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OF THE HUMAN SPECIES CONSIDERED, Eaec. 119
as he is, Without heing interrupted by the presages of What he
to itsolf tho ideat of a halcyon future ; and proposes for iis lovellest visions os humanity an unequalied and indefinite perfection. Intellectual und morat beauty lends iis chartiis: assuming every hue and shape, and paSSing through endlessuarieties of expression and combination l Greatest os ali, bytho All hail horeasteri 'It is futile to asseri that man has deserted nature in thoratio of his progress. His progress is nature, and by it ho butob0ys iis impulse and folloWs iis guidance. Ηe must have clothing, he must have Dod, he must have habitation: biit ho is Dianaturat is he neglect, or improperly Seek, any of theSe. Many
of the hvmbler aris are but the methods in Whicli our innate promptings are ansWered: and it is the fame disposition whichraises the Wig-wam of the desert us construcis the halis and palaces of the city. It seems scarcely neceSSary to advert to the opinion that these inventioris are only coples from the inferior tribes. Iis advocates catl on us to suppose that man Would
novor have thought of a dwelling had he not previolasty seenthe lair of ths boast; and that suggestions borrowed Dom theskill and dexterity of these creatures have given rise to ali theimprovements whicli embellisti civilised life and sociat condition. The opinion may be sasely abandoned to iiseis Alan can neverbe more in a state os nature, than When PurSUing a Course Of
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adu cing, have never reached. Some have been profuse Of
obviate: shelis or coins hecome the circulating medium : casual observations are mado on the principat aspects of the universe, and a basis is thus formed sor philosophy: riade toias are constructed, and a clue is thus discovered to ali the conveniences and refinements which wealth can facilitate or luxury demand. But Who does not perceive that the enumeration is osten arbitrary in principie and contradicted by fact 8 - Othors adopi amore caprici ous order: and imagine that the progression of the species may be traced to a certain geographical laW : give themthe longitude, and they can almost teli you the precise state ofknowledge at that degree: they map out science and ari, and most accurately inform you in What climates they may, or maynot, exist. It is With them an oracular opinion that Hl knowlsedgefollows the course of the sura, and that they remitid iis is Domeast to west,-Which Would most proba ly be true, Were it nothom West to east l-Some have Muratively expressed this
progression, but With melancholy misgivings it Would seem, is they intended the figures to be purgued. Infarim has been
selected to represent the srst stage of human nature, but is that suppose hel plessness besere adult vigour, it predicis also decrepitudo bosore final dissolution. Mornins is another heau-timi image used sor tho fame pur pose, but after the meridian
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second destroyed. This appears the most proper place to enter upon a rapidSurVey, and curSory eXamination, of Some of those more active causes which have instigated Such movement: but, in their prosecution, We contend not for the exact order in which they should Stand, Dor are We aWare of the hypothesis whicli thoir exhibitionwill savour or diSSerVe. The necessity of foverriment in ali great hodies of men, must have suggested ideas of the most extensive influence. The simple patriarchates of Which We osten speis, in Whicli the sire inculcated obedience upon descendantS, Were as perfeci us thecircumstances of their early date allowed or required. Butthough we may yet spein of the family of man, it is impossibio
that the impression of such an amnity can remain : it is a beauti fui fiction, not a practical principie. When nations spreadand migrated, the mind of man Would be naturalty drawn totho naturo and utility of political institution : as manners and
cUStoms varied, men Would admire disserent modeis: and thoquestion would inare the attention of those Who reflected at all. TWO conSequences Would sol low: an expansion os intellect Wouldbe produced, for there is scarcely any subject Whicli admits of
more abstraci and comprehensive VieWS: and an eXcilement musthave been gi ven also to the character, for the dearest rights of Our nature are involved in ali these considerations. These resulisare substantiated in the present day; for there is not, perhaps, an enlightened nation to be Dund where the investigation has not been pursued: and those nations are alWays found the mostonii tened Where it is a frequent theme of enquiry and conversation, Dom the genius and popular admixture of the system. urisprudelice is closely related to it, and the greatest menliave devoted theniselves to the study. The code, is properly
