in their own tongue: and I hope he will receive such encouragement in his undertaking as may lead him to complete the task, by translating the later works of that philosopher. "When man," says he, "had once fallen from virtue, no determinable limit could be assigned to his degradation, nor how far he might descend by degrees, and approximate even to the level of the brute; but as from his origin he was a being essentially free, he was in consequence capable of change, and even in his organic powers most flexible. We must adopt this principle, as the only clue to guide us in our inquiries, from the negro, who as well from his bodily strength and agility, as from his docile and, in general, excellent character, is far from occupying the lowest grade in the scale of humanity, down to the monstrous Patagonian, the almost imbecile Peshwerais, and the horrible cannibal of New Zealand, whose very portrait excites a shudder in the beholder. So far from seeking, with Rousseau and his disciples, for the true origin of mankind, and the proper foundations of the social compact, in the condition even of the best and noblest savages, we regard it, on the contrary, as a state of degeneracy and degradation."* This, assuredly, is more consoling to humanity than the degrading theories of Virey or Lamarck; and yet there is immixed therewith some slight *"Philosophy of History," translated by J. B. Robertson, Esq. London, 1835, vol. i. pp. 48, 49. bitterness of humiliation. For, if it was revolting to think that our noble nature should be nothing more than the perfecting of the ape's maliciousness, yet is it not without some shame and sorrow, that we see that nature anywhere sunk and degraded from its original beauty, till men should have been able plausibly to sustain that odious affinity. Yet may this be of "sweet use" to us, in checking that pride which the superiority of our civilization too often excites, by recalling to our minds, that, if we and the lowest savage are but brethren of one family, we are, even as they, of a lowly origin, and they, as we, have the sublimest destiny; that, in the words of the divine poet, we are all equally worms, yet made at last to form The winged insect imped with angel plumes That to heaven's justice unobstructed soars.' And some such composition, some such scheme of being, whereby the twofold alliance of man to a superior and an inferior world, should be shown, some such variety of state, as might prove the existence of conflicting powers, of one which calleth him upwards by the expansion of his faculties, and of one which weighs him towards the enjoyment of the mere animal life, seems natural * "O superbi cristiani, miseri lassi Che della virtù della mente infermi Non vi accorgete voi che noi siam vermi Nati a formar l' angelica forfalla, Che vola alla giustizia senza schermi ?"-Purgat. x. and necessary for his complex being. For thus, to conclude with the eloquent words of a truly Christian philosopher, "man stands as a living individuality, composed of nature and spirit, of outward and inward being, of necessity and freedom; to himself a mystery, to the world of spirits an object of deep thought, of God's almightiness, wisdom, and love, the perfectest witness. Veiled round by his corporeal nature, he sees God as at a distance, and is as certain of his existence as the heavenly spirit,—the son of revelation, and the hero of faith, who is weak, and yet strong, poor, and yet possessor of the highest empire of love divine!"* * Pabst, "Der Mensch und seine Geschichte." Vienna, 1830, p. 50. LECTURE THE FOURTH; ON THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE HUMAN RACE. PART II. RESULTS.-Application of Linguistic Ethnography to this Study. -Proof that nations shown to be of a common stock by their languages, have deviated from the family type: in the Mongul race, and in the Caucasian.-Origin of the Negro race: Climate an insufficient cause.-Collection of facts to prove a change to the black colour possible: the Abyssinians, Souakin Arabs, Congoese, Foulahs, &c.-Apparent example of actual transition. Objections answered.-Effects of civilization: Selluks, Monguls, Germans.-Modification and suspension of causes formerly in action.-Connexions of the different races: internal division into graduated shades of difference in each; Polynesians, Malays, inhabitants of Italy.-On the type of national art.-Reflections applicable to the Christian Evi dences, in reference to the authenticity of the Gospel, and the perfection of our Saviour's character. IN In my last lecture, I contented myself with the analogies which seemed to bear upon the subject of our inquiry, and endeavoured to prove, both from parallel phenomena in the lower departments of organized creation, and from the deviations occasionally observed in our own species, that a |