SOCIETY, a number of rational and moral beings, united for their common prefervation and happinefs.

There are fhoals of fishes, herds of quadrupeds, and flocks of birds. But till obfervation enable us to determine with greater certainty, how far the inferior ani-mals are able to look through a series of means to the end which thefe are calculated to produce, how far their conduct may be influenced by the hope of reward and the fear of punishment, and whether they are at all capable of moral diftinctions—we cannot with propriety apply to them the term Society. We call crows and beavers, and feveral other species of animals, gregarious; but it is hardly good English to fay that they are focial.

It is only human fociety, then, that can become the Mankind subject of our prefent investigation. The phenomena the only which it prefents are highly worthy of our notice.

Such are the advantages which each individual evidently derives from living in a focial state; and fo help-ings sub-ject to our lefs does any human being appear in a solitary state, that we are naturally led to conclude, that if there ever was a period at which mankind were solitary beings, and a focial state could not be of long duration; for their aversion to folidity and love of society would foon induce them to enter into focial union. Such is the opinion which we are led to conceive, when we compare our own condition as members of civilized and enlightened fociety with that of the brutes around us, or with that of favages in the earlier and ruder periods of focial life. When we hear of Indians wandering naked through the woods, deftite of arts, unskilled in agriculture, scarce capable of moral diftinctions, void of all religious feniments, or poifefled with the moft abfurd notions concerning superior powers, and procuring means of fubfistence in a manner equally precarious with that of the beafts of prey—we look down with pity on their condition, or turn from it with horror. When we view the order of cultivated fociety, and consider our institutions, arts, and manners—we rejoice over our superior wisdom and happinefs.

Man in a civilized fiate appears a being of a fuperior order to man in a favage fiate; yet fome philosophers tell us, that it is only he who, having been educated in fociety, has been taught to depend upon others, that can be helplefs or miferable when placed in a solitary fiate. They view the favage who exerts himfelf with intrepidity to supply his wants, or bears them with fortitude, as the greateft hero, and poifefling the greateft happinefs. And therefore if we agree with them, that the propenfities of nature may have prompted men to enter into focial union, though they may have hoped to enjoy fuperior fecurity and happinefs by engaging to protect and fupport each other, we muft conclude that the Author of the univerfe has defigned man to attain greater dignity and happinefs in a focial and solitary than in a focial fiate; and therefore that thefe dispositions and views which lead us to fociety are falacious and inimical to our real interefl.

Whatever be the fuppofed advantages of a focial fiate, certain it is that mankind, at the earliest periods, were united in fociety. Various theories have been formed concerning the circumftances and principles which gave rise to this union; but we have elsewhere shown, that the greater part of them are founded in error; that they fuppofe the original fiate of man to have Society. been that of savages; and that such a supposition is contradicted by the most authentic records of antiquity. For though the records of the earlier ages are generally obscure, fabulous, and imperfect; yet happily there is one free from the imperfections of the rest, and of undoubted authenticity, to which we may safely have recourse*. This record is the Pentateuch of Moses, which presents us with a genuine account of the origin of man and of society, perfectly consonant to what we have laid down in the article referred to (see SAVAGE). According to Moses, the first society was that of a husband and wife united in the bonds of marriage: the first government that of a father and husband, the master of his family. Men lived together under the patriarchal form of government while they employed themselves chiefly in tending flocks and herds.* Children in such circumstances cannot soon rise to an equality with their parents, where a man's importance depends on his property, not on his abilities. When flocks and herds are the chief articles of property, the son can only obtain these from his father; in general therefore the son must be entirely dependent on the father for the means of subsistence. If the parent during his life bestow on his children any part of his property, he may do it on such conditions as shall make their dependence upon him continue till the period of his death. When the community are by this event deprived of their head, instead of continuing in a state of union, and selecting some one from among themselves whom they may invest with the authority of a parent, they separate into many distinct tribes, each subject to the authority of a different lord, the master of the family, and the proprietor of all the flocks and herds belonging to it. Such was the state of the first societies which the narrative of Moses exhibits to our attention.

Those philosophers who have made society, in its various stages between rudeness and refinement, the subject of their speculations, have generally considered mankind, in whatever region of the globe, and under whatever climate, as proceeding uniformly through certain regular gradations from one extreme to the other. They regard them, first, as gaining a precarious subsistence by gathering the spontaneous fruits of the earth, preying on the inhabitants of the waters, if placed on the seashore, or along the banks of large rivers; or hunting wild beasts, if in a situation where these are to be found in abundance; without foresight or industry to provide for future wants when the present call of appetite is gratified. Next, they say, man rises to the shepherd state, and next to that of husbandmen, when they turn their attention from the management of flocks to the cultivation of the ground. Next, these husbandmen improve their powers, and better their condition, by becoming artisans and merchants; and the beginning of this period is the boundary between barbarity and civilization.

