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TllE NATURE AND CAUSES OF

BOOK V.

OF THE REVENUE OF THE SOVEREIGNOR COMMONWEALTH.

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CHAP. I.

Of the Expenses of the Sovereign or Commonwealth.

PART FIRST.

Of the Expense of Defence.

The first duty of the sovereign, that of protecting the societyfrom the violence and invasion of other independent societies,can be performed only by means of a military force. But theexpense both of preparing this military force in time of peace,and of employing it in time of war, is very different in thedifferent states of society, in the different periods of improve-ment.

Among nations of hunters, the lowest and rudest state ofsociety, such as we find it among the native tribes of North America , every man is a warrior as well as a hunter. Whenhe goes to war, either to defend his society, or to revenge theinjuries which have been done to it by other societies, he main-tains himself by his own labour, in the same manner as whenhe lives at home, llis society, for in this state of things thereis properly neither sovereign nor commonwealth, is at no sortof expense, either to prepare him for the field, or to maintainhim while he is in it.

Among nations of shepherds, a more advanced state ofsociety, such as we find it among the Tartars and Arabs , everyman is, in the same manner, a warrior. Such nations havecommonly no fixed habitation, but live, either in tents, or ina sort of covered waggons which are easily transported fromplace to place. The whole tribe or nation changes its situ-ation according to the different seasons of the year, as wellas according to other accidents. When its herds and flockshave consumed the forage of one part of the country, it re-moves to another, and from that to a third. In the dry season,it comes down to the banks of the rivers; in the wet seasonit retires to the upper country. When such a nation go towar, the warriors will not trust their herds and flocks to thefeeble defence of their old men, their women and children,