ISBN: 1232247847

Paperback, [EAN: 9781232247845], RareBooksClub.com, RareBooksClub.com, Book, [PU: RareBooksClub.com], RareBooksClub.com, This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purch… Altro …

Paperback, [EAN: 9781232247845], RareBooksClub.com, RareBooksClub.com, Book, [PU: RareBooksClub.com], RareBooksClub.com, This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1820 Excerpt: ... or superiority. The capacity of improvement seems to be the same; and the talents he may afterwards acquire, as well as the virtues he may be rendered capable of exercising, depend, in a great measure, upon the state of society in which he is placed. To this state his mind naturally accommodates itself, and from it receives discipline and culture. In proportion to the wants which it accustoms a human being to feel, and the functions in which these engage him, his intellectual powers are called forth. According to the connexions which 'it establishes between him and the rest of his species, the affections of his heart are exerted. It is only by attending to this great principle, that we can discover what is the character of man in every different period of his progress. If we apply it to savage life, and measure the attainments of the human mind in that state by this standard, we shall find, according to an observation which I have already made, that the intellectual powers of man must be extremely limited in their operations. They are confined within the narrow sphere of what he deems necessary for supplying his own wants. Whatever has not some relation to these, nei ther attracts his attention, nor is the object of his inquiries. But however narrow the bounds may be within which the knowledge of a savage is circumscribed, he possesses thoroughly that small portion which he has attained. It was not communicated to him by formal instruction; he does not attend to it as a matter of mere speculation and curiosity; it is the result of his own observation, the fruit of his own experience, and accommodated to his condition and exigencies. While employed in the active occupations of war or of hunting, he often finds himself in difficult and perilous situations, f..., 5035, World, 15812171, Civilization & Culture, 3825131, Expeditions & Discoveries, 4992, Jewish, 6343224011, Religious, 16244141, Slavery & Emancipation, 15812211, Women in History, 9, History, 1000, Subjects, 283155, Books, 10399, Classics, 17, Literature & Fiction, 1000, Subjects, 283155, Books<