Ill lliiiill n^iC- REMARKS O N T H E INFLUENCE O F CLIMATE, SITUATION, NATURE OF COUNTRY, POPULATION, NATURE OF FOOD, and WAY OF LIFE, ON THE Difpofition and Temper^ Manners and Behaviour,, IntelleSls,, Laws and Ctijloms, Form of Government, and Religion, o F M A N I N D. By WILLIAM FALCONER, M. D. F. R. S. LONDON: PRINTED FOR C. DILLY, IN THE POULTRY. M.DCC.LXXXI. PREFACE. TH E fubjed of the enfuing Book, though it has been cafually touched by feveral writers of emi- nence, has not been particularly confidered in any fepa- rate work with which I am acquainted. This circum- ftance, as well as the importance of the fubjedt, has en- couraged me to attempt fome account of the principles produdlive or explanatory of thofe effeds ufually attri- buted to Climate, Situation, &c. upon Mankind. How far I may have fucceeded, is not for me to determine. I muft, however, beg the Reader will consider the Title, previous to the perufal of the Work ; and that I do not give it the name of a Treatife, or EfTay, but of Re- A 2 marks iv PREFACE. marks only ; as I would by no means have it under- ftood, that I wifh to give it out as a complete dif- cuffion of the fubjedl, but only as a collediion of fuch Obfcrvations as occurred to me on confidering it. I am fully fenfible I have advanced very £cw fteps in explaining a fubjedl fo copious ; but ftill hope that my labours may not be entirely in vain, if they ex- cite the attempts of thofe whofe abilities and capacity enable them to throw farther light on an objed: of fuch importance, both in moral philofophy and politics. I muft beg leave to take notice of a general miftake, which appears to me to have pervaded the works of every writer upon this fubjedl ; which is, the making their pofitions too univerfal. The Effects of Climate, &c. are all of them general, and not particular ; and if a confiderable majority of the nations, as well as the individuals, that live under a certain climate, are affcdled in a certain manner, we may pronounce decifivcly on its influence, even though there PREFACE. V there may be fome exceptions. It muft likevvife be taken into confideration, that the influence of one of the above caufes often corredls the other. Thus a hot climate naturally renders men timid and ilothful ; but the neceflity induced by a barren country, number of inhabitants, animal diet, and a favage way of life, may, any of them, corred; this tendency of the climate, and difpofe the manners to a different turn. The Chinefe inhabit a hot climate, and are probably naturally difpofed to be indolent and flothful ; but the number of the people being very great, neceflity com- pels them to labour, and thus overpowers the natural tendency of heat. A hot climate, by increafing the fenflbility, tends to make men cruel and revengeful ; but the inhabitants of the Eafl; Indian continent are mild, tender, and forgiving, and yet inhabit a hot country. The vegetable diet on which thefe people live, in this inftance counteracts the effeds of climate. In Japan, and the other Taft Indian iflands, where the people ufe animal diet, they are cruel and revengeful, flmilar to the effeds before mentioned of a hot tem- perature. VI PREFACE. perature. But the effe6t of climate, in thefe in- ftaiices, is not fupprefled, but overpowered ; it flill exifts, but its efFedl is not difcernible : remove the impediment to its adiion, and it immediately exerts itfelf, as in the inftance laft mentioned. The efFefls of each of the caufes here defcribed, w^hen com- bined together, overpower, temper, and modify one another in many inftances ; but have each of them a feparate exiftence and adlion, however they may con- cur with one another in the general efFedt. Like the mechanic powers, they may be varioufly combined, and frequently produce an effed: different from what any of them would have caufed feparately; but ftill their fpccific adlion remains, though its inferior force renders it imperceptible to our examination. A weicrht in a fcale is not deprived of gravity, bccaufe it does not preponderate againft one fuperior in that rcfpedt. I muft beg the reader will not undcrftand that I would infinuatc, that the caufes I have here men- tioned PREFACE. Vll tloned are the whole of thofe phyfical caufes that influence mankind in the particulars mentioned in the Title ; I am fully fatisfied that they may be but a fmall part, but at the fame time believe them to be among the moft powerful and important. ERRATA. ERRATA. AGE I. line 5. r. aiorii've zUo. — P. 8. 1. 2 ab imo, dele the , after tranfitnt, and place it after on/y. — P, 14. 1. 16. for is r. beitig, — P. 21. 1. 23. r, fuhfequent one. — P. 23. I. 8 ab imo, iot former r. latter. — P. 27. 1. 15 ab imo, t. fuperior to. — P. 28. 1. 20. the reference to Strabo fhould be placed at the bottom of the page. — P. 31. 1. 13, 14. dele the , after Carthage, and place it T^hn formerly. — P. 38. 1. 3 ab irao, for are r. being. — P. 40. 1. 5. r. it is a general obfervation. — P. 42. 1. 7. aher people r to be more refined and ci-vilixed. — P. 44. 1. 18. r. animad'veried on. — P. 57. 1. 3 ab imo, place a period after hot climates, and a comma zhir hijlorians, 1. 2. — P. 95. note +, r. de 'lulneribus. — Y . 98. 1. 14. r. Mettius Fuffetius. — P. lOI. 1. 17. for the necejjiiy of pardon r. entitled to pardon. — P. 103. 1. 15 ab imo, r. it appears. — P. 1 10. note •, divide the quotation from Luran thus : Illic et laxas velles, et fluxa virorum Velamenta vides. P. no. note*, ior fiuSlunte r. fl:ii unite. — P. 114. 1. 14 ab imo, r. continues it. — P. 125. 1. 4 ab imo, for This circumjtav.ee renders r. The abo've circumjtances render.— P. 138. note f, {or Percentiius Niger r. Pe/cenuius Niger. — P 139. 1. 15. r. they have moderated their rigour. —P. 162. note, divide the quotation from Virgil, JEne'iA vi. thus: Largior hie Campos ./Ether, & lumine veftit Purpureo. P. 196. 1. l8. dele to. — P. 197. note J, for of the Chinefe r. of China.— V. 198. note f, r. Fragment. Epift. Imperator Adriani in Vopi/co. — P. 207. 1. 5. dele reference to note. — P. 215. 1. 3 ab imo, r. animadierted u^on. — P. 217. 1. 9. (or Europe r Egypt. — P. 232. 1. 8. r.fotiu of the f pedes of arum, of the marjh-trefoil, isfc. — P 243. 1. 3 ab imo, r. judged of.— P. 251. note II, 1. 8 ab i.mo, dele Hodman, and at the end of the foregoing line infert it, as the name of the author from whom the quotation is made. — P. 277. 1. 7 ab inio, for incline r. liad to. — P. 2 ^7. 1. 5 ab imo, for them r. the adjacent ifands. — P. 325 note *, for Indi- calur r. fudicatur, — P 338 1. 4. for ho'we'ver r. indeed — lb 1. 9 dele honve-Tjer — P. 342, note *, lor Oefaliem r. Oefalcem. — P. 343. 1. 16. r. animad'uerted n^on. — P. 378. 1. 5 ab imo, r. to the knoiuledge of the difpofition and characler of mankind. — P. 386. note , for concujjinitrat r. concupivtrat, — P. 389. note *, for Mettius Tuffeiius r. Metlius Fuffetius. — P. 398. 1. ult. for Palitia r. Pa/ilia. — P. 407. note tt» '• 2. for Carthaginians r. AfricGns,— P. 420. I. 15. r. animad'verted upon. — P. 440. I. 1 1 . r. nor ao any of the Chinefe 'vefjels.— P. 466. 1. 5, 4 ab imo, r. 'which they — — 178 BOOK III. ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE NATURE OF THE COUNTRY ITSELF. CHAP. I. TNFLUENCEofa mountainous or plain X countiy 181 II. Fertility and barrennefs of the foil — — 184 III. Of countries rendered habitable by the induftry of man igy IV. On the efFe6l of the greater or lefs probability of the fuccefs of the crops wherewith the land is favvn 200 V. Effedls of the nature of the country on fome local laws of religion — — 202 - BOOK xiv C O N T E* N T S. BOOK IV. ON THE INFLUENCE OF POPULATION, CHAP. I. VJRE AT population — Page 205 II. Small population ■ 219 BOOK V. ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE NATURE OF FOOD AND DIET. CHAP. I. VyN iblid food — — 231 Sect. I. Animal food • ■ - — — 232 II. Vegetable food — — — — 237 III. On the effeSls of fjh as a food — — 246 CHAP. II. Liquid food — — 248 Sect. I. Water — — ib. II. Fermented liquors — — — ■— 249 III. Bffeas of tea — — 253 BOOK VI. ON THE INFLUENCE OF WAY OF LIFE 257 CHAP. I. V-/N the influence of a favagc flate — 258 Sect. I. EffeSls of a favage way of life upon the dif- pfifition ''m. - , 261 S£CT. ii. CONTENTS. x^ Sect. II. EfeSis of a favage Jiate upon the manners P. 273 III. EffeSls of a favage Jiate upon the intelleSts 284. IV. On the influence of a favage flat e upon the laws and cufloms — — ■ 301 V. On the influence of a favage flate upon the form of government — — 313 VI. Effects of a favage life upon religion 314 CHAP. II. Influence of a barbarous ftate or way of life upon mankind — — 321 Sect. I. Effects of the barbarous or pafloral flate of man^ kind on the temper and dijpofition 322 II. Influence of a barbarous or pafloral life upon t he- manners •• ■ 327 III. Influence of a barbarous flate upon the intelleSls 335 IV. Influence of a barbarous way of life upon the laws and cufloms of tnankind - ■ ■ 339 V. Efl'eBs of a barbarous flate upon the form of government 348 VI. Efl'c&s of a barbarous way of life upon religion 350 CHAP. III. On the effects of a life of agriculture upon man- kind 352 Sect. I. EffeSis of a life of agriculture upon the dif" pofltion — 353 II. EffeBs of a life of agriculture upon the manners 365 III. Influence of a life of agriculture upon the in- telleBs 375 IV. Eff'eBs of a life of agriculture upon the laws 380 V. Influence of an agricultural life upon the form of government 392 VI. Influence of an agricultural life upon religion 394 CHAP. IV. On the effeds of a commercial Ufe upon man- kind ■ — — 404 Sect. I. Effects of a commercial life upon the temper and dif pofltion — ■■ ■ ■ 404 Sect. II. XVI CONTENTS. Sect. II. EffeBs of a commercial life upon the moral cori' diiB and manners Page 410 III, htfluence of a ammercial Ife upon the intelleSlual faculties 415 IV. 'Effects of a commercial life upon the laws and cujloms ■ 417 V. EffeSls of commerce on the form of government ■ 440 VI. Infuence of a commercial life upon religion 447 CHAP. V. On the efFefts of literature and fcience — 448 Sect. I. EffeBs of learning and knowledge on the temper and difpofition ■ 448 II. Effects of learning and arts upon the manners 459 III. On the infuence of literature on the intelle5lu.il faculties — — 481 IV. On the infuence of literature and arts upon the laws and cuftoms 485 V. Infuence of literature and arts on the form of go'vernment •— — 488 VI. On the infuence of I'tcrature and arts upon re- ligion ■ 499 CHAP. VI. On the effe6ls of luxury and refinement 508 Sect. I. Effects of luxury and refinement upon the tejnper and difpofition ■ 508 II. On the effects of luxury uptn the maimers 514 III. On the effects of luxury upon the intelledlual faculties ■ 518 IV. On the effeBs of luxury upon the laws and cufoms ' ■ 522 V. On the effeSls of luxury upon the form of govern- ment — •— 525 VI. EffeSls of luxury upon religion 541- Conclufioii — — . ... ■ 552. REMARKS. REMARKS ON THE INFLUENCE OF CLIMATE, INTRODUCTION. VEGETABLE productions, feparately confidered, appear to be limited by nature to a certain climate and lituation. If removed from thence, even to no great diflance, they languilh and abate in their diuinguirtiing properties; if farther removed, they become abortive ; and if ftill farther removed, ceafe to live. The fame is true, though with greater latitude, of the animal kingdom, in which the fame general rule prevails as in the vegetable. The exadl boundaries of this limitation are not afcertained ; but we are not, on that account, lefs certain of their exiftence, al- though the difference produced in the perfedtlon of the animal or vegetable is not confiderable, when the alteration in thefe circum- ftances is but fmall. Man, however, appears to be an exception to this rule, and to be enabled to fubfifl in almofl every climate and fituation. He B reigns 2 INTRODUCTION. reign-5 wUh the lion a^d tlve tyger uader the Equator, and aflociatea with the bear and rein-deer beyond the Polar Circle. Nor is man lefs capable of fubfifting on a great variety of ali- ments, than he is able to endure a great difference of climate ; the former of which circumftances, as well as the latter, is very pro- perly adduced by naturalifts, as a great prefumption that he was intended by nature to inhabit every part of the world*. But not- withftanding this affiftance afforded by nature, it may be juilly doubted if this univerfality of the human fpecies be not owing more to his rational faculties, which enable him to fapply the defedls, and corredl the exuberances of particular climates and litu- ations, than merely to his animal formation. Independent of the affiftance imparted by reafon, man is perhaps the moft weak and defencelefs of any animal with which we are acquainted. He is the only one which is unable to endure any known climate ; but obliged to have recourfe to art, not only for the procuring of fuftenance, but alfo for defence againft the vio- lence of heat and the afperity of cold. But although man is enabled to fubfift, by means of thefe fuc- cours from his rational faculties, he is ftill liable to be confider- ably affedted, both in his body and mind, by external circum- ftances, fuch as climate, fituation, &c -f-. To enumerate fome of thefe, with their general effecfls, which relate to or influence the difpofition and temper, the manners, intelledls, laws and cuftoms, form of government, and religion of mankind, is the purpofe of.' the following pages. * Zimmerman Specim. Zoolog. Geograph. ch. I. feft. xxxi. t Some of thufe have been eftcemed of fuch confequence by the naturalifts, that Linnsus has made the peculiar temper and character of the European, Afiatic,, African, and American, fpecific diftindtions. BOOK [ 3 ] BOOK I. On the Effe6l of Climate. CHAP. I. ON THE EFFECT OF HEAT AND COLD UPON THE ANIMAL BODY. THIS method of illuftrating the eifedls of climate has been adopted by Mr. Montefquieu ; but the fubjedl he made ufe of, which was a dead iheep's tongue, being very im- proper on many accounts, and his anatomiipal and phyliological knowledge very confined, his inferences from thence are far lefs clear and happy than what have generally flowed from the pen of that illuftrious author. To avoid fimilar miftakcs, the deductions I fhall attempt to draw from this fource will be taken from known a.nd acknowledged effefts on the living human body. The effeds of heat and cold may be confidered here v/ith re- fpeifl to their aftion on the nervous, fanguineous, and glandular fyfte ms. B 2 CHAP. CLIMATE. Book I. CHAP. II. ON THE EFFECTS OP HEAT UPON THE LIVING HUMAN BODY. HEAT is perhaps the moft univerfal ftimulus with which we are acquainted ; when applied in any great degree to the human body, it excites the adtion of the nervous fyftem in gene- ral, and of the cutaneous nerves efpccially, which are moft ex~ pofed to its influence, and renders them more fufceptible of any imprefllon. If the heat be long continued, it produces a moifture upon the fkin, called perfpiration, which, by relaxing the cuticle, keeps the fubjacent nervous papillae in a fupple ftate, and obvious to every impulfe. It likewife expofes the extremities of the nerves to external impreflions, by keeping the ikin in a fmooth flate, and void of corrugation. Heat alfo, by increafing the fecre- tion of perfpiration, caufes the perfpirable matter (fimilar to what occurs in other increafed glandular difcharges, as the faliva, the mucus of the nofe, &c.) to be very much attenuated, and confc- quently fit for being eaQly and quickly evaporated, without the fame portion of it remaining long upon the ikin, or leaving much refiduum; which renders the cuticle very thin and fine, and of con- fequence fit for tranfmitting fenfations through its fubftance. By increafing the perfpiration, heat diminiflies the other evacuations, and even the fecretions. The urine is feparated but in fmall quan- tity, and the alvine evacuation is very (low. The bile however mufl: be excepted, which is confiderably increafed in quantity, and; as fome think rendered more acrimonious in quality. The difpo- fition of the body and juices to putrefadion is alfo much aug- CHAP. Chap, iii- BffeSls of Coi.vi. 5 CHAP. III. EFFECTS OF COLD ON THE LIVING HUMAN BODY. COLD, on the contrary, infimilar circumftances, corrugates or wrinkles the cuticle, and caufes the cutaneous papilla; to con- tradl, and to retire deeper into the ikin. It alfo clofes the orifices of the cutaneous glands, and thus prevents the accefs of any Irri- tating fubftance. By contracting the nervous papill.-E, it diminifhes perfpiration, and probably makes the perfpirable matter more vifcid, which renders the cuticle more dry and rigid, and even con- fiderably thicker ; by all which the accuracy of fenfation or feel- ing is much diminlflied*. Perhaps too, as Mr. Montefquieu ob- ferves, the conflrid:ion on the miliary glands may render the nerves of the Ikin in a degree paralytic ; and this I am inclined to believe may be in fome meafure the cafe, from that infenfibility which occurs in the accefs of fevers, cfpecially -f- intermittents, where the cold fit is the moft flrong and diftinguifhable. The fecretlon of the bile is diminiflied by cold, and iis quality rendered lefs acrimonious. The urinary and alvine evacuations are more regular, and more proportioned to the quantity of food taken in. The bodily ftrength is alfo greater, the bulk of the body larger^ and its humours lefs difpofed to putrefadion. * Mr. Winflow remarks, that the infenfible perfpiration is always greateft: where the feeling is required to be moft accurate, as in the palms of the hands, inr- fides of the fingers, &c. ■- — IVlnJlow's Anatomy. t Cullen's Pradice of Phyfic, § xix. CHAP. CLIMATE. Book I. C H A P. IV. liFFECTS OF HEAT ON THE TEMPER AND DISPOSITION. ROM thefe effefts of heat and cold upon the body, much of their influence on the mind may be explained. Heat, I have ob- ferved, increafes the faculty or power, as well as the accuracy, of fen- fation or feeling. This fenfibility of the body is by fympathy com- municated to the mind ; and from hence proceeds that high degree of the latter which prevails in hot climates, and which is indeed fo great as to be fcarcely conceivable, except by thofe who have felt it. This might be exemplified in numerous inilances, and is, I believe, the great fpring of their actions and condudl. SECT. I. Pqfionate I'efitper. From this fenfibility arifes the paffionate temper of thofe people^ which was obferved from early antiquity *, and their impatience under feveral circumftafices of behaviour, which never affed: people of a more phlegmatic turn. This is particularly obfervable among the Italians in Europe, and the inhabitants of the Weft Indian iflands in America. SECT. II. Amorous Difpojition. To the fame fenfibility is owing the amorous difpofition of the people of hot climates ; which difpofition again, in its turn, en- hances the fenfibility that produced it. This, as well as the jealoufy that attends love, has been always remarked as a part of the cha- ra(^er of thofe people. But although the cnthufiafm of love be moft powerful in fuch * Hippocrates dc acribus, aquis, & locis, Chap. viii. climates. Chap. iv. Effects of Heat. 7 climates, yet this pafllon is in them far irom being of a refined nature \\\ point of fentiment. Beauty, indeed, is highly v.ilued as a poiicfiion ; but regaid, efteeni, and attachment, have fcarcely any place in the, union of the ll-xes. SECT. III. VinMElive Difpojit'ion. From what has been faid of the fenfibility of the people of hot climates, we might be inclined to think that their difpofitioii would be exceedingly mild and tender : but this I do not belieV'i to be the general character of the people. The fenfibility with which they are endued, however it may teach them to feci for others, caufes them to have very quick fenfations on their own account. Thus many circumftances, which are overlooked in cold climates, are conftrued into irreparable affronts in * Japan, and fuch as nothing but death can expiate. Even the t Chiiiefe, who, as a commercial people, are obliged to have fome command of tem- per, are, when much provoked, violent and vindictive. The fame difference is, in fome meafure, obfervuble between Spain and Italy, and England. The cruel revenges likewife, fuch as by the dagger and by poifon J, fo frequent in hot climates, with the inhuman treatment of prifoners which generally prevails |1 there, prove evi- dently their difpofition to be of this nature. I am fenfible that Mr. § Montefquieu appears to have exprefTed * Vide Kjempfer. t Du Halde, vol. ii. p. 8g. X Xenophon's Cyropasdia, book vii. II See the account of the cruel ufage of the Kings taken prifoners by Adonibe- zek, Judges, i. 7. See alfo the note to chap. ill. 17, in Dr. Lovvth's Ifaiah ; and Homer's Iliad, book vi. 1. 580, &c. Pope's tranflation ; and the account of the cruel treatment of the Emperor Valerian, by Sapor, King of Perfia, given by Trebellius Po]lio> and Aurelius Vidcr. § Spirit of Laws, book xiv. chap. 15, X hinifclf: 8 CLIMATE. Book I. himfelf in fuch a manner as feems to favour a contrary opinion. But his obfervation extends only to the Eaft Indian continent, whofe inhabitants are, indeed, of a mild and gentle difpofition j but which, I think, I can fhew to be owing to a different caufe from the climate. SECT. IV. Lemty. To the fame fenfibility is owing the levity or inconftancy which is fo remarkable in warm climates. The mind is here open to every impulfe ; but as thefe fucceed rapidly one to another, they none of them make any very permanent imprelTion, but efface one another in order *. This levity is probably the caufe why the people in many defpotic governments, who labour under the greatefi: opprelllons, appear happy and at eafe. They have little concern but for the prefent moment ; and the latefl incident, however trifling, is I'ufficient to engage their attention, and to pre- vent their refledting on their own fituation and condition. The difpofition alfo for curiofity and inquifitivenefs, that pre- vails fo much in hot climates, is probably owing to levity. Every objeft makes an iniprelTion on their delicate fenfations ; which, however, being tranlient, only leaves room for another, and fo on ; which fucceffion ferves to fill up the vacancy of an indolent habit, • Women and children appear to poflefs a degree of fenfibility and levity, fimi- lar to what is here obferved of the inhabitants of hot climates, and probably for a fjmilar reafon, the weaknefs of their frame. Thus they are eafily affected and greatly agitated by the afflidions of life; but thefc emotions are felJom ol long duration, and in general eafily effaced. Men, on the contrary, arc Icfs violently affeifted, but the impreffion is of longer continuance. Thus Tacitus fays of the ancient Germans, that " tears and lamentations were edcemed the proper means " for women to fliew their concern for the lofs of their deceafed friends, but that " men fliould exprefs their grief by a fixed and lafting remembrance :" ajxd in anjther place, fpeaicing of the nation in general, he tells us, that they foon'lay afilc th'.;ir tears and outward cxprcffions of grief, but retain for a long time their internal forrow and melancholy for the lofs of iheir friends. and Chap. Iv. EffeSfs of H^kt, 9 and to confume that time which they have neither power nor ability to employ in ufeful or aftive occupations. SECT. V. Timidity. Another chara6teriftic difpofition of the inhabitants of hot climates, is cowardice, or timidity. This is owing in part, though not altogether, to the fenfibility of the people, which caufes every objedl to make the ftrongeft impreflion upon the mind. Other caufes, however, concur. The great perfpiration to which they are fubje(fl, is extremely weakening to the body, and when it becomes exceflive, nearly deprives it of all vigour -f* and aftivity whatever. This languor is naturally communicated to the mind, and debilitates that in a fimilar manner. The in- clinations become entirely paflive ; there is no ardour of enter- prize, love of fame, or defire of improvement. The fenfation of weaknefs difcourages all exertion of body or mind, by fuggefi- ing the idea of inability j and this idea, joined with the fen- fibility before defcribed, which the weaknefs itfelf contributes greatly to heighten, produces that timidity of charadler for which the people of hot climates ;{; have always been remarkable. The cowardly difpofition of the inhabitants of the Eaft is well known. An hundred Europeans, fays Tavernier, would without diiBculty beat a thoufand Indian foldiers. Xenophon alfo tells us, that the Afiatics j] in his time would not fight unlefs in company with Greek auxiliaries. Even the children of Euro- peans, born in the Indies, lofe the courage peculiar to their own + Spirit of laws, book xiv. ch. 50- X Machiavel's art of war, book i. ch. 5. II Cyropaedis ad finem. C clin^ate. 10 CLIMATE. Book I. climate. Livy -f- obferves to this purpofe, that the fame holds true of men that does with refpedl to vegetables and other animals ; that the particular nature of the feed is not fo power- ful in preferving the perfection of the produce, as the nature of the foil and climate, under which it was bred, are in changing it. He inftances this in the Macedonians, whofe defcendants polfefTed Egypt, Syria, and Babylon ; who had all degenerated to an equality with the native effeminate inhabitants of the country, and who would prove as eafy a conqueft to the Roman arms. Per- haps it is on account of this effeft of perfpiration on the animal body and fpirits, that feveral creatures that inhabit hot climates, and whofe fubfiftence is procured by their courage and rapacity, fuch as lions, tygers, wolves, &c. fliould have no fecretion of this kind; and it is not improbable, that their ability of enduring long abflinence from food may be owing to the fame cauie.. Some writers, indeed, as ;{; Vitruvius, and after him Hoffman,, afcribe the cowardice of the people of hot climates to the fmall proportion of blood in their bodies ; and even || Ariftotle feems to think, that the larga proportion of the fibrous part of the blood, is the caufe of the courage and fpirit of feveral animals. But this is little more than vague hypothefis. Lord Kames, indeed, in his Sketches of Man, has delivered it as his opinion, that a hot climate has no fpecific or peculiar power in diminifliing the courage of the people; and brings a& inftances the Malayans, and feveral other people, who are very brave, notwithftanding they inhabit a hot country. It is true that examples of this kind may be found ; but they only prove, that the natural effcloyments, and other occupations which occaiion great fweatirrg, iuch as porters, chairmen, fmiths, &c. are ftill of rohuft and athletic habits, and often endued with great perfonal courage. But it has been very properly remarked, by an ingenious and fenfible writer, that fweating in the open air, in. confequence of labour, is extremely different from the fame evacuation produced in con- fequence of II external heat. In the firft inftance, it is merely compofed of the ferous part of the blood ; in the latter, it is generally colliquative, and intermixed with the fat of the body melted down and running off by thefe excretions. People alfo» who labour hard,, generally do it when it is performed without injury to health, in a cool air, and at a cool feafon of the year» Thofe who pradlife thefe violent exertions in hot weather, or in f Vide Robcrtfon's. Hiftory of America, Zimmerman's Specimen Zoolog.. Geograph. and Mr. BufFon. J Haller. Phyfiolog. vol. vi. p. 66, 67. § Piiyfiolog. vol. vi. p. 83, 84. Vide alfo Alexander's Experimental Eflay?,. vol. i. H Alexander's Experimental EfTay^, vol, i. coniiried. Chap, iv, EfeBs of Heat. 1.3 confined places, are found to be weakened by them much in th-s fame way that is obferved of thofe who inhabit hot cHmates. This is confirmed by the appearance of thofe people who work at fuch occupations which detain them within doors, and in great heats } fuch as men who work at furnaces, glafs-houfe?, &c. who are generally of a -j- lean, withered afpedl, refembling a pre- mature old-age, and not unlike the generality of the inhabitants of hot climates. Nor does perfpiration produce this efFed; merely by means of the evacuation it occafions, but probably more powerfully by the relaxation with which it is attended, which is communicated to the mufcular parts» and tnduces that want of tenfion in the fyf- tem which occafions the debility. I am likewife inclined to believe, that the bilious difpofition of the inhabitants of thefe countries, has fome fhare in caufing their indolence of difpofition. Hot climates, I have before remarked, tend to increafe the generation of bile, which alfo is often obftruded in its paffige into the inteftines, and regurgitated into the fyftem ; and t.iis takes place fo frequently there, as to form, in fome meafure, a charadleriflic of the people. Now the bile, although intended. by nature to be an aftive flimulus to the inteftines, exerts an effect totally different when abforbed into the circulatory lyltem. It there produces J an averfion to motion, or exertion of any of the faculties of either mind or body ; from which efFedl, it may rea- fonably be fuppofed to contribute towards forming; this part of their charader. The tendency, likewife, of the animal fluids to putrefadion, which is almoft always the cafe in fuch climates, and is probably owing to the conflant perfpiration, has likewife,, I imagine, fome effedl in producing this inadivity of difpofition,^ ■f Rammazini de Morbis Artificam. X People in the jaundice are almoft univerfally difpofed to be fluggi/h and indolent. as- 14 CLIMATE. Book I. as nothing fo much or fo quickly debilitates the human body. This we fee inftanced ia the cafe of putrid -f fevers, a fudden and remarkable proftration of Hrength being one of their moft dif- tlnguifliing fymptoms. Even the cowardice ;}: of the people operates as a caufe of their indolence ; which laft favours the other again in its turn. CHAP. V. EFFECTS OF A COLD CLIMATE ON THE TEMPER AND DISPO- SITION, SECT. I. Dimi?iutio?i of fenjibility in general. COLD, by blunting the power of feeling, in the manner above defcribed, tends greatly to diminifli the fenfibility of the Jfyftem in general. The circumftances of the greater bulk and bodily ftrength of the people of cold climates, are likewife reafons why they pof- fefs lefs feniibility : a high degree of this quality is almofi: always connedled with fomething of delicacy and weaknefs of frame ; and this may be the reafon why women have more of it than men ; and why perfpiration, by weakening the body, may con- duce to the increafc of fenfibility. Hence the inhabitants of cold countries are little fubje(S to emotions of paffion, and, indeed, difficult to be excited on any occafion. SECT. IL hittlc difpofition to the tender pajjions. For the reafons given above, love, as a paffion, is fcarcely {tzw in a northern country. As a proof of this, jealoufy, it3 infepara- I Iluxliam on the putrid fever. X Rambler, No. 134. 3 ^^Je Chap. v. EffeSfs of Cold. i^ ble attendant, when the former is in a high degree, is hardly found ; and generally, when it does appear, is made an -)- objeft of ridicule. Friendfliip, likewife, or that enthufiaflic attachment which fubfifts between perfons of the fame fex, and which is the fourcc of fo much tendernefs and emotion, is feldom found where the influence of the fun is not tolerably potent. Indeed, as its foundation is laid fo much in fenfibility, it can fcarccly appenr where that does not, in fome meafure, prevail. I am,. however, far from meaning to infinuate, that people in cold cli- mates are deftitute of that bond of fociety, which confifts in a regard from one individual to another ; but only fay, that this attachment is derived from other, and perhaps more laudable motives, fuch as efteem and gratitude, and feldom arrives at that height of fondnefs and partiality which diflinguifhes the olher. SECT. III. Benevolence. The people of cold climates, however, are far from being def- titute of benevolence and kindnefs of difpofition : though not fo readily affe6led as the fouthern inhabitant, the impreflion is more permanent, and attended with greater eifed:. This is fhewn in the charitable difpofition of thefe people towards the poor, and their mild treatment of prlfoners taken in war, and in many other inflances. They are, likewife, much lefs vindicftive, and do not retain the memory J of an injury nearly fo long as the inhabitants of a fouthern climate. A great writer of the prefent age, Frederic Hoffman, has afcribed this difpofition of thefe people to a caufe feemingly rather whimfical, but perhaps not altogether deftitute of foundation in truth. He is of opinion ||, that the t The progrefs of this paflion, from a hot to a cold climate, is tlefciibed M'itlv great force and elegance in Dr. Fergufon's Efiay on Civil Society, X Tacit. Germania, chap. xxi. I[ HofFman de temperamento fundamento, he. large «3 i6 CLIMATE. Book I. large fize and tallnefs of body of the people of northern countries, is adverfe to malice or cruelty of difpofition. Hence Caefar ob- ferved, that he was under no apprehenfions on account of any danger from Antony and Dolabella, who were plump and well- favoured ; but his concern was employed about Brutus and Caf- fius, who were of a different complexion, and by whom he at iaft perifhed. The reafon of this will appear, if we confider what has been already mentioned of the effedl of robuftnefs and ilreiigth of habit in diminilhing fenfibility. SECT. IV. Steadinefs of conduSl. The inhabitants of cold countries are more fixed and fteady in their refolutions, than thofe of hot. The impulfe mull:, indeed, be flrong to produce any effedl; ; but when the impreffion is once made, it engroffes the attention in a great meafure, and is not li- able to be effaced by fubfequent ones. SECT. V. Bravery. The diminution of the fenfibility, contributes to make the peo- ple who live in cold countries lefs timid. Slight impreffions fcarcely affed them ; and the motives that would deter an inhabi- tant of a hot country from an enterprife, never reach the fenfation of one of a cold climate. This refolution of the northern na- tions, in defpifing the fear of death, was remarked by feveral of tbe ancient writers, and particularly by -j- Lucan. t Certe populus quos defpicit AnSos Felices errorc fuo ! quos ille timorum Maximus baud uigct Icti mctus ; indc ruendi In fcrrum mens prona viris animaquc capaccs Mortis } ct ignavum rcditiirae parcerc vitac. LucANi Pharfal. Lib, 1- they Chap. v. EffeSls of Cold. 17 The courage, however, of thefe people appears to be rather of the paffive kind; though to a great degree infenfiblc of fear, they are from the fame infenfibility lefs capable of brilk exertion. At this difpofition Strabo feems to hint -f-, who remarks, that the northern nations were famous in clofe f ghts, and for perfe- vering courage. This appears too from the circumflances in general attending the wars in which the Ruffians have been en- gaged. Though frequently vidorious over the beft-difciplined troops, even thofe of the king of Pruffia, by their intrepidity and fteadinefs, they were "lefs able to improve a victory, or to reap all the concurrent advantages from it, than their morefoutherly neighbours. The Abbe Chappe D'Auteroche has indeed aflerted. In his account of Ruffia, that the people of that country are not en- dued with that courage which fome philofophers have afcribed to the northern nations, but are, on the contrary, pufillanimous and cowardly to an incredible degree. But the behaviour of the Ruffian troops during the late wars in Germany^ and in the cam- paigns of the years 1769 and 1770, are amply fufficient to difprove this aflertion. The Abbe feems to have written his account of Ruffiia under the influence of a flrong prejudice, probably arifino- from the jealoufy which the French have for many years had of that power, on account of its connexion with Great Britain. Another caufe of the fuperior courage of the people of cold cli- mates is derived, I apprehend, from the habit of labour, exercife, and induftry, infpired by the climate. + Hippocrates obfcrves, ^' that idlenefs and leifure increafe and favour a cowardly difpofition, but that manly courage is the produce of labour and exercife." The ftrength alfo which is thus acquired, gives them an idea of fe- curity and confidence, which the inhabitants of hot climates do t Strabo, lib. iv. X Hippocrates dc aeribus, aquis, et locis, § 54. t) not j§ CLIMATE. Book I. not poflefs, as the fenfe of debility which they have, Iiifpires a confcioufnefs of weaknefs and apprehenfion of danger. It appears probable alfo, that the very levity prevalent among the people of warm climates, is adverfe to courage and refolution, by the un- fettled and unfteady difpofition vi^ith which it is connedled, and which it infpires. -f- Hippocrates remarks, that a manly habit, a capacity of enduring fatigue, and a courageous mind, are not likely to be found among thefe people, on account of their va- riable and uncertain regards, affeclions, and attachments. Other caufes alfo concur, which fhall be mentioned in their order. SECT. VI. Activity. Cold climates are averfe to indolence, at leaft of the body, and produce a habit of bodily exertion and activity. Repofe and fhade are the fecurities from heat ; fire and exercife the remedies of cold. So that here, the necefhties of the climate itfelf con- tribute to form the charader of the people. C H A P. VI. ON THE EFFECT OF MODERATE CLIMATES ON THE TEMPERANDDISPOSITION. SECT. I. Senfibility. MODERATE climates pofTefs a middle degree of fenfi- bility between the cold and hot. Their love of pleafure, and relifli for its various enjoyments, is confiderable, but neither of them fo great as to engrofs the mind altogether, or to enfeeble the t Hippocrates de acribus, aquis, et locis, § 33. I o body. Chap. vi. EffcBs c^ Mojderate Climates. i^ body, as in hot climates ; or fo inconfulcrable as to afford fcarccly any motives to influence our condudl and behaviour, as in cold. The temper alio of the people of moderate climates, is of a mid- dle nature between tlie fire of pafllon of the fouth, and the cold- nefs and patience of a frozen temperature. This medium of difpolition has been productive of many happy effedls on their ftate and fituation in fociety. SECT II. Love. Love undoubtedly appears to the greateft perfe6lion in moderate climates. It is there united with a degree of fenfibility and paffion on the one hand, and elleem and attachment on the other ; and free of that debafement which muft neceffarily attend the union of the fexes being made either an objed of mere paffion, or of fmiple convenience. SECT. III. Friendjhip. Friendfhip too, which is nearly allied to love, is £tt\\ to moft advantage in temperate latitudes. In great degrees of heat, the mind is enfeebled, and the difpofition becomes timid, variable, and felfifh, and of courfe unfit for the reception of a paffion, to whofe exiftence fortitude, conftancy, and fclf- denial, are fo necef- fary : and in cold countries, as has been before remarked, the affed:ions are too infenfible, and too indifferent, to arrive at that pitch of attachment, that comes up to the idea of fricndfliip. A latitude, however, rather warm than cool, is moft favourable to this fpecies of regard. SECT. IV. Moderation of cuuiuB. A proper medium alfo betv/een feverity and too great for- bearance, is moftly found in temperate latitudes. In hot cli- D 2 mates 20 CLIMATE. Book I. mates the fenfibility is apt to prompt people to active exertions of cruelty ; and though this is feldom found in cold cliniates, ^hcre is ftill in them a degree of unfeelingnefs, which is fomc- times produ»!tive of effe judgment, and the refources of war, do to other countries. The arts of policy and negociation have been faid to flourifh moft in hot climates; but / believe this to be fcarcely the cafe, in the {^nio. hot climates are here underftood. The political condudl, however, of the Chinefe and of the Japa- nefe, may prove at leaft, that; they are flifficiently verfed in their Ovvn intereft, and attentive to it. One circumflance, howeverj peculiar to hot climates, with re^^ fpedl to the intellecftual faculties, is neceffary to be remarked, which is probably owing to the in creafed fenfibility ; I mean, the early ap- pearance of genius and underftanding in the children, and its as fudden and early decline. This is obfervable in all hot climates, and is particularly remarkable in* South America, where this early appearance of genius is fuppofed to have a bad efFedt upon the moral characlcr, by bringing them to an acquaintance with vice, and relifhfor its-allurements, before their judgment and understand- ing are fufficiently mature to perceive its mifchievous confequences. To what this early progrefs of youth is to be afcribed, is difficult to explain. Does the heat of the climate forward ' the animal and- mental powers in a. manner any ways analogous to., its operations- on the vegetable world, where the plants and trees fooner come to perfedtion, but are at the fame time lefs firm and durable than thofe that take more time for the completion of their growth ? *- Ulloa's Voyage to South America, book'i. ch. 4. Or, 64 CLIMATE. Book I. Or, if this analogy fliould be deemed fanciful, may not the greater degree of fenfibility which they poflefs, and which naturally ac- counts for their quicker perception, alfo afford a reafon, from the levity, pride, and indolence which it infpires, for the fmall pro- grefs they make in knowledge in an advanced period of life ? CHAP. XV. OF THE EFFECT OF A COLD CLIMATE ON THE INTEL- LECTUAL FACULTIES. S E C T. I. On literature. "^TTHILST fenfibility and imagination difllngulfhed the w V literary produdiions of warm climates, judgment, induftry, and perfeverance were no lefs remarkable in thofe of the northern. Hence it is eafy to conceive, why poetry fliould be little * culti- vated in northern countries j and indeed I know of fcarce any poems that have appeared there, that deferve that name. Sciences, however, perhaps more ufeful to mankind, have there received the greateft improvements. Thus the fhores of the Baltic were formerly famous for the ftudies of mathematics and * Milton appears to have been apprehenfive left the coldnefs of the climate fhould be adverfe to his poetical talents : Me of thefe Nor fkill'd nor ftudious, higher argument Remains, fufficient of itfelf to raife That name, unlefs an age too late, or cold Climate^ or years, damp my intended wing, Dcprcfs'd Paradifc Loft, book ix. 1. 41. See alfo a thought of the fame kind in his Reafon of Church Government. aftronomy. Chap. XV. Effect of a W-arm Climate on the lar-Ehi.'E.cr-s. 65 aflronomy, as appears from the labours of Copernicus, Tycho Brahe, and Kepler. They feem not to have attained the palm of hiilorical merit, although the £iithful detail of public tranladions, the treaties and claims of nations, and the genealogies of princes, are, in their literature, amply preferved. But the want of the confideration of their political importance, and of the adual in- fluence they have exerted upon human affairs ; the defedl in knowledge of charadler, and of the fprings of adtion ; forbid the admiflion of thefe narrations as hiftories, or their being fuffered to ufu-rp the rank of the Greek or Roman writers upon this fubjecft. Literature and fclence, however, have been under confiderable obligations to the North : mathematics and aflironomy, I have before remarked, received there the mod folid improvement ; and medicine is fcarcely lefs indebted to them. The wor^s oi the great Linnaeus will always remain as the pride of northern litera- taire. He eftabliftied the utility of fyftematic arrangement, both in natural hiftory and medicine ; and thereby prevented much of that confufion in which both thofe fciences were before in- volved. Reformed a more univerfal method of attaining to the knowledge of many medicinal fubftances, than was before dif- covered -, and diffnfed a fpirit of enquiry, and thirft after know- ledge, the good effeds of which are fenlibly felt in the prefent age. Incited by his example and perfuafion, Canada and Egypt, Lapland and Paleftine, Italy and China, Spain and America, Surinam and the Eaft Indies, befides many other places, were all vifited by his pupils, with a view to the promotion of natural hiftory and medicine. * In fhort, the benefit fcience ' has de- rived from this great man, can fcarcely be eftimated in the pre- fent age, as the enquiries he fe.t on foot, and the branches of knowledge he encouraged and promoted, the future improve- • Mr. Stillingfleet, in his Preface toJiis Trads on Natural Hiftory. K ment^ 69 CLIMATE. Book I. ments in which niufl: in a great meafure be afcribed to him, will probably have their ufes dilcovered and acknowledged with grati- tude even by late pofterity. Moral philofophy, metaphyfics, and logic, have gained but little attention in cold climates. The want of fenlibility * in the peo- ple was unfavourable to the knowledge of charadler, or the in- veftigation of the motives of adiion ; and the fubtleties of metaphy- fics and logic were ill adapted to capacities, more fitted for ac- tive employment than for fpeculation, and difpofed rather to relifh the pra(flice, than to enquire into the nature of virtue. SECT. II. Inventions and arts. Cold climates appear to have produced originally but few in*- ventions or arts. Even fome of thofe which are the moft fami- liar to us, and apparently neceflary for fubfiftence, were unknown among feveral nations, who, in other refpedls, were far removed from favagenefs. Thus the fowing and reaping of corn was un- known to the Hunns -|- and the Alans, and even to the ancient Germans i, who had not even a word in their language to exprefs that [j feafon appointed by nature for gathering the fruits of the earth. — The knowledge of letters was not acquired until a much later period. But although the northern nations were flow at invention, they were not altogether deficient in capacity, as is evident from their having carried many branches of knowledge to greater perfedlion * Et quanto Scythis fit coclum afperius quam Egyptiis, . tanto & corpora &: ingeiiiaefle duriora. — Juftin. Lib. ii. § i. -J- Amm. Marcellin. lib. xxxi. cap. 2. X Caefar. Comment, lib. vi. — Taciti Gcrmania, cap. xxvi. I Uiide annum quoquc ipfinn non in totidem digcrunt fpccics : hicms & vcr h xftas & nomcn & vocabula habent j Autumni perinde nomen, & bona jgnoraotur. — Tacit. Germ. c«p. xxvi. »» 2 than. Chap. xv. 'Effe^ of a Warm Climate on the Intellects. 67 than was done by thofe to whom they were originally indebted for the difcovery. The manufadlures, however, of the moft northern parts of Eu- rope are but few in number; and although fome of them are ex- tremely good in their kind, and well adapted to the fituation and necefllties of the people, they have neither elegance nor variety, and fliew little marks of ingenuity or contrivance in their execu- tion. It is fomewhat remarkable, that a hot and cold climate, when in the extreme, fhould refemble one another fo nearly, as they are found to do, in fome of their eifefts. Strabo * remarks the talent which the people of the Eaft Indies had for imitation. The fame is now obferved of the Chinefe -f- to a high degree, fo as to copy even the moft obvious defeds, without diftinguifliing them from the reft of the work. A difpofition exadly fimilar is mentioned of the Ruffians J. Commerce, although adapted to fupply the wants, dues not ap- pear to fuit the genius of a cold climate, I mufr, however, be underftood to mean, that the people in fuch fituations are not calculated for that interefted and artful attention which the per- fedlion of this bufmefs requires : but their induflry and perfe- verance make ample amends ; and accordingly we find, that the northern countries, Ruffia particularly, carry on trade upon terms nearly, if not altogether, as advantageous as any of the European nations. The arts of policy and negociation, likewife, do not feem to be in perfeftion in cold climates. The franknefs, opennefs, and na- tive fmcerity, incident to them, is by no means a match for the infidlous and fufpicious difpofition of the inhabitants of the * Hift. Indiae, p. 717, Cafaubon, Paris Edit. f Don Antonio D'Ulloa fays the fame of the people of Soutl\ America^ — Vbyage to South America, B. v, ch. 5, X Hift. of Ruffia by the Abbe Chappe D'Auteroche. K 2 fouthern 68 CLIMATE. Book I. fouthern climates. Hence the remark, which is adopted by Mr. Montefquieu, that the northern nations are apt to lofe by negocia- tion what they gain by arms. So far on the two extremes. But it is not, as Mr. * Fergufon well obferves, in thefe only that the varieties of genius, before mentioned, may be clearly diftinguiftied. Their continual change keeps pace with the variations of the climate with which we fup- pofe them connedled ; and though certain degrees of capacity, penetration, and ardour, are not the lot of entire nations, nor the vulgar properties of any people, yet their unequal frequency, and, unequal mealure in different countries, are fufficiently manifeft from the manners, the tone of converfation, the talent for buli-- nefs, amufemeat, and literary compofition, which predominate, in each* e H A p. XVI. ©F THE EFFECT OF A MODERATE CLIMATE UPON THE; INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES. LET us now examine the effedls of' moderate climates in the above, refpeds. It is proper to obferve here, that although I fpeak in this work of moderate climates, as diftindl from hot and cold-^— which I do for the lake of order and arrangement — yet that this divifion is not critically juft. I am obliged, in the temperate latitude, to rank countries very different from one another in point of heat and cold, and, confequently differing from one another in difpofition, genius, &c. But the divifion I have made is fuch as has been before adopted on the fame fubjedt; and I have placed none in the in- * Hift. of Civil Society, part iii. § i. termcdiate Ch A'P . xvl . m'eSi of a Moderate CUmate on i/je Intellects. 69- termediate lift, but fuch as do not bear the marks of the extreme of either temperature,, in any confiderable degree. In feveral in- ftances, where the tendency is towards either of the extremes, L have noticed it. The intermediate climates have always been efteemed, both in ancient and modern times, to be the mofl favourable to human, nature. Galen * obferves the great fuperiority of the inhabitants of the temperate zone, over thofe both of the torrid and frigid y which appears both in manners and bodily accomplifhments, and, ftill more remarkably in the intelledlual. faculties, -f* Ariftotle alfo takes notice^ that extremes of temperature are unfavourable. to the powers of the mind,, as well, as thofe of the body ; and that, a temperate region is ufeful to both. Later experience and. obfervation has uniformly confirmed the truth of thefe remarks. The arts that have, on this fcene, been repeatedly invented, the extent of man's reafon, the fertility of his fancy, and the force of his genius in literature, commerce, policy, and war, fufficiently declare, either a diftinguiflied advantage of (ituation, or a natural, fuperiority of mind. What now remains, is to endeavour to account in fome meafure for this fuperiority, by defcribing their. ftate and qualifications more in detail. The qualities before-mentioned,, as being peculiar to the in- habitants of hot and cold climates, require to be united, or rather. a medium to be formed, in order to conftitute the perfedtion of the human charadter. Thus if, with vigour and fertility of idea,, perfeverance, induftry,. and judgment be joined, the union exhibits the higheft degree of human excellence with regard to the facul- ties. This takes place in fome meafure,. and in a general view,, in temperate fituations, wherein the inhabitants partake of the properties of both, without the noxious exceifcs of either. . It is. • Qiiod Animi vires, &c. t Problem, § 13. cHferved: 70 CLIMATE. Book I. obferved by Ariflotle "f-, that people who inhabit a cold country are full of courage and refolution, but very defeftive in matters of underftanding, and the arts ; on which account they ufually preferve their liberty, but fail in the adminiftration of government, and feldom make conquefls of their neighbours. The Aliatics, on rthe contrary, he fays, are very intelligent and ingenious in dif- coveries and inventions relative to the arts, but are deflitute of courage and refolution; on which account they are always in a ftate of fubjeftion and llavery. But the Greek nation, being in a middle fituation between the two foregoing, partakes of the good qualities of both ; for it is both brave and animated, and intelli- gent and ingenious ; on which account it always preferves its liberty, and maintains a good adminiftration of the affairs of government, and inight rule all nations, could it but acquire one uniform form of government within itfelf . To this we may add, as inftances, the greateft part of the reft of modern Europe, part of North America, the northern coaft of Africa, bordering on the Mediterranean, and part of Afia Minor. This is probably the caufe of that fuperiority which thefe countries, Europe particu- larly, have fo long maintained over the reft of the world. SECT. I. On lit e rat 117' e. In confequence of the foregoing qualities, the inhabitants of temperate climates, of Europe efpecially, have far excelled the reft of the world in almoft every article of literature : even in poetry, wherein fancy and invention would be moft happily employed, the more regular apd temperate genius of Europe has produced works far fuperior to the flighty luxuriance of hot climates. A temperature, however, rather warm than cold, appears to be .JDeft fuited to a genius of this kind. Thus moft of the poets ;t Ariftot. Rhetoric. have Chap. xvi. ^ff'e^ of a Moderate Climate on the Intellects. 71 have lived in either Greece or Italy ; and although we have one in our country inferior to none of them in point of genius, yet his partiality for the Italian poets, and the advantages he thought he derived from them, fhew, that in his opinion, fuch a foil was beft adapted to the cultivation of poetical produdlions : even in the fabulous and romantic ftyle, in which the Afiatics have been thought to excel the moft, they have been rivalled, and even furpailed, by European performances. A moderate climate alfo, or at leafl one where the heat is fome- what abated in its violence, appears to be the proper region of that faculty of perceiving, relifhing, and judging of beauty and elegance, which we call taile. To this a confiderable degree of fenfibility is neceffary, which is indeed the life and foul of tafce. But it appears that this may be increafed to too great a degree. To a good tafte, not only fenfibility of feeling, but fteadinefs of judgment alfo, is requifite ; not folely for the purpofe of choice^ and feleftion of what is admirable, but alfo to give our tafle a certain degree of confiftence and uniformity. This is generally obferved to be wanting, where the fenfibility is very exquifite : accordingly we fee, in the eaftern performances, great beauty of imagery and expreffion ; but fuch a boundlefs paffion for variety, fuch inconfiftency, and fuch improbability, as detract very much from the merit and praife to which they would be otherwile en- titled. The indolence, likewife, which heat infpires, is unfavour- able to corrednefs of compofition ; and though this may be car- ried fo far as to cramp, rather than improve genius, it is flill better than that licentioufnefs, and difregard of rule, that prevails in the eaftern performances. The government alfo, being def- potic in thefe countries, gives no encouragement to learning, and prevents many exertions of genius, which would otherwife ap- pear. The fame pafTion for ornament and fliow, appears alfo in their buildings, and even drefs. A profufion of riches is often-' tatioufl// 72 CLIMATE. Book I, tatioufly difplayedj but little judgment or tafle obferved in the arrangement. In the morefoberfciences, if I mAv be allowed the expreffion, the fuperiority is ftill more vifible. Hiftory, geography, chronology. Sec. are cultivated with molt fuccefs in temperate climates. The mechanical part of hiilory, if it may be fo termed, has been much ftudied in the North; but the reafons I have before given, prevent their labours being admitted on a rank with hiftory. In geography, indeed, a fludy which requires more toil than inven- tion, more labour than genius, the northern nations have been more fuccefsful j but ftill the moll; confiderable improvements and difcoveries have been always made from temperate latitudes. Natural philofophy alfo, though great additions have accrued to it from cold climates, has ftill received its moft folid improve- ment in moderate ones. Germany and Italy, France and England, have almoft equally contributed to advance this fcience ; fome tranches of which, efpecially in pneumatics, appear now in our own country to be making a progrefs more rapid than has oc- ■curred in any other fcience for many ages. No part of knowledge fliews the fuperiority of moderate cli- mates more than Medicine. Hot climates indeed probably gave it birth, and the labours of cold ones have contributed to its fupport; but the reducing of it to a rational fcience, the laying of its foundation in fadl and experience, the cultivation of the preparatory branches which lead to it, and are indeed a part of medicine itfelf, with moft of the valuable difcoveries that have been made in them, have nearly all proceeded from a moderate climate. Moral philofophy, likev/ife, and its attendant branches, have received the greateft improvement in fuch fituations. The fame reafons which caufed hiftory and its concomitant fciences to flourifti, have alfo caufed this to profper. Our own climate feeras particularly Chap. xvI. Eff'eSi of a Moderate Climate on thel^r-EL'Lv.cr&. 73. particularly adapted to the cultivation of Ethics in every branch. Were I to hazard a conjefture, I fliould fay, that England ap- pears to be the country beft fitted for obfervation, of any with which we are acquainted. Without the levity of the French, or the inadlivity of the Germans, they pofl'efs a great thirft after know- ledge, and defire of improvement. Their fickle and uneafy dif- pofition, alfo, is highly favourable to the advancement of fcience, as it leads them to be diffatisfied with the prefent, and of courfe, inquifitive after what is better in future. This difpofition in- duces a fpirit of examination and enquiry. The caufes and fprings of every thing are attempted to be inveftigated, and are carefully noticed. Add to this, emulation, and a defire of diftinc- tion, which fuch a difpofition naturally infpires. Perhaps the variability of the government may be one caufe of the fuperiority of genius in moderate climates. Governments too fleady and uni- form, Mr. * Hume obferves, as they are feldom free, fo are they, in the judgment of fome, attended with another fenfible inconve- nience : they abate the aftive powers of men ; deprefs courage, invention, and genius ; and produce an univerfal lethargy in the people. SECT. II. Invent W71S and arts. Inventions and difcoveries, I have before mentioned, appear better adapted to the quick perception and fenfibility of hot cli- mates, than the more temperate genius of moderate ones. In many inftances, however, the patient, the judicious, the obfer- vant attention of the European, has produced the fame inventions or difcoveries with the more fertile ideas of his Afiatic rival. Thus a perfeverance in experiment, though mifguided as to its purpofe, produced the difcovery ©f gunpowder. Chance, joined * Hume's Hift. ch. Ixxi. L with 74 CLIMATE. Book I. tvithobfervatlon, -formed one more ufeful, and nearly as Important^ viz. printing ; and one of equal confequence with either, the polarity of the magnet^ was difcovered by the fame means- The dilbovery, however, which does moil honour to the human' capacity, as being deduced folely from argument and obfervation, was made by one of our countrymen, the celebrated /f^r-y^^y. I fcarcely need here mention the circulation of the blood j a circum- fiance which had eluded the fearch of alL the. ancients and mo- derns before that time. But even if we fhould allow to hot climates the priority lb mofl inventions, it mud be admitted, that their application to ufe, and their improvement, is due in a much fuperior degree to tem.perate ones ; and in this refpedl our own, has been particu- larly diftinguiflied. Thus, although the great di(coveries of the magnet, gun- powder, and printing, have been long known in China and in In- dia, they were little ufed, and of fmall advantage to fociety;. whereas in Europe they were all quickly brought to great per- fcdlion, and applied to the mofl important purpofes. The fame holds in a great meafure with refpedt to manufa and from this information was to cure the bodies thofc hands belonged to. the CuAP.xvli. Injluencc of Climate on the Laws and Cnjioms. jj the laws, which is, to preferve quiet and peace. This is particu- larly the cafe in China, wherein every difturbance or forcible refiftance is moil feverely punilhed This principle alfo pro- duces that fevere and rigid police which is obferved in that country. It muft, however, be remarked, that this rigour ferves more, and indeed feems more intended, to humble the fpirit of the people, and render them fubmiffive to government, than to reform their manners ; for, although fo much care be taken to prevent any public difiurbance or commotion, private fraud, provided it be unattended with violence, is fubjed to little or no cenfure from the law. Even indolence itfelf conftitutes the objedt of fome laws. Thus Foe, the legillator of the Indies, formed his fyftem of laws from his own feelings ; and they are all relative to man in a flate of paflivenefs or inadlion. This doftrine, however, being derived from the nature of the climate, favoured it again in its turn, which has been the fource of infinite mifchief. More prudent, as Mr. Montefquieu obferves, was the condudl of the Chinefe legiflators, who, coniidering men not in the peaceful ilate which they are to enjoy hereafter, but in the lituation proper for difcharging the feveral duties of life, made their religion, philofophy, and laws all practical. Hence the dodlrine of Foe * is detefled by the Chinefe. It is an eftabliilied rule, that the more natural caufes incline men to inaftivity, the more moral caufes fhould eflrant^e them from it. This multiplication of the objedls of the law, has produced a great multiplication of crimes. Thus the idea of vindicating the dignity of the emperor, has given birth to the moft horrid per- fecutions in China. It is determined by the laws of that coun- try, that whofoever fhews any difrefped: to the emperor, is to be punilhed with death. As they do not mention in what this difrefpedt * Du Halde, vol. ii. p. 3^6. confifls. .^8 C L I M A T E. Book I. conluls, every thing may be conftrued into this crime, and furnifh a pretext to take away any man's life, or to exterminate his family. Thus two perfons * were put to death for having inferted fome eircumftances in the Court Gazette that were not exadlly true. Another perfon of high rank was deftroyed, together with his family, for having inadvertently made fome mark on a memorial figned by the red pencil of the emperor. Both thefe were con- ftrued into difrefpe6t. In fliort, the point among the eaftern -|- fovereigns is, not whetlier a man has done his duty, but whether the prince is offended with him j if he is, confifcatlon, imprifonment, and death, are all in his power. In the later ages of the Roman empire, when its emperors had, by indolence, luxury, and cowardice, degenerated into eaftern monarchs, their laws came to refemble thofe which we have mentioned. Thus it was enadted by an imperial law, in the reign of Gratian, Valentinian, and Theodofius, that whofoever called in queftion the prince's judgment, or doubted of the merit of any perfon which he had chofen, fliould be guilty of high J trcafon. Perhaps this multiplication of crimes might be caufed In fome meafure by the ftyle of the law itfelf, which was dic- tated by a figurative || imagination, a thing never to be indulged in the compofition of laws. Poetical licence, in the defcription of crimes, leads to fanguinary § confequences. * Du Haldc. -(- Letters from the Eaft Indies, p. 193. X In the later ages of the Roman empire, almoft every crime was conftrued into facrilege or high trcafon. — Vide Mr. Montefquieu on the Grandeur and Decline of the Roman Empire. I! The ftyle of laws flioulJ be plain and fiirplc, a dire£l expreflion being better undcrftood than an indirect one. There is no majefty at all in the laws of the Lower Empire ; princes arc made to fpeak like rhetoricians. — Spirit of Law.-, book xxix. ch. 16. § Principles of Penal Lav/. 7 .. The Chap. xvii. Injluence of Climate on the Laws and Cujioms, 79 The objed:s arifing from the timidity of the people, alfo caufe a great multiplication of crimes. Many acflions, which in mo- derate governments are accounted indifferent, or at leaft flightly cenfured, are conftrued into crimes under a timid and jealous ad- miniftration. Thus the carrying of arms, although no criminal ufe was made of them, is, in fome countries, a capital crime. The prefuming to mention, or to comment on any of the tranf- adlions of government, or even to fpeak of them with approba- tion, is, in fome cafes, rigoroufly, if not capitally, puniHied. Jealoufy, likewife, is a great multiplier of crimes : even to crofs the way, in the eaftern countries, when * a carriage, contain- ing women, is paffing, is, in many inftances, a capital offence. SECT n. Forms of law. Forms of law, in hot climates, are always iimple, and few in number. The law -|- there is not conlidered as a fcience ; no adts- of fkate, no books of law are confulted. The tedioufnefs of fuits — a neceflary evil, where the privileges of rlie fubjedt are guarded by a multiplicity of laws — cannot here be made a matter of complaint.^ Nothing more is required \ than the proof of the matter alledged ; and the decifion immediately follows. The judge tries, condemns, and orders the puniiliment himfelf. This method of proceeding is natural to the iituation and ftate of thofe people. Their lazinefs is fuch, that if the procefs were long and tedious, they would rather fuffer an injury than be at the trouble of redreffing it ; and inftead of a bleffing, would think it an in- fiafferable misfortune. The introduiftion of leoal forms and Jaw- o * Strabo, lib, xv. — Plutarch, Life of Artaxerxes. f Letters from the Eaft Indies, p. 188, iSg. \ Shaw's Travels into the Eaft, ch. \\. § i, fnitv So CLIMATE. - Book I. fuits is complained of as a great hardfliip by * Mithridates, in his memorial againft the Romans : and the tribunal eredled by Juftinian among the Lazi, to try the murderers of their king, created -f* great difcontent. Another caufe of the fimplicity of legal proceedings in hot climates, arifes from the nature of the government, which is de- fpotical. Now this kind of government does not admit of many forms, which would ferve to embarrafs, if not contraditft, the ab- folute power of the fovereign. For the fame reafon, the dura- tion of law-fuits is there very fliort : it llgnifies little how they are determined, fo that they are but determined. The Baffa, in Turkey, after a quick hearing, orders which party he pleafes to be baflonaded, and then fends them about their bulinefs. The government in China goes ftill further, as they not only punifli one of the parties, but frequently both, where the caufc of complaint was but of fmall importance. Here, as Mr. Montefquieu obferves, it would be dangerous to be of a litigious difpofition : — this fuppofes a ftrong defire of ob- taining juftice, a fettled averfion, an adive mind, and a fteadinefs in purfuing one's point. All this fhould be avoided in a govern- ment where fear ought to be the only prevailing fentiment; and in which popular tumults are often attended witli the mofl fud- den and unforefeen revolutions. SECT. III. Mode of trial. The fame caufes that render the forms of law fimple and fhort, have alfo a funilar effedt on the mode of trial. This is in general, • Juftin. lib. xxxviii. § 7. •|- Agathias, lib. 4. — Vide alfo fome excellent obfervations on this fujeil in Mr. Verclfl's treatife on the impo/Tibility of introducing the Englifh laws into Bengal. S by Chap. xvii. hijluence of Climate on the Latvs and Ciijloms. 8r by a fingle perfon, with whom the determination of tlic law, fadl, adjuftment of the forms, and punifliment, is entrufted. Several caufes concur to make them prefer this mode of decifion. Firfl, it is more fpeedy, and therefore better adapted to the in- dolence and lazinefs of the people. Next, it is more decifivc, and agreeable to the fentiments and difpofition of the reigning prince, who, in fuch governments, is generally lazy, voluptuous-, and ignorant. If the judges were many in number, they might differ in opinion, and be obliged to have recourfe to him to decide between them, a thing for which he would be ill fuited ; and alfo, as defpotic empires are moflly large, would create an in- finite confufion. The creation, therefore, of a fingle judge, as of a finfj;le vizir, is almoft a fundamental law of this g;overn- ment. There arc, however^ exceptions. In fome countries, fuperfti- tlon has overpowered the genius of the climate and govern- ment. Thus the trial by water-ordeal prevailed in feveral parts of Afia Minor, and fome other fpecies of it on the coaft of Ma- labar and Siam j and a mode of trial equally fortuitous and whim- fical in the kingdoms of Pegu * and Monomotapa. In Egypt, indeed, a mode of trial formerly prevailed, fimilar to what now obtains iu free -f- flates. But from the account given * Vide Comm. on the Laws of England, book. iv. ch. 27. t " They elected," fays Diodorus, " ten judges from each of the principal cities of the empire ; the city of the Sun, Thebes, and Memphi ; which af- fembly was not inferior to the Athenian Areopagus, or the Lacedxmonian Se- nate. Thefe thirty judges, on their aiTembling together, chofe one of their jiumber prefident, in whofe room another judge was chofen by the city of the Sun. It was not allowed to thofe judges to pafs any judgment, to tranfadl any bufinefs, or to punifli any perfon from motives of caprice or refentment, or any other partial caufe, or in any refpe£t otherwife than the law allow- ed." — It is remarkable, that the mode of proceeding, and even the ornaments worn by the judges in Egypt, were very fimilar to thofe now in ufe in our M Englifli 82 CLIMATE. Book L given by Diodorus Siculus, Egypt, though It went by the name of a Monarchy, had, at that time, a great mixture of Republican government. The reafon of this will be attempted to be explained hereafter. SECT. IV. Punijlmenfs, The accounts before given of the objed; of the law, in hot countries, and of the difpofition of the people, afford fufficient caufe for thefe being extremely fevere and cruel. Thus, where the meafure of guilt of an offence is rated ac- cording to the dignity of the perfon fuppofed to be offended, the punilhment muft needs be rigorous. Thus, by the law of Japan,.. almoft every crime is capital : and the like was formerly the cafe in Peru *. Bakers alfo have been impaled in Turkey -f- for fell- ing bread fliort of weight, a crime which we I'hould. efleem againfl the police only. Englifh courts of Law. The prefident, or chief juftice,. was ornamented with a gold chain. The pleadings were all matter of record, as with us. The plaintiff fet forth a declaration, cxprefling the matter of complaint, the ftate of the cafe, and the quantum of the damage fuftained. The defendant then put in a plea, after having received a copy of the plaintiff's declaration, in which he either traverfed the fact, or demurred to the law, or pleaded in mitigation of damages. The plaintiff might then reply, and the defendant re- join ; upon which the chief juftice, after confulting with and collecting the opinions of his brethren, who likewife conferred with one another, gave icn~ tence. It is wonderful how nearly thefe proceedings refemblcJ ours, and thofc of the civil law; anfwering in a great meafure to the declaration, plea, re- plication, rejoinder, fur-rejoinder, rebutter, and fur-rebutter, of the former ; and to the accufatio, replicatio, duplicatio, triplicatio, and quadruplicatio, of the latter.— -—For the above account of the Egyptians, fee Diodor. Siculus, book i. * The Inca in Peru was efteemed a deity ; confequenlly, crimes were there a fpecies of facrilcge. — Robcrtfon's America. t Vide on this fubjec^, Mr. Montcfquicu's Pcifi;in Letters, Letter oil. But Chap. xvii. Lijltwncc ^/Climate on the Laws and Cujloms, 8j But the punifliments of hot climates are not only fevere in the proportion, but alio in the manner of inflidllon. Not con- tented with death, which ought to be conftantlv executed with- out any additional aggravations, if has been ufual to few up criminals in the warm fkins of beafts, and in this condition to cxpofe them to the fury of wild dogs; in others, the limbs arc torn in funder by trees, chariots, or horfes ; in others, recourfe \% had to crucifixions, burnings, boilings, flayings, famiiliings, im- palements, and other modes of deftruition equally fhocking to d-ecency and to humanity. Thefe cruelties, indeed, have, "at times, to die difgrace of human nature, been perpetrated in almofl: every country; but in hot climates they are ])ermanent, and nearly univerfal. The reafon before given, of crimes being underftood in a per- ■fonal light, is undoubtedly a great caufe of the frequent infliction -of the puniftiment of death, as well as of the inhumanity in the mode of execution. But other reafons alfo concur. I have be- fore obferved, that the people of hot climates are of a timid dif- pofition. Now cowardice has been almofl; always found to have a kind of natural connexion with cruelty : whether it be from the pride of Ihewing a fuperiority, or from the defire of prevent- ing refiftance, I cannot determine. In fome inflances, however, the timidity, or perhaps the indolence of the ruling powers, join- ed with a great degree of fuperftition, has taken a turn direftly oppofite. The emperor Mauritius made a refolution never to fpill the blood of his fubje(5ts. Anafl:afius puniflied no crimes at all. Ifaacius Angelus took an oath, that no one fliould be put to death during his reign. Thefe Greek emperors, fays Mr. Mon- tefquieu, feem to have forgotten, that it was not for nothing that they were entrufted with the fword. The nature of the government itfelf, likewife, which is gene- rally defpotic, favours thefe cruelties. Terror is with them the M 2 fpring 84 CLIMATE. Book I. fpring of government ; and whatever infpires this the moft power- fully, is thought to be the bell adapted to the nature of the Conftitution. But this notion, if it be not erroneous in its original founda^- tlon, is capable of being carried greatly too far; and, inftead of remedying the evil, makes it infinitely worfe. Thus Mr. Mon"- tefquieu has remarked, that the exeeffive punifhments of Japan have corrupted that empire, though defpotic, by rendering the people ftill more hardened, obftinate, capricious, and refolute. The punifliment of death, being rendered fo common, becomes with them no objeft of terror, and lofes its effedl in enforcing obedience. Probably for the fame reafon it was obferved of an*- other empire, in form at leaft defpotic, China, that the increafe of penal laws was a fure prelude to a revolution. Another caufe of the greater feverity of punifliment is derived from the flate or condition of the people themfelves under the different governments. In thofe which are defpotic, Mr. Montef^ quieu obferves, that people are fo unhappy as to have a greater dread of death, than regret for the lofs of life ; confequently, their punifh'- ments fhould be more fevere. In the moderate, they are more afraid of lofing their lives, than apprehenfive of the pain of dying. Thofe punifhments, therefore, which deprive them fimply of lifei, are fufficient. I hope it will not be underftood, that from afligning a caufe for thefe cruelties, I mean to vindicate or to apologize for them ; I am fatisfied, tlvat in almoft every inftance, they tend to counter- aft the intent propofed j and were there no other reafon for their being rejedled with abhorrence, the voice of nature itfelf, which in every climate, fituation, and condition, cries out loudly again.H: fuch inhumanity, ought to be fufficient. It is proper to remark here, that in hot climates, almoft all difputes are of a criminal nature. If I complain of an injuftice done Chap. xvii. Infuence of Climate on the Laws and Cnjfomr. §5 done to me by another, the judge or bafla will fine, or perhaps corporally punifh, the wrong-doer j but redrefs or reparation for the damage is feldom confidered. CHAP. XVIII. EFFECT OF A COLD CLIMATE UPON THE LAWS. S E C T. I. Object. WHILE the fenfibility of hot climates conflrued every offence into a perfonal injury or affront, the phlegmatic genius of the North refolved it into the confideration of lofs and * gain. Thus the objeft, in the one cafe as well as the other, was of a perfonal kind. But whilfl: revenge was the point in the one cafe, reparation of damage was the objedl in the other. Hence the profecutions at law, even of thofe aftions which are at prefent accounted with us to be of a public nature, were then carried on as private fuits ; fuch as accufations, or, as they were then flyled,, appeals, of murder, rape, robbery, mayhem, arfon, &c. Jealoufy too, the offspring of fenfibility, which forms fo powet- ful an objedt of the laws in the Eaft, has fo little influence here, that even in our country, whofe laws were derived perhaps from a colder climate, adultery, which is capital by the civil law, is no public crime, at prefent ||, with us j and is only punifhed as a private injury or trefpafs. * The Salic, Ripuarian, and other laws of the northern nations, reduced the ilTue of all caufes to the reparation of damages ; fo that every profecu- tion was in fome meafure civil. — Spirit of Laws, book xxviii. ch. 36. II An inftance of its being made the fubjedl of an indiftnient, and accord- ingly puniflied as a public injury, may be found in the 2d vol. of the State Trials.. Timidity^ S6 CLIMATE. Book I. Timidity, likewife, which furniflied fo great an objeit of at- tention in hot climates, is here little in contemplation. Whilft force and violence * was fo carefully reftrained in Perfia and India by the feverefl: penalty, and private fraud fcarcely regarded, the contrary maxim was here obferved. Among thefe people, courage and intrepidity extenuated the guilt of an aftion. Thus, among the Alemans, a flave, who had committed a clandeiline -f theft, was condemned to a fevere puniflimentj but if guilty of a forcible robbery, he was only bound to make reftitution. This martial and courageous fpirit, whilft it diminifhed the number of crimes in fome inftances, increafed tliem in others. Thus indolence and cowardice, inftcad of being favoured by the laws, or influencing their fpirit, were, in fome places, treated as capital :}; crimes, and punifhed with an ignominious death. Th,e general tendency, however, of the laws of cold climates, is far from being favourable to the multiplication of crimes, or to reducing them to be of a capital nature. On the contrary, the capital crimes are few in number, and the inferior ones dif- tinguiflied by a ftudied exaftnefs in the proportion |] of them to one another. The ftyle of the laws alfo was plain and unadorn- ed j nor was it the cuflom of the judges to extend their mean- ing, or increafe their feverity. But the form of government, which in cold climates has almofl always fome mixture of pradtical freedom at the lead, is, perhaps, the greateft caufe of the mildnefs of the law. Terror here, not * In the ancient Roman law, the private thief was condemned to reftitu- tion of double, and the open thief to quadruple. The fame idea prevailed in the civil law — " Qui vi rapuit, fur improbior videtur." t Law of the Alemans, ch. v. § 3, 5. X I'^navos & imbclles & corpore infamcs cacno aut palude, injccla fuper crate, mergunt.— Taciti Gcrmania. II Vide the Anglo-Saxon laws — Hume's Hiftory of England— and Wilkin's Leges Saxonies. 7 being Chap, xvlli. ^ff^^ tf ^ ^°^d Climate on the L aw s. Zj being the spring of government, there is no neceflity to excite it by feverities, which the regulation of fociety, and the good of the flate, does not immediately demand. SECT. ir. Forms of Law. Legal proceedings, and forms of law, in cold climates, are, ire general, plain and fmiple, though not in the fame degree as in hot ones. Thus the forms of law in the ancient Gothic conftitution, and even in the ancient * law of England, which is held to be de- rived from it, were plain, and few in number ; and the like ap- pears to have been the cafe among the ancient Germans. The aftive, warlike, and unrefining charadler of this people,-, was averfe to quirk and fubtlety ; and from their mode of life, form of government, and degree of civilization, they had lefs necelTity for complication of legal procefles. The pride, however, and haughtinefs of this people is apparent in fome of thefe,,yet remaining. Thus, among the ancient 'j- Ger- mans, thofe perfons, who were fummoned to attend in their courts, thought it beneath their dignity to come on the day fixed, left it Ihould feem the effeift of compulfion ; but often delayed it to the fecond, and even to the third. A iitnilar indulgence prevailed in the Gothic ;{: conftitution, and is at prefent allowed- in the j] law of England; in which the perfon fummoned has three days of grace beyond the return of the writ, in which he * Vide Glanville de Legibus & Confuetudinibus Angliae. t Illud ex libertate vitium quod nee fimul nee jufli conveniunt fed alter & tertius dies cundtatione coeuntium abfumitur. — Taciti Germania, cap. xi. X Illud enitn nimias libertatis indicium concefTa toties impunitas noii parendi jiec enim uin'is judicii confeffibus poenam perdits caiifs contumax meruit. — Stiernhook de Jure Gottiorum, lib. i. cap. 6» J, Blackitone's Comm. book, iii. chap. j8, may 8S CLIMATE. Book I. may make his appearance ; and if he appears on the fourth day, inclufive, it is fufficient. A regulation of a like kind pre- vailed in the trial by * battle ; in which, if the defendant ap- peared on the third fummons, it was enough. Thus alio the challenge at the coronation of the king of Great Britain is proclaimed thrice by the heralds. And Edgar, in Shakefpear's King Lear, appears to fight with Edmund at the third found of the trumpet. Milton has imitated this pratflice in his Sampfon Agonifles, and made Sampfon defy Plarapha " thrice to fingle fight." SECT. IIL MoJe of trial The modes of trial here have been various. One of the moft ancient methods appears to have been before a confiderable num- ber of judges, who were all the peers or equals of the accufed. Thus Tacitus '\. tells us of the ancient Germans, that criminal accufations were tried before the great council of the nation, in which every free individual, as It feems, had a feat. But wlicn this method, by the increafe of flates In fize and number of peo- ple, became burdenfome. It was changed for another ; in which, however, the fame principles were retained, viz. the trial by • Citius autem fi non venerit fecuiido exigetur eodem modo h fubjunget in fine (prseco) " venite dies tranfit ocyor" Si vero nee tunc venerit exige- tur ttiam fpecies of trial were pradifed by all thofe nations who are fenfible of its advantages. But although national objefts are befl under- ftood, and even pradtifed, in moderate climates, the very uncer- tainty of political characfler, attending fuch a fituation, communi- cates a degree of inftability to this bulwark of freedom. This is evident in many inftances, particularly in that now before us. Happy will it be for us if we take warning from, inftead of -f- imi- tating, our neighbours, and preferve this invaluable treafure as the fureft guardian of our :{: liberty and profperity ! The other modes of trial, that particularly by judges, though in- ferior in point of fecurity to the innocent, and, I believe, of detec- tion to the guilty, to that by jury, are flill managed, in moderate climates, in fuch a manner as to give lefs caufe of offence than might be imagined. The judges are in general feveral in number j they are required to be || difmterefled in the caufe, and not to con- demn without the teftimony of two or more vvitnefles. But the want of an open and public trial, perhaps the moll important cir- cumftaiice of any, and on which our law lays particular flrefs; * For an account of this mode of trial, and of the advantages accruing from it, and its defeats in its prcfcnt ftatc, vide Comm. on the Law of England, book iii. oil. 23. — and Sir Atatthcw Hale's Hiflory of the Common Law. t The trial by jury is now laid afide in Sweden and Denmark. + Where the fubjccl has no guard for his innocence, he has none for his liberty. The knowledge already acquired in fome countries, or that may be hereafter at- tained in others, concerning the fureft rules to be obferved in criminal judgments, is more intcrefting to mankind than any other thing in the world. — Sp. of Laws, book xii. ch. 2. II Li the civil law, which is generally followed on the continent, the accufed has the liberty to challenge or except to the judge. Wood's Civil Law, book iv. cb. I. the Chap. xix. EffeSls of a Moderate Climate on the Laws. 105 the omiflion of confronting the evidence with the accufed, and with one another ; their not giving their tellimony viva voce, nor permitting a crofs-examination, render this mode of trial very ob- jectionable. SECT. IV. 'Pumjhment. Theeffed of a moderate climate upon punilhments is next to be noticed. In hot climates, as I have before obferved, the punishments are in general corporal, and in cold ones they were formerly almoft altogether pecuniary, or in the nature of fines or amerciaments. Moderate climates have taken a middle path, admitting, in many inftances, the neceffity of corporal, or even of capital puniiliment, and chaftifing inferior offences in the way of depriving thofe who commit them, of the whole, or part, of their property. The adjuftment of punifhments to crimes has been always, and with propriety, efteemed one of the moft difficult branches of le- giflation, and feems only to have been brought to perfedlion in temperate climates, as it was there only that the proper grounds of it were well underftood. Our own country is perhaps the moft complete model, for the due diftribution of punifhments, of any in the world, yet even there many circumftances flill remain, that difgrace our fyftem of jurifprudence. In England, however, in general, all idea of vindidlive juftice is difcarded, and puniihment is confidered only as a neceffary, though unhappy method of preventing crimes. — Capital punifliments are admitted upon the above plea of neceffity, and alfo as being autho- rifed by the divine law; but fuch executions are not aggravated by any circumftances of pain or infult, beyond the fuft'erings infepa- rable from a * violent death. This medium, though fcarcely ob- * None of the feemingly cruel parts of the fentence in high-treafon, fuch as tearing out the heart, &c. are ever pradifed now until the criminal be dead. Women, in like circumftances, are always flrangledprevioufly to their being burnt. P ferved 10( CLIMATE. Book T. ferved in any country except our own, has been recommended by feveral moralifts of the firll: clafs in other countries, fuch as by Mr. Montefquieu and Mr. Voltaire in France, and Marquis Bec- caria in Italy j which laft has, perhaps, carried his refinement on lenity to fuch a degree, as to be fcarcely compatible with the peace and fafety of fociety. On the fame grounds of preventing crimes^ our laws have of late years been very cautious of fixing any hifling vifible mark or fligma on any individual, as " * it has been found by experience, that the faid punilbment has not had the defired efFedl, by deterring fuch offenders from the future commifiion of fuch crimes ; but on the contrary, fuch offenders being rendered thereby unfit to be trufted in any honeft and lawful way, become the more defperate." For the fame reafon, however infamous the punifliment (as of the pillory) for fome crimes of civil inflitution, yet the law at prefent with us infers no infamy or lofs of credit, at leafl in point of teflimony, on that account. Thus the punifhment of the pil- lory for a libel on government does not affeualitiesof hi-a. lOt SECT. II. Peculiar Impregnations. The air may alfo afte<5l the human body by its own fpecihc or peculiar qualities. The air, it is well known, is capable of unit- ing with a great variety of fubftances. Indeed it never appears in a perfedlly pure ftate, but always with confiderable admixture of other bodies. As, however, its degrees of purity are very dif- ferent, I fhall confider it firft in the pureft ftate in which it is ufually found, and afterwards fpeak of the alterations produced in it, relative to its eftedls in the circumflances belonging to the prefent fubjed:, by fuch impregnations as ufually occur. The purity of the air has always been thought to be favourable to health. An impure air, Galen remarks, is unfavourable to every age and fituatlon in life. A pure air, therefore, was ef- teemcd favourable to the fundtions of the mind, which are fo intimately connefted with thofe of the -f- body. But, independent of this confideratlon, every one muft be fatisfied from experience of the effed of a frefh and pure air upon the mental powers, and how much they are elevated and improved by it. Our great poet, ^ Milton, feems to have paid a particular regard to this circumllance, which he defcribes with great feeling and energy. It t Experientia magiftra quotidie docet aerem purum ferenum & temperatum fa- nitati ac vitae quam maxime effe accommodatum. — Hoffman de Aeris ad fanitatem ufu. 4: As one who long in populous city pent. Where houfes thick and fewers annoy the air, Forth ifluing on a fummer's morn to breathe Among the pleafant villages and farms Adjojn'd, from each thing met conceives delight. Paradife Loft, Book ix. Y Where i62 CLIMATE. Book I. It may therefore be concluded, that a pure air is favourable to the efforts of the intelleftual powers, as well as to the health in. general. The peculiar impregnations which are liable to affedl the air, are next to be mentioned. One of thefe, the mofl fimple, and indeed the moft common of any, is water. This may be contained in the air in two ftates ; one in that of folution, and again in that oi diffufion: and it is the latter of thefe that we denominate a moift atmofphere. A moift air is lefs fuited than a dry one to abfoib the effluvia of bodies, particularly of the human body, as the perfpiratory and pulmonary difcharges. It alfo promotes the putrefad;ion of ani- Where I, a prifoner chain'd, fcarce freely draw- The air imprifon'd alfo, clofe and damp, Unwholefome draught : but here I feel amends. The breath of Heaven frefli blowing, pure and fweet With day-fpring born ; here leave me to refpire. Sampfon Agoniftes, ad Initium. The fame great poet makes it one of the punifhments attendant on the expuLfioni from Paradife, " to breathe in other air lefs pure." Milton, indeed, appears to have been particularly fcnfible of this effe(5l of pure air upon the fpirits. ■ And of pure, now purer, air Meets his approach, and to the heart infpires Vernal delight and joy, able to drive All fadnefs but defpair. Parad. Loft Book iv. Dr. Prieftley mentions, that he himfclf was fcnfible of a peculiar lightnefs and' eafe, after breathing artificial air of a high degree of purity. Diodorus Siculus, alfo, delivers it as his opinion, that pure air and pure water were circumftances favourable to arts and fcience. — Diodor. Defer. India. Viro-il makes a pure and frefli air one of the plcafures of Elyfium. Largior hie Campos j'Ether & luminc vcftit Purpurco. — illncid. Lib. vi. mat Chap, xxiii. InJIucnceof the Properties and ^alities of Air. 163 nial and vegetable fubftances. Hence may be derived, in fome meafure, the efFedls of a nioifl; air on the mind and intellects. The * found flate of the mind, as well as the health of the body, is nearly connedted with the freedom and regularity of per- fpiratlon ; and the obflruilion of this difcharge is generally attended with low fpirits. The obftrudlion, therefore, which a moid air gives to perfpiration, is a prefumptioa that it is unfavourable to the powers of the mind and underftanding. The ill effef England, reign of Henry II. A a CHAP. SITUATION AND EXTENT. Book II. CHAP. IV. SITUATION OF A COUNTRY WITH 'RESPECT TO ITS INTERCOURSE WITH OTHERS. A Country that has none, or fcarce any intercourfe with Others, is generally in a favage flate. The ferocity and fa- vagenefs of feveral of the Spanifh nations, is afcribed by -j- Strabo to their living fo remote from any other people, by which their intercourfe with Grangers was cut off. Quintiis Curtius '^ makes the fame remark, with refpedl to the people who inhabit the mari- time parts of India j and Mr. Montefquieu j| imputes the favage- nefs of the people on the coaft of Africa to the fime caufe. The rcafons of this are fufficienlly obvious. Civilization of manners is only attained by an intercourfe with mankind, and by being acquainted with the various wants and neceflities of one an- other ,- but a people who are remote from the reft of the world arc almoft always few in number, have no idea of commerce, and are unacquainted with the various improvements fuggefted by fociety. Hence their knowledge muft be very confined, their capacity of improvement very moderate, and their manners and behaviour confonant, that is, rude and unpolilhed. We fee daily, in common obfcrvation, how much, not only a connexion, but a con- flant pcrfonal intercourfe and converfition", with a variety of people, whofe wants, tempers, and manners are fo different, tends ^to civilize mankind; which muft arife from the neceflity there is, in fo varied a fociety, of a mutual accommodation to the difpolition of each other refpedively. This is, no doubt, the reafon why the inhabitants of cities are more poliihed than thofe of the country ; + Lib. iii. % Lib. ix. cap, lo. S Sp. of Laws, book x.xi. ch. 2. lo and Chap. iv. Situation of a Country refpe5ling\nTZTKCovsKSE. ijc) and why agriculture, which is rather a filent and folitary employ- ment, fliould render thofe who pradlife it more auflere and rugged in their manners and behaviour, than many other mechanic em- ployments, in which a number of perfons are concerned, in com- pany with one another. The effedl above defcribed of a town and country life upon the manners, was fo well known to the Greeks and Romans, that they ufed, in common fpeech, the wordj which fignified thefe refpefbively, to denote * politenefs and ele- gance, or -f- favagenefs and brutality of behaviour and condudt. It is well obferved by a ;}: modern elegant writer, that this confined intercourfe of the fpecies tends ultimately to the formation of a peculiar genius and temper throughout the people fo feparated. This was probably the caufe of the limilarity of difpofition among the Jews ; whofe feclufion from intercourfe with other nations, though founded on religious or political principles, had nearly the fame eiFedts with thofe ufually produced by remotenefs of fituation from the reft of the world. The fame obfervation holds good, in a great meafure, with refpedl to China. The fame genius, the fame difpofition, as well as the fame laws, manners, and cuftoms, pervade every part of this vafl empire ]]. Their feparation from the reft of mankind in fome meafure accounts for this uni- formity. This limilarity is flill more ftriking with regard to the figure and countenance. Tacitus ■f-f- fays, that the Germans liad a * A^iKTjjiOi — urbanitas, civilltas. + AypoiKia. — rufticitas. X Dunbar's Effays on the Hiftory of Mankind, EfTay xiii. II Vide Le Compte's Account of China. ■\f Ipfe eorum opinionibus accedo, qui Germaniai populos nullis aliis aliarum iia- tionum connubiis infedos propriam, et finceram, et tantum fui fimilem gentem ex- titiffe, arbitrantur ; unde habitus quoque corporum quanquam in tanto hominum numero, idem omnibus, truces et coerulei oculi, rutilae coma;, magna corpora, et tantum ad impetum valida. Laboris atque operum non eadem paticntia. Minimeque fitim aeftumque tolcrare; frigora * atque inediam. Coelo folove aflueverunt.— Germ. cap. iv. » Piobably this paiTage ftould be rsaJ thus :— Frigori atque IncdiR, cclo foloque, ilTueverunt. A a 2 certain i8o SITUATION AxVD EXTENT. Book II. certain uniformity of appearance, that went through the whole, and became a national charadieriftic ; and, indeed, the marks he defcribes, are frequently mentioned, as belonging to that people, hv other -f" authors. The lews have at prefent a certain fimilaritv to one another, that diftinguiflies them in every part of the world; which can be afcribed to nothing elfe but their being altogether divefled of any connection with ftrangers. The Chinefe, likewife, have a fimilar refemblance. The figures drawn upon the porcelain, and upon the papers for hanging rooms, brought from that country — which are faid to be very faithful co- pies of the people — bear a furpriling likenefs to one another, both in figure, attitude, and countenance. The new hemifphere prefented appearances exadtly fimilar. In America there is much lefs variety in the human form, than in the ancient continent. The moft accurate obfervers, who have had an opportunity of feeing the Americans in very different climates, have been flruck with the amazing fimilarity of their figure + and afped. The fame reafons that produced this appearance in China, have alfo operated on the other fide of the Pacific Ocean. t Strabo gives an account nearly fimilar, both of the Gauls and Germans, lib.vii. — Diodorus alfo defcribes them in the fame manner, lib. v. \ Robertfon's Hift. of America, book iv. and note xlv. BOOK C '81 ] BOOK IIL On the Influence of the Nature of the Country itfelf. UNDER this head feveral variations are comprehended. The firll of thtefe, of which I fliall treat, is of plain end billy. C H A P. I. INFLUENCE OF A MOUNTAINOUS OR PLAIN COUNTRT.- HERE it is proper to remark, that the inhabitants of moun- tainous countries may be confidered as living in a different climate from thofe who dwell in plains ; a lofty fituation being al- ways confiderably colder. Mountainous countries, therefore, mufl have a certain allowance made to them on this account, in pro- portion to their elevation or expofure. This may poflibly be one reafon why, in hot climates, we fometimes, as in Chili in South America, find among the hills fome free nations. But moun- tainous countries are thought by fome to produce fpecific effeds^ npon thofe who inhabit them. Hippocrates i82 NATURE OF the COUNTRY. Book III. Hippocrates tells us, that mountaineers are adlive in their bodies, with their joints well fitted to each other, their flcins hairy, and their bodies * patient of labour and of watching; their tempers pafTionate, obftinate, and impatient of reftraint; with their man- ners inclining rather to fiercenefs than mildnefs. They are, alfo, acute in their underftandings, and in learning the arts, and diligent in their difpofitions, with a turn for war, and military employ- ments, 'f- The above defcription of people in fuch a fituation is in a great meafure jufl: in all the inftances he mentions, and is con- firmed by other obfervations. Arillotle takes notice, that ^ hilly countries breed animals fiercer and flronger than thofe who live in plains i and that people do not feel the effects of age || fo foon in hilly as in flat countries. Mr. Swinburn **3 in his Travels through Spain, obferves, that in Catalonia the nature of the country appears to have a great influence on the inhabitants, who are a hardy, aftive, Induftrious race, of a middle fize, brown complexion, and ftrong features, their limbs well knit together, and by education and pra<5tice inured to the greateft fatigues ; and that there arc few lame or diftorted perfons among them. They likewife poffefs a bold independent fpirit, which breaks out upon every ilretch of arbitrary power, and which no tyranny or opprefllon can ftifle or fupprefs. In confequence of this difpofition of the people, and of the na- ture of the country, hilly countries are with difficulty conquered by a foreign force, and in general preferve a free government * Zimmerman afcribcs this quality to the coldnefs of their fituation. Frigoris jgitur percnnitas, et artus, et integra corpora, comprimendo corroborat, efficitque ut naturamlonge firmiorem valentioremque induant.— Zimmerman Zoolog. Geograph. fpeaking of the inhabitants of mountainous countricsi t Dc Aeribus, Aquis, et Locis, J Iv. & Iviii. i Hift. Natural, lib.viii. cap. 29. II Problem. § xiii. 7. ** Travels through Spain, Letter ix. p. 61. among Chap. i. htfliience of a mountainous or plain Country, 183 among themfelves. Thus the Scots and Welfli * long refifted the arms of the Romans and Saxons ; and the mountains of Aflurias, in Spain, ferved as a barrier againft the Moorifli conquefts, and at laft produced a people who reconquered the remainder of Spain from thofe invaders. The Swils, too, owe both their political inde- pendencyf, and their civil liberty, in a great meafure, to the ftrength of their fituation ; which equally affords an afylum againft foreign force and domeflic tyranny. The ftrength of the country was alfo, in all probability, a great caufe of the liberty of the ancient Germans. Plains, or flat countries, on the other hand, are favourable to defpotifm ; they form no barrier againft foreign invafion, no re- fuge againft internal tyranny. This difference of the nature of the country is afTigned, by Mr. :|; Montefquieu, as a natural caufe, though by no means the only one, of the flavery of Afia, and of the liberty of Europe. It is obferved, that the divifion of territory in Afia has always been into large empires j whilfl Europe has been parted into go- vernments of a more moderate extent. The caufe of this probably arifes from the vafl plains with which Afia abounds, and its being divided into much larger portions, by feas and mountains j which lafl, on account of their foutherly fituation, are not fo liable to be covered with fnow, and are, of courfe, crofled with greater facility. The fame circumflance caufes the rivers themfelves to be more in- confiderable, and to form lefs fecure barriers. On the other hand, the country in Europe is in general ftrong, and defended with greater eafe. The great ridges of mountains? * The prefervation of the Scotch freedom and independence, as a nation, was owing to their mountains and faftnefles, in the time of Edward I. of England. t Milton was of opinion that mountainous countries were moft favourable to freedom, as appears from his calling liberty the mountain nymph, in his poem of L'AUegro. X Sp. of Laws, book xvii. ch, 6, and i84. NATURE OF the COUNTRY. Book III. and rivers which are never dried up, divide it into countries of a moderate fize, and proportioned in extent, force, and national ad- vantages, to one another ; fo that conquefts are feldom made, and foon checked by a confederacy of the other ftates in favour of the opprefled, as no one of them pofleffes fufficient force to reflfl a general combination of the remainder. Tlie ftrength, likewife, of the country, prevents its being fuddenly overrun ; and its moderate fize renders it eafy for the neighbouring ilates to march to its afliftance. Thefe circumftances have, no doubt, contributed greatly to form a genius for liberty, and to render every feparate nation difficult to be fubdued, and fubjeded to a foreign power. Afia, on the con- trary, has been always remarkable for a fervile fpirit ; which, no doubt, arifes in a great meafure from their habituation to flavery, which the above natural caufes have contributed to induce i and although fome inftances refembling heroifm, and greatnefs of mind, have appeared among them, it no more refembles the fleady and regular exertion of a free people, than the ftrength acquired by labour and exercife does the tranfient and irregular violence of a -convulfive paroxyfm. CHAP. II. FERTILITY AND BARRENNESS OF THE SOIL. ANOTHER diftinftion, ftill more important, is, into barren and fertile. Fertile and pleafant countries, although they may at firft; fight appear highly defireablc, have not been found by experience to favour the perfeo\i.. i ^ ^ foreign invader ; and they are no lefs fo to the domeflic ufurpcr. But in a barren country, the pofleflions of each individual are little more than fufficient for bare fubfiftence, and of fmall efti- mation in themfelves, and only rendered valuable by induflry ; confequently, there cannot be much accumulation J of property. Scarce any temptation, therefore, is offered to the pretender to defpotifm. Riches, on the contrary, fuch efpecially as are in their own na- ture either immoveable, or at leaft not eafily transferrable from one place to another, are apt to give encouragement to attempts of this kind, by the hold they afford, and the attachments they create. Forfeitures and confifcations, the ufual attendants upon tyranny, af- fedl the rich very powerfully, and thefe only; fince, where the pro- perty of each perfon is inconliderable, they are little motives of re- ftraint. Every thing that can deter, in the latter cafe, mufl: be of a perfonal kind, cither to a man's felf, or his family, or connections. But dangers of this kind may be often eluded by flight — as there are few motives of local |1 attachment, at leaft from interefted views — X National poverty, as an elegant writer obferves, is the means by which defpo- tifm, even when eftabliflied, accomplifhes its own deftrudion. When there are no longer any profits to corrupt, or fears to deter, the charm of dominion is broken, and the naked flave, as awakened from a dream, is aftonifhed to find that he is free. The pafture of the cultivated field is no longer preferred to that of the foreft. The fufferer willingly flies where the extortions of government cannot overtake him; where even the timid and fervile may recolleiS that they are men; where the tyrant may threaten, but where he is known to be no more than a fellow-creature ; where he can take nothing but life, aiid not even that, but at the ha^a: J of his own. — Fergufon's Civil Society. \ It is certain, fays Thucydides, that the region, now known by the name of Greece, was not formerly poirefled by any fixed inhabitants, but was fubjeJt to fre- quent tranfmigrations, as conftantly every diflinct people eafily yielded up their feats to the violence of a larger fupervening number. For, as commerce there was n(^ne, and mutual fear prevented intercourfe both by fea and land ; as then the only view of culture was to (am a ptnurkus fuhjijhnce, and fuperfluous wealth v,'as a thing un- C c known ; 194 NATURE OF the COUNTRY. Book III. views — or elfe oppofed by force. But with refpeil to the rich, their property and eftates, which they cannot remove with their perfons, nx them to a place, and are indeed the greateft fecurity for their * fubmiffion and obedience. The rich, therefore, are induced by a greater number of reafons, to acquiefce under any form •f* of government, than thofe whofe motives are merely perfonal. The German and Gallic republics, defcribed by Tacitus and Casfar, were admirably calculated for preventing that debafement of fpirit that arifes from the accumulation of private property. The land there all belonged to the ftate, and a new portion was frequently cultivated in the place of the other 3 confequently, here was no room for accumulation, nor any opportunity for a prince, tyrannically difpofed, to intimidate his fubjedls by ;|; fears of this kind. Perhaps the fame inftitution in the Spartan republic, was founded on the fame grounds, efpecially as [| Laconia is faid to have been a very fertile country. known ; as planting was not their employment, It being uncertain how foon an in- vader might come and difiodge them from their unfortified habitations ; and as they thought they might every where find their daily mcejfary fupport, they hefitated but little about fniftiiig their feats. — Book i. Smith's Thucydides. * Fertile provinces, when once they have fubmittcd, the fpirit of liberty cannot return. The wealth of the country is as a pledge of fidelity. — Sp'rit of Laws, book xviii. ch. 2. f Strabo fays, that the Scythians were unconquerable, and even unattackable, "kecaufe they were poflcfled of nothing that could iiiduce them to endure flavery.— Lib. viii. X When they came to accumulate riches, and to account them matters of dif- tinflion, they loft their liberty. This was the cafe with the Sueones before de- fcribed. The reafon given by Csefar for the divifion of the land among the Gauls is, that they may learn to avoid covetoufnefs, the root of all fa£l:ions and difcord, and prefervc that equality of riches in the commonwealth, that produces peace and content. — C-efar, Comm. b, vi. c. 10. I Hcrodoti Clio. Another Chap. ii. Fertility and Barrennefs of the Boil. 19 r Another cuxumftance, highly favourable to incroachments upon liberty, is, that the rich are, in general, extremely averfe to every thing that bears the appearance of what they call dijlurbance. With them, every emotion of a free people is efteemed a certain prelude to anarchy and confufion ; and they immediately appre- hend, that their own poflelTions will be the firfl: prey feized by the riotous infurgent. But the advances to tyranny and arbitrary power cannot be checked but by refiflance ; and every refiftance, accompanied by force, produces at leafl a * temporary difturbance. This the rich are in general dilpofed to difcourage, not only from apprehenfion of danger to their pofTeflions, but alfo from motives of pride, which the poflelTion of large property, efpecially if fud- denly acquired, is apt to infpire. Popular commotions, when fuccefsful, in the vindication of liberty, always produce (for a time at leaft) a degree of equality among the members of the ftate, and point out other means of acquiring influence and refpecft, than merely what is beflowed by riches. The cultivation of the mind then becomes a fubjedt of attention, when it beftows diftindlion and power ; and confequently, under fuch circumflances, the rich muft fee many equal or fuperior to them in thefe refpeds, who arc far their inferiors in point of property; a thing extremely mortify- ing to thofe who have been accuftomed to confider riches as the great fource of refpedt and confequence. This often leads them to be favourable to the claim of an abfolute power, rather than the privileges and rights of a free people : as they think themfelves lef? degraded by fubmitting to one confeifedly their fuperior in point of rank, than in admitting others, whom they efteem of an inferior degree, to a participation of the fame privileges with themfelves... * A country that overflows with wealth, is afraid of pillage, afraid of an armyi Who is there that forms this goodly party ? fays Cicero to Atticus, are they the men of commerce and hufbandry ? Let us not imagine that thefe are averfe to mo- narchy—thefe, to whom all governments are equal, as foon as they beftow tranquUlity. —Spirit of Laws, book xviii. ch. i. C c 2 This 196 NATURE OF THE COUNTRY. Book ILL This was the cafe in a great meafure in Spain, in the year 1520, with the nobility, who at firfl: joined the commons in demanding- the reftoration of freedom, and of the ancient conftitution ; but as foon as their own feparate demands were fatisfied, not only abandoned the people, but took up arms to fupprefs their at- tempts in favour of liberty — in which they were but too fuccefs- ful. In a fl:iort period after, Charles and his fucceflbrs were en- abled to trample upon the privileges of the nobility, now def- titute of fupport from the people, and to impofe on them alfo the fame yoke which they had been inftrumental in impofing on the commons. The barrennefs or fertility of a country, in fome refpedls influ- ence the religion of it, at leaft the external forms and ceremonies- Thus a religion incumbered with numerous ceremonies, is almoft neceffary in a country of extreme fertility, in order to occupy the time, and to obviate that enormous corruption of morals, to which idlenefs, accompanied with great plenty of gratifications of the appetite, fo naturally leads to. This is probably one great fource of the morality of the Turks, and of the people of the Eail Indies. Every man, according to thofe religions, however cautious, daily commits fome crime, or incurs fome defilement, that needs re- pentance and expiation j confequently, their life is a feries of ab- lutions, penitences, and purifications. In countries, alfo, where the neceflaries of life are eafily pro- cured, and almoft fpontaneoufly produced, a religion may be tole- rated that is full of feftivals, or days of ceflation from labour ; but in a barren country this would be infupportable, and ftarve the inhabitants. This is inftanced in Mahommedanilm, and in the fedls of Chriflianity that live to the South of Europe, whofe feftivals are much more numerous than thofe of even the fame fed in the North. The influence of this circumftance is likewife difcernible In the facrifices or ofl'erings to the gods. Whilft an hecatomb, or an hun- dred Chap. ii. Fertility and Barrennefs of the Soil. 197 dredhead of cattle, were in fome countries, and on great occafions, when any fuperlative honour was intended, facrificed to the gods> it was a maxim at Athens, that thofe who offered fome fmall pre- fent, as an egg, or fuch like, to the gods, honoured them more than thofe who facrificed an * ox. The fame maxim was alfo in force at Sparta, where, though the territory was rich, agriculture was negle<5led. ** We offer fmall things to the gods," fay the Spartans, '* that we may always have fomething to offer." CHAP. III. ON COUNTRIES RENDERED HABITABLE BY THE INDUSTRY OF MAN. ANOTHER circumflance, relative to the nature of the country, is to be confidered, as whether it be fuch as has been rendered habitable by the induflry of man j and efpecially if it has been recovered from the water. There are, as Mr. Montefquieu obferves, principally three of this kind J the provinces of Kiangnan and \ Tchikiang in China, Egypt, and Holland. * There was a law at Athens ap-ainft killino; oxen. — ^lian Variae Hift. lib. v, —and Varro dc re ruftica, lib. ii, ch. 5. Valens made a law, that no calves ihould be killed in the Eaft. — Hieron. c. Jo- Tinian, lib. ii. Oil was the ftaple commodity of Attica. Minerva, to whom the olive-tree was dedicated, was the patronefs of Attica. A jar of oil was the prize at the Panathe- nean games. Athenasus tells us, that the tributes of Attica were colleited from the duties on figs, wine, and oil. — Lib. iii. J Tf^/fignifies to govern ; Kiang a river, in the Chinefe language; Kiangnan, and Tchikiang, are the two mofi: fertile provinces in the Chinefe empire ; and from their fertility, many of our ideas of the riches and fertility of the Chinefe are derived.— Du Halde, The 198 NATURE of thi COUNTRY. Book III. The difpoiition of the people, in fuch countries, is turned to induftry and frugality. The people of -f Egypt have been cele- brated from antiquity for thefe qualities. A limilar account is given of the J Chinefe : and the lame is well known to be the charadter of the Hollanders. The conflant neceflity people in fuch a fituation are under of at- tending to labour, for their prefervation and fafety, begets in them a habit of diligence || and exertion, to which alfo they are encouraged by feveral other inducements. The foil of fuch countries is almoft always very deep * and rich, and adapted to the production of feveral articles of great value ia -f- commerce. Next, as fuch countries are, for the mofl: part, interfered with canals, made originally for the purpofe of drain- ing the land, thefe are fubfervient alfo to trade and manufadrures, by furni(hing a water carriage into the internal parts of the coun- try. Again, a country thus circumftanced, is thereby rendered more fecure, both againft foreign invaders and domeflic ufurpers, as the Dutch have feveral times experienced ; a thing highly fa- vourable to induftry, and perhaps the only inftance wherein the improvement of a country in point of value adds to its natural Jlrength. The internal government of fuch a country, however it may vary in form, is always moderate in its adminiftration, and a t Strabon. lib. xvii. — Diodor. Sicul. lib. i. Fragment. — Epift. Imperator, Adrian! in Vopifco. J For the frugality of the Chinefe, fee Du Halde, v. ii. p. 60, lOO.— For their induftry, v. ii. p. 86. n This habit of induftry appears to be owing to the neceflity of their fituation, the nature of the country itfelf rather tending to infpire a contrary difpofition. See what has been faid on this fubje(3:, book i. ch. 23. § 2. * Egypt and China are both extremely fertile. — Strabon. lib. xvii.— Plinii Hift. Nat. lib. xxi. cap. 15. — Atlienoei, lib. v. — Du Halde. t The Dutch raifc madder, and feveral other commodities of great value, in higher perfedlion than can be a/Forded by any other country in Europe. great Chap. lii. Countries rendered fiabkable by the Indujlry of Man. 199 great regard paid to private property. The profperity of all na- tions depends on their poflefling a degree at leaft of liberty, and on the fecurity of property : but in thefe it is neceflary to their very exiftence as a people. The fituation in which they are placed, demands the mofl un- remitting attention and induftry, to preferve the land, gained from the water, from being again overflowed. But a defpotic govern- ment naturally tends to difpirit the people, and to render them indolent and timid ; and the infecurity of property, under fuch circumftances, is a farther bar to induftry. Thus, in the Low Countries, under the tyrannical adminiftration of the duke of -j- Alva, the dykes became negledled, and were, in many places, broken down, and large incurfions made by the fea. In China, alfo, where the fize of the empire and the climate na- turally lead to defpotifm, the firft legiflators were, in the provinces above-mentioned, obliged to make the moft excellent laws, and the government is compelled to obferve them. The ancient government of Egypt was extremely moderate, as appears from Diodorus \ Siculus. In feveral refped:s, the kings were t Watfon's Hift. of the Reign of Philip 11. X The firft kings of the Egyptians, fays Diodorus, did not lead their lives in the ofual way that monarchs do, by directing every thing according to their own will- and caprice, and without regard to any cenfure or controul. For not only his public, but his private condudt alfo, were fubjeft to fixt regulations j even his legimen of life, and his very food and diet. — Lib. i. It is extraordinary, fays the fame writer, that the daily diet of the prince ihould not be altogether in his own dire(Slion, but ftill more fo, that he can neither de- termine, nor do any thinj;, nor punifh any, from caprice, refentment, or any other unjuft caufe, contrary to what the eftablifhed laws have decreed. — Ibidem. See alfo Note to book i. ch. 17- § 3. It appears probable, alfo, from Strabo, that the Roman government of Egypt was more mild and equitable than that of the provinces in general. The judicial power there appears to have been feparated from the legiflative and executive ; a circumftance of the higheft confequencc to liberty.— Straboo. lib. xvii. 10 The 200 NATURE OF the COUNTRY. Book III. were under greater reflraints than their fubjedls ; and private pro- perty was ftriftly guarded againfl the incurfions of arbitrary power. Even at prefent, although under the Turkifh government, the power is neceflarily moderated : as it was formerly in the Infula |j Batavorum, and is at prefent in the fame place, now called Hol- land ; which nature has created to attend to herfelf, and not to be abandoned to negligence or to caprice. CHAP. IV. OF THE EFFECTS OF THE GREATER OR LESS PROBA- BILITY OF THE SUCCESS OF THE CROPS WHEREWITH THELANDISSOWN, IN this article I allude principally to rice, which is fubjedl to great uncertainty in refpedl to its produce. This is undoubt- edly a calamity, as it produces frequent famines. But, on the other hand, it has fome influence in moderating the feverity of the go- vernment. This is inftanced particularly in China*, which, like all countries that feed upon rice, is fubjedl to frequent diflrefles of this kind. The Egyptians are called a free people. In a letter of Adrian, preferved by Vo- pifcus. — Life of Saturninus. It feems that the Egyptians were very obftinate in refufing to pay tribute. *' Eriibcfcet apud cos, fi quis non infitiando tributa, plurimas in corpore vibices oftcndat." — Amm. Marccllin. lib. xxii. cap. i6. 11 " Manet honos & antiquae focictatis infigne ; nam nee tributis contemnuntur jfiec publicanus atterit : cxempti oneribus & collationibus & tantum in ufum praeli- orum fepofiti, velut tela atque arma bcllis refervantur."— Taciti Gcrmania, cap, xxix. de infula Batavorum loquens. * Spirit of Laws, book viii. ch. 21. When CiiAP. Iv. Effecls of the ProbabUlty of Succefs of Crops. 201 When the people are prefled with want, they difperfe, in order the better to procure fuftenance; in conlequence of which, gangs of robbers are formed over the country. Many of thefe are dif- perfed on their iirft appearance ; and others after having been for fome time affembled. But in a diflurbance fo general, it is not improbable, that fome of thefe bodies may meet with fuccefs. If this happens, they march to the capital, and place their leader on the throne. From the nature of things, a bad adminillration is here immediately corredted. The want of fubfiflence *, in fo po- pulous a country, admits of neither excufe nor palliation, fuch as is ufually held out to allay the ferments of the people on other occafions. Abufes here are inftantly redrefled, as the prince is in- formed of them in a fudden and fenfible manner, which applies diredlly to the fafety of his crown and perfon. He knows that if his government be not good, he will be deprived both of empire and -f life. * In China, there are not only public granaries, but every family is required by law to provide a flock againft a fcarcity. Was this provifion to be difcouraged, by tyranny or arbitrary power, or by checking induftry in any manner whatfoever, a rebellion muft enfue. A bad crop in Egypt, a country which refembles China in feveral refpedls, was formerly apt to produce revolutions in the government. " Veteri ritu poteftate depofita removetur (rex) fi fub eo fortuna titubaverit belli, ve\ fegetum copiam nega- verit terra, ut folent /Egyptii cafus ejufmodi fuis adfignare rcdloribus." — Ammian. Marcellin. 1. xxviii. cap. 5. f The mobs, fays Du Halde, are very dangerous in China, efpecially when pro- voked by famine. They once compelled the emperor to hang, himfelf. — Vol. i. n. 89.— and p. 401. 1 D d CHAP, %oz NATURE OF THE COUNTRY. Book III. CHAP. V. EFFECT OF THE NATURE OF THE COUNTRY ON SOME. LOCAL LAWS OF RELIGION. "*HE nature of th^ ..o^atry has liki.v;,re feme effedt In pro- ducing feme local laws of religion, which are not, 1 thinks ftridlly reducible under any of the foregoing heads. Thus the deification of cattle in Egypt,, and the Eaft Indies, was well adapted to the nature of the country, as well as climate, where they were fo ferviceable, and which yet admitted of but a flow multiplication of them. The fame refpedt paid to the Ibis *, in Egypt, was imputable to obvious caufes of a fimilar nature, it being of fuch fervice in clear- ing the country of the water reptiles, left by the inundations of the Nile. A law, therefore, for their prefervation was very natu- ral, and could not be fo univerfally enforced, as by making it a precept of religion. The people of Holland have, at prefent, a degree of religious veneration for florks, on a fimilar account. The refpedt paid by the Egyptians to the cat, the ichneumon, the -)- hawk, and the eagle, was for reafons of a like nature. * The Ibis, fays Herodotus, is highly reverenced both by the Arabians and the Egyptians, on account of its deftroying venomous animals. — Herodotus, book ii-. The Ibis, fays Diodorus Siculus, is of the greatefl fervice in freeing the country of fnakes, locufts, and palmer-worms.— Lib. i. The Eji/ijcians not only paid a fuperftitious veneration to the Ibis, when alive, but alfo embalmed this, and. other birds, as the hawk, when dead. — Diod. Sic. lib. i. Many mummies of birds arc found to this day in Egypt. -|- The Hawk, fays Diodorus Siculus, deftroycd fcorpions, the horned ferpents, called Ccraftes, and venomous animals, whofc bite is mortal to the human race.^ l>ib. i. The Chap. v. EffeSl of the Nature of the Country on Laws of Religion. 203 The want of fufficient and wholefome food for the hog, in Ara- bia and Paleftine, was probably amongft the reafons why this food was profcribed by the legiflators of thofe countries. An ancient law of the Gaurs in Perfia, prohibited the failing upon rivers. The caufe of this would not eafily be comprehend- ed, but was really derived from the nature of the country. Poly- bius -f- tells us, that it was cuftomary in Perfia to divide the ftreams of rivers as much as poflible, in order to water the foil in that dry country; and as a number of rivulets flowed from Mount Caucafus, they fpared no expence in diverting the courfe of their flreams. The intent of a law, then, which tended to difcourage the ufe of a river, as a colledled body of water, is too obvious to need explanation. Many more religious precepts, of a fimilar kind, might, without doubt, be produced. + In thefe parts, fays Polybius, no water is ever feen above the furface of the ground. But through the whole of the defert, there are many fubterraneous wells and ftreams, which are known only to thofe who are acquainted with the country. The account which the inhabitants give of thefe, is true : that the Perfians, v^hen they were matters of this part of Afia, gave to thofe, who brought a ftream of water into places in which there was none before, the free inheritance of the ground for five generations ; and that the natives, encouraged by this advantage, fpar-d no labour or expence to bring the water, which flows from Mount CaucafuL., in many large ftreams, through fubterraneous channels, to a very great diftance j fo that in the prefent times, thofe who ufe the waters, know not the beginning nor the courfe of the channels through which they flow. — Book x. ext. 4, The faint, in the Magian religion, is obliged to beget children, to plant ufefi;' trees, to deftroy noxious animals, to convey water to the dry lands in Perfia^ and tc work out his falvation, by purfuing all the labours of agriculture. — Gibbon's De- cline of the Roman Empire, p. 206. quoted from the Zendavefta. D d 2 BOOK [ 205 ] BOOK IV. On the Influence of Population, ^nr~1 H E greater or fmaller number of inhabitants in a coun- X try, in proportion to its extent, is an adive caufe in in-^ Suencing the people. CHAP. I. GREAT POPULATION* "^T THERE the numbers are very great, and fully adequate * V to the confumption of the producfl of the country, ever^ when fully cultivated, as was probably the cafe formerly in * Egypt, and is at prefent in China, it contributes very powerfully to form the difpofition and manners. * Egypf, fays Diodorus Siculus, was formerly the inoft populous country iii tlie known world ; and is, at this day, inferior to none. — Lib. i. The ;o6 P O P U L A t I O N. Book IV. The aticient Egyptians were * aflive, induftrious, frugal, in- triguing, greedy of money, addifted to -f- commerce, ;J thieviih, ^nd fraudulent. They were alfo i| timid, mean, and cowardly. All thefe qualities are inherent, to a great degree, in the ** Chinefe. Even the extenfive commerce which they carry on, which with us is known io require fo great a regard to honour and juftice, is not able to make them honeft. This feeming paradox is well explained hy Mr. Montefquieu, with refped to China, which is equally applicable to -f-f- Egypt. The political objeds which the Chinefe legiflators had in view, were, that the people fliould be peaceable, and fubmiffive, and in- duftrious, and laborious, efpecially in what relates to agriculture. The fubfiftence of the inhabitants is, from the nature of the foil and climate, very precarious ; and the confequence of its failure, from the great numbers who are to fuffer by it, extremely dan- gerous J it is therefore neceflary to fecure a maintenance for the people by all pofTible means ; which indeed are principally labour and induftry. No check, therefore, upon thefe, muft at any rate be admitted. This maxim, which is here a fundamental one from neceflity, caufes the morality of China to differ in its principles from ours. It is an eftablifhed rule in that countiy, that every one fhould, at any rate, be attentive to his own intereft, and promote it by any means in his power, violence excepted. Fraud, therefore, * Genus hominum feditiofifllmum, vanifllmum, injurlofinimum ; civitas opulenta, dives fxcunda, in qua nemo vivat otiofus. Alii vitrum conflaiit ; abaliis chartacon- ficitur -, alii lyniphiones funt ; omnes certe cujufcunque artis et videntur et habentur. Podagrofi quod agant habent ; habent caeci quod faciant ; ne chiragrici quidem apud cos otiofi vivunt. — Vopifci Saturninus. ■f- Diodori, lib. i. I Ibidem, Diod. Sicul. II Maxim! Tyrii DifT. xiii. ** Du Haldc, vol. ii. p. 6^, 86, 90, lOO. it Egypt is fimilur in many rcfpcds to China, as being recovered from the wa- I, and as being extremely populous. is Chap. i. Great Population. 207 is not regarded as a crime, and only looked on as an inftance of a man's * genius and attention ; and indeed, as there is no confidence on either fide, is not, in a moral view, fo criminal as it would be with us, where a breach of truft ufually accompanies the injury. If the cheat has been watchful over his own -f- intereft, the dupe ought to have been no lefs attentive on the other fide. This per- miffion to prac-iu fraud in China, nearly refembles the permiffion to fteal in Spiirta and in -f- Egypt : and was allowed, in both coun- tries, on a fimilar ground, that of rendering the people alert, vigi- lant, and induitrious. The fame reafons that have rendered the Chinefe tricking and kn'tViilj, have alfo caufed them to be timid, mean, and cowardly; to which indeed the rigid police and abfolute form of govern- ment greatly contributes. In confequence of this difpofition of the people, the ftate of China, though highly populous, and provided with riches, and all the implements of war, is in reality weak and infignificant : and although its fize, di.lance, climate, and fituation, together with fome prudential maxims in policy— fuch as the not permitting Eu- ropeans to have any ;jl fettlements in their country — have hitherto, and probably always will, prevent its being a conqueil: to any Eu- ropean power, it is by no means an objedl of dread or apprehenfion to any, even for thofe fettlements that He at the greateft diflance from Europe, and ia the neighbourhood of China. Indeed, the diflance of China from Europe, by fea, and its being furrounded with almofl impenetrable deferts by land, has been its * It is an eftabliflied rule among the Chinefe, that the buyer Is to give as fmall a price ts pofliblc for what he buvs, and nothing if he could help it j and e contra. It i« not, fay they, the merchant who deceives ; it is the buyer who deceives himfelf. •— Du Halde, vol. ii. p. gi. f Diod Sicul. lib. i. t Macao is an exception ; but »^his is only a fmall place, fituated in an ifland, and entirely in the power of the Ch neie : and, moreover, belongs to one of the European ftates, perhaps, at pr' frnt, the leaft likely of any to make foreign conquefls, 3 greatefl 2o8 • POPULATION. Book IV. greateft fecurltyj fince foreign invafions have given repeated exsm- pies, that in cafe of danger to the ilate, among all their do(5lors of ■^var and of policy, among the millions fet apart for the military profeflion, none of its members can be found, who are fit to fland forth in the dangers of their country, or to form a defence againft: the inroads of an -{- enemy reputed to be artleis and mean : fo great is the influence of a fervile principle in debafing the minds and courage ot mankind. Some fpecies of corruption, however, lux- ury J particularly, can have no place in a country of this kind, for very obvious reafons. The lands, although cultivated to their utmofl extent, are fcarcely fufficient for the maintenance of the in- habitants, confequently no part of the country can be fufFered to be in a ftate which does not furnifli fubfiftence to man j no animals can be admitted, that are not either of domeftic ufe, or contribute to the cultivation of the land; and befides, the great wafte and idlenefs, always incident to luxury, would be totally incompatible with the occonomy and induflry which is abfolutely neceflary to the daily fupport of the people. Civility of manners and behaviour are much cultivated in fuch countries, owing to the great population, which makes it neceflary to encourage, by every method, peace and tranquillity. The Chi- nefe \\ would have people filled with a veneration for one another, that each fhould be every moment fenfible of his dependence on + Le Compte's Hiftory of China, on the policy and government of the Chinefe. X Even the king of Egypt was obliged to ufe a very fimple diet, and to drink a certain quantity only of v/ine. — Diodor. Sicul. lib. i. fedt. 2. The Chincfe, fays Du Halde, never prefer the agreeable to the ufeful, or to fill the ground with ufelefs things, as to make parterres, cultivate flowers, and plant walks ; they think every fpot fliould be planted with ufeful plants. — Father Le Compte gives the fame account. It is obfcrved in China, that whenever the Court has become luxurious and indo- lent, a revolution has certainly followed. — Du Halde. II Du Halde, vol. iii. p. 157. — Lc Compte on the policy and government of the Chinefe. ibciety. Chap. i. Great Population. 209 fociety, and of the obligations he owes to his fellow- creatures ; they therefore gave rules of the mofl extenfive civility. What the late Lord Cheflerfield applied to courts only, they extend to all mankind, that ceremony in behaviour is rcquifite as the outiJoork and defence of manners. Literature and fcience, though not entirely excluded, appear to have made but moderate progrefs amongft a people in fuch a fitua- tion, nor is it likely they ever fhould. The Egyptians, fays Diodorus Siculus, teach literature very fparingly, and not all kinds of it, but principally fuch as refer to the * mechanic arts. On this account they cultivated the ftudies of -(" arithmetic, geometry, aftronomy, and the prophyladlic part of medicine; but made little account of the ornamental accomplifli- ments, as mufic, &c. The Chinefe have followed a fimilar courfe. Much has, indeed, been faid about their learning and knowledge ; but moft of this boafted fuperiority terminates, on enquiry, in being able to read and write. Confonant hereto are mofl: of the produdlions which are acknow- ledged to be of that country. Some moral precepts for the con- du(ft of life, a few books on agriculture, government, induflry, and the rules of behaviour, conftitute the greateft part of thofe works of their's with which we are acquainted. The pradical parts of agriculture, fomewhat of aftronomv, and fome branches of the mathematics, are, however, much cultivated amongft them. The attention of a people thus circumftanced was fo much en- gaged with the government and peace of the country, and the means of providing for the fubfiftence of the people, that it had little- to bellow on fubjeds which were not immediately direded to thefe * Dlod. Sicul. lib. ii. §2. t Ibidem. L :. . E e ends. 2IO POPULATION. Book IV. ends. The inftitutions of Sparta gave a profeffed contempt for whatever was not connefted with the praftical virtues of a bold and refolute fpirit ; the Chinefe cultivate no knowledge that does not contribute to the quiet of government, or the fupport of the inhabitants. The rigid police, alfo, under which thty live, has a great effedt in cramping genius, and difcouraging freedom of thought, without which literature can never make any great progrefs. A great degree of population in fome meafure influences the laws. The object of the law, in a country highly populous, is nearly connefted with the policy of the ftate. Their bent, therefore, is diredled to the providing for the maintenance and peaceable be- haviour of the people under that government. It is requifite, for this purpofe, to encourage induftry by all means, and to render, the people aftive, and difpofed to take advantage of every occur- rence. Hence fome frauds either efcape under connivance, or very mildly cenfured, which are in other countries feverely puniflied. Thus theft in J Egypt, under certain circumftances, was not only flightly regarded, but even encouraged, and regulated by the law, whfch alfo pointed out a method by which the goods fo flolen. might, on paying a certain proportion of their value, be recovered by the owners ; a tranfaftion which, in our country, is made fe* lony, and punilhed with death. t The Egvptinns, fays Diodorus Siculus, have a certain law concerning thievesi, which is very extraordinary. He who is dcfirous to pradife this method of life, re- oillers his name with the head or chief of the thieves, and engages to bring every thing that is ftolen diredtly to him. Thofe who have loft any thing, fend an ac- count of it to thefe people, fpecifying each article, with place, the day, and the hour when the lofs was fufFcrcd. In this way the goods are recovered again, the owners paying one fourth of the value to the thieves. As it was impofliblc, adds the hifto- rian, to prevent them from thieving, the legiflator invented this method of recover- ing the property again, with a dcduflion of fuch a part only of its value, as was paid for its rvdcmption. — Diod. Sic. lib. i. Fraud Chap. i. Great Population. 211 Fraud and cheating, in China, provided it be not accompa- nied with force, is little regarded by the law, from a prin- ciple mentioned before, of rendering the people watcliful, pro- vident, and attentive to their own intereft by all means ; which they might fear would be checked by too nice a fcrutiny into the juftice of every tranfadlion. But whether, confidering China as a commercial country, this be not a miftaken opinion in point of policy, I fliall not determine. But in fome inftances, a great degree of population has not only fuperfeded the laws of morality, but even of nature herfelf. When mankind multiply beyond a certain degree, their comparative value is diminifhed || with refpedl to the ilate. If this multipli- cation proceeds, each individual becomes of no value, and even an incumbrance. Hence, in China, a father is allowed to fell his daughters, and to expofe his children. In Tonquin, the fame caufes produce the fame effedls. In all probability, a fimilar cuf- tom prevailed, in the earliefl times, in * Egypt, and for the fame rcafons. Even Ariftotle was of opinion, that where the expofing of children was not allowed, the number of thofe adlually pro- duced ought to be -f limited : if they have beyond the number prefcribed II Sir William Petty, in his calculations, computes, that a man in England is worth what he would fell for at Algiers. This can be only true, as Mr. Montef- quieii obferves, with refpedl to England. There are countries where a n^an is worth nothing ; there are others where he is worth lefs than nothing. — Sp. of Laws. * The ftory of Mofes being expofed on the banks of the Nik, renders it probable ■that this cuftom was in ufe in Egypt very early. Children are now expofed, on the jiver of Canton, exaftly in the fam.e manner that is related of Mofes. Jofcphus fays, that the /Egyptians call water by the name of AIo, and fuch as are faved out of it by the name of Vfis. This feems to intimate that this method of ex- pofing children was not then uncommon,— See Jofephus's Jewifh Antiquities, book ii. ch. g. § 6. t All population mull be underftood as proportioned, not to the extent of country E e 2 onlv. 212 POPULATION. Book IV. prefcribed by the law, he advifes to make the women mifcarry before the fcetus be J formed. But the above unnatural permifiion has been thought, with great reafon, like moft fuch, to have had an effedt diredlly oppofite to what was intended, and to have rather increafed than diminillied the population of the country. This it has done by encouraging marriage. The parents are induced to marry, from having thefe means of relief in view; and when the offspring is produced, parental tendernefs interpofes, and the children are preferved. It appears, however, from || Diodorus, that Egypt, in the times he defcribes, though at that period exceffively full of people, was not efteemed to be over populous. That * writer tells us, that the Egyptian priefls married one wife, and the other people as rrmny as they pleafed ; and that they educate or rear all the children, from the notion of the numbers of people contributing to the well-being, and profperity of the ftate. It is alfo mentioned, that pregnant women, in Egypt, were not allowed to be executed; as is the cafe with us alfo. Spurious children alfo, in Egypt, were equally regarded with thofe born in matrimony ; which feems to have been inflituted with, the intent of increafmg the population of the country. I am inclined to believe, that a great population is apt to make the laws more fevere in fome inftances. Thus in China idlenefs is a crime; and in India, we are told by Strabo, that it was capital to lame an artificer in the hand, or to put out or blind him of an eye; which was not fo penal if done to any other perfon^ Thefe laws originated from the neceffity of univerfal induftry in only, but alfo to the capacity of the ground to maintain them : Attica, therefore, , feeing barren, might be very populous in this view, though its numbers were not, great. t Ariftot. DcRcpublica, lib. vii. cap. 16. II Lib. i. * Ibidem. Chap. i. Creat Population. 2T3 fuch countries. A great degree of population naturally produces a rigid and exafl police. The dani^er of fudden diflurbances and infurredtions, in a populous country, both to individuals and to the ftate, point out the neceffity of reprefTing them as quickly as poffi- ble. Thus we are informed by -f- Strabo, that in India the regu- lation of the police conftituted a principal part of the attention of govern ment> and was extremely rigid and exaft. Diodorus J Siculus mentions, that in Egypt this was carried to a great length, infomuch as to affign even a capital punirtiment for the fufFering, or not preventing, an offence againft the peace. The regulations at prefent in force in China are of a fimilar nature; every man there is a kind of fecurity for the good beha- viour of his neighbours, and thus made to partake, in fome mea- fure, of their guilt, as a punifhment on his negledt in not prevent- ing its taking place. There are, befides, in China, fome perfons, who, being efpe- cially intrufted with the care of the condudl of others, are par- ticularly anfwerable for it : thus fathers ||, in China, are refpon- fible for the conduft of their children, and liable to be pu- niflied for their mifbehaviour, even with death. This circum- ftance, I fuppofe, is one great caufe of the high refpedt and obe- dience paid to parents in China, lince it would be abfurd to make the parents anfwerable for the conduft of thofe over whom they had not the power of controul. Parental authority alfo, by the fubordination it inculcates, is extremely well fitted for maintaining a regular police. t Lib. XV. X If any one fliall fee another murdered in the highway, or violently attacked, and fliall not go co his afliftance, if it be poflible for him to give it, he fhall undergo a capi- tal punifhment ; if, hov/ever, the perfon prefent cannot, through infirmity, give any help, he ought ftill to difcover and profecute the robbers; if he negleits this, he is puniflied with a certain number of ftripes, and with being kept from food for three days. — Lib. i. II Du Halde, vol. ii. p. 44.. In. 214 POPULATION. Book IV. In countries of this kind, the adminiftration of juftice is always by ftated laws, or at leaft rules. Where the people are exceffively numerous, frequent difputes muft neceflarily arife, which require for their decifion tribunals of juftice j which are obliged to decide in an uniform manner, both to prevent the increafe of litigation — which, in fo populous a country, would be infinite, if a new law was to be made upon every occafion — and alfo to preferve the regu- larity of the police, by giving to every individual a fixed and known rule for his condudl and behaviour in fociety. Another reafon for the ftability and uniformity of laws in fuch ilates, is deduced from the neceflity there is ot encouraging in- duftry in every rank of life, and indeed in every individual, in order to maintain fuch a multitude of people. If the property of every man was not efteemed tolerably fecure, he would fcarcely be dif- pofed to pay that attention to labour which is there neceffiiry for * the fubfiftence of the people. Thus we are told by Diodorus, that in i^gypt -f-, the greatefl regard was paid, both to the forma- lities of juftice, the beft means for the dil'covery of truth, and the uniformity of decifion. I am inclined to believe, neverthelefs, that the formalities of law amongft fuch a people are both few and fliort. Diodorus, indeed, mentions feveral flakes of proceeding in the litigation between the * As China grows every day more populous, notwithftanding the expofing of chil- dren, the inhabitants are inceffantly employed in tilling the lands for their fupport. This requires a very extraordinary attention in the government. It is their perpe- tual concern, that every man (hould have it in his power to work, without the appre- henfion of being deprived of the fruits of his labour. — Sp. of Laws, book viii. ch. 21. f In the middle of the images in the fcpulchrc of Ofymandua, fays Diodorus, is that of the prefident of the court of jnfticc, with many books lying by him, and the fio-ure of Truth, v/ith her eyes fliut, hanging from his neck. By this is implied, that it is the duty of judges to accept no prcfents, but to regard truth only. — Diodor. book i. p. 31. Seenote to bouki. ch. 17. §3. of this work. 3 parties Chap. I. Great Population. 215 parties in Egypt ; but it is likely that all of thi^fe feldom took place, and probably they were but Ihort in therafelves, as we are exprefsly told that all rhetorical ornament, and application to the * paflions was excluded, and nothing but the naked fadl, and, perliaps, the law anilng from thence, allowed to be difcufTed. The mode of trial, likewife, by the -f oath of the defendant, which was allowed in all matters that were by fimple contrail, and without any v/ritten teftimony, was very fhort, and took up but little lime. The formalities of law in ^ China are, likewife, very- few in number, as well as the laws themfelves, and it feems to be the intention of the government, probably for this reafon amongft: others, to difcourage || litigation as much as poflible. ' The mode of trial moft confonant to fuch a Itate, I apprehend to be by judges, who determine on the law and fad:, and, indeed^ upon the whole merits of the caufe at once. This is the moll; ex- peditious mode of decilion, and on that account mod likely to be adopted. This was the form of trial in ** Egypt formerly, and is fo at prefent in China. I am inclined to believe, alfo, that a great degree of populatioa tends to multiply capital punifhments. As the importance of each individual to the ftate is diminilhed — which is the cafe in a nu- merous fociety— the legiflators have become more carelefs of their prefervation, and lefs fcrupulous in inflidting the punilhment of death. Thus, in Japan, where the population is immenfe, feveral crimes are capital, which in other countries are fcarcely ani- madverted by the laws. The increafe of population alio, in out^- own country, has probably been the principal caufe of the in- creafed feverity of our penal laws, . which was remarked fo many * Book i. p. 48. t Booki. p. 50. X Du HaUle, vol.i. p. 269. H Strabo feems to hint as if this was the intent of the Indian legiflators, lib. xr» ** S.ee book-i. ch. 17. fe£l. 3. note, years • 21.6 P O P U L A T I O N. Book IV. * years ago. China and theEaft Indies are, however, exceptions to this obfervation ; but this I take to be owing to particular cir- cumftances. The neceffity that there is in China for regularity of police, and for the infuring to every man the fruits of his labour, prevent very -f rigorous executions of juflice ; and in India, the nature of the food, of which I fliall fpeak hereafter, infpires a dif- pofition that is adverfe to fanguinary punifhments. A great de- gree of population has alfo a confiderable efle(5t upon the cuftoms, feveral of which are connefted with what has been before men- tioned as the objedl of government. Thus it was formerly a cuftom in India, as we are told by Strabo :};, that at the beginning of the new year, the kings and phi- lofophers of the country met together, and thofe who had made any pertinent remarks, either relative to the fruits of the earth or to animals, were rewarded with an exemption from tribute. At prefent, in |1 China, the Emperor performs an annual ceremony of opening the grounds. Several of the kings ** of India do the * Nee vita hominis interea charior fed abjedlior. — Spelman GlofT. p. 350. + For the reafon before given, of the neceflity of encouraging indulhy in China, few of their punifhments afFe(f\ property; but corporal punifhments are very common. Mr. Helvetius remarks, " that the defpotifm of China is, according to fome authors, very moderate, of which the abundance of their harvefts is a proof. In China, as well as every where elfc, we know, that, to make the earth fertile, it is not enough to compofe good books of agriculture, but that there be no law which oppofes culti- vation ; therefore the taxes in China, fays M. Poivre, do not amount, on indifferent lands, to more than one-thirtieth of the produce. The Chinefe, therefore, enjoy their property almofl entire: their government, confequently, in this refpeft, is good J but is it fo with regard to the property of their perfons? The habitual and enormous diflribution they make of the flrokes of the bamboo proves the contrary. It is their arbitrary punifhments that, doubtlefs, debafes iheir fouls, and makes of almofl all the Chinefe, a knavifh merchant, a cowardly foldier, and a citizen with- out honour." — Helvetius's Trcatife on Man, tranflated by W. Hooper, M. D. 1777- X Lib. XV. Jj Du Haldc, torn. i. p. 72. ** La Loubicre Defer, of Siam, p. 69. fame. Chap. i. Great Population. 217 lame, and a fimilar cuftom prevailed in * Peru; which funftlon in that country was very politically dignified, by denominating it the triumph of the Prince or Inca, who boafted to be defcended from the fun, over the earth. From what has been before obferved of the effed: of a great de- gree of population upon the laws, it appears, that the form of go- vernment muft neceffarily have a confiderablc admixture of -j- li- berty, or at leaft of moderation in the exercife of power. The an- cient government of Europe, as has been before obferved, was ex- tremely moderate; and the reftraints, even of a perfonal kind, upon the prince, were in fome refpedls more rigid than upon any of his fubjedls. In China, indeed, the power of the emperor is J unli- mited ; • Robertfon's America, book vii. f Cato the Cenfor feemed to think, that a kingly government was inconfiftent with great population, from his calling kings, men-eaters, or deftroyers of men. — Life of Cato the Cenfor by Plutarch. X " This power, however, attached to the imperial dignity, abfolute as it is, finds a reftraint which moderates it in the very laws which eflablifh it. It is an innate principle with them, that the whole ftate is one great family, and that the prince ought to have the fame regard for his fubjedts that a father of a family has for his children ; and that he ought to rule over them with the fame tendernefs and affec- tion. This idea is impreffed naturally on the minds of all the Chinefe. They judge of the merits of the prince, and of his talents, from his paternal affection to his people, and by the care he takes in letting them feel its good effefts in the pro- motion of their happinefs. He is called by them the parent of his people. He is only feared in proportion as he is refpefled for his goodnefs and virtues. Thefe are the lines in which they defcribe their great emperors, and their books are all full of the fame maxims. Thus, according to the general idea of the nation, the emperor is obliged to enter into the moft minute detail of every thing that regards the people. It is not for his pleafure that he is raifed to the fupreme rank. He ought to make it his amufement to fulfil the duties of an emperor, and by his tendernefs, applica- tion, and vigilance for the good of his fubjedts, merit the name of parent of his people. If his conduft is not conformable to thefe ideas, he falls into the moft fove- reign contempt. Why, fay the Chinefe, has Heaven fet him upon the throne, but to ferve as the parent of his people ? Another reftraint which the laws have put upon F f the 2i8 POPULATION. Book IV. mited ; that is, there are no fixed bounds annexed to it : but then he is neceffitated to exercife this power in a certain manner. Should his edidts tend to deftroy or weaken any part of the fyftem of government, or police, the inconvenience would be immediately felt, and he would be compelled to alter his meafures, in order to preferve his own authority. The regular administration of juftice, the exadl police, and, above all, the abfolute neceffity there is for encouraging induftry — which can never be done but by rendering property fecure — are all bars to defpotifm and tyranny. An exceflive population, in fome refpedls influences the religion of a country, and fuperfedes the difpofition naturally infpired by the climate. When the numbers are increafed to fuch a degree as in China, it becomes neceffary, in order to their maintenance, to promote induftry by religious, as well as political or moral precepts. There were formerly in China, as well as in the other eaftern kingdoms, great numbers of monafteries of Bonzes, an idle kind of religious devotees, who contributed nothing to the public by their induftry. But when the population of the country in- creafed, it became neceffary to change the genius of the religion, from one that favoured * indolence, to one that encouraged aftir- vity. It was then adopted as a religious, as well as a political the fovereign authority, in order to reftrain any prince who may be tempted to abufe this power, is the liberty which is given to the Mandarines to reprefent, in. the moft humble and refpedful manner, the faults which he has committed in the adminiftration of the ftate, and which are contrary to good order and a wife government. If he difregards thefc, or Ihews any refentment againft thofe who offer them, he would lofe all reputation with his fubjedts ; who would extol that Mandarine who had facrificed himfelf for his country; and his memory would be regarded highly by poftcrity. Many of thefe martyrs for the public good, are to be found in the Chincfe hiftorics." — Du Halde, vol. ii. p. 15. See alfo Le Compte's account of the Policy and Government of the Chinefe. * The fefls of Fo and Lao, which hold a void, and nothing, as the principle and termination of all things, and encourage idlcncfs and ina(5livity, are detefted. among the Chinefe.— Du Halde, vol. ii. p. 336. maxim. Chap. i. Great Populationj 219 maxim, that if there was a man who did not work, or a woman that was idle, fomehody muft fufFer cold and hunger in the em- pire. And upon this principle, a vaft number of monafteries of Bonzes were deftroyed. From an attention to the maintenance of the inhabitants of a highly-populous country, religion has been even made to publifli dictates inconfiftent with nature and humanity. Thus the religion of the Ifle of Formofa -f does not fuffer the women to bring children into the world before they are thirty-five years old. If they are pregnant before that time, the prieftefs, by bruifing the belly, procures abortion. CHAP. II. SMALL POPULATION. A Very fmall | degree of population produces an oppofite effedt in mod refpefts. I am apt to believe, that a people under fuch circumftances would be inclined to an indolent difpofition. Labour and induilry are originally produced by ncceiTity, and im- proved by habit ; but in a country thinly inhabited, the j] fpon- taneous produce fuffices for the maintenance of the people ; and confequently, neceffity has but little power in exciting induftry. This was probably one caufe of the idlenefs of the ancient Ger- t Colleftion of voyages that contributed to the eftablifliment of the Eaft India company, Vol. i. part. i. page 182 and 188. X As a country very thinly inhabited, at leaft in the degree here fuppofed, is, for the moft part, in a favage fiate, it Is diiEcult to diftinguifl), in many inftances, to which of thefe caufes, the efFedts I have mentioned are more particularly to be re- ferred. In all probability, they both concur in the fame general efFeft, in many inftances, I Cibi fimplices, agreftia poma, recens fera, & lac concretum. — Taciti G'ermania, F f 2 mans. 220 POPULATION. Book IV. mans, and of the North American Indians at prefent. But of thefe qualities, more in another place. The temper of fuch a people is generally undefigning and gene- rous. As fubfiftence is eafily procured by every one, and luxury is unknown, the wants of each individual are few, and eafily fatis- fied. Hence, there is little art and cunning, as there is no temp- tation to employ them. Property is but little known, and lefs efteemed ; confequently, the corruption arifmg from venality can have no place. As they can have no inducement to diffimulation, they are open and * communicative in their tempers ; though this circumftance varies in different nations. Affedtion and perfonal regard are carried to a great length among a people of this defcription. The mind, unembarraffed by motives of vanity, -f- property, and intereft, has its force con- centered on the proper objedl of its attachment, the human fpe- cies." The mutual dangers and fucceifes, the wants and diftrefles,. which they undergo in company with one another, together with the. inftances of generofity and affiftance, which in fuch critical fitua- tions muft often be reciprocally afforded, among a people few in number, and all united in one courfe of life, cannot fail to excite the ardour J of friendship, and create a degree of attachment un- known to any, but thofe who have experienced fimilar fituations * Gens non aftuta, ncc callida, aperit adhuc fecreta pe£loris licentia loci. — Tacitus. The Gauls, alfo, were very communicative and inquifitive. — Casfar. This charadler, however, is moft fuited to the European nations ; the North. Americans being very refcrved, and great mafters of diffimulation. t Private property is unknown among the American Indians. — Carver's Travels, p. 247. X Frlendftiip appears to have been much cultivated among the ancient Ger-- mans. Tacitus tells us, that it was neceflary to adopt the enmities, as well as the attachments, of thofe with whom we were conneiSted ; and dcfcribes, in a fhort but pathetic manner, the concern exprcfled for their lofs. " Lamcnta & lacrymas cito j dolorem & triftitiaiu tarde ponunt." — Taciti Ger- inania. 5 m Chap. ii. Small Population. 221 in life. Hence, probably, the devoted friendfhip of Thefeus and Pirithous, of Pylades and Oreftes, and perhaps of Achilles and Patroclus, in ancient hiftory; and the excefs of this fpecies of re- gard, which prevails at prefent among the American Indians. What tended, likew^ife, I apprehend, to enhance the value of thefe mutual fervices, was, that they were done freely, and without any expedlation of a return j and alfo, that they proceeded from perfonal interpoiition, 6ften attended with great hazard to thofe by whom the fervice was conferred. This naturally created ef- teem, gratitude, and afFedion, on the one hand, and a high degree of the lad of thefe paffions on the other. Protedlion as naturally creates a love to the objedt on which it is beftowed, as it does gratitude and attachment in the perfon v/ho has received the obli- gation ; and thefe regards are greatly heightened, if this happens by perfonal interference. We all know how naturally we grow fond of animals that apply to us, and court our proteftion, or which we have, by accident, preferved from danger and diflrefs : and it is a great mark of Fielding's difcernment in human nature, to reprefent Mr. Allworthy taking fuch an afFedion to a found- ling child, from the circumftance that he himfelf was perfonally concerned in its prefervation ||. The members of a community that are but few in number, are, for fimilar reafons, more * attached to their fociety or ftate,> than: II Homer was extremely fond of painting fcenes wherein the heroes were con- cerned in doing fome perfonal fervice to one another. Thus Neftor is refcued by Diomede, Teucer by Ajax, Ulyfles by Ajax and Menelaus. Neftor adminifters. the remedies with his own hands to Machaon, when wounded ; and Patroclus drefles the wounds of Eurypylus. A fimilar difpofition reigns among the American Indians. Mr. Carver tells us, that in dangers, they readily give afliftance to any of their band who ftand in need of it, without any expedtation of return, except of thofe juft rewards always conferred by the Indians on merit. The very difmtereft-. ednefs of thefe adlions muft be very powerful in kindling the fire of friendfhip. * In their public chara£i:ers, as forming part of a community, they pofTefs ar». attachment for that band to which they belong, unknown to the inhabitants of any 222 POPULATION. Book IV. than when they are more numerous. In large focletles, the views and interefts of one part or body of them are often incon- fiflent with or oppofite to thofe of another ; which caufes a degree of relaxation of that attachment, which is the bond of union amongft them. But in a ftate confiding of but few members, the whole of the people form but one body; confequently, their views are the fame, and therefore likely to be purfued with greater unanimity and perfeverance, and, inftead of dividing, tend to draw the tie of mutual attachment ftill clofer. Another caufe why in fuch fitua- tions the love of their country or fociety is more predominant, is, that they are not interefted for their community merely as a body, but alfo for the particular perfons that compofe it. In a large and numerous body, the individual is loft in the croud ; but in a fmall number, his connexions are comparatively more extenfive, and he becomes of importance in his private character, and thinks himfelf a -j- perfonal fharer both in the glory and misfortunes of his country ; and is, of confequence, more anxious for its welfare and profperity. This was, no doubt, one great caufe of the devoted patriotifm of the Grecian ftates, and indeed any other country. They combine, as if they were a£tuated by one foul, againfl the enemies of their nation ; and banifli from their minds every confidcration op- pofed to this. They confult, without unneceflary oppofition, or without giving way to the excitements of envy or ambition, on the meafures necefTiry to be talcen for the deftrudlion of thofe who have incurred their difpleafure. No fclfifli views •ver obftruiS their confultations, or influence their advice. Nor is it in the power of bribes, or of threats, to diminifli the love they bear to their country. The honour of their tribe, and the welfare of their nation, is the firft and moft predo- minant emotion of their hearts ; and from hence proceed, in a good meafure, all their vices and virtues. A6luatcd by this, they brave every danger, endure the moft exquifite torments ; and expire triumphing in their fortitude, not as a perfonal qualification, but as a national chara£lcriftic.— Carver's Travels, p. 412. .r + It is very properly obfervcd by Dr. Gregory, that love of a country, and of a jjublic, cannot fubfift among men who neither know nor love the individuals that ,^compofe that public. — Gregory's Comparat. View. of Chap. ii. Small Population. 223 of the Roman, during the firfl: ages of the republic j and has no fmall efficacy, at prefent, in exciting the fame paffions among the North American Indians. Bravery and fortitude are lilcewife, in general, qualities which mankind poflefs under fuch circumftances. Thefe are, indeed, always efteemed, and held as the principal point of honour, where- ever mankind have not been greatly corrupted. But the pecu- liarity of fuch a fituation has caufed many of the maxims and tenets, relative to this point, to be very different from thofe of other countries, wherein the numbers are more abundant. This is inftanced, in a high degree, among the North American Indians before fpoken of. The fmallnefs of the number of this people, has caufed them to fet a particular value on the life of each mem- ber of their fociety. Thus it is with them a principle of honour, in war, to preferve life as much as poffible, and to do the greateft mifchief to the adverfary, with the leaft * hazard to themfelves. They deem it folly to expofe their own peffons, in affaulting the enemy ; nor do they rejoice in victories that are ftained with the blood of their countrymen. They do not value themfelves, as in Europe, upon defying their enemy upon equal terms. They even boafl, that they approach like foxes, or that they fly :|: like birds, * The Indians think that there is little glory to be got by attacking their enemies in the open field. Their greateft pride is to furprife and deftroy. They feldotn engage, without a manifeft appearance of advantage. And they efteem it the greateft qualification of a chief warrior, to be able to manage an attack fo as tO' deftroy as many of the enemy as poffible, at the expence of a few men. — Carver's Travels, p. 311. X Among the ancient Germans, who were, like the North American Indians, a nation of warriors, and few in number, to give way in battle, was no difgrace, but rather a mark of military (kill, provided the attack was renewed. f " Cedere loco, dummodo rurfus inftes, confilii quam formidinis arbitrantur,"— Taciti Germania. "*-"" Some tribes of the ancient Germans, the Arii particularly, made ufe of fimilar arts in war with thofe pradifed by the North American Indians, in order to do the 224 POPULATION. Book IV. birds, not lefs than that they devour like lions. In Europe, to fall in battle is honourable -, in America, it is difgraceful ; it indi- cates that a man had not been fufficiently careful of his life, which was not only of importance to himfelf, but to the ftate. But the torments thefe people willingly endure, and even folicit, when fallen into the enemy's hands, prove, that their dourage and refolution are, in a high degree, eminent. The fame reafons which make nations, in fuch circumftances, fo careful of the lives of their own people, occafion their wars to be carried on apparently with a great degree of cruelty. Their objed: in war is to diftrefs a ftate, by deftroying or captivating the people who compofe it; and by this they judge of their fuccefs. They do not, therefore, releafe their prifoners, as we do in Eu- rope, to return and ftrengthen their party or fociety, but either put them to death, or adopt them into their own nation ; which laft circumftance proves, that the deftrudlion of them was not fo much from motives of cruelty, as with a view of diftreffing the adverfe ftate. But what fhall we fay to the horrid cruelties with which prifoners of war are treated in thefe countries, when an eafier death would have anfwered the fame purpofe ? This is difficult to explain. It appears as if it was the opportunity they ■defire, to try their fortitude ; as the maxims they purfue in war, and their point of honour, are fo different from ours, as has been hefore mentioned, and afford no room for the difplay of that courage and magnanimity which they poffefs in fo eminent a de- gree. It is certain, that no hatred or perfonal refentment is in- tended by it. They obferve the point of honour in the applica- the greateft damage to the enemy, with the lead poffiblc injury to themfelves. Caetcriim Arii fuper vires, quibus enumerates paulo ante populos antecedunt, tru- ces, infitx feritati arte ac tempore lenocinantur. Nigra fcuta, tinfta corpora, atras ad proelia nodlcs Icgunt : ipfaquc formidine atque umbra fcralis exercitus ter- lorcm infcrunt, nullo hoftium fuftincnte novum ac velut infernum adfpedtum- — Taciti Germania, cap. xliii. tion. Chap. ii. Smail Population. 22c tion, as well as In the bearing of their torments ; and, by a ftrange kind of regard, were diredled to be moft cruel, where they in- tended the higheft refpedt. The coward was put to immediate death by the hands of the women j the valiant was fuppofed to be entitled to all the trials of fortitude that man could invent or employ. It is obfervable, that it is the warriors only — who are diflin- guiflied by the marks on their breafts and anns — that fufFer in the moft cruel manner, that of being put to death by fire. This is efteemed a mark of refpedl due to their prowefs, which it would be highly cruel to deny them ; and even the fufferer himfelf, by no means wifhes to decline the trial; and even excites his tormen- tors to make his tortures as fevere as poflible, in order that he may have a greater opportunity of difplaying his fortitude in en- during them. One of thefe, Mr. Carver |] tells us, when in the laft ftruggles of life,, and no longer able to vent in words the in- dignant provocation his tongue would have uttered, even then, a fmile of mingled fcorn and triumph fat on his countenance. Literature * and fcience, it may be well expefted, could have no place among a people of this defcription, as they are, for the moft part, in a favage ftate. But with refpedl to fome of the arts of life, as thofe of hunting and fifhing, and alfo in the art of war, they are far from being defedtive. But of this more in another 'Y place. As to laws, a people under circumftances wherein property- was nearly unknown, could have need of but few. In fuch a ftate, the vindication of a right, or the redrefs of an injury, is coniidered more as a private affair, than as a public concern. Some crimes, however, which affe(ft the public intereft, or tran- I Carver's Travels. * Literarum fecreta virl pariter ac foeminae ignorant. — Taciti Germania, cJlp. XIX. The fame is true of the American Indians. t Vide book vi. — on the Way of Life. Gg quillity. 226 POPULATION. Book IV. quillity, are, even in nations of this defcription, thought worthy of a public animadverfion. Thus Tacitus tells us, that the an- cient ;|: Germans punifhed fome crimes with death ; but it fhould be remarked, that thefe were very few in number, and only fuch as denoted, that thofe who committed them were either enemies to the flate in general, or ufelefs or difgraceful to it. The fame maxim which governed their mode of making war, was refpedled in the law, which was derived from the value of a man in a fmall fociety. They thought that the life of an individual was too precious to be facrificed for petty infradlions of the duties of fociety, and juftifiable by neceffity only. Hence the laws are much lefs fanguinary in countries of fmall, than in thofe of 1| great population. A fmall degree of popula- tion, if I miftake not, has fome efFeft in influencing the forms of juftice and mode of trial. Thus the trial, in a fmall fociety, appears to be naturally be- fore the people at large : as it is of confequence, that each indi- vidual, where he is of fo much weight, fhould be fatisficd with the juftice of the fentence ; and aho, in order to coUedt fufficient force to put it into execution. This is the more necefTary, in pro- portion as the crime is the more heinous, and the punifliment more fevere. Thus, among the ancient Germans, it is probable that capital accufations could only be profecuted before the great council of the * nation, whilfi: fmaller crimes were adjudged by perfons % Our Saxon anceftors, probably for this reafon among others, were extremely cautious of inflidling the punifhmcnt of death. — Wilkins Leg. Saxon. pafTim. II Probably, for this reafon, among others, the Scotch have been, and ftill are, more averfc to capital executions than the Englifh. * Licet apud concilium accufare quemque& difcrimen capitis intendere. Diftindlio poenarum ex delifto : proditores & transfugas arboribus fufpendunt ; ignavos & im- belies & corpore infames czno & palude, injefla fupercrate, mergunt. Diverfitas fup- plicii illud refpicit, tanquam fcelera oftendi oporteatdum puniuntur flagitia abfcondi. Sed & Icvioribus deliftis pro modo poenarum equorum pecorumque numcro convi6ti muldantur ; Chap. ii. Small Population. 227 perfons of rank chofen and deputed by that affembly, Thefe de- puties were, however, attended by a large number of perfons, fe- leded by the people, who affifted them with their advice and authority. The customs alfo, as well as the laws, of a nation, are capable of being influenced by the fmallnefs of the population. This is in- itanced in the pradtice of hofpitality, a cuftom always moil: preva- lent in countries thinly peopled. This has arifen partly from ne- ceflity, in order to facilitate the pafTage of flrangers, who, without it, muft of courfe perifli -, and alfo from the natural love of fociety incident to our nature, which affedlion is always * flrongeft where it meets with the leaft gratification. In confirmation of this, Tacitus informs us, that, among the ancient Germans, -f- hofpi- tality was held in the higheft efteem : every one received the ftranger with fuch entertainment as was fuitable to his circumftances in life ; and to deny entrance to any one was held to be facrilege. The entertainer, when exhaufi:ed, carried his guefh to the houfe of his next neighbour. They never waited for invitation ; nor was it of confequence to be invited, as they were received either way with equal welcome. No one made any diflindlion, with regard to hofpitality, between an acquaintance and a ftranger. The J North American mul£bantur ; pars mul6tae regi vel civitati, pars ipfi qui vindicatur vel propinquis ejus exfolvitur. Eliguntur in iifdem conciliis et principes, qui jura per pagos vicofque reddunt. Centeni fingulis ex plebc comites confilium fimul et audtoritas adfunt. — Taciti Gerinania, cap. xii. * The hiftory of Robinfon Crufoe is a fine and pathetic pifture of the force of thefe fenfations. , t ConviiStibus et hofpitiis non alia gens efFufius indulget. Quemcunque morta- lium arcere tedo nefas habetur, pro fortuna quifque apparatis epulis excipit. Cum defecerit, qui modo hofpes fuerat monftrator hofpitii et comes. Proximam domum non invitati adeunt: nee intereft, pari humanitate accipiuntur. Notum ignotumque quantum ad jus hofpitii nemo difcernit. — Taciti Germania, cap xxi. X No people are more hofpitable, kind, and free than the Indjans ; they will rea- dily fliare, with any of their own tribe, the laft part of their provifions, and even G g 2 with 228 POPULATION. Book IV. American Indians pradlife hofpitality in a manner equally liberal, 'and with little more diftiniftion of the perfons who fhare in the entertainment. The form of government, in ftates thinly inhabited, is moftly re- publican, and frequently accompanied with a high degree of || li- berty. This refults from the circumftances before mentioned. Property being little efleemed, corruption can have no place. The interefl of the whole body of people being nearly alike, and the number few, one part of them cannot be employed to opprefs the other. They are alfo, in general, all of them armed ; and, con- fequently, in a condition to refift force with force. Thefe, pro- bably, were the principal caufes, though not unconneifted with others, of the free condition of the ancient Germans, and of the North American Indians at prefent. It is difficult to fay what power the kings of the former pofTefled. Tacitus tells us, that it was limited confiderably : the king having no power to confine, to inflidt corporal punifhment, or even cenfure, upon any one, at his will or difcretion; or indeed in any cafe whatever. In refpedt to the making of laws, every freeman was confidered as fliaring in the legiflative power. The people prefcribed the limitations theirfelves were to obey. They marched armed to the national aiTembly, to judge, to reform, and to punifh j and the magiftrate and the fovereign, inftead of controuling their power, were to refpedt, and to fubmit to it. What then was left for the office of the prince ? Probably little more than a precedence in point of rankj and the convenience of having fome perfon to give authen- ticity to public tranfaftions, as treaties, &c. Even in their armies, the command of which is generally with thofe of a different nation, if they chance to come in when they are eating.—* Carver's Travels, p. 265. The Icelanders too are extremely hofpitable. — Letters on Iceland, p. 8g. II This is to be underftood of independent ftates, and not of fuch as are held in Aibjcdtion to, and as provinces of, a large empire. thought Chap. ii. Small Population. 229^ thought to require an uncontrouled dired;ionin the general, the Ger- mans preferved a great degree of republican government, the military leaders being diverted of all power to enforce their orders ; which were regarded more from a refped to their example or * charader, than their authority. The refemblance of the modern North American Indians is in thefe refpedls very great. The -f- fachem, among them, is at the head of the civil ftate: and his affent is neceflary in all convey- ances and treaties ; to which he affixes the mark of the tribe or nation. This dignity, which feems to correfpond with that of the king :{: among the ancient Germans, is alfo, like that, hereditary. But befides this, every band or nation has a chief, who is called the great chief, or the chief warrior : who is || eleSled, in confide- ration of his experience in war, and his approved valour, to dire(3: their military operations, and regulate all concerns belonging to that department. This dignity anfwers to that of the ** generals (duces) of the ancient Germans, who, Tacitus tells us, were eleSled hy the people. * Duces exemplo potius quam imperlo, fi prompti, fi confpicui, fi ante aciem agant, admiratione praefunt. — Taciti Germania, cap. vii. •f- Carver's Travels. X Reges ex nobilitate, duces ex virtute, fumunt. — Taciti Germania, cap. vi. This is underflood to mean, that the kingly office was hereditary, and that of the generals elective. II Carver's Travels. ** Csefar fays the fame of the military leaders in Gaul, book vi, ch. 22. The Saxon dukes or heretochs were likewife eledtive. liti vero viri eligebantur per commune concilium, pro communi utilitatc, regni per provincias et patrias univerfas, et per fmgulos comitatus in pleno folcmoie, ficut et vicecomites provinciarum et comitatuum eVigi debent. Ita quod in quoiibct co- mitatu femper fuit unus \izxtx.<3<:.\\\\x'i per ele£ilonem ele£ius ad conducendum exercitum comitatus fui, &c. — Leg. Edouardi ConfefT. cap. 35. fub titulo De Heretochiis.— Vide etiam Gloff. Du Cange, et Spelmanni GlolT. — The eledion of the heretochs or generals, by the people at large, was not peculiar to the Saxons, but in common with the other German nations.— Boior. LL. tit. 2. cap. i. § i. — Spelm. Glofiar. vox Heretochius. Bat 230 POPULATION. Book IV. But, as a late Ingenious -f writer obferves, though the above two- are confidered as the heads of the band, and the latter is frequently denominated their king, yet the Indians are fenfible of neither military nor civil fubordination. Every expreffion that carries with it the appearance of an injunction, or abfolute command, is. fure to be rejedled with fcorn. Among them, no vifible form of government is eftablifhed j they allow no fuch diflindlions as ma-, giftrate and fubjedl, every one appearing to enjoy an independence that cannot be controuled. The higheil titles, fays Mr. Adair,, among the Indians, either in military or civil life, fignify only a chieftain. They have no words to exprefs defpotic power, or arbi- trary kings. The power of their chiefs is an empty found. They can only perfuade, or difTuade, the people. It is reputed merit alone that gives them any titles of diftindion. I do not recoUeft any peculiar effedls that a fmall population has upon religion. I have thus fpoken of the influence of population, when in eithen- extreme j as for the intermediate degrees, they have no particular, or fpecific effefts, in the refpeclts above mentioned, fo far as I am acquainted. i Mr. Carver, BOOK t 231 1 BOOK V. On the Influence of the Nature of Food and Diet. THE various kinds of food and diet ufed by different na- tions have alfo a confiderable influence in feveral of the above-mentioned refpedls. But in order to explain this, it w^ill be neceflary to fay a few words of the effed:s of the different kinds of food upon the human body. Food may be confidered in feveral lights : as, firfV, with regard to its confiflence, 2iSfolid or liquid, or meat and drink. I fhall fpeak of thefe feparately : and firff oijolid food. CHAP. I. ,ON SOLID FOOD. SOLID food is divided into animal and vegetable; and that of a mixed kind — as cheefe, fi{h, eggs, &;c. But here it is proper to remark, that there is no nation, or fet ot people whatever, that live entirely upon either animal or vegetable food ; but all ufe, in fome meafure, a mixture of both. The Eaft Indian 232 NATURE OF FOOD. Book V. Indian brachmans, who are faid to live on a vegetable diet, eat milk, which is partly of an a;nimal nature ; and the abftinence they pradife appears to be too rigid for even fo hot a climate, as they are moftly meagre, weak, and fickly, labouring under a * conflant diarrhG3a, and feveral other diforders. On the other hand, the Laplanders are faid to live on animal food only ; but this is con- tradided by Linnaeus, who fays, that befides milk, which they alio take four, they ufe fome of the fpecies of arum of the marfli, trefoil, and other plants, very copioufly ; fo that there is no in- flance of any nation living entirely on either of thefe diets, though there are feveral which vary the proportion of them refpedlivcly. When, therefore, we fpeak of a people living -j- on either animals or vegetables, we mean that they ufe one or the other of them con;- fiderably in the larger proportion. SECT. L Animal Food. Animal diet is greatly more nutritious than vegetable: both as containing a greater quantity of nourifhment, and as this || nou- rifliment is more eafily extradted. * " Abfque carnibus fiimma debilitas et coiporis et ventriculi, et diarrhoea per- petua folet inolefta efle." — Halleri prima? lineas Phyfiolog. § dcxiii. t It is obvious to every one who examines the human frame and conftitution, that mankind were intended by nature for a mixed diet of animal and vegetable fub- rtances, in every climate and fituation, notwithftanding the proportions of thefe to each other may vary according to circumftances. Man is furnifhed with teeth of the inclfor and canine kind, like the carnivorous animals ; and with a double row of molares or grinders, like the herbivorous. His flomach approaches to the carni- vorous, and his inteftines are of a middle length, between them and the herbivorous animals. But I would truft more to inftinct, producing practice, abftraSed from artificial opmions ; and here we find the ufe of animals and vegetables promif- cuoufly. — Vide CuUen's Mat. Medica — Halleri Phyfiolog. lib. xix. fed. 3. §2.. ■ — and Arbuthnot on Aliments. X Halleri Phyfiol. lib. xix. Uet. 2. § 7. Animal Chap. I. On Solid Food. • 233 Animal food alfo, by its adding greater weight, and by its filling the veflels, and thereby giving a proper degree of tenfion for the performance of flrong ofcillatory motions, gives greater Arength to the * body. It not only gives out nutriment more plentifully, but alfo fup- plies a fluid more denfe and elaflic, and with a greater quantity of •f* red globules than vegetables do; which is alfo more flimulant, both caufing a greater refiftance to the folids, and again exciting their ftronger aftion. From its greater ftimulus, alfo, it is more perfpirable than vegetable food, and tends to preferve a more equal balance between the excretions. Animal diet, however, although it be highly nutritive, and gives great flrength to the J body, yet, in confequence of its flimulus to the ftomach and fyftem, is rather dangerous. || Hippocrates long ago obfcrved, that the athletic habit was, from a fmall increafe or irregularity, fubje(5l to great hazard; and that it is only proper for thofe who ufe much bodily labour. It alfo loads and opprelfes the body, and requires the conflant repetition of a fever to throw it off; which tends greatly to wear out the conftitution. Thefe properties are more remarkable in the flefh of wild than of tame animals, probably from the former being more exercifed ; in the carnivorous than in the herbivorous ; in the old than in the young ; in fuch as are eaten ** raw than in thofe that are dreffed with * The Athletas of old lived upon animal food almoft altogether. — See Athenaeus and Galen. Robiirmajus eft ab eo alimento. — Haller, 1. xix. feft. 2. §7. t Robur enim pendet ab eo reparato quod eft amiftum, atque copia rubrorum globulorum, et a tenacitate glutinis fibrarum. — Haller, ibidem. % Ipfa animalia carnivora pro natura fua plus habent virium. — Haller Phyf. 1. xix. fedt. iii. II De Dista. ** Dudum eftannotatum eas gentes robuftiffimas efte, qus carnibus et lis crudls vivunt, ut Tartaros, Brafilianos, Efquimanticos, turn venatores quos diximus. — Halleri Phyfiol. ibidem, Hh No 234 NATURE OF FOOD. Book V. with fire ; and In fuch as are killed in the blood *, than in fuch as are bled to death. From this account, fomething may, perhaps, be gathered, ex- planatory of the efFedls of animal food upon the mind, difpofition,. and condud:. The ftrength afforded by animal food naturally fuggefts a degree of confidence, which as naturally produces courage and refo- lution. This may be the caufe why animals that feed upon a flefh diet are more fierce and courageous than thofe who live upon -f- vege- tables. But this efFed is not merely to be afcrlbed to fecondary caufes, as I am convinced that animal food has a dired tendency that way. Carnivorous animals are more fierce and daring, as well as more ftrong and adive, than the herbivorous : and this holds true, not only of quadrupeds, but of birds and filli alfo. The people of cold climates are more courageous than thofe of warm ; and this difference is owing, in no inconfiderable degree, to the greater quantity of animal food they take in. This tendency of animal food appears to be increafed in pro- portion, in fome meafure, to the prevalence of the fiime caufes that No carnivorous animals are at prefent ufed in diet among the Europeans ; but Hippocrates mentions the flefli of the dog and of the fox, in his Treatife of diet,, and the Romans reared rats for tlie fame purpofe. We know, however, that the Romans ufed to feed the rats on vegetable food only, and poffihly the foxes and the dogs might be fed in the fame manner among the Greelcs. Some of the late difco- verers in the South Seas mention, that the dogs there ufed in food were fed on vegetable diet. Dr. Shaw, however, fays, that lion was eaten at Algiers, and that, it" taftcd like veal. — Shaw's Travels. * " Thofe animals which are moft exercifed, and fullcft of blood, have their flefh the moft nutritive and flrengthening." — Hippocrates de Diaeta, lib. ii. fe-d to compre- hend from the Fenni of Tacitus, and the Icthyophagi of Dio- dorus, and other writers, to the Goths, Hunns, and Saracens, of former ages, or the Arabs and Tartars of the prefent; or from the greatefl: degree of favagenefs known, tofuch a degree of civilifation as is produced by the general knowledge of property and money. The two nations mentioned above, the Fenni and the Icthyo- phagi, are, I believe, the moft ftriking inftances of iavagencfs- which are recorded to have taken place in any conliderable body of people. The former of thefe * (the Fenni) had neither defenllve arms, horfes, nor deities. To favage fiercenefs they joined abjeft poverty. They fed upon herbs, cloathed themfelves with the fkins of beafts, and flept upon the ground. Their only de- pendence was on their arrows, which, for want of iron, ■■ ere pointed with bones. The fabfiftence of both fcxes was pre- ured. by huntmg, to which they went jointly, and Hiared the pre. ilike. A covering made of boughs intertwined witli one another, "was all f Tacui Gci mania, cap. xlvi. the Chap. i. On the Infiiitnce of a Savag e State. 259 the fhelter that defended their infants from the rigour of the weather, and the fiercenefs of beafts of prey. This furni(hed a home for the young, and a place of refuge and repofe for the old. This mode of living they preferred to the fatigue of cultivating the ground, and of building houfes ; to the agitations of hope and fear, attendant on a care of their own fortunes, and on a con- nexion with thofe of others. Without apprehenfions from either gods or men, they had reached a ftate which is nearly unattainable to all human endeavours, the being entirely without a wifli. The Icthyophagi were nearly fimilar to the Fenni — they went* naked, dwelt in rude buildings, made of the -f- bones of large fifh and of Ihells, lived on % fifh, which they caught in a |] rude and fimple manner, and which alfo they eat nearly § raw. When this fup- ply failed, they lived on fuch fhell-fifli ** as they found upon the Ihores ; and, in default of this, on the -f-f- bones or prickles of fi{h, which they either eat when fimply cut into pieces, or, when too hard for maftication, bruifed between {tones. Sometimes they made a kind of bread of the fifli, beaten into a pafte, with * Diodor. Sicul. lib. iii. p. io6. edit. Rhodom. t Strabon. lib. xv. p. 720, 726. — Arrian Hid. Ind. liber, § 29, 30. X Diodor. Sicul. lib. iii. p. 106. — Strabon. lib. xv. p. 720. — Arrian, Hill. Ind. liber, § xxix. Feeding upon fifli was, in the early ages of the Greeks, thought an inftance of great barbarifm, and what was never praiSlifed, unlefs in times of great diflrefs. Homer's heroes, in the Iliad, although their fcene of aftion la)' upon the fea- (hore, never appear to have fed upon fi/h : and Menclaus, in the Odyffey, mentions it as an inftance of the highefc neceHity, that his foldiers were obliged to feed upon fifli in Egypt. II Diodor. Sicul. lib. iii. p. ic6. — Arrian, § xxix. % Strabon. 1. xv. p. 721.— Diodor. SicuI. lib. iii. p. io3. —Arrian, Hifl. Ind. lib. § xxix. ** Diodor. Sic. lib. iii. p, 107. it Idem, p. 107. L I 2 the 26o W A Y o r L I F E. Book VI. the mixture of a little flour *, which they ufed with the fifh when eaten frefh, as a fupply for a dry food. For drink -f- they ufed water, and fome of them fcarcely any | liquid at all. Their wives and children were \\ in common among them, in the fame manner with their flocks and herds. They had fcarcely any lan- guage, but uttered an § unformed rude kind of found **, fcarcely refembling a voice. The inhabitants of Terra del Fuego, in South America, were in a ftate little differing from the Icthyophagi, and equally favagc -)—}-. The North American Indians may be adduced as an infl;ance of a fl:ate of life fomewhat fimilar, though more improved. Thefe, like the people above defcribed, live by hunting and fifli- ing J but have advanced to greater degrees of dexterity in their employments than the Fenni or Icthyophagi. In other cir- cumftances too, relative to civilifation, they are far fuperior. From thefe, and fome other infl:ances, I fhall attempt to deduce the efl?edls of this way of life upon mankind, relative to the articles here under confideration. * Strabon. lib. xv. p. 720. — Arrian, Hift. Ind. § xxix. — DIod. Sic. lib. iii. p. 107. The Laplanders, who, in feveral particulars of their way of life, refemble the Icthyophagi, make a bread of dried fifties ; and of the inner bark of the pine-tree, ground to powder, which they eat more for the purpofe of fupplying a dry food, than that of nourishment. Diodorus and Arrian both mention, that the Icthyophagi ufe this kind of bread for the purpofe of fupplying a dry aliment. For the ufe of which, fee Dr. Cullen's Mat. Medic. Art. Bread. t Strabon. lib. xv. p. 720. J Diod. Sic. lib. iii. p. 106. H Idem, lib. iii. p. 106. § Idem, 1. iii. p. 108. ** Jornandes, the Goth, mentions the Hunns as refembling the Icthyophagi in this refpect. — " Nee aliud voce notum nifi qua: human! fermonis imaginem af- Cgnabat." ft See Banks' and Cook's firft voyage, SECT. Chap. i» OntieI/ifiue2iceofaSA\AC^STATz. 261 SECT I. BiffeSis of a favage way of life upon the difpofition. One of the moft remarkable circumftances belonging to the I favage ftate of mankind, is an apathy or infenfibility of difpofition, which they almoft univerfally difcover. Tiiis part of the chara(fler of thefe people may, with great probability, be referred to their rude ftate, as it is found in all climates, ana under very different circumftances with regard to diet, &c. Savage nations / have been remarkable for this charadteriftic from great antiquity, and modern experience is agreeable thereto. Tacitus obftrves, that the Fenni had no regard for gods or men ; and Diodorus-|- fays, that the Icthyophagi were remarkable for want of fenfibility, even to a degree that furpaffes belief. The fame quality is alfo obfervable, in a high degree, among the \ American Indians. t What is moft extraordinary in tliefe people is, their freedom from all agitation or emotion of mind on any occafion, which is fo great as to furpafs all belief. Thcfe people neither enter into any converfation with Grangers, nor are at all furprifed by the fight of them ; but regard them with a fixed and unconcerned afpeft, and with- out (hewing any figns of being at all aftefted. It is even faid, that when naked fwords were aimed at them, they made no attempts to avoid them ; nor were they roufed to paflion by the inflidlion of injuries or wounds ; neither were they more affeiSed by the fufFerings of others, than by their own ; but have often beheld the mafiacre of their wives and children without betraying any fymptoms either of pity or refentment. — Diodor. Sicul. lib. iii. p. io8. % If you tell an Indian that his children have greatly fignalifed themfelves againft the enemy, have taken many fcalps, and brought home many prifoners, he does not appear to feel any extraordinary pleafure on the occanon — his anfwer is gene- rally, " It is well," and he makes very little further enquiry about it. On the contrary, if you inform him that his children are flain, or taken prifoners, he makes no complaints, but only replies, " It does not fignify," and probably, for ibme time at leaft, afks not how it happened. — Carver's Travels, p. 240, 241. See alfo note L of Robertfon's Hiftory of America,' whe'refif'TTamerous teftimonies of tiiis part - - of the character of that people are adduced The thoughtlefs and improvident condud of favages, with rerpe(5t to laying up of provifions and other neceflaries, is to be afcribed to this difpofition. This 262 WAYofLIFE Book VI. This difpofition is the leading mark of the charader of nations in this condition, and from it moft of their other qualities are derived. Why this way of life fliould produce this effeft, it is difficult ful- ly to explain. Is it that the feelings, as well as the faculties of the mind, being little employed about that period of life wherein the inhabitants of civilifed countries generally receive impreffions and ideas, become callous afterwards, for want of being accuflomed early to a variety of fenfations, which improve fenfibility by habit and ufe ? We all know how difficult a thing it is to inftrud: per- fons, in an * advanced age, in what is eafily acquired in youth — the knowledge of languages for inftance — and how foon the im- preffion thus made is obliterated. Does the mental capacity bear any analogy to the appetite for food, and inclination to fleep ; which we often obferve, if not indulged at the ufual periods, de- part, and return no more until the recurrence of the accuftomed time of gratification ? It is remarked with great ingenuity, by an elegant writer, that the anatomy of an eye that had never received the impreffion of light, or of an ear that had never felt the impulfe of founds, would probably exhibit defefts in the very flrudiure of the organs themfelves, arifmg from their having never been ap- plied to their proper fundions ; fo in the prefent cafe we may fnppofe, from analogy, that the human capacity, in fuch fitua- tions, would be defeftive in its very arrangement and formation, from want of opportunity of Ifeing employed at that period when it is intended by nature to receive impreffions. It is alfo not improbable, that this defeft of the fenfible facul- ties, although perhaps it might be originally derived from acci- * It is remarked by an ingenious and amiable writcc, that a child has more to do and to learn in the firlt three years of its life, than it has in thirty years of any fu- ture period of it.— Gregory's Comparat. View. See alfo the fame work, on the Improvement of Senfibility by Exercife and Cul- tivation. 3 dental Chap. i. On the Influence of a %a\ kg i. ^tkt v.. 262 dental and extraneous circumftances, might, in procefs of time become hereditary ; and that the fenfations, from want of ufe, through a number of generations, might acquire a degree of infen- fibihty fufficient to mark th.; charadler of the people. Providence has, without doubt, fet bo.inds to this depravation of the fenfible faculties, as well as to others of the moral kind ; but, within thofe limits, I make no doubt that the caufe above-mentioned produces a certain effedl. Hippocrates *, whofe obfervations on human nature in general, as well as on the fcience of medicine, have been hitherto univerfally refpedled, has delivered it as his opinion, that even bodily forms, artificially at firft introduced, may be tranfmitted to pofterity j and if this has any foundation, it is not lefs probable of the mental faculties, which fometimes in- deed, unfortunately for our nature — as in the cafe of infanity, and frequencly in inftances of tafte, fenlibility, 6cc. — we fee preva- lent in particular families, and continued through many genera- tions. As a confirmation of this theory, I have been credibly in- formed, that the children of favages, the North Americans parti- cularly, although brought into this country at fo early an age that they could fcarcely have received any prior impreflions -j-, and educated here, ftill retained a ferocity of difpofition, and an un- fettled roving turn, fimilar to that poflelTed by thofe \ from whom they fprung. Another part of the charad:er of favage nations, or rather an- other inftance of the infenfibility above defcribed, is the indifference * Hipposrates de Aeribus, Aquis, h Locis, cap. xxxvi. t There is great reafon to believe, that the tame and the wild cat were originally the fame animal ; yet the young of the wild cat, though taken at the earlieft age, and bred up in the moft domefticated ftate, dill retain the ferocity of their pa- rents, and cannot be reclaimed, but on the firrt opportunity fly to the woods. J The degeneracy and improvement of mankind, in feveral climates, in a courfe of generations, fhcw, that different degrees of perfeiiion or depravation of the hu- man mind or genius may be hereditary, they 264 WAY OF LIFE. Book VI. ', they {hew for the fair fex. This was remarked by Diodorus Si- I cuius of the Icthyophagi *, and is found 10 prevail to a great de- gree among the -\- American Indians. Another mark of a favage is pride, or rather a high degree of fatisfadion with his ftate and condition in life. This was obferved by Tacitus of the Fenni '^, and of the Icthyophagi !| by Diodorus ; neither of which nations appear, by the accounts wc have of them, to have much reafon to boalt of their fituation. The fame difpofition is flill more remarkable a "ong the Ame- rican Indians, who are fo far from envying the fu urion of men in a higher ftate of civilifation, that they regard thoji with the utmofl contempt, and look upon themfelves, and their own way of life, as the flandard of perfedion. This preference of them- felves is very confpicuous on every occafion. The verv names by which they defire to be diftinguillied are expreffive of their fup- pofed fuperiority. § The Iroquois flyled themlelves the chief of men. Caraibe, the name of the inhabitants of the Windward Iflands, iignified the warlike ** people. The Cherokees, from an idea of fuperiority in themfelves, call the Europeans Nothings, or the accurfed people. The froth of the fea was another appella- tion by which the Americans diftinguifhed the people of Europe. The hunting nations on the confines of Siberia were not deficient •■* Diodor. lib. iii. p. 107. t Carver's Travels, p. 368. X Taciti Germania, cap. xlvi. II Diodor. Sicul. lib. Iii. p. 108. Diodorus Siculus alfo fays of the Troglodyta-, that they not only would not avoid any of the inconveniences belonging to a favage ftate, but would rather fufFcr death than be compelled to embrace any other way of life.— Diod. Sic. lib. iii. p. 1 15. § Robertfon's America, vol. i. p. 412. ** The ancient Germans beftowed upon themfelves a fimilar appellation. Gcr- mann fignified, in their language, a man of uw, or a warlike man. in Chap. I. On the Injluence of a Savage State. 265 in this-f-felf-eftimation, and contempt of a more civilifed way of life; It was a proverbial imprecation with them, that their enemy might he obliged to live like a Tartar, and be feized with the folly of breeding and attending his cattle. The origin of this felf-eftimation is con- nedted with various caufes : firfl:, the ignorance and confined obfer- vation of people in this flate is fuch, as to prevent their being able to compare their own fituation in life with that of others, from which comparifon all ideas of choice muft be deduced ; cpnfe- quently it is probable, that, as they fee none in a condition prefer- able to their own, they may not believe that fuch a condition exifbs. Moreover, were fuch a fituation to be offered to them, it would be doubtful if they could comprehend the advantages of it, or would think favourably of them, if they were explained to their underflan dings *. Many of the gratifications on which people in poliflied fociety value themfelves, would appear to the untutored favage a fcene of tedious confinement and fatigue; and the ufual -forms of civility and behaviour among cultivated perfons, would appear to him a condud: mean and unnatural, and highly de- grading to that force of mind and independent fpirit with which he is animated. The indolence, likewife, which is almofl infeparable from a fa- vage flate, is highly favourable to this difpofition of mind. Pride and idlenefs have been always obferved to be nearly connedled, in all circumflances of life, but in none more remarkably than in that now under confi deration. Idlenefs, if indulged, is a pafHon very apt to gain ground upon + Dr. Reinhold Forfter tells us, that the favages, on the frozen extremities of the globe, think themfelves happy, and even happier than the mofl civilifed nation ; and every individual of them is fo well fatisfied with his condition, that not even a wifh is left in his breaft for the lead alteration. — Forfter's Obfervations made dur- ing a Voyage round the World. * See this fubject beautifully treated in Mr. Prior's Solomon, book i. M m the 266 W A Y o F L I F E. Book VI. the human mind, and naturally fertile in inventing excufes for its own gratification. One of the mofl obvious of thefe is, that the ©bjefts of attention are not fufficiently important to demand the exertion of the faculties of body or mind ; and this fuggeftion oc- curring frequently, is apt to induce a perfuafion of the reality of it^ at leall with refped; to the common affairs of life. From another principle, idlenefs produces pride, by rendering the ideas felSfli and perfonal. A man that is unemployed is apt to turn his thoughts upon himfelf, and the idea of his own im- portance and value naturally fuggefls itfelf. Idlenefs, indeed, al- moil neeeflarily infpires a notion of fuperiority j it (hews that a.- man is able to fublift, and to maintain his rank, in the world, without being obliged to have recourfe to the afliftance or favour of others, by the neceffity of mutual fervices. Idlenefs is alfo a great fource of pride, by preventing that familiar intercourfe with others, which is fo connefted with induftry. Nothing is more ad- verfe to pride, than a habit of being frequently acquainted witb the mutual wants of fociety, and thofe efpecially in which mert reciprocally ftand in need of the affiftance of each other j but idle- nefs is a fclitary paflion, and tends to increafe pride, by diminifli- ing our acquaintance with our own fpecLes, at leafl in refpeft to their mutual dependence upon one another. Idlenefs I have juft mentioned as a part of the charafter of a favage people. This is amply confirmed both by ancient and mo- dern -f- obfervatioa. Tacitus fays, that the ancient Germans, when not engaged in: + hunting or warfare, fpent their time in idlenefs, fleep,, and eat- ing.. t If we contemplate a favage nation, in any part of the globe, a fupinc indolence^ and a carelcfihefs about futurity, will be found to conftitute their general charadler.. —Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, p. 224. X Taciti Germania, cap. xv. — Moft of the copies of Tacitus read, Q^iotiens- bella non inciint ncn multum wenatibus,. &c. ; but fome of them leave out the nega- tive Chap. i. On the Influence of a Savagi; State. 267 ing. Nearly the fame mode of life is praclifed by the || American Indians at prefent. But this difpofition of theirs is rather an averfion to labour, than a love of quiet and repofe. This is evi- dently expreffed by Tacitus *, in his admirable charadler of the Germans, and is no lefs true of the American Indians. The fame man, who, to procure food, will not fubmit to any fpecies of ordinary labour, will, in purfuit of an enemy or a v/ild beaft, traverfe an hundred leagues over mountains covered with fnow. Indolence indeed is, with thefe people, from their natural courfe of life, almoft inevitable. Without agriculture, trade, manufadlures, or literature, great part of their time is vacant, for want of an objeft to engage it ; efpecially as the improvident difpofition, which reigns fo much among them, prevents their ufing it in providing for future neceffities. I have, however, fome doubts, if this way of life does not difpofe to indolence by means which we do not fully comprehend. The beaft of prey, whofe mode of life does not vary much from that of the human fpecies in this Hate, is himfelf a fluggard, and v/hen not engaged in the toil of hunting, fpends his time in fleep and indolence. Perhaps the live non : which alteration feems to make the different parts of the fentence coincide better together, and is alfo more anfwerable to the account he had given of the diet of the Germans ; which, he fays, confifted in a good meafiire of the flefh of wild ani- mals frefli caught : which could not be the food bf the people in general, if hunting was not much pradtifed. — Caefar alfo tells of the fame people exprefsly, that they were much addidled to hunting, which makes this alteration more probable. The ancient Germans were in a middle ftate, between favages and barbarians. Their diet and way of living — their want of all manufactures, and ignorance of moneys are certainly marks of favagenefs : but the regularity of their government, the fixed adminiflration of juftice, and the difference of rank, in the ftate, and thofe of a per- manent and hereditary kind, are inftances of a farther advance in civilifation, I {hall confider them in both the lights of favages and barbarians, as the circumftances in their hiftory are conneded, more or lefs, with either of thefe ftates of mankind. II Carver's Travels, p. 244. * Mira diverfitas naturae ut iidem homines fie ament inertiam, ct oderint quictem, — Taciti Germania, cap. xr. Mm z Jarge 268 W A Y F L I F E. Book VL large proportion of animal food they both take in, may not a little contribute this way. Another difpoiition natural, as I think, to a favage ftate, though apparently contrary to that laft mentioned, is a difpofition for warfare and warlike atchievements. This is men- tioned particularly, by Tacitus, of the ancient Germans -, who tells us, that the fondnefs of this people for -f- warfare was fo great, that when they had no war at home, they would go in fearch of other nations ;{: engaged in fuch contefts, and take part in their quarrels, merely for the fake of employment, and of dillin- guifliing themfelves. Nearly the fame difpofition may be difcovered among the |] American Indians, Nor is this matter of furprife : fmce war is, with them, almoffc the only fcene for the exertion of genius and abilities ; the only ftimulus that can occur, fufficiently powerful to call forth their faculties into action, diffipate the taedium and fatigue of idlenefs, and fatisfy that defire of diftincSion fo univerfally prefent in the human breafl. The mode of life alfo, which people purfue in this flate of fociety, in order to procure fubfiftence, is itfelf a kind of emblem of war. It is attended with a fimilar danger, and fol- lowed by means of exertion of the mind and body, and alfo with inftruments nearly refembling thofe ufed in a conteft with the human fpecies. This, therefore, habituates them to war as an employment,* and deprives it of many of the terrors which accom- pany it when it breaks out in a civilifed country. The little property, at leaft property of a feparate kind, which they pofTcfs, is another inducement to a warlike difpofition. Much of the dread of war arifes from the hazard incurred by it to ■f See the derivation of the word German, in the note **, p. 264. X Taciti Germania, cap. xiv. Ammianus Marcellinus fays the fame of the Gauls in his time, and Ca;far of the Sucvi. — Amm. Marc. 1. xv. cap. 12. — Casf, dc Bcllo Gallico, lib. iv. cap. i. U Carver's Travels, p. 298. property ; Chap. i. 0?t the Influence of a Savage State. 269 property i and this is one of the principal reafons why people in trade are in general indifpofed to war. It is evident, therefore, that a fituation in which people have fcarcely any motives of the difTuafive kind, arifmg from intereft or property, muft be highly favourable towards encouraging a military difpofition among the people. Notwithftanding, however, the warlike difpofition of favage nations, they are far inferior in fleady courage and relblution to civilifed. It is a part of their charadler to be foon elated with profperous, and foon deprelTed by adverfe events. This was obferved by feveral ancient * writers, well acquainted with their charader ; and has been confirmed by after experience. Nor is it difficult to be explained. People in a rude ftate are impatient for a decifion, deficient in refources, and apt to magnify every thing, from ignorance of its real extent. Add to this, that they are generally very fuperftitious, and, on every reverfe of fortune, apt to defpair, from the belief of the difpleafure of the Deity ; of whofe favour or difapprobation they always judge by the fuccefs or failure of their enterprifes. Friendfliip, or perfonal attachment, appears to be often carried to a high degree among favage nations. This arifes in a good meafure, as has been before -f- remarked, from the fmallnefs of the number of the people ; but the way of life, and fituation in point of circumftances, tend to produce the fame efi'edl. The joint trials of fortitude, which occur fo often in a way of life that may not improperly be called a perpetual warfare — the mutual affift- ance afi-brded to one another — tend to draw the tie of friend- fliip clofer than in civilifed focieties, where the lame trials are not found. The little property, which fuch nations poflefs. * Dion CafTius mentions this as a part of the character of the Gauls, lib. xxxix. —and Ammianus Marcellinus attributes it to rude nations in general, lib. xvi. c. 12. t See chapter iv. on Population. has 270 W A Y o F L I F E. Book VI. has alfo, I apprehend, a great efFedl in heightening the ardor -f of friendfliip and affedlion. This attachment is not here difgraced by interefted motives ; nor is regard exafted for fervices in the iiime way with a pecuniary recompence. The objedl is freely chofen, and confidered merely with a view to the pleafure arifmg to themfelves from the connedion ; not as to any expedlation of advantage to be derived from it. Hence ;}: gifts or prefents among them were not confidered, as with us, to be matters of obliga- tion : if either of the two, the giver was the perfon obliged. Hence the mind, free from a mercenary commerce and traffic of affedlion, fixes its regard on the perfonal qualities alone : and in fo doing forms a connexion more 1| intimate, and more durable, than the t This is no way incoiififtent with the apathy of the favage before defcribed. His frame of mind, though hard to be afFefled, is, when it meets with an adequate objeft, agitated to a greater degree, in proportion to the flownefs wherewith the im- preffion was received. When that is once made, it is felt in fuH force : and not lilcely to be effaced by fubfequent impreflions, as none but thofeofa very ftrong kind are felt, and fuch do not often occur. J Tacitus tells us, that the Germans, although they were fond of prefents, never confidered them as matters of obligation, either on the giver or the receiver. II Charlevoix fays, that the North American Indians are afFeftionate in their car- riage, and in their converfations pay a mutual attention and regard, more tender and more engaging than wc profefs in the ceremonial of polifhed focieties. A great •writer has reprefented the Americans as devoid of the attachment of friendfhip, and indeed incapable of it. This he afcribes, in part, to the infenfibility with which .they are endued, and partly to their independent fpirit. But their infenfibility is not fo great as to prevent their having a high degree of attachment to their country, a great jealoufy of its honour, and fenfe of its interefts : it is, therefore, highly im- probable that it fhould be fo great as to obfcure focial affeflion and regard. As to their independent fpirit, I have already fpolcen of it as a circumftance which drew the bond of atfe(£tion (till clofer, by its being a matter of choice. The ancient Ger- mans, whofe fituation in point of independency was nearly equal to the North American Indians, appear to have been highly fufccptible of friendfliip ; and we have not only the teftimony of Charlevoix above quoted, but alfo that of a late writer and excellent obfervcr, whofe experience was very extcnfive, to prove that the focial regards and affections of the latter are very powerful. — Carver's Travels, p. 41c. g fludied Chap. i. On the Influence of a Savage State. 271 ftudied attentions which the inhabitants of civilifed nations exaft from each other, under the idea of gratitude. Another circum- ftance that renders friendfliip more complete, and more frequent, in a rude or favage ftate, is the equality, in point of rank and for- tune, of all the members of the fociety. A great writer obferves, that friendfhip is feldom lafting,^ but between equals, or where the fuperiority on one fide is reduced by fome equivalent advantages on the other. Benefits which cannot be repaid, and obligations which cannot be difcharged, are not commonly found to increafe affedlion. They excite gratitude, indeed, and heighten veneration : but commonly take away that eafy freedom and familiarity of in- tercourfe, without which, though there may be zeal, fidelity, and admiration, there can be no friendfliip. A flate, therefore, that ad- mits of no inequality of ranks, and no diflindions, fave thofe of a perfonal kind, muft be better adapted to promote this affedlion, than thofe wherein the variety of i*ank and circumftances not only produce an original inequality in point of confideration and im- portance, but alfo tend to prevent that freedom of intercourfe, and communication of fentiment, without which friendfhip cannot €ven commence. Another charaderiflic of favages is,, that high degree of regard and attachment which they bear to their country. I have before fpoken of a regard of this kind, which prevailed among a people few in number; which circumfbance I believe to be the principal caufe in the prefent inflance. But other reafons concur. The mind of a favage, unoccupied by the ufual concerns that diftradl the attention, and divide the afFedtions, in civilifed nations, has no other objedt upon which to reft, but that of concern for his friends, and the community to which he belongs ; confequently this, as it comes fully within the fcope of his comprehenfion,, and as the whole power of his mind is diredled to this point, may be expedted to be exerted with full force. But although the affedion of people, in tliis fituation, may be very 272 WAY OF LIFE. Book VI. very great for their countrymen, they have very little local attachment. This naturally arifes from their manner of life. Hunting neceflarily requires a large fcope of ground, and a frequent change of fituation, as the game alters in its difpofition, to frequent particular diftrifts. Hence there can be no towns, no hereditary monuments, no paternal inheritances, to excite affediion, or roufe the pride of family, and intereft the paffions in the regard or defence of any place in particular. Thucydides ob- ferved formerly, that thofe people who gained but a bare livelihood by cultivating the ground, were eafily induced to change their ha- bitation ; and this remark is much more likely to be true of the people now under confideration ; who, as they gained nothing immediately from the ground, had ftill fewer motives of local affedion. I believe that this mode of life, or one fimilar thereto, was formerly the great caufe of the eafy migration of feveral of the northern flates. We do not find that the Gauls, the Cimbri *, or the Teutones, in the early ages, or the Goths and Vandals in later times, exprefTed any regret at leaving the country they had before in- habited; nor is any concern of the fame kind remarked, by Casfar, to have been felt by the ■f'Helvetii; who, to a man, left their own country * Caefar fays, that no man among the Germans had any landed property of a fe- parate or diflindl kind ; but that the magiftrates and princes annually diftributed to every diftridt fuch a portion of land as they thought fufficient for their maintenance, whither they fend them to continue for one year only, and remove them to fome other quarter the next; which cuftom, he fays, is obferved, left, from being attached to a place, they fhould change their inclination for war to that of tillage, and think ot extending their confines, to the oppreffion of the weak by the powerful ; left they fhould learn to build more elegantly than is neceflary, againft fummcr's heat and winter's cold ; but chiefly to prevent covetoufnefs, the root of all fadtions and dif- cord, and prcfcrvc that equality of riches in the commonwealth that produces peace and content. — Comment, book vi. ch. lo. § 22. Tacitus mentions the cuftom, but affigns no reafon for it. — German, c. xxvi. t The Helvetii burnt all their towns, villages, corn, and fpare flocks of provi- J;ons — Csfar. Comm. book i. ch. 2. § 5. from Chap. i. On the hifluence of a Savage State. 273 from X ambitious motives, and with a defign of fettling in the pofTeffions of their neighbours. But this very people, who for- merly quitted their country with fo little remorfe, have now, fmcc it has been || improved, and fully cultivated, contracted fuch a de- gree of local attachment to it, as to pine away, and to be affedied with a real diforder *, when feparated from it for any length of time. SECT. II. On the infuence of a favage ft ate upon the mamiers. I fliall confider thefe, firft with regard to the morals, and next with refpedl to the behaviour. Many of the vices incident to a civi- lifed flate, are excluded from a favage one, merely by their ignorance J Their intent was to invade and fettle in Gaul. AmmianusMarcellinus gives a fimilar charafter of the Saracens : — Nee eorum quifquam aliquando ftivam appre- hendit, aut arborem colit, aut arva fubigendo queritat viiStum, fed errant femper per fpatialonge lateque diftenta, fine lare, fine fedibus fixis aut legibus : nee idem per- ferunt diutius coelum aut tradlus unius foli illis unquam placet. — Amm. Marcell. lib. xiv. cap. 4. Sondanis diffuaded Croefus from making war upon the Perfians, for fimilar rea- fons, telling him that he was preparing to attack a people who had no covering but (kins ; who inhabited a barren country, and who eat not the things they liked, but what they could get; who had only water for drink, and had neither wine, nor figs, nor any delicious thing among themj that no advantage could be gained by their conqueft, but that, if the victory (hould be in their favour, and that the/ fhould come to tafte the voluptuous way of living in their enemy's country, that they would eftablilh themfelves in it, and never be driven out. — Herodotus, lib. i. 11 Switzerland, though a very mountainous country, is very highly cultivated. — See Coxe's Travels. * Apud milites Helvetos cum e patria excefiierunt frequens eft hie morbus, et olim ea de caufa plurimi caftra deferebant ; erat autem cantilena Helvetias delicias revocans, quae ipfos in hunc affedlum deducebant, quam deinceps repetere fub capitis poena prohibitum eft. — Sauvage Nofolog. Method. Defcript. Noftalgise. N n of 274 W A Y o F L I F E. Book VI. of -f" money. People in this fituation are feldom acquainted with any other iniuftice than what arifes from, or is accompanied with, violence. That kind of it which is attended with craft, and which may be exercifed a thoufand ways, is altogether unknown. Corruption alfo, or the power of money as an ;{: inducement to ad: contrary to the real fentiments or belief, is there impradlicable, for want of the means of acquiring fuch influence. This circum- flance fhuts out the largeft fhare of the vices incident to human nature, and avarice |I particularly. The love of equality likewife, which Is incident to nations in this ftate, is nearly connected with, if not the fame with, the love of juftice. This happy principle preferves the mind from dege- nerating into meannefs and flavery, the parents as well as the pro- duce of corruption ; inffcils a fenfe * of juftice into our condudl, t Aurum et argentum perinde afpernantur, ac reliqui mortales appetunt. Haec continentia illis morum qiioque juftitiam edidit nihil alienum concupifcentibus. Quippe ibidem divitiarum cupido eft ubi et ufus. Atque utinam reliquis mortalibus fimilismoderatio, abftinentiaque alien! foret ; profedonon tantum bellorum per om- nia fecula terris omnibus continuaretur, neque plus hominum ferrum et arma quam naturalis fatorum conditio raperet. Prorfus ut admirabile videatur hoc illis naturam dare quod Grxci longa fapientium do£trina, praeceptifque philofophorum confequi nequeunt, cultofque mores inculta; barbariae collatione fuperari. Tanto plus in illis proficit vitiorum ignoratio, quam cognitio virtutis." — Juftin, lib. ii. cap. 2. De- . fcriptio Scytharum. X No felfifh views ever influence their advice, or obftrufl their confultations. — Carver's Travels, p. 412. ' H The Indians are extremely liberal to each other, and fupply the deficiency of their friends with any fuperfiuity of their own. — Carver's Travels, p. 247. • It is, however, remarkable, that favage nations, although attentive to juftice with a punflilious exadlnefs, within the limits of their own community, paid little regard to it out of that limit. Beyond the frontier of his ftate, the Gaul and tiie German was a thief and a robber. It was efteemcd an afticn of glory and renown to attack, a neighbouring people, though at peace ; to carry off their cattle, and lay wafie their territory. A fimilar fpirit prevailed among other nations in the fame ftate of fociety. — See Homer's Iliad and Odyfiey. — Thucydides, book i.— Cxf.ir Comm. b. vi. — Tacitus's Account of Germany, ch. xiv.— and Lafitau Moeurs dc Savage, torn. ii. p. 169. from Chap. i. On the Infiuence of a Savage State. 275 from the idea of reciprocal right; and leaves the heart open to fentiments of generofity and benevolence. It gives to the unto- tored favage that fentiment of candour, and regard to the welfare of others, which foftens the arrogant pride of his carriage, and, in times of confidence and peace, without the affillance of govern- ment and \ law, renders the approach and \ commerce of ftrangers fecure. Faults, neverthelefs, are to be found in the moral character of favages. Thus, it is much to be fufpedled that they are, in ge- neral, of a cruel and || vinditftlve difpofition. The barbarities of the Americans towards their prifoners, the human facrifices of other favage nations, and the feverity of fome of their punifh- ments, indicate this very flrongly. This arifes, no doubt, in^ a good meafure, from their apathy, or unfeeling difpofition j but I am inclined to believe, that their animal diet, of which I have before fpoken, and alfo their method of procuring food, has alfo a confiderable fliare. Nations that live by hunting are accufiomed to blood and llaughter, and to behold the pangs and agonies of death, not only without concern, but alfo with pleafure and fatisfacflion. This, although pradlifed on brutes only, has a natural tendency to harden the heart, and to obliterate the tender feelings ; and of this the law of England h fo fenfible, as to exxlude butchers, whofe manner of life is not very difllmilar to that of nations who live by hunting, from ever being made judges of the guilt or innocence of their fellow-creatures, in cafes that afie'd: life. Another caufe of the cruelty of favages may be, their not experiencing a variety of fituations in life, and the vicilTitudes of fortune. \ Juftitia gentis ingeniis culta non legibus. — Juflin de Moribus Scytharum. X If any one of their allies come to vifit them, they fhew him more kindnefs, and greater endeavours to ferve him, than if he was their own countryman. — Kalm's Travels, vol. i. p. yy. 8vo edit. Jl " Ferociffimos populos venatores efle." — Hallcri Phyfiol. lib. xix. §3. The Indians are of a cruel, revengeful, inexorable difpofition. — Carver's Travels. N n 2 It 276 W A Y o F L I F E. Book VL It is finely obferved by J Mr. Montefquieu, that an uniform ex- cefs of either happinefs or mifery naturally inclines people tO' feverity ;• as inftances of which, he adduces conquerors and monks. It is, as he obferves, moderation alone, and a mixture of prof- perous and adverfe fortune, that infpires us with lenity and pity. What is here obferved of individuals, is equally true of nations. In countries inhabited by || favages, who lead a very hard life — and in defpotic governments, where there is only one perfon upon whom fortune laviflies all her favours, while the miferable fubjedls lie expofed to her infults — people are equally cruel. Drunkennefs or * inebriation has been imagined, alfo, to be a> vice peculiar to barbarous or uncivilifed nations. The ancient Scythians procured ebriety by the fumes of an -j- intoxicating fruit J other nations, upon the northern extremity of Afia, ufed mufhrooms infufed in water for the fame purpofe ; and the Cal- mucks ferment mares milk into a liquor that has the fame effecfts. In fome of the iflands of the South Seas, an inebriating drink is made from the root of a cultivated pepper, which is much in ufe. Tobacco was taken, for a like reafon, by the people of California ; and in many other parts of America, an intoxicating liquor was procured from mayz, or from the manioc root. The paffion for fpirituous liquours was formerly very ftrong among the ancient :}: Germans ; the Gauls || were alfo very fond of them — but it muft alfo be obferved, that the climate of that country was then X Sp. of Laws, book vi. ch. g. II Another reafon for the vindictive difpofition of favages will be given, when I. come to fpcak of the influence of this way of life upon tiie laws. • Robertfon's Hill, of America, book iv.— Forikr's Obfervations made in a Voyage round the World, p. 481. -|- Hcrodot. lib. i. — Maxim. Tyr. Difl". xi. % Taciti Gcrmania, cap. xxiii. — Appian. Bell Civ. lib. ii. II Diodor. Sicul. lib. v. — Ammian. Marccll. lib. .\v. cap. 12. — Plinii Nat. Hift. I. xiv. cap. J2. much. Chap. I. On the hifluejice of a Savage State. 277 much colder than at prcfent. The fame defire prevails at prefent among the favage inhabitants of Africa and America. This paflion is afcribed by fome writers, and not without great probability, to the ftimulating effcdts which fuch liqiiours produce- on the melancholy and torpid frame of the favage. As ftrong liquors awaken him frem this ftate, give a brifker motion to his fpirits, and enliven him more thoroughly than any other flimulus, no wonder * his love of them fhould be exceflive. This paflion, however, is not univerfal j feveral of the Afiatic and African nations, as the Arabs -j- and the ancient Lybians, and indeed the prefent inhabitants of that country — who, although not abfolute favages, are ftill in a very imperfedl flate of civil i- fation — ufe no fermented or fpirituous liquors at all, nor any fubflitute for them ; and have a religious law or precept for the prohibition of any fuch, which has fubfifted nearly as \ long as we have any accounts of that part of the world. It is, in- deed, hardly juil to draw precife and determinate conclufions from the liking of favages to a thing brought to them from abroad, and which mufl; of necefllty be rare : novelty has, in fuch a cafe, a powerful attraction, efpecially in hot climates ; and this, joined to its fcarcity, which renders it only procurable by the chief perfons, may make it more fought than the difpofition of the inhabitants would naturally incline. Gaming is another vice, which fome very refpedlable writers jj have reprefented as being connected with a favage flate It certainly often occurs in fuch a condition of life, and is part- ly owing to the idlenefs which prevails in that fituation : part- ly may be fubfervient, as well as drinking, to difpel tliat cloud and melancholy which indolence is fo apt to induce. But * Robertfon's America, vol, i. p. 398. t See note, book i. ch. xxii. § 3. X It fubfifled in the time of the Carthaginians. ij Robertfon's America, vol. i. g. 396. I qtieftion. 278 W A Y o F L I F E. Book VI. I queftion if this paffion be fo univerfal as is imagined ; and believe that it is principally prevalent in cold climates, wh re fomething is requilite to excite the paflions, and fet a heavy, inactive machine into motion. It is worthy of remark, that the games played by favage people, are * all games of chance, and not of fkill j and, in general, where the chance is quickly decided. The ftake they play is likewife confiderable. Thus Ta- citus II tells us, that the Germans were paffionately fond of playing with dice ; and the American favages are particularly fond of games of -f- hazard. Both thefe people, when engaged at play, ven- tured their whole fortune, and, when that was loft, their perfons alfo, and fubmitted to a voluntary captivity. Their violence of temper, and vehement ardour in purfuit of what they delire, as well as their ignorance, is pointedly exprefTed by thefe circumftances in their hiftory. Several authors ijl have accufed rude nations of inconftancy, and want of faith in their dealings and contracts, efpecially thofe of a public nature. But I believe this charge not to be al- together well founded. That they may not, through ignorance of their nature, affix precifely the fame ideas to their contradls that are habitual to civilifed nations, I fhall not difpute, as it requires, per- haps, a confiderable degree of cultivation to comprehend exadly the fcope and extent of engagements of this kind. But I do not believe that favage nations, in general, are deficient in moral qua- * Helvetius on Man, vol. i. p. 129. II Taciti German, cap. xxiv. t Robertfon's America, vol. i. p. 396. i Peritus omnis b^irbaricE, & pra^cipue earum gentium in quibus per tot annos militabat, perfidia;.— Livii lib. xxv. Memor quam vana & mutabilia barbarorum ingenia. — Livii lib. xxix. per inducias infidi ; inconftantes. — Ammian. Marccllin. Defer. Hunnorum. Fluxa ut eft barbaris fide. — Tacit. Hift. 1. iii. c. 48. - o lities Chap. i. On the Injliience of a Savage State. 279 litiesof this nature. Herodotus § tells us, that the Arabians were remarkably tenacious of their word and contrails. The barbarous nations, who fubverted the Roman empire, were rigid obfervers of their promifes. Veracity, alfo, was a charadleriftic quality of them ; and from thence were derived many of our ideas of mo- dern honour J; which was indeed founded, in a good meafure, on a ftridl adherence to truth. Thefe qualities are equally remarkable in modern favages. II Mr. Kalm fays, that no one is fo rigid in keeping his word as a favage : and * Mr. UUoa gives the fame charadler of the In- dians of South America. A violence of temper, and the breaches of the laws of fo iety incident thereto, may alfo be confidered as belonging to this way of life. The courfe of juftice, in fuch a ftate of fociety, muft of neceflity be very imperfeftly condudled j the natural confequence of which is, that every man, in his individual capacity, becomes the avenger of his own wrong, and the vindicator of his own right. This ftate of civil government naturally introduced a fimilar conduft into private life, to which alfo the cuftom of in- toxication not a little conduced. This lafl: is, indeed, carried to fuch a height, that a man is by them fcarcely thought account- able, in his fober mood, for what he did in heat of paflion, or in time of a debauch. This difpofition to fudden violence prevailed much among the § Herodot. lib. iii. Strabo fays, that the Maflfagetse were obfervant of their agreements, and devoid of fraud and deceit. Lib xi. % Sp. of Laws, book xxviii. ch. 20. The barbarous nations reproached the Romans with lying and falfity. When they wanted to exprefs their opinion of the bad qualities of an enemy, fallliood par- ticularly, they called him a Roman. — Robertfon's Hid. ch. 5. vol. i. n. 2. II Kalm's Travels, vol. i. p. 77. 8vo. Lond. 1772. * Ulloa's Voyrige to South America, book viii. ch. 9. anqient 28o W A Y o F L I F E. Book VI. ancient Germans -f-, who, we are told by Tacitus, were fubjedl to frequent outrages * of this kind, and fome of them very grofs in their nature ; which, however, appear to have no || penalty affixed to them in this ftate of fociety. The North J American Indians are exadlly in a fimil -r ftate. It is difficult to reconcile this part of the charafter of favage nations v/ith the apathy or infenfibility before afcribed to them j but it fliould be confidered, that this apathy, joined with igno- rance, leads to the performance of ad:ions, without confidering their confequences ; and alfo flifles that remorfe, which, in minds endued with fenfibility, naturally fucceeds the commiffion of any improper deed. The manners of favages, in point of behaviour, are next to be confidered. Though unacquainted with the formality of ceremonial, favages are not always deftitute of civility, and, indeed, politenefs of external behaviour. Tacitus defcribes the behaviour of the an- cient § Germans as courteous to ftrangers ; and the North Ame- f In other refpeiSs the Germans were humane and merciful. — Pompon. Mela. * Crebrae ut inter vinolentos rixae, raro conviciis, faepius caede atque vulneribus tranfiguntur. — Taciti Germania, wp. xxii. See too Diodorus on the Gauls, p. 212. It appears from Horace, that the Thracians, whofe manner of life much refem- bk'd that of the Germans, were very quarrelfome in their cups. Natis in ufum laetitia Scyphis Pugnare, Thracum eft : tollite barbarum Morem ; verecundumque Bacchum Sanguineis prohibete rixis. Horat. Carmin. lib. i. H Verberare fervum, ac vinculis & opere coercere, rarum. Occidere folent, non difcinlina et fevcritate, ftd impetu & ira, ut inimicum, nifi quod impune. — Ta- citi Gtrmania, cap. xxv. X When their paflions, naturally ftrong, arc heightened and inflamed by drink, they are guilty of the moft enormous outrages ; and the fedivity feldom concludes without deeds of violence or bloodlhcd.— Robcrtfon's America, vol. i. p. 339. § V^ictus inter hofpitcs comis. — Tacit. Germ. cap. xxii. ric^n Chap. i. On the Influence of a Savage State. 2.81 rican Indians are, according to Charlevoix, and others, afFedlionatc in their carriage, and tender in their regard j wliich laft they have the faculty of expreffing with great propriety, and even elegance. When I beheld, fays * Mr. Carver, on an occafion of this kind, the artlefs, yet engaging manners of this unpoliflied favage, I could not help drawing a comparifon between him and fome of the more refined inhabitants of civilifed countries, not much, I own, in favour of the latter. Nor is the caufe of this ftyle of manners difficult to be traced to its fource. The equality of the people, in point of rank, caufes every man to be an obje6t of re- fpedl and confideration to another. There is here no room for the arrogance of birth, privileges of rank, or precedence of dignity. It is with them a maxim, that no man is naturally under any ob- ligation to another; and confequently, that he is not obliged to bear with any impofition or unequal treatment. This naturally produces from every one a behaviour fuitable to that which he thinks himfelf entitled to from others ; and, as no one has a right to expeft, in a fociety of equals, greater attention than he pays, fo here the rules of civility are enforced, even from motives of pride and interefl, which, in polifhed communities, produce di- reftly oppofite effeds. The vindidlive and jealous difpofition, likewife, of thefe people, is fo well known as to put each perfon on his guard with refpe •different mode of condudl was neceffary for the prefervation and enjoyment of it, and to reprefs the fame || violence to themfelvej;, which they had employed in obtaining it. Agriculture had like- wife a great effedl in repreffing violence, by communicating a mode of obtaining property by labour and induftry ; which were foon found to be more fecure and permanent, as well as more re- gular, methods of acquifition than force and rapine, and which quickly imparted notions of*juflnefs and honefty in all their dealings and tranfadlions. The mixture of vegetable diet, which a life of agriculture neceflarily introduced, contributed like- wife, I imagine, to abate their ferocity. Agriculture ^Ifo, I believe, improves the morals of the people, "by difperfing them over the country. A paftoral life naturally collefts great numbers of people together ; which always tends to corrupt their manners, efpecially when fo much time is unem- ployed, as is the cafe in that way of life. But agriculture requires that the people fhould be fcattered, and likewife it fupplies them with conftant employment, and by that means removes two great fources of corruption. Thus the Romans, who were at firft col- ledled from fhepherds, robbers, and outlaws, fcon became, by 11 Arrian tells us, that Alexander built cities for the Indian nations, that they might no longer lead a wandering life, but "betake themfelves to the works of agri- culture, in order that being poffefied of property, which naturally imparted feme concern for its prefervation, they might on that account be more cautious of offering -violence and injury to others.— Hiftory of India. * The earth, fays Xenophon, which is itfclf a Deity, teaches juftice to all who are capable of confidering its nature, as it makes the moft ample recompence to thofe who duly attend to its cultivation. — CEcon. ch. v. §12. maxime pius quaeftus ftabiliffimufque confequitur, minimeque invidiofus. minimeque male cogitantes funt, qui in eoftudio occupati funt.— Cato de Re Ruf- tica, lib. i. Cicero had a great opinion of the good cftcas of an agricultural life on the man- ners and condua.— See his work De Sene^ute & pro L. Rofcio Amerino. Strabo fays, that thofe who pradifed agriculture in India were the moft moral and juft of any of the ranks of people.— Defer. India. fettling CiTAP. ill. EffeSls of a Life of Agriculture upon Mankind. -jfij fettling in a fixed habitation, and by application to agriculture, a people highly moral and religious ; and the barbarous nations that invaded Europe, abated much of their ferocity, violence, and rapa- city, on fettling in the countries they had conquered. Agriculture likewife may, I think, be confidered as favourable to morals, as it is an advance towards civilifation. This always introduces a fenfe of decorum and propriety into our conduct, adverfe to the commiffion of flagitious adlions ; which ferves as a ccnfiderable check on^ thofe difpofed to perpetrate them. As to internal corruption, or that which arifes from the influence of money, I am inclined to think that this alfo is diminiflied by the change of the way of life. The nations who live in a paftoral ftate at prefent, are the mofl venal and corrupt of any in the world. The Arabs and Tartars will do any thing for money ; and it fcems to have been held in equal eftimation by the northern nations. It appears, from all accounts, that the ancient Gauls were exceflively fond of gold. Brennus offered to raife the fiege of Rome for a thoufand pounds weight of gold. The Gafatas were fo called^ from ferving under any people for pay. The -j- Infubrians and Boians bribed the kings of the Gauls to make war upon the Ro- mans. Livy :{:alfo tells us of the fame people, that although Han- nibal had gained their alliance and good-will, he could not keep' them fleady to his interefl:, without making prefents of this metal to- their chiefs. But the nations who have encouraged agriculture,, have in general preferved a greater degree of independence and dig- nity of charadler.. The Romans, in the early ages of the republic,, were highly difinterefled and public-fpirited. Manius Curius, Fabricius, Cincinnatus, Regulus, all of whom led a life of agri- t Polyb. b. ii. ch. 2. % Praeoccupatos jam ab Annibale Gallorum animos efle, fed ne illi quidem ipfi fatis mitem gentem fore, adeo ferocia atque indoinita ingenia effe, ni fubinde auro, cujus avidiflima gens eft, principiimanimi concilientur. — Livii, lib. xxi. culture,, 368 W A Y o P L I F E. Book VI. culture, afford inftances that they then poffefied thefe virtues in the moft eminent degree ; and thefe examples were highly refpedled, •and quoted with admiration by that people, even in the moil * de- generate times. I am inclined to believe, that the manners, as far as relates to the behaviour, are iefs polifiied in this ftate of life than in the fore- going, thoiigh perhaps this may not always hold true. Tacitus tells us, that the behaviour of the Germans was ■f cour- teous and obliging to ftrangers ; and the manners of the people during the middle ages, when the nations of Europe in general were little removed from a flate of barbarifm, were in a high de- gree J refpeftful, polite, and elegant. Where nearly every man in a ftate is of the fame profefTion, it introduces a kind of equality, and renders each of them an objedl of refpedl to the other; confe- quently no tyrannical or oppreffive afcendency is gained by any particular fet or rank of people, which often takes place in ftates where there are a variety of functions and occupations. Vv here men, alfo, are conftantly afiembled in great numbers, neceflity * Regulum, et Scauros, animsque magna Prodigum Paulum, fuperante Poeno, Gratus infigni referam Camoena, Fabriciumque. Hunc et incomptis Curium capillis Utilem bello tulit, et Camillum Sasva paupertas, et avitus apto Cum lare fundus. Horatii Odar. 1. i. od. i2. -parvoque potentem Fabrrcium, vel te fulco Serrane fercntem. Virgil, j^neid. 1. vi. ). 844, 845. Vide etiam Silii Italic, lib. xiii. 1. 720.— Valcrii Maxim, lib. iv. c. 4-. — Clau- dian. lib. iv. 1. 412. Conf. Honor. — et in Rufinum, lib. i. 1. 100. f Vi great, or of fo long duration, as in the Roman ftate. Dionyfius lialicarnaiTenfis |1 remarics, " that thofe laws which Romulus en- a(5ted to infpire children with piety and reverence towards their parents, and to oblige them to honour and to obey their fathers in all things, both words and adions, are much fuperior to the Grecian laws ; for the Greek legiflators limited a very flaort time for the fon to be under the government of his father ; fome, until the expiration of the third year after he was arrived to man- hood j others, as long as he continued unmarried; and fome, till their names were rcgiftered in the colleges of magiflrates ; as they had learned from the laws of Solon, Pittacus, and Charondas, in which there is acknowledged to be great wifdom. The punifh- X Vita eft illis femper in fuga : uxorefque mercenariae coiidu(51:;E ad tempus ex pafto : ut fit fpccies matrimonii, dotis nomine futura conjunx lias tarn & taber- iiaculum ofFcrt marito, poft ftatum diem fi id clegerit, difceffHra : & incredibile eft quo ardorc apud cos in Vcnerem iiterque folvatur fexus. Ita autem quoad vixerint late palantur, ut alibi mulier nubat, in loco pariat alio, liberofque prociil educat, nulla copia quielccndi permilTa. — Amm. Marc. 1. xiv. cap. 5. Defer. Saracciior. Omnes enim fine fedibus fixis, abfque lare vel lege aut ritu ftabili difpalantur, Temper fugicntium limiles, cum carpentis in quibus habitant: ubi conjuges tetra jllis vefiimenta contexunt, 5i coeunt cum maritis, & pariunt, & ad ufque pubcrtatem nutriunt pueros. Nullufque apud eos interrogatus, refponJere unde oritur potefl, alibi conceptus, natufque procul, & longius educatus. — Ammian. Marc. 1. xiv. c. V. Defcript. Hunn. & Aianor. \ Dionyf. Halicarn. 1. ii. Spelman's Tranflation, jnents. 374 W A Y o F L I F E. Book VI. ments, alfo, which they ordained for difobedience in children were not grievous — allowing their fathers to turn them out of doors, and to difinherit them, but no farther. Whereas gentle punifhments are not fufficient to reflrain the folly and infolence of youth, or to reftore thofe, who defpife their duty, to a fenfe of it ; for which reafon, among the Greeks, great indecencies are committed by children againft their parents." To thefe obfervations of Dionyfius we may add, that even in the Spartan republic, wherein * obedience was fo carefully incul- cated, and made a principle of government, no great ufe was made of paternal authority. Fathers had there, indeed, a degree of power over children ; but this power was common to all fathers over all children, whether their own or not, and was probably ex- ercifed more in the light of general infpecflors of the education of youth, than in a private -f- paternal capacity. Every child, at Sparta, whether male or female, was accounted to be the pro- perty of the ftate ; their education was public, and in a fettled manner j nor was it in the power of the parents to alter it even in the mod minute article. Some of the mod :}: refpedtable per- fons * Every one knows, fays Xenophon, that the Spartans are firft inftru£led to obey the magiftrates and the laws. — On the Lacedaemonian Republic. t " In tliis refpeft he judged differently from mod others. For, in other ftates, every individual is mafter of his own children, fcrvants, and poflcffions. But Ly- curgus — who was defirous to bring it about that the citizens, without injuring any one, fhould enjoy all their advantages in common — ord.iincd that every father fhould have a command, not over his own children only, but of thofe of others alfo." — Xenophon on the Laced.T^monian Republic, ch. vi. § i. X '* Lycurgus, confidering that people often fet flaves over children as thei«- governors and tutors, chofc rather to elcdl a man for their preceptor who had palTed the principal magiftracies in the flate. To this perfon, from his employ- ment, they gave the title of governor of the youth. To him was intruded the power of afTcmbling the youth, and of punching them fevercly, if any one, on (tri£l examination, appeared to defcrve it. He had, as an attendant, one of the young «Dcn, who carried the rods, that he might have the inftrumtnts of puniflimcut 10 in Chap. ill. Effcch of a Life of Agriculture upon Mankind. 