Quiz: An Essay on the History of Civil Society

10 questions drawn at random. Score 80% for a silver medal.

1. 1. Why does Ferguson reject the comparison of nations to individual human lives?

   Individuals do not all age at the same fixed rate Nations never decline except by foreign conquest Nations are protected by divine providence from decay A society renews its members every generation
2. 2. Why did the Persian satrap order his furs and carpets withdrawn?

   The Spartans demanded them as a tribute for peace He saw the Spartan king lying on the grass with his soldiers They were needed for a sacrifice His own king had forbidden such display to his satraps
3. 3. How does Ferguson contrast ancients and moderns?

   The ancients lacked any idea of the public good; the moderns invented it with the state To the ancients the public was everything; to many modern Europeans the individual is Both ancients and moderns valued commerce above politics and private wealth above honour The ancients were selfish and private; the moderns are public-spirited and patriotic
4. 4. What curse did hunting nations on the borders of Siberia wish on their enemies?

   To lose their horses and be forced to till the ground To be driven into the frozen sea To become merchants in a Chinese city To have to live like a Tartar, breeding and tending cattle
5. 5. What, according to Ferguson, gives laws any real effect in preserving liberty?

   The independence of a professional judiciary The influence of men resolved to be free The authority of a benevolent sovereign The precision of written statutes
6. 6. What does Ferguson conclude about natural advantages and the seat of arts and commerce?

   Moderate difficulties stimulate industry more than natural blessings Arts flourish wherever the climate is hottest Fertile land and a gentle climate are always the home of the arts Only island nations, with many harbours, can develop commerce
7. 7. Where does Ferguson say we should look for the features of Europe’s own ancestors?

   In the present state of rude nations described by travellers In the chronicles of medieval monks In the national legends of each European people In philosophical conjecture about the state of nature
8. 8. Where does Ferguson say man is sometimes found “a detached and a solitary being”?

   In the ancient Greek cities In the savage tribes of North America In a commercial state In the early Roman republic
9. 9. What did Spinola say on hearing that Sir Francis Vere had died of having nothing to do?

   That this was enough to kill a general That Vere had deserved a better death in battle That idleness was the privilege of victors That he envied Vere’s repose
10. 10. What was Athens to Sparta, in Ferguson’s image?

    A colony and dependant, subject to its laws A model of government to be copied As steel is to flint in the production of fire An ally against Persia, nothing more