anny; furnished with resources sufficient for his
existence, he thought not of borrowing from others; owning nothing,
requiring nothing, he judged the rights of others by his own, and formed
ideas of justice sufficiently exact. Ignorant, moreover, in the art
of enjoyments, unable to produce more than his necessaries, possessing
nothing superfluous, cupidity remained dormant; or if excited, man,
attacked in his real wants, resisted it with energy, and the foresight
of such resistance ensured a happy balance.

Thus original equality, in default of compact, maintained freedom of
person, security of property, good manners, and order. Every one
labored by himself and for himself; and the mind of man, being occupied,
wandered not to culpable desires. He had few enjoyments, but his wants
were satisfied; and as indulgent nature had made them less than his
resources, the labor of his hands soon produced abundance--abundance,
population; the arts unfolded, culture extended, and the earth, covered
with numerous inhabitants, was divided into different dominions.

The relations of man becoming complicated, the internal order of
societies became more difficult to maintain. Time and industry having
generated riches, cupidity became more active; and because equality,
practicable among individuals, could not subsist among families, the
natural equilibrium was broken; it became necessary to supply it by a
factitious equilibrium; to set up chiefs, to establish laws; and in
the primitive inexperience, it necessarily happened that these
laws, occasioned by cupidity, assumed its character. But different
circumstances concurred to correct the disorder, and oblige governments
to be just.

States, in fact, being weak at first, and having foreign enemies to
fear, the chiefs found it their interest not to oppress their subjects;
for, by lessening the confidence of the citizens in their government,
they would diminish their means of resistance--they would facilitate
foreign invasion, and by exercising arbitrary power, have endangered
their very existence.

In the interior, the firmness of the people repelled tyranny; men had
contracted too long habits of independence; they had too few wants, and
too much consciousness of their own strength.

States being of a moderate size, it was difficult to divide their
citizens so as to make use of some for the oppression of others. Their
communications were too easy, their interest too clear and simple: