Sketches of the history of man: In four volumes. By Henry Home, Lord Kaims, ... [pt.2]

SKETCHES OF THE HISTORY OF MAN.

BOOK I. Continued.

SKETCH VII.

Progress of MANNERS.

THERE are peculiarities in the appearance, in the expressions, in the actions, of some persons, which, in opposition to the manners of the generality, are termed their manners. Such peculiarities in the bulk of a nation, by which it differs from other nations, or from itself at different periods, are termed the manners of that nation. Manners therefore signify a mode of behaviour pe∣culiar to a certain person, or to a certain nation. The term is not applied to mankind in general; except perhaps in contradistinction to other beings.

Manners are distinguished from morals; but in what respect has not been clearly explained. Do not the same actions relate to both? Certainly; but in different respects: an action considered as right or wrong, belongs to morals; considered as

characteristical of a person, or of a people, it be∣longs to manners.

Manners, peculiar to certain tribes and to certain governments, fall under other branches of this work. The intention of the present sketch is, to trace out the manners of nations, in the different stages of their progress, from infancy to maturity. I am far from regretting, that manners, produced by climate, by soil, and by other permanent causes, fall not under my plan: I should indeed make but a poor figure upon a subject that has been learnedly discus∣sed by the greatest genius of the present agea 1.1.

I begin with external appearance, being the first thing that draws attention. The human counte∣nance hath a greater variety of expressions than that of any other animal; and some persons differ wide∣ly from the generality in these expressions. The same variety is observable in human gestures; and the same peculiarity in particular persons, so as to be known by their manner of walking, or even by so slight an action as that of putting on or taking off a hat; some men are known even by the sound of their feet. Whole nations are distinguishable by the same peculiarities. And yet there is less va∣riety in looks and gestures, than the different tones of mind would produce, were men left to the im∣pulses of pure nature: man, an imitative animal, is prone to copy others; and by imitation, external behaviour is nearly uniform among those who study to be agreeable; witness people of fashion in France. I am acquainted with a blind man, who, without moving his feet, is constantly balancing from side to side, excited probably by some internal impulse. Had he been endowed with eye-sight, he would have imitated the manners of others. I rest upon these outlines: to enter fully into the

subject would be an endless work; disproportioned at any rate to the narrowness of my plan.

Dress must not be omitted, because it enters into external appearance. Providence hath clothed all animals that are unable to clothe themselves. Man can clothe himself; and he is endowed beside with an appetite for dress, no less natural than an appe∣tite for food. That appetite is proportioned in de∣gree to its use: in cold climates it is vigorous; in hot climates, extremely faint. Savages must go naked till they learn to cover themselves; and they soon learn where covering is necessary. The Pata∣gonians, who go naked in a bitter-cold climate, must be woefully stupid. And the Picts, a Scotch tribe, who, it is said, continued naked down to the time of Severus, did not probably much surpass the Patagonians in the talent of invention.

Modesty is another cause for clothing: few sa∣vages expose the whole of the body without cover∣ing. It gives no high idea of Grecian modesty, that at the Olympic games people wrestled and run races stark naked.

There is a third cause for clothing, which is, the pleasure it affords. A fine woman, seen naked once in her life, is a desirable object; desire being inflamed by novelty. But let her go naked for a month; how much more charming will she appear, when dressed with propriety and elegance! Cloath∣ing is so essential to health, that to be less agreeable than nakedness would argue an incongruity in our nature. Savages probably at first thought of cloath∣ing as a protection only against the weather; but they soon discovered a beauty in dress: men led the way, and women followed. Such savages as go naked, paint their bodies, excited by the same fondness for ornament, that our women shew in their party-coloured garments. Among the Jews,

the men wore ear-rings as well as the womenb 1.2. When Media was governed by its own kings, the men were sumptuous in dress: they wore loose robes, floating in the air; had long hair covered with a rich bonnet, bracelets, chains of gold, and precious stones: they painted their faces, and mix∣ed artificial hair with that of nature. As authors are silent about the women, they probably made no figure in that kingdom, being shut up, as at present, in seraglios. Very different was the case of Athenian ladies, after polygamy was banished from Greece. They consumed the whole morning at the toilette; employing paint, and every drug for cleaning and whitening the skin: they laid red even upon their lips, and took great care of their teeth: their hair, made up in buckles with a hot iron, was persumed and spread upon the shoulders: their dress was elegant, and artfully contrived to set off a fine shape. Such is the influence of appetite for dress: vanity could not be the sole motive, as Athenian ladies were never seen in public. We learn from St. Gregory, that women in his time dressed their heads extremely high; environing them with many tresses of false hair, disposed in knots and buckles, so as to resemble a regular forti∣fication. Josephus reports, that the Jewish ladies powdered their hair with gold dust; a fashion that was carried from Asia to Rome. The first writer who mentions white powder for the hair, the same we use at present, is L'Etoile, in his journal for the year 159••. He relates, that nuns walked the streets of Paris curled and powdered. That fashion spread by degrees through Europe. For many years after the civil wars in France, it was the fashion in Paris to wear boots and spurs with a long sword; a gentleman was not in full dress without

these accoutrements. The sword continues an ar∣ticle of dress, tho' it distinguishes not a gentleman from his valet. To show that a taste for dress and ornament is deeply rooted in human nature, savages display that taste upon the body, having no cover∣ing to display it upon. Seldom is a child left to nature: it is deprived of a testicle, a finger, a tooth; or its skin is engraved with figures.

Cloathing hath no slight influence, even with respect to morals. I venture to affirm, at the ha∣zard of being thought paradoxical, that nakedness is more friendly to chastity than covering. Adultery is unknown among savages, even in hot climates where they have scarce any covering. A woman dressed with taste is a more desirable object than one who always goes naked. Dress, beside, gives play to the imagination, which pictures to itself many secret beauties, that vanish when rendered familiar by sight: if a lady accidentally discovers half a leg, imagination is instantly inflamed, tho' an actress appearing in breeches is beheld with in∣difference: a naked Venus makes not such an im∣pression, as when a garter only is discovered. In Sparta, men and women lived together without any reserve: public baths were common to both; and in certain games they danced and combated toge∣ther naked as when born. In a later period, the Spartan dames were much corrupted; occasioned, as authors say, by a shameful freedom of intercourse between the sexes. But remark, that corruption was not confined to the female sex, men having degenerated as much from their original manhood as women from their original chastity; and I have no difficulty to maintain, that gold and silver, ad∣mitted contrary to the laws of Lycurgus, were what corrupted both sexes. Opulence could not fail to have the same effect there that it has every where; which is to excite luxury and sensuality.

The Spartans accordingly, shaking off austerity of manners, abandoned themselves to pleasure: the most expensive furniture, the softest beds, superb tapestry, precious vases, exquisite wines, delicious ••••ands, were not now too delicate for an effeminate Spartan, once illustrious for every manly virtue. Lycurgus understood human nature better than the writers do who carp at him. It was his intention, to make his countrymen soldiers, not whining lovers: and he justly thought, that familiar inter∣course between the sexes would confine their appe∣tites within the bounds of nature; an useful lesson to women of fashion in our days, who expose their nakedness in order to attract and enslame lovers. What justifies this reasoning is, the ascendant that Spartan dames had over their husbands while the laws of Lycurgus were in vigour: they in effect ruled the state as well as their own families. Such ascendant cannot be obtained nor preserved but by strict virtue: a woman of loose manners may be the object of loose desire; but seldom will she gain an ascendant over any man, and never over her husband. Among no people was there more free∣dom of intercourse than among the ancient Ger∣mans: males and females slept promiscuously round the walls of their houses; and yet we never read of an attempt upon a married woman. The same holds true of the Scotch highlanders.

Cleanliness is an article in external appearance. Whether it be inherent in the nature of man, or only a refinement of polished nations, may at first sight appear doubtful. What pleads for the former is, that cleanliness is remarkable in several nations that have made little progress in the arts of life. The savages of the Caribbee islands, once a nume∣rous tribe, were remarked by writers as neat and cleanly. In the island Otaheite, or King George's Island, both sexes are cleanly: they bathe fre∣quently,

never eat nor drink without washing be∣fore and after, and their garments as well as their persons are kept free of spot or blemish. Ammi∣anus Marcellinus, describing the Gauls, says, that they were cleanly; and that even the poorest wo∣men were never seen with dirty garments. The negroes, particularly those of Ardrah in the slave∣coast, have a scrupulous regard to cleanliness. They wash morning and evening, and persume themselves with aromatic herbs. In the city of Benin, in Guinea, women are employ'd to keep the streets clean; and in that respect they are not outdone by the Dutch. In Corea, people mourn three years for the death of their parents; during which time they never wash. Dirtiness must ap∣pear dismal to that people, as to us* 1.3. But in∣stances are no less numerous that favour the other side of the question. Amminianus Marcellinus re∣ports of the Huns, that they wore the same coat till it fell to pieces with dirt and rottenness. Plan Carpin, who visited the Tartars anno 1246, says,

"That they never wash face nor hands; that they never clean a dish, a pot, nor a garment; that, like swine, they made food of every thing, not excepting the vermin that crawl on them."

The present people of Kamskatka answer to that descrip∣tion in every article. The nasliness of North American savages, in their food, in their cabins, and in their garments, passes all conception. As they never change their garments till they fall to rags, nor ever think of washing them, they are eat up with vermin. The Esquimaux, and many other tribes, are equally nasty.

As cleanness requires attention and industry, the cleanliness of some savages must be the work of nature and the dirtiness of others must proceed from indolence counteracting nature. In fact, cleanliness is agreeable to all; and nastiness disa∣greeable: no person prefers dirt; and even those who are the most accustomed to it, are pleased with a cleanly appearance in others. It is true, that a taste for cleanness, like that for order, for symmetry, for congruity, is extremely faint during its infancy among savages. Its strongest antagonist is indolence, which savages indulge to excess: the great fatigue they undergo in hunting makes them ••••nd of ease at home; and dirtiness, when once habitual, is not easily conquered. But cleanliness improves gradually with manners, and makes a figure in every industrious nation. Nor is a taste for cleanness bellow'd on man in vain: its final cause is conspicuous, cleanness being extremely wholesome, and nastiness no less unwholesome* 1.4.

Thus it appears, that a taste for cleanness is in∣herent in our nature. I say more: cleanliness is evidently a branch of propriety, and consequently a self-duty. The performance is rewarded with approbation; and the neglect is punished with contemptc 1.5.

A taste for cleanness is not equally distributed among all men; nor indeed is any branch of the moral sense equally distributed: and if by nature one person be more cleanly than another, a whole nation may be so. I judge that to be the case of the Japanese, so finically clean as to find sault even with the Dutch for dirtiness. Their inns are not an exception, nor their little houses, in which wa∣ter is always at hand for washing after the opera∣tion. I judged it to be also the case of the English, who, high and low, rich and poor, are remarkable for cleanliness all the world over; and I have often amused myself with so singular a resemblance be∣tween islanders, removed at the greatest distance from each other. But I was forc'd to abandon the resemblance, upon a discovery that the English have not always been so cleanly as at present. Many centuries ago, as recorded in monkish his∣tory, one cause of the aversion the English had to the Danes, was their cleanliness: they combed their hair, and put on a clean shirt once a-week. And the celebrated Erasmus, who visited England in the reign of Henry VIII. complains of the nasti∣ness and slovenly habits of its people; ascribing to that cause the frequent plagues which at that time

infested them.

"Their floors,"

says he,

"are commonly of clay strewed with rushes, under which lies unmolested a collection of beer, grease, fragments, bones, spittle, excrements of dogs and cats, and of every thing that is nauscousd 1.6."

A change so extraordinary in the taste and manners of the English, rouses our cu∣riosity; and I slatter myself that the following cause will be satisfactory. A savage, remarkably indolent at home, tho' not insensible of his dirtiness, cannot rouse up activity sufficient to attempt a serious pur∣gation; and would be at a loss where to begin. The industrious, on the contrary, are improved in neatness and propriety by the art or manufacture that constantly employs them: they are never re∣duced to purge the stable of Augeas; for being prone to action, they suffer not dirt to rest unmo∣lested. Industrious nations accordingly, all the world over, are the most cleanly. Arts and indus∣try had long flourished in Holland, where Erasmus was born and educated: the people were clean above all their neighbours, because they were in∣dustrious above all their neighbours; and upon that account the dirtiness of England could not fail to strike a Hollander. At the period mentioned, in∣dustry was as great a stranger to England as clean∣liness: from which consideration, may it not fairly be inferred, that the English are indebted for their cleanliness to the great progress of industry among them in later times? If this inference holds, it places industry in an amiable light. The Spaniards, who are indolent to a degree, are to this day as dirty as the English were formerly. Madrid, their capital, is nauseously nasty: heaps of unmolested dirt in every street raise in that warm climate a pestiferous

steam, which threatens to knock down every stran∣ger. A purgation was lately set on foot by royal authority. But people habituated to dirt are not easily reclaimed: to promote industry is the only effectual remedy* 1.7. The nastiness of the streets of Lisbon before the late earthquake was intolerable; and so is at present the nastiness of the streets of Cadiz.

Tho' industry be the chief promoter of cleanli∣ness, yet it is seldom left to operate alone: other causes mix, some to accelerate the progress, some to retard it. The moisture of the Dutch climate has a considerable influence in promoting cleanli∣ness; and joined with industry produces a surprising neatness and cleanliness among people of business: men of figure and fashion, who generally resort to the Hague, the seat of government, are not so cleanly. On the other hand, the French are less cleanly than the English, tho' not less industrious. But the lower classes of people, being in England more at their ease than in France, have a greater taste for living well, and in particular for keeping themselves clean.

A beard gives to the countenance a rough and fierce air, suited to the manners of a rough and fierce people. The same face without a beard appears milder; for which reason, a beard becomes unfashionable in a polished nation. Demosthenes the orator lived in the same period with Alexander the Great, at which time the Greeks begun to leave off beards A bust however of that orator, found in Herculaneum, has a beard; which must either have been done for him when he was young, or from reluctance in an old man to a new fashion. Barbers were brought to Rome from Sicily in the 454th year after the building of Rome. And it must relate to the time following that period, what Aulus Gellius sayse 1.8, that people accused of any crime were prohibited to shave their beards till they were absolved. From Hadrian, downward, the Roman Emperors wore beards. Julius Capitolinus reproaches the Emperor Verus for cutting his beard, at the instigation of a concubine. All the Roman generals wore beards in Justinian's timef 1.9. When the Pope shaved his beard, it was reckoned a ma∣nifest apostasy by the Greek church; because Moses and Jesus Christ were always drawn with beards by the Greek and Latin painters. Upon the dawn of smooth manners in France, the beaus cut their beards into shapes, and curled their whis∣kers. That fashion produced a whimsical effect, viz. that men of gravity left off beards altogether: a beard in its natural shape was too fierce, even for them; and they could not for shame copy after the beaus.

Language, when brought to any perfection among a polished people, may justly be considered as one of the fine arts; and in that view is handled

above. But it belongs to the present sketch, con∣sidered as a branch of external behaviour. Every part of external behaviour is influenced by temper and disposition, and language more than any other part. In Elements of Criticismg 1.10 it is observed, that an emotion in many instances bears a resem∣blance to its cause. The like holds universally in all the natural sounds prompted by passion. Let a passion be bold, rough, chearful, tender, or hum∣ble, still it holds, that the natural sound prompted by it is in the same tone: and hence the reason why these natural sounds are the same in all lan∣guages. Some slight resemblance of the same kind is discoverable in many artificial sounds. The language of a savage is harsh; of polite people, smooth; and of women, soft and musical. The tongues of savage nations abound in gutturals, or in nasals; yet one would imagine that such words, pronounced with difficulty, would be avoided by savages, as they are by children. But temper pre∣vails, and suggests to savages harsh sounds, confor∣formable to their roughness and cruelty. The Esquimaux have a language composed of the harsh∣est gutturals; and the tongues of the northern Eu∣ropean nations are not remarkably more smooth. The Scotch peasants are a frank and plain people; and their dialect is in the tone of their character. The Huron tongue hath stateliness and energy above most known languages; and the Hurons still retain a certain elevation of mind, which is more conformable to the majesty of their discourse, than to their present low condition. Thus the manners of a people may in some measure be gathered from their language. Nay, manners may frequently be gathered from single words. The Hebrew word LECHOM signifies both food and fighting; and

TEREPH signifies both food and plunder. KARAB signifies to draw near to one, and signifies also to fight. The Greek word LEIA, which signified originally, spoil procured by war or piracy, came to signify wealth. And the great variety of Greek words signifying good and better, signified originally strong and violent.

Government, according to its different kinds, hath considerable influence in forming the tone of a language. Language in a democracy is commonly rough and coarse; in a republic, manly and plain; in a monarchy, courteous and insinuating; in des∣potism, imperious with respect to inferiors, and humble with respect to superiors. The govern∣ment of the Greek empire is well represented in Justinian's edicts, termed Novellae Constitutiones, the style of which is stiff, formal, and affectedly stately; but destitute of order, of force, and of ligament. About three centuries ago, Tuscany was filled with small republics, who spoke a dialect manly and plain. Its rough tones were purged off when united under the Great Duke of Tuscany; by which means the Tuscan dialect has arrived nearer to perfection than any other in Italy. The tone of the French language is well suited to the nature of its government: every man is politely submissive to those above him; and this tone forms the character of the language in general, so as even to regulate the tone of the few who have occasion to speak with authority. The freedom of the Eng∣lish government forms the manners of the people: the English language is accordingly more manly and nervous than the French, and abounds more with rough sounds. The Lacedemonians of old, ap roud and austere people, affected to talk with brevity, in the tone of command more than of advice; and hence the Laconic style, dry but mas∣culine. The Attic style is more difficult to be

accounted for: it was sweet and copious; and had a remarkable delicacy above the style of any other nation. And yet the democracy of Athens produ∣ced rough manners; witness the comedies of Aris∣tophanes, and the orations of Eschines and De∣mosthenes. We are not so well acquainted with the Athenians as to account for the difference between their language and their manners: and are equally at a loss about the Russian tongue, which, not∣withstanding the barbarity of the people, is smooth and sonorous. All that can be said is, that the operation of a general cause may be disturbed by particular circumstances. Languages resemble the tides: the influence of the moon, which is the general cause of tides, is in several instances over∣balanced by particular causes acting in opposition.

There may be observed in some savage tribes, a certain refinement of language that might do honour to a polished people. The Canadians never give a man his proper name, in speaking to him. If he be a relation, he is addressed to in that quality: if a stranger, the speaker gives him some appellation that marks affection; such as, brother, cousin, friend.

From speech we advance to action. Man is na∣turally prone to motion; witness children, who are never at rest but when asleep. Where reason go∣verns, a man restrains that restless disposition, and never acts without a motive. Savages have few motives to action when the belly is full: their huts require little industry; and their covering of skins, still less. Hunting and fishing employ all their ac∣tivity. After much fatigue in hunting, rest is sweet; which the savage prolongs, having no motive to action till the time of hunting returns. Savages ac∣cordingly, like dogs, are extremely active in the

field, and extremely indolent at home* 1.11. The savages of the torrid zone are indolent above all others: they go naked; their huts cost them no trouble; and they never hunt except for vegetables, which are their only food. The Spaniards who first landed in Hispaniola, were surprised at the manners of the inhabitants. They are described as lazy, and without ambition; passing part of their time in eat∣ing and dancing, and the rest in sleep; having no great share of memory, and still less of understand∣ing. The character given of these savages belongs to all, especially to savages in hot climates. The imperfection of their memory and judgement is oc∣casioned by want of employment. The same imperfection was remarkable in the people of Paraguay, when under Jesuit government; of which afterwardh 1.12.

In early times, people lived in a very simple man∣ner, ignorant of such habitual wants as are com∣monly

termed luxury. Rebecca, Rachel, and the daughters of Jethro, tended their fathers flocks: they were really shepherdesses. Young women of fashion drew water from the well with their own hands. The joiner who made the bridal bed of Ulysses, was Ulysses himselfi 1.13. The Princess Nausicaa washes the family-cloaths; and the Princes her brothers, upon her return, unyoke the car, and carry in the cloathsk 1.14. Queens, and even female deities, are employed in spinningl 1.15. Is it from this fashion that young women in England are de∣nominated spinsters? Telemachus goes to council with no attendants but two dogs:

" Soon as in solemn form th' assembly sat, " From his high dome himself descends in state; " Bright in his hand a pond'rous jav'lin shin'd; " Two dogs, a faithful guard, attend behind; ODYSSEY, book 2.

Priam's car is yoked by his own sons, when he went to redeem from Achilles the body of his son Hector. Telemachus yokes his own carm 1.16. Ho∣mer's heroes kill and dress their own victualsn 1.17. Achilles entertaining Priam, as now mentioned, slew a snow-white sheep; and his two friends flead and dressed it. Achilles himself divided the roasted meat among all* 1.18.

Not to talk of gold, silver was scarce in England during the reign of the third Edward. Rents were paid in kind; and what money they had was locked up in the coffers of the great barons. Pieces of plate were bequeathed even by kings of England, so trifling in our estimation, that a gentleman of a moderate fortune would be ashamed to mention such in his will.

We next take under consideration the progress of such manners as are more peculiarly influenced by internal disposition; preparing the reader by a general view, before entering into particulars. Man is by nature a timid animal, having little ability to secure himself against harm: but he becomes bold in society, and gives vent to passion against his ene∣mies. In the hunter-state, the daily practice of slaughtering innocent animals for food, hardens men in cruelty: they are worse than bears or wolves, being cruel even to their own kind. The calm and sedentary life of a shepherd tends to soften the harsh manners of hunters; and agriculture, requiring the union of many hands in one operation, inspires a taste for mutual good offices. But here comes in the hoarding appetite to disturb that auspicious commencement of civilization. Skilful husbandry, producing the necessaries of life in plenty, paves the way to arts and manufactures. Fine houses, splen∣did gardens, and rich apparel, are desirable objects: the appetite for property becomes headstrong, and to obtain gratification tramples down every obstacle of justice or honouro 1.19. Differences arise, foment∣ing discord and resentment: war is raised, even among those of the same tribe; and while it was

lawful for a man to take revenge at his own handp 1.20, that fierce passion swallowed up all others. Inequality of rank and fortune fostered dissocial pas∣sions: witness pride in particular, which produced a custom, once universal among barbarians, of kil∣ling men, women, dogs, and horses, for serving a dead chieftain in the other world. Such complica∣tion of selfish and stormy passions, tending eagerly to gratification, and rendering society uncomforta∣ble, cannot be stemmed by any human means other than wholesome laws: a momentary obstacle in∣flames desire; but perpetual restraint deadens even the most fervid passion. The authority of good government gave vigour to kindly affections; and appetite for society, which acts incessantly, though not violently, gave a currency to mutual good offices. A circumstance concurred to blunt the edge of dissocial passions: the first societies were small; and small states in close neighbourhood pro∣duce discord and resentment without end: the junc∣tion of many such states into a great kingdom, re∣move people farther from their enemies, and render them more gentleq 1.21. In that situation, men have leisure and sedateness to relish the comforts of social life: they find that selfish and turbulent passions are subversive of society; and through fondness for society, they patiently undergo the severe discipline of restraining passion, and smoothing manners. Violent passions that disturb the peace of society have subsided, and are now seldom heard of: hu∣manity is in fashion, and social affections prevail. Men improve in urbanity by conversing with wo∣men; and however selfish at heart, they conciliate favour, by assuming an air of disinterestedness. Selfishness thus refined becomes an effectual cause

of civilization. But what follows? Turbulent and violent passions are buried, never again to revive; leaving the mind totally ingrossed by self-interest. In the original state of hunters and fishers, there being little connection among individuals, every min minds his own concerns, and selfishness governs. The discovery that hunting and fishing are best car∣ried on in company, promotes some degree of society in that state: it gains ground in the shepherd-state, and makes a capital figure where husbandry and commerce flourish. Private concord is promoted by social affection; and a nation is prosperous in proportion as the amor patriae prevails. But wealth, acquired whether by conquest or commerce, is pro∣ductive of luxury and sensuality. As these increase, social affections decline, and at last vanish. This is visible in every opulent city that has long flourish∣ed in extensive commerce. Selfishness becomes the ruling passion: friendship is no more; and even blood-relation is little regarded. Every man studies his own interest; and love of gain and of sensual pleasure are idols worshipped by all. And thus in the progress of manners, men end as they begun: selfishness is no less eminent in the last and most po∣lished state of society, than in the first and most savage state.

From a general view of the progress of manners, we descend to particulars. And the first scene that presents itself is, cruelty to strangers, extended in process of time against members of the same tribe. Anger and resentment are predominant in savages, who never think of smothering passion. But this character is not universal: some tribes are remark∣able for humanity, as mentioned in the first sketch. Anger and resentment formed the character of our European ancestors, and made them fierce and cruel. The Goths were so prone to blood, that in their first inroads into the Roman territories they

massacred man, woman, and child. Procopius re∣ports, that in one of these inroads they left Italy thin of inhabitants. They were however an honest people; and by the polish they received in the civilized parts of Europe, they became no less re∣markable for humanity, than formerly for cruelty. Totila, their king, having mastered Rome after a long and bloody siege, permitted not a single person to be killed in cold blood, nor the chastity of any woman to be attempted. One cannot without hor∣ror think of the wanton cruelties exercised by the Tartars against the nations invaded by them under Gengizcan and Timor Bec.

A Scythian, says Herodotus, presents the king with the heads of the enemies he has killed in bat∣tle; and the man who brings not a head, gets no share of the plunder. He adds, that many Scythi∣ans clothe themselves with the skins of men, and make use of the sculls of their enemies to drink out of. Diodorus Siculus reports of the Gauls, that they carry home the heads of their enemies slain in battle: and after embalming them, deposit them in chests as their chief trophy; bragging of the sums offered for these heads by the friends of the deceas∣ed, and refused. In similar circumstances men are the same all the world over. The scalping of ene∣mies, in daily use among the North-American savages, is equally cruel and barbarous.

No savages are more cruel than the Greeks and Trojans were, as described by Homer; men butch∣ered in cold blood, towns reduced to ashes, sovereigns exposed to the most humbling indignities, no respect paid to age nor to sex. The young Adrastusr 1.22, thrown from his car, and lying on his face in the dust, obtained quarter from Menelaus. Agamem∣non upbraided his brother for lenity:

"Let none

from destruction escape, not even the lisping in∣fant in the mother's arms: all her sons must with Ilium fall, and on her ruins unburied remain."

He pierced the supplicant with his spear; and set∣ting his foot on the body, pulled it out. Hector, having stripped Patroclus of his arms, drags the slain along, vowing to lop the head from the trunk, and to give the mangled corse a prey to the dogs of Troy. And the seventeenth book of the Iliad is wholly employed in describing the contest about the body between the Greeks and Trojans. Beside the brutality of preventing the last duties from being performed to a dead friend, it is a low scene, un∣worthy of heroes. It was equally brutal in Achilles to drag the corse of Hector to the ships, tied to his car. In a scene between Hector and Andromaches 1.23, the treatment of vanquished enemies is pathe∣tically described; sovereigns massacred, and their bodies left a prey to dogs and vultures; sucking in∣fants dashed against the pavement; ladies of the first rank forced to perform the lowest acts of slavery. Hector doth not dissemble, that if Troy were con∣quered, his poor wife would be condemned to draw water like the vilest slave. Hecuba, in Euripides, laments, that she was chained like a dog at Aga∣memnon's gate; and the same savage manners are described in many other Greek tragedies. Prome∣thus makes free with the heavenly fire, in order to give life to man. As a punishment for bringing rational creatures into existence, the gods decree, that he be chained to a rock, and abandoned to birds of prey. Vulcan is introduced by Eschylus rattling the chain, nailing one end to a rock, and the other to the breast-bone of the criminal. Who but an American savage can at present behold such a spec∣tacle and not be shocked at it? A scene representing

a woman murdered by her children, would be hissed by every modern audience; and yet that horrid scene was represented with applause in the Electra of Sophocles. Stoboeus reports a saying of Menan∣der, that even the gods cannot inspire a soldier with civility: no wonder that the Greek soldiers were brutes and barbarians, when war was waged, not only against the state, but against every individual. At present, humanity prevails among soldiers as among others; because we make war only against a state, not against individuals. The Greeks are the less excusable for their cruelty, as they appear to have been sensible that humanity is a cardinal virtue. Barbarians are always painted by Homer as cruel; polished nations as tender and compas∣sionate:

" Ye gods! (he cried) upon what barren coast, " In what new regions is Ulysses tost; " Possess'd by wild barbarians fierce in arms, " Or men whose bosom tender pity warms?" ODYSSEY, book 13. 241.

Cruelty is inconsistent with true heroism; and accordingly very little of the latter is discoverable in any of Homer's warriors. So much did they retain of the savage character, as, even without blushing, to fly from an enemy superior in bodily strength. Diomedes, who makes an illustrious figure in the fifth book of the Iliad, retires when Hector ap∣pears:

"Diomedes beheld the chief, and shuddered to his inmost soul."

Antilochus, son of Nestor, having slain Melanippust 1.24, rushed forward, eager to seize his bright arms. But seeing Hector, he fled like a beast of prey who shuns the gathering hinds. And the great Hector himself shamefully

turns his back upon the near approach of Achilles:

"Periphetes, endowed with every virtue, renown∣ed in the race, great in war, in prudence excel∣ling his fellows, gave glory to Hector, covering the chief with renown."

One would expect a fierce combat between these two bold warriors. Not so. Periphetes stumbling, fell to the ground; and Hector was not ashamed to transfix with his spear the unresisting hero.

In the same tone of character, nothing is more common among Homer's warriors than to insult a vanquished foe. Patroclus, having beat Cebriones to the ground with a huge stone, derides his fall in the following words.

" Good heav'ns! what active feats yon artist shows, " What skilful divers are our Phrygian foes! " Mark with what ease they sink into the sand. " Pity! that all their practice is by land."

The Greeks are representedu 1.25 one after another stabbing the dead body of Hector:

"Nor stood an Argive near the chief who inflicted not a wound. Surely now, said they, more easy of access is Hector, than when he launched on the ships brands of devouring fire."

When such were the manners of warriors at the siege of Troy, it is no wonder that the heroes on both sides were not less intent on stripping the slain than on victory. They are every where represent∣ed as greedy of spoil.

The Jews did not yield to the Greeks in cruelty. It is unnecessary to give instances, as the historical books of the Old Testament are in the hands of every one. I shall select one instance for a speci∣men,

dreadfully cruel without any just provocation:

"And David gathered all the people together, and went to Rabbah, and fought against it, and took it. And he brought forth the people that were therein, and put them under saws, and under harrows of iron, and under axes of iron, and made them pass through the brick-kiln: and thus did he unto all the cities of the children of Ammonx 1.26."

That cruelty was predominant among the Ro∣mans is evident from every one of their historians. Brutality to their offspring was conspicuous. Chil∣dren were held, like cattle, to be the father's pro∣perty: and so tenacious was the patria potestas, that if a son or daughter sold to be a slave was set free, he or she fell again under the father s power, to be sold a second time, and even a third time. The power of life and death over children was much less unnatural, while no public tribunal existed for punishing crimes. A son, being a slave, could have no property of his own. Julius Caesar was the first who privileged a son to retain for his own use spoils acquired in war. When law became a lucrative profession, what a son gained in that way was declared to be his property. In Athens, a man had power of life and death over his children; but as they were not slaves, what they acquired belong∣ed to themselves. So late as the days of Dioclesian, a son's marriage did not dissolve the Roman patria potestasy 1.27. But the power of selling children wore out of usez 1.28. When powers so unnatural were given to men over their children, and exercised so tyran∣nically as to make a law necessary prohibiting the disinheriting of children, can there be any doubt of their cruelty to others? During the second trium∣virate, horrid cruelties were every day perpetrated

without pity or remorse. Antony, having ordered Cicero to be beheaded, and the head to be brought to him, viewed it with savage pleasure. His wife Fulvia laid hold of it, struck it on the face, uttered many bitter execrations, and having placed it be∣tween her knees, drew out the tongue, and pierced it with a bodkin. The delight it gave the Romans to see wild beasts set loose against one another in their circus, is a proof not at all ambiguous of their taste for blood, even at the time of their highest civilization. The Edile Scaurus sent at one time to Rome 150 panthers, Pompey 410, and Augustus 410, for the public spectacles. Their gladiatorian combats are not so clear a proof of their ferocity: the courage and address exerted in these combats gave a manly pleasure that balanced in some mea∣sure the pain of seeing these poor fellows cut and slash one another. And that the Romans were ne∣ver cured of their itch for blood, appears from Caligula, Nero, and many other monsters, who governed the Romans from Augustus downward. There is no example in modern times of such mon∣sters in France, though an absolute monarchy, nor even in Turky.