These are the stages through which they who have employed themselves on the natural history of society have generally conducted mankind in their progress from rudeness to refinement; but they seem to have overlooked the manner in which mankind were at first established on this earth; for the circumstances in which the parents of the human race were originally placed; for the degree of knowledge communicated to them; and for the instruction which they must have been capable of communicating to their posterity. They rather appear to consider the inhabitants of every different region of the globe as aborigines, springing at first from the ground, or dropped on the spot which they inhabit; no less ignorant than infants of the nature and relations of the objects around them, and of the purposes which they may accomplish by the exercise of their organs and faculties.

The absurdity of this theory has been fully demonstrated in another place: and if we agree to receive the Mosaic account of the original establishment of mankind, we shall be led to view the phenomena of social life in a light very different. We must first allow, that though many of the rudest tribes are found in the state of hunters or fishers; yet the hunting or fishing state cannot have been invariably the primary form of society. Notwithstanding the powers with which we are endowed, we are in a great measure the creatures of circumstances. Physical causes exert, though indirectly, a mighty influence in forming the character and directing the exertions of the human race. From the information of Moses we gather, that the first societies of men lived under the patriarchal form of government, and employed themselves in the cultivation of the ground and the management of flocks. And as we know that mankind, being subjected to the influence both of physical and moral causes, are no less liable to degeneracy than capable of improvement; we may easily conceive, that though descending all from the same original pair, and though enlightened with much traditional knowledge relative to the arts of life, the order of society, moral distinctions, and religious obligations; yet as they were gradually, and by various accidents, dispersed over the earth, being removed to situations in which the arts with which they were acquainted could but little avail them, where industry was overpowered, or indolence encouraged, by the severity or the profusion of nature, they might degenerate and fall into a condition almost as humble and precarious as that of the brutal tribes. Other moral causes might also concur to debauch or elevate the human character in that early period. The particular character of the original settlers in any region, the manner in which they were connected with one another, and the arts which they were best qualified to exercise, with various other causes of a similar nature, would have considerable influence in determining the character of the society.

When laying aside the spirit of theory and system, we set ourselves, with due humility, to trace facts, and to listen to evidence, though our discoveries may be fewer than we should otherwise fancy them; yet the knowledge which we thus acquire will be more useful and solid, and our speculations more consistent with the spirit of true philosophy. Here, though we learn from the information of the sacred writings, that the first family of mankind was not cruelly exposed in this world, as children whom the inhumanity of their parents induces them to desert; yet we are not, in consequence of admitting this fact, laid under any necessity of denying or explaining away any of the other phenomena which occur to our observation when tracing the natural history of society. Tradition may be corrupted: arts and sciences may be lost; the sublimest religious doctrines may be debated into absurdity.

If then we are desirous of surveying society in its ru- defect form, we must look, not to the earliest period of its existence, but to those districts of the globe where external circumstances concur to drive them into a state of stupidity and wretchedness. Thus in many places of the happy clime of Asia, which a variety of ancient records concur with the sacred writings in representing as the first peopled quarter of the globe, we cannot trace the form of society backwards beyond the shepherd state. In that state indeed the bonds which connect society extend not to a wide range of individuals, and men remain for a long period in distinct families; but yet that state is highly favourable to knowledge, to happiness, and to virtue. Again, the torrid and the frozen regions of the earth, though probably peopled at a later period, and by tribes sprung from the same stock with the shepherds of Asia, have yet exhibited mankind in a much lower state. It is in the parched deserts of Africa and the wilds of America that human beings have been found in a condition approaching the nearest to that of the brutes.

We may therefore with some propriety defer the order of time, and take a view of the different stages through which philosophers have considered mankind as advancing, beginning with that of rudeness, though we have shewn that it cannot have been the first in the progress.