375 Tons in the flate fuperintended the education of the youth, direded their aftions and conduiEt, and pujiimed them at their difcretion ; confequently, there was little room for domeflic difcipline or authority. It is not, perl^aps, very difficult to account, in a good meafure at lead, for the influence of an agricultural life in extending pa- ternal authority. People, who follow this way of life, are obliged to live, in a good meafure, feparate and detached from others, and confequently lefs expofed to the contagion of a turbulent, fadious fpirit. The children are bred up with their parents from their birth ; they are always in their fight, are their affiflants and fervants in the bulinefs, and accuftonied to obedience and a habit of in- duftry from their early youth. Their father is the flrfl:, and perhaps the only perfon they are taught to rcfpcdl j and this at- tachment does not abate as they grow up, but rather increafes with their flrength and ability to become ferviceable. SECT. III. hiflucnce of an agricultural way of Ife upon the intelleBs. I am inclined to think that a life of this kind is more favourable to the improvement of the underftanding in general, efpecially in ufeful knowledge, than either of the foregoing. Firft, it is an advance towards civilifation and improvement of manners ; circumflances always favourable to fcience, at leait when carried to a certain degree only. Next, agriculture itfelf requires fome ftudy and attention of mind, at leaft of thofe who carry it on v/ith a view to its im- provement — which is always the cafe with many perfons, v/herc it in readinefs when it was neccfTary to employ them. From hence it comes, that the Spartan youth are endued with great modefty and refpeclfulnefs of behaviour ; and, at the fame time, a fenfe of obedience and due fubordination." — Xenophon on the Lacedosm. Republic, chap. ii. § 6. IS 376 W A Y o F L I F E. Book VI. is managed by the higher ranks of people — and of confequence tends to introduce a habit of reafoning and rcfledlion *, joined with experiment and obfervation. Next, a life of agriculture, although a conftant employment, is favoBrable to knowledge, and exertion of the faculties, from the very habit of induftry which it tends- to introduce. Idlenefs is no friend to knowledge ; and, whatever fpeculative moralifts may have fald of the connection between fcience and leifure, it is certain that our beft information, in almofl every branch of knowledge, has been received from thofe who have had their time the moft: occupied. A life of agriculture is alfo, I think, favourable, in a national view, to the mental facultie?, by affording a fubjedl for their em- ployment to every rank of people. In the other ftates of life there was little that occurred, in the ufual courfe, to flimulate curiofity and to promote enquiry; but in this, where an objedt is prefented that is a conftant fubjedl of attention, and at the fame time fuf- ceptible of great variety, and capable of much improvement, the mind thus urged, and naturally aftive, preffes forward, and calls the faculties into aftion. This way of life is alfo, in my opinion, more favourable to the powers of the underftanding than the former, as it is more fta- tionary, and attached to a fixed place or fituation ; a circumftance certainly better adapted to the advancement of knowledge, than the wandering and tranfitory life of a hunter or a lliepherd. In confirmation of thefe arguments, we may obferve, that thofe countries where agriculture was much encouraged, generally made great progre.fs in the ufcful | arts. The buildings at Rome, which were * Mr. Hume remarks of agriculture, that it is a profcflion, which, of all me- chanical employments, requires the moft refledion and experience. — Hume's Hift. of En^jlanJ, ch. xxxv. + It is a true obfervation, fays Xcnophon, that agriculture is the nurfing-mother <>f the arts. For where agriculture fuccecds profperoufly, thorc the arts thrive; but Chap. ill. EffcBs of a Life of Agriculture upon Mankind. '^yj were eredled in the early days of that people, even when under a regal government, and which flill remain the admiration of pofte- rity, evidently dcmonflrate that the pradlical arts of that kind were arrived at a high degree of perfecflion. Their progrefs in military knowledge was no Icfs remarkable. In this indeed they had great experience, as they were almofl cou- ilantly engaged in war; but it was not in military refolution and courage only that they excelled. They ftruck the ;{: Grecian in- vader, at an early period of their hiflory, with the regularity of their encampments, and the excellence of their difcipline and arms, in all of which they foon arrived to fuch a pitch of perfcdtion, as far to furpafs || thofe from whom their knowledge was derived. But although this ftage of civilifation be favourable to the ex- ertions of the mind and underftanding, in the promotion of ufeful knowledge, or fuch as is accommodated to fupply the wants or neceffities of mankind, I doubt whether it be adapted to the in- creafe of elegant or ornamental accompliihment, or the efforts of fancy and genius. Some of thefe, particularly the talents for oratory and poetry, have been obferved to prevail in great force, in the rudell fitua- but where the earth neceiTarily lies uncultivated, there the other arts, relative both to land and fea, are deftroyed. — Oeconom. ch. v. § ly. Strabo mentions, that when the nations of Gaul had betaken themfelvcs to agri- culture, they foon furpalTed the people of Marfcilles in the arts of life. — Strabon. lib. iv. X Pyrrhus advanced, and encamped in the plain between the cities of Pandofia and Hcraclea, ai-.J having notice that the Romans were near, and lay on the other fKie of the river Siris, he rode up to take a view of them ; and feeing the order, the appointmciU of the watches, the excellent form, and, in a word, the whole fcheme of their encampment, he was amazed, and, calling to one of his friends next to him, " This order," fiys he, " Megacles, of a barbarous nation, is not at all barbarous ; we fliall foon fee what they can do;" and, growing a little more doubtful of the event, rcfolvcd to expeiSt the arrival of the confederates. — Plutarch's Life of Pyrrhus. il See Pol)b. book xvii. Ext. 3. 3 C tions 37? W A Y o F L I F E. Book VI. tions of mankind ; and although the next ftage, of which we have treated in the laft chapter, appeared at one period highly adverfe to literature, and the improvement of the mental powers, yet this vio- lence foon abated, and a degree of tafle for fome of the polite arts appeared again, in the very days of the * fame people that contri- buted fo much to their 'deftruftion. But a people, whofe difpo- fition leads to agriculture, have, I apprehend, little tafte for enter- tainments of the more elegant kind. The Romans fhewed fcarcely any marks of poetical genius for many ages after the foundation of the city, and, perhaps, would never have attempted that fpecies of writing, had it not been for their intercourfe with Greece. China and India, though highly polifhed, have produced neither poets nor orators of much confideration ; and the like is, I believe, true of Egypt. Greece, on the contrary, even at a period when ci- vilifation and arts were at a low ebb, exhibited many marks of genius in this way. Nor is the reafon of this difference hard to be conceived. A people ■who were engaged in a conftant employment, fuch as agriculture af- forded, had no leifure for abftraft fpeculation, or the indulgence of fancy and invention, on fubjedls which promifed no immediate ufe or advantage to fociety. The habit, alfo, of a domeftic life, fuch as agriculture induced,, together with the local nature of the employment, were not favour- able to interchange of fentiment and general inform.ation,. nor to the difpofition, cliaracter, and knowledge of mankind: for the acquifition of which a larger and more varied fcene of fociety is requifite. I am likewife apt to think, that a life of agriculture is rather unfavourable to tafte and refinement, from the tenfe and firm fibre * Attila the Hunn had conftantly poets in waitinj^, and their verfes in lionour of iis exploits were part of the entertainment of his court. The Arabs, almoft imme- diately after they had deftroycd nwfi of the monuments of literature, fet themfclvcs- on their reiloration, which Chap. iii. EffeSis of a Life of Agriculture upon Mankind, 37^ which a habit of labour naturally produces. This, however well fuited it may be to the common bufmefs of life, is inconfiflent with the delicacy -j- of fenfition, and quickncfs of apprehenfion, which are neceflary to form an elegant tafle and relilh for works of genius, and poetical or lively invention, and even for that accurate and difcriminatins; obfervation, which is fo charafteriilic of fenfi- bility of feeling joined with exquifite judgment. It is found, even by anatomical obfervation, that a certain tone of fibre, which to us bears the appearance of laxity, is neceflary for nicety of fenfation and apprehenfion. This is inconfifl:ent with a habit of great mufcular exertion : which probably, by the flrong and repeated impulfes it occafions upon the nerves, renders them infenfible to flight irritations, and has alfo, as we find by ex- perience, the power of inducing a great degree of callofity, or ap- proach towards oflification, on the mufcular fibres themfelves. This I take to be one reafon of the infenfibility of the people in northern latitudes, in comparifon with thofe of warmer climates. The habit of labour, and exertion of the bodily powers, which is cuftomary and necefi/ary there, co-operates with the climate in in- ducing a greater degree of infenfibility upon the more delicate organs. The fame caufe probably operates in inducing a difi'erence of a fimilar kind between the higher and lower ranks of people, the latter of whom appear to be inferior to the other in this refped:, not only from difference of education, but alfo from natural caufes. t The truth of this obfervation appears notorioufly exemplified in the difference of charadter between the modern Italians, and their predeceflbrs, the ancient Ro- mans ; the former of whom excel the latter in fenfibility, refinement, and tafte for the delicate, yet frivolous accomplifliments, as much as they fall (hort of them in the fupcrior qualities of fortitude, patriotifm, and the love of liberty. This change is probably owing to the diiTerence of the way of life ; and it is obfervable, that the Romans themfelves, when agriculture came to be difregarded, foon acquired a tafte for elegance and the fine arts, not very diiFerent from the modern Italians. 3 C 2 SECT. -,8o WAY OF LIFE. Book VI. SECT. IV. EffeSis of a life of agriculture upon the la-ws. I {hall fpeak firft with refpedl to the law of nations. The advance towards civilifation, introduced by agriculture, and pofTibly the nature of the employment itfelf, caufes a great attention to be paid to the law of nations. This was, or at leaft pretended to be, carried to a great height among the J Romans, who made it a confiderable inftrument of their glory and influence. No war was commenced by them, unlefs the juftice of it had been previoufly examined by the Feciales || or He- ralds; and noadtof hoftility was committed, unlefs a public and pre- vious declaration of war had been made. Nay, to fuch a length was their nicety carried, that it was efteemed a breach of the law of nations for any one to commit a<3:s of hollility, even in time of war,, except one in the military profeflion *, and who had taken the X To good men, faid Camillus, tRere are laws even in war itfelf; and viftory is not to be fo greedily hunted after as not to avoid the reproach of having gained it by bafe and. unworthy a£lions. For it becomes a great general to rely on his owa virtue, and not on the deceit and treachery of others. — Plutarch's Life of Camillus. Sunt et bella ficut pacis jura, jufteque non minus quam fortiter didicimus gerere. — Livii, 1. V. cap. 27. Atque in rcpublica maxime confervanda funt jura belli. — Cicero de Officiis. II Sec Dionyf. Halicarn. b. ii. — Livii, 1. i. ch. 24, 32. * Popillius imperator tenebat provinciam in cujus exercitu Catonis filius tiro militabat. Cum autem Popillio videretur unam dimittere legionem, Catonis quoq.ue filium qui in cadem Icgionc militabat, dimifit. Sed cum amore pugnaudi in exer- citu remanfiflilt, Gato ad Popilium fcripfit, ut fi eum paterctur in exercitu remancrc, fecundo eum obligarct militix facramento, quia priore amilTo, jure cum hoftibus pugnare non poterat. Adeo fumma erat obfervatio in bello movendo. Marci quidcm Catonis fcnis cpiftola eft ad Marcum filium, in qua fcripfit fe audifTc cum milium faftum cfle a- confule, cum in Macedonia Pcrfico bcllo miles eflct : monet igitur ut caveat ne proe.lium incat ; negat enim jus effc qui miles nou fit, pugnare cum hofte. — Cicero de Offic. lib. i. c. 11. Livy fays, that Quintus Fabius w:>s impeached by Caius Marcius the tribune, for having Chap. iii. EffeBs of a Life of Agriculture upon Mankind. 381 the facramentum, or military oath. The fame people alfo profcfled to be remarkably tenacious of their faith and promife, even to an enemy. Thus Regulus -f returned back from Rome to Carthage; and the Romans, who were difpatched by Hannibal, after the battle of Canns, to Rome, to treat of the exchange of prifoners, were all fent back by the fenate. I am moreover inclined to believe, that the laws of war are more mild and humane among a people that pradlife agriculture, than one of the former defcription. The ancient Romans were very gentle in the treatment of the nations which they fubdued, incorporating them with their own people, and giving them the fame ^ privi- leges. Indeed, the maxims of this kind, which were publicly pro- feffed and recommended, even in the later times of the republic,. were || humane and generous. Savages and barbarians, on the contrary, are, as has been before remarked, very cruel in the treatment of thofe whom they con- quer J and even the Greeks were far from mild on fmiilar occafions. having committed hoftilities againft the Gauls, to whom he was fent ambafTador.— Livii, 1. V. cap. 36. lib. vi. cap. i. — See alfo Plutarch's Life of Camillus. Craffus's expedition againft the Parthians was alfo execrated, and held impious, by the Feciales.' — Plutarch's Life of Craffus. t See many other inftances of this kind in Cicero de Officiis, lib. i. ch. 2. ct lib. iii. c. 29, 30, 31, 32. X Dionyf. Halicarn. 1. i. II Quare fufcipienda quidem bella funt, ob earn caufam ut fine injuria in pace vi- vatur : parta autem viftoria confervandi funt ei qui non crudeles in bcllo, non im- manes fuerunt; ut majores noftri, Tufculanos, iEquos, Volfcos, Sabinos, Hernicos, in civitatem etiam acceperunt. Mea quidem fententia paci, qua? nihil, habitura. fit inCdiarum femper eft confu- lendum. Li quo fi mihi eftet obtemperatum etfi non optimam at aiiquam reir.publi- cam, quae nunc nulla eft, haberemus. Et cum iis quos vi deviceris confulendum eft, turn i: qui armis pofitis ad imperatorum fidem confugient, quamvis murum aries percuflerit, recipiendi funt : in quo tantopcre apud noftros juftitia culta eft, ut ii qui civitates aut nationes deviftas hello in fidem recepiflent, earum patroni efient more: majorum. — Cicero de Offic. 1. i. Ths 582 W A Y OF L I F E. Book VI. The polite Athenians * ordered the crews of two gallies they had taken to be thrown down a precipice, or overboard, into the fea, and refolved, in full affembly, to cut off the right hands of all the prifoners they Ihould take. In retaliation of this cruelty, the Spartans and confederates, after the battle of JEgos Potamos, put all the Athenian prifoners to death, except Adimantus -f, who had oppofed the firft re- folution. The fame ^ Athenians alfo, by a public decree, voted to deftroy all the people of Scione that were above the age of puberty, and to murder all the inhabitants, without exception, of Melos, and the city of Mitylene. The people of || Corcyra, upon taking Epidamnum, put all the prifoners, except the Corinthians, to death. The Romans, indeed, in fome inftances, fhewed a great degree of feverity towards thofe whom they conquered, as in the inftances of Carthage, Numantia, Corinth, and fome other places. But even in thefe inftances, though they deftroyed the cities, they did not murder the inhabitants ; and the deftrudtion of the cities was more upon a political § principle, than to gratify re- venge. It is not, I think, difficult to account for this difference of treat- ment in the feveral ftates of life above defcribed. Savages, who fubfift by hunting, cannot admit of any great addition to their • * Diodorus fays, that the Athenians were eminent for humanity above the reft of the Greeks. — Diod. 1. iv. f Xtnophont. Hill. lib. ii. X Diodor. Sicul. lib. xii. — Thucydid. lib. iii. II Thucydid. lib. i. § Cicero fays that they deftroyed Corinth on a political account, bccaufe of its fituation.— De Officiis, lib. i. § 2. Poiybius gives feveral inftances of the humanity of the Romans to thofe whom they had conquered, particularly the people of New Carthage. — Book x. Extr, 2. — Dionyfius Halicarnr-IT. makes the fame remark. 2 number. Chap. iii. Effe£is of a Life of Agriculture upon Mankind. 383- number, as their means offubfiftence muft diminidi in proportion j and this not only from the greater confumption occafioned by numbers, but alfo from the withdrawing of the.game from places, as they become more frequented. People, alfo, that live by pafturage, are limited in their numbers, as the ground and country will maintain a certain proportion only. All, therefore, that exceed this number, muft be an incum- brance, and even dangerous. No wonder then, that people in thefe flates did not choofe to be burdened with a great number of prifoners. But in agricultural focieties the cafe is very different. Every new acceflion of people, at leaft to a certain number, is an addition- of riches, and even contributes to provide the means of fupport, more than proportionably to the increafe of confumption. It is not, then, extraordinary, that the Romans, who could, from their application to agriculture, eafily maintain the additional numbers,, fhould receive them into their fociety, in order to form their pri- foners into the -|- inftruments of their power and greatnefs. The antient Greeks were, on the contrary, in feveral refpeds, in a iituation fimilar to the people formerly defcribed. The fmall- nefs of the ftates, the freedom of the government, and the fecurity of property, made that country very populous ; whilft their inatten- tion to agriculture rendered them fcarce able to fupport them. Hence the readinefs with which fome of thefe ftates fent out colonies, even to numbers which to us appear incredible, when we conlider the lize of the mother country. The Trachinians re- ceived, at once, a colony of four thoufand :|; men from Sparta, which t The ancient Romans, fays Mr. Montefquieu, never confidered the vanquiflied but as fo many inftruments for future triumphs ; they made foldiers of the feveral people they had conquered ; and the greater oppofition they made, the more worthy they judged them of being incorporated into the republic. — Grandeur and Decline of the Roman Empire, chap, iv, X Mr. Hume, in his diflertation on the populoufnefs of ancient nations, fays, ten thoufand \ 384 W A Y o F L I F E. Book VI. which by no means abounded in numbers of people, at leall: of freemen, who alone, we may prefume, were admitted into the number. When Timoleon had driven Dionyfius from Syracufe, he found that the neighbourhood was much depopulated by tyranny, war, and fadlion ; and accordingly invited over from Greece fome new inhabitants to repeople it. In confequence of this invitation, fifty || thoufand men were fent over, and fettled there. It is highly pro- bable, that if thcfe people could have been maintained properly at home, they would fcarcely have made fuch emigrations, efpecially as they a]>pear to have been made with the confent of the parent flates. Perhaps this difficulty of maintaining their people was one reafon why the antient Greeks had but little local attachment. The penal or criminal law of the country is alfo, I apprehend, influenced by this way of life. The advance towards civilifation caufes the objedls of the law to be better underftood and purfued, and the laws themfelves to be better refpedted and obeyed. Crimes here begin to be confidered as public offences, and not merely as private injuries to indi- viduals. The general chara-dler of ihe penal laws, in a flate of this kind, is, I .believe, mild and gentle, and * capital puniiliment is rarely in- thoufand ; but DioJorus fpeaks of only fix thoufand in the whole ; and of thefe four thoufand only wtre fent by Sparta, and part of thefe were collefted from the reft of Peloponnefus. Thucydides mentions the fa£t of the emigration, but does not fpe- cify the numbers. Diodorus, indeed, fays, that they, in procefs of time, increafed Trachin or Heracica to fuch a fize as to contain ten thoufand people, but never fnys the Spartans fent fo many. — Diodor. Sicul. b. xii. — Thucydid. b. iii. II Mr. Hume fays forty thoufand ; but Diodoius fays that forty thoufand fettled in the territory of Syracufe, and ten thoufand in that of Argyrium. Plutarch fays, fixty thoufand were fent from Greece, and fettled in Sicily. — Life of Timoleon. • A people of proprietors, fays Mr. Helvctius, may be governed by gentle laws; confifcations of property, parli.il or total, arc there fulRcient to fupprefs crimes. — Helvctius on Man. fliaed. Chap. iii. EJ'eSts of a Life of Agriculture upon Mankind. 385 flidled. Mankind, in a country wherein this way of life is purfued, feldom multiply beyond what the country can maintain ; and in general, the more they increafc the better they can be fupported. Hence every individual is of value to fociety, and of confcquence the laws are tender of his prefervation. This affords one reafon why the antient Roman laws were fo fcrupulous in inflidting the punifliment -f- of death. Nay, even in the political dillurbances at Rome, during the early periods, very little blood was fpilt by the ;}: executioner, though the contefts were very hot and frequent. Succeeding times, indeed, made ample amends for this forbearance of their anceflors, when Marius and Sylla, and afterwards the trium- virs, were let loofe upon the ftate. But at that period corruption had overturned the conftitution ; and it is probable, as Mr. Hume 1], with great ingenuity, remarks, that the mildnefs of the original laws was in a great meafure the caufe of the fucceeding cruelties. All capital punifhments being abolifhed by law, how- ever criminal and dangerous any citizen might be, he could not re- gularly be punifhed any otherwife than by baniihment : it there- fore became necelTary, in the revolutions of party, to draw the fword of private vengeance ; nor was it eafy, when laws were once violated, to fet bounds to thefe fanguinary proceedings. Had ihere been a legal method of reaching their enemies, it is probable that each party would have had recourfe to it, on account of the pretence it would afford. The proceeding and trials would then have been public, which is no fmall check on the improper exer- cife of judicial authority ; and the delay neceffary upon fuch occa- fions would, by fuffering the paffions to cool, have preferved the t The Valerian law gave an appeal to the people in criminal cafes, and the Por- cian law forbad the putting a citizen to death in any cafe whatfoever. X The firft blood that was fpilt at Rome, in any public dillurbance, was in the fedition of the Gracchi, in the fix hundred and thirty-firft year from the building of the city, and in the three hundred and eighty-fixth year of the commonwealth. II Effayix. 3 D lives 386 W A Y o F L I F E. Book VI. lives of many who were not particularly obnoxious to the heads of the party. But when a loofe was given to private revenge, and the execution was fudden, and without trial or examination, all pre- tences became fufficient,. and numbers were deflroyed, not as ene- mies to the party, but from motives of* avarice, luft, and the mofi; deteftable paffions. Thus, as Mr. Hume obferves, one ex- treme produces another. In the fame manner as feverity in the laws is apt to beget great relaxation in their execution, fo their ex— ceffive lenity naturally produces cruelty and barbarity. It is dan- gerous to force us, in any cafe, to pafs their facred boundaries. The charafter of the people, however, muft be taken from the laws themfelves, not from the irregular proceedings above men- tioned. Some of the penal Jaws of Rome had a particular reference to an agricultural way of life. Thus the law -j- of Numa, as well as that of t Mofes, denounced a very heavy penalty on the removal of boundaries or land-marks ; and the law of the twelve tables was particularly fevere on injuries done to the fubjedls of || agri- culture. Theft is a crime we might, at firft fight, expeft would be fe- verely punifhed in this flate of fociety, when the rights of pro- * Uti qiiifque domum aut villam, poftremo aut vas, autveftimentutn alicujuscon- cuffiverat, dabat operam, ut is in profcriptorum numero effet. — Salluft. Bell. Catil. Orat. CiEfaris. f Quei terminom exaraflit ipfus et boves facrei funto. — Lex Numas de Terminis. — See alfo Plutarch's Life of Numa. % Deuteronomy xxvii. I". II Q^it alienas aedes frumentive acervum, juxta pofitum, fciens dolo malo uffit, iifleritve, praetoris arbitratu vindus, vcrbcratufve igiie necator. Aft fi imprudcns cnfi dolo male damnum dederit, noxiam farcito aut prxtoris arbitratu virgis catfus poenam luito. — Law of the TwelveTables from Dionyfius Halicarnaflenfis, No. 15, dc Jure private. Qiii no6tu frugcm aratro qua^fitam furtim paverit, fecuerit, fi puber fit Cercri facer efto. Impuber pratoris arbitratu verbcratus noxiam duplione farcito.— Ibidem, No. 17. perty Chap. iii. Effects of a Life of Agrkuttiire upon Mankind. -^S/ perty came to be defined and afcertained. But this was bv no means the cafe. A fimple theft, unaccompanied with violence, was punifhed, by the laws of the twelve tables, with reftitution of double * the value only. The Jewifli law puniflied this offence ia a fimilar manner, faving that the penalty was rather more fevere, that being in fome cafes -f- four times, and in others five, of the value of the thing flolen. The caufe of this mildnefs I apprehend to have arifen from the nature of property in fuch a ftate of fociety ; which muft neceflarily be, in a good meafure, of a bulky kind, which could neither be carried away in any large quantity, nor eafdy efcape detection, efpecially as the two nations above mentioned had no foreign com- merce or communication, whereby robbers might difpofe of the fruits of their villanies to foreigners. This crime, therefore, being nearly fufficiently guarded agalnfl by thefe circumftances, there was no necelTity to endeavour to pre- vent its being perpetrated by any extraordinary feverity of the laws. Another crime, however, of the deepefl dye, which was lightly paffed over, or at leaft regarded only as a private offence, in the former ftates of fociety, in this is feverely and juftly cenfured ; I mean murder. This was puniflied with death in the early ages of the Roman % flate, and was alfo animadverted upon with equal i'everity among the Jews, in the oldeft || law of which we have any account, and which proceeded immediately from the mouth of the Almighty. The value of each individual in this ftate of fociety • Si adorat furtum quod nee manifeftum eft duplionemluitd, — DeFurtis, No. i6. — Vide etiam Caton. de Re Ruftic. in Proemio. Dionyfius Halicarn. mentions it as an inftance of the tyranny of Romulus, that he ordered fome perfons convifted of robbery to be put to death, lib. ii. t Exodus xxii. % Tullus Hoftilius appointed judges, who condemned Horatius to death for the murder of his After. — Livii, lib. i. H Whofo fheddeth man's blood, by man fhall his blood be fhed. — GeneCs ix. 3 D 2 (of 388 W A Y o F L I F E. Book VI. (of which I have before fpoken) may be regarded as one caufe of" the attention of the law to the punifhment of this crime. What mode of trial, efpecially in criminal cafes, is moft natural to this way of life, is difficult to determine. The oldeft account we have of a trial for a capital offence, in the Roman flate, is that of Horatius, for the murder of his fifter, in the time of Tullus Hofli- lius, the third king of Rome. Livy * tells us, that he was tried by judges appointed for that purpofe, but with a liberty of appeal to the people. The conful Brutus, indeed, at a fubfequent, though early, pe- riod, appears to have condemned his fons himfelf j but in this cafe there was no denial of the fad, nor appeal to the people ; and con- fequently no -f- trial was necefTary. This privilege of appeal, or, indeed, of being judged by the people, was confirmed by the law of the twelve tables, which ordained that thefe trials fhould be only in the great aflemblies of the people, or J comitia centuriata j in which way, Livy || tells us, that Manlius Capitolinus was tried and condemned. I cannot, neverthelefs, be of opinion, that a trial by the people at large is accommodated to this way of life, except where the ter- ritory is of very fmall extent, as was the cafe with Rome in the- » Livii, lit. i. § 27.— Dionyf. Halic. fays, that he was tried in the firft inftance by the people. t Dionyfius HalicarnafTcnfis fays, that neither of the fons of the conful dared to have rccourfe to an impudent denial of the fad, but both flood fclf-condemned. Livy alfo mentions their being condemned and executed, but fays nothing of a trial. PJutarch alfo, in the life of Valerius Poplicola fays, that the fons of Brutus did not deny the fad, and were, in confequence, executed forthvi^ith. % Decapite civis, niii per maximum comitiatum ne ferunto. — This meant the co- mitia by centuries,, as we are told by Cicero dc Legibus, et pro Seftio. tl In Campo Martio, quum centuriatim populus citaretur. — Livii, lib. vi. Coriolanus was, however, tried by the Comitia Tributa, according to Plutarch and Dionyfius Halicarnaninfis. Livy fays he was not tried at ail, but condemned in his abfence.— Plutarch's Life of Coriolanus.— Dionyf. Halic, b.vii.— Livii, 1. ii. infancy Chap. ill. EffeBs of a Life of Agriculture upon Mankind. 389 infancy of the republic ; fince the people are necefTarily difperfed through the country, and difficult to be collcdled fo often as would be neceflary, confidering the frequency o'f fuch occafions. A delegation of the power of the whole to a feled body, like our juries, and the judices among the Romans, appears to be the mod obvious method, and moft likely to be pradlifed. Indeed, the Co- mitia Centuriata at Rome, although they were termed the great af- femblies of the people, were feldom attended by great numbers, and thofe who voted at them were moftly of conliderable rank, or, at lead:, property : fo that their dccifions might be efteemed the de- terminations of the principal perfons only, and not of the people at large. Whether any punifliments are peculiar to this way of life I can- not fay. Some of thofe in ufe among the ancient Romans were very cruel, but the genius of the nation appeared to favour huma- nity, if we may judge from the fentiments of their hiftorians * and philofophers, and, indeed, from their own pradtice. The law of the Jews \t alfo,. was humane in this refpeft, and averfe to giving more *" Several of the laws of the twelve tables contained the punifliment of fire, and many that of death. One of the oldeft of their punifliments, if we may judge from the name (more majorum) was to faften the head of the malefadtor within the furca, and in that attitude whip him to death. — Livii, lib. i. — et Sueton. Vita Neronis. Mfettius TufFelius, the Alban general, was torn in pieces by chariots, to which he was tiedj running different ways. On. this Livy makes the following remark:— Primum ultimumque illud fupplicium exempli parum memoris legum humanarum fuit, in aliis gloriari licet, nulli gentium mitiores placuifle pcenas. — Livii, lib. i. cap. 28. It muft, however, be obferved, that feveral of the cruel laws of the twelve tables, were produced by the tyranny of the Decemvirate. and were contrary to a republican fpirit. They were all abolifhed in the four hundred and fifty-fourth year of the city, by the Porcian law ; which enafled, that no citizen fhould be put to death : a law which the younger Cato, in his fpeech on the Catilinarian confpiracy, did not think himfelf bound to regard. — Salluft. Bell. Catilin. t The Jews ufed to give to malefaflors, at their execution, a cup of wine mingled with myrrh, in order to dull the fenfation of pain. Hence the expreflion in the New Tefi^ament, 390 W A Y o F L I F E. Book VI. more pain than neceflarily accompanies the privation of h'fe. This humanity, however, may perhaps be afcribed as much to the greater civilifation of thefe nations, as to any particular influence of agriculture. The efFe(R:s of this mode of living upon the civil law r.re in fome inilances difcernible. It is well obferved by Mr. * Montcfquieu, that in proportion as men approach to civilifation, their coJe of laws is of a larger extent. Hence the laws are more numerous in an agricultural ftate, than among a people that fubfifts by hunting or by pafturage. The laws that eftablifli paternal authority, before alluded to, ap- pear to have a peculiar connexion with this way of life ; and, I ap- prehend, that the law which eftablifhes the majority, or coming to age, of the fon, not to commence until twenty- five years of age, is of the fame kind, efpecially as it was a particular advantage to the father to retain the fon long in his family, on account of the do- mcftic fervice he might yield in agriculture. In countries where the children are burdens for their mainte- nance, the time of coming to age is earlier, as among the Tartars, and even in many highly-civilifed countries, particularly modern Italy. From a fimilar idea of the advantage of population in a ftate of this kind, arofe the law which gave fuch exemptions and privileges to the parents of three children ; which regulation was in force in the Roman ftate. The Agrarian laws, among the lame people, were alfo, as I take it, connedted with this way of life, in fome meafure, as well as with a republican form of government. In order to render the TeftameiU, " Let this cup pafs from me;" which is there taken metaphorically, to fignify the punifhment or pain of death itielf. — The fame ciiftom is in ufe in China, where torture and painful deaths arc very rarely praflifcd. — Du Halde, vol. ii. p. i6o. * Sp. of Laws, b. xviii. ch. 8. profcflion Chap. iii. Eff'ecis of a Life of Agriculture upon Mankind. ^91 profeflion of agriculture refpecftable, it is neceflary that it fhould be p.ra(3:ifed by the principal perfons in the ftate ; which can never happen, unlefs there be in forae raeafure an equality of pofleflion. Probably it was with this view, among others, that Romulus made an equal divifion of the lands among the citizens; and hence arofe the idea of Manius Curius, that no portion of land fliould be ef- teemed fmall, that was fufficient to maintain a man. From the fame idea of preferving an equality among the pofTeflions, arofe the law for dividing the inheritance equally * among all the children, which was inferted into the laws of the twelve tables, and in later ^ thnes into the -}- inflitutes of Juftinian. This, however, like our Tlatute of diftributions, only took place when no difpofitiou by will fiad been made by the :{: father of the family. For a fimilar reafon, probably, it was ordained by the Jewifli law, that every fiftieth year, which was the year of jubilee, all the land eflates, which were fold, fhould revert to the former pof- feflbrs, , or their heirs: which was well calculated to preferve an equality of property among the people. The law, likewife, in force among the ]| Romans, which confi- dered a prodigal in the fame light with one deprived of reafon,. was probably inftituted to prevent that inequality of fortune that arifes from extravagance. This, indeed, and fome of the fore- going, were connedied with republican principles, but coincided alio with the prefent way of life, which is incompatible with the vices of profufion and extravagance. * Utique filii filiseque famillas bonorum fui fuseque hxredes efTcnt. — Leg. xii. Tabular. t Inftitut. lib. ii. Titul. 19. — Novell, cxviii. c. i — 22. c. iq. X Paterfamilias uti IcgafTit fuper pecunia tutelave fua rei itajuse/lo. — Leg. xii. Tabular. II Ut qui prodigus cxifteret ei prxtor caufa cognita bonis fuis interdiceret, inquc ipfius pecunia agnatorum gentilitiumque poteftas eflet.— Lex xii. Tabular.— Vide etiam Digeft. xxvii. 10. I. — Inft. i. 8. 2. 7 Some 392 W A Y o F L I F E. ^Book VI. Some cuHoms, likewife, are peculiar to this way of life. Thus the fupper among the Romans * was the principal meal, as the dinner is at prefent ; and this I take to beowing to the convenience of finifhing the day's work before they left off: and the fame cuf- tom is now in ufe among us, with thofe employed in agricultural bufinefs, and is taken nearly, in proportion to the difference of cli- mate, about the fame time with the ccena, or fupper, of the old Romans. SECT. V. Influence of an agricultural life upon the form of government. To what form of government this way of life leads moft natu- rally, I cannot, with any precifion, determine. I think, however, '* Dinners, or prandia, were not much in ufe among the Romans in ancient times. " In ufu non erant prandia." — Servius on Virgil. *• Eft autem ccena yefpertinus cibus quam vefpertinam antiqui dicebant, in ufu enim non erant prandia." — Ifidor. Etym. lib. ii. c. 20. " Nunquid parcam illam tunc agreftemque vitam cum gemitu et dolore tolera- bant, cum viles et tiifticos cibos ante ipfos quibus coxerant feces fumerant, eofque ipfos capere, nifi ad vefperam, licet." — Salvian. Maflil. de Providentia et Judicio Dei, lib. i. Celfus alfo appears to confider the dinner, efpecially in the winter fcafon, as a matter of indifference, and to confift only of fome flight thing juft to ftay the appetite. ** Hyeme, fi prandet aliquis, utilius eft exiguum aliquid et ipfum ficcum fine carne, fine potione, fumere." — Lib. i. c. 3. Pliny alfo feems to re- gard dinner not as a fet meal. " Panis deinde ficcus et fine menfa prandium, poft quod non lavands funt manus." People employed in ploughing the ground generally leave off work about four in the afternoon, which is not far from the time of fupper among the ancient Romans. This, afterwards, in the times of luxury, grew later, fo that the hour of dinner came to be that of the ancient fupper, as wc arc told by Feftus. " Coena apud antiques dicebatur, quod nunc eft prandium," lib. iii ; and again, *' Scenfas Sabini coenas dicebant, quje autem nunc prandia funt coenas habebant, et pro coenas vcfpernas appcllabant,' iib. 17. Cato alfo, Varro, and Columella, fpeak of the fupper a« the only meal in ufe with perfons employed in agriculture. that Chap. Hi. Eff'e£is of a Life of Agriculture upon Mankind. 393 that it is pretty clear, that in any country where agriculture is par- ticularly encouraged, and made, as it were, an objeft of ftate, that the government, if not free, muft at leafl: be moderate, and a great regard paid to private property. This appears from the hiftory of thofe nations, amongft which agriculture has been particularly re- garded. Thus the ancient government of the Jews was juft, mild, and equitable, and the property of the people eftabliflied by laws ; that of the Egyptians, it has been formerly obferved, was regu- lated by the flridlefl; and juflefl rules and ordinances ; and the an- cient Perfian government was very circumfcribed, and refembled more a domeftic * than a civil eflablifhment. The people of the Eafl: Indies, likewife, although their govern- ment be, to appearance, defpotical, live under a very mild admi- niflration j and the Chinefe, although by no means free, are flill protedled from arbitrary invafions of property. The govern- ment of Peru, alfo, where agriculture feemed to be one of the great national objefts, was mild and gentle: the mind there was not humbled and depreffed by forced fubmiflion to the will of a fuperior, but a free obedience was vv^illingly yielded to a monarch believed to be of divine original ; which lad: circumftance coqdii- nually reminded the fovereign to imitate that beneficent Power he was fuppofed to reprefent. Thefe ideas had fo great eiFedl, that, in the whole fucceffion of their kings, which were no lefs than twelve in number, they had not one tyrant j a fa6l unparalleled in the hiftory of mankind. The Roman government, likewife, although liable to fome objedtions, was undoubtedly free, in a great mea- fure, even at its firft inflitution, and became ftill more fo after- wards, and efpecially at the time when this way of life was held in the higheft eftimation. The caufes why a degree of freedom in the government is necefiary in thofe ftates where agriculture is made a * They think, fays Xenophon, that the duties of a good king, and of a good (hepherd, are alike. — Xenophont, Cyropjedia, lib. vii. 3 E national 394 W A Y o F L I F E. Book VL national objedl, are fufficiently obvious. Cultivation of land re- quires conftant and unremitting induflry ; which will nev^r be pradifed univerfally, except v/here thofe who labour have a fecu- rity for enjoying the fruits of their toil: which cannot be the cafe under a defpotic adminiflration, whofe efftd: upon the mind is to render it timid, idle, fervile, and corrupt. I know not, however, if any peculiar form of government is fpecihcally adapted to this mode of life. It has fiouriflied when united with the government of a fingle perfon, as in fome parts of the Eaft, and in South Ame- rica; with an ariftocratical government, as in Holland, Switzerland,, and the territory of Genoa ; with a democratical one, as among the Romans ; and with a mixed government, as among us in England. Wherever property is fafe, and no tyrannical authority exercifed upon the perfon, there agriculture, if not particularly difcouraged by other circumftances, will probably flourifli. SECT. VT. Influence of an agriculturallife upon religiom The obje6t of worfhip among fuch a people is generally a Deity that bears fome reference to agriculture. The national Deities, among the old Romans, were of this kind. Thus Janus *, the moft ancient of the Gods, was refpedled as being the inventor of the ufe of wine, bread-corn, flour, and facrifices. Saturn -f, likewife, was highly in requeft among them upon the fame account. Faunus %, likewife, and Pilumnus, were indigenous Deities, and both of them prefidcd over fome branches of the cultivation of * Janus was an ancient king of Latlum, and efteemed the father of the other Dei- tics. Hence he is called Pater, and Deus Deorum. — Rofini Antiquit. p, 93. — et Faftor. Ovidii, lib. i. f Saturn was alfo an ancient king of the Aborigines, or people of Latium, faid to be the fon of Janus. He and his father taught that people agriculture, as we are told by Macrobius. — Saturn. 1, i, c. 7. X Rofini Antiq. p. 181. land. Chap. lil. Eff'eSfs of a Life of Agriculture upon Mankind. 395 land. Some other deities, alfo, which were not, by other nations, fuppofed to have any connedlion * with agriculture, were, by the Romans, appropriated, in fome meafure, to this employment. Thus Jupiter, the Sun and Moon, Venus, Minerva, and Bonus Eventus, or Good Fortune, were held as agricultural deities, as well as Tellus, Ceres, Bacchus, Robigus or Flora; to which might be added, \ Terminus, Segetia, and feveral others. Agriculture was likewife much connefted with religion, among the Jews. The Moft High hath ordained hufbandry, fays \ the Son of Sirach : and many of the feftivals among that people, of which I fliall fpeak. prefently, had a peculiar reference to this employment. The fame obfervation held at leaft equally good of the Egyptian dei- * Et quoniam, ut aiunt, Dei facientes adjuvant, prius invocabo eos : nee ut Homerus & Ennius Mufas, fed duodecim Deos confentes : neque tamen eos urba- nos quorum imagines ad forum AuratK ftant, fex mares & fex foeminae totidem, fed illos duodecim Deos qui maxime agricolarum duces funt. Primum qui omnes frudlus agriculturae ccelo & terra continent, Jovem & Tellurem ; itaque duo hi parentes magni dicuiitur Jupiter, Pater ; Tellus, vero mater. Secundo Solem & Lunam, quorum tcmpora obfervantur cum quaedam ferantur & condantur in terra. Tertio Cererem &; Liberum, quod horum fruftus maxime neceffarii ad viclutn funt : Ab his etiam Cibus & Potio venit e fundo. Quarto Robigum & Floram, quibus pro- pitiis nee rubigo frumenta atque arbores corrumpit neque non tempeftive florent. Itaque publics Robigo feri;e, Robigalia, Florse ludi florales inftituti. Item, ad- veneror Minervam & Venerem, quarum unius procuratio oleti, alterius hortorum, quo nomine ruftica vinalia inftituta. Nee non etiam precor Lympham atque Bonum Eventum j quoniam fine aqua omnis arida & mifera agricultura, fine fuc- cefTu atque Bono Eventu fruftratio eft, non cultura. — Varron. de Re Ruftica, lib. i. cap. I. Bonus Eventus is alfo reputed a deity of agriculture by Pliny, lib. xxxiv. cap. 8. Hift. Natur. t Terminus Deus, quia in ejus tutela client agrorum fines. Fcjius, — He was ajfo, according to Ovid, accounted among the moft ancient of the deities. Termine five Lapis, five es defertus in agro Stipes, ab antiquis tu quoque numen habes. Ovidii Faftorum, lib. ii. \ Ecclefiafticus, vii. 15. 3 E 2 ties. 396 WAY OF LIFE. BookVI. ties. II Ofiris, the fupreme among them, was regarded as the in- ventor of agriculture j and Ifis, the fecond deity, as the difcoverer of the ufe of wheat and barley, which before grew wild, and were not applied to the purpofes of food. The divine honours, alfo, paid to Bacchus, in India, arofe from the fame fource, as we are told by Diodorus * Siculus and -f- Ar- rian : he being there refpedled as the inventor of the arts attendant upon agriculture. The Sun, among the people of Peru ^, and probably among the ancient Perfians, owed no fmall fiiare of the refpedl paid to him to the fertilifmg qualities wherewith they believed him endued. Several religious precepts refer to this way of life. Thus the fourth commandment, given to the Jews, implied that the people were much occupied in bufinefs of this kind ; and va- rious other precepts of the || Mofaical law are relative to agri- culture. 11 Ifis difcovered the method of making flour from wheat and barley, which be- fore grew wild in the fields like other plants, and their ufes unknown ; and Ofiris found out the method of cultivation of plants in general that ferve for diet. — The Grecian (or rather Sicilian) Ceres, and the Egyptian Ifis, were held to be the fame deity. — Diodor. Sic. lib. i. * He firft, as they report, trained oxen to the plough, and taught men to cul- tivate the land with their own hands; and difcovered, alfo, many of the inftruments and conveniences for agriculture, to the great eafe and relief of the hufbandman. On account of thefe fignal benefits, he became fo much refpefted, that he was, by univerfal confent, raifed to the rank of a deity, and received divine worfliip and fo- lemn facrifices. — Diodori Sicul. lib. iii. t Bacchus furniihed the people with feed, and inftrudled them in the art of fowing it ; whether becaufe Triptolemus, who was fent by Ceres, did not reach that part of the country, or that Bacchus, going to the Indies before ihe time of Triptolemus, gave them the feeds of millet and of other fruits. Bacchus firft yoked oxen to the plough, and made moft of the Indian nations hufibandmen, who were before in a wandering ftate. — Arriani Hill Indie. X Robertfon's America, vol. ii. I LevJtic. xix. g. xxiii. lO. The Chap. ill. Eff'eSts of a Life of Agrkidtiire upon Mankind. 397 The precepts of the Magian religion, among the Perfians, were of a fimilar nature. The faint, among them, was obliged to work out his falvation, by purfuing all the labours of agriculture. It is a maxim of the Zendavefta -j-, that he who fows the ground with eare and diligence, acquires a greater flock of religious merit, than he could have gained by the repetition often thoufand prayers. Ceremonies of the religious kind are very numerous among a people addidled to this way of life, and bear a particular reference to it. Thus feveral of the Jewifh ceremonies and inftitutions had an efpecial regard to cultivation of the earth. Two of the t three great feafts in the year were inftituted on account of colleding the fruits of agriculture; and the ceremony of the || wave-offering, mentioned in the book of Leviticus, was evidently of the fame tendency. Several of the fubftances, alfo, dire(5led to be ufed in the § Jewifli facrifices, fuch as ears of corn, cakes of flour, and unleavened bread, were probably intended to point out the im- portance, and enforce the praftice, of agriculture. The ancient Perfians had ceremonies of a fimilar intention. In the fpring of every year a feflival was celebrated, defigned to re- prefent the primitive equality and prefent connection of mankind. t Zendavefta, t. i. 224; — and Precis du Syfteme de Zoroaftre, vol. iii. % Three times thou flialt keep a feaft to me in the year. Thou fhalt keep the feaft of unleavened bread ; thou {halt eat unleavened bread feven days, as I com- manded thee, in the time appointed of the month of Abib ; for in it thou cameft out of Egypt : and none {hall appear before me empty : And the feaft of harvefl, the firft fruits of thy labours, vi^hich thou haft fow^n in thy field : And the feaft of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou haft gathered in the labours of thy field. —Exodus, chap, xxiii. II Speak unto the children of Ifrael, and fay unto them. When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and fhall reap the harveft thereof, then ye {hall bring a {heaf of the firft fruits of your harveft unto the prieft : and he {hall wave the {heaf before the Lord, to be accepted for you : on the morrow after the fabbath the prieft {hall wave it.— Levitic. ch. xxiii, § Levit. ch. ii. The 39$ WAY OF LIFE. Boole VI. The (lately kings of Perfia, exchanging their vain pomp for more genuine greatnefs, freely mingled with the humbleft but moft ufe- ful of their fubjedls. On that day the hufbandmen were admitted, without diftindion, to the table of the king and of his fatraps. The monarch accepted their petitions, enquired into their griev- ances, and converfed with them upon the moft equal terms. " From vour labours," was he accuftomed to fay, " we receive our fubfift^ ence ; you derive your tranquillity from our vigilance. Since, therefore, we are mutually neceflary to each other, let us live to- gether like brothers, in concord and in * love." The ancient Egyptians -f*, alfo, had feveral religious feftivals and ceremonials in honour of agriculture and its inventors, as we are told by Dio- dorus, which nearly refembled thofe of the Jews, and were, in all probability, borrowed from them. The kings of India formerly, and the emperor of China at "^ prefent, pradlife a religious ceremony annually, of opening the ground; and the Inca in Peru, who was reputed a deity, cultivated with bis own hands a piece of land, which operation was dignified by being called, their triumph over the earth. Great numbers of ceremonies, relative to this way of life, were to be found among the Romans, as the || Cerealia, the Falitia, and feveral others. * Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman empire, chap. viii. t They have a ceremonial in commemoration of the invention of bread-corn, v/hich has been kept up from great antiquity. At the time of harveft, and of offer- ing the firft fruits, the people are accuftomed to make a plaintive noife among the Shocks of corn, and to call upon the goddefs Ifis. This they do with a view of paying honour and refpeiSt to the goddefs, for the difcovcries of thefe things which they chufe to offer at this time of year, as then thcfe inventions were made. In fome cities, when the fcaft of Ifis is celebrated, vefiels filkd with wheat and barley are carried about in pomp, in memory of their ufe being difcovered by that goddefs. — Diodor. Sicul. book i. X There is an annual feftival in China when the fun enters the fifteenth degree of Aqi:; rius, as the bc<.'i!ining of fpring. — Du Halde, vol. ii. p. 82. II It was a precept ol Numa, that no facrifice fliould be performed without meal, in order to encourage agriculture.