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Conceived, must aroia se the thoughts of men; sor it is foundod in the truest philosophy of our nature, and in the profoundest knowlsedge of things. Entrenched in the experience of the past, it providos for the intricacies of the future. Such founders of governinent und laW, prove the greatest benefactors of the species, and regulate iis progress to virtve and happiness. Sir William Jones Writes, The race of man cannot long be happy Without Deedom, nor securely Dee Without rational knowlodgo. In support of the opinion that the theory of goVernment gave oneos tho earliest impulses to the lixaman progreSS, We may refer tothe great respect in Whicli legislators and jurisis have ever beenheld; and also to the more than presumption that some of the earliest compositions Were professedly dedicated to political science. of this number Were sonae of the ancient bards: theychanted in verse the maxims whicli inould bind the prince and the subjeci: they roved froni peopte to peopte With the sameusesul minstret sy: and the tabled poWer of Orpheus over beasis and rocks is but allegorical of the doubie victory he achieved, in the lessons of govertament borne by the strains of music tollearis whicli, untii then, Were SaVage aS the beaStS, and impenetrabio as the rocks, of Thrace. Commerce is justly entilled to a distinct mention as an instrument of this progress. It Would be visionary to seeli thetime when man confined himself to the simple Wants of nature. Hs has alWays known the Wants Which we cali artificiat. Solong as a disseretice of climate leads to a disseretice of production, so long there Will be Something indigenous that we canspare sor Something eXotic: and so long the intercliango will bomaintained. Shili, labour, adventure, here find their reWard.
As the principio became almost universat, it lined man to thethought os improvenient. It informed him that there Was muchwhieli ho h ad not, and only a litile that he might not have. Itrominded him that to preserve it, he must obtain equivalenis in his own diligence and ingenuity. It showed him that tho dis- proportion os values might be balanced by superior fabricationand device. It convinced him that to improve produce, it must
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OF THE HUMAN SPECIES CONSIDERED, EΤc. 123
the idea os manufacture Would insensibiy arise, and the humanmiud rack itself sor invention. But in addition to this ordinary, though salutary, influence of commerce, the most important observations of ancient science Were gathered during iis j our-neyS and Voyages, not to Say any thing of commerce as themotivo of their being underisien. These enterprises Would superinduce more enlarged VieWs of nature and of man. Sincecommerce begins in a Spirit os improvement and must indirectly
foster it, it has generalty shoWn itself favourable to philosophic
discovery and elegant resinement. The Very luXuries it introduces, osten pernicious in themSel Ves, are overruled sor tho common Wellare, and conciar With the agents whicli accolorate tho universat melioration. This Succession of Wanis, Domitiose more Simple to thoSe more elaborate, is Weli pictured by
But instant these supplied, Another set of fonder Wants arΟSe, And other aris Witti them Os finer aim: Till hom refining Want to want impelled,
The history of Carthago is somelimes cited to disparage thesevour te influence of mercantile intercoiarse: and certainlyRome know hoW to make a jest of iis ferce rival. But Carthage towered above the greater number of states and cities eveniri learning and accomptishment: and was restrained froni thalpr emineiace, of Whicli it Was assuredly suscepti ble, by the continued diversion os iis attention and treasiare toWariis protractedand Sanguinary Wars. In this manner the opportunity WaS lost, and the means Were squandered, for those improvemenis, both
scientisic and liberal, Whicli aro peculiarly the fruits of peace. But even Were this an exception, it Would triumphantly beborne doWn by the recollection of the commercial cities of Italy. Those litile spois becanis the asylums of Deedom and the sanctuaries of literature: they attracted into their bosom the genius and tho taste Whicli must have perished but sor their care and
