0
Foxthe Inflepesident Repub lieas
HUMAN UNITY
_
Eights, Nature, 011 1 04; and,Dektkny.
. . .
IT smns thus, upon the authority of flits
, • ,
ti ,r
iter-'apa we miglft, quote any amount of
. om o logical authority to;the soma ffect.,' or
at feast for the hypothesis in respect to' the
Eumpean languages- of:,a eemnioriL'Asiatic
- (of south-western Asia) erigin,:,Simscrit or
Seinitic,•or of all, together—for these Asiatic
ionaues • 'are all intimately related among
,
thems - elyes=it semis t hits- t hat. the languages
• of ' Europe, are derived from Oriental `sources
-and if the languagea.. ‘ are. derived thence Of
course the people . multi he i not only it
seems-the Modern languages, but The ancient
languages also 'of - Eurapethe Greek and
-the Latin—from which it appears that 64 1
progenitors of the'ineient Greeks and .41o•
mans must have been derived front the same
s ource; And thus 'we Observe the strong
and' increasing probability there is—With re
spect to Europe espee,.. :
merely that
it is- largely andlSredomitiantly
Asiatic—
which will not be disputed—but that it is
e'rizinally _entirely : so---only_an Asiatic'
uy, its people somewhat diversified among
' thrinSelvea -and from the original'_ stock by
local influences--Boni - the-. earliest historic
datesove observe men coming
.out 'of the
East; and numerous significant indications;
amounting with respect this fact to scarce
ly
less-than authentic hifitory, all pointing iti
-the same direction, from A, much - earlier peri- -
. od=inen continually swarming .oUt . i"of the
'East, as from •rin overflowing fountain,
ward the \Vest, but moving,in no lother-di
. reetion in 'such a manner, as to strord any
presumption that the source Or supply has
been an originatotiside currents, indeed,:
; cross currents, and"slight occasional edunter
currents,therebake:been, but nothing upon
which to-found any such presumption as this. •
• "yestiiiird the course
- of empire takes.itsWay,"
a c r JoiMori observation—the - greatand gen
eral course of emigrationhis been westward;
but We confidently-challenge thi; iattempt to
show any reason.whY•it"should -be so; Other
than the one we are herc-seonsidering, Aar
the one stream of human existence took its
rise from some locality " Eastward:'' .• All
0: her, considerable emigrations hate taken
place by invitation and allurement—amen
havebeen allured out by the hope: of - yrrore
eligible situatiOnsthe prospect Of- richer
harvests and fairer :climes. But r inthis case,
on the contrary, they'll:lye been apparently
driven out--the movement has evidently,
been a process of evolution—has .taken place
from a developing, a centrifugal tendeneYL
soon met on the one side by :the eastern'
ez-ean, the rising tide was forcibly impelled
wcstwarcl. had there_ been an "origmal .
stock in Europe.as Well as in Asia, the course
of emigration and of eMiquest-would nkost
certain& have lieen eastwardinStead - uf west
ward ; .for. the •incitements by i' s which,' with
this single exception, great . eragrift isms are I
uniformly moved, very much preponderate
in that -direction ; and Europe, clearly, 'is
naturally adapted to - prod•ree, the more viv
erous race of
,men, mentally, and phy
Sapposethe early settlements of the
,Pbri
. tans, theCavaliers', N the Ilagatennts; Sr., -on
iitis - continent,' had been -upon- the Pacific
coast instead of the L-Wantie,which way must
'the general course of-einiTlliol have been ?
Suppose'New England had` been, settled Abe- .
tore olii Englnd, hither would, the tide
have'set ? and following up the reverse pro•
cuss,- whither by necessary inference does it
conduct us to the starting-point? Or, sup
prise the Atlantic and Poe* Boasts had been
settled at or abort the sanic period of
aud'onder similar auspices, would there ever
have been witnessed a. general flow of - emi•
I.:rKti - on in either dir - ection across the whole
breadth of the continent ? or, upon thin; -sup
position_ between old England and-N.ew.Eng,
land, or, as between any two countrie's,aeross
the whole field of 'view ? Of Course ; there
could not have been; from which again we i
aistinctlyarriVe 'at the same necessary con
\.elusion as before.
And now while we observe, that, Europe .
has - been "thins ,repeatedly overflowed from
psi rendering it probable, nay, almost tier
.. talieth,respect to her that her population
isnally and 'wholly derived thence ] , can
we. reasonably. conclude that Africa, more
compactly situated with, reference to the
- .same region, more accessible from it and ly
int in
a southerly direction with the clue of
the Nile, to conduct'
.around the great desert
into the-central portion; of the continent—
can we reasonably conclude that she did not
also receiVe. her stock of inhabitants from the
same souree ?—that thus situated she . had an
-
independent centre of genesis of her, own is
the supposition. favored by the analogy of the
Divine Methods.: -FrOm the long barharisnto
of- Africa in relation-to the bulk of her pea
pie of•uoure fewer vestiges,sciutable proofs :
of their aboriginal derivation remain than we
find :with respect to the • Eurt, Team. But
even . .Afriirat is nut without her' witnesses, and'
here agniu the 'a pribri conchision is slso the
inductive. We have here the uniforfn .testi
mony of ancient records: Supported by all
triKlitiun and in relation to Egypt and -Eau
opia—so far as investigation has proceeded
—the-very- kindred and very significant rela
tMuShip of their ancient ruins ,as 'compared
wit the paleologic remains in-India and ,oth - -
r Asiatic countries, and still- more isg,t,iificant
ti-.o,.kinship of languages, in, this case 'as In
the Case of'Dirupc- a_ material part of-the
ccidl nee. As-betweew the Sanscrit andtikSe
mitie languages, the Egyptie and. Ethiopic
idioms,. the similarity of themes and ety,
moti, and• the correspOndence of names , and
apptillatiops of places and.tuen in the respect
ive countries, are stich. as; 'according --to au
t(oriti'e could not at be reasonably suck
po=eiPto have been the, result of - accident,
and - they. trice the - latter dialects direetly
Lava; to the foriner as the.parent
Freio all which it seems that the original
course of African emigration must, have been
nplhe valley tif the Nile; 'or in a general
t.outherly direction as. far at least as- ancient
.lith:opia; and ; when once men , were. arrived -
r.t the- south.wtern - limit of that. country;
tiny were"..alitnast in the heart of the - contin
ent, and how Veryprobahle does it tiatii ap
_pear that' the Africans eke went out original.
lv from the-same countries-and the one same
parent stock. with- the Toropeans.* f " •
---- \ . up o n .
