ve man, receive my homage! Thou hast measured the span of the
heavens, calculated the volume of the stars, arrested the lightning in
its clouds, subdued seas and storms, subjected all the elements. Ah! how
are so many sublime energies allied to so many errors?

CHAPTER VII.

PRINCIPLES OF SOCIETY.

Wandering in the woods and on the banks of rivers in pursuit of game and
fish, the first men, beset with dangers, assailed by enemies, tormented
by hunger, by reptiles, by ravenous beasts, felt their own individual
weakness; and, urged by a common need of safety, and a reciprocal
sentiment of like evils, they united their resources and their strength;
and when one incurred a danger, many aided and succored him; when
one wanted subsistence, another shared his food with him. Thus men
associated to secure their existence, to augment their powers, to
protect their enjoyments; and self-love thus became the principle of
society.

Instructed afterwards by the experience of various and repeated
accidents, by the fatigues of a wandering life, by the distress of
frequent scarcity, men reasoned with themselves and said:

"Why consume our days in seeking scattered fruits from a parsimonious
soil? why exhaust ourselves in pursuing prey which eludes us in the
woods or waters? why not collect under our hands the animals that
nourish us? why not apply our cares in multiplying and preserving them?
We will feed on their increase, be clothed in their skins, and live
exempt from the fatigues of the day and solicitude for the morrow."

And men, aiding one another, seized the nimble goat, the timid sheep;
they tamed the patient camel, the fierce bull, the impetuous horse; and,
applauding their own industry, they sat down in the joy of their souls,
and began to taste repose and comfort: and self-love, the principle of
all reasoning, became the incitement to every art, and every enjoyment.

When, therefore, men could pass long days in leisure, and in
communication of their thoughts, they began to contemplate the earth,
the heavens, and their own existence as objects of curiosity and
reflection; they remarked the course of the seasons, the action of
the elements, the properties of fruits and plants; and applied their
thoughts to the multiplication of their enjoyments. And in some
countries, having observed that certain seeds contained a wholesome
nourishment in a small volume, convenient for transportation and
preservation, they imitate