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About Google Book Search Google's mission is to organize the world's information and to make it universally accessible and useful. Google Book Search helps readers discover the world's books while helping authors and publishers reach new audiences. You can search through the full text of this book on the web at|http : //books . google . com/ ib 5 3öa.(o STANFORD UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES )Ogle ■■-<*<, Digitized by Google Digitized by Google Digitized by Google Digitized by Google ^. ^^^^ijl^ Digitized by Google 3bcen SoMnn Qottfrteb Berber. «— Quem u Ocu« cflc Juflit ct bumansi qua parte locatus Cf in re Difce — Pir/. Softer Zi)cil Sliga unb £eip}tg, Ifi JEto^An 8rif6ti4 ^aittno^« X 7 8 4* Title Page of Ideen zur Philosophie der Geschichte der Menschheit, First Edition Digitized by Google JOHANN GOTTFRIED v. HERDER /' Outlines of a Philosophy of the HISTORY OF MAN Translated from the German Ideen zur Philosophie der Geschichte der Menschheit by T. Churchill BERGMAN PUBLISHERS 224 WEST TWENTIfiTM STREET / NEW YORK. N.Y. 10011 Google Digitized by ^ Published by Bergman Publishers 224 West 20th Street New York, N. Y. 10011 First Published London 1800 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 66-26785 Printed in the U.S.A. Digitized by Google Outlines of a Philosophy of the HISTORY OF MAN Digitized by Google Digitized by Google THE TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. Every one, who is acquainted with Herder, mud be aware of the difH- culty, if not impoflibility, of transfufing his fpirit, his ' words that burn,' into anotlier language. To have undertaken a talk fo arduous may be deemed prc- fumption in me > and no one can be more fenfible than myfelC tliat, in the execution of it, I am far, very far from having done what I* wiflied, and what it would have been the height of my ambition to have accomplifhed. Yet I did not engage in it without the encouragement of one, who can ap« preciate the merits of Herder j who happily unites a critical knowledge of the cnglilh language with that of the german i and to whofc kindnefs I am indebted for the explanation of many paflages, and the improvement of many exprcffions, as well as fome notes diftinguiflied by the fignature F. I truft, therefore, I fhall have afforded fome gratification to the englifh reader, and added to our ftock a valuable book : for furcly all the merit of Herder, all the beauty and fublimity of his ideas, cannot be obfcured by any tranflation. For myfclf, at leaft, though laborious, it has been a pleafing toil : mary moments of bodily pain and mental anxiety has it fweetly beguiled -, and while it has made my breaft glow with the fervour of virtuous fcntiment, I have al« moft fclt myfclf the inhabitant of another world. May others feel from the perufal what I have done from the performance; and then no one, I hope, will lay down tlie book, without being able to fay, that he is a happier and a better man. LoadoD, Not. 15, 1799. Digitized by Google Digitized by Google [ y ] PREFACE. H^.fv*^ When I publißied ten years ago the little traft> entitled * Another Philo« fophy of Hiftory for the Improvement of Mankind/ this title was by no means intended to proclaim, ' ancb' h /on pit tore,' M too am a painter/ It was meant rather as a Supplement to many Supplements of the prefent Century, and the fubjoined motto, as an expreflion of humility $ implying, that the author, far from exhibiting it as a complete philofophy of the hiftory of our Ipecies, merely pointed out, amid the numerous beaten roads, that men are perpetually treading, one little foot-path, which had been negleded, and yet was probably worth ex« ploring. The works quoted occafionally in the book were fufficient, to (how the wellworn paths, from which the author wiflied to turn his fteps i and thus his eflay was intended for nothing more than a loofe leaf, a fuppleitient to fup- plements, as it^s form likewife evinced. The whole of the impreflion was foon fold, and I was encouraged to prepare a new edition ; but it was impollible, that this fhould appear before the public in it^» former ftate. I had obferved, that fbme of the ideas contained in my traä had been introduced into other works, and applied in an extent of which I had never thought. It had never entered into my mind, by employing the few figurative expreflions, the cbildboody irfancy, manhood^ and old age of our fpecies, the chain of which was applied, as it was applicable, only to a few nations, to point out a highway,. on which the Ußory of cuürvation, to fay nothing of the pbilofopfy of biflory of large, could be traced with certainty. /is there a people upon earth totally un- culdvated ? and how contrafied mu(c the fcheme of Providence be, if every in- dividual of the human (pecies were to be formed to what we call cultivation, fixr which refined weaknefs would often be a more appropriate term ? Nothing can be more vague, than the term itfelf j nothing more apt to lead us aftray, than the application of it to whole nations and ages. Among a cultivated people, what is the number of thofe who deferve this name ? in what is their preeminence to be placed ? and how far does it contribute to their happinefs ? I fpeak of the happinefs of individuals ; for that the abflra& being, the ftatc, can be happy, when all the members that compofe it fufFer, is a contradidion> cr rather a verbal illufion, evident to the flighteft view» / Digitized by Google vi PREFACE. If the book, tVierefore, would in any degree anf.ver it's tide, it muft begin much deeper, and embrace a much wider compafs of ideas. What is human happinefs ? how far does it cxift in this world ? confidering the great difference of all the beings upon earth, and cfpecially of man, how far is it to be found in every form of government, in every climate, in every change of circum- ftanccs, of age, and of the times ? Is there any ftandard of thcfe various ftates ? and has Providence reckoned on the well-being of her creatures, in all thefc fituations, as upon her ultimate and grand objeft ? All thefe queflions muft be inv^ftigatcd, they muft be unravelled through the wild whirl of ages and governments, before a general refult for mankind at large can be pro- duced. Thus we have here a wide field to traverfe, and profound depths to «xplorc. I had read almoft every thing, that was written upon the fubjeft j and from my youth every new book that appeared, relative to the hiftory of man, and in which I hoped to find materials for my grand work« was to me a treafure difcovered. I congratulated myfelf, that this philofophy became more in vogue of late years, and neglccbcd no collateral afliftance, that fortune threw into my way. An author, who produces a book« be it good or bad, in fom'e mcafure ex- hibits his own heart to the world, provided this book contain thoughts, which, if he have not invented, and in our days there is little that is new left for invention, h«has atleaft/ö«Äi, and made his own, nay which he has enjoyed for years as the property of his own heart and mind. He not only reveals the fubjefts, that have employed his thoughts ar certain periods, the doubts, that have oc- curred to perplex him in his journey through life, and the folutions, with which he has removed them i but he reckons upon fome minds in unifon with his own, be they ever fo few, to which thefe or fimilar ideas will prove of importance in the labyrinth of life ; for what elfe could excite him to turn author, and dif- clofe what occurs within his own brcaft to the eyes of a rude multitude ? With thofe he converfes unfeen, and to thofe he imparts his fentiments; ex- pefling from them in return their more valuable thoughts and inftruftions, when they have advanced beyond him. This invifible commerce of hearts and minds is the one great benefit of printing, without which it would be of as much in-- jury as advantage to a Kterary nation. The author confidcred himfelf as in a circle of thofe, who aftually felt themfeives intcrefted in the fubjeft on which he wrote, and on which he was defirous of calling forth and participating their better thoughts. This is the moft eftimable merit of authorlhipj and a man of a good heart will feel much lefs pleafure from what he (ays, than from what he excites. He who refle£ts> how opportunely this or that book, or Digitized by Google PREFACE. vii merely this or that hint in a book, has fomcdmes fallen in his way; what plca- furc it has afforded him, to perceive a diftant mind, yet aftively near to him, in liis own, or in a better track -, and how fuch a hint has often occupied him for years, and led him on ftill farther; will confider an author, who convcrfcs with him, and imparts to him his inmoft thoughts, not as one who labours for hire, but as a friend, who confidentially difclofes his yet imperfedt idens, that the more experienced reader may think in concert with him, and carry his cru- dities nearer to perfeftion. On a fubjeft like mine, /be hlftory of mankind ^ the fbilofophy of their hifloryy fuch a difpofition in the reader appears to me a prime and pleafing duty. He, who wrote it, was a man ; and thou, who rcadeft it, art a man alfo. He was liable to crrour, and has probably erred : thou haft acquired knowledge, which he did not and could not poffefs ; ufe, therefore, what thou canft, accept his good will, and throw it not afide with reproach, but improve it, and carry it higher. With feeble hand he has laid a few foundation ftones of a building, which will require ages to finilh : happy, if, when thefc ftones may be covered with earth, and he who laid them forgotten, the more beautiful edifice be but crefted over them, or on fomc other fpot ! / But I have imperceptibly wandered too far from the defign, with which I fct out, and which was, to give an account of the manner of my falling upon this fubjed, and returning to it again among other occupations and duties of a very different nature. At an early age, when the dawn of fciencc appeared to my f]ght in all that beauty, which is greatly diminiihed at the noon of life, the thought frequently occurred to me, whether^ as every thing in the werld has it's fhilofophy andjctence^ there muß not alfo he a philofopby andjcience of what concerns us moß nearly y ofthehißory of mankind at large. Every thing enforced this upon my mind ; metaphyfics and morals, phyfics and natural hiftory, and laftly reli* gion above all the reft. Shall he, who has ordered every thing in nature, faid I to myfelf, by number, weight, and meafure ; who has fo regulated according to thefe the effence of things, their forms and relations, their courfe and fub« Cftence, that only one wifdom, goodnefs, and power prevail from the (yftem of the univerfe to the grain of fand, from the power that fupports worlds and funs to the texture of a fplder's web ; who has fo wonderfully and divinely weighed every thing in our body, and in the faculties of our mind, that, when we attempt to reflcdt on the only-wife ever fo remotely, we lofe ourfclvcs in an abyfs of his purpofes $ (hall that God depart from his wifdom and good- nefs in the general deftination and difpofidon of our fpecies, and a& in thefe without a plan ? Or can he have btended to keep us in ignorance of this, while Digitized by Google vi« PREFACE, he has difplayed to us fo much of his eternal purpofes in the inferiour part of the creation, in which we are much lefs concerned ? What are the human race upon the whole but a flock without a (hepherd i In the words of the complain- ing prophet, are they not left to their own ways» as the fijhes of tbefea^ as the creeping things that have no ruler ever tbemf Or is it unneceflary to them« to know this plan ? This I am. inclined to believe : for where is the man, who dif- terns only the little purpofe of his own life ? though he fees as ftr as he is to fee, and knows fufficiently how to dired his own fteps. In the mean lime perhaps this very ignorance ferves as a pretext for great abufes. How many are there, who, becaufe they perceive no plan, peremp- torily deny theeziftence of one s or at leaft thmk of it with trembling dread, and doubting believe, believing doubt ! They conftrain themfelves not to con- fider the human race as a nefl of emmets, where the foot of a (Iranger, himfelf but a large emmet, cruflies thoufands, annihilates thoufands in the midft of their little great undertakings, where laftly the two grand tyrants of the Earth, Time and Chance, fweep away the whole neft, deftroying every trace of it's cxiftence, and leaving the empty place for fome other induftrious community, to be obliterated hereafter in it's turn« Proud man refufes to contemplate his fpecies as fuch vermin of the Earth, as a prey of all-deftroying corruption : yet do not hiilory and experience force this image upon his mind ? What whole upon Earth is completed ? What is a whole upon it ? Is not Time ordained as well as Space ? Are they not the twin offspring of one ruling power ? That is full of wifdom % this, of apparent diforder : yet man is evidently formed to feek after order, to look beyond a point of time, and to build uix>n the paft { for to this end is he furnifhed with memory and refleftion. And does not this build- ing of one age upon anotlier render the whole of our fpecies a deformed gigantic edifice, where one pulls down what another builds up, where what never Jhould have been ere&ed is left (landing, and where in the courie of time all becomes one heap of ruins, under which timid mortals dwell with a confidence proportionate to it's fragility ? I will purfue no farther this chain of doubts, and the contradiftion of man with himfelf, with his fellows, and widi all the reft of the creation : fuffice it, that I have fought for apbihßpby ofbißory wherever I could feek it. Whether I have found it, let this work, but not its firft volume *, decide. This contains only the bafis, partly in a general view of the place of our abode, * The original ii is four volumef 8to, which in the preieot tranflation are included in one ; the Tolttmea, coQuioiog five books each, wer» pablUhed fcpaxael/, and thit prefac« wai prefixed 10 the firft. T« Digitized by Google PREFACE. ix partly in an examination of the different organized beings, that enjoy with us the light of our Sun. No one, I hope, will think this courfe too long, or beginnmg at too remote a diftance : for, as there can be no other, to read the fate of man in the book of the creation, it cannot be too carefully or too exten- fively confideredy/^He, who requires mere metaphyfical fpeculations, may have them in a Ihorter way : but thcfe, unconncfted with experience and the analogy of nature, appear to me aerial flights, that feldom lead to any end. The ways of God in nature, the intentions which the eternal has afhially diiplayed to us in the chain of his works, form the facred book, the letters of which I have en- deavoured to fpell, and fhall ftill continue to do fo, mth (kill inferiour to that of a child it is true, but at Icaft with honefty and 2cal.y/Were I fo happy as to impart only to one of my readers fomewhat of that Iweec impreiTion of the eternal wifdom and goodne(s of che infcrutable creator in his operadons, which I have felt with a confidence, for which I know not a name, this feeling of af- furancc would be a lafc clew, with which in the fubfequent part of the work we might venture into the labyrinth of human hiftory. Every where the great analogies of nature have led me to religious truths, which, though I find it difficult, I muft fuppreis, fince I would not prematr.rely anticipate, but £iithfully follow ftep by ftcp that light, which every where beams upon me fi-om the hidden prefence of the creator in his works. It will be fo much the greater fadsfaftion both to my reader and to myfelf, if, as we proceed on our way, this obfcurely dawning light rile upon us at length with the Iplendour of an unclouded fun. Let no one be mifled, therefore, by my occafionally employing the term na- ture, perfonified. Nature is no real endty j but God is all in bis works: this fa- cred name, however, which no creature, that comes under the cognizance of our fcnfes, ought to pronounce without the profoundeft reverence, I was dc- firous at leafl not to abufe by employing it too frequendy, fince I could not in- troduce it with fufficient folemnity on all occafions. Let him, to whofe mind the term nature has been degraded, and rendered unmeaning, by many writers of the prefent day, conceive inflead of it that almighty power ^ goodnefs^ and wif- dovny and mentally name that invifible being, for whom no language upon Earth can find an expreilion. It is the fame when I fpcak of the organic powers of the creation: I do not imagine, that they will be confidered as occult qualities, fince their operations are apparent to us, and I know not how to give them a more pi ecife and deter- minate name. At fome future period I intend, to enter more fully into Digitized by Google X PREFACE. thcfe and other fubjeAs, at which I muft here give no more than a cuHbrjr glance. In the mean time I rejoice, that this mfantile attempt has been made in an age, when the hands of mafters have coUeded materials, and laboured in fo many particular fciences and branches of knowledge, to which it was ncceflary for me to have rccourfe. Thefe, I am afHired, will not delpi{e the exoteric attempts of one uninitiated in their arts, but improve them; for I have conftantly ob- ferved, that, the more real and firmly grounded a fcience is, fo much the lefs empty altercation occurs among them, who are attached to it and cultivate it. Verbal difputcs arc left to thofc, who are learned only in words. Moft parts of my book (how, that a philolbphy of the hiftory of man cannot yet be written, though it will probably before the end of thb chiliad, if not in the prefcnt century. Thus, great being, invifible fupreme diipofer of our race, I lay at thy feet the moft impcrfca work, that mortal ever wrote, in which he has ventured to trace and follow thy fteps. It's leaves may decay, and it's charaäcrs vanilh ; forms after forms, too, in which I have difcerned traces of thee, and endeavoured to exhi- bit them to my brethren, may moulder into duft ; but thy purpofes will remain, and thou wilt gradually unfold them to thy creatures, and exhibit them in nobler forms. Happy, if then thefe leaves (hall be fwallowed up in the ftream of oblivion, and in their ftead clearer ideas rife in the mind of man. HERDER. Weimar» April a3j 1784. Digitized by Google [ xi ] CONTENTS- BOOK I. CHAPTER. P^«- I. Our Earth is a Star among Stars ---.-.--- i II. Our Earth is one of tie mUd/e P/aftets ------- 3 III. Our Earth has undergone many Revolutions ere it became what it ftow " - - ' ' 1 IV. Our Earth is an Orby which revolves round it^s own Axis^ and in an oblique direSion towards the Sun -------- 9 V. Our Earth is enveloped with an Atmo/phere^ and is in confliä with feveral of the celeßial Bodies - - --------ij VI. The Planet we inhabit is an Earth of Mountains, rifing above the Sur- face of the IVaters 15 VII. The Direction of the Mountaim renders our two Hemifpheres a Theatre of the moß fingular Variety and Change 23 BOOK II. I, Our Earth is a grand Labor atory^ for the Organization of very diffe* rent Beings 26 II, The Vegetable Kingdom of our Earth confidered with refpedl to the Hif tory of Man - -- - - ---.-----29 III. The Animal Kingdom in relation to the Hißory of Man - - - - 35 IV. Man is a Creature of a middle kind among terreßriai Animals - - 38 BOOK III. I. The Strukture of Plants and Animals compared with regard to the Organization of Man 42 II. A Comparifon of the various organic Powers^ that operate in Animals 48 III. Examples of the phyfiolv^ical StruElure of fome Animals ' ^ ' Si IV. Of the Inßinäs of Animals 59 V. Advancement of the Creature to a combination of feveral Ideas, and to a particular freer ufe of the Senfes and JJmis 63 Digitized by Google xii CONTENTS. CHAPTER. Page. VI. Organic Difference between Man and Beaßs - - - - --67 BOOK IV. 1. Man is organized to a Capacity of Reafoning 71 II. RetrofpeSl from the Organization of the human Head to inferiour Crea^ tureSf the Heads of which approach it in Form 82 III. Man is organized for more perfeä Senf esy for the exercife of Art ^ and the ufe of Language ..--..-.--.85 Vf* Man is organized to finer InftinSlSy and in confequence to Freedom of JSfion ;• 89 V. Man is organized to the mqfi delicate State of Healthy yet at the fame time to the longefi Durability^ and to fpread over the Earth - - 95 VI. Man is formed for Humanity and Religion 98 \ll. Man is formed for the Hope of Immortality - - - • --105 BOOK V. I. A Series of afcending Forms and Powers prevails in our Earthly Creation - - - - .•--,----.• 107 II. No power in Nature is without an Organ ; but the Organ is in no In- fiance the Power itfelf that operates by it*s Means - - - - 1 1© III. The general Compofition of Powers and Forms is neither retrograde^ nor fiationaryy but progreßve 114 IV. The Sphere of human Organization is a Syftem offpiritual Powers - 117 V. Our Humanity is only Preparation^ the Bud of a future Flower - 123 VI. The prefent State of Man is probably the conne£iing Link of two Worlds 127 BOOK VI. I. Organization of the People that dwell near the North Pole - - 132 II. Organization of the Nations on the afiatic Ridge of the Earth - - 137 III. Organization of the Region of wellformed Nations 141 IV. Organization of the People of Africa 146 V. Organization of Man in the Iflands of the torrid Zone - - - - 152 VI. Organization of the Americans - -- - - ----154 VII. ConcUtfion 161 Digitized by Google CONTENTS. xiü tHAPTER. BOOK VII. Page. I. Notwithßanding the Farteties of the human Form, there is but one and the fame Species of Man throughout the Whole of our Earth - 163 II. *The one Species of Man has naturalized itfelf in every Climate upon Earth • 167 III. What is Climate f and what EffeEt has it informing the Body and Mind of Man f 172 IV. The genetic Power is the Mother of all the Forms upon Earth, Climate a^ing merely as an Auxiliary or Antagoniß - - ----177 V. Concluding Remarks on the Oppqfition between Genefis and Climate - 184 BOOK VIII, L The Appetites of the human Species vary with their Form and Climate; but a lefs brutal Ufe of the Senfes univerfally leads to Humanity - 188 II. The human Fancy is every where organic and climatic, but it is every where led by Tradition - - - - -...---194 III. The praBical Underßanding of the human Species has every where grown up under the Wants of Life \ but every where it is a Bloffom of the Genius of the People, a Son of Tradition andCußom - - aoa rV. The Feelings and Inclinations of Men are every where conformable to their Organization, and the Circumßances in which they live \ but they are every where fwayed by Cußom and Opinion - - - 208 V. The Happinefs of Man is in all Places an individual Good-, confe^ quently it is every where climatic and organic, the Offspring of PraSiice, Tradition, and Cu/iom - - ...-•••218 BOOK IX. j I. Ready as Man is to imagine he produces every thing from himfelf, he is neverthelefs dependant on others for the Developement of his Faculties - 225 II. Language is the fpecial Mean of improving Man • - - • • 231 III. All the Arts and Sciences of Mankind have been invented through Imitation, Reafon, and Language - ........239 IV. Governments are efiablifhed Regulations among Men, chiefly founded on hereditary Tradition • •- - ^•--.-. 244 Digitized by Google xW CONTENTS. CHAPTER. Page. V. Religio» is themoß aHcient and/acred Tradition upon tie Earth 251 BOOK X. I. Our Earth is an Earth peculiar/y formed for it^s animate Creation - 257 II. ff^here was the Place of the Formation andmoß ancient Abode of Man f 259 III. Hißory^ and the Progrefs of Civilization^ afford hißorical Proof s^ that the human Species originated in Afia - - •---.. 16^ IV. Afiatic Traditions on the Creation of the Earth and the Origin of the human Species - 270 V. The moß ancient written Tradition concerning the Origin of the Hißory of Man - 274 VI. Continuation of the moß ancient written Tradition concerning the Com- mencement of the Hißory of Man 280 VII. Conclußon of the moß ancient written Tradition concerning the Com- mencement of the Hißory of Man 286 BOOK XI. L China - 290 II. Cochin-China^ Tonquin^ Laos, Corea, eqftern Tatary^ Japan - - 299 III. Tibet 301 rV. Hindoßan 305 V. General Reflexions on the Hißory of thefe States 310 BOOK XII. I. Babylon, Affyria, Chaldea 318 II. Medes and Perfians ".- 324 III. The Hebrews - 329 IV. Phenicia and Carthage 336 V. The Egyptians - - - 342 VI. Farther Hints toward a Philofophy of the Hißory of Man - - - 348 BOOK XIII. I. The Situation and Peopling of Greece ""354 IL The Language, Mythology, and Poetry of Greece - - - - - 359 Digitized by Google CONTENTS. xf CHAPTER. Page. ill. The Am of the Gruhs 3^4 IV. The moral and pQlitkalWiJdom of the Greeks 370 V. Scientific Acquirements of the Greeks 377 W. Hißory of the Revolutions of Greece 384 VII. General Reflections on the Hiftory of Greece 391 BOOK XIV. I. Etrufcans and Latifts 39* II. The Difpofitions of Rome for afovereign political and military State - 404 III. Omquefis of the Romans -•-•410 IV. The Decline of Rome ----- - 416 V. CharaBery Sciences^ and Arts of the Romans 423 VI. General Reflexions on the Hißory and Fate of Rome - - - - 431 BOOK XV. I. Humanity is the End of human Nature y andy with this Endy God has put their own Fate into the Hands of Mankind 43* II. All the deftruSive Powers in Nature mufi not only yield in the Courfe of Time to the maintaining Powers y but muß ultimately be fubfervient to the Confummation of the Whole - 443 III. The human Race is defiined to proceed through various Degrees of Ci- vilization, in various Mutations ; but the Permanency of it's IVel- fare is founded folely and effentially on Reafon and Jufiice - - 450 IV. From the Laws of their internal Nature y Reafon and Jufiice mufi gain more Footing among Men in the Courfe of Time, and promote a more durable Humanity - - 457 V. A wife Goodnefs difpofes the Fate of Mankind^ therefore there is no nobler Merity no purer and more durable HappinefSy than to co- operate in it's Defigns - 4^^ BOOK XVU I. BafqueSf Gael^ Ö Cimbri - - » « - 469 II. FlnSy Lettomans, and Prußans - ---.---. 475 III. German Nations 477 IV. SUman Hatitm -• 4** Digitized by Google %A CONTENTS. CHAPTER. Page. V. Foreign Nations in Europe - • --.-..••• 484 VI. General Refle5lions and Deductions - -• 487 BOOK xvn. L Originof Chrißianity^ with the fundamental Principles it included • 492 II. Propagation of Ckrißianity in the Eaß - .-...-. joo III. Progrefs of Chri/Hanity in the Grecian Countries ------ ^09 IV» Progrefs of Chri/lianity in the Latin Provinces - • - - - - 517 BOOK XVIII. I. Kingdoms of the Vifigoths^ Sueves, Alatis^ and Vandals - - - 525 11. Kingdoms of the Oßrogoths aud Lombards 531 III. Kingdoms of the Allmans, BurgundianSy and Franks • - • - 538 IV. Kingdoms of the Saxons f Normans^ and Dafies 545 V. The Northern Kingdoms, and Germany - ------552 VI. General View of the It\ßituiions of the German Kingdoms in Europe - 557 BOOK XIX. I. Komijh Hierarchy --. 564 II. Effeä of the Hierarchy on Europe 571 III. Temporal Protestors of the Church 576 IV. Kingdoms of the Arabs - - -.-• ^82 V. EffeSs of the Arabian Kingdoms 590 VI. General Reflexions - - - - 597 BOOK XX. J. The Spirit of Commerce in Europe - 599 II. Spirit of Chivalry in Europe -.- - ------ 605 III. The Croifades and their Confequences ---612 IV. Cultivation of Reafon in Europe -- 620 V. Inßitutions and Dijcoveries in Europe 627 VI. CmulufioB 631 Digitized by Google Outlines of a Philosophy of the HISTORY OF MAN Digitized by Google Digitized by Google PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY^ BOOK I. CHAPTSK I. Ottr Earth is a Star among Stars. IF our philofophy of the hiftory of man would in any meafure deferve that name, it muft begin from Heaven. For as our place of abode, the Earth, is of itfelf nothing, but derives it's figure and conllitution, it's faculty of forming oigauiz^ beings, and preferving them when formed, from thofe heavenly powers, that pervade the whole univerfe ; we muft firft confider it not fingly by itfelf, but as a member of that fyflem of worlds, in which it is placed. It is bound l3y eternal invifible bonds to it's centre, the Sun i from which it derives light, heat, life, and vigour. Without this Sun, we can no more conceive our pla* netary (yftem, than a circle without a centre. With it, and that beneficial power of attra&ion, with which the eternal Being has endued it and all matter, we perceive the planets formed in it's domain, according to fimple, beautiful, and mafterly laws, jocundly and inceflantly revolving on their axes, and round one common centre, in fpaces proportionate to their magnitudes and denfities ; nay, by the fame laws round fome of them moons are formed to revolve. No- thing fo much exalts the mind, as this contemplation of the grand ftrufture of the univerfe ; and never, perhaps, did human thought attempt fo bold a flight, and in part with (uccefs, as when in Copernicus, Kepler, Newton, Huygens, and Kant*, it conceived and confirmed the fimple, eternal, and perfedt laws of the formation and motion of the planets. * Kant's Jllgenuitit Naturgefcbichtt una The- Cofmological Letters, without being acquainted «rrV äu Himmeh, • General Natural Hiftoiy and with the book; and Bode, in his Ktenntnifs dn Theory of the Heavens/ Koenigfl). and Leipf. Himmels^ * Knowledge of the Heavens, haj 1755 ; a work mach lefs known, than it deferves. introduced fome of Kant*s conjedkures with re- Lambert bat exprefled fome ilmilar ideas in his ipedful mention. Digitized by Google 2 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book L It is Hemflerhuls, if I remember right, who laments, that this fublime fyftem has by no means had fuch an qSc&, on the circle of our ideas, as it would have had on the minds of mankind in general, had it been eftabliflied with mathe- matical accuracy in the times of the greeks. We, for the moft part, content ourfelves with viewing the Earth as a grain of fand moving in that great abyfs, where the Earth fulfils her courfe round the Sun, this Sun with thoufands more round their common centre, and probably yet many other fuch fyftems of funs in feparate fpaces of the heavens ; till at length both the underftanding and the imagination are loft in this fea of immenlity and eternal magnitude, and find neither exit nor end. But this barren aftonifliment, in which we are abforbed, is furely not to be reckoned the nobleft or moft durable effeft. To Nature, in herfelf all-fufEcient, the grain of fand is not of lefs value than an immeafurable whole : (he determines the points of fpace and of exiftence, where worlds Ihall be formed ; and in each of thefe points (he as wholly is, with the in- divi(ible fiilnefs of her power, wifdom, and goodnefs, as though no other point of creation, no other earthly atom cxifted. When I open the great book of the univerfe, and fee be£>i:e me that immenfe palace, which the Deity alone can fill in every part j I reafon as clofely as I can from the whole to it's parts, and from it's parts to the whole. It was one and the (ame power» that created the refplendent Sun, and preferves this grain of (and in it's orbit ; the fame power, that caufed a galaxy of funs to revolve probably round the Dog- ftar, and that afts on this earthly ball in the laws of gravitation. When I per- ceive, that the place occupied by our Earth in this temple of funs, the path defcribed by it in it's courfe, it's magnitude, it's mafs, and every thing thereon depending, are determined by laws, that aA throughout infinity : J muft not only be fatisfied with the place allotted me, and rejoice, that I am fo enabled to perform my part in the harmonious choir of beings innumerable, unle(s I would madly revolt againft omnipotence ; but it will be my nobleft occupa- • tion, to inquire what in this allotted place I ought to be, and what in all probability I can be in it alone. If, in what feems to me the moft limited and inconfiftent, I find not only traces of the great creative power, but an evident connexion of the minuteft things with the plan of the creator in immen(ity ; the beft quality of my rea- fon, ftriving to imitate God, will be to purfue this plan, and adapt itfelf to the divine mind. On the Earth therefore would I not feek an angel of Heaven, a creature mine eye has never feen ; but I would find on it inhabitants of the Earth, human beings, and would with all fatis&dion receive what our great Digitized by Google Chap. I.] Our Earth is a Star among Stars. 3 mother produces, fupports, nouriflics, endures, and finally receives into her bofom with affeftion. Other Earths, her fillers, may probably boafl and enjoy fuperiour creatures: fuffice it there lives on them, what on them can live. My eye is framed to fupport the beams of the Sun at this diftance, and no other; my ear, for this atmofpherej my body, for a globe of this denfity ; all my fenfes, from, and for, the organization of this Earth : to which alfo the aftions of my mental &culties are adapted. Thus the whole fpace and fphere of aftion of my fpecies is as precifely determined and prefcribed, as the mafs and courfe of the Earth, on which my life is to be fpent : and thence too in many languages man derives his name from his parent Earth. The greater the fphere of harmony, goodnefs, and wifdom, to which my pa rent belongs i the more fublime and fixed the laws, on which her being, and that of all other worlds, depend ; the more I perceive, that in them all proceeds from one, and one fubferves all; the more firmly too find I my fate en- chained, not to the dufi: of this Earth, but to the invifible laws by which this Earth is governed. The power, which thinks and adts in me, is, from it*s nature, as eternal as that, which holds together the Sun and the ftars : it's organs may wear out, and the fphere of it*s adtion may change, as earths wear away, and ftars change their places ; but the laws, through which it is where it is, and will agun come in other forms, never alter. It's nature is as eternal as the mind of God ; and the foundations of my being (not of my corporeal frame) are as fixed as the pillars of the univerfe. For all bebg is alike an indivifible idea; in tlie greateft, as well as in the leaft, founded on the fame laws. Thus the ftrufture of the univerfe confirms the eternity of the core of my being, of my intrinfic life. Wherever or whatever I may be, I (hall be, as I now am, a power in the univerfal fyftem of powers, a being in the inconceivable harmony of fome world of God. CHAPTER II. Our Earth is one of the middle Planets. The Earth has two planets. Mercury and Venus, below it; above it are Mars, perhaps another concealed from us beyond it, Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus, and whatever others there may be, before the regular fphere of adtion of the Sun is loft, and the eccentric orbit of the laft approaches the wild ellipfes of the comets. As in place, (b in magnitude, and in the proportion and du- ration of it's revolution on its own axis and round the Sun, it is a being of a Digitized by Google 4 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book I. middle kind j each extreme, the greateft and the leaft, the fwiftcft and the iloweft, are remote from it on either fide. Convenient as the fituation of our Earth is, before that of other planets, for an aftronomical view of the whole *, yet it would be highly gratifying, could we have a nearer infpeftion but of a few of the members of this magnificent fiimily of ftars. A journey through Jupiter, Venus, or merely our own moon, woxdd give us fuch an infight into the formation of our Earth, which fprung from the fame laws, into the relation the people of our Earth bear to the organized beings of other worlds, and, perhaps, into our future deftination ; that from the conftruftion of two or three links, we might more boldly infer the progrefs of the whole chain. But Nature, by whom are fixed limits we are not to pafs, has denied us this near infpedion. We fee the Moon, and contemplate it's vaft mountains and caverns; we behold Jupiter, his eccentric revolutions, and his belts; we ob- ferve the ring of Saturn, the ruddy light of Mars, the fofter beams of Venus ; and thence we boldly conjefture, what right or wrong we fancy we perceive. In the diftances of the planets we obferve proportion ; and we have formed probable conclufions of the denfities of their mafles, with which we have fought to make their movements and their revolutions accord. All this, however, we have done, as mathematicians merely, not as natural philofophcrs ; for we have no middle term of comparifon between them and our Earth. The proportion of their magnitudes, rotations, orbits, &c. to their folar diftance, has not yet pointed out any formula capable of explaining their natures from one and the lame law of cofmogony : ftill lefs do we know how far each planet is advanced in it's formation j and leaft of all have we any conception of the organization and circumftances of it's inhabitants. The dreams of Kircher and Swedenboi^g» the pleafantries of Fontenelle, the conjeftures of Huygens, Lambert, and Kant, each marked with it's peculiar features, prove, that of thefe we can know nothing» we muft know nothing. Whether we make our fcale afcending or defccnding; whether we place the more perfeft beings near the Sun, or remote from it ; allis but a dream, which our inability to enter into the varieties of the planets will ftep by ftep deftroy, and ultimately reduce us to this conclufion ; that every where, as here, fimplicity and variety prevail ; but that the limits of our underftanding, and our point of view, afford us no meafure, by which to eftimatc their advance- ment or retrogreffion. We are not in the centre, but in the throng; like other worlds we float with the ftream, and have no ftandard of comparifon. If, however, we venture, from our flation to form a fcale afcending to the • KjBlhier*s Eulogy of Aftranomy, in the Hmb. Mä^m^ vol i, p. ao6^ and foUowlng. Digitized by Google Chap. II.] Situation of our Earth. $ Sun, the fourcc of light and life in our creation, and defcending from it; to our Earth will belong the ambiguous golden lot of mediocrity, which for our confolation at leaft we may confider as a happy mean. While Mercury revolves round his axis, and experiences the viciffitude of day and night, in about fix hours ; completes his year in eighty-eight days ; and is fix times as ftrongly enlightened by the Sun as our Earth : while Jupiter, on the other band, takes eleven years and three hundred and thirteen days, to accomplifh his extenfive courfe round the Sun, though his day and night take up lefs than ten hours : while old Saturn, to whom the folar light is a hundred times weaker, fcarcely performs his journey round the Sun in thirty years, yet revolves on his axis in about feven hours: we middle planets, Mars, Venus, and the Earth, are of a middle nature. Our days vary little from each other, though they are as different firom thofe of the reft, as our years are in an oppofitc proportion. The day of Venus is about twenty-four hours long; that of Mars, not twenty-five. The year of the former confifts of two hundred and twenty four days; that of the latter, of üx hundred and eighty feven, though he b three times and a half lefs than the Earth, and more than half as ias again from the Son. When we proceed to the reft, the proportions of their magnitudes, revolutions, and diftances, differ widely from each other. Thus Nature has placed us on one of the three middle planets ; in which, as a mean degree and more moderate proportion with refped: to time and fpace apparently prevail, a middle order of beings may be fuppofed to dwell. In us the relation of matter to mind is probably proportionate to the length of our days and nights. The celerity of our thoughts is probably as the revolutions of our planet round itfelf, and round the Sun, to thofe of other ftars: as our fenfes arc evidently adapted to the organization of our ELarth. On each fide, we may prefume, there are the greateft divergencies. So long then as we live on this Earth, let us reckon only on the mean earthly under- ftanding, and ftill more equivocal human virtues. Could we behold the Sun with the eyes of Mercury, and fly on his wings : were the flow pace, and ample orbit of Saturn, or Jupiter, given us, with the fame revolutionary fwiftnefs : or, capable of enduring the utmoft extremes of heat and cold» could we ride on the hair of a comet through the wide regions of Heaven : we might (peak of other minds and powers, than thofe proportioned to the middle courfe of humankind. But now, being where and what we are, let us remain true to this middle courfe : it is probably adapted with pitcifion to the term of our exiftence. Digitized by Google 6 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book I. It muft fire the foul of the moft indolent mortal, to conceive himfclf in any way enjoying the riches of creative nature now denied us : to imagme, that probably, after we have attained the fummit of the organization of our planet» it may be our lot, it may be the progrefs of our fate, to traverfe others of the ftars ; or that it may be our ultimate deilination, to aflbciate with all the perfefted creatures of fo many and fo various kindred worlds. As our thoughts and faculties evidently fpring only from our earthly organization, and ftrivc to change and improve themfelves, till they have attained all the purity and pcrfedtion, that our creation can impart ; if we may prefume to reafon from analogy, the fame muft take place in other ftars : and who can conceive the glorious harmony, when beings fo varioufly formed all tend to one point *, and impart to each other their experiences and perceptions ? Our underftanding is a terreftrial underftanding, gradually fafliioned by the things around us, that make themfelves.perceptible to our (enfes : fo is it alfo with the impulfes and propenfities of our hearts : to another world their external helps and obftacles are in all likelihood unknown. But will their refults alfo be unknown ? Certainly not ! all the radii tend to the centre. The pure underftanding muft be every where underftanding, from whatever fenfible objefts it has been deduced : the energies of the heart will every where have the fame capacity, that is virtue, on whatever objedts they may have been exercifed. Thus here, too, probably the greateft variety tends to uniformity, and all-comprehenfive nature will have one point, in which the nobleft exertions of fo many beauteous creatures unite, and the flowers of all worlds are coUefted into one garden. Why fliould not that, which is phyficdly united, be fpiritually and morally united too ? Since fpirit and morals are alfo phyfical, and obey, only in a fuperiour fphere, the-fame laws, all of which ultimately depend on the folar fyftem. Might I be permitted, to compare the general conftitutions of the feveral planets, in refpeft to their organization and the lives of their inhabitants, with the various colours of a ray of light, or the various notes of the gamut : I would fay, that probably the light of the one Sun of truth and goodnefs ftrikes differently on each planet. But while one Sun illumines them all, and they all revolve in one plane of creation ; it is to be hoped, they will all approach nearer and nearer to perfcftion, each in his own way, till at length, after various changes they • Of the fan, as % probably habitable body« Berlin» Bifchaftlg, dtr Btrlinfiben Gefiii/cbaft fee Bode'i Thoughts on the Nature of the Sun, Natmforßbtndar Frnrndt^ vol. ii, p, 125. in the Tranfadtions of the Phyfical Society of Digitized by Google Chap. II.] Situation of our Earih y all unite in one fcbool of the good and beautiful. At prefent let us be only men ; that is, one colour, one note, in the harmony of our ftars. If the light we enjoy may be compared to the mild green colour, let us not confider ourfelves as the pure light of the Sun, and take our uudcrftaodings and wills for the fupports of the univerfe : for we, with this our Earth, and every thing upon it, evidently form but a fmall fragment of the great wliole. CHAPTER III. Our Earth has undergone many Revolutions ere it became zvhat it now is, 1 H E truth of this propofition is evident, from what appears on the furface of the Globe, and juft beneath it.j farther than which man has not yet penetrated. Water has overflowed it, and formed foflile ftrata, mountains, and valleys : fire has raged, burft the fhcU of the Globe, raifed tip mountains, and thrown out the melted entrails of the Earth : air, enclofed in the Earth, has excavated it, and afTifted the eruption of the powerful element of fire : winds have exercifed their fury on it's furface, and a ftill more powerful caufe has changed it's zones. Much of this has happened in times, when organized and living beings already exifted : and indeed in many places more than once, at longer or fliorter intervals ; as petrified animals and plants almofl: every where, at the greateft heights, and at extreme depths, fufficiently prove. Many of thefe revolutions prefume an Earth already formed, and may be deemed therefore, with probability, accidental : others appear effential to the Elarth, and were the original caufes of it's form. Of neither clafs of them, between which it is not eafy to draw the line, have we yet a complete theory. We liave little reafon indeed to expeft a theory of thofe, which I have termed accidental ; for they are as it were of an hiftorical nature, and may depend on too many trifling local caufes : but of the eflential and primitive revolutions of our Earth I could wifli the theory might be difcovered before I die. I even hope it will : for though the obfervations made in different parts of the Globe are far from being fufficiently accurate and comprehenfive ; ftill the principles eftablifiied, and remarks made by natural philofophers, and the experiments of chemifts and mineralogifts, feem to me to approach the point, where fomc fortunate ken may unite different fciences, and elucidate one by another. Buffon, with his bold hypothefes, is certainly but the Des-Cartes of this branch of knowledge, whom foon a Kepler or a Newton will outfbrip and confiite by Digitized by Google 8 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book L unfophifticated concotdant (aßts. The new difcoveries, that have been made refpeding heat, light, fire, and then: various efieds on the compofition, refb- lution, and conftituent parts of terreftrial fubftances ; the fimple principles, to which the eledric matter, and in fome meafure the magnetic, are reduced ; ap- pear to me, if not near approximations, at leaft confiderable advances, which will in time enable fome happy genius, by the aid of fome conneAing idea, to explain ourgeogony on principles as fimple as thole, to which Kepler and Newton have reduced the folar fyftem. How great a ftep would it be, could many powers of nature, hitherto deemed occult qualities, be thus referred to phyfical properties, the fubjedts of demonftration ! Be this as it may, {lill it is undeniable, that here too Nature purfues her grand courfe, and produces the greateft variety from an infinitely progreffive fimpltcity. Before our air, our water, our earth, could be produced, various reciprocally diflTolving and precipitating ßamina were neceflary : and how many folutions and converfions of one into another do the multiferious fpecies of earths, ftones, and cryftallizations, and of organization in (heUs, plants, animals, and, laftly, in man, prefuppofe ! as Nature ftill every where produces all things from the fined and moft minute j and, while öic reckons not by our eftimation of time, imparts the moft copious abundance with the ftrifteft regard to eco- nomy; this fecms, even according to the Mofaic tradition, to have been her courfe, when (lie laid the firft foundations of the creation, or rather of the fi^r- niation and evolution of creatures. The mafs of adtive powers and elements, from which the Earth was formed, contained, probably, as a chaos, all that was to be, and could be, on it* At ftated periods, air, fire, water, the earth, arofe from thcfe fpiritual and material ßamina. Various combinations of water, air, and light, muft have taken place, before the feeds of the firft vegetable organ- ization, of mofs perhaps, could have appeared. Many plants muft have fprung up and died, before organized animals were produced i and among thefe, infefts and birds, aquatic and nodurnal animals, muft have preceded the more perfeft animals of the land and the day ; till finally, to crown the organization of our Earth, Man, the microcosm, arofe. He, the fon of all the elements and beings, their choiceft fummary and the flower of the creation, could not but be the laft darling child of Nature ; whofe formation and reception various evo- lutions and changes muft have preceded. Still it was natural, that he Ihould fee many ; for as Nature never refts from her work, and yet lefs negleös or poftpones it in favour of a fondling ; the drying up and falhioning of the Earth, internal flame, external floods, and all their confequences, muft have occurred often, for a long time after man dwelt Digitized by Google Chap. III.] Revoltaions of our Earth. 9 on it's furfiice. Even our ancient written traditions fpeak of fuch revolutions i and we (hall hereafter fee the powerful effedb» thefe fearful phenomena of old times have had on almoft the whole of the human race. Such ilupendous com- motions are now more rare, as the Earth is perfeäed, or rather grown old : but never can we, or our habitation, be totally exempt from them. Very unlike the conduft of a philofopher was tlie complaint made by Voltaire at the cataftrophe of Li(bon, on account of \n Iiich he almoft blafphemouily arraigned the Deity himfelf. Are not we ourklvcs, and all that belong to us, including even our habitation the Earth, indebted to the elements? And when thefe, agreeably to the ever-ading laws of nature, periodically roufe and claim their own; when fire and water, air and wind, which have rendered our Elarth habitable and fruitful, proceed on their courfe and defbroy it ^ when the Sun, after having long warmed us with paternal care, foflered all living beings, and linked them to 1ÜS cheering vifage with golden bands, ultimately attra^b into his fiery bofom the fuperannuated powers of the Earth, which fhe can no longer renovate and uphold ; what more happens, than the eternal laws of wifilom and order re* quire } In a fyftem of changeable things, if there be progrefs, there muft be deftruftion : apparent dcfbru^ion, that is ; or a change of figures and forms. But this never afieds the interiour of nature, which, exalted above all deftruc- tion, continually rifes as a phenix firom it's aflies, and blooms with youthful vigour. The formation of this our abode, and all the fubftances it can produce, muft have already prepared us for the firailty and mutability of the hiilory of man ; and the more clofely we infpedt it, the more clearly do thefe unfold themfelves to our perception. CHAPTER IV. Our Earth is an ort, which revohes round it*s own axis, and in an oblique direßion towards ihe Sun. Asa fphere is the moft perfeft figure, containing the greateft furface with the leaft mafs, and including the greateft variety in the mofl beautiful fim- plicity ; our Earth, and all the planets and funs, have been projefted by the hand of Nature as orbicular bodies, fimple, yet full« abundant, without wafte. The multifarious variety, that aftually exifls on our Earth, is aftonifhing; but flill more aftonifhing is the unity, that pervades this inconceivable variety. It is a mark of the profound northern baibarity, in which we educate our children. Digitized by Google 10 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book I. that we give them not from their infancy a deep impreffion of this beauty, this uniformity and variety of our flarth. May my book go a little way toward the difplay of this grand profpeA, which ftnick me forcibly the moment I began to think for myfelf, and firft launched me on the wide ocean of free inquiry. It will be facred to me as long as I behold the circumambient Heaven above me, and this all-including felf-encircling Earth beneath my feet. It is inconceivable how men could fo long fee the (hadow of their Earth in the Moon, without being deeply fenfible, that every thing on it's circumference is wheel, is change. Who, that had ever feriouily confidered this figure, would have gone about to have converted a whole world to a verbal faith in phiiofbphy or religion, or to murder men for it with blind but holy zeal i Every thing on our EbiÜl is the variation of a fphere ; no point refembles another, neither he- mifphere is like the other s eaft and weft are as oppofite as north and fouth. It fliows a narrownefs of mind, to confider this variation merely witli refpeft to latitude, becaufe, perhaps, with regard to longitude it is lefs evident, and to divide the hiftory of man into climates,, according to an old ptolomean fyftem. To the ancients the Earth was lefs known; at prefent we are better ac- quainted with it, than to take a general view and eftimation of it merely by north and fouth parallels. On the Earth all is change ; it admits no feftions, none of the neceffitous divifions of a globe or a chart. While the ball revolves, heads revolve on it as climates, manners and religions as difpofitions and garments. In it there is unfpeakable wifdom : not that every thing is fo multifarious, but that every thing on this round ball is fo in unifon. In this law : to cßcGt many thmgs in one, and to combine the greateft variety with an unconlbrained uniformity : confifts the height of beauty. Nature has faftcned a gentle weight to our feet, to give us this uniformity and (lability : in the material world it is called gravity, in the immaterial in- dolence. As every thing prefTes toward a centre, and notliing can leave this World, for it depends not on our will, even whether we fhall live and die on it, or not ; fo Nature draws our minds from infancy with flrong chams, each to it's own, that is to it's Earth j for what have we at bottom, that is properly our own, but this ? Every one loves his country, his manners, his language, his wife, his children; not becaufe they are the beft in the World, but becaufe they are abfolutely his own, and he loves himfelf and his own labours in them. Thus men accuftom themfelves to the moft indifferent food, the hardeft way of life, the rudeft manners of the rudeft climate, and find in them pleafure and content. Even the birds of paflage build their nefts in the places where they Digitized by Google Chap. IV.] ^he EartVs Rotation. 1 1 were born ; and the wildeft country has often the moft attradtive ties for the race of men, by which it is inhabited. Aik we then, where is the country of man ? where the central point of the Earth ? Every where, the anfwer may be : here, where thou ftandeft : be it near the icy pole, or direöly under the burning Sun of the Ime. Wherever men can live, and they can live almoft every where, there live men« As the great parent of all could not produce an eternal uniformity on our Earth \ no- thing remained, but to create the utmoft variety, and form man of proper ma- terials to endure it. Hereafter we (hall perceive a beautiful fcale, according to which, as the organization of a creature is more elaborate, it*s capacity for fup- porting various dates, and adapting itlelf to each, is increafed. Of all thefe changeable, modifiable, adaptable creatures, man is the moft adaptable : the whole Earth is made for him ; he for the whole Earth. If, then, we would philofophife on the hiftory of our fpecics, let us rejed, as ftr as poffible, all narrow modes of thinking, taken from the conftitution of one region of the Earth, the dodkrines of a fingle fchool. Let us confider as the purpofe of Nature, not what man is with us, or what, according to the notions of fome dreamer, he ought to be \ but what he is on the Earth in general, and at the fame time in every region in particular ; or to what the copious variety rf circumftances in the hand of Nature can any where felhion him. We will not (eek for him any favourite form, any favourite region ; wherever he is, he is the lord and fervant of Nature \ her moft beloved child, and at the fame time perhaps her moft rigidly fubjugated ilave. Advantages and difadvantages, evils and difeafes, as well as new kinds of enjoyment and the fuUnefs of blifs, every where await him \ and as the die turns up thefe circumftances and conditions, fb is he. By an eafy mean, though to i» inexplicable. Nature has not only promoted this variety of creatures upon the Earth, but has fixed and limited it's extent. This mean is the obliquity of the Earth's axis to the Sun's equator : which arifes not from the laws of rotatory motion \ for Jupiter has it not, his axis ftanding perpendicular to his orbit \ Mars has it but in a irnall degree ; while Venus again has it very acute; and Saturn, with his ring and his moons, lies fidelong to the Sun. What an infinite variety of feafons and folar influences is thus oc- cafioned in our fyftem ! Here too our Earth is a favoured child, a middle af- fociate : the angle in which flie is inclined is not yet four-and-twenty degrees. Whether this were always fo, is not for us at prefent to inquire; fuffice it, that io it now is. This unnatural, or at leaft to us inexplicable angle, is become Digitized by Google 12 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book I. proper to it, and has not changed for fome thoufands of years • ; thus it fccms ncceflary to what the Earth, and the human fpecics upon it, muft now be. For this obliquity of the ecliptic conftitutes changeable zones, which render the whole Earth habitable, firom the pole to the equator, and from the equator to the pole. The Earth muft have a regular inclination, that regions, which would otherwife lie in cinunerian cold and darknefs, may behold the beams of the Sun, and be fitted for oiganization. As the hiftory of the Earth from the remoteft times informs us, that the difference of the zones has had confiderable in- fluence on all the revolutions of the human mind and it's operations -, for neither from the torrid nor the frigid zones have thofe effedts ever been produced, to which the temperate zones have given birth : we fee with what fine traits the finger of omnipotence has defcribed and encircled all the changes and fhades on the Globe. Had the Earth's inclmation to the Sun differed but a little from what it is, every thing on it would have been different. Thus here, too, fuitable variety is the law of the plaftic art of the Creator of the World. It was not fufEcient for him, that the Earth was divided into light and (hade, and human life into day and ni^t : the year of our exiftence alfo was to vary, and only a few days were left for us in it's autumn and winter. Hence were determined the length or fhortnefs of himian life, the meafure of our faculties, the revolutions of our different ages, the changes of our occupa« tions, phenomena, and thoughts, the nullity or duration of our refolves and ads : for all thefe, we Ihall find, are ultimately conncfted with the fimple hw of the viciffitude c( days and feafons. Did man live longer, were the powen, the end, the enjoyment, of his life, lefs changeable and diffufed, did not Nature uige him fo periodically with all the phenomena of the feafons; man's empire on the Earth would not be fb extenfive; and ftill lefs would the complicated fcenes, that hiftory now difplays, be produced ; but in a more circumfcribed habitation, our vital powers would probably operate more intimately, ener- getically, and firmly. At prefent the words of the Preacher are the fymbd of our Earth : There is a time for all things s winter and fummer, fpring and fall, youth and age, labour and reft. Under our oblique fun every adlion of man refembles the revolutions of the feafons. • From the obfervations of different allro- the time of Ptolomjr« at the rtte of about two nomeri, it hat been inferred, that the obliquity of auntttet and half of a degree in a COitary. T. the ecliptic ia regvlarly decretfing, at kift fince Digitized by Google [ 13 I CHAPTBR V. Our Earth is enveloped with an atmofphere^ and is in cwfliR with fever al of the cekßial bodies. We are of fuch a complicated ftrufture, afummary of almofl: every fpecic» of or- ganization on the Earth, the primitive conftituent parts of which were all probably precipitated from the ether, and paffed from the invifible to the vifible world, that we are incapable of breathing pure air. When our Earth firft began to be, the air, in all likelihood, was the magazine, that contained the powers and materials, which formed it. And is it not fo dill ? How many things, heretofore unknown, have been difcovered of late years, aU of which a6t through the medium of the air ! The eledtric matter, and the magnetic fluid ; phlogiflon, and the acidify* ing principle ; cold-engendering falts, and, perhaps, the particles of light, which the Sun may ferve only to fet in motion 5 all thefe are powerful inflruments of Nature's operations on the Earth ; and how many more yet remaun to be dif- covered! The ur fecundates and diflblves; it abforbs, ferments, and pre- cipitates. Thus it fcems to be the mother of tcrreftrial creatures, as well as cf the Earth itfelf ; the general vehicle of things, which it receives into it's bo- fom, and s^n loofes from it's embrace. It needs not to be demonfbrated, that the influence of the atmofphere co- operates in the mofl (piritual determinations of all the creatiu^s upon Earth : with the Sun it (hares the government of this globe, which it formerly created. What an imiverfal difference would have taken place, had our air pofl[eflred a different degree of elaflicity and gravity, of purity and deniity ; had it pre- cipitated another water, another earth \ and had it otherwife influenced the or- ganization of bodies ! Undoubtedly this is the cafe with other planets, formed in other regions of the air ; and thence all the notions we can form of their fubftances and phenomena from thofe of our Earth muft be altogether un- certain. Prometheus was creator here ; he formed bodies from foft precipitated clay, and drew firom above as many fparks of light and intelleftual power, as were attainable at this diftance from the Sun, and in a mafs of this particular Ipecific gravity. The dificrence between men too, as well as between all the other produftions of the terrcftrial globe, muft be regulated by the fpecific difference of the me- dixmi, in which, as in the organ of the deity, we live. This refpefts not merely the divifion of the zones according to heat and cold, or merely the lightnefs or Digitized by Google 14 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY, [Book I, weight of the atmofphcre, that prcflcs on us ; but infinitely more the various aAive immaterial powers, that operate in it» nay, probably conftitute all it's qua- lities and phenomena. How the eledkric and magnetic ftrcams flow round our Earth ; what vapours and exhalations afcend in this place or in that ; whether they tend ; into what they are converted ; what organizations they produce j how long they fuftain them ; and how they diflblve them ; all evidently afFed the conftitution and hiftoiy of every race of men : for man, like every thing clfe, IS a nurfling of the air, and in the whole circle of his exiftencc is the brother of all the organized beings upon Earth. It feems to me, we fhould approach a new world of knowledge, if the obfer- vations, which Boyle, Boerhaave, Hales, S'Gravcfande, Franklin, Prieftley, Black, Crawford, Wilfon, Achard, and others, have made on heat and cold, on eleftricity, and on the different fpecies of air, with other chemical principles 9 and if their influence in the mineral and vegetable kingdoms, and on men and animals, were coUedked into one natural fyflem. If in time thefe obfervations fliould become as multifarious and general, as the increafing knowledge of va- rious regions and produftions of the Earth would allow, till the growing ihidy of nature fliould eflablifli as it were an univerfally diffufed free academy, whicli fliould obferve, with divided attention, but with one regard to truth, certainty, utility, and beauty, the influence of thefe principles in this place and that, on one fubjeä and another ; we fliould ultimately obtain a geographical aerology, and fee this great hothoufe of Nature operating a thoufand changes by the fame fundamental laws. Thence would the formation of man, in body and in mind, be explained to us ; and we fliould be enabled to finifli the pidurc, of which we have at prefent but a few, though clear, outlines. But the Earth is not alone in the univerfe : other celcftial beings, therefore, operate on it's atmofphere, on this great rcpofitory of adtive powers. That globe of eternal fire, the Sun, governs it with his beams. The Moon, that pon- derous gravitative body, that probably hangs even within it's atmofphere, preflcs on it at one time with her cold and dark furfiice, at another with her face warmed by the Sun. Now flie is before, then behind it : at one time flie is nearer the Sun, at another farther off. Other celeftiial bodies approach the Earth, prefs on it's orbit, and modify it's powers. The whole fyftem of the heavens is a ftrifc of fimilaf or diflimilar orbs, propelled with great force toward each other; and nothing but the one great idea of omnipotence alone could balance thefe pro- pelling powers, and uphold them in the conflid. Here too, in the wide la- byrinth of contending powers, has the human underftanding found a clew, and almoft performed miracles ; guided principally by the irr^ular Moon, propelled Digitized by Google Chap. V.] Our Earth em>eloped with an Atmofphere^ 15 by two oppofite forces» aad fortunately placed fo near us. Were all thefe ob- iervations» and their itfults» once to be applied to our aerial orb, as they have ah-eady been to the ebb and flow of our ocean ; were the induftry of many years to proceed» in various places of the Earth» aflifted by delicate inftruments» part of which are already invented» to reduce to order» and connect in one whole» the revolutions of this celeftial fea» according to time and place ; I am of opi- nion, qßrology would appear anew among our fciences in the moft relpe&able and ufeful form ^ and what Toaldo began» what De Luc» Lambert» Mayer» Beckmann» and others» have promoted by the eftablifliment of principles or collateral helps» probably a Gatterer would complete» and aflurcdly with a com- prehenfive view of geography and the hiftory of man. Be this as it may» we are» and we grow» we wander and toil» under or in a fea of celeftial powers» part of which we have obferved» and of part of which we have formed conjedbures. Since air and weather have fo much power over us» and the whole Earth ; in all likelihood it was here an eleftrical fpark» that (hot more pure into this human being ; there a portion of inflammable matter» more forcibly comprefled into that ; here a mafs of mere coldnefs and ferenity ; there a foft» mollifying» difluiive eflence i that determined and produced the greateft epochs and revolutions of humankind. The omniprefent eye» under which this clay alfo is fafliioned according to eternal laws» can alone pomt out to every elementary atom, every emitted fpark» every ethereal ray» in this world of phy- flcal powers» it's place, it's time» and it's fphere of aftion» to mix and qualify it with oppofite powers. CHAPTER VI. The planet we inhabit is an Earth of mount ains^ rifing above the Jurface of the waters. Th I s is confirmed by a fimple infpedlion of a map of the World, which exhibits chains of mountains» not merely tiaverfing the dry land, but evidently appearing to conftitute the fkelcton, on which the land was formed. In America the moun- tains run along the wcftern coaft through the ifthmus. They proceed obliquely, as does the land : where they penetrate more Interiourly» the land grows wider, till they are loft in the unknown regions of New-Mexico. It is likely» that here they not only proceed higher up to mount Elias, but are alfo laterally conneded with others, particularly the Blue Mountains, as in South America» where the Digitized by Google i6 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book L land is broader» and the mountains run northward and eaftwaid] Thus Arne- rica» even according to it*s figure» is a ftripe of earth appended to it's moun- tains, and formed more level» or more deep, according to their declivity. The other three quarters of the Globe prefent a more complicated aipeft» as their great outline forms in faft but one whole ; yet it requires no great exer- tion to perceive» that the protuberant {pine of ACa is the Item of the mountains» that fpread over that quarter of the Globe» over Europe» and probably over Africa» or at lead it's fuperiour part. Atlas is but a continuation of the afiatic mountains» acquiring a greater height in the middle of the country» and in aU likelihood conne&ing itfelf with the Mountains of the Moon» by means of the chains of mountains near the Nile. Whether thefe Mountains of the Moon be fuiEciently high and broad» to be deemed aAually one of the (pines of the Earth» futurity mull determine. The extent of the country, and fome imperfedk ac- counts» give room for fuch a conje&ure ; but the proportionate paucity and fmallnefs of thofe rivers of this quarter of the Globe» with which we are ac- quainted, prevent us from determining them to be a true girdle of the Earth» as the Ural of Afia, or the Cordilleras of America. But it is enough for our purpofe, that in thefe regions alfo the land is evidently fafliioned by the moun- tains. It is every where extended parallel to thefe ; and wherever the moun- tains fpread and branch out» there alfo fpreads the land. This remark is equally valid in the promontory, the ifland» and the peninfula : the land ftretches out it's arms and limbs, wherever the Skeleton of mountains is ftretched out ; it is» therefore» only a diverfified mafs» formed on this flceleton in various ranges and layers» that ultimately became habitable. Thus the produdtion of the firft mountains determined how the Earth fliould cxift as dry land. They feem as it were the ancient nuclei» or buttrefles» of the Earth, on which the air and water only deposited their burdens» till at length a place for vegetable organization was laid down» and (pread out. Thefe mod ancient chains of mountüns are not capable of being explained by the rotation of the Globe : they are not in the region of the equator» where the orbicular motion is moft powerful; they are not even parallel to it ; mdeed the american chain paflTes diredtly acrofs the equator. From thefe mathematical circles» therefore, we can feek no light ; particularly as the loftieft mountains and chains of mountMns, compared with the moving mafs of the Globe, are reduced to an infignificant nothing. I deem it, therefore, not fit, to fubftitute an analogy with the equator and meridians in the names of chains of mountains» as there Is no true connexion between them» and it may tend to introduce erroneous ideas. It is from their original form, generation» and extenfion» from their Digitized by Google Chap. VI.] Our Planet an Earth ofMountahu. t'j height and breadth, in (hort from a phyficallaw of Nature^ that their formation, and with it the formation of the firm land, is to be explained. But whether fuch a phyfical law of Nature be difcoverable \ whether they be as rays from one centre, as branches from one ftem, or as angular horfefhoes ; and what rule of formation they had, when they protuberated as bare mountains, as the fkeleton of the Earth ; are important queftions, that remain to be folved, and of which I much wi(h to fee a fatis&Aory folution. I fpeak not here of hills formed by alluvion, but of the firft frmdamental and primitive mountains of the Earth« Suffice it, that the land ftretched itfelf out, juft as the mountains arofe. Afia was firfl habitable, as it pofTefled the higheft and broadeft chains of mountains, and on the ridge a plain, which the fea never reached. Here too, in all likeli* hood, was, in fome happy valley, at the foot of the embofoming mountains, the firft feleft habitation of man. Thence his progeny extended fouthwards in the pleafant and fertile plains, that bordered the ftreams ; while northwards harder races were formed, who roved between the rivers and mountains, and in courfe of time fpread themfelves weftward even as far as Europe. Troop followed troop ; one people preffed forward another ; till at length they arrived at a fea, our Baltic, over which part crofled, while another part turned off, and occupied the fouth of Europe. But other colonies, other troops of people, proceeding from Afia fouthwards, had already fettled themfelves here ; and hence, by dif- ferent and fometimes oppofite ftreams of men, this corner of the Earth was peopled fo thickly as we now fee it. At length more than one people, being hardly prefled, retired into the mountains, and relinquifhed the plains and open country to their conquerors : hence, almoft throughout the whole World, we meet with the moft ancient remains of nations and languages, either on moun- tains, or in the nooks and corners of the land. There is fcarce an iiland, fcarce a country, where the plains are not occupied by a foreign people of more recent date, while the more ancient and uncultivated nation has concealed itfelf among the hills. From thefe hills, on which they have retained their ruder way of life, they have often, in later times, effefted revolutions, involving the inhabitants of the plains to a greater or lefs extent. India, Perüa, China, and even the weftern countries of Alia, nay Europe itfelf, protedled as it has been by it's arts and the divifion of it's lands, have more than once felt the fcourge of overwhelming armies defcending from the mountains : and what has happened on the great ftage of the World has been no lefs frequent in fmaller circles. The mahrattas in the fouth of Afia, the wild mountaineers in many different iflands, and here and there in Europe the remains of the ancient brave inhabitants of the hilly countries, have made various incurfions on the plains, and, when they could not Digitized by Google i8 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY» [Book T. be conquerors, have become robben. In (hort, the great mountainous ridges of the Earth feem, as they were the firft habitation of the human race, to be the grand repofitories of the inftruments of it's revolutions and coniervation. As they diflxibute water to the Earth, fo alfo diftributc they people : as from them fountains arife, fo fprings from them the fpirit of bravery and freedom» when the gentler plains are funk beneath the yoke <^ laws, arts, and vices. The heights of Afia are even now the rendezvoxis of people for the moft part uncul- tivated : and who can tell what parts they are placed there to overwhelm and renovate in future ages ? Of Africa we know too little, to form a judgment of the prefTurc and pro- pulfion of it's people. The higher countries, as appears from the races that inhabit them, were certainly peopled from Afia; and Egypt probably obtained it's cultivation from the fame quarter, not from the higher ridges of it's owft firm land. It has been overrun, however, by the ethiopians ; and on many of it's coafts, beyond which we know nothing of the country, we hear of ir» ruptions of the favage people of the mountainous parts. The gagas or jages are famous as cannibals in the ftrifteft fenfe of the word ; and the caffres, and the people beyond Monomotapa, are faid not to be infcriour to them in bar» barity. Indeed here, fimilarly to what we obferve every where clfe, the pri» mitive favage races appear to inhabit the Mountains of the Moon, which occupy the wideft fpace of the interiour country. However old or recent the population of America may be, Peru, the mofl cultivated flate of this quarter of the Globe, is feated direftly at the feet of the higheil of the Cordilleras ; but only at their feet, in the pleafant and temperate vale of Quito. The wild nations ftretch along the mountains of Chili to Pa- tagonia. The other chains of mountains, and the interiour part of the country in general, are little known to us -, yet enough to confirm the pofition, that upon and amidfl the mountains, ancient manners, original barbarifm, and free- dom, dwell. Moft of thefe people are yet unconquered by the fpaniards, who are thcmfelves forced to give them the appellation of los bravos. The cold re- gions of North America, as well as of Afia, are to be confidcred as a wide range of mountains, both with tefpe<5t to climate, and the manners of their inha«> bitants. Thus Nature ftretched the rough but firm outline of the hiftory of man and it's revolutions, with the lines of mountains (he drew, and the ftreams (he let flow from them. How people here and there broke out, and di^rovered farther land ; how they (brctched along the (breams, and eredled huts, villages, and towns, in fruitful places; how they mtrenchcd thcmfelves as it were between Digitized by Google Chap. VI J Our Planet att Earth cf Mountains. 19 mountains and delerts, a river, perhaps, in the midft, and called the fpot, (epa« fated by nature and their occupancy, now their own ; bow hence, according to the circumftances of the place, various modes of life, and ultimately kingdoms vofe, till at length men reached the coaft, and from the generally unfruitful flioK invaded the fea, and learned to procure from it their food i belongs as properly to the natural progre(s of the hiftory of man, as to the phyfical hiftory of the Earth. One height produced nations of hunters, thus cherilhing and rendering neceflary a favage ftate : another, more extended and mild, afforded a field to the fliepherd, and aflbciated with him inoffenfive animals : a third made agriculture eafy and neceflary : while a fourth led to fifhing, to naviga- tion, and at length to trade. The ftrufture of our Earth, in it's natural variety lUid diverfity, rendered all thefe diftinguilhing periods and ftates of man un- avoidable. Thus in many parts of the Earth manners and cuiloms have re« cnained unchanged fome thoufands of years : in others they have altered, com* monly from external caufes, yet always according to the land from which the «Iteration came, and to that in which it happened, and on which it operated. Seas, mountains, and rivers, are the moil natural boundaries of nations, man- ners, languages, and kingdoms, as well as of the land : and, even in the greateft revolutions of human affairs, they have been the direäiing lines or limits of the hiftory of the World. Had the mountsuns rifen, had the rivers flowed, or had the coaft trended otherwife, how very differently would mankind have been fcattered over this tilting-place of Nature ! I (hall fay but few words refpe&ing the fliores of the fea : they form a ftage as ample, as the afpeft of the firm land is great and diverfified. What has ren« dered Afia fo uniform m manners and prejudices, and peculiarly the firft fchool of nations, and the place where they were formed ? Firft, and chiefly, it's beii^ fuch a great extent of firm land, in which people not only fpread themfelvci with eafe, but remain long, and ftill connefted with each other, whether they will or not. North and fouth Afia are fq>arated by great mountains ; but no ibi divides their ample fpace : the Cafpian alone remains at the foot of Caucafus, a remnant of the primitive ocean. Here tradition eafily found it's way, and might be ftrengthened by new traditions from the fame or other regions. Here every thing ftruck a deep root ; religion, filial reverence, defpotifm I The nearer we are to Afia, the more are thefe, as ancient, eternal habits, at home 5 and not- witbftanding the variations between different countries, they are fpread over the whole of the fouth of Afia. The north, which is feparated from thb by lofty mountains, as by a wall, has formed it's many nations differently : yet in ipite of all the varieties between the feveral people, a like degree of uniformity per- Digitized by Google 20 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book J, vades the whole. Tatary, the moft immenfe region of the Earth, fwarms with nations of different pedigree, all of whom are nearly at the fame degree of culti- vation : for no fea feparates them : they all wallow on one great north-inclining plain. On the other hand, what a difference is produced by the Red Sea, fmall as it is ? The abyffinians are an arabian race, the egyptians an afiatic people : yet quite another world of manners and cuftoms appears among them. The like is difplayed in the lowermofl: corner of Afia. What a difference does the narrow gulf of BaiTora make between the perfians and arabs! How diflinft are the malays from the people of Cambodia, from whom they are feparated by the little gulf of 9iam ! The manners of the inhabitants of Africa evidently differ little, for they arc feparated by no fee or gulf, and probably by defcrts alone. Hence, too, foreign nations have been able to make lefs impref&on on it i and to us, who have wormed ourfelves into almoft every hole, this vafl quarter of the Globe is little better than unknown ; merely becaufe it is no where deeply in* dented by the fea, and fpreads itfelf as an inacceffible gold-country in one broad patch. America is fo full of little nations, probably, becaufe it is fo broken and inter« fefted, north and fouth, with rivers, lakes, and mountains. From it's fituation, alfo, it Is externally of all lands the moft accef&ble, as it confifls of two penin« iulas, conneAed only by a narrow ifthmus, where a deep bay forms an archipe- lago of iflands. Thus it is all coafl as it were; and hence thepofleffionof al- mofl all the maritime powers of Europe, and in war the apple of contention. This fituation was favourable for us european plunderers : while it's internal divifions were unfavourable for the impro\'ement of it's ancient inhabitants. They dwelt too much feparated from one another by lakes and rivers, abrupt heights and precipices, for the culture of one region, or tie old ward of the tra- dition of their fathers, to eflablifh and extend itfelf as in the widefpread Afia. Why is Europe diflinguiflied by the variety of it's nations, it's multifarious manners and arts, but flill more by the influence it has had on all parts of the World ? I know well there is a combination of caufes, that we cannot here trace feparately : but phyCcally it is inconteflible, that it's interfefted, multi- form land has been one occafionsd and contributive caufe. As the people of Afia migrated hither by various ways, and at various times, what bays and gulfs, what numerous rivers flowing in different courfes, and what alterations of little rows of mountains, found they not here ! They might be together, yet feparatei a& upon one another, and again live in peace : thus this fmall multifidous part of the World was in miniature the market place, the throng, of all the people Digitized by Google Chap. VL] Our Planet in Eartk of Momitains. tt upon Earth. The Mediterranean alone has fo much influenced the charadter of all Europe» that we may almoil call it the medium and propagator of all the cultivation of antiquity and the middle age. The Baltic comes greatly behind it, as it lies far more to the north, between ruder nations and lefs fruitful lands, as a by-lane of the mart of the Earth : yet k is the eye of all the north of Eu- rope. But for it, moft of the adjacent lands would be barbarous, cold, and un« inhabitable. The like effeA has the gap between Spain and France, the chan- nel between France and England, the figures of Britain, Italy, and ancient Greece. Change the outlines of tbefe countries, here take away a ftrait, theic block up a channel ; the formation and devaftation of the World, the fate of whole regions and people, would proceed for centuries in a different courfc. Secondly, If it be aiked, why, befide our four quarters of the Globe, there is not a fifth, in that vaft ocean, in which one had long been confidently prefumed to exift ; the anfwer is pretty well determined by h&s : in that deep fea there is no primitive mountain high enough to create an extenfive firm land. The afiatic mountains terminate in Ceylon with Adam's- Peak, and in Sumatra and Borneo with the ridges from Malacca and Siam ; as do the afncan at the Cape of Good-Hope, and the american in Tierra del Fuego. Thence the granite, the fundamental pillar of the firm land, declines into the deep, and never more appears above the furface of the fea in high ridges. Throughout the great ex- tent of New Holland there is not a fingle chain of mountains of the firfl order. The Philippines, the Moluccas, and the reft of the fcattcred iflands, are all of the volcanic kind only ; and many of them have ftill volcanoes. The ful- phurous pyrites may here have performed it's part, and contributed to the for- mation of the fpice-gardens of the World, which it's fubterranean heat probably continues to render Nature's hothoufe. The coral infefts alfb do what they can *, and produce, perhaps in fome thoufands of years, the little ifles, that appear as points in the ocean : but the powers of this fouthern region extend no farther. Nature has defigned this vail fpace for a great abyfs of water : which was effentially requifite to the habitable land. If once the phyfical law of the formation of the primitive mountains of our Earth were difcovered, and with it that of the form of our land, we fliould perceive the rcafon, why the fouth pole could have no fuch mountains, and confequently no fifth quarter of the Globe. Even were there one j muft it not, from the prefent conftitution of our atmofphere, remain uninhabitable ; and be, like the Sandwich Iflands and flioals of ice, the hereditary domain of fcals and penguins ? * See Fozfter*! Obrervadons, Btmnkun^en, (sTr., p. 126 and following. Digitized by Google ftt PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book L Tliirdly, fince we are here contemplating the Earth as a theatre of the biftory of man, it is evidently far better, from what has been faid, that the Cre- ator fliould have eftabliflied fomc yet undifcovered law for the formation of mountains, than to have made it dependent on the rotatory motion of the Earth. Had the equator, and the greater velocity of the Earth underneath it, given oc- cafion to the origin of mountains ; the firm land would have ftretched along it in it*s extremeft breadth, and occupied the torrid zone, which the fea now in great meafure cools. This too would have been the central point of the hu- man fpecies, dire&ly in the region moft debilitating both to the mental and corporal faculties ; if indeed the prefent conftitution of things in general on the Earth could have found place. Beneath the intenfc heat of the Sun, the mod violent explofions of eleftric matter, the wmds, and all the jarring viciffitudes of weather, would have driven men from the place of their birth and education, and compelled them to retire towards the cold fouthern zone, clofe bordering on the fervid region of the Earth, or towards tlie gelid north. But the father of the World chofe a more favourable fpot for our origin. He placed the chief trunk of the mountains of the old world in the temperate zone, and the moft cultivated nations dwell at it's foot. Here he gave mankind a milder climate, and with it a gentler nature, and a more variegated place of education : thenco he let them wander by degrees, flrengthened and well inftruded, into hotter and colder regions. There the primitive races could at firft live in peace, then gra- dually draw off along the mountains and rivers, and become inured to ruder climates. Each cultivated it's little circle, and enjoyed it, as if it had been the univerfe. Neither fortune nor misfortune fpread itfelf fo irrefiflibly wide, as if a probably higher chain of mountains under the equator had commanded the whole northern and fouthern world. Thus the Creator of the World has ever ordained things better than we could have direfted ; and the irregular form of our Earth has efieded an end, that greater regularity could never have accom- plilhed« Digitized by Google r ^3 1 CHAPTER Vir. Tie direSm of the mountains renders our two hemtfpheres a theatre (fthc moßfingular variety and change. xl E R B alfo I continue to purfue the afpeft of the general niap of the World» In Ada the mountains ftretch along the greateft breadth of the land, and their toot is nearly in it's middle : who would fuppofe, that in the oppofite hemi-* fphere they would ftretch juft in a contrary direftion through the greateft length ? Yet fo it is. This alone renders the two divifions of the World totally different. The high land of Siberia, not only expofed to the cold north and Aorth-eaft winds^ but cut off from the warming fouth by the primitive moun« tains covered with eternal fnow, muft be as piercingly cold» even in many of it*g Ibuthern parts, particularly when the faline nature of it's foil in feveral places is confidered, as we know from defcription it is \ except where other rows of thefe mountains could (heiter it from the (harper winds, and form more temperate vales. But what beautiful regions extend themfelves immediately beneath thc(e mountains, in the midft of Afia ! Thefe walls protedk them from the benumb- ing winds of the north, and leave them only the cooling breeze. On this ac- count Nature changed the courfe of the mountains to the fouth, and let them run longitudinally through both the peninfulas of Hinduftan, Malacca, Cey- lon, &c. By giving the two (ides of this country oppofite feafons, and regular alternations^ (he rendered them the fineft di(brifts on the Earth. With the chains of mountzuns in the interiour part of Africa we are little acquainted : yet we know, that they interfeft this quarter of the Globe alfo both in it's length and in it's breadth, and probably contribute much to cool it's middle. In America again what difference ! Northward the cold north and north- weft winds blow a long way down the land, their courfe unbroken by a (Ingle moun- tain. They come from the wide regions of ice, which have hitherto oppo(ed every attempt to traverfe them, and which may with propriety be termed the ftill unknown ice-nook of the World. Thence they ftretch over extenfive tradls of frozen land, till the climate begins to grow temperate under the Blue Moun- tains : ftill however with fuch fudden tranfitions from cold to heat, and from heat to cold, as in no other country ; probably becaufe throughout the whole of this northern peninfula there is no firm conne&ed wall of mountains, to fend off winds and ftorms, and limit their dominion. In South America on the Digitized by Google 24 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY- [Book L other hand the winds blow from the ice of the fouth pole, and find, inftcad of a fcreen to break their force, a chain of mountains to guide them from fouth to north. The inhabitants of the middle regions, pleafant as they naturally arc, muft often fink into laflitude from the heat and wet produced by the two op- pofing powers, did not the gentle breeze from the mountains or the iea cool «nd refrelh the land. If now we contemplate the fteep elevation of the land, and it*s uniform moun- tainous ridge, the difference between tlie two hemifpheres will be ftill more ftriking and perfpicuous. The Cordilleras are the loftieft mountains in the world : the Alps of Switzerland are little more than half their height. At their feet the Sierras, themfelves high mountains compared with the furfacc of tiie fea or the deep abyfs of the vales *, extend in long rows. Merely to tra- Terfe them occafions fymptoms of naufea and fudden proftration of ftrength ia men and beafts, unknown in the higheft mountains of the old world. At the feet of thefe the country properly begins : and this in mod places how level, how abruptly parting from the mountains ! At the eaftem foot of the CordiK leras extends the great plain of the River of Amazons, fingle in it's kind ; as the Peruvian chains of mountains, which likewife remain unfellowed. That river, which at length increafes to a fea, has not an inclination of two-fifths of an inch in the courfe of a thoufand feet j and a man may travel over a fpace equal to the greateft breadth of Germany, without being advanced a fingle foot above the level of the fea +. The mountains of Maldonado, on the River of Plate, are of no importance compared with the Cordilleras ; fo that the whole eaftem part of South America is to be confidered as a vaft plain, which for thoufands of years muft have been expofed to inundations, morafles, and all the inconveniencies of the loweft lands, and is ftill in fome meafure liable to them. Here too the giant and the dwarf ftand fide by fide, the wildeft heights with the profoundeft depths of which any country on Earth is capable. In the fouthern part of North America it is precifely the lame. Louifiana is as low as the fea that leads to it ; and this low flat extends far into the country. The great lakes, the ftupendous cataracts, the piercing cold, of Canada and other places, evince, that the northern regions muft be high ; and that here alfo ex- tremes meet, though in an inferiour degree. What efFefts all thefe circum- ftances have on plants, animals, and men, the fcquel will fliow. • See UUoa'i Natbrichttn von Jmerika, « Ac- f Sec Leifte*$ Be/cbreihung des Pertugiefi/cbem eount of America/ Lcipfic, 1780, with J. G. ^«#r//fii, < Defcripdon of Portngaefe America/ Schncider'i valuible additions, which greatly by Cudcna, Bnmfwic, 1 7801 p. j^, 8o. enhance the worth of the book« Digitized by Google Crap. VII.] Our two Hemifpheres a Theatre of Fariety. 25 On our hemifphere, where flic intended to prepare the firft abode of men and animals. Nature went otherwifc to work. She extended the mountains one after another in kngth and breadth, and fpread tlicm out into various branches, fo that all the three quarters of the Globe might be conncfted, and, notwithftanding the difference between regions and countries, the tranfition from one to another might be gentle. No region here could rem.iln inundated for ages : here thofe fwarms of infefts, amphibia, reptiles, and the reft of the fpawn of the waters, that peopled America, were incapable of being formed. The wafte of Kobi alone excepted, for of the Mountains of the Moon we yet know nothing, no fuch wide expanded defer L heights penetrate the clouds, to pro- duce and nourifli monfters in their caverns. Here, from a drier, milder com- pounded region, the eledlric Sun could elicit finer aromatics, more lenient food, and a more perfed organization both in man, and in all other animals. It would be highly gratifying, had we a map of mountains, or a mountain atlas, in which thefe pillars of the Earth were laid down, and dcpiftcd with every circumftance, that the hiftory of man requires. The direftion and al- titude of the mountains of many regions are pretty accurately determined : the elevation of the land above the level of the fea, the flatc of the ground on the furface, the flow of the rivers, the direftions of the winds, the variation of the compafs, and the degrees of heat and cold, have been obferved in others j and fomc of thefe have already been noted on particular charts. Tf feveral of thefc remarks, now lying difperfed in books of travels and other publications, were carefully coUefted, and transferred to a map j what a beautiful and inflruftive pkyißcal geography of the Earth would the inquirer into the hiftory and natural philofophy of man have before him at one view ! the moft precious fupple* ment to the valuable works of Varenius, Lulof, and Bergmann. But here wc are yet only at the threfliold : the rich harveft of information gathered in par- ticular places by Ferber, Pailas, Sauflure, Soulavie, and others, will at fomc fu- ture period probably be reduced to certainty and form, through the means of the Peruvian mount.jns, perhaps the moft interefting traft in the World in re- gard to the higher branches of natural hiftoiy. Digitized by Google I 26 ] PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. BOOK II. CHAPTER I. Our Earth is a grand manufaQory^ far the ^gamzation of very different beingt. TTOWEVER cloaotic and fragmentary cveqr thing within the bowels of the •*■-*■ E^rth appears to u«, from our inability to contemplate the original con- ftruftion of the whole j yet we perceive, even in what we fuppofe the fmallcft and moll unfinifhed things, a truly fixed beings ^form ^xiAfaßion dependent on eternal laws, which no will of man can alter. Thefe laws and forms we ob- ferve : but their intrinfic powers we know not , and what we exprefs by certain general terms, as cohefion, extenfion, affinity, and gravitation, for inftance, con- vey to us ideas of extrinfic relations only, without carrying us one ftcp nearer the internal effence of things. But what every kind of earth and ftonc poflcfles, is certainly a general law of all the creatures of our Earth : conformation^ determinate /^»r^, diftinft exiftence. From no being can thefe be taken j fince on thefe all it's properties and opera- tions depend. The immeafurable chain defccnds from the creator down to the germe of a grain of fand j for even this has it's determinate figure, in which it often approaches the moft beautiful cryftallizations. The moft complicated beings alfo follow the fame law in their parts : but while fo many different powers operate in them, ultimately to compofe a whole, fo that with the mod various component parts a general unity may prevail ; tranfitions, intermixtures, and numeroufly divei^ng forms muft occur. As foon as granite, the nucleus of our Earth, exifted, there was alfo light, which in the thick vapours of our chaos aäed perhaps as fire ; there was a more denfe and powerful air, than that we now enjoy, a more compound and pon- derous water, to operate upon it. Penetrating acid diflblved it, and transformed it into ftones of other kinds : perhaps the in:unenfe fands of our Earth are but the Digitized by Google Chap. I.] Our Earth a grand Mamfaäory of different Beings. 2.J aOies of this mouldered fubilanco. The inflammable matter of the air probably converted filex into calcareous earth, and in this the firft living creatures of the fea, fliellfifli, were formed : for throughout all nature the materials appear be- fore the organized animated ftrufture. A ftill more powerful and pure ad):ion of fire and of cold was requifite to cryftalli2»tion, which inclines not to the fhelly form, exhibited by filex in it's fraftures, but to geometrical angles. Thefe too vary according to the component parts of each individual, till they approach the femimetals, metals, and ultimately the genpes of plants. Che- miftry, fo zealoufly purfued of late years, opens to the philofopher a fecond abundant creation, in the fubterraneous realms of Nature : and thefe perhaps contain not merely the materials, but the fundamental principles, and th: key, of every thing formed above the earth. Every where we perceive, that Nature muft deftroy, fince (he reconftrufts ; that flie muft feparatc, fince (he recom- bines. From fimple laws, as from ruder forms, flie proceeds to the more com- plex, artful, and delicate : and had we a fenfe, enabling us to perceive the pri- mitive forms and firft germcs of things, perhaps we (hould difcover in the imalleft point the progrefs of all creation. Confiderations of this kind, however, are not to our prefent purpofe : let u$ contemplate therefore fingly the combination, which adapted our Earth to the oiganization of our plants, and alfo of animals and man. Had other metals been diftributed over it, as iron now is, which we meet with every where, even in water, earths, plants, animals, and men ; had petroleum, had fulphur, been fpread over the furfece of the Globe in fuch quantity as we now perceive fand, clay, and fertile mould ; how different muft have been the creatures that dwelt on it ! creatures in which a more acrimonious temperament would have pre- vailed. Inftead of this the father of the World has made the conftituent parts of the vegetables, that afford us nutriment, of milder falts and oils. From the loofe fand, tenacious clay, and mofly peat, thefe are gradually prepared : nay the ru^ed iron ore, and hard rock, muft. gradually adapt thcinfelvcs to thefe; mouldering in length of timie, and making room for unfucculent trees, or at leaft for faplefs mofs ; iron being not only the wholfomeft of metals, but the moft eafily convertible to the purpofes of vegetation and nutriment. Air and dew, rain and fnow, water and wind, naturally manure the earth : the alcalinc calces mixed with it artificially promote it's fertility ; and to thefe the death of plants and animals chiefly contributes. Salutary parent ! how economical and reftorative thy round ! All death is new life : putrefcent corruption itfelf pre- pares health and frefli powers. Digitized by Google 28 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book IT. It is an old complaint, that man, inftcad of cultivating the furface of the Earth, has dived into it's bowels, and, to the deftruftion of his health and peace, has fought there, amid peftiferous vapours, the metals that fubferve his pride and vanity, his avarice and ambition. That much of this is true, the effefts thefe have produced on the face of the Earth fufficlently prove ; as do ftill more the pallid apparitions, that, like incarcerated mummies, dig in thefe realms of Pluto. Why is the air in thefe fo different, that, while it nourilhes metals, it is deadly to animals and man ? why did not the creator pave the Earth with gold and jewels, inftead of making it a law to all it's creatures, dead or living, to en- rich themfelves from fertile mould ? Undoubtedly bccaufe we cannot eat gold i and becaufe the fmallcft edible plant is not only more ufeful to us, but more pcrfcftly organized, and nobler in it's kind, than the moft coftly gem, whether we call it amethyft or fapphire, emerald or diamond. Yet let us not carry this point too far. Among the various periods of human nature, which it's creator forefaw, and which, from the ftrudure of our Earth, he appears to have promoted, are included thofe ftates, in which man ihould learn to dig into it's bowels, and fly o'^erit's furface. Thus the creator placed various metals in their pure ftate almoft before man's eyes : thus the rivers were deftined to waOi the foil firom the earth, and (how him it's treafures. Even the moft favage nations have difcovered the utility of copper; and theufeof iron, which with it's magnetic power feems to govern the whole Globe, has almoft alone ex- alted our fpecies from one ftep of cultivation to another. If man be to make the beft ufe of his habitation, he muft learn to know it : and his governor has appointed him fufficiently narrow limits, in which to inveftigate, difpofe, faQiion, and alter it. Stili it is true, that we are principally deftmed to creep as worms on the fur- face of our Earth, on it to improve ourfelves, and fpend our (hort lives. How«> ever great man may be deemed, we perceive his littlenefs in the domains of Na« ture, fiom the thin ftratum of fruitful mould, which alone is properly his territoiy. A few feet deeper he digs up things, on which nothing grows, and that require years and ages, to produce only meagre grafs. Still deeper, he often finds again, where he did not feek it, his fruitful foil, once the furface of the Earth, but which chang- ing Nature (pared not in her pr<^reffive periods. Mufcles and fnails lie on mountains; aquatic and land animals are found petrified in ftones; and foffil wood, and impreffions of flowers, are often difcovered near fifteen hundred feet deep» Poor mortal I thou wandered: not on the furfiu:e of thy Earth, but on a covering of thy hou(e> which muft have experienced many deluges, ere it could Digitized by Google Chap. I.] Our Earth a p^and ManufaSlory of different Beings. 29 become what it is. There grow for thee a little grafs, a few trees; the parent of which has furrounded thee likewife with cafualties, and on which thou liveft the worm of a day. CHAPTER ir. The vegetable kingdom of our Earth confidered with refpeä, to the hiflory of man^ Th e vegetable kingdom has a higher fpecies of organization than any mineral produftion, and fo ample an extent, that, while on the one hand it lofes itfelf in this, on the other it approaches the animal kingdom. Plants have a fort of life, and fucceffion of ages j they have fexes and generative powers ; they are born and die. The furface of the earth was adapted to them, before it was fit for man or animals : every where they preffed before thefc, and in the fhape of grafs, of mofs, or of mucor, covered the bare rock, yet untrodden by the foot of any living creature. Where a fingle grain of light earth could receive a feed, and a ray of the Sun warm it, a plant fprung up, to die a prolific death, as it's duft would conftitute a better matrix for other plants. Thus were the rocks covered with herbs and flowers : thus in time morafles became wilds of plants and flirubs. The putrefadlion of the native vegetable creation is Nature's in- ceflkntly operating hot-bed of organization, and the farther culture of the Earth. It is obvious, that human life, as far as it is vegetation, has the fate of plants. As thefe, fo man and animals are produced from feed \ which too, like the germe of a future tree, requires a matrix. Plantlike it's firft form is deve- loped in the womb: and, out of it, does not the ftrufture of our fibres, in their firft buds and powers, nearly refemble that of the fibres of the fenfitive plant ? Our ages too are the ages of a plant : we fpring up, grow, bloom, wither, and die. We arc called forth without our confent : no one is afked of what fex he •will be; from what parents he will defcend j on what fpot he will be born to poverty or wealth ; or by what internal or external caule he will at laft be brought to his end. In all thefe man muft obey fuperiour laws, over whicli he has as little power as a plant j nay, which his ftrongeft propenfities follow almoft againft his will. As long as man is growing, and the fap rifes in him, how fpacious and pleafant feems to him the World ! He ftretches out his branches, and fancies his head will reach the heavens. Thus Nature entices him forward in life ; till with eager powers, and unwearied exertion, he has acquired all the capacity die wiftied to call forth in him, on that field, or in that garden. Digitized by Google 30 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. IBook n, in which he had been planted by her hand. After he has accompliflied her purpofc, flie gradually abandons him* In the bloom of fpring, and of our youth, with what riches does nature every where abound ! Man believes this world of flowers will produce the feeds of a new creation. Yet a few months, how changed the fcene ! Almoft all the flowers are gone, and a few unripe fruits fuccecd. The tree labours to bring thefe to maturity j and immediately the leaves fade. He (heds his withered locks on the beloved children, that have left him : leaflefs he flands ; the ftorm robs him of his dried branches : till at length he falls to the ground, and refigns the little phlogifton he contains to the foul of Nature, Is it otherwife with man, confidercd as a plant ? What vaft hopes, profpefts, and motives of adlion, vividly or obfcurely fill his youthful mind ! In every thing he confides : and while he confides he fucceeds : for fuccefs is the fpoufe of youth. In a few years all around him is changed ; merely becaufe he is no longer the fame. Lead of all has he perfofmed what he willed : and happy is it for him, if he be not now defirous to perform what it is no longer time to execute, but fuffer himfelf to grow old in peace. In the eye of a fuperiour being, man's aftions upon Earth may appear jull as important, certainly at leafl: as determinate and circumfcribed« as the adions and enterprifes of a tree. He developes all he can develope ; and makes himfelf mafter of all, that it is in his power to poflefs. He puts forth buds and germes, produces fruits, and fows young trees : but never quits he the place, which Nature has appointed him to occupy j never can he acquire a fingle power, which Nature has not planted in him. Particularly himiiliating It is, in my opinion, to man, that in the fweet im- pulfe he terms love, in which he places fo much fpontaneity, he obeys the laws of Nature almoft as blindly as a plant. Even the thiftle, man obferves, is beau- ful when in flower : and we know, that in plants the time of flowering is the feafon of love. The calyx is the bed, the corolla the curtain ; the other parts of the flower are the organs of generation, which in thefe innocent beings Nature has expofed to view, and adorned with all fplendour. The flowercup of love (he has made like the bridal bed of Solomon, and a cup of pleafure even for other creatures. Why did flie all this ? and why interwove flie alfo in the band of human love the moft pleafing charms, that graced her own ceftus f That her great end might be accompliflied ; not the little purpofe of the fenfual crea- ture alone, which flie fo elegantly adorned: this end is tie propagaumu tfi£ com- tinuance of the fpecies. Nature employs germes, flie employs an infinite number of germes, becaufe in Digitized by Google Ch A p . n.] The vegetable King Jem of etir Earth eonßdered. 3 1 her grand progreß fhe promotes a thoufand ends at once. She muft alfo calculate upon fome lofs ; as every thing is crowded, and nothing finds room completely to develope itfelf. But that, amid this apparent prodigality, the eiTential, and the firft, frefli powers of life, with which (he muft neceflarily prevent all acci- dents in the courfe of beings fo thronged, might never fail ; fhe made the fea- fon of youth the feafon of love, and kindled her torch with the moft fubtile and aftive fire between Earth and Heaven. Unknown inclinations awake, of which childhood was wholly infenfible. The eye of the youth becomes ani- mated, his voice changes, the cheek of the maiden glows : two creatures figh for each other, and know not for what they figh : they languifli to become one, which dividing Nature has denied; and fwim on a fea of deception. Sweetly de- ceived creatures, enjoy your moments : yet know, ye accomplifli not your own little dreams, but, pleafingly compelled, the grand purpofe of Nature. In the firft pair of a fpecies flie would plant all, generation upon generation : (he chofe therefore the fprouting germes from the moft fpirited moments of life, thofe of mutual delight : and while ftealing from a living being fomething of his exift« cnce, (he would at leaft ftcal it from him in the gentleft manner. As foon as fhe has (ecured the fpecies, (he fufTers the individual gradually to decay. Scarcely is the feafon of love over, when the (lag lofes his proud antlers 5 the bird, it's fong, and much of it's beauty; the fifh, it's delicate flavour; and the plant, it's moft beautiful colours. The butterfly lofes it's wings, and it's breath departs 1 while alone, and undebilitated, it might live half the year. So long as the young plant produces no flower, it can refift the winter's cold : but that which bears too foon, fooneft decays. The american aloe frequently lives a hundred years: but when once it has bloflTomed, no procefs, no art can prevent the fu- perb ftalk from decaying the next year. In five and thirty years the great fan palm grows to the height of feventy feet ; it then grows thirty feet higher in the fpace of four months; when it blofToms, produces fruit, and the fame year it dies. This is the courfe of nature, in the evolution of beings one out of an* other : the ftream flows on, though one wave is loft in the wave that fucceeds. In the diflcmination and degeneration of plants there is a fimilitude obferv* able, that will apply to beings of a fuperiour order, and prepares us for the views and laws of Nature. Each plant requires it's proper climate ; to which apper- tains not merely the conftitution of the land and foil, but alfo the elevation of the country, the quality of the air and water, and the degree of temperature. Under the earth all things lie mingled together: and though every fpecies of ftone, cryftal, or metal, derives it's qualities from the land in which it grows, and hence the moft ftriking varieties occur; we have by no means attained that ge- Digitized by Google 3* PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book II. neral geographical view of thefc realms of Pluto, and acquired that knowledge of their principles of arrangement, at which we have arrived in the beautiful do- mains of Flora. The Philofopky of Botany *, which arranges plants according to the elevation and quality of the land, air, water, and temperature, is an obvious guide to a fimilar philofophy in the arrangement of animals and men. All plants grow wild in fome part or other of the World. Thofe, which wc cultivate with art, fpring from the free lap of Nature, and arrive at much greater l^rfeftion, in their proper climes. With animals, and with man, it is the fame : for every race of men, in it's proper region, is organized in the manner moft na- tural to it. Every foil, every fort of mountains, every fimilar region of the at- mofphere, as well as a like degree of heat and cold, nourifhes it's own plants. On the Alps, the Pyrenees, and the rocks of Lapland, notwithftanding their dif- tance, the fame, or fimilar, vegetables grow. North America and the expanded heights of Tatar}' produce the fame ofFspring, On thofe elevated places, where plants arc rudely agitated by the winds, and the fummer is of fliort du- ration, they remain fmall in ftature indeed ; but then they abound with feeds innumerable : when tranfplanted into gardens, they grow higher, and put forth larger leaves, while they bear lefs fruit Every one muft perceive the vifible fimilarity to animals and men. All plants love the open air : in hothoufes they feek the region of light, even if they be obliged to creep through a hole to it. In a confined heat they run up more tall and (lender, but paler, lels fruitful, and, if they be too fuddenly expofed to the Sun, their leaves droop. Has not a forced and tender education the fame efTedts on man and animals ? Diverfity of region and air produces varieties in plants, as in animals and man : and the more they gain in refpeft to beauty, form of the leaf, or number of flowers, the more they lofe in point of fertility. Is it otherwife with man or animals, if we confider the greater flrength of their multifarious nature } Plants, that in warm countries attain the height of trees, in cold ones become crippled dwarfs. One plant is calculated for the fea, another for morafles, a third for rivers or lakes; one loves fnow, another the deluging rains of the torrid zone: and all thefe their form and figure indicate. Does not this prepare us, to ex- pedt funilar varieties in the organic ftru&ure of man^ fo fiu* as he is a plant } * The Pbiloßphia hotanica of Linne is a JeUFranct mtridietudt, ' Natural Hiflory of the cUflical pattern for other fciences. Had we a South of France/ Part II, Tome I» has given a Pbilo/opbia anthropoUgica written with the fame Ütetch'of a general phyfical geography of the concifenefs and accuracy, it would be a clew, vegeuble kingdom, and promiled to extend il which every additional obferviition (hou'd fol- to animals and to man. low. The abbe Soulavir, in his Hifi, naturtlli Digitized by Google Chap. II.] Vhe vegetable Kingdom of our Earth conßdeied. 