20 Of Systems of Equality. Godwin. Bk, iii. 



The great error under which Mr. Godwin la- 

 hours thi'oughout his whole work is, the attri- 

 buting of almost all the vices and misery that pre- 

 vail in civil society to human institutions. Political 

 regulations and the established administration of 

 property are, with him, the fruitful sources of all 

 evil, the hotbeds of all the crimes that degrade 

 mankhid. Were this really a true state of the 

 case, it would not seem an absolutely hopeless 

 task, to remove evil completely from the world ; 

 and reason seems to be the proper and adequate 

 instrument for effecting so great a purpose. But 

 the truth is, that though human institutions ap- 

 pear to be, and indeed often are, the obvious and 

 obtrusive causes of much mischief to society, they 

 are, in reality, light and superficial, in comparison 

 with those deeper-seated causes of evil, which re- 

 suit from the laws of nature and the passions of 

 mankind. 



In a chapter on the benefits attendant upon a 

 system of equality, Mr. Godwin says, " The spirit 

 " of oppression, the spirit of servility, and the 

 " spirit of fraud, these are the immediate growth 

 " of the established, administration of property. 

 " They are alike hostile to intellectual improve- 

 " ment. The other vices of envy, malice and re- 

 " venge, are their inseparable companions. In a 

 " state of society where men lived in the midst of 

 " plenty, and where all shared alike the bounties 

 " of nature, these sentiments would inevitably ex- 

 " pire. The narrow principle of selfishness would 

 " vanish. No man being obliged to guard his 



