duct, except in those points wherein the public requires some direction or restraint."

Caroline. You have completely removed all my scruples respecting the institution of landed property, Mrs B.-let us now therefore return to the progress of wealth and civilization.

Mrs B. We must not proceed too rapidly; for the progressive steps in the history of civilization are extremely slow, and we must learn to view the developement of human industry in successive and almost insensible degrees.

Civilized nations do not always originate from the settlement of a colony; they frequently arise from a savage state, in which they may remain during a course of centuries. It was in this state we found the Indians on the discovery of America; they were mere hunters; and so long as men behold an unlimited space before them, in which they may wander without obstacle or control, it is difficult to conceive any circumstances which should lead them to adopt a settled mode of life, and apply themselves to tillage.

In countries abounding with large plains, the pastoral mode of life has prevailed; but for this purpose there must have been established property in cattle, though the land were possessed in common. Such was the case with the ancient Scythians who inhabited the vast plains of Tartary, and with the modern Tartars and Arabs, who, to this day, are wandering tribes, and, like the patriarchs of old, live in tents, and travel about with their flocks and herds in search of pasture.

We have observed that men were by nature disposed to idleness, and this disposition is necessarily a great obstacle to the introduction of agriculture; for it requires a considerable degree of foresight and knowledge, and

102. What was the condition of the American Savages when the country was first discovered by Europeans?- -103. What is said of the ancient Scythians and the modern Tartars and Arabs ?104. What is mentioned as a natural obstacle to agriculture?

a firm reliance on the security of property, to labor at one season in order to reap the fruits at another. But we may suppose agriculture to be a progressive step from pastoral life; that a tribe of shepherds may have met with enemies in their wandering excursions, and the apprehensions of losing their flocks may have induced them to settle; they would probably choose a spot defended by nature from attacks of wild beasts, or the incursions of savage neighbors. Thus Cecrops pitched upon the rock on which the citadel of Athens is founded, to build a town. Or they may have been tempted by the attractions of some fruitful spot, under the protection of a neighboring government able to defend them. Volney, in his account of the wandering tribes in Syria, says: "As often as they find peace and security, and a possibility of procuring sufficient provisions in any district, they take up their residence in it, and insensibly adopt a settled life and the arts of cultivation." These arts they must have attained by very slow degreesthey observed that fruit trees may be multiplied; that nutritious plants may be propagated; that there are seeds which reproduce every year; and that a great variety of animals may be tamed and domesticated. Thus supplied with a new fund of subsistence, their children are better fed, their families increase, and age and infancy are protected and provided for.

But these people are yet acquainted with only the first elements of agriculture; how many fortunate chances must have occurred before they reached the important era of the cultivation of corn! Wild corn has nowhere been found, and the Greeks imagined that a divinity descended on earth, to introduce it, and to instruct them in the cultivation of this valuable plant. Athens, Crete,

105. In what manner is it supposed, that persons may go from a pastoral life, to agriculture?- -106. What is mentioned of Cecrops, illustrative of this supposition?-107. What account is given of the wandering tribes of Asia, by Volney?—-108. What opinion did the Greeks entertain concerning the first cultivation of corn?

Sicily and Egypt, all claim the merit of being the original 'cultivators of corn; but whoever are the people to whom we are indebted for this important discovery, or whatever are the means by which it was accomplished, there is none which has had so great an influence on the welfare of mankind. Feeble as it appears, this plant can resist the summer's heat and the winter's cold. It flourishes in almost every climate, and is adapted not only for the food of man, but for that of a great variety of domestic animals, and it yields by fermentation a pleasant and salubrious beverage. The grain will keep many years, and affords such a durable means of subsistence, that danger could no longer be apprehended in trusting to futurity, and plenty was secured during the longest and most unproductive winters.

But the cultivation of this inestimable plant cannot be undertaken without considerable funds, fixed habitations, implements of husbandry,* domestic animals; in a word, establishments which could neither be created nor maintained without the institution of property. Savages have no corn, no cultivation, no domestic animals; they consume and destroy every thing without considering reproduction; and how different are the results! We now see millions of men and animals inhabiting an extent of country which would scarcely have sufficed for the maintenance of two or three hundred savages.

*These are at first of a very rude and imperfect construction. In some parts of India the plough of a Hindoo, even to this day, is formed of a crooked stick very inartificially sharpened, and not unfrequently drawn by his wife. The use of domestic animals in agriculture is another step toward civilization; but no farming establishment whatever could either be created or maintained without the institution of property.

corn?

109. What nations claim for themselves the honor of being the first cultivators of it?- -110. What circumstances make corn very valuable?-111. What is necessary in order to the cultivation of -112. What is said in the note, of the use of the plough in India? -113. What comparison is made, as to the number of persons which can be supported in a savage or civilized state in the same extent of country?

Caroline. Let us rest a little, my dear Mrs B.; I am almost bewildered with the number and variety of ideas that you have presented to my mind. I wonder that these things never occurred to me before; but I have been so accustomed to see the world in its present improved state, that my attention was never drawn to the many obstacles and difficulties it must have encountered, and the laborious progressive steps it must have made before society could have attained its present state of perfection.

Mrs B. Perfection! comparatively speaking, I suppose you mean; for it is not long since you were making lamentable complaints of the actual state of society; in which indeed I could not entirely agree with you, though I think that we are still far removed from perfection. But let us continue to trace the progress of wealth and civilization up to their present state, before we begin to find any fault with existing institutions.

Caroline. I think I have now a very clear idea of the important consequences which result from the establishment of property. It puts an end to the wandering life of barbarians, induces men to settle, and inures them to regular labor; it teaches them prudence and foresight; induces them to embellish the face of the earth by cultivation; to multiply the useful tribes of animals and nutritious plants; and in short, it enables them so prodigiously to augment the stock of subsistence, as to transform a country which contained but a few poor huts and a scanty population into a great and wealthy nation.

114. Does Mrs B. think that civil institutions as they now exist are perfect?

CONVERSATION IV.

ON PROPERTY-CONTINUED.

Effects of insecurity of property.-Examples from Volney's Travels.-Objections raised against civilization.-State of Botica from Telemachus.-Objections to community of goods.-Establishment of Jesuits in Paraguay.--Moravians.--State of Switzerland.Advantages resulting from the establishment and security of property.

Mrs B.

Now that we have traced the rise and progress of civilization to the security of property, let us see whether the reverse, that is to say, insecurity of property in a civilized country, will not degrade the state of man, and make him retrace his steps till he again degenerates into barbarism.

Caroline. Are there any examples of a civilized people returning to a savage state? I do not recollect ever to have heard of such a change.

Mrs B. No, because when property has once been instituted, the advantages it produces are such, that it can never be totally abolished; but in countries where the tyranny of government renders it very insecure, the people invariably degenerate, the country falls back into poverty, and a comparative state of barbarism. We have already noticed the miserable change in the once wealthy city of Tyre. Egypt, which was the original seat of the arts and sciences, is now sunk into the most abject degradation; and if you will read the passages I have marked for you in Volney's travels, you will find the truth of this observation very forcibly delineated.

115. What does Mrs B. propose to show in this conversation?116. What question is proposed in reply by Caroline?--117. What is the reason that no civilized people have returned to a barbarous state?-118. What is the consequence in this respect where the tyranny of the government renders property insecure? -119. What countries are mentioned as instances of this?