Ferocity was in the Roman empire considerably mollified by literature and other fine arts; but it acquired new vigour upon the irruption of the bar∣barous nations who crushed that empire. In the year 559, Clotaire, King of the Franks, burnt alive his son, with all his friends, because they had rebelled against him. Queen Brunehaud being, by Clotaire II. condemned to die, was dragged through the camp at a horse's tail till she gave up the ghost. The ferocity of European nations became altogether intolerable during the anarchy of the feudal system. Many peasants in the northern provinces of France being sorely oppressed in civil wars carried on by the nobles against each other, turned desperate,

gathered together in bodies, resolving to extirpate all the nobles. A party of them, anno 1358, forced open the castle of a knight, hung him up upon a gal∣lows, violated in his presence his wife and daughters, roasted him upon a spit, compelled his wife and children to eat of his flesh, and terminated that hor∣rid scene with massacring the whole family, and burning the castle. When they were ashed, says Froissard, why they committed such abominable actions, their answer was,

"That they did as they saw others do; and that all the nobles in the world ought to be destroyed."

The nobles, when they got the upper hand, were equally cruel. They put all to fire and sword; and massacred eve∣ry peasant who came in the way, without troubling themselves to separate the innocent from the guilty. The Count de Ligny encouraged his nephew, a boy of fifteen, to kill with his own hand some pri∣soners who were his countrymen; in which, says Monstrelet, the young man took great delight. How much worse than brutal must have been the manners of that age! for even a beast of prey kills not but when instigated by hunger. The third act, of stealing from the lead-mines in Derby, was, by a law of Edward I. punished in the following man∣ner: A hand of the criminal was nailed to a table; and in that state he was left without meat or drink, having no means for freedom but to employ the one hand to cut off the other. The barbarity of the Eng∣lish at that period made severe punishments neces∣sarary: but the punishment mentioned goes beyond severity; it is brutal cruelty. The barbarous treat∣ment of the Jews, during the dark ages of Christi∣anity, gives pregnant evidence, that Christians were not short of Pagans in cruelty. Poison and assassination were most licentiously perpetrated, no farther back than the last century. Some pious men made vigorous efforts in more than one general

council to have assassination condemned, as repug∣nant to the law of God; but in vain* 1.29.

I wish to soften the foregoing scene: it may be softened a little. Among barbarians, punishments must be sanguinary; as their bodies only are sensi∣ble of pain, not their minds.

The restoration of arts and sciences in Europe, followed with a reformation in religion, had a won∣derful effect in sweetening manners, and promoting the interests of society. Of all crimes high treason is the most involved in circumstances, and upon that account the most difficult to be defined or cir∣cumscribed: at the same time, the influence of government upon its judges seldom permits a fair trial. And yet, for that crime are reserved the most exquisite torments. In England, the punishment is, to cut up the criminal alive, to tear out his heart, to dash it about his ears, and to throw it into the flames. The same punishment continues in form, not in reality: the heart indeed is torn out, but not till the criminal is strangled. Even the virulence of religious zeal is considerably abated. Savonarola was condemned to the flames as an impious impostor; but he was first privately strangled. The fine arts, which humanize man∣ners, were in Italy at that time accelerating toward

perfection. The famous Latimer was in England condemned to be burnt for heresy: but bags of gun∣powder were put under his arms, that he might be burnt with the least pain. Even Knox, a violent Scotch reformer, acknowledges, that Wishart was strangled before he was thrown into the flames for heresy. So bitter was the late persecution against the Jesuits, that not only were their persons pro∣scribed, but in many places their books, not even excepting books upon mathematics, and other ab∣stract subjects. That persecution resembled in ma∣ny particulars the persecution against the knights∣templars: fifty-nine of the latter were burnt alive: the former were really less innocent; and yet such humanity prevails at present, that not a drop of Jesuit-blood has been shed. A bankrupt in Scot∣land, if he has not suffered by unavoidable misfor∣tune, is by law condemned to wear a party-coloured garment. That law is not now put in execution, unless where a bankrupt deserves to be stigmatized for his culpable misconduct.

Whether the following late instance of barbarity does not equal any of those above mentioned, I leave to my readers. No traveller who visited Petersburgh during the reign of the Empress Elizabeth can be ignorant of Madam Lapouchin, the great ornament of that court. Her intimacy with a foreign ambas∣sador having brought her under suspicion of plotting with him against the government, she was con∣demned to undergo the punishment of the knout. At the place of execution she appeared in a genteel undress, which heightened her beauty. Of what∣ever indiscretion she might have been guilty, the sweetness of her countenance, and her composure, left not in the spectators the slightest suspicion of guilt. Her youth also, her beauty, her life and spirit pleaded for her.—But all in vain: she was deserted by all, and abandoned to surly execution∣ers;

whom she beheld with astonishment, seeming to doubt whether such preparations were intended for her. The cloak that covered her bosom being pulled off, modesty took the alarm, and made her start back: she turned pale, and burst into tears. One of the executioners stripped her naked to the waist, seized her by both hands, and threw her on his back, raising her some inches from the ground. The other executioner laying hold of her delicate limbs with his rough fists, put her in a posture for receiving the punishment. Then laying hold of the knout, a sort of whip made of a leathern strap, he retreated a few steps, and with a single stroke tore off a slip of skin from the neck downward, re∣peating his strokes till all the skin of her back was cut off in small slips. The executioner finished his task with cutting out her tongue; after which she was banished to Siberia* 1.30.

The native inhabitants of the island Amboyna are Malayans. Those on the sea-coast are subject to the Dutch: those in the inland parts are declared enemies to the Dutch, and never give quarter. A Dutch captive, after being confined five days with∣out food, is ripped up, his heart cut out, and the head, severed from the body, is preserved in spice

for a trophy. Those who can show the greatest number of Dutch heads are the most honourable.

In early times, when revenge and cruelty tramp∣led on law, people formed associations for securing their lives and their possessions. These were com∣mon in Scandinavia and in Scotland. They were also common in England during the Anglo-Saxon period, and for some ages after the Conquest. But instead of supporting justice, they contributed more than any other cause to anarchy and confusion, the members protecting each other, even in robbery and murder. They were suppressed in England by a statute of Richard II.; and in Scotland by reite∣rated statutes.

Roughness and harshness of manners are general∣ly connected with cruelty; and the manners of the Greeks and Trojans are accordingly represented in the Iliad as remarkably rough and harsh. When the armies were ready to engagea 1.31, Menestheus King of Athens, and Ulysses of Ithaca, are bitterly reproached by Agamemnon for lingering, while others were more forward.

"Son of Peleus, he said, and thou versed in artful deceil, in mischief only wise, why trembling shrink ye back from the field; why wait till others engage in fight? You it became, as first in rank, the first to meet the flame of war. Ye first to the banquet are called when we spread the feast. Your delight is to eat, to regale, to quaff unstinted the gene∣rous wine."

In the fifth book Sarpedon upbraids Hector for cowardice. And Tlepolemus, ready to engage with Sarpedon, attacks him first with re∣viling and scurrilous words. Because Hector was not able to rescue the dead body of Sarpedon from the Greeks, he is upbraided by Glaucus, Sarpedon's friend, in the following words.

"Hector, though

specious in form, distant art thou from valour in arms. Undeserved hast thou fame acquired, when thus thou shrinkest from the field. Thou sustainest not the dreadful arm, nor even the sight of god-like Ajax. Thou hast shunned his face in the fight: thou darest not approach his spear."

Rough and harsh manners produced slavery; and slavery sostered rough and harsh manners, by giving them constant exercise. The brutality of the Spartans to the Helots, their slaves, is a reproach to the human species. Beside the harsh∣est usage, they were prevented from multiplying by downright murder and massacre. Why did not such barbarity render the Spartans detestable, in∣stead of being respected by their neighbours, as the most virtuous people in Greece? There can be but one reason, that the Greeks were all of them cruel, the Spartans a little more, perhaps, than the rest. In Rome, a slave, chained at the gate of every great house, gave admittance to the guests invited to a feast: could any but barbarians bear such a spectacle without pain? If a Roman citizen was found murdered in his own house, his whole household-slaves, perhaps two or three hundred, were put to death without mercy, unless they could detect the murderer. Such a law, cruel and unjust, could never have been enacted among a people of any humanity.

Whence the rough and harsh manners of our West-Indian planters, but from the unrestrained licence of venting ill humour upon their negro slaves* 1.32? Why are carters a rugged set of men?

Plainly because horses, their slaves, submit without resistance. An ingenious writer, describing Guia∣na in the southern continent of America, observes,

that the negroes, who are more numerous than the whites, must be kept in awe by severity of disci∣pline. And he endeavours to justify the practice; urging, that beside contributing to the safety of the white inhabitants, it makes the slaves them∣selves less unhappy.

"Impossibility of attainment,"

says he,

"never fails to annihilate desire of enjoy∣ment; and rigid treatment, suppressing every hope of liberty, makes them peaceably submit to slavery."

Sad, indeed, must be the condition of slaves, if harsh treatment contribute to make them less unhappy. Such reasoning may be relish∣ed by rough European planters, intent upon gain: I am inclined, however, to believe, that the harsh treatment of these poor people is more owing to the avarice of their masters, than to their own per∣verseness* 1.33. That slaves in all ages have been harshly treated, is a melancholy truth. One ex∣ception I know, and but one, which I gladly men∣tion, in honour of the Mandingo negroes. Their slaves, who are numerous, receive very gentle treat∣ment; the women especially, who are generally so well dressed as not to be distinguished from those who are free.

Many political writers are of opinion, that for crimes instigated by avarice only, slavery for life and hard work, would be a more adequate punish∣ment than death. I would subscribe to that opinion, but for the following consideration, that the having

such criminals perpetually in view would harden the hearts of the spectators, and eradicate pity, a capital moral passion. Behold the behaviour of the Dutch, in the Island of Amboyna. A native who is found guilty of theft is deprived of his ears and nose, and made a slave for life. William Funnel, who was there anno 1705, reports, that five hun∣dred of these wretches were secured in prison, and never suffered to go abroad, but in order to saw timber, to cut stone, or to carry heavy burdens. Their food is a pittance of coarse rice, boiled in water, and their bed the hard ground. What is still worse, poor people, who happen to run in debt, are turned over to the servants of the East India company, who send them to work among their slaves, with a daily allowance of two pence, which goes to the creditor. A nation must be de∣void of bowels, who can establish such inhumanity by law. But time has rendered that practice fami∣liar to the Dutch, so as to behold, with absolute indifference, the multiplied miseries of their fellow∣creatures. It appears, indeed, that such a punish∣ment would be more effectual than death, to re∣press theft; but can any one doubt, that society would suffer more by eradicating pity and humani∣ty, than it would gain by removing every one by death who is guilty of theft? At the same time, the Dutch, however cruel to the natives, are ex∣tremely complaisant to one another: seldom is any one of them punished but for murder: a small sum will procure pardon for any other crime.

A degree of coarseness and indelicacy is connect∣ed with rough manners. The manners of the Greeks, as copied by Plautus and Terence, from Menander and other Greek writers, were extreme∣ly coarse; such as may be expected in a people living among their slaves, without any society with virtuous women. The behaviour of Demosthenes

and Eschines to each other, in their public ha∣rangues, is woefully coarse. But Athens was a de∣mocracy; and a democracy, above all other go∣vernments, is rough and licentious. In the Athe∣nian comedy, neither gods nor men are spared. The most respectable persons of the republic are ridiculed by name, in the comedies of Aristopha∣nes, which wallow in looseness and detraction. In the third act of Andromaché, a tragedy of Euri∣pides, Peleus and Menelaus, Kings of Thessaly and Sparta, fall into downright ribaldry; Mene∣laus swearing that he would not give up his vic∣tim, and Peleus threatening to knock him down with his staff. The manners of Jason, in the tra∣gedy of Medea by Euripides, are woefully indeli∣cate. With unparalleled gratitude to his wife Medea, he, in her presence, makes love to the King of Corinth's daughter, and obtains her in marriage. Instead of shunning a person he had so deeply injured, he endeavours to excuse himself to her in a very sneaking manner,

"that he was an exile like herself, without support; and that his marriage would acquire powerful friends to them and to their children."

Could he imagine, that such frigid reasons would touch a woman of any spirit? But the most striking picture of inde∣licate manners is exhibited in the tragedy of Al∣cestes. Admetus prevails upon Alcestes, his loving and beloved wife, to die in his stead. What a bar∣barian must the man be, who grasps at life upon such a condition? How ridiculous is the bombast flourish of Admetus, that, if he were Orpheus, he would pierce to hell, brave the three-headed Cer∣berus, and restore his wife to earth again! And how indecently does he scold his father, for refusing to die for him! What pretext could the monster have to complain of his father, when he himself was so disgracefully fond of life, as even to solicit his beloved wife to die in his stead! What stronger

instance, after all, would one require of indelicacy in the manners of the Greeks, than that they held all the world, except themselves, to be barbarians? In that particular, however, they are not altogether singular. Though the Tartars, as mentioned above, were foul-feeders, and hoggishly nasty, yet they were extremely proud, despising, like the Greeks, every other nation. The people of Congo think the world to be the work of angels; except their own country, which they hold to be the handy∣work of the supreme architect. The Greenlanders have a high conceit of themselves; and, in private, make a mock of the Europeans, or Kablunets, as they call them. Despising arts and sciences, they value themselves on their skill in catching seals, conceiving it to be the only useful art. They hold themselves to be the only civilized and well-bred people; and when they see a modest stranger, they say,

"he begins to be a man;"

that is, to be like one of themselves.

So coarse and indelicate were Roman manners, that whipping was a punishment inflicted on the officers of the army, not even excepting centu∣rionsb 1.34. Doth it not show extreme grossness of manners, to express, in plain words, the parts that modesty bids us conceal? and yet this is com∣mon in Greek and Roman writers. In the Cyclops of Euripides, there is represented a scene of the vice against nature, grossly obscene, without the least disguise. How woefully indelicate must the man have been, who could sit down gravely to compose such a piece! and how dissolute must the spectators have been, who could behold such a scene without hissing! Next to the indecency of exposing one's nudities in good company, is the talking of them without reserve. Horace is extremely obscene, and Martial no less. But I

censure neither of them, and, as little, the Queen of Navarre for her Tales; for they wrote according to the manners of the times. It is the manners I censure, not the writers. A woman taken in adultery was prostituted in the public street to all comers, a bell ringing the whole time. This abo∣minable practice was abolished by the Emperor Theodosiusc 1.35.

The manners of Europe, before the revival of letters, were no less coarse than cruel. In the Car∣tularies of Charlemagne, judges are forbid to hold courts but in the morning, with an empty stomach. It would appear, that men in those days were not ashamed to be seen drunk, even in a court of justice. It was customary, both in France and Italy, to collect for sport all the strumpets in the neighbourhood, and to make them run races. Se∣veral feudal tenures give evidence of manners both low and coarse. Struvius mentions a tenure, bind∣ing the vassal, on the birth-day of his lord, to dance and fart before him. The cod-piece, which, a few centuries ago, made part of a man's dress, and which swelled, by degrees, to a monstrous size, testifies shamefully-coarse manners; and yet it was a modest ornament, compared with one used in France, during the reign of Lewis XI. which was the figure of a man's privy parts worn upon the coat or breeches. In the same period, the Judge∣ment of Paris was a favourite theatrical entertain∣ment: three women, stark-naked, represented the three goddesses, Juno, Venus, and Minerva. Nick-names, so common not long ago, are an instance of the same coarseness of manners; for to fix a nick-name on a man, is to use him with con∣temptuous familiarity. In the thirteenth century, many clergymen refused to administer the sacra∣ment

of the Lord's supper, unless they were paid for it* 1.36.

Swearing, as an expletive of speech, is a violent symptom of rough and coarse manners. Such swearing prevails among all barbarous nations. Even women in Plautus swear fluently. Swearing prevailed in Spain and in France, till it was banish∣ed by polite manners. Our Queen Elizabeth was a bold swearer; and the English populace, who are rough beyond their neighbours, are noted by stran∣gers for that vice. Tho' swearing, in order to en∣force an expression, is not in itself immoral; it is, however, hurtful in its consequences, rendering sacred names too familiar. God's-beard, the com∣mon oath of William Rufus, suggests an image of our Maker as an old man with a long beard. In vain have acts of parliament been made against swearing: it is easy to evade the penalty, by coin∣ing new oaths; and as that vice proceeds from an overslow of spirits, people in that condition brave penalties. Polished manners are the only effectual cure for that malady.

When a people begin to emerge out of barba∣rity, loud mirth and rough jokes come in place of rancour and resentment. About a century ago, it was usual for the servants and retainers of the court of session in Scotland, to break out into riotous mirth and uproar the last day of every term, throw∣ing bags, dust, sand, or stones, all around. We have undoubted evidence of that disorderly practice from an act of the court, prohibiting it under a severe penalty, as dishonourable to the court,

and unbecoming the civility requisite in such a placed 1.37.

And this leads to the lowness of ancient man∣ners; plainly distinguishable from simplicity of man∣ners: the latter is agreeable, not the former. Among the ancient Egyptians, to cram a man was an act of high respect. Joseph, the King's first minister, in order to honour Benjamin above his brethren, gave him a five-sold messe 1.38. The Greeks, in their feasts, distinguished their heroes by a double portionf 1.39. Ulysses cut a fat piece out of the chine of a wild boar for Demodocus the bardg 1.40. The same respectful politeness is practised at present among the American savages; so much are all men alike in similar circumstances. Telemachush 1.41 com∣plains bitterly of Penelope's suitors, that they were gluttons, and consumed his beef and mutton. The whole fourteenth book of the Odyssey, containing the reception of Ulysses by Eumaeus the swine-herd, is miserably low. Manners must be both gross and low where common beggars are admitted to the feasts of princes, and receive scraps from their handsi 1.42. In Rome, every guest brought his own napkin to a feast. A slave carried it home, filled with what was left from the entertainment. Sophocles, in his tragedy of Iphigenia in Aulis, represents Clytemnestra step∣ping down from her car, and exhorting her ser∣vants to look after her baggage, with the anxiety and minuteness of a lady's waiting woman. Ho∣mer paints, in lively colours, the riches of the Phoeacians, their skill in navigation, the magni∣ficence

of the king's court, of his palace, and of the public buildings. But, with the same breath, he describes Nausicaa, the king's daughter, tra∣velling to the river on a waggon of greasy cloaths, to be washed there by her and her maids. Pos∣sibly it will be urged that such circumstances, however low in our opinion, might appear other∣wise to the Greeks. If they had appeared low to the Greeks, they would not have been introduced by their greatest poet. But what does this prove, other than that the Greeks were low in their man∣ners? Their manners did not correspond to the delicacy of their taste in the fine arts. Nor can it be expected that they should correspond, when the Greeks were strangers to that polite society with women, which refines behaviour, and elevates manners. The first kings in Greece, as Thucy∣dides observes, were elective, having no power but to command their armies in time of war; which resembles the government that obtains at present in the Isthmus of Darien. They had no written laws, being governed by custom merely. To live by plunder was held honourable; for it was their opinion, that the rules of justice are not intended for restraining the powerful. All stran∣gers were accounted enemies, as among the Ro∣mans; and inns were unknown, because people lived at home, having very little intercourse even with those of their own nation. Inns were un∣known in Germany; and to this day are unknown in the remote parts of the Highlands of Scotland; but for an opposite reason, that hospitality prevail∣ed greatly among the ancient Germans, and con∣tinues to prevail so much among our Highlanders, that a gentleman takes it for an affront, if a stran∣ger pass his house. At a congress between Francis I. of France, and Henry VIII. of England, among other spectacles for public entertainment, the two

kings had a wrestling-match. Had they forgot that they were sovereign princes?

One would imagine war to be a soil too rough for the growth of civilization; and yet it is not always an unkindly soil. War between two small tribes is fierce and cruel: but a large state mitigates resentment, by directing it, not against individuals, but against the state in general. We know no enemies but those who are in arms: we have no resentment against others, but rather find a plea∣sure in treating them with humanity. Barbarity and cruelty, having thus in war few individuals for their objects, naturally subside; and magnanimity in their stead transforms soliders from brutes to heroes. Some time ago, it was usual in France to demand battle; and it was held dishonourable to decline it, however unequal the match. Here was heroism without prudence; but in all reformations it is natural to go from one extreme to the other. While the King of England held any possessions in France, war was perpetual between the two nations, which was commonly carried on with more magnanimity than is usual between inveterate ene∣mies. It became customary to give prisoners their freedom, upon a simple parole to return with their ransom at a day named. The same was the custom in the border-wars between the English and Scots, before their union under one monarch. Both par∣ties found their account equally in such honourable behaviour. Edward Prince of Wales, in a pitched battle against the French, took the illustrious Ber∣trand du Guesclin prisoner. He long declined to accept a ransom; but finding it whispered that he was afraid of that hero, he instantly set him at li∣berty without a ransom. This may be deemed im∣politic or whimsical: but is love of glory less praise∣worthy than love of conquest? The Duke of Guise, victor in the battle of Dreux, rested all night in the

field of battle; and gave the Prince of Conde, his prisoner, a share of his bed, where they lay like brothers. The Chevalier Bayard, commander of a French army, anno 1524, being mortally wound∣ed in retreating from the Imperialists, placed him∣self under a tree, his face however to the enemy. The Marquis de Pescara, General of the Imperial forces, finding him dead in that posture, behaved with the generosity of a gallant adversary: he di∣rected his body to be embalmed, and to be sent to his relations in the most honourable manner. Mag∣nanimity and heroism, in which benevolence is an essential ingredient, are inconsistent with cruelty, persidy, or any groveling passion. Never was gal∣lantry in war carried to a greater height, than be∣tween the English and Scotch borderers before the crowns were united. The night after the battle of Otterburn, the victors and vanquished lay promis∣cuously in the same camp, without apprehending the least danger one from the other. The manners of ancient warriors were very different. Homer's hero, tho' superior to all in bodily strength, takes every advantage of his enemy; and never feels either compassion or remorse. The politic of the Greeks and Romans in war, was to weaken the state by plundering its territory, and destroying its people. Humanity with us prevails even in war. Individuals not in arms are secure, which saves much innocent blood. Prisoners were set at liberty upon paying a ransom; and by later improvements in manners, even that practice is left off, as too mercantile, a more honourable practice being sub∣stituted, viz. a cartel for exchange of prisoners. Humanity was carried to a still greater height, in our late war with France, by an agreement between the Duke de Noailles and the Earl of Stair, That the hospitals for the sick and wounded soldiers should be secure from all hostilities. The humanity of the

Duke de Randan, in the same war, makes an illus∣trious figure even in the present age, remarkable for humanity to enemies. When the French troops were compelled to abandon their conquests in the electorate of Hanover, their Generals every where burnt their magazines, and plundered the people. The Duke de Randan, who commanded in the city of Hanover, put the magistrates in possession of his magazines, requesting them to distribute the contents among the poor; and he was beside ex∣tremely vigilant to prevent his soldiers from com∣mitting acts of violence* 1.43. The necessity of fortify∣ing

towns to guard from destruction the innocent and defenceless, affords convincing evidence of the savage cruelty that prevailed in former times. By the growth of humanity, such fortifications have become less frequent; and they serve no purpose at present but to defend against invasion; in which view a small fortification, if but sufficient for the garrison, is greatly preferable; being constructed at a much less expence, and having no mouths to provide for but the garrison only.

In the progress of society there is commonly a re∣markable period, when social and dissocial passions seem to bear equal sway, prevailing alternately. In the history of Alexander's successors, there are fre∣quent instances of cruelty, equalling that of Ameri∣can savages; and instances no less frequent of gra∣titude, of generosity, and even of clemency, that betoken manners highly polished. Ptolemy of Egypt, having gained a complete victory over De∣metrius, son of Antigonus, restored to him his equipage, his friends, and his domestics, saying,

that

"they ought not to make war for plunder, but for glory."

Demetrius having defeated one of Ptolemy's Generals, was less delighted with the victory, than with the opportunity of rivalling his antagonist in humanity. The same Demetrius having restored liberty to the Athenians, was treat∣ed by them as a demi-god; and yet afterward, in his adversity, their gates were shut against him. Upon a change of fortune he laid siege to Athens, resolving to chastise that rebellious and ungrateful people. He assembled the inhabitants in the thea∣tre, surrounding them with his army, as preparing for a total massacre. But their terror was short; he pronounced their pardon, and bestowed on them 100,000 measures of wheat. Ptolemy, the same who is mentioned above, having at the siege of Tyre summoned Andronicus the governor to sur∣render, received a provoking and contemptuous an∣swer. The town being taken, Andronicus gave himself over for lost: but the King, thinking it below his dignity to resent an injury against an in∣ferior, now his prisoner, not only overlooked the affront, but courted Andronicus to be his friend. Edward the Black Prince is an inslance of refined manners, breaking, like a spark of fire, through the gloom of barbarity. The Emperor Charles V. after losing 30,000 men at the siege of Metz, made an ignominious retreat, leaving his camp filled with sick and wounded, dead and dying. Though the war between him and the King of France was car∣ried on with unusual rancour, yet the Duke of Guise, governor of the town, exerted in those bar∣barous times a degree of humanity that would make a splendid figure even at present: He ordered plen∣ty of food for those who were dying of hunger, ap∣pointed surgeons to attend the sick and wounded, removed to the adjacent villages those who could bear motion, and admitted the remainder into the

hospitals that he had fitted up for his own soldiers; those who recovered their health were sent home, with money to defray the expence of the jour∣ney.

In the period that intervenes between barbarity and humanity, there are not wanting instances of opposite passions in the same person, governing al∣ternately; as if a man could this moment be mild and gentle, and next moment harsh and brutal. To vouch the observation, I beg leave to introduce two rival monarchs, who for many years distressed their own people, and disturbed Europe, viz. the Emperor Charles, and the French King Francis. The Emperor, driven by contrary winds on the coast of France, was invited by Francis, who hap∣pened to be in the neighbourhood, to take shelter in his dominions, proposing an interview at Aigues-Mortes, a sea-port town. The Emperor instantly repaired there in his galley; and Francis, relying on the Emperor's honour, visited him on shipboard, and was received with every expression of affection. Next day, the Emperor repaid the confidence re∣posed in him: he landed at Aigues-Mortes with as little precaution, and found a reception equally cordial. After twenty years of open hostilities, or of secret enmity, after having formally given the lie, and challenged each other to single combat, after the Emperor had publicly inveighed against Francis as void of honour, and Francis had accused the Emperor as murderer of his own son; such behaviour will scarce be thought consistent with human nature. But these monarchs lived in a pe∣riod verging from cruelty to humanity; and such periods abound with surprising changes of temper and conduct. In the present times, such changes are unknown.

Conquest has not always the same effect upon the manners of the conquered. The Tartars who

subdued China in the thirteenth century, adopted immediately the Chinese manners: the government, laws, customs, continued without variation. And the same happened upon their second conquest of China in the seventeenth century. The barbarous nations also who crushed the Roman empire, adopted the laws, customs, and manners, of the conquered. Very different was the fate of the Greek empire when conquered by the Turks That warlike nation in∣troduced every where their own laws and manners: even at this day they continue a distinct people, as much as ever. The Tartars, as well as the bar∣barians who overthrew the Roman empire, were all of them rude and illiterate, destitute of laws, and ignorant of government. Such nations readily adopt the laws and manners of a civilized people, whom they admire. The Turks had laws, and a regular government; and the Greeks, when subdued by them, were reduced by luxury and sensuality to be objects of contempt, not of imitation.

Manners are deeply affected by persecution. The forms of procedure in the Inquisition enable the inquisitors to ruin whom they please. A person ac∣cused is not confronted with the accuser: every sort of accusation is welcome, and from every person: a child, a common prostitute, one branded with infamy, are reputable witnesses: a son is compelled to give evidence against his father, and a woman against her husband. Nay, the persons accused are compelled to inform against themselves, by guessing what sin they may have been guilty of. Such odi∣ous, cruel. and tyrannical proceedings, made all Spain tremble: every man distrusted his neighbour, and even his own family: a total end was put to friendship, and to social freedom. Hence the gra∣vity and reserve of a people, who have naturally all

the vivacity of a temperate clime and bountiful soil* 1.44. Hence the profound ignorance of that people, while other European nations are daily improving in eve∣ry art and in every science. Human nature is reduced to its lowest state, when governed by super∣stition clothed with power.

We proceed to another capital article in the his∣tory of manners, viz. the selfish and social branches of our nature, by which manners are greatly influ∣enced. Selfishness prevails among savages; because corporeal pleasures are its chief objects, and of the e every savage is perfectly sensible. Benevolence and kindly affection are too refined for a savage, unless of the simplest kind, such as the ties of blood. While artificial wants were unknown, selfishness made no sigure: the means of gratifying the calls of nature were in plenty; and men, who are not afraid of ever being in want, never think of provid∣ing against it; and far less do they think of coveting what belongs to another. But men are not long contented with simple necessaries: an unwearied appetite to be more and more comfortably provided, leads them from necessaries to conveniencies, and from these to every luxury of life. Avarice turns headstrong; and locks and bars, formerly unknown, become necessary to protect individuals from the rapacity of their neighbours. When the goods of fortune, money in particular, come to be prized, selfishness soon displays itself. In Madagascar, a man who makes a present of an ox or a calf, ex∣pects the value in return: and scruples not to say,

"You my friend, I your friend; you no my friend, I no your friend; I salamanca you, you salamanca me."

Salamanca means, the making a present.

Admiral Watson being introduced to the King of Baba, in Madagascar, was asked by his Majesty, what presents he had brought. Hence the custom, universal among barbarians, of always accosting a king, or any man of high rank, with presents. The peculiar excellence of man, above all other animals, is the capacity he has of improving by education and example. In proportion as his faculties refine, he acquires a relish for society, and finds a pleasure in benevolence, generosity, and in every other kind∣ly affection, far above what selfishness can afford. How agreeable is this scene! Alas, too agreeable to last for ever. Opulence and luxury inflame the hoarding appetite; and selfishness at last prevails as it did originally. The selfishness however of savages differs from that of pampered people. Luxury, confining a man's whole views to himself, admits not of friendship, and scarce of any other social pas∣sion. But where a savage takes a liking to a parti∣cular person, the whole force of his social affection being directed to a single object, becomes extreme∣ly fervid. Hence the unexampled friendship between Achilles and Patroclus in the Iliad; and hence ma∣ny such friendships among savages.

But there is much more to be said of the influence of opulence on manners. Rude and illiterate nati∣ons are tenacious of their laws and manners; for they are governed by custom, which is more and more rivetted by length of time. A people, on the contrary, who are polished by having passed through various scenes, are full of invention, and constantly thinking of new modes. Manners in particular can never be stationary, in a nation which is refined by prosperity and the arts of peace. Good government will advance men to a high degree of civilization; but the very best government will not preserve them from corruption, after becoming rich by prosperity. Opulence begets luxury, and envigorates the appe∣tite

for sensual pleasure. The appetite, when in∣flamed, is never confined within moderate bounds, but clings to every object of gratification, without regard to propriety or decency. When Septimius Severus was elected Emperor, he found on the roll of causes depending before the judges in Rome no fewer than three thousand accusations of adultery. From that moment he abandoned all thoughts of attempting a reformation. Love of pleasure is similar to love of money: the more they are indulg∣ed the more they are inflamed. Polygamy is an incentive to the vice against nature; one act of in∣continence leading to others, without end. When the Sultan Achmet was deposed at Constantinople, the people breaking into the house of one of his favourites, found not a single woman. It is report∣ed of the Algerines, that in many of their seraglios there are no women. For the same reason, poly∣gamy is far from preventing adultery, a truth finely illustrated in Nathan's parable to David. What judgement then are we to form of the opulent cities London and Paris, where pleasure is the ruling pas∣sion, and where riches are coveted as instruments of sensuality? What is to be expected but a pestifer∣ous corruption of manners? Selfishness, ingrossing the whole soul, eradicates patriotism, and leaves not a cranny for social virtue. If in that condition men abstain from robbery or from murder, it is not love of justice that restrains them, but dread of pu∣nishment. Babylon is arraigned by Greek writers for luxury, sensuality, and profligacy. But Baby∣lon represents the capital of every opulent kingdom, ancient and modern: the manners of all are the same; for power and riches never fail to produce luxury, sensuality, and profligacy. Canghi Em∣peror of China, who died in the year 1722, deserves to be recorded in the annals of fame, for resisting the softness and effeminacy of an Asiatic court. Far

from abandoning himself to sensual pleasure, he pas∣sed several months yearly in the mountains of Tar∣tary, mostly on horseback, and declining no fatigue. Nor in that situation were affairs of state neglected: many hours he borrowed from sleep, to hear his ministers, and to issue orders. How few monarchs, bred up like Canghi in the downy indolence of a feraglio, have resolution to withstand the temptati∣ons of sensual pleasure!

