they had conceived a dislike: addicted to debauchery, and the +immoderate use of intoxicating liquors, they deliberated on the affairs of +state in the heat of their riot; and in the same dangerous moments, +conceived the designs of military enterprise, or terminated their domestic +dissentions by the dagger or the sword. + +In their wars they preferred death to captivity. The victorious armies of +the Romans, in entering a town by assault, or in forcing an encampment, +have found the mother in the act of destroying her children, that they +might not be taken; and the dagger of the parent, red with the blood of his +family, ready to be plunged at last into his own breast. [Footnote: Liv. +lib. xli. 11. Dio Cass.] + +In all these particulars, we perceive that vigour of spirit, which renders +disorder itself respectable, and which qualifies men, if fortunate in their +situation, to lay the basis of domestic liberty, as well as to maintain +against foreign enemies their national independence and freedom. + + +AN ESSAY ON THE HISTORY OF CIVIL SOCIETY + + + * * * * * + + + + +PART THIRD. + +OF THE HISTORY OF POLICY AND ARTS. + + + * * * * * + + + + +SECTION I. + +OF THE INFLUENCES OF CLIMATE AND SITUATION + + +What we have hitherto observed on the condition and manners of nations, +though chiefly derived from what has passed in the temperate climates, may, +in some measure, be applied to the rude state of mankind In every part of +the earth: but if we intend to pursue the history of our species in its +further attainments, we may soon enter on subjects which will confine our +observation to narrower limits. The genius of political wisdom, and of +civil arts, appears to have chosen his seats in particular tracts of the +earth, and to have selected his favourites in particular races of men. Man, +in his animal capacity, is qualified to subsist in every climate. He reigns +with the lion and the tyger under the equatorial heats of the sun, or he +associates with the bear and the reindeer beyond the polar system. His +versatile disposition fits him to assume the habits of either condition, or +his talent for arts enables him to supply its defects. The intermediate +climates, however, appear most to favour his nature; and in whatever manner +we account for the fact, it cannot be doubted, that this animal has always +attained to the principal honours of his species within the temperate zone. +The arts, which he has on this scene repeatedly invented, the extent of his +reason, the fertility of his fancy, and the force of his genius in +literature, commerce, policy, and war, sufficiently declare either a +distinguished advantage of situation, or a natural superiority of mind. + +The most remarkable races of men, it is true, have been rude before they +were polished. They have in some cases returned to rudeness again; and it +is not from the actual possession of arts, science, or policy, that we are +to pronounce of their genius. + +There is a vigour, a reach of capacity, and a sensibility of mind, which +may characterize as well the savage as the citizen, the slave as well as +the master; and the same powers of the mind may be turned to a variety of +purposes. A modern Greek, perhaps, is mischievous, slavish, and cunning, +from the same animated temperament that made his ancestor ardent, +ingenious, and bold, in the camp, or in the council of his nation. A +modern Italian is distinguished by sensibility, quickness, and art, while +he employs on trifles the capacity of an ancient Roman; and exhibits now, +in the scene of amusement, and in the search of a frivolous applause, that +fire, and those passions, with which Gracchus burned in the forum, and +shook the assemblies of a severer people. + +The commercial and lucrative arts have been, in some climates, the +principal object of mankind, and have been retained through every disaster; +in others, even under all the fluctuations of fortune, they have still been +neglected; while in the temperate climates of Europe and Asia, they have +had their ages of admiration as well as contempt. + +In one state of society arts are slighted, from that very ardour of mind, +and principle of activity, by which, in another, they are practised with +the greatest success. While men are engrossed by their passions, heated and +roused by the struggles and dangers of their country; while the trumpet +sounds or the alarm of social engagement is rung, and the heart beats high, +it were a mark of dulness, or of an abject spirit, to find leisure for the +study of ease, or the pursuit of improvements, which have mere convenience +or ease for their object. + +The frequent vicissitudes and reverses of fortune, which nations have +experienced on that very ground where the arts have prospered, are probably +the effects of a busy, inventive, and versatile spirit, by which men have +carried every national change to extremes. They have raised the fabric of +despotic empire to its greatest height, where they had best understood the +foundations of freedom. They perished in the flames which they themselves +had kindled; and they only, perhaps, were capable of displaying, by turns, +the greatest improvements, or the lowest corruptions, to which the human +mind can be brought. + +On this scene, mankind have twice, within the compass of history, ascended +from rude beginnings to very high degrees of refinement. In every age, +whether destined by its temporary disposition to build, or to destroy, they +have left the vestiges of an active and vehement spirit. The pavement and +the ruins of Rome are buried in dust, shaken from the feet of barbarians, +who trod with contempt on the refinements of luxury, and spurned those +arts, the use of which it was reserved for the posterity of the same people +to discover and to admire. The tents of the wild Arab are even now pitched +among the ruins of magnificent cities; and the waste fields which border on +Palestine and Syria, are perhaps become again the nursery of infant +nations. The chieftain of an Arab tribe, like the founder of Rome, may have +already fixed the roots of a plant that is to flourish in some future +period, or laid the foundations of a fabric, that will attain to its +grandeur in some distant age. + +Great part of Africa has been always unknown; but the silence of fame, on +the subject of its revolutions, is an argument, where no other proof can be +found, of weakness in the genius of its people. The torrid zone, every +where round the globe, however known to the geographer, has furnished few +materials for history; and though in many places supplied with the arts of +life in no contemptible degree, has no where matured the more important +projects of political wisdom, nor inspired the virtues which are connected +with freedom, and which are required in the conduct of civil affairs. + +It was indeed in the torrid zone that mere arts of mechanism and +manufacture were found, among the inhabitants of the new world, to have +made the greatest advance: it is in India, and in the regions of this +hemisphere, which are visited by the vertical sun, that the arts of +manufacture, and the practice of commerce, are of the greatest antiquity, +and have survived, with the smallest diminution, the ruins of time, and the +revolutions of empire. + +The sun, it seems, which ripens the pineapple and the tamarind, inspires a +degree of mildness that can even assuage the rigours of despotical +government: and such is the effect of a gentle and pacific disposition in +the natives of the east, that no conquest, no irruption of barbarians, +terminates, as they did among the stubborn natives of Europe, by a total +destruction of what the love of ease and of pleasure had produced. + +Transferred, without any great struggle, from one master to another, the +natives of India are ready, upon every change, to pursue their industry, to +acquiesce in the enjoyment of life, and the hopes of animal pleasure: the +wars of conquest are not prolonged to exasperate the parties engaged in +them, or to desolate the land for which those parties contend: even the +barbarous invader leaves untouched the commercial settlement which has not +provoked his rage: though master of opulent cities, he only encamps, in +their neighbourhood, and leaves to his heirs the option of entering, by +degrees, on the pleasures, the vices, and the pageantries which his +acquisitions afford: his successors, still more than himself, are disposed +to foster the hive, in proportion as they taste more of its sweets; and +they spare the inhabitant, together with his dwelling, as they spare the +herd or the stall, of which they are become the proprietors. + +The modern description of India is a repetition of the ancient, and the +present state of China is derived from a distant antiquity, to which there +is no parallel in the history of mankind. The succession of monarchs has +been changed; but no revolutions have affected the state. The African and +the Samoiede are not more uniform in their ignorance and barbarity, than +the Chinese and the Indian, if we may credit their own story, have been in +the practice of manufacture, and in the observance of a certain police, +which was calculated only to regulate their traffic, and to protect them in +their application to servile or lucrative arts. + +If we pass from these general representations of what mankind have done, to +the more minute description of the animal himself, as he has occupied +different climates, and is diversified in his temper, complexion, and +character, we shall find a variety of genius corresponding to the effects +of his conduct, and the result of his story. + +Man, in the perfection of his natural faculties, is quick and delicate in +his sensibility; extensive and various in his imaginations and reflections; +attentive, penetrating, and subtile, in what relates to his fellow +creatures; firm and ardent in his purposes; devoted to friendship or to +enmity; jealous of his independence and his honour, which he will not +relinquish for safety or for profit: under all his corruptions or +improvements, he retains his natural sensibility, if not his force; and his +commerce is a blessing or a curse, according to the direction his mind has +received. + +But under the extremes of heat or of cold, the active range of the human +soul appears to be limited; and men are of inferior importance, either as +friends, or as enemies. In the one extreme, they are dull and slow, +moderate in their desires, regular, and pacific in their manner of life; in +the other, they are feverish in their passions, weak in their judgments, +and addicted by temperament, to animal pleasure. In both the heart is +mercenary, and makes important concessions for childish bribes: in both the +spirit is prepared for servitude: in the one it is subdued by fear of the +future; in the other it is not roused even by its sense of the present. + +The nations of Europe who would settle or conquer on the south or the north +of their own happier climates, find little resistance: they extend their +dominion at pleasure, and find no where a limit but in the ocean, and in +the satiety of conquest. With few of the pangs and the struggles that +precede the reduction of nations, mighty provinces have been successively +annexed to the territory of Russia; and its sovereign, who accounts within +his domain, entire tribes, with whom perhaps none of his emissaries have +ever conversed, despatched a few geometers to extend his empire, and thus +to execute a project, in which the Romans were obliged to employ their +consuls and their legions. [Footnote: See Russian Atlas.] These modern +conquerors complain of rebellion, where they meet with repugnance; and are +surprised at being treated as enemies, where they come to impose their +tribute. + +It appears, however, that on the shores of the Eastern sea, they have met +with nations [Footnote: The Tchutzi.] who have questioned their title to +reign, and who have considered the requisition of a tax as the demand of +effects for nothing. Here perhaps may be found the genius of ancient +Europe; and under its name of ferocity, the spirit of national +independence; [Footnote: Notes to the Genealogical History of the Tartars, +vouched by Strahlenberg.] that spirit which disputed its ground in the west +with the victorious armies of Rome, and baffled the attempts of the Persian +monarchs to comprehend the villages of Greece within the bounds of their +extensive dominion. + +The great and striking diversities which obtain betwixt the inhabitants of +climates far removed from each other, are, like the varieties of other +animals in different regions, easily observed. The horse and the reindeer +are just emblems of the Arab and the Laplander: the native of Arabia, like +the animal for whose race his country is famed, whether wild in the woods, +or tutored by art, is lively, active, and fervent in the exercise on which +he is bent. This race of men, in their rude state, fly to the desert for +freedom, and in roving bands alarm the frontiers of empire, and strike a +terror in the province to which their moving encampments advance. +[Footnote: D'Arvieux.] When roused by the prospect of conquest, or disposed +to act on a plan, they spread their dominion, and their system of +imagination, over mighty tracts of the earth: when possessed of property +and of settlement, they set the example of a lively invention, and superior +ingenuity, in the practice of arts, and the study of science. The +Laplander, on the contrary, like the associate of his climate, is hardy, +indefatigable, and patient of famine; dull rather than tame; serviceable in +a particular tract; and incapable of change. Whole nations continue from +age to age in the same condition, and, with immoveable phlegm, submit to +the appellations of _Dane_, of _Swede_, or of _Muscovite_, according +to the land they inhabit; and suffer their country to be severed +like a common, by the line on which those nations have traced their limits +of empire. + +It is not in the extremes alone that these varieties of genius may be +clearly distinguished. Their continual change keeps pace with the +variations of climate with which we suppose them connected: and though +certain degrees of capacity, penetration, and ardour, are not the lot of +entire nations, nor the vulgar properties of any people; yet their unequal +frequency, and unequal measure, in different countries, are sufficiently +manifest from the manners, the tone of conversation, the talent for +business, amusement, and the literary composition, which predominate in +each. + +It is to the southern nations of Europe, both ancient and modern, that we +owe the invention and embellishment of that mythology, and those early +traditions, which continue to furnish the materials of fancy, and the field +of poetic allusion. To them we owe the romantic tales of chivalry, as well +as the subsequent models of a more rational style, by which the heart and +the imagination are kindled, and the understanding informed. + +The fruits of industry have abounded most in the north, and the study of +science has here received its most solid improvements: the efforts of +imagination and sentiment were most frequent and most successful in the +south. While the shores of the Baltic became famed for the studies of +Copernicus, Tycho Brahe, and Kepler, those of the Mediterranean were +celebrated for giving birth to men of genius in all its variety, and for +having abounded with poets and historians, as well as with men of science. + +On one side, learning took its rise from the heart and the fancy; on the +other, it is still confined to the judgment and the memory. A faithful +detail of public transactions, with little discernment of their comparative +importance; the treaties and the claims of nations, the births and +genealogies of princes, are, in the literature of northern nations, amply +preserved; while the lights of the understanding, and the feelings of the +heart, are suffered to perish. The history of the human character; the +interesting memoir, founded no less on the careless proceedings of a +private life, than on the formal transactions of a public station; the +ingenious pleasantry, the piercing ridicule, the tender, pathetic, or the +elevated strain of elocution, have been confined in modern, as well as +ancient times, with a few exceptions, to the same latitudes with the fig +and the vine. + +These diversities of natural genius, if real, must have great part of their +foundation in the animal frame; and it has been often observed, that the +vine flourishes, where, to quicken the ferments of the human blood, its +aids are the least required. While spirituous liquors are, among +southern nations, from a sense of their ruinous effects, prohibited; or +from a love of decency, and the possession of a temperament sufficiently +warm, not greatly desired; they carry in the north a peculiar charm, while +they awaken the mind, and give a taste of that lively fancy and ardour of +passion, which the climate is found to deny. + +The melting desires, or the fiery passions, which in one climate take place +between the sexes, are in another changed into a sober consideration, or a +patience of mutual disgust. This change is remarked in crossing the +Mediterranean, in following the course of the Mississippi, in ascending the +mountains of Caucasus, and in passing from the Alps and the Pyrenees to the +shores of the Baltic. + +The female sex domineers on the frontier of Louisiana, by the double engine +of superstition, and of passion. They are slaves among the native +inhabitants of Canada, and are chiefly valued for the toils they endure, +and the domestic service they yield. [Footnote: Charlevoix.] + +The burning ardours, and the torturing jealousies of the seraglio and the +haram, which have reigned so long in Asia and Africa, and which, in the +southern parts of Europe, have scarcely given way to the difference of +religion and civil establishments, are found, however, with an abatement of +heat in the climate, to be more easily changed in one latitude, into a +temporary passion which engrosses the mind, without enfeebling it, and +excites to romantic achievements: by a farther progress to the north, it is +changed into a spirit of gallantry, which employs the wit and the fancy +more than the heart; which prefers intrigue to enjoyment; and substitutes +affectation and vanity where sentiment and desire have failed. As it +departs from the sun, the same passion is farther composed into a habit of +domestic connection, or frozen into a state of insensibility, under which +the sexes at freedom scarcely choose to unite their society. + +These variations of temperament and character do not indeed correspond with +the number of degrees that are measured from the equator to the pole; nor +does the temperature of the air itself depend on the latitude. Varieties of +soil and position, the distance or neighbourhood of the sea, are known to +affect the atmosphere, and may have signal effects in composing the animal +frame. + +The climates of America, though taken under the same parallel, are observed +to differ from those of Europe. There, extensive marshes, great lakes, +aged, decayed, and crowded forests, with the other circumstances that mark +an uncultivated country, are supposed to replenish the air with heavy and +noxious vapours, that give a double asperity to the winter; and during many +months, by the frequency and continuance of fogs, snow, and frost, carry +the inconveniencies of the frigid zone far into the temperate. The Samoiede +and the Laplander, however, have their counterpart, though on a lower +latitude, on the shores of America: the Canadian and the Iroquois bear a +resemblance to the ancient inhabitants of the middling climates of Europe. +The Mexican, like the Asiatic of India, being addicted to pleasure, was +sunk in effeminacy; and in the neighbourhood of the wild and the free, had +suffered to be raised on his weakness a domineering superstition, and a +permanent fabric of despotical government. + +Great part of Tartary lies under the same parallels with Greece, Italy, and +Spain; but the climates are found to be different; and while the shores, +not only of the Mediterranean, but even those of the Atlantic, are favoured +with a moderate change and vicissitude of seasons, the eastern parts of +Europe, and the northern continent of Asia, are afflicted with all their +extremes. In one season, we are told, that the plagues of an ardent summer +reach almost to the frozen sea; and that the inhabitant is obliged to +screen himself from noxious vermin in the same clouds of smoke in which he +must, at a different time of the year, take shelter from the rigours of +cold. When winter returns, the transition is rapid, and with an asperity +almost equal in every latitude, lays waste the face of the earth, from the +northern confines of Siberia, to the descents of Mount Caucasus and the +frontier of India. + +With this unequal distribution of climate, by which the lot, as well as the +national character, of the northern Asiatic may be deemed inferior to that +of Europeans, who lie under the same parallels, a similar gradation of +temperament and spirit, however, has been observed, in following the +meridian on either tract; and the southern Tartar has over the Tonguses and +the Sanmoiede the same pre-eminence, that certain nations of Europe are +known to possess over their northern neighbours, in situations more +advantageous to both. + +The southern hemisphere scarcely offers a subject of like observation. The +temperate zone is there still undiscovered, or is only known in two +promontories, the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Horn, which stretch into +moderate latitudes on that side of the line. But the savage of South +America, notwithstanding the interposition of the nations of Peru and of +Mexico, is found to resemble his counterpart on the north; and the +Hottentot, in many things, the barbarian of Europe: he is tenacious of +freedom, has rudiments of policy, and a national vigour, which serve to +distinguish his race from the other African tribes, who are exposed to the +more vertical rays of the sun. + +While we have, in these observations, only thrown out what must present +itself on the most cursory view of the history of mankind, or what may be +presumed from the mere obscurity of some nations, who inhabit great tracts +of the earth, as well as from the lustre of others, we are still unable to +explain the manner in which climate may affect the temperament, or foster +the genius of its inhabitant. + +That the temper of the heart, and the intellectual operations of the mind, +are, in some measure, dependent on the state of the animal organs, is well +known from experience. Men differ from themselves in sickness and in +health; under a change of diet, of air, and of exercise: but we are, even +in these familiar instances, at a loss how to connect the cause with its +supposed effect: and though climate, by including a variety of such causes, +may, by some regular influence, affect the characters of men, we can never +hope to explain the manner of those influences till we have understood, +what probably we shall never understand, the structure of those finer +organs with which the operations of the soul are connected. + +When we point out, in the situation of a people, circumstances which, by +determining their pursuits, regulate their habits, and their manner of +life; and when, instead of referring to the supposed physical source of +their dispositions, we assign their inducements to a determinate conduct; +in this we speak of effects and of causes whose connection is more +familiarly known. We can understand, for instance, why a race of men like +the Samoiede, confined, during great part of the year, to darkness, or +retired into caverns, should differ in their manners and apprehensions from +those who are at liberty in every season; or who, instead of seeking relief +from the extremities of cold, are employed in search of precautions against +the oppressions of a burning sun. Fire and exercise are the remedies of +cold; repose and shade the securities from heat. The Hollander is laborious +and industrious in Europe; he becomes more languid and slothful in India. +[Footnote: The Dutch sailors, who were employed in the siege of Malaco, +tore or burnt the sail cloth which was given them to make tents, that they +might not have the trouble of making or pitching them. _Voy. de +Matelief._] + +Great extremities, either of heat or cold, are perhaps, in a moral view, +equally unfavourable to the active genius of mankind, and by presenting +alike insuperable difficulties to be overcome, or strong inducements to +indolence and sloth, equally prevent the first applications of ingenuity, +or limit their progress. Some intermediate degrees of inconvenience in the +situation, at once excite the spirit, and, with the hopes of success, +encourage its efforts. "It Is in the least favourable situations," says Mr. +Rousseau, "that the arts have flourished the most. I could show them in +Egypt, as they spread with the overflowing of the Nile; and in Attica, as +they mounted up to the clouds, from a rocky soil and from barren sands; +while on the fertile banks of the Eurotas, they were not able to fasten +their roots." + +Where mankind from the first subsist by toil, and in the midst of +difficulties, the defects of their situation are supplied by industry: and +while dry, tempting, and healthful lands are left uncultivated, [Footnote: +Compare the state of Hungary with that of Holland.] the pestilent marsh is +drained with great labour, and the sea is fenced off with mighty barriers, +the materials and the costs of which, the soil to be gained can scarcely +afford, or repay. Harbours are opened, and crowded with shipping, where +vessels of burden, if they are not constructed with a view to the +situation, have not water to float. Elegant and magnificent edifices are +raised on foundations of slime; and all the conveniencies of human life are +made to abound, where nature does not seem to have prepared a reception for +men. It is in vain to expect, that the residence of arts and commerce +should be determined by the possession of natural advantages. Men do more +when they have certain difficulties to surmount, than when they have +supposed blessings to enjoy: and the shade of the barren oak and the pine +are more favourable to the genius of mankind, than that of the palm or the +tamarind. + +Among the advantages which enable nations to run the career of policy, as +well as of arts, it may be expected, from the observations already made, +that we should reckon every circumstance which enable them to divide and to +maintain themselves in distinct and independent communities. The society +and concourse of other men are not more necessary to form the individual, +than the rivalship and competition of nations are to invigorate the +principles of political life in a state. Their wars, and their treaties, +their mutual jealousies, and the establishments which they devise with a +view to each other, constitute more than half the occupations of mankind, +and furnish materials for their greatest and most improving exertions. For +this reason, clusters of islands, a continent divided by many natural +barriers, great rivers, ridges of mountains, and arms of the sea, are best +fitted for becoming the nursery of independent and respectable nations. The +distinction of states being clearly maintained, a principle of political +life is established in every division, and the capital of every district, +like the heart of an animal body, communicates with ease the vital blood +and the national spirit to its members. + +The most respectable nations have always been found, where at least one +part of the frontier has been washed by the sea. This barrier, perhaps the +strongest of all in the times of ignorance, does not, however, even then +supersede the cares of a national defence; and in the advanced state of +arts, gives the greatest scope and facility to commerce. + +Thriving and independent nations were accordingly scattered on the shores +of the Pacific and the Atlantic. They surrounded the Red Sea, the +Mediterranean, and the Baltic; while, a few tribes excepted, who retire +among the mountains bordering on India and Persia, or who have found some +rude establishment among the creeks and the shores of the Caspian and the +Euxine, there is scarcely a people in the vast continent of Asia who +deserves the name of a nation. The unbounded plain is traversed at large by +hordes, who are in perpetual motion, or who are displaced and harassed by +their mutual hostilities. Although they are never perhaps actually blended +together in the course of hunting, or in the search of pasture, they cannot +bear one great distinction of nations, which is taken from the territory, +and which is deeply impressed by an affection to the native seat. They move +in troops, without the arrangement or the concert of nations; they become +easy accessions to every new empire among themselves, or to the Chinese and +the Muscovite, with whom they hold a traffic for the means of subsistence, +and the materials of pleasure. + +Where a happy system of nations is formed, they do not rely for the +continuance of their separate names, and for that of their political +independence, on the barriers erected by nature. Mutual jealousies lead to +the maintenance of a balance of power; and this principle, more than the +Rhine and the Ocean, than the Alps and the Pyrenees in modern Europe; more +than the straits of Thermopylae, the mountains of Thrace, or the bays of +Salamine and Corinth in ancient Greece, tended to prolong the separation, +to which the inhabitants of these happy climates have owed their felicity +as nations, the lustre of their fame, and their civil accomplishments. + +If we mean to pursue the history of civil society, our attention must be +chiefly directed to such examples, and we must here bid farewell to those +regions of the earth, on which our species, by the effects of situation or +climate, appear to be restrained in their national pursuits, or inferior in +the powers of the mind. + + + + +SECTION II. + +THE HISTORY OF POLITICAL ESTABLISHMENTS. + + +We have hitherto observed mankind, either united together on terms of +equality, or disposed to admit of a subordination founded merely on the +voluntary respect and attachment which they paid to their leaders; but, in +both cases, without any concerted plan of government, or system of laws. + +The savage, whose fortune is comprised in his cabin, his fur, and his arms, +is satisfied with that provision, and with that degree of security, he +himself can procure. He perceives, in treating with his equal, no subject +of discussion that should be referred to the decision of a judge; nor does +he find in any hand the badges of magistracy, or the ensigns of a perpetual +command. + +The barbarian, though induced by his admiration of personal qualities, the +lustre of a heroic race, or a superiority of fortune, to follow the banners +of a leader, and to act a subordinate part in his tribe, knows not, that +what he performs from choice, is to be made a subject of obligation. He +acts from affections unacquainted with forms; and when provoked, or when +engaged in disputes, he recurs to the sword, as the ultimate means of +decision, in all questions of right. + +Human affairs, in the mean time, continue their progress. What was in one +generation a propensity to herd with the species, becomes in the ages which +follow, a principle of natural union. What was originally an alliance for +common defence, becomes a concerted plan of political force; the care of +subsistence becomes an anxiety for accumulating wealth, and the foundation +of commercial arts. + +Mankind, in following the present sense of their minds, in striving to +remove inconveniencies, or to gain apparent and contiguous advantages, +arrive at ends which even their imagination could not anticipate; and pass +on, like other animals, in the track of their nature, without perceiving +its end. He who first said; "I will appropriate this field; I will leave it +to my heirs;" did not perceive, that he was laying the foundation of civil +laws and political establishments. He who first ranged himself under a +leader, did not perceive, that he was setting the example of a permanent +subordination, under the pretence of which, the rapacious were to seize his +possessions, and the arrogant to lay claim to his service. + +Men, in general, are sufficiently disposed to occupy themselves in forming +projects and schemes; but he who would scheme and project for others, will +find an opponent in every person who is disposed to scheme for himself. +Like the winds that come we know not whence, and blow whithersoever they +list, the forms of society are derived from an obscure and distant origin; +they arise, long before the date of philosophy, from the instincts, not +from the speculations of men. The crowd of mankind are directed, in their +establishments and measures, by the circumstances in which they are placed; +and seldom are turned from their way, to follow the plan of any single +projector. + +Every step and every movement of the multitude, even in what are termed +enlightened ages, are made with equal blindness to the future; and nations +stumble upon establishments, which are indeed the result of human action, +but not the execution of any human design. [Footnote: De Retz's Memoirs.] +If Cromwell said, that a man never mounts higher, than when he knows not +whither he is going; it may with more reason be affirmed of communities, +that they admit of the greatest revolutions where no change is intended, +and that the most refined politicians do not always know whither they are +leading the state by their projects. + +If we listen to the testimony of modern history, and to that of the most +authentic parts of the ancient; if we attend to the practice of nations in +every quarter of the world, and in every condition, whether that of the +barbarian or the polished, we shall find very little reason to retract this +assertion. No constitution is formed by concert, no government is copied +from a plan. The members of a small state contend for equality; the members +of a greater, find themselves classed in a certain manner that lays a +foundation for monarchy. They proceed from one form of government to +another, by easy transitions, and frequently under old names adopt a new +constitution. The seeds of every form are lodged in human nature; they +spring up and ripen with the season. The prevalence of a particular species +is often derived from an imperceptible ingredient mingled in the soil. + +We are therefore to receive, with caution, the traditionary histories of +ancient legislators, and founders of states. Their names have long been +celebrated; their supposed plans have been admired; and what were probably +the consequences of an early situation, is, in every instance, considered +as an effect of design. An author and a work, like cause and effect, are +perpetually coupled together. This is the simplest form under which we can +consider the establishment of nations: and we ascribe to a previous design, +what came to be known only by experience, what no human wisdom could +foresee, and what, without the concurring humour and disposition of his +age, no authority could enable an individual to execute. + +If men, during ages of extensive reflection, and employed in the search of +improvement, are wedded to their institutions; and, labouring under many +acknowledged inconveniencies, cannot break loose from the trammels of +custom; what shall we suppose their humour to have been in the times of +Romulus and Lycurgus? They were not surely more disposed to embrace the +schemes of innovators, or to shake off the impressions of habit: they were +not more pliant and ductile, when their knowledge was less; not more +capable of refinement, when their minds were more circumscribed. + +We imagine, perhaps, that rude nations must have so strong a sense of the +defects under which they labour, and be so conscious that reformations are +requisite in their manners, that they must be ready to adopt, with joy, +every plan of improvement, and to receive every plausible proposal with +implicit compliance. And we are thus inclined to believe, that the harp of +Orpheus could effect, in one age, what the eloquence of Plato could not +produce in another. We mistake, however, the characteristic of simple ages: +mankind then appear to feel the fewest defects, and are then least desirous +to enter on reformations. + +The reality, in the mean time, of certain establishments at Rome and at +Sparta, cannot be disputed: but it is probable; that the government of both +these states took its rise from the situation and genius of the people, not +from the projects of single men; that the celebrated warrior and statesman, +who are considered as the founders of those nations, only acted a superior +part among numbers who were disposed to the same institutions; and that +they left to posterity a renown, pointing them out as the inventors of many +practices which had been already in use, and which helped to form their own +manners and genius, as well as those of their countrymen. + +It has been formerly observed, that, in many particulars, the customs of +simple nations coincide with what is ascribed to the invention of early +statesmen; that the model of republican government, the senate, and the +assembly of the people; that even the equality of property, or the +community of goods, were not reserved to the invention or contrivance of +singular men. + +If we consider Romulus as the founder of the Roman state, certainly he who +killed his brother, that he might reign alone, did not desire to come under +restraints from the controling power of the senate, nor to refer the +councils of his sovereignty to the decision of a collective body. Love of +dominion is, by its nature, averse to restraint; and this chieftain, like +every leader in a rude age, probably found a class of men ready to intrude +on his councils, and without whom he could not proceed. He met with +occasions, on which, as at the sound of a trumpet, the body of the people +assembled, and took resolutions, which any individual might in vain +dispute, or attempt to control; and Rome, which commenced on the general +plan of every artless society, found lasting improvements in the pursuit of +temporary expedients, and digested her political frame in adjusting the +pretensions of parties which arose in the state. + +Mankind, in very early ages of society, learn to covet riches, and to +admire distinction: they have avarice and ambition, and are occasionally +led by these passions to depredations and conquest: but in their ordinary +conduct, are guided or restrained by different motives; by sloth or +intemperance; by personal attachments, or personal animosities; which +mislead from the attention to interest. These motives or habits render +mankind, at times, remiss or outrageous: they prove the source of civil +peace or of civil disorder, but disqualify those who are actuated by them, +from maintaining any fixed usurpation; slavery and rapine, in the case of +every community, are first threatened from abroad, and war, either +offensive or defensive, is the great business of every tribe. The enemy +occupy their thoughts; they have no leisure for domestic dissentions. It is +the desire of every separate community, however, to secure itself; and in +proportion as it gains this object, by strengthening its barrier, by +weakening its enemy, or by procuring allies, the individual at home +bethinks him of what he may gain or lose for himself: the leader is +disposed to enlarge the advantages which belong to his station; the +follower becomes jealous of rights which are open to encroachment; and +parties who united before, from affection and habit, or from a regard to +their common preservation, disagree in supporting their several claims to +precedence or profit. + +When the animosities of faction are thus awakened at home, and the +pretensions of freedom are opposed to those of dominion, the members of +every society find a new scene upon which to exert their activity. They had +quarrelled, perhaps, on points of interest; they had balanced between +different leaders; but they had never united as citizens, to withstand the +encroachments of sovereignty, or to maintain their common rights as a +people. If the prince, in this contest, finds numbers to support, as well +as to oppose his pretensions, the sword which was whetted against foreign +enemies, may be pointed at the bosom of fellow subjects, and every interval +of peace from abroad, be filled with domestic war. The sacred names of +liberty, justice, and civil order, are made to resound in public +assemblies; and, during the absence of other alarms, give to society, +within itself, an abundant subject of ferment and animosity. + +If what is related of the little principalities which, in ancient times, +were formed in Greece, in Italy, and over all Europe, agrees with the +character we have given of mankind under the first impressions of property, +of interest, and of hereditary distinctions; the seditions and domestic +wars which followed in those very states, the expulsion of their kings, or +the questions which arose concerning the prerogatives of the sovereign, or +privilege of the subject, are agreeable to the representation which we now +give of the first step toward political establishment, and the desire of a +legal constitution. + +What this constitution may be in its earliest form, depends on a variety of +circumstances in the condition of nations: it depends on the extent of the +principality in its rude state; on the degree of disparity to which mankind +had submitted before they begun to dispute the abuses of power: it depends +likewise on what we term _accidents_, the personal character of an +individual, or the events of a war. + +Every community is originally a small one. That propensity by which mankind +at first unite, is not the principle from which they afterwards act in +extending the limits of empire. Small tribes, where they are not assembled +by common objects of conquest or safety, are even averse to a coalition. +If, like the real or fabulous confederacy of the Greeks for the destruction +of Troy, many nations combine in pursuit of a single object, they easily +separate again, and act anew on the maxims of rival states. + +There is, perhaps a certain national extent, within which the passions of +men are easily communicated from one, or a few, to the whole; and there are +certain numbers of men who can be assembled, and act in a body. If, while +the society is not enlarged beyond this dimension, and while its members +are easily assembled, political contentions arise, the state seldom fails +to proceed on republican maxims, and to establish democracy. In most rude +principalities, the leader derived his prerogative from the lustre of his +race, and from the voluntary attachment of his tribe: the people he +commanded were his friends, his subjects, and his troops. If we suppose, +upon any change in their manners, that they cease to revere his dignity, +that they pretend to equality among themselves, or are seized with a +jealousy of his assuming too much, the foundations of his power are already +withdrawn. When the voluntary subject becomes refractory; when considerable +parties, or the collective body, choose to act for themselves; the small +kingdom, like that of Athens, becomes of course a republic. + +The changes of condition, and of manners, which, in the progress of +mankind, raise up to nations a leader and a prince, create, at the same +time, a nobility and a variety of ranks, who have, in a subordinate degree, +their claim to distinction. Superstition, too, may create an order of men, +who, under the title of priesthood, engage in the pursuit of a separate +interest; who, by their union and firmness as a body, and by their +incessant ambition, deserve to be reckoned in the list of pretenders to +power. These different orders of men are the elements of whose mixture the +political body is generally formed; each draws to its side some part from +the mass of the people. The people themselves are a party upon occasion; +and numbers of men, however classed and distinguished, become, by their +jarring pretensions and separate views, mutual interruptions and checks; +and have, by bringing to the national councils the maxims and apprehensions +of a particular order, and by guarding a particular interest, a share in +adjusting or preserving the political form of the state. + +The pretensions of any particular order, if not checked by some collateral +power, would terminate in tyranny; those of a prince, in despotism; those +of a nobility or priesthood, in the abuses of aristocracy; of a populace, +in the confusions of anarchy. These terminations, as they are never the +professed, so are they seldom even the disguised object of party: but the +measures which any party pursues, if suffered to prevail, will lead, by +degrees, to every extreme. + +In their way to the ascendant they endeavour to gain, and in the midst of +interruptions which opposite interests mutually give, liberty may have a +permanent or a transient existence; and the constitution may bear a form +and a character as various as the casual combination of such multiplied +parts can effect. + +To bestow on communities some degree of political freedom, it is perhaps +sufficient, that their members, either singly, or as they are involved with +their several orders, should insist on their rights; that under republics, +the citizen should either maintain his own equality with firmness, or +restrain the ambition of his fellow citizen within moderate bounds; that +under monarchy, men of every rank should maintain the honours of their +private or their public stations; and sacrifice neither to the impositions +of a court, nor to the claims of a populace, those dignities which are +destined, in some measure, independent of fortune, to give stability to the +throne, and to procure a respect to the subject. + +Amidst the contentions of party, the interests of the public, even the +maxims of justice and candour, are sometimes forgotten; and yet those fatal +consequences which such a measure of corruption seems to portend, do not +unavoidably follow. The public interest is often secure, not because +individuals are disposed to regard it as the end of their conduct, but +because each, in his place, is determined to preserve his own. Liberty is +maintained by the continued differences and oppositions of numbers, not by +their concurring zeal in behalf of equitable government. In free states, +therefore, the wisest laws are never, perhaps, dictated by the interest and +spirit of any order of men: they are moved, they are opposed, or amended, +by different hands; and come at last to express that medium and composition +which contending parties have forced one another to adopt. + +When we consider the history of mankind in this view, we cannot be at a +loss for the causes which, in small communities, threw the balance on the +side of democracy; which, in states more enlarged in respect to territory +and number of people, gave the ascendant to monarchy; and which, in a +variety of conditions and of different ages, enabled mankind to blend and +unite the characters of different forms; and, instead of any of the simple +constitutions we have mentioned, [Footnote: Part I. Sect. 10.] to exhibit a +medley of all. + +In emerging from a state of rudeness and simplicity, men must be expected +to act from that spirit of equality, or moderate subordination, to which +they have been accustomed. When crowded together in cities, or within the +compass of a small territory, they act by contagious passions, and every +individual feels a degree of importance proportioned to his figure in the +crowd, and the smallness of its numbers. The pretenders to power and +dominion appear in too familiar a light to impose upon the multitude, and +they have no aids at their call, by which they can bridle the refractory +humours of a people who resist their pretensions. Theseus, king of Attica, +we are told, assembled the inhabitants of its twelve cantons into one city. +In this he took an effectual method to unite into one democracy, what were +before the separate members of his monarchy, and to hasten the downfall of +the regal power. + +The monarch of an extensive territory has many advantages in maintaining +his station. Without any grievance to his subjects, he can support the +magnificence of a royal estate, and dazzle the imagination of his people, +by that very wealth which themselves have bestowed. He can employ the +inhabitants of one district against those of another; and while the +passions that lead to mutiny and rebellion, can at any one time seize only +on a part of his subjects, he feels himself strong in the possession of a +general authority. Even the distance at which he resides from many of those +who receive his commands, augments the mysterious awe and respect which are +paid to his government. + +With these different tendencies, accident and corruption, however, joined +to a variety of circumstances, may throw particular states from their bias, +and produce exceptions to every general rule. This has actually happened in +some of the later principalities of Greece, and modern Italy, in Sweden, +Poland, and the German Empire. But the united states of the Netherlands, +and the Swiss cantons, are, perhaps, the most extensive communities, which, +maintaining the union of nations, have, for any considerable time, resisted +the tendency to monarchical government; and Sweden is the only instance of +a republic established in a great kingdom on the ruins of monarchy. + +The sovereign of a petty district, or a single city, when not supported, as +in modern Europe, by the contagion of monarchical manners, holds the +sceptre by a precarious tenure, and is perpetually alarmed by the spirit of +mutiny in his people, is guided by jealousy, and supports himself by +severity, prevention, and force. + +The popular and aristocratical powers in a great nation, as in the case of +Germany and Poland, may meet with equal difficulty in maintaining their +pretensions; and, in order to avoid their danger on the side of kingly +usurpation, are obliged to withhold from the supreme magistrate even the +necessary trust of an executive power. + +The states of Europe, in the manner of their first settlement, laid the +foundations of monarchy, and were prepared to unite under regular and +extensive governments. If the Greeks, whose progress at home terminated in +the establishment of so many independent republics, had under Agamemnon +effected a conquest and settlement in Asia, it is probable that they might +have furnished an example of the same kind. But the original inhabitants of +any country, forming many separate cantons, come by slow degrees to that +coalition and union into which conquering tribes, in effecting their +conquests, or in securing their possessions, are hurried at once. +Cćsar encountered some hundreds of independent nations in Gaul, whom even +their common danger did not sufficiently unite. The German invaders, who +settled in the lands of the Romans, made, in the same district, a number +of separate establishments, but far more extensive than what the ancient +Gauls, by their conjunction and treaties, or in the result of their wars, +could, after many ages, have reached. + +The seeds of great monarchies, and the roots of extensive dominion, were +every where planted with the colonies that divided the Roman empire. We +have no exact account of the numbers, who, with a seeming concert, +continued, during some ages, to invade and to seize this tempting prize. +Where they expected resistance, they endeavoured to muster up a +proportional force; and when they proposed to settle, entire nations +removed to share in the spoil. Scattered over an extensive province, where +they could not be secure, without maintaining their union, they continued +to acknowledge the leader under whom they had fought; and, like an army +sent by divisions into separate stations, were prepared to assemble +whenever occasion should require their united operations or counsels. + +Every separate party had its post assigned, and every subordinate chieftain +his possessions, from which he was to provide his own subsistence, and that +of his followers. The model of government was taken from that of a military +subordination, and a fief was the temporary pay of an officer proportioned +to his rank. [Footnote: See Dr. Robertson's History of Scotland, B. +1.