An Essay on the History of Civil SocietyT. Cadell, in the Strand; and W. Creech, and Bill and Bradfute, at Edinburgh, 1793 - Civil society - 468 pages |
Common terms and phrases
againſt ages animofity apprehenfion arife arts becauſe beſt beſtow cafe cauſe character circumftances citizen civil confequence confideration confidered confift conftitution conqueft corruption defire difpofition diftinction diftinguiſhed effects employed enemy equally eſtabliſhments Europe exerciſe fafe fafety fame favage fecure feems feldom fenfe fentiments feparate ferve fhould fions fituation flaves fociety foldier fome fometimes force fortune fource fovereign fpecies fpirit ftate ftill fubfiftence fubject fuch fuffer fufficient fuperior fuppofed furniſh fyftem greateſt happineſs hiftory himſelf honour human increaſe induſtry intereft itſelf juftice lefs mafter mankind manners meaſure ment military mind moft monarchy moſt muft muſt nations nature neceffary numbers obferved object occafions oppofition paffions party perfonal pleaſure poffeffed poffeffion political prefent prefervation pretenfions principle profeffions progrefs purpoſe purſuits raiſed reaſon refpect Romans rude ſcene ſeparate Sparta ſtate ſtation ſtill ſtudy ſuppoſed talents themſelves theſe thofe thoſe tion underſtanding uſe virtues wealth whofe whoſe
Popular passages
Page 95 - ... in this capacity, the individual appears to be no longer made for himself. He must forego his happiness and his freedom where these interfere with the good of society. He is only part of a whole, and the praise we think due to his virtue is but a branch of that more general commendation we bestow on the member of a body, on the part of a fabric or engine, for being well fitted to occupy its place, and to produce its effect.
Page 136 - This distinction must create a material difference of character, and may furnish two separate heads under which to consider the history of mankind in their rudest state; that of the savage, who is not yet acquainted with property; and that of the barbarian, to whom it is, although not ascertained by laws, a principal object of care and desire.
Page 1 - The latter being destined to act, extend their operations as their powers increase: they exhibit a progress in what they perform, as well as in the faculties they acquire. This progress in the case of man is continued to a greater extent than in that of any other animal. Not only the individual advances from infancy to manhood, but the species itself from rudeness to civilization.
Page 92 - To the ancient Greek, or the Roman, the individual was nothing, and the public every thing. To the modern, in too many nations of Europe, the individual is every thing, and the public nothing.
Page 239 - ... minister in the acquisition of wealth, and a faithful steward in hoarding what he has gained. The statesman in this, as in the case of population itself, can do little more than avoid doing mischief. It is well, if, in the beginnings of commerce, he knows how to repress the frauds to which it is subject. Commerce, if continued, is the branch in which men committed to the effects of their own experience, are least apt to go wrong.
Page 13 - If we admit that man is susceptible of improvement, and has in himself a principle of progression, and a desire of perfection, it appears improper to say, that he has quitted the state of his nature, when he has begun to proceed ; or that he finds a station for which he was not intended, while, like other animals, he only follows the disposition, and employs the powers that nature has given.
Page 304 - Those establishments arose from successive improvements that were made, without any sense of their general effect; and they bring human affairs to a state of complication, which the greatest reach of capacity with which human nature was ever adorned, could not have projected; nor even when the whole is carried into execution, can it be comprehended in its full extent.
Page 306 - ... cultivated, while that of the inferior workman lies waste. The statesman may have a wide comprehension of human affairs, while the tools he employs are ignorant of the system in which they are themselves combined. The general officer may be a great proficient in the knowledge of war, while the soldier is confined to a few motions of the hand and the foot. The former may have gained, what the latter has lost...
Page 239 - ... are established: he becomes punctual, liberal, faithful, and enterprising; and in the period of general corruption, he alone has every virtue, except the force to defend his acquisitions. He needs no aid from the State, but its protection; and is often in himself its most intelligent and respectable member. Even in China, we are informed, where pilfering, fraud, and corruption, are the reigning practice with all the other orders of men, the great merchant is ready to give...
Page 283 - If nations actually borrow from their neighbours, they probably borrow only what they are nearly in a condition to have invented themselves. Any singular practice of one country, therefore, is seldom transferred to another, till the way be prepared by the introduction of similar circumstances.