33 It is particularly pleafing, to obfen-e the fingular manner, in which plants ad- juft themfelves to the fcafon of the year, nay to the hour of the day, and become inured only by degrees to a foreign climate. Near tlie pole they are later in growth, and ripen fo much the quicker, as the fummer arrives more late, and operates more forcibly. Plants, that grow in fouthern countries, when brought to Europe ripen later the firft year, as they wait for the fun of their own clime : the following fummers they arrive earlier and Earlier at maturity, as they be- come habituated to their fituation. In the artificial warmth of a hothoufe,each follows it's native feafons \ even if it have been fifty years in Europe. The plants of the Cape blofTom in winter, as then arrives the fummer of their native country. The marvel of Peru bloflbms at night ; probably, obferves Linnc, becaufe it is then day in America, whence it originally came. Thus every one adheres to the time, even to the hour of the day, at which it has been wont to open and fliut. * Thefe circumftances,' fays the philofophic botanift *, * feem to indicate, that fomething more than heat and water is requifite to their growth:' and afluredly in the organic varieties of man, and his naturalizing himfelf to a foreign climate, fomething more, fomething different from heat and cold, is to be confidered, particularly when we fpeak of another liemi- fpherc. Finally, what a field of obfervation is opened to us, in the alTociation of plants with man, could we purfue it ! Already has the pleafmg experiment been made -f-, that plants can no more live in pure air than we j but what they im- bibe from the atmofphcre is precifely that phlogiftic part, which deftroys animal life, and promotes putrefaction in all animal fubflances. It has been obferved, that they perform this ufeful office of purifying the air, not by the aid of heat, but by that of light ; for the chill beams of the Moon are fufficient to efTedl the purpofe. Salutary children of the Earth ! what deftroys us, what we expire contaminated, you inhale : the moft delicate medium muft combine it with you, and you render it us again pure. You maintain the health of thofe crea- tures, that deftroy you : and even in your deaths you are beneficent j for you improve* the Earth, and fertilize it for new beings of your own fpecies. If plants ferved for this alone, their filent exiftence would conftitute a beau- tiful intermixture among men and animals : but fince they are at the fame time the moft abun:lant nutriment of the animal creation, and it is of particular im- portance in the hiftory of the modes of life of man, to obfcrve what plants and • Seethe TranGiftions of the Swredilh Academy of Sciences, vol. I, p. 6, and following, t Ingcnhoufz's Verfucbc mit din Pflanfun, « Experiments on Plants/ Lcipfic, 1780, p. 49. Digitized by Google 34 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book IL animals, that might fervc them for food, every people found in their native country, they prcfent thcmfclves to us under various afpefts in confidering the kingdoms of Nature. Of beads the moft quiet, and moft humane, if we may ufe the expreflion, feed on vegetables. Nations, that live principally at leaft on the fame food, have been remarked for the fame falutary peaceablenefs, and carelefs ferenity. All carnivorous beads arc naturally more favage. Man, who ranks between the two, cannot be a carnivorous animal, to judge from the drufturc of his teeth. There are yet nations, whofc diet confids chiefly of milk and vegetables ; in earlier times there were more : and what abundance has Nature bedowed on them in the pulps, juices, fruits, barks, and twigs, of her vegetable creation, where one tree frequently affords nourifhment for a whole family ! Wonderfully is every region appointed it's own, not merely in what it yields, but in what it attrafts and removes. Thus while plants live on the phlogidic part of the atmofphere, and in fome meafure on vapours mod pernicious to us ; their antidotal qualities are organized according to the peculiarities of each region, and they every where prepare fuch medicaments for animal bodies, always prone to corruption, as are adapted to the difeafes of the country. Man, too, has little reafon to complain, that Nature produces noxious vegetables j for thefe are in fa'ient to it, feem contrived to humectate the brain, as the root of the nerves, with that fubtile fluid, which, confidered as the medium of perception, is fo much exalted above the faculties of the fibres^and mufcles. Be this as it may, infinite is the wifdom of the creator, which combined thefe powers with the different organic parts of the animal body, and rendered the lower ftep by ftep fubfervient to the higher. Fibres conftitute the founda- tion of every part even of our fabric. By thefe man grows. The lymphatic and chyliferous veflTels prepare juices for the whole machine. The mufcular powers move the mufcles, not merely to external exertion, but one mufcle, the heart, is the firft propeller of the blood, a fluid compofed of many other fluids, which not only warms the whole body, but afcends to the head, and there ftill farther elaborated animates the nerves. Like a celeftial plant, thefe fpread downwards, from their root placed aloft : and how do they fpread ? how delicate are they ? to what parts are they allied ? with what degree of irritability is this or that mufcle endued ? what juices do the plantlike veflcls prepare ? what temperature pre- vails through this fyftem, in comparifon with others ? to what fenfes does it pertain ? to what kind of life does it conduce ? in what frame, in what figure, is it organized ? If the accurate inveftigation of thefe queftions in particular animals, efpe- cially thoie which approach neareft to man, do not give us an iniight into their charaäers and inflinfts, into the relations of the fpecies to each other, and above all into the caufes of the fuperiority of man over beafts; I know not whence we can derive phyfical information* And happily a Camper, a Wrif- berg, a Wolf, a Scemmering, and many other inquifitive anatomifts, purfue this judicious phyfiological mode of comparing various fpecies, with refpedl to the power of their vital organs* I fliall now proceed to a few leading fundamental propofttions fuitable to my purpofe, which may ferve to introduce the fubfequent refleftions on the inherent orgaoic powers of varipus beings, and finally of man : for without Digitized by Google go PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book OT. thefe any view of human nature, in it's wants and pcrfcftions, muft be very fuperficial. 1. Wherever an effe5l exißs in nature^ there muß be an operating power : where irritability difplays itfelfin effort^ orinfpafin^ afiimulus muß be felt from within. If thefe propofitions be not valid» there is an end to all connexion in our remarks, to all analogy in nature. 2. No man can draw a line difcriminating where an apparent aSfion fliaUbe a proof of an inherent power ^ and where it ßall ceafe to be fo. We afcribe feeling and thought to the animals that live with us, becaufe we fee their daily prac- tices before us , but we cannot deny them to others, becaufe we are not inti- mately enough acquainted wich them, or think their performances too artful ; for our ignorance, or want of art, is no abfolute ftandard of all the mechanical ideas and feelings of the animate creation. 3. Thus, where art is praElifed^ a mechanical fettfe exißs and is exercifed: and where a creature ihows by it's adions, that it forefees natural occurrences, inaf- much as it endeavours to provide for them; it muft have an internal fenfe, an organ, a medium of this forefight ; whether it be comprehenfible to us ot not, for the powers of nature are not changed on tliis account. 4. I'here may be many mediums in the creation^ of which we have not the leaß knowledge^ becaufe we have no organ adapted to them : nay there mufl be many, for we fee in almoft every creature actions, which we cannot explain fiom our organization. 5. That creation is infinitely greater, in which millions of creatures, of dif- ferent fenfes and inftindts, enjoy each it's own world, purfue each it's own train; than a wildemefs, to be perceived by inattentive man alone with his five dull fenfes. 6. He who has any feeling of the grandeur and power of Nature, abounding in fenfation, art, and vitality, will thankfully receive what his organization im- parts ; but he will not on this account deny to her very face the fpirit of all her other works. The whole creation is to be throughout enjoyed, felt, and afted upon : on every new point, therefore, muft be creatures to enjoy it, or- gans to perceive it, powers to aft fuitably to it. What have the crocodile and the humming-bird, the condor and the pipa in common ? yet each is fuitably organized, to live and move in it's element. No point of creation is without enjoyment, without organ, without inhabitant.: every creature, the,\jore, Itas it's own, a nezv world. Infinity envelopes me. Nature, when, furrounded with a thoufand proofs of this, and penetrated with thefe feelings, I enter thy facred fane. No crea- ture haft thou neglefted : to every one thou haft imparted thylclf as fully, as Digitized by Google Chap. II.] A Cwnparifin of the various Powersy thai operate in Animals. 5 1 it's organisation would admit. Each of thy works thou madeft one, and per* feft, and like only to itfclf. Thy mode of operating is from within to with- out ; and where it was neceflary thou (houldft deny, thou hafl compenfated as the mother of all things could compenfate. Let us now caft a glance on the relative balance of the various ading powers in different kinds of organization ; thus we (hall clear our way to the phyfio- logical place of man. 1. Plants exift to vegetate, and bring forth fruit : a fubordinate end, as it appears to us ; yet, in the whole creation, the bafis of every other. This they completely fulfil ; and labour at it fo much the more inceffantly, the lefs it is divided into other ends. Where they can, they exift, in the whole germe, and protrude new (hoots and buds : a (ingle branch reprefents the whole tree. Here then we call to our ailiflance one of the preceding propo(itions, and are jufti- fied in faying, according to all natural analogy : where effeä is^ there muß be power y where new life As ^ a prhciple of new life muß exiß; and in every phyto- morphic creature this muft be found in the grcateft aftivity. The theory of gcrmes, which has been taken to explain vegetation, explains in reality no- thing : for the germe is already a form -, and where a form is, there muft be an organic power, that formed it. No differing knife has deteded all future germes in the firft created feed : they are not vifible to us, till the plant has acquired it*s full powers, and all our experience gives us no right to afcribe them to any thing but the organic power of the plant itfelf, opcratmg on them with (ilent intenfity. Nature has beftowed on this creature of hcr's all (he could beftow, and compenfated for the much (lie was forced to deny it, by the in- tenfity of the fingle power that operates in it. Of what benefit would the fa- culty of animal motion be to a pkint, wluch cannot ftir from it's place? Why (hould it be capable of knowing other plants around, fince this knowledge muft be to it a fource of forrow ? But the air, light, and the juices that nou- rifli it, it attrafts and enjoys after the manner of plants : and the propen(ity to grow, to bloom, and to propagate it's fpecies, it excrcifes more truly and inceffantly than any other creature. 2. The tranfition from plants to the feveral zoophytes hirherto difcovcred reprefents this flill more clearly. In thefe the organs of nutrition are already fcparated : they poflcfs an analogous animal fenfe, and voluntary motion : ftill their principal organic po^vers are nutrition and propagation. The polypus is no magazine of germes, lying preformed in it, perchance for the cruel knife of the philofbpher : but as plants thcmfclves are organic life^ fo is it alfo. Like them it puts forth (hoots, and the biftoury of the anatomift can only excite, can only ftimulate, this power. As a ftimulated or divided mufcle difplays more power. Digitized by Google S% PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book IIT. fb a tortured polypus exerts all it can, to repair and rcftorc it's lofs. It puflies forth limbs till it's powers are exhaufted, and the implements of art have wholly deftroyed it's nature. In fome parts, in fomc direftions, when the portion is too fmall, when it's powers are too languid, it can do this no more : which would not be the cafe, if a preformed gcrme lay ready in every point. In it we perceive energetic organic powers operating, as in the (prouting of plants ^ nay ftiil lower, in feeble, obfcure beginnings. 3. Teftaceous ammals arc organic creatures, endued with juft as much life, as could be colle it's limbs may be torn off, before it will relinquifh it's pur- pofe. Behold the tortured falamander : fingers, hand^ feet, legs can he lofe, and renew them again. So great and aUfufficient are organic vital powers in thefe coldblooded animals : and in fliort, the more cmde an animal is, that is, the lefs the organic faculty has exalted it's irritability and mufcles to finer nervous power, and fubjedted them to the fway of an ampler brain, the more do thefe difplay themfelves in an extended, life fupporting or repairing, organic om» nipatence, 6. Even in warmblooded animals it has been obferved, that their Hefh moves more dully in connexion with the nerves, and their intcftines are more forcibly affeÄed by ftimuli when the animal is dead. In death the convulfion» grow flronger in proportion as perceptivity diminifhes; and a mufcle, that has loft it's irritability, regains it, if it be cut in pieces. Thus the more a creature is rich in nerves, the more it feems to lofe of the delicate vital power, that with difficulty dies. Tlie power of reproducing parts, not to mention fuch complex members as the head, the hands, or the feet, is loft in the more per- fca animals as they are called : at certain ages fcarcely can they reftore a tooth» or htd a wound or a fradure. But then the fenfations and perceptions of this clafs are remarkably exalted, till at length in man they are concentrated into rcafon, the fineft and higheft degree of terreftrial organization. Might we colleft a few refults from thefe induftions, which ftill it would not be improper perhaps to reduce to one, it would be the following : I. In every living creature the circle of organic powers feems to be whole and complete J on*y differently modified and difbibuted in each. In this it conr.es near vegetation^ and is therefore fo powerful in reproducing it's fpecies« and reftorii^ it's parts : in that thefe faculties decreafe, in proportion as they Digitized by Google 5+ PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [BookHL are diftributed among more artfully conftrufted members, and finer oiigans «nd fenfes. z. Beyond the fphere of vegetation the fyftem of vital irritability com- mences. It is clofely allied to the faculty of the growing» fprouting, felf- renewing« animal fibrous fhii£ture : only it appears in an artful condenfedform» and to a more limited determinate end of vital operation. Every mufcle already fbinds in reciprocal relation to many others: it will therefore dif- play not the powers of fibre alone, but it's own ; living irritability in efTeftive motion« The torpedo renews not it's limbs like the lizard, the frog, or the polypus: and thofe animals, which polTefs the reproduftive faculty, renew not the parts in which mufcular powers are condenfed, Hke thofe which are as it were but fprouts : the lobfter can pufli out new claws, but not a new tail. Thus in artfully combined motive powers the fphere of vegetative organization gradually vanifhes ; or rather it is retained in a more elabo- rate form, and wholly applied to the purpofes of a more complicated orga- nization. 3. The farther the mufcular powers enter the fphere of the nerves, the more are they imprifoned in this organization, and fubdued to the purpofes of percept tion. The more numerous and delicate the nerves of an animal ; the more multifarioufly they are connedted, artfully ftrengthened, and allied to nobler parts and fenfes ; and laftly the larger and more delicate the focus of all per- ception, the brain: the more intelligent and exquifite is the kind of organiza* tion. On the contrary, in thofe animals, in which irritability overpowers per- ceptivity, and the mufcular powers the nervous fy flem ; where the latter is em- ployed on mean funftions and appetites, and particularly where the firfl and leafl fupportable of all appetites, hunger, is the mofl predominant j the fpecies is, according to our ftandard, partly lefs perfeft in it's flrudtuie, partly more grofs in it's manners. Who would not rejoice, if fome philofophic anatomift * (hould undertake, to give a comparative phyfiology of feveral animals, particularly of thofe thut approach neareft to man, examining >yhefe powers, difcriminated and efla- bliflicd by experiment, in relation to the v/holc organization of the creature } Nature exhibits to us her works, externally a mafked form, a covered rccep- • Befidc other known pieces, I find in the animal fkeleton in Chefelden's Ofteography, woriu of Alexander Monro, the elder, £din. London, 1783, does to be copied, though the 1 781, an Effay on Comparative Anatomy, accuracy and beauty of the original would not which well deferves a tranflacion; as the fine eafily be equalled in Germany. Digitized by Google Chap. II.] A Comparifon of the various Powers^ that operate in Animals, 55 tacle of intcriour powers. We fee an animars mode of life : from the phyfiog- nomy of it's v'iCtge, and the relation of it's parts, we guefs perhaps at fomcthing of what exifts within. But here within, the organs and mafs of organic powers are themlelves placed before us ; and the nearer to man, the better means have we of comparifon. Though I am no anatomift, I will venture to follow the obfervations of fome anatomifls of celebrity in one or two examples, which will prepare us for the ftrudture and phyfiological nature of man. CHAPTER III. Examples of the phyfiological Struäure of fome Animals. The elephant *, (hapelefs as he feems, difplays phyfiological grounds enough of hib fupcriority to all other bcaftö, and refcmblance to man. His brain indeed is not vcf)' larpre, in proportion to the fize of the animal ; but it's cavities, and it*s whole firufture, bear a ftriking refemblance to thofe of the human (pecies. * I was aftouiftied,' fays Camper, * to find fuch a fimllarity between the glan- dnla pimalisy nates y and tc/ieSy of the brain of this animal, and thofe of our brain; fince, if a common fenfory can exift, it muft be fought for here.* The cra- nium is fmall in proportion to the head, as the noftrils extend hx over the brain, and fill with air the cavities not only of the forehead, but of other parts -f : for, to move the ponderous jaw, flrong mufcles are requifite, and an extenfive furface, which our creative parent has filled with air, to fpare the creature an infupportable burden. The cerebrum does not lie above the cere- bellum^ and prefs it by it's weight : the membrane, that feparates them, ftands perpendicular. The numerous nerves of the animal are principally fpent on the organs of the finer fenfes, and his trunk alone receives as many as the whole bulk of his vaft body. The mufcles, that move the trunk, arife from the fore- head : it is altogether without cartilage, the organ of a delicate feeling, an acute fmeU, and the freeft motion. In it therefore many fenfes are combined, and afl&fl each other. Thus the expreffive eye of the elephant, which, like no other animal but man, is provided with hairs and a delicate mufcular motion in the lower eyelid, has the finer fenfes for it's neighbours j and thefe are feparated hoxn the tafte, which governs other beafb. The mouth, which in other qua- drupeds, particularly of the carnivorous kinds, conflitutes the predominant * From Bafibn» Daabenton, Camper» and in f The cavities and finufes of the prtftjfut part 2^fflermann'9 defcription of the foetas of mMimiUarit» &c« an elephant. Digitized by Google 56 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [BootUl. part of the vifage, is here placed deep beneath the prominent forehead, and high trunk, fo that it is almoft concealed. His tongue is ftill fmaller : the weapons of defence, which he carries in his mouth, are diftindt from the organs of nutrition : he is not formed, therefore, for favage voracity. Large as his bowels muft neceflarily be, his ftomach is fmall and fimple : fo that probably raging hunger cannot torment him, as it does beafts of prey. Peaceably and cleanly he crops the herb -, and, as his fenfe of fmell is feparate from his mouth, he employs in this more time and caution. For the fame caution has Nature falhioned him in drinking, and in every other fundion of his mafly ftrudhirc, even to the propagation of his fpecies. No fexual appetite inflames him with Tage : the female goes nine months with young, like woman, and fuckles her ofF- fpring at the breaft. The periods of his life, during which he grows, is in vi- gour, and decays, refemble thofe of man. How nobly has nature converted his &ngs into long tuiks ! and how delicate muft be bis organ of hearing, that can underftand human language in fine difcriminations of the tones of com- mand and of the paflions.! His ears are larger than thofe of any other animal, thin, and extended on all fides i their apertures iland high ^ and the whole of the fmall occiput is a cave of echo, filled with air. Thus Nature has wifely diminifhed the weight of the animal, and united the ftrongeft mufcular force with the moft refined nervous economy : a king of beafts in fagacious quiet, and intelligent purity of fenfe. How different a king of beafts the lion ^ ! Nature has eftabliihed his throne on mufcular force, not on mildnefs, and fuperiority of intelled. She has made his bxain fmall ; and his nerves fo weak^ that they are not even pro- portionate to thofe of a cat : while fhe framed hb mufcles laiige and ftrong^ and fixed them to the bones in fuch pofitions, as to produce the greateft force, inflcad of diverfity and delicacy of motion. One great mufcle, that lifits the neck ; a mufcle of the fore-foot, which ferves to grafp j the joint of the foot cbfe to the claws; tbefe large and curved, fo that their points cannot be bluntedj as they never touch the earth : fuch were his gifts for the purpofes of life. His ftomach is long, and much curved : it's friftion, and his hunger, therefore, muft be fearful. His heart is fmall j but it's cavities are delicate and broad i much longi^r and broader than in man. The parietes of his heart are twice as thin, and the aorta twice as fmall; fo that the blood of the lion« as foon * Chiefly according to Wolfs excellent de« wilh we had anacomico-phyfiologica] dcfcrip- fcriptioB, in the N»v, Commntar, Acad, 9dent, tions of more aoimali, excctttcd in tht ^mm Pttrop,, • New Memoirs of the Academy of maoner. ScieACcjal Petcribur^,' vol. XV, and XVL J Digitized by Google Chap. III.] Examples of the phyfiological SiruSuve offome Animals. 5 7 as it quits the heart, flows with four times the velocity, and in the arterial branches of the fifteenth divifion with a hundred times that of the human cir- culation. The heart of the elephant on the contrary beats flowly ; almoft as much fo as in coldblooded animals. The gallbladder of the lion too is large, and the bile blackifh. His broad tongue is rounded forwards, and furniflicd with prickles, an inch and half long, lying on the forepart, with their points direded backwards. Hence the danger of his licking the Ikin, which imme- diately fetches blood, and excites his thirft of it ; his raging thirft, even after the blood of his friend and benefador. A lion, that has once tafted human blood, quits not readily this prey, after which his furrowed palate lufts. The lionefs produces fereral cubs, which grow but flowly : Ihe is obliged therefore to pro- vide for them during a confiderable period, and her maternal afle<5tion, joined to her own hunger, augments her ravenoufnefs. As the tongue of the lion taftes acutely, and his fiery hunger is a kind of thirft : it is natural, that he fliould liave no appetite for putrid carrion. To kill his own food, to fuck the warm blood, is his royal tafte: and the aftonifliment of furprife is often the whole of his royal magnanimity. His fleep is light, becaufe his blood is warm, and circulates quickly. When fatiated he is cowardly j for he cannot ufc ftale provifion, therefore he thinks not of it, and is only excited to valour by prcfent hunger. Benevolent Nature has blunted his fenfes : his eye is afraid of fire, and cannot even bear the fplendour of the Sun : his fcent is not acute, the fituation of hb mufcles fitting him only for great fprings, not for running, and nothing putrid excites him. His covered, wrinkled forehead is fmall, compared with the inferiour part of his vifage, his ravenous jaws, and mafticating mufcles. His nofe is large and long ; his neck and forelegs are of iron: his mane, and the mufcles of his tail, are ample: but his hinder parts are more feeble and flender. Nature had exhaufted her fearfiil powers, and made him in difpofition, when not tormented with the thirft of blood, a gentle and noble beaft. So phyfiological are thus alfo this creature's mind and cha- rafter. The floth, in appearance the laft and moft fliapelefs of quadrupeds, a mafs of mud that has rifen to animal organization, may ferve us for a third exam- ple. His head is fmall and round : all his limbs too are round, thick, öiapelefs, and like ftuffed cufliions. His neck is ftiff, as if it were one piece with the head. The hair of it has a contrary diredlion to that of the back, as if Nature had formed the animal in two direftions, uncertain which ßie fliould prefer. At laft flie chofe for the principal parts the belly and pofteriours, to which, in place, form, and funftions, the wretched head is fubordinate. The Digitized by Google 58 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Boor ffl, female carries her young in her pofteriours. The ftomach and bowek fill the abdomen : the heart, lungs, and liver, are llightly formed : and the gallbladder fcems wholly wanting. His blood is fo cold as to border on that of amphibia : his heart and inteftines palpitate long after being torn out : and the legs of the animal are agitated, after the heart is gone, as though he were in a flumber. Thus we perceive here the compenfation of Nature, who, where obliged to re- fufe fufccptible nerves, and even adtive mufcular powers, has more intimately diffufed and imparted exquifite irritability. This lingular animal therefore may be lefs unfortunate than he feems. He loves warmth : he loves the quiet of fleep; and enjoys a flimelike wellbeing in each. When* he wants warmth, he ileeps : and as if even lying down were painful to him, he faflens himfelf to a bough with his paws, and feeds himfelf with one of them, while, hanging fiom it like a bag, he enjoys in the warm funbeams his grublike exiflence. Thus the mislhapen form of his feet is a benefit to him. From the peculiarity of their (Irudture the tender animal cannot fupport himfelf on their balls, but only on the convexity of his claws, on which, as on the wheels of a wa^on, he (hoves himfelf flowly and commodioufly along. His fix and forty ribs, the like of which no other quadruped pofleffes, form a long vault for his florehoufe of provifion, and are, if I may be allowed the expref&on, the offified rings of a voracious leaf-bag, of a grub. Of examples enough. It is obvious wherein the ideas of an animal mind and an animal inftinft are to be placed, if we follow the guidance of phyfiology and experience, ^hat is t\it fum and refuli of ail the vital powers wori^ing in one or* ganizedfyfiem : this is the direSlion^ that Nature gave to thofe colleäive powers^ by placing them in a given temperament and no other^ by organizing them to this and ho other ßru^:tre. Digitized by Google f 59 ] CHAPTER IV. Of the Inßinäs of Animals. We have an excellent work on the inftinfts of animals by the late Reimarus*, which, like his work on natural religion, will remain a lading monument of his iaquifitive fpirit, and profound love of truth. After learned and methodical remarks on the various inftindls, which animals poflefs, he endeavours to ex* plain them from the advantages of the mechanifm, the fenfes, and the internal feelings, with which they are endued : yet he is of opinion, that we muft admit, efpecially with regard to the inflinftive arts, particular determinate natural powers^ and natural innate capacities^ which are fufceptible of no farther explication. In the latter part of his fcntiments I cannot acquiefce : for the compofition of the whole machine firom certain given powers, fenfes, feelings, and conceptions, in (hort, the organization of the creature itfelfy conftitutes the mofl fure dire^ion^ the moßperfeEl determination^ that Nature could imprefs upon her work. As the creator formed plants, and beftowed on them certain parts, and en- dued them with certain powers, to attraft and affimilate light, air, and other fubtile matters, with which they are abundantly fupplied through the medium of the atmofphere, or of water; and as he has placed them in their proper de- ments, where each part naturally exerts the powers eflential to it : no new and blind inftindt to vegetate feems to me neceffary to have been imparted to them. Each part, with it's living powers, performs it's taik; and thus in the general appearance becomes vifible the refult of the powers, that could develope them- felves in a given organization. The aftive powers of Nature are all living, each in it's kind : they muft poffefs a fomething within, anfwerable to their efFeÄs without ; as Leibnitz advanced, and as all analogy feems to inform us. That we have no name for this internal ftate of plants, or the powers ftill operating in them, is a defedt of our language : for fenfation is ufed only of the internal ftate, communicated to us by the nervous fyftem. An obfcure analogy how- ever may exift : and if it do not, a new inftinft, a power of vegetation afcribed to the whole, teaches us nothing. • Iteim^rut dlgem, Btträchtungin uhtr di* ' Sketches of Remarks on tlie particular Kinds Tride dgr IVint* ' Reimaros's General Re- of inftindive Arts in Animals:' to which is ap- ttarkfl on the Inftindt of Animals.' Hamburg, pended J. A H. Reimarus's copious and elegant 1773. AKo Jngtfangtnt Bitracbtungtn iiher eflay on the nature of zoophytes« me btßndgrn Artw itr thUrifibn Kunfltriibt, Digitized by Google 6o PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book IIL Two natu4'al inftindts are fufEcIeiitly evident in plants, thofe of nutrition and propagation j and the refults of thefe are works of art, fuch as the performances of a living infcdl, however ikilful, fcarcely equals : they are the bud and the flower. When Nature makes a tranfition from a plant, or a ftone, to the ani- mal kingdom, does flie more clearly unfold to us the inftinfts of organic powers ? The polypus appears to bloflbm like a plant, yet is an animal. Like an animal it feeks and digcfts it's food : it pulhes forth flioots, and thefe flioots are living animals : it renovates itfelf, as far as it enjoys the power of renovation — the greateft work of art, that any creature performs. What is conftruäed with more art than the houfe of the fnail ? The cells of the bee muft yield to it : the web of the caterpillar, of the filkworm, muft give place to this artificial flower. And by what means has Nature accompliflied this i By internal organic powers, which, little divided into limbs, lie in a lump, and the convolutions of which, following for the moft part the progrefs of the Sun, formed this regular figure. Internal parts afforded the bafis, as the fpider draws her web from her entrails, and the air could only fupply the harder or grofler parts. This tranfition feems to me fufficiently to (how, whereon all the inftinfts, even the mechanical ones of the moft fkilful animal, depend : namely, on organic powers, operating in a given manner^ according to given limbs. Whether this be effefted with more or lefs fenfation, depends on the nerves of the creature : but befide thefe, there are ftftive mufcular powers, and fibres fully imbued with growing and renovating vegetative lite; which two kinds of powers, independent of the nerves, fuffici- ently compenfate to the creature what it wants of ncrvca and brain. Thus Nature herfelf leads us to the inftindlive arts, which we are accuftomed to attribute more efpecially to certain infefts, for no other reafon but becaufe their performances are feen by us in miniature, and we compare them with our own. The more diftindt the organs of a creature, and the more lively and de- licate it's irritability i the lefs furprifing fhould it be to us, to perceive opera- tions, of which animals of coarfer ftrudture, and duller irritability of particular parts, are incapable, whatever other advantages they may poflifs. Even the fmallnefs and delicacy of the creature conduce to art ; which can be nothing elfe, but the refult of all it'« fenfations, aAivities, and irritabilities. Here too examples will fpeak moft forcibly : and the faithful induftry of a Swammerdam, a Reaumur, a Lyonet, a Roefel, and fome others, have beauti- fully placed thefe examples before our eyes. When the caterpillar fpins herfelf round with a web, what does ftie more, than many other creatures perform, when they caft their fkins ? The fnake puts off* her exuviae, the bird moults her fea- thers, and many quadrupeds (bed their hair : by thefe means they grow young Digitized by Google Chap. IV.] Of the Inflin6ls of Animals. 6 1 again, and renovate their powei*s. The caterpillar alfo grows young again, only in a more difficult, exquifitc, and artful manner : flic ftrips off her briftly cafe, which takes with it fome of her feet, and by a flower or quicker tranfition ap- pears in a perfeftly new ftate. The firft period of her life, which flie employed as a caterpillar in the office of nutrition alone, afforded her powers for this : now mufl they alfo fenrc to propagate the fpecies, and for this her rings are formed, and her limbs arc produced. Thus, in the organization of this creature, Nature has only placed her periods of life and inftinfts farther from each other, and left them organically to prepare for a peculiar transformation — as mvoluntary on the part of the creature, as that of the fnakc when flic cafls her ikin. What is the web of the fpider, but thcfpider herfelf elongated^ to obtain her prey ? As the polypus flretches out his arms to embrace it ; as flic obtained i&ngs to hold it b&.\ fo for the purpofe of catching her prey flic acquired the papillae, between which her web is drawn out. Of the juice from which it is formed fhe has about a fufEcient quantity to fupply her with webs during her life i and if flic be unfortunate with them, flic mud recur to forcible means, or die. The power that organized her whole body, and all it's inherent fecultics, formed her thus organically to the fabrication of this web. The fame are we taught by the republic of bees. Each of the difTcrent fpe- cies of thefe is fafliioned to it's particular purpofe: and they afTociate together, bccaufc neither of the fpecies could exift without the others. The working bees are organized for the gathering of honey, and the conftruftion of the cells. The honey they gather, as every animal fceks it's food : and fmce their mode of life requires it, they colleft it orderly, and lay it up in ftorc. They conftruift their cells as fo many other animals build their habitations, each in it's own manner. Being of no fex, they feed the young of the hive, as others feed their own offspring 5 and kill the drones, as every animal kills another, that robs him of his provifion, and is a burden to his family. Though all this cannot be done without fenfe and feeling i yet it is but the fenfe, the feeling, of a bee ; neither the mere mccbanifm, to which Buffon refers it ; nor the complicated, mathematical« political reafon, which others afcrrbe to the crea- ture. It's mind is included in it's organization, and intimately interwoven with it. Thus it operates conformably to it 5 finely, and with art, but in a very narrow and confined circle. The beehive is it's world, and the creator has divided it's occupations into three parts by a threefold organization. Neither muft we fufTer ourfelves to be mifled by the word promptitude^ while we obferve thefe organic arts in many animals immediately after their birth. Our promptitude arifes from praftices their's does not. Is their Digitized by Google 6z PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Boor III. organization completed ? it's powers muft be in full play. What in the World has the greatcft promptitude? The falling ftone; the blooming flower. That fells, this blooms, according to i^s nature. The cryftal Ihoots with more promp- titude and regularity, than the bee conftructs it's comb, or the fpider her web. In the ftone it is only a blind organic inftinft, that is infallible : in the infeA it is organized to the employment of feveral limbs and organs, and thefe may fail. The healthy, powerful confent of thefe to one end conftitutes prompti- tude, as foon as the pcrfed creature exifts. Thus we perceive why tlie higher creatures rife, the more thcu* inccflänt pro- penfity and infallible promptitude decreafe. The more, namely, the one orga- nic principle of nature, which we here term plaßicy there impulfiue^ hcxtfenfitive^ there artful^ yet which is at bottom but one and the fame oi^nic power, is fubdivided into feveral oi^ans and various limbs; and the more it has in each of thefe a world of it's own, whence confequently it is expofed to particular errours and obftacles : fo nmch tlie weaker is it's propenfity, fo much the more is it fubjeft to the command of the will, and therefore of errour. The different fenfations muft be balanced againft each other, and then reconciled togethef t hail, then, overpowering inftinft, infallible guide ! The obfcure irritation, that ia a certain fphere, fecluded from all others, pofleflcs in itfelf a kind of omnifcience and omnipotence, is now divided into twigs and branches. The teachable creature muft learn, as he receives from Nature lefs knowledge : he muft exercife his powers, becaufe he receives lefs power from Nature: but by his progreffivc advancement, by the refining and divifion of his powers, he has obtained new means of opera- tion, and more and finer organs, to difcriminate his fenfations, and to choole that which is beft. What he wants in intenfity of impulfe, is fupplicd by it's cxtetit and finer compofition : he is capable of more pure felf-fatisfaftion, of a more free and diverfified ufe of his powers and limbs ; and all, becaufe, if I may fo exprefs myfelf, his organic mind is more fubtildy and multi&rioufly diftributed among it's organs. Let us now confider a few wonderful and wife laws of this gradual improve- ment of the creature ; how the creator has accuftomed him ftcp by ftep to a combination of many ideas, or feelings, and to n peculiar free employment (f many fenfes and limbs. Digitized by Google [ «3 ] GHAPTER V, Advancement of tie Creature to a combination of fever al Ideas y and to a particular freer ufe of the Senfes and Limbs. I. An obfcure but powerful propcnfity is aD, that inanimate nature poflefles. The parts prefs together with internal energies : every creature feeks to acquire formy and forms itfelf Every thing is yet included in this propenfityj but it indeftruftibly pervades the whole being. The (malleft part of a cryftal, or of a fait, is a fait or a cryflal : the plaftic power operates in the minuteft particle^ as in the whole ; indifcerptible from without, indeftruftible from within. 2. Plants divide themfelves into tubes and other parts : in thefe parts their propenfity begins to modify itfelf after it's own manner, though in the whole it ftill operates uniformly. Root, ftem, and branches, abforb i but in different manners, by different conduits, and different fubftances. Thus the propenfity of the whole modifies itfelf with thefe, but fWl remains in the whole one and the fame : for propagation is only the eßorefcence of growth^ and both thefe pro- penfities are infeparable from the nature of the creature. 3. In zoophytes Nature begins imperceptibly to fcparate particular oi]gan$, with their inherent powers : the organs of nutrition become vifible : the fruit already loofens itfelf in the womb of the parent, though it continues to be nouriflied in it as a plant. Many polypi fprout from one flem : Nature has fixed them to a fpot, and exempted them from locomotion. The fnail has a broad foot, with which it faflens itfelf to it's houfe. The fenfes of this creature lie obfcurely and indiflindt together : it's propenfity operates flowly and inti- mately : the copulation of the fnail continues feveral days. Thus Nature has exempted this beginning of vital organization as much as the could from di- vcrfity, and therefore more deeply concealed and firmly bound variety in an obfcure fimple movement. The tenacious life of the fnail is almofl inde- flruÄible. 4. As (he afcended higher, (he obferved the fame wife precaution, gradually to inure the creature to a greater difcrimination of diverfified fenfe and inflinft. The infedt cannot perform at once all it has to perform : therefore it mufb change if s form and beings firfl as a caterpillar to fatisfy the propenfity of nutri- tion, next as a fly that of propagation : it was incapable of both in one form. One fpecies of bees could not execute every thing requifite to the enjoyment and propagation of the kind : Nature divided them therefore, and made one to Digitized by Google 64 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book III. work, another to propagate, and a third to produce young ; all by a flight change of organization, whence the powers of the creature acquired another direftion. IJ'hat ßc could not complete in one moclsl^ ß:e effcEled in ihree^ fitted to each other as fragments of one whole. Thus (he taught the bees their office in three fpecies, as (lie taught the butterfly, and other infefts, their occupations in two difllrent forms. 5. In proportion as flie advanced, and thought fit to allow the ufe of fevc- ral fenfes, and with thefe of will, to accumulate; flie removed unnecej'ary iimhsj and ftmplified theßruäure within and without. With the fldn of the caterpillar feet are removed, for which the butterfly will have no occafion : the many feet of infcdls, their numerous and diverfified eyes, their antennse, and many other little implements, are wanting in fuperiour creatures. Of thofe the head con- tains little brain : it lying far lower in the fpinal marrow, and each ganglion of the nerves confl:ituting a new centre of fenfation. Thus the mind of the little artift is difperfed throughout it's whole body. The more the creature (hould increafe in fpontaneity, and the refemblance of intelligence ; the greater, and better furnilhed with brain, is it's head; and the three principal parts of the body are more proportionate to each other, which in infedts, worms, and the like, were totally deftitute of proportion. What great and mighty tails do the amphibia drag on the ground, while their misfliapen legs ftand unconncfted ! In quadrupeds Nature has exalted her work : the legs are longer, and approach nearer together. The tail, with it's portion of the vertebrae, (hortens and dimi- nilhes : it lofes the grofs mufcular force of the crocodile's, and becomes more pliable and flender; till in more noble animals it is only a hairy fwitch, and at length, as Nature approaches the eredV. form, it is totally rejedled. The marrow of it is carried higher up, and expended on nobler parts. 6. While the creative artiil found the prcp§rticn of the quadruped the beft, wherein this creature learned to exercife certain fenfes and powers in comhinatiouj and to unite them in one form of thought and fenfation : flie changed the figure of each fpecies according to it's mode of life and dcftination, and with the fame parts and limbs produced it's own liarmony of the whole, and therewith it's own organic mind, dÜFerent from all others. At the fame time flie retained a cer- tain fmiilitude, and fccmed to purfue one great end. This great end is evi- dently to approach that organic form, in which the greateft: combination of clear ideas, and the moft diverfified and free ufe of various fenfes and limbs, could take place : and this it is, that conftitutes the greater or lefs humanity of beafl;s. It is no fport of the will : but a refult of the diverfe forms, that could be no otherwifc combined to that end, to which Nature would combine Digitized by Google Chap. V.] Combination of Ideas ^ ahd Ufe of the Senfes^ 65 them i namely to an employment of thoughts, fenfcs, powers, and defires, in this proportion, to fuch an end, and no other. The parts of every animal are in the mod cxaft proportion to each other, according to it's place s and I am perfuaded, that all the forms, in which a living creature can cxift on our Earth, arc exhaufted. The bead goes upon all fours : for he could not ufe his forefeet as human hands ; but then, by this going on all fours, his {landing, running, leaping, and the ufe of his animal fenfes, are rendered moft eafy to him. His head ftill inclines towards the earth J as from the earth he feeks his food. In moft the fmell is acute; as it muft awaken or guide their inftindt. Of one the ear is quick, of another the eye : and thus Nature has chofen, not only in the general ftrufture of quadru- peds, but in the formation of each particular fpecies, that particular proportion of powers and fenfes, which could be beft exercifed in fuch an organization. Conformably to this (lie contracted or elongated the limbs, and increafed or di- xniniihed the ftrength. Every creature is a numerator to the great denomina- tor, which is Nature's felf : even man is only a fraftion of the whole, a propor- tion of powers, which were to form themfelves into one whole, in this and no other organization, by the common aid of many limbs. 7. Neceflarily, in a terrcftrial organization fo deliberate, no power mußfupprefs another t no propenfity deßroy another-, and infinitely admirable is the care, that Nature has employed for this purpofe. Moft animals have their peculiar climate, which is precifely that, where they can be moft eafily fed and brought up. Had Nature fafliioned them more indeterminately, with a capacity for fupporting various dimes \ to what wants and wildnefs would many fpecies have been ex- pofed, till they had at length become extindl ! We fee this in the moft trad- able fpecies, which have followed man into every country : each region has given them a different caft, and the wild dog has become one of the moft fa- vage beafts of prey, even as he has become wild. The propenfity of propagation muft have bewildered the creature ftill more, had it been left indeterminate: but this too the creative parent has fettered. It awakes only at a determinate pe- riod j when the organic warmth of the animal is at the higheft : and as this is efiedted by phyfical revolutions of growth, of the feafons, and of the richeft food; and the good fuperintendant has determined accordingly the time of geftation; equal care is taken for both young and old. The young comes into the World, when it can profper in it j or it paffes through the fevere feafon in the ftate of an egg, till roufed by a more friendly Sun : the old feels the propenfity only when it counteracts no other. By thb too is regulated the relation of the two fpecies in the duration and force of this propenfity. Digitized by Google 66 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book HL The beneficent maternal affeäion, with which Nature has in this way edu- cated and effeftually habituated every living creature to aftions, thoughts, and virtues, fuitable to the compafs of it's organization, is above all expreffion. She preconceived it, as ihe placed thefe powers in a given organization, and neceffi- tated the creature to fee, to defire, to ad., in this organization, as (he had pre- conceived it, and gave it wants, powers, and place, within the limits of this or- ganization. There exifts no virtue, no propenfity, in the human heart, which has not fomewherc in the animal world it's fimilitude, to-which the forming mother has organically habituated the animal. It muft provide for itfelf : it muft learn to love it's ofTspting : neceffity and the feafons compel it into fociety, if it be only to have companions in travel. Appetite impels this animal to love ; neceffity conftrains that to marrij^e, to a fort of republic, to focial order. How- ever obfcurely all this takes place^ however fhortly much of it endures j (till it is imprinted in the nature of the animal, and we fee it there ftrongly, we fee it return ; nay it is irrefiftible, it is indelible By how much the more obicurely and inwardly all this operates, the fewer thoughts are combined, and the lefs frequently the impulfe afts ; fo much the ftronger is the propenfity, fo much the more perfeft it's efFefts. Thus every where occur prototypes of humao modes of adtion, in which animals are exercifed : and if there be a fin againll Nature, it is to refolve ftill to confider them as machines, while we behold be- fore our eyes their fyftem of nerves, their ftrufture refembling ours, their wants and modes of life the fame. It is not to be wondered at therefore, that the more a Ipecies refembles man, the more it's mechanic art decreafes ; for fuch a fpecies ftands already in a prac- tical circle of more humanlike thoughts. The beaver, which is ftill a water-rat, builds with art. The fox, the ficldmoufc, and fimilar animals, have their arti- ficial fubterranean ft^dures. The dog, the horfe, the camel, the elephant, want not thefe little arts : they have thoughts like thofe of man ; impelled by the plaftic hand of Nature, they exercife themfelves in propcnfities like his. Digitized by Google [ 67 J CHAPTER VI. Organic Difference between Man and Beaßs. With great untruth has it been faid in praife of the human fpecies, that all the powers and capacities of every other are found in the higheft perfeftion in man. Such a commendation is not only without proof, but inconfiftent : for evidently in fuch a cafe one power would deftroy another, and the creature would abfolutely have no enjoyment of his exiftence. How could man at one and the (kme time bloom like the flower, feel like the fpider, build like thc bce, fuck like the butterfly ; and alfo poflcfs the mufcular ftrength of the lion, the probofcis of the elephant, and the art of the beaver ? Does he poflefs, nay does he comprehend, a fingle one of thefe powers, with that intcnfity, with which the animal enjoys and exercifes it ? On the other hand, fome have, I will not fay degraded him to the rank of a beaft, but altogether divefted him of the charadler of his kind, and made him a degqierate animal, that, ftriving after higher perfedlion, has totally loft the originality of his fpecies. This is palpably contrary to truth, and the evidence of his natural hiftory : he has obvioufly qualities, which no other animal pof- fcflcsj and has performed adtions, of which the good and the bad are truly his oft'n. No beaft devours his fellow from epicurifm : no beaft murders his Uke m cold blood, at the command of a third. No beaft has language, as man lias ; and ftill lefs writings, traditions, religion, and arbitrary rights and laws. Finally no beaft has the form, clothing, habitation, arts, unfettered mode of life, unre- fiiained propenüties, and fludtuating opinions, which diftinguifli almoft every individual of mankind. We inquire not whether all this be to the ad* vantage or detriment of our fpecies ; fufEce it, that of our fpecies it is the character. As every beaft remains true upon the whole to the qualities of his kind, and we alone have made a divinity of will, not of neceflity; this diflerence muft be inveftigated as a fadt, for fuch it inconteftibly is. The other queftions: how man came by this difference : and whether this difference be original, or adventitious and acquired : are of another kind, hiftorical merely : and here the perfectibility or corruptibility, in which no beail^ has hitherto imitated him» muft have pertained to the diftinguilhing charadteriftics of his fpecies. Laying afide all metapdiyfics, we confine ourfelves to phyfiology and experience. I. The form of man is upright : in this he isßngular upon the earth. For though the bear has equally a broad foot, and flands credt when he fights : though Digitized by Google 68 PHILOSOPHY OT HISTORY. [BookIIL the ape and the pigmy fometimes walk or run in an ereft pofture : ftill to the human fpecies alone is this pofition natural and conftant. The foot of man is more firm and broad : he has a long great toe, while the ape has but a thumb : his heel too is on a level with the fole of his foot. All the mufcles afting in this pofition arc adapted to it. The calf of the leg is enlarged: the pelvis is drawn backward : the hips are fpread outwards from each other : the fpinc is lefs curved : the bread is widened : the fhoulders have clavicles : the hands have fingers endued with the fenfe of feeling : to crown the ftrudture the re- ceding head is exalted on the mufcles of the neck : man is tty^^towof *, a crea- ture looking far above and around him. It muft be granted, however, that this mode of going ereft is not fo effential to man, that it's oppofite is as impofllble for him as to fly. Not only is the con- trary feen in children ; but men, who have been brought up among beafts, have proved it by experience. Eleven or twelve inftances of this kind are known «f ; and though they have not all been fufficiently obferved and defcribed, yet fome of them (how clearly, that the gait moft incommodious to man is not imprafticable to his pliable nature. His head, as well as his abdomen, lies fomewhat forwards : the body therefore can fall forwards, as the head finks in fleep. No dead body can (land upright : it is only by the combined exertion of innumerable adtions, that our artificial mode of (landing and going becomes poflible. Thus it may eafily be conceived, that, in acquiring the gait of quadrupeds, many limbs of the human body muft change their forms, and proportions to each other; as appears in the inftances of wild men. The irifli boy, dcfcribed by Tulpius, had a flat forehead, the occiput heightened, a wide bleating throat, a thick tongue growing almoft up to the palate, and^the pit of the ftomach drawn greatly inwards ; juft as going on all fours muft occafion. The flemifli maiden, who walked ereft, and ftill retained fo much of the feminine nature as to bedeck herfelf with a ftraw apron, had a brown thick, hairy (kin, and long thick hair. The maiden found at Songi in Champaign had a dark countenance, ftrong fin- gers, and long nails ; and her thumbs in particular were fo ftrong and elongated, that (he fwung herfelf with them from tree to tree like a fquirrel. Her quick pace was not walking, but a flying trip and gliding, in which the motions of the feet were fcarcely to be diftingui(hed. The tone of her voice was weak and ilender, her cry piercing and frightful. She had uncommon ftrength and agi- lity; and was fo difficult to be weaned from her ufual aliment, of raw andbleed- *Vplooking: the greek name for man, from f 5«« Linn^*s Natural Syftcm« Martini'« atM, upwards, and ^ivftv^ to look. T. fupplcment to Bafibn, and other places. Digitized by Google Chap. VI.] Organic Difference between Man and Beaßs. 69 ing flefli, fifti, leaves, and fruit, that (he not only endeavoured to efcape, but fell into a dangerous illnefs, from which (he could be recovered only by fucking warm blood, that pervaded her veffels like a ballani. Her teeth fell out, and her nails dropped off, as flieaccuftomed herfelf toour food : infupportable pains contrafted her ftomach and bowels, particularly the oefophagus, which became parched and dried up. Strong proofs, how much the pliable nature of a hu- man being, even though flie was born and for a time brought up among men, could habituate itfelf in a few years to the inferiour mode of life of the beafts, among which flic was placed by fome unfortunate mifchance. How could I delineate the hateful vifion of what man muft have been, had he been condemned to the fate of being formed a beftial foetus in the womb of a quadruped : what powers would thereby have been flrengthcned, what weak- ened i what muft have been the gait, the education, the way of life, the corporeal ftnjfturc, of the human beaft ! But away unhallowed and horrible image ! odious nonnature of natural man ! In nature thou doft not exift : my pen ihall not delineate one of thy features. For 2. The upright poßureofman is natural to him alone : nay it is the organifm of the whole deßination of the fpecieSy and if s mofi dißinguißing charadler. No nation upon Earth has been found walking on all fours : the moft la- vage, however clofely many of them border on brute beafts in their form and mode of living, walk ereft. Even the men without feeling of Diodorus, with other fabulous beings of the ancient and middle writers, go upon two legs : and I cannot comprehend, how the human fpecies, if it had pofTeffed from Nature the abjed horizontal pofition, could ever have raifed itfelf to a pofture of fo much art and conftraint. How much trouble has it coft, to habituate the wild men, who have been found, to our food and manner of living ! yet thefe were not originally wild, but had become fo only by being a few years among the brutes. The efkimaux maiden had fome ideas of her former flate, and remains of the language and inftin6ts of her native country : yet her reafon lay bound up in brutality ; (he had no remembrance of her journey, or of the whole of her wild flate. The others were not only deftitute of language, but were in fome mcafurc for ever loft to human fpeech. And would the human beaft, had he been ages of ages in this abje concerning which the magnitude of the brain gives us no information. Still thefe arithmetical calculations * are valuable, and afford us (bme inftruc- tive and introduftory inferences, though not ultimate conclufions. Some of thefe I (hall here mention, to (how the afccnding uniformity of Nature's courie. 1. In the fmaller animals, in which the circulation and organic warmth are but imperfefl:, we find a (mailer brain and fewer nerves. Nature, as we have already remarked, has made up to them in an intimate or fine expanded irri- tability, what (he was obliged to deny them in fenfation : for probably the elaboratmg organifm of thefe creatures could neither produce nor fupport a larger brain. 2. In warm blooded animals the mafs of the brain increafes m proportion as their organization is more elaborate : but here other confiderations fupervene, which feem more particularly governed by the proportions the nervous and mufcular powers bear to each other. In bcafts of prey the brain is fmaller : in thc(c predominate the mufcular powers, to which, and animal irritability, the nerves are for the moft part fubfervient. In peaceable graminivorous animals the brain is larger : though even in thefe it feems principally employed in nerves of fenfe. Birds have much brain : for in their colder element warmer blood is nece(rary. The circulation, too, is confined within a fmaller fphere in their bodies, which are generally fmall. In the amorous fparrow the brain fills the whole head, and is equal in weight to one fifth of the body. 3. In young creatures the brain is larger than in thofe that are full grown : evidently becaufe it is more foft and tender, and therefore occupies confiderable fpace, but is not on this account more weighty. In it, too, is the provlfion of that delicate humedVation for all the vital fundtions, and internal operations, by which the creature is in it's younger years to acquire capacities, and on which much is confequently to be expended. With increafing years the brain * We find a copious collection of thefe in fmtller work on phyfiology ; for we (hall foon Kaller's greater work on Phyfiology; and it fee, that the fpecific gravity of the brain, which M much to be wiihed» chat prof. V^riiberg had he has inveftigated, is a nicer fiandard than that Bade known his namerous experiments, to employed in preceding calcttlationi* vhkh he refers in his remarkf on Haller's Digitized by Google 76 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book IV. grows more firm and dry : for capacities then arc acquired, and tlic animal, whether man or brute, is no longer fufceptible of fuch light, agreeable, fugacious impreffions. In fliort, the magnitude of the brain feems to be a neceflary con* dition, though not the primary one, of greater capacity and exercife of the un- derftanding. Of all animals man, as the ancients themfelves knew, has proper* tionally the largeft brain : yet in this point the ape is not inferiour to him, and the afs is even fupenour to the horfe. The finer thinking powers of the creature muft phyfiologically require fbme- thing more than^his : and according to the fcale of organization, which Nature has placed before our eyes, what elfc can it be than the flruElwrt of the brain itfelf, the more perfedt elaboration of it's parts and juices, and it's more apt Jittt^ ation and proportion for the reception of the moft fpiritual perceptions and ideas in the moft falutary vital warmth ? Let us then turn over the leaves of Nature's book, and examine the fined fiie ever compofed, the tablet of the brain itfelf: for as the ends of her organifm are the fenfation, the wellbeing, the happinefs of a creature, the head muft be the repofitory, in which we may look for her thoughts with the greateft expedation of fuccefs. 1. In creatures, of which the brain is but juft in it's commencement, it ap- pears yet very fimple : it is as a bud, or a pair of buds, of the Iprouting fpinal marrow, and affords nerves only to the moft neceftary fenfes. In birds and fifhes, the brains of which, according to the remark of Willis, have a fimilar ftrufture, the number of protuberances increafes to five or upwards, and they are alfo more diftinft. Finally, in warmblooded animals the cerebrum and ce* rebellum are evidently difkinguifliable : the lobes of the former, fuitably to the organization of the animal, fpread from each other, and the particular parts pro- portionally purfue the fame courfe. Thus Nature, as in the whole formation of her fpecies, fo in it's fummary and term, the brain, has only one prototype*, which (he has employed in the meaneft worm and infed, and aknoft impercep- tibly changed in every fpecies, according to the variety of their external organic zation ; yet advancing, enlarging, and improving, as fhe changed, till it was ul- timately perfeded in man. The cerebellum was finifhed fooner than the brain itfelf; being more clofely allied to the fpinal marrow, nearer to which it ori- ginates : it is more fimilar, too, in many fpecies, in which the figure of the brain is flill very different. And this needs not excite o\ir wonder, fince nerves of great importance to the animal economy rife firom the cerebellum : fo that Nature, ia fiiQiioning the nobleft powers of thought, could not but take her courfe forwards from the fpine. 2. The lobes of the cercbnun appear in many refpedts more finifhed in their Digitized by Google Chap. L] Man is organized to a Capacity of Reafoning. 77 nobler parts. Not only are their convolutions niore deeply and accurately marked, more numerous and more diverfified, in man, than in any other animal : not only is the cortical part of the human brain it's fofteft and moft delicate portion, fo that it may be reduced to a twenty-fifth part of it's original weight by exficcation : but the treafure, which is covered and interlaced with this cor- tical part, the medulla, is more diftinft, more determinate, and comparatively greater, in the nobler animals, efpecially in man, than in all other creatures. In man the cerebrum far outweighs the cerebellum -, and it's fuperior weight clearly indicates it's internal fulnefs, and greater elaboration* 3. All the experiments hitherto coUefted by Haller, the moft learned phyfi- ologift any nation has yet produced, (how how futile it would be to feek the in-- divißbie work of the formation of ideas in fubftance and diftributed among the material parts of the brain : nay, I am perfuaded, did none of thefe experiments exifl, the very manner, in which ideas are formed, mud have led to the fame con- clufion. Why is it, that we name the powers of thought, according to their different relations, imagination and memory, wit and judgment ? that we dif- tinguifti the impulfe of defire from mere will, and the power of fenfation from that of motion ? The leaft calm refledtion tells us, that thefe i&culties are not locally feparated, as if judgment refided in one part of the brain, memory and imagination in another, the paffions and fendtive powers in a third ; for the thoi^ht of our fnind is undivided, and each of thefe effefts is the fruit of thought. It would be in fome meafure abfurd therefore, to attempt to difle as eafily as we could finger the keys of a harpfichord ! Of fuch an expedtation I sun far from entertaining the remoteft thought. 4. Still farther is it from me, when I contemplate the ftnifture of the brain and nerves. How difierent here is the economy of Nature, from what our ab- ftraft pfychology of the fenfes and feculties of the mind would fuppofe ! Who would infer from metaphyfics, that the nerves originate, divide, and unite, in the manner in which we perceive they do ? yet thefe are the only parts of the brain, the organic purpofes of which we know, as their effedts are placed before our eyes. Nothing remains for us then, but to confider this facred laboratory of ideas, the internal bram, where the fenfes converge together, as the womb in which Digitized by Google 7« PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book IV. the embryon thought is fafliioned invifibly and undivided. If that womb be found and healthy, and afford the embryon not merely due mental and vital 'warmth, but that amplitude of fpace, that fitnefsof lituation, in which the in- viiible organic power, that here pervades every thing, can embrace the percep- tions of the fenfes and of the whole body, and combine them, if I may be al- lowed the metaphor, in that luminous pointy which approaches fentimenty the finely organized creature becomes capable of reafon, if aided by external drcum- ftances of inftrufkion and the developement of ideas. If the reverfe of this take place ; if the brain be deficient in finer fluids, or effential parts ; if groiler fenfes occupy it J or if it be thrufl into a confined fituation : what is the confequcncc? As that fubtile converging radiation of ideas is wanting, the creature remains a child of the fenfes. 5. The conflrudion of the brains of various animals feems evidently to prove this : and even from this conflrudion, compared with the external organization and way of life of the animal, may we perceive why Nature, following generally one model, could not always reach it, but was necefTitated to vary from it, here in one way, there in another. Of many animals the chief fenfe is that of fmell : it is the mofl necefTary to their fupport, and the guide of their inflindt. Ob- ferve how the note projefts in the vifage of thefe animals : in like manner in Iheir brains the olfaftory nerves projedt, as if the forepart of the head were made for them alone. They proceed for^'ards broad, hollow, and pithy, fo that they appear like continuations of the ventricles of the brain : and in many fpecies the frontal finufes extend very high, probably to flrengthen the fenfe of fmell : fo that^ if I may ufe the exprefTion, a greater part of the animal mind is olfaftory. The optic nerves follow next in order; the fenfe of fight being moft necefTary to the animal, after that of fmell. Thefe appertain more to the middle region of the brain, and they fubferve a finer fenfe. The other nerves, which I will not here enumerate, follow in proportion as the external and internal orga- nization require a connection of parts \ fo that, for example, the nerves and mufcles of the occiput fupport and animate the mouth, the chin, and the reft. Thus they finifh as it were the countenance, and frame the external figure to fuch a whole, as the internal is rendered by the proportion of the internal powers. In this comparative view, however, we muft not confine ourfelves to the vifage alone, but take in the whole body. It is pleafing to go through the different proportions of different forms, comparing them together, and contemplating the internal fprlngs, by which Nature has fet each creature in motion. For what flic was obliged to withhold, fhe has made compenfation : and what fhe was obliged to render complex, fhe has wifely complicated : that is, fhe has formc^ Digitized by Google Cm A?. I.] Man ts organized to a Capacity of Reafomng* 7 J the external organization of the creature in harmony with it's general way of life. Yet ftill flie had her model ever in view, and deviated from it unwillingly j as a certain analogical perception and underfianding conftituted the great end, to which flie fought to faftiion all terreflxial organized being. In the moft various inhabitants of earth, of fea, and of air, this may be (hown in one progreffive analogy. 6. Thus we come to the fuperiority of man in the ffrufture of his brain. And on what does this depend ? Evidently on his moreperfeä organization in the whole^ and ultimately on his ere^ pqfture. The brain of every animal is fafhioned after the (hape of it's head : or the propofition might with more propriety be reverfed» as Nature works from within to without. To whatever gait, to whatever pro- portion of parts, to whatever habits^ (he deftined the creature ; for thefe flie com- pounded, to thefe flie adapted, it's organic powers. According to thefe powers^ and to the proportion in which they operated on each other, the brain was made large or fniall, narrow or extenfive, light or ponderous, fimple or complicated. According to this the fenfes of the creature became feeble or powerful, paramount or fubfervient. The cavities and mufcles of the forepart of the head and of the occiput fafliioned themfelves, according as the lymph gravitated, in fliort, ac- cording to the angle of the organic direSfion of the head. Of numerous proofs ia fupport of this, that might be adduced from various genera and fpecies, I fliaU mention only two or three. What produces the organic difference between the head of man and the head of an ape ? The angle of direftion. The ape has every part of the brain that man pofTeiTes : but it has them thruft backward in fituation according to the figure of it's fkull, and this becaufe it's head is formed under a different angle, and it was not defigned to walk erefl:. Hence all the organic powers operated in a different manner : the head was not fo high, fo broad, or fo long, as that of man : the inferiour fenfes predominated with the lower part of the vifage, which was the vifage of a beaft, as it's back-flioved brain muft ever continue the brain of a brute. Thus, though it has all the parts of the human brain, it has them in a different fituation, in a different proportion. Tlie parifian anatomifts found in the apes they diflefted the foreparts fimilar to thofe of man j but the internal, from the cerebellum, proportionally deeper. The pmeal gland was conical, with it's point turned toward the hindhead, &c. Thus there is a manifeft relation between the angle of diredion of the head, and the mode of walking, figure, and way of life of the animal. The ape diflefted by Blumenbach * had ftill more of the brute -, being probably of an inferiour « BluxDCobadi, ät VarittMt. nativ* Gn. htm* p. 32« Digitized by Google So PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [BoolcI^^ ipecies, whence arofe it*s larger cerebeUum, and the defedbivenefi of the more important regions« Thefe differences do not exift in the ourang-outang, the head of which is lefs bent backward» and the brain not {b much preiTed toward the hind part, though fufEciently fo when compared with the high» round, and bold curve of the human brain, the only beautiful apartment for the formation of rational ideas« Why has not the horfe the rete mirabile as well as other brutes? Becaufe it's head ftands ereä, and the carotid artery rifes in fome meafure like that of a man, without having occafion for this contrivance to impede the courfe of the blood, as in brutes that have depending heads. Accordingly it is a nobler» fiery, courageous animal, of much warmth, and ileeping little. On the con- trary, in creatures with heads hangbg down. Nature had many precautions to take, in thb conftruAion of the brain, even feparating the principal parts by a bony partition. Thus every thing depends on the direction in which the head was formed, to adapt it to the organization of the whole frame. I Hiall not proceed to any other examples, hoping, that inquifitive anatomifb will turn their attention, particularly in difledling animals that refemble man, to this in- timate relation of the parts to their fituation with refpeEl to each other^ and to the direSiion of the head as it forms a part of the whok. Here, I believe, lies the difference, that produces this or that inftinA, that elaborates a brutal or a hu- man mind : for every creature is in all it's parts one living cooperating whole. 7. Even what may be termed a good or bad (hape of the hunuui head itfelf appears determinable from this fimple and general law of it's adaptation to the ereA pofhire. For as this (hape of the head, this expanfion of the brain into it's beautiful wide hemifpheres, with it's internal formation to rationality and freedom, were confiflent only with the ered form j as the proportion and gra- vitation of the parts themfclves, the degree of warmth they poffefs, and the marmer in which the blood circulates through them, clearly (how \ no other than the fupcriour human form could refult from this internal proportion. Why does the crown of the grecian head incline fo pleafingly forward ? Becaufe it contains the ampleil ipace for an unconfined bram, and indicates fine found concavities in the fSrontal bone, fo that it may be confidered as the temple of ilear and youthfully beautiful thought. The hind head on the contrary b fmall, that the animal cerebellum might not preponderate So it is with the other parts of the face : as organs of fenfe they indicate the fineft proportion of the fenfitive faculties of the brain, and every deviation from this proportion is an approach to thebrute. 1 am perfuaded, that on the agreement of thefe parts will be erefted a valuable fcience, to which phyfiognomy proceeding on conjedture would not eafily attm. The grounds of the external form lie within ; Digitized by Google Chap. I.] Man is organized to a Capacity of Reafoning. 8 1 for every thing has been fafliioncd by the organic powers operating from within to without, and Nature has made every being fuch a complete whole, as if (he had never created any thing elfe. Look up to Heaven, then, O man ! and tremblingly rejoice at thy vaft fu- periority, which the creator of the world has conncfted with fuch a fimple principle, thy upright form. Didft thou walk prone like a brute j were thy head gluttonoufly formed for the mouth and nofe, and the ftrufture of thy limbs anfwerable j where would be thy higher powers of mind ? to what would not the image of the divinity in thee be degraded ? The wretch who rank» with the brutes has loft it : as his head is mifliapen, his internal faculties are de- bafed, and the groiTer fenfes drag the creature down to the earth. But the fafliioning thy limbs to an ereft pofture has given thy head it's beautiful out- line and poiition, whence the brain, that delicate ethereal germe of Heaven, has full room to extend itfelf and fend out it's branches. The forehead {wells rich m thought ; the animal organs recede; it is the form of a man. As the fkull rifcs higher, the ear is feated lower j it becomes more clofely conneded with the eye, and the two fenfes have more intimate accefs to the facred apartment in which ideas are fomied. The cerebellum, the marrow (hooting down the (pine, and the vital powers of fenfe, which are paramount in the brute, are in a fubordinate proportion to the brain. The rays of the wonderfully beautiful corpora ftriata are more diflinft and delicate in man: an indication of the infi- nitely (iner light concentrated in this region, and beaming from it. Thus, if I may fpeak (iguratively, is the flower formed, that merely (hoots forth a (prout in the elongated fpinal marrow, but rounds itfelf forward into a plant full of ethereal powers, which could be generated only in this afpiring tree. Farther : the general proportion of the organic powers oY the brute is not favourable to reafon. In it's organization mufcular ftrength and fenfual irrita* bility prevail, which are diftributed in each particular frame according to the end of the creature, and form the predominant inftinft of each fpecies. With man's ereft figure arifes a tree, the faculties of which are fo proportioned as to (end the fineft and richeft fluids to the brain, as the flower that crowns the whole. Every pulfation of the heart fends more than a (ixth part of the blood contained in the human body to the head alone. The grand ftream riles upwards, then takes a gentle curve, and divides itfelf gradually, fo that even the remoteft parts of the head derive warmth and nouri(hment from it and it's fitter ftreams. Nature has employed all her art to ftrengthen the ve(rels that convey the ftream, to weaken and moderate the force of the cur- jent, to retain it long in the brain, and to condud it back gently from the head Digitized by Google Sz PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book IV. when it has performed it's office. It fpriiigs from trunks, which, being near the heart, aft with all the force of the primitive movement : and, from the commencement of life, the whole power of the young heart ads on this, the nobleft and moft fenfiWe part. The extremities remain yet unformed, while the head and internal parts are fabricated in the moft delicate manner. Wc fee with aftonifhment not only the overproportion of thefe, but their fine ftrufture in the particular fenfes of the embryo, as if the great artifl intended to create it for the brain alone and the power of internal motion, till at length (he gradually fupplies the other members alfo, as organs and produdions of the inner parts. Thus man is faQiioned even in his mother's womb to an ercdt pofture, and every thing that depends on it. He is not born in the pendu- lous womb of a brute : a more artful cavity, retting on it's bafis, was prepared for his formation. There fits the little fleeper, and the blood crowds to his head, till this head finks by it's own gravity. In (hort, man is what he was dc- figned to be, and to this end all the parts co-operate ; a rifing tree, crowned, with the moft beautiful flower, the feat of refined thought. CHAPTER II. RarofptHfrom the Organization of the human Head to inferiour Creatures^ the Heads* of which approach it in Form. I p wc have advanced thus far in the right path, the fame analc^ in the- relation the head bears to the general ftrudture mutt prevail in the inferiour creatures, fince Nature is uniform in her operations : and this analogy does moft evidently prevail. As the plant labours to put forth that elaborate pro- duäion the flower, fo in living creatures the whole frame exerts it's powers to nourilh the head as it's crown. It might be faid, that Nature employs the whole organization of creatures, according to their rank, to prepare a brain in- creafing in magnitude and perfeftion, and to procure the creature a lefs con- fined central point for the coUeftion of it's perceptions and thoughts. The farther (he advances, the more too flie urges her point : at leaft as much as may be without rendering the head of the creature too heavy, and injuring the corporal feculties. Let us examine a few links of this afcending chain of organic perception, in the external form and direftion of the head. I. In animals where the head lies horizontally with the body the brain is leaft elaborated : Nature has diffufed their irritability and inftindts more ge- Digitized by Google Cha^. IL] lUtrofpeB from the Organization of tie human Head. 85 nerally over the whole. Such are worms and zoophytes, infedts, fi(hes, and amphibious animals. In the lower links of the organic chain ahead is fcarcely perceptible : in others it is a projefting point. In infeds it is fmall : in fifhes the bead and body are united in one: and in amphibious animals the head as for the moft part horizontal, with a crawling body. In proportion as the head rifes, and is diftind, the creature is roufed from it*s brutal ftupidity : the mouth at the fame time recedes, and no longer feems to occupy the whole power of the forepart of the horizontal frame. If we compare the (hark, tliat appears all mouth and throat, or the creeping voracious crocodile, with crea- tures more finely organized, we fliall be led by numerous examples to th» pro- pofition, that, the nearer the head and body of an animal approach one undivided horizontal line, the lefs room it has for an exalted brain, and the more are it's pro- minent gaping jaws the principal part of it's frame. xHhc more perfeft the animal, the more it rifcs above the furface of the ground : it's legs are lengthened, the bones of the neck are articulated in a manner adapted to the general organization, and the head takes a pofition and diredion fuited to the whole. Here too compare the armadillo and opofTum» the porcupine, the rat, the glutton, and other inferiour fpecies, with the nobler animals. In the former the legs are (hort, the head is ftuck between the flioulders, the jaws arc long and projedt forward : in the latter the gait is more free, the head lifter, the neck more moveable, the jaws ihorter -, and lience the brain naturally obtains a higher fituation and ampler fpace. Thus we may admit the fecond propofition, that, the more the body etuleavours to raife itf^if^ and the head to mount upwards fieely from the Jkeleton, the moreperfeä is the zreatur^ s form. This propofition, however, as well as the former, muft be un- derftood with reference to the general proportion and ftrudure of the animal, not to particular members. 3. The more the lower part of the vifage diminiflies, or recedes, in the ele* vatcd head, the nobler it's outline, and the more intelligent it's brow. Com- pare the wolf and the dog, the cat and the lion, the rhihoceros and the ele- phant, the horfe and the hippopotamus. On the other band, the broader and heavier the lower parts of the vifage are, and the greater their inclination downward, the lefs b the ikull, and the fmaller the forehead. In this reiped not only do the different fpecies of animals differ, but even animals of the fame Ipecies in different climates. Confider the white bear of the ardic regions, and the bear of warmer climes; or the different varieties of dogs, harts, and rocs. In (hort, the lefs the animal lias of jaws, and the more ofjkull, the nearer it ap^ proaches the rational form. To render this view of the fubjed more clear, let Digitized by Google 84 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book IV. lines be drawn from the laft cervical vertebra of the fkdeton to the fummit of the fkuU, the fbremoft part of the frontal bone» and the extreme point of the upper jaw : we (hall then fee the great variety in the feveral angles formed ia different genera and fpecies, and at the (ame time perceive» that it all originally proceeds from the more or lefs horizontal pofition of the animal in walking» and is fubfervient to this. My remarks here coincide with the acute obfervations Camper has made on the figures of apes» other animals» and men of different races ; for he draws a ftraight line from the aperture of the ear to the under part of the nofe» and another from the utmoft projeftion of the frontal bone to the mod promi- nent part of the upper jaw *. In this angle he protcffes to difcover not only the difference between various kinds of animals» but that which diftinguiflies nations from each others and fuppofes» that Nature has employed this angle to difcriminate all the varieties of the brute creation» and gradually afcend to the moft perfeA form of beauty in man. Birds defcribe the fmalleft angle» and the angle enlarges in proportion as the brute approaches the human form. The heads of apes reach from 42* to 50* : thofe with the latter angle coming near to man. The negro and calmuc have 70*» the european 80*» and the greeks carried their ideal beauty as far as 90* and even loo". Whatever ex- ceeds this becomes monflrous » and accordingly it is the higheft point» to which the ancients carried the beauty of their heads. As the juftice of this remark is flriking» it gives me much pleafure to trace it» as I believe I have done, to it's phyfical principle -, which is iic tendency of the creature to the horizon-^ tal or perpendicular pofition and form of the heady on which the happy fituatioa of the brain» and the beauty and proportion of all the features» ultimately de- pend. If therefore we would render the theory of Camper complete» and at the fame time difplay it's fundamental principle» we need only take the laft cervical vertebra as the central point» inflead of the ear, and from it draw lines to the hindmoft point of the occiput» the highefl of the crown of the head, the mofl projecting of the forehead, and the moft prominent of the upper jaw : thus we (hall not only render evident the variety of figure in the head, but alfo it's principle, that every circumfiance in the form and dire£lion of this pari depends on the eredl or prone gait of the creature^ and confequently on it's general habit, fo that, according to a fimple principle of formation, unity may be pro- duced amid the greateft variety. • See Prof. Camper*! Works on the Con« »;•&€. [which have been tranflaud into £ng* nezion between Anatomy and the Aru of Draw- liih by Dr. Cogan«] Digitized by Google Chap. II.] RetrofpeQ from the Orgamzation of the humnu Head. 85 O that a fecond Galen would reftore in thefe days the book of the ancient on the parts of the human body, with a particular view of difplaying the per' fedbion of our form, as adapted to the eredt pollure in all it*s proportions and movements ! that he would purfue the comparifon of man with the animal« approaching neareft to him, from the firil moment of his appearance, through his mental and corporal fun&ions, in the finer proportions of the parts to each other, and throughout the whole of the branching tree to it's fummit the brain, and (how by the comparifon, that fuch a brain could be generated in man alone ! The eredt figure is the moil beautiful and natural for all the plants on the Earth. As the tree (hoots upward, as the plant flowers at the top, wc might conjefture, that every nobler creature (hould have this growth, this pofition, and not crawl like a ikeleton ftretched out upon four props. But in thefe earlier periods of his debafement the creature muft improve his animal faculties, and learn to exercife his fenfes and inftindts, before he can attain our moft free and pcrfedb pofition. This he approaches by degrees. The crawling worm raifes it's head as much as poiHble from the duft of the ground, and tlie amphibia creep with bent bodies on the (hore. The proud flag and the noble horfe (land with uplifted neck, and the inftin&s of the domefticated animal are deadened : his mind is fed with ideas beyond it^ which it is true he cannot yet comprehend, but which he takes upon credit, and blindly habituates him- felf to them. A glimpfe of progreffive Nature in her invifible organic empire occafions the depreffed body of the brute to raife itfelf : the fpinal tree (hoots more flraight, and flowers more finely ; the bread is rounded, the haunches clofed, the neck raifed ; the fenfes are more perfect, and concentrate in a clearer confcioufnefs, nay even in divine thought. And whence all this, but probably, when the organic powers are fufficiently exercifed, by the energetic word of creation, creature arifefrom the earth i CHAPTER m. Man is organized for moreperfeß Senfes^ for the exercife of Art ^ and theufeof Language, Had man been nearer to the ground, all his fenfes would have been circum«- fcribed within a narrower circle, and the fuperiour ones depreflfed by the predo- minancy of thoie of the inferiour order, as the indances of wild men (how. Smell and tafte, as in the brute, would have been his leading guides. Raifed above the earth and plants, fmell no longer bears the fway, but fight« This has Digitized by Google 86 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book IV, a wider field, and is cxcrcifed from in&ncy in the fineft geometry of lines and colours. The ear, placed deep beneath the projeoing fkuU, reaches nearer to the internal receptacle of ideas ; while in the brute it ftands out as it were on the watch, and in many is as acute in it's faculty as in it's external form. With the ereft gait man becomes a creature endued with art : for by this, the firft and moft difficult art that man learns, he is initiated into the praftice of learning, and becomes as it were a living art. Look at the brute : he has fingers in fome mcafure like thofe of man 5 but here they are confined in a hoof, there in a paw, or in fome other form, and fpoiled by fwelliog. Man, by being formed to walk creft, acquired free and (kilful hands, the inftruments of the moft delicate operations, and of an inceffant feeling after new and clear ideas. Helvetius was right in iaying, that the hands are great afllftants to man's reafon: for how much does the elephant acquire by means of his trunk ! Nay this deli- cate feeling of the hand is diffufed through the body, and men deprived of their anns have performed works of art with their toes, which fingers were wanting to execute. The thumb, the great toe» which are fo particularly fafliioned in their mufcular ftrudture, though they appear to us contemptible limbs, ane the moft necefTary helps to us in ftanding, walking, grafping, and all the perform* ances of the art-exercifing mind. It has often been (aid, that man was created defencelefs, and that one of his diftinguifhing chara&eriftics was to be capable of nothing. But this is not true : he has weapons for defence like all other creatures. Even the ape handles the club, and defends himfelf with dirt and ftones : he climbs trees, and efcapes from the fnafce, his wilieft enemy : he uncovers houfes, and can even kill men. The wild maid of Songi knocked her companion on the head with a club, and fupplicd by climbing and running what (he wanted in ftrength. Thus man in a wild ftate is not by the nature of his organization defencelefs : and when ered, cultivated, what animal has the multifarious implements of art, which he pof- fe(res in his arms, his hands, the mobility of his body, and all his faculties ? Art b the moft powerful weapon ; and man is all art, he is altogether one orga- nized weapon of defence. He wants claws and teeth for attack, indeed ; but he was defigned to be a mild peaceable creature ; he was not intended to be a cannibal. What extenfive capacities lie hidden in each of the human fcn(cs, which necef- fity, want, difeafe, the defedof fome other fenfe, mon(b'ous conformation, or accident, occa(ionally difclofe ! thus giving us room to conjeAure, that other fenfes may be concealed in us, not to be unfolded in this world. If fome blind men have raifed their fenfe of feeling or hearing, the memory, or the power of Digitized by Google Chap. III.] Man organized far the Exercife of Art^ ißc. «7 calculation, to a degree that appears febulous to men of ordinary faculties, undifcovcred worlds of variety and perfeftion may lie afleep in other fenfes, not yet developed in oiir complex machine. What delicacy of perception has man already attained in the eye and ear ! and furely this will extend ftill farther in a fupcriour ftate, fince, as Berkeley obferves, light is the language of divinity, which our fined fenfe does but continually fpcU in z. thoufand forms and colours. Melody, which the human ear perceives, and art only developes, is the pureft mathematics, which the mind obfcurely pradltfes through the inftrumentality of the fenfes ; as it does the niceft geometry by means of the eye afted upon by the rays of light. How infinite would be our aftonifhment, if, (landing one ftep higher, we could clearly view all that we darkly perform in our compli- cated divine machine with our fenfes and faculties, and in which the brute üeems preparatorily exercifing himfelf in a manner fuitable to his organization. Still all thefe implements of art, brain, fenfes, and hands, would have re- mained inefiedtive even in the upright form, if the creator had not given us a ipring to fet them all in motion, tlie divine gift offpeech. Speech alone awakens numbering reafon: or rather, the bare capacity of reafon, that of itfelf would have remained eternally dead, acquires through fpeech vital power and efiicacy. By fpeech alone tlie eye and ear, nay the feelings of all the fenfes, are united in one, and centre in commanding thought, to which the hands and other mem- bers are only obedient inftruments. The example of thofe who are born deaf and dumb (hows how far a man without fpeech is from attaining rational ideas even among other men, and in what a brutal ilate all his propenfities remain. He imitates whatever his eye fees, whether good or bad : and be imitates it lefs pcrfedlly than the ape, becaufe he wants the internal criterion of difcrimination, and even fympathy with his own fpccies. We have more than one inftance ♦ of a per&n born deaf and dumb, who murdered his brother in confequence of having feen a pig killed, and tore out his bowels with tranquil pleafure, merely in imitation of what he faw : a dreadful proof how little man's boafted under- ftanding, and the feelings of the fpecies, can effedt of themfelves. The delicate organs of fpeech, therefore, muil: be confidered as the rudder of our reafon, and ipeech as the heavenly fpark, that gradually kindles our thoughts and fenfes to a flame. In animals we perceive preparations for fpeech ; and here too Nature afcends in her operations, ultimately to perfedb thi^art in man. The funftion of breath- ing requires the whole breaft, with it's bones, ligaments and mufcles, the dia*- phr£^m, part of the abdomen, the neck, and the (houlders : Nature has con« * I remember fuch acafe is related in Suck's tian Faith de/ended;' and I recoiled haTing nterihtUigtemCJoMlen dtr Chrißtn, ' Sack's Cbrif- feen more in other works. Digitized by Google «8 PHILOSOPHYOFHISTORY. [Boor IV. ftrufted the whole fpinal column, with it's ligaments and ribs, it's mufdes and velfeis, for this great work : (he has given the parts of the thorax that degree of ftability and motion which are requifite to it, and gradually afcended fiom the inferiour creatures to form more perfcft lungs and tracliea. The newborn ani- mal greedily inhales the firft breath ; nay is anxious after it» as fomething it could not expeö. Numberlefs parts are provided for this office ; for almoft all parts of the body require air for adting with efficacy. Yet, greedy as all crea- tures are for this divine breath of life, every one is not endowed with voice and ipeech, which are ultimately produced by thofe fmall inftruments, the bead of the trachea, a few cartilages and mufcles, and that fimple member the tongue. This multifarious artift of all divine thoughts and words appears in the (impleft form; and has not only fet in motion the whole fphere of human ideas, but efTeded every thing, that man has performed upon Earth, by means of a little air paffing through a narrow chink. It is infinitely beautiful to obferve the gradation by which Nature has gradually led her creatures up to found and voice, from the mute iifii, worm, and infeA. The bird enjoys it's fong, as the moft artful occupation, and nobleft excellence, beftowed on it by the creator. The beaft that has a voice recurs to it's aid, when it feels any propenfity, and is dcfirous to exprefs it's feelings, whether of joy or forrow. It gefticulates little, and thofe only fpeak by figns, which are comparatively denied an animated voice. The tongue of fome is fo formed, as even to be capable of pronouncing human words, the fignification of which they do not underftand : the external organization, particularly when tutored by man, runs before the mtemal aq)a<^ city. But here the door is fhut, and the manlike ape is vifibly and forcibly deprived of fpeech by the pouches Nature has placed at the fides of the wind- pipe*. Why has the father of human Ipeech done this? Why would he not permit the all-imitative ape to imitate precifcly this criterion of human kind, inexorably clofing the way to it by peculiar obftacles. Vifit an hofpital of lunatics, and attend to their difcourfe; liften to the jabbering of monflers and idiots 5 and you need not be told the caufe. How painful to us is the utter- ance of thefe ! How do we lament to hear the gift of language fo profaned by thofe ! and how much more would it be profaned in the mouth of the gix>&y lafcivious, brutal ape, could he imitate human words with the half-human un- derftanding, which I have no doubt he pofTefTes ! difguftbg tiflue of founds refembling thofe of man combined with the thoughts of an ape — no : the divine faculty of fpeech was not to be thus debafed, and therefore the ape is « SeeCamper'tEfläy OB the Orguu of Speech in Apes: Phüofophjcal Tran&ftiooi ibr 1779» I^rti. Digitized by Google Ch A p. in.] Man organized ßr tie Exercife of ArU He. 89 dumb ; moftt dumb than his fellow-brutes, each of which, down to the frog and the lizard, has his own peculiar voice. But Nature has conftruAed man for the ufe of Umguage : for this he is framed ereft, and his vaulted breaft is placed on a column. Men, who have been accidentally brought up among beafts, not only lofe the ufe of fpeech, but in fome meafure the power of acquiring it ; an evident proof, that their throats are de- formed, and that h\iman fpeech is confident only with an ereft gait. For though feveral brutes have oigans of fpeech refembling thofe of men, no one is capable of that continued ftream of voice, that iälies from the free, exalted, human breaft, and man's narrow, artfully dofed mouth. Man, on tbe con- trary, is not only able to imitate all their founds and tones, fo that, as Mon- boddo fays, he is the moek-iird of terrefhrial creatures ; but a deity has taught him the art to imprint ideas on tones, depift figure with found, and rule the Earth by the words of his mouth. His reafon and improvement begin from ipeech : for by this alone does he govern himfelf alfo, and exercife that reflec- tion and choice, of which his organization renders him alone capable. There may, there muft be fuperiour creatures, whofe reafon looks through the eye, a vifible chamAer being fufficient for them to form and difcriminafe ideas : but the man of this world is a pupil of the ear, which firft teaches him gradually to underftand the language of the eye. The difference of things muft firft be imprinted on his mind by the voice of another; and then he learns to impart his own thoughts, firft perhaps by gentle and forcible expirations, next by vocal found and chant. The eaftern nations have an expreflive name for beafts, which they call tie dumb ones of the Earth : it was in being organized with a capacity for fpeech, that man received the breath of the divinity, the feed of reafon and eternal perfeftion, an echo of that creative voice to rule the Earth, in a word the divine art ofideas^ the mother of all arts. CHAPTER IV. Man is organized to finer Inßinßs, and In confejuence to Freedom ofJäion. Men repeat after one another, that man is void of inftinft, and tliat this is the diftinguifliing charaAer of the fpecies : but he has every inftind, that any of the animals around him poflefs ; only, in conformity to his organization, he has them foftened down to a more delicate proportion. The infiint in the mother's womb fcems under a neceflity of going through every flate, that is proper to a terrefbrial creature. He fwims in water: he Digitized by Google 9Ö PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book IV, lies prone with open mouth : his jaws are large, before the lips, which are not formed till late, can cover them : no fooner does he come into the world than he gafps after air, and fucking is the firft aA he performs untaught. The whole procefs of digeftion and nutrition, of hunger and thirft, proceeds in- ftinftively, or by fome ftill more obfcure impulfe. The mufcular and procrea- tive powers drive in like manner to develope themfelves ; and if fome paffion or difeafc deprive a man of his reafon, all the animal inftinfts will be obfervable in him. Danger and neceffity unfold in a man, nay in whole nations, that lead a iavage life, the capacities, fenfes, and powers of beafts. Man therefore is not properly deprived of inftinfts ; but they are repreßsd in him, and msudc fuborciinat a to the dominion of the nerves and finer fenfes« Without them the creature, who is ftill in great meafure an animal, could not live. But how are they repreffed ? how does nature bring them under the dominion of the nerves ? Let us contemplate their progrefs from infancy j and this will (liow us what men have often fo fooliftily lamented as human weaknefs in a very different light. The young of the human fpecies comes into the world weaker than that of any other animal : and for an obvious reafon ; becaufe it is formed to receive a figure that cannot be fafliioned in the womb. The fourfooted beaft acquires the quadruped figure in the matrix : and though at firft it's head is equally difproportionate with that of man, it ultimately attains it's due proportions. Such, indeed, as abound in nerves bring forth their young feeble : yet ftill the equilibrium of their powers is eflabliftied in a few days or weeks. Man alone remains a long time weak : for his limbs are yet to be fafliioned to the head, if I may be allowed the expreffion, which was formed difproportionately laige in the womb, and fo comes into the world. The other limbs, which require earthly nutriment, air, and motion, for their growth, are long before they over- take it ; though during the whole period of childhood and youth they are grow- ing up to a juft proportion with it, while the head does not grow equally with them. The feeble child, therefore, is an invalide, as I may fay, in it's fuperiour powers, and Nature is earlieft improving thefe, and continues inceflantly to im- prove them. Before the child learns to walk, it learns to fee, to hear, to fed» and to praftife the delicate mechanifm and geometry of thefe fenfes. It exer- cifes thefe in the fame inftindive manner as the brute, only in a nicer degree. Not by innate art and ability : for all the qualities of brutes are the conie- quence of grofs ßimuli ; and if thefe were predominant from infancy, the nnan would remain a brute -, being able to do every thing before be learned, he would Digitized by Google Chap. IV.] Man organized to finer InßinSis^ and Freedom of AElion. px learn nothing pertaining to man. Either reafon rauft be born with him as an inftinft, which appears a contradiftion in terms, or he muft come into the world feeble as he does, that he may learn reafon, Thk he learns from his infancy j being formed to it, to freedom, and to humaiT Ipeech, by art, as he is to his artificial mode of walking. The fuckling at the mother's breaft repofes on her heart : the fruit of her womb is the pupil of her embrace. His fineft fenfes, the eye and ear, firft awake, and are led forward by found and figure : happy for him, if they be fortunately led ! His fcnfe of feeing gradually unfolds itfelf, and attentively watches the eyes of thofe around, as his ear is attentive to their langus^e, and by their help he learns to diftinguifli his firft ideas. In the fame manner his hand learns gradually to feel : and then his limbs firft ftrive after their proper exercife. He is firft a pupil of the two fineft fenfes : for the artful inftind to be formed in him is reafon^ humanity^ the mode of life peculiar to man, which no brute poflefles or learns. Domefticated animals acquire fome things from manj but it is as brutes : they do not become men. Hence it appears what human reafon is : a word fo often mifufed in modern writings to .*nply an innate automaton, in which fenfe it can lead only to crrour. Theoretically and pra6tically reafon is nothing more than fomething under/lood; an acquired knowledge of the proportions and direftions of the ideas and faculties, to which man is formed by his organization and mode of life. An angelic reafon we know not, any more than we are capable of having a clear perception of the internal ftate of a creature beneath us : the reafon of man is human reafon. From his infancy he compares the ideas and impreffions of his finer fenfes, according to the delicacy and accuracy, with which they per- ceive them, the number he receives, and the internal promptitude, with which he learns to bring them together. The one whole hence arifing is his thought ; and the various combinations of thefe thoughts and perceptions to judge of what is true or falfe, good or bad, conducive to happinefs or produdlive of mi- fery, arc his reafon, the progrcflive work of the appearances of human life. This is not innate in man, but acquired : and according to the impreffions he has received, the ideas he has formed, and the internal power and energy, with which he has affimilated thefe various impreffions with his mental faculties, his reafon is rich or poor, found or difeafed, ftunted or well-grown, as is his body. If Nature deceived us by falfe perceptions of the fenfes, we muft fuffer ourfelves to be deceived in her way ; and as many men as pofleffed the fame fenfes would be deceived in the fame manner. If men deceive us, and we have not organs or fiiculties to perceive the deception, and reduce the impreffions to a more ac- Digitized by Google 92 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book IV. curate ftandard, our reafon is crippled, and frequently remains fo all our lives. As man mud lesu-n every thing, it being his inftinft and deftination to leatn all, even to his mode of walking, he is taught to go only by means of faUs, and fre- quently attains truth only through the help of errour : the brute on the con- trary moves fccurely on his four feet, for the more ftrongly imprinted proportions of his fenfes and impulfes are his guides. Man enjoys the royal prerogative of feeing far and wide with head ereft : yet it muft be confcfled he fees mucb ob- fcurely and &lfely, nay often forgets his fteps, and is reminded by (tumbling on what a narrow bafis refb the whole frame of his ideas and judgments, the off- fpring of liis head and heart. StiU he remains, conformably to his high rational dsftinatioHy what no other creature upon Eiurth is, a fon of God, a fovercign of the World. In order to be fenfible of the preeminence of this deftination, let us confider what is included in the great gifts of reafon and liberty^ and how much Nature hefitated as it were, before (he cntrufted them to fuch a feeble, complicated, earthly creature as man. Brutes are but (looping (laves j though (bme of the nobler fpecies carry the head ereft, or at Icaft ftrive after liberty with uplifted neck. Their minds, not yet ripened into reafon, muft be fubfcrvient to the im- pulfes of neccffity, and in this fervice arc firft remotely prepared for the proper ufe of the fenfes and appetites. Man is the firft of the creation left firee : he ftands ereft. He holds the balance of good and evil, of truth and wifehood : be can examine, and b to choofe. As Nature has given him two free hands as inftruments, and an infpedling eye to guide him, (he has given him the power, not only of placing the weights in the balance, but of being, as I may fay, him- felf a weight in the fcale. He can glofs over the moft delu(ive errours, and be voluntarily deceived : he can learn in time to love the chains with which he is unnaturally fettered, and adorn them with various flowers. As it is with deceived reafon, fo is it with abufed or (hackled liberty : in moft men it is fuch a pro- portion of powers and propenfities, as habit or convenience has e(bibli(lied. Maa feldom looks beyond thefe ; and is capable of becoming worfe than a brute, when fettered by mean propenfities and execrable habits. Still in right of his liberty, even when he moft deteftably abufes it, is he a king. He may ftill choofe, even though he choofes the worft : he is obedient to his owq commands, even when he direds himfelf by his own will to that which is mo(fc contemptible. Before the omnifcient, who conferred on him thefe powers, it is true both his liberty and reafon are limited : and they are happily limited; for he, who created their fources, muft have known and forefeen every channel, in which they could flow» and underftood how to give them fuch dirtftions. Digitized by Google Chap. IV,] Man organized to finer Injin^s, and Freedom o/JSJion. 