In no other history is the influence of prosperity and opulence on manners so conspicuous as in that of old Rome. During the second Punic war, when the Romans were reduced by Hannibal to fight pro aris et focis, Hiero King of Syracuse sent to Rome a large quantity of corn, with a golden statue of victory weighing three hundred and twenty pounds, which the senate accepted. But though their finances were at the lowest ebb, they accepted but the lightest of forty golden vases presented to them by the city of Naples; and politely returned, with many thanks, some golden vases sent by the city of Paestum, in Lucania: A rare instance of magnani∣mity! But no degree of virtue is proof against the corruption of conquest and opulence. Upon the infiux of Asiatic riches and luxury, the Romans abandoned themselves to every vice: they became in particular wonderfully avaricious, breaking thro' every restraint of justice and humanity* 1.45. Spain in

particular, which abounded with gold and silver, was for many years a scene, not only of oppression and cruelty, but of the basest treachery, practised against the natives by successive Roman generals in order to accumulate wealth. Lucullus, who after∣ward made a capital figure in the Mithridatic war, attacked Cauca, a Celtiberian city, without the slightest provocation. Some of the principal citi∣zens repaired to his camp with olive-branches, desiring to be informed upon what conditions they could purchase his friendship. It was agreed, that they should give hostages, with an hundred talents of silver. They also consented to admit a garrison of 2000 men, in order, as Lucullus pretended, to protect them against their enemies. But how were they protected? The gates were opened by the garrison to the whole army; and the inhabitants were butchered, without distinction of sex or age. What other remedy had they, but to invoke the gods presiding over oaths and covenants, and to pour out execrations against the Romans for their perfidy? Lucullus, enriched with the spoils of the town, felt no remorse for leaving 20,000 persons dead upon the spot. Shortly after, having laid siege to Intercatia, he solicited a treaty of peace. The citizens, reproaching him with the slaughter of the Cauceans, asked, whether, in making peace, he was not to employ the same right hand, and the same faith, he had already pledged to their country-men. Seroclius Galba, another Roman general, persuaded the Lusitanians to lay down their arms, promising them a fruitful territory instead of their own mountains; and having thus got them into his

power, he ordered all of them to be murdered. Of the few that escaped Viriatus was one, who, in a long and bloody war against the Romans, amply avenged the massacre of his countrymen. Our au∣thor Appian reports, that Galba, surpassing even Lucullus in covetousness, distributed but a small share of the plunder among the soldiers, converting the bulk of it to his own use. He adds, that tho' Galba was one of the richest men in Rome, yet he never scrupled at lies nor perjury to procure money. But the corruption was general: Galba being ac∣cused of many misdemeanors, was acquitted by the senate through the force of bribes. A tribe of the Celtiberians, who had long served the Romans against the Lusitanians, had an offer made them by Titus Didius of a territory in their neighbour∣hood, lately conquered by him. He appointed them a day to receive possession; and having in∣closed them in his camp under shew of friendship, he put them all to the sword; for which mighty deed he obtained the honour of a triumph. The double-dealing and treachery of the Romans, in their last war against Carthage, is beyond example. The Carthaginians, suspecting that a storm was gathering against them, sent deputies to Rome for securing peace at any rate. The senate, in ap∣pearance, were disposed to amicable measures, de∣manding only hostages; and yet, though three hundred hostages were delivered without loss of time, the Roman army landed at Utica. The Carthaginian deputies attended the consuls there, desiring to know what more was to be done on their part. They were required to deliver up their arms; which they chearfully did, imagining that they were now certain of peace. Instead of which, they received peremptory orders to evacuate the city, with their wives and children; and to take up no habitation within eighty furlongs of the sea. In

perusing Appian's history of that memorable event, compassion for the distressed Carthaginians is stifled by indignation at their treacherous oppressors. Durst the monsters, after such treachery, talk of Punica sides? The profligacy of the Roman people, dur∣ing the triumvirate of Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus, is painted in lively colours by the same author.

"For a long time, disorder and confusion overspread the common-wealth: no office was obtained but by faction, bribery, or criminal service: no man was ashamed to buy votes, which were sold in open market. One man there was, who, to obtain a lucrative office, expended eight hundred talentsi 1.46: ill men enriched themselves with public money, or with bribes: no honest man would stand candidate for an office; and into a situation so miserable was the commonwealth reduced, that once for eight months it had not a single magistrate."

Cicero, writing to Atticus that Clodius was acquitted by the influence of Cras∣sus, expresses himself in the following words.

"Biduo, per unum servum, et eum ex gladiato∣rio ludo, confecit totum negotium. Accers••••it ad se, promisit, intercessit, dedit. Jam vero, O dii boni, rem perditam! etiam noctes certarum mulierum, atque adolescentulorum nobilium, in∣troductiones nonnullis judicibus pro mercedis cu∣mulo suerunt* 1.47k 1.48."

Ptolomy King of Egypt

was dethroned by his subjects for tyranny. Having repaired to Rome for protection, he sound means to poison the greater part of an hundred Egyptians, his accusers, and to assassinate Dion, their chief. And yet these crimes, perpetrated in the heart of Rome, were suffered to pass with impunity. But he had secured the leading men by bribery, and was protected by Pompey. The following instance is, it possible, still more gross: Ptolomy, King of Cyprus, had always been a faithful ally to the Ro∣mans. But his gold, jewels, and precious move∣ables, were a tempting bait to the avarice of Rome; and all was confiscated by a decree of the people, without even a pretext. Money, procured by pro∣fligacy, is not commonly hoarded up; and the Ro∣mans were no less voluptuous than avaricious. Alex∣ander ab Alexandro mentions the Fanian, Orchian, Didian, Oppian, Cornelian, Ancian, and Julian laws, for repressing luxury of dress and of eating, all of which proved ineffectual. He adds, that Ti∣berius had it long at heart to contrive some effectual law against luxury, which now had surpassed all bounds; but that he found it impracticable to stem the tide. He concludes, that by tacit agreement among a corrupted people all sumptuary laws were in effect abrogated; and that the Roman people, abandoning themselves to vice, broke through every restraint of morality and religionk 1.49. Tremble, O Britain, on the brink of a precipice! how little distant in rapacity from Roman senators are the leaders of thy people!

Riches produce another lamentable effect: they enervate the possessor, and degrade him into a cow∣ard. He who commands the labour of others, who eats without hunger, and rests without fatigue, be∣comes feeble in mind, as well as in body, has no

confidence in his own abilities, and is reduced to flatter his enemies, because he hath not courage to brave them.

Selfishness, among the rude and illiterate, is rough, blunt, and undisguised. Selfishness, which, in an opulent kingdom, usurps the place of patrio∣tism, is smooth, refined, and covered with a veil. Pecuniary interest, a low object, must be covered with the thickest veil: ambition, less disnonou∣rable, is less covered: but delicacy, as to charac∣ter and love of fame, is so honourable, that even the thinnest veil is thought unnecessary. History justifies these observations. During the prosperity of Greece and Rome, when patriotism was the ruling passion, no man ever thought of employing a hostile wea∣pon, but against the enemies of his country: swords were not worn during peace, nor do we ever read of a private duel. The frequency of duels, in modern times, is no slight symptom of degeneracy: regardless of our country, selfishness is exerted without disguise, when reputation or character is in question; and a nice sense of ho∣nour prompts revenge for every imagined affront, without regard to justice. How much more manly and patriotic was the behaviour of Themistocles, when insulted by the Lacedemonian general, in de∣liberating about the concerns of Greece!

"Strike,"

says he,

"but first hear me."

When a nation, formerly in a flourishing state, is depressed by luxury and selfishness, what follows next? Let the Egyptians answer the question. That unhappy people having, for many ages, been a prey to every barbarous invader, are now become effeminate, treacherous, cruel, and cor∣rupted with every vice that debases humanity. A nation in its infancy, however savage, is susceptible of every improvement; but a nation, worn out with age and disease, is susceptible of no in prove∣ment.

There is no remedy, but to let the na∣tives die out, and to re-people the country with better men.

I fly from a scene so dismal, to one that will give no pain. Light is intended by our Maker for action, and darkness for rest. In the fourteenth century, the shops in Paris were opened at four in the morning: at present, a shopkeeper is scarce awake at seven. The King of France dined at eight in the morning, and retired to his bed-cham∣ber at the same hour in the evening; an early hour at present for public amusements. The Spaniards adhere to ancient customs* 1.50. Their King, to this day, dines precisely at noon, and sups no less pre∣cisely at nine in the evening. During the reign of Henry VIII. fashionable people in England break∣fasted at seven in the morning, and dined at ten in the forenoon. In Elizabeth's time, the nobility, gentry, and students dined at eleven forenoon, and supped between five and six afternoon. In the reign of Charles II. four in the afternoon was the appointed hour for acting plays: at present, even dinner is at a later hour. The King of Yeman, the greatest prince in Arabia Foelix, dines at nine in the morning, sups at five after noon, and goes to rest at eleven. From this short specimen it ap∣pears, that the occupations of day-light commence gradually later and later; as if there was a ten∣dency in polite nations of converting night into day, and day nto night. Nothing happens without a cause. Light disposes to action, darkness to rest: the diversions of day are tournaments, hunting, racing, and such like active exercises: the diversi∣ons of night are sedentary; plays, cards, conver∣sation. Balls are of a mixed nature; partly active,

in dancing; partly sedentary, in conversing. For∣merly, active exercises prevailed among a robust and plain people: the milder pleasures of society prevail as manners refine. Hence it is, that candle∣light amusements are now fashionable in France, and in other polished countries: and when such amusements are much relished, they banish the robust exercises of the field. Balls, I conjecture, were formerly more frequent in day-light: at pre∣sent, candle-light is their favourite time; the active part is, at that time, equally agreeable; and the fed ntary part much more so.

Gaming is the vice of idle people. Savages are addicted to gaming; and those of North Ame∣rica, in particular, are fond to distraction of a game termed the Platter. A losing gamester will strip himself to the skin; and some have been known to stake their liberty, though by them valued above all other blessings. Negroes in the slave∣coast of Guinea will stake their wives, their chil∣dren, and even themselves. Tacitusl 1.51, talking of gaming among the Germans, says,

"Extremo ac novissimo jactu de libertate et de corpore con∣tendant* 1.52."

The Greeks were an active and sprightly people, constantly engaged in war, or in cultivating the sine arts. They had no leisure for gaming, nor any knowledge of it. Happy for them was their ignorance; for no other vice tends more to render men selfish, dishonest, and, in the mo∣dish style, dishonourable. A gamester, a friend to no man, is a bitter enemy to himself. The luxu∣rious of the present age pass every hour in gam∣ing, that can be spared from sensual pleasure. Idle∣ness is their excuse, as it is among savages; and

they would in some degree be excusable, were they never actuated by a more disgraceful mo∣tive.

Writers do not carefully distinguish particular customs from general manners. Formerly, wo∣men were not admitted upon the stage in France, Italy, or England. At that very time, none but women were admitted in Spain. From that fashion it would be rash to infer, that women have more liberty in Spain, than in the other countries men∣tioned; for the contrary is true. In Hindostan, established custom prompts women to burn them∣selves alive, with the bodies of their deceased hus∣bands; but from that singular custom, it would be a false inference, that the Hindow women are ei∣ther more bold, or more affectionate to their hus∣bands, than in other countries. The Polanders, even after they became Christians in the thirteenth century, adhered to the customs of their forefa∣thers, the Sarmatians; the killing, for example, infants born deformed, and men debilitated by age; which would betoken horrid barbarity, if it were not a singular custom. Roman Catholics imagine, that there is no religion in England nor in Holland, because, from a spirit of civil liberty, all sects are there tolerated. The encouragement given to assassination in Italy, where every church is a sanc∣tuary, makes strangers rashly infer, that the Italians are all assassins. Writers sometimes fall into an opposite mistake, attributing to a particular nation, certain manners and customs common to all nations in one or other period of their progress. It is re∣marked by Heraclides Ponticus, as peculiar to the Athamanes, that the men fed the flocks, and the women cultivated the ground. This has been the practice of all nations, in their progress from the shepherd-state to that of husbandry; and is at pre∣sent the practice among American savages. The

same author observes, as peculiar to the Celtae and Aphitaei, that they leave their doors open without hazard of theft. But that practice is common among all savages in the first stage of society, before the use of money is known.

Hitherto there appears as great uniformity in the progress of manners, as can reasonably be expected among so many different nations. There is one exception, extraordinary indeed, if true, which is, the manners of the Caledonians, described by Ossi∣an, manners so pure and refined, as scarce to be equalled in the most cultivated nations. Such manners, among a people in the first stage of society, acquainted with no arts but hunting and making war, would, I acknowledge, be miracu∣lous: and yet, to suppose all to be invented by an illiterate savage, seems little less miraculous. One, at first view, will, without hesitation, declare the whole a pure fiction; for how is it credible, that a people, rude at present, and illiterate, were, in the infancy of their society, highly refined in sen∣timents and manners? And yet, upon a more ac∣curate inspection, many weighty considerations oc∣cur to balance that opinion.

From a thousand circumstances it appears, that the works of Ossian are not a late production. They are composed in an old dialect of the Celtic tongue; and as, till of late, they were known only in the Highlands of Scotland, the author must have been a Caledonian. The translatorm 1.53 saw, in the Isle of Sky, the first four books of the poem Fingal, written in a fair hand, on vellum, and bearing date in the year 1403. The natives believe that poem to be very ancient: every person has passages of it by heart, transmitted by memory from their forefathers. Their dogs bear commonly the name of Luath, Bran, &c. mentioned in these poems, as our dogs

do of Pompey and Caesar* 1.54. Many other particu∣lars might be mentioned; but these are sufficient to evince, that the work must have existed at least three or four centuries. And, taking that for granted, I proceed to certain considerations tending to evince, that the manners described in Ossian were Caledonian manners, and not a pure fiction. And after perusing with attention these considera∣tions, I am not afraid, that even the most incredu∣lous will continue altogether unshaken.

It is a noted and well-founded observation, That manners are never painted to the life by any one to whom they are not familiar. It is not difficult to draw the outlines of imaginary manners; but to fill up the picture with all the variety of tints that manners assume in different situations, uniting all in one entire whole,—

"hic labor, hoc opus est."

Yet the manners here supposed to be invented, are delineated in a variety of incidents, of sentiments, of images, and of allusions, making one entire picture, without once deviating into the slightest incongruity. Every scene in Ossian relates to hunting, to fighting, and to love, the sole occu∣pations of men, in the original state of society: there is not a single image, simile, nor allusion, but what is borrowed from that state, without a jarring circumstance. Supposing all to be mere invention, is it not amazing to find no mention of Highland Clans, nor of any name now in use? Is it not still more amazing, that there is not the

slightest hint of the Christian religion, not even in a metaphor or allusion? Is it not equally amazing, that, in a work where deer's flesh is frequently mentioned, and a curious method of roasting it, there should not be a word of fish as food, which is so common in later times? Very few High∣landers know that their forefathers did not eat fish; and, supposing it to be known, it would re∣quire attention more than human, never once to mention it. Can it be supposed, that a modern writer could be so constantly on his guard, as never to mention corn, nor cattle? In a story so scanty of poetical images, the sedentary life of a shepherd, and the industry of a husbandman, would make a capital figure: the cloven foot would somewhere appear. And yet, in all the works of Ossian, there is no mention of agriculture; and but a slight hint of a herd of cattle in one or two allusi∣ons. I willingly give all advantages to the unbe∣liever. Supposing the author of Ossian to be a late writer, embellished with every refinement of mo∣dern education: yet, even upon that supposition, he is a miracle, far from being equalled by any other author, ancient or modern.

