The advantages found in history seem to be of three kinds, as they result either from the mere situation of the climate and country or from the form of government and of the character of the people, or from those finer principles and morals, which may be called the recommendations of philosophy.
You know, in the Middle Ages, in England, when you met a very poor person, that person would be described as an "unfortunate" -- literally, somebody who had not been blessed by fortune, an unfortunate.