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 Shelf Number 
 
INTBODUCTOBY LETTEES, 
 
 REFERRED TO ON PAGE X. OF PREFACE. 
 
 I. — From William Cunningham, D.D., Professor of Divinity 
 and Church History, New College, Edinburgh. 
 
 Edinburgh, October 28, 18.50. 
 
 My Dear Sir, — I have read carefully your treatise " On 
 the Unity of the Human Races," recently published at New 
 York, and I regard it as a very masterly and valuable work. 
 It displays a thorough knowledge of the subject, and of all 
 that has been written upon it down to the most recent pro- 
 ductions. The argument is conducted with much ability, and 
 is brought to a triumphant conclusion. As in all probability 
 the subject will be fully discussed in this country at no dis- 
 tant period, I would reckon it an important service to the 
 cause of truth and of divine revelation, if your work were 
 republished among us. — I remain, &c, 
 
 Rev. Dr Thomas Smyth. Wm. CUNNINGHAM. 
 
 II. — From Robert S. Candlish, D.D. 
 
 Edinburgh, November 15, 1850. 
 My Dear Sir, — I rejoice to learn that your very valuable 
 work " On the Unity of the Human Races" is about to be 
 republished in this country, under your own superintendence, 
 and with the advantage of your latest improvements. I am 
 not qualified to offer an opinion in regard to the learning and 
 research of your volume, beyond expressing my admiration of 
 the copiousness, variety, and completeness of your information. 
 
 a 
 
I can better appreciate your lucid order and admirable me- 
 thod, as well as the clear and satisfactory nature of the whole 
 of the argumentative discussion. 
 
 I consider your book to be the most comprehensive manual 
 we can well have on this all-important subject ; and I look 
 upon it as a signal and seasonable service rendered to the 
 cause of divine truth. — I am, &c, 
 
 (Signed) ROB. S. CANDLISH. 
 
 III. — From Alexander Duff, D.D., of Calcutta. 
 
 Cargill, by Perth, Auyust 20, J 850. 
 
 Dear Sirs, — The work of the Rev. Dr Smyth of Charles- 
 ton, " On the Unity of the Human Races," I have perused 
 with no ordinary pleasure. In connection with the cause, 
 alike of humanity and of revelation, the subject treated of is 
 one, not of second-rate, but of first-rate importance. And 
 the treatment of it, as conducted in Dr Smyth's volume, may 
 well be characterized as scholar-like without pedantry, ela- 
 borate without tediousness, comprehensive without diffuse- 
 ness, and argumentative without dryness. With a few omis- 
 sions in the arrangement of the materials, which on revision 
 will doubtless occur to the learned author himself, I would 
 earnestly recommend you to secure the reprint of the volume 
 in this country, as a volume eminently fitted for extensive 
 popular usefulness. — Yours, &c, 
 
 ALEXANDER DUFF. 
 
 IV. — From James Hamilton, D.D., English Presbyterian 
 Church, Regent Square, London. 
 
 7 Lansdowne Place, 
 Juty 9, 1850. 
 
 My Dear Sir, — Accept my best thanks for the copy of 
 the book which you have been so kind as to send to me. I 
 have already perused several chapters with much interest and 
 
instruction, and am thankful that you had health to complete 
 a work which will be the great magazine of information on 
 this controversy. At first it struck me, that in the British 
 reprint it might be well if you could omit some of the learn- 
 ing, so as to adapt it more to popular use : but as I pro- 
 ceeded, I changed my opinion. Learning is so pre-eminently 
 its characteristic, that to omit any of the curious facts or refer- 
 ences to out-of-the-way authorship, would be to impair its 
 value. As it stands, it is the book which you yourself alone 
 among ministers could have written ; and as* it stands, it will 
 be the more valuable to professional men. However, it might 
 be well if you could secure leisure to bring out the essence of 
 the argument in some brief and popular form — like your 
 " Life of Calvin " — over and above the original work. With 
 much respect and esteem, I remain, &c. 
 
 Rev. Dr Smyth. JAMES HAMILTON. 
 
 V. — From John Brown, D.D., Professor of Theology to the 
 United Presbyterian Church. 
 
 Edinburgh, Arthur's Place, Newington, 
 June 10, 1850. 
 
 My Dear Doctor Smyth, — I thank you cordially for the 
 present of your work " On the Unity of the Human Races." 
 On receiving it, I thought it a kind, I now know it to be a 
 valuable gift. The subject is a wide and important one. At 
 the expense of much reading and thought you have mastered 
 it, and produced a work greatly fitted to be useful to the cause 
 both of true science and of Christian evidence. With such 
 alterations as you mentioned to me in conversation, the re- 
 publication of the work in this country would, in my appre- 
 hension, be highly desirable. The question must be more 
 agitated in this country than it has yet been — and it is better 
 to use a preventive than a cure, when it can be done. Heartily 
 wishing you success in your numerous and diversified labours 
 of usefulness, and earnestly praying that your European tour 
 may re-establish your health, I am, &c. 
 
 Rev. Dr Smyth. JOHN BROWN. 
 
VI, — From the Rev. William Symington, D.D., of Glasgow. 
 
 Annfield Place, Glasgow, 
 October 8, 1850. 
 
 My Dear Sir, — It is only within these few days that I 
 have got through your work M On the Unity of the Human 
 Races." It requires considerable time to read it, and still 
 more to master the argument ; but the satisfaction it affords 
 in the end, fully rewards one for the effort. The subject is in 
 a good measure new to me, having had little previous acquaint- 
 ance with it, except what was gathered from some ethnologi- 
 cal articles in the Reviews, and a hasty glance at Pickering's 
 able work. But, after the perusal of your volume, so replete 
 with learning, so patient in research, and so conclusive withal 
 in its reasoning, no one can plead ignorance. The topic is 
 cue of great moment, and you have, in my opinion, handled 
 it in a way that entitles you to the gratitude and approbation 
 of every friend of scriptural and scientific truth. — Believe 
 me, &c. 
 
 Rev. Dr Smyth. WILLIAM SYMINGTON. 
 
 II — From the Rev. David King, LL.D., of Glasgoic. 
 
 Glasgow, August 4, 1850. 
 
 My Dear Sir, — I thank you very sincerely for the copy of 
 your important work " On the Unity of the Human Races." 
 It discusses many points to which I have not given my atten- 
 tion particularly, and regarding which, therefore, I can offer 
 no informed or decided opinion. But every one must admit, 
 that the general subject is of high consequence, and you have 
 brought to the investigation of it no ordinary amount of ability 
 and research. A republication of the work in this country, 
 with such modifications in it as you will see proper to be 
 made, might prove, I think, of great value. — I am, &c. 
 
 DAVID KING. 
 
VIII. — From the Rev. Henry Cooke, LL.D., of Belfast. 
 
 Belfast, October 25, 1850. 
 
 My Dear Dr Smyth, — Your work " On the Unity of the 
 Human Races,"' I have read with attention, and, I trust, with 
 profit. So early as the year 1807, my thoughts were turned 
 to the subject by reading Kame's " Sketches of the History of 
 Man ;" and since that time, I have occasionally examined 
 some of the writers Avho support the theory of various 
 origins. The doctrine of the unity of origin I believe, nor 
 merely because I find it unequivocally taught in the divine 
 Scriptures, but also because I find it supported by such nume- 
 rous analogies, in the cases of plants and animals, which are 
 so wonderfully influenced and externally changed by climate, 
 habitat, and human management ; and still farther, by such a 
 Baconian induction of facts, that it seems to me impossible 
 to admit the soundness of the Baconian principles of philo- 
 sophizing without arriving with you at the same conclusions. 
 
 I believe that, by this work, you have done the cause of 
 truth and humanity a great and lasting service, not lessened 
 by the candour with which you have treated your opponents, 
 while it is enhanced by the potent research and lucid argu- 
 ments by which you have illustrated and confirmed your 
 own views. — Yours in the gospel, 
 
 H. COOKE. 
 
 IX. — From the Rev. Robert Halley, D.D., of Manchester. 
 
 Manchester, August 15, 1850. 
 
 My Dear Sir, — I have read your work " On the Unity of 
 the Human Races" with great interest and delight. I think 
 the argument is conducted with great ability, and the illustra- 
 tions admirably selected, and very appropriate. It is a work 
 of great importance at the present time, and will, I think, 
 obtain the circulation it so well deserves. — Yours most truly, 
 
 Rev. Dr Smyth. ROBERT HALLEY. 
 
e 
 
 X. — From the Rev. Leonard Bacon, D.D., of New Haven, 
 
 United States. 
 
 Dalton, November 6, 1850. 
 
 Dear Sir, — The extraordinary pressure of my engagements 
 between the date of the publication of your work " On the 
 Unity of the Human Races," and the time of my leaving home, 
 did not permit me to read the book with the close attention 
 which is due to so thorough and elaborate a work on so im- 
 portant a subject ; yet I may be allowed to thank you for 
 the diligence and zeal with which you have undertaken the 
 discussion, and to acknowledge the ability with which you have 
 exhibited theological and historic arguments for the original 
 unity of all the races of mankind. The moral, political, and 
 religious bearing of the question invest it with the very high- 
 est importance. I rejoice that, among the clergy of Charleston, 
 there has been found one to vindicate, by physiological rea- 
 soning, the specific unity of all men, as a fact in natural 
 history, against the Socialism that would make a distinct 
 species of each human variety — and another to maintain, so 
 effectively, the descent of all nations from one parentage, 
 against the hasty conclusions that would assign a multiform 
 origin to the common humanity of our species. — Respectfully 
 yours, 
 
 Rev. Dr Smyth. LEONARD BACON. 
 
 XI. — From R. G. Latham, Esq., M.D., Member and Vice- 
 President of the Ethnological Society, London, and author 
 of works on the " Varieties of Man " "The English Lan- 
 guage" $c. 
 
 My Dear Sir, — I have been so much in locomotion for 
 the last fortnight, that your kind and gratifying letter has 
 only just reached me. 
 
 Your book, too. which you have so courteously favoured 
 me with, has yet to be read with due care. I have as vet 
 only had time to get a general view of its principles, and the 
 learning and ingenuity which supports them. I am glad that 
 
the doctrine of what I call the Multiplats Protoplasts has 
 been fairly grappled. Though bearing importantly upon 
 natural history in general, the ethnologist must be the chief 
 investigator of it. I think it not likely to find much differ- 
 ence in our views on the point. 
 
 R. G. LATHAM. 
 
 XII. — From the Rev. James M'Cosh, LL.D., author of " The 
 Method of the Divine Government, Physical and Moral." 
 
 My Dear Sir, — I have carefully read your work " On the 
 Unity of the Human Races," and I have risen from the peru- 
 sal with a deep impression of its value and importance. The 
 reading of the author is evidently extensive, and the treatise is 
 well written and well reasoned. In the biblical and historical 
 departments, it seems to me to be particularly successful. I 
 am not acquainted with the views of Agassiz, who seems 
 unfortunately to have broached of late opinions adverse to 
 the Unity of the Human Races; but, with the assistance 
 of Prichard and Bachman, you have, in natural history, effec- 
 tually disposed of the old objections. You have thus furnished 
 a valuable defence of a portion of truth, which has several 
 most important bearings both on religion and morality. 
 
 JAMES M'COSH. 
 
 XIII. — From the Rev. David Brown, Glasgow, author of 
 a work on the Second Advent, §-c. 
 
 Glasgow, October 10, 1850. 
 
 My Dear Sir, — You have done a great service to truth, 
 by your seasonable work " On the Unity of the Human Races" 
 — one of those mixed questions which belong alike to the do- 
 mains of Science and of Scripture. That the investigations 
 of the former should, on this subject, appear to jar with the 
 utterances of the latter, will startle no one who knows with 
 what hostility to revelation the inquiries of naturalists in 
 other departments were once imagined to be fraught — nay, 
 
8 
 
 rather recollecting how those inquiries have resulted in new 
 and beautiful confirmation of divine truth, there cannot but 
 arise, even out of that seeming discrepancy, the joyous con- 
 viction, that here also scientific researches into the natural 
 history of the human races — prosecuted in a comprehensive, 
 patient, and modest spirit — will, in proportion as they advance, 
 be recognised as in harmony with the Bible. Meanwhile, all 
 rashness on either side is to be deprecated. If the attempt to 
 prove a diversity of original races from the book of Genesis be 
 absurd, let us, on the other hand, rise above the temptation 
 to enlist the facts of the naturalist on the side of wiity a 
 hair's-breadth farther than present investigation will warrant. 
 We know, indeed, what is at stake. That the original unity 
 of the human family is absolutely vital to Christianity, there 
 can be no doubt in the mind of any one competent to judge 
 on the point. But if the caution be used by the naturalist in 
 generalizing on his facts, I have no fear for the result. There 
 may come a time when physical research will yield irrefrag- 
 able evidence of the unity of the human races. But what if 
 that time should never come ? If the testimony of science 
 be found not inconsistent with revelation, it is all we can 
 absolutely demand of the Author of both. 
 
 Should the unity of the human family be discoverable only 
 from the Bible, while nothing in its natural history is found 
 to teach the contrary, with this state of matters the friends of 
 revelation may rest content ; assured that the deep instincts of 
 the human breast, and every social, moral, and religious con- 
 sideration, will come trooping to the aid of the biblical doc- 
 trine, and so rivet the faith of it in every well-regulated mind, 
 as to render such negative conclusions of science innocuous. 
 
 The research, Rev. and Dear Sir, which you have brought 
 to bear upon this subject, the candour which you have mani- 
 fested, and the ability with which you have discussed the 
 question, alike in its physical and its moral bearing, have laid 
 the friends of the unity of the human family under a deep 
 debt of gratitude to you, and I trust the reprint of your work 
 in this country, will tend to fortify the lovers of science and 
 of Scripture against the fascination of honoured names on the 
 side of error. — I am, &c. 
 
 DAVID BROWN. 
 
9 
 
 XIV. — From the Rev. J. H. Fowles, Episcopal Minister, 
 Philadelphia, United States, 
 
 Philadelphia, September 23, 1850. 
 
 My Dear Sir, — Your late work " On the Unity of the 
 Human Races," together with a note, was left at my house 
 during my usual summer vacation. On my return last week, 
 I was pleased to turn my attention to it ; and am convinced 
 that you have treated the subject in an able and interesting 
 way, and that you have done the cause good service. Trust- 
 ing that your labour may be recompensed by the amount of 
 good which it accomplishes, and that all your expectations in 
 it may be realized, — I remain, &c, 
 
 J. H. FOWLES. 
 
 To the Rev. Thomas Smyth, D.D. 
 
 XV — From J. G. Lorimer, D.D., St David's Free Church, 
 
 Glasgow. 
 
 My Dear Doctor, — I have finished this morning the work 
 " On the Unity of Races." It is truly admirable — in every 
 respect first-rate. It contains by far the best discussion of the 
 subject, with a view to the Scripture doctrine, which I have 
 ever seen. I trust it will be duly appreciated, and prove 
 extensively useful. — Believe me, &c. 
 
 Rev. Dr Smyth. J. G. LORIMER. 
 
 XVI.— From the Rev. J. Pye Smith, D.D., F.R.S., Author 
 
 of Geology and Scripture, 8$c. fyc. 
 
 This work of the Rev. Dr Smyth I have perused with 
 much satisfaction. He has collected a vast variety of argu- 
 ments and evidences, which establish, with accumulated force, 
 his position — the Unity of the Human Races, as to both spe- 
 cies and origin. I think it impossible for an upright mind to 
 refuse acquiescence in his conclusion. With him, too, I agree 
 that there are difficulties, as in all science, which we cannot 
 
10 
 
 at present remove ; but, weighed against the positive argu- 
 ments, they cannot rationally arrest our conviction. It is to 
 be expected that the progress of observation and the augmen- 
 tation of accurate knowledge in meteorology, actinology, ter- 
 restrial magnetism, and probably some agencies in natural 
 history not yet thoroughly understood, will contribute much 
 to the resolving of the perplexity. There may also have been 
 something preternatural in a judicial infliction upon Ham. 
 Gesenius tells us from Plutarch, that this term, in the old 
 Coptic, denotes both heat and blackness. It might be a case 
 somewhat analogous to that of Gehazi. (2 Kings vi. 27.) The 
 want of scholarship, the presumptuousness, the irreverence, 
 the impiety, with which some writers in the United States 
 treat the Scriptures, is disgusting. 
 
 It appears that the able and pious author has been hurried 
 and distressed in the composition of this very desirable work. 
 He probably employed persons to collect materials for his 
 numerous references, who were either uninformed or care- 
 less ; and evidently the book was printed far from his eye. 
 A revised edition would be a welcome acquirement. 
 
 Yet, if this be not obtained, the work, in the hands of 
 candid readers, earnest for truth, will be found a treasure. 
 
 J. PYE SMITH, D.D., F.R.S. 
 Guildford, Dec. 23, 1850. 
 
11 
 
 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 
 
 I._ OF THE WORK AS IT APPEARED FOR SUBSTANCE 
 
 IN NUMBERS. 
 
 A series of admirable papers, from the pen of the Rev. Thomas 
 Smyth, D.D., has recently appeared in the columns, respectively, 
 of the Southern Presbyterian and Southern Baptist, both published at 
 Charleston, S.C., in which the author has aimed to establish " The 
 Unity of the Human Races," as " The doctrine of Scripture, Rea- 
 son, and Science," and we think with signal success, and certainly 
 with commanding- ability. In concluding their publication, the Pres- 
 byterian says : " We are glad that so full and able an exposition of 
 the subject has been made. We hope they will some day be 
 gathered, and put before the public in a more permanent form." 
 We concur with this hope, and trust that such a purpose may not 
 be long delayed. — True Union, Baltimore. 
 
 The question of the Unity of the Races has become the question 
 of the day, and is likely to become one of increasing and absorbing 
 interest to the cause of inspiration, humanity, and missionary effort. 
 We have been much gratified to know that the series of articles 
 thus far published by ourselves, and several other religious papers, 
 has been read with deep interest in almost every section of our 
 country. — Southern Presbyterian. 
 
 The first of a series of articles from the pen of Rev. Dr Smyth of 
 Charleston, on the " Unity of the Races," appeared in our last 
 Number; the second will appear next week. This is a deeply in- 
 teresting subject, and the distinguished writer is well qualified to 
 do it justice. — Cincinnati Presbyterian. 
 
 The articles on this subject close with the present Number. Our 
 readers will agree with us that they are able, learned, and elaborate 
 — much the most instructive essays to be met with on that subject. 
 — S. Presbyterian. 
 
 As a general thing, we do not like serial articles in a newspaper 
 — our readers, for the most part, we presume, are of the same mind. 
 Yet there are some subjects proper for discussion in a weekly re- 
 ligious paper which cannot be dispatched in a single article. That 
 which is employing the pen of Dr Smyth, in the numbers which 
 
12 
 
 appear weekly on our first page, is of this sort. "We dare say 
 thousands of our readers have been interested and edified in the 
 perusal of those masterly and elaborate articles ; which, by the 
 way, ought to be reproduced in a volume, and which we understand 
 will probably be the case. — Southern Christian Advocate. 
 
 In this Number also, the first part of the series of articles by the 
 Rev. Dr Smyth, on the " Unity of the Races," is completed. And 
 though we have had no intimation of the fact, we have no hesitancy 
 in expressing the belief that they will soon be put, as they ought 
 to be, in a more permanent form. We seldom see in a newspaper 
 a series of articles on any subject which evince the same amount 
 of labour and research ; and as a defence of one of the outposts of 
 Christianity, which both the learned and superficial have at times 
 assailed, it seems to us altogether unanswerable. — Richmond Ob- 
 server. 
 
 It is with great pleasure that I have learned your intention of 
 publishing the work of Rev. Dr Smyth, on the " Unity of the 
 Races." I have had the opportunity of examining several parts of 
 the work, and can truly say, that for solid learning, fair and concise 
 statement, and lucid reasoning, it is the best work I know on that 
 subject. — Rer. Wm. A. Plumer, D.D. 
 
 II.— OF THE WORK AS ISSUED IN NEW YORK, FROM 
 THE AMERICAN PRESS. 
 
 From the Literary World of New York. 
 
 This question of the " Unity or Diversity of the Human Races," 
 is at this moment engaging the attention of the friends of science 
 and religion in Europe and America, with deep and peculiar in- 
 terest. It is discussed, on the one hand, purely as a question of 
 natural science. The present volume, by the Rev. Dr Smyth of 
 Charleston, S. Carolina, treats the question as inseparably connected 
 with the Mosaic history and the truth of Scripture. This truth he 
 fortifies and establishes by the results of scientific argument and 
 research. His view of the necessary connection between the theo- 
 logic and scientific points of view is forcibly stated in this expres- 
 sion, " Unless all men have descended from Adam by ordinary 
 generation, they cannot, according to the Bible, have any part or 
 lot in the great salvation." In the city of Charleston, S. Carolina, 
 there has existed for many years, a " Literary Conversation Club," 
 composed of gentlemen of scientific and literary pursuits. The 
 question of the " Unity or Diversity of the Human Races," has 
 there been long and earnestly discussed. Mr Smyth's work is the 
 result of his defence of the unity side at the discussions of this 
 club. 
 
13 
 
 From the New York Observer. 
 
 This volume contains an elaborate and able discussion of a ques- 
 tion which is now attracting a large measure of attention. " In 
 1846," says the author, "during the visit of Professor Agassiz, this 
 question was discussed by the Literary Conversation Club of 
 Charleston, when I was led to the formation of the plan of this 
 volume. The interest, awakened by the publication of Dr Nott's 
 Lectures, in further examination of this question, and especially in 
 its relations to the Bible, induced me to prepare three discourses 
 on the Unity of the Human Races, which were delivered in Charles- 
 ton in November 1849. At the same time, the publication of a 
 series of articles upon the subject was commenced in the 'Southern 
 Christian Advocate,' the ' Southern Baptist,' the ' Southern Pres- 
 byterian,' the ' New Orleans Presbyterian,' the ' Presbyterian of 
 the West,' and in the 'Watchman' and 'Observer' of Virginia. 
 These articles, modified and elaborated, constitute the present 
 volume. They were written amid the numerous occupations of a 
 pastoral charge, and the growing infirmities of feeble health. 
 
 "My object has been, to take a comprehensive survey of the 
 whole subject in its relations to Scripture, reason, and science. The 
 argument is cumulative; and the conclusion, therefore, depends 
 not on any one line of reasoning, but upon the combined effects of 
 all. Some are in themselves incomplete, and others only presump- 
 tive; but, on the doctrine of probability, it may appear that the con- 
 currence of so many distinct lines of proof in establishing the original 
 unity of the human races, is equal to the clearest demonstration." 
 
 Dr Smyth deserves the thanks of the Christian public for his 
 learned and effective labours in the cause of truth. Infidelity has 
 received more than one withering rebuke at his hands. 
 
 Professor Agassiz's professional reputation may give some cur- 
 rency to his assertions; but tiie facts and reasonings set forth in 
 this volume, and others of a kindred nature, will keep all sincere 
 inquirers after truth from doubting the truth of the declaration, 
 that "God hath made of one blood all nations of men." 
 
 From the Presbyterian of New York and Philadelphia. 
 The views of Professor Agassiz have been so widely circulated, 
 and have attacted so much attention, that we are glad they have 
 been carefully, and with great ability, reviewed in this masterly 
 work. In defending the Scriptural and only rational doctrine on 
 this subject, Dr Smyth has done good service to the cause of truth, 
 and has added to his own reputation as a man of learning and 
 patient research. This volume should be widely read, and we 
 trust it will speedily find its way into public and private libraries. 
 
 Second Notice. 
 We are pleased to learn that Dr Smyth's recent work on the 
 unity of the human races is about to be republished in Edinburgh, 
 
14 
 
 where it has been favourably noticed by some of the leading and 
 master minds in the Free Church. It was noticed briefly and fa- 
 vourably in our paper on its first appearance; and we take the 
 opportunity of again directing attention to it, as an able and con- 
 clusive refutation of the infidel argument of Professor Agassiz and 
 others; which, in despite of Scripture, would make the races of 
 men of different blood, and trace them to different origins. Pro- 
 fessor Agassiz professes not to be an unbeliever, and yet he has lent 
 the influence of his reputation to the subversion of one of the 
 plainest teachings of Scripture. Dr Smyth meets him and his co- 
 adjutors at all points; and not only establishes the Scriptural state- 
 ment, but wields a true science against a science falsely so called. 
 We are surprised at the slender grounds on which scientific men' 
 are ready to erect a theory, and at the reckless boldness with which, 
 at the hazard of reputation, they publish their immature thoughts 
 to the world. We advise them, in their future tilts, not to endanger 
 the little brains they may possess by running against a stone- wall. 
 The Scriptures are impregnable, and they are impregnable because 
 they are true. They have withstood all previous assaults ; the 
 severer the test to which they have been subjected, the more signal 
 has been their triumph; and the very science which has been ap- 
 pealed to for the overthrow of their authority, has ultimately turned 
 out to be their handmaid. 
 
 From the New York Journal of Medicine. 
 
 The object of the author has been, in the preparation of this vo- 
 lume, " to take a comprehensive survey " of the unity of the human 
 races " in its relation to Scripture, Reason, and Science." The 
 deep interest surrounding the natural history and origin of man, 
 renders it one of the first subjects of science ; and, in the language 
 of Dr S., "even were the question it involves less remarkable and 
 less important, in regard to the present and future condition of the 
 species, the methods of argument and sources of evidence are such 
 as mav well engage and engross every scientific inquirer." There 
 has of late been thrown around the question of the unity of origin, 
 doubts, and the author of this book has made a thorough and scien- 
 tific attempt to clear up these doubts, and in a logical and Chris- 
 tian-like manner he has proved himself competent to the task he 
 has undertaken. We have only space to subjoin the following 
 extract : — 
 
 " To the clear and certain establishment of the truth involved in 
 this question, it is, ice think, essential, that its twofold character should be 
 borne in mind. So long as naturalists were agreed that unity of 
 species argued unity of origin, the question might be regarded as 
 single, and one of exclusively scientific character. But since the the- 
 ory has been introduced and sanctioned by Professor Agassiz, that 
 the same species may have been created in many different provinces, 
 and over their whole extent, the question of origin must be regard- 
 
15 
 
 ed as entirely distinct from the question of specific unity. The 
 former is a question of fact, to be decided by historical evidence. 
 The latter is a question of scientific observation and induction. The 
 question of origin, therefore, can be determined only by the evi- 
 dence of Scripture, history, tradition, language, religion, and the 
 adaptations of Christianity to the mind and heart of all men. The 
 question of species is to be tested by those criteria which are em- 
 ployed to fix the classification of other animals. Between these 
 questions there need be, and there ought to be, no collision, since 
 the infallible certainty of the single origin of the human races, 
 leaves the scientific investigation of their present specific character 
 and classification altogether untrammelled, so that it might even 
 be found convenient to regard as distinct species what are now 
 considered as only varieties, and yet leave their unity of origin to 
 be decided by its appropriate evidence. 
 
 From the Southern Medical and Surgical Journal. 
 
 Amongst the various questions which are at this time under the 
 discussion of men of science, none possess more interest, or are en- 
 titled to a larger share of attention, than those connected with the 
 natural history of man. The doctrine of the unity of the human 
 races has been admitted, and is yet received by the great mass of 
 the Christian world, but there are able, scientific men, who dissent 
 from this doctrine, and their efforts for its overthrow have brought in- 
 to the field some equally able advocates of human unity. Among the 
 ablest of these last, are Drs Bachman and Smyth, both of Charleston. 
 
 Dr Smyth's w r ork is devoted to " a comprehensive survey of the 
 whole subject in its relations to Scripture, Reason, and Science." 
 It evinces great ability and research, and its positions are sustained 
 by facts and arguments of great interest and force. A careful per- 
 usal, we think, will scarcely fail to lead the reader to adopt Dr 
 Smyth's conclusion, that all the races of men have sprung from one 
 pair. Professor Agassiz,and some others who hold to the plurality of 
 origin of the human races, profess to rest their theory on the decla- 
 rations of Scripture ; upon this question Dr Smyth's argument is 
 complete and unanswerable, and such must be the conclusion of 
 every impartial reader, even should he incline to the views of 
 Agassiz in other particulars. 
 
 Dr Smyth's work richly merits, and will doubtless have, an ex- 
 tensive circulation. We understand that an edition will soon ap- 
 pear in England, and from some notices we have read, we doubt 
 not it is destined to attract considerable attention, and secure for 
 the author the same high reputation in that country which he 
 now enjoys in his own. 
 
 From Stringer and Townsend's International Weekly 
 
 Miscellany. 
 The Rev. Thomas Smyth, D.D., of South Carolina, whose work 
 
16 
 
 upon the " Unity of the Human Races," suggested by the recent 
 declarations of infidelity by Professor Agassiz of Harvard College 
 and others, has been published by Putnam, and received with a 
 hearty applause by Christians and scholars, is not, as is commonlv 
 supposed, an American author, though he has long resided in this 
 country. He was born in Belfast, in the north of Ireland, and edu- 
 cated at the Royal College in that city, pursuing afterwards his 
 theological studies in London, and at Princeton in New Jersey. 
 He has been eighteen years minister of the Presbyterian Church 
 in Charleston, where he was married, and where he will probably 
 always reside, while in this country. Dr Smyth possesses one of the 
 largest and most valuable private libraries in the United States, and 
 has therefore been able to compose his learned works in theology, 
 history, &c, under advantages but seldom enjoyed by our authors. 
 His chief productions are, Apostolical Succession, 1842; Presby- 
 tery and not Prelacy the Scriptural and Primitive Polity of the 
 Church, 1S43; Ecclesiastical Republicanism ; Ecclesiastical Cate- 
 chism ; Claims of the Free Church of Scotland ; Life and Charac- 
 ter of Thomas Chalmers, with Personal Recollections; Nature and 
 Functions of Deacons ; The Rite of Confirmation Examined; Be- 
 reaved Parents Consoled ; Union to Christ and his Church; The 
 True Origin and Source of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Inde- 
 pendence, with a Continuation on Presbyterianism, the National 
 Declaration, and the Revolution ; Denominational Education ; 
 Pastoral Memento ; Life and Character of Calvin ; the Westmin- 
 ster Assembly; and the Unity of the Human Races proved to be 
 the Doctrine of Scripture, Reason, and Science. Dr Smyth has 
 also written largely in the " Biblical Repertory," the " Southern 
 Presbyterian Review,'' and other periodicals. 
 
 From the Albany State Register. 
 
 Professor Agassiz in one of his lectures announced the startling 
 doctrine, that the black races and the white were not descended 
 from the same stock ; that we alone can claim Adam as our ancestor, 
 while the progenitor of the Africans must be looked for some- 
 where else, and have been created at some other time. 
 
 This theory of the.plurality of origin in the races of men, of course 
 strikes at the foundation of revelation, and virtually denies the ac- 
 count given in the beginning of the book of Genesis. It naturally 
 called forth many replies, of which this, by Dr Smyth, is the most 
 able we have seen. His object is to take a comprehensive survey of 
 the whole subject in its relations to Scripture, Reason, and Science, 
 proving that all men must be of the same original Adamic family ; 
 that " God hath made of one blood all nations that dwell upon the 
 face of the whole earth." 
 
 AVe commend this work to our readers for the ability of its 
 argument, and also for its general interest on a subject which has 
 lately excited much discussion. It is not intended for the theolo- 
 gian alone, but will be read with pleasure by all who care for 
 
17 
 
 scientific investigations. Being written with much learning, it 
 contains as full statements of the different points as can be em- 
 braced in a work of popular character. 
 
 From the Southern Presbyterian. 
 The views of Professor Agassiz have been so widely circulated, 
 and have attracted so much attention, that we are glad they have 
 been carefully, and with great ability, reviewed in this masterly 
 work. In defending the scriptural, and only rational doctrine on 
 this subject, Dr Smyth has done good service to the cause of truth, 
 and has added to his own reputation as a man of learning and 
 patient research. This volume should be widely read, and we 
 trust it will speedily find its way into public and private libraries. 
 
 From the Washington Union. 
 
 The subject-matter of this volume has long since given rise to 
 argument in the scientific world ; and, as there are but partial data 
 upon which a just decision could be based, it is not wonderful that 
 the greatest diversity of opinion should have existed. Very recently, 
 the distinguished naturalist, Agassiz, promulgated his opinion on 
 the subject; and stated, that although he looked upon man as form- 
 ing a unity, yet there was undoubted diversity in the origin of the 
 races. A sketch of these opinions has been published; and it is to 
 be regretted that the Professor did not expand his views, and enter 
 into more satisfactory detail on so interesting a subject, and one 
 concerning which his voice has such a right to be heard. We un- 
 derstand Professor Agassiz, in his outline, to admit that mankind 
 form a unit, but to insist that there were varieties forming the great 
 class, yet totally distinct from each other. He seems unwilling also 
 to grant that the natural causes at work upon our globe could have 
 produced the numerous variations from an original type. 
 
 In his examination of the subject, he introduces two great classes 
 of men, terming them the historical and non-historical — to the for- 
 mer of which, as laid down in Biblical history, he attributes the 
 origin of the white races alone. 
 
 For support of his argument, he passes over Scriptural authority, 
 since he has assumed it to be undoubted, as far as our historical 
 race is concerned; but, in investis-ating the origin of the others, he 
 depends upon the analogies which have always held in zoological 
 investigations; and it seems to us that analogy, though termed the 
 weakest form of metaphysical argument, has far more claim on our 
 consideration when the subject is purely one of natural history. 
 
 Dr Smyth, who is well known as a learned theological writer, has 
 taken a part in the Charleston conversations on this subject; and 
 for many years, he states, it has formed for him the topic of anxious 
 consideration. 
 
 In its discussion, he has divided his book into the relations to 
 Scripture, reason, and science, forming his conclusions, not from the 
 testimony of either division, but by means of a cumulative argu- 
 
 b 
 
JS 
 
 merit, based upon the data to be gleaned from the whole. His 
 great theological acquirements have well fitted him to adduce and 
 collate all the lights the Scriptures can afford, and there are many 
 brilliant ones, we must admit. As far as reason is concerned, his 
 argument bears the stamp of a clear, logical mind, and his scientific 
 knowledge appears to be of the highest order. That the subject is 
 most interesting is undoubted ; yet to us it seems a sea of mixed pro- 
 babilities and doubts ; and Dr Smyth himself admits " that the argu- 
 ments oneof probability, always tending to greater certainty, though 
 it may be incapable of ever reaching that which is complete." The 
 author seems earnestly to have brought every faculty to bear upon 
 his subject, in order that his conclusions might be complete; and 
 we think, as far as it lay in his power, his duty has been faithfully 
 performed, and will be satisfactory to many, though we have not 
 the slightest doubt that he must prepare himself for criticism from 
 many sources. We venture to predict that the book will meet with 
 an extensive circulation, and a careful perusal. 
 
 From the Christian Chronicle of Philadelphia. 
 In a notice, necessarily as short as this must be, it is impossible 
 to give even an abstract of the line of argument which Dr Smyth 
 pursues. He has traversed thoroughly the entire ground in dis- 
 pute; in fact, he has left no single item untouched, which could 
 add to the cumulative w T eight of his positions. Having, as we have 
 already remarked, proven from Scripture and history, that all nations 
 descended from two parents, Adam and Eve, he devotes by far the 
 largest portion of the book to the scientific view of the subject; 
 in which he demonstrates that the theory built by Agassiz upon 
 his false analogy between man and the lower animals, is in every 
 respect a most unphilosophic and unscientific one. After a thorough 
 reading of this book, our exclamation was that of the epigramma- 
 tist, Martial — " Ne sutor vltra crepidam" which, being freely tran- 
 slated, is — " Mr Agassiz, you had better stick to your fishes, and 
 
 not meddle with things beyond your province." Never 
 
 have the bulwarks of our religion been so successfully assailed as 
 now. The mere scoffer at all that is pure and good, can do but 
 little injury. But the great luminaries in the literary and scientific 
 firmament; men who are examplers of purity, honesty, sobriety, 
 and, in fact, of all the Christian virtues; and who amid their be- 
 wildering theories of cosmogony, physiology, and psychology, have 
 forgotten to consult the inspired and unerring records sent us from 
 heaven, may shed down on the social w r orld a light baneful and 
 blighting as it is brilliant. The Christian ministry, we believe, are 
 to a great extent accountable for the prevalence of these errors. 
 We would not have them deliver scientific lectures from the pulpit; 
 but we deem it vitally important, that those passages of Holy 
 Writ which come within the sphere of science should be so 
 expounded to the people, as to appear not conflicting with true 
 science. Four years since, an anonymous writer of great vigour 
 
19 
 
 published in London, " The Vestiges of Creation." It was repub- 
 lished and read extensively in this country, scattering among .^our 
 educated youth the seeds of a most baneful philosophy. And yet 
 how many Christian ministers were capable or were willing to ex- 
 pose its monstrous errors ? Until the evil is almost ineradicable, 
 no remedy is applied. 
 
 We therefore are under great obligations to Dr Smyth for the 
 timely and able defence which he has given us of this cardinal 
 doctrine of our Bible. It behoves the Christian Church to read 
 and circulate its truths, and the Christian ministry to elucidate 
 and enforce them; so that the erroneous views of such men as 
 Professor Agassiz, on this great question, may be consigned, by a 
 competently discriminating public, to that condemnation which 
 they so justly merit. 
 
 From Professor Bush, in the New York New Church Repository. 
 In the present instance, the work has been prepared with special 
 reference to a particular state of the question; that is, with re- 
 ference to the recent work of Dr Nott, Dr Barrett's address before 
 the South Carolina Medical Association, and the views of Profes- 
 sor Agassiz, and others, lately put forth in this country on the op- 
 posite side, and as Dr Smyth thinks (except in the case of Agassiz) 
 from a love of infidelity and a hatred of the Bible, rather than any 
 motives for the advancement of science or a true love of know- 
 ledge. His primary object, therefore, is to rescue the Scriptures 
 from the grasp of the sceptic, and for that purpose to throw all 
 possible obstacles in the way of those who wish to establish the 
 theory that mankind are descended from more than a single pair. 
 And his task he has performed with a good deal of research, learn- 
 ing, and ability; and besides embodying in his work considerable 
 information, valuable to the general reader, has interspersed it with 
 many sensible remarks and useful suggestions in regard to the 
 manner of conducting the inquiry. 
 
 From the Albion. 
 A very learned and able work : we think Dr Smyth has done 
 good service to the cause of science. We cordially recommend 
 the volume to our readers. 
 
 From the Home Journal. 
 An able work which we commend to philanthropists, physi- 
 ologists, and anthropologists. The author draws his arguments 
 from reason, scripture, and science, and to our apprehension makes 
 a strong case of the side of the question he espouses. 
 
 From the Christian Review. 
 
 This work is one of real ability, and deserves the attention of 
 those who desire to examine the subiect of which it treats. 
 
20 
 
 From the Courier and Enquirer. 
 In this work, the Professor's theory is thoroughly reviewed, and 
 an extended and elaborate argument is presented to establish by 
 scripture, reason, and science, the doctrine of the unity of the 
 human races. Dr Smyth is a man of acknowledged ability, and is 
 the author of a number of works upon controverted topics con- 
 nected with theology. He is a man of learning, a strong, clear 
 reason er, and a vigorous and effective writer. He has treated the 
 subject with great fuluess, and in a manner which entitles his 
 work to general attention and favour. It is published in a very 
 handsome volume, which will be extensively useful. 
 
 From the Journal of Commerce. 
 Doctor Smyth's treatise is elaborate and comprehensive, embrac- 
 ing the whole argument, and presenting in the clearest and most 
 convincing light the various facts, considerations, and inferences, 
 which in their combined effect render the conclusion irresistible, 
 that man was created in one locality only, and in one pair only ; 
 that the race descending therefrom was by God's providence dis- 
 persed over the earth, its several sections endued with constitu- 
 tional powers adapted to their respective localities ; and that the 
 existing varieties of the human family are analogous in kind and 
 degree to those which distinguish the breeds of the domestic animals, 
 and must be referred to adventitious causes such as climate, situation, 
 food, habit of life, &c. This is the scripture doctrine and the gener- 
 ally received view. The few who question it would be made still 
 fewer if brought to consider the arguments adduced in this volume. 
 
 From the Boston Transcript. 
 This work is based upon a series of popular essays which have 
 appeared in some of the leading religious papers. It is designed 
 to present a comprehensive view of the whole question, as a doc- 
 trine of Scripture, science, and reason. The author has devoted 
 many years to the investigation of his subject, and he has treated 
 it with marked ability, and in a very thorough and comprehen- 
 sive manner. 
 
 From the Christian Intelligencer. 
 This useful book, which has been well received in the commu- 
 nity, is much wanted at the present crisis. The work is the sub- 
 stance of a series of articles which appeared recently in various 
 southern periodicals. The argument is cumulative : but when we 
 see so many distinct lines of proof conveying to a single point, we 
 think the unity established in a manner equal to the clearest de- 
 monstration. The work will be popular ; and Mr Putnam has done 
 good service by publishing it. 
 
21 
 
 From the Albany State Register. 
 We commend this work to our readers, for the ability of its 
 argument, and also for its general interest on a subject which has 
 lately excited much discussion. It is not intended for the theolo- 
 gian alone, but will be read with pleasure by all who care for 
 scientific investigations. Being written with much learning, it con- 
 tains as full statements of the different points as can be embraced 
 in a work of popular character. 
 
 From the Baltimore Patriot. 
 The work before us is regarded as the ablest and most conclu- 
 sive argument that has been made in reply to Professor Agassiz, 
 and as such is commended to the general reader. The question, 
 apart from its religious bearing, is one of much interest ; and the 
 learning, science, and knowledge which Dr Smyth displays in 
 this work are evidences of his ability to treat it, commensurate 
 with its religious importance and interest. 
 
 From the Churchman. 
 Professor Agassiz, among others, has recently advocated the 
 theory, that the present varieties of the human races are descended 
 from different stocks — a notion in direct opposition to his former 
 statements on the subject. Dr Smyth's present volume is founded 
 on three lectures delivered by him in Charleston, in 1849, and also 
 on a series of articles published in several southern papers. It 
 shows much learning and research, and very ably demonstrates 
 the truth of the Scriptural account of the origin of all mankind 
 from a single pair, and subsequently from Noah and his sons, and 
 meets the objections founded on the supposed impossibility of such 
 an original. He then enters into a carefully-arranged and ably- 
 conducted positive argument for this unity, drawn from compara- 
 tive anatomy, the principles of classification, the unity of the 
 species, the nature and connection of language, history, and tradi- 
 tion, and the adaptation of Christianity to all. The unphilosophical 
 assumptions of those who maintain the new theory are satisfactorily 
 pointed out. Professor Agassiz's theory is specially examined, and 
 shown to be inconsistent with Scripture and science. The inju- 
 rious effects of such a theory on the welfare and prospects of the 
 negro race, is demonstrated in a fervid and Christian spirit. Dr 
 Smyth refers to the ablest authorities ; and his work evidences deep 
 thought, as well as sound arguments and scientific knowledge. 
 
 From the Recorder. 
 The subject of the origin of the human race is exciting a consider- 
 able degree of attention among scientific men ; and, since the views 
 lately avowed by Professor Agassiz at the meeting of scientific 
 men at Charleston, that interest has extended somewhat more 
 
22 
 
 widely. AVe are inclined to think that undue weight has been 
 given to his opinions on this subject. As a naturalist he un- 
 doubtedly stands high ; but we believe that his views on a very 
 important point relative to the movement of the glaciers, have, 
 been shown conclusively, by Professor Forbes of Edinburgh, to be 
 incorrect. He had made the glaciers his study for years, and his 
 residence at Neufchatel gave him unusual facilities for that pur- 
 pose, yet we find that his theories were not sustained by the facts 
 in the case. We are inclined to think, though we would speak 
 with all deference, that the same will be found true in reference to 
 the opinion which he volunteered at Charleston on the origin of 
 the human race. Dr Smyth has read very extensively on the sub- 
 ject, and given a rapid synopsis of the principal facts and reason- 
 ings relative to it. The subject is one with which every clergy- 
 man should be familiar, that he may be able to meet cavillers and 
 satisfy the inquiries of serious minds. There is no work with 
 which we are acquainted, except the large and expensive one of 
 Prichard, that contains so many important facts bearing on the 
 question as this. We would therefore advise our readers to buy 
 this book and study it. 
 
 From Harper's New Monthly Magazine. — Harper & Brothers, 
 
 New York. 
 The question discussed in the present volume, is one that has 
 excited great attention among modern savans, and more recently, 
 has obtained a fresh interest from the speculations concerning it by 
 the popular scientific lecturer, Professor Agassiz of Harvard Uni- 
 versity. In many respects, Dr Smyth has shown himself admir- 
 ably qualified for the task he lias undertaken. He brings to the 
 discussion of the subject the resources of great and various learn- 
 ing, the mature results of elaborate investigation, a familiarity with 
 the labours of previous writers, and a lively and attractive style of 
 composition. The argument from Scripture is dwelt upon at con- 
 siderable length, and though presented in a forcible manner, betrays 
 the presence of a certain tincture of professional zeal, which will 
 tend to vitiate the effect on the mind of the scientific reader. 
 Under the head of the Former Civilization of Black Races of 
 Men, a great variety of curious facts are adduced, showing the 
 original sagacity and advancement in all worldly knowledge and 
 science, by which the family of Ham was distinguished. The tes- 
 timony of a southern divine of such high eminence as Dr Smyth, 
 to the primitive equality in the intellectual faculties of the Negro 
 and European races, is not a little remarkable, and speaks well for 
 his candour and breadth of comprehension. The discussion of the 
 origin of the varieties in the human race is conducted with great 
 ingenuity and copious erudition, but, it must be admitted, hardly 
 succeeds in making out a case to the satisfaction of the inquirer, 
 who regards the subject only in the light of history and philosophy. 
 
23 
 
 The influence of the theory which he opposes, on the relations of 
 the Southern States^ is considered by Dr Smyth to be of a different 
 character from that set forth by many writers. He believes that 
 it would be suicidal to the South in the maintenance of her true 
 position toward her coloured population. The diversity of the 
 Black and White Races was never admitted by the fathers of the 
 country. They always recognised the coloured race which had 
 been providentially among them for two centuries and a half as 
 fellow- beings, with the same original attributes, the same essential 
 character, and the same immortal destiny. The introduction of a 
 novel theory on the subject, Dr Smyth maintains, would be in the 
 highest degree impolitic and dangerous, removing from both master 
 and servant the strongest bonds which now unite them, and by 
 which they are restrained from licentious, immoral, and cruel 
 purposes. 
 
 Without reference to many statements, which will produce the 
 widest latitude of opinion in regard both to their soundness and 
 their accuracy, the work of Dr Smyth may be commended as a 
 treatise of the highest importance in the scientific discussion to 
 which it is devoted, abounding in materials of inestimable value to 
 the student, filled with the proofs of rare cultivation and scholar- 
 like refinement, and every way creditable to the attainments and 
 the ability of the author and to the literature of the South. 
 
 From the Biblical Repertory and Princeton Review. 
 
 We shall not enter into the curious and instructive history of 
 this controversy in its earlier stages; except to say that the battle 
 was waged ever since the modern revival of the subject by Vol- 
 taire and his coadjutors in France, Germany, and England, on the 
 question of the Unity of the Species in the Human Race. No one 
 unacquainted with the subject has any conception of the amount 
 of learning and labour drawn into the discussion. 
 
 The work of Dr Smyth, the latest on the subject, owes its chief 
 value to the fact that it is a general index, under the form of a 
 resume" of the argument, to a large portion of what has been written 
 on both sides of every view that has been taken of the question. 
 Of its merits we have already spoken in general terms in a former 
 number of our Journal. Besides the extraordinary display of 
 bibliographical research, which we think must add to the reputa- 
 tion which Dr S. has already achieved in this department of study, 
 he may well congratulate himself if his learned work has contri- 
 buted to precipitate the change of ground which the question has 
 undergone in the hands of Professor Agassiz. 
 
 From the Southern Presbyterian Review. 
 
 The work of Dr Smyth has been received with high encomiums, 
 both in this country and in Europe, where it is about to be re- 
 
24 
 
 published. It caDnot fail to enhance his well-earned reputation 
 for extensive research and varied reading. The reader will find 
 in it a mass of novel and striking facts of the most interesting cha- 
 racter, gathered out of the stores of a rich library, and from all 
 departments of learning, and presented, not in the dry and heavy 
 style usual in learned disquisitions, but iu a clear, lively, and enter- 
 taining manner. We could have wished some alterations in the 
 arrangements of the materials, and occasionally more compactness 
 in the argumentation ; but it furnishes the most ample means for 
 the reader to construct an argument for himself, and directs him 
 to the best sources for further investigations. Our pleasure in 
 reading the volume has been diminished bv the conviction that the 
 labours of the author in its preparation were one chief means of 
 inducing the malady which has for a time exiled him from his 
 home, his friends, his church, and his indefatigable efforts in the 
 cause of truth and righteousness. 
 
 III. —NOTICES FROM THE BRITISH PRESS OF THE 
 AMERICAN EDITION. 
 
 From the "Witness of Edinburgh. 
 
 There are two returning errors of a diametrically opposite cha- 
 racter which arise out of natural science, and of which the last 
 century has seen several revivals, and the centuries to come must 
 witness many more. The one, that of Maillet and Lamarck, sees 
 no impossible line between species, or even genera, families, and 
 classes; and so, holds that all animals, the human race as certainly 
 the others, may have commenced in the lowest forms, and de- 
 veloped during the course of ages to what they now are. The 
 
 ler, that of Karnes and Voltaire, recognises iu even the 
 varieties of the species impassable lines, and holds, in conse- 
 quence, that the human race cannot have sprung from a simple 
 pair. And both beliefs are as incompatible with the fundamental 
 truths of revelation as they are wi:h one another. The Lamarckian 
 form of error has been laid on the shelf for a time ; nor will it be 
 very efficiently revived until some new accumulation of fact, 
 gleaned from the yet unexplored portions of the geologic field, or 
 the obscure fields of natural history, and pregnant with those 
 analogical remembrances between the course of creation and the 
 progress of embryology with which nature is full, will give it new 
 footing, by associating it with novel and interesting fact. The 
 antagonist error is at present all alive' and active in America, 
 where it. has been espoused by naturalists of high name and stand- 
 ing, and it has already produced volumes of controversy. Nor is 
 there a country in the world where, from purely political causes, 
 there must exist a predisposition equally strong to receive as true 
 
25 
 
 the hypothesis of Voltaire. The existence of slavery in the 
 southern provinces, and the strong dislike with which the black 
 population are regarded by the whites throughout the States gene- 
 rally, must dispose the men who hate or enslave them to receive 
 with favour whatever plausibilities go to show that they are not of 
 one blood with themselves, and that they owe to them none of the 
 duties of brotherhood. We have perused with interest and instruc- 
 tion, a very learned and able volume on this subject by the Rev. 
 Dr Thomas Smyth of Charleston, one of the most accomplished 
 Presbyterian ministers of the United States, with whose works on the 
 apostolical succession, and the claims of the Free Church of Scot- 
 land, many of our readers must be already acquainted ; and who, 
 though residing in the centre of a slave district, and exposed to 
 much odium on the part of the abolitionists, has been the first to 
 come forward in this controversy, to assert, in behalf of the black 
 man, the "unity of the human races," and that all men have fallen 
 in one common father, the first Adam, " created a living soul," and 
 that there is salvation to all in one common Saviour, "the last 
 Adam," made a quickening spirit. 
 
 From the Scottish Guardiax. 
 
 Dr Smyth's work we have read with the greatest interest. It is 
 clear and conclusive throughout ; not leaving infidelity a refuge in 
 a single point, whether scientific, rational, or scriptural. It is by 
 far the most complete work on the subject which we have ever 
 seen, adapted to the state of present science and research. It 
 leaves nothing to be desired. We cannot express a better wish 
 for truth, than that, when assailed, she may ever find as accom- 
 plished an advocate. The work reflects the highest credit on the 
 talents, learning, scientific knowledge, and Christian spirit of the 
 author. Let us add, that it is creditable to the Christian ministry, 
 planted in the midst of a slave population, and tempted, therefore, 
 to lean to a theory which, in its practical applications, would so 
 far shelter slavery and slaveholders, that its members have come 
 boldly forward to vindicate the unity of the human race, and to 
 teach unpalatable truths in the ears of the powerful. Surely it is 
 in the same degree discreditable to find science and philosophy, 
 ever bountiful of their liberality and charity, in favour of a theory 
 which, if generally adopted, its friends cannot but know would tell 
 injuriously upon the condition and prospects of the negro race. 
 
 From the Critic. 
 Science is here viewed in connection with religion. Dr Smyth 
 argues with great power, that the doctrine of Scripture, that the 
 human race sprung from one stock, is literally true ; and he 
 meets and answers, seriatim, the objections of physiologists who 
 have contended that, because in form, feature, and mental and 
 
26 
 
 bodily organization, the existing races of man differ so widely, 
 therefore they could not have sprung from one common ancestor. 
 
 From the Belfast Monitor. 
 
 We always hail with lively interest any work from the pen of 
 our much esteemed friend, T)r Smyth of Charleston. From his 
 habits of laborious investigation, close and correct reasoning, and 
 study of general principles, as well as from his fervent love of truth, 
 and his power of composition, we are prepared to find in any work 
 which he publishes a thorough investigation of the subject, and ar- 
 guments and conclusions which are deserving of the most attentive 
 consideration. We have perused this work with no common in- 
 terest, designed as it is to expose and refute a number of daring, 
 though specious, infidel objections to the Scripture account of the 
 origin of the human race, and to vindicate the doctrine of reve- 
 lation on this important subject. We have occasionally paid some 
 attention to this point, and have read a little on the subject. But 
 we are free to declare that we know of no work which, in so brief 
 a space, and in such lucid terms, and by such solid reasoning, con- 
 tains an equally full and satisfactory discussion of the question. 
 The historical and doctrinal evidence of Scripture is clearly stated 
 and ably illustrated — the former civilization of the black races of 
 men is satisfactorily shown — the origin of the varieties of the hu- 
 man species is traced — and the unity of the race is demonstrated 
 by various forcible and conclusive arguments. The argument is 
 cumulative, and when the different sources of proof are properly 
 weighed, and brought together, the result to any candid mind, who 
 is capable of understanding the question, must be a very decided 
 conviction of the truth of Scripture testimony on this subject. Dr 
 Smyth states clearly and ably refutes the objections which have 
 been advanced by late writers to the unity of the human races, and 
 in the Appendix he furnishes satisfactory information respecting 
 the scriptural knowledge of Africa, the adaptation of Christianity 
 to the negro race, and other collateral topics. The work indicates 
 very extensive reading and research, is replete with valuable infor- 
 mation, and furnishes an able and unanswerable reply to the dog- 
 matic assertions and crude theories of some modern infidels who, 
 from observable varieties in the human races, have aimed to over- 
 turn the Scripture testimony to the descent of all human beings 
 from one original pair, and thus to impede all efforts for the moral 
 improvement and evangelization of mankind. We regard this 
 volume as a valuable contribution to the evidence for the plenary 
 inspiration and supreme authority of the Word of God ; and we 
 rejoice that so learned and able a writer as Dr Smyth has grappled 
 so successfully with the bold statements and sophistical reasonings 
 of men, proud in their own conceits, who have been assiduously 
 labouring to undermine the foundations of our most holy faith. It 
 gives us pleasure to learn that a British edition of this work is in 
 
27 
 
 course of publication. We trust the esteemed author will be long 
 spared to reap the fruit of his diversified and arduous labours — 
 and still farther to serve his generation, by the will of God, through 
 the productions of his matured study. 
 
 From the London Evangelical Magazine. 
 
 Of the works published of late on this subject, that now intro- 
 duced to the notice of the reader is the most thorough and complete. 
 
 Dr Smyth here presents the mature fruits of a long and laborious 
 inquiry. The work, in point of research and reference, reminds us 
 of the productions of days long gone by, when our learned fathers, 
 in the seclusion of their study, spared no time and toil in the pre- 
 paration of their immortal tomes. Upon few books of the same 
 bulk, we should think, has there been attention bestowed by their au- 
 thors, at all equal to that which the valuable work before us exhibits. 
 "We should gladly devote some space to an examination of the con- 
 tents, but we reserve for ourselves this pleasure till the work is 
 republished in England, which it will be shortly. We should cor- 
 dially recommend its perusal to all on this side the Atlantic who 
 take an interest in the important subject. In the mean time, we 
 cannot but present our congratulations to Dr Smyth, already so 
 well known in America, and to some extent in England, by his 
 works on Apostolical Succession, and Presbyterianism, on the large 
 accession to his literary fame which he will assuredly derive from 
 this very admirable volume. 
 
 From the British Quarterly Review. 
 Dr Smyth is a laborious and intelligent writer. The present 
 subject has occupied his thoughts for some years, and the volume 
 before us is the result. The plan of the treatise might have been 
 more scientific ; but its accumulations of material, with the judi- 
 cious estimate formed of the testimony borne to the general issue 
 by so many different lines of fact, entitle the work to no common 
 measure of attention from all persons interested in the inquiry to 
 which it relates, and especially from all thoughtful men concerned 
 to vindicate the authority of the sacred writers. 
 
 From the English Presbyterian Messenger. 
 This volume shows to what good account a clear head and power- 
 ful memory may turn the treasures of a splendid library. Not 
 that Dr Smyth is a man of mere learning ; but the skilful use of 
 his vast information has not only given force to his argument, but 
 a very instructive and amusing character to many chapters of his 
 book. The recent views of Professor Agassiz appear to have 
 excited more attention in the Southern States of the Union than 
 they have yet awakened in Europe ; and it is a cause of rejoicing 
 that one so well equipped for the controversy has entered the field. 
 We are glad to find that Dr Smyth has consented to prepare for 
 the press an English edition. 
 
t^-tA^L*?/ ^/t^-Z^ 
 
 ^ 
 #-?* 
 
 4i <^7'?t tt^&r-??- 
 
 JOSE'S T01TE & HTTETE 
 
THE UNITY OF THE HUMAN RACES 
 
 PROVED TO BE 
 
 THE DOCTRINE OF SCRIPTURE, REASON. 
 AND SCIENCE : 
 
 WITH 
 
 A REVIEW OF THE PRESENT POSITION AND THEORY OF 
 
 PROFESSOR AGASSIZ. 
 
 BY 
 
 THOMAS ^MYTH, D.J)., 
 
 MEMBER OF THE BRITISH AND AMERICAN ASSOCIATIONS FOR THE ADVANCEMENT 
 
 OF SCIENCE. 
 
 FROM THE AMERICAN EDITION, REVISED AND ENLARGED BY THE AUTHOR. 
 
 '" \'/£pwzu rib iff to* ccv^wto;. '—ARISTOTLE. 
 
 " Man is surely of all things in the creation most interesting to man." 
 
 EDINBURGH: 
 JOHNSTONE AND HUNTER. 
 
 M.DCCC.LI. 
 
THE POINT OF VIEW FROM WHICH WE DESIRE TO EXAMINE THIS IMPOR- 
 TANT SUBJECT. IS THAT OF ENTIRE CONFIDENCE IN THE REVELATIONS OF GOD, 
 BOTH IN HIS WORD AND WORKS: THERE ARE RELIGIOUS MEN WHO WOULD 
 ADHERE TO THIS FORMULA IN TERMS, BUT PRACTICALLY LOOK UPON THE 
 SCIENCE WITH SUSPICION AND HOSTILITY; AND THERE ARE NATURALISTS 
 EQUALLY READY TO SAY SCRIPTURE AND NATURAL PHENOMENA CANNOT 
 CONTRADICT EACH OTHER, BUT IT IS ONLY IN ORDER TO BOW SCRIPTURE 
 RESPECTFULLY OUT OF THE WAY. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 Preface ........ vii 
 
 Preface to the English Edition .... ix 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 On the Nature and Importance of the Doctrine of the Unity of the 
 Human Races. Part First — Anthropology ... 1 
 
 Notes to Chapter i. ..... 24 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 On the Nature and Importance of the Doctrine of the Unity of the 
 Human Races. Part Second — Ethnology . . . 31 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Presumptive Arguments in favour of the Unity of the Human Race3 55 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The Historical and Doctrinal Evidence of Scripture . . 68 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 The Historical and Doctrinal Evidence of Scripture — continued 89 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 The Historical and Doctrinal Evidence of Scripture — concluded 102 
 
 Note. — Scriptural Knowledge of Africa . . . 113 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 The Unity of the Races proved from the Religious Character of all 
 Men, the Adaptation of Christianity to all Men, and the Truth of 
 the Mosaic Records . . . . , . 118 
 
 Note.— Adaptation of Christianity to the Negroes • 128 
 
IV CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Page 
 The Twofold Character of the Question — Scientific Argument 133 
 
 Note.— The Cretins . . . . . . 136 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The Nature and Philosophy of Species ... 141 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 The Unity of the Races proved by the Unity of the Species . 152 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Latest Views of Professor Agassiz, and his Theory Tested . 1 65 
 
 Note. — Hugh Miller, Esq., on the Analogical Argument, and Re- 
 view of Dr Barratt's Address . . . . 184 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 The Unity of the Races proved from their Fertility and the Infertility 
 of Hybrids 189 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 The Unity of the Races proved from the Universality, Nature, and 
 Connection of Languages . . . . . 199 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 The Unity of the Races proved from the Universality, Nature, and 
 Connection of Languages — concluded .... 208 
 
 Note. — America : its Languages and Tribes . . 220 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 The Unity of the Races sustained by the Testimony of History and 
 Tradition ....... 225 
 
 Note.— Civilization the First Condition of Man . . 239 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 The Unity of the Races proved from Experience, from known Changes 
 which have occurred among the different Races of Men, and from 
 the Characteristics of the African Races . . . 242 
 
 Notes.— The Skull of the Negro, and the Veddahs of Ceylon 266 
 
CONTENTS. V 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 The Unity of the Human Races proved from the Insensible Grada- 
 tions of their Varieties, and from their Analogy to what takes 
 place in other Animals ...... 278 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Origin of the Varieties of the Human Species . . . 288 
 
 Notes. — The Power of External Causes to Modify Species, and 
 Views of Hippocrates . . . . . 314 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Origin of the Varieties of the Human Species — concluded . 316 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Resume of the Arguments for the Unity of the Human Races, and 
 Objections considered ...... 324 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 The Theory of a Plurality of Origin in the Races of Men, Unphilo- 
 sophical ........ 330 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 The Theory of a Plurality in the Races of Men, Uncharitable . 345 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 On the Former Civilization of the Black Races of Men . . 353 
 
 Note. — Black Representations of Christ and the Virgin . 374 
 
 On the Power of External Causes to Modify Species , . . 376 
 
 .Index 405 
 
 Scriptural Index ...„.•• 4 °" 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The subject discussed in this volume has formed the topic of 
 anxious consideration with me for many years. In 1 846, dur- 
 ing a visit of Professor Agassiz, this question was discussed 
 by him in the Literary Conversation Club of Charleston, South 
 Carolina, when I was led to controvert his positions and to the 
 formation of the plan of this volume. The interest awakened 
 by the publication of the Lectures of Dr Nott of Mobile on 
 the " Biblical and Physical History of Man" in the further 
 examination of this question, and especially in its relations to 
 the Bible, induced me to prepare three discourses on the Unity 
 of the Human Races, which were delivered in Charleston, in 
 November 1849. At the same time the publication of a series 
 of articles upon the subject was commenced in the Southern 
 Christian Advocate, the Southern Baptist, the Southern Pres- 
 byterian, the New Orleans Presbyterian, the Presbyterian of 
 the West, and in the Watchman and Observer of Virginia. 
 These articles, modified, elaborated, and now rearranged 
 and enlarged, constitute the present volume. They were 
 written amid the numerous occupations of a pastoral charge, 
 and the growing infirmities of feeble health. They will, there- 
 fore, call for much allowance, both as to style and arrange- 
 ment. Since writing out the argument, it has been strength- 
 ened by several illustrations drawn from the recent scientific 
 examination of the same subject in an elaborate Essay by 
 the Rev. Dr Bachman of Charleston, the learned author of 
 the Quadrupeds of America, and joint author and editor of 
 
Vlll PREFACE. 
 
 Audubon's Birds of America, and from some articles in our 
 leading Reviews. 
 
 My object has been to take a comprehensive survey of the 
 whole subject in its relations to Scripture, Reason, and Science. 
 The argument is cumulative, and the conclusion, therefore, 
 depends not on any one line of reasoning, but upon the com- 
 bined effect of all. Some are in themselves incomplete, and 
 others only presumptive, but on the doctrine of probability it 
 may appear that the concurrence of so many distinct lines of 
 proof in establishing the original unity of the human races, is 
 equal to the clearest demonstration. 
 
 There is certainly, as has been said, no subject of science of 
 deeper interest than that which regards the natural history 
 and original condition of man. Even were the question it 
 involves less remarkable and less important in regard to the 
 present and future condition of the species, the methods of 
 argument and sources of evidence are such as may well en- 
 gage and engross every scientific inquirer. The evidence is 
 drawn from all parts of creation — from the mind, as well as 
 from the bodily conformation of man himself. The argument 
 is one of probability, always tending to greater certainty, 
 though it may be incapable of ever reaching that which is 
 complete. But this is a method of reasoning well understood 
 to be compatible with the highest philosophy, and peculiarly 
 consonant to our present faculties and position in the universe; 
 and in this ocean of disquisition " fogs have been often mis- 
 taken for land," as in so many other regions of science, we 
 may at least affirm, that the charts are more correctly laid 
 down than ever before; the bearings better ascertained; and 
 that our reason can hardly be shipwrecked, on this great argu- 
 ment, if common caution be observed in the course we pursue. 
 
PREFACE TO THE ENGLISH EDITION. 
 
 In preparing this work for an edition in this country, at the 
 urgency of many valued friends, the author has endeavoured, 
 as far as his state of health would allow of application, to 
 avail himself of all the suggestions which has occurred to his 
 own mind, or which have been kindly furnished by others, 
 and especially by the Rev. Alexander Duff, D.D., to whom 
 he would express his great obligations. He would also ten- 
 der his thanks to G. R. Latham, Esq., for an early copy of 
 his most valuable work on the Varieties of Mankind, from 
 which many valuable facts confirmatory of his views have 
 been inserted. 
 
 The whole work has been rearranged, with the addition of 
 two new chapters at the beginning of the volume, and several 
 valuable additions, especially the very interesting account of 
 the Veddhas of Ceylon, which, by the great personal kind- 
 ness of the author, Sir James Emerson Tennent, he is per- 
 mitted to extract from the manuscript of his yet unpublished 
 volume on the Social and Christian history of that country. 
 
 A few pages of matter irrelevant to the general question 
 discussed, have been omitted, and the Inquiry into the For- 
 mer Civilization of Black Races, has been thrown into an 
 Appendix, in order that differences of opinion on that sub- 
 ject may not affect the reader's judgment of the direct argu- 
 ments of the work. 
 
PREFACE TO THE ENGLISH EDITION. 
 
 And that the book may not appear to force itself rudely 
 upon the notice of the British public, some Introductory 
 
 Letters from eminent men who have examined it, are pre- 
 fixed. 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
 Edinburgh, September 1851. 
 
WOEKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR. 
 
 1. Apostolical Succession. 8vo. Boston. 1842. Pp. 600. 
 *2. Presbytery and not Prelacy the Scriptural and Primitive Polity of 
 the Churches. 8vo. Boston. 1843. 
 
 3. Ecclesiastical Republicanism. 12mo. Boston. 
 *4. Ecclesiastical Catechism. 18mo. 5th ed. Boston. 
 *5. Claims of the Free Church of Scotland. 18mo. New York. 
 
 6. Life and Character of Thomas Chalmers, D.D., LL.D., with Personal 
 
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 7. Nature and Functions of Ruling Elders. 12mo. New York. 
 
 8. Nature and Functions of Deacons. 8vo. 
 
 *9. The Rite of Confirmation Examined, &c. 18mo. New York. 
 10. Bereaved Parents Consoled. 12mo. New York. 
 *11. Union to Christ and His Church. 18mo. Edinburgh. 1844. 
 
 12. The True Origin and Source of the Mecklenburgh Declaration of 
 
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 13. Denominational Education. 8vo. 
 
 14. Pastoral Memento. 18mo. New York. 1850. 
 
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 18. Capital Punishment. 8vo. 
 
 19. The Relations of Christianity to War. 8vo. 
 
 20. The Primitive Revelation of a Divine Redeemer Discovered in the 
 
 Rites and Mythology of Bacchus. 
 
 21. On the Principles of Secrecy. 8vo. 
 
 22. On Secret Societies. 8vo. 
 
 23. On Parochial Schools. 8vo. 
 
 24. The Virgin Mary not a Perpetual Virgin, nor the Mother of God. 8vo. 
 
 25. The Duty of Interesting Children in the Missionary Enterprise. 8vo. 
 
 * These works have also been published in Great Britain. 
 
WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR. 
 
 26. The Destined Efficiency of Juvenile Missionary Effort. 8vo. 
 
 27. The Prospects of the Heathen for Eternity. 12mo. 
 
 28. Collections for Charitable and Religious Purposes a part of the Divine 
 
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 29. The Fundamental Doctrines of the Gospel the only Basis of Christian 
 
 Charity and Union. 
 
The comparative length and breadth, the degree of prominence in the face, and that, also, of the malar bones and zygomatic arches, 
 
 in different races. 
 
 Caucasian. 
 
 Mongole. 
 
 Negro. 
 
 Titicacan. 
 
 From Camper. 
 
 1 and 2.— The skull and facial outline of a young Negro. 
 
 3 and 4.— The skull and facial outline of an ordinary European. 
 
CHAPTEE L 
 
 ON THE NATURE AND IMPORTANCE OF THE DOCTRINE OF 
 THE UNITY OF THE HUMAN RACES. 
 
 PART FIRST— ANTHROPOLOGY. 
 
 Philosophid ineptd res ineptior nulla est. 
 
 Quid turn si fascus Amyntas? 
 Et nigrce Twice, sunt et vaccinia nigra. 
 
 Man, in the most degraded condition of savage life, stands alone; and is 
 still a being of " large discourse, looking before and behind.'" 
 
 Man, considered as possessed of a physical organization, is 
 an animal; and comes under the scientific analysis and ar- 
 rangements of zoology. The example of Aristotle, who ex- 
 cluded man from the pale of the animal kingdom, has not 
 wanted followers in the present age. Brisson, Pennant, Yic 
 d'Azyr, Daubenton, Tiedemann, and Swainson, have pro- 
 tested, more or less strongly, against his introduction into an 
 arrangement of the brute mammalia. Mr Swainson, after 
 urging the "innate repugnance, disgust, and abhorrence in 
 every human being — ignorant or enlightened, savage or civil- 
 ized — against the admission 5 ' of any relationship between man 
 and the lower orders of mammalia, proceeds to say, " Now, 
 the very first law, by which to be guided in arrangement, is 
 this, that the object is to be designated and classified by that 
 property or quality which is its most distinctive or peculiar 
 characteristic. This law, indeed, is well understood ; and has 
 
 A 
 
2 ANTHROPOLOGY. 
 
 only been violated by systematists, when they designate man 
 as an animal. Instead of classing him according to his highest 
 and most distinguishing property — Reason, they have selected 
 his very lowest qualities whereby to decide upon the station 
 he holds in the scale of creation. Because, as an infant, he 
 has suckled at the breast of his mother, he is to enter into the 
 class of animals called mammalia; and, because he has nails 
 upon his fingers and toes, he is to be placed among the un- 
 quiculated animals; and, because some of the apes have an 
 hyoid bone (os hyoides — a bone common to all mammalia, 
 though differently modified in each group), man is to be classed 
 with them in the same group ! What are all these but 
 secondary characters, totally unfit to designate his true pecu- 
 liarities ? " * 
 
 Mr Ogilby, on the other hand, observes, that the order 
 erecta of Illiger is " founded upon metaphysical, rather than 
 physiological considerations; and destroys at once both the 
 harmony and simplicity of his arrangement. The pride of 
 intellectual superiority and moral endowments has, indeed, 
 frequently induced naturalists to consider man as forming a 
 distinct and separate order by himself, and to fancy that it 
 would be degrading the lord of creation to associate him in 
 the same group with the apes and the monkeys (and also the 
 lemurs and opossums) ; but such scientific weakness cannot 
 destroy the numerous affinities which actually characterize the 
 structure of these animals as compared with our own, or blind 
 the unprejudiced observer to the obvious relations which sub- 
 sist between the bimana and the quadrumana. The meta- 
 physician and the divine may, without impropriety, consider 
 man apart from the rest of the animal kingdom, and in re- 
 lation only to his intellectual and moral nature; but the 
 naturalist must view him in a different light. Anatomical 
 structure and 'organic conformation are the only principles 
 which the zoologist can admit as the foundations of natural 
 science; and, in this respect, man is too closely connected 
 * Swainson on the "Natural History and Class of Quadrupeds," pp. 8-10. 
 
ANTHROPOLOGY. 3 
 
 with the apes, and other simiae, to admit of being placed 
 so widely apart from them as he has been in some recent 
 classifications of mammals." * 
 
 If, however, as Mr Martin well remarks, the end of or- 
 ganization be to provide instruments capable of duly admi- 
 nistering to the instincts, or the intelligence, or the necessities 
 of animals, then must the organization of man — which accords 
 with the unique situation in which he is placed in the great 
 plan of creation, w r ith his intellectual superiority and moral 
 endowments (according to the " law of harmony " ) — elevate 
 him, physiologically considered, no less than metaphysically. 
 But, granting this, it is undoubtedly true that it is upon 
 the physical organization of living bodies, setting aside in- 
 stinctive or rational qualities, that the laws of arrangement 
 are founded. And if this principle be kept in view as the sole 
 end of the classifications of zoology, and such divisions are re- 
 garded as having exclusive reference to mere physical organi- 
 zation, and not to the whole nature and the entire properties 
 of being, then they are not only not objectionable, but highly 
 conducive to the simplification and advancement of science. 
 
 Looking at him in this light, then, man, having a verte- 
 bral structure, is arranged under the general division of the 
 vertebrata, as distinguished from the mollusca, the arti- 
 culata, and the radiata. Being nourished by the food 
 provided by the maternal breasts, or mamma?, man is ranked 
 under the more limited class of mammalia. Having two 
 hands, in contradistinction to all other mammalia, he is again 
 placed under the separate order of bimana. And, as all men 
 have at least many general resemblances, by which they are at 
 once assimilated to each other, and distinguished from all other 
 mammalia, all men are classed under the still more limited 
 and characteristic division of genus homo — a term derived 
 from the Greek word ysvog, which signifies origin or lineage. 
 Thus far there is no difficulty and no variance of opinion 
 
 * See " Observations on the Opposable Power of the Thumb in various 
 Mammals. By W. Ogilby, Esq. , '— Proceedings, Zool. Soc, L., 1836, p. 28. 
 
4 ANTHROPOLOGY. 
 
 respecting the zoological classification of the human family, ex- 
 cept among the followers of Maillet and Lamarck.* " These 
 philosophers maintained that there is no impassable line be- 
 tween species, or even genera, families, and classes ; and so 
 held that all animals — the human race as certainly as the 
 others — mav have commenced in the lowest forms, and de- 
 veloped during the course of ages to what they now are." 
 This form of error, after ineffectually struggling for a fresh 
 existence, through the skilful assistance of that very credulous 
 midwife, the author of the "Vestiges of Creation," has again 
 come into the world still-born, and been consigned — perhaps 
 with a very unnecessary pomp of learned reputation — to an 
 untimely grave. " Nor will this theory be very efficiently 
 revived until some new accumulation of fact gleaned from 
 the yet unexplored portions of the geologic field, or the ob- 
 scurer fields of natural history, and pregnant with those ana- 
 logical resemblances between the course of creation and the 
 progress of embryology with which nature is full, will give it 
 new footing, by associating it with novel and interesting facts." t 
 Geology, however, as well as reason, observation, and expe- 
 rience, gives incontestable proof of the original, permanent, 
 and untransferable characteristics of all the divisions, orders, 
 and genera into which animals have been naturally and neces- 
 sarily divided from the very beginning of their creation until 
 
 * Lamarck says, " I have no doubt that all the mammalia have originally 
 sprung from the ocean; and the latter is the true cradle of the whole ani- 
 mal kingdom. In fact, we see that the least perfect animals are not only 
 the most numerous, but that they either live solely in the water, or in those 
 very moist places where nature has performed, and continues to perform, 
 under favourable circumstances, her direct or spontaneous generations; and 
 there, in the first place, she gives rise to the most simple animalcules, from 
 which have proceeded all the animal creation." — (See Philos. Zool.,tomeii.) 
 
 *t* Hugh Miller, in review of this work. 
 
 See Monck's Reply to the Vestiges of Creation ; the Footprints of 
 the Creator, by Hugh Miller; the Principles of Zoology, by Professor 
 Agassiz, &c. See also Agassiz on the Succession of Organized Beings, in the 
 New Edinburgh Philosophical Journal, for April 1850, p. 162; and, also, 
 Professor Sedgwick's Discourse on University Education, fifth edition. Pre- 
 liminary Dissertation and Supplement to the Appendix. 
 
ANTHROPOLOGY. 5 
 
 now; and the thorough investigations of modern science estab- 
 lish the most complete and absolute separation, both as it re- 
 gards order and genus, between man and all other animals. 
 Of these, the nearest approximation to the human form is found 
 in the monkey tribe, and especially in the ourang outang, the 
 enge-ena, and the chimpanzee tribes, or, as Mr Martin classifies 
 them, the Troglodytes, the pythicus, and the hylobates.* If, 
 therefore, it can be shown that there are generic and immu- 
 table distinctions, by which, with all their analogous resem- 
 blances, man is separated from, and elevated above, the qua- 
 drumanous animals, it will be still more obvious that there 
 is no relationship or affinity between man and other mam- 
 malia. 
 
 This inquiry constitutes anthropology, in distinction from 
 
 ETHNOLOGY. 
 
 " The natural history of man," says Mr Latham, t " is 
 chiefly divided between two subjects — anthropology and 
 ethnology. Anthropology determines the relations of man 
 to the other mammalia; ethnology, the relations of the dif- 
 ferent varieties of mankind to each other. Anthropology is 
 more immediately connected with zoology, differing from it 
 chiefly in the complexity of its problems, e.g. the apprecia- 
 tion of the extent to which the moral characteristics of man 
 complicate a classification which, in the lower animals, is, to 
 a great extent, founded on physical criteria." 
 
 As, therefore, the essential unity of all the human races de- 
 pends for one of its strongest proofs upon the essential diffe- 
 rence of all these races from every other class of animals, we 
 shall devote some space to this argument. 
 
 As animals of a high order of conformation and endow- 
 ments, there are undoubtedly points of similarity between 
 monkeys and men. " This is exemplified, however, less in the 
 shape of the teeth, except that the molars are bluntly tubercu- 
 late, than in the condition of the lungs and liver — the position 
 
 * Natural History of Mammiferous Animals, p. 361, &c. 
 f Natural History of the Varieties of Man, pp. 559, 560. 
 
G ANTHROPOLOGY. 
 
 and appearance of the intestinal canal — the attachment of the 
 vermiform appendix to the coecum — the structure of the sto- 
 mach, which, however, is thicker and narrower at the pylorus 
 — and in the disposition of the arteries, arising from the arch 
 of the aorta. But with every abatement, and exalting them 
 to the head of the simiadae, the most remarkable external 
 characters in which they agree consist in the absence of a tail 
 and of cheek-pouches, and in the extraordinary length of the 
 anterior extremities compared with the posterior." * 
 
 Naturalists, therefore, to use the words of Mr Martin, have 
 regarded man as the example of an order per se, having cha- 
 racters by which it is distinguished from every other into 
 which the mammal class is divided. Among these are Illiger 
 and, Cuvier. Illiger, in his " Prodromus Systematis Mam- 
 malium," has taken the name of this order from the attitude 
 of the human race, and entitled it erecta. Cuvier, from one 
 of the structural peculiarities of the race — viz. the possession 
 of two true hands — has termed it bimana — a title which most 
 naturalists, both Continental and British, have adopted. The 
 essential characters of man, considered as the order bimana, 
 may be stated as follow : — 
 
 Attitude erect — the body being supported on the lower 
 limbs only, which are developed according to the weight to be 
 sustained, and the mode in which that weight is to be sup- 
 ported; feet plantigrade, pentadactyle (five-toed), non-pre- 
 hensile. 
 
 Superior extremities free, claviculated, and terminating in 
 true hands, being organs of touch and of prehension, and 
 having the thumb so developed as to antagonize with the tip 
 of each finger separately, or with the whole together. The head 
 supported by, and nearly balanced upon, the spine; the cranial 
 portion greatly developed in proportion to the face; the lower 
 jaw short, and its symphysis modelled into a true chin. The teeth 
 of equal length, and approximating together, without intervals: 
 
 * See Martin's Natural History of Mammiferous Animals, especially 
 Monkeys, p. 361, &c. 
 
ANTHROPOLOGY. 7 
 
 incisors, -^ ; canines, short, j=J bicuspid molars, ~ ; true 
 molars, bluntly quadricuspid, 3 — ; = 32. The cerebral hemi- 
 spheres of the brain greatly preponderating ; the mass of the 
 brain being voluminous, in proportion to the nerves communi- 
 cating with it. Growth slow ; infancy long ; maturity ac- 
 quired at a comparatively late period. Skin smooth ; natural 
 weapons, offensive or defensive, denied by nature. 
 
 Mammse two, pectoral. Os coccygis abbreviated and in- 
 curved. Species — Homo sapiens, Linn. 
 
 Dr Lawrence enumerates man's generic differences from all 
 other animals as follows : — 
 
 1 . Smoothness of skin, and want of natural offensive wea- 
 pons, or means of defence. 
 
 2. Erect stature, to which the conformation of the body in 
 general, and that of the pelvis, lower limbs, and their muscles 
 in particular, are accommodated. 
 
 3. Incurvation of the sacrum and os coccygis, and conse- 
 quent direction of the vagina and urethra forwards. 
 
 4. Articulation of the head with the spinal column by the 
 middle of its basis, and want of ligamentum nuchas. 
 
 5. Possession of two hands, and very perfect structure of 
 the hands. 
 
 6. Great proportion of the cranium (cerebral cavity) to 
 the face, receptacles of the senses, and organs of mastica- 
 tion. 
 
 7. Shortness of the lower jaw, and prominence of its men- 
 tal portion. 
 
 8. Want of intermaxillary bone. 
 
 9. Teeth all of equal length and approximated, inferior in-_ 
 cisors perpendicular. 
 
 10. Great development of the cerebral hemispheres. 
 
 11. Greatness of brain in proportion to size of the nerves 
 connected with it. 
 
 12. Great number and development of mental faculties, 
 whether intellectual or moral. 
 
 13. Speech. 
 
8 ANTHROPOLOGY. 
 
 14. Capability of inhabiting all climates and situations; 
 and of living on all kinds of food. 
 
 15. Slow growth, long infancy, late puberty. 
 
 16. By very great peculiarities connected with the functions, 
 times, and seasons of procreation. 
 
 These peculiar characteristics of man are so numerous and 
 strong, as to have led all naturalists, with very few exceptions, 
 to arrange a separate order or genus for himself. The same 
 rules by which the characteristics of distinct and separate spe- 
 cies and genus are determined, as it regards other animals, 
 when applied to man, in view of his physical and other quali- 
 ties, have led naturalists to the unhesitating conclusion, that 
 he is at a much greater distance from all other animals than 
 they are from one another, and that he must therefore be re- 
 garded as a distinct genus, which contains under it no species, 
 but only permanent varieties. 
 
 In all that man possesses in common with the brutes, he is 
 characterized by superiority, and exhibits a marvellous adap- 
 tation to all the higher and varied functions and occupations 
 to which he, and he alone, is destined. Physiologically and 
 anatomically, therefore, in the complicated nature of his orga- 
 nization, in his structure, in his organs, in the multiplicity 
 of his relations to the external world, in the great variety of 
 his functions, in his nervous system, in his development, in 
 his limitations to territory, habits, food, and employment — 
 man is pre-eminent. 
 
 " In man," says Dr Roget, " in whom all the faculties of 
 sense and intellect are so harmoniously combined, the brain 
 is not only the largest in its size, but, beyond all comparison, 
 the most complicated in its structure. All the parts met with 
 in the brains of animals exist also in the brain of man ; while 
 several of those found in man are either extremely small or al- 
 together absent in the brains of the lower animals. Scemm er- 
 ring has enumerated no less than fifteen material anatomical 
 differences between the human brain and that of the ape." 
 
 " The importance," says Mr Martin, from whom we again 
 
ANTHROPOLOGY. 9 
 
 largely quote, " to be attached to the zoological characters 
 afforded by the slighter modifications of structure, rises as we 
 ascend in the scale of being. In the arrangement of mam- 
 malia and birds, for example, minutiae which, among the 
 Inocclibiata, would be deemed of little note, become of de- 
 cided value, and are no longer to be neglected. Even the 
 modifications, however slight, of a common type, now become 
 stamped with a value, the ratio of which increases as we 
 advance from the lower to the higher orders. Hence, with 
 respect to mammalia, the highest class of vertebrata, every 
 structural phase claims attention; and when we advance to 
 the highest of the highest class, viz., man, and the quadru- 
 mana, the naturalist lays a greater stress on minute grades and 
 modifications of form, than he does when among the cetacea or 
 the marsupials ; and hence groups are separated upon charac- 
 ters thus derived, because they involve marked differences in 
 the animal economy, and because it is felt that a modification, 
 in itself of no great extent, leads to most important results. 
 Carrying out the principle of an increase in the value of diffe- 
 rential characters as we advance in the scale of being, it may 
 be affirmed that, upon legitimate zoological grounds, the or- 
 ganic conformation of man, modelled, possibly, upon the same 
 type as that of the chimpanzee or ourang, but modified with a 
 view to fit him for habits, manners, and, indeed, a totality of 
 active existence, indicative of a destiny and purposes partici- 
 pated in neither by the chimpanzee nor any other animal, re- 
 moves man from the quadrumana, not merely in a generic 
 point of view, but from the pale of the primates, to an exclu- 
 sive situation. The zoological value of characters derived from 
 structural modifications, is commensurate with the results 
 which they involve. Let it then be shown that man, though 
 a cheiropoda (hand-footed), possesses structural modifications 
 leading to most important results, and our views are at once 
 justified. If, therefore, the class mammalia be divided into 
 sub-classes, or subordinate sections, each section including 
 orders, then there is no objection to the application of the 
 
10 ANTHROPOLOGY. 
 
 term cheiropoda, primates, or any other, to a section includ- 
 ing the orders bimana and quadrumana (except that it renders 
 an arrangement needlessly complicated), as terms, in them- 
 selves, are of little importance. It is not against these that the 
 argument is directed ; but against the establishment of the 
 primates as an order including the genera man, monkey, and 
 bat; and, consequently, also, against the inclusion in the order 
 cheiropoda of bimana (man), quadrumana (the old-world 
 monkeys and lemurs), and pedimana (the American monkeys 
 and the opossums), as coequal families. It may be answered, 
 that the term order, as applied to cheiropoda, has a much 
 wider — a more comprehensive signification than is allowed it 
 by Illiger or Cuvier, and that its subordinate groups are of the 
 same value as Cuvier's orders. But, if so, the use of the term, 
 in any other sense than that attributed to it by the standard 
 authorities, can scarcely be justified. 
 
 " Without dwelling on these points, however, it remains to 
 explain the differential characters of man, with a view to prove 
 that the modifications of his structure involve consequences 
 which draw as wide a line, zoologically considered, between 
 him and the quadrumana, as between the quadrumana and the 
 carnivora. It is scarcely necessary to say, that, to man alone, 
 of all animals, is the erect attitude easy and natural — that the 
 magnitude and position of the cranium, the structure of the 
 spiral column, the osseous and muscular development of the 
 pelvis and lower extremities, necessitate such an attitude.* 
 One advantage gained by this arrangement is the freedom of 
 the superior extremities, the lower limbs being the sole organs 
 of progression. In the ourang and chimpanzee, all four ex- 
 tremities are organs of locomotion. The chimpanzee, it is true, 
 can proceed on the ground supported, or rather balanced, on 
 the lower extremities, calling the superior only occasionally 
 into use, except in as far as they are needed to maintain the 
 equilibrium of the body. But man walks with a free and 
 
 * See full on this point in Dr Hall's Introductory Essay to Pickering on 
 the Races, and Martin, pp. 25, 28, 29, 30, 69, and 97. 
 
ANTHROPOLOGY. 11 
 
 vigorous step, very unlike the vacillation of the tottering chim- 
 panzee, and with his arms at liberty for action in any way that 
 may be required. 
 
 " It is usual to designate the graspers, which terminate the 
 anterior limbs of the simias, as hands. If, by the term hands, it 
 is implied that they are equivalent to the hands of man, then 
 their claim to the appellation must be denied. Mr Ogilby ob- 
 serves, that the extremities of the quadrumana, ' instead of 
 being mere organs of locomotion, execute the still more im- 
 portant functions of prehension and manipulation/ It is ad- 
 mitted that the anterior hands of the simiaa are capable of 
 grasping, but not in the same way as the hands of man ; for 
 in none of the simias is the thumb of the anterior hand fairly 
 opposable to the fingers. Besides, the ape has these graspers 
 not only terminating the anterior extremities, but the posterior 
 also ; and, indeed, the latter approach nearer the human hand, 
 as far as the development of the thumb is concerned, than the 
 anterior. Here, again, an important difference, involving 
 signal consequences, exists between man and the quadrumana. 
 While the posterior extremities of the quadrumana are more 
 powerfully prehensile, and have the thumb better developed 
 than it is on the anterior, the feet of man are not prehensile, 
 and the whole form of the foot militates against the possession 
 of a prehensile power. The short toes, all on the same plane — 
 the solidity of the instep — and the firmness of the ancle-joint, 
 are decided characteristics. Among barbarous nations, the 
 toes may, indeed, have more freedom than among civilized 
 people, and may be capable of hooking round small objects ; 
 but, with every allowance, the human foot is not a prehensile 
 organ, like the posterior graspers of the monkey; and a 
 greater difference exists between the human foot and the 
 analagous organ of the simiaa, than between the latter and the 
 hind foot of any unquiculate animal, as the squirrel or the 
 dormouse. 
 
 "After all, it is upon modifications of one great type of struc- 
 ture that all the orders among the mammalia are founded ; 
 
12 
 
 ANTHROPOLOGY. 
 
 and the characters of the hands and of the feet of man — regard 
 being had to the consequences involved by their modifications, 
 and to the increase of value attached to even the slighter va- 
 riations of structure, as Ave ascend the scale — are, of them- 
 selves, sufficient to establish man's distinctive situation, as the 
 representative of an order : for man is the only true biped 
 among terrestrial mammalia. 
 
 " Let other ■ structural peculiarities of the human frame be 
 now compared with those of the nearest anthropomorphous si- 
 mia?. Comparative views of the skulls of the European and the 
 negro (figs. 1, 2), on the one hand, and of the chimpanzee 
 and ourang (figs. 3, 4), on the other, are here presented, in 
 
 No. 1. — European. 
 
 No. 2.— Xesrro. 
 
 No. 3.— Chimpanzee. 
 
 No. 4.— Ourang. 
 
ANTHROPOLOGY. 13 
 
 order that their respective proportions may be the more easily 
 appreciated, and to show that the differences between the cra- 
 nium of man and of these simiae are not limited merely to the 
 development of the forehead, the ratio between the face and the 
 cranial cavity, the hiatus between the upper canines and the 
 incisors, the oblique position of the incisors, the length of the 
 canines (though circumstances of great importance), but ex- 
 tend, also, to a variety of other points of structure. 
 
 "It has been reiterated, that the skull of the negro forms an 
 intermediate link between that of the European and of the 
 ourang or chimpanzee ; and one point of approximation be- 
 tween the former and the latter is said to consist in the situa- 
 tion of the foramen magnum. Now, in the skull of a negro 
 (fig. 2), this foramen differs in position but very little from that 
 of the well-formed skull of a native of England (fig. 1) ; 
 while the posterior situation of the foramen, both in the skull 
 of the chimpanzee and the ourang, is very remarkable. Again, 
 the distance from this foramen to the incisor teeth (which is so 
 considerable in the anthropomorphous simiae), compared with 
 its distance from the occiput, is nearly the same in the negro 
 as in the European ; and, as Dr Prichard remarks, the antero- 
 posterior admeasurement of the basis of the skull is, relatively, 
 very much larger in the ourang and chimpanzee than in man, 
 as is strikingly displayed by .the different situation which the 
 zygomatic arch occupies in the plane of the basis of the skull. 
 In man, the zygoma is included in the anterior half of the 
 basis of the cranium ; in the head of the adult chimpanzee, as 
 well as in that of the ourang, the zygoma is situated in the 
 middle region of the skull, and, in the basis, occupies just one 
 third part of the entire length of its diameter. The extent, 
 besides, of the bony palate, and the greater breadth between 
 the canines than between the last molars, both in the chim- 
 panzee and ourang, so as to allow of the spreading and want 
 of continuity of the incisors, with respect to each other and to 
 the canines, widely distinguish between the skulls of these 
 animals and those of any of the human race. Both in the 
 
14 
 
 ANTHROPOLOGY. 
 
 negro and European, the base of the skull, around the fora- 
 men magnum, is boldly convex, according to the development 
 of the cerebrum ; whilst, in the simia?, the base of the skull is 
 flat, which form is indicative of a curtailment of the volume of 
 the brain beneath, in accordance with that of the cerebral 
 hemispheres at their upper and anterior aspect. 
 
 " The cancellous mastoid processes, w T hich are so large in the 
 human skull, are scarcely to be discovered in the skulls of the 
 simia?. These processes are represented in the chimpanzee 
 by a ridge behind each auditory foramen, the internal cellular 
 structure of which, as Professor Owen observes, is visible 
 through the thin external table. The styloid process of the 
 temporal bone, also, is entirely w r anting in the simia?. It 
 exists in the negro, as well as in the European. These im- 
 portant differences may readily be distinguished in the figures 
 5 and 6, which represent the base of the human skull and of 
 the ourang. 
 
 -•"-" 
 
 
 No. 5.— Base of Human skull. 
 
 No. 6.— Base of skull of Ourang. 
 
 " It has been observed by Professor Owen, that in some 
 skulls of negroes, and in one of an Australian savage, he found 
 the sphenoid bone not impinging on the parietal at its lower 
 
ANTHROPOLOGY. " 15 
 
 anterior angle, as it does in the skulls of Europeans ; and that, 
 in this respect, they agreed with the skull of the chimpanzee, 
 but not of the ourang. This trifling variation does not affect 
 either the form or volume of the cranium ; and, besides, it is 
 not a constant character in the negro, nor even in the chim- 
 panzee. 
 
 " The great density of the negro's skull has been noticed by 
 Paau, Scemmerring, and other naturalists; but it is not pecu- 
 liar to the negro race: in most savage nations the skull is 
 thicker and harder than among civilized races. The ancient 
 Egyptians also were remarkable for the density of the cranium. 
 The thickness of the skull of the negro indicates neither in- 
 tellectual inferiority nor structural approximation to the ourang 
 or chimpanzee; in fact, though the crania of the various races 
 of mankind may vary, as compared with each other, through- 
 out an almost unlimited series of minor details, they preserve 
 inviolate their great characteristics of distinction; no inter- 
 mediate condition is discoverable among them, no half -human, 
 half-simian form, indicative of the ' Homo ferus, tetrapus, 
 mutus, et hirsutus' — the Caliban of science — the link which 
 binds man to the arboreal quadrumana. It is obvious that 
 skulls distorted by art from their natural form, cannot be 
 taken into account; such, for example, as the skulls of the 
 flat-headed Indians, and other tribes of America, which owe 
 their unnatural configuration to long-continued pressure, com- 
 menced immediately after birth ; or the skulls of an ancient 
 Peruvian race, found in the sepulchres occurring in the great 
 alpine valley of Titicaca; which, though Mr Pentland attributes 
 their singular contour to nature, and not to art, have been, it 
 cannot be doubted, subjected to the same treatment as is still 
 continued among the Columbian tribes, and is also practised 
 by the Caribs of St. Vincent's. However ape-like these 
 distorted skulls may be (and the observation applies also to 
 the deformed skulls of idiots), they are not to be regarded as 
 indications of any natural approximation to the simia3. 
 
 " A distinction between the skulls of all nations and those 
 
16 ANTHROPOLOGY. 
 
 of the simile, upon which much of the character of the hu- 
 man face depends, and which is not destitute of importance, 
 may here be noticed; namely, the elevation, in man, of the 
 nasal bones, which form the bridge of the nose; while, in the 
 simia?, the nasal bone (for it is single) lies flat and depressed. 
 " Scemmerring, Camper, and Vrolik, have endeavoured to 
 prove, that in the pelvis of the negro there is an approxi- 
 mation, in its form, to the lower mammalia; a degradation 
 in type, imparted, as Dr Yrolik observes, ' by the vertical 
 direction of the ossa ilii; the elevation of the ilii at the pos- 
 terior and upper tuberosities ; the greater proximity of the 
 anterior and upper spines; the smaller breadth of the sacrum; 
 the smaller extent of the haunches; the smaller distance from 
 the upper edge of the articulation of the pelvis, and the pro- 
 jection of the sacrum, or the shortness of the conjugate 
 diameter; the smallness of the transverse diameters at the 
 spines and tuberosities of the ischium, and the lengthened 
 form which the pelvis derives from these peculiarities.' All 
 these characters, as he says, recall to mind the conformation 
 of the pelvis in the simia?, the elongated shape of the pelvis 
 being, in fact, the character on which this approximation is 
 assumed to depend. To judge by the skeleton of the female 
 of the Bushman tribe, who died at Paris in 1815, the pelvis, 
 according to Dr Vrolik, is inferior to that of the negro, as 
 evidenced bv the vertical direction, the length and narrow- 
 ness of the ilii. According to the same writer, the pelvis of 
 the Javanese is remarkable for its smallness, its lightness, and 
 the circular form of the opening of its upper cavity. Ac- 
 cording to Professor Weber, the variations of the human 
 pelvis resolve themselves into four forms; and he contends 
 that examples of each occur in all races of mankind, no par- 
 ticular figure being the exclusive or permanent characteristic 
 of any given race — in fact, that very form of the pelvis which 
 deviates from the ordinary type, in whatever race it may 
 occur, finds its analogues in other races of mankind. The 
 four varieties of the pelvis, according to the extensive re- 
 
ANTHROPOLOGY. 1 7 
 
 searches of this anatomist, are the oval, the round, the square, 
 and the oblong ; and of each of these he gives European exam- 
 ples, as well as examples occurring among the Botocudo Indians, 
 the Negroes, the Caffres, and the Javanese. Still, according to 
 his researches, it would seem that the form most frequently oc- 
 curring among Europeans is the oval; among the American 
 nations, the round ; among the Mongolians and kindred tribes, 
 the square ; and among the races of Africa, the oblong. 
 
 " Admitting, as is doubtless the case, that the pelvis, as well 
 as the cranium, varies among different nations, yet, even 
 in the form farthest removed from that of the European type, 
 the genuine characters of the human pelvis are found; viz. 
 those connected with the support of the trunk in the erect 
 attitude, with the direction of the thigh bones, and with the 
 volume of the glutgei muscles. In short, the pelvis of the 
 human race, like the skull, is removed by a wide interval 
 from that of the most anthropomorphous of the simias; and 
 the simiaB, in the form of this part, are far nearer to the car- 
 nivora than they are to the human species. 
 
 M A comparison of the lower limbs among the various races 
 of mankind, might be here followed out, for these also exhi- 
 bit slight differential peculiarites; but it is useless to proceed 
 farther. The question recurs — Is the naturalist, upon the 
 acknowledged distinctions between man and the simia?, justi- 
 fied in regarding the human being as the type of a distinct 
 order ? If man be the only being endowed with mind — the 
 only being capable of examining his own formation, and that 
 of other animals — the only being to whose intellect the paths 
 of science are open — to whom alone it belongs to learn and 
 practise arts, and, from an investigation of the laws of nature, 
 to arrive at the knowledge of a great First Cause; if it be to 
 his mind, and not to instinct, that he has to resort for the 
 maintenance of his own existence, his safety, and his civil 
 advancement; and if his bodily organization comport with 
 this possession of mind, and harmonize with it alone — so that 
 between his mind and body there exist a mutual balance and 
 
18 ANTHROPOLOGY. 
 
 correspondence — then, though the ape may hare an analogy 
 to him in certain points of his structure, it can claim no real 
 affinity. The anthropoid appearance of the chimpanzee may, 
 indeed, startle us; and has led to the assignment to it of a 
 far higher ratio of intelligence than it really possesses; but, 
 it must be remembered that, from the chimpanzee to the 
 stupid nocturnal loris, there is a consecutive chain of grada- 
 tion ; WHILST MAN IN THE MOST DEGRADED CONDITION OF 
 SAVAGE LIFE, STANDS ALONE, AND IS STILL A BEING OF ' LARGE 
 DISCOURSE, LOOKING BEFORE AND BEHIND.' 
 
 " One department of zoology is the right discrimination be- 
 tween the groups into which natural objects are resolvable 
 (and which is rather to be accomplished by taking the totality 
 of organization into account, than by pertinaciously looking 
 at only one or two points of structure) : yet, strange to say, 
 one naturalist places man, the monkeys, and the bats together; 
 and another, excluding the bats, considers man, the monkeys, 
 and the cheiropodous marsupials, as constituting a natural 
 order. 
 
 " It may be deemed that the system which would establish 
 man as the type of an exclusive order, is the result of a sort 
 of pride, repugnant to the fancied disgrace which the associa- 
 tion of him with the simias and cheiropodous marsupials would 
 seem to reflect upon our species. But such is not the case; 
 for man can be neither raised by one system nor lowered by 
 another. It is because the totality of his conformation, taking 
 into account the increase in the value of characters as we 
 ascend in the scale, appears to justify his exclusive situation, 
 that it is assigned to him; while, on the contrary, to include 
 man, the simiaa, and bats in one order, because man has 
 hands and the simiag have hands, or hand-like paws; or, be- 
 cause in the human species the mammas are pectoral, as in 
 bats and monkeys, seems to be an effort to distort analogies 
 of structure into proofs of direct and positive affinity. 
 
 '* Again, the opinion may be expressed that, according to 
 the law of harmony — the condition of existence which ordain6 
 
ANTHROPOLOGY. 19 
 
 the mutual accordance of organization with necessities, in- 
 stinct, and intelligence — man, having a situation in the great 
 scheme of nature unique as to mind, destiny, and the place 
 in creation he has to fill, must have an organization in unison 
 with his intellectual exaltation — his mental isolation ; and 
 which will furnish data sufficient, if duly weighed, to satisfy 
 the physiologist as to the propriety of his being considered as 
 the representative of an exclusive order." * 
 
 " Man," says Agassiz, " in virtue of his twofold constitu- 
 tion — the spiritual and the material — is qualified to compre- 
 hend nature. Having been made in the spiritual image of 
 God, he is competent to rise to the conception of his plan 
 and purpose in the works of creation." Again, he says, ;4 Be- 
 sides the distinctions to be derived from the varied structure 
 of organs, there are others less subject to rigid analysis, but 
 no less decisive, to be drawn from the immaterial principle 
 with which every animal is endowed. It is this which de- 
 termines the constancy of species from generation to genera- 
 tion, and which is the source of all the varied exhibitions of 
 instinct and intelligence which we see displayed from the 
 simple impulse to receive the food which is brought within 
 their reach, as observed in the polypus, through the higher 
 manifestations in the cunning fox, the sagacious elephant, the 
 faithful dog, and the exalted intellect of man, which is ca- 
 pable of indefinite expansion. Such are some of the general 
 aspects in which we are to contemplate the animal creation. 
 Two points of view should never be lost sight of or discon- 
 nected; namely, the animal in respect to its own organiza- 
 tion, and the animal in its relation to creation as a w T hole. 
 By adopting too exclusively either of these points of view, we 
 are in danger of falling either into gross materialism, or into 
 vague and profitless pantheism. He who beholds in nature 
 nothing besides organs and their functions, may persuade him- 
 self that the animal is merely a combination of chemical and 
 
 * See Martin's " History of Man and Monkey," pp. 200-209, and the 
 whole work, from which the above is drawn. 
 
20 ANTHROPOLOGY. 
 
 mechanical actions and reactions; and thus becomes a ma- 
 terialist. On the contrary, he who considers only the mani- 
 festations of intelligence and of creation, without taking into 
 account the means by which they are executed, and the 
 physical laws by virtue of which all beings preserve their 
 characteristics, will be very likely to confound the Creator 
 with the creature. It is only as it contemplates, at the same 
 time, matter and mind, that natural history is true to its 
 character and dignity, and leads to its worthiest end, by in- 
 dicating to us the execution of a plan fully matured in the 
 beginning, and invariably pursued; the work of a God in- 
 finitely wise, regulating nature according to inscrutable laws, 
 which he has himself imposed on her. The mind of man — 
 as displayed in the exercise of reason, memory, imagination, 
 hope, retrospection, comparison, imitation; in a perception of 
 the sublime, the beautiful, and the ridiculous; in friendship, 
 love, and the various social affections ; and, as involving 
 speech, contradistinguished from mere cries or sounds — har- 
 monizes with his physical endowments, and proclaims him 
 the lord of creation. ' And God said, Let us make man in 
 our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion 
 over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over 
 all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon 
 the earth. So God created man in his own image.' " 
 
 The right of man, therefore, to an isolated station, at the 
 head of the animal kingdom, is, says Dr Hall,* founded 
 upon just and solid grounds. Every thing connected with his 
 history forces the conviction upon us, that he not only differs 
 from the mammals, but is elevated above them. His physical 
 organization accords with his mental endowments, and is 
 befitting a being whose hopes and views are not bounded by 
 mortality. Who that contemplates the personifications of 
 human beauty, embodied in the noble statue of Apollo, or in 
 the lovely figures of the Graces, by Canova, or in the Venus 
 of antiquity, dreams of the affinity of the ourang? The at- 
 * "Analytical Synopsis of the Natural History of Man.** 
 
ANTHROPOLOGY. 21 
 
 tempt to degrade man to the level of the ape, because the ape 
 has the anterior limbs organized as graspers, or rude hands, 
 is hardly justifiable in true philosophy. Physical differences, 
 of sufficient magnitude, exist between man and the simiae, to 
 forbid his amalgamation with them; much less with the be- 
 ings of which any other order is composed. And though 
 Linnasus and others could find no characters by which to 
 distinguish between man and the monkey — and though the 
 group primates of Linnseus has been revived by modern 
 naturalists — every arrangement grouping together man, the 
 monkeys, and the bats, carries with it (in spite of all au- 
 thority), like the statue of clay and metal, the palpable 
 tokens of its own incongruity ; and, as Mr Lawrence well 
 observes, " the principles must be incorrect which lead to such 
 an approximation." 
 
 In addition, however, to those broad and prominent dis- 
 tinctions already enumerated, the human race, in contrast 
 with all other animals, use fire — sing — laugh — weep tears of 
 sympathetic joy and sorrow — change their habits — vary their 
 employments — diversify their methods for attaining the same 
 ends — provide various means of transportation, both by sea 
 and land — construct and diversify their habitations in adapta- 
 tion to climate and condition — have arts, languages, and laws 
 — are possessed of intellect, imagination, and reason — are 
 endowed with the mysteriously sublime power of conscience, 
 a sense of responsibility, a knowledge of right and wrong, an 
 anticipation of immortality and of future retribution, a belief 
 in God, the maker, preserver, and the judge of all, and a con- 
 stant fear of death and eternity. 
 
 " It is," says Dr Hoppus, " man's intellect, and his moral 
 sense — his conscious capacity of an excellence he has never 
 reached — his inward vision of the true, the beautiful, and the 
 good — that invest him with a dignity which belongs to him 
 alone of all earthly things; and, more than any mere external 
 superiority, mark him as a creature of a higher order, and ad- 
 apted to nobler ends, than the rest, between which and himself 
 
22 ANTHROPOLOGY. 
 
 there is a wide and inaccessible distance. It is true that other 
 animals not only often excel man in the perfection of their 
 senses, but also give unequivocal indications of possessing other 
 faculties. They recognise the past, and are influenced by as- 
 sociation. They appear to dream. Like man, too, they are 
 capable of a variety of affections and emotions. Like him, 
 they can be agitated with terror, and can anticipate pain and 
 danger. When provoked or injured, they are enraged; and 
 when humanely treated and caressed, they often show grate- 
 ful returns. They exhibit a sagacity, between which and 
 reason it is not always easy to draw the line. Some natural- 
 ists, whose talents and researches entitle them to the highest 
 deference, would say that even the infusorial animalcules, the 
 polygastrica or polycystica (some of which are not more than 
 l~2000th of a line in their greatest diameter, and revel in a 
 single drop of water, or in the fluids of other animals), live an 
 age of 'emotion and thought' in their ephemeral life of a 
 few hours. But, without inquiring how low in the scale of 
 being we are to trace the existence of something more than 
 mere animal sensibility and blind mechanical instinct, we 
 certainly cannot continue to ascend without meeting with 
 something more, even before we reach the highest point. If 
 we may, with the naturalist, speak of the pectoral and caudal 
 fins of fishes as their hands and feet — the analogue of these 
 parts in the quadrumana and bimana — we may surely say, 
 when we observe the sagacity and the affections of the ani- 
 mals most conversant with man, and which have sometimes 
 been termed his ' friends,' that they have a mind, in many 
 respects, the analogue of his own. Still, their limited range 
 of understanding is evinced in their want of rational curiosity 
 -—in their appearing incapable of wonder in the midst of a 
 universe where all is wonderful — in their deficiency of moral 
 feeling, and the sense of a Creator. 
 
 " Man advances in knowledge and attains to truth ; but his 
 fellow-animals exhibit no progression. Their life is uniform 
 from age to age. Every individual has all the knowledge of 
 
ANTHROPOLOGY. 23 
 
 its species — every species all the knowledge of its progenitors. 
 The bird still builds her nest, the beaver his house, the bee 
 her cell, as they ever did ; and while the architecture of man 
 has improved, from the rude wooden hut of the Nomadic 
 tribes to the immortal temples of Greece, the workmanship 
 of the lower animals has always been so perfect in its kind as 
 to need no improvement. It is true that the sagacity (as we 
 term it) of animals is quite a distinct manifestation from those 
 wonderful instincts which seem to operate almost as mechani- 
 cally as the physical laws of nature ; and this sagacity ap- 
 pears sometimes to approach very nearly to reason. But we 
 soon perceive, on the comparison, how widely different is the 
 reason of the lower animals from that of man. If they can 
 ever be said to reason at all, their reasoning is but as a single 
 link — it is never carried out into a long chain. Man has a 
 reason that can stretch itself forward into a continuous series 
 — a reason which allies itself with sesthetical and moral feel- 
 ing, and with religion. 
 
 " One of the great characteristics of man is the power he 
 possesses of reflecting on the phenomena of his own conscious- 
 ness. This reflex consciousness is at the same time a deep and 
 unfathomable mystery of his nature. Our practical familiarity 
 with the operations of our own minds, indeed, prevents us 
 from being fully alive to the marvellous constitution of the 
 inner man. The internal scenery of consciousness is often 
 viewed without any sentiment of novelty, like the visible ob- 
 jects we have been accustomed to from infancy ; all is coeval 
 with the memory of ourselves. It is, perhaps, only when we 
 survey the results of mind, that we become adequately open to 
 the impression of its grandeur and dignity among created 
 things. If the vast and magnificent temple which is the most 
 striking memorial of the genius of Sir Christopher Wren, 
 made the sepulchral marble superfluous, and his best eulogy was 
 the inscription, Si monumentum requiris, circumspice, — how 
 true is it, in the general, that man's greatness is best seen in 
 his works ? Alas, that such a being should, by a perverse and 
 
24 ANTHROPOLOGY. 
 
 evil will, often place himself in a depth of degradation to 
 which the brutes cannot descend ! " * 
 
 VTe are brought, therefore, to the indubitable conclusion, 
 that man of every race and clime is separated by natural, ne- 
 cessary, and permanent distinctions of the most important 
 characters, from all other animals, and that he constitutes an 
 order and a genus by himself. Such is the position at present 
 maintained by all naturalists of any eminence or worth. 
 
 NOTE A. 
 
 In a "Description of Two additional Crania of the Enge-ena (Tro- 
 glodytes gorilla, Savage), a second and gigantic African species of a 
 Man-like Ape, from Gaboon, Africa," bv Jeffries Wyman, M.D.f 
 it is said : — " It is interesting to contrast the measurement of the 
 cranial capacity of these members of the quadrumanous group with 
 that of some of the human races. It results from Dr Morton's 
 table,, at page 263 of this volume, that the smallest mean capacity in 
 man is that derived from Hottentots and Australians, which equals 
 only 75 cubic inches, while that of the Teutonic nations amounts 
 to 90 cubic inches. The maximum capacity of the enge-ena, is 
 therefore considerably less than one-half of the mean of the Hot- 
 tentots and Australians, who give us the minimum average of the 
 human races." 
 
 In man the intermaxillary bones form a projecting ridge on the 
 median line, both in and below the nasal orifice, and at the middle 
 of the border of this opening form the projecting " nasal spine," 
 which is not met with in any of the lower animals, and is, there- 
 fore, an anatomical character peculiar to man. "With regard to 
 this conformation of the intermaxillary bones, the enge-ena re- 
 cedes farther from man than the chimpanzee. Two infra-orbitar 
 
 * On the Superiority of Man to all other Animals, see Carpenter's Human 
 
 Physiology, pp. 67-76. Agassis regards man as widely distinguished from 
 
 even the highest kind of monkeys, Zoology, p. 40, ch. iv. p. 43, &c, and 
 
 p. 641. See also Dr Goode's Book of Nature; Branded Cyclopedia, art. 
 
 Man; Rees' Cyclopedia, art. Man; London Quarterly Review, Jan. 18.50, 
 
 p. 8. See also Martin's Natural History of Man and Monkeys. London, 
 
 1841, p. 338, &c 
 
 j- Read before the Boston Society of Natural History, October 30, 1849; and 
 see ia the Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal, for January 1850. 
 
ANTHROPOLOGY. 25 
 
 foramina exist on each side. The crests are not so well developed 
 as in the cranium just described. The occiput having been in 
 part destroyed, the cavity of the cranium is completely exposed. 
 A groove for the lodgement of the longitudinal sinus is well de- 
 fined; "digital impressions," formed by the cerebral convolutions, 
 exist, but not well marked, the crista-galli is merely rudimentary, 
 and is represented by a very slight median ridge, the olfactory 
 fossa is quite deep, the cribriform plate being on a level with the 
 middle of the orbit ; about five parallel grooves for the lodgement 
 of the branches of the dura matral artery exist on each side. 
 
 Zoological position of the Enge-ena. 
 
 With the knowledge of the anthropoid animals of Asia and 
 Africa which now exist, derived from the critical examinations of 
 their osteology, their dentition, and the comparative size of their 
 brains, by various observers, especially Geoffroy, Tiedemann, Vro- 
 lik, Cuvier, and Owen, it becomes quite easy to measure, with an 
 approximation to accuracy, the hiatus which separates them from 
 the lowest of the human race. The existence of four hands in- 
 stead of two, the inability to stand erect, consequent on the struc- 
 ture of a skeleton adapted almost exclusively to an arboreal life, 
 the excessive length of the arms, the comparatively short and per- 
 manently flexed legs, the protruding face, the position of the 
 occipital condyles in the posterior third of the base of the skull, 
 and the consequent preponderance of the head forwards, the small 
 comparative size of the brain, the largely- developed canines, the 
 interval between these last and the incisors, the three roots to 
 the bicuspid teeth, the laryngeal pouches, the elongated pelvis, 
 and its larger antero-posterior diameter, the flattened and pointed 
 coccyx, the small glutaei, the smaller size of the lower compared 
 with the upper portion of the vertebral column, the long and 
 straight spinous processes of the neck, — these, and many other 
 subordinate characters, are peculiarities of the anthropoid animals, 
 and constitute a wide gap between these and the most degraded of 
 the human races, so wide that the greatest difference between 
 these last and the noblest specimen of a Caucasian, is inconsider- 
 able in comparison. 
 
 Whilst it is thus easy to demonstrate the wide separation be- 
 tween the anthropoid and the human races, to assign a true position 
 to the former among themselves is a more difficult task. Mr Owen, 
 in his earlier Memoir, regarded the T. niger as making the nearest 
 approach to man, but the more recently discovered T. gorilla, he 
 is now induced to believe approaches still nearer, and regards it as 
 "the most anthropoid of the known brutes."* This inference is 
 derived from the study of crania alone, without any reference to 
 the rest of the skeleton. 
 
 * Op. Cit., vol. iii. p. 414. 
 
26 ANTHROPOLOGY. 
 
 After a careful examination of the Memoir just referred to, I am 
 forced to the conclusion, that the preponderance of evidence is 
 unequivocally opposed to the opinion there recorded; and, after 
 placing side by side the different anatomical peculiarities of the two 
 species, there seems to be no alternative but to regard the chim- 
 panzee as holding the highest place in the brute creation. The 
 more anthropoid characters of the T. gorilla which are referred 
 to by Professor Owen, are the following : — 
 
 1. "The coalesced central margins of the nasals are projected 
 forwards, thus offering a feature of approximation to the human 
 structure, which is very faintly indicated, if at all, in T. niger"* 
 This statement is applicable to all the crania which I have seen, 
 and especially to the two crania described in this paper. Never- 
 theless, the extension of the nasals between the frontals, or the 
 existence of an additional osseous element, is a mark of greater 
 deviation from man. 
 
 2. " The inferior or alveolar part of the pre-maxillaries, on the 
 other hand, is shorter and less prominent in T. gorilla than in T. 
 niger, and, in that respect, the larger species deviates less from 
 man."t The statement in the first portion of this sentence is 
 certainly correct, but a question may be fairly raised on that in the 
 second. The lower portion of the nasal opening in the enge-ena 
 is so much depressed, especially in the median line, that the inter- 
 maxillary bone becomes almost horizontal, and the sloping of the 
 alveolar portion takes place so gradually, that it is difficult to 
 determine where the latter commences, and the nasal opening ter- 
 minates, and in this respect, it deviates much farther from man than 
 T. niger. 
 
 3. " The next character, which is also a more anthropoid one, 
 though explicable in relation to the greater weight of the skull to 
 be poised on the atlas, is the greater prominence of the mastoid 
 processes in the T. gorilla, which are represented only by a rough 
 ridge in the T. niger." % 
 
 4. The ridge which extends from the ecto-pterygoid along the 
 inner border of the foramen ovale, terminates in T. gorilla by an 
 angle or process answering to that called " styliform" or " spinous" 
 in man, but of which there is no trace in T. niger. § 
 
 5. tt The palate is narrower in proportion to the length in the 
 T. gorilla, but the premaxillary portion is relatively longer in T. 
 niger." \\ 
 
 These constitute the most important, if not the only, characters 
 given in Professor Owen's Memoir, which would seem to indicate 
 that the enge-ena is more anthropoid than the chimpanzee, and 
 some of these, it is seen, must be received with some qualification. 
 
 If, on the other hand, we enumerate those conditions in which 
 the enge-ena recedes farther from the human type than the chim- 
 » Op. Cit.,p. 393. * P. 39. J P. 394. § P. 395. J Ibid. 
 
ANTHROPOLOGY. 27 
 
 panzee, they will be found far more numerous, and by no means 
 less important. The larger ridge over the eyes, and the crest on 
 the top of the head and occiput, with the corresponding develop- 
 ment of the temporal muscles, form the most striking features. The 
 intermaxillary bones articulating with the nasals, as in the other 
 quadrumana and most brutes, the expanded portion of the nasals 
 between the frontal, — or an additional osseous element, if this prove 
 an independent bone, — the vertically broader and more arched 
 zygomata, contrasting with the more slender and horizontal ones of 
 the chimpanzee, the more quadrate foramen lacerum of the orbit, 
 the less perfect infra-orbitar canal, the orbits less distinctly defined, 
 the larger and more tumid cheek-bones, the more quadrangular 
 orifice with its depressed floor, the greater length of the ossa palati, 
 the more widely-expanded tympanic cells, extending not only to the 
 mastoid process, but to the squamous portion of the temporal 
 bones, — these would of themselves be sufficient to counterbalance 
 all the anatomical characters stated by Professor Owen, in support 
 of the more anthropoid character of the enge-ena.* 
 
 When, however, we add to these the more quadrate outline of 
 the upper jaws, the existence of much larger and more deeply- 
 grooved canines, molars with cusps on the outer side, longer and 
 more sharply pointed, the dentes sapientiae of equal size with the 
 other molars, the prominent ridge between the outer posterior and 
 the anterior inner cusps, the absence of a crista-galli, a cranial 
 cavity almost wholly behind the orbits of the eyes, the less perfectly 
 marked depressions for the cerebral convolutions, and above all, the 
 small cranial capacity in proportion to the size of the body, no rea- 
 sonable ground for doubt remains, that the enge-ena occupies a 
 lower position, and consequently recedes farther from man than the 
 chimpanzee. 
 
 The whole subject, in addition to the general observations quoted 
 from him, will be found treated with great minuteness by Mr 
 Martin in his "Natural History of Man/' from p. 1, to p. 194, 
 where he examines the brain, the osseous system, the teeth, the di- 
 gestive organs, the integuments and clothing of man, in com- 
 parison with monkeys. See also from p. 338 to p. 545. See also 
 "Dr Scouler's Remarks in Dr King's Geologv and Religion," 
 pp. 110-112. 
 
 NOTE B. 
 
 " It is now time," says Mr Otway,* " after perhaps too tediously 
 laying down the opinions of others, to state my own ; and it is, that 
 I see nothing in the structure, or instincts, or intellectual capaci- 
 
 * " The Intellectuality of Animals." Dublin, 1847.' 
 
28 ANTHROPOLOGY. 
 
 ties of any animal but man, that has a tendency to the renewal 
 of life in another world ; observing 1 , as I do, various intellectual 
 powers capable of promoting their own wellbeing, and of contri- 
 buting to the welfare of man, still I find no power of accumulating 
 knowledge. The elephant is now no wiser than he was in the 
 days of Alexander; the dog has not learned any thing from his fore- 
 fathers — he has not taken advantage of their mistakes or attain- 
 ments; the ant advances not in the polity of her republic; the bee 
 was as good a mathematician a thousand years ago. There is no 
 progression — no power of combination; and this is as it should be; it 
 is the means of upholding God's original grant of dominion to man. 
 Give animals but a sense of power and a capability of combination, 
 and the brute or the insect creation could and would drive man 
 from the face of the earth. But what is of still more consequence, 
 I find no development whatsoever of the religious principle — not a 
 spark of the expectation of another life. With man we see in the 
 lowest of his species an expansiveness in the intellectual and moral 
 structure, that produces longings for immortality ; and within the 
 most darkened of the human race you can light up the aspirations, 
 the hopes, and fears connected with another world. Compare in 
 this way the lowest of the human family — the Bushmen of South 
 Africa, whom Captain Harris, in a recent work describes, as fol- 
 lows : — ' They usually reside in holes and crannies in rocks ; they 
 possess neither flocks nor herds ; they are unacquainted with agricul- 
 ture ; they live almost entirely on bulbous roots, locusts, reptiles, 
 and the larvae of ants; their only dress is a piece of leather round their 
 waist, and their speech resembles rather the chattering of monkeys 
 than the language of human beings/ Now, there is little or no- 
 thing here better than what is found amongst many of the inferior 
 animals. But, let us take a young Bushman, and put his mind 
 under a right educational process, and we shall soon excite in him 
 what we must ever fail to do in the young monkey, or dog, or ele- 
 phant. We can communicate to him the expansiveness that belongs 
 to an heir of immortality; within him are the germs of faith, hope, 
 and religious love, which do not exist in inferior animals." 
 
 For the following observations on the human soul, and its dis- 
 tinctiveness from animal life, both in men and brutes, I am in- 
 debted to my friend, the Rev. Joseph Baylee : — 
 
 " The Scriptures teach us that man is a threefold being. ' I 
 pray God/ says the apostle, ' your whole spirit, and soul, and body, 
 be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ/ 
 'Your spirit' — <rviupa, — i. e. your rational soul; 'your soul* — 
 rPux* — i. e. your animal life ; ' your body ' — ffupa. — your corporeal 
 frame. Those two living, thinking principles are again distin- 
 guished by him in his epistle to the Hebrews. ' The word of God 
 is able to divide asunder soul and spirit' — ^uxvovfztvos a%gi pi^g-pav 
 "4>vxr,s rt xai <srviv[Ao.<ros — penetrating as far as to the division of soul 
 
ANTHROPOLOGY. 29 
 
 and spirit. We are here taught two important truths respecting 
 our thinking principle — that it is twofold, the one part perfectly 
 distinct from the other, and yet both so interwoven that it re- 
 quires divine skill to separate them. 
 
 " The Hebrew language, which seems to have been divinely suited 
 to theological purposes, is carefully accurate in distinguishing these 
 two lives in man. In the account of man's original formation, we 
 are told that God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and 
 man became a living soul. The word here rendered breath is 
 rwci (neshama), and is applied exclusively throughout the Scrip- 
 tures to rational powers. In our translation it is frequently ren- 
 dered breath, probably from its having been breathed into man by 
 God. From a careful examination of all the passages where it 
 occurs, it will be found — 1. It is never applied to animals ; 2. It 
 is applied to man to distinguish him from animals; 3. It is applied 
 to man's rational soul, as distinguished from his animal life ; 4. it 
 is applied to God. 
 
 " The word hYi (ruach) spirit, is applied equally to animals and to 
 men, and also to the wind, and to the Spirit of God. As far as it 
 relates to our present inquiry, it seems to be the generic term for 
 sentient life, of which r^v: (neshama) is a species exclusively appli- 
 cable to rational life. 
 
 u hn (ruach) spirit, is applied to the sentient, powers of men and 
 beasts in Eccl. iii. 21, 'Who knoweth the spirit (fiVi) of man that 
 goeth upward, and the spirit (W») of a beast that goeth downward 
 to the earth.' 
 
 " On the other hand, man is distinguished from animals by his 
 having a (r^a) rational soul. ' All the spoil of these cities, and the 
 cattle, the children of Israel took for a prey unto themselves; but 
 every man they smote with the edge of the sword, until they had de- 
 stroyed them, neither left they any to breathe ' — nasa-Va ■p">sw>n so — 
 they did not allow to remain any rational soul. — (Josh. xi. 14.) 
 
 " Here it is plain that the distinction between man and the inferior 
 animals is the rflatta rational soul. 
 
 " Again, we find man declared to be possessed of two living prin- 
 ciples, the ST.n animal life, and rnatta rational life. Job xxxiv. 14, 15 
 — ' If he set his heart upon man, if he gather unto himself his spirit 
 (rm animal life) and his breath (rrosa rational life), all flesh shall 
 perish together, and man shall turn again into dust' — thus assign- 
 ing a twofold deprivation as the cause of death. To the same pur- 
 pose Isaiah says — ' God the Lord giveth breath (nrara rational life) 
 unto the people upon it, and spirit (rfil animal life) to them that 
 walk therein ' (chap. xlii. 5) — recognising two living principles in 
 man. We might cite other examples. 
 
 " This breath (ttteM rational life) is declared to be the seat of un- 
 derstanding. ' The spirit (n^ra) of man is the candle of the Lord, 
 searching all the inward parts of the belly/ — (Prov. xx. 27.) 
 
30 ANTHROPOLOGY. 
 
 ' There is a spirit (or He, the Spirit) is in man, and the inspiration 
 (nata breath or rational powers) of the Almighty giveth them un- 
 derstanding.' — (Job xxxii. 8.) We here find the word applied to 
 God, as also in Job xxxiii. 4 — ' The spirit of God hath made me, 
 and the breath (-<:■:,•:) of the Almighty hath given me life.' 
 
 " The word occurs only twenty-four times in the Old Testament, 
 and is always (with two exceptions) rendered by some derivative of 
 vnu {-rvtv/ua, twice, t/u.-rvtviri; once, ipwtov four times, ecvawon once, 
 won fifteen times). It is never rendered by -^u^n. Between the 
 period of the Septuagint translation, and the writings of the New 
 Testament, wiupot. seems to have taken the place of won, for the 
 latter is not once employed in the New Testament to designate the 
 rational soul. There is one ambiguous phrase (£&»« *«* won), life 
 and breath, in Acts xvii. 25. Indeed, won occurs but twice in the 
 New Testament. 
 
 " We have thus seen that man agrees w r ith animals in having an 
 organized material frame — a body, and a living principle animating 
 that frame, and capable of thought and will. Superadded to this, 
 man has a rational soul. It is most probable that all the powers 
 of the rational soul have their corresponding powers in the animal 
 life. As an animal, man is capable of love, joy, hatred, fear, hope, 
 &c. Our actions are the result of the combined energy of these 
 two principles, making the body the instrument of their will. 
 
 " These two principles harmonize in man's natural state. But 
 when the Holy Ghost renews the soul, the animal part is left unre- 
 newed, and then commences the struggle referred to by the Apostle 
 — ' I delight in the law of God, after the inward man, but I see 
 another law in my members warring against the law of my mind.' 
 —(Rom. vii. 22, 23; 1 Pet. ii. 11.) 
 
 '•' This continued struggle produces all that defective obedience, 
 tainted service, and defilement of life which beclouds the Christian's 
 course, until he has laid down his vile body, awaiting its renova- 
 tion in the morning of the resurrection." 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 ON THE NATURE AND IMPORTANCE OF THE DOCTRINE OF 
 THE UNITY OF THE HUMAN RACES. 
 
 PART SECOND. — ETHNOLOGY. 
 
 A multiplicity of jyrotoplasts for a single species is a contradiction in terms. 
 If two or more such individuals {or pairs), as like as the two Dromios, 
 were the several protoplasts to several classes of organized beings {the 
 present members being as like each other as their first ancestors were), 
 the phenomenon would be, the existence in nature of more than one 
 undistinguishable species; not the existence of more than one protoplast 
 to a single species. — Dr Latham. 
 
 Man has his daily icorkfor body or mind 
 
 Appointed, which declares his dignity, 
 
 And, the regard of Heaven on all his ways; 
 
 While other animals inactive range, 
 
 And of their doings God takes no account. — Milt-ox. 
 
 We have now shown that, even considered as an animal, and 
 in his purely physical and natural endowments — that is to 
 say, anthropologically — all the races of man are essentially 
 distinct from the lower animals, and that they are all to be 
 arranged under the separate genus homo. 
 
 But naturalists have found it necessary, in accordance with 
 the principles of science and the facts before them, to subdi- 
 vide animals into species, as well as into genera, orders, and 
 divisions. Not to dwell fully on this point, which will after- 
 wards come under consideration, we will simply observe here 
 that species, like genus, order, and class, is founded upon 
 fixed and permanent forms of being; exhibiting, indeed, cer- 
 
32 ETHNOLOGY. 
 
 tain modes of variation, of which they may be, more or less, 
 susceptible; but maintaining throughout those modifications 
 a sameness of structural essentials, transmitted from genera- 
 tion to generation, and never lost by the influence of causes, 
 which otherwise produce obvious effects. It is by keeping 
 this principle in view that we unhesitatingly decide upon the 
 specific distinction between fossil reliquias of extinct animals, 
 and those now extant, of near affinity; between the mammoth 
 and the Asiatic elephant; between the fossil species of rhin- 
 oceros, and their living representatives.* 
 
 Species are, therefore, permanent. In his work on the 
 principles of zoology, published in 1840, M. Agassiz defines 
 species to be " the lowest term to which naturalists descend, 
 if we except certain peculiarities generally induced by some 
 modification of native habits, such as are seen in domestic 
 animals. The species," he adds, " is founded upon less im- 
 portant distinctions; such as colour, size, proportions, struc- 
 ture, &c." Every animal has its own characters, by which it 
 is distinguished, and which constitute it a species. Each 
 species consists of individuals. Individuality is the ultimate 
 division ; and, when we designate a species, we include, in that 
 title, every similar individual. Thus, when we call the tiger 
 a species, we include, in that word, every tiger — one being the 
 representative, or prototype, of all. For those minor distinc- 
 tions termed varieties, the terms breed, in reference to the 
 lower animals, and race, when we speak of man, are em- 
 ployed.t 
 
 * Martin. 
 
 f A variety, says Dr Latham, is a class of individuals, each belonging to 
 the same species, but each differing from other individuals of the species in 
 points wherein they agree amongst each other. 
 
 A race is a class of individuals, concerning which there are doubts as to 
 whether they constitute a separate species or a variety of a recognised one. 
 Hence, the term is subjective — i.e. it applies to the opinion of the investi- 
 gator rather than to the object of the investigation; so that its power is that 
 of the symbol for an unknown quantity in algebra. The present writer hav- 
 ing as yet found no tribe, or family, for which a sufficient reason for raising 
 it to a new species has been adduced, has either not used the word race at 
 
ETHNOLOGY. S3 
 
 Now, this subject has given origin to a very different con • 
 troversy from that occasioned by the theory of Larmarck, 
 with whom there is no such thing as either species, genus, or 
 any fixed and permanent form of being. For, granting that 
 no animal by any series of mystical transformations can be- 
 come an animal of a different species, it has been made a 
 question whether permanent varieties are not marks of specific 
 difference, and therefore of different original parentage. This 
 question is much agitated as it respects the different breeds of 
 horses, cows, swine, and other animals, but especially as it 
 regards the human family. Among men there are, and ever 
 have been since the first era of historical information, nume- 
 rous and important differences both as it regards colour, hair, 
 physiognomy, and anatomical structure. The classification 
 of these various races of men has excited the curiosity, and 
 employed the ingenuity of many able and learned men, some 
 dividing them according to their locality, as Linnaeus, Buffon, 
 Blumenbach, Cuvier, Fischer, Dumeril, Desmoulins, M. Borg 
 de St. Vincent, Pickering, &c. ;* others, according to their 
 colour, as Lesson, &c.;t others, by their skulls, and other 
 varieties of form and structure, as Prichard; J others, accord- 
 ing to both location and form, as Martin § and Latham. || 
 With this difference as to the division of the human races, 
 there is equal variety among naturalists as to their number; 
 some, as Linnaeus, Blumenbach, and Martin, dividing them 
 into five divisions; others, as Buffon, into six; others, as 
 Cuvier, Latham, &c, into three; others, as Fischer, Prichard, 
 &c, into seven; others, as Lesson and Dumeril, into six; 
 
 all, or used it inadvertently. Its proper place is in investigation, not in 
 exposition. 
 
 * See presented in Martin, pp. 213, 214; and Fischer's " Synopsis Mam- 
 malium." 
 
 + " Mammalogie," and " Species des Mammiferes." 
 
 % " Researches." 
 
 § " Natural History of Man and Monkey," p. 219, &c. 
 
 || " The Natural History of the Varieties of Man," by Robert Gordon 
 Latham. London, 1850. A very able work. 
 
 C 
 
34 ETHNOLOGY. 
 
 others, into two, as Yirey ; others, into eleven, as Desmoulins; 
 others, into seventeen, as M. Borg de St. Vincent; and others, 
 into twenty-two families, as Dr Morton. M I have seen,'* 
 says M. Pickering, M in all eleven races of men, and although 
 I am hardly prepared to fix a limit to their number, I con- 
 fess, after having visited so many different parts of the globe, 
 I am at a loss where to look for others;" and, he continues, 
 in his zoological deductions, " there is, I conceive, no middle 
 ground between the admission of eleven distinct species in 
 the human family and the reduction to one." Mr Burke again, 
 of the Ethnological Journal, is confident that the number of 
 distinct races must be indefinitely multiplied. Now, one of 
 the most interesting and important questions, which can be 
 agitated is, whether the human races are varieties — that is, 
 the result of a combination of causes, which have operated 
 on different offsets of one origin — or are aboriginal; and, if 
 the latter, whether this aboriginality. which involves the crea- 
 tion of them as they are, destroys specific identity, so that the 
 same species may have distinct primordial beginnings. 
 
 This inquiry constitutes Ethnology, which determines the 
 relations of the different varieties of mankind to each other. 
 
 ■* EthnoWv." adds Mr Latham* " is more immediatelv 
 connected with history; differing from it chiefly in its object, 
 its method, and its arena. 
 
 M Whilst history represents the actions of men as deter- 
 mined by moral, ethnology ascertains the effects of physical 
 influences. 
 
 " History collects its facts from testimony, and ethnology 
 does the same ; but ethnology deals with problems upon which 
 historv is silent by arguing backwards, from effect to cause. 
 
 " This throws the arena of the ethnologist into an earlier 
 period of the world's history than that of the proper historian. 
 
 M It is the method of arguing from effect to cause which 
 gives to ethnology its scientific, in opposition to its literary 
 aspect, placing it, thereby, in the same category with geology, 
 
 * P. 560. 
 
ETHXOLOGY. o5 
 
 as a palaeontological science. Hence it is the science of a 
 method — a method by which inference does the work of 
 testimony. 
 
 " Furthermore, ethnology is history in respect to its results; 
 geology, in respect to its method. And, in the same way that 
 geology has its zoological, physiological, and such other as- 
 pects, as constitute it a mixed science, ethnology has them also." 
 
 On this subject there is, we are sorry to say, great differ- 
 ences of opinion. Among the ancients the views entertained 
 on this subject were denned by the presence or absence of 
 divine revelation. Among the Jews to whom the word of 
 God was proclaimed, and among whom the true knowledge 
 of man's original history consequently prevailed, it was uni- 
 versally held, as it has been by Christians until now, that all 
 the varieties of the human family have originated — from 
 some causes, either supernatural and miraculous, or otherwise 
 — among the descendants of one original parentage. Among 
 the other nations of the earth, including Greece and Rome, 
 the opinion prevailed that every country had its own race of 
 inhabitants, created upon its own soil, and under the tutelage 
 of that particular deity by whom the country was governed. 
 This opinion, however, as it was essentially heathen in its 
 origin and character, so did it prevail or perish just as Pagan- 
 ism prevailed or gave place to the religion of heaven, and to 
 the divinely-inspired doctrine of the unity of all the races of 
 men.* 
 
 When, however, in modern times, infidelity sought to erect 
 its dominion upon the rains of Christianity, Voltaire, Rous- 
 seau, Peyrere, and their followers, introduced the theory of 
 an original diversity of human races, in order thereby to over- 
 throw the truth and inspiration of the sacred Scriptures. They 
 had no manner of doubt that the unity of the human races is 
 every where taught in the Bible ; but they argued, that in all 
 their varieties there are impassable lines — that they are dis- 
 
 * Miaon-tse, the name of the aboriginal Chinese, means the children of 
 the soil.—" Latham on the Varieties of Man," p. 25. 
 
36 ETHNOLOGY. 
 
 tinct species — that they could not have sprung from a single 
 pair — and that the Bible, therefore, cannot be true. In this 
 opinion, and for the same purpose, modern infidel writers — 
 such as Karnes, Gibbon, Paine, &c. — have concurred. In 
 the present day, this theory of a plurality of distinctly-created 
 races of men has, therefore, found currency among infidel 
 writers, who have employed it for the avowed purpose of op- 
 posing Christianity. Dr Nott, in his lectures,* attempts to 
 show that this doctrine of man's unity is impossible — that the 
 Bible does not teach it — and that those passages from which 
 the doctrine of the unity of the races of mankind is gathered, 
 are either no part of the inspired record, or are misinterpreted ; 
 that the books ascribed to Moses are a mere collection of old 
 traditions and contradictory myths, many of them entirely un- 
 worthy of credit ; and that these books were probably com- 
 piled at a much later period than that usually ascribed to 
 them, while the Mosaic chronology is irreconcilable with the 
 discoveries of modern science, and the revelations of Oriental 
 and Egyptian archaeology. Voltaire held that there were " as 
 well marked species of men as of apes/' Karnes was more 
 unhappy in his illustration. " If the only rule afforded by 
 nature for classing animals can be depended upon," we find him 
 saying, " there are different species of men as well as of dogs." 
 Gibbon, though his remark on the subject takes the charac- 
 teristic form of an ironical sneer, in which he says the contrary 
 of what he means, deemed it more natural to hold that the 
 various races of men originated in those tracts of the globe 
 which they inhabit, than that they had all proceeded from a 
 common centre and a single pair of progenitors. Mr Burke,t 
 Drake, J and others, have adopted and published the same 
 views, and a cordial welcome has been given to the work of Dr 
 Nott, by certain scholars of France and Germany, who have 
 translated the doctor's first two lectures, " On the Natural 
 
 * On the Biblical and Physical History of Man. 
 
 f Ethnological Journal. 
 
 ± Book of the American Indians. , 
 
ETHNOLOGY. 37 
 
 History of the Caucasian and Negro Races, delivered in Mo- 
 bile in 1844," into several of the languages of Europe. 
 
 The same theory, however, has also been put forth by men 
 of the highest scientific characters, who found their conclu- 
 sions upon what they deem scientific observations, experiment, 
 and fact. How far this opinion prevails in Great Britain we 
 are unable to say, but that it has its advocates even here there 
 can be no manner of doubt. Hamilton Smith, in his " Natu- 
 ral History of the Human Races," has much that would argue 
 his belief in this theory ; and Mr Martin, in his " Natural 
 History of Man and Monkeys,"* and Professor Lowe,| seem 
 to lean to the same opinion ; while Dr Nott — after afiirming 
 that u to his mind, modern discoveries in geology and natural 
 history are totally irreconcilable with the Book of Genesis ; 
 and that of the genus homo there are several distinct species ; 
 that physical causes cannot change a white man into a 
 negro, and that to say this change has been effected by a 
 direct act of Providence, is an assumption which cannot be 
 proved^ and is contrary to the great chain of nature's laics " — 
 actually asserts, that while " sorry to come in collision with 
 those I respect — with Agassiz, Morton, Pickering, and all the 
 leading Egyptologists of Europe, on my side — there does not 
 remain a shadow of a doubt on my mind that 1 am right, and 
 that the truth will soon prevail." 
 
 It is, however, among the scientific naturalists and physio- 
 logists of the United States that the theory of a plurality of 
 originally created races of men has most extensively prevailed, 
 and this, too, quite as much in the north as in the south, in- 
 cluding the names of Professor Agassiz, of world-wide repu- 
 tation, and of the justly celebrated Dr Morton, author of 
 " Crania/ Americana," " Crania Egyptiaca," and other learned 
 works. The theory advocated by these naturalists is, that 
 though the human species be properly but one, it is, according 
 
 * Natural History, p. 169. 
 
 + Professor Lowe, in his work on the Domesticated Animals of Great Bri- 
 tain. Introduction. 
 
38 ETHNOLOGY. 
 
 to the known analogies both of plants and animals, that it 
 should have originated in various centres — a conclusion which 
 the strongly-marked varieties of the race which occur in cer- 
 tain well-defined geographic areas, serve to substantiate, or at 
 least to render the most probable. Under the influence of 
 such distinguished men, these views are likely to be very 
 widely diffused, and incorporated with the teaching of some of 
 the most influential universities, seminaries, and periodicals, 
 of that country. In the earnest discussions which have been 
 entered upon in the progress of this inquiry, Dr Kneeland, of 
 Boston, delivered the annual lecture before the Harvard 
 Natural History Society, in May last. He took the ground, 
 that the received opinion that all human beings are descended 
 from one pair — Adam and Eve — is not supported by the 
 Mosaic record, and, according to known facts and well-esta- 
 blished analogies, cannot be true. He thus coincides with the 
 recently-expressed opinion of Professor Agassiz, w r ho, it is 
 said, will shortly give to the public his views on this interest- 
 ing question at some length.* 
 
 British naturalists are not less likely to take an active part 
 in this discussion, because against the new ground assumed 
 by Agassiz, many of the old facts and arguments, on which 
 Dr Prichard relied for the determination of this question, will 
 not bear. Already, Professor Edward Forbes has, in an illus- 
 trious manner, sustained the doctrine advocated by Linnaeus, 
 Prichard,t Humboldt, J Bachman. and other naturalists, and 
 proved that analogy and facts are not in favour of the creation 
 of the same species in a plurality of centres; but that all 
 plants and animals of the same species are members of spe- 
 cific centres beyond their area, and have migrated to their 
 present provinces over continuous land before, during, or after 
 the glacial epoch. J 
 
 * See also the" Christian Register " of Boston, " Christian Examiner and 
 Review," of Boston, " The Washington Union,' 1 " The Democratic Re- 
 view," &c. 
 
 f "Researches," vol. i. J " Cosmos," vol i. p. 363. 
 
 § " Memoirs of the Geological Survey of Great Britain," and quoted in 
 
ETHNOLOGY. 39 
 
 Dr Knox, in his " Lectures on Races of Men,"* says— 
 " I, in opposition to these views, am prepared to assert that 
 race is every thing in human history; that the races of men 
 are not the result of accident; that they are not convertible 
 into each other by any contrivance whatever. 
 
 Humboldt's " Cosmos," and Somerville's " Physical Geography," vol. ii. 
 p, 75. Professor E. Forbes has shown that some of the primary floras and 
 faunas have spread widely from their original centres over large portions of 
 the continents, before the land was broken up into the form it now has ; 
 and thus accounts for the similarity, and sometimes identity, of the plants 
 and animals of regions now separated by seas ; as, for example, islands 
 which generally partake of the vegetation and fauna of the continents ad- 
 jacent to them. Taking for granted the original creation of specific centres 
 of plants and animals, Professor E. Forbes has clearly proved that " the 
 specific identity, to any extent, of the flora and fauna of one area with those 
 of another, depends on both areas forming, or having formed, part of the 
 same specific centre, or on their having derived their animal and vegetable 
 population by transmission, through migration, over continuous or closely 
 contiguous land; aided, in the case of Alpine floras, by transportation on 
 floating masses of ice. Since man's appearance, certain geological areas, 
 both of land and water, have been formed, presenting such physical condi- 
 tions as to entitle us to expect within their bounds one, or in some instances 
 more than one, centre of creation, or point of maximum of a zoological or 
 botanical province. But a critical examination renders evident," the Pro- 
 fessor adds, " that, instead of showing distinct foci of creation, they have 
 been in all instances peopled by colonization, i. e. by migration of species 
 from pre-existing, and, in every case, pre-Adamic provinces. Among the 
 terrestrial areas, the British isles may serve as an example; among marine, 
 the Baltic, Mediterranean, and Black Seas. The British islands have been 
 colonized from various centres of creation in (now) continental Europe; 
 the Baltic Sea from the Celtic region, although it runs itself into the 
 conditions of the Boreal one; and the Mediterranean, as it now appears, 
 from the fauna and flora of the more ancient Lusitanian province." Pro- 
 fessor Forbes, it is stated further, in the report of his paper to which I owe 
 these details — a paper read at the Koyal Institution in March last — " ex- 
 hibited, in support of the same view, a map, showing the relation which 
 the centres of creation of the air-breathing molluscs in Europe bear to the 
 geological history of the respective areas, and proving that the whole snail 
 population of its northern and central extent (the portion of the Continent 
 of newest, and probably post-Adamic, origin) had been derived from foci 
 of creation seated in pre-Adamic lands."* 
 
 * " The Races of Men," by Robert Knox, M.D., Lecturer on Anatomy, 
 and Corresponding Member of the National Academy of Medicine of France. 
 See pp. 3, 8, 28, and 245. 
 
 * See fcomerville's " Physical Geography," vol. ii. 
 
40 ETHNOLOGY. 
 
 " But, it may be said, Christianity has done much. This I 
 doubt. But, admitting it to be the case, its progress is not evi- 
 dent. To me it seems to lose ground. It presents, also, a variety 
 of forms, essentially distinct. With each race its character is 
 altered — Celtic, Saxon, Sarmatian, express, in so many words, 
 the Greek, Roman, Lutheran forms of worship. 
 
 " I question the theories of progress in time. If, by pro- 
 gress be meant improvement as regards all animals, some, at 
 least, of the extinct organic world were equal, if not superior, 
 to that now existing. Man was probably there also. It is 
 these, and other such questions, which Jesuits of all denomi- 
 nations (for they are not confined to the Roman Catholic 
 world) declaim against. Hence, also, their dislike to the geo- 
 logist and the anatomist. Science has nothing to do with such 
 persons ; and, but for the frequency of their open and insidi- 
 ous attacks, I should deem it lost time the giving to them even 
 a passing thought. 
 
 " Wild, visionary, pitiable theories, have been offered res- 
 pecting the colour of the black man; as if he differed only in 
 colour from the white races. But he differs in every thing as 
 much as in colour. He is no more a white man than an ass 
 is a horse or a zebra. If the Israelite finds his ten tribes 
 amongst them, I shall be happy." 
 
 Man, also, he afiirms, has lived through several geologi- 
 cal epochs. " The precise geological period," he says, " when 
 man appeared on the earth, has not been determined; nor what 
 race appeared first; nor under what form. But it is evident 
 that man has survived several geological eras. On these points, 
 all is at present conjecture; but, as man merely forms a por- 
 tion of the material world, he must of necessity be subject to 
 all the physiological and physical laws affecting life on the 
 globe. His pretensions to place himself above nature's laws 
 assume a variety of shapes. Sometimes he affects mystery, at 
 other times he is crandlv mechanical. Now. all is to be done 
 through the workshop. In a little while, the ultimatum (what 
 is the ultimatum aimed at?) is to be gained through religion ; 
 
ETHNOLOGY. 41 
 
 and thus man frets his hour upon the stage of life, fancying 
 himself something whilst he is absolutely nothing. For him, 
 worlds were made millions of years ago; and yet, according 
 to his own account, he appeared, as it were, but yesterday! 
 Let us leave human chronology to the chronicler of events; 
 it turned the brain of Newton." 
 
 Another class of opponents against whom we shall have to 
 contend are the followers of Swedenborg. In the Anglo- 
 American " New Church Repository," conducted by the learned 
 Professor Bush,* in a review of this work, it is said: "We 
 believe that the word of God will allow of an interpreta- 
 tion falling in with either of the chief hypotheses which have 
 been broached; and it is a circumstance which we think will 
 weigh with all candid minds, that it is an interpretation held 
 by the New Church before this question of the races, or of * 
 geology, came up for adjustment; and therefore is not the 
 result of after thought, or one got up expressly to meet the 
 pressure of the present case." 
 
 With them, the first chapters in Genesis — and, in short, all 
 Scripture — are allegorical, and capable of a mythical and mo- 
 ral interpretation; not, of course, according to the principles 
 of sound criticism which the author followed when he wrote 
 his able work on Genesis, from which we shall have occasion 
 to quote. 
 
 "Thus he lays great stress on the passage from Paul, 
 ' God hath made of one blood all nations of men,' and con- 
 ceives that this passage alone is sufficient to settle the matter. 
 But we have not the idea that the best commentators of the 
 day would affirm that the spirit of this passage would be lost 
 if it were made to mean that all men were morally of one 
 blood; alike responsible before God, and endowed with the 
 same general human nature." 
 
 Professor Bush therefore adds — 
 
 " Seeing that, with our views of interpretation, the argu- 
 ment from the literal sense of the first eleven chapters of 
 
 * New York, June 1850. 
 
42 ETHNOLOGY. 
 
 Genesis counts for very little, it will be readily perceived that 
 we do not require so strong a series of proof to convince us 
 of the diversity of origin as do those who hold to the literal 
 sense of those chapters. In fact, we have no necessity for a 
 prejudice towards either side of the question, and are there- 
 fore, without any merit on our part, placed in a mental posi- 
 tion favourable to arriving at a just estimate of the evidence. 
 Simply, then, as a matter of opinion, it seems to us that, so 
 far as the evidences derived from the natural history of the 
 race go, they preponderate in favour of a diversity of origin. 
 The arguments drawn from the analogies of the animal king- 
 dom look also in the same direction; while the considerations 
 furnished by a study of the languages and traditions of the 
 races have a bearing towards the universal unity of origin. 
 Consequently, we conceive that the strongest point Dr Smyth 
 has made is contained in his fifteenth and sixteenth chapters 
 — on the nature and connection of languages, and on the 
 testimony of history and tradition. 
 
 " Thus, on the one hand, it is maintained that known causes 
 are insufficient to account for the present observed varieties of 
 the human race, supposing them to have descended from a 
 single stock; and, therefore, we are obliged to infer that they 
 have descended from several pairs, originally created with the 
 peculiarities which now mark the leading races. A variety of 
 opinion prevails in regard to the probable number of such 
 original pairs ; some supposing two different varieties, the 
 white and the black, sufficient to account for all the other 
 shades; others, again, suppose three — the white, black, and 
 yellow, or Mongolian; counting the Malay, or brown race, 
 and the American, or red race, as each varieties of the Mon- 
 golian, or the result of mixture with the black. Others, again, 
 are disposed to make out five or six, and an indefinite num- 
 ber, perhaps twenty, different original centres, from which 
 the whole race have proceeded." 
 
 On this obscure and difficult question much may, and will 
 be said, on both sides, before it is finally determined with 
 
ETHNOLOGY. 43 
 
 absolute certainty. And, even were it decided according to 
 the theory of Agassiz — that, in regard to vegetables and the 
 lower animals, all the analogies were in favour of creation in 
 various, and not in specific centres — the question of the unity 
 of the human races would still remain unsettled. Whether, 
 therefore, all men are of one species — whether specific unity 
 implies unity of origin — and whether this unity can be proved 
 historically, as well as scientifically — are points which may be 
 examined, and perhaps resolved, while the general analogy of 
 nature, in reference to both the fauna and the flora of our 
 globe is still under doubtful investigation. 
 
 And surely, if there is one subject about which the human 
 mind ought to be universally interested, it is the origin, his- 
 tory, and character of man ; and if there is one aspect in which 
 this subject is more interesting than another, it is the relation 
 in which men of all races stand to each other, and to their 
 common God and Father in heaven. The importance, there- 
 fore, of our present inquiry cannot be overrated. It relates to 
 man, and we nUist all feel with the Roman poet — " Homo 
 sum, et nihil humanum a me alienum puto." This inquiry bears 
 on ourselves. We are men ; and whatever affects the nature, 
 capacities, and destiny of the human family, must equally con- 
 cern ourselves. The opinions we form of others, must shape 
 their opinions concerning us. Our conduct towards others 
 must, by the law of reciprocity, influence them in their treat- 
 ment of us. And, as our actions must follow the direction 
 of our conscientious belief, our opinion on this subject has an 
 evident and important bearing on our own interests. 
 
 Nor does this influence stop with ourselves. It diffuses 
 itself far and wide. It permeates the family and social circle, 
 and in its widening influence gives tone and character to the 
 political and commercial world. Nay, upon our views of this 
 question the entire interests of humanity are pending. Upon 
 it are suspended the progress of civilization, the diffusion of 
 knowledge, the zeal of Christian and general philanthropy, 
 the elevation or degradation of entire races of men, in short, 
 
44 ETHNOLOGY. 
 
 the elevation or extinction of all who are not of the particular 
 race, be it black or "white, savage or civilized, which succeeds 
 in gaining the ascendency. And this it is by no means cer- 
 tain must be the white race. For if the black races of men, 
 considered as a ichole, are now rapidly diffusing themselves 
 over various regions of the earth from a variety of centres — 
 if they are acquiring the knowledge and practice of war — if 
 they rapidly double their numbers — if they are capable of $, 
 healthy occupation of vast portions of the earth where the 
 white man cannot live, and of becoming well adapted to all 
 other climates — and if they are capable of imitating all the 
 vicious, and murderous, and ambitious propensities of the 
 whites — what may we expect will be the result of a theory 
 and conduct which shall excite throughout this accumulating 
 mass of human beings the fiendish thirst for revenge and re- 
 taliation! Either, therefore, all men are of one human family, 
 and thus united by the ties of brotherhood, the claims of 
 humanity, and the obligations of charity, or else there are 
 races of men to be reckoned up by millions, *md hundreds of 
 millions, who can regard each other only as enemies or victims. 
 " Why," asks Hugh Miller,* " should we respect the life 
 of creatures not of our own blood? Bill Svkes tells Pagan the 
 Jew, in ' Oliver Twist,' that he wished he was his dog, ' for,' 
 said he, ' the government that cares for the lives of men like 
 you, lets a man kill a dog how T he likes.' But if these tribes 
 be men not of our own blood — men who did not spring from 
 the same source with ourselves, and for whom, therefore, 
 Christianity can make no provision — Why the distinction? 
 It is only to those whom we believe to be of our own blood 
 that the distinction extends. It is as lawful to shoot an 
 ourang-outang, or a chimpanzee, as a dog or a cat; and with 
 but mere expediency to regulate the matter, it might become 
 quite as necessary to hunt down and destroy wild men, as to 
 hunt down and destroy wild dogs." 
 
 * See Review of this work by Hugh Miller, in the Edinburgh Witness, 
 July 13, 1850. 
 
ETHNOLOGY. 45 
 
 Let, then, the theory of a diversity of human races pre- 
 vail and become general, and this whole question be cast loose 
 from the restraints and authority of the Bible, and of our 
 common humanity, and then the only question will be — 
 " What will be most for mere selfish interest, popularity, or 
 worldly applause ? " And hence we find Dr Nott declaring, 
 " The time must come when the blacks will be worse than 
 useless to us. What then? Emancipation must follow, 
 which, from the lights before us, is but another name for 
 extermination." We might, therefore, well say of this theory 
 with Dr Lawrence, " that the moral and political conse- 
 quences to which this theory would lead are shocking and 
 detestable." And yet this theory is maintained, and for the 
 very purpose of sustaining upon it these barbarous conclu- 
 sions. Thus, in the "Democratic Review" of New York, 
 for April last, it is declared, that the differences among men 
 " cannot be changed by advanced civilization, or any other 
 means" — "that the philanthropic world for the last fifty 
 years (by missionary efforts) has been proceeding entirely up- 
 on a false assumption;" and " that the effects of these efforts 
 is to degrade the white species, and to destroy the dark spe- 
 cies," whose destiny it is to be " finally sw r allowed up." Again, 
 in a very recent review of this work in the same periodical, 
 it is said, " With, according to our view, a very debasing 
 tendency, he (Dr Smyth) seeks to establish a universal bro- 
 therhood of black, red, yellow, and white. The brutalizing 
 and soul-degrading theory that the white species are on a 
 level with the incapable blacks, is undoubtedly that disposition 
 which the Saviour so sharply reproves in him who hid his 
 talents in a napkin." In like manner, a writer in another 
 influential organ of public opinion at the north, in the United 
 States,* in a recent notice, says, " A great hindrance to be- 
 lief is the desire to disbelieve. We are glad to be able to 
 doubt our relationship with the low and vulgar, and most 
 are displeased at Dr Goode's witty saying, that ' the negro, 
 * The Newark Advertiser. 
 
46 ETHNOLOGY. 
 
 like the white man, is still God's image, although carved in 
 ebony/" According to the " Ethnological Journal," also, the 
 determination of the differences of mankind is to lead to " the 
 deduction of principles for human guidance in all the im- 
 portant relations of social existence." " It developes facts and 
 principles whose application will ultimately change the face 
 of the world." 
 
 But we further remark, that this question involves the truth 
 or falsity of the Bible, and every interest of Christianity. The 
 theory of a plurality of distinctly-created races of men is ne- 
 cessarily infidel in its tendency. It is in open and direct op- 
 position to the testimony of the Bible. It overthrows not only 
 Moses, but the prophets and apostles also, and thus under- 
 mines the Scriptures as a divine record, both of doctrines and 
 of duties. It was for this purpose, as we have seen, the theory 
 was introduced by Yoltaire, Rousseau, and Peyrere, and it is 
 for this purpose it is wielded by Paine, Drake, Dr Nott, and 
 others. Neither is this infidel tendency obviated by admitting 
 that the Bible is in part inspired, and in part human and 
 erroneous. For, if this theory is adopted, it is left to every 
 man to decide, according to his own notions and desires, what 
 is, and what is not, revealed. There would be no common 
 standard of truth and duty, and we would be driven to and 
 fro, like storm-tossed and anchorless vessels upon the shoreless 
 billows of an uncharted sea. Neither will this tendency be 
 prevented by allowing the Bible to be inspired, but only ad- 
 dressed to the Caucasian race of men; for the testimony of 
 the Bible to the unity of the races is not found in any one, or 
 in any few passages, but in all its doctrinal and practical 
 teaching, so that, if limited to any one race, it must be proved 
 self- contradictory. 
 
 " Zoologically, therefore," as Hugh Miller strongly but 
 truly affirms, " it will be seen that, against this restatement 
 of the question by Agassiz, many of the old facts and argu- 
 ments do not bear. Theologically, however, in every instance 
 in which it assumes the positive form, and in which, building 
 
ETHNOLOGY. 47 
 
 on its presumed analogies, and the extreme character and re- 
 mote appearances of the several varieties of the species to 
 which it points, it asserts that the beginnings of the race must 
 be diverse, and its Adams and Eves many ; it is, in effect, the 
 same. On the consequences of the result, it can be scarce 
 necessary to insist. The second Adam died for but the de- 
 scendants of the first. Nay, so thoroughly is revelation 
 pledged to the unity of the species, that if all nations be not 
 4 made of one blood/ there is, in the theological sense, neither 
 first nor second Adam ; ' Christ/ according to the apostle, 
 ' hath not risen, conversion is an idle fiction, and all men are 
 yet in their sins.' " 
 
 This tendency of the theory of a plurality of races is not 
 unobserved by many of its advocates. The views of Professor 
 Agassiz, though far from being so openly infidel, are not less 
 dangerous. In his remarks in the American Association, at 
 its meeting in Charleston, in April 1850, made after the pre- 
 sentation of Dr Nott's paper against the unity of the races, 
 M. Agassiz took the opportunity to publish his opinion on 
 this agitated question. He farther said, that, inasmuch as his 
 opinions on this question had been made a matter of frequent 
 inquiry, he would take this opportunity, once for all, to ex- 
 press his views very distinctly on the subject. He said, many 
 mistakes and some ill feeling had arisen among naturalists 
 from not understanding the grounds of the controversy which 
 were assumed by opposing parties. As a general proposition, 
 he would side with those who maintained the doctrine of the 
 unity of the human races, if by the unity of the race be meant 
 nothing more than that all mankind were endowed with one 
 common nature, intellectual and physical, derived from the 
 Creator of all men, were under the same moral government 
 of the universe, and sustained similar relations to the Deity. 
 It was quite a different question, whether the different races 
 were derived from the same common human ancestors. For 
 his own part, after giving to this question much consideration, 
 he was ready to maintain that the different races of men were 
 
48 ETHNOLOGY. 
 
 descended from different stocks, and he regarded this position 
 as fully sustained by divine revelation. The Jewish history 
 was the history, not of divers races, but of a single race of 
 mankind ; but the existence of other races was often inciden- 
 tally alluded to, and distinctly implied, if not absolutely as- 
 serted, in the sacred volume. Of this last assertion, he gave 
 in proof, that there were other races of men, coexistent with 
 Adam and his son Cain, dwelling in the land of Nod, and 
 among whom Cain married and built a city. 
 
 Either, therefore, the received doctrines of the inspiration 
 and authority of the Bible must be abandoned, and the theory 
 of German rationalists — which regards the Bible as composed 
 of traditionary and mythical legends, whose truth or falsehood 
 must be determined by the rules of historical criticism — must 
 be adopted, or else we must abandon all faith in the Bible and 
 the religion it inculcates. The former is the course taken bv 
 Agassiz, and many other naturalists in America ; while the 
 latter ground is that which has been openly assumed by Dr 
 Nott, Mr Gliddon, and others.* Momentous interests are 
 therefore involved in the question of the unity or diversity of 
 
 * The full sentiments of this gentleman will be learned from the " Ethno- 
 logical Journal, ,, in No. 7 for December 1848, at page 297. He remarks, as 
 he says, en passant — " Under this view, however, the ethnological inquirer 
 is presented with a dilemma, either horn of which is awkward to his ortho- 
 doxy, because, if, grounded on the myths of Adam and Eve, he contend 
 for unity of race, he must abandon plenary inspiration, and, with it, Gene- 
 siacal chronology in any text or version of the Pentateuch ; or, should he 
 advocate the inspired authenticity of Hebrew, Greek, or Samaritan nume- 
 rals for ante- Abrahamic ages, he must (in the face of incontrovertible facts, 
 conceded by Prichard himself, which shows that, within human record, 
 neither time nor climate has ever transmuted a Caucasian into a negro, 
 or rice versa) abandon the hypothetical primitive unity of the now diver- 
 sified species of mankind. ,, In page 297, he speaks of the contracted sys- 
 tems of English chronographers, which, if superlatively orthodox, are. &c. 
 quoting Volney. See the whole article, from which it is evident, that, while 
 he has devoted four years to Biblical studies (as he says), he has not learned 
 the elementary distinction between the corruption or loss even of the ori- 
 ginal Hebrew numerals and the consequent knowledge of the true chrono- 
 logy they indicated, and the plenary inspiration of all that really appertains 
 to the Bible, so far as it is proved to be genuine and authentic. A pyramid 
 
ETHNOLOGY. 49 
 
 the human races, and every man, woman, and child, of every 
 nation, kindred, tribe, and people, are concerned in its dis- 
 cussion. 
 
 To aid general readers in the investigation of this subject, 
 is our object in the present work. We aim at being neither 
 exclusively popular, nor exclusively scientific. Our work will, 
 we hope, come within the range of the general reader, while 
 it satisfies the demands of the professional student. We will 
 endeavour to present a comprehensive outline of the whole 
 argument, and a summary of the information gleaned from 
 various works during a series of years. 
 
 And here let the reader be requested to observe, and fix in 
 his mind as necessary to any clear and satisfactory result, the 
 twofold nature of this question : — The unity of the human 
 races, for which we " contend earnestly," is the identical 
 origin of all mankind, originally from Adam and Eve, and 
 subsequently from Noah and his sons. This question, it 
 must be admitted, is fairly and legitimately a scriptural one. 
 It is plainly beyond the discovery of reason. It lies in re- 
 gions to which the clue of history offers no guide. It is im- 
 measurably beyond the reach of inductive observation. The 
 
 is not less a pyramid because it is the fact that in some cases part is want- 
 ing, or part superadded to the original building. Nor is the Bible less the 
 inspired "Word of God because some numerals may have fallen'out, or may 
 have been foisted in. If not genuine, these numerals may be, and they will 
 be, all abandoned, without touching the integrity of the text and the ple- 
 nary inspiration of the Bible. Mr Gliddon's studies appear, from his own 
 references, to have been confined to such rationalists and sceptical writers 
 as De Wette, Parker, Munk, &c. See Journal, No. 8, p. 354. No wonder, 
 therefore, that he recognises no superhuman knowledge among the ancients 
 (ibid. p. 385) — that he vehemently repudiates " any comparison between the 
 physically harmless abominations of the Egyptians and those atrocities 
 which hundreds of texts of Hebrew annals prove to have been quite com- 
 mon in Palestine, in the self-same days"* (No. 9, p. 395) — that he gives to 
 man an indefinite number of centuries prior to all recorded annals of his 
 existence (No. 8, p. 357, and No. 10, pp. 406, 407), and that he " referred 
 to this inscription in his first lecture, as an evidence that the ancient Egyp- 
 tians believed in the immortality of the soul, although this dogma was 
 unknown to the writers of the Hebrew Pentateuch. But see Munk's Pa- 
 lestine. ,, Paris, 1845, pp. 147-150.— (See p. 291). 
 
 D 
 
50 ETHNOLOGY. 
 
 facts we cannot discover. Reasoning upon these facts, and 
 conclusions founded on that reasoning, we cannot make. 
 The appeal must be made, therefore, to testimony, and that 
 testimony must be divine. And if this testimony exists, then 
 our belief in the original unity of the human races is — like 
 our belief in the certain immortality of the soul in a state of 
 happiness or misery, in all the doctrines of the Bible, and in 
 the original creation out of nothing of the earth itself — an 
 exercise of faith, and not a conviction produced by science. 
 For even as it is " through faith we understand that the 
 worlds were framed by the word of God; so that the things 
 which are seen were not made of things which do appear," 
 (Heb. xi. 3), so through faith we believe also, that " God in 
 the beginning made of one blood all the nations who now 
 dwell upon the face of all the earth." In this view of the ques- 
 tion, it is altogether independent of the speculations of science, 
 the theories of the physiologist, the classifications of the 
 naturalist, or the dreams of the ethnologist; and is, there- 
 fore, to be determined by the same rules of historical criticism 
 which decide upon any and every other doctrine of the Bible. 
 In this view also, the question is as evidently not about a 
 matter of curiosity, but one in which the inspiration and truth 
 of the Bible are involved, and which is pregnant therefore 
 with inconceivably important results. 
 
 To the clear and certain establishment of the truth involved 
 in this question, it is, therefore, essential that its twofold 
 character should be borne in mind. So long as naturalists 
 were agreed that unity of species argued unity of origin, the 
 question might be regarded as single, and as one of exclu- 
 sively a scientific character. But since the theory has been 
 introduced and sanctioned by Professor Agassiz, that the 
 same species may have been created in many different pro- 
 vinces, and throughout their whole extent, the question of 
 origin must be regarded as entirely distinct from the ques- 
 tion of specific unity. The former is a question of fact, to be 
 decided by historical evidence. The latter is a question of 
 
ETHNOLOGY. 51 
 
 scientific observation and induction. The question of origin, 
 therefore, can be determined only by the evidence of Scrip- 
 ture, history, tradition, language, religion, and the adapta- 
 tions of Christianity to the mind and heart of all men; while 
 the question of species is to be tested by those criteria which 
 are employed to fix the classification of other animals. 
 
 There is thus an aspect in which the question of the unity 
 of the human races may be viewed, distinct from the inquiry 
 into origin, and in which it becomes a scientific inquiry ; and 
 that is, the question of fact regarding the present actual cha- 
 racteristics of the various races of men — the extent and 
 nature of their differences — the possibility of accounting for 
 them by natural and existing causes — the classification which 
 these varieties require to be made of the races of men — whether 
 all these races ought to be considered varieties of one species, 
 or different species of one genus — and, finally, whether, in the 
 case of any particular tribe of beings resembling man, such as 
 the Dokos, &c, they are, or are not, to be admitted under the 
 genus or the species homo, or are to be classed among some 
 lower order. These, we apprehend, and these alone, are the 
 scientific boundaries of this question. The only province to 
 which science can direct its efforts in this inquiry, is the dis- 
 covery of truth, by the sole use of our reasoning faculties in 
 deducing laws and causes from the facts experimentally and 
 veritably before us. In this view, all facts which come within 
 the knowledge of our minds, whether by observation, experi- 
 ment, or testimony — whether from the domain of history or 
 philosophy — " all facts which," as Dr Morton says, " tend to 
 establish analogies among men," are " evidently proper and 
 necessary to the scientific determination of this question." A 
 conclusion, therefore, cannot scientifically be arrived at in this 
 inquiry by the testimony of anatomy alone, or of physiology 
 alone, or of ethnography alone, or of history alone, or of ex- 
 perience and observation alone — but it can properly follow 
 only from the examination of all the facts attested by all 
 these sciences combined. The scientific, like the Scriptural 
 
52 ETHNOLOGY. 
 
 argument, is cumulative. It rests not upon any one line of 
 proof, but upon every thing which bears upon the determi- 
 nation of the proposition that all the existing races of men 
 possess — amid all their diversities, physical, intellectual, and 
 moral — attributes which essentially belong to man, and which, 
 at the same time, identify all men as belonging to one and the 
 same species. Now, between these questions there need be, and 
 there ought to be, no collision; since the infallible certainty of 
 the single origin of the human races leaves the scientific inves- 
 tigation of their present specific character and classification 
 altogether untrammelled, so that it might even be found con- 
 venient to regard as distinct species what are now considered 
 as only varieties, and yet leave their unity of origin to be de- 
 cided by its appropriate evidence — that is, by historical and 
 scriptural testimony. 
 
 On this point, we cordially agree with Agassiz; since we 
 believe that these two questions are entirely distinct in their 
 whole nature, evidence, and treatment, and are therefore, 
 scientifically considered, absolutely independent of each other. 
 But it is on this very ground we withstand the learned 
 professor, because he is to be blamed. As a naturalist, 
 Professor Agassiz had only to do with the latter or scien- 
 tific aspect of the question, and was in no way required to 
 interfere with the former, or Scriptural question. We regard, 
 therefore, his agitation of it as altogether gratuitous, and un- 
 called-for by any claims or requirements of science. The 
 question of fact might be examined, weighed, and discussed, 
 upon the grounds of observation, experiment, and deduction ; 
 and the question of origin left to stand or fall upon its own 
 merits. M. Agassiz, therefore, must have been very anxious 
 for some reasons to give his views on the Scriptural relations 
 of this question, when he embodied them in a paper on " The 
 Distribution of Animals ;" * and, to the amazement of every 
 one, presented them before the American Association for the 
 
 * See in the Boston Christian Examiner and Review for April 1850, and 
 (he New Edinburgh Philosophical Journal for Jan. 1850. 
 
ETHNOLOGY. 53 
 
 Advancement of Science* This course we regard as era- ' 
 phatically unscientific. The absolute independence of the 
 different sciences is the great attainment of our age. For- 
 merly, theologians undertook to decide scientific questions, 
 and to interpret scientific facts. But now, the arrogance and 
 the intolerance would seem to he changing sides ; and scien- 
 tific observers are to interpret and determine the nature of 
 inspiration, and the actual teachings of the Bible. Formerly, 
 the scientific world said to the church, Let us alone, and we 
 will let you alone. But, having secured the non-interference 
 of the church, they will not let it alone. They transcend the 
 limits of their sphere and functions, and dogmatize upon that 
 with which they have, as men of science, no concern. It was, 
 indeed, a sorrowful spectacle, when true science was seen de- 
 scending from her lofty heights, and, clothing herself in the 
 weapons which had been forged in the armoury of infidelity 
 by Voltaire, Peyrere, Rousseau, Paine, and such workmen, 
 waged war upon that divine Word "against which no weapon 
 shall ever prosper," nor even " the gates of hell prevail." How 
 different was the spirit and language of the immortal Locke ! 
 " The Holy Scriptures are to me, and always will be, the con- 
 stant guide of my assent ; and I shall always hearken to them 
 as containing; infallible truth relating to things of the highest 
 concernment. And where I want the evidence of things, 
 there is yet ground enough for me to believe, because God 
 has said it ; and I shall presently condemn and quit any 
 opinion of mine, as soon as I am shown that it is contrary 
 to any revelation in the Holy Scripture." M. Agassiz also 
 confounds altogether the Mosaic testimony respecting the 
 central origin and dispersion of the human race, with its ■ 
 allusions to the lower animals, about whom, as we shall see, 
 Scripture makes no definite statement which is not capable of 
 interpretation in accordance with the facts of science. His 
 disproof, therefore, of one common centre of origin for all the 
 fauna and flora of the globe, in no way militates against the 
 clear and frequent testimony of Scripture respecting the com - 
 * At its meeting in Charleston, in April 1850. 
 
•54 ETHNOLOGY. 
 
 mon relation of all mankind to Adam and Christ. It is upon 
 this common relation of all men to the first Adam, and to the 
 second Adam, who is Christ, that the whole scheme of divine 
 mercy is founded, and an interest in its unspeakable blessings 
 offered to u every creature in all the world." And hence, in 
 rejecting these facts, M. Agassiz will be regarded by the great 
 body of the Christian world as overturning the very founda- 
 tions of Christianity itself. 
 
 In this volume both these questions will be considered, and 
 their lines of demarcation pointed out ; but as the question of 
 origin involves all that is important and essential in the in- 
 spiration of the Bible and the scheme of redemption, the 
 determination of this point will be chiefly kept in view. We 
 will, therefore, adopt the following plan. We will, in the 
 first place, offer some presumptive arguments in favour of the 
 unity of the human races. Secondly, we shall examine the 
 historical and doctrinal evidences of Scripture. Thirdly, we 
 shall take up the scientific argument in favour of the unity 
 of the races, and examine especially the theory of Professor 
 Agassiz. Fourthly, we shall endeavour to prove the unity 
 of the races from the universality, nature, and connection of 
 language. Fifthly, we shall endeavour to show that the unity 
 of the races is sustained by the testimony of history and 
 tradition. Sixthly, we shall examine how far the unity of 
 the races can be proved from experience, from known changes 
 which have occurred among the different races of men, from 
 the insensible gradations of their varieties, and from their 
 analogy to what takes place in other animals. After a re- 
 sume of our arguments, we shall then answer some objections, 
 and show that the theory of a plural creation of distinct 
 races is unphilosophical. Our argument, it will be perceived, 
 is cumulative, and as it does not depend upon the cogency of 
 any one line of proof, but upon the combined effect of all; so, 
 on the other hand, the conclusion will not be weakened, if 
 any one branch of the argument is deemed irrelevant or incon- 
 clusive, provided the others combine to render the unity of the 
 human races Scripturally, reasonably, or scientifically true. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 PRESUMPTIVE ARGUMENTS IN FAVOUR OF THE UNITY OF 
 
 THE HUMAN RACES. 
 
 Affnoi. scat V a,X\us zvos aifcaro? u$ Xoyo; Itrn. — ANTHOL. iii. 31, 6. 
 
 Nam a naturajiabemus omnes omnium gentium nullam aliam nisi 
 humanam Deorum. — Velleius. 
 
 We will now proceed to offer some positive arguments for the 
 unity of the human race. 
 
 To this doctrine, as taught in Scripture, there have been 
 serious objections raised by some naturalists and medical men 
 in recent times, who are not willing to admit the testimony 
 of God. It is affirmed that God did not make all nations of 
 men of one blood or parentage, but of mant/, and that the 
 present inhabitants of the earth consist of many distinct and 
 entirely separate species created in different localities, and 
 having different endowments and destinies. 
 
 " For, some philosophers of late here, 
 Write, men have four legs by nature, 
 And that 'tis custom makes them go 
 Erroneously upon but two."* 
 
 We will, therefore, in the first place, present some reasons 
 to show that the presumption is altogether in favour of the 
 doctrine of the unity of the human races, and that it must, 
 therefore, be received as true, until it is demonstrated that 
 the present varieties of men did not arise from one original 
 
 * Butler's " Hudibras." 
 
56 PRESUMPTIVE ARGUMENTS. 
 
 species, either through the agency of natural causes, or of 
 supernatural causes, or of both combined. 
 
 We would, then, observe, in the first place, that the unity 
 of the human races has been always regarded as a fact 
 established beyond all controversy. This general belief does 
 not, we know, prove the truth and certainty of this doctrine, 
 but it does create a strong presumption in favour of its truth. 
 It makes it very probable that it is correct. And it throws 
 the entire burden of proof that all men are not of one species, 
 upon those who say that this established fact is not true. 
 For if the oldest historical record that exists — and that by 
 hundreds of years — unequivocally asserts that the whole 
 earth was peopled by the descendants of one family, and if 
 this truth has been generally admitted in the face of all the 
 apparent difficulties ichich now exist, they who deny this fact 
 must be able to produce incontestable evidence that it is not 
 true. And when w T e find that no such evidence is attempted 
 to be produced, and that the rejection of the doctrine of the 
 unity of the races is based upon a few differences which 
 always existed and were always known to exist, we must 
 regard it as unreasonable, unphilosophical, and inadmissible. 
 
 We remark, in the second place, that this is a question on 
 which Christians of every denomination agree. All varieties 
 of Christian sects agree in regarding the unity of the human 
 race as a doctrine of Scripture, and also as lying at the basis 
 of Christian obligation and duty, since in this identity of man's 
 nature, and the consequent closeness of his relationship, is laid 
 the foundation of all social duties and affections. And as the 
 preservation and happiness of man depends upon the duties 
 involved in this common humanity, so it- is true that man 
 alone, of all other terrestrial animals, is found capable of re- 
 cognising it. All Christians agree in -representing God as 
 " our Father," " all men as brethren," and Christ as M the 
 Saviour of all men" — " the propitiation for our sins, and not 
 for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world/' All 
 agree in regarding it to be the duty of every human being to 
 
PRESUMPTIVE ARGUMENTS. 57 
 
 " lore the Lord their God with all their heart, and soul, and 
 strength, and mind, and to love their neighbour " — that is, 
 every other human being — " as themselves." All agree in 
 considering that this doctrine affects both the truth, inspira- 
 tion, and authority of Scripture, and also the entire nature, 
 extent, and obligation of Christian duty. This inquiry, there- 
 fore, is both a religious and moral question, affecting equally 
 our relations and obligations to God and to man. 
 
 Now the peculiar force of this concurrence of opinion will 
 be at once perceived, when it is contrasted with the contra- 
 rieties of opinion existing among these different denomina- 
 tions, on other subjects connected with the statements and 
 disclosures of revelation ; and when it is remembered that the 
 Koran, as well as the Bible, and Mohammedans, as well as 
 Christians, agree on this point.* It makes it very certain that 
 in the opinion of all those who receive the Bible, or even a 
 portion of it, as an inspired communication from God, its 
 authority is compromised, and its truth implicated, by the re- 
 jection of this doctrine of the unity of the human races. And 
 inasmuch, therefore, as such momentous interests are at stake, 
 they who advocate a theory which so directly conflicts with the 
 word of God must be required to produce evidence as con- 
 clusive and overwhelming for their theory, as can be given for 
 the infallible accuracy of the sacred Scriptures. 
 
 We do not affirm that a man cannot, in any sense, receive 
 and adopt the Bible as a book containing, among its learned 
 and traditionary records, a revelation from heaven, and yet 
 deny the unity of the human race. But no man can deny 
 this doctrine, while he receives the Bible as having been, in 
 all its contents, arranged, ordered, and directed by a super- 
 intending Wisdom, which either directly communicated its 
 statements, or — when their truths were otherwise known — 
 preserved the inspired writers from all error in their com- 
 
 * Among the signs by which God is known to his people, one is the 
 " creation of the heavens and the earth, and the variety of languages and 
 complexions.'"— Sale's Koran, vol. ii. p. 256. 
 
58 PRESUMPTIVE ARGUMENTS. 
 
 pilation and presentation. Most certain it is, that this theory 
 — by denying the truth and accuracy of the Bible in a par- 
 ticular tenet which is implied in all its doctrines and in all its 
 duties — undermines altogether the authority of the Bible as an 
 inspired book, and paves the way for that universal scepti- 
 cism, to promote which the theory has been introduced and 
 advocated in modern times by Rousseau, Voltaire, Peyrere, 
 Nott, Drake, and the Ethnological Journal.* 
 
 We remark, in the third place, that the unity of the human 
 race has been received as an established fact by many of the 
 most learned and eminent men in every department of scien- 
 tific research bearing upon the investigation of the questions 
 involved in the discussion. 
 
 It has been advocated by such scholars as Stanhope, 
 Smith, Smellie, Wiseman, Chevalier Bunsen, Sir James Mac- 
 kintosh, Sharon Turner, Goguet, The Encyclopedia Britan- 
 nica, Rees' Cyclopedia, The Encyclopedia Americana, The 
 Edinburgh Review, Bossuet, Berkeley, Captain Fitzroy, 
 Faber, Archbishop Sumner, Boyle, Quetelet, Squier, Sir 
 Walter Raleigh, The U. S. Exploring Expedition, Mills, 
 The Encyclopedia Metropolitana, Brande's Encyclopedia,! 
 
 * See Lawrence's Lectures on Man, p. 176, and references. Goode's 
 Book of Nature, vol. ii. p. 83; and Encycl. Brit., art. Peyrere. Drake's 
 Book of the Indians, book i. ch. 1. 
 
 t On the Causes of the Variety of Complexion and Figure. &c— Philo- 
 sophy. — Lectures on Science and Religion. — See in Edinb. Rev. for 1849, 
 Jan., art. Ethnology, pp. 83, 84 ; and Prichard's Nat. Hist, of Man, Dedi- 
 cation. — Hist, of Eng., vol. i. Introd. p. 4. — Sacred Hist, of the World. — 
 The Origin of Laws, arts, and Sciences, vol. i. pp. 1-5. — Vol. ii. p. 134; 
 and vol. vi. p. 274, &c. — Article, Man. — See Selections from vol. iv. p. 550, 
 and a long article in favour of, in No. 3, for Jan. 1849, on Ethnology. 
 — Universal History. — Alciphron, vol. ii. pp. 84, 85; 1732.— Early Mi- 
 gration of the Human Race, &c, by Capt. Fitzroy, R.N., and Gov. of New 
 Zealand, vol. ii. p. 642, &c. — See Faber's Eight Dissertations, vol. ii. p. '288, 
 &c. — Records of the Creation, vol. ii. p. 342, &c. — Encycl. Brit. vol. xvii. 
 p. 78. — Treatise on Man, Edinb. ed., pp. 97, 123. — Ancient Monuments of 
 the Mississippi Valley, p. 304. — Hist, of the World, in Wks., vol. ii. b. i. 
 ch. 5, &c. — Vol. vi. pp. 117 and 194, as it regards all the Varieties of the 
 Oceanic Tribes, by Hale. — Logic, p. 445, Am. ed. — Hist, and Biogr., vol. i. 
 pp. 10, 11. — Of Art, Science, and Literature, p. 712. Col. 2. art. Man. 
 
PRESUMPTIVE ARGUMENTS. 59 
 
 Faber, Stillingfleet, Somerville, Johnstone, and Sears. Locke, 
 speaking of Genesis i. 26, says — " The whole species of man, 
 who is the image of his Maker, has the dominion over the crea- 
 tures." And in his great work, b. iii. ch. vi. § 4, he says — 
 " Other creatures of my shape may be made with more and 
 better, or fewer and worse faculties than I have ; and others 
 may have reason and sense in a shape and body very different 
 from mine." 
 
 Dugald Stewart is also very strong. " The capacities of 
 the human mind," he says, " have been in all ages the same, 
 and the diversity of phenomena exhibited by our species is the 
 result merely of the different circumstances in which men are 
 placed." With him may be associated Sir William Hamilton. 
 
 The same view was advocated by Delafield, Catlin, Elias 
 Boudinot, De Witt, Clinton, Franklin Smith, Robertson — who 
 says, " We know, with infallible certainty, that all the hu- 
 man race sprung from one source" — by Bishop M'llvaine, 
 Archbishop Whately, Murray, Wilford, Roberts, Hales, Bry- 
 ant, Heeren, Lord Bacon, The Universal History, Michaelis,* 
 
 * Eight Disser., vol. ii. p. 319, and all his works. — Origines Sacrae. — 
 Physical Geography, ch. 33, p. 436. — Physical Atlas, Ethnographic Di- 
 visions and Distribution of Mankind, p. 101. — Wonders of the World, 2nd 
 series, ch. i. — Treatise on Government, in Wks., vol. ii. ch. xi., and vol. i. 
 p. 269. — Prel. Dissert, to Encycl. Brit., p. 53. — Remarks on Dr Mor- 
 ton's Tables on the Size of the Brain, in New Edinb. Phil. Journal, Jan. 
 1850, p. 330, &c— Antiquities of America, pp. 119, 120, 139, 140.— N. 
 American Indians, vol. i. pp. 5, 8, &c. — Star in the West. Trenton, 1816, 
 on the Amer. Aborigines. — Mem. of the Antiq. of the West of N.Y. Al- 
 bany, 1818, pp.9, 10. — The Origin of the Amer. Indians, in De Bow's Review. 
 — Wks., vol. ix. pp. 269-294.— Introduction to Delafield's Antiquities. " In 
 reference to the question," he say3, " whether all the races of men have de- 
 scended from one common stock, the antiquities of this continent are espe- 
 cially interesting, and may prove of very great value. It is a question, in- 
 deed, for ever settled by the researches of Bryant, Faber, and Sir William 
 Jones." — Political Economy, ed. 3d, p. 108, and App. A., p. 243, where he 
 quotes several, and all Lect. v. — Encyclop. of Geography, p. 255. — Asiatic 
 Researches, vol. vi. p. 455. — C. M. R. A. S. &c. in Journal of Roy. Asiat. 
 Soc, vol. ii. pp. 87-92. — Chronology.— Mythology and Truth of Christi- 
 anity, p. 245, &c. — African Nations, vol. i. pp. 285, 286, &c. — Wks., vol. i. 
 pp. 260, 269. — See vol. xviii. p. 248. Ancient Hist.— Spic. Parr., pp. 148, 
 5, and 7, in Nolan's Bampt. Lect. p. 498. 
 
60 PRESUMPTIVE ARGUMENTS. 
 
 Vincent, The Edinburgh Encyclopedia, Madden, Calmet, 
 Wells, Locke, Elourens, New Edinburgh Philosophical Jour- 
 nal, George Ross, Esq., Lord Brougham, John Shute Duncan, 
 and Milner.* 
 
 The unity of the human races has been adopted by all the 
 most eminent naturalists — some of whom have been scep- 
 tics, and have been led to its admission solely by the weight 
 of irresistible evidence. Among naturalists, we may name 
 Linnaeus, Ray, Denham, Buffon, Pennant, Schrebar, Ernleben, 
 Forster, Shaw, Pallas, Cuvier, Fischar, Illiger, Humboldt, 
 Blumenbach, Leichenbach, Lichtenstein, Turton, Sir Wm. 
 Hooker, Professor Buckland, Camper, Zimmerman, Mudie, 
 Lyell, Gmelin, De Guignes,t the French Academy of Science, J 
 
 * Peripl. in Nolan's Bampt. Lect. p. 502. — Art. Mazzology, vol. xii. 'p. 
 555.— Preface to Poems, by a Negro of Cuba. London, 1840, p. 22. — 
 Dictionary of the Bible, &c. — Geography of the Bible, vol. ii. — Wks. 4to, 
 vol. i. p. 510, &c. — Annales des Sciences, t. 10, p. 361. — Vol. xxvii. p. 358, 
 Oct. 1839.— Origin of Nations in Ethnol. Journal, No. 3. — Edn. of Paley's 
 Nat. Theol. — Botanical Theology. — Descriptive Atlas. London, 1850, p. 112. 
 
 T" Systema Naturae. — Wisdom of God in the Creation. — Physico-Theo- 
 logy. — Nat. Hist. v. iii. pp. 443-446. — On Quadrupeds. — Seaugthiere. — Obser- 
 vations during Voyage round the "World, ch. vi., § iii. — Geographische Ges- 
 chicte, &c. — Glires. — Regni Animali. — Synopsis. — Prodromus. — Personal 
 Travels, vol. ii. p. 565, and iii. p. 208. — De Gen. Hum. Var., p. 124. — Regni 
 Animali. — Seaugthiere. — Nat. Theol. &c. — Rees' Cyclopedia, art. Hooker. 
 — Geology, vol. i., ch. 2. — On the regular Gradation, in Lawrence, 
 p. 358. — The Naturalist. — Physical Man. — Geology, vol. i. p. 230 ; 
 and Second Visit to the United States, vol. i. pp. 105, 208, 282, 283. 
 <l Whatever may be their (the negroes') present inferiority as a race, 
 some of them have already," &c. — Goode's Book of Nature, vol. ii. p. 70. 
 — Ibid. p. 75. 
 
 J In their report we have an account of Blumenbach, in which they say, 
 in reference to his first rule, " A profound gulf, without connection or pas- 
 sage, separates the human species from every other. There is no other spe- 
 cies that is akin to the human, nor any genus whatever. The human race 
 stands alone. Guided by the facial line, Camper drew a resemblance between 
 theourang-outang and negro. He regarded the form of the skull, which makes 
 an apparent resemblance, but overlooked the capacity of the skull, which 
 makes a real difference. In form, the skull of the negro is near the skull of 
 the European. The capacity of these two skulls is precisely the same. But that 
 which is far more essential, the brain, is the same — absolutely the same. 
 And, besides, what animates the brain in this case ? The human spirit is one 
 
PRESUMPTIVE ARGUMENTS. 61 
 
 Audubon, Bachman, Guyot, Stark, Bushman, Mantell, Dar- 
 win, Pickering, and Professor Owen, who says, " he is not 
 aware of any modification of form or size in the negro's brain, 
 which would support an inference that the Ethiopian race 
 would not profit by the same influences favouring mental and 
 moral improvement, which have tended to elevate the primi- 
 tively barbarous white races."* 
 
 " On the whole," says BulTon, " every circumstance con- 
 curs in proving that there was originally but one species." 
 And it may be unhesitatingly affirmed that all naturalists, 
 who have described the genera and species of vertebrated 
 races, have recorded their opinions in favour of the unity of 
 the human race. 
 
 Many of the most eminent men in the medical profession 
 have also adopted the opinion of the unity of the races, not- 
 withstanding their perfect familiarity with all the differences 
 disclosed by the scalpel and by comparative anatomy. Among 
 these, we may mention Professor Owen, Sir John Richard- 
 son, Abernethy, Sir Charles Bell, Hunter, Lawrence, Prich- 
 ard, Carpenter, Gardner, Moore, Combe, Godman, Rush, 
 Goode,Tiedemann, Mitchell, Barrierre,Torrey, Davis,Physick,f 
 
 — the mind is one. In spite of its woes, the African race has had its heroes. 
 M. Blumenbach, who has collected every thing which has honoured the 
 race, estimated, as belonging to it, the most humane men and the bravest; 
 also historians, savans, and poets. He had a library composed of books 
 written by negroes." 
 
 * On the Unity of the Human Races.— The Earth and Man, pp. 239, 241, 
 242, 243, 244.— Elem. of Nat. Hist., vol. i. pp. 38, 39.— See Exploring Ex- 
 ped., vol. vi. p. 194. — Wonders of Geology, vol. i. p. 86. — Naturalist's Voy- 
 age. — On the Races of Men, p. 306, &c. — Quoted by Lyell in his Second 
 Visit, vol. i. p. 105. 
 
 + Treatise on the Hand. — See Lawrence's Lectures, p. 180; and Brit. 
 Encycl., vol. xvii. p. 78. — Lectures on Man. — Researches into the Physical 
 History of Man, 5 vols. 8vo; Physical History of Man, vol. i. 8vo; Analy- 
 sis of Egyptian Mythology, vol. i. royal 8vo; Origin of the Celtic Nations, 
 8vo. — Physiology. — Great Physician, pp. 91-93. — Power of Soul over the 
 Body, and of the Body over the Mind. — Constitution of Man. — American 
 Natural History, vol. i. Introduction. — Rees' Cyclopedia, Am. ed.,to which 
 he contributed. — Book of Nature, vol. ii. lect. iii., p. 8. — See his paper 
 on the Brain of the Negro compared with the European and the Ourang- 
 
62 PRESUMPTIVE ARGUMENTS. 
 
 Homer, Sir W. Ainslie, Arbuthnot, Falconer, Prout, Boer- 
 have, De Haen, Lackey, Parsons, Swinton, S. L. Mitchell, 
 M w Culloch, Paxton, Haller, Gmelin, Cartwright, M'Culloch, 
 and Johannes Muller — one of the greatest anatomists of our 
 age, says Humboldt — and Todd, with his numerous and 
 learned associates. To these we must add the names of Dr 
 John Charles Hall, and of Latham, and Wyman. 
 
 To these might be added also the great mass of living physi- 
 cians in Great Britain and America ; and Hamilton Smith al- 
 lows that this is now the established doctrine of physiologists.* 
 
 Many of the most learned and celebrated ethnographers 
 and linguists have also adopted this opinion; such as the 
 French Academy, Frederick Schlegel, Klaproth, Paravey, 
 Merian, Humboldt, Herder, Count de Gebelin, Abel Remusat 
 Niebuhr, in his later and maturer opinions, Adrien Balbe, "j" 
 
 Outang. — Professor of Anatomy and Physiology in the University of Heidel- 
 berg, and Member of the Royal Society.— Encycl. Brit., vol. xvi. p. 78. — 
 Mosaic account confirmed by the Nat. Hist, of the Am. Aborigines in Bib. 
 Repos., JuJy 1833. — Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley, p. 304. 
 
 * Observations on Atmospheric Influence, Moral as well as Physical, in 
 five parts. By Sir W. Ainslie, M.D., M.R.A.S., F.R.S.E., in Journal of 
 the Roy. Asiat. Soc. No. 3, vol. ii. — See on the Effect of Air on the Human 
 Frame, ch. vi., xx. ; in Ainslie, p. 58. — Falconer on Climate, pp. 123-152; 
 in Ainslie, p. 58. — Chemistry, Meteorology, &c, b. ii. — See quoted in Law- 
 rence, pp. 339, 340.— Ibid.— So. Editor of Delafield's Antiq. See p. 140.— 
 Remains of Japhet. Lond. 1767. — Univ. Hist., vol. xx. pp. 162, 163. — 
 Drake's Indians, p. J 4. — Researches, Phil, and Antiq., concerning the Ab- 
 original Hist, of America. Bait. 1829; quoted in Drake, p. 15. — Member 
 of the Royal College of Surgeons, London, in Paley's Nat. Theol., with plates 
 and notes. — Proofs of the Attributes of God, from the Physical Universe, 
 3 vols. 8vo. Lond. 1837. See vol. iii. pp. 445, 453, 481, 489.— Physiol, des 
 Menchen. — Cyclopedia of Anatomy and Physiology, as referred to. — Nat. 
 Hist, of Man, pp. 144, 232.— Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, 
 Edinburgh, and author of Facts connected with the Animal Kingdom and 
 Unity of our Species, and Analytical Synopsis of the Nat. Hist, of Man. — 
 See on the Crania of Enge-ena, in New Ed. Phil. Jour., Jan. 1850, p.273,&c. 
 
 f See Redford's Scripture Verified, p. 56. — Philosophisiche der Sprache 
 und des Wortes in ibid., and Wiseman, p. 70.— Quoted in do., pp. 160, 161; 
 and Wiseman's Lect., pp. 68, 69, 72. — Romische Geschichte, 3 Ausgabe, 
 Jer. Th. s. 60. See do., 163.— Atlas Ethnographique du Globe. Eth. 1. See 
 Wiseman, p. 76. 
 
PRESUMPTIVE ARGUMENTS. 63 
 
 Laplace, Montulca, Delambre, Colebrook, Davis, Sir William 
 Joiies, Hamilton, Wilfort, Col. Tod and Heeren, Professor 
 Vater, M. Duponceau, Yon Spix and Von Martius, Grotius, 
 Adelung, Carl Ritter, Johnes, Grimm, Count Goulianoff, 
 and the Academy of St Petersburg, Sharon Turner, Bunsen, 
 Le Brotonne, Hodgson, Daniell, Gallatin, Barrington, and 
 Reischenberger.* 
 
 The enumeration we have made of names eminent in every 
 branch of science bearing upon the unity of the human race, 
 will show that a majority of those whose opinions are most 
 entitled to weight, have adopted the opinion that the human 
 races are of one species and of one origin. And this they have 
 done while holding the most opposite opinions on religious 
 subjects; some being sceptical, and others belonging to every 
 variety of denomination. And this they have done also upon 
 various grounds of conclusive evidence. 
 
 Now, against this array of testimony, given by those whose 
 province, it is to judge rightly of the degree of evidence in a 
 question of natural history and ethnography, who are our op- 
 ponents ? Dr Morton enumerates Virey, Borg de St Vincent, 
 Barton. In addition, we give his own name and that of Profes- 
 sor Agassiz ; Dr J. C. Warren, Professor Gibson, Dr B. H. 
 Coates, to whom Dr Bachman adds Des Moulin and Broc. 
 To these, Drake further adds the names of Voltaire, Lord 
 
 * Redford, pp. 178, 179, and quoted in proof of the chronology re- 
 quired by the theory of the unity. — In do., p. 187, and Encycl. Brit, 
 vol. vi. p. 276. — Quoted in do., p. 188. — In Johne's Philological Proofs 
 of the Original Unity and Recent Origin of the Human Races. Lond. 1843 
 p. 14. — Mithridates, vol. i. — In Johnes, p. 18. — In Encycl. Brit. vol. vi. p. 
 275. — Dr Wiseman's Lect., p. 68. — Transactions of the Royal Society of 
 Literature, vol. i. pt. i. ; Lond. 1827; pp. 17-106. — See Edinburgh Review 
 1849, p. 77, &c. Am. ed. — Civilization, Primitive. — On the Berber Lan- 
 guage in Tr. of Am. Phil. Soc, 1829. — See in Prichard, p. 612, 3d ed.— On 
 the American Languages, &c. — This subject will be seen discussed in a 
 comprehensive and interesting manner in Barrington 's Treatise on Physi- 
 cal Geography. New York, 1850, pp. 294-310.— See a valuable presenta- 
 tion of the Unity of the Human Races, as founded on Natural History, in 
 Reischenberger's Natural History, Elements of Mammalogy, pp. 28-31. 
 
G4j presumptive arguments. 
 
 Karnes, and Thomas Paine. And we may increase the list 
 with the names of Lamarck, Mr Burke of the " Ethnological 
 Journal," Mr Gliddon, and Dr Xott. 
 
 The argument founded on probability in favour of the unity 
 of the human race, is therefore of such overwhelming power, 
 that nothing short of clear and evident demonstration ought 
 to overrule it. 
 
 We will only suggest, as & fourth remark in confirmation of 
 this presumption for the unity of the human races, the fact, 
 that all the world over, and in every age, men have practically 
 acknowledged this unity by the amalgamation of all the vari- 
 ous races of men; so that, at this moment, there is not, as we 
 have seen, a pure and unmingled race on the face of the globe. 
 Dr Morton has indeed laid it down as a fact, in relation, at 
 least, to the negro race, that the same repugnance that exists 
 in the different species of animals is also evidenced among the 
 varieties of men ; that " this repugnance is only partially over- 
 come by centuries of proximity, and by the moral degradation 
 consequent to the state of slavery." He adds, " Not only is 
 this repugnance proverbial among all nations of the Euro- 
 pean stock among whom negroes have been introduced, but it 
 appears to be equally natural to the Africans in their own 
 country, towards such Europeans as have been thrown among 
 them ; for, with the former, a white skin is not more admired 
 than a black one is with us." 
 
 " We could heartily wish," says Dr Bachman, whose lan- 
 guage we will employ, " in behalf of good morals, that these 
 views of our esteemed friend could be verified by our experi- 
 ence in regard to the two varieties to which he alludes. 
 Charleston has, from time to time, received the majority of 
 its male inhabitants from our Northern United States and 
 Europe. Personal observation does not verify his assertion, 
 that it requires centuries of proximity to remove this natural 
 repugnance. On the contrary, the proofs are sufficiently evi- 
 dent, and to a melancholy extent, that if it existed on the day 
 of their arrival here, it faded away, not after the lapse of cen- 
 
PRESUMPTIVE ARGUMENTS. 65 
 
 turies, but in a very few days. In regard to the Europeans in 
 their own country, this repugnance is even less than in the 
 Northern States of America. In passing through the small 
 village of Stratford, which recalls to the mind of all travellers 
 the memory of the Bard of Avon, we observed on the steps 
 of a neat cottage a well-dressed and rather prett}' white wo- 
 man, leaning on the shoulders of her husband, a full blood 
 African. They were surrounded by their mulatto progeny. 
 This family, we ascertained, was in terms of social intercourse 
 with the neighbourhood. We also recollect having seen 
 w T ell-dressed young white men and women walking arm in 
 arm with negroes in the streets of Edinburgh, London, and 
 Paris. However revolting this sight may be to our American 
 feelings, yet it did not appear to be regarded whh the same 
 repugnance by the communities in Europe. On the other 
 hand, the repugnance of the African in his own country to 
 the white man, may be the result of the jealousy of the former 
 on account of the superiority of the latter ; but it is very evi- 
 dent that the white race has not only every where established 
 its superiority over the African, but it has won its way to all 
 manner of intercourse. Nor does this repugnance exist be- 
 tween the Caucasian, the Mongolian, and other varieties. 
 There are in Russia whole regions of country where many 
 races from the Caucasian, and some from the Mongolian, the 
 descendants of the ancient Huns, have intermarried for ages, 
 and they are so blended that it is difficult to trace their several 
 origins. This admixture of two or more varieties does not, 
 on the one hand, appear to have had a deteriorating effect on 
 the Caucasian, and certainly elevates those whose remote 
 origin can be traced to the Mongolian. In regard to the 
 admixture of a superior with, an inferior race in America, 
 which in almost every case results in degradation and crime, 
 it should be discountenanced by every lover of virtue, of good 
 order, and of sound morality." 
 
 This presumptive argument we will conclude by giving the 
 testimony of one of the most extensive and scientific travel- 
 
 E 
 
66 PRESUMPTIVE ARGUMENTS. 
 
 lers of this or any other age — we mean Baron Humboldt. It 
 is taken from his recent work entitled Cosmos.* 
 
 " Whilst attention was exclusively directed to the extremes 
 of colour and of form, the result of the first vivid impressions, 
 derived from the senses, was a tendency to view these differ- 
 ences as characteristics, not of mere varieties, but of origin- 
 ally distinct species. The permanence of certain types, in 
 the midst of the most opposite influences, especially of cli- 
 mate, appeared to favour this view, notwithstanding the short- 
 ness of the time to which the historical evidence applied ; 
 but, in my opinion, more powerful reasons lend their weight 
 to the other side of the question, and corroborate the unity 
 of the human race. I refer to the many intermediate grada- 
 tions of the tint of the skin, and the form of the skull, 
 which have been made known to us by the rapid progress of 
 geographical science in modern times ; to the analogies de- 
 rived from the history of varieties in animals, both domes- 
 ticated and wild ; and to the positive observations collected 
 respecting the limits of fecundity in hybrids. The greater 
 part of the supposed contrasts to which so much weight was 
 formerly assigned, have disappeared before the laborious in- 
 vestigations of Tiedemann on the brain of negroes, and of 
 Europeans, and the anatomical researches of Yrolik and 
 Weber, on the form of the pelvis. When we take a general 
 view of the dark- coloured African nations, on which the 
 work of Prichard has thrown so much light, and when we 
 compare them with the natives of the Australian Islands, 
 and with the Papuas and Alfourous, we see that a black 
 tint of skin, woolly hair, and negro features, are by no 
 means invariably associated. So long as the Western na- 
 tions were acquainted with only a small part of the earth's 
 surface, partial views almost n§cessarily prevailed ; tropical 
 heat, and a black colour of the skin, appeared inseparable. 
 c The Ethiopians,' said the ancient tragic poet, Theodectes 
 of Phaselis, c by the near approach of the Sun- God in his 
 course, have their bodies coloured with a dark sooty lustre, 
 
 * Vol. i. p. 351. 
 
PRESUMPTIVE ARGUMENTS. 67 
 
 and their hair curled and crisped by his parching rays.' The 
 campaigns of Alexander, in which so many subjects con- 
 nected with physical geography were originally brought into 
 notice, occasioned the first discussion on the problematical 
 influence of climate on nations and races. * Families of 
 plants and animals,' says one of the greatest anatomists of 
 our age, Johannes Miiller, in his comprehensive work en- 
 titled ' Physiologie des Menschen,' ' in the course of their 
 distribution over the surface of the earth, undergo modifica- 
 tions within limits prescribed to genera and species, which 
 modifications are afterwards perpetuated organically in theii 
 descendants, forming types and varieties of the same species. 
 The present races of animals have been produced by a con- 
 currence of causes and conditions, internal as well as exter- 
 nal, which it is impossible to follow in detail ; but the most 
 striking varieties are found in those families which are sus- 
 ceptible of the widest geographical extension. The different 
 races of mankind are forms or varieties of a single species ; 
 their unions are fruitful, and the descendants from them are 
 so likewise ; whereas, if the races were distinct species of a 
 genus, the descendants of mixed breeds would be unfruitful ; 
 but whether the existing races of men are descended from 
 one, or from several primitive men, is a question not deter- 
 mined by experience.' 
 
 " Mankind are therefore distributed in varieties, which we 
 are often accustomed to designate by the somewhat vague 
 
 appellation of * races.' By maintaining the unity of 
 
 the human species, we at the same time repel the cheer- 
 less assumption of superior and inferior races of men. There 
 are families of nations more readily susceptible of culture, 
 more highly civilized, more ennobled by mental cultivation 
 
 than others ; but not in themselves more noble Deeply 
 
 rooted in man's most inmost nature, as well as commanded 
 by his highest tendencies, the full recognition of the bond 
 of humanity, of the community of the whole human race, 
 with the sentiments and sympathies which spring therefrom, 
 becomes a leading principle in the history of man." 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE HISTORICAL AND DOCTRINAL EVIDENCE OF 
 SCRIPTURE. 
 
 At verbum Dei nostrl stat in secula, et hoc est verbum quod annuntio zobis. 
 
 The unity of the human races, for which we " contend ear- 
 nestly," is, as we have said, the identical origin of all man- 
 kind originally from Adam and Eve, and subsequently from 
 Noah and his sons. In this aspect of the question it is, it 
 must he admitted, fairly and legitimately a scriptural one. It 
 is plainly beyond the discovery of reason. It lies in regions 
 to which the clue of history offers no guide. It is immeasur- 
 ably beyond the reach of inductive observation. The facts 
 we cannot observe. Reasoning upon these facts, and conclu- 
 sions founded on that reasoning, we cannot make. The 
 appeal must be made, therefore, to testimony, and that testi- 
 mony must be divine. And if this testimony exists, then our 
 belief in the original unity of the human races is — like our 
 belief in the certain immortality of the soul in a state of hap- 
 piness or misery, in all the doctrines of the Bible, and in the 
 original creation out of nothing of the earth itself — an exer- 
 cise of faith, and not a conviction produced by science. For 
 even as it is " through faith we understand that the worlds were 
 framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen 
 were not made of things which do appear" (Heb. xi. 3) ; so 
 through faith we believe also, that " God in the beginning 
 made of one blood all the nations who now dwell upon the 
 face of all the earth." We deny also that the question, in 
 
HISTORICAL AND DOCTRINAL EVIDENCE. 69 
 
 this aspect of it, can be rationally decided without a reference 
 to the Bible. " Suppose even," to use the language of Dr 
 Wardlaw, " that, on an extensive survey and a minute inspec- 
 tion of the various tribes of men on the surface of the globe, 
 there are found, as is the case, appearances both for and 
 against the ordinary belief of a common original stock. Sup- 
 pose, if you will, the appearances on the two sides of the 
 hypothesis to be even nearly on a balance, and to leave some 
 little room for hesitation and scepticism. In this posture of 
 the case, here is a document, which, in the most explicit 
 terms, affirms the common origin, and which proceeds through- 
 out upon the assumption of God's having ' made of one blood 
 all nations of men to dwell on the face of the whole earth.' 
 Without intending, in the least degree, to lay any interdict 
 on philosophical investigation, to put a stop to the continued 
 collection and comparison of facts, and the free and unem^ 
 barrassed discussion of whatever these facts may seem to in- 
 dicate, my simple affirmation is, that the authority of this 
 document is fairly entitled to be examined upon the question ; 
 nay more, that it is not only so entitled, but that the man who 
 professes to be actuated by a sincere desire to ascertain the 
 truth, does not act consistently with his profession so long as 
 he refuses or neglects such examination. I am not now 
 assuming the authority of the document, and attempting to 
 silence philosophy by an appeal to divine testimony ; all I 
 contend for is, that its claim to authority be fairly investi- 
 gated, that the competency or incompetency of the witness 
 be ascertained, that his pretensions be not set aside without 
 inquiry. He may, on the one hand, be found unworthy of 
 confidence, or, on the other, his deposition may be so attested 
 as to render it credible, material, and even decisive. But 
 whichsoever of these may be the result, the question at issue 
 has not, we affirm, been fully, impartially, and in the true 
 spirit of philosophy, investigated, if the pretensions of the 
 witness be not candidly inquired into, and the credit due to 
 his testimony correctly appreciated ; and on this principle 
 
70 HISTORICAL AND DOCTRINAL 
 
 the entire evidence, in all its variety, of the genuineness, the 
 authenticity, and the divine inspiration of this document does 
 come, not legitimately only, but imperatively and indispensa- 
 bly, within the range of investigation belonging to this ques- 
 tion; there being nothing more pregnant with folly, than 
 summarily to discard, without a deliberate and rigid exami- 
 nation of his character and credentials, any guide who pro- 
 mises to lead our steps to the oracle where doubts may be 
 settled, and truth satisfactorily learned. One question in this 
 investigation is, Has the human family proceeded from one 
 centre and stock ? Now, this is a question of historical evi- 
 dence. Such evidence is admitted in the case of all other 
 animals. Shall it be admitted in the case of man or not? 
 Our opponents say, Not. "We affirm, that it must, and that by 
 all but infidels it will. If the Bible then is true — and has 
 it yet been proved untrue ? — the sole object of investigation 
 comes to be the meaning of the language in which the intima- 
 tions of the divine oracles are conveyed. It must come to 
 this. The questioning of any of their discoveries, as con- 
 trary to reason, and inconsistent with otherwise ascertained 
 principles of truth, is then out of place. It ought to have 
 been introduced in the investigation of evidence. The pre- 
 sent assumption is, that such investigation is over, and has 
 terminated in the decision that the book is divine. In these 
 circumstances, we must take high ground in behalf of revela- 
 tion. Philosophy and theology stand in this respect on a 
 widely different footing. The philosopher, as I have already 
 said, having arrived at his conclusion, would, with all possi- 
 ble sang /raid, leave it to the theologian to reconcile that 
 conclusion with the dictates of his Bible. But on the sup- 
 position of this Bible having been ascertained to be from God — 
 
 ' The sempiternal source of truth divine" — 
 
 we must not only modify, but precisely reverse this position, 
 unless we would exalt the wisdom of the creature above that 
 of the Creator. So far from its belonging to the divine to 
 
EVIDENCE OF SCRIPTURE. 71 
 
 harmonize the discoveries of this inspired document witli the 
 dogmata of the philosopher, it is incumbent on the philo- 
 sopher, unless he can fairly meet and set aside the proofs of 
 its inspiration, to bring his dogmata to the test of the docu- 
 ment. What the divine has to do — and this we admit to be 
 incumbent upon him — is to make good the authority of his 
 standard ; and having established this, to elicit with clearness 
 its decisions. To insist upon its being his province to recon- 
 cile these decisions with the contrary decisions (if such there 
 be) of the philosopher, would be to assert the superior deci- 
 siveness of philosophical conclusions to that of divine intima- 
 tions. We should be unfaithful to our God, and throw a 
 disparaging insult on his name, were we thus to consent that 
 the wisdom of ' the Only Wise' should make its obeisance to 
 the chair of human science ; or were we to admit that he has 
 left his Word with less conclusive evidence in its behalf, than 
 that bv which the wise men of this world can vindicate the 
 dictates of their own sagacity." * 
 
 We will, therefore, in the first place, exhibit the teaching 
 of Scripture upon this question, both doctrinally and histori- 
 cally, and present such general information as may be ne- 
 cessary to confirm its statements. By this course we hope to 
 remove those prejudices which might hinder an impartial 
 consideration of our subsequent argument for the unity of the 
 races as the doctrine of reason and science, and to exhibit in 
 the strongest light the twofold relation in which this subject 
 stands to the Bible and to science, and the consequent neces- 
 sity for keeping the investigation of these questions entirely 
 separate and distinct. 
 
 In Acts xvii. 26, the apostle, addressing the Athenians, 
 says : — '' And God hath made of one blood all nations of men 
 for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined 
 the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habita- 
 tion." Again, in Mark xvi. 15, 16, will be found recorded 
 that remarkable command of our Saviour, M Go ye into all 
 * See " Christian Ethics," by Dr Wardlaw. 
 
72 HISTORICAL AND DOCTRINAL 
 
 the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He 
 that believeth and is baptized shall be saved ; but he that be- 
 lieveth not shall be damned." (See also Matt, xxviii. 18-20.) 
 Now, it will be at once apparent that there is a very close con- 
 nection between the statement made by the apostle, and the 
 command given by our Lord Jesus Christ ; since it was only 
 in obedience to this command the apostle went to Athens at 
 all. There, amid the proud and conceited philosophers of 
 Greece, in the centre of their resplendent capital, surrounded 
 on every hand by their noblest works of art and their proudest 
 monuments of learning, the apostle proclaimed the equality 
 of all men, their common origin, guilt, and danger, and their 
 universal obligations to receive and embrace the gospel. The 
 Athenians, like other ancient nations, and like them, too, in 
 opposition to their own mythology, regarded themselves as a 
 peculiar and distinct race, created upon the very soil which 
 they inhabited,* and as being pre-eminently elevated above 
 the barbarians of the earth, as they regarded the other races 
 of men. Paul, however, as an inspired and infallible teacher, 
 authoritatively declares that " God who made the world and 
 all things therein," " hath made of one blood," and caused to 
 descend from one original pair, the whole species of men, who 
 are now, by his providential direction, so propagated as to in- 
 habit " all the face of the earth," having marked out, in his 
 
 * They also entertained the opinion that men sprung from some drops 
 of sacred blood which fell down from Jupiter, and to which some think 
 there is allusion, in Eisner Obs., vol. i. pp. 447, 448. Indeed every ancient 
 nation was led, through pride and ignorance, to claim the same special 
 origin as is indicated by the words i-uroxdovts, aborigines and indicenae. 
 See numerous quotations in proof in Wetstein in N. T., vol. ii. pp. 50'9, 570. 
 The Stoics and Epicureans believed men to have sprung from the tender 
 soil of the new-formed earth, at that time infinitely more prolific. Men 
 were produced, they thought, in myriads of little wombs, that rose like 
 mole-hills over the surface of the ground, and were afterwards transformed, 
 for his nourishment, into myriads of glandular and milky bulbs. This, and 
 the theory that mankind was propagated by eternal generations, were the 
 only theories current among the Grecian and Roman philosophers. See 
 Goode's Book of Nature, vol. ii. p. 79, and Dr Wiseman's Lectures, pp. 95, 
 97. Amer. ed. 
 