93 that the dream moft diforderly in it's courfe could never cfcape the reach of his hand. This, however, makes no alteration in the thing itfelf, or in the nature of man. He is, and remains, with regard to himfelf, a free creature, though all- comprehending Goodnefs embraces him even in his follies, and turns thefe both to his own and the general good. As the bullet (hot from the cannon's mouth cannot efcape from the atmofphere, and, when it falls, falls by one uniform law of nature : fo man, in errour and in truth, in rifing and in falling, is dill man ; fee- ble mdeed, but free-born; if not yet rational, yet capable of fuperiour reafon ; if not yet formed to humanity, yet endued with the power of attaining it. The New-Zealand cannibal and a Fenelon, a Newton and the wretched pelheray, are all creatures of one and the fame fpecies. It feems, indeed, as if every poffible variety in the ufe of thefe gifts were to be found upon our Earth ; and there is evidently a progreffive fcale, from the man who borders on the brute to the pureft genius in human form. At this we ought not to wonder, as we fee the great gradation of animals below us, and the long courfe Nature has been obliged to take organically to prepare the little germi- nating flower of reafon and liberty in us. It appean, that every thing poffi- ble to be on our Earth was aÄually to exift on it ; and then only (hall we be able fuflSciently to explain the order and wifdom of this copious plenitude, when, advanced a ftep farther, we perceive the end for which fuch variety was ordained to fpring up in the great garden of Nature. Here we fee little more tlian the laws of neceffity prevail : for the whole earth was to be inhabited, even in it's remoteft wilderneflTes j and only he, who ftretched it out fo far, knows the rea- fons, why he left on this his world both pe(herays and new-zcalanders. The greateft contemner of the human race cannot deny, that the noble plants of reafon and liberty have produced beautiful fruits, when warmed by the celeftial beams of the Sun, notwithftanding the many wild branches they have (hot forth among the children of men. It would be almoft incredible, did not hiftoiy con- firm it, to what heights human reafon has ventured, endeavouring not merely to trace out, but alfo to imitate, the creating and fuflaining deity. In the chaos of beings,, which the fenfes point out to him, he has fought and difcovered unity and intelligence, order and beauty. The mod fecret powers, with the internal fprings of which he is unacquainted, he has obferved in their external appear- ances, and traced motion, number, meafure, life, and being, wherever he has perceived their effedks, either in Heaven or upon Earth. All his eflTays, even when erroneous or vi(ionary, are proofs of his majedy, of divine power and ele- vation. The being, who created all things, has indeed placed a ray of his light, a ftamp of bis peculiar power, in oor feeble frame ; and low as man is, be can fay to Digitized by Google 94 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book IV. himfelf, * I have fomething in common with God : I poffefs faculties, that the fupreme, whom I know in his works, muft alfo poffefs : for he has difplayed them in the things around me/ Apparently thUßmilitude with himfelf 'w^ the fum of all his works upon Earth. He could produce nothing higher on this theatre ; but he neglefted not to afcend thus high, and to carry the feries of his organized beings up to this extreme point. Hence is the progrefs to it fo uniform, through all the variety of figure that occurs. In like manner liberty has produced noble fruits in man, and difplayed it's merits, as well in what it has rejefted, as in what it has purfued. That men have renounced the unfteady reins of blind appetite, and voluntarily affumed the bonds of matrimony ^ of focial friendlhip, fuccour, and fidelity, in life and death; that they have given up their own wills, and chofen to be governed by laws, fo as to eftablifli and defend with their life's blood the rule of men over men^ though it ftill remains far from perfcftion ; that nobleminded mortals have facrificed themfclvcs for their country^ and not only loft their lives in a tumultuous moment, but, what is far more magnanimous, night and day, for months and years, have thought no* thing of the uninterrupted labour of a whole life, to confer peace and happinefs, at leaft in their opinion, on a blind ungrateful multitude ; that divine philofo- phers have voluntarily fubmitted to (lander and pcrfecution, poverty and want, from a glorious thirft for promoting truths freedom, and happinefs among the hu- man fpecics, and cherilhed the idea, that they had conferred on their brethren the highcft boon of which they were capable j muft furely have arifen from great human virtue, and the moft powerful exertions oi thzX felf -government, which is inherent in us ; or I know not to what it is to be afcribed. It is true the num- ber of thofe, who have thus diftinguilhcd themfelves from the multitude, and as phyficians falutarily compelled them to what they would not of themfelves have chofen, has ever been but (mall : yet thefe few have been the flower of the fpecics, the free immortal fons of God upon Earth. The name of one fuch out- weighs thofe of millions. Digitized by Google [ 95 ] CHAPTER V, Man is organized to tie moß delicate State of Healthy yet at the fame time to the longeß Dur ability y and tofpread over the Earth. Man with his ereft pofture acquired a delicacy, warmth, and ftrength, that no brute can attain. In the favage ftate he was in great meafure covered with hair, particularly on the back ; and for the deprivation of this coat the elder Pliny has loudly complained againft Nature. The benevolent mother of all has given man a more beautiful covering in his fkin, which, with all it's deli- cacy, is capable of fupporting the changes of feafon, and the temperature of every climate, when aided by a fmall portion of art, which to him 'is fecond nature. To this art he is led not folely by naked neceffity, but by fomething more lovely and more appropriate to man. Whatever fome philofophers may aflert, mo- dcfty is natural to the human fpecies; and indeed fomething bearing an obfcure analogy to it is fo to a few of the brutes ; for the female ape covers herfelf, and the elephant retires to fome thick unfrequented wood, to propagate his fpecies. We know fcarcely any nation upon Earth * fo brutal, that the women do not feck fome kind of veil, from the period when the paffions begin to awake : at the fame time the tender fenfibility of the parts in queftion, and other circum- ftances, require a covering. Even before man fought to protedt his other limbs againft the fury of the elements, or the ftings of infefts, by clothes or undbions, a kind of fenfual economy led him to guard the moft vehement and neceflary of Lis appetites. Among all the nobler animals the female does not offer her- felf, but will be fought. In this fhe unconfcioufly fulfils the purpofes of Nature : and in the human fpecies, the delicate woman is the prudent guardian of charm- ing modefty, which, in confcqucnce of the eredt pofture, cannot fail to be de- veloped at an early period. Thus man was led to clothe himfelf : and no fooner had he acquired this and a few other arts, but he was capable of enduring any climate, and taking poffeffion of every part of the Earth. Few animals, fcarcely any indeed except the dog, have been able to follow him into every region : and then how greatly • We are told but of two completely naked dit the exifteoce of the latter in fuch a re- nations, and they live in a manner like brutes; gion of the world, notwithflanding it is coa- the peiherays, at the extreme point of South firmedbyoneof our latell travellers: fee Mack- America; and a favage people between Arra- intoih's Travels; Vol. 1, p> 341 : London, 1782* can and Pegu: though I cannot implicidy ere- Digitized by Google 96 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [BookIV. has the form of thefe been changed ! how much has their native conftitution been altered 1 Man alone has but little varied» and this in no efiential part. It is aftonilhing how uniformly he has retained his nature, when we contemplate the variations, that have taken place in other migrating animals. His delicate nature is fo fixed, fo perfectly organized, that it ftands on the higheft point, and he is capable of few varieties, none of which are to be termed anomalies. Whence comes all this ? From his upright form : and from nothing elfc. Did we walk on all fours, like the bear and the ape, there is no doubt but the diffe- rent fpccies of the genus man, if I may be allowed the ignoble cxpreffion, would have their more limited regions, which they would never quit. The bear man would love his cold clime, the ape man his warm : even as we now perceive, that, the more brutal a nation is, the more firmly is it enchained, body and mind, to it's country and climate. As Nature exalted man, (he exalted him to rule over the Elarth. His upright form gave him, with a more finely organized ftrufture, a more elaborate circu* lation of the blood, a more multifarious mixture of the vital fluids, and that more intrinßc and fixed temperature of vital warmth^ which alone could enable him to be an inhabitant of Siberia and of the torrid zone. Nothing but his ereft, more artificial, organic ftrufture renders him capable of bearing the two extremes of heat and cold, which no other creature upon earth can undergo, and which notwithftanding alter him in a very fmall degree. It muft be confefTed, this delicate flruAure, and all the confequences arifing from it, have opened the door to a feries of difeafes, with which no brute is acquainted, and which Moikati * has eloquently enumerated. The blood that carries on it*s circulation in a perpendicular machine, the heart preffed into an oblique pofition, and the bowels that perform their funftions in an upright fitu- ation, muft be expofed to more danger of being deranged, than they are in the body of a brute. The female fex in particular, it would feem, muft pay dearer than we for it's greater delicacy Yet the beneficence of Nature com- penfates and mitigates this in a thoufand ways. Our health, our well-being, all our perceptions and excitements, are finer and more fpiritual. No^brute en- joys for a moment the health and happinefs of nun : no one taftes a drop of the neftarine ftream, that man drinks. Nay, confidered merely with refped to the body, the difeafes of the brute are fewer, it is true, bccaufe his corporal ftrufture is more grofs \ but then they are the more obftinate, and the more conftant in their effefts. I^Iis cellular membrane, the coats of his nerves, his arteries, bones» * Vsm kmr^rlichiu nntfiKtUcben Vnitrfchitit dil/ Differences between Men and Brutes': ür Thitrt vnd Mutfchen, « On tJie eifential bo- GottingeD« 1771. Digitized by Google Chap. V.] Man organized to a State of Healthy DuraliJity^ He. 97 and even brain, are harder than ours : whence all the quadrupeds man fees around him, the elephant alone perhaps excepted, whofe period of life ap- proaches his, live a Ihorter time, and die a natural death, the death of indurat- ing age, much fooner than he. Accordingly Nature has appointed man the longeft life, and at the fame time the healthieft and happieft, compatible with a tcrreftrial frame. Nothing can fuccour itfelf more eafily, or in more various ways, than man's complicated nature: and it is owing to the exceffes of madnefs and vice, of which indeed no brute is capable, that our frame is fo enfeebled and deteriorated as it is in many inftances. Nature has benevolently beftowed on every climate the plants, that heal the difeafes, to which it is fubjeft ; and no- thing but the confounding of all climates could have converted Europe into that fink of evils, which no people living according to the didlates of Nature can experience. Still for thefe felf-acquired evils it has given us a felf-acquired good, the only one we deferve, phyficians, who affift Nature, when they follow her fteps, and when they cannot, or dare not follow her, at leaft fend the patient to reft according to art. O what maternal care and wifdom of the divine economy determined the ftages of our lives, and the duration of our exiftence ! All living creatures here upon Earth, that have foon to attain perfeftion, grow as quickly : they are early ripe, and foon reach the goal of death. Man, planted upright as a tree of Heaven, grows ilowly. Like the elephant he remains longeft in the womb : the years of his youth are many, far more than thofe of any brute. Nature has fpun out as long as (he could the moft fevourable time for learning, growing, feeling the happinefs of life, and enjoying it in the moft innocent manner. Many afti- mals are full grown in a few years, or days j nay even almoft at the inflant they arc bom : but they are fo much the more imperfedt, and die the earlier. Man muft longeft learn, becaufe he has moft to acquire : every thing in him depends on fclf-taught ability, reafon, and art. If his life be afterward fliortened by the in- numerable multitude of dangers and accidents, to which he is expofed : yet he has enjoyed a long youth free from care, while with the growth of his body and mind the world grew around him, while with his flowly rifing, ftill extending fphere of vifion the circle of his hopes enlarged, and his youthfully noble heart learned to beat more ardently in eager curiofity, in impatient enthufiafm, for every thing that is great, and good, and beautiful. The flower of fexual ap- petite blooms later in a found unirritated man, than in any other animal : for he is intended to live long, and not diffipate too early the nobleft fluid of his mental and corporal powers. The infed:, that foon enjoys the pleafurcs of love, dies ipeedily. All chafte monogamous animals live longer, than thofe that do not Digitized by Google 98 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book IV. enter into the connubial bonds. The luftful cock dies early ; the conftant ftock-dove may attain the age of fifty years. Marriage, therefore, is ordained for Nature's favourite here below ; and he (hould fpend his firft years of vigour as tlie uno})€ncd bud, innocence itfelf. Hence follow long years of manly and ardent powers, in which his reafon ripens j and tliis, as well as the prolific fa- culty, continues to flourilh in a green old age unknown to any bmte; till at length a gentle death fteals on, and releafes the falling duft, as well as the in- cluded fpirit, from an unfuitable alliance.. Thus Nature has affociated with the fragile (hell of the human body all the arts, tlut a creature of this Earth can at- tain : and> even in what Ihortens and enfeebles life, flic has compcnfated the brevity of enjoyment with it's acutenefs, the deftroying power with intenfity of fenfation. CHAPTER VI. Man is formed for Humanity and Religion. I w isH I could extend the fignification of the word humanity^ fo as to com- prife in it every thing 1 have thus far faid on the noble conformation of man to reafon and liberty, to finer fenfcs and appetites, to the mod delicate yet ftrong health, to the population and rule of the Earth : for man has not a more dig- nified word for his deftination, than what expreffes himfclf, in whom the image of the creator lives imprinted as vifibly as it can be here. We need only deli- neate his form, to develope his nobleft duties. All the appetites of a living being may be traced to the fupport offeJfy and to E participation zvith others : the organic ftrufture of man, if a fuperiour direftion be added to it, gives to thefc appetites the niccft order. While a right line poflefles the moft, (lability, man has alfo for his protedlion the fmalleft circum- ference without, and the moft varied velocity within. He ftands on die narroweft bafis> and therefore can moft eafily cover liis limbs. His centre of gravity falls between the fuppleft and ftrongeft haunches, that any creature upon Earth can boaft ; and no brute difplays in thcfe parts the mobility and ftrength of man. His flattened, fteely cheft, and the pofition of his arms, give him the moft extenfivc fphere of defence above, to proteft his heart, and guard his nobleft vital parts fiom the head to the knee. It is no fable, that men have encountered lions, and overcome them : the african» when he combines prudence and addrefs with ftrength, is a match for more than one. It muft be confefled, however, that man's ftrudure is lefs calculated for attack than de- Digitized by Google Chap. VI.] Man farmed for Humanity and Religion. 99 fence : in that he needs the affillance of art ; in this he is by nature the moft powerful creature upon Earth. Thus his very form teaches him to live in peace, not to addid: himfelf to deeds of blood and rapine : and this conftitutes the firft chara&eriftic of humanity. 2. Among the appetites, that have reference to others, the defire of propa- gating the ipedes is the moft powerful : and this in man is fubordinate to the promotion of humanity. What with fourfooted beafls, even with the modefl elephant, is copulation, with him, in confequence of his flrufture, is kiffing and embracing. No brute has human lips, the delicate rim of which is the lafl part of the face formed in the womb : the beautiful and intelligent clofing of thefe lips is, as it were, the lafl mark of the finger of love. The modcfl expreffion of ancient languages, that he knew his wife, is applicable to no brute. Ancient fables fay, that the two fexes at firfl formed an hermaphrodite, as in flowers, but were afterwards feparated. This and other expreffive fiftions were intended, to convey the fecret meaning of the fuperiority of human over brutal love. That this defire in man is not fubjed to the control of feafons, as in brutes, though no accurate obfervations on the revolutions in the human body in this refpeft ttave yet been made, evidently fhows, that it is not dependent on neceflity, but on the incitement of love, remains under the dominion of reafon, and was de- (ignedly left to voluntary temperance, like every thing pertaining to man. Thus love in man was to be Auman -, and with this view Nature appointed, ex- clufive of his form, the later developement, duration, and ftate of defire, in both fexes: nay flie brought it under the law of a voluntary facial alliance, and the mofl friendly communion between two beings, who feel themfelves united in one for life. 3. As all the tender afFedions, except imparting and receiving love, are fa- tisfied with participation ; Nature has formed man moft of all living creatures for participating in the fate of others, having framed him as it were out of all the reft, and organized him fimilarly to every part of the creation in fuch a de- gree, that he can feel with each. The ftrufture of his fibres is fo fine, delicate, and elaftic, his nerves are fo difFufed over every part of his vibrating frame, that, like an image of the allfentient deity, he can put himfelf almoft in the place of every creature, and can fhare it's feelings in the degree necefTary to the creature, and which his own frame will bear without being difordered ; nay even at the hazard of difordering it. Accordingly our machine, fo far as it is a growing, fiourifhing tree, fetls even with trees ; and there are men, who cannot bear to fee a young green tree cut down or deflroyed. We regret it's blighted top : we lament the withering of a favourite flower. A feeling man views not the writh- Digitized by Google loo PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book. IV. ing of a bruifed worm with indifference : and the more pcrfeft a creature is, the nearer it's organization approaches our own, the more fympathy is excited in us by it's fufierings. He muft poffefs rigid nerves, who can open a living creature, and watch it's convulfive movements ; nothing but an infattate thirft for fame and fcience can gradually deaden his organic fenfibility. More deli- cate women cannot bear even the diffeftion of a dead body : they feel pain in each limb, as their eyes follow the courfe of the knife ; and tliis pain is more acute in proportion to the noblenefs and fenfibility of the part. To fee the bowels torn out excites difguft and horrour : when the heart is pierced, the lungs divided, the brain cut to pieces, we feel the keen edge of the inftru« ment in our own. We fympathize with the corpfe of a dead friend, even in the grave : we feel the cold pit, which he feels not : and Qiudder when we touch his bones. The common mother, who has taken all things from herfelf, and feels with the moft intimate fympathy for all, has thus fympathetically com- pounded the human frame. It's vibrating fibres, it's fympathifing nerves, need not the call of Reafon : they run before her, they often difobediently and forcibly oppofe her. Intercourfe with mad people, for whom we feel, excites madnefs ; and the fooner, the more we apprehend it. It is fingular, that the ear Ihould excite and (Irengthen companion fo much more powerfully than the eye. The figh of a brute, the cry forced from him by bodily fufferance, bring about him all his fellows, who, as often has been obferved, ftand mournfully round the fufferer, and would willingly lend him afSftance. Man, too, at the fight of fuffering, is more apt to be impreflcd with fear and tremor, than with tender compaffion : but no fooner does the voice of the fufferer reach him, than the fpell is diffolved, and he haftens to him : he is pierced to the heart. Is it that the found converts the pifture in the eye into a living being, and recalls and concentres in one point our recoUeftion of our own and another's feelings ? Or is there, as -I am inclined to believe, a ftill deeper organic caufe ? Suffice it, that the fadt is true, and it (hows that found and language are the principal fources of man's compaffion. We fympathize lefs with a creature that cannot fighi as it is deftitute of lungs, more imperfeft, and lefs refembling ourfelves in it's organization. Some, who have been bom deaf and dumb> have given the moft horrible examples of want of compaffion and fympathy with men and bcafts ; and inftances enough may be obferved among favage nations. Yet even among thefe the law of Nature is perceivable. Fathers, who are compelled by hunger and want to facrifice their children, de- vote them to death in the womb, before they have beheld their eyes, before they have heard the found of theic voices ; and many infanticides have confefledi Digitized by Google Ch a p . vi. J Man formed far Humanity and Religion. loi that nothing was fo painful to thcin, nothmg took fuch fad hold of their me- mory, as the firft feeble voice, the fuppliant cry of their child. 4. Beautiful is the chain, by which the allfentient mother connefts the reci- procal feeling of her children, and faftiions it ftep by ftep. Where the creature is rude and infenfible, fo as fcarcely to care for itfelf, it is not entrufted with the care of it's offspring. The feathered inhabitants of the air, hatch and bring up their young with maternal love : the ftupid oftrich, on the contrary, com- mits her eggs to the fand. * She forgets,' fays an ancient book, * that a foot may tread upon them, or ä wild beaft deftroy them : for God has deprived her of wifdom, and imparted to her no underftanding.' From one and the fame organic caufe, whence a creature derives more brain, it alfo acquires more warmth, brings forth or hatches living young, gives fuck, and is fufceptible of parental afFeftion. The creature, that comes into the world alive, is as it were a plexus of it's mother's own nerves : the child brought up at it's parent's breaft is a branch of the mother-plant, which (he nouriflies as a part of herfelf. — On this moll intimate reciprocal feeling are founded all the tender affeftions in the economy of the animal, to which Nature could exalt it's {]3ecics. In the human fpecies maternal love is of a higher kind : a branch of the huma* nity of the upright form. The fuckling lies beneath his mother's eye on her bofom, and drinks the foftefl- and moft delicate fluid. It is a brutal cuftom, and even tending to deform the body, for women to fuckle their children at their backs, which in fome countries they are compelled to do by neceffity. Parental and domcftic love foften the greateflfavages : even the lionefs is affeftionate to her young. The firfl fociety arofe in the paternal habitation, being cemented by the ties of blood, of confidence, and love. Thus to deftroy the wildnefs of men, and habituate them to domeftic intercourfe, it was requifite, that the infancy of the fpecies fliould continue fome years : Nature kept them together by tender bands, that they might not feparate and forget each other like the brutes, that foon arrive at maturity. The father becomes the inftruftorof his fon, as the mother had been of her infant ; and thus a new tie of humanity is formed* Here lies the ground of a necefTary human fociety^ without which no man could grow up, and the fpecies could not multiply. Man therefore is born for fo- ciety: this the afFedlion of his parents tells him^ this, the years of his protraft ed infancy. 5. But as the fympathy of man is incapable of being unlverfally extended, and could be but an obfcurc and frequently impotent conduftor to him, a limited, complex being, in every thing remote ; his guiding mother has fub- jeftcd it's numerous and lightly interwoven branches to her more unerring Digitized by Google lOZ PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book IV. ftandard : this is the rule of truth anijuflice^ Mao is formed ereä ; and as every thing in his figure is fubordinate to the head, as his two eyes fee only one objeft, his two ears hear but one found ; as Nature in his whole exteriour ha3 connefted fymmetry with unity, and placed unity in the midft, fothat what is double always rcfera to it : fo alfo is the great law of juftice and cquipon- derance the internal rule of man : what ye would not ^ that another Jhould do unto yoUy do not to another \ and do unto others^ what ye would they fliould do unto you. This inconteftible rule is written even in the breaft of the favage : for when he cats the flelh of others, he expeds to be eaten in his turn. It is the rule of true and felfe, of the idem et idem^ founded on the ftrufture of all our fcnfes, nay I might fay on man's eredt pofition itfelf. If we faw obliquely, or the light flruck us in an oblique direction ; we (hould have no idea of a right line. If our organization were without unity, our thoughts without judgment; our actions would fluftuate in curves devoid of rule, and human life would be defti- tute of reafon and defign. The law of tmth and juftice makes fincere brothers and affociates : nay, when it takes place, it converts even enemies into fiiends. He, whom I prefs to my bofom, preffes me alfo to his : he, for whom I venture my life, ventures his for me. Thus the laws of man, of nations, and of animals, arc founded on fimilarity of fentiment, unity of defign among different perlbns, and equal truth in an«alliance : for even animals, that live in fociety, obey the laws of juftice ; and men, who avoid their ties by force or fraud, are the moft inhuman of all creatures, even if they be the kings and monarchs of the Earth. No reafon, no humanity, is conceivable without ftridt juftice and truth. 6. The elegant and efeft figure of man forms him to decorum : for this is the lovely friend and fervant of truth and juftice^ Decorum of body is for it to ftand as it ought, as God has faOiioned it : true beauty is nothing more than ilie pleafing form of internal perfedtion and health. Confider the divine image in man disfigured by negligence and falfc art : the beautiful hair torn off, or clotted together in a lump j the nofe and ears bored through, and ftrctchcd bjr a weight j the neck and the other parts of the body deformed in themfelves, or by the drefs that covers them : who, even if the moft capricious fafliion were to judge, would difcover here Uie decorum of the ereft human frame ? Juft fo it is with manners and anions ; juft fo with cuftoms, arts, and language. One and the fame humanity pervades all thcfe, which few nations upon Earth have hit, and hundreds have disfigured by barbarifm and falfe art. To trace this humanity is the genuine philofophy of man, which the fage called down from Heaven, and which difplays itfelf in focial intercourfc, as in national policy, in all the arts, as in every fcience. Digitized by Google Chap. VI.] Man formed for Humamty and Religion. loj Finally, r^/i^/o« IS the higheft humanity of mankind. Let no one be fur- prized, that I thus eftimate it. If the uriderflanding be the nobleft endow- ment of man, it is the bufinefs of the underftanding to trace the connexion between caufe and effeft, and to divine it where it is not apparent. The human underftanding does this in every aftion, occupation, and art : for, even where it follows an eftabliflied procefs, fome underftanding muft previoufly have fettled the connexion between caufe and effcft, and thus introduced the art. But in the operations of Nature we properly fee no caufe in it's inmoft fprings : we know not ourfelves, we perceive not how any thing is efiedied in us. So in all the effeds aroimd us every thing is but a dream, a conjeAure, a name : yet it is a true dream, when we frequently and conftantly obferve the fame eflfeft con- oe6ted with the fame caufe. Tliis is the progrefs of philofophy ; and the firft and laftjghilofophy. has fver h«en-Teligion. Even the moft favage nations have pra and on man comparatively the mod exteniive. In this, however, Nature attends not to the individual, but to the ouuntenance of the fpecies, and the other ipecies that are above it. The io&riour r^ons are not only peopled in abundance, but the lives of the crea* Digitized by Google io8 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book V. tures are of longer duration, where the purpofc of their exillence admits it. The fea, that inexhauftible fource of life, longed fupports it's inhabitants, whofc vital powen are ver}' tenacious : and the amphibia, who half live in water, ap- proach thefe in longevity. The inhabitants of the air, lefs loaded with terref- trial nutriment, which gradually indurates quadrupeds, live upon the whole longer than beafts. Air and water, therefore, feem to be the grand ftorehoufes of living beings ; which the earth afterwards confumes and dcftroys in quicker tranfitions. 5. The more elaborate the organization of a creature is, the more ii*sflnt6iure is compounded from the inferiour kingdoms. This coniplexednefs begins under- neath the earth, and grows up through plants and animals to the mod compli- cated of all creatures, man. His blood and various component parts are a compendium of the World : earths and falts, acids and alkalies, oil and water, the powers of vegetation, of irritability, and of fenGition, are oiganically com- bined in him and interwoven together. Either we mufl: confider thefe things as (ports of Nature, and intell^ent Na> ture never fports without defign, or we (hall be led to admit a kingdom of invi- fible powerSy (landing in the fame clofe connexion, and blending by fuch im- perceptible tranfitions, as we perceive in the external appearances of things. The more we learn of Nature, the more we obferve thefe indwelling powers, even in the lowed orders of creatures, as mofies, fungufes, and the like. In an animal, which ahnod inexhaudibly reproduces it's own likenefs, in the mufcle, which moves brifkly and varioufly by it's own irritability, the exidence of thefe powers cannot be denied : and thus all things are full of organically operating omnipotence. We know not where this begins, or where it ends : for, throughout the creation, wherever effeft is, ther« is power, wherever life dif- plays itfelf, there is internal vitality. Thus there prevails in the invifible realm of creation, not only a conneSied chain^ but an afcending feries of powers \ as we perceive thefe afting before us, in organized forms, in it's vifible kingdom. Nay this invi(ible chain mud be infinitely more clofe, firm, and progreffivc, than the feries of external forms cognizable by our dull fenfes can (how. For what is an organization but a mafs of infinitely more comprefled powers, the greater part of which, even in confequence of their connexion, are limited or fuppre(red by other powers; or at lead are fo concealed from our fight, that, as the drops of water appear to us only in the form of a cloud, we perceive not the individual parts, but the general figure, as the wants of the whole have required it to be organized ? How different mud the true chain of creatures be in the eye of oouxifcience, from that of which men fpeak ! We arrange forms, which Digitized by Google Cn A P . 1.] A Series of afcending Forms and Pozvers in our Creation, 1 09 our fight is unable to penetrate ; and clafs them, like children, by particular limbs or other marks. The fovereign father fees and holds the chain of powers clofcly prcfiing on each other. What is this to the immortality of the foul ? Every thing. And not to thö immorlahty of our foul alone, but the duration of all the afting and liring powers of creation. No power cani)erifh : for what is the meaning of a power's periftiing ? We have no inftance of it in nature : nay we have no idea of it ia our minds. It is a contradidion, that fomcthing Ihould be or become nothing: it is more than a contra3idion, that a livingam it's internal ftrudure^ is already capable of being employed in a living organized frame for it's bony &bric. It is the fame with all the component parts of our bodies. When tlie door of creation was (hut, the forms of organization already choien remained as appointed ways and gates, by which the inferiour powers might in future raife and improve themfelves, within the limits of nature. New forms arife no more : but our powers are continually varybg in their progre(s throi^h thofe that exift, and what is termed organi2:ation is properly nothing more than their conduäor to a higher ßate. The firft creature that ftepped into light, and exhibited itfelf to the beams of the Sun, as a queen of the fubterranean kingdom, was a plant. What are it's component parts ? Salts, oil, iron, fulphur, and fuch other powers of a finer kind, as were capable of being exalted to it. How did it acquire thefe parts ? By it's internal organic power, by means of which, aided by the elements, it ftrove to appropriate them to itfelf. And what does it with them ? It attia&s them, elaborates them within it's effence, and renders them ftill finer. Thus plants, both wholefome and poi(bnous, are nothing more than conduftors of grofs particles to a finer condition : the whole mechanifm of a plant confifts in exalting inferiour fubftances to a (uperiour ftate. Digitized by Google Chap. III.] Cmpoßtion of Powers tmd Forms fropreßve. 1 1 5 The animal ftands above the plant, and fubiifts on it's juices. The fingle elephant is the grave of mUlions of plants : but he is a living, operative grave ; he animalizes them into parts of himfelf : the inferiour powers afcend to the moie fubtile form of vitality. It is the lame with all carnivorous beafts: Na- ture has made the tranfition (hort, as if fhe feared a lingering death above all things. She has accordingly abridged it, and accelerated the mode of trans- formation into fuperiour vital forms. The greateft murderer among all animals is man, the creature that poflefles the fined organs. He can affimilate to his nature almoft every thii^, unlefs it fink too üx beneath him in living organi- zation. Wherefore has the Creator chofen this fyftem of living beings, in external appearance fo deftruftive ? Did fome hoftile power interfere in the work, and make one (pedes th« prey of another ? or was it want of powet in the creator, who knew not how otherwife to fupport his children ? Strip off the outer in- t^ument, and there is no fuch thing as death in the creation : every demoli« tion is but a pafTage to a higher fphere of life; and the wife &ther of all has made this as early, quick, and various, as was confident with the mamtenance of the i^cies, and the happinefs of the creature, that was to enjoy it's int^u* ment, and improve it as fiir as poffible. By a thoufand violent modes of end« ing life, he has prevented tedious deaths, and promoted the germe of blooming powers to (uperiour organs. What is Hi^prowtk of a creature, but it's fteady endeavour to unite more organic powers with it's nature ? The different ftages of it's life are regulated by thb end ; and when it is no longer capable of this operation, it muft decline, and die. Nature difiiiifies the machine, when (he finds it no loi^r fervioeable for her purpofe of found affimilation, of aftive improvement. In what does the art of the phyßcian confift, but in afting as the fervant of Nature, and haftening to the aid of the multifarioufly working powers of our organization ? He reftores loft powers, ftrer^hens the weak, diminifhes and reftrains the exuberant : and by what means ? by the introduäion and aflimi- lation of fimilar or oppofite powers/ro/» the inferiour kingdoms, T\ic propagation of all living beings tells us the lame : for however deep it's (ecrets lie, it is evident, that oi^anic powers expand themfelves in the grcat^ aÄivity, and ftrive to put on new forms. As every kind of organization has the faculty of affimilating to itfelf inferiour powers, fo, ftrengthened bythefe, in tlie bloom of life, it has the capacity of producing it's own likenefs, and giving to the world an image of itfelf, with all the powen that operate in it, to fupply it's place. Digitized by Google ii6 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book V. Thus the fcale of improvement afcends through the inferiour ranks of na- ture ; and fhall it ftand ftill, or retrograde, in the nobleft and moft powerful ? The animal requires for it's nutriment only vegetable powers, with which it enlivens parts of a vegetable nature : the juices of the mufcles and nerves are incapable of contributing again to the nourifliment of any terreftrial creature. Even the blood ferves only to refrefh rapacious animals : and in nations, that have been induced to make ufe of it, either as a matter of inclination or ne- ceflity, we perceive the propenlities of beafts, whofe living food they have barbaroufly adopted. Thus the kingdom of thought and irritability, as in- deed it's nature requires, is without any vifible advancement and tranfition here ; and the eftablifliment of nations has made it one of the firft laws of hu- man feeling, not to defire for food a living animal with it's blood. All thcfe powers are evidently of a fpiritual kind : whence perhaps many hypothefes re- lating to the nervous fluid as a perceptible vehicle of fenfations miglit have been fpared. The nervous fluid, if fuch a fluid there be, prefervcs the brain and nerves in health, fo that without it they would become ufelcfs cords and veflTels: it's ofiice therefore, is wholly corporal, and the operation of the foul, in it's perceptions and powers, is altogether fpiritual, whatever organs it may employ. To what, then, are thefe fpiritual powers converted, that efcape every fenfe of man ? Here Nature has wifely drawn a curtain before us j and, as we have no fenfe adapted to the purpofe, has not given us any glimpfe of the changes and tranfitions in the fpiritual kingdom. Probably the fight would be incompati- ble with our exiftence upon Earth, and the fenfual feelings with which we are here endowed. Accordingly flie has placed before us only tranfitions from the inferiour kingdoms, and afcending forms j the thoufand invifible ways by which flie condu£b them onward ihe has kept to herfelf : and thus the kingdom of things unborn is the great u^u, or Hades, into which no human eye can pene- trate. Indeed the determinate form, which every fpecies retains, and in which not the minuteft bone varies, feems to contradidt this extinftion : but the ground of this is vifible j for every creature can and muft be organized only by creatures of it's own fpecies. Thus our fl^ble, orderly mother has ftriftly de- termined the way, in which an organized powex, whether paramount or fubfcr- vient, fliould attain vifible aftivity, fo that nothing can efcape her once deter- mined forms. In man, for example, the greatefl: variety of inclinations and capacities prevails, which we often contemplate with aftonilhment, as wonderfiii and unnatural, yet cannot comprehend. Now fince thefe cannot exift without organic grounds^ we are led to confider the human fpecies, if we may be allowed Digitized by Google Ch A p . III.] Compofition of Powers and Forms prcgreßve. 117 a conjedlure on this obfcurity of the ftorehoufe of creation, as thep'tat confluence of inferiour organic powers^ which were to unite in it for the formation of man. But farther : man has here born the image of God, and enjoyed the fined organization, that this Earth could give him : ßiall he turn backwards, and become again a ftalk, a plant, an elephant ? or does the machinery of creation terminate in him, fo that there is no other wheel on which he can aft } The latter is not to be conceived, as in the kingdom of fupreme wifdom and goodnefs every thing is connefted, and power afts on power in one eternal chain. Now if we look back, and obicrvc how every thing behind us feems to travel onward to the human form; and again, that we find in man only the firft bud and fketch of what he Ihould be, and to which he is evidently framed : either man muft proceed forwards, in whatever way or manner it may be, or all connexion and defign in nature is but a dream. Let us fee how the whole frame of human nature leads us to this point. CHAPTER IV. ^Ae Spiere of human Organization is a Syflem offpiriiual Powers, The principal doubt ufually raifed againft the immortality of organic powers is deduced from the implements with which they operate ; and I may venture to aflcrt, that the illuftration of this doubt will throw the greateft light, not merely on the hope, but on the affurance» of their eternal continuance in afti- vity. No flower bloflbms by means of the external duft, the grofs particles of it's ftrufture : much lefs does an ever-growing animal reproduce itfelf by their means : and fl:ill lefs can we conceive an internal power like our mind, compofed of fo many united powers, to arife from the component parts into which a brain may be refolved. Even phyficdogy convinces us of this. The ex- ternal pifture, that is painted on the eye, comes not to the brain : the found» that ftrikes our ear, does not reach the mind mechanically as a found. There is no nerve fo ftretched out as to vibrate to a point of union : in fomc animals the optic nerves do not unite in a vifible point i and there is no creature in which the nerves of all the fenfes fo unite. Still lefs is there an union of all the nerves of the whole body, though the foul feels herfelf prefent, and afts^ in it's minuteft member. To imagine the brain, therefore, to be felf-cogita- tive, the nervous fluid felf-fentient, is a weak, unphyfiological notion : it is more confiftent with general experience, that there are particular pfychological Digitized by Google ii8 THILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. TBookV. laws^ by which the foul performs her funöions, and combines her ideas. That this is done conformably to her organs, and in harmony with them ; that, when the tools are defedivc, the artift can do nothing ; and the like ; cannot be queftioned : yet the nature of the cafe remains the fame. The manner in which the foul operates, the ejfence of her ideaSy come here under confideration. And with regard to this point it is, 1. Undeniable, that the thought ^ nay the firfl: perception, with which the foul reprefents to herfelf an external objeft, is fomet hing totally different from what the fenfe offers to her. We name it an image : but it is not the image, that is the fpeck of light, which is piftured in the eye, and which does not rcadi the brain : the image in the foul is a (piritual being, formed by herfelf from the fuggeftions of the fcnfes. From the chaos of things that furrounds her ßie calls forth a figure, on which (he fixes her attention, and thus by her intrinfic power (he forms out of the many a whole, that belongs to herfelf alone. This £he can again revive, when it exifts no more : dreams and the Imagination can combine it according to laws very different from tho(c, under which the fenfes exhibit it ; and this they aftually do. The reveries of difeafe, which have been fo often urged as proofs of the materiality of the foul, atteft her immateriality. Liften to the lunatic, and obferve the progrefs of his mind. It proceeds on the idea that has touched it too deeply, and in confequence deranged it's organ, and broken it's connexion with other fenfations. To this he refers every thing, becaufe this is predominant, and he cannot (hake it off: for this he forms a world of his own, a peculiar concatenation of thoughts 5 and all the wanderings of his mind in the connexion of it's ideas are in the highefl degree ^/r//»Ä/. He combines things not according to the pofition of the cells of his brain, not even as the fenfations appear to it ; but according to the affinity other ideas bear to his idea, and his power of bending them to it. All the afTociations of our thoughts proceed in the fame way : they pertain to a being, which calls up remem- brances by it's own energy, and often with a particular idiofyncrafy ; and con- nefts ideas from internal affeftion or propcnfity, not firom external mechanifin. I wifh, that ingenuous men would difclofe to us the regifters of their hearts on this point; and that acute obfervers, particularly phyficians, would make known the qualities they perceive in their patients : if this were done, I am convinced, we (hould have dear proofs of the operation of a being, oiganic it is true, yet aftipg of itfelf, and according to fpiritual laws. 2, The fame thing is demonftratcd by the artificial formation of our ideas from childhood upwards^ and from the tedious courfe^ by which the foul arrives not till late at a confcioufncfs of herfelf, and learns with confiderable labour, to Digitized by Google Chap. IV.] TAe Spiere of human Organization a Syftem offpiritual Ff>wers. 1 1 9 make ufe of the fenfes. More than one pfychologlft has obferved the addrefs, with which a child acquires the idea of colour« figure, magnitude^ and diftance, and thus /earns to fee. The corporal fenfe teaches nothing ; for the image is depidted in the eye the firft moment of it's opening, as faithfully as it is at the lateft period of life : but the foul learns to meafure, to compare, and fpiritually to perceive, by means of the fenfe. In this (he is affifted by the ear : and lan- guage is certainly a fpiritual, not corporal, mean of forming ideas. No one, unlefs devoid of fenfe, can take found and word for the fame thing : yet thefe two differ as body and foul, as organ and power. A word brings to remem- brance it's correfpondent idea, and transfers it from the mind of another to ours : bot the word is not the idea ; and juft as far is the material organ from being thought. As the body is increafed by food, fo is our mind enlarged by ideas : nay we remark in it the fame laws of affimilation, growth, and produc- tion, only not in a corporal manner, but in a mode peculiar to itfelf. The mind can equally overgorgc itfelf with food, which it is incapable of appro- priating and converting into nutriment. There is alfo a fymmetry of it's fpi- ritual powers, every deviation from which is difeafe, either flhenic or afthenic, that is, depravity. Finally, it carries on this bufmefs of it's internal life with a genial power, in which love and hatred, inclination to what is of it's own na- ture, and averfion to whatever is diffimilar to it, difplay themfelves as in terref- trial life. In fliort, fanaticifm apart, an internal fpiritual man is formed in us, who has a nature of his own, and ufes the body only as his implement ; nay, who afts conformably to his own nature, even if the bodily organs be ever fo much deranged. The more the foul is fcparated from the body by difeafe, or any forced flate of the pafTions, and compelled to wander as it were in her own ideal world > the more fmgular appearances of her own power and energy do we obferve in the creation or connexion of ideas. In defpair (lie wanders through the fccnes of her former life ; and, as (he cannot rellnquifh her nature, and abandon her office, of forming ideas, (he now prepares for hcrfelf a new Tuild creation. 3. A more clear confcioufnefs^ that great excellence of the human foul, is gra- duallylräiuired by it in z, fpiritual manner^ and indeed through humanity. A ckild poffeflb little confcioufnefs ; though his foul is inceflantly exercifing bcrfelf to attain it, and to feel herfelf in every fenfe. All her endeavours after ideas are for the purpofe of acquiring a perception of herfelf in this world of God's, and enjoying her exidence with human energy. The brute flill wanders ia an obfcure dream : his confcioufnefs is difiufed through fb many bodily initatioDS, and fo powerfully enveloped by theno» that it is impol&ble for it, to Digitized by Google 110 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book V. awake to a clear progreffive exercife of thought on his own organization. Man too is confcious of his fenfual ftate only through the medium of the fenfe : and when thcfe fuffer, we need not wonder, that a prevailing idea can drive him out of his mind, and fet him to aft within himfelf a mirthful or melan- choly drama. But even his being thus tranfported into a region of more vivid ideas evinces an internal energy, with which the power of his confcioufnefs, of his fpontaneity, often difplays itfelf in the mod erroneous paths. Nothing renders man fo ftrongly fenfible of his own exlftence as knowledge ; the know- ledge of a truth, which he has himfelf acquired, which is interwoven with his inmofl nature, and while he contemplates which the vifible objefts around him vanifh from his fight. A man forgets himfelf, he is unconfcious of the lapfe of time, and of his vital powers, when fome fublime thought calls him, and he purfues it's courfe. The moft acute bodily pain may be fupprefled by the prevalence of fome one vivid idea in the mind. Men under the influence of paflion, particularly the moft pure and lively of all, the love of God, have defpifed life, and contemned death ; and, all other ideas being thus fwallowed up in one, have felt themfelves as if in Heaven. The moft ordinary work is laborious, if the body alone perform it : but love makes the heavieft occupation light, and gives wings to the moft tedious and diftant exertions. Space and time vanifli before her: (he is ever at her point, in her own ideal region. This nature of the mind difplays itfelf even among the moft favage people : it mat- ters not for what they fight ; they fight in the throng of ideas. The cannibal, thirfting for revenge, ftrives, though in a horrible mode, for a fpiriiiial enjoy- ment. 4. No ftate, difeafe, or quality, of the organ, can miflead us, to feel the power, that afts in it, as primary. The memory, for example, differs according to the variety of men's organization : in one it is formed and fupportcil by- images; in another, by abftraft figns, by words or numbers. In youth, while the brain is foft, it is vivid : in age, when the brain hardens, it is dull, and ad- heres to old ideas. It is the fame with the other faculties of the foul ; and it cannot be otherwife if they operate organically. By the way, we may here remark the laivs of the retention and renovation of ideas : they arc altogether Tpiri- tual, and not corporal. There have been perfons, who have loll the rcmembnmce of certain years, nay of certain parts of fpeech, names, fubftantives, or even par- ticular letters and charafters ; while they retained the memory of preceding years, and had the free ufe and recoUeftion of other parts of fpeech ; the foul was fettered only in one limb, where the organ fuffered. If the chain of Iier n*eatal ideas were material, (he muft either, conformably to thefe phenomena. Digitized by Google Cm AP. IV.] Tie Spiere of human Organization a Syftem offpiriinal lowers, x 2 1 move about in the brain, and form particular records for certain years, for names and fubftantives ; or, if the ideas harden with the brain, they muft all be har- dened; and yet the remembrance of youth is ftill ver}' lively in the old. At a time when from the (late of her organs the foul can no longer combine things quickly, or lightly think them over, flic adheres the more firmly to the acqui- iitions of her more blooming years, of which flie difpofes as of her own property. Immediately before death, and in all fituations in which (he feels herfelf Icfs fettered by the body, this remembrance awakes with all the vivacity of youth- ful joy; and on this the pleafure of the aged, and the happinefs of the dying, principally depend. From the commencement of life our foul appears to have but one office; that of acquiring internal fliape^ tht form of iumanity^ and to feel herlelf found and happy in this, as the body in that which pertains to it. In this office fhe labours as inceflantly, and with as much fympathy of all her powers, as the body does for it's health ; which, when any part is injured, immediately feels it all over, and applies it's juices as far as it can, to repair the breach, and heal the wound. In the fame manner does the foul labour for her always precarious and often illufory health ; endeavouring to confirm and augment it, fometimes by proper means, at others by fallacious remedies. The art that (he employs for this purpofe is wonderful, and the ftore of medicaments and re- fources (lie knows how to provide is immenfe. If the femeiotics of the foul (hould ever be ftudled in the fame manner as thofc of the body, her proper (pi- ritual nature will be fo apparent in all her difeafes, that the dogmas of the ma- tcrialifts will vanifli like mills before the Sun. Nay to him, who is convinced of this internal life of himfelf all external circumftances, in which the body, like other matter, is continually changing, will be at length only tranfitlons, that af- fcft not his cflence : he will pafs out of this world into the next with as little attention as from night to day, or from one feafon of life to another. The creator has given us daily experience how far every thing in our machine is from being infeparable from us, and from each other, in the brother of Death, refrcfhing Sleep. The gentle touch of his finger difTolves the moft important funftions of life : nerves and mufcles repofe : the fenfes ceafe to perceive : yet tlic foul continues to think in her own domain. She is no more feparated from ihe body than when it was awake, as the perceptions often interwoven in our dreams evince : yet die ads according to her own laws, even in the profoundeft deep, of the dreams of which we have no remembrance, unlefs we be fuddenly awakened. Many people have obferved, that in undifturbed dreams their foul purfues the fame ferics of ideas uninterruptedly, in a manner different from Digitized by Google ix% PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book V. what it does in the waking {late, and wanders in a more beautiful, lively, and in general youthful world. The perceptions in a dream arc more vivid, the pafiions more violent, the connexion of thoughts and poflibility more eafy, our light more keen, and the light that furrounds us more brilliant. In healthy fleep wc often fly rather than walk, our dimenfions are enlarged, our refolutions have more force, our adions are Icfs confined. And though all this depends on the body, as the leaft circumftance rcfpeöing the foul muft harmonize with it, as long as her powers are fo intimately incorporated with it's ftrudlure ; yet the whole of the phenomena of fleep and dreaming, which arc certainly lingular, and would greatly aftonifti us, were we not accufl:omed to them, fiiows us, that every part of the body does not belong to us in the fame manner ; nay, that certain organs of our machine may be unflrung, and the fuperiour power a£t more ideally, vi- vidly, and freely, from mere rcminifcence. Now fince all the caufcs that in- duce fleep, and all it's corporal fymptoms, are, not metaphorically, but phyfio- logically and adtually analogous 1o thofe of death ; why fliould not the fpiritual fymptoms of both be the fame ? Thus, then, when the fleep of death falls on lis from wearinefs or difeafe, ftiU the hope remains, that death, like fleep, only cools the fever of life, gently interrupts the too uniform and long continued movement, heals many wounds incurable in this life, and prepares tlie foul for a pleafurable awakening, for the enjoyment of a new morning of youth. As in dreams my thoughts fly back to youth j as in them, being only half- fettered by a few organs, but more concentred in myfelf, I fed more free and aftive : fo thou, revivifying dream of death, wilt fmilingly bring back the youth of my life, the moft pleafing and energetic moments of my exiftence, till I awake in it's form — or rather in the more beautiful form of celeftial juvenility. Digitized by Google CHAPTER V. Our Humanity is only Preparation^ the Bud of a future Fltmer. / We have fccn, that the end of our prefent exiftencc is the formation oi huma^ nity^ to which all the meaner wants of this Earth are fubfervient, and which they are all contrived to promote. Our reafoning capacity is to be formed to reafon> our finer fenfes to art, our propenfities to genuine freedom and beauty, our moving powers to the love of mankind. Either we know nothing of our defli- nation, and the deity deceives us in every internal and external fymptom of it, to fay which would be fenfelefs calumny ; or we may deem ourfelves as certain of this end, as of the being of a god, or our own cxiftence. Yet how feldom is this eternal, this infinite end, attained here ! In whole na- tions reafon lies bound with the chains of animal fenfe j truth is fought in the moft erroneous ways; and that beauty and uprightnefs, to which we were created by God, are corrupted by negligence and depravity. Few men make godlike humanity, in the pure and extenfive fignification of the word, the proper fiudy of their lives : moft begin very late to think of it ; and in the beft of men inferiour propenfities draw down the exalted human being to animality. Who among mortals can fay, that he will reach, or has attained, the pure im^e of man, that lies in him ? Either, therefore, the creator has erred in the end he has placed before us, and the organization he has fo fkilfuUy compofed for the attainment of it j or this end reaches beyond our prefent exiftence, and the Earth is only a place of exer- cifey and this life 2^ßate of preparation. On this, it is true, much that is bafe muft be aflbciated with the moft exalted j and man is raifed, upon the whole, but a fliort ftep above the brute. Nay even among men the greateft variety muft fubfift ; as ever}' thing upon Earth is fo multifarious, and in many regions, and under many circumftances, the human fpecies is fo deeply depreffed by the yoke of climate and neceffity. The defign of plaftic Providence muft have taken in all thefe fteps, thefe zones, thefe varieties, at one view, and known how to advance man in all of them, as (he has gradually exalted inferiour powers, with- out their confcioufnefs. It is furprifing, though inconteftible, that of all the inhabitants of the Earth man is the fartheft from attaining the end of his defti- nation. Every beaft attains what his organization can attain : man only reaches it not, becaufe his end is fo high, fo extenfive, fo infinite ; and he begins on thi^ Digitized by Google 124 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book V. Earth fo low, fo late, and with fo many external and internal obftaclcs. Inftincl, the maternal gift of Nature, is the fure guide of the brute : he is dill a fcn-ant in the houfe of the fovereign father, and muft obey. Man lives in it as a child, and, a few neceflary propenfities excepted, has every thing that pertains to reafon and humanity to learn. At the fame time he learns imperfedly, bccaufe, with the feeds of underflanding and virtue, he inherits prejudices and evil manners j and in his progrefs to truth and liberty is retarded by chains, that reach from the commencement of his fpecies. The footfteps, that godlike men have imprinted before and around him, are united and confufed with many others, in which brutes and robbers have wandered ; and thefe, alas ! are often more aftive, than the feleft few of great and good. We muft therefore arraign Providence, as many have done, for fuffering man to border fo nearly on the brute, which he was not defigned to be, and denying him fuch a degree of light, firmnefs, and certainty, as might have ferved his reafon inftead of inftinä: j or this defefl'ivc beginning is a proof of his endlefs progrefs. For man muft himfelf acquire by exercife this degree of light and fecurity, fo as under the guidance of his father to become a nobler^ freer creature, by his own exertions j and thh he v:ill become^ Thus the fimular of man will become man in reality : thus the bud of humanity, benumbed by cold, and parched by heat, will expand in it's true form, in it'» proper and full beauty^. Hence we may eafily infer what part of us alone can pafs into the other world : it is this godlike humanity y the unopened bud of the true form of man. All the drofs of this Earth is for it alone : we leave the terreftrial part of our bones to the foffil kingdom, from which it was derived, and return to the elements what we had borrowed from them. All the fenfual appetites, which in us, as in the brutes, have been fubfervient to the earthly economy, have performed their of- fice : in man they were to be the occafions of nobler fentiments and exertions, and when they have done this, they have fulfilled the purpofe, for wliich they were defigned. The want of food was to excite him to labour^ to fociety, to obedience to laws and eftablilhments, and fetter him by a falutary chain, in- difpenfable on Earth. The fexual appetite was to plant fociablenefs, and parental, connubial, and filial love, even in the rigid breaft of barbarity ; and render te^ dious exertions for his fpecies pleafant to man, by his undertaking them for his own flefti and blood. Nature had fimilar purpofes in all earthly wants : each was to be a matrix of fome germe of humanity. Happy is it wjien the germc buds : it will bloflbm beneath the beams of a more glorious fun/Truth, beauty, and love are the objefts, at which man aims in all his endeavours, even without being confcious of it, and often by the moft devious paths : the perplexities of Digitized by Google Chap. V. J Our Humanity only Preparationy the Bud of a future Flower. 125 the liabyrinth will be unfolded, the feduäive forms of enchantment will vanifh, and every one will not only fee the centre, far or near, to which his way tends, but thou, maternal Providence, under the form of the genius and friend he needs, wilt guide him to it thyfelf, with a gentle and forgiving hand *. Thus, too, the good creator has concealed from us the form of that world, that our weak brain might not be dazzled, or a fpurious premature defire ex- cited in us. If with this we contemplate the progrefs of Nature in the fpecies beneath us, and obferve how the artift rejefts the more ignoble, and mitigates the claims of neceffity, ftcp by flep j while, on the other hand, (he improves the Ipiritual, purifies the refined, and animates the beautiful with fuperiour beauty : we may with confidence truft the invifible operating hand, that thQßower of our bud of humanity will certainly appear, in a future ftate of exiftence, in a form truly that oi godlike many which no earthly fenfe can imagine in all it's grandeur and beauty. It is vain, therefore, for us to rack our imagination : and though I am convinced, that, as all the ftates of creation are moft intimately connefted, the organic powers of our foul, in their pureft and moft fpiritual exertions, lay the foundations of their future appearance; or that at leaft, unconfcious of it themfelves, they weave the texture, that will ferve for their clothing, till the beams of a more beautiful fun awaken their profoundeft energies, which are here concealed from themfelves : it would be rafh, to Iketch out the laws, by which the creator forms a world, with the operations of which we are fo unacquainlal. Suffice it, that all the changes we obferve in the inferiour regions of nature arc tendencies to perfeBion ; and that thus we have at leaft hints of a fubjedt, into which we are incapable of penetrating for more important reafons. The flower appears to our eye firft as a feed, and then as a plantule : the plantule becomes a plant, and then at length comes out the flower, which begins it's different ftages of life in this terrefbial economy. Similar procefTes and clianges occur in ieveral creatures, among which the butterfly is fo confpicuous, as to have be- come a wellknown emblem. Behold, there crawls the defpicable caterpillar, obeying the grofs appetite of eating: his hour comes, and the languor of death falls upon him : he fceks a fupport j he wraps himfelf up in his winding (heet, the web of which, as well as in part the organs of his future ftate, he has already within him. His rings now go to work, and the internal organic powers exert themfelves. The change is at firft flow, and has the appearance of deftruftion. • In what way ? what philofophy is there migration and other purificative proccflcs, and npon Earthj that^ives us certainty in this re- inveftigate their origin and defign. fiat this fpca ? In the feqael of the work, we (hall is not the place for the inquiry, conic to the fyftems of difoent people on tranf* Digitized by Google 126 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY- [BookV. Ten feet are caft oflf with the flough, and the limbs of the new creature are flill fliapclcfs. Thefe are gradually formed, and attain their due proportion : but the creature awakes not till he is complete ; when he burfts into light, and the finifliing aft proceeds rapidly. In a few minutes the tender wings become fix limes as large as they were under the flieli of death : they are endowed with clafticity, and adorned with all the fplendid hues, that can be produced beneath this fun : they waft the creature as it were on the breath of zephyr. His whole ftrufture is altered : inftead of the coarfe leaves, on which he was at firft formed to feed, he drinks the neftareous juice of flowers from 'their golden cups. Even his deftination is changed : inftead of obeying the gi'ofs appetite of hunger, he is moved by the more refined paffion of love. Who would divine the future butterfly in the figure of the caterpillar ? Who would perceive one and the fame creature in both, unlefs taught by experience ? And fince both thefe modes of exiftence arc but different ftages of the fame being upon one and the fame earth, where the organic circle again begins in a fimilar manner ; wliat fine forms muft reft on the bofom of Nature, where the organic circle is more ex- tenfive, and the ftages, that falhion them, embrace more than one world! Hope, then, fon of man, and foretel not : the prize is before thee ; exert thyfelf to ob- tain it. Throw from thee what is unbefitting a man : fbrive after truth, good- nefs, and godlike beauty : and thou canft not fail of attaining thy end. Thus we are taught by Nature, in thefe analogies of changing creatures, that pafs frcMB one ftate to another, why the fleep of death is admitted into her fyf- tem. It is a kind lethargy, that locks up the fenfes, while the organic powers are labouring to attain a new form. The creature itfelf, whether poflfefled of more or lefsconfcioufnefs, is not ftrong enough to overfec or direÄ their efforts: it flumbers, therefore, and awakes not, till it's form is completed. Death, then, is the boon of a tender father fparing his child: it is a falutary opiate, during the operation of which Nature colleäs her powers, and the fleeping patient is xeftorcd to health« Digitized by Google [ 127 3 CHAPTER VI. Theprefent State of Man is probably the cotmeSiing Link of two Worlds. !Ev£RT thing in Nature is connected : one (late pufhes forward and prepares another. If then man be the laft and highefl: link, clofing the chain of terref- trial organization» he muft begin the chsdn of a higher order of creatures as it's lowed link» and is probably, therefore, the middle ring between two adjoining fyflems of the creation. He caimot pafs into any other organization upon Earth, without turning backwards, and wandering m a circle : for him to (land ilill is impofBble; fince no living power in the dominions of the moil adtive goodnefi is at reft : thus there muft be a ftep before him, dofe to him, yet as exalted above him, as he is preeminent over the brute, to whom he is at the (kme time nearly allied. This view of things, which is fupported l^ all the laws of Nature, .alone gives us the key to the wonderful phenomenon of man, and at the fame time to the ovXy fhilofophy of his hißory. For thus, I. The Angular inconßßency of man's condition becomes clear. As an animal be tends to the Earth, and is attached to it as his habitation : as a man he has within him the feeds of immortality, which require to be planted in another foiL As an animal he can fatisfy his wants i and men that are contented with this feel themfclves fufficiently happy here below : but they who feek a nobler defti- nation find every thing around them impcrfeft and incomplete ; what is moft noble is never accomplifhed upon Earth, what is moft pure is feldom firm and durable : this theatre is but a place of excrcife and trial for the powers of our hearts and minds. The hiftory of the human fpecics, with what it has at- tempted, and what has befallen it, the exertions it has made, and the revolu- tions it has undergone,, fufficiently proves this. Now and then a philofopher, a good man, arofe, and fcattered opinions, precepts, and adtions on the flood of time : a few waves played in circles around them, but thefe the ftream foon carried away and obliterated : the jewel of their noble purpofes funk to the bottom. Fools overpowered the councils of the wife^ and fpendthrifts inherited the treafures of wiftlom coUcftcd by their forefathers. Far as the life of man here below is from being calculated for eternity ; equally far is this inceflantly revolving fphere from being a repoCtory of permanent works of art, a garden of never-fading plants, a feat to be eternally inhabited. We come and go : every moment brings thoufands into the World, and takes thoufands out of it. The Earth is an inn for travellers; a planet, on which birds of paflage reft themfelves, and from which they haften away. The brute Digitized by Google 128 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book V. lives out his life-; and, if his years be too few to attain higher ends, his inmoll purpofe is accompliftied : his capacities exift, and he is what he was intended to be. Man alone is in Gontradi<äion with himfelf, and with the Earth : for, being the moft perfeft of all creatures, his capacities are the fartheft from being per- fefted, even when he attains the longeft term of life before he quits the World. But the reafon is evident : his ftate, being the laft upon this Elarth, is the firft in another fphere of exiftence, with refpcdl to which he appears here as a child making his firft elTays. Thus he is the reprefentative of two worlds at once; and hence the apparent duplicity of his eflcnce. 2. Thus it becomes clear» what part muft predominate in moft men- here be* low. The greater part of man is of the animal kind : he has brought into the World only a capacity for humanity, which muft be firft formed in him by dili- gence and labour. In how few is it rightly formed ! and how flender and de- licate is the divine plant even in the beft ! Tliroughout life the brute pre- vails over the man, and moft permit it to fway them at pleafure. Thb in- ceflantly drags man down, while the fpirit afcends, while the heart pants after a freer fphere : and as the prefent appears more lively to a fenfual creature than the remote, as the vifiblc operates upon him more powerfully than the invi- fible ; it is not difficult to conjefture, which way the balance wrll incJine. Of how little pure delight, of how little pure knowledge and virtue, is man capa- ble ! And were he capable of more, to how little is he accuftomed ! The nobleft compofitions here below are «debafed by inferiour propenfities, as the voyage of life is perplexed by contrary winds ; and the creator, mercifully ftrift, has mixed the two caufes of diforder together, that one might correal the other, and that the germe of immortality might be xnore effe6tually foftered by tem- pefts, tlian by gentle gales. A man who has experienced much has learned much: the capelefs and indolent knows not what is within himj and ftill lefs does he feel with confcious fatisfaöion how far bis powers extend. Thus life is a conflidt, aad the garland of pure immortal humanity is with difficulty ob- tained. The goal is before the runner : by him who fights for virtue, in death the palm will be obtained. 3. Thus, if fuperiour creatures look down upon us, they may view us in the fame light as we do the middle fpecieSy with which Nature makes a tranfition from one element to another. The oftrich flaps his feeble wings to affift him- felf in running, but they cannot enable him to fly : his heavy body confines him to the ground. Yet the organizing parent has taken care of him, as well as of every middle creature j for they are all perfeft in themfelves, and only appear tlefe^ive to our eyes. It is the fame with man here below : his dcfefts arc per- Digitized by Google Chap. VI.] Prefeia State of Man the comuBing Link of two Worlds. 129 plezing to an earthly mind ; but a fuperiour fpirit, that infpeds the internal ftnifture, and fees more links of the chain, may indeed pity, but cannot defpifc him. He perceives why man muft quit the World in fo many different dates, young and old, wife and foolißi, grown gray in fecond childhood, or an embryo yet unborn. Omnipotent goodnefs embraces madnefs and deformity, all the de- grees of cultivation, and all the errours of man, and wants not balfams to heal the wounds, that death alone could mitigate. Since probably the future ftate fprings out of the prefent, as our organization from inferiour ones, it's bufinefs is no doubt more clofely connefted with our exiftence here, than we imagine. The garden above blooms only with plants, of which the feeds have been fown here, and put forth their firft germes from a coarfer hufk. If, then, as we have feen, fociality, friendihip, or adtive participation in the pains and pleafures of others, be the principal end, to which humanity is direfted j this fined flower of human life mud neceflarily there attain the vivifying form, the overfliadow- ing height, for which our heart thirds in vain in any earthly fituation. Our bre- thren above, therefore, affuredly love us with more warmth and purity of affec- tion, than we can bear to them : for they fee our date more clearly, to them the moment of time is no more, all difcrepancies are harmonized, and in us they are probably educating, unfeen, partners of their happinefs, and compa- nions of their labours. But one dep farther, and the oppreffed fpirit can breathe more freely, the wounded heart recovers : they fee the paffenger approach it, and day his Aiding feet with a power&l hand. 4. Since therefore we are of a middle fpecies between two orders, and in fomc meafure partake of both, I cannot conceive, that the future date is fo remote from the prefent, and (b incommunicable with it, as the animal part of man is inclined to fuppofc : and indeed many deps and events in the hidory of the human race are to me incomprehenfible, without the operation of fuperiour influx- ence. For indance, that man (hould have brought himfelf into the road of im- provement, and invented language and thd fird fcience, without a fuperiour guidance, appears to me inexplicable j and the more fo, the longer he is fuppofed to have remained in a rude animal date. A divine economy has certainly ruled over the human fpecies from it's fird origin, and conducted him into his courfe the readied way. But the more the human powers have been exercifed, the lefs did they require this fuperiour aflSdance, or the lefs were they fulceptible of it j though in later times the gteated events have arifen in theWorld from inexplicable caufes, or have been accompanied with circumdances, which we cannot explain. Even^difeafes have often been indruments of them.: for when an oi^an lofes it's proportion to the red, and thus becomes ufelefs in the ordinary courfe of life, it Digitized by Google i^ PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY, [BookV. fecnis natural, that the reftlcfs internal power (hould bend itfelffomc other way, and probably receive impreffions, of which a found oi^nization would be infuf- ccptible, and which it would not require. Be this as it may, it is certainly a friendly veil, that feparates this world from the next j and it is not without rea- fon, that the grave of the dead is fo mute and ftill. Men in general are kept throughout the whole courfe of their lives from impreffions, one of which would break the whole chain of their ideas, and render it ufelefs in this world. Mao, formed for freedom, was not intended to be the imitative ape of fuperiour beings; but, even where he is led, to retain the happy opinion, that he afts of himfclf. To preferve the quiet of his mind, and that noble pride, which fupports his deftination, man was deprived of the fight of more exalted beings $ for proba- bly an acquaintance with thefe would lead him to defpife himfelf. Man there- fore was not to look into a future ftate, but merely to believe in it. 5. Thus much is certain, that there dwells an infinity in each of his powers, which cannot be developed here, where it is repreflcd by other powers, by animal fenfes and appetites, and lies bound as it were to the ftate of terreftrial life. Particular inftances of memory, of imagination, nay of prophecy, and prefenfion, have difcovered wonders of that hidden treafure, which repofes in the human foul : and indeed the fenfes are not to be excluded from this ob- fervation. That difeafes, and partial defefts, have been the principal occafions of indicating this treafure, alters not the nature of the cafe j fmce this very dif- proportion was requifite, to fet one of the weights at liberty, and difplay it's power. The expreffion of Leibnitz, that the foul is a mirror of the univcrfc, contains perhaps a more profound truth, than has ufually been educed from it ; for the powers of an univerfe feem to lie concealed in her, and require only an organization, or a feries of organizations, to fet them in action. Supreme goodnefs wjU not refufe her this organization, but guides her like a child in leading-ftrings, gradually to prepare her for the fiiUnefs of increafing enjoy- ment, under a perfuafion that her powers and fenfes are felf-acquired. Even in her prefent fetters, /pace and time are to her empty words : they meafure and exprefs relations (Ä the body, but not of her internal capacity, which extends beyond time and fpace, when it adts in perfeft internal quiet. Give thyfelf no concern for the place and hour of thy future exiftence : the Sun, that enlightens thy days, is neceffary to thee during thy abode and occupation upon Earth ; and fo long it obfcures all the celeftial flars. When it fets, the univerfe will appear in greater magnitude : the facred night, that once enveloped thee, and in which thou wilt be enveloped again, covers thy Earth with ihade, and will open to thee the fplendid volumes of immortality in Heaven. There are ha- Digitized by Google Chap. VI.] Prefent State of Man the conne6ling Link of two fVorlds. 13 1 bitations, worlds, and fpaces, that bloom in unfading youth, though ages on ages have rolled over them, and defy the changes of time and feafon : but every thing that appears to our eyes decays, and periflies, and paffes away ; and all the pride and happinefs of Earth are expofed to inevitable deftrudion. This Earth will be no more, when thou thyfelf ftill art, and enjoyed God and his creation, in other abodes, and differently organized. On it thou haft en- joyed much good. On it thou haft attained an organization, in which thou haft learned to look around and above thee as a child of Heaven. Endeavour, therefore, to leave it contentedly, and blefs it as the field, where thou hall Iported as a child of immortality, and as the fchool, where thou haft been brought up, in joy, and in fonow, to manhood. Thou haft no farther claim on it j it has no farther claim on thee : crowned with the cap of liberty, and girded with the zone of Heaven, cheerfully fet thy foot forward. As the flower ftands ereft, and clofes the realm of the fubterranean inani- mate creation, to enjoy the commencement of life in the region of day ; fo is man raifcd above all th© creatures, that are bowed down to the Earth. With uplifted cy#, and outftretchcd hand, he ftands as a fon of the family, awaiting his father's call. Digitized by Google [ ^32 ] PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. BOOK VI. HITHERTO we have confidered the Earth as an abode of the human fpecies in general ; and endeavoured to mark the rank, that man holds among the living creatures, by which it is inhabited. Having thus formed an idea of his general nature, let us proceed, to contemplate the various appearances he af- fumes on this globular ftage. But who will give us a clew to this labyrinth ? where are the footfteps, that we may follow with fecurity ? At lead the deceitful robe of pretended omnifcience (hall not arrogantly be affumed, to conceal the defefts, to which he who writes the hiftory of man, and ftill more he who attempts a philofophy of that hiftory, muft neceflarily be expofed ; for none, but the genius of mankind himfelf, can take a complete view of the hiftory of the human fpecies. We will begin with the varieties in the organization of different races, if for, no other reafon, at leaft becaufe thefe varieties are aheady noticed in elementary treatifes on natural hiftory. CHAPTER I. Organizntiott of the People that dweU near the North Pole. No navigator has yet been able to fet his foot on the axis of our Earth *, and draw from the north pole perhaps fome more accurate conclufions refpedting it's general ftrufture ; though men have proceeded far beyond the habitable parts of the Globe, and defcribed regions, that may be termed the cold and bare ice- throne of Nature. Here may be feen wonders of the creation, incredible to an * The hopes of oar countryman, Samuel Teems to have weakeocd the fuppoikion of it's Engel, on this fubjeft, are well known ; and impraäicabilicy. one of the lateft northern adventurers. Pages, Digitized by Google Chap. L] Organization of People that dwell near the North Pole^ 133 inhabitant of the equator, thofe immenfe mafles of beautifully coloured rocks of ice, thofe fplendid northern lights, aflonifiiing deceptions of the eye by means of the air, and the frequently warm caverns of the earth notwithftanding the rigid froft above *• The fteep broken rocks of naked granite appear to extend much farther here, than they could toward the fouth pole ; and the greater part of the habitable earth in genecd ftands on the northern hemifphere. And as the fea was the firft abode of living creatures ; the northern ocean, with it's fwarms of in- habitants, may (till be confidered as a womb of vitality, and it's (bores as the margin, on which the organization of terreftrial creatures commenced in mofles, inieAs, and worms. Waterfowl frequent the land, that yet fupports few birds of it's own: aquatic animals and amphibia crawl on the ftrand, to bafk in the beams of the Sun, which thefe coafts but feldom enjoy. The confines of the living creation of the earth are difplayedas it were amid the utmoft fury of the turbulent waves. How has the organization of man preferved itfelf on thefe confines ! All that the cold could eifeft upon him was, to comprefs his body in fome meafure, and thus as it were contrad the circulation of his blood. The greenlander fel- dom attains the height of five feet ; and the eikimaux, his brother, living farther to the north, is flill (horter -f?. But as the vital power works from witjiin to with- out, it has compenGited in warm and tough thicknefs, what it could not beftow in aipiring height. His head is large in proportion to his body; his face broad and fiat : for Nature, who produces beauty only when aAing with temperance, and in a mean betwixt extremes, could not here round afoft oval; and flill lefs could allow the ornament of the face, the beam of the balance, if I may ufe the expreflion, the nofe, to projeft. As the cheeks occupy the chief breadth of the vifage, the mouth is fmall and round : the hair is ftifF, for the fine penetrating juices to form foft iilky hair are wanting : no mind beams from the eye. In like manner the ftioulders grow broad, the limbs large, the body corpulent and fan- guine : the hands and feet alone remain fmall and flender, like the buds and ex- treme parts of the frame. As is the external form, fo are the irritability and the economy of the fluids within. The blood circulates more (lowly, the heart beats more languidly : hence the defire of the fexcs, the flimulus of which rifes to fuch a height with the increa(rng warmth of other countries, is here more faint. It awakens not till late ; the unmarried live chaftely : and the women almofl require compuKion, to take upon them the troubles of a married life. • Sec Phipps's Voyages, Cranz's Gt/ebuba f See Cranz, Ellis, Egede, Roger Curtis'« VM GratntoMd, ' Hiftory of Greenland/ &c. Account of the Coaft of Labrador, &c. Digitized by Google 134 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [BookVI. They have but few children j whence they compare the amorous and prolific europeans to dogs. In their connubial date, as in their general way of life, a calm fobriety, a tenacious ftillnefs of the paffions, prevails. Infenfiblc of thofe irritations, which a warmer climate and more volatile animal fpirits produce, they live and die peaceable and patient, contented from indifference, and adivc only from necefHty. The father educates his fon to that apathy, which he cfteems the grand virtue and happinefs of life ; and the mother fuckles her in- fant a long time, with all the profound tenacious affcftion of animal maternity. What Nature has denied them in irritability and elafticity of fibre, (he has given them in permanent indefatigable ftrength j and has clothed them with that warming fatnefs, that abundance of blood, which render their very breath fuffocatingly hot in clofe habitations. No one, I think, can fail here to obferve the equal hand of the organizing creator, who adts uniformly in all his works. If the human ftature be dimi- niflied in thefe regions, vegetation is not lefs fluntcd : few trees grow, and thcfc fmall; moffes and fhrubs creep on the ground. Froft contrafts even the rod of iron -, and (hall it not (liorten the human fibre, even in defpite of it's inhe- rent organic life .? It can only be comprcflTed, however, and circumfcribed as it were within a narrower fphere : another analogy of effcfl: in every kind of orga- nization. The extremities of the marine animals and other creatures of the frigid zone are fmall and (lender : Nature has kept every thing as much as pof- fible together in the region of internal warmth. The birds are fupplied with thick plumage, the beafts with enveloping fat, as the men are with their warm fanguineous cafes. Nature has alfo neceflfarily denied them in externals, and indeed from one and the fame principle of all terreftrial organization, what is unfuitable to this conftitution. Roots would be deftruftive to their bodies, prone to internal putrefaftion; as the liquor of madnefs, brandy, which has been introduced among them, has deftroyed many. Thefe accordingly the climate refufes them : and on the other hand, notwithftanding their great love of repofc, which their internal ftrufture promotes, it compels them, by the external cir- cumftances of their barren abodes, to adivity and bodily exercife ; which arc the groundwork of all their laws and inftitutions. The few plants, that grow here, arc fuch as purify the blood, and are thus precifely adapted to their wants. The atmofphere is in a high degree dephlogifticated *, fo that it refills putre- fadtion even in dead bodies, and promotesjongcvity. Foifonous animals cannot * See Wilfon't Obfervationi on tke Influence of Cliniate on Plants and Aninala^ and Cianz'a history of Greenland^ vol. II. Digitized by Google Chap. I.] Organization of People that dwell near the North Pole. 135 endure the dry cold : and the people are protefted againft troublefome infefts by fmoke, by a long winter, and by their natural infenfibility. Thus does Na- ture indemnify them, and aft harmonioufly in all her operations. After dcfcribing this firft nation, it will not be neceflary to be equally mi- nute, with regard to others that refemble it. The efltimaux of America are the brethren of the greenlanders in figure, as well as in language and manners. But as thefe poor wretches arc preffed upon as bearded ftrangers by the beardlefs americans, their mode of life is in general more toilfome and precarious : nay, fo hard is their fate, that in winter they are often obliged to fupport themfelves in their caves by fucking their own blood *. Here, and in a few other parts of the Earth, dire NecefTity fits on her loftieft throne, and compels man to lead al- moft the life of a bear. Yet everywhere he ftill continues man : for, even in what appear to be features of the greateft inhumanity among thefe people is hu- manity vifible, when they are clofely examined. Nature thought proper, to try what forced circumftances the human fpecies could endure, and it has flood the teft. The laplanders inhabit a comparatively mild climate, and they arc a milder people -f. The fize of the human figure increafes: the flat ro- tundity of the vifage diminilhes : the cheeks are lengthened : the eye is dark gray : the ftraight black hair becomes carrotty : and the internal or- ganization of the man expands with his external frame, as the bud that blows beneath the beams of a more genial fun %, The mountain laplander grazes his reindeer, which neither the eikimaux nor greenlander can do, and obtains from them food and raiment, coverings for his houfe and his bed, conveniencies and enjoyments i while the greenlander, dwelling on the verge of the earth, is reduced to feek almoft every thing from the Tea. Thus man acquires an animal for his friend and fervant, and hence learns arts, and a more domeftic mode of life. It inures his foot to the chace, his arm to the guidance of the rein, his mind to a tafte for acquifition and permanent property; while at the fame time it cheriOies his love of liberty, and accuftoms his ear to that timid watchfulnefs, which we obferve in many nations in a fimilar condition. The laplander liftcns as fearfully as his beaft, and fets off at the flightefl noife : he loves his way of life, and looks, like his reindeer, to the fummits of the moun- * Sec Roger Cortis's Account of Labrador. garians and Laplanders are the fame/ Copeu- t It is well known, that Sainovic found the hagen, 1770. language of the laplanders to refemble the hua- J On the fubjea of the laplanders fee Hoech- garian. See Sainovic Demnflrath Idioma Vn- ftrocni, Lcem, Kling lied t, Georgias Befchrtibung garorum et Lapponum idem effe, * Sainovic's Dc- der Nationen des Ruffi/cben Reichs^ « Defcription monftration, that the Languages of the Hun; of the Nations oftlie Ruffian Empire/ fcc. Digitized by Google 136 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book VL tains, lo fpy the returning Sun : he talks to his bcaft, and is underftood by him ; he is careful of him as his wealth, and a member of his family. Thus with the firft tameable animal, that Nature could beftow on this region, flie gave man a guide to a more human mode of life. Of the people that dwell by the Frozen Ocean, along the wide extent of the ruf- fian empire, not to mention the many modern wellknown travels, in which the y are defcribed, we have a colledtion of delineations, the infpe&ion of which fpeaks more forcibly than any defcription *. Mixed and huddled together as many of thefe people dwell, we perceive the mod different races brought under the fame yoke of the northern form, and forged as it were into a chain of the north pole. The famoiede has the round, broad, flat vifage, the ftraight black hair, the fquat fanguineous body of the northern mould : but his lips are more full, his nofe more broad and prominent, and his beard diminifhed ; and this we ihall find continually decreafing along an immenfe traft of land to the eaftward. Thus the famoiedes are as it were the negroes of the north : and the great irritability of their nerves, the early puberty of the females, in the eleventh or twelfth year+, nay, if the account be true, their black nipples, and fome other circumftanccs, render them flill more fimilar to the negroes, notwithftanding the coldnefs of their climate. Yet, in fpite of their warm and delicate conftitution, which they pro- bably brought with them as a national charafter, and which it may be prefumed even the climate itfelf could not fubdue, their form is on the whole that of the north. The tungoojes J, who dwell farther to the fouth, begin to have fome re- femblance to the mungalian ftem, from which however they are as different in race and language, as the famoiedes and oftiacs are from the laplanders and green- landers. Their bodies are better fhapcd and more (lender j their eyes fmall like thofe of the mungals ; their lips thin ; their hair fofter : yet their faces retain the flat northern form. Tt is the fame with the yakouts and yukagirians, who appear to run into the tatarian form, as thofe into the mungalian ; nay, it is the fame with the tatarian race itfelf. Near the Black Sea and the Cafpian, on mounts Caucafus and Ural, confequently in the mofl; temperate climate in fome meafure in the World, the tatarian form is blended with more beauty. The body is flcnder and pliable : the head quits the heavy rotundity for a more ele- • Sec Georgias Be/chreibung, tfr. * Defcnp- Emp., Pallas, the Travels of ihc elder Gtnelin, don, &c.,' Peterfburg, 1776. &c. The moll remarkable ciicumilarxes rvlat- f See Klingdedt's Memcires/ur Us Samohdes et ing to the different people have been extracted fur Us Lappons, * Accounts of the Samoiedes and from Pallas's Travels and Georgi's Remarks, Laplanders.' and publiflicd feparately, Merkiviinligknten tier % For an account of all thefe people fee 'verjchiedenen Vulkir, Krarikf. and Leipfic, Geurgi't Defcripc, of the Nat. of the Rufl*. 1773 — 7. Digitized by Google Chap. I.] Organization of People that dwell near the Nmh Pole. 137 gant oval : the complexion is florid : the nofe projefts boldly and wellfliaped : the eye is lively, the hair dark brown, the flep alert : the countenance pleafingly modeft and timid. Thus the nearer we come to tlie regions where Nature is moft profufe of life, the more exqulfite and better proportioned is the oi^niza- tion of man. The more we proceed to the north again, or the farther into Kal- muc Tatary, fo much more flat and barbarous we find the features, either after the northern or kalmuc model. In this, however, much muft be attributed to the way of life of a people, it*s defcent and intermixture with others, and the qualities of the country it inhabits. The mountain tatars preferve their features with more purity, than thofe that dwell in the plains : hordes that are near towns and villages mix and foften down both their features and manners. The lefs a nation is preflcd upon, the truer it muft remain to it's rude and fimple way of life, and the more pure muft it preferve it's original form. As on this great platform of Tatary, inclining as it does to the fea, fo many rovings and incur- fions have taken place, which have operated more powerfully to mingle, than mountains, deferts, and rivers could to feparate, the exceptions to the rule can- not f^l to be obferved : but the rule is confirmed by thefe very exceptions, for the northern, tatarian, and mungal forms divide the whole among them, CHAPTER n. Organization of the Nations on the afiatic Ridge of the Earth. A s there arc many probabilities, that the firft abode of the human Ipecies was on this ridge of the Earth, we might be inclined to feek on it the moft beautiful race of men. But how greatly (hould we be deceived in our expeftation ! The form of the kalmucs and mungals is well known. With a middling ftature, they have at leaft remains of the flat vifage, the thin beard, and the brown com- plexion, of the northern climate : but they are diftinguifhable by the inner angle of the eye being acute, flefliy, and inclined obliquely to the nofe j by nar- row, black, flightly arched eyebrows j a fmall, flat nofe, too broad at the upper part ; large, prominent ears j the legs and thighs bowed j and ftrong white teeth *, which, together with the reft of the features, appear to charaderize a beaft of prey among men, • Sec Pallas's SammlungeM ueber /lit Mangoli- Mueller's SammluHg «ur Ruß Gifih , « Colicc«- /eben Valkerfcbafitn, ' Collcftions refpeoing the tions for a Hiftory of Ruffia/ Book IV, Eff. 4, ; Mongal Nations/ Vol. I, p. 98, 171, 5:c. ; Schlcezer's Extraö from Schober's Mm«ra^//Ä Georgias Bifebreib, Vol. IV, Petersburg, 1780; Rußco-Aßatha, ' Memoirs of Afiatic Ruffia,' in Schniilcher's Account of the Ajuc Kalmucs in the fame Colledlions, Book VII, Efif. i.; Sec, Digitized by Google 13« PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book V J. Whence proceeds this form ? Their bow-legs originate from their way of life. From their childhood they Aide along upon their legs, or cling to the back of a horfe: their lives are fpent between fitting and riding j and to the only pofition, that gives the human foot it's ftraight fine form, that of walking, they are ftrangers^ except for a few fteps. And to their way of life may not more of their figure be traced ? Are not the prominent brutal ear, that is ever liftening, the fmall, acute eye, that perceives the leaft duft or fmoke at the grcateft dif- tance, the white, projedling, bone-gnawing tooth, the thick neck, and the back- ward reclining pofition of the head on it, become fubftantial features, and charadteriftics of their mode of living ? If we add to this, that» as Pallas (ays, their children, even to the age of ten, frequently have deformed puffed up faces, and are of a cacochymic afpeft, till, as they grow up, they become better (haped : if we confider, that extenfive trafts of their country are ftran- gers to rain, have little water, or at leaft none that is pure, and that thus firom their infancy they fcarcely know what it is to bathe : if we refledt on the fait lakes and marfhes, and the faline nature of the foil where they dwell, the alka«- line favour of which they relifh in their food, and even in the ddugesof tea, with which they daily enfeeble their digeftive faculty : if to thcfe we add the elevation of the country they inhabit, the thinner air, dry winds, alkaline efflu- via, and long winters fpent in the fmoke of their huts, and with fnow continu- ally before their eyes : is it not probable, that their figure originated from thefe caufes fome thoufands of years ago, when many of them perhaps ope- rated ftill more forcibly, and thus gradually became their hereditary nature ? Nothing invigorates our bodies more, and contributes more to their growth and firmnefs, than wafhing and bathing in water ; particularly if to thefe be added walking, running, wreftling, and other bodily cxercifes. Nothing has a greater tendency to debilitate them, than drinking warm liquors j and thefe they gulp down in immoderate quantities, feafoned too with corrugating alkaline falts. Hence, as Pallas has already obferved, the feeble effeminate figures of the mun- gals and burats, five or fix of whom, with their utmoft exertions, cannot do what a fingle ruffian can perform : hence the extreme lightncfs of their bodies, with which on their little horfcs they feem to fly, or ikim along the furface of the ground ; hence, laftly, the cacochymic habit tranfmitted to their children. Even fome of the neighbouring tatar races are born with features of the mungal form, which difappear as they grow up : and this renders it more probable, that fome of the caufes are dependent on the climate, which are more or lefs en- grafted into the frame of the people by their mode of life and defcent, and ren- dered hereditary. When ruffians or tatars intermix with the mungals, hand- Digitized by Google Chap. IL] Organization of the Nations on theafiatic Ridge of the Earth. 139 fome children are produced, being of delicate and wellproportioned (hapes, but according to the niungal ftandard *. Here alfo Nature remains true to herfclf in their organization : a race of nomades, beneath this (ky, on this ridge of the Globe, and with fuch modes of living, muft be fuch air)» vultures. And traces of their form fpread far around : for whither have not thefe h'mh of prey extended their flight ? More than once have their conquering pinions fped over one quarter of the Globe. Accordingly the mungals have eftablirtied thcmfelves in various countries of Afia, and improved their form by the features of other nations. Nay thefe warlike expeditions were preceded by more ancient emigrations from this early peopled ridge of the Earth into many adjacent lands. Hence, it is probable, the oriental part of the Globe as far as Kamtfchatka, as well as throughout Tilget and the peninfula beyond the Ganges, previoufly bore marks of the mungal form. Let us take a view of this region, in which much that is Angular appears. Moft of the refinements of the chinefe with regard to their fhape bear the mungal ftamp. We have obferved the milhapen feet and ears of the mungals ; and probably a fimilar defeft of form, aided by falfe tafte, gave occafion to that unnatural confinement of the foot, and that frightful diflortion of the ears, com« mon to many nations in this region. People were afhamed of their form, and wiOied to alter it ; but hit upon parts, which yielding to change, at length ren- dered their difgufting beauties hereditary. As far as the great difference of their provinces and mode of life will permit, the chinefe difplay evident marks of the oriental form, which is moft ftriking to the eye only on the mungalian heights. Climate has merely reduced the broad face, little black eyes, ftump nofe, and thin beaixl, to a fofter rounder form j and the tafte of the chinefe feems to be as much a confequence of illconftrufted organs, as defpotifm is of their form of go- vernment, and barbarifm of their philofophy. The japanefe, a people of chinefe tuition, but probably of mungal origin -f , are almoft univerfally illmade, with thick heads, fmall eyes, ftump nofes, flat cheeks, fcarcely any beard, and ge- nerally bandylegged. Their form of government and philofophy abound with violent rcftriftions, fuited only to their own country. A third fpccies of de- fpotifm prevails in Tibet s the religion of which country extends far into the fa- vage deferts. • PalUs in the Sammt, xur Ge/cb. der MtM^ tion of Travels,* Vol. II, p. 595; Charlevoix. gtL Faltt, ' Colleaiont for the Hiilory of the On the cliinefe fee Olave Toree's Rn/e nach Sw Mangal Nations,' Travels Vol. I, p. 304^!!, &c. rate und China, • Travels to Surat and China/ t Jllg. SammL dtr Rei/en» • General CoUec p. 68 ; Jlig, Rei/.Vo ,VUp.i 30. Digitized by Google I40 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book VL The oriental form * ftretches down with the mountains through the penin- fula beyond the Ganges, the people probably extending themfelves along the courfe of the hills. The natives of AfTam, bordering upon Tatary, are re- markable, if we may truft the accounts of travellers -f-, for fwelled throats and flat nofes, particularly towards the north. The rude ornaments affixed to their lengthened ears, their indelicacy in refpeft to food, and want of cloth- ing in fuch a temperate climate, denote a favage uncultivated people. The arracanefe, with broad noftrils, flat foreheads, little eyes, and ears flretched down to their (houlders, difplay the fame deformity of the oriental r^ons J. The barmas in Ava-and Pegu are as inveterate enemies to the flighted appear- ance of beard, as the tibetians and other nations higher up : they will not fuflFer more bountiful Nature to remove their tatarian beardlefTnefs §. It is the fame» only with fome differences according to the people and climate, even in the iflands that are more to the fouth. To the north there is no change, even to the koriacs and kamtichadales on the fhores of the eaflern world.. The lai^age of the latter flill bears fome ne- femblance to that of the chinefe mungals, though, as they are yet unacquainted with the ufe of iron, they muft have feparated from thefe people long ago. Nei- ther does their form belie their country ||. Their hair is black, their fauces broad and flat, their nofe and eyes deep funk; and we fhall find their chaiader, apparently incongruous with this cold inhofpitable climate, not imfuitabie to it. Laflly, the koriacs, the tfhoutfliies, the kuriles, and the iflanders fiuther to the eaft f , appear to me to be gradual tranfitions from the mungal to the ameri- can form : and if we could obtain an acquaintance with the north weflern end of America, which remains for the mofl part unknown to us» and with the interiour parts of Jedfo and the extenfive region above New Mexico, of which we know as little as of the heart of Africa, I am of opinion, we fhould find evident gra- dations loiing themfelves in each other, according to the remacks in Cook's laft voyage **. So * The more ancient accounts defcribe the % JUg, Reif, B. X, p. 67, from Ovington. tibetiant as deformed. See Allg, Reifin, Book. § See Marfden's Hiftory of Samatra, p. 62, VI I> p. 38a. According to the more modern Jllg. Rgi/, Vol. II, p. 467. &c. (Pallas's NorJ, Beitr. Book IV, p. 280) they are || Allg. Reif. Vol. XX. p. 289, from SteUer. become lefs fo, to which the ficuation of their ^ See Georgias S^^. t^r. Vol.III. country appears favourable. Probably they are •* SeeEiiis's Account of Cook's laft Voyage^ a rode approach to the hinduftanic form. p. 1 14; Tagilmcb dir Eutdtckuugs niß, • Joomal of f See JUg.Reifin, Book X, p. 557» from a Voyage of Difcovery tranflated by Poifter/ Tavcf nier. P- 23 U with which may be oompared the oMer Digitized by Google Ch at. II.] Organization of the Nations on tie afiatic Ridge of the Earth. 141 So wide is the extent of the partly disfigured, but every where more or Icfs beardlefs, oriental form : and the various manners and languages of the fcveral nations teftify, that they are not the defcendants of one people. What then is the caufe of it ? What for inftance has urged fo many nations to quar- rel with the beardy or to ftretch the ears, or to bore the nofc and lips ? In my opinion an original deformity muft have given rife to it, which afterwards claimed the afliftance of favage art, and at length became an ancient cuftom tranfmitted from father to fon. The degeneracy of brutes difplays itfelf in the hair and ears, before it attacks the form : it next defcends to the feet, as in the face it firft attacks it's extremity, the profile. When the genealogy of the nations, the ftate and qualities of this extenfive country, and more efpecially the variations in the internal phyfiology of thefe people, are more thoroughly invefligated ; we (hall not &il to obtain new ideas on the fubjeä. And will not PallaSy /killed in fcience and acquainted with variom nations, be the firft to give us z,fpicilegium anthropologicum ? CHAPTER IIL Organization of the Region of wellf armed Nations. Embosomed in alpine heights lies the kingdom of Cafhmire, like a hidden paradife. It's fertile and pleafant hills are furrounded with mountains afcending ftill higher and higher, till the fummits of the laft, covered with eternal fnow, are loft in the clouds. Here pellucid ftrcams and rivulets flow : the earth is adorned with falubrious herbs and fruits : gardens and iflands are clad in refireftiing green : flocks and herds are fpread over one univerfal pafture : and no venomous animal, or wild beaft, annoys this Eden. Thefe may be fitly named the mountains of innocence, as Bernier fays, which flow with milk and honey ; and the race of men, that dwells there, is not unworthy of the place. The cafhmirians are deemed the moft witty and ingenious people of India, equally capable of excelling in poetry and fcience, in arts and manufadtures j the men finely formed, and the women often models of l^eauty *. How happy might Hinduftan have been, if the hands of men had not com- bined to defolate the garden of nature, and to deprefs the moft innocent of hu- man beings by tyranny and fuperftition ! The hindoos are the gentleft race accounts of thetflandi between Aiia and America. Itr'^s Rujftfchtn Sammlungeny ' Raffian CoIleQions'; See neut Nachricht von ätn muintdickttn Inftlmy X^ Beitragen xur Vetlker.wul L^ndtrkundt,* 'EX' New Account of the lately difcovered Iftands/ fays on Countries and Nations'; &c. Hamb.andLeipf. 1776; the accounts in Pallas's * JtVg, Reif, Vol. II, p. 116, 117, from Nardi/cben Beiträtgen, ' Northern Memoirs'; MueJ" Bernier, Digitized by Google 142 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book VL of mankind. They intentionally injure nothing that breathes; they rcfpcft every thing that has life ; and fupport themfclves by the- moft innocent food, milk, rice, and the nutritious plants and fruits, that their country affords. In öiape, fays a modern traveller *, they are ftraight, flcnder, and elegant ; their limbs are well proportioned ; their fingers long, and endued with great accuracy of feeling i their countenances open and benign : the features of the females dif- play the moft delicate lineaments of beauty ; thofe of the males, manly tender- nefs. Their gait, and their whole carriage, are in the highcft degree graceful and attraftive. The legs and thighs, which in all the northeaftcrn countries arc mifhapen, or fhortened like thofe of apes, are lengthened here, and bear the ftamp of germinating human beauty. Even the mungal form, intermingled with this race, is loft in noble benignity. And the original difpofition of their . mind is confonant to the frame of their body. So indeed is their manner of life, when confidered free from thö yoke of flavery or fuperftition. Temperance and quiet, gentle feelings and peaceful meditation, are confpicuous in their la- bours and enjoyments, their morals and mythology, their arts, and even their pa- tience under the fevereft tyranny. Happy lambs ! why could not Nature feed you carelefs and undifturbed on your native plains ! The ancient pcrfians were ugly mountaineers, as we fee from their remains, the gaurs -f . But as fcarcely any country in Afia is fo much expofed to irrup- tions as Perfia, and as it lies immediately beneath nations of wellformed people, a compound has refulted, which in the nobler Perfians combines beauty and worth. On one hand lies Circaffia, the parent of beauty : on the other fide of the Cafpian fea dwell tatarian races, which have already improved their form in this happy climate, and have fpread themfelves in great numbers to the fouth. On the right is Hinduftan, and the perfian blood has been improved by maidens purchafed in this country and in Circaffia. Their minds have moulded themfelves to this man-ennobling fpot : for the quick and penetrating under- ftanding, the fertile and lively imagination of the Perfians, with their fupple, courteous manners, their propenfity to idlenefs, pomp, and pleafure, nay their difpofition to romantic love, are perhaps the chief qualities, that promote an equilibrium of the paffions and features. Inftead of thofe barbarous embellilh- ments, with which deformed nations have increafed while they ftrove to hide * Mackintofh's Travels, Vol. I, p. 321. fians, which may be compared with thofe of the f Chardin'f Travels in Perfia, Vol. Ill, blacks immediately following, n' 89, 90, the Chap. XI, and following. In Le Bran* s yojagej uncii'ilized famoiedes, chap. 2, n' 7, 8, the #» Pir/tt ' Travels in Perfia,' Vol I, Chap. 42, wild fouthern negroes, n. 197, and the genile n' 86«— 83^ we have a Sdclincation of the per- beninians, n. 109. Digitized by Google Chap. III.] Organizaiion of the Region ofweßfomtd Nations^ 145 their bodily defefts, more agreeable cuftoms have here been adopted, which heightened the beauty of the form. Want of water compels the mungal to be uncleanly : the effeminate bindoo bathes : the voluptuous perfian anoints him^» felf. The mungal fits on his heels, when he does not beftride his horfe : the gentle hindoo lolls at bis eafe : the romantic perfian divides his time between games and amufements. The perfian tinges his eyebrows j he invefls himfelf in a garment» that improves the growth. Beautiful form ! fweet equilibrium of paffions and mental powers ! why could ye not diffufe yourielves throughout the Globe! We have already obferved, that feme tatarian races originally belonged to the well formed nations of the Earth, and have degenerated only in the northern coimtries, or in the dcferts. The finer forms appear on each fide of the Ca(pian fca. The ufbeck women are defcribed as ftout, wellmade, and agreeable * : they ac- company their hulbands to battle : their eyes» fays the defcription, are large, black, and lively: their hair is black and fine: the men are of a dignified figure, that commands refpedt. Similar commendations are beftowed on the bokha- rians : and the beauty of the circaflians, their dark filken eyebrows, black fpark- ling eyes, fmooth foreheads, little mouths, and round chins, are known and valued far and wide \. We may fuppofe, that the tongue of the balance of the human form ftood here precifely in the middle, while the fcales extended eaft and weft to Hinduftan and Greece. Fortunately for us, Europe lay at no great diftance firom this centre of beautiful forms ; and many nations, that peo* pled thi& quarter of the Globe, either inhabited or flowly traverfed the regions be« tween the Cafpian and Euxine feas. At lead we are thus no antipodes to the land of beauty. Ail the nations who have made irruptions into this region of fine forms, and tarried in it, have foftened their features. The turksy originally a hideous race, improved their appearance, and rendered themfelves more agreeable, when hand- fonier nations became fervants to them, as conquerors of extenfive territories in this neighbourhood. To this probably the commandments of the Koran have contributed, by which they were enjoined ablution, cleanlinefs, and temperance, while they were indulged in voluptuous cafe and love. The hebrcwsy whofe an- ceftors likewife came from the heights of Afia, and led a wandering life, fometime in thirfty Egypt, fometime in the deferts of Arabia, ßill bear the ftamp of tlie afiatic form, even in their prefent long and wide difperfion ; though in their nar- ♦ ^//^. Äf// Vol. VII, p. 316.