Where the human species are found in the lowest and most rude state, their rational and moral powers are very faintly displayed; but their external senses are acute, and their bodily organs active and vigorous. Hunting and fishing are then their chief employments on which they depend for support. During that portion of their time which is not spent in these pursuits, they are sunk in lifeless indolence. Defective of foresight, they are raised to active exertion only by the prelude of immediate necessity or the urgent calls of appetite. Accustomed to endure the severity of the elements, and but feebly provided with the means of subsistence, they acquire habits of resignation and fortitude, which are beheld with astonishment by those who enjoy the plenty and indulgence of cultivated life. But in this state of want and depression, when the powers and possessions of every individual are scarcely sufficient for his own support, when even the calls of appetite are repressed because they cannot always be gratified, and the more refined passions, which either originate from such as are merely animal, or are intimately connected with them, have not yet been felt—in this state all the milder affections are unknown; or if the breath is at all sensible to their impulse, it is extremely feeble. Husband and wife, parent and child, brother and brother, are united by the weakest ties. Want and misfortune are not pitied. Why indeed should they, where they cannot be relieved? It is impossible to determine how far beings in this condition can be capable of moral distinctions. One thing certain is, that in no state are the human race entirely incapable of these. If we listen, however, to the relations of respectable travellers, we must admit that human beings have sometimes been found in that abject state where no proper ideas of subordination, government, or distinction of ranks, could be formed. No distinct notions of Deity can be here entertained. Beings in so humble a condition cannot look through the order of the universe and the harmony of nature to that Eternal Wisdom and Goodness which contrived, and that Almighty Power which brought into existence, the system of things. Of arts they must be almost totally destitute. They may use some instruments for fishing or the chase; but these must be extremely rude and simple. If they be acquainted with any means to shelter them from the inclemency of the elements, both their houses and clothing will be awkward and inconvenient.

But human beings have not been often found in so second ruder a state as this. Even those tribes which we denominate savage, are for the most part farther removed from mere animal life. They generally appear united under some species of government, exercising the powers of reason, capable of morality, though that morality be not always very refined; displaying some degree of social virtues, and acting under the influence of religious sentiments. Those who may be considered as but one degree higher in the scale than the stupid and wretched beings whose condition we have surveyed, are to be found still in the hunting and fishing state; but they are farther advanced towards social life, and are become more sensible to the impulse of social affection. By unavoidable intercourse in their employments, a few individual hunters or fishers contract a certain degree of fondness for each other's company, and are led to take some part in each other's joys and sorrows; and when the social affections thus generated (see Passion) begin to exert themselves, all the other powers of the mind are at the same time called forth, and the circumstances of the little society are immediately improved. We behold its members in a more comfortable condition, and find reason to view the human character with more complacency and respect. Huts are now built, more commodious clothes are fashioned, instruments for the annoyance of wild beasts and even of enemies are contrived; in short, arts, and science, and social order, and religious sentiment, and ceremonies, now make their appearance in the rising society, and serve to characterize it by the particular form which distinguishes each of them. But though social order is no longer unknown nor unobserved, yet the form of government is still extremely simple, and its ties are but loose and feeble. It will perhaps bear some resemblance to the patriarchal; only all its members are on a more equal footing, and at the same time less closely connected than in the shepherd state, to which that form of government forms almost peculiar. The old men are treated with veneration; but the young are not entirely subject to them. They may listen respectfully to their advice; but they do not submit to their arbitrary commands. Where mankind are in the state of hunters and fishers, where the means of subsistence are precarious, acquired, and prudent foresight does not prompt to accumulate much provision for the future, no individual can acquire comparative wealth. As soon as the son is grown up, he ceases to be dependent on his father, as well as on the society in general. Difference of experience therefore constitutes the only distinction between the young and the old; and if the old have experience, the young have strength and activity. Here, then, neither age nor property can give rise to any striking distinction of ranks. All who have attained to manhood, and are not disabled by unusual deficiency of strength or agility, or by the infirmities of old age, are on an equal footing; or if any one possess a pre-eminence over the rest, he owes it to superior S O C Society. superior address or fortitude. The whole tribe deliberate; the old give their advice; each individual of the assembly receives or rejects it at his pleasure (for the whole body think not of exercising any compulsatory power over the will of individuals); and the warrior who is most distinguished for strength, address, and valour, leads out the youth of the tribe to the chase or against the enemy. War, which in the former stage did not prevail, as they who were strangers to social sentiments were, at the same time, scarce capable of being enemies, now first begins to depopulate the thinly inhabited regions where those hunters and fishers pursue their prey. They are scattered, possibly in fealty and separate tribes, over an immense tract of country; but they know no medium between the affection which brethren of the same tribe bear to each other and the hatred of enemies. Though thinly scattered over the earth, yet the hunting parties of different tribes will sometimes meet as they range the forests; and when they meet, they will naturally view each other with a jealous eye; for the success of the one party in the chase may cause the other to be unsuccessful; and while the one catches the prey, the other must return home to all the pangs of famine. Inveterate hostility will therefore long prevail among neighbouring tribes in the hunting state.