— Plutarch's Life of Numa. Mr. Ch'AP. ill. EffeBs of a Life of Agriculture upon Mankind. J99 Mr. Montefquieu *, indeed, is of opinion, that religious cere- monies are naturally but few, amongfl: a people devoted to agricul- ture. But the Jews, the Egyptians, and the Periians, had a mul- titude of ceremonies in their religion, and yet were great en- couragers of agriculture. It is true, the clergy, with them, were a feparate body, but the remainder of the people were equally bound with the priefls to the obfervance of a great number of cere- monies : at leaft we know that this was the cafe with the Jews. The Romans, likewife, encouraged agriculture, and made it a national objed:, as much as any of the nations before mentioned. Yet this people had a great number of ceremonies in their religion ; and the clergy formed no diflinft charad:er or body of people among them. Livy calls Rome, exprefsly, a flate or 'j- city full of religious ceremonies ; and Salluft :[ expreffes himfelf nearly to the fame purpofe. The Roman writers on || hufbandry every •where recommend a ftridl obfervance of numerous religious duties j and the connexion between thefe and agriculture is ftrongly pointed out by § Maximus Tyrius. Ovid, likewife, Feflus, Ma- crobius, and other writers, fhew that the Roman ritual was very full and extenfive. It is therefore probable, that the foregoing obfervation of Mr. Montefquieu fhould be underftood to refer to the influence of this way of life, on the nature, rather than the number, of religious ceremonies and obfervances. The ancient feftivals did not, I apprehend, all of them neeef- farily imply a ceflation from labour, at leaft thofe among the Ro- mans. Cato exprefsly fpecifies the ** kinds of work proper to be * Sp. of Laws, book xxv. ch. 4. + Civitas Plena Religtonum, lib. vi. fe£l, 5; X qua; noftri majores religiofillimi mortales fccere. — Sail. Bell Catalin. II Script, de Re Ruftica. § Maxim. Tyrii, Diflert. xiv. ** Per ferias vero, foflas veteres tergeri, viam publlcam muniri, vepres recidi, hortum fodiri, pratum piirgari, virgas vinciri, fpinas runcari cremarique, ex pifcina immunditias efFerri, munditias fieri. — Caton. de Re Ruftic, lib. i. c. 2. done 400 WAY OF LIFE. Book VI. done upon themj which it may be obferved are none of them works of neceflity, or what required to be immediately performed. Indeed thefe feftivals occurred fo frequently, that fuch an injunc- tion would have been highly inconvenient among an induftrious people ; and probably the poor ftate of cultivation, in modern Italy, is owing to the wafte of time, and idle habit, induced by the mul- titude of feflivals in the Romifli religion. We are, however, told by * Cicero and Macrobius, that the Roman Ferias implied a cef- fation from labour, as well as from the civil proceedings ; but per- haps this might relate to the city only, elfe it could fcarcely be imagined that Cato would have i-ecommended an infringement of the laws. Varro allows, that works of neceflity, or of great pub- lic utility, caufed no pollution ; and perhaps works of agricul- ture might be thought to come within the latter defcription. This idea feems to be confirmed by a law made in a fubfequent period by -f* Conftantine the Great, which enjoined the people to reft upon the Sabbath. This is underflood to have had a refe- .rence to cities only, and not to the open country. He was fenfi- ble, as ;{; Mr. Montefquieu remarks, that labour in cities was ufe- ful, but in the fields neceflary. It does not appear clearly, I think, that any of the Jewifh feflivals, the fabbath-day excepted, were at- tended with the prohibition of labour ; and, it is probable, they were, like the Roman, rather fcenes of joy and || chearfulnefs, than of idlenefs. * Fcriarum feftorumque Dierum ratio in libcris requietem habet litium & jur- giorum, in fervis opcrum & laborum, quia compofitio anni conferrc debet & ad per- fecStionem opcrum rufticorum & ad remilTionem animorum. — Cicer. do Legib. lib. ii. Sacerdotes aflirmabant ferias pollui quoties iis indi£iis conceptifquc opus aliud ficret — Macrob. Saturnai. lib. i. -j- Codic. de Feriis, leg. iii. — This law related to the*Pagans onl)'. t Sp. of Laws, b. xxiv. ch. 23. y Hiiaiibus quibus omnia fefta & fieri dcbere fciirus & dici impletisfolennibus. —- Vopifti Divus AurcliiuuiS. 5 Temples, Chap. iii. EffeSis of a Life of Agriculture upon Mankind. 401 Temples, likewlfe, or habitations for the Deity, I believe to be natural to this ftate of mankind. Thus ;{: Herodotus tells us, that the Egyptians, who cultivated agriculture from the greatefl antiquity, were the firft who eredted altars and temples to the Gods. The people of India, likewife, had temples, as the Chi- nefe have at prefent; and buildings of this kind were very nu- merous and magnificent in || Peru. The firfl accounts we have of the * Romans inform us of the foundation of temples ; and the ruins of thefe edifices, that yet re- main in all parts of Italy, are {landing monuments how favourite an idea this was with that people, even in fucceeding periods. The caufes of this difpofition of people in this ftate are fufficiently obvious. Agriculture requires people to have fixed and permanent habitations; and from hence naturally fprung the notion of build- ing a houfe for the Deity. But this natural idea never occurred to any but fuch as cultivated the -j- land : thofe who had no houfes of their own were never known to build temples. Men in this ftate are, I apprehend, more attached to religion, and more zealous for its propagation, than in either of the fore- going fituatiorvs of life. The ceremonies attendant upon religion, the building of temples, and even their riches, give an attachment to that religion to which they belong, and impart an idea of local X Euterpe. II Robertfon's America, book vii. * Simul cum (Romulus) dono defignavit templo Jovis fines cognomenqae addidit Deo. " Jupiter Feretri, inquit, hsc tibi vidor Romulus rex regia arma fero templumque lis regionibus quas modo animo metatus fum dedico : fedem opimis fpo- liis quae regibus ducibufque hoftium caefis me au(£lorem fequentes pofteri fercnt." Haec templi eft origo quod primum omnium Romas facratum eft, ita deinde Diis vifum ncc irritam conditoris templi vocem ziit qua iaturos eo fpolia pofteros nuncu- pavit nee multitudine compotum ejus dono vulgari laudem. — Livii, lib. i. § 10. —See too Dionyf. Halicarnafl". b. ii. ch. 34. The temple here alluded to was re- paired by Auguftus Caefar. — Corn. Nepos. Life of Atticus. f Sp. of Laws, b. XXV. ch. 3. 3 F regard. 402 W A Y o F L I F E. Book VI. regard, which Is generally extremely potent in matters of this kind. The Romans, who underftood perfedly the ufe of all political in- flruments, made great advantage of this circumftance of local regard, among others, in order to attach their people to their religion ; and the effed: was fuch, that fcarcely any nations mentioned in hiftory paid greater ^ veneration to the objeds of local worfhip, || Romulus himfelf X Operse pretium eft cum dotnos atque villas in urbium modum exaedificatas vi- fere templa deorum quae noftri majores religiofifllmi mortales fecere. Verum ill! delubra deorum pietate, domos fuas gloria decorabant. —Salluft. Bell. Catilinar. Such a refpedl, fays Plutarch, had the Romans for religion, making all their af- fairs depend folely on the pleafure of the Gods, never fuffering, no not in their greateft profperity, the leaft negledlor contempt of their ancient rites or oracles ; be- ing fully perfuaded that it was of much greater importance to the public vi^elfare, that their magiftrates and generals fhould reverence and obey the Gods, than if they conquered or fubdued their enemies. — Plutarch's Life of Marcellus. II After Romulus therefore had, upon that occafion, received the fandtion of Heaven, he called the people together, and, having given them an account of the auf- picious omens, he was chofen king by them ; and inftituted this cuftom to be ob- ferved by all his fucceflbrs, that none of them fliould accept the dignity of king, or any other magiftracy, until even the Gods had given a fign of their approbation. And this cuftom, relating to the aufpices, continued to be long obferved by the Ro- mans, not only under their kings, but alfo after the diflblution of monarchy, in the elections of their confuls, praetors, and other legal magiftrates ; but it is difufed at this time, the appearance of it only being preferved, for form fake. — By which means (viz. the difufeof the aufpices) many armies of the Romans have been utterly de- ftroyed at land ; many fleets have been loft, with all their people, at fea ; and other great and dreadful calamities have befallen the commonwealth, fome in foreign wars, ' and others in civil diffentions ; but the moft remarkable, and the greateft, happened even in my time, when Licinius Craffus, a man inferior to no commander of his age, led his army againft the Parthians, contrary to the will of Heaven, and in con- tempt of the innumerable omens that oppofed his expedition. But much might be faid concerning the contempt of the Gods, which prevails among fome people at this time.— Dionyf. Halicarnaff. book ii. ch. 6. I admire, therefore, thefe inftitutions of the man ; and thofe alfo which I am go- ing to relate. He was perfuaded that the good government of cities was owing to thefe caufes, which all politicians boaft, but few cftablifh. Firft, the favour of the Gods, the enjoyment of which gives fuccefs to every enterprifej next, temperance su»d juftice, by which th.:: citizens, being lefs difpoRd to injure one another, arc more inclinable Chap. iii. EffeSis of a Life of Agriculture upon Mankind. 403 himfelf declined the acceptance of the regal office, before he had ob- tained the fanftion of the Godsj and none of the fucceeding ma- giftrates ever entered upon their fundtlons without the approbation of the Aufpices ; the difufe of which, and the contempt of the Gods which accompanied it, are efleemed by their own hiftorians as the great caufes of their misfortunes and downfall. The fame wife Icgiflator paid, in every other inftance, the higheft regard to religion ; which, aj^ording to the fyflem adopted by him, was much more rational, bolcfl in its dodlrines and fable, than the Grecian mythology, from which it was derived, and of confequence more likely to conciliate a permanent and fteady regard. The Jews alfo, the * Egyptians, the-)- Indians, :|: Chinefe, and 1| Peruvians, who were all agricultural nations, were all extremely attached to their religion. inclinable to unanimity, and make virtue, not (hameful pleafures, the object of their happinefs ; and laftly, military courage, which renders even the other virtues ufeful to their poffefTors. He was fenfible that none of thefe advantages are the efFedls of chance ; but that good laws, and the emulation of worthy purfuits, render a com- monwealth pious, juft, temperate, and warlike. He took great care, therefore, to encourage thefe, beginning with the worfhip both of the Gods and Genii ; and, according to the mod approved rites in ufe among the Greeks, he appointed tem- ples, places confecrated, altars, the erecting of images, the reprefentations and fym- bols of the Gods, and declared their power; the beneficent prefents they made to mankind ; the particular holidays appropriated to each God or Genius; the facri- fices which are moft acceptable to them ; the feftivals, public games, and days ol reft, and every thing of that natuie : but he rejedted all fuch traditional fables, con- cerning the Gods, as are mixed with blafphemies or calumnies, looking upon them as wicked, ufelefs, and indecent, and unworthy not only of the Gods, but even of good men ; and accuftomed his people to think and to fpeak concerning the Gods with the greateft reverence, and to attribute no paJlions to them unbecoming their happy nature. — Dionyf. Halic. book ii. ch. 18. * Diodor Sicul. 1. i. + No perfon, it is faid, was ever known to be converted from the Indian or Gen too religion. X The emperor of China, although abfolute in every other inftance, pretends to no power over the religion of the country. II Robertfon's America. 3 F 2 CHAP. 404 W A Y o F L I F E. Book VI. CHAP. IV. ON THE EFFECTS OF A COMMERCIAL LIFE UPON MANKIND. THUS far I have fpoken on the effeds of an agricultural way of life, which I have confidered as being the objedl of the government, and turn of the people, and what prevailed generally through the ftate. The next * ftage of which I fhall treat is that of commerce, which may in feveral refpedls be accounted a farther ftep towards improvement and civilifation, though fome highly-polifhed people^ were of a different opinion, SECT. I. Effedls of a commercial life on. the. temper and'. difpofition. One of the firft and principal effedls of commerce is to render people induftrious. This was remarked as taking place, in a good, meafure, in the preceding ftage, but is greatly increafed in that now under confjderation. In the former, it was little more than merely application to labour; but in the prefent one, the faculties, both of mind and body, are, of necefllty, almoft unremittingly employed. * Commerce, however, muft not be confidered: as fuperfeding agriculture, as agri- culture did a paftoral life, and that a life of hunting. On the contrary, agriculture is often, though not conftantiy, cultivated to the higheft degree in commercial ftates. This was the cafe formerly in Egypt, and is at prefent in China and Holland. On the other hand, the people of Athens, and of Marfeilles, were but little addidlcd tji anriculture ; an.d the latter were even driven to trade by the barrennefs of their country, which rendered it unapt for cultivatioxi, as we are.lold by Strabo. ThiJi. Chap, iii. Effects of a Commercial Lif upon Mankind. 405 Thus the great induftry of the -f-j- Egyptians has been celebrated from the earlieft ages j and the fame obfervation has been made of all ftates engaged to any great degree in commerce. Another quality or difpofition incident, as I believe, to a tradino- \ flate, is frugality. Thus Juftin remarks the parfimony as well as ' induftry of the J Tyrians ; || Strabo and * Cicero give the fame ac- | count of the people of Marfeilles j and Diodorus Siculus § makes a fimilar reprefentation of the Carthaginians. The fame qu^iiities are at prefent highly remarkable, both among the Dutch and ** Chinefc. It fliould, however, be confidered, that there are two kinds of trade or commerce, one of which is founded on the mu- tual wants of other nations, and which is fupported by carrying from one what is wanted by another. Of this kind was the trade of Tyre, Carthage, Athens, Marfeilles, Florence, and Venice, in former periods ; and in our own times, that of Holland. The other kind of trade is founded upon luxury, and is calculated tO: procure whatever may adminifter to the pride, pleafure, or ca- pricious whimfies of the people. Of this kind is the trade which Spain carries on with moft nations j that of England with France,, in a good meafure -, and that of all Europe with the Eaft Indies. It is chiefly to a commerce -f- of the former kind that frugality is. to be afcribed. tt DioJori Sicu!. lib. i. Letter of the Emperor Adrian, prefcrvcd by Vopifcus. — This refembJes much': the prefent ftate of Holland. — Du Halde gives nearly the fame charaiter of ttvc- Chinefe, vol. ii. p. 86. X Juftini, lib. xviii. cap. 4.. II Strabon. lib. iv. • Ciceron. Or. pro Flacco.. § Diod. Siciili, lib. v. ** DuHalde, vol. ii. p. 63, 100.. t That (economy in the government, which always attends the frugality of indi— Tiduals, is, if I may fo e.xprefs myfelf, th.- foul oi ucconomical commerce.— Sp. of Laws, book XX. ch. 11, Another- 4o6 W A Y o F L I F E. Book VI. Another effedl that commerce is, I am apt to believe, fubjedl to produce upon the difpofition, is to render thofe who praftife it very * interefted, and apt to afcribe every thing to the account of mere profit and lofs, and to think that riches alone are the fource of all happinefs, and fole objed: of defire. The contraft between Rome and Carthage, in this refpecfl, is finely remarked by Polybius. ** In all things," fays that judicious writer, ** that regard the ac- quifition of wealth, the manners and cuftoms of the Romans are far preferable to thofe of the Carthaginians. Among the latter, nothing is reputed infamous, that is joined with gain. But among the former, nothing is held more bafe than to be corrupted with gifts, or to covet an increafe of wealth, by means that are un- juft. For, as much as they efteem the pofTeffion of honefl: riches to be fair and honourable, fo much, on the other hand, all thofe that are amafled by unlawful arts, are viewed by them with horror and reproach. The truth of this fad: is feen in the following in- ftance : — Among the Carthaginians -j- money is openly employed to purchafe the dignities of the ftate ; but all fuch proceeding is a capital crime at Rome. As the rewards, therefore, that are pro- pofed to virtue in the two republics are fo different, it cannot but happen, that the attention of the citizens to form their minds to virtuous adions muft alfo be J different." The effe he brings to prove the influence of cultivation of manners and im- provement, in reducing mankind to a ftate of fervitude, is that of Alexander's obliging the Icthyophagi to renounce their * fifliery,. ^nd to be content with the ufual food of the reft of his fubjedls. What might be the intention of Alexander, in thus changing the * Plutarch, Quintus Curtius, Dlodorus Siculus, and Arrian, the two laft of whom have given -d minute account of the Icthyophagi, never mention this prohibi- tion of Alexander. It is only related by Pliny, in his Natural Hiflory. diet Chap. v. On the "EJcBs of Literature and Science. 461 diet of thefe people, is, perhaps, impoflible for us, at this diftancft of time, to determine with any certainty. His firft defign was, un- doubtedly, to civilife them ; a thing which was the objedt of his am- bition, as much as conqueft : and that this was really doing them a fervice, no one that is acquainted with their hiftory can doubt. It is extraordinary, that a man of Mr. Rouileau's penetration fliould thus miftake an extreme degree of lavagenefs for liberty. In a political light, indeed, fuch a people might be faid to enjoy a high degree of freedom, as they were not fubjedt to any govern- ment at all ; but in a civil view, how can a man be faid to enjoy liberty, who has no one to whom he can appeal for proCedlion ? Such a ftatc, inllead of freedom, is in reality only the govern- ment of force, wherein the ftrongefl prevails j a dodtrine avowed by many nations, in the condition fo much admired by Mr. Rouf- feau, as a rule both of political and civil condudl. Brennus -f told the Romans, " that the Gauls had a right to the territory of the Clufians by that mofl ancient of all laws, which. gives the pofleflions of the feeble to the ftrong ; for fo it is," faid he, " from God himfelf down to the beafls, nature teaching all thefe, that the flronger is to take advantage of the weaker." *• Among the Tartars, fays the writer of their hiflory, there is no adminiftration of civil juftice, for every man takes from another what he wants, without any fear of cenfure from the law. If any complaint of this violence be made to a judge, the accufed replies in excufe, that he himfelf was in want of that of which he de- prived the other. The judge then tells the injured perfon to take from others what will fupply him with what he wants." Such is the liberty which Mr. Roufleau luppofes to prevail in this flate^ and it is highly probable, that Alexanders by civilifing, or even by conquering them, would rather add to than diminilli their liberty^ t Plutarch's Life of Camillus. The 462 WAY OF L I F E. Book VI. The next inftance that Mr. Rouffeaa adduces Is of the Ameri- can Indians, " who have," as he fays, " preferred their liberty en- tire, and have never yet been conquered." This is hardly true, as they have been obliged to quit a large trad: of land, and are much diminillied in power and numbers ; and the prefervation of their independence, at prefent, is owing more to the nature of their country, full of woods and marihes, and to the little temptation fuch a people offer to an invader, than to their own efforts. Another example that this writer brings, of the deffrudtive ten- dency of arts and fciences to virtue and to freedom, is taken from Egypt. " Look," fays he, " on that firft feminary of the world, that fer- tile clime, beneath a mofl propitious heaven, whence Sefoftris of ancient times iffued to the conquefl of the world. She became the parent of philofophy and the arts and fciences — next the vicflim of Cambyfes — fince of the Greeks, the Romans, and the Arabs — at length a wretched prey to the Turk." That Egypt, in common with other countries, has undergone numerous revolutions, is certain from hiilory; but that thefe mif- fortunes, if they were really fuch, arofe from their cultivation of fcience and arts, is not fo clear ; certain it is, that the xvz of their liberty and profperity was the fame with that of the perfec- tion of arts and fcience, and that the decline of the one accompa- nied the downfal of the other. Indeed, the Egyptians, as I have formerly remarked, preferved a degree of liberty long after the reft of the world had been fubdued under the Rolnan yoke. They retained feveral important privileges in the time of Strabo, and are mentioned as a free people in a letter of the emperor Ha- drian, preferved by Vopifcus. The total fubjugation of that coun- try was compleated, not in the fiourifliing ftatc of literature, but in that of ignorance, darkhefs, and fuperfi:ition ; nor does it feem at all probable that liberty will ever revifit them, until the clouds that Ghap. v. On the EffeSfs of Literature and Science. 463 that have obftrudled fcience be removed. The people there at. prefent are as ignorant as Mr. Roufleau can wifh, but they are not, according to his fyflem, virtuous and free ; nor does it ap- pear, that the burning of the Alexandrian library, and the de- ftrudion of fcience by the Arabs, which Mr. Roufleau fo much applauds, contributed to eftablifh any of thofe independent and great fentiments of public and private virtue that he would ex- pe6t. The ancient Egyptians were moderate, diligent, humane, jufl, pious, and free : the modern Egyptians are rapacious, idle, cruel, unjuft, bigotted, and flavifli : the former was the ajra of learning, the latter that of ignorance. Greece is the next fubjed: on which our author exercifes his declamatory eloquence, ** Behold," fays he, " that once-glorious nurfery of heroes, which twice had conquered Afia, firfl: before Troy, and afterwards at her own doors. The fatal birth of letters. had not as then fown corruption in the breafts of her fons : but the progrefs of the fciences, the diflblution of the morals, and the Macedonian yoke, followed, alas ! too foon ; and Greece, knowing, voluptuous, and enflaved, experienced no other revolu- tion than her change of mailers. All the eloquence of Demof- thenes availed not to reanimate the body enervated by luxury and the arts." But I believe it will be found, that the ara of perfedion of letters in Greece was the fame with her flourifliing condition. Herodotus, Thucydides, and Xenophon, lived at the moft glo- rious periods of the Athenian republic ; and it is remarkable, that thofe who were the mofl; famed for great talents, and the cultiva- tion of them, were moft adive in fupport of the commonwealth. Thucydides and Xenophon were both of them confummate ge- nerals ; Pericles had, befides this qualification, that of ^ mod able ftatefman j and Demofthenes employed his great talents in en- deavouring to ward ofl^ the Macedonian yoke. Phocion like- wife, perhaps one of the greatefl as well as befl: men upon 10 hiltorical 464 WAY OF LIFE. Book VI. hiftorical record, not only fpent his life in the fervice of his country, but fell a martyr to its liberty. Another circumftance, which forms a flrong prefumption that letters are not adverfe to freedom, is, that their flourifhing (late, and their decay, in Greece, refpedlively kept pace with that of freedom. They had begun to decline in the days of Phocion ; and Demetrius Phalereus, his contemporary, was, according to * Cicero's and -f- Quintilian's judgment, the laft that could be called an orator. The ruin of Rome, that great metropolis of the world, is alfo dated, by this writer, from the introdudiion of arts and fcience : and that fome belonging to that ftate, whofe abilities might have been employed to better purpofes, proftituted them to the corrup- tion of mankind, is but too true ; but it is fcarcely candid to colled: the evils that have been derived from learning, if we do not at the fame time enumerate the advantages that have flowed from it. Liberty, civil laws, republican government, and even re- ligion itfelf, have, at times, been produdtive of dreadful calamities. But the true Hate of the queftion with learning, as with thefe, is, not to know whether a certain individual, or a certain fociety, had • Hasc enim setas efFudit hanc copiam, et ut mea opinio fert, fuccus illc, et fan- guis incorruptus ufque ad hanc setatem oratorum fuit, in qua naturalis inciret, non fucatus nitor. Phalereus enim fucceflit eis fenibus adolefcens, eruditiflimus ille quidem horum emnium, fed non tam armis infUtutus, quam palaeftra: itaquc deleiSlabat magis Athenienfes, quam inflamniabat : proceflerat enim in foiem, et pulvercm, non ut e militari Tabernaculo, fed ut e Theophrafti dotSliflimi hominis umbraculis. Hie primus inflexit orationem, et earn mollem tcneramque reddidit : et fuavis, ficut fuit, videri maluit, quam gravis : fed fuavitate ea, qua pcrfunderct animos, non qua perfringeret : et tantum ut memoriam concinnitatis fua?, non (quemadmoduin dc Pcricic fcripfit Eupolis) cum dclcdatione aculcos ctiam relinqucrct in animis eorum, a quibus eflet auditus. — Cicer. de clar. Oratoribus, §. 18. t Is primus inclinafle eloquentiam dicitur — ultimus eft fere ex Atticis qui dici potcft orator. — De Inftit. Orat. c. x. §. i. better Chap. v. On the Ef'cEls of Literature and Science. 465 better have no learning, or abufe what they have ; but to know which is better, that fcience and knowledge fhould be fome- times abufed, or that there fliould be no fuch thing among man- kind. But In reality, the mifchiefs arifing from fcience and literature, even among that people, w^ere much overbalanced by the fervice they afforded to virtue. If Catullus and Ovid, Martial and Petronius — the lafl of whofe exiftence as an author, in the works afcribed to him, is more than fufpicious — have in fome of their writings (which indeed, the lafl: excepted, form but a very fmall part of their works) contributed to the corruption of morals, have not others been of fervice in flemming the baleful tide ? Was the philofophic virtue of Seneca of no advantage to the world, by the precepts he delivered, and the death he fuffered for his adherence to them ? Was the fire of liberty that glows through the pages of Lucan, and the illuflrious examples of merit he has fo eminently recorded and adorned, of no efficacy in exciting mankind to imitate fuch bright examples of public virtue ? Was the indignant difdain of Perfms, or the boundlefs rage and ardent eloquence of Juvenal, beflowed in vain, in checking the audacious vices engendered by luxury and cor- ruption ? Was the pen of Tacitus employed without advantage to morality and the caufe of virtue ? Did his flrength of colouring, his ardent yet expreflive defcription, his force of epithet, and his emphafis of language — all employed in the caufe of virtue and of liberty— conduce nothing to retard the torrent of degeneracy that was then gaining ground ? If the works of thefe writers cannot, even at this difl;ant period, be perufed by any but thofe whofe hearts are, by being long hackneyed in the ways of vice, grown callous to every virtuous imprellion, without raifing fenti- ments of difdain and indignation againfl: the objeds of their cen- fure, what muft have been their effed:, when the fads were recent, and the perfons publicly known ? That this is not mere 3 O matter 466 W A Y o F L I F E. Book VI. matter of probability, with refped to the effe&. of the writings in. defence of virtue among that people, we have from the teftimony of an author * whofe evidence is indilputable. Perhaps, however, the good efFefts of liieratare aad philofophy may be moft confpicuous in their influence on the princes that governed mankind, about that period of time. Nero, whilft he liftened to the precepts of Seneca,, was the delight and admira- tion of human nature, and it was. not until the death of that martyr to public virtue, that he launched out into thofe exceffes, which rendered him equally an objed: of contempt and deteftation. The benevolent and wife Trajan was the difciple of Plutarch : and. his fage precepts are, with great probability, thought to have had no fmall influence in the formation of the amiable charadler of that great emperor. It was not furely for nothing that Antoninus became acquainted with the philofophy of Socrates and Plato, as his whole life was a comment on the virtues recommended by them. After all, it muil be confeffed, that the tide of wickednefs and corruption, then prevalent, was too flrong for the oppo- fition that learning, confined to few, and thofe not the mod popular charaders, was able to make. But we muft not condemn thofe who laboured, however unfuccefsfully, in the caufe of vir- tue as the occafion of her downfall. If fcience and literature re- fifted the inroads of vice, and at leaft retarded her progrefs, they are furely entitled to cur regard, and ought no more to be accounted, the caufes of the corruption of manners, which they were not. fo happy as to prevent, than Brutus and Cato fhould be deemed: the fubverters of the Roman liberty. It is indeed true, that the elder Cato is faid to have been very adverfe to the Greek li- terature, and oppofed much its introducflion into Rome, prophefy- * Enfe velut ftriflio quoties Lucilius ardens Infrcmuit, rubet auditor cui fiigida mens eft Crimiuibus, tacita fudant prsscordia culpa. Juvenal. Satyr. I. ad fincm. Chap. V. On the 'Ejj'cdls of Liter aturo and Science. 467 ing, " that the Romans would certainly be deftroyed when they became infecfted with Greek." "Time, however," fays Plutarch, •' has fufficiently fliewn the vanity of this wayward prediction ; for Rome never attained to a higher pitch of glory and power, than when the Grecian literature flourifhed there, and every kind of learning was in high eftimation." Indeed, the ftudy of the Greek language, to which * Cato is faid to have applied himfelf in his old-age, is an evidence, that this great man had altered his fentiments, in fonie meafure, concerning the Grecian literature. But it was not, in all probability, the introduction of the Greek learning, but of the Greek philofophy, that Cato oppofed. The firft fpeclmen that the Romans had of this, was brought over by Cineus in the time of the Tarentine war, and happened to be of the Epicurean kind, who taught people "that the -f* chief end and happinefs of man confided in pleafure; wiio avoided all offices and employments in the ftate, as fo many bars to that pleafure; and ascribed to the Supreme Being neither love nor hatred, maintaining, that it was perfedly regardlefs of man, and all human affairs, and confined to an inactive life, where it ipent v/hole ages in the full enjoyment of all forts of delight." This dodrine, fo op- pofite to the fentiments of that brave, adtive, and virtuous people, excited in them the higheft contempt and abhorrence : " O Her- cules," faid Fabricius, " may Pyrrhus and the Samnites efpoufe this dodlrine as long as they are at war with the Romans !" That fagacious as well as worthy patriot immediately per- ceived the pernicious tendency, as v/ell as impiety, of fuch tenets j and it is by no means improbable, that Cato might be inclined to rejeft whatever was introduced from the fame quarter, on the fufpicion of its containing fimilar opinions and principles. The fentiments of that great man, relative to this * Life of Cato the Cenfor. t Plutarch's Life of Pyrrhus. 3 O 2 philofophy. 468 W A Y o F L I F E. Book Vi. philorophy, were afterwards verified by experience in the Roman ilate. Mr. Moatefquieu * obferves, that the fe6l of Epicurus, which began to be propagated at Rome towards the clofe of the commonwealth, was very prejudicial to the minds and genius of the people. The Greeks had been infatuated with its doctrines long before, and confequently were corrupted much earlier than the Romans. We are aflured by -f- Polybius, that oaths, in his time, could not induce any perfon to place confidence in a Greek ; whereas they were confidered, among the Romans, as matters of inviolable obligation upon his confcience. This idea is attributed, by that wife hiftorian, to the belief of a future (late, which was eftablifhed among the Romans, but made no part of the philofo- phy of Epicurus. After all, it inuft be confelTed, that learning and fcience have often been perverted to the worft: purpofes ; and have in feveral inftances conduced to heighten the corruption of which we are now fpeaking. But the abufe of thefe qualifications is no argu- ment againft their ufe. The fight, hearing, fpeech, and ufe of the limbs, are all capable of being employed to unworthy pur- pofes i which is, however, no reafon why we fhould deprive our- felves of thefe faculties, or not make advantage of our pofl'elling them : no more than, becaufe iron may be forged into inftruments for the deflrud;ion of mankind, we fhould forbear to make ufe a fpade or ploughfliare. We may condemn and lament the ufe to which learning is applied; but can never juftly charge the occafion of it upon fcience, which, far from recommending, cen- fures fuch pradlices. It has been the fate of Literature, as well as of religion, to be accufed of promoting vices which her precepts tended moft flrongly to difcourage. When thefe effe<3:s, how- ever, occur, we may reafonably fay, that it is not the liquor, but the vefiel itfelf, that is corrupted. * Grandeur and Decline of the Roman Einpirc, ch. x. t Polyb. lib. vi. g Confiantinople, Caiip. v. On the EffeSfs of Literature mid Science. ^^^g Conftantinople, the celebrated metropolis of the eaftern empire falls next under Mr. RouiTeau's confideration ; and it muft be con- feiTed, that the pidlure he has drawn of its condition is not lefs juft than melancholy. But why fhould we afcribe the treafons, aflaffinations, poifonings, and other atrocious crimes that were there combined to compofe the hiftory of that period, to the learning which prevailed there ? Indeed, the contrary appears in reality to have been the cafe, as the emperors who fhewed the greateft atten- tion to literature, and to learned men, were thofe under whom the empire feemed to regain new life, and to fiourifh. The decline of learning here, as well as at Rome, is alfo very obfervable in keep- ing pace with the decay of manners, in(l:ead of the arts and fciences improving with this corruption, of which it is fuggefted they are reciprocally the caufe and the effedt : and it is worthy of remark, that fcarcely any author of eminence appeared during that period which Mr. RoufTeau defcribes as ruinous to manners, from the too great prevalence of learning and the arts. China is the next inftance which our author has feleded to prove his favourite point ; but in this inftance he has wholly mif- taken, or mifreprefented, the charadler of the Chinefe. He fays, that " letters are there in fuch eflimation, as to become the fole channel to the firft: dignities in the flate." But if we examine this boafted learning, we fhall find, that they have no great reafon to be proud of it, as it is little more than the knowledge of reading and writing J qualifications, furely, not very extravagant, to beexped:ed from thofe who are at the head of the ftate. Du Halde tells us, that the few books written in the Chinefe language, are almofl altogether on the pradtical part of agriculture, on government, the praftice of morality, induftry, and rules of be- haviour; things, indeed, highly uleful, but of a diftindl nature from fcience and learning. They have fcarcely any poetry, that may be fo called j little knowledge of mathematics, ftill lefs of geography, and very little of aflronomy. If letters, therefore, have been the occalion of the corruption he defcribes, great indeed mufl have been 470 WAY OF LIFE. Book VI. been their baleful influence, when fo fmall a portion, and that dif- tributed among fo fmall a number, could v/ork fuch pernicious effeds. But our author's account of the depravity of the Chinefe is very much exaggerated. It is not true, ** that there is no vice to which they are not addidled ; no crime with which they are not familiar." That they are devoted to intereft is true, as well as that they are given to fome kinds of deceit. But this difpofition arifes, in fome meafure, from their fituation and circumftances, and does not exclude feveral national virtues. Thus the Chinefe are induflrious and frugal, and have an extreme refpecft for parents ; a thing fcarcely ever found among a highly-corrupted people. Their laws are mild and equitable; their punifliments few, and thofe not rigorous ; they never confifcate property ; the greateft atten- tion is paid to impartiality injudicial decifion, and to uncorrupt- nefs in the judge. The government refembles the laws, being founded on the idea of paternal authority. It is an innate prin- ciple with them, that the whole ftate is one great family, and that the prince ought to have the fame regard for his fubjedls, that the father of a family has for his children ; and that he ought to rule over them with the fame tendernefs and affedlion. This idea is im- prelTed naturally on the minds of all the Chinefe. They j.idge of the merit of the prince, and of his talents, from his paternal affec- tion to his people, and by the care he takes to let them feel its good effeds, in the promotion of their happinefs. He is called the parent of his people. He is only feared in proportion as he is refpeded for his goodnefs and virtue. Thefe are the portraits they draw of their great emperors ; and all their books are full of the fame maxims. Nor is public virtue fo rare in China, as might be expedtcd from the interefted charadler of the people. If any prince abufes the power with which he is intrulled, the * Manda- rines have a right to reprefcnt to him the confequences of his con- * Du Halde, vol. ii. p. 15. d«a i Chap. V. On the Effe£fs of Literature and Science. ^yi duftj and although fcveral princes have been fo ill advifcd as to puniih them for the ufe of this privilege, it ftill has not prevented its being pradliled, even to thofe monarchs who have moft feverely oppofed it. Many martyrs of this kind are to be found in the ■ Chinefe hiflories. Surely this defcription does not fuit a people addided to every vice, and deflitutc of every virtue. Pcrfia is next introduced, and is a fubjeft of our author's admi- ration, as being, he {liys, the only people who have attained the honour of having their inftitution pafs for a philofophical romance.. But 1 apprehend that the learned arc induced to doubt the authen- ticity of ihe narrative of Xenophon's Cyropsedia, for other reafons than the exalted virtues he afcribes to that people -f-. Herodotus, who was well informed in the manners of the antient Perfians, tells us, that they were given to flrong liquors, and addi that mufic was not inconfiflent with, but rather a help and incen- tive to, valour. Nor was the poetic mufe herfelf entirely difregarded at Sparta. The king, before an engagement, facrificed to the Mufes ; and the fongs of fome of their poets were held in fuch veneration, that they were forbidden to be fung by Haves. Upon this account, when the Thebans once made an irruption into Laconia, and took a great number of the Helotes prifoners, they could by no means perfuade them to fing the odes of Terpander, * Alcman, and Spendon ; for, faid they, " they are our mafters fongs, and we dare not fing them." It is, perhaps, to this people that we owe the poffeiTion of the entire works of Homer. Lycurgus -j^ is fiid fiift to have col- * Plutarch's Life of Lycurgus. t See note to Mr. Montague's work on the rife and fall of ancient republics, page 21. 3 P leded ^74 W A Y o F L I F E. Book VI. leded them together, and to have brought them Into Greece out of Afia Minor. But even granting the Spartan ignorance, and the Spartan inte- crity, to be as great as Mr. Rouffeau v^^ould perfuade us— the latter of which was by no -f means true of them in a national light- why (hould all their virtues be laid to the account of their igno- rance ? Was there nothing befides, in the Spartan conftitution, that led to virtue, or prevented the contagion of vice ? Was the regulation of the public tables no preventive of luxury ? or was the crying down all gold and filver money no bar to avarice ? and are not thefe two vices, at leaft as deftrudlive to morality as the arts and fciences ? As a proof of this, we find, that when, in the time of Agis and Agefilaus, and afterwards in that of Alexander, money- found its way into Sparta, the Lacedemonians inftantly became corrupted, notwithftanding the ftate of the arts and fciences remained as before. This proves that they were, in a great mea- fure at leaft, innocent of the mifchief imputed to them. Nor was Socrates himfelf, on whom Mr. Roufleau lays fo much ftrefs, the advocate for ignorance that he would reprefent. He re- commended, on the contrary, the ftudy of feveral branches of fci- ence, particularly geometry :{:, aftronomy, and even medicine; and although he did not encourage very deep refearches into the more II abftrufe parts of thefe fciences, it was not from any pofitive in- jury that he apprehended might arife from thence, but from the apprehenfion of their occupying too much of the time of thofe who applied to them. t Ariftotle and Plato were by no means admirers of the national charafter of the Spartans ; and even Polybius, who preferred their conftitution to all others, confeffes, that it was herein defective, that moderation and felf-de- nial were not found in the public, but in the practice of private men. Every Spartan, confidered in his own perfon and private life, was modeft, wife, and pru- dent ; but when taken coUedtivrly, they were a people full of avarice and ambition. —Polybius, book vi. extr. 3. X Xcnophont. Memorab. Socr. c. vii. § 2, 3,4, 8, g y Ibidem, § 5. Another Chap. V. On the Eff'eBs of Literature and Science. 475 Another reafon which appears to be hinted | by Xenophon, which probably had great weight with Socrates, was, that thefe ftudies, aftronomy particularly, were, at that time, perverted to bad purpofes ; fuch as attempting to difcover the intentions of the Deity, and the ultimate reafons why the univerfe was made and fafhioned in fuch a manner. Thefe had, as Socrates himfelf de- clares, already turned the head of Anaxagoras ; who, m the height of his pride and madnefs, was fo vain as to declare, that he had found out the fecrets of the Almighty, and was now as wife as God himfelf. But that this is not the neceffary or natural effefl of fuch ftudies, our own countryman, the immortal Sir Ifaac Newton, is a fuffi- cient inftance j who, with infinitely more knowledge than Anaxa- goras, uniformly preferved the utmoft humility of difpofition, al- ways acknowledging, that all his refearches tended but more and more to convince him of the infinite wifdom, power, and good- nefs, of the Supreme Being. Nor was Socrates fo much averfe, as is reprefented, to the more elegant branches of literature. He thought it not inconfiftent with his plan of education, to introduce the authority of the poets for the confirmation of his moral doftrines. Thus the perverfion, as was alledged, of a paffage in Hefiod, and of another in Homer, were made part of the articles of his accufation : which plainly fhews, at leaft, the refped: he had for this fpecies of writing ; and that it was not poetry, but the abufe of it, that he condemned. Nay, even fome of the embelliftiments of fociety, that appear to us to be of the more frivolous kind, were not unworthy the atten- tion of Socrates. Thus Xenophon *, in the banquet, reprefents him as recommending the art of dancing, and defirous to learn it himfelf; which plainly indicates that it was not, in his opinion, X Xenophont. Memorab, Socr. c. vil. § 6, * Sympofii, lib. ii. § 15, 16, 17, 18. 3 P 2 by 476 W A Y o F L I F E. Book VI. by any means unworthy of a wife and good charadler, though it might be thought at leaft as inftrumental in corrupting or pervert- ing the manners, as learning or the fciences. I llrall next endeavour, with Mr. RoufTeau, to examine the arts and fciences in the ab draft j and fliall not, with him, " hefitate to accede to any proportions wherein reafon fliall be found to ac- cord with hiftorical dedudlion." " It was, fays he, an ancient tradition, handed down from Egypt to Greece, that fome God, an enemy to the repofe of mankind, was the firft inventor of the fciences. What an opinion, adds he, muft the Egyptians themfelves have entertained of them from whom they originated ! It was becaufe they had thofe firfl: caufes before their eyes that produced them. And, indeed, whether we inveftigate the annals of mankind, or whether we fupply the defedls of ancient or uncertain chronicles by philofophical re- fearches, we never fhall find, in this career of human knowledge, thofe origins we naturally expedt to form of them. ** Aftronomy is the child of fuperflition j Eloquence owes its: birth to ambition, hatred, flattering, and lyijigj Geometry, to ava- rice ; Phyfic, to idle curiofity j but all, even Morality included, to human pride. The arts and fciences owe their exiftence to our vices. We fhould have fewer doubts '*6f their advantages, had they originated from our virtues." Whence our author got this tradition, I cannot pretend to fay j but may venture to pronounce, that the moit authentic accounts that we have of the ancient Egyptians, give us no reafon to think that their idea of literature was fuch as he reprefents. The Ptolo- msean library was infcribed with the title of the Medicine of the Soul; an epithet furely not denoting it to be the fource of vice and corruption. The fame people were alfo the greateft encouragers of the praftical arts and fciences.. * Geometry, aftronomy, and * Diod, Sicul. lib. i, , arithmeticj Chap. v. 0« the Eff'e^s of Literature and Science. 477 arithmetic, were particularly encouraged among them, and taught to all the youth. Medicine, likewife, was much ftudied, and all the mechanic arts were in the highefl perfedlion. Yet this peo- ple is defcribed by the fame author as juft, pious, humine, and benevolent, as well as inftrudled in the arts and fciences. Our author's genealogy of fome particular branches of knowledge, is ftili more flrange and abfurd. What were the crio;inal motives that prompted men to ohfervation of the celeftial bodies, i^ per- haps, impofllble now to determine; but, whatever thefe might ori- ginally be, Aflronomy is not, in the prefent age, in the leaft con- nected with fupcrftition, and ferves to guide the pilot through a ftormy fea, without any danger of corrupting either his moral or religious principles. Nor is it true, that eloquence owes its birth to the bad paffions he reprefents. The earlieft fpecimens that have come to our hands, and at leaf!: equal * to any that have been em- ployed for bad purpofes, are in recommendation of moral and re- ligious duties J and appear alfo to have produced the mod extra- ordinary effedls in favour of virtue, in many inftances. His derivation of geometry from avarice, and of phyfic from idle curiolity, is equally flrange : as if a regard to the neceflaries of life, and the prefervation of health, could with juftice be conftrued into paffions of a vicious nature. But the defcent of morality froro. pride is ftill more extraordinary. * This was Milton's opinion : Their orators thou then extoH'fl:, as thofe The top of eloquence. Statifls indeed. And lovers of their country as may feem ; But herein to our prophets far beneath. As men divinely taught, and better teaching. The folid rules of civil government, In their majeitic unaffefted flyle. Than all the oratory of Greece and Rome., P.arad. Regained, book iv. I. 353, &c. . Surely 478 WAY OF LIFE. Book VI. Surely Mr. Roufleau would fcarcely affert, that the Almighty has never publiftied any rules of moral condud, but through the medium of vice. Does he, who pleads fo much for the beauty and reafonablenefs of virtue, deny that the confcioufnefs of this is it- felf a part of the fcience of morals, and perhaps one in whofe truth we have mofl: reafon to confide ? Moral laws were made 10 prevent, not to punifh, vice ; and, on that account, have an ex- iftence previous to their being infringed. Nor is his account of the defcent of fome others of the arts and -fciences better fupported. " Arts, in his account, are derived from luxury — Jurifprudence, from the natural depravity of man — and Hiftory, from tyranny, conTpiracy, and war." That the arts have been made fubfervient to bad purpofes, and to thofe of luxury among others, is true j but that they owe their origin thereto, is not fo clear. The neceffities of our nature — to fatisfy which it is evident they were firft applied — are fufficiently prefTing to require fupport from the arts, without employing them to any improper purpofes. Jurifprudence, indeed, was inftituted for the correftion of bad adtions ; and in that light may be faid to owe its origin to man's depravity. But furely this is no objed:ion to it. If it fupported or encouraged vice, it might juftly be condemned; but as it is employed with a different intention, it is a flrange perverfion of fentiment, to make ufe of the very reafons that ought to be urged in its fupport, m oppofition to its ufe. Nor is hiftory confined entirely to tyranny, confpiracy, and murder. Such events, it is too true, occupy a large part ; but it is alfo undeniable, that the hiftory of our fpecies, conlidered with regard to the amiable part of their cbarad:er, is equally inftruc- tivc and ufeful with the other. Thus the hiflories of Solon, Numa, or Lycurgus, are all of them equally worthy of being i-ead and fludied, as thofe of more ** noify and guilty fame;" and yield 2 I iis Chap. V. On the Effe6is of Literature and Science. 