It Is Impossible To Reduce, Or, At

In This Primitive And Abject State [of Hunters And Gatherers], Which Ill Deserves The Name Of Society, The Human Brute, Without Arts Or Laws, Almost Without Sense Or Language, Is Poorly Distinguished From The Rest Of The Animal Creation.

But The Power Of Instruction Is Seldom Of Much Efficacy, Except In Those Happy Dispositions Where It Is Almost Superfluous.

The Subject, However Various And Important, Has Already Been So Frequently, So Ably, And So Successfully Discussed, That It Is Now Grown Familiar To The Reader, And Difficult To The Writer.

The Ancients Were Destitute Of Many Of The Conveniences Of Life Which Have Been Invented Or Improved By The Progress Of Industry; And The Plenty Of Glass And Linen Has Diffused More Real Comforts Among The Modern Nations Of Europe Than The Senators Of Rome Could Derive From All The Refinements Of Pompous Or Sensual Luxury.

The Indian Who Fells The Tree That He May Gather The Fruit, And The Arab Who Plunders The Caravans Of Commerce Are Actuated By The Same Impulse Of Savage Nature, And Relinquish For Momentary Rapine The Long And Secure Possession Of The Most Important Blessings.