Book I. of Genefis, which is, "That for many centuries after the deluge, the whole carth was of one language, and "of one fpeech; that they united to build a city on a plain in the land of Shinar, with a tower whose top might reach unto heaven; that the Lord beholding the people to be one, and to have all one language, and "that nothing would be reftrained from them which they imagined to do, confounded their language, that "they might not understand one another; and scattered them abroad upon the face of all the earth." Here light breaks forth in the midst of darkness. By confounding the language of men, and scattering them abroad upon the face of all the earth, they were rendered favages. And to harden them for their new habitations, it was. neceffary that they should be divided into different kinds, fitted for different climates. Without an immediate change of conftitution, the builders of Babel could not poffibly have fubfifted in the burning region of Guinea, nor in the frozen region of Lapland; houfes not being prepared, nor any other convenience to protect them against a destructive climate. Again this history it has indeed been urged, that the circumftances mentioned evince it to be purely an allegory; that men never "were fo frantic as to think of building a tower whose <top might reach to heaven; and that it is grofsly abfurd, "taking the matter literally, that the Almighty was afraid "of men, and reduced to the neceffity of faving himself "by a miracle." But that this is a real hiftory, must neceffarily be admitted, as the confufion of Babel is the only known fact that can reconcile facred and profane history. ges And this leads us to confider the diverfity of langua If the common language of men had not been * As the focial ftate is effential to man, and speech of the focial state, the wisdom of Providence in fitting men for acquiring that neceffary art, deferves more attention than is commonly bestowed on it. The Ourang Outang has the external organs of speech in perfection; and many are puzzled to account why it never fpeaks. But the external organs of fpeech make but a fmall part of the neceffary apparatus. The faculty of imitating founds is an effential part: and wonderful would that faculty appear," were it not rendered familiar confounded upon their attempting the tower of Babel, I affirm, that there never, could have been but one lan, guage. Antiquaries conftantly fuppofe a migrating fpirit in the original inhabitants of this earth; not only without evidence, but contrary to all probability. Men never de: fert their connections nor their country without neceflity: fear of enemies and of wild beafts, as well as the attraction of fociety, are more than fufficient to teftrain them from wandering; not to mention that fayages are pecu, liarly fond of their natal foil. The first migrations were probably occafioned by factions and civil wars; the next by commerce. Greece affords inftances of the former, by practice: a child of two or three years, is able, by nature along, without the leaft inftruction, to adapt its organs of fpeech to every articulate found; and a child of four or five years can pitch its windpipe fo as to emit a found of any elevation, which enables it with an ear to imitate the fongs it hears. But above all the other parts, fenfe and understanding are effential to fpeech. A parrot can proLounce articulate founds, and it has frequently an inclination to fpeak; but, for want of understanding, none of the kind can form a fingle fentence. Has an Ourang Outang understanding to form a mental propofition? has he a faculty to exprefs that propofition in founds? and fuppofing him able to exprefs what he fees and hears, what would he make of the connective and disjun&ive particles? With refpect to the fuppofed migrating fpirit, even Bochart muft yield to Kempfer in boldness of conjecture. After proving, from difference of language, and from other circumstances, that Japan was not peopled by the Chinese, Kempfer without the leaft hefitation fettles a colony there of thofe who attempted the tower of Babel. Nay, he traces most minutely their road to Japan; and concludes, that they must have travelled with great expedition, because their language has no tincture of any other. He did not think it neceffary to explain, what temptation they had to wander fo far from home; nor why they fettled in an island, not preferable either in foil or climate to many countries they must have traversed. An ingenious French writer obferves, that plaufible reasons would lead one to conjecture, that men were more early polished in islands than in continents; as people, crowded together, foon find the neceffity of laws to restrain them from mifchief. And yet, fays he, the manners of iflanders and their laws are commonly the latest formed. A very fimple reflection would have unfolded the mystery. Many, many centuries did men exist without thinking of navigation. That art was not invented till men, ftraitened in their quarters upon the continent, thought of occupying adjacent islands. Book I. Phoenicia of the latter. Unlefs upon fuch occafions, members of a family or of a tribe will never retire farther from their fellows than is neceffary for food; and by retiring gradually, they lofe neither their connections nor their manners, far less their language, which is in conftant exercise. As far back as history carries us, tribes without number are difcovered, each having a language peculiar to itself. Strabo (a) reports, that the Albanians were divided into several tribes, differing in external appearance and in language. Cæfar found in Gaul feveral fuch tribes; and Tacitus records the names of many