If we find them not incapable of social order, we may naturally expect that their conduct will be influenced by some sentiments of religion. They have at this period ideas of superior beings. They also practise certain ceremonies to recommend them to those beings; but both their sentiments and ceremonies are superstitious and absurd.

We have elsewhere shown (see Polytheism) how savage tribes have probably degenerated from the pure worship of the one true God to the adoration of a multitude of imaginary divinities in heaven, earth, and hell. We have traced this idolatrous worship from that of the heavenly bodies, through all the gradations of daemon-worship, hero-worship, and statue-worship, to that wonderful instance of absurd superstition which induced the inhabitants of some countries to fall prostrate in adoration before the vilest reptiles. But though we are convinced that the heavenly bodies have by all idolaters been considered as their first and greatest gods, we pretend not that the progress through the other stages of polytheism has been everywhere in the very same order. It is indeed impossible to exhibit under one general view an account of arts, manners, and religious sentiments, which may apply to some certain period in the history of every nation. The characters and circumstances of nations are scarce less various and anomalous than those of individuals. Among many of the American tribes, among the ancient inhabitants of the forests of Germany, whose manners have been so accurately delineated by the masterly pen of Tacitus, and in some of the islands scattered over the southern ocean, religion, arts, and government, have been found in that state which we have described as characterizing the second stage of social life. But neither can we pretend that all those simple and rude societies have been described by historians and travellers as agreeing precisely in their arts, manners, and religious sentiment; or that the difference of circumstances always enables us to account in a satisfactory manner for the distinction of their characters. There is a variety of facts in the history of society in the early periods of society, which no ingenuity, no industry, however painful, can reduce under general heads. Here, as well as when we attempt to philosophize on the phenomena of the material world, we find reason to confess that our powers are weak, and our observation confined within a narrow sphere.

But we may now carry our views a little forward, and survey human life as approaching somewhat nearer to a civilized and enlightened state. As property is acquired, inequality and subordination of ranks necessarily follow: and when men are no longer equal, the many are soon subjected to the will of the few. But what and men often suffered from the precariousness of the hunting and fishing state, men begin to extend their cares beyond the present moment, and to think of providing some supply for future wants. When they are enabled to provide such a supply, either by pursuing the chase with new eagerness and perseverance, by gathering the spontaneous fruits of the earth, or by breeding tame animals—these acquisitions are at first the property of the whole society, and distributed from a common store to each individual according to his wants: But as various reasons will soon concur to convince the community, that by this mode of distribution, industry and activity are treated with injustice, while negligence and indolence receive more than their due, each individual will in a short time become his own steward, and a community of goods will be abolished. As soon as distinct ideas of property are formed, it must be unequally distributed; and as soon as property is unequally distributed, there arises an inequality of ranks. Here we have the origin of the depression of the female sex in rude ages, of the tyrannical authority exercised by parents over their children, and perhaps of slavery. The women cannot display the same perseverance, or activity, or address, as the men, in pursuing the chase. They are therefore left at home; and from that moment are no longer equals, but slaves and dependants, who must subsist by the bounty of the males, and must therefore submit with implicit obedience to all their capricious commands. Even before the era of property, the female sex were viewed as inferiors; but till that period they were not reduced to a state of abject slavery.

In this period of society new notions are formed of the relative duties. Men now become citizens, masters, and servants, husbands, parents, &c. It is impossible to enumerate all the various modes of government which take place among the tribes who have advanced to this stage; but one thing certain is, that the authority of the few over the many is now first established, and that the rise of property first introduces inequality of ranks. In one place, we shall perhaps find the community subjected during this period to the will of a single person; in another, power may be lodged in the hands of a number of chiefs; and in a third, every individual may have a voice in creating public officers, and in enacting laws for the support of public order. But as no code of laws is formed during this period, justice is not very impartially administered, nor are the rights of individuals very faithfully guarded. Many actions, which will afterwards be considered as heinously immoral, are now considered as praiseworthy or indifferent. This is the age of hero-worship, and of household and tutelary gods; for it is in this stage of society that the invention of arts, which gave rise to that worship, contributes most conspicuously to the public good. War, too, which we considered as beginning first to ravage the earth during the former period, and which is another cause of the deification of dead men, will still prevail in this age, and be carried on with no less ferocity than before, though in a more sylleptic form.