— 18. au Levant, «Travels in the Levant/ Vol. .1, f See feme delineations by Le BruUyFcja^ii Chap. 10, n' 34—37. Digitized by Google 144 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [BookVI. row country, and under the oppreffive yoke of the law, they could never attain that pitch of beauty, for which more liberty of adlion, and voluptuoufnefs of life, are requifite. Neither do the hardy arabs conftitute an exception : for though Nature has formed their peninfula more for a land of liberty than a land of beauty, and neither a defert nor a wandering life can pofSbly be the beft nurfc of fine forms; yet are thefe brave and hardy people at the fame time wellmade* Their extenfive influence on three quarters of the globe we fliall hereafter have occafion to obferve. Laftly the perfeft human form found a fite on the coaft of the Mediterra- nean -f , where it was capable of uniting with the intelledt, and difplaying all the charms of terreftrial and celeftial beauty to the mind', as well as to the eye : this was triple Greece, in Afia and the iflands, in Greece proper, and on the (hores farther to the weft. Gentle zephyrs fanned the tree, gradually tranfplanted from the heights of Afia, and breathed life into every part. Time and circum- ftances affifted in exalting it*s juices, and crowning it with that perfedtion, which ftill excites the admiration of every one in the models of grecian art and wifdom. Here figures were conceived and executed, which no admirer of circafiian beauty, no Indian or cafhmirian artift, could have invented. The human form afcended Olympus, and clothed itfelf in divine beauty. I fliall not wander farther into Europe. It fo abounds in forms and mixtures, it has changed nature in fo many ways by cultivation and art, that I know not how to make any general remarks on it's wellformed intermingled nations. It will be better to take a retrofpeftive glance from the fliores of that quarter of the Globe that we have traverfed, and, after an obfervation or two, proceed to footy Africa. In the firfl: place it is obvious to every one, that the region of the moft: per- feftly formed people is a middle region of the Earth, lying, as beauty itfelf, be- tween two extremes. It feels not the comprefling cold of Samoieda, or the dry- ing faline winds of Mungalia : on the other hand it is equally a ftranger to the burning heat of the fandy african deferts, and the wet and violent changes of the american climate. It lies neither on the utmoft height of the equator, nor on the declivity of the polar region : but on one fide it is defended by the lofty walls of the tatarian and mungal mountains, on the other it is cooled by the fea-brceze. It's feafons change with regularity, yet without that violence, which • See delineations of them in Nicbuhr, vol. ft, 7, n« 1 7 — 20 ; Choifcul Gouffier's V»yagt Pit» and Le Bron's Travels in the Levant, n* 90, tore/que, ' Pidurefque Tour;' Sec The re- 9 1 . mains of ancient grecian art exceed all thefe re- t See Le Bran's Trav. in the Levant, chap, preienutions. Digitized by Google Chap. III.] Organization of the Region of wellformed Nations, 145 prevails under the equinoAial : and as Hippocrates formerly obferved, that a mild regularity of the feafons appeared to have great influence in attemperating the paflions, it has no lefs on the ideas and impreflions of our minds. The pre- dat<)ry turcoman, who roams the deferts or the mountains, retains a hideous countenance even in the fineft climate : when he fits down in peace, and di- vides his life between fofter enjoyments, and occupations that conneft him with more civilized nations, his features, as well as manners, in time aflimilate with theirs. The beauty of the Earth is calculated only for peaceful enjoyment : by means of this alone does it impart itfelf to man, and become incorporated with him. h\ the fecond place, it was of no fmall advantage to the human fpecies, not only to have commenced it's exiftence in this region of pcrfeft forms, but to Jiave derived it's principal cultivation thence. As the deity could not make the whole Earth the feat of beauteoufnefs, he permitted mankind to enter it at leaft through the gate of beauty, and have it's features imprinted on them for a con- iiderable time before they repaired to other countries. It was one and the fame principle of Nature, which caufed thofe nations, that excelled in form, to ope- rate with moft beneficence and aftivity upon others : for (he gave them that quicknefs and elafticity of mind, adapted equally to form the body, and to a<5t thus beneficently upon other nations. The tungoofe and eikimaux fit eternally in their holes, and give themfelves no concern about other nations, either as friends or enemies. The negro has invented nothing for the european : he has never once conceived the defign of improving or of conquering Europe. From the region of wellformed people we have derived our religion, our arts, our fciences j the whole frame of our cultivation and humanity, be it much or little. In this traft has been invented, imagined, and executed, at leaft in it's rudi- ments, every thing that can form and improve man. The hiftory of man's cul- tivation will inconteftibly prove this j and in my opinion our own experience (hows it. We northern inhabitants of Europe fhould have been ftill barbarians, had not the kind breath of fate wafted us at leaft fome flowers from thofe climes, to impregnate our wild bloflToms, and thus in time ennoble our ftock. Digitized by Google 146 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Boot \^. CHAPTER IV. Organization of the People of Africa. I T is but juft, when we proceed to the country of the blacks, tliat une hj afide our proud prejudices, and confider the organization of this quarter of the Globe with as much impartiality, as if there were no other. Since whitenefe is a mark of degeneracy in many animals near the pole, the negro has as much tight to term his favage robbers albinoes and white devils, degenerated through the weaknefs of nature, as we have to deem him the emblem of evil, and a de- fcendant of Ham, branded by his fiither*s curie. I, might he fay, I, the black, am the original man. I have taken the deeped draughts from the fburce of life, the Sun : on me, and on every thing around me, it has adted with the greateft energy and vivacity. Behold my country : how fertile in fruits, how rich in gold ! Behold the height of my trees ! the ftrength of my animals ! Here each element fwarms with hfe, and I am the centre of this vital aftion. Thus might the negro fay ; let us then enter the country appropriate to him with modefty. On the very ifthmus, that joins Africa to Afia, we meet with a fingular people, the egyptians. Large, ftrong, corpulent, for the Nile beftows on them fatneis, bigboned, and of a yellow brown complexion ; they are at the fame time healthy and prolific, temperate and longlived. Though now indolent, they were once diligent and laborious. A people of fuch bone, and fuch a frame *, could alone have produced the arts and eftablißiments, that we admire among the ancient egyptians ; to which a people of a finer mould could not eafily have applied themfelves. Of the inhabitants of Nubia, and the interiour regions of Africa beyond it, we yet know but little. If however we may truft the preliminary communica- tions of Bruce -)*, no negro race dwells upon the whole of thb elevated region» • See the ftatoes of their ancient artifts, their and poiTefled of fome tafte : Rtlatim hifimifu» mammies, and the paintings on the cafes of the d*Ahxffima, * Hiftorical Account of Abyffinia,* mummies. p. 85. As all our account» of this coontryar» t BufFon's St^plemeni ^ PHißoire Natureilt, ancient and doubtful, the publication of Bruce'a « Supp. to Nat. Hid./ 410» Vol. IV, p. 495. travels, if he did yifit AbyiEnia, is much to be Lobo fays, at leaft, that the blacks there arc nei- wilhed •• ther ugly nor ftupid, but ingenious» delicate» • He undoubtedly did, ai we have fofficient teftimoDy of that AA» and his tntelt, coataiaini mach onioiia taÜBr- ■•tion, have at length been publi&cd. T. Digitized by Google Chap. IV.] Orgamzation of the People of Africa. 147 they being confined to the eaft and weft coafts of this quarter of the Globe, where the land is lower, and the heat more intenfe. Even under the equator, he fays, on thefe temperate and rainy heights, we find none but white or yellow brown complexions. Remarkable as this faft would be in explaining the origin ol the negro blacknefs ; yet the figure of the nations in thefe parts, which is more to our purpofe, difplays a gradual declenfion to the negro form. We know« that the abyfiinians were originally of arabian defcent, and both nations have been frequently and long connefted : yet, if we may judge from the reprefenta^ tions of Ludolf * and others, how much harfher features do we meet with here, than among the arabs, and more diftant afiatics ! They approach thofe of the negro, thougji yet remotely ; and the great diveriity of the country, with it's lofty mountains and pleafant plains, the variations of the climate, in heat and cold, funfliine and ftorms, with a chain of other caufes, feem fufficient to ac- count for thefe harfti compounded features. In a diverfified part of the World a diverfified race of men muft occur, whofe charadter appears to confift in great fenfuality, long duration, and an approach to the extreme in figure, which brings them nearer to the brute. The government of the abyffinians, and their ftatc of civilization, are conformable to their figure, and the nature of their country ^ a wild mixture of beathenifm and chriftianity, of carelefs freedom and favage tyranny. On the other fide of Africa in like manner we know too little of the berbers^ or brebersy to be able to form any judgment of them. Their refidence on mount Atlas, and their hardy and aftive way of life, have preferved to them that well- proportioned, light, and flexible make, by which they are diftingui(hable from the arabs ^. Confequently they are as little of the negro race, as the moors, who are deicended firom the arabs, but intermixed with other nations. A mo- dern obferver fays J, they arc handfome people, with delicate features, oval faces, fine large fparkling eyes, longi(h nofes, neither broad nor flat, and beautiful black hair fligbtly falling in ringlets ; fo that they are of the afiatic form, though in the midft of Africa. The negro race properly begins with the rivers Gambia and Senegal^ yet here with gradual tranfitions §. The jalofsy or wulufsy have neither the flat nofes nor thick lips of the common negroes. Both they, and the fmaller, more adive • LadolTt Hiß, jEtüpp,, « Hiftory of Etbi- X Schott'» Acconnt of the State of Senegtl« «puu' in the Beitrag, s. f^plk, tttul Undtrkimilft Vol. I« t Hoft*! N^kriehttm v§w Mmnio, * Account p. 47. ef Morocco,' p. 141, compared with 132 and §See Schott's Account of Senegal, }i»50« foUowiDg. ^ilg- Riiu Vol. 315. Digitized by Google 148 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book VL /ou/UsyVfhOy according to (bme accounts, live under the happieft regulations, and (pend their time in mirth and dancing, are models of beauty, compared with the manJingoeSy and the negroes that live farther to the fouth ; their limbs being well made, their hair ileek and but little woolly, and their countenances open and inclined to oval. Thus the thick lips and fiat nofes of the negro form, which fpreads far down through innumerable -varieties of little nations in Guinea, Loango, Congo, and Angola, commence not till we crofs the Senegal. In Congo and Angola, for inftance, the black fkin afifumes an olive hue, the crifped hair b reddi(h, the irides of the eyes are green, the lips are lefs thick, and the ftature djminilhes. In Zanguebar, on the oppofite coaft of Africa, we again find the fame olive hue, but in men of a large ftature, and better proportioned limbs. Laftly the hottentots and cafires are retrogradations from the negro form to another. Their nofe begins to lofe fomewhat of it's depreffed fiatnefs, their lips of their fwelling prominence : their hair is a mean between the wool of the negro and the hair of other nations : their complexion is of a yellow brown : their fize is that of europeans in general, only they have fmaller hands and feet *. Did we know the numerous nations, that dwell beyond thefe arid regions, in the interiour country, as far as Abyfiinia, and among whom, from many indica- tions on their borders, we may expeft to find more fertility, beauty, ftrengtb, arts, and civilization, we might fill up the (hades of the human pidture in this quarter of the Globe, and fliould probably find not a (ingle break. But how deficient are we in authentic information refpefting this country ! We barely know it's coaftsj and are in many parts acquainted wiih thefe no farther than our cannons reach. No modem european has traveried the inte- riour of Africa, which the arabian caravans firequently do-f^ ; and what we know of it is either from tales of the blacks, or pretty ancient accounts of lucky or un- fortunate adventurers \. Even the nations, that we might know as things are, the eye of the european feems to behold with too tyrannical indifference, to attempt to inveftigate the variation of national form in wretched black flaves. Men handle them like cattle i and, when they buy them, diftingui(h them by the marks of their teeth. A fingle moravian mi(fionary § has tranfmitted us from another quarter of the Globe more accurate difcriminations of the negroes, than • Sparmann's Travels. Mtnfiben, * Geographical HiAory of Man/ book f Schott's Account of Senegal, p. 49f 50. llf, p. 104, and fbtlowing. % ZtmmermanD*! comparifon of the known iOldcndorp'tMißaii^tyehicitnu/Se, Timms, and unknown parts» an tffAy replete with learn- • Hiftory of tho MtiiioB co St. Thooiaa,^ p, 970 ing and found j udgment» in che Gt^, Ge/tb. dtt and following. Digitized by Google Chap. IV.] Organization of the People of Africa. 1 49 all the voyagers, that have infcfted the african Ihorcs. How fortunate would it have been for the knowledge of nature» and of man, had a company of travellers, endued with the penetration of Forfter, the patience of Sparmann, and the fcience of both, vifited this undifcovered country ! The accounts, that are given of the cannibal jagas and anficans, are certainly exaggerated, when they are extended to all the interiour nations of Africa. The jagas appear to be a mixed, preda- tory people, a fort of artificial nation, compofed of the outcafts of feveral, living by plunder, and at length becoming inured to favage and barbarous pradtices *. The anficans are mountaineers; probably the mungals and calmucs of this country. But how many happy and peaceful nations may dwell at the feet of the Mountains of the Moon ! Europeans are unworthy to behold their happi- nefs ; for they have unpardonably finned, and dill continue to fin, againfl: this quarter of the Globe. The peaceably trading arabs travcrfe the country, and have planted colonies far within it. But I forget, that I had to fpeak of the form of the negroes, as of an organi- zation of the human fpecies ; and it would be well, if natural philofophy had applied it's attention to all the varieties of our fpecies, as much as to this. The following are fome of the refults of it's obfervations. 1. The black colour of the negro has nothing in it more wonderful than the white, brown, yellow, or reddifli, of other nations. Neither the blood, the brain, nor the feminal fluid of the negro is black, but the reticular membrane beneath the cuticle, which is common to all, and even in us, at leaft in fome parts, and under certain circumftances, is more or lefs coloured. Camper has demonftnted this +j and according to him we all have the capacity of becoming negroes. Even amid the frofts of Samoieda we have noticed the fable mark in the female breafl : the germe of the negro blacknefs could not be farther extended in that climate. 2. All depends therefore on the caufes, that were capable of unfolding it here : and analogy mßrufts us, that fun and air muft have had great (hare in it. For what makes us brown ? What makes the difference between the two fexes in almoft every countrj^ ? What has rendered the defcendants of the portu- guefe, after refidmg Ibme centuries in Airica, fo fimilar in colour to the ne- groes ? Nay, what fo forcibly difcriminatcF the negro races in Africa itfelf ? The climate, confidered in the moft extenfive fignification of the word, fo as to in- clude the manner of life, and kind of food. The blackeft negroes live precifely ♦ Sec Proyart's Hiftory of Loango. Cacongo, ipcÄmg the jagaa. Arc, to the get man tranfljticn of which, Leipfic, f Sec Camper's KUint Scbriften, « Tiaö«/ 1770, is added an able cölleftion of accounts re- Vol. I, p. 24 and following. Digitized by Google 150 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book VI. in that region, where the eaft wind, blowing wholly over the land, brings the moft intenfe heat : where the heat is diminiflied, or cooled by the fea-brceze, the black is foftened into yellow. The cool heights are inhabited by white, or whitifh people : while in the clofe lower regions the oil, that occafions the black appearance beneath the cuticle, is rendered more aduft by the heat of the Sun. Now if we refledV, that thefe blacks have redded for ages in this quarter of the World, and completely naturalized themfclves to it by their mode of life : if we confider the feveral caufcs, that now operate mprc feebly, but which in earlier periods, when all the elements were in their primitive rude force, muft have aftcd with greater power : and if we take into the account, that fo many thou- fands of years muft have brought about a complete revolution as it were of the wheel of contingencies, which at one period or another turns up every thing that can take place upon this Earth : we (hall not wonder at the trifling circumftancc, that the fltin of fome nations is black. Nature, in her progreffive fecret opera- tions, has produced much greater changes than this. 3. And how did (he effeft this fmall change ? To me the thing (eems to (peak for itfelf. It is an oil, that colours the reticular membrane. The fwcat of the negroes, and even of europeans, in this country frequently has a yellow colour. The fkin of the blacks is a thick foft velvet, not fo tenfe and dry as that of the whites ; the heat of the Sun having drawn from their inner parts an oil, which, afcending as near as it could to the furface, has foftened their cuticle, and coloured the membrane beneath it. Moft of the difeafes of this country are bilious i and if we read the defcriptions of them ♦, we (hall not wonder at the yellow or black complexions of the inhabitants. 4. The woolly hair of the negro may be accounted for on fimilar principles. As the hair is nourifhed only by the finer juices of the fkin, and is generated as it were unnaturally in the fat, it becomes curled in proportion to the abundance of nutriment it receives, and dies where this is deficient. Thus in the coarfer organization of brutes, we find their wool converted into rough hair, in countries uncongenial to their nature, where the juices, that flow into it, are incapable of elaboration. The finer organization of man on the contrary, intended for all climates, is capable of converting the hair into wool, when the oil, that moiftcns the (kin, is fuperabundant. 5. But the peculiar formation of the members of the human body fays more than all thefe : and this appears to me explicable in the a(Tican organization. According to various phyfiological obfervations, the lips, breafts, and private * See Scbott's Treatifc on the Synochiu ttmbiUoTa. Digitized by Google Crap. IV.] Or^imizaiion of the People ofAfrlciL 151 ports, are proportionate to each other : and as Nature, agreeably to the fimple principle of her plaftic art, muft have conferred on thefe people, to whom fhe was obliged to deny nobler gifts, an ampler meafure of fenfual enjoyment, this could not but have appeared to the phyfiologift. According to the rules of phyfiognomy, thick lips are held to indicate a fenfual difpofition ; as thin lips, dilplaying a flender rofy line, are deemed fymptoms of a chatte and delicate tafte ; not to mention other circumftances. What wonder then, that in a nation, for whom the fenfual appetite is the height of happinefs, external marks of it (hould appear ? A negro child is bom white : the ikin round the nails, the nipples, and the private parts, firft become coloured ; and the fame confent of parts in the difpofition to colour is obfervable in other nations. A hundred children are a trifle to a negro ; and an old man, who had not above feventy, lamented his fate with tears. 6. With this oles^inous organization to fenfual pleafure, the profile, and the whole frame of the body, muft alter. The projeftion of. the mouth would ren- der the nofe (hort and fmall, the forehead would incline backwards, zfiA the face would have at a diftance the refemblance of that of an ape. Conformably to this would be the pofition of the neck, the tranficion to the occiput, and the elaftic ftrufture of the whole body, which is formed, even to the nofe and ikin, for fenfual animal enjoyment *. Since in this quarter of the Globe, as the native land of the folar heat, the loftieft and moft fucculent trees arife, herds of the laigeft, ftrongeft, and moft aftive animals are generated, and vaft mul- titudes of apes in particular fport, fo that air and water, the lea and the fands, fwarmwith life and fertility ; organizing human nature could not fail to follow, with reipedt to it's animal part, this general fimple principle of the plaftic powers. That finer intelleft, which tl)e creature, whofe breaft fwells with boiling paffions beneath this burning fun, muft neceflarily be refufed, was countervailed by a ftnifture altogether incompatible with it. Since then a nobler boon could not be conferred on the negro in fuch a climate, let us pity, but not de- fpifc him ; and honour that parent, who knows how to compenfate, wliile (he deprives. He fpends his life void of care in a country, which yields him food with unbounded liberality. His limber body moves in the water, as if it had been formed for that element : he runs and climbs, as if each were his fport : and not lefs ftrong and healthy than light and adtive, his diiferent conftitution fupports aU the accidents and difeafes of his climate, under which fo many * Camper hai Ibown, in the Hurlem Tranf- don nearer together than the european, and in aAioBf, that the negro has the centres of mo- confe^oence poflefliBs greater elaAicity of body. Digitized by Google ij2 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book VI. europeans iink. What to him are the tormenting fen&tions of fuperiourjojrs, for which he was not formed ? The materials were not wanting : but Nature took him in hand, and formed of him what was moft fit for his countrj% and the happinefs of his life. Either no Africa (hould have been created, or it was re- quifitCy that negroes (hould be made to inhabit Africa. CHAPTER V. Organization of Man in the Ißands of the torrid Zone. Nothing is more difScult, than to charafterife under certain leading features the countries fcattered over the bofom of the ocean. For as they are remote from each other, and have been peopled for the moft part by different emi- grators from near or diftant regions, and at an earlier or later period ; they ex- hibit to the mind as motley a pidture in the hiftory of nations, as they do to the eye on a map. Yet even here the principal features never belie themfelves, in what may be termed natural organization. I. On moft of the afiatic iflands we meet with a kind of negro race, which appears to conftitut^ the moft ancient inhabitants of the country *. Yet, ac- cording to the difference of the land on which they live, thefe are more or left fwarthy, with curied woolly hair : occafionally the thick lip, flat nofe, and white teeth appear; and it is remarkable, that with thefe the negro temperament is found united. The fame rude healthy flxength, the thoughtlefs difpofition, the noily love of pleafure, which we obferve in the blacks of the continent, are difcovera- ble in the negrilloesof the iflands: yet everywhere proportionate to their climate and mode of living. Many of thefe art at the loweft ftage of cultivation, having been confined to the mountains by later comers, who now occupy the fliores and plains : and hence we have few certain and authentic accounts of them +. Now whence comes this refemblance of the negro form on fuch remote iflands ? Certainly not becaufe they were peopled in early periods by colonies from Africa, but becaufe Nature works every where unifonnly. Thefe too are fituatc in the regions of extreme heat, only cooled by the fea-breeze : why then, fliould there not be negrilloes on the iflands, as there are negroes on the conti- nent } efpecially as, being the firft inhabitants of the iflands, they muft bear the • Sprcngcl's Ge/cbicbie der FhlUppintn, «Hif- til's Travch in Ebcling's CoUcaion, Vol. IV, toiy of the Philippine Iflands;' Forfter's Ac- p. 70. count of Borneo and other iflands in the Bütra- \ See Keifem urn die Welt, ' Voyages round gem %ur Valker mmd Länderkunde, VoL II, p. 57, the World,' Vol. I, p. 554. Leipfic, 1775. •«37» &c. ; Mz» Keif, Vol II, p, 393 ; Lc Gen- Digitized by Google Chap. V.] Organizathn cf Man in the IflanJs of the torrid Zone. 153 ftrongeft marks of the plaftic Nature of the climate. Among thefe muft be reckoned the igolots of the Philippine iflands, and fimilar blacks on moft of the reft ; as likewife the (avages on the weftern coaft of New Holland, whom Dam- pier defcribes as the moft wretched of mankind, and who appear to be the ioweft clafs of this race, inhabiting one of the moft barren trafts on the Globe. 2. In later times other people have fettled on thefe iflands, whofe form is Icfs ftriking. Such, according to Forfter *, are the biajoos of Borneo, the alfoories in fome of the Moluccas, the fubadoes of Mindanao, and the inhabitants of the Ladrone iflands, the Carolines, and others farther fouth in the Pacific ocean. They are faid to have great refemblance in langu2^, complexion, form, and manners : their hair is long and fleek, and we know from late voyagers to what a degree of attraäive beauty this race has been capable of arriving in Otaheite, and fome iflands near it. Yet this beauty is altogether fenfual, and the laft impreflion of the plaftic climate is obfervable in the flattifli nofes of the ota- lieiteans. 3. The malays, arabs, chinefe, japanefe, and fome others, are ftill later comers on many of thefe iflands, and bear ftill clearer traces of their defcent. In (hort, this group of iflands may be confidered as a repofitory of forms, varioufly mo- fition of it's natives would difplay a certain uniformity, to which there would be few exceptions, in fpite of the cli- mate. And this the various accounts we have of North and South America confirm : for they tell us, that, notwithftanding the great variety of climates, and of nations who frequently endeavour to diftinguifli themfelves from others by arts, that do the greateft violence to nature, the figure of the people in general hears a ftamp of uniformity, not to be found even in Negroland. In America, therefore, the organization of the inhabitants is in fome degree a fimpler pro- blem, than in any other more compound region ; and for it's folution it will be moft advantageous, to begin with that fide,, where it is probable the paffage into it took place. The nations of America vifited by Cook * were from the middle fize to üx. feet high. Their complexion inclined to copper-colour, the form of their faces • W. Ellis's Account of Cook's third Voyage, p. 1 14 and following. Digitized by Google Chap. VI.] Organization of the Ammcam. 15 < to fquarc; their cheek-bones were foniewhat prominent, and they had little beard. Their hair was long and black, their limbs were ftrongly made, and only their feet misfliapen. He who is well acquainted with the nations in the eaft of Afia, and the neighbouring iflands, will obferve the gradual tranfition, line for line. I do not draw this conclufion from a fingle nation, for probably many, even of various races, paffed over : but they were orientals, as appears from their figure, and even their deformities ; and efpecially from their ornaments and manners. Were the whole north-weftern coaft of America, in which we now know but two or three ports, thoroughly explored ; and had we as accurate delineations of the inhabitants, as Cook, for example, has given us of the chie& of Oonalaika and other places ; much more light would be thrown upon the fubjeft. It would appear, whether the chinefe and japanefe have alfo pafTed over lower down on the cxtenfive coaft, of which we yet know fo little, and what traditions of a ci- vilis^ bearded nation are to be found there. The fpaniards have indeed the bcft opportunity of making thefe difcoveries from Mexico, if they fliared with the two greateft maritime nations of Europe, the engliüi and frencb, the ho- nourable fpirit of advancing fcience. In the mean time may Laxmann's vifit to the northern coaft, and the attempts of the englifli from Canada, procure us fome new and valuable information. It is fingular, that fo many accounts agree in reprefenting the weftern nations of North America as the moft civilized. The aßnipoels are famed for their fize, ftrength, and agility ; the chrißinaux for their livelinefs and loquacity *. We have little information, however, refpeAing thefe nations, and the fliawanefe in ge- neral, that can be deemed much better than fable : our more authentic accounts b^n properly with the naudoweflces. With thefe, tlie chippewaws, and the winnobages. Carver «f- has made us acquainted ; with the cherokees, chickafaws, and muikcgoes, Adair % ; with the Five Nations^ as they are called, Colden, Rogers, and Timberlake ; with thofe to the north, the french miffionaries : and, amid all their varieties, who is not imprefled with the idea of one prevailing form, of one predominant charafter ? This confifts in that firm health and per- manent ftrength, that proud favage love of liberty and war, which their mode of life and domeftic economy, their education and government, their cuftoms and occupations both in peace and war, equally tend to promote. A charadlcr, that ftands alone on the Globe, both in it's vices, and in it's virtues. If we aik, how this charafter was acquired \ much, in my opinion, may be • Allg, Reif, Vol. XVI, p. 646. f Carver's Travels through the interior Parts of North America, 1776—8. I Adair's HiAory of the American Indians. Digitized by Google 156 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book VL explained from their gradual migration from the north rfAßa, and the general conftitution of their new abode. They came over hardy, uncultivated nations, falhioned amid mountains and ftorms. When they had pafled the coafls, and found a finer, extenfive, open country before them, muft not their charader in time have moulded itfelf to the land ? Between large lakes and rivers, in thcfe woods, in thcfe favannahs, other nations were formed, than on thofe raw and cold lands declining to the fca. As the lakes, mountains, and rivers divided, (c> did the nations : tribe waged inveterate war with tribe, and hence that hoftile hatred of each to other became a predominant feature of nations, in other rc- fpefts the moft equanimous. Hence they became warlike, and addi£ted them- felves to every local circumflance, that could increafe their magnanimity. Their priefts arc the ftiamans, or magicians, of the north of A(ia ; their religion being the fame, only dreffcd in an american garb. Their healthy air, the verdure of their fields and woods, and the invigorating waters of their lakes and rivers, have infufed into them the fpirit of liberty and property in this land. By what herds of wretched ruffians have all the fiberian nations, even to Kamtfchatka, fufFered themfelves to be fubjugated ! while thefe firmer favages have given ground^ it is true, but never bowed their necks to the yoke. As their character may be traced to this origin, fo nny their fingular tafte in ornamenting themfelves. All the nations of America eradicate the beard : con- fcquently they muft have migrated from fomc region, where little beard was ge- nerated, the cuftom naturally fpringing from a wifli to refemble their anceftors. The caftern part of Afia is fuch a region. Thus, in a climate capable of fup- plying this part with more nutritious juices, they held it in averfion : and this averfion they ftill retain ; whence they begin it*s extirpation, as foon as it ap- pears. The people in the north of Afia have round heads, while more to the caft their figure inclines to a fquare: what then could be more natural, than the wiöv of the american nations, not to degenerate from the refemblancc of their fore- fathers, and to mould their faces on this principle ? Probably they dreaded the ibftcr oval as an efFeminate form, and thus endeavoured by force of art, to retain the comprefled warlike countenances of their progenitors. The northern round- heads formed the head to a fphere, in conformity to the figure of the highcft north : others formed it fquare, or comprefled the head between the (boulders, that the new climate mig-ht effeä; no change cither m their countenance or fta- ture. No country, except the eaft of Afia, affords examples of fuch violent at- tempts at embellifliment ; and, as we have feen, probably for the fame purpofe, to preferve the appearance of tlie race in diftant regions : it is even likely, that Digitized by Google Chap. VI.] Orgamzatm of the Americam* 157 they brought with them into America the tafte for this mode of beautifying themfelves. Laftly, the red coppercolour of the americans is leaft of all capable of mif- leading us : for already in the eaft of Afia the complexion had become of a brown red, and it is probable, that the air of a different quarter of the Globe, the praftice of ihundtion, and other circumftances, had heightened the colour, I much lefs wonder, that the negro is black, and the american red, after having dwelt for fome thoulands of years in fuch different climates, than I (hould if all the inhabitants of the Globe were fair, or brown. Even in the more coarlely or- ganized brutes do we not fee the folid parts themfelves alter with change of cli- mate ? But which is mod wonderful, an alteration of the limbs of the body in their general proportion and economy, or a little more or lefs colour in the membrane beneath the fkin ? After this introduftion, let us accompany the people of America downwards, and obferve how the uniformity of their primitive character has been variouily modified, yet never loft. The moft northern americans are defcribed as fmall, yet ftrong : the interiour parts are inhabited by the ftouteft and handfomeft tribes : they that are farther to the fouth, in the flat country of Florida, are inferiour in ftrength and courage. It is remarkable, fays George Forfter *, that amid all the charaftcriftic varieties of the feveral north-amcricans delineated in Cook's work, one general caft of countenance prevails through the whole, which was perfe&ly familiar to me, and which, if my memory do not deceive me, I obferved even in the pelherays of Tierra del Fuego. Of New Mexico we know little. The fpaniards found the inhabitants of this country well-clothed, induftrious, and neat, their lands cultivated with care, and their towns built with ftone. Poor nation ! what are you now, not having de- fended yourfelf like /w bravos gentes [the brave fellows] on the mountains ? The apaches proved themfelves a brave aftive people, whom the fpaniards were un- able to fubdue : and how advantageoufly does Pages \ fpeak of the chadaws, yataches, and tekaws ! Mexico is now a melancholy pifture of what it was under it*s own kings* Scarcely a tenth part of it's inhabitants remain % : and how is their charadter * Gifting, Magaxin, 1783, p. pz^ of Mexico,' from which there is an extras in the f Page» Foyagt auionr du Moiuli^ « Voyage Gottingen Review, Gat, gtUhrttn Jnzeigen, for Toand the World/ Parii, 1783, p. 17, 18, 26, I78i,fupplem. 35, 36; and there is another 40> 5 s, 54, &c. more copious in the Kiel Magazme> Vol. IL I Stiria Mtica del Mißk«, * Ancient Hiflodr/ N* I, p. 38, ftc. Digitized by Google ,58 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book VL dianged by the mod unjuft of oppreffions ! I do not believe there exifts on the face of the Earth a more deep, inveterate hatred, than the fuffcring american che- riflics againft his oppreflbrs, the fpaniards : for however highly Pages, for ex- ample *, extols the greater mildnefs the fpaniards now difplay towards their flaves, he cannot avoid noticing in other places the dejeftion of thefe poor crca- t\]res, galled by the yoke, and the barbarity excrcifed towards thofe, who have maintained their freedom. The mexicans are defcribed as of a deep olive com- plexion, with pleafmg countenances, and wellmade ; their eyes large, lively, and fparkling j their fcnfes quick ; and their limbs aftive : but their fpirits are de- prefled by llavery. In the centre of America, where every thing finks beneath humid heat, and curopeans lead the moft miferable lives, the pliable nature of the amcricans maintains itfelf uninjured. Wafer -f, who, having efcaped from the buccaneers, rcfided fome time among the favages on the continent, relates the friendly re- ception they gave him, and defcribes their perfons and way of life in the fol- lowing words. * The men were from five to fix feet in height, big boned, broad chefted, and well-proportioned. There was not a cripple or deformed perfon to be feen among them. Their joints are fupple, they are aftive, and they run with great fpeed. Their eyes are gray and lively, their faces round, their lips thin, mouth fmall, and chin wellformed. Their hair is long and black, and they take great delight in combing it frequently. Their teeth are white and regular : and they paint and ornament themfelves like the reft of the indians.' Are thefe the people, that are rcprefented to us as an enervated, unfiniflied race of men ! thefe, who inhabit the moft debilitating region of the ifthmus ! Fermin, an accurate examiner of nature, defcribes the Indians of Surinam as well-made, and as cleanly as any people on the face of the Earth J. * As foon as they rife in the morning, they bathe, and their wives anoint them with oil, to prefervc their fkin, and defend them from the ftings of the mofchettoes. They are of a cinnamon colour, inclining to red 5 though they are as fair as we when born. A crippled or ricketty perfon is not to be found among them. Their long coal-black hair does not turn gray till extreme old age. They have black eyes, (harp vifages, little or no beard, plucking it out by the roots as faft as it appears. Their fine white teeth remain found to the laft : and even the wo- men, delicate as they appear to be, enjoy almoft uninterrupted health.* Let a * P. 83 and following. % Fennin's Be/cA, vm SuriMom, «Deicrip- t ^% Reif" Vol. XY, p. 263. and following, tion of Surinam/ Vol. I, p. 39, 4 t. Digitized by Google Ch A p . VI.] Organization of the Americans. i jj man read Bancroft's defcription ♦ of the brave caribs, indolent worrows, ferious accawaws, focial arrowauks, &c., and, I am pcrfuadcd, he will find the notion of the feeble frame and worthlefs charafter of thefc indians, even in the moft fultry climate in the World, a prejudice no longer tenable. If we proceed fouthwards to the innumerable tribes of Brafil, wl.at a number of nations, languages, and charafters (hail we find ! yet defcnbed by ancient and modern travellers as greatly fimilar +. * Their hair never grows gray,' fays 'Ljtryy * they are ever gay and adive, as their fields are continually green.* The brave tapinamboes, to avoid the portuguefe yoke, withdrew into the unex* plored and impenetrable woods, as other warlike nations have done. Such of more docile difpofitions, as the miffionarics of Paraguay contrived to fubjeft, have degenerated almoft to childiflmefs : but this was a natural confequence, and neither they, nor their valiant neighbours, can on this account be deemed the dr^ of mankind J. But we are approaching the throne of Nature, and of the moft barbarous ty- ranny, the kingdom of Peru, rich in mines and mifery. Here the poor indians arc moft feverely oppreffed ; and their oppreflbrs are monks, or europeans more effeminate than women. All the powers of thefe tender children of Nature, who once lived fo happily under their incas, are now compreiied into the fingle faculty of fuffering and forbearing with filent hatred. • At firft fight,' fays Pinto §, governor of Brafil, * a fouth-american appears gentle and harmlefs : but on a clofer infpedtion, fomething lavage, miftruftful, gloomy, and repining, is difcoverable in his countenance.' May not all this be accounted for by the fate of the people ? They were gentle and harmlefs, when you vifited them ; and the unfaftiioned wildnefs of a welldifpofed race Ihould have received that improvement, of which it was capable. What otherwife can you now ex- peö, than that, gloomy and miftruftful, they fliould cherifh in their hearts the moft profound, ineradicable difcontent ? They are bruifed worms, that appeal hateful to our eyes, in confequence of our having crufhed them with our feet. The negro flave in Peru is a lordly creature, compared with the oppreffed •wretches, to whom the country of right belongs. Yet it is not wholly taken from them, for happily the Cordilleras, and the waftes of Chili, are there, to beftow freedom on many valiant nations. Such, • Bancrofi's Efläy on the Natural Hißory tory of the Abiponians,' Vienna, 1783. Sec the of Guiana. defcription of fever al nations in father Gumilla's f Acunha, Guinilla, Lery, Marggraf, Con- OrwHoiUuflradot^c, damine, &c. S Robcrtfon's HiJlory of America, Vol. I, p. t Dobritzhoffcr's Qefcb, dir Abi^ner, »Hif« 537. Digitized by Google i6o PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Bcok VI. for inftance, arc the unconqucrcd maloches, puelches, and araucoans, and the patagonian tehuelhets, or the gigantic fouthern people, fix feet high, big, and ftrong. * Their perfons are not difagre^able ; they have round faces, fomewhat flat ; lively eyes ; white teeth ; and long black hair. I faw fome,' fays Com- nierfon ', * with long but not very thick whiikers. Their fkin is copper- coloured, as in mod of the americans. They wander over the extenfive plains of South America, with their wives and children, conftantly on horfeback, in purfuit of game.' Falkener and Vidaure + have given us the beft accounts of tliefe, and beyond them nothing remains but the cold barren verge of the land, Tierra del Fuego, and in it the pefherays, probably the loweft fpeciesof man J, Diminutive, ugly, and of an infupportablc fmell, they feed on (hell-fifh, wrap themfelves in a feal's ikin, freeze all the year in difmal winter, and, though they have plenty of wood, are deftitute of folid houfes, and ftrangers to the warmth of fire. Happy is it, that compaflionate Nature has fuffered the land toward the fouth pole to terminate here : had it extended farther, what wretched femblances of man muft there have flumbered out their lives in benumbing froft ! Thefe are fome of the principal features of the nations of America; and what upon the whole may be inferred from them ? In the firft place, that we fliould fpeak generally of the nations of a quarter of the Globe, which extends through all tlie different zones, as feldom as pof- fible. Whoever fays America is warm, healthy, wet, low, and fertile, fays truly: and if another (hould fay the reverfe, he would equally fpeak truth, that is, with refpeft to different feafons and places. So is it with the american nations, for there are men of a whole hemilphere, and of each of the zones. At one extre- mity and the other are dwarfs, and clofe by the dwarfs arc giants : in the midflr inhabit nations of intermediate and more or lefs wellformed proportions, gentle and warlike, indolent and aftive, of all the various ways of life, and of every call of charaAer. Secondly : there is nothing to prevent this branchy flock of mankind, with all it's numerous ramifications, from having arifen from one finglc root, and con* fequently difplaying an uniformity in it's produce. And this is meant, when people fpeak of the prevailing figure and features of the Americans §. UUoa ^ Journal encyclep, \yy 2, Several teftlmo- daure's hiftory of the kingdom of Chili» in Ebe« nies arc brought together in Zimmermann's ling's Collcftion of Voyages, Vol. IV, p. 108. Gefib, tier MenfMeit, « Hiftory of Man,' Vol. I, % See Forfter's Voyagt, Vol. II; Cavcndifli| p. 59, and Robcrtfon's Hiftory of America, Vol. Bougainville; &c« I, p. 540. S Robertfon's Hiflory of America, Vol. X, p. \ Falkener's Defcription of Patagonia : VI- 559. Digitized by Google C H A p . VI.] Organization of the Americans. 1 6 1 obferved particularly in the central parts the fmall forehead covered with hair, little eyes, thin hooked nofe, broad face, large ears, handfome legs, diminutive feet, and corpulent bodies : and thefe charafteriftics extend beyond Mexico. Pinto adds, that the nofe is fomewhat flat ; the eyes black or hazel, and piercing though fmall ; the ears remote from the face * : all which are obfervable in the delineations of very diftant people. This general phyfiognomy, in various ftates of improvement according to the country and climate, appears as a family like- nefs, diflinguiftiable in thofe that differ mod, and denotes a pretty uniform origin. Had people from all quarters of the Globe arrived in America at very diftant periods, the diverfity of the human fpecies muft have been greater here, whether they had intermixed with each other or not. Blue eyes and light hair are not to be found throughout the whole country ; the blue-eyed ceflares of Chili, and the acanfas of Florida, have difappeared in modern times. Thirdly : if, after this form, we were to afcribe to the amerlcans a leading or common charafter, it would be goodnefs of heart, and infantile innocence : a charadter, which their ancient eftablilhments, their habits, their few arts, and above all their conduft towards the europeans, confirm. Sprung from a favagc land, and unfupported by any affiftance from the civilized world, all the progrefs they made was their own ; and in their feeble beginnings of cultivation they ex- hibit a very inftruftivc piÄurc of man. C H A P T E R Vn. Conclufion, O FOR a magic wand, which, at once transforming into faithful piftures all the vague verbal defcriptions -f that have hitherto been given, might pre- sent man with a gallery of figures of his fellow- creatures ! But we are yet far from the accomplifliment of fuch an anthropological wilh. For centuries the Earth has been traverfed with the fword and the crofs, by toymen and brandy- merchants : no one thought of the peaceful pencil, and it has fcarcely entered the minds of any of the numerous herd of travellers, that words do not paint forms, particularly that, which is of all the moft delicate, moft various, and ever changing. For a long time men fought after the wonderful and dealt in fiftion : then they occafionally idealized, even when they gave figures; without confider- • Robcrtfon's Hillory of America, Vol. I, natural HiAory, Vol. VI, Mart. ed. ; and in BIu- p. 537. menbach's learned work de Varlttau Generis bu- t He who ^ifhcs for farther accounts of tnani, * On the 'v'arictics of the human Species.* {>ardcubf features will find them in Buffbn's Digitized by Google i6a PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book VL ing, that no faithful zoologift idealizes, when he delineates foreigh aninials. And is human nature alone unworthy of that accurate attention, with which plants and animals are drawn ? Yet, as in modern days the laudable fpirit of ob(er- vation has begun to be excited towards the human fpecies» and we have delinea- tions of fome nations, though but few, with which thofe of de Bry, or le Brun, not to mention the mif&onaries, will bear no comparifon * ; it would be a va- luable prefent to the world, if any one, who has fufBcient abilities, would colled: fuch fcattered delineations of the varieties of our fpecies as are authentic, and thus lay the foundations of a perfpicuous mtural philofophy and phyfiogwmy of mnn. Art could not eafily be employed in a more philofophical purfuit : and an anthropologic map of the Earth, iimilar to the zool<^cal one iketched by Zimmermann, in which nothing (hould be noticed except real varieties of nun, but thefe in all their appearances and relations, would crown the philanthropic work. * Not that I imdenralne the attempts of tended o&interrnptedly to alt the regions oftlie thefe gentlemen : bat to me le Bran's figures Globe. Niebahr, Parkinfon» Cook, Hoeft» liavemuchofafrench air; andchofe of deBry, Georgi, Marion, and fome others, I reckon which have been badly copied into molt fabfe- among thefe beginners : Cook's laft Voyage, if qnent publications, do not appear to be authen- we may traft what Fame ikys of it's engravings, tic Hodges, too, according to^Forfler, has commences a new and higher period, the conti- idealized his otaheiteans f . Yet it is highly to nuation of which in other parts of the world I be wiflied, that> after the commencements we ardently defire, and that they may be rendered have, the accurate and natoral-hifloric manner of more general ntility and more extenfively •f delineating the human fpecies may be ex* known. f But ft'ill greater deviations may be Aifpeded» to have been committed by the artJft, who attended Cook*a laft voyage. Either he, or the engraver, to whofe favourite tool the department of antardic forms was cntrufted, feem« to have facrificed the realitlei before thiiir eyes, to a Caint leminiCceAce and ftale xepetiuon of Cipriani-Beautjet. F. Digitized by Google [ IH ] PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. BOOK VII. TH E pifturc of nations hitherto fketched mufl. be confidcred only as the for^round, fcrving as a bafis to farther obfervations : while it's groups anfwer the purpofe of the temp/a of the augurs in the fleies, forming definite fpaces for our contemplation, and aids to our memory. Let us fee what they afford towards a philofophy of our fpecies. CHAPTER I. Notwitliflanding the Varieties of the human Form, there is but one and the fame Species of Man throughout the Whole of our Earth. No two leaves of any one tree in nature are to be found perfedkly alike ; and ftill le6 do two human faces, or human frames, rcfemble each other. Of what endlefs variety is our artful ftruAure fufceptible ! Our folids are decompofable into fuch minute and multifarioufly interwoven fibres, as no eye can tracer and thefe are conneAed by a gluten of fuch a delicate compofition, as the utmofl: ftill is infufficient to analyfe. Yet thefe conftitute the lead part of us : they are nothing more than the» containing veiTels and conduits of the variouily com- pounded, highly animated fluid, exifting in much greater quantity, by means of which we live and enjoy life. * No man,' fays Haller *, * is exadtly fimilar to another in his internal ftrufture : the courfes of the nerves and bloodveflTels dif- fer In millions and millions of cafes, fo that amid the variations of thefe delicate parts, we are fcarcely able to difcover in what they agree.* But if the eyp of the anatomift can perceive this infinite variety, how much greater muft that be, which dwells in the invifible powers of fuch an artful organization ! fo that every man is ultimately a world, in external appearance mdecd fimiiar to others, but internally an individual being, with whom no other coincides. • Preface to Buffbn'« Nat. Hift. Vol. III. Digitized by Google i64 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book Vir. Ancf fince man is no independent fubftance, but is conncfted with all the elements of nature ; living by infpiration of the air, and deriving nutriment from the moft oppofite produdions of the Earth, in his meats and drinks j con- fuming fire, while he abforbs hght, and contaminates the air he breathes ; awake or aflcep, in motion or at reft, contributing to the change of the univerfe ; fliall not he alfo be changed by it ? It is far too little, to compare him to the abforbing fponge, the fparkling tinder : he is a multitudinous harmony, a living felf, on whom the harmony of all the powers that furround him operates. The whole courfe of a man's Ufe is change : the different periods of his life aie tales of transformation, and the whole fpccies is one continued metamorphofis. Flowers drop and wither ; others fprout out and bud : the vaft tree bears at once all the feafons on it's head. If, from a calculation of the infenfible per- fpiration alone, a man of eighty have renovated his whole body at leaft four and twenty times * ; who can trace the variations of matter and it's forms through all the race of mank'md upon the Earth, amid all the caiafes of change; when not one point on our complicated Globe, not one wave in the current of time, refembles another ? A few centuries only have elapfed fince the inhabitants of Germany were patagonians : but they are fo no longer, and the inhabitants of it's future climates will not equal us. If now we go back to thofe times, when every thing upon Earth was apparently fo different; the times for inftance, when elephants lived in Siberia and North- America, and thofe large animals ex- ifted, the bones of which are to be found on the Ohio ; if men then lived in thofe regions, how different muft they have been from thofe, who now inhabit them ! Thus the hiftory of man is ultimately a theatre of transformations, which He alone can review, who animates all thefe figures, and feels and enjoys in them all. He builds up and deftroys, improves and alters forms, while he changes the World around them. The wanderer upon Earth, the tranficnt ephemeron, can only admire the wonders of this great fpirit in a narrow circle, enjoy the form that belongs to him in the general choir, adore, and difappcar with this form. * I too was in* Arcadia :' is the monumental infcription of all living beings in the ever-changing, ever-renewing creation. As the liuman intcUeft, however, feeks unity in every kind of variety, and the divine mind, it's prototype, has ftamped the moft innumerable multiplicity upon the Earth with unity, we may venture from the vaft realm of change to revert to the fimpleft pofition ; all mankind are only one and the fame /pedes. / * According to Bernoulli: fee Haller's Phy- muhitude of obfervaüons on the changes of ha« üolog. Vol. VI1J> L. 3o> where will be foaad a man life» Digitized by Google Chap. I.] But one Species of Man throughout the Earth, 165 How many ancient fables of human monfters and prodigies have already dif- appearcd before the light of hiftory ! and where tradition ftill repeats remnants of thcfe, I am fully convinced, more accurate inquiry will explain them into more beautiful truths. We are now acquainted with the ourang-outang, and know, that he has no claim to fpeech, or to be confidered as man : and when we have a more exafl: account of the ourang-kubub, and ourang-guhu, the tailed favages of the woods in Borneo, Sumatra, and the Nicobar iflands will vanifli *. The men with reverted feet in Malacca +, the probably ricketty nation of dwarfs in Madagafcar,.the men habited like women in Florida, and fome others, deferve fuch an inveftigation as has already Been bellowed on the albinocs, the dondoes, the patagonians, and the aprons of the hottentot females J. Men, who fuccecd in removing wants from the creation, falfehoods from our memory, and difgraces firom our nature, arc to the realms of truth, what the heroes of mythology were to the primitive world ; they leffcn the number of monfters on the Earth. 1 could wi(h, too, that the affinity of man to the ape had never been urged fo far, as to overlook, while feeking a fcalc of Being, the aftual fteps and in- tervals, without which no fcale can exift. What for example can the ricketty ourang-outang explain in the figure of the kamtfchadale, the little pigmy in the fizc of the grcenlander, or the pongo in the patagonian ? for all thefe forms would have arifen from the nature of man, had there been no fuch thing as an ape upon the Earth. And if men proceed ftill farther, and deduce certain deformities of our fpecies from an intermixture with apes, the conjec- ture, in my opinion, is not lefs improbable than degrading, Moft of thefe apparent refemblances of the ape exift in countries where no apes are to be found y as the reclining ikuUs of the calmucs and mallicoUefe, the prominent ears of the pevas and amicuans, the fmall hands of fome favages in Carolina, and other inftances, teftify. Even thefe appearances, as foon as we have furmounted the illufion of the firft view, have fo little of the ape, that the calmuc and the negro remain completely men, cven'in the form of the head, and the mallicoUefe dif- * Even MarTuen mentions thefe in his hiftory f Sonnerat alfo, in his Foya^t aux Indts^ of Samatra, but only from hrarfay. Monboddo, < Voyage to India,' Vol. II, p. 103, fpeaks of in his work on the Origin and Progrefs of Lan- thefe, but from report merely. Commerfon has goage. Vol. I, p. 219 and following, has col- revived the ftory of dwarfs in Madagafcar after leAed all the traditions refpefting men with Flaucoort; but later travellers have rejefled it.. tails he could find. ProfefTor Blumenbach, Dt On the hermaphrodites of Florida fee Heyne's Gtrntrit humami Varittatt^ ' On the Varieties of critical eiTay in tht Commint,$teiit.Re^. Getting,, the human Species,' has Ihown from what fources « Memoirs of the Royal Society of Goctiogen«' the delineations of tailed jnen of the woods have for the year 1 778, p. 993. been derived. X See Sparmann's Voyage, p. 177. Digitized by Google i66 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book VII. plays capacities, that many other nations do not poffefe. In faft, apes and men never were one and the fame genus, and I wilhed to reftify the flight remains of the old fable, that in fomc place or other upon the Earth they lived in com- munity, and enjoyed no barren intercourfe *. For each genus Nature has done enough, and to each has given it's proper progeny. The ape (lie has divided into as many fpecies and varieties as pofiible, and extended thefe as far as Ihe could : but thou, O man, honour thyfclf: neither the pongo nor the gibbon is thy brother : the american and the negro are : thefe therefore thou Ihouldft not opprefs, or murder, or fteal ; for they arc men, like thee : with the ape thou canft not enter into fraternity. Laftly, I could wilh the diftinftions l)etwecn the human fpecies, that have been made from a laudable zeal for difcriminating fcience, not carried beyond due bounds. Some for inilance have thought fit, to employ the term oi races for four or five divifions, originally made in confequencc of country or com- plexion : but I fee no reafon for this appellation. Race refers to a difference of origin, which in this cafe does not cxift, or in each of thefe countries^ and under each of thefe complexions, comprifes the moft different races. For every nation is one people, having it's own national form, as well as it's own language: the climate, it is true, ftamps on each it's mark, or fpreads over it a flight veil» but not fufficient to deftroy the original national charader. This originality of charafter extends even to families, and it's tranfitions are as variable as impercep- tible. In fliort, there are neither four or five races, nor exclufive varieties, on this Earth. Complexions run into each other : forms follow the genetic cha- rafter : and upon the whole, all are at laft but fliades of the fame great pifturc, extending through all ages, and over all parts of the Earth. They belong not, therefore, fo property to fyftematic natural hiftory, as to the phyfico-gcographical hiftory pf man, • In the Jufouigen am dem Tagebuch tines 1784, p. 256, this is aflcrtcd anew, ftill OcXj neuen Reifenden nach Jßen, < Extradts from the from report. Journal of a late Traveller in Afia/ Leipfic, Digitized by Google [ x67 3 CHAPTER II. Tie one Species of Man has naturalized itfelf in every Climate upon Earth. O BSBRVE yon locuus of the Earth, the kalmuc and mungal : they are fitted for no region but their own hills and mountains *. The light rider flics on his little horfe over immenfe traäs of the defert; he knows how to invigorate his fainting courfer, and by opening a vein in his neck, to reftore his own powers, when He finks with £itigue. No rain fells on many parts of thefe regions, which are refre(hed folely by the dew, while inexhauftible fertility clothes the earth with continually lenovated verdure. Throughout many extenfive trafts no tree is to be feen, no fpring of fi:«fli water to be difcovcrcd. Here thefe wild tribes, yet preferving good order among themfelves, wander about among the luxuriant grafs, and pafture their herds : the horfes, their aflbciates, know their voices, and live like them in peace. With thoughtlefs indifference fits the indolent kalmuc, con- templating the undiilurbed fcrenity of his iky, while his ear catches every found, that pervades the defert his eye is unable to fcan. In every other region of the Earth the mungal has either degenerated or improved : in his own country he is what he was thouiands of years ago, and fuch will he continue, as long as it re- mains imaltered by Nature or by art. The arab of the defert -)- belongs to it, as much as his noble horfe, and his patient, indefatigable camel. As the mungal wanders over his heights, and among his hills, fo wanders the better-formed bedouin over his extenfive afia- tic-african deferts; alfo a nomade, but a nomade oi his own region. With this his fimple clothing, his maxims of life, his manners, and his charafter, are in unifon j and, after the lapfe of thoufands of years, his tent ftill prefcrves the wifdom of his forefathers. A lover of liberty, he defpifes wealth and pleafure, is fleet in the courfe, a dextrous manager of his horfe, of whom he is as careful as of himfelf, and equally dextrous in handling the javelin. His figure is lean and mufcular j his coftiplexion brown ; his bones ftrong. He is indefatigable in fupporting labour, bold and enterprizing, faithful to his word, hofpitable and • For particular regions fee Pallas and others not embellifhed with lb many of the editor's re- already qaoted. The account given by G. marks, which give it an air of romance. Opitz of his life and Imprifonment among a f Befide the many ancient travels in Arabis kalmuc horde at Yaik would be a very defcrip- fee thofe of Pages, YoL IJ^ p. 62—87. live pidhire of their mode of living, if it were Digitized by Google i68 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. tBooic VIT. magnanimous, and, conneftcd with his fellows by the defert, he makes one com- mon caufe with all. From the dangers of his mode of life he has imbibed warinefs and fhy miftruft ; from his folitary abode, the feelings of revenge, friendfliip, enthufiafm^ and pride. Wherever an arab is found, on the Nile or the Euphrates, on Libanus or in Senegal, nay even in Zanguebar or the iüands of the Indian ocean, if a foreign climate have not by length of time changed him into a colonift, he will difplay his original arabian charafter. The californian, on the verge of the earth, in his barren countr}% expofed as Le is to want, and amid the viciffitudes of his climate, complains not of heat or cold, eludes the force of hunger, though with the utmoft difficulty, and enjoys happinefs in his native land. * God alone can tell,' fays a miflionary*, how many thoufand miles a californian, that has attained the age of eighty, mud have wandered over before he finds a grave. Many of them change their quar- ters perhaps a hundred times in a year, fleeping fcarcely three nights together on the fame fpot, or in the fame region. They lie down wherever night overtakes them, without paying the lead regard to the filthinefs of the foil, or endeavour- ing to fecure themfclves from noxious vermin. Their dark brown fkin fervcs them inftead of coat and cloak. Their furniture confifts of a bow and arrows, a ftone for a knife, a bone or fliari) ftake to dig up roots, the Qiell of a tortoife for a cradle, a gut or a bladder to carry water, and, if they be peculiarly fortu- nate, a pouch made of the fibres of the aloe, fomewhat in the fafhion of a net, to x:ontain their utenfils and provifion. They feed on roots, and all forts of fmall feeds, even thofe of grafs, which they colled with great labour; nay, when preffcd by want, they pick them out of their old age, when they meet death with calm indifference. The inhabitant of Eu- rope,* continues the miflionary, • may envy the happinefs of the californian : but for this the native of California is indebted folely to his perfeÄ indifference whe- ther he poffefs much or little in this world, and his abfolutc refignation to the will of God in all the occurrences of life.* In this manner I might go on, and exhibit climatic piftures of feveral nations, inhabiting the moft different regions, from Kamtfchatka to Tierra del Fuego : "but why (houid I give thefe brief fketches, fmce every traveller, who fees with accuracy, or feels as a man, gives the fhade of the climate to every little ftroke of his delineations ? In India, the grand refort of commercial nations, the arab Tand the chinefe, the turk and the perfian, the chriftian and the jew, the negro and the malay, the japanefe and the gentoo, are clearly diflinguifhable * : thus every one bears the charafters of his country and way of life on the moft dif- tant fhores. The ancient allegorical tradition fays, that Adam was formed out of the duft of all the four quarters of the Globe, and animated by the powers and fpirits of the whole Earth. Wherever his children have bent their courfe, and fixed their abode, in the lapfe of ages, there they have taken root as trees, and produced leaves and fruit adapted to the climate. Hence let us deduce a fevr confequences, which feem to explain to us many things, that might otherwife be adeemed ftriking fingularities in the hiftory of man. In the firft place it is obvious why all fenfual people, &(hioned to their coun- try, are fo much attached to the foil, and fo infeparable fi-om it. The conftitu- tion of their body, their way of life, the pleafures and occupations to which they have been accuftomed from their infancy, and the whole circle of their ideas, are climatic. Deprive them of their country, you deprive them of every thing • It has been remarked," fays Cranz -f , * of the fix greenlandcrs, who were brought over to Denmark, that, notwithftanding all the friendly treatment they received, and the abundance of ftockfilh and train-oil, with which they were fupplied, their eyes were often turned toward the north and their native country, with melancholy looks and piteous fighs j and at length they attempted to make their efcape in their canoe. A ftrong gale having driven them on the coaft of Scania, they were brought back to Copenhagen, when two of them died of grief. Two of the others again ran away, and only one of them was retaken, • See Mackintoih's Travels, Vol. II, p. 27. f Ctjcb, von Qranl^md, ' Hiftory of Greenland/ p* 555. Digitized by Google I70 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book VIT. who wept bitterly whenever he faw a child in it's mother's arms j whence it was inferred, that he had a wife and children, for no one was able to converfe with him, or prepare him for baptifm. The laft two lived ten or twelve years in Denmark, and were employed in the pearl-fifliery at Coldingen, but were fo hard-worked in winter, that one of them died. The other, again attempting to efcape, was retaken thirty or forty leagues from land, when he too died of grief.' No words can exprefs the forrow and defpair of a bought or ftolen negro- Have, when he leaves his native fliore, never more to behold it while he has breath. * Great care mull be taken,' fays Roemer *, * that the flaves do not get hold of a knife, either in the fort, or aboard the (hip. To keep them in goo«d humour on their paflage to the Weft Indies requires the utmoft exertion. For this purpofe violins are provided, with fifes and drums ; they are permitted to dance j and they are aflured, that they are going to a pleafant country, where f hey may have as many wives as they pleafe, and plenty of good food. Yet many deplorable inftances have been known of their falling upon the crew, murdering them, and letting the (hip drive alhore.' But how many more deplorable in- ftances have been known of thefe poor ftolen wretches deftroying themfelves in defpair ! Sparmann informs us ^f , from the mouth of a ilavedtoler, that at nigiit they are fcized with a kind of frenzy, which prompts them to commit murder, cither on themfelves or others ; • for the painful recoUeftion of the irreparable lofs of their country and their freedom commonly awakes by night, when the buftle of the day ceafes to engage their attention.' And what right have you, monfters ! even to approach the country of thefe unfortunates, much lefs to tear them from it by ftcalth, fraud, and cruelty ? For ages this quarter of the Globe has been theirs, and they belong to it : their forefathers purchafed it at a dear rate, at the price of the negro form and complexion. In fafhioning them the african fun has adopted them as it's children, and imprelTed on them it's own feal : wheiever you convey them, this brands you as robbers, as ftealcrs of men. Secondly. Thus the wars of favages for their country, or on account of it's children, their brethren, torn from it, or degraded and opprefTed, are extremely cruel. Hence, for inftance, the lafting hatred of the natives of America toward europeans, even when thefe behave to them with tendernefs : they cannot fup- prefs the feeling : * this land is ours j you have no bufinefs here.' Hence the * Rcsmer*s Nachrichten *von iler Kutfle Guiuea, traveller has interfperfed through hu work • Account of the Coaft of Guinea,' p. 279. many melancholy accoonu of the capture and f Sparmann's Voyages, p. 73. This humane treatment of flaves, p. 195, 6ia, ^c. Digitized by Google Chap. II.] Man naturalized in every CRmate upon Earth. 171 treachery of all favagcs, as they are called, even when they appear altogether fa- tisfied with the courtefy of european vifitors. The moment their hereditary national feelings awake, the flame they have long with difficulty fmothered breaks out, rages with violence, and frequently is not appeafed, till the flefti of the ftranger has been torn by the teeth of the native. To us this feems horrible ; and it is fo, no doubt : yet the europeans firft urged them to this mifdced : for why did they vifit their country ? why did they enter it as defpots, arbitrarily praftiiing violence and extortion * ? For ages it had been to it's inhabitants the univerfe : they had inherited it from their fathers, and from them too they had inherited the barbarous practice of deftroying in the mod favage manner all, who would deprive them of their territory, tear them from it, or encroach upon their rights. Thus to them an enemy and a ftranger are the fame : they re- femblc the mufcipulay which, rooted to it's foil, attacks every infcft that ap- proaches it : the right of devouring an unbidden or unfriendly gueft is the tribute th«y exaft i as cyclopical a tribute as any in Europe. Laftly, I cannot pafs over thofe joyful fcenes, when a ftolen fon of nature re- vifit^ his paternal fliores, and is reftored to the bofom of his country. When the worthy foley prieft, Job Ben Solomon -f , returned to Africa, every foley em- braced him witti brotherly aflFcftion, • he being the fecond of their countrymen, that had ever returned from flavery.' How ardently had he longed for this ! How little was his heart fatisfied with all the tokens of frienddiip and refpeä he received in England, which, as an enlightened, good-hearted man, he gratefully acknowledged ! He was never at eafe, till he was certain of the Iliip, that was to carry him home. This longing depends not on the ftate or advantages of a man's native land. The hottentot Coree threw away all his european accoutre- ments, ufeful as they might be, to (hare again the hardfliips of his countrymen %. Inftances might be cited from almoft every climate, and the moft inhofpitable countries have the ftrongeft attractions for their natives. Even the difficulties furmounted, to which body and mind are formed from infancy, impart to the natives that love of country and climate, which the inhabitants of fertile and populous plains feel much lefs, and to which the citizen of an european metro- polls is almoft a ftranger. It is time, however, to inveftigate the term climate • See the editor's remarks on the unfortunate f Allg. Rei/en, Vol. Ill, p. 127 and follow- Marion'j Voyage a la Mer du Sua, * Voyage to ing. ttvc Soutli Sea:' alfo R. Forfter's preface to the X lb. Vol. V, p. 145. For other examples Jounul of Cook's laft Voyage, Berlin, ij^i, fe&Roufleau, in the notes to His DlTcourfe on ^tii the accounts of the conduä of the cu- the Inequality of Men. lopons. Digitized by Google 172 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [BookVII. more narrowly ; and while fome build (b much upon it, in the philofophy of the hiftory of man, and others almoft deny it's influence altogether» I (hall ventuie on nothing more than problems^. CHAPTER m. IVhat is Climate ? and what EffeSi has it informing the Body and Mind of Man? The two mod fixed points of our Globe are the poles : without tbefe it could not revolve, nay probably could not be a globe. If we knew the genefis of the poles, and the laws and efTeds of the magnetifm of our Earth on the various bo- dies it contains, (hould we not have found the warp, which Nature, in the for- mation of beings, afterwards varioufly interwove with other fuperiour powers ? But, notwithftanding the many and fine experiments that have been made, as we yet know little of it on the whole *, we are ftill in the dark with refpeft to the bafis of all climates from the polar r^ions. At fome period, perhaps, the magnet will render us the fame fervice in the fphere of phyfical powers» as it has already full as unexpeäedly on fea and land. The revolution of our Globe about it's own axis, and round the Sun, affords us a nearer indication of climates ; but here too the application of even generally admitted laws is difficult and deceptive. The zones of the ancients have not been confirmed by our later knowledge of foreign parts, as, phyfically confi- dered, they were founded on ignorance of them. It is the fame with our cal- culations of heat and cold from the quantity and angle of the folar beams. As a mathematical problem, the efffeft of thefe has been indulbriouily calculated with the greateft accuracy ; but the mathematician himfelf would deem it an abufe of his rule, if the philofopher, in writing the hiftory of climates, (hould build conclufions on it, without admitting exceptions -f. In one place the proximity of the fea, in another the wind, here the height of the land, there it's depth, in a fifth place the vicinity of mountains, in a fixth rain or mift, gives fuch a par- ticular local qualification to the general law, that we frequently find the moft oppofite climates in places bordering upon each otiier. Befide this, it is evident firom modem experiments, that every living being has it's own mode of receiv- • See Brugmana Uibtr dm Magnttifaiut^ thod of calcidacing heat, in thcHamboig Ma« On Magnetifm,' propofitions 24—31. g^sine, p. 499 and following. t See Kaeftncr's elucidation of Halley't Me- Digitized by Google Chap. III.] Ej^eR of Climate on the Body and Mud oj Man. 1 7.3 ing and evolving heat ; nay, that the more elaborate the organizarion of a creature, and the more aftive the vital power it exerts, the greater capacity it poffeffes of generating relative heat and cold *. The old pofition, that man can live only in a climate, the heat of which docs not exceed tliat of the blood, has been confuted by experience : on the other hand, the modern fyftems of the origin and efTeft of animal heat arc far from having attained fufficient perfec- tion, for us in any wife to think of a climatolog}^ of the human frame merely, not to mention the faculties of the mind, and their arbitrary application. Every one indeed knows, that heat extends and relaxes the fibres, attenuates the fluids, and promotes perfpiration j and that thus it is capable in time of rendering the folids light and fpongy, &c. This law remains inconteftible on the whole f ; and in confequence, from it and it's antagonift, cold, many phyfical phenomena have been already explained % : but general inferences from this principle, or from a part of it, as relaxation or perfpiration for inftance, to whole nations and countries, nay to the moft delicate funöions of the human mind, and the moft accidental ordinances of fociety, are all in fomc meafure hypothetical i and this the more, in proportion as the head that confiders and arranges them is acute and fyftematic. They are contradided almoft ftep by ftep, by examples from hif- tory, or even by phyfiological principles j becaufe too many powers, partly op- pofitc to each other, aft in conjunftion. It has even been objeded to the great Montefquieu, that he has erefted his climatic (pirit of laws on the fallacious ex- periment of a flieep's tongue. It is true, we are duftile clay in the hand of Cli- mate ; but her fingers mould fo varioufly, and the laws, that counteraft them, are fo numerous, that perhaps the genius of mankind alone k capable of combining the relations of all thefe powers in one whole. Heat and cold are not the fole principles of the atmofpherc, that aft upon us ; for it appears from late obfervations, to be a magazine of other powers, which combine with us to our detriment or advantage. In it operates the ftream of eleftric fire j a powerful fubftance, of the influence of which on the animal machine we yet know little : and we are fully as ignorant how it is re- ceived into the human body, and what changes it undergoes in it. We live by the infpiration of air : yet it's balfam, our vital aliment, is a myftcry to us. If • OclPi Ferfifhe uehtr das Vermagtn der Cold, Philofophical Tranfaöionf, Vol LXXI, Bflatmiw und Tbirrt JV^ermi xu erzeugen und zu Part J I, Art. 31. ^xemichtea, • Experiments on the Capacities of t See the Pathology of Gaubins, Chap. V, Plants and Animals to generate and deftroy X, &c. Heat,' Hclmftadt, 1778: Crawford's Experi. t See Montefqoien, Caftillon, Falconer, not menu on the Power of Animals to produce to mention » nombtr of lefs important irafts. Digitized by Google 174 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book VIL now we add the various and almoft innumerable local modifications of it's com- jx)nent parts, from the effluvia of different fubftances ; if we recolleft the fiie- quent inftances of extraordinary, often terrible, and for ages inextinguifliable difeafes, that have arifen from an invifible malignant feed, to which the phy- fician is unable to give any other name than that of miafma j if we refledl on the fecret poifon, that has brought us the fmallpox, the plague, fyphilis, and many other diforders, which in the courfe of time have difappeared ; and confider how little we know, not of the harnmttan zxAfimoom^ th^ßrocco and north-eafl wind of Tatary, but of the conftitution and effefts of our own winds : how many introduftory labours (hall we perceive to be wanting, ere we arrive at a phyfio- logico-pathologj', to fay nothing of a climatology, of all the fenfitivc and cogita- ti\'e faculties of man ! In the mean time, every judicious attempt deferves it's laurels, and pofterity will have many honourable ones, to bellow on the prefent times *. Laftly, the elevation or depreffion of a region, it's nature and produfts, the food and drink men enjoy in it, the mode of life they purfue, the labours in which they are employed, their clothing, even their ordinary attitudes, their arts and pleafures, with a multitude of other circumftances, which confiderably influence their lives, all belong to the pifture of changeable climate. What human hand can reduce this chaos of caufes and effects to a world of order, in which every individual thing, and every individual region, (hall enjoy it's rights, and no one receive too much or too little ? The beft and only thing we can do is, to examine particular regions climatically, after the manner of Hippo- crates -f , with his lagacious fimplicity, and then flowly, flowly deduce general inferences. The natural hiftorian and phyfician are here the pupils of Nature, and the teachers of the philofopher. To them we and pofterity alfo are already indebted for feveral materials, collefted in different regions, toward a general doftrine of climates and their effefts upon man. But here we muft content ourfelves with general remarks, as we cannot defcend to particular obfcrva- tions. I. As our Earth is a glohe^ and- the firm land a mountain raifed above the fea, a climatic community ^ affeSfing the life of eveiy thing livings is promoted on it by va^ rious caufes. Not only is the climate of every region periodically changed by the alternation of day and night, and the revolution of the feafonsi but the * See Gmclin ueher die neuem EfttdeckuugeK f See Hippocrates de Aere» Locis, ct Aqois, in der Lehre von der Luß, ' on the modern Dif- particularly the fecond part of tlie trcatife. He coveries m Aerology,' Berlin, 1784. is my principal author on thp fubjedi of climate. Digitized by Google Ch A P . III.] EffeB of Climate on tie Body and Mind of Man. 1 7 5 jarring of the elements, the mutual aftion of fea and land upon each other, the fituation of mountains and plains, the periodical winds, that arife from the mo- tion of the Globe, the changes of the feafon, the appearance and difappearance of the Sun, and many lefs important caufes, maintain this falutiferous union of the elements, without which every thing would ftagnate in drowfmefs and cor- ruption. We are furrounded by an atmofphere ; we live in an eleftric ocean ; but both, and probably the magnetic fluid with them, arc in continual motion. The fea emits vapours; the mountains attraft them, and fend them down in rain and ftrcams on every fide. Thus winds relieve each other : thus years, or periods of years, fulfil their climatic days. Thus different regions and ages fol- low one another ; and every thing on our Globe combines in one general con- nexion. Had the Earth been flat, or angular, as the chinefe have dreamed, it*s corners might have produced climatic monfters, incompatible with it's prefent regular ftrufture, and diffufive movement. The Hours dance in a circle round the throne of Jove, and what is formed under their feet is only an imperfeft perfeftion, bccaufe all originates from the union of things various in kind : but from an internal love and conjunftion with one another, the children of Nature, fenfible Regularity and Beauty, are every where produced. 2. The habitable land of our Earth is accumulated in regions^ where moß living bangs a5t in the mode beß adapted to them ; and this fituation of the quarters of the Globe influences all it's climates. Why does the cold in the fouthern hemifpherc commence fo near the line ? The natural philofopher anfwers, * becaufe there is fo little land, fo that the cold winds and ice of the ibuth pole extend them» fclvcs to a great diftance.* Thus we perceive what would have been our fate, had the whole of our firm land been fcattcred about in iflands. Now three quarters of the Globe, lying in contad, warm each other : the fourth, being re- mote from them, is on this account colder ; and in the South Sea, a very little beyond the line, degeneracy and deformity begin with the deficiency of the land. Fewer fpecies of the more perfeft animals alfo dwell there. The fouthern hemi- fphere was made the grand refervoir of water for our Globe, that the northern might enjoy a better climate. Thus, whether we confider the World geogra- phically, or climatically, we find Nature intended mankind to be neighbourly beings, dweUing together, and imparting to each other climatic warmth» and other benefits, as well as the plague, difeafes, and climatic vices. 3. By the formation of the land on the frame of the mountains^ not only were it's climates infinitely diverfifiedfor the great variety of living beings^ but the degeneration of the human fpecies was provided againfi as much as pqffible. Mountains were neceflary to the Earth : but we find mungals and tibetians only on one ridge of Digitized by Google lyö PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book Vfl- thcm ; ths lofty Cordilleras, and many others their fellows, are uninhabitable. Barren deferts, alfo, are rare, from the mountainous ftrufture of the Earth : for the mountains rife as condudors of the clouds, and pour out from their horns of plenty fertilizing ftreams. The barren (hore, the bleak or marOiy border of the fea, is every where more recently formed land ; and confequently men have taken poffcffion of it later, and when their powers were already improved- The vale of Quito was inhabited unqueftionably before Tierra del Fuego; Cafh- mire, fooner than New Holland or Nova 2^mbla. The middle and broadeft part of the earth, the land of the fined climate between fea and mountains, was the nurfery of our fpecics, and is even now the moft fully peopled part of the Globe. There is no queftion, but, as climate is a compound of po^^^rs and influences, to which both plants and animals contribute, and which every thing that has breath promotes in it's reciprocating mutations, fo man is placed in it as a fove- reign of the Earth, to alter it by art. Since he ftole fire from Heaven, and rendered fteel obedient to his hand ; fince he has made not only beafls, but his fellow men alfo, fubfervient to his will, and trained both them and plants to his purpofes ; he has contributed to the alteration of climate in various ways. Once Europe was a dank foreft ; and other regions, at prefent well cultivated, were the lame. They are now expofed to the rays of the Sun ; and the inhabi- tants themfelves have changed with the climate. The face of Egypt would have been nothing more than the flime of the Nile, but for the art and policy of man. He has gained it from the flood ; and both there, and in farther Afia, the living creation has adapted itfelf to the artificial climate. Wc nuy confider mankind, therefore, as a band of bold though diminutive giants, gradually de- fcending from the mountains, to fubjugate the earth, and change climates with their feeble arms. How for they arc capable of going in this refpedt futurity will Ihow. 4. Finally, if it be allowable to fpeak in general terms on a fubjeft, which reib fo completely on particular cafes, local or hiftorical, I will mfert, with a little variation, fome cautions, that Bacon gives with relpeft to the hiftory of revolutions*. The adion of climate extends itfelf indeed to bodies of all kinds, but chiefly to the more delicate, to fluids, the air, and the ether. It operates rather on the mais, than on the individual : yet on this, through that. It is not confined to points of time, but prevails through long periods: though it is often late before it becomes obvious, and then perhaps is rendered fo by flight circumftances. Laftly, climate does not force, but incline : it gives the imper- Digitized by Google Co AP. IIL] EffeSi of CHmaie on the Body and Mind of Man. lyy aptible difpofition, which ftrikes us indeed in the general view of the life and manners of indigenous nations, but is very difBcult to be delineated diftinftly. Sometime poffibly a traveller may be found, who will purfue without prejudice or exa^esation the fpirit of climate. At prefent our duty is rather to note the living powers, for which each climate is formed ; and which, by their exiftence, induce in it various changes and modifications. CHAPTER IV. ^he genetic Power is the Mother of all the Forms upon Earthy Climate aEling merely as an Auxiliary or Anlagonijh How muft the man have been aftoniflicd, who firfl: law the wonders of the creation of a living being * ! Globules, with fluids fliooting between them, become a living point j and from this point an animal forms itfelf. The heart foon becomes vifible, and, weak and imperfeft as it is, begins to beat : the blood, which exifted before the heart, begins to redden : foon the head appears : foon eyes, a mouth, the fenies, and limbs, difplay themfelvcs. Still there is no breaft, }"et there is motion in the internal parts : there are no bowels, yet the animal opens it's mouth. The little brain is not yet inclofed in the head ; or the heart, in the breaft : the ribs and bones are like a fpider's web : but quickly the wings, feet, toes, hips, appear, and the living creature receives more nourifti- ment. What was naked becomes covered : the breaft and head clofe : the fto- mach and bowels are ftill pendulous. Thefe alfo at length aflume their proper form, as more matter is furniflied : the integuments contradt and afcend : the belly clofes : the animal is formed. It now fwims no longer, but aflumes a re- cumbent pofture : it wakes and fleeps by turns : it moves, it refts, it cries, it feeks an exit, and comes complete in all it's parts into the light of day. What would he who faw this wonder for the firft time call it } There, he would fay, is a living organic power : I know not whence it came, or what it intrinfically is : but that it is there, that it lives, that it has acquired itfelf organic parts out of the chaos of homogeneal matter, I fee : this is incontcftible. If he obfcrved farther, and faw, that each of thefe organic parts was fafliioned as it were in a£luy in it's own operation : the heart formed itfelf no otherwifc than by a confluence of the channels, that exifted before it ; as foon as the ^omach was perceptible, matter to be digefted was in it. It was the fame with • Sec Iforvcy dt Cenerat, Animal., Wolf's Tbtor, Gentrat,, ic. Digitized by Google ijg PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [SookVIL the arteries and all the veffels : the contents exifted before what was to contain them, the fluids before the folids, the fpirit before the body, in which it is merely clot lud. If he obferved this *, would he not fay, that the invifiblc power did not falhion arbitrarily, but only reveal itfelf as it were according to it's internal nature ? It becomes vifible in a mafs appertaining to it, and mud have fie ;.rGtotype of it's appearance in itfelfy whence or wherever it may be. The new c] L:.ture is 4iothing but the realization of an idea of creative Nature, who never thinks inaftively. If he go farther and obferve, that this creation is promoted by maternal or führ warmth ; but that the egg will produce no living fruit, notwithftanding the prefence of the neceflary warmth and materials, unlefs quickened by the fa- ther : what would he fuppofe, but that the principle of heat may indeed have fome affinity to the principle of life, which it promotes, yet that the caufe, which fets this organic power in adion, to give the dead chaos of matter a living form» mud adually lie in the union of two living beings ? Thus we, thus all living creatures, are formed ; each after the kind of it's organization ; but all according to the evident laws of an analogy, that prevails univerfally with every thing, that lives upon this Earth. Laftlyj when it appears, that this vital power does not quit the finifhed crea- ture, but continues to difplay itjelf aSiively in him j no longer creating indeed, for he is created, but fupporting, vivifying, nourifliing: from the moment he enters the World, he {performs all the vital funftions for which, nay in fome meafure in which, he was made ; the mouth opens, as opening was it's firft aäion, and the lungs refpire ; the vocal organs emit found, the lips fuck, the ftomach digcfls ; he lives, he grows, all the external and internal parts affift each other ; they at- tract, rejedt, and affimilate, with aflbciated aftion and fympathy, and affift one another in pain and difeafe in a thoufand wonderful and incomprehenfibte ways : what would he, what would any one, who faw this for the firft time, fay, but that the innate genetic vital power ftill refides in the creature, that was formed by it, in all it's parts, and in each after it's proper manner, that is organically ? It is pre- fent in him every where in the moft multifarious manner ; for only by it's means is he a living whole, feif fupporting, growing, and afting. This vital power we all have in us : it affifts us in ficknefs and in health, affi- milates homogeneal fubftances, feparates heterogeneal matters, and expels fuch as are injurious; at length it grows feeble with age, and lives in fome parts even after death. It is not the faculty of rcafon : for this afluredly did not fafliioa • Wolf's Tbtor. Ggnerat. p. 169, b. 180— a i6. Digitized by Google Chap. IV.] l^he genetic Power the Mother of all Forms upon Earth, 179 the body, which it does not know, and which it employs merely as an imperfeft adventitious infknxment, lo execute it's thoughts. Yet this faculty is connected with the vital power, as all the powers of nature are connefted : for even incor- poreal thought depends on the health and oi^nization of the body, and all the deßres and propenfitics of our hearts are infeparable from animal warmth. All thefe are natural /j<3j, which no hypothefis can (hake, no logic of the fchools overturn : the enunciation of them is the moft ancient philofophy of the Earth, as probably it will be the laft *. Cer>tainly as I know that I think, yet know not my thinking faculty ; as certainly do I fee and feel that I live, though I know not what the vital principle is. This principle is innate, organical, ge- netic : it is the bkfis of my natural powers, the internal genius of my being. Man is the moft perfeft of earthly creatures, only becaufe in him the fineft or- ganic powers we know aft with the moft elaborately organized inftruments« He is the moft perfeft animal plant, a native genius in human form. If the principles hitherto advanced be juft, and they are founded on indif- putable experience, our {pedes cannot in any way degenerate, but by the ope- ration of thefe organic powers. Whatever climate may efieft, every man« every animal, every plant, has his own climate i for every one receives all ex- ternal impreffions in his own manner, and modifies them according to his organs. Even in the minuteft fibre man is not affefted as a ftone, as a hydatid. Let us confider fome fteps, or {hades» of this degeneration. The firft ftep in the degeneration of the human fpecies exhibits itfclf in the external parts : not as if thefe fuffered or afted of themfelves, but becaufe the power dwelling in us a£b from within to without. By the moft wonderful me- chanifm it ftrives to expel firom the body what b incongruous or detrimental to it : the firft alterations of it's organic ftrufture, therefore, muft be perceptible on the confines of it's domain ; and accordingly the moft ftriking varieties of the fpecies afieft only the ikin and hair. Nature protefts the internal eilentiai form, and drives out as far as poffible the ^grieving matter. If the altered external power proceed farther, it's effefts (hojv themfelves in the fame way as the vital principle itfclf afts, in the way of nutrition and propa^ gation. The negro is born fair : the parts that firft grow black in him -f are • Hippocrates, Ariftode, Galen» Harvey, only beftowing on it ▼ariona appellations, or 3oyle, btalil, Guiibn, Gaubius, Albinos, and fometimes not fufficiently difcriminating it from many others of the grtaiell obfervers or phi- collateral powers. loTophers of the human fpecies, compelled by f See the preceding book, p. 151. experiment, have admitted thb vital principle. Digitized by Google lÄo PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [BooicVII. evident figns, that the tniafma of his change, which the external air merely de- velopes, afts genetically. The age of puberty, as well as a multitude of faftj obferved in difeafes, fhows us the extenfive fway, that the powers of nutrition and propagation poflefs in the human body. By thefe the remoteft parts of the body are conneded ; and in tlie degeneration of the fpecies thefe parts fufier in conjunäion. Hence, the (kin and fexual parts excepted, the ears, the neck and voice, the nofe, the lips, the head, &c^ are precifely the parts, in which moCt changes appear. Finally, as the vital principle connedtrs all the parts together, and the oi^ni« zation is a complicated knot, which has properly neither beginning nor end, it is eafy to comprehend, that the moft interna] change of any confequence muft ulti- mately become vifible even in the parts poffcfling the groateft folidity, the relations of which are altered, by means of the internal power thai b aficÄed, from the crown of the head to the fole of the foot. Nature does not eafily yield to this change ; even in monftrous births, when (he has been forcibly difturbed in her operations, (he has aftonilhing ways of reparation, as a defeated general difplays moft (kill in 4 retreat. The various national forms of people however teftify, that even this, the moft difficult change of the human fpecies, is poffible : and it is rendered fo by the multifarious complication and delicate mobility of our frame, with the in- numerable powers that aft upon it. But this diflScult change is effefted only from within. For ages particular nations have moulded their heads, bored thci» nofes, confined their feet, or extended tlieir ears : Nature remains true to her- felf ; and if for a time (be be compelled to take a courfe (he would not, and fend fluids to the diftorted parts ; (he proceeds on her own way, as foon as (he can lecover her liberty, and produces her own more perfeft image. If the deformity be genetic, and effefted in the natural way, the cafe is totally diflferent : it is then hereditary, even in particular parts. Let it not be faid, that art or the Sun has flattened the negro's nofe. As the figure of this part is connefted with the conformation of the whole (kuU, the chin, thp neck, the fpine ; and the branchmg fpinal marrow is as it were the trunk of the tree, on which the thorax and all the limbs are formed j comparative anatomy (atisfaftorily (hows ♦, thaü the degeneration has afiefted the whole figure, and none of thefe folid parts could be changed without an alteration of the whole. Thus the negro form is tranfmitted in hereditary fucceflion, and is capable of being rechanged no other- wife than genetically. See the negro in Europe : he remains as he was. Let • See Soemmering UeBtr dit ketrftrlkht Vtr^ bodily Difference between ch« Negro and the Jtbitdenbeit dts M^tr *v9m Europ^ftr^ 'On the European/ Menti, 1784. Digitized by Google Chap. IV.] ^e genetic Power the Mother of all Forms upon Earth. 1 8 1 him marry a white woman, and a fingle generation will effeä a change, which #he fair-complexioned climate could not produce in ages. So it is with the figures of all nations : regions alter them very flowly j but by intermixture with foreigners, in a few generations every mungal, chinefe, or american feature va« nilhes. If it be s^eeable to the reader to puffue this path, let us go on a few ftepi farther. I. It muft be obvious to every obferver, that, amid the innumerable varieties of the human figure y certain forms and proportions not only reoccury but pertain ex- clufively to sack other. With artifts this is an acknowledged faft : and we fee in the ftatues of the ancients, that they placed this proportion, or fymmetry as they termed it, not merely in the length and breadth of the limbs, but alfo in their harmonic adjuftment to the fpirit of the whole. The charafters of their gods and goddefles, their youths and heroes, were fo determinate in their whole conformation, that they are in fome degree to be known from fingle limbs, and no one figure will admit of an arm, a bread, a (boulder, that belonged to another. The genius of a particular living being exifts in each of thefe forms, which ferves it merely as a (hell, and characterizes xtfs^ in the leaft attitude or motion as diftinftly as in the whole. Among the moderns, the Polydete of our country *, Albert Durer^, has induftriouily examined the meafure of various proportions of the human body ; and thus rendered it obvious to every eye, that the figures of all the parts differ with their proportions. What would it 4)e, if a man united Durer's accuracy with the fpirit and tafte of the ancients, and ftudicd the difierences of the genetic forms and charaäers of men, in their concordant figures ! Thus, I think, Phyfiognomy would return to her old natural way, to -which her name points ; and in which (he would be neither Ethognomy, nor Technc^nomy, but the expofitor of the living nature of a man, the interpreter as it were of his genius rendered vifible. As within thefe bounds (he remains true to the analogy of the whole, which is moft confpicuous in the face, Pathog- Aomy muft be her (ifter, Phyfiology and Semeiotics her firiends and affiftants : for the external figure of man is but the cafe of his internal mechanifm, a con- fiftent whole, in which every letter forms a part of the word indeed, but only the whole word has a detenninate fignification. It is thus we pradtife and apply phyfiognomy in common life : the experienced phyfician fees from a man's make • Th*M rpithet can allude only to the canon nor the ftyle of the ficyonian genius were thoft of proportions, which Polyclete is faid to have of Albert of Naremberg. F. eftabliihed in one of his figures : Plin. L. f Albert Darer's four Books on human Pro- XXJCIV» c. 8 : for furely neither the materials portion, Nuremberg, 1528. Digitized by Google iS2 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book VIL and countenance to what difeafes he is fubjeft, and the phyfiognomic eye even of a child obfcn-es the natural difpofition (^uo-k) of a man in his perfon, that is, the form in which his genius difclofes itfel£ Farther. Are not theje forms ^ thefe concords of karmofiizing partSy capable of being notcdy and reduced like letters as it were to an alphabet ^ Not that we muft expecb this fyftem of letters ever to be complete, as there Is no fuch thing as a perfcifl alphabet in any language; but a careful ftudy of thefe living orders of human columns unqueftionably opens a wide field for the fcience of charafter. If in this purfuit v^e were not to confine ourfelves to Europe, and ftill lefs to our common idea of the fummit of health and beauty, but followed living Nature throughout the Globe, in whatever harmony of congruous parts fhe difplays herfelf, varioufly diverfified, yet ever one : numerous difcoverics re- fpefting the concent and melody of living powers in the human ftrufture would undoubtedly reward our exertions. Nay it is probable, this ftudy of the natu- ral confent of forms in the human body would carry us farther, than the doc- trine of complexions and temperaments, often attempted, though commonly to little purpofe. The moft acute obfcrvers have made little progrefs here, be- caufe they have wanted a determinate alphabet, to note the diflFercnccs, that were to be exprefled *^ As the phyfiology of life muft every where carry the torch before fuch ^ßgu- ral hiflory of the formation and diverßficntion of the human fpecies^ the wifdom of Nature, who fafhlons and alters forms only according to one law of multifarioufly compenfating goodnefs, would be vifible at ever)' ftep. Why, for example, did the creative mother feparate fpecies fi-om each other ? For no other reafon, but to make and preferve the image of their conformation more perfeft. Wc know not how many of the prefent fpecies of animals may have approached nearer to each other in an earlier age of our Earth ; but wc fee, that their boun- daries are nozv genetically feparated. In the wild ftate,no beaft couples with one of a different kind : and if the defpotic art of man, or the wanton indolence, to which pampered animals yield, caufe a deviation from their real propcn- fities, Nature permits not her unchangeable laws to be furmounted by art or debauchery. Either the union is unproduftive, or the forced ille- gitimate offspring is propagated only among the neareft fpecies. Nay, among thefe baftard fpecies themfelves, we perceive the deviation no where but in the extreme parts of the figure, as in the degeneration of the human fpecies already defcribcd : if the internal effential form had been fufceptible of alteration, no • I find this dodrine redaced to great fiin> Platner too, and fome others^ haye their ac* |>licity in Metzger's mifcellaneous Works, VoL I. knowledged mcriu on this head. Digitized by Google C IT A p . IV. J Tie genetic Power the Mother of all Forms upon Earth 1 83 Kving creature could have preferved it's identity. Thus in confequence of the fundamental laws of creative nature, and the genetic eflential type of each ge- nus, neither a centaur, nor a fatyr, neither a Scylla, nor ä Medufa, is within the Iphere of procreation. 3. Ladly, the moß exquißte means employed by Nature^ to unite variety andfia- bility of form in her genera^ were the creation and union of the two fexes. With what wonderful delicacy and fpirit do the features of the two parents unite in the countenances and make of their children ! as if their fouls had been trans- fufed into them in different proportions, and the multifarious natural powers of organization had been divided between them. That difeafes and features, nay that tempers and difpofitions, are hereditary, is known to all the world : even the forms of anceftors long departed frequently return in the courfe of generations in a wonderful manner. Equally undeniable, though not eafy to be explained ; is the influence of the bodily and mental affeftions of the mother on the foetus ; many lamentable examples of the effeös of which have been born till death. Thus Nature has turned into each other two currents of life, to endow the future creature with one complete natural power, which will live in it according to the features of both the parents. Many a declining race is again reftorcd by a cheerful healthy mother : many a debilitated youth muft firft be awakened to a living natural creature in the arms of his wife. In the genial formation of man Love is the mod powerful of all deities : he ennobles races, and revives the declining : a ray of the divinity, the fparks of which kindle the flame of human life, and make it burn here more vividly, there more obfcurely. No- thing, on the contrary, counteracts the plaftic genius of Nature more than cold antipathy ; or difgufting convenience, which is even worfe. This brings perfons together, who were never defigned for each other, and perpetuates mife- rable beings, never in harmony with themfelves. No brute has yet funk fo low, as man has fallen firom this caufe of degeneracy. Digitized by Google PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [BookVII. CHAPTER V. ConcIuJifig Remarks on the Oppofition between Geneßs and Climate. IF I miftalce not, the hints, that have been given, may be confidered as the com- mencement of the line, that marks this oppofition. No man will cxpeft, for inftance, that the rofe fhould become a Hlly, the dog a wolf, in a foreign cli- mate : for Nature has drawn determinate lines round her fpecies, and permits a creature rather to difappcar, than eflentially deface or falfify it's figure. But, that the rofe can admit of variation, that the dog can acquire fomething wolfifli, is conformable to experience : yet here the variation is producible only by flow or fpeedy violence done to the refilling organic powers. Thus both the con- tending principles adt with great force, yet each in it's own way. Climate is a chaos of caufes, very difiirailar to each other, and in confequence ading flowly and in various ways, till at length they penetrate to the internal parts, and change them by habit, and by the genetic power it (elf : this refifts long, forcibly, uni- formly, and like itfelf ; but as it is not independent of external afTedions, it alfo muft accommodate itfelf to them in length of time. To an extenfive view of the oppofition in general, I would prefer an inftnic- tive examination ot particular cafes, of which hiftory and geography afford us an ample ftore. We know, for example, what cffed the adoption of the mode of life of the natives, or the retaining of their own european cuftoms, has had on the portuguefe colonies in Africa, or the fpanifli, dutch, englifti, and german fettlcrs, in America and the ELaft Indies. When all thefe were accurately invef- tigated, we might proceed to more ancient tranfitions ; as for inftance of the malays to the iflands, the arabs to Africa and the Eaft Indies, and the turks to the countries conquered by them ; and thus go on to the mungals, the tatars« and laftly the fwarm of nations, that covered Europe in the courfe of the great migration. We fliould never overlook the climate from which a people came, the mode of life it brought with it, the country that lay before it, the nations with which it intermingled, and the revolutions it has undergone in it's new feat. If this inquiry were carried through thofe ages of which we have authentic accounts, we might probably arrive at conclufions refpefting thofe more early migrations, of which we know nothing but from the traditional tales of ancient writers, or the coincidencies of language and mythology j for in feft all, or mofl of the nations upon Earth at leaft, have fooner or later migrated. Thus, with ithe afliftance of a few maps for the convenience of infpedtion, we fliould ob- Digitized by Google Chap. V.] Remarks oh tie OppofitioH between Geneßs and Climate. 1 85 tain a phyfico-geograpUcal hißory of the defcent and diverfification of our /pedes ac- cording to periods and climates, which at every ftep muft afford us important refults. Without anticipating the labours of the inquiring mind, that fliall undertake this tafk, I will introduce a few fadls from modern hiflory, as brief examples of my preceding examination. 1. ToofuddeHy too precipitate traftfitions to an oppofite hemifphere and climate are feldom falutary to a nation ; for Nature has not eftabliflied her boundaries be- tween remote lands in vain. The hiftory of conquefts, as well as of commercial companies, and efpecially that of miflions, afford a melancholy, and in fome refpedts a laughable pidurc, if we delineate this fubjeft and it's confequences with impartiality, even from the narrations of the parties themfelves. We fhud- der with abhorrence when we read the accounts of many european nations, who, funk in the mod diffolute voluptuoufnefs and infenfible pride, have degenerated both in body and mind, and no longer poffefs any capacity for enjoyment and compaffion. They are fullblown bladders in human fhape, loft to every noble and adive pleafure, and in whofe veins lurks avenging death. If to tliefe we add the wretches, to whom both the Indies have proved infatiate graves ; if we read the hiftories of the difeafes of foreign climates, given by englifh, french, and dutch phyficians ; and if wc then turn our eyes to the pious miffionaries, who have not been fo ready to quit the garb of their order, and their european mode of life i what inftrudlive inferences prefs upon us, which alas ! belong to the hiftory of man ! 2. Even the european indußry of lefs debauched colonies in other quarters of the Globe is not alzvays able to avert the effedi of climate. It is obferved by Kalm *, that the europeans in North- America arrive earlier at the age of puberty, but at the fame time fooner grow old and die, than in their native country. * It is nothing uncommon,' fays he, * to find little children anfwer queftions put to them with aftoniftiing readinefs and vivacity, and yet not attain the age of eu- ropeans. Eighty or ninety years are feldom reached by one born in America of european parents, though the aborigines frequently live much longer : and the natives of Europe commonly live much longer in America, than fuch of their children as are born in that country. The women fooner ceafe child- bearing, fome as early as the age of thirty ; and it is generally obferved, that the offspring of the european colonifts lofe their teeth foon and prematurely, while * Gottingcn CoUedlion of Travels, Vols. X and X\, paßm. Digitized by Google i86 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book VII. the americans retain their teeth white and found to the end of their lives.* This pafTage has been improperly quoted as a proof of the unhealthinefi of America with reipeft to her own children : but it is to foreigners only that (he is a ftepmother, who, as Kalm obTerves, dwell in her bofom with different con- ftitutions and manners. 3. Let it not be imagined^ that human art can with defpotic power convert at once a foreign region into another Europe, by cutting down it's forcfts, and cultivating it's foil : for it's whole living creation is conformable to it, and this is not to be changed at difcretion. Even Kalm informs us, firom the mouths of americaa fwedes, that the fpeedy deftrudtion of the woods, and cultivation of the land» not only leflened the number of edible birds, which were found in innumerable multitudes in the forefts and on the waters, and of fiflies with which the brooks and rivers fwarmed, and diminifhed the lakes, ftreams, rivulets, fpring^ rains» thick long grafs of the woods, &c. ; but feemed to affeft the health and longe- vity of the inhabitants, and influence the feafons. * The americans,' lays he, * who frequently lived a hundred years and upwards before the arrival of the europeans, now often attain fcarcely half the age of their forefathers : and this, it is probable, we muil not afcribe folely to the deftrudkive ufe of fpirits, and an alteration in their way of life, but likewife to the lofs of fo many odoriferous herbs, and falutary plants, which every morning and evening perfumed the air, as if the country had been a flower-garden. The winter was then more feafon- able, cold, healthy, and conftant : now the fpring commences later, and, like the other feafons, is more variable and irregular.' This is the account given by Kalm i and however local we may confider it, dill it ihows, that Nature loves not too fpeedy, too violent a change, even in the beft work, that man can per- form, the cultivation of a country. May we not alfo attribute the debility of the civilized americans, as they are called, in Mexico, Peru, Paraguay, and Brafil, to this among other things, that we have changed their country and manner of living, without the power or the will of giving them an european nature ? All the nations, that live in the woods, and after the manner of their forefather?, are ftrong and bold, live long, and renovate their vigour like their own trees : thofe on the cultivated land, deprived of (hade and moiilure, de- cline miferably ; their fouls are left behind in the woods. Read, as an exam- ple, the affedting hiftory of a fimple flourifliing family, drawn from it's wilds by Dobritzliofer *. Both the mother and daughter foon died; and both in dreams continued to call on their fon and brother left behind, till death dofed * Dobritzhofer'i GiJcbUbtt dtr Jbs^tr9 «Hiiloxy oiH» Abipouani^' Vol« J!» p. 114« Digitized by Google Chap. V.] Remarks on tie Oppoßüon between Geneßs and Climate. 187 his eyes without the aid of difeafe. This alone renders it comprehenfible, how nations, that once were valiant, aftive, and refolute, fliould in a (hort time fink into fuch aftate of weakneß, as the jefuits of Pan^uay and travellers in Peru defcribc : a weaknefs of which we cannot read without forrow. In the courfe of ages this fubjugation of Nature may have it's good eife&s in particular places * ; though I doubt this, if it were generally prafticable : but for the firft races, both of the civilizers and civilized, it appears to have none ; for Nature is every where a living whole, and will be gently followed and improved, not maftered by force. Nothing has been made of any of the favs^es, who have been fuddenly brought into the throng of an european city : from the fplendid height, on which they were placed, they longed for their native plains, and for the moft part returned inexpert and corrupted to their ancient way of life, which alfo they were now rendered mcapable of enjoying. It is the lame with the forcible alteration of (avage climates by european hands. O fons of Dedalus, emiflaries of Fate, how many inftruments are in your hands for conferring happinefs on nations by humane and compafGonate means ! and how has a proud infolent love of gain led you almoft every where into a different path ! All new comers from a foreign land, who have fubmitted to na- turalize themielves with the inhabitants, have not only enjoyed their lovt and friendfhip, but have ultimately found, that their mode of life was not altogether iinfuitable to the climate : but how few fuch are there I how feldom does an curope^tu hear from the native of any country the praife, * he is a rational man like us !* And does not Nature revenge every infult oflFered her ? Where are the conquefts, the faftories, the invafions, of former times, when diftant foreign lands were vifited by a different race, for the fake of devaftation or plunder ! The ftill breath of climate has diffipated or confumed them, and it was not difficult for the natives to give the finifliing ftroke to the rootlefs tree. The quiet plant, on the other hand, that has accommodated itfelf to the law^ of Nature, has not only preferved it's own eziflence, but has beneficially diffufed the feeds of cultivation through a new land. Future ages may decide, what benefit, or injury, our genius has conferred on other climates, and other climates on our genius. * See WiUiamfon's attonpt to expltin the caufes of change of climate, in the Berlin CoUedion, VoLVIL Digitized by Google [ 188 ] PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. BOOK vm. AS it would be with one, who, from navigating the fea, ßiould attempt a voyage through the air, fo it is with me, now that, having gone over the figure and natural powers of man, I come to his mind, and attempt to inveftx- gate it's variable faculties, as they exift throughout the wide World, from in- diredt, defective, and partly queftionable accounts. The metaphyfician has here a much eaiier tafk. He fets out with eilabliihing a certain idea of the mind, and from this deduces every thing, that can be deduced, wherever, or under whatever circumftances, it may be found. The philofopher of hiftory can pro- ceed on no abfb-adt notion, but on hiflory alone ^ and he is in danger of forming erroneous conclufions, if be do not generalize at leaft in fome degree the nu- merous fadts before him. I fhall attempt to explore the way, however : yet, inflead of launching out into the ocean, I fliall rather coaft along the Ihore ; or, to fpeak in plain terms, confine myfelf to undoubted fadts, or fuch as are ge- nerally coniidered fo, diftinguifliing them from my own conjedtures, and leaving it to thofe who are more fortunate» to arrange and employ them in a better manner. CHAPTER I. T^ite Appetites vf the human Species vary with their Form and Climate ; but a left brutal Ufe of the Senfes univerfally leads to Humanity, All nations, the difcafed albinoes perhaps excepted, enjoy the five or fix fcnfes of man : the men without feehng of Diodorus, and the nations of deaf and dumb, are proved fabulous in modern hiftory. Yet he, who attends only to the difference of the external fenfes among us, and then confiders the innu- merable multitudes living in all the climates of the Earth, will find himielf contemplating an ocean, where wave lofes itfelf in wave. Every man has a par- ticular proportion, a particular harmony as it were, between all his fenfi* tive feelings > fo that» in extraordinary caies, the moft wonderful appearances Digitized by Google Chap. I.] Appetites of the human Species vary with Form and Climate. 