The persons who
composed this society had each of them cast off all control from
established principle; their trade was terror, and their constant object
to elude the vigilance of the community. The influence of these
circumstances was visible in their character. I found among them
benevolence and kindness: they were strongly susceptible of emotions of
generosity. But, as their situation was precarious, their dispositions
were proportionably fluctuating. Inured to the animosity of their
species, they were irritable and passionate. Accustomed to exercise
harshness towards the subject of their depredations, they did not always
confine their brutality within that scope. They were habituated to
consider wounds and bludgeons and stabbing as the obvious mode of
surmounting every difficulty. Uninvolved in the debilitating routine of
human affairs, they frequently displayed an energy which, from every
impartial observer, would have extorted veneration. Energy is perhaps of
all qualities the most valuable; and a just political system would
possess the means of extracting from it, thus circumstanced, its
beneficial qualities, instead of consigning it, as now, to
indiscriminate destruction.
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