--Dalrymple's Hist. of Feudal Tenures.] There was a class of the people +destined to military service, another to labour, and to cultivate lands for +the benefit of their masters. The officer improved his tenure by degrees, +first changing a temporary grant into a tenure for his life; and this also, +upon the observance of certain conditions, into a grant including his +heirs. + +The rank of the nobles became hereditary in every quarter, and formed a +powerful and permanent order of men in every state. While they held the +people in servitude, they disputed the claims of their sovereign; they +withdrew their attendance upon occasion, or turned their arms against him. +They formed a strong and insurmountable barrier against a general despotism +in the state; but they were themselves, by means of their warlike +retainers, the tyrants of every little district, and prevented the +establishment of order, or any regular applications of law. They took the +advantage of weak reigns or minorities, to push their encroachments on the +sovereign; or having made the monarchy elective, they, by successive +treaties and stipulations, at every election, limited or undermined the +monarchical power. The prerogatives of the prince have been, in some +instances, as in that of the German empire in particular, reduced to a mere +title; and the national union itself preserved in the observance only of a +few insignificant formalities. + +Where the contest of the sovereign, and of his vassals, under hereditary +and ample prerogatives annexed to the crown, had a different issue, the +feudal lordships were gradually stript of their powers, the nobles were +reduced to the state of subjects, and, obliged to hold their honours, and +exercise their jurisdictions, in a dependence on the prince. It was his +supposed interest to reduce them to a state of equal subjection with the +people, and to extend his own authority, by rescuing the labourer and the +dependent from the oppressions of their immediate superiors. + +In this project the princes of Europe have variously succeeded. While they +protected the people, and thereby encouraged the practice of commercial and +lucrative arts, they paved the way for despotism in the state; and with the +same policy by which they relieved the subject from many oppressions, they +increased the powers of the crown. + +But where the people had, by the constitution, a representative in the +government, and a head, under which they could avail themselves of the +wealth they acquired, and of the sense of their personal importance, this +policy turned against the crown; it formed a new power to restrain the +prerogative, to establish the government of law, and to exhibit a spectacle +new in the history of mankind; monarchy mixed with republic, and extensive +territory governed, during some ages, without military force. + +Such were the steps by which the nations of Europe have arrived at their +present establishments: in some instances they have come to the possession +of legal constitutions; in others, to the exercise of a mitigated +despotism; or they continue to struggle with the tendency which they +severally have to these different extremes. + +The progress of empire, in the early ages of Europe, threatened to be +rapid, and to bury the independent spirit of nations in a grave like that +which the Ottoman conquerors found for themselves, and for the wretched +race they had vanquished. The Romans had by slow degrees extended their +empire; they had made every new acquisition in the result of a tedious war, +and had been obliged to plant colonies, and to employ a variety of +measures, to secure every new possession. But the feudal superior being +animated, from the moment he gained an establishment, with a desire of +extending his territory, and of enlarging the list of his vassals, +procured, by merely bestowing investiture, the annexation of new provinces, +and became the master of states, before independent, without making any +material innovation in the form of their policy. + +Separate principalities were, like the parts of an engine, ready to be +joined, and, like the wrought materials of a building, ready to be erected. +They were in the result of their struggles put together or taken asunder +with facility. The independence of weak states was preserved only by the +mutual jealousies of the strong, or by the general attention of all to +maintain a balance of power. + +The happy system of policy on which European states have proceeded in +preserving this balance; the degree of moderation which is, in adjusting +their treaties, become habitual even to victorious and powerful monarchies, +does honour to mankind, and may give hopes of a lasting felicity, to be +derived from a prepossession, never, perhaps, equally strong in any former +period, or among any number of nations, that the first conquering people +will ruin themselves, as well as their rivals. + +It is in such states, perhaps, as in a fabric of a large dimension, that we +can perceive most distinctly the several parts of which a political body +consists; and observe that concurrence or opposition of interests, which +serve to unite or to separate different orders of men, and lead them, by +maintaining their several claims, to establish a variety of political +forms. The smallest republics, however, consist of parts similar to these, +and of members who are actuated by a similar spirit. They furnish examples +of government diversified by the casual combinations of parties, and by the +different advantages with which those parties engage in the conflict. + +In every society there is a casual subordination, independent of its formal +establishment, and frequently adverse to its constitution. While the +administration and the people speak the language of a particular form, and +seem to admit no pretensions to power, without a legal nomination in one +instance, or without the advantage of hereditary honours in another, this +casual subordination, possibly arising from the distribution of property, +or from some other circumstance that bestows unequal degrees of influence, +gives the state its tone, and fixes its character. + +The plebeian order at Rome having been long considered as of an inferior +condition, and excluded from the higher offices of magistracy, had +sufficient force, as a body, to get this invidious distinction removed; +but the individual still acting under the impressions of a subordinate +rank, gave in every competition his suffrage to a patrician, whose +protection he had experienced; and whose personal authority he felt. By +this means the ascendancy of the patrician families was, for a certain +period, as regular as it could be made by the avowed maxims of aristocracy: +but the higher offices of state being gradually shared by plebeians, the +effects of former distinctions were prevented or weakened. The laws that +were made to adjust the pretensions of different orders were easily eluded. +The populace became a faction, and their alliance was the surest road to +dominion. Clodius, by a pretended adoption into a plebeian family, was +qualified to become tribune of the people; and Caesar, by espousing the +cause of this faction, made his way to usurpation and tyranny. + +In such fleeting and transient scenes, forms of government are only modes +of proceeding, in, which successive ages differ from one another. Faction +is ever ready to seize all occasional advantages; and mankind, when in +hazard from any party, seldom find a better protection than that of its +rival. Cato united with Pompey in opposition to Caesar, and guarded against +nothing so much as that reconciliation of parties, which was in effect to +be a combination of different leaders against the freedom of the republic. +This illustrious personage stood distinguished in his age like a man among +children, and was raised above his opponents, as much by the justness of +his understanding, and the extent of his penetration, as he was by the +manly fortitude and disinterestedness with which he strove to baffle the +designs of a vain and childish ambition, that was operating to the ruin of +mankind. + +Although free constitutions of government seldom or never take their rise +from the scheme of any single projector, yet are they often preserved by +the vigilance, activity, and zeal of single men. Happy are they who +understand and who choose this object of care; and happy it is for mankind +when it is not chosen too late. It has been reserved to signalize the lives +of a Cato or a Brutus, on the eve of fatal revolutions; to foster in secret +the indignation of Thrasea and Helvidius; and to occupy the reflections of +speculative men in times of corruption. But even in such late and +ineffectual examples, it was happy to know, and to value, an object which +is so important to mankind. The pursuit, and the love of it, however +unsuccessful, has thrown its principal lustre on human nature. + + + + +SECTION III. + +OF NATIONAL OBJECTS IN GENERAL, AND OF ESTABLISHMENTS AND MANNERS RELATING +TO THEM. + + +While the mode of subordination is casual, and forms of government take +their rise, chiefly from the manner in which the members of a state have +been originally classed, and from a variety of circumstances that procure +to particular orders of men a sway in their country, there are certain +objects that claim the attention of every government, that lead the +apprehensions and the reasonings of mankind in every society, and that not +only furnish an employment to statesmen, but in some measure direct the +community to those institutions, under the authority of which the +magistrate holds his power. Such are the national defence, the distribution +of justice, the preservation and internal prosperity of the state. If these +objects be neglected, we must apprehend that the very scene in which +parties contend for power, for privilege, or equality, must disappear, and +society itself no longer exist. + +The consideration due to these objects will be pleaded in every public +assembly, and will produce, in every political contest, appeals to that +common sense and opinion of mankind, which, struggling with the private +views of individuals, and the claims of party, may be considered as the +great legislator of nations. + +The measures required for the attainment of most national objects are +connected together, and must be jointly pursued; they are often the same. +The force which is prepared for defence against foreign enemies, may be +likewise employed to keep the peace at home: the laws made to secure the +rights and liberties of the people, may serve as encouragements to +population and commerce; and every community, without considering how its +objects may be classed or distinguished by speculative men, is, in every +instance, obliged to assume or to retain that form which is best fitted to +preserve its advantages, or to avert its misfortunes. + +Nations, however, like private men, have their favourite ends, and their +principal pursuits, which diversify their manners, as well as their +establishments. They even attain to the same ends by different means; and, +like men who make their fortune by different professions, retain the habits +of their principal calling in every condition at which they arrive. The +Romans became wealthy in pursuing their conquests; and probably, for a +certain period, increased the numbers of mankind, while their disposition +to war seemed to threaten the earth with desolation. Some modern nations +proceed to dominion and enlargement on the maxims of commerce; and while +they only intend to accumulate riches at home, continue to gain an imperial +ascendant abroad. + +The characters of the warlike and the commercial are variously combined: +they are formed in different degrees by the influence of circumstances, +that more or less frequently give rise to war, and excite the desire of +conquest; of circumstances, that leave a people in quiet to improve their +domestic resources, or to purchase, by the fruits of their industry, from +foreigners, what their own soil and their climate deny. + +The members of every community are more or less occupied with matters of +state, in proportion as their constitution admits them to share in the +government, and summons up their attention to objects of a public nature. A +people are cultivated or unimproved in their talents, in proportion as +those talents are employed in the practice of arts, and in the affairs of +society: they are improved or corrupted in their manners, in proportion as +they are encouraged and directed to act on the maxims of freedom and +justice, or as they as they are degraded into a state of meanness and +servitude. But whatever advantages are obtained, or whatever evils are +avoided, by nations, in any of these important respects, are generally +considered as mere occasional incidents: they are seldom admitted among the +objects of policy, or entered among the reasons of state. + +We hazard being treated with ridicule, when we require political +establishments, merely to cultivate the talents of men, and to inspire the +sentiments of a liberal mind: we must offer some motive of interest, or +some hopes of external advantage, to animate the pursuits, or to direct the +measures, of ordinary men. They would be brave, ingenious, and eloquent, +only from necessity, or for the sake of profit: they magnify the uses of +wealth, population, and the other resources of war; but often forget that +these are of no consequence without the direction of able capacities, and +without the supports of a national vigour. We may expect, therefore, to +find among states the bias to a particular policy taken from the regards to +public safety; from the desire of securing personal freedom or private +property; seldom from the consideration of moral effects, or from a view to +the real improvement of mankind. + + + + +SECTION IV. + +OF POPULATION AND WEALTH. + + +When we imagine what the Romans must have felt when the tidings came that +the flower of their city had perished at Cannć; when we think of what the +orator had in his mind when he said, "That the youth among the people was +like the spring among the seasons;" when we hear of the joy with which the +huntsman and the warrior is adopted, in America, to sustain the honours of +the family and the nation; we are made to feel the most powerful motives to +regard the increase and preservation of our fellow citizens. Interest, +affection, and views of policy, combine to recommend this object; and it is +treated with entire neglect only by the tyrant who mistakes his own +advantage, by the statesman who trifles with the charge committed to his +care, or by the people who are become corrupted, and who consider their +fellow subjects as rivals in interest, and competitors in their lucrative +pursuits. + +Among rude societies, and among small communities in general, who are +engaged in frequent struggles and difficulties, the preservation and +increase of their members is a most important object. The American rates +his defeat from the numbers of men he has lost, or he estimates his victory +from the prisoners he has made; not from his having remained the master of +a field, or being driven from a ground on which he encountered his enemy. A +man with whom he can associate in all his pursuits, whom he can embrace as +his friend; in whom he finds an object to his affections, and an aid in his +struggles, is to him the most precious accession of fortune. + +Even where the friendship of particular men is out of the question, the +society, being occupied in forming a party that may defend itself, or annoy +its enemy, finds no object of greater moment than the increase of its +numbers. Captives who may be adopted, or children of either sex who may be +reared for the public, are accordingly considered as the richest spoil of +an enemy. The practice of the Romans in admitting the vanquished to share +in the privileges of their city, the rape of the Sabines, and the +subsequent coalition with that people, were not singular or uncommon +examples in the history of mankind. The same policy has been followed, and +was natural and obvious wherever the strength of a state consisted in the +arms of a few, and where men were valued in themselves, without regard to +estate or fortune. + +In rude ages, therefore, while mankind subsist in small divisions, it +should appear, that if the earth be thinly peopled, this defect does not +arise from the negligence of those who ought to repair it. It is even +probable, that the most effectual course that could be taken to increase +the species, would be, to prevent the coalition of nations, and to oblige +mankind to act in such small bodies as would make the preservation of their +numbers a principal object of their care. This alone, it is true, would not +be sufficient; we must probably add the encouragement for rearing families, +which mankind enjoy under a favourable policy, and the means of subsistence +which they owe to the practice of arts. + +The mother is unwilling to increase her offspring, and is ill provided to +rear them, where she herself is obliged to undergo great hardships in the +search of her food. In North America, we are told, that she joins to the +reserves of a cold or a moderate temperament, the abstinencies to which she +submits, from the consideration of this difficulty. In her apprehension, it +is matter of prudence, and of conscience, to bring one child to the +condition of feeding on venison, and of following on foot, before she will +hazard a new burden in travelling the woods. + +In warmer latitudes, by the different temperament, perhaps, which the +climate bestows, and by a greater facility in procuring subsistence, the +numbers of mankind increase, while the object itself is neglected; and the +commerce of the sexes, without any concern for population, is made a +subject of mere debauch. In some places, we are told, it is even made the +object of a barbarous policy, to defeat or to restrain the intentions of +nature. In the island of Formosa, the males are prohibited to marry before +the age of forty; and females, if pregnant before the age of thirty six, +have an abortion procured by order of the magistrate, who employs a +violence that endangers the life of the mother, together with that of the +child. [Footnote: Collection of Dutch Voyages.] + +In China the permission given to parents to kill or to expose their +children, was probably meant as a relief from the burden of a numerous +offspring. But notwithstanding what we hear of a practice so repugnant +to the human heart, it has not, probably, the effects in restraining +population; which it seems to threaten; but, like many other +institutions, has an influence the reverse of what it seemed to portend. +The parents marry with this means of relief in their view, and the +children are saved. + +However important the object of population may be held by mankind, it will +be difficult to find, in the history of civil policy, any wise or effectual +establishments, solely calculated to obtain it. The practice of rude or +feeble nations is inadequate, or cannot surmount the obstacles which are +found in their manner of life. The growth of industry, the endeavours of +men to improve their arts, to extend their commerce, to secure their +possessions, and to establish their rights, are indeed the most effectual +means to promote population: but they arise from a different motive; they +arise from regards to interest and personal safety. They are intended for +the benefit of those who exist, not to procure the increase of their +numbers. + +It is, in the mean time, of importance to know, that where a people are +fortunate in their political establishments, and successful in the pursuits +of industry, their population is likely to grow in proportion. Most of the +other devices thought of for this purpose, only serve to frustrate the +expectations of mankind or to mislead their attention. + +In planting a colony, in striving to repair the occasional wastes of +pestilence or war, the immediate contrivance of statesmen may be useful; +but if, in reasoning on the increase of mankind in general, we overlook +their freedom and their happiness, our aids to population become weak and +ineffectual. They only lead us to work on the surface, or to pursue a +shadow, while we neglect the substantial concern; and in a decaying state, +make us tamper with palliatives, while the roots of an evil are suffered to +remain. Octavius revived or enforced the laws that related to population at +Rome; but it may be said of him, and of many sovereigns in a similar +situation, that they administer the poison, while they are devising the +remedy; and bring a damp and a palsy on the principles of life, while they +endeavour, by external applications to the skin; to restore the bloom of a +decayed and sickly body. + +It is indeed happy for mankind, that this important object is not always +dependent on the wisdom of sovereigns, or the policy of single men. A +people intent on freedom, find for themselves a condition in which they may +follow the propensities of nature with a more signal effect, than any which +the councils of state could devise. When sovereigns, or projectors, are the +supposed masters of this subject, the best they can do, is to be cautious +of hurting an interest they cannot greatly promote, and of making breaches +they cannot repair. + +"When nations were divided into small territories, and petty commonwealths, +where each man had his house and his field to himself, and each county had +its capital free and independent; what a happy situation for mankind," says +Mr. Hume; "how favourable to industry and agriculture, to marriage and to +population!" Yet here were, probably no schemes of the statesman, for +rewarding the married, or for punishing the single; for inviting foreigners +to settle, or for prohibiting the departure of natives. Every citizen +finding a possession secure, and a provision for his heirs, was not +discouraged by the gloomy fears of oppression or want; and where every +other function of nature was free, that which furnished the nursery could +not be restrained. Nature has required the powerful to be just; but she has +not otherwise intrusted the preservation of her works to their visionary +plans. What fuel can the statesman add to the fires of youth? Let him only +not smother it, and the effect is secure. Where we oppress or degrade +mankind with one hand, it is vain, like Octavius, to hold out in the other, +the baits of marriage, or the whip to barrenness. It is vain to invite new +inhabitants from abroad, while those we already possess are made to hold +their tenure with uncertainty; and to tremble, not only under the prospect +of a numerous family, but even under that of a precarious and doubtful +subsistence for themselves. The arbitrary sovereign who has made this the +condition of his subjects, owes the remains of his people to the powerful +instincts of nature, not to any device of his own. + +Men will crowd where the situation is tempting, and, in a few generations, +will people every country to the measure of its means of subsistence. They +will even increase under circumstances that portend a decay. The frequent +wars of the Romans, and of many a thriving community; even the pestilence, +and the market for slaves, find their supply, if, without destroying the +source, the drain become regular; and if an issue is made for the +offspring, without unsettling the families from which they arise. Where a +happier provision is made for mankind, the statesman, who by premiums to +marriage, by allurements to foreigners, or by confining the natives at +home, apprehends, that he has made the numbers of his people to grow, is +often like the fly in the fable, who admired its success in turning the +wheel, and in moving the carriage: he has only accompanied what was already +in motion; he has dashed with his oar, to hasten the cataract; and waved +with his fan, to give speed to the winds. + +Projects of mighty settlement, and of sudden population, however successful +in the end, are always expensive to mankind. Above a hundred thousand +peasants, we are told, were yearly driven, like so many cattle, to +Petersburgh, in the first attempts to replenish that settlement, and yearly +perished for want of subsistence. [Footnote: Strachlenberg.] The Indian +only attempts to settle in the neighbourhood of the plantain, [Footnote: +Dampier.] and while his family increases, he adds a tree to the walk. + +If the plantain, the cocoa, or the palm, were sufficient to maintain an +inhabitant, the race of men in the warmer climates might become as numerous +as the trees of the forest. But in many, parts of the earth, from the +nature of the climate, and the soil, the spontaneous produce being next to +nothing, the means of subsistence are the fruits only of labour and skill. +If a people, while they retain their frugality, increase their industry, +and improve their arts, their numbers must grow in proportion. Hence it is, +that the cultivated fields of Europe are more peopled than the wilds of +America, or the plains of Tartary. + +But even the increase of mankind which attends the accumulation of wealth, +has its limits. The _necessary of life_ is a vague and a relative +term: it is one thing in the opinion of the savage; another in that of the +polished citizen: it has a reference to the fancy, and to the habits of +living. While arts improve, and riches increase; while the possessions of +individuals, or their prospects of gain, come up to their opinion of what +is required to settle a family, they enter on its cares with alacrity. But +when the possession, however redundant, falls short of the standard, and a +fortune supposed sufficient for marriage is attained with difficulty, +population is checked, or begins to decline. The citizen, in his own +apprehension, returns to the state of the savage; his children, he thinks, +must perish for want; and he quits a scene overflowing with plenty, because +he has not the fortune which his supposed rank, or his wishes, require. No +ultimate remedy is applied to this evil, by merely accumulating wealth; for +rare and costly materials, whatever these are, continue to be sought; and +if silks and pearl are made common, men will begin to covet some new +decorations, which the wealthy alone can procure. If they are indulged in +their humour, their demands are repeated; for it is the continual increase +of riches, not any measure attained, that keeps the craving imagination at +ease. + +Men are tempted to labour, and to practise lucrative arts, by motives of +interest. Secure to the workman the fruit of his labour, give him the +prospects of independence or freedom, the public has found a faithful +minister in the acquisition of wealth, and a faithful steward in hoarding +what he has gained. The statesman, in this, as in the case of population +itself, can do little more than avoid doing mischief. It is well, if, in +the beginnings of commerce, he knows how to repress the frauds to which it +is subject. Commerce, if continued, is the branch in which men, committed +to the effects of their own experience, are least apt to go wrong. + +The trader, in rude ages, is short sighted, fraudulent and mercenary; but +in the progress and advanced state of his art, his views are enlarged, his +maxims are established: he becomes punctual, liberal, faithful, and +enterprising; and in the period of general corruption, he alone has every +virtue, except the force to defend his acquisitions. He needs no aid from +the state, but its protection; and is often in himself its most intelligent +and respectable member. Even in China, we are informed, where pilfering, +fraud, and corruption, are the reigning practice with all the other orders +of men, the great merchant is ready to give, and to procure confidence: +while his countrymen act on the plans, and under the restrictions, of a +police adjusted to knaves, he acts on the reasons of trade, and the maxims +of mankind. + +If population be connected with national wealth, liberty and personal +security is the great foundation of both: and if this foundation be laid in +the state, nature has secured the increase and industry of its members; the +one by desires the most ardent in the human frame, the other by a +consideration the most uniform and constant of any that possesses the mind. +The great object of policy, therefore, with respect to both, is, to secure +to the family its means of subsistence and settlement; to protect the +industrious in the pursuit of his occupation; to reconcile the restrictions +of police, and the social affections of mankind, with their separate and +interested pursuits. + +In matters of particular profession, industry, and trade, the experienced +practitioner is the master, and every general reasoner is a novice. The +object in commerce is to make the individual rich; the more he gains for +himself, the more he augments the wealth of his country. If a protection be +required, it must be granted; if crimes and frauds be committed, they must +be repressed; and government can pretend to no more. When the refined +politician would lend an active hand, he only multiplies interruptions and +grounds of complaint; when the merchant forgets his own interest to lay +plans for his country, the period of vision and chimera is near, and the +solid basis of commerce withdrawn. He might be told, that while he pursues +his advantage, and gives no cause of complaint, the interest of commerce is +safe. + +The general police of France, proceeding on a supposition, that the +exportation of corn must drain the country where it has grown, had, till of +late, laid that branch of commerce under a severe prohibition. The English +landholder and the farmer had credit enough to obtain a premium for +exportation, to favour the sale of their commodity; and the event has +shown, that private interest is a better patron of commerce and plenty, +than the refinements of state. One nation lays the refined plan of a +settlement on the continent of North America, and trusts little to the +conduct of traders and shortsighted men: another leaves men to find their +own position in a state of freedom, and to think for themselves. The active +industry and the limited views of the one, made a thriving settlement; the +great projects of the other were still in idea. + +But I willingly quit a subject in which I am not much conversant, and still +less engaged by the object for which I write. Speculations on commerce and +wealth have been delivered by the ablest writers; and the public will +probably soon be furnished with a theory of national economy, equal to what +has ever appeared on any subject of science whatever. [Footnote: Mr. Smith, +author of the Theory of Moral Sentiment] But in the view which I have taken +of human affairs, nothing seems more important than the general caution +which the authors to whom I refer so well understand, not to consider these +articles as making the sum of national felicity, or the principal object of +any state. In science we consider our objects apart; in practice it were an +error not to have them all in our view at once. + +One nation, in search of gold and of precious metals, neglect the domestic +sources of wealth; and become dependent on their neighbours for the +necessaries of life: another so intent on improving their internal +resources, and on increasing their commerce, that they become dependent on +foreigners for the defence of what they acquire. It is even painful in +conversation to find the interest of merchants give the tone to our +reasonings, and to find a subject perpetually offered as the great business +of national councils, to which any interposition of government is seldom, +with propriety, applied, or never, beyond the protection it affords. + +We complain of a want of public spirit; but whatever may be the effect of +this error in practice, in speculation it is none of our faults: we reason +perpetually for the public; but the want of national views were frequently +better than the possession of those we express: we would have nations, like +a company of merchants, think of nothing but monopolies, and the profit of +trade, and, like them too, intrust their protection to a force which they +do not possess in themselves. + +Because men, like other animals, are maintained in multitudes, where the +necessaries of life are amassed, and the store of wealth is enlarged, we +drop our regards for the happiness, the moral and political character of a +people; and, anxious for the herd we would propagate, carry our views no +farther than the stall and the pasture. We forget that the few have often +made a prey of the many; that to the poor there is nothing so enticing as +the coffers of the rich; and that when the price of freedom comes to be +paid, the heavy sword of the victor may fall into the opposite scale. + +Whatever be the actual conduct of nations in this matter, it is certain, +that many of our arguments would hurry us, for the sake of wealth and of +population, into a scene where mankind, being exposed to corruption, are +unable to defend their possessions; and where they are, in the end, subject +to oppression and ruin. We cut off the roots, while we would extend the +branches, and thicken the foliage. + +It is possibly from an opinion that the virtues of men are secure, that +some, who turn their attention to public affairs, think of nothing but the +numbers and wealth of a people: it is from a dread of corruption, that +others think of nothing but how to preserve the national virtues. Human +society has great obligations to both. They are opposed to one another only +by mistake; and even when united, have not strength sufficient to combat +the wretched party, that refers every object to personal interest, and that +cares not for the safety or increase of any stock but its own. + + + + +SECTION V. + +OF NATIONAL DEFENCE AND CONQUEST. + + +It is impossible to ascertain how much of the policy of any state has a +reference to war, or to national safety. "Our legislator," says the Cretan +in Plato, "thought that nations were by nature in a state of hostility: he +took his measures accordingly; and observing that all the possessions of +the vanquished pertain to the victor, he held it ridiculous to propose any +benefit to his country, before he had provided that it should not be +conquered." + +Crete, which is supposed to have been a model of military policy, is +commonly considered as the original from which the celebrated laws of +Lycurgus were copied. Mankind, it seems, in every instance, must have some +palpable object to direct their proceedings, and must have a view to some +point of external utility, even in the choice of their virtues. The +discipline of Sparta was military; and a sense of its use in the field, +more than the force of unwritten and traditionary laws, or the supposed +engagement of the public faith obtained by the lawgiver, may have induced +this people to persevere in the observance of many rules, which to other +nations do not appear necessary, except in the presence of an enemy. + +Every institution of this singular people gave a lesson of obedience, of +fortitude, and of zeal for the public: but it is remarkable that they chose +to obtain, by their virtues alone, what other nations are fain to buy with +their treasure; and it is well known, that, in the course of their history, +they came to regard their discipline merely on account of its moral +effects. They had experienced the happiness of a mind courageous, +disinterested, and devoted to its best affections; and they studied to +preserve this character in themselves, by resigning the interests of +ambition, and the hopes of military glory, even by sacrificing the numbers +of their people. + +It was the fate of Spartans who escaped from the field, not of those who +perished with Cleombrotus at Leuctra, that filled the cottages of Lacedemon +with mourning and serious reflection: [Footnote: Xenophon.] it was the fear +of having their citizens corrupted abroad, by intercourse with servile and +mercenary men, that made them quit the station of leaders in the Persian +war, and leave Athens, during fifty years, to pursue, unrivalled, that +career of ambition and profit, by which she made such acquisitions of power +and of wealth. [Footnote: Thucydides, Book I.] + +We have had occasion to observe, that in every rude state the great +business is war; and that in barbarous times, mankind being generally +divided into small parties, are engaged in almost perpetual hostilities. +This circumstance gives the military leader a continued ascendant in his +country, and inclines every people, during warlike ages, to monarchical +government. + +The conduct of an army can least of all subjects be divided: and we may be +justly surprised to find that the Romans, after many ages of military +experience, and after having recently felt the arms of Hannibal in many +encounters, associated two leaders at the head of the same army, and left +them to adjust their pretensions, by taking the command, each a day in his +turn. The same people, however, on other occasions, thought it expedient to +suspend the exercise of every subordinate magistracy, and in the time of +great alarms, to intrust all the authority of the state in the hands of one +person. + +Republics have generally found it necessary, in the conduct of war, to +place great confidence in the executive branch of their government. When a +consul at Rome had proclaimed his levies, and administered the military +oath, he became from that moment master of the public treasury, and of the +lives of those who were under his command. [Footnote: Polybius.] The axe +and the rods were no longer a mere badge of magistracy, or an empty +pageant, in the hands of the lictor; they were, at the command of the +father, stained with the blood of his own children; and fell, without +appeal, on the mutinous and disobedient of every condition. + +In every free state, there is a perpetual necessity to distinguish the +maxims of martial law from those of the civil; and he who has not learned +to give an implicit obedience, where the state has given him a military +leader, and to resign his personal freedom in the field, from the same +magnanimity with which he maintains it in the political deliberations of +his country, has yet to learn the most important lesson of civil society, +and is only fit to occupy a place in a rude, or in a corrupted state, where +the principles of mutiny and of servility being joined, the one or the +other is frequently adopted in the wrong place. + +From a regard to what is necessary in war, nations inclined to popular or +aristocratical government, have had recourse to establishments that +bordered on monarchy. Even where the highest office of the state was in +common times administered by a plurality of persons, the whole power and +authority belonging to it was, on particular occasions, committed to one; +and upon great alarms, when the political fabric was shaken or endangered, +a monarchical power has been applied, like a prop, to secure the state +against the rage of the tempest. Thus were the dictators occasionally named +at Rome, and the stadtholders in the United Provinces; and thus, in mixed +governments, the royal prerogative is occasionally enlarged, by the +temporary suspension of laws, [Footnote: In Britain, by the suspension of +the _Habeas Corpus_.] and the barriers of liberty appear to be +removed, in order to vest a dictatorial power in the hands of the king. + +Had mankind, therefore, no view but to warfare, it is probable that they +would continue to prefer monarchical government to any other; or at least +that every nation, in order to procure secret and united councils, would +intrust the executive power with unlimited authority. But happily for civil +society, men have objects of a different sort: and experience has taught, +that although the conduct of armies requires an absolute and undivided +command; yet a national force is best formed, where numbers of men are +inured to equality; and where the meanest citizen may consider himself, +upon occasion, as destined to command as well as to obey. It is here that +the dictator finds a spirit and a force prepared to second his councils; it +is here too that the dictator himself is formed, and that numbers of +leaders are presented to the public choice; it is here that the prosperity +of a state is independent of single men, and that a wisdom which never +dies, with a system of military arrangements permanent and regular, can, +even under the greatest misfortunes, prolong the national struggle. With +this advantage the Romans, finding a number of distinguished leaders arise +in succession, were at all times almost equally prepared to contend with +their enemies of Asia or Africa; while the fortune of those enemies, on the +contrary, depended on the casual appearance of singular men, of a +Mithridates, or of a Hannibal. + +The soldier, we are told, has his point of honour, and a fashion of +thinking, which he wears with his sword. This point of honour, in free and +uncorrupted states, is a zeal for the public; and war to them is an +operation of passions, not the mere pursuit of a calling. Its good and its +ill effects are felt in extremes: the friend is made to experience the +warmest proofs of attachment, the enemy the severest effects of animosity. +On this system the celebrated nations of antiquity made war under their +highest attainments of civility, and under their greatest degrees of +refinement. + +In small and rude societies, the individual finds himself attacked in every +national war; and none can propose to devolve his defence on another. "The +king of Spain is a great prince," said an American chief to the governor of +Jamaica, who was preparing a body of troops to join in an enterprise +against the Spaniards: "Do you propose to make war upon so great a king +with so small a force?" Being told that the forces he saw were to be joined +by troops from Europe, and that the governor could then command no more: +"Who are these then," said the American, "who form this crowd of +spectators? Are they not your people? And why do you not all go forth to so +great a war?" He was answered, that the spectators were merchants, and +other inhabitants, who took no part in the service: "Would they be +merchants still," continued this statesman, "if the king of Spain, was to +attack you here? For my part, I do not think that merchants should be +permitted to live in any country: when I go to war, I leave nobody at home +but the women." It should seem that this simple warrior considered +merchants as a kind of neutral persons, who took no part in the quarrels of +their country; and that he did not know how much war itself may be made a +subject of traffic; what mighty armies may be put in motion from behind the +counter; how often human blood is, without any national animosity, bought +and sold for bills of exchange; and how often the prince, the nobles, and +the statesmen, in many a polished nation, might, in his account, be +considered as merchants. + +In the progress of arts and of policy, the members of every state are +divided into classes; and in the commencement of this distribution, there +is no distinction more serious than that of the warrior and the pacific +inhabitant; no more is required to place men in the relation of master and +slave. Even when the rigours of an established slavery abate, as they have +done in modern Europe, in consequence of a protection, and a property, +allowed to the mechanic and labourer, this distinction serves still to +separate the noble from the base, and to point out that class of men who +are destined to reign and to domineer in their country. + +It was certainty never foreseen by mankind, that, in the pursuit of +refinement, they were to reverse this order; or even that they were to +place the government, and the military force of nations, in different +hands. But is it equally unforeseen, that the former order may again take +place? And that the pacific citizen, however distinguished by privilege and +rank, must one day bow to the person with whom he has intrusted his sword? +If such revolutions should actually follow, will this new master revive in +his own order the spirit of the noble and the free? Will he renew the +characters of the warrior and the statesman? Will he restore to his country +the civil and military virtues? I am afraid to reply. Montesquieu observes, +that the government of Rome, even under the emperors, became, in the hands +of the troops, elective and republican: but the Fabii or the Bruti were +heard of no more after the praetorian bands became the republic. + +We have enumerated some of the heads under which a people, as they emerge +from barbarity, may come to be classed. Such are, the nobility, the people, +the adherents of the prince; and even the priesthood have not been +forgotten; when we arrive at times of refinement, the army must be joined +to the list. The departments of civil government and of war being severed, +and the pre-eminence being given to the statesman, the ambitious will +naturally devolve the military service on those who are contented with a +subordinate station. They who have the greatest share in the division of +fortune, and the greatest interest in defending their country, having +resigned the sword, must pay for what they have ceased to perform; and +armies, not only at a distance from home, but in the very bosom of their +country, are subsisted by pay. A discipline is invented to inure the +soldier to perform, from habit, and from the fear of punishment, those +hazardous duties, which the love of the public, or a national spirit, no +longer inspire. + +When we consider the breach that such an establishment makes in the system +of national virtues, it is unpleasant to observe, that most nations who +have run the career of civil arts, have, in some degree, adopted this +measure. Not only states, which either have wars to maintain, or precarious +possessions to defend at a distance; not only a prince jealous of his +authority, or in haste to gain the advantage of discipline, are disposed to +employ foreign troops, or to keep standing armies; but even republics, with +little of the former occasion, and none of the motives which prevail in +monarchy, have been found to tread in the same path. If military +arrangements occupy so considerable a place in the domestic policy of +nations, the actual consequences of war are equally important in the +history of mankind. Glory and spoil were the earliest subject of quarrels: +a concession of superiority, or a ransom, were the prices of peace. The +love of safety, and the desire of dominion, equally lead mankind to wish +for accessions of strength. Whether as victors or as vanquished, they tend +to a coalition; and powerful nations considering a province, or a fortress +acquired on their frontier, as so much gained, are perpetually intent on +extending their limits. + +The maxims of conquest are not always to be distinguished from those of +self defence. If a neighbouring state be dangerous, if it be frequently +troublesome, it is a maxim founded in the consideration of safety, as well +as of conquest, that it ought to be weakened or disarmed: if, being once +reduced, it be disposed to renew the contest, it must from thenceforward be +governed in form. Rome never avowed any other maxims of conquest; and she +every where sent her insolent armies under the specious pretence of +procuring to herself and her allies a lasting peace, which she alone would +reserve the power to disturb. + +The equality of those alliances which the Grecian states formed against +each other, maintained, for a time, their independence and separation; and +that time was the shining and the happy period of their story. It was +prolonged more by the vigilance and conduct which they severally applied, +than by the moderation of their councils, or by any peculiarities of +domestic policy which arrested their progress. The victors were sometimes +contented, with merely changing to a resemblance of their own forms, the +government of the states they subdued. What the next step might have been +in the progress of impositions, is hard to determine. But when we consider, +that one party fought for the imposition of tributes, another for the +ascendant in war, it cannot be doubted, that the Athenians, from a national +ambition, and from the desire of wealth; and the Spartans, though they +originally only meant to defend themselves, and their allies, were both, at +last, equally willing to become the masters of Greece; and were preparing +for each other at home that yoke, which both, together with their +confederates, were obliged to receive from abroad. + +In the conquests of Philip, the desire of self-preservation and security +seemed to be blended with the ambition natural to princes. He turned his +arms successively to the quarters on which he found himself hurt, from +which he had been alarmed or provoked; and when he had subdued the Greeks, +he proposed to lead them against their ancient enemy of Persia. In this he +laid the plan which was carried into execution by his son. + +The Romans, become the masters of Italy, and the conquerors of Carthage, +had been alarmed on the side of Macedon, and were led to cross a new sea in +search of a new field, on which to exercise their military