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.y^^^A.r^ CURSORY .y^&^^^-^-y^ 
 REMARKS 
 
 ON THE 
 
 PHYSICAL AND MORAL HISTORY 
 
 #utitan ^i)rtic^> 
 
 CONNECTIONS WITH SURROUNDING AGENCY. 
 
 By L. S. BOYNE. 
 
 " The proper Study of Mankind is Man." 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 I'RINTKC FOR BALDWIN, CRADOCK, AND JOY, 
 PATERNOSTER -ROW. 
 
 1815, 
 
St 
 
 preface. 
 
 A BRIEF outline of the History of Man, 
 and his Connections with Surrounding 
 Agency, is at all times a subject primarily 
 important : it is the proper province of Hu- 
 man inquiry, and equally interesting to all : 
 it is a Picture that gives scope to the exer- 
 cise of splendid genius and talent ; it is a 
 field for the display of invention, and the 
 activitv of imagination ; it abounds with 
 mazes and intricacies ; it is in a great mea- 
 sure obscured in a sublime mystery, and to 
 give a finished sketch of Human History is 
 to do little less than to extract order and de- 
 sign from apparent chaos. The limited 
 boundary of our faculties is soon approach- 
 ed, the horizon flies before the observer; as he 
 climbs each hill in expectationof reaching the 
 desired goal, he sees " Alps on Alps arise " 
 the philosopher stands confounded in a de- 
 sart plain, without a landmark — he is at sea 
 
 ^ 
 
VI IMlKrAC'K. 
 
 without a compass ; led on by his senses, 
 but more poweri'uUy by his imagination, lie 
 is apt to wander from the road to truth, and 
 fall into the specious path that at length 
 bewilders him in superstition and scepticism. 
 Such has been the fate of a large portion of 
 travellers in this department of science. Let 
 it not be thought the writer of these Letters 
 expects any better success ; think not, he 
 has the vanity to suppose he can add any 
 light to this great subject ; he has only act- 
 ed the part of a student, to gather facts from 
 others, to copy Art as well as Nature. His 
 sketch shows nothing original. His ambi- 
 tion would indeed be gratified, were it his 
 high destiny to say, " I too am a Painter.'' 
 Self-knowledge, the safe guide to truth, 
 teaches him to be contented as a distant ob- 
 server. The peculiar nature of his Profes- 
 sional studies giving him an acquaintance 
 with the Physical character of Animal Na- 
 ture, he has been led in his leisure hours to 
 take a cursory survey of the Human state. 
 He has in these Letters thrown together a 
 body of general remarks on the great ele- 
 ments of our Nature, the attributes and qua- 
 
PREFACE. Vll 
 
 litics of organized beings, as related to, and 
 combined with, the great Masterpiece, Alan. 
 This rough sketch, this brief outhne, not 
 being a finished Portrait, he dedicates to 
 those who have not leisure or means of pur- 
 suing more profound research. If any one 
 with whom " his little Bark shall attendant 
 sail," will have received the slightest tinge 
 of taste for rational inquiry into the matters 
 of which it treats — if any one niay consider 
 it an introduction to future more satisfactory 
 investigation — the intention and design of 
 the AVritei- will then have achieved their en- 
 tire consummation ; he shall then think his 
 leisure usefully employed — his time fortu- 
 nately bestowed- He claims no merit ; he 
 has furnished nothing new ; he has merely 
 thrown together in a familiar shape a num- 
 ber of facts in Nature, that cannot be in- 
 structive to the Learned, but may operate 
 as introductive of further inquiry among 
 General Readers. 
 
ERRATA. 
 
 Page 83, line 3, for " inverted," read " invested.'" 
 
 88, — 13, /or " Efl9orescence," read " Inflorescence 
 
 98, — 21, fur " Crustanii," read " Crustacea." 
 
 .^«4, — 10, fnr " Sencolus," re»d " Senectus." 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 LETTER I. 
 Introductory Remarks— Solar system— Theory of the 
 Earth — Plurahty of Worlds — Figure and General Surface of 
 the Earth— Origin of Society— Geological Theories and Ob- 
 servations — Remarks on both Continents 1 to 24 
 
 LETTER IL 
 Air— General Form of Bodies — Fire — Composition of the At- 
 mosphere — Oxygen — Nitrogen — Carbon — Mechanical Pro- 
 perties of Air — Winds — Temperature of the Globe — Sound 
 —Music 25—34 
 
 LETTER IIL 
 Lio-ht — Vision — Colour — Matter — Space — Vacuum — Attraction 
 — Time — Magnetism — Materialism 55 — 77 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 Organized Bodies — Vegetables, their Laws and Functions — Tran- 
 sition from Vegetables to Animals gradual and undefined — 
 Insects, their various Attributes 78 — 96^ 
 
 LETTER V. 
 General Division of Insects, and the Singularity of their Func- 
 tions — Fish, their Classification, comparative Anatomy, &c. — 
 Amphibm, anomaly of their Structure and Function;— Form 
 
 of the Heart— Circulation of the Blood 97 — 119 
 
 b 
 
X CONTENTS. 
 
 LETTER VI. 
 
 Birds, their Variety and Beauty — Feathers — comparative Ana- 
 tomy and Physiology — the Egg — Quadrupeds, their general 
 Skeleton, and comparative Structure approaches that of the 
 Human Form — General Division — Domestication — Utility to 
 Man 120—143 
 
 LETTER Vn. 
 Man, his general Attributes — his Anatomy — his general Physi- 
 ology — Cranium — the Brain the distinguishing Organ — the 
 Face — the Thorax — Abdomen — Limbs — the Blood, its tem- 
 perature and general Properties 144 — 169 
 
 LETTER VIII. 
 Digestive Organs — Experiments on Digestion — Activity of the 
 Gastric Juice — Variety of Food — Muscular System — Position 
 of the Foot — Erect Figure of Man — Mortality of the Species 
 at different Periods — Climacteric Years — Number of Man- 
 kind 17a— 197 
 
 LETTER IX. 
 
 Mankind sprang from one common source — Remarks on the 
 
 apparent and real Diversities among Animals — Varieties in 
 
 Men — Observations to prove that all men have proceeded from 
 
 one Parent Trunk 198—317 
 
 LETTER X. 
 Ongm of the different Nations of the Globe — Man first created 
 in Asia— Complexion of Infant Society — Europe peopled from 
 Asia 218—240 
 
 LETTER XI. 
 
 The Varieties in Men adventitious— Original Colour of Man— 
 Temperaments— Diversity in Men more influenced by Moral 
 than Physical Agency— Climate has very limited effects— 
 
CONTENTS. XI 
 
 the Identity of Mankind proved by the evidence of Scrip- 
 ture 241—260 
 
 LETTER XII. 
 The Human Mind, its Faculties enumerated and defined — Know- 
 le(i<;e not instinctive — Perception — Sensation — Association — 
 Imagination — Memory 261 — 284 
 
 LETTER XIII. 
 Understanding — Acquisition of Knowledge — Language — the 
 Passions, and their Effects 285—304 
 
 LETTER XIV. 
 Review of the leading events, that occurring in the history of 
 Mankind, have gradually developed the Faculties of the Hu- 
 man Mind — Language — Writing — Printing — Christianity — 
 Commerce 305—324 
 
 LETTER XV. 
 
 The Magnet — Discovery of America — Gunpowder and the Mo- 
 dern Art of War — Rehgion — Reformation — the Feudal Insti- 
 tutions 325—354 
 
 LETTER XVI. 
 General Remarks on the Human Structure and Condition — Pro- 
 gressive Course of Human Existence — the Immortality of the 
 Soul — Christian Morals — Conclusion 355 — 378 
 
REMARKS 
 
 ON THE PHYSICAL AND MORAL 
 
 HISTORY OF THE HUMAN SPECIES. 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 Dear Friend, 
 
 JL HE love of science, and the pursuit of know- 
 ledge, which so peculiarly characterize your 
 mind, induce me to present you with a few 
 scattered remarks on a subject you have hitherto 
 not much explored. Your researches have ge- 
 nerally been directed to the material system, or 
 the laws of inanimate matter ; allow me now to 
 solicit your attention a little nearer home, to the 
 nature of our own structure and condition in 
 the universe. " Know^ thyself," is a maxim 
 that has been handed down to us from the sages 
 of antiquity, and dwelt upon with peculiar em- 
 phasis by the philosophers of all schools, both 
 ancient and modern. All knowledge should 
 begin with ourselves ; an enquiry into our own 
 
 B 
 
LETTER I. 
 
 nature and attributes, botli physical and moral, 
 constitutes the most important subject of human 
 research, and estabhshes upon a certain basis 
 the axiom of the ])oet, that " the proper study 
 of mankind is man." Man has been placed by 
 his Creator above all the species of animated na- 
 ture. We shall find, in the course of this en- 
 quiry, that although some kinds may possess 
 many powers and faculties, equal, if not superior 
 to him, He is endowed with one, which gives 
 him the majesty of the Earth, and the dominion 
 over all ; the god-like attribute of mind. Any 
 comparative deficiency in the senses, is amply 
 compensated by the powers of thinking; any 
 paucity of instinct, by the light of understand- 
 ino- ; and any defect of muscular strength, b}' 
 the perfection of reason.. The Mind of Man is 
 an attribute, standing alone in the sublunary 
 creation. The approaches towards reason, in 
 some animals, though seemingly near, are for 
 ever separate ; a wide chasm exists between the 
 faculties of the most perfect animals, and the 
 intellectual capacity of Man. The perfection 
 of this function, constitutes him, perhaps, a sort 
 of link between animal and spiritual existence, 
 and in some degree a faint mirror of the Being 
 who made him. In the contemplation of human 
 nature, we are not to consider ^lan detached 
 from the universe in which he is placed — we are 
 
THE EARTH. 3 
 
 not to look upon him as a separate and isolated 
 being, but must view him in a relative light, both 
 as to his nature and situation : as to his nature, 
 as the companion of other animals — as to his 
 situation, as the principal inhabitant of this 
 globe. It will serve much to illustrate the ge- 
 neral observations I have to make on the nature 
 of Man, to take a short survey of the Earth on 
 which he dwells, the elements by which he is 
 surrounded, and also the other forms of animated 
 beings, appointed to be his associates. '' 
 
 This Earth, then, the great Theatre upon 
 which the grand drama of Man is destined to be 
 performed, is, as you well know, a sphere, re- 
 volving in ample space upon its own axis, and 
 obliquely to its orbit round the sun. It is situate 
 in a sort of middle rank among several other 
 similar globes, that at different periods, and with 
 different velocities, accompany it round the sun 
 as a common centre. The number of these 
 globes, both primary and «econdar\s which, ac- 
 cording to modern discoveries, amount to twenty- 
 eight, constitute the solar system.; These are 
 situate at various distances, and move in a cer- 
 tain ratio to their distances and densities. The 
 powers of human art have extended to these im- 
 mense regions, and Man has, by the liglit of 
 science, ventured to measure orbs and spaces, 
 which at lens^th involve him in wonder and 
 
4- LETTER I. 
 
 astonishment. It has been calculated that 
 Mercury, the nearest of these bodies to the Sun, 
 is distant from tlie centre of that luminary about 
 thirty-seven millions of miles, and revolves round 
 him in about eighty-four days ; while the 
 Georgium Sidus is removed to the astonishing 
 distance of eighteen hundred millions of miles, 
 and takes eighty-four years to accomplish its 
 revolution. The Earth is placed about ninety- 
 five millions of miles distant, and completes his 
 annual course in three hundred and sixty-five 
 days and a fraction. A certain property, called 
 attraction, inherent in the matter which makes 
 up these bodies, keeps them in their orbits, and 
 chains them to the Sun, as the central point of 
 all their movements. The Sun itself is an im- 
 mense body, computed by mathematicians to be 
 above eight hundred thousand miles in diameter. 
 Various opinions have been entertained concern- 
 ing its component matter: Sir Isaac Newton 
 and his follow^ers suppose it to be a ball of fire ; 
 others have supposed it to consist of light alone, 
 considering^ lioht and fire as tw^o distinct ele- 
 ments ; while others conceive it formed of such 
 materials, as fit it for the abode of rational and 
 intelligent beings. On the supposition of its 
 being an uninhabited ball of fire, Buff'on ingeni- 
 ously supposed, that the Earth, and perhaps all 
 the planetary bodies, originated from it; he 
 
ORIGIN OF THE EARTH. 5 
 
 imagined that the impinging of a comet on the 
 Sun's surface in an oblique direction, struck off 
 a certain portion of that surface, corresponding 
 with the weight and momentum of the falling 
 Comet, which portion flew off at an equal angle, 
 and acquired a projective force, in addition to 
 the attractive powers inherent in it; Such a 
 body would naturally revolve on its axis, and 
 before it acquired any considerable density, 
 would have taken from its motions a spherical 
 form. This hypothesis has been but lightly 
 treated by many subsequent writers ; to be well 
 understood, however, it must be read in the ele- 
 gant language of its accomplished author. Many 
 theories, more repugnant to nature, and doing 
 more violence to reason, have met with a better 
 reception from the learned. I see nothing so 
 much out of proportion in the supposition, that 
 secondary bodies, inferior in magnitude, moving 
 round a larger as a common centre, deriving their 
 movements from its influence, and powerfully 
 and incessantly attracted towards it, may be an 
 emanation from that body, and at some period, 
 and in some way, may have sprang from it as a 
 common source. It seems to accord as well 
 with the harmony and beautiful simplicity with 
 which nature effects all her operations, as many 
 theories that have gained possession of the 
 schools. Whether all these bodies that accom- 
 
O LETTKR I. 
 
 pany the Earth, are, like it, worlds destined for 
 the abode of animal existence, is an opinion now 
 very generally taken up, and perhaps as fairly 
 warranted by analogy as any hypothesis can be. 
 But, of what order of beings the tenants of these 
 planets may consist, is a conjecture that leaves 
 us but little satisfaction. These bodies are 
 many of them so small and so distant, as not to 
 be visible to us without the assistance of our 
 best glasses: is it not then reasonable to infer, 
 that He who does nothing in vain, has created 
 them for the abodes of intellectual existence, 
 and the seats of rational enjoyment, as well as 
 the globe we occupy ? The idea serves mani- 
 festly to exalt our conceptions of the attributes 
 of God, and the amazing scale of his omni- 
 potence. Some persons have indulged their 
 fancies, by supposing that when death terminates 
 the career of the soul on Earth, it becomes trans- 
 ported to one of those orbs, and undergoes a 
 new existence, and is progressively conducted 
 through the different planets of the system be- 
 fore it attains a final state of rest in the most 
 exalted sphere of spiritual beatitude, i The active 
 imagination of man leaves nothinsr untouched ; 
 when his curiosity travels upon the wings of 
 fancy, he explores every thing ; and when he 
 reaches the narrow line that limits the sphere of 
 his senses, he fills up the void with the liveliest 
 
FORM OF THE EARTH. J 
 
 fiction his inventive genius can furnish. This 
 opinion is not more than one remove from the 
 Eastern doctrine of the Metempsychosis. 
 
 Tlie Earth, and all the celestial bodies, have 
 been constructed by nature of an orbicular form, 
 in which we see displayed the hand of superior 
 intelligence : a sphere is the most perfect figure ; 
 it contains the greatest surface with the least 
 bulk, and includes the greatest variety with the 
 most beautiful simplicity: it is that form of all 
 others, best adapted to facilitate the rapid move- 
 ments of these bodies in their orbits. The small 
 deviation from the perfect sphere, which the 
 Earth has from its velocity taken on, is so trifling, 
 as to form no objection to the above : it pro- 
 bably acquired this oblate form, in the infancy 
 of its movements, before the fluid matter of 
 which it was then composed, had settled down, 
 and attained that density we may suppose it af- 
 terwards acquired. The Centrifugal tendency 
 of its equatorial motion being so great, compared 
 with the Centripetal movement about the Poles, 
 that part would necessarily take on abroad form, 
 and in a small degree distort the beautiful figure 
 of a sphere. The genius of man was, perhaps, 
 never more conspicuous, than in the discovery 
 of this phenomenon. Sir Isaac Newton, in his 
 closet, from a chain of mathematical reasoning, 
 pretty accurately deduced the quantum of this 
 
8 LETTER 1. 
 
 deviation, and estimated the increase of this pro- 
 tuberance, till the equatorial diameter should be 
 to the polar as 230 to 229. It was found on 
 subsequent mensuration of degrees, in different 
 latitudes, that the diameter of the equator ex- 
 ceeds that at the Poles by about thirty-five miles. 
 This oblate form is most conspicuous in the 
 planet Jupiter, where, from the immense velo- 
 city of its diurnal rotation, the equatorial dia- 
 meter is so much extended, as to be obvious to 
 the sight. It is not only in distance and situa- 
 tion that our globe holds a middle course ; it 
 also takes an intermediate rank with respect to 
 magnitude ; it neither approaches the great vo- 
 lume of Jupiter, nor descends to the diminished 
 figure of either of the last discovered planetsi 
 It is about twenty-five thousand miles in cir- 
 cumference, which according to the rules of 
 geometrical measurement, give a square surface 
 of nearly two hundred millions of miles. 
 
 This astonishing expanse, then, forms the 
 grand theatre of the history of man ; it is on this 
 ample surface he is destined to continue his 
 measured portion of time; his powers and fa- 
 culties are regularly organized to become its in- 
 habitant : nature has wonderfully created in him 
 an aptitude to enjoy his existence here, and 
 adapted the earth to be the seat of that enjoy- 
 ment. In setting down to contemplate the sur- 
 
DIVERSITY OF ITS SURFACE. 9 
 
 face of the globe, we are very apt at first view- 
 to be led away with an appearance of every thing 
 being in a state of chaos and irregularity ; we are 
 apt to suppose the broken, uneven forms of the 
 different parts, the irregular boundaries of the 
 water, the uneven tables of the land, to be the 
 results of accident and chance, and destitute of 
 design ; but the closer we inspect this branch of 
 nature, like every other, we perceive new beau- 
 ties at every step present themselves to our 
 sioht ; we see the hand of supreme intelligence, 
 and a regular system of order and symmetry, 
 arise from materials that seemed at first but con- 
 fusion and disorder. It exhibits to us a scene 
 of the most unbounded variety, blended with the 
 most perfect uniformity and simplicity ; the 
 harmony of all its parts, and their fitness for the 
 final purposes of their creation, become legible, 
 in strong^ characters, to the enquiring mind. — 
 The first thing which strikes us is the division 
 into land and water. The ocean forms, perhaps, 
 two-thirds of this great surface ; indeed it makes 
 almost the whole southern hemisphere, and by 
 two spacious branches, the Pacific and Atlantic, 
 keeps a watery communication between both 
 Poles. Some have calculated the average depth 
 of the ocean at ten miles, others have made it 
 less ; but this is involved in much obscurity, 
 and cannot be supposed very accurate. We 
 
10 LETTER I. 
 
 find this huge mass of waters impelled with a 
 certain movement, dependant, perhaps, on pla- 
 netary influence. The phenomena of the tides, 
 and the Newtonian theory of their explication, 
 you are well acquainted with. The regular flux 
 and reflux of the sea, is one of the most striking 
 appearances we meet with in nature ; although 
 it may be said to be a general occurrence, yet it 
 seems to admit of numerous exceptions, that 
 somewhat impeach its universality.! In the Me- 
 diterranean there are no tides : this may be ex- 
 plained from the immense evaporation which 
 issues from its surface, occasioned by the great 
 heat of the winds, which proceed from the 
 parched African soil. Dr. Ilalley has estimated 
 the quantity that may be carried up in vapour 
 from this sea, and supposes it sufficient to sup- 
 ply Europe with most of its rain, and to expend 
 that volume of water that enters by the current 
 of Gibraltar, and the various rivers that run into 
 this immense gulph. 
 
 The Baltic is another exception; but here, 
 from its high latitude, evaporation cannot pre- 
 vail, and a number of rivers running into it, a 
 current consequently sets out of it into the 
 German ocean. In the West Indies very little 
 tide is also observable, for that general flux of the 
 ocean, from the east towards the west, which, 
 like a trade wind, accompanies the course of 
 
REMARKS ON THE SUN. 11 
 
 the sun over the earth, causes a perpetual influx 
 of water into the gulph of Mexico, which accu- 
 muhUing upon its shores, occasions, as we are 
 told, a greater elevation of the water on the east 
 than there is on the west side of the Isthmus of 
 Darien. This superfluous water reflected from 
 the shores, finds its way out, through the 
 Straights of Bahama with a rapid course, takes 
 the name of the Gulph stream, and is percepti- 
 ble both in course and temperature in high lati- 
 tudes. The Sea is the grand source of all the 
 clouds, that descending, fertilize the earth, and 
 render it subservient to animal and vegetable 
 growth ; its saline particles being too dense, do 
 not ascend; all the particles, carried up in va- 
 pour, are fresh. The source of the salt in the 
 sea-water has given rise to much discussion 
 among the learned; some have supposed it im- 
 pregnated with this mineral from the beginning, 
 while others have thought it was originally fresh, 
 but had acquired all its salt from salt rocks at 
 the bottom, and from the washings of the rivers 
 into it; so that it must have been continually 
 increasing in saltness, and thus the age of the 
 world might be supposed to bear some reference 
 to the quantity of saline matter in the ocean. 
 
 The multifarious windings of the shores of 
 the sea, the numerous indentations and inter- 
 sections of its coasts, have had a most material 
 
12 LETTER I. 
 
 influence on the moral and political history of 
 mankind: it would seem that a facility of pro- 
 curing an useful article of food, would very 
 early in the progress of society have led many 
 tribes to take up their residence on the sea- 
 shore \! and while other companies took to the 
 forest and plains, and procured a hard-earned 
 subsistence from the fatigues and dangers of the 
 chace, these attached themselves chiefly to the 
 boisterous element, and led a more tranquil 
 course. Thus the original stock divided them- 
 selves into hunters and fishermen. It is one of 
 the most amusing themes in history, to trace 
 the subsequent progress, towards civilization, in 
 these two different classes of men. The hunters 
 spread themselves into the interior; as their 
 numbers increased, they divided, subdivided, 
 and split into different flocks, each of which, 
 under a patriarchal leader, travelled from hill to 
 hill, and from plain to plain, according as the 
 face of nature afforded them convenience. 
 These different tribes elongated at length from 
 the parent source, and cut off", by the extent of 
 desart, from future correspondence, built by de- 
 grees such systems of polity, as naturally grew 
 out of the peculiar modes and manners, imbibed 
 from their ancestors at first starting ; whence a 
 great uniformity among the families scattered 
 over the continent ; accident, locality, climate. 
 
ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. 13 
 
 &c. might in time create some diversity ; but 
 the general features of such states, must be uni- 
 formity and permanency ; and this history tells 
 us. The nations of Asia originated in migratory 
 bands of hunters, carrying from their native 
 source, the same manners, customs, and preju- 
 dices : left afterwards to themselves, every thing 
 took deep root ; tradition held for ages its sway 
 over multitudes; Idolatry, Parental authority, 
 tyranny established themselves upon a lasting 
 basis, and scattered nations owned a close fra- 
 ternity. Observe the similarity between the an- 
 cient and modern Tartars, spread over the exten- 
 sive continent of Asia, and these observations 
 become self-evident. Each nation becoming, in 
 a manner, isolated, they enjoyed not the advan- 
 tages of mutual improvements. Nothing reci- 
 procated, they met in war only to deluge the 
 plains with blood, and in peace their jealousy 
 united them only at a tangent point. This want 
 of intercourse retarded all progress and improve- 
 ments ; the same physical characters marked 
 them, they bore the stamp of identical origin, 
 and continued for ages at the same mark in the 
 scale of social advancement. Let us now cast a 
 glance at the other division, those tribes whom 
 we left dragging a subsistence from the watery 
 element: far different has been the progress and 
 the destiny of these hardy fishermen ; they gra- 
 
14 LETTER I. 
 
 dually obtained a sort of mastery of the water,/ 
 and by des^rees began to brave the storms and 
 the waves, they 
 
 *' Leain'd of the little Nautilus to sail, 
 
 Spread the thin oar, and catch the driving gale j" 
 
 they wafted themselves from point to point — 
 they explored all the windings and recesses of 
 the coast — settled where circumstances seemed 
 to invite, and transported the products of one 
 district, to feed and maintain the natives of ano- 
 ther: this barter begat friendships, and mutual 
 interchanges of all civil benefits, besides articles 
 of trade: whatever advantages in civilization, 
 whatever discoveries became known in one 
 country, were, ere long, diffused through the 
 rest : profiting by each others labours and expe- 
 rience, they attained arts, and made a rapid pro- 
 gress in all that serves to adorn the human con- 
 dition on Earth. The Phenician ships, from the 
 shores of the Levant, carried the first specimens 
 of civilization, along the shores of the Mediter- 
 ranean. The science of the Egyptians was 
 transported to Greece, from whence it coasted 
 to Sicily, Rome, Carthage, Gaul, and Spain : 
 thus the Mediterranean has alone so much in- 
 fluenced the character of all Europe, that it has 
 been called " the medium and propagator of all 
 
TEMPERATURE OF THE GLOBE. 1:3 
 
 the cultivation of antiquity and the middle age." 
 the Baltic, though situate in a severe climate, 
 and possessed by ruder hands, has followed dis- 
 tantly in the same track, and Europe has out- 
 shone all the other quarters in arts and policy, 
 less from any other circumstance than from the 
 multiform intersections of its shores, the physi- 
 cal outline of its form. 
 
 If we now turn our attention to the solid parts 
 of the Earth, we perceive infinite variety branch- 
 ing out of unity of plan. We see chains of 
 elevated mountains, some giving vent at their 
 summits to subterraneous fires, and most of 
 them capped with eternal snows ; we see cor- 
 responding vallies, where nature pours out her 
 abundance, and Man, and all animated beings, 
 serenely enjoy the blessings of Providence ; ex- 
 tensive plains, where harmless flocks enjoy a 
 placid and sportive existence ; impenetrable 
 forests and marshes, where various orders of or- 
 ganized beings fulfil the purposes of creation, 
 and " Hymn their equal God \' rich vallies, 
 barren hills, burning sands, thick woods, and 
 deep marshes, with rivers and lakes interspersed, 
 make up the surface of this revolving ball. 
 
 The temperature of this globe is almost as di- 
 versified as the soil and form of its surface. 
 About the central regions, we find the fervid 
 sun-beams scorching the earth, and rendering 
 
16 LETTER 1. 
 
 many parts scarcely habitable. A broad belt,( 
 extending one thousand six hundred miles on 
 each side of the equator, being the boundaries 
 of a vertical Sun, has been designated the Torrid 
 zone, and is the great hot-house of nature, where 
 every thing is forced into early and full maturity. 
 Extending from this belt to within the above 
 distance from the poles, the space takes the name 
 of the Temperate zone : this is chiefly the pro- 
 vince of Man ; it is here he has attained that 
 perfection which the superior organization of his 
 fabric is calculated to produce ; here he first 
 originated, and here he finds the medium best 
 adapted for the display of his active faculties: 
 genius, liberty, and reason, are the children of 
 this quarter: the human mind, overcome by ef- 
 feminacy in the warm regions, sinks beneath 
 the rod of power, and degenerates into slavery 
 and superstition : the Temperate zone has ever 
 been the nursery of science and independence ; 
 the love of freedom has been fostered here, and 
 Man has shone forth, vested in the true dignity 
 of his nature. The Frigid zone, comprising a 
 circle of more than three thousand miles diame- 
 ter, at each extremity of the Earth, are wrapped 
 in almost continued winter, and afford a dreary 
 abode to a few children of necessity. A solid 
 cupola of ice, that has been increasing for ages, 
 caps each extreme, huge masses of which some- 
 
ICE. 17 
 
 times become detached, and float down into the 
 temperate seas, to the danger of the astonished 
 mariner. These masses of ice, although the 
 ocean, of which they form a part, is highly im- 
 pregnated with salt, are always found fresh, and 
 sometimes afford relief to the thirsty and dis- 
 tressed seaman. The specific gravity of ice is 
 less than water ; hence, when detached, it al- 
 ways swims, and is capable of sustaining consi- 
 derable weiirhts : this circumstance has been 
 considered, b}^ some geologists, sufficient to ex- 
 plain the situation of many insulated granite 
 rocks that appear on different parts of the coast, 
 which may have been floated there by masses of 
 ice, with which they have been entangled. — " In 
 the year 1796, the body of a large elephant was 
 detached from a mass of ice, in which it must 
 have remained some thousand years. The flesh 
 was undecayed ; besides the coarse hair on the 
 skin, there was a fine down, or wool, underneath, 
 proving, incontestibly, that it \vas a native of 
 northern climates, and belonging to a race now 
 extinct." 
 
 The causes of the diversity of surface, the na- 
 ture of the physical agency, which produced such 
 variety on Earth, has been a source of inquiry 
 and discussion among the learned in all ages.i 
 The powerful operations of nature's most active 
 elements have been resorted to in explanation, 
 
 c 
 
IS LETTER I. 
 
 and at present the world seems divided between 
 two opposite sects ; the one arguing that water 
 has been the great medium of all this diversity 
 and change; the other contending tor the em- 
 pire of fire. At the head of the Ibrmer sect we 
 find Werner, a German philosopher of great 
 science and industry ; as the leader of the latter, 
 stands our very learned countryman, Dr. Ilutton. 
 The former theory assumes, that at some period 
 all the parts of the earth were in a state of aque- 
 ous solution ; that by a chemical process, a pre- 
 cipitation of chrystaline matter was formed, and 
 thus a thick coat of granite, which laid a per- 
 manent foundation for the other secondary and 
 stratified rocks, that became successively se- 
 parated from the general solvent ; the other parts 
 on the top were of light materials, earthy, and 
 made up of fragments of the lower rocks. Thus 
 was laid stratum super stratum, all round the 
 globe, those different layers of rocks, which en- 
 velope it something like the coats of an onion. 
 The irregularities were supposed to spring from 
 the inequalities of the Earth's nucleus. It has 
 been objected to this theory, that the observa- 
 tions of naturalists prove, that rocks do not lay 
 in this regularity of succession ; consequently 
 these formations are not universal ; and also 
 that many rocks of great magnitude and peculiar 
 character are evidently of partial and local for- 
 
THEORIES OF THE EARTH. 19 
 
 mation, such as basalt, porphyry, &c. The 
 theory of the Plutonists supposes tliat every 
 thing on the surface was melted by the action of 
 subterraneous heat ; that as this cooled, rocks 
 were deposited from this state of fusion in the 
 chrystalline form we find them ; that mountains 
 were thrown up by subterraneous explosions, 
 and that central fire has been the grand agent of 
 forming all the ground we tread on. ' These two 
 theories are warmly advocated by their respec- 
 tive partizans ; if I dared offer any opinion of 
 my own on this great controversy, it would be 
 towards effecting a compromise between both 
 opinions. There appear to me phenomena 
 enough, that may obviously be attributed to 
 both elements ; the action of volcanoes, and the 
 peculiar matter emitted from them ; the evi- 
 dently igneous origin of basalt, and some other 
 rocks; the appearances of new islands at diffe- 
 rent periods, of which that called Sabrina, near 
 the Azores, was a recent instance, sufficiently 
 demonstrate the action of fire ; and the changes 
 apparent on the surface of the whole continents, 
 with appearances in many mineral specimens^ 
 prove that water has been a very industrious 
 agent on this globe. 1 think both elements 
 must be allowed their share in the sreneral ae:encv 
 of nature, and that neither is alone sufficient to 
 establish a rational and satisfactory system of 
 
•20 LETTER I. 
 
 geology. Many have supposed the Earth a 
 hollow sphere: Dr. Halley imagined it con- 
 tained a large magnetic mass, which, from its 
 various positions, occasioned by the Earth's 
 movements, caused the variation of the magnetic 
 needle. Some experiments, however, which 
 have been made with a view of ascertaining the 
 mean density of the Earth, lead to the inference, 
 that it must be solid ; its mean density is cal- 
 culated at nearly five to one compared with 
 vvater, which is almost double the density of 
 most of the rocks found on its surface. There 
 are two or three striking circumstances in the 
 history of the Earth, which I believe most geo- 
 logists seem agreed on; the first is, that at some 
 distant period the whole of the surface of this 
 globe has been under water : the observations 
 that have been made in different parts of the 
 world attest this beyond a possibility of doubt. 
 In various parts of our own island this is con- 
 spicuous : on the summits of the hills of York- 
 shire and Derbyshire, at an elevation of 600 
 yards above the level of the sea, the fossile re- 
 mains of shell-fish and marine animals are dis- 
 covered in some quantities. Distinct beds of 
 different shells are found, and the extent and 
 position of these distinct tribes, prove they must 
 have been in existence ages before the great 
 revolution, that elevated and estranged them 
 
FOSSILE PRODUCTIONS. 21 
 
 from their native element. At Mount Perdu, 
 one of the Pyrennees, situate about 300 yards 
 above the sea, a prodigious number of marine 
 productions and fossile bones of aquatic animals 
 are discovered. 
 
 The Alps furnish the same facts, as well as 
 the Andes, in South America, which, at an ele- 
 vation of near five thousand yards, exhibit the 
 vestiges of the tenants of the deep. So general, 
 indeed, are these fossile remains found in calca- 
 reous soils, that many chemists are disposed to 
 consider all the limestone, chalk, and calcareous 
 matter to be met with, as of animal origin, and 
 as pillars of the remains of organized beings: in- 
 deed the opinion derives some colouring, from 
 observations made in the southern ocean, where 
 rocks, formed by the coral insects, and other li- 
 thophyte animals, have laid, and are continuing 
 to lay, calcareous foundations for large Islands, 
 by immense masses gradually forming from the 
 bottom of the ocean. Perhaps at some remote 
 period, a great revolution of nature, occasioning 
 a recession of the ocean, may unveil the dry landl 
 in those regions, a new continent be formed, and 
 these labours of aquatic animals become pillars 
 of chalk and limestone, equal to what we meet 
 with in our present continent. Thus nature is 
 never working in vain ; past ages of insects may- 
 have been labouring for materials to serve future 
 
22 LETTER I. 
 
 ages of Men : the whole universe is a circle, 
 where there is no termination, no distinctness, 
 no independence of parts.. The form of moun- 
 tains, and their wave-hke outline, led Bufifon to 
 suppose, that the action of the water had occa- 
 sioned all the hills, and the unevenness we meet 
 on the globe. He has gjone into a long series of 
 observations on this subject, which, like all 
 his other writings, should be attentively read by 
 every admirer of nature. The next circum- 
 stance in which geologists are agreed is, that 
 many species of animals, formerly existing on 
 the earth, are now certainly extinct. The mam- 
 moth of America ; the mastodon ; the great 
 northern elephant ; some species of the brady- 
 pus, and many varieties of shell-fish are now no 
 more, and only attest their former existence, by 
 their fossile bones or shells. Many bones of a 
 form not referable to any animals existing at pre- 
 sent, have also been discovered. These facts 
 carry our imaginations back to a very remote 
 period, and easily lead us to place faith in the 
 next circumstance, agreed on by geologists, that 
 these animals existed on the globe long before 
 man became its tenant. Mr. Parkinson, in his 
 excellent work, has treated this subject with 
 great talent and precision. The different depths 
 at which those animals have been found, com- 
 pared to the depths below which no human 
 
GEOLOGICAL INFERENCES. 2:3 
 
 bones are found, combined with a train of other 
 circumstances, seem to estabhsh the tact, that 
 another system of things, prior to man, existed 
 on this globe ; that he was the hist tenant, and 
 that every thing in reference to him is of recent 
 condition, compared to the age of our planet, 
 Cuvier, the celebrated French anatomist, to 
 whom I shall often have occasion to refer you, 
 has from his labours thrown much light on this 
 subject, and amply demonstrated the great influ- 
 ence the sciences of zoology and geology have 
 upon each other, and that they are in fact mu- 
 tual exponents. In taking a survey of both he- 
 mispheres, we find in Asia a huge ridge, or spine 
 of earth, stretching across, from which the terri- 
 tories of the Tartar tribes extend, as a great 
 inclined plane, towards the coast. On the 
 southern side of this spine, man commenced his 
 earthly career; here in a garden his natural 
 powers first developed themselves ; the founda- 
 tion of human society was planted in this spot; 
 on the northern side of this chain of hills, over 
 an immense compass of ground, for ages wan- 
 dered the Scythians, and for ages since their half 
 civilized descendants, the Tartar hordes. Civi- 
 lization sprang up rapidly on the coast, India, 
 Egypt, flourished, and across the Levant trans- 
 mitted their offspring to the kindred soil of 
 Greece, where the sciences took up their abode. 
 
LH LKTIER 1. 
 
 Europe, as I have before observed, from its inter- 
 sected outline, imbibed every thing that Greece 
 presented. On the bosom of the Mediterranean 
 all the arts that embellish life, were wafted along 
 the various shores of its extended coast. Africa, 
 on the contrary, an impenetrable tract, imper- 
 vious almost to physical means, degenerated 
 into barbarism; its extensive sands, and thick 
 forests, bid defiance to the arts and embellish- 
 ments of life, and its rude inhabitants stood still 
 in the growth of humanity. The discoverers of 
 the new world found an immense theatre, 
 abounding in gigantic features of physical out- 
 line, " where man seemed the only growth that 
 dwindled." Mountains lifted their awful sum- 
 mits as if in converse with the skies, while ex- 
 tending lakes, and rapid rivers, rolled their 
 lengthened courses through different climates, 
 till they mixed with the ocean. Of America I 
 shall have occasion to speak hereafter. In the 
 mean time I remain. Dear Friend, 
 
 Your's, &c. 
 
 L. S. R. 
 
'■2J 
 
 LETTER H. 
 
 Dear Friend, 
 
 XN my last letter I solicited your attention to 
 a few remarks on the general form and outline 
 of the globe ; it becomes necessary now to make 
 a few observations on that fluid medium in 
 which it is involved — the Atmosphere. From 
 the days of Aristotle till the era of modern phi- 
 losophy, the idea prevailed universally that air 
 was an element, that it was one of four sub- 
 stances that entered into the composition of all 
 bodies, and constituted their fabric. Its other 
 three colleagues were Fire, Earth, and Water. 
 According as either of these were supposed to 
 predominate, the body was supposed to assume 
 its peculiar character: no doctrine ever main- 
 tained its empire longer than this; it stood 
 firmly entrenched for ages. The discoveries of 
 modern chemistry have now completely super- 
 seded a theory which was not built on the solid 
 rock of experiment and observation, but erected 
 on the loose soil of speculation and conjecture. 
 It appears there are a variety of airs or gases; 
 that air is only one of the three forms under 
 whidi all matter exists, according to the quan- 
 
'i6 LETTER 11. 
 
 tity of heat or fire \vith which it may happen to 
 be combined. There are three forms then under 
 which all bodies in nature are found, viz. soli- 
 dity, fluidity, and a state of vapour: the cohesion 
 of the particles of bodies is incessantly promoted 
 by that principle inherent in them, called attrac- 
 •• tion. An endless multiplicity of experiments 
 confirm the fact, that fire or heat is the grand 
 opposing principle to attraction, its invariable 
 tendency being to separate and destroy the co- 
 hesion of the particles. When the quantity of 
 heat in any body is so limited that the natural 
 attraction of the particles is not overcome, they 
 remain in contact, and we call the body solid ; 
 when the quantity of heat is so far increased as 
 to separate, to a certain degree, the parts, so that 
 they are capable of moving easily one over ano- 
 ther, the body becomes fluid; and when the heat 
 is so far augmented, that the parts are propelled 
 to a certain distance, and form an elastic expan- 
 sion, the body is said to be in a state of air or va- 
 ' '^ pour. These then are the three natural forms of 
 all bodies, which forms are dependant on the 
 quantity of fire contained in them : this may be 
 rendered familiar to every one by the changes 
 that take place in water by increase of tempera- 
 ture. Thus ice is the natural state of water, 
 and, from containing but little heat, remains 
 solid ; raise the degree of heat, it melts and be- 
 
TEMPERATURE OF BODIES. 2/ 
 
 comes water, — still go on increasing the heat, 
 and it takes up the form of steam or elastic va- 
 pour. Ice, water, and steam, then, become pro- 
 gressively evolved, as you elevate the tempera- 
 lure. Such is the case with all bodies in na- 
 ture ; according to the quantum of fire they spe- 
 cifically contain, they are either solid, fluid, or 
 aeriform. It is presumed the hardest bodies in 
 nature might be converted into gas, if we could 
 apply a sufficient elevation of temperature. Sir 
 James Hall has succeeded in fusing marble and 
 common coal. Different bodies combine with 
 different portions of this active element, and the 
 portion necessary to raise a body to any given 
 temperature is called the specific caloric of that 
 body. This specific caloric in bodies is measured 
 by that instrument in common use, the thermo- 
 meter. It is a tube containing a fluid (either 
 quicksilver or spirits of wine are most generally 
 employed) hermetically sealed, and attached to a 
 scale of degrees, which mark the expansion of the 
 fluid in the tube according to the temperature of 
 the body to be examined. When the thermome- 
 ter, therefore, is applied to any body, the mercury 
 contracts or expands till it acquires the tempe- 
 rature of the body itself. Fire, then, we see, is 
 a very powerful and extensive agent in nature ; 
 it may be considered as the author of the various 
 forms of bodies, and the antagonist to the uni- 
 
28 LETTER II. 
 
 versal principle of attraction. The continued 
 reciprocation of these opposing agencies, creates 
 all the movements and changes we meet vvitii in 
 the universe : the one is for closely uniting all 
 the parts of bodies, and rendering them quies- 
 cent, while the other is in perpetual endeavour 
 to separate, and throw them into distance and 
 motion ; thus, as the poet says, "</// subsists bi/ 
 elemental strife.'' DifTerent opinions have been 
 entertained concerning the essence of Fire ; some 
 contending it is a fluid substance, so subtle as 
 to penetrate all bodies, while others have con- 
 tended that it is not a substance but a mode, a 
 peculiar movement in the minute particles of 
 substances. I shall not attempt to go into the 
 merits of this controversy ; the new chemistry 
 ranks it as a substance, and classes it in the list 
 of simple elements. We perceive, then, the 
 combination of a certain portion of caloric is ca- 
 pable of altering the forms of every body in 
 nature, and making them take on the state of 
 air or vapour, different bodies requiring different 
 quantities of this element to effect this change. 
 The atmosphere which surrounds this globe is 
 composed of such materials, as from their pecu- 
 liar nature take on the aeriform state at the 
 common temperature of the earth. We shall 
 find this elastic fluid, without which neither 
 animal nor vegetable existence could continue. 
 
COMPOSITION OF THE ATMOSPHERE. 29 
 
 is not a simple elementary substance, but is 
 compounded principally of three particular 
 Gases, which uniting in certain fixed propor- 
 tions, present to us an apparently uniform sub- 
 stance. Chemical analysis resolves atmospheric 
 air into two different gases, to which a third, 
 in small proportion, may also be added ; these 
 are Oxygen, Nitrogen, and Carbonic acid gases. 
 To these three different airs let me now for a 
 few moments solicit your attention. Oxygen, 
 or Vital air, is one of the most useful and im- 
 portant elements in the creation, and one with 
 which the world has been but recently made 
 acquainted ; it is called Vital air, because it is 
 the grand pabulum of animal life, without which 
 respiration, in the higher classes of animals, can- 
 not even for a few moments be carried on : it 
 forms the basis of all acids, enters largely into 
 the composition of water, is the cause of the 
 combustion of bodies, and ministers to most of 
 the changes which take place in the different 
 kingdoms of nature ; thus we find it makes up 
 a considerable portion of the atmosphere and the 
 ocean. Water is composed of oxygen, united 
 with another element termed hydrogen, in the 
 proportion of 85 parts of the former to 15 of the 
 latter in every hundred. The atmosphere is 
 composed of 22 parts of this gas united to 77 
 parts of nitrogen with one of carbonic acid gas : 
 
30 LETTER II. 
 
 it enters into combination with solids, and forms 
 a large part of many earths and metalic ores. 
 So constantly and essentially is it necessary to 
 human life, that our breathing could not be 
 continued for the shortest space of time without 
 it. If the air we breathe is deprived of it, or has 
 its relative quantity diminished, suffocation 
 must inevitably ensue. It produces most im- 
 portant changes in the blood, in its passage 
 through the lungs, renovating its lost qualities, 
 and stimulating it to fresh action and life. It 
 was the exhaustion of this gas, by the respiration 
 of numbers, in the air of the Black Hole at Cal- 
 cutta, that occasioned the suffocation of those 
 unfortunate people. Large congregations of 
 persons become unwholesome from the abstrac- 
 tion of this gas, and towns and cities owe much 
 of their insalubrity to the diminished proportion 
 of this necessary ingredient in the atmosphere. 
 It forms one of the requisite parts of the vege- 
 table economy ; plants imbibe and exhale it 
 again in large quantities in the day-time ; whence 
 the country is the great field of oxygen : the 
 vegetable world is constantly excreting it, and the 
 air becomes charged with its full quantity. It 
 has been supposed that vegetables have not the 
 same dependency upon oxygen with animals, 
 but that nitrogen and carbon form the basis of 
 the airs which they imbibe, and thence that the 
 
OXYGEN. ;3l 
 
 principle which forms vegetable, is opposite to 
 that, Avhich seems to constitute the pabnlum ot 
 animal life. Another distinguishing property 
 of oxygen, and from which it derives its name, 
 is, that it foims the basis of all acids — they all 
 contain this substance as their general radical, 
 varying only in appearance according to the dif- 
 ferent matters with which it may be combined. 
 Water is, as I said before, composed of oxygen, 
 in the ratio of 85 to \5 of its other in2:redient. 
 Thus the ocean, as well as the atmosphere, are 
 chiefly formed of this great agent. It is also the 
 foundation of the combustion of burning bodies. 
 If any portion of air is deprived of its oxygen, it 
 can no longer support flame, and all lights in it 
 become soon extinguished. A candle placed 
 under a glass receiver, is observed soon to burn 
 dim, and gradually ceases burning altogether : 
 this is because it consumes all the oxygen gas 
 in the receiver, and the remaining air does not 
 possess the power of maintaining the combus- 
 tion. Oxygen combines with earth and metals, 
 and forms various ores, which it is the business 
 of chemistry to separate and reduce to pure me- 
 tals. Even the Alcalies seem, by the discove- 
 ries of Sir Humphrey Davey, to be combinations 
 of this prevailing element, with peculiar metalic 
 bases. These are some of the leading properties 
 of oxygen, by which we perceive how necessary 
 
32 LETTER II. 
 
 and important it is to animal lite. We shall find 
 the other great conslituent of the atmosphere, 
 Nitrogen Gas, possessing qualities to the direct 
 negative of the former ; it is incapable itself of 
 sustaining animal life, or combustion, for the 
 shortest space of time ; it enters largely into the 
 solid composition of many bodies ; in the at- 
 mosphere it seems of use in neutralizing and 
 temporizing the oxygen, which alone would 
 prove too highly stimulating to the blood in the 
 lungs ; it is of less specific gravity than oxygen, 
 and when disengaged in breathing, rises at every 
 expiration to the upper regions of the atmos- 
 phere. The third air, which enters in the very 
 small proportion of one part in a hundred, is 
 Carbonic Acid Gas, or fixed air, which is heavy, 
 and unfit for combustion or respiration. It is 
 found in many caverns and mines, and is well 
 known to the workmen under the name of Choke 
 Damp ; it is given out abundantly by all bodies 
 in a state of fermentation, and is met with in 
 close cellars and wells, where it often proves 
 destructive 1o the incautious, who have occasion 
 to o-o down to such places, by producing instan- 
 taneous suffocation. In its solid state, it enters 
 the composition of both animals, vegetables, and 
 minerals ; it may be separated from chalk and 
 marble, is found in most vegetable products, and 
 forms a portion of animal matter. These, then, 
 
AIR GUNPOWDER. 33 
 
 are the ingredients which make up the composi- 
 tion of our atmosphere ; the one portion is re- 
 spirable, and calculated to support flame and 
 animal life — the other is totally unable to pro- 
 duce these effects ; when, however, they are 
 both mixed in due proportion, they contribute 
 to the health, the comfort, and the existence of 
 man and animated beings. 
 
 Having made these allusions to the Chemical 
 qualities of the air, we come now to consider its 
 Mechanical nature. The air is a transparent 
 fluid, possessing like all other bodies gravity, 
 and is moreover highly elastic. If a bladder 
 half full of air is placed under the receiver of the 
 air pump, or carried up to any height in the 
 atmosphere, it gradually expands and fills up ; 
 it is consequently susceptible of being much 
 condensed in compass, and when the compress- 
 ing cause is removed, it recovers its former vo- 
 lume by its expansibility. Heat has the power 
 of expanding it, and cold on the contrary con- 
 denses it. It is this rapid expansibility of air 
 which produces the wonderful effects of gun- 
 powder; which is composed of nitre, sulphur, 
 and charcoal, in certain proportions; materials 
 that contain within themselves great quantities 
 of air. When these are ignited by the spark or 
 the match, a sudden developement of this air is 
 produced, which expands with immense force, 
 
 D 
 
34 LETTER II. 
 
 till it occupies a thousand times the space of the 
 gunpowder employed; the elastic force of this 
 air suddenly and violently endeavouring to re- 
 cover the above space, gives the ball its propul- 
 sive force, or splits asunder the solid rock, that 
 cannot withstand such irresistible power. This 
 powder has been a powerful engine of destruc- 
 tion in the hands of man, but has perhaps had a 
 beneficial tendency upon the whole, as I shall 
 have occasion to remark in a future letter. This 
 property of expansibility is often employed in 
 our machinery, as in air guns, forcing pumps, 
 &c. The pressure of the air, or its gravity, is a 
 quality it possesses in common with other bo- 
 dies. The whole mass of the atmosphere is at- 
 tracted towards the centre gnivity of the earth : 
 like every other body attached to it, it evidently 
 therefore belongs to, and forms an appendage to 
 our globe. Its pressure is pretty correctly ascer- 
 tained to be at about 15 lbs. upon every square 
 inch of the earth's surface. The density of the 
 air is however liable to continued fluctuation, as 
 the barometer clearly demonstrates. 
 
 The weight of the atmosphere is subservient 
 to many useful purposes in life. Man, who has 
 been created in the midst of surrounding ele- 
 ments, employs them all to minister to his wants 
 and necessities, and applies them according to 
 the intention of his Great Maker, who has 
 
PRESSURE OF AIR. 36 
 
 assigned him their use, and with whom " to 
 enjoy is to obey." The raising of water in a 
 common pump is owing to the pressure of the 
 air on the water in the well below, which forces 
 the water up the tube of the pump, in propor- 
 tion as the ascent and descent of the piston 
 effects tlie exhaustion of the tube. The An- 
 cients had a very imperfect knowledge of the 
 cause of the elevation of the water in a com- 
 mon pump ; thej^ attributed it to a certain ab- 
 horrence which nature had to a vacuum, by 
 which, as the piston ascended, the water imme- 
 diately rushed forward to prevent this much- 
 dreaded vacuum. In the 17th century, a pump 
 was constructed at Florence, by which it was 
 intended to raise water from a well, to a very 
 considerable eminence ; it was found, however, 
 that no exertion of this pump could at all raise 
 the water above 33 feet from the level of the 
 water in the well ; the cause of this unexpected 
 obstacle puzzled the makers very much, but 
 Galileo soon discovered that the pressure of the 
 air on the water below must cause the ascent of 
 the water in the pump, and that when it rose to 
 the height of 33 feet, it became equivalent to 
 the pressure of the air, and could not be lifted 
 further. A column of water, therefore, of 33 
 feet in height, is thus found to balance a column 
 of air of the height of the atmosphere : no suck- 
 
36 LETTER II. 
 
 ing pump can lift water, then, above 33 feet. 
 1 said above, that the pressure of the air was at 
 the Earth's surface about 15 pounds upon every 
 square inch, at a mean. Now, the human 
 body contains about 14 square feet, conse- 
 quently it is exposed to the astonishing average 
 pressure of more than 14 tons: the amount of 
 this pressure often varies considerably from the 
 fluctuation in the density of the air, a§ ascer- 
 tained by the range of the mercury in the baro- 
 meter. The changes which take place in the 
 weather cannot, therefore, fail of having consi- 
 derable influence on the state and condition of 
 our health and feelings. We are sometimes, in 
 the course of a few hours, exposed to a change 
 of several hundred weight, in the degree of this 
 pressure. It need not be at all a matter of asto- 
 nishment, that the body is capable of sustaining 
 this immense weight, it being a law in hydros- 
 tatics, that the pressure of a fluid is equal in 
 every direction at the same level, consequently 
 the pressure upwards, downwards, and side- 
 ways, is at all times alike: this great pressure 
 of air prevents the evaporation of bodies at low 
 temperatures. Sir George Shuckburgh ascer- 
 tained, that water boiled at different degrees of 
 temperature, proportioned to the weight of the 
 superincumbent atmosphere. Lavoisier made 
 some interesting experiments on this subject, 
 
PRESSURE OF AIR. 37 
 
 by vvliich he clearly deduced, that evaporation 
 was held under controul by atmospheric pres- 
 sure, and that boiling water, in consequence, 
 did not cool so fast, (owing to the comparative 
 greater density of the air,) in winter, as it did 
 in summer. This celebrated Chemist has made 
 some speculations upOn the supposed changes 
 that would take place in our atmosphere, were 
 it exposed to any considerable alteration of cli- 
 mate ; as if it were suddenly carried to the orbit 
 of the planet Mercury, where, he conjectures, 
 the common temperature might be beyond that 
 of boiling water, the water and other fluids 
 on the surface would become rarefied, and con- 
 verted into steam : even quicksilver might be- 
 come aeriform, many solids would become fluid, 
 and a new series of affinities and combinations 
 would be developed, and afford a complete new 
 order of things. The pressure of the atmosphere, 
 however, he calculates, would at length tend to 
 check this extensive evaporation, and in the 
 end serve to balance it : if, on the other hand, 
 our planet was transported to the orbit of Saturn, 
 the water of the ocean might be converted into 
 a solid block of ice, " at first diaphanous and 
 homogeneous, like rock chrystal ; but in time 
 becoming mixed with foreign substances, would 
 become opake stones of various colours. The 
 atmosphere might be partly condensed into a 
 
38 LETTER 11. 
 
 fluid, and new liquids be produced, of whose 
 properties we cannot form the most distant 
 idea." This pressure, or weight of the atmos- 
 phere, is, in general, estimated by that well- 
 known instrument the barometer, which is a 
 tube hermetically sealed at top, exhausted of its 
 air, and filled with mercury by the open end, 
 and inverted in a vessel of the same, which then 
 sinks a little from the bottom of the tube, thus 
 indicating the degree of pressure on the surface 
 of the mercury in the vessel below. The range 
 of the mercury, in the upper portion of the tube, 
 is marked by a graduated scale, and in this cli- 
 mate is found to fluctuate between 28 and 31 
 inches ; but, in the neighbourhood of the Equa- 
 tor, this range is very inconsiderable, so as to 
 admit of very little variety, whatever may be the 
 state of the weather. The height of the atmos- 
 phere it is somewhat difficult exactly to 
 calculate, it not being a fluid of uniform den- 
 sitv • It has been, however, estimated, from some 
 observations made on its refractive power, to be 
 somewhere about 45 miles; the density of the 
 air will, of course, vary considerably at different 
 points of altitude: the degree of density, at any 
 level, will be as the compressing force-conse- 
 quently its height may be supposed to be in- 
 definit;i.y extended: its rarity, as you ascend 
 decreases in a geometrical progression, so that, 
 
FORM OF THE ATMOSPHERE. 39 
 
 at the height of three miles and a half, it is twice 
 rarer than it is at the surface of the Earth ; and, 
 it you ascend twice that space or 7 miles, the 
 decrease being in the geometrical series, will be 
 four times as rare as at the surface. The figure, 
 or outline of the atmosphere must incline, to 
 take on the form of the globe which it enve- 
 lopes, partly from the same cause, (the centri- 
 fugal action,) that excited the Earth to take on 
 the spheroidical form ; but more particularly 
 from the greater rarefaction of the air near the 
 Equator, by the sun's influence — consequently 
 it is higher over the Equator, and gradually 
 decreases in altitude, so as to form an inclined 
 plane towards each Pole. This elastic ocean 
 then, which, composed of a mixture of dissi- 
 milar gases, united in certain proportions, and 
 containing an assemblage of all the volatile parts, 
 of the different species of matter to be met with 
 on the Earth's surface, as well mineral as vege- 
 table, and animal, is the great medium in which 
 iSIan and his associates are placed by the Crea- 
 tor, and from which they are incessantly 
 obliged to drink continued draughts of the 
 living stream ; excluded from its balmy influence 
 but a few moments, the breath of life is irre- 
 coverably gone; it forms a compressing envelope, 
 that braces and keeps together the parts of the 
 frame : by its transparency and its refractive 
 
40 LETTER II. 
 
 power, it is adapted to the transmission of liojlit, 
 and enables Man to enjoy the benefits of another 
 clement: by its movements, it wafts him across 
 the trackless expanse of the ocean, and in a 
 variety of ways contributes to his wants, his 
 conveniences, and his luxuries : it however is, 
 from the various alterations in texture and qua- 
 lity to which it is liable, the agent of producing 
 great impressions on the character and condition 
 of animal bodies. When we consider that in 
 our climate, the variation of its pressure amounts 
 to the astonishing difference of a ton and a half, 
 we cannot deny it great effects on our bodies; 
 when we feel it at one time surcharged with 
 heat, and again almost condensed with cold ; 
 at one time replete with particles of dense 
 vapour, and at other times destitute of apparent 
 moisture ; sometimes manifesting its power in 
 the frantic tornado, at another period lulling us 
 by its soothing stillness ; we must allow it a 
 very important share in the active energies of 
 physical agency. 
 
 The density of this fluid is, as I have said 
 before, least at the Equator, and greatest at the 
 Poles. As the heat in the Torrid Zone never 
 differs much, very little difference consequently 
 takes place in the density and height of the 
 atmosphere there, which explains the cause of 
 the trifling range of the barometer in that part of 
 
RANGE OF THE BAROMETER. 41 
 
 the globe; but, as we increase in latitude, the 
 temperature becomes more various, the density 
 increases, and in consequence the barometer 
 takes a wider range ; so that, it is found at Cal- 
 cutta to be but three-fourths of an inch,, whereas 
 at Petersburah it is three inches and three- 
 fourths. The mean height of the barometer, at 
 the level of the sea, is thirty inches all over the 
 globe, indicating that the pressure of the air is 
 every where alike, being, in a certain ratio, to its 
 density and height. It is somewhat surprising 
 that the barometer appears to be in some degree 
 under Lunar influence, observations having 
 proved that the level of the mercury is liable to 
 particular variations at particular periods of the 
 Moon ; proving, that the atmosphere has a ten- 
 dency to acquire weight, while the Moon is 
 passing to either quarter, and vice versa, to lose 
 it during the approach of either new or full 
 Moon. The mercury also displays a tendency 
 to rise from the morning to the evening: the 
 rano-e is greater in winter than in summer, 
 owing to the greater variation of the weather. 
 It appears that a current of air is always ascend- 
 ing at the Equator, which cannot accumulate 
 above a certain degree, but must roll down the 
 inclined plane, which the atmosphere forms, 
 from the Equator towards the Pole. 
 
42 LETTER II. 
 
 The quantity of the air thus collected, and its 
 various movements, occasion, perhaps, much of 
 that diversity of climate we meet with in our 
 hemisphere, and is the cause of that variety of 
 winds which prevail in high latitudes. Winds 
 are supposd to be occasioned by any cause which 
 has a tendency to excite partial rarefactions and 
 condensations; the heat of the Sun, Electricity, 
 Rain, or whatever may disturb the uniformity of 
 the air's density in any spot, causes the motion of 
 the contiguous air, to or from that spot, and in 
 consequence all the neighbouring atmosphere is 
 put in motion. The progress of a storm is gene- 
 rally preceded by some appearance of clouds, ei- 
 ther in the quarter from, or towards which the 
 storm is directed. Winds most generally begin at 
 the point towards which they blow, and have been 
 found frequently to travel at the rate of one hun- 
 dred miles an hour. Winds are either permanent 
 or variable; of the former, theTrade Winds, which 
 accompany the course of the sun, are most con- 
 spicuous ; they blow from the east all round the 
 globe, between the latitudes of 23° north and 
 south of the Equator, and are caused by the rare- 
 faction of the air, by the rays of a vertical Sun 
 within the limits of the Tropics. The Monsoons 
 in the Indian ocean are another species of per- 
 manent winds, which blow for nearly six months 
 
WIMDS. 43 
 
 in a northerly direction, and vice versa for the 
 other half year. Various causes have been as- 
 signed for these winds, but none have proved 
 satisfactory. The land and sea breezes met with 
 in the Torrid Zone, are perhaps easier of expli- 
 cation. In onr variable climate, the winds blow 
 from all parts of the compass: on the western 
 coast of Europe, however, the south-west is 
 the most prevailing. In the interior of the 
 Continent it would appear that east winds are 
 the most frequent. The winds, according to 
 their direction, influence very much the tem- 
 perature of the atmosphere. The north-west 
 wind, which in winter is so predominant on the 
 coast of North America, is productive of the 
 greatest cold : these winds arise in high latitudes, 
 where the mountains take a great elevation, in 
 the vicinity of the frozen fields of the x'Vrctic re- 
 gions, and passing over an extensive tract of 
 forest, and unxzultivated land, from which it can 
 derive but little heat, it advances to the coast, 
 keeping its original reduced temperature. The 
 cold is in consequence greater in the western 
 Continent than it is in the same parallel in Eu- 
 rope, where the easterly wind has not the same 
 space of uncultivated land to traverse. It is in- 
 variably found, that clearing and cultivating a 
 tract of country, improves very much its cli- 
 mate. Woody countries are cold ; their tall 
 
44' LETTER II. 
 
 trees shelter the earth, from the warm influence 
 of the sun's rays ; hence the earth does not ac- 
 quire any degree of warmth in summer, the sur- 
 plus of which, it might return to the atmosphere 
 in winter. Swamps and marshy lands, which 
 abound in the desart, are capable of receiving 
 but little heat ; the cold wind, therefore, from the 
 Tcy Zone, passing!,' over these countries, receives 
 from the ground but little warmth to temper its 
 severity. As the land, however, becomes drained 
 and cleared, the earth in summer imbibes a por- 
 tion of heat, which it imparts in a degree to the 
 cold winds in winter, and thus moderates their 
 piercing intensity. This has been conspicuous 
 in the progress of cultivation in America ; and in 
 Europe, history informs us, the climate of Ger- 
 many is much altered: when the Romans be- 
 came acquainted with Germany, they found it 
 replete with large forests and tracts of unculti- 
 vated land, which from their low temperature 
 were inhabited by the Elk and the Rein-deer, 
 animals, which in the improved condition of 
 modern Europe, are not found at all to the 
 south of the Baltic. The Danube often afforded 
 an icy bridge to the contending armies, whereas 
 at present it is never frozen over. Stony and 
 sandy soils have a less capacity for heat than 
 earth, whence they retain less, and occasion the 
 scorching fervour of the African desart, and the 
 
CONDENSATION OF AVATER. 43 
 
 severe cold of Terra del Fuego. The soil and 
 surface of a countr}', then, are instrumental in 
 creating a locality of climates, independent of 
 the latitude, or distance from the sun : Islands, 
 and situations near the coast, are in general 
 warmer than the interior of Continents. The 
 ocean has the power of moderating the tempera- 
 ture of the wind, as it passes over it to a consi- 
 derable degree, whence the air is at all times 
 much milder at sea than in inland situations ; 
 the reason of this is a peculiar law in the con-- 
 densation of water. In general it is found, that 
 all bodies contract in cooling ; the mercury in the 
 thermometer descends, as the temperature de- 
 creases. AVater, however, in cooling, forms a 
 remarkable exception to this ; when it descends 
 to forty-two degrees and a half of Fahrenheit, 
 it has acquired its greatest density ; as it cools 
 below this, it gradually reexpands, and the ex- 
 pansion is the same for any number of degrees 
 above or below forty-two degrees and a half, 
 which is the maximum of its density; this curi- 
 ous fact was, I believe, originally discovered by 
 Count Rumford ; it has however been further 
 elucidated by Sir C. Blagden and Mr. Dalton. 
 When, therefore, the water on the surface of the 
 ocean is cooled by the passing winds so low as 
 forty-two degrees and a half, the upper stra- 
 tum sinks by its acquired density, a fresh stratum 
 
46 LETTER II. 
 
 of warmer fluid from beneath ascends, gives out 
 a portion of its caloric to the air, is cooled down 
 to the above point, descends, and makes way for 
 fresh strata, that gradually ascend and effect the 
 same changes. The water on the surface is 
 therefore prevented from freezing, till the whole 
 mass has been cooled down to forty-two degrees 
 and a half, then the upper portion sinks to the 
 freezing point, becomes solid, and of less specific 
 gravity than the water underneath, by which it 
 is in consequence buoyed up. Had not nature 
 established this peculiar law, water would have 
 sunk in the form of ice, the bottoms of all our 
 seas and rivers would have been immense masses 
 43f ice, which no subsequent solar influence 
 could have reached in sufficient force to have 
 melted. 
 
 As we ascend in the atmosphere, the tempera- 
 ture decreases, and at a certain elevation we ar- 
 rive at the region of perpetual congelation ; this 
 point of course is highest at the Equator, and di- 
 minishes towards the Poles, and in our latitude 
 is about six thousand feet ; so that the summits 
 of most of our mountains are enveloped in frost. 
 The mean temperature of the air in our climate 
 is about fifty-two degrees of Fahrenheit. 
 
 Our atmosphere is renovated from the great 
 waste occasioned in it, by its various mixtures 
 with other bodies, chiefly from the water of the 
 
SOUND. 47 
 
 ocean, which is exposed to continued decompo- 
 sition ; and from the transpiration of vegetables, 
 which copiously emit oxygen from their leaves 
 during- the day-time; this uniting with the ni- 
 trogen given out by animals in respiration, keeps 
 up the equilibrium of the atmospheric composi- 
 tion. It has been remarked, that a considerable 
 consumption of water must have taken place on 
 this globe since its formation : many ingenious 
 reasonings have been made, to render it probable 
 that marine animals and vegetables have contri- 
 buted to its expenditure ; the immense masses of 
 organized remains, that constitute the rocky 
 bases of so many islands in the southern ocean, 
 with the extensive depths of peat and coal, ve- 
 getable remains, every where to be found ; suf- 
 ficiently prove, that a great quantity has proba- 
 bly been formerly reduced into part of their con- 
 stitution. Thus we see nature is always pursu- 
 ing a regular circle of operations, the result of 
 consummate wisdom and foresight ; processes 
 are going on to-day, that may hereafter lead to 
 future revolutions in the face of Nature; and 
 every trifling movement, in every kingdom of 
 the creation, is a specimen of the power and at- 
 tributes of a great Supreme Cause. 
 
 The next property in the air of which I have 
 to speak, is Sound. Sound is an undulatory 
 motion of the particles of air arising from its elas- 
 
48 LETTER II. 
 
 ticity. When the air is exposed to an}' percus- 
 sion, the particles moved, recede from their situ- 
 ation, and press the neighbouring particles into a 
 less space ; this compressed portion soon reco- 
 vers its lost space, and becomes proportionately 
 dilated ; it consequently acts upon its contiguous 
 particles, and they in like manner upon others, 
 till a motion is produced something like a wave 
 on the surface of water, except, that as on the 
 surface of water, the waves are produced in con- 
 centric rings, in the atmosphere the vibrations 
 move in all directions, in the form of a sphere. 
 Thus we see a condensation, and expansion, of 
 the particles of the atmosphere, alternating with 
 each other, constitutes Sound; analogous to the 
 motions of a pendulum. Persons are very apt 
 to suppose that air is the only medium of sound, 
 and that wherever air is excluded, sound cannot 
 pass; but it is found, that all elastic bodies are 
 capable of originating, and propagating sound, 
 but that the air is to us the best vehicle, because 
 it is an elastic medium, in which our organs of 
 hearing, are, as it were, constantly swimming; 
 therefore Nature has adapted our organs to be 
 easily excited by this medium. It is however 
 rendered very certain, that all elastic bodies, as 
 well as air, are conductors of sound, and even 
 that water, which we know is perfectly inelastic, 
 is a good conductor of sound. The intensity of 
 
SOUND. 49 
 
 Sound IS as the density of the air; whence in 
 frosty weather, when the barometer is high, dis- 
 tant sounds are most distinct ; and on a clear 
 winter's evening " the far-off curfew's sound" 
 will be more audible than in summer. It is a 
 singular fact, that however sounds may differ in 
 note, they all travel with one velocity ; the soft- 
 est whisper, for the space it goes, flies with the 
 same velocity as the loudest thunder. Dr. Der- 
 ham ascertained the uniformity and amount of 
 this velocity to be in all cases about one thou- 
 sand one hundred and forty-two feet in a second, 
 or nearly thirteen miles in a minute ! A musical 
 tone depends upon the number of vibrations in 
 a given time, and is said to be more acute as the 
 vibrations are more frequent, and more grave as 
 the number of waves is diminished. A very sin- 
 gular analogy has been mentioned between the 
 senses of Sight and Hearing ; it is said, as the 
 limits of our powers of vision preclude us from 
 seeing very small objects, and also on the other 
 hand curtail our views of distance and space, so 
 our ears are not sensible to any sound, where 
 the number of vibrations is less than a given 
 ratio, and again, are not equal to the perception 
 of any sounds, where the amount of the vibra- 
 tions exceeds a given number. So that sounds 
 may continually exist so minute as not to reach 
 our senses ; and again, the Celestial Bodies may 
 
 E 
 
50 LETTER JI. 
 
 move in their orbits, accompanied by a sympbo- 
 nious melody, beyond the reach of our limited 
 faculties, which are only adapted to the sphere 
 we move in. Creative Wisdom has fitted us for 
 the stage alone on which we are to act — our 
 powers and faculties are not framed to soar be- 
 yond our proper region. 
 
 *' If nature thundered in his opening ears, 
 " And stunn'd him with the music of the spheres, 
 " IIow would he wish that heaven had left him still 
 " The whispering zephyr, and the purling rill." 
 
 It has been contended that Sound can have no 
 positive existence out of the mind ; that it can 
 only exist in our senses ; that where there are no 
 ears, there can be no sound ; so that if no persons 
 dwelt in the vicinity of the falls of Niagara, that 
 tremendous cataract might be said to roll down 
 its rapid current without the smallest murmur; 
 however paradoxical this may prima facie ap- 
 pear, I think the more you consider it, the more 
 you become convinced of its reality, Sound, 
 like light, becomes reflected from most bodies 
 against which it impinges ; this reflection, under 
 certain circumstances, comes perfect again to 
 the ear, producing what we term Echo. A dis- 
 tance of fifty feet is necessary to produce an 
 echo, otherwise the sound comes back too soon 
 to the ear to be distinct from the original tone. 
 
SPEECH. 51 
 
 I have hitherto only been taking a mechanical 
 view of the nature of Sound ; it behoves us now 
 to consider it in a far nobler light — as the great 
 medium of all the civilization and improvement 
 of the human species. Man has learned to com- 
 bine all his ideas, with the tones of his voice ; 
 to sounds he has annexed signs, and from this 
 arbitrary connection, has developed the hidden 
 powers of his mind — established a superiority 
 over all the orders of animated nature — created a 
 spiritual existence that lifts him above his ma- 
 terial self, and teaches him "to look thro' Na- 
 ture up to Nature's God." — Speech is the in- 
 strument of all the cultivation of human intel- 
 lect — it is man's distinguishing boon from God. 
 Language is his great prerogative, by which he 
 eminently transcends all the rest of animated 
 nature. In proportion as nations have culti- 
 vated language, have they approached the ele- 
 vated scale of human destiny. The Ear is the 
 great organ of this faculty. Although Vision dis- 
 plays to him the variegated picture, and paints 
 in ten thousand shades the golden scenes of 
 Creative Wisdom, though it conducts him 
 through air, through ocean, and through skies, 
 to view all nature in her sublime majesty ; yet 
 after all, Man is the pupil of his Ear : born with 
 a paucity of instinct, he has every thing to learn ; 
 the faculty of speech unites the feelings of all 
 
55 LETTER ir. 
 
 the senses, and becomes their general exponent. 
 The child who is born deaf, and consequently 
 dumb, enjoys the perfection of his other senses, 
 but in this condition he is worse off than the 
 brute ; destitute of discrimination, of reason, 
 even of sympathy, he adopts an unmeaning imi- 
 tation of all he sees ; hence he has been known 
 to tear out the bowels of his own brother, in imi- 
 tation of what he has seen performed upon ani- 
 mals. In considering this tragical fact, where 
 can the advocate for human instinct take refuge ? 
 
 Speech then is, as has been said, the rudder of 
 our reason. I shall take an opportunity of say- 
 ing more on this heavenly faculty in a future 
 letter. 1 will therefore conclude this by one or 
 two remarks on a subject much allied to Speech, 
 I mean Music. 
 
 Music has its foundation in nature ; it is 
 deeply implanted in the human mind; it is the 
 mother of poetry, and forms part of the essence 
 of all languages. Music has been cultivated in 
 all nations, from their earliest infancy ; it was 
 the instrument of exciting and calling into action 
 the dormant passions of the soul ; no nation was 
 originally without it ; in the early history of 
 both civilized and barbarous states, we find Mu- 
 sic was a great medium of instruction. All the 
 maxims and the rules of the community were 
 clad in melody, and delivered in song by the 
 
ajusic. 63 
 
 bards, who learned the nature of the human 
 sou], and could call forth its various emotions 
 with more force and vigour, than the strongest 
 appeals of reason, from the mouths of philoso- 
 phers of the present day. We are told that Ed- 
 ward the First, in his conquest of Wales, had 
 recourse to the barbarous expedient of murder- 
 ing all the Bards, from the many obstacles they 
 threw in his way, by the strong hold which they 
 had over the minds of the people ; and indeed 
 so great is the influence of national taste in 
 music, that an author has said, if he were allowed 
 to make all the tales and ballads for the commu- 
 nity, he should care very little who made their 
 laws. No civilized nation, perhaps, ever culti- 
 vated music to such perfection as the Greeks ; 
 with them it was criminal in a legislator to be 
 ignorant of music ; and w^hen we consider that 
 it forms the basis of eloquence, and how neces- 
 sary this was in the ancient states to every leader, 
 who could only rise by gaining favour with the 
 multitude, to whose passions he always address- 
 ed himself, we shall not be surprised at it. As 
 a power capable of exciting the various affec- 
 tions of the mind, and stimulating it to the no- 
 blest achievements of heroism and virtue, Music 
 has always been esteemed among mankind, and 
 a taste for it considered both as an accomplish- 
 ment and an attribute of a generous disposition^ 
 
54 LETTER II, 
 
 Shakespeare, whose knowledge of nature, and 
 whose acquaintance with the human heart, was 
 never exceeded, says, 
 
 " He that hath not Music in himself, 
 
 " Nor is not moved with the concord of sweet sound?, 
 
 " Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils : 
 
 " The motions of his spirits are dnll as night, 
 
 *' And his aflections dark as Erebus. 
 
 " Let no such man be trusted/' 
 
 Dancing has been found to prevail almost uni- 
 versally, as a favourite amusement, with every 
 nation and community with which we have be- 
 come acquainted. The simplicity of ancient 
 music was greater than it is with us. It was in 
 fact plain melody, associated with particular 
 passions and emotions, and not that complex 
 union of different notes, which constitutes the 
 intricate science of modern harmony ; where our 
 astonishment at the powers of the artist often 
 overcomes the influences of the musical tones 
 upon our passions. With these remarks I con- 
 clude this letter, and remain, 
 
 Yours, &c. 
 
 L. S. B. 
 
o.^ 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 Dear Friend, 
 
 JtIaA^ING in my two last made some tran- 
 sient remarks upon the Earth and its Atmos- 
 phere, it becomes necessary I should now call 
 your attention to the nature of that something, 
 of which all bodies are formed, I mean Matter. 
 As, however, Light is perhaps the most volatile 
 part of Matter, and possesses many properties 
 siii generis, we will previously let it arrest our 
 attention for a short time. The Mosaic History 
 of the Creation tells us, that Light was the first 
 element that was formed. The sacred historian 
 has attracted the admiration of even profane 
 writers, by the sublimity of that passage Avhere 
 the creation of light is announced, " and God 
 said let there be Light, and there was Light.'' 
 This line is often quoted among many others in 
 the sacred volume, as an instance of the highest 
 sublime. There has been some difference of 
 opinion concerning the real nature of Light : 
 Sir Isaac Newton conceived it to be a substance, 
 consisting of particles astonishingly minute, 
 emanating from the sun and all luminous bodies, 
 
,56 LETTER III. 
 
 moving in straight lines, and being reflected 
 from different bodies to the eye, producing in 
 our minds the sensation of Vision. Lavoisier, 
 and most of the neAV chemists, have taken up 
 this side of the question, while some have con- 
 tended that is not a substance, but a particular 
 motion in the parts of bodies, put into action by 
 the stimulus of the luminous body. I confess 
 I am disposed to lean towards the substantial 
 hypothesis, and believe Light to be a Body. — 
 The sun is the grand source of light, from whose 
 surface it is perpetually emanating. It travels 
 to our earth, a distance of ninety-five millions 
 of miles, in little more than eight minutes, with 
 a velocity surpassing all comprehension. It is 
 the medium of one of the most important of our 
 senses, that of Vision, by which nature displays 
 to the human mind the grand spectacle of the 
 universe ; this sense exhibits to us the immense 
 and beautiful theatre erected by Creative Wis- 
 dom, for the abode and the enjoyment of man ; 
 to examine, and to admire, the harmony and 
 majesty of which, constitutes one of the highest 
 occupations of his enquiring mind ; it teaches 
 him to ascertain his relative situation, to shun 
 impending dangers, and carefully directs his 
 steps to such places, and such objects, as are 
 most conducive to his wants, his conveniences, 
 and his pleasures. 
 
VISION. 57 
 
 To understand fully the value of this sense, 
 ^\e must consider the structure of the Eye. 
 The Eye, although at first view it appears an 
 organ extremely intricate in structure, and com- 
 plex in function, we find, on investigation, to 
 be constructed on a plan most sublimely simple: 
 it forms nothing more than a camera-obscura, 
 upon the curtain of which, by the convergence 
 of the rays in their passage through the humours, 
 a faithful picture of the surrounding landscape 
 is most accurately and minutely painted in an 
 inverted position : this picture, which is exactly 
 similar to that formed on the sheet or table of a 
 camera-obscura, is all that is effected by the 
 Eye itself: why such a painting of objects on 
 the retina should produce in the mind a cor- 
 rect idea of the nature and presence of those 
 objects, is one of the hidden mysteries that has 
 hitherto puzzled the heads and pens of all human 
 philosophers. We perceive, then, what benefits 
 this sense imparts to humanity ; it enables Man 
 to explore atoms ; and from viewing " the green 
 myriads in the peopled grass,'* to contemplate 
 bodies, perhaps worlds distant, through regions 
 of space, of the existence of which, without 
 the aid of this sense, he perhaps never would 
 have dreamt ; in short, it enables him to scan 
 the universe. Light, as you know, in its pas- 
 sage is liable to various refractions and reflec- 
 
j8 letter III. 
 
 tions, by which its course is altered, and it 
 issues again from such bodies in every direction: 
 when it passes out of one medium into another, 
 differing in density, its course is bent, and it is 
 called refraction ; the degree of this refraction 
 is proportionate to the difference of the density 
 in the two media : if the rays pass from a dense 
 to a rare medium, as out of water into air, the 
 rays, in bending, recede from the perpendicular ; 
 but, when they come from a rare into a dense 
 medium, as out of air into water or glass, they 
 are refracted towards the perpendicular. One 
 principal advantage we derive from this law of 
 refraction, is the morning and evening twilight ; 
 for, when the sun is within 18 degrees below 
 our horizon, his rays fall obliquely upon our 
 atmosphere, and would pass over our heads, 
 were it not for this refractive power in the air, 
 which bends them from the perpendicular to- 
 wards the Earth's surface, thus giving us the 
 advantage of the sun's light, before and after 
 that luminary is itself beneath the horizon: 
 when, with any degree of inclination, it impinges 
 upon a polished surface, we perceive it reflected 
 from that surface at an equal angle beyond the 
 perpendicular, keeping up most accurately the 
 law of all reflected movements, that both the 
 angles of incidence and reflection are always 
 equal. Light, like every other Element, is 
 
COLOURS. 59 
 
 capable of various combinations and affinities, 
 and no doubt enters the composition of many 
 solid opake substances in nature, from which it 
 is often disengaged on the decomposition of 
 these bodies. One very interesting experiment 
 illustrative of this, was the exposing a diamond 
 to the brilliant rays of the sun for some time, 
 and suddenly covering it with black wax ; at 
 the expiration of several months, the wax was 
 removed, and the diamond shone with great 
 brightness in the dark for some time : bodies 
 that possess this property of absorbing and again 
 emitting light, are called solar phospori. Al- 
 though the sun's rays appear of one uniform 
 colour, and seem to be of homogeneous form 
 and texture, yet we find, on investigation, that 
 a ray of light is not a simple body, but can be 
 analyzed into seven distinct pencils or rays, 
 each giving to the eye the sensation of a parti- 
 cular colour. These colours are separated in 
 passing through a Prism, and are in the follow- 
 ing order, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, 
 indigo, and violet ; they each differ in the de- 
 gree of their refrangibility, and that in the order 
 above stated; thus the red is the least refran- 
 gible, and the others more so gradually, to the 
 violet, which has this property in the highest 
 degree. Dr. Herschel has made some important 
 discoveries on the different properties of the 
 
Co LETTER III. 
 
 various rays that compose the Solar Spectrum, 
 the result of which seems to be, that heat and 
 light are not present in equal degree, in any part 
 of the Spectrum. He found that the illumi- 
 nating power, is most intense in the middle of 
 the Spectrum, with the yellow and green, while 
 the red and the violet at each extreme, possess 
 it in a much less degree. The heating power of 
 the rays seems to be greatest in the red, and 
 gradually diminishes as you go on towards the 
 violet. But the most extraordinary part of his 
 discovery was, that if the thermometer is re- 
 moved out of the Spectrum altogether, in an 
 even line from the red extremitv, it rises consi- 
 derably higher than it did in the red ray, and 
 continues so to do for half an inch beyond the 
 limits of the Spectrum : it rose in less than three 
 minutes from 61° to 79- These heat-making 
 rays, although invisible, may be reflected by 
 mirrors, and are refracted by the lens like the 
 illuminating rays. Beyond the limits of the 
 Spectrum, on the violet side, the thermometer is 
 not affected, but there are invisible rays which 
 produce the same chemical changes on certain 
 bodies that the illuminating effect, such as 
 changing the colour of muriate of silver, gum, 
 guaiacum, &c. Hence we find, that the solar 
 beams consist of three distinct species of rays, 
 one visible and of coloured brilliancy ^ another of 
 
COLOURS. 61 
 
 heat hut invisible, and a third evincing chemi- 
 cal properties, but, like the second, invisible, — 
 For measuring the intensity of light from diffe- 
 rent sources, an instrument called a Photometer 
 has been invented by Count Rumford, and im- 
 proved upon by Mr. Leslie. Thus, then, we 
 find, this beautiful Element serving the most 
 important purposes. I before remarked, how 
 much it ministered to our comforts and conve- 
 nience, in being the great medium of rendering 
 the page of nature visible to us. Beneficent 
 nature has not only rendered it subservient to 
 our necessities, but has also endowed it with 
 qualities, which become continued sources of 
 the most exalted pleasures to the human mind. 
 All colours are, we see, derived from the solar 
 rays ; the surfaces of different bodies have the 
 power of separating and reflecting different rays, 
 and absorbing the rest. The ray that comes 
 reflected from any object to the Eye, creates in 
 the mind an idea of that colour so reflected: 
 thus colour is no property of the object coloured, 
 but derives that property from being part of the 
 solar light, the rays of which contain in them- 
 selves the essence of all the various colours we 
 meet with in nature. The seven colours into 
 which the Prism separates the rays of the light, 
 are the primary colours, out of which all the 
 rest are formed. When any body reflects the 
 
69 LETTER 111. 
 
 whole of the rays as they come to it, that body 
 appears white, this being the colour of the sun's 
 rays when mixed together. Black, on the con- 
 trary, is the mere negation of colour, where all 
 the rays are absorbed ; therefore it has been said 
 that if any body was perfectly black, it would be 
 invisible, from absorbing, and not reflecting the 
 T^ys of light. 
 
 The surrounding creation might have been suf- 
 ficiently visible to answer all the common pur- 
 poses of life, had the sun's rays been of only 
 one colour ; but the bountiful scheme of Provi- 
 dence, has not only provided means to maintain 
 a bare existence, it has also supplied us with 
 sources of exquisite enjoyment, over and above 
 the mere purposes of common life. The various 
 shades and tints which so splendidly diversify 
 the face of nature, contribute to the continual 
 delight and happiness of those creatures placed 
 here to enjoy, to admire, and to adore the bene- 
 volence of that supreme agency that creates and 
 directs the whole ; whose power and providence 
 are conspicuous in every item of the universe, 
 and the majesty of whose Omnipotence, so ex- 
 ceeds the limits of our comprehension, that our 
 minds become lost in the contemplation. 
 
 " Lightnings and storms his mighty word obey. 
 And Planets roll where he has mark'd their way." 
 
PROPERTIES OF MATTER. 63 
 
 We come now to the consideration of Matter, 
 or the Basis of which all bodies are formed. 
 There are certain fixed properties which invari- 
 ably belong to every species of Matter with 
 which we are in any way acquainted ; these are, 
 Extension^ Soliditi/, Divisibility, Figure, and 
 perhaps Motion. To these may be added what 
 is called the vis inertia, or that tendency which 
 all Matter has to remain in the same condition 
 of either rest or motion, with which it happens 
 to be impressed ; thus a body left at rest, would 
 remain in that condition for ever, unless put into 
 motion, or acted on by some external cause ; 
 and if once put into motion, would continue in 
 motion for ever, unless some external agency 
 influenced it from the direction of the moving 
 cause. 
 
 Solidity, and extension, belong to all Matter, 
 as is manifest by the power it has of resisting, by 
 which it excludes every other body from occu- 
 pyino' that portion of space it fills. Thus Space 
 and Body possess different properties ; space is 
 infinite, and can be contained in no limits ; its 
 parts, consequently, are immoveable and insepar- 
 able. Body, on the contrary, is made up of 
 parts moveable, capable of separation, and being 
 finite, we easily comprehend them. Some have 
 contended that Space has an absolute existence 
 as a Being independent of the mind ; that all is 
 
64 LETTER III. 
 
 full, and no part devoid of matter. Others ima- 
 gine that Space is only an idea of extension in 
 the abstract ; that it has no positive existence as 
 body, and that therefore a vacuum or negation 
 of the properties of body prevades the universe. 
 It would seem, I think, that space is only some- 
 thing of negative existence, like darkness, which 
 is only the absence of light, although we are apt 
 in language to give it positive attributes, as 
 figure, depth, degree, &c. Cold, also, of which 
 w^e speak positively, is only a privation of Heat ; 
 Silence, Death, &c. are only negative conditions, 
 denoting the absence of positive qualities, and 
 as they strike our senses very forcibly, we are 
 hastily induced, from this circumstance, to at- 
 tach positive properties to circumstances that 
 are mere abstract feelings, of the privation or 
 absence of tangible attributes. So it is with 
 Space, which is the absence of Body, and more- 
 over, if all Space were full, and what is called a 
 Plenum really existed, there could be no mo- 
 tion ; for a body in motion must displace so 
 much matter as is equal to its bulk ; now this 
 displacement evidently supposes a vacant space, 
 to which the dislodged matter must be im- 
 pressed ; but in a Plenum there would be no 
 room for the particles to remove each other. I 
 should conceive a Plenum would also afford 
 considerable resistance to the movememts of the 
 
MATTER. Go 
 
 Planets, which does not appear to be the case, as 
 their velocities have no doubt continued forages 
 uniform. A\'e know that a Hody projected in 
 the air meets with considerable resistance in its 
 passage. — If the Planets were revolving in any 
 other than empty Space, their motions must, 
 from the increasing resistance of the medium, be 
 retarded and ultimately destroyed ; whereas if 
 they were projected in a N'acuum, their move- 
 ments would continue, as long as the projectile 
 and gravitating forces, with which they are im- 
 pressed, might continue to exert themselves. 
 Divisibility is the next property of Matter, and 
 this division of Body into parts, must be sup- 
 posed to be capable of infinite extension; for 
 you cannot suppose any particle, however small, 
 but what the mind is still capable of supposino-, 
 the further division of that particle, it imme- 
 diately becomes a whole, as susceptible of beino- 
 divided, as the larger portion of which it so 
 lately formed an integral part. The minute di- 
 vision of bodies is proved from various experi- 
 ments. Mr. Boyle found that fifty square inches 
 of leaf-gold weighed but one grain ; eight strains 
 of gold will gild a wire thirteen thousand feet 
 long ; and a pound of gold will gild a wire lono- 
 enough to circumscribe the globe. All odori- 
 ferous bodies, as jNIusk, Camphor, &c. exhale 
 particles which must be astonishingly minute. — 
 
 F 
 
66 LETTER III. 
 
 Lewenhoeck was said to have discovered more 
 animalcui'je in the inelt of one Cod-fish, than 
 there are living souls in this island. Mathe- 
 maticians have given the following theorem in 
 proof of their ideas of the extensive divisibility 
 of Matter. " Any particle of matter, how small 
 " soever, and any finite space, how large soever, 
 *' being gi ven, it is possible that that smal 1 sand or 
 " particle of matter, shall be so diffused through 
 " all that great space, and shall fill it in such a 
 " manner, that there shall be no pore in it, 
 " whose diameter shall exceed a given line." — 
 Figure is another attribute of all finite substance ; 
 divide it into whatever number of parts, each 
 part possesses determinate figure. If any Body 
 has no figure, it cannot be of bounded extension, 
 it must be an infinite. 
 
 In a former letter, when speaking of the Na- 
 ture of Fire, I made some allusions to that pro- 
 perty which pervades all bodies, and keeps them 
 together — the power of Attraction. Attraction 
 is a force inherent in all bodies, by which they 
 are impelled towards each other ; this pervades 
 all the matter in the Solar system, by w^hich the 
 different Planets are attracted towards each 
 other, and towards their great centre of motion, 
 the Sun, and is called Gravity. By this, the 
 parts of our Earth tend constantly towards the 
 .centre of it, to which they always incline in fai- 
 
ATTRACTION OF COHESION. 67 
 
 ling. Tliis attraction operating between the 
 particles of matter, is called Cohesion or Aggre- 
 gation ; there is, moreover, another spccif^s of 
 attraction, called Elective, or Chemical affinity, 
 which is excited between the particles of many 
 different substances, as between acids, alkalies, 
 &c. — The attraction of cohesion in the particles 
 of Bodies, is proved by man}^ experiments, as 
 by placing two polished slabs in contact, these 
 will cohere with such force as to require consi- 
 derable force to separate; and it has been said, 
 that two highl3^-polishediron planes have adhered 
 so strongly, that twenty-four men have not been 
 able to separate them. Drops of rain and of 
 (juicksilvcr assume a globular form, from this 
 attraction among the particles. — Small glass 
 tubes open at both ends, and one end immersed 
 in coloured liquor, the liquor will be observed 
 to rise to some height in the narrow calibre of 
 these tubes. Many have supposed trees and 
 shrubs to be aggregations of these tubes, and 
 that the sap and other juices of vegetables arrive 
 at their sometimes lofty summits, by the agency 
 of capillary attraction. 1 believe, however, the 
 ascent of the sap in plants is dependant on a 
 very different cause ; a living power in the vessel 
 of the plant, enabling it, like the animal artery, 
 to act upon its contained juice, seems to ex- 
 plain the phenomenon with more probability. 
 
6s LETTER III, 
 
 We arc at a loss to suppose Capillary Attraction 
 suflficient, to raise the sap to the great height of 
 some ol'our tallest trees. I have said above that 
 Motion may be considered one of the contingent 
 properties of Matter. The nature of Motion, 
 and its various laws, would lead us into a di- 
 gression, too long, for our present purpose, al- 
 though it is a most pleasing subject, and leads 
 to the foundation of the science of Mechanics. 
 MotioJi, then, is a translation from place to 
 place, and is supposed to have some reference to 
 time, which is in fact an idea of abstraction, be- 
 ing only the interval between the motions of bo- 
 dies. Time has been divided into absolute and 
 relative. The latter is the only kind perceptible 
 to us, and measures the degree of motion in cer- 
 tain bodies. True Time, if there be any such 
 thing, flows equally, and is not cognizable to 
 us. Absolute Duration can have no positive 
 existence in nature ; it is merely an idea of suc- 
 cession. The most usual measure of Time with 
 us, is the motion of the celestial orbs; but, per- 
 haps, the most natural measure, is the succes- 
 sion of our ideas; this seems to constitute the 
 true duration of intelligent beings; whence the 
 duration of human existence, is not correctly 
 computed by the number of revolutions of the 
 Sun and Moon, but by the number of ideas that 
 pass through the mind in the course of life; 
 
TIME. G9 
 
 whence one man ma}^ have enjoyed consider- 
 able longer existence, although he was born and 
 died on the same day Avith another man, from 
 havinsj had in the same period, a greater volume 
 of ideas passing through his mind. There is no 
 doubt, that if thought is suspended between 
 Death and the Resurrection, the two moments 
 will appear contiguous. It seems perfectly 
 clear that to an All-perfect Mind, whose existence 
 is infinite, and who can combine the past, pre- 
 sent, and future all in one view, Time can have 
 no positive existence. It would appear then 
 that Time, which seems to us so momentuous, 
 and to have a positive reality, has no absolute 
 existence, but is a mere reference to the mo- 
 tions of other bodies, being a limited portion of 
 duration marked by the successive occurrence of 
 any phenomena. Besides the attractions above 
 spoken of, there are two species, which possess 
 peculiar properties of their own, different from 
 the common laws of gravitation ; these are E/ec- 
 tricitif and Magnetism. I shall, however, not 
 detain you long upon these two modifications of 
 Attraction. Electricity is a very extensive and 
 powerful agent in nature, and nearly allied to 
 Fire. Fire, perhaps, is the genus of which 
 Light, Electricity, and Galvanism, may be dif- 
 ferent species. Electricity is found to pervade 
 all nature ; it is met with on the surfaces of bo- 
 
70 LETTER III. 
 
 dies below, and becomes often visible in the ter- 
 rific Lightning above, and appals the timid spec- 
 tator by its flaming coruscations in the Aurora 
 Borealis. We are only in the infancy of our 
 knowledge concerning this most formidable 
 agent. The other species, Magnetism, is a 
 principle of which wc know still less. The at- 
 traction which the Loadstone has for Iron, seems 
 to have been known to the ancients; but the pro- 
 perty a Magnetic Needle has of directing itself 
 towards the Pole, was the discovery of an Ita- 
 lian in the thirteenth century. When the Pola- 
 rity of the Needle was first discovered, its direc- 
 tion was several degrees to the Easlward of the 
 Pole; it appears that this variation gradually di- 
 minished, till the magnetic and true meridians 
 became parallel, which I believe was the case at 
 London about the year l6o7, when the line of 
 no variation passed over the metropolis ; since 
 which the variation has proceeded westward, to 
 near 30c, but we are told is receding again by 
 slow degrees. The Magnetic Poles, then, seem 
 to shift, and at present the Northern Pole, or 
 point to which the Needle is directed, is sup- 
 posed to be in the Western Hemisphere, at 
 about 160*^ of longitude. The line of no vari- 
 ation is not parallel to any of the meridians, but 
 takes a serpentine form. The nature and cause 
 of Magnetism seems involved in impenetrable 
 
MAGNETISM. 71 
 
 obscurity. Dr. Ilalley made some attempts to 
 explain it, but his hypothesis is now very gene- 
 rally, and I believe justly, laid aside. The use 
 of the Needle in directing the mariner across 
 a trackless expanse of water, is a matter of great 
 astonishment, and, as I shall have occasion here- 
 after to remark, has had no small influence on the 
 history and condition of the human species ; it 
 has enabled them to traverse this immense 
 globe, to unite distant regions, to extend the ad- 
 vantages of science and improvement, and to 
 carry civilization to remote desarts. The gifts 
 and products of one hemisphere have flown 
 into another; religion, arts, sciences, and every 
 thing conducive to the amelioration of mankind, 
 have been wafted along the surface of the path- 
 less ocean, and propagated in every climate, and 
 all this through the instrumentality of a piece of 
 black mineral. 
 
 " Tall Navies hence their doubtful way explore, 
 " And every product waft from every shore." 
 
 After speaking of Attraction, it would seem 
 necessary to say something concerning its oppo- 
 nent, Repulsion. As, however, I made some 
 allusions to it in a former letter on the subject 
 of Fire, it will be only necessary to observe 
 that Repulsion is that property which gives the 
 
/y LETTER III. 
 
 particles of matter a tendency to recede from each 
 other. Fire is the grand agent of Repulsion. 
 All matter appears to he under the influence of 
 these two opposing qualities, Attraction and 
 Repulsion. According to Boscovich, Attrac- 
 tion exerts its effects upon the particles at sen- 
 sible distances, and the attractive power 
 diminishes inversely as the square of the dis- 
 tance. Repulsion operates only at the smallest 
 distance; it increases as the distance diminishes, 
 and at the shortest distance acts so absolutely, 
 that the contact of any of the particles of matter 
 is impossible. It is very manifest the particles 
 of Bodies are not in contact : if you examine the 
 mercury in the thermometer, when at an ele- 
 vated temperature, it has all the appearance of 
 a fluid of uniform density, with its particles 
 in contact; if you then depress the temperature, 
 the mercury will be condensed into half its 
 former compass, and appear as before, proving 
 that in the former instance, the particles could 
 not be in contact ; and the same may be said of 
 every other body ; for the hardest substance we 
 meet with, is capable of being condensed by a 
 reduction of temperature, to a much smaller 
 compass than we ever find it, shewing that the 
 parts of Matter cannot be in absolute contact. — 
 We find, then, that where the sphere of Attrac- 
 tion ends, that of Repulsion begins ; hence all 
 
orc;anized bodies. 73 
 
 the motions and changes we meet with in 
 nature are the result of these two contending 
 principles. Repulsion is made manifest to us 
 by many familiar appearances. If a steel needle 
 is very carefully placed on the surface of a 
 basin of water, the Repulsion will prevent its 
 sinking: the rolling of drops of dew upon the 
 leaves of plants, so observable in a garden on a 
 summer's morning, is another; the easy motion 
 of a fly upon the surface of Avater, while it 
 does not touch it ; the evident separation be- 
 tween oil and water, &c. &c. 
 
 Having made these few observations on the 
 common properties of Matter, we come to some 
 comparative remarks, between the physical qua- 
 lities of common or inanimate Matter, and the 
 living attributes of organic substance. All the 
 projierties enumerated as attached to Matter in 
 general, we find perfectly passive, it is inca- 
 pable of itself of taking on any degree of action ; 
 it possesses only the aptitude of being acted on 
 by other agency, without any power of resisting^ 
 the force of that agency ; it is entirely inert, and 
 remains for ever in the same state of quiescence, 
 when not exposed to the active energies of 
 other powers. The dormant and inactive state 
 in which we observe Matter to have remained 
 for ages, would seem sufficient to refute the 
 notion of its possessing properties of an active 
 
74 LETTER 111 
 
 nature, capable of taking on the form and texture 
 of organic existence. Many philosophers, how- 
 ever, with the talents of Priestley at their head, 
 have supposed in Matter a capacity of assuming 
 active energy, and changing itself into modes of 
 organized substance. We find so striking and 
 important a difference between the properties of 
 living and dead Matter, that we are at a loss to 
 conceive how the functions of life can be car^ 
 ried on, without a spiritual Immaterial some- 
 thing, which stimulates the living machine, 
 and directs all its energies. It must be allowed, 
 the connection between Mind and Matter, is 
 certainly of a very arbitrary nature ; a perfect 
 display of mental capacity can only arise from a 
 perfect developement of organic form. We be- 
 hold every where that Perception, and all the 
 faculties of mind, are inseparable from perfection 
 of organization in the brain, and organs of sense ; 
 wherever the latter are defective and impaired, 
 Perception, and its modes, become impaired 
 also. This arbitrary connection has furnished 
 the matcrialst with the main pillar of his argu- 
 ment ; in this, however, he seems to have 
 committed an error, very common in enquiries 
 after nature, that of confounding effects with 
 their causes. The actions of life are the effects 
 of organic structure; yet that organic structure 
 itself is only the effect of the operative power of 
 
MATERIALISM. 75 
 
 a living principle, which is the primum mobile. 
 This Principle of Life is the great architect, 
 which models all the organs of the body ; it is 
 the great source from which all action springs ; 
 it is the essence of the perfect structure of parts ; 
 it is, in fact, a first cause, of which organization 
 is only an efl'ect. This Principle of Life is 
 active and stimulant; the matter of which the 
 organs are constructed, is passive and inert. 
 Moreover, flatter is capable of division of parts 
 without any destruction of its integrity. Mind, 
 on the contrary, is perfectly indivisible ; we 
 perceive the smallest division destroys the per- 
 fection of its faculty, which is inseparable from 
 a totality of structure. If Organization was, 
 as some have contended, a physical property 
 of Matter, then, as the whole is made of its 
 parts, and as all the parts are equal to the whole, 
 we must allow Perceptive attributes to the 
 smallest particles, and thus it must inevitably 
 follow, that the ultimate atoms of body were 
 possessed of percipiency and thought; this is 
 a difficulty which the materialists cannot easily 
 get over. Upon the Avhole, I think the theory 
 of Materialism is in error by setting out from 
 the wrong point, and supposing that to be a 
 cause, which is in fact only an effect of the 
 great primary spring of action, the Living Prin- 
 ciple, which fashions and moulds the inert sub- 
 
76 LETTER III. 
 
 stance of passive matter, and gives it its particu- 
 lar form. The complex actions of a Living 
 Machine, seem to arise from a combination of 
 an immaterial agency, with a certain arrange- 
 ment of parts, and nature has so constituted us, 
 that where this arrangement does not take place, 
 or wherever it is defective, the Phenomena of 
 Life are incomplete. The Brunonian Theory 
 supposes that the Nervous System is endowed 
 with a certain aptitude to be acted on by sti- 
 muli, which he calls Excitability; and that, 
 when the different stimuli are applied, (which 
 consist of Alcohol, Heat, &c.) the excitability 
 is called into action ; that Living Action is there- 
 fore a tertium quid, resulting from the action of 
 external exciting causes, upon the inherent ex- 
 citability of the Nervous fibre. He imagines 
 each individual system to be endowed with a 
 specific quantity of this Excitability, which gives 
 a relative duration of life in different persons, ac- 
 cording to the succession in the application of 
 these exciting stimuli. This theory is closely 
 allied to Materialism, and seems to carry along 
 with it all the objections that may be made 
 against the Material Hypothesis. It has, how- 
 ever, the merit of much originality, and deserves 
 to be respectfully mentioned, were it only for 
 the beneficial influence it has had on the prac- 
 tice of Physic. For although few practitioners 
 
BRUNONIAN THEORY. 77 
 
 care to avow themselves Brunonians, yet their 
 language and practice soon convince us it has 
 had a happy effect, in restraining the use of 
 those extensive depletory means formerly too 
 copiously employed in a multitude of cases. 
 
 [n my next, 1 shall offer you a few remarks 
 on Organized Structures in general, till when, 
 I remain, 
 
 Dear Friend, 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 L. S. B. 
 
78 LETTER IV, 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 Dear Friend, 
 
 XXAVING finished my last with some general 
 remarks on the Theory of Materialism, we will 
 now direct our attention to the nature and attri- 
 butes of Organized Beings. These are endowed 
 with active properties and powers, of which in- 
 animate matter is perfectly destitute. — Organized 
 Bodies possess within themselves faculties, by 
 which they are enabled to maintain, not only 
 their structures, but to repair the waste of action 
 and the impairments of injury; th^y can assimi- 
 late objects foreign to them, incorporate them 
 with their own texture, and considerably aug- 
 ment the bulk of their parts ; they can propa- 
 gate their respective species by increase of indi- 
 viduals, and in the higher orders, higher powers 
 are manifested, which approach at last the na- 
 ture of superior intelligences. All the Earth 
 we inhabit (and perhaps its accompanying Pla- 
 nets) is replete with various forms and modes of 
 organic existence; each element teems with liv- 
 ing powers; an immense diversity of different 
 genera and species, embracing all possible va- 
 riety, display themselves to view, and have led 
 
ORGANIZED BODIES. 79 
 
 many to suppose, that matter possessed within 
 itself the property of assuming organic structure. 
 The whole surface of the globe seems in motion, 
 a busy circle of animated movements and 
 changes is incessantly going on; no climate, no 
 spot, no element, seems exempt from the pre- 
 sence of living systems; they pervade all. 
 
 *' See through this air, this ocean, and this earth, 
 " All matter quick, and bursting into birth; 
 " Above, how high progressive hfe may go; 
 " Around, how wide, how deep, extend below. 
 " Vast chain of being, that from God began, 
 " Nature's ethereal, human, angel man." 
 
 In commencing a survey of Organized Nature, 
 we hardly know where to set out; so minutely 
 regular is the connecting chain, so close is the 
 analogy that links all, and so beautiful is the 
 harmony that prevails throughout, that the whole 
 seems to form one circle, where all the parts have 
 mutual affinity and dependance, and no part can 
 admit of separation, so as to afford the jnmctum 
 sa//cws of philosophical description. Commenc- 
 ing with the lowest order of matter, the Mineral 
 Kingdom, we see regular forms that excite our 
 admiration and astonishment ; the variety of 
 chrystalline productions so uniformly exact, that 
 display almost every variety of geometrical out- 
 line, bear, in appearance, an analogy of structure 
 to the more perfect orders of being. The flejd- 
 
80 LETTKR IV. 
 
 ble asbestus, which from the interwoven texture 
 of its fibres, has sometimes been applied to simi- 
 lar uses with cloth, has a resemblance in the ar- 
 rangement of its parts to the structure of vege- 
 table matter, and has been considered by some 
 as the first step towards organization; but this 
 analogy does not hold out, — we soon find that 
 asbestus and chrystals can only be said to grow 
 by having an accretion of matter, by an apposi- 
 tion of new substance, which merely augments 
 their bulk mechanically, as two and two make 
 four. Their increase of parts is not the effect of 
 a developement of actions going on from within; 
 it is not a penetrable expansion of parts, the re- 
 sult of organic tubes acting by virtue of their 
 own power; it is mere mechanical armngement, 
 by which one heap is added to another, and 
 magnitude produced by simple addition of quan- 
 tity. These bodies never assimilate juices, and 
 convert them to their own texture; they never 
 can have the expansion of growth; they only 
 magnify by fresh accumulations; in short, they 
 are not subservient to the laws of organic exis- 
 tence, but rest with the physical endowments of 
 common matter, and continue for ever passive. 
 Organized Bodies are of themselves elaborate 
 machines, that by means of particular organs, 
 assimilate and incorporate the substances of 
 other bodies into the constitution of their own; 
 
 ■4> 
 
VEGETABLES. 81 
 
 by this means all their internal parts, a8 well as 
 external, are increased; they preserve the regu- 
 lar symmetry and proportion of all their parts, 
 and each part continues its proper functions. 
 They possess the power of re-producing their 
 species, and often of renovating parts that in- 
 juries may have torn from them : all this is de- 
 nied to minerals; a regular formed chrystal, 
 whether a cube, a pyramid, or a polyedron, is no 
 more an organized substance than a fluted pillar, 
 or any peice of ornamental carved work attached 
 to one of our buildings. The Vegetable King- 
 dom claims our first attention, from the compa- 
 rative simplicity of its structure, and perhaps the 
 priority of its creation. It is clear it must have 
 existed before the Animal Kingdom, which de- 
 rives most of its sustenance from it, so much so, 
 that it has been said " All flesh is grass." Ve- 
 getables are less complex in their fabric than 
 animals; they are more limited in their powers; 
 they remain fixed to their particular spots, and 
 are destitute of percipiency or consciousness; as 
 Linn'jeus says they grow and live, but animals 
 grow, live, and feel. They possess many ana- 
 logies with animals, but as far as observations 
 have hitherto gone, they are quite destitute of 
 every thing like Brain, or organs of sense. The 
 simplicity of their organizatio^i requires only a 
 corresponding simplicity of food ; they grow t^ 
 
 G 
 
yS LEITKR IV, 
 
 immense masses, and endure to extensive pe- 
 riods, by means of air and water only. They 
 surpass animals in simplicity of structure; the 
 hitter can only subsist on other organized beings. 
 A cgetables speedily renovate lost parts; each 
 part is often capable of becoming a whole ; they 
 flourish again after extensive mutilations, they 
 propagate by various modes astonishingly sim- 
 ple, they acquire immense magnitudes, and they 
 endure in full perfection for periods of time, that 
 far exceed the utmost range of any species of 
 animal longevity. Oaks commonly attain the 
 age of three centuries : there is said to be a ches- 
 nut tree at Tortworth, in Gloucestershire, sup- 
 posed to be a thousand years old. Thus we are 
 induced to consider A'egetables as an order of 
 beings more perfect in corporeal independance 
 of function, than the higher orders of organized 
 bodies, but less important in the final purpose 
 of their creation. Nature ascends by regular 
 steps from the simplest forms of organic arrange- 
 ment. We see Vegetables abundantly diffused 
 for the use of animals, we see man exercising his 
 prerogative over them, and some placid commu- 
 nities feeding on them alone, and living in 
 peaceful serenity. But exclusive of their abso- 
 lute utility as food for man, let him cast his eye 
 over the surface of the globe, and see what an 
 inexhaustible store of pleasure and enjoyment 
 
VEGETATION. oS 
 
 Xature has furnished him, in the immense dis- 
 phw of Vegetable creation; the whole Earth is 
 richly carpeted with living verdure, and inverted 
 with a rich coat of vegetable growth. 
 
 The great landscape of the Earth has its chief 
 colouring from the Vegetable world; the exten-. 
 sive variety that every where presents itself, as- 
 tonishes and delights us. We see groves and 
 forests before us adorned with every possible 
 shade of colouring; hills and valleys coated 
 with most luxuriant vegetation; spacious plains 
 exhibiting the waving harvest in golden splen- 
 dour, and the varied tints and forms which every 
 where embellish the surface, manifesting the 
 bounty of Omnipotence in thus decorating the 
 Globe, and placing man in a garden that abounds 
 with the most magnificent profusion and the 
 most splendid variety. The outline of Plants 
 exhibits an endless variety of figure; and lan- 
 guage has been strained to express this variety. 
 They possess functions subservient to the pur- 
 poses of their nutrition, their growth, the evolu- 
 tion of different products, and their propagation. 
 The roots of Plants are the mouths that absorb 
 elementary matter from the Earth ; it i.s carried 
 on to the vessels of the inner bark, where a pro- 
 cess, similar to digestion, is going on, and me- 
 dulla formed, which is a matter analogous to 
 the blood in animals, out of which all the parts 
 
S4 LETTER IV. 
 
 are formed, and all the juices given out by secre- 
 tions. The whole inner bark, from the roots 
 upwards to the smaller branches, may be said 
 then to be the vegetable stomach ; it forms the 
 medulla from the moisture absorbed, and manu- 
 factures the wood itself, which is first deposited 
 in a soft substance called Alburnum, that after- 
 wards hardens and forms an additional ring of 
 wood that increases the bulk of the Tree; one 
 of these rings is added every year, and thus 
 forms an index of the Tree's age. The motion 
 of the Medulla is not like that of the blood, 
 a circulation ; it seems to be only that of ascent 
 and descent, according to the stimulus of exter- 
 nal heat. In spring and summer, the Sun's 
 warmth excites the sap vessels into action, and 
 the Medulla ascends and pervades every branch 
 and pore, opens the buds, and actuates the evolu- 
 tion of the flowers and leaves. On the contrary, 
 when the influence of the Sun's rays recedes 
 from us at the approach of winter, the sap ves- 
 sels lose the stimulus necessary to their living 
 action, the medulla retires from the minute ex- 
 tremities, which thus losing their pabulum, be- 
 come torpid, and the leaves and efflorescence, 
 which had progressively gone on to fructifica- 
 tion, now wither and drop, and the whole plant 
 lies dormant, like many species of animals, for 
 the winter, till the return of the Sun in spring 
 
VEGETATION. 85 
 
 awakens it into action again, to perform the 
 same round of vegetating phenomena. . This is 
 the History of the Revolution of Plants, in ge- 
 neral, in our climate. 
 
 It is wonderful to observe the peculiar man- 
 ner in which Plants adjust themselves to the 
 different seasons, even the different hours of the 
 day, and how gradually they accommodate 
 themselves to any change of climate. Wc are 
 told that near the Pole they are later in growth, 
 and ripen so much quicker as the summer ar- 
 rives later, and opens more forcibly. Plants 
 brought from the Torrid Zone to Europe ripen 
 later the first year, as they wait for their accus- 
 tomed sun ; the following summers they gra- 
 dually arrive earlier at maturity, as they become 
 habituated to their new situation. In the artifi- 
 cial warmth of a Plothouse, each follows its na- 
 tive seasons, whatever number of years it may 
 have been in this climate. The plants of the 
 Cape blossom in winter, because it is then sum- 
 mer in their native country. The Marvel of 
 Peru is said to blossom at night, because it is 
 then day in America; hence each adheres to the 
 season and even time of day it has been accus- 
 tomed to in its native soil, strongly indicating 
 that something more than heat and moisture are 
 necessary to their growth. The perfection of 
 the flowers and fruit, and the various juices 
 
86 LETTER IV. 
 
 which different species give out; — in short, the 
 perfect evoKition of Vegetable Life in all its 
 parts, is dependant, like that of Animal, on the 
 atmosphere. Different kinds of air are inhaled 
 and others expired, and this process goes on in 
 the leaves : these are the lungs of trees. It is 
 ascertained the under side of the leaf is the organ 
 of inspiration, while the upper side is the sur- 
 face which returns to the air such matter as is 
 no longer wanted in the system. 
 
 As I have had occasion to remark before. 
 Oxygen Gas is given out in abundance during 
 the day time, when the solar rays are acting. 
 Carbonic Acid and Nitrogen are the gases most 
 speedily absorbed. The leaves of vegetables 
 contain a multitude of absorbent vessels that in- 
 hale a quantity of air and moisture, which they 
 occasionally give out again to the atmosphere. 
 Dr. Hales found that the Great Annual Sun 
 Flower perspired, during twelve hours of a sum- 
 mer's day, thirty ounces ; the matter thus ex- 
 creted was no doubt such as had become dele- 
 terious and effete, and necessary to the health 
 of the plant to be discharged. This kind of res- 
 piration goes on in summer, and seems neces- 
 sary to the perfection of the fruit of the follow- 
 ing year; in fact, the bud is formed the preceding 
 autumn. 
 
 Light seems also essential to Vegetables; if 
 
VEGETATION. 8/ 
 
 they are situate in a dark room, they will endea- 
 vour by degrees to approach any aperture that 
 admits light, and will bend in any direction to- 
 Avards such opening; thus trees that grow in the 
 midst of clusters are generally straight; the ver- 
 tical light can only reach them; to this they are 
 attracted, and hence acquire a straight form, 
 while those on the edge of the plantation take 
 on the most irregular shapes. Mr. Hunter made 
 many experiments to ascertain the temperature 
 of the sap, which he generally found to be very 
 low. Different plants give out as excretory 
 matter different juices, 'which are technically 
 designated by the generic term of sued proprii, 
 as the various species of gums and balsams, 
 sugar, indigo, opium, aloes, &c. Sugar is a sub- 
 stance that prevails so extensively through the 
 Vegetable Kingdom, that it may be obtained 
 more or less from all; it is found abundantly in 
 many roots — as the carrot, parsnip, and beet; it 
 exists in grain, but is most abundant in the 
 ariindo saccharifera, or sugar cane, cultivated 
 now so extensively in the West Indies. The 
 juice is expressed by passing the canes between 
 two iron rollers placed perpendicularly; it is 
 conducted into a cauldron, where it is boiled 
 with wood-ashes and lime; the scum is taken 
 off; this process is repeated till it becomes sy- 
 rup ; it is then boiled with lime and alum, and 
 
58 LETTER IV. 
 
 ^vhc^ sufficiently concentrated, is poured into 
 hogsheads pierced at bottom ; it chrystallizcs in 
 the form of sugar. Sugar is found by chemical 
 analysis to consist of Carbon, Hydrogen, and 
 Oxygen, in the proportions of 28, 8, and 64. 
 
 Linnaeus, whose name will be a lasting hon- 
 our to that country which gave him birth, 
 formed his classification of the Vegetable king- 
 dom from the Efilorescence. He took the Sta- 
 mina and Pistils as the basis of his artificial 
 arrangement ; the great importance of these parts 
 in the fructification led him to this adoption. 
 Although the other parts of the Efflorescence 
 are wanting in many flowers, yet the Anthera 
 and Stigma seem constantly present. As the 
 minute application of the twenty^four orders in 
 this system would embrace so much matter, and 
 as this is a science I have very little explored, 
 I shall attempt no observ^ations on Botanical 
 arrangement, further than to say, that every 
 mode of Vegetable classification hitherto adopt- 
 ed, appears too arbitrary and artificial, to be of 
 much use in leading us to form a correct opinion 
 of the qualities of individual species. Most of 
 the orders contain many plants of various and 
 opposite characters, so that little more benefit 
 is afforded than the mere mechanical advantage, 
 which methodical arrangement gives in the 
 study of all sciences in general, but of this in 
 
VEGETATION. 89 
 
 particular, which comprehends the astonishing 
 variety of forty thousand different species. 
 
 Chemistry proves that all the immense va- 
 riety of vegetable matter is formed from only 
 four or five simple substances, viz. Caloric, Light, 
 Oxygen, Hydrogen, Carbon, and a little Nitro- 
 gen. Can any thing in the whole page of Na- 
 ture be more astonishing than this? that such 
 boundless variety should be involved in a few 
 elements ; that such infinity should be contained 
 in such unity: that such an endless profu- 
 sion of form, colour, odour, and every sen- 
 sible property, should be produced from half a 
 dozen simple elements, variously combined and 
 arranged, is one of those many subhme wonders 
 that overwhelm the philosopher, and prove in- 
 contestibly that " the will of God is the ultima- 
 tum of all human knowledge." 
 
 This inexhaustible variety of vegetable orders 
 is a wise and beneficent provision of the Creator, 
 for the numerous tribes of animated beings he 
 has placed on this Globe, to fulfil the final pur- 
 poses of his plan. But I will conclude my re- 
 marks on this head with a beautiful and often- 
 quoted passage from St. Pierre : — " The sluggish 
 cow pastures in the cavity of the valley ; the 
 bounding sheep on the declivity of the hill ; the 
 scrambling goat browses among the shrubs of 
 the rock ; the duck feeds on the water plants of 
 
90 LETTER IV. 
 
 the river ; the hen, with attentive eye, picks up 
 every grain that is lost in the field ; the pigeon, 
 of rapid wing, collects a similar tribute from the 
 refuse of the grove ; and the frugal bee turns to 
 account even the small dust on the flower : 
 there is no part of the earth where the whole 
 vegetable crop may not be reaped. Those plants 
 which are rejected by one, are a delicacy to ano- 
 ther, and even among the finny tribes contribute 
 to their fatness. The hog devours the horsetail 
 and the henbane, the goat the thistle and the 
 hemlock. All return in the evening to the ha- 
 bitation of man, with murmurs, with bleatings, 
 with cries of joy, bringing back to him the de- 
 licious tribute of innumerable plants, trans- 
 formed by a process, the most inconceivable, in- 
 to honey, milk, butter, eggs, and cream.*' Thus 
 we find vegetables formed of a combination of a 
 few elements from the mineral kingdom ; these 
 they elaborate and convert to their own struc- 
 ture, and become afterwards the pabula and 
 sources of animal existence: thus vegetables are 
 the link between minerals and animals, as per- 
 haps man may be between animals and angels, 
 and thus we see — 
 
 " Dying vegetables life sustain, „ 
 " And life dissolving vegetate again." 
 