1 89 frequently occur, to (how the ftate of an individual on this or that occafion. Hence phyficians and philofophers have already formed whole colledtions of Angular and peculiar feelings, that is of idiofyncrafies, which are in many in- ftances equally rare and inexplicable. For the moft part thefe are obferved only in difeafe, or unufual incidents, not in the common occurrences of life. Lan- guage too has no terms for them ; as every man fpeaks and underftands accord- ing to his own perceptions alone, and different organizations of courfe want a common flandard for their different feelings. Even in the cleared fenfe, that of feeing, thefe differences difplay themfelves, not only with refpedt to diftaace, but alfo to the figure and colour of things : hence fo many painters have their peculiarities of outline, and almoft every one his particular ftyle of colouring. It is not the part of the philofophy of the hiftory of man to exhautt this ocean, but by fome ftriking differences to call our attention to the more delicate, that Kc around us. The moft general and neceffary fenfe is that of feeling : it is the bafis of the reft, and one of the greateft organic preeminences of man *. It has conferred on us dexterity, invention, and art ; and contributes more perhaps to the forma- tion of our ideas, than we imagine. But how different is this fenfe, according as it is modified by the way of life, climate, application, exercife, and native ir- ritability of the body ! To fome american nations, for example, an infenfibility of the ikin is afcribed, confpicuous even in women, and under the moft painful operations -f*. If the faft be true, I conceive it eafily explicable both from cor- poral and mental circumftances. For ages many nations in this quarter of the Globe have expofed their naked bodies to the piercing winds, and tlie ftings of infefts; and, to proteft them in fome meafurefrom thefe, have befmeared tiiem with acrid unguents. They alfo pluck out the hair, which promotes the ten- demefs of the ikin. Alkaline roots and plants, and the meal of acrimonious vegetables, are ufed by them as food j and the clofe fympathy between tl:e or- gans of digeftion, and the feat of feeling, the ikin, is well-known, this fenfe co^ii- pletcly failing in confequence of it in many diieafes. Elven their immoderate indulgence in eating, after which they will endure hunger to a degree equally uncommon, feems to confirm this infenfibility, which is alfoa fymptom of many of their difeafes J, and confequently muft be reckoned among the advantages • See Metzger on the bodily excellences of f Robertfon's Hiftory of America^ VoL I, jnan over brutes, in his Vermifibun Medkinifcbeu p. 562. Scbrifttm, « Mircellaneoas Medical Tradls/ t Ulloa, VoLI, p. 188« VoL IIL Digitized by Google I90 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [BookVKI. and diiadvantages of their climate. With it Natiire has gradually anned thetn againft evils» which greater feniibility would have rendered infupportable ; and with them Art has followed the fteps of Nature. The north-americans fuffer pain and torment with heroic infenfibility» from principles of honour. They are formed to it from in&ncy ; and in this the women yield not to the men. Thus ftoic apathy under bodily pam is to them a natural habitude : and their feebler appetite for pleafure, notwithflandmg the vivacity of their natural powers ia other refpeäs, and even that lethargic infenfibility» in confequence of which many fubjugated nations appear as if in a waking dream, feem deducible from this caufe. Brutes therefore muft they have been, who, from a flill greater want of human feeling, have abufed, or put to painful trials, a want, which Na- ture beftowed on her children for their folace and convenience. Ezperi^ce has fhown, that an immoderate degree of heat or cold fcorches up or benumbs the external feeling. Nations that walk barefoot on the iknds ac- quire a fole as hard as iron ; and inftances have been known of fuch perfons ftanding on burning coals for twenty minutes. Corrofive poifons can fo change the fkin, that a man may plunge his hand into melted lead $ and rigorous cold, as well as anger and other paffions of the mind, alfo contributes to deaden the feeling *• This fenfe on the other hand appears mofl exquiiite in regions, and under a mode of life, that are moft &vouifkble to the gentle contraftion of the fkin, and an harmonious extenfion as it were of the nerves of touch. The eaft- indian enjoys perhaps in the higheft perfection the organs of fenfe. His palate, which has never been blunted by flrong drink or flimulating food, taflcs the flightefl accidental flavour in pure water i and his fingers imitate the mofl delicate works in fuch a manner, that the copy is not to be diflinguilhed fix)m the originaL His mind is calm and ferene, an echo of the gentle feelings, that every thing around him excites. So play the waves about the fwan : fo whilper the winds through the thin foliage of fpring. Next to the warmth and fcrenity of the climate, nothing contributes fo much to this exquifitenefs of feeling, as cleanlmefs, temperance, and motion : three phyfical virtues, in which many nations, that we term uncivilized, exceed us, and which the inhabitants of the mofl delightfid countries appear particularly to claim as their own. Keepir^ the mouth clean, frequent bathing, love of exercife in the open air, and even the healthy and voluptuous rubbing and ex* tcnfion of the body, which was as well known to the romans, as it is now com- mon among the Indians^ perfians, and many tatar nations through a conlider- • Hancr»! Phyfidogy, Vol. V, p. i6. Digitized by Google Crap. I.] Appetites of the human Species vary with Form and Climate. 191 able traft of country, promotes the circulation of the fluids, and maintains the elaftic tone of the mufcular fibres. The inhabitants of the moft fertile country live temperately : they have no conception, that an unnatural ftimulation of the nerves, and a daily overloading of the veflels, can be pleafures, for which man was created : the caft of bramins have tafted neither flefli nor wine from the beginning of the World. Now fince the eifefts of thefe on the whole fyftem of fenfation in brutes are apparent, niuft they not operate much more power- fully on the flower of all organizations, man ? Moderation in fenfual enjoy- ment without doubt contributes more efFeftually to the philofophy of huma- nity, than a thoufand learned and artificial abftraft confidcrations. All people of coarfe feelings, in a favage ftate, or rigorous climate, are glut- tonous ; as they are frequently obliged to fuffcr hunger afterwards : for the moft part, too, they eat whatever comes in their way. Nations poflcfllng finer fenfes love more delicate plcafures. Their meals are fimple, and they eat daily the fame food ; but then they are fond of luxurious unguents, fine perfumes, pomp, and convenience ; and their higheft pleafure is fenfual love. If we were talking merely of the finenefs of organs, there can be no doubt, which way the prefe- rence would incline : for no poliflied european would hefitate, to choofe between the fat and train-oil of the greenlandcr, and the aromatics of the hindoo. But it is a queflion, in fpite of our verbal polifli, to which of the two we approach neareft upon the whole. The hindoo places his happinefs in tranquillity undif* turbed by paffion, in an uninterrupted enjoyment of ferenity and pleafure. He breathes voluptuoufnefs : he floats on a fea of pleafing dreams, and exhilarating fragrance. On the other hand, what are the objefts of our luxury ? for what does it difturb the whole World, and plunder ever quarter of the Globe ? New and pungent fpices for a blunted palate ; foreign fruits and food, which are often jumbled together in fuch a medley, that we cannot tafte their proper fla- vour; intoxicating liquors, that bereave us both of our fenfes and our peace; whatever can be invented to exhauft nature by exciting it, are daily the grand aim of our lives. By thefe, conditions are diftinguiflied : by thefe, nations are made happy.— —Happy ! Why do the poor fuffer hunger, and with benumbed fenfes drag on a wretched life of toil and labour ? That the rich and great may deaden their fenfes in a more delicate manner, without tafte, and probably to the eternal nourilhment of their brutality. * The curopeans eat every thing,' fays the hindoo, whofe more exquifite fmell revolts at the mere eflluvia of what they fwallow. According to his ideas, he can rank them only in the caft of the pariars, who, as a mark of fupreme contempt, are allowed to eat what Digitized by Google 19% PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book VHI. they pleafe. In many countries, too, the mohammedans call the europeans unclean beafts j and this not merely from religious antipathy. It can hardly be poffible, that Nature (hould have given us a tongue, in oider that the gratification of a few papillas on it Ihould be the aim of a laborious life, or the caufe of wretchednefs to others. She endowed it with the Icnfe of tafte, partly to fweeten the duty of fatisfying the calls of hunger, and enticing us to labour by more pleafing motives : and partly alfo to be the fcrupulous guard of our health ; but this it has long ceafed to be in all nations addidted to luxury. The cow knows what is falutary for herfelf, and felefts her food with apprehenfive caution : noxious and poifonous plants (lie avoids, and is feldom miftaken. Men, who live among beafts, can difcriminate their food like them; but lofe this faculty, when they come to alTociate with mankind, as the indians, who relinquifli the fimplicity of their diet, lofe the purity of their fmell. Nations, that enjoy healthful freedom, ftill poflefs much of this ffuiding fenfc. They feldom or never err with refpeft to the produ(fls of their own country : nay, the north-american can trace his enemy by the fmell, and by this the carib dif- tinguiflies the footfteps of different nations. Thus man may heighten his moft fenfual, his animal powers, by cultivating and exercifing them : but the highcft perfeftion of them confifts in a due proportion of them all, adapted to a truly human life, fo that no one be loft, and no one predominate. This proportion varies with country and climate. The inhabitant of hot countries eats with ea%tT appetite food to us highly difgufting : for his nature requires it, as a me- dicine, as an antidote *. Laftly, the fight and hearing are the nobleft fenfes, for which man is particu- larly formed by his organization ; for in him the organs of thefe fenfes are more artfully conftrufted, than in any other animal. How acute have the fight and hearing been rendered by many nations ! The calmuc fees fmoke, where nothing can be perceived by an european eye : the (hy arab hears ids around in his filent defert. If thefe acute and fine fenfes be exercifed with unremitting at- tention, the confequence is obvious : for we fee in many nations how far prac- tice can carry a man beyond the unprafVifed, even in the moft trifling things. People who live by hunting know every tree and bufli in their country : the north-americans never lofe their way in their forefts : they travel in queft of their enemies hundreds cf miles, and return again to their huts. Dobritzhofer in- forms us, that the civilized guaranies imitate with aftonifliing exaftncfs any piece * Wilfon's Obfervations on the Influence of Climate, p. 93« &c. Digitized by Google Chap. I.J Appetites of the human Species vary with Form and Climate. 195 of delicate workmanfhip, that is (et before them» but verbal defcriptions con- vey fcarcely any ideas to their minds : this is the natural confequcnce of their education, in which the underftanding is formed by prefent vifible objefts, not by words ; while on the other hand men taught by words have often heard fo much, that they are incapable oi feeing what is before their eyes. The under- ftanding of the free fon of Nature is divided as it were between the eye and the ear : he knows with accuracy the objefts he has feen, he relates with precifion the tales he has heard. His tongue ftammers not, as his arrow deviates not from it's mark : for how fliould his mind err, or hefitate, with rcfpeft to what it has feen and heard with precifion ? Nature has dilpofed things well for a creature, the firft buds of whofe under- ftanding and well-being arife only from the perceptions of the fenfes. If our bodies be found, if our fenfes be well-ordered and exercifed ; the foundations of a ferenity and internal fatisfaftion are laid, the lofs of which fpeculative rea- fon cannot eafily repair. The ground of man's phyfical happinefs every where confifts in his living where it is his lot to live, enjoying what is fet before him, and perplexing himfelf as little-as poflible with provident or retrofpedlive care» If he confine himfelf to this point, he is vigorous and tranquil : but if, while he ftiould enjoy and think only on the prefent, he fuffer his thoughts to wander, liow docs he diftrad and enfeeble himfelf, often leading a more painful life than the brute, happily reftrided to a narrower (phere ! The free child of Nature contemplates his parent, and is enlivened, without knowing it, by the fight of her garb ; or he follows his occupations, and, while he enjoys the revolving fea- fons, fcarcely grows old with any increafc of days. His ear, undifturbed by im- perfeft thoughts, and unperplcxed by written fymbols, hears perfeftly what it hears : it eagerly takes in words, which, indicating determinate objefts, are more fatisfaftory to the mind than volumes of barren abftradt terms. Thus lives, thus dies the favage ; fatisfied, but not glutted, with the fimple pleafures, that his fenfes enable him to enjoy. But Nature has conferred another beneficent gift on our (pecies, in leaving to fuch of it's members as are leaft ftored with ideas the firft germe of fuperiour fcnfe, exhilarating mufic. Before the child can fpeak, he is capable of fong, or at leaft of being affected by mufical tones ; and among the moft uncultivated nations mufic is the firft of the fine arts, by which the mind is moved. The pidturcs, which Nature exhibits to the eye, are fo various, changeable, and ex- tenfive, that imitative tafte muft long grope about, and feek the ftriking in wild and monftrous produftions, ere it learns juftnefs of proportion. But mufic, however rude and fimple, fpeaks to every human hearts and this, with the dance. Digitized by Google 194 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book VIII. conftitutes Nature's general feftival throughout the Earth. Pity it is, that moft travellers, from too refined a tafte, conceal fix)m us thefe infantile tones of foreign nations. Ufelefs as they may be to the mufician, they are inftrudkive to the inveftigator of man : for the mufic of a nation, in it's moft impcrfeft form, and favourite tunes, difplays the internal charafter of the people, that is to fay, the proper tone of their fenfations, much more truly and profoundly, than the moft copious defcription of external contingencies. The more in general I trace the whole fenfibility of man, in his various re- gions and ways of life, the more do I find Nature every where a kind parent. Where an organ is lefs capable of being gratified, ßie excites it lefs, and leaves it for ages in a gentle ilumber : where (he has refined and expanded an organ, flie has difpofed means to gratify it fully ; fo that the whole Earth, with this checked or heightened organization of man, founds to her ear as a wcU-tuncd inftrument, from which every poffible note is, or will be, produced. CHAPTER II. Tie human Fancy is every %viere organic and climatic^ but it is every where led by Tradition. Of a thing that lies without the fphere of our perception we know nothing : the ftory of a king of Siam, who confidered ice and fnow as non-entities, is in a thoufand inftances applicable to every man. The ideas of every indigenous nation are thus confined to it's own r^ion : if it profefs to underftand words expreiling things utterly foreign to it, we have reafon to remain long in doubt of the reality of this underftanding. * The greenlanders,' fays the worthy Cranz *, * are fond of hearing tales of Europe ; but they can comprehend nothing unlefs illuftrated by fome compa- rifon. " The town, or the country," for inftance, " has fo many inhabitants, that feveral whales would hardly fufHce to feed them a day : they do not eat whales, however, but bread, which grows out of the ground like grafs, and the flelh of animals that have horns ; and they are carried about on the backs of large ftrong beafts, or drawn along by them upon a wooden ftage." On hear- ing this, they call bread, grafs j oxen, reindeer ; and horfes, great dogs ; are ftruck -with admiration, and exprefs a wifli to live in fuch a fine fruitful country, till • Ce/cb. von CrctnUuul, * HiHory of Greenland, p. 225. Digitized by Google Cha?« IL] Human Fancy every where organic and climatic, 195 they are informed, that it frequently thunders, and no fcak arc to be procured there. Tlicy willingly hear of God and divine things, alfo, as long as you do not contradia their fuperftitious feibles.* From the fame author * I will com- pofe a catechifm of their theologico-natural philofophy, fliowing, that they can neither anfwer nor comprehend european queftion?, otherwife than according to the circle of their own conceptions, Queßion, Who created Heaven and Earth, and every thing that you fee ? Anfwer, That we cannot tell. We do not know the man. He muft have been a very mighty man. Or elfc thefe things always were, and will always re- main fo. Q, Have you a foul ? A, O yes. It can increafe and 4ecrea(e : our angekoks can mend and re- pair it : when a man has loft his foul, they can bring it back again : and they change a fick foul for a frefli found one from a hare, a rein-deer, a bird, or a young child. When we go a long journey, our foul often ftays at home. At night, when we are alleep« it wanders out of the body : it goes a hunting, dancing, or vifiting, while the body lies ftill. Q. What becomes of it after death ? A. Then it goes to the happy place at the bottom of the fea. Tomgarfuck and his mother live there. There it is always fummer, bright funfhine, and no night : and there, too, is good water, with plenty of birds, fiflies, feals, and rein- deer, all of which may be caught without any trouble, or taken out of a great kettle ready boiled. 42. And do all men go thither ? A, No: only good people, who were ufeful workmen, have done great actions, caught many whales and feals, endured much, or been drowned at fea, died in the birth, &c. &c» Digitized by Google MO PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book VIH. the dupes of tales older than themfelves. They were bom and brought up amid the imaginations of their tribe : their confecration was attended with failing, folitude, intenfion of the fancy, and exhauftion of body and mind ; fo that no one became a conjurer, till his familiar had appeared to him, and the bufinefs was firft accompliflbed in his own imagination, which he aftenvards carried on during his whole life for others, with repetition of fimilar exaltations of the mind, and debilitations of the body. The cooleft travellers have been afto- niflied by many juggling tricks of this kind, feeing fuch effefts of the power of imagination, as they could fcarcely have believed poffible, and often knew not how to explain. Of all the powers of the human mind the imagination has been leaft explored, and is probably the moft inexplicable : for, being connedkcd with the general ftrufture of the body, and with that of the brain and nen^es in particular, as many wonderful difeafes fliow, it feems to be not only the band and bafis of all the finer mental powers, but the knot, that ties body and mind together j the bud, as it were, of the whole fenfual organization, expand- ing to the higher ufe of the thinking faculties. Thus it is neceflarily the firll, that defcends from parents to children; as many inftances of deviation from the courfe of nature, and the undeniable fimilitude of the external and internal organization, even in the moft accidental circumftances, fufficiently prove. It has long been queftioned, whether there be innate ideas: and in the com- mon acceptations of the words the anfwer muft certainly be in the negative. But if we undcrftand them to fignify a predifpofition to receive, conneA, and expand certain ideas and images, nothing appears to make againft the affirma- tive, and every thing for it. If a child can inherit fix fingers, if the family of the porcupine-man in England could derive from their parent his unnatural ex- crefcences, if the external form of the head and face be often tranfmitted, as it evidently is, from father to fon ; would it not be ftrange, that the form of the brain, perhaps even in it's fineft organic divifions, (hould not be hereditary likewife ? Difeafes of the imagination, of which we have no idea, prevail in many nations: and all the countrymen of thofe, who are fo affe&ed, compaf- fionate them, becaufe they feel in themfelves the genetic difpofition to the fame difeafe. Among the valiant abiponians, for inftance, a periodical mad- nefs prevails, of which the madman has no confcioufnefs in the intervals : he is in health, as he was before, only his foul, they faj^ is gone out of him. In many nations, in order to give vent to this evil, dream-feafts have been efta- bliflied, in which the vifionaries are permitted to do whatever comes into their minds. Dreams, indeed, are of aftonifhing force among all people of warm imaginations; nay probably they were the firft mufes, the parents of pcctjry Digitized by Google Chap. IL] Human Fancy every where organic and climatic, 201 and fiftion. They introduced men to forms and things, which no eye had feen, but the defire of which lay in the human mind : for what could be more natural, than that the beloved dead (hould appear in dreams to thofe ihcy left behind, and that they, who had lived fo long with us awake, might now wifli to live with us at leaft as (hades in a dream ? The hiftory of nations will (how, how Providence has employed the inftrument of imagination, by which man might be adbed upon fo powerfully, (imply, and naturally : but it is horrible, when deceit or defpotifm abufes it, and renders fubfervient to it's purpofes that ocean of human fancies and dreams^ which no one has yet been able to fubdue. Great Spirit of the World, with what eyes doft thou contemplate all the (ha- dowy forms and vi(ions, that courfe each other on this our globe ! for we are fliadows, and dreams of (hadows are all that our fancies imagine *. As little as we are capable of refpiring pure air, as little can pure reafon impart itfclf wholly at prefent to our compound clay-formed (hell. Yet, amid all the errours of the imagination, the human fpecies is moulding to it : men are attached to figures, becaufe they exprefs things j and thus through the thickeft clouds they feek and perceive rays of truth. Happy the chofen few, who proceed, as far as is poffible in our Imiitcd fpheio, from fancies to eflences, that is from infancy to manhood, and whofc clear ixndcrftandings go through the hiftory of their bre- thren with this end in view« The mind nobly expands, when it is able to emerge from the narrow circle, which climate and education have drawn round it, and learns from other nations at leaft what may be difpenfed with by man. How much, that we have been accuftomed to con(ider as abfolutely neceflary, do we find others live without, and con(cquently perceive to be by no means indifpenfable ! Numberlefs ideas, which we have often admitted as the moft general principles of the human underftanding, difappear, in this place and that, with the climate, as the land vani(hes like a mift from the eye of the naviga- tor. What one nation holds indifpenfable to tlie circle of it's thoughts, has eever entered into the mind of a fecond, and by a third has been deemed inju* rious. Thus we wander over the Earth in a labyrinth of human fancies : but the qucftion is ; where is the central point of the labyrinth, to which all our wanderings may be traced, as refradled rays to the Sun ? * Ti ^£ Tiff ; Ti ^* ouTif ; Zxiaff 'cM^ ftVd^wTtfi. X. r. X. Pindar. F. Digitized by VjOOQ IC loz PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY, [BookVIIL CHAPTER III. T/id praBical Underßanding of the hitman Species has every wiete grotvn up under the I funis of Life y hut every where it is aBloffom of the Genius of the People^ a Son of Tradition and Cußom. It has been cuftomary, to divide the nations of the Earth into hunters, fiflier- men, fliepherds, and hufbandmen ; and not only to determine their rank in ci- vilization from this divifion, but even to coniider civilization itielfasa neceflary confequence of thb or that way of life. This would be very excellent, if thefe modes of life were determined themfelves in the firft place : but they vary with almoft every region, and for the moft part run into each other in fuch a manner, that this mode of claffification is very difficult to apply with accuracy. The greenlander, who ftrikes the whale, purfues the reindeer, and kiUs the feal, is occupied both in hunting and fifhing ; yet in a very different manner from that, in which the negro fiOres, or the araucoan hunts on the deferts of the Andes. Tlie bedouin and the mungal, the laplander and the peruvian, are fliepherds: but how greatly do they differ from each other, while one paftures his camels, another his horfes, the third his reindeer, and the laft his pacoes and llamas. The merchants of England differ not more from thofe of China, than the hufbandmen of Wliidah from the huCbandmen of Japan. Want alone, even when there is no deficiency of powers in a nation to obey it's demands, feems equally incapable of producing civilization : for as (bon as the Indolence of man has rendered him contented under his Neceffities, and both together have oegotten the child he names Convenience, he perfifts in his condition, and cannot be impelled to improve it without difficulty. Other caufes cooperate to determine the mode of life of a i)eople : but let us at prc- fent confider it as fixed, and inquire what aflive powers of the mind aredifplayed in it's various forms. Men who live on roots, herbs, and fruits, will remain inadive, and their faculties will continue limited, if fome particular motives do not impel them to civilization. Born in a fine climate, and defcended from a gentle race, they are gentle in their lives : for why (hould contention take place among men, on whom bountiful Nature beftows every thing without toil ? Their arts and inventions, too, extend only to their daily wants. The iflanders, whom Nature feeds with vegetable produftions, particularly the falubrious bread- Digitized by Google Chap. III.] Human Underß^mding a Son of tradition andCußom. 203 fruit, and clothes in a delightful climate with the rind of trees, lead a tranquil happy life. Birds, we are told, fat on the flioulders of the natives of the Ladrone iflands, and fang undifturbed : with the ufe of the bow they were unac- quainted, for no beaft of prey obliged them, to have recourfe to w eapons of defence. They were ftrangers to fire, alfo; for the mildnefs of their climate rendered it unneceiTary. The fame might be faid of the people of the Caroline and other happy iflands in the fouthern ocean ; only in fome of them fociety had arrived at a higher degree of civilization, and more arts and manufaftures liad arifen from various caufes. Where the climate was lefs temperate, men "were neceffitated to live more hardly, and with lefs fimplicity. The new- hollander purfues his opofTum and kanguroo, (hoots birds, catches fi(h, and eats yams : he has united as many ways of life as his rude convenience required, till he had rounded them as it were into a circle, in which he could live happily after his faflhion. It is the fame with the new-caledonian and new-zealander ; nor muft we except even the miferable inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego. They had their canoes of bark, bows and arrows, bafkets and pitchers, huts and fire, clothes and hatchets \ and confequently the commencement of all the arts, by means of which the moft enlightened nations upon Earth have attained their prefent civilization ; only with them, under the prelTure of benumbing cold, and amid their dreary rocks, every thing has remained in the rudefl flate. The californian difplays as much underftanding, as his country and way of life afford or require. So does the native of Labradore, and of every country on the mofl barren verge of the earth. Every where men have reconciled themfelves to nccefSty, and fh)m hereditary habit live happy in the labours, to which they are compelled. What makes not a part of their wants they defpife : aftively as the efkimaux plies his oar, he has not yet learned to fwim. On the great continents of our globe men and beafts crowd more together j and in confequence brutes have contributed in various ways, to exercife the human intelleä. The inhabitants of many morafles in America^ indeed, have been obliged to have recourfe to fnakes and lizards, to the iguana, the arma« dillo, and the alligator : but mofl nations have been hunters in a nobler mode. What does a north or fouth-american require, to fit him for the way of life, to which he is deflined ? He knows the beafb of his chace, their abodes, manners, and artifices, and arms himfelf againfl them with ftrength, addrefs, and exer- cife. The boy is educated, to afpire to the fame of a hunter j as the fon of a greenlander, to feek renown by catching feals : this forms the fubjeft of the difcourfe, the fongs, the tales of famous deeds, that meet his earsj this is rc- prefented to his eyes in exprefTive aftions, and animating dances. From his Digitized by Google 204 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book VIII. infancy he learns, to fabricate and employ the implements of the chace : wea- pons are his toys, and women the objefts of his contempt ; for the narrower the fphere of life, and the more determinate the objeft, in which perfection is fought, the fooner will this be attained. Nothing interrupts the courfe of the afpiring youth, but every thing tends rather to ftimulate and encourage him, as he lives expofed to the eyes of his countrymen, in the ftate and occupation of his father. If a man were to compofe a book of the arts of various nations, he would find them fcattered over the whole Earth, and each flouriftiing in it^s proper place. Here the negro kaps into the furf of a fea, into which no eu- ropean would venture : there he climbs a tree, on which our eye can fcarcely follow him. This filherman purfues his trade with fuch art, as if ho fafcinated his prey : that famoiede encounters the white beat, and oppofes him fingly : for yonder negro, uniting ftrength with addrefs, two lions are not more than a match. The hottentot attacks the rhinoceros and hippopotamus : the in- habitant of the Canary ifles traverfes the fteepefl rocks, leaping like a chamois from crag to crag : the ftrong manly wife of the tibetian carries the ftrang^r over the loftieft mountains of the Earth. The children of Prometheus, com- pofed of the parts and inftinfts of all animals, have excelled every one of thefe in arts and capacities, in one place or another, after having learned from them, whatever they have acquired. That men have learned moft of their arts from nature and animals, cannot be doubted. \Vhy does the inhabitant of the Ladrone iflands clothe himfelf with the bark of trees ? or the american and papoo adorn themfelvcs with feathers ? Becaufe the former lives amid trees, and obtains from them his food j and the elegant plumage of their birds is the moft beautiful objeft, that occurs to the fight of the latter. The hunter clothes himfelf like the game he pur- fues, and takes leflbns in architedure from the beaver of his lakes : others build their huts like nefts on the ground, or, with the birds, fix them upon trees. The beak of a bird was the model, from which men formed their arrows and fpearsj as the figure of the canoe was taken from that of a fifh. From the fnakc they learned the pernicious art of poifoning their weapons ; and the fin- gularly extenfive cuftom of painting the body was equally an imitation of birds and beafls. What ! thought man, fliall thefe be fo beautifully adorned, fo diftinguifhingly coloured, while I bear a pale uniform ikin, becaufe my indo- lence refufes, to prepare the covering my climate does not require? Hence he beo^an to paint and embroider himfelf with fymmetry. Even nations, that were not ftrangcrs to the ufe of clothes, envied the ox his horns, the bird his crefl, the bear his tail, and made them objefts of imitation. The north-americans Digitized by Google Chap. III.] Human Underßanding a Son of tradition and Cußom. io$ relate with gratitude, that ma'ize was brought to them by a bird : and the ufe of moft mdigenous medicines was unqueftionably learned from animals. But all thefe things required the fenfual minds of free children of Nature, who, living with thefe animals, think themfelves not infinitely exalted above them. It is difficult for an european in other parts of the world even to difcover, what the natives daily ufe : after many endeavours, they are obliged to obtain the fccret from thefe either by force or entreaty. But man went incomparably farther, when he attraAed animals about him, and finally brought them under his yoke. The immenfe difference between neighbouring nations, living with or without thefe auxiliaries to their powers, is evident. Whence came it, that America, on it's firft difcovery, was fo far behind the old world, and the europeans could treat it's inhabitants like a flock of de- fencelefs Iheep ? It depended not on corporal powers alone, as the examples of all the numerous favage nations (how: in growth, in fwiftnefs, in prompt addrcfs, they exceed, man for man, moft of the nations, that play at dice for their land Neither was underftanding, as far as it relates to the individual, the caufe : the amcrican. knew how to provide for himfelf, and lived happily with his wife and children. It arofe, therefore, from art, weapons, clofe connexion, and princi- pally from domefticated animals. Had the american poflefTed the horfe, the warlike majefty of which he tremblingly acknowledged ; had the fierce dog, which the fpaniard fent againft him as a fellow-foldier in the pay of his catholic majefty, been his ; the conqueft would have been more dearly purchafed, and at leaft a retreat to their mountains, deferts, and plains, would have remained open to a nation of horfemen. Even now, all travellers fay, the horfe makes the greateft difference between the american nations. The horfemen in the northern part of America, and ftill more in the fouthern divifion of that conti- nent, are fo fupcriour to the poor flaves of Mexico and Peru, Üiat a man would fcarcely fuppofc them to be neighbouring fons of the fame climate. T&e for- mer have not only maintained their freedom, but are become more manly both in body and mind» than they were probably at the difcovery of their country. The horfe, which the oppreffors of their brethren employed as an unconfcious inftrument of fate, may at fome future period perhaps be the deliverer of the whole land ; as the other domeftic animals, that have been introduced into it, have already been in fome meafure conducive to a more comfortable life, and may hereafter poffibly become auxiliary means of a degree of civilization peculiar to the weft. But as all this is in the hand of Fate, to the fame Fate muft be afcribed, what was in the nature of this quarter of the Globe, that it was fo long unacquainted with either horfe^ afs, ox, dog, fheep, goat, hog, cat> Digitized by Google io6 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book VIII. or camel. It had fewer kinds of quadrupeds, becaufe the land was lefs exten- five, feparated from the old world, and in great part probably later emerged from the bofom of the ocean than the other continents ; fo that it had fewer to tame. The paco and llama, the camel-flieep of Mexico, Peru, and Chili, were the only tameable and domefticated beads : for even the curopcans, with all their underftanding, have been unable to add any to thefe, or render either the quiqui or puma, the floth or tapir, an animal of domeftic utility. In the old world, on the contrary, how many animals are domeflicatcd ! and how much have they affifted the aftive mind of man ! But for the horfe and camel, the deferts of Arabia and Africa would be inacceflible : the (hcqi and the goat have been aids to domeftic economy ; the ox and the afs, to agricul- ture and trade. Tlic human animal, in a ftate of fimplicity, lives in friendfhip and fociety with thefe beafts; he treats them with kindnefs, and acknowledges his obligations to them. It is thus the arab, thus the mungal, lives with his horfe, the Ihepherd witli his flock, the hunter with his dogs, the peruvian with his llama *. It is alfo generally known, that all animals fubfervient to the purpofes of man are more ufeful, in proportion to the humanity of the treatment they re- ceive : they learn to underftand and have an affcdtion for man : capacities and inclinations are developed in them, which are to be found neither in the wild animal, nor in fuch as are abufed by man, which lofe even the powers and in- ftindls of their fpecies in ftupid fatnefs, or degraded forms. Thus man and bcaft have improved themfclves together in a certain fj)hcrc : the praftical underftand- ing of man has been ftrengthened and extended by the beaft j the capacity of the beaft, by man. When we read of the dogs of the kamtfchadales,we arc al- moft in doubt, which is the more rational creature, the kamtfchadale or his dog. In this fphere the firft adtive exertion of the human mind ftands ftill : nay it is difficult, for any nation accuftomed to it, to quit ; and every one particularly dreads fubmiflion to the yoke of agriculture. Notwithftanding the fine arable lands to be found in North-America; much as every nation values and defends it's property ; however highly fome have been taught by europeans, to prize gold, brandy, and certain of the conveniencies of life : ftill the tilling of the ground, with the cultivation of maize, and a few garden vegetables, is left to the women, as well as the whole care of the hutsj the warlike hunter could never bend his mind, to become a gardener, fliepherd, or huft)andman. The lavage, as he is called, prefers the aftive free life of Nature to every confideration : fur- * Read in CJlIoa, for inftance, of the child- other nations Hve with their betfts, is fufficiently iih joy» with which the peruvian dedicates a known /roin the accounts of various travellers, llama to his fervice. The manner, xt which Digitized by Google Ch A p. III.] Human Underflanding a Son of Tradition and Ciifiom. 207 rounded with perils, it awakens his powers, his courage, his refolution, and re- wards him witli health in the field, with independent cafe in his hut, with re- fpedk and honour among his tribe. He wants, he defires, nothing more : and what addition to his happinefs could he derive from another ftate, with the ad- vantages of which he is unacquainted, and to the inconveniences of which he cannot fubmit ? Read the various unadorned fpeeches of thofe, whom we call favages, and fay, whether found fcnfe and natural juftice be not confpicuous in them. The frame of man, too, in this ftate, is as much improved, though with a rude hand, and to few purpofes, as it is capable of being improved in it : he is formed to a contented equanimity, and to welcome death with calmnefs, after the enjoyment of a life of permanent health. The bedouin and abiponian arc both happy in their condition : but the former (hudders at the thought of in- habiting a town, as the latter does at the idea of being interred in a church when he dies ; according to their feelings, it would be the fame as if they were buried alive. Even where agriculture has been introduced, it has coft fome pains, to limit men to feparate fields, and eftablifti the diftinftion of mine and thine : many fmall negro nations, who have cultivated their lands, have yet no idea of it j for, fay they, the earth is common property. They annually parcel out the ground among them, till it whh little labour, and as foon as the harveft is gathered in, the land reverts to it's former common ftate. Generally fj^aking, no mode of life has eflcdcd fo much alteration in the minds of men, as agriculture, com- bined with the enclofure of land. While it produced arts and trades, villages and towns, and, in confequence, government and laws; it neceflarily paved the way for that frightfiil defpotifm, which, from confining every man to his field, gradually proceeded to prefcribe to him, what alone he (hould do on it, what alone he fliould be. The ground now ceafed to belong to man, but man became the appcrtenancc of the ground. Soon even the confcioufnefs of powers, that had been ufcd, was loft by their difufe : the opprefTcd, funk in cowardice and flavery, were led from wrctchednefs and want into eftcminate. debauchery. Hence it is, that, throughout the whole World, the dweller in a tent confidcrs the inhabitant of a hut as a fliackled beaft of burden, as a degenerate and fe- queftrated variety of the fpecies. The former feels pleafurc in the fcvereft want, while fcafoned and rewarded by freedom in a6b and will : on the other hand, the greateft dainties are poifons, when they benumb the mind, and deprive the frail mortal of worth and independance, the fole enjoyments of his precarious life. Imagine not, that I feek to derogate from the value of a mode of living. Digitized by Google 2o8 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [BookVIIL which Providence has employed as a principal inftrument for leading man to civil fociety : for I myfeif cat the bread it has produced. But let juftice be done to other ways of life, which, from the conftitution of our Earth, have been deftined, equally with agriculture, to contribute to the education of mankind. Land is cultivated in our manner by the fmalleft portion of the inhabitants of the Earth, and Nature herfelf has pointed out to the reft their different modes of living. The numerous nations, that live on roots, rice, fruits, fiflung, fowl- ing, and hunting, the innumerable nomades, although perhaps they now pur- chafe bread from their neighbours, or fow a little corn themfelves, and all the nations, that cultivate land without having a fixed property in it, or by means of their women and (laves, are not, proi>er]y fpeaking, hufbandmen : what a fmall part of the World remains, therefore, for this artificial way of life ! If Nature have any where attained her end, (he has attained it every where. The pradtical underftanding of man was intended, to bloffom and bear fruit in all it's varieties : and hence fuch a diverfified Earth was ordained for fo diverfificd a fpecies. CHATTER IV. Hht Feelings and Inclinations of Men are every where conformable to their Orga- nisation^ and the Circutnßances in which they live j but they are every where fwayed by Cuftom and Opinion. Self-preservation is the firft objeft of evejy exifting being: from the grain of fand to the folar orb, every thing flrivcs, to remain what it is : for this purpofe inftinft is impreffed on the brute i for this, reafon, the fubftitute of inftindt, is given to man. In obedience to this law, he every where feeks food at the impulfe of inexorable hunger : from his infancy, without knowing why or wherefore, he ftrives to exercife his powers, to be in motion. The weary does not call for fleep ; but lleep comes, and renoyates his exiftence i the vital powers relieve the fick, when they can, or at leaft ftrive to remove the difeafe* Man defends his life ^amft every thing, that attacks it ; and even without being feivfible, that Nature has taken meafures, both within and around him, for his fupport. There have been philofophers, who, on account of this inftinft of felf-prefer- vation, have claffed man with the beafts of prey, and deemed liis natural ftatc a ftate of warfare. It is evident, there is much impropriety in this. Man, it Digitized by Google Chap. IV.] Inclinations of Men conformable to their Organization^ or. 209 is true, is a robber, in tearing the fruit from the tree 9 a murderer, in killing an animal ; and the moft cruel oppreflbr on the face of the Earth, while with his foot, and with his breath perhaps, he deprives of life innimierable multitudes of invifible creatures. JEvery man knows the attempts of the gentle hindoo and extravs^nt egj'ptian philofophy, to render man a perfeftly harmlefs creature : but to the eye cf the fpcculatift they appear to have been in vain. We cannot look into the chaos of the elements ; and if we refrain from devouring any vifible animal, we cannot avoid fwallowing a number of minute living creatures, in water, air, milk, and v^etables. But away with thefe fubtilties, and, confidering man among his brethren,let us alk : is he by nature a beaft of prey toward his fellows, is he an unfocial being ? By his make he is not the former i and by his birth the latter ftill lefs. Con- ceived in the bofom of Love, and nourifhed at the bread of Affeftion, he is educated by men, and receives from them a thoufand unearned benefits. Thus he is aöually formed in and for fociety, without which he could neither have received his being, nor have become a man. Infociability commences with him, when violence is done to his nature, by his coming into coUifion with other men : but this is no exception, as here he ads conformably to the great uni- verfal law of felf-prefervation. Let us inquire what means Nature has invented,» to fatisfy and reftrain him as much as poffible even here, and prevent a date of general warfare among mankind. I. As man is the moft artfully complicated of all creatures, fo great a variety of genetic charaAer occurs in no other. Blind imperious inftinS: is wanting to his delicate frame ; but in him the varying currents of thoughts and defires flow into each other, in a manner peculiar to himfelf. Thus man, from his very nature, will claßi but little in his purfuits with man ; his difpofitions, fenfations, and propenfities, being fo infinitely diverfified, and as it were individualized. What is a matter of indifference to one man, to another is an objeft of defire : and then each has a world of enjoyment in himfelf, each a creation of his own. 2* Nature has beftowcd on this diverging fpecies an ample fps^e, the extenfivc fertile Earth, over which the moft different climates and modes of life have room to fpread. Here fhe has raifed mountains, there fhe has placed deferts or rivers, which keep men feparate : on the hunter fhe has beftowed the ex- tenfive forcft, on the fifherman the ample fea, on the fliepherd the fpacious plain. It is not her fault, that birds, deceived by the fowler's art, fly into his net, vherc they fight over their food, peck out each other's eyes, and contaminate the air they breathe : for fhe has placed the bird in the air, and not in the net of the fowler. See thofc wild fpecies, how tamely they live together ! no one Digitized by Google 2IO PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book VXIL envies another; each procures and enjoys what he wants in peacc^ It is re- pugnant to the truth of hiftory, to fet up the malicious difcordant difpofitioa of men crowded together, of rival artifts, oppofing politicians, envious authors, for the general charaöer of the fpecies : the rankling wounds of thcfc maligr nant thorns are unknown to the greater part of mankind ; to thofc, who breathe the free air, not the peflilential atmofphere of towns. He who maintains laws are neceflary, becaufe otherwife men would live lawlefsly, takes for granted what it is incumbent on him to prove. If men were not thronged together in clofe prifons, they would need no ventilators to purify the air : were not their minds inflamed by artificial madnefs, they would not require the rcftrain- ing hand of correlative art. 3. Nature, too, has (hortened, as fer as (he could,, the time, that men mufl: remain together. Man requires a long time to educate ; but then he is ftill weak : he is a child, quickly provoked, and as eafily forgetting his anger ; oftca difpleafed, but incapable of bearing malice. As foon as he arrives at years of maturity, a new inftindt awakes in him, and he quits the houfe of his father.. Nature afts in this inflind : (he drives him out, to conftrudt his own neft. And with whom does he conftruft it ? With a creature as diflimilaily (imilar to himfelf, and whofe pa(rions are as unlikely to come into coUifion with his, as is con(iftent with the end of their forming an union together. The nature of the woman is different from that of the man: (he differs in her feelings, (he differs in her aftions. Miferable he, who is rivalled by his wife, or excelled by her in manly virtues I She was deftincd to rule him by kindncfs and condcfcen- fion alone, which render the apple of difcord the apple of love. I will not purfue the hiftory of the difperfion of mankind any farther : with their divifion into different houfes and families, the foundations of new focieties, laws, manners, and even languages, were laid. What do we learn from thefe different, thefe unavoidable dialefts, which occur upon our Earth in fuch infi- nite numbers, and frequently at fuch little diftance from each other ? We learn, that the objedt of our diffufive parent was not to crowd her children together, but to let them fpread freely. As far as it may be, no tree is permitted to de- prive another of air, fo as to render it a ftunted dwarf, or force it to become a crooked cripple, that it may breathe with more freedom. Each has it's place allotted it, that it may afcend from it's root by it's own impulfe, and raife it's flourifiiing head. Peace, therefore, not war, is the natural ftate of mankind when at liberty : war is the offspring of neceffity, not the legitimate child of enjoyment. In the band of Nature it is never an end, cannibalifm itfelf even included, but here Digitized by Google Chap* IV.] Inclinations of Men conformable to their Organization^ tsfr. 2 n and there a fevere and melancholy mean, with which even the mother of all things could not entirely difpcnfe, but which, as a compenfation, (he has em- ployed foY* various, higher, and more valuable purpofes. Before we proceed to the afflifting confideration of cnn^ity, let us therefore examine delightful love : love, which extends it's fway over all the Earth, though every where appearing in different forms. As foon as the plant has attained its full growth, it bloffoms : thus the time of bloffoming is regulated by the period of growth, and this by the impulfc of the folar heat. The early or late arrival of man at maturity equally depends on climate, and the various circumftances connefted with it. The age of pu- berty differs aftonifliingly in different regions, and under different modes of life. The perfian maiden marries at eight, and becomes a mother in her ninth year : our ancient german heroines attained the age of thirty, before they thought of love. It is obvious to every one, how much this difference muft alter the relation of the fcxes to each other. The eaftem virgin is a child, when (lie is married : (he blooms eariy, and quickly fades : the maturer hu(band treats her as a child, or as a flower. Since in thofe warmer regions the ftimulus of phy(ical defire cot only awakes earlier in both fexes, but operates more intenfely, what ftep couH be more natural for the man, than to abufc the fuperiority of his fex, and endeavour to form a garden of thefe peri(hable flowers ? The con(equences of this ftep to the human fpecies were far from trifling. It was not merely, that the jealoufy of the hu(band conflned his numerous wives in a haram, where their improvement could not poffibly keep pace with that of the men : but as the females were educated from their infancy for the haram, and the fociety of women, nay the child was frequently fold or betrothed at two years of age j how could it be otherwife, than that the general behaviour of the man, domeftic economy, education of children, and laftly even the fecundity of the women, muft in time be affefted by this abufe ? It is fufficiently proved, for inftance, that too early marriage on the part of the wife, and too powerful a ftimulus on the part of the hu(band, contribute neither to the fertility of the fex, nor excellence of form. Indeed the accounts of various travellers render it proba- ble, that in feveral of thefe countries more females are adlually born than males; and if this be tme, it may be both an effeA of polygamy, and a caufe promot- ing it's continuance. It is certain, this is not the only cafe, in which art, and the licentioufnefs of man, have turned Nature out of her courfe: for elfewhene Nature maintams a pretty exadl proportion between the births of both fexes. But as woman is the moft delicate produdbion of our Earth, and love the moft Digitized by Google 212 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY- [Book VIH. jx)\vcrful engine, that afts throughout the whole creation, the manner» in which women are treated» mull be the tirft critical })0!nt of diftindtion in the hiftory of our fpecics. Every where woman has been the firft objeft of contentious defire» and from her nature not lefs the firft failing ftone in the human edifice. For examples let us accompany Cook on his laft voyage. While in the So- ciety and other iflands the female fex appeared to be wholly dedicated to the ntes of Cytherea» fo as not only to rcfufe nothing for a nail» an ornament» a feather» but even the huft)and was ready to barter his wife for any trifle he wiflied to poiTefs ; the fcene completely changed with the climate and cha« rafter of other iflanders. Where the men appeared armed with the hatchet of war, the women were more confined to their houfes ; and the ruder manners of the hufband rendered the wife more ftrift» fo that neither her charms nor de- formities were expofed to the eyes of the world. There is no circumftancc, I believe» which fo decifively (hows the charafter of a man» or a nation, as the treatment of women. Moft nations, that acquire fubfiftence with diffi- culty, degrade the female fex to domeftic animals» and impofe on them all the labours of the hut : the hufband imagines bold» dangerous» manly enterprife fufficiently excufes him from fubmitting to more trifling occupations» and leaves thefe to his wife. Hence the extreme fubjeftion of the women in moft fiivage nations throughout the World : and hence the little refpeft paid the mother by her fons» as foon as they arrive at years of maturity. They arc early initiated in perilous undertakings, fo that the fuperiority of the man is fre- quently occurring to their minds, and a rude difpofition to toil or danger foon takes place of a more tender affeftion. From Greenland to CafTraria this contempt of the women prevails in all uncultivated nations; though it ap- pears among every people, and in every particular region, in a different form. The wife of the negro is far beneath her hufband in flavery» and at home the wretched carib imagines himfelf a king. But the feeblencfs of the woman feems not to have been the only chrcum- ftance, that has rendered her fubordinate to the man ; in moft places her greater fenfibility, her artfulnefs, and in general the more delicate mobility of her mind, appear to have contributed to it ftill more. The afiatics, for in- ftance, cannot conceive, how the unbounded liberty of the women, as in Eu- rope, the feat of female empire, can fubfift without expofing the men to ex- treme peril : with them, they are perfuaded, every thing would be in a perpe- tual ftate of commotion» if thefe artful creatures, eafily moved» and ready to attempt any thing, were not under reftraint. The only rcafons affigned for Digitized by Google Chap.IV.] Inclinations of Men conformable to their Organization^ bk. 213 many tyrannical cuftoms are, that the women formerly brought on themfelvcs fuch rigid Jaws by fuch or fuch an aftion, and the men were compelled to hare rccourfe to them for their own peace and fccurity. It is thus they ac- count for the inhuman cuftom of burning wives with their hufbands in Hin- duftan : the life of the huiband, they fay, would never have been fafe, but for this dreadful remedy, which impels the wife, to facrifice herfelf with him : and when we read of the ardent paffions of the women in thofe countries, the fafci- nating charms of the indian dancing girls, and the cabals of the haram among the turks and perfians, we are led to think fomething of the kind not incredi- ble. The m.en were incapable of fecuring from fparks the inflammable tinder, which their voluptupufncfs had compofed ; aijd too weak and indolent, to un- ravel the immenfe web of female capacities and contrivances, and turn them to better purpofes : accordingly, as weak and voluptuous barbarians, they fought their own quiet in a barbarous manner ; and fubjeded by force thofe, whofe artfulnefs their underftanding was unable to fway. Read what the greeks and aiiatics have (aid of women, and you will find materials for explaining their fingular fate in moft warm climates. The whole, it muft be confeffed, is ul- timately afcribablc to the men, whofe flupid brutality did not eradicate the evil, they have fo lamely attempted to reRrain ; as appears, not only from the hiftory of civilization, which, by a rational education, has placed woman on a level with man, but from the example of fome uncivilized yet intelligent na- tions. The ancient german, in his wild forefls, underftood the worth of the female fex, and enjoyed in them the nobleft qualities of man, fidelity, prudence, courage, and chaflity : but to this his climate, his genetic charaAer, and every part of his way of life, contributed. He and his wife grew, like their oaks, flowly, unexhaufled, and fbong : the flimulus of feduftion his country did not fupply; and both the general condition and neceflity inclined each fex to virtue. Daughters of Germany, be not infcnfible of the fame of thofe, from whom ye are defcended, and afpire to emulate them : there are few na- tions, on whofe females hiftory has conferred equal renown j -and there are few nations, in which the hufband has fo honoured the virtues of the wife, as in an- cient Germany. The women of moft nations in a fimilar flate were flaves : your mothers were the friends and counfellors of their hufbands, and every wor- thy woman among you is fo now. Let us proceed to the virtues of women, as they difplay themfelves iu the hiftory of mankind. Even among the mofl favage people the woman is diflin- guifhed from the man by more delicate civility, and love of ornament and decoration : and thefe qualities are difcernible, even where the nation has to Digitized by Google 114 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book VIIL contend againft an unfriendly climate, and the mod diftreffing want. Every where the woman adorns herfelf, however fcanty the materials (he is able to procure. So in tlie eariy fpring the Earth, rich in life, fends forth at leafl: a few inodorous bloffoms, to fhow what llie is capable of cfFefting in other feafons. Cleanlinefs is another female virtue, to which woman is impelled by nature, and excited by her dcfire to pleafe. The regulations, nay often fupcrerogatory laws and cuftoms, by which all unvitiatcd nations keep women when labouring under difeafe in a ftate of feparation, that no injur}' may acrue from them, re- fleft difgrace on many civilized people. They are in confcquence unacquainted with a great part of the weaknefles, which among us are both the effeds, and again new caufcs, of tliat deep degeneracy, which licentious, difeafed effeminacy tranfmits to a wretched offspring. The gentle endurance, the indefatigable adivlty, for which the fofter (ex, when not corrupted by the abufes of civilization, are diftinguilhed, deferve ftill greater commendation. They bear with refignation the yoke, that the rude fupcriority of ftrcngth in man, his love of idlenefs and inadHon, and laftly the faults of their anceftors, have entailed on them as an hereditary cuftom ; and the moft perfeft examples of this are often found among the nioft wretched people. It is not from diflimulation, that in many regions the marriageable females muft be compelled by force to fubmit to the drudgery of the wedded ftate : they run from their hut, they flee into the defert : with tears they put on the bridal garland, the laft flower of their freer, playful youth. Moft of the epithalamiums of fuch nations are meant to encourage and confole the bride, and are compofcd in a melancholy ftrain*, at which we are apt to laugh, becaufe we are infenfible of their innocence nnd truth. The bride takes a tender leave of all, that was dear to her youth, quits the houfc of her parents, as one dead to them for ever, lofes her former name, and becomes the property of a ftranger, who in all likefihood will treat her as a flavc. She muft facrifice to him every thing, that is moft dear to a human being, her perfon, her liberty, her will, nay probably her life and health ; and all for the gratification of a paflion, to which the modeft virgin is yet a ftranger, and which will foon be drowned in a fea of inconveniences. Happy is it, that Nature has endowed and adorned the female heart with an unfpeakably affeftionate and powerful fenfe of the perfonal worth of man. This enables her to bear alfo his feverities : her mind willingly turns from them to the contemplation of whatever flie con- • See fome of them in tbe Folkslieätrn, « Popular Songs,' Vol. I, p. 33, Vol. II, p. 96-98, 104. Digitized by Google Chap. IV.J IncUmtiohs of Men (onfomaHe to their Orgatdzatioft^ iäc. 215 fiders as noble, great, valiant, and uncommon in him : with exalted feelings £he participates in the manly deeds, the evening recital of which foftens the fa- tigue of her toilfome day, and is proud, fince (he is deft'med to obedience, that flic has fuch a hufband to obey. Thus the love of the romantic in the female diarafter is a benevolent gift of Nature ; a balfam for the woman, and an ani- mating reward for the man : for the moft valuable prize of the youth was ever the love of a maiden. Laftly muft be mentioned that fweet maternal afiedion beftowed on wo- man by Nature J. almoft independent of cool reafon, and far remote from the felfifli defire of reward. The mother loves her child, not becaufe he is amiable, but as a living part of herfelf, the child of her heart, the copy of her nature. Hence her bowels yearn with compaffion for his fufferings ; her heart beats higher at his happinefs ; her blood flows more placidly, while he receives the ftream from her bread. Thefe maternal feelings pervade every uncorrupted nation upon Earth: no climate, by which all other things are changed, could alter this : the mod depraved cuftomsi of fociety alone can in time perhaps render enervating vices more pleafing than the tender pains of ma^ ternal love. The grcenlander fuckles her fon three or four years, becaufe her climate affords no food proper for infants : (lie fubmits to all the perverfitiea arifing from the latent infolence of the future man with indulgent forbearance. The ncgrefs difplays more than manly ftrength^ when a monfter attacks hec child : we read with a(loni(bment infbnces of maternal magnanimity contemn- ing life. Laftly, when the tender mother,, whom we call a favage, is deprived of her chief confolation, the objeft of her care, and that tor which (he values life, her feelings furpafs defcription *. How then can thefe nations be deficient in fentiments of true female humanity, unlefs perhaps want and mournful ne- ceflity, or a falfe point of honour and fome barbarous hereditary cuftom, occa.- fionally lead them aftray ? The germes ot every great and noble feeling not only exift in all places, but are univerfally unfolded, as much as the way of life, climate, tradition, or peculiarity of the nation will permit. If thefe things be fo^ the hufband would not remain infcriour to the wife : and what manly virtue can we conceive, that has not found fome place of the Earth or other, in which to flourilh ? Afpiring courage, to be a fovereign on Earth, and to enjoy life with freedom, but not with inadlivity, is the firft virtue of the man. This has formed itfelf moft extenfively and diverfely; as it has been almoft every where foftercd by necefSty, and every region,, every variatioa • See Carver'f Traveh, p. 338 &c., thelamenutions of the naudoweflec woman,, who had loff her haftandft aad her fon of four years old. Digitized by Google 2i6 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY, [BooKVm. of manners, has given it a diflFerent tum. Thus man foon fought fame in perils ; and to furmount them was the moft precious jewel of his life. This difpofition defcendcd from father to fon : the radiments of education promoted it, and in a few generations the tendency became hereditary. No other man is afFeftcd by the found of the horn, and the voice of the hound, like him who is bom a hunter : to this the impreflions he received in his childhood contribute. Nay frequently the countenance of the hunter, and the ftrufture of his brain, are tranfmitted to his pofterity. It is the fame with all the other ways of life of free, aftive nations. The fongs of a people are the beft teftimonies of their peculiar feelings, propenfities, and modes of viewing things ; they form a faithful com- mentary on their way of thinking and feeling, exprefled with opennefs of heart *. Even their cuftoms, proverbs, and maxims, exprefs not fo much as thefe : but Hill more fliould we learn from the charafteriftic dreams of a nation, if we had examples of them, or rather if travellers would note them. In dreaming, and at play, man exWbits himfelf juft as he really is, but in the former moft. Paternal love is the fecond virtue, which is beft difplaycd by a manly edu- cation. The fether early inures his fon to his own mode of life : teaches him his art, awakens in him the fenfe of fame, and in him loves himfelf, when he fliall grow old, or be no more. This feeling is the bafis of all hereditary honour and virtue : it Tenders education a public, an eternal work : it has been the in- ftrument of tranfmitting to pofterity all the excellencies and prejudices of the human fpecies. Hence in almoft all nations and tribes the mutual joy, when the fon arrives at manhood, and equips himfelf with the implements or weapons of his father : hence the deep forrow of the father, when he lofes this his proudeft hope. Read the lamentations of the greenlander for the lofs of his fon -f , liften to the complaints of Offian on the death of his Ofcar, and in them you will perceive the bleeding wounds of the paternal heart, the nobleft of the manly breaft. The grateful love of the fon to his fether is certainly but a flight return for the affeftion, with which the father has loved his fon : but this too is the dc- fign of Nature. When the fon becomes a father, his heart afts in the line of defcent upon his children : the full ftream is ordained to flow downward, not upward ; for thus only the ever growing chain of new races can be upheld. It is not therefore to be reprobated as unnatural, if fome nations, oppiefTed by want^ prefer the child to the decayed parent ; or, as fome accounts fay, even • Sec the FMslinlir, « Popular Songs,' partly Vol. II, p. aio, 245. in general, partly the DOrthern fongs in par- f Volhlitder, Vol. II, p. 128. ticDlar, Vol. I, p, 166, 175, 177, 242, 247, Digitized by Google Ch a p . IV.] InciinatiOHS of Men cmfirmahlt to tkeir OrganizatipH^ &r. 217 accelerate the death of thofe, who are worn out by age. It is not hatred, but melancholy neceffity, or rather cool benevolence, from which this fprings : as they cannot feed the aged, as they cannot take them with them, they choofe rather vyith friendly hand, to beftow on them an eafy death, than leave them to perifh by the fangs of wild beads. Cannot a friend, when impelled by neceffity, deprive his friend of life, however painful the taik may be; and thus confer on him, whom he is unable to &ve, the only benefit in his power ? But, that the fame of the father lives and afts immortally in the minds of his defcendants, appears in moft nations, from their fongs and wars, their hiftory and traditions, and (till more efpecially from their rooted efteem for that way of life, which they haye received as an inheritance. Finally, common perils excite common courage: thus they knit the third and nobleft tie oimzxiyfriindßip. In countries and modes of life, that render union in enterprize neceffary, heroic minds are found wearing the bonds of friendßiip through life and death. Such were thofe friends of the heroic ages of Greece, whofe fame will live immortally : fuch were thofe renowned fey- thians; and fuch are ftill to be found among nations addidled to hunting, war, or adventures of any kind, amid woods and deferts. Tho hufbandman knows only a neighbour, the mechanic a workfcllow, whom he aids or envies : the merchant, the man of letters, the courtier — ^how remote are they from that chofen, aftivc, tried friendihip, with which the wanderer, the prifoner, the flave who groans with another in one chain, are much better acquainted ! In times of need, on occafions of exigence, minds unite : the dying man calls on his friend, to avenge his blood, and rejoices in the hope of meeting him be- yond the grave. The friend thirfts with an unquenchable defire, to take ven- geance for the death of him, to whom he is attached, to deliver him from prifon, to affift him in the combat, and to (hare with him the meed of glory. An united tribe, among little nations, is nothing but a band of fworn friends, fcgregated from all the reft, whether in love or hatred. Such are the arabian tribes \ fuch are many of the tatar hordes j and fuch are moft of the nations of America. The bloodieft wars between them, which feem to difgracc huma- nity, originally (prung from the noble fentiment of an injury done to the honour of the tribe, or an offence committed againft it's friendftiip. 1 fliall not at prefent purfue this fubjeft through tl;e different forms of go- vernment of the male or female fovercigns of the Earth. For, fince in all, that has hitherto been faid, we find no grounds to explain, why one man fliould rule over thoufands of his fellows by right of birth ; why he fliould exadt fix>m them obedience to his will without conditions and without control, fend Digitized by Google ai8 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book VIIT, thoufands of them to be killed without contradiftion, diflipate the wealth of the ilate without rendering any account of it, and befide this lay the mod op- preflive taxes precifely on the poor : lince we are flill lefs capable of deducing from the original difpofitions of Nature, why a bold and valiant people, that is to fay thoufands of worthy men and women, frequently kifs the feet of a weak creature, or worfliip the fceptre, with which a madman tears their flefti from their bones ; ftill lefs what god or demon it is, that infpires them, to fubmit their underftanding, their abilities, nay frequently their lives, and all the rights of man, to the will of one, and deem it their greateft joy and happinefs, that tlie defpot (hould beget a future defpot like himfelf ; fince all thefe things appeal at firft view the moft inexplicable enigma of human nature, and happily, or unhappily, to the greater part of the Earth this form of government is un- known i we cannot reckon them among the primitive, ncceffary, univerfal laws, that Nature has impofed upon mankind. Hufband and wife, father and fon, friend and enemy, are determinate relations and names : but the ideas of leader and king, an hereditary Icgiflature and judge, an arbitrary fovereign and ruler of the ftate, in his own perfon and in thofe of all his pofterity yet un- born, require a different explanation, from what we can here beftow on them. Let it fqffice, that we have hitherto confidered the Earth as a feminary of na- tural fenfes and endowments^ arts and capacities, mental faculties and virtues, in confiderable variety : but how far man is qualified, or enabled, to procure himfelf happinefs thereby, or where tlie ftandard of happinefs is to be found, let us now proceed to inquire. CHAPTER V. 7 he Happinefs of Man is in all Places an individual Gcod; coufequentfy it is eveij where climatic and organic^ the Offspring of PraäscCy Tradition^ and Cußoni, The very name of happinefs * implies, that man is neither fufceptible of pure blifs, nor capable of creating felicity for himfelf. He is the child of Accident, • B-^ing denved from hap, chance. The cafual felicity of this. Our language has not terms here contraftcd in the original zxz fäig' two words exprefling precifely the fame ideas^ ksit and ghtckftUgkeit : the former, which I have and contralled in a fimilar manner ; fo that I rendered blifs, implies the permanent felicity am obliged to content myfelf with the term of the other world } to this glutck, fignifying happinefs, pointing out the contingency im- chaoce, or fortune^ is prefixed to exprefs the plied in it's derivation. T» Digitized by Google Chap. V.] Happinefs an sHdiviJual Good. ai^ vho has placed him on this fpot, or on that, and determined his capacity of enjoyment, and the kind and meafure of his joys and forrows, according to the country, time, organization, and circumftances, in which he lives. It would be the mod ftupid vanity to imagine, that all the inhabitants of the World muft be europeans to live happily. Should we ourfelves have become what we are out of Europe ? He who placed us here, and others there, un- doubtedly gave them an equal right to the enjoyment of life. Happinefs is an internal ftate ; and therefore it's ftandard is not featcd without us, but in the bread of every individual, where alone it can be determined : another has as little right to conftrain me to adopt his feelings, as be has power to impart to me his mode of perception, and convert his identity into mine. Let us not place, therefore, from indolent pride, or too common prefumption, the form and ftandard of hurtian happinefs higher or lower, tlian it has been fixed by the creator ; for he alone knows, what a mortal can attain upon Earth. I. Our complexly organized bodies, with all their fenfes and limbs, have been beftowed on us for ufe, for exercife. Without this our fluids ftagnate » our organs become languid ; and the body, a living corpfe, dies long before it*s deceafe; it pcriflies by a flow, miferable, unnatural death. If Nature, therefore, would fccure us the firft indifpenfable foundation of happinefs, health,, (he muft beftow on us exercife, toil, and labour, and rather compel man thereby to a ftate of wellbeing, than leave him to difpenfe with it. Hence, as the greeks fey, the gods fold every thing to mortals at the price of labour ; not out of envy, but from kindnefs; for the greateft enjoyment of exiftence, the fcnfa- tion of adlive ftriving powers, lies in this very ftruggle, in this ftriving after the comforti of eafe. Human nature languifties only in thofe climates, or condi- tions, in which enervating idlenefs, in which voluptuous indolence entombs the body alive, and renders it a pallid carcafe, or a burden to itfelf ; in other coun- tries, in other modes of life, even in the moft fevere, the moft energetic growth, the healthieft and moft beautiful fymmetry of the limbs, prevail. Turn over the hiftory of nations, and read what Pages fays, for example, of the make of the chaAaws and tegaws, of the charadbers of the biflagoans, hindoos, and arabs * : even the moft unfavourable climates make little difference in the duration of life, and want itfelf llrengthens the cheerful fon of need for the performance of health-giving labour. Even the mal conformations of the body, that occur here and there upon the Earth as genetic charaÄcrs or hereditary modes, are lefs detrimental to health, than our artificial embellifliments, our • Voyagts d€ Pagts^ • Pages'f Travels,* p. 17, 18, 26, 52, 54, 140, 141, 156, 167, 188« &c. Digitized by Google (y^^ ft20 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book VIII. many forced unnatural ways of life : for what is a larger lobe of the ear of an arracanefe, the eradicated beard of an eaft or weft indian, or perhaps a perfo- rated nofe, to the ftraitencd, tortured breaft, bent knee, mifliapcn foot, dif- torted or ricketty form, and comprefled bowels, of fo many delicate male and female europeans ? Let us therefore thank Providence, that, as health is the foundation of all phyfical happinefs, it is fo difiufed over the Earth. Nations» to whom we are inclined to think Nature has played the ftep-mother, are per- haps her inoft favoured children: for, if flic have prepared them no idle feaft of pleafing poifons, flie has prefented to them from the hard hand of labour the cup of health, and an internal invigorating vital warmth. Children of the rofy mom, they bloom to the laft : a frequently carelefs ferenity, an internal fenfation of well-being, is to them happinefs, is to them the end and enjoyment of life : could any other, could happinefs more fwect and durable, be conferred upon them ? 2. We boaft of the refinement of our mental powers : but let melancholy experience teach us, that every refinement does not promote happinefs j nay, many an inftrument becomes unfit for ufe by it^ very delicacy. Contempla- tion, for inftance, can form the pleafure only of a few idle men : and to them, like opium to the afiatics, it is frequently an enervating, confuming, ftupcfying, vifionary pleafure. The waking, healthy ufe of the fenfes, an underftanding employed about the real concerns of life, vigilant attention, accompanied with aftive recolledlion, quick determination, and happy efFeft, alone conftitute what we call prefcnce of mind, real mental vigour, which repa)'s itfelf with the con- fcioufnefs of a prefent aftive power, with happinefs and joy. Think not, fons oTmen, that a premature difproportionate refinement or cultivation is happi- nefs J that the dead nomenclature of all the fciences, the holiday ufe of all the arts, can (teure to a living being the {cience of life : the feeling of happinefs is not acquired from words learned by rote, or a knowledge of the arts. A head ftuflfed with knowledge, . even of golden knowledge, opprefles the body, ftraitens the brtaft, dims the eye, and is a morbid burden to the life of him who bears it. The more we divide our mental powers by refinement, the more the inaftive powers decay : ftretched on the fcaflfold of art, our limbs and faculties wither while difplayed with oftentation. The blefEng of health arifes only from the ufe of the whole mind, and of it's aftive powers in particular: let us thank Providence, therefore, for not rendering the human fpecies in general too refined, and the Earth an auditory of the learned fciences. In moft nations and conditions of men, the mental powers are kindly left bound together in a £rm knot, and developed only where need requires. Mo& nations of the Earth Digitized by Google Chap, v.] Happinefs an individual Good, tit aft and think, love and hate, hope and fear, laugh and cry, like children : at leaft, therefore, they enjoy the happinefs of the childifh dreams of infancy. Un- happy he, who firft takes the pains, to dive beneath the furface for the happi- nefs of life ! 3. As our wellbe ng is rather a quiet feeling, than a brilliant thought; fo our lives are embclliflied with love and joy much more from the feelings of the heart, than from the efFefts of the moft profound uitderftanding. How good, therefore, has our common mother been, in rendering the fource of goodwill toward ourfelves and others, the true humanity of our fpecies, for which it wa* created, almoft independent of motives and artificial incentives. Every living being rejoices in his exiftence : he inquires not, he does not fcrupuloufly ex- amine, why he exifts : his exiftence is to him an end, and his end is exiftence No lavage^ commits filicide^ as no beaft deftroys himfelf: he propagates his fpecies, without knowing to what purpofe ; and in the fevereft climate fubmits to every toil and labour, merely that he may live. The fimple, rooted feeling of exiftence, for which there is no equivalent, is happinefs, therefore: a drop from tl e infinite ocean of the AUblifsful, who is in all, and feels and enjoys himfelf in all. Hence that imperturbable joy and tranquillity, which many curopcans admire in the countenances and lives of foreigners, becaufe their reft- lefs anxiety prevents them from entertaining fimilar feelings : hence, too, that opcnhearted benevolence, that anticipating unconftrained courtefy, which we find in all happy nations, not compelled to defence or revenge. From impar- tial accounts, this is fo generally diffufed over the Earth, that it might be deemed the charafteriftic of man ; were it not, alas^ equally the charafter of his equivocal nature, to reftrain this frank benevolence, this courteous tranquillity and joy in himfelf and others, at the call of reafon or fancy, to guard agalnft future want. Why (hould not a creature happy in himfelf fee others happy about him, and endeavour what he can to promote their being fo ? But while we ourfelves, fut»-ounded with wants, increafe our neceffitles ft ill more by our own art and contrivance, our being is contrafted, and the clouds of diftruft, anxiety, labour, and care, obfcure a countenance formed for cpen participating joy. Yet even here Nature has taken the human heart in hand, and moulded the fenfible clay in fuch various ways, that where (lie could not gratify with giving, ftie has fought at leaft to fatisfy in refufing. The european has no idea of the boiling paffions and imaginations, that glow in the negro's breaft ; and the hindoo has no conception of the reftlcfs defires, that chafe the european from one end of tlie World to the other. The favage cannot gratify his Digitized by Google 222 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [BookVIIL paflfions in voluptuoufncfs, and therefore they incline more to compofure aod tranquillity : on the other hand, where the flame of benevolence fcatters light Iparks all around, it quickly kindles, and perifhes in thefe fparks. In fliort, the human feelings have received every form, that could find a place in the various climates, dates, and organizations of our Globe : yet every where the happincfb of life confifts not in a tumultuous crowd of thoughts and feelings, but in their relation to the aftual internal enjoyment of our exiflencc, and what we reckon as part of our cxiftence. No where upon Earth does the rofc of happinefs bloffom without thorns : but what proceeds from thefe thorns is every where, and under all it's forms, the lovely though pcrilhable rofe of vital joy- If I err not, from thefe fimple data, the truths of which ever}' heart muft feel, a few lines may be drawn, which determine at lead many doubts and miftakes con- cerning the deftination of the human fpecies. How, for inftance, can it be, that man, as we know him here, fliould have been formed for an infinite improvement of his mental faculties, a progrcffive extenfion of his perceptions and adlions ? nay, that he fliould have been made for the (late, as the end of his fpecies, and all preceding generations properly for the lafl: alone, which is to be enthroned on the ruined fcafiblding of the happinefs of the refl:? The fight of our fellow- creatures, nay even the experieace of every individual life, contradids this plan attributed to creative Providence. Neither our head nor our heart is formed for an infinitely increafing fl:ore of thoughts and feelings j our hand is not made, our life is not calculated for it. Do not our fined mental powers decay, as weH as flourilh ? do they not even fluftuate with years and circumdances, and relieve one another in friendly conted, or rather in a circular dance ? And who has not found, that an unlimited extenfion of his feelings enfeebles and annihilates them, while it gives to the air in loofe flocks what fliould have formed the cord of love, or clouds the eyes of others with it's aflies? As it is impoflible, that we can love others more than ourfelves, or in a different way ; for we love them only as part of ourfelves, or rather ourfelves in them j that mind is haj^py, which, like a fuperiour fpirit, embraces ntuch within the fphcre of it's aaivifyr^nd in redlefs aÄivity deems it a part of itfelf : but miferable b that, the feelings of which, drowned in words, are ufeful neither to itfelf nor others. The favage, who loves himfelf, his wife, and child, with quiet joy, and glows with limited adtivity for his tribe, as for his own life, is, in my opi- nion, a more real being, than that cultivated fliadow, who is enraptured with Ihe love of the fliades of his whole fpecies, that is of a name. The favage has Digitized by Google Chap. V.J Happinefs an individual Good. 223 room in his poor hut for every ftranger, whom he receives as his brother with calm benevolence, and aiks not once whence he comes^ The deluged heart of the idle cofmopolite is a but for no one. See we not, then, my brethren, that Nature has done all flie could, not to diffufe, but to circumfcril)e us, and to accuftom us to the fphere of our lives? Our fenfes and powers have their meafurc : the Hours of our days and lives take hands only in rotation, while thofe that come relieve thofe that depart. It is a trick of the fancy, when the old man ftill dreams, that he is a youth. Is that concupifcence of the mind, which, forerunning even clefire, is momen- tarily changing to difguft, the pleafure of Paradife ? Is it not rather the Hell of Tantalus, the bottomlefs buckets of the vainly labouring Danaids ? Thy fole art below, O man, is moderation : Joy, the child of Heaven, for whom thou gantcft, is around thee, is in thee, the daughter 6f Temperance and calm Enjoyment, the filler of Content and Satisfaftion with thy being in life and death. Still lefs comprehenfible is it, how man (hould be made for the ftate, fo that his firft true happinefs muft neceflarily fpring from it's conftitution: for how many people upon Earth are entirely ignorant of all government, and yet are happier than many, who have facrificed themfelves for the good of the ftate? I will not enter upon the benefits or mifchiefs, whicli this^rtificial form of fo- ciety brings with it : but it may be obferved, as every art is merely an inftni- ment, and the moft complicated inftrument neceflarily requires the moft pru- dence and delicacy in managing it, this is an obvious confequencc, that with the greatncfs of a ftate, and the intricate art of it's conftitution, the danger of ren- dering individuals miferable is infinitely augmented. In large ftatcs, hundreds muft pine wirh hunger, -that one may fcaft and caroufe ; thoufands arc op- prefled, and hunted to death, that one crowned fool or phllolbphcr may gralif)-' his .whims. Nay, as all politicians fay> that every well conRiiutcd Hate muft be a machine regulated only by the will of one, what increafc of happinefs can it beSowTto fcrve in this machine as a tlioughtlefs member ? or, probably in- deed, contrary to our better knowledge and confcience, to be whirled round all our lives on an Ixion's v/hccl j thdt leaves the tormented wretch no hope of comfort, unlefs perhaps in flrangüng the adivity of his free, felf governing min J, as a fond father would his dariing babe born to mifery ; to feck happinefs in the infenfibility_of a machine? O, if we be men, let us thank Providence, that This was not made the general dcftination of mankind. Millions on this Globe live without government ; and muft not every one of us, even under the moft cxquifitc government, if he will be happy, begin where the favagc begins» Digitized by Google -24 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book vni. fccking to acquire and maintain health of body and foundnefs of mind, the hap- pinefs of his houfe and of his heart, not^from the ftate, but from himfelf ? Fa- ther and mother, hufband and wife, Ton and brother, friend and man, are natural relations, in which we may be happy : the ftate gives us nothing but inftru- ments of art, and thefe, alas ! may rob us of fomething far more effential, maf rob us of ourfelves. Kindly confiderate was it therefore in Providence, to prefer the eafier happi- ncfs of individuals to the artificial ends of great focietics, and fpare generationi^ thefe coflly machines of ftate as much as poflible. It has wonderfully feparated nations, not only by woods and mountains, feas and deferts, rivers and climates, but more particularly by languages, inclinations, and charafters ; that the work .4 of fubjug,ating defpotifm might be rendered more difficult, that all the four quarters of the Globe might not be crammed into the belly of a wooden horie. No Nh-nrod has yet been able to drive all the inhabitants of the World into one park for himfelf and hisfucceflbrs ; and though it has been for centuries the ob- jeft of united Europe, to ercft herfelf into a defpot, compelling all the nations of the Earth to be happy in her way, this happinefs-dlfpenfing deity is yet far from having obtained her end. Weak and childilh muft our creative mother have been, had fhe conflrufted the fole and genuine deftination of her children, that of being happy, on the artificial wheels of fome latterlings, and cxpeded the end of the creation from their hands. Ye men of all the quarters of the Globe, who have perißied in the lapfe of ages, ye have not lived and enriched the Earth with your aQies, that at the end of time your pofterity ftiould be - A made happy by european civilization : is not a proud thought of this kind trca* foa.agaioft.the majefty of Nature ? If happinefs be to be met with upon Earth, it is in every fentient being, it muft be in every one by Nature, and affifting art muft become nature in him to produce enjoyment. Every man has the ftandard of his happinefs within himfelf; he bears about him the form, to which he is faftiioned, and in the pure fphere of which alone he can be happy. For this purpofe has Nature exhaufted all the varieties of human form on Earth, that ftie might find for each in it's time and place an enjoyment, to amufe mortals through life. Digitized by Google [ ^^5 ] PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. BOOK IX, CHAPTER I. Ready as Man is to imagine he produces every thing from himfelf^ he is neverthelefs dependant on others for the Developement of his Faculties, NO T only has the philofopher exdted human reafon to an independency on the fenfes and organs, and the pofleffion of an original fimple power ; but even the common man imagines in the dream of life, that he has become every thifl^ that he is of himfelf. This imagination is eafily explained, parti- cularly in the latter. The fenfe of fpontaneity, given him by the creator, ex- cites him to aftion, and rewards him with the pleafmg recompenfe of a deed performed in obedience to his own will. The days of his childhood are for- gotten r the feeds, which he then received, and ftill daily receives, are dormant in his mind : he fees and enjoys only the budding plant, and is pleafed with it's flourifliing growth, with it's fruitful branches. The philofopher, however, ^;^^io ftudies the origin and progrefs of a man's life in the book of Experience, and can trace through hiftory the whole chain of the formation of our fpecies, muft, I think, as every thing brings dependence to his mind, foon quit his ideal world, in which he feels himfelf alone and allfufEcient, for our world of reali- ties. As man at his natuRil birth fprings not from himfelf, equally remote is he from being felfborn in the ufe of his mental faculties. Not only is the germe of our internal difpofition genetic, as well as our bodily frame, but every deve- lopement of this germe depends on fate, which planted us in this place or in that, and fupplied us with the means by which we were formed, according to time and circumftances. Even the eye mull learn to fee, the ear to hear ; and no one can be ignorant with what art language, the principal inflrument of our thought, is acquired. Nature has evidently calculated our whole mc- chanifm, with the condition and duration of each period of our lives, for this Digitized by Google 226 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book IX. foreign aid. The brain of infants is foft, and fufpcndcd from the fcuU : it's ftrata are flowly formed ; it grows firmer with increafing years, and gradually hardens, till at length it will receive no more new impreffions. It is the lame with the organs and with the faculties of a child : thofc are tender, and formed for imitation ; thefe imbibe what they (ee and hear with wonderfully aftivc attention, and internal vital power. Thus man is an artificial machine, en* dued with a genetic difpofition, it is true, and plenitude of life; but the ma- chine does not work itfelf, and the abldl of mankind mufl learn how to work it. ^ Reafon is an aggregate of the experiences and obfervations of the mind, the fum of the education of man, which the pupil ultimately finifhes in himfelf, as an extraneous artift, after certain extraneous models. In this lies the principle of the hiftory of mankind, without which no fuch hiftory could exift. Did man receive every thing from himfelf, and develope every thing independantly of external circumftances, we might have a hiftory of an individual indeed, but not of the fpecies. But, as our fpeciüc charaäer lies in this, that, born almoft without inftintä, we are formed to manhood only by the praftice of a whole life, and both the perfeftibility and corruptibility of OUT fpecies depend on it, the hiftory of mankind is neceffarily a whole, that ife a chain of focialnefs and plaftic tradition, from the firft Hnk to the laft. There is an education, therefore, of the human fpecie&i fmce every one be- comes a man only by means of education, and the whole fpecies lives folely in this chain of individuals. It is true, fhould any one (ky, that the fpecies is educated, not the individual, be would fpeak unintelligibly to my comprehen- iion ; for fpecies and genus are only abftrad: ideas, except fo far as they exift in individuals : and were I to afcribe to this abftrad idea all the perfcftions of hu- man nature, the higheft cultivation, and moft enlightened intelleft, that an ab- fteift idea will admit 5 I ihould have advanced as far towards a real hiftory of our fpecies, as if I were to Ipeak of animalkind, ftonekind, metalkind, in gene- ral, and decorate them with all the nobleft qualities, which could not fubfift together in one individual. Our philofophy of hiftory ftiall not wander in this path of the averroean fyftcm, according to which the whole human fpecies pofleffes but one mind ; and that indeed of a very low order, diftributed to individuals only piecemeal. On the other hand, were I to confine every thing to the individual, and deny the exiftence of the chain, that connefts each to others and to the whole, I öiould run equally counter to the nature of man, and his evident hiftory. For Digitized by Google Chap. I.] Mim dependant en oihers for his Facu/tUs. 227 no one of us became man of himfclf : the whole ftru6bure of his humanity is ccnncded by a fpiritual birth, education, with his parents, teachers, friends; with all the circumflanccs of his life, and confcquentiy with his countrymen and their forefathers ; and ladly with the whole chain of the human fpecies, fome link or other of which is continually adling on his mental faculties. Thus na,- tions may be traced up to families ; families to their founders : the ftream of liiftory contrafts itfelf as we approach it*s fource, and all our habitable Earth is ultimately converted into the fchool of our family, containing indeed many divifions, clafles, and chambers, but ftill with one plan of inftruftion, which has been tranfmitted from our anceftors, with various alterations and additions, to all their race. Now if we give the limited underftanding of a teacher credit for not having made a feparate divifion of his fcholai's without fome grounds j and perceive, that the human fpecies every where finds a kind of artificial edu- cation, adapted to the wants of the time and place : what jnan of underftand- ing, who contemplates the ftrudure of our Earth, and the relation man bears to it, would not incline to think, that the father of our race, who has determined how far and how wide nations (hould fpread, has alfo determined this, as the ge- neral teacher of us all ? Will he who views a ftiip deny the purpofe of it's buildef ? and who, that compares the artificial frame of our nature with every climate of the habitable Earth, will rejeft the notion, that the climatic diverfity of various man was an end of the creation for the purpofe of educating his mind } But as th€ place of abode alone does not effeft every thing, fmce living beings like ourfelvcs contribute to inftrudl us, faftiion us, and form our habits ; there ap- pears to me an education of the fpecies, and a philofophy of the hiftory of man, as certainly, and as truly, as there is a human nature, that is, a cooperation of individuals, which alone makes us men. Hence the principles of this philofophy become as evident, fimple, and in- dubitable, as the natural hiftory of man itfelf is : they arc called tradition and organic powers. All education muft fpring from imitation and exercife, by means of which the model paffes into the copy j and how can this be more aptly expreffed than by the term tradition ? But the iinitator muft have powers to receive what is communicated or communicable, and convert it into his own nature, as the food by means of which he lives. Accordingly, what and how much he receives, whence he derives it, and how he ufes, applies it, and makes it his own, muft depend on his own, the receptive po»Jvers. So that the edu- cation of our fpecies is in a double fenfe genetic and organic : genetic, inaf- much as it is communicated ; organic, as what is communicated is received and Digitized by Google 2i8 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book IX. applied. Whether wo name this fecond gencfis of man cultivation from the culture of the ground, or enlightening from the adion of light, is of little im- port ; the chain of light and cultivation reaches to the end of the Earth. Even the inhabitant of California or Tiecra del Fuego learns to make and ufe the bow and arrow: he has language and ideas, praftices and arts, which he learned, as we learn them : fo far, therefore, he is actually cultivated and en- lightened, though ia t!he loweft order. Thus the difference between enlight- ened and unenlightened, cultivated and uncultivated nations, is not (pecific^ it is only in degn». This part of the pifture of nations has infinite (hades, changing with place and time : and, like other piAures, much depends on the point of view« from whicfa we examme it. If we take the idea of european cultivation for our ftandard, this is to be found only in Europet and if we efta- blifli arbitrary diftinßions between cultivation and the enlightening of the mind, neither of whicfa, if it be genuine, can exift independently of the other, we are lofing ourfeLves ftill more in the clouds. JBut if we keep clofe to the Earth, and take a general view of what Nature, to whom the end and charaAerof her creatures muil be bed known, herfelf exhibits to out eyes as forming man, this is no other than the tradition 'ofan educatipH to //me farm or other of human happinefs and the economy of life. This is general as the human fpecies; and often the moil aäive among favages, though in a narrower circle. If a man remain among men, he cannot avoid this impi»ving or vitiating cultivation ; tradition lays hold of him, forms his head» and fiUhions his limbs. As that is, and as thefe are &(hioned« fb is the man, fo is he fbnned. Even children, whom chance has thrown among beafts, hate acquired (bme human cxUtivation, when they have lived for a time among men, as moft known inftances (how; while a child, brought up from the moment of his birth by a brute» would be the only uncultivated man upon Earth. What follows from this fixed point of view, confirmed as it is by the whole hiftory of our fpecies ? Firft a principle, coniblatory and aninmting both to our lives, and to this reflexion; namely, that, as the human fpecies has not arifen of itfelf, and as there are difpofitions in it*s nature, for which no admi- ration can be too high, the creator muil have appointed means, conceived by his paternal goodneis, for the developement of tbefe difpofitions. Is the cor- poral eye fo beautifully formed in vain ? Does it not find before it the golden beams of the Sun, which were created for it, as the eye for them, and fulfil the wifdom of it's defign? It is the fame witjli all the fenfes, with all the or- gans : they find the means of their developement^ the medium for which they Digitized by Google Chap. I.] Man dependant on others for his Faculties. 229 were created. And can it be othenvifc with the fpiritual fenfes and organs, on the ufe of which the charadter of man, and the kind and meafure of his happinefs, depend ? Shall the creator have failed here of attaining his pur- pofe ; the purpofe too of all nature, as far as it depends on the ufe of human powers ? Impoffible ! Every fuch conjefture muft arife from ourfelves ; either attributing erroneous ends to the creator, or endeavouring as much as in us lies to fruftrate his purpofes. But as this endeavour muft have it's limits, and no defign of the AUwife can be thwarted by a creature of his thoughts ; let us reft fccure in the certainty, that, whatever is God*s purpofe with regard to the human fpecies upon Earth remains evident even in the moft perplex- ing parts of it's hiftory. All the works of God have this property, that, al- though they belong to a wliole, which no eye can fcan, each is in itfelf a whole, and bears the divine charadters of it's deftination. It is fo with the brute, and with the plant : can it be otherwife with man ? Can it be, that thoufands are made for one ? all the generations that have paffcd away, merely for the laft ? every individual, only for the fpecies, that is for the image 01' an abftraft name ? The AUwife fports not in this manner : he invents no finefpun fliadowy dreams : he lives and feels in each of his children with paternal afTeftion, as though it were the only creature in the world. All his means are ends : all his ends are means to higher ends, in which the Infinite, filling all, reveals him- felf. What every man, therefore, attains, or can attain, muft be the end of the fpecies : and what is this ? Humanity and happinefs, on this fpot, in this de- gree, as this link, and no other, of the chain of improvement, that- extends through the whole kind. What and wherever thou waft born, O man, there tlwu art, and there thou (houldft be: quit not the chain, fet not thy felf above it, but adhere to it firmly. Life and happinefs exift for thee only in it's integrity, in what thou roceiveft or imparteft, in thy aftivity in each. Secondly. Much as it may flatter man, that the deity has admitted him as an affiftant, and left the forming him here below to himfelf and his fellow- creatures, the very choice of thefe means ftiows the imperfeftion of our earthly exiftence, inafmuch as we are not yet men, but are daily becotning fo. How poor iftuft the creature be, who has nothing of himfelf, but receives ever^^ thing from imitation, inftrudtion, and pradtice, by which he is moulded like wax ! Let the man, who is proud of his reafon, contemplate the theatre of his fellow- beings throughout the wide world, or liften to their many- toned diflbnant hif- tory 1 Is there any fpecies of barbarity, to which fome man, fome nation, nay frequently a number of nations, have not accuftomed thcmfelves; fo that many, perhaps moft, have even fed on the flcfli of their fellow-creatures ? Is there a Digitized by Google ajo PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book IX. wild conception the mind can frame, which has not been aflually rendered facred by hereditary tradition, in one place or another ? No creature, therefore, can {land lower than man : for, throughout his whole life, he is not only a child in reafon, but a pupil of the reafon of others. Into whatever hands he falls, by them he is formed; and I am perfuaded, no form of humaa manners is poi&ble, which fome nation, or fome individual, has not adopted. In biftory every mode of vice and cruelty is exhaufted, while here and there only a nobler train of human fentiments and virtues appears. From the means cholen by the creator, that our- fpecies fliould be formed only by our fpecies, it could not poffibly be otherwife ; follies muft be inherited, as well as the raw troa- fures of wifdom : the way of man refembles a labyrinth, aboundmg on all fides with divergent paffages, while but few footfkeps lead to the innermoft chamber. Happy the mortal, who reaches it himfelf, or leads others to it ; whofe thoughts, inclinations, and wilhes, or even the beams of whofe filent example, have pro- moted the humanity of his brethren 1 God aäs upon Earth only by means of fuperiour, chofen men : religion and language, art and fcience, nay govern- ments themselves, cannot be adorned with a nobler crown, than the laurels gathered from the moral improvement of human minds. Our body moulders io the grave, and our name foon becomes a fliadow upon the Earth : but incor- porated in the voice of God, in plaftic tradition, we fliall live a&ively in the minds of our pofterity, even though our name be no more. Thirdly. The philofophy of hiftory, therefore, which follows the chain of tradition, is, to fpeak properly, the true hiftory of mankind, without which all the outward occurrences of this World are but clouds, or revolting deformi- ties. It is a melancholy proipedb, to behold nothing in th& revolutions of our Earth but wreck upon wreck, eternal beginnings without end, changes of cir- cumftance without any fixed purpofe. The chain of improvement alone forms a whole of thefii rums, in which human figures indeed vaniih, but the fpirit of mankind lives and aßts immortally. Glorious names, that fhine in the hiftory of cultivation as genii of the human (pecies, as brilliant ftars in the niglit of time ! Be it that with the lapfe of ages many of your edifices decay, and much <^ your gold is fiank in the dough of forgetfldnefss the labours of your lives were not in vain, for fiich of your works, as Providence thought fit to iave, have been fiived in other forms. In any other way no human monument can endure wholly and eternally upon Earth -, being formed in the fucceffion of ge- nerations by the hand of time for temporal ule, and evidently prejudicial to pofterity, as foon as it renders unneceflary or retards their farther exertion. Thus the mutable form smd imper£bftioa of all human operations entered into Digitized by Google Chap. I.J Mein dependant on others for his Faculties, 231 the plan of the creator. Folly muft appear, that wifdom might furmount it : decaying fragility even of the nobleft works was an effential property of their materials, that men might have an opportunity of exerting frefli labours in im- proving or building upon their ruins : for we are all here in a ftate of exercife. Every individual muft depart, and as it will then be indifferent to him what pofterity may do with his works, it would be repugnant to a good mind, to condemn fucceeding generations to venerate them with inaftive ftupidity, and undertake nothing of their own. This new labour he wifhes them 5 for what he carries with him out of the World is his ftrengthcned power, the internal ripe fruit of his human aftivity. Golden chain of improvement, that furroundeft the Earth, and extendeft through all individuals to the throne of Providence, fince I perceived thee, and traced tliee in thy fineft links, the feelings of the parent, the friend, and the preceptor, hiftory no longer appears to me, what it once did, an abominable feries of defolations on a facred Earth. A thoufand deeds of (hame ftand there veiled with deteftable praife, and thoufands in their native uglinefs, to fet off the rare true merit of aftive humanity ; which has ever proceeded on it's way quietly and obfcurely, feldom aware of the confequences, that Providence would educe from it's life, as the leaven from the dough. Only amid ftorms can the noble plant flourifh : only by oppoiing ftruggles againft falfe pretenfions can the fweet labours of man be viAorious. Nay men frequently appear to fink under their boneft purposes; but it is only in appearance: the feed germi« nates more beautifully in a fubfequent period from the afties of the good, and when irrigated with blood ieldom fails, to (hoot up to an unfading flower. I am DO longer milled, therefoce, by the mechanifm of revolutions : it is as neceffary to our fpecies, as the waves to the ftream, that it become not a ftagnant pool. The genius of humanity blooms in continually renovated youth, and is rege- nerated as it proceeds, in nations, generations, and ^milies. Digitized by Google 232 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book DT. CHAPTER II. Language is the fpecial Mean of improving Man. In man, nay even in the ape, there is a peculiar difpofition to imitation» which appears to be by no means the confequence of rational conviftion, but the im- mediate offspring of organic fympathy. As one firing refounds to another, and the vibrating capacity of all bodies increafes with their more equable denfity aad homogeneity ; the human organization, being the moft exquifite of all, is of jjeceffity more peculiarly formed, to repeat the tones of tdl other beings, aad fympathife with them. The hiftory of difeafes (hows, that not only hurts and affedtions of the body, but even mental derangement, may be propagated by lympathy. We perceive the operation of this confent of beings in unifon in the higheft degree in children. For this purpofe their bodies remain, durmg many years, eafily refounding ftringed inftruments. Anions and geftures, nay even paffions and thoughts, take place in them unnoticed, £0 that they are at lead tuned to what they cannot yet pradtice, and unconfcioufly obey a propeniity, which is a kind of fpiritual aflimilation. It is fo with all fav^e nations, the children of nature* Born pantomimes, they imitate in a lively manner whatever is related to them, or what they wifli to exprefs j anddifplay their peculiar ways of think- ing b dances, games, jefts> and maxims. Their fancy acquired thefe figures by imitation : the treafure of their memories and language confifls in fuch types; and hence their thoughts fo readily pafs into adtion, and living tradition. But man did not attain the artificial charadleriftic of his fpccics, rcafon, by all this mimicry : he arrived at it by fpeech alone. Let us defcant on this miracle of divine inflitution j the greateft perhaps of our terrefbial creation, except the generation of living beings. Should any one afk, how images depifted on the eye, and all the perceptions of our mofl oppofite fenfes, are not only capable of being reprefented by founds, but thefe founds are endued with fuch inherent power, that they can exprefs thoughts and excite them; no doubt the problem would be deemed the fally of a madman, who, fubflituting the mofl: difTimilar things for each other, thought of making colour found, found thought, and thought a depifting voice. This problem the deity has efTeftively folved. The breath of our mouths is the pifture of the world, the type that exhibits our thoughts and feelings to the mind of Digitized by Google Chap. Tl.] Language the Special Mean of improving Man. ±%% another. All that man has ever thought, willed, done, or will do, of human, upon Earth, has depended on the movement of a breath of air : for if this divine breath had not infpired us, and floated like a charm on our lips, we fliould all have ftiU been wanderers m the woods. The whole hiftory of man, therrfore, with all the treafures of tradition and cultivation, is nothii^ but a confequence of the folu- tion of this divine problem. What renders it the more wonderful to us is, that wc ourfelves, notwithftandmg it's folution by the daily ufe of fpcech, do not in the leaft comprehend the connexion of the inflruments, by which it is efTeäed« Hearing and fpeech are conneäed with each other ; for as creatures degenerate, a mutual change of their auditory and vocal organs evidently takes place. We fee, too, that the whole body is framed, to be in uniCon with them $ but we comprehend not the internal mode of their cooperation. That all the paflions» particularly grief and joy, become founds ; that what is heard by the ear moves the tongue ^ that images and fenfations may become mental charafters, and thefe characters fignificant, nay impreffive, founds ; artfes from a concent of (b many difpofitions, like a voluntary league, which the creator has thought proper to eftabli(h between the moft oj^fite fenfes and inftinds, powers and mem- bers, of his creature, in a manner not lefs wonderful, than that in which the cnind and body are conjoined. How Angular, that a moveable breath of air fhould be the fole, ex at lead the bcft medium of our thoughts and perceptions ! Without it's incompre- henfible connexion with all the operations of our mind, which are fo diiSmilar to it, thefe operations would never have taken place, the elaborate ftrufture of our brain would have remained idle, the whole purpofe of our Being unaccom- plilhed, as the inftances of men who have fallen among beafts fufficiently prove. They who are born deaf and dumb, though they may live long in a world of gcftures and other charadtcrs of ideas, ftill carry themfclves Hke children, or hu- man animak. They aft analogoufly to what they fee, and do not undcrftand ; for all the ftores of viiion do not render them capable of a proper employment of reafon. A nation has no idea, for which it's language has no word : the livelieft imagination remains an obfcure feeling, till the mind finds a charadiTer for it, and by means of a word incorporates it with the memory, the recoilidion, the un- derdanding, and laftly the underflanding of mankind, tradition : a pure under- ftanding, without language, upon Earth, is an Utopian land. It is the fame with the paflions of the heart, with all the focial propcnfities. Speech alone has rendered man human, by fetting bounds to the vaft flood of his paflions, and giving them rational memorials by means of words. No cities have been creftcd Digitized by Google 234 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY, [Bdok IX by the lyre of Amphion, no magic wand has converted deferts Into gardens : but language, the grand aiCflant of nun, has done thefe. By it men welcomed one another into fociety, and knit the bonds of love. It framed laws, and united fiimilies : it alone renders a hiftory of mankind* in tranfmitted modifications of the heart and mind, poffible. Even now I behold the heroes of HoOTer,.and feel the complaints of Offian, though the (hades both of the poets and their heroes tave fo long departed from the Earth. A moveable breath of air has rendered them immortaJ, and brings their forms before nie : the voice of the dead is in my ear : I hear their long fiJcnt thoughts. Whatever the mind of man has conceived, what the fages of old haVe thought, comes to me, if Providence think good, by the means of language alone. By it my thinking mind is con- oefted with the mind of the firft man that thought, and probably of the lad. In (hort, language is the mark of our reafon, by which alone it acquires and propagates forms. A little cloler infpedlion, however, fliows how imperfedt this mean of our im- provement is, not only confidered as the inflrument of reafon, but as the bond between man and man ; fo that a more light, infubftantial, fugitive web can fcarcely be conceived, thaa that wixh which the creator thought proper to con- tttßt the human fpecies. Kind father ! was no other lefs fallible moMsfatioa of our thoughts,, was no more inumate comiexbn of men's hearts and minds, poffible ? I. No language- exprefes things , butfjan:ei : according^ no Suman reafon perceives tiingSj but only marks of themy which it depißs by words. This is an humiliiCting obfervation, which gives the whole hiftory of our intelleA narrow limits, and a very infubilantial form. AIL our fcience of metaphyfics is properly metaphy(ics, that is an abflrafted fyftematic index of names following obfervations of expe- rience. As a method, and an index, it may t>e Very ufeful, and muft guide our artificial underßaoding to a certain degree in all other fciences : but confidered in itfelf, and according to the nature of things, it affords not a fingle perfed and eflential idea, not a fingle intrinfic truth. All our fcience reckons with abflradt, individual, extxinfic charafters,. which reach not the interiour of the exiflence of any one thing, as we have no organ to perceive or exprcfs it. We know not, and can never learn to know, any power in it's eflence : for even that, which animates us, and thinks in us,, we feel and enjoy it is true, but we do not know. Thus we undeiiland no connexion between caufe and efTeä, becaufe we caafee into the interiour neither of what aüfls, nor of what b produced, and have ab- iblutely no idea of the entity of a thing. Thus our poor reafon is nothing Digitized by Google Cii A p . n.] Language thefpecial Mean af hnprovtng Man, 135 more than a figuring arithmetician, as it's name in many languages im* plies. 