EVIDENCE OF SCRIPTURE. 73 
 
 eternal and unerring counsel, the determinate periods for their 
 inhabiting, and the boundaries of the regions they should in- 
 habit. 
 
 In this passage of the book of Acts, the apostle refers very 
 evidently to the record of the early colonization and settling 
 of the earth which is contained in the books of Moses. Some 
 Greek copies preserve only the word hog, i. e. one, leaving out 
 aifLccrog, i. e. blood — a reading which the Latin Vulgate fol- 
 lows. The Arabic version, to explain both these terms, has 
 ex homine, or, as De Dieu renders it, ex Adamo uno — there 
 being but the difference of one letter in the Eastern languages 
 between dam and adam, the one denoting blood, and the 
 other man. But if we take this passage as our more ordinary 
 copies read it, s% hog ai^arog, i. e. of one blood, it is still equally 
 plain that the meaning of the apostle is not that all mankind 
 were made of the same uniform matter, or in the same mould, 
 as some have weakly imagined ; for, on that ground, not only 
 mankind, but the whole earth might be said to be ex henos 
 haimatos, i. e. of the same blood, since all things in the world 
 were at first formed out of the same matter. The word ai/jbot 
 i. e. blood, must therefore be here rendered in the same sense 
 as that in which it occurs in the best Greek authors — namely, 
 the stock out of which men come. Thus, Homer says — 
 
 El iTtov y ivo; urn xott kiuaroi vjfAZTigoto^ 
 
 In like manner, those who are near relations are called by 
 Sophocles bi K^og ai^arog. And hence the term consangui- 
 nity is employed to denote nearness of relation. Yirgil uses 
 sanguis in the same sense — 
 
 " Trojano e sanguine duci." 
 
 The apostle's meaning, therefore, is, that however men now 
 are dispersed in their habitations, and however much they 
 differ in language and customs from each other, they are all 
 originally of the same stock, and derive their succession from 
 the first man whom God created, that is, from Adam, from 
 
74? HISTORICAL AND DOCTRINAL 
 
 whose name the Hebrew word for blood — i. e. dam — is a 
 derivative. 
 
 Physiology supplies a remarkable proof of this declaration 
 of Scripture. An examination into the formation and ele- 
 mentary nature of the blood discloses an essential similarity 
 in the minutest corpuscles of all the races of men ; and while, 
 in some cases of extreme inanition, the transfusion of blood 
 from any one man into the veins of another will restore and 
 preserve life, it has been found that the transfusion of the 
 blood of an animal of a different species proves fatal.* And 
 if, therefore, it is established, as Professor Forbes and others 
 prove, that animals of the same species were created in one 
 centre, from which they have all been dispersed, then the 
 original unity of all the races of men is proved both by the 
 testimony of Scripture and by the positive evidence of physio- 
 logical facts. 
 
 Neither can it be conceived on what account Adam in 
 the Scripture is called " the first man," and said to be 
 " made a living soul," and " of the earth earthy," unless 
 it is to denote that he was absolutely the first of his kind, 
 and was, therefore, designed to be the standard and measure 
 of all the races of men. And hence, when our Saviour would 
 trace up all things to the beginning, he illustrates his 
 doctrine by quoting those words which were pronounced 
 after Eve was formed — " But from the beginning of the 
 creation, God made them male and female ; for this cause 
 shall a man leave father and mother and cleave unto his 
 wife." Now, nothing can be more plain and incontrovertible 
 than that those of whom these words were spoken, were the 
 first male and female which were made in " the beginning of 
 the creation." It is equally evident that these words were 
 spoken of Adam and Eve : since of them it is recorded that 
 
 • 
 
 * See a paper published by Dr Blundell in the 9th vol. of the Medico- 
 Chirurgical Transactions, p. 56. The celebrated French physiologists Pre- 
 vost and Dumas have also written on the same subject very fully in the 
 Bibliotheque Universelle, torn. xvii. p. 215. 
 
EVIDENCE OF SCRIPTURE. / 5 
 
 " Adam said, this — i.e., Eve — is now bone of my bone, and 
 flesh of my flesh ; therefore shall a man leave his father and 
 his mother and shall cleave unto his wife." If the Scrip- 
 tures, then, of the Xew Testament be true, it is most plain 
 and evident that all mankind are descended from Adam and 
 Eve.* 
 
 This humbling truth of the common origin and the natural 
 equality of all men — humbling alike to the pride of lineage 
 and of reason — the apostle, in the passage quoted, does not, 
 it will be observed, attempt to prove. He gave the evidence 
 of signs and wonders and divers miracles that he was com- 
 missioned by God to teach it, and that it was therefore to be 
 received simply on the infallible authority of the Revealer. 
 By this divine authority Paul and all other ministers of the 
 gospel — and in their manner and measure every member of 
 the Church of Christ — are commanded to go into all the 
 world, and preach the gospel to every creature ; that is, 
 to men of every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and tribe, 
 and people. " By one man's disobedience," says the same 
 inspired teacher, " sin entered into the world, and death by 
 sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have 
 sinned/' God, therefore, argues the apostle, seeing that all 
 the world had become guilty before him, and having " so 
 loved the world as to give his only begotten Son, that who- 
 soever believeth on him might not perish but have everlast- 
 ing life," — now " commandeth all men every where to 
 repent, because he hath appointed a day in which he will 
 judge the world in righteousness by that Man whom he 
 hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all 
 men, in that he hath raised him from the dead." 
 
 It has, indeed, been said, that we might imagine God to 
 
 * Stillingfleet's Origines Sacrae, b. iii. ch. 4, pp. 498-502, where other 
 arguments for a pre-Adamite race are answered. On the supposed 
 fossil remains of pre- Adamites, see Mantell's and Lyell's Geology ; Dr 
 Scouler in Dr King on Geology and Religion, p. 388; Martin's Nat. Hist. 
 of Man and Monkeys, pp. 332-337; and Cuvier, ibid. Also Hume's Essays. 
 
76 HISTORICAL AND DOCTRINAL 
 
 have created any number of original and distinct families at 
 different centres of population, from whom as many races of 
 men have proceeded, and yet believe that all were made by 
 God equally related to Adam — equally involved in guilt and 
 corruption — equally exposed to danger — and equally inte- 
 rested in the provisions of the gospel.* 
 
 This supposition is, however, in every point of view, 
 objectionable. As an hypothesis, it creates insuperable dif- 
 ficulties, and removes none. It involves that " throne," 
 of which " justice and judgment are the habitation,'' in 
 clouds and darkness, while it offers no solution of the pro- 
 blem to be solved. But it is not only an impeachment of 
 the justice and the wisdom of God, it is in open contrariety 
 to his Word. By that Word all men are declared to be sin- 
 ners. (Rom. i.-iii.) By that Word misery and death are 
 made, in the case of men, the penalty of sin. (Rom. vi. 23; 
 and v. 12.)t By that Word it is declared that " in Adam 
 all die," (1 Cor. xv. 22,) and that " by this one man's dis- 
 obedience many were made sinners." (Rom. v. 19.) All 
 those who are sinners, and who, as a consequence, die, were, 
 therefore, as we are here taught, in Adam virtually as their 
 natural root, and representatively as their covenant head. 
 And hence Christ, in order to redeem men, was under the 
 necessity of assuming the same Adamic human nature ; 
 while to do this without the sin in which that nature was 
 involved, he was born of a virgin, but was at the same 
 time conceived " by the power of the Holy Ghost." (Heb. 
 ii. 11, 14; Luke i. 35; Matt. i. 18.) The Saviour is 
 therefore called ai^pwcro; Xoicrog — the man Christ Jesus — 
 " the seed of the woman." (Gen. hi. 15 ; Gal. iii. 19, 
 &c.) He " became man." He is " Emmanuel, God with 
 
 * This is the theory of Dr Nott; of Drake in the Book of the Indians, 
 b. i. ch. ii. p. 10; of Voltaire, Wks., vol. iv. p. 18; Essay on Manners, &c; 
 and Lawrence's Lect., p. 442, 8vo ed. 
 
 + See Dr Pye Smith on Scripture and Geology, Note A, pp. 361-375, 
 3d En£. ed. 
 
EVIDENCE OF SCRIPTURE. 77 
 
 us." He is " the second Adam." " Both he that sancti- 
 fieth and they who are sanctified are all of one, for which 
 cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren." " For as 
 much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, 
 he also himself likewise took part of the same." (Heb. ii. 
 11, 14.) The unity of the human race is absolutely ne- 
 cessary, therefore, to account for the present condition of 
 human nature in consistency with the wisdom and justice of 
 God, and also to render salvation possible to any human 
 being. 
 
 This teaching of the New Testament on the subject of 
 the unity of all the races of men — and which is implied also 
 in the entire scheme of redemption, including man's fall and 
 recovery — will be found to coincide with the whole tenor of 
 the Old Testament Scriptures. 
 
 Here we are informed after God had made the heavens 
 and the earth and every plant of the field, that as yet 
 
 " THERE WAS NOT A MAN TO TILL THE GROUND." (Gen. ii. 5.) 
 
 This is given as a reason for the creation of Adam and Eve, 
 who were immediately placed in the garden of Eden to dress 
 it and to keep it. Adam and Eve, therefore, were the first 
 and only human beings at that time created by God — the 
 only human beings then existing — and they and their chil- 
 dren were the first agriculturists. (Gen. iii. 23 ; iv. 2, 
 9-20.) 
 
 Adam, we have seen, is expressly denominated " the 
 first man," and it is said " he was made a living soul, of 
 the earth earthy." (1 Cor. xv. 45, 47.) Now, in these words 
 the apostle evidently refers to those employed by Moses, 
 when he declares that " God breathed into man's nostrils the 
 breath of life, and so he became a living soul." Adam was, 
 therefore, the first of all men, and the model, type, or species 
 after whom all are formed. 
 
 Of all the other animals, "God said, Let the waters bring 
 forth," " and God created every living creature ;" but when 
 man was to be produced, " the Elohim — the triune Jehovah 
 
78 HISTORICAL AND DOCTRINAL 
 
 — said, Let us make man — Adam, mankind — in our image, 
 after our likeness, and let them — the Adam or human race — 
 have dominion over all the earth." (Gen. i. 26, 28 ; 
 v. 1 ; ix. 6.) In all other animals, even the meanest, 
 there is some signum Dei vestigii, some mark of God's power, 
 but in man there is signum imaginis, something of real 
 likeness in all the constituents of his physical, moral, and 
 intellectual being. Like other animals, he is material and 
 organized in his physical nature, but in man this structure is 
 " fearfully and wonderfully made," paramount in beauty, 
 and unlimited in its adaptation to every variety of occupation 
 and enjoyment, and while 
 
 " Pronaque cum spectant animalia caetera terrain, 
 Os homini sublime dedit, cajlumque tueri 
 Jussit, et erectos ad sidera tollere vultus." 
 
 Again, when Eve was created, she was called by God Adam. 
 (Gen i. 2G, v. 2 ; see also Xumb. xxxi. 35 in Heb.)* Tliis 
 is therefore the proper name of the whole human race, and 
 is so applied in Scripture. (Gen. ix. 6-9 ; James iii. 9 ; 
 Ps. xi. 4.) The Arabic translates this passage (in Gen. v. 2) 
 God " called them Adamites." All men, therefore, are the 
 descendants of Adam, from whom they are called DTK '33, 
 lent Adam, the descendants of Adam. (Deut. xxxii. 8 ; 
 see Septuagint, and Gen. i. 5, 8, 10, 26 ; and v. i.) 
 
 Again, Adam and Eve having sinned, their sin affected all 
 mankind who were born in their sinful likeness after their 
 (depraved) image — exposed to toil and sorrow, and finally to 
 death itself. (Gen. iii. 15-24 ; v. 3.) The word Adam, as 
 an appellative, thus came to signify the more degenerate 
 and wicked portion of mankind. (Gen. vi. 2; Ps. xi. 4; xii. 
 1, 2, 8 ; and xiv. 2, &c.) In Adam therefore all die, and 
 u so death has passed upon all men, because all iiave sin- 
 ned" in Adam. (Rom. v.) 
 
 * See Harris's Man Primeval, p. 25. Amer. ed. See on the analogous 
 classical usages of the same word, Kicto's Bib. Cycl., art. Man. 
 
EVIDENCE OF SCRIPTURE. 79 
 
 Once more, after the fall Adam called his wife Eve, or 
 life, instead of woman (Gen. ii. 23), because God had gra- 
 ciously mitigated their deserved destruction, and had gra- 
 ciously promised to make Eve " the mother, or progenitor, 
 of all that live" — M of all men in the world" — or, as 
 the Chaldee translates it, " of all the sons of man," and 
 pre-eminently of Christ, who is emphatically " the life." 
 The Arabic translates this passage " because she ■(/. e. Eve) 
 was the mother of every living rational animal." Similar are 
 the versions of the Mauritanian Jews and the Persic of Tawa- 
 sius.* As in Adam, therefore, all men die, so through this 
 mercy shown to Adam all are permitted to live, for God 
 even from the beginning declared, for the benefit of all man- 
 kind, that " the seed of the woman" — that is, a Saviour who, 
 according to the flesh, should be born of her posterity, and of a 
 virgin, — should bring eternal as well as temporal life to u all 
 who should hereafter believe on him." And thus, as in Adam 
 all men die, so in Christ all men may have life. (Gen. iii. 
 15 ; and Rom. v.) 
 
 Hence also we find that God is every where throughout 
 Scripture represented as the common God, Creator, Pre- 
 server, Redeemer, and Judge of all men — " the God of the 
 spirits of all flesh " — in evident reference to these early re- 
 cords. (See Numb. xvi. 22; xxvii. 16 ; Job x. 12 ; xxvii. 
 3; Eccles. xii. 7 ; Isa. Iii. 3, &c.) 
 
 It may be well here to notice the objection made to this 
 whole record, founded on the impossibility of explaining its 
 statements about the marriage and dominion of Cain, with- 
 out supposing other races, and a greater multitude of men 
 than it seems to imply, and upon which Agassiz, Amringe, 
 Nott, and others, found their opinion, that an original diver- 
 sity of races is taught in the Bible. This objection arises, we 
 think, from overlooking the fact, that it is not the design of 
 Moses to give us a particular account of the whole race of 
 mankind descended from Adam, but only of those persons 
 * Selden De Jure Nat. et Gent. 1. 1, c. 5, p. 65. 
 
80 HISTORICAL AND DOCTRINAL 
 
 who were most remarkable, and whose history was necessary 
 to be known, for the understanding of the succession down 
 to his time. It will therefore be observed, that besides those 
 that are particularly mentioned in Scripture, we are told, in 
 general, that Adam " begat sons and daughters ;" and if we 
 will give credit to an ancient eastern tradition, he had in all 
 thirty-three sons and twenty-seven daughters, which, consi- 
 dering the primitive fecundity of man, would in a short time 
 be sufficient to stock all that part of the world where Adam 
 dwelt. 
 
 According to the computation of most chronologers, it was 
 in the hundred and twenty-ninth year of Adam's age that 
 Abel was slain ; for the Scripture says expressly that Seth 
 (who was given in lieu of Abel) was born in the hundred 
 and thirtieth year (very likely the year after the murder was 
 committed), to be a comfort to his disconsolate parents.* 
 Cain, therefore, must have been a hundred and twenty-nine 
 vears old when he abdicated his own countrv, at which time, 
 on the most moderate calculation, there could not have been 
 less than a hundred thousand souls of the Adamic race. For 
 if the children of Israel — -from seventy persons — in the space 
 of a hundred and ten years became six hundred thousand 
 fighting men (though great numbers of them had died during 
 this time), we may very well suppose that the children of 
 Adam, w r hose lives were so very long, might amount at least to 
 a hundred thousand in a hundred and thirty years — that is, in 
 five generations. Upon this supposition we may likewise find 
 men enough to build and inhabit a city : especially consider- 
 ing that the word Mr, which is rendered city, may denote no 
 more than a number of cottages with some little hedge or ditch 
 about them.f The natural increase of man is extremely rapid 
 
 * Compare Gen. iv. 17, 25, v. 3, and ch. i. and xi. 
 
 + Stackhouse's History of the Bible, b. 1, sect. 4. See also Dr Goode's 
 Book of Nature, vol. ii. p. 85. Dr Wiseman's Lectures, pp. 92-94. Sum- 
 ner's Records of Creation, vol. ii. p. 342. Encyclop. Britan., vol. xiv. p. 
 203. Sir Walter Raleigh's History of the World, b. i. ch. 5, sect. 3-5 ; 
 in Wks. vol. ii. Oxf. ed. 
 
EVIDENCE OF SCRIPTURE. 81 
 
 when no hindrance is interposed. An island first occupied 
 by a few shipwrecked English in 1589, and discovered by a 
 Dutch vessel in 1667, is said to have been peopled after eighty 
 years by 12,000 souls, all the descendants of four mothers.* 
 When the Creator undertook to people a world, we may sup- 
 pose that his providence arranged, for this end, and no hind- 
 rance was allowed to interpose. It is believed that the death 
 of Abel was the first which occurred in the family of man. 
 It is not an unreasonable supposition, therefore, as figures will 
 demonstrate, that the family of Adam embraced from 191,000 
 to 200,000 people at the banishment of Cain. How many 
 of these adhered to the fortunes of Cain, from whom a large 
 share descended, or whether any, we are not informed, nor 
 are we told when he built his city. If he lived as long as his 
 father Adam, and built it in the closing period of his life, his 
 own descendants, born in the land of Nod, i. e. in the land of 
 his flight, which the name denotes, were far more numerous 
 than the numbers above mentioned would indicate. The 
 same remarks will also apply to Nimrod. Though he may 
 be, as is said by Dr Nott, but of " the second generation 
 from Ham," there was abundant time for a population to 
 have arisen on the earth, after the flood, sufficiently nume- 
 rous to build cities and found kingdoms.t The city Cain built 
 was not probably extraordinary for size, but at first, at least, 
 a mere stockade, " earth-work" or "fortress.""^ Rome was 
 not built in a day. It was once a hamlet or blockhouse on 
 the Capitoline Mount. It was only the " beginning" of the 
 kingdom founded by Nimrod, and the first foundations of 
 Nineveh, Rehoboth, Calah, and Resen, of which the histo- 
 
 * Wiseman's Lectures, p. 145. 
 
 *f See Bedford's Scripture Chronology, and his calculations of the popu- 
 lation of the earth in each year from Noah to Abraham. 
 
 % " *p"j Hir, translated c%," says Gesenius, " is properly a place, of 
 watch or guar d^ built with a wall or tower as a refuge of the keepers of 
 flocks, an inclosure surrounded by a mound or wall, a nomadic hamlet, a 
 town, a city, often not large, as there were 31 royal cities in Canaan, and 
 124 in the single tribe of Judah. 
 
 F 
 
82 HISTORICAL AND DOCTRINAL 
 
 rian speaks. With Pittsburg, Cincinnati, Louisville, Lowell, 
 Buffalo, and San Francisco before him, the growth of the 
 present generation, it is surprising that Dr Nott cannot see 
 that it requires but a brief time for places to which emigration 
 tends, to rise to sudden wealth and eminence. Kingdoms, 
 too, are often small in their beginning, which afterwards fill 
 half the world with their arts and arms. Nor was it any 
 more difficult for Cain to " get out of the presence of the 
 Lord," than it is for unbelieving men to do so now. They 
 now absent themselves voluntarily from the house and wor- 
 ship of God, and the society of his people, or having once 
 been numbered among them, may be forcibly expelled. 
 
 It has also been alleged, that the fear of Cain, when God 
 sentenced him to a life of wandering, lest he should be slain 
 by those w r ho met him (Gen. iv. 14), implies the existence at 
 that time of other and numerous races of human beings. But 
 if, as has been seen, the number of inhabitants was at this 
 time great and necessarily very scattered, Cain might very 
 w r eli meet with some of them in his various wanderings. But 
 Clericus has given the true interpretation of the Avords when 
 he says, that " Cain designates the family of Adam which 
 w r as now incensed against him." It was of these Cain was 
 now justly afraid. He knew that by the law of nature and 
 of God he deserved death, and that as all the inhabitants of 
 the earth w r ere connected with the murdered Abel, and out- 
 raged by his fratricidal death, he was every w T here exposed to 
 their vengeance. And hence he appears to have doubted 
 the fidelity even of his wife, who was doubtless one of Adam's 
 daughters mentioned in chap. v. 4, and iv. 17, and to have 
 taken up with some other woman of remoter consanguinity,* 
 and to have retired to a distant country, not previously occu- 
 pied, but called on this account Nod or Naid, which signifies 
 a vagabond ; that is, the land of the vagabond. Forsaking 
 Adam's family and altar, and casting off all regard to the 
 
 * See Fuller on Genesis, p. 40. 
 
.>o 
 
 EVIDENCE OF SCRIPTURE. 8 
 
 worship and ordinances of God, as " the wicked fleeth when 
 no man pursueth," he there in that land of trembling, as the 
 words may also be rendered, became a prey to his own rest- 
 less and torturing spirit, and the head of an apostate and un- 
 godly race. 
 
 This view of the matter, v\hich is plainly that of the Bible, 
 receives confirmation from the traditionary tales of the Phoe- 
 nicians concerning the enmity of the brothers Hypsuranios 
 and Uson, — those of the Greeks about Apollo and the Atone- 
 ment by blood, — and the story found among the Tschudi,* 
 — and still further by the preservation in the family of 
 Cain of names identical and similar to those of the family of 
 Seth.t 
 
 Moses further assures us that the human family — as scien- 
 tific analysis has been led to arrange its component members J 
 — is made up of the descendants of the three post-diluvian 
 families. h " The sons," he says, " of Noah that went forth 
 from the ark, were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. These are 
 the three sons of Noah, and of them was the whole earth 
 (that is, all that is inhabited) overspread," or literally " scat- 
 tered over." (Gen. ix. 18, 19.) On these three races a se- 
 parate destiny was pronounced, God impressing upon them 
 a moral and physical nature in accordance with the destiny 
 to which each of them was appointed. The promise of exten- 
 sion was given to the race of Japheth — of religion to the pro- 
 geny of Shem — and of servility to the descendants of Ham. 
 Within the limits of this threefold destiny, this threefold 
 race conveyed to their descendants those varieties of outward 
 
 * Sanchon. in Euseb. 1. c. E. O. Muller, Prolegg., p. 304. Fr. Von Schlegel 
 Philos. and Gtesh. ii. p. 51, in Havernick's Introd. to the Pentateuch, p. 
 106. 
 
 f E. <?., the names of Chamoch, Lamech, Cainaan. See Havernick as 
 above, p. 109. This also is the reason of the small number of names in use 
 in the old world. 
 
 X See Prichard's Natural Hist, of Man, pp. 136-138. Hamilton Smith's 
 Nat. Hist, of the Human Species, pp. 124, 125, 126, 129, 165, 184, and 
 284. 
 
84 HISTORICAL AND DOCTRINAL 
 
 form and moral character which seem to be inseparably 
 linked with their respective conditions.* The Japhethic 
 race have occupied Asia and Europe. By the descendants 
 of Shem, Judaism and Christianity have been established, 
 and a corruption of both widely propagated in Mahomme- 
 danism and the Papacy ; while from the posterity of Ham 
 have proceeded all the nations of Africa — the servants of the 
 other races — and the Canaanites, who were enslaved to the 
 Israelites. t Of this prophecy of Noah, a writer in Kitto's 
 Cyclopedia, says : — " That prophetic denunciation is the last 
 recorded fact of the life of Noah, though he lived through 
 the subsequent period of 350 years. It is a prophecy of 
 the most remarkable character, having been delivered in the 
 infancy of mankind ; in its undeniable fulfilment reaching 
 through 4000 years down to our own time ; and being even 
 now in a visible course of fulfilment."! 
 
 The distribution of these three families over the whole 
 earth was, as Moses further teaches, and as the apostle has 
 already informed us, by divine allotment and choice ; and it 
 took place, as Moses intimates, in the days of Peleg — a name 
 signifying division, " for in his days was the earth divided," 
 or if we may Anglicize the Hebrew word, pelegged. (Gen. x. 
 25; xi. 9; and 1 Chron. i. 19.) This statement is re- 
 peated in Gen. x. 32, where it is said, fcC These are the fami- 
 lies of the sons of Noah (according) to their generations in 
 their nations ; and from these the nations were dispersed in 
 the earth after the flood." And again, in the 5th verse of 
 the same chapter we are told, M From these the isles of the 
 nations were dispersed in their lands, each (according) to its 
 language, (according) to their families in the nations." § But 
 still further, in Deut. xxxii. 8, 9, it is recorded — " In the 
 
 * See Triplicity, vol. i. p. 101 — a work of much various and curious 
 research. 
 
 + See Nolan's Bampton Lectures, 1. 8. Well's Sacred Geography. 
 
 X Article Noah. 
 
 § Kitto's Biblical Cyclopedia, vol. ii., p. 293. Eng. ed. 
 
EVIDENCE OP SCRIPTURE. 85 
 
 Most High's assigning abodes to the nations, in his dispers- 
 ing the sons of Adam, he fixed boundaries to the peoples 
 according to the number (more exactly numeration) of the 
 sons of Israel : for the assigned portion of Jehovah is his 
 people : Jacob the lot of his inheritance." Of this 8th verse 
 the Septuagint translation is remarkable ; and it thus became 
 the source of extraordinary interpretations : " When the Most 
 High apportioned nations, when he scattered abroad the sons 
 of Adam, he fixed boundaries of nations according to the 
 number of the angels of God." 
 
 Of the descendants of Ham we are specially informed, 
 44 These are the sons of Ham (according) to their tongues in 
 their lands, in their nations." Of his sons or tribes thirty- 
 one are given. These refused to abide by the allotment of 
 God, and under the arch-rebel Nimrod, drove out Asshur and 
 his sons, who had been located in the plains of Shinar. (Chap, 
 x. 1 1 .) At that time, it is recorded, all the earth was of one 
 language (lip), and of one speech (words), that is, their lan- 
 guage was the same or similar, " and Jehovah scattered them 
 from thence upon the face of the whole earth" — (xi. 2, 9.) 
 On this whole record, Sir William Jones remarks : " The most 
 ancient history of the human race, and the oldest composition 
 perhaps in the world, is a work in Hebrew : of which the 
 initial portions (Gen. i.-xi.) are a preface to the oldest civil 
 history now extant. We see the truth of them confirmed by 
 antecedent reasoning, and by evidence in part highly proba- 
 ble, and in part certain ; but the connection of the Mosaic 
 history with that of the gospel by a chain of sublime predic- 
 tions unquestionably ancient, and apparently fulfilled, must 
 induce us to think the Hebrew narration more than human 
 in its origin, and consequently true in every substantial part 
 of it ; though possibly expressed in figurative language. It 
 is no longer probable only, but it is absolutely certain, that 
 the whole race of man proceeded from Iran as from a centre, 
 whence they migrated at first in three great colonies ; and 
 that those three branches grew from a common stock, which 
 
86 HISTORICAL AND DOCTRINAL 
 
 had been miraculously preserved in a general convulsion 
 and inundation of this globe." * 
 
 This division of the earth was probably made by Noah 
 himself, in his prophetic and regal character, and under 
 the immediate direction of Divine Providence. Epiphanius,t 
 and also Eusebius, take particular notice of this distribution 
 of the earth. | " In the two thousand six hundred and 
 seventy-second year of the creation, and in the nine hundred 
 and thirtieth of Xoah, did Noah divide the earth among his 
 three sons." And as it is evident from the sacred record, 
 that, in obedience to this decree the various families of these 
 three progenitors went forth and took possession of their 
 several lots, so we find that both the tripartite allotment and 
 the quiet concurrence of the parties therein, are particularly 
 alluded to by heathen writers. Thus, in the hymn of Calli- 
 machus in Jovem., v. 61, it is said, 
 
 " By lot tripartite each of Cronus* sons 
 Took up his several realm." § 
 
 Homer, says Bryant, " introduces Xeptune speaking to 
 the same purpose." || 
 
 " We are from Cronus and from Rhea sprung, 
 Three brothers; who the world have parted out 
 Into three lots : and each enjoys his share." 
 
 This tradition probably came from Egypt to Greece ; and is 
 therefore more fully related by Plato. In his Critias, he says, 
 " The gods of old obtained dominion of the whole earth, 
 according- to their different allotments. This was effected 
 without any contention, for they took possession of their 
 provinces in an amicable and fair way by lot." ^[ 
 
 The same triple division of the earth is noticed in a frag- 
 
 * Wks., vol. iii., pp. 191-196. 8vo ed. f Oper. v. ii. p. 703. 
 
 X Euseb. Chron. p. 10. 
 
 § Cronus in his post-diluvian character is certainly Noah. See Faber's 
 Origin of Pag. Idol., vol. iii. p. 468. 
 || II. O. v. 147. 
 U See Bryant's Ant. Mvth. v. iv. p. 20. 
 
EVIDENCE OF SCRIPTURE. 87 
 
 ment of the Clialdaic or Persic oracles of Zoroaster, where it 
 is added that the division was ordained by the Nous or intel- 
 ligence of the father, i. e. by Nous, or Nuh, or Menes, or 
 Noah. * Menes, the progenitor of the Egyptians, was also 
 Noah, it being recorded of him that he bound the ark to the 
 peak of Hinravshu.t Noah was also the Fohi of the Chi- 
 nese.^ From this triple division originated also the three 
 worlds of the Hindu and the Rabbinical mythology. § Hence 
 also, as Faber believes, originated the various Triads of Pagan- 
 ism, who appear at the dissolution of every former world 
 for the purpose of replenishing and governing it, as among 
 the Hindoos, the Buddhists, the Jainists, the Chinese, the 
 Tartars, the Peruvians, the Persians, the Syrians, the Egyp- 
 tians, the Greeks and Romans, the Canaanites, the Goths, 
 the Celts, the Orphic Pythagorean and Platonic schools, in 
 the Orphic theology, and in the South Sea Islands. || The 
 great gods of the Gentiles were also deified mortals, consist- 
 ing of a father and three sons, and were acknowledged at 
 once to be gods and ancestors, while the great mother of the 
 goddesses multiplied herself into three daughters.^ This 
 argument Mr Faber pursues at great length, by an illustra- 
 tion of the primitive dominion secured by Nimrod and his 
 Cushites over their brethren, as manifested in the existence 
 of distinct castes or races, and in other customs found among 
 nations in every quarter of the globe.** 
 
 We will only add, on this part of the argument, the testi- 
 mony of Mr Murray. |f "That the three sons of Noah," 
 says this writer, " overspread and peopled the whole earth, is 
 
 * Stanley's Chaldee Phil. p. 41. Faber Orig. of Idolatry, 468, vol. iii. 
 f Hamilton Smith, &c. P. 357. 
 X Anct. Univ. Hist. Vol. i. p. 261, &c. 
 § Moore's Hind. Panth. pp. 40, 104. 
 
 || See the authorities given by Faber on Idolatry, vol. iii. pp. 469, 471, 
 and at length previously. 
 T[ Ibid. pp. 471 and 474. 
 
 ** See the authorities given by Faber, vol. iii. pp. 475-498. 
 ft Encycl. of Geog., p. 255. 
 
88 HISTORICAL AND DOCTRINAL EVIDENCE. 
 
 so expressly stated in Scripture, that had we not to argue 
 against those who unfortunately disbelieve such evidence, we 
 might here stop ; let us, however, inquire how far the truth 
 of this declaration is substantiated by other considerations. 
 Enough has been said to show that there is a curious, if not a 
 remarkable analogy between the predictions of Noah on the 
 future descendants of his three sons, and the actual state of 
 those races which are generally supposed to have sprung from 
 them. It may here be again remarked, that to render the 
 subject more clear, we have adopted the quinary arrangement 
 of Professor Blumenbach ; yet that Cuvier and other learned 
 physiologists are of opinion that the primary varieties of the 
 human form are more properly but three, viz., the Caucasian, 
 Mongolian, and Ethiopian. This number corresponds with 
 that of Noah's sons. Assigning, therefore, the Mongolian 
 race to Japheth, and the Ethiopian to Ham, the Caucasian, 
 the noblest race, will belong to Shem, the third son of Noah, 
 himself descended from Seth, the third son of Adam. That 
 the primary distinctions of the human varieties are but three, 
 has been further maintained by the erudite Prichard, who, 
 while he rejects the nomenclature both of Blumenbach and 
 Cuvier, as implying absolute divisions, arranges the leading 
 varieties of the human skull under three sections, differing 
 from those of Cuvier only by name. That the three sons of 
 Noah who were to " replenish the earth," and on whose pro- 
 geny very opposite destinies were pronounced, should give 
 birth to different races, is what might reasonably be conjec- 
 tured. But that the observation of those who do, and of 
 those who do not, believe the Mosaic history, should tend to 
 confirm truth, by pointing out in what these three races do 
 actually differ both physically and morally, is, to say the least, 
 a singular coincidence. It amounts, in short, to a presump- 
 tive evidence, that a mysterious and very beautiful analogy 
 pervades throughout, and teaches us to look beyond natural 
 causes in attempting to account for effects apparently inter- 
 woven in the plans of Omnipotence." 
 
CHAPTEK V. 
 
 THE HISTORICAL AND DOCTRINAL EVIDENCE OF 
 SCRIPTURE-CONTINUED. 
 
 " Let the professed phenomena of Zoology be admitted only so far as the facts 
 and inferences have had shed on them the light of clear undoubted tes- 
 timony, and let the Records of Inspiration be likewise freed from the 
 peculiarities of accidental interpretations, and viewed only in their 
 pristine genuine characters ; and the harmony between what God has 
 done, and what God has said, can then never long be doubtful." 
 
 We might here close our illustration of the historical and 
 doctrinal evidence of Scripture, to the original unity of the 
 human races, as being all descended from the same parents. 
 But as the advocates for a plurality of originally created races 
 of men have claimed to rest their theory on some statements 
 contained in the book of Genesis, we shall proceed to examine 
 these boldly-asseverated allegations distinctly.* 
 
 * " It is," says the Christian Register of Boston, " the primer, not Moses, 
 that says dogmatically that Adam was the first man. He may have been, 
 for all that we are told to the contrary, only a first man, one of the 
 world-fathers. Moses may have designed simply to give, subsequently to 
 his cosmogony, the history of that portion of the race from which his own 
 nation derived their origin. Nor is the race any the less one, if not the 
 descendants of a single human pair. It is not as Adam's, but as God's chil- 
 dren, that we are brethren in Christ. A common Father and a common 
 redemption make the whole family in heaven and earth one. Nor does 
 any Christian look this side of God and Jesus for his motives to universal 
 philanthropy. The declaration, 'The held is the world,' and the com- 
 mand, ' Preach the gospel to every creature,' are enough to consummate 
 the essential unity of the race, even if every continent and island had its 
 separate Adam." 
 
90 HISTORICAL AND DOCTRINAL 
 
 I. And in the first place, it is said, that the record found 
 in the book of Genesis has reference only to the ancestors of 
 the Sacred, or Jewish, or Caucasian race. This, however, 
 cannot be the case — 
 
 1. Because our opponents affirm that there are in this very 
 record intimations of more than this one race, and they cannot 
 both affirm and deny the same proposition. 
 
 2. Because many other nations proceeded from the stock 
 here referred to. Among the descendants of Shem, Ham, 
 and Japheth, there are found many of the greatest varieties of 
 men, both as it regards colour, stature, structure, physiognomy, 
 character, and civilization.* 
 
 3. The actual varieties found to have arisen among men of 
 the same stock, as in Ireland, England, and in Europe gene- 
 rally, are just as hard to be accounted for as the origin of all 
 existing varieties from one original stock. The explanation 
 of the varieties will also account for the origin of races. 
 
 4. It is here expressly said that Adam called his wife " the 
 mother of all living," that is, of all the kind — of all human 
 beings — of all the sons of men — and therefore of all the races 
 of mankind. 
 
 5. Our Saviour traces all mankind up to this same ori- 
 ginal stock. " Adam said (Gen. ii. 23, 24), This is now bone 
 of my bone, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, 
 because she was taken out of man. Therefore shall a man 
 leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his 
 wife, and they shall be one flesh." Now in reference to this 
 passage, our Saviour says (Mark x. 6, 7), " But from the be- 
 ginning of the creation, God made them" — that is, Adam, or 
 mankind, or every man — " male and female. For this cause 
 shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his 
 wife." The reference in both cases is therefore evidently to 
 all the races of men. 
 
 6. The New Testament every where expressly teaches that 
 
 * See S. Presb. Rev., January 1850, pp. 473, 474 ; and Stillingfleet's 
 Orig. Sacrae, b. iii. ch. iv. p. 499, &c. 
 
EVIDENCE OF SCRIPTURE. 91 
 
 God " hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell 
 on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times 
 before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation ; that 
 they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after 
 him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of 
 us." (Acts xvii. 26, 27.) 
 
 7. The name Adam, employed in Genesis to designate 
 man, is "the generic name of the human species."* " Among 
 the Jews," says Rosenmuller, " this was the generic name of 
 the whole species," and used only " singularly for the first 
 man (as in Gen. i. 27), or collectively (as in ver. 26 and 
 
 28), WHERE IT MUST BE REFERRED TO THE W T HOLE HUMAN 
 
 RACE."t As an adjective, the word Adam refers not to colour, 
 but to origin, to the earth (which may be red, black, or 
 sandy) out of which man was made.^ 
 
 8. The specific attributes here given to man are those, not 
 of any one race of men, but of the whole human family. 
 
 (a.) Man was created by the special counsel, co-operation, 
 and agency of the entire Godhead in its plural — that is, in its 
 triune — character. (Gen. i. 26 and 27.) It is, therefore, at 
 once inadmissible, unphilosophical, and profane, to introduce 
 such a mysterious interposition of the Godhead for such an 
 indefinite number of times as these theorists in question 
 may choose to imagine. § The multiplication of causes be- 
 yond what is absolutely necessary to account for the eifects, 
 is in all cases unscientific. But in a case so supernatural, 
 solemn, and mysterious as this, it is impiety as well as ab- 
 surdity. 
 
 (&.) Man was created in the image or likeness of God. 
 (Gen. i. 26, v. 1, ix. 6.) This may import, and in a figura- 
 tive sense refer to, the majesty of man's countenance, his erect 
 
 * See the Sacred Scriptures in Heb. and English, by De Sola and Lin- 
 denthal, two eminent Jews. London, a.m. 5664:, or a.d. 1846, p. 4. 
 
 f See Scholia in Genesin, Lipsiee, torn. i. p. 82, where are given many- 
 learned authorities. 
 
 J See De Sola, ibid., p. 5, n. 7, and Rosenmuller, ibid., and Gen. ii. 7. 
 
 § See Calvin in loco. 
 
92 HISTORICAL AND DOCTRINAL 
 
 stature, and his other pre-eminent endowments. It has, how- 
 ever, special allusion to the soul of man, which in its nature 
 is spiritual, invisible, and immortal — which possesses the 
 powers of reason, understanding, and will — and to which 
 were imparted knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness. 
 (Eph. iv. 24.) Man's nature possesses in itself all that is 
 beautiful in inanimate nature, the life and growth of plants, 
 the higher powers of beasts, the reason and wisdom of angels, 
 and the moral lineaments of Deity. It is thus jLDpn D7W, olam 
 hakaton, as the Hebrews denominate man, or a microcosmos, or 
 miniature of the world, as he is called by the Greeks. This 
 image of God in man is seen also in its effects, in that domi- 
 nion over the earth and all its animals by which all are made 
 to co-operate for the supply of man's wants, and for the in- 
 crease of man's comfort. (Gen. i. 28, &c.) u The plural 
 number," used in this grant to man, intimates, says Calvin, 
 " that this authority was not given to Adam only, but to all 
 his posterity as well as to him. And hence we might infer 
 what was the end for which all things were created ; namely, 
 that none of the conveniences and necessaries of life might be 
 wanting to men." 
 
 Now, in all these characteristics of man, which form his 
 specific character, and upon which the constancy of species 
 depends, all men are essentially alike, so far as this image is 
 retained by any of the sons of men.* 
 
 (c.) But we are further told, in this book of Genesis, after 
 the record of the sin and fall of man, that "Adam begat a 
 son in his own likeness after his image ;"t that is, all who 
 have descended from him are born in that mortal, sorrowful, 
 and sinful condition into which sin has plunged mankind 
 bodily, mentally, and spiritually. The present characteristic 
 image of all the Adamic race of man, therefore, is one of 
 deceitfulness and sin. And as in this image all men of 
 every race are naturally alike, they are all of the same origin. 
 
 * See Kitto's Daily Bible Illustrations. 
 f Gen. v. 3 ; see De Sola, &c. 
 
EVIDENCE OF SCRIPTURE. 93 
 
 This point is fully and frequently enforced in the New Testa- 
 ment.* 
 
 The Adam referred to in the book of Genesis, therefore, 
 must be the original stock of all the races of men, and not 
 of any one only. 
 
 9. This appears further from the promise made to Adam 
 and his posterity of a Redeemer. (Gen. iii. 15.) Those to 
 whom this Redeemer is promised, are only such as are of 
 " the seed of the woman," " of one blood" with her, and her 
 posterity, therefore, by natural generation. No others, as 
 the apostle argues, are included. (Rom. v., &c.) The Re- 
 deemer, who is here promised to this posterity of Adam, was 
 also to be of " the seed of the woman," that is, " according 
 to the flesh." The incarnate Redeemer was therefore to be 
 " born of a woman" — of a virgin — and of the seed of Eve. 
 This is the reason why in the New Testament the descent of 
 Christ as man is traced from Adam to Joseph, — why he 
 is called " the second Adam," " our kinsman," — and why 
 "he became flesh," and " took our nature upon him." (See 
 Isaiah liii., &c.) 
 
 All the races of men, therefore, who are interested in 
 Christ and in his gospel are and must be of Adamic origin, 
 seed, or blood. All to whom that gospel is to be sent must 
 also of necessity be of the same stock. And hence, as it is 
 expressly commanded to preach this gospel to every creature 
 in all the world, all must be of the same original Adamic 
 family and origin. 
 
 10. Finally, all the languages and traditions of all the races 
 of men preserve more or less fully a reference to the facts re- 
 corded in the book of Genesis. And as all these tribes of 
 men could never have originated these identical statements, 
 they prove, beyond doubt, their primitive unity in origin and 
 in knowledge. t 
 
 * See Rom. ch. iii., and v., &c. 
 
 T See our chapter on this subject, and see also many remarkable proofs 
 of reference to this record from classic writers, with authorities, in Rosen- 
 m'uller, as above, pp. 84 and 85. 
 
94 HISTORICAL AND DOCTRINAL 
 
 II. But it is further alleged by our opponents, that this 
 early record of man's history is plainly composed of different 
 productions, and refers to the creation and history of different 
 races. 
 
 On this objection we remark — 
 
 1 . That it contradicts the previous argument, inasmuch as 
 it would show that the Biblical record is not confined to one 
 single race of men, but to several. 
 
 2. There is no proof that this record is made up of several 
 distinct and different documents. " To our minds there is a 
 perfect unity of design pervading the book of Genesis, no 
 undue repetition, and no confusion. Viewed in a merely lite- 
 rary aspect, it is the most venerable monument of antiquity; 
 in a historic or ethnographic light, the most valuable and 
 satisfactory document in existence ; and as a portion of the in- 
 fallible rule of faith and practice for man, the foundation-stone 
 on which the whole edifice of revelation is built. Trulv a 
 writer may retrace his steps and enlarge his description for 
 important reasons, without being charged with discrepancy. 
 He is little versed in classic literature, whose mind does not 
 recur to similar instances in the most trustworthy and polished 
 writers of antiquity. And the oriental style resumes and re- 
 peats more than that of the west." * 
 
 3. M If it could be proved that Genesis has, in part, been 
 compiled from pre-existing documents, its inspiration would 
 not fall away. These may have been written by patriarchs 
 before Moses, to whom God revealed his will ; or if the in- 
 spired Moses incorporated them into his writings, they have 
 received, in each word and letter, the sanction of the Spirit 
 of God speaking in him." 
 
 " In the writing of the Scriptures there were two agents 
 employed — the Spirit of God, the true Author of the whole, 
 and man, acted upon by the Spirit, and speaking as he was 
 moved by the Holy Ghost. All Scripture, therefore, is given 
 
 * See on this point the able work of Havernick — Introduction to the 
 Pentateuch, pp. 48-90, 93, 95, 100, 101, 104, 106, 110, 115, 116, 126, &c. 
 
EVIDENCE OF SCRIPTURE. 95 
 
 by inspiration of God. The men acted on by the Spirit were 
 acted upon as free and intelligent agents, and not as uncon- 
 scious and senseless tools, and the peculiarities of their genius 
 and previous culture were not lost from the writings which, 
 under this celestial impulse, they produced." 
 
 Whether, therefore, this record was originally suggested 
 by direct inspiration, or whether it was formed under divine 
 guidance from many existing traditionary materials, it was 
 " all given by inspiration." It is all the Word of God, 
 and when properly understood and explained " by the other 
 Scriptures," it is all infallibly and immutably certain. 
 
 4. This record, we further affirm, does not refer to the crea- 
 tion of different races of men. It has indeed been affirmed, 
 that when it is said that " male and female, God created 
 them," there is a reference to more creations than one. This 
 is too puerile an objection to notice, and yet it is not beneath 
 learned editors when the truth of a favourite theory is in ques- 
 tion. The original words are, " a male and a female created 
 he them." God did not, therefore, create several males in 
 several places, nor several females, but only one male and one 
 female, who together constitute man, Adam, the generic 
 parentage of the human species. This interpretation is in ac- 
 cordance with a Hebrew rule, by which a thing thus singu- 
 larly expressed is limited emphatically to one. (See 1 Chron. 
 xvi. 3 ; 2 Sam. vi. 19 ; Deut. vi. 13 ; Matt. iv. 10.) In this 
 passage, therefore, we are taught that God created one male 
 and then one female, as the original stock of the whole human 
 family. 
 
 5. But again, if the passage in Genesis, chapter second, &c, 
 records the creation of a different race of men from that alluded 
 to in chapter first, then the heavens and the earth, and every 
 thing else which is declared in the first chapter to have been 
 created, must also have been different from those referred to 
 in the second. " The earth," spoken of in the first chapter 
 of Genesis, may just as well mean Palestine, or any other 
 limited portion of the globe, as in the second ; and the animals 
 
96 HISTORICAL AND DOCTRINAL 
 
 and vegetables said to be created at the one period, may just 
 as well be considered partial and territorial as in the other. 
 But the creation referred to in both chapters must be the 
 same, because all things that were created are declared to have 
 been created within six davs. The work of creation was then 
 completed, and on the seventh day God rested from all his 
 works. The record in chapter second is, therefore, plainly, 
 according to oriental style, a recapitulation and expansion of 
 that in chapter first, since an opposite conclusion is contrary 
 to the records themselves, and involves inconceivable absur- 
 dities. 
 
 6. Again, Adam must have been aware of any previous or 
 contemporaneous creation of races of men had it taken place. 
 When, therefore, he calls his wife Eve, because she was the 
 mother of all living men, we have his testimony, and in the 
 sanction given to his opinion by God himself in every part of 
 the Bible, we have the testimony of God also, to the single 
 origin of the whole human family.* 
 
 7. Equally certain is it that the fact of the plural creation 
 and existence of other races of men than the Adamic, must 
 — if a fact — have been known by personal knowledge and 
 indubitable tradition to Noah, Abraham, and Moses. Their 
 sanction, therefore, of the record as it exists, is proof positive 
 that no such races ever existed. And when we consider that 
 Moses has left incontestable evidences of his inspiration and 
 divine legation, we must regard the doctrine of the unity of 
 the races of men as stamped with the seal of divine authority. 
 
 It is indeed affirmed that Adam was only " a first man," 
 and not " the first man," and that it is " the primer and not 
 the Bible which teaches the contrary."t But surely this apo- 
 
 * Adam had previously called her Isha, the" feminine of Ish, or man, i. e. 
 vira, whence virago, contracted virgin, and also womb-man or woman. The 
 phrase "was the mother" is equivalent to " was to be the mother," i. c 
 the natural mother of all mankind. 
 
 + Christian Register in N. Y. Herald, for April 29, 1850, and the Union 
 of Washington, for May 17, 1850. 
 
EVIDENCE OF SCRIPTURE. 97 
 
 logist for error had forgotten that the apostle, quite as peremp- 
 torily as the primer, twice, and very emphatically, calls Adam 
 " the first man Adam," 6 c?wroc a&ewTog * Aha'M (1 Cor. 
 xv. 45, and again v. 47) ; that is, the first representative and 
 head of humanity. Christ also, as the only other represen- 
 tative head of humanity, the apostle calls " the second 
 Adam." Adam, therefore, was the first, and at that time the 
 Only existing human being. 
 
 It is also said,* that we have evidence of different races of 
 men contemporaneous -with the Adamic race, in the statement 
 of Moses respecting "the sons of God" and "the daughters 
 of men." (Gen. xi.) To prevent the intermixture and 
 corruption of these different races, the present variations in 
 form, colour, &c, were, it is alleged, introduced. Every 
 biblical scholar, however, knows, that by the terms " sons of 
 God," or as the Chaldee renders them, " the eminent ones," 
 is to be understood the descendants of Seth, Enos, and the 
 other pious patriarchs who were separated from the posterity 
 of Cain and formed into the visible church. The same per- 
 sons, therefore, are " called by the name of the Lord," (see 
 Gen. iv. 26), while all others are merely termed " men" and 
 their daughters " the daughters of men." (See 1 Cor. xii. 3.) 
 These latter men, in allusion to their cruelty, rapine, and vio- 
 lence, were also denominated "giants" (Gen. vi. 4), i. e. fallers 
 or apostates. The book of Genesis, therefore, has un- 
 doubtedly no reference to any other than the Adamic race of 
 men.f 
 
 8. But it is said in reply, that all other animals, like plants, 
 are found to have been created in separate and limited regions, 
 to which they are adapted and confined, and that it would be 
 anomalous to suppose man to have been created and distri- 
 buted on a different plan. In reply we observe : — 
 
 (a) This record of the creation of all things, and that after- 
 
 * Amringe's Nat. Hist, of Man. 
 •f* See Bush on Genesis, in loco. 
 
 G 
 
98 HISTORICAL AND DOCTRINAL 
 
 wards given of the flood, as we shall hereafter show, in no 
 way requires us to suppose that animals and plants were 
 created in pairs, or in one central location, from which all the 
 earth was supplied.* 
 
 (b) This record distinctly teaches us, that there is as great 
 a difference between the plan followed in the creation and 
 dispersion of man and of the lower animals, as there is be- 
 tween their comparative dignity and elevation in the scale of 
 being. All the other animals, and the flora also, were adapted 
 to man, for whose use they were made. " 1 will even go 
 farther," says Guyot,t " than is ordinarily done, and I will 
 say, that there is an impassable chasm between the mineral 
 and the plant, between the plant and the animal ; an impas- 
 sable chasm between the animal and the man ; and it is cor- 
 rect to say, that inorganic nature is made for organized nature, 
 and the whole globe for man, as both are made for God, the 
 origin and end of all things." Man is the end and the head 
 of all. He is pre-eminent above all, and he is, therefore, an 
 
 EXCEPTION TO ALL THE REST OF THE CREATION, as Professor 
 
 Agassiz well and truly states his position. " Accordingly,'* 
 to use the words of Stillingfleet, " in the production of beasts 
 we read, ' Let the earth bring forth the living creature after 
 his kind, cattle, and every creeping thing, and beast of the 
 earth after his kind : and it w r as so.' But in the production 
 of man it was said, ' Let us make man in our own likeness.' 
 From hence I observe this difference between the production 
 of animals and of man, that in the one God gave a prolific 
 power to the earth and waters for the production of the seve- 
 ral living creatures which came from them; so that the semi- 
 nal principles of them were contained in the matter out of 
 which they were produced, which was otherwise in man, w T ho 
 was made a peculiar being by the hands of the great Creator 
 
 * See Havernick, pp. Ill, 112. See fully illustrated and proved as long 
 since as 1670, by Stillingfleet, in his Origines Sacrae, b. iii. ch. and sect. 
 4, p. 504, &c. 
 
 f Earth and Man, p. 11. 
 
EVIDENCE OF SCRIPTURE. 99 
 
 himself, who thence is said to have formed man of the dust 
 of the ground." 
 
 The same divine purpose is seen in the peculiar blessing 
 and security imparted by God to the human family, by which, 
 whilst they were made productive beyond all merely natural 
 increase, the highest moral benefits were at the same time 
 secured. There is therefore every reason, as Bishop Cumber- 
 land supposes, for believing that Eve and her daughters, who 
 are alluded to in Genesis, were fruitful beyond all subsequent 
 experience, and that at the period of Abel's death, that is 
 about a.m. 130, the population of the earth had multiplied to 
 the amount of several hundred thousands. * 
 
 " The blessing of God," says Calvin,f " may be regarded as 
 the source from which the human race has flowed. And we 
 must consider it not only with reference to the whole, but 
 also, as they say, in every particular instance. For we are 
 fruitful or barren in respect of offspring, as God imparts his 
 power to some, and withholds it from others. But here 
 Moses would simply declare that Adam with his wife was 
 formed for the production of offspring, in order that men 
 might replenish the earth. God could himself indeed have 
 covered the earth with a multitude of men, but it was his 
 will that we should proceed from one fountain, in order that 
 our desires of mutual concord might be greater, and each 
 might the more freely embrace the other as his own flesh." 
 How should we all despair, if the words " Our Father," did 
 not express the truth that we all participate in the blessings, 
 as well as in the curses, of the whole race; if these were 
 words merely, and not the expression of an eternal truth; 
 if God were not that One Being eternal, immutable, invi- 
 sible, to whom all may look up together, into whose presence 
 a way is opened for all ; whose presence is that true home 
 which the spirits of men were ever seeking, and could not find, 
 
 * See, in addition to our consideration of this subject, Kitto's Daily 
 Bible Illustrations, pp. 79-82. 
 f Comment on Gen. i. 28. 
 
100 HISTORICAL AND DOCTRINAL 
 
 till He who had borne their sorrows and died their death 
 entered within the veil, having obtained eternal redemption 
 for them, and bade them sit in heavenly places in Christ 
 Jesus ! * 
 
 "These objections are all brought forward to show that 
 the book of Genesis is unworthy of credit, and that, there- 
 fore its ethnology is to be rejected. ' Its ethnological details,' 
 says Dr Nott, ' are devoid of all harmony, are inconsistent 
 with each other, and contradicted by the early history of 
 Egypt, China, India, and America.' To this we can only 
 say, ' If the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is 
 that darkness!' The 10th and 11th chapters of Genesis are 
 unquestionably the best ethnographical document on the face 
 of the earth. It more clearly explains the origin of the various 
 important nations of the old continent, than all the writings 
 of antiquity besides. From Josephus down, there has been 
 great uniformity in its explanation ; and all soberly-conducted 
 antiquarian research, and almost every spadeful of earth 
 thrown out of the buried catacombs and palaces of Egypt and 
 Nineveh, do but tend to confirm it." 
 
 We are therefore brought to the conclusion, that man was 
 made designedly, and in accordance with his dignity, " an 
 exception to all the rest of the creation," so that while they 
 were created all over the world, and in pairs or groups, and 
 adapted to their several localities and to the ultimate use and 
 benefit of man, man was created in one locality only, and in 
 one pair only — "one male and one female" — and dispersed 
 from this one blood of which God hath made all the nations 
 of the earth, to the several bounds and habitations which God 
 had before appointed unto them, and to which they were 
 adapted by the constitutional powers given to them, — by out- 
 ward agencies acting upon them, — and by God's providence 
 making every thing accomplish the purposes of his good 
 pleasure. 
 
 "We will only add, that the ablest critics, even of the Ger- 
 * See Maurice on Lord's Prayer. 
 
EVIDENCE OF SCRIPTURE. 101 
 
 man school, have regarded the record in the book of Genesis. 
 as teaching the original unity of the entire human race. 
 " From two human beings, therefore," says Rosenmuller, 
 M the universal race of men drew their origin/ 
 
 »# 
 
 * Some, he adds, have doubted this, and denied that the authority of 
 Scripture ought to constrain us to believe it (e. g. P. J. Brums, as quoted). 
 Their opinions, however, he thinks have been diligently examined and re- 
 futed by Leonh. Joh. Carol. Justi, and others. (See as above, pp. 85, 86, 
 and see also Hengstenberg on the confirmation given to the Genealogical 
 Tables in Genesis, from the Monuments of Egypt, in his Egypt and the 
 Books of Moses, ch. vii. p. 195, &c.) 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE HISTORICAL AND DOCTRINAL EVIDENCE OF SCRIPTURE 
 
 —CONCLUDED. 
 
 Dei sapientia et bonitas limites regionibus, montes, et fluvios dedit : Ule 
 populorum sedes aut fingit aut mutat : hoec neque casufiant, neque ah 
 (jeterno fuere. 
 
 It has now been shown that the Scriptures represent Adam 
 and Eve as the original progenitors of the whole human 
 family, and Noah and his sons as the only parents of the 
 postdiluvian races of mankind. The Bible does not, how- 
 ever, involve the truth of its inspiration and the infallible 
 assurance of its doctrines with any system of chronology. 
 On this subject it has little to say, and from probable confu- 
 sion and mistake in copyists, that little is involved in wisely- 
 permitted confusion. Neither does the Bible require us, by 
 any necessity of interpretation, to believe that all the dirTe- 
 rent races of animals, plants, and insects, which are now 
 found peculiar to their several continents, were destroyed by 
 the flood, and preserved and again distributed by Noah. It 
 would allow us, on principles of strict interpretation, to be- 
 lieve either that the submerged earth was the entire region 
 inhabited by man, together with its plants and animals; or 
 that, having destroyed the whole earth, with all its vegetable 
 and animal productions, God created new genera of organized 
 beings, suited to every climate, and assigned them then, as 
 he did at the first, their several localities and provinces. * 
 
 * See Prichard's Researches into the Natural History of Mankind, 
 vol. i. pp. 98-102. Dr Pye Smith's Geology and Scripture. Powell's 
 Connection of Science and Religion, &c. Kirby, however, accounts for 
 
HISTORICAL AND DOCTRINAL EVIDENCE, ETC. 103 
 
 But the Bible does require us to believe that all the 
 human race perished in the flood, and that from Noah and 
 his sons all the existing varieties or races or men have 
 sprung. And to this doctrine of Scripture, ancient heathen 
 writers, as might be shown, bear the attestation of general 
 traditional belief. * 
 
 In reference to genealogy, it appears to us to have been 
 the evident design of Scripture to dwell only upon the chosen 
 line, from which, according to the flesh, Christ — " the Seed 
 of the woman " — should proceed, omitting, or very partially 
 noticing, all others. This is apparent both in the antedilu- 
 vian and postdiluvian records, and is, in our judgment, the 
 probable source of the historical and chronological difficulties 
 suggested by the ethnological history of man. f While, 
 therefore, much is said in the Bible about the race of Seth 
 and Shem, but very little reference is made to the posterity 
 of Cain and Ham. 
 
 Enough, however, is told us respecting Ham and his de- 
 scendants, to trace some of them — under the influence of 
 that curse, in which portions of the entire race seem, to some 
 extent, to have been involved J — to the continent of Africa. 
 
 the present distribution of animals on natural principles, and in accord- 
 ance with the literal explanation of the Bible. Habits and Instincts of 
 Animals, vol. i. ch. ii. 
 
 * See this very strongly presented by Guyot in his Earth and Man, 
 lect. x. and xii. pp. 280, 269, 270, 273, 277. Nolan's Bampton Lectures, 
 p. 317, &c., and p. 492, &c, where may be found many heathen testimo- 
 nies from classical writers. See also Gray's Connection of Sacr. and 
 Prof. Literature. Smith's Patriarchal Age. Faber's Origin of Idol., 
 vol. iii. b. vi., ch. i. to end of vol., pp. 359-600. Stackhouse's Hist, of the 
 Bible, b. ii., § 2. Delafield's Antiq. of America, p. 284, and Anct. Univ. 
 Hist., vol. i. p. 284, &c. 
 
 + See Sir Walter Raleigh's History of the World, b. i. ch. v. See also 
 Nolan's Bampt. Lect., pp. 492-497, and the authorities there quoted. 
 Also Burder's Oriental Literature, vol. i. p. 22, where he gives the autho- 
 rities of Eusebius, Syncellus, Cedrenus (Chron. Pasch.), Josephus, Homer, 
 Philo, and Plato. Faber's Origin of Pagan Idolatry. Smith's Patr. Age, 
 Prel. Diss., and p. 158, &c. Prichard's Researches, vol. v. Appendix. 
 
 + In the Canaanites — the posterity of Canaan — we see this curse un- 
 
. 104 HISTORICAL AND DOCTRINAL 
 
 For from Ham proceeded the Egyptians, the Lybians, the 
 Phutim, and the Cushim or Ethiopians, who, colonizing the 
 African side of the Red Sea, subsequently extended them- 
 selves indefinitely to the west and south of that great conti- 
 nent. Plutarch says expressly, that Egypt was called Chemia, 
 or the country of Hani ; and it has been thought that the 
 Egyptian deity, Hammon or Amnion, was a deification of 
 Iiam. * Chum, the father of Cush, was also brother of 
 Mizraim, the father of the Egyptians ; and the Cushites, so 
 often spoken of in the Old Testament, are the same as the 
 Ethiopians. On this point, — which involves much of the 
 direct historical evidence of the Bible to the unity of the 
 human races as the posterity of the same original family, — 
 we are met by the bold assertion of Dr Nott, which he 
 labours to establish, that neither Ethiopia nor negroes are 
 mentioned in the Bible. The Bible he regards — and in this 
 opinion Professor Agassiz concurs — as the record and reve- 
 lation of the Caucasian race exclusively, t AVe shall, there- 
 fore, enter into this inquiry at more length, than might be 
 otherwise interesting. 
 
 doubtedly visited with most wonderful certainty and emphasis ; but if Ham, 
 as is possible, was also blamable, the consequences have been measurably 
 extended with equal justice to other branches of his family; while, through 
 this original wickedness on their part, and the consequent adaptation of 
 their posterity to fulril the purposes of God, the African races may yet do 
 much cowards praising and glorifying him. See Bush's Notes on Genesis, 
 on ch. ix. 2--27, and Ainsworth's Annotations in loco. Nolan's Barap. 
 Lect., pp. 317, 492. Chrysostom on Gen., Homil. 29. Theodoret in Gen. 
 qu. 58. Bochart Geog. .^acr. lib. i. cap. 2, col. 10. 
 
 * In his work De Iside et Osiride. See Calmet's Diet., art. Ammon. 
 See also Nolan's Bampton Lect., p. 484, where Marsham, Bochart, and 
 Vossius are quoted to the same effect. Ham, therefore, is the ultimate 
 root of Egyptian genealogy, while Menu may be identified with Noah, 
 being claimed traditionally as their first king. See ditto. And as civili- 
 zation preceded barbarity, the early civilization and fictitious chrono- 
 logy of Egypt offer no difficulties, except to wilful sceptics. Dr Morton 
 therefore defines the Egyptians to be the posterity of Ham. See in 
 Ethnol. Journal, No. iv., p. 172. 
 
 f Lect. Appendix, pp. 138-146. 
 
EVIDENCE OF SCRIPTURE. 105 
 
 The term Ethiopia was anciently given to all those whose 
 colour was darkened by the sun. Herodotus, therefore, dis- 
 tinguishes the Eastern Ethiopians who had straight hair, 
 from the Western Ethiopians who had curly or woolly hair.* 
 Strabo calls them " a twofold people, lying extended in a 
 long tract from the rising to the setting sun." f Homer 
 gives precisely the same description of the Ethiopians. J So, 
 also, does Apuleius,§ and accordingly we now know that the 
 indigenous man in India was undoubtedly black — its white 
 blood having come from Western Asia. || Eusebius, there- 
 fore, tells us that the Ethiopians in the West came to Egypt 
 from India in the East, and thence passed over the Red Sea 
 into Africa, the whole of which they peopled.^ Ethiopia, 
 south of Egypt, was consequently well known to the ancients, 
 and constituted a theatre of history, of civilization, and of 
 empire. Indeed, Heeren and others think the civilization 
 and religion of Egypt came from tribes beyond Meroe, in 
 Ethiopia, who founded temples and colonies, and introduced 
 the worship of Ammon, Osiris, and Phtha, known in Greece 
 as Jupiter, Bacchus, and Vulcan. * * Eastern Africa also 
 was certainly known in the time of the Caliphs, and noticed 
 by Arrian. Ptolemy's most distant country, Agizymba, is 
 probably Kissimbany, in the island of Zanzinbar, a negro 
 country. 1 1 Sallust, in his Jugurthine war, placed Ethiopia 
 next to the countries exusta sotis ardoribus, burned and dried 
 
 * Herodotus, vii. 69, 70. Anct. Univ. Hist., vol. xviii. pp. 254, 255. 
 f Lib. i. p. 60. + Od. A. 22. 
 
 § Lib. xi. p. 364. See Kitto, art. Cush, and Well's Sacred Geography 
 under Cush. 
 
 || Guyot's Earth and Man, p. 231. 
 
 TJ Chronicles, p. 26, Syncellus, p. 151, Calmet v. 27, American edition, 
 or Well's Geography, art. Cush. See also Nolan's Bampton Lectures, 
 pp. 495, 496, and the authorities there given, Eupolemus, Eusebius, and 
 Bochart. " Chami vero filios totam Africam et partem Asise." Dr Sim- 
 son after Josephus, Chron., p. i., p. 11. 
 
 * * Ancient History, p. 58. Lipsius, however, is opposed to this view. 
 Ethnol. Jour., iv. 172. 
 
 ft Pickering on the Races of Men, p. 189. 
 
106 HISTORICAL AND DOCTRINAL 
 
 up by the heat of the sun, and speaks of a people beyond 
 Ethiopia as "just and amiable, whose manners and customs 
 resemble the, Persians." * 
 
 The ancients, says Dr Anthon, included under the term 
 Ethiopia those regions which Ave now call Nubia and Sennaar, 
 together with part of Abyssinia. They were also acquainted 
 with Lybia Interior, including Nigritia, on the banks of the 
 Niger, and in a part of which is now Soudan. Their 
 capital was called Nigera. Another of their cities, named 
 by Ptolemy, Peside, seems to have stood near the modern 
 Timbuctoo. 
 
 The Garamantes were a powerful nation, occupying a tract 
 of country south, with a part of Soudan and Bornou, and 
 carried on a traffic in slaves with the Carthagenians.t 
 
 The term Ethiopia, therefore, was applied by the ancients 
 to all the fruitful lands stretching along the banks of the 
 Niger, which were almost entirely unknown. £ Herodotus, 
 however, must have gone far enough to see those " Africans," 
 whom he describes as " having the most curly hair of all 
 men." And the genuine negro was assuredly known, since 
 their portraits are found on Egyptian monuments, and their 
 skulls among the Egyptian mummies. § 
 
 The children of Phut and the Lubim — who were of a deep 
 dye, and may be considered as more especially the fathers of 
 the negro race — settled in Africa. Hence in ancient days 
 Lybia seems to have been the general appellation of Africa, 
 from the Lubim or Lehabim. (Chron. Pash., p. 29.) Nor 
 are there wanting memorials of Phut. In Mauritania there 
 was a region and a river called* after him, as we learn from St 
 
 * See a Fragment, quoted in Fairholme's Scripture Geology, p. 443. 
 
 f Ancient and Mediaeval Geography, pp. 742 and 749. 
 
 J Pickering on the Races of Men, p. 46. 
 
 § See Dr Morton's Crania JEgyptiaca; his Catalogue of Skulls, Philadel- 
 phia, 1849, 2d edition ; and his Observations on a Second Series of Ancient 
 Egyptian Crania, in Proceedings of the Acad, of Natural Science of Phila- 
 delphia, October 1844. Also his Inquiry into the Aboriginal Race of 
 America, App. No. iv., pp. 45-47. See also Belzoni's Plates, Burton's Ex- 
 cerpta, and Penny Cyclopedia, vol. i., p. 182. 
 
EVIDENCE OF SCRIPTURE. 107 
 
 Jerome ; — Mauritaniae fluvius usque ad presens tempus Phut 
 dicitur : omnisque circa eum regio Phutensis.* 
 
 The ancients even attempted to trace the origin of the 
 colour and of the curly hair of the Africans, and also of the 
 sterility of that country which forms the boundary of Negro- 
 land, in the fable of Phaeton and the extraordinary influence of 
 the chariot of the Sun, during his unskilful driving, t 
 
 That all the Ethiopians were descended from Chus or Cush, 
 is expressly declared by Zonaras (21), who says, "Chus is 
 the person from whom the CuseaDs are derived. They are 
 the same people as the Ethiopians." Such also is the testi- 
 mony of Josephus, Eusebius, and Apuleius.J Calmet quotes, 
 also, the author of Tarik Araba (Bibl. Orient., p. 425), as 
 affirming that all the blacks were descended from Ham.§ 
 The Easterns, therefore, say that Cush had a son named 
 Hebaschi, the father of the Abyssinians. This word, which 
 is the same as Ethiopia, signifies a people formed of a mixture 
 of nations. || And hence all Asia calls the Ethiopians Cush, 
 as they do themselves. IT The whole obscurity of ancient 
 writers in the use of these words — Cush and Ethiopia — arises, 
 therefore, from the different families of the Cushites, who by 
 the different removals inhabited countries widely separated 
 from each other.** 
 
 * See Biblioth. Sacra, 1847, pp. 745, 746, where it is argued that two 
 great branches of the negro race emigrated to Africa at remote periods 
 from each other, and from different parts of the old world. Mr Birch 
 frequently found the word Kush on Egyptian monuments. See Ethnol. 
 Journal, No. x., pp. 467, 468, that is from the 23d to the 14th century be- 
 fore Christ. 
 
 f A similar memorial tradition is preserved among the Feejee Islanders; 
 see the Exploring Expedition, vol. vii. 
 
 X Joseph. Antiq., lib. i., c. 6 ; and Calmet, vol. v., pp. 20, 202, Am. ed., 
 or Well's Sacred Geography. 
 
 § See art. Ammon. 
 
 || Calmet 's Dictionary, art. Cush. This is the character of a great many 
 of the negro tribes or nations. 
 
 If Josephus Antiq., lib. i., c. 7, and Calmet, art. Cush. 
 
 ** The negro race of the Nuba have spread as far North and East as 
 Sennaar, where a negro dynasty of the Fungi established itself in 1504, and 
 
108 HISTORICAL AND DOCTRINAL 
 
 In the Scriptures, however, the use of the words Cush and 
 Ethiopia are more definite and restricted. The term Cush is 
 here sometimes employed to denote a part of Southern Arabia, 
 but is most generally employed to point out exclusively coun- 
 tries in Africa, lying to the South of Egypt. (Ezek. xxix. 
 10, and xxx. 4-6.) The Hebrew term, Cush, is rendered 
 Ethiopia, not only by the English version under the autho- 
 rity of its numerous and very learned authors, but by the 
 Septuagint, Vulgate, and almost all the other versions, ancient 
 and modern. u It is not, therefore, to be doubted," says 
 Poole, " that the term Cushim has by the interpretation of 
 all ages been translated by Ethiopians, because they were 
 always known by their black colour, and their transmigrations, 
 which were easy and frequent/"' " The term Cush in Scrip- 
 ture denotes," says Rosenmiiller, whose oriental learning is 
 undeniably great, " all the lands situated in the South, whose 
 inhabitants have a black skin," that is, all denominated Ethi- 
 opia, and hence Blumenbach calls the negro race the Ethiopian. 
 The Cushim in Scripture are also spoken of in connection with 
 the Lubim, Sukim, Thut, and other nations of Africa who 
 were found attached to the vast army of Shishak, king of 
 Egypt, when he came up, B.C. 971, against Rehoboam, and 
 in whose tomb, recently opened, there are found among his 
 depicted army the exact representation of the genuine negro 
 race, both in colour, hair, and physiognomy. 45 ' Champollion 
 
 has mingled itself with the Arab blood, and adopted a Mahommedan creed. 
 See Penny Cyclopedia, vol. i., p. 182. Others also have spread very far. 
 P. 9182, do. 
 
 * Negroes are represented on the paintings of the Egyptians chiefly as 
 connected with the military campaigns of the 18th dynasty. They formed 
 part of the army of Ibrahim Pacha, and were esteemed as soldiers at 
 Moncha, and in S. Arabia. — Pickering's Races of Men, pp.185, 189. That 
 negroes were found in the armies of Sesostris and Xerxes, Herodotus as- 
 sures us,* and we know that they compose in part the army of Egypt now.f 
 Herodotus further states that eighteen of the Egyptian kings were Ethio- 
 pians. % 
 
 * Euterpe, cap. 6 ; and Polyhjmn, cap. ; 70. 
 
 f Buckhardt's Travels, p. 341. Dr Wiseman, p. 97. 
 
 \ Euterpe, lib. vi. 
 
EVIDENCE OF SCRIPTURE. 109 
 
 also found upon the hieroglyphic monuments of Egypt the 
 name Cush used for Ethiopia. Mr Gliddon informs us also 
 that " the hieroglyphical designation of KeSH, exclusively 
 applied to African races as distinct from the Egyptians, has 
 been found by Lepsius as far back as the monuments of 
 the sixth dynasty, B.C. 3000 ; but the great influx of Ne- 
 gro and Mulatto races into Egypt as captives, dated from 
 the twelfth dynasty, when, about the twenty-second century 
 B.C., Pharaoh SESOURTASEN extended his conquests up 
 the Nile far into Nigritia. After the eighteenth dynasty, the 
 monuments come down to the third century, a.d., without 
 one single instance, in the Pharaonic or Ptolemaic periods, that 
 Negro labour was ever directed to any agricultural or utilita- 
 rian objects ." * The term Cushite, therefore, while it applies 
 in Scripture to the Arabian races, "became also the appella- 
 tive of a negro." In this sense it is employed by the prophet 
 Jeremiah (xiii. 23), when he asks, " Can the Ethiopian," or 
 as it is in the original, the Cushite, " change his skin, or the 
 leopard his spots ? ' ; " This text," say Patrick and Lowth, 
 " is most probably to be understood of the Africans or black- 
 moors, as they are commonly called." Luther's German 
 translation has Mohrenland, a term equivalent to negroland, 
 or the country of the blacks. Dr Watts followed this mean- 
 ing in the well-known words of one of his hymns : — 
 
 " As well might Ethiopian slaves 
 
 "Wash out the darkness of their skin, 
 
 The dead as well may leave their graves, 
 
 As old transgressors cease to 8in. ,, + 
 
 The prophet, six hundred years before the Christian era, thus 
 affirms the existence of black colour in this particular class of 
 men. He quotes a proverb,^ and thus proves that an un- 
 changeable blackness of colour had long been familiarly known 
 
 * See in Ethnolog. Journal, No. vii., p. 310. 
 f B. ii., 163. 
 
 X This proverb is found also in profane writers — " To wash the Ethio- 
 pian or blackmoor white."" 
 
110 HISTORICAL AND DOCTRINAL 
 
 to characterize this class of human beings.* And as the pro- 
 phet denominates them Cushites, he thus teaches that some 
 tribes of people, descended from Cush the eldest son of Xoah, 
 and inhabiting a country which the Septuagint, Vulgate, and 
 other interpreters coincide in naming Ethiopia, were black. 
 It is thus evident that the Scriptures declare the negro race 
 to be the descendants of Noah, and therefore of the same 
 original family with all other races of men. 
 
 But it is equally certain, as we have seen, that the term 
 Cushite is applied in Scripture to other branches of the same 
 family, as for instance to the Midianites, from whom Moses 
 selected his wife, and who could not have been negroes. 
 The term Cushite, therefore, is used in Scripture as denoting 
 nations who w T ere not black or in any respect negro, and also 
 countries south of Egypt, whose inhabitants were negroes ; 
 and yet both races are declared to be the descendants of Cush, 
 the son of Ham. Even in Ezekiel's day, the interior Afri- 
 can nations were not of one race, for he represents Cush, 
 Phut, Lud, and Chub, as either themselves constituting, or 
 as being amalgamated with, " a mingled people'' (Ezek. xxx. 
 5) ; " that is to say," says Faber, " it was a nation of negroes 
 who are represented as very numerous — all the mingled 
 people." t We thus learn — as far as Scripture authority is 
 admitted — 1. That all men, even the negro race, are from the 
 same orio-mal stock. 2. That from the same ancestor, races 
 of different colour and physiognomy proceeded ; and there- 
 fore, 3. That there was a time when the negro peculiarities 
 of colour and form did not exist ; but that from some cause 
 or causes, they originated at a period subsequent to the dis- 
 persion. We farther learn, in the fourth place, that such a 
 change from one physiognomy to another was not regarded 
 by the prophet as impossible, but only as a change of very 
 difficult and extraordinary character ; for at the very same 
 time that he asks this question, he calls upon the people to 
 
 * The black race are known to have existed for 3445 years, 
 f Diss., vol. ii., p. 305. 
 
EVIDENCE OF SCRIPTURE. Ill 
 
 secure that moral change to which he had resembled the colour 
 of the skin, by repentance and conversion, showing, as Christ 
 did on another occasion, that " what is impossible to men is 
 possible with God." * 
 
 These remarks we have made by way of anticipation, in 
 order more fully to illustrate and establish the teaching of 
 Scripture regarding the unity of all the races of men. That 
 unity, it has been shown, the Scriptures teach both histori- 
 cally and doctrinally. They teach that all men took their 
 origin in the divinely-created human pair, and that all the 
 races of men, black and white, African and Caucasian, were 
 subsequently dispersed from one postdiluvian stock. They 
 teach that all are sinners, and in need of a common salvation. 
 They teach that there is but one Name under heaven by 
 which any man can be saved. And they require the gospel of 
 this grace and mercy to be preached to every creature. 
 
 The Scriptures further inform us, that the heathen are given 
 to Christ for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the 
 earth for his possession. His kingdom is to include all na- 
 tions, and kingdoms, and tribes, and people under the whole 
 heavens. And while even Chinaf and the islands of the sea 
 are specified as among the future conquests to be achieved by 
 this Prince of Peace, " the people of Ethiopia also, and men 
 of stature shall," it is foretold, " come over unto him, and 
 they shall be his." " They shall come after thee in chains," — 
 that is, in their character and condition of servitude, and as 
 slaves, — " they shall come over, and they shall fall down unto 
 him. They shall make supplication unto the church, saying, 
 Surely God is in thee, and there is none else — there is no 
 
 * Matt. xix. 24. See Lowth and Jortin in Mant and Doyly's Bible, on 
 Jer. xiii. 23. 
 
 + Isa. li. 12 — Sinim, a remote country in the S. E. extremity of the earth, 
 as the context intimates. The Chinese were known to the Arabians by 
 the name of Sin, and to the Syrians as Tsini. Other Asiatics gave them 
 the same name, and it is known to the Chinese themselves, whose fourth 
 dynasty was called Tshin. At Babylon the Jews might have easily heard 
 of them. 
 
112 HISTORICAL AND DOCTRINAL 
 
 other God." — Isa. xlv. 14.* "From beyond the rivers of 
 Ethiopia," as Zephaniah prophesies — that is, from the very 
 centre of Africa — "my suppliants shall bring mine offering." 
 — Zeph. iii. 10. " Ethiopia," says the inspired Psalmist, 
 "shall soon stretch out her hands." — Ps. lxviii. 31. And 
 among those of whom it will be said in the great day of ac- 
 counts, " that this and that man was born in her," Ethiopia 
 shall be enumerated as well as other countries of the globe. — 
 Ps. lxxxvii. 4. 
 
 Such, then, is the clear and unequivocal doctrine of Scrip- 
 ture regarding the unity of the human race, as involved in all 
 its teachings, and as received by all those in every age who 
 believe it to be the word of Him who, as he knoweth all 
 things, " cannot lie," and who, as he is the truth itself, will 
 not deceive. 
 
 This doctrine, be it observed, Scripture teaches us, not as a 
 matter of scientific knowledge, but as the foundation of all 
 human obligation, and of the universality of human charity. 
 It makes every man our brother, and it proclaims that 
 we are " debtors to all men, both to the Greeks (or civilized) 
 and to the barbarians, to the wise and to the unwise," having 
 " the everlasting gospel " intrusted to us for their benefit. — 
 (Rom. i. 14.) And as all men are commanded to repent 
 and believe the gospel, so are we commanded to preach it to 
 all men, whether they will hear or whether they will forbear. 
 From what we have said, it will be at once perceived that 
 the gospel must stand or fall with the doctrine of the unity 
 of the human races. For if, as it is alleged, the Caucasian 
 race alone have any interest in the revelations, the promises, 
 and the threatenings of the Bible, then it follows that the 
 
 * These countries are given as samples of the entire heathen world. Ac- 
 cording to Knobel, their stature is here mentioned in order to show they 
 were able-bodied, and would be profitable servants to the Jews. Whether 
 these chains are to be considered as imposed by the conquerors, the words 
 leave undecided. Whatever be the spiritual meaning of the passage, it is 
 based upon the chains and slavery of a captive condition. See Alexander 
 on Isaiah, vol. ii. pp. 118, 119. 
 
EVIDENCE OF SCRIPTURE. 113 
 
 gospel ought not to be preached to any other than true and 
 genuine Caucasian men. But where and how are these to 
 be found ? Amid the incalculable intermixture of races which 
 has taken place among men since the beginning of time, 
 where is the man who can prove he is a pure Caucasian ? 
 There is not one.* And, therefore, there is not one who 
 can dare either to preach or to hear the gospel. The gospel 
 becomes an empty sound, and all religion is at an end.T 
 
 NOTE. 
 
 SCRIPTURAL KNOWLEDGE OF AFRICA. 
 
 The Scriptures are fuller in their statements even in geography, 
 than any other ancient writings which precede the days of the 
 Greek geographers, who, in comparison with the Old Testament, 
 are but modern. They are so accurate as to constitute the best 
 guide-books to travellers in the countries in which the occurrences 
 of the Scriptures took place. In their allusions to the more dis- 
 tant lands to which reference is made, they exhibit no error. 
 Where they speak of the distant West, they use the phrase which 
 is translated in our version, " the isles of the sea," or " of the Gen- 
 tiles." The habitable places of the sea would be more in accord- 
 ance with the original, and will include all countries which must 
 be reached by navigating the sea. India is expressly mentioned in 
 Esther i. 1, and viii. 7, and 1 Mac. viii. 8 ; and if it did not embrace 
 in their geography the whole of Hindostan, it extended far north 
 of it, over a considerable portion of Tartary into the desert of Cobi. 
 
 * " The primitive races no longer exist. All, or nearly all, the inha- 
 bitants of the earth are of mixed blood." — Eihnol. Journal, p. 129. 
 
 f It is not known nor agreed upon what was the original race, com- 
 plexion, or form of either Adam or Noah. Mr Pickering, the last writer 
 on the subject (on the Races of Men), gives reasons for supposing the 
 African to be the centre and origin of the human family. See p. 305, &c. 
 So also does Hamilton Smith. The Ethnological Journal admits that there 
 is not now a pure race of men to be found. Dr Bachman offers very pro- 
 bable reasons for the opinion that the race of men were intermediate in 
 colour and form between the black and the white, and that the white are 
 as much altered now as the black. See on the Unity of the Human Race, 
 part ii. chap. i. pp. 152-16'4. 
 
 H 
 
1 1 4 HISTORICAL AND DOCTRINAL 
 
 China is evidently intended by the land of Sinim, (Isa. xhx. 12,) and 
 has been called, from an unknown antiquity, throughout southern 
 and western Asia, by the name Sin, Chin, or Jin. Porcelain ves- 
 sels with Chinese inscriptions have been found in the monuments 
 of Thebes. The Magog of Ezekiel is the country of the Mongo- 
 lians. The Phoenicians were a bordering and friendly people, and 
 Tyre was not farther from Jerusalem than Augusta in Georgia 
 from Charleston, or Montgomery from Mobile. The nearest inha- 
 bitants of Galilee might have gone down of a pleasant morning to 
 market. All the knowledge of the Tyrian and Phoenician naviga- 
 tors, pouring in from Carthage, and their numerous colonies, scat- 
 tered over the islands of the Mediterranean, on either side of it, and 
 beyond the Pillars of Hercules on the African and European -coast, 
 was easilv accessible to the Jews. 
 
 They had resided in Babylon, the great centre of oriental com- 
 merce, had lived in Media under Darius the Mede, and in Persia 
 under Cyrus the Great. Many had served in the army of Alex- 
 ander the Macedonian, and were probably among the invaders of 
 India. They had occupied the central ground passed over by the 
 caravan trade between Persia and India on the one side, and Phoe- 
 nicia and i^gypt on the other. Before Paul and the New Testa- 
 ment writers lived, Africa had been circumnavigated by Tyrian 
 sailors under Pharaoh Necho.* Hanno the Carthaginian had ex- 
 plored the coast of Western Africa. Arian made the Periplus of the 
 Erythrean Sea, sailing around the coast of India on the east of the 
 Indian Ocean, and down Africa on the west, a voyage which had 
 probably also been often made before by the allied fleets of Solomon, 
 and Hiram king of Tyre. The voyage of Pythias to the North 
 Sea had taken place, and of Nearchus down the Indus and up the 
 Persian Gulf to the mouth of the Tigris. The Jews had long been 
 familiar with Egypt. It was no wonderful feat to go there. They 
 had never from Abraham to Paul lost their connection with it. 
 From 301 to 180 b. c, the period of the Ptolemies, it was a place 
 of shelter to them. In 153 b. c, Onias built a temple at Leonto- 
 polis, which was long the rival of that at Jerusalem. At Alex- 
 andria they had the most splendid synagogue, with its accompani- 
 ment of schools, which existed in the whole world. The geo- 
 graphers Eratosthenes, Hipparchus, and Strabo, had already 
 gathered from different sources a very considerable knowledge of 
 the earth and its principal nations. Mela and Pliny were the con- 
 temporaries of the writers of the New Testament. It is impossible 
 that men, living as these writers did, in the very central parts of 
 the civilized world, should be so extremely ignorant of the inhabi- 
 tants of different countries as Dr Nott alleges. Especially may we 
 suppose the apostle Paul, a man of no mean condition, born in a 
 
 * 616 b. c. This voyage was 2100 years before the Portuguese, under the lead 
 of Vasquez de Gama, doubled the Cape of Good Hope. 
 
EVIDENCE OF SCRIPTURE. 115 
 
 city which, according to Strabo, excelled even Corinth and Athens, 
 and all other cities, as a place of education, to have been acquainted 
 with this knowledge then common among men of ordinary intelli- 
 gence. Now, these countries which they actually did know, are 
 inhabited by the principal varieties of the human race. The Cau- 
 casian, Mongolian, and Negro, could not be unknown to them. 
 The Mongolian they had seen in their wanderings towards central 
 Asia, and the Negro must have attracted their attention in Egypt. 
 The Scythians, the prototypes of the modern Tartars, seven cen- 
 turies before Christ, had invaded south-western Asia, pushed their 
 inroads as far as Eyypt, and left their name in Scythopolis, in the 
 valley of the Jordan. Dr Nott does indeed struggle hard to show 
 that the word Cush is wrongly translated in our English Bible by 
 the word Ethiopia. And we are willing to admit that the one 
 word is not the etymological equivalent of the other, and that 
 in these modern times the word Ethiopian is not by usage applied 
 to all the descendants of Cush, or Ethiopia to all the countries they 
 inhabit. But it is true, that by the ancients Ethiopia was applied 
 to both Asiatic and African nations. They used the term accord- 
 ing to its sense, of nations "burnt black in the face," uiSos rr,v o-^iv 
 In like manner, the name Cush, for wdiich in the translation 
 Ethiopia is substituted, is used in the Scriptures for Asiatic and for 
 African countries. The Cush, in the description of the Garden of 
 Eden, is probably the country east of the Tigris, and north of the 
 Persian Gulf. Chusistan, a portion of Persia, bears the name, and 
 Jonathan, the Targumist, on Gen. x. 6, evidently understands by 
 Cush an Asiatic people. But it is equally plain, that the name Cush 
 is also applied to an African country and people. Indeed, so clear 
 is this, that Gesenius and Shulthess have wrongly coutended that, 
 in the Scriptures, it is applied to no other. It was a country which 
 lay south of Egypt above Syene, the Meroe of the ancients, and the 
 Abyssinia of the moderns. The Chub of Ezek. xxix,* is either the 
 Nubia of modern geography, or a district called Chuba, still further 
 south. The land of rustling, or clanging wings, of Isa. xviii. 1, be- 
 yond the rivers of Cush, is evidently the African Ethiopia, including 
 Nubia, Kordofan, and Abyssinia.f Over this country, in the days 
 of Hezekiah, reigned Tirhaka, a king of great renown, who also had 
 obtained the dominion of Upper Egypt. When Hezekiah was 
 threatened by Sennacherib, knowing that the Assyrian army was on 
 the way to Egypt,£ he marched to the relief of the Jewish monarch. 
 He is the Ta.oa.Ko; of Mauetho, and the Tiaoxuv of Strabo, and his 
 figure, name, and the expedition he undertook, and the prisoners he 
 captured, are recorded on the walls of a Theban temple, at Medi- 
 nath Abu, and on the mountain Barkal in Abyssinia. § And in spite 
 
 * Ezek. xxix. 10; xxx. 6, 9. f Strabo, xv. 6. f Herodotus. 
 
 § Wilkinson's Ancient Egyptians, i. pp. 140, 3S7 ; Rossellini, Hon, ii. tab. 8. 
 
1 1 6 HISTORICAL AND DOCTRINAL 
 
 <>f L)r Nott's contemptuous questioning of the truth of 2 Chron. xiv. 
 9, it is very evident that Zerah, the Ethiopian, did come down with 
 a " thousand thousand," i. e. many thousands, on " so insignificant 
 a king as Asa." He came from Africa, not Arabia ; among his 
 soldiers were Lubim, an African people,* and he had 300 chariots, 
 which were rot used by the Arabs in their* warfare.'*' The name 
 Cush, too, has been found on the monuments as referring to an 
 African people, as Dr N'ott, with a facility fatal to his argument, 
 p. 140, allows. Indeed, we find it used of the Prince of Ethiopia, 
 on a temple at Beit-e-wellee in Nubia, where the conquests of Rame- 
 ses the Second are found portrayed, under circumstances in which 
 there can be no mistake; for the Ethiopian army, composed of ne- 
 groes, is represented as routed before the chariot of the victor, and 
 negro captives are led bound beside the conqueror. He is then ex- 
 hibited, in another compartment, as receiving the tribute of the con- 
 quered nations, consisting of gold, panthers' skins, tusks of ivory, logs 
 of ebony, long-horned oxen, bears, lions, giraffes, elephants, brought 
 by a numerous procession of negroes; Egyptian scribes are taking 
 an account of the tribute: then he is pictured as investing "the royal 
 son of Kush" with the vice-regal power over this subjugated country, 
 his name and title being written in hieroglyphics over his head. X 
 On the same is an address to the conqueror, " Beneath thy sandals 
 is KoJ, the barbarian land, Kush (Nigritia) is in thy grasp." Mr 
 Gliddon informs us, that by the name Kush " the Egyptians ex- 
 clusively designated the negro and Berber race in hieroglyphics," 
 and though he denies that this name can be identified with the Cush 
 of Scripture, we beg leave to differ from him. We have traced the 
 Scripture use of the word to the country south of Egypt, inhabited 
 in part by the Berber and negro varieties of men. We have now 
 monumental evidence, by his own admission, that the same word is 
 applied to the full negro of Nigritia, thus connecting him with other 
 Cushites, with Ham and with Noah. If the KHeM of the monu- 
 ments is the Ham of the Scriptures, and the Kanana of the monu- 
 ments is the Canaan of the Scriptures, why is not the monumental 
 
 * 2 Chron. xvi. 8; comp. xii. 4. 
 
 f In the invasion of Judith in the days of Reboboam, by Shishak [Sheshonk], 
 king of Egypt, in which he took Jerusalem and the " fenced cities of Judah," 
 a vast army of Lubim, Sukkiims, and Cushites followed him. These Sukkiims 
 are in the LXX. the Troglodytes, whom Strabo, 1. xvii. I, and Pliny, Hist. Nat. 
 vi. 29, 34, place in Meroe, and Rosenmiiller * identifies with the Shangalla, a 
 negro race in Abyssinia. The victories of Shishak over Judah-melek-kah, 
 " King of the country of Juiah,' are sculptured on the monuments at Karuak. 
 
 \ " The. royal son of Kush, or Ethiopia, Amounemape-t, son of Poeri, the truth- 
 sneaking." Gallery of Antiq. from the British Museum, by S Birch, part ii, 
 p. 96. " Kush, barbarian country, perverse race, being," says Mr Gliddon, " the 
 Egyptian designatory name and title of Negroes prior to b. c. 1690." Anc. 
 Kgypt, pp. 24, 26, 27, 59: comp. Rossellini, iii. 1277; Champollion. Eg. et Nub. 
 i. Planch, xi. xv, xvi. 
 
 * Alterthumskunde, iii. 353. 
 
EVIDENCE OF SCRIPTURE. 1 17 
 
 Cush also the Cush of the Bible, extending westward over central 
 Africa and including the negro race ? 
 
 Thus signally does the effort to prove the Cusli of -Scripture 
 always to refer to a Caucasian race, fail of any solid foundation. 
 Thus impossible is it to prove, in the face of facts, that the sacred 
 writers were unacquainted with the negro variety of man. Josephus 
 knew something of this country of Ethiopia, for he represents 
 Moses, while yet in Egypt making war, as a general serving under 
 the Egyptian rule, upon Ethiopia, and subduing the people. The 
 negro, too, had been fully described, nearly five centuries before 
 Christ, by Herodotus, who became acquainted with him in Egypt, 
 and afterwards found a colony of the same black-skinned and woolly- 
 haired people in Colchis, on the shores of the Euxine. When Jere- 
 miah then asks, " Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard 
 his spots?" he as truly referred to the negro as a well known va- 
 riety of men, as he did to the leopard as a well-known variety of the 
 feline race. That he should be ignorant of them, when they con- 
 stituted to some extent the armies of Egypt, which were often con- 
 tending with their natural enemies, the Babylonians, on the terri- 
 tories of the Hebrews, is beyond belief. So numerous were the 
 negroes in the armies of Sesostris, that Herodotus seems to infer 
 that the Egyptians themselves were ^eXa^os?, " a black-skinned," 
 and huXovot^i;, a woolly-haired people. It w r ill be remembered, 
 too, that Jeremiah spent the last days of his life in Egypt, whither 
 he fled after the fall of Jerusalem, with the miserable remnant of 
 his people. 
 
 In the original migration of nations, intercourse must have been 
 kept up for a length of time between the migrating hordes and the 
 parent stock, even as it is now. Commerce was rife over nearly 
 the whole of the ancient world, as it is at this day. Many a Jew 
 had seen the negro in Egypt. His ancestors had seen the temple at 
 Karnac, perhaps, when it was building, and he had stood wondering 
 in the Ramesium ages before Champollion was born. In countless 
 things in which moderns are ignorant, the ancients were wise. The 
 sacred writers, then, did know the principal varieties of the human 
 race, were acquainted with the Mongol, the Caucasian, and the 
 Negro, the varieties of men most unlike each other, and did, notwith- 
 standing, affirm all nations of the earth to be of one blood, and to 
 have descended from Noah, the second founder of the family of men, 
 and from Adam the first progenitor. Dr Nott knows that this is the 
 representation of the Scriptures : hence his inconsistent zeal, on the 
 one hand, to destroy the belief of men in the integrity and inspira- 
 tion of the Word of God ; and, on the other hand, to force upon the 
 diviue Word an interpretation, on the supposition that its declara- 
 tions are true, which will suit his preconceived theories. A sad 
 addition to the numerous proofs literature contains of the unhistoric 
 spirit and easy faith which scepticism inspires. — Presbyterian Re- 
 view for Jan. 1850. 
 
CHAPTER YIT. 
 
 THE UNITY OF THE RACES PROVED FROM THE RELIGIOUS 
 CHARACTER OF ALL MEN ; THE ADAPTATION OF CHRIS- 
 TIANITY TO ALL MEN ; AND THE TRUTH OF THE MO- 
 SAIC RECORDS. 
 
 Religion is the magnet of humanity, binding together in one united body all 
 the races of men. — Ex infnild societate generis huniani. 
 
 The word Religion seems emphatically to express the reciprocal bond or obli- 
 gation of men, as created beings, to God our Creator, and to each 
 other as fellow-creatures, or creatures of the same God. — Richard- 
 son's Dictionary. 
 
 We proceed to remark, before passing from the Scriptural 
 question, that the religious opinions and character of all men 
 form another, and in itself an overwhelming, proof of the 
 unity of the human races. 
 
 Religion implies such a spiritual nature in man as leads 
 him to the belief of a superior power or powers governing the 
 world, and to the worship of such power or powers ; of a 
 future state of existence, and of that state as one of rewards 
 and punishments; of man's accountableness to God; and of 
 the necessity, in order to please him, to practise moral as 
 well as religious duties. In this religious nature, we find 
 man's peculiar and pre-eminent distinction exalting him 
 above all lower animals, and elevating him to an equality 
 with angels. 
 
 Now, in this characteristic of the human species, all men 
 are alike distinguished. Among those who differ most from 
 
UNITY OF THE HUMAN RACES, ETC. 119 
 
 each other, there is no difference in this respect. All are re- 
 ligious beings. All believe in the existence of some superior 
 power or powers, whom they fear and reverence. All per- 
 form religious rites, and offer sacrifices and prayers. All have 
 a consciousness of moral accountability, a knowledge of good 
 and evil, a sense of guilt and misery, a fear of death, and a 
 dread of retribution. This proves that all men have sprung 
 from a common root of bitterness, while it determines also 
 the necessity of an atonement — " a sacrifice for sin."* 
 
 All the races of men have their priests, their superstitions, 
 their creeds. A sufficient outline may, therefore, be drawn 
 from the various records which have been preserved to estab- 
 lish an original identity as to the great facts of religion, and 
 a common correspondence as to many fundamental convic- 
 tions.'!' It is true, all possess their peculiar characteristic 
 mythologies. These, however, in every case, like the poetical 
 pictures of the Greeks and Hindoos, bear an evident relation 
 to the local features and physical condition of the regions 
 where they were invented.^ Hence the mythology appears 
 the latest developed, and the most fluctuating part of all re- 
 ligions, and therefore the divergence of their mythologies 
 proves nothing against the deduction of those religions from 
 a common source. § Such an original and common source 
 is made necessary to account for the existing and past reli- 
 gious views of men, both from the essential similarity in their 
 rites, ceremonies, and deities, and also from the fact which a 
 comparison of religions and an investigation of the oldest 
 sacred books discover, that all nations commenced with a 
 purer worship of God — that the magic influence of nature 
 upon the imaginations of the human race afterwards pro- 
 
 * See this point urged in Murray's Truth of Christianity Demon- 
 strated, chap. ix. p. 229. Faber and Outram on the Origin of Sacrifice ; 
 Magee on the Atonement. 
 
 + See Gray's Connection of Literature and the Sacred Writings. Lond. 
 1819. Vol. i. chap. 1, and passim. 
 
 X See Wordsworth's Greece— Introduction. 
 
 § Schlegel in Preface to Prichard's Mythology of Egypt, p. 30. 
 
120 UNITY OF THE HUMAN RACKS PROVED 
 
 duced polytheism, and at length entirely obscured the spiri- 
 tual conception of religion in the belief of the people, whilst 
 the wise men alone preserved the primitive secrets in the 
 sanctuary. Such are the conclusions of the learned Schlegel 
 respecting all nations. * 
 
 Sir William Jones has established the same positions by 
 an exhibition of the original identity of the religions of Egypt, 
 India, Greece, and Italy, and from the comparative purity of 
 their earliest faith. t 
 
 Dr Prichard has proved that " the same fundamental prin- 
 ciples are to be traced as forming the groundwork of religions, 
 institutions of philosophy, and of superstitious observances 
 and ceremonies among the Egyptians and several Asiatic 
 nations." J The " almost exact parallelism which I have 
 traced between the Egyptians and the Hindoos, even in ar- 
 bitrary combinations, which present themselves in almost 
 numberless examples, it is impossible to explain," he says, 
 " without the conclusion I have adopted." § 
 
 And as regards the numerous tribes of Indians who in- 
 habit the New World, and who have been supposed by many 
 to be distinct and separate species, Mr Squier, in his valuable 
 work on the Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley, || 
 has these remarks from Dr M'Culloch : — u If we are not 
 mistaken in assigning a religious origin to that large portion 
 of ancient monuments, which are clearly not defensive, nor 
 designed to perpetuate the memory of the dead, then the 
 superstitions of the ancient people must have exercised a con- 
 trolling influence upon their character. If, again, as from 
 reason and analogy we are warranted in supposing, many of 
 these sacred structures are symbolical in their forms and com- 
 binations, they indicate the prevalence among their builders 
 
 * Schlegel, pp. 29, 30, and Ethnological Journal, No. v. pp. 153-156. 
 
 *f* Works, vol.iii. — On the gods of Greece, &c. 
 
 % Analysis of Egyptian Mythology, &c, roy. 8vo, Lond. 1838, p. 11. 
 
 § P. 364. 
 
 || Phil, and Antiquarian Researches, p 225. 
 
FROM THE RELIGIOUS CHARACTER OF ALL MEN. 121 
 
 of religious beliefs and conceptions, corresponding with those 
 which prevailed among the early nations of the other conti- 
 nent, and which in their elements seem to have been com- 
 mon to all nations, far back in the traditional period, before 
 the dawn of written history." 
 
 In an elaborate paper on the Hindu Tabernacle, in the 
 Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, the unity of all oriental 
 religions and deities is very learnedly pointed out. "Whether," 
 it is said in conclusion, " we look at the corresponding traits 
 of character in Moloch and Kali, in Baal-peor and the 
 Chiun of Amos ; at the mutual assumption of either sex by 
 Siva and his partner ; at the term Mother being applied to 
 the latter; and also to the Succoth-Benoth (Astarte or 
 Mylitta) of the Assyrian, Phoenician, and other nations ; at 
 the cow's horns (so called) of Assyria, and the crescent of 
 India ; at the young virgins who made a sacrifice of chastity 
 to the Succoth-Benoth of antiquity, and to the consort of 
 the Oriental Siva ; at the use made of the regular female 
 votaries of both systems ; at their mutual assumption on cer- 
 tain occasions of the male attire ; at the lion as belonging to 
 the goddess of Assyria, and also to her of India ; to the festi- 
 val of Shach or Saca, and to that of Satti or Sakti, in re- 
 gard to the lascivious way in which it was conducted, and the 
 peculiar garments worn on that occasion ; at the term Sa - 
 lambo being the name of the one goddess, and also of the 
 other ; at its true meaning, in reference to a mountain where 
 they mutually dwelt ; at the Baal-peor of Assyria, the Osiris 
 of Egypt, the paWbg of the Greeks, the Priapus of the 
 Romans, and the Lingam of the Hindus (worshipped noAv in 
 the temples of the East), — we see some of the most striking 
 coincidences, which never could have been the result of any 
 thing but the identity of their origin." * 
 
 Mr Wait also, in a work justly regarded as pre-eminently 
 learned, entitled Jewish, Classical, and Oriental Antiquities, 
 containing illustrations of the Scriptures, and classical records 
 * In vol. for 1838, art. vi. p. 87. 
 
122 UNITY OF THE HUMAN RACES PROVED 
 
 from Oriental sources,* arrives at the following conclusions: — 
 " Thus have we exhibited a parallel between the Jewish, the 
 Oriental, and Classical writings (although the necessity of 
 more diffusely elucidating many particulars in the subsequent 
 volumes has caused the omission of several coincidences in 
 this), and notwithstanding the antiquity of the Egyptian 
 hierarchy, we have shown that the Israelitish institutions are 
 not to be referred to their school, but rather to the patriarchal 
 remains, remodelled and enlarged, at the delivery of the law 
 at Mount Sinai. It has also been proved, that whatever the 
 law of God might have possessed, at the time of its promul- 
 gation, in common with the idolaters, these particulars did 
 not originate with the latter, but belonged to the religion of 
 the patriarchs, and after the general defection in the Plains 
 of Shinar. were made articles of faith by the builders, as they 
 fixed themselves in their respective settlements, from whence 
 arose the strong resemblance that subsisted between the dif- 
 ferent schools of the Polytheistical system, and the coinci- 
 dences which we have remarked between them and the Mo- 
 saic law."t 
 
 The same inquiry Dr Prichard has pursued in reference 
 to the African and Xegro races, by an elaborate development 
 of their religious opinions and practices, and then concludes 
 respecting all the varieties of men. 
 
 " If we could divest ourselves of all previous impressions," 
 he says,!£ " respecting our nature and social state, and look at 
 mankind and human actions with the eyes of a natural histo- 
 rian, or as a geologist observes the life and manners of beavers 
 or of termites, we should remark nothing more striking in 
 the habitudes of mankind, and in their manner of existence 
 in various parts of the world, than a reference, which is every 
 where more or less distinctly perceptible, to a state of exis- 
 tence after death, and to the influence believed both by bar- 
 
 * By the Rev. Daniel Guilford Wait, LL.D., B.S.A.S. Cambridge, 
 1832. 
 t See p. 295. J Researches, vol. i. pp. l?o, 176. 
 
FROM THE RELIGIOUS CHARACTER OF ALL MEN. J 23 
 
 barous and civilized nations to be exercised over their present 
 condition and future destiny by invisible agents, differing 
 in attributes according to the sentiments of different nations, 
 but universally believed to exist. The rites every where per- 
 formed for the dead, the various ceremonies of cremation, 
 sepulture, embalming, mummifying, funereal pomps and pro- 
 cessions following the deceased, during thousands of succes- 
 sive years in every region of the earth — innumerable tumuli 
 scattered over all the northern regions of the world, which 
 are perhaps the only memorials of races long extinct — the 
 morais, pyramids, and houses of the dead, and the gigantic 
 monuments of the Polynesians — the magnificent pyramids of 
 Egypt and of Anahuac — the prayers and litanies set up in 
 behalf of the dead as well as of the living, in the churches of 
 Christendom, in the mosques and pagodas of the East, as 
 heretofore in the pagan temples — the power of sacerdotal or 
 consecrated orders, who have caused themselves to be looked 
 upon as the interpreters of destiny, and as mediators between 
 the gods and man — sacred wars, desolating empires through 
 zeal for some metaphysical dogma — toilsome pilgrimages per- 
 formed every year by thousands of white and black men, 
 through various regions of earth, seeking atonement for guilt 
 at the tombs of prophets and holy persons, — all these and a 
 number of similar phenomena in the history of nations, bar- 
 barous and civilized, would lead us to suppose that all man- 
 kind sympathise in deeply-impressed feelings and sentiments, 
 which are as mysterious in their nature as in their origin. 
 These are among the most striking and remarkable of the 
 physical phenomena, if we may so apply the expression, which 
 are peculiar to man, and if they are to be traced among races 
 of men which differ physically from each other, it will follow 
 that all mankind partake of a common moral nature, and 
 are therefore, if we take into account the law of diversity in 
 psychical properties allowed to particular species, proved by 
 an extensive observation of analogies in nature to constitute 
 a single tribe. "' 
 
124 UNITY OF THE HUMAN RACES PROVED 
 
 Again, in his last work, Dr Prichard says,* " We contem- 
 plate among all the diversified tribes, who are endowed with 
 reason and speech, the same internal feelings, appetencies, 
 aversions ; the same inward convictions, the same sentiments 
 of subjection to invisible powers, and more or le-s fully de- 
 veloped, of accountableness or responsibility to unseen aven- 
 gers of wrong, and agents of retributive justice, from whose 
 tribunal men cannot even by death escape. We find every 
 where the same susceptibility, though not always in the same 
 degree of forwardness or ripeness of improvement, of admitting 
 the cultivation of these universal endowments, of opening the 
 eyes of the mind to the more clear and luminous views which 
 Christianity unfolds, of becoming moulded to the institutions 
 of religion and civilized life ; in a word, the same inward 
 and mental nature is to be recognised in all the races of men. 
 When we compare this fact with the observations which have 
 been hitherto fully established, as to the specific instincts and 
 separate psychical endowments of all the distinct tribes of 
 sentient beings in the universe, we are entitled to draw 
 confidently the conclusion, that all human races are of one 
 species and of one family." 
 