 Having made these few general observations 
 
ANIMAL KINGDOM. 91 
 
 on the Vegetable world, we now arrive in course 
 on the confines of another kingdom of nature : 
 we must make a transition from these to beings 
 of a higher order, but the change we shall find 
 to be very gradual. Though common observers 
 may suppose the distinction between Vegetables 
 and Animals to be strongly marked, and that 
 each is characterized by separate and striking dif- 
 ferences, yet the systematic enquirer into Nature, 
 finds that it is one of the most difficult tasks to 
 define the distinction between these two orders; 
 they are found to possess many more common 
 properties, than real differences. Vegetables 
 make a very near approach towards animals; 
 the shades of distinction are found too delicate 
 to discriminate with precision, and the point 
 where Vegetable life terminates, and Anima^ 
 commences, has puzzled the greatest naturalists; 
 some have inferred a distinction from the loco- 
 motive faculty of animals, but this is only a 
 doubtful difference; many of the lowest orders 
 of animals have this faculty in so limited a de- 
 gree, that they can hardly be said to enjoy it. 
 Oysters have but a very contracted range, and 
 many species of the Testacea and others seem 
 for ever fixed to the spots on which they grow, 
 and have no further movement, than that of ex- 
 panding or contracting the volume of their bo- 
 dies. Besides, Vegetables must be allowed to 
 
92 LETTER IV, 
 
 possess a certain degree of motion; the roots of 
 all plants have an evident tendency to shoot to- 
 wards that soil which seems to possess most 
 nourishment; they turn towards it, and recede 
 from that portion of soil of an opposite quality. 
 The whole plant, in a dark room, bends towards 
 the opening that admits the light. If, in a dry 
 season, a wet sponge is placed near a plant, it 
 will show a manifest inclination to approach the 
 sponge. Sope flowers daily follow the motion 
 of the Sun, from his morning's appearance in 
 the East, till his evening's departure in the 
 West. The Sleep of Plants is accompanied with 
 certain movements, that far exceed any thing 
 we meet with in the lowest orders of animals. 
 But above all, three individuals seem to evince 
 the greatest share of vegetable movement ; these 
 are, the Sensitive Plant, the liedysarum Gyraus, 
 and the DioneaMuscipula or Venus's Fly Trap; 
 to the particular history of these I must refer 
 you. The existence of a Heart has been sup- 
 posed by others as the distinction ; but we know 
 many insects entirely want this organ. We find 
 animals that possess neither brain, nor stomach, 
 nor any particular viscera; the presence or ab- 
 sence of these parts, therefore, can be no crite- 
 rion of positive distinction. Irritability cannot 
 be denied to plants, nor perhaps a certain degree 
 of sensation. Both orders possess many com- 
 
ANIMAL KINGDOM. 93 
 
 mon functions, as nutrition, growth, re-produc- 
 tion, and final decay. Their boundaries are not 
 defined by any exact appearances in Nature, and 
 we pass imperceptibly in our pursuit from one 
 order into the other. In tracing the analogy be- 
 tween these two kingdoms of nature, we shall 
 find our labours attended with more success and 
 satisfaction. The similarity of the functions I 
 have just named constitute a close affinity, and 
 prove they possess much stronger similitudes 
 than essential differences, and that the one 
 makes constant approximations towards the na- 
 ture of the other. 
 
 Leaving, therefore, the Vegetable System, let 
 us now take a glance at the extensive range of 
 Animal Existence. Here we find a world of 
 itself, containing a display of the most astonish- 
 inff and essential varieties of structure and of 
 function; difference of form, diversity of nature 
 and of character; ascending from the lowest 
 species by insensible gradations to the organiza- 
 tion of man, the most perfect specimen of Crea- 
 tive Wisdom. All this variety we see blended 
 in one great system of unity. This apparent 
 Labyrinth is a perfect scheme of Harmony of 
 Design. The various powers and faculties of 
 animated beings rise gradually, till Man, en- 
 dowed with superior attributes of intellectual 
 capacity, stands Lord of the whole. The ut- 
 
91. LETTER IV. 
 
 most harmony and unity of design pervades 
 throughout. The lowest species form the basis 
 of a column, to which the ascending orders con- 
 tribute as it rises, till Man at last crowns the 
 superstructure, and becomes the summit of an 
 immense Pyramid of Supreme Architecture. 
 
 Linnaeus divided the Animal Kingdom into 
 six classes, Mammalia, Birds, Amphibia, Fishes, 
 Insects, and Worms, and this is the system in 
 genera] use: the labours and discoveries of those 
 frreat anatomists, Blumenbach and Cuvier, have 
 however modified and improved upon this sys- 
 tem, by subdividing some of the orders and ge- 
 nera, and have added much to its amendment. 
 The transition from the Vegetable World is made 
 easy by beginning with the lowest order of ani- 
 mal forms, the Insect Tribe. In the Linnoean 
 arrangement. Insects are divided into Insects 
 and Worms. Cuvier forms the worms into 
 three classes, Mollusca, Vermes, and Zoophyta. 
 The Zoophyta, then, form the lowest order in the 
 scale of animation : they have neither Brain nor 
 Nerves ; no heart, nor perhaps Blood-vessels, 
 and no articulated members. Some are soft and 
 oelatinous substances, as the Medusa or Sea 
 Nettle, so commonly found floating on the sur- 
 face, and the fresh water Polypus, so tenacious 
 of life, that when cut into several pieces, each 
 piece becomes a whole animal, like the parent 
 
ZOOPHYTA VERMES. 95 
 
 one, but somewhat less in bulk. Others are 
 covered with a coriaceous crust, as the Echinus, 
 the Star-fish, &c. The inhabitants of Corals 
 and Sponges rank in this order. There are va- 
 rious species of coral, and their animal nature is 
 now ascertained beyond a doubt. I had occa- 
 sion before to observe, that the aggregation of 
 these insects in the Southern Hemisphere, has 
 laid a calcareous base for numerous islands that 
 are now occupied by man. The microscopic 
 animalculae found in different infusions belong 
 to this order. The Zoophyta we find, then, at 
 the bottom of the scale ; their powers are so li- 
 mited that many of them were long considered 
 vegetable productions. Ascending, we come to 
 the Vermes. These are divided into Intestinal 
 and External: the former are of more simple 
 organization than the latter; they exist in the 
 cavities of man and other animals ; they are 
 principally the Gordius or Guinea Worm, the 
 Hydatid, the Taenia or Tape Worm, the Ascaris, 
 and the Lumbricus. These animals are naked, 
 and without limbs ; they seem to possess no 
 Heart and Blood-vessels. The External worms, 
 as the Earth-worm, &c. possess neither circula- 
 ting or nervous systems, and like the Polypus, 
 may be multiplied by cuttings; they possess 
 the organs of both sexes, and mutually impreg- 
 nate. .The other class of the Vermes, according 
 to Cuvier, is the Mollusca; these are so called 
 
96 LETTER IV. 
 
 from their soft fleshy nature ; some of them are 
 naked and destitute of any covering, whence 
 they are called Nuda, as the Slug; others are 
 defended by an envelope of shell, and constitute 
 a numerous tribe under the name of Testacca. 
 Both these species of Mollusca have no articu- 
 lated members ; they possess blood-vessels and 
 a circulation ; they respire by gills, and have 
 some appearance of brain and nervous system ; 
 whence we may perceive them one degree above 
 the Zoophyta and Worms. Cuvier has made 
 some further distinction among the numbers of 
 this tribe, as the cephalopoda^ where the organs 
 of motion are near the head, as the Cuttle-fish, 
 the Nautilus, &c. ; the Gasteropoda that crawl 
 on the belly, as the. Limpet, the Snail, the 
 Whelk, the Screw, &c. ; the Acephala, which 
 have no head, as the Oyster, Cockle, Muscle, 
 &c. These animals secrete from the surfaces of 
 their bodies a covering of lime, united with a 
 certain proportion of carbonic acid, which pro- 
 duce all the varieties to be met with in the ca- 
 binets of the curious. These sliells are ranged 
 according to the number of parts, as Univalve, 
 Bivalve, Multivalve, &c. I shall defer the con- 
 sideration of the proper Insects and their 
 Economy till my next, and remain for the pre- 
 sent, my Dear Friend, 
 
 Tours sincerel}', 
 
 'l. s. b. 
 
97 
 
 LETTER V. 
 
 Dear Friend, 
 
 XN my last I gave you a few remarks on the 
 lower order of Insects, the A^ermes ; the other 
 division that take the name of Insects, now 
 merit our attention. These form a tribe that 
 differ very materially from those that have gone 
 before. They possess articulated members, and 
 antennae ; every insect has a head, antennae, 
 and feet, of which the Vermes, with a very few 
 exceptions, are quite destitute ; these parts are 
 the distinguishing- criteria of Insects. They 
 possess six or more feet, and respire by pores 
 or tubes, in the sides of their bodies, called 
 Stigmata or Spiraculi ; they have no bones, but 
 their tough skins serve the purpose of shells : 
 it is the antennae that are the peculiar organs ; 
 these are jointed and tubular, and seem to con- 
 tain some organs of sense, perhaps those of 
 hearing, as well as touch. This class exhibits 
 such a variety, that naturalists have divided 
 them into tribes, chiefly according to the num- 
 ber and position of the wnngs ; these are, first, 
 the Coieoptera^ which have a hollow horny 
 case, under which the wings are folded, as the 
 
 H 
 
9^ LETTER V. 
 
 I3eetlc, the Glow-worm*, the Spanish Fly, &c ; 
 secondly, Hemiplera having four wings stretch- 
 ed straight out, or placed across each other, as 
 the Grasshopper, the Bug, the Cockroach, &c. ; 
 thirdly, Lepidopfcra, having four wings studded 
 with scales, and a soft hairy body, which divi- 
 sion takes in all the beautiful tribe of Butter- 
 flies, Moths, &c. ; fourthly, the Neuroptera 
 having four articulated wings, as the Dragon 
 and Ephemeron Flies ; fifthly, Hymenoptera, 
 which differ from the last only in having a sting, 
 as the Wasp, the Bee, the Ant, &c. ; sixthly, 
 Dipiera, two wings only, with little balls or 
 poisers behind the roots of eachs the common 
 Fly, the Gnat, the Musquito, &c. belong to this 
 order ; Aptera which possess no wings, as the 
 Spider, the Scorpion, the Flea, and to which 
 Linnaeus added the Lobster and Crab ; Cuvier, 
 however, has placed these, with the Shrimp and 
 the !^onoculus by themselves, under the name of 
 Crustana. These are the general divisions of 
 the Insect tribe. In looking on this class of ani- 
 
 * It is impossible to mention the Glow-worm without cal- 
 ling to mind the singular anomaly it forms in its sexual 
 difference. The little insect that we see on a summer's 
 evening in the hedge emitting phosphoric light, is, as its 
 name imports, a worm; it is the female, and its male com- 
 panion is aji^, that takes wing and traverses another element, 
 and is attracted to its mate by this peculiar signal of a liimi- 
 nous secretion on the surface of the female worm. 
 
INSECTS. 99 
 
 mated nature, we behold many circumstances 
 in their structure and economy of the most ex- 
 traordinary character. The peculiar phenomena 
 of their transformation is a most astonishing 
 ordinance of nature ; although most of the other 
 tribes of animals, between birth and old age, 
 undergo many alterations and changes, yet no- 
 thing in the whole range of animal existence, 
 equals this singular transmutation of a worm or 
 caterpillar, into a nym.ph or chrysalis, and the 
 developement from this passive envelope, of a 
 fly possessing no analogy of structure with the 
 preceding worm, but taking on a different set of 
 functions, and becoming a tenant of the air: 
 this is an instance of the greatest change which 
 nature affords amidst all her sportive variety. 
 There are several circumstances in the history 
 of this tribe, which cannot fail of arresting our 
 attention ; we find, the lower an animal is in the 
 scale, the greater is its independence of that 
 complicated texture of nervous system, on 
 which the more perfect animals continue in such 
 constant depcndance. Such is the complex 
 structure of Man, and those animals that ap- 
 proach him in their organization, that the 
 slightest injury offered to particular organs in- 
 stantly terminates life ; while we perceive that 
 the lower orders of animal life, will, like ve^^e- 
 tables, suffer violence and lesion to a considera- 
 
100 LETTER V. 
 
 ble extent without destruction. When divided, 
 the Polypus and the Earth-worm will again 
 unite, or each divided portion will become an 
 entire new animal ; they are capable of restoring 
 parts that have been separated : the Lobster and 
 Crab will shoot out fresh claws, if their present 
 ones are torn off. Blumenbach removed the 
 head of a Snail, which with its four horns were 
 reproduced, though the process took up near 
 six months. In proportion, then, as animal^ 
 are depressed in the scale, are they endowed 
 with tenacious living powers, that render their 
 existence more independent. Still, however, 
 they are relatively imperfect ; they are not sus- 
 ceptible of any improvement or education, like 
 the more perfect kinds ; guided by the irresistible 
 and undeviating impulse of strong instinct, they 
 cannot travel out of the prescribed path ; when 
 removed to situations where instinct cannot 
 operate, they have no sagacity, no intelligence 
 to substitute means : a Bee, removed from his 
 associates, is helpless and inert ; without the 
 least power of varying his instinct, he cannot 
 turn to another mode of action : a dog will vary 
 his pursuits, but a Bee is a creature of necessity, 
 a member of society, acting by innate compul- 
 sion. Many animals are capable of being in- 
 structed ; the Dog, the Horse, even the chur- 
 lish Hoo-, evince no inconsiderable docility ; 
 
INSECTS. 101 
 
 but the Insect, is destitute of all power of bend- 
 ing from the yoke of instinctive impulse. 
 
 Of all the productions in nature, Insects are 
 thought by some to be most numerous, even to 
 exceed plants, Avhich often bear myriads of the 
 former, as living tenants of their surfaces ; the 
 extent of their fecundity is immense ; a single 
 Mite will, in a few days, be multiplied a thou- 
 sand times. It is a rule in nature, that the 
 meaner births are lavished in profusion, while 
 the larger and nobler animals are produced with 
 a more dignified economy. 
 
 The mode of propagation in Insects partakes 
 of some variety: in the lowest order, the 
 Zoophytes generation resembles the grov.'th of 
 buds and branches in trees: in these the young 
 shoot out from the surface of the parent ; a small 
 protuberance, analogous to a bud, is first of all 
 visible ; this gradually, increases, and a new 
 individual is at length evolved, which, when it 
 has attained a certain size, becomes separated 
 from the parent : they may be multiplied also by 
 divisions, like plants ; this is the most simple 
 form, and requires no distinction of sex. The 
 Mollusca display a difference of sexual struc- 
 ture ; the Acephalous kind, such as the oyster, 
 muscle, &c. contain both systems in one, and 
 form a race of true androgynous animals. Other 
 species of Mollusca, as the Snail, the Leech, 
 
102 LET^TER V. 
 
 &c. contain also both systems in one, but re- 
 quire the union of tw6 individuals ; this is the 
 case with most worms. As we ascend higher, 
 we find the winged Insects approach the mode 
 established among more perfect animals, and 
 divide into male and female ; the latter deposits 
 her ova by an unerring instinct, in a proper 
 nidus ; at the regular period, these become 
 evolved, a worm or caterpillar is produced, 
 which sooner or later undergoes the usual trans- 
 formations, takes on the winged form, proceeds 
 to multiply its species, and then finishes its 
 career. 
 
 Insects are indigent of that vital fluid, of 
 which all the other forms of artimal nature stand 
 in such constant need ; they cannot continue 
 their living actions in a vacuum ; they require a 
 constant supply of oxygen, that Alma Mater 
 of animal perfection ; and in return they give 
 out carbon like other animals : but the mode of 
 respiraticjn is very different ; no white-blooded 
 animals take in air by the mouth — they conse- 
 quently have no lungs. In caterpillars, an air 
 tube lies under the skin, on each side of the 
 body, which has several openings, called stig- 
 mata, that absorb the air, which ife distributed 
 all over the body by numerous ramifications. 
 
 Respiration in these Insects is produced by 
 absorption from the surface of the body, which 
 
SENSES OF INSECTS. 105 
 
 IS tlie reason that oil is so obnoxious to them ; 
 it blocks up these orifices that imbibe the air, 
 and thus obstructing respiration, destroys the 
 animals by suffocation. 
 
 Some of the Vermes have a species of gills, 
 which are very conspicuous in the Oyster. The 
 Snail has a small cavity near the neck, which 
 opens and shuts, and takes in air; it is, how- 
 ever, a simple cavit;}', and contains nothing like 
 a pulmonary structure. The imperfection of 
 the nervous system of Insects, and the paucity 
 of their sensations, is another striking anomaly 
 in their organization. The Vermes in general 
 seem destitute of the higher senses ; touch and 
 taste may be allowed them, and of the seat of 
 the latter, we seem to be ignorant ; but the Soe- 
 pia or Cuttle-fish, is the only species in which 
 organs of sight and hearing have been at all 
 discovered. It has been doubted whether the 
 two black specks on the horns of a Snail are 
 organs of vision. How trifling is the supe- 
 riority which this order possesses above vege- 
 table systems! Insects are, however, much 
 higher endowed than the Vermes ; it is a re- 
 markable circumstance, that they possess a 
 larger supply of optical organs than any other 
 animals. The more perfect systems possess but 
 a single pair of eyes, whereas we find the num- 
 ber much increased among the Insects ; the 
 
104 LETTER V. 
 
 Scorpion has six, and the Spider eight complete 
 eyes. But a very striking pecuharity of struc- 
 ture in the eye, prevails among the Butterflies 
 and Beetles; the convexity of the cornea is 
 divided into an immense number of hexagonal 
 surfaces, vt^hich may be considered as so many 
 distinct conieae. This coopound structure does 
 not exist in the larva ; it is only formed when 
 the animal takes on its last transformation to a 
 fly ; whence some have supposed these poly- 
 edrous eyes, are calculated for the view of 
 dislant objects, which in the larva state would 
 be unnecessary. The sense of hearing cannot 
 be denied to most insects, though the imme- 
 diate organ is often so obscured as to elude 
 discovery. The antennae have been supposed 
 by some as the seat of this organ, but it has 
 been objected that Spiders, who have no true 
 antennee, possess this sense to a great degree. 
 The sense of feeling must be allowed them ; 
 the various operations carried on by many, could 
 not be effected without a high degree of the 
 sense of touch ; when the Caterpillar or Silk- 
 worm spin their webs, we must suppose them 
 endowed with a fine susceptibility of feeling. 
 
 u 
 
 " The Spider's touch how exquisitely fine 
 Feels at each thread, and Hves along the line." 
 
 Such, then, is the structure, and such the 
 
FISH. 105 
 
 powers of these lowest forms of animal exist- 
 ence; these powers are the result of their 
 organizations, and are ^idapted to the elements 
 in which they are placed. And after all, when 
 we consider the complexity of many of their 
 operations, the subtle dexterity of their move- 
 ments,* we must allow them to possess a 
 certain perfection of powers, a plenitude of 
 organic action, that in some degree compen- 
 sates the want of higher energies. 
 
 After this slight survey of the Insect Tribe, 
 we will now for a few moments direct our 
 attention to another class, the Tenants of the 
 Deep. The great expanse of the ocean, toge- 
 ther with the rivers that run into it, and the 
 lakes that are confined inland, all teem with 
 organized inhabitants. Linnaeus reckoned more 
 than four thousand species, and probably the 
 recesses of the deep may contain many others* 
 that have not yet come under human observa- 
 tion. The instincts of this order seem to be 
 very limited; the preservation, and multiplica- 
 tion of their kinds, seem to constitute the chief 
 circle of their pursuits ; to accomplish these, 
 their appetites are of a ravenous character, and 
 their prolific faculties astonishingly great ; the 
 
 •^ Lyonel has calculated no less than five thousand muscles 
 m the Caterpillar of the Willow 3Ioth, while mighty Man 
 does not possess as many hundreds. 
 
106 LETTEIl V. 
 
 number of ova in some females surpass calcu- 
 lation, and, indeed, such is the incessant system 
 of carnage going on aniong them, that if pro- 
 vision was not made against this destruction, by 
 a superfecundity, many species would long since 
 have been annihilated. Nature has notfurnished 
 vegetable food for the support of Fish, as she 
 has done on the land, for the supply of the 
 other orders, whence they invariably destroy 
 each other, and every one becomes a beast of 
 prey. Destruction on the one hand, and super- 
 fecundity on the other, seem to be the coun- 
 terpoising qualities, that keep up the equili- 
 brium of numbers in the finny race. 
 
 Linnaeus divided this class into four orders, 
 depending on the relative position of the fins. — 
 Blumenbach makes two leading divisions, viz, 
 the Cartilaginous, where the skeleton consists 
 of cartilage; and the Bon}^ where it is formed 
 of harder substance. The first division is asrain 
 divided into two orders, according as they pos- 
 sess gill-covers ; thus the Chondropterygii, 
 having no gill-cover, as the Lamprey, the 
 Skate, Shark, &c. and the BranchioHegi, having 
 a gill-cover, as the Sturgeon, the Pipe-fish, &c.; 
 the Bony division is then arranged after the 
 Linnosan classification into four orders, accord- 
 ing to the position of the fins, viz. the Apodes^ 
 having no ventral fins, as the Eel kind; Thoracici, 
 
FISH. 107 
 
 having ventral fins directly, under the thoracic, 
 as the Flounder, Turbot, &c. ; Abdominales, 
 having ventral fins under the thoracic, as the 
 Salnnon, Smelt, Herring, &c.; Jugulares, having 
 ventral fins in front of the thoracic, as the 
 Haddock, Cod, &c. 
 
 Fish respire by means of gills, which are 
 placed behind the head. By these organs the 
 animal receives its oxygen, from the water 
 which is taken in by the mouth, and discharged 
 through the openings of the gills. The gills 
 are highly studded with ramifications of fine 
 vessels, that absorb the oxygen from the water 
 in its passage through the above channel. — Fish, 
 however, require air ; it is found necessary often 
 in winter to break the ice in fi§h ponds, to ad- 
 mit the air, when the little animals are observed 
 coming eagerly to the surface to imbibe air. 
 W-hen fish have been placed in distilled water, 
 or in water exhausted by the air pump, they 
 have uniformly languished and died. There is 
 one singular piece of mechanism attached to 
 the structure of many fish, called the air-blad- 
 der, by the expansion and contraction of 
 which, the animal is rendered more or less 
 buoyant. This bladder lies in the abdomen, 
 along the spine, to which it is closely attached, 
 and is commonly called the Sound. It com- 
 municates with the stomach, and is generally 
 
108 LETTER V. 
 
 found to contain azotic gas, which is secreted 
 by a large gland situated in the bladder. Flat- 
 fish, which remain mostly at the bottom, do 
 not possess this organ, and I believe the Mack- 
 erel is also without it. There are also some of 
 this class endowed with the singular powers of 
 displaying electrical phenomena. In the Tor- 
 pedo this power is seated in the lateral fins, 
 which are capable of giving a very strong elec- 
 tric shock. In the Gymnotus this faculty is 
 placed in the abdomen, but in the Silurus Elec- 
 tricus, this formidable power seems seated all 
 over the surface of the body under the skin. 
 This power is voluntar}'^ in the Torpedo, and no 
 doubt serves these animals as means of assault 
 and defence from their enemies. 
 
 Fish have been always conspicuous for ex- 
 treme longevity ; the softness of their texture, 
 and the element they exist in, serves to protract 
 that hardening of the parts, which, in all animals, 
 seems the prelude to age and decay. Carp, in 
 gentlemen's ponds, have been said to live more 
 than a century. There have been two methods 
 devised of ascertaining the age of Fish, viz. the 
 circles of the scales, and a transverse section of 
 the backbone. When a scale is examined by a 
 microscope, it is said to consist of a series of 
 concentric rings, which, like those in the wood 
 of trees, are formed every year, and thus indi- 
 
GENERATION IN FISH. 109 
 
 cate the age of the Fish. In the Ray kind, who 
 want scales, the backbone is transversely di- 
 vided, and the rings discovered point out the 
 age of the Fish, similar to what takes place in 
 trees. Fish seem to possess all the senses, 
 though some have doubted whether the tongue 
 constitutes in them the organ of taste, as it 
 seems to have no papillae. The organ of Hear- 
 ing, which was long unknown, is now very cor- 
 rectly ascertained to be in the head. 
 
 The mode of reproduction in this class is dif- 
 ferent from most other forms ; there is an exact 
 distinction of sexes, but without the necessity 
 of intercourse. The ova are deposited in pro- 
 per situations, and become impregnated out of 
 the body by contact with the roe of the male 
 fish. The stomachs and gullets of fish seem to 
 form but one cavity ; the food taken in being 
 often comparatively large, is retained partly in 
 the gullet till the lower end, seated in the 
 stomach, becomes digested by the strong pow- 
 ers of the juices of that orgati. The alimentary 
 canal is, in general, very short, which is the 
 usual structure with all carnivorous animals. 
 The digestive powers of this class are very great, 
 and capable of assimilating almost ever^^ thlno- 
 that presents to them. The rapid movements 
 of fish are performed partly by the assistance of 
 their fins, and partly by the flexibility of the 
 
110 LETTER V. 
 
 extremity of the body, where a mass of musclo 
 is inserted, that assists in propelling the animal 
 in its course. From all that has been said it will 
 appear, that Fis|i are much behind the more per- 
 fect animals in the extent of their enjoyments ; 
 their sensations are all less acute, and their hap- 
 piness more of a negative kind, though perhaps 
 nature, that does nothing in vain, has given 
 these creatures a degree of enjoyment beyond 
 what we may suppose. 
 
 We come now to a singular tribe of animals 
 called Amphibiae, comprising many individual 
 species, of very opposite characters and habits, 
 but who are classed in one large community, 
 from their possessing the faculty of remaining 
 a considerable time under water; they would 
 seem to stand in less need of the atmosphere 
 than terrestrial animals, who cannot live, in ge- 
 neral, for the shortest space of time when re- 
 moved from it. To account for this singular 
 power in Amphibious animals, naturalists have 
 supposed some deviation from the general struc- 
 ture of other animals ; and, in consequence, a 
 great organic difference in the form of the heart 
 has been inferred. To explain this difference, 
 it is necessary to remind you, that in the foetus, 
 the lungs not being in action, only require suf- 
 ficient blood to effect their evolution. They ai'e 
 quite passive, and exercise no function. The 
 
THE HEART IN AMPHIBIyE. Ill 
 
 blood that comes to the right auricle of the 
 heart, does not all pass into the. corresponding 
 ventricle, and thence into the pulmonary artery, 
 but escapes through a patent kind of opening, 
 called the Foramen Ovale, immediately into the 
 left auricle, whence it is sent into the left ven- 
 tricle, and propelled into the aorta. But when 
 the child is born, being come into its natural 
 medium, the air, the hitherto dormant lungs are 
 called into action, and having a very important 
 office to discharge, require all the blood that 
 comes by the vena caviE to the right side of the 
 heart, and which is accordingly thrown from the 
 right auricle into the right ventricle, whence it 
 is passed into the pulmonary arteries, ta be cir- 
 culated through the lungs, where it undergoes 
 considerable change and amelioration, from the 
 stimulus of oxygen imbibed by the pulmonary 
 veins. This opening, then, between the au- 
 ricles, which now is not only unnecessary, but 
 would, perhaps, be rather prejudicial, gradually 
 closes, and remains shut through after life. — 
 There is also a small vessel called the Ductus 
 Arteriosus, which passes from the pulmonary 
 artery into the aorta, and is auxiliary to the 
 Foramen Ovale, in conducting the blood from 
 the right to the left side — it follows its fate, and 
 after birth becomes like it, soon obliterated. 
 Now in Amphibious animals this direct open- 
 
112 LEIXER V. 
 
 ing between the two auricles was supposed not 
 to close after birth, but to remain open during 
 life; consequently, when the animal is under 
 water, and the lungs not in action, the circula- 
 tion was supposed to go on directly through the 
 heart, independent of what is called the lesser 
 circulation through the pulmonary system. The 
 idea of the lungs being a mechanical apparatus 
 to assist in forcing on the circulation, though 
 supported by the authority of Haller and Cul- 
 len, seems to be abandoned bj'' subsequent ana- 
 tomists. It was thought the collapse of the 
 lungs after expiration, and the distension by in- 
 spiration, both acted as obstructing causes to 
 the passage of the blood through the pulmonary 
 vessels. This opinion is now generally given 
 up, it being made evident, that the lungs are 
 never in that state of collapse supposed by 
 former writers, as a considerable quantity of air 
 is always left in the cells after expiration, which 
 only effects a partial discharge of the air. — The 
 grand characteristic in the anatomical structure 
 of Amphibia, then, would seem to be, according 
 to this, the remaining open of the Foramen 
 Ovale through life, while it closes up in land 
 animals. I believe this has been the opinion re- 
 ceived and taught, ever since the discovery of 
 the circulation by Harvey, two centuries ago. 
 But recent anatomists, of great science and in- 
 
THE HEART IN AMPHIBI.E. 113 
 
 genuity, seem to doubt the whole. Bhimen- 
 bach and Cuvier, tlie two mo&t celebrated ana- 
 tomists of this asfe, give the evidence of their 
 most extensive observations against it. Sir Eve- 
 rard Home's experience is more in its favour. It 
 is therefore now a point, by no means cleared 
 up, whether the Foramen Ovale remains open 
 during life in the Amphibian. One circumstance 
 strikes me in its favour, which is, that in the 
 turtle, an opening is always found between the 
 two sides of the heart, by an aperture in the 
 septuni, that divides the ventricles; this com- 
 munication between the ventricles constitutes a 
 peculiarity in the comparative anatomy of that 
 animal. All the anatomists of the eighteenth 
 century adopted this notion, of the Foramen 
 Ovale remaining open through life, as an ortho- 
 dox tenet. Buffon instituted a set of experi- 
 ments upon puppiea just littered, some of which 
 he immersed in warm milk ; at the end of half 
 an hour they were taken out, and allowed to 
 respire, and again immersed, and this process 
 repeated, with the same interval, a third time. 
 The Count seemed satisfied, by these experi- 
 ments, of the possibility of keeping the Fora- 
 men permanently open, and thus producing ex- 
 cellent divers ; but, I believe^^very few natural- 
 ists are now satisfied with the inference of that 
 ingejiious philosopher. If, then, it is found in 
 
 1 
 
1 1-i LETTER V. 
 
 many amphibious animals, that the Foramen 
 Ovale does not remain open during lite, but 
 continues closed, without altcrino: the habits 
 and characters of these animals, we must na- 
 turally have recourse to some other circum- 
 stance in their economy, that can account for 
 this singular faculty, of being able to continue 
 so long under water, deprived of that air of 
 which other animals stand in such momentary 
 need. There are two circumstances in their 
 structure which seem satisfactorily to explain 
 it. The lungs of Amphibiae are not formed of 
 that cellular structure which prevails in men 
 and quadrupeds ; they are of a texture less 
 dense and more membraneous. They are not 
 so studded with blood-vessels as the cellular 
 lungs of the Mammalia, consequently they do 
 not oxydate so large a proportion of blood. It 
 is plain, then, that the oxydation of blood in 
 the lungs, is not a function of such vital impor- 
 tance in them as in the higher classes, and that 
 they are constructed to possess a considerable 
 tenacity of life, and to forego not only air, but 
 food, warmth, &c. Toads have been found im- 
 bedded in solid rocks, and in the hearts of trees, 
 where they must have been confined for an im- 
 mense period, without any of the external sti- 
 muli of life, and yet they have been living and 
 perfect; therefore it is not the prerogative of 
 
&RAIN OF AMPHIBIA. 115 
 
 being Amphibious only, which nature has in- 
 tended them, as Mr. J. Bell says, " if they can 
 live two days without air, it is because they 
 could bear any other kind of injury with equal 
 ease, and could live two days without the heart 
 or the head." 
 
 This excessive portion of irritability, this ex- 
 treme tenacityof life, with which most AmphibiiE 
 are endowed, seems to arise from another peculi- 
 arity in their structure, the comparatively di- 
 minished magnitude of the brain. This organ, 
 compared with the size of the body, is of very 
 diminished volume in most of this class. We 
 find in Man, that the proportion of the brain is 
 to the rest of the body, as from about 2^ to rz- : 
 whereas in the Serpent tribe it does not exceed. 
 T3^, tind in the Tortoise its volume is reduced so 
 much as not to equal Woo. This diminished 
 volume of brain, explains that independent 
 vitality, which the parts of such animals pos- 
 sess. Each part seems to be endowed with 
 inherent powers of life, exclusive of the brain. 
 That sympathy or consent of parts, which dis- 
 tinguishes systems with large and elaborate 
 brains, is unknown to these lower animals ; 
 consequently any laesion or injury in one mem- 
 ber, is not propagated by a high wrought sym- 
 pathy throughout the machine ; the brain has 
 not that sovereign influence over the body, that 
 
1 16 LETTER V. 
 
 obtains in higher animals ; they approach nearer 
 to the rank of vegetables, which bear extensive 
 mutilations without endangering the plant. 
 Tiiis diminished sympathy, therefore, the result 
 of a brain less elaborate, and of reduced magni- 
 tude, prevents all external stimuli from pro- 
 ducing a general influence through the system, 
 consequently a certain local irritability every 
 where exists, a tenacity of living power is in- 
 herent in every part, which operates to the pre- 
 servation and prolongation of life, under cir- 
 cumstances apparently the most extraordinary; 
 thus Turtles and Frogs will continue to live 
 after their heads and hearts have been removed. 
 A Snail in the hands of Blumenbach, as I ob- 
 served before, absolutely reproduced its head, 
 -after a considerable space of time. If, then, 
 such are the powers which these animals pos- 
 sess, of retaining their vital energy under such 
 extreme circumstances, we surely cannot won- 
 der at their being able to forego one element for 
 a short period, and existing a few hours sub- 
 mersed in water. We need not look for any 
 anatomical provision on this or on that side of 
 the heart, the means are diffused over the 
 whole body, and consist in an inherent energy 
 of parts, not dependent on the brain as a com- 
 mon sensorium. It is found that this inde- 
 pendent energy of parts, obtains only at the 
 
CLASSES OF AMPHIBIiE. 117 
 
 bottom of the scale of animated beings ; it is 
 directly as their distance from the elevated .rank 
 of Man, and inversely as the diminished volume 
 of the liervous system. Man is a highly 
 wrought, complicated, nervous animal ; as you 
 recede from him in the scale, the nervous sys- 
 tem descends gradually, till it seems almost 
 lost, in the lowest orders of organic structure. 
 The deviations in the anatomical structure of 
 Amphibiae, then, in addition to the circumstan- 
 ces already mentioned, of diminished brain, 
 and membranous lungs, are a want of dia- 
 phragm, and external ear ; no hair, feathers^ 
 mammae, and grinding teeth. Linnaeus divides 
 them into four orders; 1st. Reptiles having four 
 feet, as the Tortoise, Frog and Lizard Genera ; 
 2dly, Serpents having lengthened form, and no 
 external members, as the Rattlesnake, Viper> 
 and all Serpents; 3dly, Meantes having both 
 gills and lungs, of which there is only one 
 species, the Syren Lacertina, found in Caro- 
 lina; this ambiguous animal is about two feet 
 in length, and has a head something like the 
 Lizard, but only two feet armed with claws. It 
 has gills, as well as lungs, and hence seems the 
 only true Amphibious creature with which Ave 
 are acquainted ; 4thly, the Nantes, or Swim- 
 ming Amphibiae, as the Shark, Sturgeon, Tor- 
 pedo, &c. 
 
118 LETTER V. 
 
 I will not intrude upon your attention by any 
 description of individual animals b( this class, as 
 they are generally well known. The Syren seems 
 to afford the most striking peculiarity. This class 
 of animals comprehends some of the most de- 
 termined enemies of Man ; the Rattlesnake, 
 the Boa, and the Cobra di Capella, are most 
 noxious and irreclaimable adversaries, and con- 
 vert the vicinities of their abodes into solitary 
 desarts, where no other animal dare obtrude, 
 without suffering for its temerity. The im- 
 mense power of some of the larger Serpents, in 
 overcoming animals of considerable size, would 
 appear incredible, were it not sufficiently well 
 attested; a Butialo is said to have been de- 
 stroyed with ease by one of these enormous 
 reptiles, which curled itself round, and abso- 
 lutely crushed the animal to death. The forbid- 
 ding form of all these animals is such, that Man 
 seems to feel an irresistible dread at their ap- 
 pearance. The minds of the most brave and 
 firm, are often appalled by the approach of any 
 of these disgusting creatures. This is perhaps 
 a provision of Nature to preserve us from falling 
 victims to their destructive power. The bene- 
 ficence of Providence has thus afforded us a 
 safe-guard against them. The almost instinc- 
 tive feeling of terror, is evinced towards the 
 whole tribe, and yet we find that out of 200 
 
AMPHIBIiE. 119 
 
 different species of Serpents enumerated by 
 naturalists, only about 30 are of a poisonous 
 nature, and destructive to man. This general 
 horror is wisely excited against the whole tribe, 
 by which we have a greater chance of escaping 
 the baneful effects of that portion armed with 
 such deadly weapons. 
 
 The Amphibiae, then, comprise a list of 
 animals of diversified forms and characters, 
 endowed with an excess of irritability, which 
 enables them to overcome injuries, and undergo 
 privations, destructive to others, deriving their 
 living powers from a higher degree of nervous or- 
 ganization. These animals come very little under 
 the cognizance or controul of man; they minister 
 nothing to his wants, theyseldom meet him butas 
 enemies; they nevertheless form an important link 
 in the great chain of animated nature, where no- 
 thing is superfluous, but where every part belongs 
 to a mighty plan formed by consummate wisdom, 
 and the extent of which is too mysterious for 
 the conception of our limited faculties. 
 I remain, 
 
 Dear Friend, 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 L. S. B. 
 
120 
 
 LETTER VI. 
 
 Dear Friend, 
 
 X HE transition from the loathsome tribes al- 
 luded to in my last, is easy and pleasant to that 
 beautiful order the Tenants of the Air, the 
 winged multitude, " that warble through the 
 vernal wood," and constitute some of nature's 
 chief ornaments. The infinite variety displayed 
 in the tints of their plumage, and the native 
 elesrance exhibited in their various forms, added 
 to the charming melody of their notes, make 
 them a source of pleasure and delight to the 
 contemplation of admiring man. One or two 
 species of the Bird of Paradise I lately saw at 
 Mr. Bullock's museum were so beautifully and 
 richly variegated, that I should never again 
 question the correctness of any representation 
 of the feathered tribe. The leading anatomical 
 and phvsioiiical distinction of Birds consist, 
 first, in their beautiful envelope of feathers, 
 which defends them from the rain and cold : 
 these are all so inserted as to lie backward from 
 the head, and allow the water to run off without 
 remaining. Feathers are elegant specimens of 
 nature's art. Dr. Paley has given a most ex- 
 
THE FEATHERS OF BIRDS, 121 
 
 cellent description of the structure of a feather, 
 but to which I must refer you, it being too long 
 literally to transcribe here. He says, " every 
 feather is a mechanical wonder ;" it unites two 
 properties often very incompatible, strength and 
 lightness : the quill part forms a hollow cylin- 
 der, and the vane is composed of threads which 
 join together by means of a number of fibres 
 which act like teeth, and clasp each other, thus 
 holding the different threads in close and easy 
 union ; the form of these teeth or clasps is 
 curved ; those on the side towards the extre- 
 mity of the feather are long, flexible, and bent 
 downwards — while those on the other side are 
 short, and turn upwards ; they are constructed 
 to fit each other's curves, and effect a complete 
 junction. The pithy substance found in quills 
 is the former vascular congeries dried up, which 
 nourished the feather, and effected its growth : 
 when the growth is completed this dries up, 
 and leaves the appearance so usually found in 
 quills. The forms of feathers in the different 
 genera are innumerable; several have three or 
 four feathers proceeding from a single barrel. 
 A gland is situated in the rump of birds, which, 
 in the Aquatic kinds, is large, and secretes an 
 oily liquor, which lubricates the feathers, and 
 enables them better to repel the wet. In many 
 soecies of winter birds, the d(5wn about the 
 
122 LETTER VI. 
 
 roots of the feathers is uniformly black, what- 
 ever may be the colour of the feather. Some 
 have supposed this a provision of nature to give 
 additional warmth to the bird in the cold season, 
 black being the colour that retains heat for the 
 longest space of time; but perhaps it may be 
 objected to this, that many animals entirely 
 change their colour in high latitudes during 
 winter, and become perfectly white. We find 
 the Bear, which is brown in warm climates, 
 uniformly white in Greenland. The compara- 
 tive warmth of the difi'erent coverings of animals, 
 arising from difference of colour, is a very 
 curious subject, on which I have often reflected, 
 and seems not to be generally understood. We 
 do not find that animals become in any in- 
 stance higher or darker in colour in their tran- 
 sportation to warm climates ; — the texture of 
 the covering is materially altered ; wool changes 
 to a hairy form, and in going to very cold coun- 
 tries it becomes of a furry nature. As far as 
 colour causes any alteration in the warmth of 
 covering, we must have recourse to chemistry 
 for an explanation. 
 
 I intend making a few experiments on the 
 cooling power of coloured surfaces, the result of 
 which I will give in some future correspon- 
 dence. There is one circumstance in the Phy- 
 siology of Birds, which is, that although the 
 
SKELETON OF BIRDS. 123 
 
 males and females may have very distinct 
 plumage, yet when the latter is so advanced as 
 to pass the season of laying, it acquires the 
 plumage of the other sex, and in some species 
 may, at first view, be mistaken for the male. 
 A change very analogous takes place in our own 
 species ; there are many circumstances denoting 
 an approach towards the masculine figure. 
 The Skeleton of Birds next claims our attention; 
 this exhibits a considerable uniformity through 
 all the class : the circumstances chiefly dis- 
 tinguishable are, first, that the bones of the 
 Cranium do not unite by sutures as in Man, but 
 are consolidated into one piece ; the jaws are 
 destitute of teeth ; these are supplied by the bill, 
 the form of which varies in the different orders, 
 and indicates the character of the Bird; thus the 
 rapacious kinds have it very hard and curved at 
 the point, as have also the Parrot kind, the 
 Woodpecker, &c. ; others again, as the Wood- 
 cock, Snipe, &c. have it of a lengthened form 
 and soft texture, which enables them to dis- 
 tinguish their food at the bottom of ponds: the 
 bill is no doubt the organ of feeling in birds. 
 The spine in birds is made up of a considerable 
 number of vertebrie ; those of the black are often 
 anchylosed, and limit the motions of that part; 
 this is, however, sufficiently compensated by a 
 laro-er number in the neck, which gives it a 
 
1^4 LETTER VI. 
 
 degree of flexibility not met with in any other 
 orders. A Bird can place its bill between its 
 wings, a situation to which none of the mam- 
 malia can bring the snout. The Swan has as 
 many as twenty-three cervical vertebrae ; this 
 length, assisted by the mode of articulation of 
 the vertebrae, enables the Bird to touch every 
 part of its body with its beak. Birds have very 
 few ribs — and the breast-bone, to which they are 
 attached, is prolonged into a vertical process, 
 which serves for the attachment of the strong 
 pectoral muscles, which are called into action 
 in flying, and gives them great purchase. Some 
 Birds that do not fly, as the Ostrich and Casso- 
 wary, want this high ridge ; the wings are at- 
 tached to the sternum by the intervention of the 
 two clavicles, and the intermediate fork-like 
 bone commonly called the Merrythought. The 
 respiration of Birds is carried on in a peculiar 
 manner : the lungs are comparatively small and 
 flattened, and adhere to the ribs and sides ; 
 the air passes through the chest into the cavity 
 of the abdomen, where it is contained in mem- 
 branous cells ; not only the abdomen thus re- 
 ceives air, but even the bones become air 
 cavities ; the sternum, the ribs, the vertebrae, 
 and all the long bones have their internal cavi- 
 ties filled with air from the lungs : this diffusiow 
 of air through the bodies of birds has' been 
 
AIR RECEPTACLES OF BIRDS. 12i 
 
 commonly supposed to serve the purpose of 
 lightening the body, and assisting it in flying, 
 swimming, &c. by accommodating its specific 
 gravity to that of the surrounding medium ; 
 vi'hence an analogy has been supposed between 
 Birds and Fish, which are assisted in their 
 ascent and descent in the watery element, by 
 a spacious air receptacle within the body: but 
 Mr. Hunter, from considering that the Ostrich, 
 which does not fly, was more abundantly 
 supplied with this pneumatic structure than 
 Woodcocks and many birds of flight, and that 
 Bats had no such peculiarity of structure, 
 was led to suppose it only formed an extension 
 of the lungs, and served as a necessary reser- 
 voir for air, auxiliary or subservient to res- 
 piration during their long and rapid flights, 
 when respiration must of necessity be less 
 frequent. Whence he deduces an analogy 
 between Birds and Amphibiae, who have lono; 
 extended lungs in general, that reach through 
 the abdomen, and serve as reservoirs of air 
 while the animal is submersed. He, however 
 admits this air must be of some use in flyino-. 
 as those birds that soar to the loftiest heights 
 as Eagles, Hawks, &c. have this general diff'u- 
 sion in the greatest extent. 
 
 Birds manifest very different habits and cha- 
 fact^rs in pursuit of their food ; we find some 
 
126 LETTER VI. 
 
 content with scattered grains at the barn door, 
 and others, impelled by voracious propensities, 
 devouring little else than flesh, and even the 
 smaller individuals of their own class. The 
 digestive organs of Birds take on a correspond- 
 ing diversity of structure to this variety of cha- 
 racter. In the Granivorous Birds we find a giz- 
 zard of strong muscular structure, capable of 
 mechanically triturating the grains taken in, 
 which it receives from the crop, which, with the 
 succenturiatus, is a dilation of the oesophagus, 
 and serves, like the Hopper of a Mill, to fur- 
 nish the food to the gizzard as fast as it digests 
 and passes it on. The mechanical force of this 
 organ is immense; we are told by Swammer- 
 dam, that precious stones have been broken 
 down, and that a Louis d'or lost 16 grains of 
 its weight in four days. The trituration of the 
 grains is assisted by a quantity of hard stones, 
 which these Birds swallow with their food, and 
 without which, we find, they do not sufficiently 
 digest it ; they grow lean and sickly, however 
 abundantly they may be supplied with food, if 
 they are denied gravel. Some have supposed 
 these stones acted as substitutes for teeth-; 
 others, that they were useful in correcting aci- 
 dity ; but Blumenbach thought their use con- 
 sisted in bruising the grain and destroying its 
 vitality, which would otherwise resist the action 
 
CLASSES OF BIRDS. -127 
 
 of the digestive organ, as worms, Sccr do ; and 
 on this account it is found, that grinding oats, 
 or heating them so as to destroy their vitality, 
 will render them so much more fit for the 
 stomach, that a horse will thrive equally well 
 upon a much less quantity. 
 
 In the Carnivorous Birds, the stomach is a 
 thin membranous bag compared with the giz- 
 zard of the Granivorous kind. The intestines 
 are very short. They are capable of enduring 
 hunger for a great length of time, and the fe- 
 males are larger and stronger, and more splendid 
 in their plumage than the males. 
 
 Birds have been classed by Linnaeus into six 
 orders, dependent chiefly on the form of the 
 bill ; 1st. Accipitres, which takes in the birds of 
 prey with curved bills and large talons ; 2d, 
 Piece, the Pye Kind ; '3d, Anseres, Birds of the 
 Duck kind, with smooth bills, and web-footed; 
 4th, Grall(£, the Crane, with long bills, &c. ; 
 ,Dth, Gallinoi, the Poultry kind ; and lastly, 
 Passeres, or the Sparrow Tribe. 
 
 To illustrate the history of every striking spe- 
 cies in this numerous cJass of animals, would 
 carry us beyond our present bounds; they as- 
 sume different characters, and exhibit most 
 astonishing varieties, from the tall ostrich to 
 the diminutive humming bird, and from the ra- 
 venous vulture to the innocent dove, the em- 
 
128 LETTER VI. 
 
 blem of peace and social happiness. They are 
 all oviparous ; and, while making these remarks 
 on their comparative anatomy, it may not be 
 amiss to conclude with a few observations on 
 the structure, &c. of the Egg. The egg may 
 be said to consist, in general, of the Yolk, the 
 White, and the Shell. The Yolk is the ovum, 
 which is usually seated in the loins ; one of 
 these is taken up by a tube called the Oviduct, 
 and, in its passage through the Oviduct, the 
 White is secreted and added to it ; when it 
 reaches the Uterus the Shell i.s added, which 
 is formed of lime and carbonic acid, secreted by 
 the vessels of the uterus. Sometimes the egg 
 is produced without its calcareous covering; 
 this is owing to debility in the hen. We find it 
 requires some vigour in the animal constitution 
 to secrete lime, whence fractured bones in per- 
 sons, weakened by age or scurvy, or any con- 
 stitutional debility, do not easily unite, and re- 
 course is often had, in such cases, to strengthen- 
 ing, invigorating means, to enable them to fur- 
 nish the necessary supply of phosphate of lime. 
 The Shell of the Egg is so porous as to admit 
 air, and a cavity exists at one end, which always 
 contains a portion of air. The Yolk and White 
 are both contained in their respective mem- 
 branes. A small white spot on the surface of 
 the volk bag is called the Cicatricula ; it is sur- 
 
PROCESS OF INCUBATION. 129 
 
 rounded by whitish circles. From each end of 
 the yolk-bag- proceeds a white body, ending in 
 little flocculi in the white ; the uses of these are 
 not known. The process of incubation in the 
 egg goes on as follows : — On the first day a spot 
 of shining appearance is seen near the Cica- 
 tricula ; on the second day a gelatinous filament 
 is discovered ; the cicatricula now disappears : 
 on the third day rudiments of a heart appear ; 
 the spine and head are now visible : motion is 
 observed on the sixth day : ossification com- 
 mences on the ninth. The feathers appear about 
 the fourteenth : on the nineteenth it' can utter 
 sounds; and on the twenty-first it breaks through 
 its prison, and emerges. As incubation proceeds, 
 the yolk becomes paler, and is, together with 
 the white, gradually absorbed into the intes- 
 tines of the chick, which it serves to nourish, 
 till it is sufficiently strong to emancipate itself 
 from its shell. In general, one intercourse is 
 only sufficient to fecundate one ovum ; but in 
 turkeys, one intercourse fecundates all the ova 
 in the ovarium. 
 
 These remarks conclude all I shall offer on 
 the structure and economy of Birds, by which 
 we have seen how admirably they are adapted 
 to the element they exist in. They are formed 
 for lightness and buoyancy, and embellished 
 with every grace, and every colour, that fancy 
 
 K 
 
1:30 LETTER VI. 
 
 could suggest to render them objects of the 
 most splendid beauty. Their instinctive inge- 
 nuity in making their nests, and providing for 
 their young, and in taking their extensive ex- 
 cursions and migrations, display the design of 
 superior wisdom. Their rapidity on the wing 
 is astonishing; it has been calculated at a mile 
 in a minute. They soar to prodigious heights 
 in the atmosphere. 
 
 " Ye birds 
 
 That singing up to heaven's gates ascend, 
 
 Bear on yovu' wings, and in your notes his praise." 
 
 We now approach nearer the structure of 
 that perfect organization, which is chiefly the 
 subject of our consideration, and with a refer- 
 ence to which, we make all our observations on 
 the different parts of animated nature. In ex- 
 amining the nature and condition of Quadru- 
 peds, we shall find they approach nearer to our 
 own species in form and attributes, than any of the 
 other classes. They are more intelligent than 
 Birds ; these are more sagacious than Fish, and 
 the cunning and dextciity of Fish, seems to ex- 
 ceed that of most of the Insect tribes. 
 
 Although considerable variety obtains in the 
 structure of Quadrupeds, yet we find them all 
 constituted upon one general plan. Besides a 
 similarity of sensations, of the various functions 
 
QUADRUPEDS. 131 
 
 of digestion, circulation, &c. there is in llie 
 basis of their external form such uniformity as 
 clearly evinces one original plan, upon which 
 the whole have been constructed. Buflbn says 
 if you bend a Human skeleton, incline the 
 pelvis, shorten the thighs, legs, and arms, join 
 the fingers and toes, lengthen the jaws, and 
 extend the back -bone, you have imme- 
 diately the skeleton of a Quadruped ; for it is 
 only by shortening some, and extending others, 
 that the skeleton of a horse differs from that of 
 a man. — I shall say very little at present on the 
 Cranium of the Mammalia, as opportunity will 
 offer to touch upon it when speaking of the 
 Human skull. Me find the forms of the Brute 
 skull much flattened and depressed, and the 
 outline of the head distinguished by an elonga- 
 tion and projection of the face and jaws. The 
 area of the Cranium is less than that of the face, 
 the contrary of which holds in the human head. 
 The jaws of the Mammalia contain teeth, with 
 the exception of the whale tribe and two or 
 three others. The Whale, instead of teeth, is 
 provided with an apparatus formed of that well- 
 known substance whalebone, which is of a 
 horny texture, and lines the palate in the form 
 of two inclined planes, containing vertical 
 plates of this substance projecting into the 
 mouth. These plates are parallel, and to the 
 
1Vj'-2 letter VI. 
 
 number of two or three hundred on each phme; 
 their edges are loosened into a fringe-like form, 
 ^vhich gives a rough surface, that enables it 
 better to retain the slippery molluscx^ &c. 
 which constitute the food of this animal. 
 
 The form and number of the teeth have been 
 taken by Linnaeus as data to distinguish this 
 class into different orders. The texture of 
 teeth differs from that of other bones. The 
 €namel is of peculiar and flinty hardness, and 
 has been found to contain fluate of lime.* The 
 tusk of the Elephant seems to be vv^ithout this 
 enamel, and the ivory is different both from the 
 texture of teeth and bone. 
 
 The form of the teeth strongly indicates the 
 habits of the animal. In those that cut and 
 gnaw their food, as the Squirrel, Rat, Hare, 
 &c. and the whole order of Glires (the Rodentia 
 of Cuvier) the two front incisores are long and 
 large, and these animals are deficient in grinders. 
 But the ruminating animals, as the Ox, Sheep, 
 &c. are on the contrary without the incisores, 
 and largely supplied with grinding teeth of 
 broad surfaces. In Beasts of Prey the canine 
 teeth are long and pointed. In the Graminivora 
 the teeth have a third component part, very 
 observable in the Elephant, Horse, Ox, &c. 
 
 * A combination similar to Derbyshire spar. 
 
QUADRUPEDS. 133 
 
 called the Crusta Petrosa. The renewal of the 
 teeth takes place in many animals as well as 
 man. A great singularity is however observed 
 in the dentition of the Elephant ; there never 
 appears more than one grinder, and part of ano- 
 ther in the gum ; the anterior one is gradually 
 worn away, and its root absorbed ; the posterior 
 one then advances to supply its place; a third 
 tooth then appears in the gum, which goes 
 through the same stages. This process is re- 
 peated eight distinct times, and each new 
 grinder is larger than the preceding. This 
 curious mode of teething, seems to exist in the 
 Wild Boar, and according to Sir Everard Home 
 probably obtained in the Mammoth. Many of 
 this class are provided with horns, which in 
 some species add considerably to the beauty 
 and defensive power of the animal. The Ant- 
 lers of the Deer are not horn, but true bone, 
 and the casting and renewal of these, are at- 
 tended with some peculiar circumstances in 
 the economy of these animals. Proceeding 
 from the head we find the trunk of the skeleton 
 divided into three parts, the Spine, Chest, and y 
 Pelvis. The Spine is the most constant part> 
 and prevails through the whole tribe of red- 
 blooded animals, which have thence been called 
 Vertebral, in contradistinction to the white- 
 blooded, which are termed In vertebral. All the 
 
134? LETTER VI. 
 
 Mammalia are said to agree in the number of 
 the vertebrae of the neck, which is uniformly 
 seven. The number of Dorsal Vertebrae is re- 
 gulated by the number of the ribs. The Lum- 
 bar Vertebrae vary in number in different spe- 
 cies. The form of the Sacrum and Os Coccy- 
 gis admits of variety ; the latter is often exten- 
 sively prolonged, and made up of several ver- 
 tebras. The chest in all animals is narrower 
 than in man, but deeper. The number of ribs 
 vary ; man has twelve pairs, the horse eighteen, 
 the elephant nineteen. The breast-bone in man 
 is flat; in some animals it is rounded; in the 
 mole it takes on the form of a pointed figure, 
 like a ploughshare, which is useful to the ani- 
 mal in digging its way under-ground. 
 
 In speaking of the limbs of animals, we find 
 a closer analogy of structure with those of man 
 than we should a priori suppose. A thigh-bone 
 varying in length, moving upon the trunk ; an 
 arm bone also of various length. This bone is 
 so short in some animals, as the horse, that it 
 scarcely extends out of the trunk, whence the 
 popular mistake of calling the carpus of the 
 horse, the knee-joint; it is, in fact, the wrist- 
 joint. A bone, called a cannon-bone, which 
 becomes consolidated with two small metacar- 
 pal bones, proceeds from this joint downwards, 
 where it articulates with the pastern, &c. which 
 
QUADRUPEDS. ^35 
 
 are analogous to the fingers. The same kind of 
 structure holds in the hinder limb. The thigh- 
 bone is short ; the bones of the leg consolidated 
 terminate at the hock, which is, in fact, the 
 ankle, and the protuberance at the back of this 
 joint is the true heel of the animal, and has the 
 Tendo Achilles inserted into it ; from this down- 
 wards a cannon bone, which is the instep, or 
 tarsus, reaches to the lower bones or metatarsus; 
 consequently a horse may be said to have but 
 one finger or one toe. 
 
 From the skeleton of quadrupeds we proceed 
 to consider their internal organs. You will per- 
 ceive, that the viscera of the thorax in this 
 class, evince a great similarity of structure and 
 frinction with those of man. They possess cel- 
 lular lungs and a double heart. But in the or- 
 gans of digestion they manifest considerable di- 
 versity of structure, and consequent variety of 
 character. One tribe, who constitute a distinct 
 order, take the name of Ruminantta, from the 
 circumstance of ruminating their food, or, as it 
 IS commonly called, chewing the cud. These 
 are herbivorous animals, and have the faculty 
 of bringing up the morsel again from the sto- 
 mach into the mouth, to undergo a second 
 grinding or mastication. It appears that these 
 are furnished with four different stomachs. The 
 food, after mastication, is thrown into the first 
 
1.36 LETTER VI. 
 
 stomach, where it remains some time, after 
 which, the animal forces it up again into the 
 mouth, where it is further masticated ; it is 
 then sent into the second stomach, from whence 
 it passes gradually into the third and fourth ; 
 in which last, digestion is completed. It is 
 then sent on to the intestines, through the long 
 convolutions of which it is finally conducted. 
 Naturalists do not seem agreed as to the final 
 cause of Rumination. Some have supposed 
 that, by its means, the animal can take in a 
 large quantity of vegetable aliment, which it 
 can afterwards masticate and digest at leisure, 
 and thus quantity might in some degree com- 
 pensate for quality. But then the Horse, the 
 Ass, the Hare, and many animals that live on 
 veoetabie food, do not Ruminate. 
 
 Upon the whole, the final purpose of Rumi- 
 nation is not well understood*. The Camel 
 
 "* The animals which chew the cud comprise, the Ox kind, 
 the Sheep, the Antelope and Goat, the Deev, Camel, 
 Musk, &c. creatm-es which display passive innocent qualities. 
 Under the head of Quadi'upeds, there ranks a very singular 
 animal, which is a native of New Holland ; it is called the 
 Ornithorynchus Paradoxus : the head resembles that of a 
 Duck ; the jaws form a Beak, whence it has acquired the 
 name of the Duck-Billed animal. It is web-footed. Sir E. 
 Home has dissected more than one. It displays great pecu- 
 liarity of structure, and is altogether the most anomalous 
 animal that ever came under the view of the anatomist. 
 
QUADRUPEDS. 137 
 
 has a peculiar structure of stomach, which 
 enables it to take in a quantity of water suf- 
 ficient to last it during a journey of two or three 
 (lays across the desart. It appears this water is 
 deposited in cells of the two first stomachs, 
 closed by strong- bands of muscular fibres, over 
 which the animal exercises a power of voluntary 
 motion : these cavities have been found to hold 
 tour gallons. In the Camel, as well as in the 
 rest of the Ruminantia, the stomachs are con- 
 nected by a groove that runs through them from 
 the oesophagus, which groove possessing pro- 
 minent edges and strong muscular fibres, is 
 capable of being drawn together into a complete 
 tube, which then forms a direct communication 
 between the oesophagus and third stomach, so 
 that the food is passed on without disturbing 
 the water in the cells of the second stomach, 
 which is therefore preserved so clear as to be 
 drinkable by the traveller in the event of an 
 emergency. 
 
 In Herbivorous and Ruminating animals the 
 intestines are longer than in any other order; 
 in the Ram they sometimes measure twenty- 
 seven times the length of their body. The 
 Carnivorous animals have stomachs much 
 smaller, and their intestines shorter, perhaps 
 not more than four or five times the length of 
 the body. Animal food is more easily reduced 
 
13S LETTER VI. 
 
 to chyle, and assimilated to the system than 
 vegetable ; hence the stomach is more simple, 
 the intestine less extended, and the time taken 
 up in the process of digestion much shortened. 
 Omnivorous animals, as the Hog, the Rat, &c. 
 have their stomachs and intestines of a middle 
 nature between the two last. 
 
 There prevails a great similarity throughout 
 this class in all the auxiliary organs of diges- 
 tion, as the liver, pancreas, spleen, kidneys, &c. 
 The gall bladder is wanting in the Horse, Goat, 
 Deer, Camel, &c. All those animals that want 
 it are Herbivorous; it would therefore seem to 
 be an organ exclusively attached to Carnivorous 
 systems. 
 
