Schlegel impugns this position, and gives his voice in favor of civilization. His words are "That this (the savage state) was the really original condition of mankind is by no means proved, and is arbitrarily assumed, nay, on the contrary, the savage state must be looked upon as a state of degeneracy and degradation-consequently not as the first, but as the second phenomenon in human history-as something which, as it has resulted from this second step in man's progress, must be regarded as of later origin." Vol. I. p. 115. And again, 121. "Thus in his origin and by nature, man is no savage." Vol. I. p. This view Dr. Taylor also adopts in his "Natural History of Society," "It follows then," says he, "that the capacity of becoming civilized belongs to the whole human race-that civilization is natural to manthat barbarism is not 'a state of nature,' and that there is no prima facie evidence for assuming it to be the original condition of man." Taylor's Nat. Hist. Soc. vol. I. p. 30. We would notice a signal non sequitur here, in the deduction of these inferences from the arguments which are supposed to sustain them, had we either time to spare or space to devote to the consideration of a point so trivial in comparison with the much grosser blunders with which the Doctor's volumes are filled. We would only remark in passing, that his Grace of Dublin can hardly have supervised this author's logic. Accepting, however, the proposition above as the independent assertion of Dr. Taylor's own opinion, let us consider the point immediately in dispute. Those who advocate either of the extremes of this question, appear to us equally in error. We cannot possibly affirm that either barbarism or civilization was the original condition of mankind. Not the former, because the starting point of historical inquiry is changed by the deluge, and it may be conclusively shown that Noah brought with him out of the ark the arts and civilization of the antediluvian world, such as they were. Not the latter, because civilization is a gradual and forced growth, and exists only under those circumstances which compel its development. A certain degree of civilization might exist in the world directly after the flood; it might exist as long as men had but one language, and lived together in one society, but when the dispersion at Babel scattered them abroad, and gave to them diverse habits and modes of life, the savage state would be rapidly superinduced on the dwellers of the forest, while the builders of cities would lay the foundation of a new civilization. The early postdiluvian civilization could be termed so only by comparison with actual barbarism, not with modern times; indeed these terms are of necessity always relative. We might add that any thing like civilization, according to modern notions, would be an unnatural state, and therefore incapable of long continuance. Moreover, after the flood many new elements were introduced to cause immediate change and rapid degeneracy. Many mistaken notions upon this subject might be prevented by considering that civilization is not a state which can at any moment, and under any circumstances, be forced upon peoples from without, but that it is the spontaneous but necessary production of certain antecedent causes, and the development from within of mankind in certain definite positions. We have been more particular in alluding to this difficulty, than we should otherwise have been, from the fact that other writers, as well as Dr. Taylor, and of far higher mark than he is, have endeavored on this to build up the thesis that all the races of the world are equally capable of civilization. And this they do in utter defiance of history, which unanswerably disproves the fallacy. The Zingalee or Gypsies, the North American Indians, the negroes of St. Domingo, have shown themselves wholly incapable of civilization. They have all been subjected to the test, they have all sig nally displayed their incapacity for it. In reply to this it may be said that the Zingalee and the North American Indians have never been so situated that the influences of civilization bore upon them with sufficient power to counteract the force of their wild habits. True; but this is begging the question, for it would be necessary to prove that under any circumstances their savage nature could yield to the spirit of civilization. There are some races which will suffer themselves to be exterminated before they will submit to a settled and civilized life. Where are the aborigines of the West India Islands, whom Las Casas labored to preserve? Obliterated-entombed. Where are the thousand tribes of the North American Indians that ranged over this wide continent from the ragged shores and storm-beat isles of New-Brunswick to the waters of the Pacific ocean, from the mighty St. Lawrence on the North, to the Gulf of Mex ico on the South? They have melted away before the steps of civilization, like snow before the morning sun, until only a scanty remnant is preserved for a short breathing while under the shadows of the Rocky Mountains.* They cannot co-exist with civilization; they wither away and die whenever brought into contact with it. "An over free intercourse with the whites," says a writer, infinitely better informed on the subject than Dr. Taylor can be, "is fraught with so many evils to the unsophisticated Indian, that he must be secured against it, or his destruction is inevitable. To this cause may be attributed the extinction of some of the most powerful tribes of this continent; and we see whole tribes now, in the receipt of large annuities from the government, and enjoying advantages which an equal number of whites hardly any where possess, gradually declining in numbers, and daily becoming more licentious, though not less barbarous and miserable, under the same destructive influence. Here is the greatest evil they are subjected to. The remedy is, perhaps, easier to hope for than expect."f It cannot be expected, it cannot be even reasonably hoped for. No race has ever been civilized without commixtion with some more civilized race. If the Indians die of the proximity of the whites, what possibility can there be of their