 Here, then, we have a class of facts in the history of our 
 race, for which our opponents are bound to account. They 
 are facts. Their existence is a fact. They are as much facts 
 as the colour and other peculiarities of extreme varieties of 
 the race. They are also constant facts — facts invariable and 
 immutable. If, therefore, physical facts stand in the way of 
 the unity of mankind and demand solution, so do these moral 
 facts stand in the way of a diversity of races, and refuse any 
 possible explanation, except upon the supposition of an ori- 
 ginal unity of the human family. There are therefore diffi- 
 culties on both sides of this question. But as we have found 
 that the presumption is altogether in favour of the doctrine 
 of the unity of the race, we must therefore believe that, how- 
 ever unaccountable, these physical differences are variations 
 * Nat. Hist, of Human Species, pp. 545, 546. 
 
FROM THE RELIGIOUS CHARACTER OF ALL MEN. 125 
 
 which have sprung up from some cause or causes, in a race 
 originally one. 
 
 In connection with the previous argument, it may be 
 stated, in the next place, that not only are all men similar in 
 their moral and religious constitution, but also in the perfect 
 adaptation of Christianity to their nature, and the perfect 
 similarity with which all — in proportion to their ability and 
 opportunity — are affected by it. 
 
 Christianity is a remedial system. It implies the existence 
 of danger and disease — of guilt and depravity. It implies 
 the love of sin and aversion to holiness, and the consequent 
 necessity for a divine influence to " work in man to will and 
 to do,'' before he can either receive the truth in the love of it, 
 or feel it in its power and efficacy. It implies further, that 
 even when proclaimed and pressed upon the attention of men, 
 while " many are called few will be chosen," because " they 
 will not submit themselves to the righteousness of God." 
 
 Now, just such is the actual impression made by the gospel 
 on all men. And as in Christ Jesus there is neither male nor 
 female, Jew nor Greek, barbarian nor civilized, bond nor free, 
 black nor white, Caucasian nor negro ; — and as in its view all 
 are one and there is no difference before God, " the whole 
 world being found guilty before him ;" — so it is also true 
 that all men every where treat this gospel alike. To all that 
 believe, it is the wisdom and power of God to salvation, whiie 
 to all that perish — to all that neglect or disbelieve or make 
 light of it — it is foolishness. In all men there is the same 
 enmity to the truth and the same stumbling at its difficulties. 
 In all, there is the same consciousness of its awful verity. 
 In all, there is the same appreciation of its simple doctrines 
 " commending themselves to every man's conscience in the 
 sight of God." And in all by whom it is believed, the gos- 
 pel produces the same holy and heavenly results. The negro, 
 therefore, is just as sensible of his need of the gospel, just as 
 unwilling to believe and obey the gospel, and just as truly 
 changed and sanctified by it when he is converted, as the 
 
126 UNITY OF THE HUMAN RACES PitOVED 
 
 white man. In proportion to his knowledge, means, and 
 opportunity, he is not a whit less susceptible to the power of 
 every truth and principle of the gospel, and to the saving and 
 sanctifying influences of the Holy spirit. To say otherwise is 
 to give the lie to every man's experience — to the experience 
 of every minister and. member of every Christian denomina- 
 tion in every part of the world, — it is to deny that the sun 
 shines in the heavens. 
 
 The equal adaptation of Christianity to every human being, 
 and the equal susceptibility of every human being to the 
 gospel, is therefore another and demonstrative evidence that 
 as in Adam all died, and as in Christ all are made alive, 
 " God hath made of one blood all the nations of the earth." 
 " The Christian principle is therefore universal : it embraces 
 the whole human race. It proclaims its grand truths inde- 
 pendent of localities ; it is as suitable for China as for Bri- 
 tain — for Siberia as for the South Sea Isles. This gives it a 
 distinctive character from all other systems of religion. It 
 exercises its influence over the human heart and outward, 
 condition of mankind irrespective of climate and physical 
 circumstances. It has God for its object, and the universe 
 for its theatre. It cheers the path of man in the desert, and 
 produces moral order and domestic happiness in the most 
 savage wilds of nature. There is nothing too rude that it 
 cannot polish — nothing too stupid that it cannot enlighten. 
 It pours riches and honour, and comfort and intelligence, on 
 every spot of the earth's surface where its voice is proclaimed." 
 We are thus led, before concluding this chapter, to mention 
 another corroborative argument, by which the testimony of 
 Scripture as to the unity of the race is made conclusive, and 
 that is the authentication given to its record of man's common 
 origin by a mass of evidence which is perfectly irresistible. 
 
 Let it then be borne in mind, that there was every thing 
 to favour the certain knowledge of the truth respecting man's 
 origin and history at the time of Moses. The duration of 
 human life, which connected Adam and Moses by a few 
 
FROM THE RELIGIOUS CHARACTER OF ALL MEN. 127 
 
 links, rendered the transmission and knowledge of the facts 
 as certain then, as if conveyed now by a father to his children. 
 There is no monument or knowledge of any people prior to 
 those whose history the Bible gives from Adam to Moses, 
 while the time it allows for the establishment of nations, 
 would have been fully adequate to the propagation, diffusion, 
 and establishment of the human race.* The protracted period 
 to which the lives of men were then extended, also allowed 
 more scope for the operation of those causes, whatever they 
 are, which influence the form and features of men, so that the 
 peculiarities dependent on these causes would then become 
 mor^ complete and permanent, especially when we remember 
 the universal custom then prevalent of adhering to one familv 
 in forming matrimonial alliances.t 
 
 The religious character of men of every race corroborates, 
 therefore, the Mosaic records in a most surprising manner.^ 
 Thus says Sir William Jones, in a passage formerly quoted : — 
 " On the preceding supposition that the first eleven chapters 
 of the book, which it is thought proper to be called Genesis, 
 are merely a preface to the oldest civil history now extant, we 
 see the truth of them confirmed by antecedent reasoning, and 
 by evidence in part highly probable, and in part certain ; but 
 the connection of the Mosaic history with that of the gospel 
 by a chain of sublime predictions unquestionably ancient, 
 and apparently fulfilled, must induce us to think the Hebrew 
 narrative more than human in its origin, and consequentlv 
 true in every substantial part of it, though possibly ex- 
 pressed in figurative language, as many learned and pious 
 men have believed, and as the most pious may believe with- 
 out injury, and, perhaps, with advantage to the cause of re- 
 vealed religion. If Moses, then, was endued with superna- 
 tural knowledge, it is no longer probable only, but absolutely 
 
 * See Sir W. Jones's Works, vol. iii., p. 191. The particular chrono- 
 logy to be adopted, the Bible, we have seen, leaves open for discussion. 
 
 + Sumner's Records of Creation, vol. i., pp. 370, 371. Gen. xxiv. 28. 
 
 J See Sir Win. Jones, ibid. pp. 191-197. Murray's Truth of Christia- 
 nity demonstrated from ancient Monuments, Corns, &c. 
 
128 UNITY OF THE HUMAN RACES PROVED 
 
 certain, that the whole race of man proceeded from Iran, as 
 from a centre, whence they migrated at first in three great 
 colonies, and that those three branches grew from a common 
 stock, which had been miraculously preserved in a general 
 convulsion and inundation of the world." 
 
 NOTE. 
 
 ADAPTATION OF CHRISTIANITY TO THE NEGROES. 
 
 We make some admirable extracts relating to this topic from the 
 report of the South Carolina (Methodist) Conference Missionary 
 Society, presented at their late meeting in Camden : — 
 
 " In this good work your missionaries have, with scarce anv ex- 
 ception worth mentioning, been seconded by the cordial support of 
 the proprietors, and by their continued and handsome donations to 
 the missionary treasury. Thus there is given before the face of 
 the world, a practical and emphatic contradiction to the oft-repeated 
 slander, that the slave of the Southern plantation is considered and 
 treated as a mere chattel — athing, and not a man — stripped of ethical 
 character and moral responsibility. Who would ever dream of en- 
 couraging and praying for such a class of labours as your mission- 
 aries perform, unless he were prompted by a sense of duty to the 
 souls of his dependents, and by the force of high moral and reli- 
 gious considerations ? 
 
 These missionary operations have incidentally thrown light upon 
 an ethnographical question which is attracting attention in various 
 quarters of the scientific world. They have demonstrated, that 
 whatever causes may have led to the deterioration of the African 
 race in the scale of civilized nations, and whatever inferiority of 
 mind and position may belong to it, when compared with other 
 varieties of the human family, it nevertheless belongs to that family, 
 in the highest human capabilities — those of religion. The adapta- 
 tion of Christianity to the understanding and moral sentiments of 
 the negro has been fully tested. A long-continued experiment has 
 shown that the " gospel of the blessed God" — our Lord and Saviour 
 Jesus Christ, is suited to him; comes down to his conscience; 
 makes its eternal sanctions felt in his inner life ; gives him the pro- 
 mise of pardon for his sins, the helps of the Divine Spirit for his 
 infirmities, consolation for the troubles of the present life, and hope 
 of the life everlasting of the world to come. While the idle fig- 
 
FROM THE RELIGIOUS CHARACTER OF ALL MEN. 129 
 
 ment of equality in outward condition has been exploded, and while 
 it has pleased a wise Providence to stamp the ineffaceable traces of 
 inequality upon the states and fortunes of mankind, the true philo- 
 sophy of man's nature has been ascertained by the process which 
 has developed his relations to God and futurity; shown his capabi- 
 lities for religion ; his possession of moral sense, reason, and respon- 
 sibility, and proclaimed his inalienable title to a participation in 
 that gospel which the divine Head of the church commanded to be 
 preached to every creature. 
 
 " It is these religious aspects of the case which concern the 
 Church of Christ, and which fix the attention and aim of this Mis- 
 sionary Society. The soul of the plantation negro, if he belong to 
 the human race, is a priceless gem : the cost of its redemption was 
 the blood of the great sacrifice for sin ; and its inalienable right is 
 the gospel, which, in accordance with its own great charter, is 
 preached to the poor. Here we stand on solid ground." 
 
 We will also add here a quotation from a very able discourse on 
 the Rights and the Duties of Masters, preached at the dedication 
 of a church erected in Charleston, South Carolina, for the benefit 
 and instruction of the coloured population in connection with the 
 Second Presbyterian Church, by the Rev. J. H. Thorn well, D. D. : — 
 
 " With infidelity on the one hand, suggesting a short reply to 
 the indictment of the world, that our negroes are not of the same 
 blood with ourselves — a plea which, if it had been admitted, would 
 have justly drawn down the curse of God, as well as the execra- 
 tions of the race; with the dictates of a narrow expediency, on the 
 other, suggesting that our safety depended upon the depression and 
 still lower degradation of the black race: with Scylla on the one 
 side, and Charybdis on the other, the wonder is that we have not been 
 frightened from our propriety, and driven to the adoption of some 
 measures that would seem to justify the censures of our enemies. 
 
 " The inception and successful progress of this enterprise encou- 
 rage the hope that w ? e mean to maintain our moderation. It is a 
 public testimony to our faith that the negro is of one blood with 
 ourselves — that he has sinned as we have, and that he has an equal 
 interest with us in the great redemption. Science, falsely so called, 
 may attempt to exclude him from the brotherhood of humanity. 
 Men may be seeking eminence and distinction by arguments which 
 link them with the brute ; but the instinctive impulses of our na- 
 ture, combined with the plainest declarations of the Word of God, 
 lead us to recognise in his form and lineaments — in his moral, reli- 
 gious, and intellectual nature — the same humanity in which we 
 glory as the image of God. We are not ashamed to call him our 
 brother. The subjugation of the fears and jealousy w'hich a sys- 
 tematic misrepresentation of religion, on the part of our inveterate 
 opposers, has had a tendency to produce, is a public declaration to 
 the world, that, in our philosophy, right is the highest expediency, 
 
 I 
 
130 UNITY OF THE HUMAN RACES PROVED 
 
 and obedience to God the firmest security of communities as well 
 as individuals. We have not sought the protection of our property 
 in the debasement of our species ; we have not maintained our own 
 interests in this world by the deliberate sacrifice of the eternal 
 interests of the thousands who look to us for the way of salvation. 
 Under the infallible conviction — infallible, because the offspring of 
 the Word of God — that he who walketh uprightly walketh surely, 
 we have endeavoured to carry out a plan which shall have the effect 
 of rendering to our servants, in the most comprehensive sense, that 
 which is just and equal." 
 
 As it regards the results of Foreign Missions generally, it is 
 estimated that the number of missionaries who have been sent out 
 to heathen nations within the last fifty years is two thousand. 
 During this time, upwards of 7,000 native assistants have been 
 employed in teaching and preaching the gospel. About 4,000 
 churches have been organized, whose aggregate members amount 
 to nearly or quite 250,000. Three thousand missionary schools 
 have been established, embracing 250,000 children ; and all this 
 where, fifty years ago, there was not a single scholar, a single 
 church, a single convert, or a single missionary. The Scriptures 
 have been published in two hundred languages and dialects, and 
 may be read in languages spoken by six hundred millions of the 
 inhabitants of the globe. 
 
 The Rev. William Hoffman, Principal of the Missionary Insti- 
 tution at Basle in Switzerland, and a Professor in the University 
 of that town, has lately published a volume of lectures (in German) 
 upon Missions. At the close of his first lecture he thus addresses 
 those opponents of the cause who would taunt the missionary 
 labourer with " want of success." 
 
 Some may say, " What have your missions effected ? In truth, 
 little enough : it is not worth the while to make fruitless attempts 
 with increased means." To this I answer: Do you mean to say 
 that the apostles laboured in vain ? At the close of the first century 
 of the Christian era, the number of souls converted to the gospel 
 was estimated at half a million ; and at this time, the close of the 
 first half century of combined evangelical efforts in the mission- 
 ary field, the number of baptized heathens may be stated at half 
 a million at the least! I admit we have no apostles for helpers — 
 nay, that the labourers are frequently half-educated persons and 
 unlearned brethren ; but to make amends, our missionary host 
 amounts to one thousand and upwards, and of these, I am war- 
 ranted in saying that you may select one tenth, who divide the 
 gifts of one of the apostles among themselves, and do the work of 
 that one. 
 
 "I cannot close," said Dr Duff, before the last Assembly, "with- 
 out coming to one or two other points which have not yet been par- 
 
FROM THE RELIGIOUS CHARACTER OF ALL MEN. 131 
 
 ticularly referred to. And, first of all, I would meet one or two 
 objections which have been made as to the state of Christianity 
 in India. It has been alleged that there are no real Christians 
 there. I would as soon believe that there are no hills in Scotland, 
 or fish in the Firth of Forth. (Applause.) Every proof that man 
 can look to. in reference to the characteristics of conversion, may 
 be demonstrably found amongst numbers of our adherents in diffe- 
 rent parts of India, and particularly in our own mission." 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE TWOFOLD CHARACTER OF THE QUESTION- 
 SCIENTIFIC ARGUMENT. 
 
 Inductice philosophy is subservient both to natural and revealed religion. 
 — Powell. 
 
 Though science may often clash with religious errors, it cannot possibly be 
 opposed to religious truth. — Ethnological Journal. 
 
 Difficulties in particulars must not be allowed to interfere with the recep- 
 tion of general truths. — Yilliers. 
 
 Tkh truth and certainty of the unity of the human races has 
 now, we believe, been established as an incontrovertible fact. 
 It rests upon the unmistakeable evidence of the infallible 
 Word of God, who in the beginning made of one blood all the 
 nations of men to dwell on all the face of the earth. It is 
 supported also by presumptive arguments which are impreg- 
 nable, against all the speculations and objections by which 
 they may be assailed. 
 
 There is, however, another aspect in which the question of 
 the unity of the human races may be viewed, and in which 
 it becomes a scientific inquiry, and that is, as has been said, 
 the question of fact regarding the present actual character- 
 istics of the various races of men, — the extent and character 
 of their differences, — the possibility of accounting for them by 
 natural and existing causes, — the classification which these 
 varieties require to be made of the races of men, — whether 
 all these races ought to be considered varieties of one species 
 or different species of one genus, — and finally, whether in the 
 
SCIENTIFIC ARGUMENT. 133 
 
 case of any particular tribe of beings resembling man, such 
 as the Dokos, &c, they are or are not to be admitted under 
 the genus or the species homo, or are to be classed among 
 some lower order. 
 
 These, we apprehend, and these alone, are the scientific 
 boundaries of this question. The only province to which 
 science can direct its efforts in this inquiry, is the discovery 
 of truth, by the sole use of our reasoning faculties in deduc- 
 ing laws and causes from the facts experimentally and verita- 
 bly before us. 
 
 In this view, all facts which come within the knowledge 
 of our minds, whether by observation, experiment, or testi- 
 mony, whether from the domain of history or philosophy, — 
 Ci all facts which," as Doctor Morton says, " tend to establish 
 analogies among men," are " evidently proper and necessary 
 to the scientific determination of this question." 
 
 The conclusion, therefore, cannot scientifically be arrived 
 at by the testimony of anatomy alone, or of physiology alone, 
 or of ethnography alone, or of history alone, or of experience 
 and observation alone, — but it can properly follow only from 
 the examination of all the facts attested by all these sciences 
 combined. The scientific argument on this subject is cumu- 
 lative. It rests not upon any one line of proof, but upon 
 every thing which bears upon the determination of the pro- 
 position that all the existing races of men possess — amid all 
 their diversities — physical, intellectual, and moral — attributes 
 which essentially belong to man, and which at the same time 
 identify all men as belonging to one and the same species. 
 
 Are all men, therefore, of one and the same species ? 
 This is the first point to which, in a scientific aspect of this 
 question, we are led, and to which we will now give our 
 attention. 
 
 This question, however, involves several difficulties which 
 occasion great obscurity, to which we must previously advert. 
 
 One source of this obscurity is man's compound nature, 
 which is physical and spiritual. Abstractly considered, we 
 
!o4 THE TWOFOLD CHARACTER OF THE QUESTION" — 
 
 might regard these as entirely independent, so that the con- 
 sideration of the one would not involve the other. We might 
 thus imagine men not to be all of one species morally, and 
 yet to be of the same species physically, or the reverse. And 
 this is, in fact, the course pursued by many. In treating of 
 man's specific character, they have regard only to his animal 
 organization and nature. But while this might be permitted 
 when the object is merely to accommodate the convenience of 
 scientific analysis, yet when we come to speak of man practi- 
 cally, and in view of his relations to God and to his fellow- 
 men, it is altogether inadmissible. " Man, as he is, as he lives, 
 moves, acts, thinks, and wills, is not an animal. He is more, 
 — inconceivably more. Every one must admit and feel that 
 it is not in man's animal frame, exquisite as is its workman- 
 ship, that we find the most remarkable of the human pheno- 
 mena. All must admit that there is in man an element 
 remarkably distinct from all his other functions, an essence 
 whose property is thought. What gives to this animal 
 frame its chief importance is, that it is the shrine of that 
 mysterious principle which lies hidden within — that volatile 
 element which no chemist has been able to detect — that im- 
 palpable thing which has escaped the scalpel of the most 
 minute anatomist — that which, itself invisible, gives to the 
 eye all its diversified expression, revealing itself there in a 
 thousand intimations, — which transfuses itself into the voice, 
 inspiring its ever-changing intonations, and rendering it the 
 conveyancer to others of the endless series of thoughts and 
 feelings belonging to our personal consciousness, and which 
 imparts to every variety of feature and gesture all that it has 
 of life, and interest, and expression." Any determination of 
 man's specific character and position in the scale of beings, 
 therefore, which leaves out of mind that very nature which 
 makes him what he is, v?e must protest against in the name 
 of humanity, reason, and science. Let us then suppose that 
 naturalists, for their own convenience, should arrange men 
 into several species founded upon their colour and other phy- 
 
SCIENTIFIC ARGUMENT. 135 
 
 sical peculiarities, this classification would not affect the ques- 
 tion of their real and essential unity, first as descended ori- 
 ginally from the same primeval pair, and secondly, as possess- 
 ing the essential attributes of human nature perfect and entire. 
 It would undoubtedly, if consistently carried out, lead to an 
 entire change in the arrangements of zoology, so that all 
 former classifications would be of no further use ; hut when 
 once it came to be universally understood that the term species 
 did not imply any relation whatever to original descent, or 
 any other qualities than the physical peculiarities above al- 
 luded to, the question of real unity of nature between the dif- 
 ferent races of men would be left to be determined by its own 
 proper evidence, species having no relation to it one way or 
 the other. 
 
 On this supposition, any human foetus which was found 
 externally destitute of the marks included under the term 
 species, would not belong to the species of man at all, though 
 born of Christian and Caucasian parents. It might have a 
 soul, and all the essential attributes of humanitv as known to 
 God, but not those selected for their arrangement by natural- 
 ists. Such a use of the term species would only have the 
 effect of throwing the whole of zoological classification into 
 confusion, by substituting the term species for the present term 
 variety. It would, therefore, be both an unwise and 'use- 
 less change ; unwise because it would disturb all existing 
 classifications, and useless because it would leave the question 
 of origin and of nature just where it is, to be decided as it 
 must now be. 
 
 This, however, has not been the general sense of mankind. 
 Origin and descent have hitherto guided mankind in deter- 
 mining, in every case, whether an individual who was desti- 
 tute of external organs and qualities, or of internal faculties 
 and powers — as in the case of the Abbot of St Martin — 
 belonged to the species man, and were to be treated as human 
 beings. And thus we perceive that the only question of real 
 importance to men's social, moral, and political interest is 
 
136 THE TWOFOLD CHARACTER OF THE QUESTION — 
 
 their common origin in Adam and Eve. This involves the 
 equal relation of all men to those temporal and eternal in- 
 terests in which they and their posterity are involved by rea- 
 son of their relation to Adam, to God, and to the destinies of 
 immortality. For even if naturalists should range mankind 
 under different species but one genus, that generic character 
 — which of course all the species must possess — would com- 
 prehend the ideas of reason, responsibility, and the relations 
 specified above ; — and of this generic whole it would still be 
 true, that all its members were originally descended from 
 Adam and Eve, and that, however now diversified, they are 
 one in origin, in duty, in danger, and in destiny. 
 
 XOTE. 
 
 THE CRETINS. 
 
 It will be both interesting and appropriate to append to this 
 chapter the following interesting account, taken from the New 
 York Observer, of the Cretins, as it will demonstrate the extent to 
 which physical causes may affect the human form and the human 
 being" generally : — 
 
 " The unfortunate class of people called Cretins are still numer- 
 ous in Europe, especially in Switzerland and in some valleys on the 
 banks of the Danube. Travellers assure us that there are also men 
 afflicted with Cretinism in some parts of America, as Guatimala 
 and Colombia. 
 
 "First of all, a few words on Cretinism, and on the physical, in- 
 tellectual, and moral state of the Cretins. 
 
 "Persons of hisrh intellect are sometimes insane ; but the Cretin 
 is affected with a kind of idiocy from his birth. His body exhibits 
 hideous deformities. His face is rather brutish than human ; his 
 forehead low ; the top of his head comes to a point ; the lower parts 
 of his face are prominent ; he carries often attached to his neck an 
 enormous goitre. His look is dull and stupid. He has thick lips, 
 a large and flat nose, coarse hair. 
 
 " The Cretin remains motionless for many hours, without any 
 consciousness of what is passing around him. Most of them can- 
 not speak nor walk ; they only utter some inarticulate sounds. 
 
SCIENTIFIC ARGUMENT. 137 
 
 They are unable to provide for their own wants ; they must be fed, 
 dressed, and carried like a babe. If they try to move, their step is 
 tottering and uncertain. The senses of smelling, of hearing, of 
 seeing, are blunted in them. 
 
 " As to their intellectual faculties, they are generally as little de- 
 veloped as their physical powers. They preserve a few confused 
 instincts. They copy servilely the movements of those around 
 them ; but they understand nothing, or almost nothing, of words 
 addressed to them. They seem sometimes to be capable of some 
 affectionate feeling ; but it is difficult to know whether they are 
 conscious to themselves of their attachment. They pass with in- 
 credible quickness from gaiety to sadness, and from sadness to 
 gaiety. They are governed in certain moments by brutal passions ; 
 but this excitement does not last long. The Cretins do not seem 
 to have distinct ideas ; they do not connect effects with their causes, 
 and are absolutely unable to follow a train of reasoning. Their 
 soul is a stranger to compassion. 
 
 " Some of them, however, have a little memory. They retain 
 and repeat songs. There is a Cretin in Berne, named Mind, who 
 has acquired the art of painting : he knows how to sketch pictures 
 of animals, and particularly of cats, with rare fidelity. Others of 
 them show some aptitude for the mechanic arts. They build for 
 whole days card-houses, and seem to take a singular pleasure in 
 contemplating these frail edifices. But ordinarily they do nothing, 
 and seem as if deprived of all life. 
 
 " Whence the name Cretins ? Several writers think that this 
 term is derived from the word Christian, and justify this strange 
 etymology as follows : — A popular superstition, respectable at least 
 in its effects, regarded as a blessing from God the presence of a 
 Cretin in a family. This poor, inoffensive being, unable to gain the 
 means of livelihood, was, in the eyes of his relatives and neigh- 
 bours, a holy, sacred object, which drew down the protection of 
 heaven upon the house. He was a Christian — a being whom 
 Jesus Christ had sent to call forth his father's and mother's charity. 
 It is easy to understand that such an opinion must be protection 
 for the unhappy people, sunk to the lowest degree of debasement. 
 
 "The number of Cretins has not diminished with the progress 
 of civilization. The Swiss cantons of St Gall, of Valois, of the 
 Grisons, of Uri, count them by hundreds. In a single small vil- 
 lage there are thirty to fifty. It would seem that the moist and 
 cold valleys, the marshy vapours, the want of circulation of air, the 
 waters issuing from the snows, are the chief causes which produce 
 Cretinism ; for you meet with few or none out of certain well-de- 
 fined limits. 
 
 " At last, a benevolent physician, Doctor Guggenbuhl, took pity 
 on these poor creatures, and sought means to be useful to them. 
 One day, in traversing the Alps, he had occasion to see an old 
 
138 THE TWOFOLD CHARACTER OF THE QUESTION — 
 
 Cretin who uttered stammeringly the words of a prayer. This 
 sight moved his sensibility, and decided the whole course of the 
 doctor's life. He asked his conscience — ' Are not these beings our 
 brethren ? Have they not an immortal soul like us ? And since 
 they have some idea of God, do they not deserve our sympathy and 
 attention ? If these Cretins should be from their infancy the ob- 
 ject of regular and suitable treatment — if religion, charity, science, 
 were employed to restore them from their abasement, is it not 
 probable that some at least might be rescued from their wretched 
 state ? We devote assiduous cares and incessant pains to perfect 
 breeds of animals, and shall we do nothing to form men? How 
 inconsistent ! I will try, with the blessing of God, and I hope that 
 my efforts will not be wholly lost.' 
 
 " The rebuffs he met with from several parties did not discour- 
 age him. He said to himself continually that he was called to 
 come to the aid of these Cretins, and that he should have lived to 
 some good purpose, if he should succeed in founding an establish- 
 ment for these outcasts from human society. After much inquiry 
 and reflection, he opened at last a house upon the Abendberg, in 
 the Bernese Oberland. You will doubtless read with interest some 
 account of this institution, and of the kindof education there afforded. 
 
 "Medical men have observed that Cretinism never appears in 
 regions at the height of 3000 feet above the level of the sea. Dr 
 Guggenbuhl has set his establishment on a mountain which com- 
 mands the vallev of Interlaken, in one of the finest sites in Switzer- 
 land. Near the house are copious springs of pure water. A fine 
 garden is formed for the use of Cretins. The buildings are well 
 arranged ; there is a large eating-room, a well-ventilated school- 
 room, a farm attached to the establishment, &c. Nothing is ex- 
 pended upon luxuries, but all for convenience and comfort. It is 
 remarkable that on this height the winter is sufficiently mild, be- 
 cause the Abendberg is on all sides surrounded by loftier moun- 
 tains. 
 
 " The purity of the air forms the great remedy. ' The air of 
 Abendberg,' says a traveller from whom we borrow this account, 
 * is an excellent specific against Cretinism ; for this disease, which 
 so changes the nature of man, must be subjected to the action of 
 an element which produces a constant reaction. On the Abend- 
 berg, the sick breathe every moment this vivifying principle. The 
 exhilarating air invigorates their nervous system, stimulates all their 
 organs. Thus is effected a slow physical regeneration. Walking, 
 gymnastic exercises, sports pursued in the open air, all concur to 
 produce the most salutary effects.' 
 
 " It is very important that this new physical regimen be begun 
 with the first years of life. Dr Guggenbuhl takes very small 
 children, before they know how to walk. When the parents wait 
 too long, the cure becomes almost impossible. 
 
SCIENTIFIC ARGUMENT. 139 
 
 " Their food is carefully selected and dealt out to them. Gene- 
 rally, the Cretins have a ravenous appetite ; they seek for what least 
 suits them, and know nothing of temperance. The prudent physi- 
 cian uses his own reason and forethought for them. He accustoms 
 them gradually to a simple, frugal, and substantial diet. In the 
 spring, the children go every morning to cull plants on the Alps, 
 which are good for the blood, and they soon acquire surprising 
 vigour. 
 
 " But the physical development is only a preparation for intellec- 
 tual and moral culture. Dr Guggenbuhl knows from long expe- 
 rience how much the welfare of the soul depends upon the healthy 
 state of the body — mens sana in covpore sano, the ancients said. 
 He waits till the physical powers are unfolded before beginning 
 the education of the mind. The problem to be solved, in the case 
 of Cretinism, is to maintain a constant balance between the physi- 
 cal and the mental development of the man. 
 
 " It is a touching sight to look upon a group of little Cretins 
 under the eye of their master. Dr Guggenbuhl begins by exercis- 
 ing the organs of sense. He employs for this purpose colours, 
 painting, music. He tries especially to teach them to articulate 
 words distinctly. It is a curious fact, but not surprising to reli- 
 gious men, that the faculty of speaking developes itself in the Cre- 
 tins just in proportion to the degree of their intelligence. While 
 sunk in brutishness, they remain wholly dumb, or utter merely- 
 hoarse cries like animals. But when they begin to conceive some 
 thoughts, they acquire at the same time, and to the same degree, the 
 gift of speech ; —a new and incontestable proof that the faculty of 
 speech is owing, not to a physical cause, not to the superiority of 
 our organs only, but to an immaterial principle, to the soul which 
 God has put in man S 
 
 " The young Cretins learn gradually to pronounce the names of 
 the surrounding mountains ; afterwards they form sentences, and 
 accustom themselves to express their thoughts. Some succeed 
 even in studying grammar, and learn to write. Religious instruc- 
 tion has its place. Some Protestant deaconnesses, attached to the 
 establishment, show in this religious instruction an admirable de- 
 votedness, and I am happy to add that they have obtained results 
 which exceed all hope. The idea of God — of salvation by Jesus 
 Christ — of pardon offered us in the gospel — of eternity ; — all the 
 great doctrines of revelation are received and understood by these 
 children. I do not say, indeed, that the Cretins become learned 
 theologians ; but they know enough of religion to pray to God, to 
 expect from him peace, the salvation of their souls ; and what do 
 they need more ? 
 
 " Several Cretins have left the establishment of Abendberg, after 
 passing their childhood under Dr Guggenbuhl's care. Their phy- 
 sical and moral faculties were so well unfolded, that they could un- 
 
140 THE TWOFOLD CHARACTER OF THE QUESTION. 
 
 dertake some useful labour. Each of these youths has adopted a 
 trade, a pursuit adapted to his taste, and without being as intelli- 
 gent as ordinary persons, they are capable of being useful. 
 
 " Honour to Dr Guggenbuhl ! The names of such noble bene- 
 factors of mankind deserve to be known over the globe. Already 
 the Cantons of Friburg, of Berne, of Valois, of St Gall, have shown 
 their respect for this restorer of a disinherited race, by sending 
 young Cretins to his establishment at the expense of the public 
 treasury. The cities of London, Hamburg, and Amsterdam, have 
 associations which correspond with Dr Guggenbuhl. The work 
 has only begun — it must grow with time. Perhaps the scourge of 
 Cretinism will be removed, under the divine blessing, by modern 
 science, by Christian charity." 
 
 M. Grange, of the Academy, has made further researches on the 
 subject of goitre. He journeyed to Turin ; and on comparing notes 
 with the savans of that city, ascertained the remarkable fact, that 
 a geological map of Piedmont, and a goitre map of the same coun- 
 try, fully confirm his views respecting " the presence of goitre and 
 cretinism on magnesian formations." He shows that in the valley 
 of Aosta, where the soil is schistous, with a layer of diluvium, and 
 dominated by metamorphic rocks, goitre is rare ; but beyond Bard, 
 where the water becomes purgative, from the large amount of sul- 
 phate of magnesia which it contains, goitre and Cretinism abound. 
 In the valley of Entremont there is a small district, a sort of oasis, 
 as it were, of mica schist, on which five villages and several hamlets 
 are built, in none of which do the distressing diseases ever appear, 
 while they prevail in the surrounding localities. 
 
 Another sanitary fact is related by M. Ancelon. In Meurthe 
 there is a village named Lindre Basse, where endemics are con- 
 stant, appearing as intermittent and typhoid fevers, the latter at 
 intervals of three months ; besides which, other affections pre- 
 vailed, caused by miasmatic influence. Close to the village was a 
 large pond, which was kept full for two years for the breeding of 
 fish, and then emptied, to allow of the land, which had been sub- 
 merged, being cultivated in the third year ; after which it was 
 again refilled, and the process repeated. In the first year of the 
 cycle came the intermittent fevers : in the second, the typhoids ; in 
 the third, the miasmatic. The practice was interrupted in 1848- 
 49, when, instead of emptying the pond as usual, the proprietor 
 kept it on the increase, until the whole valley was overspread with 
 water several inches in depth for a distance of about six miles. 
 This change produced an alteration in the development of disease. 
 The miasmatic affections did not appear, but the whole country 
 was infested with intermittent fevers, which seemed to repel or ab- 
 sorb all other complaints — the cholera even stopped at the edge of 
 the marshy land. M. Ancelon considers that the statement of 
 these facts will assist in the study of cause aod effect as regards 
 disease. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE NATURE AND PHILOSOPHY OF SPECIES. 
 
 Species serves to form the groundwork of science. We discriminate things 
 in a loose or general manner by saying that they are of the animal or 
 vegetable kind; of the canine or feline kind. But we discriminate them 
 precisely if we say that they are a species of arbutus, of the pomegra- 
 nate, of the dog, the horse, and the like. — Crabbb's Synonymes. 
 
 The essence of any being is that internal constitution or frame or modifica- 
 tion of the substance, which God in his good pleasure thinks fit to give 
 to every particular creature when he gives a being. — Locke. 
 
 We have considered the twofold character of this inquiry, 
 and the obscurity arising from the twofold nature of man. 
 But another source of obscurity is found in the very indeter- 
 minate character of the term species. 
 
 The word species, from specio, to behold, signifies literally 
 the form or appearance, and hence it denotes a class or divi- 
 sion causing the same or similar sensations to the sight, 
 having or showing the same particular and discriminating 
 qualities. 
 
 This term, like that of genus, is used in a popular, in a 
 logical, and in a zoological sense. In the popular sense, the 
 term species means any class either of subjects or of objects 
 which are included under a more general class. Thus a ma- 
 thematician is a species of man. Justice, prudence, courage, 
 &c, are species of the genus virtue. Species is in this sense 
 synonymous with kind, as when sweet, sour, and salt tastes, 
 are spoken of as species of taste. The word man, in this use 
 of the word, refers to all beings who have a certain form and 
 
142 NATURE AND PHILOSOPHY OF SPECIES. 
 
 rationality, and has no reference to the teeth or other zoolo- 
 gical properties. In this popular sense, the same thing may- 
 be a genus with reference to the sub -classes or species included 
 in it, and a species in reference to a more comprehensive 
 class ; as, for instance, animal in reference to man and brute 
 on the one hand, and to organized being on the other. And 
 hence it will be seen that, in this sense, there may be different 
 kinds or species, where there is no difference zoologically or 
 physiologically. 
 
 In its logical sense, the term species signifies any class, of 
 whatever nature, which is distinguished from all other classes 
 by an indeterminate multitude of properties not derivable 
 from another class, and which is not divisible into other 
 kinds. In this sense, species is a general name, grounded not 
 upon the attributes it connotes, but the kind or class referred 
 to; or, in other words, the relation which it bears to the sub- 
 ject of which it happens to be predicated. Logically consi- 
 dered, therefore, species and genus are no real things existing 
 independent of our thoughts, but are the creatures of our own 
 minds. When several individuals are observed to resemble 
 each other in some one point, a common name may be 
 assigned to them denoting that point, and distinguishing 
 them from all others. And as we may select at pleasure the 
 circumstances that we choose to abstract, we may thus refer 
 the same individual to several different species. The measure 
 and boundary by which we constitute a species or particular 
 sort, includes all those ideas regarded as essential for the pur- 
 pose in view. These together form the complex idea to 
 which we give, in the case now under consideration, the 
 name man. Thus, when we say voluntary motion, sense, 
 and reason, constitute man, then these alone form the essence 
 and standard of the species of man. Only that which is thus 
 made necessary to the general idea of man, therefore, is ne- 
 cessary to determine the species of any race of beings, since 
 we find many of the individuals that are ranked as one sort, 
 called by one common name, and so received as being of one 
 
NATURE AND PHILOSOPHY OF SPECIES. 143 
 
 species, have yet qualities depending on their real constitu- 
 tions, as far different one from another as from others from 
 which they are accounted to differ specially. A species is 
 determined therefore logically, not by the real or entire nature 
 of the object, which can be known only by God, but by cer- 
 tain qualifications which are conventionally regarded as neces- 
 sary to enrol it under the same general division. 
 
 The essential characteristics of species can therefore be 
 known only by God. Man can know only the outward qua- 
 lities. " God alone," says Locke, " can know that constitu- 
 tion of man from which his faculties of moving, sensation, 
 and reasoning, and other powers flow, and on which his re- 
 gular shape depends." 
 
 Things, therefore, which are in themselves essentially alike, 
 may be classed logically under different species, and things 
 essentially different may be arranged under the same species. 
 We might, therefore, logically divide men into a number of 
 species according to the poetical, oratorical, imaginative, lo- 
 gical, or active characteristics by which they are distinguished 
 from one another, — or into the white, the red, the yellow, 
 and the black, — or into the bearded and the beardless, — 
 or into the civilized and uncivilized, — and yet determine 
 nothing respecting their unity of origin, of essence, or of 
 destinv. 
 
 4/ 
 
 It is very different, however, when we come to speak of 
 the term species zoologically. Each science or art forms its 
 classification of things according to the properties which fall 
 within its special cognizance, or of which it must take account 
 in order to accomplish its peculiar practical ends. The divi- 
 sions of the agriculturist, the geologist, and the naturalist, 
 are, therefore, widely different, botB in their nature, names, 
 and ends. 
 
 " A nomenclature," says Mill, " may be defined, the col- 
 lection of names of all the kinds with which any branch of 
 knowledge is conversant, or more properly of all the lowest 
 kinds or wfimce species, — that is, those which may be subdi- 
 
144 NATURE AND PHILOSOPHY OF SPECIES. 
 
 vided indeed, but not into kinds, and which generally accord 
 with what in natural history are termed simply species. 
 Science possesses two splendid examples of a systematic no- 
 menclature; that of plants and animals, constructed by Lin- 
 naeus and his successors, and that of chemistry, which we 
 owe to the illustrious group of chemists who flourished in 
 France towards the close of the eighteenth century. In these 
 two departments not only has every known species, or lowest 
 kind, a name assigned to it, but when new lowest kinds are 
 discovered, names are at once given to them upon a uniform 
 principle. In other sciences the nomenclature is not, at pre- 
 sent, constructed upon any system, either because the species 
 to be named are not numerous enough to require one (as in 
 geometry, for example), or because no one has yet suggested 
 a suitable principle for such a system, as in mineralogy; in 
 which the want of a scientifically constructed nomenclature 
 is now the principal cause which retards the progress of the 
 science." 
 
 It will be important to dwell a little on this point, in order 
 to meet the objection that there is no possibility of determin- 
 ing what constitutes a species. 
 
 The ancients made species include the essence of the sub- 
 ject. With them man was the lowest species, and further 
 divisions into which man might be 1 broken down, as into 
 white, black, and red, they did not admit to be species.* 
 
 Among the schoolmen, differences which extend to a 
 certain property or properties, and there terminated, they 
 considered as differences only in the accidents of things ; but 
 when any class differed from other things by an infinite series 
 of differences, known and unknown, they considered the dis- 
 tinction as one of kind, and spoke of it as being an essential 
 difference. 
 
 Zoological classes are not, therefore, conventional, arbi- 
 trary, abstract terms, but are based upon the truth thus 
 always known — though very obscurely and incorrectly worded 
 
 * Mill's Logic, p. 82. 
 
NATL' RE AND PHILOSOPHY OF SPECIES. 145 
 
 — that " there are in nature distinctions of kind — distinctions 
 not consisting in a given number of definite properties, plus 
 the effects which follow from those properties, but running 
 through the whole nature — through the attributes generally, 
 of the things so distinguished." 
 
 The groups of naturalists do not, therefore, depend on ar- 
 bitrary choice. " They are determined," says Mill. " by cha- 
 racters which are not arbitrary. The problem is, to find a 
 few definite characters which will point to the multitude of 
 indefinite ones. Kinds are classes between which there is an 
 impassable barrier; and what we have to seek is, marks 
 whereby we may determine on which side the barrier an 
 object takes its place. The characters which will best do this 
 are what should be chosen. If they are also important in 
 themselves, so much the better. When we have selected the 
 characters, we parcel out the objects according to those cha- 
 racters.""" 
 
 M The end of classifications, as an instrument for the in- 
 vestigation of nature, is (as before stated) to make us think 
 of those objects together, which have the greatest number of 
 important common properties; and which, therefore, we have 
 oftenest occasion, in the course of our inductions, for taking 
 into joint consideration. Our ideas of objects are thus brought 
 into the order most conducive to the successful prosecution of 
 inductive inquiries generally." 
 
 To constitute, therefore, a class of natural objects properly, 
 we must take into consideration all the varieties of existing 
 objects, and the exact place of the plants and animals thus 
 classified in a general division of nature. The ichole of the 
 properties and relations of these objects must also be taken 
 into account, " those attributes being regarded as the most 
 important which contribute, either by themselves or by their 
 effects, to render the things like one another and unlike other 
 things ; which give to the class composed of them the most 
 marked individuality; which fill, as it were, the largest space 
 
 * See also Martin's Natural History of Man and Monkey, p. 179, &c. 
 
 K 
 
14G NATURE AND PHILOSOPHY OF SPECIES. 
 
 in their existence, and would most impress the attention of a 
 spectator who knew all their properties, but was not specially 
 interested in any. Classes formed in this manner may be 
 called, in a more emphatic manner than any other, natural 
 groups." " The properties according to which objects are 
 classified, should, therefore, if possible, be those which are 
 causes of many other properties; or, at any rate, such as are 
 sure marks of them. Causes are preferable, both as being the 
 surest and most direct of marks, and as being themselves the 
 property which is the cause of the chief peculiarities of a 
 class. But this is unfortunately seldom fitted to serve also as 
 the diagnostic of the class. Instead of the cause, we must 
 generally select some of its more prominent eifects, which 
 may serve as marks of the other effects, and of the cause 
 itself." 
 
 It is evident, from these observations, that every species 
 must be distinguished from all other classes by an indeter- 
 minate multitude of properties not derivable from another. 
 Species must also be the lowest kind ; so that any lower di- 
 vision would be founded not upon essential, but upon definite 
 distinctions — not pointing (apart from what may be known 
 of their causes or effects) to any difference beyond themselves. 
 Species does not, therefore, exclude — but, on the contrary, 
 implies — the existence of many individual and family differ- 
 ences. The members of a species have only in common a 
 limited number of characters. It is only necessary that these 
 characters should be important, and that the objects contained 
 in the species should resemble each other more than they re- 
 semble any thing which is excluded from the species. 
 
 To make definite distinctions, which are not distinctions in 
 kind or essence, the grounds of separating objects from a 
 species, is therefore inadmissible in any scientific classification. 
 For, " since the common properties of a true kind, and con- 
 sequently the general assertions which can be made respecting 
 it, or which are certain to be made hereafter as our knowledge 
 extends, are indefinite and inexhaustible ; and since the very 
 
NATURE AND PHILOSOPHY OF SPECIES. "147 
 
 first principle of natural classification is that of forming the 
 classes, so that the objects composing each may have the 
 greatest number of properties in common; this principle pre- 
 scribes that every such classification shall recognise and 
 adopt into itself all distinctions of kind which exist among 
 the objects it professes to classify. To pass over any distinc- 
 tion of kind, and substitute definite distinctions, which, 
 however considerable they may be, do not point to ulterior, 
 unknown differences, would be to replace classes with more 
 by classes with feicer attributes in common, and would be 
 subversive of the natural method of classification." 
 
 Many differences in animals arise from modifications of the 
 mysterious principle of life, and from the intermixture of the 
 effects of incidental causes peculiar to the nature of each. 
 Thus in man, for example (the species in which both the 
 phenomenon of animal and that of organic life exist in the 
 highest degree), many subordinate phenomena develop them- 
 selves in the course of his animated existence, which the in- 
 ferior varieties of animals do not show. The properties which 
 are made the characteristics of a species must therefore be not 
 only differences, but differences which are essential, and which 
 belong to it universally and constantly. 
 
 In zoology, accordingly, it is a fixed principle — founded 
 upon the indefinite varieties of which animal life is capable — 
 that common parentage, where this can possibly be traced, is 
 a certain and infallible criterion of species. 
 
 "The species of plants," says Mill, "are not only real 
 kinds, but are probably all of them real lowest kinds, or in- 
 Jimce species. I say probably, not certainly; because this is 
 not the consideration by which a botanist determines what 
 shall or shall not be admitted as a species. In natural his- 
 tory, those objects belong to the same species which, consis- 
 tently with experience, might have been produced from the 
 same stock. But this distinction in most, and probably all 
 cases, happily accords with the other. It seems to be a law 
 of physiology that animals and plants do really, in the philo- 
 
148 NATURE AND PHILOSOPHY OF SPECIES. 
 
 sophical as well as the popular sense, propagate their kind ; 
 transmitting to their descendants all the distinctions of kind 
 (down to the most special or lowest kind) which they them- 
 selves possess." 
 
 On this point, Archhishop AYhately is equally positive. 
 When applied to organized heings, he savs, " The term spe- 
 cies is always applied (when we are speaking strictly as 
 naturalists) to such individuals as are supposed to he de- 
 scended from a common stock, or which might have so 
 descended; viz., which resemble one another, to use M. Cu- 
 vier's expression, as much as those of the same stock do. Now, 
 this being a point on which all — not merely naturalists — are 
 agreed, and since it is a fact (whether an ascertained fact or 
 not) that such and such individuals are or are not thus con- 
 nected, it follows that every question whether a certain indi- 
 vidual, animal, or plant belongs to a certain species or not, is 
 a question not of mere arrangement, but of fact. If, for in- 
 stance, it were disputed whether the African and the Asiatic 
 elephant are distinct species, or merely varieties, it would be 
 manifest that the question is one of fact; since both would 
 allow that if they are descended (or might have descended) 
 from the same stock, they are of the same species, and, if 
 otherwise, of two; this is the fact which they endeavour to 
 ascertain, by such indications as are to be found." . . . "In 
 the c infiina? species,' according to the view of a naturalist, of 
 plants and animals, the differentia which constitutes each spe- 
 cies, includes in it a circumstance which cannot often be directly 
 ascertained (viz., the being sprung from the same stock), but 
 which we conjecture from certain circumstances of resem- 
 blance; so that the marks by which a species is known are 
 not, in truth, the whole of the differentia itself, but indications 
 of the existence of that differentia; viz., indications of de- 
 scent from a common stock." * 
 
 Dr Latham also takes the same ground. " The definition 
 of the term species," he says,t " by means of the idea of de- 
 
 * See Logic. See also Carpenter's Physiology, pp. 76, 77. 
 t P. 510, part iii. 
 
NATURE AND PHILOSOPHY OF SPECIES. 149 
 
 scent from a single protoplast, lias the advantage of being 
 permanent and immutable; inasmuch as it is based, upon a 
 ground that no subsequent change can set aside. 
 
 ' Non tarnen irritum 
 
 Diffinget, infectumque reddet 
 Quod fugiens semel hora vexit.' 
 
 On the other hand, the proof of the original descent is an 
 inference, rather than a fact either ascertained or capable of 
 being so. 
 
 " The definition of the term species upon the grounds of 
 constancy of characters, has the advantage of being founded 
 upon a fact capable of being ascertained. On the other hand, 
 the induction which proves it may disprove it also. The same 
 applies to those definitions of the term wherein the pheno- 
 mena of hybridism plays a part. 
 
 " The balance of inconveniences is, in the mind of the 
 present writer, in favour of the idea of descent determining 
 the meaning of the word species — for human natural history 
 at least. 
 
 " Hence, a species is a class of individuals, each of which 
 is hypothetically considered to be descended of the same pro- 
 toplast, or of the same pair of protoplasts. 
 
 " A multiplicity of protoplasts for a single species is a 
 contradiction in terms. If two or more such individuals (or 
 pairs), as like as the two Dromios, were the several classes of 
 organized beings (the present numbers being as like each 
 other as their first ancestors were), the phenomenon would 
 be, the existence in nature of more than one undistinguishable 
 species — not the existence of more than one protoplast to a 
 single species. " 
 
 Wherever, therefore, there is reason to believe that orga- 
 nized beings are of the same stock, all differences, whether 
 individual or collective, are regarded as accidental varieties. 
 " Under this term," says Mill, " are included all attributes of 
 a thing which are neither involved in the signification of the 
 name (whether ordinarily or as a term of art), nor have, so 
 
150 NATURE AXD PHILOSOPHY OF SPECIES. 
 
 lar as we know, any necessary connection with attributes 
 which are so involved. They are commonly divided into se- 
 parable and inseparable accidents. Inseparable accidents are 
 those which — altbough Ave know of no connection betvveen 
 them and the attributes constitutive of the species, and al- 
 though, so far as we are aware, they might be absent without 
 making the name inapplicable, and the species a different spe- 
 cies — are yet never in fact known to be absent. A concise 
 mode of expressing the same meaning is, that inseparable 
 accidents are properties which are universal to the species 
 but not necessary to it. Thus blackness is an attribute of a 
 crow, and so far as we know, a universal one. But if we 
 were to discover a race of white birds, in other respects re- 
 sembling crows, we should not say, these are not crows ; we 
 should say, these are white crows. Crows, therefore, do not 
 connote blackness ; nor from any of the attributes which it 
 does connote, whether as a word in popular use or as a term 
 of art, could blackness be inferred. Not only, therefore, can 
 we conceive a white crow, but we know of no reason why 
 such an animal should not exist. Since, however, none but 
 black crows are known to exist, blackness in the present state 
 of our knowledge ranks as an accident, but an inseparable 
 accident, of the species crow.* Separable accidents are those 
 
 * " On Saturday forenoon, some of the farm servants at Friarton observed, 
 to their surprise, while at work, the largest number of swallows they ever 
 saw collected together, amounting apparently to some thousands, pursuing 
 some object in the air. Their attention was directed to discover the cause 
 of the extraordinary meeting, as by their uncommon gyrations and pecu- 
 liar cries something strange must have happened among them. At last 
 thev occasionally noticed among the dark mass something like a wbite 
 speck upon wing, about which they were whirling in the manner they do 
 about their enemy the hawk. One of the servants went for a gun, and 
 after following the swallows a considerable distance, succeeded in shooting 
 the object of their attraction, which turned out to be a white swallow ! 
 There is no doubt the little strange -coloured fellow would have been killed 
 by his tribe, for it w r as observed that violence was accompanied to a great 
 extent with the amusement indicated by the darker brethren of his species. 
 White crows and white blackbirds have occasionally been found, but this 
 
NATURE AND PHILOSOPHY OF SPECIES. 151 
 
 which are found in point of fact to he sometimes absent from 
 the species ; which are not only not necessary, but not univer- 
 sal. They are such as do not belong to every individual of 
 the species, but only some individuals ; or if to all, not at 
 all times. Thus, the colour of a European is one of the sepa- 
 rable accidents of the species man, because it is not an attri- 
 bute of all human creatures. Being born is a separable 
 accident of the species man, because although an attribute of 
 all human beings, it is so only at one particular time. A 
 fortiori, those attributes which are not constant even in the 
 same individual, so as to be in one or in another place, to be 
 hot or cold, sitting or walking, must be ranked as separable 
 accidents. 
 
 is the first case of a white swallow we have heard of. It is to be seen in 
 Mr Lamb's bird-stufling establishment." — Perth Courier. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE UNITY OF THE RACES PROVED BY THE UNITY 
 OF THE SPECIES. 
 
 The apparent indefiniteness and inconsistency of the classifications and 
 definitions of Natural History belongs, in a far hiyher degree, to all 
 other except mathematical speculations. — Mill's Logic 
 
 Ali quern huntand specie ctfigurd, qui immanitate bestias viceret. — Cicero. 
 
 We are now brought to the question of fact, whether, upon 
 the principles we have elucidated, zoologists have been, or 
 can properly be, led to make such differences as confessedly 
 exist among men to be marks of different species ; and whe- 
 ther among higher animals specific character has been regard- 
 ed as presumptive proof of the unity of origin. 
 
 In reply to these queries, we venture to affirm that every 
 mark which has ever been laid down by naturalists to dis- 
 tinguish one species of animals from another, proves, when 
 applied to man, that all the varieties of the human family 
 are of one species, and that these marks are equally conclu- 
 sive in determining that there is a fixed and impassable 
 boundary separating men from all other animals. 
 
 " We have shown," says Dr Bachman, " that all the 
 varieties evidence a complete and minute correspondence in 
 the number of the teeth and in the 208 additional bones con- 
 tained in the body. 
 
 " That in the peculiarity in the shedding of the teeth, so 
 different from all other animals, they all correspond. 
 
 u That they are perfectly alike in the following particulars : 
 
 " In all possessing the same erect stature. 
 
UNITY OF RACES PROVED BY UNITY OF SPECIES. 153 
 
 " In the articulation of the head with the spinal column. 
 
 M In the possession of two hands. 
 
 " In the absence of the intermaxillary bone. 
 
 " In the teeth of equal length. 
 
 " In a smooth skin of the body, and the head covered with 
 hair. 
 
 " In the number and arrangement of the muscles in every 
 part of the body, the digestive and all the other organs. 
 
 " In the organs of speech and the power of singing. 
 
 " They all possess mental faculties, conscience, and enter- 
 tain the hope of immortality. It is scarcely necessary to 
 add, that in these two last characteristics man is placed at 
 such an immeasurable distance above the brute creation, as to 
 destroy every vestige of affinity to the monkey or any other 
 genus or species. 
 
 " They are all omnivorous, and are capable of living on all 
 kinds of food. 
 
 " They are capable of inhabiting all climates. 
 
 " They all possess a slower growth than any other animal, 
 and are later in arriving at puberty. 
 
 4< A peculiarity in the physical constitution of the female, 
 differing from all the other mammalians. 
 
 " All the races have the same period of gestation, on an 
 average produce the same number of young, and are subject 
 to similar diseases." 
 
 In these and similar facts, therefore, a certain answer may 
 be found to our inquiry, and that answer is, that men are all 
 of one and the same species as well as of one and the same 
 genus and order'. They constitute an assemblage of indivi- 
 duals descended from common parents, which bear as great a 
 resemblance to them as they do to each other, and have fixed 
 forms which, though to a certain extent alterable, are handed 
 down essentially unimpaired from generation to generation. 
 " If, then, the term ' species J " says the Encyclopedia Ameri- 
 cana, " is used in its common scientific sense, it cannot be 
 denied that there is but one species of men." The dispute on 
 
154 THE UxMTY OF THE RACES 
 
 this subject, the same authority pronounces to be a dispute of 
 words, founded upon an effort to subvert the established rules, 
 and the received and well-known meaning of natural science. 
 There are undoubtedly certain and constant differences among 
 men — of stature, physiognomy, colour, nature of the hair, 
 and form of the skull, pelvis, and heel bone. But the most 
 opposite extremes in these varieties are connected together, 
 and intermingled, and gradually brought together by numer- 
 ous gradations. And in every character important and essen- 
 tial to the being of man, as distinguished from other animals, 
 all men are precisely alike, and capable of uniform, invariable, 
 and permanent continuance by natural propagation. 
 
 The differences found in all the races of men are distinc- 
 tions, not of kind running through the whole nature and at- 
 tributes of man, but are what are termed definite properties. 
 There is no impassable barrier between the different races. 
 These are found, on the contrary, to run into one another by 
 insensible gradations. Their differences are not, therefore, 
 essential, because thev do not distinguish each several race 
 from every other by an indeterminate multitude of properties 
 not derivable from any other. They are not lowest kinds ; for 
 if these differences constitute species, then it will be true, as 
 we have heard it affirmed, and that, too, by a naturalist 
 (who, of course, opposed our views), that every several child 
 in the same family and of the same parents, and every mem- 
 ber of the same community, is a distinct species. 
 
 These differences, we would further observe, do not con- 
 stitute species, because, notwithstanding them, all the races 
 of men resemble each other far more than they do any other 
 animals. These differences are not involved in the significa- 
 tion of man — they have no necessary connection with the 
 attributes which jointly form that signification. They are, 
 therefore, either separable or inseparable accidents. They 
 mifdit all be conceived to exist in the case of individuals of 
 the other races without altering their specific character. An 
 American man would not cease to be such though he should 
 
PROVED BY THE UNITY OF THE SPECIES. 155 
 
 become, by some mysterious process, dark in colour ; or be- 
 cause lie had a badly-shaped head, prominent jaws, some 
 bones comparatively long, and a feeble intellect. These are 
 not the attributes which enter into the idea of an American 
 or a Caucasian man. If all these were found united in one 
 individual, they would be regarded as very extraordinary; 
 but their existence separately and in modified degrees, is 
 what we observe daily among the various European races 
 found among us. The existence, therefore, of these pecu- 
 liarities in innumerable variety of degrees among different 
 tribes of men, cannot constitute them different species from 
 other men with whom they hold in common all the peculiarly 
 human characteristics we have described. In their structure, 
 in their physiology, and in all the laws of their being, the 
 black races are uniform with the white and the yellow races of 
 man, and different from all other animals. They are all, there- 
 fore, of one and the same species, and these differences must 
 be accidental, though permanent peculiarities, and are not 
 essential or specific. w I have likewise," says Prichard, " in 
 a separate chapter, compared the physiological characters of 
 different tribes, having first, by a tolerably extensive induc- 
 tion, established the fact that between different species, pro- 
 perly so termed, there are in general strongly-marked diver- 
 sities with relation to the great laws of the animal economy, 
 and that each species has a distinct physiological character. 
 The conclusion which evidently resulted was, that no diffe- 
 rences such as those above described are to be found among 
 human families, and that whatever exist in these respects are 
 the effects of external agencies, and the tendency to varia- 
 tions which such agencies call into activity." 
 
 Species do not, it must be remembered, exclude differences, 
 but, on the contrary, as we have seen, necessarily imply their 
 existence. Variation is the inevitable and designed result of 
 individual life, and is found characteristic of members of the 
 same family and class and tribe, and even of every seed-plot, 
 throughout all animated nature. And not only is variety the 
 
156 THE UNITY OF THE RACES 
 
 law of nature and of life, it is the law of nature that this 
 difference should he multiplied in exact proportion to the 
 capacity of the individual being for such variation. Since 
 therefore man, of all organized beings, is most capable of 
 change, because he is possessed of life in its highest develop- 
 ment, man is also the most liable to variations. Every man, 
 therefore, possesses not only that real internal constitution 
 which is of the same identical human kind with all other 
 men, but he has besides this an individual and characteristic 
 nature peculiar in its essential character to him alone, and 
 different from that of all other men, and by which he is dis- 
 tinguished, both in body and in mind, from all other men. 
 And it will be found, we think, on a moment's consideration, 
 that these individual peculiarities are as great, if not greater, 
 than those general varieties which characterize particular 
 races of men. If, therefore, peculiar and striking differences 
 in colour, in form, in height, in structure, in voice, in brain, 
 in disposition, in mind, in every thing, are adequate grounds 
 for specific distinctions, then we must divide man into as 
 many species as there are human beings. 
 
 Specific distinctions are constant and universal. But " all 
 the varieties of men have," as Hamilton Smith admits, '* a 
 tendency to pass to the highest standard rather than to a 
 lower condition, or to remain stationary." They are not, 
 therefore, of different species, but of one and the same. 
 
 The variations found ainong the different races of men are 
 not greater, or as great, as those found among other animals 
 of the same species, and therefore they do not prove them to 
 be different species. " Every vertebrated animal," says Dr 
 Bachman, " from the horse down to the Canary bird and gold- 
 fish, is subject, in a state of domestication, to very great and 
 striking varieties, and in the majority of species these varie- 
 ties are much greater than are exhibited in any of the numer- 
 ous varieties of the human races. Taking it for granted," he 
 adds, " that they admit, that in our examination of man as a 
 species, we must be governed by the same laws by which we 
 
PROVED BY THE UNITY OF THE SPECIES. 157 
 
 examine all the species of animals in a domesticated state — 
 they who have made this issue and denied the long-received 
 doctrine of the unity of the human race, are now required to 
 show those characteristics which will justify us in regarding 
 the varieties of men as distinct species, whilst they consider 
 those of animals equally striking, not as species, but mere 
 varieties." 
 
 Dr Bachman proceeds to detail the extraordinary varia- 
 tions which have arisen in the wolf, and then asks — " Are 
 all these strangely-marked varieties which are permanent in 
 certain regions where each propagates its own variety, and 
 has done so from our earliest knowledge, but every where as- 
 sociating and multiplying with neighbouring varieties, to be 
 regarded as miraculous creations of separate species ; or are 
 we not able to trace all these variations to the orio-inal con- 
 stitution of the wolf, adapting it to the various climates and 
 situations in which it takes up its residence, and to its in- 
 stinctive impulses to a wandering and migratory life ? Are 
 there any more distinctive marks in the skulls, in the colours, 
 and in the habits of the varieties of man than are found in 
 those of the wolves ? And if not, what reasons can natura- 
 lists assign for admitting the races of wolves as mere varie- 
 ties, and yet insisting that the races of men are distinct 
 species ?" 
 
 Dr Bachman proceeds to the examination of domestic ani- 
 mals ; and of the horse he asks : — " Will the advocates of a 
 plurality of species in men point out those distinctive marks 
 which would make the various races of horses of all sizes, 
 forms, and colours, each propagating its own kind when kept 
 separate, as only varieties, and yet insist that the varieties of 
 men are distinct species V Dr Bachman then takes up the 
 cow, and having pointed out its differences, asks — " If men 
 are of all colours, black, brown, red, and white, so are these 
 cattle. If the various races of men are all prolific with each 
 other, so are the varieties of cattle. If they differ in their 
 skulls, these cattle differ from each other much more, not 
 
153 THE UNITY OF THE RACES 
 
 only in skull, but in the size of their ears, length of tail, in 
 height, and in form of body. If they will make five, ten, or 
 a hundred species of men, why do they not carry out their 
 principles, and make five, ten, or a hundred species of com- 
 mon cows, their varieties being fully as numerous, their 
 breeds as permanent, and their characteristics as various as 
 those found in the human species ? " 
 
 Then he points out the variations among swine, of sheep, 
 of the dog, of our common fowl, of the turkey, of the goose, 
 of the duck, and of the pigeon, of the guinea-pig, of the 
 dove. u By the rules," he argues, " which govern naturalists 
 in their designation of domesticated species, the varieties of 
 these animals are all regarded as one species, and no naturalist 
 would risk his reputation in pronouncing a diiferent decision. 
 Are not, we ask, these varieties as permanent and as widely- 
 separated as are the varieties of men? And if we cannot se- 
 parate the races of common fowls, turkeys, geese, or ducks, 
 what authority have we for separating the races of men into 
 different species ? 
 
 " Since, therefore, naturalists cannot establish a rule for the 
 designation of one species or variety of domestic man, which 
 they should not be willing to apply to the varieties of domes- 
 ticated animals, we would ask them to point out those dis- 
 tinctive characters by which the varieties of men are divided 
 into many species, and the varieties of the pigeon, for in- 
 stance, are all included under one species ? 
 
 u We may conjecture," adds Dr Bachman, w what will be 
 their reply to these questions. They will inform us, that 
 although the varieties are as striking and as permanent in 
 character as are those in the races of men, yet, as we know- 
 that the former have originated from well-known species, and 
 some in our day, they cannot, therefore, be mistaken in 
 setting them down as mere varieties; but as they cannot 
 trace the origin of the human races to their original source, 
 therefore they will regard them as different species. But 
 we ask, Is not this one of those arguments which is not ad- 
 
PROVED BY THE UNITY OF THE SPECIES. 159 
 
 missible ? Is not this depending more on the history of a 
 species, as far as our imperfect knowledge extends, than on 
 those distinctive marks which are stamped upon the races 
 themselves ? Would not this uncertain mode of deciding on 
 species throw the science of natural history into inextricable 
 confusion ? You would here place a dependence on uncer- 
 tain tradition, whilst the characteristics which nature pre- 
 sents — the only guides to truth in matters of science — are 
 abandoned." 
 
 But if we appeal to other animals for analogical proof that 
 changes as great and as manifold as those which occur in man, 
 occur also in animals, not as capable or liable to changes as 
 he is, we present a difficulty in the way of our conclusion. 
 For while, it may be argued, in other animals there are many 
 species under one genus, in man we contend for a single 
 species, as well as a single genus. To this it may be replied, 
 that were the fact so, it would be of no force; because it 
 would only show man's supremacy above all other animals. 
 But the fact is not so. " In this," says Dr Bachman, •' man 
 does not form an exception to the general law of nature. 
 There are many of our genera which contain but a single 
 species in the genus. Among American quadrupeds, the 
 musk ox (Ovibo* moschutos), the beaver {Castor fiber), and 
 the glutton or wolverine {Gulo Zuscus); and, among birds, 
 the wild turkey (Meleagris galUpavo), are familiar examples. 
 The oscillated turkey, which was formerly regarded as a 
 second species, has recently been discovered not to be a true 
 turkey. In addition to its different conformation, it makes its 
 nest on trees, and lays only two eggs; possessing in this and 
 other particulars the habits of the pigeon." To these he adds 
 the horse, " the only true species in the genus ; for naturalists 
 have now included all the others under the asses and zebras, 
 and also the beaver." 
 
 But further, to what confusion and injury to science must 
 any attempt to distort the established classification of man- 
 kind under one species necessarily lead ? Hamilton Smith 
 
160 THE UNITY OF THE RACES 
 
 admits that the supposition of a plural creation of several 
 single species of man requires " the term species to assume a 
 different acceptation, and that it confounds the notions 
 hitherto attached to it." This reductio ad absurd am, we have 
 already seen, is urged by the M Encyclopedia Americana;" and 
 that the theory of a plurality of human species can be main- 
 tained only by a total alteration of the established zoological 
 meaning of the term species, we have made certain by the 
 authority of Whatelv and Mill, who base their opinion upon 
 the very great personal knowledge of the subject, and upon 
 the elaborate analysis of Le Comte into this subject.* 
 
 M The opponents of the unity of the human race cannot, 
 therefore," says Dr Bachman, '* fail to perceive that the po- 
 sition they have assumed is surrounded with infinite difficulty 
 — that, in order to establish their views, they must overturn 
 all the principles which science has adopted for the designa- 
 tion of species — and that in departing from our ancient land- 
 marks, which have hitherto enabled us to decide with accu- 
 racy on the character of species, they would not only demolish 
 the simple and beautiful temple reared by the labour of 
 Linnaeus, Cuvier, and their coadjutors, but would scatter the 
 very materials to the winds, and leave us with no other 
 guides than those of uncertain conjecture. The new and 
 obscure path in which they have invited us to tread, is opposed 
 to our views of science. A vast majority of naturalists dis- 
 claim them as leaders, and will leave them to pursue their 
 journey alone, whilst we are content to follow the safe and 
 long-trodden paths." 
 
 This last consideration we would press upon the special 
 attention of our readers. The host of eminent men entitled 
 to speak authoritatively on this subject, and who maintain 
 the unity of the human races, has been already given, together 
 
 * Mr Pickering says species are found to have a certain geological 
 range; and, notwithstanding a few instances of wide diffusion, nature has 
 not reproduced a species in different quarters of the globe. (P. 303.) A 
 very decided change may take place in the aspect:, without a specific differ- 
 ence. (P. 505.) Varieties do not revert to the original type. (P. 305.) 
 
PROVED BY THE UNITY OF THE SPECIES. 161 
 
 with those who have opposed it. All naturalists who have 
 described vertebrated animals arrange mankind under one 
 species. They have, therefore, decided the question; and, as 
 Dr Bachman says, who is entitled to speak on the subject ex 
 cathedra, " Those who are now entering into the field, about 
 whose qualifications, as judges, the world as yet knows no- 
 thing, and is therefore unprepared to pronounce an opinion, 
 are bound to give some satisfactory reasons for their dissent." 
 
 But this novel theory would not only overwhelm the 
 science of natural history in confusion — it would rush to its 
 conclusion over the principles of all true science. These 
 principles forbid the introduction of more causes than are 
 necessary to account for the phenomena; and they forbid an 
 appeal to supernatural causes when not peremptorily de- 
 manded by the facts of the case. Now, " the creation of 
 species is an act of divine power alone, and cannot be effected 
 by any other means. Those who believe the varieties of 
 men and other animals mentioned to be of different species, 
 believe that they were created distinct species. Rather than 
 believe that all those variations have proceeded from an ori- 
 ginal constitution of nature, adapted to various climates and 
 situations, these writers would thus multiply indefinitely, and 
 probably at sundry times, the necessity for the direct interpo- 
 sition of a miraculous and creating power." 
 
 " It is not, indeed, self-evident," to use the words of Dr 
 Prichard, " if we suppose it to be conceded that all human 
 races are of one species, technically so termed, that they are 
 not distinguished from each other by characters ever con- 
 stant and immutable, and such as cannot have been produced 
 in a breed or race which had been previously destitute of 
 them; and the question still remains, "What is the proof that 
 all races actually descended from one stock or parentage ? It 
 is not self-evident that many families of the same species were 
 not created at first, to supply at once with human as well as 
 with other organized beings, various regions of the earth. 
 This, indeed, is improbable, when we take into account the 
 
 L 
 
162 THE UNITY OF THE RACES 
 
 almost universally rapid increase of living species, and the 
 surprising efficacy of the means every where contrived hy 
 nature, both for their multiplication and dispersion, which 
 would seem to be superfluous, or at least much greater than 
 would be requisite, on the hypothesis that a multitude of each 
 tribe existed from the beginning." 
 
 " It has been observed, in both the animal and the vege- 
 table kingdoms, that while tribes of the most simple struc- 
 ture are spread in the present time, and appear to have been 
 originally diffused over the most distant regions, races of a 
 higher and more elaborate organization exist only in places 
 to which it is not generally obvious, but always probable, that 
 they may have obtained access from some particular spot, 
 apparently the local centre and primitive inhabitants of the 
 tribe. Hence, we derive each tribe among the higher and 
 more perfectly organized creatures, whether locomotive or 
 fixed, whether animals or plants, from some original point 
 and from a single stock. We are a fortiori at liberty to apply 
 this conclusion to the instance of the human species, so as to 
 infer that the law of nature, otherwise universal or very gene- 
 ral in its prevalence, has not been in this case transgressed, 
 where such an exception would be of all cases the most im- 
 probable." 
 
 One other point may be here adverted to, and that is, the 
 consideration that different animals and plants, and different 
 species of the same genus, are infested by worms or insects 
 peculiar to themselves, and by which their genus and species 
 may be determined. On this ground an argument has been 
 based against the unity of the human races, from the supposed 
 fact that parasites of the races are different. But to this it is 
 replied, that the horse and the ox are known to have differ- 
 ent insect parasites and assailants in different climates. Into 
 this subject, also, Dr Bachman enters fully ; and, after con- 
 sidering the facts known respecting the twenty-one species 
 found in different parts of man's system, he concludes that 
 they infest equally the white and the black races, and that 
 
PROVED BY THE UNITY OF THE SPECIES. 163 
 
 there is in fact no difference in the species found in different 
 races. In reference to lice, he says, "Two species of pendi- 
 culi existing on the surface of the body, we have examined 
 and compared. We are aware that a species was described 
 as existing on the African under the name of P. nigratarum. 
 We have not recently seen the description, which w T e believe 
 was given by Fabricius. We presume it is the same as is at 
 present found among our negroes. It is darker in colour than 
 that on white persons. This, however, is the only difference. 
 We suspect the colouring matter under the human skin im- 
 parts this deeper shade to the insect. In the mulatto, its colour 
 is intermediate. We have found the two species, P. humanis et 
 P. ubis — the only ones we have had the opportunities of com- 
 paring with the microscope, in the white race and the negro 
 — frequently exchanging residences, especially between nurses 
 and children. If we were in possession of any other infor- 
 mation in reference to these pests, whether favourable or op- 
 posed to our theory, we would not withhold it. We now 
 submit, whether with our present knowledge on this subject, 
 any argument in favour of the plurality of species can be de- 
 duced from it. Do not these facts, on the other hand, afford 
 another very strong evidence in favour of the unity of the 
 species, since we know of no two species of animals that are 
 in common infested by so many species of insects ?" He con- 
 cludes, therefore, that the insects which are found on the 
 surface, and the vermes within the body, as far as they have 
 been examined, are the same in all the varieties of men; and 
 that where peculiar parasites infest men in particular coun- 
 tries, they are equally found in all the races. 
 
 We will add here also, in conclusion, one other considera- 
 tion in the words of Dr Bachman. " The important fact must 
 not be overlooked that our opponents are the assailants in 
 this controversy. When Voltaire first promulgated his crude 
 and most unscientific notions on this subject, and attempted 
 to show that not only the African, but the Albino also, were 
 distinct species of men, his object confessedly was not so much 
 
164 UNITY OF RACES PROVED BY UNITY OF SPECIES. 
 
 to establish a truth in science as to invalidate the testimony 
 and throw contempt on the Christian Scriptures, It is but 
 recently that the advocates of the theory of a plurality have 
 denied the long-received doctrine of the unity of the human 
 race, as inconsistent with those principles which are received 
 as the established laws of science. The onus probandi, there- 
 fore, rests with them. They have not been able to prove the 
 truth of their position. We have no hesitation in saying that 
 they are incapable of proving it. Until they shall have suc- 
 ceeded in this, the faith of men will remain unchanged." 
 
 Let it be therefore dulv considered, that from this investi- 
 gation we are enabled to prove the unity of the human races 
 by a twofold argument. If — as we have previously established 
 — all men have proceeded from the same original stock, then 
 all men are and must be, according to the established usage 
 of the word in natural science, of one species ; and if, on the 
 other hand, as has now been proved by a purely scientific 
 argument, all men are of one and the same species, then it 
 follows, on the principles of science, that all men have pro- 
 ceeded from the same origin or stock, as the Scriptures teach. 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 LATEST VIEWS OF PROFESSOR AGASSIZ, AND HIS 
 THEORY TESTED. 
 
 Dogmatism in matters of science is just as reprehensible as in questions <>f 
 religion. 
 
 Pride of opinion and arrogance of spirit are entirely opposed to the hu- 
 mility of true science. 
 
 Where we find all the same properties, we have reason to conclude there is 
 the same real internal constitution from ichich those properties flow. 
 — Locke. 
 
 While the Christian looks to this faith chiefly as a future good, even the 
 sceptic should befriend it as a present good, and the sound philosopher 
 as both. — Lacon. 
 
 As Professor Agassiz has undoubted and most deserved pre- 
 eminence as a naturalist in all the lower departments of ani- 
 mals, his opinion upon all questions touching the order of 
 nature in these departments, and the consequent analogy from 
 which to argue in the case of man, are of great importance. 
 And as he has been led to commit himself as the champion 
 of the theory of an indefinite number of original and sepa- 
 rately created races of men, and to claim for his support the 
 authority of Scripture, we devote a separate chapter to the 
 consideration of his views, and their claim to any alteration in 
 our own position. 
 
 I. We will in the first place show the apparently irrecon- 
 cilable and contradictory statements of Professor Agassiz. 
 
166 LATEST VIEWS OF PROFESSOR AGASSIZ, 
 
 J . In 1845, in an article published in the Swiss Review on 
 the Geography of Animals, he uses the following language : — 
 " There exists, then, a real difference between the inhabitants 
 of the different continents, and the remarkable coincidence 
 which we have just pointed out between their primitive allo- 
 cation ; and the limitation of the fauna in these same conti- 
 nents, shows us clearly enough that their diversity ascends to 
 the same primordial cause. But has this diversity the same 
 origin? Has it the same signification with man as with 
 (the inferior) animals? Evidently not. And here is again 
 revealed the superiority of the human race and its greater 
 independence in nature. Whilst (the lower) animals are of 
 distinct species in the different zoological provinces to which 
 they belong, man, notwithstanding the diversity of his races, 
 constitutes one only, and the same species, over all the sur- 
 face of the globe. In this respect, as well as in so many 
 others, man seems to us to form an exception to the general 
 rule in this creation, of which he is at the same time the ob- 
 ject and the end." * 
 
 Here it is affirmed, — 1st, that all animals have their limited 
 natural provinces ; 2d, that within these provinces they are 
 of distinct species ; 3d, that man, on the contrary, is of one 
 only species, and yet of different races, and that he alone is 
 cosmopolite ; and 4th, that all these arrangements are the re- 
 sult of a primordial cause. 
 
 2. In the year 1846, while in Charleston, M. Agassiz 
 declared before the Literary Club that he believed in an in- 
 definite number of original and distinctly created races of 
 men ; and this opinion he based upon the fact, that all other 
 animals were created in classes or groups within certain pro- 
 vinces, and adapted to them, and that in accordance with 
 this analogy he was constrained to believe man to have 
 been created in many different climates. He stated it also as 
 a fact, that man could not exist except within these natural 
 
 * An account of the geographical distribution of animals, by L. Agassiz ; 
 extracted from the Swiss Review, Neufchatel. 
 
AND HIS THEORY TESTED. 167 
 
 climates, as for instance in the tried case of the Esqui- 
 maux. 
 
 On this basis, it will be seen, man is made to be of dif- 
 ferent original races, on the ground of an analogy to the other 
 animals, while in the former statement he is made •' of one 
 only and the same" species, and therefore pre-eminent and 
 distinguished from the other animals, — " an exception to the 
 general rule in this creation, of which he is at the same time 
 the object and the end." 
 
 3. In his work on the Principles of Zoology, published in 
 1840, M. Agassiz defines species to be " the lowest term to 
 which naturalists descend, if we except certain peculiarities 
 generally induced by some modification of native habits, such 
 as are seen in domestic animals." " The species," he adds, 
 a is founded upon less important distinctions, such as colour, 
 size, proportions, structure," &c* 
 
 To this scientific definition of the term species, which is in 
 perfect accordance with the usage of naturalists,+ he care- 
 fully and constantly adheres throughout the whol e volume, 
 as may be seen by the pages referred to below.J 
 
 Let us then turn to page 180, and we find it said of man, 
 that " he is every where the one identical species, yet several 
 races, marked by certain peculiarities of features ;" and on the 
 same page (§ 452) it is shown that such differences are neces- 
 sarily to be expected from the varieties of food, customs, modes 
 of life, and climates, since those lead to " differences in the 
 physical constitution of man which would contribute to aug- 
 ment any primeval differences." 
 
 In this work, therefore, we must regard M. Agassiz as 
 coinciding with his views in 1845, and with those which we 
 have advanced in this work, since if the races of men are 
 only " varieties' of " the same species,'' and man is a u cos- 
 mopolite," and undoubtedly able to adapt himself after a few 
 generations to every change of climate and condition, there 
 
 * Introduction. + See ch. x.-xii. of this work. 
 
 t See pp. 103, 105, 118, 127, 128, 154, 17*2, 180, 195, and 201. 
 
168 LATEST VIEWS OF PROFESSOR AGASSIZ, 
 
 is not the slightest difficulty in understanding how from one 
 original central pair, and from one blood, all the nations of 
 the earth have sprung. 
 
 4. Not such, however, are the present views of Professor 
 Agassiz. In his lecture before the Association in Charleston, 
 in March 1850, on the Classification of Animals, and on 
 other occasions, we understood him to take the ground that 
 this classification, as introduced by Cuvier, &c, would ere 
 long cease to be founded upon specific distinctions, and would 
 be based upon the natural distinctions disclosed by the com- 
 parative development of animals. 
 
 In his remarks in the Association, made after the presen- 
 tation of Dr Xott's paper against the unity of the races, M. 
 Agassiz took the opportunity to publish his opinion on this 
 agitated question. And alluding, perhaps, to this work, 
 which we had submitted to him as far as it had been pub- 
 lished, he further said, that inasmuch as his opinions on this 
 question had been made a matter of frequent inquiry, he would 
 take this opportunity, once for all, to express his views very 
 distinctly on the subject. He said many mistakes and some 
 ill feeling had arisen among naturalists from not understand- 
 ing the grounds of the controversy which were assumed by 
 opposing parties. As a general proposition, he would side 
 wirh those who maintain the doctrine of the unity of the race, 
 if by the unity of the race be meant nothing more than that all 
 mankind were endowed with one common nature, intellectual 
 and physical, derived from the Creator of all men, were under 
 the same moral government of the universe, and sustained 
 similar relations to the Deity. It was quite a different 
 question whether the different races were derived from the 
 same common human ancestors. For his own part, after 
 giving to this question much consideration, he was ready to 
 maintain that the different races of men were descended from 
 different stocks, and he regarded this position as fully sustained 
 by divine revelation. The Jewish history was the history, 
 not of divers races, but of a single race of mankind ,' but the 
 
AND HIS THEORY TESTED. 169 
 
 existence of other races was often incidentally alluded to, and 
 distinctly implied, if not absolutely asserted, in the sacred 
 volume. Of this last assertion he gave in proof the puerile 
 and trite allegation of Dr Nott and other sceptics from Vol- 
 taire to the present day, that there were other races of men, 
 co- existent with Adam and his son Cain, dwelling in the 
 Land of Nod, and among whom Cain married and built a 
 city. It is well said by the reporter of the Courier, that " the 
 utterance of these opinions by this very eminent naturalist 
 and philosopher created no little sensation among the mem- 
 bers of the Association for the Advancement of Science."* 
 
 These views M. Agassiz has published in a paper on "The 
 Geographical Distribution of Animals," in the March num- 
 ber of the Christian Examiner.^ The object of this paper 
 is to show that there is no common centre or several centres 
 
 * The reporter adds : — " The Rev. Dr Bachman said he was not disposed 
 to discuss the question before the Society. He had just done it through 
 the press ; and it was one of those nice and delicate questions which was, 
 in his opinion, less suitable for open debate by a literary society, before 
 a promiscuous audience, than for deliberate investigation, by the advocates 
 of opposing theories, through the press. He had hoped that all discussion 
 of the question would be waived in the public meeting of the Society ; 
 but inasmuch as the learned Professor Agassiz had expressed an opinion 
 on this very delicate question which would be likely to make a deep im- 
 pression on many who held his opinions on all recondite matters in pro- 
 found respect, he should take occasion, without entering into any argu- 
 ment, to sustain his own particular views, which he had done elsewhere, 
 to state simply that he differed in toto from the position assumed by that 
 learned gentleman in reference to this subject, and would refer those in- 
 terested in following up the inquiry to the more full explanations of his 
 views recently given to the public. 
 
 " The Rev. Dr Smyth, in a speech of much eloquence, expressed his 
 entire concurrence in the views advanced by the reverend and learned 
 gentleman who had just taken his seat. He also had devoted to this sub- 
 ject much inquiry. He was an advocate of the strict unity of the race, be- 
 lieving with the apostle that God had made of one blood all the nations of 
 men that dwell on the face of the earth, i. e., he believed, he said, that 
 men had descended from the same common ancestors. He thought any 
 other view of the subject would tend to overthrow the authority and defeat 
 the objects of divine revelation." 
 
 + This is the organ of the Unitarian community in Boston. See for 
 1850, p. 118, &c. 
 
170 LATEST VIEWS OF PROFESSOR AGASSIZ, 
 
 of origin among all other animals besides man, but that they 
 were all created in the localities they naturally occupy, and 
 in which they breed, either in pairs or in multitudes, and, 
 therefore, that there was no common central origin for man, 
 but an indefinite number of separate creations, from which 
 the races of men have sprung. 
 
 In confirmation of this theory, the learned Professor ap- 
 peals first to Scripture," and reiterates all we have quoted re- 
 specting the Bible. He affirms that it has reference to only 
 one race, that of Adam, while it intimates that Adam and 
 Eve were neither the only nor the first human beings created, 
 as is proved by the circumstances recorded of Cain.t He 
 also offers various considerations which have appeared to him 
 to sustain his theory. 
 
 In fulfilment of the old Latin proverb, Homines ampllus 
 oculis quam auribus credunt, and as an ocular and irresistible 
 proof of his theory, M. Agassiz has been very ready, and 
 with great reiteration, to point out in the fingers of the negro 
 a greater degree of web, and thus to demonstrate, by this par- 
 tial development, the difference of specific character and origin 
 in this race of men. 
 
 Such, then, are the outlines of Professor Agassiz's views 
 on the unity of .the human races, and his present — shall we 
 say unfortunate ? — position. 
 
 The object he now aims at is twofold. First, by establish- 
 
 * Christian Examiner, p. 181. 
 
 f See pp. 184, 185. 4 ' Professor Agassiz," says a Boston reviewer, 
 " takes the ground that the animals which now inhabit, or have at any 
 time inhabited the earth, did not, as is generally supposed, proceed from 
 one common centre and from one primitive pair ; but, on the contrary, 
 were created originally in those regions or zoological districts where they 
 are now found, and over the whole extent of the same. These grand zoo- 
 logical districts he makes to be ten or twelve in number, distinctly marked 
 off from each other by specific differences in the several classes or groups 
 of animals which they sustain, and showing also a corresponding difference 
 in their respective fossil remains, indicating that the same general laws 
 which now govern the distribution of animals operated also in former and 
 remote periods over the same regions."' 
 
AND HIS THEORY TESTED. 171 
 
 ing an analogy in all other departments of nature, to raise an 
 insuperable objection to the doctrine of a common origin of 
 all mankind ; and, secondly, by the introduction of a new 
 principle of classification, to show that the races of men must 
 be originally of different origin. 
 
 II. "We shall first notice his analogy. And on this subject 
 we remark that the force of an analogy seems to be altogether 
 misapprehended. An analogy, that is, a similarity in the re- 
 lations of certain objects, cannot -prove any thing concerning 
 the real nature, origin, or cause, of those objects, since it does 
 not follow that because there is a resemblance, however 
 striking, in some points, there must be a corresponding simi- 
 larity in every other particular. All it can do is to obviate 
 objections against the evidence produced for any doctrine. 
 The plan followed by God in the creation and distribution of 
 the lower animals, in former and present ages, cannot, there- 
 fore, prove that God followed the same plan in the creation 
 and dispersion of mankind, if there are any reasons from the 
 Word of God, or other sources, for believing that " man is an 
 exception to all other animals." All that analogy could do 
 would be to remove objections against the reasonableness of 
 the doctrine of an original diversity of origin in the human 
 family, in the absence of any positive proof for a different 
 conclusion. In the present case, however, as we do claim 
 to have positive proof, both from Scripture and from other 
 sources, that "man is an exception to all other animals" in 
 point of eminence, and that he at least in all his races did 
 originate from a single pair, an analogy from the other ani- 
 mals could have no place and no force, especially when the 
 relevancy of Scripture testimony is admitted and acted upon 
 by Professor Agassiz himself. 
 
 But even were an analogy sufficient to prove similarity of 
 origin and of distribution in the case of man and of other 
 animals, we remark that the particular analogy here aimed 
 at has not been completely made out. It is not true, as M. 
 Agassiz has himself shown, that in every successive epoch of 
 
172 LATEST VIEWS OF PROFESSOR AGASSIZ, 
 
 nature an invariable order of origin and of distribution has 
 been pursued in the animal kingdom, or that the same limita- 
 tions have been always assigned to the provinces of ani- 
 mals. On the contrary, as in every epoch there has been an 
 introduction of new and higher types of animals, so has " the 
 distribution of animals been modified in accordance with the 
 successive changes which the animal kingdom has thus under- 
 gone from the earliest period of its creation to the present 
 day." "We are led, therefore, to infer that, " as man came 
 last, at the head of the creation in time as well as in eminence 
 by structure, intelligence, and moral endowments,"* and as 
 " man is an exception to the general rule in this creation, of 
 which he is at the same time the object and the end," the 
 plan pursued in man's origin and distribution would be emi- 
 nently peculiar; and that, as M. Agassiz has forcibly ex- 
 pressed it, " whilst the (lower) animals are of distinct species 
 in the different zoological provinces to which they belong, 
 man, notwithstanding the diversity of his races, constitutes one 
 only, and the same species, over all the surface of the globe.'"' t 
 The analogy aimed at by M. Agassiz has not, therefore, 
 been made out. It was necessary, in order to have any weight 
 as an analogy, to show that all other organized beings in 
 every epoch have been created " not in pairs, or progenitors, 
 or centres of origin, but in large numbers," " over the whole 
 extent of their natural distribution;"^ — that they are confined 
 to their zoological provinces; — and especially, that this has 
 been the invariable order of nature as it regards the higher 
 animals. But this is not proved. The contrary, to an extent 
 sufficient to invalidate the analogy and the peculiarity of man, 
 are fully admitted ;§ and there is therefore no force in the 
 attempted analogy, even did we not possess positive proof that 
 it does not hold good in the case of man. 
 
 * See the article in Chr. Examiner, pp. 182, 186, 193, 194, 196. 
 t Agassiz, as before quoted. J Chr. Examiner, pp. 192, 193. 
 
 § Ibid. p. 186, where common centres are admitted to have been the 
 earliest plan. 
 
AND HIS THEORY TESTED. 173 
 
 But again we remark on the analogical argument of M. 
 Agassiz, that it is employed in erecting a man of straw, and 
 then in pulling him to pieces. The whole object he aims at 
 is to show the falsity of " the prevailing opinion which 
 ascribes to all living beings upon earth one common centre of 
 origin; from which, it is supposed, they in the course of time 
 spread over wider and wider areas, till they finally came into 
 their present states of distribution." * 
 
 Now, among what naturalists and men of science this 
 theory prevails we are at a loss to conceive. The theory he 
 denounces is not regarded even by divines of " the straitest 
 sect" as necessary to the literal verity of Scripture.! It has 
 been shown in this work, before we were aware of M. Agas- 
 siz's views, that such a theory is not required by Scripture, 
 and it has nowhere been advanced by Dr Prichard or Dr 
 Bachman.| Indeed, this theory of a central origin of all 
 living beings is not at all necessary to the argument for the 
 central origin of the human race. If true, it would only con- 
 stitute an analogy, and not a proof; and in view of man's 
 pre-eminence and peculiarity, it would have but little weight 
 even as an analogy. In this whole discussion, therefore, M. 
 Agassiz has been, so far as the establishment of this question 
 of the unity of mankind is concerned, " fighting uncertainly 
 as one who beateth the air." 
 
 But further on this point. It is admitted by M. Agassiz, 
 that the fauna and flora, and especially the higher classes of 
 animals, are identical in species " over the icy fields extend- 
 ing around the northern pole upon the three continents which 
 meet in the North,"§ that is, ichere they might easily spread 
 
 * Chr. Examiner, pp. 181, 183, &c. 
 
 f See Geology and Revelation by Dr Pye Smith, pp. 94-96, Eng. ed. ; 
 Stillingfleet's Origines Sacrae, b. iii. ch. 4; Poole's Synopsis Criticorumon 
 Genesis vii. 1 9 ; and Poole's Annotations on the Bible, vol. i. on Gen. vii. 1 9, &c. 
 
 £ Dr Prichard has a full exhibition of his views on the point in Re- 
 searches, vol. i., as quoted on this subject. All animals and plants might 
 have been created anew after the deluge. 
 
 § Chr. Examiner, p. 202. 
 
174 LATEST VIEWS OF PROFESSOR AGASSIZ, 
 
 from one common centre both by sea and land ; — that " in the 
 temperate zone," where there is increasing difficulty in the 
 way of such diffusion, " we begin to find more and more 
 marked differences between the inhabitants of different con- 
 tinents, and even between those of the opposite shores of the 
 same ocean ;"* — and that in the tropical climates, where such 
 intercommunication becomes most difficult, there is naturally 
 an entire difference of species. t Every thing, therefore, in 
 the actual arrangement of species over the globe, conspires to 
 show that similarity of species argues similarity of origin, 
 according to the established opinions and observations of 
 naturalists, and we can only wonder at the conclusion drawn 
 against this position from difficulties which can easily be ex- 
 plained by the many fortuitous methods of distributing the 
 seed of plants and the ova of animals. % 
 
 But still farther. It was necessary for M. Agassiz to prove 
 that all other animals were created with such special adapta- 
 tion to their limited zoological provinces, that they are inca- 
 pable of migration and of life in other climates and conditions, 
 in order even analogically to draw a conclusion to the same 
 effect respecting man. He does, indeed, affirm, and in lan- 
 guage sufficiently plain, that " there is not one species of 
 animals that is uniformly spread all over the globe ;" " the 
 universal law is that all animals are circumscribed within 
 definite limits." 
 
 He argues that such migration in animals is in its very na- 
 ture impossible, because it would ascribe to animals them- 
 selves, and to the physical agents under which they lived, 
 forethought and intelligence^ But surely the instincts and 
 sagacity of animals indicate some degree of that intelligence 
 and power in man which he himself allows, to be able to over- 
 rule the natural limitations of nature, and to secure changes 
 
 * Chr. Examiner, pp. 183, 184; and Zoolojry, pp. 154-175. 
 t See on this subject Dr Bachman, p. 150, &c. ; and Dr Prichard, and 
 Load. Quar. Review, January 1850, p. 17. 
 t See Chr. Examiner, p. 192, &c; and Dr Bachman, pp. 251,. 268. 
 § Sec Chr. Examiner, pp. 187, 193, 194, &c. 
 
AND HIS THEORY TESTED. 175 
 
 both as to character and location.* Animals — and espe- 
 cially the higher animals — we affirm, do not act merely 
 " under the pressure of physical causes," but of life, instinct, 
 and a certain degree of intelligence. 
 
 But M. Agassiz not only argues against the possibility of 
 the migration of animals, but, as we have seen, against the 
 fact. This assertion, however, must be greatly qualified. Of 
 wild animals, what are the definite limits within which are 
 circumscribed the wolf, the bear, the ermine, the otter found 
 in Canada and Florida, the common deer breeding in Maine, 
 Carolina, Florida, and Mexico, the buffalo ranging from the 
 tropics to Great Marten Lake in lat. 63° or 64°, once rang- 
 ing through the whole United States, and only restricted from 
 the Eastern Continent by a boundless ocean, the wild turkey, 
 and others ? All other animals also, so far as they are of 
 value to man, are adapted to become naturalized to every 
 climate, and are, therefore, as truly cosmopolite as man, who 
 equally requires naturalization. The horse, ass, cow, sheep, 
 goat, hog, fowl, and turkey, breed in the northern cold, and 
 within the tropics. Nearly all these have become wild in 
 these various regions. Such is the case on all the Western 
 prairies as well as in South America. But their constitution 
 having become adapted both to tropical and temperate regions, 
 did not require them afterwards to remove, and they, even in 
 their wild state, inhabit all these regions. It will also be 
 recollected that domesticated animals have now as wide a dis- 
 persion as man himself. 
 
 It is therefore just as true of other animals as of man, that 
 under his care they are adapted to become cosmopolite. It is 
 just as true of other animals as of man, that in fact they are 
 cosmopolite, and that from certain primitive centres they have 
 been diffused over all parts of the earth to which civilized 
 man has carried them. This is also the case with regard to 
 the Negro, the Mongol, and the other races of men. The ana- 
 logy of nature, therefore, as it regards all the higher animals 
 * See Chr. Examiner, p. 193. 
 
176 LATEST VIEWS OF PROFESSOR AGASSIZ. 
 
 — and it is surely here alone we can look for anv close resem- 
 blance to man — is decidedly and beyond all controversy in 
 favour of the doctrine of one original stock as the source of 
 all the human races.* 
 
 Finally on this analogy. Is not M. Agassi z very incon- 
 sistent in making an analogous condition of the hirer, and 
 especially of the lowest orders (of whom alone he claims any 
 special competency to speak with authority), a ground from 
 which to draw a conclusion respecting man ? In regard to 
 these animals, he argues against the existence of M anv cause 
 by which to account for their dispersion beyond the mere 
 (physical) necessity of removing from their crowded ground, 
 to assume wider limits as their increased number made it ne- 
 cessary. "' He regards them as governed exclusively by " the 
 physical agents under which they live," and as having no will 
 and no forethought. Man, on the contrary, he represents as 
 possessing all these, and, therefore, as t% acting not merely 
 from natural impulses, or under the pressure of physical 
 causes, but as being moved bv a higher will."' t He admits 
 also in regard to man the necessary power of climate, food, 
 and condition, to effect great changes in form and character.}: 
 He attributes to man a power adequate not only to secure 
 these modifications in himself, but also in the lower animals, 
 in contrariety to the natural and universal law of their being. § 
 "We also understood M. Agassiz as affirming in the Associa- 
 tion that the laws and characteristics, both as to origin and 
 diffusion of every class of animals, must be determined by an 
 examination of the facts respecting each class, and not by any 
 general analogy or rules for determining species. Even, 
 therefore, were all that 31. Agassiz assumes as true of the 
 lower animals really the case, it would afford no presumption in 
 
 * On this subject see Maculloch's Proofs of the Attributes of God; 
 LyelTs Second Visit, vol. i., pp. 228, 229; London Quarterly Review, 
 January 1850, p. 17, col. 1 ; Humboldt's Cosmos, p. 363, as quoted before 
 on the fauna of the British Islands. 
 
 t See in Chr. Examiner, pp. 182, 183, 187, 193. 194. and 202. 
 
 % Zoology, pp. 180, 181. § See in Chr. Examiner, p. 193. 
 
AND HIS THEORY TESTED. 177 
 
 regard to man, who is an exception to them all, the lord of all, 
 and pre-eminently distinguished by faculties superior to all.* 
 
 If man is cosmopolite — if species is constant, and depends 
 upon the immaterial principle,-]- — if among the lower animals 
 where there is no will, there are so great and admitted 
 changes,^ — if even in the case of man such changes are 
 allowed to be the inevitable result of alterations in condition, 
 food, climate, &c.§ — how can M. Agassiz consistently argue 
 against the single origin and species of man because of differ- 
 ences among the human races, which are so trifling in com- 
 parison with those in other animals ? || 
 
 No proper analogy can be found among the lower animals 
 to the human race, since, for an argument against the unity 
 of the human species, drawn from the analogy of the lower 
 animals, to be valid, it must, says Dr Latham, be taken from a 
 species coextensive in its geographical distribution with man. 
 
 To be thus coextensive, it must not only be spread over a 
 large area, but it must be spread continuously. 
 
 To be thus coextensive, it must be found at equally high 
 and low sea-levels, as well as at equally distant degrees of 
 latitude and longitude. 5F 
 
 Besides, even if we allow him his plural centres of creation 
 for the human race, what will it profit his theory ? For, 
 multiply these centres as he will, there are still varieties — 
 individual, family, and national — among the same races, 
 which are to the very full as difficult of explanation as those 
 found among the races themselves.** 
 
 III. So much for the analogy of Professor Agassiz. We 
 will now examine his proposed principle of classification. 
 This principle is the result of the modern science of embryo- 
 logy, and is deduced from the regular and invariable order 
 pursued in the gradual development of all animals, from their 
 
 * Zoology, pp. 181 and 206. f Ibid., pp. xiv. 9, 42, 180. ■ 
 X Chr. Exam., p. 194. § Zoology, p. 181. 
 
 II See Chr. Exam., pp. 182, 193, 194. 1} Ibid., p. 567. 
 
 ** See Dr Bachman, 242, and Lond. Quart. Rev., p. 18, col. 2. 
 
 M 
 
178 LATEST VIEWS OF PROFESSOR AGASSIZ, 
 
 condition in the germ to the full maturity of their perfect 
 form. As all animals resemble one another in the earliest 
 transformations, their position in the scale of being is deter- 
 mined by the point at which this development stops, or the 
 extent to which it is carried beyond other species.* There 
 is thus provided in nature itself, an infallible and unchange- 
 able rule for the determination of species, which is destined 
 to work out great and happy results. M. Agassiz has there- 
 fore laid down certain rules, by which to determine "the 
 arrangement of species according to their most natural rela- 
 tions and their rank in the scale of being," or, in other words, 
 " what is that which gives an animal precedence in rank." f 
 
 1. The changes which they undergo during the whole 
 course of their development must be considered.^; 
 
 2. The relative grade of animals is to be appreciated by the 
 comparative study of their development before and after their 
 embryonic period. § 
 
 3. Animals are distinguished also by the nature of their 
 organization when completed ; in some this being very simple, 
 in others extremely complicated. || 
 
 4. An animal is more perfect in proportion as its relations 
 with the external world are more varied, in consequence of 
 its more perfect senses and capacity for motion.^ 
 
 5. Every separate organ is found also to have every degree 
 of complication and nicety in the performance of its function, 
 according to the rank of the animal ; as, for instance, the na- 
 ture, size, and position of the brain.* * 
 
 6. Affinities, or the similarity of purposes and functions, 
 an (J not analogies, or the relation of organs constructed on the 
 same plan, are to guide us in the arrangement of animals.tt 
 
 7. Another principle which must guide in the arrangement 
 of animals, is their relation to the regions they inhabit.jj 
 
 * See Zoology, ch. x., &c, and p. 7- sect. 18-23. 
 t Ibid., ch. i. p. 5, &c. £ Ibid., p. 7, sect. 18, 19. 
 
 § Ibid., p. 7, sect. 20-22. || Ibid., sect. 12. 
 
 1 Ibid., p. 5, sect. 13. ** Ibid., pp. 5, 6, sect. 14-16, 
 
 +t Ibid., p. 6, sect. 16, 17. tt Ibid., p. 8, sect. 23. 
 
AND HIS THEORY TESTED. 179 
 
 8. Besides the distinctions to be derived from the varied 
 structure of organs, there are others not less decisive to be 
 drawn from the immaterial principle, since "it is this which 
 determines the constancy of species from generation to gene- 
 ration," and is " the source of all the varied exhibitions of in- 
 stinct and intelligence/** 
 
 9. "We must not lose sight of the animal in its relations to 
 creation as a whole, in our consideration of its own organism. 
 
 1 0. The highest end of natural history is gained when we 
 are in this way led to " perceive in creation the execution of 
 a plan fully matured in the beginning, and invariably pur- 
 sued as the work of a God infinitely wise." f 
 
 Such, then, is the principle of classification as developed 
 by M. Agassiz, and upon which he and his followers predi- 
 cate the infallible disproof of the unity of the human races. 
 Of course, as it regards the unitv of the human races, the 
 only application this principle can have must be to the diver- 
 sity of the specific characters of men, and not to the plurality 
 of their origin, since upon this latter it can have no bearing. 
 The argument, when analyzed, must be this : — The races of 
 men are proved by these rules to be of different species ; and 
 as this difference has been constant and invariable, these spe- 
 cific distinctions must have been primitive, and their origin 
 distinct and different. 
 
 Our reply to this argument is twofold: First, this principle 
 and these rules of classification do not prove men to be of 
 different species. Secondly, this theory does, on the con- 
 trary, prove that all the races of men are " of one only and 
 the same species." The question of origin is thus left to be 
 determined by the rules and evidence appropriate to it. 
 
 That these rules of classification do not prove men to be of 
 different species is certain; because in the order of their de- 
 velopment, — in its extent, — in its period before and after 
 birth, — in all the structural organization to which it leads, — 
 in the number and relations of all the organs, — in all the laws 
 
 * See Zoology, ch. i. p. 9, sect. 26. t Ibid., p. 10, sect. 29. 
 
180 LATEST VIEWS OF PROFESSOR AGASSIZ, 
 
 of animal life, — in their adaptation to change of climate, food, 
 and condition, — in their immaterial, intellectual, and moral 
 powers, — in these and every thing which characterizes man 
 to be, as M. Agassiz allows, pre-eminently superior to all 
 other animals, all men are, and have been proved to be, essen- 
 tially and indisputably alike. We had intended to take up 
 these rules seriatim, and to apply them to all the principles of 
 embryonic development laid down by M. Agassiz. But it 
 is really unnecessary, since no attempt has been made to prove 
 a difference among the races of men, as measured by these 
 rules, beyond the fact of a comparatively less development of 
 the fingers, and therefore a greater length of web, in the negro 
 hand ; and a similar difference, as alleged by Dr Xeill (though 
 not avowedly for this end), in the edges of the maxillarv 
 bones.* 
 
 That M. Agassiz should seriously urge this peculiarity in 
 the negro as a proof that they are of a race primitively dis- 
 tinct in origin and in specific rank and character as human 
 beings, has been to very many a source of great amazement. 
 In the first place, does not M. Agassiz himself, as we have 
 seen, admit the power of climate, food, condition, and the 
 state and activity of the intelligence and the will, to modify 
 the actual development of men, both as to extent and appear- 
 ance ? Is it not the doctrine of the ablest physiologists that 
 civilization, with all its concomitant influences, does affect 
 the form and development of the brain, the skull, the fea- 
 tures, the passions, and the faculties of men ? t 
 
 And would it not, therefore, be an anomaly, a contradic- 
 tion to all experience, if in the negro race we did not find, in 
 connection with ages of degradation, an imperfect develop- 
 ment, to some extent, in the physical and mental powers? 
 That there are such differences in their actual character and 
 condition all must admit ; and that this is what must have 
 
 * American Journal of Medical Science, Jan. 1850. 
 t See the opinion of Dr Prichard, Carpenter, Lawrence, Dowling, •(Sec- 
 quoted. 
 
AND HIS THEORY TESTED. 181 
 
 been expected, under the circumstances of the case, all must 
 be equally ready to allow. 
 
 But do these variations, in fact, amount to any thing like 
 specific distinctions ? If they do, then similar variations in 
 other animals of the higher order must be sufficient for classi- 
 fying them under different species. But is this clone, or can 
 it be done ? Among dogs, who are regarded even by Dr 
 Morton as of the same species, the Newfoundland race is 
 semi-web-footed to an extent much greater than the negro. 
 There is also a race of dogs in America with very short 
 tails, and a race of cats without tails at all. There is also a 
 race of fowls in that country which are rumpless and destitute 
 of the vertebrae. There is a whole race of hogs with solid 
 hoofs. And in all the domesticated animals, we see in various 
 ways the power of altered condition, food, climate, and habits, 
 in modifying form, character, and general structure. We 
 thus perceive that changes, the very same in kind, and much 
 greater in degree, do result from natural causes working upon 
 the constitutional adaptation of the animal organization in all 
 the higher animals, and we are, therefore, led to conclude 
 that, in view of man's admitted cosmopolite character, his 
 power of self-modification,* and the immeasurably greater 
 changes to which, in all his diversified conditions, he is liable, 
 much greater modifications of form and development might 
 be expected in branches of the same race. 
 
 The principles of classification adopted by M. Agassi z 
 do not, therefore, in any degree militate against the specific 
 character, and, therefore, the original unity of the human 
 races. On the contrary, they afford another and very power- 
 ful criterion by which that unity may be established, since 
 all races of men are found to be conformed in every essen- 
 tial particular to the order of nature in their structural, 
 physiological, and functional development. They are essen- 
 tially the same as he admits in that immaterial principle on 
 
 * See Agassiz in Chr. Examiner, p. 193. 
 