,
" See_ generally n these . subjects. . ”Pbserra
tions and inquiries relating to various. parts of ancient
history .1 - 4., together with nu account of . Egypt in . its
most early state., and of the . ; Bitepherti Rings &c..
ke." By Jacob Bryant. liDCLXVll—particularly
at page. I 10-:-112. ,taoii' atirit-- by --: Maurice,
relating to the history of the idtts, of the Trjohl and
tatter subjects., . , .
.... -
.1):.
3 :
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66
IFPIARD Q '
. .
. ,
j ..
_ -
=
- 3 Iz- is- no objection to this vi - e• of the case
_
that the course of. eivilizlitiOn- see mste have
'hem in pai*fow - ri the Nile ; for• the lower
valley was primitively fenny and unsettlea : -
ble ; anticiillization, of necessity commenc
ing above, Proceeded-of course, downward,
as, in process of time ; the marshes 4rted or
Were reclaimed.* Thus much appears strong
ly probable with respect to Africaand to the.
hole eastern continent—if only ti-presump,
'lion, a :presumption' - certainly - much better
supported than the-other to which it stands
opposed. -
With respect to this western continent, it
may be observed that it 'is not improbable'
that primitively—to rude and unskillful nify
_igators-z-the difficulties of a - passage from the
eastern to the western continent-were' not as
great as they might be'at the present time—
that at the first the bosom of the , Atlantic
may haVe been partially bridged .by-a 'chain
of islands at narrow intervals, which Were
Stibsequently submerged by repeated.corMil
sions of- Nature. it appears that 'such at
Avast as the case with respect to one area'
island oft the coast of Africa, to\wbich allu
sionjs made by, ancient. writers ; and anti.
quariatts are of opinion that they -discover 1
important evidence's inthe urban ruins and
various structural remains of -the aboriginal
inhabitants of this dontinent,:that they were
of eastern origin.f And-here, we may re
mark in closing this part of-the subject, is an
important field Lif investigation : but jest en
tered npon • we but just begin toltnow What
niemetitos ;he early generationa have lefl-be
hiti'd them : and when this field, has been
more fully gone into we may not unlikely
be able to trace with great clearness the par.
ticulsr and remote courses. of the primeval
encigrationa from the one locality " eastward"
throughout the world; The 'argument ' from
the pentiing connection of langnages was
sufficient to convince the eminent scholars of
the-last century-, even in its-still very impei --
feet state.. They thought they could-discov
er evident traces of a•one primitiw univer
, sal language; the' mothel Eve of languages
of all thespeechA of the gabblin g eartht
as the Other is of men:. -and -thence,. surely
:ind 'confidently- inferred 6 - bin, the (nifty of
(speech the.unity,of origin. And when com
barative.philology and other forms of anti
'-quarian research 'have had their • "perfect
work"—when the tombs of the " dead'past,"
the " Runed Te4nples," the mouldering piles,
, -the crypt's aria etatteonit., the superstructions
land substructions, have been thoroughly ex
i pfored, we inay perhaps be alibi to reduce
).the subject to historic .certainty—may per
-baps not unreasonably hope to-construct per- -
feetiv in the future, the great " gene-lb - wit:llJ
tree''''ot the races, showing it springing from
a single germ, and throwingout its ratilifica,
'tions northward t • Ind southward, eastward and
westward—every way 7 lintil. it filled the
whole earth. . .
Thus. far our remarks -and. 'citations have
been rather, preliminary than otherwise, sub
ordinate, and incidental to the main subject
of inquiry which we proposed to Ourselve..
Our primary object was—originally Our sole -
purpose—an examination intikthe moral - :-s•
fleets of the subject, inental,qnal it Les and ,
characteristics, so far as, they are critical of
races - -their orighi and explanation caps+ ve
ly ; hut from the subsidiary importance of
some of these minor points, we have beers
I led into a somewhat extended notice of
them, though without any-design of lot malty
discussing them, Or the general question of
human unity. Our principal object was
Rental qualities and , characteristics, and it i.
