ous, and when they are not so not a soul returns
alive. Their state of mind is peculiar. If they are defeated they
rejoice, since defeat is their chief glory; but if they are victorious
they rejoice still more in the benevolent thought that they have
conferred upon the enemy the joy, the glory, and the honor of defeat.

Here all shrink from governing others. The highest wish of each is to
serve. The Meleks and Kohens, whom I at first considered the highest,
are really the lowest orders; next to these come the authors, then the
merchants, then farmers, then artisans, then laborers, and, finally,
the highest rank is reached in the paupers. Happy the aristocratic,
the haughty, the envied paupers! The same thing is seen in their
armies. The privates here are highest in rank, and the officers come
next in different graduations. These officers, however, have the
command and the charge of affairs as with us; yet this is consistent
with their position, for here to obey is considered nobler than to
command. In the fleet the rowers are the highest class; next come the
fighting-men; and lowest of all are the officers. War arises from
motives as peculiar as those which give rise to private feuds; as, for
instance, where one nation tries to force a province upon another;
where they try to make each other greater; where they try to benefit
unduly each other's commerce; where one may have a smaller fleet or
army than has been agreed on, or where an ambassador has been
presented with gifts, or received too great honor or attention.

In such a country as this, where riches are disliked and despised, I
could not imagine how people could be induced to engage in trade.
This, however, was soon explained. The laborers and artisans have to
perform their daily work, so as to enable the community to live and
move and have its being. Their impelling motive is the high one of
benefiting others most directly. They refuse anything but the very
smallest pay, and insist on giving for this the utmost possible labor.
Tradesmen also have to supply the community with articles of all
sorts; merchants have to sail their ships to the same end--all being
animated by the desire of effecting the good of others. Each one tries
not to make money, but to lose it; but as the competition is sharp and
universal, this is difficult, and the larger portion are unsuccessful.
The purchasers are eager to pay as much as possible, and the merchants
and traders grow rich in