But difficulties multiply, when it is taken into the account, that the poems of Ossian have ex∣isted three or four centuries at least. Our High∣landers, at present, are rude and illiterate; and were, in fact, little better than savages, at the pe∣riod mentioned. Now, to hold the manners de∣scribed in that work to be imaginary, is, in effect, to hold, that they were invented by a Highland savage, acquainted with the rude manners of his country, but utterly unacquainted with every other system of manners. From what source did he draw the refined manners so deliciously painted by him? Supposing him to have been a traveller, of which we have not the slightest hint, the manners, at

that period, of France, of Italy, and of other neighbouring nations, were little less barbarous than those of his own country. I can discover no source, other than direct inspiration. In a word, whoever seriously believes the manners of Ossian to be fictitious, may well say, with the religious enthusiast,

"Credo, quia impossibile est:"

[I be∣lieve it, because it is impossible.]

But further: The uncommon talents of the au∣thor of this work will chearfully be acknowledged by every reader of taste: he certainly was a great master in his way. Now, whether the work be late, or composed four centuries ago, a man of such talents inventing an historical fable, and laying the scene of action among savages in the hunter-state, would naturally frame a system of manners, the best suited, in his opinion, to that state. What then could tempt him to adopt a system of manners so opposite to any notion he could frame of savage manners? The absurdity is so gross, that we are forced, however reluctantly, to believe, that these manners are not fictitious; but, in reality, the man∣ners of his country, coloured, perhaps, or a little heightened, according to the privilege of an epic poet. And, once admitting that fact, there can be no hesitation in ascribing that work to Ossian, son of Fingal, whose name it bears: we have no better evidence for the authors of several Greek and Roman books. Upon the same evidence we must believe, that Ossian lived in the reign of the Emperor Caracalla, of whom frequent mention is made under the designation of Caracul the Great King; at which period the shepherd state was scarce known in Caledonia, and husbandry not at all. Had he lived so late as the twelfth century, when there were flocks and herds in that country, and some sort of agriculture, a poet of genius,

such as Ossian undoubtedly was, would have drawn from these his finest images.

The foregoing considerations, I am persuaded, would not fail to convert the most incredulous, were it not for a consequence extremely impro∣bable, that a people, little better at present than savages, were, in their primitive hunter-state, highly refined; for such Ossian describes them. And yet it is not less improbable, that such man∣ners should be invented by an illiterate Highland bard. Let a man chuse either side, the difficulty cannot be solved, but by a miracle. What shall we conclude upon the whole? for the mind cannot for ever remain in suspense. As dry reasoning has left us in a dilemma, taste, perhaps, and feeling may extricate us. May not the case be here as in real painting? A portrait drawn from fancy may resemble the human visage; but such peculiarity of countenance and expression, as serves to distin∣guish a certain person from every other, is always wanting. Present a portrait to a man of taste, and he will be at no loss to say, whether it be copied from the life, or be the product of fancy. If Ossi∣an paint from fancy, the cloven foot will appear: but if his portraits be complete, so as to express every peculiarity of character, why should we doubt of their being copied from life? In that view, the reader, I am hopeful, will not think his time thrown away in examining some of Ossi∣an's striking pictures. I see not any other re∣source.

Love of fame is painted by Ossian as the ruling passion of his countrymen, the Caledonians. War∣riors are every where described as esteeming it their chief happiness to be recorded in the songs of the bards: that feature is never wanting in any of Ossian's heroes. Take the following instances:

"King of the roaring Strumon, said the rising joy

of Fingal, do I behold thee in arms after thy strength has failed? Often hath Morni shone in battles, like the beam of the rising sun, when he disperses the storms of the hill, and brings peace to the glittering fields. But why didst thou not rest in thine age? Thy renown is in the song: the people behold thee, and bless the departure of mighty Mornin 1.55. Son of Fingal, he said, why burns the soul of Gaul? My heart beats high: my steps are disordered; and my hand trembles on my sword. When I look toward the foe, my soul lightens before me, and I see their sleeping host. Tremble thus the souls of the valiant in battles of the spear? How would the soul of Morni rise, if we should rush on the foe! Our renown would grow in the song, and our steps be stately in the eye of the brave* 1.56o 1.57."

That a warrior has acquired his fame, is a con∣solation in every distress:

"Carril, said the King in secret, the strength of Cuchullin fails. My days are with the years that are past; and no morning of mine shall arise. They shall seek me at Temora, but I shall not be found. Cor∣mac will weep in his hall, and say, Where is Tura's chief? But my name is renowned, my

same in the song of bards. The youth will say in secret, 'O let me die as Cuchullin died: re∣nown cloathed him like a robe; and the light of his fame is great.' Draw the arrow from my side; and lay Cuchullin below that oak. Place the shield of Caithbat near, that they may be∣hold me amid the arms of my fathersp 1.58."

Fin∣gal speaks:

"Ullin, my aged bard, take the ship of the King. Carry Oscar to Selma, and let the daughters of Morven weep. We shall fight in Erin for the race of fallen Cormac. The days of my years begin to fail: I feel the weak∣ness of my arm. My fathers bend from their clouds to receive their gray-hair'd son. But, Tremor! before I go hence, one beam of my fame shall rise: in fame shall my days end, as my years begun: my life shall be one stream of light to other timesq 1.59."

Ossian speaks:

"Did thy beauty last, O Ryno! stood the strength of car-borne Oscar* 1.60! Fingal himself passed away, and the halls of his fathers have forgot his steps. And shalt thou remain, aged bard, when the mighty have failed? But my fame shall remain; and grow like the mighty oak of Morven, which lifts its broad head to the storm, and rejoiceth in the course of the windr 1.61."

The chief cause of affliction, when a young man is cut off in battle, is, his not having received

his fame:

"And ••ell the swiftest in the race, said the King, the first to bend the bow? Thou scarce had been known to me; why did young Ryno fall? But sleep thou softly on Lena, Fin∣gal shall soon behold thee. Soon shall my voice be heard no more, and my footsteps cease to be seen. The bards will tell of Fingal's name: the stones will talk of me. But, Ryno! thou art low indeed, thou hast not received thy same. Ullin, strike the harp for Ryno; tell what the chief would have been. Farewel, thou first in every field. No more shall I direct thy dart. Thou that hast been so fair; I behold thee not.—Farewelt 1.62."

"Calthron rushed into the stream: I bounded forward on my spear: Teu∣tha's race fell before us: night came rolling down. Dunthalmo rested on a rock, amidst an aged wood: the rage of his bosom burned against the car-borne Calthron. But Calthron stood in his grief; he mourned the fallen Colmar; Colmar slain in youth, before his fame aroseu 1.63."

Lamentation for loss of fame. Cuchullin speaks:

"But, O ye ghosts of the lonely Cromla! ye souls of chiefs that are no more! be ye the compani∣ons of Cuchullin, and talk to him in the cave of his sorrow. For never more shall I be renown∣ed among the mighty in the land. I am like a beam that has shone; like a mist that has fled away when the blast of the morning came, and brightened the shaggy side of the hill. Connal, talk of arms no more: departed is my fame. My sighs shall be on Cromla's wind, till my footsteps cease to be seen. And thou, white∣bosom'd Brag••la, mourn over the fall of my

fame; for, vanquished, never will I return to thee, thou sun-beam of Dunscaichx 1.64."

Love of fame begets heroic actions, which go hand in hand with elevated sentiments: of the for∣mer there are examples in every page: of the latter take the following examples:

"And let him come, replied the King. I love a soe like Ca••hmor: his soul is great; his arm strong; and his battles full of fame. But the little soul is like a vapour that hovers round the marshy lake, which never rises on the green hill, left the winds meet it therey 1.65."

Ossian speaks:

"But let us fly, son of Morni, Lathmor descends the hill. Then let our steps be slow, replied the fair-hair'd Gaul, lest the soe say with a smile, Behold the warriors of night: they are like ghosts, terrible in darkness; but they melt away before the beam of the Eastz 1.66."

"Son of the feeble hand, said Lathmon, shall my host descend! They are but two, and shall a thousand lift their steel! Nuah would mourn in his hall for the de∣parture of Lathmon's fame: his eyes would turn from Lathmon, when the tread of his feet approached. Go thou to the heroes, son of Dutha, for I behold the stately steps of Ossian. His fame is worthy of my steel: let him fight with Lathmona 1.67."

"Fingal doth not delight in battle, tho' his arm is strong. My renown grows on the fall of the haughty: the lightning of my steel pours on the proud in arms. The battle comes; and the tombs of the valiant rise; the tombs of my people rise, O my fathers! and I at last must remain alone. But I will

remain renowned, and the departure of my soul shall be one stream of lightb 1.68."

"I raised my voice for Favor-gormo, when they laid their chief in earth. The aged Crothar was there, but his sigh was not heard. He searched for the wound of his son, and found it in his breast: joy rose in the face of the aged: he came and spoke to Ossian: King of spears, my son hath not fallen without his fame: the young warrior did not fly, but met death as he went for∣ward in his strength. Happy are they who die in youth, when their renown is heard: their memory shall be honoured in the song; the young tear of the virgin fallsc 1.69."

"Cuchullin kindled at the fight, and darkness gathered on his brow. His hand was on the sword of his fathers: his red-rolling eye on the foe. He thrice attempted to rush to battle, and thrice did Connal stop him. Chief of the Isle of Mist, he said, Fingal subdues the foe: seek not a part of the fame of the Kingd 1.70."

The pictures that Ossian draws of his country∣men are no less remarkable for tender sentiments, than for elevation. Parental affection is finely touched in the following passage:

"Son of Comhal, replied the chief, the strength of Morni's arm hath failed. I attempt to draw the sword of my youth, but it remains in his place: I throw the spear, but it falls short of the mark; and I feel the weight of my shield. We decay like the grass of the mountain, and our strength returns no more. I have a son, O Fingal! his soul has delighted in the actions of Morni's youth; but his sword has not been lifted against the foe,

neither has his same begun. I come with him to battle, to direct his arm. His renown will be a sun to my soul, in the dark hour of my de∣parture. O that the name of Morni were forgot among the people, that the heroes would only say, Behold the father of Gaule 1.71."

And no less finely touched is grief for the loss of children:

"We saw Oscar leaning on his shield: we saw his blood around. Silence darkened on the face of every hero: each turned his back and wept. The King strove to hide his tears. He bends his head over his son; and his words are mixed with sighs. And art thou fallen, Oscar, in the midst of thy course! The heart of the aged beats over thee. I see thy coming battles: I behold the battles that ought to come, but they are cut off from thy fame. When shall joy dwell at Selma? when shall the song of grief cease on Morven? My sons fall by degrees, Fingal will be the last of his race. The fame I have received shall pass away: my age shall be without friends. I shall sit like a grey cloud in my hall: nor shall I expect the return of a son with his sounding arms. Weep, ye heroes of Morven; never more will Oscar riseg 1.72."

Crothar speaks:

"Son of Fingal! dost thou not behold the darkness of Crothar's hall of shells? My soul was not dark at the feast, when my people lived. I rejoiced in the presence of stran∣gers, when my son shone in the hall. But, Ossian, he is a beam that is departed, and left no streak of light behind. He is fallen, son of Fingal, in the battles of his father.—Rothmar, the chief of grassy Tromlo, heard that my eyes had failed; he heard, that my

arms were fixed in the hall, and the pride of his soul arose. He came toward Croma; my people sell before him. I took my arms in the hall; but whta could sightless Crothar do? My steps were unequal; my grief was great. I wished for the days that were past, days wherein I fought and won in the field of blood. My son returned from the chace, the fair-hair'd Fovar∣gormo. He had not listed his sword in battle, for his arm was young. But the soul of the youth was great; the fire of valour burnt in his eyes. He saw the disordered steps of his father, and his sigh arose. King of Croma, he said, is it because thou hast no son; is it for the weak∣ness of Fovar-gormo's arm that thy sighs arise? I begin, my father, to feel the strength of my arm; I have drawn the sword of my youth; and I have bent the bow. Let me meet this Roth∣mar with the youths of Croma: let me meet him, O my father; for I feel my burning soul, and thou shalt meet him, I said, son of the sight∣less Crothar! But let others advance before thee, that I may hear the tread of thy feet at thy return; for my eyes behold thee not, fair-haired Fovar-gormo!—He went, he met the foe; he sell. The foe advances toward Croma. He who slew my son is near, with all his pointed spearsh 1.73."

The following sentiments, about the shortness of human life, are pathetic:

"Desolate is the dwell∣ing of Moina, silence in the house of her fathers. Raise the song of mourning over the strangers. One day we must fall; and they have only fallen before us.—Why dost thou build the hall, son of the winged days! Thou lookest from thy towers to-day: soon will the blast of the de∣sert

sert come. It howls in thy empty court, and whistles over thy half-worn shieldi 1.74."

"How long shall we weep on Lena, or pour our tears in Ullin! The mighty will not return; nor Oscar rise in his strength: the valiant must fall one day, and be no more known. Where are our fathers, O warriors, the chiefs of the times of old! They are set, like stars that have shone: we only hear the sound of their praise. But they were renowned in their day, and the ter∣ror of other times. Thus shall we pass, O warriors, in the day of our fall. Then let us be renowned while we may; and leave our same behind us, like the last beams of the sun, when he hides his red head in the westk 1.75."

In Homer's time heroes were greedy of plunder, and, like robbers, were much disposed to insult a vanquished foe. According to Ossian, the ancient Caledonians had no idea of plunder: and, as they fought for same only, their humanity over•••…•••…∣ed to the vanquished. American savages, it is true, are not addicted to plunder, and are ready to bestow on the first comer what trifles they force from the enemy. But they had no notion of a pitched battle, nor of single combat: on the con∣trary, they value themselves upon slaughtering their enemies by surprise, without risking their own sweet persons. Agreeable to the magnanimous character given by Ossian of his countrymen, we find humanity blended with courage in all their actions.

"Fingal pitied the white-armed maid: he stayed the uplifted sword. The tear was in the eye of the King, as bending forward he spoke: King of streamy Sora, fear not the sword of Fingal: it was never stained with he blood

of the vanquished; it never pierced a fallen foe. Let thy people rejoice along the blue waters of Tora: let the maids of thy love be glad. Why should'st thou fall in thy youth, King of streamy Soral 1.76!"

Fingal speaks:

"Son of my strength, he said, take the spear of Fingal: go to Teutha's mighty stream, and save the car∣borne Colmar. Let thy fame return before thee like a pleasant gale: that my soul may rejoice over my son, who renews the renown of our fathers. Ossian! be thou a storm in battle, but mild where thy foes are low. It was thus my same arose, O my son; and be thou like Selma's chief. When the haughty come to my hall, my eyes behold them not; but my arm is stretched forth to the unhappy, my sword defends the weakm 1.77."

"O Oscar! bend the strong in arm, but spare the feeble hand. Be thou a stream of many tides against the foes of thy people, but like the gale that moves the grass to those who ask thy aid. Never search for the battle, nor shun it when it comes. So Trenmor lived; such Trathal was; and such has Fingal been. My arm was the support of the injured; and the weak rested behind the lightning of my steeln 1.78."

Humanity to the vanquished is displayed in the following passages. After deseating in battle Swa∣ran, King of Lochlin, Fingal says,

"Raise, Ullin, raise the song of peace, and sooth my soul after battle, that my ear may forget the noise of arms. And let an hundred harps be near, to gladden the King of Lochlin: he must depart from us with joy; none ever went sad from Fin∣gal.

Oscar, the lightning of my sword is against the strong; but peaceful it hangs by my side when warriors yield in battleo 1.79."

"Uthal fell beneath my sword, and the sons of Berrathon sled. It was then I saw him in his beauty, and the tear hung in my eye. Thou art fallen, young tree, I said, with all thy budding beauties round thee. The winds come from the desert, and there is no sound in thy leaves. Lovely art thou in death, son of car-borne Lath∣morp 1.80."