 To glance only at the leading varieties of the 
 different species of this numerous class of ani- 
 mals would occupy considerable volumes; their 
 diversity of character branches out into every 
 supposeable shade of difference : the untameabie 
 ferocity of the Hyajna, the playful innocence of 
 the Lamb, the sagacious cunning of the Fox, 
 the dull heaviness of the Ox, the generous na- 
 ture of the Lion, the treacherous temper of the 
 Cat, the huge magnitude of the Elephant, and 
 the diminished figure of the Mouse, afford us 
 striking contrasts, and teach us that nature has 
 established in this class every possible variety, 
 that there is scarce any passion, but is made to 
 
QUADRUPEDS, 139 
 
 predominate and take the lead in the characters 
 of some particular species. 
 
 These forms of animated nature are, then, the 
 destined companions and assistants of Man in 
 this temporary stage : with many he must for 
 ever inevitably live estranged ; their natures are 
 opposed to his condition, their qualities are 
 imsuitable to his wants; with others he enters 
 into association, he tames their dispositions, he 
 bends their qualities to his own use. He makes 
 a friend of the Dog ; he gains cloathing from 
 the Sheep ; he deifies, and derives various com- 
 forts from the Ox ; but the generous Horse 
 becomes his right hand in effecting his own 
 civilization. Had the Americans known the 
 Horse, Pizarro and Cortez had never achieved 
 the conquest of the New AVorld. The Horse 
 was a great instrument in effecting this con- 
 quest. The poor astonished natives, opposed by 
 this spirited beast, and destitute of the use of 
 iron, surrendered their physical strength to a 
 handful of the most cruel, insatiable mercenaries 
 that ever the thipst of gold sent forth to commit 
 crimes, desolate nations, and disgrace humanity. 
 Many animals are attached, by their particular 
 natures, to particular spots, and afford to ne- 
 cessitous Man his best blessings. To the Arab, 
 his Camel is every thing ; without it the desart 
 w'onld be the confines of his world. The Asiatic 
 
14U LETIER VI. 
 
 tames, and wields the strength of the Elephant 
 against his foe. The poor Laplander delights 
 in his Reindeer. In every climate, and in 
 every society, the Horse and the Ox are 
 heaven's best presents to this presumptuous, 
 but needy Lord of the Creation. 
 
 Human nature must ever be studied with a 
 reference to surrounding agency. Man is not 
 an insulated being ; he relies on the friendship 
 and assistance of others ; he is part of a great 
 circle ; he is exposed to the influence of active 
 elements ; he is, like the rest of the universe, 
 under the impulse of laws implanted, immutable, 
 and unerring ; laws beneficent, and indulgent. 
 As an author says, *' Let him study these laws, 
 let him understand his own nature, and the 
 nature of the heings that surround him, and he 
 will know the springs of his destiny, the causes 
 of his evils, and the remedies to be applied." 
 
 Man came into a world already tenanted with 
 inhabitants of various characters and qualifica- 
 tions ; beasts are his elder brethren ; he must 
 ever be studied with a certain relationship to 
 them ; he conquers some, by others he is con- 
 quered ; each species pursues its own good 
 alone ; animal devours animal, till an equi- 
 librium of powders alone, produces peace in the 
 creation. Man entered a world inhabited by 
 active energies, where war and strife were the 
 
MAN INSTRUCTED BY ANIMALS. 141 
 
 predominant features ; he had to light his way 
 for dominion by the superior endowment of his 
 mind, but still his boasted understanding deigned 
 to stoop, and gain information from the Brutes. 
 These were the living sparks, from which he 
 kindled all his flame of knowledge. Born him- 
 self without their instincts, he possessed only 
 the capacity of imitating their movements, and 
 miproving them to his own advantage. 
 
 " See him from Nature rising slow to art, 
 
 " To copy Instinct then was Reason's part- 
 
 " Thus to Man the voice of Nature spake, 
 
 " Go, from the Creatures thy instruction take ; 
 
 " Learn from the Birds what food the thickets yield, 
 
 " Learn from the Beasts the Physic of the field; 
 
 " Thy arts of Building from the Bee receive, 
 
 " Learn of the Mole to plough, the Worm to weave ; 
 
 " Learn of the little Nautilus to sail, 
 
 " Spread the thin oa)-, and catch the driving gale." 
 
 Thus the universe forms a lively, an animated 
 circle of social happiness. 
 
 We readily perceive, in looking back on the 
 various forms of animated natures we have 
 been considering, that they are all constructed 
 on a similarity of plan ; one standard pervades 
 the whole. As I observed above, in the red- 
 blooded animals we find a head and spine form 
 the basis or foundation of all the rest. The 
 spine is, as it were, the keel upon which the 
 
i42 LETTER VI. 
 
 trunk is projected; from this trunk issue limbs 
 or extremities, and within it are contained 
 org-ans for the nutrition, the growth, the propa- 
 gation, &c. of the individual. This general 
 plan branches out into much variety in the 
 different orders, but through the whole can 
 clearly be discerned one grand model of organi- 
 zation. Each creature varies in its parts, and 
 in its functions, according to the elements it is 
 destined to act in, and the part it has to act ; 
 every thing is adapted to the sphere of its move- 
 ments, and actions. A regular gradation is 
 observable from the lowest upwards to nature's 
 master-piece, Man: uniformity, harmony, sym- 
 metry, shine through the maze ; the hand of a 
 Divine artist is every where visible ; power and 
 wisdom are conspicuous in the page of nature. 
 He who can look through this range of nature's 
 works and not admire; he who can admire and 
 not adore, falls short of what nature intended 
 him, and is deficient in the first blessings of an 
 enlightened mind ; a rational conception of the 
 Supreme Attributes, an enjoyment of the beauty 
 of the universe, and a modest knowledge of 
 himself. He who traces surrounding pheno- 
 mena up to their great First Cause — who studies 
 nature with a reference to its Author, possesses 
 the basis of religion within himself, enjoys the 
 true sublime, and demonstrates the Being and 
 
REFLECTIONS. l43 
 
 Beneficence of the Deity in every part of 
 Creation ; such a mind 
 
 " Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, 
 " Sermons in stones, and good in every thing." 
 
 It is a source of never failing comfort to itself, 
 and of admiration to others. 
 I remain, 
 
 Dear Friend, 
 
 Yours, &c. 
 
 L. S. B. 
 
144 
 
 LETTER VII. 
 Dear Friend, 
 
 W E have now to direct our observations to 
 the state and condition of Man, situated as he 
 is in the universe, endowed with paramount 
 faculties and attributes, and surrounded by a 
 crowd of animated beings, appointed by nature 
 to accompany him, to assist him, and to share 
 with him the occupancy of this globe. En- 
 quirers into nature have differed materially in 
 their views of the character and qualities of 
 humanity. Some have delineated the species 
 in every colouring of virtuous embellishment, 
 adorned it with every tint of rational perfection, 
 and armed it with extensive powers of intellec- 
 tual energy ; while others have clouded its 
 character in shades of vicious propensity, ob- 
 scured its first motives in a mist of imperfections, 
 and exceedingly contracted the sphere of its 
 mental endowments. Either of these extremes, 
 perhaps, are wrong. Man holds evidently a 
 middle course in physical energy: we shall find, 
 perhaps, he has the same rank in moral perfec- 
 tion. ' At present, however, we have only to do 
 with the constitution of his Physical Powers ; 
 
SUPERIORITY OF MAX. 14J 
 
 the consideration of his Moral condition will 
 occupy a tuture letter. 
 
 Whatever difference of opinion may exist 
 among Casuists, as to Man's moral perfection ; 
 all are agreed in doing homage to the perfect 
 organization of his anatomy; here every one 
 seems anxious to bestow the meed of praise. 
 
 In tracing animal forms through all the gra- 
 dations in the scale, we at length arrive at the 
 acTcnowledged superiority of Human Physio- 
 logy ; we find Man placed on the confines of 
 another world, embracing in some degree the 
 two modes of Material and Spiritual existence, 
 and as Mr. Locke says, forming the Nevus 
 utriusqiie mundi. We see displayed in him 
 faculties superior to any thing visible in the 
 most perfect forms of brute creation. The 
 approaches which some animals seem to make 
 towards Reasoning, fall far short of it ; the chasm 
 is impassable that separates these creatures from 
 the fulness of Human Intelligence. A7§ see 
 Man going forth, then, a finished specimen, a 
 master-piece of sublunary creation ; we exclaim 
 with the poet, " What a piece of work is Man ! 
 — how noble in reason, how infinite in faculties, 
 in form and moving how express and admirable, 
 in action how like an Angel, in apprehension 
 how like a God, the beauty of the world, the 
 paragon of animals !" 
 
 L 
 
146 LETTER VII. 
 
 It has been said in praise of the Human facul- 
 ties, that Man is endowed with all the powers 
 and capacities of every other animal ; that he 
 is, in short, a summary of animal perfections. 
 This is, however, overstepping the modesty of 
 nature. It is an hyperbole grounded in mistake. 
 The attributes and faculties of the various 
 species of animals are so numerous, so compli- 
 cated, and so opposite, as to be perfectly incom- 
 patible in one system. Could he possibly 
 combine the enormous muscular strength of a 
 lion, and the exquisite touch of the spider; 
 could his optics soar with the eagle, and view 
 the range of an extended horizon ; and contract 
 with a fly, and peep into a pore ? His senses 
 and powers are wisely and justly adapted to a 
 middle rank of physical energy. Had he these 
 finer gifts, what would be their use? — they 
 would do a violence to his organs — they would 
 convert his pleasures into sufferings. Were his 
 olfactory senses more elaborate, it might only 
 serve him, as the poet says, 
 
 " With quick eflluvia darting through the brain, 
 " To die of a rose in aromatic jiaiii." 
 
 In contemplating the outline and figure of 
 Man, the first thing that strikes us is, his up- 
 right form. He stands alone in this attribute ; 
 he is the only erect figure on the surface of this 
 
HIS OUTLINE AND FIGURE. 147 
 
 earth. No anirpal besides treads the ground 
 with the whole surface of the foot. The mon- 
 key 3nd the bear make the nearest approach to 
 this faculty ; but in neither docs the os calcis 
 touch the ground ; they tread on the fore part of 
 the foot. In most quadrupeds, as I have ob- 
 served before of the horse, only the last phalanx 
 touches the ground. The prolongation of the 
 metatarsus removes the os calcis to such a dis- 
 tance from the ground, that it is situate midway 
 between the trunk and the hoof, and takes the 
 name of the Hock. When the Monkey stands 
 up, we perceive his knees bending under the 
 weight of his trunk, which consequently inclines 
 forward; when Man stands erect, the axis of his 
 trunk stands perpendicular to the plane of the 
 horizon, a position which the trunk of no other 
 animal ever attains. It is recorded, however, 
 that more than one person, who had been early 
 lost in the woods, and who, from constant inter- 
 course with the brute creation, had acquired a 
 brutal mode of existence, had absolutely at- 
 tained the gait of the quadruped, and bent for- 
 wards on the superior extremities ; a striking 
 instance, if true, of the paucity of every other 
 human instinct except Imitation. Man walks 
 erect by virtue of the perfection of his organiza- 
 tion ; it is the posture in which nature has 
 
14S LETTER VII. 
 
 placed him ; it is an attribute of his physical 
 pre-eminence. 
 
 In contemplatins: the relative Anatomy of 
 Man, let us begin with the organ that is tlie seat 
 of that noble faculty, which gives him the para- 
 mount superiority over the rest of the animal 
 creation. We find the Head a bony case, con- 
 taining a complicated substance of elaborate 
 structure, in which is seated the God-like attri- 
 bute of Mind. By means of this structure, 
 Man exercises a sovereignty over all below, and 
 iscapable of directing his faculties to all above. 
 
 The perfection of his superior energies is 
 found to bear a certain ratio to the quantity and 
 form of that highly- wrought substance, the 
 brain. The Brain very accurately fills up the 
 cavity of the Cranium, consequently the quan- 
 tum and relative proportion of the Brain can 
 be ascertained by the form of the Skull. The 
 figure of the Skull has therefore been taken by 
 anatomists, to denote the comparative magnitude 
 of this important organ. The general outline of 
 the Cranium is most materially influenced by 
 the prominence of the Facial Bones; a projec- 
 tion of the upper jaw is the circumstance ope- 
 rating most usually ; to ascertain the degree of 
 this, Camper instituted the facial line, which 
 consists in two lines drawn on the profile of the 
 
THE FACIAL LINE. 149 
 
 Face, one horizontal, from the external Ear 
 along the bottom of the cavity of the Nose, 
 which is intersected by a perpendicular line 
 proceeding from the convexity of the Forehead, 
 to the most prominent part of the upper Jaw. 
 This last is the true facial line, and the angle 
 it makes with the horizontal one just described, 
 indicates the difference in the form of the Cra- 
 nium. This angle is found in the European 
 adult to be about 85© ; in the Negro to be about 
 75° ; in the monkey tribe to be reduced below 
 70c ; and gradually diminishes as we descend 
 in the scale, till at length in some birds and 
 fishes, the two lines become almost parallel, 
 and we are justly led to associate stupidity 
 with the lengthened snouts of these animals. 
 The Crane, the Snipe, &c. have been prover- 
 bially remarked for want of intelligence. 
 
 The Ancients are supposed to have had some 
 notion of this line, as they have uniformly re- 
 presented all their great men with an elevated 
 facial line of 90°, and in their busts of gods and 
 heroes, have even exceeded the limits of nature, 
 and raised this angle to the unnatural extent of 
 JOO'^.— The Owl has the two tables of the 
 frontal bone much separated to form air cells, 
 which gives this bird an elevation of the facial 
 hne, without increasing the volume of its Cra- 
 nium, and consequently a false air of intelli- 
 
\60 lb:tteii vii. 
 
 gcnce, that occasioned its being chosen by the 
 Ancients as tlie emblem of wisdom. The situ- 
 ation of its eyes near together has also contri- 
 buted to give it a distant resemblance of the 
 outbne of the human face. 
 
 This facial line, however, does not hold uni- 
 versally as an indication of the relative intelli- 
 gence of different animals. It differs very little 
 in many animals of very divergent character; 
 whence another view of the Head has-been hit 
 upon by physiologists : this is the relative pro- 
 portions of the areas of the Cranium and Face. 
 The Brain must be considered as exercising a 
 two-fold function ; it appears to be the instru- 
 ment of Thought, and also the organ of our 
 Sensations. The perfection of our intellectual 
 faculties depends upon a perfection in the vo- 
 lume and structure of the Brain. The activity 
 of the senses is also dependent on the state of 
 this organ : in proportion, then, as that part of 
 the Brain, which is the immediate origin of the 
 nerves of the senses, is exceeded b}^ the remain- 
 der, which may be considered the organ of 
 thought, in such proportion is the animal 
 elevated in the scale of intelligence. . Therefore, 
 where the quantum of medullary substance, 
 which makes up the general mass of the Brain, 
 and constitutes the organ of Thinking, far ex- 
 ceeds that smaller portion, which gives nerves 
 
THE FACIAL LINE. lol 
 
 to the senses, so does the animal excel in intel- 
 lectual capacity. As the general substance of 
 the Brain, therefore, or the organ of mind, ex- 
 ceeds that of the senses, so are the Mental 
 endowments of the individual. Now, the Face 
 is principally made up of the parts containing 
 the two organs of smelling and tasting ; in pro- 
 portion as these parts are more developed, the 
 size of the Face bears a greater ratio to the 
 Cranium ; and vice versa^ wh.en the Cranium is 
 large, it indicates a large volume of Brain, with 
 smaller organs. of sense. A large Cranium and 
 small Face, therefore, denote in general a supe- 
 riority of intelligence, above the converse of 
 these relative proportions. 
 
 Now, the facial line does not give us exactly 
 these proportions ; they must be looked for in 
 another division of the Head; and a vertical 
 section of the Skull longitudinally, shews us 
 the relative proportions of these parts. It ex- 
 hibits to us the area of the Cranium, com- 
 pared to the area of the Face, consequently 
 Ave can by this means compare the intellectual 
 with the sensual structure in each : the lower 
 jaw in these calculations is entirely left out. 
 
 According to the above, the area of the Cra- 
 
 ^lium to the area of the Face, is discovered to be 
 
 as 4 to 1 in the European Head ; in the Kalmuc 
 
152 LETTER Vir. 
 
 Tartar about 4 to l.Ol ; and in the Negro about 
 4- to 4.02 ; less in the Ourang Outang, and gra- 
 dually diminishes as you descend in the scale. 
 Mr. Lawrence observes, that the outline of the 
 Face in the above section, forms a Triangle, the 
 longest side of which is the line of junction 
 between the Cranium and Face; the front of 
 the Face forms the shortest side of the triangle. 
 In Monkeys, the front of the Face forms the 
 longest line, and the junction between it and the 
 Cranium the shortest. 
 
 The ancients, and indeed the moderns, till very 
 lately, supposed that Man had the largest Brain 
 of an}' animal in proportion to his bulk. Recent 
 physiologists have, however, detected the fallacy 
 of this position, by discovering many striking 
 exceptions; they found that the proportion of 
 the Brain to the body in many birds, exceeds 
 even that of Man, and that several of the Mon- 
 key tribe and others are equal to him. But it 
 is found that the portion of Brain, as I observed 
 above, which is destined to the noble office of 
 Thought, is proportionally larger in Man, com- 
 pared with that part which is the immediate 
 origin of the nerves of sense, than holds in any 
 other animal whatever. Here Man exceeds 
 all animals that have hitherto been examined ; * 
 it appears, then, that the quantity of Brain, over 
 
DIVISION OF MANKIND. 1 6:> 
 
 and above that portion which directly ministers 
 to the senses, is in a direct ratio to the intellec- 
 tual capacity of the animal. 
 
 One inference to be drawn from the relative 
 proportion of these parts, in different tribes of 
 Men is, that on those where the facial organs 
 prevail, they will enjoy greater acuteness of 
 the senses ; and such is found to be the case : 
 the Kalmuc and the Negro far exceed the Euro- 
 pean in the sense of smelling, in particular. 
 The American excels him in sight; he will 
 follow the track of his enemy, where an Euro- 
 pean could discover no vestiges of human foot- 
 steps. We are told, the wandering Arab pos- 
 sesses a very acute sense of hearing. 
 
 The form of the Skull we find takes on a cor- 
 responding figure to the intellectual capacity, 
 and has given rise to the science of Craniology, 
 which Dr. Spurzheim is at this time illustrating 
 by a course of interesting lectures in London, 
 wherein he deduces the qualities and propen- 
 sities of the mind from the configurations of the 
 Skull, and has made some curious comparative 
 inferences from the busts and portraits of the 
 greatest characters of both the ancient and mo- 
 dern world. 
 
 Mankind have been principally divided into 
 three great tribes, the Enropeaii, the Tartar, and 
 the Negro; in these we trace considerable 
 
154- LETTER VII. 
 
 variety in the form of the Head. The European, 
 according to Blunienbach, has a round head, 
 the forehead of moderate extent, the cheek-bones 
 narrow, without much projection, the front 
 teeth ranged perpendicularly. The Tartar has 
 his head almost square, the cheek-bones pro- 
 jecting outwards, the nose flat, the eyes angu- 
 larly situated outwards, the chin slightly promi- 
 nent, the skull assumes a square form, and 
 exhibits a tendency to lateral projection. The 
 Negro has the head narrow, compressed at the 
 sides, the forehead convex, the cheek-bones 
 projecting forwards, the nostrils wide, the jaws 
 lengthened, the teeth of the upper jaw turned 
 obliquely forwards, the lower jaw large, the skull 
 thus manifesting a character of lateral compres- 
 sion. We trace, then, the superiority of Man to 
 consist in the structure of his Brain, of which 
 the figure of his skull forms the exponent out- 
 line ; so that the less an animal has of jaws, 
 and the more of skull, the nearer it approaches 
 the rational structure of the Human Head. 
 Nothing gives the Human Face a more brutal 
 aspect than protruding jaws, with a Head 
 pushed back ; in this case, we find the point of 
 the chin projecting beyond the line of the face, 
 the teeth prominent, the nose somewhat flat- 
 tened, the eyes separated by a narrow space, the 
 forehead receding, the skull terminating in a 
 
THE COUNTENANCE. loo 
 
 sharp point above and behind ; — a Man with 
 such a Head will never make a Lord Chancellor. 
 The elaborate texture of the Brain, added to 
 its relative magnitude, constitutes Man the mos-t 
 perfect of all animal organizations : he is endowed 
 with a Mind, which has its seat, and displays 
 all its operations in the Brain ; it is owing to 
 the energy of the Mind, that all the voluntary 
 powers of the body are directed^ to a rational 
 end. The function of the Brain is the only one. 
 in which Man excels all other animals. There 
 is no other organ in his body,- (except that of 
 the voice,) the powers of which arc not exerted 
 to greater perfection, in some species of animals 
 than in Man. The senses and instincts of ani- 
 mals are much beyond him. The Ox surpasses 
 him in strength, the Deer in swiftness ; some 
 elude him by superior cunning ; some suspend 
 their vital functions, and dive into the watery 
 deep ; others sit in majest}^ above the clouds : 
 but none, like him, possess the Heaven-like 
 attribute of Consciousness. 
 
 Having made these observations on the Brain, 
 let us examine, for a few moments, its grand 
 exponent, the Cou+itenance ; this is the great 
 index of the Brain ; here it has been supposed, 
 as in a book. Men's passions and emotions might 
 be read— here all the secret springs of the soul 
 be traced in characters strongly marked: but this 
 
166 LETTER VII. 
 
 expectation has been overrated. The Counte- 
 nance is a fallacious dial of the mind ; in part 
 it is true, but it is only in part ; — whoever ex- 
 pects to make Physiognomy a science accurately 
 reduced to line and figure, and to find the secret 
 springs of the Mind upon the tip of the nose, or 
 the point of the chin, supposes a mistake. Ho- 
 garth has judiciously observed, that Handsome 
 Faces will often hide foolish or wicked minds, 
 -till they betray themselves by their actions ; 
 a bad man, he says, may so manage his muscles, 
 by teaching them to contradict his heart, that 
 little of his mind can be gathered from his 
 countenance; so that " the character of the 
 Hypocrite is entirely oat of the ponder of the pen- 
 cil'* " Nature,*' he adds, " has aflTorded us 
 many lines and shapes, to indicate the deficien- 
 cies and blemishes of the mind, while there are 
 none that point out the perfections of it, beyond 
 the appearance of common sense and placidity. 
 Deportment, words, and actions, must speak the 
 good, the wise, the witty, and the brave. All 
 that the ancient sculptors could do, notwith- 
 standing their enthusiastic endeavours to raise 
 the characters of their Gods to aspects of saga- 
 city above human, was to give them features of 
 Beauty. Their God of Wisdom has no more 
 than a handsome manliness." 
 
 We must, however, avoid the extreme ; there 
 
OUTLINE OF THE HUMAN FACE. 157 
 
 must be allowed a certain turn of expr.ession in 
 every countenance which awakens the attention 
 of the observer. The animated intelligence of 
 the Eye, and the whole aspect of a well-turned 
 Face, exhibit constant changes of expression 
 that arrest our attention ; and we seem, in con- 
 versation, often to gather the speaker's meaning 
 before his words are uttered. The Face will 
 always please and entertain by its various 
 changes. Lady Mary Wortley Montague, with 
 a levity peculiar to her, said, that was the whole 
 body constantly exposed, the Face would be but 
 little noticed. Hogarth, however, with more 
 science, observes, that the rest of the body, 
 not having those advantages of variety in com- 
 mon with the Face, would soon satiate the Eye, 
 and in a short time have no more effect than a 
 marble statue. 
 
 The outline of the Human Face is described 
 in the beautiful figure of an oval, which blend- 
 ing variety with simplicity, is infinitely prefera- 
 ble to the circle, or any curvilinear form. The 
 effect is heightened, b\' the easy and gradual 
 diminution of the curve, from the broad arch of 
 the Forehead downwards to the Chin. The 
 prominent Chin, crested as it were by the lips, 
 forms a striking and beautiful finish to the Hu- 
 man Countenance, which no other animal face 
 possesses. The Lips and Chin are peculiar to 
 
\5S LETTER VII. 
 
 Man ; no creature besides has a prominent 
 Chin, or has the Mouth rounded by a rich 
 edging of lips. 
 
 The Eye is the feature which animates the 
 whole Face ; these, with their Brows, constitute 
 the Countenance, which derives its chief ex- 
 pression from them. The Nose adds much to 
 the beauty of the Face, but having no motion, 
 is not capable of expressing any great variety of 
 passion. The Eye-lashes add much grace and 
 beauty to the Eyes. Man, and some of the 
 Monkey tribe, are the only animals that have 
 Eye-lashes on both lids. 
 
 Descending from the Head we find the Trunk 
 projected, as it were, from a bony keel the Spine, 
 which in Man consists of twenty-four vertebrae. 
 The different modes of articulation among diffe- 
 rent parts of this chain, give the whole a variety 
 of motions, but the general flexibility of the 
 Spine is not so great in Man as it is in many 
 animals, w4iere other modes of articulation pre- 
 vail. Each vertebrae is connected with the 
 next, by the intervention of a cartilaginous elas- 
 tic substance : this substance yields to pressure, 
 and slowly recovers itself; whence a Man, who 
 has bteen all day carrying heavy loads, will be 
 found at night somewhat shorter than he was in 
 the morning : and indeed the compressibility of 
 this intervertebral substance,, renders all persons 
 
THE HUMAN HEART. 1 5\) 
 
 in a trifling degree shorter at the close of day 
 than they were in the morning. Twelve pair of 
 ribs issuing from the sides of the vertebral 
 column, and meeting by their cartilaginous ex- 
 tensions in the Breast-bone, form the cavity of 
 the Thorax, which contains the Heart and 
 Lungs, those important organs, which have 
 been designated by anatomists the seat of the 
 Vital Functions^ in distinction from those of the 
 Brain, which have been termed the Animal 
 Functiotis, and the offices of the Digestive 
 Organs, w^hich have gained the appellation of 
 Natural Functions. 
 
 The Human Heart is a hollow muscle, con- 
 sisting of four cavities, viz. two auricles, and 
 two ventricles ; the former receive the blood 
 from the veins, and the latter send it forth again 
 by the arteries. The Heart is situated nearly 
 in the centre of the body, a little towards the 
 left side ; a vertical line dividing the Thorax, 
 would pass through the right side of this organ ; 
 it lays flat on the Diaphragm : it is what ana- 
 tomists call a double Heart, having two sets of 
 cavities and vessels. In Fish, and simpler 
 systems, the Heart consists of only two cavities. 
 The course of the Blood, or what has been 
 termed the Circulation, and which was dis- 
 covered by our countrN'man Harvey in the 17th 
 century, is as follows : — The Blood roturninji 
 
160 LETTER VII. 
 
 through the veins from the different parts of the 
 body, is poured into the Right Auricle from the 
 Vena Cava ; this cavity, when distended, con- 
 tracts, and forces its contents into the Right 
 Ventricles, from whence it is by a similar con- 
 traction of the walls of this cavit^^ propelled 
 into the Pulmonary Arteries, which circulate it 
 through the Lungs : the Pulmonary Veins re- 
 turn this blood, improved by absorbing Oxygen 
 in its passage through the Lungs, to the left 
 side of the Heart into the Left Auricle ; this 
 forces it into the corresponding ventricle, from 
 whence it is projected into the Aorta, by which 
 it is passed on through the different ramifications 
 of the arterial system to every part of the body, 
 from whence it is again returned by the veins, 
 which gathering in size at length near the heart, 
 unite in one trunk the Vena Cava, which pours 
 the blood into the Right Auricle as before 
 mentioned. This is a rough outline of the 
 course of the Blood, which is called the Cir- 
 culation. 
 
 The Blood so circulated is the grand pabulum 
 which supports the structure, and supplies the 
 waste of every part of the system ; it is reducible 
 into several constituent parts, and is formed 
 from the chyle which is elaborated from the 
 food in the process of Digestion. The red colour 
 of the Blood is supposed to arise from its con- 
 
MOTION OF THE BLOOD. iGl 
 
 taining a portion of Phosphate of Iron : the 
 rapidity of its motion may be conceived, from 
 the following calculation :— ^Each ventricle is 
 supposed to contain rather more than an ounce; 
 the heart contracts or pulsates, at an average, 
 about 4000 times in an hour — consequently 
 4000 ounces of Blood, or nearly 300 pounds, 
 passes through it in that space of time. It is 
 moreover estimated, that the whole mass of 
 Blood in an adult is about twenty-five pounds ; 
 therefore this quantity circulates through that 
 organ nearly twelve times in an hour, or about 
 once every five minutes. 
 
 Mr. Hunter advanced an opinion, which I 
 believe had been entertained by many philoso- 
 phers for ages before, viz. that the Blood con- 
 tained the principle of vitality ; that it possessed 
 a living power within itself, by virtue of which 
 it manifested all its active qualities. Mr. John 
 Bell has chosen to designate this theory " the 
 most monstrous of all absurdities.'* He says 
 it is against all the laws of nature, that any fluid 
 should be endowed with life. He considers a 
 fluid as a body, which can have no perfect 
 character, no permanent nature, and no iiuing 
 powers connected with it: but a solid, he says, 
 is the reverse of all this. It may, however, be 
 answered to this, that the Blood certainly 
 evinces clear signs of possessing preservative 
 
162 I.ETTER VII. 
 
 properties, and of imparting living powers to the 
 organized forms it is concerned in moulding; 
 and we know that man} fluids secreted from the 
 Blood possess evidently strong living powers: the 
 Liquidus Seminalis, the Gastric Juice, the In- 
 terstitial Fluid, all evince indubitable living pro- 
 perties. Among inanimate bodies, Mr. BelKs 
 definition of a fluid certainly does not hold. 
 Has Light, has Caloric, has Electricity, or has 
 Oxygen Gas, which are all most active fluids, 
 no perfect characters, no permanent natures? — 
 are not these bodies the most powerful, the most 
 homogenous, and the most permanent agents we 
 meet with in nature ? The Blood must, I think, 
 be considered to have a certain share of vitality 
 in common with the rest of the system, and the 
 tenet of the Mosaic philosophy that " in the 
 Blood is the life thereof," must be allowed its 
 full weight in its literal as well as figurative 
 sense. 
 
 The next organs of the Chest are the Lungs, 
 which are divided into two Lobes, and each lobe 
 into smaller lobules ; they are covered by a fine 
 membrane, and when dilated, they fill up the 
 distended cavity of the Chest. The air enters 
 the Lungs during inspiration by the Mouth, 
 and passing down the wind-pipe, fills up the 
 cells into which the Lobes are divided. The 
 enlargement of the Chest in this case is effected 
 
RESPIRATION. l6S 
 
 laterally, by the Intercostal Muscles elevating 
 the Ribs, which enlarges the cavity of the 
 Thorax from side to side. The longitudinal 
 enlargement arises from the movement of the 
 Diaphragm, which is a muscular partition that 
 forms the floor of the Thorax, and separates it 
 from the Abdomen. The Diaphrag?ii is usually 
 convex towards the Thorax — but when it con- 
 tracts in inspiration, the convexity is drawn 
 downward, and the surface of the muscle forms 
 a plane, consequently the Thorax is this while 
 lengthened below. This action of the parts is 
 quickly succeeded by a reaction of the muscles 
 of the Abdomen, which press the Diaphragm 
 back again ; the Intercostal Muscles relax, the 
 Ribs descend, the whole cavity of the Chest is 
 in consequence contracted, and the air so re- 
 cently received is again expelled. This is the 
 process of Respiration so necessary to animal 
 life, and which must go on incessantly in all 
 the more perfect orders, so that we find in Man 
 it cannot be interrupted for the shortest space of 
 time without destruction. Respiration takes 
 place about four times in a minute. 
 
 The indispensable frequency' of this process 
 indicates its high importance in the animal 
 economy. It is only within these few years 
 that the changes effected by Respiration on the 
 system have been clearly ascertained. We are 
 
164 LKTTEK VII. 
 
 indebted to chemistry for all our knowledge on 
 this subject. That science teaches, as 1 have 
 before observed, that the atmosphere we breathe 
 is composed principally of two Gases, viz. 
 Oxygen and Nitrogen, in the proportions of 
 about twenty-two parts of the former, to seventy- 
 seven of the latter: now, itisfound that Oxygen 
 is the air that is absorbed by the blood-vessels 
 of the Lungs, and that the air. Nitrogen, is of 
 itself unfit for animal Repiration. The final 
 purpose of Respiration, then, is the receiving 
 into the system, at each inspiration, a certain 
 portion of Oxygen Gas, which we find has very 
 sensible effects on the blood in the Lungs. The 
 blood which returns by the veins to the right 
 side of the Heart is of a dark purple ; in its pas- 
 sage through the pulmonary vessels it throws 
 off a quantity of Carbon and Hydrogen, and in 
 the pulmonary veins imbibes Oxygen, which 
 ffives it a briorht scarlet in returning to the left 
 Auricle. It is thus renovated in quality, and 
 fit to stimulate the arteries, and perform all its 
 functions. The office of the Lungs is therefore 
 to purify the Blood, by separating Oxygen from 
 the air taken in by breathing : this has been 
 proved by a multiplicity of observations on dif- 
 ferent animals. 
 
 Some experiments have been made to ascer- 
 tain the contents of the Human Chest, and the 
 
RESPIRATION. 16A 
 
 volume of air taken in and given out, at each 
 process of Respiration. The results of these 
 have been variously given, but the Lungs, when 
 fully distended, have been supposed to contain 
 about 220 cubic inches. In natural breathing, 
 we draw in and expel about 40 cubic inches — 
 consequently we never wholly discharge the 
 air from the Lungs ; they always may be said to 
 contain 180 cubic inches of air. If four Res- 
 pirations take place in a minute, and 40 inches 
 are discharged each time, we may say, that 
 about 9600 inches, or rather more than 40 gal- 
 lons, are expended every hour — consequently 
 about 1000 gallons in a day. 
 
 The cells of the Lungs are coiled up, but 
 when fully extended are supposed to be almost 
 equal in extent to the whole square surface of 
 the body : upon this surface the extreme vessels 
 are spread that absorb Oxygen from the air. 
 The air inspired is the atmosphere ; the Oxygen 
 of which is absorbed, and communicates by its 
 stimulus, living energy to the Blood. The air 
 given out in Expiration is a compound of Car- 
 bon, of Hydrogen, and of Nitrogen, which 
 having, in various combinations, been the round 
 of the circulation, and undergone many mixtures 
 and separations, are at length become effete, and 
 necessary to be discharged from the system ; 
 the Lungs are therefore highly important excre- 
 
I 66 LETTER VII. 
 
 tory organs. The compound air expired is unfit 
 tor Respiration or Combustion ; it soon conta- 
 minates the air in close places, and renders it 
 no longer respirable. When given out, it enters 
 into new combinations with other bodies, and 
 thus a constant change is going on in the 
 Creation by an harmonious and well-adapted 
 circle of operations. 
 
 " 'Tis surely God 
 " Whose unremitting energy pervadei?, 
 " Adjusts, sustains, and agitates the whole." 
 
 Many very ingenious theories have been in- 
 vented to explain the Temperature of the Blood 
 in the Human Body. Dr. Crawford supposed 
 that the source of animal heat is in the Lungs — 
 that the Arterial Blood possessed a ^rea^o* capa- 
 city for heat than Venous Blood, which prevents 
 too sensible an accumulation of heat in the 
 Lungs. By the decomposition of Oxygen Gas 
 in breathing, Caloric is evolved, which is imme- 
 diately taken up by the Arterial Blood without 
 its temperature being increased, owing to its 
 greater capacity for it. When the Blood, in the 
 course of the circulation, passes into the veins, 
 its capacity for Caloric is diminished, and its 
 latent surplus is in consequence given out; and 
 this gradual and constant evolution of heat, in 
 the extreme vessels, is the cause of that uniform 
 
ANIMAL HEAT. iGj 
 
 temperature which is felt all over the surface. 
 Mr. John Bell rejects this hypothesis, and ob- 
 serves, that it is a law of nature, that a body, 
 while it passes from an aerial to a fluid form, 
 or from a fluid to a solid form, gives out Heat ; 
 that all over the body there is constantly going 
 on an assimilation of new parts, by which they 
 are continually passing from a fluid to a solid 
 form, which must necessarily produce a con- 
 stant evolution of heat, by virtue of this chemi- 
 cal change of fluid into solid matter. This 
 argument of Mr. Bell is certainly ingenious, and 
 holds good as far as it goes; but it appears to me 
 to shew only one side of the question ; for the 
 reverse of that law he quotes, or the conversion 
 of a solid into a fluid, or of a fluid into vapour, 
 necessarily produces Cold. Now the change 
 which is unceasingly going on in the extreme 
 vessels of an animal body is not confined to the 
 former operation of converting fluids into solids; 
 there is also another process, the converse of 
 this, to be taken into account. The Solids are 
 constantly being absorbed ; their absorption 
 cannot take place till their solid texture is 
 broken down, and they are chartered into fluids. 
 This last operation balances the former; it keeps 
 pace with it, or otherwise the bulk of the animal 
 would be augmented indefinitely. There is a 
 constant necessity for this removal of parts, that 
 
16B LKtTER VI [. 
 
 have served their office and become prejudicial 
 by longer continuance. All the excretions con- 
 tain salts and solid matter in solution. All the 
 parts of the system, even the hardest bones are, 
 we know, in time removed by the activity of 
 the absorbents ; so that, in the space of a few 
 years, not one particle of the body is left that 
 formed it before — the whole animal frame has 
 lost its Material Identity. Here, then, we must 
 admit, a process is constantly going on that 
 converts soHds into fluids, and according to Mr. 
 Bell's own chemistry, must necessarily be pro- 
 ductive of Cold. This must balance the evolu- 
 tion of Heat alluded to by that gentleman, and 
 I think much embarrass his theory. 
 
 The usual temperature of the human body 
 in all weathers is about 97° or 98*^ of Fahrenheit, 
 and this portion of heat is constantly tending to 
 fly off from the surface of the body ; whence the 
 necessity of using clothes, which, by their loose 
 spongy texture, holding a quantity of air, act as 
 non-conductors, and confine the heat. Fur is 
 a worse conductor than wool, and consequently 
 a warmer covering ; hence the animals of the 
 Arctic regions are clothed with this comfortable 
 substance — while again, the natives of the Tor- 
 rid Zone have neither fur nor wool, but a thin 
 coat of hair. The inhabitants of Portugal, like 
 the traveller in the fable, who could blow hot 
 
ANIMAL TEMPERATURE. 169 
 
 and cold with the same breath, erroneously in- 
 dulge a prejudice in favour of a leading article 
 of their dress, the Capota. This huge woollen 
 envelope they wrap carefully about them in the 
 middle of summer, as well as in winter. In the 
 latter season they argue justly enough, it keeps 
 out cold, and, by a mistaken analogy, suppose 
 in summer it keeps out heat; they, therefore, 
 wear it every day in the year. 
 
 The tenacity of Life in some of the lower 
 species of animals, to which I have formerly 
 alluded, is in nothing more conspicuous than in 
 the povvermany of them possess, of resisting the 
 destructive effects of cold. Frogs have been 
 found so much frozen as to chip like ice, and 
 yet when they have been gradually thawed, 
 have resumed all the functions of animation. 
 The temperature varies in different animals; — 
 in Man, and most of the largest quadrupeds, it 
 is 98*^ ; in the Amphibiae, it is as low as 40*^ ; 
 in Fish, it is according to the temperature they 
 live in. 
 
 Having taken up so much of your time on 
 the Vital Functions, I will conclude, and 
 remain 
 
 Yours trulv, 
 
 L. S. B. 
 
170 
 
 LETTER VIII. 
 Dear Friend, 
 
 XN my last I offered a few remark^ on the 
 organs of the Head and Chest, the seats of the 
 Animal and Vital Functions ; if now we descend 
 to the Abdomen, we perceive a different set of 
 organs, designed to elaborate matter, to repair 
 the waste of the solid fabric of the body ; their 
 offices have obtained the designation of the 
 Natural Functions. The organ which here 
 takes the lead, and to which most of the others 
 seem auxiliaries, is the Stomach, the great re- 
 ceptacle of the food, which it acts upon, and 
 assimilates to the nature of the system, by a 
 process as wonderful as any thing we meet with 
 in the whole range of nature. The digestion of 
 the food has been in different ages, and by diffe- 
 rent authors, variously explained. At one time 
 it was accounted for on the supposition of a 
 violent fermentation, which taking place in the 
 stomach, converted its contents to the nature of 
 chyle. When the mechanical philosophy pre- 
 vailed, it was attributed to the muscular fibres 
 of the stomach exerting a mechanical action on 
 the food, which became triturated and ground 
 
DIGESTION'. 171 
 
 down, exactly like so much corn in a mill. 
 Chemistry, in its turn, had a share in the busi- 
 ness — and so late as Ciillen, we find everything 
 in the stomach balanced between the contending 
 agencies of acid and alcaline principles. Medi- 
 cal philosophy has, however, of late, like other 
 braiiL-hts, thrown off the yoke of systematic 
 tber>ry. which so long tyrannized over all the 
 phenomena, and warped every fact to its own 
 purpose. The former practice was to set up a 
 preconceived theoiy, and make every circum- 
 stance in nature bend to it in some way or other, 
 however great might be the degree of distortion: 
 at last, however, physicians have become philo- 
 sophers, and have learned to reason by induction 
 from the facts and circumstances which nature 
 presents, and we shall find that observation and 
 experiment have completely exploded all the 
 above speculations, and thrown considerable 
 light on the real state of the case in digestion. 
 
 The stomach is composed of several distinct 
 coats, from the inner of which is secreted a 
 peculiarly active, highly organized fluid, called 
 the Gastric Juice, by the living energy of which 
 the assimilation of the food is accomplished. 
 This elaborate fluid acts upon the ingesta, and 
 converts it to the nature of the system ; this is 
 the fair induction from several suites of experi- 
 ments made by diflferent physiologists. Reau- 
 
172 LETTER VIll. 
 
 mur enclosed small quantities of different kinds 
 of food in small perforated metallic tubes; these 
 he introduced into the stomachs of Carnivorous 
 animals, and after n certain time, it was found 
 that the articles in the tubes were dissolved. 
 Spallanzani pursued this mode of experiment, 
 by means of small metal and glass balls and 
 tubes, which he filled with barley and different 
 grains, and introduced them into the gizzards of 
 Turkies and other poultry, and left them there 
 for different spaces of time : he then killed the 
 animals, and found that whenever he employed 
 bruised grain, it was dissolved in proportion to 
 the time it had been in the stomach, but the 
 whole grains were left almost entire. In Birds 
 with strong gizzards, he found tin tubes were 
 crushed and distorted in every way. He then 
 tried the effects of pointed bodies: he fixed 
 twelve strong tin needles in a ball of lead ; these 
 were cased in paper, and forced down the throat 
 of a Turkey ; the needles were all but three 
 broken off to the surface of the ball, without 
 any injury to the coats of the Stomach. A more 
 horrid instrument was then tried ; he fixed 
 twelve sharp lancets in a ball of lead, which he 
 gave to a Turkey ; at the end of eight hours the 
 bird was killed, and no vestiges of these were 
 found in the Stomach ; the ball was quite 
 naked ; three of them were discovered in the 
 
DIGESTION- 173 
 
 intestines; the Stomach, in this case, had re- 
 ceived no injury. He extended his exj3erimpnts 
 to animals ot" membraneous stomachs, where he 
 found the Gastric Juice sufficient to break down 
 the food, and reduce it to a pulp. 
 
 About the year 1777, Dr. Stephens published 
 a treatise on Digestion, in which he gives an 
 account of a series of experiments he made upon 
 a German mendicant, who was in the habit of 
 swallowing stones for the amusement of the 
 people. This man would swallow six or eio-ht 
 stones as large as pigeon's eggs. The Doctor 
 made him swallow a hollow silver sphere, di- 
 vided into two cavities, and perforated with a 
 number of small holes; into one cavity he put 
 four scruples of raw beef, and into the other five 
 scruples of raw fish ; in a iew hours, the beef 
 was found to have lost one scruple, and the fish 
 two scruples. Pursuing these experiments, he 
 found that dressed animal food was sooner dis- 
 solved than raw ; that masticated food sooner 
 than other; and that vegetable matters, both 
 raw and dressed, were soon reduced. The Ger- 
 man, however, left him before he had finished 
 his course of experiments; he then pursued 
 them on Dogs, and found that the Gastric Juice 
 of a Dog was capable of dissolving hard pieces 
 «f bone, and even pieces of ivory, but would 
 not exert much influence on vegetables, such 
 
174 LiiiTER vm, 
 
 as Potatoc, Parsnip, &c. In the ruminating" 
 animals, as the Ox, the Sheep, &c. he found the 
 Gastric Juice would on the contrary dissolve 
 vegetables, but made no impression on animal 
 substances. As the Human Stomach, therefore, 
 in these cases evidently acted upon both animal 
 and vegetables substances, he concluded very 
 justly, that Man comes under the head of the 
 Omtiivora^ and is destined to eat both animal 
 and vesfetable food. 
 
 Mr. Hunter followed up the above experi- 
 ments with nearly similar inferences, and in his 
 paper on Digestion has treated the subject with 
 his usual scientific precision. He obtained a 
 quantity of the Gastric Juice of different ani- 
 mals, by means of sponges thrust into their 
 stomachs, and immersed different articles of 
 food in separate portions, in various tempera- 
 tures. By these experiments, the fact was suffi- 
 ciently established, that the Gastric Juice pos- 
 sessed a solvent power over the matters taken 
 in ; and that this power did not arise from any 
 chemical agency in that fluid, but produced its 
 effects by virtue of a living power inherent in it, 
 by which it is enabled to act upon and assimilate 
 the food to its own nature. 
 
 Mr. Hunter observes, that living matter pos- 
 sesses within itself a power of resisting the action 
 of the Gastric Fluid ; but that, when it is dead, 
 
DIGESTION. 175 
 
 it loses this power, and becomes immediately 
 acted on ; hence, he remarks, we find many 
 animals live in the Stomach, and increase there, 
 as the Intestinal Worms, &c. ; but the moment 
 they die, the Gastric Fluid dissolves them in 
 common with other matters taken in. '*^lf it were t) 
 possible, he says, for a man's hand to to be 
 introduced into the Stomach of a living' animal, 
 and kept there for some time, it would be found, 
 that the dissolvent powers of the Stomach would 
 have no effect upon it ; but, if the same hand 
 was separated from the body, and left there, the ' 
 powers of the Stomach would exert their full in- 
 fluence in destroying it. He further observed, 
 that the very coats of the Stomach which contain 
 this fluid, while in the living siate^ are not in any 
 way acted on by it; but after death this most active 
 agent immediately exerts its power, and dissolves 
 the coats ; often passing through into the cavity 
 of the Abdomen, and aftecting the texture of the 
 different viscera. This is a most curious fact, 
 and evinces, in opposition to Mr. J. Bell's defi- 
 nition of a fluid, the powerful, permanent energy 
 of this highly-organized liquid. 
 
 The power of the juices of the Stomach is 
 strongly manifested in the Serpent tribe, which 
 swallow their prey whole, and dissolve and 
 break down the mass by virtue of their strong 
 solvent properties. 
 
176 LETTER VIII. 
 
 These effects of the Gastric Fluid cannot in 
 ^ny shape be attributed to chemical a<jfency ; it 
 is the result of an animal power, different from 
 any quality to be met with among chemical ele- 
 ments. We find bread from the same loaf, water 
 from the same brook, ministering to the life and 
 growth of Man, and animals of very different 
 natures. We, therefore, infer it is a Living 
 energy, and not a Chemical, that produces these 
 effects. A chemical combination is uniform and 
 undeviating in its effects : two chemical bodies 
 when mixed will always produce the same re- 
 sults ; but in the economy of animals, the very 
 same substances are converted to very different 
 systems. No greater error, perhaps, ever befel 
 philosophy than the attempt to make all the 
 functions of organized bodies subservient to the 
 laws of dead matter. Animated beings possess 
 a system of movements, the result perhaps of 
 spiritual agency, over their particular organiza- 
 tions ; by which they overcome the inertia of 
 their particles, and carry on their various 
 functions. 
 
 Dead matter, on the contrary, is passive, and 
 submits to the influence of external agency. 
 There are, therefore, two systems of laws in the 
 physical world ; one, that of organic structure ; 
 the other, that of common inanimate matter. 
 Digestion, therefore, belongs to the former ; it 
 
HUMAN FOOD. 177 
 
 is a living action totally diflerent from any other 
 action to be met witli in chemistry, mechanics, 
 or any branch of physics. 
 
 There has been some discussion among philo- 
 sophers as to the particular kind of food most 
 congenial to Man ; whether nature intended him 
 to feed upon animals, or to confine himself to 
 vegetable diet alone. The evidence of his ana- 
 tomical structure would seem to be decidedly in 
 favour of his claim to both. The number and 
 form of the teeth in the Mammalia, have been 
 supposed to bear a reference to the proper diet 
 in each species. The Carniuora possess in 
 general long incisores and canine teeth, with only 
 moderate grinders ; while the Herbivora have 
 large grinders and small, and often no incisors : 
 the form and texture of the digestive organs are 
 also further criteria. The Herbivorous animals 
 have numerous complicated stomachs, and very 
 iong intestines; while the Carnivora have simple 
 membranous stomachs, with short intestines. 
 Man holds a middle course in regard both to the 
 form of his teeth, and the structure of his diges- 
 tive organs : he has, like the Carnivora, a mem- 
 branous stomach, and intestines of a somewhat 
 intermediate length between the extended tube 
 of the Ruminantia, and the short intestine of the 
 Carniuora : he also possesses that appendage to 
 the liver the gall bladder, which seems wanting 
 
 N 
 
178 LETTER VIII. 
 
 in many Herbivorous animals, but is constantly 
 present in Carnivorous systems : he is supplied 
 with incisor teeth much after the manner of the 
 Glires* of Linnaeus, and has an establishment of 
 grinding teeth similar to those animals living on 
 vegetable food. To this may be added, that the 
 experiments of Dr. Stephens and Dr. Hunter 
 above alluded to, prove, that the Gastric Juice 
 of the Human Stomach is capable of acting 
 equally upon both animal and vegetable food. 
 A proper mixture of both would therefore appear 
 most congenial to our species. 
 
 The Mosaic History renders it somewhat 
 doubtful whether the Antideluvians used ani- 
 mal food, as it does not seem that at the Crea- 
 tion any positive mention is made of any other 
 than vegetable. " And God said, behold I have 
 given you every herb bearing seed, which is 
 upon the face of all the earth, and every tree in 
 the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed ; to 
 you it shall he for meat.** After the Deluge, 
 the first positive injunction concerning animal 
 food is recorded ; " Every moving thing that 
 liveth shall be meat for you ; even as the green 
 herb have I given you all things." From this 
 period we know that the Hebrews, and other 
 
 * Cuvier forms these animals having large incisor teeth into 
 an order called Rodentia. 
 
FOOD FOR MAN. 179 
 
 Hrttions, used animal food, both at their feasts 
 and sacrifices. 
 
 There is a circumstance to be considered in 
 the moral history of mankind, which would 
 seem to indicate that nature intended animal 
 food for the use of Man. Agriculture is an art 
 which belongs not to Man in the infancy of civi- 
 lization ; it indicates some progress in the social 
 fabric. Many generations of men will neces- 
 sarily have passed away, before a nation can 
 have established a regular system of agriculture ; 
 indeed it is a point in the scale of human pro- 
 gression, to which very extensive and numerous 
 tribes have not yet attained, notwithstanding 
 the remoteness of their origin. Hunting and 
 Fishing are the early occupations of men ; we 
 find all savage tribes constant and expert in the 
 pursuit of their prey; it is not till after some 
 time that they collect and domesticate flocks, 
 and become pastoral. Man is first a Hunter ; 
 his next step makes him a Shepherd ; and arts 
 and civil polity must have gained some ground 
 before he feels himself sufficiently secure to till 
 the earth, and wait to receive the fruits of his 
 toil in the harvest. Now prior to the establish- 
 ment of Agriculture, it is difficult to conceive 
 that the spontaneous fruits of the earth, could 
 afford sufficient food for the support of the 
 community ; and indeed we always find uncivi- 
 
ISO LETTER VIII. 
 
 lized nations using animal food in large propor- 
 tion ; as, therefore, at his first going forth, Man 
 is unable to cultivate the produce of the earth to 
 any useful extent ; it seems to follow, that nature 
 gave him that abundant supply of animal forms 
 to minister to his hunger and his wants. 
 
 It is curious to trace the varieties that obtain 
 among mankind in the use of food : many nations 
 derive their chief subsistence from the animal 
 kingdom, while others principally depend upon 
 the vegetable for support. In the cold Northern 
 countries we naturally expect to find vegetable 
 growth narrow and stinted, and here accordingly 
 mankind place their great dependence on the 
 beasts of the chase, the fowls of the air, and the 
 fish, which their shores and rivers often supply 
 them in abundance. These men form a Carni- 
 vorous race, and, with the exception of a scanty 
 use of grain, may almost be said to leave the 
 vegetable kingdom untouched ; witness the in- 
 habitants of Lapland, Greenland, Labrador, &c. 
 In the warmer regions of the earth, where vege- 
 table life shoots up with a luxuriant abundance, 
 and branches out into rich variety, the natives 
 use comparatively little animal food, but live 
 principally on the fruits and roots with which 
 nature so amply supplies them. It appears? 
 then, that as we recede from the Pole, a less 
 quantity of animal food becomes sufficient for 
 
VARIETIES OF FOOD. 181 
 
 the inhabitants. Every habitable latitude enjoys 
 a mean temperature of 60 '^ for two months, and 
 seems capable of producing some species of 
 grain; whence almost every country has adopted 
 the use of some kind of bread. Bread being a 
 dry and friable substance, has been supposed 
 necessary to be taken in with other kinds of food, 
 in order to expose them to a sufficient mastica- 
 tion in the mouth ; it is, therefore, generally 
 eaten with animal and other food, at most of our 
 meals. In order to obviate a supposed unwhole- 
 some tendency, it is usually mixed with a certain 
 quantity of yeast, and exposed to a degree of 
 acescent fermentation ; it then becomes more 
 spongy and tender : it how^ever is not absolutely 
 necessary thus to ferment bread. A very large 
 portion of mankind use their grain unfermented; 
 the Asiatics live upon Rice, a most nutritious, 
 wholesome grain*, which they never ferment; 
 the American Indians, &c. use their Maize in a 
 similar way ; and to come nearer home, the 
 peasantry of Scotland make their Oatmeal into 
 cakes without exposing it to any degree of fer- 
 mentation — and Dr. Cullen says, he hardly ever 
 met with a disease among them that could be 
 
 * The unfavourable opinion so generally entertained of the 
 properties of Rice as an article of diet is now pretty nearly 
 done away, and may be classed among the many vulgar 
 errors so prevalent with the multitude. 
 
182 LETTER VIII. 
 
 attributed to their oatmeal. Wheat seems to 
 make the most perfect bread, and is perhaps 
 specifically the most nutritious grain, although 
 Rice has been by some considered superior. 
 The Potatoe is a root for which we are indebted 
 to the discovery of America ; I believe it was 
 introduced among us by Sir Francis Drake ; it 
 is found extremely nutritious. Dr. Adam Smith 
 thinks the Irish peasantry, who subsist chiefly 
 upon this root, acquire that superiority in 
 healthy athletic appearance over the peasantry 
 of Scotland, from the superior qualities of the 
 Potatoe to the Oatmeal, with which the latter 
 are mostly fed. Since Adam Smith wrote, the 
 culture of the Potatoe has however been much 
 extended in North Britain, and promises to im- 
 prove the condition of the Scotch peasantr}'. 
 This author observes, that if Potatoes could be 
 stored like Corn, they would become of great 
 national importance, and would be more advan- 
 tageous than Corn, as the same space of culti- 
 vated ground would produce a greater surplus of 
 food for Man, and consequently maintain a 
 larger population, similar to what is found in the 
 rice countries, where a space of ground will pro- 
 duce enough of this grain to support a much 
 greater number of persons than an equal space 
 cultivated with European corn. 
 
 In speaking of the comparative qualities of 
 
VARIETIES OF FOOD. 1 8.3 
 
 Animal and Vegetable diet, we should be led to 
 inter rt priori that animal food rendered the body 
 more robust, and better able to undergo labour 
 and fatigue, and that a man wholly fed on beef 
 or mutton, must necessarily excel in all physi- 
 cal energies another who subsisted on vegetables 
 only. This inference seems fairly to flow from 
 the most rational theory, and yet how numerous 
 are the exceptions. The Irish Peasantry, who 
 are as healthy, as handsome, and as brave a race 
 of men as can be produced, eat very little ani- 
 mal food ; potatoes and coarse bread, with an 
 occasional scanty meal of meat, is all that falls 
 to the lot of these Patagonians of the British 
 islands. A great portion of the labour of Eng- 
 land is carried on by men, who get a very spare 
 allowance of meat. I have seen the Gallician 
 porters in Portugal, who work much harder 
 than any set of men in London, and endure 
 greater fatigue ; they are a strong race of men, 
 and eat little orno animal food ; bread, savoured 
 with a Sardinha or Pilchard, a piece of Garlick, 
 and some sour Wine, forms the diet of these 
 athletic, industrious fellows, whose honesty and 
 moral worth adorn the province that gives them 
 birth. Throughout France less animal food is 
 used in proportion than in England. 
 
 It would seem, therefore, that Vegetable ali- 
 ment alone is sufficient, accompanied with 
 
184 LETTER VIII. 
 
 exercise, air, &c. to give the body a very consi- 
 derable degree of strength and vigour, and that 
 in every country of Europe the labouring classes 
 depend principally upon it, and enjoy a very 
 limited use of animal diet. 
 
 After these few observations on the Stomach, 
 the other viscera of the Abdomen come into 
 view ; the use of most of these oroans is how- 
 
 o 
 
 ever very obscure, and as in all probability they 
 act as auxiliaries to the Stomach in the office of 
 digestion, I shall not dwell upon them here. 
 Many anatomists consider the Liver an excreting 
 organ, and think the Bile is a secretion necessary 
 to be regularly carried out of the system. 
 
 On the outside of the Trunk, are situated the 
 upper and lower extremities ; the former have 
 little move than a muscular attachment to the 
 Trunk ; the Scapula upon which the arm moves 
 is situated in a bed of muscle behind the shoul- 
 der ; a small bone (the Clavicle) unites it to the 
 Sternum. The arm is articulated with the Sca- 
 pula, by a round head of bone held in a super- 
 ficial cavity of the latter, by a powerful set of 
 muscles. 
 
 The form and situation of the Muscles are 
 intended by nature to combine convenience and 
 ease with purchase ; they are consequently 
 Levers of the third order, viz. with the power 
 applied near the Fulcrum, and between it and 
 
MUSCLES. 183 
 
 the point of resistance. The Biceps Muscle 
 for instance, arises above the Shoulder Joint, 
 and passing in a compact form along the front 
 of the Arm, is inserted into the Radius, just 
 below the bend of the Elbow : its use is to lift 
 the Forearm, which, with any weight it holds, 
 forms the resistance or weight ; the Joint of the 
 Elbow is the Fulcrum, and between both, and 
 near the latter, the ^Muscle is inserted, and the 
 power applied ; of course the acting part of this 
 Lever is shorter than the resisting, and requires 
 great strength in the muscle. Had this Muscle 
 been formed to give it the greatest mechanical 
 advantage of the Lever, its insertion must have 
 been near the wrist, which would have made it 
 very bulky and unwieldly ; but nature acts in 
 all cases upon principles of the wisest mecha- 
 nism. What is here said of the Biceps applies 
 to all the rest of the Muscles in the body. The 
 whole Muscular System is therefore constructed 
 upon a mechanical disadvantage ; they act upon 
 a leverage of the smallest power ; this is however 
 compensated by being less bulky, and not so 
 much in the way, as they must necessarily have 
 been had their points of insertion been nearer 
 the extremities of the limbs on which they act. 
 Convenience and elegance here make up loss of 
 power, and manifest a wisdom of design. 
 
 To accomplish the varied and multiplied 
 
ISG LETTER VIII. 
 
 movcmciUs of the Arm, nature has finished it by 
 the ingenious construction of the Hand, which 
 is formed of different ranges of joints, moved by 
 the forcible action of muscles and tendons most 
 elaborately and elegantly contrived. " Manus 
 ipscB sunt artium organa." The Thumb is, 
 however, the part that gives the human hand its 
 chief superiority ; it can be brought so much in 
 opposition to the fingers, as to allow them to 
 grasp, and hold firmly any object taken in the 
 hand, and it so assists and extends the general 
 powers of the fingers, that it has been considered 
 in the light of a second hand. No animal but 
 man has a thumb so separated from the fingers, 
 and so capable of enlarging their powers of 
 holding and grasping. Galen, after giving a 
 description of the structure and uses of the 
 Hand, exclaims, Considera igitur hie etiam 
 mirahilem Creatoris sapieniiam. 
 
