Page:A discourse upon the origin and foundation of the inequality among mankind (IA discourseuponori00rous).pdf/140

flow all the ſocial Virtues, which he would diſpute Mankind the Poſſeſſion of. In fact, what is Generoſity, what Clemency, what Humanity, but Pity applied to the Weak, to the Guilty, or to the Human Species in general? Even Benevolence and Friendſhip, if we judge right, will appear the Effects of a conſtant Pity, fixed upon a particular Object: for to wiſh that a Perſon may not ſuffer, what is it but to wiſh that he may be happy? Tho' it were true that Commiſeration is no more than a Sentiment, which puts us in the place of him who ſuffers, a Sentiment obſcure but active in the Savage, developed but dormant in civilized Man, how could this Notion affect the Truth of what I advance, but to make it more evident. In Fact, Commiſeration muſt be ſo much the more energetic, the more intimately the Animal, that beholds any kind of Diſtreſs, identifies himſelf with