But this is not the only advantage arising from the universal voracity of man. He is perhaps not directed instinctively to any species of food but his mother's milk ; beyond this all is the result of labour and expe riment. He is forced to observe the qualities of the dif ferent articles of food ; he thus becomes acquainted with their medicinal properties, and with their comparative value as means of subsistence. Those kinds which he finds most serviceable, he cultivates with care : this brings him acquainted with the properties of the soil, and the various operations of agriculture ; and thus, whilst he seems to be solely intent on satisfying the im portunate calls of hunger, he is insensibly storing his mind with varied and extensive knowledge.
And there are still more important results arising from that law which gives to man for food, " every herb bearing seed, and every tree bearing fruit, and every moving thing that liveth." Being compelled to seek what suits him best, when once he has discovered it by his ingenuity or by his labour, lie concludes with the most perfect conviction that he has a right to the fruits of his discovery. Hence the distinction of proper ty ; a distinction which could not exist were no labour necessary, and did the earth produce spontaneously suf ficient food to satisfy the appetite of hunger.
On the distinction of property depend many of the re lative duties of life, and the greater part of the political virtues. Indeed, the maxim of scum calque embraces almost all the duties which we owe to society. Thus our very wants tend to promote not only our intellec tual attainments, but to advance the moral dignity of our nature. Does any one sigh for the return of the golden age, when the earth produced spontaneously all that was necessary for the life of man ? Such a change would be in the highest degree pernicious, unless the nature of man were altered with the nature of things ; and vice and misery banished from the face of the earth. The present state of things is exactly accommodated to the present circumstances of human nature. Our very virtues %ionicl perish, were things different from what they are. Were men rendered independent of each other, by the too bountiful provision of nature, there would be no room for the tender charities of sympathy, benevo lence, and mutual assistance. In the present state of human nature, it is necessary for our improvement, that we should " eat our bread with the sweat of our brow."
The appetite of thirst also gives rise to some singular consequences, which have a very considerable effect on our moral feelings. Water is the natural beverage to which instinct directs every animal, when deprived of its mother's milk ; and thirst, when not gratified, be comes the most excruciating torment. As men, in many situations, could not readily command a supply from springs, or running streams, they would naturally look out for a substitute : this they would find in the juice of fruits and succulent herbs. In attempting to pre serve this as long as possible, they would find a singular change produced by fermentation; a change which made the liquor keep much longer, whilst it communicated to it new and pleasant qualities. A field is thus opened up for a new species of industry and ingenuity ; and also for the exercise of a new set of mot al qualities : for these newly invented liquors intoxicate, whilst they ex hilarate, and remove mental depression at the risk of in temperate excesses. It would soon, however, be found, that excessive excitement either gave birth to immoral practices, which cool reason condemned, or was suc ceeded by a corresponding depression, which more than counterbalanced the preceding elevation. This would tend to teach moderation, and would afford another op portunity of learning those lessons of temperance and self-denial, which are alike essential to virtue and to happiness.
The sexual appetite gives birth to many important consequences, moral, physical and political. It is wisely ordered, by the Author of our nature, that this feeling does not begin to operate till reason can, in some mea sure, control its excesses, and till man is enabled, by his own labour, to support his offspring. Were it to ope rate sooner, there would be an excess of population, without the means of subsistence; and the mind and body would be alike enervated, and unfitted for the at tainment of those useful qualities which are necessary for the business of life. In man this appetite gives birth to love, with all its tender associations and endearments ; a passion totally unknown to the lower animals, in its more refined sense, but which, in the human species, stimulates the mind to the most noble exertions, or en riches it with the most amiable feelings, or soothes it by the most pleasing hopes.