The prevalence of war, and the means by which subsistence is procured, cannot but have considerable influence on the character and sentiments of societies and individuals. The hunter and the warrior are characters in many respects different from the shepherd and the husbandman. Such, in point of government, arts, and manners, religious and moral sentiments, were several of the German tribes described by Tacitus; and the Britons whose character has been sketched by the pen of Cæsar: such, too, were the Romans in the early period of their history; such too the inhabitants of Asia Minor about the time of the siege of Troy, as well as the Greeks whom Homer celebrates as the destroyers of the Trojan state: the northern tribes also, who poured through Asia, Africa, and Europe, and overthrew the Roman empire, appear to have been of a nearly similar character. It seems to be a general opinion among those who have directed their attention to the history of society, that, in the scale ascending from the lowest condition of human beings to the most civilized and enlightened state of society, the shepherd state is the next in order above the hunting; and that as mankind improve in knowledge and in moral sentiments, and as the forests are gradually depopulated of their inhabitants, instead of destroying the inferior animals, men become their guardians and protectors. But we cannot unreservedly subscribe to this opinion: we believe, that in the shepherd state societies have been sometimes found superior to the most polished tribes of hunters; but upon viewing the annals of mankind in early ages, we observe that there is often no inconsiderable resemblance even between hunters and shepherds in point of the improvement of the rational faculties and the moral sense; and we are therefore led to think, that these two states are sometimes parallel: for instance, several of the American tribes, who fill procure their subsistence by hunting, appear to be nearly in the state which we have described as the third stage in the progress of society; and the ancient shepherds of Asia do not appear to have been much more cultivated and refined. We even believe that men have sometimes turned their attention from hunting to agriculture, without passing through any intermediate state. Let us remember, that much depends upon local circumstances, and somewhat undoubtedly on original inspiration and traditionary instruction. In this period of society the state of the arts well deserves our attention. We shall find, that the shepherds and the hunters are in that respect on a pretty equal footing. Whether we examine the records of ancient history, or view the islands scattered through the South sea, or range the wilds of America, or survey the snowy wastes of Lapland and the frozen coast of Greenland—still we find the useful arts in this period, though known and cultivated, in a very rude state; and the fine arts, or such as are cultivated merely to please the fancy or to gratify caprice, displaying an old and fantastic, not a true or natural, taste; yet this is the period in which eloquence thines with the truest lustre: all is metaphor or glowing sentiment. Languages are not yet copious; and therefore speech is figurative, expressive, and forcible. The tones and gestures of nature, not being yet laid aside, as they generally are, from regard to decorum, in more polished ages, give a degree of force and expression to the harangues of the rustic or savage orator, which the most laborious study of the rules of rhetoric and elocution could not enable even a more polished orator to display.

But let us advance a little farther, and contemplate our species in a new light, where they will appear with greater dignity and amiableness of character. Let us view them as husbandmen, artisans, and legislators, whatever circumstances might turn the attention of any people from hunting to agriculture, or cause the subdivided herdman to yoke his oxen for the cultivation of the ground, certain it is that this change in the occupation would produce a happy change on the character and circumstances of men; it would oblige them to exert a more regular and persevering industry. The hunter is like one of those birds that are described as passing the winter in a torpid state. The shepherd's life is extremely indolent. Neither of these is very favourable to refinement. But different is the condition of the husbandman. His labours succeed each other in regular rotation through the year. Each season with him has its proper employments: he therefore must exert active persevering industry; and in this state we often find the virtues of rude and polished ages united. This is the period where barbarism ends and civilization begins. Nations have existed for ages in the hunting or the shepherd state, fixed as by a kind of stagnation, without advancing farther. But scarcely any instances occur in the history of mankind of those who once reached the state of husbandmen, remaining long in that condition without rising to a more civilized and polished state. Where a people turn their attention in any considerable degree to the objects of agriculture, a distinction of occupations naturally arises among them. The husbandman is so closely employed through the several seasons of the year in the labours of the field, that he has no longer leisure to exercise all the rude arts known among his countrymen. He has not time to fashion the instruments of husbandry, to prepare his clothes, to build his house, to manufacture household utensils, or to tend those tame animals which he continues to rear. Those different departments therefore now begin to employ different persons; each of whom dedicates his whole time and attention to his own occupation. The manufacture of cloth is for a considerable time managed exclusively by the women; but smiths and joiners arise from among the men. Metals begin now to be considered as valuable materials. The intercourse of mankind is now placed on a new footing. Before, every individual practised all the arts that were known, as far as was necessary for supplying himself with the conveniences of life. Now he confines himself to one or to a few of them; and, in order to obtain a necessary supply of the productions of those arts which he does not cultivate himself, he gives in exchange a part of the productions of his own labours. Here we have the origin of commerce.