182 LATEST VIEWS OF PROFESSOR AGASSIZ, 
 
 which the constancy of species depends ;* — in the power of 
 will by which they can effect changes ; — in their location, food, 
 employments, and character; — in their embryonic condition and 
 transformations; — in the number, variety, and composition of 
 their tissues ; — in the number, character, and purpose of those 
 large and distinctly limited cavities destined for the lodgment 
 of certain organs, such as the brains, lungs, &c. ; — in the well- 
 defined and compact form of the organs lodged in these ca- 
 vities ; — in the process by which the food is elaborated and 
 digested ; — in the functions of relation and sensation, and, 
 therefore, in their nervous system, its form, arrangement, and 
 volume; — in the peculiar organs which give the sensation of 
 sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch ; — in the structure and 
 position of the eye, ear, and nose ; — in that perception, me- 
 mory, and reasoning w r hich constitute intelligence; — in the 
 entire skeleton, which is an essential test of species ; — in the 
 functions of digestion, circulation, secretion, and respiration ; 
 — in their teeth, their hearts, their skin, their glands ; — in all 
 the peculiarities of the two sexes; — in ovulation; — in the 
 gradation of more and more complicated adaptation by 
 which they are distinguished; — in the same general ap- 
 pearance; — and in all those transformations which pre- 
 cede or which succeed birth, j Physically, intellectually, 
 and morally considered, all men, therefore, " every where, 
 are the one identical species, yet several races." J And 
 hence the result of the application of M. Agassiz's princi- 
 ple is to show, that in all respects wherein all men differ 
 from the lower animals, they are precisely alike to one 
 another, and wherein they differ from each other as races, 
 they differ also as nations, families, and individuals. These 
 differences are, therefore, varieties, and not specific distinc- 
 tions. § " Species," says M. Agassiz, " is the lowest term 
 
 * Zoology, by Agassiz, pp. xiv. and 180. 
 
 + See in Chr. Examiner, p. 193.— Zoology, pp. 15-18, 20, 22, 24, 44, 45, 
 51, 73, 82, 83, 89, 99, 102, 103, 105, 106, 110, 121, 125, 127, 128, 151, 152. 
 X See London Quarterly Review, pp. 10, 12, 13. 
 § Zoology, p. 180, and London Quarterly Review, Jan. 1850, p. 16, col. 2. 
 
AND HIS THEORY TESTED. 183 
 
 to which (in classification) we descend, if we except certain 
 peculiarities/'* And as all men are of one species, the dif- 
 ferences among them must be variations and not specific 
 distinctions. And hence, also, as the variations of the same 
 acknowledged race (as the American and the European, 
 the Mongolian and the African) are as great as the differ- 
 ences of these races from one another, and as they all pass 
 into one another by gradual and insensible transitions, these 
 variations could not have been the result of any original and 
 distinct creation of separate races, f 
 
 We might now proceed to notice the views of Professor 
 Agassiz on the Scriptural relations of this question. But, 
 as these have been already considered, we will only observe, 
 that he confounds altogether the Mosaic testimony respecting 
 the central origin and dispersion of the human race, with its 
 allusions to the lower animals, about which, as we have seen, 
 Scripture makes no definite statement which is not capable of 
 interpretation in accordance with the facts of science. His 
 disproof, therefore, of one common centre of origin for all the 
 fauna and flora of the globe, in no way militates against 
 the clear and frequent testimony of Scripture respecting the 
 common relation of all mankind to Adam and Christ. It is 
 upon this common relation of all men to the first man Adam, 
 and to the second Adam who is Christ, the whole scheme of 
 divine mercy is founded, and an interest in its unspeakable 
 blessings offered to " every creature in all the world." 
 And hence, in rejecting these facts, M. Agassiz will be re- 
 garded by the great body of the Christian world as overturn- 
 ing the very foundations of Christianity itself. 
 
 * Zoology, p. 14, &c, &c. 
 
 f M. Agassiz does not seem to have finally settled his own opinion. 
 See Zoology, p. 204, close. 
 
184 LATEST VIEWS OF PROFESSOR AGASSIZ. 
 
 NOTE. 
 
 HUGH MILLER, ESQ.. ON THE ANALOGICAL ARGUMENT. 
 
 In his notice of this work in the Witness, Mr Miller remarks, — 
 " The analogies may be on the side of the naturalist, — as M. Agassiz 
 says they are, — and he may be quite right in holding, that varieties 
 of the race so extreme as that of the negro on the one side, and the 
 blue-eyed, fair-haired, diaphanous Goth on the other, could not 
 have originated naturally in a species possessed of a common origin, 
 during the brief period limited by authentic history on the one 
 hand, and the first beginnings of a family so recent as that of man 
 on the other. But, though he may possibly be right as a natura- 
 list, — though we think that matter admits of being tried, for it is 
 far from settled, — he may be none the less wrong on that account 
 as a theologian. His inferences may be right and legitimate in 
 themselves, and yet the main deduction founded upon them be 
 false in fact. Let us illustrate. There is nothing more certain 
 than that the human species is of comparatively recent origin. 
 All geological science testifies that man is but of yesterday; and 
 the profound yet exquisitely simple argument of Sir Isaac Xewton, 
 as reported by Mr Conduit, bears with singular effect on the same 
 truth. Almost all the great discoveries and inventions, argued the 
 philosopher, are of comparatively recent origin : perhaps the only 
 crreat invention or discovery that occurs in the fabulous ages of 
 history is the invention of letters : all the others, — such as the 
 mariner's compass, printing, gunpowder, the telescope, the discovery 
 of the Xew World and Southern Africa, and of the true position 
 and relations of the earth in the solar system, — lie within the pro- 
 vince of the authentic annalist ; which, man being the inquisitive, 
 constructive creature that he is, would not be the case were the 
 species of any very high antiquity. We have seen, since the death 
 of Sir Isaac, steam, gas, and electricity, introduced as new forces 
 into the world ; the race, in consequence, has, in less than a cen- 
 tury and a half, grown greatly in knowledge and in power ; and, 
 by the rapid rate of the increase, we argue with the philosopher, 
 that it can by no means be very ancient ; — had it been on the earth 
 twenty, fifty, or a hundred thousand years ago, steam, gas, and 
 electricity would have been discovered hundreds of ages since, and 
 it would at this date have no such room to grow. And the only 
 very ancient history which has a claim to be authentic, — that of 
 Moses, — confirms, we find, the shrewd inference of Sir Isaac. 
 Now, with this fact of the recent origin of the race on the one 
 hand, and the other fact, that the many various languages of the 
 race so differ that there are some of them which have scarce a 
 dozen of words in common, a linguist, who confined himself to the 
 
AND HIS THEORY TESTED. 185 
 
 consideration of natural causes, would be quite justified in arguing 
 that these languages could not possibly have changed to be what 
 they are, from any such tongue, in the some five or six thousand 
 years to which he finds himself restricted by history, geology, 
 and the inferences of Sir Isaac. It takes many centuries tho- 
 roughly to change a language, even in the present state of things, 
 in which divers languages exist, and in which commerce, and 
 conquest, and the demands of literature, are ever incorporating 
 the vocables of one people with those of another. After the 
 lapse of nearly three thousand years, the language of modern 
 Greece is essentially that in which Homer wrote; and by much 
 the larger part of the words in which we ourselves express our 
 ideas, are those which Alfred employed when he propounded 
 his scheme of legislative assemblies and of trial by jury. And were 
 there but one language on earth, changes in words or structure 
 would of necessity operate incalculably more slowly. Nor would 
 it be illogical for the linguist to argue, that if, some five or six 
 thousand years ago, the race, then in their extreme infancy, had 
 not a common language, they could not have originated as one 
 family, but as several, and so his conclusion would in effect be that 
 of the American naturalists. But who does not see that, though 
 right as a linguist, he would be wrong as a theologian, — wrong in 
 fact ? Reasoning on but the common and the natural, he would 
 have failed to take into account, in his calculation, one main 
 element, — the element of miracle, as manifested in the confusion of 
 tongues at Babel ; and his ultimate finding would in consequence 
 be wholly erroneous. Now, it is perhaps equally possible for the 
 naturalist to hold that two such extreme varieties of the human 
 family as the negro and the Goth could not have originated from 
 common parents in the course of a few centuries, — and certainly 
 the negro does appear in history not many centuries after the Flood. 
 He had assumed his deep black hue six hundred years before the 
 Christian era, when Jeremiah used his well-known illustration, 
 " Can the Ethiopian," &c. ; and the negro head and features ap- 
 pear among the sculptures and paintings of Egypt several centu- 
 ries earlier. Nay, negro skulls of a very high antiquity have been 
 found among the mummies of the same ancient kingdom. But 
 though, with distinguished naturalists on the other side, we would 
 not venture authoritatively to determine that a variety so extreme 
 could have originated in the ordinary course of nature in so brief 
 a period, just as we would hesitate to determine that a new lan- 
 guage could originate naturally in other than a very extended 
 term, we would found little indeed upon such a circumstance, in 
 the face of a general tradition that the negroid form and physiog- 
 nomy were marks set upon an offending family, and scarce were 
 less the results of miracle than the confusion of tongues. We are 
 far from sure, however, that it is necessary to have recourse to 
 
186 LATEST VIEWS OF PROFESSOR AGASSIZ, 
 
 rairacle. The Goth is widely removed from the negro ; but there 
 are intermediate types of man that stand in such a midway rela- 
 tion to both, that each variety, taking- these as the central type, is 
 divested of half its extremeness. Did such of our Edinburgh 
 readers as visited the Exhibition of this season mark with what 
 scholar-like exactness and artistic beauty the late Sir William 
 Allan restored, in his last great picture, (** The Cup found in Ben- 
 jamin's Sack,") the original Egyptian form, as exhibited in the 
 messengers of Joseph ? Had the first men, Adam and Noah, been 
 of that mingled negroid and Caucasian type — and who shall say 
 that they were not? — neither the Goth nor the negro would be so 
 extreme a variety of the species as to be beyond the power of 
 natural causes to produce. 
 
 " We had purposed referring at some length to that portion of 
 the argument which is made to rest on analogy. We have, how- 
 ever, more than exhausted our space ; and merely remark, that it 
 is not at all a settled point that the analogies are in favour of crea- 
 tion in a plurality of centres. Linnseus, and his followers in the 
 past, and men such as Edward Forbes in the present, assert exactly 
 the contrary ; and, though the question is, doubtless, an obscure 
 and difficult one, — so much so, that he who takes up either side, 
 and incurs the onus probandi of what he asserts, will find he has 
 but a doubtful case, — the doubt and obscurity lie quite as much 
 on the one side as the other. Even, however, were the analogies 
 with regard to vegetables and the lower animals in favour of crea- 
 tion in various centres, it would utterly fail to affect the argument. 
 Though the dormouse and the Scotch fir had been created in fifty 
 places at once, the fact would not yield us the slightest foundation 
 for inferring that man had originated in more than a single centre. 
 Ultimately, controversies of this character will not fail to be pro- 
 ductive of good. Thev will leave the truth more firmlv established. 
 
 6 
 
 because more thoroughly tried, and the churches more learned. 
 Nay, should such a controversy as the present at length convince 
 the churches that those physical and natural sciences which, dur- 
 ing the present century, have been changing the very face of the 
 world and the entire region of human thought, must be sedu- 
 lously studied by them, and that they can no more remain ignorant 
 without sin than a shepherd can remain unarmed in a country in- 
 fested by beasts of prey, without breach of trust, it will be produc- 
 tive of much greater good than harm." 
 
 ADDRESS BEFORE THE MEDICAL ASSOCIATION OF 
 SOUTH CAROLINA. Bv Dr John Barratt, of Abbeville, 
 S. C. Charleston, 1850. 
 
 " This Address," says the author, " is in performance of a task 
 
AND HIS THEORY TESTED. 187 
 
 not congenial to the habits of our profession." Thirty-three years 
 ago he came to this country "fresh from the land of Wilberforce, 
 with prejudices in favour of universal brotherhood," but " the evi- 
 dences here presented to his senses were paramount ; " " his faith 
 in the doctrines of original unity melted in the light of revelation," 
 and he was filled with the spirit, not of wisdom, but of poetic in- 
 spiration, and gave utterance to these sublimely prophetic words: 
 
 "And I said, if these are brothers, how changed 
 From white to black, from lank to curly hair, 
 With flattened nose, retreating forehead, 
 Short chin, and uncouth thickened lips, 
 As if fancy and nature had combined 
 To mar the godlike form and face of man." * 
 
 From such a revelation we might have expected either an autho- 
 ritative declaration of the truth on this question, or an independent 
 and convincing demonstration. But the spirit of revelation left 
 him, and, amid darkness and perplexity, he is content as a blind 
 man to follow the blind. 
 
 His house is very towering, but it is built upon the sand. An 
 analogy is the sum and substance of his proof: " Every isolated 
 portion of the earth's substance is found to have a flora and a 
 fauna of its own ;" so that probably some fifty such regions could 
 be recognised with species entirely dissimilar, where they could not 
 have originated from other sources, as in the tropics. His theory, 
 therefore, and his argument, are the same as those of Professor 
 Agassiz ; and to our remarks upon them we refer our readers. 
 We will only add here one practical test of the validity of the argu- 
 ment drawn from the apparent differences in men, which, to come 
 within the scope of his analogy at all, must be regarded as specific. 
 
 It must strike every reader of this address that there are great 
 apparent differences in its style. Here and there are found pas- 
 sages which would apparently indicate a different origin from the 
 rest. But are they really so ? When the respected author gives it 
 to the world as his, we have in this a positive testimony, relying 
 upon which we can at once believe in the unity, in the face of all 
 apparent proofs of a diversity of origin. In the same manner 
 when our author, thirty-three years ago, saw for the first time the 
 great apparent differences among God's human creatures, he was led 
 to the conclusion that these must have had a different origin. But 
 in this case, as in his own, we have a declaration from the author 
 of them all, and that too far more explicit than his own, that 
 " God who made the world and all things therein, and giveth to 
 all life and breath, and all things, hath made of one blood all 
 nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth." Shall 
 we then believe the author, or our own hasty impressions ? For 
 our part, we had far rather be found guilty of denying the iden- 
 tical origin and authorship of all the sentiments and paragraphs 
 
 * The Address is closed with a poem of at least equal beauty and sublimity. 
 
J 88 LATEST VIEWS OF PROFESSOR AGASSIZ, ETC. 
 
 of this address, than the identical origin in " one blood" of all the 
 races of men. 
 
 To this alternative Dr Barratt, however, has not driven us. He 
 claims to be a Christian, and he feels a deep reverence for the re- 
 vealed Word of God, and as from this " arises his objection to an 
 appeal to the Bible to support or condemn any hypothesis or theo- 
 ries (?) of nature," we cannot believe he will call God a liar, in order 
 to maintain an inconsequential inference from an imperfect and 
 altogether misplaced analogy. He will no longer, therefore, per- 
 vert and profane Scripture by speaking of the negro race as still 
 li maintaining his integrity" that is, his colour, or of the Israelites as 
 God's " peculiar people," on account of physical peculiarities. 
 Far better for Dr Barratt to maintain his integritv as a Christian, 
 and believe as he appears to do, (see p. 43,) that " man was not 
 diversified in his original creation, the law of physical change, and 
 moral fitness being passed on the Babel throng at the dispersion, 
 to occupy the earth's dissimilar surface." On this basis we are 
 happy to assure him " there is no tendency to scepticism, but, on 
 the contrary, it is nature harmonizing with revelation." 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE UNITY OF THE RACES PROVED FROM THEIR FERTILITY. 
 AND THE INFERTILITY OF HYBRIDS. 
 
 That only is reasonable which is true ; that only can be legitimately 
 affirmed to be true which can be clearly proced to be true. All be- 
 yond is conjecture, and conjecture is not science. — Ethnological 
 Journal. 
 
 The sole consideration inductive research regards is the accuracy and truth 
 of its evidence. — Powell's Nat. and Divine Truth. 
 
 Xiture will perpetuate varieties, for this is in accordance with her opera- 
 tions ; but refuses to multiply hybrids, for this is contrary to her laws. 
 — Dr Bachjian. 
 
 We are now led to remark, that among all other animals, 
 without exception, different species remain separate and dis- 
 tinct — do not naturally and voluntarily associate, breed, or 
 mate together, and are not capable of uniform, invariable, 
 and permanent continuance by natural propagation. For 
 the full and indubitable establishment of these positions we 
 refer to the profound and elaborate work of our friend, the 
 Rev. Dr Bachman, who is, we believe, admitted to be the 
 most eminent of American naturalists, and not inferior in 
 his departments to any of any country. In this work he has 
 incontrovertibly established the positions above stated, and 
 by an examination, seriatim, has shown the incorrectness of 
 every instance adduced by Dr Morton to prove that a fertile 
 progeny has been produced by the union of animals — both 
 birds and quadrupeds — which were of different species. 
 
190 UNITY OF RACES PROVED FROM THEIR FERTILITY. 
 
 Formerly the constancy and fertility of offspring were re- 
 garded by naturalists as infallible criteria of species. Con- 
 stant reproduction, therefore, entered into the definition of 
 species as given by Buffon, Cuvier, and others. Flourens. 
 after citing Buffon and Cuvier's definitions of species as based 
 on constant reproduction, concludes that " unity, absolute 
 unity, of the human species, and variety of all its races as a 
 final result, is the general and certain conclusion of all the 
 facts acquired concerning the natural history of man."' * 
 
 To prevent the inevitable certainty of this conclusion, and 
 the consequent establishment of the truth of Scripture in one 
 important doctrine which it every where affirms and implies, 
 great efforts have been made to produce hybrid breeds, and 
 from them to secure permanent and fertile varieties. The 
 results seemed so far favourable to the opponents of the unitv 
 of the races, as to lead Drs Prichard, Lawrence, and others, 
 to abandon constant reproduction as an infallible mark of 
 species. To sustain this position, Dr Morton published an 
 elaborate essav, in which he accumulated with crreat industrv 
 and learning all the instances of fertile hybrids which had 
 occurred. This essay was entitled, ; - Hybridity in Animals 
 considered in reference to the question of the Unity of the 
 Human Race." 
 
 To this question Dr Bachman has devoted years of ex- 
 periment, observation, and study, both in Europe and Ame- 
 rica, and to its thorough examination he has appropriated a 
 large portion of his volume, which has lately issued from the 
 pre.--. 
 
 " The object," says Dr Bachman, " of Dr Morton's paper 
 is to show from facts, ' that different species of animals are 
 capable of producing together a prolific hybrid offspring, and 
 therefore that hybridity ceases to be a test of specific affilia- 
 tion/ ' Consequently, the mere fact that the several races of 
 mankind produce with each other a more or less fertile pro- 
 
 * Annales des Sciences Nat. t. x.. Dec. 1C33, p. 361; do. in Rev. of Mor- 
 ton, pp. 5. 6. 
 
AND THE INFERTILITY OF HYBRIDS. 191 
 
 geny, constitutes in itself no proof of the unity of the human 
 species.' 
 
 " The infertility of hybrids has always been a stumbling- 
 block in the way of their theory, who deny the unity of the 
 human race. If the races of men produced fertile offspring 
 with each other, and the races of inferior animals did not, — 
 if the latter were found to be barren and unfruitful, and the 
 former increased and multiplied, and replenished the earth, 
 then they would be obliged to prove that man was an excep- 
 tion to this universal and invariable law that regulated the 
 whole of the inferior creation. They possessed no evidence 
 to prove this ; for although man in his moral nature is en- 
 dowed with high intellectual powers, yet in his physical 
 nature he is an animal, coming into the world like other 
 animals, and like them returning to the dust. In this dilemma 
 they resorted to the desperate expedient of endeavouring to 
 show, that in respect to the fertility of hybrid offspring man 
 was not peculiar ; that many races of animals could be found 
 possessing the same physical powers of producing interme- 
 diate and fertile races. Hence they have ransacked the al- 
 most forgotten tales of ancient travellers, and dragged from 
 obscurity the vulgar errors long hidden beneath the dust 
 of antiquity, and indulged themselves in conjectures and 
 doubts, in order to weaken the faith of men in the long- 
 established views of naturalists in regard to the sterility of 
 hybrids. Our object has been to show the frail tenure of the 
 foundation on which they leaned for support, the many 
 errors which they triumphantly paraded as facts, and the 
 weakness of the arguments by which they sought to build up 
 their theory. 
 
 " We will endeavour now to offer our reasons and produce 
 our facts to prove that several of his facts are not supported 
 by competent authority, that others are disproved by na- 
 turalists of high authority, and that when the statements con- 
 tained in his papers have been so expurgated as to be freed 
 from matters admitted on very doubtful authority, the result 
 
192 UNITY OF RACES PROVED FROM THEIR FERTILITY, 
 
 will prove that his facts militate against his theory, and go 
 to maintain the view we have adopted after some sacrifice of 
 time, and no small degree of labour." 
 
 After devoting a full examination to every instance al- 
 leged by Dr Morton in favour of the fertile hybridity of ani- 
 mals, Dr Bachman concludes : — fcC We have now seen that, 
 with all the ingenuity of the believers in the fertility of hybrids, 
 they have not been able to produce a solitary case in which 
 they have clearly and incontestably proved that a single race 
 of animals or birds has been perpetuated from hybrids of two 
 or more species. Their vague assertions have been hazarded 
 without proof, and have been contradicted by the experience 
 of many eminent naturalists, whose general knowledge and 
 habits of close investigation have certainly given them equal 
 claims on public confidence. 
 
 " In one case out of a hundred — such as the instances of 
 the buffalo and common cow among quadrupeds, and that of 
 the China and common goose among birds, which are the 
 only two cases well attested — hybrids have been productive, 
 but this did not continue beyond two or three generations, 
 and could be prolonged only with the pure blood of either 
 stock, and of course either died out, or returned to their ori- 
 ginal species. We have no doubt that among a few species, 
 especially the ducks, some may produce hybrids constituted 
 like those from the China goose, to produce progeny for even 
 two or three generations before absolute sterility occurs. We 
 observed a cross of this kind in the Zoological Gardens, be- 
 tween the common duck and some other European duck, we 
 believe the shell-drake (Atadorna), which was said to have 
 been fertile for at least one or two generations. Of the re- 
 maining number that are recorded by Dr Morton, the cases 
 of hybridity may be set down as those of absolute sterility, 
 since, had it been otherwise, the world would have been 
 made acquainted with the important facts." 
 
 After enumerating a multitude of cases of sterility, Dr 
 Bachman proceeds to remark : — " We could add half a page 
 
AND THE INFERTILITY OF HYBRIDS. 193 
 
 to this list, and of these not a few were produced under our 
 own eye ; but this would be superfluous. In all these cases, 
 nature proclaims her determination to preserve the races in 
 spite of all intermeddling with her operations. This stamps 
 upon these unnatural offspring the seal of sterility ; and nearly 
 all the cases that Dr Morton has cited, and fifty more that 
 are on record, are so many proofs of the errors in the theory 
 of Col. Smith, and all who have adopted his speculative no- 
 tions. Each new case of a sterile hybrid is an additional 
 evidence in favour of our theory, that the laws of nature are 
 opposed to the production of new races by the commingling 
 of two or more species. 
 
 " Nor should the fact be overlooked, that the occurrences 
 in hybridity that are on record have taken place at very long 
 intervals of time, and in most cases through the artificial 
 agency of man. There is a repugnance among the wild 
 species to such a union, and it only occurs when the indivi- 
 duals unnaturally paired are entirely excluded from those of 
 their own species. Even should an attachment take place, 
 the organic differences in the different species, in the majority 
 of instances, prevent the production of any issue. 
 
 " In reading the articles of Dr Morton, we have frequently 
 been reminded of another fact. Nearly all the examples 
 which he had quoted, that have an important bearing on this 
 subject, are brought to us from so great a distance, that we 
 have not the means of investigating the accuracy of the state- 
 ments; and courtesy would lead us not to deny that which 
 we have not the means of disproving. But why carry us to 
 Egypt, to the Steppes of Tartary, to the Island of Java, and 
 the wilds of Paraguay and Yucatan, to ascertain the truth 
 of the relations of Maga and De la Malle, the beytraege of 
 Rudolphi, the rambles of Captain Stedman, or the interested 
 collector who sent to Temminck his specimens of wild and 
 tame cocks and curassoes ? Have v, e not a right to suppose 
 that the same prodigies that have occurred elsewhere will 
 take place here ? Striking and permanent varieties, it must 
 
 N 
 
194 UNITY OF RACES PROVED FROM THEIR FERTILITY, 
 
 be admitted, have occurred in our country, as they have else- 
 where. The wolf, the squirrel, the deer, the black rat, the 
 Norway rat, and the white footed mouse, among wild ani- 
 mals, have produced their permanent varieties ; and among 
 the domesticated ones, the cow, the hog, the sheep, the pea- 
 fowl, and Guinea hen, and the common fowl, have, within 
 our own memories, exhibited this phenomenon. But from 
 whence have these varieties been derived? Not surely from 
 any intermixture of any two species, for there were no species 
 with which they could unite ; they have sprung up with them- 
 selves, and were not indebted to any foreign alliance for the 
 changes which nature produced." 
 
 The following are the conclusions to which Dr Bachman 
 believes himself incontrovertibly led by the facts in regard to 
 all animals: — 
 
 " 1. Nature, in all her operations, by the peculiar organiza- 
 tion of each species — by their instinctive repugnance to an 
 association — by the infertility of a hybrid production, when 
 by art or accident this takes place — and by the extinction of 
 these hybrids in a very short period of time, gives us the 
 most indubitable evidence that the creation of species is an 
 act of Divine power alone, and cannot be effected by any 
 other means. 
 
 u 2. That no race of animals has ever sprung from a com- 
 mingling of two or more species. 
 
 " 3. Domestication, in every species that has been Drought 
 under subjection, produces striking and often permanent varie- 
 ties, but has never evolved a faculty to produce fertile hybrids. 
 
 " 4. Since no two species of animals have ever been known 
 to produce a prolific hybrid race, therefore hybridity is a test 
 of specific character. 
 
 " 5. Consequently the fact that all the races of mankind 
 produce with each other a fertile progeny, by which means 
 new varieties have been produced in every country, consti- 
 tutes one of the most powerful and undeniable arguments in 
 favour of the unity of the races." 
 
AND THE INFERTILITY OF HYBRIDS. 195 
 
 In accordance with these conclusions, Professor Owen says: 
 — " The tendency of all the natural phenomena relating to 
 hybridity is to prevent its taking place, and, when it has oc- 
 curred, to arrest the propagation of varieties so produced, and 
 to limit their generative powers so as to admit only of rever- 
 sion to the original specific forms. The individuals of different 
 species do not voluntarily copulate. In a few exceptional 
 cases, serving only to establish the rule of their inferiority, 
 specific hybrids have been known to propagate together and 
 produce a degenerate intermediate race, which soon becomes 
 extinct ; it more commonly happens that a hybrid is sterile, 
 or propagates only with an individual of pure breed." 
 
 " We would ask, then," says Dr B., " those who consider 
 the races of men as composed of different species, why all the 
 varieties of men are found to produce fertile new races, whilst 
 we discover that when we associate two true species of other 
 animals their products are hybrids, and incapable of perpe- 
 tuating a race ? Why is it that they have been so much 
 staggered and perplexed by this most important fact ? Why 
 was it that, in order to escape from this annoying difficulty, 
 they were for so many years engaged in vain and ineffectual 
 endeavours to prove that the descendants of their two species 
 of men, the white and the black, were hybrids ? First, they 
 endeavoured to show that they were sterile ; then, that they 
 were only prolific with one or the other of the original spe- 
 cies; and finally, that the hybrid race soon died out. When 
 at last the supporters of their own doctrines pointed out to 
 them races that had existed and multiplied for hundreds of 
 years, and. were now as healthy and fertile as any of the other 
 races of men, why have they so suddenly shifted their sails on 
 the other side, and would carry their sinking bark to a port 
 of safety under the false colours of fertile hybrids in the lower 
 races ? 
 
 " Let it then be understood, that we have no case on record 
 where a single new race of animal or bird has sprung up from 
 an association of two different species. 
 
196 UNITY OF RACES PROVED FROM THEIR FERTILITY, 
 
 " All the varieties of the human species are known to pro- 
 pagate with each other — to produce fertile progeny, which 
 has continued to propagate from the earliest periods on record, 
 through ever) T succeeding age, up to the present period. In 
 this way new races have been formed and perpetuated. Since 
 this is known to he the case, then, if these various races of 
 men are composed of different species, they will prove an ex- 
 ception to the general law by which all other organized beings 
 are governed; and it rests with our opponents to show where- 
 in this organization consists, and why man should be an ex- 
 ception to these laws of the Creator which are stamped on 
 all the inferior races. 
 
 " It is, then, as our opponents are aware, a long- established 
 and undeniable fact, that all the races of men, in every age 
 and in every country, produce offspring in their association 
 with each other. That the Caucasian, Mongolian, African, 
 Malay, and the aboriginal American, all are affording us the 
 most convincing evidences of this fact. That in this manner 
 many new intermediate races have been produced on the 
 confines of Asia, Africa, and Europe ; and that, within the 
 last two hundred years, a new race has sprung up in Mexico 
 and South America, between one branch of the Caucasian and 
 the native Indian, together with no small admixture of Afri- 
 can blood. They are aware that in the United States, whose 
 first permanent settlement commenced in Virginia in 1607, 
 the two extremes of African and Caucasian have met and 
 produced an intermediate race. We know them to be fully 
 as prolific, if not more so, as the whites, where their constitu- 
 tions have not been wasted by dissipation. We will not stop 
 to inquire whether this race is equally as long-lived as either 
 of their originals ; but even here we would find no difficulty, 
 as no one will be disposed to deny the fact that some races of 
 the pure Caucasian, the Mongolian, and African families are 
 more robust and longer-lived than others. The facts, how- 
 ever, are undeniable, that all these half-breeds are prolific 
 with each other ; and we can point out at least the descen- 
 
AND THE INFERTILITY OF HYBRIDS. 197 
 
 dants of five generations, both in Carolina and New York, 
 where there has been no intermixture with either of the ori- 
 ginal varieties, and they are to this day as prolific as any of 
 the other races of men. We are aware that laboured articles 
 have been written to show that the descendants of the two 
 races, especially those between the Caucasian and African, in 
 the process of time become sterile. We have not, however, 
 of late, heard this argument insisted on, and we believe it is 
 virtually abandoned. 
 
 "The learned researches of Dr Morton {Crania A meri- 
 cana\ which are characterized by great knowledge and sound 
 discrimination, will, we think, set this matter for ever at rest. 
 The accounts scattered throughout his essay, of the many 
 intermediate tribes of nations that have derived their origin 
 from an admixture of Mongolian, Malayan, American, Cau- 
 casian, and African blood, are calculated to convince all who 
 have hitherto entertained any doubts on this subject, that not 
 only these widely separated, but all the varieties in the hu- 
 man species, produce in perpetuity an intermediate and fertile 
 progeny. Make Brun, speaking of the Portuguese in Africa, 
 says : ' The Rio South branch is inhabited by the Maloes, 
 a negro race, so completely mingled with the descendants of 
 the original Portuguese as not to be distinguished from them.' 
 Several writers inform us that there is a large and growing 
 tribe in South Africa called the Griqua, on Orange river, be- 
 ing a mixture of the original Dutch settlers and the Hotten- 
 tots, composed of more than five thousand souls. These are 
 referred to by Thompson and Lichtenstein, in their travels in 
 South Africa. Several similar races, a mixture of the African 
 and Spaniard or Portuguese, exist in South America, sepa- 
 rated from other communities. The last calculation we have 
 read of the population composed of the mixed races, in North 
 and South America, amounted to upwards of five millions." 
 
 To conclude : since this law of uniform, permanent, and 
 natural propagation has been made by God an invariable 
 mark of specific difference among all other animals, it follows 
 
198 UNITY OF RACES PROVED, ETC. 
 
 that, as the present inhabitants of the earth are made up of 
 races formed by the amalgamation of many varieties, the hu- 
 man family must be of one species.* 
 
 * Mr Martin has devoted a long and able chapter, in his Natural His- 
 tory of Man and Monkeys, to this question, and with similar results. See 
 pp." 160-178. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE UNITY OF THE RACES PROVED FROM THE UNIVER- 
 SALITY, NATURE, AND CONNECTION OF LANGUAGES. 
 
 IIOAAAI ptv Svvrois TAfiTTAI, pta, l' ' 'KSa.ta.roKn. 
 
 Ttcuf ot ovras oftoyXw<r<rov; ix, ®iouv vroXvtipov <pcov^v ivxixaffScci vvv BofZvXuv 
 Kx\a<ra,i, oia, -mv (ruy^vav rou Ttpt £/a tzv Xixrov vrpar'AV i*a,(>yov$. — 
 Abyuenus in Euseb. Chron. p. 13. 
 
 This problem of the antiquity of the human species is most likely to be 
 worked through the phenomena of language. When determined, it will 
 give precision to the recent period of the geologist, converting it from 
 a relative into a conventionally absolute epoch. — Dr Latham. 
 
 Language is the miracle of human nature, at once its chief 
 distinction and its highest glory. The lower animals can 
 indeed communicate with one another by signs and sounds, 
 but they cannot speak. They are destitute of vocal organs, 
 and of the thoughts that breathe and the words that burn. 
 Between those voices of which lower animals are capable and 
 the language of man, there is very little analogy. Human 
 language is capable of expressing ideas and notions which 
 there is every reason to believe that the mind of the brutes can- 
 not conceive. " Speech," says Aristotle, a is made to indicate 
 what is expedient and what is inexpedient ; and in conse- 
 quence of this, what is just and unjust. It is therefore given 
 to men, because it is peculiar to them, that of good and evil, 
 of just and unjust, they only, with respect to other animals, 
 possess a sense or feeling." The voices of brutes seem intended 
 by nature to express, not distinct ideas or moral modes, but 
 only such feelings as it is for the good of the species that they 
 should have the power of making known ; and in this as in 
 
200 UNITY OF RACES PROVED FROM UNIVERSALITY, 
 
 all other respects, these voices are analogous, not to speak- 
 ing, but to weeping, laughing, singing, groaning, scream- 
 ing, and other natural and audible expressions of passion or 
 appetite. 
 
 Another difference between the language of men and the 
 voices of brute animals consists in articulation, by which the 
 former may be resolved into distinct elementary sounds or 
 syllables ; whereas the latter, being for the most part inarti- 
 culate, are not capable of such a resolution. Hence Homer 
 and Hesiod characterize man by the epithet /xspo-^, or voice- 
 dividing, as denoting a power peculiar to the human species ; 
 for though there are a few birds which utter sounds that 
 may be divided into syllables, yet each of these birds utters 
 but one such sound, which seems to be employed rather as 
 a note of natural music than for the purpose of giving in- 
 formation to others ; and hence, when the bird is agitated, 
 it utters cries which are very different, and have no articu- 
 lation. 
 
 A third difference between the language of men and the 
 significant cries of brute animals is, that the former is the 
 product of art, the latter derived from nature. Every human 
 language is learned by imitation, and is intelligible only to 
 those who either inhabit the country where it is vernacular, 
 or have been taught it by a master or by books. But the 
 voices in question are not learned by imitation ; and being 
 wholly instinctive, they are intelligible to all the animals of 
 that species by which they are uttered, though brought to- 
 gether from the most distant countries on earth.* 
 
 The existence, therefore, of language, is itself a proof of 
 the specific character and unity of humanity of all the races 
 of men among whom language is found. 
 
 " The great difference between man and the higher brutes 
 appears to me," says Archbishop Whateley, " to consist in the 
 power of using signs — arbitrary signs — and employing Ian- 
 
 * Encyclopedia Britannica, art. Language. See also the London Quar- 
 terly Review, Jan. 1850, pp. 19, 20. 
 
NATURE, AND CONNECTION OF LANGUAGES. 201 
 
 guage as an instrument of thought. We are accustomed to 
 speak of language as useful to man, to communicate his 
 thoughts. I consider this as only one of the uses of language. 
 That use of language which, though commonly overlooked, is 
 the most characteristic of man, is as an instrument of thought. 
 Man is not the only animal that can make use of language 
 to express what is passing within his mind, and that can un- 
 derstand, more or less, what is so expressed by another. Some 
 brutes can be taught to utter, and many others to understand, 
 more or less imperfectly, sounds expressive of certain emo- 
 tions. Every one knows that the dog understands the gene- 
 ral drift of expressions used ; and parrots can be taught not 
 only to pronounce words, but to pronounce them with some 
 consciousness of the general meaning of what they utter. 
 We commonly speak, indeed, of * saying so-and-so by rote as 
 a parrot;' but it is by no means true that they are quite un- 
 conscious of the meaning of the sounds. Parrots do not 
 utter words at random ; for they call for food; when displeased, 
 scold ; and use expressions in reference to particular persons 
 which they have heard applied to them. They evidently have 
 some notion of the general drift of many expressions which 
 they use. Almost every animal which is capable of being 
 tamed can, in some degree, use language as an indication of 
 what passes within. But no animal has the use of language 
 as an ' instrument of thought/ Man makes use of general 
 signs in the application of his power of abstraction by which 
 he is enabled to reason ; and the use of arbitrary general signs, 
 what logicians call ' common terms,' with a facility of thus 
 using abstraction at pleasure, is a characteristic of man. 
 
 M By the expression ' making use of abstraction,' I do not 
 mean our merely recognising the general character of some 
 individual, not seen before, of a class we are acquainted with ; 
 as when, for instance, any one sees for the first time some par- 
 ticular man or horse, and knows that the one is a man, and 
 the other a horse ; for this is evidently done by brutes. A 
 bird, for instance, which has been used to fly from men, and 
 
202 UNITY OF RACES PROVED FROM UNIVERSALITY, 
 
 not from oxen, will fly from an individual man whom it has 
 never seen before, and will have no fear of an ox. But this 
 is not having what I call the power of using abstraction at 
 pleasure. It is merely that similar qualities affect animals in 
 a similar way. With certain descriptions of forms are asso- 
 ciated ideas of fear or gratification. Thus, a young calf readily 
 comes up to a woman whom it sees for the first time, because 
 a woman has been used to feed it with milk ; while the young 
 of wild animals fly from any human being. But I speak of 
 man being able so to use the power of abstraction as to 
 employ signs to denote any or every individual of a certain 
 class. 
 
 " It is hardly necessary to add, that I am a decided nomi- 
 nalist. The abstract ideas of which persons speak, and the 
 mere names of which language is represented as furnishing, 
 are things to which I am a stranger. The using of signs of 
 some kind, such as have been above described, the combining 
 and recombining of these in various ways, and the analyzing 
 and constructing of passages wherein they occur, this is what 
 I mean by the employment of language as an instrument of 
 thought; and this is what no brute has arrived at. Brutes have, 
 more or less, the use of language to convey to others what is 
 passing within them. But the power of employing abstrac- 
 tion at pleasure, so as to form ' general signs,' and make use 
 of these signs as an instrument of thought in carrying on the 
 process which is strictly called Reasoning, is probably the 
 chief difference of man and the brute." * 
 
 But still further, language is also a proof of the original 
 unity of all men. Even Lord Monboddo candidly acknow- 
 ledges, that if language was invented, it was of very difficult 
 invention, and far beyond the reach of the grossest savages. 
 Accordingly, he holds that though men were originally soli- 
 tary animals, and had no natural propensity to the social 
 life, yet, before language could be invented, they must have 
 been associated for ages, and have carried on in concert some 
 common work. 
 
 * See " On Instinct;' Dublin, 1847, pp. \l-20. 
 
NATURE, AND CONNECTION OF LANGUAGES. 203 
 
 Man, however, we may confidently affirm, never could have 
 invented language. Aristotle has defined man to be £wov 
 jUjj/xrjrixov, or imitative animal, and the definition is certainly 
 so far just, that man is much more remarkable for imitation 
 than invention ; therefore, had the human race been originally 
 mutum et turpe pecus, they would have continued so to the 
 end of time, unless they had been taught to speak by some 
 superior intelligence. 
 
 It is now, therefore, generally conceded that language was 
 originally imparted by God, and hence we must conclude, 
 that, as God does not work unnecessary miracles, it was 
 given to one original pair, and not to many in different por- 
 tions of the earth. * 
 
 Language then, every where, and in all cases, proves de- 
 monstrably the existence of the same human nature in all 
 who possess it. u The fact," says Isaac Taylor,t " that every 
 language of civilized men comprises a large class of words and 
 phrases dependent one upon another for their meaning, and 
 related closely or remotely to a certain property or function 
 of human nature, and which terms we can by no means dis- 
 pense with in describing man, as he is distinguished from the 
 terrestrial orders around him ; this fact, attaching universally 
 to the vehicle of thought, affords all the proof which a strict 
 logic would grant of such an identity. 
 
 " And what is true of language generally respecting human 
 nature at large, is true in particular of the language of each 
 race, respecting its characteristics, and even its history. 
 
 "And it deserves particularly to be noted, that while the lan- 
 guage of civilized races at large furnishes evidence on all 
 points touching man's nature, physical, intellectual, and moral, 
 those especial refinements which characterize this or that lan- 
 guage, and which have resulted from the eminent attainments 
 
 * See Dr Spring on the Obligations of the World to the Bible; Wall's 
 elaborate and learned volumes on the Origin of Alphabetic Writing, vol. i.; 
 and Encyclop. Brit., as above. 
 
 f " Responsibility of Man," p. 4, &c. 
 
204 UNITY OF RACES PROVED FROM UNIVERSALITY, 
 
 of the people using it, only serve to exhibit that one rudiment 
 of human nature, as we might say, magnified, and its inner 
 structure expanded. 
 
 " Were it, for instance, questioned whether man be an ima- 
 ginative being, formed to catch analogies, and to be charmed 
 with resemblance, three-fourths of every language, barbarous 
 or civilized, attest the fact; nor is this evidence touched by 
 any instances of what may be false in taste, or factitious in 
 the literature of the people. Or is the question, ' Am I re- 
 sponsible — am I a moral agent — am I to be held accountable 
 for my temper, dispositions, and conduct; and am I so con- 
 stituted as that a future retribution will be a lit issue of my 
 present course of life V If this be the question, it is answered 
 at once concisely and conclusively, by simply appealing to 
 the mere words that must be employed to express it. If we 
 suppose, then, our objector to have complied, he stands con- 
 vinced ; at least, if his mind have been trained to habits of 
 logical inquiry, he will not fail to see that in describing the 
 moral nature, with the intent to deny it, he has unwittingly 
 affirmed it, and we might say to him, — ' more convincing 
 than any syllogisms, or than any discursive argument, in proof 
 of the reality of that moral scheme which you call in ques- 
 tion, are the words (considered as products of the human 
 mind) to which you have been compelled to have recourse in 
 announcing your scepticism.' The system we live under is 
 in fact a moral system in the highest sense, because among all 
 people with whom the human nature has been at all expanded, 
 a copious vocabulary of terms is found, to which no sense 
 could be assigned in a world of beings, either purely spiritual, 
 ox purely intellectual, or purely physical. 
 
 u If man be not a moral agent, and if his sphere do not im- 
 measurably transcend that of the sentient orders around him, 
 how comes he to talk as if he were ? If, in regard to a moral 
 system, he be only a brute of finer form, born of the earth, 
 and returning to it, whence is it that, in respect of virtue and 
 vice, of good and evil, the dialect of heaven rolls over his lips? 
 
NATURE, AND CONNECTION OF LANGUAGES. 205 
 
 When was it, and how, that he stole the vocabulary of the 
 skies?" 
 
 The testimony to the common humanity of every race of 
 men who possess a language, as it is given by that language, 
 is therefore beyond all controversy. " Language," continues 
 this writer, " when combined in continuous discourse, may in- 
 deed, and too often does, convey notions totally false and 
 absurd : but language itself, which is at once the engine of 
 cogitation, and the record of all facts permanently or inci- 
 dentally attaching to human nature : language, the most fal- 
 lacious of historians, which, while it notes the revolutions of 
 empires, is the enduring type of the visible world, and the 
 shadow of the invisible — the mirror of the universe, as known 
 to man — language never lies; how should it do so, seeing 
 that it is itself the creature and reflection of nature ? As well 
 deny that the trees, buildings, rocks, and clouds, painted on 
 the bosom of a tranquil lake, are images of realities; as well 
 do this, as assume that language, in the abstract, has ever 
 belied humanity, or presented any elements foreign to our 
 constitution. Philosophers or teachers may have affirmed, 
 and the multitude may have believed, far more than could 
 be proved ; meantime the vehicle they have employed in de- 
 fining and promulgating such illusions has faithfully embo- 
 died the permanent varieties of philosophy and religion, just 
 as a wonder-loving traveller, while he tells a thousand tales 
 of griffons and dragons, sets us right by the dumb testimony 
 of the specimens he has brought with him. Men might as 
 easily create to themselves a sixth sense as fabricate and 
 retain in use a system of terms having no architypes in 
 nature." 
 
 This leads us to remark that the unity of the human races 
 is proved not only by their possession of language, which is 
 the high and peculiar attribute of humanity, and by the in- 
 controvertible evidence given in every language of all the 
 common attributes of man's intellectual and moral nature, 
 but also by the high degree of perfection to which the Ian- 
 
206 UNITY OF RACES PROVED FROM UNIVERSALITY, 
 
 guage of some of the lowest tribes of people, considered ac- 
 cording to physical qualities, are elevated. Of this we may 
 give an example in the Mpongwee language spoken by nu- 
 merous tribes in Western Africa.* A communication also 
 appears in the London Literary Gazette, written by Mr 
 Koelle, one of the Sierra Leone agents of the Church Mis- 
 sionary Society, describing the discovery of a written lan- 
 guage in the interior of Africa. This discovery was made 
 under the following circumstances : — Captain Forbes, on the 
 station there, being one day on shore near Cape Mount, on 
 or near the northern boundary of the American colony of 
 Liberia, saw some unknown characters on a native house. 
 On making inquiries, he learned that these characters repre- 
 sented the Yy language ; and he found a man of the Vy na- 
 tion who possessed a book, and was able to read the charac- 
 ters. The man remained several days on board the vessel of 
 Captain Forbes, and was seen there by Mr Koelle, who also 
 saw the book and heard him read it. The man stated that 
 the art of writing was communicated to his nation by eight 
 strangers from the interior a long time ago : that schools 
 were instituted, and the people generally taught ; but that the 
 inroads of the Portuguese had checked education, and few 
 could now read. Mr Koelle says the alphabet of this lan- 
 guage consists of about one hundred letters, each representing 
 a syllable. He gives a short specimen of the alphabet, and a 
 list of about fifty words. The new character is said to have 
 no analogy with any other known. 
 
 In a great number of languages, says Mr Duponceau,t of 
 which no grammars or dictionaries yet exist, there are still 
 specimens which afford a tolerable opportunity of estimating 
 their general character and analogies ; and as far as these 
 data extend, it would appear that similar laws of construction 
 
 * See an article by the Rev. John Leighton Wilson in the Bibliotheca 
 Sacra, and the Journal of the American Ethnological Society ; and also 
 Bartlett's Progress of Ethnology, pp. 34, 35. 
 
 f See in Prichard, vol. v. p. 306. 
 
NATURE, AND CONNECTION OF LANGUAGES. 207 
 
 are universal among the idioms of the New World. M Many 
 of these languages, as that of theLenni Lenape in particular, 
 would appear rather from their construction to have been 
 formed by philosophers in closets than by savages in the wil- 
 derness." This is an assertion, which, though true, appears 
 improbable, and the author of the remark offers the best de- 
 fence that can be given. " If it should be asked," he says, 
 "how this can have happened, I can only answer that I have 
 been ordered to collect and ascertain facts, and not to build 
 theories." 
 
 Another observation is of importance in this argument, and 
 that is, that similarity of language proves identity of origin 
 among nations of the most contrary physical characters. As 
 this argument, however, has been very elaborately presented 
 by Dr Wiseman, it need not be here very fully developed. 
 The reader is therefore requested to study the first two of 
 this able writer's Lectures on the Connection between Science 
 and Religion. I will in the next chapter proceed to offer 
 some additional illustrations. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 UNITY OF THE RACES PROVED FROM THE UNIVERSALITY, 
 NATURE, AND CONNECTION OF LANGUAGES- 
 CONCLUDED. 
 
 That language should exist at all, and that it should exist among every 
 people and community of the earth, even those lowest in the scale of 
 civilization, is in itself a cogent argument for the unity of man as a 
 species — London Quarterly Review. 
 
 The classification of language is, in truth, the classification of mankind. 
 The migration and intermixture of languages are records of the changes 
 and movements of man over the face of the globe. 
 
 In our previous chapter on this subject, we have shown that 
 language is a peculiar characteristic of man, and that it im- 
 plies by its origin and its nature the possession, in all who 
 use it, of the same moral and intellectual powers, and there- 
 fore unity both of origin and of specific character. This is 
 confirmed by an examination of the faculties developed in the 
 construction of the languages even of the lowest races, and it 
 is made more certain by the relations found to exist between 
 the languages of races who are now physically the most dis- 
 similar. Of this point we proceed to give some illustrations 
 different from those of Dr Wiseman. 
 
 In regard to Africa, Dr Pri chard, in his latest additions to 
 his work, says: — " One fact not unimportant in its bearing on 
 the early history of mankind, appears to have been rendered 
 manifest by late researches in Northern Africa. It is a much 
 wider extension over these regions than was heretofore sup- 
 posed to exist, of tribes bearing an unquestionable, though 
 sometimes remote, affinity in language, and therefore probably 
 in origin, to the Syro-Arabian or Shemite race. This denotes 
 
UNITY OF RACES PROVED FROM UNIVERSALITY, ETC. 209 
 
 the very ancient dispersion of an Asiatic population over a 
 great and central part of the African continent. I refer not 
 at present to tribes of Arabian origin, or to such as can be 
 supposed to have entered Africa subsequently to the era of 
 Islam, but to races bearing indications of affinity to the 
 Shemite stock, by far more ancient and more widely spread. 
 
 " The resemblances in languages to which I now allude, as 
 existing between the African and the Shemite races, are ap- 
 proximations, not to the modern, but to the most ancient 
 dialects of this latter family of nations.'** 
 
 " The Hottentot stock," says Dr Latham, " has a better claim 
 to be considered as forming a second species of the genus 
 homo than any other section of mankind. It can be shown, 
 however, that the language is no more different from those of 
 the world in general than they are from each other. 
 
 " The fact that both the Galla and Agow languages pass 
 through the Amharic into the more typical Semitic tongues, 
 and that the former (over and above many undeniable points 
 of affinity with the Coptic) is quite as sub-Semitic as the Ber- 
 ber, is one of the many phenomena which break down the 
 broad line of demarcation that is so often drawn between the 
 Semitic and the African nations/'t 
 
 The nations of particular oases in the Great Desert are 
 like the inhabitants of islands in the ocean. Thev nevei 
 
 w 
 
 move in any considerable numbers from their native spot, 
 nor are they visited by many strangers. They acquire 
 consequently characteristics of physiognomy, through the 
 agency of external conditions, the effect of which accumu- 
 lates through many generations. 
 
 " In one of these oases, namely, that of Wadreag, Mr 
 Hodgson discovered that the people, though Berbers by the 
 evidence of their language, which they speak with purity 
 and correctness, were not only black, as many of the 
 genuine Arabs of the country are known to be, but have 
 
 * Prichard, pp. 550, 551, 3d ed. ; and also pp. 557 and 558. 
 t Latham, pp. 499, 500. 
 
 O 
 
210 UNITY OF RACES PROVED FROM UNIVERSALITY, 
 
 features approaching those of negroes, and hair like that 
 which is the characteristic of the negro race. It was the 
 opinion of Mr Hodgson that these characteristics had been 
 acquired, not as the result of the intermixture of races, 
 which the local circumstances of the tribe seemed to him to 
 preclude, but through the long- continued agency of physical 
 causes upon a tribe of genuine Tuaryk origin, though the 
 ordinary type of that race is almost similar to the Arabian/'* 
 
 u Again, the Hausan people are negroes ; they have hair 
 of the kind termed woolly, and their colour is a jet-black. 
 Their features are remarkably good, and appear to have little 
 resemblance to those of the natives of Guinea. That such a 
 people should betray any relationship to the Shemite nations 
 is a fact so contrary to prejudice and prevailing opinion, that 
 the assertion will not be believed without proofs ; and these 
 could not well be displayed in the short space of this Appen- 
 dix. For the sake of those who feel curious upon the sub- 
 ject, I must beg to refer to an appendix to the fourth volume 
 of my l Physical History of Mankind/ written by Mr F. 
 Newman, from materials furnished by M. Schcen." f 
 
 " The inhabitants of almost every valley or separate plain, 
 or mountainous tract, were supposed to have a language of 
 their own, unconnected with the idioms of their nearest 
 neighbours. Wherever sufficient inquiry has been made, a 
 more accurate acquaintance with facts has proved the fal- 
 lacy of this opinion, and has shown that a few mother 
 tongues, mostly divided into a variety of dialects, are spread 
 over vast spaces. In proportion as the inquiry has been 
 more accurately pursued, and a scientific examination of 
 languages has advanced, in the same degree the number of 
 languages supposed to be distinct has been from time to 
 time diminished. With the number of separate languages, 
 that of distinct races or families of nations has been in pro- 
 portion reduced. These observations are, perhaps, in no 
 instance more applicable than they are to the languages and 
 
 * Prichard, p. 559. f Ibid., pp. 566 and 567, App. 
 
NATURE, AND CONNECTION OF LANGUAGES. 211 
 
 nations of Africa. If we survey these languages in refer- 
 ence to the present state of our knowledge, we may perhaps 
 venture to say that three-fourths of the whole extent of this 
 continent are occupied by three great families of nations."* 
 
 " One objection will be offered to the supposition that all 
 nations who speak the various dialects of this mother tongue 
 are of one origin, and that is, the great extent of their physi- 
 cal diversity. The tribes of the coast of Ajan are, as we 
 have seen, of a jet-black, while the Bechuana are of a light- 
 brown, the Amakosah being somewhat darker. In Kongo 
 there are various complexions. The features also differ. 
 The nomad es of the high plains beyond the tropics have 
 often features which approach the Arabian type, and an 
 Arabian origin has been assigned to them, whilst the nations 
 of the Mozambique coast have nearly the negro character. 
 But there is enough that is peculiar in the hair and colour of 
 all these tribes to preclude the notion of an Arabian parent- 
 age. On the other hand, the deviation in physical charac- 
 ters is not greater than that which is to be found in the 
 Dekhan among tribes of the native Tamulian family, where 
 we may compare the tall, handsome, and comparatively fair 
 Tudas of the Neilgherry mountains with the puny tribes of 
 black people who are to be found in the low plains of Mala- 
 bar and Coromandel." f 
 
 The same conclusion is deduced from an examination of 
 the tribes of India. In the Niligiri or Neilgherry hills, in 
 the southern part of the Dekhan, towards the junction of the 
 two chains of Ghauts, are various barbarous tribes termed 
 by Mr Hough, who has described them, Thodaurs, Budda- 
 gurs, Curumbars, and Kothars. To these must be added 
 the Cohatars, who occupy the summits of hills. In physical 
 character, these races differ greatly among themselves : some 
 of them are small, shrivelled, black savages, who have been 
 thought to resemble the negroes of Africa ; others are tall, 
 athletic, and handsome, with features resembling the Euro- 
 * Prichard, p. 588. t Ibid., pp. 652 and 653. 
 
212 UNITY OF RACES PROVED FROM UNIVERSALITY, 
 
 pean type. These are the inhabitants of the elevated tracts, 
 where a tolerably cool and salubrious climate exists ; the 
 blackest and most diminutive tribes are found in the jungle 
 near the rivers, and in low, unhealthy districts. Yet it is 
 probable that most of these tribes are of one aboriginal race, 
 since, when vocabularies of their various dialects have been 
 collected, they have been found generally to bear some traces 
 of affinity to the Tamulian, or its sister languages, — that is, 
 to the idioms of the civilized nations of the Dekhan. 
 
 Unity of language also proves unity of origin among all 
 the diversified aboriginal inhabitants of America, from one 
 end of the continent to the other, though among them there 
 is found every variety of form, feature, and complexion. * 
 
 We remark further, that the unity of the human races is 
 capable of irresistible proof by another and altogether dis- 
 tinct line of argument, founded upon the unity which has 
 been discovered in all the languages of the earth, of which 
 there are probably not fewer than two thousand, t Lan- 
 guages being the most durable of human monuments, by 
 detecting in their composition common elements and forms 
 of speech, both as it regards the w r ords themselves and also 
 as it regards the grammatical construction, arrangement, 
 and form, we obtain, it has been thought, the most satisfac- 
 tory evidence of the original identity of those races by which 
 such languages are spoken. £ In regard to the natural 
 history of our globe, and facts connected with its physical 
 geography, and the multiplication and dispersion of species 
 both of animals and plants, there are many grounds of un- 
 certainty, since we can never duly appreciate the effects of 
 physical causes operating during a course of ages indefi- 
 nitely great. But in the case of languages, especially of 
 those w T hich, though no longer spoken, are still preserved, 
 
 * See Prichard's Researches, vol. v. pp. 304, 306, and Natural History of 
 Man, App., 3d ed. Also Dr Morton's Crania Americana. 
 •f See Presbyterian Review, 1849, p. 244. 
 J Encyclopedia Brit., vol. vi. p. 274, and Carpenter's Physiology, p. 93. 
 
NATURE, AND CONNECTION OF LANGUAGES. 213 
 
 there is no such element of uncertainty ; and hence an 
 analysis of languages, conducted on strict philosophical prin- 
 ciples, must lead to the most solid conclusions respecting the 
 aboriginal history of our species.* 
 
 " A comparison of languages," says M. Klaproth, " fur- 
 nishes, in default of history, the only method of distinguishing 
 correctly from each other the different races of people who 
 are spread over the earth." t 
 
 The early investigations into this branch of inquiry, like 
 those in geology and ethnology, seemed to be entirely ad- 
 verse to the representations of Scripture, where we are told 
 that after the flood all men " were of one lip and one 
 speech," and that God " confounded their language that 
 they might not understand one another's speech. So the 
 Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon all the face 
 of the earth .... therefore the name of it is called 
 Babel, because the Lord did there confound the languages 
 of all the earth." J The results, however, of maturer and 
 very extensive investigation prove that the 3064 languages 
 of Adelung, and the 860 languages and 5000 dialects of 
 Balbi, may be reduced to eleven families ; and that these 
 again are found to be not primitive and independent, but 
 modifications of some original language; and that "the 
 separation between them could not have been caused by 
 any gradual departure or individual development, but by 
 some violent, unusual, and active force, sufficient at once to 
 account for the resemblances and the differences." § 
 
 To this truth even profane historians bear witness, and 
 show that it was in the very way described in Scripture that 
 men met the signal punishment of Almighty God. Eupole- 
 
 * Encyclopedia Brit., vol. vi. p. 275. These principles, it is here said, 
 are now universally received as almost the only guides in investigating 
 the origin and descent of nations. Also London Quarterly Review for 
 January 1850. 
 
 + See also Nolan's Bampton Lectures, p. 322. 
 
 t Gen. xi. 6-9. 
 
 § See Wiseman's Lectures, lect. i. and ii., for an interesting history of 
 this inquiry, its progress and results. 
 
214 UNITY OF RACES PROVED FROM UNIVERSALITY, 
 
 mus says, " The city of Babel was first founded, and after- 
 wards the celebrated tower ; both which were built by some 
 of those people who had escaped the deluge. They were the 
 same who, in after times, were recorded under the character of 
 giants. The tower Avas at length, by the hand of the Al- 
 mighty, ruined, and these giants were scattered over the 
 whole earth." Abydenus, in his Assyrian Annals, alludes to 
 the insurrection of the sons of Chus, and to their great im- 
 piety. Tie also mentions the building of the tower and con- 
 fusion of tongues ; and says, in language analogous to the 
 words of Scripture, that the tower was carried up to heaven, 
 but that the gods ruined it by storms and whirlwinds, and 
 frustrated the purpose for which it was designed, and over- 
 threw it upon the heads of those who were employed in the 
 work ; that the ruins of it were called Babylon. Before 
 this, there was but one language existing among men, but 
 now they had a manifold sound or utterance. A war soon after 
 ensued between Crotus and Titan. He repeats, that the parti- 
 cular spot where the tower stood was in his time called Baby- 
 lon. It was so called, he says, from the confusion of tongues, 
 and variations of dialect ; for in the Hebrew language such 
 confusion is termed Babel. 
 
 " It is interesting," says the Quarterly Review, * " to note 
 how much these discoveries, as well as the classification and 
 nomenclature of languages previously adopted, connect them- 
 selves also with the recorded tripartite division of mankind 
 into three great families after the Scriptural deluge. Some 
 of the most remarkable results recently obtained are those 
 which disclose relations, hitherto unsuspected or unproved, 
 between the language of ancient Egypt and the Semitic and 
 Japhetic languages of Asia ; thus associating together in pro- 
 bable origin those three great roots which, in their separate 
 diffusion, have spread forms of speech over all the civilized 
 parts of the world. Taking the Japhetian or Indo-Teutonic 
 branch, as it has lately been termed, we find these inquiries 
 
 * Jan. 1850. 
 
NATURE, AND CONNECTION OF LANGUAGES. 215 
 
 embracing and completing the connections between the 
 several families of language which compose this eminent 
 division of mankind, already dominant in Europe for a long 
 series of ages, and destined, apparently, through some of its 
 branches, to still more general dominion over the globe. 
 We may mention, as one of the latest examples of the refined 
 analysis of which we are speaking, the complete reduction of 
 the Celtic to the class of Indo- Teutonic languages through 
 the labours of Bopp, Prichard, and Pictet, whereby an eighth 
 family is added to this great stock, and the circle completed 
 which defines their relations to one another and to the other 
 languages of mankind. 
 
 " In relation to our argument for the unity of the races, 
 the very multiplicity of languages, therefore, becomes an 
 evidence of common origin. Whatever opinion be held as to 
 the primitive source of language — and many have found 
 cause to consider it of Divine communication — we may fairly 
 presume that the numerous varieties of speech now existing 
 had their origin in the detached localities, and under the 
 various conditions, in which portions of mankind were already 
 spread over the earth. These formations, and the changes 
 they have undergone, have been determined by the faculties, 
 feelings, and social instincts, common to the whole species, 
 and requiring analogous modes of expression by speech. 
 Accordingly, we find that the grammatical relations of dif- 
 ferent languages, apart from those technical forms which 
 disguise them to ordinary observation, are more certain and 
 closer than the connection by words and roots. Were there 
 more than one species of mankind, and were the type of one 
 race really inferior in its origin to that of another, nothing 
 would be so likely to attest this as the manner of communi- 
 cation of thought and feeling. Language itself would be- 
 come the surest interpreter of this difference. But its actual 
 varieties, only partially coincident with the degree of civiliza- 
 tion and social advancement, offer no such lines of demarca- 
 tion ; and however great the differences, all possess and 
 
216 UNITY OF RACES PROVED FROM UNIVERSALITY, 
 
 manifest in their structure a common relation to the uses and 
 necessities of man." 
 
 But in order to illustrate the force of this argument, we 
 will again refer to the various languages of our aboriginal 
 Americans. 
 
 " Professor Benjamin Smith Barton," says Mr Delafield,* 
 ;; was the first to collect and classify American words. After 
 him followed Vater, who, in his Mithridates, published at 
 Leipsic in 1810, carried out the subject in an extended form. 
 The result of their labours is thus stated : — In eighty-three 
 American languages, one hundred and seventy words have 
 been found, the roots of which have been the same in both 
 continents ; and it is easy to perceive that this analogy is not 
 accidental, since it does not rest merely on imitative harmony, 
 or on that conformity of organs which produces almost an 
 identity in the first sounds articulated by children. Of 
 these, three-fifths resemble the Mantchou, Tongonese, Mongol, 
 and Samoiede languages ; and two-fifths the Celtic, Tchoud, 
 Biscayan, Coptic, and Congo languages." 
 
 " The inquiry may here be made, ' What number of words, 
 found to resemble one another in different languages, will 
 warrant our concluding them to be of common origin ?' The 
 learned Dr Young applied to this subject the mathematical 
 test of his calculus of probabilities, and says it would appear 
 therefrom that nothing whatever could be inferred with re- 
 spect to the relation of any two languages, from the coin- 
 cidence of sense of any single word in both of them ; the 
 odds would be three to one against the agreement of any two 
 words; but if three words appear to be identical, it would be 
 then more than ten to one that they must be derived in both 
 cases from some parent language, or introduced in some other 
 manner : six words would give more than seventeen hundred 
 chances to one ; and eight, near one hundred thousand ; so 
 that, in these cases, the evidence would be little short of abso- 
 lute certainty. 
 
 * Antiq. of America, pp. 70, 71. 
 
NATURE, AND CONNECTION OF LANGUAGES. 217 
 
 "Ethnography, then, has furnished conclusive evidence that 
 the family of American languages has had a common origin 
 with that of Asia. A lexical comparison has established an 
 identity in one hundred and seventy words, although this 
 study is in its infancy ; and this, relying on the correctness 
 of Dr Young's mathematical calculation, is an argument 
 which cannot be controverted. 
 
 " In reviewing, then, the results to which philology inevit- 
 ably brings us, and of which but a few instances are here 
 adduced, we are obliged to refer the savage and larger portion 
 of America to the North of Asia, and the civilized familv 
 of Mexico and Peru to ancient Egypt and Southern Asia." * 
 
 The unity of all human languages, therefore, is a conclu- 
 sive proof of the unity of all the human races. 
 
 " All dialects, " says the Petersburg Academy, " are to be 
 considered as dialects of one now lost." " The universal 
 affinity of languages," says Klaproth, " is placed in so strong 
 a light, that it must be considered by all as completely de- 
 monstrated." " There is a great probability," says Herder, 
 while sceptical of the Mosaic record, " that the human race 
 and language therewith go back to one common stock, to a 
 first man, and not to several dispersed in different parts of 
 the world." " The books of Moses," says Balbi, " no monu- 
 ment either historical or astronomical has yet been able to 
 prove false; but with them, on the contrary, agree, in the most 
 
 * On the Eastern Origin of the Americans, see Delafield's Antiquities of 
 America, 4th ed., N. Y., 1839; Hamilton Smith's Nat. Hist, of the Human 
 Species, p. 237, &c. ; Boudinot's Star in the West ; Franklin Smith on 
 the Origin of the American Indian ; Pickering on the Races ; Prichard's 
 Researches, vol. v. pp. 289-546 ; Drake's Book of the Indians, ch. i. and ii. ; 
 Humboldt, Gallatin, and Von Martius (see quoted in Prichard, vol. v. pp. 
 300 and 305); Bishop England's Works, vol. iv. pp. 469, 470; Dr Bachman, 
 pp. 269-277 ; Dr Laing of Sydney ; Ethnol. Journal ; Etudes de Platon, 
 par Henry Martin, Paris, 1841 ; and Humboldt on the Discovery of Ame- 
 rica, &c, &c. See also Martin's Nat. Hist, of Man and Monkey, p. 314, 
 and Lesson, Humboldt, Dr Laing, Dr Graves, and Bary, there quoted, p. 
 316, &c. Dr Latham's vol. is particularly full on American languages, &c. 
 See Variations of Man. 
 
218 UNITY OF RACES PROVED FROM UNIVERSALITY, 
 
 remarkable manner, the results obtained by the most learned 
 philologers and the profoundest geometricians." 
 
 " Are all the alphabets," asks Dr Latham, " that have ever 
 been used referable to one single prototype as their ultimate 
 original, or has the process of analysing a language into its 
 elementary articulations, and expressing these by symbols, 
 been gone through more than once ? The answer to this is 
 partially a measure of the intellectual influence of the Semitic 
 nations. Great would be that influence even if only the 
 Greeks and Romans had adopted the alphabet of the Phoe- 
 nicians. How much greater if the world at large had 
 done so ! 
 
 " The doctrine of a single prototype is the most probable. 
 For the present alphabets of Europe the investigation is 
 plain enough — indeed, they are all so undeniably of either 
 Greek or Roman origin, that doubt upon the matter is out of 
 the question."* 
 
 " Upon the whole, it may be safely said that no known 
 alphabet, except the Semitic, has any very strong claims to 
 be considered as an original and independent invention." t 
 
 " We cannot better express the general conclusion to 
 which we are conducted by the study of the various forms of 
 human language," says the Edinburgh Review, after giving 
 an analysis of the various languages of men, " than in the 
 words of Chev. Bunsen. After stating the two possible 
 hypotheses — first, that there has been a great number of be- 
 ginnings, out of which different tribes have sprung, and with 
 them different languages, — each doing originally the same 
 work, and continuing and advancing it more or less accord- 
 ing to its particular task, its natural powers, and its histo- 
 rical destinies ; and, second, that the beginning of speech was 
 made only once, in the beginning of human time, in the 
 dawn of the mental day, by one favoured race, in a genial 
 place of the earth, the garden of Asia — he thus continues : 
 — * If the first supposition be true, the different tribes or 
 
 * Latham, pp. 520, 521. f Ibid., p. 524. 
 
NATURE, AND CONNECTION OF LANGUAGES. 219 
 
 families of languages, however analogous they may be (as 
 being the produce of the same human mind, upon the same 
 outward world, by the same organic means), will nevertheless 
 offer scarcely any affinity to each other, in the skill displayed in 
 their formation and in the mode of it; but their very roots, full 
 or empty ones, and all their words, whether monosyllabic or 
 polysyllabic, must needs be entirely different. There may be 
 some similar expressions, in those inarticulate bursts of feel- 
 ing not reacted on by the mind, which grammarians call in- 
 terjections. There are, besides, some graphic imitations of 
 external sounds, called onomatopcetica, words the formation 
 of which indicates the relatively greatest passivity of the 
 mind. There may be, besides, some casual coincidences in 
 real words; but the law of combination applied to the ele- 
 ments of sound gives a mathematical proof that, with all 
 allowances, such a chance is less than one in a million for the 
 same combination of sounds signifying the same precise ob- 
 ject. What we shall have to say hereafter about the affixing 
 of words to objects, will show that this chance is considerably 
 diminished, if the very strict and positive laws are considered 
 which govern the application of a word to a given object. 
 But the ordinary crude method suffices to prove that if there 
 are entirely different beginnings of speech, as philosophical 
 inquiry is allowed to assume, and as the great philosophers of 
 antiquity have assumed, there can be none but stray coin- 
 cidences between words of a different origin. Now, referring 
 to what we have already stated as the result of the most accu- 
 rate linguistic inquiries, such a coincidence does exist between 
 three great families, spreading from the north of Europe to 
 the tropic lands of Asia and Africa. It there exists, not 
 only in radical words, but even in what must appear as the 
 work of an exclusively peculiar coinage, the formative words 
 and inflections which pervade the whole structure of certain 
 families of languages, and are interwoven, as it were, with 
 every sentence pronounced in every one of their branches. 
 All the nations which, from the dawn of history to our days, 
 
220 UNITY OF RACES PROVED FROM UNIVERSALITY, 
 
 have been the leaders of civilization in Asia, Europe, and 
 Africa, must consequently have had one beginning. This 
 is the chief lesson which the knowledge- of the Egyptian lan- 
 guage teaches us.' " 
 
 This statement, having especial reference to the Semitic, 
 Japhetic, and Chametic languages only, is, of course, equally 
 true of those still more widely diffused forms of speech which 
 are referable to the Turanian stock, that stock being itself, in 
 Chev. Bunsens estimation, a branch of the Japhetic. And 
 thus, in a very unexpected manner, we find Egvptological 
 researches have greatly contributed to establish the doctrine 
 of a common origin of all the languages of the globe ; and 
 strengthen, therefore, the hypothesis of the original unity of 
 mankind. * 
 
 XOTE. 
 
 AMERICA — ITS LANGUAGES AND TRIBES. 
 
 " The observed facts which first had a tendency to disturb the 
 notion of the unity of the American tribes were, most probably," says 
 DrLatham,f ''those connected with the languages. These really differ 
 from each other to a very remarkable extent, — an extent which, to 
 any partial investigatoi', seems unparalleled ; but an extent which 
 the general philologist finds to be no greater than that which 
 occurs in Caucasus, in the Indo-Chinese frontier, and in many 
 parts of Africa." 
 
 " The likeness in the grammars," says Mr Latham, " has been 
 generally considered to override the difference in the vocabularies ; 
 so that the American languages are considered to supply an argu- 
 ment in favour of the unity of the American population stronger 
 than the one which they suggest against it. The evidence of lan- 
 guage, then, is in favour of the unity of all the American popula- 
 tions, the Eskimo not excepted." 
 
 * See Dr Wiseman's Lectures, p. 67, et preced. and p. 86; Redford's 
 Scripture Verified, Lect. ii. pp. 152-175, &c, and p. 55, &c. ; Abel Re- 
 musat, quoted in Wiseman, pp. 73, 74; Herder as quoted also in do. p. 73 ; 
 Niebuhr, in ibid., p. 75 ; and Edinb. Rev., Oct. 1846, p. 186, Am. ed., 
 and London Quar. Rev., Jan. 1850. 
 
 f Latham, pp. 352, 354, 355, 356, 357, 451-454, 451). 
 
NATURE, AND CONNECTION OF LANGUAGES. 221 
 
 " Different," says Vater, " as may be the languages of America 
 from each other, the discrepancy extends to words or roots only, 
 the general internal or grammatical structure being the same for 
 all." Of course, this grammatical structure must, in and of itself, 
 be stamped with some very remarkable characteristics. It must 
 differ from those of the whole world. Its verbs must be different 
 from other verbs, its substantives other than the substantives of 
 Europe, its adjectives unlike the adjectives of Asia. It must be 
 this, or something like this; otherwise its identity of character 
 goes for nothing, inasmuch as a common grammatical structure, in 
 respect to common grammatical elements, is nothing more than 
 what occurs all the world over. At present it is enough to say, 
 that such either was or appeared to be the case. " In Greenland," 
 writes Vater, " as well as in Peru, on the Hudson river, in Mas- 
 sachusets as well as in Mexico, and so far as the banks of the Ori- 
 noco, languages are spoken displaying forms more artfully distin- 
 guished and more numerous than almost any other idioms in the 
 world possess." '•* When we consider these artfully and laboriously 
 contrived languages, which though existing at points separated 
 from each other by so many hundreds of miles, have assumed a 
 character not less remarkably similar among themselves than dif- 
 ferent from the principles of all other languages, it is certainly the 
 most natural conclusion that these common methods of construc- 
 tion have their origin from a single point, — that there has been one 
 general source from which the culture of languages in America 
 has been diffused, and which has been the common centre of its 
 diversified idioms." 
 
 "In America," says Humboldt, "from the country of the Eski- 
 mo to the banks of the Orinoco, and again, from these torrid 
 banks to the frozen climate of the Straits of Magellan, mother 
 tongues, entirely different with regard to their roots, have, if we 
 may use the expression, the same physiognomy. Striking analo- 
 gies of grammatical construction are acknowledged, not only in the 
 more perfect languages, as that of the Incas, the Aymara, the 
 Guarani, the Mexican, and the Cora, but also in languages ex- 
 tremely rude. Idioms, the roots of which do not resemble each 
 other more than the roots of the Sclavonian and Biscayan, have 
 those resemblances of internal mechanism which are found in the 
 Sanscrit, the Persian, the Greek, and the German languages. 
 Almost every where in the New World we recognise a multiplicity 
 of forms and tenses in the verb, an industrious artifice to indicate 
 beforehand, either by inflection of the personal pronouns which 
 form the termination of the verb or by intercalated suffix, the 
 nature and the relation of its object and its subject, and to distin- 
 guish whether the object be animate or inanimate, of the masculine 
 or the feminine gender, simple or complex in number. It is on 
 account of this general analogy of structure, it is because American 
 
222 UNITY OF RACES PROVED FROM UNIVERSALITY, 
 
 languages, which have no words in common, — the Mexican, for 
 instance, and the Juiehua. — resemble each other by their organiza- 
 tion, and form complete contrasts with the languages of Latin 
 Europe, that the Indians of the missions familiarize themselves 
 more easily with other American idioms than with the language of 
 the mistress country." 
 
 " The details of the ethnology of America/' says Mr Latham, 
 "after a long investigation, having been thus imperfectly exhibited, 
 the first of the two questions indicated in pp. 351, 352, still stands 
 over for consideration : — 
 
 " A. The unity (or non-unity) of the American populations one 
 amongst another ; and 
 
 "B. The unity (or non-unity) of the American populations as 
 compared with those of the Old World. 
 
 " In p. 351, it is stated that the two (three) sections of the Ameri- 
 can aborigines which interfere with the belief that the American 
 stock is fundamentally one, are — 
 "I. The Eskimo. 
 
 '•' II. The Peruvians (and Mexicans.) 
 
 " I. Taking the Eskimo first, the evidence in favour of their isola- 
 tion is physical and moral. 
 
 " The latter, I think, is worth little, except in the way of cumula- 
 tive evidence, i.e., when taken along with other facts of a more 
 definite and tangible sort. The Eskimo civilization (such as it is) 
 is different from that of the other Americans; and how could it be 
 otherwise, when we consider their Arctic habitat, their piscatory 
 habits, and the differences of their faunas and floras? It is not 
 lower, i.e., not lower than that of the ruder Indians, a point well 
 illustrated in Dr King's paper on the Industrial Arts of the 
 Eskimo ! 
 
 " The physical difference is of more importance. 
 "And first, as to stature. — Instead of being shorter, the Eskimo 
 are in realitv taller than half the tribes of South America. 
 
 " Next, as to colour. — The Eskimo are not copper-coloured. Nei- 
 ther are the Americans in general. It is only best known in those 
 that are typical of the so-called Red race ; there being but little of 
 the copper tinge when we get beyond the Algonkins and Iro- 
 quois. 
 
 '•'Lastly, as to the conformation of the skull, a point where (with 
 great deference) I differ from the author of the excellent Crania 
 Americana. — The Americans are said to be brakley-cephalic, the 
 Eskimo dolikho-cephalic. The American skull is of smaller, the 
 Eskimo of larger dimensions. I make no comment upon the 
 second of these opinions. In respect to the first, I submit to 
 the reader the following extracts from Dr Morton's own valuable 
 tables, premising that, as a general rule, the difference between the 
 occipitofrontal and parietal diameters of the Eskimo is more than 
 
NATURE, AND CONNECTION OF LANGUAGES. 223 
 
 seven inches and a fraction, as compared with five inches and a 
 fraction ; and that of the other Indians less than seven and a frac- 
 tion, as compared with five and a fraction. The language, as before 
 stated, is admitted to be the American, in respect to its gram- 
 matical structure, and can be shown to be so in respect to its vo- 
 cables. 
 
 " II. The Peruvians. — Here the question is more complex, the 
 argument varying with the extent we give to the class represented 
 by the Peruvians, and according to the test we take, i. e., accord- 
 ing as we separate them from the other Americans, on the score of 
 a superior civilization, or on the score of a different physical con- 
 formation. 
 
 " A. When we separate the Peruvians from the other Americans, 
 on the score of a superior civilization, we generally take something 
 more than the proper Peruvians, and include the Mexicans in the 
 same category. I do not trouble the reader with telling him 
 what the Peruvio-Mexican or Mexico-Peruvian civilization was ; 
 the excellent historical works of Prescott show this. I only 
 indicate two points: — 
 
 " 1. The probability of its being over-valued. 
 
 " 2. The fact of its superiority being a matter of degree rather 
 than kind," &c. (See pp. 454 to 459.) 
 
 What breaks down, he concludes, the distinctions between the 
 Peruvian and Eskimo, breaks down a portion of all those lesser 
 ones by which the other members of the American population 
 have been separated from each other. 
 
 " In the consolidation of the Mexican empire," says Dr Latham, 
 " I see nothing that differs in kind from the confederacies of the 
 Indians of the Algonkin, Sioux, and Cherokee families, although 
 in degree it had obtained a higher development than has yet 
 appeared ; and I think that whoever will take the trouble to com- 
 pare Strachey's account of Virginia, where the empire of Powhat- 
 ten had at the time of the colonization obtained its height, with 
 Prescott's Mexico, will find reason for breaking down that over- 
 broad line of demarcation which is so frequently drawn between 
 the Mexicans and the other Americans. 
 
 " I think, too, that the social peculiarities of the Mexicans of Mon- 
 tezuma are not more remarkable than the external conditions of 
 climate, soil, and land and sea relations; for it must be remembered 
 that, as determining influences towards the state in which they 
 were found bv Cortez, we have — 
 
 " 1. The contiguity of two oceans. 
 
 " 2. The range of temperature, arising from the differences of 
 altitude produced by the existence of great elevation, combined 
 with an intertropical latitude, and the consequent variety of 
 products. 
 
224 UNITY OF RACES PROVED FROM UNIVERSALITY, ETC. 
 
 " 3. The absence of the conditions of a hunter state, the range of 
 the buffalo not extending so far as the Anahuac. 
 
 " 4. The abundance of minerals. 
 
 K Surely these are sufficient predisposing causes for a very consi- 
 derable amount of difference in the social and civilizational deve- 
 lopment." * 
 
 • Latham, pp. 408, 409. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE UNITY OF THE RACES SUSTAINED BY THE TESTIMONY 
 OF HISTORY AND TRADITION. 
 
 'Ma.orvooKTi 5s [tou too \oyou Tavrsj ol ti^ 'Ek\ri<rt xxi •ra.pa. foxofcxooi; truy- 
 you.^>xp.ivoi txs a.o^xioXoyia{ JOSEPHUS. 
 
 Ex infinita societate generis humani. — Cicero. 
 
 Ex annalium tetustate et monumentis eruenda est memoria. — Cicero. 
 
 It is no longer probable only, but it is absolutely certain, that the whole 
 race of man proceeded from Iran as from a centre, whence they mi- 
 grated at first in three great colonies ; and that those three branches 
 grew from a common stock, which had been miraculously preserved in a 
 general convulsion and inundation of the globe. — Sir W. Jones. 
 
 The only certain means by which nations can indulge their curiosity in re- 
 searches concerning their remote origin is to consider the language, 
 manners, and customs of their ancestors, and to compare them with 
 those of the neighbouring nations. — Hume's Hist, of Eng., vol. i. 
 p. 1. 
 
 Another branch of evidence confirmatory of the doctrine of 
 the unity of the human races, to which we now proceed, is 
 derived from history. 
 
 u Ethnology divides itself into two principal departments, 
 the Scientific and the Historic. Under the former is com- 
 prised every thing connected with the natural history of man, 
 and the fundamental law of living organisms ; under the latter, 
 every fact in civil history which has any important bearing, 
 directly or indirectly, upon the question of races — everj fact 
 calculated to throw light upon the number, the moral or phy- 
 sical peculiarities, the early seats, migrations, conquests, or 
 interblendings of the primary divisions of the human family, 
 
 P 
 
226 UNITY OF RACES SUSTAINED BY 
 
 or of the leading mixed races which have sprung from their 
 intermarriages." * 
 
 Adelung, in his great work on Language, has summed up 
 what history discloses to us on this subject. " Asia," says 
 he, " has been in all times regarded as the country where the 
 human race had its beginning, received its first education, 
 and from which its increase was spread over the rest of the 
 globe. Tracing the people up to tribes, and tribes up to fa- 
 milies, we are conducted at last, if not by history, at least 
 by the tradition of all old people, to a single pair, from which 
 families, tribes, and nations have been successively produced. 
 The question has been often asked, What was this first fa- 
 mily, and the first people descending from it? Where was 
 it settled ? and how has it extended so as to fill the four large 
 divisions of the globe? It is a question of fact, and must be 
 answered from history. But history is silent; her first books 
 have been destroyed by time ; and the few lines preserved by 
 Moses are rather calculated to excite than satisfv our curio- 
 sity." 
 
 Such is the uniform and unvarying testimony of history. 
 It traces up all the nations of the earth, like streams, to a 
 common fountain, and it places that fountain in some orien- 
 tal country in or near the tropics. " I trace," says Sir Wil- 
 liam Jones, " to one centre the three great families from 
 which the families of Asia appear to have proceeded." " Thus, 
 then," he adds, " have we proved, that the inhabitants of 
 Asia, and consequently, as it might be proved, of the whole 
 earth, sprang from three branches of one stem; and that 
 those branches have shot into their present state of luxuri- 
 ance in a period comparatively short, is apparent from a fact 
 universally acknowledged, that we find no certain monument, 
 or even probable tradition, of nations planted, empires and 
 states raised, laws enacted, cities built, navigation improved, 
 commerce encouraged, arts invented, or letters contrived, 
 above twelve, or at most fifteen or sixteen centuries before 
 * Ethnological Journal, No. i., pp. 1, 2. 
 
THE TESTIMONY OF HISTORY AND TRADITION. 227 
 
 the birth of Christ; and from another fact, which cannot be 
 controverted, that seven hundred or a thousand years would 
 have been fully adequate to the supposed propagation, dif- 
 fusion, and establishment of the human race."* 
 
 " The history of the world," says Dr Goodman, " as pre- 
 sented to us by the most authentic records, or by the voice of 
 universal tradition, leads us inevitably to conclude, that from 
 some point in the Eastern continent the human race origi- 
 nated, and gradually extended in various directions, subject 
 to the influence of all accidents, of place, climate, disease, 
 and facility or difficulty in procuring food ; hence, notwith- 
 standing that the connection of many nations with the parent 
 stock is entirely lost, there is not the slightest evidence that 
 such nations are derived from any but the source we have 
 stated."| 
 
 " We do not know," says Wilhelm Von Humboldt, in an 
 unpublished work, on the Varieties of Languages and Na- 
 tions, " either from history or from authentic tradition, any 
 period of time in which the human race has not been divided 
 into social groups. Whether the gregarious condition was 
 original or of subsequent occurrence, we have no historic 
 evidence to show. The separate mythical relations found to 
 exist, independently of one another, in different parts of the 
 earth, appear to refute the first hypothesis, and concur in 
 
 * Colonel Chesney, who commanded an expedition sent, a few years 
 back, by the British Government, to explore the Euphrates, has introduced 
 into his narrative, recently published, speculations on the probable site of 
 Paradise, which he believes he has satisfactorily ascertained to be Central 
 Armenia ; and " the Land of Eden" is there actually laid down on the in- 
 dex map. He identifies the Halys and Araxes, whose source exists within 
 a short distance of the Euphrates and Tigris, with the Pison and Gihon 
 of Scripture, while he considers the country within the Halys as the land 
 Havilah, and that which borders on the land Araxes, as the remarkable 
 and much-disputed territory of Cush. — Scientific American. 
 
 f American Natural History, vol. i., pp. 19, 20. See also Sir Humphrey 
 Davy's Consolations in Travel ; Sir William Jones's Discourse on Origin 
 and Families of Nations, in Wks., vol. iii., pp. 185, 191, 194 ; Redford's 
 Scripture Verified, pp. 175-195; Sharon Turner's Sacred History of the 
 World, vol. ii. ; Faber's Eight Dissertations, and his other works. 
 
228 UNITY OF RACES SUSTAINED BY 
 
 ascribing the generation of the whole human race to the union 
 of one human pair. The general prevalence of this myth 
 has caused it to be regarded as a traditionary record trans- 
 mitted from the primitive man to his descendants."* 
 
 To these authorities may be added the testimony of Hamil- 
 ton Smith, t "Although," says he, u in Central Asia no 
 very distinct evidence of a general diluvian action, so late as 
 to involve the fate of many nations, can be detected ; still 
 there cannot be a doubt, that with scarce an opposable cir- 
 cumstance, all man's historical dogmatic knowledge and tra- 
 ditionary records, all his acquirements, inventions, and do- 
 mestic possessions, point to that locality as connected with a 
 great cataclysis, and as the scene where human development 
 took its first most evident distribution." He then proceeds 
 to show that every thing which man has found most essential 
 in the animal and vegetable kingdom is natural to that part 
 of the world, and remarks: — u It would be vain to look for 
 so many primitive elements of human subsistence, in a social 
 state, in any other portion of the globe. Nearly all of them 
 were originally wanting in the Western Caucasus; and the 
 civilized development of Egypt could not have occurred with- 
 out the possession of wheat, barley, flax, the leek, garlic, 
 onion, and many other objects, all foreign to Africa. These 
 can have been brought westward only by colonies practically 
 acquainted with their value." J 
 
 The same view of ancient history is taken by Guyot in his 
 recent lectures. § " Western Asia/' he affirms, " is the ori- 
 ginal country of the white race, the most perfect in body and 
 mind. If, taking tradition for our guide, we follow step by 
 step the march of the primitive nations, as we ascend to their 
 point of departure, it is to the very centre of this plateau that 
 they irresistibly lead us. Now, it is in this central part also, 
 in Upper Armenia and in Persia, if you remember, that we 
 
 * See Cosmos, p. 360, vol. i. t Natural History of Man, p. 171. 
 
 X Ibid., p. 173. See also pp. 169-171, 181-185. 
 § Earth and Man, pp. 269, 276, kc. 
 
THE TESTIMONY OF HISTORY AND TRADITION. 229 
 
 find the purest type of the historical nations. Thence we 
 behold them descend into the arable plains, and spread to- 
 wards all the quarters of the horizon. The ancient people 
 of Assyria and Babylonia pass down the Euphrates and the 
 Tygris into the plains of the South, and then unfold, per- 
 haps, the most ancient of all human civilization. First, the 
 Zena nation dwells along the Araxes ; then, by the road of 
 the plateau, proceeds to found, in the plains of the Oxus, 
 one of the most remarkable and the most mysterious of the 
 primitive communities of Asia. A branch of the same 
 people, or a kindred people — the intimate connection of their 
 language confirms it — descends into India, and there puts 
 forth that brilliant and flourishing civilization of the Brah- 
 mins, of which we have already spoken. Arabia and the 
 North of Africa receive their inhabitants by Soristan ; South 
 Europe perhaps by the same route through Asia Minor; the 
 North, finally, through the Caucasus, whence issue in succes- 
 sion the Celts, the Germans, and many other tribes, who 
 hold in reserve their native vigour for the future destinies of 
 this continent. There, then, is the cradle of the white race, 
 at least of the historical people, if it is not that of all man- 
 kind. 
 
 " The examination we have made of the structure of the 
 northern continents, considered in respect of the influence 
 they exercise through their physical nature upon the condi- 
 tion of human societies, enables us to judge in advance that 
 they are formed to act different parts in the education of man- 
 kind. It remains to be seen whether the course of history 
 will confirm these anticipations. Now, if we find a real 
 concordance, a harmony between these two orders of facts, 
 we may fearlessly assert that these differences of physical or- 
 ganization were intentional, and prepared for this end by 
 Him who controls the destinies of the world. 
 
 " The first glance we cast upon the annals of the nations 
 enables us to perceive a singular but incontestable fact, that 
 the civilizations representing the highest degree of culture 
 
230 UNITY OF RACES SUSTAINED BY 
 
 ever attained by man, at the different periods of his history, 
 do not succeed each other in the same place, but pass from 
 one country to another, from one continent to another, fol- 
 lowing a certain order. This order may be called the geo- 
 graphical march of history." 
 
 " Again," says Guyot, " tradition every where represents 
 the earliest race descending, it is true, from the high table- 
 lands of this continent; but it is in the low and fertile plains 
 lying at their feet, with which we are already acquainted, 
 that they unite themselves for the first time in national bo- 
 dies, in tribes with fixed habitations, devoting themselves to 
 husbandry, building cities, cultivating the .arts; in a word, 
 forming well-regulated societies. The traditions of the Chi- 
 nese place the first progenitors of that people on the high 
 table-land, whence the great rivers flow ; they make them 
 advance, station by station, as far as the shores of the ocean. 
 The people of the Brahmins came down from the regions of 
 the Hindo-Kue and from Cashmere into the plains of the 
 Indus and the Ganges ; Assyria and Bactriana receive their 
 inhabitants from the table-lands of Armenia and Persia. 
 Each of them finds upon its own soil all that is necessary for 
 a brilliant exhibition of its resources. We see those nations 
 come rapidly, and reach, in the remotest antiquity, a degree 
 of culture of which the temples and the monuments of 
 Egypt and of India, and the recently discovered palaces of 
 Nineveh, are living and glorious witnesses. 
 
 " Great nations, then, are separately formed in each of 
 their areas, circumscribed by nature within natural limits. 
 Each has its religion, its social principles, its civilization, 
 severally. But nature, as we have seen, has separated them; 
 little intercourse is established between them ; the social 
 principle on which they are founded is exhausted by the 
 very formation of the social state which they enjoy, and is 
 never removed. Now, God has revealed himself to man, has 
 made known to him his will, and pointed out the path 
 which he ought to have followed. The Creator himself con- 
 
THE TESTIMONY OF HISTORY AND TRADITION. 281 
 
 descended to guide the steps of the creature upon the long 
 journey he had to travel. This is what the Bible tells us; 
 this is confirmed by the vague memorials of all the primitive 
 nations, whose eldest traditions — those antecedent to the 
 philosophical theogonies prevalent at a later period, and 
 giving them their specific character — contain always some 
 disfigured fragment of this divine history." 
 
 Mr Pickering presents many striking considerations in favour 
 of a central origin of the human family, and to show that the 
 most remote must have had former intercourse with the most 
 central,* and also that there is nothing contravening the idea 
 of a single source of the invention of language in the mul- 
 titude of languages in India and America. He points out 
 also natural passages, by sea and land, for migrations to the 
 different parts of the earth, in chapters xvii. and xviii. He 
 shows that, as all animals are adapted to their natural loca- 
 lities, man must have originated in a warm climate, and that 
 there has been a time when the human family had not 
 strayed beyond these geographical limits. This he proves 
 by another argument, founded on the physical discordance of 
 man to the region of the frosty Caucasus. On zoological 
 grounds, the human family, he believes, is also foreign to the 
 American continent. Other reasons exclude New Guinea, 
 Madagascar, Ceylon. All men, however, he thinks, could 
 proceed from Africa and the East Indies.t 
 
 A further confirmation of the Scriptural doctrine of the 
 primitive unity of the human races is found in the fact, 
 which history attests, that the earliest condition of all ancient 
 nations was the most civilized. On this point we offer some 
 observations presented by the Ethnological Journal. " Con- 
 necting these several results," says that Journal, J " we are led 
 to the conclusion that all ancient civilization must have sprung 
 from some common centre, however difficult or impossible it 
 
 * Races of Man, pp. 231-285 and 298. 
 t Ibid., pp. 283, 302, 303, 305, 330. 
 Z No. v., pp. 152-156. 
 

 -32 D NIT Y OF RACES SUSTAINED BY 
 
 may be to say where or what that centre was. If we look to 
 the earliest historical traditions, we find that they date their 
 origin, not from periods of barbarism, hut from periods of 
 high civilization. Menes, the first mortal king of Egypt, was 
 a great conqueror. Some of his immediate successors are 
 stated to have built pyramids, and such like mighty works. 
 Some of the writings attributed to Zoroaster plainly evince a 
 most remote antiquity ; and these writings point to a still 
 older religion, of which the creed of Zoroaster was a reforma- 
 tion or reconstruction. It is needless to specify any of the 
 chronological traditions of the Chaldean, Hindu, or Chinese 
 nations ; every one knows that they vie with those of Egypt 
 in their pretensions to antiquity. That these pretensions are 
 not whollv without foundation — that a decree of civilization 
 existed in times long anterior to the commencement of regu- 
 lar history, is a position which cannot be much longer denied. 
 It was not by barbarians that the pyramids, temples, and 
 other vast works of Africa, were erected ; and yet the more 
 searching is our inquiry into their origin, the more distant 
 does this appear to be. The cave-temples of India are the 
 remnants of a civilization whose memory has wholly perished ; 
 while neither the traditions or history of Italy or Greece en- 
 able us even to conjecture who were the nations that erected 
 their Cyclopean buildings. Even in the New World, the 
 kingdoms destroyed bv the Spaniards were founded on the 
 ruins of far mightier empires, whose shattered works speak of 
 a civilization and a power rivalling in greatness and in anti- 
 quity that of Egypt itself. 
 
 " Religious institutions and languages are equally unequi- 
 vocal in showing the wonderful extent of this ancient civiliza- 
 tion. In India, in Japan, and even in the Polynesian Islands, 
 we find existing to the present times, and reaching back into 
 the remote past, systems of sacerdotal power quite similar to 
 those of ancient Egypt, and supported by doctrines and 
 mythologies fundamentally the same. In Peru, especially, 
 the Spaniards put an end to a race of pontiffs — kings, the 
 
THE TESTIMONY OF HISTORY AND TRADITION. 2oo 
 
 very counterparts of the first sovereigns of Egypt. But it 
 is not only in civilized and partially civilized countries that 
 we find traces of the old religions and mythologies : we are 
 perpetually startled by their occurrence when investigating 
 the superstitions of the most remote and barbarous tribes. 
 In Europe and Asia we meet them among the Northern Fins, 
 and Laplanders, and Samoides, and Ostiachs, and Tongonisi ; 
 we meet them in New Zealand, and in numerous other islands 
 of the Pacific ; we meet them in the wilds of North America. 
 And wherever we meet them, we also meet numerous words 
 derived from the very languages to which the antique civili- 
 zation can be traced. 
 
 " Another point worthy of consideration is, that the farther 
 back we remount into ancient times, in any of the great 
 centres of civilization, the more vast do we find the vestiges 
 of their power, the more pure and elevated the traditions of 
 their philosophy. The greatest works of modern times, how- 
 ever striking the scientific skill displayed in them, are, with 
 few exceptions, far inferior, in point of grandeur, to corres- 
 ponding productions of Greek or Roman art ; while these 
 latter, however exquisite in artistic beauty, are insignificant, 
 in point of vastness, when compared with the labour of tradi- 
 tional and antitraditional antiquity. 
 
 " Time has developed skill and science, and, in some in- 
 stances, taste also ; but the instructors and rulers of men in 
 the earlier ages of the earth must have had, in general, more 
 capacious minds, a loftier ambition, and a vaster or more 
 available dominion over men, than those of later ages. This 
 mental elevation is as strongly marked in what we know of 
 their opinions, as in the remnants of their architecture. In 
 profane writing, we every where find that the sublimest philo- 
 sophy and the purest morality is that which is most ancient. 
 The moderns, except in those cases in which an improved 
 science has come to their aid, have produced nothing superior 
 to the speculations of the sages of Greece ; while these latter 
 openly professed to be the collectors and interpreters of the 
 
2o4 UNITY OF RACES SUSTAINED BY 
 
 wisdom of still remoter times. In the ages which we are in 
 the habit of naming antiquity, we find that the men then 
 living invariably regarded themselves as having fallen upon 
 late and evil days. Though conscious of having recently 
 emerged from that state of semi-barbarism called the heroic 
 age, they were convinced, at the same time, that that state had 
 arisen from the ruins of a previous and great civilization 
 which the hand of time had still spared. Thus Hesiod tells 
 us that he lived in the iron age — an age of extreme degene- 
 racy, and that this age had succeeded that of heroes and 
 demi-gods; but, at the same time, he informs us that this 
 latter had been preceded by three other great periods — the 
 brazen, the silver, and the golden ages. It is to this golden 
 era, the most remote of all, that the ancients invariably looked 
 for the origin of all their sublime knowledge."* 
 
 Geology has reluctantly, but very emphatically, testified 
 
 * On the Primitive Condition of Man as more Civilized than its Subse- 
 quent, see Smith's Patriarchal Age, Prel. Dissert., pp. 43-85, and the 
 authorities there quoted. Hamilton Smith admits that the style of build- 
 ing, drawing, and sculpture is most perfect in the oldest monuments, and 
 less so in those that are later. On the Human Species, p. 130. This is 
 true also of religion. Mr Pickering, on the Races of Men, ch. xxv., p. 
 349, &c, shows that the early architecture, caves, and painting of India, 
 with nothing borrowed from Greece or Egypt, exhibit a surprisingly high 
 state of civilization, surpassing the conceptions of the present day. So 
 in Egypt (p. 370) the earliest monuments indicate high civilization, mani- 
 festing that idolatry and polytheism were not found till the Pharaonic 
 age (p. 272). See also Harris's Man Primeval, ch. iii., sect, ix., p. 166, &c; 
 and Whately's Political Economy, lect. v. and vi., p. 102, 3d ed. ; Smith's 
 Essay on the Variety of Complexion in Man ; Smith's Patriarchal Age, 
 ch. L, Introd. Triplicity, vol. ii., p. 301, &c. ; Records of Creation, by Sum- 
 ner, pp. 351, 361, vol. i. ; Johnes' Philological Proofs of the Unity of the 
 Race, p. xxvii. ; Pye Smith's Geology, p. 351. " Who," asks the German 
 philosopher Fichte, " educated the first human pair ? A spirit took them 
 under his care, as is laid down in an ancient venerable original document, 
 which contains the deepest and the sublimest wisdom, and presents results 
 to which all philosophy must at last return." See also the remarkable argu- 
 ment on this subject against Hume, and so highly valued by him, in Hume's 
 Life, vol. ii., and in Two Letters on the Savage State, 1792. See also 
 Havernick's Introd. to the Pentateuch, pp. 103, 104, and 108; and Latham's 
 Var. of Man, pp. 56, 60, 141, 142, 232. 
 
THE TESTIMONY OF HISTORY AND TRADITION. 235 
 
 that no traces of man can be found until a period agreeing 
 precisely with the Mosaic record. * 
 
 Chronology has been brought by the independent and 
 scientific researches of philosophers — many of them also de- 
 clared unbelievers — into a most singular and unexpected 
 identity with this authoritative document, and proves that 
 there is no real chronology and no true history earlier than 
 that of the inspired historian. t Few national histories can 
 be traced even so far back as the age of Abraham, and most 
 assuredly none prior to the Mosaic date of the confusion and 
 dispersion of Babel. The plain of Shinar, then, was the true 
 nursery and cradle of mankind. From hence, as from a 
 fountain in the mountain's side, small at first, but rapidly 
 increasing, all the streams of human population have flowed 
 and diverged. From the event of their confused speech and 
 necessary dispersion, immediately commenced the diverse 
 nations which sprang up in India, Egypt, Assyria, and 
 China, mature and mighty, almost at once, and fulfilling the 
 renewed benediction of their Creator, " to be fruitful and 
 multiply, and replenish the earth." J 
 
 As the Bible declares that by the three sons of Noah the 
 whole earth was peopled, so is it true that most, if not all, 
 the known inhabitants of the earth can be, and indeed have 
 been, traced up to the one or other of these three roots, and 
 thus verify, in their permanent condition and destiny, the 
 prophecy made by Noah and preserved by Moses respecting 
 the future posterity of Shem, Ham, and Japhet.§ And while 
 
 * See Lyell's Principles of Geology ; MantelPs Wonders of Geology ; 
 London Quarterly Review, Jan. 1850, art. 1, &c. 
 
 f This leaves the question of the Septuagint or Hebrew chronology free 
 and open. 
 
 X See a review of the efforts made to extend chronology and history by 
 the Egyptians, Chinese, &c, in Redford's Scripture Verified, pp. 175-195 
 Hale"s Analysis of Chronology; Prichard's Analysis of Egyptian Mytho- 
 logy, Appendix ; The Truth of Christianity Demonstrated, by Murray 
 and Stillingfleet's Origines Sacra, chap. i. and chap, ii., b. 1. 
 
 § See Sharon Turner's Sacred History of the World, vol. ii., p. 480, &c. 
 Redford, as above, p. 182 ; Davies' Lectures on Prophecy, Lond., 1836 
 
236 UNITY OF RACES SUSTAINED BY 
 
 many of the nations of the earth were settled in their present 
 countries before the period of historical tradition, and not a 
 few maintain that their ancestors were natives of the country, 
 M still, however," says Schlegel, " their languages are mani- 
 festly nearer or more distant varieties of a single mother- 
 tongue, spoken by one family of people, and prove that, in a 
 distant and indeterminate antiquity, emigration took place 
 over wide tracts of country from a common and original 
 abode. This is no hypothesis," he adds, " but a fact clearly 
 made out, — though not resting upon testimony which can no 
 longer be denied, — in our researches into primeval history."* 
 
 We proceed, therefore, to remark, in the next place, that 
 we find another and a very strong confirmation of the doc- 
 trine of the original identity and unity of the human races, in 
 universal tradition. Hume * asserted "that the Books of 
 Moses are corroborated by no concurring testimony." Dr 
 Campbell answered, " As little is it invalidated by any contra- 
 dictory testimony ; and for this plain reason, because there is 
 no human composition that can be compared with this, in 
 respect of antiquity." But are the Books of Moses without 
 collateral evidence? Thales measured the height of the 
 pyramids by the length of their shadows. What if we 
 measure the truth of the facts narrated by Moses by the 
 number and variety of the traditions among all nations con- 
 cerning them ? 
 
 In speaking of the generation of the subordinate deities, 
 Plato says : " We must believe those who have spoken be- 
 fore, because they must be conceived to have known their 
 own ancestors." He appealed therefore to " ancient story," 
 and M learning hoary with time ;" and presents some tradi- 
 tional doctrines which can only be explained as the wide- 
 spread knowledge resulting from a divine revelation. 
 
 lect. iii., on Noah's Prophecy; Faber's Eight Dissertations, vol. i.; Nolan's 
 Bampton Lectures, lect. viii., and Notes on the same ; also Croly's Divine 
 Providence, p. 289. 
 * Preface to Prichard's Egyptian Mythology, pp. xix. and xx. 
 
THE TESTIMONY OF HISTORY AND TRADITION. 237 
 
 We find, therefore, a valid and irresistible argument in the 
 preservation — among men of every colour, character, and 
 condition ; of every age, country, and climate ; and of every 
 degree of civilization or barbarity — of traditions which 
 verify and confirm the records of the Bible, and connect 
 men of every nation, country, tribe, and people, with the 
 events there detailed. The primitive condition of mankind, 
 the purity and happiness of the golden age, — the location of 
 man in a garden — the tree of knowledge of good and evil — 
 the influence of a serpent in the seduction and ruin of man 
 — the consequent curse inflicted on man, on woman, and 
 upon the earth — the promise of an incarnate Redeemer ; 
 traditions respecting Cain and Abel, Enoch and Noah, the 
 longevity of the ancient patriarchs, and the existence of ten 
 generations from Adam to Noah — the growing deterioration 
 of human nature — the reduction of man's age and power — 
 the deluge and destruction of all mankind except a single 
 family — the building of an ark and its resting on a moun- 
 tain, and the flying of the dove — the building of the tower of 
 Babel and the miraculous confusion of languages — the insti- 
 tution of sacrifices — the rainbow as a sign and symbol of 
 destruction and of hope — the fable of the man in the moon, 
 which is equally known in opposite quarters of the globe — 
 the great mother, who is a mythos of the ark — the herma- 
 phroditic unity of all the gods and goddesses from a mis- 
 taken notion of the creation of Adam and Eve — the nature 
 and purport of the mysteries in the Old and New World — 
 groves, and mountains, and caves, as places of worship;* 
 traditions also of Sodom and Gomorrah, of Abraham, Isaac, 
 Jacob, Joseph, Moses, and the Red Sea — the division of time 
 by weeks — and the expectation of a future conflagration of 
 the earth j — these and many other facts, which lie at the 
 
 * See Faber's Orig. of Idolatry, vol. Hi., pp. 16, 17. — Ibid.,ch. iii. — Ibid., 
 cb. iv., pp. 60-92.— Ibid., ch. vi., pp. 110, 150, 188.— Ibid., ch. vii. 
 
 + See Hamilton Smith, pp. 127, 132, 172, 176, 221, 244, 245, and 381. 
 See also many wonderful analogies in tradition and habits in the most 
 
238 UNITY OF RACES SUSTAINED BY 
 
 foundation of sacred history and the earliest events of hu- 
 manity, are all found imbedded, like the fossils of the earth, 
 in the traditionary legends, both written and oral, of every 
 tribe and people under the whole heavens.* 
 
 Now, if mankind have all proceeded from the same ori- 
 ginal family, and were thus in their primitive stock acquainted 
 with the same primitive revelation and the same Scriptural 
 facts, the preservation of these original traditions with an 
 essential identity, and at the same time with many differences 
 and mythological incrustations, is a fact both natural and to 
 be expected ; just as in the exactly analogous case of a diver- 
 sity together with an essential unity of languages. But, on 
 the other hand, if mankind is made up of an indefinite num- 
 ber of races, entirely distinct and independent in their origin 
 and subsequent history, then such a unity in the preservation 
 
 remote countries and nations, in Pickering on the Races of Men, pp. 281- 
 285, 287; DelatielcTs Antiquities of America, pp. 32 and 54-64. See also 
 Cuvier, in Edinb. N. Phil. Journal, Jan. 1850, p. 9. 
 
 * See Redford's Scripture Verified, lect. i. and ii. ; Stillingfleet's Origines 
 Sacra, b. iii., ch. iv. and v.; Gale's Court of the Gentiles, 4 vols. 4to; 
 Bryant's Analysis of Ancient Mythology, 6 vols.; Faber's Origin of 
 Idolatry, 3 vols. 4to, and all his works on archaeological subjects; The 
 Worship of the Serpent Traced Throughout the World, attesting the 
 Temptation and Fall of Man by the Instrumentality of a Serpent- Tempter, 
 by the Rev. John B. Deane, F.S.A., &c, Lond., 1833, p. 474; and the Doc- 
 trine of the Deluge, by Harcourt, 2 vols. ; Faber's Horas Mosaicae, vol. i., 
 ch. iii., iv., and v., pp. 41-195; Truth of Christianity Demonstrated from 
 existing Monuments, Sculptures, Coins, and Models, by John Murray, 
 F.S.A., &c. See also Guyot's Earth and Man, pp. 277, 280. "Now, in 
 this respect," says Dr Latham (p. 365), " the phenomenon which has been 
 noticed in Australia reappears in America, viz., a habit or custom, which 
 shall not be found in more than one or two tribes in the neighbourhood of 
 each other, shall appear as if wholly independent of mutual imitation at 
 some other (perhaps some distant) part of the island. Such, in Australia, 
 was the case of similar family names; and such, in America, is the 
 remarkable distribution of the habits of flattening the head and burying 
 on elevated platforms; to say nothing of the two parallel forms of semi- 
 civilization in Mexico and Peru, so concordant on the whole, yet differing 
 in so many details, and evidently separate and independent developments 
 rather than the results of an extension of either one or the other as the 
 original." 
 