force. In +prosecution of their wars, from the earliest to the latest date of their +history, without intending the very conquest they made, perhaps without +foreseeing what advantage they were to reap from the subjection of distant +provinces, or in what manner they were to govern their new acquisitions, +they still proceeded to seize what came successively within their reach; +and, stimulated by a policy which engaged them in perpetual wars, which led +to perpetual victory and accessions of territory, they extended the +frontier of a state, which, but a few centuries before, had been confined +within the skirts of a village, to the Euphrates, the Danube, the Weser, +the Forth, and the Ocean. + +It is vain to affirm that the genius of any nation is adverse to conquest. +Its real interests indeed most commonly are so; but every state, which is +prepared to defend itself, and to obtain victories, is likewise in hazard +of being tempted to conquer. + +In Europe, where mercenary and disciplined armies are everywhere formed, +and ready to traverse the earth, where, like a flood pent up by slender +banks, they are only restrained by political forms, or a temporary balance +of power; if the sluices should break, what inundations may we not expect +to behold? Effeminate kingdoms and empires are spread from the sea of Corea +to the Atlantic ocean. Every state, by the defeat of its troops, may be +turned into a province; every army opposed in the field today may be hired +to-morrow; and every victory gained, may give the accession of a new +military force to the victor. + +The Romans, with inferior arts of communication by sea and land, maintained +their dominion in a considerable part of Europe, Asia, and Africa, over +fierce and intractable nations: what may not the fleets and armies of +Europe, with the access they have by commerce to every part of the world, +and the facility of their conveyance, effect, if that ruinous maxim should +prevail, that the grandeur of a nation is to be estimated from the extent +of its territory; or, that the interest of any particular people consists +in reducing their neighbours to servitude? + + + + +SECTION VI + +OF CIVIL LIBERTY + + +If war, either for depredation or defence, were the principal object of +nations, every tribe would, from its earliest state, aim at the condition +of a Tartar horde; and in all its successes would hasten to the grandeur of +a Tartar empire. The military leader would supersede the civil magistrate; +and preparations to fly with all their possessions, or to pursue with all +their forces, would in every society make the sum of their public +arrangements. + +He who first, on the banks of the Wolga, or the Jenisca, had taught the +Scythian to mount the horse, to move his cottage on wheels, to harass his +enemy alike by his attacks and his flights, to handle at full speed the +lance and the bow, and when beat from his ground, to leave his arrows in +the wind to meet his pursuer; he who had taught his countrymen to use the +same animal for every purpose of the dairy, the shambles, and the field of +battle; would be esteemed the founder of his nation; or like Ceres and +Bacchus among the Greeks, would be invested with the honours of a god, as +the reward of his useful inventions. Amidst such institutions, the names +and achievements of Hercules and Jason might have been transmitted to +posterity; but those of Lycurgus or Solon, the heroes of political society, +could have gained no reputation, either fabulous or real, in the records of +fame. + +Every tribe of warlike barbarians may entertain among themselves the +strongest sentiments of affection and honour, while they carry to the rest +of mankind the aspect of banditti and robbers. [Footnote: D'Arvieux's +History of the Arabs.] They may be indifferent to interest, and superior to +danger; but our sense of humanity, our regard to the rights of nations, our +admiration of civil wisdom and justice, even our effeminacy itself, make us +turn away with contempt, or with horror, from a scene which exhibits so few +of our good qualities, and which serves so much to reproach our weakness. + +It is in conducting the affairs of civil society, that mankind find the +exercise of their best talents, as well as the object of their best +affections. It is in being grafted on the advantages of civil society, that +the art of war is brought to perfection; that the resources of armies, and +the complicated springs to be touched in their conduct, are best +understood. The most celebrated warriors were also citizens: opposed to a +Roman, or a Greek, the chieftain of Thrace, of Germany, or Gaul, was a +novice. The native of Pella learned the principles of his art from +Epaminondas and Pelopidas. + +If nations, as hath been observed in the preceding section, must adjust +their policy on the prospect of war from abroad, they are equally bound to +provide for the attainment of peace at home. But there is no peace in the +absence of justice. It may subsist with divisions, disputes, and contrary +opinions; but not with the commission of wrongs. The injurious, and the +injured, are, as implied in the very meaning of the terms, in a state of +hostility. + +Where men enjoy peace, they owe it either to their mutual regards and +affections, or to the restraints of law. Those are the happiest states +which procure peace to their members by the first of these methods: but it +is sufficiently uncommon to procure it even by the second. The first would +withhold the occasions of war and of competition; the second adjusts the +pretensions of men by stipulations and treaties. Sparta taught her citizens +not to regard interest: other free nations secure the interest of their +members, and consider this as a principal part of their rights. + +Law is the treaty to which members of the same community have agreed, and +under which the magistrate and the subject continue to enjoy their rights, +and to maintain the peace of society. The desire of lucre is the great +motive to injuries: law therefore has a principal reference to property. It +would ascertain the different methods by which property may be acquired, as +by prescription, conveyance, and succession; and it makes the necessary +provisions for rendering the possession of property secure. + +Beside avarice, there are other motives from which men are unjust; such as +pride, malice, envy, and revenge. The law would eradicate the principles +themselves, or at least prevent their effects. + +From whatever motive wrongs are committed, there are different particulars +in which the injured may suffer. He may suffer in his goods, in his person, +or in the freedom of his conduct. Nature has made him master of every +action which is not injurious to others. The laws of his particular society +entitle him perhaps to a determinate station, and bestow on, him a certain +share in the government of his country. An injury, therefore, which in this +respect puts him under any unjust restraint, may be called an infringement +of his political rights. + +Where the citizen is supposed to have rights of property and of station, +and is protected in the exercise of them, he is said to be free; and the +very restraints by which he is hindered from the commission of crimes, are +a part of his liberty. No person is free, where any person is suffered to +do wrong with impunity. Even the despotic prince on his throne, is not an +exception to this general rule. He himself is a slave, the moment he +pretends that force should decide any contest. The disregard he throws on +the rights of his people recoils on himself; and in the general uncertainty +of all conditions, there is no tenure more precarious than his own. + +From the different particulars to which men refer, in speaking of liberty, +whether to the safety of the person and the goods, the dignity of rank, or +the participation of political importance, as well as from the different +methods by which their rights are secured, they are led to differ in the +interpretation of the very term; and every free nation is apt to suppose, +that freedom is to be found only among themselves; they measure it by their +own peculiar habits and system of manners. + +Some having thought, that the unequal distribution of wealth is a +grievance, required a new division of property as the foundation of public +justice. This scheme is suited to democratical government; and in such only +it has been admitted with any degree of effect. + +New settlements, like that of the people of Israel, and singular +establishments, like those of Sparta and Crete, have furnished examples of +its actual execution; but in most other states, even the democratical +spirit could attain no more than to prolong the struggle for Agrarian laws; +to procure, on occasion, the expunging of debts; and to keep the people in +mind, under all the distinctions of fortune, that they still had a claim to +equality. + +The citizen at Rome, at Athens, and in many republics, contended for +himself, and his order. The Agrarian law was moved and debated for ages: it +served to awaken the mind; it nourished the spirit of equality, and +furnished a field on which to exert its force; but was never established +with any of its other and more formal effects. + +Many of the establishments which serve to defend the weak from oppression, +contribute, by securing the possession of property, to favour its unequal +division, and to increase the ascendant of those from whom the abuses of +power may be feared. Those abuses were felt very early both at Athens and +Rome. [Footnote: Plutarch in the Life of Solon. Livy.] + +It has been proposed to prevent the excessive accumulation of wealth in +particular hands, by limiting the increase of private fortunes, by +prohibiting entails, and by withholding the right of primogeniture in the +succession of heirs. It has been proposed to prevent the ruin of moderate +estates, and to restrain the use, and consequently the desire of great +ones, by sumptuary laws. These different methods are more or less +consistent with the interests of commerce, and may be adopted, in different +degrees, by a people whose national object is wealth: and they have their +degree of effect, by inspiring moderation, or a sense of equality, and by +stifling the passions by which mankind are prompted to mutual wrongs. + +It appears to be, in a particular manner, the object of sumptuary laws, and +of the equal division of wealth, to prevent the gratification of vanity, to +check the ostentation of superior fortune, and, by this means, to weaken +the desire of riches, and to preserve, in the breast of the citizen, that +moderation and equity which ought to regulate his conduct. + +This end is never perfectly attained in any state where the unequal +division of property is admitted, and where fortune is allowed to bestow +distinction and rank. It is indeed difficult, by any methods whatever, to +shut up this source of corruption. Of all the nations whose history is +known with certainty, the design itself, and the manner of executing it, +appear to have been understood in Sparta alone. + +There property was indeed acknowledged by law; but in consequence of +certain regulations and practices, the most effectual, it seems, that +mankind have hitherto found out. The manners that prevail among simple +nations before the establishment of property, were in some measure +preserved; [Footnote: See Part II. Sec. 2.] the passion for riches was, +during many ages, suppressed; and the citizen was made to consider himself +as the property of his country, not as the owner of a private estate. + +It was held ignominious either to buy or to sell the patrimony of a +citizen. Slaves were, in every family, intrusted with the care of its +effects, and freemen were strangers to lucrative arts; justice was +established on a contempt of the ordinary allurement to crimes; and the +preservatives of civil liberty applied by the state, were the dispositions +that were made to prevail in the hearts of its members. + +The individual was relieved from every solicitude that could arise on the +head of his fortune; he was educated, and he was employed for life in the +service of the public; he was fed at a place of common resort, to which he +could carry no distinction but that of his talents and his virtues; his +children were the wards and the pupils of the state; he himself was thought +to be a parent, and a director to the youth of his country, not the anxious +father of a separate family. + +This people, we are told, bestowed some care in adorning their persons, and +were known from afar by the red or the purple they wore; but could not make +their equipage, their buildings, or their furniture, a subject of fancy, or +what we call taste. The carpenter and the housebuilder were restricted to +the use of the axe and the saw: their workmanship must have been simple, +and probably, in respect to its form, continued for ages the same. The +ingenuity of the artist was employed in cultivating his own nature, not in +adorning the habitations of his fellow citizens. + +On this plan, they had senators, magistrates, leaders of armies, and +ministers of state; but no men of fortune. Like the heroes of Homer, they +distributed honours by the measure of the cup and the platter. A citizen +who, in his political capacity, was the arbiter of Greece, thought himself +honoured by receiving a double portion of plain entertainment at supper. He +was active, penetrating, brave, disinterested, and generous; but his +estate, his table, and his furniture might, in our esteem, have marred the +lustre of all his virtues. Neighbouring nations, however, applied for +commanders to this nursery of statesmen and warriors, as we apply for the +practitioners of every art to the countries in which they excel; for cooks +to France, and for musicians to Italy. + +After all, we are, perhaps, not sufficiently instructed in the nature of +the Spartan laws and institutions, to understand in what manner all the +ends of this singular state were obtained; but the admiration paid to its +people, and the constant reference of contemporary historians to their +avowed superiority, will not allow us to question the facts. "When I +observed," says Xenophon, "that this nation, though not the most populous, +was the most powerful state of Greece, I was seized with wonder, and with +an earnest desire to know by what arts it attained its pre-eminence; but +when I came to the knowledge of its institutions, my wonder ceased. As one +man excels another, and as he who is at pains to cultivate his mind, must +surpass the person who neglects it; so the Spartans should excel every, +nation, being the only state in which virtue is studied as the object of +government." + +The subjects of property, considered with a view to subsistence, or even to +enjoyment, have little effect in corrupting mankind, or in awakening the +spirit of competition and of jealousy; but considered with a view to +distinction and honour, where fortune constitutes rank, they excite the +most vehement passions, and absorb all the sentiments of the human soul: +they reconcile avarice and meanness with ambition and vanity; and lead men +through the practice of sordid and mercenary arts, to the possession of a +supposed elevation and dignity. + +Where this source of corruption, on the contrary, is effectually stopped, +the citizen is dutiful, and the magistrate upright; any form of government +may be wisely, administered; places of trust are likely to be well +supplied; and by whatever rule office and power are bestowed, it is likely +that all the capacity and force that subsists in the state will come to be +employed in its service: for on this supposition, experience and abilities +are the only guides, and the only titles to public confidence; and if +citizens be ranged into separate classes, they become mutual checks by the +difference of their opinions, not by the opposition of their interested +designs. + +We may easily account for the censures bestowed on the government of +Sparta, by those who considered it merely on the side of its forms. It was +not calculated to prevent the practice of crimes, by balancing against each +other the selfish and partial dispositions of men; but to inspire the +virtues of the soul, to procure innocence by the absence of criminal +inclinations, and to derive its internal peace from the indifference of its +members to the ordinary motives of strife and disorder. It were trifling to +seek for its analogy to any other constitution of state, in which its +principal characteristic and distinguishing feature is not to be found. +The collegiate sovereignty, the senate, and the ephori, had their +counterparts in other republics, and a resemblance has been found in +particular to the government of Carthage: [Footnote: Aristotle.] but what +affinity of consequence can be found between a state whose sole object was +virtue, and another whose principal object was wealth; between a people +whose associated kings, being lodged, in the same cottage, had no fortune +but their daily food; and a commercial republic, in which a proper estate +was required as a necessary qualification for the higher offices of state? + +Other petty commonwealths expelled kings, when they became jealous of their +designs, or after having experienced their tyranny; here the hereditary +succession of kings was preserved: other states were afraid of the +intrigues and cabals of their members in competition for dignities; here +solicitation was required as the only condition upon which a place in the +senate was obtained. A supreme inquisitorial power was, in the persons of +the ephori, safely committed to a few men, who were drawn by lot, and +without distinction, from every order of the people: and if a contrast to +this, as well as to many other articles of the Spartan policy, be required, +it may be found in the general history of mankind. + +But Sparta, under every supposed error of its form, prospered for ages, by +the integrity of its manners, and by the character of its citizens. When +that integrity was broken, this people did not languish in the weakness of +nations sunk in effeminacy. They fell into the stream by which other states +had been carried in the torrent of violent passions, and in the outrage of +barbarous times. They ran the career of other nations, after that of +ancient Sparta was finished they built walls, and began to improve their +possessions, after they ceased to improve their people; and on this new +plan, in their struggle for political life, they survived the system of +states that perished under the Macedonian dominion: they lived to act with +another which arose in the Achćan league; and were the last community of +Greece that became a village in the empire of Rome. + +If it should be thought we have dwelt too long on the history of this +singular people, it may be remembered, in excuse, that they alone, in the +language of Xenophon, made virtue an object of state. + +We must be contented to derive our freedom from a different source: to +expect justice from the limits which are set to the powers of the +magistrate, and to rely for protection on the laws which are made to secure +the estate and the person of the subject. We live in societies, where men +must be rich, in order to be great; where pleasure itself is often pursued +from vanity; where the desire of a supposed happiness serves to inflame the +worst of passions, and is itself the foundation of misery; where public +justice, like fetters applied to the body, may, without inspiring the +sentiments of candour and equity, prevent the actual commission of crimes. + +Mankind come under this description the moment they are seized with their +passion for riches and power. But their description in every instance is +mixed: in the best there is an alloy of evil; in the worst, a mixture of +good. Without any establishments to preserve their manners, besides penal +laws, and the restraints of police, they derive, from instinctive feelings, +a love of integrity and candour, and from the very contagion of society +itself, an esteem for what is honourable and praiseworthy. They derive, +from their union and joint opposition to foreign enemies, a zeal for their +own community, and courage to maintain its rights. If the frequent neglect +of virtue, as a political object, tend to discredit the understandings of +men, its lustre, and its frequency, as a spontaneous offspring of the +heart, will restore the honours of our nature. + +In every casual and mixed state of the national manners, the safety of +every individual, and his political consequence, depends much on himself, +but more on the party to which he is joined. For this reason, all who feel +a common interest, are apt to unite in parties; and, as far as that +interest requires, mutually support each other. + +Where the citizens of any free community are of different orders, each +order has a peculiar set of claims and pretensions: relatively to the other +members of the state, it is a party; relatively to the differences of +interest among its own members, it may admit of numberless subdivisions. +But in every state there are two interests very readily apprehended; that +of a prince and his adherents, that of a nobility, or of any temporary +faction, opposed to the people. + +Where the sovereign power is reserved by the collected body, it appears +unnecessary to think of additional establishments for securing the rights +of the citizen. But it is difficult, if not impossible, for the collective +body to exercise this power in a manner that supersedes the necessity of +every other political caution. + +If popular assemblies assume every function of government; and if, in the +same tumultuous manner in which they can, with great propriety, express +their feelings, the sense of their rights, and their animosity to foreign +or domestic enemies, they pretend to deliberate on points of national +conduct, or to decide questions of equity and justice; the public is +exposed to manifold inconveniencies; and popular governments would, of all +others, be the most subject to errors in administration, and to weakness in +the execution of public measures. + +To avoid these disadvantages, the people are always contented to delegate +part of their power. They establish a senate to debate, and to prepare, if +not to determine, questions that are brought to the collective body for a +final resolution. They commit the executive power to some council of this +sort, or to a magistrate who presides in their meetings. Under the use of +this necessary and common expedient, even while democratical forms are most +carefully guarded, there is one party of the few, another of the many. One +attacks, the other defends; and they are both ready to assume in their +turns. But though, in reality, a great danger to liberty arises on the part +of the people themselves, who, in times of corruption, are easily made the +instruments of usurpation and tyranny; yet, in the ordinary aspect of +government, the executive carries an air of superiority, and the rights of +the people seem always exposed to encroachment. + +Though, on the day that the Roman people were assembled, the senators mixed +with the crowd, and the consul was no more than the servant of the +multitude; yet, when this awful meeting was dissolved, the senators met to +prescribe business for their sovereign, and the consul went armed with the +axe and the rods, to teach every Roman, in his separate capacity, the +submission which he owed to the state. + +Thus, even where the collective body is sovereign, they are assembled only +occasionally; and though, on such occasions, they determine every question +relative to their rights and their interests as a people, and can assert +their freedom with irresistible force; yet they do not think themselves, +nor are they in reality, safe, without a more constant and more uniform +power operating in their favour. + +The multitude is every where strong; but requires, for the safety of its +members, when separate as well as when assembled, a head to direct and to +employ its strength. For this purpose, the ephori, we are told, were +established at Sparta, the council of a hundred at Carthage, and the +tribunes at Rome. So prepared, the popular party has, in many instances, +been able to cope with its adversaries, and has even trampled on the +powers, whether aristocratical or monarchical, with which it would have +been otherwise unable to contend. The state, in such cases, commonly +suffered by the delays, interruptions, and confusions, which popular +leaders, from private envy, or a prevailing jealousy of the great, seldom +failed to create in the proceedings of government. + +Where the people, as in some larger communities, have only a share in the +legislature, they cannot overwhelm the collateral powers, who having +likewise a share, are in condition to defend themselves: where they act +only by their representatives, their force may be uniformly employed. And +they may make a part in a constitution of government more lasting than any +of those in which the people, possessing or pretending to the entire +legislature, are, when assembled, the tyrants, and, when dispersed, the +slaves of a distempered state. In governments properly mixed, the popular +interest, finding a counterpoise in that of the prince or of the nobles, a +balance is actually established between them, in which the public freedom +and the public order are made to consist. + +From some such casual arrangement of different interests, all the varieties +of mixed government proceed; and on that degree of consideration which +every separate interest can procure to itself, depends the equity of the +laws they enact, and the necessity they are able to impose, of adhering +strictly to the terms of law in its execution. States are accordingly +unequally qualified to conduct the business of legislation, and unequally +fortunate in the completeness, and regular observance, of their civil code. + +In democratical establishments, citizens, feeling themselves possessed of +the sovereignty, are not equally anxious, with the subjects of other +governments, to have their rights explained, or secured, by actual statute. +They trust to personal vigour, to the support of party, and to the sense of +the public. + +If the collective body perform the office of judge, as well as of +legislator, they seldom think of devising rules for their own direction, +and are found still more seldom to follow any determinate rule, after it is +made. They dispense, at one time, with what they enacted at another; and in +their judicative, perhaps even more than in their legislative, capacity, +are guided by passions and partialities that arise from circumstances of +the case before them. + +But under the simplest governments of a different sort, whether aristocracy +or monarchy, there is a necessity for law, and there are a variety of +interests to be adjusted in framing every statute. The sovereign wishes to +give stability and order to administration, by express and promulgated +rules. The subject wishes to know the conditions and limits of his duty. He +acquiesces or he revolts, according as the terms on which he is made to +live with the sovereign, or with his fellow subjects, are, or are not, +consistent with the sense of his rights. + +Neither the monarch, nor the council of nobles, where either is possessed +of the sovereignty, can pretend to govern, or to judge at discretion. No +magistrate, whether temporary or hereditary, can with safety neglect that +reputation for justice and equity, from which his authority, and the +respect that is paid to his person, are in a great measure derived. +Nations, however, have been fortunate in the tenor, and in the execution of +their laws, in proportion as they have admitted every order of the people, +by representation or otherwise, to an actual share of the legislature. +Under establishments of this sort, law is literally a treaty, to which the +parties concerned have agreed, and have given their opinion in settling its +terms. The interests to be affected by a law, are likewise consulted in +making it. Every class propounds an objection, suggests an addition or an +amendment of its own. They proceed to adjust, by statute, every subject of +controversy: and while they continue to enjoy their freedom, they continue +to multiply laws, and to accumulate volumes, as if they could remove every +possible ground of dispute, and were secure of their rights, merely by +having put them in writing. + +Rome and England, under their mixed governments, the one inclining to +democracy, and the other to monarchy, have proved the great legislators +among nations. The first has left the foundation, and great part of the +superstructure of its civil code to the continent of Europe: the other, in +its island, has carried the authority and government of law to a point of +perfection, which they never before attained in the history of mankind. + +Under such favourable establishments, known customs, the practice and +decisions of courts, as well as positive statutes, acquire the authority of +laws; and every proceeding is conducted by some fixed and determinate rule. +The best and most effectual precautions are taken for the impartial +application of rules to particular cases; and it is remarkable, that, in +the two examples we have mentioned, a surprising coincidence is found in +the singular methods of their jurisdiction. The people in both reserved in +a manner the office of judgment to themselves, and brought the decision of +civil rights, or of criminal questions, to the tribunal of peers, who, in +judging of their fellow citizens, prescribed a condition of life for +themselves. + +It is not in mere laws, after all, that we are to look for the securities +to justice, but in the powers by which these laws have been obtained, and +without whose constant support they must fall to disuse. Statutes serve to +record the rights of a people, and speak the intention of parties to defend +what the letter of the law has expressed; but without the vigour to +maintain what is acknowledged as a right, the mere record, or the feeble +intention, is of little avail. + +A populace roused by oppression, or an order of men possessed of temporary +advantage, have obtained many charters, concessions, and stipulations, in +favour of their claims; but where no adequate preparation was made to +preserve them, the written articles were often forgotten, together with the +occasion on which they were framed. + +The history of England, and of every free country, abounds with the example +of statutes enacted when the people or their representatives assembled, but +never executed when the crown or the executive was left to itself. The most +equitable laws on paper are consistent with the utmost despotism in +administration. Even the form of trial by juries in England had its +authority in law, while the proceedings of courts were arbitrary and +oppressive. + +We must admire, as the key stone of civil liberty, the statute which forces +the secrets of every prison to be revealed, the cause of every commitment +to be declared, and the person of the accused to be produced, that he may +claim his enlargement, or his trial, within a limited time. No wiser form +was ever opposed to the abuses of power. But it requires a fabric no less +than the whole political constitution of Great Britain, a spirit no less +than the refractory and turbulent zeal of this fortunate people, to secure +its effects. + +If even the safety of the person, and the tenure of property, which may be +so well defined in the words of a statute, depend, for their preservation, +on the vigour and jealousy of a free people, and on the degree of +consideration which every order of the state maintains for itself; it is +still more evident, that what we have called the political freedom, or the +right of the individual to act in his station for himself and the public, +cannot be made to rest on any other foundation. The estate may be saved, +and the person released, by the forms of a civil procedure; but the rights +of the mind cannot be sustained by any other force but its own. + + + + +SECTION VII. + +OF THE HISTORY OF ARTS. + + +We have already observed, that art is natural to man; and that the skill he +acquires after many ages of practice, is only the improvement of a talent +he possessed at the first. Vitruvius finds the rudiments of architecture in +the form of a Scythian cottage. The armourer may find the first productions +of his calling in the sling and the bow; and the shipwright of his in the +canoe of the savage. Even the historian and the poet may find the original +essays of their arts in the tale, and the song, which celebrate the wars, +the loves, and the adventures of men in their rudest condition. + +Destined to cultivate his own nature, or to mend his situation, man finds a +continual subject of attention, ingenuity, and labour. Even where he does +not propose any personal improvement, his faculties are strengthened by +those very exercises in which he seems to forget himself: his reason and +his affections are thus profitably engaged in the affairs of society; his +invention and his skill are exercised in procuring his accommodations and +his food; his particular pursuits are prescribed to him by circumstances of +the age, and of the country in which he lives: in one situation, he is +occupied with wars and political deliberations; in another, with the care +of his interest, of his personal ease, or conveniency. He suits his means +to the ends he has in view; and, by multiplying contrivances, proceeds, by +degrees, to the perfection of his arts. In every step of his progress, if +his skill be increased, his desire must likewise have time to extend: and +it would be as vain to suggest a contrivance of which he slighted the use, +as it would be to tell him of blessings which he could not command. + +Ages are generally supposed to have borrowed from those who went before +them, and nations to have received their portion of learning or of art from +abroad. The Romans are thought to have learned from the Greeks, and the +moderns of Europe from both. From a few examples of this sort, we learn to +consider every science or art as derived, and admit of nothing original in +the practice or manners of any people. The Greek was a copy of the +Egyptian, and even the Egyptian was an imitator, though we have lost sight +of the model on which he was formed. + +It is known, that men improve by example and intercourse; but in the case +of nations, whose members excite and direct each other, why seek from +abroad the origin of arts, of which every society, having the principles in +itself, only requires a favourable occasion to bring them to light? When +such occasion presents itself to any people, they generally seize it; and +while it continues, they improve the inventions to which it gave rise among +themselves, or they willingly copy from others: but they never employ their +own invention, nor look abroad, for instruction on subjects that do not lie +in the way of their common pursuits; they never adopt a refinement of which +they have not discovered the use. + +Inventions, we frequently observe, are accidental; but it is probable, that +an accident which escapes the artist in one age, may be seized by one who +succeeds him, and who is better apprized of its use. Where circumstances +are favourable, and where a people is intent on the objects of any art, +every invention is preserved, by being brought into general practice; every +model is studied, and every accident is turned to account. If nations +actually borrow from their neighbours, they probably borrow only what they +are nearly in a condition to have invented themselves. + +Any singular practice of one country, therefore, is seldom transferred to +another, till the way be prepared by the introduction of similar +circumstances. Hence our frequent complaints of the dulness or obstinacy of +mankind, and of the dilatory communication of arts from one place to +another. While the Romans adopted the arts of Greece, the Thracians and +Illyrians continued to behold them with indifference. Those arts were, +during one period, confined to the Greek colonies, and during another, to +the Roman. Even where they were spread by a visible intercourse, they were +still received by independent nations with the slowness of invention. They +made a progress not more rapid at Rome than they had done at Athens; and +they passed to the extremities of the Roman empire, only in company with +new colonies, and joined to Italian policy. + +The modern race, who came abroad to the possession of cultivated provinces, +retained the arts they had practised at home: the new master hunted the +boar, or pastured his herds, where he might have raised a plentiful +harvest; he built a cottage in the view of a palace; he buried, in one +common ruin, the edifices, sculptures, paintings, and libraries, of the +former inhabitant: he made a settlement upon a plan of his own, be said +with assurance, that although the Roman and the modern literature savour +alike of the Greek original, yet mankind, in either instance, would not +have drank of this fountain, unless they had been hastening to open springs +of their own. + +Sentiment and fancy, the use of the hand or the head, are not inventions of +particular men; and the flourishing of arts that depend on them, are, in +the case of any people, a proof rather of political felicity at home, than +of any instruction received from abroad, or of any natural superiority in +point of industry or talents. + +When the attentions of men are turned toward particular subjects, when the +acquisitions of one age are left entire to the next, when every individual +is protected in his place, and left to pursue the suggestion of his wants, +inventions accumulate; and it is difficult to find the original of any art. +The steps which lead to perfection are many; and we are at a loss on whom +to bestow the greatest share of our praise; on the first, or on the last, +who may have borne a part in the progress. + + + + +SECTION VIII. + +OF THE HISTORY OF LITERATURE. + + +If we may rely on the general observations contained in the last section, +the literary, as well as mechanical arts, being a natural produce of the +human mind, will rise spontaneously wherever men are happily placed; and in +certain nations it is not more necessary to look abroad for the origin of +literature, than it is for the suggestion of any of the pleasures or +exercises in which mankind, under a state of prosperity and freedom, are +sufficiently inclined to indulge themselves. + +We are apt to consider arts as foreign and adventitious to the nature of +man; but there is no art that did not find its occasion in human life, and +that was not, in some one or other of the situations in which our species +is found, suggested as a means for the attainment of some useful end. The +mechanic and commercial arts took their rise from the love of property, and +were encouraged by the prospects of safety and of gain: the literary and +liberal arts took their rise from the understanding, the fancy, and the +heart. They are mere exercises of the mind in search of its peculiar +pleasures and occupations; and are promoted by circumstances that suffer +the mind to enjoy itself. + +Men are equally engaged by the past, the present, and the future, and are +prepared for every occupation that gives scope to their powers. +Productions, therefore, whether of narration, fiction, or reasoning, that +tend to employ the imagination, or move the heart; continue for ages a +subject of attention, and a source of delight. The memory of human +transactions being preserved in tradition or writing, is the natural +gratification of a passion that consists of curiosity, admiration, and the +love of amusement. + +Before many books are written, and before science is greatly advanced, the +productions of mere genius are sometimes complete: the performer requires +not the aid of learning where his description of story relates to near and +contiguous objects; where it relates to the conduct and characters of men +with whom he himself has acted, and in whose occupations and fortunes he +himself has borne a part. + +With this advantage, the poet is the first to offer the fruits of his +genius, and to lead in the career of those arts by which the mind is +destined to exhibit its imaginations, and to express its passions. Every +tribe of barbarians have their passionate or historic rhymes, which contain +the superstition, the enthusiasm, and the admiration of glory, with which +the breasts of men, in the earliest state of society, are possessed. They +delight in versification, either because the cadence of numbers is natural +to the language of sentiment, or because, not having the advantage of +writing, they are obliged to bring the ear in aid of the memory, in order +to facilitate the repetition, and ensure the preservation of their works. + +When we attend to the language which savages employ on any solemn occasion, +it appears that man is a poet by nature. Whether at first obliged by the +mere defects of his tongue, and the scantiness of proper expressions, or +seduced by a pleasure of the fancy in stating the analogy of its objects, +he clothes every conception in image and metaphor. "We have planted the +tree of peace," says an American orator; "we have buried the axe under its +roots: we will henceforth repose under its shade; we will join to brighten +the chain that binds our nations together." Such are the collections of +metaphor which those nations employ in their public harangues. They have +likewise already adopted those lively figures, and that daring freedom of +language, which the learned have afterwards found so well fitted to express +the rapid transitions of the imagination, and the ardours of a passionate +mind. + +If we are required to explain, how men could be poets, or orators, before +they were aided by the learning of the scholar and the critic? we may +inquire, in our turn, how bodies could fall by their weight, before the +laws of gravitation were recorded in books? Mind, as well as body, has +laws, which are exemplified in the course of nature, and which the critic +collects only after the example has shown what they are. + +Occasioned, probably, by the physical connection we have mentioned, between +the emotions of a heated imagination, and the impressions received from +music and pathetic sounds, every tale among rude nations is repeated in +verse, and is made to take the form of a song. The early history of all +nations is uniform in this particular. Priests, statesmen, and +philosophers, in the first ages of Greece, delivered their instructions in +poetry, and mixed with the dealers in music and heroic fable. + +It is not so surprising, however, that poetry should be the first species +of composition in every nation, as it is that a style, apparently so +difficult, and so far removed from ordinary use, should be almost as +universally the first to attain its maturity. The most admired of all poets +lived beyond the reach of history, almost of tradition. The artless song of +the savage, the heroic legend of the bard, have sometimes a magnificent +beauty, which no change of language can improve, and no refinements of the +critic reform. [Footnote: See Translations of Gallic Poetry, by James +McPherson.] + +Under the supposed disadvantage of a limited knowledge, and a rude +apprehension, the simple poet has impressions that more than compensate the +defects of his skill. The best subjects of poetry, the characters of the +violent and the brave, the generous and the intrepid, great dangers, trials +of fortitude and fidelity, are exhibited within his view, or are delivered +in traditions which animate like truth, because they are equally believed. +He is not engaged in recalling, like Virgil or Tasso, the sentiments or +scenery of an age remote from his own; he needs not be told by the critic, +[Footnote: See Longinus.] to recollect what another would have thought, or +in what manner another would have expressed his conception. The simple +passions, friendship, resentment, and love, are the movements of his own +mind, and he has no occasion to copy. Simple and vehement in his +conceptions and feelings, he knows no diversity of thought, or of style, to +mislead or to exercise his judgment. He delivers the emotions of the heart, +in words suggested by the heart; for he knows no other. And hence it is, +that while we admire the judgment and invention of Virgil, and of other +later poets, these terms appear misapplied to Homer. Though intelligent, as +well as sublime, in his conceptions, we cannot anticipate the lights of his +understanding, nor the movements of his heart; he appears to speak from +inspiration, not from invention; and to be guided in the choice of his +thoughts and expressions by a supernatural instinct, not by reflection. + +The language of early ages is, in one respect, simple and confined; in +another, it is varied and free: it allows liberties, which, to the poet of +after-times, are denied. + +In rude ages men are not separated by distinctions of rank or profession. +They live in one manner, and speak one dialect. The bard is not to choose +his expression among the singular accents of different conditions. He has +not to guard his language from the peculiar errors of the mechanic, the +peasant, the scholar, or the courtier, in order to find that elegant +propriety, and just elevation, which is free from the vulgar of one class, +the pedantic of the second, or the flippant of the third. The name of every +object, and of every sentiment, is fixed; and if his conception has the +dignity of nature, his expression will have a purity which does not depend +on his choice. + +With this apparent confinement in the choice of his words, he is at liberty +to break through the ordinary modes of construction; and in the form of a +language not established by rules, may find for himself a cadence agreeable +to the tone of his mind. The liberty he takes, while his meaning is +striking, and his language is raised, appears an improvement, not a +trespass on grammar. He delivers a style to the ages that follow, and +becomes a model from which his posterity judge. + +But whatever may be the early disposition of mankind to poetry, or the +advantages they possess in cultivating this species of literature; whether +the early maturity of poetical compositions arise from their being the +first studied, or from their having a charm to engage persons of the +liveliest genius, who are best qualified to improve the eloquence of their +native tongue; it is a remarkable fact, that, not only in countries where +every vein of composition was original, and was opened in the order of +natural succession; but even at Rome, and in modern Europe, where the +learned began early to practise on foreign models, we have poets of every +nation, who are perused with pleasure, while the prose writers of the same +ages are neglected. + +As Sophocles and Euripides preceded the historians and moralists of Greece, +not only Naevius and Ennius, who wrote the Roman history in verse, but +Lucilius, Plautus, Terence, and we may add Lucretius, were prior to Cicero, +Sallust, or Caesar. Dante and Petrarch went before any good prose writer in +Italy; Corneille and Racine brought on the fine age of prose compositions +in France; and we had in England, not only Chaucer and Spenser, but +Shakspeare and Milton, while our attempts in history or science were yet in +their infancy; and deserve our attention, only for the sake of the matter +they treat. + +Hellanicus, who is reckoned among the first prose writers in Greece, and +who immediately preceded, or was the contemporary of Herodotus, set out +with declaring his intention to remove from history the wild +representations, and extravagant fictions, with which it had been disgraced +by the poets. [Footnote: Quoted by Demetrius Phalerius.] The want of +records or authorities, relating to any distant transactions, may have +hindered him, as it did his immediate successor, from giving truth all the +advantage it might have reaped from this transition to prose. There are, +however, ages in the progress of society, when such a proposition must be +favourably received. When men become occupied on the subjects of policy, or +commercial arts, they wish to be informed and instructed, as well as moved. +They are interested by what was real in past transactions. They build on +this foundation the reflections and reasonings they apply to present +affairs, and wish to receive information on the subject of different +pursuits, and of projects in which they begin to be engaged. The manners of +men, the practice of ordinary life, and the form of society, furnish their +subjects to the moral and political writer. Mere ingenuity, justness of +sentiment, and correct representation, though conveyed in ordinary +language, are understood to constitute literary merit, and by applying to +reason more than to the imagination and passions, meet with a reception +that is due to the instruction they bring. + +The talents of men come to be employed in a variety of affairs, and their +inquiries directed to different subjects. Knowledge is important in every +department of civil society, and requisite to the practice of every art. +The science of nature, morals, politics, and history, find their, several +admirers; and even poetry itself, which retains its former station in the +region of warm imagination and enthusiastic passion, appears in a growing +variety of forms. + +Matters have proceeded so far, without the aid of foreign examples, or the +direction of schools. The cart of Thespis was changed into a theatre, not +to gratify the learned, but to please the Athenian populace; and the prize +of poetical merit was decided by this populace equally before and after the +invention of rules. The Greeks were unacquainted with every language but +their own; and if they became learned, it was only by studying what they +themselves had produced: the childish mythology, which they are said to +have copied from Asia, was equally of little avail in promoting their love +of arts, or their success in the practice of them. + +When the historian is struck with the events he has witnessed, or heard; +when he is excited to relate them by his reflections or his passions; when +the statesman, who is required to speak in public, is obliged to prepare +for every remarkable appearance in studied harangues; when conversation +becomes extensive and refined; and when the social feelings and reflections +of men are committed to writing, a system of learning may arise from the +bustle of an active life. Society itself is the school, and its lessons are +delivered in the practice of real affairs. An author writes from +observations he has made on his subject, not from the suggestion of books; +and every production carries the mark of his character as a man, not of his +mere proficiency as a student or scholar. It may be made a question, +whether the trouble