with reference to this branch of the subject
'that we deny, the alleged- inferiority of the iii
African - Tace,.4 any original psychological
distinction of races : if the distinction is p.y
choingleal and metaphysical, it must be indi
cated by inetaphyskal criteria. But where
,in do they consist, and what are they ? That
the Africans are endowed with all the -intel
lectual faculties of perception, reffectian, re
tention, &c.,,wi1l not be denid- They pos
sess, certainly, in a preeminent degree, the
strong.and pervading social Sympathies by
'which - great &immunities of men are bound
toget lief and controlled, and which are among
the great distinctive properties of our univer
sal huinanity-,--catching, kindling, and firing
whole nations to noble purposes.•under the
impulse of- a single mind. They - have the
saiee " deep moral consciousness," the, same
Spiritual aspirations, `affections,. hopes, and -
fears. Their heart. are soothed by-the same
-peace and serenity, thrilled bY:th - e - same joys
and exultations, experience the same sorrows, ,
agonies, and anguish. What element, then,
of human character, do they lack ?, what-fie
city or sensitivity of the noblest -specimens
-your Platos and Ciceros,,,your Bacons and -
Goethes, tockes and 'Newtons ? And how
soon, upon a theatre where continually -
" RiSing floods of knowledge .7
,roll,
And•pour arid - pour-upon the soul," -
would the most ordinary of them,exeeed all
( ..eitat we so mutt' and so justly admire of these
Men; and all differences be so nearly merged
as to-pass unnoticed-§ - Can'the acutestinet
aphysi:,--ian point out any distinction in these
respects, any that is constitutional and ele
mental ? We suppose it, will not be con-,
'fended. The difference. insisted upon, then,
cannot be a difference in kind, but only in
degree—,-only that the African -race are 'not •
originally endowed with the same acuteness,
_strength, and vigor of
_mind, in every re-
Ted: But here, tigain,•we interpose a broad
and emphatiedenisl. The,charge, to this ex
tent-even, is-an unsupported assumption—a
pioposition without evidence, and entirely
against the probabilities of the case. It is
true, Europe :is the theatre upon which hith
erto the human character has appeared to
best advantage. , Fait it does not follow,
therefitre l that the Europeans are. originally
)a different raw of men from the Africans, or -
originally superior to them. 00 the contra
ry, we maintain that, had the physical condi
tion of the two- races been exactly, reversed
..some thousands of yeari•ego, their 'past Ins. •
tory and present stittai-=the - whole fact . of
• The early course of emigration might have been ,
—4rom ancient Chaldea or any section eastwardly of
that—more naturally would be through Arabia across
the Red Sea and into the valley...of the Nile, first in
Ethiopia (the course actually marked out by antique
.ries from arehailwri
p cal investigation/5) and thence up
ward and downward along the river. •
, .
f See a work entitled ` j American t utiqUities,"
by Josiah Priest. . '
.t So Sir Wm. Jones and Bryant Maurice. The
latter my.% `=The vestiges of the primeval, language
in every dialect .of tbe ancient world ae clearly
traced in the elaborate work of Count Gebellne."
, § Talk to me, will you, about your right of proß
erty in my brother, hi thews and sinews, merchan
dising in hie immoeta spirit, and .then sneer at we
beeline+) I r
n amp MOM' asaamtrtri W.,atTARU amp wy2o-A029
flf7l
nee, natural, moral, and material,
accidents, would be found exactly
with all it
`reversed
Europe is comprehended within the temp
erate belt , f the earth's-surface, or,. at least
May, be so , considered with respect to the
subjects o thittediscussion,while Africa lies
__mainly wi hinrthe torrid zone. It is a uni,
versally a :spitted fact,-indeed in accordance
with all e. isting eoTlitions, and the uniform
experienc4 of hiStory earl but be admitted,
that the'te{mpe&•ltte latitudes are much-better
suited to the development of c4raeter than
either the torrid or frigid.. The extreme di
males; by their weight-and •s'everity; greatly
oppress the animal orgsuism, which of course
in the same proportion oppresses the activity
and rigio of the mind. -inducing dullness itrd
'apathy and consequent imbecility. And:here.
in consists the primary obstacle to
,human
improvement nnd .progress. " Man in his
original state of nature is a being of limited
and feeble powers ' of locomotion-, confined
theretbre to.a single spot of earth, within a
narrow e#elet of -robservation, and limited .
range oriobjectS, without mental stimulus
he necessarily remains brutish; senseless,
i n
as
inine-s.hi. inferior life, his intellectual exist
ence\ is co tparatively a point; like the poet's
simpleton ? "with searce,a &men thoughts, he
thinks each o'er in its accustomed placefroM
morn to noon, _from noon to night, from
youth to ijoary age"—thinks the " visual line
that girt him •round, •the world's unuist
bound." IThe Om- question of improve
ment is, lo w shall this tendency to stupidity
be'count,acted ?• How shall 'curiosity be
dl
enkinedt and the mind kept alert ? Torpor,
stagnancy is the grand enemy. But in this
respect the Hyperboreans are less unfavora
bly situated than, the-races who dwell under '
the torrid zone. The former, by the necessi
ty of pr4iding.shelter and protection from ,
the rigor 4 of an inhospitable climate and the
difficultyi n r extracting-sustenance from an tin
grateful, ii, are compelled to some degree
of activity and exertion: some rude arts arc
necessarily eultivat - ed : and thus tasked and
stimulatefl ; the faculties of the mind and
body • are invigorated -and, developed into
some sort of nharacter. With respect to the
latter thel ease, is much .Inure unfortunate :
the soil produCes spontaneously : whatever is
necessary, for human sustenance; little cloth
ing or shelter is tequired, • aud, thus unsup
plied with any constant or regular Motives
to actions the inhabitants naturally yield to
the ene6.ating efTect,of their situation, and
'dov4l of course into -a low slate of tor.
Tor, apathy ; and - barbarism : while, in the
middle I titudes, from the tempered _nature.
,of the cI mate and soil, labor, liberally re
--warded •ithout being ••tspersea.d, becomes
regular industry with its 'bene fi cent ' , fruits
yf healtl, wealth, and vigor, activity and en
terprise J by - the beauties of 'Nature and the
adornments of the handierafrarts is genius
awaken4l and stimulieted, and literature with
its pofet and benign influences originated :
scienee, •ith its wonders, is ,cultivated, and
1 - 1 ,.
the higher forms of art: phili , sophy, too,
with het questions cf deep and curious inter
est, s o l v Ol e or,. unsolvable, with all which
neverth4less the-mind wrestles and finds its
strength r , And thus is the motive power of
society . vastly : increased. The inhabitants of
the eemPerate latitudes. linlike those of the
frigid, are not moved alone by mere animal
necessit -; various liberal influelice natural
ly sprin -eact of their situation : unlike those
of the t irrid, they are not exempt in the
mass fran the necessityof regular industry.
