Would You
Prefer The State Of Men In The Woods, To That Of Men In A More
Improved Situation?
Evil preponderates in both; in the first they
often eat each other for want of food, and in the other they often
starve each other for want of room.
For my part, I think the vices
and miseries to be found in the latter, exceed those of the former;
in which real evil is more scarce, more supportable, and less
enormous. Yet we wish to see the earth peopled; to accomplish the
happiness of kingdoms, which is said to consist in numbers. Gracious
God! to what end is the introduction of so many beings into a mode
of existence in which they must grope amidst as many errors, commit
as many crimes, and meet with as many diseases, wants, and
sufferings!
The following scene will I hope account for these melancholy
reflections, and apologise for the gloomy thoughts with which I have
filled this letter: my mind is, and always has been, oppressed since
I became a witness to it. I was not long since invited to dine with
a planter who lived three miles from - - , where he then resided. In
order to avoid the heat of the sun, I resolved to go on foot,
sheltered in a small path, leading through a pleasant wood. I was
leisurely travelling along, attentively examining some peculiar
plants which I had collected, when all at once I felt the air
strongly agitated, though the day was perfectly calm and sultry.
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