After continuing perhaps for some time in this state, as arts and distinctions multiply in society, the ex- change of one commodity for another is found troublesome and inconvenient. It is ingeniously contrived to adopt a medium of commerce, which being estimated not by its intrinsic value, but by a certain nominal value which it receives from the agreement of the society among whom it is used, serves to render the exchange of property, which is so necessary for the purposes of social life, easy and expeditious. Wherever metals have been known, they appear to have been adopted as the medium of commerce almost as soon as such a medium began to be used: and this is one important purpose for which they serve; but they have still more important uses. Almost all the necessary arts depend on them. Where the metals are known, agriculture practised, and the necessary arts distributed among different orders of artisans—civilization and refinement, if not obstructed by some accidental circumstances, advance with a rapid progress. With regard to the first applying of the precious metals as the medium of commerce, we may observe, that this was probably not accomplished by means of a formal contract. They might be first used as ornaments; and the love of ornament, which prevails among rude as much as among civilized nations, would render every one willing to receive them in exchange for such articles as he could spare. Such might be the change produced on society with regard to the necessary arts by the origin of agriculture. As soon as ornament and amusement are thought of, the fine arts begin to be cultivated. In their origin therefore they are not long posterior to the necessary and useful arts. They appear long before men reach the comfortable and respectable condition of husbandmen; but so rude is their character at their first origin, that our Dilettanti would probably view the productions of that period with unspackable contempt and disgust. But in the period of society which we now consider, they have aspired to a higher character; yet poetry is now perhaps less generally cultivated than during the shepherd state. Agriculture, considered by itself, is not directly favourable either to refinement of manners or to the fine arts. The conversation of shepherds is generally supposed to be far more elegant than that of husbandmen; but though the direct and immediate effects of this condition of life be not favourable to the fine arts, yet indirectly it has a strong tendency to promote their improvement. Its immediate influence is extremely favourable to the necessary and useful arts; and these are no less favourable to the fine arts.

One of the noblest changes which the introduction of the arts by agriculture produces on the form and circumstances of society, is the introduction of regular government and laws. In tracing the history of ancient nations, we scarcely ever find laws introduced at an earlier period. Minos, Solon, and Lycurgus, do not appear to have formed codes of wisdom and justice for regulating the manners of their countrymen, till after the Cretans, the Athenians, and even the Lacedaemonians, had made some progress in agriculture and the useful arts.

Religion, under all its various forms, has in every stage of society a mighty influence on the sentiments and conduct of men (see Religion); and the arts cultivated in society have on the other hand some influence on the system of religious belief. One happy effect which will result from the invention of arts, though perhaps not immediately, will be, to render the character of the deities more benevolent and amiable, and the rites of their worship more mild and humane.

The female sex in this period generally find the yoke of their slavery somewhat lightened. Men now become easier in their circumstances; the social affections assume stronger influence over the mind; plenty, and security, and ease, at once communicate both delicacy and keenness to the sensual desires. All these circumstances concur to make men relax in some degree that tyranny far away by which they before deprived the softer sex. The foundation of that empire, where beauty triumphs over both wisdom and strength, now begins to be laid. Such are the effects which history warrants as to attribute to agriculture and the arts; and such the outlines of the character of that which we reckon the fourth stage in the progress of society from rudeness to refinement.