find the. condition of the latter is by far the
il
frk - 'tsVi;rtitOrtunate of all.N Almost anything
is pief Or i ente to an ev.renie state of apathy,
for ist 'on is necessarily the basis of all
excel! e.of character, of 'all .improvement
and all.hope : it is to the moral world what
the prit ciple of fermentation is to the natur
al, with ut which there could be- no vegeta
tion, an this.in its nature negative, nothing;
of itsel of course it tends to nothing. Any
ti ;
situation of incitement and stimulus-..any
state ofl struggleNand conflict putting in req
uisition any faculties or elements other than
the mere passions of murder and revenge, is
prefers 31e;to it. . Even a state of war, in
itself considered, may be so ; for it is a pos
itive 'fat, and. may tend to some possible
good, t i n the development of sonic exceffence
or exc Ilences• of character.* An eminent,
writer pow the Philosophy of History-. has
said in relation to the wars of the §axon
Deptarchy -that •2ome ,tuperior qualities of
the En diAi character are doubtless in -smite
measu e due to these early struggles. But
•this'ne tive, apathetic condition, is •of 'ne
ce-ssity. entirely fruitless and in proportion as
the state of s4.iety approaches to it—as ii
naturtkly does undoubtedly more nearly ih--
tropict i l climates than anywhere else , --fust in
that pr oportion is it unfavorable to any form
of iniiirovement. There are, besides, with
respec to Europe, other still • more specific
thaw eristics proper to he.mentioned here.
" Whi i n Nature," says Dr. Taylor, `kWhen
nature denied to Europe a soil rich in spon
taneolis productions, she gave fields that in
vited o tillage, and-rewarded the- labors of
cultiv Li0n..... Europe is, throughout, except
where local obstacles intervene, - susceptible
of-nn iculture ; and it isNnot for the most
part s iced to the chase or pasturage. ,Its
intit) tants could not become notnade : Na
ture erself forced them to adopt those regu
lar ha its of industry which are the basis of
all so ial improvement and alt social happi
ness.- To this-cause, as one out of many,
®the mural superiority,. of Europeans
=I statics be in'a great degree attribu
ed."
Su
hum ,
velop
mare purticularly,•what is the law of
-progre,st, of moral and material der
ent, and its conditions, or rather what
been'{ •
first advances front •the state of 'bar-
has
T
bari
—the first civil communities appeartu
been agricultural associations on• the
of rivers. There is something attract•
td fascinating in the presence of a noble
ever unspent yet ever rollaig itself
aically away --.something that charms"
mey, by width in such situations men
iduced to fix fur theinielves permanent
-There is, to men of unsettled and
g habits, a.sense of freedom and unwn-,
It in .following, even in imagination, the
ais.eourse of s mighty ricer thousands
have
bank
Mil
river 6
majeii
the I
are
scuts
rovi
strai
EIDE
* tis evidently less likely to in tropiesicountries,
from he tratumlly eitremely inartificial state of so
cietylthere, it being in consequence more a contest
r:ti
of b to force and of brutal passions, with little of
ast tegetic . and nothing of a properly politic char
apte to put the higher qualities of intellect in exer
cise, and little too of a moral character as connected
with a love of country, kindred, home, dm., or as
gronng out of a
_generous devotion to important
principles of 'CM' Freedonla . dustice, Humanity, &c.
• \
of miles away.otr through the wild'open bo
.som of Nature, and by which' to them the
unaccustomed monotony and tedium. of se
dentary life are in some degree relieved• and
compensated. _ But they are more powerful.
ly influenced to abandon their pastoral and
nomadic habits by the exuberant fertility of
the riparian soil, and the teeming . bounty
with which it repays the light labor of-culti
within. Historians tell us. that Egypt • was
the cradle of civilization, and naturally,there
fore, for no other country compares in fertil
ity-with the valley of the Nile. So, too, up
on the banks of:the Euphrates andits
leigh
boring streams, in Babylonia and Assyria,
thoroughly temperate and beautiful mesopo
tamiao countries, civiiiiation had in early
and partial development. But more:remark
ably in Egypt; and Egypt was also a marl
tune country. In-Grecce.and its isles was
the next more notable development of civili
zation, derived, undoubtedly, as to its mill
meets, mire or less directlygfrom these Ori
ental sourees; and_ Greece Co wet: preemi
nently a maritime country. Then; in Italy,
a eMintry of entirely similatioiition. And,
finally, in Britain, of a wholly Maritime and
insular situation.• Egypt, greece, Italy, end
Britain, Ole general centres and representa 7
oyes of civilization in their Successive ages,
and ail preeminently -maritime . countries.—
' And .how n t tix shall we generaliie upon thi.4
soccessive and uniform state of filets? . We
speak nut here wilh,reference to the kerne
.diately modern era, of whichNwe shall have
something to say \ hereafter. But m hat is the
induction ? Evidently just this: Thee mar
itime situations directly tended to incite and
primmte commereiid intercourse with remote
countries of diverse climate and productions.
The spirit of commercial enterprise necessa
rily begets . agricultUral and manufacturing
,industry rat home, and - the mechanic arts.—
These interests are' mutually promoted and
stimulated among themselves, acting anr,kre
acting upon each other, and luickenitipt every
department of human activity, prective and
sneeulative. And thus is the whore` frame
work of Civilized life gradually evolved.