THE TESTIMONY OF HISTORY AND TRADITION. 239 
 
 of facts and doctrines — which are many of them foreign to 
 all natural suggestions of the human mind, and most peculiar 
 and remarkable in their character,* and yet entirely inde- 
 pendent and separate from sacred history — is beyond all pos- 
 sible explanation. 
 
 That mankind should agree in any two of these numerous 
 facts, was as improbable as three to one. That they should 
 spontaneously agree in six would be as improbable as seven- 
 teen hundred to one ; and that they should concur in all, with- 
 out an original unity of knowledge and of interest, is a sup- 
 position absolutely incredible, involving millions of millions 
 of chances against it. It is, in short, impossible. And while, 
 therefore, there may be difficulties in the existing physical 
 condition of men against the doctrine of the unity of the 
 races, there are difficulties millions of times greater in num- 
 ber and in force in the traditional condition of man, against 
 the doctrine of the diversity of the races. 
 
 NOTE. 
 
 CIVILIZATION THE FIRST CONDITION OF MAN.f 
 
 While I thus show that in any state in which we can suppose 
 man to be placed, an acquaintance with animated nature is almost 
 a necessary consequence of the most imperfect advance of civiliza- 
 tion, you will not, I trust, suppose me as for one moment lending 
 countenance to that most foolish dream, that man has emerged 
 from a state of barbarism, through the gradual stages of improving 
 civilization, to his present state. It is hard to conceive how such a 
 
 * See illustrations in PricharcTs Egyptian Mythology, p. 3, Appendix 
 and Preface by Schlegel, p. xxxii., &c. ; and p. xix. 
 
 As it regards the American Indians, see Wiseman's Lectures, p. 84. 
 On the tradition of Noah and the flood, as found in the fable of Osiris 
 and Menes, see Noland's Egyptian Chronology, p. 389, &c, &c. On the 
 traditions of Joseph, in the account of Hermes, as the reformer of the 
 Calendar, do., p. 402. See also Havernick's Introduction to the Penta- 
 teuch, p. 118, &c, sec. 17. 
 
 f From " Zoology and Civilization," by Isaac Butt, LL.D., &c 
 
240 UNITY OF RACES SUSTAINED BY 
 
 theory ever became current in a country where men professed to 
 believe the account that is given us in the book of Genesis ; almost 
 equally hard to conceive how it ever gained credence among anv 
 men, however moderately acquainted with the known facts of the 
 progress of our race, to every one of which it is unequivocally op- 
 posed. The fiction of such a gradual progression is no less incon- 
 sistent with all that we know of our own nature than it is opposed 
 to all the experience of the world. 
 
 I am not now about to bring before you all the arguments by 
 which the truth is, I conceive, incontestable established upon this 
 subject. They will be found admirably and clearly summed up in 
 one of Archbishop "Whately's lectures on political economy. There 
 are, however, one or two observations that, even on this occasion, 
 will not be out of place. That man has never emerged, without 
 external aid, from a savage state within the memory of any record 
 of our race, is a fact that might make us at \ea<t seriously question 
 his power to do so. That civilization has always, so far as we can 
 trace its earliest progress, extended from civilized to uncivilized 
 nations, might make us ready to believe that it never was the re- 
 sult of any accident that threw into some lucky combination the 
 pow T ers of men, but proceeded from some influence extrinsic to our- 
 selves. That the savage state, wherever it has been found, bears 
 with it traces of being one of degeneracy, never of progress, seems 
 to set the matter at rest ; and every indication of our nature, every 
 fact in our history, as human beings, leads us irresistibly to the 
 conclusion, that for the rudiments of civilization, of all that raises 
 us above the inferior animals around us, even in our physical and 
 temporal condition, we are indebted not to any exercise of our na- 
 tural faculties, but to a direct communication of knowledge from 
 a superior Being. That w r hen man was created, he was not left a 
 savage on earth to the chances of rising, by his own unaided powers, 
 from a state of degradation, from which all experience, indeed all 
 common sense, forces us to believe that he never would have 
 emerged. That the gift of civilization, including in that term the 
 position which enabled him to attain to all the arts that adorn, and 
 all the comforts that soften life, was a direct gift of revelation. 
 That man was created a civilized being, or rather was taught, by 
 direct communication from above, all that qualified him to be one, 
 under the tuition, if I may use the expression, of higher intelli- 
 gences and powers. 
 
 To hold any other view of civilization appears to me, I confess, 
 as infidel as it is absurd — opposed any such view certainly must be 
 to the plain narrative of the Bible. No one reading the first 
 chapter of Genesis can possibly believe that Adam was created 
 and left in the condition of a New Zealander or a Carib of the 
 present day. And to believe that all that we now admire in the 
 wonderful social system of civilized man — all the intellectual, and 
 
THE TESTIMONY OF HISTORY AND TRADITION. 241 
 
 moral, and physical grandeur with which that system is now dig- 
 nified — arose, no matter through what series of progressive im- 
 provements — no matter by what long* succession of fortunate acci- 
 dents, each accident a miracle greater than a revelation in itself — 
 by any chance discoveries effected by men like the New Zealanders 
 and the Caribs, is just as wild and monstrous a fiction as that of 
 those who, to escape from the interposition of a living intelligence 
 in the formation of the less wonderful mechanism of the material 
 world, attribute to the chance collection of atoms the glories and 
 the grandeurs of the universe. 
 
 That man, once placed in a state of civilization, was capable of 
 improving, is quite true; but it needed the communication of know- 
 ledge from above to make him a civilized being. As Newton, after 
 surveying the mechanism of the heavens, perfect in all its parts, 
 and apparently self-sustaining in all its powers, was forced to de- 
 clare that it needed the impulse of the Almighty arm to give the 
 planets the impulse in the direction of the tangents to their orbits, — 
 just so the philosopher, who examines the most closely the progress 
 of men, will be compelled to acknowledge that even in these 
 matters, which our foolish conceit is fain to call secular knowledge, 
 it needed the impulse of knowledge from above to give us the first 
 tendency toward civilization. 
 
 When, or how, or at what interval, or by what communication, 
 this elementary knowledge was conveyed to man, we are not ex- 
 pressly told. Of the hints of such communications which wise 
 men have discovered, or thought they have discovered, in the in- 
 spired records — the only authentic account of man's early history — 
 this is not the time to speak. To one remarkable fact, distinctly 
 recorded, I may call your attention. We are plainly told that the 
 science of zoology was the matter of express instruction to the first 
 man. " Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of 
 the field and every fowl of the air, and brought them unto Adam 
 to see what he would call them. And whatsoever Adam called 
 every living creature, that was the name thereof. And Adam gave 
 names to all cattle, to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the 
 field." It is singular that of whatever else may have been thus 
 communicated to our first father, there is no express record. That 
 he was taught agriculture may indeed be reasonably inferred, but 
 this instruction in the names, classes, and forms of the animals 
 over which he was to rule, is the only express account of know- 
 ledge divinely conveyed. Many of us have heard, with feelings 
 perhaps akin to irreverence, the light expression that Paradise 
 was the first zoological garden ; how few of us have thought of 
 the deep and solemn truth which is spoken even in these careless 
 words ! 
 
 Q 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 THE UNITY OF THE RACES PROVED FROM EXPERIENCE, 
 FROM KNOWN CHANGES WHICH HAVE OCCURRED AMONG 
 THE DIFFERENT RACES OF MEN, AND FROM THE CHA- 
 RACTERISTICS OF THE AFRICAN RACES. 
 
 Whatever may be their tints, their souls are still the same. — Robinsox. 
 
 One touch of nature makes the whole world kin. — Shakespeare. 
 
 There are operations in nature which, to the limited powers of man, are 
 
 full of mystery; we have, however, before us both the causes and 
 
 effects — the power of God and the evidence of his works; but we are 
 
 unable to trace all those links in the great chuin ichich binds the 
 
 creatures of earth to the throne of Omnipotence. — Bachman. 
 
 Is there, then, it may be asked, any thing in actual experience, 
 experiment, and observation, to oppose this doctrine of the 
 unity of the human races, which has been thus variously cor- 
 roborated ? Have any of our fellow-men been found incap- 
 able of instruction and improvement in a degree commensu- 
 rate with their previous and long-continued degradation ? 
 Have any been found incapable of language, of speech, of 
 song, of music, of poetry, of oratory, of wit, of humour ? 
 Have any been found impracticable in the various arts, 
 trades, and manufactures and agricultural employments, or 
 incapacitated for learning and practising them ? Has it been 
 found absolutely impossible to impart to any race of men the 
 arts of reading and writing ? Or are any wanting in the 
 cunning, artifice, and fraud which characterize fallen man, or 
 in that power of deception which enables man to wear the 
 mask of hypocrisy, and appear religious, upright, and kind, 
 when ungodliness, dishonesty, and perfidious cruelty rankle 
 in the heart ? " These," says Dean Miller, " are the same 
 
UNITY OF RACES PROVED FROM EXPERIENCE. 243 
 
 in every age and climate, since the transgression of our first 
 parents ; and the identity of the common stock from which 
 the human race has descended is, perhaps, as clearly evinced 
 by the manifest similarity of the depraved dispositions of the 
 mind, as by the concurrence and agreement of those bodily 
 marks and distinctions which are pointed out by natural his- 
 torians as essentially constituting particular classes of beings.''* 
 
 Most assuredly no man can hesitate in giving an answer 
 to these inquiries who has been familiar with that African 
 race in whom those in the Southern States of America have 
 most interest. In all these respects they are found, in con- 
 trast to the lower animals, capable of instruction, improve- 
 ment, and useful skill. They can acquire and practise various 
 useful arts.* They can imitate, if they cannot equal, other 
 men in the vices as well as in the virtues of human character. 
 And as regards their present inferiority, circumstances in 
 the social and political condition of many portions of this 
 race in Africa have been pointed out, which are thought 
 sufficient to account for their ignorant and degraded condi- 
 tion.+ It is to be remembered, also, that all the inhabitants 
 of Africa are not alike in any one particular, either physical, 
 mental, moral, social, or political. They show differences 
 in complexion, in civilization, and in talent.^ 
 
 The characteristics of the most truly negro race are not 
 found in all, nor to the same degree in many. M The exte- 
 rior of the negro race," says Blumenbach,§ " gradually ap- 
 proaches to that of other races, and acquires by degrees their 
 fine faces." An actual transformation of races is seen in 
 many of the African nations, as in the Berbers, the Abyssi- 
 nians, the Gallas, the Samaules, the Soudan, the Caffre, and 
 
 * See a full exhibition of the facts relating to these attainments in art, 
 in Lawrence's Lect., pp. 337-340, and Blumenbach. 
 
 + See Encycl. Brit., art. Negro. 
 
 X Dr Wiseman, pp. 135-139 ; and Encyci. Brit., vol. xvii., p. 78 ; and 
 Lawrence's Lect., pp. 385-387, 232, 239, and 336-340. 
 
 § Transactions of Roy. Soc, Lond. 1836, pp. 512-515, and Martin's Nat. 
 Hist, of Man, p. 281. 
 
244 UNITY OF RACES 
 
 several other kingdoms.* The Nubians to the West of the 
 Nile are a gentle kind of negroes, having flat noses and 
 woolly hair. The Abyssinians discover some traits of the 
 negro mixed with the Arab blood, and are therefore called 
 habash or mixed people by the Mahomedans. The Caffres 
 are a negro and Arab race. The Hottentots, though hemmed 
 in from all conceivable mixture, are nevertheless a mongrel 
 race. The Galias have more negro and less Arab blood 
 than the Abyssinians. The Samaules, whose territories were 
 known to the ancients, are also a mixed race. The Soudan 
 population has been converted from a negro into a mixed 
 race.f And indeed a great portion of the African tribes 
 are of this mingled character, and some of them have adopted 
 the Mahometan faith. Such also is the population of the 
 South Sea Islands, in which, and sometimes in the same 
 island, there exists an evident diversity of shades, the black 
 or negro, and the white races. 
 
 Clapperton, and other travellers among the negro tribes of 
 interior Africa, attest the superiority of the pure negroes 
 above the mixed races around them in all moral characteris- 
 tics, and describe also large and populous kingdoms, with 
 numerous towns, well- cultivated fields, and various manu- 
 factures, such as weaving, dyeing, tanning, workirjg in iron 
 and other metals, and in pottery.;}; The Paris correspondent 
 of the New York Journal of Commerce says : — " At a 
 meeting of the Academy of Sciences, we heard nothing of 
 particular interest, except a report from a very able commit- 
 tee, on the negro race of Eastern Africa, South of the Equa- 
 tor, as closely and long observed by M. Froberville, a 
 scientific traveller. He has brought with him sixty casts 
 (busts) of types of the three divisions of the negroes. The 
 committee decide that the results of his researches serve 
 materially to prove the identity and common local origin of 
 
 * Guyot, Earth and Man, p. 237. Brit. Encycl., vol. ii., art. Africa, 
 f Brit. Encycl., vol. ii., pp. 226, 226, 231, 232, 233, 237. 
 I Ibid., pp. 237, 238. 
 
PROVED FROM EXPERIENCE. 245 
 
 the whole human species. There are various affinities of 
 conformation hetween the blacks of Eastern Africa." 
 
 All the negro races also believe in the first principles of 
 natural religion, in one universally powerful Being, in 
 prayers and worship, in rites and sacrifices, in priests and 
 ministers, in the immortality of the soul, in a future state 
 of rewards and punishments, in the division of time into 
 weeks ; and they have given as ready a reception as any 
 other people to religions, both true and false, to idolatry, 
 Mahometanism and Christianity.* 
 
 And as it regards languages, an analysis of the Mpongwee, 
 which prevails over a large extent of Western Africa, has 
 shown it to possess a marvellous development and perfection 
 of structure.f 
 
 Speaking of the Ghas on the Cape coast, Dr Latham ob- 
 serves : — " More important still is the unequivocal occurrence 
 of numerous w T ell-marked Jewish characters in their religious 
 and other ceremonies. A paper of Mr Hanson's on this sub- 
 ject leaves no doubt of the fact. The interpretation, how- 
 ever, is more uncertain. The present writer believes that such 
 phenomena, i.e., points of similarity with the Semitic nations, 
 is the rule rather than the exception with the African tribes, 
 negro and non-negro, — a fact which makes the Jews, Arabs, 
 and Syrians, African, rather than the Africans Semitic." J 
 
 " Again, the extent to which the Falashas exhibit a variety 
 of customs common to themselves and the Jews has been 
 long recognised. It by no means, however, follows that they 
 are a result of Jewish influence. The criticism that applied 
 to the Ghas applies here. Many of the so-called Jewish 
 
 * See Dr Prichard's Researches, vol. ii., p. 216. They preserve among 
 them a sacred reverence for the serpent. See pp. 205, 207. 
 
 f See an article by the Rev. John Leighton Wilson in the Bibliotheca 
 Sacra, and in the Journal of the American Ethnological Society, and also 
 Bartlett's Progress of Ethnology, pp. 34, 35. See also the Dissertations 
 on the Knowledge of America by the Ancients in the Ethnological Jour- 
 nal, Nos. iii., iv., &c, and Pickering on the Races, p. 176. 
 
 J Latham, p. 477. 
 
246 UNITY OF RACES 
 
 peculiarities are African as well, irrespective of intercourse 
 and independent of imitation." " The real affinities of the 
 Egyptian language," adds Dr Latham, " are those -which its 
 geographical situation indicates, viz., with the Berber, Nu- 
 bian, and Galla tongues, and through them with the Afri- 
 can languages altogether, negro and non-negro." " Again 
 the fact," says Dr Latham, " that both the Galla and Agou 
 languages pass through the Amharic into the more typical 
 Semitic tongues, and that the former (over and above many 
 undeniable points of affinity with the Coptic) is quite as sub- 
 Semitic as the Berber, is one of the many phenomena which 
 break down the broad line of demarcation that is so often 
 drawn between the Semitic and the African nations."* 
 
 Perhaps there is no race in the world which, if subjected 
 to the same hapless condition as the African for the same 
 length of time, would not be found equally degraded. A 
 long succession of ages under such influences would stereo- 
 type hereditary dulness and stupidity, and render the most 
 enlightened people obtuse. Of this even Lord Kames gives 
 striking examples,t to which may be added the cases of the 
 Dutch in S. Africa, the Hispanio-American at Paraguay, 
 the Lusitanio- American in Brazil, and the English in N. S. 
 Wales. £ We may again also refer to the contrasted charac- 
 ter of the inhabitants of England and Ireland. In the fifth 
 century, Ireland was the source of literature, philosophy, and 
 learning to England, to Scotland, and to Europe. Of the 
 inhabitants of Great Britain, Mr Martineau of Liverpool 
 says : — " Taken one by one, even now, they present only 
 harmonious varieties of a single type ; and the fact that the 
 Scottish people are of the very same race, yet differ from the 
 Irish more widely than ourselves, is enough to show that the 
 imaginary difficulties of lineage are pliant under the discip- 
 
 * Latham, pp. 500, 510, 4G9. 
 
 f See Smith's Essay on the Variety of Complexions in the Human Spe- 
 cies, pp. 47, 48. 2d Am. ed. 
 ± See DelafiehTs Antiquities of America, pp. 120, 123. 
 
PROVED FROM EXPERIENCE. 247 
 
 line of events. Yet though made by birth of the same 
 blood, set by nature within the same latitudes, led by con- 
 version to the same religion, we have been brought by social 
 agencies into a contrast of condition, to which the world pre- 
 sents no ancient or modern parallel. You might travel from 
 Siberia to Normandy, and scarcely find such extremes to 
 compare as Tipperary and Middlesex. If a shapeless cabin 
 were cut out of the Gal tee hills, and set down in the court 
 of the London Exchange, it would be too true a type of the 
 human differences which have been permitted to separate 
 these provinces. Europe presents no poverty lodged in such 
 holes, fed with such meals, clothed in such rags, cheerful 
 under such hopeless privations, as you find in the one ; no 
 wealth so solid, no comfort so established and diffused, no 
 habits of order so fixed, no provision for the future so anxious 
 and abundant, as in the other. England is known over the 
 world as the extreme of opulent civilization ; Ireland as the 
 outcast of hungry wretchedness. Along the great rivers of 
 every continent, on the bays of every productive coast, in 
 the isles of every rich archipelago, British factories rise, 
 and bills of exchange speak for us a few telling words ; on 
 the same spot appears a slouching figure, with a stick and 
 bundle, and careless speech, never far from a blessing or a 
 curse, whose aspect publishes our shame. The genius of 
 his country is like a mocking spirit to ours. Full of the 
 wild fire of life, rich in the unwrought elements of huma- 
 nity, quick to passion, mellow in affection, deep in humour, 
 he flies over the earth, to track the sedate and well-dressed 
 genius of England, and spread out the shadow of mendi- 
 cancy in the train of its sumptuous advance. ' Ha ! ha ! ' 
 says the laughing spirit, ' go where you will, you old im- 
 postor, ahd I'll be with you, and sit at your door, and men 
 shall look on me and on you ; for the face of us two can tell 
 no lies.' And so on along the St LaAvrence and the Missis- 
 sippi, on the railways of France and Germany, it is published, 
 that England, w T ith unrivalled resources, with indomitable 
 
248 UNITY OF RACES 
 
 perseverance, with faculties for governing unsurpassed even 
 by ancient Rome, with a people abhorrent of oppression and 
 detesting slavery, with a constitution practically free, and a 
 religion singularly earnest, cannot, with centuries at its com- 
 mand, organize the barbaric elements it rules, and reduce the 
 beggary of a nation at its gates." The degradation of the 
 African and other similar races is not, therefore, an anoma- 
 lous fact, even in the history of races of men capable of the 
 highest civilization, and in their condition and circumstances 
 it was unavoidable ; while many indisputable examples of at 
 least comparative taste, talent, genius, erudition, and military 
 prowess, in this very race, either in the bud or in the fruit, 
 are sufficient to prove, in the language of a' quaint writer, that 
 " the negro, like the white man, is still God's image, though 
 carved in ebony ."* 
 
 Dr Bachman has a chapter in illustration of the fact of 
 " the improvements in the skull and physical developments 
 of the African race." " Our experience," he says, " has pro- 
 duced a conviction that the African race is capable of making 
 considerable advance. Whilst we are free to admit that the 
 negroes cannot, either in our country or in any other, be trans- 
 formed without amalgamation into a white race, we do not, 
 however, accord with the views of those who represent them 
 as having undergone no change either in form or skull since 
 their introduction into our country. We have for many 
 years had passing before our eyes innumerable evidences to 
 convince us that this is not the fact. Whilst we perceive no 
 change either in colour or hair, we are fully satisfied that 
 even in the maritime country of Carolina there is, in form, in 
 feature, and especially in skull, a very striking departure from 
 
 * Blumenbach collected a library of works written by negroes. 
 
 See also Dr Good's Book of Nat., vol. ii., p. 99 ; and on pp. '98-100, he 
 mentions some of the cases referred to. 
 
 Chambers of Edinburgh has published a Tract containing illustrations 
 of the same fact. Sharp also published an 8vo vol. on the Intellectual 
 Powers of Negroes. See also Dr C. C. Jones of Georgia on the Instruc- 
 tion of Negroes. 
 
PROVED FROM EXPERIENCE. 249 
 
 the original type. We still have some hundreds of native 
 Africans remaining in South Carolina, some of whom present 
 the tatoo received in Africa. They belonged to tribes that 
 were the progenitors of our negroes. They present, in their 
 thick lips, the curvature of the leg, the projection of the heel, 
 the narrowness of the forehead, which is generally wrinkled, 
 and in the thickness of the lower jaw, such striking peculia- 
 rities when compared with our native negroes of unmixed 
 blood that have been born in this country, and are but three 
 or four generations removed from their African forefathers, 
 that we have for many years past been in the habit of detect- 
 ing their origin at a glance. We may, however, state one 
 fact without the fear of contradiction. If the cast of the skull 
 of an African, from the rich collection of skulls in the cabinet 
 of Prof. Morton, and labelled, ' Negro, of whose history no-^ 
 thing is known,' and which is staring us in the face while we 
 are penning these lines, is the true African type, then our 
 negro race in the South has unquestionably presented a most 
 remarkable improvement in the skull. We do not doubt that 
 this cast is an exact copy of the original, — it also bears a cha- 
 racteristic resemblance to the figure of the skull of a negro in 
 Lawrence.* We have, however, compared this cast with 
 more than fifty skulls of native-born negroes, and in all but 
 one, which resembled it very closely, and with whose origin 
 we are unacquainted, there were most marked differences, 
 and very wide departures." 
 
 In another chapter, after giving an examination of the 
 measurements of the brain, made by Dr Morton, Dr Tiede- 
 mann, and himself, Dr Bachman says : — "Thus the negro 
 skull was less than the European, but within one inch as large 
 as those of the Persians, Armenians, and Caucasians, and three 
 square inches larger than two branches of the Caucasian race, 
 the Indostanic and Nilotic. These tables, which we have pre- 
 sented in the figures of Professors Tiedemann and Morton, will 
 satisfy us of the futility of any attempt to divide the races of 
 
 * Nat. History, pi. 6. 
 
2-50 UNITY OF RACES 
 
 men into different species from the size of the brain. There 
 were nine cubic inches' difference, in the average measure- 
 ment, between the skulls of the English and Irish, and only 
 four inches between the mean of sixty-two African skulls and 
 six native Irish. The largest African skull was ninety^nine, 
 and the largest Irish only ninety-seven. This proves that a 
 negro skull contained more brains than that of the largest 
 Irishman, but it does not hence follow that he possessed more 
 sense. The former had probably a larger frame than the 
 latter. . . . There appears to have been a constant change 
 going on in the crania as well as in the character of many 
 nations. If we select the extreme types of any of the races, 
 we will see a wide difference ; but if we look among indivi- 
 dual forms, we will, in many instances, find it difficult to de- 
 termine to which race they belong. Among many skulls of 
 negroes and Europeans, which are now before us, we find 
 some w T here the two races approach each other so nearly, that 
 it requires much attention and a practised eye to distinguish 
 between them ; and were we to give the white colour and 
 straight hair of the Caucasian to some of the skulls of the 
 negro, the most practised anatomist and physiologist might 
 be easily deceived." 
 
 " Indeed,'"' to use the words of Agassiz, M the facilities, or 
 sometimes we might rather say necessities, arising from the 
 varied supplies of animal and vegetable food in the several 
 regions, might be expected to involve, with his corresponding 
 customs and modes of life, a difference in the physical consti- 
 tution of man, which would contribute to augment any pri- 
 meval differences. It could not indeed be expected, that a 
 people constantly subjected to cold, like the people of the 
 north, and living almost exclusively on fish, which they can- 
 not obtain without toil and peril, should present the same 
 characteristics, either bodily or mental, as those who idly 
 regale on the spontaneous bounties of tropical vegetation."* 
 
 It was at one time supposed that the anatomical investiga- 
 » Zoology, pp. 188, 181. 
 
PROVED FROM EXPERIENCE. 251 
 
 tions of Fleuren had resulted in proving, from the marked 
 and permanent differences in the cuticle existing under the 
 integument of the white man and negro, that they were 
 composed of different species. At a subsequent period, how- 
 ever, these structures in the tegumentary organs were investi- 
 gated by the aid of the microscope, by Heule, Schwann, 
 Purkinje, Simon, and several other professors of anatomy 
 and physiology in Germany. " At the period of our visit 
 to Berlin," says Dr Bachman, "Dr Heule and others were 
 actively engaged in these investigations. These researches 
 led them to the conviction that the cells containing the 
 black pigment under the skin of the African negro, resembled 
 very closely a structure containing dark colouring matter in 
 the diseased or dead bodies of white men. They also dis- 
 covered that freckles, red blotches, &c, on the skin of white 
 persons, had their several origins in the pigment cells which 
 gave these peculiar discolourations to the skin. As far as 
 these investigations have been referred to in any of the scien- 
 tific works published in Germany, that have come to our 
 knowledge for the last ten years, there appears to be a unani- 
 mous conviction, that the organical differences between the 
 skin of the negro and the white man, or any of the races, 
 were utterly insufficient to afford even an argument in favour 
 of a plurality in species." " Microscopic anatomy has recently 
 very satisfactorily proved that the colour of the skin exists in 
 the epidermis only, and that it is the result of the admixture 
 of pigment cells with the ordinary epidermic cells. The office 
 of these pigment cells appears to be the withdrawing from the 
 blood, and elaborating in their own cavities, colouring mat- 
 ters of various shades; and all the different hues which are 
 exhibited by the eleven races of man depend on the relative 
 quantity of those cells, and the colour of the pigment de- 
 posited in them. The ' rete mucosum,' which was once 
 described as a separate colouring layer underneath the epi- 
 demis, is simply the new soft layer of epidermis. If we 
 examine the skin of the negro anatomically, we shall find 
 
252 r>ITY OF RACES 
 
 no structure peculiar to it, for the very same dark cells are 
 found in the fairest of mankind. It would, however, appear, 
 at the first glance, that the black and white races of men — 
 the fair Saxon, the black African, the olive Mongolian, and 
 the ' red man' of North America — are positively separated 
 from each other, and that this peculiar colour of the skin, 
 transmitted as it has been from father to son, generation after 
 generation, ought to be accepted as an undoubted specific 
 distinction ; but it has been well suggested by an able re- 
 viewer of Dr Prichard's book, that a more extended survey 
 tends to break down any such distinction ; ' for on tracing 
 this character through the entire family of man, we find the 
 isolated specimens just noticed to be connected by such a 
 series of links, and the transition from the one to the other 
 to be so very gradual, that it is impossible to say where the 
 line should be drawn. There is nothing which at all ap- 
 proaches to the fixed and definite characters which the zoolo- 
 gist admits as specific distinctions amongst other tribes of 
 animals. On the other hand, we find such a constant rela- 
 tion between climate and the colour of the skin, that it is 
 impossible not to percehe the connection between them.' 
 The parts of the globe included between the tropics, or 
 closely bordering upon them, form the exclusive seat of the 
 native black races, whilst the colder temperate regions are 
 the residence of the fair races, and the intermediate countries 
 are inhabited by people of an intermediate complexion. Some 
 members of the Jewish nation, scattered throughout the colder 
 regions of Europe, where they have been acclimatized during 
 a sojourn of many hundred years, have assumed, in some 
 degree, the lighter tints of complexion, and the yellow, red, 
 and brown hair of the people inhabiting the same country 
 with them. This last fact has been thought, both bv Dr 
 Prichard and others, to be one of great importance, as prov- 
 ing the influence of climate, continued through a long series 
 of years, on the colour of the skin, the more so because it 
 is well known that, from national and religious prejudices, 
 
PROVED FROM EXPERIENCE. 253 
 
 the Jews are altogether separated from the people among 
 -whom they are living. The hue of the skin varies, in the 
 dark- coloured races, from a deep black, which is the hue in 
 some African nations, to a much lighter, or, as Dr Prich- 
 ard terms it, a more ' dilute shade,' that is, the colouring 
 pigment is of a lighter colour. The dusky hue is combined 
 in some nations with a mixture of red, in others with a tinge 
 of yellow. The former are the copper-coloured nations ot 
 America and Africa ; the latter, the olive- coloured races of 
 Asia. In the deepness or intensity of colour we find every 
 shade of gradation, from the black of the Senegal negro, 
 or the deep olive and almost jet-black of the Malabars, 
 and some other nations of India, to the light olive of the 
 northern Hindoos. From that, every variety of hue may be 
 traced, among the Persians and other Asiatics, to the com- 
 plexion of the swarthy Spaniards or of the black-haired Eu- 
 ropeans in general. On the other hand, Dr Prichard has 
 shown that there are instances in which fair races have be- 
 come dark without any considerable change in external 
 conditions. We find the Germanic nations, which were 
 unanimously described by ancient authors as very fair, pos- 
 sessing red or yellow hair, and blue or grey eyes, have 
 become much darker since that time, so that these peculiari- 
 ties are far from being common amongst them, and must now 
 be rather looked for in Sweden. That an amelioration of the 
 climate of central Europe has taken place during the same 
 period cannot be doubted, but the climatic change scarcely 
 seems decided enough to account for such an alteration in 
 the physical characters of the population. Explain the fact 
 as we may, it is an evidence of the variability of the races of 
 men, since it is altogether impossible to question the purity of 
 the descent of the Germanic nations, or that the change of 
 complexion has resulted from any admixture of a foreign 
 element. With regard to the hair, it may be shown by 
 microscopic examination that the hair of the negro is not 
 really wool, and that it differs in its intimate structure from 
 
2-54 UNITY OF RACES 
 
 that of the fairer races only in the greater quantity of pig- 
 mentary matter which it contains in its interior ; and the 
 same may be said of the jet-black hair so often seen in Eng- 
 land. The crisp, twisted growth of the negro hair is the 
 only character by which it can be separated from the straight, 
 and this cannot for a moment be relied on as a proof of 
 original difference, since these national variations do not 
 exceed those which present themselves within the limits of 
 any one race, and we daily meet Europeans with hair quite 
 as black and woolly as that of the negro ; and if we examine 
 the tribes in Africa, every possible gradation is found, from 
 the so-called woolly hair to simply curled or even flowing 
 hair. The fact of red hair occurring; amongst the negroes 
 of Congo has been alluded to by Blumenbach, who saw 
 many mulattoes with red hair. Dr Prichard observes that 
 even if the hair of the negro were really analogous to wool, 
 which it is not, 4 it would by no means prove him to be of a 
 peculiar and separate stock, unless the peculiarity were con- 
 stantly presented by all the nations of negro descent, and 
 were restricted to them alone, for there are breeds of domes- 
 ticated animals which have wool, whilst others of the same 
 species, under different climatic influences, are covered with 
 hair/ Two other popular distinctions between hair and 
 wool may be drawn from the fact that wool falls off altoge- 
 ther in a mass and leaves the animal bare, while hair falls off 
 singly, and from time to time. The growing part of the fibre 
 of wool varies in thickness according to the season, being 
 thicker in proportion to the warmth of the atmosphere, and 
 smallest of all in winter ; on the contrary, the filament of 
 hair is generally of uniform thickness, or tapering a little to- 
 wards a point. The peculiarities observed in the structure of 
 the bony skeleton, more particularly of the cranium and 
 pelvis, next claim attention ; for these have been thought to 
 furnish more important guides for the separation of the races 
 of men into distinct species than either the colour of the skin 
 or the texture of the hair. Since the works of Camper and 
 
PROVED FROM EXPERIENCE. 255 
 
 Blumenbach appeared, repeated efforts have been made to 
 arrange the different members of the human family into dis- 
 tinct species, the conformation of the skull being the guiding 
 characteristic. To select a Negro, an European, an Ameri- 
 can, or a Malay skull, when strongly- marked peculiarities 
 were presented, would probably be no very difficult task ; but 
 are these types common to the entire races they are said to 
 represent ? Have they that permanency and invariability 
 which is requisite to found a specific distinction ? And the 
 facts which have been accumulated in answer to these inqui- 
 ries prove, 1st, That these peculiarities are far from constant 
 in the several nations of one race, or even in the several in- 
 dividuals of one nation ; and, 2d, That external conditions 
 being improved, they are liable to undergo alterations, — 
 changes which every influence that exalts the general habits 
 of life, and calls into exercise the faculties of the mind, has 
 no considerable influence in producing."* 
 
 " What there was or now exists in the climate of inter- 
 tropical Africa to give to the inhabitants, in the different 
 localities of those regions, such great diversity in the shape of 
 the head, the expression of countenance, and structure of 
 hair, is just as difficult for us to conceive, as for our oppo- 
 nents to explain why, in the same country, the hog has be- 
 come black, the sheep has lost its wool and put on a cover- 
 ing of black hair, and the dog, as well as some breeds of 
 pigs, have become naked, or why it is that a variety of the 
 common fowl (Gallus morio) is not only black in colour, but 
 has the comb, wattles, and skin dark purple, and the perios- 
 teum of the bones black. When these phenomena in the 
 lower order of animals shall have been fully accounted for by 
 our opponents, they will have afforded us some lights by 
 which we will be enabled to explain the causes of difference 
 in human forms and complexions." 
 
 Dr Prichard, Mr Pickering, and Hamilton Smith, are of 
 opinion that the African was the primitive form and race of 
 * From Dr Hall's Introd. to Pickering on the Races, pp. 44-51. 
 
*256 UNITY OF RACES 
 
 man, and that all the others are divergences from this earliest 
 type ; while Dr Bachman thinks the probability in favour of 
 the supposition that the primitive form and colour was inter- 
 mediate between the African and white races, and that these 
 are therefore variations equally removed from the original.* 
 
 But it is asked, why do we not see changes from black to 
 white races actually arising at the present time ? The races, 
 says Dr Bachman, are already established, and, as far as 
 experience in other departments of the animal creation affords 
 us light on these subjects, varieties once formed may pro- 
 duce other varieties, or they may sink into degeneracy and 
 perish, but they cannot again be brought back to the races 
 from which they originated. No breeds of cows, horses, 
 swine, or birds, have ever reverted back to the original forms ; 
 we can scarcely doubt that this phenomenon will be the same 
 in the races of men. New countries and climates may pro- 
 duce varieties among them, but their progeny, even though 
 they be removed to the homes of their predecessors, never 
 revert back to the original variety. Like streams that flow 
 onwards, like fragments of rocks broken from precipices, like 
 metals changed by the chemist's art, they exist in other forms, 
 they enter into other combinations, but never return to their 
 original sources. If this answer is not satisfactory to our 
 opponents, we would ask them in return, can you, without 
 an amalgamation, convert the Shetland pony, the Carolina 
 tackey, or the dray horse, into the form of the wild Tartarian 
 horse by any mode of feeding, training, or emigration ? Can 
 you bring back the Durham cow to the Bos taurus ? — the 
 merino or the large-tailed sheep to the Ovis aries ? — the 
 Carolina hog to the wild boar ? — the large Bremen goose to 
 the original lag goose ? — the Aylesbury or the East India 
 duck to the original Anas boschas ? — the powter or the fan- 
 tailed pigeon to the original rock- dove ? — the golden pippin 
 
 * See PricharcTs reasons, given Lond. Quarterly Review, Jan. 1850, p. 
 19; Pickering on the Races, p. 305, for his reasons; Hamilton Smith, as 
 quoted; and Dr Bachman, pp. 155, 156, &c. 
 
PROVED FROM EXPERIENCE. 257 
 
 to the wild English crab ? — the sickel pear to the wild iron 
 pear ? — or the cauliflower to the wild brassica, in ten thou- 
 sand years ? Permanent varieties put on the characteristics 
 and tenacity of species. We perceive, then, that there are 
 operations in nature which are constantly going on before 
 our eyes, at which man may cavil, but for which no process 
 of reasoning can enable him to assign a satisfactory cause ; 
 whilst we are groping in the dark, her laws are still uniform, 
 and operate in the same unvaried manner, from the humblest 
 plant and the minutest insect up to reasoning man, the high- 
 est order in our world. 
 
 But there is another answer to this inquiry, and that is 
 found in the fact that in the primitive age of the world, geo- 
 logical and climatal conditions conspired with the adaptation 
 of man's constitution to produce great changes, and to origi- 
 nate and perpetuate such modifications. 
 
 It was an ancient opinion that man is a microcosmus, an 
 abstract or model of the world. " This much," says Lord 
 Bacon, " is evidently true, that of all substances which na- 
 ture has produced, man's body is the most extremely com- 
 pounded : for we see herbs and plants are nourished by earth 
 and water ; beasts for the most part by herbs and fruits ; 
 man by the flesh of beasts, birds, fishes, herbs, grains, fruits, 
 water, and the manifold alterations, dressings, and prepara- 
 tions of the several bodies before they come to be his food 
 and aliment. Add hereunto, that beasts have a more simple 
 order of life, and less change of affections to work upon their 
 bodies : whereas man in his mansion, sleep, exercise, and 
 passions, hath infinite variations ; and it cannot be denied 
 but that the body of man, of all other things, is of the most 
 compounded mass." 
 
 To pronounce on the physical powers of the antediluvians 
 and postdiluvians by a reference to our own short-lived 
 existence, and from our present laws and condition of the 
 earth, would be as wise as to argue from the existing facts 
 of the material world, with its manifold incrustations and 
 
 R 
 
258 UNITY OF RACES 
 
 decompositions, to a strictly analogous state of things in all 
 past ages.* 
 
 Hamilton Smith gives numerous facts at great length to 
 show that there are evidences " of a great atmospheric change 
 in relation to man after a diluvian cataclysis," by which 
 regions once adapted to the negro stock were adapted to 
 different races, t He shows, therefore, the former greater 
 mildness at the north pole, and the narrowness of Behring's 
 Straits. In illustration of this, the conclusion of Professor 
 Edward Forbes, already alluded to, respecting the origin and 
 diffusion of the British flora, may be cited, from his Survey 
 Memoir on the Connection between the Distribution of the 
 existing Fauna and Flora of the British Islands, &c., p. 65. 
 " 1. The flora and fauna, terrestrial and marine, of the British 
 islands and seas, have originated, so far as that area is con- 
 cerned, since the meiocene epoch. 2. The assemblages of 
 animals and plants composing that fauna and flora did not 
 appear in the area they now inhabit simultaneously, but at 
 several distinct points in time. 3. Both the fauna and flora 
 of the British islands and seas are composed partly of species 
 which, either permanently or for a time, appeared in that 
 area before the glacial epoch ; partly of such as inhabited it 
 during that epoch ; and in great part of those which did not 
 appear there until afterwards, and whose appearance on the 
 earth was coeval with the elevation of the bed of the glacial 
 sea, and the consequent climatal changes. 4. The greater 
 part of the terrestrial animals and following plants now in- 
 habiting the British islands are members of specific centres 
 beyond their area, and have migrated to it over continuous 
 land, before, during, or after the glacial epoch. The Alpine 
 floras of Europe and Asja, so far as they are identical with 
 the flora of the Arctic and sur- Arctic zones of the Old "World, 
 are fragments of a flora which was diffused from the North, 
 either by means of transport not now in action in the tempe- 
 
 * See Hamilton Smith, pp. 217, 218, and 2G5. 
 f See also Dr Bachman, p. 302. 
 
PROVED FROM EXPERIENCE. 259 
 
 rate coasts of Europe, or over continuous land which no 
 longer exists."* 
 
 There is, therefore, nothing, as Dr Bachman says, j unrea- 
 sonable or unscientific in the supposition that the constitu- 
 tions of men were so organized, that in those early times, before 
 the races had become permanent, they were more susceptible 
 of producing varieties than at a later period, after their con- 
 stitution had attained to the full measure of its development, 
 beyond which there would at every step be a greater difficulty 
 either in advancing or returning.^ 
 
 There is one other objection which may be noticed under 
 this chapter, founded upon the case of the Dokos, the Bush- 
 men, and other tribes who are alleged to be without language 
 and the other essential characteristics of man. 
 
 Now, in reply to this objection, we remark, in the Jirst 
 place, that the whole of our present knowledge of the Dokos 
 is founded upon the most imperfect evidence. § Secondly, we 
 remark, that even if the Dokos or any other tribe could be 
 shown to be destitute of the attributes of humanity, this 
 would only prove, either that they were not human beings, 
 or that they had sunk to a condition of barbarism lower than 
 that of any other race, but it would in no degree affect our 
 general argument. 
 
 But thirdly, we remark, that in the case of the Bushmen, 
 full experiment and observation have proved that men may 
 descend to such a depth of degradation as to appear beyond 
 the pale of humanity, while originally of the same race with 
 more civilized tribes. This will appear from the following 
 facts respecting the Bushmen given by Dr Prichard in his 
 last publication. || It has been supposed that the Bushmen 
 
 * See in Humboldt's Cosmos, p. 363, vol. i.; see also Lond. Quarterly 
 Review, Jan. 1850, p. 18, col. 1, American edition. 
 
 f Bachman, p. 202. 
 
 + On this argument, see the Ethnological Journal, No. iii., pp. 147, 148. 
 Macculloch's Proofs of the Attributes of God, vol. iii., pp. 480, 481. 
 
 § See Dr Prichard"s Nat. History, Appendix, 3d edit. 
 
 II Ibid, pp. 593-604. 
 
260 UNITY OF RACES 
 
 are a race of men distinct from the Hottentots. This opinion 
 was founded on the difference of their manners; on the sup- 
 posed untamable character of the Bushmen ; and, most of all, 
 on the fact, that the Hottentots do not understand the lan- 
 guage of the Bushmen. Others, who suppose the two na- 
 tions to be of one stock, imagine that the hordes of Bushmen 
 owe their existence to the hardships which were inflicted by 
 the European colonists of South Africa on the Hottentots. 
 The herdsmen of that race are supposed to have been plun- 
 dered by the Dutch settlers near the Cape ; and, after losing 
 their cattle and all their property, to have been driven into the 
 wilderness, to subsist on such food as they could acquire by 
 the chase, and the rude arts of the most abject savages. 
 Neither of these opinions is well founded, as it has been 
 fully proved by the researches of an able and well-informed 
 traveller, who has made a long abode in South Africa, and 
 was engaged by the colonial government to undertake a long 
 journey of investigation in the interior of Hottentot-land and 
 Kamristan. From Dr Andrew Smith's accurate information, 
 we are convinced that the Bushmen are of the same race as 
 the Hottentots, and originally spoke the same language. 
 They have been separated, however, from the pastoral Hotten- 
 tot from a very distant period, and do not owe their destitute 
 condition to the robberies inflicted on their forefathers by 
 European colonists, though their numbers have been aug- 
 mented from time to time by the resort of outcasts from 
 various conquered and reduced tribes to the wandering hordes 
 in their vicinity.* 
 
 " I have been assured by Dr Andrew Smith, who has not 
 yet given to the world a full account of the results of his ex- 
 tensive observations on South Africa, that almost every tribe 
 of people who have submitted themselves to social laws, 
 recognise the rights of property and reciprocal social duties, 
 and have thereby acquired some wealth and have formed 
 themselves into a respectable caste, are surrounded by hordes 
 
 * Pricliard, pp. 593, 594. 
 
PROVED FROM EXPERIENCE. 261 
 
 of vagabonds and outcasts from their own community, or 
 have them in their own vicinity : that these hordes are ever 
 gathering accessions from the predatory parties of neighbour- 
 ing tribes, or even of more distant bodies of people. Their 
 haunts are in the wilderness and in the fastnesses of moun- 
 tains and forests, and become the resort of all who, from 
 crimes and destitution, are obliged to retire themselves from 
 the abodes of the more industrious and honest and thriving 
 of the community. Such are the Bushmen of the Hottentot 
 race. But a similar condition in society produces similar 
 results in regard to other races ; and the Caffres have their 
 Bushmen as well as the Hottentots. But the people known 
 to the Cape colonists, are merely the outcast Hottentots. 
 There are likewise vagabonds belonging to the Bechuana na- 
 tion, who are called by the latter people Balalas. The wild 
 outcasts who are scattered over the Kalahaie Desert, are 
 known by the title of Bahalahaie. These, like the Balala, 
 consist of the paupers and outcasts from different nations and 
 the neighbourhood. ' They all stand,' as Dr A. Smith assures 
 me, k in the same relation to the Caffres as the Bushmen to 
 the Hottentots.'"* 
 
 The fact of a tribe of people in abetter condition, and look- 
 ing upon themselves as of higher caste and dignity, having in 
 its vicinity hordes of a lower state, a sort of malechehas, or 
 a " mixed multitude," descended probably from refugees and 
 outcasts, and more or less mingled with foreigners and vaga- 
 bonds from various quarters, is a thing likely to have occurred 
 in other parts of the world besides South Africa ; and the 
 supposition of its existence may tend to explain many pheno- 
 mena in history or ethnology. In India, for example, it can- 
 not be doubted that many a tribe of obscure origin, living be- 
 yond the limits, or on the outskirts of civilized communities, 
 owes its existence, in a great part at least, to the shelter which 
 woods and fastnesses and mountainous tracts afford, from 
 time to time, to persons whose character and habits of life are 
 * Prichard, pp. 595> 596. 
 
262 UNITY OF RACES 
 
 such as to unfit them for the observation of laws, and for sub- 
 mission to regal and priestly ordinances. Many "writers on 
 Indian history have attributed this origin to Jhe Bhils and 
 Goands, and other tribes of the mountains, who display but 
 slight differences in physical character and language from the 
 people of the plains.* 
 
 The language of the Bushmen is merely a dialect of the 
 Hottentot idiom, spoken by all of that race. This is the de- 
 cided testimony of all late travellers, though the differences of 
 words collected in vocabularies are so great as to have given 
 rise at one period to a different opinion. The people of some 
 hordes speak much like the Namaaquas ; others use the same 
 words with different pronunciation ; a third party, as we are 
 assured by Dr Andrew Smith, vary their speech designedly, 
 by affecting a singular mode of utterance, and adopt new 
 words with the intent of rendering their ideas unintelligible 
 to all but the members of their own community. For this 
 last custom a peculiar name exists, which is — " cuze cat." 
 This is considered as greatly advantageous to the tribe in assist- 
 ing concealment of their exploits and designs. The modi- 
 fied dialect is more or less understood by the population belong- 
 ing to each Bushman tribe, but not to the Hottentots, or 
 those who know only the common language of the race. The 
 clapping noise occasioned by the various motions of the 
 tongue, which is characteristic of the Hottentot language, is 
 particularly of frequent occurrence among the Bushmen, who 
 often use it so incessantly as to make it appear that they give 
 utterance to a jargon consisting of an uninterrupted succession 
 of claps. The dialects of the Bushmen thus modified are 
 not generally intelligible to the Hottentots, though it is ob- 
 served, on the other hand, that such Bushmen as live on 
 friendly terms with the Hottentots in their neighbourhood, 
 and associate with them, acquire such a modification of utter- 
 ance that their language is perfectly understood. The fact 
 that a savage nation is thus known to modify its speech pur- 
 
 * Prichard, p. 598. 
 
PROVED FROM EXPERIENCE. 263 
 
 posely, for the sake of becoming unintelligible to its neigh- 
 bours, is by no means unimportant in regard to the history of 
 languages. It is impossible to say how many of the appa- 
 rently original diversities of human speech may have derived 
 their commencement from a similar cause, and from the 
 voluntary adoption of a new jargon by some small separate 
 community. The clapping articulation of the Hottentots may 
 have originated wholly from this habit. 
 
 The present abodes oi the Bushmen are scattered through 
 the whole of the extensive plains lying between the northern 
 boundary of the colony, the Kamiesberg range of mountains, 
 and the Orange river. In former times thev were more 
 widely spread, and are said to have occupied many districts 
 within the boundaries of the colony ; as the barren districts 
 between the Olifaut and Groene rivers and the great Karoo, 
 as well as the country on the Camptoes river. The popula- 
 tion is thinly spread, especially at particular seasons of the 
 year, or when the supply of game is scanty. In situations 
 where nature is liberal of productions readily applicable to the 
 support of life, small communities exist ; where food is scanty 
 and defective, it is rare to find more than one or two families 
 in the same place. Little intercourse exists between them 
 except when self-defence, or an occasional combination in 
 some marauding expedition undertaken in the hope of booty, 
 brings them into contact ; arid some mischief is apprehended 
 by the colonists when it is known that many Bushmen have 
 formed their kraals in the same neighbourhood. 
 
 They are constantly roving about from one place to another, 
 in quest of a precarious subsistence. Hence they bestoAv but 
 little labour on their temporary dwellings. They erect a 
 shelter of bushes for the night, or rest under mats suspended 
 on poles ; or dig holes in the ground, into which they creep. 
 Their clothing is principally a kaross or loose mantle of sheep- 
 skin, which is a garment by day and a covering by night. 
 They carefully besmear their skin with fat, as a protection 
 against the parching effect of the heat and wind, and, like 
 
264 UNITY OF RACES 
 
 other savages, they are fond of ornamenting their hair, and 
 ears, and bodies, with beads and buttons, shells and teeth, 
 and other barbaric decorations. 
 
 In physical characters, the Bushmen differ little from the 
 Hottentots in general. Dr Andrew Smith declares that they 
 are certainly not inferior in stature to the other Hottentots. 
 Among the latter, there are individuals of every growth ; and 
 those travellers who have given us the most striking descrip- 
 tions of the Bushmen, were probably less acquainted than this 
 intelligent writer with the other Hottentot tribes. We are 
 told by Mr Leslie, who has described the Bushmen of the 
 Orange river, that, small in stature as the Hottentot race is, 
 they are in that quarter less than elsewhere. He adds that 
 they seldom exceed five feet. This, however, indicates no 
 great difference, or at least not more than may well be attri- 
 buted to scanty sustenance, beginning from childhood, and 
 continuing through many generations. 
 
 We are assured by Mr Bunbury, who had better opportu- 
 nities than most travellers for observation, that the Hottentots 
 are a very diminutive race. He declares that the majority of 
 those in the Cape corps, at least of the new levies, are under 
 five feet in height, and by no means strong. 
 
 Their hands and feet are small and delicate, in which parti- 
 cular they differ remarkably from the negroes* 
 
 "Although the wild tribes of the Hottentot race display fero- 
 city, and all the other vices of savage life, yet we have abun- 
 dant proof that these people are not insusceptible of the bless- 
 ings of civilization and Christianity. No uncultivated people 
 appear to have received the instructions of the Moravian mis- 
 sionaries more readily than the Hottentots, or to have been 
 more fully reclaimed and Christianized. In one of my for- 
 mer works, I have taken pains to collect the most authentic 
 accounts of their change of condition, and to compare it with 
 that of other nations, who in later times have received the 
 blessings of conversion to the Christian religion." t 
 
 * Prichard, pp. 600, 602. + Ibid, pp. 603, 604. 
 
PROVED FROM EXPERIENCE. 265 
 
 We may further illustrate the hasty ignorance with which 
 conclusions are drawn adverse to the truth of Scripture, by a 
 reference to a race of strange people in the interior of Ceylon, 
 known by the name of Veddahs, or " wild men of the jungle." 
 
 These savage foresters, when discovered, had no houses or 
 villages. When the season was dry, they roamed in the 
 woods, and slept under the trees, and even on high among 
 the branches ; but in the wet season they crept into caves, or 
 lay under the shelter of rocks. Their beds were a few leaves, 
 and they had nothing more on them than their neighbours 
 the beasts, except a small piece of cloth around the waist, and 
 a few arrows. 
 
 These poor creatures never cultivated the ground for food, 
 but lived upon roots and wild honey, though sometimes they 
 fed on lizards, monkeys, and other animals they found in the 
 forest. They looked very wild ; their hair was loose, rugged, 
 and burnt brown by the rays of the sun. 
 
 A traveller once met with an old Veddah, and asked him 
 to bring his family that he might see them. The Veddah 
 said they would not come, for they had never seen a white 
 man : they would sooner meet a savage beast than see one. 
 But after the promise of a gift, he went to seek for them. 
 In a little time loud shrieks were heard : the wild man was 
 forcing his wife and children along, and they were crying 
 out with terror. When they came nigh and saw the travel- 
 ler, they again cried aloud and rushed into the thicket. After 
 a long time, the man contrived to bring his wife, daughter, 
 and little son to the spot : and when the gentleman held out 
 his hand to the boy, he was so terrified that he ran, shriek- 
 ing, into the jungle with the swiftness of a deer. 
 
 The father was asked where he slept. " On the trees," he re- 
 plied. " But where do your wife and children sleep ? " " On the 
 trees." " But how can they climb ? " " It is their nature." 
 " What do you eat ? " " Such things as we can get." " What 
 religion are you?" "We do not know what you mean/' 
 " Where do people go after death ?" " We do not know." 
 
266 UNITY OF RACES 
 
 These wild men had no knowledge of God. If they had 
 any religion, it consisted of worship offered to the devil. 
 When any one of their number fell ill, they made a u devil- 
 dance," and offered cocoa-nuts and rice to the wicked spirit 
 who they suppose afflicts them. They had no knowledge of 
 hours, nor names for days ; indeed, they were sunk in the 
 lowest state of ignorance and misery. 
 
 These wild men of the jungle, however, are immortal be- 
 ings, and have souls to be saved or lost. They are sinners, 
 and need a Saviour. And has any thing been done for them ? 
 Yes, missionaries have already been among them, and God has 
 blessed their labours to these poor creatures. They have been 
 taught to build houses, and plant rice ; to clothe their bodies, 
 and live like human beings. The school-house has been 
 built; the Sabbath is kept holy; many have been baptized, 
 and now meet for prayer and to praise God ; and there is 
 reason to hone that a good number have found peace with 
 God, through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.* 
 
 Christianity, the religion of God, who is the Father of all, 
 and of all the nations of earth, whom he has made of one 
 blood, is therefore the infallible test and " experiment," as 
 the apostle expresses it, of the common humanity of all men. 
 
 NOTE A. 
 
 THE SKULL OF THE NEGRO. 
 
 The African race?, we have shown, are not incapable of im- 
 provement from any want of physical development. There is 
 nothing in their brain or in any other organ of the mind which 
 renders such advancement impossible. " It has been proved." to 
 quote from Dr Hall, " by Mr Owen and by Dr Pri chard, that 
 when the skulls of adult apes are compared with those of man, the 
 most strongly marked and important features distinguish the 
 quadrumanous type from that of the human skull. The cranium, 
 
 * Religious Tract Society, 56 Paternoster Row (122); and Prichard, 
 p. 251. See also Note B, p. 270. 
 
PROVED FROM EXPERIENCE. 267 
 
 a small rounded case, is posterior to, and not above the face ; an- 
 teroposterior diameter of the basis of the skull is much longer thanin 
 man, but the situation of the zygomatic arch in the plane of the base 
 of the skull, presents the differences in the most striking manner. In 
 all the races of men and even in human idiots, the entire zygoma is 
 included in the anterior half of the basis of the skull ; in the head of 
 the adult chimpanzee, and also in the ourang, the zygoma is placed 
 in the middle region of the skull, and in the basis occupies just one 
 third part of the entire length of its diameter." "The situation 
 of the great occipital foramen furnishes/' says Mr Hall, " yet 
 another most distinguishing feature. In the human head it is very 
 near the middle of the basis of the skull, or rather, speaking ana- 
 tomically, it is situated immediately behind the middle transverse 
 diameter ; while in the full-grown chimpanzee, it occupies the 
 middle of the posterior third part of the base of the skull. The 
 principal peculiarities in the general form of the more strongly 
 marked negro skull, may be referred to the two characters of lateral 
 compression or narrowing of the entire cranium, and the greater 
 projection forwards of the jaws. The head is proportionally 
 narrower, and the upper jaw is more protruded, than in the ordi- 
 nary form of other races. Some anatomists have fancied they have 
 discovered certain points of relation between the skulls of negroes 
 and those of monkevs. Now. as the negro skull is the narrowest 
 and most- elongated of human skulls, and as the crania of apes and 
 all other animals of the monkey tribe are much longer and narrower 
 than those of men, it could hardly be supposed but that some points 
 of resemblance should exist between the ape and the African. 
 These analogies are of much less weight than they are supposed to 
 be. The differences between the heads of simiae and those of men 
 have been already described." Dr Prichard says, he has " carefully 
 examined the situation of the foramen magnum in many negro 
 skulls. In all of them the position may be accurately described as 
 being exactly behind the transverse line bisecting the antero- 
 posterior diameter of the basis cranii." This is precisely the place 
 which Professor Owen has pointed out as the general position of 
 the occipital foramen in the human skull. In those negro skulls 
 which have the alveolar process very protuberant, the anterior half 
 of the line above described is lengthened in a slight degree by this 
 circumstance. If allowance be made for it, no difference is percep- 
 tible. " The difference," says Dr Prichard, " is in all instances 
 extremely slight, and it is equally perceptible in heads belonging to 
 other races of men, if we examine crania which have prominent 
 upper jaws. If a line is let fall from the summit of the head, at 
 right angles with the plane of the basis, the occipital foramen will 
 be found situated immediately behind it, and this is precisely the 
 same in negro and in European heads." The projection of the 
 muzzle, or to speak more correctly, of the alveolar process of the 
 
268 UNITY OF RACES 
 
 upper jaw-bone, gives to the negro skull its peculiar deformity, and 
 to the face its ugly, monkey-looking aspect ; and to the same cir- 
 cumstance, the difference noticed by Camper, in the facial angle, 
 between the head of the European and the head of the negro may- 
 be attributed. In the negro, the external organ of hearing is also 
 wide and spacious, and, as it appears, proportionately greater than 
 in Europeans. The mastoid processes represented in the chim- 
 panzee by a protuberant ridge behind the auditory foramen, and 
 which Soemmering remarks can scarcely be discovered in apes, are 
 as fully formed in the negro as in our own race. In the negro, 
 the styloid process of the temporal bone is fully and strongly- 
 marked; in the chimpanzee, ourang-outang,and all apes, it is entirely 
 wanting. Wormian or triquetral bones have been thought to be 
 rare in the skulls of Africans, and Blumenbach even doubted their 
 existence in the crania of any of the African races. There is an 
 Australian skull in the museum of Guy's hospital, in which there 
 are some of considerable size, and Dr Prichard describes a negro's 
 skull in his possession having "Wormian bones. He also justly re- 
 remarks, that the features of the negro races are by no means 
 widely diffused, in so strongly-marked a degree, as some descriptions 
 might lead us to suspect. The negroes of Mozambique have a 
 considerable elevation of forehead, and an examination of several 
 crania in the museum of Guy's hospital, of the negroes of this 
 locality, will show that they display a less protuberance of jaw. 
 The facial angle contains, according to Professor Camper's tables, 
 80° in the heads of Europeans — in some skulls it is much less — and 
 in negroes only 70°. In the ourang it has been estimated at 64°, 
 63°, and 60°. This error has been already pointed out ; an angle 
 of 60° is the measurement of the skulls of young apes. Professor 
 Owen has shown the facial angle of the adult troglodyte to be only 
 35°, and in the ourang, or satyr, it is only 30°. The Peruvian 
 cranium described by Tiedemann, possesses so very remarkable a 
 configuration, that some might be. inclined to adopt his opinion, 
 that it belonged to an original and primitive race, were it not 
 known that it had been produced by artificial means. We have 
 examined several of such skulls brought from Titicaca, in Peru ; 
 and in another place have given a sketch of a skull brought from 
 this locality, and which is now in the museum of the Royal College 
 of Surgeons. Dr Morton has given several drawings of skulls, so 
 altered by this pressure as almost to have lost the outlines of hu- 
 manity. In one skull brought from Peru, the intervention of art 
 is very manifest in the depression of a forehead naturally low. The 
 lateral swell is not very remarkable, and the parietal protuberances 
 are flattened, and these two peculiarities are the well-known types 
 of the formation of the crania of these people. That the Caribs 
 of St Vincent flattened the heads of their offspring is well known, 
 and the inspection of Blumenbach's engraving of a Carribean skull 
 
PROVED FROM EXPERIENCE. 26.9 
 
 will convince any one of the great amount of deformity which may 
 be produced. Among the Columbian tribes, the child immediately 
 after birth is put into a cradle of peculiar construction, and pres- 
 sure is applied to the forehead and occiput. After the head has 
 been compressed for several months, it exhibits the most hideous 
 appearance, the anterior-posterior diameter is the smallest, while 
 the breadth from side to side is enormous, thus reversing the natural 
 measurements of the cranium. In comparing the measurements of 
 the negro's skull, with that of an European, it must be remembered 
 that many of the skulls in our museums do not present the true 
 characters of this race — they have been taken from unfortunate 
 creatures kidnapped on the coast, or their enslaved offspring, and 
 that conclusions are to be drawn from the formation of the head 
 in the whole race, and not from the crania of particular museums. 
 With regard to the brain, Dr Cadwell remarks, " In both the ne- 
 gro and Caucasian races we have the brain, which, except in point 
 of size, is precisely the same in the African as the European." The 
 following are the conclusions of Dr Tidemann : — First, In size the 
 brain of a negro is as large as an European. Second, In regard 
 to the capacity of the cavity, the skull of the negro in general is 
 not smaller than that of the European, and other human races ; "the 
 opposite opinion is ill-founded and altogether refuted by my re- 
 searches." Third, In the form and structure of the well-possessed 
 spiral chord, the negro accords in every way with the European, 
 and shows no difference except that arising from the different size 
 of the body. Fourth, The cerebellum of the negro, in regard to 
 its outward form, fissures, and lobes, is exactly similar to that of 
 the European. Fifth, The cerebrum has for the most part the 
 same form as that of the European. Sixth, The brain in internal 
 structure is composed of the same substance. Seventh, The brain 
 of the negro is not smaller, compared as to size, nor are the nerves 
 thicker. Eighth, The analogy of the brain of the negro to the 
 ourang-outang is not greater than that of other races, " except it be 
 in the greater symmetry of the gyri and sulci, which I very much 
 doubt." As these features of the brain indicate the degree of intel- 
 lect and faculties of the mind, we must conclude that no innate 
 difference in the intellectual faculties can be admitted to exist 
 between the negro and European races. The opposite conclusion 
 is founded on the very facts which have been sufficient to secure the 
 degradation of this race. " The more interior and natural the 
 negroes are found in Africa, they are superior in character, in arts, 
 in habits, and in manners, and possess towns and literature to some 
 extent. Whatever, therefore," says Robinson, " may be their tints, 
 their souls are still the same." It is the opinion of Dr Prichard 
 also, that there is nothing whatever in the organization of the brain 
 of the negro which affords a presumption of inferior endowment 
 of intellectual or moral faculties. This writer has also given the 
 
270 UNITY OF RACES 
 
 i 
 
 weight of several skulls of nearly the same size, from which it 
 would appear that there is little constant difference. The average 
 weight of the brain of an European is about 44 ounces, troy 
 weight : Dupuytern's brain weighed 64 ounces ; Cuvier's, 63 
 ounces; Abercromby's, 63 ounces. The brain of the celebrated 
 Dr Chalmers only reached 53 ounces ; he had a large head,* 
 
 NOTE B. 
 
 THE VEDDAHS OF CEYLON. 
 
 I have been most obligingly permitted by Sir James Emerson 
 Tennent to transcribe the following highly interesting account of 
 the Veddahs, or Wild Men of the Jungle, from his very interesting 
 and yet unpublished volume on the Physical and Social History of 
 Ceylon, and which cannot fail to be deeply interesting to all our 
 readers : — 
 
 " At Birtenve I had an opportunity of acquiring some of the in- 
 formation which I desired regarding the progress and success of 
 the attempt made by government to introduce civilization amongst 
 the Veddahs. The district which they inhabit lies to the east and 
 south, extending from the base of the Badulla and Owna hills to- 
 wards the sea. 
 
 " It is incorrect to apply the term savages to these harmless out- 
 casts, for they exhibit neither in disposition nor action any of those 
 vices which we are accustomed to associate with that name. Their 
 history and origin is unknown. They are conjectured, and 
 with some appearance of truth, to be a remnant of the aboriginal 
 inhabitants of Ceylon, driven before the Malabar invaders into 
 those wilds and fastnesses, whence, from some unaccountable cause, 
 they never emerged again, nor returned to civilized life. They all 
 live more or less by hunting and by the use of the bow ; but they 
 have been hitherto known by the distinctive names of ' Rock ' and 
 ' Village' Veddahs; the latter approaching the confines of civiliza- 
 tion, cultivating now and then a little rice, and submitting to live 
 in houses; the former keeping closely to the forests, subsisting on 
 roots and the produce of the chase, and lodging in caves, or under 
 the shelter of overhanging rocks, and frequently sleeping on the 
 trees. In the choice of their food, they are almost omnivorous, 
 no carrion or vermin being too repulsive to their taste. Fruits, 
 roots, and grain they consume when procurable ; birds, bats, crows, 
 owls, and kites, when they can bring them down with the bow ; but 
 
 * See Introductory Essay to Bonn's Ed. of Pickering on the Races. 
 
PROVED FROM EXPERIENCE. 271 
 
 for some unexplained reason, they will not touch the flesh of bears, 
 elephants, or buffaloes, though abundant in their hunting grounds. 
 The flesh of deer and other animals they dry on stages in the sun. 
 They invariably cook their meat with fire, and avow their prefer- 
 ence to the quava and roasted monkeys above all other dainties. 
 The Rock or Wild Veddahs are divided into small tribes or fami- 
 lies, differing in no respect except in relationship or association, 
 but agreeing to divide the forest amongst themselves into hunting 
 fields, the boundaries of which are marked by streams, hills, rocks, or 
 some well-known trees. These conventional allotments are always 
 honourably preserved from violation amongst themselves. Each 
 party has a headman, the most energetic senior of the tribe, who 
 divides the honey when taken at a particular season, but beyond 
 this he exercises no sort of authority. The produce of the chase 
 they dry and collect for barter on the borders of the inhabited 
 country, whither the ubiquitous moormen resort, carrying cloths, 
 axes, arrow-heads, and other articles, to exchange for deer-flesh, 
 elephants' tusks, and bees' wax. In these transactions, it is said, 
 the wild Veddahs are seldom seen by those of whom they come to 
 buy, but that in the night they deposit the articles which they are 
 disposed to barter with some mutually understood signals as to the 
 description of those they expect in return, and which, being left at 
 the appointed place the following evening, are carried away before 
 sunrise.* 
 
 " It is questionable whether some of the most savage of these 
 poor outcasts have any language whatever; and one gentleman 
 who resided long in their vicinity has assured me that not only is 
 their dialect incomprehensible to a Singalese, but that even their 
 communications with one another are made by signs, grimaces, and 
 guttural sounds, which bear no resemblance to distinct words or 
 systematized language. They have no marriage rites, although 
 they have some sense of the marital obligation, and the duty of 
 supporting their own families. The match is settled by the parents. 
 The father of the bride presents his son-in-law with a bow ; his 
 own father assigns him a right of chase in a portion of his hunting 
 grounds. He presents the lady with a cloth and some rude orna- 
 ments, and she follows him into the forest as his wife. The com- 
 
 * The conjecture has already been adverted to, that the Veddahs are a rem- 
 nant of the Yaksas or Yakkas, the original inhabitants of Ceylon, addicted to the 
 worship of serpents and demons, till converted to Buddhism after the visit of 
 Buddha. Fa Hian, the Chinese traveller, who visited Ceylon a.d. 412, and 
 whose travels have been translated by Remuses and Klaprath, says : — " The king- 
 dom of Lions," as he calls it, u was originally inhabited only by demons, genii, 
 and dragons ; nevertheless, merchants of other countries traded there. When 
 the season for the traffic came, the genii and demons appeared not, but set forward 
 their precious commodities, marked with the exact price. If these suited, the merchants 
 paid the price, and took the goods. This country is temperate, and the vicissitude of 
 winter and summer is unknown. The grass and trees are ever verdant, and the 
 Bowing of the fields is at the pleasure of the people. There is no fixed season 
 for that."— Laidly's Translation, c. xxxviii., p. 332. 
 
272 UNITY OF RACES 
 
 munity are too poor to afford polygamy. A gentlenan who, in a 
 hunting excursion, had passed the night near a clan of wild Veddahs, 
 described to me their mode of going to rest. The chief first 
 stretched himself on the ground, after having placed his bow at 
 hand, and clutched his hatchet, which is always an object of much 
 care and solicitude. The children and younger members next lay 
 down around him in close contact for sake of the warmth, whilst 
 the rest took up their places in a circle at some distance, as if to 
 watch for the safety of the party during the night. They have no 
 religion of any kind — no knowledge of a God, or of a future state 
 — no temples, idols, altars, prayers, or charms ; and, in short, no 
 instinct of worship, except, it is said, some addition to ceremonies 
 analogous to devil-worship, to avert storms and other natural phe- 
 nomena ; and they send for devil-dancers when sick, to drive away 
 the evil spirit who inflicts the disease. The dance is executed in 
 front of an offering of something eatable, placed on a tripod of 
 sticks, the dancer having his head and girdle decorated with green 
 leaves. He first shuffles with his feet to a plaintive air, and by de- 
 grees works himself into a state of great excitement and action, 
 accompanied by whining and screams, and, during this paroxysm, 
 professes to receive instruction for the cure of the patient. So 
 rude are the Veddahs in all respects, that they do not bury their 
 dead, but cover them under leaves and brushwood in the jungle. 
 They have no system of caste amongst themselves ; but, singular to 
 say, this degraded race are still regarded by the Singalese as of the 
 most honourable extraction, and are recognised by them as belong- 
 ing to one of the highest castes. This is in pursuance of a legend, 
 to the effect that a Veddah, chased by a wild animal, took refuge 
 on a tree, whence all night long he threw down flowers to drive 
 away his pursuer. But in the morning, instead of a wild beast, he 
 found an idol under the tree, who addressed him with the announce- 
 ment, that as he had passed the night in worshipping and offering 
 flowers, the race of the Veddahs should ever after take the highest 
 place in the caste of the Veilabes, or cultivators, the highest of 
 all. The Veddahs smile at the story, and say they know nothing 
 of it ; but, nevertheless, a Veddah would not touch meat dressed by 
 a low-caste Kandyan, though he would eat with any high-caste 
 Singalese. The Village Veddahs are but a shade removed from 
 their wretched companions ; but there is a want of sympathy or 
 association between them, arising, on the one hand, from a dread 
 of the wild life of the Veddahs of the Rock ; and, on the other, a 
 dislike to the habits of those who incline towards civilization. The 
 Village Veddahs are, probably, more or less the descendants of 
 Kandyans who have intermingled with this wild race ; and their off- 
 spring, from their intercourse with the natives of the adjoining dis- 
 tricts, have acquired a smattering of Tamil in addition to their own 
 dinlect of Singalese. They wear a bit of cloth a little longer than 
 
PROVED FROM EXPERIENCE. 27 o 
 
 their fellows of the forest, and the women ornament themselves with 
 necklaces of brass beads, and with bangles cut from the chank shell. 
 The ears of the children, when seven or eight years old, are bored 
 with a thorn by the father. They have no idea of time or distance; 
 no name for hours, days, or years. They have no doctor or know- 
 ledge of medicine, beyond applying bark or leaves to a wound. They 
 have no games, no amusements, no music ; and as to education, it is 
 so utterly unknown, that the Wild Veddahs are unable to count be- 
 yond five on their fingers. Even the Village Veddahs are rather 
 migratory in their habits, removing their huts as the facilities vary 
 for cultivating a little Indian corn, and growing wild yams ; and 
 occasionally they accept wages from the Moormen for watching 
 their paddy fields to drive away the wild animals at night. Their 
 women plait mats from the palm leaf, and the men make bows with 
 strings prepared from the tough bark of the kitta-gaha or Upas tree, 
 but beyond these they have no knowledge of any manufacture. An- 
 other tribe of the Veddahs, who might almost be considered a third 
 class, have settled themselves in the jungles near the sea between 
 Batticoloa and Trincomalee, and subsist by assisting the fishermen 
 in their operations, or in felling timber for the Moormen, to be float- 
 ed down the great rivers for exportation. The Rock Veddahs till 
 lately resided almost exclusively within the Binterme forests, and 
 consisted of five sets or hunting parties, but it is obvious that no 
 data whatever exist for forming any estimate of their gross popu- 
 lation. The settlement of the Village Veddahs approach the lakes 
 and districts round Batticoloa; and mingling by slow degrees with 
 the inhabitants on the outskirts of that region, it is difficult now to 
 assign a precise figure to their probable numbers ; but they do not 
 exceed 140 families, divided into nine little communities, distinguish- 
 ed by peculiarities known only to each other. The Coast Veddahs 
 are principally in the vicinity of Evador, and the shores extending 
 northward towards Venloos Bay, where they may probably num- 
 ber 350 individuals. The entire number of Veddahs of all classes 
 in Ceylon has been estimated at 8000, but this is obviously a mere 
 conjecture, and an exaggerated one. Mr Atherton, the assistant 
 government agent of the district, who has exhibited a laudable 
 energy in seconding the efforts of the government to reclaim these 
 poor outcasts, speaks in favourable terms of the gentleness of their 
 disposition, apparent amidst extreme indifference to morals ; though 
 graver crimes are rare amongst them. In case of theft, the delin- 
 quent, if detected, is forced to make restitution, but undergoes no 
 punishment. If a girl is carried off from her parents, she is claimed 
 and brought home, and the husband of a faithless wife is equally 
 contented to receive her back, his family inflicting a flogging on 
 her seducer. Murder is almost unknown; but when discovered, it 
 is compromised for goods or some other consideration paid to the 
 relatives of the deceased. Generally speaking, Mr Atherton de- 
 
 S 
 
274- UNITY OF RACES 
 
 scribes the Veddahs as gentle and affectionate to each other, and 
 remarkably attached to their children and relatives, and widows are 
 always supported by the community, and receive their share of all 
 fruits, grain, and produce of the chase. ' They appeared to him a 
 quiet, submissive race, obeying the slightest intimations of a wish, 
 and very grateful for the least attention or assistance. They are 
 occasionally accused of plundering the fields adjacent to their own 
 haunts; but on investigation it is invariably proved that the charge 
 was false, and brought by the Moormen with a view to defraud the 
 Veddahs, whom they habitually impose upon, cheating them shame- 
 fully in all their transactions of barter and exchange.' About the 
 year 1838, the condition of this unhappy people attracted the atten- 
 tion of the governor, Mr Stewart Mackenzie, and he attempted to 
 penetrate their country, but was turned back by a violent attack of 
 jungle fever. The assistant government agent, however, with the 
 Wesleyan Methodist missionaries at Batticoloa, were commissioned 
 to place themselves in communication with the Veddahs, and to 
 make them offers of land, and houses, seed, grain, tools, and pro- 
 tection, if they would consent to abandon their forest life, and be- 
 come settlers and cultivators in the low country. Mr Atherton and 
 the Rev. Mr Stott succeeded on their journey in obtaining the full- 
 est and most accurate information procurable as to the actual con- 
 dition and sufferings of the Veddahs. Their destitution they found 
 to be such, that in one community they found seven families with 
 but one iron mamotic (hoe) amongst them for the cultivation of the 
 whole settlement; and such was their actual want of even weapons 
 for the chase, that but one arrow was left in a family, to the head 
 of which Mr Atherton gave twelve, with directions to divide them 
 with three others, but so ignorant was the chief of the party that 
 he could not separate them into four equal parcels. Many of the 
 Rock Veddahs were willing to avail themselves of the offer of settle- 
 ment and assistance, but firmly refused to remove from the imme- 
 diate vicinity of their native forests. Cottages were therefore built 
 for them in their own district, rice land assigned them, wells dug, 
 cocoa-nuts planted; and two communities were speedily settled at 
 Vippany Madoo, close by their ancient hunting fields, where they 
 were provided with seed, hoes, and axes, for agriculture, and clothes 
 and food for their immediate wants ; a schoolhouse Mas subsequent- 
 ly erected, and masters sent to instruct them, through the medium 
 of Singalese, and the experiment so far succeeded that other set- 
 tlements on the same plan were afterwards formed at other places, 
 — the principal being in the Biotiooc District at Oomany and Villing- 
 clavelly. The schoolmasters, however, at the first locality miscon- 
 ducted themselves. The neighbouring Kandyans were unfavourable 
 to the measure, and the settlement at Vippany Madoo was eventually 
 broken up, and the Veddahs again dispersed; but the good effects 
 of even this temporary experiment were apparent ; no one of the 
 
PROVED FROM EXPERIENCE. 27 O 
 
 Veddahs returned again to their caves and savage habits, but each 
 built for himself a house of bark on the plan of the one he had left, 
 and continued to practise the cultivation he had been taught. The 
 other colony at Oomany continues to the present day prosperous 
 and successful ; twenty-five families are resident around it ; rice 
 and other grains are produced in sufficiency, and cocoa-nuts are 
 planted near the cottages. The only desertions have been the de- 
 partures of those in want of employment, who have removed to other 
 villages in quest of it. The school was only lately closed, owing to 
 there being no children at the time requiring instruction ; and the 
 missionaries have been so successful, that the whole community pro- 
 fessed themselves Christians, and abandoned their addiction to devil- 
 dances. Their former appellation, derived from the peculiarity of 
 their habits, can no longer apply; and it may be thus said that the 
 distinction of the Rock Veddahs has ceased to exist in that part of 
 the country — all having more or less adopted the customs and habits 
 of the villagers. Amongst the Village Veddahs themselves, the efforts 
 of the government have been even more successful : their disposition 
 to become settled has been confirmed by permission to cultivate 
 land, and encouraged by presents of tools and seed grain ; and up- 
 wards of eighty families have recently been formed into villages under 
 the direction of Mr Atherton. A few have refused all offers of 
 permanent settlement, preferring their own wild and wandering life 
 and casual employment as watchers or occasional labourers amongst 
 the Moorish villages ; but, generally speaking, the mass are becom- 
 ing gradually assimilated in their habits and intermingled with the 
 ordinary native population of the district. The third class, the Coast 
 Veddahs, to the amount of about 300, have, in like manner, been 
 signally improved in their condition by attention to their wants and 
 comforts. They were the last to listen to the invitations, or accept 
 the assistance of government; but at length, in 1844, they came in, 
 expressing the utmost reluctance to abandon the seashore and the 
 water, but accepted gladly patches of land, which were cleared for 
 them in the forest near the sea. Cottages were built, fruit trees 
 planted, and seed supplied ; and they are now concentrated in the 
 beautiful woody headlands around the Bay of Venloos, where thev 
 maintain themselves by fishing or cutting ebony and satinwood in 
 the forests, which is floated down the river to the bay. Education 
 has made progress ; the Wesleyan missionaries have been active. The 
 great majority have embraced Christianity; and there can be no rea- 
 sonable doubt, that within a very few years the habits of this singu- 
 lar race will be absolutely changed, and their appellation of Veddahs 
 be retained only as a distinctive name. Formerly the vast tract of 
 forest between the Kandyan mountains and the sea, frequented by 
 these people, and known as the great Veddah Eatta, or country of 
 the Veddahs, was regarded with apprehension by Europeans, ex- 
 cited by the exaggerated representations of the Kandyans as to their 
 
276 UNITY OF RACES 
 
 savage disposition, and none but armed parties ventured to pass 
 through their fastnesses. This delusion has been entirely dispelled 
 of late years ; and travellers now feel themselves as safe in the vi- 
 cinity of the Veddahs as in that of the villages of the Singalese. 
 They are constantly visited by traders in search of deer's horns and 
 ivory, and the inhabitants of Velapy depend on their wild neigh- 
 bours for their supply of dried flesh and honey. The Veddahs 
 themselves have in a great degree cast aside their timidity, and not 
 only come out into the open country with confidence, but even ven- 
 ture into the towns for such commodities as they have the means 
 to procure from the bazaar. The experiment has cost the govern- 
 ment but a few hundred pounds; and I am warranted in saying that 
 the expenditure has been well repaid by even the partial reclama- 
 tion of this harmless race from a state of debasement, scarcely if at 
 all elevated above that of the animals whom they follow in the chase. 
 The morning after our arrival at Birtenve, a party of Veddahs, 
 about sixty in number, were brought in by the head-man, to be ex- 
 hibited before us ; it was altogether a melancholy spectacle. We were 
 assured that they were Rock Veddahs, but this I doubt ; they were 
 more likely unsettled stragglers from the Veddah villages, with per- 
 haps a few genuine denizens of the forest. But they were miser- 
 able objects, timid, though active, and deformed, though athletic, 
 with large heads and misshapen limbs, their long black hair and 
 beard fell down to their middle in uncombed lumps ; they stood 
 with their faces bent towards the ground, and their restless eyes 
 twinkling upwards with an expression of uneasiness and alarm. They 
 wore the smallest conceivable patch of dirty cloth about their loins, 
 and were each armed with an iron-headed axe stuck in their girdle, 
 and a rude bow strung with bark, with a handful of clumsy iron- 
 headed arrows. At our request they shot at a target ; but they 
 exhibited no skill, only one arrow out of three rounds striking the 
 central mark. In fact, I believe they are all indifferent marksmen, 
 and bring down their game by surprise rather than adroitness with 
 the bow. They danced for us after the exhibition of their archery, 
 shuffling with their feet to a low and plaintive chaunt, and shak- 
 ing their long hair till it concealed all the upper part of their body, 
 and as they excited themselves with their exercise, they uttered 
 shrill cries, jumped in the air, and clung round each other's necks. 
 We were told that the dance generally ended in a kind of frenzy, 
 in which they eventually sunk in exhaustion on the ground ; but 
 the whole affair was too repulsive and too humiliating to abide the 
 arrival of this denouement, and we dispersed the party with a pre- 
 sent of some silver to each, which they received without any appa- 
 rent emotion, and slunk off into the jungle. Some few afterwards 
 returned to be hired as coolies to carry our light baggage towards 
 Batticaloa. 
 " On our route thither, we encountered straggling parties of Ved- 
 
PROVED FROM EXPERIENCE. 277 
 
 dahs at several points of the journey, but they all presented the 
 same characteristics of wretchedness and dejection ; the children 
 especially were very unsightly objects, entirely naked, with mis- 
 shapen joints, huge heads, and swollen stomachs ; and the women, 
 who were apparently reluctant to be seen, were the most melancholy 
 specimens of humanity I have ever seen in any country." 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 THE UNITY OF THE HUMAN RACES PROVED FROM THE IN- 
 SENSIBLE GRADATIONS OF THEIR VARIETIES, AND FROM 
 THEIR ANALOGY TO WHAT TAKES PLACE IN OTHER ANI- 
 MALS. 
 
 To none man seems ignoble but to man. — Young. 
 
 We might select thousands of the Caucasian race that are inferior to thou- 
 sands of the more intelligent Africans. As the deficiency in the 
 former would not prove that they were not Caucasians y so a lower 
 grade of general intellect would not exclude the negro from the species 
 to which we belong. — Dr Bachman. 
 
 It has been shown that nations which would now be regarded 
 as being as different from each other as the negroes are from 
 the white race, were once identical, and that others, from a 
 long residence in new countries, and a total change of circum- 
 stances, have been essentially modified in colour, form, shape, 
 and character. This, as Dr Wiseman has fully demonstrated, 
 is beyond all doubt. The Hindoos differ from us in colour 
 and shape, and yet they are proved linguistically to be from 
 the same original stock. The Abyssinians are perfectly 
 black, and yet certainly belong by origin to the Semitic 
 family, and consequently to a white race. The natives of 
 Congo, the Toulahs, and other tribes in Central Africa, are 
 perfectly black without a sign of negro' features. The 
 people of Mahass, again, have the black colour, and the lips 
 of the negro, but not the nose or the high cheek-bone. * 
 The descendants of Europeans in India have totally changed 
 * Lecture iv., passim, pp. 129, 133, 136, 137, 139. 
 
INSENSIBLE GRADATIONS OF VARIETIES. 279 
 
 their colour, including Persians, Greeks, Tartars, Turks, 
 Arabs, and Portuguese. * The skulls of the white settlers 
 in the West Indies differ sensibly in shape from those in 
 Europe, and approach to the original American configura- 
 tion. | The common people among the Arabs are blacker, 
 their hair more woolly and crisped, and their bodies more 
 low and slender than their chiefs, who are better provided for. 
 Among our American Indians, we find every variety of 
 form and colour. Humboldt, speaking of the fair tribes of 
 the Upper Orinoco, says, " The individuals of the fair tribes 
 whom we examined, have the features, the stature, and the 
 smooth, straight black hair which characterizes other Indians. 
 It would be impossible to take them for a mixed race, like 
 the descendants of natives and Europeans, and they are nei- 
 ther feeble nor Albinos." Dr Morton informs us of other 
 races of Indians that are black : " The Charruas, who are 
 almost black, inhabit the fifteenth degree of south latitude, 
 and the yet blacker Californians, are twenty-five degrees 
 north of the Equator." Here, then, we have the white trans- 
 parent colouring matter, as well as the black pigment, exist- 
 ing in tribes that Dr Morton asserts are positively composed 
 of only one and the same race. It cannot fail, therefore, to 
 be satisfactory, at least to him, that colour cannot be regarded 
 as essential in the designation of a species, since he quotes 
 and endorses the views of Humboldt, in reference to white 
 races of Indians, points out to us a race almost black, and 
 
 * "Wiseman, lecture iv., p. 139. " India," says Bishop Heber, " has been 
 always, and long before the Europeans came hither, a favourable theatre 
 for adventurers from Persia, Greece, Tartary, Turkey, and Arabia, all white 
 men, and all in their turn possessing themselves of wealth and power. 
 These circumstances must have greatly tended to make a fair complexion 
 fashionable. It is remarkable, however, to observe how surely all these 
 classes of men, in a few generations, even without any intermarriage with 
 Hindus, assume the deep olive tint, little less dark than a negro, which 
 seems natural to the climate." " The Portuguese,'"' he adds, " have, dur- 
 ing a three hundred years' 1 residence in India, become nearly as black as 
 Caff res:" 
 
 f Ibid., p. 140. 
 
280 UNITY OF HUMAN RACES PROVED FROM 
 
 then another still blacker (which would be a little blacker than 
 a coal could make them), and all these, according to his essay, 
 are of one race, originating on our continent. Dr Morton also 
 shows, that the apparently opposite races of civilized and 
 barbarous tribes are connected together by intermediate tribes 
 so gradually divergent, that they cannot be assigned to either 
 extreme.* 
 
 The same is true, as has been shown, of the African nations. 
 We see, indeed, an astonishing difference, when we place an 
 ugly negro (for there are such, as well as ugly Europeans) 
 against a specimen of the Grecian ideal model ; but when we 
 trace the intermediate gradations, the striking diversity va- 
 nishes. " Of the negroes of both sexes," says Blumenbach, 
 " whom I have attentively examined, in very considerable 
 numbers, as well as in the portraits and profiles of others, 
 and in the numerous negro crania, which I possess or have 
 seen, there are not two completely resembling each other in 
 their formation ; they pass, by insensible gradations, into the 
 forms of the other races, and approach to the other varieties 
 even in their most pleasing modifications. A Creole whom I 
 saw at Yverdun, born of parents from Congo, and brought 
 from St Domingo by the Chevalier Treytorrens, had a coun- 
 tenance of which no part, not even the nose, and rather strong- 
 ly marked lips, were very striking, much less displeasing; 
 the same features with an European complexion would cer- 
 tainly have been generally agreeable/' " We are, therefore," 
 says Dr Bachman, " obliged to confess that we have not much 
 faith in those lines of demarcation which naturalists have as- 
 signed to the several races of men, since there are scarcely two 
 of them that agree, and since, moreover, there would be more 
 varieties that could not conveniently be forced into either 
 race, than in the individuals that compose the races them- 
 selves, "t 
 
 The different races of men are thus found to be connected 
 together by insensible shades, through which they seem to 
 * Inquiry, p. 15. + See Essay, p. 164, &c. 
 
INSENSIBLE GRADATIONS OF THEIR VARIETIES. 281 
 
 blend into each other.* This gradation is found not onlv among 
 the different races, hut even among those of the same race. 
 Thus in the same Polynesian race, while some are hardly dis- 
 tinguishable from a negro tribe, allied through inseparable 
 links to the negroes of Africa, others depart so far from it, as 
 to approximate, in symmetry of form in the body and skull as 
 well as in colour, to the natives of Europe. And in these 
 gradations we trace a corresponding scale of civilization. 
 
 The existence of such gradations, almost from one extreme 
 to the other in the same race, is not peculiar to these tribes. 
 The Malays exhibit a similar variety. 
 
 The Jew of the same race is at this day perfectly distinguish- 
 able from the Europeans that surround him, though West 
 and other eminent artists have found it impossible to charac- 
 terize him by any particular distinctive traits. " This per- 
 manence of physiognomy," says the Quarterly Review, " is 
 evidently traceable to a supernatural cause, which prevents 
 the usual modification of features in order to accomplish 
 an important object." Into this it is not our province now to 
 enter, yet we cannot help remarking that the Jew is a witness, 
 not of one truth, but of many truths. Marvellously does he 
 illustrate the consistency of the original unity of man with 
 the most extensive diversity. His features have been cast in 
 an eternal mould, but his colour is dependent on outward 
 causes. Natural law is forbidden to operate on the one, but 
 left to take its course with the other. A fixed physiognomy 
 declares the unity of the people, while their diversity of com- 
 plexion as distinctly manifests the influence of the climate. 
 Every shade of colour clothes with its livery the body of the 
 Jew, from the jet-black of the Hindoo to the ruddy- white of 
 the Saxon. The original inhabitant of Palestine was doubt- 
 less dusky-skinned and dark- haired, but the cooler sky and 
 more temperate air of Poland and Germany have substituted 
 a fair complexion and light hair. On the other hand, the 
 
 * Wiseman, pp. 147, 148, &c. ; their intercommunication and gradual ap- 
 proximation is here illustrated; and see also pp. 197, 206, 210, 221-225. 
 
282 UNITY OF HUMAN RACES PROVED FROM 
 
 scorching sun of India has curled and crisped his hair, and 
 blackened his skin, so that his features alone distinguish him 
 physically from the native Hindoo. On the Malabar coast of 
 Hindostan are two colonies of Jews — an old and a young colony 
 — separated by colour. The elder colony are black, and the 
 younger (dwelling in a town called Mattabheri) comparatively 
 fair, so as to have obtained the name of " white Jews." The 
 difference is satisfactorily accounted for by the former having 
 been subjected to the influence of the climate for a much 
 longer time than the latter. 
 
 Even in the Caucasian race, as Hamilton Smith allows, 
 there is every variety of colour, from the pure white down to 
 melanism nearly as deep as a genuine negro.* The Gipsies 
 we may here likewise mention as an instance of a tribe which, 
 proved by its language to be of Indian origin, has lost much 
 of its original configuration, and particularly the olive colour 
 of its country, by living in other climates. Thus, even the 
 smallest varieties once produced are never again obliterated ; 
 and yet not therefore are they marks of independent origin. 
 Even families may transmit them, and the Imperial House of 
 Hapsburg has its characteristic feature. And whence arises 
 this indelibility, by natural processes, of varieties by natural 
 processes introduced ? This should seem to be one of the 
 mysteries of nature, that we may in any thing compel her to 
 place her signet, but we know not how again to force it off. 
 Man, like the magician's half-skilled scholar, so beautifully de- 
 scribed by the German poet, possesses often the skill whereby 
 to compel her to work, but has not yet learnt that which 
 might oblige her to desist. + 
 
 To what we have said on this point we will add the very 
 pregnant remarks of Captain Fitzroy, of the Royal Navy, 
 and Governor of New Zealand, in his essay on the early 
 migrations of the human race.:}: "In the course of years 
 
 * Nat. History, pp. 368, 378, 379. 
 
 + Prichard, ibid., see also Lawrence, pp. 206, 226, 304, 305, 307, 308, 309. 
 
 J Narrative of the Surveying Voyages of the Adventure and Beagle, vol. 
 
INSENSIBLE GRADATIONS OF THEIR VARIETIES. 283 
 
 spent in various quarters of the world, I have had opportu- 
 nities of leisurely considering people from all the principal 
 countries. I have read much of what has been written, 
 during late years, on the subjeet of their resemblance, or 
 their difference ; and the conclusion which I have been 
 obliged to come to is, that there is far less difference be- 
 tween most nations or tribes (selecting two for the compari- 
 son), than exists between two individuals who might be 
 chosen out of any one of those nations or tribes, colour and 
 hair alone excepted." 
 
 Before dismissing this argument, we would again observe, 
 that it is to the neglect of this gradation of the different races 
 of men that the tendency to regard the extreme varieties as dis- 
 tinct species has in great part arisen. The numerous grada- 
 tions found among all the different races, among portions of 
 the same race, and among individuals of the same tribe, state, 
 and even family, form an insuperable objection to the notion 
 of specific difference. There is not, in fact, one of the bodily 
 differences of the Senegal negro and the model of European 
 beauty, which does not gradually run into that of the other 
 by such an imperceptible variety of shades, that no physiolo- 
 gist or naturalist is able to draw a line of demarcation be- 
 tween the different gradations.* In fact, the real sum of all 
 the varieties observable amongst mankind is by no means so 
 great as the apparent, nor are they more striking or uncommon 
 than those which so many thousands of other species of orga- 
 nized beings — and which are not exposed to any thing like 
 the same causes tending to produce them as in the case 
 of man — exhibit before our eyes.f 
 
 ii., p. 642. On the gradations of men and the sophistical argument founded 
 on looking at extreme varieties, see also an old article in the learned Bry- 
 ant's Works on the Truth of the Christian Religion. Lond. 1810. 3d 
 edition. " Of the Negroes," p. 245, &c. 
 
 * Encycl. Brit., vol. xiv., pp. 201, 203, and Dr Wiseman, pp. 147, 149, &c. 
 
 •f* "Every kind of climate, habits, food; for while each species of animals, 
 inferior to man, is mostly confined to a limited region, and to a mode of 
 existence that is simple and uniform, the human races are scattered over 
 
-S4 UNITY OF HUMAN RACES PROVED FROM 
 
 In their Report on the Life and Works of Blumenbach, 
 the French Academy of Sciences remark : — u The third rule 
 of Blumenbach is the foundation of science itself. We limit 
 ourselves to the comparison of extremes. But the rule of 
 Blumenbach requires us to pass from one extreme to the 
 other, through all the intermediate parts, and through all the 
 possible shades. The extreme cases seem to divide the human 
 race into distinct races — the gradual shades of variation, the 
 intermediate links, make all men of the same blood." 
 
 If, therefore, among all other organized beings separate 
 species do not pass into each other by insensible degrees, it 
 follows that all the races of men must be of one and the same 
 species.* 
 
 We are thus led to call attention, distinctly, as another 
 ground of confirmation, to the argument derived from ana- 
 logy. Analogy, we are aware, cannot prove the fact of the 
 unity of the human family, but it can meet and answer and 
 set aside objections founded upon difficulties and differences, 
 by showing that these occur equally in other departments of 
 the kingdom of nature. For if diniculties and differences 
 not less in degree, and the same in kind, are found in other 
 departments of nature, where a unity of species and of origin 
 is admitted, their existence among men cannot prove any 
 diversity of species among them. This argument, which has 
 been so elaborately presented by Dr Prichard, would apply 
 first to the origin of the human family. It has been shown, 
 in both the animal and vegetable kingdoms, that while tribes 
 of the most simple structure are spread in the present time, 
 and appear to have been originally diffused over the most 
 distant regions, races of a higher and more elaborate organi- 
 zation exist only in places to which, it is generally obvious, 
 
 the whole face of the earth, under every variety of physical circumstances, 
 in addition to the influences arising from a moral and intellectual nature." 
 See also Lawrence, p. 352. 
 
 * See Prichard's Res., vol. ii., pp. 341, 342, 345; and Carpenters 
 Phvsiology, p. 84; and London Quarterly Review, January 1850, pp. 14, 
 16," 17. 
 
INSENSIBLE GRADATIONS OF THEIR VARIETIES. 285 
 
 but always probable, that they may have obtained access 
 from some particular spot, apparently the local centre and 
 primitive habitation of the tribe. Hence we derive each tribe 
 among the higher and more perfectly organized creatures, 
 whether locomotive or fixed, whether animals or plants, from 
 one original point and from a single stock. We are a fortiori 
 at liberty to apply this conclusion to the instance of the hu- 
 man species, or to infer that the law of nature, otherwise 
 universal or very general in its prevalence, has not been in 
 this case transgressed, where such an exception would be 
 of all cases the most improbable. 
 
 The argument from analogy will also apply, in the second 
 place, to the dispersion of the human family from one centre. 
 It is not self-evident that many families of the same species 
 were not created at first to supply at once with human, as 
 well as with other organized beings, various regions of the 
 earth. This, indeed, is improbable, when we take into 
 account the almost universally rapid increase of living spe- 
 cies, and the surprising emcacy of the means every w r here 
 contrived by nature, both for their multiplication and dis- 
 persion, which would seem to be superfluous, or at least 
 much greater than could be requisite, on the hypothesis that 
 a multitude of each tribe existed from the beginning. 
 
 But, thirdly, this argument from analogy will also apply 
 to the variations in the human family. As our space will 
 not allow us to present any details, we cannot do better than 
 give the inferences deduced by Prichard upon this subject. 
 
 1. That tribes of animals which have been domesticated 
 by man, and carried into regions where the climates are dif- 
 ferent from those of their native abodes, undergo, partly from 
 the agency of climate, and in part from the change of exter- 
 nal circumstances connected with the state of domesticity, 
 great variations. 
 
 2. That those variations extend to considerable modifica- 
 tions in external properties, colour, the nature of the integu- 
 ment, and of its covering, w r hether hair or wool, the structure 
 
286 UNITY OF HUMAN RACES PROVED FROM 
 
 of limbs, and the proportional size of parts ; that they like- 
 wise involve certain physiological changes or variations as to 
 the laws of the animal economy ; and lastly, certain psycho- 
 logical alterations or changes in the instincts, habits, and 
 powers of perception and intellect. 
 
 3. That these last changes are in some cases brought about 
 by training, and that the progeny acquires an aptitude to 
 certain habits which the parents have been taught ; that 
 psychical characters, such as new instincts, are developed in 
 breeds by cultivation. 
 
 4. That these varieties are sometimes permanently fixed in 
 the breed so long as it remains unmixed. 
 
 5. That all such variations are possible only to a limited 
 extent, and always with the preservation of a particular type, 
 which is that of the species. Each species has a definite or 
 definable character, comprising certain undeviating pheno- 
 mena of external structure, and likewise constant and un- 
 changeable characteristics in the laws of its animal economy 
 and in its physiological nature. It is only within these limits 
 that deviations are produced by external circumstances. 
 
 To take a particular illustration, Blumenbach has com- 
 pared man with swine, between whom there is in many re- 
 spects a very wonderful analogy. Now, no naturalist, he 
 affirms, has carried his scepticism so far as to doubt the 
 descent of domestic swine from the wild boar.* All the 
 varieties, therefore, through which this animal has since 
 degenerated, belong, with the original European race, to one 
 and the same species ; and since no bodily difference is found 
 in the human race, either in regard to stature, colour, the 
 form of the skull, or in other respects, as will presently 
 appear, which is not observed in the same proportion in the 
 swine race, this comparison, it is to be hoped, will silence 
 those sceptics who have thought proper, on account of those 
 varieties of the human species, to admit more than one 
 
 species. 
 
 * See also Dr Lawrence, p. 250. 
 
INSENSIBLE GRADATIONS OF THEIR VARIETIES. 287 
 
 In pursuing the argument, he says, the whole difference 
 between the cranium of a negro and that of an European, is 
 not in the least degree greater than that equally striking dif- 
 ference which exists between the cranium of the wild boar 
 and that of the domestic swine. I shall then add that the 
 swine in some countries have degenerated into races which, 
 in singularity, far exceed every thing that has been found 
 strange in bodily variety amongst the human race. 
 
 From these facts, Blumenbach concludes, that as it is 
 absurd to maintain that the vast variety of swine have not 
 descended from one original pair, so it is not less unreason- 
 able to contend that the varieties of men constitute so many 
 distinct species. 
 
 On the contrary, while the numerous gradations found in 
 each point of difference forms " an insuperable objection to 
 the notion of specific difference among men," these analogies, 
 drawn from the animal kingdom, clearly demonstrate that all 
 the differences among men are only variations among the 
 species. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 ORIGIN OF THE VARIETIES OF THE HUMAN SPECIES. 
 
 The character of the true philosopher is to hope all things not impossible, 
 and to believe all things not unreasonable. — Sir J. F. W. Herschell, 
 Dis. Nat. Phil. 
 
 The immense extent of our ignorance compared with that of our knowledge, 
 has been only the more powerfully forced upon the minds of philoso- 
 phers as discovery has advanced; and, in emphatic language, was the 
 dying remark both of Newton and Laplace. — Powell's Nat. and 
 Rev. Truth. 
 
 Having now presented the arguments for the unity of the 
 human races from Scripture, science, history, tradition, and 
 other sources, it may be proper to inquire whether there is 
 any knowledge of the actual origin of the existing varieties of 
 the human family. 
 
 On this subject the Bible does not inform us. It teaches 
 us that " it is the glory of God to conceal a thing," — and this 
 is, we may believe, one of the many " secret things which 
 belong unto the Lord." Nor is its revelation of any conse- 
 quence or necessity to us, except as a matter of mere curiosity. 
 It has nothing to do with the determination of the question of 
 the original unity of all mankind. Leibnitz, in reply to Bayle, 
 has well remarked, that the utmost which can fairly be asked 
 in reference to any affirmed truths of Scripture is, to prove 
 that they do not involve any necessary contradiction,* and 
 when, therefore, it is plainly revealed that all the present 
 races of men are the descendants of one original family, the 
 * Tract De la Conformite de la foi avec la raison. 
 
ORIGIN OF VARIETIES OF THE HUMAN SPECIES. 289 
 
 fact of great existing varieties offers no objection to the belief 
 of this truth as an established fact. It is not at all necessary 
 to point out the time and place when the negro and the yel- 
 low variety arose in our species. It is enough to know that 
 they have arisen from an original unity — that they imply no 
 diversity of origin, moral character, and everlasting destiny. 
 The Word of God and the power of God are infallible assu- 
 rance of the certainty and of the possibility of these facts. 
 And " the character of a true philosopher is to hope all things 
 not impossible, and to believe all things not unreasonable." 
 The progress of our knowledge marks the progress of our 
 ignorance, and a willingness to admit this necessity is the 
 highest attainment of the most enlightened philosopher. It is, 
 therefore, when we listen to such philosophers, and turn away 
 from empirical dogmatists, that we hear Newton, and Locke, 
 and Bacon, acknowledging the necessity of " giving to faith 
 what belongs to faith, and of not attempting to draw down 
 or submit the mysteries of God to our reason, but contrari- 
 wise to raise and advance our reason to the divine truth."* 
 
 Many eminent naturalists and men of medical science, 
 however, such as Dr Prichard and Dr Lawrence, believe that 
 
 ALL THE VARIETIES OF MAN CAN BE ACCOUNTED FOR BY NATU- 
 
 * The great fault of human philosophy is its haste and anxiety to un- 
 ravel and explain every thing. Sir J. Herschell has lately expressed his 
 opinion, that it is impossible any longer to attempt the explanation of the 
 movements of all the heavenly bodies by simple attraction, as understood 
 in the Newtonian theory — these comets, with their trains perversely turned 
 from the sun, deranging sadly our systematic views. Nor are there (writes 
 Humboldt) any constant relations between the distances of the planets 
 from the central body round which they revolve, and their absolute mag- 
 nitudes, densities, times of rotation, eccentricities, and inclinations of orbit 
 and of axis. Alter other remarks of the same character, he adds : — " The 
 the axis, density, time of rotation, and different degrees of eccentricity of 
 planetary system, in its relation of absolute magnitude, relative positionjof 
 the orbits, has, to our apprehension, nothing more of natural necessity than 
 the relative distribution of land and water on the surface of our globe, the 
 configuration of continents, or the elevation of mountain chains. No ge- 
 neral law, in these respects, is discoverable either in the regions of space 
 or in the irregularities of the crust of the earth.'" 
 
 T 
 
290 ORIGIN OF THE VARIETIES 
 
 ral causes. In his Lectures on Alan, Dr Lawrence, after 
 examining all the differences found among men — anatomical, 
 complexional, and physiological — says, " The facts and obser- 
 vations adduced lead manifestly to the following conclusions : 
 — 1. That the differences of physical organization and of 
 moral and intellectual qualities, which characterize the several 
 races of our species, are analogous in kind and degree to those 
 which distinguish the breeds of the domestic animals ; and 
 must, therefore, be accounted for on the same principles. 2. 
 That they are first produced, in both instances, as native or 
 congenital varieties, and then transmitted to the offspring in 
 hereditary succession. 3. That of the circumstances which 
 favour this disposition to the production of varieties in the 
 animal kingdom, the most powerful is the state of domestica- 
 tion. 4. That external or adventitious causes, such as climate, 
 situation, food, way of life, have considerable effect in alter- 
 ing the constitution of men and animals ; but that this effect, 
 as well as that of art or accident, is confined to the individual, 
 not being transmitted by generation, and, therefore, not 
 affecting the race. 5. That the human species, therefore, like 
 that of the cow, sheep, horse, pig, and others, is single; and 
 that all the differences which it exhibits are to be regarded 
 merely as varieties/' * 
 
 Dr Prichard, throughout his elaborate and extensive vo- 
 lumes, has presented abundant and incontestable proof to 
 show that variations in the colour, form, and other charac- 
 teristics of man, have actually taken place, and that they 
 must be accounted for in the same way as similar changes in 
 other animals are explained, in combination with those pecu- 
 liar causes to whose operations man alone is exposed. Thus, 
 to take one or two illustrations out of many, he says : " The 
 Arabian race of India or Aryavarta differ in physical charac- 
 ters from the Medo-Persian Arians. The difference is most 
 
 * Lectures on Man, pp. 375, 376. See an argument for change of fea- 
 tures from change of place, p. 26'3, and that the differences in man are les3 
 than known differences in other animals, pp. 303 and 310. 
 
OF THE HUMAN SPECIES. 29 1 
 
 striking in complexion, the Hindoos being black, while the 
 Persians are comparatively fair, with black hair and eyes. 
 The cause ichich has given rise to this diversity can apparently 
 be nothing else than the influence of the hot climate of Hindu- 
 stan. Every historical indication is against the supposition 
 that the dark complexion of the Hindoos has arisen from the 
 intermixture of an Iranian ancestry with the aborigines of 
 India. The purity of the Sanscrit language, which would 
 on that supposition have been merged in the idiom of the 
 great mass of the community, precludes the notion that the 
 Arian colonists were but a band of conquerors. All the his- 
 torical traditions, and the written histories which go back to 
 the date of the Manava Sastra are, as we have already had 
 occasion to observe, decisive against that notion. 
 