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excellenco whicli stili create sor themselves a rene ed and increasing fame. The family of the De Μedici is an illustrious proof that commerce may be made subsidiary to polite lettersand sine artS. The idea of reliuion is the most sublime that can enter the human mind, and, so long as it retained any purity, it musthave proved beneficiat. With iis truth or fallaciousness Wo arenot noW concerned. But as it takes hold on ali the sears orliopes of our nature, it must alWays have been an instrumentos goading or soliciting that nature into activity. From thoesoteric my8teries, religion hecame most intimately related toliuman knowledge. For in these some of the great secrets of the universe Were taught to the initialed few. HOWever unWorthythe priesis Were of being esteemed philosophers, they Were fora time tho depositaries of Hl the philosophy extant. HoWeverimpure the mythology of the ancients must appear, it Wassavourable to many of the sciences and aris. By placing them respectively beneatli tutelary deities, provision Was made for thedistinctiaess of each and the patronage of all. Μany of iis legentis are to this moment told iis in immortal verse, and asimmortat martile. Even the notion os demigods, hatelai as istis pride, may not have been Without advantago in Encitingsome, Dona the liope of receiving divine honours, to illustrious ossoris of Wisdom and patriotism.-In the classical Writings weonon sind allusion to the impulse of religion on the mind. Wemay trace to it the origin of every poei's practice in invoking amuso. In the Philoctetes of Sophocles the Chorus exclainis in
noctod tho history of his life With the influence of his daemon,
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OF THE HUMAN SPECIES CONSIDERED, ETC. 125
cursortly discussed, they are ali that the limits of this en luirymay compriSe. e Shali noW advert to the probabie origin os science and ari among the falliers of Our race. Science almost relates iis oWn tale. Certain appearances and revolutions of nature Would soon be noticen as osten taking place: they Would further be observed as occurring at thesanie periodicat intervias: they Would be found to bear precisoly similar indications. The vicissitude Was too regular to boaccounted for on accident, and theresere Was evidently governed by some laW. This Was the natural process whicli in theso romoter days we cali induction: so that the most simple, and
most profound, philosophy the worid ever Witnessed, mosthappily agree. The sirst men sought for truth in tho facts of nature, in What is comprehended in physics; and elicited truthboth interesting and stupendous. An intermediate race sotaghtit in particular propositions, and through format syllogisms, and wero disappotnted. A succeeding generation has recurredio tho simple method os primaevat man, and is extending the discoveries of truth more rapidly than it can Weli arrange, or
and occupied a humbler smithy, ere he was married to Venus, hirod tho Cyclops, and fabricated thunderbolis for Iove. Bacchus, it is to be Dared, had made too frequent use of his disco- very besore he Was Summoned to the reueis of the gods. Tho
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indeed, be a more delicate onquiry than in What beauty, and the perception of it, consist. But patrating and sculpture are
ovidently but the bodying out of that idea of beauty, and the
standard of the maniter in whicli their masters soli it. Αs thoro must be an archetype of beauty, Whereuer hidden, these specimens may be considered as the Various conceptions cherishod os iis nature, and the earnest essoris made toWards iis emulation, by the most congeniat mirids.-And the rise of literaturo is stili more Vagile. One of the most ancient compositions with whichwe are acquainted, is the epic os Homer. There appears noground to suspect that this was a collection os traditionarypoems, or that iis nominat author Was assisted by others. Yotthe persection whicli his great Work is universalty allowed topossess, is incredibie on the supposition that ho was the firstwho had cultiva ted the storied verse. We must conceive of earlier salture, of ruder attempi; of laWs Whicli, though thebard so strictly observes, We cannot imagine hirn to have impo-
sed; of poets Who had preceded him, and prepared his Way, tintillio arose to daggle them into eternat insignificance. - Science, literature, und art, Were alWays held in esteem by nations pretending to importance: UnleSS We eXCept the System ofLycurgus, Which seemed to do violence, us much to the peculiari ty of the Lacedaemonian character as to the sympathies of human nature. The sybit os Cumae discovers to AEneas thoorder of honour und happiness in Whicli spiriis are arranged in Elysium
Conspicit, ecce, alios dextra laevaque per herbam,
Vescentes, laetUmque Choro Paeana CanenteS, Inter odoratum lauri nem US :
Hic manus, ob Patriam pugnando Vulnera passi: Quique pii vates, et Phoebo digna locuti; Inventas aut qui vitam excoluere per artes. 'AEnoid : lib. Vi.