2. And with what do^s it reckon ? with the charafters themfelves it has abftiafted, however imperfeft and uneffential they may be? By no means. 7hefe charaSers are afienvards changed into arbitrary founds^ altogether unejfefitiai to thern^ with which the mind thinks. It reckons, therefore, witli counters, fouhds, and ciphers ; for no one, who is acquainted with two languages, will believe, that there is an efiential connexion between founds and thoughts, not to fay between founds and things. Yet how many more languages than two are there upon Earth 1 and in all of them reafon calculates, and fatisfies itfelf with the magic lantern of an arbitrary connedion. And why does it fo ? bccaufc Itfelf poflefles nothing but uneflential charad^ers, and it is a matter of indtflbr« ence to it at bottom, whether it reckon with thefe figures, or with thofe. Me- lancholy profpcft for the hiftory of humankind ! Opinions and errours, there- fore, are inevitable from our nature ; not from any fault of the obferver, but fixTm the very mode in which our ideas are generated, and in which they are propagated by reafon and language. If we thought in things inftead of ab- ftrad charaften, and expreffed the rtature of things inftead of arbitrary figns; farewel errour and opinion, we fliould live in the land of truth. But now 1k>w fer are we from it, even when we fancy ourfelves (landing on itS confines ! fince what I know of ^ thing is only an external detached fymbol of it, clothed in another arbitrary fymbol. If another man underftand me, if he affix to the word I employ the fame idea as I afExed to it, or indeed no idea, dill he reckons on with the word, and gives it to others perhaps as an enipty nutfliell. This IS the way of all fefts of philofophy and religion. The founder had at leaft clear ideas of what he faid, though probably erroneous ones : his Icholars and followers underftood him after their own manner; that is, they affixed their own ideas to his words, and at length reechoed nothing but empty (bundji into men's ears. Manifeft are the imperfe(äions in the fole means of propa- gating human thoughts : yet to this our improvement is enchained» and we cannot emancipate ourfelves from it. From this important confequences for the hiftory of man may be deduced. Firßj fince God has chofen this mean for our improvement, we could fcarccly have been formed for mere (peculation, or for purely contemplative lives j fince either of thefe can be purfued but very imperfeftly in our fphere. Not for pure contemplation j which is either a deception, fince no man fees the inte- riour of things, or at leaft remains wholly incommunicable, as it admits not of charafiers and words. Scarcely is the contemplatift able to point out to an- Digitized by Google 236 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book IX. other the way, in which he attained his nanielefs treafures ; and then it depends altogetlier on that other, and on his genius, how far he can participate in his contemplations. This neceflarily opens the door to a thoufand vain perplexi- ties of the mind, and innumerable kinds of artful deceptions, as the hiftory of all nations (hows. As little can man have been created for fpeculation i fince, from the way in which it is engendered and communicated, it is not a whir more perfeft, and too frequently fills the heads of thofe, who repeat the fpecu- lations of others, with empty words. And when thefe two extremes, fpeculation and contemplation, attempt to unite, and the metaphyfical enthufiafl: points to a fpeechlefs rcafon filled with contemplations; alas, poor human nature, thou floated in a fpace of non-entity> between freezing heat and burning cold. By language the deity has led us a fafer middle way. By it we acquire only ideas of the imderftanding ; and they are fufficient to us for the enjoyment of nature, the application of our powers, the found employment of life, the im- provement of our humanity. We were not intended to refpire ether, for which our machine is not adapted, but the wholefome air of our own Elarth. And can men be as diftant from one another in the fphere of true and ufefiil ideas, as proud fpeculation fuppofes ? Both the hiftory of nations, and the na- ture of reafonand language, forbid me to think fo. The poor favage, who has fecn but few things, and combined very few ideas, proceeds in combining them arfter the fame manner as the firft of philofophers. He has language like them ; and by means of it exercifes his underftanding and memory, his ims^nation and recoUeäion, a thoufand ways. Whether this be in a wider or narrower circle, is little to the purpofe ; he ftill exercifes them after the manner of hu- mankind. The philofopher of Europe cannot name a finglc faculty of the mind, that is peculiar tohimfelf: nay Nature affords abundant compenfation in the proportion of the faculties and their exercife. In many favages, for in- ftance, the memory, the imagination, pradlical wifdom, promptitude of deci- jGon, accuracy of judgment, and livclinefs of exprcflion, flourifh in a degree feldom attained by the artificial reafon of european philofophers. It is true, the man of learning calculates, with his verbal ideas and ciphers, infinitdy nice and artificial combinations, which never enter into the thoughts of the man of nature : but is a clofeted multiplication-table the model of all human perfec- tion, ftrength, and happlnefs ? Be it, that the favage thinks in images, what he is incapable of conceiving abftraftedly j eveh if he have no definite thought^ that is no word, for God, and enjoys him as the great fpirit of the creation ac- tive in his life ; yet fo he lives grateful, as he lives contentedly : and if he be- lieve in the immortality of the foul> though he cannot demonftrate it in verbal Digitized by Google Ch A P . IT.] Lanpiage thefpeclal Mean of improving Man. 23 7 aiphers, he goes to the land of his Withers with more tranquillity than many a word-learned fccptic. Let us then adore kind Providence, for having rendered men intrinfically more fimilar to each other, by the imperfeft but general mean of language, than their cxteriour indicates» By fpeech alone we all attain to reafon j and by tradition, by belief in the words of our fathers, to fpeech. As he would be the moft unteachablc learner of language, who fhould require a caufe and rea- fon for the firft ufe of words ; a fimilar belief in thijigs fo difficult as experience and the obfervation of nature mull lead us, with due precaution, through our whole lives. He who trufts not hb fenfes is a fool, and mud remain an idle fpe« culatift ; while he who trufting cxercifes them, and thereby inquires and correfts himfelf, alone obtains a treafure of experience for his fublunary life. To him language with all it's limitations is fufficient « for it is defigned only, to make the obferver attentive, and lead him to an aftive ufe of his own mental powers. A nicer idiom, penetrating like the funbeam, on one hand could not be uni* verfal, and on the other would be a real inconvenience in the prefent fphere of our grofs adtivity« It is the fame with the language of the heart ; which can fay but little, and yet fays enough : nay, in a certain degree our human language is formed more fox the heart than for the head. Gefture, motion, the thing it« ielf, may come in to aid the underftanding : but the feelings of our heart muft lie hidden in our bread, if the melodious dream convey them not in gentle waves to the heart of another. For this reafon the creator chofe the mufic of founds as the organ of our improvement ; a language of feeling, a language of parent, child, and friend. Creatures^ that cannot yet touch each other ioti« mately, dand as behind lattices, and coo forth to each other the words of love : in beings, that fpeak the langu^e of light or fome other organ, the whole form and chain of their improvement neceflkrily differs. Secondly. A philofophical comparifon of languages would form the bed cflay on the hidory and diverfified charader of the human heart and underdanding : for every language bears the damp of the mind and charafter of a people. Not only do the organs of fpeech vary with climates, not only are there certain founds and letters peculiar to almod every nation, but the giving of names» even in denoting audible things, nay in the immediate expreffions of the paf- fions, in inteijeftions, varies over all the Earth. With refpeft to vifible things, and (ubjedbs of cool refleAion, this variation is dill greater : and in allegorical cxpreffions, in figures of fpeech, in the druAure of a language ladly, . in the relation, arrangement, and connexion of it's parts, it is almod infinite : though ilill the genius of a people is no where more difplayed than in the phyfiognomy Digitized by Google «j8 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY- [BookIX- of their langu^e. For inflance, whether a nation have many names, or much a<äion i how it exprefles time and perfon ; to what order of ideas it is attached ; is often extremely charaftcriflic in nice features. Many nations have a particu- lar language for either fex : in others even condition is difcriminated in the fim- ple word /. The verbs of adive nations have an abundance of moods: refined nations have a number of modifications of things, which they have exalted to abftradfc notions. Finally, the moft fingular part of human languages is the delineation of men's feelings, the expreffions of love and efteem, of reproof and adulation, in which the weakneffes of a people are often laughably difplay- ed *. Why can I yet quote no work, that has even in a flight degree fulfilled the wifli of Bacon, Leibnitz, Sulzer, and others, for 2igefierai phyfiognomy of na- tions from their languages f Numerous materials for fuch a work are extant in the grammars and books of travels of particular nations ; and it would be neither extremely difiicult nor prolix, were every thing fuperfluous rcjefted, and good ufe made of what might be placed in a ftriking light. It would be as far from wanting inftruftive charms, which mufl: occur at every ftep ; fince all the qua- lities of a people oflfcr themfelves to the various purpofes of the obfcrver in their praftical underftanding, imaginations, manners, and way of life, as a garden of the human fpecies: and finally the richeft architeäure of human ideas^ the bed iogic and metaphyfics of a found underßandtng^ would arife from it. The laurel is not yet gathered ; it waits for the appearance in due time of another Leib« nitz. The hiftory of the revolutions of any particular language would be a fimilar talk. As an example to us germans, I would take the language of our country in particular : for though it has not been intermixed like others with foreign languages, yet it has effentially altered, and that even with refpeft to it's gram- mar, fince the time of Ottfried. The comparifon of different cultivated lan- guages with the various revolutions of the people that fpeak them would give, with every ftroke of light and (hade, a kind of changeable pi&ure of the varied progreffive improvement of the human mind, which, I am perfuaded, has flou- riQied in every dialeA throughout all ages. Nations exift In the infancy, youth, manhood, and old age of the human fpecies : and how many have been en-r grafted upon others, or arifen from their alhes ! LafUy the tradition of traditions, writings is to be confidered. If langui^ be the mean of improving men as w?«, writing is the mean of improving them * To give indanGci woold lead me t09 hx : they belong not to thii book, bat will appear in a Digitized by Google Cha?. IL] Language the Jpecial Mean of Improving Marl. 1.39 in erudition. All nations» who have been deftitute of this artificial tradition, have remained, according to our ideas, uncultivated ; while they, who have enjoyed it but impcrfeöly, have immojrtalizcd their underftanding and laws by embalming them in letters. The mortal who invented the art of enchaining the fugitive mind, not by words merely, but by letters, afted as a deity among mankind *. But what was obvious with refpeft to language is ftill more evident here, namely, that though this mean of perpetuating our thoughts fixes both the fpirit and the letter, it in various ways fetters and reftrains them. Not only arc the living accents and geftures, which formerly gave language fuch power to pene- trate the heart, gradually extinguifhed by writing; not only are diale&s, and confequently the charafteriftic idioms of particular tribes and nations, rendered kfs numerous ; but the memories of men, and the fpirit of their mental powers, are enfeebled by this artificial afiiftance of prefcribed forms of thought. The human mind would long ago have been flifled beneath books and learning, had not Providence given it breath by many deftrudtive revolutions. The un- derftanding, (hackled with letters, creeps on laborioully : our beft thoughts are crippled by dead written characters. AU this, however, prevents not the tra- dition of writing from being the moft durable, quiet, efficacious inftitution of God, by means of which nation adts upon nation, age upon age, and through which probably the whole 'human fpecies will in time find itfelf encircled ia one chain of firaternal tradition« CHAPTER IIU Ail the Arts and Seiendes of Mankind have been invented through Imitat ion^ Reafon, and Language, A s foon as man, by whatever god or genius led, was brought to appropriate to himfelf a thing as a fign, and to fubftitute an arbitrary charaöer for the fign he had found, in other words, as foon as the language of reafon commenced with the flighteft beginnings, he was in the road to every art and fcience. For what does human reafon more, in the invention of all thefe, than remark and defignate ? Thus with language, the moft difficult of arts, a prototype of all the reft was in a certain degree given, • TheUibryof thuiflventionaiidotlienruiar ftfthcjbeloHgto die piaorc of man, will ibOow bcfcafur. Digitized by Google £4o J^HILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [BookIX. The man, for example, who conceived a nurk of defignation from an animal, in fo doing laid the foundations of domefticating tameable animals» benefitting himfelf by fuch as were ufeflil, and rendering himfelf the general lord of every thing in nature : for in every one of his appropriations he docs nothing in rea- lity but mark the charafters of a tameable, ufeful being, to be employed for his own convenience, and defignate it by language or pattern. In the gentle fliccp, for inftancc, he remarked the milk fucked by the lamb, and the wod that warmed his hand, and endeavoured to appropriate each to his own ufe. In the tree, to the fruit of which he was guided by hunger, he remarked leaves, with which he might gird himfelf, wood, that would afford him heat. Thus he leaped on the back of the fteed, that he might cany him; and kept him, that he might carry him again. He obferved Nature, how (he brought up her children, and protcfted them from danger : he obferved the beafts, how they nourifhed and defended themfelves. Thus he got into the road to every art, through nothing but the internal generation of a diftinft mark, and the retention of it in a fedt, or fome other note j in fliort through langu^e. Through it, and it alone, were obfervation, recognition, remembrance, poffef- fion, and a cham of thought, pofTible; and thus in time were born the arts and fciences, daughters of defignating Reafon, and Imitation for fome pur- pofe. Bacon has already wifhed for an art of invention : but as it's theory would be difficult, and perhaps ufelefs, a hifiory of ittventions would probably be the moft inftrudlivc work, that the divinities and geniufes of the human fpccies could frame for an everlafting model to their (uccefTors. In this it would every where appear, how accident and fcite had prefented a new mark to the eye of one in- ventor, introduced a new charafter as an inftrument into the mind of another^ and for the rnofb part by a flight approximation of two long known thoughts given birth to an art, that operated on future ages. Such have often been in- vented and again forgotten ; their theory exifted, but they were not yet carried into praftice, till fome one more fortunate brought the hidden gold into circu- lation, or from a new ftation moved worlds with a trifling lever. Perhaps there is no fpecies of hiftory, that fo evidently fliows a fuperiour deftiny rulmg over human affairs, as that of the invention and improvement of arts, of which we are:apt to be mofl vain. The charafter, and the material of it's defignation, had long exifted : but it was now for the firft time remarked, now firft de- fignated. The produftion of an art, as of a human being, was an inftant of pleafurc, an union between idea and charafter, between body and fpirit. It is with reverence 1 trace the inventions of the human mind to this fimplc Digitized by Google Chap. HL] Inventm of Arts and Sciences. 241 principle of it's obferving and defcribing underftanding : for this is what is truly divine in man^ this is his charaöleriftic excellence. All, who ufe a learned lan- guage, wander» as if their reafon were in a dream; ^hey think with the reafon of others, and are but imitatively wife: for is he, who employs the art of another, himfelf an artift ? But he, in whofe mind native thoughts arife, and form a body for themfelves ; he, who fees not with the eye alone, but with the under* (landing, and defcribes not with the tongue, but with the mind ; be, who is fo happy as to obferve Nature in her creative laboratory, efpy new maiics of her opemtions, and turn them to (bme human purpofe by implements of art ; he is properly a man, and as fuch feldom appear, he is a god among men. He (peaks, and thoufands lifp his words : he creates, and others play with what he has pro- duced : he was a man, and children perhaps come after him again for centuries, A view of the World, and the hiftory of nations, give us numerous proofs, how rarely inventors appear among mankind, and how indolently men adiiere to what they poflefs, without troubling themfelves for what is (till wanting: nay the hiftory of civilization fufficiently demonftrates the fame. Thus with the arts and fciences a new tradition pervades the human fpecies ; and while it is given but to a happy few, to add new links to the chain, the reft cling to it like induftrious ilaves, and mechanically drag it along. As this fu^ gared water paffed through many hands eie it came to me, and I have no other merit than that of fwallowing it ; fo are our reafon and way of life, our learning and acquired arts, our military and political fcience, a combination of the thoughts and inventions of others, which have been derived to us from all parts of the World without any merit of our own, and in which we have funk or fwum from our earlieft youth. Vain therefore is the boaft of fo many europeans, when they fet themfelves Above the people of all the other quarters of the Globe, in what they call arts, fciences, and cultivation, and, as the madman by the (hips in the port of Piraeus, deem all the inventions of Europe their own, for no other reafon, but becaufe they were born amid the confluence of thefe inventions and traditions. Poor creature ! haft thou invented any of thefe arts ? have thy own thoughts any thing to do in all the traditions thou haft fucked in ? thy having learned to ufe them is the work of a machine : thy having imbibed the waters of fcience is the merit of a fponge, that has grown on the humid foil. Steer thy friste to Otaheite, bid thy cannon roar along the (hores of the New Hebrides, ftiU thou art not fuperiour in (kill or ability to the inhabitant of the South-Sea iflands, who guides with aft the boat, which he has conftru^ed with his own hand. Even the favages themfelves have had an obfcure perception of thb, as Digitized by Google M2 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [BookIX. foon as they became more intimately acquainted with europeans. In the pre- paration of their implements they appeared to them unknown fupcriour beings, before whom they bowed themfelves, and whom they faluted witli reverence : but when the favage perceived, that they were vulnerable, mortal, liable to dif- cafe, and more feeble in bodily exercifes than himfelf, he dreaded the art, but flevV the ma"h, whofe art was no part of himfelf. This is applicable to ail euro- pean cultivation. If the language of a people, even in books, be delicate and modeft, every one who reads thefe books, and fpeaks this language, is not there- fore to be concluded modeft and delicate. How he reads, and how he {peaks, are the queftion : and even then he thinks and fpeaks only after others, whofe thoughts and cxpreffions he follows. The favage, who in his narrower circle thinks for himfelf, and expreffes himfelf in it with more truth, precifion, and force i he, who in the fphere of his aftivity knows how to employ his mental and corporal faculties, his pradtical underftanding, and few implements, with art, and with prefence of mind ; is palpably, man for man, more cultivated than the politic or learned machine, that fits like a child on a lofty ftage, erefted, alas ! by the liands of others, nay perhaps by the labour of all preceding ages. The man of nature, on the contrary, more limited indeed, but a founder, abler man, ftands firmly on the ground. No one will deny Europe to be the repo- fitory of art, and of the inventive underftanding of man : the deftiny of ages has dcpofited it's treafures there : they are augmented and employed in it. But every one, who makes ufe of them has not therefore the underftanding of the in- ventors : nay, this very ufc tends to render the underftanding inaAivcj for while 1 have the inftrument of another for my purpofe, 1 (hall fcarcely take the trouble,, to invent one for niyfelf. It is a far more difficult point to determine, what the arts and fciences have contributed to the happinefs of mankind, or how far they have increafcd it : and I do not think the queftion is to be anfwered with a fimple affirmative or negative, fince here, as in every thing elfe, all depends on the ufe made of what has been invented. That there are finer and more artificial implements in the World, fo that more is done with lefs exertion, and confequently much human labour is fpared where it can be difpenfed with, admits not of queftion. It is equally inconteftible, that every art and fcience knits a new bond of fo- ciety, of that mutual want, without which men of art cannot live. But, on the other hand, whether this increafe of wants extend the narrow circle of human happinefs; whether art be capable of actually adding any thing to nature, or whether nature be not rather debilitated and difpenfed with in many by means of art i whether all talents of art or fcience have not excited propcnfities in the Digitized by Google Chap. III.] Iftvemion of Arts and Sciences, 243 human bread, which render the attainment of man's higheft bleffing, content, much more rare and difficult, as the internal reftleflhefs occafioned by thefe propcnfitics muft be inceflantly at war with contentment ; nay, finally, whether the concourfe of men, and the augmentation of their fociability, have not con- verted many towns and countries into ix>or-lioufes and artificial hofpitals, in the clofe atmofphcre of which pallid human nature withers ; and whether, while men are fupported by fo many unearned alms of fcience, art, and policy, they have not for the mod part aflumed the nature of be^ars, applying themfelves to all the arts of begging, and confcquently incurring the effefts of beggary : thefe, and many others, are queftions, that luminous Hiftory, the daugater of Time, alone can folve. Meffengers of Fate, men of genius and invention, on what beneficial yet dan- gerous heights have you exercifed your divine calling. You invented, but not for yourfelves : it was not in your power to determine how the world, how pofterity, (hould employ your inventions, what they (hould annex to them, what of new or oppofite to them they would difcover from analogy. The jewel often lay buried for centuries, and cocks fcratched up the ground over it; till at length perhaps it was found by fome unworthy mortal, and transferred to the crown of a monarch, not always to fliine with beneficent (plendour. You, however, performed your work, and gave pofterity a treafure, dug up by your rcftlefs minds, or thrown into your lap by difpofing Fate. Thus alfo you left to difpofing Fate the eficfts and ufes of your difcoveries, who has done with them what feemed to her good. In periodical revolutions (he has either per- feÄed thoughts, or permitted them to perifli, always contriving to mix and correft the poifon with it's antidote, the injurious with the beneficial. The inventor of gunpowder little thought, what deftrudtion both of the political and phyfical powers of man would enfue from tlie explofion of his black duft ; ftill Icfs could he fee, what we are fcarcely able to conjefture, how the bene- ficent feeds of a different conftitution of pofterity will germinate from this bar- rel of powder, the fearful throne of many a dcfpot. Does not thunder clear the air ? When the giants of the Earth are dcftroyed, muft not Hercules himfelf turn his hand to gentler works ? The man, who firft noticed the polarity of the magnet, faw neither the happincfs nor mifery, that this magic gift, aided by a thoufand other arts, would confer on every quarter of the Globe ; till here too, perliaps, fome new cataftrophe will compenfate old evils, or engender new. So it is with the difcoveries of glaf?, gold, iron, clothing, writing, printing, aftro- nomy, and all the fciences. The wonderful connexion, that appears to pre- vail in the developement and periodical improvement of thefe inventions ; the Digitized by Google «44 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book IX. lingular manner, in which one limits and mitigates the efTeft of others; all be- long to the fovereign economy of God with regard to our fpecies, the true phi« iofophy of our hiftory. CHAPTER IV. Governments are eßahliflted Regulations among Men^ chiefly founded on hereditary Tradition. The natural ftate of man is (bciety : for in this he is born and brought up to this he is led by the awakening propcnfities of his youth j and the moft pleafing appellations of father» fon, brother, lifter, lover, friend, are ties of the law of Nature, tliat exift in every primitive fociety of men. On thefe too the firft governments have been founded : family regulations, without which the fpccics could not fubfift ; laws, that Nature gave, and fufficiently limited. Wc will call this the firfi fiep of natural goroernment : it will ever remain the higheft, and the laft. Here Nature terminated her foundations of fociety, and left it to the rcafon or neceflities of men, to ereft higher ftruftures upon them. In all thofe regions, where particular tribes and races have lefs need of each other's afliftance, they concern themfelves lefs about each other, and in confcquence have never thought of forming one large political aflbciation. Such are the coafts inhabited by fifliermcn, the pafturcs of the Ihepherd, the forefts of the hunter: in thefe, where paternal and domeftic government ceafes, the feirther connexion between men rs founded chiefly on compaft, or on fomc office conferred. A nation of hunters, for inftance, proceed to the chace : if they want a leader, it is a leader of the hunt ; and for this purpofe they eleft the moft (kilful, whom they obey from their own free choice, and for the common end they have in view. All animals that live in herds have fuch a leader : in journeyings, defences, attacks, and all common occupations in general of a number, fuch a king of the game is neccflary. Such an eftablilhment we will call the fecond fiep of natural govern- ment : it is to be found among all people, that care for nothing but the fupply of their wants, and live, as we term it, in the ftate of nature. Even the elefted judge of a nation belongs to this ftep of government : for the wifeft and beft is cht.fen to this poft, as to an office, and with the execution of his office his foverci^^nty terminates. But how different is it with the third ftep, hereditary government ! In this Digitized by Google Chap. IV.] Governments founded im hti-editarj tradition. 445 'where do the laws of Nature ceafe ? or where do they begin ? That the moft wife and juft of their fellows (hould be chofen by difputants as a judge, was in the natural courfe of things; and when he had fo approved himfelf, he might lemain fo as long as he lived. But when the old man dies, why is his fon to be judge? His being begotten by a juft and wife father is no reafon; for nei- ther wifdom nor juftice is hereditary. Still Icfs, from the nature of the cafe, IB the nation bound to acknowledge him as fuch, becaufe his father was once chofen judge for perfonal reafons : fince the fon is not the &ther. And if it ihould think fit to eftablifh it as a law for all it's generations yet unborn, to acknowledge him as judge, and enter into a compact, in the name of the reafbn of them all to the end of time, that every future de(cendant of this ftem (hould be bom the judge, leader, and fiiepherd, of the nation, in other words, the moft valiant, juft, and wife, of the whole people, by every one of whom he (hould be fo acknowledged to be on the fcore of his birth ; it would be difficult, to xeconcile an hereditary compad of this kind, I will not fay with juftice, but with reafon. Nature diftributes not her nobleft gifts to particular families ; and the right of blood, according to which one unborn (hall have a claim to nile over others yet unborn, in right of his birth, at whatever future period they may happen to come into the World, is to me one of the moft obfcure phrafes in human language. There muft have been other grounds, that introduced hereditary govern- ments among men ; and with refjpeft to thefe grounds hiftory is by no means (ilent. What has given Germany, what has given polifhed Europe it's govern- ments ? War. Hordes of barbarians overran this quarter of the Globe : their leaders and nobles divided the land and the inhabitants among them. Hence fprung principalities and fiefs : hence the villanage of the fubjugated people : the conquerors were in poflcffion ; and all the alterations, that have taken place in this poiTcflion in the courfe of time, have been determined by revolutions, by war, by mutual secernent between the powerful, and in every cafe there- fore by the law of the ftronger. Hiftory proceeds in this royal way, and hifto- rical fadls cannot be difputed. What brought the World under the fway of Rome? What made Greece and the eaft bow to the fceptre of Alexander? What has founded all the monarchies, that have exifted fince the time of Se- foftris and the fabulous Semiramis, and again overturned them ? War. Forci- ble conqueft, therefore, has aflumed the place of right, and has afterwards be- come law by courfe of years, or as our politicians phrafe it, by a tacit compadt : but the tacit compad in this cafe is nothing more, than that the ftronger takes what be will, and the weaker ^ves what be cannot preferye, or endures what Digitized by Google 246 PHlLOSOrHY OF HISTORY. [BookIX. he cannot avoid. Thus tlic riglU of hereditary government depends, like al- moil evciy other hereditary poflcflion, on a chain of traditions, the firft link of which was forged by force or accident, and which has been drawn out occa- fionally it is true by wifdom and goodncfs, but for the moft part either by for- tune or force. Heirs and defendants received what their progenitor took : and that to him, wJio has much, more is ever given, that he might have abun- dance, requires no farther illuftrationj as it is the natural confequcnce of the abovementioned firft poficfllon of lands and mon. Let it not be fu})pcfed, that this is true of monarchies alone, as monfters of conqueft, and that the primitive kingdoms may have had a different origin ; for in what ether way could they poflibly have originated? As long as a father ruled over his family, he was a father, and permitted his fons likewife to be- come fatherst, over whom he fought no other fway than that of advice. As long as feveral families chofe themfclves from their own free deliberation judges or leaders for a particular purpofe, they who bore the office were only fervants of the common weal, the appointed prcfidents of the focicty : the names of fovereign, monarch, abfolute, arbitrary, hereditary defpot, were unknown to a people fo conftituted. But if the nation flumbered, and left their fathec, leader, and judge, to aft for thcm^ if, laftly, in drowfy gratitude, they put into his hand, whether on account of his merit, power, wealth, or any other caufe, 4n hereditary fceptre, that he might conduft them and their children as a fliepherd condudts a flock of (hccp^ what relation can we perceive between the two parties, but that of feeblenefs on the one fide, and might on the other; that is, in fad, the right of the ftronger ? When Nimrod firft killed beafts, and afterwards fubjugated men, in both inftances he was a hunter. The leader of a colony or horde, whom men followed like animals, foon availed him- felf of the right of men over animals in his behaviour towards them. Thus it was with thofe, by whom nations were civilized : while they were employed in civilizing them, they were the fathers, the inftruftors, of the people, the main- tainers of the laws for the general good : as foon as they became abfolute or indeed hereditary rulers, they were the ftrong commanding the weak. A fox often ftepped into the place of the lion, and then the fox was the ftronger : for ftrength confifts not in force of arms alone j addrcfs, cunning, and artful deceit, are commonly ftill more effedtual. In fhort, the great difference be- tween men in the gifts of body, of mind, or of fortune, has eltablifhed dcfpo- tifm and fervitude on the Earth, varying in form according to the country', the age, or the way of life of the people ; and in many places one kind has only given way to another. Warlike mountaineers, for example, have overrun Digitized by Google Chap. IV.] Governments founded on hei-edttary ^raditioft. 247 the peaceful plains : climate» neceffity, want, had rendered tliem ftrong and cou- rageous; accordingly they fpread themfelves over the Earth as it's lords, till they were fubdued by luxury in milder climates, and then fell under the yoke of others. Thus has our old Earth been a prey to violence j and it's hiftory form« a melancholy pidture of hiaii-hunting, and conqucfts : almoft every 4ittle Tariation of a boundary, every new epoch, is delineated in the book of Time with the blood of human vidims, and the tears of the oppreffcd. The moft cele- brated name: arc thofe of murderers of mankind, crowned or crownfeeking exe- cutioners; and what is ftill more to be lamented, the worthieft men have often been compelled by neceffity, to appear on the dark fcafTold, where the chains of their brethren were forged. Whence comes it, that the hiftories of kingdoms difplay fo few rational purpofes ? Becaufe the greateft and moft of their events onginated not from any rational views : for the paffions, not humanity, have overpowered the E^rth, and urged it's people like wild beafts againft each other. Had it pleafed Providence, to permit us to be governed by fuperiour beings, how different would the hiftory of man have appeared ! But inftead of this, they have been for the moft part her^esy that is to fay ambitious men, pofTefTed of power, or artful and enterpriziRg. who have fpun the thread of events under the guidance of Paffion, and woven it as it pleafed Fate. If nothing clfc in the hif- tory of the World indicated the inferiority of the human fpecies, the hiftory of governments would demonftrate it; according to which the greater part of our Earth merits not fuch a name, but that of Mars or child -devouring Sa« turn. Now (hall we complain of Providence for creating the different rcgrons of our Earth fo diffimilar, and dividing her gifts fo unequally among mankind ? Such a complaint would be idle and unjuft, for it would be at variance with the ob- vious end of our fpecies. If the Earth were defigned to be inhabited, moun- tains muft ncceflarily form a part of it, and their ridges muft proditce hardy mountaineers. If thefe poured down and fubdued the voluptuous inhabitants of the plains, the voluptuous inhabitants of the plains for the moft part de^ ferved this fubjugation : for why did they fuffer themfelves to be fubdued } why flumbcred they on the lap of Nature in childidi luxury and folly } It may be admitted as a principle in hiftory, that no people are opprcffed, but fuch as fubmit to oppreffion, and confcquently defervc to be flaves. The coward only is bom a flave ; the fimple. alone is deftined by Nature to ferve the wife : thus each is in his place, and would be unhappy were he forced to command. Befides, the inequality of men is not fo great by nature, as it is rendered by- Digitized by Google 24« PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book IX. education ; as the qualities of the very fame people under different forms of go- vernment ihow. The nobleft nation foon lofes it's dignity under the yoke of dcfpotifm J the very marrow is cruQied in it's bones ; and as it's fincft and moft c:iquirite talents are abufed to the purpofes of falfchood and deceit, of cravding fervility and diflblutc voluptuoufnefs, can we wonder, that it ultimately habituates itfelf to the yokejkiffes it's chains, and decorates them with flowers ? Lamentable as this fate of mankind is both in hiftory and in common life, fince fcarcely a nation has ever rifcn afrefh out of the abyfs of habitual flavery, without the miracle of a complete regenerations this wretchednefs is evidently not the work of Nature, but of man. Nature extended the bonds of focicty only to families : beyond that, (be left mankind at liberty to knit them, and to frame their mod delicate work of art, bodies politic, as they thought proper. If they framed them wifely, happinefs was their reward : if they chofe, or endured, tyranny and bad forms of government, they had to bear the burden. Their good parent could do no more than inftrud them by reafon, by the tradition of hif- tory, or laftly by their own proper feeling of pain and mifcry. Thus the internal degeneration of mankind alone made way for the vices and depravities of go- vernments : for, even under the mod oppreffive defpotifm, has not the flave always Quired with his lord in plunder, and is not the defpot always the greatefl flave? But our unwearedly beneficent mother abandons not her children in the deepefl: degeneracy, contriving at lead to dimini(h the bitternefs of oppreflion by forgetfulnefs and habit. As long as nations retain their vigilance and ac- tivity, or where Nature feeds them with the hard bread of induflry, no effemi- nate fultans exifl: : a rude land, a hardy way of life, are the guardians of their freedom. On the other hand, where nations fleep on her fofter bofom, and fuffer the net to be drawn over them, their confoling parent at Icaft aids the op- preffed with her milder gifts : for defpotifm always prefuppofes a kind of feeble- nefs, and confequently more conveniencies, anfing either firom the gifts of Na- ture, or from thofe of art. In moft countries under defpotic government Na- ture feeds and clothes man almoft without any labour, fo that he accommodates himfelf to the pafling ftorm, and after it is over inhales the cool air, thought- lefsly and ignobly indeed, but not without enjoyment. The lot of men, and their deftination to earthly happinefs, are in general conne&ed neither with fer- vitude nor dominion. The poor may be happy, the flave may be free in his chains ; the defpot and his inftruments are for the moft part, and firequently throughout their whole race, the moft miferable and unworthy of flaves. Digitized by Google Chap. IV.] Gwemmems founded on hereditafy tradition. 249 As all the points on which I have thus far touched mufliTeCeive their proper illuftration from hiftory, their difplay cannot be feparated from the thread of it. For the prefent let me be permitted a few general hints. I. A ready but bad fundamental principle of the philofophy of hiftory would be : * man is an animal, that needs a maftcr, and muft derive the happinefs of his deftination from this mailer, or from a connexion with him.* TJie propo- rtion ought to be rcverfed : * the man who needs a matter is a mere animal ; as foon as he becomes a man, a matter is no longer neceflary to him.* Nature has pointed out no maftcr to the human fpecies : brutal vices and paffions render one neceflary. The wife requires a hufband ; the huft)and, a wife ; the untutored child has need of inttruAing parents ; the fick, of a phyfician \ the difputer, of a judge ; the herd, of a leader. Thefe are natural relations, exitting in the no- tions of the things themfelves. The idea of his wanting a defpot in the form of a man like himfelf is not natural to the mind of man : we mutt firtt fuppofe him weak, to need a protedtor ; incapable of managing his o^n concerns, to require a guardian ; wild, that fome one may be neceflary to tame him \ deteftable, to demand a minitter of vengeance. Thus all human governments arofe from ne- ceflity, and exitt only in confequence of it*s continuance. As he is a bad father, who educates his child in fucb a manner, that he may continue all his lifetime in a ttate of incapacity, and never ccafe to want a tutor \ as he is a bad phyfi- cian, who cherilhes a difeafe, that the poor patient may not be able to difpenie with his attendance till death \ apply the fame reafoning to the teachers of the human fpecies, to the others of countries and their pupils. Either thefe muft be altogether incapable of improvement ; or, during the thoufands of years that men have been governed, what they can become, and to what purpofes they have been traiiK^d by their teaclicrs, muft be perceptible. The purpofes will clearly be feen in the courfe of this work. 2. Nature educates families : the moft natural ftate therefore is one nation» with one national character. This it retains for ages, and this is moft naturally formed, when it is the objedt of it's native princes : for a nation is as much a na* tural plant as a family, only with more branches. Nothing therefore appears to dircdly oppofite to the end of government as the unnatural enlargement of ftates, the wild mixture of various races and nations under one fceptre. A human fceptre is far too weak and flendcr for fuch Incongruous parts to be engrafted upon it : glued together indeed they may be into a fragile machine, termed a machine of ftate, but deftitute of internal vivification and fympathy of parts. Kingdoms of this kind, which render the name of fathers of their country fcarccly applicable to tlic bcft of potentates, appear inliiftory like that type of Digitized by Google 2SO PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book IX. monarchies tn the vifion of the prcf>bet, where the lion's head, the dragon's tail, the eagle's wings, and the paws of a bear, combined in one unpatriotic figure of a ilate. Such machines are pieced tc^tber like the trojan horfe; guarantee- ing one another's immortality, though, deftitute of national charafter, there is no life in them, and notliing but the curfe of Fate, can condemn to immortality the forced union : for the very politics that framed them are thofe, that play with men and nations as with inanimate fubftances. But biftory fufficicntly fliows, that thefe inftruments of human pride are formed of clay, and, like all other clay, will diflblve, or crumble to pieces. 3. As, in all affociations between men, mutual afliftance and fecurity are the chief ends of their union ; fo, in all ftates, the natural order is the bcft : namely, that each of it's members fliould be what he was defigned by Nature. As foon. as the fovereign fteps into the place of the creator, and, prompted by his own will or paffions, endeavours to make the creature what God never intended : this heaven-controlling defpotifm becomes the parent of every diforder, and inevit- able misfortune. Now as all ranks of men eftabliflied by tradition counterad; in a certain degree Nature, who has confined her gifts to no rank; it is not to be wondered, that moft nations, after having tried various forms of government, and experienced the inconveniencies of each, have at length recurred in defpair to that which renders them altogether machines, to defpotic hereditary govern- ment. They faid, like the king of the jews, when three evils were offered to him : * let us rather fall into the hands of the lord, than into the hands of men:' and furrendered themfelves at difcretion to the will of Providence, fubmitting to whatever ruler Heaven might fend them : for the tyraimy of ariftocracy is a fevere tyranny, and popular fway is a very leviathan. Accordingly, all chriftian potentates ftylc themfelves fo by fhe grace o/Gvd; thus acknowledging, thai they derive their crowns, not from their own merit, which indeed could not exift before they were born, but from the will of Providence, which permitted them to be born on a throne. The claim of defert they muft acquire by their own labours ; with which it is incumbent on them to juftify Providence, for acknowledging them worthy of their high office : fot the office of a prince is nothing lefs than that of a god among men, a fuperiour being in a mortal form. The few, that have been fenfible of this diftinguiflied calling, (hine like flars amid the endlefs night, dark with clouds of ordinary rulers; and animate the loft wanderer in his melancholy progrefs through the political hiftory of mankind. O for another Montefquieu, to feaft us with the fpirit of laws and go- vernments on our Globe only during the centuries beft known to us ! not ac- Digitized by Google Chat. TV.] Gavemmeftts founded on hereditary Tra£tm. ij i cording to the empty names of three or four forms of government» which are alike in no two places, and never remain the fame: not according to the politi- cal maxims of ftates; for no ftafe is founded on verbal princi{^es, and dill lefs could any one adhere to them invariably at all times, and under all circum- (lances: not fix>m detached examples, taken from all nations, times, and cli- tnates, out of which, in this confufion, the genius of our Earth himfelf could not form a whole : but folely by a philofbphical animated reprcfentation of civil hiftory ; in which, xmifoim as it appears, no one fcene occurs twice -, and which* fearfully inftrudive, completes the pidure of the vices and virtues of mankind «nd their governors, according to place and time always changing, always the üuoe. CHAPTER V, Religion is tie mojl ancient andfacred Tradition npon the Earths Weary and tbed of all thcfe changes of donates, times, and nations, can we find on the Globe, no ftandard of the common property and excel- lence of our fraternity ? Yes : the difpofition to reafon^ humanity, and religion, the three graces of human life. All dates have had a late origin, and arts and iciences havearilen in them (IUI later; but families are the eternal work of nature, the progreffive eilablKhment, in which (he plants the feeds of humanity, and fofters it's growth. Languages vary with eveiy people, in every clime; but in all languages one and the fame typefearching human reafon is confpicu- ous. Thus traces of religion, however different it's garb may be, are found even among the pooreft and rudeft nations on the verge of the Earth. The green- lander and kanxtfchadale, the pelheray and papoo, have notions o religion, as cufloms or traditions (how : nay, were there a (ingle people totally deditute of religion among the aniicans, or thofe favages of the indian iilands, who have been compelled to hide themfelves in the woods, this very want would be a proof of the highly favage ftage, to which they were reduced. Now whence is be propagated, muft become words ; if every inftitution muft have a vifible fign, in order to be tranfmitted to others and to pofterity ; how can that which is unfeen be rendered perceptible, or an ancient hiftory be preferved to future ages, but by words or charafters ? Hence, among the moft uncultivated people» the language of religion is ever the moft ancient and obfcure ; often unintelli* gible even to the initiated, much more to ftrangers. The moft cxpreffivc &• cred fymbols of every people, however nicely adapted to the climate and na- tion, frequently become void of meanii^ in a few generations. And no won- der : for this muft happen to every language, to every inftitution with arbi- trary charafters, unlefs they be often brought into comparifon with their ob- jedts by common ufe» and thus retained in figniiicant remembrance. In reli- gion thb adual comparifon is difficult» if not impra<5bicablei for the fymbol refers either to an invifible idea, or an ancient hiftory. Thus it muft inevitably follow, that^r/^j, the original philofophers of a nation^ could not ahvays remain Jo : for as foon as the (ignification of the fymbols were loft to them, they muft become either the blind fervants of idolatry, or the lying preachers of fuperftition. And fo they have ridily proved themfelves almoft every where ; not from any particular propenfity to deception» but from the natural courfe of things. In language, in every fcience, in every art and inftitution, the fame deftiny prevails : the ignorant, who endeavours to fpeak, or to teach an art, muft conceal, muft feign, muft diflemble: a falfe appear- ance affuflies the place of loft truth. This is the hißory of all the myßeries upoa Earth : at firft they concealed much, that was well worthy of being known ; but in the end, particularly when the wifdom of men feparatcd itfelf from them, they degenerated into defpicable nonfcnfe j and thus, the fanöuary being re- duced to an empty (hell, the priefts at length became wretched deceivers. They by whom the priefts were chiefly expofed as fuch were the princes and philofophers. The princes, being foon led by their high rank, in which all power was vefted, to the uncontrolled exercife of their own will, thought it a duty of their rank, to reftrain an invifible fuperiour power, and confequently to annihilale it*s fymbols, or tolerate them as wires to move the puppet people. Hence the unhappy conflict between the throne and the altar in all lialf-civi- Digitized by Google Chap. V.] Religion the moft ancient and /acred Tradition upon Earth. 2 Si lized nations, till men at length attempted to unite them, and thus produced to the world the incongruous ftrufture of a throne on the altar, or an altar on the throne. In this unequal conteft, the degenerate priefts muft neceffarily continue to lofe ground ; for invifible belief had to contend againft viiible power, and the (hadovv of an ancient tradition againft the fplendour ofthat gol- den fceptre, which the priefts themfelves had formerly confccrated, and placed in the hand of the monarch. Thus with increafing civilization the days of prieftly dominion paflcd away : the defpot, who originally wore his crown in the name of the deity, now found it more eafy to fupp<5rt it in his own ; and to this the people were accuftomed both by the fovereign and the philofo- pher. Now, in the firft place, it is unqueftionablc, that religion alone introduced the firfi rudiments of civilization and fcience among all people i nayy that thefe rudiments were originally nothing mwe than a kind of religious tradition. The little civiliza- tion and fcience we find in all favage nations, even at prcfent, are connefted with their religion. The language of their religion is an exalted folemn lan- guage, which not only accompanies their facred rites with fong and dance, but for the moft part proceeds from the tales of the primitive world ; and is accord^ ingly the only relic thefe people have of ancient ftory, their folc memorial of antiquity, their fingle glimmer of fcience. The numbering-and obfervance of days, the foundation of all chronology, is or was every where facred : the magi of all quarters of the Globe appropriated to themfelves the knowledge of the heavens and of nature, however humble it was. The arts of phyfic and (both- laying, the occult fciences and interpretation t)f dreams, the knowledge of writ- ing, ads of atonement to the gods, of fattsfadion to the dead and obtain- bg accounts from them, in (hort, the whole of the dark realm of doubts, refpeAing which human curioiity is ever on the wing, are in the hands of their priefts; fo that, in many nations, one common worfhip, and religious feftivals^ arc all that imparts to independent families the (hadow of a whole. The hiftory of civilization will (how, that this was the cafe with the moft cultivated nations. The fcience of the egyptians, and of all the people of the eaft to the utmoft verge of Afia, as well as of all the poliftied nations of antiquity in Europe, the ctrufcans, greeks, and romans, began in the bofom and under the veil of relt- gious tradition : thus were poetry and arts, mufic and writing, hiftory and phy- fic, natural philofophy and mctaph) fics, aftronomy and chronolog}*, and even morals and pohtics, imparted to them. The moft ancient philofophers did nothing but feparate the feed that was given them, and raife plants from it; and thefe plants continued to be propagated through fubfequent ages. We of Digitized by Google »54. PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [BookIX. the north, too, have received our fcicnccs in no other way but under the garb of religion : fo that we may boldly affirm, from the hiftory of all nations, the Earth is indebted for tlie feeds of all fuperiour degrees of cultivation to religious traditions, oral or written. Secondly. The nature of the cafe itfelf confirms this hiftorical aflertion : for what railed man above the brute, and prevented him, even in his rudeft ftate» from being degraded to the rank of a bcaft ? It will be faid, reafon and fpeech. But as without fpeech he could not attain to reafon ; fo he could acquire neither but by the obfervation of unity in multiplicity, by the perception of the invifi- ble in the vifible, by the conneftiön of caufe with efFc<5t. Thus a kind of reli- gious feeling of invifiblc operative powers, in the whole chaos of bcmg that furrounded him, muft have preceded that firft formation and conneÄion of ab- ftraft ideas, and formed tlieir bafis. Savages have this feeling of the powers of nature, even when they have no epcprefs idea of God : a lively and aäive feeling, as their idolatry and fuperftition evince. In all ienfitive ideas of merely vifible things man adls like an animal : the conception of Something invifible in what is vifible, of a power in it^s a&ion, muft lift him to the firft fteps of fuperiour reafon. This conception is almoft the only one, re&rrible to tranfcendant rea- fon, that uncultivated nations pofTefs, and which others have developed in a greater variety of words. It is the &me with regard to tlie duration of the foul after death. In whatever way men acquired this notion, man in dying is diftinguiflied from the brute by this general article of belief alone. No favage nation can philofophically demonftratc the immortality of the human ibul : which is perhaps more than any one philofopher can do ; for even he can only confirm by rational arguments the belief of this immortality, which is rooted in man's heart : yet this belief is univerfal. Even the kamtfchadale difplays it, when be places a dog by the fide of his dead ; as the new-hollander does, when he finks the corpie of the deceafed in the fea» No nation buries it's dead, as a man would bury a dog : every favage, when he dies, departs for the country of his fathers, for the land of fouk. Thus religious traditions^ and the internal feeling of an exiftence which knows no proper annihilsition, precede fcrutinizing reafon ; elfe this would not eafily have attained the notion of immortality, or would have presented it in an abftraA, unenergetLc form. Accordingly, the univerfal belief in the continuance of our exiftence is the pyramid laifed by Religion over the graves of all nations. Laftly^ (hall the divine laws and rules of humanity, which diiplay them« ielves, though but in fragments, among the moft fa^^age nations, have been difcovered by icafoni after the lapie perhaps of thoulknds'of yean, and be in- Digitized by Google Chap. V.] Religion the mofl ancient and/acred Tradition upon Earth. 255 debted for their foundation to this changeable image of human abftraftlon ? I cannot think fo» even on the ground of hiftory. Had men been difperfed over the Earth like brutes, to invent the internal form of humanity for them- felves; we muft dill find nations without language, without reafon, without peligion, and without morals : for as man has been, fo man is ftill. But no hiftory, no experience,, informs us of any place where human ourang-outangs dwell ; and the fables, which the late Diodorus, or ftill later Pliny, relates of the men without feeling and other not human men, have the marks of falfhood on the very face of them; or at leaft are not to be credited on the teftimony of fuch writers. In like manner the accounts of the uncultivated nations of anti« quity, which p-jets give to exalt the fame of their Orpheus and their Cadmus» are certainly exaggerated : for the times in which thefe poets lived, and the aim of thtir legends, exclude them from the rank of authentic hiftorians. To rea- fon from the analogy of climate, no european, not to fay grecian, nation, has ever been more favage, than the new-zealander or the pefheray : yet thefe fcarcc- ly human beings poflefs humanity, reafon, and language. No cannibals de- vour their children or brothers : their inhuman praftice is a favage right of war, to nourirt) their valour, and terrify their enemies. It is, therefore, no- thing more or lefs, than the work of a grofs political reafon j which in thofe nations has overpowered humanity with regard to thefe few facrifices to their country, as it is overpowered by us europeans, even in the prcfent day, in fome other refpefts. Before ftrangers they are afhamed of this barbarous pradtice, though we europeans blulh not at killing men : nay they behave nobly and like brethren to every prifoner of war, on whom the fatal lot does not fall. All thefe things, even when the hottentot buries his child alive, and the efkimaux abridges the days of his aged parent, are confequences of lamentable necefSty ; which, in the mean time, arc not inconfiftent with the original feeling of hu- manity. Mifguided reafon, or unbridled luxury, has engendered many more Angular abominations among us, to which the polygamy of the negro is not to be compared. But as no one will on this account deny, that the figure of huma- nity is engraven on the heart of the fodomite, the opprefTor, theaffafBn, though almoft effaced by his licentious manners and pafSons ; permit me, after all I have read and examined concerning the nations of the Earth, to confider this internal difpofition to humanity to be as univerfal as human nature, or rather to be properly fpeaking human nature itfelf. It is older than fpeoulative reafon, which firft formed itfelf in man by means of obfervation and language ; nay, which would have had no flandard in pra&ical cafes, had it not borrowed one fix>m the obfcure image within us. If all the duties of man be merely con- Digitized by Google 256 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book IX. ventional, invented by bimfclf as the inftrumcnts of happinefs, and confirm- ed by experience j they inftantly ceafe to be my duties, if I renounce hap- pinefs, their end. The fyllogifm of reafon is thus completed. But how en- tered they into the head of him, who never fpeculated concerning happinefs, and the means that produce it ? how came the duties of marriage, of parental and filial affeftion, of focial and domeftic love, into the mind of man, before he had gathered experience of the advantages and difadvantages attending each of them, and thus muft have been in a thoufand difiercnt wap fomething lefs than human, before he became a man ? No, benevolent God, thou didft not leave thy creature to murderous chance. To the brute thou gaveft inftindt ; and on the mind of man didft thou imprefs thy image, religion and humanity : the outline of the ftatue lies there, deep in the block ; but it cannot hew out, it cannot faftiion itfelf. Tradition and learning, reafon and experience, mufl do this ; and thou haft fupplied fufEcient means. The rule of juftice, the principles of focial rights, even monogamy as the fpecies of nuptial love moft natural to man, afTedion towards children, gratitude towards friends and bene* &äors, and even a fenie of the moft mighty and beneficent of beings, are traces of this image, which, in this place and in that, are at one time fupprefled, at another brought forward to view, but every where difplay, notwithftanding, the primitive difpofitions of man, which he cannot renounce, wherever he per- ceives them. Thefe difpofitions, and their improvement, form the proper king- dom of God upon EsLTth ; of which all men are citizens, only in different dafles and degrees. Happy he, who can contribute to the extenfion of this kingdom of the true internal human creation ! he envies no inventor his knowledge, no king his crown. But who is the man, that will inform us, where and how this enlivening tradition of religion and humanity arofe, and fpread to the utmoft borders of the Earth, where it lofes itfelf in the obfcureft traces ? Who taught man Ian« guage, which every child now learns fi^om others, and no one difcovers by his own reafon? What were the firft fymbols man conceived, fo that the firft germes of civilization came to nations under the veil of a cofinogony and reli- gious ftories ? On what hangs the firft link of the chain of our fpecies, and it's Ipiritual and moral formation? Let us hear what the natural hiftory of the Earthy and the moft ancient tradition, tell us on thefe heads. Digitized by Google I HI 1 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. BOOK X, CHAPTER I. Our Earth is an Earth peculiarly formed for it^s animate Creation. A S the philofopher is much in the dark refpefting the origin of human hiftory, and fingularities occur in it's remoteft periods» which will not accord with this fyftem or with that» men have Men on the defperate mode of cutting the knot» and have not only confidered the Earth as the rums of a former habitation» but have fuppofed the human Ipecies tb be a remnant of the former inhabitants of this planet» who efcaped perhaps in caves or moun- tains» from the revolution of it*s Laft day. Thus it's reafon» arts» and traditions» are treafures fiived from the wrecks of the primitive World ♦ ; whence on the one hand» they appear from the beginning with a fplendour derived from the experience of thoufands of years ; and on the other, never can be clearly traced» while the remnant of the human fpecies has ferved like an ifthmus» at once to unite and to confound the cultivation of two worlds. If this opinion were true, there could be no fuch thing as a pure philofophy of the hiftory of man ; for the human fpecies itfelf» and all it's arts» would be nothing more than the recrement arifing from the deflruftion of a former world. Let us inquire what founda- tion there is for an hypothefis» which makes an inexplicable chaos of our Earth itfelf, and of the hiftory of it's inhabitants. In the original formation of our earth, in my opinion, it has none : for the firft apparent ravages and revolutions it has undergone prefuppofe no ancient hiftory of man, but belong to the creative fcrics, by which our Earth was • See in particular the acute EiTay on the philofophers have maintained in common the Origin of the Difcovery of Truth and Science, hypothefis, that our Globe is loaned from the Vtr/ucb ueber den Ur/prung dtr Erkenntnijt dtr ruins of another world« on very different Wabrhtit» tsfc. Berlin« 1781. Many natural grounds. Digitized by Google ±SS PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY, [Book X. Tendered habitable *. The ancient granite, the kernel of our Globe, exhibits, as far as we have any knowledge of it, no trace of organic beings deftroycd : we neither find any fuch included in it, nor do it's component parts pre- require them. It's highefl: pinnacles probably rofe above the waters of the creation, for they difcover no marks of the aftion of a fea : but on thefe bare heights no human being could find nourifliment, or even breathe. The air, that furrounded thefe maffes, was not yet feparated from water and fire : loaded with the various fubftances, which depofited themfelves in various combinations, and at various periods, on the bafis of the Earth, and gradually gave the World it's form, it was equally as incapable of fupporting the refpiration of the moft exquifite creature upon the Globe, as of imparting to it the breath of life. Thus the firft living creatures muft have originated in water : and this was endued from it's formation with a primitive creating power, which could yet aft no where clfe, and accordingly firft organized itfelf in an infinite mul- titude of (hcllfiOi, the only animals, that could live in this teeming fea. As the formation of the Earth proceeded, their deftru6tion largely enfued, and their fcattered parts became the bafes of finer organizations. In proportion as the primitive rock was freed from water, and enriched by it's depofits, or the elementary particles and organized beings mingled with it ; the vegetable creation fucceeded to that of the waters, and on every naked region what could vegetate vegetated. But no land animal could yet live in this hothoufe of the vegetable kingdom. On heights, on which the plants of Lapland now grow, we find petrified pro- dudlions of the torrid zone ; a clear proof, that their atmofphere had once the heat of the equatorial regions. Yet this atgaofphere muft already have been rendered in a confiderable degree more pure, fince fo many fubftances had been precipitated from it, and fince the life of a tender plant requires light : but as no animal, that lives on the face of the Earth, not to fay no human ikeleton, has ever been found along with thefe impreflions of vegetables, it is highly probable, that no fuch animal then exifted, becaufe no nourifliment was yet ready for it, and becaufe the matter, out of which it was to be formed, was not yet prepared. Thus we proceed, till in very fuperficial ftrata of fand or clay the fkeletons of the elephant and rhinoceros firft appear : for thofe bones, that occur in deeper ftrata, which feme have fancied to be human, are altogether equivocal, and more accurate examiners of nature have declared them to be the remains of aquatic animals. Thus Nature b^an on the Earth with the creatures of the • The h&s, on which the following aflertion» from Baffbn and others, that I Ihal] not make are bnilt, are fcattered through vanous modern a parade of quoting aathorities for every thing bocks of geolog/j and are in part fo well known I advajBce. Digitized by Google Cfi AP. I.] Our Earth formed for it^s animate Creation. »59 wanncft climates, and as it appears, with the moft bulky j as in the fea flic firft produced the muled Ihell-filh and lai^e cornua ammonis : at lead it is certain, that among the numerous ikeletons of elephants, which have been waOied together at a late period, and in fome places preferred even with their ikins, fnakes, marine animals, and the like, have been found, but 00 human bodies. And even had human bodies been difcovered, they would have been unqueftionably of a very modem date, compared with the ancient mountams, in which none of thefe remains of living creatures exift. So fays the moft ancient book of the Earth ; thus it is written on it's leaves of marble, lime, (and, ilate, and clay : and what fays it for a new formation of the Globe, which a race of men, whofe remains we are, had furvived ? All it fays tends rather to prove, that our Earth has Miioned itfelf, from it's chaos of fubftances and powers, through the animating warmth of the creative fpirit, to a peculiar and original whole, by a feries of preparatory revolutions, till at laft the crown of it's creation, the exquifite and tender creature man, was enabled to appear. Tfaoie fyftems, therefore, which talk of various changes of the poles and cli- mates, of reiterated deftrudions of an inhabited and cultivated foil, of the driving of men firom region to i^on, or of their graves under rocks and feas, and depidfc nothing but horrour and deftrudion in all ancient hiftory, are con- tradiftory to the £eibric of the Earth, or at leaft unfupported by it, notwith- ftanding all the involutions it has unqueftionably undergone. The fiiTures and veins in ancient ftones, or the broken walls of our Earth, fay nothing of a habitable World before the prefent : nay, had fate melted together the ancient ma(s, afiuredry no living renmant of the primitive World could have furvived. The Earth, therefore, as it now is, as well as the hiftory of it's inhabitants, itmains a fimple and complete problem to be folved by the inquirer. Let us proceed then, and aik : CHAPTER IL fVhere was the Place of the Formation andmofi ancient Abode of Man f That this place could have been no late-formed verge of the land requires no proof; we recur immediately, therefore, to the fummits of the eternal, primi- tive mountains, and the lands gradually annexed to them. Have men fprung up every where, as every where ihell-fifli have (prung up ? Did the Mountains ^ the Moon produce negroes, the Andes americans, Ural the afiatics, and Digitized by Google i6o PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Boor X, the Alps of Europe europeans ? and had each of the principal mountains of the World it's own variety of the human fpecies ? As every region of the Earth has it's peculiar fpecies of animals, which cannot live elfewhere, and confe- quently muft have been born in it, why (houkl it not have it's own race of men ? and are not the varieties of national features, manners, and charader, and particularly the great difference in languages, proofs of this ? No one of my readers can be ignorant of the dazzling light, in which thefe arguments have been placed by many learned and acute inveftigators of hiftory, (b that they have at length confidered it as one of the mod ftrained hypothefes^ to fuppofe, that Nature could every where produce apes and bears, but not men ; and thus, in complete contradiction to the courfe of her other operations, expofe the moil delicate of her creatures to a thoofand perils, by this Angular fru- gality, in creating only a fingle pair. * Behold even now,' they fiiy, * the prodigality of all-teeming Nature ! What innumerable germes, not only of plants, but of animals and man, does (he fcatter into the lap of Deftrudkion ! And is it poiTble, that at the very junfture when the human fpecies was to be produced, our prolific mother, whofe virgin youth was fo rich in the feeds of all beings and forms, that, as the ftrudure of the Earth (hows, (he could facrifice millions of living creatures at one revolution, to produce new kinds, (hould have exhaufted herfelf in inferiour beings, and have completed her wild labyrinth of life with two weak human creatures ?' Let us examine how far this apparently brilliant hypothefis anfwers to the progrefs of the civilizatioa and hiftory of our fpecies, or is confiftent with it's form, charadker, and relation to the other living creatures of the Earth. In the firft place, it is evidently contrary to Nature, that all living beings (hould have received life in equal number, or at the Ikme time : the ftruÄure of the Earth, and the internal conftitution of the creatures, render this impof- fible. Elephants and worms, lions and animalculse, exift not in equal num- bers : from their eflence, too* they could not have been created originally in like proportions, or at the fame time. Millions of teftaceous animals muft have periflicd, before the bare rock of our Earth could have been covered with a foil to nourifli more exquifitc hfe : a world of plants is deftroyed annually, to fupport the life of fuperiour creatures. Thus, fetting the final caufcs of the creation altogether afide, the making of one out of many, and the deftruftlon of multitudes' by the revolving wheel of creation, for the purpofe of animatip.g lefs numerous but more noble productions, arife out of the very fubftance of Nature. Thus flie proceeded on an afcending fcalc ; and while (he every where left enough of feed, to maintain thofe fpecies, which (be meant Digitized by Google Chap. IIJ Place of MmCs Formation. 26t to perpetuate, (he cleared the way for others more feleft, more exquifite, and of ^ fuperiour order. If man were to be the crown of the creation, he coiild not have the fame mafs, the fame day of produftion, the fame place, and the fame dwel- ling, as the fifli, or the fea-blubber. His blood was not to be water: and therefore the vital warmth of Nature muft have been fo far elaborated and re- fined, as to give it redness. All his veflels and fibres, and even his bony frame itfelf, were to be formed from the pureft clay : and as the omnipotent afts but by fecond caufes, fuch caufes muft have previouily prepared the materials for this purpofe. Such had pervaded even the grolfer animal creation : when and where each animal could arifc, it arofe : energies tlironged through every gate, and formed themfelves to life. The cornu ammonis exiftcd before the fifli : the plant preceded the animal, which could not live without it : here crawled the crocodile and caiman, before the fagacious elephant there waved his trunk, and fclefted his food. Carnivorous animals prerequired a numerous and al- ready much increafed progeny of fuch as were to form their nouriihment : con- fequently they could not come into exiftence at the fame time, and in equal number with thefe. Man, too, if he were to be the inhabitant of the Earth, and the lord of the creation, muft ßnd his habitation and his kingdom prepared: and accordingly muft come late, and in fmaller number than thofe he was to govern. If Nature could have produced from the materials of her terreftrial ma- nu&&ory any thing more exquifite, more beautiful, and fuperiour to man, why (hould (he not have produced it ? And her not having done this Ihows, that with man (he clofed her work, and now completed with the choiceft frugality the forms, which (he had commenced with the moft abundant fuperfluity in the depths of the fea. * God created man,* fays the moft ancient written tradition, • in his own image : in the likenefs of God he created him, one man and one woman : after the multitudes he had created, the fmalleft number : there he rcfted, and created nothing more.' This was the fummit, that completed the Eving pyramid. Now where could this fummit be placed ? Where did the pearl of the fini(hed Earth difplay itfelf ? NeceflTarily in the centre of the moft aftive organic powers, where, if I may «be allowed fuch expre(rions, the creation was moft widely ex- tended, and moft exquifitely laboured. And this could be no where, perhaps, but in Afia, as the ftrufture of the Earth itfelf gives us room to conjedlure. In A(ia were thofe great and extenfive heights of the Globe, which the waters never covered, and the rocky ridges of which branched out far and wide. Here too was the greateft attraftion of aftive powers; here friftion circulated the elcdric Ibeam -, here the materials of prolific chaos were moft «^bundaxitly precipitated. Digitized by Google i62 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book X. The moft fpacious quarter of the Globe was formed round thefc mountains, as it's figure (hows : and on thefe mountains lived the greater number of all the f]iccies of the animal creation» which probably roamed over them in the enjoy- ment of exiftence, while the reft of the World lay under water» fcarcely exhi- biting the naked or woodcrowned fummits of it's mountains. The mountain, that Linne imagined as the hill of creation *, exifts in nature: not merely as a mountain, but as an extenfive amphitheatre, a conftellation of mountains, the arms of which ftretch out into various climates. * I muft obferve,' lays Pallas -f , * that all thue animals, which live in a tame ftate in the northern or fouthern countries, are to be found wild in the temperate climate of the middle of Afiaj the dromedary excepted, neither fpecies of which thrives out of Africa, or can be brought to endure the climate of Alia without difficulty. The native places of the wild ox and the bui&lo, of the mufimon, from which our flieep are defcended, of the bezoar-goat and ibex, the intermixture of which has produced the fertile race of tame goats, are to be found in the mountainous chains, that embrace the middle of Afia and part of Europe. The rebdeer abounds on the high moun- tains, that fkirt Siberia, and cover it's caftcrn parts, where it is employed as a beaft of draught and burden. It is alfo to be found on the Uralian chain» whence it has fpread into the more northern countries. The camel with two bunches is to be found wild in the great deferts between Tibet and China. Wild fwine inhabit the woods and morafles throughout all the temperate part of Afia. The wild cat, from which our domcftic cat is derived, is fufficiently known. Laftly, the chief breed of our domcftic dogs is certainly defcended from the jackal i though I do not think it*s blood wholly uncontaminated, for I am perfuaded, that it has been intermixed, from a very remote period, with that of the common wolf, the fox, and even the hyena, which has occafioned the extreme variety of fize and figure in our dogs.* Thus Pallas. And who is xin- acquainted with the richnefs of Afia, particularly of it's ibuthern countries, ia natural produftions ? It appears, as if not only the moft fpacious, but alfo the moft fertile land, had fettled itfelf round thefe the lofticft heights of the Globe, attrafting to itfelf from the beginning the greateft (hare of organic warmth. The moft fagacious elephants, the moft cunning apes, and the moft lively ani- mals, are produced in Afia : and, notwithftanding it's decline, it has probably, with regard to genetic difpofition, the moft ingenbus and exalted men. • Lintuei AmanitMtis academics. Vol. II, p. Materials for Phyfical Geography, Beyträg^ 4^9, Difcourfe on the habitable World. ThU xur phjifikaH/cbtn Erabt/cbrtibun^, Vol 111, p. oration has been repeatedly tranflated. tjo, and ellewhere. f Remarks on Mountains, tranflated in the Digitized by Google Chap. IT.] flace of Matt i Formation. 265 But what is to be fald of the other quarters of the Globe ? It is demonftrable from hiftory, that Europe was fupplied both with men and animals chiefly from Afia, and was probably in great part covered with water, or with.forefts and mo^ lafles, when the higher land of Afia was already cultivated. With the interiour part of Africa, indeed^ we have yet but little acquaintance : both the figure and altitude of it's central ridge of mountains in particular are totally unknown to us : yet it is on many accounts probable, that this ridge, in a quarter of the Globe fo fcantily watered, and having fuch extenfive traäs of low ground, can fcarcely equal in height and breadth that of Afra. This continent, therefore, was probably covered for a longer period ; and though the torrid zone has not lefuled the animal or vegetable creation there a peculiar, powerful impreflion, yet it appears, as if Africa and Europe were but children, hanging to the bread of their mother Afia. Thefe three quarters of the Globe have mofl animals in common, and form on the whole but one continent. Laftly, when we confider the fleep mountains, too lofty to be inhabited, that ftretch through America, their flill raging volcanoes, the low land at their feet, large traäs of which are on a level with the fea, and it's living creation, which coniifb principally of plants, amphibia, infedbs, and birds, with fewer fpecies of the more perfeft and lively animals enjoyed by the old World ; and when to thefe we add the rude immature governments of it's nations in general \ it will be difficult to conceive, that this continent was the earlieft inhabited. Compai^ with the other half of the Globe, it rather offers to the natural philofopher a rich problem of the difference between two oppofite hemifpheres. Even the beautiful valley of Quito could not eafily be the birthplace of an original couple of human beings, ready as I fhould be to allow this honour to it, and to the Mountains of the Moon in Africa, and unwilling to contradid any one, who fiiould difcover proofs of it. But enough of mere conjedture, which I wifh not to be abufed, fo as to deny the Omnipotent power and materials to create men, wherever he pleafed. The word, that every where filled both fea and land with their proper inhabitants, could alfo have given each quarter of the Globe it's native lord, had it thought fit. But are there not reafons difcoverable in the character of man, as hitherto luifolded, why it did not think proper ? We have feen, that the reafon and hu- manity of man depended on education, language, and tradition : and that in this refpedk he difTcFS totally from the brute, which brings it's infallible inflindt into the World witii it. If this be fo, man could not, from his fpccific cha- laÄer, have been generally difperfed over the defert Worid like the beafls. The tree, which could every where be propagated by art alone, was rather to fpring Digitized by Google a64 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Boor X. from one root, in a place where it would profpcr bed, where it could be fos- tered by him, by whom it was planted. Mankind, deftined to humanity, were to be from their origin a brotherly race, of one blood, and formed by one guid- ing tradition ; and thus the whole arofe, as each individual family now rifes» branches from one dem, plants from one primitive nurfery. In my opinion, this ftriking plan of God with r^rd to our fpecies, which diftinguiflies it in it's very origin from the brute, mud appear the mod adequate, beautiful, and ex- cellent, to every one, who weighs the charaöeridics of our nature, the frame and quality of our reafon, the mode by which we acquire ideas, and the manner in which humanity is fafliioned in us. According to this fcheme, man was the fevourite of Nature, whom (he produced, as the fruit of her matured indudry, or, if you pleafe, as the child of her age, in the fpot which (he deemed bed for her tender ladling. Here (he fodered him with maternal hand, and placed around him whatever could promote from the beginning the formation of his human charader. As only one kind of human reafon was pofTible upon this Earth, and as Nature therefore produced but one fpecies of rational creatuits» fhe left this creature capable of reafon, to be educated in one fchool of language and tradition, and took upon herfelf this education through a feries of genera- tions from one origin. CHAPTER III. Hißory^ and the Progrefs of Civilization^ afford hißorical Proofs^ that the human Species originated in Afia, Whence are all the nations of Europe? From A(ia. Of mod of them wc Jcnow this with certainty : we know the origin of the laplandcrs, fins, germans and goths, gauls, flavians, celtsj cimbrians, and others. Partly from their lan- guages, or the remains of their languages, and partly from accounts of their an- cient feats, we can trace them to a confiderable didance on the borders of the Black Sea, or in Tatary, where fome remains of their languages dill exid. We know Icfs of the defcent of other nations, becaufe we arc lefs acquainted with their early hidory : for the ignorance of former times alone makes them in- digenes. If Buettner, the abled philologer of all, who liave dudied the hidory of ancient and modern nations, would impart to us the treafures his modcdy conceals, and trace, as he undoubtedly could, a feries of nations to their pa- rental dock, of which they themfelves are ignorant^ he would confer no (mall benefit on mankind *, * This learned man is bqfied in a work of this kind on a very «omprehenfive plan. Digitized by Google Chap. III.] Man originated in Aßa. 265 The origin of the africans and americans, it muft be confeffcd, is more ob- fcure : but from all we have learned of the northern frontier of Africa, and a comparifon of the moft ancient traditions refpefting the origin of it's inhabitants, it is afiatic. As we proceed fouthward we muft be fatisfied, if we find nothing in the negro figure and complexion inconfiftent with this origin, but rather a progreffive climatic change of national features, as was attempted to be (hown in the fixth book of this work. America more recently peopled is in a fimilar predicament ; the appearance of it's natives renders it probable, however, that they originally came from the eaftern parts of Afia. But the languages of nations are lefs equivocal than their features r and where, throughout the whole Earth, are the moft anciently cultivated languages to be found ? In Afia. Would you fee the miracle of people fpeaking fimple mono- fyllabical languages throughout a fpace of fome thoufands of miles ; vifit Afia. The countries beyond the Ganges, Tibet and China, Pegu, Ava, Arracan, and Brema, Tonquin, Laos, Cochin-China, Cambodia, and Siam, converfe in fimple uniniledted monofyllables. It is probable, the early rules of their language and writing fixed this ; for in this corner of Afia, the moft ancient inftitutions have remained in almoft all things unchanged. Would you have languages, the extreme and almoft fuperabundant copioufnefs of which is connefted with a very few roots, fo that they combine richnefs and poverty, with a fingular regu- larity and the almoft childilh art of expreflSng a new idea by a trifling change of the radical word ; obferve the fouth of Afia, from India to Syria, Arabia, and Ethiopia. The language of Bengal has feven hundred roots, the elements of leafon as it were, firom which nouns, verbs, and all the other parts of fpeech are formed. The hebrew and it's cognate languages, fo very different in kind as they arc, excite aftonifliment, when their ftrufture is confidered, even in the moft ancient writings. All their words may be traced up to roots of three letters, which at firft too were probably monofyllables, but afterwards, through the means of their peculiar alphabet in all likelihood, were brought into this form at an cariy period, and thence by means of very fimple additions and in- flcftions the whole language was conftrufted. In the poliflied arabic language, for example, an infinite copioufnefs of ideas is compofed from a few roots 5 fo that the patchwork of moft european languages, with their ufelefs auxiliaries and tedious inflexions, cannot be more ftrikingly difplayed, than by comparing them with the languages of Afia. Hence, too, thcfe arc diflicult for an european to learn in proportion to their age j for he muft relinquifh the ufelefs riches of his own tongue, when he approaches their finely conceived and deeply regulated hieroglyphic of the invifible language of thought. a Digitized by Google 266 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book X. The moft certain mark of the cultivation of a language is it's writing: the more ancient this is, and the more art and refledlion it difplays, the more high]}- polifhed is the language. Now, if we except the fcythians, perhaps, who werc alfo an afiatic people, no european nation can boaft of the invention of an al- phabet: in this point the jxoplc of Europe rank as barbarians with the negro and amcrican. To Afia alone belonged tb.e art of writing, and this in the moft ancient times. The earlicft poliilicd nation of Europe, the greeks, borrowed an alphabet from the eaft ; and Bucttner's tables (how, that all the reft of the al- phabetical characTccrs ufcd in Europe were borrowed, or altered, from thofe of. the greeks *. The moft ancient literal writing of the egyptians alio, as it ap- pears on their mummies, is phenician, and, like the coptic alphabet, a corrupt greek. Among the negroes and americans nothing like an originally invented alphabet is to be fuppofed ; for even the mexicans never went beyond their rude hieroglyphics, or the peruvians beyond their knotted cords. Afia, on the other hand, has exhaufted the art of writing as it were in letters and artfui hieroglyphics, fo that among it's charafters may be found almoft every kind, to which human fpcech may be limited. The bengal alphabet has fifty confonants, and twelve vowels : the chinefe out of their multitude of charafters have chofcn no lefs than a hundred and twelve as vowels, and thirty fix as confonants. The tibetian, fingalefe,. mahratta, and mantchou alphabets are conftrufted on fimi- lar principles, though the dircftions of the ftrokes, that form their chanuftcrs, vary. Some of the afiatic alphabets are evidently fo ancient, that we may ob- fbrve, how the language has been formed with them, and to them ; and the beautifully fimple writing on the ruins of Perfepolis is altogether unintelligible to us. If we proceed from the inftruments of civilization to civilization itfclf, where did it earlier appear, or where could it appear earlier, than in Afia ? whence it was farther propagated through channels, of which we are not ignorant. The fovereignty over animals was one of tlie firft fteps towards it; and in Afia this may be traced back beyond all the revolutions of hiftory. Not only that, as has been (hown, the greater number of animals, and the more tameable, were to be found on this primary mountain of the World ; but the fociety of men tamed them fo early, that our moft ufeful animals, the flieep, goat, and dog, had their origin probably from this ciicumftance, and are in faft new fpecies of animals produced by afiatic art. If a man would place himfelf in the centre • See Comparative Tables of the Writing of various '^^SlQra^FtrgkicbMmit'tafeUJtr Scbriftatiem wrfebitdner Valker, by Bttcttner: GottingCD, 1771. Digitized by Google Chap. III.] Man originated in Aß a. 267 of the diftribution of tame animals, he muft repair to the heights of Afia: the more diftant from thefc, reckoning on the grand fcale of nature, the fewer tame animals are to be found. In Afia, even to it's fouthern iflands, every place abounds with them : in New Guinea and New Zealand we find only the dog and the fwine ; in New Caledonia, the dog alone \ and throughout the whole extent of America, the guanaco and llama were the only tame animals. The bed breeds in Afia and Africa, too, are of the nobleft and moft beautiful kind. The dihiggetai and arabian horfe, the wild and tame afs, the argali and the flieep, the wild and Angora goat, are the pride of their fpecies : the fagacious elephant was managed with the greateft art in Afia from the earlieft times, and the camel was indifpenfable to this quarter of the Globe. Africa comes next to Afia with regard to the beauty of fome of thefe animals ; but in the manage- ment of them is far behind. Europe b indebted to Afia for all it's tame ani- mals ; being able to reckon as it's own only fifteen or fixteen wild fpecies, chiefly mice or bats * The cultivation of the Earth and it's plants have proceeded in a fimilar manner. A great part of Europe at a very late period was covered with wood; and it's inhabitants, if they lived on vegetable food, could procure only roots and wild herbs, acorns and crabs. In many of the regions of Afia, of which we are fpeaking, com grows fpontaneoufly, and huftandry dates from time im- memorial. The fineft firuits of the Earth, the grape and the olive, the orange and the fig, the pomegranate and the almond, nuts, chefnuts, and all the pro- duAions of our gardens and orchards, were firft brought from Afia into Afirica and Greece, and thence fpread into remoter countries. A few other vegetables wc have derived from America: and with refpeft to moll we know both the place fi"om which they were procured, and the time when they were introduced. And thefe gifts of Nature were conferred on mankind by the aid of tradi- tion : no wme is produced in America, and vineyards have been planted in Africa only by the hands of europeans. That arts and fciences were firft cultivated in Afia, and in the adjacent coun- try of Egypt, requires no elaborate proof. Ancient monuments, and the hif- tory of nations, affirm it; and the teftimonies adduced by Goguet-f are in every hand. In this part of the World both the ufcful and fine arts have been purfued very early, in fome place or other, but every where in the marked afia- • Seie Ziinnieniuinn*6 Geographical Hiftoryof di lew Progrts cht» Us antietn Pcupks, • The Man, Qtographifebi Gtfibichtt ätr Mnfehwi Origin of Laws, Aits, aod Sciences, and their VaI.IU, p. 1S3. Progrefs among the Ancients/ 3 vols. 410. t L*OriiiMi dit L9ix, ia Artf^ in Sciiwatt (^ 1 758. Digitized by Google 268 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [BookX. tic tafte ; as the ruins of Perfepolis, and the hindoo temples, the pyramids of Egypt, and many other works, of which there are ftill remains, or of which ac- counts are handed down to us, fufEciently prove: for almoft all of thefe were prior to the civilization of Europe, and in Africa and America there is nothing to compare with them. The lofty poetry of many of the fouthern afiatics isuni- verfally known * : and the more ancient it is, the more it difplays of that no- blenefs and fimplicity juftly called divine. What acute thought, nay I may fay what ingenious hypothefis, has ever entered into the mind of a modern in- habitant of the weft, the germe of which is not difcoverablc in fome earlier caftern maxim or fiäion ? at Icaft if the foundations of it were within the fphere of an afiatic's knowledge. The trade of the afiatics is the moft ancient upon Earth, and the moft important inventions relative to commerce arc theirs. So are aftronomy and chronology. Without laying the leaft ftrcfs on the hy- pothefes of Bailly, who can avoid aftonilhment at the early and extcnfive pro- pagation of many aftronomical obfervations, periods, and praftices, to which the moft ancient nations of A(ia have a claim not eafy to be difputed -f ? It feems as if their ancient philofophers were particularly the philofophcrs of the heavens, the obfervers of filently progreffive time ; this calculating, numbering fpirit difplaying it's efFefts among them then, as it does even now, notwith- ftanding the deep decline of many of their nations J. The bramin reckons im- menfe fums by memory: the divifions of time, from the fmalleft meafure to the grcatcft revolutions of the heavens, are familiar to his mind; and he com- mits few miftakes in them, though he has none of the helps, which europeans employ. Antiquity has tranfmitted to him the formulae, which he now docs nothing but apply : and even our divifion of the year is afiatic ; our arithmeti- cal figures, and the conftellations of our aftronomers, are of egyptian or indian origin. Laftly, if forms of government be the moft difficult of the arts of civilization, where do we find the moft ancient and extcnfive monarchies ? where have the empires of the World found their firmeft eftabliflimcnt ? China has maintained it's ancient conftitution for fome thoufiinds of years : and though this unwar- like country has been more than once overrun by tatar hordes, the vanquiflied have always civilized their vanquifhers, and inured them to the chains of their * See Jona Pec/coi Jfiatic, Ctmmintar,^ * A i*Inde,*VoyKgt in the Indian Seas:' Walteren Commenury on Sir W. Jones's Pttfes Jfiatic4t* the Indian Computation of Time, appended to t See Bailly*! Hißcirt it l*Jßronemi* ancitimt, Beger's Hiftoria Rtgni Grätnrum SsaHsm, «HilloryoftheAltronomy of the Ancients.' > Hiftoiy of the BaArian Kingdom of the } See le Gentil's Ft^M^t Jam lu Mtn ii Greeks/ Peterflmrg» 1738. Digitized by Google mm Crap. III.] Man originated in Aßa. z€g old conftitution. What fpxm of government in Europe con make a fimilar boaft ? The moft ancient hierarchy upon Earth reigns on the mountains of Tibet : and the cafts of the hindoos indicate their primeval eftablilhment, from the deeprooted power» which has been for ages a fecond nature to the gentled of people. Warlike or peaceable eftablifticd monarchies, on the Tigris and Eu- phrates, on the banks of the Nile and the mountains of Media» interfere in the: hiftory of the weftern nations in the remoteft times : and even on the heights of Tatarjr the unreftrifted liberty of the hordes was interwoven with a defpotifm of the khans, whence the principles of many european forms of government have been derived. From every corner of the World, the nearer we approach Afia, the nigher we come to firmly eftabliftied kingdoms, in which the unli- mited power of the monarch has been for thoufands of years fo deeply imprefled on the minds of the people, that the king of Siam laughed at a nation without a king, as an abortive birth deftitute of a head. The moft eftabliflied defpo- tifms in Africa are feated neareft to Afia : the more diftant they are from it, the ruder the ftate of tyranny, till at length it is loft among the caffrcs in the patriarchal condition of the ftiepherd. In the fouthern ocean, the nearer we come to Afia, the deeper we find arts, manufadtures, pomp, and the IJKDufe of pomp, monarchical delpotifin, rooted : the farther we are from it, as in the remote iflands, in America, and on the barren verge of the fouthern world, the more fimple conftitutions of fociety occur in a ruder ftate,. the freedom of voices and independance of families ; fo that fome hiftorians have deduced even the two americ^m monarchies of Mexico and Peru from the neighbourhood of defpotic governments in Afia. The general afpeft of this quarter of the Globe, particularly about the mountains, indicates the moft ancient habitation : and the traditions of it's nations, with their religions and computations of time, afcend, as is well known, to the primitive ages* All the mythologies of the europeans and africans, from whom I exclude the Egyptians, and ftill more of the americans and inhabit -nts of the wcftcrn iflands of the Pacific Ocean, are but fcattered fragments of modern fables, compared with the gigantic ftruftures of ancient cofmogony in India, Tibet, the old Chaldea, and even in the much inferiour Egypt ; but confufed founds of an evanefcent echo from the voice of the primitive afiatic world, lofing itfelf in fiftion. What then if we were to follow this voice ; and, as mankind had no means of being formed but by tradition, endeavour to trace it to it*s original fource } This, it muft be confeflTed, is a trcaclicröus path, as if a man were to purfue the rainbow, or chace an echo : for as a child is incapable of giving an account Digitized by Google 270 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book X of his birth, though prcfcnt at it, as little may we hope, that the human fpccies can tell us of it's creation and firft leffons, the invention of language, and it's primitive feat, with the drift accuracy of authentic hiftory. Yet a child Temembers at leaft fome circumftances of his later youth : and if feveral children, who were educated together, and afterward feparated, relate the fame or very fimilar things, why (hould we not give them credit ? why (hould we refufe at leaft to refledt, on what they fay or dream has occurred, particularly if wc have no other documents ? And as it has been the palpable defign of Providence to inftruft man by means of man, that is by progreffively operating tradition ; let us not doubt, that in this point we are favoured wiih every thing, that it Is necefTary for us to knov^. CHAPTER IV. Aftaiic TraJiticnson the Creation of the Earth und the Origin of the human Speciei. But in what part of this wild wafte, wlxere fo many deceitful voices call, and fo many treacherous lights appear .to miflead us, fliall we begin ? I have no in- clination, to add a fyllablc to the library of dreams on this fubjeft, which human memory has committed to the prefs ; and (hall feparate, tlierefore, as far as I am able, the conjectures of different nations, or the hypotliefes of their philofophersi, from traditional fadts ; diftinguilhing in thefe their age, and degree of certainty. The remoteft people of Afia, who boaft of the highcft antiquity, the chinefe, have no authentic hiftory prior to the year 722 before our era. The reigns of Fohi and Hoangti are mythological ; and what precedes Fohi, the ages of fpirits, or of the elements perfonified, is confidered as allegorical fiftion by the chinefe themfelves. Their moft ancient book *, which was recovered, or rather reftored from two copies faved out of the general burning of their books, in the year 176 before the birth of Chrift, contains neither a cofmogony, nor the origin of the nation. In it we find Yao reigning with the mountains of his empire, the grandees : he had but to iffue the command, and ftars were obferved, aqueduÄs were conftrufted, divifions of time were eftablirtied. Thus we have nothing left but the chinefe metaphyfics of the great firft Y-f- j how four and eight arofe from one and two ; how, after the • Lt ChoumKingj t^c, * The Shoo-King» one thofe in which the Shoo King fpeaks, by Pre- of the fftcrcd Books of the Chinefe/ Paris, marc, prefixed to the edition of the Shoo-KJog 1770. byDcGttignes. f Sec an An^oiry into the times anteriour to Digitized by Google Chap. IV'.] Aßatic Traditions refpeEling the Creation. z*jr opening of the heavens, Puanku and the three Hoangs reigned in miraculous fhapes ; till fomething more rcfembling human hiftory begins with the firft founder of their laws, Gin-Hoang, who was born on the mountain Hingma, and divided the land and water into nine portions. And ftill this fort of my- thology proceeds down through feveral generations ; fo that nothing can be built upon it, except perhaps the feat on which tliey place thcfe kings and their miraculous forms, the high mountains of Afia, which they deem facrcd, and honour with all their moft ancient fables. A great mountain in the centre of the earth is highly celebrated, even among the names of thefc fabulous beings, whom they (lylc kings. If we afcend to Tibet, we find the pofition of the earth round a lofty central mountain ftill more perfpicuous; for the whole mythology of this eccleilaflical empire is founded on it. It's height and circumference are ticmcndoufly depifted : monfters and gia^its arc it's guards : fcven feas, and feven mountains of gold, furround it. The lahs dwell on it's fummit, and other beings on various inferiour ftages. Thofe contemplators of Heaven had been finking for SBons of mundane ages into grofler bodies, till they arrived at the human form, in which a frightful pair of apes were their progenitors. The origin of beafts likewife is deduced from degraded lahs**. A harfli mythology, which frames the world defcending into the fea, peoples it with monfters, and ulti- mately throws the whole fyftem of beings into the throat of a demon, eternal iieceffity. This degrading tradition, however, which deduces man from apes» is fo interwoven with later fancies, that much is requifite, to make it pafs for a pure original dodtrinc of the primitive world. If we could procure the oldeft traditions of the ancient people the hindoos, they would form a valuable treafure. But, befide that the firft feft of Brahma has been long extinguiftied by the followers of Viflinoo and Sheva, we pofTefs, in what has hitherto been brought to Europe of their myfteries, evidently modern fables alone, being only a popular mythology, or an explanatory fyftem of the philofophcrs. Thefe two divaricate after the manner of fables according to the different provinces, fo that we have probably long to wait for the true Vedas of the hindoos, as well as for the proper fanlcrit language j and even in them we can expedl little of their moft ancient traditions, as they themfelves deem the firft part loft. Yet a few grains of primitive hiftoric gold glitter through many of thefe later fables. The Ganges, for inftance, is facred throughout all Hindoftan, and flows immediately from the holy mountains, the * Georgii Alphabet. Tibeun. Rom. 1762» ft 181 and clfewiiere. Digitized by Google 272 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. IBook X- feet of Brahma, the creator of the world. Viflinoo appeared in his eighth nietamorphofis as Praflarama : the water ftill covered all the land, except ihc mountain Gatee : lie entreated the god of the fea, to give him room, and to withdraw the flood, as far as he could (hoot an arrow. The god promifed ; Praflarama flbot j and the land dried as far as the arrow flew, which was to the coaft of Malabar. This evidently infl:ru<äs us, as Sonnerat alfo remarked, that the fea once reached to the mountain Gatee, and that tlie coaft of Malabar is mow recent land. Other indian tales relate the origin of the earth from out of the water in another manner. Viflmoo fwam on a leaf: the firft man f])rung out of it as a flower. On the furface of the waves boated an egg, which Brahma hatched, and it^s (hell formed the atmofphere and the heavens, as it's contents did man and animals. Thefe tales, however, fhould be read in the infantile ftyle of the hindoos themfelves ♦. The doftrinc of Zoroafter + is evidently a philofophic fyftem, which, if it were not intermingled witli the fables of other fefts, could fcarcely pafs for an original tradition. Trace^of fuch a tradition, however, are difcernible in it. The great mountain Atbordy appears again in the centre of the Earth, and with it's neighbouring mountains fljetches round it. About it the Sun revolves : from It the rivers flow, and feas and lands arc diflributed. The forms of things exifted firft in protot^^pes, in germes : and, as in all the other mytho- logies of higher Afia Uie primitive World abounds with monftcrs, this too has the great bull Cayamort, from the carcafe of which iflTued all the creatures of the Earth. On tlie top of this mountain, as on that of the lalis, is Paradife, the feat of blefled fpirits and enlightened men, and the primary fourcc of rivers, the water of life. For the reft, the Light, that divides, diflipates, and overcomes darknefs, that fruftifies the earth, and animates all creatures, is evidently the firft phyfical principle of the whole fire-worfliip of the parfecs ; which fimple idea they have applied theologically, morally, and politically, in a thoufand ways. The farther weft we wander beneath the afiatic mountains, the (hortcr we find the periods of time, and the tales of the primitive Worid. We perceive in them all a later origin, and the qjplication of foreign traditions from higher regions to lower lands. They become Icfs and lefs adapted to local circum- ftances ^ but on this account the lyftem itfelf gains in fulnefs and clcarncfs ; as only a few fragments of the ancient fable occafionally appear, and thefe few are clad in a more modern national garb. I am aftonifhed, therefore, how Sandio- fiiathon has been reprcfented on the one hand as a complete impoftor» and on * See Sonnertt» Baldeus, Dod, HoIwelI> &c. f Zend Aveila. Digitized by Google Chap. IV.] Jßatic Traditions refpeEling the Creation. 