CKap. XI. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS^:. 243: 



Several arts and profeflions among different clafles of men, who^ 

 by nature and education, were fitted to excel in thofe feveral 

 arts, was a moft wife and political inftitution, I think,, cannot be 

 doubted ; for, if men in a ftate are at liberty to pra<9:ife any bufi- 

 nefs or profeflion, without being fitted for it either by nature or e - 

 ducation, the confequence neceffarily muft be, that thofe arts will^ 

 for the greater part, be very ill praclifed. If ia a private family^ the 

 fervants have not each of them a particular bufinefs allotted them, 

 but ex'ery one of them is to do every thing, it is evident that the' 

 whole bufinefs of that family will be very ill managed. Now, a ftate 

 is to be confidered as a great family ; and, indeed, all ftates were 

 originally compofed of alTociatioas ot tauulies *. 



It may be alfo obferved, as one great advantage of this divifion of 

 the people according to their feveral occupations, that every man mufc 

 be contented with his own fituation fo far, at leaft, that he cannot afpire 

 to be of any higher caft ; and therefore his only ambition muft be, to 

 excel in his own Caft : Whereas in other countries, where there are 

 no fuch clafles of men, there are no bounds fet to the ambition of any 

 man, but every man attempts to rife as high as he can. Now, this 

 muft needs make men unquiet and difcontented. The incapa- 

 city, therefore, of rifing higher than their Caft, muft, I think> 

 of itfelf, make the Hindoos happier than the people of other 

 countries. The only ambition they can have, is to excel in their 

 feveral profeflions, and in no other. And this ambition muft pro- 

 duce an emulation, which, as I have obferved, muft make them ex- 

 cel in their feveral arts ; and which muft be much greater among 

 thofe of the fame art, than among thofe profeflTmg different arts • 

 and, indeed, a-mong thefe there can hardly be any emulation at all 

 efpecially when it is impoffible that a man of the lower caft can rife 

 to a higher. He therefore will not compare himfelf with thofe 

 above him, but will be contented if he can out do thofe of the fame. 



H h 2 caft I 



• See p. 1 7<5, of this vol. 