of seeking for distant models, and of wading for +instruction, through dark allusions and languages unknown, might not have +quenched his fire, and rendered him a writer of a very inferior class. + +If society may thus be considered as a school for letters, it is probable +that its lessons are varied in every separate state, and in every age. For +a certain period, the severe applications of the Roman people to policy and +war suppressed the literary arts, and appear to have stifled the genius +even of the historian and the poet. The institutions of Sparta gave a +professed contempt for whatever was not connected with the practical +virtues of a vigorous and resolute spirit: the charms of imagination, and +the parade of language, were by this people classed with the arts of the +cook and the perfumer: their songs in praise of fortitude are mentioned by +some writers; and collections of their witty sayings and repartees are +still preserved: they indicate the virtues and the abilities of an active +people, not their proficiency in science or literary taste. Possessed of +what was essential to happiness in the virtues of the heart, they had a +discernment of its value, unembarrassed by the numberless objects on which +mankind in general are so much at a loss to adjust their esteem: fixed in +their own apprehension, they turned a sharp edge on the follies of mankind. +"When will you begin to practise it?" was the question of a Spartan to a +person who, in an advanced age of life, was still occupied with questions +on the nature of virtue. + +While this people confined their studies to one question, how to improve +and to preserve the courage and disinterested affections of the human +heart; their rivals, the Athenians, gave a scope to refinement on every +object of reflection or passion. By the rewards, either of profit or of +reputation, which they bestowed on every effort of ingenuity employed in +ministering to the pleasure, the decoration, or the conveniency of life; by +the variety of conditions in which their citizens were placed; by their +inequalities of fortune, and their several pursuits in war, politics, +commerce, and lucrative arts, they awakened whatever was either good or bad +in the natural dispositions of men. Every road to eminence was opened: +eloquence, fortitude, military skill, envy, detraction, faction, and +treason, even the muse herself, was courted to bestow importance among a +busy, acute, and turbulent people. + +From this example, we may safely conclude, that although business is +sometimes a rival to study, retirement and leisure are not the principal +requisites to the improvement, perhaps not even to the exercise, of +literary talents. The most striking exertions of imagination and sentiment +have a reference to mankind: they are excited by the presence and +intercourse of men: they have most vigour when actuated in the mind by the +operation of its principal springs, by the emulations, the friendships, and +the oppositions which subsist among a forward and aspiring people. Amidst +the great occasions which put a free, and even a licentious society in +motion, its members become capable of every exertion; and the same scenes +which gave employment to Themistocles and Thrasybulus, inspired, by +contagion, the genius of Sophocles and Plato. The petulant and the +ingenious find an equal scope to their talents; and literary monuments +become the repositories of envy and folly, as well as of wisdom and virtue. + +Greece, divided into many little states, and agitated, beyond any spot on +the globe, by domestic contentions and foreign wars, set the example in +every species of literature. The fire was communicated to Rome; not when +the state ceased to be warlike, and had discontinued her political +agitations, but when she mixed the love of refinement and of pleasure with +her national pursuits, and indulged an inclination to study in the midst of +ferments, occasioned by the wars and pretensions of opposite factions. It +was revived in modern Europe among the turbulent states of Italy, and +spread to the north, together with the spirit which shook the fabric of the +Gothic policy: it rose while men were divided into parties, under civil or +religious denominations, and when they were at variance on subjects held +the most important and sacred. + +We may be satisfied, from the example of many ages, that liberal endowments +bestowed on learned societies, and the leisure with which they were +furnished for study, are not the likeliest means to excite the exertions of +genius: even science itself, the supposed offspring of leisure, pined in +the shade of monastic retirement. Men at a distance from the objects of +useful knowledge, untouched by the motives that animate an active and a +vigorous mind, could produce only the jargon of a technical language, and +accumulate the impertinence of academical forms. + +To speak or to write justly from an observation of nature, it is necessary +to have felt the sentiments of nature. He who is penetrating and ardent in +the conduct of life, will probably exert a proportional force and ingenuity +in the exercise of his literary talents: and although writing may become a +trade, and require all the application and study which are bestowed on any +other calling; yet the principal requisites in this calling are, the spirit +and sensibility of a vigorous mind. + +In one period, the school may take its light and direction from active +life; in another, it is true, the remains of an active spirit are greatly +supported by literary monuments, and by the history of transactions that +preserve the examples and the experience of former and of better times. But +in whatever manner men are formed for great efforts of elocution or +conduct, it appears the most glaring of all deceptions, to look for the +accomplishments of a human character in the mere attainments of +speculation, whilst we neglect the qualities of fortitude and public +affection, which are so necessary to render our knowledge an article of +happiness or of use. + + + + +PART FOURTH. + +OF CONSEQUENCES THAT RESULT FROM THE ADVANCEMENT OF CIVIL AND COMMERCIAL +ARTS. + + + * * * * * + + + +SECTION I. + +OF THE SEPARATION OF ARTS AND PROFESSIONS. + + +It is evident, that, however urged by a sense of necessity, and a desire of +convenience, or favoured by any advantages of situation and policy, a +people can make no great progress in cultivating the arts of life, until +they have separated, and committed to different persons, the several tasks +which require a peculiar skill and attention. The savage, or the barbarian, +who must build and plant, and fabricate for himself, prefers, in the +interval of great alarms and fatigues, the enjoyments of sloth to the +improvement of his fortune: he is, perhaps, by the diversity of his wants, +discouraged from industry; or, by his divided attention, prevented from +acquiring skill in the management of any particular subject. + +The enjoyment of peace, however, and the prospect of being able to exchange +one commodity for another, turns, by degrees, the hunter and the warrior +into a tradesman and a merchant. The accidents which distribute the means +of subsistence unequally, inclination, and favourable opportunities, assign +the different occupations of men; and a sense of utility leads them, +without end, to subdivide their professions. + +The artist finds, that the more he can confine his attention to a +particular part of any work, his productions are the more perfect, and grow +under his hands in the greater quantities. Every undertaker in manufacture +finds, that the more he can subdivide the tasks of his workmen, and the +more hands he can employ on separate articles, the more are his expenses +diminished, and his profits increased. The consumer too requires, in every +kind of commodity, a workmanship more perfect than hands employed on a +variety of subjects can produce; and the progress of commerce is but a +continued subdivision of the mechanical arts. + +Every craft may engross the whole of a man's attention, and has a mystery +which must be studied or learned by a regular apprenticeship. Nations of +tradesmen come to consist of members, who, beyond their own particular +trade, are ignorant of all human affairs, and who may contribute to the +preservation and enlargement of their commonwealth, without making its +interest an object of their regard or attention. Every individual is +distinguished by his calling, and has a place to which he is fitted. The +savage, who knows no distinction but that of his merit, of his sex, or of +his species, and to whom his community is the sovereign object of +affection, is astonished to find, that in a scene of this nature, his being +a man does not qualify him for any station whatever: he flies to the woods +with amazement, distaste, and aversion. + +By the separation of arts and professions, the sources of wealth are laid +open; every species of material is wrought up to the greatest perfection, +and every commodity is produced in the greatest abundance. The state may +estimate its profits and its revenues by the number of its people. It may +procure, by its treasure, that national consideration and power, which the +savage maintains at the expense of his blood. + +The advantage gained in the inferior branches of manufacture by the +separation of their parts, seem to be equalled by those which arise from a +similar device in the higher departments of policy and war. The soldier is +relieved from every care but that of his service; statesmen divide the +business of civil government into shares; and the servants of the public, +in every office, without being skilful in the affairs of state, may +succeed, by observing forms which are already established on the experience +of others. They are made, like the parts of an engine, to concur to a +purpose, without any concert of their own: and equally blind with the +trader to any general combination, they unite with him, in furnishing to +the state its resources, its conduct, and its force. + +The artifices of the beaver, the ant, and the bee, are ascribed to the +wisdom of nature. Those of polished nations are ascribed to themselves, and +are supposed to indicate a capacity superior to that of rude minds. But the +establishments of men, like those of every animal, are suggested by nature, +and are the result of instinct, directed by the variety of situations in +which mankind are placed. Those establishments arose from successive +improvements that were made, without any sense of their general effect; and +they bring human affairs to a state of complication, which the greatest +reach of capacity with which human nature was ever adorned, could not have +projected; nor even when the whole is carried into execution, can it be +comprehended in its full extent. + +Who could anticipate, or even enumerate, the separate occupations and +professions by which the members of any commercial state are distinguished; +the variety of devices which are practised in separate cells, and which the +artist, attentive to his own affair, has invented, to abridge or to +facilitate his separate task? In coming to this mighty end, every +generation, compared to its predecessors, may have appeared to be +ingenious; compared to its followers, may have appeared to be dull: and +human ingenuity, whatever heights it may have gained in a succession of +ages, continues to move with an equal pace, and to creep in making the +last, as well as the first, step of commercial or civil improvement. + +It may even be doubted, whether the measure of national capacity increases +with the advancement of arts. Many mechanical arts, indeed, require no +capacity; they succeed best under a total suppression of sentiment and +reason; and ignorance is the mother of industry as well as of superstition. +Reflection and fancy are subject to err; but a habit of moving the hand, or +the foot, is independent of either. Manufactures, accordingly, prosper most +where the mind is least consulted, and where the workshop may, without any +great effort of imagination, be considered as an engine, the parts of which +are men. + +The forest has been felled by the savage without the use of the axe, and +weights have been raised without the aid of the mechanical powers. The +merit of the inventor, in every branch, probably deserves a preference to +that of the performer; and he who invented a tool, or could work without +its assistance, deserved the praise of ingenuity in a much higher degree +than the mere artist, who, by its assistance, produces a superior work. + +But if many parts in the practice of every art, and in the detail of every +department, require no abilities, or actually tend to contract and to limit +the views of the mind, there are others which lead to general reflections, +and to enlargement of thought. Even in manufacture, the genius of the +master, perhaps, is cultivated, while that of the inferior workman lies +waste. The statesman may have a wide comprehension of human affairs, while +the tools he employs are ignorant of the system in which they are +themselves combined. The general officer may be a great proficient in the +knowledge of war, while the skill of the soldier is confined to a few +motions of the hand and the foot. The former may have gained what the +latter has lost; and being occupied in the conduct of disciplined armies, +may practise on a larger scale all the arts of preservation, of deception, +and of stratagem, which the savage exerts in leading a small party, or +merely in defending himself. + +The practitioner of every art and profession may afford matter of general +speculation to the man of science; and thinking itself, in this age of +separations, may become a peculiar craft. In the bustle of civil pursuits +and occupations, men appear in a variety of lights, and suggest matter of +inquiry and fancy, by which conversation is enlivened, and greatly +enlarged. The productions of ingenuity are brought to the market; and men +are willing to pay for whatever has a tendency to inform or amuse. By this +means the idle, as well as the busy, contribute to forward the progress of +arts, and bestow on polished nations that air of superior ingenuity, under +which they appear to have gained the ends that were pursued by the savage +in his forest, knowledge, order, and wealth. + + + + +SECTION II. + +OF THE SUBORDINATION CONSEQUENT TO THE SEPARATION OF ARTS AND PROFESSIONS. + + +There is one ground of subordination in the difference of natural talents +and dispositions; a second in the unequal division of property; and a +third, not less sensible, in the habits which are acquired by the practice +of different arts. + +Some employments are liberal, others mechanic. They require different +talents, and inspire different sentiments; and whether or not this be the +cause of the preference we actually give, it is certainly reasonable to +form our opinion of the rank that is due to men of certain professions and +stations, from the influence of their manner of life in cultivating the +powers of the mind, or in preserving the sentiments of the heart. + +There is an elevation natural to man, by which he would be thought, in his +rudest state, however urged by necessity, to rise above the consideration +of mere subsistence, and the regards of interest: he would appear to act +only, from the heart, in its engagements of friendship or opposition; he +would shew himself only upon occasions of danger or difficulty, and leave +ordinary cares to the weak or the servile. + +The same apprehensions, in every situation, regulate his notions of +meanness or of dignity. In that of polished society, his desire to avoid +the character of sordid, makes him conceal his regard for what relates +merely to his preservation or his livelihood. In his estimation, the +beggar, who depends upon charity; the labourer, who toils that he may eat; +the mechanic, whose art requires no exertion of genius, are degraded by the +object they pursue, and by the means they employ to attain it. Professions +requiring more knowledge and study; proceeding on the exercise of fancy, +and the love of perfection; leading to applause as well as to profit, place +the artist in a superior class, and bring him nearer to that station in +which men, because they are bound to no task, because they are left to +follow the disposition of the mind, and to take that part in society to +which they are led by the sentiments of the heart, or by the calls of the +public, are supposed to be highest. + +This last was the station, which, in the distinction betwixt freemen and +slaves, the citizens of every ancient republic strove to gain, and to +maintain for themselves. Women, or slaves, in the earliest ages, had been +set apart for the purposes of domestic care, or bodily labour; and in the +progress of lucrative arts, the latter were bred to mechanical professions, +and were even intrusted with merchandise for the benefit of their masters. +Freemen would be understood to have no object beside those of politics and +war. In this manner, the honours of one half of the species were sacrificed +to those of the other; as stones from the same quarry are buried in the +foundation, to sustain the blocks which happen to be hewn for the superior +parts of the pile. In the midst of our encomiums bestowed on the Greeks and +the Romans, we are, by this circumstance, made to remember, that no human +institution is perfect. + +In many of the Grecian states, the benefits arising to the free from this +cruel distinction, were not conferred equally on all the citizens. Wealth +being unequally divided, the rich alone were exempted from labour; the poor +were reduced to work for their own subsistence: interest was a reigning +passion in both, and the possession of slaves, like that of any other +lucrative property, became an object of avarice, not an exemption from +sordid attentions. The entire effects of the institution were obtained, or +continued to be enjoyed for any considerable time, at Sparta alone. We feel +its injustice; we suffer for the helot, under the severities and unequal +treatment to which he was exposed: but when we think only of the superior +order of men in this state; when we attend to that elevation and +magnanimity of spirit, for which danger had no terror, interest no means to +corrupt; when we consider them as friends, or as citizens, we are apt to +forget, like themselves, that slaves have a title to be treated like men. + +We look for elevation of sentiment, and liberality of mind, among those +orders of citizens, who, by their condition, and their fortunes, are +relieved from sordid cares and attentions. This was the description of a +free man at Sparta; and if the lot of a slave among the ancients was really +more wretched than that of the indigent labourer and the mechanic among the +moderns, it may be doubted whether the superior orders, who are in +possession of consideration and honours, do not proportionally fail in the +dignity which befits their condition. If the pretensions to equal justice +and freedom should terminate in rendering every class equally servile and +mercenary, we make a nation of helots, and have no free citizens. + +In every commercial state, notwithstanding any pretension to equal rights, +the exaltation of a few must depress the many. In this arrangement, we +think that the extreme meanness of some classes must arise chiefly from the +defect of knowledge, and of liberal education; and we refer to such +classes, as to an image of what our species must have been in its rude and +uncultivated state. But we forget how many circumstances, especially in +populous cities, tend to corrupt the lowest orders of men. Ignorance is the +least of their failings. An admiration of wealth unpossessed, becoming a +principle of envy, or of servility; a habit of acting perpetually with a +view to profit, and under a sense of subjection; the crimes to which they +are allured, in order to feed their debauch, or to gratify their avarice, +are examples, not of ignorance, but of corruption and baseness. If the +savage has not received our instructions, he is likewise unacquainted with +our vices. He knows no superior, and cannot be servile; he knows no +distinctions of fortune, and cannot be envious; he acts from his talents in +the highest station which human society can offer, that of the counsellor, +and the soldier of his country. Toward forming his sentiments, he knows all +that the heart requires to be known; he can distinguish the friend whom he +loves, and the public interest which awakens his zeal. + +The principal objections, to democratical or popular government, are taken +from the inequalities which arise among men in the result of commercial +arts. And it must be confessed, that popular assemblies, when composed of +men whose dispositions are sordid, and whose ordinary applications are +illiberal, however they may be intrusted with the choice of their masters +and leaders, are certainly, in their own persons, unfit to command. How can +he who has confined his views to his own subsistence or preservation, be +intrusted with the conduct of nations? Such men, when admitted to +deliberate on matters of state, bring to its councils confusion and tumult, +or servility and corruption; and seldom suffer it to repose from ruinous +factions, or the effect of resolutions ill formed or ill conducted. + +The Athenians retained their popular government under all these defects. +The mechanic was obliged, under a penalty, to appear in the public +market-place, and to hear debates on the subjects of war and of peace. He +was tempted by pecuniary rewards, to attend on the trial of civil and +criminal causes. But, notwithstanding an exercise tending so much to +cultivate their talents, the indigent came always with minds intent upon +profit, or with the habits of an illiberal calling. Sunk under the sense of +their personal disparity and weakness, they were ready to resign themselves +entirely to the influence of some popular leader, who flattered their +passions, and wrought on their fears; or, actuated by envy, they were ready +to banish from the state whomsoever was respectable and eminent in the +superior order of citizens; and whether from their neglect of the public at +one time, or their mal-administration at another, the sovereignty was every +moment ready to drop from their hands. + +The people, in this case, are, in fact, frequently governed by one, or a +few, who know how to conduct them. Pericles possessed a species of princely +authority at Athens; Crassus, Pompey, and Caesar, either jointly or +successively, possessed for a considerable period the sovereign direction +at Rome. + +Whether in great or in small states, democracy is preserved with +difficulty, under the disparities of condition, and the unequal cultivation +of the mind, which attend the variety of pursuits, and applications, that +separate mankind in the advanced state of commercial arts. In this, +however, we do but plead against the form of democracy, after the principle +is removed; and see the absurdity of pretensions to equal influence and +consideration, after the characters of men have ceased to be similar. + + + + +SECTION III. + +OF THE MANNERS OF POLISHED AND COMMERCIAL NATIONS. + + +Mankind, when in their rude state, have a great uniformity of manners; but +when civilized, they are engaged in a variety of pursuits; they tread on a +larger field, and separate to a greater distance. If they be guided, +however, by similar dispositions, and by like suggestions of nature, they +will probably in the end, as well as in the beginning of their progress, +continue to agree in many particulars; and while communities admit, in +their members, that diversity of ranks and professions which we have +already described as the consequence or the foundation of commerce, they +will resemble each other in many effects of this distribution, and of other +circumstances in which they nearly concur. + +Under every form of government, statesmen endeavour to remove the dangers +by which they are threatened from abroad, and the disturbances which molest +them at home. By this conduct, if successful, they in a few ages gain an +ascendant for their country; establish a frontier at a distance from its +capital; they find, in the mutual desires of tranquillity, which come to +possess mankind, and in those public establishments which tend to keep the +peace of society, a respite from foreign wars, and a relief from domestic +disorders. They learn to decide every contest without tumult, and to +secure, by the authority of law, every citizen in the possession of his +personal rights. + +In this condition, to which thriving nations aspire, and which they in some +measure attain, mankind having laid the basis of safety, proceed to erect a +superstructure suitable to their views. The consequence is various in +different states; even in different orders of men of the same community; +and the effect to every individual corresponds with his station. It enables +the statesman and the soldier to settle the forms of their different +procedure; it enables the practitioner in every profession to pursue his +separate advantage; it affords the man of pleasure a time for refinement, +and the speculative, leisure for literary conversation or study. + +In this scene, matters that have little reference to the active pursuits of +mankind, are made subjects of inquiry, and the exercise of sentiment and +reason itself becomes a profession. The songs of the bard, the harangues of +the statesman and the warrior, the tradition and the story of ancient +times, are considered as the models, or the earliest production, of so many +arts, which it becomes the object of different professions to copy or to +improve. The works of fancy, like the subjects of natural history, are +distinguished into classes and species; the rules of every particular kind +are distinctly collected; and the library is stored, like the warehouse, +with the finished manufacture of different artists, who, with the aids of +the grammarian and the critic, aspire, each in his particular way, to +instruct the head, or to move the heart. + +Every nation is a motley assemblage of different characters, and contains, +under any political form, some examples of that variety, which the humours, +tempers, and apprehensions of men, so differently employed, are likely to +furnish. Every profession has its point of honour, and its system of +manners; the merchant his punctuality and fair dealing; the statesman his +capacity and address; the man of society his good breeding and wit. Every +station has a carriage, a dress, a ceremonial, by which it is +distinguished, and by which it suppresses the national character under that +of the rank, or of the individual. + +This description may be applied equally to Athens and Rome, to London and +Paris. The rude, or the simple observer, would remark the variety he saw in +the dwellings and in the occupations, of different men, not in the aspect +of different nations. He would find, in the streets of the same city, as +great a diversity, as in the territory of a separate people. He could not +pierce through the cloud that was gathered before him, nor see how the +tradesman, mechanic, or scholar, of one country, should differ from those +of another. But the native of every province can distinguish the foreigner; +and when he himself travels, is struck with the aspect of a strange +country, the moment he passes the bounds of his own. The air of the person, +the tone of the voice, the idiom of language, and the strain of +conversation, whether pathetic or languid, gay or severe, are no longer the +same. + +Many such differences may arise among polished nations, from the effects of +climate, or from sources of fashion, that are still more hidden or +unobserved; but the principal distinctions on which we can rest, are +derived from the part a people are obliged to act in their national +capacity; from the objects placed in their view by the state; or from the +constitution of government, which, prescribing the terms of society to its +subjects, had a great influence in forming their apprehensions and habits. + +The Roman people, destined to acquire wealth by conquest, and by the spoil +of provinces; the Carthaginians, intent on the returns of merchandise, and +the produce of commercial settlements, must have filled the streets of +their several capitals with men of a different disposition and aspect. The +Roman laid hold of his sword when he wished to be great, and the state +found her armies prepared in the dwellings of her people. The Carthaginian +retired to his counter on a similar project; and, when the state was +alarmed, or had resolved on a war, lent of his profits to purchase an army +abroad. + +The member of a republic, and the subject of a monarchy, must differ; +because they have different parts assigned to them by the forms of their +country: the one destined to live with his equals, or to contend, by his +personal talents and character, for pre-eminence; the other, born to a +determinate station, where any pretence to equality creates a confusion, +and where nought but precedence is studied. Each, when the institutions of +his country are mature, may find in the laws a protection to his personal +rights; but those rights themselves are differently understood, and with a +different set of opinions, give rise to a different temper of mind. The +republican must act in the state, to sustain his pretensions; he must join +a party, in order to be safe; he must lead one, in order to be great. The +subject of monarchy refers to his birth for the honour he claims; he waits +on a court, to shew his importance; and holds out the ensigns of dependence +and favour, to gain him esteem with the public. + +If national institutions, calculated for the preservation of liberty, +instead of calling upon the citizen to act for himself, and to maintain his +rights, should give a security, requiring, on his part, no personal +attention or effort; this seeming perfection of government might weaken the +bands of society, and, upon maxims of independence, separate and estrange +the different ranks it was meant to reconcile. Neither the parties formed +in republics, nor the courtly assemblies, which meet in monarchical +governments, could take place, where the sense of a mutual dependence +should cease to summon their members together. The resorts for commerce +might be frequented, and mere amusement might be pursued in the crowd, +while the private dwelling became a retreat for reserve, averse to the +trouble arising from regards and attentions, which it might be part of the +political creed to believe of no consequence, and a point of honour to hold +in contempt. + +This humour is not likely to grow either in republics or monarchies: it +belongs more properly to a mixture of both; where the administration of +justice may be better secured; where the subject is tempted to look for +equality, but where he finds only independence in its place; and where he +learns, from a spirit of equality, to hate the very distinctions to which, +on account of their real importance, he pays a remarkable deference. + +In either of the separate forms of republic or monarchy, or in acting on +the principles of either, men are obliged to court their fellow citizens, +and to employ parts and address to improve their fortunes, or even to be +safe. They find in both a school for discernment and penetration; but in +the one, are taught to overlook the merits of a private character for the +sake of abilities that have weight with the public; and in the other to +overlook great and respectable talents, for the sake of qualities engaging +or pleasant in the scene of entertainment and private society. They are +obliged, in both, to adapt themselves with care to the fashion and manners +of their country. They find no place for caprice or singular humours. The +republican must be popular, and the courtier polite. The first must think +himself well placed in every company; the other must choose his resorts, +and desire to be distinguished only where the society itself is esteemed. +With his inferiors, he takes an air of protection; and suffers, in his +turn, the same air to be taken with himself. It did not, perhaps, require +in a Spartan, who feared nothing but a failure in his duty, who loved +nothing but his friend and the state, so constant a guard on himself to +support his character, as it frequently does in the subject of a monarchy, +to adjust his expense and his fortune to the desires of his vanity, and to +appear in a rank as high as his birth, or ambition, can possibly reach. + +There is no particular, in the mean time, in which we are more frequently +unjust, than in applying to the individual the supposed character of his +country; or more frequently misled; than in taking our notion of a people +from the example of one, or a few of their members. It belonged to the +constitution of Athens, to have produced a Cleon, and a Pericles; but all +the Athenians were not, therefore, like Cleon, or Pericles. Themistocles +and Aristides lived in the same age; the one advised what was profitable, +the other told his country what was just. + + + + +SECTION IV. + +THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED. + + +The law of nature, with respect to nations, is the same that it is with +respect to individuals: it gives to the collective body a right to preserve +themselves; to employ undisturbed the means of life; to retain the fruits +of labour; to demand the observance of stipulations and contracts. In the +case of violence, it condemns the aggressor, and establishes, on the part +of the injured, the right of defence, and a claim to retribution. Its +applications, however, admit of disputes, and give rise to variety in the +apprehension, as well as the practice of mankind. + +Nations have agreed universally, in distinguishing right from wrong; in +exacting the reparation of injuries by consent or by force. They have +always reposed, in a certain degree, on the faith of treaties; but have +acted as if force were the ultimate arbiter in all their disputes, and the +power to defend themselves, the surest pledge of their safety. Guided by +these common apprehensions, they have differed from one another, not merely +in points of form, but in points of the greatest importance, respecting the +usage of war, the effects of captivity, and the rights of conquest and +victory. + +When a number of independent communities have been frequently involved in +wars, and have had their stated alliances and oppositions, they adopt +customs which they make the foundation of rules, or of laws, to be +observed, or alleged, in all their mutual transactions. Even in war itself, +they would follow a system, and plead for the observance of forms in their +very operations for mutual destruction. + +The ancient states of Greece and Italy derived their manners in war from +the nature of their republican government; those of modern Europe, from the +influence of monarchy, which, by its prevalence in this part of the world, +has a great effect on nations, even where it is not the form established. +Upon the maxims of this government, we apprehend a distinction between the +state and its members, as that between the king and the people, which +renders war an operation of policy, not of popular animosity. While we +strike at the public interest, we would spare the private; and we carry a +respect and consideration for individuals, which often stops the issues of +blood in the ardour of victory, and procures to the prisoner of war a +hospitable reception in the very city which he came to destroy. These +practices are so well established, that scarcely any provocation on the +part of an enemy, or any exigence of service, can excuse a trespass on the +supposed rules of humanity, or save the leader who commits it from becoming +an object of detestation and horror. + +To this, the general practice of the Greeks and the Romans was opposite. +They endeavoured to wound the state by destroying its members, by +desolating its territory, and by ruining the possessions of its subjects. +They granted quarter only to enslave, or to bring the prisoner to a more +solemn execution; and an enemy, when disarmed, was, for the most part, +either sold in the market or killed, that he might never return to +strengthen his party. When this was the issue of war, it was no wonder that +battles were fought with desperation, and that every fortress was defended +to the last extremity. The game of human life went upon a high stake, and +was played with a proportional zeal. + +The term _barbarian_, in this state of manners, could not be employed +by the Greeks or the Romans in that sense in which we use it: to +characterize, a people regardless of commercial arts; profuse of their own +lives, and those of others; vehement in their attachment to one society, +and implacable in their antipathy to another. This, in a great and shining +part of their history, was their own character, as well as that of some +other nations, whom, upon this very account, we distinguish by the +appellations of _barbarous_ or _rude._ + +It has been observed, that those celebrated nations are indebted, for a +great part of their estimation, not to the matter of their history, but to +the manner in which it has been delivered, and to the capacity of their +historians, and other writers. Their story has been told by men who knew +how to draw our attention on the proceedings of the understanding and of +the heart, more than on external effects; and who could exhibit characters +to be admired and loved, in the midst of actions which we should now +universally hate or condemn. Like Homer, the model of Grecian literature, +they could make us forget the horrors of a vindictive, cruel, and +remorseless treatment of an enemy, in behalf of the strenuous conduct, the +courage, and vehement affections, with which the hero maintained the cause +of his friend and of his country. + +Our manners are so different, and the system upon which we regulate our +apprehensions, in many things so opposite, that no less could make us +endure the practice of ancient nations. Were that practice recorded by the +mere journalist, who retains only the detail of events, without throwing +any light on the character of the actors; who, like the Tartar historian, +tells us only what blood was spilt in the field, and how many inhabitants +were massacred in the city; we should never have distinguished the Greeks +from their barbarous neighbours, nor have thought, that the character of +civility pertained even to the Romans, till very late in their history, and +in the decline of their empire. + +It would, no doubt, be pleasant to see the remarks of such a traveller as +we sometimes send abroad to inspect the manners of mankind, left, +unassisted by history, to collect the character of the Greeks from the +state of their country, or from their practice in war. "This country," he +might say, "compared to ours, has an air of barrenness and desolation. I +saw upon the road troops of labourers, who were employed in the fields; but +no where the habitations of the master and the landlord. It was unsafe, I +was told, to reside in the country; and the people of every district +crowded into towns to find a place of defence. It is, indeed, impossible, +that they can be more civilized, till they have established some regular +government, and have courts of justice to hear their complaints. At present +every town, nay, I may say, every village, acts for itself, and the +greatest disorders prevail. I was not indeed molested; for you must know, +that they call themselves nations, and do all their mischief under the +pretence of war. + +"I do not mean to take any of the liberties of travellers, nor to vie with +the celebrated author of the voyage to Lilliput; but cannot help +endeavouring to communicate what I felt on hearing them speak of their +territory, their armies, their revenues, treaties, and alliances. Only +imagine the church-wardens and constables of Highgate or Hampstead turned +statesmen and generals, and you will have a tolerable conception of this +singular country. I passed through one state, where the best house in the +capital would not lodge the meanest of your labourers, and where your very +beggars would not choose to dine with the king; and yet they are thought a +great nation, and have no less than two kings. I saw one of them; but such +a potentate! He had scarcely clothes to his back; and for his majesty's +table, he was obliged to go to the eating-house with his subjects. They +have not a single farthing of money; and I was obliged to get food at the +public expense, there being none to be had in the market. You will imagine, +that there must have been a service of plate, and great attendance, to wait +on the illustrious stranger; but my fare was a mess of sorry pottage, +brought me by a naked slave, who left me to deal with it as I thought +proper: and even this I was in continual danger of having stolen from me by +the children; who are as vigilant to seize opportunities, and as dexterous +in snatching their food, as any starved greyhound you ever saw. The misery +of the whole people, in short, as well as my own, while I staid there, was +beyond description. You would think that their whole attention were to +torment themselves as much as they can: they are even displeased with one +of their kings for being well liked. He had made a present, while I was +there, of a cow to one favourite, and of a waistcoat to another; [Footnote: +Plutarch in the life of Agesilaus,] and it was publicly said, that this +method of gaining friends was robbing the public. My landlord told me very +gravely, that a man should come under no obligation that might weaken the +love which he owes to his country; nor form any personal attachment beyond +the mere habit of living with his friend, and of doing him a kindness when +he can. + +"I asked him once, why they did not, for their own sakes, enable their +kings to assume a little more state? Because, says he, we intend them the +happiness of living with men. When I found fault with their houses, and +said, in particular, that I was surprised they did not build better +churches: What would you be then, says he, if you found religion in stone +walls? This will suffice for a sample of our conversation; and sententious +as it was, you may believe I did not stay long to profit by it. + +"The people of this place are not quite so stupid. There is a pretty large +square of a market-place, and some tolerable buildings; and, I am told, +they have some barks and lighters employed in trade, which they likewise, +upon occasion, muster into a fleet, like my lord mayor's show. But what +pleases me most is, that I am likely to get a passage from hence, and bid +farewell to this wretched country. I have been at some pains to observe +their ceremonies of religion, and to pick up curiosities. I have copied +some inscriptions, as you will see when you come to peruse my journal, and +will then judge, whether I have met with enough to compensate the fatigues +and bad entertainment to which I have submitted. As for the people, you +will believe, from the specimen I have given you, that they could not be +very engaging company: though poor and dirty, they still pretend to be +proud; and a fellow who is not worth a groat, is above working for his +livelihood. They come abroad barefooted, and without any cover to the head, +wrapt up in the coverlets under which you would imagine they had slept. +They throw all off, and appear like so many naked cannibals, when they go +to violent sports and exercises; at which they highly value feats of +dexterity and strength. Brawny limbs, and muscular arms, the faculty of +sleeping out all nights, of fasting long, and of putting up with any kind +of food, are thought genteel accomplishments. They have no settled +government that I could learn; sometimes the mob, and sometimes the better +sort, do what they please: they meet in great crowds in the open air, and +seldom agree in any thing. If a fellow has presumption enough, and a loud +voice, he can make a great figure. There was a tanner here, some time ago, +who, for a while, carried every thing before him. He censured so loudly +what others had done, and talked so big of what might be performed, that he +was sent out at last to make good his words, and to curry the enemy instead +of his leather. [Footnote: Thucydides, lib. 4. Aristophanes] You will +imagine, perhaps, that he was pressed for a recruit; no; he was sent to +command the army. They are indeed seldom long of one mind, except in their +readiness to harass their neighbours. They go out in bodies, and rob, +pillage, and murder wherever they come." So far may we suppose our +traveller to have written; and upon a recollection of the reputation which +those nations have acquired at a distance, he might have added, perhaps, +"That he could not understand how scholars, fine gentlemen, and even women, +should combine to admire a people, who so little resemble themselves." + +To form a judgment of the character from which they acted in the field, and +in their competitions with neighbouring nations, we must observe them at +home. They were bold and fearless in their civil dissentions; ready to +proceed to extremities, and to carry their debates to the decision of +force. Individuals stood distinguished by their personal spirit and vigour, +not by the valuation of their estates, or the rank of their birth. They had +a personal elevation founded on the sense of equality, not of precedence. +The general of one campaign was, during the next, a private soldier, and +served in the ranks. They were solicitous to acquire bodily strength; +because, in the use of their weapons, battles were a trial of the soldier's +strength, as well as of the leader's conduct. The remains of their statuary +shows a manly grace, an air of simplicity and ease, which being frequent in +nature, were familiar to the artist. The mind, perhaps, borrowed a +confidence and force, from the vigour and address of the body; their +eloquence and style bore a resemblance to the carriage of the person. The +understanding was chiefly cultivated in the practice of affairs. The most +respectable personages were obliged to mix with the crowd, and derived +their degree of ascendancy only from their conduct, their eloquence, and +personal vigour. They had no forms of expression, to mark a ceremonious and +guarded respect. Invective proceeded to railing, and the grossest terms +were often employed by the most admired and accomplished orators. +Quarrelling had no rules but the immediate dictates of passion, which ended +in words of reproach, in violence and blows. They fortunately went always +unarmed; and to wear a sword in times of peace, was among them the mark of +a barbarian. When they took arms in the divisions of faction, the +prevailing party supported itself by expelling their opponents, by +proscriptions, and bloodshed. The usurper endeavoured to maintain his +station by the most violent and prompt executions. He was opposed, in his +turn, by conspiracies and assassinations, in which the most respectable +citizens were ready to use the dagger. + +Such was the character of their spirit, in its occasional ferments at home; +and it burst commonly with a suitable violence and force, against their +foreign rivals and enemies. The amiable plea of humanity was little +regarded by them in the operations of war. Cities were razed, or enslaved; +the captive sold, mutilated, or condemned to die. + +When viewed on this side, the ancient nations have but a sorry plea for +esteem with the inhabitants of modern Europe, who profess to carry the +civilities of peace into the practice of war; and who value the praise of +indiscriminate lenity at a higher rate than even that of military prowess, +or the love of their country. And yet they have, in other respects, merited +and obtained our praise. Their ardent attachment to their country; their +contempt of suffering, and of death, in its cause; their manly +apprehensions of personal independence, which rendered every individual, +even under tottering establishments and imperfect laws, the guardian of +freedom to his fellow citizens; their activity of mind; in short, their +penetration, the ability of their conduct, and force of their spirit, have +gained them the first rank among nations. + +If their animosities were great, their affections were proportionate; they, +perhaps, loved, where we only pity; and were stern and inexorable, where we +are not merciful, but only irresolute. After all, the merit of a man is +determined by his candour and generosity to his associates, by his zeal for +national objects, and by his vigour in maintaining political rights; not by +moderation alone, which proceeds frequently from indifference to national +and public interest, and which serves to relax the nerves on which the +force of a private, as well as a public, character depends. + +When under the Macedonian and the Roman monarchies, a nation came to be +considered as, the estate of a prince, and the inhabitants of a province to +be regarded as a lucrative property, the possession of territory, not the +destruction of its people, became the object of conquest. The pacific +citizen had little concern in the quarrels of sovereigns; the violence of +the soldier was restrained by discipline. He fought, because he was taught +to carry arms, and to obey: he sometimes shed unnecessary blood in the +ardour of victory; but, except in the case of civil wars, had no passions +to excite his animosity beyond the field and the day of battle. Leaders +judged of the objects of an enterprise, and they arrested the sword when +these were obtained. + +In the modern nations of Europe, where extent of territory admits of a +distinction between the state and its subjects, we are accustomed to think +of the individual with compassion, seldom of the public with zeal. We have +improved on the laws of war, and on the lenitives which have been devised +to soften its rigours; we have mingled politeness with the use of the +sword; we have learned to make war under the stipulations of treaties and +cartels, and trust to the faith of an enemy whose ruin we meditate. Glory +is more successfully obtained by saving and protecting, than by destroying +the vanquished: and the most amiable of all objects is, in appearance, +attained; the employing of force, only for the obtaining of justice, and +for the preservation of national rights. + +This is, perhaps, the principal characteristic, on which, among modern +nations, we bestow the epithets of _civilized_ or of _polished_. +But we have seen, that it did not accompany the progress of sorts among the +Greeks, nor keep pace with the advancement of policy, literature, and +philosophy. It did not await the returns of learning and politeness among +the moderns; it was found in an early period of our history, and +distinguished, perhaps more than at present; the manners of the ages +otherwise rude and