 With respect to the lower extremity, we find 
 it moving on the Pelvis, by the action of the 
 voluminous mass of Glutaei Muscles ; these form 
 in the Human subject a remarkable degree of 
 magnitude, and with the bulk of the calf, consti- 
 tute the peculiarity in the appearance of the 
 human leg. As I observed above, no other 
 animal has the privilege of placing its foot flat, 
 and resting the heel on the ground, which be- 
 comes absolutely necessary to enable man to 
 
HUMAN STATURE. 187 
 
 maintain his upright posture, by giving a broad 
 basis, within which the centre of gravity of the 
 whole body might fall. The breadth of the 
 Human Pelvis, and the obliquity of the neck of 
 the thigh bone, throw the legs farther distant, 
 and allow the feet a wider separation, which 
 taken altogether give our species the noble pre- 
 rogative of standing upright. Man, therefore, 
 stands erect from these circumstances, and from 
 the balancing powers of all the muscles which 
 move the Pelvis on the thighs. When these 
 muscles are all relaxed by Death, or any other 
 cause, the body falls forwards ; it would, there- 
 fore, seem to be almost an artificial state, accom- 
 plished by a combination of numerous muscular 
 actions. 
 
 These remarks form a cursory view of the 
 Physical outline of the Human figure, the size 
 and dimensions of which, notwithstanding the 
 fables of the Giants, seems to remain much at 
 the same level as in the remote ages of antiquity. 
 The Egyptian Mummies which have been pre- 
 served, and which are perhaps three thousand 
 years standing, exhibit no difference in stature 
 with the men of our own days. The Emperor 
 Augustus was considered by the Romans of a 
 middle stature ; his height is recorded at about 
 five feet nine inches of our measure. 
 
 In closing our observations on the general 
 
188 LETTER VIII. 
 
 Anatomy of Man, we cannot fail looking back 
 on the sublime mechanism of his structure, and 
 the ingenious adaption of the different parts. We 
 behold in him a complex organization, but evin- 
 cing a harmony and unity of plan, and manifest- 
 ing the wisdom of Divine Intelligence. We 
 perceive contrivance and design that bid scep- 
 ticism defiance. Every one is acquainted with 
 the great impression the organism of the Hand 
 made on the Roman anatomist. We trace in 
 Man, then, the Image of his Maker, and look- 
 ing up from the Creature to the Creator, finish 
 in the words of the learned Bellini, " Magnus 
 Dominus! Magnus Fabricator Hominum Deiis! 
 Magnus atque Mirahilis ? Conditor rerum Deus 
 guam Magnus es." 
 
 It is a law of nature, that all organized bodies, 
 after accomplishing their evolution, reproducing 
 their species, and fulfilling the final ends of 
 their creation, should cease to exist, their bodies 
 decay, and return to the elements of which they 
 are formed ; this is a positive law that operates 
 throughout all animated nature. Every created 
 being enjoys life on the condition of mortality. 
 Man comes into life, is prematurely cut off, he 
 is nipped in the bud ; or if he arrives at maturity, 
 accidents and diseases hover around him, all 
 which if he still escapes, at length comes the 
 fatal scythe of time ; age waxes within him, he 
 
HUMAN DURATION. 189 
 
 carries in his texture the seeds of his decay, 
 these ripen and consume the capability of his 
 organs, his glass is run out, his earthly 
 career is at last finished, and as the Psalmist 
 says, " Man goeth to his long home." The 
 period allotted for his course below is short ; at 
 present, as in the days of David, three score and 
 ten years may be considered the number of his 
 days, and how few reach this extent! It is 
 computed, that three generations of men pass 
 away in a century, consequently the whole 
 human species cannot be said to divide one with 
 another more than thirty-four years of existence. 
 Of children born, not more than one in 80 reach 
 seventy ; indeed one half that come into life 
 leave it again before the eighth year ; of a thou- 
 sand children born in London, 6^0 die before 
 the tenth year. 
 
 The astonishing longevity of the Antedilu- 
 vians has given rise to much discussion among 
 the learned ; some have contended there was 
 a difference in the mode of computing time; 
 others have attributed it to certain chans^es, 
 which the surface of the earth sustained after 
 the Deluge, which rendered it less salubrious. 
 It appears, that from the Deluge to the time of 
 David, a period of 1300 years, the age of Man 
 gradually decreased. Noah lived to 9o5 years, 
 Abraham to 175 years, Moses to 120, and David 
 
190 LEITER VIII. 
 
 to 70, which has ever since been considered the 
 age of the Human faculties. A few instances 
 of extraordinary longevity are recorded, which 
 are only exceptions to the general rule. 
 
 It holds in general, that out of every thousand, 
 thirty die off annually. Tables of Mortality 
 have been constructed to measure the ratio of 
 deaths in given numbers, and at given ages, 
 which are of great use and importance in calcu- 
 lating Annuities, and throwing light on this in- 
 teresting subject, in which we are all so mate- 
 rially concerned. The leading facts and cir- 
 cumstances to be gathered from these calculations, 
 I will endeavour to throw together in the follow- 
 ing observations. We find from the Bills of 
 Mortality there is a disparity in the duration of 
 life between the town and country very much 
 in favour of the latter. In London the greatest 
 expectation of life is 36 years, which holds at 
 6 years of age, whereas at the same age in the 
 Country the expectation is 41. In London 
 about one in ^6 die annually ; in the Country 
 not more than one in 35. Half the children in 
 the Capital die before the 3d year, in the Coun- 
 try one-half reach 10 years. At birth the entire 
 expectation of life in London is 19 years, while 
 at Northampton it is 25. At 28 we may say 
 that one-half of life is gone, the probability be- 
 ing only 28 more. It is found also that Females 
 
HUiVIAN DURATION. 191 
 
 are longer lived than Males, so that from their 
 birth to the 8th year, there is a greater expecta- 
 tion in their favour by 2 years and an half than 
 in Males ; and this excess extends with a trifling 
 variation, till about the 69th year, when the 
 difference becomes very inconsiderable ; but 
 through the whole range of the Table the excess 
 is in favour of the Females. Nature seems to 
 have established a pretty near equality in the 
 number of the sex, which seems to confirm the 
 observation that Polygamy is a trespass against 
 the laws of nature, and incompatible with an 
 increase of population ; but it is a most extra- 
 ordinary fact, that this balance between the 
 numbers of the sexes is only maintained by a 
 surplus of male births, which takes place gene- 
 rally throughout the world, in the proportion of 
 about 20 males to 19 females. Among the 
 adult population, however, we find more women 
 than men, and it is supposed that the waste of 
 war, emigration, climate, &c. is not sufficient 
 to explain the difference. Dr. Clarke has re- 
 marked that at the Lying-in Hospital in Dublin, 
 during near 30 years observation , one half more 
 hoys than girls are found among the still horn. 
 He gives several anatomical reasons for the fact. 
 It appears, therefore, there is a greater destruc- 
 tion of males during the foetal and infant state 
 than of females, and therefore that the number 
 
192 LETTER VIII. 
 
 of young women who grow to maturity in every 
 countr}^ somewhat exceeds the number of young 
 men. 
 
 Marriage is an institution so essential to Po- 
 pulation above all other conditions of society, 
 that many enlightened legislators have used their 
 exertions to encourage it. The Romans, from 
 the great extent of their conquests, and the im- 
 mense armies they were under the necessity of 
 sending forth to maintain these conquests, suf- 
 fered materially in their population, as Montes- 
 quieu says, " they wore out like a weapon kept 
 constantly in use ;" to remedy this, they had re- 
 course to every means calculated to encourage 
 Marriage. They granted honorary distinctions 
 and privileges to married persons, in proportion 
 to the number of their children, and they in- 
 flicted penalties and disabilities on those who 
 remained single, or being married had no off- 
 spring. Modern statesmen have wisely drop- 
 ped all these institutions, finding by experience 
 that where the means of subsistence are plentiful 
 and well diffused, there needs no encouragement 
 in the multitude to matrimony. There are very 
 few young persons but incline to marry, provided 
 it holds out no prospect of deteriorating their 
 circumstances, and throwing them back from 
 the rank in society which they have been ac- 
 customed to hold; hence there are proportionally 
 
MARRIAGES. 193 
 
 more single persons in genteel life than among 
 the common people. It is a trite observation, 
 that sea-port towns abound in children, and a 
 very trite explanation of the fact has been giv.en 
 in the supposed physical qualities of particular 
 diet: but the fact is, that on the coast there 
 exists a greater abundance of provisions ; almost 
 every man becomes more or less a Fisherman, 
 and adds to the general stock ; this increases the 
 means of subsistence, and the poor man, relying 
 on this abundant supply, feels more encourage- 
 ment to marry than the man in inland towns, 
 and therefore undertakes the maintenance of a 
 family. Marriages are in such places conse- 
 quently more numerous, and this explains the 
 fact. Each marriage is computed to produce 
 above 4 children, that is, 10 marriages produce 
 about 45 children. The number of marriages is 
 in the proportion of about 170 to 1000 persons. 
 \yhen no check from scantiness of provisions, 
 from luxury, or any unwholesome political regu- 
 lation occurs to discourage Marriage, it is asto- 
 nishing with what rapidity the population goes 
 on increasing ; it was found in the American 
 settlements to double in 25 years, and is capable 
 of increasing much faster under circumstances 
 more highly favourable. Whatever, therefore, 
 tends to augment the expences of life, checkr- 
 
 o 
 
11)4 LETTER VIII. 
 
 Marriages and impedes the progress of popula- 
 tion, which is the basis of all political prosperity. 
 
 The Mortality of the Human Species at dif- 
 ferent ages is a subject of curious enquiry. It 
 is supposed, one-third of the number of the 
 species die in the foetal state ; after which it is 
 pretty accurately ascertained, that half of all 
 that are born, taking the average of both town 
 and country, never reach 8 years of age: after 
 this, when the usual maladies to which children 
 are exposed have passed by, the chances of life 
 are wonderfully multiplied in their favour. If 
 such is the extent of infant mortality, how im- 
 perative it becomes in parents and nurses, to 
 adopt those means suggested by plain reason 
 and nature, in the treatment of infants, instead 
 of those monstrous practices, that so generally 
 prevail, and consign so many to early tombs, and 
 so greatly offend common sense. 
 
 The expectation of life is greatest about 8 
 years of age ; as manhood arrives, the expecta- 
 tion necessarily diminishes; the young man is 
 now called out into life, and exposed to those 
 vicissitudes and contingencies, that are con- 
 stantly curtailing our numbers ; his vascular 
 system becomes more unyielding and liable to 
 acute diseases. Drawing on beyond 40, the 
 latent pre-dispositions to particular diseases, that 
 
DIFFERENT PERIODS OF LIFE. \95 
 
 had hitherto lain ahnost unperceived, begin now 
 to develope themselves. At 60, the vigour of 
 the system declines, and can no longer exercise 
 that plastic energy necessary to keep under con- 
 troul those morbid tendencies that unfold them- 
 selves in different organs. The joints feel a 
 degree of rigidity, the muscular strength fails, 
 the senses of hearing and sight become insensibly 
 impaired, the secretions alter, and before 60, old 
 age has arrived, and is -.announced by the acces- 
 sion of various infirmities ; but which often 
 come on by such easy gradations, as to be almost 
 imperceptible, and leave the unwary sojourner 
 not conscious of his real condition, till some 
 inco'iSistency perhaps reveals the fatal mistake. 
 At length, three score years and ten approach, 
 all beyond which truly ma}^ be designated 
 " Labour and Sorrow." 
 
 An opinion prevailed very generally among 
 the Ancients, and has obtained among many of 
 the Moderns, that at certain periods of the age 
 of Man he is more exposed to mortality : these 
 periods bore a reference to the arithmetical num- 
 ber seven, and were called the Climacteric years ; 
 the number seven was multiplied by 3, 5, 7 
 and 9, and thus formed the 21st, 35th, 49th, 
 63d years as climacteric : every seventh year 
 was also considered critical. The bills of Mor- 
 tality, however, furnish a catalogue of facts, 
 
196 LETTER VIII. 
 
 which prove the fallacy of this system, and de- 
 monstrate that human life does not more gene- 
 rally terminate, in the above years than in any 
 others in the scale. Hippocrates and Galen 
 supported the existence of critical days in Fever, 
 which have been advocated by Hoffman and 
 Cullen among the Moderns, but to which few 
 physicians now pay much attention. 
 
 It is supposed by many physiologists, that 
 there is a certain ratio between the period of 
 puberty and the general term of life, as a very 
 small difference in this period causes a sensible 
 alteration in the limits of manhood and old age ; 
 that, therefore, in those climates where puberty 
 soonest arrives, the course of existence is neces- 
 sarily shortened, and vice versa in cold Northern 
 latitudes, where this period is protracted, the 
 duration of hfe is proportionally lengthened. 
 Whence, in the Torrid Zone II or 12 years is 
 the age of puberty, and they accordingly become 
 grey and wrinkled at 40, and seldom see 60. 
 But in Lapland, Finland, &c. the above period 
 does not arrive till near 20 ; consequently the 
 term of life is prolonged till near a century ; 
 so that the old adage, Cito Fit, Cito Peril, seems 
 established in fact. It is in the Temperate 
 Zone Man attains the greatest scope of longe- 
 vity ; more instances occur here of extreme old 
 age than in any of the other divisions. More 
 
THE NUMBER OF MANKIND. 197 
 
 old men are found in mountainous than in low 
 districts. A late publication makes the number 
 of inhabitants on this globe to be 896 millions ; 
 of these it computes 226 millions are Christians, 
 10 millions Jews, 210 millions Mahometans, 
 460 millions Pagans. Of those professing 
 Christianity, 50 millions are Protestants, 30 
 millions of the Greek and Armenian churches, 
 90 millions of Catholics. If we calculate that 
 three generations pass away in a century, then, 
 in about 34 years, the present generation of 896 
 millions will be born and die — consequently 74 
 thousand each day, and better than 3000 each 
 hour. With this sketch of Human vicissitude 
 and change — this short outline of the brevity of 
 all Human duration — I will conclude my letter 
 in the emphatic words of the Poet, 
 
 " The man 
 " Is yet unborn, who duly weighs an hour'* 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 L. S. B. 
 
19B 
 
 LETTER IX. 
 
 Dear Friend, 
 
 X HE question has often been agitated amongst 
 philosophers, Avhither all the varieties we meet 
 with in the inhabitants of the earth, have sprung 
 from one common stock ; or whither there ex- 
 ist specific differences, in the different tribes of 
 men, which can justif}^ the supposition of there 
 being several distinct species. Sir Wm. Jones, 
 who explored the Eastern Hemisphere with 
 the aid of much science, argues that the varieties 
 among men, are only ramifications from one 
 common trunk ; while Lord Kaimes advocates 
 the existence of distinct species. The discus- 
 sion of this question is of peculiar importance, 
 and involves many subjects of curious interest. 
 There is a particular law in the Animal Eco- 
 nomy, which has been much dwelt upon by 
 Buffon and Hunter, to prove the confines of 
 different si)ecies ; it is this ; that Hybrid Ani- 
 mals, the offspring of different species, are 
 wholly unprolific. It is by this means Nature 
 preserves the identity of different animals ; were 
 the case otherwise, we should observe a conti- 
 
PHYSIOLOGICAL INFERENCE. 199 
 
 nual shifting of forms, and changing of natures, 
 that would in time completely metamorphose 
 the whole face of the animated world. It is 
 contended, therefore, that where any two ani- 
 mals produce offspring that are prolific, those 
 two animals unquestionably belong to one spe- 
 cies ; but on the other hand, where the third 
 animal remains unprolific, the parents were as 
 certainly of different and distinct species. This 
 law is fairly deduced, from all the facts which 
 occur daily to our observation, in the numerous 
 domesticated animals in our possession, and 
 from all we are enabled to gather, from among 
 animals in an untamed condition ; the excep- 
 tions are very trifling. Mr. Hunter inferred 
 from these premises that the Dog, the Wolf, and 
 the Jackal, belong to one species ; but that the 
 Fox is of a distinct tribe. 
 
 This physiological fact, then, leaves us very 
 little difficulty in concluding, that all Men are 
 of one species, it affords at least a very strong 
 presumptive argument in favour of this opinion. 
 We shall, however, perhaps gain most informa- 
 tion on this curious subject, and arrive at closer 
 induction, by tracing the uniform analogy that 
 seems to run through all the varieties we meet 
 with in the history of our species. We per- 
 ceive all through the organized world, a strong 
 undeviating tendency to assume great changes 
 
200 LETTER IX. 
 
 and varieties, and this holds most particularly as 
 to Colour and Form. 
 
 Man being subject to considerable variety of 
 agency, from exposure to diflercnce of climate, 
 and many other circumstances, his condition 
 therefore exhibits great diversity in appearance ; 
 of these, the different shades and discriminations 
 of colour, furnish perhaps the most prominent 
 peculiarity. Among these differences the sin- 
 gularity of the Albino is most striking. These 
 people have a complexion uncommonly light, 
 mostly of a dull whiteness, disagreeable, and 
 indicating disease. The hair is extremely white 
 and soft ; the iris is of a bright red hue, and the 
 organ of vision so extremely sensible to the sti- 
 mulus of light, that they enjoy very imperfect 
 vision in the day-time. This variety occurs 
 chiefly among nations of a dark complexion, as 
 the Negroes of Africa, the Ceylonese, and the 
 inhabitants of Darien, among the latter of whom 
 they exist in considerable number. Now a va- 
 riety directly analogous to this, occurs in the 
 Brute Creation ; it is often observable in Apes, 
 Squirrels, Rabbits, Rats, Mice, Horses, Bears, 
 &c. and also in Birds, as Crows, Blackbirds, 
 Canary Birds, Peacocks, &c. which often have 
 their feathers quite white, and their eyes red ; 
 and in all these animals we do not attempt to 
 consider this deviation as an}^ way indicative of 
 
VARIETIES AMONG MANKIND. 201 
 
 difference of species ; consequently this varia- 
 tion in the Human Species cannot be consider- 
 ed as a ' literion of specific difference. Besides 
 this diversity, there occur, '■idly, the yellow hair 
 variety, with hght complexion, observable in 
 the German countenance ; ^'dly, the complexion 
 white, with dark hair ; 4thly, those of yellow 
 complexion, v.nth dark stiff long hair, as the 
 Tartars ; Athly, Copper-coloured, with lank 
 black hair, as the American ; 6thly, the Negro, 
 with black woolly hair. All these varieties in 
 the colour of the Human Species, are perfectly 
 similar to those that accrue among the inferior 
 orders of Animals. In one climate we find the 
 Bear a dark brown, in another perfectly white. 
 Horses vary from jet black to cream colour. 
 The same diversity occurs in the Dog, the Ox, 
 and many of the Feathered tribes. We there- 
 fore fairly infer, the varieties in Man proceed 
 from similar circumstances in their economy, 
 and are referable to the same natural causes, and 
 do not in the slightest degree warrant a conclu- 
 sion of arising from specific difference. 
 
 As I observed above, we perceive a constant 
 tendency in organized nature, to take on consi- 
 derable variety ; there is in every species an in- 
 finite diversity, which nature seems willing to 
 perpetuate and render permanent in that spe- 
 cies. In the Human race this general tenor is 
 
^02 . LETTER IX. 
 
 abundantly conspicuous, and manifest not only 
 in nations but in towns and small communities, 
 and even in families, where we often perceive a 
 common model of person run on from parent to 
 child. In villages and detached districts, where 
 the inhabitants intermarry, and have but a li- 
 mited intercourse with other communities, we 
 find a common cast of physical character very 
 conspicuous. In nations and large provinces 
 this operates upon a more extensive scale ; dif- 
 ferences in language, in laws and religion, serve 
 to estrange and keep them at a distance, whence 
 they each acquire peculiarities of person and 
 manner, and every generation rendering these 
 acquired characters more divergent, a kind of 
 national physiognomy becomes at length esta- 
 blished. The people of the different provinces 
 of Spain, and of the different states of Italy, are 
 remarked by all travellers for an obvious distinc- 
 tion of manners and features. The casts of the 
 Hindoos, though living on the same soil, and 
 breathing the same air, yet being prohibited 
 from intermarriage, preserve a strong peculiarity 
 of countenance and character in each. In our 
 own island a different outline of countenance is 
 observable, between the Northern and Southern 
 inhabitants : the prominent cheek bones and 
 dark complexions of the Highlanders, have been 
 handed down perhaps by inheritance from their 
 
FORM OF THE SKULL. 203 
 
 Celtic forefathers ; while the lighter German 
 countenance is evinced in those, who may be 
 traced as descendants from the Picts and the 
 Goths. All these varieties are propagated 
 through numerous successive generations, and 
 from a lengthened want of intercourse, the pecu- 
 liar character of each community becomes esta- 
 blished in strong and indelible marks. 
 
 In the Human figure the most striking diver- 
 sity of form manifests itself in the configuration 
 of the Skull. In a former letter I remarked the 
 varieties that occur, and the criteria adopted to 
 discriminate the differences. Camper, a Ger- 
 man anatomist, instituted the Facial Angle, to 
 denote the variety of expression in the counte- 
 nance, and its connexion with the mind. He 
 traced the measure of this angle through the dif- 
 ferent orders of animated nature, and found that 
 the largest angle obtained in Man, and was in 
 general an indication of mental capacity. The 
 Ancients, in the busts of their heroes, have in 
 general carried this elevation of the Facial Line 
 beyond the bounds of nature. I pointed out 
 before the differences that exist in the Skulls of 
 the three principal races, into which mankind 
 have been divided — the European, the Tartar, 
 and the Negro : all the varieties that occur in 
 these three species, are referable to that tendency 
 to deviation, before alluded to, and which pre- 
 
20i LETTER IX. 
 
 vails so extensively through the whole range of 
 organized nature. These peculiarities are not 
 constant and confined to one particular race, but 
 are often met with promiscuously among indi- 
 viduals of other countries. We sometimes see 
 heads, among our own countrymen, taking on 
 the form either of the Tartar or African cha- 
 racter, and againamong the last-mentioned tribes, 
 many individuals are found approaching the out- 
 line of the European model. Whence we infer 
 that all the diversities in the form of the skull 
 are acquired, and afterwards transmitted by in- 
 heritance, but by no means spring from specific 
 difference. Other varieties in the form of the 
 body are not so conspicuous as this deviation in 
 the figure of the skull. Among animals we per- 
 ceive striking differences in form, which are 
 more remarkable than any thing we meet with 
 in our own species. In the breed of horses, for 
 instance, we behold very great diversity ; what 
 greater contrast occurs than between that noble 
 animal the Arabian charger, with his well- 
 formed head, and handsome muscular neck, and 
 the slim race-horse, with his neck tapering to- 
 wards a small head? The waggon-horse, and 
 the different breeds that are found in our own 
 island, exhibit such varied structure as would 
 almost lead us to infer difference of species. The 
 same deviation to an equal extent takes place in 
 
APPARENT VARIETIES IN MEN. 205 
 
 Dogs, in Sheep, in Oxen, and indeed in almost 
 every species of animal with which we have 
 much acquaintance. We however know how 
 readily these differences are perpetuated and 
 modified by mixed breeding, and how they are 
 multiplied by the union of different sorts ; so 
 that in none of these instances do we attempt to 
 draw a conclusion of there being any specific 
 difference between them. 
 
 Difference in the stature of various nations 
 of men, cannot warrant the conclusion of a 
 variety of races in mankind. The Greenlander 
 and the Patagonian form a great contrast, but 
 they are still one order of being. The latter 
 were represented by Commodore Byron as men 
 above seven feet high, but Captain Wallis in- 
 forms us, no doubt with more correctness, that 
 the average height does not exceed six feet. 
 The Green landers are a foot shorter on the ave- 
 rage. The woolly hair of the Negro has been 
 considered by some as a criterion of a peculiar 
 species, but it does not appear that the hair of 
 the Negro is wool, it is merely a modification of 
 hair ; indeed among many tribes of Africans, 
 this woolly texture does not prevail ; they have, 
 according to Mr. Park, soft silky hair. The 
 Foulahs, the Caffres, and the natives of Congo, 
 have long hair: again it is found in New Hol- 
 land, that two races of savages who are similar 
 
206 • LETTER IX. 
 
 in every other respect, yet differ in the texture 
 of the hair, one having the hair long and straight, 
 and the other soft and woolly. Many animals 
 also of the same species differ in the texture of 
 their covering in different climates, having wool 
 or fur in one climate, which changes to hair in 
 another. The Goat exhibits considerable variety 
 in the texture of its covering ; as does also the 
 Dog. All these circumstances lead us to con- 
 clude, that the varieties we meet with in the 
 Human Species are all adventitious and circum- 
 stantial. The limits which nature seems to have 
 established to the propagation of Hybrid pro- 
 ductions is as fair analogical inference applied to 
 mankind, as can be met with in the whole range 
 of speculative science. If it is a fixed law in the 
 economy of all other animals, that the different 
 species shall not permanently intermix, that a 
 boundary is soon formed against the perpetuation 
 of Hybrid Animals, and that this check is a 
 general criterion of diversity of species, then it 
 amounts to a full induction, that notwithstand- 
 ing all apparent varieties, Maiikind are all mem' 
 hers of one identical species. The various changes 
 and differences we meet with in almost every 
 genus of animals, are as pointed, as distinct, and 
 as divergent, as those we observe among our 
 own race. Every variety of form, of colour, and 
 of habit, that can be suggested, occurs in the 
 
ALL MANKIND FROM ONE STOCK. 207 
 
 different parts of the Brute Creation. These 
 changes, then, the result of climate, of food, and 
 various local and peculiar circumstances, are 
 full as great as those that appear in the Geo- 
 graphy of Man ; we therefore think it equal to 
 a Demonstratio a Posteriori that man forms 
 but a single species ; that Cuvier's order, Bima- 
 num^ consists but of one genus, with one species, 
 Man. 
 
 Having considered this question of the Iden- 
 tity of Human Nature through all the different 
 regions of the Globe, you may still be disposed 
 to question, how far the different nations, al- 
 though belonging to one species, may have 
 sprung from one common Parent Stock. You 
 may still be induced to suppose, that individual 
 communities may have been created at the same 
 time, to occupy various and remote parts of the 
 earth, that nature might choose this plan, in 
 preference to waiting for the slow effects of 
 peopling the whole world from a single pair of 
 individuals, as we are taught in the Mosaic 
 Histor}^ To elucidate this important question, 
 it will be necessary to take a view of what seems 
 likely to have been the case with many orders 
 of the Brute Creation. 
 
 In a survey of the Nature of Man, w^e are 
 under a necessity of having constant reference 
 to the facts observable in the rest of animated 
 
20S LETTER IX. 
 
 nature. Where the functions of different organs 
 are much obscured, and the early circumstances 
 of human movements are involved in much in- 
 tricacy, we are obliged to have recourse, and 
 explore our way, by the Light of Analogy. 
 Analogy, when built upon correct data, is some- 
 times as convincing as direct observation ; it 
 argues from similarity of circumstances to simi- 
 larity of consequences — and when it takes gene- 
 ral grounds, often leads to the most sublime 
 truths. Without this mode of reasoning, the 
 History of Man would be obscure and concealed. 
 Man is but an animal of superior order; he pos- 
 sesses in common with brutes, many organs of 
 similar construction, and of similar function : he 
 has his sensations and wants ; he is nourished, 
 he grows, he reproduces, and finally dissolves 
 like the meanest reptile that crawls the earth : 
 he forms, in fact, a bond of union with them all; 
 the whole chain of animation is connected by 
 close links, and forms one great family, of which 
 Man is, as it were, the grand Patriarch. In 
 order to derive assistance and palliate his wants, 
 he extends his care and protection to numerous 
 tribes, who grow and flourish in his presence 
 to be cut down to relieve his necessities ; thus 
 
 " Man, like the generous vine, supported lives, 
 
 " The strength he gains is from the embrace he gives." 
 
LOCAL ORIGIN OF ANIMALS. 209 
 
 Let us, therefore, cast a glance over the diffe- 
 rent orders of aninfials, and see if we can dis- 
 cover whether they were promiscuously scat- 
 tered over the globe at the beginning ; or, if it 
 is not more probable, that each species originated 
 in one quarter, from which it has subsequentlv 
 spread itself, according to circumstances, over 
 the rest of the surface. I, believe Buffon was 
 one of the first who advanced, that each kind 
 had a determinate spot, which was its original 
 only abode; and that from this region it after- 
 wards issued, according to the perfection of its 
 locomotive faculties, and spread through distant 
 regions ; and that the animals which range the 
 Old World are different from those found in the 
 New. He was moreover of opinion, that every 
 species, which is found to be common to both 
 Continents, is such as can endure the extreme 
 cold of high latitudes ; and may therefore have 
 passed from one Continent to the other, where 
 they approach very near in the neighbourhood 
 of the Arctic circle. He illustrates this opinion 
 by a view of some particular kinds, and is borne 
 out in his inferences by the recent researches' of 
 that celebrated anatomist Cuvier, who observes 
 of the Monkey Tribe, that the true monkeys are 
 found only in Asia and Africa; they differ 
 materially in anatomical structure from the 
 Monkeys of America. Now the whole class of 
 
 p 
 
210 LETTER IX. 
 
 Monkeys are confined to warm climates ; they 
 are found in either Continent separately, but no 
 kind seems common to both ; and in the Old 
 World some are common to India, and others to 
 Africa. These tribes, then, appear unquestion- 
 abl}^ to have a local origin, and to be derived 
 each from a particular region. The Bat tribe, 
 which is very numerous, seems confined each 
 species to a particular region. The Bear evinces 
 a similar history. All the largest quadrupeds 
 are natives of the Old World, and unknown in 
 the Western Hemisphere, as the Elephant, the 
 Rhinoceros, Hippopotamus, Camel, Szc. The 
 fossile remains of animals of superior magnitude 
 have been discovered in America, but no living 
 animals of any considerable size were found 
 there. The Megalonyx, and the Megatherium, 
 two species of the Sloth tribe, are found in a 
 fossile state in America ; they are both now 
 extinct. That peculiar animal the Ornithoryn- 
 chus, of which I spoke in a former letter, has 
 only been discovered in New Holland. The 
 Opossum of America, and its marsupial kindred 
 the Kanguroo of New Holland, are both of local 
 accupancy. The local character and habitation 
 of the Rein Deer, and its fitness for the particular 
 region destined for its abode, as also the same 
 circumstances in the Camel, the Elk, the Ele- 
 phant, and numerous other tribes with which 
 
LOCAL ORIGIN OF ANIMALS. 21 I 
 
 you are perfectly well acquainted, seem to esta- 
 blisii the hypothesis, that nature did not form 
 any animals to be tenants of the globe at large, 
 but originally placed each in a particular region. 
 Buffon's opinion, therefore, that no animal was 
 common to the warm latitudes of both conti- 
 nents, seems grounded in fact. No European 
 animals are found in America but what are 
 natives of the North of Europe ; no Asiatic 
 species appears in America but what is a native 
 of the North of Russia. All these considerations 
 lead fairly to the conclusion, that the tribes now 
 common to both continents, passed from one to 
 the other, by those approaching points in the 
 neighbourhood of Behring's Straits ; therefore all 
 the aboriginal animals in both hemispheres were 
 peculiar to each. The Inhabitants of the Deep 
 seem also amenable to this law. We are told, 
 there is not a single animal of the Northern 
 Ocean of the same specific character with any 
 of those in the South Seas. The Medusue and 
 the Testacea, are in their different varieties also 
 subject to this law. Whence we deduce that 
 nature originally created particular species in 
 particular regions, and that these subsequently 
 covered distant portions of the earth, as accident 
 and circumstances impelled them to emigrate, 
 till at length they have from one Parent Stock 
 diffused themselves over a large portion of the 
 
912 LETTER IX. 
 
 globe, and derived adventitious characters, 
 which have branched them out into innumerable 
 varieties. 
 
 To return now from our analogy with Ani- 
 mals, let us consider the different races of Men, 
 and how far it is probable they have been the 
 offspring of one single stock, the wide-spreading 
 branches of one common trunk. After the dis- 
 covery of America, the source of its population 
 was a theme, that for a long time puzzled the 
 most intelligent historians ; but since the geo- 
 graphical outline of that extended continent has 
 been more accurately explored and ascertained, 
 no doubt is felt, but that the Americans are of 
 Asiatic origin ; the proximity of the two coasts 
 in the latitude of 65^ N. and longitude of 160 
 W. is strongly indicative of this ; and the simi- 
 larity of the physical character of both, is a 
 striking circumstance in corroboration ; and in- 
 deed a traditionary account is handed down 
 among the Mexicans, of the migration of their 
 ancestors from the North West coast. Dr. Bar- 
 ton, of Pennsylvania, has, in his work, made a 
 very elaborate comparison of the different lan- 
 guages of America with those of Eastern Asia, 
 and discovered many striking affinities between 
 them. The American skull partakes of the 
 Tartar character; it is broad, with prominent 
 cheek-bones, having the figure of lateral pro- 
 
SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 213 
 
 jection. The Americans exhibited such a uni- 
 formity of appearance throughout the whole 
 continent, as left no doubt of the perfect identity 
 of their character and origin, with the excep- 
 tion of the Esquimaux on the coast of Labrador, 
 who differ in very few respects from their neigh- 
 bours, the Greenlanders, from whom they are 
 supposed to be derived. 
 
 With respect to the inhabitants of the South 
 Sea Islands, although these barbarians are scat- 
 tered over an immense expanse of water, and 
 separated many thousand miles, it is a most ex- 
 traordinary^ fact, that all their languages seem 
 incontestably derived from one common source.. 
 We are told, that an inhabitant of one island can 
 understand a native of almost any other, and 
 that the languages of Madagascar and Easter 
 Island possess many striking instances of the 
 closest affinity, though they are separated by a 
 distance of not less than 11,000 miles. 
 
 Affinity of Language and Physical Character 
 are the principal criteria, by which the Histories 
 of Nations are elucidated. Where any two 
 communities, however separated, evince a con- 
 formity of physical outline, and a similarity of 
 speech, we may unquestionably consider those 
 people as descending from one source. The 
 South Sea Islanders are remotely situated, and 
 distributed through great variety of climate, and 
 
214 LETTER IX. 
 
 diversity of local agency, which gives us an op- 
 portunity of examining the effects, which diffe- 
 rent physical causes produce on the human 
 species. These people have arrived at different 
 ranks in the scale of civilization : some are in a 
 very uncultivated state, and can deserve no other 
 term than savages ; others have made some 
 advances, and even display a division into two 
 different orders, or ranks in society, exhibiting 
 a difference of manners and features. It is from 
 the language the historian derives his chief infor- 
 mation concerning these scattered tribes. Mr. 
 Anderson, who accompanied Captain Cook, 
 tells us, that on a diligent enquiry into the lan- 
 guages of these people, he has no doubt of esta- 
 blishing the position, that all the people from 
 New Holland eastward to Easter Island, have 
 been derived from the same common root. I 
 understand, Marsden, in his History of Sumatra, 
 has expressed the conviction, that one parent 
 language prevails all through, though altered 
 and modified by peculiar circumstances, in each 
 island. Dr. Prichard, in his excellent work on 
 !\Ian, has given a list of many of their words. 
 The Numerals in the comparative Table of Sir 
 Joseph Banks, afford an astonishing similarity of 
 sounds, and evince a common trunk of language. 
 In addition to the uniformity of language, 
 the great similarity of physical structure may be 
 
SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 21o 
 
 taken in proof of the identity of their origin. 
 The principal circumstance is an approximation 
 towards the African character. The Facial 
 Angle is reduced, and the forehead low, the 
 head narrow, and much like the Negro, the nose 
 flat, the legs long, and the calf deficient : the 
 complexion is of a black hue, like the Negro ; 
 but of a lighter shade among the better orders in 
 those islands, where any progress has been made 
 in civilization and improvement : the hair is 
 woolly and short in most, but in some it is long 
 and lank, and in a few cases often found of a 
 lightish red. Thus, then, all those people seem 
 to possess a similitude of physical character and 
 of language with those people of New Guinea or 
 Papua, who, from their approach towards the 
 African character, have been designated the 
 Eastern Negroes. These occupy New Guinea, 
 and many other islands in the Indian ocean ; 
 and their origin is clearly traced to the Indian 
 continent — for, in the mountainous districts of 
 Malacca, these black Negro savages are found in 
 considerable numbers. The chief seats of these 
 savages seem to be in New Guinea, New Hol- 
 land, the New Hebrides, &c. ; all these clusters 
 exhibit in their natives the physical character of 
 the African Negro in marks of the strongest 
 affinity. The black complexion, the woolly 
 hair, thick lips, flat noses, and turn of the limbsj 
 
216 LETTER IX. 
 
 form a complete counterpart of the African 
 Black. This outline of form extends itself with 
 some occasional deviations, through all the 
 islands in the Southern ocean, and joined to that 
 similitude of language before alluded to, leaves 
 no doubt, that all these remote tribes sprang 
 from one stock, which is traced from the Indian 
 Continent, where, in the mountainous districts, 
 remnants of them still remain. In Malacca and 
 other parts of India, numerous hordes of these 
 black savages are found, who occupy the inte- 
 rior. As I observed before, it is in the moun- 
 tains of all countries the vestiges of their Abo- 
 riginal inhabitants are alone to be traced ; this is 
 conspicuous even in our own island. The 
 Welsh, as you well know, are the remainder of 
 the early natives who retired to this remote 
 corner, to avoid the cruelties and persecutions 
 of their Saxon conquerors; where they continued 
 to enjoy an unmolested freedom for many cen- 
 turies, while the soil of England, a prey to 
 foreign incursions, often changed its masters. 
 " The heath-covered mountains of Scotia'* 
 afforded a secure shelter to a hardy race of 
 Aboriginals, who, in defence of their native hills, 
 valorously withstood the overwhelming force of 
 the Roman arms. The historian and the poet 
 have often dwelt with delight on the exploits of 
 those gallant mountaineers. The muse has oft, 
 
THE ABORIGINES. 21? 
 
 in strains of rapture, celebrated the achievements 
 ofGalgacus and his heroic bands, who resisted 
 the conquerors ot" the world, and maintained a 
 dea^ree of independence unknown perhaps in the 
 ann 'Is of any other European nation. No 
 country can boast so immemorial an indepen- 
 dence, and so remote and uninterrupted a course 
 of sovereigns as the Caledonians. Fergus is 
 said to have reigned in Scotland about the end 
 of the 4th century before the Christian era, and 
 from him, they trace a regular succession to the 
 present u^onarch. 
 
 Having traced the natives of the Western 
 continent, and of the wide-scattered islands in 
 the Southern Hemisphere, according to the 
 opinion of the best historians, to be of Asiatic 
 origin, and thus brought all these far-spread tribes 
 within the confines of the Old Continent, in my 
 next I will make some general observations on 
 the leading characters of the chief families that 
 occupy this extensive surface, till when, 
 I remain, Dear Friend, 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 L. S. B. 
 
^ilS 
 
 LETTER X. 
 
 Dear Friend, 
 
 AN my last I offered some transient remarks 
 on the uniformity of the Physical History of 
 Man throughout the different regions of the globe, 
 and proceeded to remark the conviction very ge- 
 nerally felt, of the Asiatic origin of the Ameri- 
 cans and the natives of the South Sea Islands. 
 We will now endeavour to follow up the inves- 
 tigation, and see what light the general train of 
 Civil History seems to throw on our first posi- 
 tion, that all mankind are derived from one Pa- 
 rent Stock. 
 
 In a synthetic view of the History of the 
 World, one early circumstance that strikes and 
 arrests the attention, is the great similitude that 
 appears in the political, the religious, and the 
 physical characters of those two great tribes of 
 people, the Indians and the ancient Egyptians. 
 These nations, although distantly removed, ex- 
 hibit greater uniformity than is to be met with 
 in any two classes of people remotely situated. 
 The whole population of Hindostan was origi- 
 nallv divided into seven distinct casts, who were 
 
EGYPTIAN AND INDIAN CASTS. 219 
 
 strictly prohibited from intermarrying, and the 
 individuals of each class followed the occupa- 
 tions of their parents ; each branch of business 
 was therefore heredit^.ry in each family, from 
 which they could not emancipate themselves. 
 At present the people are formed into four 
 classes, viz. the Brahmins or Priesthood, who 
 are invested with the sacerdotal functions of ex- 
 plainmg the Vedas, of managing the sacrifices, 
 teaching and assisting the poor, &c. ; the de- 
 fence of the nation, with other subordinate 
 offices, is entrusted to the Cshatriya ; the culti- . 
 vation of the land, the care of the flocks, and the 
 prosecution of trade, are carried on by theVaisya; 
 and the menial offices, subordinate to all the 
 former, are performed by the Sudra. The 
 Brahmins are subdivided into two divisions, one 
 of which are allowed greater latitude than the 
 other, and take upon themselves various public 
 offices and duties. These different casts have 
 remained separate and distinct, for ages, and 
 have in consequence derived considerable diver- 
 sity of physical character. The political fabric 
 of ancient Egypt was erected upon a similar 
 base, the whole population of that celebrated 
 region, which has justly perhaps been considered 
 the Alma Mater of science and civilization to 
 surrounding countries, was divided like the early 
 Indians mto seven distinct Casts ; insulated by > 
 
220 LETTER X. 
 
 iparticular prohibitions, which prevented inter- 
 mixture, and kept each division entire and se- 
 parate. The Priesthood, the Mihtary, the Shep- 
 herd, the Cultivator of the Soil, and the Artisan, 
 were employments confined to particular fami- 
 lies, and handed down from Father to Son, as is 
 still the case in India. The Egyptian religion 
 was of the same common cast with the Hindoo. 
 -The Metempsychosis was adopted and cherish- 
 ed, and they entertained the same superstitious 
 veneration for particular animals, from the use 
 of which as food they scrupulously abstained. 
 They offered sacrifices sometimes of Animals, 
 and sometimes of Men ; they deified the Ox 
 . and some others, and paid the same homage to 
 the waters of the Nile, the Orientals are still 
 accustomed to offer to the streams of the Ganges. 
 The priests of both countries were the sacred 
 depositories of the science and information of 
 the people ; they inspected animals, were skilled 
 m the mysteries of augury and divination, prac- 
 tised physic and astrology, and assisted at the 
 councils of the Sovereigns, over whom they ge- 
 nerally exerted a strong superstitious influence. 
 A great similitude is observable in the persons 
 and attributes of their principal Deities. 
 
 Thus the Political and Religious Institutions 
 of these two distant tribes, place it almost beyond 
 a doubt that they sprang from one common 
 
EGYPTIANS AND INDIANS. 221 
 
 origin. The senior stock, and the period of their 
 separation, have been points of discussion. The 
 best authorities consider Egypt as the Parent 
 Stock, and suppose that the whole fabric of their 
 peculiar institutions, were probably overthrown 
 by the Babylonians, at the time Cambyses in- 
 vaded and conquered Egypt, about the year 525 
 before the Christian Era. The physical aspects 
 of the ancient Egyptians and Hindoos, evinced 
 so striking a similarity in the opinion of the best 
 historians, as furnishes further proof in confir- 
 mation of their identical origin. The former 
 are supposed to have come from Ethiopia, and 
 to have been Black, with all the characters of 
 the African Negro — the woolly hair, thick lips, 
 flat nose, &c. The Sphinx and all the Artifi- 
 cial Monuments found in Egypt, partake very 
 strongly of the Negro countenance ; and the 
 Mummies exhibit this correspondence in fea- 
 tures. This sable complexion and African out- 
 line became, however, in time much modified, 
 and by degrees softened down by means of that 
 culture and civilization, which seems to have 
 considerable impression on the physical character 
 of man, in proportion as he rises in the scale 
 above the condition of savage life. 
 
 It appears, from the testimony of good au- 
 thorities, that the ancient Hindoos were a 
 Negro race ; there appears a connected chain of 
 
222 LETTER X. 
 
 facts to warrant the inference, that a Negro 
 tribe must at one time have had paramount 
 ascendancy in India. Besides the evidence of 
 Diodorus, and other writers, the statues of Gods 
 and Heroes found in the caverns of various parts 
 of India, are all from the African model*. The 
 combination of all these circumstances, and 
 common features in their histories, seem to af- 
 ford unquestionable evidence of the identical 
 origin of these two great communities, the 
 Egyptians and the Indians. 
 
 The origin of Nations, the foundations of 
 Human Society, are necessarily involved in im- 
 penetrable obscurity — the enquirer becomes lost 
 in a bewildering labyrinth. Man, in his early 
 state, possesses but few means of recording the 
 events of his progressive movements ; with a 
 poverty of language and a fervour of imagination, 
 he substitutes fiction for narrative, and leaves 
 the future world no instruction, but the glim- 
 mering, uncertain light of allegory and fable : 
 whence, after all the labours of the learned in 
 erecting a colossal pile of Historic Literature, 
 we are still in darkness as to the infancy of 
 Human Society ; it is hid behind a cloud, and 
 prior to the middle of the eighth century, before 
 
 * Whoever wishes to obtain information on this curious 
 subject, will derive much from the writings of Sir W. Jones, 
 Buclianan, Wilford, and others, in the Asiatic Researches 
 
ORIGIN OF MAN. 223 
 
 the Christian Era, all history is a mere fable, of 
 which we can derive no certainty. It appears, 
 however, from all that can be gathered from the 
 Hebrew records, and other sources, that Man 
 was created in a garden, in the fertile plains of 
 Asia, on the southern side of that mountainous 
 ridge that separates this district from Tartary. 
 That portion of the Earth, therefore, which is 
 comprise^l between the Caspian Sea, the Levant, 
 and the Euphrates, was first tenanted by Man ; 
 here he commenced his career, in a mild genial 
 climate, where smiling Nature teemed with 
 abundance for his enjoyment, and where pre- 
 existing elements had been distributed for his 
 purposes. In proportion as these fertile plains 
 became surcharged with population, communities 
 w^ent forth under Patriarchal Leaders, and sought 
 new abodes, and attached themselves to new 
 soils. These communities, composed of indi- 
 vidual wants, leaning towards each other, esta- 
 blished regulations to bind the whole. Each, 
 moved by the irresistible impulse of that active 
 stimulus. Self-love, exchanged a portion of his 
 natural attributes to secure the remainder. The 
 Parent, or Elder, became the Patriarch, the 
 Priest, and Prince of his little state ; Self-love, 
 the spring of the human soul, taught him to re- 
 ceive by bestowing, to gain by conferring. His 
 mind s^raduallv softened into humanitv ; neces- 
 
224? LETTER X. 
 
 sities and wants, the impressions of surrounding 
 agents and elements, called forth his dormant 
 energies, and developed his hidden capacities ; 
 his faculties by degrees ripened into action, and 
 Man soon stood pre-eminent over organized 
 nature, and displayed a Master- Piece of Divine 
 Mechanism. 
 
 "" Nor think, in Nature's state they blindly trod, 
 " The state of Nature was the reign of God/' 
 
 A knowledge of property became soon under- 
 stood ; laws and regulations were founded, and 
 by degrees these rudiments were matured into 
 all the perfections of civil polity. On their fer- 
 tile plains the Chaldeans emerged from the un- 
 couth form of savage life, and, laying aside the 
 fatigues and dangers of the chase, took up the 
 more tranquil and civilized path of pastoral pur- 
 suit. Here the wants of man being limited by 
 a fertile earth and a serene heaven, his genius 
 slumbered, the active energies of his mind here 
 remained unawakened, those grand features of 
 the universe, which could not fail to strike his 
 senses, here engrossed all his attention ; he saw 
 God in his works, and adored the majesty of the 
 Supreme Cause, in praising his sublime effects. 
 He led out his flocks to pasture, he partook of 
 theirinnocence; his wants were few. He enjoyed 
 the serenity of a mild sky, and worshiped those 
 
ANCIENT WORSHIP. 295 
 
 brilliant orbs that, glittering in his firmament, 
 delighted his astonished mind*. He adored 
 and invoked those splendid bodies that filled the 
 immense expanse above him, and which, in the 
 
 * Of all the modes of worship adopted among the Heathen 
 nations, that of the Celestial Bodies seems the most simple 
 and rational. One of our celebrated poetS; impressed with 
 the sublime appearance of the glittering firmament, as induc- 
 ing always a reference to its Great Author, has affirmed, that 
 " an undevout Astronomer is surely mad." The knowledge 
 of Natural Religion, like every thing else, springs from the 
 objects of the Physical World. It is from the surrounding 
 scenery the imagination and understanding of man is natu- 
 rally elevated to the great First Cause of all, and taught to 
 
 " Look through Nature up to Nature's God." 
 
 A distinguished writer says, " The worship of the Stars, 
 under their proper forms, was a simple process of the under- 
 standiiiif :" and in proof of the superiority of this kind of 
 worship, we have only to trace its mild operation on the 
 minds of its votaries. Dr. Robertson, in speaking of the 
 worship of the Peruvians, observes, that by directing their 
 veneration to that glorious luminary, the Sun, which, by its 
 universal and vivifying energy, is the best emblem of Divine 
 Beneficence, the rites and observances of their system were 
 humane and innocent. They ofiered a part of the produc- 
 tions matured by his genial rays ; but the Incas never stained 
 their altars with human blood. Their i^eligion, their laws, 
 and customs were, in consequence, of a much milder cast, 
 and infinitely superior to the imaginary system of the Mexi- 
 cans, replete with cruel and sanguinary ceremonies. 'I'heir 
 superstition was mild, benevolent, and highly preferable to 
 any other met with in the whole Western Continent. 
 
 Q 
 
^26 LETTER X. 
 
 words of a sacred poet, " declare the glory 
 of God, and shew his handy works/' This 
 was the first step in the amelioration of the hu- 
 man race ; necessity first impelled individuals to 
 hunt for prey ; experience afterwards teaching 
 them the superior advantages of taming the most 
 useful animals, they betook themselves to train 
 and domesticate them. The playful kid, the 
 timid sheep, the stubborn ox, and the noble 
 iiorse, were subjected to their dominion and 
 their purposes. By the assistance of these they 
 gained leisure and tranquillity ; and from wan- 
 dering ferocious hunters, they became peaceful 
 and happy shepherds. But the wheel once put 
 in motion, the human mind rested not here ; 
 their leisure gave them opportunity to communi- 
 cate their ideas, and cultivate their intellectual 
 powers ; arts and sciences poured in from one 
 community to another, and on or near the spot 
 where Man first enjoyed the dawn of Creation, 
 proud Babylon reared its stupendous towers and 
 gigantic walls. The Chaldeans, like their ])o- 
 lished neighbours, the Egyptians, made another 
 advance in the scale of improvement, and derived 
 strength and happiness from the soil on which 
 they stood ; they gave up the wandering course, 
 and, fixing themselves to a spot, cherished agricul- 
 ture, and laid the foundation of a populous and 
 powerful empire. But still the Babylonians, in 
 
EGYPT AND BABYLON. 22? 
 
 a fruitful soil, and a mild climate, did not dis- 
 play those lofty energies, that the local nature of 
 the surface in ligypt called forth among its' in- 
 habitants. It was from this Nursery of Hunian 
 Arts surrounding nations received all the great 
 benefits of cultivation. Babylon derived in- 
 struction from 3".gypt, which has been con- 
 sidered by the best historians as the Cradle of 
 Human Science. The Lower Egypt was peopled 
 subsequently to the Upper Division. It was 
 near the sources of the Nile that this nation had 
 its origin ; their mechanic skill empowereil them 
 to gain the lower country from the mud of that 
 celebrated river. They formed canals,^ dykes, 
 and embankments ; and, as the poet says of the 
 labour of the modern Hollanders, they 
 
 " Scoop'd out ail empire, and usur[)'d the shore.'" 
 
 These people were peaceful and industrious, 
 and pursuing only those arts which have the 
 happiness of mankind as their end, they make 
 no very conspicuous figure in the page of his- 
 tory ; but they have left behind them a number 
 of monuments, that have braved the ravages of 
 time, and bear testimony of the ancient grandeur 
 and industry of this remarkable kingdom. }3ut 
 these are all the remains of a great nation. It 
 has, like all other Human Institutions, mouldered 
 away. Memphis, the splendid Metropolis of 
 
228 LETTER X. 
 
 rhe Pliaroahs, like Babylon, has vanished from 
 the earth, and no man knows exactly where 
 either stood. These cities are gone, with all 
 their glory, " and, like the baseless fabric of a 
 Vision, left not a wreck behind.'* 
 
 The Persians possessed, according to the 
 opinion of several historians, many analogous 
 characters with their neighbours the Indians and 
 Egyptians. The affinity of their Languages 
 have induced many learned men to suppose, that 
 the Persians and Hindoos were derived from 
 one common stock : the reasoning upon which 
 this probable hypothesis is built will be found 
 in the Oriental Researches of Sir W. Jones. To 
 go into a particular history of Persian manners 
 and customs would be foreign to our purpose, 
 and only walking in a beaten path. Persia had 
 its elevation and its downfall ; it sprung up 
 under Cyrus, and trod the haughty Babylon 
 under foot, and in its turn gave way to the suc- 
 cessful arms of the victorious Alexander ; and 
 has made no very conspicuous figure in the page 
 of history since. Taking it for granted, on the 
 authority of learned enquirers into Asiatic Lite- 
 rature, that the Persians were of similar origin 
 with the Egyptians and Indians, we proceed in 
 substantiating our position of the common stock 
 of the different tribes of mankind. The grounds 
 on which this inference is built of the identity 
 
EGYPT AND BABYLON. 229 
 
 of these two nations, is the close relationship 
 between the Zand, or ancient language of Persia, 
 and the Sanscrit ; the great conformity in many 
 leading points of their religion and laws; and 
 from a comparison of early historic records, which 
 adduce many facts in support of the opinion. 
 The same analogy holds with respect to all the 
 nations which composed Upper Asia. Tlie 
 Phcenicians, the Syrians, the Philistines, and 
 the various tribes into which these nations were 
 divided, seem evidently to have branched otF 
 from the Egyptian stock ; at least such is the 
 opinion of learned historians, both ancient and 
 modern*. Babylon and Egypt exhibit so many 
 common features as leave no doubt of their com- 
 mon origin ; but which formed the antecedent 
 stock, I am not prepared to advance ; but, as far 
 as 1 can judge, the weight of evidence seems in 
 favour of the priority of Babylon. I think 
 Babylon must have been the Mother of Egypt ; 
 but the Daughter outshone the Parent Nation, 
 in arts, sciences, and every species of learning, 
 owing to thelocal circumstances of their country, 
 which called into action higher energies of mind, 
 than were necessary to the Babylonians on their 
 fruitful and placid plains. Man is the creature 
 of time and place ; every nation and community 
 takes on its peculiar form and complexion, from 
 * This subject is admirably elucidated by Dr. Pri chard. 
 
230 • LETTER X. 
 
 the time and situation in which it grows, and 
 the external agency in which it may be im- 
 mersed. Astronom}^ Geometry, and ail the 
 Mechanical Sciences were carried to great ])er- 
 fection here ; they w^ere necessary to enable the 
 Egyptians to accomplish their stupendous la- 
 bours. Those ma2:nificent works on the banks 
 of the Nile could not have been effected with- 
 out the assistance of science and arts ; whence, 
 as every faculty, both mental and corporeal, im- 
 proves from exercise, we find the industry of 
 these people carried knowledge to a great prac- 
 tical extent ; and from hence learning was pro- 
 pagated over the civilized world. 
 
 If we turn our attention to the Eastward, we 
 perceive wandering shepherds, who continued 
 to traverse the extended plains of Asia for ages ; 
 and on the Eastern side of that great Continent, 
 where the ocean has fixed a boundary to human 
 migration, a great society remotely situated, in- 
 sulated, and detached from the view of the rest 
 of mankind. Of the internal character of the 
 Chinese our knowdedge is very limited ; they 
 exhibit the phenomenon of a great people re- 
 maining stationary at one point in the scale of 
 human improvement, for many successive ages ; 
 this is in a great measure owing to the peculiar 
 construction of their language, aided by their 
 nonintercourse with other nations, and the con- 
 
TARTAR TRIBES. 231 
 
 sequent peculiarity of many of their laws and 
 customs ; hence a refinement in trifles, and a 
 want of invention in the great, characterise those 
 singular people, whose pursuits are like those of 
 children, the glittering of gilt paper and varnish, 
 painted lines, and the jingle of fine sentences. 
 Destitute of great invention, they display ma- 
 nual adroitness in imitation of what they deem 
 useful ; as a German author observes, " This 
 empire is an embalmed mummy, wrapped in 
 silk, and painted in hieroglyphics; its internal 
 circulation is that of a dormouse in its winter 
 sleep." 
 
 The Tartar outline of countenance and figure, 
 which prevails from the Caspian sea to the coast 
 of China, sufficiently demonstrates that all these 
 tribes are the offspring of one Parent Stock, who 
 have traversed this immense tract with their 
 flocks, and occasionally established themselves 
 where circumstances seemed to invite. These 
 herdsmen have now and then broke in upon their 
 Southern and Western neighbours, and under a 
 Genghis Khan, and a Tamerlane, carried slaugh- 
 ter and devastation through this division of the 
 earth. Even warlike Rome felt the ravac;es of 
 these shepherds, and trembled to its foundation 
 at the approach of the sanguinary Attila. The 
 first step in the advancement of society, that 
 from Hunting to the Pastoral condition, gives 
 
232 LETTER X. 
 
 considerable power to the Barbarian. Dr. Adam 
 Smith remarks how contemptible an Indian war 
 in America is, compared with irruptions of the 
 Shepherds of Asia ; but he adds, should the 
 American Indians ever emerge from their pre- 
 sent condition, and become Pastoral Nations, 
 the consequences might be severely felt by the 
 European settlements in that quarter*. 
 
 It appears, then, that all the Asiatic Nations 
 display so much in common both in Physical 
 and Moral character, as leaves no doubt on the 
 mind of the enquirer of the common origin of 
 these people. It was, as I have before observed, 
 in Asia that Man was first established; the 
 different tribes went and settled in different 
 soils, and as Man is in all respects the creature 
 of accident, of circumstance, and of situation; 
 all these agents acted more or less in various 
 proportions in different societies; and added to 
 that tendency to variety, which is almost a law 
 of his physical nature, gave birth to those diver- 
 sities we behold, in the particular features of 
 distant communities. 
 
 * The oreat improvement in the Art of War, by the inven- 
 tion of Fire Arms, the practical advantage of which must for 
 obvious reasons ever be confined to cultivated society, is per- 
 haps now the surest bulwark the civilized nations of the world 
 possess against any future overthrow by the people in savage 
 life. 
 
VARIETIES OF HUMAN CHARACTER. 233 
 
 What an instructive theme do tlie varied 
 pursuits of different nations afford the mind ! 
 To trace the varieties of Human Nature to their 
 sources, is a most interesting occupation ; we 
 find every where that Man has derived more 
 assistance from the imitation of what is going on 
 around him, than from any thing innate or in- 
 stinctive in himself; his practical understanding 
 has grown up under his wants, and though it is 
 conformable to his organization, yet it is in- 
 fluenced by accidents of time and place, and in 
 every region swayed by custom, by tradition, 
 and by habit ; whence as different situations 
 afforded different circumstances, so the Human 
 Mind moulded itself into different forms, and 
 each tribe took on a specific character*. Situ- 
 
 * The Human Understanding is in every region of the 
 earth a Blossom of the Genius of the People, and this genius 
 is every where nurtured by accident and situation. Herder 
 observes, " the Bedouin, the Mungal, the Laplander, and 
 the Peruvian, are all Shepherds ; but how greatly do they 
 difler from each other ! while one pastures his Camel, another 
 his Horse, the third his Rein-deer, and the last his Pacoes and 
 Lamas." In many of the islands of the South Sea, a fertile 
 soil producing all the fruits of the earth, keeps J-Iuman Nature 
 in peaceful serenity ; here all is comparative calm ; while in 
 other islands situated in higher latitudes, the means of subsist- 
 ence being more remote, the Human faculties are called into 
 action, and Man partakes of the boisterous qualities of the 
 climate and soil. The New Hollander pursues the Opossum 
 and the Kanguroo, and the New Zealander becomes a Savage. 
 
SS-i LETTER X. 
 
 ated on the shores of the sea, one community 
 became Fishermen ; in the forests and wilds of 
 America, Hunting was the occupation of the 
 native : Scythia and Arabia afforded employ- 
 ment for Shepherds ; and Egypt and other coun- 
 tries cultivated the Soil, and cherished Agricul- 
 ture; and upon this last grew in time all the 
 benefits and all the evils of foreign commerce. 
 
 No mode of life has produced such influence 
 and change on the condition of ^lan as Agricul- 
 ture ; it produced the arts and embellishments of 
 life, gave birth to villages, towns, governments 
 and laws. No nation without Agriculture has 
 ever made any great advances in improvement 
 and civilization. 
 
