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THE SPIRIT


CHAP. VIII.
The general Relation of Laws.

BOOK XVIII.
Chap. 8, & 9.
THE laws have a very great relation to the manner in which the several nations procure their subsistence. There should be a code of laws of a much larger extent, for a nation attached to trade and navigation, than for a people who are contented with cultivating the earth. There should be a much greater for these, than for a people who live by their flocks and herds. There must be a greater for this last, than for those who live by hunting.


CHAP. IX.
Of the Soil of America.

THE cause of there being so many savage nations in America is the fertility of the earth, which spontaneously produces many fruits capable of affording them nourishment. If the women cultivate a spot of land round their cabins, the maiz grows up presently; and hunting and fishing put the men in a state of complete abundance. Besides, black cattle, as cows, buffaloes, &c. succeed there better than carnivorous beasts.

We should not, I believe, have all these advantages in Europe, if the land was left uncultivated; it would produce scarce any thing besides forests of oaks and other barren trees.

CHAP.