• .The seas are the highways of the nations;
and commerce, commerciai pursuits have
been the world's grand antisedative, or, as
Dr. Taylor has it, and Nvbitth amounts to
much the saine import, " Commerce has
been the great ciiilizer of the nations."' We
have said.that the great obstacle to human
improvement is torpor, stagnancythat-the
circle ot- man's'" thoughts, and consequently
the sphere of his activity, remains contracte d
and uninteresting, inducing - Stupor and con
sequent imbecility—and that the great ques
tion is, how shall this tendency to. stupidity
be counteracted Now, if your can once get
mein-fo lift up his eyed and look - all abroad,
you have gained an-atop:in:lot Tioiot with re
spect to that man's prospects of improve
tuelit. Would you educe and improve him,
extend the range of,hii viaion, f multiply to
his mind the objects of ittentinp., interest;
and curiosity; and this these maritime situ-,
'aims directly tended to do. ,;
The seas are the highways of the nations. •
It is impossible fir us to comprehend the
Design of the Universe—the Archetypal
; but we may reasonablx. conclude
that three fourths of our globe were not as
..igned for the mere accommodation. of the
fishes, to one-fourth for the ilabitation of - the
human species—that a hundred and fifty roil
nous square miles of -sea were not neces.ary
for the, purpose of supplying the remaining
fifty millions of land with water. The sea
has undoubtedly important moral uses, was
designed to have, and the rivers too, as nat
ural channels of intercommunication between
distant - cOuntries and various climates.—
When did light ever spring tip entirelyin
land, in the midst of the Continents? When
was any Corm of improvement ever known
to commence. there? It is easy to see that,
had the surface of our globe , been onii solid
crust of earth, supplied with water and irri.
gatitti from internal sources, or from numer
ous small superficial reservoirs, the human
race, in its various branches, long ere this,
from sheer *stupor, must have rotted down
into superstition and barbarism, utter,, hope
leis, and universal. " God Geometrizes,"
says Plato, in reference to Natural ,Forms
"and proportions, " God:Geometrizes," so al
so naVess distin'itly He Moralizes in the
Great . Book of Nature the " Elder Scrip,
tures." Says Dr. Taylor, in treating of Gre
cian civilization, "The lonians were a mer
cantile and commercial people; Attics, great
part of Eubcea, several of the-islands in the
Archipelago, several colonies in Sicily and
Southern Italy, and far the most flourishing
cities on the coast of is Minor, were ten
anted by that race. The spirit of commer
cial and naval enterprise was a , powerful
counterpoise to-the spirit of chivalry vrhieh
gave strength to the ancient aristocracy ;
and
wealth acquired by trade overbalanced the
influences derived frOm the posseiSion of
landed estates. Well might the-aristocra
cy of Sparta,' says Dr. Arnold, dread the
introducti.in of foreign manners, and cont
.plain_that intercourse with foreigners', would
corrupt their citizkns and seduce them to for
sake the institution of their fathers. Nits- ,
Mice and ignorcince'must fail, if:, the light be
fairly let in upon them ; can only be en.
joyed by those- who have never tasted good.
The sea deserved to le hated by the old s•ar-,'
istocraeies,ina . Ouch crs it has been the might-1
iest instrument in the civilization of man
kind. In the depths of winter, when the skyf
is covered with elouds",, and the land presentsi
pne cold, idea., lifeless' surface of Snow, how
refreshing is it to the spirits -to walk trtiot
the shore, and to enjoy the eternal freshness'
and liveliness of ocean l Even so, in the
deepest winter of the human 'race, when the
eitr l th was but one chilling expanie of inactiv-
I ity, life was stirring in the waters.
,There
began that spirit, whose gimial influence has
now reached the land, has broken -the chains
ofwinter, and covered the earth with head,.
ty:ef.
There was nothing nrifteconnt4le in Grec
ana Roman civilization—nothing peculiar
with respect to it, except in the climate and
natural situation of the, countries. It origin
ated according to the unifinln and' common'.
ly remarked course of things, that , civiiiiation
tirst springs 'up upon 'the river-banicti' fuid
along the sea coasts.. Any race ofmen hap
pening to, full. upon ate valley of the Nile,
would naturally ,ItaviTTormed themselves in.
to a chi! comMunity, from the operation of
causes already allnded-ib. :Egypt having its.
situation upon the ISPditerrailean, that civili
zation would,in the ordinary course of events;-
" •Natural History Society, Vol. I, page
f 'Natural History Society, Vul,ll,:pages 95 96.
be diffused around the 'shores or that mid
land sea, whatever race of Men might happen
to inhabit there, and, re:fleeted from side to
side by the intercourse and interaction of so
many ditTerent countries,- Peoplea ; and man
ners acting and reacting upon each other in
a favoring'elimafe, would naturally have a
very
_vigorous growth and perfect maturity ;
and Greece and Italy being the- more mari
time situations, it would of course fasten ear
liest and most prominently upon them.—
There Were,. besides,ecitain other very spec
ial and local reasons why it should do so.
" Greece, both from : its vicinity to Ole civil
ized countries of Asia, etiA from the/ad vanta
ges of its geographical - position, seemed • de
signed by nature to .beconie the cradle of Eu
ropean civilization. Sufficiently fertile to re
ward toil, it was net so prolific as to support
idleness. Varied in:its character,•it did not
stimulate its inhabitants to'one branch of in-
Austry alone; it invited the cultivation of all.
One district was best'suited to produce"wine.
another oil, and a third 'corn : Arcadia slip-
'plied pasturage for cattle; Thessaly was
proud of its hers , s ; the coati, indented with
numerous hays and harbors, affioded every
facility to navigation and commerce : Greece
was not exclusively agricultural, patoral, or
commercial ; but it was all three together.
-The very nature of the country not only in
vited to industry, but immediately suggested
the exchange, of eotn mod iti e ;."*
• -The same remarks, to a considerable ex•
tem,- will apply with respect to Italy. -. The
Roman Empire, moreover,. greatly served to
confirm and. develope the, incipient European
civilization, and to perfect and perpetuate its
influence. And this again Was the creature
and the offspring of the natural situatioe of
the country.' Upon no other spot" orthe
earth could, that fabric in 'that. ag e of the
world have been reacd. At th present
'day, by the facilities fur intercommunication,
all things tend to union and confederation.