Let us advance one step farther. We have not yet surveyed mankind in their most polished and cultivated in the most polite. Society is rude at the period when the arts first grefs of begin to show themselves, in comparison of that state society, to which it is raised by the industrious cultivation of literature. The neighbouring commonwealths of Athens and Lacedaemon afford us a happy opportunity of comparing this with the former stage in the progress of society. The chief effect produced by the institutions of Lycurgus seems to have been, to fix the manners of his allies and countrymen for a considerable period in that state to which they had attained in his days. Spartan virtue engaged has been admired and extolled in the language of enthusiasm; but in the same manner has the character and the condition of the savage inhabitants of the wilds of America, been preferred by some philosophers, to the virtues and the enjoyments of social life in the most polished and enlightened state. The Spartans in the days of Lycurgus had begun to cultivate the ground, and were not unacquainted with the useful arts. They must soon have advanced farther had not Lycurgus arisen, and by effecting the establishment of a code of laws, the tendency of which appears to have been in many particulars directly opposite to the designs of nature, retarded their progress towards complete civilization and refinement. The history of the Lacedaemonians, therefore, while the laws of Lycurgus continued in force, exhibits the manners and character of a people in that which we have denominated the fourth stage in the progress of society. But if we turn our eyes to their neighbours the Athenians, we behold in their history the natural progress of opinions, arts, and manners. The useful arts are first cultivated with such steady industry, as to raise the community to opulence, and to furnish them with articles for commerce with foreign nations. The useful arts cannot be raised to this height of improvement without leading men to the pursuit of science. Commerce with foreign nations, skill in the useful arts, and a taste for science, mutually aid each other, and conspire to promote the improvement of the fine arts. Hence magnificent buildings, noble statues, paintings expressive of life, action, and passion; and poems in which imagination adds new grace and sublimity to nature, and gives the appearances of social life more irresistible power over the affections of the heart. Hence are moral distinctions more carefully studied, and the the rights of every individual and every order in society better understood and more accurately defined. Moral science is generally the first scientific pursuit which strongly attracts the attention of men. Lawgivers appear before geometers and astronomers. Some particular circumstances may cause these sciences to be cultivated at a very early period. In Egypt the overflowings of the Nile caused geometry to be early cultivated. Causes no less favourable to the study of astronomy, concurred to recommend that science to the attention of the Chaldeans long before they had attained the height of refinement. But, in general, we find, that the laws of morality are understood, and the principles of morals inquired into, before men make any considerable progress in physical science, or even prosecute it with any degree of keenness. Accordingly, when we view the state of literature in this period (for it is now become an object of so much importance as to force itself on our attention), we perceive that poetry, history, and morals, are the branches chiefly cultivated. Arts are generally casual inventions, and long practised before rules and principles on which they are founded assume the form of science. But morality, if considered as an art, is that art which men have soonest and most constantly occasion to practise. Besides, we are so constituted by the wisdom of nature, that human actions, and the events which befal human beings, have more powerful influence than any other object to engage and fix our attention. Hence we are enabled to explain why morality, and those branches of literature more immediately connected with it, are almost always cultivated in preference to physical science. Though poetry, history, and morals, be pursued with no small cagerness and success in that period of society which we now consider, we need not therefore be greatly surprised that natural philosophy is neither very generally nor very successfully cultivated. Were we to consider each particular in that happy change which is now produced on the circumstances of mankind, we should be led into a too minute and perhaps unimportant detail. This is the period when human virtue and human abilities shine with most splendour. Rudeness, ferocity, and barbarism, are now banished. Luxury has made her appearance; but as yet she is the friend and the benefactress of society. Commerce has stimulated and rewarded industry, but has not yet contracted the heart and debased the character. Wealth is not yet become the sole object of pursuit. The charms of social intercourse are known and relished; but domestic duties are not yet deserted for public amusements. The female sex acquire new influence, and contribute much to refine and polish the manners of their lords. Religion now assumes a milder and more pleasing form; splendid rites, magnificent temples, pompous sacrifices, and gay festivals, give even superstition an influence favourable to the happiness of mankind. The gloomy notions and barbarous rites of former periods fall into disuse. The system of theology produced in former ages still remains: but only the mild and amiable qualities of the deities are celebrated; and none but the gay, humane, and laughing divinities, are worshipped. Philosophy also teaches men to discard such parts of their religion as are unfriendly to good morals, and have any tendency to call forth or cherish unfavourable sentiments in the heart. War (for in this period of society enough of causes will arise to arm one nation against another)—war, however, no longer retains its former ferocity; nations no longer strive to extirpate one another: to procure redress for real or imaginary injuries; to humble, not to destroy, is now its object. Prisoners are no longer murdered in cold blood, subjected to horrid and excruciating tortures, or condemned to hopeless slavery. They are ransomed or exchanged; they return to their country, and again fight under its banners. In this period the arts of government are likewise better understood, and practised so as to contribute most to the interests of society. Whether monarchy, or democracy, or aristocracy, be the established form, the rights of individuals and of society are in general respected. The interests of society are so well understood, that the few, in order to preserve their influence over the many, find it necessary to act rather as the faithful servants than the imperious lords of the public. Though the liberties of a nation in this state be not accurately defined by law, nor their property guaranteed to them by any legal institutions, yet their governors dare not violate their liberties, nor deprive them wantonly of their properties. This is truly the golden age of society: every trace of barbarism is entirely effaced; and vicious luxury has not yet begun to sap the virtue and the happiness of the community. Men live not in listless indolence; but the industry in which they are engaged is not of such a nature as to overpower their strength or exhaust their spirits. The social affections have now the strongest influence on men's sentiments and conduct.