undisciplined. A king of France, prisoner in the hands +of his enemies, was treated, about four hundred years ago, with as much +distinction and courtesy as a crowned head, in the like circumstances, +could possibly expect in this age of politeness. [Footnote: Hume's History +of England.] The prince of Conde, defeated and taken in the battle of +Dreux, slept at night in the same bed with his enemy the duke of +Guise. [Footnote: Davila.] + +If the moral of popular traditions, and the taste of fabulous legends, +which are the productions or entertainment of particular ages, are likewise +sure indications of their notions and characters, we may presume, that the +foundation of what is now held to be the law of war, and, of nations, was +laid in the manners of Europe, together with the sentiments which are +expressed in the tales of chivalry, and of gallantry. Our system of war +differs not more from that of the Greeks, than the favourite characters of +our early romance differed from those of the Iliad, and of every ancient +poem. The hero of the Greek fable, endued with superior force, courage, and +address, takes every advantage of an enemy, to kill with safety to himself; +and, actuated by a desire of spoil, or by a principle of revenge, is never +stayed in his progress by interruptions of remorse or compassion. Homer, +who, of all poets, knew best how to exhibit the emotions of a vehement +affection, seldom attempts to excite commiseration. Hector falls unpitied, +and his body is insulted by every Greek. + +Our modern fable, or romance, on the contrary, generally couples an object +of pity, weak, oppressed, and defenceless, with an object of admiration, +brave, generous, and victorious; or sends the hero abroad in search of mere +danger, and of occasions to prove his valour. Charged with the maxims of a +refined courtesy, to be observed even towards an enemy; and of a scrupulous +honour, which will not suffer him to take any advantages by artifice or +surprise; indifferent to spoil, he contends only for renown, and employs +his valour to rescue the distressed, and to protect the innocent. If +victorious, he is made to rise above nature as much in his generosity and +gentleness, as in his military prowess and valour. + +It may be difficult, upon stating this contrast between the system of +ancient and modern fable, to assign, among nations, equally rude, equally +addicted to war, and equally fond of military glory, the origin of +apprehensions on the point of honour, so different, and so opposite. The +hero of Greek poetry proceeds on the maxims of animosity and hostile +passion. His maxims in war are like those which prevail in the woods of +America. They require him to be brave, but they allow him to practise +against his enemy every sort of deception. The hero of modern romance +professes a contempt of stratagem, as well as of danger, and unites in the +same person, characters and dispositions seemingly opposite; ferocity with +gentleness, and the love of blood with sentiments of tenderness and pity. + +The system of chivalry, when completely formed, proceeded on a marvellous +respect and veneration to the fair sex, on forms of combat established, and +on a supposed junction of the heroic and sanctified character. The +formalities of the duel, and a kind of judicial challenge, were known among +the ancient Celtic nations of Europe. [Footnote: Liv., lib. 28. c. 21.] The +Germans, even in their native forests, paid a kind of devotion to the +female sex. The Christian religion enjoined meekness and compassion to +barbarous ages. These different principles combined together, may have +served as the foundation of a system, in which courage was directed by +religion and love, and the warlike and gentle were united together. When +the characters of the hero and the saint were mixed, the mild spirit of +Christianity, though often turned into venom by the bigotry of opposite +parties, though it could not always subdue the ferocity of the warrior, nor +suppress the admiration of courage and force, may have confirmed the +apprehensions of men in what was to be held meritorious and splendid in the +conduct of their quarrels. + +In the early and traditionary history of the Greeks and the Romans, rapes +were assigned as the most frequent occasions of war; and the sexes were, no +doubt, at all times, equally important to each other. The enthusiasm of +love is most powerful in the neighbourhood of Asia and Africa; and beauty, +as a possession, was probably more valued by the countrymen of Homer, than +it was by those of Amadis de Gaul, or by the authors of modern gallantry. +"What wonder," says the old Priam, when Helen appeared, "that nations +should contend for the possession of so much beauty?" This beauty, indeed, +was possessed by different lovers; a subject on which the modern hero had +many refinements, and seemed to soar in the clouds. He adored at a +respectful distance, and employed his valour to captivate the admiration, +not to gain the possession of his mistress. A cold and unconquerable +chastity was set up, as an idol to be worshipped, in the toils, the +sufferings, and the combats of the hero and the lover. + +The feudal establishments, by the high rank to which they elevated certain +families, no doubt, greatly favoured this romantic system. Not only the +lustre of a noble descent, but the stately castle beset with battlements +and towers, served to inflame the imagination, and to create a veneration +for the daughter and the sister of gallant chiefs, whose point of honour it +was to be inaccessible and chaste, and who could perceive no merit but that +of the high minded and the brave, nor be approached in any other ascents +than those of gentleness and respect. + +What was originally singular in these apprehensions, was, by the writer of +romance, turned to extravagance; and under the title of chivalry was +offered as a model of conduct, even in common affairs: the fortunes of +nations were directed by gallantry; and human life, on its greatest +occasions, became a scene of affectation and folly. Warriors went forth to +realize the legends they had studied; princes and leaders of armies +dedicated their most serious exploits to a real or to a fancied mistress. + +But whatever was the origin of notions, often so lofty and so ridiculous, +we cannot doubt of their lasting effects on our manners. The point of +honour, the prevalence of gallantry in our conversations, and on our +theatres, many of the opinions which the vulgar apply even to the conduct +of war; their notion, that the leader of an army, being offered battle upon +equal terms, is dishonoured by declining it, are undoubtedly remains of +this antiquated system: and chivalry, uniting with the genius of our +policy, has probably suggested those peculiarities in the law of nations, +by which modern states are distinguished from the ancient. And if our rule +in measuring degrees of politeness and civilization is to be taken from +hence, or from the advancement of commercial arts, we shall be found to +have greatly excelled any of the celebrated nations of antiquity. + + +AN ESSAY ON THE HISTORY OF CIVIL SOCIETY. + + + + + * * * * * + + + + + +PART FIFTH. + +OF THE DECLINE OF NATIONS. + + + * * * * * + + + + +SECTION I. + +OF SUPPOSED NATIONAL EMINENCE, AND OF THE VICISSITUDES OF HUMAN AFFAIRS. + + +No nation is so unfortunate as to think itself inferior to the rest of +mankind: few are even willing to put up with the claim to equality. The +greater part having chosen themselves, as at once, the judges and the +models of what is excellent in their kind, are first in their own opinion, +and give to others consideration or eminence, so far only as they approach +to their own condition. One nation is vain of the personal character, or of +the learning of a few of its members; another, of its policy, its wealth, +its tradesmen, its gardens, and its buildings; and they who have nothing to +boast are vain, because they are ignorant. The Russians, before the reign +of Peter the Great, thought themselves possessed of every national honour, +and held the _Nemei_, or _dumb nations_, the name which they +bestowed on then western neighbours of Europe, in a proportional degree of +contempt. [Footnote: Strahlenberg.] The map of the world, in China, was a +square plate, the greater part of which was occupied by the provinces of +this great empire, leaving on its skirts a few obscure corners, into which +the wretched remainder of mankind were supposed to be driven. "If you have +not the use of our letters, nor the knowledge of our books," said the +learned Chinese to the European missionary, "what literature, or what +science can you have?" [Footnote: Gemelli Carceri.] + +The term _polished_, if we may judge from its etymology, originally +referred to the state of nations in respect to their laws and government; +and men civilized were men practised in the duty of citizens. In its later +applications, it refers no less to the proficiency of nations in the +liberal and mechanical arts, in literature, and in commerce; and men +civilized are scholars, men of fashion and traders. But whatever may be its +application, it appears, that if there were a name still more respectable +than this, every nation, even the most barbarous, or the most corrupted, +would assume it; and bestow its reverse where they conceived a dislike, or +apprehended a difference. The names of _alien_ or _foreigner_, +are seldom pronounced without some degree of intended reproach. That of +_barbarian_, in use with one arrogant people, and that of +_gentile_, with another, only served to distinguish the stranger, +whose language and pedigree differed from theirs. + +Even where we pretend to found our opinions on reason, and to justify our +preference of one nation to another, we frequently bestow our esteem on +circumstances which do not relate to national character, and which have +little tendency to promote the welfare of mankind. Conquest, or great +extent of territory, however peopled, and great wealth, however distributed +or employed, are titles upon which we indulge our own, and the vanity of +other nations, as we do that of private men on the score of their fortunes +and honours. We even sometimes contend, whose capital is the most +overgrown; whose king has the most absolute power; and at whose court the +bread of the subject is consumed in the most senseless riot. These indeed +are the notions of vulgar minds; but it is impossible to determine, how far +the notions of vulgar minds may lead mankind. + +There have certainly, been very few examples of states, who have, by arts +of policy, improved the original dispositions of human nature, or +endeavoured, by wise and effectual precautions, to prevent its corruption. +Affection, and force of mind, which are the band and the strength of +communities, were the inspiration of God, and original attributes in the +nature of man. The wisest policy of nations, except in a few instances, has +tended, we may suspect, rather to maintain the peace of society, and to +repress the external effects of bad passions, than to strengthen the +disposition of the heart itself to justice and goodness. It has tended, by +introducing a variety of arts, to exercise the ingenuity of men, and by +engaging them in a variety of pursuits, inquiries, and studies, to inform, +but frequently to corrupt the mind. It has tended to furnish matter of +distinction and vanity; and by incumbering the individual with new subjects +of personal care, to substitute the anxiety he entertains for a separate +fortune, instead of the confidence and the affection with which he should +unite with his fellow creatures, for their joint preservation. + +Whether this suspicion be just or no, we are come to point at circumstances +tending to verify, or to disprove it: and if to understand the real +felicity of nations be of importance, it is certainly so likewise, to know +what are those weaknesses, and those vices, by which men not only mar this +felicity, but in one age forfeit all the external advantages they had +gained in a former. + +The wealth, the aggrandizement, and power of nations, are commonly the +effects of virtue; the loss of these advantages is often a consequence of +vice. Were we to suppose men to have succeeded in the discovery and +application of every art by which states are preserved and governed; to +have attained, by efforts of wisdom and magnanimity, the admired +establishments and advantages of a civilized and flourishing people; the +subsequent part of their history, containing, according to vulgar +apprehension, a full display of those fruits in maturity, of which they had +till then carried only the blossom, and the first formation, should, still +more than the former, merit our attention, and excite our admiration. + +The event, however, has not corresponded to this expectation. The virtues +of men have shone most during their struggles, not after the attainment of +their ends. Those ends themselves, though attained by virtue, are +frequently the causes of corruption and vice. Mankind, in aspiring to +national felicity, have substituted arts which increase their riches, +instead of those which improve their nature. They have entertained +admiration of themselves, under the titles of _civilized_ and of +_polished_, where they should have been affected with shame; and even +where they have, for a while, acted on maxims tending to raise, to +invigorate, and to preserve the national character, they have, sooner or +later, been diverted from their object, and fallen a prey to misfortune, or +to the neglects which prosperity itself had encouraged. + +War, which furnishes mankind with a principal occupation of their restless +spirit, serves, by the variety of its events, to diversify their fortunes. +While it opens to one tribe or society, the way to eminence, and leads to +dominion, it brings another to subjection, and closes the scene of their +national efforts. The celebrated rivalship of Carthage and Rome was, in +both parties, the natural exercise of an ambitious spirit, impatient of +opposition, or even of equality. The conduct and the fortune of leaders +held the balance for some time in suspense; but to which ever side it had +inclined, a great nation was to fall; a seat of empire, and of policy, was +to be removed from its place; and it was then to be determined, whether the +Syriac or the Latin should contain the erudition that was, in future ages, +to occupy the studies of the learned. + +States have been thus conquered from abroad, before they gave any signs of +internal decay, even in the midst of prosperity, and in the period of their +greatest ardour for national objects. Athens, in the height of her +ambition, and of her glory, received a fatal wound, in striving to extend +her maritime power beyond the Grecian seas. And nations of every +description, formidable by their rude ferocity, respected for their +discipline and military experience, when advancing, as well as when +declining, in their strength, fell a prey by turns to the ambition and +arrogant spirit of the Romans. Such examples may excite and alarm the +jealousy and caution of states; the presence of similar dangers may +exercise the talents of politicians and statesmen; but mere reverses of +fortune are the common materials of history, and must long since have +ceased to create our surprise. + +Did we find, that nations advancing from small beginnings, and arrived at +the possession of arts which lead to dominion, became secure of their +advantages, in proportion as they were qualified to gain them; that they +proceeded in a course of uninterrupted felicity, till they were broke by +external calamities; and that they retained their force, till a more +fortunate or vigorous power arose to depress them; the subject in +speculation could not be attended with many difficulties, nor give rise to +many reflections. But when we observe, among many nations, a kind of +spontaneous return to obscurity and weakness; when, in spite of perpetual +admonitions of the danger they run, they suffer themselves to be subdued, +in one period, by powers which could not have entered into competition with +them in a former, and by forces which they had often baffled and despised, +the subject becomes more curious, and its explanation more difficult. + +(The fact itself is known in a variety of different examples. The empire of +Asia was, more than once, transferred from the greater to the inferior +power. The states of Greece, once so warlike, felt a relaxation of their +vigour, and yielded the ascendant they had disputed with the monarchs of +the east, to the forces of an obscure principality, become formidable in a +few years, and raised to eminence under the conduct of a single man. The +Roman empire, which stood alone for ages, which had brought every rival +under subjection, and saw no power from whom a competition could be feared, +sunk at last before an artless and contemptible enemy. Abandoned to inroad, +to pillage, and at last to conquest, on her frontier, she decayed in all +her extremities, and shrunk on every side. Her territory was dismembered, +and whole provinces gave way, like branches fallen down with age, not +violently torn by superior force. The spirit with which Marius had baffled +and repelled the attacks of barbarians in a former age, the civil and +military force with which the consul and his legions had extended this +empire, were now no more. The Roman greatness, doomed to sink as it rose, +by slow degrees, was impaired in every encounter. It was reduced to its +original dimensions, within the compass of a single city; and depending for +its preservation on the fortune of a siege, it was extinguished at a blow; +and the brand, which had filled the world with its flames, sunk like a +taper in the socket. + +Such appearances have given rise to a general apprehension, that the +progress of societies to what we call the heights of national greatness, is +not more natural, than their return to weakness and obscurity is necessary +and unavoidable. The images of youth, and of old age, are applied to +nations; and communities, like single men, are supposed to have a period of +life, and a length of thread, which is spun by the fates in one part +uniform and strong, in another weakened and shattered by use; to be cut, +when the destined era is come, and to make way for a renewal of the emblem +in the case of those who arise in succession. Carthage being so much older +than Rome, had felt her decay, says Polybius, so much the sooner; and the +survivor too, he foresaw, carried in her bosom the seeds of mortality. + +The image indeed is apposite, and the history of mankind renders the +application familiar. But it must be obvious, that the case of nations, and +that of individuals, are very different. The human frame has a general +course: it has in every individual a frail contexture and limited duration; +it is worn by exercise, and exhausted by a repetition of its functions: but +in a society, whose constituent members are renewed in every generation, +where the race seems to enjoy perpetual youth, and accumulating advantages, +we cannot, by any parity of reason, expect to find imbecilities connected +with mere age and length of days. + +The subject is not new, and reflections will crowd upon every reader. The +notions, in the mean time, which we entertain, even in speculation, upon a +subject so important, cannot be entirely fruitless to mankind; and however +little the labours of the speculative may influence the conduct of men, one +of the most pardonable errors a writer can commit, is to believe that he is +about to do a great deal of good. But, leaving the care of effects to +others, we proceed to consider the grounds of inconstancy among mankind, +the sources of internal decay, and the ruinous corruptions to which nations +are liable, in the supposed condition of accomplished civility. + + + + +SECTION II. + +OF THE TEMPORARY EFFORTS AND RELAXATIONS OF THE NATIONAL SPIRIT. + + +From what we have already observed on the general characteristics of human +nature, it has appeared that man is not made for repose. In him every +amiable and respectable quality, is an active power, and every subject of +commendation an effort. If his errors and his crimes are the movements of +an active being, his virtues and his happiness consist likewise in the +employment of his mind; and all the lustre which he casts around him, to +captivate or engage the attention of his fellow creatures, like the flame +of a meteor, shines only while his motion continues; the moments of rest +and obscurity are the same. We know, that the tasks assigned him frequently +may exceed, as well as come short of, his powers; that he may be agitated +too much, as well as too little; but cannot ascertain a precise medium +between the situations in which he would be harassed, and those in which he +would fall into languor. We know that he may be employed on a great variety +of subjects, which occupy different passions; and that, in consequence of +habit, he becomes reconciled to very different scenes. All we can determine +in general is, that whatever be the subjects with which he is engaged, the +frame of his nature requires him to be occupied, and his happiness requires +him to be just. + +We are now to inquire, why nations cease to be eminent; and why societies +which have drawn the attention of mankind by great examples of magnanimity, +conduct, and national success, should sink from the height of their +honours, and yield, in one age, the palm which they had won in a former. +Many reasons will probably occur. One may be taken from the fickleness and +inconstancy of mankind, who become tired of their pursuits and exertions, +even while the occasions that gave rise to those pursuits; in some measure, +continue; another, from the change of situations, and the removal of +objects which served to excite their spirit. + +The public safety, and the relative interests of states; political +establishments, the pretensions of party, commerce, and arts, are subjects +which engage the attention of nations. The advantages gained in some of +these particulars, determine the degree of national prosperity. The ardour +and vigour with which they are at any one time pursued, is the measure of a +national spirit. When those objects cease to animate, nations may be said +to languish; when they are during a considerable time neglected, states +must decline, and their people degenerate. + +In the most forward, enterprising, inventive, and industrious nations, this +spirit is fluctuating; and they who continue longest to gain advantages, or +to preserve them, have periods of remissness, as well as of ardour. The +desire of public safety, is, at all times, a powerful motive of conduct; +but it operates most when combined with occasional passions, when +provocations inflame, when successes encourage, or mortifications +exasperate. + +A whole people, like the individuals of whom they are composed, act under +the influence of temporary humours, sanguine hopes, or vehement +animosities. They are disposed, at one time, to enter on national struggles +with vehemence; at another, to drop them from mere lassitude and disgust. +In their civil debates and contentions at home, they are occasionally +ardent or remiss. Epidemical passions arise or subside on trivial as well +as important grounds. Parties are ready, at one time, to take their names +and the pretence of their oppositions, from mere caprice or accident; at +another time, they suffer the most serious occasions to pass in silence. If +a vein of literary genius be casually opened, or a new subject of +disquisition be started, real or pretended discoveries suddenly multiply, +and every conversation is inquisitive and animated. If a new source of +wealth be found, or a prospect of conquest be offered, the imaginations of +men are inflamed, and whole quarters of the globe are suddenly engaged in +ruinous or in successful adventures. + +Could we recall the spirit that was exerted, or enter into the views that +were entertained, by our ancestors, when they burst, like a deluge, from +their ancient seats, and poured into the Roman empire, we should probably, +after their first success at least, find a ferment in the minds of men, for +which no attempt was too arduous, no difficulties insurmountable. + +The subsequent ages of enterprise in Europe, were those in which the alarm +of enthusiasm was rung, and the followers of the cross invaded the east, to +plunder a country, and to recover a sepulchre; those in which the people in +different states contended for freedom, and assaulted the fabric of civil +or religious usurpation; that in which, having found means to cross the +Atlantic, and to double the Cape of Good Hope, the inhabitants of one half +the world were let loose on the other, and parties from every quarter, +wading in blood, and at the expense of every crime, and of every danger, +traversed the earth in search of gold. + +Even the weak and the remiss are roused to enterprise, by the contagion of +such remarkable ages; and states, which have not in their form the +principles of a continued exertion, either favourable or adverse to the +welfare of mankind, may have paroxysms of ardour, and a temporary +appearance of national vigour. In the case of such nations, indeed, the +returns of moderation are but a relapse to obscurity, and the presumption +of one age is turned to dejection in that which succeeds. + +But in the case of states that are fortunate in, their domestic policy, +even madness itself may, in the result of violent convulsions, subside into +wisdom; and a people return to their ordinary mood, cured of their follies, +and wiser by experience; or, with talents improved, in conducting the very +scenes which frenzy had opened, they may then appear best qualified to +pursue with success the object of nations. Like the ancient republics, +immediately after some alarming sedition, or like the kingdom of Great +Britain, at the close of its civil wars, they retain the spirit of activity +which was recently awakened, and are equally vigorous in every pursuit, +whether of policy, learning, or arts. From having appeared on the brink of +ruin, they pass to the greatest prosperity.) + +Men engage in pursuits with degrees of ardour not proportioned to the +importance of their object. When they are stated in opposition, or joined +in confederacy, they only wish for pretences to act. They forget, in the +heat of their animosities, the subject of their controversy; or they seek, +in their formal reasonings concerning it, only a disguise for their +passions. When the heart is inflamed, no consideration can repress its +ardour; when its fervour subsides, no reasoning can excite, and no +eloquence awaken its former emotions. + +The continuance of emulation among states must depend on the degree of +equality by which their forces are balanced; or on the incentives by which +either party, or all, are urged to continue their struggles. Long +intermissions of war, suffer, equally in every period of civil society, the +military spirit to languish. (The reduction of Athens by Lysander, struck a +fatal blow at the institutions of Lycurgus; and the quiet possession of +Italy, happily perhaps for mankind, had almost put an end to the military +progress of the Romans. After some years repose, Hannibal found Italy +unprepared for his onset, and the Romans in a disposition likely to drop, +on the banks of the Po, that martial ambition, which being roused by the +sense of a new danger, afterwards, carried them to the Euphrates and the +Rhine.) + +States, even distinguished for military prowess, sometimes lay down their +arms from lassitude, and are weary of fruitless contentions; but if they +maintain the station of independent communities, they will have frequent +occasions to recall, and to exert their vigour. Even under popular +governments, men sometimes drop the consideration of their political +rights, and appear at times remiss or supine; but if they have reserved the +power to defend themselves, the intermission of its exercise cannot be of +long duration. Political rights, when neglected, are always invaded; and +alarms from this quarter must frequently come to renew the attention of +parties. The love of learning, and of arts, may change its pursuits, or +droop for a season; but while men are possessed of freedom, and while the +exercises of ingenuity are not superseded, the public may proceed, at +different times, with unequal fervour; but its progress is seldom +altogether discontinued, or the advantages gained in one age are seldom +entirely lost to the following. If we would find the causes of final +corruption, we must examine those revolutions of state that remove, or +withhold, the objects of every ingenious study or liberal pursuit; that +deprive the citizen of occasions to act as the member of a public; that +crush his spirit; that debase his sentiments, and disqualify his mind for +affairs. + + + + +SECTION III. + +OF RELAXATIONS IN THE NATIONAL SPIRIT INCIDENT TO POLISHED NATIONS. + + +Improving nations, in the course of their advancement, have to struggle +with foreign enemies, to whom they bear an extreme animosity, and with +whom, in many conflicts, they contend for their existence as a people. In +certain periods, too, they feel in their domestic policy inconveniencies +and grievances, which beget an eager impatience; and they apprehend +reformations and new establishments, from which they have sanguine hopes of +national happiness. In early ages, every art is imperfect, and susceptible +of many improvements. The first principles of every science are yet secrets +to be discovered, and to be successively published with applause and +triumph. + +We may fancy to ourselves, that in ages of progress, the human race, like +scouts gone abroad on the discovery of fertile lands, having the world open +before them, are presented at every step with the appearance of novelty. +They enter on every new ground with expectation and joy: they engage in +every enterprise with the ardour of men, who believe they are going to +arrive at national felicity, and permanent glory; and forget past +disappointments amidst the hopes of future success. From mere ignorance, +rude minds are intoxicated with every passion; and, partial to their own +condition, and to their own pursuits, they think that every scene is +inferior to that in which they are placed. Roused alike by success and by +misfortune, they are sanguine, ardent, and precipitant; and leave, to the +more knowing ages which succeed them, monuments of imperfect skill, and of +rude execution of every art; but they leave likewise the marks of a +vigorous and ardent spirit, which their successors are not always qualified +to sustain, or to imitate. + +This may be admitted, perhaps, as a fair description of prosperous +societies, at least during certain periods of their progress. The spirit +with which they advance may be unequal in different ages, and may have its +paroxysms and intermissions, arising from the inconstancy of human +passions, and from the casual appearance or removal of occasions that +excite them. But does this spirit, which for a time continues to carry on +the project of civil and commercial arts, find a natural pause in the +termination of its own pursuits? May the business of civil society be +accomplished, and may the occasion of farther exertion be removed? Do +continued disappointments reduce sanguine hopes, and familiarity with +objects blunt the edge of novelty? Does experience itself cool the ardour +of the mind? May the society be again compared to the individual? And may +it be suspected, although the vigour of a nation, like that of a natural +body, does not waste by a physical decay, that yet it may sicken for want +of exercise, and die in the close of its own exertions? May societies, in +the completion of all their designs, like men in years, who disregard the +amusements, and are insensible to the passions of youth, become cold and +indifferent to objects that used to animate in a ruder age? And may a +polished community be compared to a man who, having executed his plan, +built his house, and made his settlement; who having, in short, exhausted +the charms of every subject, and wasted all his ardour, sinks into languor +and listless indifference? If so, we have found at least another simile to +our purpose. But it is probable, that here too the resemblance is +imperfect; and the inference that would follow, like that of most arguments +drawn from analogy, tends rather to amuse the fancy, than to give any real +information on the subject to which it refers. + +The materials of human art are never entirely exhausted, and the +applications of industry are never at an end. The national ardour is not, +at any particular time, proportioned to the occasion there is for activity; +nor the curiosity of the learned to the extent of subject that remains to +be studied. + +The ignorant and the artless, to whom objects of science are new, and whose +manner of life is most simple, instead of being more active and more +curious, are commonly more quiescent, and less inquisitive, than those who +are best furnished with knowledge and the conveniencies of life. When we +compare the particulars which occupy mankind in the beginning and in the +advanced age of commercial arts, these particulars will be found greatly +multiplied and enlarged in the last. The questions we have put, however, +deserve to be answered; and if, in the result of commerce, we do not find +the objects of human pursuit removed, or greatly diminished, we may find +them at least changed; and in estimating the national spirit, we may find +a negligence in one part, but ill compensated by the growing attention +which is paid to another. + +It is true, in general, that in all our pursuits, there is a termination of +trouble, and a point of repose to which we aspire. We would remove this +inconvenience, or gain that advantage, that our labours may cease. When I +have conquered Italy and Sicily, says Pyrrhus, I shall then enjoy my +repose. This termination is proposed in our national, as well as in our +personal exertions; and, in spite of frequent experience to the contrary, +is considered, at a distance, as the height of felicity. But nature has +wisely, in most particulars, baffled our project; and placed no where +within our reach this visionary blessing of absolute ease. The attainment +of one end is but the beginning of a new pursuit; and the discovery of one +art is but a prolongation of the thread by which we are conducted to +further inquiries, and while we hope to escape from the labyrinth, are led +to its most intricate paths. + +Among the occupations that may be enumerated, as tending to exercise the +invention, and to cultivate the talents of men, are the pursuits of +accommodation and wealth, including all the different contrivances which +serve to increase manufactures, and to perfect the mechanical arts. But it +must be owned, that as the materials of commerce may continue to be +accumulated without any determinate limit, so the arts which are applied to +improve them, may admit of perpetual refinements. No measure of fortune, or +degree of skill, is found to diminish the supposed necessities of human +life; refinement and plenty foster new desires, while they furnish the +means, or practise the methods, to gratify them. + +In the result of commercial arts, inequalities of fortune are greatly +increased, and the majority, of every people are obliged by necessity, or +at least strongly incited by ambition and avarice; to employ every talent +they possess. After a history of some thousand years employed in +manufacture and commerce, the inhabitants of China are still the most +laborious and industrious of any people on earth. + +Some part of this observation may be extended to the elegant and literary +arts. They too have their materials which cannot be exhausted, and proceed +from desires which cannot be satiated. But the respect paid to literary +merit is fluctuating, and matter of transient fashion. When learned +productions accumulate, the acquisition of knowledge occupies the time that +might be bestowed on invention. The object of mere learning is attained +with moderate or inferior talents, and the growing list of pretenders +diminishes the lustre of the few who are eminent. When we only mean to +learn what others have taught, it is probable that even our knowledge will +be less than that of our masters. Great names continue to be repeated with +admiration, after we have ceased to examine the foundations of our praise; +and new pretenders are rejected, not because they fall short of their +predecessors, but because they do not excel them; or because in reality we +have, without examination, taken for granted the merit of the first, and +cannot judge of either. + +After libraries are furnished, and every path of ingenuity is occupied, we +are, in proportion to our admiration of what is already done, prepossessed +against farther attempts. We become students and admirers, instead of +rivals; and substitute the knowledge of books, instead of the inquisitive +or animated spirit in which they were written. + +The commercial and the lucrative arts may continue to prosper, but they +gain an ascendant at the expense of other pursuits. The desire of profit +stifles the love of perfection. Interest cools the imagination, and hardens +the heart; and, recommending employments in proportion as they are +lucrative, and certain in their gains, it drives ingenuity, and ambition +itself, to the counter and the workshop. But, apart from these +considerations, the separation of professions, while it seems to promise +improvement of skill, and is actually the cause why the productions of +every art become more perfect as commerce advances; yet, in its termination +and ultimate effects, serves, in some measure, to break the bands of +society, to substitute mere forms and rules of art in place of ingenuity, +and to withdraw individuals from the common scene of occupation, on which +the sentiments of the heart, and the mind, are most happily employed. + +Under the _distinction_ of callings, by which the members of polished +society are separated from each other, every individual is supposed to +possess his species of talent, or his peculiar skill, in which the others +are confessedly ignorant; and society is made to consist of parts, of which +none is animated with the spirit that ought to prevail in the conduct of +nations. "We see in the same persons," said Pericles, "an equal attention +to private and to public affairs; and in men who have turned to separate +professions, a competent knowledge of what relates to the community; for we +alone consider those who are inattentive to the state, as perfectly +insignificant." This encomium on the Athenians was probably offered under +an apprehension, that the contrary was likely to be charged by their +enemies, or might soon take place. It happened, accordingly, that the +business of state, as well as of war, came to be worse administered at +Athens, when these, as well as other applications, became the object of +separate professions; and the history of this people abundantly shewed, +that men ceased to be citizens, even to be good poets and orators, in +proportion as they came to be distinguished by the profession of these, and +other separate crafts. + +Animals less honoured than we, have sagacity enough to procure their food, +and to find the means of their solitary pleasures; but it is reserved for +man to consult, to persuade, to oppose, to kindle in the society of his +fellow creatures, and to lose the sense of his personal interest or safety, +in the ardour of his friendships and his oppositions. + +When we are involved in any of the divisions into which mankind are +separated under the denominations of a country, a tribe, or an order of men +any way affected by common interests, and guided by communicating passions, +the mind recognises its natural station; the sentiments of the heart, and +the talents of the understanding, find their natural exercise. Wisdom, +vigilance, fidelity, and fortitude, are the characters requisite in such a +scene, and the qualities which it tends to improve. + +In simple or barbarous ages, when nations are weak, and beset with enemies, +the love of a country, of a party, or a faction, are the same. The public +is a knot of friends, and its enemies are the rest of mankind. Death, or +slavery, are the ordinary evils which they are concerned to ward off; +victory and dominion, the objects to which they aspire. Under the sense of +what they may suffer from foreign invasions, it is one object, in every +prosperous society, to increase its force, and to extend its limits. In +proportion as this object is gained, security increases. They who possess +the interior districts, remote from the frontier, are unused to alarms from +abroad. They who are placed on the extremities, remote from the seats of +government, are unused to hear of political interests; and the public +becomes an object perhaps too extensive for the conceptions of either. They +enjoy the protection of its laws, or of its armies; and they boast of its +splendour, and its power; but the glowing sentiments of public affection, +which, in small states, mingle with the tenderness of the parent and the +lover, of the friend and the companion, merely by having their object +enlarged, lose great part of their force. + +The manners of rude nations require to be reformed. Their foreign quarrels, +and domestic dissentions, are the operations of extreme and sanguinary +passions. A state of greater tranquillity hath many happy effects. But if +nations pursue the plan of enlargement and pacification, till their members +can no longer apprehend the common ties of society, nor be engaged by +affection in the cause of their country, they must err on the opposite +side, and by leaving too little to agitate the spirits of men, bring on +ages of languor, if not of decay. + +The members of a community may, in this manner, like the inhabitants of a +conquered province, be made to lose the sense of every connection, but that +of kindred or neighbourhood; and have no common affairs to transact, but +those of trade: connections, indeed, or transactions, in which probity and +friendship may still take place; but in which the national spirit, whose +ebbs and flows we are now considering, cannot be exerted. + +What we observe, however, on the tendency of enlargement to loosen the +bands of political union, cannot be applied to nations who, being +originally narrow, never greatly extended their limits; nor to those who, +in a rude state, had already the extension of a great kingdom. + +In territories of considerable extent, subject to one government, and +possessed of freedom, the national union, in rude ages, is extremely +imperfect. Every district forms a separate party; and the descendants of +different families are opposed to each other, under the denomination of +tribes or of clans: they are seldom brought to act with a steady concert; +their feuds and animosities give more frequently the appearance of so many +nations at war, than of a people united by connections of policy. They +acquire a spirit, however, in their private divisions, and in the midst of +a disorder, otherwise hurtful, of which the force, on many occasions, +redounds to the power of the state. + +Whatever be the national extent, civil order, and regular government, are +advantages of the greatest importance; but it does not follow, that every +arrangement made to obtain these ends, and which may, in the making, +exercise and cultivate the best qualities of men, is therefore of a nature +to produce permanent effects, and to secure the preservation of that +national spirit from which it arose. + +We have reason to dread the political refinements of ordinary men, when we +consider that repose, or inaction itself, is in a great measure their +object; and that they would frequently model their governments, not merely +to prevent injustice and error, but to prevent agitation and bustle; and by +the barriers they raise against the evil actions of men, would prevent them +from acting at all. Every dispute of a free people, in the opinion of such +politicians, amounts to disorder, and a breach of the national peace. What +heart burnings? What delay to affairs? What want of secrecy and despatch? +What defect of police? Men of superior genius sometimes seem to imagine, +that the vulgar have no title to act, or to think. A great prince is +pleased to ridicule the precaution by which judges in a free country are +confined to the strict interpretation of law. [Footnote: Memoirs of +Brandenburg.] + +We easily learn to contract our opinions of what men may, in consistence +with public order, be safely permitted to do. The agitations of a republic, +and the license of its members, strike the subjects of monarchy with +aversion and disgust. The freedom with which the European is left to +traverse the streets and the fields, would appear to a Chinese a sure +prelude to confusion and anarchy. "Can men behold their superior and not +tremble? Can they converse without a precise and written ceremonial? What +hopes of peace, if, the streets are not barricaded at an hour? What wild +disorder, if men are permitted in any thing to do what they please?" + +If the precautions which men thus take against each other, be necessary to +repress their crimes, and do not arise from a corrupt ambition, or from +cruel jealousy in their rulers, the proceeding itself must be applauded, as +the best remedy of which the vices of men will admit. The viper must be +held at a distance, and the tyger chained. But if a rigorous policy, +applied to enslave, not to restrain from crimes, has an actual tendency to +corrupt the manners, and to extinguish the spirit of nations; if its +severities be applied to terminate the agitations of a free people, not to +remedy their corruptions; if forms be often applauded as salutary, because +they tend merely to silence the voice of mankind, or be condemned as +pernicious, because they allow this voice to be heard; we may expect that +many of the boasted improvements of civil society, will be mere devices to +lay the political spirit at rest, and will chain up the active virtues more +than the restless disorders of men. + +If to any people it be the avowed object of policy in all its internal +refinements, to secure only the person and the property of the subject, +without any regard to his political character, the constitution indeed may +be free, but its members may likewise become unworthy of the freedom they +possess, and unfit to preserve it. The effects of such a constitution may +be to immerse all orders of men in their separate pursuits of pleasure, +which they may on this supposition enjoy with little disturbance; or of +gain, which they may preserve without any attention to the commonwealth. + +If this be the end of political struggles, the design, when executed, in +securing to the individual his estate, and the means of subsistence, may +put an end to the exercise of those very virtues that were required in +conducting its execution. A man who, in concert with his fellow subjects, +contends with usurpation in defence of his estate or his person, may in +that very struggle have found an exertion of great generosity, and of a +vigorous spirit; but he who, under political establishments, supposed to be +fully confirmed, betakes him, because he is safe, to the mere enjoyment of +fortune, has in fact turned to a source of corruption the advantages which +the virtues of the other procured. Individuals, in certain ages, derive +their protection chiefly from the strength of the party to which they +adhere; but in tithes of corruption they flatter themselves; that they may +continue to derive from the public that safety which, in former ages, they +must have owed to their own vigilance and spirit, to the warm attachment of +their friends, and to the exercise of every talent which could render them +respected, feared, or beloved. In one period, therefore, mere circumstances +serve to excite the spirit, and to preserve the manners of men; in another, +great wisdom and zeal for the good of mankind on the part of their leaders, +are required for the same purposes. + +Rome, it may be thought, did not die of a lethargy, nor perish by the +remission of her political ardours at home. Her distemper appeared of a +nature more violent and acute. Yet if the virtues of Cato and of Brutus +found an exercise in the dying hour of the republic, the neutrality, and +the cautious retirement of Atticus, found its security in the same +tempestuous season; and the great body of the people lay undisturbed below +the current of a storm, by which the superior ranks of men were destroyed. +In the minds of the people the sense of a public was defaced; and even the +animosity of faction had subsided: they only could share in the commotion, +who were the soldiers of a legion, or the partisans of a leader. But this +state fell not into obscurity for want of eminent men. If at the time of +which we speak, we look only for a few names distinguished in the history +of mankind, there is no period at which the list was more numerous. But +those names became distinguished in the contest for dominion, not in the +exercise of equal rights: the people was corrupted; so great an empire +stood in need of a master. + +Republican governments, in general, are in hazard of ruin from the +ascendant of particular factions, and from the mutinous spirit of a +populace, who, being corrupted, are no longer fit to share in the +administration of state. But under other establishments, where liberty may +be more successfully attained if men are corrupted, the national vigour +declines from the abuse of that very security which is procured by the +supposed perfection of public order. + +A distribution of power and office; an execution of law, by which mutual +encroachments and molestations are brought to an end; by which the person +and the property are, without friends, without cabal, without obligation, +perfectly secured to individuals, does honour to the genius of a nation; +and could not have been fully established, without those exertions of +understanding and integrity, those trials of a resolute and vigorous +spirit, which adorn the annals of a people, and leave to future ages a +subject of just admiration and applause. But if we suppose that the end is +attained, and that men no longer act, in the enjoyment of liberty from +liberal sentiments, or with a view to the preservation of public manners; +if individuals think themselves secure without any attention or effort of +their own; this boasted advantage may be found only to give them an +opportunity of enjoying, at leisure, the conveniencies and necessaries of +life; or, in the language of Cato, teach them to value their houses, their +villas, their statues, and their pictures, at a higher rate than they do +the republic. They may be found to grow tired in secret of a free +constitution, of which they never cease to boast in their conversation, and +which they always neglect in their conduct. + +The dangers to liberty are not the subject of our present consideration; +but they can never be greater from any cause than they are from the +supposed remissness of a people, to whose personal vigour every +constitution, as it owed its establishment, so must continue to owe its +preservation. Nor is this blessing ever less secure than it is in the +possession of men who think that they enjoy it in safety, and who therefore +consider the public only as it presents to their avarice a number of +lucrative employments; for the sake of which, they may sacrifice those very +rights which render themselves objects of management or of consideration. + +From the tendency of these reflections, then, it should appear, that a +national spirit is frequently transient, not on account of any incurable +distemper in the nature of mankind, but on account of their voluntary +neglects and corruptions. This spirit subsisted solely, perhaps, in the +execution of a few projects, entered into for the acquisition of territory +or wealth; it comes, like a useless weapon, to be laid aside after its end +is attained. + +Ordinary establishments terminate in a relaxation of vigour, and are +ineffectual to the preservation of states; because they lead mankind to +rely on their arts, instead of their virtues; and to mistake for an +improvement of human nature, a mere accession of accommodation, or of +riches. [Footnote: + Adeo in quae laboramus sola crevimus + Divitias luxuriamque. +Liv. lib. vii. c. 25.] Institutions that fortify the mind, inspire courage, +and promote national felicity, can never tend to national ruin. + +Is it not possible, amidst our admiration of arts, to find some place for +these? Let statesmen, who are intrusted with the government of nations, +reply for themselves. It is their business to shew, whether they climb into +stations of eminence, merely to display a passion of interest, which they +had better indulge in obscurity; and whether they have capacity to +understand the happiness of a people, the conduct of whose affairs they are +so willing to undertake. + + + + +SECTION IV. + +THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED + + +Men frequently, while they are engaged in what is accounted the most +selfish of all pursuits, the improvement of fortune, then most neglect +themselves; and while they reason for their country, forget the +considerations that most deserve their attention. Numbers, riches, and the +other resources of war, are highly important: but nations consist of men; +and a nation consisting of degenerate and cowardly men, is weak; a nation +consisting of vigorous, public spirited, and resolute men, is strong. The +resources of war, where other advantages are equal, may decide a contest; +but the resources of war, in hands that cannot employ them, are of no +avail. + +Virtue is a necessary constituent of national strength: capacity, and a +vigorous understanding, are no less necessary to sustain the fortune of +states. Both are improved by discipline, and by the exercises in which men +are engaged. We despise, or we pity the lot of mankind, while they lived +under uncertain establishments, and were obliged to sustain in the same +person, the character of the senator, the statesman, and the soldier. +Commercial nations discover, that any one of these characters is sufficient +in one person; and that the ends of each, when disjoined, are more easily +accomplished. The first, however, were circumstances under which nations +advanced and prospered; the second were those in which the spirit relaxed, +and the nation went to decay. + +We may, with good reason, congratulate our species on their having escaped +from a state of barbarous disorder and violence, into a state of domestic +peace and regular policy; when they have sheathed the dagger, and disarmed +the animosities of civil contention; when the weapons with which they +contend are the reasonings of the wise, and the tongue of the eloquent. But +we cannot, mean time, help to regret, that they should ever proceed, in +search of perfection, to place every branch of administration behind the +counter, and come to employ, instead of the statesman and warrior, the mere +clerk and accountant. + +By carrying this system to its height, men are educated, who could copy for +Caesar his military instructions, or even execute a part of his plans; but +none who could act in all the different scenes for which the leader himself +must be qualified, in the state and in the field, in times of order or of +tumult, in times of division or of unanimity; none who could animate the +council when deliberating on domestic affairs, or when alarmed by attacks +from abroad. + +The policy of China is the most perfect model of an arrangement at which +the ordinary refinements of government are aimed; and the inhabitants of +that empire possess, in the highest degree, those arts on which vulgar +minds make the felicity and greatness of nations to depend. The state has +acquired, in a measure unequalled in the history of mankind, numbers of +men, and the other resources of war. They have done what we are very apt to +admire: they have brought national affairs to the level of the meanest +capacity; they have broke them into parts, and thrown them into separate +departments; they have clothed every proceeding with splendid ceremonies, +and majestical forms; and where the reverence of forms cannot repress +disorder, a rigorous and severe police, armed with every species of +corporal punishment, is applied to the purpose. The whip, and the cudgel, +are held up to all orders of men; they are at once employed, and they are +dreaded, by every magistrate. A mandarine is whipped, for having ordered a +pickpocket to receive too few or too many blows. + +Every department of state is made the object of a separate profession, and +every candidate for office must have passed through a regular education; +and, as in the graduations of the university, must have obtained by his +proficiency, or his standing, the degree to which he aspires. The tribunals +of state, of war, and of the revenue, as well as of literature, are +conducted by graduates in their different studies; but while learning is +the great road to preferment, it terminates in being able to read, and to +write; and the great object of government consists in raising, and in +consuming the fruits of the earth. With all these resources, and this +learned preparation, which is made to turn these resources to use, the +state is in reality weak; has repeatedly given the example which we seek to +explain; and among the doctors of war or of policy, among the millions who +are set apart for the military profession, can find none of its members who +are fit to stand forth in the dangers of their country, or to form a +defence against the repeated inroads of an enemy reputed to be artless and +mean. + +It is difficult to tell how long the decay of states might be suspended, by +the cultivation of arts on which their real felicity and strength depend; +by cultivating in the higher ranks those talents for the council and the +field, which cannot, without great disadvantage, be separated; and in the +body of a people, that zeal for their country, and that military character, +which enable them to take a share in defending its rights. + +Times may come, when every proprietor must defend his own possessions, and +every free people maintain their own independence. We may imagine, that, +against such an extremity, an army of hired troops is a sufficient +precaution; but their own troops are the very enemy against which a people +is sometimes obliged to fight. We may flatter ourselves, that extremities +of this sort, in any particular case, are remote; but we cannot, in +reasoning on the general fortunes of mankind, avoid putting the case, and +referring to the examples in which it has happened. It has happened in +every instance where the polished have fallen a prey to the rude, and where +the pacific inhabitant has been reduced to subjection by military force. + +If the defence and government of a people be made to depend on a few, who +make the conduct of state or of war their profession; whether these be +foreigners or natives; whether they be called away of a sudden, like the +Roman legion from Britain; whether they turn against their employers, like +the army of Carthage; or be overpowered and dispersed by a stroke of +fortune; the multitude of a cowardly and undisciplined people must, upon +such an emergence; receive a foreign or a domestic enemy, as they would a +plague or an earthquake, with hopeless amazement and terror, and by their +numbers, only swell the triumphs, and enrich the spoil of a conqueror. + +Statesmen and leaders of armies, accustomed to the mere observance of +forms, are disconcerted by a suspension of customary rules; and on slight +grounds despair of their country. They were qualified only to go the rounds +of a particular track; and when forced from their stations, are in reality +unable to act with men. They only took part in formalities, of which they +understood not the tendency; and together with the modes of procedure, even +the very state itself, in their apprehension, has ceased to exist. The +numbers, possessions, and resources of a great people, only serve, in their +view, to constitute a scene of hopeless confusion and terror. + +In rude ages, under the appellations of _a community, a people_, or +_a nation_, was understood a number of men; and the state, while its +members remained, was accounted entire. The Scythians, while they fled +before Darius, mocked at his childish attempt; Athens survived the +devastations of Xerxes; and Rome, in its rude state, those of the Gauls. +With polished and mercantile states, the case is sometimes reversed. The +nation is a territory, cultivated and improved by its owners; destroy the +possession, even while the master remains, the state is undone. + +The weakness and effeminacy of which polished nations are sometimes +accused, has its place probably in the mind alone. The strength of animals, +and that of man in particular, depends on his feeding; and the kind of +labour to which he is used. Wholesome food, and hard labour, the portion of +many in every polished and commercial nation, secure to the public a number +of men endued with bodily strength, and inured to hardship and toil. + +Even delicate living, and good accommodation, are not found to enervate the +body. The armies of Europe have been obliged to make the experiment; and +the children of opulent families, bred in effeminacy, or nursed with tender +care, have been made to contend with the savage. By imitating his arts, +they have learned, like him, to traverse the forest; and, in every season, +to subsist in the desert. They have, perhaps, recovered a lesson, which it +has cost civilized nations many ages to unlearn, that the fortune of a man +is entire while he remains possessed of himself. + +It may be thought, however, that few of the celebrated nations of +antiquity, whose fate has given rise to so much reflection on the +vicissitudes of human affairs, had made any great progress in those +enervating arts we have mentioned; or made those arrangements from which +the danger in question could be supposed to arise. The Greeks, in +particular, at the time they received the Macedonian yoke, had certainly +not carried the commercial arts to so great a height as is common with the +most flourishing and prosperous nations of Europe. They had still retained +the form of independent republics; the people were generally admitted to a +share in the government; and not being able to hire armies, they were +obliged, by necessity, to bear a part in the defence of their country. By +their frequent wars and domestic commotions, they were accustomed to +danger, and were familiar with alarming situations; they were accordingly +still accounted the best soldiers and the best statesmen of the known +world. The younger Cyrus promised himself the empire of Asia by means of +their aid; and after his fall, a body of ten thousand, although bereft of +their leaders, baffled, in their retreat, all the military force of the +Persian empire. The victor of Asia did not think himself prepared for that +conquest, till he had formed an army from the subdued republics of Greece. + +It is, however, true, that in the age of Philip, the military and political +spirit of those nations appears to have been considerably impaired, and to +have suffered, perhaps, from the variety of interests and pursuits, as well +as of pleasures, with which their members came to be occupied; they even +made a kind of separation between the civil and military character. +Phocion, we are told by Plutarch, having observed that the leading men of +his time followed different courses, that some applied themselves to civil, +others to military affairs, determined rather to follow the examples of +Themistocles, Aristides, and Pericles, the leaders of a former age, who +were equally prepared for either. + +We find in the orations of Demosthenes, a perpetual reference to this state +of manners. We find him exhorting the Athenians not only to declare war, +but to arm themselves for the execution of their own military plans. We +find that there was an order of military men, who easily passed from the +service of one state to that of another; and who, when they were neglected +from home, turned away to enterprises on their own account. There were not, +perhaps, better warriors in any former age; but those warriors were not +attached to any state; and the settled inhabitants of every city thought +themselves disqualified for military service. The discipline of armies was +perhaps improved; but the vigour of nations was gone to decay. When Philip, +or Alexander, defeated the Grecian armies, which were chiefly composed of +soldiers of fortune, they found an easy conquest with the other +inhabitants; and when the latter, afterwards supported by those soldiers, +invaded the Persian empire, he seems to have left little martial spirit +behind him; and by removing the military men, to have taken precaution +enough, in his absence, to secure his dominion over this mutinous and +refractory people. + +The subdivision of arts and professions, in, certain examples, tends to +improve the practice of them, and to promote their ends. By having +separated the arts of the clothier and the tanner, we are the better +supplied with shoes and with cloth. But to separate the arts which form the +citizen and the statesman, the arts of policy and war, is an attempt to +dismember the human character, and to destroy those very arts we mean to +improve. By this separation, we in effect deprive a free people of what is +necessary to their safety; or we prepare a defence against invasions from +abroad, which gives a prospect of usurpation, and threatens the +establishment of military government at home. + +We may be surprised to find the beginning of certain military instructions +at Rome, referred to a time no earlier than that of the Cimbric war. It was +then, we are told by Valerius Maximus, that Roman soldiers were made to +learn from gladiators the use of a sword: and the antagonists of Pyrrhus +and of Hannibal were, by the account of this writer, still in need of +instruction in the first rudiments of their trade. They had already, by the +order and choice of their encampments, impressed the Grecian invader with +awe and respect; they had already, not by their victories, but by their +national vigour and firmness, under repeated defeats, induced him to sue +for peace. But the haughty Roman, perhaps, knew the advantage of order and +of union, without having been broke to the inferior arts of the mercenary +soldier; and had the courage to face the enemies of his country, without +having practised the use of his weapon under the fear of being whipped. He +could ill be persuaded that a time might come, when refined and intelligent +nations would make the art of war to consist in a few technical forms; that +citizens and soldiers might come to be distinguished as much as women and +men; that the citizen would become possessed of a property which he would +not be able, or required, to defend; that the soldier would be appointed to +keep for another what he would be taught to desire, and what he alone would +be enabled to seize and to keep for himself; that, in short, one set of men +were to have an interest in the preservation of civil establishments, +without the power to defend them; that the other were to have this power, +without either the inclination or the interest. + +This people, however, by degrees came to put their military force on the +very footing to which this description alludes. Marius made a capital +change in the manner of levying soldiers at Rome: he filled his legions +with the mean and the indigent, who depended on military pay for +subsistence; he created a force which rested on mere discipline alone, and +the skill of the gladiator; he taught his troops to employ their swords +against the constitution of their country, and set the example of a +practice which was soon adopted and improved by his successors. + +The Romans only meant by their armies to encroach on the freedom of other +nations, while they preserved their own. They forgot, that in assembling +soldiers of fortune, and in suffering any leader to be master of a +disciplined army, they actually resigned their political rights, and +suffered a master to arise for the state. This people, in short, whose +ruling passion was depredation and conquest, perished by the recoil of an +engine which they themselves had erected against mankind. + +The boasted refinements, then, of the polished age, are not divested of +danger. They open a door, perhaps, to disaster, as wide and accessible as +any of those they have shut. If they build walls and ramparts, they +enervate the minds of those who are placed to defend them; if they form +disciplined armies, they reduce the military spirit of entire nations; and +by placing the sword where they have given a distaste to civil +establishments, they prepare for mankind the government of force. + +It is happy for the nations of Europe, that the disparity between the +soldier and the pacific citizen can never be so great as it became among +the Greeks and the Romans. In the use of modern arms, the novice is made to +learn, and to practise with ease, all that the veteran knows; and if to +teach him were a matter of real difficulty, happy are they who are not +deterred by such difficulties, and who can discover the arts which tend to +fortify and preserve, not to enervate and ruin their country. + + + + +SECTION V. + +OF NATIONAL WASTE. + + +The strength of nations consists in the wealth, the numbers, and the +character of their people. The history of their progress from a state of +rudeness, is, for the most part, a detail of the struggles they have +maintained, and of the arts they have practised, to strengthen, or to +secure themselves. Their conquests, their population, and their commerce, +their civil and military arrangements, their skill in the construction of +weapons, and in the methods of attack and defence; the very distribution of +tasks, whether in private business or in public affairs, either tend to +bestow, or promise to employ with advantage the constituents of a national +force, and the resources of war. + +If we suppose that, together with these advantages, the military character +of a people remains, or is improved, it must follow, that what is gained in +civilization, is a real increase of strength; and that the ruin of nations +could never take its rise from themselves. Where states have stopped short +in their progress, or have actually gone to decay, we may suspect, that +however disposed to advance, they have found a limit, beyond which they +could not proceed; or from a remission of the national spirit, and a +weakness of character, were unable to make the most of their resources, and +natural advantages. On this supposition, from being stationary, they may +begin to relapse, and by a retrograde motion in a succession of ages, +arrive at a state of greater weakness, than that which they quitted in the +beginning of their progress; and with the appearance of better arts, and +superior conduct, expose themselves to become a prey to barbarians, whom, +in the attainment, or the height of their glory, they had easily baffled or +despised. + +Whatever may be the natural wealth of a people, or whatever may be the +limits beyond which they cannot improve on their stock, it is probable, +that no nation has ever reached those limits, or has been able to postpone +its misfortunes, and the effects of misconduct, until its fund of +materials, and the fertility of its soil, were exhausted, or the numbers of +its people were greatly reduced. The same errors in policy, and weakness of +manners, which prevent the proper use of resources, likewise check their +increase, or improvement. The wealth of the state consists in the fortune +of its members. The actual revenue of the state is that share of every +private fortune, which the public has been accustomed to demand for +national purposes. This revenue cannot be always proportioned to what may +be supposed redundant in the private estate, but to what is, in some +measure, thought so by the owner; and to what he may be made to spare, +without intrenching on his manner of living, and without suspending his +projects of expense, or of commerce. It should appear, therefore, that any +immoderate increase of private expense is a prelude to national weakness: +government, even while each of its subjects consumes a princely estate, may +be straitened in point of revenue, and the paradox be explained by example, +that the public is poor while its members are rich. + +We are frequently led into error by mistaking money for riches; we think +that a people cannot be impoverished by a waste of money which is spent +among themselves. The fact is, that men are impoverished only in two ways; +either by having their gains suspended, or by having their substance +consumed; and money expended at home, being circulated, and not consumed, +cannot, any more than the exchange of a tally, or a counter, among a +certain number of hands, tend to diminish the wealth of the company among +whom it is handed about. But while money circulates at home, the +necessaries of life, which are the real constituents of wealth, may be idly +consumed; the industry which might be employed to increase the stock of a +people, may be suspended, or turned to abuse. + +Great armies, maintained either at home or abroad, without any national +object, are so many mouths unnecessarily opened to waste the stores of the +public, and so many hands withheld from the arts by which its profits are +made. Unsuccessful enterprises are so many ventures thrown away, and losses +sustained, proportioned to the capital employed in the service. The +Helvetii, in order to invade the Roman province of Gaul, burnt their +habitations, dropt their instruments of husbandry, and consumed in one year +the savings of many. The enterprise failed of success, and the nation was +undone. + +States have endeavoured, in some instances, by pawning their credit, +instead of employing their capital, to disguise the hazards they ran. They +have found, in the loans they raised, a casual resource, which encouraged +their enterprises. They have seemed, by their manner of erecting +transferable funds, to leave the capital for purposes of trade, in the +hands of the subject, while it is actually expended by the government. They +have, by these means, proceeded to the execution of great national +projects, without suspending private industry, and have left future ages to +answer, in part, for debts contracted with a view to future emolument. So +far the expedient is plausible, and appears to be just. The growing burden +too, is thus gradually laid; and if a nation be to sink in some future age, +every minister hopes it may still keep afloat in his own. But the measure, +for this very reason, is, with all its advantages, extremely dangerous, in +the hands of a precipitant and ambitious administration, regarding only the +present occasion, and imagining a state to be inexhaustible, while a +capital can be borrowed, and the interest be paid. + +We are told of a nation who, during a certain period, rivalled the glories +of the ancient world, threw off the dominion of a master armed against them +with the powers of a great kingdom, broke the yoke with which they had been +oppressed, and almost within the course of a century raised, by their +industry and national vigour, a new and formidable power, which struck the +former potentates of Europe with awe and suspense, and turned the badges of +poverty with which they set out, into the ensigns of war and dominion. This +end was attained by the great efforts of a spirit awakened by oppression, +by a successful pursuit of national wealth, and by a rapid anticipation of +future revenue. But this illustrious state is supposed not only, in the +language of a former section, to have pre-occupied the business; they have +sequestered the inheritance of many ages to come. + +Great national expense, however, does not imply the necessity of any +national suffering. While revenue is applied with success to obtain some +valuable end, the profits of every adventure, being more than sufficient to +repay its costs, the public should gain, and its resources should continue +to multiply. But an expense, whether sustained at home or abroad, whether a +waste of the present, or an anticipation of future, revenue, if it bring no +proper return, is to be reckoned among the causes of national ruin. + +AN ESSAY ON THE HISTORY OF CIVIL SOCIETY + + + + + * * * * * + + + + +PART SIXTH + +OF CORRUPTION AND POLITICAL SLAVERY. + + + * * * * * + + + + +SECTION I. + +OF CORRUPTION IN GENERAL. + + +If the fortune of nations, and their tendency to aggrandizement, or to +ruin, were to be estimated by merely balancing, on the principles of the +last section, articles of profit and loss, every argument in politics would +rest on a comparison of national expense with national gain; on a +comparison of the numbers who consume, with those who produce or amass the +necessaries of life. The columns of the industrious, and the idle, would +include all orders of men; and the state itself, being allowed as many +magistrates, politicians, and warriors, as were barely sufficient for its +defence and its government, should place, on the side of its loss, every +name that is supernumerary on the civil or the military list; all those +orders of men, who, by the possession of fortune, subsist on the gains of +others, and by the nicety of their choice, require a great expense of time +and of labour, to supply their consumption; all those who are idly employed +in the train of persons of rank; all those who are engaged in the +professions of law, physic, or divinity, together with all the learned who +do not, by their studies, promote or improve the practice of some lucrative +trade. The value of every person, in short, should be computed from his +labour; and that of labour itself, from its tendency to procure and amass +the means of subsistence. The arts employed on mere superfluities should be +prohibited, except when their produce could be exchanged with foreign +nations, for commodities that might be employed to maintain useful men for +the public. + +These appear to be the rules by which a miser would examine the state of +his own affairs, or those of his country; but schemes of perfect corruption +are at least as impracticable as schemes of perfect virtue. Men are not +universally misers; they will not be satisfied with the pleasure of +hoarding; they must be suffered to enjoy their wealth, in order that they +may take the trouble of becoming rich. Property, in the common course of +human affairs, is unequally divided: we are therefore obliged to suffer the +wealthy to squander, that the poor may subsist: we are obliged to tolerate +certain orders of men, who are above the necessity of labour, in order +that, in their condition, there may be an object of ambition, and a rank to +which the busy aspire. We are not only obliged to admit numbers, who, in +strict economy, may be reckoned superfluous, on the civil, the military, +and the political list; but because we are men, and prefer the occupation, +improvement, and felicity of our nature, to its mere existence, we must +even wish, that as many members as possible, of every community, may be +admitted to a share of its defence and its government. + +Men, in fact, while they pursue in society different objects, or separate +views, procure a wide distribution of power, and by a species of chance, +arrive at a posture for civil engagements, more favourable to human nature +than what human wisdom could ever calmly devise. + +If the strength of a nation, in the mean-time, consists in the men on whom +it may rely, and who are fortunately or wisely combined for its +preservation, it follows, that manners are as important as either numbers +or wealth; and that corruption is to be accounted a principal cause of the +national declension and ruin. + +Whoever perceives what are the qualities of man in his excellence, may +easily, by that standard, distinguish his defects or corruptions. If an +intelligent, a courageous, and an affectionate mind, constitutes the +perfection of his nature, remarkable failings in any of those particulars +must proportionally sink or debase his character. + +We have observed, that it is the happiness of the individual to make a +right choice of his conduct; that this choice will lead him to lose in +society the sense of a personal interest; and, in the consideration of what +is due to the whole, to stifle those anxieties which relate to himself as a +part. + +The natural disposition of man to humanity, and the warmth of his temper, +may raise his character to this fortunate pitch. His elevation, in a great +measure, depends on the form of his society; but he can, without incurring +the charge of corruption, accommodate himself to great variations in the +constitutions of government. The same integrity, and vigorous spirit, +which, in democratical states, renders him tenacious of his equality, may, +under aristocracy or monarchy, lead him to maintain the subordinations +established. He may entertain, towards the different ranks of men with whom +he is yoked in the state, maxims of respect and of candour: he may, in the +choice of his actions, follow a principle of justice and of honour, which +the considerations of safety, preferment, or profit, cannot efface. + +From our complaints of national depravity, it should, notwithstanding, +appear, that whole bodies of men are sometimes infected with an epidemical +weakness of the head, or corruption of heart, by which they become unfit +for the stations they occupy, and threaten the states they compose, however +flourishing, with a prospect of decay, and of ruin. + +A change of national manners for the worse, may arise from a discontinuance +of the scenes in which the talents of men were happily cultivated, and +brought into exercise; or from a change in the prevailing opinions relating +to the constituents of honour or of happiness. When mere riches, or court +favour, are supposed to constitute rank; the mind is misled from the +consideration of qualities on which it ought to rely. Magnanimity, courage, +and the love of mankind, are sacrificed to avarice and vanity; or +suppressed under a sense of dependence. The individual considers his +community so far only as it can be rendered subservient to his personal +advancement or profit: he states himself in competition with his fellow +creatures; and, urged by the passions of emulation, of fear and jealousy, +of envy and malice, he follows the maxims of an animal destined to preserve +his separate existence, and to indulge his caprice or his appetite, at the +expense of his species. + +On this corrupt foundation, men become either rapacious, deceitful, and +violent, ready to trespass on the rights of others; or servile, mercenary, +and base, prepared to relinquish their own. Talents, capacity, and force of +mind, possessed by a person of the first description, serve to plunge him +the deeper in misery, and to sharpen the agony of cruel passions; which +lead him to wreak on his fellow creatures the torments that prey on +himself. To a person of the second, imagination, and reason itself, only +serve to point out false objects of fear and desire, and to multiply the +subjects of disappointment and of momentary joy. In either case, and +whether we suppose that corrupt men are urged by covetousness, or betrayed +by fear, and without specifying the crimes which from either disposition +they are prepared to commit, we may safely affirm, with Socrates, "That +every master should pray he may not meet with such a slave; and every such +person, being unfit for liberty, should implore that he may meet with a +merciful master." + +Man, under this measure of corruption, although he may be bought for a +slave by those who know how to turn his faculties and his labour to profit; +and although, when kept under proper restraints, his neighbourhood may be +convenient or useful; yet is certainly unfit to act on the footing of a +liberal combination or concert with his fellow creatures: his mind is not +addicted to friendship or confidence; he is not willing to act for the +preservation of others, nor deserves that any other should hazard his own +safety for his. + +The actual character of mankind, mean time, in the worst as well as the +best condition, is undoubtedly mixed: and nations of the best description +are greatly obliged for their preservation, not only to the good +disposition of their members, but likewise to those political institutions, +by which the violent are restrained from the commission of crimes, and the +cowardly, or the selfish, are made to contribute their part to the public +defence or prosperity. By means of such institutions, and the wise +precautions of government, nations are enabled to subsist, and even to +prosper, under very different degrees of corruption, or of public +integrity. + +So long as the majority of a people are supposed to act on maxims of +probity, the example of the good, and even the caution of the bad, give a +general appearance of integrity, and of innocence. Where men are to one +another objects of affection and of confidence, where they are generally +disposed not to offend, government may be remiss; and every person may be +treated as innocent, till he is found to be guilty. As the subject, in this +case, does not hear of the crimes, so he need not be told of the +punishments inflicted on persons of a different character. But where the +manners of a people are considerably changed for the worse, every subject +must stand on his guard, and government itself must act on suitable maxims +of fear and distrust. The individual, no longer fit to be indulged in his +pretensions to personal consideration, independence, or freedom, each of +which he would turn to abuse, must be taught, by external force, and from +motives of fear, to counterfeit those effects of innocence, and of duty, to +which he is not disposed: he must be referred to the whip, or the gibbet, +for arguments in support of a caution, which the state now requires him to +assume, on a supposition that he is insensible to the motives which +recommend the practice of virtue. + +The rules of despotism are made for the government of corrupted men. They +were indeed followed on some remarkable occasions, even under the Roman +commonwealth; and the bloody axe, to terrify the citizen from his crimes, +and to repel the casual and temporary irruptions of vice, was repeatedly +committed to the arbitrary will of the dictator. They were finally +established on the ruins of the republic itself, when either the people +became too corrupted for freedom, or when the magistrate became too +corrupted to resign his dictatorial power. This species of government comes +naturally in the termination of a continued and growing corruption; but +has, no doubt, in some instances, come too soon, and has sacrificed remains +of virtue, that deserved a better fate, to the jealousy of tyrants, who +were in haste to augment their power. This method of government cannot, in +such cases, fail to introduce that measure of corruption, against whose +external effects it is desired as a remedy. When fear is suggested as the +only motive to duty, every art becomes rapacious or base. And this +medicine, if applied to a healthy body, is sure to create the distemper; +which in other cases it is destined to cure. + +This is the manner of government into which the covetous, and the arrogant, +to satiate their unhappy desires, would hurry their fellow creatures: it is +a manner of government to which the timorous and the servile submit at +discretion; and when these characters of the rapacious and the timid divide +mankind, even the virtues of Antoninus or Trajan can do no more than apply, +with candour and with vigour, the whip and the sword; and endeavour, by the +hopes of reward, or the fear of punishment, to find a speedy and a +temporary cure for the crimes, or the imbecilities of men. + +Other states may be more or less corrupted: this has corruption for its +basis. Here justice may sometimes direct the arm of the despotical +sovereign; but the name of justice is most commonly employed to signify the +interest or the caprice of a reigning power. Human society, susceptible of +such a variety of forms, here finds the simplest of all. The toils and +possessions of many are destined to assuage the passions of one or a few; +and the only parties that remain among, mankind, are the oppressor who +demands, and the oppressed who dare not refuse. + +Nations, while they were entitled to a milder fate, as in the case of the +Greeks, repeatedly conquered, have been reduced to this condition by +military force. They have reached it too in the maturity of their own +depravations; when, like the Romans, returned from the conquest, and loaded +with the spoils of the world, they give loose to faction, and to crimes too +bold and too frequent for the correction of ordinary government; and when +the sword of justice, dropping with blood, and perpetually required to +suppress accumulating disorders on every side, could no longer await the +delays and precautions of an administration fettered by laws. [Footnote: +Sallust. Bell. Catalinarium.] + +It is, however, well known from the history of mankind, that corruption of +this, or of any other degree, is not peculiar to nations in their decline, +or in the result of signal prosperity, and great advances in the arts of +commerce. The bands of society, indeed, in small and infant establishments, +are generally strong; and their subjects, either by an ardent devotion to +to their own tribe, or a vehement animosity against enemies, and by a +vigorous courage founded on both, are well qualified to urge, or to +sustain, the fortune of a growing community. But the savage and the +barbarian have given, notwithstanding, in the case of entire nations, some +examples of a weak and timorous character. [Footnote: The barbarous nations +of Siberia, in general, are servile and timid.] They have, in more +instances, fallen into that species of corruption which we have already +described in treating of barbarous nations; they have made rapine their +trade, not merely as a species of warfare, or with a view to enrich their +community, but to possess, in property, what they learned to prefer even to +the ties of affection or of blood. + +In the lowest state of commercial arts, the passions for wealth, and for +dominion, have exhibited scenes of oppression or servility, which the most +finished corruption of the arrogant, the cowardly, and the mercenary, +founded on the desire of procuring, or the fear of losing, a fortune, could +not exceed. In such cases, the vices of men, unrestrained by forms, and +unawed by police, are suffered to riot at large, and to produce their +entire effects. Parties accordingly unite, or separate, on the maxims of a +gang of robbers; they sacrifice to interest the tenderest affections of +human nature. The parent supplies the market for slaves, even by the sale +of his own children; the cottage ceases to be a sanctuary for the weak and +the defenceless stranger; and the rights of hospitality, often so sacred +among nations in their primitive state, come to be violated, like every +other tie of humanity, without fear or remorse. [Footnote: Chardin's +travels through Mingrelia into Persia.] + +Nations which, in later periods of their history, became eminent for civil +wisdom and justice, had, perhaps, in a former age, paroxysms of lawless +disorder, to which this description might in part be applied. The very +policy by which they arrived at their degree of national felicity, was +devised as a remedy for outrageous abuse. The establishment of order was +dated from the commission of rapes and murders; indignation, and private +revenge, were the principles on which nations proceeded to the expulsion of +tyrants, to the emancipation of mankind, and the full explanation of their +political rights. + +Defects of government and of law may be, in some cases, considered as a +symptom of innocence and of virtue. But where power is already established, +where the strong are unwilling to suffer restraint, or the weak unable to +find a protection, the defects of law are marks of the most perfect +corruption. + +Among rude nations, government is often defective; both because men are not +yet acquainted with all the evils for which polished nations have +endeavoured to find a redress; and because, even where evils of the most +flagrant nature have long afflicted the peace of society, they have not yet +been able to apply the cure. In the progress of civilization, new +distempers break forth, and new remedies are applied: but the remedy is +not always applied the moment the distemper appears; and laws, though +suggested by the commission of crimes, are not the symptom of a recent +corruption, but of a desire to find a remedy that may cure, perhaps, some +inveterate evil which has long afflicted the state. + +There are corruptions, however, under which men still possess the vigour +and the resolution to correct themselves. Such are the violence and the +outrage which accompany the collision of fierce and daring spirits, +occupied in the struggles which sometimes precede the dawn of civil and +commercial improvements. In such cases, men have frequently discovered a +remedy for evils, of which their own misguided impetuosity, and superior +force of mind, were the principal causes. But if to a depraved disposition, +we suppose to be joined a weakness of spirit; if to an admiration and +desire of riches, be joined an aversion to danger or business; if those +orders of men whose valour is required by the public, cease to be brave; if +the members of society in general have not those personal qualities which +are required to fill the stations of equality, or of honour, to which they +are invited by the forms of the state; they must sink to a depth from which +their imbecility, even more than their depraved inclinations, may prevent +their rise. + + + + +SECTION, II + +OF LUXURY. + + +We are far from being agreed on the application of the term _luxury_, +or on that degree of its meaning which is consistent with national +prosperity, or with the moral rectitude of our nature. It is sometimes +employed to signify a manner of life which we think necessary to +civilization, and even to happiness. It is, in our panegyric of polished +ages, the parent of arts, the support of commerce, and the minister of +national greatness, and of opulence. It is, in our censure of degenerate +manners, the source of corruption, and the presage of national declension +and ruin. It is admired, and it is blamed; it is treated as ornamental and +useful, and it is proscribed as a vice. + +With all this diversity in our judgments, we are generally uniform in +employing the term to signify that complicated apparatus which mankind +devise for the ease and convenience of life. Their buildings, furniture, +equipage, clothing, train of domestics, refinement of the table, and, in +general, all that assemblage which is rather intended to please the fancy, +than to obviate real wants, and which is rather ornamental than useful. + +When we are disposed, therefore, under the appellation of _luxury_, to rank +the enjoyment of these things among the vices, we either tacitly refer to +the habits of sensuality, debauchery, prodigality, vanity, and arrogance, +with which the possession of high fortune is sometimes attended; or we +apprehend a certain measure of what is necessary to human life, beyond +which all enjoyments are supposed to be excessive and vicious. When, on +the contrary, luxury is made an article of national lustre and felicity, we +only think of it as an innocent consequence of the unequal distribution of +wealth, and as a method by which different ranks are rendered mutually +dependent, and mutually useful. The poor are made to practise arts, and +the rich to reward them. The public itself is made a gainer by what seems +to waste its stock, and it receives a perpetual increase of wealth, from +the influence of those growing appetites, and delicate tastes, which seem +to menace consumption and ruin. + +It is certain, that we must either, together with the commercial arts, +suffer their fruits to be enjoyed, and even in some measure admired; or, +like the Spartans, prohibit the art itself, while we are afraid of its +consequences, or while we think that the conveniencies it brings exceed +what nature requires. But we may propose to stop the advancement of arts at +any stage of their progress, and still incur the censure of luxury from +those who are not advanced so far. The housebuilder and the carpenter at +Sparta were limited to the use of the axe and the saw; but a Spartan +cottage might have passed for a palace in Thrace: and if the dispute were +to turn on the knowledge of what is physically necessary to the +preservation of human life, as the standard of what is morally lawful, the +faculties of physic, as well as of morality, would probably divide on the +subject, and leave every individual, as at present, to find some rule for +himself. The casuist, for the most part, considers the practice of his own +age and condition as a standard for mankind. If in one age or condition he +condemn the use of a coach, in another he would have no less censured the +wearing of shoes; and the very person who exclaims against the first, would +probably not have spared the second, if it had not been already familiar in +ages before his own. A censor born in a cottage, and accustomed to sleep +upon straw, does not propose that men should return to the woods and the +caves for shelter; he admits the reasonableness and the utility of what is +already familiar; and apprehends an excess and corruption, only in the +newest refinement of the rising generation. + +The clergy of Europe have preached successively against every new fashion, +and every innovation in dress. The modes of youth are a subject of censure +to the old; and modes of the last age, in their turn, a matter of ridicule +to the flippant, and the young. Of this there is not always a better +account to be given, than that the old are disposed to be severe, and the +young to be merry. + +The argument against many of the conveniencies of life, drawn from the mere +consideration of their not being necessary, was equally proper in the mouth +of the savage, who dissuaded from the first applications of industry, as it +is in that of the moralist, who insists on the vanity of the last. "Our +ancestors," he might say, "found their dwelling under this rock; they +gathered their food in the forest; they allayed their thirst from the +fountain; and they were clothed in the spoils of the beast they had slain. +Why should we indulge a false delicacy, or require from the earth fruits +which she is not accustomed to yield? The bow of our father is already too +strong for our arms; and the wild beast begins to lord it in the woods." + +Thus the moralist may have found, in the proceedings of every age, those +topics of blame, from which he is so much disposed to arraign the manners +of his own; and our embarrassment on the subject is, perhaps, but a part of +that general perplexity which we undergo, in trying to define moral +characters by external circumstances, which may, or may not, be attended +with faults in the mind and the heart. One man finds a vice in the wearing +of linen; another does not, unless the fabric be fine: and if, meantime, it +be true, that a person may be dressed in manufacture either coarse or fine; +that he may sleep in the fields, or lodge in a palace; tread upon carpet, +or plant his foot on the ground; while the mind either retains, or has lost +its penetration, and its vigour, and the heart its affection to mankind, it +is vain, under any such circumstance, to seek for the distinctions of +virtue and vice, or to tax the polished citizen with weakness for any part +of his equipage, or for his wearing a fur, in which, perhaps, some savage +was dressed before him. Vanity is not distinguished by any peculiar species +of dress. It is betrayed by the Indian in the fantastic assortments of his +plumes, his shells, his party coloured furs, and in the time he bestows at +the glass and the toilet. Its projects in the woods and in the town are +the same: in the one, it seeks, with the visage bedaubed, and with teeth +artificially stained, for that admiration, which it courts in the other +with a gilded equipage, and liveries of state. + +Polished nations, in their progress, often come to surpass the rude in +moderation, and severity of manners. "The Greeks," says Thucydides, "not +long ago, like barbarians, wore golden spangles in the hair, and went armed +in times of peace." Simplicity of dress in this people, became a mark of +politeness: and the mere materials with which the body is nourished or +clothed, are probably of little consequence to any people. We must look for +the characters of men in the qualities of the mind, not in the species of +their food, or in the mode of their apparel. What are now the ornaments of +the grave and severe; what is owned to be a real conveniency, were once the +fopperies of youth, or were devised to please the effeminate. The new +fashion, indeed, is often the mark of the coxcomb; but we frequently change +our fashions without multiplying coxcombs, or increasing the measures of +our vanity and folly. + +Are the apprehensions of the severe, therefore, in every age, equally +groundless and unreasonable? Are we never to dread any error in the article +of a refinement bestowed on the means of subsistence, or the conveniencies +of life? The fact is, that men are perpetually