6 



the whole be deemed to be, or to have been, a scene not of 

 happiness but of miseri/. 



9. That on questions naturally arising from the considera- 

 tion of a subject so complex, intricate and extensive, dif- 

 ferent opinions should be entertained, may well be expected. 

 Many think that on a general survey of our present existence, 

 misery will be found to be the ultimate result of our observa- 

 tions. Some have endeavoured to prove that more happiness 

 is found in the savage than in the civilized state; and others 

 assert it can be found only in the civilized state, and is 

 equally distributed betwixt its different classes, though un- 

 equally among the individuals that compose each class ; and 

 finally, others think it unequally distributed among these 

 different classes, some asserting its prevalency in the supe- 

 rior, others in the inferior, but granting its inequality among 

 different individuals of each class. 



10. To examine the truth or falsehood of these opinions, 

 with siieh a degree of accuracy as the subject permits, it is 

 necessary that we should enumerate the general sources, both 

 of those pleasures and pains that occur, or may occur, in 

 every state and condition of human life ; and then endeavour 

 to trace and estimate the quantity of each in the above- 

 mentioned states and conditions. 



11. We must further remark, that all our pleasures and 

 pains are derived to us either iminecliatelt/ through the medium 

 of our senses, and hence called corporeal, or mediatelij through 



the 