 The Californian and the Esquimaux conform to simple modes 
 of hfe. On the continents, men and animals crowd more 
 too-ether, and in some instances enter into mutual friendships, 
 and in others exercise reciprocal hostilities, and call forth re- 
 spective and hidden energies. The American was kept in the 
 back ground by the want of this alliance with the Brute 
 Creation, and the vise of Metals. The Negro, the Green- 
 lander, the Tartar, all conform to modes of life congenial to 
 the peculiar nature of their situations ; in all this conformit}^ 
 the mind accompanies the body, and the same man, who 
 piously kneels at Loretto, would have been a zealous devotee 
 at Mecca, or a sincere worshiper at Juggernaut. We often 
 give vent to prejudices against the particular tenets of other 
 nations, without considering that the mere accident of being 
 born a few leagues distant, is the only difierence between us. 
 Man is every where essentially the same animal. 
 
ANCIENT STATE OF EUROPE. 235 
 
 But now let us direct our observations to the 
 Westward in pursuit of, and in confirmation of 
 our favourite assumption, that all mankind are 
 derived from the same source. Having traced 
 the Americans, the Southern Islanders, and all 
 the tribes of Asia as fraternal offspring from ^ 
 common parent, what do we behold in Europe ? 
 Europe that has at length outshone all the rest 
 of the world in arts, in arms, and in every noble 
 attribute, is of very modern date, compared with 
 the remote periods of Asiatic History. At the 
 time when Babylon, Nineveh, Memphis, and 
 Persepolis, lifted their proud columns to the 
 clouds, and were the seats of learning and civi- 
 lization, Europe, with the exception of that 
 small portion which formed Greece, was a bar- 
 ren uncultivated desart ; where, if human nature 
 existed at all, it was at a very low ebb. The 
 era of European civilization comes nearly within 
 the scope of authentic history. Caesar and 
 Tacitus have given us considerable information 
 on the early state of this quarter. It appears 
 that the Western world was originally occupied 
 by the Celtae, who were settled here before the 
 Goths, the Vandals, and the German tribes came 
 into possession. The Celtas were no doubt an 
 Asiatic race. Caesar, in his History of the Wars 
 in Gaul, speaks of them as being inferior in 
 prowess and arms to the German Nations, and 
 
236 LETTER X. 
 
 as giving way before them, whence, from origi- 
 nally occupying the heart of Europe, these 
 people were eventually driven into its Western 
 and remote corners ; hence we find in this, as in 
 the Eastern Hemisphere, the vestiges of the 
 Aboriginal natives are only to be found in the 
 mountains, and concealed parts of the country. 
 In our own island, Wales and Cornwall afforded 
 retreats for the Celtic natives, who fled before 
 their German conquerors. All the circles of 
 stones, &c. to be met with in these districts are 
 uniformly of Celtic character, and partake in no 
 respect of the better-finished features of the 
 German monuments with their Runic inscrip- 
 tions. 
 
 The Political and Religious Institutions of 
 the Celtoe were doubtless of Asiatic origin. The 
 division of the people into privileged orders, 
 savoured much of the Indian Casts. The Druids 
 and the Nobles were invested with peculiar 
 powers and immunities, which remained here- 
 ditary in their families, while all the rest of the 
 people were little removed above the condition 
 of slaves. These bore a striking analogy with 
 the Priesthood, and Military orders of the In- 
 dians. The affinity of the laws and customs of 
 the Druids and the Brahmins has been dwelt on 
 with great emphasis by many writers. Mr. 
 Reuben Barrow has declared it bevond a shadow 
 
ANCIENT STATE OF EUROPE. 237 
 
 of doubt, that the Hierarchy of the Druids was 
 a ramification of the worshipof the ancient Hin- 
 doos : their offices and privileges were of exactly 
 a similar nature ; they administered all the re- 
 ligious ceremonies, they managed the sacrifices, 
 they instructed the people, by whom they were 
 looked up to as sacred oracles and depositaries of 
 all the learning and information of the times : 
 they even taught similar doctrines ; the trans- 
 migration of the soul was a leading dogma ; they 
 worshiped various divinities, and sacrificed to 
 them sometimes animals and sometimes human 
 beings ; they abstained from eating certain ani- 
 mals ; their funeral rites also partook of the 
 Eastern character ; they burnt the body on a 
 pile, and with it often the fovourite wife or 
 slave. It appears, therefore, a fair inference 
 that these original occupiers of Europe were 
 descended from an Asiatic Stock ; that they 
 were driven by other tribes gradually into the 
 western limits of this quarter, where alone any 
 vestiges of them are now to be found. The 
 physical character of these people bears out the 
 foregoing position ; they were of a dark com- 
 plexion, the cheek-bones projecting, and the 
 head taking on the Tartar outline. These cha- 
 racters are still observable in their descendants 
 the Highlanders and the Welch. 
 
 The Goths, the Vandals, the Normans, and 
 
238 LETTER X. 
 
 all the Sclavonian and German Nations, as well 
 as the Huns, emigrated, no doubt, from that 
 immense storehouse of the Human race, as it has 
 been called, the Plain of Asia. These are of 
 recent origin, compared with others. We find 
 our position then, that all the Varieties among 
 Men are derived from One Stock, gains proba- 
 bility from ever}'^ side on which we view it ; it 
 seems to flow regularly from the circumstances 
 of every country in the known \vorld ; it is ana- 
 l^'ticaliy and synthetically a fair induction, from 
 all the phenomena presented to us in the His- 
 tory of Nations. The languages of Europe cor- 
 roborate the opinion ; they are all of Eastern 
 birth, as, indeed, are most of the arts and em- 
 bellishments of European refinement. Europe 
 has only improved ; it has not invented. Greece 
 was the instructor of Europe ; but Greece was 
 the pupil of Egypt and Chaldea : nothing ori- 
 ginated in Europe: the great men of Athens 
 travelled to the Eastward, and brought home 
 the fruits of the learned labours of these coun- 
 tries. Every thing here, then, is borrowed. No 
 European Society so much as invented an Al- 
 phabet ; they have copied even their letters and 
 their cyphers from the F2ast. Their Religion 
 has proceeded from the same quarter, and even 
 their Laws have been transferred from the same 
 fertile source. The Grecian Legislators studied 
 
ANCIENT STATE OF EUROPE. 239 
 
 diligently the civil polity of their fiicnds the 
 Babylonians and Egyptians. The illustrious 
 Solon incorporated these into a System ; the 
 Romans borrowed these in forming their Twelve 
 Tables ; and this code was the fountain of that 
 pile of Civil Law which has diffused itself, more 
 or less, over every part of Europe, except Eng- 
 land, where peculiar circumstances, fortunately 
 for us, prevented its introduction, and cherished 
 a better and more genial system. It was, how- 
 ever, imported into Scotland, and forms part of 
 the basis of its jurisprudence. 
 
 Let not Europe, then, boast of its superior 
 endowments, and its transcending genius ; the 
 foundation of all its greatness was laid in the 
 splendid countries of the East. The Tree of 
 Modern Knowledge was planted in Egypt. 
 Europe has been a servile imitator : length of 
 time has given it the knowledge and the dis- 
 covery of more facts ; but the lofty emanations 
 of Human Genius are still with the Ancients. 
 Those learned Greeks, the disciples of the schools 
 of Memphis and Babylon, excel still the Mo- 
 derns in works of genius and invention. Prac- 
 tical Science time has given the advantage in ; 
 but the palm of merit in Poetry, in Sculpture, 
 in Architecture, and in Eloquence, must be 
 ceded to the Ancients. Europe, then, has in- 
 vented little, but she has improved much ; and. 
 
210 LETTER X. 
 
 enjoying the advantages of a mild religion, con- 
 taining the finest system of ethics ever practised 
 among mankind, she outshines in happiness and 
 rational enjoyment the polished nations of an- 
 tiquity. But this religion, the sublime boon of 
 God to his creatures, like other blessings, came 
 10 the European from Asia ; like most other 
 things valuable to him, this too was an Exotic. 
 With these remarks I shall close this letter, 
 and follow on the investigation in my next, till 
 the establishment of our assumption seems com- 
 plete, that all Mankind compose but one great 
 familtf. 
 
 T remain, 
 
 Your*s, &c. 
 
 L. S. B. 
 
9+1 
 
 LETTER XI. 
 
 Dear Friend, 
 
 The Identical Origin of our Species was a 
 theory I wished to establish in my last ; I traced 
 back analytically the different tribes of Europe 
 and Asia to a particular source in the neighbour- 
 hood of the Euphrates, the extensive and fertile 
 plains of Shinaar. Here the History of Man 
 commenced ; from this spot different flocks 
 went forth and laid the foundations of distant 
 societies. Hunting and fishing were the neces- 
 sary occupations of Man at first, and the former 
 tribes scattered themselves over an immense ex- 
 tent of territory, quite across the Continent of 
 Asia, to its confines on the Indian shores, and 
 peopled the Indian Archipelago ; others spread 
 to the Northward and Eastward, and in time 
 passed the narrow straits that separate this part 
 of Asia from America, and extended themselves 
 over the Continent of the New World. Some 
 tribes took on the Pastoral state ; others made 
 o-reater progress, and established Agriculture and 
 Arts. Commerce formed the occupation of 
 some, and the arts and elegances of one nation, 
 were transported to enrich the natives of another. 
 
 R 
 
S42 LETTER XI. 
 
 The Celtic branch of the Eastern stock advanced 
 into Europe, and under their Druids enlightened 
 a dark region, and animated the western wilder- 
 ness. 
 
 Let us now consider some apparent varieties 
 in the Physical characters of different flocks. 
 The various hues of colour observable in differ- 
 ent communities, have occupied the attention ot 
 physiological enquirers, and various opinions 
 have been offered in explanation of the pheno- 
 menon ; some have hastily supposed that the 
 sable complexion was the effect of Solar Heat 
 upon the Skin, and therefore that the degree of 
 shade was in a direct ratio to the intensity of the 
 Sun's rays ; but this is not found to be conso- 
 nant to fact ; the colour of man varies in no such 
 positive ratio. \ Many tribes very distant from 
 the Equator are considerably darker than others 
 mtermediate to them and that great circle ; even 
 in high latitudes we find dark people; the 
 Greenlanders are swarthy, and the Samoiedes in 
 the North of Tartary have acquired the appella- 
 tion of the Northern Negroes. Some have sup- 
 posed the blackness of the skin to be owing to 
 the influence of heat on the Bile, producing a 
 state very much analogous to Jaundice, This 
 is an hypothesis not very tenable ; the stout 
 athletic structure, and great animal strength of 
 the Negro, cannot be supposed compatible with 
 
ORIGINAL COLOUR OF MANKIND. 245 
 
 a state of permanent disease and debility *. A 
 modern writer, Dr. Prichard, has treated this 
 subject in a very perspicuous manner, and is 
 worth your perusal. Buffon and Hunter have 
 by their reasonings and discoveries led to the in- 
 ference that Black was the proper colour of the 
 primitive races of men. Let it not wound your 
 pride, or be any insult to the supposed dignity 
 of your clan, if we proceed to establish this opi- 
 nion upon a certain basis. Mr. Hunter observes, 
 that the changes of colour in man and all ani- 
 mals has been from darker to lighter tints. Black 
 parents sometimes produce white children, and 
 often those of lighter shades than themselves, 
 but 1 believe the reverse of this never occurs ; 
 no white parents ever produce black children, or 
 
 ^ It is surprising- that any persons at all conversant \villi 
 the Animal Econom}-, either in its hcalthj' or morbid condi- 
 tion, should have entertained this incongruous opinion. — 
 Jaundice is a disease, in which the exit of the bile from the 
 biliary vessels is obstructed, and in consequence it is taken up 
 by the absorbents, and moves retrograde into the blood-vessels. 
 The stoppage of this excretion, and the absence of this neces- 
 sary stimulus in the intestines, excites frequently a general 
 >ympathy in the system, which is manifested by considerable 
 debility, that mostly accompanies this complaint. That a 
 perpetual disease should be transmitted through endless ge- 
 nerations, and proxlucc no general eflects on the Constitution, 
 (3 one of the many errors of that system, which sets out by 
 framing previous theory, and afterwards warping all the phe- 
 notTAcna of nature to support it. 
 
i^41 LETTER XI. 
 
 children ot a colour darker than themselves. — 
 The analogy runs throus^h the Brute creation ; 
 many of our domesticated animals in their wild 
 state are black, or at all events much darker than 
 in their tame state. The Albino, who often 
 proceeds from parents of the darkest hue, as the 
 African Negro, is an animal of debility ; he is 
 of a relaxed habit ; his sight and other senses 
 imperfect ; and he is looked upon with a degree 
 of pity, and often of contempt, in those coun- 
 tries where he is most frequent. All debilitat- 
 ing causes in the maternal system have a ten- 
 dency to produce these offspring, and all changes 
 of colour from dark to white seem to spring from 
 such circumstances as occasion debility. White 
 spots not unfrequently appear on the skins of 
 Negroes after fevers and other diseases. In the 
 debility of old age, the hair acquires a hoary 
 whiteness. Rabbits, Mice, &c. are known to 
 be weak when white, and less robust than the 
 black. Sickness, and all debilitating causes, ef- 
 fect a change in the countenance from healthy 
 brown or ruddiness to paleness. The Negro is 
 strong, and possesses a large share of animal 
 strength, compared with the European ; and 
 the strongest individuals in Europe are of the 
 darkest complexions. We associate by expe- 
 rience .and observation ideas of weakness and 
 imperfect stamina in those of light delicate 
 
PHYSICAL STRENGTH OF THE NEGRO. 24:0 
 
 skins*. Nature does nothing in vain ; the 
 physical strength of the Negro is best adapted to 
 the rude state of uncultivated nature ; the 
 fatigues and hardships to be encountered in 
 savage life, would be too much for the wan, 
 sickly faces we meet with in our large cities, 
 
 " Where the pale artist plies the sickly trade," 
 
 and continues in a state of emaciation and debi- 
 lity from childhood to premature death. The 
 dense firm constitution of the body, with a large 
 scope of the senses, render the Negro fitter for 
 the active condition of the savage state ; hence, 
 we find, all those tribes that have not emerged 
 from barbarism still retaining the Negro charac- 
 ter, as the Papuas, the New Hollanders, and 
 the natives of most of the islands scattered 
 through the Southern Ocean, in all which, the 
 quantity of Negro outline and attribute seems 
 almost inversely as their progress in civil habits 
 and improvement: and where traces of amelio- 
 ration in their condition are discovered, there 
 also are found improvements in their complexions 
 and figures. 
 
 Dr. Prichard thinks, a strong secretive action 
 gives the Negro his peculiar colour, and as this 
 
 * I have observed in practice, those patients of fair delicate 
 complexion, are much soonest reduced by the antiphlogistic 
 means so oflen necessary in acute diseases. 
 
2-iG r-ETTER xr, 
 
 strons: action becomes weakened in more rcfuied 
 habits of life, the complexion in consequence 
 becomes lighter, and tlie proportion goes on, till, 
 at the lowest degree of action in the Albino, we 
 have the dead white complexion, or, in old age. 
 the hoary whiteness that always accompanies it 
 All these considerations induce us to consent to 
 the position that Black was the original colour 
 of ISIan ; that it is the colour denoting greater 
 physical strength, and therefore best adapted 
 to savage life. All changes have been uniformly 
 from darker to lighter shades in both men and 
 animals, and never in the reverse order. In pro- 
 portion as communities or individuals have 
 emerged from savage life higher in the scale of 
 improvement, in such proportion has the surface 
 ofthebodytakenon lighter shades of complexion. 
 Lord Bacon long since designated White as 
 " the colour of defect." 
 
 Thus Man, then, was originally Black : let it 
 not offend your delicacy; the distinction of 
 colour is a mere nonentity; we all proceed 
 from a common stock, and our aversion to the 
 sable hue of our ancestors arises from an asso- 
 ciated prejudice, that has been heightened by a 
 traffic the most horrid and disgraceful to huma- 
 nity, which philanthropists have been labour- 
 ing to overthrow, but which a great nation, at 
 the suggestion of its merchants, have determined 
 
NEGRO SLAVERY. 247 
 
 to continue. AtVica must be kept in barbarism, 
 the rights of mankind intringecl on, and the laws 
 of God violated, to consult the interests of a few 
 sugar dealers at Boiirdeaux and elsewhere. 
 How long will Nations and Governments con- 
 tinue to bow at the shrine of Commerce, and 
 sacrifice the best interests and principles of man- 
 kind upon the Altar of Trade, whose votaries 
 in general know no excellence but the virtue of 
 getting rich, and recognize no measure of merit 
 but the standard of Gold ? 
 
 If a superior religion should not find its way, 
 and exert its benien influence anions: the Afri- 
 cans — if they are destined still to remain in their 
 native ignorance and idolatry ; I trust they may 
 make a new apotheosis, and place the name of 
 Wilberforce as the Prince of Idols in their 
 Pantheon*. 
 
 The relaxation of White people in hot cli- 
 mates, and the many diseases to which they are 
 liable, and from which the Negroes are mostly 
 exempt, is observable in all our West Indian 
 Colonies, where the yellow fever crops the 
 flower of the British youth, without having 
 much effect on the people of colour. The 
 savages of North xVmerica will undergo hard- 
 
 * It is principally owing to the indefatigable perseverance 
 of this virtuous senator, that African slavery has received its 
 great check: he has done much in the great cause of humanity- 
 
^4S LETTER XI. 
 
 ships and privations in chace of tlieir proy, or 
 their enemies, or eluding the pursuits of the 
 latter, that appear frightful to Europeans. 
 
 In speaking of the colour and complexion of 
 mankind, we come to consider those peculiar 
 aspects of men which have given rise to the 
 distinction of Temperaments. The Doctrine of 
 Temperaments is of very ancient standing; it 
 divides the human race into four leading divi- 
 sions, the Sanguine, the Phlegmatic, the Cho- 
 leric, and the Melancholic. The Sangnine is 
 distinguished by a fair and ruddy complexion, 
 light hair and eyes, soft delicate skin, and often 
 a large stature. The Phlegmatic display a pale 
 unhealthy skin, with light hair and eyes. The 
 Choleric is characterized by blackish, or some- 
 times reddish hair ; the skin is swarthy and 
 somewhat ruddy, and of a rough, thick texture, 
 with much hair; the countenance lively, the 
 muscular movements of the body rapid. The 
 Melancholic is marked by black hair and eyes, 
 a dark complexion, sometimes a very sallow 
 countenance. 
 
 These distinctions constitute the Tempera- 
 ments, which, in the Galenic school, were 
 thought to harmonize so well with the doctrine 
 of the four elements, that we find them ac- 
 counted for on the supposition of a preponde- 
 rance of one particular element in the com- 
 
TEMPERAMENTS. 249 
 
 position of the blood. This Ideal Philosophy is 
 now entirely superseded by the superior light of 
 modern science*. The fact seems very clear of 
 the existence of this diversity of Temperament, 
 and of a corresponding disposition of mental 
 character. Thus the Sanguine has been re- 
 marked for great flow of animal spirits, love of 
 pleasure approaching to voluptuousness, want 
 of steadiness in attachments, and seldom acquir- 
 ing any great proficiency in the sciences. The 
 Phlegmatic are slow, and less sensible than the 
 last ; grave and inanimate, but prone to intense 
 thought, and fixed in their attachments. The 
 Choleric are extremely irritable, and prone to 
 anger, liable to be carried away by every gust of 
 passion, consequently less capable of deliberate 
 exercise of judgment : they seldom diplay 
 maornanimitv under trying circumstances, and 
 are arbitrary and cruel to inferiors. The Melan- 
 cholic are of gloomy tempers, patient and per- 
 
 * HofFman has the credit of being the first to reject the 
 errors of the Humoral Pathology, which, as illustrated by 
 Boerhaave, long kept possession of the schools, and inrluenced 
 the practice of medicine, and the movements of mankind. 
 Cullen, his great commentator, who enlarged upon Hoflinan's 
 Theory of the important agency of the Living Solids, could 
 not sufticiently emancipate himself from the trammels of the 
 Humoral Theory, as you may perceive in his remarks on 
 Digestion, and on the proximate cause of Scurvy. 
 
g5G LETTER XI. 
 
 severing, prone to revenge, thoughtful, and 
 often of the strongest understandings. Such is 
 an outline of the temperaments of the human 
 bodv as dehneated by physiologists : on vvliat 
 circumstances in the animal economy these 
 temperaments depend, I am not prepared to offer 
 an opinion. 
 
 A great diversity of opinion has prevailed on 
 the changes we meet with in the Human Species. 
 An author, whom I have often quoted, remarks, 
 that nature has a constant tendency to transmit 
 from parent to offspring any characters that 
 orio-inate ; but that acquired properties are not 
 thus transmitted ; that therefore the dark hue of 
 the skin acquired in going to hot climates is only 
 of temporary effect, and not transmitted to off- 
 spring. The new-born children of Europeans 
 in Bengal or Jamaica, are as light in colour as 
 if born in London, notwithstanding both the 
 parents may have been considerably tanned by 
 long residence in those climates. Many parents 
 from accidents, diseases, and other sources, have 
 blemishes and mutilations, which never go down 
 to posterity. The Hebrew Nation, from an 
 early epoch in their history, afford a direct 
 negative to all the reasonings of Buffon and 
 Monboddo, on the transmission of acquired 
 modes of structure in successive generations ; 
 and indeed the pre-eminence of Creative Wisdom 
 
CHANGES IN ANIMALS. 251 
 
 IS conspicuous in this law ; for were it other- 
 wise, and every mutilation, or acquired circum- 
 stance m the animal economy was easily and 
 constantly transmitted to posterity, the face of 
 animated nature would exhibit no permanency; 
 each species would be continually diverging 
 from its original stamp ; every thing would be 
 in perpetual mutation, and organized beings 
 would be retrograde and deteriorate. 
 
 1 have remarked before, that in the economy 
 of Man and Animals, there is a strong tendency 
 to assume, under particular circumstances, 
 certain varieties, and to run into differences. 
 This manifestly extends to the Vegetable King- 
 dom also ; and the abundant variety into which 
 trees and shrubs ramify in particular situations 
 and under certain modes of culture, is well 
 known to all persons accustomed to Nurseries 
 and Green Houses : but among animals this is 
 more conspicuous ; it has been said, that if a 
 pair of brown mice were kept immersed in a 
 dark cellar, their young would be white with 
 red eyes, and these white mice thus produced, 
 would form a distinct race. Domestication 
 among animals is a great cause of the variety we 
 find in them : when animals are brought in from 
 a wild state, a few generations produce a con- 
 siderable divergence from the primary stock ; 
 the mixtures and varieties in the breeds of 
 
2^2 LETTER XI. 
 
 horses, sheep, Sic. occur daily to our notice. 
 The differences which occur in our own species 
 may he attributed to the varied habits and modes 
 of hie. Civihzation, compared to savage hfe, 
 affords a wider contrast than is exhibited between 
 the wild and domesticated state of animals ; and 
 this improvement in the condition of man ope- 
 rates so strongly as to prevail over every other 
 circumstance of climate, food, or any mode of 
 physical agency. The changes, therefore, among 
 nations and individuals are more influenced by 
 moral than by physical causes in every climate 
 and quarter of the globe. Much is continually 
 said on the influence of Climate upon the cha- 
 racter and condition of society. If, however, we 
 take a survey of the different races of men at 
 present scattered over the earth, and look back 
 in the page of history on those who have gone 
 before, we shall be forcibly struck with many 
 circumstances tending to convince us, that Cli- 
 mate has not any very considerable influence on 
 the condition of Human Nature, and that its 
 power over the character of mankind has been 
 most materially overstated. In the wide theatre 
 of the New World, a Continent extending from 
 70 degrees of North Latitude to 54 degrees 
 South, a distance of eight thousand miles, ex- 
 hibiting every diversity of climate and soil, the 
 inhabitants displayed such a uniformity of ap- 
 
INFLUENCE OF CLIMATi:. 253 
 
 pearance in Physical aspect, as left no doubt on 
 the minds of their discoverers, of their being 
 children of one common stock, with the excep- 
 tion of the Esquimaux, on the coast of Labrador, 
 who have a great resemblance to the Green - 
 landers. Climate, therefore, evidently had no 
 effect upon their physical character. Dr. Robert- 
 son remarks, that " Man is the only living crea- 
 ture whose frame is at once so hardy and so 
 flexible, that he can spread over the whole 
 earth, become the inhabitant of every region, 
 and thrive and multiply under every climate.'* 
 Many animals are confined to particular regions, 
 beyond the limits of which nature never intended 
 them to wander ; but Man roams from Pole to 
 Pole, and settles equally in every part. 
 
 The Negro race extend over a great tract of 
 country, and inhabit very different and distant 
 quarters of the globe, as the Papuas or Eastern 
 Negroes, who exhibit the same model of fea- 
 tures and complexion as the Africans. But 
 some tribes of the African Negroes, though 
 dwelling on the same soil, and under the same 
 sun, yet manifest considerable differences in fea- 
 tures and complexion, as the Foulahs, who are 
 of a tawny colour, and have soft silky hair ; these 
 are much more civilized than the other tribes, 
 and follow pastoral and agricultural pursuits; 
 
254' I-LITEII XI. 
 
 and to this improved moral condition may be 
 attributed the physical difference in a tribe liv- 
 ing in the same climate with others in a state of 
 savage life. The same is said of another tribe, 
 although in a less degree, the Jalofts. 
 
 In several of the South Sea Islands a degree 
 of civil improvement manifests itself, and there 
 are a superior rank of people, who form, as it 
 were, an Aristocracy, while the rest of the mul- 
 titude remain on the confines of barbarism ; now 
 these better orders are always found to differ in 
 physical character, and evince a tendency to 
 emerge from the Negro form of their fellow 
 islanders. The inhabitants of Van Diemen's 
 Land, in latitude 45^ South, are in a complete 
 savage state, and as black as the natives of Gui- 
 nea, with woolly hair. In New Zealand the na- 
 tives are in an uncultivated state, and universally 
 display the Negro character in strong lines ; 
 whereas, in the Society Islands, an approach to- 
 vvrards civilization shews itself in one portion of 
 the inhabitants, who, in consequence, display 
 improved features. We are told, that in the 
 United States an improvement in the form and 
 complexion is often very visible in the second 
 and third generations of the domestic slaves, and 
 those who live in towns and enjoy mild treat- 
 ment. It is said, the nose becomes more ele- 
 
INFLUENCE OF CLIMATE. 955 
 
 vated, the lips less prominent, and the contour 
 of the face much amended. The same observa- 
 tion is made in the West India Islands. 
 
 Another striking instance of the small share 
 climate seems to have in affecting mankind, takes 
 place among the Hindoos. The peculiar laws 
 and religious ordinances of these descendants of 
 a very ancient stock, keep each cast perfectly 
 insulated and detached from the rest ; each di- 
 vision, in consequence, exhibits a peculiar turn 
 of countenance, and acquires a distinct phy- 
 siognomy. The Brahmins, who live more at 
 ease, and from their habits attain more refine- 
 ment, have a more fair, handsome complexion 
 tiian the lower casts. The natives of Northern 
 Asia, the Samoides, are of a very dark complexion, 
 approaching to black, although they live in the 
 rude climate of the Arctic Circle. 
 
 In Europe, we find that a diversity of religion 
 and laws, have produced a great influence on the 
 condition of society at different periods in the 
 history of the same nation. The Ancient Greeks 
 carried the arts and sciences to astonishing per- 
 fection ; all the refinements of the civilized 
 world may be traced to these enlightened people, 
 who by their skill and valour became masters of 
 the world. But their descendants, the Modern 
 Greeks, under the yoke of Turkish tyranny, dis- 
 play only vice, pusillanimity, and meanness. 
 
2o6 LETTER XI. 
 
 Turning to Italy, where do we perceive the 
 least vestige or remains of the majesty and 
 dignity of a Roman citizen ? Italy, that for ages 
 was the theatre of war, and the nurse of arms, 
 whose natives were the chosen sons of Bellona, 
 and carried conquest to the boundaries of the 
 world, is now, from a change in moral circum- 
 stances, though standing in the same latitude, 
 and enjoying the same climate, become a land 
 of men the reverse of their warlike ancestors, 
 where, as the Poet says, 
 
 " In florid beauty groves and fields appear, 
 
 " Man seems the only growth that dwindles here." 
 
 This change cannot be the effect of climate 
 or any species of physical influence ; it is the 
 result of a change in the moral circumstances of 
 the society, in Spain, each province exhibits 
 considerable difference of physical aspect, al- 
 though a uniformity of climate prevails through 
 the Peninsula. The Portuguese, a few centuries 
 back, evinced a spirit of enterprize, and a share 
 of science, that enabled them to become a mari- 
 time people. The genius of Vasco di Gama dis- 
 covered the Western route to India, by exploring 
 the coast of Africa, and the parage round the 
 Cape ; a circumstance which had a considerable 
 effect on the condition of this part of Europe. 
 The peculiar laws and religion of these people 
 
LOCALITY Of CHARACTER. 257" 
 
 have, however, prevented their deriving much 
 benefit from the above discoveries ; and they 
 have now lost their martial character, and ma- 
 terially degenerated, though still occupying the 
 same parallel. 
 
 In our own island we discover a strikinij dif- 
 ference of character, as I have before remarked, 
 in the dark complexion of those Highlanders 
 who are t|-om the Celtic stock, with the yellow 
 hair and light countenance, among their coun- 
 trymen descended from Gothic orioinal. Everv 
 traveller of correct and acute observation will 
 discover a peculiar stamp of character, both 
 physical and moral, in the inhabitants of the 
 same country in different districts, arising en- 
 tirely from local causes. Mr. Hume observes, 
 that the boundary of a river, or the intervention 
 of a hill, often separates communities very dif- 
 ferent in character. 
 
 The states of Ancient Greece exhibited con- 
 siderable diversity, which must have arisen 
 solely from the difference in their laws and go- 
 vernments, infusing a different genius among 
 the various communities ; thus the polished 
 Athenians and the rustic Boeotians evince a 
 lively contrast. 
 
 The Circassians, so celebrated for their per- 
 sonal beauty, live in the same parallel with many 
 tribes of Tartars conspicuous for the converse 
 
 s 
 
goh - LliXIKR XI. 
 
 attribute. And the Abyssinians have tor age^ 
 lived in the same chmate, and been surrounded 
 by nations of the blackest hue, and strongest 
 Negro outline, and yet they remain a very dis- 
 tinct and superior people. 
 
 All these circumstances, in a review of the 
 situation and attributes of different nations-; 
 naturally lead us to a fair logical inference, that 
 All Mati/cind arc dcrlucd from one Parent Stock. 
 
 If in a philosophical investigation, the testi- 
 mony of history may be admitted, the ancient 
 records of the Hebrew Nation may be called in 
 evidence. They are of the most remote antiquity, 
 and form the oldest book now in the world. It 
 is more than three thousand years since the 
 sacred historian lived. But the truth must not 
 be concealed, that the insisting upon the exact 
 literal sense of this narrative in all its minutiae, 
 has endangered the credibility of the whole, by 
 overstretching its application. The Mosaic ac- 
 count of the Creation is a tradition that existed 
 near four thousand years since, among an en- 
 lightened and peculiar people; it had been 
 handed down, like all other points in the his- 
 tory of Man, by oral communication, and had 
 partaken of a certain degree of that marvellous 
 divergence which so strongly pervades men's 
 minds in the infancy of society; till Moses, 
 skilled in all the learning of that age, digested 
 
EVIDENCE OF SCRIPTURE. 2^9 
 
 and formed it into a written story. Another 
 consideration must also go along- with it ; it was 
 written more than 3000 years since, when lan- 
 guage was so much in its infancy, that it pos- 
 sessed all that figurative form, and was so en- 
 veloped in metaphor and allegory, that it ad- 
 dressed itself, on all occasions, more forcibly to 
 the imagination than to any other faculty : facts 
 were recorded by figures and similes, that struck 
 the fancy and relieved the understanding. Had 
 the plain argumentative style adopted by His- 
 torians of the present age been chosen, this nar- 
 rative would not have been suited to a people 
 young in literature, and accustomed to bold 
 figures of fancy, that glittered before and enliven- 
 ed their imaginations. The writings of David 
 and Isaiah, abound with expressions of passion 
 and metaphor. This is a st^de not peculiar to 
 the Hebrews, but is universal in the early stage 
 of Man all over the World. Homer and Ossian 
 are in the same style of poetic allegory. Hence, 
 in receiving the evidence of Mosaic History, we 
 are to look for the essence of its truth under the 
 accustomed veil of allegory, common in early- 
 society; and we shall find, that of all the systems 
 which the Eastern Nations presented to the 
 world, no one has harmonized so well with the 
 general order of nature as this; it commences 
 with the Formation of Light, and proceeds re- 
 
260 LEXTtiK XI. 
 
 gularly to that of the Earth from Chaos ; the 
 Waters upon that Earth'; Vegetable Life suc- 
 ceeded by Animated Beings; till, to crown the 
 pile, Man is created in the Image of his Great 
 Ma,her. All this is accomplished without the 
 aid of that superfluous machinery, which ob- 
 scures and disgraces the Eastern Mythology ; it 
 is effected in a mode best suited to our compre- 
 hension — the simple fiat of Omnipotence. 
 
 The Mosaic History of the Creation is therefore 
 a Tradition, reduced to form early in the progress 
 of man, and conveying its truths under that veil 
 of allegory common in the infancy of society. 
 This narrative, the oldest record in the posses- 
 sion of mankind, confirms the train of reasoning 
 in the foregoing sheets, and establishes our fa- 
 vourite assumption, that the whole human race 
 have gradually and regularly descended from one 
 identical source — that they are the offspring of 
 one Primitive Stock — the ramifications of one 
 Parent Trunk. 
 
 With these remarks on the Origin of our 
 Species, I conclude this letter, and remain, 
 
 Your's, &c. 
 
 L. S. B. 
 
21) i 
 
 LETTER Xll. 
 
 Dear Friend, 
 
 J^FTER a survey of the Physical character of 
 Man, we naturally arrive at the consideration of 
 tliat noble attribute that constitutes the final 
 end of his existence, and the essence of his su- 
 perior organization. The Mind of Man is the 
 grand masterpiece of sublunary creation; it is 
 the distinguishing prerogative which lifts him 
 above all the rest of organized nature; it is in 
 this quality the saying of the historian is correct, 
 that Man was made in the Image of his ^Nlakcr. 
 The Brain is the immediate organ of the mind : 
 1 observed before, that many philosophers have 
 supposed the faculties of the mind to be the ne- 
 cessary result of the organization of the brain ; 
 that this organ displayed the powers of thinking, 
 by virtue of the physical arrangement of its parts ; 
 that therefore organization was a physical pro- 
 perty of matter, and Thought the necessary ef- 
 fect of organization. I then remarked that this 
 hypothesis sprang from an error not uncommon 
 in metaphysical speculations — the blending and 
 mistaking effects for causes. The organization 
 
262 LETTER xir. 
 
 of the Brain is not a cause ; it is the effect of 
 the energy of the hving principle ; it is the par- 
 ticular power of life (the principium v'ltiB cliff u- 
 sumj which fabricates the form and texture of 
 this organ, and gives it the specific arrangement 
 of its parts. It is moulded and fashioned by 
 the active instrumentality of the living principle, 
 and possesses no inherent powers of thinking in 
 itself. Nature has created a certain arbitrary 
 connection between Mind and IMatter, without 
 which, the phenomena of intellectual existence 
 cannot be displayed. A certain structure of 
 parts is, therefore, a necessary rule of nature, 
 without which, the attributes of intelligent beings 
 are not displayed. We fuid that man is a com- 
 pound of two substances. Body and Mind ; the 
 former is the mere machine, the latter is the ar- 
 tist that excites and puts into action the powers 
 of this machine ; the Brain is an organ that bears 
 the same relation to its active stimulus, the 
 living principle, as the harpsichord does to the 
 skill and taste of the musician : it is from the 
 combined powers of both that the phenomena of 
 living action are produced in one, and the har- 
 mony of corresponding sounds in the other. 
 
 Different opinions have been formed concern- 
 ing that particular condition of the Brain, which 
 produces the phenomena of Mind, and as to the 
 mode by which the Brain and Nerves efllect 
 
THEORY OF A NKRYOUS FLUID. 263 
 
 their difTerent fiiculties and movements. One 
 set of physiologists have assumed the existence 
 of a certain subtle ethereal fluid, fraught with 
 exalted spiritual energies, which is secreted, and 
 issues from the Brain, and passes along the in- 
 ternal substance of the Nerves, which they sup- 
 pose tubular. The influx of this fluid into the 
 structure of muscks, gives them their action ; its 
 reflux to the Brain explains the cause of our sen- 
 sations, and by its movements and properties all 
 the phenomena of intellectual energy become 
 displayed. The motion and action of this subtle 
 fluid is ever under the controul of Volition, and 
 determined to every part, according to the incli- 
 nation of the mind, and the necessities of the 
 system. This hypothesis has long been taught 
 in the schools, and has had as its advocates, the 
 great names of Des Cartes, Locke, Haller, and 
 CuUen. It is, however, objected to it, that it is 
 built upon mere supposition ; that the existence 
 of this fluid, which is the main pillar of the 
 theory, is a gratuitous assumption, and has never 
 been reduced to any thing like demonstration. 
 The supposed tubular structure of Nerves, also, 
 does not accord with facts, as they appear to be 
 solid cords ; and the theory altogether, does not 
 seem sufficient to explain the complex opera- 
 tions of the human intellect, in a satisfactory 
 manner. Another theory explaii>s all the func- 
 
264 LETTER XI r. 
 
 tions of the Brain upon the supposition, that the 
 Nerves are continuations ot the substance of the 
 Brain ; that impressions made upon them excite 
 vibrations in their minute particles, which vibra- 
 tions arc communicated to the Brain, vi^here cor- 
 responding- ones are excited ; that, therefore, all 
 the phenomena of Mind, are produced by means 
 of vibrations effected and propagated throughout 
 the nervous system. Sir Isaac Newton, Drs. 
 Hartley, Priestley, and others, have supported 
 this hypothesis, which has opposed to it gome 
 of the objections against the former theory ; viz. 
 that the existence of these vibrations has never 
 been proved, but rests on a mere petitio prhicipii ; 
 and, moreover, that vibrations necessarily sup- 
 pose tense cords, and that it is difficult to con- 
 ceive how vibrations can be extended along the 
 soft loose texture of nerves. And some have 
 been led to think this theory tends to resolve 
 every thing into Mechanism, and is built on the 
 ground- work of Materialism. 
 
 I believe very little stress is laid on either of 
 these theories in the present day ; physiologists 
 are content with observing the facts which the 
 nervous system manifests, without expecting 
 any great success in explaining their immediate 
 causes. 
 
 Different systems have differently arranged 
 the faculties and powers of the human mind, to 
 
FACULTIES OF THK MIND. 265 
 
 enumerate which would be a task of some la- 
 hour. Dr. Hartley has, I think, fixed on a con- 
 cise and explicit arrangement ; first, Perception, 
 or the faculty by which we acquire sensations 
 and ideas. — Capacity for Pleasure and Pain. 
 Association, which is a primary faculty, by which 
 one sensation, idea> or muscular motion being 
 excited, calls up others with which it may have 
 been previously united. Sensation, or internal 
 feeling by the agency of external impressions. 
 Understanding, by which we contemplate, com- 
 bine, separate, and compare our ideas. Metnort/, 
 by which we retain, or call up past ideas in their 
 natural order. Imagination, the power of com- 
 bining ideas in a manner different from their 
 natural order. Affections and Passions, feelings 
 arising from the view of pleasure or pain, good 
 or evil, &c. Volition, or the will. And lastly, 
 Power, or the faculty of executing our volitions. 
 These are the different faculties into which the 
 Human Mind has been divided, on each of 
 which I propose offering a few remarks. 
 
 It has been contended by some, that all the 
 powers and attributes of the Human Mind are 
 original principles ; that all our affections, and 
 many of the truths which we understand, are 
 the result of instincts implanted in us by the 
 Author of our Being ; that therefore man pos- 
 sesses an innate sense of right and wrong, ante- 
 
"■266 LETTER XII. 
 
 cedent to reason and instruction, which flows 
 spontaneously, and performs the office of a vigi- 
 lant and constant monitor; and all this is tri- 
 umphantly asserted to be the evidence of com- 
 mon sense. Now, en the other hand, it is with 
 more justness and propriety contended, that all 
 our ideas are the result ofimpressions made upon 
 the senses ; that without the presence of an ex- 
 ternal agent to njake this impression, no sensa- 
 tion can be excited ; that the Senses are the 
 grand inlets to all our information and knowledge. 
 An impression on an organ of Sense, excites in 
 the mind a sensation or feeling of the presence 
 of the external agent. This constitutes a simple 
 idea. Two or more of these ideas, combined or 
 compared, form a complex idea ; hence every 
 idea is derived from sensation, and nothing is 
 innate. The whole of Human Knowledge, 
 therefore, is grounded on the comparison and 
 association of those ideas taken in by the senses. 
 If the faculties depended upon instinct, and any 
 of our ideas were inherent, it would necessarily 
 follow, that all mankind would evince a uni- 
 formity of feeling with respect to the same objects 
 and ideas ; whereas, there is nothing in nature 
 which presents such a diversified field as the 
 various opinions of men upon the same subjects. 
 All innate ideas or propensities must of necessity 
 be universal, they must operate in the same 
 
KNOWLEDGE NOT INSTINCTIVE. '2b7 
 
 manner, and produce the same effects upon every 
 mind. It must be uncouditionall}' granted, that 
 Universality and permanent Uniformity are the 
 natural attributes of ail instincts. Tiie move- 
 ments of the Beaver and the Bee are precisely 
 tlie same in every region ; they are limited by 
 the instinct of the animal, and can in no degree 
 whatever undergo any alteration ; they are not 
 susceptible of the least change. But in Human 
 society, we find each individual exercises the 
 powers or reason upon the nature of every object 
 presented to him, and that a subject which in 
 one person produces feelings of a certain cha- 
 racter, will in another excite ideas and views of 
 a very opi>osite tendency. This difference ex- 
 tends to every object and circumstance in any 
 way cognizable to our minds, from thesublimest 
 truths to the most common-place concerns ; 
 whence all the leading points in the foundation 
 of religion and politics have been so differently 
 interpreted in diflferent communities, that thje 
 nature and attributes of the Deity himself have 
 been variously construed in various countries. 
 There is hardly a Crime in our catalogue, but 
 what has either been tolerated or elevated even 
 to a Virtue in some country of the earth ; so that 
 Conscience, or the sense of moral obligation, 
 has always been an arbitrary standard, set up in 
 each society according to the peculiar mode of 
 
2bS LETTER XII. 
 
 blinking, accidentally taken up in that connrauni- 
 ty. Suicide in Cato was an exalted virtue; with 
 us, the law loads it with disgrace. The expo- 
 sure of infancy and deformity to destruction 
 has been, and is still, from political motives, 
 tolerated in some nations, while we punish it 
 as murder. Polygamy, is felony in London, but 
 legal at Constantinople. 
 
 Religion has, in consequence of this want of 
 fixed innate principles, branched out into every 
 ramification that the exuberant fancy of the 
 warmest imagination could suggest. Among 
 one society, we find the Supreme worshiped 
 in the degraded form of a wooden image, or a 
 lump of earth ; with others, adored in the 
 eftulgence of the sun's rays, or directing in the 
 clouds the rage of the frantic storm ; one nation 
 glorifying Him in that active emblem the 
 flaming element ; and another paying divine 
 honours to His supposed presence in the flowing 
 streams of a great river. To conceive Him in 
 all His sublime attributes, to view Him in all 
 the majesty of His glory, belongs only to the 
 highest office of Reason. Reason, which some 
 sects affect to depise, is nature's guide in teach- 
 ing Man his relationship to the Deity. To teach 
 that Revelation has no reference to Human 
 Understanding, is to libel the sublimity of its 
 doctrines, the finest system of ethics ever 
 
INSTINCTS. 269 
 
 presented to mankind, and decorated with all 
 the richness and elegance of rhetorical orna- 
 ment. The instincts of animals are generally 
 in their performance, combined with a certain 
 degree of pleasnre ; but the operations of the 
 human mind are attended necessarily with a 
 certain share of labour and trouble. Almost 
 every animal at a certain age is in full possession 
 of its quantum of instinct, but few men acquire 
 an average share of mental plenitude ; it requires 
 great leisure, constant application, and laborious 
 exercise, to bring our intellectual powers to 
 maturity ; whence the axiom of the ancient 
 sage, Ars longa, sed vita brevis, is a conspicuous 
 truth. The human perceptions and associations 
 often wander from truth, owing to accidental 
 circumstances ; but animal instinct is sponta- 
 neous and prompt, as the Poet says, 
 
 " Reason stays till we call, and then not often near, 
 " But honest Instinct comes a volunteer." 
 
 Instinct, as far as it goes, is superior to 
 Reason, but it is for ever fixed ; it has its pre- 
 cise limits, and cannot improve or vary its ap- 
 plication to difference of circumstance ; where- 
 fore animals gain nothing by experience ; they 
 are bound up in mechanism, and remain eter- 
 nally at one standard. Reason, on the contrary, 
 takes wing, soars aloft, and explores every part 
 
970 LETTER XII. 
 
 of the universe ; it lifts Man above himself, 
 shows him the confines of another world, and 
 gives him an alliance with superior beings. 
 
 Perception is that faculty of the mind by 
 which we acquire sensations or feelings from the 
 impression of external objects ; these excite a 
 sensation of their presence or nature on the mind, 
 which is called an Idea: the mind recalls those 
 ideas at different times, after the external object 
 or archetype is withdrawn. Ideas are at first 
 all simple, but l^y combination and comparison 
 become very complex, and form the basis of all 
 our knowledge. The seat of perception is evi- 
 dently in the Brain : if the communication 
 between any organ of sense and the Brain is cut 
 oflT or interrupted, the function of that organ is 
 immediately lost. Many physiologists have 
 attempted to trace the different affections of the 
 mind to different portions of the Brain ; but this 
 has exercised their time and fancy to very little 
 purpose ; no progress has been made in the 
 discovery. Des Cartes, who had the usual 
 speculative ingenuity of a Frenchman, supposed 
 the Pineal Gland* was the seat of the soul. 
 
 - The Pineal Gland, of which so much has been said, is a 
 small body situated in the base of the Brain, in a depression 
 of the Sphenoid Bone called the Sella Turcica ; it is perhaps 
 improperly termed a gland, as it has no excretory duct; it 
 crenerally contains a small portion of phosphate of lime. 
 
THE SENSES. 'i7i 
 
 The Senses are five in number*, and from 
 these we derive sensations and ideas, which, by 
 their combinations and comparisons in the mind, 
 generate the aftections and passions, and all the 
 pleasures and pains of intellectual existence. 
 All the emotions which constitute the ration- 
 ality and felicity of human nature, therefore, 
 spring from simple impressions on the organs of 
 sense ; if any one doubts this, let him examine 
 the condition of a child deprived of only one 
 sense, that of Hearing ; let him behold the 
 immense deficiency consequent on the absence 
 of this single sense; having done so, let him 
 contemplate the additional loss of another sense, 
 that of Sio;ht, in the same child, and if the woe- 
 ful and invincible negation of the mind of this 
 child, notwithstanding the entire condition of 
 its Hrain, does not convince him, that the 
 Human Creature is the Pupil of his Senses, and 
 particularly that of the Ear, 1 know nothing that 
 will overcome his obstinacy. 
 
 The sense of Feeling is either general, or that 
 
 * Many animals possess the different senses to a greater 
 extent than Man, a fact observable among the Ancients — 
 Pliny says, " Ex sensibus ante coc;tera Homiiii Tactus, 
 deinde Gustatus: reliquis superatur a niultis. Aquilae clarius 
 cernunt: Vultures sagacius ordorantur : liquidius audiunt 
 Talpa? obruta terra, tam denso atque surdo nature cl<*- 
 mento." 
 
272 LE'ITKR XII. 
 
 which extends over the whole body, or it is that 
 ])articular exquisite degree of it that exists at 
 the extremities of the fingers, and informs the 
 mind of all the tangible qualities of the various 
 bodies in nature, such as smoothness, rough- 
 ness, magnitude, figure, heat, cold, &c. It is 
 observed, that this sense and sight often become 
 mutual exponents, so that we every day judge 
 of tangible qualities by visible appearances, and 
 vice versa. By the touch, blind people acquire 
 a tolerable idea of the visible appearances of 
 many bodies, but on this subject a sort of meta- 
 physical puzzle has been stated ; whether, If a 
 person born blind, who could accurately dis- 
 tino-uish by his feeling the difference between a 
 Globe and a Cube, should suddenly acquire his 
 sio-ht, and both these bodies besuddenly presented 
 to his view, he could from his sight alone point 
 out which was the Globe and which the Cube ? 
 I conf^s, I believe the man in those circum- 
 stances would be unable to distinguish them ; 
 the sensations of light affect the mind by expe- 
 rience only. The sense of Touch cannot be 
 denied, perhaps, to any individual in the whole 
 range of the scale ; a certain degree of it has 
 been supposed even in vegetable life. Pliny 
 observes, " Tactus sensus omnibus est, etiam 
 quibus nullus alius ; nam et ostreis, et terres- 
 tribus vermibus quoque. Existimaverim omni- 
 bus sensum et Gustatus esse." 
 
VISION. 273 
 
 The senses of Smell and Taste are perhaps 
 nearly allied in their natures : they are, as well 
 as that of Feeling, under the influence of as- 
 sociations, and administer much to the intellec- 
 tual pleasures and pains. 
 
 The sense of Vision is the most noble and 
 elegant ; and the structure of the organ which is 
 the seat of this function, is the most interesting 
 and instructive in the whole range of the ani- 
 mal econom3^ To give but a brief outline of 
 the Eye would far exceed the limits of a letter*. 
 It is a ball made up of three distinct coats, 
 having in its cavity three different humours, 
 which refract the rays in their passage through 
 them, and converge them to a focal point on the 
 retina at the bottom of the Eye, where an inverted 
 picture of the object is most accurately painted ; 
 which picture, from its impression on the retina, 
 which is a continuation of the optic nerve, ex- 
 cites in the brain an idea of the visible object: 
 so that the Eye, taken of itself, is merely a Ca- 
 mera Obscura ;. it is a dark chamber with a small 
 aperture, and a lens in that aperture, which 
 throws an inverted picture of the surrounding 
 landscape upon the curtain opposite. Light 
 
 * " In dissectionibus anatomicis vix aliquid admirabilius 
 aiit avtificiosius structiira oculi humani, meo quidem judicio, 
 occurrit : ut rnerito, per excelientiam, Creatoiis appelletuf 
 miraculum." 
 
 T 
 
^74 LElTIill XII. 
 
 and Colours are the objects which become the 
 media of Vision. This sense conveys to tlic 
 mind the Figure, JNIagnitude, Distance, Position, 
 and Motion of Bodies : but it acquires all its 
 perfection by experience and custom ; for in- 
 stance, no one can judge of the form of a sphere 
 or cone but by habit ; the visible appearance 
 of these bodies are flat, with diversities of light 
 and shade ; hence the metaphysical puzzle 
 before mentioned. It is the same with regard 
 to Distance and Magnitude. Whatever causes 
 an error in our judgment of Distance, creates a 
 corresponding error in our judgment of Magni- 
 tude ; a fly on a window is often referred to a 
 distant field, and in consequence taken, perhaps, 
 for an animal grazing. Ships at sea in a fog ap- 
 pear from their indistinctness at a greater dis- 
 tance, and therefore become much magnified in 
 the mind. The Celestial Bodies when in the 
 horizon appear much larger than when in the 
 zenith, because the mind then associates a 
 greater distance \vith them. Children acquire 
 all their knowledge of distance, and conse- 
 quently of magnitude, by experience, as do also 
 grown people ; it is not till a landsman has been 
 some time at sea, that he can form any correct 
 judgment of the distance and magnitude of ships, 
 or distant head lands. The intervention of 
 objects is of great assistance in judging of difi- 
 
VISION. 27o 
 
 tances ; hence our imperfection with respect to 
 the Celestial Bodies, which we are apt to con- 
 sider as equally remote. More stress has been 
 laid upon the Optic Axis, and the angle under 
 which bodies are seen, than seems warranted. 
 
 The inner, surface of the Choroid Coat, which 
 lines the interior of the Eye under the Retina, 
 .is in the human subject of an ash colour in the 
 centre, but covered all round its margin with a 
 perfectly black secretion, (called Pigmentum 
 Nigrum,) which absorbs the superfluous rays of 
 broad sunshine, and enables Man to enjoy the 
 day-light. Animals that graze, as the Ox, 
 Sheep, &c. have this membrane of a very bright 
 green colour, and in the Feline Genus, as the 
 Cat, Tyger, Lynx, &c. this membrane is of a 
 very bright yellow, and takes the name of the 
 lucid Tapetum. This colour reflects all the rays, 
 and prevents their seeing so clearly in bright 
 light, but is of great advantage in the night, by 
 reflecting a number of rays, that in the human 
 eye become buried in the black matter secreted 
 on the surface of the Choroid ; consequently 
 these animals see better in diminished light than 
 those animals who have the above-mentioned 
 black secretion. 
 
 The scope of Vision, or the distance the 
 human eye can see in a line along the curve of 
 the earth's surface, isdetermined mathematically. 
 
276 LETTER XII. 
 
 It is done by plain trigonometry in the follow- 
 ing manner ; the height of the human eye above 
 the earth's surface we will suppose 6 feet, which, 
 added to 7,003,040 yards, the semidiameter of the 
 earth, gives 7,003,04-2 yards as one leg of a 
 triangle ; another leg of this triangle is from 
 the horizon to the earth's centre, which is a 
 semidiameter, and equal to 7,003,040 yards ; the 
 third leg sought, is a line from the observer's 
 eye to the extreme point of vision in his horizon, 
 and this line beins: a tanoent to the earth's sur- 
 face, forms a right angle with the earth's semi- 
 diameter at that point, wherefore you have two 
 sides and an angle given to find the rest, which 
 is a common problem in trigonometry, and gives 
 a product of almost 3^ miles, as the distance the 
 human eye can discern along the earth's curve, 
 supposing you stand at the water's edge. But 
 this distance is increased by refraction in the 
 atmosphere, which elevates all objects near the 
 horizon, and consequently enlarges the scope of 
 our vision. 
 
 Ideas of Vision become associated with other 
 ideas, sensations, and motions. Visible ideas 
 form the mirror of most parts of human know- 
 ledge ; poetry, painting, and history furnish their 
 instruction and entertainment to the mind by 
 means of the association of visible appearances ; 
 pvery fable and fiction pleases us by means of 
 
HEARING. 277 
 
 the imagery it presents to us, which exercises 
 and entertains the fancy ; indeed it is observable 
 that visible ideas, in some form or other, associate 
 themselves with almost all the internal feelings 
 of the mind ; every intellectual affection of plea- 
 sure or pain is combined with a pleasing or dis- 
 pleasing imagery of visible appearance in the 
 mind. The contemplation of the Beauties of 
 Nature, and the study of the Fine Arts are at- 
 tributes of this noble sense. 
 
 The Sense of Hearing is one, without which 
 man would be a deficient and pitiable creature, 
 destitute of the light and the blessings of reason. 
 It is by means of this sense the understanding 
 gathers food, and reaches to maturity ; to Sounds 
 we have annexed Ideas, and the communication 
 of these constitutes Language. These sounds 
 become the signs of visible ideas ; the name of 
 a horse calls up in the mind the visible appear- 
 ance of that animal, and so of every subject with 
 which we are acquainted. Sounds become 
 associated with visible appearances, with tangible 
 qualities, and every circumstance in surrounding 
 nature. Man is, as I observed before, the Pupil 
 of this organ ; he derives all his instructive 
 knowledge by this channel, and gains no intel- 
 lectual assistance without it, except by the 
 most laborious and Herculean endeavours. The 
 system of the Abbe de L'Epee is a very com- 
 
§78 LETTER XII. 
 
 plex and operose undertaking, although the ef- 
 forts of the Abb^, and others, have been attended 
 with the most astonishing and beneficial effects 
 on numerous individuals. Besides Language 
 and the communication of Ideas, the Ear is the 
 organ which receives the charms of Music, which 
 is the first of the fine arts cultivated among man- 
 kind ; it universally prevails; no community, 
 however savage, are destitute of the charms of 
 this art in some form. " This and the Dance 
 constitute Nature's general festival all over the 
 earth," Music is the basis of all Language ; 
 Eloquence is the adaptation of the tones of the 
 voice, to please the Ears and move the minds of 
 the audience ; and it is generally allowed that 
 the sound of a good speaker's voice has a con- 
 siderable effect on the mind of the hearer, inde- 
 pendent of the matter of his discourse. 
 
 The Understanding of Man, therefore, is de- 
 rived from, and divided among his senses; they 
 are the inlets of all his intelligence, and the 
 stimuli that call into action the otherwise dor- 
 mant excitability of his mental capacity. They 
 form the link that unites the whole external 
 creation to his sentient principle. By combi- 
 nation and comparison they form the basis of 
 all our knowledge, and administer to every 
 faculty of the mind, and every power of the 
 soul. 
 
REALITY OF SENSIBLE OBJECTS. 279 
 
 It has been a question often started, whether 
 our sensations have any positive existence out 
 of the mind; for instance, w^hether on an un- 
 frequented rock standing in the ocean, the beat- 
 ing of the surf produces any absolute noise, if no 
 ear is present ? This seems, at first, difficult to 
 assent to, but it is impossible, perhaps, to con- 
 ceive that sound can exist out of the mind. 
 However this apparent paradox may astonish 
 you at first, the more you reflect on it, ther 
 stronger will be your conviction, that no noise 
 can positively exist independent of the organs 
 of sense. Bishop Berkeley carried this opinion 
 to a great extent, and came at last to the con- 
 clusion, that the whole material world had no 
 existence ; that sensations were excited without 
 the intervention of material agents ; that the 
 being and essence of every body consisted only 
 in its perceptibility. He says, of any body its 
 esse is pcrcipi, and goes on to state, " it is an 
 opinion strangely prevalent among men, that 
 houses, mountains, rivers, and in a word, all 
 sensible objects have an existence, natural or 
 real, distinct from their being perceived by the 
 understanding. But with how great assurance 
 soever these principles may be received in the 
 world, whoever shall call it in question may 
 perceive it to involve a manifest contradiction." 
 This is, I think, going into extremes ; 1 know 
 
280 LETTER XII. 
 
 of no operation in Nature but the action of Mat- 
 ter upon Matter ; therefore ISIatter must surely 
 exist, and by its action impress the organs of our 
 senses. 
 
 In addition to the five senses enumerated, 
 some naturalists have supposed a sixth in the 
 Bat, from the great care with which it seems to 
 fly among trees, poles, &c. when blinded, with- 
 out striking against them. I take this, however, 
 "to be only a modification of the sense of Feeling. 
 
 The Capacity for Pleasure and Pain is the 
 next faculty of the mind. Of the real nature of 
 these feelings we are but little acquainted. They 
 are both very difficultly defineable. Conscious- 
 ness and Experience give us a knowledge of 
 their existence. Those philosophers who have 
 favoured the doctrine of V^ibrations have main- 
 tained, that Pleasure and Pain have no positive 
 distinction ; that Pain is Pleasure carried beyond 
 a certain limit ; they therefore only diflfer in de- 
 gree, and all pleasure passes into pain if excited 
 beyond a certain measure ; thus they say a 
 pleasurable warmth may be converted to a pain- 
 ful heat, by continuance or increase; and the 
 same holds with respect to friction, light, sound, 
 and most other stimuli : in this way they ac- 
 count for many painful, unpleasant sensations, 
 becoming, after some time, pleasurable ; such as 
 many of the acquired tastes, as port wine, olives, 
 
ASSOCIATION. 531 
 
 celery, &c. which, though disagreable to many 
 at first, become from a little use sources of great 
 pleasure. They suppose, in all these cases, that 
 the vibrations which constitute pleasurable sen- 
 sations, are moderate in degree, but that when 
 they become multiplied in number or intensity, 
 they then pass into painful feelings ; that when 
 vibrations at first so frequent as to be painful, 
 continue for some time, they subside within the 
 limits of pleasurable feeling, and become ever 
 afterwards agreeable. This theory has much 
 ingenuity to recommend it. Others, however, 
 contend that Pleasure and Pain are opposite 
 states of Positive qualities. 
 
