Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
An Essay On The Different States And Conditions Of Life.
which filled them with terror , but whose tage we now brave . Thev were not obliged to appear before the bar of justice , there to rescue the fruits of their labours out of the hands of an unju .-. t usurper , nor to attend on the levees of the great , to beg sen-iiei ' y theii protection , Being- all then on the same level of fortune , power / ease , and happiness , there could undoubtedl y be no subordination , nor dependence ! them
amongst . But when from this infantile state mankind arrived at a more advancedage ; when they felt the first stings of glory or pleasure ; when families , till then living separate from others , " were incorpo ' rated With , and formed different , societies , which scarce had acknowled ge of one another ; when there were different degrees of talents and
industry , degrees necessary for the advancement of arts ; when force , impudence , and artifice were called in to the help of in ! digence and incapacity ; when , in fine , man , ushered poor and naked into the world , and at first , sensible of the cares of those who had brought him up , believed he was under no manner of obligation to the' rest of men ; and that he mi ght attack them without danger , or resist them with success ; . there was then a necessity of subjecting him
to rules of order and behaviour ; there was a necessity by severe laws to annihilate , if possible , the equality that was making strenuous efforts to destroy itself , and to . invest some man or other with a power capable of chaining it down for the good of human nature . Thus , without going so far back as the time of our first progenitor , and accusing him ofthe dependence We live in , it should necessarilfake its oriin
y gamongst men once resolved to live in society . And how should not the same order be established amongst them , which every One must acknowled ge to be in his thoughts and reflections , of which some are necessarily to go before others , and ail depend as much on those that gave birth to them , as on their relation to and union with those which they produce in their turn ? They ht the
migsee same gradation throughout the vast extent of the world . Could not they perceive that the parts , whatever they were , of that immense machine , are so connected and subordinate amongst themselves , that the disorder of one only would alter the motion which is their soul , and would destroy it that very instant , leaving it without force and activity ? Let us therefore attribute only to the nature of man , living in society , the difference of ranks and conditions which
are continually complained of ; and let us regard it even rather as _ perfection , than as an evil absolutel y necessary . . I mi ght easily demonstrate this perfection , but shall content myself 111 £ - !! , iUlhs ! t bj ' ' ami ! iar comparison . Does an architect , in order to build an arch Or vault , eriipJoj-, indiscriminately and without order , the stones that are to serve for forming it ? Some of them he lays lower
higher or , according to their size , thickness , and proportion . Does tibt the solidity , or , which is the same , the perfection of his work , depend on the arrangement he sets them in , and his attention tostaythem Up the brie b y the other , so that even the weight of each in particular serves as a support to the whole together , and that even which might force it into ruins necessarily contributes to Shore it up r J
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
An Essay On The Different States And Conditions Of Life.
which filled them with terror , but whose tage we now brave . Thev were not obliged to appear before the bar of justice , there to rescue the fruits of their labours out of the hands of an unju .-. t usurper , nor to attend on the levees of the great , to beg sen-iiei ' y theii protection , Being- all then on the same level of fortune , power / ease , and happiness , there could undoubtedl y be no subordination , nor dependence ! them
amongst . But when from this infantile state mankind arrived at a more advancedage ; when they felt the first stings of glory or pleasure ; when families , till then living separate from others , " were incorpo ' rated With , and formed different , societies , which scarce had acknowled ge of one another ; when there were different degrees of talents and
industry , degrees necessary for the advancement of arts ; when force , impudence , and artifice were called in to the help of in ! digence and incapacity ; when , in fine , man , ushered poor and naked into the world , and at first , sensible of the cares of those who had brought him up , believed he was under no manner of obligation to the' rest of men ; and that he mi ght attack them without danger , or resist them with success ; . there was then a necessity of subjecting him
to rules of order and behaviour ; there was a necessity by severe laws to annihilate , if possible , the equality that was making strenuous efforts to destroy itself , and to . invest some man or other with a power capable of chaining it down for the good of human nature . Thus , without going so far back as the time of our first progenitor , and accusing him ofthe dependence We live in , it should necessarilfake its oriin
y gamongst men once resolved to live in society . And how should not the same order be established amongst them , which every One must acknowled ge to be in his thoughts and reflections , of which some are necessarily to go before others , and ail depend as much on those that gave birth to them , as on their relation to and union with those which they produce in their turn ? They ht the
migsee same gradation throughout the vast extent of the world . Could not they perceive that the parts , whatever they were , of that immense machine , are so connected and subordinate amongst themselves , that the disorder of one only would alter the motion which is their soul , and would destroy it that very instant , leaving it without force and activity ? Let us therefore attribute only to the nature of man , living in society , the difference of ranks and conditions which
are continually complained of ; and let us regard it even rather as _ perfection , than as an evil absolutel y necessary . . I mi ght easily demonstrate this perfection , but shall content myself 111 £ - !! , iUlhs ! t bj ' ' ami ! iar comparison . Does an architect , in order to build an arch Or vault , eriipJoj-, indiscriminately and without order , the stones that are to serve for forming it ? Some of them he lays lower
higher or , according to their size , thickness , and proportion . Does tibt the solidity , or , which is the same , the perfection of his work , depend on the arrangement he sets them in , and his attention tostaythem Up the brie b y the other , so that even the weight of each in particular serves as a support to the whole together , and that even which might force it into ruins necessarily contributes to Shore it up r J