A few - hundred years since, it was far other:-
wise.. But the Empire was mainly a telt - of
country lyipg around the Mediterranean and
the waters immediately .communicating, there -N,
with. The seat of the Empire was upon, '
Fast promontUry projecting into the Middle
of-that sea. From the niouths of the Taber
to the extreme peints of city of 'AI
exandria in the EUst, and the Pillars. of Her- I
epics in the West---veSsels "were frequently
carried\by prosperous winds in seven to ten
days. And by the facilities thin; allbrded in
concentrating. armaments and munitions of
war, for the purposes of conquest, to suppress
insurrection, and repel invasion- . --by the com
munity of interest and sentiment which a
penple Thus situated must naturally feel, was
the Empire Constructed, cemented, and per
petuated, in an age long prior to the era of
steam navigation, railroads, and telegraphs,
And think you now is it any wonder; ennsid
erimi" the InNantages of the Romans-4-an in
land sea of spaelons - dirnensions, a sort of Mill
ticul gymnasium in Which to train, exercise,
and develope their skill and
them
`ing possessions to invite them outward, and
tempt them toward the open sea—a settled,
permatient, and magnificent system of gov
ernment, fitted to undertake and encoura , re
great enterprises—comiidering all these ad
vantages, and reflecting that they ,yet never
ventured. beyond the immediate European
waters, should i t be any wonder to us—does
it argue any inferiority, that Africa, oppress
ed by the weight of a torrid ellinate.- and un
incited; should have remained torp:d and un
enterprising—that she should have growii ex
tremely so ? Would it nut rather be matter
of wonder if she were otherwise? With all
their advantages, the southern cape of Africa
was never doubled by Europeans near
the close of the fifteenth century of the Chris
tian era, and it was then considered an event.
of such inag,nitude that all Europe was astir
with it. One of her most distinguished
ets. made it the subject,of a very celebrated
heroic poem—an event which, together with
the discovery of the New . World, is very
proper to 'be mentioned in this4annection, at
least in passing,: They communicated a vast
itnpulse to the •Eurnpean mind, of every
grade and descripium, in the multiplicity of
new objects revealed, of vulgar and scientific ,
interest and curiosity; and the universal stim
ulation of the spirit of activity•and adventnie.
Let it not,be aid that they Were planned
and executed alone by European genius and
enterprise. The New World would never
have been discovered without the Mariner's
.Compass, and for this we are - . iminedialely
-nd from a comparatively quite \ recent date
indebted-to the Asiatics, as we are also fin.
three other of the greatest inventions of mod
erroimes—printing, gunpowder, and the art
of paper-making, and undoubtedly many of
the rudiments of our entire system of
If now it should be asked, why did not the
Egyptian and Assyrian civilizations spread
themselves along the southern border of
Asia, as well as Europe, or why did not a
native civilization spring. up i!and flourish
there, as well; in those mariinie countries,
'along their coasts and on the banks of their
mighty rk , rsl—if the question is.propound
ed with a view to found upon it an inference
of the superiority of the Europeans over the
Asiatics, we might answer it, and level the
inference, by the fact already eukbodied, that
Europe has been again and again subjugated
by th q .Asiatics.; ,from, which fact it also fur
ther appears that if there was an original Eu
ropean stock, it must have been inferiur,since,
with the more favorableloca.tion, it has !felts %
ertheleM, repodedly yielded to the eastern
stock. We might answer the Interrogatory
by replying this fact; but we *Ash to an:
swer it. on broader grounds, and Kish
do so—
in. part only for the present-14 observing
that civilization is. a
.plant , .of sliiw groit.th,
and the causes whiclklikvir, its germinating
may.operare to prevent l'its futvre growth
and final development. -A luxurliotiaclimate
and an exuberant soil. may ind,ucii barbarians
to abandon their roving habits, and will soft
en their minds to the love of order. and law
and the arts of peace ; but, these ends accom-,
plished, the same causes will infallibly tend
to that stagnation which is so fatal 'to all im.
provement, unless preiteritTl. by the opera
tion of other supervenient' causes. That .the
climate of Southern : Asia is_very math more
depressing' than that Of. Europe, is a clearly
observable and, we suppose, undisputed fact;'
and. that 'tla soil is proportionally more spon
taneous. anPexulierant is likewise an obsery:
able fact, and is also proved. by, the;immeitse
mass of toiliid life e.xisting - there, with cm
parittively little labor, or exertion• of any
kind. There is, besides, in those regions, no
• Nature.' History Society, VOL 11, page 86.
EIIM
greatinland -sea—a material distinction_—we
- shall not easily ove restimate the importance
of the part which the great European Medi
terranean has played in the civilization- of
that -continent. But the exposition of the ,
chief considerafion here will more properly
occur-in another connection—the subject pre-:
scuts no difficulty.
The,lioman civilization arose ; :flourished,
and--notoVithstabding the advanta4es' of the
' situation - culminated, patised..afolid, and at
length began to decline. So early ns the
reign of the Antonines a decay was:distinctly
visible, whiCh, proceeding with steadily accel.
crated force, at leterth twilight doin all the
long glories of the Reptiblic and the Empire
to-lhe dust. A torpor find degeneracy in
vaded that vast body unite so powAirlitl.soln
stinet with health and sareneth. until the
spirit and vigor were consumed out. „nr
Suppose now that. flitrina,gii.: prows. „f tor.'
,por and di•etty—by s on ic Tit a n asm- 2 th e
Empire had been ute.eated from its atieteut
finmilatiou, waft ad into tkii• torrid . zovi,. • :yid'
moored there, where Africa sits,..theS-,. a gos t. ,
enkeloped it, ilarkne , -S,
—is it probable• I hat tin hal ever Keen
broken and that degeneraey arrested ? It was
impossible. Niir, had Empire been
separated by an passable' Dili' from tines
other parts of Europe and Asia with which
it was counseled, would the shadow Which
was descending 'and deepening over it have
ever been ItUd r tind dispelled. No, Europe`
was saved'hgaialiy the 'Operation of causes
purely geographic and climatic.