 Association is that law of the human under- 
 standing, by which several ideas, sensations, and 
 motions, are so united, that each one on its ex- 
 citement shall call up all the rest. This law 
 was first noticed by Mr. Locke ; but subsequent 
 writers have extended its operation to most of 
 the phenomena of the mind. It has most ex- 
 tensive influence over all the movements of the 
 Thinking faculty. There is hardly any idea 
 but what has, from association, some other so 
 linked to it that they are almost inseparable; 
 it is this law which gives Language its great 
 force and utility ; ideas are associated with cer- 
 tain words ; the mention of the word calls up 
 instantly in the mind a vivid and forcible im- 
 
282 LETTER XI 1. 
 
 pression of the thing expressed ; tor instance, 
 speak of a Judge, and immediately a lively pic- 
 ture of him occurs to the mind, attired in the 
 usual costume of his office : speak of a Church, 
 and instantly the imagination bodies forth to 
 our view the building, with the minister, the 
 congregation, the church-yard, and all the ap- 
 pendages. Until very lately, the smell of an 
 orange never failed to call to my mind one of 
 the London Theatres, where this fruit is usually 
 so much handed about, and where the smell, in 
 consequence, becomes so familiar ; and I never 
 drink lemonade without thinking involuntarily 
 of the climate of the West Indies, where I have 
 so eagerly quenched my thirst with this beverage. 
 Every individual may recollect similar associa- 
 tions in his own experience. This faculty of 
 Association is of use in obtaining most of our 
 information upon every branch of science. It 
 is the basis of the use of language both oral and 
 written. The combinations of abstract ideas, 
 constitute all our knowledge in science and 
 literature. In reciting a poem, or in going over 
 a piece of music, the assistance of Association is 
 very conspicuous ; if the person is at a loss, 
 mention the first words, or tune the first few 
 sounds, and the performer recollects successively 
 ail the rest. Indeed it is by the continued as- 
 sociation of succeeding parts that we gain all our 
 
ASSOCIATION. 283 
 
 learning and knowledge in every branch of art 
 and science. A few very striking instances of 
 the operation of this law, are generally quoted as 
 demonstrative of its extraordinary influence. 
 The well-known effects, for instance, of National 
 Music ; hence a particular tune (le ranee de 
 vachesj has infused among a whole regiment of 
 Swiss soldiers in foreign pay an invincible desire 
 of returning home. Captain King, in his voyage, 
 at a miserable hut on the banks of the Awatska, 
 met with an old, half-worn pewter spoon, with 
 the word London stamped on it ; this trifling 
 incident he records " in gratitude for the many 
 pleasant thoughts, anxious hopes, and tender 
 remembrances it excited.** 
 
 This faculty of Association is primarily im- 
 planted ; it is interwoven in the texture of our 
 minds ; it is the Parent of Habit, the fountain of 
 all those pleasing sensations that spring from 
 local causes and circumstances, and the com- 
 panion of all those feelings that constitute the 
 rationality and felicity of man in the whole his- 
 tory of his progress. Each individual looks back 
 with tender remembrance to the hours, the 
 places, and the associates where the world first 
 dawned on his mental energies. In the voyage 
 of life, he seems to drag a lengthened chain from 
 this innocent, this lovely region ; to which the 
 aged mind ever reverts with pleasure and com- 
 
284 LETTER XII. 
 
 placency. The recollection of the playful sports 
 of childhood solace the imagination and the 
 memory in the evening of life, as if Man, like a 
 Plant, was physically attached to the spot on 
 which he blossomed. 
 
 In my next I will resume these observations 
 on our Mental Faculties. 
 
 Your's truly, 
 
 L. S. B. 
 
285 
 
 LETTER Xlll. 
 
 Dear Friend, 
 
 XN my last I offered some remarks on Sensation 
 and Association, as faculties of the Mind ; we 
 will now proceed in course to consider the re- 
 mainder, which make up the sum of Human 
 Intelligence. 
 
 Imagination and Memort/ are faculties, by 
 which we either gain possession of ideas in a 
 different order to that in which they naturally 
 present, or we regain them in the exact form in 
 which they occurred. The former faculty creates 
 in the soul a world of its own ; it embraces 
 every subject of human knowledge, and presents 
 an infinite field, where the fancy roams in pos- 
 session of the most diversified scenery. The 
 face of things becomes here metamorphosed, a 
 Phantasmagoria of ideal essences sports before 
 the Muse, and the universe is changed to an 
 enchanted theatre, where aerial attributes seem 
 to assume tangible existence. 
 
 " Imagination bodies forth 
 " The form of things unknown, the Poet's pen 
 " Turns them to shapes, and gives to airy nothing 
 " A local habitation, and a name." 
 
t386 LETTER XIII. 
 
 Imagination is not a simple faculty of the 
 mind ; it is a complex power made up of several 
 others, as Conception, Abstraction, Taste, &c. 
 it forms the basis of the poet's genius, and is the 
 ground-work of all the Fine Arts. The painter 
 and the poet build all their performances upon 
 the vividness and fertility of the Imagination, 
 which, with a cultivated taste, forms the parti- 
 cular genius. Without Taste, the bare Imagina- 
 tion would be a confused outline of our concep- 
 tions ; these qualities must, therefore, always go 
 together to produce genius and invention in the 
 Fine Arts. An Imagination well regulated and 
 controuled, seems to constitute a great share of 
 the happiness of the Human mind. It is one of 
 the advantages of a liberal education, to detach 
 our attention from mere objects of sense, and 
 direct it to the elegances of intellectual pursuits. 
 It is the Parent of that fine sensibility, which 
 excites sympathy for the distresses of the un- 
 fortunate, and a benevolent satisfaction at the 
 prosperity of virtuous merit. It is the spring of 
 many noble emotions, and the native soil of 
 Chivalry, and Heroic enterprize. It gives us a 
 relish for the beauties of Nature and of Art, that 
 affords the mind at all times internal resources, 
 that enrich and elevate it to a world of its own. 
 A man of a well-trained order of thoughts, can 
 never feel that tedious vacuum, that chills and 
 numbs the faculties of the vulgar mind. Mr. 
 
IMAGINATION. 287 
 
 Dugald Stewart observes, " that the apparent 
 coldness and selfishness of mankind may be 
 traced in a great measure to a want of attention, 
 and a want of Imagination." All the social 
 virtues in every man bear perhaps a direct ratio 
 to the warmth and fervor of the Imagination. 
 It is a most active principle, and the main spring 
 of mental progress. It teaches us to view the 
 actual state of things, and not to rest satisfied 
 with uniformity and dullness, but stimulates 
 us eagerly to pursue some good, some excel- 
 lence, which it vividly paints to us, and appears 
 to place within our reach. 
 
 The excess or over-indulgence of this power 
 often, however, begets Enthusiasm, and leads 
 us into mistakes and disappointments; it pre- 
 sents apparently to our grasp most delicious 
 fruit, but when we hold out the hand to crop 
 them, it is to experience the fate of Tantalus — 
 the fleeting good vanishes from before us. We 
 are all apt involuntarily to " listen with credu- 
 lity to the whispers of Fancy, and pursue with 
 eagerness the phantoms of Hope," till reason and 
 experience in the sequel unveil the delusion. 
 Youth is the season of Imagination ; the Under- 
 standing gains upon it as we advance in life, and 
 balances and crops the exuberance of its 
 branches. In the conduct of life, we should 
 endeavour to prevent its gaining an independence 
 
28S LETTER xni. 
 
 on the Understanding. Dr. Johnson remarks, 
 " Perhaps if we speak with rigorous exactness, 
 no human mind is in its right state. There is no 
 man whose Imagination does not sometimes 
 predominate over his reason, who can regulate 
 his attention wholly by his will, and whose 
 ideas will come and go at his command. No 
 man will be found in whose mind airy notions 
 do not sometimes tyrannize, and force him to 
 hope or fear beyond the limits of sober proba- 
 bility. All power of Fancy over Reason is a 
 degree of Insaiiity** 
 
 But the rational, the moderate culture of this 
 faculty, extends the sphere of our innocent 
 enjoyments. The contemplation of the beauties 
 of Nature and of Art, affords an inexhaustible 
 fund of delightful occupation to the enquiring 
 mind. The pleasing and instructing fictions 
 which have been invented in all ages, have in- 
 creased human happiness by adding to human 
 morals. Sympathy, Benevolence, and all the 
 social virtues, are much oftener the offspring of 
 a warm Imagination than of a sound Understand- 
 ing. Men of great intellect do not always pos- 
 sess a great share of this lively faculty ; some 
 remain mere depositaries of collected ideas and 
 experiments, while others launch out into the 
 bold regions of discovery, and display extraor- 
 dinary efforts of invention — as Akenside says, 
 
IMAGINATION. 989 
 
 " But some to higher hopes 
 " Were destined ; some within a finer mould 
 " She wrought, and tempered with a purer flame; 
 " To these the Sire Omnipotent unfolds 
 " The world's harmonious volume, there to read 
 " The transcript of himself." 
 
 Imagination usually presents us with some 
 imagery of the future ; her prophetic visions 
 seldom fail to be highly coloured with all the 
 brilliant tints of good fortune ai.d happiness; 
 this gives birth to Hope, the favourite and chear- 
 ful companion of Human Nature, without which 
 the picture of Human Life affords but a dreary 
 horizon ; it cheers and animates us on every 
 occasion, excites to Labour and Industry, and 
 promotes incessantly Health, Virtue, and Hap- 
 piness ; and, if combined with a certain degree 
 of sound judgment and discretion, it places us 
 in a great measure beyond the reach of Fortune ; 
 it blunts the edge of Evil, it forms the anchor of 
 oiu- Religion, and bears us upon its buoyant 
 wings to a distant, but more kindred shore. 
 
 " Hope sprintrs eternal in the Human breast, 
 " Man never is, but always to be blest." 
 
 The Understanding, or the faculty by which 
 we contemplate truth, and combine and compare 
 ideas, is that which most materially distinguishes 
 and elevates Man, above the rest of Animated 
 
 u 
 
Oi)(j LETTER XIII. 
 
 Nature. Knowledge is tlie subject matter of 
 the UiiderstaiKling; it is the perception ofTrnth, 
 and the assemblage of associated ideas, combined 
 with this perception. 
 
 Much discussion has taken place concerning 
 the origin of Knowledge ; some have contended 
 that it is derived from certain inherent qualities in 
 the mind itself, by which it possesses an innate 
 perception of the coalescence or incongruity of 
 particular ideas. Others suppose that all our 
 Knowledge is acquired by experience, through 
 the medium of the Senses ; that no idea is in- 
 nate, but that every truth is the result of an 
 operation of the mind, in combining, separating, 
 or comparing different ideas ; that the Senses, 
 therefore, are the inlets, and the mind a mere 
 Tabula rasa^upou which is successively recorded, 
 all the figures and circumstances, which the 
 Senses announce at different periods. Mr. 
 Locke compares it to a dark closet, with only a 
 little opening to let in external resemblances ; 
 he says, " would the pictures, coming into such a 
 dark room, but stay there, and lie so orderly as 
 to be found upon occasion, it would very much 
 resemble the Understanding of a Man, in reference 
 to all objects of sight, and the ideas of them." 
 Sensible impressions are therefore the Keys of 
 all our Knowledge. Had the mind any innate 
 faculty of instituting the perception of truth. 
 
ORIGIN OF THE AFFECTIONS. 291 
 
 then all himian intbrmation would be an homo- 
 geneous uniform mass of intelligence universally 
 distributed, and bearing a common stamp. Men 
 would agree upon all the leading points, for, as 
 I said before, Universality and Uniformity, are 
 inseparable attributes of all histinctive faculties ; 
 whereas, on the contrary, we find the greatest 
 diversity in the sentiments and opinions of men^ 
 upon the most common-place and familiar cir- 
 cumstances. 
 
 The child is fed by its mother, it associates 
 pleasurable feelings with the person of the mother 
 who feeds it; it does the same with the nurse, 
 and, if fed by her, will prefer the nurse to the 
 mother at first, but the fondness and attentions 
 of the parent soon attract the child ; it learns to 
 associate pleasing sensations with her, and is 
 early taught, that the parent is the chief source 
 and instrument of all its happiness and comfort ; 
 its pains are soothed, and all its little wants re- 
 lieved by the kindness of this constant protector; 
 a degree of necessary authority to check the 
 natural aberrations of its little mind becomes an 
 additional stamp ; and thus the filial affection is 
 generated, a very complex feeling, compounded 
 of love, gratitude, complacency, and fear. Fra- 
 ternal, parental, and conjugal affections, all 
 spring up in a similar manner. Friendships are 
 the result of associated circumstances of dispo- 
 
9.9'2 LETTER XIII. 
 
 sition, habit, &c. ; hence we find some of the 
 strongest affections of the human mind are com- 
 plex feelings, the necessary result of associated 
 acquired sensations. Our knowledge of the most 
 important truths have an acquired origin. The 
 knowledge of a Supreme Being is a deliberative 
 act of judgment ; it is a conclusion drawn from 
 the surrounding scene of iSature; it is not an 
 innate truth, but a Demonstratio a Posteriori. 
 The same reasoning extends to all the subjects 
 and circumstances of surrounding life ; the Im- 
 mortality of the Soul, the doctrine of Future 
 Retribution, are acquired truths, to which m.an- 
 kind are led by a regular train of reasoning. It 
 must, therefore, be allowed, that all men are 
 throughout life very much the sport of early im- 
 pressions ; w'e associate certain pleasant feelings 
 with our first impressions, which serve much to 
 retain and strengthen them, and from which 
 they are seldom completely separated in after 
 life. It is this which makes man so much a 
 creature of time and place. His mind is in in- 
 fancy a mere Carte blanche^ upon which is to 
 be gradually and successively imprinted all the 
 ideas and truths of after life ; consequently the 
 future mental character has a reference to those 
 sensations and impressions given to it in early 
 life. He becomes the slave of local habits, and 
 the creature of accidental circumstances. 
 
ORIGIN OF THE AFFECTIONS. 99^ 
 
 The Moral character of Man is the result of 
 accident and chance ; he is almost a factitious 
 animal, like a block of Marble exposed to the 
 varying chisel of the statuary. Education is the 
 great Parent of Humanity — 
 
 " As the twig is bent the tree is inclined." 
 
 Man brings nothing with him into this world; 
 he is moulded and formed according to the arti- 
 ficial standard of that society, in which he hap- 
 pens accidentally to be situated. As I remarked 
 before, the same soul that devoutly bends at 
 Loretto, would have been a pious pilgrim at 
 Mecca, or a fervent adorer on the banks of the 
 Ganges. Every different shade of character is 
 the result of education and early instruction; 
 whence the great importance of attention to the 
 principles of Human Education, in, order to di- 
 vest it of those errors and imperfections, that 
 generate so many absurdities, and pervert so 
 amazingly the reasoning faculties. Implicit cre- 
 dulity on one hand, and unlimited scepticism 
 on the other, are the extremes which every in- 
 dividual has to guard diligently against in the 
 journey of life. Mr. Dugald Stewart observes, 
 " the great part of the life of a philosopher must 
 necessarily be directed, not so much to the ac- 
 quisition of new knowledge, as to unlearn the 
 errors to which he had been taught to give an 
 
294 LETTER XIII. 
 
 iniplicit assent, before the dawn of reason and 
 reflection." So strong is the force of early im- 
 pression on the mind, that although the under- 
 standing may, by great efforts disengage itself 
 from the trammels, yet the imagination will often 
 still remain entangled in the net-work of youth- 
 ful instruction, and keep the mind unsettled 
 and tossed about between the extremes of truth 
 and error. This is often illustrated by a reference 
 to the Catholic system, which is supposed to be 
 more difficultly shaken off than any other, but 
 which when once thrown aside, leaves behind it 
 only unlimited scepticism. The many cere- 
 monies and accessary circumstances which this 
 system takes up, the romantic veil of supersti- 
 tion which envelopes it, seize all young minds 
 with considerable force, and attach it strongl}^ to 
 their imaginations. Miss Owenson elegantly 
 expresses herself in the following eulogy : " What 
 a religion is this ! how finely does it harmonize 
 with the weakness of our Nature, how seducingly 
 it speaks to the Senses, how forcibly it works on 
 the Passions, how strongly it seizes the Imagi- 
 nation ; how interesting its forms, how graceful 
 its ceremonies, how awful its rites ; what a cap- 
 tivating, what a picturesque Faith ! Who would 
 not become its proselyte, were it not for the 
 stern opposition of Reason, the cold suggestions 
 of Philosophy ?" 
 
ORIGIN OF KNOWLEDGE. 29i 
 
 This system artfully lays hold of the Imagi- 
 nation, and often retains its influence there, 
 when the powers of the Understanding have 
 long exploded it. 
 
 All Human Knowledge is the result of edu- 
 cation, of habit, and circumstance of time and 
 place. The ideas are the effects of sensible im- 
 pressions on the external organs ; a succession 
 of these ideas is continually passin^^ through the 
 mind during vigilance ; and it has been supposed 
 this succession is equable, like the pulse in a 
 state of health, and that as an acceleration of the 
 pulse produces Fever, so an increase in the 
 velocity of our ideas constitutes Insanity. It 
 has been justly calculated that the duration of 
 life bears no reference to, and ought not philo- 
 sophically to be estimated by, the movements of 
 the Celestial Bodies, but by this succession of 
 ideas in the mind ; whence the life of man is to 
 be measured by the number of ideas which pass 
 through the mind in the course of his existence ; 
 so that, as I had occasion to remark before, two 
 men may continue the same number of years in 
 the world, and yet one may have lived twice as 
 long as the other, from having had twice the 
 number of ideas passing through his mind in the 
 time. 
 
 Absolute duration, it is contended, has no 
 positive existence in Nature. To the all-perfect 
 
296 LETTER XIII. 
 
 Intelligence, successive duration cannot be ap- 
 plied ; it is an attribute of our minds, where 
 the regular succession of our ideas gives us a 
 sense of it. 
 
 It has been niuch argued whether Conscious- 
 ness be ever interrupted. The Spiritualists 
 maintain that the operation of the soul is unin- 
 terrupted, in as much as it exists perfectly dis- 
 tinct from .Matter. The Materialists, on the 
 contrary, contend that Thought is occasionally 
 suspended, being only the result of a perfect 
 organization of Matter. 
 
 Language is the great instrument of all Intel- 
 lectual operation ; it facilitates reasoning, by 
 presenting symbols of universal ideas. We learn 
 to associate ideas with particular words, and at 
 last come to use these words, almost without 
 reference to the nature of the thing expressed. 
 King, government, church, &c. are words which 
 denote very aggregate and complex ideas ; hence 
 these words are necessary symbols, without 
 which the mind would find it very difficult to 
 acquire or communicate knowledge. They 
 serve to record our own ideas, which without 
 some siniilur external sign to call them forth, 
 would become shut up in the mind, and very 
 difficult to be unfolded. Deaf and dumb persons 
 may acquire certain ideas of the congruity or 
 incongruity of particular objects ; but for want 
 
LANGUAGE. 297 
 
 of fixed signs of universals, are necessarily very 
 slow in combining and comparing. It is the 
 same as casting up a quantity without the as- 
 sistance of arithmetical figures ; a particular 
 cypher denotes a whole quantity, the mind rests 
 its imperfect knowledge of that quantity, upon 
 the associated symbol, which this cypher pre- 
 sents. The letter M serves the mind in forming 
 an idea of a number, of which, taken by itself, it 
 cannot have any thing like a just comprehen- 
 sion ; it rests on this associated sign, and easily 
 goes on to larger quantities. We speak in com- 
 mon discourse confidently and justly of thousands 
 and millions, without the possibility of compre- 
 hending a very small portion of those numbers. 
 Savages who are deficient in the use of numbers 
 cannot make the most trifling calculations. In 
 America, some tribes could go no further than 
 three or five, and expressed all beyond figurative- 
 ly, as the hairs of their heads, or the sand on the 
 shores. Without the use of words or signs, all 
 our thoughts must have extended only to indi- 
 viduals, we never could have reached general 
 terms or complex relations. By use, words at 
 length affect our minds to the full extent of 
 practical utility, without raising images of the 
 things expressed ; in conversation we seldom 
 fest to analyze the meaning, or \'ie\v the imagery 
 of the many general terms we employ. 
 
998 LETTER XIII. 
 
 The Passions of the human mind have been 
 supposed by many to be original emotions im- 
 planted in our nature, which grow out of some 
 pecuHarity in the constitution, and mark the 
 individual character through life. This is how- 
 ever an opinion which seems to favour the 
 doctrine of Fatalism and Necessity. It sup- 
 poses the affections of the mind to be the result 
 of mere mechanism ; it would infer, that the 
 Supreme Intelligence has prohibited the exer- 
 cise of reason and choice, and left every thing 
 to flow from the fixed and unalterable decrees 
 of predetermined ordinances. It seems more 
 philosophical and congenial to our sentiments of 
 justice and moral right, to suppose that the 
 Great First Cause has decreed our volition to be 
 at large, 
 
 " And binding Nature fast in fate^ 
 " Left free the Human will." 
 
 Our Passions all spring from simple sensations, 
 of which they are aggregates, united by associa- 
 tion ; they are excited by the pleasures and pains 
 and sensible objects of external life. They are, 
 therefore, only complex combinations of these 
 simple impressions ; and, according to the acci- 
 dental union of particular sensations and asso- 
 ciations in early life, is the character of the child 
 moulded in one particular stamp. All associated 
 
PASSIONS NOT INNATE. 299 
 
 feelings and emotions soon become habitual, 
 and in general take root prior to the era of Me- 
 mory, before the mind begins to register its 
 ideas. If it is contended, that the passions and 
 affections of the mind, which constitute general 
 character, are the necessary result of physical 
 structure or original instinct, then it must ine- 
 vitably follow, that education is superfluous and 
 futile. No training or management can possibly 
 overcome propensities, interwoven in the texture 
 of our organization ; they must necessarily be 
 as arbitrary and fixed as the structure that gives 
 them birth ; and unless you can alter that struc- 
 ture, you cannot overcome these inborn quali- 
 ties. Now we every day behold the advantages 
 and blessings which Instruction, both religious 
 and moral, produces in individuals and in multi- 
 tudes. We see the active and malignant pas- 
 sions of our nature curbed and checked in their 
 progress, and dispositions made up of all the 
 gross propensities of the selfish principle, tamed 
 and converted to the moderate and benign nature 
 of rational and social happiness. If the stamp 
 of fate is indelibly fixed on the physical organ 
 of the mind, whence that immense pile of mo- 
 rals and maxims, and those huge masses of in- 
 structive precepts, that so abundantly occupy the 
 religious, the moral, and the political world? 
 But I fear you will think me treading on hal- 
 
300 LETTER XIII. 
 
 lowed ground ; I find myself on the confines of 
 another province, into which 1 shall here abstain 
 from entering. 
 
 Dr. Cogan has divided the Passions into 
 those connected with Self-love, and those be- 
 longing to the Social Principle. Hartley di- 
 vides them into the Grateful and Ungrateful : 
 the Grateful are Love, Desire, Hope, Joy, and 
 pleasing Recollection. The latter are Hatred, 
 Aversion, Fear, Grief, and displeasing Recol- 
 lection. 
 
 To balance the contending emotions of the 
 Selfish and Social Principles, is the great task 
 of life. Self-love is the primary impulse, that, 
 if not regulated and checked by the power of 
 Reason, absorbs the whole scope of the human 
 faculties, and reduces Man to the savage state. 
 To curb the activity of this principle, to gene- 
 rate a benevolence and sympathy towards others, 
 to extend and divide the principle of Preserva- 
 tion with our fellow -creatures, to pursue good 
 for ourselves and for all, unbiassed by Self- 
 interest, is the great dignity of elevated and 
 noble minds. The consummation of perfect 
 virtue consists in performing it without any view 
 or regard to individual recom pence ; in fact, the 
 Perfection of Virtue, supposes the Extinction of 
 Self-Interest. 
 
 So vigilant and prompt seems the impulse of 
 
SYMPATHY. 301 
 
 this principle, that our sympathy in the dis- 
 tresses of others, is said to be always preceded 
 by a degree of exultation and pleasurable feeling 
 in the mind. It is said, we feel a considerable 
 delight is the misfortunes and sufferings of our 
 fellow-creatures; the pleasure we derive from tra- 
 gic fictions, and narratives of real distress, seems 
 to prove it. Mr. Burke observes, the nearer tra- 
 gedy approaches reality, and the further it re- 
 moves us from the idea of its being fictitious, 
 the greater its influence on us. He puts the 
 following case : " Choose a day on which to re- 
 present the most sublime and affecting tragedy 
 we have, appoint the most favourite actors, 
 spare no cost upon the scenes and decorations, 
 unite the greatest efforts of poetry, painting, and 
 music ; and when you have collected your 
 audience, just at the moment when their minds 
 are erect with expectation, let it be reported, 
 that a state criminal of high rank is on the point 
 of being executed in the adjoining square; in a 
 moment the emptiness of the theatre would 
 demonstrate the comparative weakness of the 
 imitative arts, and proclaim the triumph of the 
 real sympathy.** 
 
 Two different causes have been assigned for 
 this apparent inconsistency in the human mind. 
 One supposes this feeling to be the result of a 
 degree of satisfaction and complacency in the 
 
302 LETTER XIII. 
 
 individual, at not being himself exposed to the 
 same danger or calamity with his neighbour ; 
 the other considers it the effect of a natural feel- 
 ing of pleasure in sympathizing with, and re- 
 lieving the distresses of our fellow-creatures. 
 
 The emotion of Laughter, which is an ex- 
 pression of Jo}^ and supposed to be strongly 
 engrafted on the selhsh principle, is said to arise 
 always from the view or consideration of some 
 absurdity or inconsistency in our neighbour ; it 
 is said always to spring from Satire, and is a 
 selfish emotion. It has been observed, that the 
 great Author of our Religion, who formed a 
 most exalted pattern of Human excellence, was 
 never seen to laugh in the course of his exis- 
 tence here, although his countenance never was 
 divested of a subhme, dignified smile, the indi- 
 cation of a mild, peaceful magnanimity. 
 
 The various combinations of these affections 
 of the mind occasion considerable diversity in 
 the character of individuals; one will eagerly 
 pursue a particular object as the sole means of 
 happiness, which another of equally sound in- 
 tellect will regard with perfect indifference, or 
 perhaps disgust. The predilections of indivi- 
 duals manifest a considerable variety; but when 
 the number of external circumstances are well 
 considered, which variously operate upon our 
 minds, this diversity of character can be no 
 
MIND EXPOSED TO VARIOUS AGENTS. 303 
 
 longer matter of astonishment. Let your mind 
 dwell for a moment on the following catalogue, 
 which are exercising a continual but unequal 
 share of agency upon each individual, and you 
 will no longer wonder to see such a variety of 
 human characters. Sex, Temperament, Age, 
 Habit, Education, Custom, Prejudice, Religion, 
 Ethics, Politics, Philosophy, the Fine Arts; 
 all these exert an uneven influence on the mul- 
 titude, that occasions the most extensive variet^^ 
 Many individuals of great latent genius pass 
 unobserved, for want of the agencj'^ of particular 
 circumstances. 
 
 The doctrine of the Passions, and their in- 
 fluence on the Happiness of Individuals, is a 
 most important subject of philosophical enquiry. 
 To trace the active energies as called up by par- 
 ticular circumstances in external life, and to 
 discover the latent qualities that lie dormant for 
 want of opportunities and causes, is a task re- 
 quiring great talent and discrimination. The 
 general influence of the Passions upon health 
 is observable to the Physician, whose practice is 
 often regulated by an attention to them. The 
 character, the train of thinking, and the happi- 
 ness of every man, is more or less involved in 
 the government of the Passions, which, if suf- 
 fered to operate unrestrained, affect the judgment 
 and reasoning faculties. No man subject to 
 
304 LETTER XIII. 
 
 frequent and violent fits of anger, was ever a 
 person of sound judgment ; such a man is sel- 
 dom fit for an arduous undertakinsr. To calm 
 the violence of Passion, to curb the Selfish 
 Propensities, to Know Thyself, is the task for 
 the employment of man in this transitory sphere, 
 where he draws a temporary enjoyment, and is 
 soon transferred to another state. To extinguish 
 Self-interest, or bring it down to its reasonable 
 boundaries, to exercise the mild virtues of Bene- 
 volence, and cultivate the Understanding, con- 
 stitute the true dignity and happiness of Man. 
 All that contravene these great points are beneath 
 the moral dignity of humanity. To conclude in 
 the words of Mr. Burke, " If a discourse on the 
 use of the parts of the body may be considered 
 as an hymn to the Creator, the use of the Pas- 
 sions, which are the organs of the mind, cannot 
 be barren of praise to him, nor unproductive to 
 ourselves, of that noble and uncommon union of 
 science and admiration, w^hich a contemplation 
 of the works of infinite Wisdom, alone can aflford 
 to a rational mind. We may be admitted, if I 
 may dare to say so, into the councils of the 
 Almighty, by a consideration of his works.'* 
 
 With these remarks I will here conclude, and 
 remain, 
 
 Yours, &c. 
 
 L. S. B. 
 
305 
 
 LETTER XIV. 
 
 Dear Friend, 
 
 x\.FTER the cursor}^ review we have taken in 
 our former letters of the Corporeal and Mental 
 Attributes of the Human System, it will be 
 congenial to our plan, to take a short survey of 
 the principal events, that form the leading 
 features in the Historical developement of the 
 Human Intellect. 
 
 - The constant and impetuous emotions of Self- 
 love in each individual, pursuing eagerly its own 
 end, entrenched upon the rights and conveniences 
 of the next neighbour ; a succession of insults 
 and hostilities were reciprocated, and Man be- 
 came the greatest Enemy of Man. It was to 
 alleviate the evils consequent on the easy and 
 unbounded gratification of selfish passions, that 
 a number of individuals united for mutual se- 
 curity, and each surrendering a part of that un- 
 limited freedom nature furnishes Man at the be- 
 ginning, the part so surrendered became the 
 basis of a bond of common union. They secured 
 to each other the tranquil enjoyment of the re- 
 mainder, and thus each man's happiness becamo 
 
 X 
 
306 LETTER XIV. 
 
 blended and mixed up in the general ,2;ood ol' 
 
 hisneighbour's, and thefoundationsof civil polity 
 
 rested on the individual wants and fears of the 
 
 crowd. The little band soon augmented its 
 
 numbers, and in time became a formidable pillar 
 
 of strength. Diiferent societies settled in dif- 
 
 ... 
 ferent quarters, and, according to situation and 
 
 circumstance, took on peculiar and adventitious 
 characters. But the common feature in all these 
 Primitive confederacies was a Patriarchal mode 
 of government. The Parent of a large family, or 
 some Elder, conspicuous for prudence and wis- 
 dom, became invested with the supreme au- 
 thority. As the society increased and became 
 exposed to the hostilities and aggressions of 
 neis'hbouring communities, a degree of Military 
 spirit necessarily arose, and the sovereignty was 
 in consequence removed from the Patriarch to 
 some other member, whose personal qualifica- 
 tions were better adapted to lead them against 
 the enemy. Thus a Military monarchy soon 
 superseded the Patriarchal mode, and may justly 
 be considered as the most ancient and universal 
 form of government among all the Primitive 
 Nations. 
 
 One of the first chiefs upon the Hebrew record 
 was a mighty Hunter ; his people soon advanced 
 to the Pastoral state, and continued long a na- 
 tion of Shepherds. The Egyptians and Indians 
 
ANCIENT STATES. 30? 
 
 became Agricultural and Commercial. The 
 Arts and Sciences were much cultivated among 
 these different people; the splendid ruins to be 
 met with in Egypt, are monuments of the lost 
 greatness of a fallen people. It appears, how- 
 ever, that the human mind was very much de- 
 pressed in all these nations. Their Astrology, 
 their divinations, and absurd Mythologies are 
 matters of astonishment to the moderns, who 
 look back with veneration on the arts which 
 were carried to such astonishing perfection in so 
 superstitious an age. The Chaldeans worship- 
 ed the Celestial Bodies, and were much in- 
 fluenced by their absurd system of Judicial 
 Astrology. The Persians worshiped the Sun 
 and its active emblem. Fire. The Hebrews, 
 whose records have been preserved to us, were a 
 turbulent, an unsettled, and not very enlightened 
 people. Among all these nations a small tribe 
 settled on the coast ; from their enterprizing 
 spirit acquired considerable notoriety and wealth, 
 by becoming the Factors of all the world ; these 
 were the Phenicians who dwelt at Tyre and 
 Sidon ; these diffused wealth and arts alons; the 
 shores of the Mediterranean, and explored the 
 Western Coast of Europe, where their visits ex- 
 tended even to this island, in search of Tin. 
 
 On the further side of the great plains of Asia 
 we find a nation boasting of great antiquity, and 
 
308 LETTER XIV, 
 
 who iVom geographical situation, and internal 
 causes, present a community of very unique 
 character. There are many circumstances in the 
 Chinese History of singular complexion. After 
 making- a certain progress in the arts and sciences, 
 and attaining a certain elevation in the scale of 
 civilization, we find them remaining stationary 
 at the same point for the last thousand years. 
 During this period it does not appear that the 
 Chinese have made any advance in science, or 
 any great improvement in the arts of refinement. 
 This is a sinsjular circumstance in the history 
 of a great nation. Various causes have been 
 assigned for it, but the most feasible seems to be, 
 the peculiar construction of their Language. 
 Language is, under all circumstances, the great 
 instrument of human improvement; where that 
 is imperfect, the cultivation of intellectual power 
 remains defective. The Chinese Language has 
 these peculiarities in its structure; it has no 
 alphabet of letters representing simple sounds, 
 but each character stands for a particular idea, 
 it denotes some express object, so that the num- 
 ber of their characters is equal to the number of 
 ideas and objects in the whole range of their 
 conversation. Each word is made to vary its 
 meaning, by five distinct variations of tone. 
 They have more than seventy thousand written 
 characters; consequently, to learn these is the 
 
SPEECH. 309 
 
 business of a man's whole lite. These characters 
 bear some analogy to the figures we use in arith- 
 metic, where each mark expresses a particular 
 quantity. So complicated and unwieldy a Lan- 
 guage must obviously check the diffusion of 
 knowledsre amono: the multitude, and form a 
 great obstacle to the general improvement of the 
 society. 
 
 Of all the discoveries and inventions which 
 Human art can boast, of all the means which 
 nature has furnished us. Speech is the instru- 
 ment which has most powerfully developed the 
 faculties of the Human mind, and carried its 
 elaborate functions into practice. The Savage 
 may retain lively pictures of things in his fancy, 
 and may have an acute recollection and a prompt 
 judgment, in short, considerable practical wis- 
 dom, but he cannot combine and compare his 
 ideas, and contemplate the variegated page of 
 Nature like the Philosopher in civilized life, 
 who communicates motion to the understandings 
 of all around him, and paves the way for the 
 future improvement of his species. The under- 
 standings of men are cultured to perfection by 
 means of this heavenly institution. Some wri- 
 ters have dwelt much upon the alloy inseparable 
 from all human benefits, by remarking the su- 
 perior physical powers of the savage, and the 
 greater cunning and acuteness of all his mental 
 
310 LETTER XIV. 
 
 exertions, by reason of the constant exercise or 
 invention he must necessarily employ for want 
 of the help of Language. This, they say, 
 strengthens the physical powers of his under- 
 standing, and gives him great acuteness of me- 
 mory, fervour of imagination, and propriety of 
 judgment, as far as it goes. But this is all mere 
 sophistry ; it is not the perfection of animal 
 powers which constitutes the dignity of Man ; 
 the true glory of his nature resides, in the full 
 maturity of that God-like faculty which Lan- 
 guage brings to perfection. Surely Man is not 
 deficient, because he wants the strength of the 
 ox and the agility of the race-horse. It is the 
 intellectual energy of his nature which stamps 
 him the chief Tenant of this Ball. 
 
 In various nations and stages of society we 
 find Language has attained different degrees of 
 progress. In America, the knotted cords of the 
 Peruvians, and the historical pictures of the 
 Mexicans, afford us the first ibrms of written 
 language with which, perhaps, history is furnish- 
 ed. The Paintings of the latter people are the 
 earliest kind of record, by which an uncultivated 
 nation, would endeavour to perpetuate the great 
 events of its history. Hieroglyphics naturally 
 grew out of this mode ; the pictures are in time 
 abbreviated, and certain emblems established by 
 analogy to represent certain objects. In the 
 
PROGRESS OF LANGUAGE. 311 
 
 progress of cultivation these emblems give way 
 to arbitrary signs, possessing no analogy, but 
 being more convenient, as the Chinese charac- 
 ters, our arithmetical figures, &c. Last of all 
 were invented, characters which did not imme- 
 diately represent things or ideas, but the sounds 
 by which we express those ideas and things in 
 speaking. A few written marks, therefore, be- 
 come representatives of the sounds which com- 
 pose our words. This is the furthest extent to 
 which Written Language has hitherto gone. 
 Whether it is susceptible of greater progress, is 
 not for me to determine. 
 
 All Language is at first highly expressive of 
 passion and feeling; it is accompanied with 
 much gesture and motion, and considerable in- 
 flexions of the voice ; these are necessary in the 
 infancy of speech, when its general mode of ex- 
 pression is limited ; it is also more poetical, and 
 replete with metaphor and strong figures, and the 
 collocation of its parts more irregular and fanci- 
 ful. Dr. Blair observes, " that in the changes 
 which Language has undergone, as the world 
 advanced, the understanding has gained ground 
 on the fancy or imagination. The progress of 
 Language, in this respect, resembles the progress 
 of the age of man. The Imagination is most 
 vigorous and predominant in youth ; with ad- 
 vancing years the Imagination cools, and the 
 
312 LETTER XIV. 
 
 Understanding: ripens." Language in improved" 
 societies becomes at length more copious and 
 expressive, but less warm and figurative. 
 
 It has has been much questioned which mode 
 of Language was most capable of conveying in- 
 struction, the oral or the written. The Written 
 has the advantage of being more permanent and 
 extensive, and of allowing the person to arrest 
 his attention, to pause and resume, to peruse 
 and reflect ; it is therefore best adapted to de- 
 liberate didactic instruction. But Eloquence 
 alone, perhaps, possesses the exalted faculty of 
 calling up the passions and emotions of the soul. 
 It is by Oratory that the sympathy, the resent- 
 ment, the patriotism, and great virtues of the 
 multitude are called into play. The Greeks and 
 the Romans cultivated Eloquence, which is a 
 necessary instrument for every leader in a de- 
 mocratic form of government, where the appeal 
 to the passions often answers the speaker's end 
 better than the cool, deliberate Argumentnm ad 
 Judicium. There are many reasons why the 
 higher oratory has declined in modern senates, 
 and particularly in our own, but the considera- 
 tion of these would be foreign to our purpose. 
 Writing has a manifest advantage over Painting, 
 in conveying descriptive information. The latter, 
 by an exact delineation of character and figure, 
 can express in the most lively colours the thing 
 
LANGUAGE AND WRITING. 313 
 
 intended, but it is only one point of time that is 
 displayed to you, the preliminary and collateral 
 circumstances which lead to, and accompany the 
 transaction, and form, perhaps, the denouement 
 of the story, are all hidden from view. Written 
 History aflbrds the only ample illustration, by 
 the extent of its detail ; here the mind is pro- 
 gressively conducted from the commencement 
 through all the windings and ramifications 
 which the interesting narrative may take on. 
 The Picture only sets before you one insulated 
 period of time in the narrative ; this it strongly 
 impresses upon your mind, by a lively imagery ; 
 but then every point in the History will afford 
 a different delineation. The imperfection of 
 such Historical records I have before observed 
 were manifest in the Mexican Paintings. 
 
 Language, as 1 have had occasion to remark, 
 is the arand agent of the developement and pro- 
 gressive improvement of the Human mind; the 
 refinement and civilization of any people is in a 
 direct ratio, to the culture and perfection of this 
 great faculty, which distinguishes and elevates 
 our species. 
 
 Writing is of course the offspring of Speech, 
 and the easy diffusion and perpetuation of it is 
 now established by the Art of Printing, the dis- 
 covery of which forms a most important epoch 
 in the history of Human Society. It is a matter 
 
314 LETTER XIV. 
 
 of no inconsiderable astonishment, that this use- 
 ful art should have been unknown to the en- 
 lightened ancients. It is a modern invention, 
 hit upon by some thoughtful Germans in the 
 fourteenth century; and of all the inventions 
 which have affected the interests and condition 
 of mankind, this, perhaps, has had the most 
 powerful influence. Prior to this mode of com- 
 municating written language, the multitude in 
 each country were destitute of the means of ac- 
 quiring any considerable share of general in- 
 formation. The chief branches of knowledge 
 were confined to those classes, who by their 
 privileges or fortunes, were enabled to procure 
 them, while the bulk of the people, unable to 
 afford the expense or the leisure, depended 
 mostly upon oral and traditional communication 
 from their leaders and priests, the latter of whom, 
 were for many ages the depositaries of all the 
 learning, and the oracles of all the science of the 
 world. They exercised by this means a com- 
 plete sovereignty over the human mind, and, by 
 deluding the imaginationsj and misleading the 
 understandings of even princes as well as pea- 
 sants, they engrossed to their own purposes the 
 best interests of mankind, and erected a system 
 of arbitrary power, which ages of enlightenment 
 have not been able entirely to overthrow. But 
 the art of Printing, by rendering the sources of 
 
THE ART OF PRINTING. 316 
 
 knowledge cheap, and easily obtainable, has dis- 
 seminated every species of useful information 
 among the crowd. The mystic juggle of monkish 
 superstition was soon unveiled, and their whole 
 system of mental usurpation completely under- 
 mined. A freedom of enquiry burst forth, that 
 emancipated mankind from the errors of super- 
 stition, and established a rational mode of think- 
 ing among all ranks of the community. This 
 useful art became, then, the death-warrant of 
 the Monkish power, and terminated the dark 
 age, and is now the great holdfast that will pre- 
 vent mankind from ever moving retrograde in 
 the scale of intelligence. Printing and Books 
 are now so universally diffused, that it is not at 
 all probable the civilized world will ever lose 
 the use of them. The general knowledge of 
 society must therefore, in spite of all obstacles, 
 be progressive, and never can be expected to re- 
 vert to that state of darkness antecedent to this 
 great discovery. Among the Greeks and the 
 Romans, and indeed in all other Ancient nations, 
 the people derived all their information from their 
 leaders, who alone had the means of acquiring 
 proficiency in the sciences, whence eloquence, 
 as well as arms, formed a great part of the edu- 
 cation of every patrician, both in the field and 
 the senate. With this powerful engine they 
 obtained the mastership of the public mind, bv 
 
JIO LETTER XIV. 
 
 powerfully addressing themselves to the passions 
 of the people, who, destitute of the sources of 
 genuine information, were easily moved by the 
 popular harangues of different demagogues and 
 adventurers, who often elevated themselves 
 upon the credulity of the unthinking, and after 
 exciting the passions of the multitude, directed 
 them to their own bondage and misery. 
 
 It is this art which has operated so power- 
 fully as an auxiliary to Christianity, that it may 
 be considered its handmaid. For ages the world 
 knew only such portions of its sublime precepts 
 as the cupidity and peculiar policy of the priest- 
 hood chose to reveal. But now the diffusion of 
 light has rendered the purity and the beauty of 
 Christianity sufficiently conspicuous ; its great 
 truths are now propagated through the earth, 
 are offered upon the altar of reason, and extended 
 for the amelioration and happiness of mankind. 
 It may be said to have brought Christianity to 
 perfection, by exhibiting it in its native sim- 
 plicity and purity, disencumbered of that adven- 
 titious tissue of error, wiiich enveloped and ob- 
 scured its sacred doctrines from the eye of good 
 sense and reason. In speaking of the events 
 that have influenced the condition of man, what 
 pen can do justice to this invaluable system, 
 which shines superior to any thing ever thought 
 upon by the sages and politicians of antiquity ? 
 
THE CHRISTIAN SYSTEM. 317 
 
 I mean not to speak in preference of any par- 
 ticular sect, but taking its doctrines in their 
 genuine purity and simplicity, they display a 
 code of ethics and a rational theory that eclipses 
 every thing that preceded it, and is better cal- 
 culated to promote the comfort, the happiness, 
 and the perfection of Human intelligence, than 
 all the systems which burdened and confused 
 the misguided nations of the ancient world. The 
 government of the passions, and the cultivation 
 of those mild virtues that elevate and adorn hu* 
 manity, are much better inculcated by this re- 
 hgion, and impart a greater share of social and 
 domestic happiness, than ever fell to the lot of 
 any community, living under the influence of 
 any other system. Europe, the great theatre of 
 Christianity, is also the field of civilization and 
 refinement, where the arts and sciences, thai 
 embellish and dignify human life, have grown 
 to maturity and perfection. It is in this quarter 
 of the globe, the mind of man has reached its 
 yet highest degree of progressive improvement, 
 and in the accomplishment of this great object, 
 the benign qualities of this religion have afforded 
 very considerable assistance. 
 
 The diffusion of the blessings arising from the 
 progressive improvement of the human condi- 
 tion on earth, is indebted to another very impor- 
 tant source of external agency ; the intercourse 
 
318 LETTER XIV. 
 
 between nations through the medium of Com- 
 merce. Before, however, Commerce could have 
 been taken up, mankind must have made some 
 progress in the arts of civil life. Man must 
 have made some advances in civilization ; he 
 must have cultivated agriculture, and applied 
 the produce of the soil to uceful ends, before he 
 ventured forth with his improved surplus, to 
 supply the wants of neighbouring communities. 
 As I have before observed, Commerce could 
 have no existence in the infancy of social union, 
 when the members of the compact explored the 
 finny deep, or roamed the extended forest, in 
 search of prey. This was the first step in social 
 life ; afterwards, ease and convenience taught 
 men to fix themselves to a particular portion of 
 soil, and from it, by their united exertions, to 
 draw the means of their subsistence ; this was 
 the reign of Agriculture : in time, a surplus por- 
 tion of produce remained, which the wants of 
 their neighbours soon solicited, who offered, in 
 exchange, ihe results of their labour, that might 
 be equally suitable to them. Thus the founda- 
 tion of Commerce was laid in the reciprocal 
 wants, and mutual assistances of neighbouring 
 societies. A complete interchange of all benefits 
 and improvements took place; the advances 
 made in one community were transported to 
 another, and the comforts and felicities of Hu- 
 
EFFECTS OF COMMERCE. 319 
 
 man amelioration flowed like the waters of a 
 great river, by innumerable ramifications, over a 
 great range of continent. The channels of comi- 
 munication once established, could not easily be 
 closed ; the more the wants of men were by this 
 intercourse administered to, the more they mul- 
 tipHed, and commerce was soon extended to 
 every region, where any thing subservient to 
 their artificial desires was at all obtainable. Ci- 
 vilization was by this medium propagated from 
 one country to another* ; it explored the coast 
 of the Mediterranean, the shores of which be- 
 came the great Theatre of Human Action, where 
 the arts of civil life were carried to a degree of 
 astonishing perfection, and where all the great 
 movements in the history of man have been dis- 
 
 * Montesqxiieu observes, " Commerce has every where 
 ditTused a knowledge of the manners of all nations ; these are 
 compared one with another, and from this comparison arise 
 the greatest advantages." He goes on to remark, that " if 
 the spirit of Commerce unites nations, it does not in the same 
 manner unite individuals. We see that in countries where 
 the people move only by the spirit of Commerce, they make 
 a traffic of all the humane, all the moral virtues : the smallest 
 dues of humanity are there to be obtained only for money. 
 The spirit of trade produces in the mind of man a certain sense 
 of Exact Justice, opposite, on the one hand, to Robbery, and 
 on the other, to those Moral Virtues, which forbid our always 
 adhering rigidly to our own private interest, and sufler us to 
 neglect it for the advantage of others," 
 
320 LETTER XIV. 
 
 played with grandeur and effect. The Pheni- 
 cians, the Egyptians, the Greeks, the Cartha- 
 ginians, and the Romans, severally and succes- 
 sively occupied and took the lead. Upon the 
 bosom of this sea were wafted all the improve- 
 ments and embellishments as they sprang up. 
 These sailed through the Straights of Gibraltar. 
 and crept along the AVestern coast of Europe. 
 The shores of another Mediterranean in the 
 North, in time, followed in the same track, and 
 teemed with adventurers and navigators, in spite 
 of the rigour of the climate. But the woods and 
 morasses of Germany, Poland, &c. internally 
 situated, remained long but little known, except 
 by the predatory excursions of their barbarous 
 inhabitants. While the whole coast of Europe 
 midit be said to be civilized, and in a state of 
 improvement and comfort, the Continental in- 
 terior, unacquainted with the advantages of 
 social life, knew no other art, and had little 
 other occupation than War and Rapine. Every 
 nation presented only an armed groupe, 
 
 " Man and steel, the soldier and his sword." 
 
 Gibbon has elegantly described the character 
 and manners of these Barbarians ; he says, " be- 
 yond the Rhine and the Danube, the countries 
 of Europe were peopled by innumerable tribes of 
 hardy Hunters, and voracious Shepherds.** 
 
MANKIND INDEBTED TO COMMERCE. 321 
 
 It is on the shores of the sea, or on the banks 
 of great rivers, that the sciences and embellish- 
 ments of Human life have in general first taken 
 up their abode. In Africa, an extensive conti- 
 nent, full of deserts and sands, with but few^ large 
 rivers, an impervious barrier is opposed to the 
 progress of improvement ; hence we find that 
 no where in this quarter but on the banks of the 
 Nile, and the south coast of the Mediterranean, 
 has man attained any degree of Civilization. 
 The same applies to Asia. China on the eastern 
 coast, the banks of the Ganges, and the Indus, 
 the Persian Gulph, the Tigris and Euphrates, 
 have been the great theatres of civil grandeur, 
 while the Tartars, occupying the extensive plains 
 of the interior, have roamed for ages in a state 
 of ignorance and barbarism. Thus the water is 
 the medium that facilitates the diffusion of Ci- 
 vilization, and thus may be formed a sort of 
 Geographical illustration of the History of Man. 
 
 To Commerce, then, mankind are considerably 
 indebted for much of their progress ; it brings 
 comforts and improvements, and is of inestimable 
 value to every country by the interchange of 
 every valuable; it brings " Convenience, Plenty, 
 Elegance, and Arts," and gloomy is that nation 
 destitute of its blessings. It must, however, 
 not be concealed, that beyond a certain limit, 
 this blessing becomes, like all other Human 
 
 Y 
 
3^2^2 LETTER XIV. 
 
 benefits, mixed with a portion of alloy. Nations 
 that cultivate a commercial spirit beyond a pro- 
 per mark, have in general acquired a sordid 
 character; Avarice has become the ruling pas- 
 sion of the state ; they have looked with in- 
 difference on the arts and accomplishments of 
 iife ; they have neglected those high sentiments 
 that elevate our nature, and recognized no mea- 
 sure of merit, but the standard of gold. This 
 has been the condition of those societies that 
 have been eminently commercial, as Tyre, Car- 
 thage, Venice, Holland, &c. in the histories of 
 which we shall not find the following picture of 
 the effects of overgrown Commerce, drawn by a 
 late celebrated author, too his^hlv coloured. 
 " One of the most certain consequences of a 
 very extended Commerce, and of what is called 
 the most advanced state of society, is an uni- 
 versal passion for Riches, which corrupts every 
 sentiment of Taste, Nature, and Virtue. This 
 at length reduces Human Nature to the most 
 unhappy state in which it can ever be beheld. 
 in this state Monei/ becomes the universal Idol, 
 to which every knee bows, to which every prin- 
 ciple of V^irtue and Religion yields, and to which 
 the health and lives of the greater part of the 
 species are every day sacrificed ; so totally does 
 this passion pervert the Human heart, that it 
 extinguishes or conquers the natural attachment 
 
OVERGROWN COMMERCE. 59ij 
 
 between the sexes, and, in defiance of every sen- 
 timent of Nature and sound policy, makes 
 people look even upon their offspring as an in- 
 cumbrance and oppression. Neither does Mo- 
 ney in exchange for all this procure happiness 
 or even pleasure ; it yields only food for a rest- 
 less, anxious, insatiable vanity, and abandons 
 men to dissipation, languor, disgust and misery. 
 In this situation Patriotism is n6t only extin- 
 guished, but the very pretension to it treated 
 with ridicule. Public views do not regard the en- 
 couragement of Population, thepromotingof V^ir- 
 tue, and the security of Liberty ; they regard only 
 the enlargement of Counnerce and the extension 
 of Conquest. When a nation arrives at this pitch 
 of depravity, its duration as a free state must 
 then be very short." A moderate share of Com- 
 merce is of most material advantage to a state, 
 but that overgrown extent pursued by many 
 nations, is of necessity attended with all the 
 evils above depicted. The history of all Com- 
 mercial States sufficiently evince this. The 
 Punic faith ^ the subtlety of the Jews, the cor- 
 ruption of morals at Venice and Marseilles, and 
 perhaps above all the avarice of the Dutch, who, 
 absorbed in traffic, have been distinguished for 
 sordid and selfish principles ; there, as the poet 
 says. 
 
:324 LETTER XIV. 
 
 " At Gold's superior charms all freedom flies, 
 " The needy sell it, and the rich man buys." 
 
 I will defer any further consideration of the 
 intercourse between Nations till my next, and 
 in the mean time remain, 
 
 Your's, &c. 
 
 L. S. B. 
 
3^5 
 
 LETTER XV. 
 
 Dear Friend, 
 
 X HE intercourse between the nations of the 
 different parts of the Globe is indebted for its 
 present astonishing perfection, to a discovery 
 of the fourteenth century, the directive property 
 of the Magnet, first observed by a Neopolitan. 
 Before the knowledge of this fact. Navigation 
 was very cramped and defective ; the guidance 
 of the stars, and the exploring head-lands, were 
 the only safe-conducts to the mariner: vessels 
 dared not venture far from the shore. The 
 ancient Navigators were confined mostly to the 
 Mediterranean ; a few occasionally crept along 
 the western shores of Spain and Gaul — conse- 
 quently the geographical outline of the Earth 
 was perfectly unknown to all the nations of anti- 
 quity. This surprising and unexpected discovery 
 gave to Man the keys of the Ocean, by which 
 he was enabled to enter upon its pathless bosom, 
 and range the immense surface of this great ball: 
 he acquired a complete knowledge of its general 
 form, and the nature and extent of its various 
 parts. The Portuguese, under the famous 
 Vasco di Gama, explored the coast of Africa, 
 
326 LETTER XV. 
 
 doubled the Cape of Good Hope, and found out 
 the Western route to the Indies, which diverted 
 the treasures of those regions from their old 
 channels by the Red Sea and the Nile, and laid 
 the foundation of the commercial greatness of 
 Western Europe. This voyage is celebrated in 
 one of the most striking epic poems in modern 
 history. Soon after this, the lofty and daring 
 genius of Columbus struck at a new and greater 
 object, and effected the discovery of another 
 great continent in another hemisphere : here a 
 new world presented itself. A continent of im- 
 mense extent, with many large rivers, and gigan- 
 tic mountains, an intersected coast, and clusters 
 of fertile islands — the whole inhabited by a race 
 of people mostly in a state of infant society. 
 This continent was ranged chiefly by tribes of 
 hunters ; only two societies had made any con- 
 siderable advances in civil growth, and their pro- 
 gress was retarded, by the want of two very 
 powerful auxiliaries to all the operations of 
 man — the use of Iron and of Domestic Animals. 
 It can hardly at first view strike the observer of 
 what great and primary importance these two 
 assistants are, to the power and perfection of our 
 species. Man by himself is a feeble animal; his 
 strength and power are derived chiefly from the 
 materials, nature has furnished for the exercise 
 of his ingenuity. The Americans, unacquainted 
 
CONQUEST OF AMERICA. 327 
 
 with these materials, were soon subjugated by 
 the Spaniards, a handful of whom, by the formi- 
 dable assistance of Horses and Iron, over-ran 
 and subdued an immense tract, peopled by hordes 
 of fierce and warlike savages. The superiority 
 of their arms and equipments effected more in 
 their favour, than thesubtilty of their tactics, and 
 address, or the pre-eminence of their physical 
 strength. Aided by these advantages, the insa- 
 tietyof their avarice, and their misguided enthu- 
 siasm, achieved the conquest and the slaughter 
 of innumerable tribes, many of which, to gratify 
 the thirst for gold, were offered upon the altars 
 of Spanish cruelty and cupidity, and have va- 
 nished from the face of the earth, leaving scarce 
 their names behind them. In scanning the page 
 of history, the philosopher must naturally pause, 
 when he considers the conduct of a great nation 
 of modern Europe, with an enlightened govern^ 
 ment, inflictinc: such misery and injustice upon 
 the guiltless and distant inhabitants of the New 
 World, for no other reason, than because their 
 native soil, contained within its bowels those 
 metals, of which commerce has chosen to build 
 her throne. 
 
 But this discovery has had a material influence 
 on the condition of Modern Society. The true 
 figure of the Earth has been ascertained, and 
 
52S LETTER XV. 
 
 the beautiful and useful science of Geography 
 has grown to a degree of perfection unknown to 
 preceding ages. Man is now pretty accurately 
 acquainted with the form and extentof that great 
 stage, upon which the Drama of Human Life is 
 destined to be performed ; the intercourse be- 
 tween distant regions is become universal, and 
 his luxuries, and artificial wants, in consequence 
 multiplied and ministered to. Many articles' 
 little known to the voluptuous ancients, now 
 form part of our daily diet. Christianity has 
 also been extended ; it has been remarked, that 
 the blow it sustained by the success of the 
 Saracens in the East, has been compensated, by 
 its extensive diffusion and propagation in the 
 Western Hemisphere; but a prominent effect of 
 the intercourse between the continents, consists 
 in the great effects produced by the influx of 
 such immense quantities of the precious metals. 
 This extensive importation has had the natural 
 effect of lessening the real value of gold and silver, 
 and consequently raising the nominal price of 
 most articles of use. This has effected a great 
 change upon the surface of the Commercial 
 World. 
 
 A wide field of traffic has presented itself in 
 the Transatlantick Continent, and the Western 
 Countries of Europe have, in consequence, cul- 
 
FUTURE CONDITION OF AMERICA. 329 
 
 tivated and taken on a commercial character, far 
 beyond what they would have acquired without 
 this important discovery. 
 
 It seems reasonable to suppose, that the 
 American Continent will at no very distant 
 period become an extended theatre of civiliza- 
 tion and refinement : it is already making rapid 
 strides towards this great change. The United 
 States possess a population of eight millions. 
 The extensive colonies of certain European 
 powers have now become wealthy and populous, 
 and are panting for that liberty and indepen- 
 dence which has ever been the ultimatum of all 
 colonization ; indeed we may fairly suppose that 
 all the independent states of the present day 
 were originally colonies ; that, as they grew in 
 strength, they eventually effected their emanci- 
 pation from the power of the Parent States, 
 which, from the instability of all human concerns, 
 declining in power, possessed not the means of 
 retaining the sovereignty over their own off- 
 spring, who guided by the " Infallible instinct 
 of Self-Interest," snatched from their Parents 
 the rod of power, and from dependant tributaries, 
 became formidable rivals. Such will be the ul- 
 terior destiny of the European colonies in Ame- 
 rica. The arts and sciences may one day be 
 wafted across the Atlantic, and perhaps the 
 " Solemn Temples, the Gorgeous Palaces," that 
 
;330 LETTER XV. 
 
 now adorn Europe, and pompously proclaim her 
 superiority, may vanish from her surface, and 
 " leave not a wreck behind." The embellish- 
 ments and improvements of Human Life may 
 take root and flourish in another soil, and civi- 
 lized Europe remain a desart. Such has been 
 the fate of preceding states ; Babylon, Nineveh, 
 Memphis, Athens and Carthage, alas! are gone 
 from the faceof the Earth. " Where now is Thebes 
 with its hundred palaces, the progenitor of cities, 
 the mementoof Human Frailty? It was there that 
 a people, since forgotten, discovered the elements 
 of science and art, at a time when all other men 
 were barbarous, and that a race now regarded as 
 the refuse of society, because their hair is woolly 
 and their skin dark, explored among the phe- 
 nomena of nature those civil and religious 
 systems, which have since held mankind in 
 awe. 
 