273 the other as the firft prophet of the primitive world, to which be could not have belonged from the phyfical fituation of his country. That the beginning of all things was an air void of light, a dark and troubled chaos \ and that this chaos, without limits and without form, floated in the void fpace from infinite time, till the moving fpirit fell in love with it's own principles, and a beginning of the creation arofe from their conjunftion ; belong to a mythology fo ancient, and fo common to the moft different nations, that the phenician had here little to invent. Almoft every people of Afia, with the egyptians and greeks, related the tradition of chaos, or of a fecundated egg, in a fimilar manner : why therefore fliould not written traditions of this kind be found in a phenician temple ? That the firft feeds of creatures lay enveloped in mud j and the firft rational creatures were a kind of wonderful beings, mirrors of Heaven (zophafemim)y who, roufed by the found of thunder, awoke, and produced the various animals out of their miraculous forms j are likewife extenfively prevailing tales, here only abridged, which fpread in different garbs over the mountains of Media and Tibet to Hindoflan and China, and defccnded likewife to Phrygia and Thrace, for remains of them are to be found in the mythologies of Orpheus and Hefiod. Now when we read long gencalc^ies of the wind Colpias, that is, the voice of the breath of God, and his wife Night, their children Firft-born and -^on, their grand-children Genus and Species, their great-grandchildren Light, Fire, and Flame, their great-great-grandchildren the mountains Caffius, Libanus, Antilibanus, &c., and find human inventions afcribed to thefe allegorical names ; a very indulgent prejudice is requifite, to difcover a philofophy of the World, and a primitive hiftory of man, in this mifconceived confufion of ancient traditions, which the compofer probably found before him as proper names, and out of which he formed perfons. We will not take the trouble to fearch farther down into Egypt for traditions of the primitive World. In the names of it's ancient deities are unqueftionable remains of a fifter tradition to that of the phenicians j for ancient Night, the Spirit, the Creator of the World, the Mud wherein lay the feeds of things, here again occur. But as all we know of the moft ancient mythology of Egypt is recent, doubtful, and obfcure ; and, befides, every mythological image in this country is altogether moulded to the climate ; it would not anfwer our purpofe, to grope among thefe idol forms, or farther on among the negro fables, for traditions of the primitive World, on which to build a philofophy of the moft ajicient hiftory of man. We have nothing hiftorical, that remains, therefore, but the written tradi- tion, which we commonly call the mofaic. Laying afide all prejudice, and Digitized by Google 274 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book X. without entering into the queftion of it's origin, wc know, that this is above three thoufand years old, and the moll ancient book we poflefs. A bare in- fpeftion of it's (hort and fimple pages will acquaint us with their defign and value, confidering them not as hiftory, but as tradition, or an ancient phihfrpiy of the hißory of man, which I will therefore ftrip of it's oriental poetic orna* ments. CHAPTER V. T/ie mofi ancient writteti Tradition concerning the Origin of the Hißory of Man. When the creation of our Earth and our Heaven began, fays this narration^ the Earth was a void fliapelefs mafs, on which a dark Tea flowed, and a living fecundifying power moved on this water. Now if» the mofl ancient flatc of the Earth were to be deduced from all our late obfervations, as they offer themfelves to the inquiring mind, without having recourfe to gratuitous hypo- thefes, we fhould have precifely this old defcription. A vaft rock of granite, for the mofl part covered with wateF, and on it natural powers big with life, are the circumflances wc know : more we know not. That this rock was ejeäed Rowing from the Sun, is a gigantic idea, but founded neither on the analogy of Nature, nor on the progreffivc developement of our Earth : for how came water on this glowing mafs ? whence acquired it a round form ? whence it's revolution, and it's poles ? fince the power of a m^nct is deflroyed by fire. It is much more probable, that this wonderful primitive rock formed itfclf by it's intrinfic powers , in other words, that it was depofited by condenfatioa from the pregnant Chaos, from which our Earth was to be produced. All, that this philofophic fi-agmcnt has in common with the fables we have noticed, perhaps is confined to the elohim, which may be compared poffiHy with the lahs, the zophafemim, &c., but here exalted to the idea of an operating One^ not of creatures, but of a creator. The creation of things began with light : this feparated the ancient night, this divided the elements. — And what other feparating and animating principle in nature do we know from ancient or modern experience befide light, or, if you will, elementary fire i It is univerfally diffufed throughout nature, though unequally diflributed according to the affinities of bodies. In conflant motion and adivity, fluid and afbive of itfelf, it is the caufe of all fluidity, warmth, and motion. Even the eleftric principle feems only a modification of it : and as all life throughout nature is unfolded folely by warmth, and difplays itfelf Digitized by Google CiiAF. v.] Mqfl antient written Tradition of the Origin of Man. 275 by the motion of fluids ; as not only the feed of animals operates in a manner fimilar to light, by an extenfile, ftimulating, animating power, but light and cFeftricity have been remarked in the feminification of plants : fo in this ancient philofophic cofmogony light alone appears as the firft operator. And, indeed, not light proceeding from the Sun ; but a light fpringing from the interiour of the organic mafs ; which is equally confonant to experience. It is not from the beams of the Sun, that all creatures derive life and nourifliment : every thing is pregnant with internal warmth j even the rock, and the cold iron, have it within them ; nay it is only in proportion to the quantity of this genetic fire it contains, and it*s more fubtle efficiency through the powerful circulation of internal motion, that a creature poflcfles life, perception, and adkivity. Thus here was fanned the firft elementary flame ; not a volcanic eruption, not a pile of burning fubftances, but the feparating power, the warm, chcrifliing balfam of nature, which gradually fet all things in motion. How much more grofs and far from the truth are the expreflions of the phenician tradition, which awakens the powers of nature as a fleeping animal by thunder and lightning I In this more refined fyftem, which will certainly be ftill fiirther confirmed from time to time by experience, light is the agent of creation. To remove the falfe notion of days from the following expofition, let me here obferve, what is obvious to every one on a bare infpeftion *, that the whole fyftem of this rcprefentation of a fclf-accomplifliing creation refts on a com- parifon, by means of which the feparations do not take place phyfically, but fymbolically. As our eye, for inftance, is incapable of comprehending at one view the whole creation, and it's complicated operations, it was necefiary to form claflcs ; and it was moft natural, to diftinguifli in the firft place the Heavens from the Earth, and in the next the fea from the land ; though they ftill remain in nature one connefted realm of aftive and paffive beings. Thus this ancient document is the firft fimple table of a natural ordery in which the term days, while it is fubfervient to another purpofe of the author, is em- ployed only as a nominal fcale for the divifion. As foon as light exifted as the agent of creation, it muft operate at one and the fame time both on the Heaven, and on the Earth. There it purified the air ; which, as a thinner water, and according to innumerable modem experiments the all-connedting vehicle of creation, aiding both light and the powers of terreftrial and aquatic beings in a thoufand combinations, could be purified, or brought to it's elaftic fluidity, by no other principle of nature, with which we are acquainted, than light, or * Atltift4 Vrkutuk dts Mir[f(btngi/(bUcbts, * The moft ancient Docnmenti of the Human Race« VoLL Digitized by Google Ä76 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book X. elementary fire. But how could this purification be effcfted, unlcft by the depofition of all groiTer matters in various precipitations and revolutions, whereby water and earth, as well as water and air, gradually became difHnft regions ? Thus the fccond and third operations contributed to the mutual ac- complifliment of each other, as they are placed together in the fymbol of cof- mogony, produdions of the firft principle, the feparating light of the creation« Thefe operations continued without doubt for ibme thoufands of years, as the formation of mountains and ftrata, and the excavation of valleys to the beds of rivers^ inconteftibly fliow. Three powerful agents aded in this grand period, water, air, and fire : thofe depofiting, abrading, precipitating ; this orga- nically operating in them both, and in the felf-forming earth, wherever it could fo operate. We come next to another grand view of this primitive naturalift, to which the comprehenfion of very few in our own times is equal. The in- ternal hiftory of the Earth (hows, that in it*s formation the organic powers of nature were every where aftive at the fame time, and that wherever any one could exert itfelf, there it was exerted.' The earth vegetated as foon as it was capable of vegetation, though whole realms of plants were thus deftroyed by fubfequent depofitions from air and water. The fea fwarmed with living beings,, as foon as it was fufficiently purified for this ; though in confequence of over- flowings of the fea millions of thefe found their graves, and thereby afforded materials for other organizations. Yet in each period of thefe purifying operations every creature of every element could not live : the different kinds of creatures followed each other, as their nature and their element would permit. And behold our natural philofopher includes all this m one word of the creator, which, as it called forth the light,, and thereby commanded the air to purify itfelf, the fea to fink, and the land gradually to arife» that is, fet in motion the fimple aftive powers of nature, commanded the earthy the watert^ the dußy to bring forth organic beingSy each after it's kinJ^ and the creation thus to animate itfelf by it's own organic powers implanted in thefe elements. Thus fpoke the fage, and dreaded not the infpedion of nature, which we (lill perceive» wherever organic powers exalt themfelves into life according to their elements. Only be places the kingdoms of nature, which mufl be divided, feparate from each other, as the naturalifl feparates them ; though he well knew, that they afted not diflinft from each other. Vegetation precedes : and as modern phyfics havefhowD how much plants in particular are nourifhed by light, a few Tocks pulverized by the weather, a little mud wafned together, aided by the powerful warmth of the brooding creation» fufSced to render vegetation pof- Digitized by Google Chap. V.] Moß ancient written Tradition of the Origin of Man* a; 7 fible. The prolific bofom of the fca followed with it's produftions, and promoted farther vegetation. The earth, impregnated by thefe fpoils, and by light, air, and water, delayed not, but proceeded to bring forth ; though not all fpecics at once; for as carnivorous beads cannot live without ani- mal food, their origin prefumes the deftrudion of prior animals, which the natural hiftory of the earth confirms. Marine or graminivorous animals arc what we find in the inferiour ftrata of the earth, as depofits of the firft ages; carnivorous animals never, or very rarely. Thus the creation lias grown up in an afcending fcale of dill more exquifite organizations, till at length man came into exiftence, the moft elaborate performance of elohim, the crown that com- pleted creation. But before we approach this crown, let us confider a few more mafter ftrokes, which animate the pifture of the ancient fage. Firß. He does not introduce the Sun and ftars as stents in his operative circle of creation. He makes them the central point of his fymbol: for they maintain in motion our Earth and all it's organic productions, and are thus, as he (ays| the rulers of time^ but they do not impart the organic powers themfelves, and tranfmit them to the Earth. The Sun dill (hines, as it (hone in the beginning of creation i but it awakens and organizes no new fpecies of beings : and even in putre&ftion heat would not devclope the minuted living creature, if the power, that creates it, were not already there, prepared for the change. The Sun and dars therefore enter into this pifture of nature as foon as they can, namely, as foon as the air is purified, and the Earth condruded : but only as witneffes of the creation, only as rulers of a fphere organic in itfelf. Secondly. The Moon appears from the beginning of the Worid : to my mind a powerful tedimony for this ancient pidure of nature. The opinion of thofc, who deem it a younger neighbour of the Earth, and afcribe ail the diforders in and upon the Globe to it's arrival, is to me for from convincing. It is deditute of all phyfical proof, fince every apparent diforder of our planet is not only ex- plicable without this hypothefis, but, from this better explanation, ceafes to be diforder. For it is evident, that our Earth, with the elements contained in it's (hell, could not be formed otherwife than by revolutions; and fcarcely by thefe, except in the neighbourhood of the Moon. The Moon gravitates to the Earth, as the Earth does to it and the Sun : not only the movement of the fea, but vegetation alfo, at lead as far as we are acquainted with the mechanifin of the celedial and terredrial powers, are conneded with it's revolution. Thirdly. With equal truth and acutenefs this natural philofopher places the creatures of air and water in one clafs ; and comparative anatomy has diown Digitized by Google «7« PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book X. a wonderful fimilitude in their internal ftruaurc, particularly in the brain» the proper index of the oi^anization of animals. The difference of figure b gene- rally adapted to the medium, for which an animal is formed : accordingly, in thefe two clafTes of aerial and aquatic animals the internal ftrudure mud bear the fame analogy» as exifts between air and water. Upon the whole, this hiftory of the complete living circle of creation tends to (how, that, as each element produced what it was capable of producing, and all the elements be- long to one whole, properly fpeaking only one organic formation could appear on ourp/anett which commences in the loweft of living beings, and is completed in the lafl and noblefl: work of the elohim. With joy and wonder therefore I approach the rich defcription of the creation of man: for it is the fubjeft of my book, and happily it's feaJ. Tie elokim took counfel together ^ and impreiTed the image of this counfel on the future man : underftanding and refleftion therefore are his diftinguifliing charaders. They formed him in their own image^ which all the orientals place chiefly in the ereft pofition of the body. On him was fiamped the charaSler of dominion over the Earth : to the human fpecies therefore was given the organic excellence of be- ing able to occupy it in every part, and, as the moft fruitful among all the nobler animals, of living in all climates as the vicegerent of the elohim, as vifible Providence, as afting God. Behold the mofl ancient philofophy of the hiflory of man. And now, when the circle of being was completed to the lail ruling fpring, elohim reßedy and created nothing more : he is as invifible on the theatre of crea- tion, as if every thing had produced itfelf, and thus had been eternal in necef- fary generations. The latter, however, cannot be : for the flrufture of the Earth, and the organizations of creatures founded on each other, fuflScicntly prove, that every thing on Earth had a beginning as a work of art, and was im- proved firom lower to higher. But how was the firft produced ? Why did the work of creation cloie, and earth and fea no longer fwarm with new kinds of living creatures, fo that the creative power appears to reft, and afts only through the organs of eftabliflied orders and fpecies ? Of thefe points our natural philo- fopher gives us a phyfical explication in the agent, which he makes the main Ipring of the whole creation. If it were light, or elementary fire, which divided the mafs, raifed the heavens, rendered the air elaftic, and prepared the earth for vegetation ; it formed the feeds of things, and organized itfelf fix)m the lowefl to the moft exquifite life : thus the creation was completed, fihcc, according to the word of the eternal, that is according to his ordaining wifdom, thefe vital powers were difirituted, and had ajjumed all forms y that could andßould Digitized by Google Chap. V.] Moß ancuht written tradition of the Origbt of Man. 279 be maintaineJ on our planet. That motive warmth, with which the brcxxiing fpi- rit hovered over the waters of the creation, and which had already difplayed itfelf in the earlier fubterranean forms, and that with a copioufnefs and energy, with which neither land nor fea is now capable of producing any thing j that primitive warmth of the creation, without which it was impoffible for any thing then to be organized, as it is now for aught to afiiime organization without ge- netic warmth ; diftributed itfelf among all the produAions that aftually were, and is dill the prime fpring of their being* What an infinite quantity of grofs fire, for inftance, did the rocky mafs of our Earth abforb, which ftill lies dormant» or a£ts in it, as volcanoes, inflammable minerals, and every little ncbble that is ftruck, demonftrate ! That inflammable matter pervades all vege- tation, and that animal life is wholly occupied on the elaboration of this phlo* gifton, a number of modern fadts and experiments (how ; fo that the whole liv- ing circle of creation appears to confift in this, that fluids become folid, and folids fluid i that fire is evolved, and recombined ; that living powers are en- chained by organizatios, and again fet at liberty. Now fince the mafs deftined for the formiation of our £artli had it's number, weight, and meafure, the inter- nal fpring operating in it neceflarily had it's limits. The whole creation now lives in mutual dependance : the wheel of created beings revolves without addition!: it deflroys, and conftrufts, within the genetic limits, in which it was placed by the firft creative period. Perfefted by the power of the creator, nature is be- come an art y and the energies of the elements are circumfcribed by a circle <^ determinate organizations, firom which they cannot deviate, as the plaftic fpirit has incorporated in it every thing of which it was fufceptible. But, that fuch a fabric cannot eternally fubfift, that the courfe, which had a beginning, muft neceflarily have an end, arifes from the nature of things. The beautiful crea- tion, as it produced itfelf bom a chaos, is working itfelf to a chaos again : it's forms wear out : every organization refines itfelf, and grows old. Even the grand organifm of the Earth muft find it's grave, whence, in due time, it will urife in a new form. Digitized by Google 2i9 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book X. C H A P T £ R VI. Contimation of the moß ancient written Tradition eoncermng the Commencement of the Hißory of Man. If my reader be pleafed with the Cmple notions of this ancient traditioa, which I have prefented without embellifhment, and free from all hypothefis, let us pur- fue it &rther, after calling a (ingle look at this piAure of creation as a whole. How does it fo Angularly difUnguifli itielf above all the fables and traditions of upper Alia ? By connexion, fimplicity, and truth. However numerous the feeds of hiAory and natural philofophy thefe contain, they all lie in wild confu- fion, neceflarily arifing from the tranfmifTal of unwritten or figurative popular and facerdotal traditions, a fabulous chaos as at the b^inning of creation. Our philofopher has unravelled this chaos, and exhibited to us a flrufture, which in fimplicity and connexion imitates the order of Nature herfelf. But whence acquired it this order and fimplicity ? We need only compare it with the fables of other nations, and we (hall perceive the grounds of it's purer phi* lofophy to be the hiftory of the Earth and of man. Firß. Every thing incomprehenfible to man, and lying out of his fphere of vifion, it excludes ; and confines itfelf to what we can fee with our eyes, and comprehend with our mmds. What queftion, for inflance, has given birth to more controverfy, than thofe concerning the age of the World, and the dura- tion of our Earth and the human fpecies ? Men have deemed the afiatic nations, with their infinite computations of time, infinitely wi(e j and the tradition of which we are fpeaking infinitely childi(h, becaufe, contrary to all reafon as they fay, nay contrary to the obvious teftimony of the (brufture of the Globe, it hurries over the creation as a matter of fmall importance, and makes the hu- man fpecies fo young. In my opinion this is palpable injuftice. Had Mofes been nothing more than the coUedor of the(e ancient traditions, he, a learned egyptian, coul^ not have been ignorant of thofe seons of gods and femigods» with which the ^ptians, as well as all the nations of Afia« began the hiftory of the World. Why therefore did he not interweave them into his account } Why, as if in contempt and de(pite of them, did he fymbolically comprefs the origin of the World into the fmalleft portion of time ? Evidently becaufe he was defirous of obliterating them from men's minds as ufelefs fables. In this he appears to me to have aAed wifely : for previous to the completion of our Earth, that is before the origin of the human fpecies and it's conneAed Digitized by Google Chap. VI.] Moß ancient written tradition of the Origin of Man, Jt8 1 Iriftoiy, there could be for us no chronology defcrving the name. Let Buifon aflign numbers as great as be pleafes to the firft fix epochs of nature, of twenty fix, thirty five, fifteen, ten thoufand years ; human intelleft, feeling it's limits, laughs at tfaefe numbers of the imagination, fliould it even admit tlie truth of the developement of the epochs themfelves ; and dill lefs does ♦he hiftorian wifli to burden his memory with them. Now the primitive immenfe chronologies of different nations are evidently of the fame kind as tiiefe of BuiTon ; for they run into thofe ages, in which the powers of the gods and of the World bore fway j confequenlly into the time of the Earth's forma- tion, fuch as thofe nations, who were extremely fond of infinite numbers, framed from revolutions of the heavens, or from half-underftood fymbols of the moil ancient figurative traditions. Thus among the egyptians Vulcan, the cre;ltor of the World, reigned an infinite time ^ the Sun, his child and fucceflbr, 30000 ypars; «id then Saturn, and the other twelve gods, 3984, before the demigods, and their later fucceflbrs, men. It is the fame with the traditions of upper Afia concerning the creation, and the duration of time. According to the parfees, the holy angels of light reigned three thoufand years without an enemy: three thoufand followed, before the monftrous bull arofe, from whofe feed different creature5firft Iprung; and laft of all Mefchia and Mefchiana^ man and woman. The firft epoch of the tibetians, when the lahs reigned, is infinite ; the fecond, 80000 years ; the third, 40000 j the fourth, 20000 j whence they will dcfcend to a period of ten years, and then gradually afcend again to 80000. The periods of the hindoos, abounding with metamorphofes of their gods, and thofe of the chinefe, as abundant in metamorphofes of their mod ancient kings, afcend ftill higher : infinitudes \^th which nothing could be done, except dif- carding them, as Mofes did j fince, from the information of the traditions them- felves, they belong to the creation of the Earth, not to the hiftory of man. Secondly. If it be difpüted, whether the World be young or old j both the difputants have right on their fide. The rock of our Earth is very ancient, and it's covering has required long revolutions, of which there can be no doubt. Here Mofes leaves every one at liberty to frame epochs as he pleafes, and, with the Chaldeans, to let king Alorus^ or light, Uranus^ Heaven, Gea^ the Earth, Helios^ the Sun, and fo on, reign as long as he thinks proper. He xeckons no epochs of this kind ; and, to obviate them, has reprefented his connefted fyftematic pifture in the readieft cycle of a terredrial revolution. But the older thefe revolutions are, and the longer their duration, the younger the human fpecies muß: neceffarily be, which, according to all traditions, and to the nature of the thing itfelf, was the laft produdion of the finiflied Earth. Digitized by Google a82 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Boor X. I thank the philofopher, therefore, for this bold amputation of monftrous ancient fables : for Nature as (he now is, and mankind as they at prefent exift, are fufEcient to the circle of my comprehenfion. With regard to the creation of man, too, the hiftory repeats ♦, that it took place, as foon as it naturally could. * While there was neither plant nor tree upon the Earth,' it proceeds, * man, deftined by Nature to cultivate it, could not live : no rain yet defcended, but mifts arofe, and from fuch an earth mois- tened with dew he was formed, and, animated with the breath of life, became A living being.' To me this fimple narrative appears to fay all, that man is capable of knowing of his organization, after every phyfiological inquiry, that has been made. In death our artificial frame diffolves into earth, water, and air, now organically united in it : but the internal economy of animal life depends on the invifible ftimulus or balfam contained in the element of air, which fets in motion the more perfedt circulation of the blood, nay the whole of the internal contefl between the vital powers of our machine : and thus man adlually became a moving foul through the breath of life. Through it he acquires and exerts the power of generating vital warmth, and of a<5ting as a felf-moving, fentient, thinking l^ing. In this the mofl: ancient philofophy is confident with the moft modern experiments. Thefirß abode of man was c^ garden : and this is fuch a feature of tradition as philofophy alone could invent. For new-born man it was the eafieft way of life, ünce every other, that of the hufbandman not excepted, requires art and experience of various kinds. This trait alfo indicates, what the whole difpo- Ction of our nature confirms, that man was not formed to live wild, but in tranquillity : and thus, as the creator befl knew the deflination of his creatures, man, like all the reft, was created as it were in his element, in the feat ofthat kind of life, for which he was intended. Every degree of wildncfs in the human race is a degeneracy, to which man has been impelled by neceflity, climate, or the habitual fvvay of fome paflion : wherever this impulfe ceafes to adk, men live more peaceably, as the hiftory of nations (hows. Man has been rendered wild by the blood of animals alone ; by hunting, war, and, alas ! many other mif- chiefs of human fociety. The moft ancient tradition of the earlieft nations of the World knew nothing of thofe foreft monfters, who murderoufly roamed about for thoufands of years as inhuman by Nature, and thus fulfilled their original deftination. Thefe wild tales firft began in diflant ruder regions, after the wide difperiion of mankind s later poets, willingly copied them, tbe(e the ♦ Geneiif, II, 5—7. Digitized by Google Chap. VI.] Moß ancient written Tradition of the Origin of Man. 283 compiling hiftorian followed, and him the metaphyfician : but neither meta- phyfics, nor the defcriptions of poets, give a trae original hiftory of man. fVhere then lay the garden^ in which the creator placed his gentle^ drfencelefs creature ? As this tradition is from the weft of Afia, it places it eaftwards» * &rther up toward the rifing of the Sun, on a height from which flowed a ftrcam, that.afterwards divided itfelf into four great rivers ♦.' No tradition can dilplay lefs partiality : for while every ancient nation is defirous of reprefenting itfelf as the firft, and it's land as the birthplace of mankind, this removes the primitive country to a diftance, on the higheft ridge of the habitable earth. And where is this height ? where do the four rivers, that are mentioned, arifc from one ftrcam, as the original writing plainly fays ? No where in our geo- graphy : and it is in vain to torture the names of the rivers in a thoufand ways, for an impartial view of the map of the World informs us, that the Euphratet and three other rivers flow from one fource, or ftream, nowhere upon ELarth. But if we recoUedt the traditions of all the upper afiatics, we (hall find in them all this Paradife on the loftieft land of the Globe, with it*s original living foun- tain, with it's rivers fertilizing the World. Chinefe and tibetians, hindoos and perlians, fpeak of this primitive mountain of the creation, round which lands, feas, and iflands lie, and from the cloud capped fummit of which the Earth has received the boon of it's rivers. This tradition is not void of phyfical prin- ciples : without mountains our Earth could have no running waters, and the map (hows, that all the rivers of Afia flow from thefe heights. Accordingly the tradition we are explaining paiTes by every thing fabulous refpefting the rivers of Paradife, and names four of the moft generally known, which flow from the mountains of Afia. It is true, thefe proceed not from one ftream ; but to the later colledfcor of thefe traditions it was fufHcient, to indicate a remote part of the eaft as the primitive feat of mankind. And there can be no doubt, that he confidcred this primitive feat as a region between the Indian mountains. The land abounding with gold and precious ftoncs, which he names, can fcarccly be any other than India, which has been famed from all antiquity for thefe treafures. The river that compaflTeth it is the facrcd winding Ganges +, which all India acknowledges as the river of Pa- radife. That Gihon is the Oxus cannot be difputcd : the arabs ftill give it this • Genefis II, 10—14. tion explains it the Ganges; while the arabt f The word Pifon fignifiet a fertilizing, in- render it the Nile, and the country through ondating ftream, and Teems a tranflation of the which it flows India, an incongruity hitherto name Gang« : thus an ancient greek tranfla- deemed irreconcilable. Digitized by Google a84 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [BoorX. name, and traces of the country it was faid to water may be perceived in feveral neighbouring indian appellations *. The laft two ftreams, the Tigris and Eu- phrates, flow widely to the weft it is true ; but as the colledlor of thefe tradi- tions lived at the vveftern extremity of Afia, thcfe regions were necefTarily loft to him in the diftance, and it is poflible, that ^be third ftream which he mentions fignifies a more eaftern Tigris, the Hindus -f : for it was the cuftom of all an- cient nations, when they migrated, to appropriate the tales of the mountains of the*J>rimitive World to the mountains and rivers of their new country, and to naturalize them by a local mythology, as might be (hown from the moun- tains of Media to Ida and Olympus. From his fituation, therefore, the col- le<5bor of thcfe traditions could do no more, than indicate the remoteft region they offered him. The indians of Paropamifus, the perfians of Imaus, the iberians of Caucafus^ were comprifcd therein, and they were all in the habit of placing their Paradife refpcftivcly in that part of the chain of mountains, which their tradition indicatal. Our ftory, however, points properly to the moft ancient of the traditions ; for it places it's Paradife above India, and gives the reft as fupplcmentary. Now if we find fuch a delightful vale as Caflimire, fituate nearly in the centre of thefe ftreams, walled round with mountains, famed no lefs for it*s falubrious refrediing water, than for it's fertility and freedom from wild beafts, and even now eftcemed, from the beauty of it's inha- bitants, as the Paradife of Paradifes j may not this have been the primitive feat of the human race ? The fequel, however, will fhow, that all refearches of this kind on our prefent Earth are vain : accordingly, we ftiall mark_jhc region as indeterminately as the tradition leaves it, and purfue the thread- of the narrative. Of all the miraculous things and romantic forms, with which the ftories of all Afia have abundantly ftored their Paradife of the primitive World, this tradition has only two marvellous trees, a fpeaking ferpent, and a cherub: the innumerable multitude of others the philofopher has rejefted, and thefe too he has introduced in a fignificant tale. In Paradife is one fingle forbidden tree ; and this tree, in the perfuafion of the ferpent, bears the fruit of divine knowledge, for which man longs. Could he long for any thing fuperiour ? Could he be more ennobled in * Cafhgar, Caflimire, the Cafliian moan- hindoos are called, is the plural of dewin. It tains, Caucafus, Cathay, &c. is probable, however, that the colledlor of the f The third river is named Hiddekel ; and, traditions took it for the Tigris, as he places it according to Otter, the Hindus is ftill called by to the eaft of Aflfyria. The remoter lands were the arabs Eteck, and by the ancient hindoos too diiUnt from him. The Phraath too wu Enider. The termination of the word alfo ap- probably fome other river, here tranflated «//«/- pears indian ; dewerkeU as the femigods of the /ativt/j, or as the moft celebrated eaftern river. Digitized by Google Chap. VI.] Moß ancient written Tradition of the Origin of Man, 285 hj^faH ? Compare this narrative, conlidered merely as jm allegory, with the tales of other nations : it is of all the moft refined and beautiful, a fymbolical re- prefcntation of what has ever been the *caufe of human happinefs and mifery. Our ainbiguous ftriving after knowled^ not fuited to us, the irregular ule and abufe of our liBerty, the reftlefs extenfion and infradtion of thoie limits, within whicli it is necefTary moral laws Oiould confine a creature fo feeble, who has to learn to govern himfelf, form the fiery wheel, under which we groan, and which ftill conftitutes nearly the whole circle of our life. The ancient philo- fopher of human hiftory knew this, as well as we know it ; and delivers it in a popular tale, which embraces almoft all the purpofes of man. Thus the hindoos tell of giants digging for the fruit of immortality ; the tibetians talk of their lahs, degraded by mifdeeds : but nothing, in my opinion, equals tlie unfuUied profundity, the infantile fimpjicity, of this talc j which has only fo much of the marvellous, as ferves to indicate it's country and date. All the dragons and wondrous forms of tlie ancient fairj'land ftretching over the afiatic mountains, the fimurgh and foham, the lahs, dcwetas, gins, deeves, and peries, a mytho- logy of this quarter of the Globe widely fpread in a thoufand tales of Ginniftan, Righiel, Meru, Albordi, &c., dilappear in the mofl: ancient written tradition, and only a cherub keeps watch at the gate of Paradife. On the other hand, this inftruftive hiftory informs us, that the firft created men converfed with the inftrufting elohim \ that, under their guidance, they acquired language and fovereign realbn, through the knowledge of beafts ; that, as man was dcfirous of refembling them in the knowledge of evil, acquired by a forbidden mode, he obtained it to his own injury, and thenceforward, removed into another place, began a new and more artificial way of life : plain traits of tradition, which conceal beneath the veil of a fabulous narrative more human truths, than voluminous fyftems of the ftate of nature of indigenous mortals. If, as wc have fcen, the excellencies of man are born with him only as capacities, but properly acquired and tranfmitted only by means of education, language, tradition, and art ; the threads of this humanity formed in him muft not only be derived to all nations and ends of the World from one origin, but they muft have been artfully knit together from the beginning, if mankind were to be what they are. Impoflible as it is for a child to be abandoned and left to him- felf for years, without perifliing or becoming degenerate, as little could the hu- man fpecies be left to itfelf in it's flrft germinating (hoot. Men, once accuf- tomcd to live as ourang-outangs, would never of themfelves labour againft them- felves, and learn to pafs from fpeechlefs inveterate brutality to manhood. Thus if the deity willed» that man Ihould exercife reafon and forefight, he muft have Digitized by Google 286 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book X. conferred on him forcfight and reafoi Education, art, cultivation, were in- difpenfable to him from the firft moment of his exiftence -, and thus the fpe- cific charadber of mankind itfelf is a teftimony of the intrinüc truth of this moft ancient philofophy of our hiftory ** CHAPTER VII. Cottclußm of the moß ancient written Tradition concerning the Commencement of the Hyiory of Man. In every thing elfe, which this ancient talc relates, refpefting names, years, the invention of arts, revolutions, &c., we find it the echo of national report. We know not what the fiift man was called, or what language he fpoke : for Adam fignifies a man of earth. Eve a living creature, in the Ismguage of the people, who employ thefc names : thcfe appdlations therefore are fymbols of their hiftory, and other ßgnifkant names are g^ven them by other nations. The inventions here noticed ar« fuch only as fuit a paftoral and agricultural people in the weft of Alia j and even of them, the tradition records nothing but names. The enduring race, it fays, endured ; the pofleflbr pofleflcd j he who was lamented was murdered : in fuch verbal hieroglyphics are drawn the genealogical trees of people living in two different modes, of fliepherds, and of hufbandmen or cKvellers in caves. The hiftory of the fethites and cainites is at bottom nothing more than an account of the followers of the two moft ancient modes of Jife, called in the arabic bedouins and cabiles-f, who ftill remain dif- itino, and at enmity with each other, in the eaft. The genealogical tales of a paftoral people of this country would note only thefe cafts. It is the fame with regard to Noali's flood, as it is called. For, certain as it ;appears from natural hiftory, that the habitable earth has been ravaged by an inundation, and Afia pArticularly bears incontcftible marks of fuch a deluge; yet what is delivered to us in this narration is nothing more or lefs than a na- tional ftory. The compiler has coUeäed together feveral traditions with great * But how did the elohim confer cJiefe on of the caUIes are called cabeil. The bedouimw nan ? that ii to fay, how did they teach, according to the iignification of their nameb warn, and inftru6t him? If it be not equally as are wandering (hepherds, inbahitOMti •/ tU dt" bold to aik this qaeftion, as to anfwer it, the firt. Thus it is with the names Cain, Enoch» tradition iticlf will give ns a folation in another Ned, Jabal, Jubal, or Tobal-Cain, expreflive of place. the tribes and wajr of life, f Cain is called by the arabs Cabil; the tribei Digitized by Google Chap. VIL] Moß anctent written Tradition of the Origin of Man. 287 care *, and delivers the journal of this tremendous revolution pofleffed by his tribe: at the fame time the ftyle of the narrative is fo completely adapted tQ_ ^h? niifiH<* nf thinlrmg^f fr|iij^tribe. that it would be highly injurious to it, to extend it beyond thofe limits, which alone ftamp on it credibility. As one fa- mily of this people, with a confiderable houfliold, efcaped, fo other families of other nations may have been faved, as their traditions (how. Thus^in Chaldea Xifuthrus efcaped with his faniily, aod a number of cattle, which were then ne- ceflary to the fupport of men's lives, in a fimilar manner: and in India Vifhnu himfelf .\^35. the ruddec-of the (hip, that conveyed the diftreffed people to land. Similar tales exift among all the ancient nations in this quarter of the Globe, adapted to the traditions and circumftances of each: and convincing as they are, that the deluge of which they f^^eak was general throughout Afia, they help us at once out of the ftrait, in which we unneceffarily confine ourfelves, when we take every circumftance of a family-hiftory exclufively for a hiftory of the World, and thus deprive the hiftory itfelf of it's wellfounded credibility. The genealogical table of this race after the deluge proceeds in a fimilar man- ner : it is confined within the limits of the country and it's topography, not ftretching beyond them into Hindoftan, China, eaftern Tatary, &c.. The three chief brandies of thofe who were faved are evidently the people on either fide the weftcrn afiatic mountains, including the eaftern coaft of Europe, and the northern of Africa, as far as they were known to the colleÄor of the traditions + . He traces them as well as he can, and endeavours to connedt them with his ge- nealogical table ; but does not give us a general map of the World, or a ge- nealogy of all nations. The pains that have been taken, to make all the people of the Earth, according to this genealogy, dcfccndants of the hebrews, and half- brothers of the jews, are cf^ntradiftory not only to chronology and univerfal hiftory, but to the true point of view of the narrative itfelf, the credibility of which has been nearly deftroyed by it's being thus overftretched. On all the primitive mountains of the World, nations, languages, and kingdoms, were formed, after the deluge, without waiting for envoys from a chaldean family : • Gcncfis VX— VIII. Sec Eichliom's Ein* chiefly remained, and who confequently ap- Itiiung ins alte Teßamtnt, • Introdaflion to the propriated to th^mfelves the advantages of ci- Old Teftament/ Vol. II, p- 370. vilixed nations over others, particujarly the t Japhet is, both according to his name and hamites. Ham, or Cham, derived his name his b\eBng,/ar fxtenM, as the people north of from heat, and belonged to the torrid zone. la the moantains were in their mode of life, and the three fons of Noah, therefore, we find no- partly even in their naines. Shem coinprifed thing more than the three quarters of the Giobe,. tribes with whom the names, that is the ancient Europe, Afia, and Africa, as far as they lay traditions of religion* writings and cultivation« within the fghere of this tradition. Digitized by Google i88 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [BookX and in tbe eaft of Afia, man's primitiTc and moil populous feat, we ftill evi- dently find the mod ancient cuftoms and languages, of which this weftera race of a later people knew nothing, and could not be otherwife than ignorant. It would not be much lefs impertinent to inquire, whether the chinefe defcended from Cain or Abel, that is from a tribe of troglodytes, hufbandmen, or (hep- herds, than to what beam of Noah's ark the american bradypus hung : but on this fubjed: I (hall not here enlarge ; and even the invefligation of points fo important to our hiflory as the abridgment of the duration of man's life, and the general deluge itfelf, I muft defer to another place. Suffice it, that the fh-m central point of the largefl quarter of the Globe, the primitive mountains of Alia, prepared the firft abode for the human race, and has maintained itfelf through every revolution of the Earth. Not firft raifed naked from the bot- tom of the fea by the deluge, but, as both natural hiftory and the moft an- cient traditions teftify, the original country of man, it was the firft grand theatce of nations, the inftrudive infpeftion of which we (hall now purfue. Digitized by Google f a«9 ] PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY- BOOK XI. THE moft ancient kingdoms and dates of the Earth have been formed, as far as we learn from hiftory, fouthwards, at the feet of the great moun- tains of Afia : the natural hiftory of this quarter of the Globe too prefents us with reafons, why they could not fo eafily be formed to the north as to the fouth. Needy man, feeking to fupport tiis earthly frame, readily bends his Courfe to thofe regions, where the funbeams flied a more genial warmth : for thefe muft cover the earth with vegetation for his ufe, and ripen it's wholefome fruits. In the north of Afia, on this fide of the mountains, moft parts arc much higher and colder : the chains of mountains wind with more intricacy, and fine- quently feparate lands by their fnowy fummits, precipices, and waftes : fewer ilreams water the ground, and thefe ultimately flow into the frozen ocean, the barren coafts of which, the abodes of the white bear and reindeer, could not early have attracted inhabitants. This high, broken, fteep land, the mountains and precipices of our ancient world, muft have been for a confiderable period the habitation of icythians and farmatians, mungals and tatars, half-favage hunters and nomades ; and many parts of it will remain fo probably for ever. Neceflity and the circumftances of the country rendered men barbarous : a thoughtlefs way of life, once become habitual, confirmed itfelf in the wandering tribes, or thofis that feparated from them ; and fafliioned amid rude manners that almoft eternal national charadler, which fo completely difcriminates all the northern afiatic races from thofe of the fouth. As this middle chain of moun- tains is a permanent ark, a nurfery of almoft all the wild animals of our hemi- fphere, it's inhabitants muft long remain the companions of thefe animals, taming them with rude hand, or guarding them with gentle care. To the fouthward, where the furface of Afia gently declines, where the moun- tainous chains furround more temperate vales, and proteft them from the cold northeaftern wind, migrating colonies, led chiefly by the rivers, gradually drew toward the fea-coafts, aflcmbled in towns, and formed nations ; while a milder climate awakened in them more refined ideas, and gave rife to lefs rude regu- Digitized by Google 290 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [BookXL lations. At the fame time, as Nature afTorded man more leifure, and pica- furably ftimulatcd more of his propenfities, his lieart expanded in paffions and irregularities, the flowery weeds of which could not burft through the ice of the north, or fpring up under the preffure of neceffity : hence various laws and inflitutions to check them were required. The mind imagined, and the heart lufted : the unruly pafTions of men perpetually claflied with each other, and were at length obliged, to fubmit to reftraint. But as defpotifm muft ac- complifli what reafon is yet unable to perform, thofe ftruftures of policy and religion, which prefent themfelves to us as pyramids and temples of the an- cient world in eternal traditions, arofe in the fouth of Afia : valuable documents for the hiftory of our fpecies, teaching us, in every fragment, how much the cultivation of human reafon has cofl mankind. CHAPTER I. China. I N the eaftem corner of Afia, at the feet of the mountains, lies a country, which calls itfelf the oldeft of nations, the central flower of the world; and it certainly is one of the moft ancient, and moft remarkable. This is China. Not fo large as Europe, it boafts a greater number of inhabitants in proportion thaa this populous quarter of the Globe j for it reckons within it's limits upwards of 25200000 hufl^andmen paying taxes, 1572 towns great and fmall, 1193 caftles, 3158 ftone bridges, 2796 temples, 2606 monafteries, 10809 ancient edifices, &c. * j all of which, with the mountains and rivers, foldiers and men of letters, manufaftures and produce, are annually entered in long catalogues by the eighteen governments, into which the kingdom is divided. Various travellers agree, that, except Europe, and perhaps ancient Egypt, there is no country where fo much indufliry has been employed on roads and rivers, bridges and canals, and even artificial mountains and rocks, as in China ; all which, • Lcontiew's extrafts of the geography of G. Staunton gives the population of China pro- thc empire of China in Bucfching's Hiflor. und per, within the great wall, from apparently au- gio^r, Magazin, Vol. XIV, p. 41 1, &c. In ihcnticdocument8,in round numbers, 33 30COOOO- Hermann*s Beitrecgen %ur Phyßk, ' Eflays on It's area, from mcafuremcnt, he fcts down at Natural Philofophy,* Vol. I, Berlin, 1786, the 1297999 fquarc miles. Sec Account of an extent of the empire is cftimated at 11 0000 Embafly to China, Vol. II, Appendix, Table I. gcrman miles fquare [about 1222222 fquarc His account of the population of this country, miles englifli], and the population at 104069254, however, has been difputed by the gennan cri- nine perfons being reckoned to a family« [Sir tics« T«] Digitized by Google Chap. I.] Ckina, 291 with it's great wall, bear teftimony to the patient labour of human hands. Ships proceed from Canton nearly up to Pekin ; and the whole empire, divided as it is by mountains and deferts, has been laborioully united by means of roads, canals, and rivere. Villages and towns float on the waters, and the internal commerce between the provinces is briik and lively. Agriculture is the grand pillar of the conftitution : we arc told of luxuriant fields of corn and rice, of deferts watered by art, of barren mountains rendered fertile : every plant and herb is cultivated and ufed, of which any ufc can be made : it is the fame with metals and minerals, gold excepted, their mines of which they do not work. Tlie land abounds with animals j the rivers, and lakes, with fifli : the filk- worm alone fupports thoufands of induftrious perfons. People of all ranks and every age, even the blind, the deaf, and the decrepit, find fome ipecies of labour, fome kind of manufacture, to employ them. Gentlenefs and fub- miflion, courteous civility and affable behaviour, are what the chinefe ftudy from infancy, and pradtife through life. Regularity, and precifely determined order, are the eflence of their legiflation and police. The whole fyftem of the ftate, in all the relations and duties, between it's different claffes, is founded on the refpeft, which the fon owes to his father, and every fubjeft to the father of the nation, who protedts and governs them as children, by means of the ma- giftrates. Can there be a nobler principle for the government of men ? There we find no hereditary nobility ; merit alone ennobles in every rank : men of approved worth fill the pofts of honour, and thefe pofts alone confer fupcrio- rity. The fubjeft is forced to embrace no mode of worihip on compulfion, and the followers of no religion are perfecutcd, unlefs their tenets be inimical to the ftate. The adherents of Confucius, of Laotfee and Fo, and even jews and jefuits, when received into the ftate, dwell together in peace. Their laws are unalterably founded on morals ; their morals, on the facred book of experi- ence : their emperor is their fovcreign pontif, the fon of Heaven, the proteftor of ancient cuftom, the foul of the body politic pervading all it's members. If thefe principles be carried into aftual praftice, and held inviolate, can we con- ceive a political conftitution more perfeft ? The whole empire would form one family of virtuous, welleducated, orderly, induftrious, happy children and brothers. Every one knows the advantageous pifture of the chincfe government, fcnt to Europe by the miffionaries in particular, and there admired as a mafterpiecc of policy, not only by fpeculative philofophers, but even by ftatef- men ; till at length, as it is ufual for the tide of opinion to take oppofite directions, incredulity arofe, and would admit neither it's high degree of civili- Digitized by Google 29* PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book XI. zation, nor even it's peculiarities. Some of.thcfe european objcdlions have had the fortune to be anfwcrcd in China itfclf, though pretty much in the chinefe tafie * : and as moft of the books that form the foundation of their laws and manners, with an ample hiftoiy of the empire, and fome unquedion- ably impartial accounts, are before us-}*; it would be ftrange if fome medium between extravagant praife and immoderate blame could not be found, which would probably be the path of truth. We will not difputc about the queftion of the chronological antiquity of their empire; for as the origin of every king- dom upon Earth is enveloped in obfcurity, it may be deemed a matter of indif- ference by the inquirer into the hiftory of mankind, whether this lingular nation demanded ten or twenty centuries more or lefs for it's formation : it is fufiicient, if it formed itfclf, and we can perceive in it's flow progrefs the obftades, that prevented it*s farther advance. Now thefe obftacles are evident to our eyes in it's charafter, the place of it's abode, and it's hiftory. That the nation is of mungal origin appears from the figure of the chinefe, their grofs or infantile tafte, nay even their mechanical ingenuity, and the feat of their firft cultivation. The earlieft kings ruled in the north of China : here were laid the foundations of that femitatarian de- fpotifm, which being afterwards gilded over with fplendid maxims, fpread itfclf through various revolutions down to the coafts of the fea on the fouth. A tatarian feudal conftitution was for ages the tie, that bound the vaflals to their lords : and the many wars between thefe vaflals; the frequent fubverfion of the throne by their hands ; nay the whole economy of the emperor's court, and his ruling by mandarins ; which are ancient eftablifliments, not firft introduced by Gengis khan or the mantchous j all fliow what kind of nation it is, and evince it's genetic charader : a charadler, which equally meets the eye on contem- plation o£ the whole, and infpedion of it's parts, even to drefs, food, cuftoms, domeftic economy, arts, and amufemcnts. This northeaftern mungal nation could no more change it's natural form by artificial regulations, even though enduring for thoufands of years, than a man can change his nature, that is, the • Memoins cencernant VHißotn l^e,, * Memoirs tranflations of fome original works of the chi- ef the Hiftory, Sciences, Arts, Manners, Cuf- nefe are inferted, &c, afford materials enoagh, toms, &,c. of the Chinefe', Vol. II, p. 365 and for giving jutl ideas of thefe people. Among fol. the various miflionaries, who ha/e given ac- + Bcfide the ancient editions of fome claf- counts of them, feiher le Comtc is particularly fical books of the chinefe by father Noel, Coup to be efteemed, for the foundncfs of his jodg- plct, and others, the edition of the Shoo-King ment : Nouwaux Mitwirts fur rEtatfrefint A la by Dcguignes, the Hi/oire general dt Chint by Chine, ' New Memoirs of the prefcni Stttc of Mailla, the Memoirs quoted in the preceding China/ 3 vol», 8yo, Paris, 1697. note, confining of ten volumes quarto, in whifik Digitized by Google Chap. I.] Ciina^ 293 innate charadler of his race and complexion. It was planted on this fpot of the Globe : and as the magnet has not the fame variation in China as in Europe, fb this race of men, in this region, could never become greeks or romans. Chinefe they were, and will remain : a people endowed by nature with fmall c)'es, a fliort nofe, a flat forehead, little beard, large ears, and a protuberant belly : what tlieir organization could produce, it has produced ; nothing elfc could be required of it *. All accounts agree, that the mungal nations on the north-eaftern heights of Afia are diftinguiP.. d by an acutenefs of hearing, as eafily to be accounted for among them, as it would be vain to feek it in other people. The language of the chinefe bears teftimony to this delicacy of ear. The auditory organs of a mungal alone could be capable of forming a language out of three hundred and thirty fyllables, diftinguifhed in different words by five or more accents, to prevent the fpeaker from faying bead inftead of lord, and falling into the moft laughable confufion of words every moment ; fo that an european ear, and european organs of fpecch, can with the utmofl. difficulty, if at all, ac- cuftom thcmfelves to this forced fyllabical mufic. What a want of invention in the great, and what miferable refinement in trifles, are difplayed in con- triving for this language, the vafl: number of eighty thoufand compound cha- racters from a few rude hieroglyphics, fix or more different modes of writing which diftinguifli the chinefe from every other nation upon Earth. Their piAures of monflers and dragons, their minute care in the drawing of figures without regularity, the pleafure afforded their eyes by the diforderiy aflem* Wages of their gardens, the naked greatnefs or minute nicety in their build- ings, the vain pomp of their drefs, equipage, and amufements, their lantern feafts and fire- works, their long, nails and cramped feet, their barbarous train of attendants, bowings, ceremonies, diflinftions, and courtefies, require a mun- gal organization. So little tafte for true nature, fo little feeling of internal {atisfadion, beauty, and worth, prevail through all thefe, that a negleded mind alone could arrive at this train of political cultivation, and allow itfclf to be fo thoroughly modelled by it. As the chinefe are immoderately fond of gilt paper andvamifli, the neatly painted -lines of their intricate charaders, and the jingle of fine fentences j the call of their minds refembles this varnifh and gilt paper, thefe charafters and clink of fyllables. Nature feems to have refufed them^ as well as many other nations in this corner of the World, great invention in fcience : while on the other hand (he has bountifully conferred on their little eyes a fpirit of application, adroit diligence and nicety, a talent of imitating • See Book VI, chap. II| p. 158« Digitized by Google £94 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [BookXI. with art whatever their cupidity deems ufeful. Eternally moving, eternally occupied, they are for ever going and coming, in qucft of gain, or in fuliii- ment of their offices, fo that they might be taken for wandering mungals, notvvithftanding the artificial conftitution of their fcate : for with all their innumerable regulations, they have not yet found the art of combining occu- pation with reft, fo that every bufmefs (hall find every man in bis place. Their art of phyfic, refembling their trade, confifts in a niee, deceitful feeling of tlic pulfe, which depicts their whole charafter, in it's acutenefs of the organs of fenfe, and uninventive ignorance of mind. The character of this people is a remarkable point in hiftory, for it (hows what a mungal nation, unmixed with any other, can or cannot be rendered by political cultivation earned to the higheft pitch : for the vain pride of the chinefe fliows, if it fliow nothing elfe, that they have kept themfelves, liko the jews, unmixed with other people. Let them have acquired particular branches of knowledge where they will, the whole ftrufture of their language and conftitution, their inftitutions and mode of thinking, arc peculiarly their own. Juft as they are averfc to the grafting of trees, fo they themfelves, notwithftanding their various intercourfe with other nations, remain an original mungal ftock, in a comer of tliß earth degraded to the flavifti modes of chinefe cultivation. Man is artificially formed by education alone : the mode of education pur- fued by the chinefe confpired with their national charafter, to render them juft what they are, and nothing more. Filial obedience, after the manner of the wandering mungals, being made the bafis of all their virtues, both civil and domeftic ; that apparent modefty, that anticipating courtefy, which are cele- brated as charafteriftic features of the chinefe even by the tongues of their enemies, could not avoid growing up in time. But good as this principle may be for a wandering horde, what would be it's confequences in an extenfive com- munity ? In fuch a ftate filial obedience finding no limits ; the fame duty being impofcd on men arrived at yean of maturity, having themfelves childrea and manly occupations, as fuits only their uneducated offspring ; nay this duty being required by every magiftrate, who fupports the name of father, in a figu- rative fenfe alone, by force and neceffity, not by the gentle affeftions of nature : what could, what muft enfuc, but that the endeavour, to form a new human heart in defpite of nature, muft accuftom the real hearts of men to falf- hood ? If the full grown man be compelled, to yield the obedience of a child ; he muft give up all that freedom of aAion, which Nature has made the duty of his years ; empty ceremony will ftep into the place of heartfelt truth ; and Digitized by Google Chap. I.J CUna. 2p^ the foil, whofc conduft overflowed with childifli fubmiflion to his mother during his father's life, will negleft her after his death, if the law but term her a concubine. It is the fame with the filial dutiestoward the mandarins : they fpring not from nature, but from authority : they are mere cuftoms, and, when they clafh with nature, they are falfe, enfeebling cuftoms. Hence the dif- agreement between the chinefe laws and morals, and the aftual hiftory of China. How often have the children of the ftate depofed their father from the throne ! How often has the father treated his children with barbarity ! Covetous man- darins have fufTered thoufands to flarve : and when their crimes have reached the cars of the fovereign father, they have been ineflfeftually chaflifcd with paltry flripes like children. Hence the want of manly force and honour, to be obfer\'ed even in the portraits of their great men and heroes : honour is converted into filial fubmiffion, force has degenerated into modifh punftuality toward the ftate : we find in the harnefs no noble fteed, but a tame afs, fre- quently playing the part of the fox in prefcribed cuftoms from morning till night. This childifli reftraint of the reafon, powers, and feelings of men muft necef- farily have a debilitating influence on the whole frame of the ftate. When once education is confined to modes, when forms and cuftoms not only bind but overpower all the intercourfe of life, what a mafs of aftivity is loft to the public ! and that aftivity the nobleft of the heart and mind. Who is not afto- niflied, when he remarks in the hiftory of the chinefe the courfe and management of their affairs, and with what extenfive apparatus a trifle is accompliflied ? Here a college is employed, on what, to be well done, fliould be performed by an indi- vidual : there inquiry is made, in what place an anfwer is to be found : they go and they come, they put off and they avoid, that the ceremonials of childifli rcfpeft for the flate may not be infringed. A nation, that fleeps on wami floves, and drinks warm water from morning till night, muft be equally defti- tutc of a warlike fpirit and profound refleftion. Regularity in a beaten track j acutencfs in difcovering which way intereft inclines, and a thoufand fly arts ; childifli multiplicity of occupation, without the refleftion of the man, who aflts himfclf whether a thing be neceffary to be done, and whether it may not be performed in a better manner ; are the only virtue^, to which the royal path in Chioa is open. The emperor himfelf is harnefted to this yoke : he muft fet a good example to all, and go through his exercife like a drill corporal for a pattern to the reft. He not only facrifices in the hall of his predeceffors on fefti- vals, but in every occupation, in every moment of his life, he facrifices to them. Digitized by Google t9« THILOSOPHT OF HISTORY. [Boor Xt and all tlie praife aiid all the blame beftowed upon him are perhaps equally un« deferved *. Is it to be wondered, that a nation of this kind Ihould have invented little in the fciences according to the european ftandard ? or that it has remained for Ibme thoufands of years at the fame point ? Even their books of law and morality continually pace round the fame circle, and carefully and precifely fay the fame things of childifli duties, in a hundred different ways, with fyftematic hypocrify. In it mufic and aftronomy, poetry and taäics, painting and architedlure, aic as they were centuries ago, the children of it*s eternal laws, and unalterably childifh inftitutions. The empire is an embalmed mummy, wrapped in filk, and painted witli hieroglyphics : it's internal circulation is that of a dormoufc in it's winter's fleep. Hence the fyftem of keeping foreigners feparate, adting the fpy over them, and throwing obftacles in their way : hence the pride of the nation, which compares itfelf with itfelf alone, and neither knows nor loves ftrangers. It is a nation thruft into a corner, and (liut up from general concourfe by Fate ; being feparatcd from the reft by mountains, deferts, and a fea, in which fcarce a haven is to be found. In any other fituation it could not eafily have remained what it is : for that it's conftitution held out againft the mantchous only proves, that it derived it's foundation from them, and tliat the lefs civilized conquerors found fuch a fyftem of childifh fla« very a very convenient feat for their dominion. They dürft not alter it, but fat themfelvcs down in it, and ruled : while the nation ferved fo obfequioufly in every member of this machine of ftate, which itfelf had eredted, as if it bad been invented for the very purpofc of this flaverj'. All accounts of the language of the chinefe agree, that it has contributed unfpeakably to the form of this people in their artificial mode of thinking : for is not the language of every country the medium, in which the ideas of it's inhabitants arc formed^ prefcrvcd, and imparted ? particularly when a nation is lb firmly attaclicd to it's language as this, and deduces all civilization from it. The language of the chinefe is a diftionary of morals, that is, of courtefy aad good manners : not only provinces and towns, but even conditions and books are diftinguiflied in it, fo that tlie greater part of their learned induftr)' is ap- plied merely to an Implement, with which nothing is performed. Every tiling in it turns on fyftematic niceties ; it exprcffes much with a few founds, while • Even the eftccmed emperor Kien-Long conftitution, tJu« rauft ever be the caf«, let dt« nrai deemed t cruel tyrant in the provincci: emperor's way of thinking be wbftt it will, and in fuch an extenfive kingdom, with fuch a Digitized by Google Chap. I.] China. 297 it depifts one found with many lines, and fays one and the fame thing in a multi- plicity of books. What a wafte of induftry is employed in pencilling and print- ing their works ! but this is their chief art and delight ; for fine writing is to them more beautiful than the moft enchanting pidure, and the uniform jingle of their maxims and compliments is prized by them as the fum of elegance and wifdom. Nothing but fuch an extenfive empire, and chinefe laborioufnefe, could have produced forty books, painted in eight large volumes, on the fingle town of Kai-fong-fu *, and extended this tirefome accuracy to every command and eulogy of the emperor. The monument of the emigration of the torguts is a monftrous book upon ftone -f , and the whole of the learning of the chineft is exhaufted in artificial and political hieroglyphics. The difference, with which this mode of writing alone operates upon the mind that thinks in it, muft be incredible. It enervates the thoughts, and reduces the whole national way of thinking to painted or air-drawn arbitrary charafbers. This exhibition of the peculiarities of the chinefe has not been coloured by enmity or contempt : every line is taken firom their warmeft advocates, and might be fupported by a hundred proofs from every clafs of their inftitutions. It is nothing more, than arifes from the nature of the cafe ; the reprefentation of a people formed from remote antiquity with fuch an organization, in fuch a part of the World, after fuch principles, with fuch aids, and under fuch cir- cumftances ; and which, contrary to the ufual courfe of things in other na- tions, has fo long retained it's way of thinking.. If the ancient egyptians were flill before our eyes, we (hould obferve, without venturing to think of a recipro- cal derivation, a refemblance between them in many points ; the traditions received being only modified fomewhat differently by the climate. It was the fame with other nations, that once ftood on the fame ftep of cultivation ; but thefe have advanced farther, or have been deftroyed and mingled with others ; while ancient China ftands as an old ruin on the verge of the World, in it's femi-mungalian form. It would be difficult to prove, that the fundamental lineaments of it's cultivation were brought from Greece through Baära, or derived from Tatary through Balch: the web of it's conftitution is certainly cndemial, and the flight operations of foreign countries on it are eafy to be dif- tinguiihed and feparated. I honour the Kings like a chinefe for their excel- lent principles : and Confucius is to me a great man, though I pefceive the fetters, which he too wore, and which, with the beft intentions, he ri vetted eternally on the fuperftitlous populace, and the general fyftcm of flate, by his • Mem^ coHCtrnatt Its Chincis, Vol. II, p. 375. f Il>» Vol. I, p. 329. Digitized by Google 298 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book XL political morality. By means of it this nation, like many others on the Globe, has flood ftill in it's education» as in the ^e of infancy ; this mechanical en- gine of morals for ever checking the progrefs of the mind, and no fecond Con- fucius arifing in the despotic realm. Had either the enormous ftate been once divided ; or had more enlightened Ki^n-longs taken the paternal refolution, to fend forth as colonifts thofe whom they could not feed, lightened the yoke of cuftom, and introduced greater freedom of will and aäion, though this would un- doubtedly have been attended with much danger: then — but even then the chinefe would ever have remained chinefe, as germans are ftill gcrmans, and no ancient greeks are produced in the eaftern end of Afia. It is obvioufly the purpofe of Nature, that every thing capable of profpering on Earth (hould profper on it, and that even this variety in her produftions fliould teem witli the creator's praife. The work of legillation and morals poffeffcs no where upon Earth fuch {lability as in China> where the human underftanding appears to have framed it as an infantile effay : there let it remain, and may Europe never rear a fifter realm equally full of filial fubmifTion to it's defpots. This nation will retain to the end the fame of it's induftry, of the acutenefs of it's organs of fenfe, of it's fkilful dexterity in a thoufand ufefiil things. Silk and porcelain, powder and (hot, perhaps too the mariner's compafs, the art of printing, the building of bridges, navigation, and many other nice mechanical occupations and arts, were known to it, before they exifled in Europe : but in almoft all arts it wants the fpirit of improvement. For the refl, that China (hould (hut herfelf up from the nations of Europe, and lay great redraints as well on the dutch as on the ruffians and jefuits, is not only confiftent with her general way of thinking, but cannot be blamed on the fcorc of policy, fo long as (he obferves the condudl of europeans in the iflands and on the continent of the Eafl-Indies, in the North of Afia, and in her own land. Swelling with tatarian pride, (he delpifes the merchant, who leaves his ovva country, and barters what (he deems the moft folid merchandize for things of trifling value : (he takes his (ilver, and gives him in return millions of pounds of enervating tea, to the corruption of all Europe. Digitized by Google [ 299 ] CHAPTER II. Xlochin^China^ Tonquin, Laoi, Corea, eaßern Tatary^ Japaru It appears inconteftibly from the hiftory of mankind, that, whatever country has beeil capable of raifing itfelf to any eminent degree of cultivation, it has influenced a certain circle of it's neighbours. Thus China, though an unwarlike nation, and with a conftitution ftrongly concentring in itfelf, has notwithftand- ing difFufed it's influence through many countries round. The queftion is not, whether thefe countries have been fubdued by China, or remain fubjeft to iti if they participate in it's inftitutions, language, religion, fciences, arts, and manners, as far as regards mind they are provinces of the empire. Cochin-China has derived moft from the chinefe, of whom it has been in fome meafure a political colony: hence the refemblancc between the two peo- ple in conftitution and manners, in arts and fciences, m religion, trade, and go- vernment If s emperor is a vaflal of China, and the nations are intimately united by commerce. If this bufy, fcnfible, gentle ^people, be compared with their neighbours, the indolent fiamcfe, the favage natives of Arracan, &c., the difierence wDl be obvious. But as no rivulet rifes higher than it's fource, it is not to be expefted, that Cochin-China fliould exceed it's original : it's govern- ment is more defpotic \ it's religion and fciences are but echoes of thofe of the mother country. Tonquin, which lies ftill nearer to China, though feparated from it by rude mountains, is in a fimilar predicament. The nation is lefs civilized : the de- gree of cultivation it poflcfles, and which fupports the ftate ; it's manufadures, trade, laws, religion, knowledge, and cuftoms ; are all chinefe j only far infe- riour, in confequence of a more foutherJy climate, and the national cha- xafter. The impreflion made by China npon Laos is ftill more feeble : for this coun- try was foon torn from it, and adopted the manners of the fiamefe : yet the traces of that impreflion are ftill perceptible. Among the fouthern iflands Java is that, with which the chinefe have the xnoft particular intercourfe : indeed it is probable, that colonies have been planted in it by them. Their political eftabliflaments, however, they could not intro- duce into this diftant and much hotter land : for the laborious fkill of the chi- jiefe requires an afliduous people, and a temperate climate. They made ufe of the ifland, therefore, without fafliioning it. Digitized by Google 300 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book XL To the north the ch'nefe fyftem of things has gained more footing, and the people of China may boaft, that they have contributed more to foften the rude nations of this vaft region, than the europeans probably in all the four quarters of the Globe. Korea has been adually fubjefted to the chinefe hj the mant- chous : and let this once favage nation be compared with it's nortiiern neigti- bours. The inhabitants of this partly cold country are gentle and benign : in their amufements and funeral ceremonies, in their boufes and clothing, in their religion and a certain love of fcience, they at lead imitate the chinefe, by whom their government was framed, and a few manufaftures eftabliffied. On the mungals the influence of the chinefe has had a ilill more extenfive operation. Not only have the mantchous, who conquered China, been polilhed by their intercourfc with it, fo that tribunals refcmbling thofe of Pckin have been cfta- blifhed at Schinyang, their capital : but the numerous mungal hordes, the greater part of which arc fubjeft to China, have not remained uninfluenced by the chinefe, notwithftanding their ruder manners. Nay if the friendly protec- tion of this kingdom» in which the torguts amounted in modern times to three hundred thoufand ftrong, be a benefit, China has treated this extenfive region more juftly than any conqueror. Often has it quieted the difturbances (rf" Tibet, and in former days extended it's hand to the Cafpian fea. The con- tents of the rich graves found in different parts of Mungalia and Tatary afford evident marks of an intercourfc with China : and if more polifhed nations for- merly inhabited thcfe countries, they probably were not without a clofe con- nexion with the chinefe. The place, however, in which the chinefe have raifcd up the greateft rivals of their induftry, is Japan. The japanefe were once barbarians ; and certainly, from their bold and violent charafter, cruel and rigid barbarians : yet from their proximity and intercourfe with a people, from whom they learned writing and fciences, arts and manufactures, they have improved themfelves to a ftate, which in many points rivals or even exceeds that of China. Conformably to the charafter of the nation indeed, both their government and religion are more barbarous and fevere : and there is no more profpc6t in Japan, than in China, of an advancement to greater perfcftion in the fciences, as they are cultivated in Europe : but if a knowledge and employment of the foil, if in- duftry in i^riculture and the ufeful arts, if trade and navigation, and even the rude pomp and defpotic form of their political conftitution, be unqueftionable fteps of cultivation, the proud japanefe have borrowed them from China. The annals of this nation record the time, when the japanefe vifited China as bar- barians: and with whatever peculiarities the rude iflanders have formed them- Digitized by Google Chap. IL] Ccchin-Chma^ Tonquitty Laos^ Corea^ eaßern Tataryy Japan. 301 felves, in all the inftruments of their cultivation, and in the manner In which they exercife their arts, the chinefe original is evident. Now whether thefe people have penetrated ftill farther, and contributed to the cultivation of either of the two polifhed kingdoms of America, both of which were fituatc on the wcftem coaft, oppofite to China, will not be cafy to determine. If a cultivated people from this fide of the Globe reached America, it could fcarcely be any other than the chinefe, or the iflanders of Japan. It is much to be regretted, that the hillory of China, in obedience to the conflitution of the country, is written fo completely in the chinefe manner. All inventions it afciLbes to it's kings : it forgets the world beyond It's own limits, and as a hiftory of the empire it is far from an inftruftive hiftory of man. CHAPTER III. Tibet. Between the great mountains and deferts of Afia, a fpiritual empire, fingular in kind, credls it's head. This is the grand fovereignty of the kmas. It is true, the temporal power has been occalionally feparated from the fpiritual by flight revolutions j but they have always been united again after a time, fo that in this country the whole conftitution refts on the impe- rial pontificate, in a manner clfewhere unknown. According to the dodlrinc of metempfychofis, the grand lama is animated by the god Si.aka, or Fo, who, at the deceafe of one lama, tranfmigrates into the next, and confccrates him an image of the divinity. The defcending chain of lamas is continued dowa from him in fixed degrees of fan6tity,.fo that a more firmly eftabliflied facer- dotal government, in dodrines, cuftoms, and inftitutions, than aftually reigns over this elevated country, cannot be conceived. The fupreme manager of temporal affairs is no more than the viceroy of the fovereign prieft, who, con- formably to the principles of his religion, dwells in divine tranquillity, in a build- ing that is both temple and palace. The lama account of the creation of the World abounds with monftrous fables : the threatened punifliments and peni- tences for fin are fevere : and the ftate, after which their fandity urives, is highly unnatural, ccnfifllng in monadic continence, fuperftitious abfencc of thought, and the pcrfeA repofe of nonentity. Yet there is fcarcely any religion upon Earth fo widely fpread as this. Not only in Tibet and Tangut, and by the greater part of the mungals, mantchous, kalcas, eleutbs, is the lama worfliipped ; Digitized by Google 30Z PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [BookXL and if fomc of them have difpenfed with the adoration of his perfon in modcra times, flill a certain modification of the religion of Shaka is the only faiüi they profefs, the only worfliip they follow : but this religion extends far to the fouth alfo: the names of Sommonacodom, Shakja-Tuba, Sangol-Muni, Shigemuni« Bu'ldo, Fo, Shekia, are all the fame with Shaka; fo that this facred monadic uoftrine pervades Hindoftan, Ceylon, Siam, Pegu, Tonquin, and even China, Corea, and Japan ; though not every where retaining in equal degrees the cumberfome mythology of the tibetians. Even in China the doArinee of Fo conftitute the popular faith j while the principles of Confucius and Lao-tle are only fpccies of a political religion and philofophy adopted by the higher ranks, that is, by the learned. The government is indifferent to cither religion : it's care proceeds no farther, than to render the lamas and bonzes innocuous to the ftate, by prcferving it from the fovereignty of the dalai-lama. Japan ha» long been a Semi-Tibet : the dairi was the fpiritual fovereign, and the cubo his temporal fervant ; till the latter took the reins into his own hand, and reduced the former to a mere cipher : a ftep that arifes in the courfc of things, and will fome time be the lot of the lama alfo. It -is only owing to the fituation of his empire, the barbaroufnefs of the mungal tribes, and more efpecially the favour of the emperor of China, that the Tama has remained fo long what he is. The religion of the lamas afluredly never originated on the cold mountains of Tibet : it muft have been the offspring of a warmer climate, the creature of fome enervate mmds, that love above all things to indulge in bodily reft, and freedom from thought. It did not reach the rude heights of Tibet, or even China itfelf, till the firft century after the chriftian era; and then it received in each a different modification, according to the ftate of the country. In Tibet and Japan it was rigid and fevere : among the mungals it became a lefs effica- cious fuperftition : while Siam, Hindoftan, and fimilar countries, cheriftied it under it's mildeft afpeft, as a natural produäion of their warmer climate. From this difference of form, it has had very different effcds on the countries, in which it has flouriflied. In Siam, Hindoftan, Tonquin, and fomc others, it lulls the minds of men, and renders them compaffionate and unwarlike, patient, gentle, and indolent. The talapoins afpire not to the throne : they only require alms for the abfolution of finners. In ruder foils, where the climate does not fo eafily afford fupport for idle beadfmen, their eftabli(hment demands more art, and thus they at length unite the palace and the temple. The incon- fiftencies, which not only conneft but fupport human affairs, are fingular. If every tibetian obeyed fhe law» of the lamas, and ftrove to imitate their Digitized by Google Ghap. III.] Tibet. 303 fuprcme virtues, Tibet would foon be no more. A race of men, keeping themfelves unconnefted with each other, not cultivating their frigid foil, pur- fuing neither trade nor manufaäures, muft haften to an end : while dreaming of Heaven they would perifti with cold and hunger. But happily nature is more powerful in man, than any opinion he may embrace. The tibetian mar- nes, though marriage is a (in : and his induftrious wife, who indeed takes more than one hufband, and labours more than a man, willingly foregoes the chief places in Paradife, to continue the prefent World. If there be a reli- gion u} on Earth, that deferves the epithets of monftrous and inconfiftent, it is the religion of Tibet * : and it cannot altogether be denied, that, if chriftia- nity were propagated in it's moft rigid dodrlnes and praftices, it would no wlu-rc appear in a worfe form than on the tibetian mountains. Fortunately, however, the fcvcre monaftic religion has been as incapable of changing the fjMiit o' il.c nation, as of altering it's wants and climate. The inliabitant of the lofty mountains purchafes abfolution for his fins, and enjoys health and chcerfulnc s . be feeds and kills animals, though he believes the tranfmigration of fouis i anri keejj*: a wedding feafl for a fortnight, though his prieft incul- cates celibacy as tl:.c only ftate of perfedtion. Thus the opinions of mankind have alwajs accommodated martcrs with their wants : they have haggled with each other, till a tolerable bargain was ftruck between them. How unfortunate would it be for men, if every folly, that prevails in the creeds received by na- tions, were to be completely followed up in praftice 1 But now, moft are be- lieved and not pradlifed, and this neutral fentiment of dead perfuafion is every where called forth. It is not to be fupppofed, that the calmuc lives con- formably to the pattern of perfection in Tibet, becaufe he adores a little idol, or worftiips the excrement of the lama. But this difgulling iyftem of the l^mas has not been barely innocent : it has certainly had ic's ufe. By it a grofs heathen nation, holding it felfdc:fcended from apes, has been raifcd into a polifhed, and in many points a refined people : though to this the neighbourhood of China greatly contributed. A religion originating in India mull have a predileftion for ckaniinefs : thus the tibetians were prevented from living like tatarian mountaineers. Even that extravagant chaftity, which their lania^ preach, has ferved as a goal of virtue to the nation ; and the modefty, temperance, and referve, remarked in both fexes, may be confidcred as at leaft part of the race toward it : where too, indeed, half is • See G«r^/W//W>-V. TOr/Ä/f., Rome, 1762, gen. Vol. IV, p. 271, &c., and the cllay in a book abounding with learned lumber; yet, SchlcBzcr's-ßr/g/^wfr/j/^/.'CorreipondeEce,' Vol. with tlie accounts in Pallas's Ntrdijchtn Btitr^e- V, the chief book we have refpeding Tibet. Digitized by Google S04 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book XI. better than the whole. The doörine of the metempfychofis excites compaffion toward animals : and perhaps the rude inhabitants of rocks and mountains could not be held by a gentler rein than this opinion, and the belief in long penitences and the pains of Hell. In (hort the tibetian religion is a fpecies of the papal, fuch as it prevailed in Europe itfclf in the dark ages, and indeed without that morality and decorum, for which the mungals and tibetians arc commended. The religion of Sfiaka has been of fervice to mankind likewiie by introducing a fort of learning, and a written language, among thefe moun- taineers, and even farther, among the mungals. Probably the preparatory means of a degree of cultivation, now ripening for thefe regions alfo. The way of Providence among nations is wondrous long, yet it is the pure order of nature. Gymnofophifts and talapoins, that is, contemplative folita- ries, have cxiftcd in the eaft from the remoteft times : their nature and their climate led them to this mode of life. Seeking quiet, they fled from the buftle of fociety, and lived contented with the little, that fertile nature gave. The oriental is as ferious, and moderate in words, as temperate in meat and drink. He willingly refigns himfelf to the wings of imagination : and whither could thefe carry him, but to the contemplation of univerfal nature, to the origin of the World, the decay and renovation of things ? Both the cofmogony and the metempfychofis of the orientals are poetical reprefentations of what is and will be, fuch as they may be conceived by a limited human undcrftanding and a feeling heart. * I live and enjoy my life a little while : why (hould not all around me enjoy their exiflence, and live uninjured by me ?* Hence the mora- lity of the talapoins, which fo cfFeftivcly and felf-denyingly inculcates the no- thingnefs of all things, the eternal mutation of forms in the World, the internal afflidion of the infatiate defires of the human heart, and the pleafures of a pure mind. Hence too the gentle himiane ordinances, which they gave to mankind for fparing themfelvcs and other beings, and the praifes of which they chaunt in their hymns, and record in their maxims. Thefe they no more derived from Greece, than they did their cofmogony : for both are the genuine offspring of the feelings and fentiments of their climate. In them every thing is flrained to the higheft pitch ; fo that Indian hermits alone can live conformably to the doftrines of the talapoins : and befides, every thing is fo enveloped in endleß fables, that if ever a Shaka lived, he would fcarcely recognize himfelf in one of the features afcribed to him as fubjedls of gratitude or praife. Yet does not a child learn his firft wifdom and morals by means of failles ? and are not moft of thefe nations, whofe minds remain in a gentle flumber, children all their lives long ? Let us not accufe Providence, therefore, for what could not be Digitized by Google Chap. III.] Tibet. 305 othcrwife, according to the order Ihe chofe for the human race. She knit every- thing with tradition, and thus men could not impart to each other more, than they themfelves had, and knew. Every thing in nature, and confequently the philöfophy of Budda, is good or bad, according to the ufe that is made of it. On the one hand it exhibits as fine and lofty fcntiments, as on the other it is capable of exciting and foftering, as it abundantly has, indolence and deceit. In no two countries has it remained precifely the fame : but wherever it exifts, it has raifed itfelf at leaft one ftep above grofs heathenifm, the firfl: twilight of a purer morality, the firft infantile dream of that truth, which comprehends the univerfe. CHAPTER IV. Hsndoßan, Though the doftrinc of the bramins is no more than a branch of that widely ipread religion, which has formed fedts or fovereignties from Tibet to Japan ; ftill it deferves particular confideration in the place of it's birth, as it has formed theie the moft Angular and perhaps durable government in the World ; this is the divifion of the hindoo nation into four or more cafts, over which the bra- mins rule as forming the firft. That they obtained this fway by bodily fubju- gation is by no means probable : for they arc not the military caft of the peo- ple, which, the king himfelf included, comes only next to them ; and their prctenfions are founded on no fuch claim, even in their fables. Their domi- nion over the reft is derived from their origin, on the fcore of which they pride themfelves as fprung from the head of Brama, while the foldiery proceeded from his brcaft, and the other cafts from his different limbs. On this their laws and the conftitution of the ftatc are founded, according to which they make a particular caft, which is to the nation what the head is to the body. Similar divifions into cafts have formed in other regions the fimpleft eftablifliment of fociety : in imitation of nature, that divides trees into branches, people into tribes and families. Such was the fyftem of Egypt j which, like that of Hindoftan, made arts and trades hereditary: and that the caft of fages and priefts af- iigned to itfelf the higheft place, we obferve in feveral nations. In fuch a degree of cultivation, this appears to me the natural courfe of things ; as wif- dom is fuperiour to ftrength, and in ancient times the caft of priefts appropriated to itfelf almoft all political fcience. The importance of the priefthood declines only with the general diffufion of knowledge through all ranks; and Digitized by Google 3o6 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book XI. for this reafon the pricfts have fo frequently oppofcd the enlightening of the people. The hiftorj' of Hindoftan, of which we know much lefs than could be wiflied, affords us fome clear hints refpefting the origin of the bramins *. This makes Brama, a wife and learned man, who invented fevcral arts and in particular writing, a vizir of one of their ancient kings, Criflien, whofe fon divided the people by law into the four well known calls. He placed the fon of Brama at the head of the firft caft, which included the aftrologers, phyficians, and pricfts : other nobles were appointed hereditary governors of provinces, and from thefc the fecond caft of the hindoos is defccnded : the third caft was confined to tlic cultivation of the ground j the fourth, to the purfuit of arts : and this eftablifli- ment was to continue for ever. He built the town of Bahar for the philofo- phers ; and as the feat of his empire, and the fchools of the bramin?> were chiefly on the banks of the Ganges, the reafon why fo little is fiiid of them by the greeks and romans is obvious : for it appears, that tliefe were unacquainted with the interiour parts of India ; Herodotus defcribing only the people on the Hin- dus, and the northern part of the peninfula beyond the Ganges, and Alexander having advanced no farther than the Hyphafes. It is not to be wondered, therefore, that at firft they obtained only general accounts of the bramins, that is, of the folitary philofophers, living in the manner of the talapoins j and after- wards heard obfcure tales of the famaneans and germans on the Ganges, of the divifion of the people into cafts, of their dodbrine of the tranfmigration of fouls, &c. Even thefe mutilated relations however (how, that the inftitution of the bramins is ancient, and a native of the country bordering on the Ganges ; which the very old monuments at Ja^ernaut -f-, Bombay, and other parts of the peninfula, confirm. Both the idols, and the whole economy of their tem- ples, are fuitable to the fentiments and mythology of the bramins, who have fprcad themfelves abroad through India from their facred Ganges, and been honoured, in proportion to the ignorance of the people, where they have ar- rived. The Ganges, as their birth place, has remained the chief feat of their holy rites : though as bramins they arc not merely a religious, but a truly po- litical tribe, refembling the orders of lamas, levite?, eg}'ptian pricfts, &c., and have pertained to the primitive conftitution of the ftate throughout India. For thoufands of years this influence of the order on the minds of men has been Angularly profound : for, in fpite of the mungal yoke, which they have ♦ Dow'fHiftory of Hindoftan, Vol. I, p. lo, 1 1. t Zcnd-A^fU, by D'Anquctii, Vol. I, p. 81, and foil«. : Nicbuhr'« Travels, Vol. II. Digitized by Google Crap. IV.] HinJoßan. 307 fo long born, it's importance and doftrincs ftill remain unfliaken, and thefe exert fuch a powerful fway over the hindoos, as fcarcely any other religion has ever dilplayed *. The charafter, way of life, and manners of the people, even to the minuteft trifles, nay to their very thoughts and words, are their work : and though many parts of the religion of the bramins are extremely trouble-i ibme and oppreffive, they remain as facred as the divine laws of nature, even to the lowed cafts. Such of them as embrace a foreign religion are for the moft part only malefadors and outcafts, or poor deferted children. The fenfe of fu- periority, too, with which the hindoo, even under the preflTure of extreme want, contemplates the european whom he ferves, is a fufficient guaranty, that this people, while it exifts, will never mix with any other. No doubt the charaftcr of the nation and the climate are the grounds of this unparalleled efiedl : for no people are endowed with more quiet patience, and gentle docility of mind. But that the hindoo does not follow the precepts and cuftoms of every foreigner arifes evidently from this, that the inftitution of the bramms already fo occu- pies bis whole mind, and employs his whole life, as to leave no room for any other. His frequent feftivals and ceremonies, his multiplicity of deities and £ibles, his numerous facred places and works of merit, employ the whole ima- gination of the hindoo from his infancy, and remind him of what he is almoft every moment of his life. All the inftitutions of Europe float only on the fur- fiicc of a mind thus profoundly fwaycd i and this fway I believe capable of con- tinuing as long as a hindoo (hall exift. With rcfpeft to all human inftitutions, the queftion, whether they be good or evil, is neceflfarily complicated. Undoubtedly the fyftem of the bramins, when it was flrft eftabliflied, was good : otherwife it could not have fpread fo wide, penetrated fo deep, and endured fo long. The human mind fliakes off what is pernicious to it, as foon as it can : and though the hindoo may be ca- pable of bearing more than another, he certainly would never love poifon. It is inconteftible too, that the bramins have formed their people to fuch a degree of gentlenefs, courtefy, temperance, and chaflity, or at leaft have fo con- firmed them in thefe virtues, that curopeans frequently appear, on comparifon with them, as beaftly, drunken, or mad. Their air and language are uncon- ftrainedly elegant ; their behaviour, friendly j their perfons, clean ; their way of life fimple and harmlefs. Their children are educated without feverity ; yet they are not deftitute of knowledge, and ftill lefs of quiet induftry, or nicely • See oa this fobjeA Dow, Holwell, Son- l/^Z/f^ff/ri, and every other defcription of the hia- nerat, Alexander Rofs, Mackintolh, the ac- doo religion and people, £oants of the xniffionariei of Halle^ the Latre Digitized by Google 3o8 PHILOSOPHT OF HISTORY. [Book XI. imitative art : even the loweft cafls learn reading, writing, and arithmetic. As the teachers of youth, the bramins cannot be denied the merit of hav- ing been benefaftors to mankind for fome thoufands of years. Lrt the reader turn to the relations given by the miffionaries of tJalle, and mark the found reafoning artd benign difpofition of the bramins and malabars, in their queftions, anfwers, and objeftions, as well as in their whole behaviour, and he will feldom give the palm to the preachers from Europe. The leading idea the bramins entertain of God is fo grand and beautiful, their morality is fo pure and fublime, and even their fables, when fcanncd by the eye of reafon, are fo refined and charming, that I cannot altogether afcribe to tlieir inventon, even in the monftrous and romantic, that abfurdity, which it is probaWe they gained in the courfe of time by paffing through the mouths of the people. That, in ipite of all the oppreflion of the mohammedans and chriftian?, the order of bra- mins has preferved it's artfully conftrufted and beautiful language *, and with it fome of the ruins of ancient aftronomy and chronolog)', phyfic and juri(pru- dence, is not without merit in fuch a fituation-j*: for the mechanical manner in which they exercifc thefe fciences is fufficient for their fphere of life, and what is unfiriendly to their improvement confirms their durability and effed. With regard to others, the hindoos perfecute no one : they allow all to follow their own reli- gion, knowledge, and way of life : why (hould not others allow them the fame li- berty, and confider them at leaft as well-meaning people, though mifled by the errours of their hereditary traditions ? Of all the feAs of Fo, which occupy the eaftern world of Afia, this is the flower : more learned, more humane, more ufeful, more noble, than all the bonzes, lamas, and talapoins. With this it muft not be concealed, that, as in all other himian inftitutions, fo in this, there is much that is oppreffive. Not to mention the endlefs violence, which the confinement of the different ways of life to hereditary cafts necefla- rily involves, as it nearly excludes all freedom in improving the arts, and bringing them to perfeftion : the contempt with which the lower caft, the pariars, are treat- ed, is particularly ftriking. They are not only condemned to the bafeft offices, and eternally prohibited from all connexion with any other of the cafts j but they arc even deprived of the claims of humanity, and the rites of religion : for no one dares touch a pariar, and his very look profanes a bramin. Though many rcafons are affigned for this abafement, and among others, that the pariars may be a fubjugated nation ; none of them are fufEciently confirmed by hiftory. In per- fon, at leaft, they differ not from the other hindoos. Here, as in fo many other * See Haihed's Grammar of the Bengal Lan- Vlndtt * Voyage in the Indian Ocean,' Vol. I j guage, printed at Hoogly in Bengal, 1778. Halhed*s Code of Gencoo Lawrs; dec. f See Le Gentil's Voyagt dam Us Men dt Digitized by Google Chap. IV.] Hindoßan, 309 things of ancient inftitution, we muft recur to the rigid primitive ordinance, ac- cording to which, probably, the very poor, or malefaftors and reprobates, were condemned to a ftate of dcbafement, to which their innocent and numerous defccndants have aftonifliingly fubmitted. The fault lies folely in the claflifi- cation by families j according to which the loweft lot of life muft fall to fome, and tlie purity arrogated by the reft ftill augments the burden. Now what could be more natural, than to confider it at length as a punifhment from Heaven, to be born a pariar, and, conformably to the doftrine of the metemp- fychofis, as a fate merited by crimes in a former ftate of life ? This hypothefis of the tranfmi2;r:uion of Ibuls, grand as it was in the mind of him, by whom it was firft imagined, and greatly as it may have benefitted mankind, muft neceflarily have occafioned much evil alio, as does every opinion, that overfteps human nature. Wiiiie, for inftance, it excited a falfe compaflion towards every living creature, it diminiflied real fympathy for the miferies of our fellows ; the un- happy among whom it held as criminals fufferii^ under the burden of former mifdeeds, or as men proved by the hand of Fate, who would reward their vir- tues in a future ftate of exiftence. Accordingly, a want of fympathy is ob- ferved even in the gentle hindoos, which may probably be confidered as an efTeft of their organization, though ftill more of their profound fubmiflion to eternal fate ; a faith, which plunges man into an abyfs, and blunts his aftive feelings. The burning of wives on the funeral piles of their hufbands may be reckoned among the barbarous confequences of this doftrine : for to whatever caufe it owes it's firft introdum the dangerous hands of europeans, who have robbed them of what was their own, political fecurity, and their very land itfelf? Thus, after a few eflays, each fnail has retreated within it's Ihell, and rejefted even the moft fragrant rofe brought in the mouth of a ferpent. The fcience of their pretended men of learnbg is adapted to the country ; and China received from the officious je* fuits no more than it deemed abfolutely ntceflary. Probably it would have accepted more, had it arrived in a time of neceffity : but as moft men, and ftill more great political bodies, are rigid, iron animals, to whom danger muft ap- proach very near, before they alter their old courfe ; fo, without figns and wonders, every thing will remam as it is, though the nation may be by no means deficient in capacity for fcience. It wants nothing but prime movers » inve- terate cuftom refiftii^ every new impulfe. How flow was Europe herfelf id learning her beft arts ! 5. The ftate of a kingdom may be eftimated either in itfelf, or in comparifon with others: Europe muft employ both ftandards; the afiatic empires have only the former. No one of thefe has fought other worlds, to employ them as the pedeftals of it's grandeur, or poifon itfelf with their fuperfluities ; every one makes ufe of what it has, and is fatisfied with it's own. China has even re- frained from working her own mines of gold ; not venturing to ufe them, from a confcioufnefe of her weaknefs 5 and the foreign trade of China is carried on wholly without the fubjugation of other countries. From this prudent wifdom all thefe lands have derived the unqueftionable benefit of being obliged, to make the moft ufe of what they have withm themfclves, as they obtain fewer fijpplies Digitized by Google 314 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY, [BookXI. from external commerce. We europeans, on the contrary, wander over the whole World as merchants or as robbers, and frequently negleft on ihis account our own homes : Britain itfelf is far from difplaying fuch agricultural induftry as is exhibited in the chinefe territories, or in the ifland of Japan. Our bodies politic are animals infatiably devouring every thing that is foreign, good and bad, food and poifon, coffee and tea, filver and gold ; and, in a ftate of high fever, difplay much fupernatural energy. Theirs reckon only on their internal circulation, living flowly like the worm, which on this account has endured, and ftill may endure long, if external circumftances do not deftroy the ileeping animal. Now it is well known, that in every thing the ancients calculated on a longer duration, as well in their political fyftems, as in their monuments : we aft with vivacity, and fo much the more (peedily run through the fliorter period allotted us by fete. 6. Laftly, every thing earthly and human is governed by time and place, as every particular nation is by it's charafter, uninfluenced by which it can do no- thing. Had the eaft of Afia joined Europe, it would long have ceafed to be what it is. Were not Japan an ifland, it would not be in it's prefcnt flate. Were all thefe kingdoms together now to be formed, they would not cafily be- come what they did three or four thoufand years ago : the whole animal, which we call the Earth, on the back of which we dwell, is now Ibme thoufands of years older. Singular and wonderful are what we call the genetic fpirit and charadter of a people. It is inexplicable, it is ineradicable : ancient as the nation, ancient as the country it inhabits. The bramin pertains to his r^on : no other, he is perfuaded, merits it's facred foil. Thus the flamefe, and the ja- panefe; eveiy where, out of their own country, they are untimely planted flirubs. What the indian folitary thinks of his god, the fiamefe of his emperor, we do not think : what to us appear aftivity and freedom of mind, manly honour and female beauty, in their eyes are far otherwife. The confinement of the indian women is to them by no means infupportable. The empty pomp of a man- darin would be to any other an infipid farce. It is the fame with all the cuftoms of diverfified man, nay with all that appears on our Earth. If our ipecies be deftined to approach, in the eternal path of an afymptote, a point of perfec- tion, which it does not know, and which, with all the labour of a Tantalus, it can never touch j you chinefe and japanefe, you lamas and bramins, purfue this pilgrimage in a tolerably quiet corner of the veffel. You trouble not your- felves about the unattainable point, and remain as you were thoufands of years ago. 7. It is confolatory to the invcftigator of man, to obfervc, that Nature has in no organization forgotten, with all the evils fbe has diftributed among the bu- Digitized by Google CflAP. V.J Generat ReßeBUons w the moß ancient States tfAfia. j i j man Ipecies, the balfam, that at leaft mitigates their wounds. The oppreffive load of aiiatic defpotifin exifts only in nations, that are willing to bear it ; that is, are lefs fenfible of it's crufliing weight. The hindoo, when, finking under the fevereft famine, he perceives his emaciated body followed by the dog, that fvill foon make it his prey, awaits his doom with refignation : he props himfelf tip, that he may die ercft, while the patiently expefting dog ftarcs him in the pale, deathlike face : of fuch a refignation we have no idea, yet it frequently re- ciprocates with the moft violent gufts of paffion. This, however, with the cli- mate, and the various facilities of livmg, is the antidote, that mitigates the many evils of a conftitution, which to us appears mfupportable. If we lived there, we ihould not fubmit to it, for we have underftanding and courage to alter the bad fyilem \ or we (hould flumber too, and fear the evil patiently like the hindoo. Great parent. Nature^ with what trifles baft thou connected the bXt dl the human fpecies t With a change of form in the head and Ibrmn, with % little alteration in the ftnifture of the oi^ganization and oerves, effefted by cli« mate, defcent, and habit, the &te of the World, the whole fum of what ttiankind 4o and fuffer throughout the Eartbj is alfo changed« Digitized by Google C 316 ] PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. BOOK XII. WE now come to the fliorcs of the Tigris and Euphrates : but how Las the fece of hiftory changed throughout the whole of this region ! Ba- bylon and Nineveh, Ecbatana, Perfepolis, and Tyre are no more : nation fol- lows nation, empire follows empire, and of moft even their very names, and once celebrated monuments are fwept from the Earth. The appellations of babylo- nian, aflyrian, chaldean, mede, and phenician, arc no longer born by any people; and no diftinft traces of their ancient political eftablifhments are now to be found. Their empires and towns are deftroyed, and the people are difperfcd about under different names. Whence arifes this variation from the deeply imprinted charader of the caftern empires ? Hindoftan and China have been more than once overrun by the mungals, nay have worn their yoke for centuries ; yet neither has Pekin nor Benares vaniflied, neither the lamas nor bramins are extinft. To me the dif- ference of their deftiny appears eafily explicable, if we confider the different fitu- ations and conftitutions of the two regions. In the eaft of Aiia, beyond the great ridge of mountains, the fouthern nations had but one enemy, the mungals, to dread. Thefe wandered peaceably for ages on their hills, or in their valleys ; and when they overran the neighbouring provinces, their objefts were dominion and plunder, not deftruftion. Accordingly feveral nations have retained their own conftitutions for thoufands of years under mungal fovereigns. The throng of people, that fwarmed between the Euxine and the Cafpian fea, down to the Mediterranean, was altogether different ; and the Tigris and Euphrates were the principal guides of thefe hordes in their migrations. The whole of hither Afia was filled with nomades at an early period : and the more flourifhing cities, the more polifhed empires, arofe in this fine countrj-, the more did they attradt favage nations for the purpofe of plunder, or they themfelves knew not how to employ their increafing power except in deflroying others. How often has Babylon, that delightful centre of the commerce of the eaft and weft, been taken and defpoiled ! Tyre and Sidon, Jerulalem» Ecbatana, and Nineveh^ experienced Digitized by Google Book XIT.] Introduam to the Hißory of Hither Aßa. 3 , 7 no better fate : fo that this whole region may be confidered as the garden of defolation, where one empire fubverted another, to be itfelf deftroyed in it's turn. There is no caufe to wonder, therefore, that many loft even their very names, and left fcarccly a trace behind them. For in what were their traces to be left ? Moft of the people of this region had one language, varied only by different dialefts : accordingly, on their downfal, their dialefts became confounded with one another, uniting at length in the chaJdee fyriac arabic medley, which now prevaik in that region, ahnoft without any difcriminating mark of the mingled people. Their ftates arofe from hordes, and returned to hordes again, without any permanent political ftamp. The celebrated monuments of a Belus, a Semi- ramis, and the reft, could ftill lefs affure them the eternity of a pyramid : for they were conftrufted merely of bricks, which, baked in the fun or by fire, and cemented with bitumen, were eaCly deftroyed, if they did not periQi beneath the filent foot of time. The defpotic fovereignties of the founders of Nineveh and Babylon as gradually decayed \ fo that in this celebrated part of the World we find nothing to contemplate, but the names once born among the nations by people now no more. We wander over the graves of departed monarchies, and fee the ghofts of their former importance on the Earth. In faft this importance was fo great, that, if we include Egypt within this i^on, no part of the World, Greece and Rome excepted, has invented and laid the rudiments of fo many things for Europe, and through the medium of Europe, for all the nations upon Earth. The number of arts and trades, that appear, from the accounts of the Hebrews, to have been common among many little wandering hordes in thefe regions, in the earlieft periods, is aftonifliing *. Hufbandry, with various implements ; gardening, fifliing, hunting, and in particular the breeding of cattle ; the grinding of com j the baking of bread ; the drefiing of food ; wine; oil i the preparation of wool and leather for garments j fpinning, weaving, and fewing ; painting, tapeftry, and needlework ; the coining of money ; the engraving of feals, and cutting of gems ; the fabrication of glafs ; coral-fi filing j mining and metallurg)'' j various works in metal; the arts of drawing, modelling, and founding; ftatuary and architefture j mufic and dancing ; writing and poetry ; trade by weight and meafure ; on the fea coafts navigation ; in the fciences, fome of the elements of aftronomy, chronology, and geography; phyfic and the art of war; arith- • See Gogoet*« ' OrigiM dts Leix, i^c, ticularly Gatterer's Kurzer Begrijf dir fTglige* « Origin of Laws, Arts, and Sciences, and their fchicbtt, • Brief Sketch of Univerfal Hi/lory/ BwfftU among the Ancicnti ;' and more par- Vol. I« Goctingen, 1 785. Digitized by Google 3i8 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY- tßoozXlL metiC) geometry, and mechanics ; in political inftitutions, laws, tribiinals, reli- gion, contrafts, puniChments, and a number of moral cuftoms; were all found in ufe fo early among the people of hither Afia, that we cotdd not avoid con» fidering the whole cultivation of this region as the remains of an enUghtened anteriour world, if we were led to this by no tradition. Only the people wan« dering at a diftance about the centre of Alia became wild and barbarous, ib that fboner or later they were to be civilized a (econd time in various ways. CHAPTER !• Sabylorif AJJyridi Chaldea^ In the extenfive region of hither Afia, peopled by wandering hordes, the fer- tile and pleafant banks of the Tigris and Euphrates muft foon have attraded s number of paftoral tribes : and as they refemble a Paradife, between mountain» on the one hand, and deferts on the other, there the(e tribes muft have inclined to fix their refidence. At prefent indeed this country has loft much of it's beauty ; as it remains almoft without cultivation, and has been expofed for centuries to the devaftations of predatory hordes : yet particular diftridts ftiU confirm the general teftimony of the ancient writers, whofe praifes of it knew no bounds *. Accordbgly this was the birthplace of the firft monarchies of hiftory, and an early ftorehoufe of ufeful arts. In the courfe of a wandering life nothing could be mo» natural, than for fome ambitious Ihcik to conceive the defign of appropriating to himfelf the delightful banks of the Euphrates, and of uniting together a few hordes to maintain the poffeflion of them. The hebrew chronicle gives this (heik] the name of Nimrod, who founded his kingdom with the towns of Babylon, Edefla, Nifibin, and Ctefiphon : and in the neighbourhood it places another, the king- dom of AfTyria, with the cities of Refen, Nineveh, Adiabene, and Calaik From the fituation of thefe kingdoms, with their nature and origin, arofe the whole of their fubfcquent deftiny, till it terminated in their deftnidlion. For being founded by different races, and bordering too clofely on each other, what could follow from the quarrclfome fpirit common to the hordes of thefe regions, but that they muft look upon each other as enemies, more than once fall under one fovereignty^ and be difperfed various ways^ by the incurfion of more nortbem * Sec Baefcbin^i Geography, Vol V# part I. Digitized by Google Chap. I.] Safy/bn^ Aj^ria^ Chaldea. 3x9 mountaineers ? This is the brief hiftory of the kingdoms on the Tigris and Euphrates; which, from fuch remote periods, and through the mutilated accounts of feveral nations, cannot have been handed down to us free from ^onfufion. In the origin, fpirit, and conftitutions of thefe kingdoms, liowever, both hiftory and fable agree. They fprang from fmall beginnings, and wan- dering tribes : and they ever retained the charafter of predatory hordes. Even the defpotifm chat arofe in them, and the various fkill in the arts, for which Babylon was particularly famed, are perfeftly confiftent with the fpirit of the country, and the national charafter of it's inhabitants. For what were the firft towns built by thefe fabled monarchs of the World ? Great, fortified hordes j the fixed encampments of a tribe, that enjoyed thefe fertile regions, and made excurfions for the purpofe of plundering others. Hence the vaft circumference of Babylon, fo foon after it was founded on either fide the river : hence it's huge walls and towers. The walls were lofty thick ramparts of baked clay^ ere 28 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book XH. of body and mind, domeftic harmony, and reciprocity of kind aftions : they re- commend agriculture, and the planting of ufcful trees; the extermination of vermin, which appear as an army of evil fpirits in bodily form ; attention to de- corum ; early and prolific marriages ; the education of children j honouring the king and his fervants ; love towards the ftatc : and all thefe after the perfian manner. In (hort, the bafis of this fyftem appears obvioufly as a political reli- gion, fuch as at the time of Darius could no where have been invented and in- troduced, except in the perfian empire. Ancient national ideas and opinions, too, muft neceflarily lie at the bottom of this fuperftition. Hence the adora- tion of fire, which was undoubtedly an ancient religious worfliip, in the neigh- bourhood of the fprings of naphtha, near the Cafpian fea. Hence fo many fu- perftitious praftices for the purification of the body ; and that extreme fear of demons, which, in almoft every fenfible objedl, forms the bafe of the prayers, vows, and facred ceremonies of the parfees. All thefe fliow the low degree of mental cultivation attained by the people, for whofe benefit tliis religion was invented : and this is by no means inconfiftent with the idea we entertain of the ancient perfians. Laftly, the fmall part of this fyftem, which refers to ge- neral notions of nature, is altogether drawn from the dodlrines of the magi, which it merely refines and exalts in it's own manner. It fubjefts the two prin- ciples of creation, light and darknefs, to an infinitely fuperiour being, which it ftyles boundlefs time ; and lets the good every where overcome the evil, and ultimately fo fwallow it up, that every thing terminates in a holy kingdom of light. Contemplated on this fide the political religion of Zoroafter is a kind of philofophical theodicy, fuch as he could offer to the age in which he lived, and the notions that then prevailed. In this origin we perceive the caufo, why the religion of Zoroafter could not poflefs the ftability of the inftitutions of the bramins and lamas. The dcfpotic empire was eftabliOied long before it ; and thus it was or became only a fort of monkifli religion, adapted to the political fyftem. Now though Darius fup- preffed by force the magi, who formed a diftinft body of men in the perfian empire ; and was eager to introduce this religion, which laid fpiritual fetters alone on the monarch ; it could never be any thing more than a feft, though it was the ruling fe^ for a century. Accordingly the worfliip of fire extended widely : to the left, beyond Medi.i, as far as Cappadocia, where it's temples were ftanding even in the days of Strabo ; to the right, as far as the Hindus. But as the perfian empire completely funk bcncatli the fortune of Alexander, this, the religion of the ftate, alfo found an end. It's feven amftiafpands ferved no more, and the image of Ormuzd no longer fat on the perfian throne. It's feafon Digitized by Google Chap. IL] Medes and Perßans. 