Page:A discourse upon the origin and foundation of the inequality among mankind (IA discourseuponori00rous).pdf/81



Owever important it may be, in order to form a proper Judgment of the natural State of Man, to conider him from his Origin, and to examine him, as it were, in the firt Embryo of the Species; I hall not attempt to trace his Organization thro' its ucceive Approaches to Perfection: I hall not top to examine in the animal Sytem what he might have been in the beginning, to become at lat what he actually is; I hall not inquire, whether, as Aritotle thinks, his neglected Nails were no better at first than crooked Talons; whether his whole Body was not, Bear like, thick covered with rough Hair; and whether, walking upon all-fours, (3) his Eyes directed to the Earth, and confined to a