exposed to the commission of +error in this article, not merely where they are accustomed to high +measures of accommodation, or to any particular species of food, but +wherever these objects, in general, may come to be preferred to their +character, to their country, or to mankind; they actually commit such +error, wherever they admire paltry distinctions or frivolous advantages; +wherever they shrink from small inconveniencies, and are incapable of +discharging their duty with vigour. The use of morality on this subject, is +not to limit men to any particular species of lodging, diet, or clothes; +but to prevent their considering these conveniencies as the principal +objects of human life. And if we are asked, where the pursuit of trifling +accommodations should stop, in order that a man may devote himself entirely +to the higher engagements of life? we may answer, that it should stop where +it is. This was the rule followed at Sparta: the object of the rule was, to +preserve the heart entire for the public, and to occupy men in cultivating +their own nature, not in accumulating wealth, and external conveniencies. +It was not expected otherwise, that the axe or the saw should be attended +with greater political advantage, than the plane and the chisel. When Cato +walked the streets of Rome without his robe, and without shoes, he did so, +most probably, in contempt of what his countrymen were so prone to admire; +not in hopes of finding a virtue in one species of dress, or a vice in +another. + +Luxury, therefore, considered as a predilection in favour of the objects of +vanity, and the costly materials of pleasure, is ruinous to the human +character; considered as the mere use of accommodations and conveniencies +which the age has procured, rather depends on the progress which the +mechanical arts have made, and on the degree in which the fortunes of men +are unequally parcelled, than on the dispositions of particular men either +to vice or to virtue. + +Different measures of luxury are, however, variously suited to different +constitutions of government. The advancement of arts supposes an unequal +distribution of fortune; and the means of distinction they bring, serve to +render the separation of ranks more sensible. Luxury is, upon this account, +apart from all its moral effects, adverse to the form of democratical +government; and, in any state of society, can be safely admitted in that +degree only in which the members of a community are supposed of unequal +rank, and constitute public order by the relations of superior and vassal. +High degrees of it appear salutary, and even necessary, in monarchical and +mixed governments; where, besides the encouragement to arts and commerce, +it serves to give lustre to those hereditary or constitutional dignities +which have a place of importance in the political system. Whether even here +luxury leads to abuse peculiar to ages of high refinement and opulence, we +shall proceed to consider in the following sections. + + + + +SECTION III. + +OF THE CORRUPTION INCIDENT TO POLISHED NATIONS. + + +Luxury and corruption are frequently coupled together, and even pass for +synonymous terms. But, in order to avoid any dispute about words, by the +first we may understand that accumulation of wealth, and that refinement on +the ways of enjoying it, which are the objects of industry, or the fruits +of mechanic and commercial arts: and by the second a real weakness, or +depravity of the human character, which may accompany any state of those +arts, and be found under any external circumstances or condition +whatsoever. It remains to inquire, what are the corruptions incident to +polished nations, arrived at certain measures of luxury, and possessed of +certain advantages, in which they are generally supposed to excel? + +We need not have recourse to a parallel between the manners of entire +nations, in the extremes of civilization and rudeness, in order to be +satisfied, that the vices of men are not proportioned to their fortunes; or +that the habits of avarice, or of sensuality, are not founded on any +certain measures of wealth, or determinate kind of enjoyment. Where the +situations of particular men are varied as much by their personal stations, +as they can be by the state of national refinements, the same passions for +interest, or pleasure, prevail in every condition. They arise from +temperament, or an acquired admiration of property; not from any particular +manner of life in which the parties are engaged, nor from any particular +species of property which may have occupied their cares and their wishes. + +Temperance and moderation are, at least, as frequent among those whom we +call the superior, as they are among the lower classes of men; and however +we may affix the character of sobriety to mere cheapness of diet, and other +accommodations with which any particular age, or rank of men, appear to be +contented, it is well known, that costly materials are not necessary to +constitute a debauch, nor profligacy less frequent under the thatched roof, +than under the lofty ceiling. Men grow equally familiar with different +conditions, receive equal pleasure, and are equally allured to sensuality +in the palace and in the cave. Their acquiring in either, habits of +intemperance or sloth, depends on the remission of other pursuits, and on +the distaste of the mind to other engagements. If the affections of the +heart be awake, and the passions of love, admiration, or anger, be kindled, +the costly furniture of the palace, as well as the homely accommodations of +the cottage, are neglected: and men, when roused, reject their repose; or, +when fatigued, embrace it alike on the silken bed, or on the couch of +straw. + +We are not, however, from hence to conclude, that luxury, with all its +concomitant circumstances, which either serve to favour its increase, or +which, in the arrangements of civil society, follow it as consequences, can +have no effect to the disadvantage of national manners. If that respite +from public dangers and troubles which gives a leisure for the practice of +commercial arts, be continued, or increased, into a disuse of national +efforts; if the individual, not called to unite with his country, be left +to pursue his private advantage; we may find him become effeminate, +mercenary, and sensual; not because pleasures and profits are become more +alluring, but because he has fewer calls to attend to other objects; and +because he has more encouragement to study his personal advantages, and +pursue his separate interests. + +If the disparities of rank and fortune, which are necessary to the pursuit +or enjoyment of luxury, introduce false grounds of precedency and +estimation; if, on the mere considerations of being rich or poor, one order +of men are, in their own apprehension, elevated, another debased; if one be +criminally proud, another meanly dejected; and every rank in its place, +like the tyrant, who thinks that nations are made for himself, be disposed +to assume on the rights of mankind: although, upon the comparison, the +higher order may be least corrupted; or from education, and a sense of +personal dignity, have most good qualities remaining; yet the one becoming +mercenary and servile; the other imperious and arrogant; both regardless of +justice and of merit; the whole mass is corrupted, and the manners of a +society changed for the worse, in proportion as its members cease to act on +principles of equality, independence, or freedom. + +Upon this view, and considering the merits of men in the abstract, a mere +change from the habits of a republic to those of a monarchy; from the love +of equality, to the sense of a subordination founded on birth, titles, and +fortune, is a species of corruption to mankind. But this degree of +corruption is still consistent with the safety and prosperity of some +nations; it admits of a vigorous courage, by which the rights of +individuals, and of kingdoms, may be long preserved. + +Under the form of monarchy, while yet in its vigour, superior fortune is, +indeed, one mark by which the different orders of men are distinguished; +but there are some other ingredients, without which wealth is not admitted +as a foundation of precedency, and in favour of which it is often despised, +and lavished away. Such are birth and titles, the reputation of courage, +courtly manners, and a certain elevation of mind. If we suppose that these +distinctions are forgotten, and nobility itself only to be known by the +sumptuous retinue which money alone may procure; and by a lavish expense, +which the more recent fortunes can generally best sustain; luxury must then +be allowed to corrupt the monarchical as much as the republican state, and +to introduce a fatal dissolution of manners, under which men of every +condition, although they are eager to acquire, or to display their wealth, +have no remains of real ambition. They have neither the elevation of +nobles, nor the fidelity of subjects; they have changed into effeminate +vanity, that sense of honour which gave rules to the personal courage; and +into a servile baseness that loyalty, which bound each in his place to his +immediate superior, and the whole to the throne. + +Nations are most exposed to corruption from this quarter, when the +mechanical arts, being greatly advanced, furnish numberless articles to be +applied in ornament to the person, in furniture, entertainment, or +equipage; when such articles as the rich alone can procure are admired; and +when consideration, precedence, and rank, are accordingly made to depend on +fortune. + +In a more rude state of the arts, although wealth be unequally divided, the +opulent can amass only the simple means of subsistence: they can only fill +the granary, and furnish the stall; reap from more extended fields, and +drive their herds over a larger pasture. To enjoy their magnificence, they +must live in a crowd; and to secure their possessions, they must be +surrounded with friends that espouse their quarrels. Their honours, as well +as their safety, consist in the numbers who attend them; and their personal +distinctions are taken from their liberality, and supposed elevation of +mind. In this manner, the possession of riches serves only to make the +owner assume a character of magnanimity, to become the guardian of numbers, +or the public object of respect and affection. But when the bulky +constituents of wealth, and of rustic magnificence, can be exchanged for +refinements; and when the produce of the soil may be turned into equipage, +and mere decoration; when the combination of many is no longer required for +personal safety; the master may become the sole consumer of his own estate: +he may refer the use of every subject to himself; he may employ the +materials of generosity to feed a personal vanity, or to indulge a sickly +and effeminate fancy, which has learned to enumerate the trappings of +weakness or folly among the necessaries of life. + +The Persian satrape, we are told, when he saw the king of Sparta at the +place of their conference stretched on the grass with his soldiers, blushed +at the provision he made for the accommodation of his own person; he +ordered the furs and the carpets to be withdrawn; he felt his own +inferiority; and recollected, that he was to treat with a man, not to vie +with a pageant in costly attire and magnificence. + +When, amid circumstances that make no trial of the virtues or talents of +men, we have been accustomed to the air of superiority which people of +fortune derive from their retinue, we are apt to lose every sense of +distinction arising from merit, or even from abilities. We rate our fellow +citizens by the figure they are able to make; by their buildings, their +dress, their equipage, and the train of their followers. All these +circumstances make a part in our estimate of what is excellent; and if the +master himself is known to be a pageant in the midst of his fortune, we +nevertheless pay our court to his station, and look up with an envious, +servile, or dejected mind, to what is, in itself, scarcely fit to amuse +children; though, when it is worn as a badge of distinction, it inflames +the ambition of those we call the great, and strikes the multitude with awe +and respect. + +We judge of entire nations by the productions of a few mechanical arts, and +think we are talking of men, while we are boasting of their estates, their +dress, and their palaces. The sense in which we apply the terms, +_great_, and _noble, high rank_, and _high life_, show that we have, +on such occasions, transferred the idea of perfection from the character +to the equipage; and that excellence itself is, in our esteem, a +mere pageant, adorned at a great expense by the labours of many workmen. + +To those who overlook the subtile transitions of the imagination, it might +appear, since wealth can do no more than furnish the means of subsistence, +and purchase animal pleasures, that covetousness, and venality itself, +should keep pace with our fears of want, or with our appetite for sensual +enjoyments; and that where the appetite is satiated, and the fear of want +is removed, the mind should be at ease on the subject of fortune. But they +are not the mere pleasures that riches procure, nor the choice of viands +which cover the board of the wealthy, that inflame the passions of the +covetous and the mercenary. Nature is easily satisfied in all her +enjoyments. It is an opinion of eminence, connected with fortune; it is a +sense of debasement attending on poverty, which renders us blind to every +advantage, but that of the rich; and insensible to every disgrace, but that +of the poor. It is this unhappy apprehension, that occasionally prepares us +for the desertion of every duty, for a submission to every indignity, and +for the commission of every crime that can be accomplished in safety. + +Aurengzebe was not more renowned for sobriety in his private station, and +in the conduct of a supposed dissimulation, by which he aspired to +sovereign power, than he continued to be, even on the throne of Indostan. +Simple, abstinent, and severe in his diet, and other pleasures, he still +led the life of a hermit, and occupied his time with a seemingly painful +application to the affairs of a great empire. [Footnote: Gemelli Careri.] +He quitted a station in which, if pleasure had been his object, he might +have indulged his sensuality without reserve; he made his way to a scene of +disquietude and care; he aimed at the summit of human greatness, in the +possession of imperial fortune, not at the gratifications of animal +appetite, or the enjoyment of ease. Superior to sensual pleasure, as well +as to the feelings of nature, he dethroned his father, and he murdered his +brothers, that he might roll on a carriage incrusted with diamond and +pearl; that his elephants, his camels, and his horses, on the march, might +form a line extending many leagues; might present a glittering harness to +the sun; and loaded with treasure, usher to the view of an abject and +admiring crowd that awful majesty, in whose presence they were to strike +the forehead on the ground, and be overwhelmed with the sense of his +greatness, and with that of their own debasement. + +As these are the objects which prompt the desire of dominion, and excite +the ambitious to aim at the mastery of their fellow creatures; so they +inspire the ordinary race of men with a sense of infirmity and meanness, +that prepares them to suffer indignities, and to become the property of +persons, whom they consider as of a rank and a nature so much superior to +their own. The chains of perpetual slavery, accordingly, appear to be +riveted in the east, no less by the pageantry which is made to accompany +the possession of power, than they are by the fears of the sword, and the +terrors of a military execution. In the west, as well as the east, we are +willing to bow to the splendid equipage, and stand at an awful distance +from the pomp of a princely estate. We too may be terrified by the frowns, +or won by the smiles, of those whose favour is riches and honour, and whose +displeasure is poverty and neglect. We too may overlook the honours of the +human soul, from an admiration of the pageantries that accompany fortune. +The procession of elephants harnessed with gold might dazzle into slaves, +the people who derive corruption and weakness from the effect of their own +arts and contrivances, as well as those who inherit servility from their +ancestors, and are enfeebled by their natural temperament, and the +enervating charms of their soil and their climate. + +It appears, therefore, that although the mere use of materials which +constitute luxury, may be distinguished from actual vice; yet nations under +a high state of the commercial arts, are exposed to corruption, by their +admitting wealth, unsupported by personal elevation and virtue, as the +great foundation of distinction, and by having their attention turned on +the side of interest, as the road to consideration and honour. + +With this effect, luxury may serve to corrupt democratical states, by +introducing a species of monarchical subordination, without that sense of +high birth and hereditary honours which render the boundaries of rank fixed +and determinate, and which teach men to act in their stations with force +and propriety. It may prove the occasion of political corruption, even in +monarchical governments, by drawing respect towards mere wealth; by casting +a shade on the lustre of personal qualities, or family distinctions; and by +infecting all orders of men, with equal venality, servility, and cowardice. + + + + +SECTION IV. + +The Same Subject Continued. + + +The increasing regard with which men appear, in the progress of commercial +arts, to study their profit, or the delicacy with which they refine on +their pleasures; even industry itself, or the habit of application to a +tedious employment, in which no honours are won, may, perhaps, be +considered as indications of a growing attention to interest, or of +effeminacy, contracted in the enjoyment of ease and conveniency. Every +successive art, by which the individual is taught to improve on his +fortune, is, in reality, an addition to his private engagements, and a new +avocation of his mind from the public. + +Corruption, however, does not arise from the abuse of commercial arts +alone; it requires the aid of political situation; and is not produced by +the objects that occupy a sordid and a mercenary spirit, without the aid of +circumstances that enable men to indulge in safety any mean disposition +they have acquired. + +Providence has fitted mankind for the higher engagements which they are +sometimes obliged to fulfil; and it is in the midst of such engagements +that they are most likely to acquire or to preserve their virtues. The +habits of a vigorous mind are formed in contending with difficulties, not +in enjoying the repose of a pacific station; penetration and wisdom are the +fruits of experience, not the lessons of retirement and leisure; ardour and +generosity are the qualities of a mind roused and animated in the conduct +of scenes that engage the heart, not the gifts of reflection or knowledge. +The mere intermission of national and political efforts is, +notwithstanding, sometimes mistaken for public good; and there is no +mistake more likely to foster the vices, or to flatter the weakness, of +feeble and interested men. + +If the ordinary arts of policy, or rather if a growing indifference to +objects of a public nature, should prevail, and, under any free +constitution, put an end to those disputes of party, and silence that noise +of dissention which generally accompany the exercise of freedom, we may +venture to prognosticate corruption to the national manners, as well as +remissness to the national spirit. The period is come, when no engagement, +remaining on the part of the public, private interest, and animal pleasure, +become the sovereign objects of care. When men, being relieved from the +pressure of great occasions, bestow their attention on trifles; and having +carried what they are pleased to call _sensibility_ and _delicacy_, on +the subject of ease or molestation, as far as real weakness or folly can +go, have recourse to affectation, in order to enhance the pretended +demands, and accumulate the anxieties, of a sickly fancy, and enfeebled +mind. + +In this condition, mankind generally flatter their own imbecility under the +name of _politeness_. They are persuaded, that the celebrated ardour, +generosity, and fortitude of former ages bordered on frenzy, or were the +mere effects of necessity, on men who had not the means of enjoying their +ease, or their pleasure. They congratulate themselves on having escaped the +storm which required the exercise of such arduous virtues; and with that +vanity which accompanies the human race in their meanest condition, they +boast of a scene of affectation, of languor, or of folly, as the standard +of human felicity, and as furnishing the properest exercise of a rational +nature. + +It is none of the least menacing symptoms of an age prone to degeneracy, +that the minds of men become perplexed in the discernment of merit, as much +as the spirit becomes enfeebled in conduct, and the heart misled in the +choice of its objects: The care of mere fortune is supposed to constitute +wisdom; retirement from public affairs, and real indifference to mankind, +receive the applauses of moderation, and of virtue. + +Great fortitude, and elevation of mind, have not always, indeed, been +employed in the attainment of valuable ends; but they are always +respectable, and they are always necessary when we would act for the good +of mankind, in any of the more arduous stations of life. While, therefore, +we blame their misapplication, we should beware of depreciating their +value. Men of a severe and sententious morality have not always +sufficiently observed this caution; nor have they been duly aware of the +corruptions they flattered, by the satire they employed against what is +aspiring and prominent in the character of the human soul. + +It might have been expected, that, in an age of hopeless debasement, the +talents of Demosthenes and Tully, even the ill governed magnanimity of a +Macedonian, or the daring enterprise of a Carthaginian leader, might have +escaped the acrimony of a satirist, [Footnote: Juvenal's tenth satire] who +had so many objects of correction in his view, and who possessed the arts +of declamation in so high a degree. + + I, demens, et saevos curre per Alpes, + Ut pueris placeas, et declamatio fias, + +is part of the illiberal censure which is thrown by this poet on the person +and action of a leader, who, by his courage and conduct, in the very +service to which the satire referred, had well nigh saved his country from +the ruin with which it was at last at last overwhelmed. + + Heroes are much the same, the point's agreed, + From Macedonia's madman to the Swede, + +is a distich, in which another poet of beautiful talents has attempted to +depreciate a name, to which, probably, few of his readers are found to +aspire. + +If men must go wrong, there is a choice of their errors, as well as of +their virtues. Ambition, the love of personal eminence, and the desire of +fame, although they sometimes lead to the commission of crimes, yet always +engage men in pursuits that require to be supported by some of the greatest +qualities of the human soul; and if eminence is the principal object of +pursuit, there is at least a probability, that those qualities may be +studied on which a real elevation of mind is raised. But when public alarms +have ceased, and contempt of glory is recommended as an article of wisdom, +the sordid habits, and mercenary dispositions, to which, under a general +indifference to national objects, the members of a polished or commercial +state are exposed, must prove at once the most effectual suppression of +every liberal sentiment, and the most fatal reverse of all those principles +from which communities derive their strength and their hopes of +preservation. + +It is noble to possess happiness and independence, either in retirement, or +in public life. The characteristic of the happy, is to acquit themselves +well in every condition; in the court, or in the village; in the senate, or +in the private retreat. But if they affect any particular station, it is +surely that in which their actions may be rendered most extensively useful. +Our considering mere retirement, therefore, as a symptom of moderation and +of virtue, is either a remnant of that system, under which monks and +anchorets, in former ages, have been canonized; or proceeds from a habit of +thinking, which appears equally fraught with moral corruption, from our +considering public life as a scene for the gratification of mere vanity, +avarice, and ambition; never as furnishing the best opportunity for a just +and a happy engagement of the mind and the heart. + +Emulation, and the desire of power, are but sorry motives to public +conduct; but if they have been, in any case, the principal inducements from +which men have taken part in the service of their country, any diminution +of their prevalence or force is a real corruption of national manners; and +the pretended moderation assumed by the higher orders of men, has a fatal +effect in the state. The disinterested love of the public is a principle, +without which some constitutions of government cannot subsist: but when we +consider how seldom this has appeared a reigning passion, we have little +reason to impute the prosperity or preservation of nations, in every case, +to its influence. + +It is sufficient, perhaps, under one form of government, that men should be +fond of their independence; that they should be ready to oppose usurpation, +and to repel personal indignities: under another, it is sufficient, that +they should be tenacious of their rank, and of their honours; and instead +of a zeal for the public, entertain a vigilant jealousy of the rights which +pertain to themselves. When numbers of men retain a certain degree of +elevation and fortitude, they are qualified to give a mutual check to their +several errors, and are able to act in that variety of situations which the +different constitutions of government have prepared for their members: but, +under the disadvantages of a feeble spirit, however directed, and however +informed, no national constitution is safe; nor can any degree of +enlargement, to which a state has arrived, secure its political welfare. + +In states where property, distinction, and pleasure, are thrown out as +baits to the imagination, and incentives to passion, the public seems to +rely for the preservation of its political life, on the degree of emulation +and jealousy with which parties mutually oppose and restrain each other. +The desires of preferment and profit in the breast of the citizen, are the +motives from which he excited to enter on public affairs, and are the +considerations which direct his political conduct. The suppression, +therefore, of ambition, of party animosity, and of public envy, is +probably, in every such case, not a reformation, but a symptom of weakness, +and a prelude to more sordid pursuits, and ruinous amusements. + +On the eve of such a revolution in manners, the higher ranks, in every +mixed or monarchical government, have need to take care of themselves. Men +of business, and of industry, in the inferior stations of life, retain +their occupations, and are secured, by a kind of necessity, in the +possession of those habits on which they rely for their quiet; and for the +moderate enjoyments of life. But the higher orders of men, if they +relinquish the state, if they cease to possess that courage and elevation +of mind, and to exercise those talents which are employed in its defence +and in its government, are, in reality, by the seeming advantages of their +station, become the refuse of that society of which they once were the +ornament; and from being the most respectable, and the most happy, of its +members, are become the most wretched and corrupt. In their approach to +this condition, and in the absence of every manly occupation, they feel a +dissatisfaction and languor which they cannot explain: they pine in the +midst of apparent enjoyment; or, by the variety and caprice of their +different pursuits and amusements, exhibit a state of agitation, which, +like the disquiet of sickness, is not a proof of enjoyment or pleasure, but +of suffering and pain. The care of his buildings, his equipage, or his +table, is chosen by one; literary amusement, or some frivolous study, by +another. The sports of the country, and the diversions of the town; the +gaming table, [Footnote: These different occupations differ from each +other, in respect to their dignity and their innocence; but none of them +are the schools from which men are brought to sustain the tottering fortune +of nations; they are equally avocations from what ought to be the principal +pursuit of man, the good of mankind.] dogs, horses, and wine, are employed +to fill up the blank of a listless and unprofitable life. They speak of +human pursuits, as if the whole difficulty were to find something to do; +they fix on some frivolous occupation, as if there was nothing that +deserved to be done: they consider what tends to the good of their fellow +creatures, as a disadvantage to themselves: they fly from every scene in +which any efforts of vigour are required, or in which they might be allured +to perform any service to their country. We misapply our compassion in +pitying the poor; it were much more justly applied to the rich, who become +the first victims of that wretched insignificance, into which the members +of every corrupted state, by the tendency of their weaknesses and their +vices, are in haste to plunge themselves. + +It is in this condition, that the sensual invent all those refinements on +pleasure, and devise those incentives to a satiated appetite, which tend +to foster the corruptions of a dissolute age. The effects of brutal +appetite, and the mere debauch, are more flagrant, and more violent, +perhaps, in rude ages, than they are in the later periods of commerce and +luxury: but that perpetual habit of searching for animal pleasure where it +is not to be found, in the gratifications of an appetite that is cloyed, +and among the ruins of an animal constitution, is not more fatal to the +virtues of the soul, than it is even to the enjoyment of sloth, or of +pleasure; it is not a more certain avocation from public affairs, or a +surer prelude to national decay, than it is a disappointment to our hopes +of private felicity. + +In these reflections, it has been the object not to ascertain a precise +measure to which corruption has risen in any of the nations that have +attained to eminence, or that have gone to decay; but to describe that +remissness of spirit, that weakness of soul, that state of national +debility, which is likely to end in political slavery; an evil which +remains to be considered as the last object of caution, and beyond which +there is no subject of disquisition, in the perishing fortunes of nations. + + + + +SECTION V. + +OF CORRUPTION, AS IT TENDS TO POLITICAL SLAVERY. + + +Liberty, in one sense, appears to be the portion of polished nations alone. +The savage is personally free, because he lives unrestrained, and acts with +the members of his tribe on terms of equality. The barbarian is frequently +independent, from a continuance of the same circumstances, or because he +has courage and a sword. But good policy alone can provide for the regular +administration of justice, or constitute a force in the state, which is +ready on every occasion to defend the rights of its members. + +It has been found, that, except in a few singular cases, the commercial and +political arts have advanced together. These arts have been in modern +Europe so interwoven, that we cannot determine which were prior in the +order of time, or derived most advantage from the mutual influences with +which they act and react on each other. It has been observed, that in some +nations, the spirit of commerce, intent on securing its profits, has led +the way to political wisdom. A people, possessed of wealth, and become +jealous of their properties, have formed the project of emancipation, and +have proceeded, under favour of an importance recently gained, still +farther to enlarge their pretensions, and to dispute the prerogatives which +their sovereign had been in use to employ. But it is in vain that we expect +in one age, from the possession of wealth, the fruit which it is said to +have borne in a former. Great accessions of fortune, when recent, when +accompanied with frugality, and a sense of independence, may render the +owner confident in his strength, and ready to spurn at oppression. The +purse which is open, not to personal expense, or to the indulgence of +vanity, but to support the interests of a faction, to gratify the higher +passions of party, render the wealthy citizen formidable to those who +pretend to dominion; but it does not follow, that in a time of corruption, +equal, or greater, measures of wealth, should operate to the same effect. + +On the contrary, when wealth is accumulated only in the hands of the miser, +and runs to waste from those of the prodigal; when heirs of family find +themselves straitened and poor in the midst of affluence; when the cravings +of luxury silence even the voice of party and faction; when the hopes of +meriting the rewards of compliance, or the fear of losing what is held at +discretion, keep men in a state of suspense and anxiety; when fortune, in +short, instead of being considered as the instrument of a vigorous spirit, +becomes the idol of a covetous or a profuse, of a rapacious or a timorous +mind, the foundation on which freedom was built may serve to support a +tyranny; and what, in one age, raised the pretensions, and fostered the +confidence of the subject, may, in another, incline him to servility, and +furnish the price to be paid for his prostitutions. Even those who, in a +vigorous age, gave the example of wealth, in the hands of the people, +becoming an occasion of freedom, may, in times of degeneracy, verify +likewise the maxim of Tacitus, that the admiration of riches leads to +despotical government. [Footnote: Est ápud illos et opibus honos; +eoque unus imperitat, nullis jam exceptionibus, non precario jure +parendi. Nec arms ut apud ceteros Germanos in promiscuo, sed clausa +sub custode et quidem servo, &c. TACITUS _de Mor. Ger._ c.44.] + +Men who have tasted of freedom, and who have felt their personal rights, +are not easily taught to bear with encroachments on either, and cannot, +without some preparation, come to submit to oppression. They may receive +this unhappy preparation under different forms of government, from +different hands, and arrive at the same end by different ways. They +follow one direction in republics, another in monarchies and in +mixed governments. But wherever the state has, by means that do not +preserve the virtue of the subject, effectually guarded his safety; +remissness, and neglect of the public, are likely to follow; and polished +nations of every description, appear to encounter a danger, on this +quarter, proportioned to the degree in, which they have, during any +continuance, enjoyed the uninterrupted possession of peace and prosperity. + +Liberty results, we say, from the government of laws; and we are apt to +consider statutes, not merely as the resolutions and maxims of a people +determined to be free, not as the writings by which their rights are kept +on record; but as a power erected to guard them, and as a barrier which the +caprice of man cannot transgress. + +When a basha, in Asia, pretends to decide every controversy by the rules of +natural equity, we allow that he is possessed of discretionary powers. When +a judge in Europe is left to decide, according to his own interpretation of +written laws, is he in any sense more restrained than the former? Have the +multiplied words of a statute an influence over the conscience and the +heart, more powerful than that of reason and nature? Does the party, in any +judicial proceeding, enjoy a less degree of safety, when his rights are +discussed, on the foundation of a rule that is open to the understandings +of mankind, than when they are referred to an intricate system, which it +has become the object of a separate profession to study and to explain? + +If forms of proceeding, written statutes, or other constituents of law, +cease to be enforced by the very spirit from which they arose; they serve +only to cover, not to restrain, the iniquities of power: they are possibly +respected even by the corrupt magistrate, when they favour his purpose; but +they are contemned or evaded, when they stand in his way: and the influence +of laws, where they have any real effect in the preservation of liberty, is +not any magic power descending from shelves that are loaded with books, but +is, in reality, the influence of men resolved to be free; of men who, +having adjusted in writing the terms on which they are to live with the +state, and with their fellow subjects, are determined, by their vigilance +and spirit, to make these terms be fulfilled. + +We are taught, under every form of government, to apprehend usurpations, +from the abuse, or from the extension of the executive power. In pure +monarchies, this power is commonly hereditary, and made to descend in a +determinate line. In elective monarchies, it is held for life. In +republics, it is exercised during a limited time. Where men, or families, +are called by election to the possession of temporary dignities, it is more +the object of ambition to perpetuate, than to extend their powers. In +hereditary monarchies, the sovereignty is already perpetual; and the aim of +every ambitious prince is to enlarge his prerogative. Republics, and, in +times of commotion, communities of every form, are exposed to hazard, not +from those only who are formally raised to places of, trust, but from every +person whatsoever, who is incited by ambition, and who is supported by +faction. + +It is no advantage to a prince, or other magistrate, to enjoy more power +than is consistent with the good of mankind; nor is it of any benefit to a +man to be unjust: but these maxims are a feeble security against the +passions and follies of men. Those who are intrusted with power in any +degree, are disposed, from a mere dislike of constraint, to remove +opposition. Not only the monarch who wears a hereditary crown, but the +magistrate who holds his office for a limited time, grows fond of his +dignity. The, very minister, who depends for his place on the momentary +will of his prince, and whose personal interests are, in every respect, +those of a subject, still has the weakness to take an interest in the +growth of prerogative, and to reckon as gain to himself the encroachments +he has made on the rights of a people, with whom he himself and his family +are soon to be numbered. + +Even with the best intentions towards mankind, we are inclined to think +that their welfare depends, not on the felicity of their own inclinations, +or the happy employment of their own talents, but on their ready compliance +with what we have devised for their good. Accordingly, the greatest virtue +of which any sovereign has hitherto shown an example, is not a desire of +cherishing in his people the spirit of freedom and of independence, but +what is in itself sufficiently rare and highly meritorious, a steady regard +to the distribution of justice in matters of property, a disposition to +protect and to oblige, to redress the grievances, and to promote the +interest of his subjects. It was from a reference to these objects, that +Titus computed the value of his time, and judged of its application. But +the sword, which in this beneficent hand was drawn to protect the subject, +and to procure a speedy and effectual distribution of justice, was likewise +sufficient, in the hands of a tyrant, to shed the blood of the innocent, +and to cancel the rights of men. The temporary proceedings of humanity, +though they suspended the exercise of oppression, did not break the +national chains: the prince was even the better enabled to procure that +species of good which he studied; because there was no freedom remaining, +and because there was nowhere a force to dispute his decrees, or to +interrupt their execution. + +Was it in vain that Antoninus became acquainted with the characters of +Thrasea, Helvidius, Cato, Dion, and Brutus? Was it in vain, that he +learned to understand the form of a free community, raised on the basis of +equality and justice; or of a monarchy, under which the liberties of the +subject were held the most sacred object of administration?[Footnote: M. +Antoninus, lib. I.] Did he mistake the means of procuring to mankind what +he points out as a blessing? Or did the absolute power with which he was +furnished, in a mighty empire, only disable him from executing what his +mind had perceived as a national good? In such a case, it were vain to +flatter the monarch or his people. The first cannot bestow liberty without +raising a spirit, which may, on occasion, stand in opposition to his own +designs; nor the latter receive this blessing, while they own that it is +in the right of a master to give or to withhold it. The claim of justice +is firm and peremptory. We receive favours with a sense of obligation and +kindness; but we would enforce our rights, and the spirit of freedom in +this exertion cannot take the tone of supplication or of thankfulness, +without betraying itself. "You have intreated Octavius," says Brutus to +Cicero, "that he would spare those who stand foremost among the citizens +of Rome. What if he will not? Must we perish? Yes; rather than owe our +safety to him." + +Liberty is a right which every individual must be ready to vindicate for +himself, and which he who pretends to bestow as a favour, has by that very +act in reality denied. Even political establishments, though they appear to +be independent of the will and arbitration of men, cannot be relied on for +the preservation of freedom; they may nourish, but should not supersede +that firm and resolute spirit, with which the liberal mind is always +prepared to resist indignities, and to refer its safety to itself. + +Were a nation, therefore, given to be moulded by a sovereign, as the clay +is put into the hands of the potter, this project of bestowing liberty on a +people who are actually servile, is, perhaps, of all others the most +difficult, and requires most to be executed in silence, and with the +deepest reserve. Men are qualified to receive this blessing only in +proportion as they are made to apprehend their own rights; and are made to +respect the just pretensions of mankind; in proportion as they are willing +to sustain, in their own persons, the burden of government, and of national +defence; and are willing to prefer the engagements of a liberal mind to the +enjoyment of sloth, or the delusive hopes of a safety purchased by +submission and fear. + +I speak with respect, and, if I may be allowed the expression, even with +indulgence, to those who are intrusted with high prerogatives in the +political system of nations. It is, indeed, seldom their fault that states +are enslaved. What should be expected from them, but that being actuated by +human desires, they should be averse to disappointment, or even to delay; +and in the ardour with which they pursue their object, that they should +break through the barriers that would stop their career? If millions recede +before single men, and senates are passive, as if composed of members who +had no opinion or sense of their own; on whose side have the defences of +freedom given way, or to whom shall we impute their fall? To the subject, +who has deserted his station; or to the sovereign, who has only remained in +his own, and who, if the collateral or subordinate members of government +shall cease to question his power, must continue to govern without +restraint? + +It is well known, that constitutions framed for the preservation of +liberty, must consist of many parts; and that senates, popular assemblies, +courts of justice, magistrates of different orders, must combine to balance +each other, while they exercise, sustain, or check the executive power. If +any part is struck out, the fabric must totter, or fall; if any member is +remiss, the others must encroach. In assemblies constituted by men of +different talents, habits, and apprehensions, it were something more than +human that could make them agree in every point of importance; having +different opinions and views, it were want of integrity to abstain from +disputes: our very praise of unanimity, therefore, is to be considered as a +danger to liberty. We wish for it at the hazard of taking in its place the +remissness of men grown indifferent to the public; the venality of those +who have sold the rights of their country; or the servility of others, who +give implicit obedience to a leader, by whom their minds are subdued. The +love of the public, and respect to its laws, are the points in which +mankind are bound to agree; but if, in matters of controversy, the sense of +any individual or party is invariably pursued, the cause of freedom is +already betrayed. + +He whose office it is to govern a supine or an abject people, cannot, for a +moment, cease to extend his powers. Every execution of law, every movement +of the state, every civil and military operation, in which his power is +exerted, must serve to confirm his authority, and present him to the view +of the public as the sole object of consideration, fear, and respect. Those +very establishments which were devised, in one age, to limit or to direct +the exercise of an executive power, will serve, in another, to remove +obstructions, and to smooth its way; they will point out the channels in +which it may run, without giving offence, or without exciting alarms, and +the very councils which were instituted to check its encroachments, will, +in a time of corruption, furnish an aid to its usurpations. + +The passion for independence, and the love of dominion, frequently arise +from a common source: there is, in both, an aversion to control; and he +who, in one situation, cannot brook a superior, may, in another, dislike to +be joined with an equal. + +What the prince, under a pure or limited monarchy, is, by the constitution +of his country, the leader of a faction would willingly become in +republican governments. If he attains to this envied condition, his own +inclination, or the tendency of human affairs, seem to open before him the +career of a royal ambition: but the circumstances in which he is destined +to act, are very different from those of a king. He encounters with men who +are unused to disparity; he is obliged, for his own security, to hold the +dagger continually unsheathed. When he hopes to be safe, he possibly means +to be just; but is hurried, from the first moment of his usurpation, into +every exercise of despotical power. The heir of a crown has no such quarrel +to maintain with his subjects: his situation is flattering; and the heart +must be uncommonly bad that does not glow with affection to a people, who +are at once his admirers, his support, and the ornaments of this reign. In +him, perhaps, there is no explicit design of trespassing on the rights of +his subjects; but the forms intended to preserve their freedom are not, on +this account, always safe in his hands. + +Slavery has been imposed upon mankind in the wantonness of a depraved +ambition, and tyrannical cruelties have been committed in the gloomy hours +of jealousy and terror; yet these demons are not necessary to the creation, +or to the support of an arbitrary power. Although no policy was ever more +successful than that of the Roman republic in maintaining a national +fortune; yet subjects, as well as their princes, frequently imagine that +freedom is a clog on the proceedings of government: they imagine, that +despotical power is best fitted to procure despatch and secrecy in the +execution of public councils; to maintain what they are pleased to call +_political order_, [Footnote: Our notion of order in civil society +being taken from the analogy of subjects inanimate and dead, is frequently +false; we consider commotion and action as contrary to its nature; we think +that obedience, secrecy, and the silent passing of affairs through the +hands of a few, are its real constituents. The good order of stones in a +wall, is their being properly fixed in the places for which they are hewn; +were they to stir, the building must fall: but the good order of men in +society, is their being placed where they are properly qualified to act. +The first is a fabric made of dead and inanimate parts, the second is made +of living and active members. When we seek in society for the order of mere +inaction and tranquillity, we forget the nature of our subject, and find +the order of slaves, not that of freemen.] and to give a speedy redress of +complaints. They even sometimes acknowledge, that if a succession of good +princes could be found, despotical government is best calculated for the +happiness of mankind. While they reason thus, they cannot blame a +sovereign, who, in the confidence that he is to employ his power for good +purposes, endeavours to extend its limits; and, in his own apprehension, +strives only to shake off the restraints which stand in the way of reason, +and which prevent the effect of his friendly intentions. + +Thus prepared for usurpation, let him, at the head of a free state, employ +the force with which he is armed, to crush the seeds of apparent disorder +in every corner of his dominions; let him effectually curb the spirit of +dissention and variance among his people; let him remove the interruptions +to government, arising from the refractory humours and the private +interests of his subjects: let him collect the force of the state against +its enemies, by availing himself of all it can furnish in the way of +taxation and personal service: it is extremely probable that, even under +the direction of wishes for the good of mankind, he may break through every +barrier of liberty, and establish a despotism, while he flatters himself +that he only follows the dictates of sense and propriety. + +When we suppose government to have bestowed a degree of tranquillity which +we sometimes hope to reap from it, as the best of its fruits, and public +affairs to proceed, in the several departments of legislation and +execution, with the least possible interruption to commerce and lucrative +arts; such a state, like that of China, by throwing affairs into separate +offices, where conduct consists in detail, and in the observance of forms, +by superseding all the exertions of a great or a liberal mind, is more akin +to despotism than we are apt to imagine. + +Whether oppression, injustice, and cruelty, are the only evils which attend +on despotical