479 as much fervice to mankind, by pointing out a pattern of imita- tion, as tlr" others do by teaching us what we fhould avoid. The mjury that literature is fuppofed to do to a military fpirit, is the next fubjed cliofen by this author for an opportunity of in- dulging his invedive againfl learning. But it feems, that in this in- flance he has been peculiarly unfortunate, as the men of the greatefl military talents have alfo been moft famous for thofe of the un- deri'^anding. Did the ftudy of the fciences injure the courage of Themittocles, Cimon, Pericles, Xenophon, Thucydides, Pho- cion, or Alexander the Great ? Was Scipio Africanus lefs emi- nent for his military accomplifhments, becaufe he w^as addidled to literary * ftudies ? or was Julius Csfar a lefs excellent commander, becaufe he added a large flock of fcience, in every branch, to his knowledge of the art of war ? No one that perufes his admirable account of the wars in which he was engaged, but will readily ac- knowledge, he was nearly as much indebted for his fuccefs to his knowledge of the different arts, as to his mere military talents. But we need not recur to ancient times for inftances of this kind. Modern examples are fufficiently numerous ; of which our author feems fo fenfible, that he appears defirous to fhift his ground, and to allow that the modern warriors are not deficient in courage, but only that they are unable to endure the necelTary fatigue inci- dent to a military life. But in this point, as well as the other, he is evidently millaken. It has -f- been well obferved,. that the v/eaknefs and effeminacy of which poliflied nations are fometimes accufed, has its place, probably, in the mind alone. The flrength of animals in general, and of man in particular, depends on his feeding, and the kinds of labour to which he is ufed. Wholefome food and hard labour, the portion of many in every polifhed and commercial nation, fecure to the public a number of men endued • See the charafter of Luculliis, in the Academical Queftions of Cicero, book W, infcribcd Lucullus. t Fergufon on Civil Society. with 48o W A y o F L I F E. Book VI. with bodily ftrength, and inured to hardfliip and toil. Even deli- cate living and good accommodation, are not always found to ener- vate the body. The armies of Europe have beei obliged to make the experiment ; and the children of opulent familiis, bred in ef- feminacy, or nurfed with tender care, have been made to contend with the favags. By imitating his arts, they have learned, like him, to traverfe the foreft, and in every feafon to fubiift in the defert. They have, perhaps, recovered a leffon, which it has coft civiiifed nations many ages to unlearn — That the fortune of a man is entire, whilft he remains pofleffed of himfelf. Such are the chief of the arguments in this celebrated perform- ance, and fuch are my attempts to reply to them. How far I have fucceeded, I leave to the reader ; and finiih my remarks on this work, with obferving, that the writing of it — Ahich was an univerfity-exercife at Dijon — and the applaufe he received on that account, is thought to have laid the foundation of that haughty, eccentrical, capricious, and paradoxical difpufition, that purfued him through life, and rendered his fituation and behaviour fo un- eafy to himfelf, and fo troublefome to others. His example may, if duly attended, ferve as an ufeful lelToii to places of academical educa'ion in general, not to engage their pupils, in early age, in the defence of any tenets or principles which they would not have them maintain through life. If Rouf- feau was fo much injured by a contrary conduct, what may not others expeft ? The effctfls of literature, and the arts, on manners and behaviour, are next to be noticed. Improvements in thefe branches have been always acknowledged to hive a tendency to * civilife and refine the manners, as far as ^elates to behaviour. But * Ingennas didicifle fideliter artas Jimollit mores ncc finit circ feros. Ovidii de Ponto, lib. ii. cleg. g. Chap. v. On the Effedis of Literature and Science. 481 But they have likevvife fpecific and peculiar, as well as general, effedls in this way. Thus I am inclined to think, that fcience and learning have a tendency to render the behaviour and manners rather clofe and referved. The prudence, and acquaintance with human nature, that are acquired by fcience and obfervation, pre- vent thofe free profellions of regard which are fo frequent in un- civilifed countries. Hofpitality, alfo, perhaps for a fimilar rcafon, in fome meafure — and alfo as it is rather connedled with a degree of coarfenefs and indelicacy, and often leads to fome excefles in point of temperance very adverfe to the genius of fludy and lite- rature — is lefs pradtifed. It is likewife probable, that the fenfe of fuperiority, almoft neceffarily attendant upon a confcioufnefs of great abilities, prevents that indifcriminate connexion to which the pradlice of hofpitality is liable, and inclines thofe who pof- ith talents of this kind, to be very felecft in their acquaintance, efpecially as it is fubject to be courted by many. The hiflories of the lives of Mr. Pope and Dr. Swift, afford many inftances of this kind. SECT. III. On the injlucnce of literature upon the intelle£iual faculties. Literature feems to be to the mental capacity what cultivation Is to the foil. Though it may not, perhaps, increafe its abfolute fertility, or give it new powers, it brings thofe it before pofleffed fo much into aftion, direds their application, and combines them in fuch a manner, as to produce nearly the fame effedls, which an addition to their flrength and force would have done. Quid enumerem artiuni multitudinem fine quibus vita omnino nulla efle potu- ilTct ? Quis enim asgris fubveniilet ; quK efiet obledatio valentium ; qui vi^us aut v^ultus ; nifi tarn multas nobis artes miniflrarentur quibus rebus exc.uka hominum •yiu tantum deftitit a cultu & vidu bcftiaium ? — Ciceron. de OfRciis, lib. ii. § co. o Q^ Learning, 482 W A y o F L I F E. Book VL Learning, therefore, and knowledge, may be prefumed to be fa- vourable to the human faculties in general. But I am inclined to fufpedl, though I fpeak here with great referve, that this re- lates more particularly to arts, than to matters of genius and tafte,. efpecially in poetical compofition. The principal and moft admired model of genius in this way was written, though not in an age of ignorance, certainly before any great degree of refinement had taken place in literature or cri- tical knowledge, and has even ferved as a model to future ages, by which fucceeding writers have been judged with refpedl to the: merit of their compofitions, even at the mofl refined periods. I do not, however, mean to infinuate, that an acquaintance with fcience and literature is itfelf a bar to genius ; but am apt to fufpeft, that the retired and indolent habit, which fo commonly attends great fenfibility and refinement — which ufually take place in the advanced ilate of literature — arc checks to ardour of mind and vi- gour of imagination. Bufinefs, indeed, when conftant and unre- mitting, may fometimes prove an obftacle to iludy ; but retire- ment and leifure, as they do not furnifl:i employment for great ta- lents, neither do they contribute to their improvement. The mofl, ftriking exertions of imagination and fentiment, have a reference to mankind ; they are excited by the prefence and intercourfe of men : and the fame adive fcenes, which call forth the abilities of the ftatefman and politician, infpire likewife the genius of the ora- tor and the poet. In fliort, poetical merit, like the other mental; powers, has appeared mofl; when moft opportunities were given to the exertion of ad;ive abilities. Virgil and Horace lived during the time of the civil wars ; Ariofto and Tafib, when Italy was a fcene of war and confnfion ; and our Milton, a genius equal to any of them, at a period when the ftruggle for liberty called forth abir llties of every kind, in our own country. It does not, indeed, appear, that Milton's acquaintance with literature, or even the refinement of his taftc, at all cramped his genius, or reftrained the c fire Chap. v. On the EffeBs of Literature and Scicncr, 483 fire of his poetry. He alone, perhaps, was qualified to make the proper ufe, in its full extent, of fuch advantages; which he did not confider as containing models of fervile imitation, but as hints whereon he might improve, and ftages whereby he might afcend to a fuperior height to thofe whom he condefcended to imitate. The idea of correftnefs, alfo, which is fo naturally connedted with refinement, is, I apprehend, a great bar to genius. Rules of this kind are ufeful to be known, in order to ferve as a general guide and diredlion ; but when rigidly obferved, have been found to cramp and embarrafs the imagination, and to fubflitute, in the place of bold and fublime ideas, the merit of exadl compliance with rule, and form a compofition refembli ng the charadler given by * Tacitus of one of the emperors, as being rather " devoid of faults than endued with perfeftions." It is not, however, to be denied, that rules of this kind are of fome fervice, in preventing the prefs being deluged with the bom- baftic fuftian, which every fantaftic vifionary might vent for fub- limity of compofition, and in checking outrageous deviations from order, probability, and even common fenfe; which would proba- bly be very common, were there not fome ftandard of this kind. After all, a great degree of corre6tnefs appears to be rather the excellence of moderate genius, and has, indeed, a merit not to be difregarded ; but muft at the fame time be overlooked, among many perfedticns of a fuperior nature. In compofitions wherein the latter are very confpicuous, fmall inaccuracies -f are fcarcely regarded. -&■■ * Ipfi medium ingenium ; magis extra vitia quam cum virtutibtis. — Taciti Hiftor. lib. i. c. 49. t Verum ubi plura nitent, in carmine, non ego paucis OfFendar maculis. Horat. Art. Poet, 1. 351, 352, 353. 3 0^2 Knowledge 484 W A Y o F L I F E. Book VI. Knowledge of paft improvement feems more immediately fer- viceable in matters of art than of literature. In the latter of thefe, the multiplicity of writers has almoft exhaufted the field of inven- tion and defcription, at leaft, of fuch things as could be expedl- ed to occur to authors not of the firll: clafs i infomuch that it would be fcarce poffible for a modern to compofe a fable, or evea a fimile or defcription, proper for poetry, whereon he had not been anticipated by fome preceding writer. The multitude of labourers are here a clog upon one another, as every one is obliged to produce fomewhat not only appofitc to the purpofe, but alfa new in its way ; which is fo difficult, in a fubjed: fo exhaufted,. that but a fmall portion can fall to the lot of any individual, ex- cept of fome extraordinary genias : whofe appearance is too rare to exped; in the ufual courfe of literary progrefs. Arts, on the other hand, are in fome refpedls more advantageoufly. circumlianced, with regard to prior improvements, than matters of tafte and fentiment. In arts we are enabled to build upon for-. mer difcoveries, as a help to a future progrefs, and to apply every invention to its precife and proper ufe; every advance is diftindly and accurately marked, and a proportronable credit, and confe- quent encouragement, allowed for each ftep gained -, and the fame, exertion of genius, which in the other branch would have gained the repute of little more than a bare imitation, in this pro- duces a fubftantial improvement. It appears probable to me, that the almoll imperceptible, yet diftind, gradation of the fteps that: lead to improvement in arts, is a principal caufe of their more ad.- vanced pro^T'^^'^'n proportion with literary accomplifliments ; and that the maxim bi Divide and conquer * is no Icfs applicable to arts than to arms. ' Divide et i.Tpera. SECT. Ghap. v. On the Effe^s of Literature and Science, 4&f SECT. IV. On the injluence of literature and arts upon the laws and cujloms. Law, like other branches of fcience, has been under the greateft obligations to literature. We owe to learning, in a great mea- fure, our knowledge of the proper object of the laws, and the means of attaining it in the inofl: eifeiftual manner. A Iketch of the lights in which law has been contemplated, by civilifed and goliflicd nations, will. explain this more fully. The prevention of crimes, fays Plato *, is the great objedl of' the law; The law, lays -f- Cicero, is a rule of right reafon, recommend- ing what is right and forbidding what is wrong. The law, fliys J Livy, is deaf and inexorable j equally, at leafl,, favouring the poor as the rich, and. governing 'every perfon in the ftate, from the highefl to the lowed. The end of all laws, fays || Andronicus Rhodius, is to diredl. what is good, and to forbid what is bad. The law, fay the § Pandecls, is an art diredling to the know- ledge of what iajuft and what unjufl. Inflances of the improve- ment o,f legiflation, by means of learning, are to be found equally ftrong in modern times. The writers of the prefent age, in Ger- many, Italy,, and England, and above all, Mr. Montefquieu, in Finance, prove to demonflration the advantage of an acquaintance with fcience and literature, to thofe concerned in the forming and compofmg of laws. * De Leg'bus, p. 977. f De Lcgibus, lib. i. § 49. lib. ii. § 14. — Dc Natura Deoriim, § 1 12. j Lib ii. § 3. lib. xxxviii. § 50. H Ethicor. Nicomach. Paraphras. I. v. cap. i. § Dig. i. I. — i. I. I. I. — i. I. I. pr. d. i. i. 10. In 4^6 WAY OF LIFE. Book VI. Ill a word, fcience has brought to light that important * maxim of legiflation, which it is to be hoped will never be forgotten, that " no man ought to be prohibited by law from doing what he ought to defire to do, or to be compelled to do any thing, which he ought not to defire to do." The means alfo of attaining thefe important and defireable ends of laws, have been greatly illuftrated by fcience and literature. Since the revival of letters, it has been difcovered, that fevere pu- nifliments are not the beft means of reftraining crimes, but that tliey have rather a tendency to create them. Ruflia, whilft uncivilifed, was full of cruel punilTiments, at leaf!:, fuch as were favage and indecent. On the improvement of civilifation, and the eftablifliment of fcience, the punifliment of death was abrogated altogether; and both the police and morals of the country appear to have been improved by this change in the laws. Science and literature appear to have been of great ufe in legif- lation, in direding the puniihment to its proper objed:, which is crimes, and to them only. As human nature will not endure reftraint beyond a certain de- -gree, it is of the utmoft confequence to dired this reftraint to fuch things as it is moft important to prevent; fmce, if we check aftions that are in themfelves indifferent, we are apt to permit thofe which ought not to be fuffered at all. Thus the Tartars, imder Jenghiz Khan, prohibited, under fevere penalties, a multi- tude of aftions perfedly indifferent, but were very moderate in their cenfure of robbery, violence, and murder: of fuch confequence is it to feledl the proper objeds for the operation of penal laws. I fliall finifli my remarks on this fubjed: with the words of the juftly-celebrated Marquis Beccaria, who is himfelf a ftriking and living inftance, how much the knowledge of legiflation, and * Sp. of Laws, B. xi. ch. 3. of Chap. v. On the EffeSls of Literature and Science. 487 of the true interefts of mankind, are promoted by an acquaintance with the arts and fciences. *' Would you prevent crimes, let liberty be attended with knowledge. As knowledge extends, the difadvantages that attend, it diminifli, and the advantages increafe. Knowledge facilitates the comparifon of objeds, by fliewing them in different points of view. — When the clouds of ignorance are difpelled by the radiance of knowledge, authority trembles, but the force of the laws remains immoveable. Men of enlightened underflanding muft neceflarily approve thofe ufeful conventions, which are the foundation of public ilifety j they compare, with the higheft fatisfadtion, the inconfiderable portion of liberty of" which they are deprived, with the fum total facrificed by others for their fecurity ; obferving that they have given up the perni- cious liberty of injuring their fellow-creatures, they blefs the throne, and the laws upon which it is -f- eftablilhed." Cufloms, I am apt to believe, are lefs regarded in countries where fcience prevails, than in ignorant ones. Cuftoms are generally refpecfled as being venerable for antiquity, and as ferving fome intention, the bent of which is not generally underftood. But when the caufes of things come to be fcrutinized and examined, much of the veneration for old ufages is deftroyed, . as they are then regarded only as they fliew themfelves to be fub- fervient to fome ufeful purpofe. Thus many of the old ufages and cuftoms in this coiuUry are deflroyed, and are, in general, much on the decline, as appears from the mutability which begins to prevail among them ; which is probably owing to the influence of litera- ture and arts. t EfTay on Crimes and Punifhmcnts, chap. xlii. S E C To ^88 W A Y o F L I F E. Bcok'VI. SECT. V. Infuence of liter at tire mid arts on the form of government. There can be, I think, no doubt, that learning and knowledge 5re favourable to liberty. Mr. Montefquieu well obferves, '* that exceflive obedience fuppofes ignorance in the perfon that obeys. The fame it fuppofes in him that -commands ; for he has no occa- fion to deliberate, to doubt, to reafon ; he has only to will. * Learning would there be dangerous, and emulation fatal." The caufe of this is obvious : defpotifm is fupported by the paflions, not the reafon ; confequently every appeal from the former to the latter mull tend to ftiake the bafis of fuch an ufurpation, and, of confequence, make all fcience an objedt of diftruft and jea- Idufy. The fuites formerly moft celebrated for literary accom- plifliment were free, as Athens and Rom.e; and the efFeds of learning, in checking theabfurd claims of arbitrary power, in mo- dern times, are no lefs remarkable. We owe the beft parts of our prefent conftitution, in no fmall meafure, to the works of Mihon, Locke, Sydney, Harrington, and the other learned and rational defenders of liberty; and the writings of Mr. Montefquieu, and Mr. Voltaire, in France, and of the Marquis Beccaria in Italy, among thofe of other great men, who have explained and infixed upon the natural and juft rights of mankind, have contributed very much to temper the -f- arbitrary government of thofe countries. Spain and Portugal ftill remain in ignorance and defpotifm; nor is it likely that the latter fliould ever be correfted, unlcfs they emerge from the former. * Sp. of Laws, book iv. cli. 3. t The late king of Sardinia ufed to Aiy, that it was from Mr. Alontcfquieu that }ie learned the art of government. M. de Solar, the Maltcfc ambafl'ador at Rome, faid, on the firft appearance of the Spirit of Laws, " That is a book that will caufe great revoliitiQns in the minds of the French.' What Chap. v. On the Effe&s of Literature and Science. 489 What particular form of government is beft fuited to literature I cannot abfolutely determine. Perhaps different forms may be beft fuited to different kinds of literary accomplifliment. A po- pular government feems to be befl fuited to great flrength and vi- gour of genius, and elevation of mind. That freedom of fpeech and fentiment, which is fo much indulged in a popular govern- ment, is highly adapted to exertion of the talents, and the calling forth the latent powers of the mind and underflanding. A dcmo- cratical government feldom fails to produce great men. How many perfons of extraordinary capacity appeared in the fmall re- publics of Greece, during a fliort period of time ! and what an aflem- blage of great talents was colledled during the flill lliorter duration of republican government in our own country ! Every department was filled with men of high capacity. The flate, the bench of juflice, and the army, were all extremely refpeftable : nor was the poetic mufe herfelf negledled, though the fanatical and extravagant religious doftrines, which were general at that time, feemed highly adverfe to thefe elegant amufements. Waller and Milton, who were both upon the republican party, and the latter deeply engaged in the religious controverfy which prevailed about that period of time, were, perhaps, the firfl elegant poetical writers in this country. But the fame caufes which give fuch a fcope to the talents in a democratical government, contribute alfo, in a great meafure, to diredl their application. Hence oratory, as being much wanted, and of great importance, in fuch governments, where fuch an unbounded liberty, both of fentiment and fpeech is allowed and encouraged \, is much cul- tivated. p. t Magna eloquentia, ficut flamma materia alitur, et motibus excitatiir, et urendo ■clarefcit. Eadem ratio in noftra quoque civitate antiquorum eloquentiam provexit. Nam etfi hoium quoque temporum oratores ea confecuti funt, quas compofita, et ^uicta, et beata, republica tribui fas erat : tamen ifta perturbationo et licentia 3 R plura 490 WAY OF LIFE. Book VI. tivated. The democracy at Athens produced Demofthenes, ^fchines, Demades, Pericles, and Hyperides, as Milton calls them. " Thofe ancient, whofe refifllefs eloquence Wielded at will that fierce democratie. Shook th' arfenal, and ftilmin'd over Greece To Macedon and Artaxerxes throne." |[ The popular commotions in the reign of Charles I. laid the foundation of Englilh oratory in the Houfe of Commons. It is worth remarking upon this occafion, that the fpeeches in our own popular afTemblies have been much more frequent, more animated, and received with more attention, than thofe which are delivered in the other Houfe of Parliament, that reprefents the ariftocratical branch of the conftitution. A celebrated fpeaker, fcarcely inferior to thofe juft mentioned of ancient Greece — the thunder of whofe name reached the extremefl parts of the globe, whilft he continued to diiedl the afTemblies of the people — lofl: his influence and his v/eight, in a great meafure, when tranflated into the other houfe ; plura fibi aflequi videbantur, cum mixtis omnibus et moderatore uno carentibus^ tantum quifque orator faperet, quantum erranti populo perfuaderi poterat, Hinc leges aifidux, populare nomen ; hinc conciones magiftratuum pcene pernoftantium in roflris ; hinc accufationes potentium reorum, et aflignata etiam domibus inimi- citiae; hinc procerum fadtiones, et aflidua fenatus adverfus plebem certamina : quae f.ngula etfi diftrahebant rempublicam, exercebant tamen illorum temporum eloquen- tiam, et magnis cumulare prosmiis videbantur. Quia quanto quifque plus dicendo poterat, tanto facilius honores aflequebatur, tanto magis in ipfis honoribus collegas fuos anteibat, tanto plus spud principcs graiiae, plus au£loritatis apud patres, plus notitia; ac nominis apud plebem parabat. Hi clientelis etiam exterarum nationum rcdundabant ; hos itviri in provincias magiftratus rcvercbantur, hos revcrft colcbant, hos et pra-turse et confulatus vocare ultro videbantur; hinc privati quidcm fine po- teftate erant, cum et populum et fcnatum confiiioet auiHioritate regerent : quin immo {^ fibi ipfi pcrfualcrant, ncmincm fine eloqu:.ntia aut aflbqui poile in civitate, aut tueri confpicuum etemincntem locum.— Taciti Oratorcs, c. xxxvi. II Paradife Regained, b. iv. i. 267. and Chap. v. On the EffeSis of Literature and Science. 491 and the fame exadly was the cafe, not many years before, with an- other popular orator of the higheft eminence. Thefe inftances ferve to flievv how well adapted a popular government is to orato- rical talents. But if this form of government be fuited to exer- tions of this kind, they, in their turn, contribute highly to its fupport. The popular orators maintained the democracy of Athens, by cherifhing among the people an opinion of their own weight and confequence ; and, however we may at times condemn, in our own country, the excefs of a contentious fpirit, we muft be cautious how we attempt to check it, as upon that depends our liberty and conftitution. The very ebullitions that we cenfure may, perhaps, prove poli- tical remedies for the * difeafes of the ftate ; and, even when mif- taken in their diredlion, ferve as a warning to thofe at the head of adminiftration, not to encroach on the liberty of the people. It requires, however, the deepeft political fagacity, as well as the utmoft integrity of intention, in thofe pofTeffed of popular talents, in our own government, to difcern the point beyond which this influence ought not to be extended. The being more adlive in at- tacks upon the crown, in the reign of Charles I. than vigilant in the fupport of the rights of the people, terminated in the de- ftrufStion of the conftitution ; and the fame condudl at Rome, in oppofition to the nobility, produced an abfolute government: two examples, which, it is to be hoped, will always be confidered by thofe who oppofe the meafures of adminiftration in Great Britain. What Mr. Montefquieu has faid of puniftiments, in republican go- vernments, ought conftantly to be confidered under fuch circum- ftances, that when the grievance is redrefled, and the immediate adlors removed, there ought to be an end of all puniftiments, con- fifcations, and even of rewards. • " The misfortune of a republic is when intrigues arc at an end ; which takes place when the people are gained by bribery and corruption. In this cafe they grow indifferent to public affairs, and avarice becomes their predominant paflion."—Sp. of Laws, b. ii. cb. 2. 3 R 2 But 492 W A Y o F L r F E. Book VI. But to return from this digreffion. Satirical performances are another fpecies of writing, fuited, I apprehend, to a republican government. Thefe, like their orato- rical performances, are generally open and undifguifed, as well as, fliarp and fevere. The fatire of -}- Ariftophanes degenerated into« what we fhould now term abufe; that of j Archilochus was. pointed and vehement, and is faid to have produced extraordinary II efFeds. Lucilius, the moft * ancient of the Roman fatyrifts, had a fimilar § charader annexed to his works j which, was imitated, in a great meafure, by Perfius and Juvenal, the latter of whofe writings appear to exhibit the lafl breath, of the genuine Roman, pirit of liberty. t See his reflexions and ridicule of Socrates, in the comedy of the Clouds.. X ■■ Parios ego primus lambos Oftendi Latio, numeros animofque fecutus Archilochi, non res et agentia verba Lycamben. Lib. i. ep. 19. 1. 23, &Ci Archilochum proprio rabies armavit lambo.. De Arte Poetica, 1. 79- II He is faid to have v(rritten fo feverely againft Lycambes, wrho refufed to fulfil his promife of giving him his daughter in marriage, as to caufe Lycambes to hang himfclf. The fame effeft is often afcribed to the writings of the antient fatyrifts. -quid cum eft Lucilius aufus Primus in hunc operis componere carmina morem. Herat. Satyr, lib. ii. fatyr. i. § Nam cruditio in co (Lucilio) mira et libertas, atque inde acerbitas et abundc falis. — Quintilian. lib. x. cap. i. Sccuit Lucilius urbem Tc Lupe, te Muti, et genuinum fregit in illis. Perfii Satyr, i. Enfe velut ftrifloquoties Lucilius ardens Infrcmuit ■ - ■ ■ Juvenal. Satyr, i. Our Chap. v. On the Effe5ts of Literature and Science. 493 Our own country, whofe conflitution is eminently democratical, has produced writers of a fimilar ftamp to thofe juft mentioned among the Romans. The fatires of Dr. Donne, one of the moft ancient of our writers in that line, are penned not only, as Dr, Browne defcribes them, " With genuine feiifc, and Roman ftrength of thought ;" but alfo with that ardent eloquence, and boundlefs rage, that charaderife the works of Juvenal and Perfius. Milton, although he did not profefTedly affume the fcourge of fatire, yet has intermixed many ftrokes of that kind among his J poetical works ; and his profe performances are chiefly invedtive, and that of the moft violent kind. Pope, although he has not carried the feverity of his cenfure ta fuch a degree as was done by fome of his predeceffbrs, was, never- thelefs, poffefTed of a genius of a fimilar turn. His imitations of Horace, though highly and juftly admired, are generally acknow- ledged to have fcarcely any refemblance to that author, except in the plan and order of arrangement ; but the refledions, the ex- preflions, and the choice of words, refemble much more the indig- nant rage of Juvenal, than the fportive, eafy, arrd elegant vein of the Horatian fatire. As a proof of this, it may be obferved, that when the beauty of the original conlifts in eafy, concife, and graceful humour. Pope has generally, though not always, fallen II fhort of his original ; but where Horace aflumes the charadler of a declaimer againll vice, and an indignant corredlor of corrupt manners. Pope * generally rifes fuperior to his mafter. It is, how- ever, true, that Pope, probably as not having been foured with difappointment and negled-, and enraged at the lofs of his country's X Parad. Loft, book vii. ad initium. — Lycidas, line 113, &c. — Sampfon Agon. 1.241,. &c. 1.695, ^^' ^- 1460, &c. II Imit.itions of Horace, b. ii. fatyr. i. 1. 50, 63, 84, 90. — Bookii. fat. 2. 1. 27. —Book i. epift. r. 1. 143, &c. * B. ii. fatyr. i. 1. 105, &c. 133, &c. — B. ii. fat. 2. 1. 5, &c. 81, &c. 115, &c. J5t).— B. i» ep. I. 1. 55, &c. ep. vi. 1. 5, &c. 17, &c.— B, ii.. cp. 2. 1. 264, &c. liberty. 494 W A Y o F L I F E. Book VI. liberty, as was the cafe with Juvenal, is lefs acrimonious in his fatire, and often attempts, and frequently with fuccefs, to imitate the playful eafy wit of Horace. In general, however, the obfer- vation of Mr. Montefquieu is, I believe, found to be true, that the genius of this country, with regard to fatirical compofition, ap- proaches much nearer to that of Juvenal than of Horace. Popular government, I am apt to think, ufually imparts a cer- tain peculiarity of compofition to poetical writings in general. The freedom of fpeech and fentiment natural to fuch a ftate infpires a kind of rude and inartificial greatnefs, whilfl that kind of delicacy that proceeds from tafte is lefs cultivated. What Mr. Montefquieu has faid of the Englifli, is applicable to popular governments in general — that they have in their poetry fomething which approaches nearer to the bold ftrength of Michael Angelo, than the fofter graces of Raphael. Milton particularly, whom I take as an inftance of a genius of the republican kind, is a notable example of thei truth of this obfervation. A government, rather of the democratical kind, I take to be befl fuited to the genius of hiftorical compofition. The dignity of charader inherent in the members of a republican ftate, the liberty of fpeech, and freedom of information incident thereto, fecure the truth of the narrative, and enable the author to deduce, and to pubhfli from fadts, fuch refledtions as the occafion fuggefts. Where there is a perfedl freedom of the prefs — without which there can be no liberty — the truth cannot be long concealed, nor the people deceived and amufcd with fuch relations as the govern- ment think fit to publilh. A falfe account is foon contradidled, and its author branded with infamy, for the attempt to impofe ; and this circumftance is a more fecure guard of truth, than the ca- pital penalties annexed to the falfification of the public accounts jn China. Hence the •■■ Gazettes, and communications of public * No Englifli minitlry Jurft ha\c piiblifhcd fuch an account of a battle, as was given in the French gazettes of the engagement in Quiberon Bay, between Sir Ed- ward liawicc and Mr. Conflans. txanfadlions. Chap. v. On the EffeSfs of Literature and Science. 495 tranfadions, in England are more to be depended upon than thofe of France, Spain, or the other monarchical countries of Europe. The fame may be faid of hiftorical relations. Had any Englifli writer dared to publifli fuch a fidlitious account of a battle that terminated in favour of the Englifli, as Mr. Voltaire has given of the battle of Fontenoy, he would have been contemned and rejedled by all ranks of people, inflead of meeting with ap- plaufe. Where the truth cannot be concealed, it is frivolous to attempt concealment. Political difquifitions, for fimilar reafons, are only in perfedlion in free governments. Without liberty of fpeech and fentiment, politics are either an empty found, or an engine contrived to rivet the fetters of fervitude. Hence difcourfes of this kind have al- ways appeared to advantage in republican flates. Ariftotle, the firft political writer in point of rank, and perhaps of eminence, was a citizen of Athens. Demofthenes and Cicero were at the head of the remains of freedom, and, as a Greek orator, faid, ** fteered the fhipwrecks of their refpedive commonwealths." Po- lybius drew his political knowledge from a republican fource, in confequence whereof he became the friend and inftruftor of the celebrated Scipio Africanus. The political maxims of Taci- tus are full of republican fentiments, preferved amid the rage of defolation, that accompanied the reigns of fome of the mod: dread- ful monfters that ever infefled human nature, and probably ex- cited in fome roeafure by the indignation fuch horrid cruelties naturally fiiggefted. To defcend to later times. Machiavel was a fubjeft of a repub- lican government : Milton, Harrington, Sydney, and even Locke, lived at a time when liberty was carried to its greateft height in England : and the traniient effcrts of a fimilar kind in France, gave birth to the celebrated Thuanus. It were, however, uncandid not to acknowledge, that fome political writers of the greateft eminence have arifen of late years 9 in 496 WAY OF LIFE. Book VI. in governments that can by no means be called of the republican kind. Of this, Mr. Voltaire, in fome degree, the celebrated Marquis Beccaria, and above all Mr. Montefquieu, are inftances. But the writings of Mr. Voltaire are fo defultory, and fo contra- didlory to one another, that it is difficult to difcern his real fen- timents, if he, in truth, had any fettled notions on thefe fubjefts : Mr. Beccaria has faid little of the nature of government : and w^ith regard to Mr. Montefquieu, it is, I think, clearly difcernible, that he wrote under a degree of * reftraint, and that he would have delivered himfelf with much greater freedom, had he not been checked by the nature of the government under which he lived. Monarchical governments of the moderate kind are, neverthe- iefs, found to be favourable to fome branches of learning. A cer- tain flyle of oratory, efpecially of the panegyrical kind — lyric poe- try — an eaiy elegant vein of fatire, rather upon folly than vice — dra- matic performances in general — elegant moral effays — with fome other kinds of literary produdiions, flourifli much under fuch a government. But epic poetry, and fatire upon vice — hiftory — and political refledlions, are feldom found in perfedlion. The people want the dignity of fentiment and fpirit neceffary for epic poetry ; which is feldom found under any but a free government. Vice and luxury are hazardous fubjedls of animadverfion. Hiftory is liable to be perverted by the hopes and fears of the writer, and is feldom, when written concerning the prefent age, any thing be- fides a panegyric upon the reigning monarch, and deeply inter- * This fcems hinted at by Mr. D'Alemtert, in his eulogium on that celebrated writer. " Mr, Montefquieu," fays he, "being fometimes obliged to prefent to us truths of great importance, the ahfolute and direil avowal of which might have fliockcd without doing any good, has had the prudence to cover them ; and by tliis innocent artifice he has concealed them from thofe to whom they mJght have been hurtful, without making them loft to men of fagacity." mixed Chap. V. On the EjJ'eth of Literature and Science. 497 mixed with fiction, as we fee inftanccd in Mr. Voltaire's hiilorics of the reigns of the tuo laft kings of France ; and political works and arguments are dangerous to be allowed, under a government founded more upon the paffions than upon reafon. I am apt to believe — though I fpeak here with great diflidence — that a mon?r- chical government, of the moderate kind, is better fuited to the progrefs of fome branches of the arts, than perhaps any other form whatever. It is neceflary in a monarchical ftate, one of the great objedts of which is glory, to preferve the fpirit of the people as well as to maintain the authority of the prince. A taftc therefore for arts and difcoveries ferves to employ the talents and genius of the people, without exciting the fame jealoufy that might refult from other inquiries ; and thefe are accordingly much encouraged under fuch governments, vjhen wifely adminiftered. A paflion of this kind, when properly directed, ferves to keep up the national eha- rader, and forms a kind of fubftitute for liberty. Arts likcwife flourifh much under the patronage and fupport of a monarch, to which they are particidarly adapted. Their flourifliing flate under the reign of Louis XIV. is a noted inftance ; which would proba- bly have ralfed his reputation, and that of his country, to a much greater pitch than he attained, had it not been interrupted by his mad and abfurd paflion for conquefl — which, by exhaufting the na- tion both of men and treafure, left no fupport or encouragement for the arts. It muft, indeed, be confefl"ed, that the infecurity of property under fuch governments, and the arbitrary and unequal taxes that they impofe, are a great damp upon the practical advan- tages a nation might receive from the eftabiifliment of manufac- tures. An ariflocratical government— but I mean here one of the he- reditary and confined kind, as thofe of Venice and Genoa at pre- fent, and vvhat fome of the Italian flates were formerly — is by no means favourable to literature in general. It is obfervable, that , fcarcely any governments are fo jealous of intrigues of the politi- •2 S cal 498 W A Y o F L I F E. Book VI. cal kind, as ariftocratical ftates. All political difcourfe therefore muft be very tenderly touched, and confequently no improve- ment of that kind can be expedled. Hiftorical compofitjons, for a limilar reafon, are under conliderable reftriftion j and the ri- gid previous infpedlion of every article that is allowed to be pub- lifhed, and the fuppreffion of any that do not coincide with the fentiments of government, are fufficient caufes why they have no hiftorians of confiderable note. But ariftocratical governments are averfe to political or hifto- rical compofitions, of any period near the prefent, upon another account. Thefe, if properly written, muft always contain cen- fure, as well as commendation, both of men and meafures. Now it is well remarked by * Mr, Montefquieu, that no go- vernment whatever is fo averfe to fatirical writings as the arifto- cratical. There the magiftrates are petty fovereigns, but not great enough to defpife affronts. If, in a monarchy, a fatirical ftroke is aimed at the prince, he is placed upon fuch an eminence, that it does not reach him ; but an ariftocratical lord is pierced to the heart. Hence the Decemvirs, who formed an ariftocracy,. punifhed the authors of fatirical writings with death. ' Some kinds of arts, however, particularly thofe which reipcd: na- vigation and commerce, appear to be well fuited to this conftitution of the ftate. A naval force, I have -f- before remarked, is, of all kinds of ftanding armies, the leaft dangerous to liberty, and of confequence, the leaft liable to be made an inftrument for alter- ing the conftitution of the government, be it what it may. For this reafon, among others, navigation and commerce have been much encouraged among the ariftocratical ftates, as thofe of Crete, • Carthage, and Marfeilies formerly, and thofe of Venice, Genoa, Pifa, and fome other of the Italian ftates, in later times. • Spirit of Laws, B. xii. ch. 13. •j- Book ii, ^ Adef- Chap. v. On the "EffeSls of Literature and Science. 495 A defpotical form of government can fcarcely be faid to be fuited to any kind of intelledlual improvement : knowledge there is dangerous, both to the conftitution of the ftatc, and to the per- fon who polTefTes it. Emulation there can have no place, as the only fecurity for any individual, confifts in his remaining as un- noticed as poflible. Even any great improvement in the arts would not be without hazard, as it might enable the owner or inventor to amafs fuch a fum of money, as might render him an obje(fl of the jealoufy or rapacity of a timid or needy adminiftra- tion. SECT. VI. On the injluence of literature and arts upon religion, I prefume It will fcarcely be neceflary to fay, that the more w& turn our inquiries into nature, the more proofs we fhall meet of the exiftence of a Deity. Hence it is reafonable to con- clude, that the people in general, who have had the moft oppor- tunities for information of this kind, will be moft likely to have the belief of a Deity moft univerfally diffufed, and moft deeply imprefled upon their minds. This is intirely conformable to ob- fervation. Thofe nations who have been accounted atheifts, though probably without reafon, have always been in the loweft ftate of civilifation, fuch as the Fenni of Tacitus, the Icthyophagi of Diodorus Siculus, and the Hottentots, and people of Terra del Fuego, among our modern difcoveries ; fome of which people ap- pear to have had little more than the form (if we may credit the accounts of them) to entitle them to the name of humanity. On the other hand, uniform experience teaches us, that every nation yet difcovered, either in the ancient or modern world, have always had the belief of a Deity more univerfally and ftrbngly imprefled, in proportion to the advances they had made in fcience and arts. 3 S 2 It 500 W A Y o F L I F E. Book VI. Indeed it cannot be denied, that, even in times of the greateft civilifation and fcience, fome perfons have ventured to adopt, and to propagate, tenets inconfiftent with this generally-received opi- nion. But it may be juftly queftioned, if thefe unhappy people were either clear in their underftandings (as fome of them we know were not) or elfe, if they were not induced by fome interefted views to fupport fo abfurd as well as fo impious an opinion. The idea of a Deity is the refult of fo many fubjedls of reflection, oc- curring eveiy moment in human life, that the expreflion of the * poet, that all things are full of the Deity, is equally true of the proofs of his exiftence, his providence, and beneficence — if it could be imagined that the evidence of the latter did not necef- farily imply the former. It is an eaiier thing for a man to deny, than to extirpate, his feelings j and thofe which are really natural —as I believe the confcioufnefs of a Deity (from its being univer- fally entertained -f-) to be — often recur with redoubled violence om account of the ineffediual refinance made to them. " If," fays an ancient philofopher, " there have been, in every age, two or three perfons fo abjedl and infenfible as to deny the exiftence of a God, ihey are to be regarded as people defedtive in the principal facul- ties belonging to human nature, as men- whofe eyes do not clearly perceive the light, and whofe ears but imperfedly diftinguifh founds, as a race of men unprofitable and ufelefs, as a lion devoid of fiercenefs, as an ox without the ornaments of his forehead, or as a bird deprived of wings. Even in thefe men you may perceive fomevvhat of a confcioufnefs of the Deity ; for of that fome traces will remain always %." Even Epicurus, amidfl all his abfurdities> * — — — — ' Jovis omnia plena. Virgil Eclog. iii. 1. 60. t Omni autem in re confenfio omnium gentium lex natura? putanda eft.— Tufcj. Qua-ft. lib. i. § 48. \ iV^^txim. Tyrii, Difl". i, did Chap. V. On the EffeSts of Literature and Science. 50 r did not venture to deny altogether the * being of a Deity, though he refufed to allow him the attributes that are neceffarily derived from the proofs of his exigence. It muft indeed be confeffed, that the Grecian and Roman my- thologies appeared to favour a multiplicity of deities; a thing nearly as inconfiftent with reafon as the denial of a Deity altoge- ther. But it is neverthelefs clear, that, in their fyftems, the in- ferior deities were by no means independent of one -j- fupreme and governing power, to whom they were all fubjedl, and by whom they were liable to be diredled ; fo that in reality all the deities, fave one, were only fecond caufes or inferior agents. This, it is plain, was the popular opinion. But the philofophers, and even the poets, went feveral fteps farther, and even denied the exiflence of thofe divinities, except as allegorical reprefentations of the ;|: attributes of the Supreme Being, or as portions of the || eflence of God, or emanations of the foul of the world, but ftjll to be corporeal § , and liable to pain and fuffering ; qualities never attri- buted to the Deitv himfelf. Learning and fcience have alfo contributed to caufe proper and worthy attributes to be imputed to the Deity. He is reprefented * Lucret. lib. i. ]. 83. &c. lib. vi. L 57, &c. — Ciceron. de Nat. Deorum, li!i. i. t Socrates and Plato always aflerted, that there was one God only, the Kino- and Father of all things. — Max. Tyr. Difl". i. Homer's Mythology was of the i^me nature. Ennius alfo delivered the famedodlrine; and, as Cicero fays, ajfenfii amniiim. Afpice hoc fublime candens quern invocant omnes Jovcm, ilium vero et Toveni et dominatorem rerum et omnia motu rcgentem patrem divumque homlnumque. — Pe Nat. Deor. 1. ii. § b, X This feems in many places the fyftem of Homer. Maximus Tyrius ap- pears to have been of the fame opinion. — Difl". xxiii. H Diog. Laert. lib. vii. § 156.. § Iliad, lib. v; By 502 WAY OF LIFE. Book VI. by the ancient writers, as ' irrefiAible in power — as infinite * in knowledge — as ' immutable and eternal in his nature — as "* un- fearchable in his counfels — as extending his providence ' over all human affairs — as * jufl — as not the ' author of evil, but as the ^ author of all good — and as liftening to the prayers ' of mortals here upon earth. Many other proper attributes were o-iven to the Deity by the philofophers of old, efpecially the Stoics J but thefe are fufficient to fliew the fuperiority of thofe afcribed by civilifed nations over thofe of the uncultivated. The gods of the Scythians were thought to have delighted in '" human facrifices ; the Gauls were " of the fame opinion, and made thefe facrifices in the moft cruel manner. The gods of the " Mexicans were cloathed with terror and delighted in ven- geance. The nature and principles, or the dodtrines, precepts, and pro- hibitions of religion, among civilifed and learned people, have been always much fuperior in excellence to thofe of uncivilifed and rude nations. * Homer's Iliad, b. viii. b. xi. Odyff. b. iii. b. xvi. — Fragment. Lini de Suida, Fragm. ii. — Cicero de Legibus, lib. ii. § 25. * Homer's Iliad, b. viii. b. xvii. — Fragm. Orphic, e Suida, Fragm. i. — Xenoph. Memor. Socrat. lib. i. — Epiftet. book i. c. 14. § i. 2. 3 Homer's Iliad, b. i. — Cicero de Nat, Deor. lib. i. § 63. * Homer's Iliad, b. i. — Fragm. Orphic. Suida, Fragm. i. ' Iliad, b.xvii. b. xxiv. — Platon. de Legib. lib. 10. — Epi(Setus, book iii. ch. xxiv. § 6. — Max. Tyr. DiiT. 5. & 29. — Marci Antonin. Oper. lib. ii. § 3. * Iliad, b. iv. b. XX. Odyff. b. i. ^ Odyff. b. i.'— EpiiSet. b. i. c. 2g. §1. B. iii. c. 24. § i. — Antonin. Oper. lib. ii. (e£t 2. -Max. Tyr. Diff. 5, 25, 29. ' EpiiStctus b. i. ch. 16. § 3. B. ii. ch. 23. § i. B. iv. c. i. § 12. 5 Homer's Iliad, b. ix. Odyffcy, b. viii — Epidtetus b. ii. ch. 18. §45. B. iii. ch. 21. § I. — Hei'iod lib. i. 1. 334. Lib. ii. 1. 83. 10 Herodot. lib. iv. — Pauli Diaconi, lib. xiii. 11 Cifar de Bello Gallic, lib. vi. c. g. — Diodori Sicul. lib. v. ■■* Robertlon's Hill, of America. z To Chap. v. On the Eff'eSis of Literature and Science. ro;? To imitate the Deity was the precept of the Stoic philofophvj and, as they attributed perfedion to the Divinity, an imitation of him could be no other than an univerfal recommendation of vir- tue. The idea, likewife, ' of virtue, among that fedt of philofo- phers, though in feme inftances defedlive, was, in general, rational and jufl, and confonant to the dodtrines of Chriftianity. Thus juftice ', truth *, temperance ", fortitude % benevolence % humility ', fubmifTion '' to the will of God, and trufl in his '° providence ; patience ", induftry '*, contentment " witli our fituatiou in life, and even forgivenefs '^ of our enemies. * We are next to learn, fays Epiftetus, what the gods are ; for fuch as they are found to be, fuch mull he, who would pleafe and obey them, to the utmoft of his power, endeavour to be. If the Deity is faithful, he too muft be faithful ; if free, beneficent, and exalted, he muft be free, beneficent, and exalted likewife, and in all his words and adions behave as an imitator of God. — Epidt. book ii. ch. 14. § 2. — See alfo book ii. ch. 16. § 4. * Mrs. Carter, in her excellent tranflation of Epifletus, has frequently remarked the analogy between the precepts of the Stoic philofophy, and thofe of the gofpel. 1 Hsec enim una Virtus omnium eft domina & regina Virtutum. — Ciceron. de Officiis, lib. iii. Juftice, fays Andronicus Rhodius, comprehends every virtue ; and, as it con- tains them all, it is perfectly and entirely virtue. — Ethicor. Nicom. 1. v. c. i, * Ciceron. de Invent, lib. ii. fe£l. 241. — Ethicor. Nicom. 1. iv. c. 9. — Marci Anton, lib. iii. * De Invent, lib. ii. fe£l. 243. — Ethicor. Nicom. lib. iii. c. 13. * Cicero, de Officiis, lib. ii. De Invent, lib. ii. — Ethicor. Nicom. lib. iii. ch. 8. 7 Ciceron. de Offic. lib. ii. Dc Amicitia. — Marc. Anton. 1. iv. c. 23. » Epiileti Enchirid. fe