146 



savages, scarcely any can accustom himself to their way of 

 life. Those that voluntarily join the savages are Canadians, 

 generally men of bad character, libertines, idle, of passionate 

 tempers or little understanding. The influence they acquire 

 among the savages flatters their vanity, while the licentious 

 life they lead with the squaws indulges the prevailing passion 

 of their headstrong youth ; but Avhen they grow old they 

 scarcely ever fail to return to their country', regretting their 

 rambles when too late*. 



Having thus evinced the folly or falsehood of all the argu- 

 ments of our orator in support of the existence and superior 

 happiness of his imaginary savages, I shall take no notice of 

 what he advances in the second part of his discourse to ac- 

 count for the origin of property, it being foreign to the ob- 

 ject I now treat of. 



• Volney's View, 418, 419. 



CHAP. 