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OF THE HUMAN SPECIES CONSIDERED, ETC. 127
Having examined the dim, and partly uncertain, portion ofhuman history, it might be proper to develope Some of the principies Which have perpetuated, as weli as those Whicli commenced, the course of human improvenient. But perhaps abrief narrative of the condition of the ancient Worid, brought doWn to nearly oiar oWn age, may tend to rei leve the attention, though it may rather intersere With a strictly logical arrangement. There is one chasm in the narrative we must ali deplore: iis silence Upon the state of man at large,-the great bulli offociety. A proud philosophy, and an abstruse religion, trealed the Vulgar, the many, as profane.-Ιt Will, indeed, be imprae-tic te to supply a historical chari: We can only throw the eyesrom the Euphrates and the Tigris to the Nilo: Doni tho Niloto the Ilissus, froni the Ilissus to the Tiber, froni the Tiber alongstreams Unrecorded by history and unknown to Song. India is supposed by many to be the parent fource of thosearis Which have given Egypt iis celebrity, and of that philosophy Whicli flourishod in the schools of Grooce. Sir William Jones considers that the systems of the Academy, Porcii, and Lyceum, may ait be recognised in the writings of the Indian sages: and that there eXisis a strii ing resemblance belween thegigantic Structures of Egypt, and fragments of bullding stillremaining in the East. It is certain that Pythagoras, theseundor of the Italic school, travolled thither. The doctrine of the present nativo philosophers is but the modification of
the metempsychosis. But such a coincidenco will osten besound belween other kingdonis and nations. Every reSearchinto the mythology of the ancient or modern nationS, much Osit classic and much of it rude, Would prove it to have a Common origin, and to have hallowed the fame elements or beings.
Greece and Egypt Would be found bowing to tho deities of Scandinavia and Gaul.-To India may be ascribed the primogeniture of philosophy and ari, but to their parentage it cannotost listi a claim. I Wo colintries a re frequently introduced for this honour- lo distinction. Arabia certainly has a character peculiarly iis own. Iis Wild magnificence of Deedom, iis frank generosity
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Of temper, must alWVS render it an interesting and singularcountry. But that much Whicli is boasted of iis formor philosophy and literature is gratuitous, We may conclude in the Sence of any proos. The language is generalty admitted tobe sWeet and eXpressive, and by many it has been admired asthe most perfeci language known: the art of healing Was cultivatod with considerable assiduity Dom an early period : theimagination Was indulged, though perhaps not With the refinement or luxuriance Whicli distinguisti oriental fiction. But that
this peopte possessed a philosophy that consisted os a tangibio
Ahape, or a literature characterised by a descriptive eXCelleiace, must not be presumed. Some have even proceeded to describotho colleges of Yomen and to boast of their high character and extensive influence. To them the youth of sar distant lands arorepresented to have journeyed, and to have soWn the instructions, they received in these seats of te ning, through the most uncivilised peoples. These fountains of knowledge must becompared to the visual deceptions whicli osten falsely flatior, and crueily disappoint, the thirsty caravans Whicli stili travol
mina is thse second claimant: and were We to respect iis OWn assertion Os antiquity, an assertiori frequently disproved by astronomical computation) We must adjudge to it tho enviod palin. But many circumStances combine to Shake iis pretensions. A picture language is no indication, Whatever We maythink of iis coarse antiquity, of high civiligation, profound Science, or choice literature. At present the language of that empire is so distorteii, as every language of a pictorial nature must soon become, that it has ali the inconvenience of symbolic, addod to ali tho intricacy, of arbitrary character. ΙtS aStronomy,
a science Whicli commonly eXcites notice and receives cultiv
tion in an insant country, is grossty imperfeci. Iis philosophycannot deserve the name: iis manufactures are greatly inferiorto thosse of nations it assecis to despise. It may be ansWered, that iis present state does not aliast the controversy of iis formercondition. But this nation wili consess no retrocesSion, nothing