Repriſals, which make Nature ſhudder and ſhock Reaſon; hence all thoſe horrible Prejudices, which make it a Virtue and an Honour to ſhed human Blood. The worthieſt Men learned to conſider the cutting the Throats of their Fellows as a Duty; at length Men began to butcher each other by thouſands without knowing for what; and more Murders were committed in a ſingle Action, and more horrible Diſorders at the taking of a ſingle Town, than had been committed in the State of Nature during Ages together upon the whole Face of the Earth. Such are the firſt Effects we may conceive to have ariſen from the Diviſion of Mankind into different Societies. Let us return to their Inſtitution.
I know that ſeveral Writers have aſſigned other Origins of Political Society; as for Inſtance, the Conqueſts of the Powerful, or the Union of the Weak;
