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civilization must have been those primitive species of men, contemplated by this hypothesis;

Qui prorepsërunt primis animalia terris,
Mutum et turpe pecus, glandem atque cubilia propter
Unguibus et pugnis, pugnantia?-*
HOR. Sat. lib. l. Sat. iii. lib. 98-

Compared with such beings the American indian may be considered as an artist, and a sage. Compared with their hands, the only instruments afforded them by nature to dig into the earth for a miserable subsistence, the bow and hook may be regarded as high and noble inventions. By such men, impelled by incessant and importunate wants; urged by the perpetual clamors of appetite; having their mental powers almost annihilated by the rudeness and miseries of their state, in which they could enjoy no leisure for meditation, no composure for reflection, no comparison of sentiment with others; and brutalized in all their faculties, their habits, and their tastes, it would have been impossible that one principle of science should have been discovered, or one liberal art ever have been invented. The existence of

[[footnote]] *"Who crept forth like beasts from the fresh earth, a mute and filthy herd, fighting with fists and nails, for their acorns and their dens." [[/footnote]]

civilized society in the world is a proof that man was never in such an abject state. Infinitely more wretched than those animals which provide by instinct for their subsistence, and accommodation, and are furnished with natural arms for their purpose, adapted to their respective states, a thousand ages would not have been sufficient to raise them to the art of the beaver.

Besides, uncivilized man is a lazy, improvident, and filthy animal. If he has food for the present day, nothing is able to rouse him to industry. Contented, and even pleased with filth, because in that state he feels himself more perfectly at ease, for even the attentions of cleanliness are a constraint to a savage, he feels no motive to desire any accommodation beyond what he is compelled by necessity to seek. Men with such dispositions will be for ever stationary in whatever condition they may happen to be placed. Ages will elapse, as we have already seen in the North-American savages, and to them we may add all the independent tribes of the southern continent, without making a single effort to ameliorate their condition.* Nothing but the controlling influence of some

[[footnote]] * The population of Mexico and Peru, as will hereafter be shewn, has every appearance of having been originally derived [[/footnote]]

Transcription Notes:
I am not sure whether to keep that indention for the smaller letters. ---------- Reopened for Editing 2023-06-05 10:21:51