In describing, the general characteristics of
European civilization, and eresrastifig it with
others, Monsieur Guizot says; " Take ever
so rapid a glance at this, and it strikes you
at once as diversified, confused, and, stormy:
All, the principles of sociAt organization are
Toand existing together within jt ; powers
temporal, powers 'spiritual, the theocratic,,
monarchic,,nrit4ocratic; and Jenmeratie ele
ments, aU classeti of society, all the social sit
uations, are jumbled together, and visible
within it ; as well, as itifluite gradations of
liberty, of wealth, and of influence. Thaw,
various powers, too, are found here in a state ,
of continual struggle among theiri,:elves,with
out any one having suffieient force to master
the others, and take sole possession of socie•
ty Modern Europe contains exam
•ples of all these -systems, of all the. ,attempts
at social organization ; pure and mixed mon
archies, theocracies, republics more or less
aristocratic, till live in common, side by side,
at one and the same time ; yet,"notwithstand
ing their diversity, they all . bear a certain re
semblance to each other, a kind of family
likeness which it is ImpoSsibleto mistake,
and which shows them to- be essentially Eu
ropean.
In the moral character; in the .notions
and sentiments of Europe, we find the same.
variety, the same straggle, Theocratical
opinions, monarchical opinions, ari-taicratic
opinions, democratic opinions,-cross and jos
tle, ;trug;„„de, become interwoven, limit, and
modify each other.. Opal" the boldest trea
tises of the middle age: in none of them is an
Opinion carried to its - final Consegnenees.—
The advocates of absolote powerAmeh, al
most unconsciously, from the results to which
their doctrine would carry them. We see
that the ideas and influences around them
frighten them from pushing it, to its utter
most point. 15emocraev felt the same• con
trol. That impurturba - ble•boldness, siastrik
ing in ancient civilizations, nowhere found a
place in idle European system. In semi,
ments we discover. the Jeanke contrasts, the
same variety an indomitable taste for
pendence dwelling by the side of the greatest
aptness fur submission ; 'a singular fidelity
between man and mar, and a't the same time
an imperious-desire in each to do Ins own
will, to shake (dad rstinint, to live alone,
without troubling hiniself with the rest of the
Mincht were as rinich diversified as
sociel y. . .
"TheNsanio characteristics are observable
in literature Sze..
It will be seedily inferred that here is dis
closed one of the great secrets' , ,of the superi
ority of European civilization. We observe
ikre - the tendency to stagnancy and decay
strikingly, strongly, and .lontinnnusly coun
teracted in a manner of which there is• no
other example in history. Tne ;,fate -of faCG;
is striking; peculiar; and r,-Markrible, in d e
degrec of it and the.extent. 7 . -the breadt \ i
and
chtitininty. We•find the excitation' in prise,
wide-spread, and continuous—existing - over
a large part of Europe and throughout a p 4 e.
Hod of fourteen or fifteen centuries. And
how is it, and whence is it? . Is it because
„Europeans are originally and eonstituitonally
more active, excitable, and contentious than
other races? Not-at all : the filets are not
originally and primarily-ethnic in their char:
aster : they are entirely geographic.
There are certain relationships between
things natural and things' moral which ere
indispensable elements in the solution of the
problems of history. We shall haye :ooa
sion to obsen e furler, in the progress of this
investigation, that the-Author of Nature mor
aliKes to us in more ways than one. .
CONCLUDED NEXT WEER. -
III!!:=1
Bow Two WRONGS MAKE A Iltdirr.L—A
gentlemao.at Itratot,.;'a the other day was il
lustrating his'_ argument by ° the mtisitn—
" Tyra wrongs on't make a - right," "Stue
time4 they do," Interposed a seedy' lo9king.
I)ystander, with a deoWn cast " nasal. twang;
" they did with me °nee "Br was that?"
asked the, other---its not according to 'Gun
ter.'." ." Can't help that ; there was a fel
low. passed- onto the on& a one dollar hill,
and it was n counterfeit.' Wasn't that Wrong?"
"Certainly it was wrong,- if he AMem it•tO be
h counterfee " Wal, expect he - did ; •I
did, anyway, when l passed it onto another
chap. Neow, Wasn't this wrong Wrong!
of course, very wrong." "Wad, it made me
rigid!." was the triumphant rejoinder.—
"So two wrongs does make a right, some
-times!" The "nigusnent" tended by this'
preciousillustration, • •
•
06OL AS A Jupne."—.4 couple of," limbs
of the law," who, were conducting a. suit 'be
fore a Justice ißitpcitester, got incensed_. at
each•other; and finally , ciane to bloW - s. The
Court sat looking" coolly on till the fracas
was over. Then the'cornbitant* apologized
foi disturbing his honor, but the Justice, wip.
ihg his spee's; coolly - declared - he "hadn't .
been disturbed in the least,". and the trial
went on. „
•
lar All •blood is alike ancient. . •
ra
LISHER-VOL. 4.-NO. 18.