tribes in Germany. There are a multitude of American tribes that to this day continue distinct from each other, and have each a different language. The mother-tongues at prefent, though numerous, bear no proportion to what formerly existed. We find original tribes gradually enlarging; by conqueft frequently, and more frequently by the union of weak tribes for mutual defence. Such events promote one language instead of many. The Celtic tongue, once extenfive, is at prefent confined to the highlands of Scotland, to Wales, to Britany, and to a part of Ireland. In a few centuries, it will fhare the fate of many other original tongues: it will be totally forgotten. If men had not been scattered every where upon the confufion of Babel, another particular must have occurred, differing not lefs from what has really happened than that now mentioned. As paradife is conjectured to have been fituated in the heart of Afia, the furrounding regions, for the reafon above given, must have been first peopled; and the civilization and improvements of the mother-country were undoubtedly carried along to every new fettlement. In particular, the colonies planted in America, the South-fea iflands, and the Terra Auftralis Incognita, must have been highly polifhed; because, being at the greatest distance, they probably were the lateft. And yet these and other remote people, the Mexi cans and Peruvians excepted, remain to this day in the original favage ftate of hunting and fishing. (a) Book 1. Thus, had not men wildly attempted to build a tower whofe top might reach to heaven, all men would not only have fpoken the fame language, but would have made the fame progrefs toward maturity of knowledge and civilization. That deplorable event reverfed all nature: by fcattering men over the face of all the earth, it deprived them of fociety, and rendered them favages. From that state of degeneracy, they have been emerging gradually. Some nations, ftimulated by their own nature, or by their climate, have made a rapid progress; fome have proceeded more flawly; and fome continue favages. To trace out that progrefs toward maturity in different nations, is the fubject of the prefent undertaking. SKETCH II. PROGRESS OF MEN WITH RESPECT TO Food and POPULATION. N temperate climates, the original food of men was animals. As fuch animals become thy when often hunted, there is a contrivance of nature, no lefs fimple than effectual, which engages men to bear with chearfulness the fatigues of hunting,, and the uncertainty of capture; and that is, an appetite for hunting. Hunger alone is not fufficient; favages, who act by fenfe not by forefight, move not when the ftomach is full; and it would be too late when the ftomach is empty, to form a hunting-party. As this appetite belongs to every favage who depends on hunting for procuring food; it is one inftance, among many, of providential wifdom, in adapting the internal conftitution of man to his external circumftances. The appetite for hunting, though among us little neceffary for food, is, to this day, vifible in our young men, high and low, rich and poor. Natural propenfities may be rendered faint or obfcure, but never are totally eradicated It is probable, that fish was not early the food of man. Water is not our element; and favages probably did not attempt to draw any food from the fea or from rivers, till land animals turned fcarce. Plutarch in his Symposiacs obferves, that the Syrians and Greeks of old abftained from fith. Menelaus (a) complains, that his companions had been reduced by hunger to that food; and tho' the Grecian camp. at the fiege of Troy, was on the fea shore, there is not in Homer a fingle hint of their feeding on fish. We learn from Dion Caffius, that the Caledonians did not eat fish, though they had them in plenty; which is confirmed by Adamannus, a Scotch hiftorian, in his life of St. Columba. The ancient Caledonians depended almost entirely on deer for food, because in a cold country the fruits that grow fpontaneously afford very little nourishment; and domeftic animals, which at prefent fo much abound, were not early known in the north of Britain. Antiquaries talk of acorns, nuts, and other fhell-fruits, as the only vegetable food that men had originally; overlooking wheat, rice, barley, &c. which muft, from the creation, have grown fpontaneously: for furely, when agriculture firft commenced, feeds of thefe plants were not procured by a miracle*. The Laplanders poffeffing (a) Book 4 of the Odyffey. Writers upon natural history have been folicitous to discover the original climate of these plants; but without much fuccefs. The original climate of plants left to nature, cannot be a fecret: but in countries well peopled, the plants mentioned are not left to nature; the feeds are carefully gathered, and ftored up for food. As this practice could not fail to make these feeds fearce, agriculture was early thought of, which, by introducing plants into new foils and new climates, has rendered the original climate obfcure. If we can trace that climate, it must be in regions deftitute of inhabitants, or but thinly peopled. The Sioux, a very small tribe in North America, poffefs a vast country, where oats grow spontaneously in meadows and on the fides of rivers, which make part of their food, without neceffity of agriculture. While the French poffeffed Port Dauphin in the island of Madagascar, they raised excellent wheat, That ftation was deferted many years ago; and to this day grows Naturally among the grafs in great vigour. In the country about Mount Tabor in Palestine, barley and oats grow fpontaneously. I the kingdom of Siam, there are many spots where rice grows fpon |