After the scenes above exhibited, it will not be thought that Ossian deviates from the manners re∣presented by him, in describing the hospitality of his chieftains:

"We heard the voice of joy on the coast, and we thought that the mighty Cathmor came; Cathmor, the friend of strangers, the brother of red-hair'd Cairbar. But their souls were not the same; for the light of heaven was in the bosom of Cathmor. His towers rose on the banks of Atha: seven paths led to his hall▪ seven chiefs stood on these paths, and called the stranger to the feast. But Cathmor dwelt in the wood, to avoid the voice of praiseq 1.81."

"Rath∣mor was a chief of Clutha. The feeble dwelt in his hall. The gates of Rathmor were never closed: his feast was always spread. The sons of the stranger came, and blessed the generous chief of Clutha. Bards raised the song, and touched the harp▪ joy brightened on the face of the mournful. Dunthalmo came in his pride, and rushed into combat with Rathmor. The chief of Clutha overcame. The rage of Dun∣thalmo rose: he came by night with his war∣riors;

and the mighty Rathmor sell: he sell in his hall, where his feast had been often spread for strangersr 1.82."

It seems not to exceed the magnanimity of his chieftains, intent upon glory only, to feast even their enemies before a battle. Cuchullin, after the first day's engagement with Swaran, King of Lochlin or Scandinavia, says to Carril, one of his bards,

"Is this feast spread for me alone, and the ••ing of Lochlin on Ullin's shore; far from the deer of his hills, and sounding halls of his feasts? Rise, Carril of other times, and carry my words to Swaran; tell him from the roaring of waters, that Cuchullin gives his feast. Here let him listen to the sound of my groves amid the clouds of night: for cold and bleak the blustering winds rush over the foam of his seas. Here let him praise the trembling harp, and hear the songs of heroess 1.83."

The Scan∣dinavian King, less polished, refused the invitation. Cairbar speaks:

"Spread the feast on Lena, and let my hundred bards attend. And thou, red∣hair'd Olla, take the harp of the King. Go to Oscar, King of Swords, and bid him to our feast. To-day we feast and hear the song; to∣morrow break the spearst 1.84."

"Olla came with his songs. Oscar went to Cairbar's feast. Three hundred heroes attend the chief, and the clang of their arms is terrible. The gray dogs bound on the heath, and their howling is fre∣quent. Fingal saw the departure of the hero: the soul of the King was sad. He dreads the gloomy Cairbar: but who of the race of Tren∣mor fears the foeu 1.85?"

Cruelty is every where condemned as an infa∣mous vice. Speaking of the bards,

"Cairbar seared to stretch his sword to the bards, tho' his soul was dark; but he closed us in the midst of darkness. Three days we pined alone: on the fourth, the noble Cathmor came. He heard our voice from the cave, and turned the eye of his wrath on Cairbar. Chief of Atha, he said, how long wilt thou pain my soul? Thy heart is like the rock of the desert, and thy thoughts are dark. But thou art the brother of Cathmor, and he will fight thy battles. Cathmor's soul is not like thine, thou feeble hand of war. The light of my bosom is stain∣ed with thy deeds. The balds will not sing of my renown; they may say, Cathmor was brave, but he fought for gloomy Cairbar: they will pass over my tomb in silence, and my same shall not be heard. Cairbar, loose the bards; they are the sons of other times; their voice shall be heard in other ages, when the Kings of Temora have sailedx 1.86."

"Ullin rais'd his white sails: the wind of the south came forth. He bounded on the waves to∣ward Selma's walls. The feast is spread on Le∣na: an hundred heroes reared the tomb of Cair∣bar; but no song is raised over the chief, for his soul had been dark and bloody. We remem∣bered the fall of Cormac; and what could we say in Cairbar's praisey 1.87?"

Genuine manners never were represented more to the the life by a Tacitus nor a Shakespear. Such painting is above the reach of pure in∣vention, and must be the work of knowledge and seeling.

One may discover the manners of a nation from the figure their women make. Among savages, women are treated like slaves; and they acquire not the dignity that belongs to the sex, till manners be considerably refined. According to the man∣ners above described, women ought to have made a considerable figure among the ancient Caledoni∣ans. Let us examine Ossian upon that subject, in order to judge whether he carries on the same tone of manners to every particular. That women were highly regarded appears from the following passages:

"Daughter of the hand of snow! I was not so mournful and blind, I was not so dark and forlorn, when Everallin loved me, Everallin with the dark-brown hair, the white-bosomed love of Cormac. A thousand heroes sought the maid, she denied her love to a thousand; the sons of the sword were despised; for graceful in her eyes was Ossian. I went in suit of the maid to Lego's sable surge; twelve of my people were there, sons of the streamy Morven. We came to Branno, friend of stran∣gers, Branno of the sounding mail.—From whence, he said, are the arms of steel? Not easy to win is the maid that has denied the blue∣eyed sons of Erin. But blest be thou, O son of Fingal, happy is the maid that waits thee. Tho' twelve daughters of beauty were mine, thine were the choice, thou son of fame! Then he opened the hall of the maid, the dark-hair'd Everallin. Joy kindled in our breasts of steel, and blest the maid of Brannoz 1.88."

"Now Connal, on Cromla's windy side, spoke to the chief of the noble car. Why that gloom, son of Semo? Our friends are the mighty in battle. And renowned art thou, O warrior! many

were the deaths of thy steel. Often has Bra∣gela met thee with blue-rolling eyes of joy; often has she met her hero returning in the midst of the valiant, when his sword was red with slaughter, and his foes silent in the field of the tomb. Pleasant to her ears were thy bards, when thine actions rose in the songa 1.89."

"But, King of Morven, if I shall fall, as one time the warrior must fall, raise my tomb in the midst, and let it be the greatest on Lena. And send over the dark-blue wave the sword of Orla, to the spouse of his love; that she may show it to her son, with tears, to kindle his soul to warb 1.90."

"I lifted my eyes to Cromla, and I saw the son of generous Semo.—Sad and slow he retired from his hill toward the lonely cave of Tura. He saw Fingal victorious, and mix∣ed his joy with grief. The son is bright on his armour, and Connal slowly followed. They sunk behind the hill, like two pillars of the fire of night, when winds pursue them over the mountain, and the flaming heath resounds. Beside a stream of roaring foam, his cave is in a rock. One tree bends above it; and the rushing winds echo against its sides. There rests the chief of Dunscaich, the son of gene∣rous Semo. His thoughts are on the battles he lost; and the tear is on his cheek. He mourned the departure of his fame, that fled like the mist of Cona. O Bragela, thou art too far remote to cheer the soul of the hero. But let him see thy bright form in his soul; that his thoughts may return to the lonely sun-beam of Duns∣caichc 1.91."

"Ossian, King of swords, replied

the bard, thou best raisest the song. Long hast thou been known to Carril, thou ruler of battles. Often have I touched the harp to lovely Everal∣lin. Thou, too, hast often accompanied my voice in Branno's hall of shells. And often amidst our voices was heard the mildest Everallin. One day she sung of Cormac's fall, the youth that died for her love. I saw the tears on her cheek, and on thine, thou chief of men. Her soul was touched for the unhappy, though she loved him not. How fair, among a thousand maids, was the daughter of the generous Brannod 1.92!"

"It was in the days of peace, replied the great Cles∣sammor, I came in my bounding ship to Balclu∣tha's walls of towers. The winds had roared behind my sails, and Clutha's streams received my dark-bosomed vessel. Three days I remain∣ed in Reuthamir's halls, and saw that beam of light, his daughter. The joy of the shell went round, and the aged hero gave the fair. Her breasts were like foam on the wave, and her eyes like stars of light: her hair was dark as the ra∣ven's wing: her soul was generous and mild. My love for Moina was great: and my heart poured forth in joye 1.93."

"The fame of Ossian shall rise: his deeds shall be like his father's. Let us rush in our arms, son of Morni, let us rush to battle. Gaul, if thou shalt return, go to Selma's lofty hall. Tell Everallin that I ••ell with ••ame: carry the sword to Branno's daugh∣ter: let her give it to Oscar when the years of his youth shall arisef 1.94."

Next to war, love makes the principal figure: and well it may; for in Ossian's poems it breathes

every thing sweet, tender, and elevated.

"On Lubar's grassy banks they sought; and Grudar fell. Fierce Cairbar came to the vale of the echoing Tura, where Brassolis, fairest of his sisters, all alone raised the song of grief. She sung the actions of Grudar, the youth of her secret soul: she mourned him in the field of blood; but still she hoped his return. Her white bosom is seen from her robe, as the moon from the clouds of night: her voice was softer than the harp, to raise the song of grief: her soul was fixed on Grudar, the secret look of her eye was his;—when wilt thou come in thine arms, thou mighty in the war? Take, Brassolis, Cairbar said, take this shield of blood: fix it on high within my hall, the armour of my foe. Her soft heart beat against her side: distracted, pale, she flew, and found her youth in his blood.—She died on Cromla's heath. Here rests their dust, Cuchullin; and these two lonely yews, sprung from their tombs, wish to meet on high. Fair was Brassolis on the plain, and Grudar on the hill. The bard shall preserve their names, and repeat them to future timesg 1.95."

"Pleasant is thy voice, O Carril, said the blue-eyed chief of Erin; and lovely are the words of other times: they are like the calm shower of spring, when the sun looks on the field, and the light cloud flies over the hill. O strike the harp in praise of my love, the lonely sunbeam of Duscaich: strike the harp in praise of Bragela, whom I left in the isle of mist, the spouse of Semo's son. Dost thou raise thy fair face from the rock to find the sails of Cuchullin? the sea is rolling far distant, and its white foam will deceive thee for my sails. Re∣tire, my love, for it is night, and the dark winds

sigh in thy hair: retire to the hall of my feasts, and think of times that are past; for I will not return till the storm of war cease.—O Connal, speak of war and arms, and send her from my mind; for lovely with her raven-hair is the white-bosomed daughter of Sorglanh 1.96."

Mal∣vina speaks.

"But thou dwellest in the soul of Malvina, son of mighty Ossian. My sighs arise with the beam of the east, my tears descend with the drops of night. I was a lovely tree in thy presence, Oscar, with all my branches round me; but thy death came like a blast from the desert, and laid my green head low: the spring returned with its showers, but of me not a leaf sprung. The virgins saw me silent in the hall, and they touched the harp of joy. The tear was on the cheek of Malvina, and the virgins beheld my grief. Why art thou sad, they said, thou first of the maids of Lutha? Was he lovely as the beam of the morning, and stately in thy sighti 1.97?"

"Fingal came in his mildness, rejoicing in secret over the actions of his son. Morni's face brightened with gladness, and his aged eyes looked faintly through tears of joy. We came to the halls of Selma, and sat round the feast of shells. The maids of the song came into our presence, and the mildly-blushing Everallin. Her dark hair spreads on her neck of snow, her eye rolls in secret on Ossian. She touches the harp of music, and we bless the daughter of Brannok 1.98".

Had the Caledonians made slaves of their wo∣men, and thought as meanly of them as savages commonly do, it could never have entered the ima∣gination of Ossian to ascribe to them those num∣berless

graces that exalt the female sex, and render many of them objects of pure and elevated affection. Without the aid of inspiration, such refined man∣ners could never have been conceived by a savage. I say more: Supposing a savage to have been di∣vinely inspired, manners so inconsistent with their own would not have been relished, not even com∣prehended, by his countrymen. And yet that they were highly relished is certain, having been univer∣sally diffused among all ranks, and preserved for many ages by memory alone, without writing. Here the argument mentioned above strikes with double force, to evince, that the manners of the Caledonians must have been really such as Ossian describes.

Catharina Alexowna, Empress of Russia, pro∣moted assemblies of men and women, as a means to polish the manners of her subjects. And in order to preserve decency in such assemblies, she publish∣ed a body of regulations, of which the following are a specimen.

"Ladies who play at forfeitures, questions and commands, &c. shall not be noisy nor riotous. No gentleman must attempt to force a kiss, nor strike a woman in the assembly, under pain of exclusion. Ladies are not to get drunk upon any pretext whatever; nor gentle∣men before nine."

Compare the manners that required such regulations with those described above. Can we suppose, that the ladies and gentlemen of Ossian's poems ever amused themselves, after the age of twelve, with hide and seek, questions and commands, or such childish play? Can it enter in∣to our thoughts, that Bragéla or Malvina were so often drunk, as to require the reprimand of a pub∣lic regulation? or that any hero of Ossian ever struck a woman of fashion in ire?

The immortality of the soul was a capital article in the Celtic creed, inculated by the Druidsl 1.99. And in Valerius Maximus we find the following passage.

"Gallos, memoriae proditum est, pecu∣nias mutuas, quae sibi apud inferos redderentur, dare: quia persuasum habuerint, animas homi∣num immortales esse. Dicerem stultos, nisi idem braccati sensissent quod palliatus Pythagoras sen∣sit* 1.100m 1.101."

All savages have an impression of im∣mortality; but few, even of the most enlightened before Christianity prevailed, had the least notion of any occupations in another life, but what they were accustomed to in this. Even Virgil, with all his poetical invention, finds no amusements for his departed herces, but what they were fond of when alive; the same love for war, the same taste for hunting, and the same affection to their friends. As we have no reason to expect more invention in Ossian, the observation may serve as a key to the ghosts introduced by him, and to his whole machi∣nery, as termed by critics. His description of these ghosts is copied plainly from the creed of his country.

In an historical account of the progress of man∣ners, it would argue gross insensibility to overlock those above mentioned. The subject, it is true, has sweiled upon my hands beyond expectation; but it is not a little interesting. If these manners be genuine, they are a singular phenomenon in the

History of Man: if they be the invention of an illiterate bard, among savages utterly ignorant of such manners, the phenomenon is no less singular. Let either side be taken, and a sort of miracle must be admitted. In the Instances above given, such a beautiful mixture there is of simplicity and dignity, and so much life given to the manners described, that real manners were never represented with a more striking appearance of truth. If these man∣ners be fictitious, I say again, that the author must have been inspired: they plainly exceed the inven∣tion of a savage; nay, they exceed the invention of any known writer. Every man will judge for himself: it is perhaps fondness for such refined manners, that makes me incline to reality against fiction.

I am aware at the same time, that manners so pure and elevated, in the first stage of society, are difficult to be accounted for. The Caledonians were not an original tribe, to found a supposition that they might have manners peculiar to them∣selves: they were a branch of the Celtae, and had a language common to them with the inhabitants of Gaul, and of England. The manners probably of all were the same, or nearly so; and if we expect any light for explaining Caledonian manners, it must be from that quarter: we have indeed no other resource. Diodorus Siculusn 1.102 reports of the Celtae, that, though warlike, they were upright in their dealings, and far removed from deceit and duplicity. Caesaro 1.103,

"Galli homines aperti mi∣nimeque in••idiosi, qui per virtutem, non per do∣lum, dimicare consueverunt* 1.104."

And though

cruel to their enemies, yet Pomponius Melap 1.105 observes, that they were kind and compassionate to the supplicant and unfortunate. Straboq 1.106 describes the Gauls as studious of war, and of great alacrity in fighting; otherwise an innocent people, altoge∣ther void of malignity. He says, that they had three orders of men, bards, priests, and druids; that the province of the bards was to study poetry, and to compose songs in praise of their deceased heroes; that the priests presided over divine wor∣ship; and that the druids, beside studying moral and natural philosophy, determined all controver∣sies, and had some direction even in war. Caesar, less attentive to civil matters, comprehends these three orders under the name of druids; and ob∣serves, that the druids teach their disciples a vast number of verses, which they must get by heart. Diodorus Siculus says, that the Gauls had poets termed bards, who sung airs accompanied with the harp, in praise of some, and dispraise of others. Lucan, speaking of the three orders, says,

" Vos quoque, qui fortes animas, belloque pe∣remptas, " Laudibus in longum, vates, dimittitis aevum, " Plurima securi fudistis carmina bardi† 1.107."

With respect to the Celtic women in particular, it is agreed by all writers, that they were extremely

beautifulr 1.108. They were no less remarkable for spirit than for beauty. If we can rely on Diodorus Siculus, the women in Gaul equalled the men in courage. Tacitus, in his life of Agricola, says, that the British women frequently joined with the men, when attacked by an enemy. And so much were they regarded, as to be thought capable of the highest command.

