In the savage state there is, no doubt, much individual depravity; as great a degree of it, however, may be found in the most civilized communities. But in the latter are never witnessed that nobleness of spirit, that eloquence of thought, that force of expression, and that wonderful aspect which the former affords.
It is true, that the aggregate advantages of civil society are much greater than those of a state of nature; and how happy should we be if we could ingraft the instruction, and impress the polish of civilization upon the lofty virtues of untutored life. But, with us, courage gives place to cowardice; and the native disinterestedness of man, the source of his greatest virtues and highest happiness, yields to the calculations of meanness and fraud. Even in public life we please ourselves with the tinsel of narrow views, whilst we disregard those great principles of national policy which alone can render us truly great.
I have often been questioned as to the objects of my tour; and I am willing to gratify a reasonable and friendly curiosity. My views were various. Besides the ordinary advantages of travel, and of becoming acquainted with a country comparatively but little known, I wished to acquire the simplicity, native feelings, and virtues of savage life; to divest myself of the factitious habits, prejudices and imperfections of civilization; to become a citizen of the world; and to find, amidst the solitude and grandeur of the western wilds, more correct views of human nature and of the true interests of man. The season of snows was preferred, that I might experience the pleasure of suffering, and the novelty of danger. {7} On the second of February, 1818, I left the residence of my friends, in Hopkinton, New-Hampshire, prepared, according to the frontispiece, to meet the inclemency of the season, the hostilities either of man or beast, and also to provide myself, in the way of game, with provisions.
