This Strictly Conservative Principle Has Existed From Time Immemorial,
And May Perhaps Suggest To Those Ultra-Radicals Who Would Introduce
Communistic Principles Into England, That The Supposed Original Equality
Of Human Beings Is A False Datum For Their Problem.
There is no such
thing as equality among human beings in their primitive state, any more
than there is equality among the waves of the sea, although they may
start from the same level of the calm.
In a state of savagedom, the same rules of superiority which advance
certain individuals above the general level in civilized societies will
be found to exert a natural influence. Those who become eminent will be
acknowledged by their inferiors. The man who is clever and wise in
council will be listened to: the warrior who leads with courage and
judgment will be followed in the battle; the hunter who excels in
tracking up the game will be sent to the front when the party are on the
blood-track. In this way superiority will be generally admitted.
Superiority of intellect will naturally tend to material advancement.
The man of sense will gather more than the fool. That which he gathers
becomes property, which must be acknowledged by society as an individual
right that must be protected by laws.
In tribes where government is weak, there is a difficulty in enforcing
laws, as the penalty exacted may be resisted; but even amidst those wild
tribes there is a force that exerts a certain moral influence among the
savage as among the civilized:
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