government, may be considered apart. In the mean time it is +sufficient to observe, that liberty is never in greater danger than it is +when we measure national felicity by the blessings which a prince may +bestow, or by the mere tranquillity which may attend on equitable +administration. The sovereign may dazzle with his heroic qualities; he may +protect his subjects in the enjoyment of every animal advantage or +pleasure: but the benefits arising from liberty are of a different sort; +they are not the fruits of a virtue, and of a goodness, which operate in +the breast of one man, but the communication of virtue itself to many; and +such a distribution of functions in civil society, as gives to numbers the +exercises and occupations which pertain to their nature. + +The best constitutions of government are attended with inconvenience; and +the exercise of liberty may, on many occasions, give rise to complaints. +When we are intent on reforming abuses, the abuses of freedom may lead us +to encroach on the subject from which they are supposed to arise. Despotism +itself has certain advantages, or at least, in times of civility and +moderation, may proceed with so little offence, as to give no public alarm. +These circumstances may lead mankind, in the very spirit of reformation, or +by mere inattention, to apply or to admit of dangerous innovations in the +state of their policy. + +Slavery, however, is not always introduced by mistake; it is sometimes +imposed in the spirit of violence and rapine. Princes become corrupt as +well as their people; and whatever may have been the origin of despotical +government, its pretensions, when fully declared, give rise between the +sovereign and his subjects to a contest which force alone can decide. These +pretensions have a dangerous aspect to the person, the property, or the +life of every subject; they alarm every passion in the human breast; they +disturb the supine; they deprive the venal of his hire; they declare war on +the corrupt as well as the virtuous; they are tamely admitted only by the +coward; but even to him must be supported by a force that can work on his +fears. This force the conqueror brings from abroad; and the domestic +usurper endeavours to find in his faction at home. + +When a people is accustomed to arms, it is, difficult for a part to subdue +the whole; or before the establishment of disciplined armies, it is +difficult for any usurper to govern the many by the help of a few. These +difficulties, however, the policy of civilized and commercial nations has +sometimes removed; and by forming a distinction between civil and military +professions, by committing the keeping and the enjoyment of liberty to +different hands, has prepared the way for the dangerous alliance of faction +with military power, in opposition to mere political forms and the rights +of mankind. + +A people who are disarmed in compliance with this fatal refinement, have +rested their safety on the pleadings of reason and of justice at the +tribunal of ambition and of force. In such an extremity laws are quoted and +senators are assembled in vain. They who compose a legislature, or who +occupy the civil departments of state, may deliberate on the messages they +receive from the camp or the court; but if the bearer, like the centurion +who brought the petition of Octavius to the Roman senate, shew the hilt of +his sword, [Footnote: Sueton.] they find that petitions are become +commands, and that they themselves are become the pageants, not the +repositories of sovereign power. + +The reflections of this section may be unequally applied to nations of +unequal extent. Small communities, however corrupted, are not prepared for +despotical government; their members, crowded together and contiguous to +the seats of power, never forget their relation to the public; they pry, +with habits of familiarity and freedom, into the pretensions of those who +would rule; and where the love of equality, and the sense of justice, have +failed, they act on motives of faction, emulation, and envy. The exiled +Tarquin had his adherents at Rome; but if by their means he had recovered +his station, it is probable that, in the exercise of his royalty, he must +have entered on a new scene of contention with the very party that restored +him to power. + +In proportion as territory is extended, its parts lose their relative +importance to the whole. Its inhabitants cease to perceive their connection +with the state, and are seldom united in the execution of any national, or +even any factious designs. Distance from the seats of administration, and +indifference to the persons who contend for preferment, teach the majority +to consider themselves as the subjects of a sovereignty, not as the members +of a political body. It is even remarkable, that enlargement of territory, +by rendering the individual of less consequence to the public, and less +able to intrude with his counsel, actually tends to reduce national affairs +within a narrower compass, as well as to diminish the numbers who are +consulted in legislation, or in other matters of government. + +The disorders to which a great empire is exposed, require speedy +prevention, vigilance, and quick execution. Distant provinces must be kept +in subjection by military force; and the dictatorial powers, which, in free +states, are sometimes raised to quell insurrections, or to oppose other +occasional evils, appear, under a certain extent of dominion, at all times +equally necessary to suspend the dissolution of a body, whose parts were +assembled, and must be cemented, by measures forcible, decisive, and +secret. Among the circumstances, therefore, which, in the event of national +prosperity, and in the result of commercial arts, lead to the establishment +of despotism, there is none, perhaps, that arrives at this termination with +so sure an aim, as the perpetual enlargement of territory. In every state, +the freedom of its members depends on the balance and adjustment of its +interior parts; and the existence of any such freedom among mankind, +depends on the balance of nations. In the progress of conquest, those who +are subdued are said to have lost their liberties; but from the history of +mankind, to conquer, or to be conquered, has appeared, in effect, the same. + + + + +SECTION VI. + +OF THE PROGRESS AND TERMINATION OF DESPOTISM. + + +Mankind, when they degenerate, and tend to their ruin, as well as when they +improve, and gain real advantages, frequently proceed by slow, and almost +insensible steps. If, during ages of activity and vigour, they fill up the +measure of national greatness to a height which no human wisdom could at a +distance foresee; they actually incur, in ages of relaxation and weakness, +many evils which their fears did not suggest, and which, perhaps, they had +thought far removed by the tide of success and prosperity. + +We have already observed, that where men are remiss or corrupted, the +virtue of their leaders, or the good intention of their magistrates, will +not always secure them in the possession of political freedom. Implicit +submission to any leader, or the uncontrolled exercise of any power, even +when it is intended to operate for the good of mankind, may frequently end +in the subversion of legal establishments. This fatal revolution, by +whatever means it is accomplished, terminates in military government; and +this, though the simplest of all governments, is rendered complete by +degrees. In the first period of its exercise over men who have acted as +members of a free community, it can have only laid the foundation, not +completed the fabric, of a despotical policy. The usurper who has +possessed, with an army, the centre of a great empire, sees around him, +perhaps, the shattered remains of a former constitution; he may hear the +murmurs of a reluctant and unwilling submission; he may even see danger in +the aspect of many, from whose hands he may have wrested the sword, but +whose minds he has not subdued, nor reconciled to his power. + +The sense of personal rights, or the pretension to privilege and honours, +which remain among certain orders of men, are so many bars in the way of a +recent usurpation. If they are not suffered to decay with age, and to wear +away in the progress of a growing corruption, they must be broken with +violence, and the entrance to every new accession of power must be stained +with blood. The effect, even in this case, is frequently tardy. The Roman +spirit, we know, was not entirely extinguished under a succession of +masters, and under a repeated application of bloodshed and poison. The +noble and respectable family still aspired to its original honours; the +history of the republic, the writings of former times, the monuments of +illustrious men, and the lessons of philosophy fraught with heroic +conceptions, continued to nourish the soul in retirement, and formed those +eminent characters, whose elevation, and whose fate, are, perhaps, the most +affecting subjects of human story. Though unable to oppose the general bent +to servility, they became, on account of their supposed inclinations, +objects of distrust and aversion, and were made to pay with their blood, +the price of a sentiment which they fostered in silence, and which glowed +only in the heart. + +While despotism proceeds in its progress, by what principle is the +sovereign conducted in the choice of measures that tend to establish his +government? By a mistaken apprehension of his own good, sometimes even that +of his people, and by the desire which he feels on every particular +occasion, to remove the obstructions which impede the execution of his +will. When he has fixed a resolution, whoever reasons or remonstrates +against it is an enemy; when his mind is elated, whoever pretends to +eminence, and is disposed to act for himself, is a rival. He would leave no +dignity in the state, but what is dependent on himself; no active power, +but what carries the expression of his momentary pleasure. [Footnote: +Insurgere paulatim munia senatus, magistratuum, legum in se trahere.] +Guided by a perception as unerring as that of instinct, he never fails to +select the proper objects of his antipathy or of his favour. The aspect of +independence repels him; that of servility attracts. The tendency of his +administration is to quiet every restless spirit, and to assume every +function of government to himself. [Footnote: It is ridiculous to hear men +of a restless ambition, who would be the only actors in every scene, +sometimes complain of a refractory spirit in mankind: as if the same +disposition, from which they desire to usurp every office, did not incline +every other person to reason and to act at least for himself.] When the +power is adequate to the end, it operates as much in the hands of those who +do not perceive the termination, as it does in the hands of others by whom +it is best understood: the mandates of either, when just, should not be +disputed; when erroneous or wrong, they are supported by force. + +You must die, was the answer of Octavius to every suit from a people that +implored his mercy. It was the sentence which some of his successors +pronounced against every citizen that was eminent for his birth or his +virtues. But are the evils of despotism confined to the cruel and +sanguinary methods, by which a recent dominion over a refractory and a +turbulent people is established or maintained? And is death the greatest +calamity which can afflict mankind under an establishment by which they are +divested of all their rights? They are, indeed, frequently suffered to +live; but distrust and jealousy, the sense of personal meanness, and the +anxieties which arise from the care of a wretched interest, are made to +possess the soul; every citizen is reduced to a slave; and every charm by +which the community engaged its members, has ceased to exist. Obedience is +the only duty that remains, and this is exacted by force. If, under such an +establishment, it be necessary to witness scenes of debasement and horror, +at the hazard of catching the infection, death becomes a relief; and the +libation which Thrasea was made to pour from his arteries, is to be +considered as a proper sacrifice of gratitude to Jove the Deliverer. +[Footnote: Porrectisque utriusque brachii venis, postquam cruorem effudit, +humum super spargens, proprius vocato Quaestore, _Libemus_, inquit, +_Jovi Liberatori_. Specta juvenis; et omen quidem Dii prohibeant; +ceterum in ea tempora natus es, quibus firmare animum deceat constantibus +exemplis. _Tacit. Ann. lib._ 16.] + +Oppression and cruelty are not always necessary to despotical government; +and even when present, are but a part of its evils. It is founded on +corruption, and on the suppression of all the civil and the political +virtues; it requires its subjects to act from motives of fear; it would +assuage the passions of a few men at the expense of mankind; and would +erect the peace of society itself on the ruins of that freedom and +confidence from which alone the enjoyment, the force, and the elevation of +the human mind, are found to arise. + +During the existence of any free constitution, and whilst every individual +possessed his rank and his privilege, or had his apprehension of personal +rights, the members of every community were, to one another, objects of +consideration and of respect; every point to be carried in civil society +required the exercise of talents, of wisdom, persuasion, and vigour, as +well as of power. But it is the highest refinement of a despotical +government, to rule by simple commands, and to exclude every art but that +of compulsion. Under the influence of this policy, therefore, the occasions +which employed and cultivated the understandings of men, which awakened +their sentiments, and kindled their imaginations, are gradually removed; +and the progress by which mankind attained to the honours of their nature, +in being engaged to act in society upon a liberal footing, was not more +uniform, or less interrupted, than that by which they degenerate in this +unhappy condition. + +When we hear of the silence which reigns in the seraglio, we are made to +believe, that speech itself is become unnecessary; and that the signs of +the mute are sufficient to carry the most important mandates of government. +No arts, indeed, are required to maintain an ascendant where terror alone +is opposed to force, where the powers of the sovereign are delegated entire +to every subordinate officer: nor can any station bestow a liberality of +mind in a scene of silence and dejection, where every breast is possessed +with jealousy and caution, and where no object, but animal pleasure, +remains to balance the sufferings of the sovereign himself, or those of his +subjects. + +In other states, the talents of men are sometimes improved by the exercises +which belong to an eminent station; but here the master himself is probably +the rudest and least cultivated animal of the herd; he is inferior to the +slave whom he raises from a servile office to the first places of trust or +of dignity in his court. The primitive simplicity which formed ties of +familiarity and affection betwixt the sovereign and the keeper of his +herds, [Footnote: See Odyssey.] appears, in the absence of all affections, +to be restored, or to be counterfeited amidst the ignorance and brutality +which equally characterize all orders of men, or rather which level the +ranks, and destroy the distinction of persons in a despotical court. + +Caprice and passion are the rules of government with the prince. Every +delegate of power is left to act by the same direction; to strike when he +is provoked; to favour when he is pleased. In what relates to revenue, +jurisdiction, or police, every governor of a province acts like a leader in +an enemy's country; comes armed with the terrors of fire and sword; and +instead of a tax, levies a contribution by force he ruins or spares as +either may serve his purpose. When the clamours of the oppressed, or the +reputation of a treasure amassed at the expense of a province, have reached +the ears of the sovereign, the extortioner is indeed made to purchase +impunity by imparting a share, or by forfeiting the whole of his spoil; but +no reparation is made to the injured; nay, the crimes of the minister are +first employed to plunder the people, and afterwards punished to fill the +coffers of the sovereign. + +In this total discontinuance of every art that relates to just government +and national policy, it is remarkable, that even the trade of the soldier +is itself great neglected. Distrust and jealousy, on the part of the +prince, come in aid of his ignorance and incapacity; and these causes +operating together, serve to destroy the very foundation on which his power +is established. Any undisciplined rout of armed men passes for an army, +whilst a weak, dispersed, and unarmed people are sacrificed to military +disorder, or exposed to depredation on the frontier from an enemy, whom the +desire of spoil, or the hopes of conquest, may have drawn to their +neighbourhood. + +The Romans extended their empire till they left no polished nation to be +subdued, and found a frontier which was every where surrounded by fierce +and barbarous tribes; they even pierced through uncultivated deserts, in +order to remove to a greater distance the molestation of such troublesome +neighbours, and in order to possess the avenues through which they feared +their attacks. But this policy put the finishing hand to the internal +corruption of the state. A few years of tranquillity were sufficient to +make even the government forget its danger; and, in the cultivated +province, prepared for the enemy a tempting prize and an easy victory. + +When by the conquest and annexation of every rich and cultivated province, +the measure of empire is full, two parties are sufficient to comprehend +mankind; that of the pacific and the wealthy, who dwell within the pale of +empire; and that of the poor, the rapacious, and the fierce, who are inured +to depredation and war. The last bear to the first nearly the same relation +which the wolf and the lion bear to the fold; and they are naturally +engaged in a state of hostility. + +Were despotic empire, meantime, to continue for ever unmolested from +abroad, while it retains that corruption on which it was founded, it +appears to have in itself no principle of new life, and presents no hope of +restoration to freedom and political vigour. That which the despotical +_master has sown, cannot quicken unless it die_; it must languish and +expire by the effect of its own abuse, before the human spirit can spring +up anew, or bear those fruits which constitute the honour and the felicity +of human nature. In times of the greatest debasement, indeed, commotions +are felt; but very unlike the agitations of a free people: they are either +the agonies of nature, under the sufferings to which men are exposed; or +mere tumults, confined to a few who stand in arms about the prince, and +who, by, their conspiracies, assassinations, and murders, serve only to +plunge the pacific inhabitants still deeper in the horrors of fear or +despair. Scattered in the provinces, unarmed, unacquainted with the +sentiments of union and confederacy, restricted by habit to a wretched +economy, and dragging a precarious life on those possessions which the +extortions of government have left; the people can nowhere, under these +circumstances, assume the spirit of a community, nor form any liberal +combination for their own defence. The injured may complain; and while he +cannot obtain the mercy of government, he may implore the commiseration of +his fellow subject. But that fellow subject is comforted, that the hand of +oppression has not seized on himself: he studies his interest, or snatches +his pleasure, under that degree of safety which obscurity and concealment +bestow. + +The commercial arts, which seem to require no foundation in the minds of +men, but the regard to interest; no encouragement, but the hopes of gain, +and the secure possession of property, must perish under the precarious +tenure of slavery, and under the apprehension of danger arising from the +reputation of wealth. National poverty, however, and the suppression of +commerce, are the means by which despotism comes to accomplish its own +destruction. Where there are no longer any profits to corrupt, or fears to +deter, the charm of dominion is broken, and the naked slave, as awake from +a dream, is astonished to find he is free. When the fence is destroyed, the +wilds are open, and the herd breaks loose. The pasture of the cultivated +field is no longer preferred to that of the desert. The sufferer willingly +flies where the extortions of government cannot overtake him; where even +the timid and the servile may recollect they are men; where the tyrant may +threaten, but where he is known to be no more than a fellow creature; where +he can take nothing but life, and even this at the hazard of his own. + +Agreeably to this description, the vexations of tyranny have overcome, in +many parts of the East, the desire of settlement. The inhabitants of a +village quit their habitations, and infest the public ways; those of the +valleys fly to the mountains, and, equipt for flight, or possessed of a +strong hold, subsist by depredation, and by the war they make on their +former masters. + +These disorders conspire with the impositions of government to render the +remaining settlements still less secure: but while devastation and ruin +appear on every side, mankind are forced anew upon those confederacies, +acquire again that personal confidence and vigour, that social attachment, +that use of arms, which, in former times, rendered a small tribe the seed +of a great nation; and which may again enable the emancipated slave to +begin the career of civil and commercial arts. When human nature appears in +the utmost state of corruption, it has actually begun to reform. + +In this manner, the scenes of human life have been frequently shifted. +Security and presumption forfeit the advantages of prosperity; resolution +and conduct retrieve the ills of adversity; and mankind while they have +nothing on which to rely but their virtue, are prepared to gain every +advantage; and while they confide most in their good fortune, are most +exposed to feel its reverse. We are apt to draw these observations into +rule; and when we are no longer willing to act for our country, we plead, +in excuse of our own weakness or folly, a supposed fatality in human +affairs. + +The institutions of men, if not calculated for the preservation of virtue, +are, indeed, likely to have an end as well as a beginning: but so long as +they are effectual to this purpose, they have at all times an equal +principle of life, which nothing but an external force can suppress; no +nation ever suffered internal decay but from the vice of its members. We +are sometimes willing to acknowledge this vice in our countrymen; but who +was ever willing to acknowledge it in himself? It may be suspected, +however, that we do more than acknowledge it, when we cease to oppose its +effects, and when we plead a fatality, which, at least, in the breast of +every individual, is dependent on himself. Men of real fortitude, +integrity, and ability, are well placed in every scene; they reap, in every +condition, the principal enjoyments of their nature; they are the happy +instruments of Providence employed for the good of mankind; or, if we must +change this language, they show, that while they are destined to live, the +states they compose are likewise doomed by the fates to survive, and to +prosper. + +THE END + + + + +VALUABLE WORKS RECENTLY PUBLISHED, BY ANTHONY FINLEY, _Corner of Chesnut +and Fourth Streets, Philadelphia._ + +THE THEORY OF MORAL SENTIMENTS; OR, AN ESSAY + +Towards an analysis of the principles by which men naturally judge +concerning the conduct and character, first of their neighbours, and +afterwards of themselves, + +To which is added, + +_A Dissertation on the Origin of Languages._ BY ADAM SMITH, LL.D. +F.R.B. FIRST AMERICAN FROM THE TWELFTH EDINBURGH EDITION. + + * * * * * + +_Extract from "An Account of the Life and Writings of Dr. Adam Smith, by +Dugald Stewart, F.R.S. Edinburgh."_ + +(Speaking of Dr. S.'s Theory of Moral Sentiments, he says) "No work, +undoubtedly, can be mentioned, ancient or modern, which exhibits so +complete a view of those facts, with respect to our moral perception, which +it is one great object of this branch of science to refer to their general +laws; and upon this account, it well deserves the careful study of all +whose taste leads them to prosecute similar inquiries. These facts are +indeed frequently expressed in a language which involves the author's +peculiar theories; but they are always presented in the most happy and +beautiful light; and it is easy for an attentive reader, by stripping them +of hypothetical terms, to state them to himself with that logical +precision, which, in such very difficult disquisitions, can alone conduct +us with certainty to the truth. + +"It is proper to observe, farther, that, with the theoretical doctrines of +the book, there are every where interwoven, with singular taste and +address, the purest and most elevated maxims concerning the practical +conduct of life; and that it abounds throughout with interesting and +instructive delineations of characters and manners. A considerable part of +it too is employed in collateral inquiries, which, upon every hypothesis +that can be formed concerning the foundation of morals, are of equal +importance. Of this kind is the speculation with respect to the influence +of fortune on our moral sentiments; and another speculation no less +valuable, with respect to the influence of custom and fashion on the same +part of our constitution. + +"When the subject of this work leads the author to address the imagination +and the heart: the variety and felicity of his illustrations--the richness +and fluency of his eloquence--and the skill with which he wins the +attention and commands the passions of his readers, leave him, among our +English moralists, without a rival." + + + + +TABLE OF CONTENTS. + +PART I. + +_Of the Propriety of Action_. + +Section I. _Of the Sense of Propriety_. + +Chap. I. Of Sympathy. + +Chap. II. Of the Pleasure of Mutual Sympathy. + +Chap. III. Of the manner in which we judge of the Propriety or Impropriety +of the Affections of other Men, by their concord or dissonance with our +own. + +Chap. IV. The same subject continued. + +Chap. V. Of the Amiable and Respectable Virtues. + + +Section II. _Of the Degrees of the different Passions which are +consistent with Propriety_. + +Introduction. + +Chap. I. Of the Passions which take their origin from the body. + +Chap. II. Of those Passions which take their origin from a particular turn +or habit of the Imagination. + +Chap. III. Of the unsocial Passions. + +Chap. IV. Of the social Passions. + +Chap. V. Of the selfish Passions. + + +Section III. _Of the Effects of Prosperity and Adversity upon the +Judgment of Mankind with regard to the Propriety of Action; and why it is +more easy to obtain their approbation in the one state than in the +other_. + +Chap. I. That though our sympathy with sorrow is generally a more lively +sensation than our sympathy with toy, it commonly falls much more short of +the violence of what is naturally felt by the person principally concerned. + +Chap. II. Of the origin of Ambition, and of the distinction of Ranks. + +Chap. III. Of the corruption of our Moral Sentiments, which is occasioned +by this disposition to admire the rich and the great, and to despise or +neglect persons of poor and mean condition. + + +PART II. + +_Of Merit and Demerit; or of the objects of reward and punishment_. + +Section I. _Of the Sense of Merit and Demerit_. + +Introduction. + +Chap. I. That whatever appears to be the proper object of gratitude, +appears to deserve reward; and that, in the same manner, whatever appears +to be the proper object of resentment, appears to deserve punishment. + +Chap. II. Of the proper objects of gratitude and resentment. + +Chap. III. That where there is no approbation of the conduct of the person +who confers the benefit, there is little sympathy with the gratitude of him +who receives it: and that on the contrary, where there is no disapprobation +of the motives of the person who does the mischief, there is no sort of +sympathy with the resentment of him who suffers it. + +Chap. IV. Recapitulation of the foregoing chapters. + +Chap. V. The Analysis of the sense of Merit and Demerit. + + +SECTION II. _Of Justice and Beneficence._ + +Chap. I. Comparison of those two virtues. + +Chap. II. Of the sense of Justice, of Remorse, and of the consciousness of +Merit. + +Chap. III. Of the utility of this constitution of Nature. + + +SECTION III. _Of the Influence of Fortune upon the Sentiments of Mankind, +with regard to the Merit or Demerit of Actions._ + +Introduction. + +Chap. I. Of the causes of this influence of Fortune. + +Chap. II. Of the extent of this influence of Fortune. + +Chap. III. Of the final cause of this irregularity of Sentiments. + + +PART III. _Of the Foundation our Judgments concerning our own sentiments +and conduct, and of the sense of Duty._ + +Chap. I. Of the principle of Self-approbation and of Self-disapprobation. + +Chap. II. Of the love of Praise, and of that of Praise-worthiness; and of +the dread of Blame, and that of Blame-worthiness. + +Chap. III. Of the Influence and Authority of Conscience. + +Chap. IV. Of the nature of Self-deceit, and of the Origin and Use of +general Rules. + +Chap. V. Of the Influence and Authority of the general Rules of Morality, +and that they are justly regarded as the laws of the Deity. + +Chap. VI. In what cases the Sense of Duty ought to be the sole principle of +our conduct; and in what cases it ought to concur with other motives. + + +PART IV. _Of the Effect of Utility upon the Sentiment of Approbation._ + +Chap. I. Of the Beauty which the appearance of Utility bestows upon all the +productions of Art, and of the extensive influence of this species of +Beauty. + +Chap. II. Of the Beauty which the appearance of Utility bestows upon the +characters and actions of men; and how far the perception of this beauty +may be regarded as one of the original principles of approbation. + + +PART V. _Of the Influence of Custom and Fashion upon the Sentiments of +Moral Approbation and Disapprobation._ + +Chap. I. Of the Influence of Custom and Fashion upon our notions of Beauty +and Deformity. + +Chap. II. Of the Influence of Custom and Fashion upon Moral Sentiments. + + +PART VI. _Of the Character of Virtue._ + +Introduction. Section I. _Of the Character of the Individual, so far as +it affects his own Happiness; or of Prudence_. + +Section II. _Of the Character of the Individual, so far as it can affect +the happiness of other People_. + +Introduction. + +Chap. I. Of the order in which Individuals are recommended by nature to our +care and attention. + +Chap. II. Of the order in which Societies are by nature recommended to our +beneficence. + +Chap. III. Of Universal Benevolence. + +Section III. _Of Self-Command_. + +Conclusion of the Sixth Part. + + +PART VII. + +_Of Systems of Moral Philosophy_. + +Section I. _Of the questions which ought to be examined in a Theory of +Moral Sentiments_. + + +Section II. _Of the different Accounts which have been given of the +nature of Virtue_. + +Introduction. + +Chap. I. Of those systems which make Virtue consist in propriety. + +Chap. II. Of those systems which make Virtue consist in prudence. + +Chap. III. Of those systems which make Virtue consist in benevolence. + +Chap. IV. Of licentious Systems. + + +Section III. _Of the different Systems which have been formed concerning +the Principle of Approbation_. + +Introduction. + +Chap. I. Of those systems which deduce the principle of Approbation from +Self-love. + +Chap. II. Of those systems which make Reason the principle of Approbation. + +Chap. III. Of those systems which make Sentiment the principle of +Approbation. + + +Section IV. _Of the manner in which different Authors have treated of the +Practical Rules of Morality_. + +_Considerations concerning the first Formation of Languages, &c._ + + +_An Epitome of Ancient Geography_, Sacred and Profane, being an +abridgment of D'Anville's Geography, with improvements, from various other +authors; by which the omissions of D'Anville are supplied, and his errors +corrected. Accompanied with an account of the origin and migration of +ancient nations.--By Robert Mayo, M. D. author of "A New System of +Mythology," &c. 150 cents. + +_A Classical Atlas_, elegantly coloured, containing a series of Select +Maps from _Wilkinson's Atlas Classica_, and _Le Sage's_ + +_Historical Atlas_, for the use of those studying Ancient History and +Geography in the seminaries in the United States--folio, bound, $5. + +_Letters to a Young Lady_, on a variety of Useful Subjects; calculated +to improve the heart, to form the manners, and to enlighten the +understanding. By the Rev. John Bennett. _Seventh_ American edition, +on fine paper, with plates. Various bindings, from $1.25 to 3.50. + +_Scientific Dialogues_, intended for the instruction and entertainment +of Young People: in which the first principles of Natural and Experimental +Philosophy are fully explained. By the Rev. J. Joyce. Third edition, 3 +vols. Plates. $3. + +_A Dictionary of Select and Popular Quotations_, which are in constant +use; taken from the Latin, French, Spanish, Italian, and Greek languages, +(also _including a complete collection of Law Maxims_) translated into +English, with illustrations, historical and idiomatic. Third American +edition, corrected, with copious additions. $1.50. + +_The Advantage and Necessity of the Christian Revelation_, shewn from +the state of Religion in the Ancient Heathen world, &c. By John Leland, D. +D. Author of a "View of the Deistical Writers," 2 vols. 8vo. $6.50. + +_Memoirs and Remains_ of the late Rev. Charles Buck, author of "A +Theological Dictionary," "Miscellanies," &c. containing copious extracts +from his Diary, and interesting letters to his friends; interspersed with +various observations explanatory and illustrative Of his character and +works. By John Styles, D. D. Boards, $1.25, bound $1.50. + +_Gethsemane_, or Thoughts on the Sufferings of Christ. By the author +of the "Guide to Domestic Happiness," and "The Refuge." Boards 88 cents, +bound, $1.12-1/2. + + * * * * * + +A. FINLEY HAS CONSTANTLY FOR SALE, A VALUABLE COLLECTION OF Theological +Works, Family Bibles, &c. + +Among which are, + +The entire works of Dr. Isaac Watts, 6 vols. 4to. The same, 9 vols. 8vo. +Rev. Dr. Lardner's works, 5 vols. 4to. Hederici Lexicon, 4to. Parkhurst's +Greek and Hebrew Lexicons. Turretteni (J. A.) Opera Omnia, 3 vols. 4to. +Clerk's (J.) Paraphrase and Philological, Commentary, on the Five Books of +Moses, 4 vols. folio. Dr. Guyse's Paraphrase of the New Testament, 6 vols. +8vo. Massilon's Sermons, 2 vols. 8vo. + +Dubois's Account of the Religion, Customs, &c. &c. of the people of India, +2 vols. 8vo. + +Scott's Family Bibles, Quarto and Octavo. Henry's Commentary, 6 vols. 4to. +&c. &c. + +_Anatomical Engravings, by Charles and John Bell, viz._ + +_Charles Bell's Engravings of the Arteries_, illustrating the Anatomy +of the Human Body, and serving as an introduction to the Surgery of the +Arteries. Elegantly printed in _Royal_ 8vo. Twelve coloured Plates, +with copious letter-press explanations, references to Bell's and Wistar's +Anatomy, &c.--Second improved American edition, handsomely bound. Price $6. + +_John Bell's Engravings of the Bones, Muscles and Joints_, in two +parts-- + +Part 1. Containing Engravings of the Bones, 16 Plates, 4to. with +explanations. Bound $6 50. + +Part 2.--Engravings of the Muscles and Joints, 17 Plates, 4to. with +explanations. Bound $7. + +_The two parts may be had bound together_. Price $12. + +_Charles Bell's Series of Engravings_, explaining the course of the +_Nerves_, containing nine large and very elegant plates, with copious +explanations, 4to. Extra boards $6--handsomely bound $6 50. + +These several volumes of _Engravings_ by the Messrs. Bell, which are +so highly estimated in Great Britain, are also strongly recommended by +professional gentlemen throughout the Union. They form a system of Anatomy, +in themselves, and must be considered as a very important addition to every +Medical Library. + +_The Nurse's Guide and Family Assistant_, containing friendly cautions +to the heads of families and others, very necessary to be observed in order +to preserve health and long life; with ample directions to Nurses who +attend the sick, women in childbed, &c. &c. By Robert Wallace Johnson, M. +D. Second American edition corrected and improved, $1. + +_Medical Inquiries and Observations, &c_. by Dr. Benjamin Rush, 5th +edition, 2 vols. $7. + +_Zoonomia_, by Dr. Darwin, 4th edition, 2 vols. $7. + +Together with + +All the Greek and Latin Classics; and every description of French and +English + +SCHOOL BOOKS, + +that are used in the various Seminaries in this country. + +Library Companies, Teachers and others supplied on very liberal terms. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of An Essay on the History of Civil +Society, Eighth Edition, by Adam Ferguson, L.L.D. + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY OF CIVIL SOCIETY *** + +This file should be named 8646-8.txt or 8646-8.zip + +Produced by Stan Goodman, William Craig, Charles Franks +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we usually do not +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +We are now trying to release all our eBooks one year in advance +of the official release dates, leaving time for better editing. +Please be encouraged to tell us about any error or corrections, +even years after the official publication date. + +Please note neither this listing nor its contents are final til +midnight of the last day of the month of any such announcement. +The official release date of all Project Gutenberg eBooks is at +Midnight, Central Time, of the last day of the stated month. A +preliminary version may often be posted for suggestion, comment +and editing by those who wish to do so. + +Most people start at our Web sites at: +https://gutenberg.org or +http://promo.net/pg + +These Web sites include award-winning information about Project +Gutenberg, including how to donate, how to help produce our new +eBooks, and how to subscribe to our email newsletter (free!). + + +Those of you who want to download any eBook before announcement +can get to them as follows, and just download by date. This is +also a good way to get them instantly upon announcement, as the +indexes our cataloguers produce obviously take a while after an +announcement goes out in the Project Gutenberg Newsletter. + +http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext03 or +ftp://ftp.ibiblio.org/pub/docs/books/gutenberg/etext03 + +Or /etext02, 01, 00, 99, 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90 + +Just search by the first five letters of the filename you want, +as it appears in our Newsletters. + + +Information about Project Gutenberg (one page) + +We produce about two million dollars for each hour we work. The +time it takes us, a rather conservative estimate, is fifty hours +to get any eBook selected, entered, proofread, edited, copyright +searched and analyzed, the copyright letters written, etc. Our +projected audience is one hundred million readers. If the value +per text is nominally estimated at one dollar then we produce $2 +million dollars per hour in 2002 as we release over 100 new text +files per month: 1240 more eBooks in 2001 for a total of 4000+ +We are already on our way to trying for 2000 more eBooks in 2002 +If they reach just 1-2% of the world's population then the total +will reach over half a trillion eBooks given away by year's end. + +The Goal of Project Gutenberg is to Give Away 1 Trillion eBooks! +This is ten thousand titles each to one hundred million readers, +which is only about 4% of the present number of computer users. + +Here is the briefest record of our progress (* means estimated): + +eBooks Year Month + + 1 1971 July + 10 1991 January + 100 1994 January + 1000 1997 August + 1500 1998 October + 2000 1999 December + 2500 2000 December + 3000 2001 November + 4000 2001 October/November + 6000 2002 December* + 9000 2003 November* +10000 2004 January* + + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been created +to secure a future for Project Gutenberg into the next millennium. + +We need your donations more than ever! + +As of February, 2002, contributions are being solicited from people +and organizations in: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, +Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, +Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, +Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New +Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, +Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South +Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West +Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. + +We have filed in all 50 states now, but these are the only ones +that have responded. + +As the requirements for other states are met, additions to this list +will be made and fund raising will begin in the additional states. +Please feel free to ask to check the status of your state. + +In answer to various questions we have received on this: + +We are constantly working on finishing the paperwork to legally +request donations in all 50 states. If your state is not listed and +you would like to know if we have added it since the list you have, +just ask. + +While we cannot solicit donations from people in states where we are +not yet registered, we know of no prohibition against accepting +donations from donors in these states who approach us with an offer to +donate. + +International donations are accepted, but we don't know ANYTHING about +how to make them tax-deductible, or even if they CAN be made +deductible, and don't have the staff to handle it even if there are +ways. + +Donations by check or money order may be sent to: + +Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +PMB 113 +1739 University Ave. +Oxford, MS 38655-4109 + +Contact us if you want to arrange for a wire transfer or payment +method other than by check or money order. + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been approved by +the US Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) organization with EIN +[Employee Identification Number] 64-622154. Donations are +tax-deductible to the maximum extent permitted by law. As fund-raising +requirements for other states are met, additions to this list will be +made and fund-raising will begin in the additional states. + +We need your donations more than ever! + +You can get up to date donation information online at: + +https://www.gutenberg.org/donation.html + + +*** + +If you can't reach Project Gutenberg, +you can always email directly to: + +Michael S. Hart <hart@pobox.com> + +Prof. Hart will answer or forward your message. + +We would prefer to send you information by email. + + +**The Legal Small Print** + + +(Three Pages) + +***START**THE SMALL PRINT!**FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS**START*** +Why is this "Small Print!" statement here? You know: lawyers. +They tell us you might sue us if there is something wrong with +your copy of this eBook, even if you got it for free from +someone other than us, and even if what's wrong is not our +fault. So, among other things, this "Small Print!" statement +disclaims most of our liability to you. It also tells you how +you may distribute copies of this eBook if you want to. + +*BEFORE!* YOU USE OR READ THIS EBOOK +By using or reading any part of this PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +eBook, you indicate that you understand, agree to and accept +this "Small Print!" statement. If you do not, you can receive +a refund of the money (if any) you paid for this eBook by +sending a request within 30 days of receiving it to the person +you got it from. If you received this eBook on a physical +medium (such as a disk), you must return it with your request. + +ABOUT PROJECT GUTENBERG-TM EBOOKS +This PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBook, like most PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBooks, +is a "public domain" work distributed by Professor Michael S. Hart +through the Project Gutenberg Association (the "Project"). +Among other things, this means that no one owns a United States copyright +on or for this work, so the Project (and you!) can copy and +distribute it in the United States without permission and +without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth +below, apply if you wish to copy and distribute this eBook +under the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark. + +Please do not use the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark to market +any commercial products without permission. + +To create these eBooks, the Project expends considerable +efforts to identify, transcribe and proofread public domain +works. Despite these efforts, the Project's eBooks and any +medium they may be on may contain "Defects". Among other +things, Defects may take the form of incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other +intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged +disk or other eBook medium, a computer virus, or computer +codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment. + +LIMITED WARRANTY; DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES +But for the "Right of Replacement or Refund" described below, +[1] Michael Hart and the Foundation (and any other party you may +receive this eBook from as a PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBook) disclaims +all liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including +legal fees, and [2] YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE OR +UNDER STRICT LIABILITY, OR FOR BREACH OF WARRANTY OR CONTRACT, +INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE +OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE +POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. + +If you discover a Defect in this eBook within 90 days of +receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any) +you paid for it by sending an explanatory note within that +time to the person you received it from. If you received it +on a physical medium, you must return it with your note, and +such person may choose to alternatively give you a replacement +copy. If you received it electronically, such person may +choose to alternatively give you a second opportunity to +receive it electronically. + +THIS EBOOK IS OTHERWISE PROVIDED TO YOU "AS-IS". NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE MADE TO YOU AS +TO THE EBOOK OR ANY MEDIUM IT MAY BE ON, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A +PARTICULAR PURPOSE. + +Some states do not allow disclaimers of implied warranties or +the exclusion or limitation of consequential damages, so the +above disclaimers and exclusions may not apply to you, and you +may have other legal rights. + +INDEMNITY +You will indemnify and hold Michael Hart, the Foundation, +and its trustees and agents, and any volunteers associated +with the production and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm +texts harmless, from all liability, cost and expense, including +legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of the +following that you do or cause: [1] distribution of this eBook, +[2] alteration, modification, or addition to the eBook, +or [3] any Defect. + +DISTRIBUTION UNDER "PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm" +You may distribute copies of this eBook electronically, or by +disk, book or any other medium if you either delete this +"Small Print!" and all other references to Project Gutenberg, +or: + +[1] Only give exact copies of it. Among other things, this + requires that you do not remove, alter or modify the + eBook or this "small print!" statement. You may however, + if you wish, distribute this eBook in machine readable + binary, compressed, mark-up, or proprietary form, + including any form resulting from conversion by word + processing or hypertext software, but only so long as + *EITHER*: + + [*] The eBook, when displayed, is clearly readable, and + does *not* contain characters other than those + intended by the author of the work, although tilde + (~), asterisk (*) and underline (_) characters may + be used to convey punctuation intended by the + author, and additional characters may be used to + indicate hypertext links; OR + + [*] The eBook may be readily converted by the reader at + no expense into plain ASCII, EBCDIC or equivalent + form by the program that displays the eBook (as is + the case, for instance, with most word processors); + OR + + [*] You provide, or agree to also provide on request at + no additional cost, fee or expense, a copy of the + eBook in its original plain ASCII form (or in EBCDIC + or other equivalent proprietary form). + +[2] Honor the eBook refund and replacement provisions of this + "Small Print!" statement. + +[3] Pay a trademark license fee to the Foundation of 20% of the + gross profits you derive calculated using the method you + already use to calculate your applicable taxes. If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation" + the 60 days following each date you prepare (or were + legally required to prepare) your annual (or equivalent + periodic) tax return. Please contact us beforehand to + let us know your plans and to work out the details. + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? +Project Gutenberg is dedicated to increasing the number of +public domain and licensed works that can be freely distributed +in machine readable form. + +The Project gratefully accepts contributions of money, time, +public domain materials, or royalty free copyright licenses. +Money should be paid to the: +"Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +If you are interested in contributing scanning equipment or +software or other items, please contact Michael Hart at: +hart@pobox.com + +[Portions of this eBook's header and trailer may be reprinted only +when distributed free of all fees. Copyright (C) 2001, 2002 by +Michael S. Hart. Project Gutenberg is a TradeMark and may not be +used in any sales of Project Gutenberg eBooks or other materials be +they hardware or software or any other related product without +express permission.] + +*END THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS*Ver.02/11/02*END* + diff --git a/8646-8.zip b/8646-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d22304d --- /dev/null +++ b/8646-8.zip diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6b95106 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #8646 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/8646) |