 " Neither are the physical characters of the Hindoos such 
 as would be produced in a mixed offspring of Iranians with 
 the tribes resembling the Bhils or the Rajamahal Paharias. 
 And if we were to adopt the notion that the Brahmans and 
 Xatriyas alone were foreigners, and that they conquered and 
 reduced the aboriginal people, and condemned them to an 
 inferior rank, we have still to account for the black com- 
 plexion of the Brahman tribe. It is true that the Brahmans 
 are generally a comparatively fair people. But there are 
 Brahmans extremely black, and the social regulations of the 
 Indian community, which go back to the first ages of India, 
 preclude the supposition that this race, at least, has been in- 
 termixed with the barbarous aboriginal tribes. That the 
 black colour of the Hindoos, icho live in the hot plains near 
 the tropics, is a result from the agency of temperature, is 
 rendered extremely probable by the consideration that the 
 northern colonies of these very people, and the families who 
 dwell near the sources of the sacred rivers, to which we may 
 add the Siah-Posh of the Hindu-Khuh, are extremely fair 
 and xanthous, with blue eyes, and all the characteristics of a 
 northern and even of a Teutonic race." * 
 * Researches, vol. iv., p. 248. 
 
292 ORIGIN OF THE VARIETIES 
 
 In regard to Africa, Dr Prichard remarks : * 
 " If we inquire, in the first place, whether the physical cha- 
 racters of the African nation display themselves under any 
 relation of climate, facts seem to decide the question in the 
 affirmative, for we might describe the limits of Negroland 
 to the north and south with tolerable correctness, by saying 
 that it is bounded on both sides by the tropics ; that is, that 
 the native country of all the black races, properly so termed, 
 seems to be the intertropical region. If we follow the pro- 
 longations of Central Africa to the southward of the tropic 
 of Capricorn, we find the Hottentots, in whom the hue of 
 the negro is diluted to a yellowish brown, and the Kaffirs, 
 who, in the country of Bechuanas, are said to be red or cop- 
 per-coloured ; but here are no people resembling the black 
 natives of equatorial Africa. To the northward of the Sene- 
 gal we have the Tuaryk in the oases of the Great Desert, 
 and wandering tribes of Arabs, in both of which races some 
 tribes or families are said to be black, but the same races 
 are in general brown or almost white ; and the Berbers, akin 
 to the Tuaryk, inhabiting the second system of mountains or 
 highlands in this quarter of the world — an elevated region 
 eight or ten degrees in breadth, and extending lengthwise 
 through a great part of Africa, but under a temperate 
 climate — are not like the native races of the intertropical 
 parts, but white people with flowing hair, similar to the na- 
 tions of Europe, in some high tracts displaying all the cha- 
 racters of the xanthous variety of mankind." " We may find 
 occasion also to observe that an equally decided relation exists 
 between local conditions and the existence of other charac- 
 ters of the human races in Africa. Those races who have 
 the negro character in an exaggerated degree, and who may 
 be said to approach to deformity in person — the ugliest blacks, 
 with depressed foreheads, flat noses, crooked legs — are, in 
 many instances, inhabitants of low countries, often of swampy 
 tracts near the sea-coasts, where many of them, as the Papels, 
 * Researches, vol. ii., pp. 331, 332. 
 
 
OF THE HUMAN SPECIES. 2.93 
 
 have scarcely any other means of subsistence than shell-fish 
 and the accidental gifts of the sea. We may further remark, 
 and perhaps this observation is fully as important as that of 
 any other connected fact or coincidence, that the physical qua- 
 lities of particular races of Africans are evidently related to 
 their moral or social condition, and to the degrees of barbar- 
 ism or civilization under which they exist. The tribes in 
 whose prevalent conformation the negro type is discoverable 
 in an exaggerated degree, are uniformly in the lowest stage 
 of human society ; they either are ferocious savages, or stupid, 
 sensual, and indolent. Such are the Papels, Bulloms, and 
 other rude hordes on the coast of western Guinea, and many 
 tribes near the slave-coast, and in the Bight of Benin, — coun- 
 tries where the slave-trade has been carried on to the greatest 
 extent, and has exercised its usually baneful influence. On 
 the other hand, wherever we hear of a negro state the inha- 
 bitants of which have attained any considerable degree of 
 improvement in their social condition, we constantly find 
 that their physical characters deviate considerably from the 
 strongly -marked or exaggerated type of the negro. The 
 Ashanti, the Sulima, the Dahamans, are exemplifications of 
 this remark. The negroes of Guber and Hausa, where a 
 considerable degree of civilization has long existed, are per- 
 haps the finest race of genuine negroes in the whole conti- 
 nent, unless the Golofs are to be excepted. The Golofs have 
 been a comparatively civilized people from the era of their 
 first discovery by the Portuguese, to which I have alluded in 
 the preceding pages." * 
 
 Dr Prichard then proceeds to apply the same remarks to 
 the inhabitants of the European and Asiatic continents, and 
 with the same general results, allowing for peculiar circum- 
 stances in some special exceptions to the general rule. 
 
 In the inhabitants of the Oceanica we find every variety of 
 the human form, features, hair, skull, and other peculiarities, 
 except those of the Esquimaux, to whose climate there is 
 * Researches, vol. ii., pp. 231,238. 
 
294 ORIGIN OF THE VARIETIES 
 
 nothing analogous.* If, as is believed, and the facts would 
 indicate, the Malayo-Polynesian portion of this numerous 
 people are all the offspring of one original colonizing stock, 
 then we perceive among them actual and undoubted transform- 
 ations into the most extreme varieties. Among the inhabitants 
 of the same island are found also great variety both of features 
 and complexion, which can only be explained by the difference 
 of food, exposure, and other peculiarities of condition. " It 
 seems," says Dr Prichard, " to have been the ultimate and 
 full persuasion of all those persons who have made a long 
 abode in the islands of the Pacific, under circumstances favour- 
 able to accurate investigation, that these phenomena can only 
 be explained on the supposition that they result from the 
 agency of climate and physical influences on the original 
 race. The appearance of a xanthous complexion under mo- 
 derate temperature, and among people living in a state of 
 protection from severities of climate, is so common an obser- 
 vation, and one that ice have already traced in so many instances 
 in almost every other part of the world, that we may well look 
 for it in the Polynesian Islands ; and there, when we find 
 this change connected and coextensive with another physical 
 change, we may fairly infer that these connected phenomena 
 have one and the same cause. I allude to changes in the 
 stature, the form of the head, the quality of the hair, &c. 
 There seems to be no other hypothesis, if Ave open the widest 
 field to conjecture, that can in any way explain all the phe- 
 nomena of physical variety that display themselves in the 
 Oceanic region — and this without difficulty accounts for all 
 of them — namely, the deviation of the primitive Malayan or 
 Indo-Chinese type on the one side to the character of the 
 European, and on the other to a conformation of body very 
 similar to that of the African." 
 
 The same conclusion is drawn from an examination of the 
 American races, among whom there is a great variety. Thus, 
 M. D'Orbigny, a distinguished naturalist, says : "Asa gene- 
 * Prichard, vol. v., p. 284. 
 
OF THE HUMAN SPECIES. 295 
 
 ral position, we may regard each particular nation as having 
 between its members a family resemblance, which, distin- 
 guishing it clearly from its neighbours, permits the practised 
 eye of the zoologist to recognise, in the great assemblage of 
 nations, all the existing types almost, without ever confound- 
 ing them. A Peruvian is more different from a Patagonian, 
 and a Patagonian from a Guarani, than is a Greek from an 
 Ethiopian or a Mongolian. There is, indeed, a prevalent 
 general type which may be recognised in most of the native 
 races of both North and South America, and which is per- 
 ceptible both in colour and configuration, and tends to illus- 
 trate the tendency of physical characters to perpetuate them- 
 selves ; but from this type we have seen many deviations, 
 which are sufficient to prove that it is not a specific character. 
 The Esquimaux furnish a strong instance." The deviations 
 noticed by Humboldt and M. D'Orbigny, and others, between 
 the South American nations as to colour, form, and stature, 
 afford proof that varieties spring up in these as in other races 
 of mankind, and approximate to the characters of other de- 
 partments of the human family. 
 
 " But the assertion that the colour of the human skin has in 
 America no relation to climate, is only the result of careless 
 and hasty generalization. The reader may be convinced of 
 this by comparing the black Californians, who struck La 
 Perouse and other travellers as the almost exact counterparts 
 of the slaves of a negro plantation in the West Indies, with 
 the white Haida Kolushians and other nations of the Eastern 
 coast further northward, whose complexion was said by Port- 
 lock to be nearly that of a fair English woman. The Esqui- 
 maux are reckoned among the white races, though not fair 
 or xanthous." 
 
 The same was the view of this subject taken by Dr S. Stan- 
 hope Smith, in his Essay on the Causes of the Variety of Com- 
 plexion and Figure in the Human Species, which has obtained 
 such permanent celebrity abroad. 
 
 Mr Prout, in his work on Chemistry and Meteorology, 
 
296 ORIGIN OF THE VARIETIES 
 
 exhibits at length the nature of climate ; its influence upon 
 the vegetable and animal creation ; and the effect which this- 
 difference produces on the manners and the health of the 
 earth's inhabitants.* He shows also that those plants and 
 animals most useful to man possess, in a remarkable and 
 inscrutable manner, the faculty of accommodating themselves 
 to all climates, and of producing multiplied varieties. t He 
 thus recognises, in the mutual adaptation of the constitution 
 of nature, and the constitution of the animals and man, the 
 source of all their existing varieties. 
 
 Mr "Whewell, in his work on Astronomy and General Phy- 
 sics, presents very similar conclusions from his examination 
 into the facts of the case ; and in these wonderful capacities 
 and adaptations of animal life, he sees the evidence of a wise 
 and benevolent intention overcoming the varying difficulties, 
 or employing the varying resources of the elements, with an 
 inexhaustible fertility of contrivance, a constant tendency to 
 diffuse life and wellbeing.| And speaking expressly of the 
 varieties in man, he says many of these differences depend 
 upon custom, soil, and other causes, with which we do not 
 here meddle, but many are connected with climate ; and the 
 variety of the resources which man thus possesses arises from 
 the variety of constitution belonging to cultivable vegetables, 
 through which one is fitted to one range of climate, and an- 
 other to another. We conceive that this variety and succes- 
 sion of fitness for cultivation shows undoubted marks of a 
 most foreseeing and benevolent design in the Creator of man 
 and of the world. § 
 
 Sir "Whitelaw Ainslie, M.D., has also illustrated the neces- 
 sary power of atmospheric influence in moulding the physical 
 and moral character of men and other animals, and has quoted 
 Falconer on Climate to the same effect. || 
 
 * Chemistry, Meteorology, &c, b. ii., pp. 204, 215, 218. 
 + Ibid., p 219. J Ibid., b. ii., p. 60. § Ibid., p. 62. 
 
 || M.R.A.S., F.R.S.E., &c. Obs. on, in five parts, &c. See Journal of 
 the Royal Asiatic Society, No. v., &c. 
 
OF THE HUMAN SPECIES. 297 
 
 Brancle also attributes all the varieties in man and the 
 lower animals to the influence of climate, habits, and social 
 condition.* Kenrick, as quoted by Prichard, does the same, j 
 Such also is the view taken by Mr Delafield and his coeditor, 
 Dr Lakey, who endeavour to point out in the southern hemi- 
 sphere of the earth the causes of man's uniform degeneracy 
 under its influence — even of the Dutch, the Spaniard, and 
 the English, when long exposed to its deteriorating character. 
 This they attribute to the short summer, the immense body 
 of w r ater, the less distance of the sun, and to magnetic in- 
 tensity. | 
 
 Heeren, in his work on the African nations, attributes the 
 complete assemblage of all varieties of form and colour in 
 that country to the existence, within its immense extent, of 
 every variety of soil, climate, and condition. § 
 
 Dr Bachman has shown that the facts of natural history 
 prove that all quadrupeds, birds, and plants, when in a state 
 of domestication or of cultivation, are subject to the most 
 remarkable change when removed to other soils, latitudes, 
 and conditions, and that when formed, these varieties be- 
 come in many cases permanent. Thi* he illustrates from 
 the apple, the peach, the potato, the cabbage, the carrot, and 
 from all the common fowl and quadrupeds. || He is there- 
 fore of opinion that God has stamped upon the race of men 
 a constitutional power to produce, under the influence of 
 analogous causes, analogous and permanent varieties. This 
 subject Dr Bachman treats in a distinct chapter.^ After 
 giving the views of others, and pointing out the undoubted in- 
 fluence of climate, he there says : ** " Our explanation of this 
 phenomenon is grounded on the constitutional adaptation or 
 
 * Cyclopedia, p. 712, col. 2. 
 
 + Prichard, vol. v., p. 552, Essay on Primitive Chronology. 
 $ Antiq. of America, pp. 108-124. 
 § Vol. L, pp. 286, 287. 
 
 || On the Unity of the Human Races, examined on the principles of 
 Science. Charleston, 1850, pp. 13, 14. 
 f See part ii., ch. iv., p. 175. ** Ibid., p. 179. 
 
298 ORIGIN OF THE VARIETIES 
 
 predisposition to produce varieties which are developed in 
 particular situations and under peculiar circumstances. We 
 agree in the results, but we differ in the causes which produce 
 these effects. Their theory is, as we have seen, founded 
 principally on the influence of climate, gradually changing 
 the colour, form, and hair. Cold and temperate climates they 
 suppose have a tendency to produce the white colour on the 
 skin and straight hair, and warm climates to cause a black 
 colour with crisped hair. Ours rests on an adaptation in the 
 human constitution to produce a succession of strikingly 
 marked varieties, in those countries where such a peculiarity 
 in constitution is suited to the regions it is required to inhabit, 
 — in other words, different climates require different consti- 
 tutions, and a wise Creator has implanted in the organization 
 of man an adaptation to produce such modifications as are 
 essential to the health, comfort, and future increase of his 
 posterity. 
 
 What are the causes in nature to produce first a peculiarity 
 in climate, and then an adaptation of the constitution suited 
 to that climate,, are subjects which, owing to our imperfect 
 knowledge of the laws of the Creator, the wisest philosophers 
 are unable fully to explain. The production of these varie- 
 ties may be the effects either of altitudes or depressions in 
 countries — of geological formations — of electrical phenomena 
 — of peculiar atmospheres — of soils — of an approximation to, 
 or a removal from, the ocean — of particular kinds of food 
 and manner of life, or of all these causes combined. The 
 effects, however, are before our eyes in every country, in 
 every tribe of men, and in every race of domesticated animals; 
 and could we be permitted to see more clearly into the hidden 
 mysteries of nature, we would find no difficulty in accounting 
 for the causes why, from time to time, offspring differing 
 widely from the parents is produced in different regions of 
 country. A tendency to produce such varieties exists in 
 such countries, since we perceive that they spring up in 
 various localities at the same time. This, in a short period 
 
OF THE HUMAN SPECIES. 299 
 
 of time, often in the course of a few generations, becomes a 
 native and preponderating variety. This variety is propa- 
 gated by generation, in accordance with another law of 
 nature, taught us by experience, that peculiar formations in 
 animals and men become organic, and are transmitted to their 
 posterity. The traveller in Europe, in looking at the de- 
 scendants of the Caucasian race, is struck with a peculiar 
 cast of countenance in the inhabitants of the various king- 
 doms, possessing nearly the same latitudes and geological for- 
 mations. Thus an Englishman, a Scotchman, an Irishman, 
 a German, a Frenchman, or an Italian, may be recognised 
 by the close observer, without inquiring into their several 
 places of nativity. We see and admit these striking charac- 
 teristics, but we cannot tell why this is so. 
 
 From the account given of his lectures on the Races of 
 Men, Dr Knox, F.R.S.E., believes that there are transcen- 
 dent characteristics of the human system, by which race is 
 permanent so long as the existing media and order of things 
 prevail, but that a great change in these might produce a 
 modification in animal forms that would constitute new races.* 
 
 The same seems to be the view of Agassiz. Though he 
 does not believe that the diversity of animals is in exact pro- 
 portion to longitude or latitude, yet "there is," he says, "a 
 direct relation between the richness of a fauna and the cli- 
 mate." " Animals," he adds, " are endowed with instincts 
 and faculties corresponding to the physical character of the 
 countries they inhabit, and which would be of no service to 
 them under other circumstances." And while he does not 
 allow these differences to be produced by climate, he does 
 allow that animals have been constitutionally adapted by God 
 for the place which they inhabit, and for a change adapted 
 to the modifications of climate and condition, when domesti- 
 cated by man. The way in which these changes are pro- 
 duced, he very wisely does not attempt to explain. " Hence," 
 he says, " other influences must be in operation besides those 
 * Ethnological Journal, No. ii., p. 94. 
 
300 ORIGIN OF THE VARIETIES 
 
 of climate — influences of a higher order, which are involved 
 in a general plan, and intimately associated with the develop- 
 ment of life on the surface of the earth." Now, man alone 
 being a cosmopolite — man alone being omnivorous — and man 
 alone being adapted to every variety of association, clothing, 
 and habitation — and the transition from man the rude bar- 
 barian, to man the civilized and refined being, the greatest 
 possible — whatever influence outward . circumstances are 
 capable of exerting upon an organized being must be in- 
 creased a hundredfold in the case of man, under all his 
 diversified conditions. And as man was originally destined 
 and otherwise adapted for the occupation and culture of the 
 whole earth, Ave might well expect that he would be constitu- 
 tionally fitted also for every variety of change. 
 
 " Indeed, (to use once more the language of Agassiz,) the 
 facilities, or sometimes we might rather say, necessities, 
 arising from varied supplies of animal and vegetable food in 
 the several regions, might be expected to involve, with his 
 corresponding customs and mode of life, a difference in the 
 physical constitution of man, which would contribute to aug- 
 ment any primeval differences. It could not indeed be ex- 
 pected that a people constantly subjected to cold, like the 
 people of the north, and living almost exclusively on fish, 
 which they cannot obtain without great toil and peril, should 
 present the same characteristics, either bodily or mental, as 
 those who idly regale on the spontaneous bounties of tropical 
 vegetation.'"* 
 
 Faber supposes that, in the first instance, the colouring 
 fluid of the negro was a disease inflicted upon some remote 
 progenitor or some collective body of progenitors ; the symp- 
 toms of the disease subsequently remaining when the disease 
 itself had been removed. t 
 
 * Principles of Zoology, p. 181, &c. 
 
 f Eight Dissertations, p. 293, vol. ii., and pp. 306, 307, and 313, where 
 he gives ancient authorities in favour of such a supposition as widely 
 spread among the Gentiles ; and from Scripture, pp. 310, 311. 
 
OF THE HUMAN SPECIES. 301 
 
 The influence of climate and other physical causes, in com- 
 bination with social, civil, and moral condition, may, it is 
 true, be exaggerated, as they undoubtedly have been by some 
 who argue in favour of the original unity of the human races. 
 It is just as true, however, that the influence of such causes 
 may be as greatly underrated, as it certainly is by many op- 
 ponents of this doctrine.* We confess, that when to the 
 present necessary and powerful influence of these causes are 
 added the peculiar condition of the earth at the period of 
 man's early history — the equally irregular and exposed con- 
 dition in which men were at that time placed — the lengthened 
 period of patriarchal life — the confinement of marriage within 
 the limits of close affinity — and the multiplied geological con- 
 vulsions through which the earth has undoubtedly passed, 
 and which must have given inconceivable intensity to all such 
 causesf — we have ourselves no difficulty in supposing that 
 every present variety in the races of men may have origi- 
 nated through the working of natural causes upon the natu- 
 rally susceptible constitution of primitive man. 
 
 To those whose opinions we have already adduced, we 
 would add the following remarks from the elaborate work of 
 Dr Carpenter: — 
 
 u From the foregoing survey of the phenomena bearing 
 upon the question of the specific unity or diversity of the 
 human races, the following conclusions/' says this writer, 
 «' may be drawn : — 
 
 " 1. That the physical constitution of man is peculiarlv 
 disposed, like that of the domesticated animals, to undergo 
 variations, some of which can be traced to the influence of 
 external causes, whilst others are not so explicable, and 
 must be termed spontaneous. 
 
 * The apparently contradictory facts stated by the Ethnological Jour- 
 nal have all been examined by Prichard, and either disproved, qualified, 
 or accounted for. 
 
 t See this exhibited at large by Hamilton Smith in hi3 Nat. Hist, of 
 the Human Species. 
 
302 ORIGIN OF THE VARIETIES 
 
 " 2. That the extreme variations which present themselves 
 between the races apparently the most removed from one 
 another, are not greater in degree than those which exist be- 
 tween the different breeds of domesticated animals, which are 
 known to have descended from a common stock ; and that 
 they are of the same kind with the variations which present 
 themselves in any one race of mankind, — the difference of 
 degree being clearly attributable, in the majority of cases, to 
 the respective conditions under which each race exists. 
 
 " 3. That none of the variations which have been pointed 
 out as existing among the different 'races of mankind have 
 the least claim to be regarded as valid specific distinctions ; 
 being entirely destitute of that fixity which is requisite to 
 entitle them to such a rank, and exhibiting, in certain groups 
 of each race, a tendency to pass into the characters of some 
 others. 
 
 "4. That, in the absence of any valid specific distinctions, 
 we are required, by the universally-received principles of geo- 
 logical science, to regard all the races of mankind as belong- 
 ing to the same species, or (in other words) as having had 
 either an identical or similar parentage ; and that this conclu- 
 sion is supported by the positive evidence afforded by the 
 agreement of all the races in the physiological and psycholo- 
 gical characters that most distinguish them from other species, 
 and especially by the ready propagation of mixed breeds or 
 hybrid races." * 
 
 " It cannot," he adds, " be doubted, when the known his- 
 tory of the domesticated races is fairly considered, that a 
 change of external circumstances is capable of exerting a very 
 decided influence upon the physical form, upon the habits 
 and instincts, and upon various functions of life. The varia- 
 tions thus induced extend to considerable modifications in 
 the external aspect, such as the colour, the texture, and the 
 thickness of the external covering ; to the structure of limbs 
 
 * Carpenter's " Principles of Human Physiology," pp. 90, 91. Phila- 
 delphia, 1847. 
 
OF THE HUMAN SPECIES. 303 
 
 and the proportional size of parts ; to the relative develop- 
 ment of the organs of the senses and of the psychological 
 powers, involving changes in the form of the cranium ; and 
 to acquired propensities, which, within certain limits (depend- 
 ing, it would appear, on their connection with the natural 
 habits of the species), may become hereditary. 
 
 " Again, we should expect to find these varieties in exter- 
 nal circumstances, together with the change of habits induced 
 by civilization (w T hich is far greater than any change affected 
 by domestication in the condition of the lower animals), 
 producing still more important alterations in the physical 
 form and constitution of the human body, than those effected 
 in brutes by a minor degree of alteration. And it may be 
 reasonably anticipated, that, as just now explained, there 
 w r ould be a greater tendency to the perpetuation of these 
 varieties, in other w r ords, to the origination of distinct races, 
 during the earlier ages of the history of the race, than at the pre- 
 sent time ; when, in fact, by the increasing admixture of races 
 which have long been isolated, there is a tendency to the fusion 
 of all these varieties, and to a return to a common type."* 
 
 To these authorities we add the views of Dr Dowler. " It 
 may be affirmed," says he, " with considerable probability, that 
 cultivation changes even the organization, developing, for ex- 
 ample, the anatomy, increasing the nutrition, the sensibility, 
 the adaptive powers, and the energy of the whole nervous 
 system, especially of its intercranial portion. "t 
 
 The same views have been very recently and ably presented 
 by Mrs Somerville in her elaborate work on Physical Geo- 
 graphy, in which she devotes a full chapter to the consi- 
 deration of the various causes by which such diversities of 
 race have been produced in the human species, which she be- 
 lieves to have been originally one and the same. 
 
 * Carpenter's " Human Physiology," p. 81. 
 
 •f On the Vital Dynamics of Civil Government, in New Orleans Medical 
 Journal, May 1849, p. 70S. See also Dr Daniell, in Prichard's Nat. Hist., 
 p. 612, 3d ed. 
 
304 ORIGIN OF THE VARIETIES 
 
 " No circumstance in the natural world," says this -writer, 
 " is more inexplicable than the diversity of form and colour 
 in the human race. It had already begun in the antediluvian 
 world, for ' there were giants in the land in those days.' 
 
 " Civilization is supposed to have great influence on colour, 
 having a tendency to make the dark shade more general, and 
 it appears that, in the crossing of two shades, the offspring 
 takes the complexion of the darker and the form of the 
 fairer. 
 
 " Darkness of complexion has been attributed to the sun's 
 power from the age of Solomon to this day — ' Look not upon 
 me, because I am black, because the sun hath looked upon 
 me ;' and there can be no doubt that, to a certain degree, the 
 opinion is well founded. The invisible rays in the solar 
 beams, which change vegetable colours, and have been em- 
 ployed with such remarkable effect in the Daguerreotype, act 
 upon every substance on which they fall, producing myste- 
 rious and wonderful changes in their molecular state — man 
 not excepted. 
 
 " Even supposing that diversity of colour is owing to the 
 sun's rays only, it is scarcely possible to attribute the thick 
 lip, the woolly hair, and the entire difference of form, extend- 
 ing even to the very bones and skull, to any thing but a con- 
 currence of circumstances, not omitting the invisible influence 
 of electricity, which pervades every part of the earth and air, 
 and possibly terrestrial magnetism. 
 
 " Every change of food, climate, and mental excitement, 
 must have their influence on the reproduction of the mortal 
 frame ; and thus a thousand causes may co-operate to alter 
 whole races of mankind placed under new circumstances, time 
 being granted. 
 
 " The refining effects of high culture, and, above all, the 
 Christian religion, by subduing the evil passions and encou- 
 raging the good, are more than any thing calculated to im- 
 prove even the external appearance. The countenance, though 
 perhaps of less regular form, becomes expressive of the ami- 
 
OF THE HUMAN SPECIES. 305 
 
 lable and benevolent feelings of the heart, the most captivating 
 and lasting of all beauty. 
 
 k< Thus, an infinite assemblage of causes may be assigned 
 as having produced the endless varieties in the human race; 
 the fact remains an inscrutable mystery. But amidst all the 
 physical vicissitudes man has undergone, the species remains 
 permanent."* 
 
 To these various authorities we are most happy to be able 
 to add that of Dr Latham, as given at some length in his 
 recent and most valuable work on the Varieties of Man. 
 
 " Other conditions being equal," he asks, " why do two 
 tribes under the same degree of latitude differ ? e. g., Why 
 are not all tribes under the equator like the negro of the 
 Niger, and vice versa P 
 
 " Without venturing upon the enumeration of all the ele- 
 ments of this difference, I will indicate one, assuming only 
 that the climatological influences of a certain degree of lati- 
 tude have some effect, and that some effect must be the re- 
 sult of the force in question : I call it the accumulation of 
 climatologic influences. 
 
 " Let a certain locality under a given degree of latitude (say 
 the west coast of Africa, under the equator) be peopled by a 
 line of population migrating from Denmark, under one sup- 
 position, and from Bombay, under another, the line of mi- 
 gration being, for convenience sake, supposed to be a straight 
 one. 
 
 " From Denmark such a line, at its junction with the point 
 in question (say the mouth of the Gaboon River), would 
 form with the equinoctial line, and with each intermediate 
 degree of latitude, a right one. 
 
 " From Denmark the angle would be a very acute one. 
 
 " Now, just as the angle formed by the line of latitude and 
 the line of migration is acute, the approach made by a mov- 
 ing population towards any particular point under that, line 
 (of latitude) is gradual; and in proportion as such an approach 
 
 * Physical Geography, chap, xxxiii. 
 
 U 
 
S06 ORIGIN OF THE VARIETIES 
 
 is gradual, the number of generations over which a condi- 
 tion of climate like that of the final point has been acting is 
 increased ; and in this way its influences become accumu- 
 lated. 
 
 " Thus, assuming Bombay to be the original cradle of our 
 species — 
 
 " The Gaboon negro is the descendant of ancestors who, 
 before they reached their present abode, had moved in a line 
 lying almost wholly within the tropics; whereas — 
 
 "The American of Terito is the descendant of ancestors who 
 passed through the tropics by the shortest cut (i.e., at nearly 
 a right angle with the equator), themselves descended from 
 progenitors upon whom the influences of the several North 
 American, Arctic, and Siberian climates had been at work. 
 
 u In the latter case, how great have been the changes and 
 how rapid the transitions from the conditions of one latitude 
 to another ! how different, too, the effects upon a series of 
 generations moving along a line a thousand miles long from 
 north to south, from those upon a stream of population pro- 
 pagated along an equal distance east and west ! 
 
 " The former takes them through half the latitudes of the 
 world. The latter keeps them within a single zone — arctic, 
 equatorial, or temperate, as the case may be; the climatologic 
 influences seconding, instead of counteracting those of blood, 
 and that in a ratio progressing geometrically."* 
 
 Again, speaking of the African, Dr Latham observes : "In 
 respect to the general phenomena of ethnological distribution, 
 we are now fully prepared for all that will be presented in 
 Africa. Large areas covered by single nations, and small ones 
 parcelled out amongst many, are what we have already seen 
 both in Asia and America. The influences of a climate at 
 once tropical and continental, we shall find at their maximum ; 
 those of extended river-systems, and of mountain-ranges of 
 the first magnitude, being less important. So also is the in- 
 fluence of the ocean ; the insular system of Africa being the 
 
 * Latham, pp. 524-526. 
 
OF THE HUMAN SPECIES. 307 
 
 smallest in the world, and the African seaboard being the 
 one least indented. 
 
 " From the greater heat of climate, the steppes of High Asia 
 become sandy deserts in Africa ; whilst the central portion 
 of the continent, where the highest table-land is to be expected, 
 has yet to be explored. 
 
 "Still the effect of a high level above the sea, as manifested, 
 for instance, in Abyssinia, is to be taken into our considera- 
 tion of the physical conditions of Africa, i. e., as a condition 
 that, to a certain degree, in certain cases, counteracts the 
 effects of excessive heat. On the other hand, alluvial tracts, 
 like the valleys of the Nile and Niger, are to be placed in the 
 opposite scale, as assistant to the influences of a tropical and 
 equatorial sun."* 
 
 " Thus, in respect to descent, the negro of Sennaar has his 
 closest relations, in the way of language, manners, and blood, 
 with the Africans of Kordofan, Abyssinia, and the parts about 
 his own country. Not so, however, his physical conformation. 
 These are with the Africans of Senegambia and Guinea, — a 
 fact brought about by the common conditions of heat, mois- 
 ture, and a low sea-level — conditions, however, which render 
 the group artifical and provisional, rather than natural and 
 permanent. The same would be the case if we threw all the 
 mountaineers of Europe into one and the same class, irrespec- 
 tive of their real ethnological differences, simply on the ground 
 of their all exhibiting certain common phenomena of colour, 
 stature, and habits." t 
 
 u And now the comment upon the words typical and sub- 
 typical negroes finds place. The two divisions coincide closely 
 with the physical character of the area to which each applies; 
 the departure from the true negro features being greatest 
 where the approach to a high-land or a table-land is the closest; 
 the Bornui being at one and the same time the most like 
 the negroes of the coast and the occupants of the most not- 
 able basin of central Africa, i. e., the basin of Lake Ishad." J 
 
 * Latham, pp. 469, 470. f Ibid., p. 472. £ Ibid., p. 482. 
 
308 ORIGIN OF THE VARIETIES 
 
 " Hence," says Dr Latham, " transitional forms are of two 
 kinds. The first indicates descent, affiliation, and historical 
 connection ; the second, the effect of common climatologic, 
 alimentary, or social influences. This last will be called 
 quasi-transitional." * 
 
 Speaking of the Turanian stock, he further adds : — " The 
 reader is now asked to prepare himself for the transition from 
 languages of monosyllabic type to languages other than mo- 
 nosyllabic, and from aptolic tongues to tongues where the 
 inflexions are numerous. 
 
 u He is also asked to prepare himself for a transition in the 
 way of physical conformation, from a structure approaching 
 the Mongol type to one essentially and typically Mongol. 
 
 u In the former case the change is greater than in the latter. 
 
 " Why is this ? Why do not the changes go pari passu, so 
 that the two tests should coincide, and so that it should be 
 a matter of indifference which of the two we started with ? 
 
 " We get at the answer to this by remembering that physi- 
 cal changes and philological changes may go on at different 
 rates. A thousand years may pass over two nations un- 
 doubtedly of the same origin, and which were, at the begin- 
 ning of those thousand years, of the same complexion, form, 
 and language. At the end of those thousand years there 
 shall be a difference. With one, the language shall have 
 changed rapidly, the physical structure slowly ; with the 
 other, the physical conformation shall have been modified by 
 a quick succession of external influences, whilst the language 
 shall have stayed as it was. With an assumed or proved 
 original identity on each side, the difference in the rate of ac- 
 tion, on the part of the different influences, is the key to all 
 discrepancies between the two tests. The language may re- 
 main in statu quo, whilst the hair, complexion, and bones 
 change; or the hair, complexion, and osteology may remain 
 in statu quo, whilst the language changes. Apparently this 
 leaves matters in an unsatisfactory condition, in a way which 
 
 * Latham, p. 9. 
 
OF THE HUMAN SPECIES. 309 
 
 allows the ethnologist any amount of assumption he chooses. 
 Apparently it does so, but it does so in appearance only. In 
 reality we have ways and means of determining which of the 
 two changes is the likelier. We know what modifies form. 
 Change of latitude, climate, sea-level, conditions of subsis- 
 tence, conditions of clothing, &c, do this, all (or nearly all) 
 such changes being physical." * 
 
 " One condition necessary for a race that thus spread them- 
 selves abroad, occurs in a remarkable degree with the Turk. 
 In the Yakut country, we find the most intense cold known 
 in Asia; in Pamer, the greatest elevation above the sea-level 
 in the south of Egypt, an intertropical degree of heat. Yet 
 in all these countries we find the Turk. In their physiog- 
 nomy, the Turks have in many instances departed from the 
 Mongol type ; and hence the agreement between the cognate 
 families is less manifest in their physical conformation than 
 in their languages. The nature and extent of this deviation 
 is well worth more investigation than it has met with ; and 
 next in importance to the fact itself, is the reason that may 
 be assigned for it. Whether it may be from the Osmanli 
 Turk of Constantinople, with his un- Mongolian length of 
 beard, his regularly-formed eye, and his other European 
 points of physiognomy, being the standard by which we 
 measure the other divisions of the family, or whether we have 
 unnecessarily restricted the term Mongol to the inhabitants 
 of Mongolia, it is certain that a great majority of travellers 
 are in the habit of describing a Mongol cast of countenance, 
 when found in a Turk, as an exceptional phenomenon ; just 
 as if the Turk had one character and the Mongol another, 
 and as if a deviation either way was an anomaly. Now, the 
 notice of all differences, however small, between the tribes of 
 the Turk and those of any other division of the human kind, 
 is so far from being exceptionable, that it is particularly de- 
 sirable. 
 
 "Neither is the assumption of the Turk in his most European 
 * Latham, pp. 61, 62. 
 
310 ORIGIN OF THE VARIETIES 
 
 form as a standard, rather than that of the more Mongoliform 
 Turks, objectionable. One writer is as fully at liberty to treat 
 all deviations from the type of a Constantinopolitan Osmanli 
 as anomalous, as another is to apply a Mongol standard. 
 Provided that facts are accumulated, ethnology is the gainer. 
 It is only when the idea of the Turk type being one thing, 
 and the Mongol another, has so far taken possession of a writer, 
 as to make him overvalue the import of such differences, that 
 evil arises. Then a fact which should even be expected a 
 priori becomes an anomaly, and the assumption of some ex- 
 traordinary cause — generally the mixture of race — is assumed. 
 I say assumed, because in many cases it is taken for granted, 
 simply and solely because it will explain the phenomena. 
 Where this is not the fact, where there are other grounds for 
 believing that intermixture has occurred, it is not only legiti- 
 mate, but it is necessary to admit it." * 
 
 "Physiological objections, based upon the symmetry of shape, 
 and delicacy of complexion, on the part of the Georgians and 
 Circassians, I am at present unable to meet. I can only in- 
 dicate our want of osteological data, and remind my reader 
 of the peculiar climatologic conditions of the Caucasian range, 
 which is at once temperate, mountainous, wooded, and in the 
 neighbourhood of the sea ; in other words, the reverse of all 
 Mongol areas hitherto enumerated. Perhaps, too, I may limit 
 the extent of such objections as a matter of fact. It is only 
 amongst the chiefs where the personal beauty of the male 
 portion of the population is at all remarkable. The tillers of 
 the soil are, comparatively speaking, coarse and unshapely." 
 
 " I think, that if we base our primary divisions of the great 
 Oceanic stock upon difference of physical form, they will not 
 be more than two, although, by raising the value of certain 
 subdivisions, the number may be raised to three, four, five, or 
 six. 
 
 " Now, as the value of the members of the Oceanic groups 
 is a point upon which there is a variety of opinion, and as 
 * Latham, pp. 77, 73. + Ibid., p. 111. 
 
OP THE HUMAN SPECIES. 3 1 1 
 
 the opinion of the present writer as to its unity as a whole 
 is at variance with the systems of ethnologists, with whom he 
 is diffident of disagreeing, it will be well to take more than 
 usual pains to give prominence to the leading facts upon 
 which the current opinions are based ; and, for the sake of 
 fuller illustration, to carry the reader over the subject by 
 two ways. 
 
 " A. One class of the Oceanic islanders is yellow, olive, 
 brunette, or brown, rather than black, with long black and 
 straight hair; and when any member of this division is com- 
 pared with a native of the continental portions of the world, 
 it is generally with the Mongol. 
 
 " B. Another class of the Oceanic islanders is black rather 
 than yellow, olive, brunette, or brown; and when any mem- 
 ber of this division is compared with a native of the conti- 
 nental portions of the world, it is generally with the negro. 
 As to the hair of this latter group, it is always long, some- 
 times strong and straight, but in other cases crisp, curly, 
 frizzly, or even woolly. Upon these differences, especially 
 that of the hair, we shall see, in the sequel, that subdivisional 
 groups have been formed. 
 
 "The social, moral, and intellectual difference between these 
 two classes, in their typical form, is certainly not less than 
 the physical — probably more. The continuous geographical 
 area is, — for the black division, New Guinea, Australia, Tas- 
 mania, New Ireland, and the islands between it and New 
 Caledonia. For the brown division, all the rest of the Oceanic 
 area — Sumatra, Borneo, Java, the Moluccas, the Philippines, 
 the South Sea Islands, the Carolinas, &c. 
 
 " Now, this is one way of viewing the subject, and it is the 
 way which gives us the contrast in the most marked manner, 
 the typical instances of each group being put forward. 
 
 " But another point of view limits the breadth of difference. 
 
 " It may have been noticed by the reader, that in speaking 
 of the area occupied by the black and brown nations respec - 
 tively, I used the word continuous. This was done for the 
 
312 ORIGIN OF THE VARIETIES 
 
 sake of preparing the way for a new series of facts. In many 
 of the countries proper and peculiar to the brown or straight- 
 haired occupants, there are to be found, side by side with 
 them, darker-complexioned fellow-inhabitants, blackish and 
 black tribes, tribes with crisp hair, tribes with woolly hair, and 
 tribes with hair and hue of every intermediate variety. Fur- 
 thermore, wherever the two varieties come in contact, the 
 black and blackish tribes are the lower in civilization, gene- 
 rally inhabiting the more inaccessible parts of their respective 
 countries, and, in the eyes of even cautious theorists, wearing 
 the appearance of being aboriginal." * 
 
 " This brings us to the third question, as to the import of 
 the darker-coloured populations in areas more especially be- 
 longing to the brown and olive- coloured tribes. I do not see 
 how we can consider these as aught else but the lighter- 
 coloured populations in a ruder stage of society ; since, unless 
 we take this view, we must look upon them as the represen- 
 tatives of a separate section of the human kind — a supposition 
 against which there are the two following objections : — 
 
 "a. That the difficulties respecting the population of the Po- 
 lynesian area are just doubled by such an assumption ; since, 
 instead of having to account for the undoubted Polynesians 
 alone (a matter quite difficult enough of itself), we should then 
 have to account for an earlier migration of Negritos as well. 
 " b. That, if such a previous migration had taken place, we 
 should expect to find, considering the vast number of Poly- 
 nesian islands, at least one island where the blacker race 
 remained unmixed, and (as such) speaking the original non- 
 Polynesian language, which is implied in the assumed inde- 
 pendence of origin ; since it is exceedingly unlikely that a 
 second migration should have so nearly coincided with a 
 former one, as to people and leave unpeopled exactly the same 
 areas. Now, out of all the isles of the South Sea, none pre- 
 sents the phenomenon of a pure black population, as deter- 
 mined by the double test of colour and of language. 
 
 * Latham, pp. 131, 132. 
 
OF THE HUMAN SPECIES. 313 
 
 " On the other hand, it may be urged — a. That, although it 
 may be a matter of doubt with competent judges whether 
 improved physical and social conditions have so great an 
 influence upon the colour of the skin and the texture of the 
 hair, as is imagined by some extreme thinkers on the point, 
 it is generally admitted that they have some influence. 
 
 " b. That in some groups (and sometimes in particular 
 islands) the identity of the darker and lighter-coloured popu- 
 lation is beyond a doubt, coinciding, as it does, with such 
 differences. 
 
 " c. That transitional forms occur where it is wholly gra- 
 tuitous to assume the influence of intermixture. 
 
 " With this opinion, our view of the relations between the 
 continuous Kelsenonesian areas of the mixed population 
 would be as follows : — 
 
 " a. That at a period anterior to the development of the 
 proper Malay and Polynesian characters of the typical Proto- 
 nesians, New Guinea and Australia were peopled from the 
 Moluccas and Timor respectively, the immigrants having a 
 type which might lose or gain Kehenonesian character ac- 
 cording to circumstances. 
 
 " b. That the conditions of Protonesia and Polynesia fa- 
 voured the change from dark to fair, those of New Guinea 
 and Australia from fair to dark." * 
 
 " This gives us the following theory : — 
 
 " 1. That Kelasnonesia was peopled when navigation was so 
 much in its infancy as for the Protonesians to be limited in 
 their migrations by the north-west monsoon. 
 
 " 2. That^Polynesia was peopled when it was sufficiently 
 advanced for the same people to be independent of it. 
 
 " 3. That the differentia? between the lighter and darker 
 Protonesians is referable to the influences of Asiatic civiliza- 
 tion." t 
 
 " The notices of tribes darker in colour than the dominant 
 part of the population, of which we have seen so much in the 
 
 * Latham, pp. 257-259. f Ibid., pp. 259, 260. 
 
314 ORIGIN OF THE VARIETIES 
 
 Oceanic area, reappear in the history of Japan. They are 
 stated to belong to either the interior or the southern portion 
 of the empire. This, however, may be the case without in- 
 volving the necessity of assuming a second source for the 
 population ; at the same time, such a second source is no eth- 
 nological improbability. The darker Amphinesians of For- 
 mosa may possibly have tended farther northward." * 
 
 " The Malagasi have already been enumerated amongst the 
 Oceanic Mongolida?. Why were they, then, only mentioned 
 by name, and why do they now find a place at the end of the 
 Atlantidae ? The reason lies in the antagonism between the 
 evidence of their language and the evidence of their physical 
 conformation, the first pointing exclusively towards Malacca, 
 the latter partly towards Malacca and partly towards the 
 opposite coast of Africa. The phenomenon of intermixture 
 is, in this case, so likely, that the doctrine that the Malagasi 
 are Africans speaking a Malay language, or, at least, that 
 there is a strong African intermixture, almost forces itself 
 upon the investigator. 
 
 " There is nothing, however, in what has hitherto been no- 
 ticed, which induces me to admit any African element at all ; 
 since, after considerable reflection and hesitation, I have come 
 to the conclusion that the diiferences in physical form, as de- 
 scribed by many excellent observers, are not greater than 
 those which occur within the pale of the Amphinesian popu- 
 lations themselves."! 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 TOE POWER OF EXTERNAL CAUSES TO MODIFY SPECIES. 
 
 Professor Lowe, in his very able and extensive work on the 
 Domesticated Animals, has some important and valuable observa- 
 tions strongly confirmatory of our own conclusions. But as it will 
 be of some length we will reserve it for the Appendix. 
 
 * Latham, p. 279. f Ibid., pp 519, 520. 
 
OF THE HUMAN SPECIES. 315 
 
 VIEWS OF HIPPOCRATES. 
 
 That the minds and bodies of men, says Dr Knox, are influenced 
 to a certain extent by external circumstances, I see no reason to 
 deny. But this is not the real question; the question is, To what 
 extent ? Let us first consider the effects of climate. Hippocrates 
 was enough of a philosopher to see that it was not merely to the 
 atmosphere that was to be assigned the supposed influence exer- 
 cised by external circumstances over man's form and mind. Ac- 
 cordingly, he entitles his work n^; ^arwv,af^v, xat rovrov, which may 
 be thus translated, On the influence of the Waters, the Atmosphere, 
 and Locality, over Man. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 ORIGIN OF THE VARIETIES OF THE HUMAN SPECIES- 
 CONCLUDED. 
 
 The degree of evidence for any proposition is not to be learned from 
 logic, nor, indeed, from any one distinct science, but is the province 
 of whatever science furnishes the subject-matter' of our argument. — 
 Archbishop "Whately. 
 
 Many events are altogether improbable to us before they have happened, or 
 before we are informed of their happening, which are not tlie least in- 
 credible when we are informed of them. — Mill's Logic. 
 
 The origin of the varieties of the human races is not con- 
 nected by any natural or logical necessity with their original 
 unity. The fact of their original unity may be infallibly cer- 
 tain, while the time and manner of their variations are 
 enveloped in undiscoverable mystery. To many philosophers 
 we have seen these varieties appear to be the result of natu- 
 ral constitutional organization, in connection with the natural 
 laws of external nature and social condition, operating through 
 a long series of ages. But if to any these causes are insuf- 
 ficient, the Bible offers, with its record of man's original 
 unity, and of man's subsequent dispersion and diversified 
 allotment, the omnipotent agency of that overruling Provi- 
 dence which 
 
 " Lives through all life, extends through all extent, 
 Spreads undivided, operates unspent " — 
 
 and by whose wise determination their bounds and habita- 
 tions were assigned. It teaches us that the same Almighty 
 Beinor who made of one blood all the nations of men to dwell 
 on all the face of the earth, also secured his own purposes in 
 
ORIGIN OF VARIETIES OF THE HUMAN SPECIES. 317 
 
 the peopling of every portion of the globe, by adapting men 
 in a supernatural manner, at the time of the dispersion, to the 
 climate and condition to which they were thus destined. The 
 belief of this supernatural cause as the source of all present 
 varieties in man, so far as it may be necessary to look to it 
 rather than natural causes, is therefore required of us by the 
 very necessity of the case, and by the authority of God. 
 
 Such is the course in which reason and true science alike 
 conduct us. These demand a cause — a cause adequate to the 
 effects to be accounted for; and these require also our ad- 
 mission of such a cause, when its existence is proved by suffi- 
 cient evidence. Now, that God exists, and that his power is 
 sufficient to meet the difficulties in the case, all true science 
 affirms. He is recognised as the Creator and Preserver of 
 man and beast, even by those who question the original unity 
 of the present varieties of the human race. And if, there- 
 fore, this great First Cause is admitted even by our opponents 
 in the first creation of man, and in the contemporaneous or 
 subsequent creation of all the varieties of men, it is no less 
 scientific to believe — if there is evidence for the opinion — 
 that this Omnipotent Being secured the production of all 
 these varieties in man's primitive constitution, either to ren- 
 der certain the peopling of the earth — to adapt men to its 
 diversified climates — to provide materials for the future invi- 
 goration or elevation of certain races by amalgamation with 
 others — or, in some cases, as a curse inflicted upon some 
 guilty and rebellious people. And as there is evidence in 
 Scripture to prove that all the present nations of the earth 
 were originally made of one blood, our faith in the present 
 unity of the human races is rational, whether we do or do 
 not believe that the changes in them could be brought about 
 by natural and constitutional laws. When, therefore, w r e 
 hear men, as we do Mr Drake, I)r Nott, the Ethnological 
 Journal, Voltaire, Mr Gliddon, &c, ridicule, with profane 
 and vulgar buffoonery, the doctrine of the unity of the 
 human races, because it requires the exercise of supernatural 
 
318 ORIGIN OF THE VARIETIES 
 
 power, when they themselves profess to attribute the exist- 
 ence of every variety of man to that very supernatural cause, 
 we plainly perceive that their objections are not made to the 
 doctrine for its own sake, but to the inspiration and authority 
 of that Bible by whose testimony this, and many other doc- 
 trines still more unpalatable to the pride of man, are infallibly 
 proclaimed. 
 
 To every mind imbued with the proper spirit of reverence 
 for God and his inspired communications, there is the most 
 perfect harmony between the scientific inability to account 
 for the variations of the human races from the original type 
 by existing natural causes, and the moral ability to believe on 
 the best of all evidences — the testimony of God — that such is 
 nevertheless beyond controversy the fact. And whether 
 God brought about these changes at the time of Cain, as some 
 think, or of the flood, or of the dispersion, or of the exodus 
 from Egypt, as others think, is a matter of no importance 
 to him whose faith rests upon the testimony and the infinite 
 — though oftentimes inscrutable — wisdom and goodness of 
 God. 
 
 Such is the position, as we understand it, of Dr Morton, 
 who has, with such lustre to himself and to his country, in- 
 vestigated the ethnological history of the human family. He 
 adopts the arrangement of mankind under " the human 
 species," containing under this one species five races and 
 twenty-two families.* His introductory essay is " on the 
 varieties of the human species."f " The unity of the human 
 species," says his able reviewer, " is assumed by Dr Mor- 
 ton,"^ not, however, because he could prove it or believe it 
 to be a lact from present physical evidence, or the operation 
 of present natural causes, but because it is clearly taught in 
 the Bible. He believes, therefore, that God adapted each 
 
 * See Crania Americana, and Inq. into the Aborig. Race of America, 
 pp. 47, 48. 
 f Introd. to Crania Amer. 
 t Silliman's Journal, vol. xxxviii., No. ii., p. 4. 
 
OF THE HUMAN SPECIES. 319 
 
 race to its peculiar destination. ' The idea/ he sa) T s, ' may, 
 at first view, seem incompatible with the history of man, as 
 recorded in the sacred writings. Such, however, is not the 
 fact. Where others can see nothing but chance, we can 
 perceive a wise and obvious design displayed in the original 
 adaptation of the several races of men to those varied circum- 
 stances of climate and locality, which, while congenial to the 
 one, are destructive to the other. The evidence of history, 
 and of the Egyptian monuments, go to prove that these races 
 were as distinctly stamped three thousand five hundred years 
 ago, as they are now ; and in fact that they are coeval with 
 the primitive dispersion of our species.' " * 
 
 Similar is the spirit and conclusion of Dr Caldwell, in his 
 very able, though unnecessarily severe, review of the essay 
 of Dr Stanhope Smith. t In this essay he denies the suffi- 
 ciency of climate, and other natural causes, to explain the 
 existing diversities of the human races; but he as certainly 
 and clearly affirms his belief that they are varieties from an 
 original identity. 
 
 u Men," says he, " have sustained from their creation very 
 signal changes in their complexion and figure. The object 
 or final cause of these changes is supposed to be the adapta- 
 tion of the human race to become inhabitants of the different 
 climates of the globe. Their efficient or productive causes 
 are undetermined. Our only intention is to endeavour to 
 prove, which we think may be most definitely done, that the 
 varieties, as to complexion and figure, which now exist in 
 the great family of man, were not, and indeed could not 
 have been, produced by the operation of the physical causes 
 to which the Rev. Dr Smith attributes them." 
 
 Again, he says, " On the correctness of the Mosaic account 
 of the creation of man, we place the most full and implicit 
 reliance. "We receive the Scriptures entire as the oracles of 
 
 * Inquiry, p. 36. See on Dr Morton's position, Dr Bachman on Unity, 
 &c, p. 246. 
 f Port-Folio, vol. iv. 
 
320 ORIGIN OP THE VARIETIES 
 
 divine truth, and have neither the arrogance nor the impiety 
 to question a fact which they clearly set forth. Whatever 
 they may contain that is above our reason and comprehen- 
 sion, as ordinarily exercised, we embrace and cherish as a 
 matter of faith. Nor have we ever presumed to make our 
 feebleness of intellect the standard of their immaculate ve- 
 rity."* 
 
 The belief of a divine power exerted for the production of 
 the varieties of the human family, was, we have seen, my- 
 thologically preserved among the classic nations, in the fable 
 of Phaeton. It is very openly and boldly taught in the Koran, 
 as if communicated by God himself, and this too as a rea- 
 son for the observance and praise of his infinite wisdom. 
 
 There is also a very curious traditionary legend, in which 
 a divine origin is attributed to the variety of human races, 
 still found among the Tonga islanders in -the South Seas. 
 They believe that originally there was no land above the 
 waters of the sea ; but that when one of their gods, named 
 Tongalou, was fishing in the ocean, his hook became fixed 
 at the bottom ; he exerted his strength, and presently there 
 appeared above the surface of the water several points of 
 rock, which increased in number and extent the more he 
 drew his line. The rocky bottom of the ocean was now fast 
 advancing to the surface, when, unfortunately, the line broke, 
 and the Tonga Islands remain to show the incompleteness of 
 the operation. The earth, thus brought to the light of day, 
 now became replete with all kinds of plants and animals 
 (such as exist in an imaginary island, called Bolotoo, or the 
 residence of the gods), but they were of an inferior quality, 
 and subject to decay and death. Tongalou now sent two of 
 his sons to dwell in Tonga, and to divide the land between 
 them. But one of these sons was industrious, and the other 
 idle, and envious of his brother, whom at length he killed, 
 for which his father confined him and his race to the Tonga 
 
 * Port-Folio, vol. iv., p. 148. See also pp. 11, 18, 48. 
 
OF THE HUMAN SPECIES. 321 
 
 Islands for ever, to be black in their persons, and to have 
 bad canoes ; while he sent the children of his murdered son 
 into a distant land, to be white in their colour as their minds 
 were pure ; to be wise and rich, and to have axes and large 
 canoes in the greatest abundance.* 
 
 Seeing, therefore, that the Bible does not require us to be- 
 lieve that the varieties in the human races were brought 
 about by the operation of present and merely natural causes, 
 scientific inquiry is left to pursue its investigations into their 
 origin perfectly untrammelled, so long as it does not go be- 
 yond its province, and — because it may not be able to ex- 
 plain them in consistency with an original unity of species, 
 that is, of origin — sceptically deny that God either has or 
 could have effected them. 
 
 There are, however, others to whom it may seem more in 
 accordance with the facts in the case to combine, in the pro- 
 duction of the varieties of the human races, both the super- 
 natural and the natural causes. Among those who hold this 
 opinion we may rank Mr Kirby, who has considered the sub- 
 ject at some length. He shows that many animals, known 
 to be of the same origin, exhibit differences so striking as to 
 appear to a young zoologist marks of specific difference — 
 that these depend upon climate, food, and cultivation by 
 man — that their improvement of character and habits may 
 probably be deemed the result of some developments of brain 
 produced by education, and present some analogy to the effect 
 of the latter in the human species — and that by these they 
 are enabled to follow man into different climates, and to ac- 
 commodate themselves gradually to any change of circum- 
 stances. There is thus, he thinks, imparted to all animals a 
 capability of improvement, and of the development of latent 
 qualities not apparent in their wild state. 
 
 And in special reference to man, he says, " Climate, the 
 elevation of country, its soil, waters, woods, and other pecu- 
 
 * See Fairbairne's Geology of Scripture, p. 467 ; and the United States 
 Exploring Expedition, vol. vi., pp. 177, 178. 
 
 X 
 
322 ORIGIN OF THE VARIETIES 
 
 liarities ; the food, clothing, customs, habits, way of life, and 
 state of civilization often of its inhabitants, produce effects 
 upon the different races of men as well as of the animals that 
 inhabit our globe, and will account for many distinctions, 
 which indicate that such an individual belongs to such a 
 people." He adds : — " But these circumstances will not ex- 
 plain and satisfactorily account for all the peculiar characters 
 that distinguish nations from each other, without having re- 
 course to the will of a governing and all- directing Power, in- 
 fluencing circumstances that happen in the common course, 
 and according to the established order of nature, to answer 
 the purposes of his providence. When he confounded the 
 speech and language of the descendants of Noah, congre- 
 gated at Babel, he first made a division of mankind into na- 
 tions ; ' and from thence did Jehovah scatter them abroad 
 upon the face of all the earth.' The same divine Power that 
 effected this distinction, which may be called the origin of 
 nationality, also decreed that nations should be further sepa- 
 rated by differences of form and colour as well as speech, 
 which differences originated, not in any change operated 
 miraculously, but produced by second causes, under the 
 direction of the First. When we are told expressly that ' the 
 hairs of our head are all numbered,' and that in God's ' book 
 all our members are written,' we learn, that in common par- 
 lance w r e acknowledge that it is according to God's will that 
 we are made so and so. That persons who, in some one or 
 other of their parts and organs, exhibit an approximation to 
 races different from that to which they belong — as in thick 
 lips, a prominent facial angle, a difference in the relative pro- 
 portion of certain bones to each other, in the curling of the 
 hair, and the like — occur in all places, must be obvious to 
 every one who uses his eyes and intellect. But it is as evi- 
 dent that all these variations are produced by circumstances 
 that we cannot fully appreciate. 
 
 " It is evident, therefore, from fact, and from what ordinarily 
 happens, that there are powers at work at and after concep- 
 
OF THE HUMAN SPECIES. 32 
 
 n 
 
 tion, and while the foetus is in the womb, that can produce 
 variations in the same people, approaching to those that dis- 
 tinguish the negro, the red man, or the brown man, which, 
 indeed, can produce forms much more singular and extraor- 
 dinary; for instance, the monsters that sometimes make their 
 appearance in the world, as the Siamese youths, children with 
 two heads, &c. The mysterious influence that the excited 
 imagination, or passions, or appetites of the mother have over 
 the foetus in her womb, is well known, and produces very 
 extraordinary consequences, and malformations, and mon- 
 strosities. When we consider that all these facilities, if 
 I may so speak — these tendencies to produce variations in 
 the foetus, are at the disposal of Him who upholds all things 
 by the word of his power, and turns them to the fulfilment of 
 his own purposes, we may imagine that thus new types may 
 be produced, which may be continued in the ordinary way of 
 generation, according to that observation of Humboldt, that 
 i the exclusion of all foreign mixtures contributes to perpe- 
 tuate varieties, or aberrations from the common standard.' " 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 RESUME OF THE ARGUMENTS FOR THE UNITY OF THE 
 HUMAN RACES, AND OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 
 
 Proximi Gallis, et similes sunt ; seu durante originis vi, seu procurrenti- 
 bus in diversa terris, positio cceli corporibus habitum dedit. — Tacitus. 
 
 Our argument is physical, our method strictly inductive, and our reason- 
 ing cumulative. 
 
 We must here pause, and gather up our argument. We have 
 shown that the unity of the human races has always been re- 
 garded as an established and indisputable fact ; that on this 
 question, as a doctrine taught in Scripture and involving its 
 truth, all Christians of every denomination, age, and country 
 have agreed ; that it has been received as a fact by many of 
 the most eminent and learned scholars, naturalists, physicians, 
 ethnographers, and historians ; and that as there is thus every 
 presumption in favour of this doctrine, they who deny it 
 must prove that it is hot true by positive and incontestable 
 evidence — evidence which they do not even pretend to adduce. 
 But we have gone further than was thus necessary, and 
 have shown that every mark which has ever been laid down 
 by naturalists to distinguish one species of animals from 
 another, prove, when applied to man, that all the varieties of 
 the human family are of one species. We have shown that, 
 while all other animals of different species naturally remain 
 separate and distinct, and when constrained to unite, produce 
 a hybrid and sterile breed, the progeny of all the races of 
 men, under every possible amalgamation, are neither hybrid 
 nor sterile. We have shown that the two thousand languages 
 
RESUME OF ARGUMENTS FOR UNITY OF RACES, ETC. 325 
 
 of men are found to reduce themselves to a few families, and 
 these families to one primitive stock from which they must 
 all have originated, and that all the races of men must, there- 
 fore, have proceeded from one common parentage. We have 
 shown that all history confirms this conclusion, by tracing to 
 one original, oriental source all the nations of the earth, so 
 far as their history is known, and by recording facts which 
 will account for the peopling of this country from the same 
 original sources. We have shown that there are traditions, 
 customs, manners, and peculiar habits and practices, found 
 among the aboriginal inhabitants of this and all other countries, 
 which are in a most wonderful manner corroborative of the 
 early records of the Bible, and which prove that all nations 
 must have derived them from the same original source, while 
 as yet the human family was undivided. The testimony of 
 the Bible to the original unity of the human races is therefore 
 the only theory which can account for these facts which every 
 where exist, and which are infinitely more difficult to explain 
 than any physical differences in the colour and form of men. 
 We have shown further, that in the great distinguishing 
 characteristic of man in his highest elevation, that is, in his 
 moral and religious feelings, there is, and ever has been, a 
 most evident and — on any other hypothesis than the unity of 
 the races — an inexplicable identity both in sentiment and 
 practice. And while this is true of all the traditional and 
 polytheistic religions of mankind, it is pre-eminently true that 
 the religion of the Bible, in all its doctrines and duties, is 
 equally adapted to all men, and produces the same effect upon 
 all men, both when it is received and when it is rejected. We 
 have shown that the record of Scripture, in which the original 
 unity of the human races is taught, is antecedent to all other 
 records — is contradicted by no other; that it records facts, and 
 allows time sufficient to explain all the difficulties in the 
 case ; and that it is confirmed by various evidences, which 
 prove that, beyond all controversy, " its witness is true." 
 We have shown that all experience, observation, and experi- 
 
326 RESUME OF ARGUMENTS FOR UNITY OF 
 
 ment concur in demonstrating, that while the lowest races of 
 men possess essentially the same faculties, impulses, and capa- 
 city for instruction, improvement, and art, which charac- 
 terize the highest, the subjection of the highest existing races 
 of men to the same causes of degradation which have ope- 
 rated upon the lowest, and for the same period of time, would 
 reduce them to the same condition of ignorance, superstition, 
 and brutality. While, therefore, it is true that the original 
 stock from which the negro races sprung was not always de- 
 graded, it is also historically true that transformations have 
 taken place in the colour, form, and character of portions of 
 the light-coloured races. And while there is an apparently 
 impassable gulph between the lowest human beings — (and of 
 these there are many lower and less developed than the ne- 
 groes) — and the highest, yet when we venture upon the 
 inquiry, we find no separate and defined boundaries of races, 
 but a gradual and imperceptible transition from one variety 
 to another, and a combination of varieties, in colour, form, 
 skull, and intellect, existing among every separate race of 
 men. We have also shown that, in the opinion of many of 
 the ablest inquirers and most scientific men, all the varieties 
 of the human races may be accounted for by the operation of 
 natural causes upon the original susceptibilities of the human 
 system ; but that, when this is deemed unsatisfactory, Scrip- 
 ture warrants the belief that such effects were secured by the 
 supernatural exercise of divine power. 
 
 Finally, we have shown that the analogy founded upon the 
 working of the same laws, upon the same animal nature, and un- 
 der the government of the same God, proves that the dispersion 
 of the human family, with all its varieties, from the same parent 
 family, is in accordance with what is known and admitted to 
 be the case in regard to many plants and animals, in which 
 we find multiplied and permanent varieties of the same ori- 
 ginal species. All anatomical, physiological, chronological, 
 and historical difficulties are found, therefore, to exist as for- 
 cibly in regard to these as in the case of man, and can be as 
 
HUMAN RACES, AND OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 327 
 
 satisfactorily met in the one case as in the other. And what 
 analogy thus proves to be certain in the case of the same 
 species in the animal and vegetable kingdoms, history attests 
 in regard to the human race.* It will be seen that most, if 
 not all the leading characters which distinguish particular 
 human families or races, have been known to originate, and 
 having once been introduced, have continued to appear under 
 circumstances favourable to their propagation. In some in- 
 stances, such physical peculiarities have become permanent, 
 and typical of particular tribes through a long series of ge- 
 nerations, approximating to the character of specific distinc- 
 tions. Transitions from one physical character to another 
 strikingly different, have sometimes taken place suddenly, or 
 in a single generation, as in the occasional appearance of the 
 xanthous variety among the dark- coloured races in elevated 
 situations or in cold climates. In more frequent examples, 
 such changes have been brought about in many successive 
 gradations, as in the deviations which are noted among negro 
 and Polynesian tribes in Africa and in the Oceanic countries. 
 It must be observed, moreover, that the changes alluded to 
 do not so often take place by alteration in the physical cha- 
 racter of a whole tribe simultaneously, as by the springing up 
 in it of some new congenital peculiarity, which is afterwards 
 propagated, and becomes a character more or less constant in 
 the progeny of the individuals in whom it first appeared, and 
 is perhaps gradually communicated by intermarriages to a 
 whole stock or tribe. This, as it is obvious, can only hap- 
 pen in a long course of time. 
 
 The unity of the human races, therefore, forms a central 
 point, towards which all the lines of possible argument which 
 could bear upon the subject converge — a focus which is made 
 bright and dazzling by the light collected from -every possible 
 source — a grand fact in the history of our race to which 
 heaven and earth alike bear witness. 
 
 * See PricharcTs Researches into the Nat. Hist, of Man, vol. v., pp. 
 547-552, and for the full proof the entire work, and also.his other works. 
 
328 RESUME OF ARGUMENTS FOR UNITY OF 
 
 To these arguments in positive proof of the unity of the 
 human races, and to the irresistible presumption by which 
 the doctrine is sustained, what is said in reply ? Is any 
 history produced, sacred or profane, which proves an origi- 
 nal difference of species in the human family ? Nothing of 
 the kind. 
 
 Is any people pointed out who are destitute of any one 
 mark which has ever been laid down by any accredited na- 
 turalist for the certain distinction of species ? We emphati- 
 cally answer — None. " Man," says Agassiz, " although a 
 cosmopolite, is subject, in a certain sense, to this law of 
 limitation. While he is every where the one identical spe- 
 cies, yet several races, marked by certain peculiarities of 
 features, are recognised; such as the Caucasian, Mongolian, 
 and African races, of which we are hereafter to speak." 
 
 What, then, are the objections on which the rejection of 
 this truth is based ? A difference in colour, in hair, in skull, 
 in the pelvis, in the heel bone, in the length of the fore-arm, 
 the position of the head, the web of the fingers, and in intel- 
 lectual power.* All of which have been more or less fully 
 discussed. 
 
 But do not similar, as great, and even greater differences 
 than these, exist among other animals, who are nevertheless 
 acknowledged, and indeed known to be, of one and the same 
 species ? They undoubtedly do.t And do not similar and 
 even greater differences sometimes arise and perpetuate them- 
 
 * Dr Neill, in the American Journal of Medical Science for January 
 1850, pp. 78-83, points out also some difference in the occipital and superior 
 maxillary bones. 
 
 f Dr Goode (Book of Nature, vol. ii., pp. 85, 86) says : " But the ques- 
 tion still returns — Whence, then, proceed these astonishing diversities among 
 the different nations of mankind, upon which the arrangment now offered 
 is founded ? 
 
 "The answer is, that they are the effect of a combination of causes; of 
 which some are obvious, others must be conjectured, and a few of which 
 are beyond the reach of human comprehension; but all of which are com- 
 mon to other animals as well as to man; for extraordinary as these diver- 
 sities may appear, they are equally to be met with in the varieties of several 
 other kinds of animals that can be proved to have been produced from a 
 single species, and in one or two instances from a single pair." 
 
HUMAN RACES, AND OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 329 
 
 selves, under favourable circumstances, among men of the 
 same family, country, and race ? This, also, is undoubtedly 
 true. But are we not bound to produce evidence to prove 
 that the negro and similar races were originally like the white 
 races, and to show how and when the change took place ? 
 Undoubtedly we are not. For if, as we have seen, the pre- 
 sumption is altogether in favour of the original unity of the 
 races, then we must conclude that unless the contrary can be 
 demonstratively proved, these varieties took place at some time 
 and from some causes, and have been perpetuated according 
 to the order of nature. 
 
 But while not under any obligation to show hoic or when 
 these changes in the human family occurred, we have given 
 undeniable historical evidence for the original unity of the 
 human family, and incontrovertible evidence for the present 
 unity of all the varieties of the human race. 
 
 What, then, are the motives by which men are actuated, 
 who deny the unity of the human races ? This it is not for 
 us to determine, beyond what parties may reveal in their 
 writings, in their arguments, or in their conduct. Such 
 motives may be purely scientific. They may be the result 
 of prejudice. They may arise from partial views and ex- 
 clusive professional experience. They may be founded wholly 
 on that pride of race which will not, as one said to us, be- 
 lieve the white and black races to be of one species, though 
 heaven and earth should unite in the demonstration of the 
 fact. Or finally, these motives may spring from a determi- 
 nation to employ this instrumentality to undermine, and, if 
 possible, to destroy the plenary inspiration and authority of 
 the Bible. And when we hear men ridiculing the plenary 
 inspiration and authority of the Scriptures, and the idea of a 
 miraculous production of these varieties, while they, by mul- 
 tiplying species or original pairs, indefinitely multiply the 
 occasions for such miraculous agency, we must regard them 
 as being actuated, not by opposition to the unity of the races, 
 but by hatred to that Word which was " all given by in- 
 spiration of God/' 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 THE THEORY OF A PLURALITY OF ORIGIN IN THE RACES 
 OF MEN UNPHILOSOPHICAL. . 
 
 Genuine science consists in the knowledge and application of relations ; 
 which relations, when once ascertained in the modes respectively proper 
 to them, are not liable to be disturbed. — Isaac Taylor. 
 
 True philosophy secures for each department of science the most absolute 
 independence of every other within its proper Ihidts. — Isaac Taylor. 
 
 Inductive — that sound, and humble, and sober philosophy — will never con- 
 sent to a principle of sure and authoritative guidance to be subverted by 
 any difficulty. — Chalmers. 
 
 The theory of a plurality of species and of origin in the pre- 
 sent races of men, we regard as unphilosophical, and contrary 
 to right reason. 
 
 It is unphilosophical, because it builds a towering conclu- 
 sion upon a narrow and insufficient foundation. The data 
 necessary to form a just and proper conclusion are as yet few 
 and partial. Even as it regards human skulls and bones, all 
 the collections as yet made are very defective, while the 
 osteology and physiology of the various races of animals has 
 received scarcely any attention. To deduce a general and 
 positive conclusion, therefore, from such data, is altogether 
 premature and unwarrantable.* 
 
 The two extremes, also, of the human race are selected, 
 
 to the absolute oversight of all the intermediate races by 
 
 which these extremes are connected together, and from these 
 
 isolated examples a general conclusion is drawn ; whereas, 
 
 * See I)r Bachman, pp. 34 and 217. 
 
THEORY OF A PLURALITY OF ORIGIN, ETC. 331 
 
 no physiologist or naturalist is able to draw a line of demar- 
 cation between the different gradations, or to estimate the 
 sum and effect of all as exemplified in the extremes. 
 
 Equally unphilosophical and narrow is it to draw a con- 
 clusion as to specific differences from varieties in man, as if 
 he were the only animal in nature, and then to determine 
 that differences which are found every day in the same acknow- 
 ledged species of other animals, must be regarded as proofs of 
 a different species among men. " All such distinctions,'' says 
 Dr Goode, " are upon too narrow a scale, and perhaps too 
 much dependent upon particular circumstances, for an admis- 
 sion into the lines of a broad and original demarcation;" and 
 " some of the differences on which stress are laid are," adds 
 Dr Goode, " so superficial, that we may, without descending 
 to a pun, gravely assert them to be not more than skin-deep!' * 
 
 This theory is, therefore, unphilosophical, because differ- 
 ences as great in reference to the shape of the skull, the size 
 of the brain, and mental endowments, are found to exist 
 among individuals and families of the same nation, as be- 
 tween the Caucasian and other races ;t and because, to say 
 the least, there are cases of many individuals among genuine 
 negro tribes, whose characteristics in all these respects fully 
 attain to the standard of the European man, and greatly 
 excel many who belong to that race. % A diversity in the 
 same characters which are possessed in common, and in 
 various degrees, by all the races, cannot prove a difference, 
 but must determine a unity of species, especially when it is 
 borne in mind that variety and not uniformity is the law of 
 nature, and that it is also the law of nature to transmit and 
 perpetuate such varieties when they are once originated. § 
 
 Genuine negro races are found not only in Africa but also 
 in Australia, in Yan Diemen's Land, in Polynesia, and else- 
 
 * See Dr Bachman, vol. ii., p. 92. 
 + See this admitted in Dr Morton's Inquiry, p. 11. 
 X Prichard, vol. iii., p. 187, and Goode, ii., p. 85. 
 § See Prichard, vol. i., pp. 216, 241, 242. 
 
332 THEORY OF A PLURALITY OP ORIGIN 
 
 where, and found, too, in commixture -with other races.* It 
 is therefore most unphilosopliical to suppose that this race in 
 Africa is of a different species, since it is more difficult to 
 account for the spread and amalgamation of this race with 
 the others, than to admit that they have all proceeded from 
 an original stock, among whose branches this variety has 
 arisen. 
 
 According to the present views of life, as held among 
 physiologists, it is not a principle independent of the body, 
 and by which the phenomena of life are governed, but is it- 
 self a property of matter, or the state of action peculiar to 
 matter, when organized. t But if matter when organized 
 has the power of preserving its existence as a perfect struc- 
 ture — if it is then able to counteract the ever-operating in- 
 fluence of chemical and physical laws, and to resist the 
 injurious effect of external agencies, how can they who 
 believe these things, so utterly opposed to all our conceptions 
 of matter, doubt the power of this organization to adapt 
 itself to varieties of condition, so as to produce all the differ- 
 ences we see, both aniono; men and aniono- the lower animals ? 
 
 This theory is unphilosopliical, because, while every thing 
 in the condition and habits of men would lead us to expect 
 among them greater diversities in form, structure, and endow- 
 ments, than among the lower animals or plants, these varia- 
 tions are in reality far less in men than what have certainly 
 taken place among other animals, in species unquestionably 
 the same. 
 
 This theory is unphilosopliical, further, because, while the 
 races of some animals, which are believed to be of one spe- 
 cies, have been as distinctly marked and as completely sepa- 
 rated from the earliest periods to which historical evidence 
 extends as they are now, the same difficulty in regard to the 
 varieties of man — if, indeed, we have not removed it to a 
 
 * Fitzroy's Voyage, vol. iii., pp. 644, 645, and RusselPs Polynesia, pp. 31, 
 43, 44. 
 + Todd's Cyclopedia of Anatomy and Physiology, p. 141, art. Life. 
 
IN RACES OF MEN UNPHILOSOPHICAL. 333 
 
 great extent — is made a ground for denying the unity of the 
 human races, although in this case the causes of variation 
 are incalculably greater than in the case of the lower ani- 
 mals. * 
 
 It is admitted that we cannot explain the method by which, 
 according to any natural laws, the varieties among men or 
 animals could have arisen. But the difficulty is not greater 
 respecting man than other animals. " What there was," 
 says Dr Bachman, " in climate or the constitution of the 
 animal that first produced the short-legged otter sheep in 
 New England, which has also recently originated in Grea*t 
 Britain from a flock of common sheep, no one can tell, but 
 it has now become a permanent race. From the account 
 given us in the Philosophical Transactions for 1813, by Col. 
 Humphries, it appears that it is a small animal, weighing 
 about forty- five pounds, with loose articulations, crooked 
 forelegs, resembling those of the otter. Naturalists have given 
 it the name of Ovis Ancon. So tenacious are its character- 
 istics, that, when united with the common breed, the product 
 resembles either one or the other of the original variety. 
 How, again, we might ask, did the large dray-horse originate 
 in Flanders from the common breed ? We can only conjec- 
 ture that several individuals of this variety appeared in that 
 low country favourable to its production ; these multiplied 
 more rapidly than the original breeds, and finally gained the 
 preponderance. The race, however, was formed and perpe- 
 tuated. How has it happened that the deer in our swamps 
 are long-legged, and those on the high land stouter and shorter- 
 legged, and that in the Hunting Islands, between Savannah 
 and Charleston, they are not one- half the size, and yet 
 possess large horns, and that in these several localities all the 
 other varieties have disappeared ? Here there was no human 
 intervention, yet the effect was produced by unknown natu- 
 ral causes. Why is it that the cattle in Opelousas, in Wes- 
 tern Louisiana, have, without a change of stock, within the 
 
 * See Lawrence, p. 376. 
 
334 THEORY OF A PLURALITY OF ORIGIN 
 
 last thirty years, produced a variety of immense size, with a 
 peculiar form and enormous horns, like the cattle of Abys- 
 smia { 
 
 It is known that the most wonderful variations in height, 
 form, and defects, have arisen among men, and that by in- 
 termarriage these might be perpetuated. M Let us then sup- 
 pose," says Dr Lawrence,* " that the porcupine family had 
 been exiled from human society, and been obliged to take up 
 their abode in some solitary spot, or desert island. By 
 matching with each other a race would have been produced, 
 more widely different from us in external appearance than 
 the negro. If they had been discovered at some remote pe- 
 riod, our philosophers would have explained to us how soil, 
 air, or climate, had produced so strange an organization ; or 
 would have demonstrated that they must have sprung from 
 an originally different race ; for how could they acknowledge 
 such bristly beings for brothers ? There is also a race of 
 spotted men in Mexico, of whom Mr Poinsett saw a regi- 
 ment of six hundred strong. And yet this race of men have 
 originated in modern times. The effects, therefore, of some 
 external causes acting upon the capacities of organized be- 
 ings so as to produce great and permanent varieties, are be- 
 fore our eyes, in every country, and in regard both to man 
 and other animals ; and it is therefore most unphilosophical 
 to make such diversities a foundation for original specific dis- 
 tinctions. Our ignorance on this point is analogous to that 
 which exists respecting many other subjects ; " for," says 
 Locke,t " the workmanship of the all-wise and powerful God, 
 in the great fabric of the universe, and every part thereof 
 farther exceeds the capacity and comprehension of the most 
 inquisitive and intelligent man, than the best contrivance of 
 the most ingenious man doth the conceptions of the most 
 ignorant of rational creatures." 
 
 The negro is by no means the lowest link in the chain of 
 
 *B 
 
 -o 
 
 * Lect. p. 307. See also, pp.305, 308-310. 
 t Hum. Mind, b. hi., chap. vi. § 9. 
 
IN RACES OF MEN UNPHILOSOPHICAL. 335 
 
 humanity.* Suppose, however, he were. As man is an 
 animal, he must in all his variations resemble animals ; and 
 this he must do in some one of his varieties more nearly 
 than in all the rest. But does this prove that the variety in 
 which this greater resemblance occurs, is less human than the 
 others ? It does not; unless we adopt the absurd logic which 
 would argue, that since of all the varieties of swine the com- 
 mon pig more nearly resembles a horse than any of the 
 others, therefore the common pig belongs to the species of 
 horse, or ceases to be a pig. 
 
 This theory is unphilosophical, further, because it multi- 
 plies causes without necessity. From the wonderful diffusion 
 of vegetables and other facts, Linnaeus laid down the apho- 
 rism, that "in the beginning God created one pair only of 
 every living species which has a diversity of sex." " I ven- 
 ture," says Sir William Jones, " to produce a shorter and 
 closer argument in support of this doctrine. That nature, of 
 which simplicity appears a distinguishing attribute, does no- 
 thing in vain, is a maxim of philosophy — and against those 
 who deny maxims, w r e cannot dispute j but it is vain and 
 superfluous to do by many means what may be done by 
 fewer ; and this is another axiom received into courts of 
 judicature from the schools of philosophers. We must not 
 therefore, says our great Newton, admit more causes of na- 
 tural things, than those which are true, and sufficiently ac- 
 count for natural phenomena. But it is true, that one pair 
 at least of every living species must at first have been created ; 
 and that one human pair was sufficient for the population of 
 our globe in a period of no considerable length — on the very 
 moderate supposition of lawyers and political arithmeticians, 
 that every pair of ancestors left on an average two children, 
 and each of them two more — is evident from the rapid in- 
 crease of numbers in geometrical progression, so well known 
 to those who have ever taken the trouble to sum a series of 
 as many terms as they suppose generations of men in two or 
 * Lawrence, pp. 335-310, 384, 387, &c. 
 
336 THEORY OF A PLURALITY OF ORIGIN 
 
 three thousand years. It follows that the Author of Nature 
 (for all nature proclaims its Divine Author) created but one 
 pair of our species ; yet had it not been (among other rea- 
 sons) for the devastations which history has recorded, of 
 water and fire, wars, famine, and pestilence, this earth 
 would not now have had room for its multiplied inhabitants." 
 " Such then," says Prichard, u are the causes by which the 
 varieties of men mav be accounted for. Although I have 
 acknowledged my entire ignorance of the manner in which 
 these operate, I have proved that they exist, and have shown 
 by copious analogies that they are sufficient to explain the 
 phenomena. The tendency, under certain circumstances, to 
 alterations of the original colour, form, and other properties 
 of the body, and the law of transmission to the offspring, 
 are the sources of varieties in man and animals, and thereby 
 modify the species. Climate, food, way of life, in a word, 
 all the physical and moral causes that surround us, act, in- 
 deed, powerfully on the individual, but do not change the 
 offspring, except in the indirect manner just alluded to. We 
 should, therefore, openly violate the rules of philosophizing, 
 which direct us to assign the same causes for natural effects 
 of the same kind, and not to admit more causes than are 
 sufficient for explaining the phenomena, if we recurred, for 
 the purpose of explaining the varieties in man, to superna- 
 tural causes." 
 
 Again, this theory is unphilosophical, because geology, 
 which is a science founded on induction, admits, and requires 
 us to admit, that it has been a part of the order of things that 
 a divine and superhuman power should be exercised from 
 time to time in securing the creation and destruction of suc- 
 cessive races of organized and vegetable beings ; and because, 
 therefore, there is nothing contrary to the order of nature, if 
 God thought it best, to produce all the present varieties of 
 the human family from one original stock. And as we have 
 shown that this is the teaching of Scripture, both historically 
 and doctrinally, the whole force of that science of historical 
 
IN RACES OF MEN UNPHILOSOPHICAL. 337 
 
 criticism by which the truth, inspiration, and authority of 
 the Bible are made undeniable, demand our faith in the 
 single origin of all men, however unaccountable may be the 
 means by which their existing diversities were brought about. 
 To yield an implicit faith to this doctrine, therefore, is the 
 dictate and requirement of true reason and sound philosophy ; 
 and to withhold it, is to substitute our own experience for 
 the knowledge and testimony of God. On this point we are 
 happy to adopt the language of Doctor and Professor Cald- 
 well. e< We are," says he, " the simple, unassuming Chris- 
 tian. We honestly state the differences of physical man as 
 we find them, acknowledging our incompetency to explain 
 them, and referring their production to the power of God. 
 To that power we set no limits. We do not say that it 
 must have operated in this way or in that — by secondary 
 causes, or by its own proximate agency. It is enough for us 
 to know that it has operated wisely, although in a way which 
 we profess not to understand." 
 
 This theory is, therefore, unphilosophical, because, while 
 it rejects all supernatural and miraculous causes, it actually 
 multiplies the admitted necessity for such interpositions of 
 Almighty power. In the theory of an original unity, it is 
 believed that God, in creating the ancestral human pair, en- 
 dowed human nature with the capacity of producing perma- 
 nent varieties; whereas, on the theory of a diversity of 
 races, a distinct and repeated creation by miraculous power 
 is made necessary, not only to account for the original ances- 
 tors, but for every new variety which may be found to exist. 
 "The creation of the first human pair," says Dr Bachman, " as 
 w r ell as that of all living animals and plants, it must be ad- 
 mitted by all who are not atheists, was a miraculous work of 
 God. No combination of atoms, or any gradual elevation 
 of lower animals into higher orders — according to the absurd 
 theory of La Marck, who used arguments to show that the 
 human race was derived from the monkey — could ever have 
 produced man in any other way than by miraculous power. 
 
 Y 
 
338 THEORY OF A PLURALITY OF ORIGIN 
 
 If, then, other species of men had to be formed, suited to 
 other climates, it would of course have required a similar 
 miracle in this new creation. It is true, God was fully able 
 to do this and infinitely more ; but do we any where discover 
 that he has ever resorted to these means, where the same re- 
 sults are known to be produced by stamping on the race 
 already created a constitutional power to produce these per- 
 manent varieties ? It must be observed, that it was not neces- 
 sary to hurry these races into existence at an earlier day than 
 that in which the different varieties progressively appeared 
 and peopled the world. God might have created the first 
 progenitors of our race millions of ages earlier than at the 
 time when they actually appeared ; and if he so constructed 
 the human constitution that it would, by its own organiza- 
 tion, be capable of producing varieties that were to become 
 permanent in their characters, the effect would be produced by 
 a natural process — varieties of men would be formed without a 
 miracle. We all admit that the first pair of the cow, the horse, 
 the sheep, the swine, was a miraculous creation ; but if it was 
 a part of their nature to produce the endless varieties which 
 we daily meet with, then surely the production of these varie- 
 ties is not miraculous, but a natural operation."* 
 
 This theory is unphilosophical, therefore, not only because 
 it interferes with the established order and constancy of the 
 laws of nature, in order to account for every variety among 
 men by a fresh miraculous creation, but also because it de- 
 stroys the uniformity of these law^s, by making God create 
 different species of men, who, by intermixture, are all to 
 produce other species, when among all other animals no two 
 distinct species have ever been found capable of propagating 
 other species. Besides, these species, when thus created, 
 have been found scattered abroad over portions of the earth 
 to which they w r ere not originally adapted, and there produc- 
 ing varieties even more striking than the original species ; 
 and thus we are required to believe that the differences 
 * See Dr Bachuian,*pp. 37, 38, 242, 249, 256, 257, 266, 272, 275. 
 
IN RACES OF MEN UNPHILOSOPHICAL. o39 
 
 among men could have arisen only from the supernatural 
 power of God, and yet to believe, at the same time, that 
 greater differences are the result of mere natural causes.* 
 
 This theory is further unphilosophical, because it not only 
 argues from present effects, but also from the assumption 
 that there were no causes in operation thousands of years ago 
 but what exist now ; whereas geology, as well as the analogy 
 of all science, would lead us to the conclusion that there 
 were then causes in operation not now acting, and by which 
 *' impressions meant to be permanent and characteristic were 
 then more easily communicated and more indelibly stamped." t 
 
 This theory is unphilosophical, because it leads to absur- 
 dity; for, if the differences among the human race are spe- 
 cific and not accidental, then we are led to a multiplication 
 of species wherever such differences are found. This would 
 break up families, cities, and countries, into original and in- 
 dependent species, while they, nevertheless, bear every pre- 
 sumptive or certain proof of a common origin. ^ Where, 
 then, is the limit to be placed to the multiplication of human 
 species ? The number is incalculable, and beyond all scien- 
 tific analysis. § All criteria of species are destroyed. Natu- 
 ral science is thrown into chaotic confusion, and all other 
 sciences are to be undermined in order to sustain an infidel 
 hypothesis. 
 
 But again, this theory is unphilosophical, because it is 
 based exclusively upon the physical and external differences 
 among men" and arbitrarily and most unscientifically excludes 
 the ethnographic, the mental, the moral, the historical, the 
 geographical, and the social condition of men, and the other 
 
 * See Dr Bachman, p. 39. 
 
 + Dr Wiseman pursues this argument; see pp. 144-147, and our previous 
 authorities. 
 
 X See this argument well presented by Archbishop Sumner in Records 
 of Creation, vol. i., pp. 372-377; Goode, vol. ii , pp. 76-78; Lawrence on 
 Man, p. 166; Faber's Dissertations, pp. 289, 290. Geoffrey found in the 
 catacombs of Paris specimens of every form of skull. See also Retzius, in 
 Annales des Sciences for 1844, on the skulls of the Baltic people. 
 
 § See admitted in the Ethnological Journal, p. 532. 
 
,340 THEORY OF A PLURALITY OF ORIGIN 
 
 grounds, upon all of which combined the determination of this 
 question can alone be properly made.* This theory is there- 
 fore unphilosophical, because it excludes yalid testimony in 
 its decision of the case. Anatomy and physiology are not 
 the only sciences, nor the phenomena presented to the obser- 
 vation of the senses the only facts in existence. There is a 
 science of history, a science of geology, a science of ethno- 
 graphy, a science of zoology, a science of natural history, a 
 science of intellectual and moral distinctions, and a science 
 of religion; and, in rightly determining this question, the 
 
 FACTS AS WITNESSED TO BY EACH OF THESE SCIENCES MUST BE 
 
 taken into consideration. Who are anatomists, and what 
 is anatomy, that they should refuse to receive any testimony 
 respecting matters to which testimony undoubtedly applies, 
 from any other science than their own? The sciences are 
 all peers of the realm of reason, and it will not be borne 
 that one should lord it over any other. And when all other 
 sciences — which are, to say the least, upon a par with ana- 
 tomy — testify to the original unity of the human race, it is 
 preposterously absurd for it to assume the tone of a dictator, 
 and command silence and passive acquiescence in its dictum. 
 " The logic of modern philosophy," says Isaac Taylor, " I 
 mean true philosophy, secures for each separate department of 
 science the most absolute independence of every other, within 
 its proper limits. To the operation of this very law is to be 
 attributed that remarkable intercommunity, accordance, and 
 harmony of purpose, which characterize and authenticate the 
 philosophy of the nineteenth century. No such harmony has 
 heretofore been seen, except when enforced by tyranny. 
 There have, indeed, been times when Aristotle and the Pope 
 have kept the peace in the world of mind by declaring that 
 so and so could not be true, and must not be taught. But 
 these times have gone by, unless, indeed, the new philosophy 
 is to revive a similar despotism." This question, then, of the 
 unity of the races, can never be determined by any one 
 * See this admitted in Dr Morton's Crania Americana, p. 4. 
 
IN RACES OF MEN UNPHILOSOPHICAL. 341 
 
 science. They who put forward such claims, transcend their 
 limits and those of a just philosophy. It is a rule, " Auctoris 
 aliud agentis parva auctoritas" — "the authority of an author 
 is not to be pleaded on points beyond his capacity and pro- 
 vince." Of such, Lord Bacon's remark is often true, that 
 they are ill discoverers who think there is no land when they 
 can see nothing but sea. We are not unwilling to submit 
 this subject to the decision of men of science in all the 
 BRANcnES bearing upon it. But we cannot leave it in the 
 hands of the medical profession, and to their exclusive deter- 
 mination. " The doctrine of the unity of the plurality of 
 the races," to use the language of Dr Bachman, " is not an 
 indispensable part of medical education. Our professors of 
 surgery and anatomy are not necessarily expected to be na- 
 turalists. Even the celebrated Owen, the most eminent of 
 comparative anatomists, while he gave the most careful dis- 
 sections, and pointed out those anatomical differences by 
 which genera and species either approached to or departed 
 from each other, seldom ventured either on naming or de- 
 scribing a species. Anatomy and physiology are only branches 
 of a science which the naturalist is obliged to study; and he 
 accordingly, after giving the aid which his department could 
 afford, left the designation of species, especially of recent ani- 
 mals, to the naturalists, to whom it more legitimately belonged. 
 Among our physicians, not one in a thousand has devoted 
 himself to any branch of natural science ; nor can we conceive 
 that this, although desirable, is positively essential to his pro- 
 fession. The legitimate duty of the professor is to impart 
 instruction in regard to the anatomical and physiological 
 organization of man, and to point out all those variations 
 which are found to exist in individuals or races. How far 
 the doctrine of the plurality in the races is openly taught in 
 any medical school in America, we are not prepared to state ; 
 but we have no hesitation in saying, that if, in the present 
 stage of our knowledge on this subject, and the scanty mate- 
 rials we have now on hand in our country, such an attempt, 
 
o42 THEORY OF A PLURALITY OF ORIGIN 
 
 even by insinuation, or in whatever "way it may be disguised, 
 should be made, it would be foreign from the humility and 
 modesty which are the characteristics of true science; and 
 more especially since nearly the whole of the Christian world 
 regard this as a grave subject, in which higher and immea- 
 surably greater interests are involved. Favourable as we have 
 ever been to the fullest investigations in science, and unwilling 
 as we are to shackle the human mind, we are, nevertheless, 
 not insensible to the fact, that errors in science imparted to 
 the naturally sceptical minds of the young, exercise an impor- 
 tant influence on the conduct and happiness of after life. 
 The American mind thus far is cast in a religious mould ; 
 public sentiment, as at present constituted, when led to sup- 
 pose that any of its institutions are undermining the founda- 
 tion of higher hopes, may be compared to the ripples of the 
 sea acting with slow but sleepless force on the base of a 
 pyramid, which will gradually be worn away with every re- 
 turning wave, until the foundation can no longer support the 
 superstructure, and it is at last prostrated to the earth by a 
 breath of air, although it may have been as firmly planted as 
 the pillars of Hercules." 
 
 "Of what conceivable use or value," says Dr "Wardlaw,* 
 • ; are all the investigations and reasonings of philosophy, if 
 not for the ascertaining of truth ? And in order to arrive at 
 truth, is it not the proper business and the imperative duty 
 of the philosopher to leave no quarter unexplored, where 
 evidence of any description can be found — nothing whatso- 
 ever unexamined that promises to throw even a single ray of 
 light on the subject of his inquiry — one solitary beam on his 
 path that may contribute to guide him to a right result? Can 
 any thing be more irrational, more unworthy of a mind that 
 is really honest, and in earnest in its desires after truth, 
 than for him who professes to be in pursuit of it to allege, 
 respecting any source of information or department of evi- 
 
 * Christian Ethics, 3d. ed., Lond. 1837, FP- 1 l s 1*2. We urge the study of 
 the entire first lecture on the Province of Philosophy and Theology. 
 
IN RACES OF MEN UNPHILOSOPHICAL. 34 
 
 o 
 
 dence, that he has nothing to do with it ? No man of sound 
 principle and enlightened judgment "will ever sit down satis- 
 fied with a conclusion which he knows to have heen formed 
 on a partial investigation, or so long as there remains unex- 
 amined any accessible quarter whence such information or 
 proof may be derived as may possibly shake its stability — 
 nay, for aught he knows, may even demonstrate its fallacy, 
 and constrain its rejection. Every thing, without exception, 
 should be regarded as pertaining to the province of the gen- 
 uine philosopher, that holds out any promise of conducting 
 him to truth. 
 
 " The application of these general principles w r ill he already 
 apparent. In the Bible, we possess a document, by whose 
 contents a great variety both of facts and sentiments are 
 materially affected. It professes to be of the remotest anti- 
 quity, and of the very highest authority. Suppose, then, that 
 by his own process of argumentation, a philosopher has arrived 
 at a particular conclusion respecting the truth or falsehood of 
 some fact or opinion. You say to him — ' I find something 
 very different from your conclusion in the statements of this 
 book.' He answers, with all imaginable coolness — i It may 
 be so; that does not come within my legitimate range; it 
 belongs to the province of the divine. It is his business, the 
 best way he can, to make out the consistency of the state- 
 ments of the Bible with the decisions of philosophy. If there 
 be a discrepancy, it is unfortunate ; but I cannot help it : the 
 harmonizing of the two lies not with me, but with him/ 
 But why so ? What good reason is there why the onus of 
 finding a principle of reconciliation should be made to rest 
 entirely on the theologian ? We cannot consent to this. We 
 cannot quiescently permit philosophy to assume so lofty a 
 bearing ; to take her own decisions for granted, and with the 
 port and tone of a self-sufficient superciliousness, leave the 
 divine to make what he can of their inconsistency with his 
 Bible. We cannot allow the authority of this document to 
 be thus unceremoniously left out of the account. We insist 
 
344 THEORY OF A PLURALITY OF ORIGIN, ETC. 
 
 upon it, that on every point respecting which it delivers a 
 testimony, the proofs of its authority, or of its want of autho- 
 rity, are amongst the evidences on that point which every 
 lover of truth — that is, every true philosopher — should feel 
 himself under imperative obligation carefully to examine. 
 As the philosophy is of no sterling worth that conducts not 
 to truth, if the authority of the document can be established, 
 and the verity of its statements consequently ascertained, 
 then it becomes, on all matters of which it treats, the only 
 philosophy ; unless we are determined to dignify with this 
 honourable appellation a system of falsehood. If any man 
 is prepared to avow, that he would prefer a falsehood, as the 
 result of one process of inquiry, to truth, when ascertained by 
 another, then may he consistently leave out of his investi- 
 gations the evidences on which the claims of this document 
 rest. But should we call such a man a philosopher? It 
 were a miserable misnomer ; inasmuch as no procedure could 
 be more thoroughly un philosophical than to refuse any light, 
 be it what it may, that promises to conduct to what is the 
 sole end of all rational inquiry. " 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 THE THEORY OF A PLURALITY OF ORIGIN IN THE RACES 
 OF MEN UNCHARITABLE. 
 
 Thus deeply rooted in the innermost nature of man, and even enjoined 
 upon him by his highest tendencies, the recognition of the bond of 
 humanity becomes one of the noblest leading principles in the history 
 of mankind. — Humboldt. 
 
 Tliere is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is 
 neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. — 
 Epistle to the Galatiaxs. 
 
 But the theory of a diversity of original races in the human 
 family is uncharitable as well as unphilosophical. It is con- 
 trary to that universal love prescribed by Christianity, and 
 enforced by reason. This charity gives the benefit of a doubt 
 even to the accused and guilty, and always leans to the side 
 of mercy, and the claims of the poor and the helpless. In- 
 stead of debruting, it would exalt; and instead of asking, "Am 
 I my brother's keeper ?" it would see in every man the image 
 of God and the features of a brother. 
 
 There are but two motives assigned by Dr Lawrence for 
 the adoption of this theory (as he himself calls it) of Voltaire 
 — " the fear of being allied to the monkey tribe, or the wish 
 to degrade the African below the standard of the human spe- 
 cies in order to justify his barbarous and unjust treatment;" 
 and Christian men u ought to be the last to subject their 
 institutions to imputations so deeply injurious to humanity, 
 so atrocious, and to impiety so blasphemous." 
 
 " Whilst, therefore," to use the words of Humboldt, u we 
 maintain the unity of the human species, we at the same time 
 
346 THEORY OF A PLURALITY OF ORIGIN 
 
 repel the depressing assumption of superior and inferior races 
 of men. There are nations more susceptible of cultivation, 
 more highly civilized, more ennobled by mental culture 
 than others, but none in themselves nobler than others. If 
 we should indicate an idea which, throughout the whole course 
 of history, has ever more and more widely extended its em- 
 pire, or which more than any other testifies to the much 
 contested and still more decidedly misunderstood perfecti- 
 bility of the whole human race, it is that of establishing our 
 common humanity — of striving to remove the barriers which 
 prejudice and limited views of every kind have erected amongst 
 men — and to treat all mankind, without reference to religion, 
 nation, or colour, as one fraternity, one great community. 
 Thus deeply rooted in the innermost nature of man, and even 
 enjoined upon him by his highest tendencies, the recognition 
 of the bond of humanity becomes one of the noblest leading 
 principles in the history of mankind."* 
 
 Christianity alone can properly adapt the feelings of the 
 heart to the varying characters and condition of our fellow- 
 men, and constrain us, in whatsoever state they are, to " render 
 unto them things just and equal," to " do unto them as we 
 might rightly expect them to do unto us were our relations 
 changed;" and thus to lose that "secret uneasiness, which 
 would threaten to grow unto disgust" in beholding the stu- 
 pidity and barbarism of the tropical man, "in pity still more 
 profound, and in the charity of a Christian heart." | 
 
 "In 1846," says Dr Merle d'Aubigne, after the Evange- 
 lical Alliance had closed its sittings in London, " I left the 
 baths of Albisbrun, and went into the Grisons to see some 
 friends. On the steamboat of the lake of Zurich, I found 
 myself in the midst of a crowd of strangers, but I soon no- 
 ticed two persons whom I took to be Quakers. I believed 
 that there would be, doubtless, between them and me some 
 points of friendly relation. I addressed them, and soon found 
 in them two Christians — sincere, enlightened, lovely. We 
 * Humboldt's Cosmos, pp. 368, 369. f See Guyot, pp. 230, 231. 
 
IN RACES OF MEN UNCHARITABLE. 347 
 
 travelled together two or three days, and we enjoyed all that 
 time true Christian union. I remember well the moment of 
 our parting. We were on the mountain not far from the 
 ancient and beautiful convent of PfefFers. To the right, the 
 path descended towards the Orisons and the Via Mala. To 
 the^ left, a road opened towards the Tyrol. My course was 
 along the first ; my friends were to take the other. We were 
 in the deep gully of a ravine. A mountain stream falling 
 behind us, crossed our road, and then made a second fall im- 
 mediately below. Some boulders of rock, rolled together 
 without order, formed a sort of bridge. We were seated on 
 these stones ; one of these Friends, who had been an advocate, 
 and was now a minister in his community, grasped my hand 
 at the moment when we were about to part, and, without 
 saying a word, knelt down on one of the fragments of rock. 
 I knelt down beside him. After some moments of profound 
 silence, during which no sound was heard but the calm and 
 majestic fall of the waters, my friend began to pour forth his 
 soul unto God. He prayed for me as if he had been one of 
 my oldest friends, or my own brother. I had unfolded to him 
 some of the wounds of my own heart ; he asked the Lord to 
 heal' them. I have seldom enjoyed an hour of such entire 
 Christian union. We rose, and parted." Such is the mag- 
 netic power of true Christian love, when once shed abroad in 
 the heart. 
 
 In a visit paid to the missionary stations of South Africa, 
 a few years ago, by Mr Backhouse, one of the Society of 
 Friends, he came to the Bassuto country. That excellent 
 missionary, Mr Moffat, had travelled to this part in former 
 times, and had awakened a spirit of hearing among the 
 people ; but it was then occupied by a French Protestant 
 missionary, who had been the means of doing much good 
 among the people of Moshesh, a celebrated chief of this 
 country. 
 
 When the people were assembled, with some neighbour- 
 ing chiefs, among whom was his own father, Moshesh ad- 
 
348 THEORY OF A PLURALITY OF ORIGIN 
 
 dressed them in the following words : — " Rejoice, ye Mocare 
 and Mocatchani ! ye rulers of cities, rejoice ! We have all 
 reason to rejoice, on account of the news we have heard. 
 There are a great many sayings among men ; and some are 
 true, and some are false : but the false have remained with 
 us, and multiplied. We ought, therefore, carefully to pick 
 up the truths we hear, lest they should be lost in the refuse 
 of lies. "We are told that we have all been created by one 
 Being, and that we all sprang from one man. Sin entered 
 into man's heart when he ate the forbidden fruit, and we have 
 all got sin from him. These men say that they have sinned; 
 and what is sin in them is sin in us, because Ave came from 
 one stock ; and their hearts and ours are one thing." 
 
 To give one further illustration. There w r ere two heads of 
 African tribes, one of whom was named Kama, a chief among 
 the Caffres ; and the other Morocco, who was a Bechuana 
 chief. A missionary went to Kama, and settled among his 
 people; another Christian teacher went to the tribe of which 
 Morocco was the chief. Some years passed away, when it so 
 happened that these two Africans came to the same place to 
 sleep, at a distance from their homes. When Morocco heard 
 that his enemy w r as in the house where he was to rest for the 
 night, he did not like at first to enter the doors ; but as even- 
 ing came on, he went in with his attendants, and set himself 
 on the opposite side of the room to that where the other chief 
 had placed himself. For some time they looked at each other 
 in silence. At last the Caftre chief thought, " Why should I 
 be silent when I have found the mercy of God, and I have 
 nothing but love in my heart to all mankind ? " He then said 
 to Morocco, " Do you know the reason why you and I have 
 met together in peace in this room ? — you have left your 
 spear at home, and I have left mine ; and we are now sitting 
 together as friends in the same room?" Morocco said, M No, 
 I cannot tell the reason ; but it is true you are sitting there, 
 and I am sitting here, and we are sitting as friends." Kama 
 then said, " The reason is this : the missionaries have come 
 
IN RACES OF MEN UNCHARITABLE. 349 
 
 into our country with the Word of God. And that Word 
 teaches us, that although we may differ from each other in 
 colour and language, and may live in different countries, yet 
 we are of one blood, and are fallen into sin. But there is 
 one Saviour who died for us all, and one way of salvation, 
 and one Spirit to teach us that way, when the Word is 
 preached. This Word has been preached to us Caffres ; and 
 much as we loved fighting before, we see now it is a bad 
 thing, and we have left it off. The Word of God has con- 
 quered our hearts, and we are now at peace. If it had not 
 been for this Word, our meeting to-day would have been very 
 ugly indeed : either your spear would have come into my 
 heart, or mine might have gone into your heart; one of us 
 must have fallen." They then took off the rings from their 
 arms, and exchanged them in token of peace and friendship. 
 After this, they shook hands, and joined in prayer together; 
 and were greatly delighted in talking about the great change 
 which the gospel had made, in stopping war and bloodshed, 
 and in producing peace and joy. 
 
 At another time, some Caffre chiefs thus spoke to some 
 missionaries, w r ho had gone among them at the risk of their 
 lives to lead them to be at peace: — " The object of your visit 
 is good — it is worthy of the children of God ; yea, it is very 
 good — so good, that it is a w r onder you never thought upon it 
 before. War never did, and never can, make a country 
 right. We thank, we greatly thank; we have not words to 
 thank enough." 
 
 In another part of the world, the warriors took the handles 
 of their spears, and made of them the rails which guarded the 
 stairs leading up to the pulpit in the house of God. 
 
 Thus, when Jesus was born the angels sang, " Glory to 
 God in the highest, on earth peace, goodwill towards men;" 
 and wherever the gospel is know r n, it teaches lessons of love 
 and mercy. It tells of peace with God through our Lord 
 Jesus Christ, and that this was obtained by his death on the 
 cross to take awav our sins. 
 
•350 THEORY OF A PLURALITY OF ORIGIN 
 
 Of such illustrations of the attractive and uniting influence 
 of the religion of Christ, we might present innumerable in- 
 stances. In such expressions of feeling — of their joy in 
 laughter, and their sympathy in tears — and which are com- 
 mon to all colours, races, and communities of mankind, civi- 
 lized or savage — we have proofs of identity stronger than all 
 reasoning. 
 
 To our great poet, whose philosophy alone would have 
 made him immortal, even had it not been conveyed in im- 
 mortal verse, we owe a line, which far more happily expresses 
 our meaning : — 
 
 " Oae touch of nature makes the whole -world kin." 
 
 It is this t; one touch of nature," testified in tears and other 
 expressions of sympathy, which decides the question of the 
 unity of the human species to the common feeling of man- 
 kind, as assuredly as the other proofs commend it to the 
 observation of the naturalist, or the reasonings of the philo- 
 sopher.* 
 
 And as the apostle employs the doctrine of the unity of 
 the human races as an argument for the manifold wisdom of 
 God, as displayed in the diversity of men adapted to all con- 
 ditions and situations, let us by faith receive and apply it, 
 for the confidence of our own hearts in his goodness and 
 wisdom. Above all, let it work in us that charity towards 
 all men of which Christ is the exemplar, and his gospel the 
 spirit, the message, and the source. In Christ Jesus all men 
 find their centre, as the Saviour and the representative of all. 
 " And truly," to use the eloquent words of Dr Wiseman, f 
 " when we see how He can have been followed by the Greek, 
 though a founder of none among his sects — revered by the 
 Brahmin, though preached unto him by men of the fisher- 
 men's caste — worshipped by the red man of Canada, though 
 belonging to the hated pale race — we cannot but consider 
 
 * London Quarterly Review, Jan., 1850. 
 
 •f Lectures, p. 155. See the powerful argument for the divine origin of 
 Christianity, from the character of Christ, pp. 154, 155. 
 
IN RACES OF MEN UNCHARITABLE. 351 
 
 Him as destined to break down all distinction of colour, and 
 shape, and countenance, and habits ; to form in Himself the 
 type of unity to which are referable all the sons of Adam; 
 and give us, in the possibility of this moral convergence, the 
 strongest proof that the human species, however varied, is 
 essentially one." 
 
 " All the nations of the earth," adds Guyot,* "must unite 
 together in spirit by the bonds of the same faith, under the 
 law of the same God. This is the lofty goal to which hence- 
 forth all human societies ought to aim. The world hears 
 the unity and brotherhood of all human kind proclaimed, 
 without distinction of nation or of race — the true principle 
 of humanity. This is the leaven that is to leaven the whole 
 lump ; it is upon this new basis that humanity, recommenc- 
 ing its task, goes on to build a new edifice." 
 
 " The privileged races have duties to perform proportioned 
 to the gifts they possess. To impart to other nations the 
 advantages which constitute their own glory, is the only way 
 of legitimating the possession of them. We oAve to the in- 
 ferior races the blessings and the comforts of civilization ; 
 we owe them the intellectual development of which they are 
 capable ; above all, we owe them the gospel, which is our 
 glory, and will be their salvation ; and, if we neglect to help 
 them to partake in all these blessings, God will some time 
 call us to a strict account." 
 
