^22 NATURAL AND CIVIL 



fal ardour. Had it been added to the other uri" 

 fortunate circumstances attending his situation, 

 it would have gone far to have destroyed the 

 tvhole race. - .^ 



Averse to all Improvements. The 

 most fatal circumstance of all, was, the savage 

 state was extremely averse and opposed to all 

 improvements. It is with a bene\'olent design, 

 that nature reconciles and conciliates the mind 

 of man, to that state in which it is placed. At 

 the same time, it has made us capable of con- 

 tinual advance and progression^ to greater im- 

 provements and perfection. So attached was 

 the sa^^age to the former^ that he had no wish 

 or desire of the latter. Content and satisfied 

 with his own state,^ he had no wish, hope, or 

 conception, that it c®uld be changed for a bet- 

 ter. Accustomed to the most perfect freedom 

 and independence, he beheld with detestation > 

 the inequality of rank, and the subordination 

 established among the PZuropeans. Free from 

 all care, and without foresight, he was amazed 

 at the anxiety, the care, and perpetual industry 

 of the white people : And could not conceive ■ 

 ■why they should be thus perpetually adding 

 hard labour, to the other calamities of life. The 

 constant scenes of hurry, care, and business, in 

 which they were employed, were objects averse 

 to all their feelings and wishes : And what they 

 viewed as the most degraded condition, to which 

 man could be reduced, was the business of ag- 

 riculture, digging and labouring in the earth. 

 The weapons of the Europeans appeai'cd useful 

 to them, and these they were at much pains to 

 acquire. But most of their arts, customs, and 



