, it sometimes happened, that, by the
dissensions of heads of families, by the ambition of daring adventurers,
by some accidental pressure of distress, or by the mere discontent of
idleness, one part of the community broke off from the rest, and
numbers, greater or smaller, forsook their habitations, put themselves
under the command of some favourite of fortune, and with, or without the
consent of their countrymen or governours, went out to see what better
regions they could occupy, and in what place, by conquest or by treaty,
they could gain a habitation.

Sons of enterprise, like these, who committed to their own swords their
hopes and their lives, when they left their country, became another
nation, with designs, and prospects, and interests, of their own. They
looked back no more to their former home; they expected no help from
those whom they had left behind; if they conquered, they conquered for
themselves; if they were destroyed, they were not by any other power
either lamented or revenged.

Of this kind seem to have been all the migrations of the early world,
whether historical or fabulous, and of this kind were the eruptions of
those nations, which, from the north, invaded the Roman empire, and
filled Europe with new sovereignties.

But when, by the gradual admission of wiser laws and gentler manners,
society became more compacted and better regulated, it was found, that
the power of every people consisted in union, produced by one common
interest, and operating in joint efforts and consistent counsels.

From this time independence perceptibly wasted away. No part of the
nation was permitted to act for itself. All now had the same enemies and
the same friends; the government protected individuals, and individuals
were required to refer their designs to the prosperity of the
government.

By this principle it is, that states are formed and consolidated. Every
man is taught to consider his own happiness, as combined with the
publick prosperity, and to think himself great and powerful, in
proportion to the greatness and power of his governours.

Had the western continent been discovered between the fourth and tenth
century, when all the northen world was in motion; and had navigation
been, at that time, sufficiently advanced to make so long a passage
easily practicable, there is little reason for doubting, but the
intumescence of nations would have found its vent, like all other
expansive violence, where the