Page:A discourse upon the origin and foundation of the inequality among mankind (IA discourseuponori00rous).pdf/277

to make the moſt gallant Armies vaniſh almoſt inſtantaneouſly from the Face of the Earth. The Number of thoſe who every every Year periſh at Sea by Famine, by the Scurvy, by Pirates, by Shipwrecks, would furniſh Matter for another very ſhocking Calculation. Beſides it is plain, that we are to place to the account of the Establiſhment of Property and of Courſe to that of Society, the Aſſaſſinations, Poiſonings, Highway Robberies, and even the Puniſhments inflicted on the Wretches guilty of theſe Crimes; Puniſhments, it is true, requiſite to prevent greater Evils, but which, by making the Murder of one Man prove the Death of two, double in fact the Loſs of the Human Species. How many are the ſhameful Methods to prevent the Birth of Men, and cheat Nature? Either by thoſe brutal and depraved Appetites which inſult her moſt charming Work, Appetites which neither Savages nor mere Animals were ever acquainted with, and which in civilized Countries could only ſpring from a corrupt Imagination; or by thoſe ſecret Abortions, the worthy Fruits of Debauch and vicious Honour; or by the Expoſition or Mur-