329 was pad, and it became an empty (hadow, as is the religion of the hindoos out of their own country. By the greeks it was tolerated ; at length it was perfe- cuted with unfpeakable rigour by the mohammedans i and in confequence it's melancholy remnant took flight to a corner of India ; where, like a ruin of an- tiquity, without end or purpofe, it continues it's ancient faith and fuperftition, calculated for the perfian empire alone, and has amplified it with the opinions of the nations among whom it has been thrown by fate, probably without being confcious of the change. Such an augmentation naturally arifes out of the courfe of time and events : for every religion, when forced from it's own foil and fphere, muft necefTarily be influenced by the living world around it. For the reft, the generality of parfees in India are quiet, peaceable, induftrious peo- ple, and, confidered as a fociety, furpafs many other religious fefts. They aflift their poor with great zeal, and expel every irreclaimably immoral perfon from their community *. CHAPTER III, The Hebrews, The defendants of Heber make a very diminutive figure, when we confider them immediately after the perfians. I heir country was fmall ; and the part they afted on the ftage of the World, both in and out of this country, was infignificant, as they feldom appeared in the charafter of conquerors. Yet through the will of Fate, and a feries of events, the caufes of which are eafy to be traced, they have had more influence on other nations, than any people of Afia: nay in fome degree, through the mediums of chriftianity and moham- incdanifm, they have been the ground work of enlightening the greater part of the World. That the hebrews had written annals of their aftions, at a time in which moft of the now enlightened nations were totally ignorant of writing, an- nals which they ventured to carry up to the beginning of the World, diftin- guiflies them in an eminent manner. But they are ftill more advantageoufly diftinguifhed by this, that they neither derived their account from liierogly- phics, nor obfcured it by them ; for it is taken merely from family chronicles, and inten^'oven with hiftorical tales or poems ; and it's value as hiftory is evi- dently increafed by this fimplicity of form. This account, too, derives (ingu- lar weight from it's having been preferved for fome thoufands of years, with al- • Sec Nicbuhr's Trarelj. Digitized by Google 330 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book XII. moft fuperftitious fcrupulofity, as a divine prerogative of their race, and mtro- duced by chriftianity into nations, that have examined and queftioned, explained and ufed it, with a fpirit of freedom unknown to the jews. It is indeed re- markable, that the accounts of thefe people given by other nations, by Manetho the egyptiaii in particular, (hould differ fo widely from the hiftory of the hebrews themfelves : yet, if the latter be impartially confidered, and the fpirit of the narrative underftood, it certainly deferves more credit, than the flanders of fo- reign enemies, by whom the jews were defpifed. I fcruple not, therefore, to take the hiftory of the hebrews, as related by themfelves, for my groundwork : begging the reader, at the fame time, not abfolutely to rejeft the tales of their enemies with contempt, but merely to read them with caution. Thus, according to the moft ancient national ftories of the hebrews, their progenitor pafled the Euphrates as flieik of a wandering horde, and at laft ar- rived in Paleftine. Here he found room without oppofition, to purfue the paf- toral life of his anceftors, and worfliip the god of his fathers after the manner of his tribe. His pofterity of the third generation were led into Egypt by the Angular good fortune of one of their family, and there continued to follow the paftoral life, without mixing with the inhabitants of the country i till, it b not exadly known in what generation, they were emancipated by their future l^f- lator from the contempt and oppreffion, which from their charafter of (hep- herds they muft haveexperienced among thofe people, and conduced into Arabia* Here the great man, the greateft thefe people had ever had, completed his work ; and gave them a conftitution, founded on the religion and mode of life of their &thers it is true, but fo intermingled with egyptian polity, as on the one hand to raife them from a wandering horde to the ftate of a cultivated nation, yet on the other to wean them completely from Egypt, fo that they were never after defirous of treading the fwarthy foil. All the laws of Mofes evince wonderful refledtion : they extend from the greateft to the fmalleft things, to fway the (pirit of the nation in every circumftance of life, and to be, as Mofes fircqucntly repeats^ an everlafting law. This profound fyftem able they were not the inventors. So it is to be prefumed the egyptians, babylonians, and hindoos purfued the art of weaving befoie the fidonians ; as it is a wellknown mode of (peaking, both in ancient and modern times, to name wares not fi-om the place where they are manufadured, but from the place that trades in them. The ikill of the phe- nicians in aichitefture may be known from Solomon's temple -, which certainly was not to be compared with any one in Egypt, as in it two wretched columns w«re looked ugon as wonders. Their only architeAural remains are thofe vail caverns in Phenicia and Canaan, which evince both their troglodytic tafte and defcent. The people, of egyptian race, undoubtedly rejoiced, to find in this r^ion mountains, in which they could form their habitations and graves, ftorehoufes and temples. The caves ftill remain; but their contents have vanifhed. The archives and colledtions of books, alfo, which the pheai- ctans poflefiTed in the times of their fplendour, are all deftroyed ; and the greeks, by whom their hiftory was written, no longer exift. Now if we compare thefe induftrious, flouriftiing commercial towns, with the conquering ftates on the Euphrates, the Tigris, and mount Caucafus, no Digitized by Google Chap. IV.] Phmicia and Carthage. 339 one will heCtate, to which to give the preference, in relpeft to the hiftory of mankind. The conquerors conquered for thcmfelves : the commercial nations fervcd themfelves and others. They rendered the wealth, induftry, and fcience of a certain part of the World common to all ; and thus could not avoid promoting humanity, perhaps without the defign. No conqueror, there- fore, dlfturbs the courfc of nature fo much, as he who deftroys flourifliing commercial towns : for the ruin of thefc generally occafions the decline of the induftry and manufafturcs of whole countries and regions, unlcfs fomc neigh- bouring place quickly fucceed them. In this the coaft of Phenicia was happy : it's fituation renders it indifpenfable to the trade of Afia. When Nebuchad- nezzar deprefled Sidon, Tyre fprang up : when the macedonian conqueror deftroyed Tyre, AIe3candria flouriQied : but commerce never completely deferted this region. Carthage, too, was benefitted by the deftruftion of the ancient wealthy Tyre, but not with confequences fo important to Europe, as thofe of the more early phenician commerce \ for the time was gone by. The internal conftitution of the phenicians has been generally confidered as the firft tranfition from the monarchies of Afia to a fort of republic, which commerce requires. The defpotic power of the kings in their ftates was weak- ened, fo that they never attempted conquefts. Tyre was a long time ruled by fuffetes ; and this form of government obtsdned a more firm eftablifliment in Carthage : thus thefe two ftates are the firft precedents of great commercial republics in hiftory, and their colonies are the firft examples of a more ufeful and refined dominion, than thofe which a Nebuchadnezzar and a Cambyies eftabliOied. This was a great ftep in the civilization of mankind. Thus com- merce awakened induftry : the fea reprefied or fet bounds to the conqueror, and gradually changed him, againft his will, fi'om a fubjugating robber to a peaceful negotiator. Mutual wants, and particularly the more feeble power of a ftranger on a diftant (hore, g^ve birth to the firft more equitable inter- courfe between nations. How do the ancient phenicians put to (hame the europeans for their fenfelefs conduft, when, in fo much later ages, and with fo much more ikill in the arts, they difcovered the two Indies ! Thefe made Haves, preached the crofs, and exterminated the natives : thofe, in the proper fenfe of the term, conquered nothing : they planted colonies, they built towns, and roufed the induftry of the nations, which, after all the deceptions of the phenicians, learned at length to know and profit by their own treafures. Will any part of the Globe be indebted to Europe rich in arts, fo much as Greece was indebted to the lefs cultivated phenicians ? The influence of Carthage on the nations of Europe was far from being fo im- Digitized by Google 340 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [BookXIL portant as that of Phcnicia : owing affurcdly to the change of time, fituation, and the ftatc of things. As a colony fix)m Tyre, it was not without difficulty, that it eftablifhed itfelf on the diftant (bore of Africa : and being obliged to fight for the extenfion of it's boundar)', it gradually imbibed a luft of conqueft. Hence it acquired a more brilliant and artfully contrived form than the parent ftate ; but more advants^ous in it*s confequences, neither to the republic, nor to mankind. Carthage was a city, not a nation : fo that it was incapable of difiufing civilization and a fpirit of patriotifm over any extent of country. The territory it acquired in Africa, and in which, at the commencement of the third punic war, it reckoned, according to Strabo, three hundred towns, contained fubjefts, over whom the conquerors ruled as lords, but no fellow-citizens of the fovercign ftate. This indeed the nearly uncivilized africans never ftrove to be- come : for even in their wars againft Carthage they appeared either as revolted ilaves, or hired foldiers. Thus the interioiu* parts of Africa derived very little civilization from Carthage, as the objeft of this city, a few of the families of which had extended their fway beyond it*s walls, was not to propagate himianity, but to collect treafure. The crude fuperftition, that prevailed among the Carthaginians to the lateft times; the barbarous manner, in which they tyrannically put to death their unfuccefsful generals, even when no blame could be imputed to them; and their general conduä in foreign countries ; evince the cruelty and avarice of this ariftocratic ftate, which fought nothing but gam, and african fcrvility. The fituation and conftitution of Carthage are fufEcient to account for this barbarity. Inftead of commercial fettlements after the phenician manner, which the Carthaginians deemed too infecure, they erefted fortrefles ; and at a time when the fUte of the Worid was fo much improved, they attempted to fecure the fovereignty of the coafts, as if every place were Africa. But being obliged to employ for this purpofe mercenaries, or enilaved barbarians ; and fuch a proceeding involving them in quarrels with people, who for the moft part refufed to be treated any longer as favages ; thefe quarrels could produce nothing but bloodfhed, and bitter enmity. The fiiiitful Sicily, Syracufe in particular, was often aflaulted by them : and at firft very unjuftly, as it was merely in confcquence of a treaty with Xerxes. They went againft a grecian people as the barbarous auxiliaries of a barbarian, and fliowed themfelvcs worthy of the part. Selinus, Himera, and Agrigentum, Saguntum in Spain, and many rich provmces in Italy, were plundered or deftroycd by them. Nay more blood was flied on the beautiful plains of Sicily alone, than all the trade of Carthage could compenfate. Much as Ariftotle praifes the conftitution of Digitized by Google Chap. IV.] Phmida and Carthage. 34t thb republic in a political view, as little merit has it in the hiftory of the hu« man race : for in it a few fitmilies of the city, confiding of barbarous wealthy merchants, employed the arms of mercenaries to contend for the monopoly of their gain, and appropriate to themfclvcs the fovereignty of every country, by which this gain could be promoted. Such a fyftem has in it nothing amiable : and therefore, however unjuft moil of the wars of the romans againft Carthage were, and much as the names of Afdrubal, Hamilcar, and Hannibal, demand our reverence, we (ball hardly become Carthaginians, when we contemplate the internal ftate of the mercantile republic, which thefe heroes ierved. From it they experienced fufEcient trouble, and were frequently rewarded with the bhckeft ingratitude : for his country would even have delivered up Hannibal himfelf to the romans, to (ave a few poimds weight of gold, had he not with" drawn himfelf by flight from this punic reward for his fervices. Far be it from me, to rob one noble Carthaginian of the leaft of his merits : for even Carthage, though erefked on the lowed ground of avaricious conqueil, has produced great minds, and nourißied a multitude of arts. Of warriours the iamily of Barcha in particular will be immortal ; the flame of whofe ambition mounted the higher, the more the jealoufy of Hanno drove to quench it. But for the mod part even in the heroic fpirit of the Carthaginians a certain hardi- nefs b obfervable ; whence a Gelo, a Timoleon, a Scipio, appear, on comparifon, as free men compared to flaves. Thus barbarous was the heroifm of thofe bro- thers, who fufi'ered themfelves to be buried alive, to preferve an unjud boun- dary to their country: and in more urgent cafes, as when Carths^e itfelf was threatened, their valour in general afiumed the appearance of favage defpera- tion. Yet it is not to be denied, that Hannibal in particular was the tutor of it*s hereditary enemies, the romans, who from him learned to conquer the World, in the more refined parts of the art of war. In like manner all the arts, that were in any way fubfervient to commerce, nayal architefture, maritime war, or the acquifition of wealth, flourifhed in Carthage : though the Cartha- ginians themfelves were (bon conquered at (ea by the romans. In the fertile (oil of Afirica agriculture was of all arts that, which tended mod to promote their trade; and into this, as a rich fource of gain, the Carthaginians introduced many improvements. But unfortunately the barbarous date of the romans oc- cafioned the dedru&ion of all the books of the Carthaginians, as well as of their town : we know nothing of the nation, but from it's enemies, and a few ruins, which fcarcely enable us to guefs at the feat of the anciently famed midrefs of the fea. It is to be lamented, that the principal figure Carthage makes in bidory is on occafion of her conteds with Rome: this wolf, that was afterwards Digitized by Google 34» PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [BookXIL to ravage the World» was ürft to exercife her powers againft an african jackal till lie fell beneath her jaws. CHAPTER V. 77;^ Egyptians. We now come to a country, which, on account of it's antiquity, it*s arts, and it's political inftitutions, ftands like an enigma of the primeval World, and has copioufly excrcifed the conjeftural Ikill of the mquirer. This is Egypt. The moft authentic information we have refpefting it is derived from it's antiqui- ties i thofe vaft pyramids, obeliiks, and catacombs ; thofe ruins of canals, cities, columns, and temples; ^hich, with their hieroglyphics, are ftill the aftenifli- ment of travellers, as they were the wonder of the ancient World. What an immenfe population, what arts and government, but more efpecially what a An- gular way of thinking, muft have been requifite, to excavate thcfe rocks, or pile them upon one another; not only to delineate and carve ftatues of animals» but to inter them as facred ; to form a wildernefs of rocks as an abode for the dead ; and to eternize in ftone the fpirit of an egyptian priefthood in ibch mur* tifarious ways I There (land, there lie, all thofe relics, which, like a iacred Iphinz, like a grand problem, demand an explanation. Part of thefe works, of obvious utility, or indifpenfable to the country, ex- plain themfelves. Such are the aftoniihing canals, dikes, and catacombs. The canals ferved to convey the Nile to the remoteft parts of Egypt, which now, from their ruin, are become filent deferts. The dikes enabled cities to eftabliQi themfelves in the fertile valley, which the Nile overflows,, and which, truly the heart of Egypt, feeds the whole land; The catacombs, too, fetting afide the religious notions which the egyptians connected with them, unqueftionably contributed to the healthineis of the air, and prevented thofe difeafes, which ait the common pefts of hot and humid climates. But to what purpofe the enor- mity of thefe tombs ? whence, and why, the labyrinth, the obelifks, the pyra- mids ? whence the marvellous tafte, on which the fphinxes and coloflufes have fo laboriouily conferred immortality ? Are the egyptians the primitive nation, fprung ftom the mud of the Nile, to branch over all the World ? or, if they be not indigenous, what circumftances« what motives, have rendered them fo to- tally different from all the people that dwell around ? In my opinion the natural hiflory of tlie country is fufficient to (how, that the egyptians are no primitive indigenous nation ; for not only ancient tradi- tion, but every rational geogony expreßly fays, that Upper Egypt was the Digitized by Google Chap. V.J The EgyptJüus. 343 earlier peopled, and that the lower country was in reality gained from the mud o£ the Nile by the iküful induftry of man. Ancient Egypt, therefore, was on the mountains of the Thebaid; where too was the refidenceof it's ancient kings: for had the land been peopled by the way of Suez, it is inconceivable, why the firft kings of Egypt Ihould have chofen the barren Thebaid for their abode. If, on the other hand, we follow the population of Eg\'pt, as it lies before our eyes; in it we (hall likewife find the caufe, why it's inhabitants became fuch a An- gular and diftinguiflied people, even from their cultivation. They were no amiable circafllans, but, in all probability, a people of the fouth of Afia, who came weft wards acrofs the Red -Sea, or perhaps farther off, and gradually fpread from Ethiopia over Upper Egypt. The land here being bounded as it were by the inundations and marfhes of the Nile, is it to be wondered, that they began to conftrudt their habitations as troglodytes in the rocks, and after* wards gradually gained the whole of Egypt by their induftry, improving them* fclves as they improved the land ? The account Diodorus gives of their fouthern defcent, though intermingled with various fables of his Ethiopia, is not only probable in the higheft degree, but the fole key to an explanation of this people, and it's fingular agreement with fome diftant nations in the eaft of Afia. As I could pürfue this hypothefis here but very imperfeftly, it muft be de- ferred to another place, availing myfelf only of fome of it's evident confequences, with regard to the figure made by this people in the hiftory of mankind. The egyptians were a quiet, induftrious, wellmeaning people, as their political con- ftitution, their arts, and their religion, coUcöively demonftrate. No temple, no column of Egypt, has a gay, airy, grecian appearance : of this defign of art they had no idea, it never was their aim. The mummies (how, that the figure of the egyptians was by no means beautiful; and as the human form appeared to them, fuch would neceffarily be their imitations of it. Wrapped up in their own land, as In their own rel^on and conftitution, they had an averfion to foreigners : and as, conformably to their charaäer, fidelity and precifion were their principal objefts in the imitative arts ; as their (kill was altogether mecha- nical, and indeed in it's application to religious purpofes was confined to a par- ticular tribe, while at the (ame time it turned chiefly on religious conceptions ; no deviations toward ideal beauty, which without a natural prototype is a mere phantom *, were in the leaft to be expefted in this country -f . In recom- penfe they turned their attention fo much the more to folidity, durability, and * Of this b another pltce. dofa ; bat chiefly that of the palace Rondanini t That African forms may coalesce with at Rome. F. Ideal Beauty, is proved by every head of Me- Digitized by Google 344 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [BookXIL gigantic magnitude; or to finifliing with the utmoft induftry of art. In that rocky land, their ideas of temples went taken from vaft caverns : hence in their architefture they were fond of majeftic immenfity. Their mummies gave the hint of their ftatues : whence their legs were naturally joined, and their arms clofed to the body; a pofture of itfelf tending to durability. To fupport ca- vities, and feparate tombs, pillars were formed : and as the egyptians derived their architefture from the vaults of rocks, and underftood not our mode of erefting arches, the pillar, frequently gigantic, was indifpenfable. The de- ferts, by which they were furrounded, the regions of the dead, which from reli- gious notions floated in their minds, alfo moulded their ftatues to mummies, wherein not aftion, but eternal reft, was the character, on which their art fixed. The pyramids and obeliiks of the egyptians appear to me lefe calculated to excit« wonder. Pyramids have been erefted on graves in all parts of the World, even in Otaheite; not fo much as emblems of the immortality of the foul, as tokens of a lafting remembrance after death. Their origin on thefe graves may be traced to thofe rude heaps of ftone, which were formed as memorials by feveral nations in very remote antiquity. The rude heap of ftones aflumed the form of a pyramid, that it might acquire greater ftability. When art ap- plied itfelf to this general cuftom, as no occafion of a memorial is fo dear to the human mind as the interment of the revered dead, the heap of ftones, at firft perhaps defigned to prote A the corpfe from the fengs of wild beafts, was naturally transformed into a pyramid, or column, ereAed with more or lefs ikill. Now that the egyptians ftiould excel other nations in thefe ftruAures, arofe from the fame caufe as the durable architefture of their temples and ca- tacombs : namely, they poflefled ftone fufficient for thefe monuments, as the greater part of Egypt is properly one rock ; and they had hands enough to build them, as, in their fertile and populous country, the Nile manures the foil, and agriculture demands little labour. Befides, the ancient egyptians lived with great temperance : thoufands of men, who laboured for centuries like flaves at thefe memorials, were fo eafily maintained, that it depended merely on the will of a kmg, to ereft inconceivable mafles of this kind. The lives of individuals were eftimated differently then, when their names were reckoned only in tribes and dtfhi&s, than they are now. The ufelefs labour of numbers was then more eafily facrificed to the will of a monardi, who was defirous of fecuring to himfelf immortality by fuch a heap of ftones, and retaining the departed foul in an embalmed corj^e, conformably to his religious notions; till this, like many other ufelefs arts, became in time an objefl: of emulation. One king inäitated another, or fought to exceed him^ while the eafy people confumed Digitized by Google Chap, v.] Tie Egyptiant. 345 their days in the ftrufture of thcfc monuments. Thus probably arofe the pyramids and obcliiks of Egypt : they were built only in the rcmoteft times ; for later ages» and nations, employed in more ufeful works, ceafe to ered: pyramids. Thus, far firom being tokens of the happincfs and enlightened minds of the ancient egyptians, the pyramids are incontrovertible teftimo- nies of the fuperftition and thoughtleflhefs, both of the poor by whom they were built, and of the ambitious by whom their ereftion was commanded. Seclrets are in vain fought within the pyramids, or concealed wifdom from the obelifks : for if the hieroglyphics of the latter could be deciphered, what is it poffible we fliould read in them, except a chronicle of forgotten events, or a fymbolic apotheofis of their builders ? And then, what are thefe mafles to a mountain of Nature's ereftion ? Befides, inftead of inferring profoimd wifdom from the hieroglyphics of the egyptians, they rather demonftrate the reverfe. Hieroglyphics are the firft rude-infantile eflay of the human mind, when feeking charafters to denote it*s thoughts : the rudeft favages of America had hieroglyphics fufficient to anfwer their occafions j fw could not the mexicans convey information of the moft tmheard of events, of the arrival of the fpaniards for inftance, in hieroglyphics ? But what poverty of ideas, what a ftagnation of the mind, do the egyptians difplay, in fo long retaining this imperfeft mode of writing, and continuing to paint it for centuries with immenfe trouble on rocks and walls ! How confined muft have been the knowledge of a nation, and of it's numerous learned order, who could content themfelves for fome thoufands of years with thefe birds and ftrokes ! For their fecond Hermes, who invented letters, lived very late j and he was no cgyptian. The alphabetical writing on the mummies confifts wholly of the foreign phenician letters, intermingled with hieroglyphical charaftcrs, and there- fore in all probability learned from the phenician traders. The chinefe them* felves have advanced farther than the egyptians, and from fimilar hieroglyphics have invented aftual notations of thought, to which thefe, as it appears, never attained. Is it to be wondered, then, that a nation fo poor in writing, and yet not without capacity, fliould have been eminent in mechanic arts ? Their road to fcience was obftruded by hieroglyphics, and thus their attention was the more turned towards objefts of fenfe. The fertile valley of the Nile ren- eople, whofe life and comforts were connefted with one fingle natural change, which, annually recurring, formed an eternal national calendar, muft ultimately become expert in the meafure of the year and the feafons. Digitized by Google 346 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [BookXII. Thus all the acquaintance with nature and the heavens, for which this ancient people is £inied, was the natural offspring of the country and climate. Eaclofed between mountains, fcas, and dcferts ; in a narrow fertile valley, where every thing depended on one natural phenomenon, and every thing rccaUed that phe- nomenon to the mind ; where the feafons of the year, and the produce of the harveft, winds and difeafes, infefts and birds, were governed by one and the fame revolution, the overflowing of the Nile : could the grave egyptian, and his numerous order of idle priefts, fail ultimately to collefl: a fort of hiftory of nature and the heavens ? From all quarters of the World it is known, that confined fenfual nations have the moil copious pmdtical knowledge of their country, though not learned from books. The hieroglyphics of the egyptians were rather injurious than beneficial to fcience. They converted the lively obfervation into an obfcure and dead image, which afiuredly could not ad- vance, but retarded the progrefs of the underftanding. It has been much dis- puted, whether the hieroglyphics concealed faccrdotal myfleries. To me it appears, that every hieroglyphic from it's nature contained a fecrec i and a feries of them, preferved exclufivcly by a particular body of men, mull neceflarily have remained a myftery to the many, even fuppofing they were prefented to them at every turn. They could not be initiated into the ftudy of them, for this was not their bufinefs ; and of themfelves they could not difcover their meaning. Hence the neceflary want of an extenfive diffufion of knowledge in every land, in every body of men, poflTeflTed of hieroglyphic wifdom, as it is called, whether taught by priefts or laymen. Every one was not capable of deci- phering it's fymbols, and what is not eafy to be learned without a tutor muft, from it's very nature, be kept as a myftery. Thus every hieroglyph ical fcience of modern times is a ridiculous obftacle to a free diffufion of knowledge ; while in ancient times hieroglyphics were no more than the moft imperfedt mode of writing. It would be abfurd, to expeft a man of himfelf to learn to underftand what might be explained iri a thoufand different ways ; and to ftudy arbitrary fymbols, as if they were neceflarily permanent things, would be endlefs labour. Hence Egypt has always remained a child in knowledge, becaufe it always ex» preffed it's knowledge as a child, and it's inutile ideas are probably for ever loft to us. Thus we can do little more than guefs at the rank attained by the egyptian» in religion and politics^ while we have been able to mark that, which many other nations of high antiquity have reached, and can ftill in ibme meafure obferve, what the people in the eaft of Afia have attained. Indeed, could it be rendered probable, that much of the knowledge of the ^yptians was not eafy to have Digitized by Google Chap, v.] "The Egyptians. 34.7 been difcovered in their country ; but that they merely continued to exercifc it after received rules and premifes, and adapted it to their own land ; their infant ftate in all thefc fciences would be much more obvious. Hence pro- bably their long regifter of kings, and of the ages of the World : hence their ambiguous hiftories of Ofiris, Ifis, Horus, Typhon, and the reft : hence a great number of their religious fables. Their principal religious. notions were com- njon to feveral people of Upper Afia j only they were here clothed in hiero- glyphics, adapted to the natural hiftory of the country, and the charafter of the people. The leading features of their political conftitution were familiar to other nations in a fimilar ftagc of cultivation ; but here they were more finißied, and employed in their own manner, by a people enclofed in the beau- tiful valley of the Nile *. Egypt would not eafily have attained the high repu- tation it enjoys for wifdom, but for it's lefs remote fituation, the ruins of it's antiquities, and above all the tales of the greeks. This very fituation likewife (hows the rank it occupies among the nations. Few have (prung from it, or been civilized by it : of the former I know only the phenicians ; of the latter, the jews and greeks. How far it's influence has extended into the interiour of Africa we ar^ ignorant. Poor egyptians ! how are they changed ! Once laborious, and endued with patient induftry, a thou- fand years of defpair have reduced them to indolence and wretchednefs. At tlie nod of a pharaoh, they fpun and wove, dug in the mountains and ndfed flones, purfued the arts and cultivated the land. Patiently they fuffered them- ielves to be (liut up from the reft of the World, and divided into bands for the purpofe of labour; they were prolific, and brought up their children with toil ; fliunned foreigners, and enjoyed their own fecluded country. When once their land was laid open, or rather when Cambyfes (howed the way to it, it was for ages a prey to nation after nation. Perfians and greeks, romans, byzantines» arabs, fatimites, curdes, mamalukes, and turks, annoyed it one after the other i and it's fine climate ftill remains a melancholy theatre of arabian depredations and turkifli barbarity «f. * The eonleaarei on thu rubjefl omft be f ^^^ ^^^ of every reader will add a aott defened to anotber place. to thi» period. F« Digitized by Google 348 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book XII. CHAPTER Vic Farther Hints toward a Philofopky of the Htfiory of Man. Having now gon^over a coniiderable extent of human events and infatii« tions, from the Euphrates to the Nile, from Perfepolis to Carthage^ let us fit down, and take a retrofpedivc view of our journey. What IS the principal law, that we have obfervcd in all the great occur- rences of hiftory ? In my opinion it is this : that every where on our Earth whatever could be has teen, according to the Jiiuation and wants of the place^ the circumßances andoccafions of the times, and the native or generated charaBer of the people. Admit aftive human powers, in a determuiate relation to the age, and to their place on the Earth, and all the viciflitudes in the hiftory of man will enfue. Here kingdoms and ftates cryftallize into (hape : there they diflblve, and aflume other forms. Here firam a wandering horde rifes a Ba- bylon : there from the ftraitened inhabitants of a coaft Iprings up a Tyre : here, in Africa, an Egypt is formed : there, in the deferts of Arabia, a jewifli date : and all thefe in one part of the World, all in the neighbourhood of each other. Time, place, and national character alone, in Ihort the gene- ral cooperation of adive powers in their moft determinate individuality, go- vern all the events that happen among mankind, as well as alt the occur- rences in nature. Let us place this predominant law of the creation in a fuit- able light. I. AElive human powers are thefprings of human hißory: and as man originates from and in one race, his figure, education, and mode of thinking, are thus ge- netic. Hence that ftriking national charafter, which, deeply imprinted on the moft ancient people, is unequivocally difplayed in all their operations on the Earth. As a mineral water derives it's component parts, it*s operative powers, and it*s tafte, from the foil through which it flows ; fo the ancient charaAer of nations arofe from the family features, the climate, the way of life and education, the early aftions and employments, that were peculiar to them. The manners of the fathers took deep root, and became the internal prototype of the race. The mode of thinking of the jews, which is beft known to us from their writings and a&ions, may ferve as an example : in the land of their fathers, and in the midft of other nations, they remain as they were j and even when mixed with other people they may be diftinguifhed for fome generations downward. It was, and it is the fame with all the nations of antiquity, egyptians, chinefe, arabs. Digitized by Google Chap. VI.] Retrofpe^ive Vittv of Hither Afia. 349 bindoos, &c. The more fccluded they lived, nay frequently the more they were opprefied, the more their charader was confirmed : fo that, if every one of thefe nations had remained in it's place, the Earth might have been confidered as a garden, where in one fpot one human national plant, in another, another, bloomed in it's proper figure and nature; where in this fpot one fpecies of animal, in that, another, purfued it's courfe, according to it's inftinfts and charadker. But as men are not firmly rooted plants, the calamities of famine, earthquakes, war, and the like, muft in time remove them from their place to fome other more or lefs different. And though they might adhere to the manners of their fbre£ithers with an obflinacy almoft equal to the inftindt of the brute, and even apply to their new mountains, rivers, towns, and eftablifhments, the names of their primitive land ; it would be impoflible for them, to remain eternally the fame in every refpeft, under any confiderable alteration of foil and climate. Here the tranfplanted people would confbruft a wafp's neft, or anthill, after their own fafhion. The ftyle would be a compound anfing from the ideas imbibed m their original country, and thofe infpired by the new : and this may com- monly be called the youthful bloom of the nation. Thus did the phenicians, when they retired from the Red-Sea to the fhores of the Mediterranean : thus Mofes endeavoured to form the ifraelites : and fo has it been with feveral afiatic nations; for almoil every people upon Earth has migrated at leaft once, fooner or later, to a greater diflance, or a lefs. It may readily be fuppofed, that iti this much depended on the time when the migration took place, the circum- fiances by which it was occafioned, the length of the way, the previous flate of civilization of the people, the reception they met with in their new country, and the like. Thus even in unmixed nations the computations of hiflory are fo per- plexed, from geographical and political caufes, that it requires a mind wholly ftcc from hypothefis to trace the clew. This clew is mofl eafily lofl by one, ■with whom a particular race of the people is a favourite, and who defpifes every thing, in which this race has no concern. The hiftorian of mankind muft fee with ^ \ eyes as impartial as thofe of the creator of the human race, or the genius of the — '* Earth, and judge altogether uninfluenced by the paifions. To the naturalifl, y9\iO would acquire a juft knowledge and arrangement of all his clafles, the xofe and the thiftle, the polecat, the iloth, and the elephant, are equally dear ; lie examines that mofl, from which mofl is to be learned. Now Nature has given the whole Earth to mankind, her children ; and allowed every thing, that place, time, and power would permit, to fpring up thereon. Every thing that can exifl, exifls ; every thing that is poffible to be produced, will be produced ; if not to day, yet to morrow. Nature's year is long : the bloflbma Digitized by Google 350 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [BookXII. of her plants are as various as the plants thcmfclves, and the elements by which they are nourilhed. In Hindoftan, Egypt, and China, in Canaan, Greece, Rome, and Carthage, took place, what would have occurred no where elfe, and at no other period. The law of neccflity and convenience, compofed of power, time, and place, every where produces different fruits. 2. If the complexion of a kingdom thus depend principally on the time and place in which it arofe^ the parts that compofed ity and the external circumßances by which it was JtirrQundedy we perceive the chief part of it's fate fpring alfo from thefe. A monarchy framed by wandering tribes, whofe political fyftem is a con- tinuation of their former mode of life, will fcarcely be of long duration : it ra- vages, and fubjugates, till at lad itfelf is deftroyed : the capture of the metro- polis, or frequently the death of a king alone, is fufficient to drop the curtain on the predatory fcene. Thus it was with Babylon and Nineveh, with Ecbatana and Perfepolis, and lb it is with Perfia ftill. The empire of the great moguls ia Hindoftan is nearly at an end : and that of the turks will not be lafting, if they continue cfaaldeans, that is foreign conquerors, and do not eftablifh their govern« ment on a more moral foundation. Though the tree lift it's head to the ikies, and overfhadow whole quarters of the Globe, if it be not rooted in the earth, a fingle blaft of wind may overturn it. It may fall through the underminiiig oft tFeacherous (lave, or by the axe of a daring fatr^. Both the ancient and mo- dem hiftories of Afia are filled with thefe revolutions ; and thus the philofophy of ftates finds little to learn in them. Defpots are hurled from the throne, and defpots exalted to it again : the kingdom is annexed to the perfon of the mo- narch, to his tent, to his crown : he who has thefe in his ^power is the new &• ther of the people, that is the leader of an overbearing band of robbers. A Ne- buchadnezzar was terrible to the whole of Hither Alia, and under his fecond fuccefTor his imftable throne lay proftrate in the duft. Three vi(ftories of an Alexander completely put an end to the vaft perfian monarchy. It is not fo with ftates, which« fpringing up from a root, reft on themfclves : they may be fubdued, but the nation remains. Thus it is with China : we well know how much labour it coft it's conquerors, to introduce there a fimple cuftom, the mungal mode of cutting the hair. Thus it is with the bramins and jews, whofe ceremonial fyftems will eternally (eparate them from all the nations upon Earth« Thus Egypt long withftood any intermixture with other nations: and how difEcult was it to extirpate the phefticians, merely becaufe they were a people rooted in this fpot ! Had Cyrus fucceeded in founding an empire like thofe of Tao, Crifbna, and Mofes, it would ftill furvive, though mutilated, in Jill it's members. Digitized by Google Ch A P . VL] RetrofpeBive View of Hither Afia. 351 Hence we may Infer the reafon, why ancient political conftitutions laid fo much ftrefs on the formation ofmailBSTs by .education i as their internal ftrength depended wholly, on this fpring. Modern kingdoms are built on money, or mechanical politics ; the ancient, on the general way of thinking of a nation from it's infancy : and as nothing has a more efficacious influence upon children »ban religion^ moftoftJie ancient ftatfis, particularly tliafe of^iJ^were more or lefs theocraiic. I know the averfion in which this name is held, as to it all the evil, that has at any time oppreffed mankind, is in great meafure afcribed. It's abufes 1 will by no means undertake to defend : but at the fame time it is true, that this form of government is not only^a^^apted to the jnfancyjof the human race, but neceflary to it; otherwiie, affuredly, it would neither have extended fo far, nor have maintained itfelf fo long. It has prevailed from Egypt to China, nay in almoft every country upon Earth; fo that Greece was the firft, which gradually feparated religion from it's leglflatiorf. And as every religion is more efficacious in a political view, the more it's objcfts, it's gods and heroes, and their various adtions, are indigenous ; wc find every firmly rooted ancient nation has appropriated it's cofmogony and mythology to the country it inhabited. The ifraelites alone dlftinguifli themfelves from all their neighbours in this, that they afcribe neither the creation of the World, nor that of man, to their own country. Their lawgiver was an enlighLtened foreig^ne£, wjio never reached the land they were afterwards to poffefs : their anceftors had inhabited another country: and their laws were framed out of their own territories. This after- wards contributed probably to render tlie jews more latisfied in a foreign land, than almoft any otlier ancient nation. The bramin, the fiamefe, cannot live out of his own country : and as the jew of Mofes is properly a creature of Pa- leftine, out of Paleftine there ttiould be no jew. 3. Finally, from the whole region over which we have wandered, we perceive how tranfttory all hiwjanJruSIures are, nay how oppreßve the beß inßitutions become in the courfe of a few generations. The plant bloflbms, and fades : your fathers have died, and mouldered into duft: your temple is fallen: your tabernacle, the tables of your law, are no more : language itfelf, that bond of mankind, be- comes antiquated: and (hall a political conftitution, (liaU a fyftem of govern- ment or religion, that can be erefted folely on thefe, endure for ever? If fo, the wings of Time muft be enchained, and the revolving Globe hang fixed, an idle ball of ice over the abyfs. What fhould we fay now, were we to fee king Solomon facrifice twenty two thoufand oxen, and a hundred and twenty thoufand fheep, at a fingle feftival ? or hear the queen of Sheba try- ing him with riddles at an entertainment ? What (hould we think of the wiflom of the cgyptians, when the bull Apis, the facred cat, and the facred Digitized by Google 35t PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book XH. goat, were fliown to us in the moft fplendid temples? It is the fame with the burdenfome ceremonies of the bramins, the fuperftitions of the parfecs, the empty prctenfions of the jews, the fenfelefs pride of the chinefe, and every thing that refts on antiquated human inflitutions of three thoufand years date. The dodlrines of Zoroafter may have been a praifeworthy attempt, to account for the evil in the World, and animate his contemporaries to all the deeds of light : but avhat is his theodicy now, even in the eyes of a mohammedan ? The mctem- pfychofis of the bramins may have it's merit as a juvenile dream of the imagina- tion, defirous of retaining the immortal foul within the iphere of obfervation,and uniting moral fcntiments with the well-meant notion : yet has it not become an abfurd religious law, with it's thoufand additions of precepts and pra&ices ? Tradition in itfelf is an excellent inftitution of Nature, indifpenfable to the human race : but when it fetters the thinking faculty both in politics and edu- cation, and prevents all progrefs of the intelled, and all the improvement, that new times and circumftances demand, it is the true narcotic of the mind, as well to nations and feds, as to individual^. Alia, the mother of all the mental illumination of our habitable Earth, has drunk deep of this pleafantpoifon, and handed the cup to others« Great ftatcs and feds lleep in it, as, according to the fable, fiiint John flecps in his grave: he breathes foftly, though -he died al- moft two thoufand years ago, and numbering waits till his awakcncr ihall come. Digitized by Google [ 3S3 ] PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY* BOOK XIII. I TAKE learfe of Afia with the regret of a traveller, obliged to quit a coun- try, before he has acquired the knowledge of it he wiflied. How little do we know of it ! and for the moft part of how recent times, and from what doubtful authority ! Of the eaftern part of Afia we have but lately acquired any knowledge ; and this through the means of men imbued with religious or political prejudices } while much of what we have thus acquired has been fo embroiled by literary partilans in Europe, that great diftrifts of it are ftill to us a fairy-land. In Hither Afia, and the neighbouring land of Egypt, every thing appears to us as a ruin, or a dream that is pad : what we know from re- cords, we have only from the mouths of the volatile greeks, who were partly too young, partly of too different a way of thinking, for the remote antiquity of thefe flates, and noticed only what concerned themfelves. The archives of Babylon, Phenicia, and Carthage, are no more : Eg;}'pt was in it's decline, aU moft before it's interiour was vifited by a greek : fo that the whole is (hrunk up to a few withered leaves, containing fables of fables, fragments of hiftory, a dream of the ancient World. With Greece the morning breaks, and we joyfully fail to meet it. The in- habitants of this country acquired the art of writing at an early period com- pared with others ^ and in moft of their inflitutions found fprings to guide their language from poetry to profe, as in this to hlftorj' and philofophy. Thus the Philofophy of Hiftory looks upon Greece as lier birthplace, and in it fpent her youth. Even the fabling Homer defcribcs the manners of fcveral nations, as far as his knowledge extended. They who fung the exploits of the argo- nauts, the echoes of whofc fongs remain, entered into another memorable re- gion. When proper hiftory fubfequently feparatcd itfelf from poetry, Hero- dotus travelled over feveral countries, and collccled with commendable infantile curiofity whatever he faw and heard. The later writers of hiftory in Greece, though their own country was their only objecl, could not avoid faying many things of other countries, with which the greeks were connected : thus their Digitized by Google 354 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [BookXIIL canvas was gradually extended, particularly by the expeditions of Alexander. With Rome, to whom the greeks ferved not only as guides in hiftory, but as hiftorians, it extended ftill more ; fo that Diodoras of Sicily, a greek, and Trogus, a roman, ventured to form thetr materiah into a fort of univerfal hif- tory. Let us then rejoice, tliat at length we have reached a people, whofe origin indeed is enveloped in obfcurity, whofe early ages are uncertain, and whofe fineft works, both in letters and the arts, have been for the moft part deftroyed by the rage of enemies, or the fafhion of the times; yet of whom wc have noble monuments : monuments that fpeak to us with a philofophic fpirit, the humanity of which I in vain endeavour to infufe into my cffay on them. I might invoke, as a poet, allfeeing Apollo, and the daughter of Memory, the omnifcient mufe: but my infpiring mufe (hall be impartial truth; and my Apollo, the fpirit of inquiry. CHAPTER r. T/te Situation and Peopling of Greece. The triple Greece, of which we fpeak, is a land of coafts and bays, fur- rounded by the fea; or rather a clufter of iflands. It lies in a region, where it might receive from various parts not only inhabitants, but the feeds of culti- vation, and this fpeedily. Thus it's fituation, and the charaftcr of the people, which formed itfelf fuitably to the country by early expeditions and revolutions, foon fet afloat an internal circulation of ideas, and an external activity, denied by Nature to the nations of the extenfive continent. Finally, the period in which the cultivation of Gfeece occurred, and the degree of improvement, which not only the neighbouring people, but the human mind in general, had attained, contributed to render the greeks what they once were, what they no longer are, and what they never more will be. Let us more narrowly examine this fine hiftorical problem ; for the folution of which we have nearly fuificient data, particulariy from the induftiy of learned germans. A fecluded nation, enclofed by mountains, far from the feacoaft, and from any intercourfe with other people; that derived it*s knowledge from a fm- gle place, and, in proportion as this was more early received, more firmly fixed it by brazen laws; may acquire great peculiarity of charafter, and retain it long: but this confined peculiarity will be far from giving it that ufeful ver- fiitiiity, which can be gained only by active competition with other nations. Digitized by Google Chap. I.] Situation and Peopling of Greece. 355 Egypt, and all the countries of Afia, are examples of this. Had the power, which conftmfted our Earth, given it's mountains and feas a different form; had that great deftiny,. which eftabliflied the boundaries of nations, caufed them to originate clfewliere than from the afiatic mountains ; had the eaft of Afia poffeffed an earlier commerce, and a mediterranean fea, which it's prefent fituation has denied ; the whole current of cultivation would have been altered. It flowed weftwards ; becaufe eaftwards it was unable to flow, or to fpread. If we contemplate the hiftory of Wands, and countries connefted by flraits, in whatever part oiF the World they lie, we find, that, the more fortunate they were in their peopling, the more eafy and diverfified the ftrcam of aftivity, that could be fet in motion among them, and the more advantageous the time or fitua* tion, in which they had to perform their part ; by fo much more did the inhabitants of fuch coafts or iflands diilinguifli themfelves above thofe of the main land. On the continent, in fpite of all natural endowments, and acquir- ed capacities, the fliepherd remained a ihepherd ; the hunter, a himter : even the hufbandman and artift were confined like plants to a narrow fpot. Com- pare England with Germany: the engliih are germans, and even in the latefl: times the germans have led the way for the cnglifti in the greateft things. But while England, as an ifland, early acquired a much more adlive univerfality of mind, it's fituation itfelf accelerated the means of improvement, and gave them without interruption a confidence unattainable by the more embarraflfed conti- nent. A fimilar difference is perceivable on a comparifon of the danifli iflands, the coafts of Italy, France, and Spain, the Netherlands, and the North of Germany, with the interiour country of the flavians and fcythians of Europe, with RuflSa, Poland, and Hungary. Voyagers in all the feas have found, that on iflands, pcninfulas,or coafts happily fituate, an application and freedom of improvement had been generated, which could not have furmountcd the preflurc of the uniform ancient laws oi the main land *. Read the defcriptions of the Society and Friendly iflands : in fpite of their diftance from the reft of the habitable World, they have raifed themfelves into a fort of Greece, even in luxury and ornamen- tal drefs. In many folitary iflands of the wide ocean the firft voyagers expe- rienced a gentlenefs and courtefy, which would be fought in vain among in- land nations. Thus every where we perceive the great law of human nature, that, where aftivity and quiet, fociety and diftance, voluntary occupation and it's advantages, are happily united, fuch a courfe of things is promoted, as is favour- * Compare the malays, and the inhabitants natives of the Kuriles and Fox-iflaDd),with the oftheafiaticiilands, with thofe of the comment; niungals; obferve Juan Fernandez, Socotora, ptt eren Japan in competitioD with China ; the^ EafVer-lHand, Byron'^-iHand, the Maldives, &c. Digitized by Google 35« PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [BookXIII. able both to the people themfelves, and to their neighbours. Nothing is more injurious to the health of mankind, than obftruftions of their juices: inthedc- ipotic ftates of ancient inftitution thefc were inevitable; and hence, if tliey were not foon extirpated, their bodies, while alive, underwent a lingering death. On the other hand, where, from the nature of the country, dates continued fmall, and the inhabitants in healthy aftivity, to which a life divided between fea and land is particularly conducive, favourable circumftances alone were required, to form a highly cultivated and celebrated people. Thus, to fay nothing of other countries, the iflandcrs of Crete were the firft among the grecians them- felves, to produce a fyftem of laws as a model for all the republics on the main land ; and of thefe the mod numerous and celebrated were fixed on the coafts. Thus the ancients placed their feats of blifs on iflands not without rcafcn; pro- bably becaufe on iflands they found the moft free and happy people. When we apply this to Greece, how different muft we expedt to find it's inhabitants from thofe of the lofty mountains. A narrow ftrait divided Thrace from Afia Minor; and this fertile country, rich in nations, was connefted along it's weftern (hore with Greece by a found thickly interfperfed with iflands. It feems as if the HcUefpont had been broken through, and the Egean fea with it's iflands interpofcd, to facilitate the paflage, and produce a conftant wan- dering and circulation throughout Greece. Thus in the remoteft times we find the numerous nations of thefe coafts roaming the feas : Cretans, lydians, pelafgians, thracians, rhodians, phrygians, cyprians, milefians, carians, lefl)ians, ghoceans, famians, fpartans, naxians, he?etrians, and eginetans, followed each other, even before the time of Xerxes, in the dominion of the fea * : and lor§ before thefc maritime powers, pirates, colonifc, and adventurers, were found upon it ; fo that there is fcarcely a nation of Greece, that has not migrated, and many more than once. Every thing here has been in motion from the oldeft times, from the coafts of Afia Minor to Italy, Sicily, and France : no people of Europe has colonized a finer, more extenfive country, than thefc greeks. This is what we mean, when we talk of the fine climate of Greece. Did the expreflion fignify merely the indolent feat of fertility in wellwatered vales, or meadows overflowed by rivers, how many finer climates would be found in the other three quarters of the Globe, no one of which, however, has yet produced greeks -f ! But a feries of coafts, enjoying an air fo favourable to the aftivity of little ftates in the prc^refs of cultivation, as thofe of Ionia, Greece, and Grecia Magna, are no where elfe to be found upon Earth. • Heyne'« Commentary on the Epoch of f Sec Ricdcfcrs Btmerittn^in mtftinnMß Caftor, in the iW. Commnt, S*f. Gatt,, * New n^h dtr Ltvante, « Obfcrvationj on a Tour w Memoirs of the Gaettingen Society/ Vol. U H. the Levant/ p. 1 1 3. Digitized by Google Chap. I.] Situation and Peopling of Greece, 357 We need not long inquire whence Greece derived it's firft inhabitants. They were called pelafgians, that is ftrangcrs, and at this dillance acknowledged the people beyond the fea, that is, of Afia Minor, as brethren. It would be ufelcf» labour, to enumerate all the courfes they fleered, through Thrace, or over the Hellefpont and Archipelago, weftward and fouthward ; and how, protcfted by the northern mountains, they gradually fpread over Greece. One tribe followed another J one tribe prefled upon another: hellencs brought new knowledge to the ancient pelafgians, as in the progrefs of time grecian colonies again fettled on the afiatic (hores. It was favourable enough for the greeks, that they were in the vicinity of fuch a fine peninfula of the great continent, moft of the inhabitants of which were not only of one race, but more early civilized *. Hence their lan- guage acquired that originality and uniformity, which a mixture of many tongues could not have poffcffed ; and the nation itfelf participated in the moral con- dition of the neighbouring primitive race, with whom it was foon connefted by the various relations of war and peace. Thus Afia Minor was the parent of Greece, both in peopling it, and in imparting the principal features of it's earlieft cultivation : while Greece in it's turn afterward fent out colonies to it's mother country, and lived to fee in it a fecond and fuperiour cultivation. It IS to be regretted, however, that we have very little knowledge of the afiatic peninfula in the earlieft times. Of the kingdom of the trojans we know nothing except from Homer : and however high he endeavours, as a poet, to exalt his countrymen above their antagonifts, the flourifliing ftatc of Troy in the arts, and even in magnificence, is evident from his account. In like manner the phrygians were an ancient and early cultivated nation, whofe religion and fables had an unqueftionable influence on the earlieft mythology of the greeks. So afterwards the carians, who called themfelves brothers of the myfians and lydians, and were of the fame race with the pelafgians and leleges, applied eariy to navigation, which at that time was merely piracy ; while the more civilized lydians (hare the invention of coin, as a medium of commerce, with the phenicians. Thus none of thefe people were wanting in early culti- vation, any more than the myfians and thracians, and were capable of becoming greeks by proper tran(plantation. The primitive feat of the grecian mufes was in the north-caft, toward Thrace. Orpheus, who firft converted the lavage pelafgians to humanity, and introduced thofe religious pradices, that prevailed fo widely and fo long, was a thracian. The firft mountains of the mufes were the mountains of Theflfaly; Olympus, • See Heyne on the Origin of the Greeks» Ctmmtutaf, Stc, GerttiM^., * Memoin of the Goet- tifigcQ Society, 1764. Digitized by Google 35» PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [BookXIII. HclicoD, Parnaffus, Pindus : here, fays the acuteft of the inveftigators of gre- cian hiftory *, was the mod ancient feat of the religion, philofophy, mufic, and poetr)s of Greece. Here dwelt the firft grecian bards : here were formed the firft civilized focieties : here the lyre and the harp were invented, and the firft models caft of every thing, that grecian genius aftcnvards produced. In Thef- £ily and Bccotia, which in later times were fo little celebrated for the pro* duftion of genius, there is not a fountain, a river, a hill, or a grove, which poetry has not immortalized. Here flowed the Peneus, here was the de« lightful Tempe : here Apollo wandered in the garb of a fhepherd, and here the giants piled up their mountains. At the foot of Helicon Hefiod yet learned his fables from the mouths of the mufes. In fhort, the firft cultivation of the greeks was indigenous here j and hence the purer grecian language flowed through the defcendants of the hellenes in it's principal dialedb. In the courfe of time, however, a feries of other fables neceflarily arofe, on fuch various coafts and iilands, and from fuch repeated wanderings and adven- tures, which the poets equally confecrated in the temple of the grecian mufc. Almoft every little diftri<£t, every celebrated tribe, introduced into it it's ancef- tors or national divinities : and this variety, whicli would form an impenetrable wood, if we were to confidcr the gfecian mythology as a fyftem, infiifed life into the national way of thinking firom the actions and manners of every tribe. Without fuch various roots (ind germes, that fine garden, which in time pro- duced the moft diverfified fruits, even in legiflation, could not have come to per- fection. The land being divided into many portions, this tribe defended it's valley, that it's coafts and iflands ; and thus from the long youthful aftivity of fcattered tribes and kingdoms arofe the great and free genius of the grecian mufe. It's cultivation was under the control of no univerfal lord : from the voice of the lyre, at religious ceremonies^ games, and dances ; from arts and fciences of it's own invention ; and, lafUy, ftill more from the various intercourle of the different tribes of Greece among each other and with ftrangers j it adopted» of it's own free will, now this, now that law, cuflom, or principle : thus being a free grecian people, even in the progrefs of cultivation. That, as phenician colonies contributed to this in Thebes, fo egyptian colonies did in Attica, cannot be denied : yet, fortunately, neither the principal race of tlie greeks, nor their laa- guage and way of thinking, fprung from thefeu Thanks to their defcent, mode of life, and native mufes, the greeks were not deftined to become a herd of egyptian canaanites. ^ Heyne on the MoTe« : Tee Gcttt. Anxii^, * The Goettingen Renew,' for 1766« |^ a/i« Digitized by Google [ 359 ] CHAPTER IL Tie Languagey Mythology y and Poetry of Greece. Wb now come to fubjefts, which have been for fome thoufands of years the delight of the more polilhed part of mankind, and I hope will ever continue to be fo. The grecian language is the moft refined of any in the ^yorld ; the grccian mythology, the richefl and moft beautiful upon Earth j the grecian poetry, perhaps the moft perfeft of it's kind, when confidered with refpeft to time and place. But who gave this once rude people fuch a language, fuch poetry, and fuch figurative wifdom ? The genius of nature, their country, their way of life, the period in which they lived, and the charadker of their pro- genitors, The greek language fprang from rude beginnings : but thefe very beginnings cont^ed the feeds of what it was afterwards to become. They were no hiero- glyphic patchwork, no feries of fingly cjefted fyllables, like the languages beyond the mungal mountains. Readier and more flexible organs produced among the caucafean nations a more eafy modulation, which was fufceptible of being loon reduced to form by the focial propenfity to mufic. The words were more fmoothly connected, the tone modulated into rhythm : the language flowed in a fuller ftream ; it's images, in pleafing harmony : it raifed itfelf to the melody of the dance. And thus the peculiar charaäer of the greek language, not conftrained by mute laws, arofe as a living image of nature, from mufic and the dance, from hiftory and fong, and from the talkative free intercourfe of many tribes and colonies. The northern nations of Europe were not thus for- tunate in their formation. Foreign manners imparted to them by foreign laws, and a religion devoid of fong crippled their language. The german, for example, has unqueflionably loft much of it's intrinfic flexibility, of it's more precife expreflion in the inflexion of words, and ftill more of that energetic tone, which it formerly poflefled in a more favourable climate. Once it was a near fifter of the greek j but how fiir from this is it now degenerated ! No language beyond the Ganges pofleffes the flexibility and fmooth flow of the greek : no aramean dialeA on this fide the Euphrates had them in it's ancient form. The grecian language alone appears as if derived from fong : for fong, and poetry, and an early enjoyment of freedom, fafliioned it as the univerfal language of the mufes. Improbable as it is, that all the (prings of grecian oukivation (bould again combine together ; that the in&ncy of mankind fliould Digitized by Google 36o PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book Xin. return, and an Orpheus, a Mufaus, and a Linus, or a Homer and Hefiod» revive with every concomitant circumftance : as little is the generation of a greek language in our times poflible, even in the fame regions. The mythology of the greeks flowed from the fables of various countries : and thefe confided either of the popular faith ; the traditionary accounts, that the different generations prefervcd of their anccftors ; or the firft attempts of reflefting minds, to explain the wonders of the Earth, and give a confillcncy to fociety ♦. However fpurious and new-modified our hymns of the ancient Orpheus may be i ftill they are imitations of that lively devotion and reverence of Nature, to which all nations in the firft ftage of civilization arc prone. The rude hunter addrefles his dreaded bear-f ; the negro, his facred fctifti ; the parfec mobcd, his fpirits of nature and the elements; nearly after the Orphic manner: but how is the Orphic hymn to Nature rdfined and ennobled, merely by the grecian words and images ! And how much more pleafing and eafy did the greek mythology become, as in time it rejcftcd even from it's hymns the fetters of mere epithet, and recited inftead, as in the fongs or Homer, &bles of the deities ! In the cofmogonies, too, the harfli primitive legends were in time amalgamated together, and human heroes and patriarchs were fung, and placed by the fide of the gods. Happily the ancient relaters of theogonies introduced into the genealogies of their gods and heroes fuch ftriking, beautiful allegories, frequently with a fingle word of their elegant language, that when fubfequent philofophers thought fit merely to unfold their fignification, and conneft with it their more refined ideas, a new delicate tiflue was formed. Thus the epic poets in time laid afide their frequently repeated fables of the generation of the gods, the ftorming of Heaven, the adions of Hercules, and the like, and fang more human themes for the ufe of man. Of thefe Homer, the father of all the grecian poets and philofophers tliat fucceeded him, is the moft celebrated. His fcattered fongs had the fortunate deftiny to be colleded at the moft &vourabl« junflure, and eredted into a double edifice, fhining like an indeftruftible palace of gods and heroes after thoufands of years. As men have endeavoured to explain the wonders of nature, fo they have taken pains to inveftigate the exiftence of Homer J, who was in faft a mere child of Nature, a happy bard of the Ionian fhore. Many • See Heyne De Fentibus (/ Caufis Erro- f See Georgi's jthhiUtmgtn der Veelktr dts rum, ^'c, • On the Sources and Caufcs of Er- JRuß/chcM ReUbt, ' Delineation« of the people of rour in mythological Hiflory : on the phyiical the Ruffian Empire/ Vol. I. Caufcs of fables : on the Origin and Cauics of | Blackweirs Inquiry |nto the Life and the Fables of Homer : on the Thcogony com- Writings of Homer, 1 736 : Wood's Eflay 00 th« piled by Hcfiod: 5rc.' original Genius of Homer, 1769. Digitized by Google Ch A p . II.] 71u Lanpiagey Mythology^ and Poetry of Greece. 361 of his order have funk perhaps into oblivion, who might have been in part his competitors for that fame, which he alone enjoys. Temples have been erefted to him, and he has been adored as a human divinity: but his nobleft adoration confifts in the permanent influence he had on his own nation, and on all who are capable of feeling his merit. The fubjcfts of his fong, indeed, are trifles in our eyes : his gods and heroes, with their paffions and manners, arc fuch as the feibles of his own and preceding times prefented: his knowledge of phyfics and geography, his morals and pohtics, are equally confined. But the truth and wifdom, with which he has moulded all the objefts of his world into a living whole; the fteady outline of every feature of every perfon in his immortal pic- ture; the eafy, unlaboured manner, in which, free as a god, he penetrates into every charafter, and relates their virtues and vices, their fortunes and misfor- tunes; and laftly, the mufic, that inceflantly flows from his lips throughout poems of fuch extent and variety, and will animate every image, every tone, as long as his verfes (hall live ; are the circumftances, for which Homer fliands unrivalled in the hiftory of mankind, and which render him worthy of immor- tality, if aught on Earth can be immortal. On the greeks Homer neceflarily had a different effect from what he can have upon us, from whom he fo often obtains a forced and frigid admiration, or indeed cold contempt. Not fo with the greeks. To them he fung in a living language; at that time perfeftly unfettered by what was fubfequently termed dialefts : to them he fung with patriotic feelings the exploits of their anceftors againfl foreigners, and recited families, tribes, aftions, and countries, which were in part prefent to their eyes as rheir own, and in part lived in the memory of their national pride. Thus to them Homer was in many refpefts the divine herald of national fame, a fource of the mod diverfificd national wifdom. The fucceeding poets followed him: from him the tragic borrowed fables; the di- daftic, allegories, examples, and maxims : every one, who firfl: attempted a new kind of writing, took from the artificial flrufture of Homer's work the model of his own : fo that Homer was foon the pattern of grecian tafte, and with weaker heads the ftandard of all human wifdom. The roman poets, too, felt his influence ; and but for him the Eneid would never have exllled. Still more has he contributed, to reclaim the modern nations of Europe from bar- barifm ; fo many youth have been formed, while they were delighted by him; fo many adtive as well as contemplative men have imbibed from him the prin» ciplcs of tafte, and a knowledge of mankind. Yet it cannot be denied, that,' as every great man has been the caufe of abufes from an inordinate admiration of his talents, lo lias the good Homer ; infomuch that no one would wonder Digitized by Google 362 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY, [Book Xni. more than himfelf, could he arife from the dead, and fee what has been extradbed from him at various times. Among the greeks fable maintained it's ground more firmly, and for a longer period, than it would have done probably without him : rhapfodifls fung after him, frigid poetafters imitated him, and the cnthu- fiafm for Homer became at length among the greeks fuch a bald, infipid, wire* drawn art as fcarcely has been paralleled for any poet by any other people. The innumerable comments of the grammarians upon him are for the moil part loft; otherwife we fhould fee in them the mifeiable toil God impofes upon the fuccecding generations of men in every preponderating genius:, for arc not ex- amples enough extant of the erroneous ftudy and mifapplication of Homer ia modern times ? Thus much however is certain, that a mind like- his, in the pe- nod in which he lived, and for the nation by which his works were colle6ted» was fuch an inftrument of improvement, as fcarcely any other people can boaft» No oriental nation pofleiTes a Homer: no poet like him has appeared at the proper fcafon, in the bloom of youth, to any people of Europe. Even Oflian was not the fame to his fcots : and the Fates alone can tell, whether a fecond Homer will be given to the new grecian Archipelago, the Friendly iflonds, who will lead them to an equal height with that, to which his elder brother led Greece. As the cultivation of the greeks thus proceeded from mythology, poetry, and mufic, we need not wonder, that a tafte for them remained a leading fea- ture of their charaftcr^ as their moft ferious writings and inftitutions evince» To our manners it appears incongruous, that the greeks (hould fpeak of mufic as the finilhing point of education, that they fliould treat it as a grand engine of ftate, and afcribe the moft important confequences to it's decline. Still more fingular appear to us the animated and almoft rapturous praifes they be- flow on dancing, pantomime, and the dramatic art, as the natural lifters of poe- try and wifdom. Many, who read thefe encomiums, believed, that the mufic of the greeks was a miracle of fyftematic perfe&ion, as we are fo totally unac- quainted with any thing like it's celebrated effects. But that the greeks did not principally apply to the fcientific perfeäion of mufic appears from the very ufe which they made of it : for they did not cultivate it as a diftindt art, but employed it fubferviently to poetry, the dance, and the drama. Thus the grand effeft of it's tones lay in this connexion, and in the general bent of grc- cian cultivation. The poetry of the greeks, proceeding from mufic, readily ftturned to it again; fublime tragedy itfelf originated from the chorus; the aAcient comedy, public rejoicings, military expeditions, and the domeftic hila- rity of the feaft, were feldom unaccompanied by mufic and fong; and few Digitized by Google Chap. IL] Tie Language^ Mythology^ mid Poetry of Greece, 363 games were deftitute of the dance. In thcfe, indeed, as Greece confiftcd of many flates and nations, one province differed much from another : the times, the various degrees of civilization and luxury, induced ftill greater variation : yet on the whole it remains pcrfeftly true, that the greeks eftecmcd the joint im- provement of thefe arts the fummit of human enefgy, and attached to it the highcft value. It mud be confefied, that neither pantomine nor the drama, neither the dance, nor poetry, nor mufic, is with us, what it was with the greeks. With them all thefe were only one work, one bloflbm of the human mind, the wild feeds of which we perceive in every nation of gay and pleafing character, if placed in a happy climate. Abfurd as it would be, to endeavour to tranfport ourfelves back to this period of youthful levity, which is now pafl:, and to &ip as a hob- bling graybeard among boys ; why (hould the graybeard be offended with youth for being lively, and dancing ? The cultivation of the greeks fell on this period of youthful jollity, from the arts of which they elicited whatever was capable of being educed, and thus neceilarily accomplillied effeds, the poffibility of ^hich is fcarce conceivable to us, exhaufted and difeafed. For I doubt, whe- ther a greater power of operation of refined fcnfes upon the mind can be pro- duced, than the ftudied fupreme point of junflion of thefe arts, particularly on minds educated and formed to them, and living in a world animated by fimilar impreiEons. If then we cannot be greeks ourfelves, let us at leaft rejoice, that there once were greeks, and that, like every other flower of the human mindi this alfo found a time and place to put forth it's lovelieft bloffoms. From what has been (aid may be conjedtured, that many fpecies of grecian compofition, which were defigned for animated reprelentation, with mufic» dancing, and pantomime, appear to us merely as (hadows, and may perhaps millead us even with the moft careful explanation. The theatres of ^fchylus, Sophocles, Ariftophancs, and Euripides, were not our theatres: the proper drama of the greeks is no more to be feen in any nation, however excellent the pieces of this kind, that many have produced. Without ibng» without the feftivals of the greeks, and without the exalted notions they entertained of their games, the odes of Pindar muil appear to us the exclamations of ebriety i as even in the dialogues of Plato, abounding in melody of language, and beautiful compofition of images and words, thofe very paffages, which were clothed with the greateft art, have been expofed to the moft numerous objeftions from critics. Youth, therefore, muft learn to read the greeks; fince the aged are feldom inclined to look at them, or appropriate to themfelves tjicir beauties. Grant, that their imagination often outflies the underftanding; Digitized by Google 364 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book XHL that the refined fcnfuality, in which, they place the cffcnce of accompliflimcnt^ fometimes overfteps the bounds of reafon and virtue ; let us not refufe them due efteem, though we refrain from bccom'ing greeks ourfelvcs. From their drefs, the fine proportion and outline of their thoughts, the natural vivacity o*. their fentiments, and laftly from the melodious rhythm of their language, which, never yet found it's equal, we have much to learn. CHAPTER IIL TAe Arts of the Greeks, Ik all the arts of life, a people endued with fuch fentiments muft neceflarily afcend firom the neceflary to the beautiful andplcafingi and the greeks attained almofl the higheft point in every thing relating to them» Their religion required liatues and temples ; their political inftitutions demanded monu* ments and public edifices -y their climate and way of living, their adUvity, luxury, vanity, &c., rendered various works of art indifpenfable. Thus the genius of beauty put thefe works into their hands, and affifted them alone of all mortals to finifli them ; for though their greateft wonders of art have long been deftroyed, we dill admire and cherUh their ruins and fragments. X. That religion greatly promoted the arts of the greeks, we fee from the catalogues of their works in Paufanias, Pliny, or any of the colleftions, which fpeak of their remains : and this is conformable to the univerfal hiftory of men and nations. All men have been de&rous of feeing the objeAs of their worfliip; and every where they have attempted, to paint or carve reprefenta- tions of them, where this has not been prohibited by religion or the law. Even the negro renders his god prefent to him in a fetilh : and of the greeks we know, that the reprefentations of their gods primarily originated from a ftone or a rude billet. This poverty could not long fatisfy a people fo adtive : the block became a herm *, or a ftatue ; and as the nation was divided into many little tribes and dates, it was natural, that each Ihould endeavour to embellifh the images of it*s domeftic and family deities. Some fuccefsful attempts of the ancient Dedalufes, and probably the view of neighbouring works of art, excited emulation ; and thus Czveral dates and tribes were foon enabled to contemplate their god, tlie moft facred of all the things they pofiefled, in a more agreeable form. The firft eflays of ancient art, in which it learned as it were to go, were principally images of the gods-f : hence no nation, to which * *£{M«i per fyncopen pro i^ii0>^a* firmttion of it, and tdditions to it, in the gennan f See Winckelmann*$ Gt/cl. dtr Kunß, ' Hiftory papers of the Goettingen Society, Vol. I* p. s i 1« of the Artj/ Vol. I, chap. 1 ; and Heyne'« con- &c. Digitized by Google Chap. III.] Tie Arts of the Greeks. ^6^ rcprcfentations of the gods were prohibited, ever made any great advancement in the imitative arts. But as the gods of the greeks were introduced by poetry and fong, and animated them in majeftic forms, what could be more natural, than that the imitative arts fliould become the nurflings of the mufe, who poured into theic car thofe fpicndid forms ? From the poets the artift learned the hiftory of the gods, and confequently the manner, in which he was to delineate them : hence the firft artifts rejefted not the moft terrible reprefentations, while fuch the poets fung *. In time more pleafing delineations fucceeded, poetry itfelf affuming more agreeable features: and thus Homer was the parent of the improvement of the fine arts of the greeks, as he was of their poetry. From him Phidias derived the exalted idea of his Jupiter, which was followed by the other performances of this fculptor of gods -f. From the genealogies and affinities of the gods in the relations of the poets, deter- minate charafters, or family features, entered into their reprefentations, till at length the received poetical tradition became a law for the figures of the gods, throughout the realms of art. Thus no people of antiquity could pofiefs the arts of the greeks, who had not alfo the grecian poetry and mythology, and who acquired not their cultivation In a fimilar manner. But fuch arc not to be found in hiftorj' ; and confequently the greeks, with their homeric arts, remain alone. Hence may be explained the ideal creation of grecian- art, which arofe neither from the profound philofophy of the artifts, nor the natural conformation of the people, but from the caufcs, that have been developed. Unqueftionably k was a fortunate circumftance, that the greeks, confidered in the whole, were beautifully formed ; though this form muft not be extended to every individual greek, as a model of ideal beauty. In Greece, as every where elfe, copious Nature did not fubmit to be checked in the thoufandfold variation of the human figure ; and, if Hippocrates may be believed, as among others, fo among the greeks, deforming accidents and maladies were to be found. But admilting all this, and taking into the account many happy opportunities^ when the artift could exalt a beautiful youth into an Apollo, and a Phryne or a Lais into a goddefs of love ; this would not explain the received ideal of the deities, which was eftabliftied as a rule among the artifts. Perhaps it is as little pro- bable, that a head of Jupiter ihould ever have been found on a human body, as that the Jupiter of Homer adtuaily exifted in this World. The great ana- tomical draughtfman Camper x.as clearly fhown on what deeply meditated rules * See Heyne ugier den Kaften des Kyffetus, f Diis quam hominibus fingendis aptior. « On the Coffer of Kypielus,; &c. Plin. f . Digitized by Google 366 PHILOSOPHY OF^HISTORY. [Book XIII. the ideal form of the grecian artift was conftrufted* : but to thcfc rules the reprefentations of the poets, and the aim of producing religious veneration, alone could hare led. If, therefore, you would produce a new Greece in images of the gods, give a people again this poetic mythological fuperllition, with every thing belonging to it, in all it's natural fimplicity. Travel through Greece, and contemplate it's temples, grottoes, and fkcrcd groves ; you will foon relinquifli the thought, even in wifli, of exalting to the height of grecian art a people totally ignorant of fuch a religion, that is, of fuch a lively fuperiti- tion, which filled every town, every fpot, every, nook, with the prefence of an innate divinity. 2. All the heroic £Eiblesof the greeks, particularly when they relate to the pro- genitors of their race, are in a (imilar predicament ; for they too pafled through the minds of the poets, and in part lived in eternal fong : accordingly the artift, who made them his fubje&s, copied their hiftory with a fort of religious r^ard to the poets, to gratify the pride of his countrymen, and their attachment to their anceftors. The mod ancient hiftory of the arts, and a view of the grecian performances, confirm this. Graves, (hields, altars, holy places, and temples, preferved the remembrance of their fore&thers i and on thefe, in many tribes, the labours of the artift were employed from the moft ancient times. All war- like nations throughout the World painted and adorned their (hields : the greeks went ^M'ther ; they engraved, or caft and carved upon them memorials of their anceftors. Hence the early performances of Vulcan in very ancient poets : hence in Hefiod the (hield of Hercules with the achievements of Perfcus. With (hields came reprcCentations of this kind upon the altars of heroes, or other family me- morials ; as the coffer of Kypfelus (hows, the figures on which were completely in the ftyle of He(iod's (hield. Noble works of this kind are pf earlier date than the age of Dedalus ; and as many temples of the gods were ori^nally tombs when their countries- were ripe for the arts : for throughout the whole Earth appeared but one grecian art, and (lyle of architefture. 4. The climate of the greeks, too, aflFordcd food for the beautiful in the artsj not principally from the human figure, which depends more on defcent than on climate ; but from it's convenient fituation for the materials of the arts, and the crcftion of the performances of the artift. Their country afforded them the fine parian and other marbles : ivory, brafs, and whatever elfe the arts required, they derived from a trade, of which they lay as in the centre. Thefe even pre- ceded in a certain degree the birth of their arts themfelves ; as they were in a fituatioo to obtain from A(ia Minor, Phenicia, and other countries, valuable materials, which they yet knew not how to employ. Thus the feeds of theif future talents in the arts were early fown ; particularly as their proximity to Alia Minor, their colonies in Gnecia Magna, &c., excited in them a tafte for luxury, and the enjoyments of life, which could not fail to promote the arts. The gay difpofition of the greeks was by no means inclined to wafte it's indulby on ufelefs pyramids. Individual towns and flates indeed could never deviate into this wildcrnefs of the monftrous. Thus, if we except perhaps the fmgle Coloflus of Rhodes, even in their works of greateft magnitude they adhered to that beautiful proportion, in which the pleafing and fublime are united. For this their ferene climate afforded them fufEcient opportunity. It allowed them thofc numerous uncovered fbitues, altai^, and temples ; and in particular the beautiful column, that pattern of fimplicity, correftnefs, and proportion, the flender gracefulnefi of which could there fupply the place of the füllen northern wall. "When we combine all thefe circumftances, it is obvious, how art could Operate, in Ionia, Greece, and Sicily, in that corrcft and airy ftyle, which the greeks exhibited in all their works of tafte. By rules alone it is not to be learned : but it difplays itfelf in the obfervation of rules ; and, though origi- nally the infpiration of a happy genius, muft become mechanical by continued praftice. Even the meancft grecian artift was a greek in his manner; we may excel him J but the whole genetic fpirit of grecian art we Ihall never attain: tlie genius of thofe times is gone by. Digitized by Google 370 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [BookXIIL CHAPTER IV. Ithe moral and political Wijdom of the Greeks. The manners of the greeks were as different, as their dcfcent, their countrjr, and the way in which they lived, according to their degree of civilization, and the feries of fucceffes or misfortunes, in which the fates had placed them. Tue arcadians and athenians, the ionians and epirots, the fpartans and fybarites, were fo difSmilar to each other in age, iituation, and mode of life, that I want ftill to Iketch out a deceptive piftureof them as a whole, the features of which muß appear more contradictory, than thofe of the genius of the athenians painted by Parrhafius *. Nothing remains for us, therefore, but to mark the general courfe taken by the moral culture of the greeks, and the manner ia which it coalefced with their political inftitutions. As the moil ancient moral culture of all the nations upon Earth proceeded chiefly from their religion, fo did that of the greeks, and it continued long in this track. The religious ceremonies, which were propagated through the means of the various myfteries, even when politics had attained a very confidcr- able height ; the facred rights of hofpitality, and of the protection of unfortu- nate fugitives J the inviolability of holy places i the belief in the furies and ven- geance, that purfued even unpremeditated murder, and inflidted a curie upon a whole land for blood unexpiated ; the pradtices of atonement, and appeafiog the gods i the refponfes of the oracles i the fanftity of an oath, of the hearth, of the temples, of graves, &c. ; were opinions and inftitutioa3, the prevalence of which was to unite a rude people, and gradually form demifavages to huma- nity *f . That they happily accomplifhed their objeft, we perceive, when we compare the greeks with other nations : for it is inconteflible, that through thefe inftitutions they were led, not to the gates of philofophy and political cul- tivation, but deep into their fandtuary. Of what important fervice to Greece was the oracle at Delphi alone ! It's divine voice pointed oiit fo many tyrants and. * • Pinxit demo» athenienfium argvmento lib^zsxv. c. lo. quoqae ingeniofo : volebat namque vaiiam, f See Heyne on the Inilitations of tbe M iracandom, injaftam» inconftantem, eundem Grecian Legiflatort for the Softemng of Mao- czorabilem^ dementem, mifericordem, excel- neri« in Opufi, aaufimU», * Academical TnAs/ iom, gloriofom, homilem» ferocem, fugacemqae. Part I, p« 207. ct omnia paiitct oftcndere.' Pun. Hilt Nat» Digitized by Google Chap. IVJ Tif mpral mdfalitical Wifdom of the Greeks. 37X Tillains,in warning them of their fate; and not le(s frequently did it fuccoor the unfortunate, counfcl thofc in need of advice, ftrengthen beneficial inftitu* tions with the authority of the gods, make known works of art or the mufc that could reach it, and give a fanftion to moral principles and maxims of ftatc. Thus the rude verfes of the oracle accomplifhed more than the mod poliflied lines of later poets : and it had the greateft influence, as it took under it*s protection the amphi&yons, the fupreme judges and controllers of the ftates of all Greece, and gave their fentences in a certain degree the weight of religious laws. What has been propofed in modem times as the fole mean of eftablifliing perpetual peace throiighout Europe, a tribunal of amphiftyons *, exiiled formerly among the greeks; and indeed near the throne of the god of truth and wifdom, who fanc- tified it by his authority. With religion may be reckoned all thofe pra&ices, which preferved to pofte- rity the remembrance of their anceftors, from whofe inilitutions they fprung for tfaefe continued to operate in the formation of their morals. Thus» for inftance, the various public games g^ve a peculiar turn to education in Greece ; as they made bodily exercifes it's prmcipal objeA, and the excel- lencies acquired by them the aim of the whole nation. No tree ever produced fuch beautiful fiiiits, as the little branches of olive, ivy, and pine, which crowned the grecian viftors. Thefe rendered youth handfome, healthy, and gay; thefe gave their limbs fupplenefs, ftrength, and fymmetry ; thefe ftruck into their minds the firft fparks of love of fame, even of poftbumous fame, and im- prefled on them the indelible charafter of living publicly for their country ; and laftly, what is of all moft valuable, they rooted in their hearts that tafle for manly intercouHe, and manly friendihip, for which the greeks were peculiarly diflinguilhed. In Greece woman was not the fupreme ofcyed of conteft, to gam which the youth bent all his powers : the mofl beautiful Helen could have formed nothing but a Paris, had her pofleffion or enjoyment been the only fcope of manly endowment. The female fex, notwithflanding the fine patterns of every virtue it produced in Greece, remained a fubordinate obje£k : the thoughts of nobler youth were bent on fomething higher : the bands of friendfhip, which they formed with each other, or with more experienced men, trained them for a fcbool, which no Afpafia could eafily fupply. Hence, in many flates, the manly love of the greeks; with that emulation, that inflruftion, that con- fbmcy, and that facrifice of felf, the feelings and confequences of which we lead in Plato almofl as a romance from a foreign planet. Manly hearts united • Z— Omvrtsfar St. Pitm \ * St. Pierre*« Works/ Vol. I, and tlmoft all hu writing!. Digitized by Google 372 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book XIII. in bonds of love and friend (liip, that held till death : the friends difplayed toward each other a fort of jcaloufy, which hunted out the minuteft fpots ; and each dreaded the other's eye, as a penetrating flame difcovcring the moft fecrct incli- nations of his mind. Youthful friendfliips are thefweetcft; and nofentinient is fo definable as the love of thofe, with whom we have exercifed ourfclycs in the courfe of pcrfeftion, during the delightful years of our budding faculties: and this courfe was publicly prcfcribed to the greeks in their gymnafia, and in their military and political occupations, of which thofe facred bands of lovers were the natural confequences. I am far from defending the depravity of manners, which in time fprung from the abufe of thefe inftitutions, particularly where youth ex- ercifed naked ; but, alas ! this abufe flowed from the charadter of the people, whofe warm imagination, and love almofl to madnefs of every thing beautiful, in which they placed the fupreme enjoyment of the gods, rendered fuch difbrders inevitable. Had thefe been privately performed, they would have been flill more pernicious, as the hiftory of all nations in warm climates, or of luxurious manners, fufficiently proves. Thus public inftitutions, and laudable aims, gave vent to the flame, that raged within : and thus it came under the coercive infpeftlon of the laws, which employed it as an adkive engine for the purpofcs of the ftate. Laftly. As triple Greece, fituate in two quarters of the Globe, was divided into many tribes and ftates ; the moral culture, that appeared in various places, muft have been genetic to each tribe, and political in fuch different ways, that this circumftance alone is fufHcient, to explain the happy prc^refs of grccian manners. The ftates of Greece were conneded only by the gentleft bands ; a common religion and language, the oracles, the games, the tribunal of amphi&yons, &c. j or by defcent and colonization ; and laftly by the remem- brance of ancient common enterprizes, poetry, and national fame : no defpot compelled any farther union ; and even their common perils for a long time pafled over without deftrudive confequences. Hence each tribe drew from the fource of culture what it efteemed proper, and watered itfelf from what ri\-ulet it thought fit. And this it did according to it's wants; though principally under the guidance of fome fuperiour men, whom forming Nature lent. Even among the kings of Greece there were worthy fons of the ancient heroes, who had advanced with the times, and rendered not lefs fer\'icc to their people by good laws, than their fethers had done by their celebrated valour. Thus, excepting the firft founders of colonies, Minos was particularly eminent among royal legiflators, who formed to war his valiant Cretans, the inliabitants of a mountainous ifland, and was n pattern in aftertimes for Lycurgus. He was the firft, that checked the pirates, and gave Digitized by Google Ch A p . rV.] The moral and poUiical Wijdom of the Greeks. 373 fecurity to the Egean fea; the firft general founder of morals by fea and land. That feveral monarchs refembled him in being the authors of good inftitutions, appears from the hiflories of Athens, Syracufe, and other kingdoms. But, it muft be confeffed, the adlivity of mankind in moral cultivation, as connefted with the ilate, affumed a very different appearance, when moft of the grecian monarchies were converted into republics: a revolution, certainly one of the moft memorable in all the hiftory of mankind. It was not poffible in any country but Greece, where a number of individual nations had continued to cherifli the remembrance of their origin and race, even under their kings. Every people confidered itfelf as a diftinft political body, which poffeffed the fame right to form it's own inftitutions as it's wandering anceftors : none of the grecian tribes were fold at the will of an hereditary fucceflion of kings. From this it docs not follow, that the new government v;as better than the old : al- moft every v;herethe principal and moft powerful perfons ruled inftead of a king, fo that in many cities there was lefs order, and an infupportable opprcfTion of the people : yet thus the die was caft, and mankind, as emerging from a ftate of pupillage, learned to think for themfelves concerning their political conftitu- tion. Accordingly the era of the grecian republics was the firft ftep of the human mind toward* manhood, refpefting the important queftion, how men fliould govern men. All the miftake^ and errours of the governments of Greece are to be confidered as the effays of youth, which commonly learns to be wife only from misfortune. Thus in many ftates and colonies, that had become free, men of wifdom rofe up, and afted as the guardians of the people. They faw the evils under which their fellow-citizens fuffered, and turned their thoughts to a conftitution, ereöed on the laws and manners of the community. Moft of thefe ancient grecian fages filled fome public office, were governors of the people, counfellors of the king, or leaders of armies : for from fuch men of rank alone could proceed a political culture, exerting effeftive influence on the people. Even Lycurgus, Draco, Solon, were of the firft families of the ftate, or members of aciminiftra- tion : in their times the evils of ariftocracy, and the difcontents of thj people, had reached the bigheft pitch; and hence arofe the ready reception of the improved inftitutions they propofed. Thefe men will inherit immortal praife, for that, poffefling the confidence of the people, they declined the fo\-ercign power, both for themfelves and their poftcrityj and applied all their induftr}% all their knowledge of men and of the world, to a commonwealth, that is, to the ftate as a ftate. If their firft attempts were far from the fummit of per- fedbion, far from being eternal mafterpieces of human inftitutions; fuch they Digitized by Google s^pm^ 374 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book XIII. were not to be : their excellence was local, and their authors were frequently compelled againft their will, to adapt them to the manners of the com- munity, and it's radical evils. Lycurgus had a freer fcope than Solon; but he recurred to times too remote, and founded a ftatc on fuch principles, as if the World were to pcrfcvere eternally in the heroic age of uncultivated youth. He gave perpetuity to his laws without waiting for their cffeös; and to a mind like his it would have been the fevered punifhment, could be have looked tlirough all jthe periods of grecian hiftory, to perceive the confe- quences they occafioncd to his own ftate, and fometimcs to all Greece, partly by their abufe, and partly by too long continuance. The laws of Solon were injurious in another way. He himfelf outlived their fpirit : the evil confe- quences of popular government he forefaw, and they remained evident to the wifcft and beft of his city, even to the laft gafp of Athens *. But this is (bme time or other the fate of all human infthutions, particularly the moft difficult, thofc that concern countries and people. Time and nature alter every thing; and (hall not men's way of life be changed ? With every new generation a new way of thinking arifes, however government and education may adhere to their ancient modes. New wants and dangers, new advantages of conqueft, wealth, or increafing dignity, and even increafe of population, augment the tide ; and how can yellerday remain today ? or the ancient law be an eternal law ? The law is retained, but probably in appearance only ; and, alas ! chiefly in it's abufes, the facrifice of which appears too fevere to felfifh and indolent men. This was the cafe with the laws of Lycurgus, Solon, Romulus, and Moles, and all that outlived their day. Hence it is very afTedting to hear the words of thefe legUIators in their later years : they are commonly the voice of complaint ; for they lived long, they outlived tbemfelves. Such are the words of Mofes and of Solon, in the few fragments we have of them : nay, if we exclude mere moral maxims, almoft all the refleftions of the grecian fag^s have a plaintive tone. They perceived the mutable deftinyand happinefs of men, which the laws of nature confine to nar- row limits, fadly perplexed by their own conduft, and lamented it. They la- mented the tranfitorinefs of human life, and blooming youth; and they con- templated old age, often poor and difealed, but always weak and de(pi(ed. The7 lamented the fuccefs of the impudent, and the forrows of the well-meaning: but they omitted not to recommend in an aiTeding tone to the members of their community the moft efie£tual weapons againft thefe, prudence and a found * See Xenophon on the Qonunonwealüi of the Athenians ; alfo Plato, AriAotW» ace. Digitized by Google Chap. IV.] Tie moral and political Wijdom of the Greeks. 375 tinderftanding, tnoderation of the paflions and quiet induftry, iimplicity and true fnendfliip, ftcdfaftnefs and inflexibility of mind, reverence- for the gods and love of our country. Even in the remains of the later grecian comedies thefe plaintive tones of gentle humanity are heard ♦. Thus in fpite of all the evil confequences» and in part horrible, to the helots, pelafgians, colonies, foreigners, and enemies, that proceeded from many grecian dates; we cannot overlook the noble fublimity of that public fpirit, which flouriflied, in it's day, in Lacedemon, Athens, Tl}ebes, and, in a certain degree, in every part of Greece. It is unqueftionably trae, that, as it flowed not from particular laws of one particular man, it flouriflicd not equally at all times, and in every member of the ftate : yet it flourilhed among the greeks, as even their unjuft and jealous wars, their fevereft oppreflions, and the moft perfidious traitors to their civic virtue, evince. The monumental infcrip- tion of the fpartans that fell at Thermopylae, « Traveller« tell at Sparta, ' That here we lie> flain in obedience to her laws,' will for ever remain the fundamental principle of fupreme political virtue ; which, after the lapfe of two thoufand years, gives us only to lament, that once indeed it was the maxim of a few fpartans, with regard to fome rigid patrician laws of a narrow country, but never became a principle for the pure laws of coUeftive mankind. The principle itfelf is the higheft, that men cou Id nvenk and praftice for their liberty and happinefs. The lame may be faid of the con- ilitution of Athens, though it ftruck into a very difierent path. For if enlightening the people with regard to thofe things, in which they are moft con- cerned, ought to be the objeft of a political eftablilhment, Athens was unquef- tionably the moft enlightened city throughout the whole World. Neither Paris nor London, neither Rome nor Babylon, and ftill lefs Memphis, Jerufalem, Pekin, or Benares, can enter into competition with it. Now as patriotifm^ and an enlightened mind, are the two poles, round which all the moral cultivation of mankind revolves, Athens and Sparta will ever be remembered as the two grand llages, on which human politics firft exercifed themfelves in this career with youthful animation. The other grecian ttates for the moft part only followed thefe two grand examples ; and a few, that refufcd to copy the conftitutions of Athens and Lacedxmon, fell a prey to conqueft. The philofophy of hiftory, however, confiders not fo much what was adtually done by feeble men on thefe two points of the Earth, during the fliort period • Of this elfewhere. Digitized by Google 376 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY, [BookXIII. of tlicir operations, as what follov»'ed from the principles of their inftitutions with regard to mankind in general. In fpite of all their faults, the names of Lycurgus and Solon, Miltiades and Themiftoclcs, Ariflides, Cimon, Phocion, Kpaminondas, Pclopidas, Agefilaus, Agis, Cleomenes, Dion, Timoleon, and others, will live with eternal fame ; while Alcibiades, Conon, Paufanias, Lyßin- der, men equally great, will be mentioned with reproach, as fubverters of the public fpirit of Greece, or traitors to their country. Without an Athens, even the modeft virtue of Socrates could fcarcely have produced fuch bloflbms as it afterwards did in fome of his fcholars : for Socrates was no more than a citizen of Athens, and all his wifdom was only the wifdom of an athenian citizen^ which he propagated in domeftic dialogues* With "regard to the wiftlom of common life we are indebted to Athens alone for the moft and bcft in all ages. As little can be faid of pradical virtues, we mud yet beflow a few words on inftitutions, of which only an athenian popular government was fufceptiblc, the forum and the ftage. Orators before a tribunal, and particularly on affairs of ftatc, where immediate decifion follows, are dangerous inftruments ; and their bad confoquences are fufEciently obvious in the hiftory of Athens. Yet as they prefume a people, that have knowledge, or at leaft are capable of having know- ledge of every public bufincfs, that is brought before them j the athenian peo- ple, notwithftanding all their parties, remain alone in hiftorj', being fcarcely equalled even by the romans. For the bufinefs itfelf, to eleä or try a general, to decide on peace and war, life and death, and every public affair of ftate, a turbulent mob was certainly unfit : yet the condudt of this bufinefs, and all the arts employed in it, opened even the cars of the unruly mob, and gave them that enlightened mind, that propenfity to political converfation, with which all the aiiatic nations were unacquainted. Eloquence, thus exercifed before the public, rofe to fuch a height, as it no where attained, except in Greece and Rome, and as it never can or will reach again, till perhaps popular oratory is united with the univerfal diffufion of true knowledge. The objeft is unquefticnabiy great; though in Athens the means fell (hort of the end. It was the fame with the athenian ftage. This exhibited plays for the people, popular, fublime, and ingenious : but with Athens it's hiftory is no more J as the narrow circle of determinate fubjedts, paffions, and views, to work upon it's people, could fcarcely revive for the mixed multitude of an- other race, and a different political conftitution. The moral cultivation of the greeks, therefore, muft never be meafured, either in their public hiftory, or in jtheir orators and dramatic poets, by the ftandard of abftrad morality i for in Digitized by Google Chap. IV.] T'ie moral and political Wtjdom of the Greeks. 377 neither of them was fuch a ftandard followed *. Hiftory (hows, how the greeks, in every period, were all, that their fituation permitted, both of good and of bad. The orator fliows, with what eyes he viewed parties in the purfuit of his profeflion, and with what colours it was neceflary to his purpofe to portray them. The dramatic poet brought on the ftagc fuch charafters as preceding times afforded, or as it fuited his objeft to exhibit to his particular audience. Conclufions relpefting the morality or immorality of the people at large drawn from thefe would be groundlefs : yet no one will difpute, that the greeks, at certain periods, and in certain cities, were the moft ingenious, gay, and enlight- ened people of their world, according to the circle of objefts then before them. The citizens of Athens afforded generals, orators, fophifls, judges, ftatefmen» and artifb, as education, propeniity, choice, fate, or accident, direded ; and in one greek many of the befl and noblcfl qualities were often united. CHAPTER V. Scientific Acquiremetits of the Greeks, It is doing juftice to no people upon Earth, to judge of them by a foreign ftandard of fcience : yet this has been done to the greeks, as well as to many afiatic nations, and they have often been unjuftly loaded both with blame and praife. The greeks were unacquainted with any fpeculative fyftem of doc- trines refpefting God and the human foul: the inquiries concerning them were private opinions, in which every philofopher was free, fo long as he obferved the religious rites of his country, and rendered himfelf obnoxious to no political party. In Greece the human mind had on this point, as it generally has, to fight it's way ; and in this at length it was crowned with fuccefs. The grecian phiiofophy proceeded from ancient tales of the gods and theogo- nies; and much indeed was fpun from them by the fine invention of the greeks. The fidions of the births of the gods, of the conflids of the elements, of the love and hatred of beings towards each other, were fo improved in various directions by their different fchools, that we may almoft fay, they had advanced as far as ourfelves, when we invent cofmogonies without the aid of natural hif- tory. Nay in fome refpedts they advanced farther; as their minds were more at liberty, and no preconceived hypothefis biafled them in their courfe. Even * See the introduflion to Gillies's Traiifla- other fimilar works, in which Greece is efliiiuted tion of the Orations of Lyfias and Ifocrates, with from ii's orators and poeta. Digitized by Google 378 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. [Book XIII. the numbers of Pythagoras, and other philofophers, are bold attempts, to affo- ciate the knowledge of things with the fimpleft idea of the human mind, a clearly conceived magnitude : but as natural philofophy and mathematics were then in their infancy, the attempt was premature. Yet, like the fyftems of many other grecian philofophers, it will ever excite in us a degree of vene- ration ; as thefe in general, each in it's particular fphere, were the fruits of pro- found refledtion and extenfive comprehenfion : many of them are founded on tmths and obfervations, of which, perhaps to the advantage of fcience, we have fince loft fight. That none of the ancient philofophers conceived god, for inftance, as a being diftinft from the World, or a pure metaphyfical monad, but all adhered to the idea of a foul of the World, was perfeftly confonant to the childhood of human philofophy, and perhaps will for ever remain confonant to it. It is to be lamented, that we are acquainted with the boldeft opinions of philofophers only from mutilated accounts, but not fyftematically fix>m their own works : ftill more is it to be regretted, however, that we are difinclined to place ourfelves in their times, and eager to intrude on them our way of thinking. In general ideas every nation has it's particular way of feeing, founded for the moft part on the mode of expredion, that is to fay, on tradi- tion : and as the philofophy of the greeks arofe from poems and allegories, this gave to their abftraft ideas a peculiar fbmp, to themfetves perfeflly clear. Even the allegories of Plato are not merely ornamental : their images arc like the claflical fentences of old times, ingenious developements of ancient poetical traditions. The inquiries of the greeks were principally direAed to the philofophy of man and morals j as the time in which they lived, and their political conftitu- tion, led them particularly this way. Natural hiftory, mathematics, and natural philofophy, were yet in their rudiments -, and the implements of modern dif- covery were not invented. Every thing, on the other hand, attrafted them toward the nature and manners of mankind. This was the predominant tone of the poetry, hiftory, and political inftitutions of the greeks : every citizen felt the'neceffity of knowing his fellow-citizens, and was occafionally liable to be chofen to public offices, which he could not refufe to 611 : the paffions and aftive powers of men had then freer play, they fuffcred not even the retired philofonher to pafs unnoticed : to govern men, or to perform the part of an cffeftive member of fociety, was the predominant propcnfity of every ambitious grecian foul. It is nothing wonderful, therefore, that the philofophy of the metaphyfician (hould be occupied on the improvement of morals or the ftate, as we find in Pythagoras, Plato, and even Ariftotle, As citizens they Digitized by Google Ca A?, v.] Scientific Acquirements of tie Greeks. 37 j had no call to found ftates : Pythagoras was not as Lycurgus, Solon» and others, a fovereign» or an archdn : and the greater part of his philofophy was fpe- culative, bordering even on fuperftition. Yet in his fchool were educated men, whofe influence on the ftates of Gnecia Magna was very great ; and the fociety of his difciples, if fate had allowed it longer duration, would probably have been the moft effiacious, as it certainly was a very pure engine for the improvement of mankind *. But even this ftep of a man hr fuperiour to the age in which he lived was premature : the wealthy, fybaritilh cities of Graecia Magna, and their tyrants, defired no fuch cenfors of morals, and the Pythago- reans were martyred. It is an often repeated encomium, though in my opinion exaggerated, of the benevolent Socrates, that he was the firft and chief, who called philofophy from Heaven down to Earth, and imparted to man the boon of morality. Thi$ encomium at moft is valid only with r^rd to the per(bn of Socrates, and the narrow circle of his own life. Long before him there were fages, who had adively inculcated morals upon mankind ; as this was the diftinguifhing charadVer of grecian lore, even from the fabulous Orpheus