378 NATURAL AND CIVIL 



remains of the human form. Political writers 

 have frequently argued that luxury was of real 

 service to the nations of Europe ; that it tended 

 to find employments for the poor, and was ne- 

 cessary to keep the money in circulation. This 

 reasoning cannot be contradicted : But it sup- 

 poses the state of society to be essentially bad ; 

 and that it cannot be supported but by the man* 

 agement, operations, and balance of vices. In 

 such a state of society, luxury is certainly a 

 benefit : And the highest degree of it, would 

 be the greatest benefit of all. It would be the 

 best thing that could happen in such a society, 

 for the corrupted, venal part to spend their es* 

 tates, by luxury and dissipation, and to have 

 them pass into other hands. This would be far 

 better for mankind than to have them live use- 

 less, be constantly corrupting others, or train up 

 an emaciated, feeble race, degraded by effemina- 

 cy and weakness, below the rest of the human 

 race. Whatever might be done to load such 

 with honors, titles^ and distinctions, it will be 

 impossible ever to make them men ; or at least 

 such kind of men, as shall be upon terms of 

 equality v/kh the rest of the human fsce.- Ac- 

 tivity, industry, and economy, v/ill prevent su€h 

 *a race from appearing, or such effects from tak» 

 ing place, in any of the new states of America. 

 '" Hospitality. That benevolent, friendly 

 disposition, which man should bear to man, will 

 appear under different forms, in different st^^ges 

 of society. In the f?rst combinations of man- 

 kind, when all are exposed to danger, sufferings, 

 and want, it appears in one of its most amiable 

 forms, and has been called hospitality. In this 

 form it exists among the people who are sub- 



