Negroes, peculiarities which have been lost by intermarriages; and it is established beyond a doubt, that the taint of Negro or Indian blood is gradually effaced in American families. A similar wearing away of the Negro type may be observed among the descendants of black servants who have married. We have had an opportunity of observing the continuous process through three generations, and can aver that not a trace of the Negro peculiarities could be found in the great-grandchild of the African.

These considerations are sufficient to justify us in asserting the unity of the human species: though we cannot tell when and how varieties have arisen, we can see the possibility of their having originated, and being perpetuated, when men were few and families widely separated from each other. We can also see a cause for the non-appearance of new and strongly-marked varieties after population became more dense, because, as we have shewn, peculiarities are effaced by intermixture. It is not necessary to carry the inquiry further the law of variation in human development, is still regarded as an open question by physiologists, and no one has yet ventured to assign its limits; but the existence of a very extensive variation has been established beyond the possibility of doubt, and is confirmed every day by facts within the range of ordinary experience.

It follows then that the capacity of becoming civilized belongs to the whole human race-that civilization is natural to man-that barbarism is not "a state of nature," and that there is no primâ facie evidence for assuming it to be the original condition of man.

CHAPTER II.

CHARACTERISTICS AND TENDENCIES OF BARBARISM AND CIVILIZATION.

INTIMATELY Connected with the fallacy that barbarism is the natural state of man, is the equally erroneous belief that such a condition is one of purity, virtue, and happiness. Civilization has been described as a progress; but in the opinion of some, the direction of this progress is towards physical and moral degradation. This is an inquiry which spreads over a very wide field, and to conduct it with accuracy, we must lay aside systems, and confine ourselves exclusively to facts. Is the physical condition of the savage superior to that of the civilized man? Let us apply the ordinary tests. In the islands of the Pacific Ocean, where quadrupeds are few, and where the earth yields her productions almost spontaneously, the constitution of the natives, neither strengthened by labour nor invigorated by the chase, has been always found feeble and languid. The dynamometer, an instrument with a graduated scale for measuring muscular force, has been applied as a test, and the sailors of British ships are able to carry the index some degrees farther than any of the various tribes of the South-sea islanders on whom the experiment has been tried. The tribes on the continent that supported themselves by hunting, acquired greater

firmness of body, but yet they were more remarkable for agility than strength. They were for the most part incapable of continuous labour: during the Canadian wars, the Indian allies of Europeans, though formidable in any single and rapid expedition, were unable to endure the fatigues of a campaign. Indeed, the triumph of the white men over the red men in America, is owing more to perseverance and continuous exertion than to superiority in intelligence or military weapons.

Another test of the physical constitution, is the capability of enduring varieties of climate. Although in some cases the North American Indian can journey longer with his heavy burthens across the portages than a white man, he assuredly would not stand the fatigues of an Egyptian or Russian campaign. Far the greater number of the savages who have been at various times removed from their homes to a different climate for the purpose of gratifying the cupidity of curiosity, have sunk by premature decay, in spite of all the care bestowed on their preservation.

Longevity is however the best test of the physical constitution of man; and that the duration of human life has been increased by advancing civilization, is abundantly proved by all bills of mortality. We have no means of determining the average duration of life in countries wholly uncivilized, but in Europe it has been indisputably established that longevity has increased with the gradual improvement of society.

It is generally remarked that the senses of savages are peculiarly acute; not only the romances of Cooper, but the grave statements of intelligent travellers, assure us, that the North American Indians will track game,

pursue an enemy, discover the traces of a stranger, and find their way through the woods by minute observations which escape the notice of Europeans. Every person who has read the Last of the Mohicans, which, though a fiction, is distinctly stated to embody only authentic facts respecting the manners and customs of the Indians, must have been delighted with the description of the quickness of observation and certainty of inference displayed by the Indians in following a trail. But with the savage, this capacity is limited in its objects; it is a faculty purely mechanical, and in its greatest extent is far surpassed by the development of the senses which we daily witness in civilized life, among mechanicians of every kind, and particularly among the cultivators of the fine arts. The acute intelligence of the savage is only applied to the pursuit of prey or the discovery of an enemy; with the civilized man it has an universality of application. There are many instances of the same cultivated quickness of perception being displayed in finding coveys of partridge, detecting the beauties or defects of a statue or picture, and discovering the symptoms of latent disease. With the civilized man the acquisition of such a power in one direction, facilitates its exercise in another; with the savage, superior skill as a hunter or warrior disqualifies the possessor for every thing else.

Many circumstances contribute to lead voyagers and travellers into mistaken notions of the physical condition of savages. They see only the best specimens of the race. From the very nature of a barbarous state, it requires great original strength of constitution to survive the stages of helpless infancy. When chil

dren, born with any original taint or weakness, are not immediately destroyed by their parents, they are sure to sink under severity and privation. We have reason to believe that the population of America was not progressive when first it was discovered by Europeans; but there is positive evidence that several of the Indian tribes have not kept up their number, even in localities where they were not exposed to the intrusion of the whites. Among the hunting tribes the care of the children devolves entirely on the women, and is universally regarded as a grievous addition to their domestic toils. Many of them procure frequent abortions by the use of certain herbs, and extinguish the first sparks of that life which they are unable to cherish. All are more or less incapacitated, by other pressing and toilsome avocations, from bestowing that maternal solicitude on helpless childhood which is necessary to counteract any original frailty. As none but the most healthy arrive at maturity, there can consequently be very little variety in the average appearance of savage nations. Hence travellers are always struck by the uniformity of the external figure in these rude tribes, and are led to regard this uniformity as symmetry and perfection.

It appears then that the average physical condition of barbarous tribes is inferior to that of civilized nations, and that even this average is attained by a lamentable waste of life in its earliest ages. Those who imagined that the children of savages were all born healthy and sound because the parents were not exhausted by the severe labours of civilized life, can have very imperfect knowledge of the toils and privations entailed by barbarism. And those who ascribe the uniformity or