THE PREVAILING PRINCIPLE. 



IT is one of the established dicta of society, that man would not 

 advance, unless stimulated to exertion by the hope of rising, and the 

 fear of falling ; that the attrition of rivalry is necessary to give point, 

 polish, and perseverance to all kinds of talent. Let us inquire whe- 

 ther this be an inherent or an acquired principle whether it be part 

 and parcel of the original moral fabric, or superinduced by habit and 

 education. 



In comparing savage with civilized races, we perceive that equality 

 is a predominant circumstance in the former, and inequality in the 

 latter. The former are, for the most part, equally fleet of foot, 

 equally skilled in the chace, equally capable of the abstinence neces- 

 sity often enjoins, and of the daring courage revenge often incites. 

 These are all habits and qualities stimulated by natural motives. But, 

 in civilized life, nothing is so rare as equality. One man is remark- 

 able for this, another for that ; and all the motives from which they 

 act, are artificial. In conventional society, nothing is valued for 

 itself intrinsically. Be the pursuit what it may, the aspirant desires 

 to be first : that is, not pre-eminent in the talen'., in question, but to 

 take precedency of his fellow men. Is not this subjecting the end to 

 the means, not the means to the end ? An individual may be ex- 

 celled, but his merit will remain exactly what it was. Not so, how- 

 ever, in the estimation of the world hardly of his own : for, accus- 

 tomed to make only comparative estimates, the rise of another is felt 

 to be equivalent to sinking himself, though he has not lost one inch 

 of his original ground. Can this be called a natural, a desirable, or 

 an advantageous system, especially when success in every thing is so 

 dependent on the chances of fortune ? 



It will be said, Behold how indolent is the savage ! as soon as his 

 mere animal wants are supplied, he flings himself down to slumber, 

 till they again arouse him to activity. And how do the artificial sti- 

 mulants of civilization operate ? Is not the priest often lost in the 

 pope, and the patriot in the place-man ? When the wild man, and 

 the man of the world, have gained the goal, both lie by, till the prin- 

 ciple on which they were moved is again excited : in both, the ob- 

 ject is, to run down the game. The game of the savage is the beast 

 of the forest of the civilized variety, his fellow men. 



The wants of the savage are few, because few of his powers are 

 developed ; but were he roused from the torpor of ignorance, and 

 awakened to a perception of the thousand intellectual enjoyments of 

 which he is capable, would he not pursue them, as he does the chace 

 and the enemy, for themselves alone ? arid would he not thus attain 

 to a higher point of excellence, to a keener sense of delight, than if 

 he ran only in the hope of overtaking those before him, and the fear 

 of being overtaken by those behind him ? 



It is easy to see how the motives of hope and fear, and their sup- 



