little. He was, as I said, an entirely ordinary man; he would not tempt the virtue of even the most careless lady, and I suspect it would never occur to him to try. But his system of philosophy I remember, even though I am not devoted to those things, because it seemed almost as curious to me then as it must seem to poor King James now.
Where shall I begin? Where better than at the beginning? As M. Locke would hold it, in the beginning men (and perhaps women as well?) lived in what he is pleased to call the state of nature. In this state they enjoyed entire liberty; they had no magistrates, nor masters, nor servants, nor dressmakers, nor hairdressers, nor anything very interesting about which to write or converse. For lack of intriguing ways to make themselves worse, they gradually improved themselves.
Finding the fruits of such trees as were in the neighborhood no longer sufficient to the needs of their increasing numbers (for they had at least the amusement of procreation, or so I must suppose), they cultivated the land by planting fields and
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