But, true to his firſt poſition, next to a ſtate of nature, Rouſſeau celebrates barbariſm, and, apoſtrophizing the ſhade of Fabricius, he forgets that, in conquering the world, the Romans never dreamed of eſtabliſhing their own liberty on a firm baſis, or of extending the reign of virtue. Eager to ſupport his ſyſtem, he ſtigmatizes, as vicious, every effort of genius; and, uttering the apotheoſis of ſavage virtues, he exalts thoſe to demi-gods, who were ſcarcely human—the brutal Spartans, who, in defiance of juſtice and gratitude, ſacrificed, in cold blood, the ſlaves who had ſhewn themſelves men to reſcue their oppreſſors.
Diſguſted with artificial manners and virtues, the citizen of Geneva, inſtead of properly ſifting the ſubject, threw away the wheat with the chaff, without waiting to inquire whether the evils which his ardent ſoul turned from indignantly, were the conſequence of civilization or the veſtiges of barbariſm. He ſaw vice trampling on virtue, and the ſemblance of goodneſs taking place of the reality; he ſaw talents bent by power to ſiniſter purpoſes, and never thought of tracing the gigantic miſchief up to arbitrary power, up to the hereditary diſtinctions that claſh with the mental ſuperiority that naturally raiſes a man above his fellows. He did not perceive that regal power, in a few generations, introduces idiotiſm into the noble ſtem, and holds out baits to render thouſands idle and vicious.
Nothing can ſet the regal character in a more contemptible point of view, than the various crimes that have elevated men to the ſupreme