 " In this way alone will the inferior races be able to come 
 forth from the state of torpor and debasement into which 
 they are plunged, and live the active life of the higher races. 
 Then shall commence, or rather rise to its just proportions, 
 the elaboration of the material wealth of the tropical regions 
 for the benefit of the whole world. The nations of the lower 
 races, associated like brothers with the civilized man of the 
 ancient Christian societies, and directed by his intelligent 
 activity, will be the chief instruments. The whole world, so 
 turned to use by man, will fulfil its destiny." 
 
 * Guyot, pp. 243-245. 
 
1 X 
 
 52 THEORY OF A PLURALITY OF ORIGIN, ETC. 
 
 " It is in this great union, foretold alike by the order of 
 nature and by the gospel, humanity will have its special 
 functions, and that we shall find the solution and the defini- 
 tive aim of all the physical and historical contrasts which we 
 have been studying. Every thing in nature is arranged for 
 the accomplishment by man of the admirable designs of Pro- 
 vidence for the triumph of the good ; and, if man were faith- 
 ful to his destination, the whole world would appear as a 
 sublime concert of nature, all the nations blending their 
 voices into a lofty harmony in praise of the Creator." * 
 
 * Guyot, pp. 280, 306, 308. Hamilton Smith is also of opinion that there 
 are present changes " evolving the mysterious problem of human fusion 
 into one great family, led by one religious system, trained to the sciences 
 and literature of Europe." — P. 218. 
 
APPENDIX, No. I. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 ON THE FORMER CIVILIZATION OF BLACK RACES OF MEN. 
 
 Homo units creatus, est — ob pacem hominum, ne quis se prcestantiore patre 
 genitum gloriaretur; ad hose, ne quis Epicureus ansam multorum 
 Deorum asserendorum, Imheret; denique, ad indicandum Dei eminen- 
 tiam. Nam homo quidem uno ab annulo, licet multa nonnisi consi- 
 milia signa exprimit, at ille rex regum Sanctus B. omnium hominum 
 formas, a primi typo expressit, ita tamen ut nemo unus alteri consi- 
 milis reperiatur. — Sanhedrin, iv. 5. 
 
 The negro, like the white man, is still God's image, although carved in 
 ebony. — Dr Goode. 
 
 Homo sum, humani nihil a me alienum puto. — Terence. 
 
 u According to various authors," say the writers of the Uni- 
 versal History, " the proper ancient Ethiopians were, for the 
 most part, perfectly black, as we find their posterity at this 
 day, though some particular cantons were white, called by 
 Pliny white Ethiopians. It is probable they were pleased 
 with their national colour, and preferred it to those of other 
 nations. Some writers afhrm that the children of the pre- 
 sent Abyssinians are terrified at the sight of an European, 
 as much as ours at the sight of a negro ; and that they paint 
 the devil white, in order to ridicule all complexions of, or 
 bordering upon, that colour." 
 
 Dr Morton, speaking of the mutual repugnance of different 
 races, adds : " Not only is this repugnance proverbial among 
 
 Z 
 
y k 
 
 54 ON THE FORMER CIVILIZATION 
 
 all nations of the European stock among -whom negroes have 
 been introduced, but it appears to be equally natural to the 
 Africans in their own country, towards such Europeans as 
 have been thrown among them ; for with the former a white 
 skin is not more admired than a black one is with us." This 
 variety of taste in regard to man, to woman, and to every 
 thing else, is sufficient to dispel the illusive prejudice, founded 
 merely upon national features, habits, and preferences ; and 
 we may therefore, as philosophical inquirers seeking after 
 truth, admit the full force of any facts which may encourage 
 the belief that there was a time when the black race of men 
 were the pioneers, or at least the equals, of any other races 
 in all the arts and acquirements of man's primitive civiliza- 
 tion. The former civilization of black races of men is a 
 question very pertinent to their unity in origin and in essen- 
 tial capacity with the white races. As such, it was discussed 
 in the body of the previous edition of this work. Since, 
 however, it is a question which, while it is very interesting 
 in itself, is not essential to the argument, as it may or may 
 not be introduced without affecting the cumulated effect of 
 that argument, and as it is a point about which there will be 
 a great difference of opinion, the chapters bearing on this 
 subject are now thrown into an Appendix. 
 
 Abelfuera records a tradition of the Armenians, that Noah, 
 in his distribution of the earth, gave the region of the blacks 
 to Ham. 
 
 This family of Ham, in which Satan first raised the standard 
 of rebellion, was distinguished also by its sagacity and advance- 
 ment in all worldly knowledge and science. The Africans, 
 therefore, as a branch of this family, could not at once fall 
 into their subsequently degraded condition. Like the other 
 branches of the Ammonian or Ham race, they were once, we 
 believe, famous for comparative wisdom, power, and science. 
 In support of this opinion we offer the following observa- 
 tions.* 
 t See Triplicity, p. 301 ; Bryant's Ancient Mythology, vol. v., pp. 260-262. 
 
OF BLACK RACES OF MEN. 355 
 
 In many parts of the East, particularly in Japan, there are 
 stupendous and magnificent temples of very remote antiquity, 
 in which the idols are represented as negroes with woolly 
 hair, though the present inhabitants of those regions are 
 straight-haired ; and what is very remarkable, among the 
 Japanese, whose records are of the highest antiquity, black 
 is a colour of good omen. Among the Siamese, also, their 
 chief deities, called Buddha and Amida, are figured nearly 
 like negroes.* 
 
 Among the Egyptians, Osiris, one of their principal deities, 
 is frequently represented black. t Bubastis, also, the Diana 
 of Greece, and a member of the great Egyptian Triad, is now 
 to be seen in the British Museum, sculptured in black basalt 
 sitting figures.^ Among the Hindus, Kali, the consort of 
 Siva, one of their great Triad; Crishna, the eighth incarnation 
 of Vishnu ; and Vishnu also himself, the second of the Tri- 
 merti or Hindu Triad, are represented of a black colour. § 
 
 According to Norden, Volney, Denon, and others, the great 
 Sphinx at Gizeh, and many other ancient works of Egyptian 
 art, had prominent jaws, thick lips, a broad flattened nose, 
 and projecting eyes ; to account for which, Dr Morton sup- 
 poses the Sphinx may have been the shrine of the negro 
 population of Egypt, || who, as a people, were unquestionably 
 under our average.size. U 
 
 The Buddhists of Asia, comprising three hundred millions 
 of mankind, represent their principal deity Buddha with 
 negro features and hair. Captain Colin Mackenzie has de- 
 scribed a statue of Buddha in an ancient temple at Villigam, 
 on the coast of Ceylon, of which he says that " the counte- 
 
 * See Ambassades Memorables de la Companie des Indes Orientales des 
 Provinces Unies vers les Empereurs du Japan. Amst. 1680, and Ksenipfer. 
 
 f Wilkinson's Egypt, vol. iii., p. 340; and Maurice's Indian Antiquities, 
 vol. iii., pp. 223, 276, 280. 
 
 X Coleman's Mythology of the Hindus, 4to, p. 91. Do. Sir Wm. Jones, 
 vol. iii., p. 377. Coleman, p. 11. 
 
 § Asiatic Researches, vol. vi., pp. 536, 448. 
 
 || Crania Americana, p. 29. See Dr Lawrence's Lectures on Man, p. 232*, 
 
 ^[ Ethnological Journal, ix., 391. 
 
356 ON THE FORMER CIVILIZATION 
 
 nance is full and mild, and the top of the head painted to 
 represent the hair in several small curls of a black colour." 
 In another paper, by Lieutenant Mahoney, on the remains of 
 sculpture in Ceylon, an image of Buddha, at Calanee, near 
 Columbo, is compared -with one at Boodh Gya, in the pro- 
 vince of Bahar, in ^Hindustan. It is observed that "both 
 these statues agree in having crisped hair and long pendent 
 ear-rings." * 
 
 " In the plains of India," says Hamilton Smith, " are 
 Nagpoor, and a ruined city, without name, at the gates of 
 Benares (perhaps the real Kasi of tradition), once adorned 
 with statues of a woolly-haired race."f 
 
 It has been observed by several writers who have described 
 the celebrated cavern in the Isle of Elephanta (whose sculp- 
 tures display the oldest form of the Indian religion — that of 
 the Smartal Brahmins — since the attributes of the three per- 
 sons of the Triad are there exhibited as united in one figure), 
 that the Hindu gods there figured have African features. 
 Dr T. B. Hamilton, well known as a physician of great 
 learning and judgment, whose works have contributed much 
 to extend our knowledge of the races of people in India and 
 the adjoining countries, says, that when he visited the cave of 
 Elephanta, although then unacquainted with the controversies 
 concerning the origin of the sculptures which it contains, he 
 was struck with the African appearance of their images, par- 
 ticularly of their hair and features. J Mr Seymour, in his 
 " Pilgrimage to Rome," gives an account of certain images of 
 our Saviour now at Rome, which were brought from Africa 
 in the early age of the church, and which are perfectly black 
 and of a negro cast. § 
 
 Now, it is evident that these edifices, idols, and statues 
 
 were the works of a race analogous to the negro ; for it 
 
 * Heber's Narrative, vol. i., p. 254, Am. ed. Prichard's Researches, 
 vol. iii., p. 229. 
 
 f Natural History of the Human Species, pp. 209, 214, 217. 
 
 X Prichard's Researches, vol. iii., p. 229. Hunter in Archaeologia, vol. vii. 
 
 § See App., pp. 374, 375, 
 
OF BLACK RACES OF MEN. 357 
 
 would be absurd to suppose that a people of a fairer com- 
 plexion would have so greatly honoured a caste to which they 
 did not belong. They were undoubtedly the Indo-Cuthites, 
 the descendants of Ham, the aboriginal type of the black 
 races of men, and of the Ethiopians, whose migrations extended 
 from the rising to the setting sun. Sir William Jones, there- 
 fore, observes, " that the remains of architecture and sculp- 
 ture in India seem to prove an early connection between 
 that country and Africa."* He adds, " The pyramids of 
 Egypt, the colossal statues described by Pausanias and others, 
 the Sphinx, and the Hermes Canis, which last bears a strong 
 resemblance to the Varaha Avatar, indicate the style of the 
 same indefatigable workmen who formed the vast excavations 
 of Canarah, the various temples and images of Buddha, and 
 the idols which are continually dug up at Gaya, or in its vici- 
 nity. These and other indubitable facts may induce no ill- 
 grounded opinion, that Ethiopia and Hindustan were peopled 
 or colonized by the same extraordinary race ; in confirmation 
 of which it may be added, that the mountaineers of Bengal 
 and Benhar can hardly be distinguished in some of their fea- 
 tures, particularly in their lips and noses, from the modern 
 Abyssinians." f 
 
 Hamilton Smith fully adopts the opinion that the negro 
 or woolly-haired type of man was the most ancient, and the 
 original character of the inhabitants of Asia as far north as 
 the lower ranges of the Himalaya mountains, and presents 
 at length many curious facts, which cannot, he believes, be 
 otherwise explained. 
 
 " In this view, the first migrations of the negro stock, coast- 
 ing westward by catamarans, or in wretched canoes, and 
 skirting Southwestern Asia, may synchronize with the earliest 
 appearance of the negro tribes of Eastern Africa, and just 
 precede the more mixed races, which, like the Ethiopians of 
 
 * "Works, vol. iii., Disc. 3d, on the Hindoos. 
 
 f The third Discourse of the Hindus, in Works, vol. iii. ; and Asiatic Re- 
 searches, vol. i., p. 427; and Martin's Nat. Hist, of Man, p. 261, &c. 
 
358 ON THE FORMER CIVILIZATION 
 
 Asia, passed the Red Sea at the Straits of Bab-el -Mandel, 
 ascended the Nile, or crossed that river to the west." * 
 
 " Taking the whole southern portion of Asia westward to 
 Arabia, this conjecture — which likewise was a conclusion 
 drawn, after patient research, by the late Sir T. Stamford 
 Raffles — accounts, more satisfactorily than any other, for the 
 Oriental habits, ideas, traditions, and words, which can be 
 traced among several of the present African tribes and in the 
 South Sea Islands. Traces of this black race are still found 
 along the Himalaya range from the Indus to In do-China, 
 and the Malay peninsula, and in a mixed form all through 
 the southern states to Ceylon." | The Malays, also, Hamil- 
 ton Smith considers as an adulteration of the woolly-haired 
 negro stock in connection with the Caucasian stock. J 
 
 The attention of the reader will now be invited to some 
 further developments of primeval antiquity bearing on this 
 point. 
 
 According to writers of great learning and research, the 
 aborigines of Hindustan were a race of negroes, or were, in 
 hair and features, certainly analogous to them. § Such a race 
 is found in islands in the Bay of Bengal, and in the interior 
 of the Malayan peninsula ; and " it is therefore," says Pri- 
 chard, " an established fact, that a black and woolly-haired 
 race is among the original inhabitants of Asia, and of coun- 
 tries not far from India." || 
 
 "A remote idolatry,'' says Hamilton Smith, "of Papuan ori- 
 
 * " It shows,' 1 says he, " a more ancient date of existence than any 
 others." (See Nat. Hist, of Hum. Species, p. 126.) This he bases upon 
 physiological and other arguments, see pp. 131, 188, and 200. Dr Morton 
 attributes the same opinion to some philosophers in his Crania Americana, 
 p. 90, as it is known to have existed for 3445 years, or 730 years after 
 Noah, while the earliest notice of the white races is B. c. 2200, during the 
 12th Egyptian dynasty. See Pickering's Races of Man, pp. 370. 
 
 f Prichard's Natural History of the Human Species, pp. 209-215. See 
 also from pp. 189-209. 
 
 + Ibid., p. 217. 
 
 § Prichard, vol. ii., p. 228, and Guyot, &c, as above. 
 
 || Prichard, vol. ii., and Ritter and Trail there quoted, pp. 231, 232. 
 
OF BLACK RACES OF MEN. 359 
 
 gin, can still be traced in parts of India, and sovereign fami- 
 lies even claim descent from monkey gods, that is, from pri- 
 meval Bheels ; but the worship has changed to Brahmanism, 
 and the ruling dynasties are now of high-cast Caucasian." 
 
 Hamilton Smith — in allowing, as we have seen he does, 
 only three primitive types of humanity — in order to produce 
 the intermediate varieties, is of course obliged to admit the 
 great modifying power of circumstances over organizations. 
 
 Father Lewis de Froes, therefore, speaking of the idols in 
 the temple of Amida, at Maeco, very properly characterizes 
 them as Ethiopians : " Et circa statuam Amidae saltantes 
 iEthiopas ;" for the Ethiopians — who were so called, not so 
 much from their complexion, as from the title of their Ophite 
 deity — embraced, as we have seen, a very large portion of 
 mankind, of various shades of colour, from the tawny to the 
 black, from the straight-haired to the woolly. We have thus 
 found Herodotus * speaking of the straight-haired Ethio- 
 pians ; while, at the same time, he instances the negro caste 
 of the same race in the inhabitants of the Colchic region, at 
 the foot of Mount Caucasus, upon the Pontus Euxinus ; of 
 whom he says, "They are black-skinned and woolly-haired.'' f 
 Now, these people were famous in very remote times for their 
 high civilization, and the perfection of their manufactures, 
 particularly of linen, on which account the same historian 
 pays them, in conjunction with the Egyptians, the extrava- 
 gant compliment of calling them the only possessors of that 
 art. 
 
 Dr Wiseman has also shown that both Aristotle and He- 
 rodotus describe the Egyptians — to whom Homer, Lycurgus, 
 Solon, Pythagoras, and Plato resorted for wisdom — as hav- 
 ing the black skin, the crooked legs, the distorted feet, and 
 the woolly hair of the negro; from which I do not wish, or 
 feel it necessary, to infer that the Egyptians were negroes — 
 but Jirst, that the ideas of degradation and not-human, asso- 
 ciated with the dark-coloured African races of people now, 
 * L. 7, c. 70. t 2 Chap., 104, 105. 
 
360 ON THE FORMER CIVILIZATION 
 
 were not attached to them at an early period of their history; 
 and secondly, that while depicted as negroes, the Egyptians 
 were regarded by these profound ancients — the one a natu- 
 ralist, and the other a historian — as one of the branches of 
 the human family, and as identified with a nation of whose 
 descent from Ham there is no question.* 
 
 The truth, however, seems to be that the most ancient 
 Egyptians really did possess more or less of the peculiar charac- 
 teristics of the negro race. Pharaoh's daughter, the bride of 
 King Solomon, speaks very emphatically of her own black- 
 ness of complexion. + There is evidence also that Theoth- 
 mosis IY., of the 8th dynasty, selected a negress for his 
 queen. In their paintings they represented the whites wait- 
 ing as slaves, while the negroes, on the contrary, are depicted 
 chiefly as connected with the military campaigns of this 
 dynasty. J Dr Prichard has brought together, with great 
 learning and industry, all the ancient testimonies that can 
 illustrate this question, and has examined and collated them 
 so carefully, that nothing further can be expected from this 
 quarter. The results are thus summed up : " We may con- 
 sider the general results of the facts which we can collect 
 concerning the physical characters of the ancient Egyptians 
 to be this, that the national configuration prevailing in the 
 
 * See Dr Wiseman's Lectures on the Connection between Science and 
 Revealed Religion, Am. ed., pp. 95, 98. Volney assumes this as an undoubted 
 fact. Travels in Syria, ch. ii. See in Lawrence, p. 269. Bruce was of 
 the same opinion. See Lawrence, p. 235. See Lucian, JEschylus, and 
 Ammianus Marcellinus, quoted by Prichard in Nat. Hist, of Man, pp. 152, 
 153 ; and by Lawrence, pp. 232, 237, where he quotes also Blumenbach. 
 
 *f Black, literally " the dusk 1 " of the morning — " as the tents of Kedar," 
 which were made of black goats' hair, or dyed black. This she attributes 
 to the effects of the sun. She repeats the declaration in very strong lan- 
 guage, saying, " 1 am very black," " Prorsus vel valde et tota nigra." 
 Markius Michaelis, Gill and Heb. in Ps. xlv. 5. Prov. viii. 31. See Wil- 
 liams on the Song of Songs, pp. 164, 167. " It has been found difficult," 
 he says, " to explain literally, and no less so to apply figuratively.' 1 '' 
 
 X Pickering on the Races of Man, p. 195. He says there is no earlier 
 representation of negroes, nor any evidence to show that negro slavery ia 
 not of modern origin. Do., p. 186. 
 
OF BLACK RACES OF MEN. 361 
 
 most ancient times was nearly the negro form with woolly 
 hair ; but that in a later age this character had become con- 
 siderably modified and changed, and that a part of the popu- 
 lation of Egypt resembled the modern Hindus. The gene- 
 ral complexion was black, or at least a very dusky hue." In 
 this work, the most extensive and learned researches are em- 
 ployed to prove further the affinity between the ancient Egyp- 
 tians and the Indians ; and to show that both were marked 
 by the characteristics of the negro race.* 
 
 There are also many marks of relationship between the 
 Egyptians and the natives of central Africa.f " In their com- 
 plexion," says Prichard, " and in their physical peculiarities, 
 the Egyptians were an African race. In the eastern, and 
 even in the central parts of Africa, we trace the existence of 
 various tribes in physical characters nearly resembling the 
 Egyptians ; and it would not be difficult to observe a gradual 
 deviation, among many nations of that continent, from the 
 physical type of the Egyptian, to the strongly-marked cha- 
 racter of the negro, and that without any very decided break 
 or interruption. The Egyptian language, also, in the great 
 leading principles of its grammatical construction, bears much 
 greater analogy to the idioms of Africa than to those prevalent 
 among the people of other regions." Speaking of the lan- 
 guage of Egypt, Mr Latham says,± " The real affinities are 
 those which its geographical situation indicates, viz. with the 
 Berber, Nubian, and Gallathogues, and through them with 
 the African languages altogether, negro and non-negro." 
 Again, says Prichard, " there were in other respects, in the 
 physical type of that race, many tokens of relationship to the 
 people of Africa. The puffed and full countenance, the full 
 cheeks, thick turned-out lips, the peculiar shape of the mouth 
 
 * See his Researches, pp. 158, 159; his Natural History of Man; and his 
 Work on Egyptian Mythology, which is devoted to this inquiry. See also 
 Martin's Nat. Hist, of Man and Monkeys, pp. 241-245. 
 
 •f Prichard's Natural History of Man, p. 138. See Denon,.p. 152, who 
 says they display " the general African character. 1 ' 
 
 X P. 510. 
 
362 ON THE FORMER CIVILIZATION 
 
 and eyes, the coppery and dusky complexion, approaching in 
 individuals to black, in others to red, like the colour of the 
 Fulahs, and only a few shades lighter than that of the Ber- 
 berins, are instances of this resemblance. 
 
 " The weight and density of some Ethiopian skulls, and 
 the projection of the alveolar process, and the peculiar shape 
 of the legs and flattened feet, must also be taken into account. 
 In estimating the whole amount of evidence indicative of 
 African relations, we must further take into view many cir- 
 cumstances connected with the moral habits, the singular 
 superstitions, and the general laws governing the structure of 
 language, common to the Ethiopians, and many other nations 
 of the same continent." '* 
 
 Dr Morton has found, among one hundred skulls sent to 
 him by Mr Gliddon from the tombs of Abydos, Thebes, 
 Memphis, &c, forty-nine of what he terms the Egyptian 
 race, that is, having a narrow and receding forehead, pro- 
 minent face, and smaller facial angle ; twenty-nine Pelasgic ; 
 six Semitic ; eight negroid, or in which the negro conforma- 
 tion predominates ; one negro, and two denominated idiot. 
 Now, these tombs, be it remembered, were the receptacles 
 only of wealthy individuals — the aristocracy of Egypt, and 
 exhibit, therefore, the very best development of the Egyptian 
 form and features. It is also to be borne in mind, that Lep- 
 sius admits that the veritable remains of primeval Egyptians 
 are now but very partially found to exist, having been dis- 
 placed by the Hykshos, the Persians, the Greeks, the Romans, 
 and the Saracens, and that no primitive Egyptian crania re- 
 main, older than Psammeticus (b. c. 550). The mummies, 
 therefore, that are now found, may have been partly of Greek, 
 and other comparatively modern inhabitants of Egypt.f And 
 
 * He says the Ethiopians were black — Researches, vol. ii., p. 24; and 
 that they were kindred tribes- of the same original stock as the Egyptians. 
 —P. 245. 
 
 ■f Few of the mummies, says Dr Pickering, yet discovered are older 
 than the Greek-Egyptian period, commencing B.C. 650. Even Lepsius 
 
OF BLACK RACES OF MEN. 363 
 
 yet, notwithstanding all these admissions, about sixty out of 
 one hundred were more or less of negro conformation ; while 
 out of seventeen others, subsequently procured by him, Dr 
 Morton finds eleven of the Egyptian form, two with traces 
 of negro lineage, one of negroid form, two Pelasgic, and one 
 Semitic ; that is, of these seventeen, which he regards as very 
 probably old and genuine, fourteen are more or less conformed 
 to the lower races of man.* 
 
 himself is charged by a writer in the Athenceum with wilful destruction of 
 Egyptian monuments, for the sinister purpose of aiding his chronology. 
 "Such is the case," says this writer, " with the delegate of the King of 
 Prussia, Prof. Lepsius, of Berlin. Nevertheless, in his late visit to Egypt, 
 he scrupled not to take away from Thebes (I have it on good authority) 
 three boat-loads of plunder of one kind or other — presented, no doubt, to 
 his Prussian Majesty or to the Berlin Museum, as the spolia opima of Dr 
 Lepsius's famous expedition. He left the evidence of his destructiveness 
 on tomb after tomb, which, carefully described by Wilkinson as containing 
 beautiful series of paintings, now present only incomprehensible fragments. 
 I will give only one instance. Belzoni's tomb is the richest of all in art, 
 in illustration of the religion and ceremonies of the Egyptians, as well as of 
 their astronomy, besides having hundreds of square yards of hieroglyphics 
 thickly interspersed with cartouches (or royal names). It is still painted 
 as brilliantly as when the deeply- cut letters were first filled with bright 
 colours. From one spot I counted twenty-five white blotches in the lime- 
 stone, from four to ten inches in diameter, on a wall covered with hiero- 
 glyphics, quite perfect. There were as many more beyond my light and 
 eye, no doubt. This was the work of Dr Lepsius. The effect is the same, 
 and the injury similar to what would be produced by cutting out from the 
 illustrated w Froissart' of Francis I. at Paris all the royal and noble names 
 through twenty pages. But this is not the whole of the case. From the 
 nature of the close-grained limestone, it is evident that not one in three 
 names or words could have been cut off whole; and therefore, the evidence 
 obtained would be inferior to a wax or a paper cast, or a careful copy — all 
 easily made. There is no work of art in this case, no value in the words 
 except as evidence; and the characters are as plain as Dr Lepsius's many 
 titles on his title-pages in Berlin. What, then, could be the motive whick 
 inspired this laborious robbery, if it were not to conceal from others what 
 the energy of Belzoni and the money of England had made patent to all 
 the world; and this where discoveries as to the period of Ozutasen or Sethos 
 the First, the father of Rhamses (Sesostris), are most anxiously expected 
 and sought for by those who are interested in Egyptian archagology — those 
 very persons who buy and appreciate Dr Lepsius's books ? " 
 
 * Observations on a Second Series of Ancient Egyptian Crania, by Samuel 
 
364 ON THE FORMER CIVILIZATION 
 
 But further, we have, it is believed, in the Copts, the re- 
 maining posterity of the once celebrated and civilized Egyp- 
 tians. Now, the Copts are dark in colour, with flat heads, 
 soft woolly hair, short nose, wide mouth, bent eyes, bandy 
 legs, and large flat toes. Such, then, is the Egyptian, as seen 
 on their monuments, and in their mummies, and in their de- 
 scendants. " I never," says Madden, " found one with a 
 broad expansive forehead."* And to reconcile all these dif- 
 ficulties, the only possible theory is that adopted by Dr Mor- 
 ton, t Hamilton Smith, and others, that among the inhabi- 
 tants of Egypt there was an early mixture of races ; the Cau- 
 casian, however, as Dr Morton says, being at first rare, and 
 the other forms greatly predominating, and being possibly 
 characteristic of the ancient Egyptians as a race. 
 
 The Copts are represented by Dr Morton as a mixture of 
 Caucasian and negro. J 
 
 Dr Latham's description of the Copts is — hair black and 
 crisp, or curled ; cheek-bones projecting ; lips thick ; nose 
 somewhat depressed ; nostrils wide ; complexion varied, from 
 a yellowish to a dark brown ; eyes oblique ; frame tall and 
 fleshy ; physiognomy heavy and inexpressive. § 
 
 On the origin of the term Copt, a learned paper will be 
 found in the Ethnological Journal. || The writer thinks it is 
 a contraction of the word Aiguptoi, the ancient Greek name 
 for the Egyptians. From it came Gitpt, and hence Copt. 
 This Greek name, he thinks, was itself derived from the 
 ancient name of the country.^ 
 
 Hamilton Smith regards the Egyptians as composed origi- 
 nally of three nations amalgamated together. The Ethiopic, 
 
 Morton, M.D., pp. 7-9. In his Crania Americana he labours hard to 
 disprove this resemblance to the negro, or negroid type, but his facts are 
 against, and not in favour of, his views. See pp. 29, 31. On Egyptian 
 mummies, as connected with this subject, see Prichard's Natural History, 
 pp. 576-583, 3d edition. 
 
 * Travels in Egypt, vol. ii., p. 93. + Crania Americana, p. 28. 
 
 X See Ethnol. Journal, No. iv., p. 172. § Latham, p. 509. 
 
 || No. ix., pp. 488, 489. ^ See Ethnol. Journal, No. ix., p. 495. 
 
OF BLACK RACES OF MEN. 365 
 
 deb or black, with curly hair, long legs, thick lips, and very- 
 swarthy colour ; the second a brown race, the Misraim ; and 
 the third a fairer tribe of Caucasians, the last comers, and a 
 privileged body of conquerors, but not the authors of the civi- 
 lization or the religion of the land.* 
 
 " Egyptian antiquity," adds Smith, 1( not claiming priority 
 of social existence for itself, often pointed to the regions of 
 Habesh, or high African Ethiopia, and sometimes to the 
 north, for the seat of the gods and demigods, because both 
 were the intermediate stations of the progenitor tribes.'' t 
 There is, therefore, every reason to believe that the primitive 
 Egyptians were conformed much more to the African than to 
 the European form and physiognomy, and therefore that 
 there was a time when learning, commerce, arts, manufac- 
 tures, &c, were all associated with a form and character of 
 the human race, now regarded as the evidence only of degra- 
 dation and barbarous ignorance. It is thus demonstrable that 
 there is nothing in the facts of the case to invalidate the re- 
 cord of Scripture in tracing to Noah and his descendants all 
 the present varieties of the human family. On the contrary, 
 while we can trace their growing posterity to every continent, 
 we have evidence to show that their diversity of conditions, 
 destiny, and character, is the result of the laws of nature act- 
 ing in accordance with, and under the directions of, the will 
 of the God of nature ; and we can also demonstrate that 
 stupendous monuments — as in the caves of Ellora and 
 Elephantina, in the pyramids and temples of Ethiopia, and in 
 the primitive works of Egypt — prove the existence of civiliza- 
 tion and art among nations who were nevertheless more or 
 less black and negroid in their character. 
 
 * Nat. Hist. Human Species, pp. 356, 357. t Ibid., p. 373. 
 
366 ON THE FORMER CIVILIZATION 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE FORMER CIVILIZATION OF BLACK RACES OF MEN — 
 
 CONCLUDED. 
 
 Sic genus amborum scindit se sanguine ab una Virg. Ms. 
 
 From the facts we have adduced it seems to follow, that one 
 of the earliest races of men of whose existence, civilization, 
 and physiognomy we have any remaining proofs, were black 
 or dark-coloured.* "We must," says Prichard, "for the 
 present look upon the black races as the aborigines of Kelae- 
 nonesia, or Oceanica, — that is, as the immemorial and primi- 
 tive inhabitants. There is no reason to doubt that they were 
 spread over the Austral islands long before the same or the 
 contiguous regions were approached by the Malayo- Polyne- 
 sians. We cannot say definitely how far back this will carry 
 us ; but as the distant colonizations of the Polynesians pro- 
 bably happened before the island of Java received arts and 
 civilization from Hindustan, it must be supposed to have pre- 
 ceded by some ages the Javan era of Batara Gurn, and there- 
 fore to have happened before the Christian era."f The negro 
 race is known to have existed 3345 years, says Dr Morton, J 
 268 years later than the earliest notice of the white race, of 
 which we have distinct mention B.C. 2200.§ This makes the 
 existence of a negro race certain about 842 years after the 
 flood, according to the Hebrew chronology; or 1650 years 
 after the flood, according to the Septuagint chronology, which 
 may very possibly have been the original Hebrew chronology. 
 
 * Called by the Chinese, le min, or black-haired people. Hamilton 
 Smith, p. 268. 
 
 + Prichard, vol. v., pp. 281 and 283, and pp. 39-48. 
 
 X Crania Americana, p. 88. 
 
 § Pickering on the Races, p. 370 ; during the 12th Egyptian dynasty, 
 that of the Hykshos. 
 
OF BLACK RACES OF MEN. 367 
 
 There is thus ample time given for the multiplication and dif- 
 fusion of man over the earth, and for the formation — either 
 by natural or supernatural causes, in combination with the 
 anomalous and altogether extraordinary condition of the earth 
 — of all the various races of men. 
 
 It is also apparent from the architecture, and other histori- 
 cal evidences of their character, that dark or black races, 
 with more or less of the negro physiognomy, were, in the 
 earliest period of their known history, cultivated and intelli- 
 gent, having kingdoms, arts, and manufactures. And Mr 
 Pickering assures us that there is no fact to show that negro 
 slavery is not of modern origin. The degradation of this race 
 of men, therefore, must be regarded as the result of external 
 causes, and not of natural, inherent, and original incapacity. 
 
 This conclusion has been denied by Camper, Soemmering, 
 and Cuvier, and by naturalists of less authority, who affirm 
 that the black races are inferior to the European in organiza- 
 tion, and therefore in intellectual powers.* 
 
 But on this position it is observed, first, that the crania 
 examined are usually from the most unfavourable tribes, and 
 from few and unfavourable specimens among those tribes ; 
 the crania of some of the negro tribes, as of the Caffres, being 
 as large and anteriorly prominent as those of Europeans. t 
 Secondly, the skulls of the ancient Egyptians, notwithstand- 
 ing all their evidences of intelligence and civilization, and 
 that, too, even at a comparatively modern date, when inter- 
 mixed with Caucasians, are found many of them to have a 
 negroid character. This is also the case, as Dr Tiedemann has 
 shown, with the skulls of the ancient Germans. " Judging," 
 he says, " by the capacity of the crania, the brain of some of 
 our uncivilized British ancestors was not more developed than 
 the average- sized negro's brain." J And thirdly, considered 
 
 * Tiedemann on the Brain of the Negro, in the Phil. Trans., 1838, p. 497. 
 + Prichard, vol. ii., pp. 359, 354 ; vol. ii., pp. 348, 228, 230. 
 % On the Brain. See quoted by Lyell in his Second Visit, &c, vol. i., 
 p. 105 ; and see also Prichard's Nat. Hist, of Man, p. 193, &c. 
 
368 ON THE FORMER CIVILIZATION 
 
 even as they are now observed, Professor Owen is of opinion 
 that " there is no modification of form or size in the negro's 
 brain which would support an inference that the Ethiopian 
 race would not profit by the same influences favouring men- 
 tal and moral improvement, which have tended to elevate 
 the primitively barbarous white races.* Such also is the 
 opinion of Sir C. Lyell,t and of Combe, who thinks many of 
 the African nations " greatly excel several of the tribes of na- 
 tive Americans."^ Hamilton Smith is also of the opinion 
 that the development of brain depends much on education, 
 and has been effected in the African race in this country. 
 " The moment," he says, " either typical stock is in a position 
 to be intellectually excited by education, it is progressive in 
 development in succeeding generations."§ 
 
 Contrasting the negro and Caucasian races, Professor Cald- 
 well, M.D., says : " In both individuals, however, we find 
 the brain, which we regard as the seat of the moral princi- 
 ples, precisely alike, except that in the African it is some- 
 what smaller. Morality is seated neither in the skin, the 
 nose, the lips, nor the bone of the leg. Being an intellectual 
 rather than a corporeal quality, it is believed to be the off- 
 spring of the brain, which, except in point of size, is precisely 
 the same in the African as the European." || 
 
 Dr Tiedemann, however, who is profoundly able, and by 
 extensive opportunities better fitted than most others for the 
 investigation, has, as we have seen, laboriously analyzed the 
 comparative size of the skull and brain of the negro and 
 European races, and denies their essential inequality.1T 
 
 This leads to the remark that there are two facts in the 
 history of human beings, so uniform that they may be re- 
 
 * Quoted by Lyell in his Second Visit to the United States, vol. i., p. 105. 
 f Ibid., pp. 101,208, 282, 283. 
 
 X Essay in Dr Morton's Crania Americana, pp. 271, 272. 
 § Nat. Hist, of Human Race, pp. 194, 132. 
 || Inquiry, &c, in The Portfolio, p. 13. 
 
 ^T On the Brain of the Negro, &c, in Roy. Phil. Transactions for 1838, 
 p. 498. 
 
OF BLACK RACES OF MEN. 369 
 
 garded as fixed laws, and with both of which the present 
 condition of the black race is in perfect consistency. The 
 first is, that it has been the invariable fact that every race of 
 men, when left to the natural progress of corruption and de- 
 pravity, unaided by the influence of pure religion and all its 
 accompanying stimulating and civilizing benefits, have de- 
 clined and fallen from a state of advancement in knowledge, 
 art, and' science, to a condition of ignorance, vice, and de- 
 gradation, which, if not prevented by the means alluded to, 
 terminates in absolute barbarism. This law of downward 
 progress, when not restrained by the civilizing and impelling 
 force of true religion, is, we believe, universal in the past 
 history of our race, as is illustrated both by sacred and pro- 
 fane writings.* The present condition of degradation to 
 which many races of men have sunk who have lost all relics 
 of a true and pure religion, is therefore in perfect consistency 
 with the fact that they were, in the primitive period of their 
 history, civilized and enlightened — as is seen in the present 
 Copts, Abyssinians, Ethiopians, and Bushmen. The want 
 of these divine influences led to the corruption and decay of 
 Assyria, Babylon, Greece, Rome, and Egypt. 
 
 " The soil, the sun, but not the slave the same. 
 ... No foreign foe could quell 
 Their soul, till from themselves they fell ; 
 Yes, self-abasement paved the way 
 To villain bonds and despot sway.' 1 * 
 
 A remarkable illustration of this fact is found in the natives 
 of some parts of Ireland. On the plantation of Ulster, and 
 afterwards on the success of the British against the rebels of 
 1641 and 1689, great multitudes of the native Irish were 
 driven from Armagh and the south of Down into the moun- 
 tainous tract extending from the barony of Flews eastward 
 
 * Prichard, Nat. Hist., p. 123; see also pp. 279, and 170; see also similar 
 views in Pickering on Races of Men,rpp. 183, 185, 186, 187, 189, 190, 202; 
 see also Modern Universal Hist., vol. xviii., pp. 94, 100, 303, &c. 
 
 *f* See Kennedy's Nature and Rev., chap, v.; and Scotfs Refutation of 
 Combe, chap, ii., and p. 512. 
 
 2 A 
 
370 ON THE FORMER CIVILIZATION 
 
 to the sea ; — on the other side of the kingdom the same race 
 were exposed to the worst effects of hunger and ignorance, 
 the two great brutalizers of the human race. The descend- 
 ants of these exiles are now distinguished physically by great 
 degradation. They are remarkable for " open projecting 
 mouths, with prominent teeth and exposed gums, and their 
 advancing cheek-bones and depressed noses bear barbarism 
 on their very front." In Sligo and Northern Mayo, the 
 consequences of the two centuries of degradation and hard- 
 ship exhibit themselves in the whole physical condition of the 
 people, affecting not only the features but the frame, and 
 giving such an example of human deterioration from known 
 causes, as almost compensate, by its value to future ages, for 
 the suffering and debasement which past generations have 
 endured in perfecting its appalling lesson. " Five feet two 
 inches upon an average, pot-bellied, bow-legged, abortively 
 featured ; their clothing a wisp of rags ; these spectres of a 
 people who were once well grown, able-bodied, and comely, 
 stalk abroad into the daylight of civilization, the annual 
 apparitions of Irish ugliness and Irish want." In other parts 
 of the island, where the population has never undergone the 
 influence of the same causes of physical degradation, it is well 
 known that the same race furnishes the most perfect speci- 
 mens of human beauty and vigour, both mental and bodily.* 
 The other law of human nature alluded to is the fact, 
 that there is a point of degradation to which, when any people 
 have once sunk, they never have, and never can, elevate 
 themselves without external aid. This position will be found 
 illustrated, in an irresistible manner, by Archbishop Whately 
 in his Lectures on Political Economy, to which our readers 
 are referred, t It is also strongly presented in the London 
 Ethnological Journal. % " Let there be pointed out any one 
 
 * See an excellent paper on the population of Ireland, in the Dublin 
 University Magazine, No. xlviii., pp. 658-675. 
 f Lectures iv. and v., and Append. ; see p. Ill, third edition. 
 % P. 31, vol. i. 
 
OF BLACK RACES OF MEN. 371 
 
 nation or race of men which has changed its physical pecu- 
 liarities, or any portion of them, without mixing its blood, 
 and we give up our theory. Or let there be pointed out any 
 one nation or race which once existed in a barbarous state, 
 and subsequently raised itself to civilization, without mixing 
 its blood or receiving instruction from foreigners, and we give 
 up our theory. The whole of history is before our opponents. 
 We ask only for a single well-ascertained fact, and we re- 
 nounce our opinion. On the other hand, we shall support 
 our own views not by a few facts, but by evidence the most 
 extensive, precise, clear, and unmistakeable. No one surely 
 can object to these conditions, yet we offer them without the 
 slightest fear, for we have no interest in our opinions except 
 in so far as they are true ; and that which is really true, is 
 true in all cases. One clear, unexceptionable fact would, 
 therefore, be as decisive in our judgment as ten thousand. 
 But if one such fact existed, ten thousand analogous ones 
 would be apparent, for the subject is too widely ramified not 
 to present a vast amount of evidence bearing on one side or 
 the other.'' 
 
 " Let the reader pass in review before his mind the lead- 
 ing facts in the history of any country where barbarism once 
 reigned and was succeeded by civilization, and then say 
 whether or not this civilization was consequent and depen- 
 dent upon foreign intervention." The continuance, there- 
 fore, of several races of men for an indefinite length of time, 
 in a condition of degradation to which they have fallen, and 
 into which they have been left without the only proper means 
 of elevation and the only adequate application of these means, 
 is just what we should expect in regard to any race of men 
 in similar circumstances.* 
 
 And since it is impossible for us to conceive that God 
 
 would leave any race of men to enter upon their career, under 
 
 circumstances which would necessitate their barbarian degra- 
 
 dation, we are compelled to believe that the first condition of 
 
 * See also Humboldt's Personal Travels, iii., p. 208, in Kirby, 44. 
 
372 ON THE FORMER CIVILIZATION 
 
 mankind was one of civilization ; that it is to God men are 
 indebted for language, speech, agriculture, government, and 
 arts ; and that their subsequent degradation is the result of 
 forgetfulness of God, his law, and his worship.* 
 
 And who will say that the black race in America, and 
 every where — in proportion to the direct and efficient incul- 
 cation of moral and religious truth, and their enjoyment of 
 the social and religious blessings of Christian cultivation — 
 are not manifesting signs of awakening progress? Every 
 where this race is swelling like the billows of a rising tide. 
 " The force of negro expansion," says Hamilton, " is felt 
 coming from the centre of Africa. It presses upon the Caffres, 
 the Abyssinians, and the coast of Nigritia. Morocco is already 
 ruled by black sovereigns, and the antique semi-Circassian 
 tribes of the north part have greatly diminished." t 
 
 On the whole, therefore, there is no ground, either from 
 history or science, to question the truth of the Scripture his- 
 tory of the original unity and equality of all men, or that 
 they are still, however much varied in character and condi- 
 tion, one species. 
 
 In regard to the blacks, Dr Lawrence says : "I have shown 
 that the striking peculiarities of the African organization, 
 and particularly the great difference between its colour and 
 our own, have led many persons to adopt the opinions of 
 Voltaire, — who had not sufficient knowledge of physiology 
 and natural history to determine the question, — that the Afri- 
 cans belong to a distinct species. I have shown, in the pre- 
 ceding divisions of this article, that there is no one character 
 so peculiar and common to the Africans, but that it is found 
 frequently in the other varieties, and that negroes often want 
 it ; also, that the characters of this race run by insensible gra- 
 
 * See, in addition to the previous references, Guyot's admirable work, 
 Earth and Man, lect. x., xi., xii. 
 
 *t* We have seen that Blumenbach had a library of works written by- 
 negroes. See Gregory on the literature of the negroes, aud Chambers's 
 Tract on the same subject. 
 
OF BLACK RACES OF MEN. 37 o 
 
 dations into the neighbouring races, as will be immediately 
 perceived by comparing together different tribes of this race, 
 as the Foulahs, Jaloffs, Mandingoes, Caffres, and Hottentots, 
 and carefully noting how in these gradual differences they 
 approach to the Moors, New Hollanders, Arabians, Chinese, 
 &c."* 
 
 After pointing out the varieties existing among the negro 
 tribes of Africa, Dr Prichard remarks in a similar manner : 
 " These observations can hardly be reconciled with the hypo- 
 thesis that the negroes are one distinct species. We might 
 more easily adopt the notion that there are among them a 
 number of separate species, each distinguished by some pecu- 
 liarity, which another wants; but on that supposition the 
 deviation will be so gradual from the physical character of 
 other human races, as to undermine the ground on which the 
 opinions of a specific and strongly-marked distinction has been 
 founded. Separate species of organized beings do not 
 
 PASS INTO EACH OTHER BY INSENSIBLE DEGREES. The more 
 
 accurate are our researches into the ethnography of this region 
 of the world, the less ground do we find for the opinion that 
 the characteristic qualities of human races are permanent and 
 undeviating." t 
 
 " It appears then," adds Dr Prichard, J " that there is no 
 character whatever in the organization of the brain of the 
 negro which affords a presumption of inferior endowment of 
 intellectual or moral faculties. If it be asserted that the 
 African nations are inferior to the rest of mankind on the 
 ground of historical facts, and because they may be thought 
 not to have contributed their share to the advancement of 
 human arts and science, we have, in the first place, the ex- 
 ample of the Egyptians to oppose to such a conclusion; and 
 this will be allowed by all to be quite sufficient, if only we 
 may be permitted to reckon the Egyptians as a native Afri- 
 can tribe. But if we are confined to nations who are strictly 
 
 * Lectures on Man, p. 283. 
 
 f Researches, vol. ii., pp. 341, 342, 345. J Ibid., vol. ii., pp. 533, 534. 
 
374 ON THE FORMER CIVILIZATION 
 
 negroes, it will be sufficient to point out the Mandingoes, as a 
 people who are evidently susceptible of mental culture and 
 civilization. They have not, indeed, contributed towards the 
 advancement of human arts and science, but they have shown 
 themselves willing and able to profit by these advantages 
 when introduced among them." 
 
 NOTE. 
 
 BLACK REPRESENTATIONS OF CHRIST AND THE VIRGIN. 
 
 Mr Seymour, in his Pilgrimage to Rome (3d ed.,pp. 434-437), 
 in speaking of the miraculous pictures at Rome, says : — 
 
 " These miraculous pictures are generally pictures of the Virgin 
 Mary, or rather of some female face supposed to represent that of 
 the Virgin. Some of them are black, representing her as a negress; 
 some are of a very deep and dark shade, as deep and dark as an 
 Indian. But in some, where our Lord is introduced, the Virgin 
 is painted black and our Lord white. A curious example of this 
 may be seen in the Spanish collection at the Louvre, where the 
 Virgin is represented as a black, and our Lord on her knee as a 
 white ! 
 
 " The origin of these pictures is unknown, and the reason of 
 their peculiar colouring is unknown. The universal belief of the 
 people, and the universal profession of the priests, is, that they were 
 painted by St Luke the Evangelist. How they ascertained that 
 he was a portrait-painter it is not easy to say, but they teach it as 
 a matter of certainty ; and he is frequently represented in pictures 
 as in the act of painting the Virgin, who is quietly sitting for her 
 likeness. I have in my possession a copy of one of these, and there 
 is in the academy at Rome a very fine one attributed to Raphael. 
 It is not possible however to see the pictures ascribed to St Luke, 
 without feeling that he was a very poor proficient in the art, as 
 well as a very laborious one; and that the Virgin was quite as 
 patient as she was black, and as ugly as she was amiable. I have 
 myself seen about thirty portraits of Mary, all said to have been 
 taken by St Luke, and all representing her as very dark and very 
 plain. I have heard of at least as many more. 
 
 " There are two solutions of the difficulty, as to the origin of 
 these singular pictures. 
 
 " One is that which asserts, that at the beginning of the art of 
 painting, between the time of Cimabue and Giotto, there lived an 
 
OF BLACK RACES OF MEN. 375 
 
 artist whose name was Luke. He was a holy man, according to 
 the holiness of his times, and confined himself to painting pictures 
 of the Virgin Mary. Those pictures are certainly belonging to 
 that age, as every judge of the art is aware; and as this Luke was 
 called the Holy Luke, i. e., Saint Luke, he soon became confounded 
 by the roguish monks and ignorant people with Saint Luke the 
 Evangelist. This is a very probable solution of the difficulty as to 
 the origin of these pictures, and the dark colour of some of them 
 may be accounted for by their great antiquity ; some of them being 
 smoked with incense and lamps, and very dirty, and if cleaned 
 would perhaps be not much darker than the pictures of some other 
 artists in the same infancy of painting. 
 
 K But yet there are many of those pictures which cannot be 
 accounted for on this hypothesis. I am disposed to ascribe to these 
 a very different origin. On the final destruction of the Christian 
 churches in Africa, many Christians fled to Italy and brought 
 these pictures with them. At a still later period, many who had 
 gone on pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and many who had joined in 
 the crusades, and later yet, many who fled to the West from the 
 armies of the Turks, brought with them from the East pictures 
 representing her as of the deep and dark colour not unusual in the 
 East, while those from Africa brought portraits showing Mary as 
 of the African colour. I have myself seen a crucifix in the Island 
 of St Domingo, on which the figure of our Lord was extended as 
 large as life, painted perfectly black, as the blackest negro ; and he 
 was so painted by the negroes themselves. It was no more than 
 natural that they should regard him as like themselves. In the 
 same way the pictures in Italy may be regarded as painted in 
 Africa or the East, and afterwards brought to Italy, where cer- 
 tainly they are very curious, not only for their colour, but also as 
 specimens of the infancy of the art. They are generally regarded 
 by the people as miraculous, and as painted by Luke; and the 
 reputation for sanctity which they have obtained has led to their 
 imitation. Among the mountains of Switzerland, a little beyond 
 the great convent of Engleberg, and close under Mount Titlis, I 
 observed erected by the side of the path a little figure of the Virgin 
 and child. She was painted as a negress ! " 
 
APPENDIX, No. II. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE POWER OF EXTERNAL CAUSES TO MODIFY SPECIES. 
 
 Professor Lowe, in his very able and extensive work* on 
 " The Domesticated Animals," has some important and valu- 
 able observations strongly confirmatory of our own conclu- 
 sions : — 
 
 By species we designate animals resembling one another 
 in their essential characters, and possessed of the power, 
 common to the vegetable and animal kingdoms, of repro- 
 ducing individuals similar to themselves and to one another. 
 Now, in the past eras, as in the present, we find animals 
 essentially alike, and which we infer were possessed of the 
 power of reproducing the like forms. A question which 
 enters into the fair range of philosophical inquiry may arise, 
 Whether, in the course of immense periods of time, these 
 species have been so modified, in obedience to some grand 
 system of natural laws, as to become suited to new conditions 
 of external nature ; or whether each mutation has been a new 
 act of creative power, called forth as the occasion arose to 
 produce a new race of beings ? We cannot, certainly, resolve 
 this problem by any knowledge we possess of the actual 
 
 * On the Domesticated Animals of the British Islands ; comprehending 
 the Natural and Economical History of Species and Varieties, the Descrip- 
 tion of the Properties of External Form, and Observations on the Prin- 
 ciples and Practice of Breeding. By David Lowe, Esq., F.R.S.E., Professor 
 of Agriculture in the University of Edinburgh. London : Longman, Brown, 
 Green, and Longmans. 
 
POWER OF EXTERNAL CAUSES TO MODIFY SPECIES. 377 
 
 changes of animal species ; and it is only from analogy that 
 we can venture to infer that the operation of the same laws, 
 under which species have been called forth by the decrees of 
 an Omnipotent Power, may have adapted species to new 
 states of existence. Animals, it may be believed, must be 
 suited to the conditions of external nature under which they 
 are called to exist. The digestive organs must be adapted to 
 the nature of the aliment from which the system of the body 
 is built up and sustained, and the respiratory organs to the 
 ptrysical and chemical constitution of the elements which the 
 living creatures respire ; and when great changes take place 
 in the relations of living bodies with food, air, and other ex- 
 ternal agents, either we must suppose that the species perish 
 utterly, or that they become adapted to the new conditions 
 in which they are placed. The temperature of this earth, 
 and, consequently, of the air and water with which it was in 
 contact, must at one period have been exceedingly great, as 
 measured by the sensations of animals now living; and with 
 the temperature, the physical and chemical relations of the 
 solids and fluids of the globe must have varied. We cannot 
 suppose that the pristine ocean contained the same earthy, 
 saline, and other constituents, in the same proportions as the 
 present seas, or that the atmosphere, with respect to density 
 and other conditions, was the same as now. But variations 
 in the conditions of external nature having taken place from 
 era to era, we have equal reason, at least, to believe that cor- 
 responding changes have taken place in the form and attri- 
 butes of species, as that alternate destruction and creation 
 have been the law of nature. 
 
 Although, then, we cannot, with many physiologists, main- 
 tain that species are immutable and exempt from the laws of 
 change, to which all organic matter seems subject, we can 
 say that species may remain unchanged for periods of time 
 beyond any to which our inquiries, for the purposes of use- 
 ful inferences, need extend. It is matter of merely speculative 
 inquiry, whether now, as in all the period of the past, the 
 
o7S POWER OF EXTERNAL CAUSES 
 
 earth, the air, and the relations which connect external nature 
 with the living kingdom, are not undergoing progressive 
 though insensible changes, which may, in the course of un- 
 measured periods of time, react upon all the existing species, 
 not excepting man himself. It suffices for us to know that 
 species are to us realities, and remain constant in their essen- 
 tial characters for a time which we cannot compute. 
 
 But there is a class of changes in organic forms which fall 
 more within our cognizance, and which merit our attention 
 in an especial degree ; this is the class of- changes which 
 produce what we term Varieties or Races, in which the spe- 
 cific type is generally so far preserved, that the animals may, 
 with more or less certainty, be referred to it, although very 
 often the divergence is so great that nothing can be traced 
 beyond the affinities which we term generic. The human 
 races, as well as the lower tribes, are subject to this class of 
 changes, under the influence of temperature, food, habitudes, 
 and other agencies. 
 
 Man, it has been seen, of all the mammalia, constitutes a 
 genus into the circle of which none of the tribes, even the 
 nearest to him in conformation, enters. Many divisions have 
 been made of the different groups of men, according to the 
 external characters, habits, traditions, and affinities of speech 
 which have been supposed to connect them, &c. 
 
 Looking at the great diversities which present themselves 
 in these different races of the human family, a natural curio- 
 sity prompts us to inquire whether they are of one species, 
 and whether, on the assumption that they are of one species, 
 they have sprung from the same stock, and spread over the 
 earth from some common centre ; or whether they have been 
 called into existence either contemporaneously or at different 
 epochs, according as the different parts of the earth became 
 fitted for their reception. 
 
 If by species we understand animals possessing certain 
 characters in common, which we term specific, and hav- 
 ing the power, which we see them to possess, of reproduc- 
 
TO MODIFY SPECIES. 379 
 
 ing creatures having the same characters, there can be no 
 difficulty in admitting that all the races of man, in so far as 
 they have yet been examined, are of one species. If, indeed, 
 we are to place beside a Persian of Ispahan, or a mountain- 
 eer of the Caucasus, a negro of the Gambia, with his sooty 
 skin, his wool-like hair, his projecting jaws ; or a Bushman 
 of the Gariep, with his pigmy form, his yellow hue, his 
 restless eye ; or a savage of Van Diemen's Land, with his lank 
 hair, his large head, his slender limbs : we might find it hard 
 to believe that creatures so unlike were identical as species. 
 But, great as the differences of external form here are, we 
 fail to discover any difference of conformation which can be 
 regarded as essential, or which we should call specific. The 
 individuals of the most dissimilar tribes breed freely with one 
 another, and the progeny has nothing of a hybridal charac- 
 ter, but is as fruitful as the parents from whom it springs; 
 and however dissimilar the races in question may appear in 
 their external characters, there is nothing like that great dis- 
 similarity which we continually see in creatures admitted to 
 be of the same species — as the wild and domesticated hog, 
 and our dogs of all sorts. 
 
 The other question — whether the human races have all 
 sprung from the loins of the same parents, or have been 
 called into existence in different regions contemporaneously 
 or at different epochs? — though continually mixed with the 
 question as to the identity of the species, is in no respect 
 necessarily involved in it. Although we see far greater dif- 
 ferences in the characters of animals, produced by agencies 
 which we can trace, than in the different races of mankind, and 
 therefore may reasonably believe that all men have proceeded 
 from a common centre, and then have assumed, in the course of 
 great periods of time, the characters which they note retain ; 
 yet this does not resolve the question as to which was the 
 mode which the Creator, in his infinite wisdom, ordained for 
 peopling the earth which he had called into existence, whe- 
 ther by diffusing the species from one region of the earth, or 
 from more than one. 
 
08O POWER OF EXTERNAL CAUSES 
 
 We can know nothing, then, by means of the unassisted 
 reason, of the production of the human species; and if we 
 are permitted to reason concerning the times and modes of 
 its diffusion over the earth, we must call to our aid analogy 
 and reasonable probabilities, unless w r e are to assume that the 
 dispersion of man was itself a miracle, exempt from the 
 common course of natural events. It were rash, nay, im- 
 pious, to assert that man could not be, or has not been, called 
 into existence in one part of the earth's surface, and dispersed 
 as from a common centre to all the parts of the world which 
 he now inhabits. 
 
 But treating the question as one on which we may lawfully 
 employ our judgment, it is reasonable to inquire, whether it 
 be more consonant with the known course of natural events 
 to infer that different races of men — though within the limits 
 of the same specific form, and so creatures of the same kind 
 — had been called forth in different regions of the earth to 
 occupy it, or that one race only, and this produced in a single 
 spot of a boundless surface, had been called into existence ? 
 We must remember that the time which chronology assigns 
 to the period of the dispersion — little more than 2000 years 
 before the birth of our Saviour — is a period wonderfully short 
 for such mighty changes. And it is hard to conceive, that 
 within periods of time approaching to this, human creatures 
 can have transported themselves through desolate, and even 
 yet almost inaccessible regions, to the most distant islands of 
 the remotest seas, — nay, lived and multiplied, until every trace 
 of their ancestry had been lost, until every art which they 
 had carried with them, even to every word of their own 
 tongue, had been forgotten, and until they themselves had 
 receded so far from the pristine type of their race as to leave 
 the naturalist to question whether they were not to be classed 
 with an inferior tribe of beings. These are great difficulties, 
 not to be removed by tracing the similarity of speech and 
 customs by which different sections of mankind are con- 
 nected. For what does this similarity of speech and cus- 
 
TO MODIFY SPECIES. 381 
 
 toms, even where it seems to be the most clearly established, 
 prove ? It may prove the relations established between tribes 
 and nations after ages of strife, migrations, and admixture of 
 races, but it cannot prove the relations between pristine tribes, 
 every trace of whose very existence may have been lost. 
 
 It will be seen, then, that great difficulties present them- 
 selves to the supposition of the derivation of all the varieties 
 of mankind from a common centre, at least within the period 
 which chronology assigns to the existence of the human race; 
 nor are difficulties of a different kind wanting under any hy- 
 pothesis we can form. It is. not, however, necessary, with 
 relation to our present inquiry, to pursue this subject. Whe- 
 ther we suppose all men to be of the same species, derived 
 from a common centre, or of the same species, derived from 
 different centres, we equally reason on the assumption that 
 great changes have been produced on the individuals by the 
 influence of the agents affecting them. If we adopt the 
 hypothesis of one centre of dispersion for all the races of 
 mankind, we must suppose that change of place has converted 
 the white man into a negro, and may convert the negro into 
 a white man. If we suppose that the primary races of the 
 species were spread from different centres — as the negro from 
 some part of intertropical Africa ; the Caucasian, from some 
 country of Western Asia ; the Mongolian, from some region 
 of the East ; the Polynesian, from one or more foci in the 
 innumerable islands over which he has spread ; and the Ame- 
 rican, from regions proper to the great continent to which 
 he belongs, and so on — we do not, therefore, infer that these 
 races are not severally subject to the influence of external 
 agencies, and capable of undergoing great mutations, under 
 different conditions of food, temperature, and habits. The 
 negro has all his grosser features softened as he recedes from 
 the burning regions of swamp and jungle, where his most typi- 
 cal form is developed ; the Kalmuk loses much of his harsher 
 features as he becomes naturalized towards the confines of 
 Europe, and even assumes a new aspect when forced to in- 
 
382 POWER OF EXTERNAL CAUSES 
 
 habit the glacial regions of his own continent ; the Turcoman 
 approaches more to the squat and sturdy form of the Mon- 
 golian Tartar as he extends eastward ; while the Hindoo, 
 acclimated in the valley of the Ganges, differs so widely from 
 the native of the plains of Germany, that the aspect alone 
 of the individuals would not allow us to identify them as 
 being of a common lineage. These changes are the result of 
 external agencies, and may be regarded as the adaptation of 
 the animal form to new conditions. But the effect, as it may 
 act on the organism of the Negro, the Mongolian, the Cau- 
 casian, the Malay, must differ in each, and hence a great 
 apparent multiplication of races throughout the whole world 
 may take place, although it may be the effect of the same 
 agents acting on a few distinct primary forms. 
 
 If from the human species we turn to the inferior animals, 
 we shall find the like evidences of the power of external 
 agents to modify the animal form, and adapt it to new con- 
 ditions of life. Certain animals, in the state of nature, have 
 a limited habitat, and so present characters nearly uniform 
 throughout ; others have a very wide range of place, in which 
 case we never fail to find them more or less modified in their 
 forms and habits. The common wolf, the most bold and 
 savage of the canine family, stretches over the greater part of 
 the old continent, and is found in the new, from Behring's 
 Straits to near the Isthmus of Panama. Under these im- 
 mense limits, he often seems so changed that he can scareely 
 be referred to the same specific type. The bear extends from 
 Norway along the limits of the arctic regions, and thence 
 to the Caucasus and all eastward, wherever woods suited to 
 his habitudes exist, but so changed that he can scarcely be 
 identified with the brown bear of the Norwegian Alps. In 
 these and other cases, the changes produced furnish continual 
 matter of debate to zoologists, whether the animals are to be 
 regarded as distinct species, or as varieties of the same species. 
 
 The changes produced on animals in a state of nature by 
 different circumstances, as the nature of the country they in- 
 
TO MODIFY SPECIES. 383 
 
 habit, the means of obtaining their food, temperature, and 
 altitude, are often very great ; but it is when they are reduced 
 to the domesticated state, that all the changes which they are 
 capable of undergoing are manifested in the greatest degree. 
 Sometimes, as in the case of the dog, it would seem as if the 
 influence of human reason worked a charm upon their na- 
 ture, nay, modified the form of their bodies, as if to suit them 
 for new services. Sometimes, by the mere supply of aliment 
 different in kind from that which they procure in the natural 
 state, or in greater quantity, the form of the body changes, 
 and with this their instincts and habits ; and, farther, this 
 change in their conformation is capable, under certain limits, 
 of being transmitted to their descendants, and, by continued 
 reproduction, of producing a new breed, variety, or race. 
 
 The wild hog, which extends over the greater part of the 
 old continent, is the undoubted progenitor of the common 
 domesticated races of Europe. When this powerful and 
 solitary creature is subjected to domestication, we shall find 
 in the sequel that not only his form, but all his habits change. 
 He may be said, in fact, to become a new species, and he 
 transmits all his acquired characters to his descendants. The 
 parts of his conformation regarded as the most constant in the 
 discrimination not only of species but of genera, change under 
 the new relations in which he is placed. In the wild state, 
 he has six incisor teeth in the upper, and six in the lower 
 jaw ; but under the effect of domestication, the number is 
 generally reduced to three in each jaw. The number of his 
 dorsal, lumbar, sacral, caudal vertebrae, vary so much, that it 
 may be asserted that he differs far more from the hog in the 
 state of liberty, than many animals regarded as distinct species 
 differ from one another. 
 
 Amongst ruminating animals, the ox and the sheep are 
 subject to great changes of form and character, dependent 
 upon the kind and abundance of aliment. With increased 
 supplies of food, the abdominal viscera become enlarged, and 
 other parts partake of corresponding modifications of form. 
 
384 POWER OF EXTERNAL CAUSES 
 
 To suit the increased size of the stomach and intestinal canal, 
 the trunk becomes larger in all its dimensions ; the respiratory 
 organs adapt themselves to the increased dimensions of the 
 alimentary canal, which is indicated to the eye by a change 
 in the form of the chest ; the limbs become shorter and farther 
 apart, and the body being nearer the ground, the neck becomes 
 more short ; various muscles from disuse diminish in size, and 
 the tendency to obesity increases. With the form of the 
 animals, their power of active motion diminishes, and they 
 acquire habits adapted to their changed condition. These 
 new characters they communicate to their progeny, and thus 
 races, differing from those which, in the state of nature, would 
 exist, are produced. 
 
 The carnivorous animals, in like manner, when taken from 
 the state of nature and made to reproduce in a state of sla- 
 very, manifest their subjection to the same laws of change. 
 The size and proportion of their organs of digestion and 
 respiration, nay of the brain, the organ of thought, change; 
 and with these, the relative proportion of the head, limbs, and 
 other parts, as we shall see in the sequel in the case of the 
 dog, which becomes almost plastic under the habitudes to which 
 we inure him. 
 
 And if we turn from quadrupeds to the feathered tribes, we 
 shall find the like proofs of the power of food and habitudes 
 to change the form, and with it the very instincts of the ani- 
 mals. The domestic goose is derived from the wild of the 
 same species, which inhabits the boundless marshes of north- 
 ern latitudes. This noble bird visits us on the approach of 
 the arctic winter, in those remarkable troops which all of us 
 have beheld cleaving the air like a wedge, often at a vast 
 height, and sometimes only recognised by their shrill voices 
 amongst the clouds. When the eggs of this species are ob- 
 tained, and the young are supplied with food in unlimited 
 quantity, the result is remarkable. The intestines, and with 
 them the abdomen, become so much enlarged, that the ani- 
 mal nearly loses the power of flight, and the powerful muscles 
 
TO MODIFY SPECIES. 385 
 
 that enabled him when in the wild state to take such flights, 
 become feeble from disuse, and his long wings are rendered 
 unserviceable. The beautiful bird, that outstripped the flight 
 of the eagle, is now a captive without a chain. A child will 
 guide him to his resting-place with a w r and, and he is unable 
 to raise himself by flight above the walls of the yard that con- 
 fines him, and he gives birth to a race of creatures as helpless 
 and removed from the natural condition as he himself had 
 become. The wild duck, too, affords us a similar example. 
 This wary bird arrives in flocks from the vast morasses of the 
 colder countries. Many pairs remain in the swamps, pools, 
 and sedgy rivers of lower latitudes ; but the greater number 
 retrace their flight to the boundless regions where they them- 
 selves have been hatched, and where they can rear their 
 young in safety. If the eggs of this bird be taken, and the 
 young be supplied with food in the manner usual in the 
 domestic state, the animals will have changed the form, in- 
 stincts, and habits of the race. Like the goose, they lose the 
 power of flight by the increased size of their abdomen, and 
 the diminished power of their pectoral muscles, and other 
 parts of their body are altered to suit this conformation. All 
 their habits change. They lose the caution and sense of dan- 
 ger which, in their native state, they possessed. The male 
 no longer retires with a single female to breed, but becomes 
 polygamous, and his progeny lose the power and the will to 
 regain the freedom of their race. The swan, the noblest of 
 all the waterfowls, becomes chained, as it were, to our lakes 
 and ponds, by the mere change of his natural form. 
 
 The common gallinaceous fowls, in the state of nature, live 
 amongst trees, and, when subjugated, still retain the desire to 
 roost on elevated objects. But they can now with difficulty 
 ascend the perches prepared for them. Their abdominal vis- 
 cera having extended, their bodies have enlarged posteriorly, 
 the breast has become wider, and the neck more short ; and 
 their wings having become insufficient to support the increased 
 weight of their bodies, they have almost lost the power of 
 
 2 B 
 
386 POWER OF EXTERNAL CAUSES 
 
 flight ; and so changed is their entire conformation, that natu- 
 ralists can but conjecture from what parent stock they have 
 been derived. 
 
 Besides the effect of increased or diminished supplies of 
 food in modifying the animal form, much is to be ascribed to 
 temperature, humidity, altitude, and, consequently, the rarity 
 or density of the air. The effect of heat is every where ob- 
 served, as it modifies the secretions which give colour to the 
 skin, and the degree of covering provided for the protection 
 of the body, whether wool or hair. In the case of the hu- 
 man species, the effects of temperature on the colour of the 
 skin, and with this on the colour of the eyes and hair, are 
 sufficiently known. We cannot pass from the colder parts of 
 Europe to the warmer, without marking the progressive diver- 
 sities of colour, from the light complexion of the northern 
 nations to the swarthy tinge of the Spaniards, Italians, and 
 Greeks ; and when we have crossed the Mediterranean into 
 Africa, the dark colour, which is proper to all the warmer 
 regions of the globe, every where meets the eye. The Jews, 
 naturally as fair as the other inhabitants of Syria, become 
 gradually darker, as they have been for a longer or shorter 
 time acclimated in the warmer countries ; and in the plains of 
 the Ganges, they are as dark as Hindoos. The Portuguese 
 who have been naturalized in the African colonies of their 
 nation have become entirely black. If we suppose, indeed, 
 the great races of mankind to have been called into existence 
 in different regions, we must suppose that they were born 
 with the colour, as well as the other attributes, suited to the 
 climates of the countries which they were to inhabit. It 
 accords with this supposition, that the negro remains always 
 black, even in the highest latitudes to which he has been 
 carried, and that the black races of the eastern islands retain 
 the colour proper to them in the mild temperature of Van 
 Diemen's Land. The Mongolian, even in the coldest regions 
 of Northern Asia, retains the hue distinctive of his family, 
 but with a continually deepening shade as he approaches to 
 
TO MODIFY SPECIES. 387 
 
 the intertropical countries. The native of China, of a dull 
 yellow tint at Pekin, is at Canton nearly as dark as a Lascar. 
 The American Indian retains his distinctive copper hue amid 
 the snows of Labrador, but on the shores of the Caribbean 
 Sea becomes nearly as black as an African. 
 
 Temperature likewise affects the size and form of the body. 
 The members of the Caucasian group towards the arctic circle 
 are of far inferior bulk of body to the natives of temperate 
 countries. The Central Asiatics, in elevated plains, are 
 sturdy and short, the result of an expansion of the chest ; 
 the Hindoos are of slender form and low physical powers, so 
 that they have almost always yielded to the superior force of 
 the northern nations, from the first invasion of the Macedo- 
 nians, to the ultimate establishment of European power in 
 the Peninsula. The Negro, on the other hand, in the hottest 
 and most pestilential regions of the habitable earth, where the 
 Caucasian either perishes or becomes as slender as a stripling, 
 is of a strength and stature which would be deemed great in 
 any class of men, affording a strong presumption in favour of 
 the opinion of the distinctness of his race, and its special 
 adaptation to the region in which it has been placed. 
 
 In quadrupeds, the effects of temperature are every where 
 observable in the covering provided for their body, whether 
 wool or hair, and which, in the same species, is always more 
 abundant in the colder than in the warmer countries. In all 
 quadrupeds there is a growth of down or wool underneath 
 the hair, and more or less mixed with it. In warm countries, 
 this wool is little if at all developed ; but in the colder, it 
 frequently becomes the principal covering of the skin, form- 
 ing, along with the hair, a thick fur. In the warmest regions, 
 the domestic sheep produces scarcely any wool ; in temperate 
 countries he has a fleece, properly so called } and in the coldest 
 of all, his wool is mixed with long hair, which covers it ex- 
 ternally. The wool, an imperfect conductor of heat, preserves 
 the natural temperature of the body, and thus protects the 
 animal from cold, while the long hair is fitted to throw off 
 
388 POWER OF EXTERNAL CAUSES 
 
 the water which falls upon the body in rain or snow. But 
 in the warm season, the wool, which would be incommodious, 
 falls off, to be renewed before winter, while the hair always 
 remains. The dog, too, has a coat of wool, which he loses 
 in countries of great heat, but which in colder countries 
 grows so as to form, along with the hair, a thick fur, so that 
 in certain cold countries there have been formed breeds of 
 clogs to produce wool for clothing. The dogs of Europe con- 
 veyed to warm countries frequently lose even their hair, and 
 become as naked as elephants ; and in every country their fur 
 is suited to the nature of the climate. 
 
 Similar to the effects of temperature is that of humidity, 
 the hair becoming longer and more oily in the moister coun- 
 tries. Even within the limits of our own islands, the ox of 
 the western coasts, exposed to the humid vapours of the At- 
 lantic, has longer hair than the ox of the eastern districts. 
 Even the effect of continued exposure to winds and storms 
 may modify parts of the animal form. There are certain 
 breeds of gallinaceous fowls which are destitute of the rump, 
 so called. Most of the common fowls of the Isle of Arran, 
 on the coast of Scotland, have this peculiarity. This little 
 island consists of high hills, on which scarcely a bush exists 
 to shelter the animals which inhabit it from the continued 
 gales of the Atlantic. The feathers of a long tail might in- 
 commode the animals, and therefore, we may suppose, they 
 disappear; and were peacocks to be reared under similar cir- 
 cumstances, it is probable that, in the course of successive 
 generations, they would lose the beautiful appendage which 
 they bring from their native jungles. 
 
 The effects likewise of altitude are to be numbered amongst 
 those which modify the characters of animals. In general, 
 the animals of mountains are smaller and more agile than 
 those of the same species inhabiting plains. In man, the 
 pulse increases in frequency as he ascends into the atmos- 
 phere, so that while at the level of the sea the number of 
 beats is 70 in a minute, at the height of 4000 feet the number 
 
TO MODIFY SPECIES. oSJ 
 
 exceeds 100. The air being rarer, a greater quantity of it 
 must be drawn into the lungs to afford the oxygen necessary 
 to carry off the excess of carbon in the system. But gradually 
 as man and other animals become naturalized in an elevated 
 country, the digestive and respiratory organs, and with these 
 the capacity of the chest and abdomen, become suited to their 
 new relations. Humboldt remarks on the extraordinary de- 
 velopment of the chest in the inhabitants of the Andes, pro- 
 ducing even deformity ; and he justly observes that this is a 
 consequence of the rarity of the air, which demands an exten- 
 sion of the lungs. 
 
 The effects have been referred to of use or exercise in modi- 
 fying certain parts of the animal form. The limbs of many 
 animals inured or compelled to speed, become extended in 
 length, as of the dogs employed in the chase of the swifter 
 animals. The limbs of an animal deprived of the means of 
 motion become feeble and small, as the wings of domesticated 
 birds. In the natural state, the cow has a small udder, yet 
 sufficient to contain the milk which her young requires ; in 
 the domesticated state, by milking her, the organ becomes en- 
 larged, so as to contain a quantity of milk beyond what the 
 wants of her offspring demand. Nor are the characters thus 
 acquired confined to the individuals on which they have been 
 impressed, but may be transmitted to their posterity. Some 
 of the w r ild horsemen of the plains of South America are 
 from infancy continually on horseback, and their limbs are 
 observed to become slender and almost unfit for walking, 
 which characters reappear in the children of the tribe. 
 Amongst the causes, then, which tend to form varieties, are 
 to be numbered the habitudes of animals, whether in the wild 
 or domesticated state. 
 
 Of the means by which the animal organism becomes 
 adapted to new relations, we know nothing. "We see that 
 within the limits of the specific form, animals become suited 
 to the nature and abundance of their aliment, to the condi- 
 tion of the external air with respect to temperature, humidity, 
 
390 POWER OF EXTERNAL CAUSES 
 
 and density, and to the habits imposed upon them for obtain- 
 ing their vegetable food when they are herbivorous, or cap- 
 turing their prey when they feed on flesh ; but how or why 
 this is, we know no more than how or why animals assume 
 and preserve the form proper to their species. We may well 
 believe that species are called forth, and their forms placed in 
 the fitting relation with external nature, in obedience to some 
 grand system of natural laws, the results of which we may 
 hope in certain cases to trace, but of the efficient cause of 
 which we cannot hope to obtain a knowledge. But when 
 we speak of causes in common language, we do not, it is well 
 known, refer to what metaphysicians term efficient causes, 
 but to the antecedents of those phenomena, which we term 
 effects ; and it is in this sense that we say that the causes of 
 the varieties of animal species are food, climate, habitudes, 
 and the other agencies whose effects we have the means of 
 observing. 
 
 But all the causes enumerated would not of themselves be 
 sufficient to form permanent varieties or breeds, were it not 
 for that other law of the animal economy by which animals 
 are enabled to communicate the characters acquired to their 
 progeny, and by which the latter are enabled to retain those 
 characters with more or less constancy. 
 
 That animals which, from any cause, have acquired a pecu- 
 liar conformation, may transmit the same properties of form 
 to their young, and these again to their descendants, has been 
 matter of observation in every age. The greyhound commu- 
 nicates to his progeny the flexible neck, the long back, the 
 slender agile limbs, which fit him for capturing his prey by 
 speed ; the bloodhound transmits his expanded nostril, fitted 
 for that surpassing sense of smell which enables him to fol- 
 low the evanescent traces of his victim upon the ground ; the 
 bulldog transmits to his young his muscular form and power- 
 ful jaws. No one ever expects to see two greyhounds produce 
 an animal like a terrier ; two bloodhounds, one resembling a 
 shepherd's cur ; two bulldogs, any animal different in essen- 
 
TO MODIFY SPECIES. 391 
 
 tial characters from themselves. And in all those varieties 
 of the other domesticated animals which we term breeds, the 
 constancy of the law of transmitted properties is alike mani- 
 fested. The merino sheep communicates to its young the 
 properties, which it has acquired on the mountain pastures of 
 Spain, of producing a short unctuous wool, — and this in loca- 
 lities so different as in the granitic soils of Sweden, the plains 
 of Siberia, the sands of the Cape of Good Hope, and the 
 myrtle forests of New Holland. The horse of the Arabian 
 deserts, wherever he is carried, communicates to his descen- 
 dants the properties distinctive of his race. The great black 
 horse of the meadows of Flanders transmits to his progeny 
 the massive form and very colour which he has himself ac- 
 quired ; the racehorse of England, the conformation which 
 adapts him to rapid motion ; the pony of Norway, the charac- 
 ters which have fitted him for a country of heaths and 
 mountains ; and so on in every case where animals, by suc- 
 cessive reproduction with one another, have acquired the 
 common properties which constitute a breed. 
 
 In the human species, that similarity of features which is 
 termed family -likeness is a familiar example of the same 
 effect, not only manifesting itself in the immediate descen- 
 dants, but reappearing often after several generations. The 
 community of character which constitutes national resem- 
 blance is matter likewise of common observation. By the 
 successive reproduction between the individuals of a tribe or 
 nation, a common set of characters is by degrees acquired, 
 which, becoming permanent, generate a true race. This 
 effect is most notable in small and insulated tribes, whose 
 members intermarry only with one another. In the Ameri- 
 can forests, many of the tribes of Indians can be distinguished 
 from one another at a glance. In'the case of the Celtic nations 
 of Europe, the clans became frequently as much distinguished 
 from one another by feature as by their mutual hatred; and 
 the characters which they had acquired are in many cases 
 retained by their descendants to the present hour. In the 
 
392 POWER OF EXTERNAL CAUSES 
 
 countries of tlie East, where the barrier of caste had been 
 established, all the distinctions of race are seen to be esta- 
 blished, so that the members of different castes can be dis- 
 criminated one from another, as readily as the inhabitants of 
 distant countries. 
 
 It has been frequently observed, that what are termed ac- 
 cidental variations are susceptible of being transmitted and 
 rendered permanent characters. Some persons have been 
 born with six fingers or toes, and this peculiarity being trans- 
 mitted, has continued in the same family for generations. 
 The case of a family in England, whose bodies Avere covered 
 with cuticular appendages resembling the quills of porcupines, 
 has been often cited ; and a breed of sheep in America was 
 procured, having short limbs resembling those of an otter, 
 and therefore termed the otter breed. We cannot, however, 
 term such varieties accidental. There is nothing in the 
 phenomena of nature to which the term accident can be 
 justly applied. The characters were doubtless the result of 
 some organic change proper to the animal in which they ap- 
 peared, and their transmission to their progeny is only the 
 exemplification of a law common to other cases of transmitted 
 characters. 
 
 The permanence of characters acquired by varieties is often 
 Avonderfully great. In the sculptured monuments of the 
 Egyptians, are to be found the delineation of features which 
 may still be traced in the degraded Fellahs of the country. 
 The Jews, after the lapse of many centuries, retain, in innu- 
 merable cases, the lineaments of their race ; and although in- 
 fluenced in the colour of the skin by effects of temperature, 
 may yet be discriminated, in countries where they have been 
 naturalized, as a distinct people. The wandering tribes of 
 gipsies, which are spread over a great part of Europe, re- 
 tain, after many centuries, the* essential characters of their 
 race — the swarthy visage, the keen dark eye, the lank black 
 hair. In India there exist whole tribes as much distinct in 
 aspect as in speech and customs from all around them, al- 
 
TO MODIFY SPECIES. 393 
 
 though every trace of their ancestry has been lost ; and in 
 the same country, the Parsees, driven beyond the Indus by 
 the Mohammedans, seem to be nearly the same people as 
 when expelled from their Persian homes. The Laplanders, 
 amid the snows of the arctic regions, have preserved the 
 colour and features indicative of their Asiatic descent ; and 
 the Negroes, reduced to bondage in a distant land, have pre- 
 served from age to age all the essential lineaments and cha- 
 racters distinctive of the African family. 
 
 In the case of the domesticated quadrupeds, we find similar 
 evidences of the wonderful permanence of characters once ac- 
 quired and imprinted on the animals. In certain breeds of 
 oxen and sheep, the animals retain from generation to genera- 
 tion theirdistinctive marks, — the presence or absence of horns, 
 the length and peculiar bending of these appendages, and 
 even the minutest variations of colour, as spots of white or 
 black on certain parts of the body. We are made acquainted 
 with the peculiar colour of the horses of some of the barbar- 
 ous hordes that entered Italy when the empire fell, as pie- 
 bald and clouded, and the colour is yet preserved in some of 
 the races of modern Italy. 
 
 The degree of permanence of the required properties of 
 races may be supposed to bear some ratio to the time during 
 which an intermixture of blood has been continued amongst 
 the members of a common stock. 
 
 When two animals of dissimilar characters breed toge- 
 ther, the progeny partake of the properties of both parents. 
 It is only by continued reproduction between their descen- 
 dants that a common class of characters is acquired and a 
 true variety formed ; and the longer this successive reproduc- 
 tion and intermixture of blood are carried on, the more per- 
 manent may the transmitted characters be supposed to be- 
 come. 
 
 It appears, too, that the nearer animals are allied in blood, 
 the more quickly is the similarity of characters distinctive of 
 a breed acquired. In the practice of English breeders, it 
 
394 POWER OF EXTERNAL CAUSES 
 
 has not been uncommon to unite brothers with sisters, and 
 parents with their direct progeny, and to carry on this system 
 for a long period. The physiological effect is remarkable, 
 not only producing more quickly that community of charac- 
 ters which constitutes a breed, but affecting the temperament 
 and constitution of the animals. Under this system long 
 continued, the animals manifest symptoms of degeneracy, as 
 if a violence had been done to their natural instincts. They 
 become, as it were, sooner old ; the males lose their virile 
 aspect, and become at length incapable of propagating their 
 race ; and the females lose the power of secreting milk in 
 sufficient quantity to nourish their young. These effects 
 may not for a time be very observable ; but, by carrying on 
 the system sufficiently far, they never fail to manifest them- 
 selves. Dogs continually reproduced from the litter exhibit, 
 after a time, the aspect of feebleness and degeneracy. The 
 hair becomes scanty or falls off, the size diminishes, the 
 limbs become slender, the eyes sunk, and all the characters 
 of early age present themselves. Hogs have been made the 
 subjects of similar experiments. After a few generations, 
 the victims manifest the change induced in the system. They 
 become of diminished size, the bristles are changed into hair, 
 the limbs become feeble and short, the litters diminish in 
 frequency, and in the number of the young produced, the 
 mother becomes unable to nourish them ; and, if the expe- 
 riment be carried as far as the case will allow, the feeble and 
 frequently monstrous offspring will be incapable of being 
 reared up, and thus the miserable race will utterly perish. 
 
 In the state of liberty, these effects do not manifest them- 
 selves ; the instincts of the animals, it may be believed, cause 
 them to choose fitting mates for propagating their own race. 
 In man, the continued alliance of individuals too near in 
 blood is prevented by conscience and by feelings which seem 
 innate. In carnivorous quadrupeds, what we term instinct 
 supplies the place of judgment and reflection, and the females 
 make choice of certain males in preference to others, by 
 
TO MODIFY SPECIES. 395 
 
 which means, it is to he believed, the race is preserved from 
 deterioration by unsuitable combinations. In the case of the 
 social herbivorous quadrupeds, the end is attained by the 
 males being possessed of the power and desire to expel the 
 feebler members of the herd during the season of sexual 
 intercourse. The bull, with his powerful neck, possesses only 
 short blunted horns, fitted not to destroy his rivals by shed- 
 ding their blood, but to expel them for a time from the herd. 
 Thus he drives away the younger and feebler members, until 
 compelled in his turn to yield to younger rivals. The ram is 
 furnished Avith a thick forehead, fitted for butting, by which 
 means he is enabled to stun, without destroying, his rivals of 
 the flock. In the deer tribes are produced, at the season of 
 sexual desire, those huge antlers by which the stronger 
 males are enabled to terrify and subdue the weaker ; but 
 these organs are temporary, and, after the season of rutting, 
 fall off, to be renewed at the fitting time in the following 
 year. By these and other means, we are entitled to infer 
 that a natural provision is made against the effects of unsuit- 
 able alliances of animals in the natural state. It is only 
 when in the state of absolute slavery that we are enabled to 
 overcome the instinctive feelings of the animals subjected to 
 our power, and to compel them to relinquish, as it were, their 
 natural appetites. 
 
 The characters which animals of the same species transmit 
 to their descendants, so as to constitute varieties, are, we have 
 seen, those of the body ; but the mechanism of the body 
 reacts upon the mind, and faculties which we term mental 
 are therefore transmissive. No one can doubt that instinct 
 is due to the mechanism of the nerves, and that even the 
 higher attributes of reason are due to the development of the 
 nervous system in the brain. But we can obtain by breed- 
 ing animals with crania of different size and form, and con- 
 sequently with brains of different capacity and powers. 
 Thus we can produce, by exercise, and by selection of the 
 parents, a dog, whose cranium shall be small and flat, corre- 
 
396 POWER OF EXTERNAL CAUSES 
 
 sponding with the elongation of the mnzzle, and which shall 
 possess different propensities from another, whose brain, being 
 rounder, is larger, and who is enabled to exercise faculties 
 for our preservation and defence, which we cannot distinguish 
 from reason. 
 
 The hog, we have seen, communicates to his posterity, 
 along with his change of form, instincts and habits as diffe- 
 rent from those existing in the natural state as if he had 
 become a new species. From being a nocturnal animal, he 
 has acquired a desire to seek his food daring the day, and 
 from being solitary, he has become social, so that the male 
 never, in a state of the utmost liberty we allow him, separates 
 from his fellows of the herd. The subjugated birds convey 
 to their descendants a new set of habitudes and propensities; 
 they lose the once irresistible desire to retire in single pairs, 
 and bring up the young apart, and become entirely polyga- 
 mous. The greyhound, w T hose nose is small, and his body 
 fitted for rapid motion, conveys, with the conformation of his 
 organs, the desire of capturing his prey by speed alone. A 
 puppy greyhound will, the first time he springs a covey of 
 partridges, dash after them at speed ; while the young pointer, 
 with the great development which has been .communicated to 
 his nasal organ, will stand as if entranced, nay, if of a highly- 
 cultivated breed, will couch upon the ground like the parents 
 who had been disciplined to the act. The young terrier, the 
 first time he sees a rabbit, will track him to his burrow. 
 The young water-spaniel will strive to seize the objects which 
 he sees floating in the stream, though he has never before 
 beheld a rivulet. The young bulldog will fly at the throat 
 of the first animal that assails him. 
 
 The racehorse, to which w T e have communicated the con- 
 formation which suits him for rapid motion, will manifest 
 the fiery spirit proper to him by his mother's side a few hours 
 after birth. The Arabian horse, with his broad and high 
 forehead, indicating a larger development of the brain, mani- 
 fests a far superior sagacity to the humbler horse of inferior 
 
TO MODIFY SPECIES. 397 
 
 lineage. Of the breeds of the domestic sheep, some are 
 acclimated in countries of heaths and mountains, and some 
 in the richer plains. Each has acquired the conformation 
 which suits him to these conditions. If we take the moun- 
 tain-lamb from its mother's teat at the very birth, and bring 
 it to the valley below, we shall find it still, when grown to 
 maturity, prefer the smaller grasses, the wild thyme, and other 
 plants of mountains, to the richer herbage, and betake itself 
 to the arid eminences of its pasture-fields in preference to the 
 sheltered hollows, and communicate these desires to its off- 
 spring. Are not such propensities as these mental, and the re- 
 sult of a conformation of the animal organs, and consequently 
 transmitted from the parents to the young ? Thus, habits 
 acquired may assuredly be communicated from animal to 
 animal. We cannot, indeed, suppose that a young puppy 
 would turn a spit or dance to a tune because its parents had 
 been taught to do so; but we can suppose that if a race of 
 dogs had been compelled, from generation to generation, to 
 dance and turn spits, they would acquire the conformation 
 which would suit them to perform these offices ; which would 
 be nothing more than one of innumerable examples of the 
 progressive adaptation of the form of animals to the uses to 
 which they are habituated. 
 
 Even mutilation of the body may, in certain cases, pro- 
 duce partial changes of conformation, which, being communi- 
 cated, become permanent characters. If one organ is injured 
 or removed, a provision is frequently made to compensate 
 the loss. In some parts of Scotland, it appears to have be- 
 come a practice to scoop out the horns of young cattle, on the 
 supposition that the animals would become more quiet, and 
 less apt to attack or gore one another. It would appear that 
 the system of the animal tended to repair the injury by a 
 larger development of the bony ridge of the forehead, from 
 which the osseous nuclei of the horns proceed ; and that this 
 process, carried on from generation to generation, became at 
 length a character, so that a hornless breed was produced. 
 
398 POWER OF EXTERNAL CAUSES 
 
 There is a race of shepherd's dogs in this country, in which it 
 appears it had become a fashion to shorten the tails of the 
 animals. Now, a diminution of the caudal vertebae may pro- 
 duce a modification of the sacral in contact with them, and 
 thus a peculiar conformation be communicated to the ani- 
 mals, which may become permanent by successive reproduc- 
 tion. Whether this be the origin of the peculiarity of the 
 race of dogs in question, cannot be determined ; but it is known 
 that, when from any cause dogs are born destitute of tails, th$- 
 peculiarity may be communicated to their descendants, and 
 become permanent. 
 
 Characters, then, of form, and of habits and instincts the 
 results of form, may be communicated from animals to their 
 progeny, and form varieties, races, or breeds. We distinguish 
 a species from a variety by this, that in the species we regard 
 the modification of a higher or more general type, namely, 
 of a genus, tribe, or family ; in the variety, the modification 
 of a lower or less general type, namely, of a species. But 
 the variety is likewise the modification of the more general 
 type, and there is thus far no distinction between the variety 
 and the species. It may be said, indeed, that the characters 
 of the species are more lasting than those of the variety ; but 
 unless we are to assume that the forms of animals are immut- 
 able, this is a difference in degree and not in kind, and a 
 variety, therefore, does not differ in kind from a species. It 
 may readily be supposed, then, that with respect to certain 
 animals, questions may arise whether they be species or 
 varieties. But if the only real difference between a species 
 and variety be, that the characters of the one are more last- 
 ing than those of the other, innumerable cases must present 
 themselves, in which we cannot determine whether a given 
 animal be what we call a species or a variety ; yet eager de- 
 bates are continually carried on by naturalists, whether certain 
 animals are to be regarded as species or varieties. Thus, the 
 common wolf of America differs somewhat in aspect from the 
 wolf of Europe, and some naturalists hold that he is specifi- 
 
TO MODIFY SPECIES. 399 
 
 cally distinct ; but all that we can truly say is, that the -wolf 
 of Europe and the wolf of America present varieties of that 
 form which we term wolf, and our knowledge of the animal 
 conducts us no farther. The domesticated dogs present 
 greater varieties of form and characters than many animals 
 which are considered to be specifically different. The ques- 
 tion has arisen, whether these dogs are of different species or 
 of one species ? The resolution of the question, it is mani- 
 fest, depends mainly upon the meaning which we assign to 
 our own terms. If we are to include under the same specific 
 form the long muzzle and slender limbs of the greyhound, 
 and the short muzzle and stout limbs of the bulldog, then 
 the greyhound and the bulldog are of one species; if we hold 
 that the elongated muzzle and slender limbs of the one con- 
 stitute a specific distinction, then the greyhound and the bull- 
 dog are of different species, according to our definition. 
 
 THE RELATION OF THIS SUBJECT TO SCRIPTURE AND TO 
 
 INFIDELITY. 
 
 The argument employed by Archbishop "Whately, in reply 
 to those who endeavour to explain away the teaching of 
 Scripture respecting evil angels, is so applicable to the analo- 
 gous doctrine of the unity of the human races, that we here 
 present an extract.* 
 
 It was pointed out that the existence and agency of evil 
 spirits — impossible as it may be to explain it — is what must 
 be acknowledged by any one who receives Jesus Christ and 
 his apostles as God's messengers, commissioned to reveal to 
 us a true religion. For they would not have been such, if 
 they had either been ignorant of the truth in an important point 
 connected with religion, or if they had wilfully deceived men. 
 
 * Scripture Revelations of Good and Evil Angels, 1. iv., pp. 66-75. See 
 all, and 1. v. 
 
400 POWEPw OF EXTERNAL CAUSES 
 
 And now observe how great is the new difficulty they raise 
 up, in their rash and vain attempt. Him whom they ac- 
 knowledge as having '" come into the world to bear witness 
 of the truth,'' — Him and his apostles, they represent as not 
 merely conniving at, but deliberately confirming and establish- 
 ing a superstitious error. It cannot be said that this error 
 was one unconnected with religion. The case is not at all 
 like that of the employment in Scripture of expressions con- 
 formable to popular belief on points of astronomy. For reve- 
 lation was not given for the purpose of instructing men in 
 what relates to the earth's motion, and other matters pertain- 
 ing to science. And accordingly, our Lord, and the prophets, 
 and the apostles, spoke in popular language of the rising and 
 setting of the sun and moon, because such language sufficiently 
 conveyed their meaning, and any different expression would 
 have been in those days wholly unintelligible. 
 
 But, indeed, one may even say, that relatively to us the sun 
 does rise and set ; since its position relatively to us is all that 
 we mean, or are thinking of, when we speak of sunrise and 
 sunset. And accordingly men do speak thus, even at this 
 day, who are perfectly aware that it is the earth's revolution 
 that causes the alternations of day and night. 
 
 *• Suppose you bid any one proceed in a straight line from 
 one place to another, and to take care to arrive before the sun 
 goes down. He will rightly and fully understand you, in 
 reference to the practical object which alone you had in view. 
 Now, you perhaps know very well that there cannot be a 
 straight line on the surface of the earth, which is a sphere 
 [globe] ; and that the sun does not really go down, only our 
 portion of the earth is turned away from it. But whether 
 the other person knows all this or not, matters nothing at all 
 with reference to your present object ; which was not to teach 
 him mathematics or astronomy, but to make him conform to 
 your directions, which are equally intelligible to the learned 
 and the unlearned. 
 
 " Now, the object of the Scripture revelation is to teach 
 
TO MODIFY SPECIES. 401 
 
 men, not astronomy or geology, or any other physical science, 
 but religion. Its design was to inform men, not in what 
 manner the world was made, but who made it ; and to lead 
 them to worship Him, the Creator of the heavens and the 
 earth, instead of worshipping his creatures, the heavens and 
 earth themselves, as gods/' 
 
 But on the other hand, the error — supposing it such — to 
 which Christ and his apostles are represented as " accommo- 
 dating" themselves, was one not relating to speculative points 
 of natural science, but intimately connected with religion ; 
 and it was moreover a matter in which the contradiction of 
 the popular belief Avould have been easy and perfectly intelli- 
 gible, being in fact the very doctrine then held by the Sad- 
 ducees. 
 
 Nor can it be said that Jesus and his apostles merely left 
 men in their belief, not thinking it worth while to undeceive 
 them, and trusting that in time they would of themselves dis- 
 cover their mistake. On the contrary, our Lord and his fol- 
 lowers very decidedly and strongly confirm the doctrine, by 
 numerous express declarations. 
 
 And there are very many other passages in which our Lord 
 and his apostles do not merely leave uncontradicted, or merely 
 assent to, what is said by others as to this point, or merely 
 allude to it incidentally, but go out of their way, as it were, 
 to assist the doctrine most distinctly, and earnestly dwell on 
 it. 
 
 An undue degree of deference is obtained by such persons 
 as I have been speaking of, from their professing to be be- 
 lievers in Christianity. Their theories and their objections, 
 which are, in fact, nothing new, are, in this way, enabled to 
 assume a new shape. Formerly, all persons who rejected, 
 or sought to invalidate the statements of our sacred writers, 
 used to profess themselves* opponents of Christianity. But 
 in these days the same arguments, such as they are, are 
 brought forward by persons professing themselves Christians, 
 and proclaiming their high veneration for the gospel. It is 
 
 2c 
 
402 POWER OF EXTERNAL CAUSES 
 
 as if the assailants of some fortress should assume the garb of 
 its defenders, and thus obtain admission within its walls that 
 they might batter them more easily than from without. 
 
 And thus the unwary are liable to be deceived by being 
 told that " sundry eminent divines hold so and so," and that 
 " several learned theologians interpret this or that passage in 
 such and such a way," and that " such is the opinion of Ra- 
 tionalists," that is, persons who give " rational " interpreta- 
 tions of all things, these professed theologians being merely 
 reviewers of what was advanced long ago by avowed infidels, 
 and their pretended c; rational " interpretations being most 
 extravagantly irrational. 
 
 And what makes these attacks the more insidious is, 
 that they are made by several different persons of different 
 views, each preparing the way for the next. One, perhaps, 
 while professing — and very likely with sincerity — to be a be- 
 liever in the truth of the gospel narrative generally, yet im- 
 putes to the writers a pious fraud in reference to such and 
 such particular point. Another goes a step further, and con- 
 siders them to have falsified their narratives in some other 
 things which must have come under their own knowledge. 
 And these again are followed by another, who rejects or ex- 
 plains away all the remainder as a tissue of fables. 
 
 And all these equally professing themselves Christians, it 
 becomes difficult to determine where Christianity ends and 
 infidelity begins. 
 
 I have thought myself bound, therefore, to take some notice 
 of the groundless and fanciful theories and interpretations 
 contained in books which probably most of you will never 
 see, and which some of you perhaps will never even hear of; 
 because I know that many persons are a good deal influenced 
 by reports and obscure rumours of the opinions of some sup- 
 posed learned and able man, without knowing distinctly what 
 they are, and are likely to be made uneasy and distrustful by 
 being assured that this or that has been disputed, and so and 
 so maintained by some person of superior knowledge and 
 
TO MODIFY SPECIES. 403 
 
 talents, who has proceeded on " rational " grounds, when, 
 perhaps, they themselves are qualified by their own plain 
 sense to perceive how irrational these fanciful notions are, and 
 to form a right judgment on the matters in question. 
 
 What is revealed to us, therefore, in the Scripture on 
 various points, and, among the rest, concerning evil spirits, 
 is to be received (however different it may be from what we 
 might have conjectured) with humble faith and reverend do- 
 cility. 
 
 But what it is that is thus revealed, and for what reasons 
 that revelation was bestowed — these are points on which we 
 may be allowed with becoming caution to inquire. 
 
I X I) E X. 
 
 Adam, meaning of, 
 
 and dam, difference 
 
 between, . 
 
 > proper name of the 
 
 Page 
 
 73 
 73 
 
 Dokos, account of, 
 
 Page 
 259 
 
 race, 
 
 why called the first 
 
 78 
 
 77 
 
 man, 
 
 Agassiz, his views of this 
 question, and his theory 
 tested, . . . 165 
 
 America, its languages, 220-224 
 
 Arguments for the unity of 
 the human races, resume 
 of, ... 324 
 
 Amalgamation of all the hu- 
 man races, a proof of unity, 64 
 
 Analogous varieties in other 
 animals, a proof of the 
 human races, . . 278 
 
 Anthropology, . . 1 
 
 defined, 5 
 
 Black races of men, former 
 civilization of, . 353 
 
 Barratt, the address of, re- 
 viewed, . . . 186 
 
 Bushmen, account of, . 259 
 
 Christianity, adaptation of, 
 to all the races of men, 118 
 
 ' adaptation of, to 
 
 the negroes, . . 128 
 
 Civilization, the first condi- 
 tion of man, . 239, 369 
 
 Cretins, account of, . 136 
 
 Egyptians, physical charac- 
 ter of the ancient, 359-365 
 
 Ethiopia, ancient and Scrip- 
 tural meaning and know- 
 ledge of, . 105-111,113 
 
 Ethnology defined, . 34 
 
 Experience of known changes 
 among men, a proof of the 
 unity of all the races, 242 
 
 External causes, power of, 
 to modify species, . 376 
 
 Gradations among the vari- 
 ous races of men, a proof 
 of their unity, . . 278 
 
 Ham, descendants of, 103, 104 
 History, testimony of, to the 
 
 unity of the human races, 225 
 Hybridity,the law of, a proof 
 of the unity of the human 
 races, . . 189 
 
 Lamarck's theory of man, 4, 33 
 Language, the nature, uni- 
 versality, and connection 
 of, a proof of the unity of 
 the human races, . 199 
 
 Man, whether to be classed 
 with other animals or not, 1 
 
 in what class to be placed, 3 
 
 characteristics of, as 
 
406 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Page j 
 distinct from, and superior 
 to, the brutes, 199, 200, 6-30 
 — number of races of, 33 
 
 Negro, superiority to, and 
 distinctness from, the 
 lower animals, . 12 
 
 Skull of, . . 266 
 
 Objections against the unity 
 of the human races consi- 
 dered, . . 329 
 
 Plurality of origin in the 
 races of men unphiloso- 
 phical, ... 330 
 
 - uncharitable, 
 
 345 
 
 Presumptive arguments for 
 unity of the human races, 55 
 
 Religious character of all 
 the races of men, . 118 
 
 Scripture, the historical and 
 doctrinal evidence of Scrip- 
 ture to the unity of the hu- 
 man races, . . 68 
 
 relevancy of its 
 
 testimony, . . 68-71 
 
 Page 
 Scientific argument for the 
 
 unity of the human races, 133 
 Species defined, . . 31, 32 
 
 nature and philoso- 
 phy of, ... 141 
 
 unity of, a proof of 
 
 the unity of the human 
 
 races, 
 
 152 
 
 Tradition, testimony of, to 
 the unity of the human 
 races, . . . 225 
 
 Triple division of the human 
 family, . . . 82-88 
 
 Twofold nature of the ques- 
 tion of the unity of the 
 human races, 50, 132, 133 
 
 Varieties of the human races — 
 
 number of, 33, 34 
 
 origiu of, pagan, in- 
 fidel, inspired account of, 35-42 
 
 importance of the 
 
 question, . . 43-54 
 
 origin of, illustrated, 
 
 chaps, xviii. and xix. 28S 
 
 Veddahs of Cevlon, account 
 of, ... 270 
 
SCKIPTU1UL INDEX. 
 
 Genesis. 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 
 PAGE 
 
 1: 5,8, 10, 26, 
 
 78 
 
 1: 26, 
 
 59, 78, 94 
 
 1: 26,28, 
 
 . 78, 91 
 
 1: 28, &c, . 
 
 
 92 
 
 1: 1-11, 
 
 
 85 
 
 2: 5, 
 
 
 77 
 
 2: 23, 
 
 
 79 
 
 2: 23, 24, . 
 
 
 90 
 
 3: 15, 
 
 . 76 
 
 , 79, 93 
 
 3: 15-24, 
 
 
 . 78 
 
 3: 23, 
 
 
 77 
 
 . 4: 2, 9-20, . 
 
 
 77 
 
 4: 14, 
 
 
 82 
 
 4: 17, 
 
 
 82 
 
 4: 26, 
 
 
 97 
 
 5: 1, 
 
 
 78,91 
 
 5: 2, . 
 
 
 78 
 
 5: 3, 
 
 
 78 
 
 5: 4, 
 
 
 82 
 
 6: 2, . 
 
 
 78 
 
 6: 4, . . 
 
 
 97 
 
 9: 6, . 
 
 
 78,91 
 
 9: 6-9, 
 
 
 78 
 
 9: 18, 19, . 
 
 
 83 
 
 10: 6, 
 
 
 115 
 
 10: 11, 
 
 
 85 
 
 10: 25, 
 
 
 84 
 
 10: 32, 
 
 
 84 
 
 11: 2, 9, 
 
 
 . 84, 85 
 
 11: 
 
 
 97 
 
 
 Numbers. 
 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 
 PAGE 
 
 16: 22, 
 
 . 
 
 79 
 
 27: 16, 
 
 • * < 
 
 79 
 
 31; 35, 
 
 Deuteronomy. 
 
 78 
 
 6: 13, 
 
 • • « 
 
 95 
 
 32: 8, 
 
 • • » 
 
 78 
 
 32: 8, 9, 
 
 2 Samuel. 
 
 84 
 
 6: 19, 
 
 1 Chronicles. 
 
 98 
 
 1: 19, 
 
 # , 
 
 84 
 
 16: 3, 
 
 2 Chronicles. 
 
 95 
 
 14: 9, 
 
 • • « 
 
 116 
 
 16: 8, 
 
 Esther. 
 
 116 
 
 1: 1, 
 
 • • < 
 
 113 
 
 8: 7, 
 
 Job. 
 
 113 
 
 10: 12, 
 
 • • 
 
 79 
 
 27: 3, 
 
 Psalms. 
 
 79 
 
 11: 4, 
 
 • • * 
 
 78 
 
 12: 1,2, 
 
 8, . . 
 
 78 
 
 14: 2, 
 
 . 
 
 78 
 
 45: 5, 
 
 . a 
 
 . 360 
 
 68: 31, 
 
 . . 
 
 . 112 
 
 87: 4, 
 
 . 
 
 112 
 
408 
 
 SCRIPTURAL INDEX. 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 
 PAGE 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 
 PAGE 
 
 
 ECCLESIASTES. 
 
 
 
 
 Mark. 
 
 
 12: 7, 
 
 
 79 
 
 10: 
 
 6,7 
 
 , . 
 
 90 
 
 
 
 
 16: 
 
 15, 
 
 16, 
 
 71 
 
 
 Proverbs. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 8: 31, 
 
 
 . 360 
 
 
 
 Luke. 
 
 
 
 
 
 1: 
 
 35, 
 
 • • • 
 
 76 
 
 Son »\ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1: 5,6, 
 
 • • 
 
 . 360 
 
 17: 
 
 26, 
 
 Acts. 
 
 71 
 
 
 Isaiah. 
 
 
 17: 
 
 26, 
 
 27, • 
 
 91 
 
 18: 1, 
 45: 14, 
 49: 12, 
 51: 12, 
 
 
 . 115 
 , 112 
 . 114 
 . Ill 
 
 1: 
 1- 
 
 5: 
 
 14, 
 3, 
 
 19, 
 
 Romans. 
 
 112 
 
 76 
 76 
 
 52: 3, &c 
 53: 
 
 .j 
 Jeremiah. 
 
 79 
 93 
 
 5: 
 6: 
 
 23, 
 
 .' 78^ 
 &5: 12 
 
 1 Corinthians. 
 
 79,93 
 76 
 
 13: 23, 
 
 . 
 
 109 
 
 5: 
 13: 
 
 47, 
 3, 
 
 . 
 
 97 
 97 
 
 29: 10, 
 30: 4-6, 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 1 
 
 08, 115 
 108 
 
 15: 
 15: 
 
 45, 
 22, 
 
 47, '. '. 
 
 • • • • 
 
 77,97 
 76 
 
 30: 5, 
 
 m % 
 
 110 
 
 
 
 Galatians. 
 
 ' 
 
 30: 6, 9, 
 
 Zephaniah. 
 
 115 
 
 3: 
 
 19, 
 
 • * • • 
 
 Ephesians. 
 
 76 
 
 3: 10, 
 
 . . . 
 
 112 
 
 4: 
 
 24, 
 
 • • • 
 
 92 
 
 1: 18, 
 
 Matthew. 
 
 76 
 
 3: 
 
 9, 
 
 James. 
 
 • • • • 
 
 78 
 
 28: 18-2C 
 
 • • • « 
 
 72 
 
 
 
 Hebrews. 
 
 
 19: 24, 
 
 • • • 
 
 111 
 
 2: 
 
 11, 
 
 14, . . . 
 
 76,77 
 
 4: 10, 
 
 . 
 
 95 
 
 11: 
 
 3, 
 
 
 50,68 
 
 THE END. 
 
 EDINBURGH : PRINTED BY JOHNSTONE AND HUNTER, HIGH STREET.