civilization, what ground for such a thesis as that of Dr. Taylor? Driven from this foot-hold the advocates of the universal capacity for civilization may say, respecting the negroes of St. Domingo, that we cannot fairly judge of the Haytians, for they are yet in their infancy as a nation. It is not the first time that we have had occasion to remark, that this application of the peculiarities of individual existence, as an argument to extenuate the condition of nations, affords the weakest but most fallacious of all modes of reasoning. There might be some sense in talking of the infancy of nations in this manner in those ancient times when they sprung up * The whole number west of the Mississippi, or on their way thither, appears to be only 168,682, from the latest and most authentic returns. With such a scanty remnant, well may we exclaim by anticipation, "Troja fuit, fuit Ilion." Mr. Crawford, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, appears more sanguine than we can be, of the possible civilization of the Indians. He admits, however, the destruction which flows from the proximity of the white race. A diligent perusal of the interesting and deeply affecting Report of Mr. Crawford, and the accompanying documents, (State Papers, 1842,) will establish the truth of our position above, against such theorists as Schlegel, Dr. Taylor, &c. + D. P. Bushnell to Gov. J. D. Doty, Sept. 30, 1842.-Papers accompanying the President's Message, 1842, p. 406. singly and successively, by the sole action of their own elements upon themselves, after their first impregnation from abroad. But it is an absolute absurdity to speak thus in reference to an age when a nation is at once and continually subjected to the influences of the most perfect civilization for the time, in all other parts of the world. The sole reply to such an argument, as we suppose to be brought forward, is this; if the Haytians had been susceptible of civilization they would have given conclusive proofs of progression before this day. Connected with these questions about the original condition of mankind, and the universal capacity for civilization, and introduced sometimes as cause and sometimes as corollary, is the proposition of the unity of the human species. Retaining our own opinions on this point, which we think very doubtful, we might admit, for the sake of argument, the truth of the doctrine, and yet deny the influence which it is intended to support, that all races are capable of civilization. We have denied it above, and we have adduced what seemed to us sufficiently strong evidence against it ;— the question has a very important bearing on the Science of History, inasmuch as it seriously affects the determination of the mode in which the progressive civilization of the world is generated. We are ourselves convinced that the stream of the world's development had its fountain-head in India, that thence flowed the spirit which has fecundated in their just succession all the historical nations, not indeed in all cases deduced immediately from the original spring, but brought down in different channels, which frequently unite again in one bed; and that no nation can take an active part in forwarding the civilization of humanity, unless impregnated directly or indirectly from that source. If this be so, different races must have different peculiarities and different destinies; and the possible unity of nations origi nally can give no promise of any future adunation. The fallacy, which would infer a similarity of capacities from identity of origin, springs from overlooking altogether in the calculation the changes which took place in humanity in consequence of the circumstances at and subsequent to the deluge, and from forgetting the indelible diversities which were then stamped upon different races. Dr. Taylor endeavors to prepare the way for his thesis, and to bolster it up by the assertion, "The American and Negro types disappear by intermixture with the Caucasian. 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." Vol. I. p. 29. That is to say, that when there is one-eighth of negro blood in the veins, the seven-eighths of Caucasian blood will be predominant and obliterate it. We have had better opportunities of noticing the consequences of the commixture of the races than Dr. Taylor, and should be far from adopting his assertion as a correct general law. Nevertheless, it is the proportion which in South-Carolina entitles a free colored person to the privileges of a white, provided that status have already been conceded to him by the society in which he resides.* Yet this will not sustain the Doctor's inference, any more than it would prove the possibility of a wolf's being made a good fox-hound, or a fox a good yarddog, to say that the wolf and the fox will both unite with the dog, and that in process of time the lupine and vulpine peculiarities are obliterated. To sustain his point, it must be shown that the negro can be resolved into the Caucasian type, under any variety of circumstances, by the admixture of the negro races among themselves. By mixture with the Caucasian the negro race does not become white, but the scanty portion of negro blood is invisible in the excess of the Caucasian-it becomes the rain-drop in the salt sea. The conclusions that we draw from all the preceding observations, to aid us in forming a Science of History are these: firstly, that the progress of humanity is governed like all the other operations of the created world, by certain fixed and definite laws: secondly, that the agents in the production of civilization are Providence, man, and material, external nature thirdly, that the necessity of labor is the cause of human progress and development: fourthly, that there is an essential antagonism of different races and occupations: fifthly, that some races seem set apart for carrying on the work of civilization, while others appear incapable of it: sixthly, that the admission of a common origin for all the varieties of mankind is no argument in favor of any supposed return to this hypothetic identity: and, lastly, that * State vs. Davis, and State vs. Hanna-2d Bailey, 558. State vs. Cantey-2d Hill, 614. |