Page:A discourse upon the origin and foundation of the inequality among mankind (IA discourseuponori00rous).pdf/235

theſe four Kinds of Inequality, perſonal Qualities are the Source of all the reſt, Riches is that in which they ultimately terminate, becauſe, being the moſt immediately uſeful to the Proſperity of Individuals, and the moſt eaſy to communicate, they are made uſe of to purchaſe every other Diſtinction. By this Obſervation we are enabled to judge with tolerable Exactneſs, how much any People has deviated from its primitive Inſtitution, and what Steps it has ſtill to make to the extreme Term of Corruption. I could ſhew how much this univerſal Deſire of Reputation, of Honours, of Preference, with which we are all devoured, exerciſes and compares our Talents and our Forces; how much it excites and multiplies our Paſſions; and, by creating an univerſal Competition, Rivalſhip, or rather Enmity among Men, how many Diſappointments, Succeſſes, and Cataſtrophes of every Kind