But human affairs are scarcely ever stationary. The circumstances of mankind are almost always changing, and decline either growing better or worse. Their manners are ever in the same fluctuating state. They either advance towards perfection or degenerate. Scarcely have they attained that happy period in which we have just contemplated them, when they begin to decline till they perhaps fall back into a state nearly as low as that from which we suppose them to have emerged. Instances of this unhappy degeneracy occur more than once in the history of mankind; and we may finish this short sketch of the history of society by mentioning in what manner this degeneracy takes place. Perhaps, strictly speaking, every thing but the simple necessaries of life may be denominated luxury: For a long time, however, the welfare of society is best promoted, while its members aspire after something more than the mere necessaries of life. As long as these superfluities are to be obtained only by active and honest exertion; as long as they only engage the leisure hours, without becoming the chief objects of pursuit—the employment which they give to the faculties is favourable both to the virtue and the happiness of the human race.

The period arrives, however, when luxury is no longer serviceable to the interests of nations; when she is no longer a graceful, elegant, active form, but a languid, overgrown, and bloated carcass. It is the love of luxury, which contributed so much to the civilization of society, that now brings on its decline. Arts are cultivated and improved, and commerce extended, till enormous opulence be acquired: the effect of opulence is to awaken the fancy, to conceive ideas of new and capricious wants, and to inflame the breast with new desires. Here we have the origin of that selfishness which, operating in conjunction with caprice and the violence of unbridled passions, contributes so much to the corruption of virtuous manners. Selfishness, caprice, indolence, effeminacy, all join to loosen the bonds of society, to bring on the degeneracy both of the useful and the fine arts, to banish at once the mild and the austere virtues, to destroy civil order and subordination, and to introduce in their room anarchy or despotism.

Scarcely could we have found an example of the beautiful form of society which we last attempted to describe. Never, at least, has any nation continued long to enjoy such happy circumstances, or to display so amiable and respectable a character. But when we speak of the declining state of society, we have no difficulty in finding instances to which we may refer. History tells of the Assyrians, the Egyptians, and the Persians, all of them once flourishing nations, but brought low by luxury and an unhappy corruption of manners. The Greeks, the Romans, and the Assyrians, owed their fall to the same causes; and we know not if a similar fate does not now threaten many of those nations who have long made a distinguished figure in the system of Europe. The Portuguese, the Venetians, and the Spaniards, have already fallen; and what is the present state of our neighbours the French? They have long been a people destitute of religion, corrupted in morals, unsteady in conduct, and slaves to pleasure and public amusements. Among them luxury had arrived at its highest pitch; and the consequence has been, that after capriciously shaking off the yoke of despotism, they have established, or rather set up (for established it cannot be), a motley kind of government, which, in the course of a few years, has exhibited scenes of tyranny and oppression, to which we doubt if the annals of the world can furnish any parallel. Yet this is the people whose manners the other nations of Europe were ambitious to imitate. May those nations take warning in time, and avoid the rocks upon which they have split.

Thus have we viewed the several stages in which society appears in its progress from rudeness to refinement and decay. The intelligent reader will perceive, that the various and anomalous phenomena which occur in the natural history of society, cannot easily be solved; because the necessary information cannot be obtained. Others have been well accounted for by the researches of curious philosophical inquirers. Local circumstances, the influence of climate, the intercourse of nations in different states of civilization, have been taken notice of, as causes serving to accelerate or retard the progress of arts and manners. But our proper business here was merely to mark the gradations between barbarism and refinement: and as the painter who is to exhibit a series of portraits representing the human form in infancy, puerility, youth, and manhood, will not think of delineating all that variety of figures and faces which each of those periods of life affords, and will find himself unable to represent in any single figure all diversities of form and features; so we have not once thought of describing particularly under this article, all the various national characters reducible to any one of those divisions under which we have viewed the progress of society, nor have we found it possible to comprehend under one consistent view, all the particulars which may be gathered from the remains of antiquity, from the relations of later travellers, and the general records of history concerning the progressive character of mankind in various regions, and under the influence of various accidents and circumstances. This indeed would even have been improper, as all that information appears under other articles in this Work.