EducationaL
- • Editor.
coßsz,
Learning by
,etudu must
1 2wat ne'er entairei r from air ,to •
[Teachers and - friends of .neation are respeetfed•
ly invited to contribute to &i department.] •
A - "CAPkTALSC,ROLAti" IN SICYZ,-. , • One
tle incident4e ranst Mention . as illustrating'
education by t74e. Walking to. church ono
Sunday, in Skye, We werelfelloired.bY a' slip
of a• lad some ten or Ileven years 'of ttge,
who, on,putting some questions to him,
r/d vol..
untee to name all the capitals in Eurom
.whi be did with marvelous .deXterity.s--;
I'r nn Europe he crossed to•Sonth Ameriea,
, afid rat tkl out the names of th.-e4irtital.4 with
the a etir:,ey of a ealenbitiog machine; From
S.tuto America h^ -•tat'tcd oil to Asia, and
finai 'Li g ht-il l at d 0 Japito,
w e re lather 5k,:14 , ,.;a1 ao, to the iirdue•of.sadh
iudeed,-as til the reality
of an d , t!! !hi v:rig .been\l'oliv.yt-1 to
th e 11,11 p; Ity the ' firrthiaal!:€l))ll,frt
of words t tat had been site!) into his mouth.
Wr thereftre asked him, "-Can von tetl
the name of the island yottlive l in!" flotnot
w ,g hi- lore. he had not learned that
he lived in the of Sy lte. \ TO make quite
sure of the fact we requested the captain of
the steamer to repeat ;lie question in Gaelic,
but there was no Sy ke fortbeitming. fje
knew the name of the pariA, and of- all the
capitals in the world, but not of the island he
:lived in. _There being a schoolmaster pres
ent nevidentally, we Ibinight the neieaskin
gold to be lost„ to show the worthies-ales:4 or
word stuffing, and vent uredAnother qUestion :
“ . .Now, my lac!, you have told us the names
nearly all the capitals in the . World-; is a
capital, man or beast ?" It's .a beast," said
the boy. quite decisively. So much for
words without understanding. In the next
school inspection, that boy will, probably'
pugs for.a 'prodigy, and will figure in statisti
cal reports is an example of what good edu
cation can do.—Glaxpow Commonwealth,
ENGLISH SYNONYM6.—Words which, are
strictly synonymous ,' i. e., which convey pre
cisely the_seine idea, and may- be substituted
fine each other in every possible connection,
la a almost, if not entirely unknown . . But the
t In synonyms is applied,,in comnion usage,
words which represent a' git:en idea under
difl'erent limitations or ntonications, or ideas
which are almost identical. Collections of
words that express 'neatly the sartie idea are
useful, especially to young writers, to enable
them to select such words as best express
their ideas. But it they . use words as exact
ly synonymous when they are hot so, they
will be apt to make serious if not 'rtdiculo4
blunders. When the student is in dotiht 're
specting the distinction between the significa
lions of words called synonym +s, he should
consult a large . Dictionary, or some such
W ork :as Crubf.e'..s. Synonyms. ..
' ,
I=1::
• MAGNA
. CIIARTA.—Magna Marta, or-Mag-
Act Carta, signifies:, literally; the. Great Char
ter. This name given.to a• formal. written
Charter, granted by King Jolin, and efinfirM
ed by Ktng Henry 111, of England, which
solemnly Octignized and secured certaitfenu
!iterated riAtc, pri-vilegeg,‘ and liberties, as
belonging to, the people of England. 4 which
.have . ever since eonstituted a fundamental
pqrt of the Constitution or government of
Eng:anda Among other important rights it
secured the righ+ of a trial by jury .in civil
and criminal cases,,iind the right of the sub
ject tit the free enjoyment of his life, his
aull his property, unless (infected by
the judgment of his peers, (a jury,) cir by the
Law of the land. Several of its priviisions
Constitute a part of the Bill of Eishts. set
forth in our Stateand•Natiunal Constitutions.
RULING PASSION TKONOIS\ DEATIL—We.
scarcely_ knoW of a more touching-in.stanee of
." the ruling passiOn7stron?; in death,7, than is .
afforded in the last words of a SchOolmaster
who had gone in and . out before successive
little Bricks in the same place, for upwards of
,thirty years. When-the filth of deativ was
gathering • overhis eye- 1 , which were soon to .
open in-the pri , sence of Him who took little
children in his arms and blessed them, 'he said;
—" it is getting (lark-6e, bi ys may go out
—sehours, distal:TA):
READittl.—ThOzle who read may be dived.
ed into fouirclasses:—lit. Sponges, Who ab
sorb they read, and - return it in nearirthe
same state, only a very little dirtied. 2d,
Sand Glasses—who retain nothing,. and are •
content to get through a book for the sake of .
gating through the time. .2d. Strainbags—•
who retain merely the . dregs of what they •
read. 4th. Moguliiirnonds—equally rare
and valuable—who profit. by what they read;
and enable others to profit by Oho.-
M' A Thousand Acts of Thongfit, and'
will, and creed, shape the features and expres
sion of the human face—habits of love, and
purity, and truth-r;habits of falsehood, mal
ice, and 'uncleanliness—silently mould and
fashion it, till at length it wears the likeness
of God, or the image and superscription c•f
the Evil 01)4. - .
QuEs'llone:7—When are Dog Days, and
why ie called ?
What is the Harvest, Won, and why so
called 'T
Ought we not to have a pronoun in the ,
singular number, suited to the masculine and
feminine genders 'at the same time 1 W ho will- -
answer this'? . i
For the necominodaticin of" taquirer," •
.who . appears to have a very defeetivedietion,9r
ary, we publish•Webster'd .definition• of the
word paradox, as follows " Paradox, a [met
or proposition contrary to received opinion;,,
or 'seemingly alisurkyet true in fliet" _
PROBLEM.—Required tho length, of the
sides of -dreettutgular field that gotitains four
acres, and is :enelosed by onti hundred .attd
four rods of fence. D. `II•
iIW• Analyze the following senteneeshow:
ing*the.relatione of the part 4 of the principal
clause, and' pat ing the words in italics': " t
him who has .never in his life done wrong, be
allowed the privilege Of renlaining inexorable."
.
jt.los . been jtistly i said.hy sir J. Her
ache!, that, number, - - . wirtyht, • find Viranitt, are
iina f updiiontt_ of 311 eAactsoienq,; • ..
MI
Mali
E