 Among the various agencies which have in- 
 fluenced the condition of mankind, War has had 
 no inconsiderable effects, and the degree of civi- 
 lization in a communit}^ is often indicated by 
 the improvement and refinement in this art, 
 which seems to have been in some form or other 
 coeval with Human association, and without 
 perhaps any exception, universal in every age, 
 and in every society. Man is a needy, restless, 
 selfish animal, uniformly bent to pursue his own 
 
HUMAN WARFARE. 331 
 
 good, whatever may be the risk, and whoever 
 may be the sufferer. In the infancy of society, 
 when tlie selfish propensities are very predomi- 
 nant, the duties of Humanity but imperfectly 
 felt, and the nature of Property but little under- 
 stood, Men engage in constant warfare against 
 their neighbours for the most trifling objects, 
 with a ferocity and rancour no time, no circum- 
 stance, can assuage, but the consummation of 
 the most unqualified vengeance in the ruin of 
 their enemies : they admit of no expiation for 
 trespass or injury, but the annihilation of their 
 adversaries. Nations of Hunters meet only to 
 deluge the earth with blood, and to extend 
 slaughter and devastation : they uniformly and 
 deliberately devote the unhappy captive to tor- 
 ture, and feel no triumph accomplished but in 
 the blood and torments of the miserable prisoner. 
 As, however, the rights of property become 
 better understood, the natural attachment to it, 
 and the desire of tranquil enjoyment, by degrees 
 soften in every breast the fierceness of animo- 
 sity, and calm the spirit of vengeance. As 
 Man comes into the enjoyment of nature's bles- 
 sings, a mild and benevolent spirit begins to 
 associate itself with all his feelings ; possessing a 
 degree of happiness in the contemplation of what 
 surrounds him, he feels disposed lo permit a 
 share of this felicity to others. While serenely, 
 
^39 LETTER XV. 
 
 meditating over his innocent and placid flocks, 
 or musing under the refreshing shade of his fig- 
 tree, the rudiments of sympathy and benevolence 
 soon dawn upon his mind, and he experiences 
 an involuntary impulse, to consider the species 
 as his brethren, and to allow them that unmo- 
 lested enjoyment, which is the summwn bonum 
 with himself. If Commerce has at all overtaken 
 and improved his condition, the intercourse with 
 men incident to, this state, matures and refines 
 these feelings into a system of general advantage, 
 that softens the rigours of warfare, alleviates the 
 horrors of human hostility, and lifts Human 
 nature from barbarism and brutality. A full and 
 secure enjoyment of the bounties of ^Jature has 
 ever tamed mankind, and rendered them less 
 warlike and savage. The fertile districts of the 
 Earth's centre have always been subdued by the 
 hardy and necessitous warriors of severer cli- 
 mates — and in the History of Mankind, conquest 
 has generally proceeded from the North. Im- 
 pelled by necessities and wants, the inhabitants 
 of colder regions partake, in some degree, 
 the severe nature of their climate ; their ener- 
 gies are called into more frequent action ; their 
 invention, theoffspring of theirwants, keeps them 
 on the alert, and they acquire the stern virtues of 
 courage, activity, and independence. While the 
 nations of the South, soothed by the profusions 
 
DIFFERENT MODES OF WARFARE. 333 
 
 of the Earth*s abundance, and basking in the 
 sunshine of Nature's bounty, have fewer wants, 
 and sink into ease, effeminacy, and inactivity ; 
 they exchange the fierce ena ploy ments of contest 
 for the arts of peace and social harmony, and 
 thus become a prey to the bold adventurers of 
 the North. 
 
 The mode of warfare has varied in different 
 nations according to the varying genius, and 
 each community has adopted and excelled in a 
 favourite weapon. In all probability clubs and 
 sticks were the first implements made use of, al- 
 though some have contended for the priority of 
 missile weapons, and considered the bow and 
 the sling as the earliest instruments of offence. 
 It would seem, however, more probable, that 
 men fought in close contact at first, and that 
 projectile weapons were a refinement in war, 
 subsequent to the use of hand arms ; and this 
 opinion is much strengthened by the circum- 
 stance of some hostile communities in America 
 not being at all acquainted with any mode of 
 annoying their enemies at a distance. Among 
 the Greeks, the pike or spear was the favourite 
 weapon ; with this the Macedonian Phalanx 
 over-ran and conquered Asia. In a plain coun- 
 try, and in the hands of a body of men drawn up 
 in dense order like the Phalanx, the pike seems 
 a formidable and almost invincible weapon : but 
 
334 LETTER XV. 
 
 in time the solid order of tiie Macedonian ar- 
 rangement was doomed to yield, and be super- 
 seded by the more open line of the Roman 
 method, where each soldier, expert in the use 
 of a cut and thrust sword and buckler, penetrated 
 the Grecian Phalanx, and broke the order and 
 strength of that huge body, which depending 
 upon its weight and massiveness, could never 
 bend much to changes of situation and circum- 
 stance. It was to this dense order the Roman 
 army of Crassus fell terrible victims in their 
 memorable excursion against the Parthians : but 
 it was at the celebrated battles of Cynocephalae 
 and Pydna that the comparative merits of the 
 pike and sword were so remarkably put to the 
 test, and the superiority of the latter made 
 manifest. In the former battle, owing to the 
 hilly nature of the country, the phalanx became 
 somewhat separated and broken ; and into these 
 openings Flaminius poured his valorous swords- 
 men, who closing upon the phalanxmen, their 
 long pikes were rather an incumbrance than of 
 use, and thus the Roman legions overthrew 
 this formidable arrangement, which, as an author 
 says, was like an animal of enormous strength 
 and stature, which, while it remained in com- 
 pact order, was irresistible and impenetrable, 
 and in which the force of each member depended, 
 upon his being a part of the whole, and not on 
 
ART OF WAR. 33o 
 
 his own individual or personal exertions; con- 
 sequently, when trom the unevenness of the 
 country, or other causes, the close order was 
 broken, the power of the phalanx was consider- 
 ably reduced. At Pydna, the Consul Emilius 
 drew the phalanx into an uneven track of 
 country, where the same circumstances opera- 
 ting, he took similar advantage over them as had 
 been done before, and gained a most complete 
 victory. 
 
 The small cut and thrust sword seems in the 
 opinion of good military authorities as the best 
 hand weapon. A skilful sw^ordsman may be 
 supposed surrounded by a sphere of points, 
 which present against any approaching body, 
 and expose a powerful front on every side. In 
 the hands of an adept it forms a most eligible 
 and superior weapon for close encounter ; but 
 then the soldier requires instruction and practice 
 to attain a proficiency in its use. 
 
 About the fourteenth century, a very material 
 and unexpected alteration in the whole art of 
 war was brought about, by the discovery of the 
 explosive propertiesof a chemical mixture, which 
 generating an immense quantity of gas with a 
 wonderful rapidity, exerts a violent mechanical 
 force, equal to the projection of bullets, &c. to 
 a considerable distance, and with an astonishing 
 momentum It is. as you well know, a law in 
 
336 LETTER XV. 
 
 mechanics, that magnitude and motion are 
 mutually exponent, and convertible in their 
 effects ; a large body, moving with a reduced 
 velocity, will produce only the same effects as 
 a small body moving with a velocity equal to 
 the relative magnitude of the larger. Every 
 projectile body, therefore, makes up by its in- 
 creased motion what it wants in size. The 
 ignition of Gunpowder instantaneously disen- 
 gages an immense quantity of elastic gas, which 
 exerting an immense pressure on all sides*, pro- 
 duces such tremendous effects. The violent 
 and sudden expansion of this gas gives the ball 
 its propulsive impetus, and projects it with such 
 a forcible momentum, as renders it more than 
 equal in its destructive effects, to the massive 
 rams, and other battering instruments of the 
 Ancients. A small ball of only IS pounds will 
 now, from the quantity of m.otion given it by 
 rhe expansion of heated vapour, overcome 
 greater resistance, and produce more formidable 
 and terrific effects, than those bodies projected 
 by the Catapulta, and other engines employed 
 
 ■*^' The elastic pressure of the flame of Gunpowder at the 
 moment of ignition, is calculated at 1000 times the ordinary 
 pressure of the atmosphere at the Jiartli's surface — conse- 
 (juently not less than about 15,000 lbs. or 7^ tons upon every 
 sfjuare inch. 
 
GUNPOWDER. 337 
 
 among the ancients. The superior velocity* of 
 the cannon ball compensates the greater weight 
 of the bodies in former use. The invention of 
 Gunpowder is attributed to a German Chemist 
 of the name of Schwartz, although many have 
 contended for its prior use among the Chinese 
 and other Eastern nations. Its first use among 
 the Enghsh is said to have been at the battle of 
 Cressy. 
 
 Much discussion has arisen as to the merits of 
 this invention, and much ingenuity has been 
 exhausted in declamation against its baneful 
 and destructive effects, and yet, after all that 
 has been said, it has perhaps had a direct 
 obvious tendency to lessen the de2:reeof slauoh- 
 ter, and consecjuently alleviate the horrors of 
 modern warfare. According to the ancient 
 mode, if two such bodies as the phalanx came 
 into conflict, the whole became immediately a 
 
 * That law in mechanics, bj' which a projected bo(]y is 
 said to make up by its motion what it wants in weight, is ex- 
 emphfied in the incieasin<^ momentum of falUng bodies. All 
 bodies descend, by virtue of an inherent law which attracts 
 them to the earth's centre, and is called Gravity'. The vis 
 inertia of a fallings body occasions the velocity to increase 
 every moment ; a descending body, therefore, doubles its 
 weight in falling one inch and a quarter, and its momctitum 
 is at all times according to the square root of the hL■i^■llt \t 
 falls, whence a small pebble let fall from a steeple or any 
 eminence has its weight multiplied many lOO times. 
 
 Z 
 
338 LETTER XV. 
 
 trial of physical strength, and a terrible and 
 desolating scene of" carnage and bloodshed inevi- 
 tably ensued : the vanquished party were always 
 closely pursued by the conquerors, and sustained 
 during their retreat, perhaps, the greatest reduc- 
 tion of their numbers ; hence, in modern battles 
 we do not find the disparity of loss between two 
 armies so great as is recorded in most of the 
 ancient engagements. Previous to Gunpowder, 
 most engagements terminated in close encounter, 
 where almost every individual was personally 
 exposed to the comparative adroitness of an 
 armed antagonist. This invention, however, 
 has established the superiority of projectile over- 
 hand weapons; and many battles in modern wars 
 are for the most part decided by the distant 
 attacks of artillery, and consequently with com- 
 paratively less slaughter than formerly. The 
 ranks of an army are now so often thinned by 
 the distant annoyance of the enemy, as to render 
 the remainder satisfied of their inability, to 
 withstand a further attack, and they secure 
 themselves by a judicious and safe retreat, im- 
 practicable in the former mode of fighting; thus, 
 then, Gunpowder has had a tendency to mitigate 
 the horrors of modern battles. 
 
 But perhaps the greatest advantage mankind 
 have derived from the discovery, is the great 
 security the civilized world now feels from any 
 
MODERN WARFARE. 3.''39 
 
 future irruptions or incursions of the Barbarous 
 Nations. When the sword, the pike, or the 
 battle-axe, were the weapons which every soldier 
 carried in his hand, and when the force of an 
 army chiefly depended on the sum total of indi- 
 vidual strength, the Barbarians could easily 
 procure these arms, and had considerably the 
 advantage from their rough habits of life, in 
 physical endowments. Their numbers and 
 strength mostly, in the end, overcame the dis- 
 cipline of the Civilized Troops. But now the 
 great expence of arms and ammunition puts it 
 out of the power of the Barbarians to procure 
 them, and the superiority of these being mani- 
 fest, they are consequently inferior to the regular 
 troops of modern cultivated nations. It was 
 the remark of an ancient historian, that Asia 
 and Europe could never withstand the united 
 force of the Scythians, and the truth of this 
 opinion has been amply confirmed in the his- 
 tories of both these quarters. The expence of 
 modern arms has, however, given the advantage 
 to the Civilized Nations, who alone have the 
 means of procuring them, and in consequence 
 has added to the permanency and extension of 
 Civilization. Individual strength and exertion 
 is now less necessary than before, and the quan- 
 tity of this expensive dust requisite to carry ou 
 any operations being far beyond the reach of the 
 
fUO LETTER XV. 
 
 Barbarians, they are no longer able to cope with 
 the science and superiority of modern tactics. 
 Mr. Gibbon remarks, " the rude valour of the 
 former Barbarians was seconded by personal 
 strength, and an adamantine frame ; but this 
 superiority is in a great measure destroyed by 
 the change in the Military art, and the inven- 
 tion of Gunpowder. Mathematics, Chemistry, 
 Mechanics, and Architecture, are all assiduously 
 applied to the service of war, and Europe is 
 secure from any future irruptions of the Barba- 
 rians, since before they can conquer, they must 
 cease to be barbarous." Had the Romans 
 known the use of fire arms, the Gothic tribes 
 would have remained within the confines of their 
 native forests : for the future, therefore, the 
 civilized communities of the world can never 
 look forward to be over-run and desolated, by 
 the ravages of such monsters as Attila, Genghis 
 Khan, Tamerlane, and many others, who, for a 
 time, by their desolations, almost blotted pro- 
 vinces and nations out of the general map of the 
 earth's surface. 
 
 A reduction in the slaughter of modern battles? 
 and the security of civil society against the 
 sword of the Barbarians, are the two leading 
 advantages of modern improvement in the art 
 of war. 
 
 But of all the circumstances which have in- 
 
 ^ 
 
RELIGION. ' 3AI 
 
 fluenced the condition of Human Nature, none 
 has operated so powerfully in every point of 
 view as Rehgion. A sense of Religion in some 
 form is a universal feeling in every mind, soon 
 succeeding the dawn of Reason. All nations 
 and communities, (with but few exceptions,) 
 in every age and in every quarter, have adopted 
 some notions of it. All the Barbarians of Asia, 
 who over-ran the civilized world, had settled 
 systems of Religious Worship. The remote 
 islanders of the Southern Ocean have obscure 
 but fixed ideas of it, and throughout the whole 
 extent of the New World there was not asinsfle 
 
 o 
 
 tribe, however detached or low in the scale, but 
 what gave credit to one of the fundamental 
 points of Religion, the being of God, and the 
 Immortality of the Soul. Notwithstanding, 
 therefore, the frailty and imperfection of our 
 nature — notwithstanding the mixed character of 
 our passions, and the compound fabric of huma- 
 nity — yet Religion is the great theme of man- 
 kind. Man is a contemplative, a religious 
 animal. 
 
 Various systems have been adopted, according 
 to the varying genius of different societies ; some 
 have venerated blocks of wood and stone, as 
 emblems of divinity; others have extended 
 their adoration to the surrounding elements. 
 All iiave surrendered themselves to its influence, 
 
342 LETTER XV. 
 
 and in most nations it has been grafted upon, 
 or mixed up with, their laws and political in- 
 stitutions. 
 
 To give but a brief sketch of the leading forms 
 into which Divine worship has branched out 
 among the various nations of the earth, would 
 be a task of great magnitude ; it would com- 
 prehend a vast variety — it would embrace an 
 immense extent. All the ancient theologies 
 had, for their end, the permanency of order, the 
 extension of social virtue, the happiness, the 
 preservation of society, both aggregately and 
 individually. They were mostly political 
 schemes grounded on the principle of self-pre- 
 servation. Fear was the engine of Religion, 
 and the Parent of Superstition ; the disturbed 
 imaginations of men distorted the beauty and 
 simplicity of their natural feelings; every im- 
 pulse, every emotion running to seed, the mind 
 displayed a wilderness, where folly, error, and 
 absurdity, like over-running weeds, choaked and 
 exhausted the soil. Human reason was hence 
 held in check— it never ripened; but, entangled 
 in the thicket of superstition and fanaticism, it 
 cither blossomed unseen, orprematurely withered 
 to decay. Such were the nature and effects of 
 all the ancient systems of Religion. But at 
 length a scheme was unfolded, that accorded 
 more with the simplicity of nature, hannonized 
 
RELIGION. 
 
 34: 
 
 better with the feelings of humanity, and ope- 
 rated stronger in the production of happiness 
 than any, or than all, that had ever gone before. 
 The nnist of error now began to clear up ; a ra- 
 diance of divine light now shone forth, that dis- 
 sipated the morning dew of ignorance and 
 absurdity, and the condition of man promised 
 to be cherished, to be improved, to be perfected, 
 by the eflfulgence of Divine Revelation : but, 
 alas ! the hope was yet vain : the sky again 
 clouded, the horizon grew dim, the glorious 
 luminary was once more obscured, and for 
 twelve centuries this ball was darkened, by the 
 dense vapours of superstition, error, and mental 
 despotism. Religion became the rod of power; 
 mens' minds were held under the sway of spiri- 
 tual bondage, and sacerdotal tyranny. Princes 
 and priests exercised a mental usurpation, and 
 mankind rather moved retrograde. Absurd 
 dogmas, and injurious tenets, were propagated, 
 which, " imposed by force and authority, incul- 
 cated by education, maintained by the influence 
 of example, were perpetuated from age to age, 
 and habit and inattention strengthened their 
 empire." At length, however, reason and re- 
 flection set about investigating the errors and 
 prejudices of a despotic system ; a new light 
 burst forth that exhibited the Christian system 
 in its primitive splendour and brilliancy. Wick- 
 
314 LETTER XV. 
 
 liffe, lluss, Knox, and many others, paved the 
 way for an important change in the received 
 opinions of mankind ; till Luther, taking advan- 
 tage of circumstances, with the aid of some of 
 the German princes, accomplished the Refor- 
 mation, which exposed and exploded the absurd 
 points in Catholicism, promulgated a more con- 
 sistent and reasonable creed, and emancipated 
 the human mind from the trammels of super- 
 stition and error. The empire of lleason now 
 commenced, and henceforth men became guided 
 by the genuine precepts of Scripture philosophy. 
 The gigantic tyranny of an overgrown system 
 was now shaken and upset, and spiritual bond- 
 age gave way before freedom of enquiry. An 
 easy, a rational theory, has been adopted, and 
 the condition of man has been improved. In 
 effecting this great, this important change, the 
 art of Printing has been a powerful assistant. 
 Knowledge has been disseminated and extended 
 among the crowd, and every individual exerts 
 his own reason, and thinks for himself; incon- 
 veniences, and even errors, may have sprang 
 from this freedom of the press — but they are 
 only the inconveniences incident to, and inse- 
 parable from, all human movements, and to in- 
 veigh against the press on these grounds would 
 be to reason invertedly, it would be to run into 
 that sophism which logicians call the Fallacia 
 
RELIGION. 345 
 
 Accldcntis, or involving the essential in the 
 accidental. Liberty is so active an agent, it has 
 such elastic energy, and is so congenial with the 
 feelings of Human Nature, that it is no wonder 
 freedom in religious enquiry should have occa- 
 sioned so many errors, and given birth to such 
 fanaticism and absurdity. Liberty, beyond a 
 certain limit, degenerates into Tyranny*. Weak 
 understandings and warm imaginations, become 
 soon moulded to the controul of bigotry and 
 enthusiasm. The mind is narrowed in its con- 
 ceptions, the comprehension is contracted to a 
 limited boundary, and the sublime benevolence 
 of the Almighty is confined to peculiar channels, 
 and considered the birthright of a chosen few. 
 It has been the error of most sectaries, to engross 
 to themselves the favours and blessings of the 
 Supreme, as if the whole scheme of creation 
 was exclusivel v desisfned for the members of one 
 particular flock ; whence the numerous and ex- 
 tensive schisms that have divided the religious 
 world, and so astonishingly perverted and dis- 
 torted the purity and simplicity of genuine 
 
 * In the Physical world it is assumed, that where the 
 sphere of Attraction ends, that of Repulsion begins ; and in 
 the Moral world it seems to hold, that excessive Liberty at last 
 loses itself in Licentiousness and Disorder, and produces its 
 own opposite. It may, therefore, by analogy be said, that 
 where the influence of Liberty ends, that of Tyranny begins. 
 
346 LETTER XV. 
 
 religion. The effects of the Reformation have, 
 therefore, been of a mixed description, as is in- 
 deed the case with all the great movements 
 which influence the condition of humanity. 
 The situation of man on this earth is under the 
 influence of conflicting elements, and contend- 
 ing agencies; every state and movement of our 
 nature is compounded of mixed and opposing 
 qualities; all the attributes which constitute 
 humanity are mixed and various ; and the great 
 task of the enquirer, is to discriminate between 
 the essential and the accidental, in the modes to 
 be examined. It is a rule in logic, that, if in 
 the investigation of truth, the minor proposition 
 assumes more than the major affirms, the syllo- 
 o-ism is distorted, and the truth is lost. 
 
 We are not, therefore, to infer, that the free- 
 dom of the human mind in modern times is an 
 evil, because we behold many divergencies and 
 aberrations in the opinions and conduct of man- 
 kind ; these are all partial and accidental; the 
 bulk of men will notwithstanding form correct 
 judgments, if the necessary data and circum- 
 stances are not withheld, and I believe the re- 
 flecting part in all communities think nearly 
 alike on all the points of humanity. I therefore 
 presume that the best test of true Religion is the 
 dictate of Human Reason*. 
 
 * I by no means wish to be understood as subscribing to 
 the adage Vox PopuU, Fox Dei. The minds of the multitude 
 
MERITS OF THE CATHOLIC SYSTEM. 347 
 
 While speaking of the superior advantages of 
 the Reformed Religion, and glancing at the 
 errors and absurdities of the Romish Church, an 
 impartial enquirer will naturally take up the 
 balance, and throw into each scale its respective 
 weight of merit. We cannot turn from the 
 Catholic system without recollecting beauties 
 in its fabric, and doing justice to the many bene- 
 fits it conferred on mankind. It formed a vene- 
 rable pile of Gothic structure, that addressed 
 itself powerfully and seducingly to the imagi- 
 nation ; it was tinged with the romantic spirit of 
 the times, and perhaps suited to the taste of the 
 middle ages. If it has been accused of cruelty 
 in extending the dominionof its doctrines, itmust 
 also be allowed the credit of having been chari- 
 table and assiduous in providing for the desti- 
 tute ; every religious house was an asylum, 
 where the poor received their daily bread : a 
 portion of the tithes were before the Reformation 
 appropriated to maintain the poor. If they have 
 
 are so often under the controul of absurd and erroneous sys- 
 tems, their understandings so often from want of means, and 
 other causes, kept out of play, and they are so usually under 
 the influence of the Imagination and the Passions, that they 
 are misled by every change, and become the sport of every 
 gale. Public opinion and popular favour, have been at all 
 times most fluctuating and unstable, from the days of The- 
 mistocles down to the present age. 
 
:3-t8 LETTER XV. 
 
 been accused of keeping the multitude in igno- 
 rance, and withholding the blessings of instruc- 
 tion, it should also be remembered, that the 
 means of diffusing knowledge were in those 
 days cramped and restricted. At a time when 
 a manuscript copy of the Bible was equal to the 
 value of a flock of sheep, and many parishes 
 were absolutely without an edition of the sacred 
 volume, theopportunity of instructing the crowd 
 must necessarily have been very limited, the 
 stock of knowledge must have been small, and 
 confined to the superior and privileged classes of 
 society. They have been, perhaps, unjustly 
 blamed for not doing that, which was then out 
 of their power to accomplish. Since the esta- 
 blishment of the art of Printing, the means of 
 instruction have come within the reach of a large 
 portion of the community. 
 
 It may be considered no trifling advantage of 
 the Romish system, (while it lasted,) that it 
 united all the Christian kingdoms in one great 
 spiritual commonwealth, that the inhabitants of 
 Western Europe adopted one uniform creed, 
 which acted under all circumstances of the 
 usual diversity of opinion among men, as a bond 
 of union, as a vinculum that held them together, 
 and created a common cause. It was this uni- 
 formity of creed that gave occasion to the obli- 
 vion of differences and jealousies, and the union 
 
MERITS OF THE CATHOLIC SYSTEM. 349 
 
 of all parties in the heroic enterprizes of the 
 Crusades ; and, perhaps, notwithstanding the 
 refinements of Modern Policy, the balance of 
 power was better regulated, and the encroach- 
 ments of tyrants and usurpers kept under better 
 controul in those days than in the present. But 
 the principal advantage which mankind have 
 derived from the Romish Hierarchy, the greatest 
 claim they have upon the gratitude of after ages, 
 is their preserving from destruction the remains 
 of the literature of the Ancient world. For 
 many successive ages, while the state of Human 
 knowledge was at a very low ebb, and while the 
 bulk of mankind were in a state of darkness, the 
 Monasteries were the asylums of learning and 
 science, the Monks were the depositaries of all 
 the knowledge of the world. Had it not been 
 for the taste and erudition of these Monks in 
 the middle age, the reign of darkness must have 
 been extended to the present time. Many of 
 them were men of considerable industry and 
 depth in literature; the walls of their convents 
 afforded a sanctuary, and a protection to arts, 
 manufactures, and useful industry. The re- 
 mains of ancient letters were here preserved, and 
 the Catholic clergy, notwithstanding the oppro- 
 bria of modern prejudice, have done much for 
 science, and are for ever shrouded in the grate- 
 ful remembrance of the learned world. The 
 
350 LETTER Xr. 
 
 Catholic church is gone, but it was a venerable 
 pile, a Gothic structure, in the awful gloom of 
 which the imagination so delights to wander, 
 that no modern tale or romance can be com- 
 pleted, without calling up the imagery of its 
 sacred ceremonies. 
 
 Subsequent to the downfall of the Roman 
 power, the German nations introduced a pecu- 
 liar code of laws and manners, that for many 
 ages held a powerful influence over the human 
 mind. All the Gothic institutions were of a 
 warlike character. Military bands of vassals 
 united under chiefs, and chiefs became depen- 
 dent upon one common prince, whom they were 
 accustomed to serve and obey, and whose for- 
 tunes they followed and shared in the field of 
 battle. These people despised trade, and 
 neo-lected agriculture, and presented only a 
 nation of warriors, with whom arms and gal- 
 lantry were the chief employments. Military 
 achievements and gallant exploits were here the 
 only road to fame, and in which every knight 
 was obliged to give some indication of excelling 
 before he was enrolled in the ranks of Chivalry. 
 The interest of the prince combining with their 
 spirit of discipline, instilled high sentiments of 
 honour and magnanimity among them. They 
 acquired early a noble generosity, a dignity of 
 mind, that insured the probity of their conduct 
 
GOTHIC INSTITUTIONS. 35\ 
 
 in all their intercourse, and which, in that 
 romantic age, running to seed, gave birth to a 
 species of Knight Errantry, the excess of which 
 has often been the topic of modern sarcasm and 
 censure. These high sentiments, however, 
 served in a dark boisterous age to soften the 
 manners, to temper the rudeness and barbarism 
 of the mind, and to calm and curb all the selfish 
 propensities of Human Nature. The National 
 character took no tinge from Commerce ; Ava- 
 rice was not then the ruling passion of society. 
 The springs of Human action were not then 
 formed of Gold; they were fabricated of sterling 
 Honour. The impulses of the mind were not 
 in those days regulated by the science of figures; 
 the movements of mankind were not reduced to 
 cold calculations of pounds, shillings, and pence. 
 The age was characterized by the stern martial 
 virtues of Honour, Courage, and strict Justice. 
 Such were the virtues, and such the character 
 of a Military race in a rude age*, and although 
 
 * In Arabia, under the Saracen government, a romantic 
 taste was generated, that branched out into a complete system 
 of Knight Errantry : this, united to the Gothic spirit, carried 
 Chivalry to a great height in Spain, which so long remained 
 \inder the dominion of both those powers. This produced a 
 loftiness of sentiment, a dignity of mind, that formerly ren- 
 dered the honour of a Castilian proverbial throughout Europe. 
 It was by attacking this system, through the medium of 
 Ridicule, in a motlern Romance, that Cervantes is said to 
 have rumed Spain. 
 
352 LETTER XV. 
 
 it had many imperfections that rendered it in- 
 compatible with the progressof exactknowledge, 
 and the extension of pure reason, yet its uses 
 and its beauties were great and manifold. The 
 Imagination always delights in its splendid 
 ruins. In speaking of the origin of this code, 
 Montesquieu says, " a venerable oak raises its 
 lofty head to the skies ; the eye sees from afar 
 its spreading leaves ; upon drawing nearer it 
 perceives the trunk, but does not discern the 
 root; the ground must be dug up to discover 
 it.*' The substance of this system has long 
 since been abolished in Western Europe, and 
 the spirit is fast vanishing before the commer- 
 cial taste of the present age. The profound 
 and prophetic genius of Mr. Burke deplored the 
 total extinction of the spirit of chivalry. He 
 speaks of the " inbred sense of Honour, the 
 cheap defence of Nations, the Nurse of Manly 
 sentiment and Heroic enterprize," being suc- 
 ceeded by the government of the selfish gratifi- 
 cations, the cold calculations of avarice and self- 
 policy. 
 
 The spirit of Chivalry gave birth to the ex- 
 traordinary enterprizes of the Crusades, which 
 promoted the intercourse between Asia and 
 Europe, and caused the arts and improvements 
 of the Eastern world to flow to the Westward. 
 It would be too extensive a task here, to glance 
 
PROGRESSIVE ADVANCE OF REASON- 353 
 
 at the consequences arising from these remark- 
 able expeditions, that for two centuries drained 
 the Christian kingdoms of Europe of so much 
 blood and treasure. 
 
 The progressive advance of ages, the gradual 
 stream of time, the accidental combination of 
 circumstances, the various issues of previous 
 movements among men, lead eventually to a 
 developement ol' new circumstances, and a dis- 
 play of fresh agencies, that slowly but inevi- 
 tably induce, a new cast of outline in the features 
 of society. The changes in Human life are 
 all gradual and imperceptible in their accession; 
 they flow like the waters of a still river, where 
 the current is constant, and where the bark is 
 gently glided down the quiet stream, till it 
 reaches its destined port, or at length becomes 
 launched into an open sea. All the various 
 agencies and causes I have above enumerated, 
 bv degrees developed a new era of Human 
 history; a new order of things was gradually 
 introduced, and the Empire of Reason slowly 
 and silently established. About the sixteenth 
 century, the previous discoveries of many great 
 men disseminated knowledge, and created a taste 
 for science, that gave birth to a freedom of en- 
 quiry and a spirit of research, that opened a new 
 scene in the Human Drama. The Catholic 
 Religion, the Feudal System, the whole reign 
 
 A A 
 
:354' LETTER XV. 
 
 of the Imagination gradually melted away, like 
 the winter snow before the vernal sun, to the 
 progressive advance of the Human understand- 
 ing. The cultivation of science excited a new 
 train of thinking ; towns and cities became es- 
 tablished, and were the seats of industry and 
 learning, where many useful discoveries and 
 inventions were made, that added considerably 
 to the stock of Human comforts. The sciences 
 have at length been prosecuted with freedom 
 and ardour ; a burst of new light in each branch 
 has shone forth, and illuminated the sphere of 
 Human knowledge. The mode of reasoning 
 established by Bacon and Newton has power- 
 fully assisted the operations of the mind, and 
 man seems progressive in the growth of intelli- 
 gence. As I have had occasion before to remark, 
 in the progress of the age of the World, as in 
 that of individual Man, the Understanding has 
 gradually advanced upon the Imagination, and 
 Reason has assumed her empire. 
 
 " Thus then endowed the feeble creature Man, 
 
 " The slave of hunger, and the prey of Death, 
 
 " Even now, even here, in Earth's dim prison bound, 
 
 " The language of Intelligence Divine 
 
 " AUains." 
 
 Here for the present I will conclude, and re- 
 main, 
 
 Your's, &c. 
 
 L. S. B. 
 
355 
 
 LETTER XVI. 
 
 Dear Friend, 
 
 JLN our preceding correspondence, we have 
 taken a transient survey of the Physical and 
 Moral condition of Human Nature ; the cursory 
 remarks in these letters form a rou2:h sketch, an 
 unfinished outline, of the History of our Species. 
 We behold Man situated on this huge ball, pro- 
 jected in empty but immense space, linked by 
 undeviating laws to other orbs, that, fixed in 
 their movements, splendidly decorate his firma- 
 ment, and display over his head a glittering 
 canopy studded and spangled with golden fire. 
 We contemplate that glorious luminary the Sun, 
 placed as a common centre, around which nume- 
 rous Planets, tenanted perhaps by mvriads of 
 rational beings, regularly revolve, and proclaim 
 the Majesty of Supreme Power. 
 
 " Thou, O Sun, 
 " Soul of surrounding Worlds ! in whom best seen, 
 " Shines out thy Maker ! may I sing of thee ? 
 " 'Tis by thy secret, strong, attractive force, 
 " As with a chain indissoluble bound, 
 " The system rolls entire." 
 
3d6 letter XVI. 
 
 In looking up we perceive the universe before 
 us, but only part of the scheme is exhibited to 
 us ; we soon discern the extent of our powers. 
 As an Infinite cannot be involved in a Finite, 
 so the unbounded theatre of Creation cannot be 
 compassed by the limited comprehension of 
 Human faculties. The mind here roams in 
 astonishment, and often wandering in a laby- 
 rinth, at length rests only in superstition. In 
 looking down we behold man immersed in sur- 
 rounding elements, exerting constantly their 
 active energies upon his frame ; these unfold his 
 dormant faculties, excite the latent powers of 
 his complex machinery, and display the innate 
 perfection of his ingenious structure. Every 
 function of his body is composed of inherent 
 attribute in the organ, and active stimulus in an 
 external agent. Each sense requires, in addition 
 to capacity in the organ, the union of a stimu- 
 lating element before sensation is effected. The 
 organ of his Voice, however perfect in structure, 
 is of no avail, without the mechanical disten- 
 sion of an clastic fluid. The properties of his 
 Blood are incessantly preserved by the absorp- 
 tion of Chemical elements in his Lungs. The 
 waste and repairs, from all the violent actions 
 going on throughout his complex organ, must 
 be made up from the matters of surrounding 
 Creation. Not on]y each particular function, 
 
MAN UNITED TO SURROUNDING AGENTS. 357 
 
 but Life itself, which consists in a totality of 
 actions, in ah aggregation of movements, isa com- 
 pounded attribute, a Tertium (jnid, made up of 
 inherent capability in the system, and stimulant 
 energy in surrounding elements. Thus, then, 
 we see Man is not a detached portion of the 
 universe — he stands not on an insulated pillar; 
 his structure is closely combined, his functions 
 are intimately blended, with the active energies 
 and agencies of all the elements of which this 
 2:reat ball is constituted. Without Lis^ht his eve 
 sees not ; the scene is for ever dark. 
 
 " Prime cheerer Light! 
 '' Of all material beings first and best! 
 '•' Efflux Divine ! Nature's resplendent robe ! 
 " Without whose vesting beauty all were wrapt 
 " In unessential gloom." 
 
 Without the vibratory impulse of the Air, his 
 Ear is passive, the whole is a lonely desart ; 
 without Oxygen, his blood is a dark corrupted 
 mass ; without Food, his solid fabric wastes ; 
 without Fire, he remains a solid immoveable 
 stone. 
 
 Associated with Man on this stage, stand an 
 infinite series of created forms, appointed as 
 secondary performers to conduct, as it were, the 
 underplot in the grand Drama of this Globe. 
 Here a sportive variety of forms, a multiplied 
 
35S LETTER XVI. 
 
 diversity of functions are displayed, that make 
 out the extensive scheme of organized Creation. 
 These beings exhibit every variety and every 
 change, from the simplest forms up to the most 
 complex mechanism. As I had occasion before 
 to remark, the point where organic existence 
 commences, the puncliim saliens of either vege- 
 table or animal action is somewhat obscured from 
 our view. The shades are so blended, the 
 changes are so indeterminate, the gradations are 
 so regular, that the limits of each kingdom of 
 Nature remain uncertain and undefined. The 
 lowest orders of organic structure form the base 
 of a great pillar, which, gradually finishing as 
 it rises, the Apex is at length crowned witli the 
 elaborate structure of Man, the chef d'ouvre of 
 sublunary creation. 
 
 With the different orders of organized Nature, 
 Man forms an intimate union : from the Vege- 
 table Kingdom he derives a considerable portion 
 of his nourishment, and derives infinite gratifi- 
 cation in beholding the embellished scenery of 
 vegetable beauty, with which his stage is so 
 richly carpeted. AVith animals he forms a varied 
 connection ; with some he enters into close 
 alliance ; mutual friendships and reciprocal 
 favours link them together, and produce a close 
 fraternity. The passive innocence of the Sheep, 
 the faithful friendship of the Dog, the active 
 
INTERCOURSE WITH ANIMALS. 369 
 
 services of the Horse, and the solid labour and 
 products of the useful Ox, are Nature's best 
 auxiliaries, to the perfection and happiness of 
 our condition on earth. With others, he exer- 
 cises an eternal warfare, and lives for ever 
 estranged. A continual scene of mutual hosti- 
 lity is in action, and his most powerful energies 
 are often called forth to defend himself, or to 
 overcome the victims of his wants and his plun- 
 der. The Arab with his Camel, the Laplander 
 with his Rein Deer, cultivate a close acquain- 
 tance. " That Monster of Matter and Miracle 
 of Intelligence," the Elephant, administers to the 
 Indian's necessities. Forests, oceans, and skies, 
 are explored by human energies to exact plunder, 
 to extort tribute from inferior orders, to satisfy 
 the wants of necessitous Man. Man holds a 
 middle rank in physical energy ; the mechanic 
 force of his limbs, the acuteness of his senses, 
 the agility of his movements, the vigour of va- 
 rious functions, are all inferior to many species 
 of animals ; but in the endowment of mental 
 capacity, in the grand attribute of intelligence, 
 it is his high destiny to excel ; here he rises 
 above the material, and approaches the confines 
 of another world. To accomplish his superior 
 Nature on earth, he enjoys even some points of 
 physical pre-eminence: he alone stands upright; 
 he places his foot flat on the earth, with the heel 
 
360 LETTER XVI. 
 
 touching the ground; he walks erect, and 
 directs his senses at once to heaven. The supe- 
 rior part of his body is fronted by a collection of 
 features, that in Man form an index of the soul, 
 a dial' of the emotions and passions moving 
 within. The forehead, the arched brows, the 
 curved nose, and the square prominent chin, sur- 
 mounted with a cresting of lips, form in Man the 
 face, the intelligent aspect of which constitutes 
 in him a dignified superiority. Here the senti- 
 ments of human feeling are often legible, and, 
 notwithstanding the difficulty and obscurity of 
 the subject, every one becomes involimtarily and 
 prima facie a Physiognomist. But it is not redu- 
 cible to a science ; it is not amenable to the ar- 
 bitrary determination of line and figure. He 
 possesses an elaborate Brain of great relative 
 magnitude, that, uniting Matter with Mind, 
 discharges the lofty office of Thinking ; by means 
 of this Celestial faculty he compares and com- 
 bines ideas, he comprehends the scene around 
 him, he corresponds with material and spiritual 
 essences, he communes with Angels, he ap- 
 proaches the Majesty of his Creator. Thus 
 formed of an elaborate structure, clad in sublime 
 attributes, he stands a model of Supreme archi- 
 tecture, an ima2:e of his Maker:- he is lifted with 
 an ingenious organ, the Hand, which enables 
 him to exercise many energies to great practical 
 
MAN FORMED OF MIXED QUALITIES. SGl 
 
 extent. He searches the various kingdoms of 
 nature, and, by the assistance of his digestive 
 organs, renders all subservient to his daily wants. 
 By the organization of his Glottis, he niodulates 
 the tones of his Voice, to which he attaches 
 ideas, and acquires the faculty of Speech, which 
 is a distinguishing prerogative, that elevates him 
 above all others, and is the grand instrument of 
 all the improvement and perfection of his nature. 
 In close analogy with the lower orders of Nature, 
 he has his sensations, his pleasures and his pains; 
 he grows, continues his species, and is cut down 
 like a flower that withers in the season. He is 
 altogether of that mixed character, of that middle 
 stamp, that although on one hand he rises above 
 every analogy with those about him, and takes on 
 elevated and superior energies, and displays attri- 
 butes beyond material ; yet on the other hand, 
 he commences and ends his career, in debility, 
 in privation, and in want ; more feeble and des- 
 titute than the brute, and even in all his glory 
 " not arrayed like one of the lillies of the field.** 
 Man comes into this world without any thing 
 instinctive or inbred; his body naked and feeble, 
 his mind empty and vacant. During his long 
 infancy he is more helpless than the young of 
 any other species. The first seven years of his 
 life are exposed to accidents and diseases, and 
 hardly one half the number outlive this short 
 
fi6% LETTER XVI. 
 
 period. In the second period, till fourteen, his 
 young mind gradually expands ; the foundation 
 of his futurestrength is then laid. During the 
 next seven years his constitution ripens, his 
 animal powers mature, and at twenty-one he 
 has reached the acme of his physical evolution. 
 He is now launched into life a free agent; but 
 notwithstanding the fulness of his physical ma- 
 turity, the plenitude of his mental perfection is 
 yet far from complete : the light of experience 
 and observation has not yet dissipated the mist 
 that envelopes the stage of life ; the movements of 
 humanity are yet shrouded in a maze of intricacy 
 and uncertainty. This is the reign of the Pas- 
 sions, when the Physical are ever rebelling, 
 and encroaching upon the dominion of the Men- 
 tal powers of his nature. He is now exposed to 
 the balancing influence of contending emotions; 
 the physical impulses of his frame mature and 
 strong, vibrating with force and elasticity ; but 
 the controuling faculties of Reason, yet cold, 
 immature, and distant. The reasoning powers 
 not yet sufficiently unfolded, and the youthful 
 mind tossed about by every gust, the sport of 
 every gale, like a ship without a rudder, like a 
 mariner without a compass. This is the season 
 of danger; now the after-character of life often 
 takes its tinge; and the young man either pur- 
 sues the safe course, and like the vessel of the 
 
HUMAN PROGRESSION. 363 
 
 judicious pilot, reaches the desired haven in 
 safety ; or is driven off to sea to encounter the 
 storm, and founder in a vortex of error. After 
 thirty the mind rapidly expands; experience and 
 observation are constantly bringing in their 
 treasures; the judgment gradually ripens; and 
 before forty, ca'teris paribus^ the Mind of Man 
 is in the zenith of its vigour ; it here passes the 
 meridian of its perfection, and for some time 
 appears nearly stationary ; habit, situation, cir- 
 cumstance, mould it, and give it its peculiar 
 form ; the ruling passion, the fruit of that blos- 
 som that budded in youth, now ripens, and fixes 
 the character of the individual : the faculties are 
 hardly any longer progressive. As we approach 
 fift}'', both corporeal and mental exertions 
 slacken ; the mind rests on its past labours ; the 
 judgment has long since taken its stand; past 
 experience now affords a lengthened, an instruc- 
 tive retrospect ; the measure of intuition is nearly 
 full, and Man henceforth retains but little doci- 
 lity or capability of instruction. The gilded 
 clouds, the brilliant horizon, that constituted the 
 lively cheering picture of Hope, are now fast 
 vanishing. Here is placed the ne plus ultra of 
 advancement in the individual ; the period of 
 his mental progress is here rounded with a full 
 stop. After fifty, Man descends with a quick- 
 
:364< LETTER xvr. 
 
 ened pace the eminence he had previously 
 cUmbed. The autumn of life here intervenes ; 
 the enlivening verdure of preceding seasons is 
 now succeeded by the fading brown; the whole 
 scene acquires a somewhat gloomy tinge, till 
 sixty gradually accedes, and as gradually intro- 
 duces the winter of our days. Morbid predispo- 
 sitions are now called into action, diseases and 
 debility ensue, old age is arrived, and as Seneca 
 says, Sencetus insanahilis morbus est. At length 
 seventy supervenes, all beyond which is " La- 
 bour and Sorrow." "Threescore years and ten 
 constitute the duration of human faculties, at 
 least such has been the measure for the last 
 three thousand years, since the time of David : 
 but how few of the number reach this extent ! 
 Out of a thousand children born, not more than 
 60 perhaps reach seventy : indeed the average of 
 aggregate duration is estimated at something less 
 than half that sum. Mankind do not share 34 
 years of existence ; such is the fleeting nature 
 of time, such the rapid brevity of human exis- 
 tence. At length Death overtakes him ; the 
 principle that pervaded and exercised a sove- 
 reiontv over the material frame is now fled ; the 
 Vinculum that held together the elements that 
 compose his frame is now broken ; the fabric of 
 his structure is now decomposed, and the.ele- 
 
IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL. 36.5 
 
 ments of his composition return to their former 
 inert condition. Such is the course — such the 
 brief history of Human Movements. 
 
 But we have hitherto kept out of our view 
 the superior, the immortal part of INIan ; here we 
 approach the essence of his nature, the Res 
 Altissima of our research into the history of his 
 Being. While our bodies decay, and the matter 
 of which they are formed is doomed to destruc- 
 tion, the " Soul still flourishes in Immortal 
 Youth ;" it moves in a circle of eternal dura- 
 tion ; it takes leave of time, and dwells in the 
 endless regions of eternity. The Soul is Imma- 
 terial and Immortal. Many ingenious arguments 
 have been advanced to prove the immortality as 
 a natural consequence of the immateriality of 
 the soul. But although it may appear very clear 
 to us that the soul is immaterial, that its facul- 
 ties possess no analogy with any of the physical 
 properties of matter, such as Extension, Resis- 
 tance, Solidity, &c. ; that common matter is 
 inert and impercipient ; that Matter is divisible 
 and Mind indivisible; that therefore the ultimate 
 particles into which body may be divided are 
 incapable of percipiency, and consequently that 
 no combination or union of insensible particles 
 can produce Thought, the properties of the 
 whole being in any body only the aggregate of 
 the properties of the parts; yet, notwithstand- 
 
366 LETTER XVI. 
 
 ing, I say, all this may convince us, the Soul is 
 not material, yet immateriality does not sup- 
 pose immortality as a necessary consequence. 
 All our knowledge of the attributes of an imma- 
 terial essence is nestative and obscure : for ausrht 
 we know, mortality and decay maybe necessnry 
 attributes of Spirit as of Body ; it may form part 
 of the Divine plan, to annihilate and extinguish 
 immaterial as well as material substance. We 
 are not to assume a possible hj^pothesis as the 
 basis of certain knowledge on any subject. To 
 infer, therefore, the soul's immortality, as grow- 
 ing out of its immateriality, is a mere Petitio 
 Principii, and contrary to every rule of logic. 
 As Dr. Johnson says, " the Being who made it 
 surely can destroy it ; since, however unperish- 
 able, it receives from a superior nature its power 
 of duration. That it will not perish by any in- 
 herent cause of decay, or principle of corruption, 
 may be shown by Philosophy ; but Philosophy 
 can tell no more. That it will not be annihi- 
 lated by Him that made it, ive must learn from 
 higher authorily.** 
 
 All the reasonings which have been advanced 
 to establish the Immortality of the Soul by the 
 light of nature seem to fall short of establishing 
 their object. The Love of Life and the dread of 
 Annihilation, the energetic expressions of the 
 Poet, "the pleasing hope," " the fond desire," 
 
IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL. 367 
 
 " the longing after immortality/' " the shrink- 
 ing of the Soul back on itself/' *' the startling 
 at destruction/' " the stirring of the Divinity 
 within us/' although so emphatically dwelt 
 upon, amount to little or nothing. My hopes 
 or fears on this subject no more prove the fact, 
 than my hopes of a long life and my dread of 
 a speedy death will ensure the one, and parry 
 off the other. My desire of health and happi- 
 ness is as strong and as lively as my longing after 
 Immortality, and no more likely on that account 
 to be realized. Conscience is an arbitrary 
 standard, and therefore no criterion or assurance 
 of future existence. The justice of God may 
 seem to require it; but this may even be an 
 insufficient proof*. The compatibility of this 
 hypothesis with the moral government of the 
 world is perhaps the strongest argument, but yet 
 it falls short of demonstration. The ancients 
 entertained a variety of opinions, and great 
 
 * It has been advanced, that no idea of injustice could 
 attach to the Creator were it within tHe sc6pe of his design 
 to annihilate all existence at death, as the brin;^ing into this 
 world a race of beings to accomplish certain ends, and placing' 
 them in a situation where, taken aggregately, happiness pre- 
 dominates over misery, and virtue preponderates over vice, 
 would eflectively satisfy all the ends of substantial justice, 
 and be perfectly consistent with superior Wisdom, exclusive 
 of any mode of future existence. 
 
368 LETTER XVI. 
 
 obscurity of notions on this head, althougli it is 
 very certain that all schemes of morality not 
 built upon an assurance of future retribution, 
 must be very incomplete. Upon the whole 1 
 am disposed to infer, that Natural knowledge 
 throws but little light, and goes but little dis- 
 tance, in establishing the doctrine of the Soul's 
 immortality, and the authority of Revelation is 
 the best demonstration, and the only conclusive 
 assurance of the existence of man in a future 
 state. All his information comes from the Dicta 
 of Scripture. It may be said, perhaps, that some 
 idea of future existence has operated on the 
 human mind even in the lowest stage of Savage 
 life, as we are well assured, that throughout the 
 whole extent of the American Continent an 
 opinion invariably prevailed of the Immortahty 
 of the Soul. The elegant historian of the New 
 World has attributed this to a " secret con- 
 sciousness of our own dignity, an instinctive 
 longing after Immortality." I should, however, 
 be disposed to consider this opinion among the 
 American tribes as springing from the activity 
 of the imagination, which in savage life we know 
 to be so vigorous and predominant. As I have 
 had occasion to remark before, universality and 
 uniformity seem necessary and inseparable attri- 
 butes of all instincts : we know, however, that 
 a diversity of opinion on this subject has pre- 
 
IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL. 369 
 
 vailed among- men, and I should moreover view 
 that Instinct as lame and imperfect, which 
 teaches an American savage the knowledge of 
 a future state, and at the same time leaves him 
 in perfect ignorance of the being of a God, or 
 the existence of any great Supreme Cause. The 
 above historian tells us, that several tribes had 
 no idea of a Supreme Being, no rites of religious 
 worship, and no name in their language to ex- 
 press the Deity : they were perfectly unac- 
 quainted with the existence of God. The idea 
 of the Soul's future continuance could therefore 
 only arise from the activity of, their fancy; it 
 was a mere phantom of Hope, with which they 
 solaced themselves in the hardships and suffer- 
 ings of savage life. The privations and fatigues 
 of a savage state, or of slavery, would no doubt 
 be much mitigated by fancying 
 
 " Behind the cloud-top't hill some humbler Heaven, 
 " Some safer world, in depth of woods embraced, 
 " Some happier island in the watery waste, 
 " Where slaves once more their native land behold, 
 <* No fiends torment, no Christians thirst for Gold." 
 
 Man, as he emerges from savage life, becomes 
 universally a contemplative, a religious animal ; 
 his religion, however, is not innate ; he brings 
 it not with him into the world. When his 
 powers of reflecticHi begin to unfold themselves, 
 
 B B 
 
370 LETTER XVI. 
 
 his judgment is exercised in combining and 
 comparing his sensations, and he arrives by re- 
 gular induction at some knowledge of the most 
 sublime truths. His religious notions, there- 
 fore, proceed from acquired ideas ; they are 
 moulded by accidental associations, and take 
 on a variety of form from external and adven- 
 titious causes. Religion is never the result of 
 Instinct; it is always the offspring of Reason. 
 
 The various and contradictory systems of 
 Ethics that have prevailed in different ages, and 
 in different communities of men, confirm our 
 position, that no religious sentiments are in- 
 stinctive. The standard of right has been as 
 various as the different societies have been nu- 
 merous. Moral error in one place has been 
 rehgious and political expediency in another. 
 Crimes that incur the full penalty of the law in 
 one country, have been tolerated in others. 
 The Murder of Infants, and of aged and deformed 
 Persons, Polygamy, Incest, Adultery, and Theft, 
 have all been variously construed and inter- 
 preted, admitted in one place, and reprobated in 
 another. The notions of moral obligation have 
 been so diversified, so various, and so compli- 
 cated, that many have been disposed to consider 
 Religion as perfectly climatic, and taking its 
 model from the local situation and circumstances 
 of the community. It has hence been observed. 
 
LOCALITY OF RELIGION. 371 
 
 that the Metempsychosis might have been poli- 
 tically expedient in a country where the flocks 
 are but thin, tVom the pasture bein^ soon burnt 
 up. The frequent bathings inculcated by the 
 Orientals were necessary and salubrious in that 
 climate. The prohibition of pork, as having a 
 tendency to induce cutaneous diseases, might 
 be equally salutary. Montesquieu observes, 
 that the Northern countries of Europe embraced 
 the Reformation, because a religion without a 
 head was more agreeable to their notions of 
 liberty, and the independency of their climate. 
 The Catholic system was more compatible with 
 the taste of monarchs, and therefore better 
 suited to the arbitrary governments of the South. 
 He remarks, that Lutheranism is more adapted 
 to princely governments than Calvinism, which 
 is purely democratical. The changes in religious 
 sentiments, however, which have so often taken 
 place in the same country, without effecting 
 any material alteration, refute the opinion of any 
 particular form being necessary or indigenous 
 in any particular latitude ; and we require no- 
 thing to convince us, that Christianity is adapted 
 to every climate, and has the capability of ame- 
 liorating the condition of humanity in every 
 region of the globe. 
 
 The vveisfht and value of the Christian reve- 
 lation is in nothing more conspicuous than in 
 
37*2 LETTER XVI. 
 
 this, that no perfect system of morals can be 
 established without it. The ingenuity and 
 reasoning of philosophers in all ages have been 
 exercised to erect a code of Ethics suited 
 to the condition of man, and yet the task 
 has been difficult to establish any system upon 
 a solid base. Even in this enlightened age, our 
 greatest characters are at issue as to precise defi- 
 nition of virtue. Dr. Reid supposes, the sense 
 of moral obligation to be instinctive ; this I pre- 
 sume, for reasons before stated, to be fallacious. 
 Dr. Price is partly of the same opinion. Cum- 
 berland places it more reasonably in Benevo- 
 lence, stimulated by Self-interest, to produce our 
 own happiness. Adam Smith supposes it the 
 perception of the fitness or unfitness of rules of 
 action to accomplish their ends. Mr. Hume 
 places Virtue in Utility. Gisborne and Paley 
 ground it on Expediency ; the latter defines 
 Virtue " as the doing good to mankind, in obe- 
 dience to the will of God, and for the sake of 
 everlasting happiness. The good of mankind 
 is the subject, the will of God the rule, and 
 everlasting happiness the motive of human vir- 
 tue.'* Mr. Belsham says. Virtue is " the ten- 
 dency of an action, affection, habit, or character, 
 to the ultimate happiness of the agent." Thus 
 we see human opinion has branched out into 
 consid<irable variety concerning a definition of 
 
ETHICS. 37:3 
 
 Virtue, and it seems after all, that an assurance 
 of future reward for virtuous conduct in this life, 
 is the onhf solid basis upon which any system of 
 ethics can be built, and we now feel that such 
 assurance is only to be obtained under the Chris- 
 tian dispensation, which rests its whole weight 
 of remedy or remuneration, on a retributive ad- 
 ministration in a state of future being. This 
 idea is the soul of the Moral world, and amply 
 demonstrates the transcending superiority of the 
 •Christian Revelation. 
 
 It is on this ground the Christian system so 
 strongly recommends itself to the notice of the 
 world; it inculcates so elevated, so disinterested, 
 and benevolent a system of Morality*, that it 
 
 * In the savage breast. Revenge is a primary and active 
 impulse ; it is an emotion so insatiable, that it stimulates men 
 to most astonishing exertions to attain its gratification; and 
 even in many enlightened nations has been sophistically in- 
 dulged and cherished. It would however seem that it exists, 
 inversely to the quantum of elevation and genuine refinement 
 in the mind, and gradually diminishes as the human con- 
 dition emerges from the lowest state of barbarism, till it 
 ceases altogether, in that approach towards superior nature, 
 which man is at length capable of attaining. A mind per- 
 fected with the spirit of Cluistianily obliterates these feelings, 
 and ceases to be the abode of Kevenge. The Christian sys- 
 tem enjoins its subjugation in the soul ; and he who entertains 
 a lively feeling of it, is an imperfect Christian. What a con- 
 trast between that system that dictated to the Carthaginian 
 General to lead his son to the altar, and engraft this mean 
 
374 LETTER XVI. 
 
 promotes the comfort and happiness of mankind 
 in a [greater degree than any system ever invented 
 by Human ingenuity. If it teaches the purest, 
 the most exalted virtue, it must necessarily 
 promote the happiness of our species. Happi- 
 ness is a theme ever in our mouths — it is a 
 phantom ever in our thou2;hts — it is a goal 
 ever in our pursuits ; it excites our best ener- 
 gies — it stimulates us to action — it is the end 
 and aim of our being, and yet it is a something 
 subject to no governance — amenable to no 
 standard^reducible to no definition : who can 
 describe this quality, of which all Mankind are 
 in full chace, which constitutes the summinn 
 bonum of all human desires ? no standard, no rule 
 of happiness is identical, perhaps, in any two in- 
 dividuals; it is an arbitrary and accidental asso- 
 ciation of circumstances and feelings adopted in 
 each individual breast. Every man has the stand- 
 ardof his own happiness in himself; hebearsabout 
 the form to which he is fashioned; his individual 
 feelings, circumstances, and habits, form a sphere 
 
 passion upon the sacred stock of Religious theory, and stamp 
 it with the value of its sacred rites and ceremonies ; and that 
 beni"-n, that heaven-born system, which forbids its votary to 
 approach the altar, till he has extinguished the base, the selfish 
 propensity. How transcendent and superior does that Reli- 
 gion soar aloft, and prove its Divine origin, which gives this 
 precept, " Leave there thy gift and go thy vvay ; first be re- 
 concikd to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift." 
 
HAPPINESS. S7^ 
 
 around him, within which his happiness is con- 
 fined. If Happiness, then, is an internal sensation; 
 if it is the result of a certain modification of feehng 
 in each individual, then every man's mind is 
 his own kingdom, and Nature has diflfused it 
 equally among all human beings. It would be 
 no difficult task to show that it belongs not ex- 
 clusively to any state or condition, or to any age 
 or country, but is a common boon, of which all 
 Nature's children equally partake. As an author 
 says, " Ye men of all the quarters of the globe, 
 who have perished in the lapse of ages, ye have 
 not lived and enriched the earth with your 
 ashes, that at the end of time, your Posterity 
 should be made happy by European civilization." 
 Dr. Paley makes Happiness consist in the exer- 
 cise of the social affections ; of the faculties in 
 pursuit of some engaging end ; and in the pru- 
 dent constitution of the habits. After all the 
 volumes that have been written to define and 
 illustrate Human Happiness, it may perhaps be 
 best summed up in the words of the Poet, at 
 least, no axiom in Physics, is more self-evident 
 than this in Ethics, 
 
 " Remember this, (enough for Man to know,) 
 
 " Virtue alone is Happiness below." 
 
 '■>',' 
 
 The cursory remarks that compose this cor- 
 respondence now draw to a conclusion. We 
 
376 LETTER XVI. 
 
 have hastily run round the circle of Human 
 Movements ; we have glimpsed at the Stage 
 and the Performers. We have seen Man the 
 chief tenant of this Ball holding a middle rank ; 
 in physical attribute inferior to many, but in 
 mental energy superior to all : a being com- 
 pounded of Two Natures ; chained to the Earth 
 as an Animal — connected with Heaven as a 
 Spirit : born solely with animal powers, posses- 
 sinsj only the capacity of learning his nature, 
 and his end: in great measure the child of acci- 
 dent, the sport of agency, the creature of cir- 
 cumstance ; and of all animated beings, the 
 only one that reaches not his destiny here, that 
 fulfils not the final end of his existence below. 
 In dissecting his structure, in analyzing his 
 functions, we discover new wonders at every 
 step ; in unravelling the compound texture of 
 his fabric, we soon approach the limits of our 
 research : as the Eye cannot see itself, so the 
 Mind cannot loosen the gordian knot of its own 
 complexity; we are obliged to exclaim with 
 Young, 
 
 " What a Miracle to Man is Man!" 
 
 Through the haze, however, we perceive a 
 path that leads elsewhere, that carries us from 
 the confines of a material, to the frontiers of a 
 spiritual world. Man is only here a bud, de^- 
 
CONCLUSION. 377 
 
 signed to blossom and ripen in a future season. 
 The drama of Humanity is only a prelude to 
 another performance, in another and more ex- 
 alted state. We find Man placed as the Link 
 between two worlds, compounded of animal 
 organic structure, of supreme mechanism, and 
 of spiritual essence of celestial quality : we see 
 in him much to astonish us, much to admire, 
 and more to adore. In pursuing his Anatomy, 
 we soon reach the nc plus ultra of all our en- 
 quiry. We perceive him a compound of mixed 
 characters and passions, prompted to action by 
 Self-Ljove, tempered by Benevolence, regulated 
 by Reason ; blending opposite qualities, uniting 
 attributes apparently incongruous and incompa- 
 tible ; feebleness with strength, darkness with 
 wisdom, paucity with plenitude. He displays 
 in his journey here, elevation of thought, with 
 parvitude of action ; dignity of sentiment, with 
 imbecility of conduct ; and in all the majesty of 
 mind, and the sublimity of thought, still waver- 
 ing and inconsistent. Tied to the earth by some 
 faculties, rising above the clouds by others, 
 soaring to another sphere, viewing the blest 
 abodes, presuming as it were into the councils 
 of the Deity, and writing laws to govern the 
 universe; and yet looking down upon himself 
 ignorant of the means hy which he moves his pen, 
 unconscious of the nature of one simple inovemtnf 
 
378 LETTER XVI. 
 
 of his frame. We will conclude with the des- 
 cription given by the Poet, 
 
 " A Beam etherial ! suUy'd and absorpt, 
 " Tho' suUy'd and dishonoured, still divine, 
 "■ Dim Miniature of greatness absolute I 
 " An Heir of Glory, a frail Child of Dust! 
 " Helpless Immortal! Insect Infinite > 
 "A Worm! a God!" 
 
 Your's truly, 
 
 L. S. B 
 
 THK END. 
 
 V* 
 
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OCT 7 1975 
 
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