"Neque enim sexum in imperiis discernunt* 1.109,"

says the same authors 1.110. And accordingly, during the war carried on by Ca∣ractacus, a gallant British King, against the Ro∣mans, Cartismandua was Queen of the Brigantes. Boadicea is recorded in Roman annals as a queen of a warlike spirit. She led on a great army against the Romans; and in exhorting her people to be∣have with courage, she observed, that it was not unusual to see a British army led on to battle by a woman; to which Tacitus adds his testmony:

"Solitum quidem Britannis foeminarum ductu bel∣lare† 1.111t 1.112."

No wonder that Celtic women, so amply provided with spirit, as well as beauty, made a capital figure in every public entertainmentu 1.113.

The Gallic Celtae undoubtedly carried with them their manners and customs to Britain, and spread them gradually from south to north. And as the Caledonians, inhabiting a mountainous country in the northern parts of the island, had little commerce with other nations, they preserved long in purity many Celtic customs, particularly that of retaining

bards. All the chieftains had bards in their pay, whose province it was to compose songs in praise of their ancestors, and to accompany those songs with the harp. This entertainment enflamed their love for war, and at the same time softened their man∣ners, which, as Strabo reports, were naturally in∣nocent and void of malignity. It had beside a won∣derful influence in forming virtuous manners: the bards, in praising deceased heroes, would naturally select virtuous actions, which make the best figure in heroic poetry, and tend the most to illustrate the hero of their song: vice may be flattered; but praise is never willingly nor successfully bestowed upon any atchievement but what is virtuous and heroic. It is accordingly observed by Ammianus Marcellinusx 1.114, that the bards inculcated in their songs virtue and actions worthy of praise. The bards, who were in high estimation, became great proficients in poetry; of which we have a conspi∣cuous instance in the works of Ossian. Their capi∣tal compositions were diligently studied by those of their own order, and much admired by all. The songs of the bards, accompanied with the harp, made a deep impression on the young warrior, ele∣vated some into heroes, and promoted virtue in every hearer* 1.115. Another circumstance concurred to form Caledonian manners, common to them with every nation in the first stage of society; which is,

that avarice was unknown among them. People in that stage, ignorant of habitual wants, and having a ready supply of all that nature requires, have lit∣tle notion of property, and not the slightest notion of accumulating the goods of fortune; and for that reason are always found honest and disinterested. With respect to the female sex, who make an illustrious figure in Ossian's poems, if they were so eminent both for courage and beauty as they are represented by the best authors, it is no wonder that they are painted by Ossian as objects of love the most pure and refined. Nor ought it to be over∣looked, that the soft and delicate notes of the harp have a tendency to purify manners, and to refine love.

Whether the causes here assigned of Celtic man∣ners be fully adequate may well admit of a doubt; but if authentic history be relied on, we can enter∣tain no doubt, that the manners of the Gallic and British Celiae, including the Caledonians, were such as are above described. And as the manners ascribed by Ossian to his conntrymen the Caledoni∣ans, are in every particular conformable to those now mentioned, it clearly follows, that Ossian was no inventor, but drew his pictures of manners from real life. This is made highly probable from in∣trinsic evidence, the same that is so copiously urged above: and now by authentic history that probabi∣lity is so much heightened as scarce to leave room for a doubt.

Our present highlanders are but a small part of the inhabitants of Britain; and they have been sinking in their importance, from the time that arts and sciences made a figure, and peaceable manners pre∣vailed. And yet in that people are discernible ma∣ny remaining features of their forefathers the Cale∣donians. They have to this day a disposition to war, and when disciplined make excellent soldiers,

sober, active, and obedient. They are eminently hospitable; and the character given by Strabo of the Gallic Celiae, that they were innocent, and devoid of malignity, is to them perfectly applicable. That they have not the magnanimity and heroism of the Caledonians, is easily accounted for. The Caledonians were a free and independent people, unawed by any superior power, and living under the mild government of their own chieftains: compar∣ed with their forefathers, the present highlanders make a very inconsiderable figure: their country is barren, and at any rate is but a small part of a po∣tent kingdom; and their language deprives them of intercourse with their polished neighbours.

There certainly never happened in literature a discovery more extraordinary than the works of Ossi∣an. To lay the scene of action among hunters in the first stage of society, and to bestow upon such a people a system of manners that would do honour to the most polished state, seemed at first an ill-con∣trived forgery. But if a forgery, why so bold and improbable? why not invent manners more con∣gruous to the savage state? And as at any rate the work has greater merit, why did the author conceal himself? These considerations roused my attention, and produced the foregoing disquisition; which I finished, without imagining that any more light could be obtained. But after a long interval, a thought struck me, that as the Caledonians formerly were much connected with the Scandinavians, the manners of the latter might probably give light in the present enquiry. I chearfully spread my sails in a wide ocean, not without hopes of importing precious merchandise. Many volumes did I turn over of Scandinavian history; especially where the manners of the inhabitants in the first stage of society are delineated; and now I proceed to present my readers with the fruits of my labour.

The Danes, says Adam of Bremen, are remark∣able for elevation of mind: the punishment of death is less dreaded by them than that of whipping.

"The philosophy of the Cimbri,"

says Valerius Maximus,

"is gay and resolute: they leap for joy in a battle, hoping for a glorious end: in sickness they lament, for fear of the contrary."

What fortified their courage was a persuasion, that those who die in battle fighting bravely, are instantly translated to the hall of Odin, to drink beer out of the skull of an enemy.

"Happy in their mistake,"

says Lucan,

"are the people who live near the pole: persuaded that death is only a passage to long life, they are undisturbed by the most griev∣ous of all fears, that of dying: they eagerly run to arms, and esteem it cowardice to spare a life they shall soon recover in another world."

Such was their magnanimity, that they scorned to snatch a victory by surprise. Even in their piratical ex∣peditions, instances are recorded of setting aside all the ships that exceeded those of the enemy, lest the victory should be attributed to superiority of num∣bers. It was held unmanly to decline a combat, however unequal; for courage, it was thought, rendered all men equal. The shedding tears was unmanly, even for the death of friends.

The Scandinavians were sensible in a high degree to praise and reproach; for love of fame was their darling passion. Olave, King of Norway, placing three of his scalds or bards around him in a battle,

"You shall not relate,"

said he,

"what you have only heard, but what you are eye-witnesses of."

Upon every occasion we find them insisting upon glory, honour, and contempt of death, as leading principles. The bare suspicion of cowardice was attended with universal contempt: a man who lost his buckler, or received a wound behind, durst ne∣ver again appear in public. Frotho King of Den∣mark,

taken captive in a battle, obstinately refused either liberty or life.

"To what end,"

says he,

"should I survive the disgrace of being made a captive? Should you even restore to me my •••…•••…er, my treasure, and my kingdom, would these bene∣fits restore me to my honour? Future ages will always have it to say, that Protho was taken by his enemyy 1.116."

Much efficacy is above ascribed to the songs of Caledonian bards; and with satisfaction I find my observations justified in every Scandinavian history. The Kings of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, are represented in ancient chronicles as constantly attended with scalds or bards; who were treated with great respect, especially by princes distinguish∣ed in war. Harold Harfager at his feasts placed them above all his other officers; and employed them in negotiations of the greatest importance. The poetic art, held in great estimation, was cul∣tivated by men of the first rank. Rogvald, Earl of Orkney, passed for an able poet. King Regnar was distinguished in poetry, no less than in war. It was the proper province of bards in Scandinavia, as in other countries, to celebrate in odes the atchieve∣ments of deceased heroes. They were frequently employed in animating the troops before a battle. Hacon, Earl of Norway, in his famous engagement against the warriors of Iomsburg, had five celebrat∣ed poets, each of whom sung an ode to the soldiers ready to engage. Saxo Grammaticus, describing a battle between Waldemar and Sueno, mentions a scald belonging to the former, who, advancing to the front of the army, reproached the latter in a pathetic ode as the murderer of his own father.

The odes of the Scandinavian bards have a pecu∣liar energy; which is not difficult to be accounted

for. The propensity of the Scandinavians to war, their love of glory, their undaunted courage, and their warlike exploits, naturally produced elevated sentiments, and an elevated tone of language; both of which were displayed in celebrating heroic deeds. Take the following instances. The first is from the Edda, which contains the birth and genealogy of their gods.

"The giant Rymer arrives from the east, carried in a chariot: the great serpent, rolling himself furiously in the waters, listeth up the sea. The eagle sereams, and with his horrid beak tears the dead. The vessel of the gods is set afloat. The black prince of sire issues from the south, surrounded with flames: the swords of the gods beam like the sun: shaken are the rocks, and fall to pieces. The female giants wander about weeping: men in crowds tread the paths of death. Heaven is split asunder, the sun darkened, and the earth sunk in fhe ocean. The shining stars vanish: the fire rages the world draws to an end; and the flame ascending licks the vault of heaven. From the bosom of the waves an earth emerges, clothed with lovely green: the floods retire: the fields produce with∣out culture: misfortunes are banished from the world. Balder and his brother, gods of war, return to inhabit the ruined palace of Odin. A palace more resplendent than the sun rises now to view; adorned with a roof of gold: there good men shall inhabit▪ and live in joy and plea∣sure through all ages."

In a collection of anci∣ent historical monuments of the north, published by Biorner, a learned Swede, there is the following passage.

"Grunder, perceiving Grymer rushing furiously through opposing battalions, cries aloud, Thou alone remainest to engage with me in single combat. It is now thy turn to feel the keenness of my sword. Their sabres, like dark

and threatening clouds, hang dreadful in the air. Grymer's weapon darts down like a thunderbolt: their swords furiously strike: they are bathed in gore. Grymer cleaves the casque of his enemy, hews his armour in pieces, and pours the light into his bosom. Grunder sinks to the ground; and Grymer gives a dreadful shout of triumph."

This picture is done with a masterly hand. The capital circumstances are judiciously selected; and the narration is compact and rapid. Indulge me with a moment's pause to compare this picture with one or two in Ossian's manner.

"As autumn's dark storm pour froms two echoing hills; so to each other approach the heroes. As from high rocks two dark streams meet, and mix and roar on the plain; so meet Lochlin and Innis-fail, loud, rough, and dark in battle. Chief mixes his strokes with chief, and man with man; steel sounds on steel, helmets are cleft on high. Blood bursts, and smoaks around. Strings murmur on the polished yew. Darts rush along the sky. Spears fall like sparks of flame that gild the stor∣my face of night. As the noise of the troubled ocean when roll the waves on high, as the last peal of thundering heaven, such is the noise of battle. Though Cormac's hundred bards were there, feeble were the voice of an hundred bards to send the deaths to future times; for many were the heroes who fell, and wide poured the blood of the valiant."

Again,

"As roll a thousand waves to the rocks, so came on Swaran's host: as meets a rock a thousand waves, so Innis-fail met Swaran. The voice of death is heard all around, and mixes with the sound of shields. Each hero is a pillar of darkness, and the sword a beam of fire in his hand. From wing to wing echoes the field, like a hundred hammers that rise by turns on the red sun of the furnace. Who

are those on Lena's heath, so gloomy and dark? they are like two clouds, and their swords lighten above. Who is it but Ossian's son, and the car∣borne chief of Erin?"

These two descriptions make a deeper impression, and swell the heart more than the former: they are more poetical by short similes finely interwoven; and the images are far more lofty. And yet Ossian's chief talent is sen∣timent, in which Scandinavian bards are far inferi∣or: in the generosity, tenderness, and humanity of his sentiments, he has not a rival.

The ancient Scandinavians were undoubtedly a barbarous people compared with the southern nati∣ons of Europe; but that they were far from being gross savages, may be gathered from a poem still extant, named HAVAMAAL; or, The sublime Discourse of Odin. Though that poem is of great antiquity, it is replete with good lessons and ju∣dicious reflections; of which the following are a specimen:

• Happy he who gains the applause and good-will of men.
• Love your friends, and love also their friends.
• Be not the first to break with your friend: sor∣row gnaws the heart of him who has not a single friend to advise with.
• Where is the virtuous man that hath not a fail∣ing? Where is the wicked man that hath not some good quality?
• Riches take wing: relations die: you yourself shall die. One thing only is out of the reach of fate; which is, the judgement that passes on the dead.
• There is no malady more severe than the being discontented with one's lot.
• Let not a man be over-wise nor over-curious: if he would sleep in quiet, let him not seek to know his destiny.
• ...

• While we live, let us live well: a man lights his fire, but before it be burnt out, death may enter.
• A coward dreams that he may live for ever: if he should escape every other weapon, he cannot escape that of old age.
• The flocks know when to retire from pasture: the glutton knows not when to retire from the feast.
• The lewd and dissolute make a mock of every thing, not considering how much they deserve to be mocked.
• The best provision for a journey is strength of understanding: more useful than treasure, it wel∣comes one to the table of the stranger.

Hitherto the manners of the Scandinavians re∣semble, in many capital circumstances, those deli∣neated in the works of Ossian. I lay not, how∣ever, great stress upon that resemblance, because such manners are found among several other war∣like nations in the first stage of society. The cir∣cumstance that has occasioned the greatest doubt about Ossian's system of manners, is the figure his women make. Among other savage nations, they are held to be beings of an inferior rank; and as such are treated with very little respect: in Ossian they make an illustrious figure, and are highly regarded by the men. I have not words to express my satisfaction, when I discovered, that anciently among the barbarous Scandinavians, the female sex made a figure no less illustrious. A re∣semblance so complete with respect to a matter ex∣tremely singular among barbarians, cannot fail to convert the most obstinate infidel, leaving no doubt of Ossian's veracity.—But I ought not to anti∣cipate. One cannot pass a verdict till the evidence be summed up; and to that task I now proceed, with sanguine hopes of success.

It is a fact ascertained by many writers, That women in the north of Europe were eminent for resolution and courage. Caesar, in the first book of his Commentaries, describing a battle he fought with the Helvetii, says, that the women, with a warlike spirit, exhorted their husbands to persist, and placed the waggons in a line, to prevent their flight. Florus and Tacitus mention that several battles of those barbarous nations were renewed by their women, presenting their naked bosoms, and declaring their abhorrence of captivity. Fla∣vius Vopiscus, writing of Proculus Caesar, says, that an hundred Samaritan virgins were taken in battle. The Longobard women, when many of their husbands were cut off in a battle, took up arms, and obtained the victoryd 1.117. The females of the Galactophagi, a Scythian tribe, were as warlike as the males, and went often with them to ware 1.118. In former times, many women in Den∣mark applied themselves to armsf 1.119. Jornandes describes the women of the Goths as full of cou∣rage, and trained to arms like the men. Joannes Magnus, Archbishop of Upsal, says the same; and mentions in particular an expedition of the Goths to invade a neighbouring country, in which more women went along with the men than were left at homeg 1.120. Several Scandinavian women exercised piracyh 1.121. The Cimbri were always attended with their wives, even in their distant expeditions, and were more afraid of their reproaches, than of the blows of the enemy. The Goths, compelled by famine to surrender to Belisarius the city of Ra∣venna,

were bitterly reproached by their wives for cowardicei 1.122. In a battle between Regner, King of Denmark, and Fro, King of Sweden, many women took part with the former, Langertha in particular, who fought with her hair flowing about her shoulders. Regner, being victorious, demand∣ed who that woman was, who had behaved so gal∣lantly; and finding her to be a virgin of noble birth, he took her to wife. He afterward divorced her, in order to make way for a daughter of the King of Sweden. Regner being unhappily engaged in a civil war with Harald, who aspired to the throne of Denmark, Langertha, overlooking her wrongs, brought from Norway a body of men to assist her husband; and behaved so gallantly, that, in the opinion of all, Regner was indebted to her for the victory.

To find women, in no inconsiderable portion of the globe, dropping their timid nature, and rivalling men in their capital property of courage, is a singular phoenomenon. That this phoenome∣non must have had an adequate cause, is certain; but of that cause, it is better to acknowledge our utter ignorance, however mortifying, than to squeeze out conjectures that will not bear exa∣mination.

In rude nations, prophets and soothsayers are held to be a superior class of men: what a figure then must the Vandal women have made, when, in that nation, as Procropius says, all the prophets and soothsayers were of the female sex? In Scandinavia, women are said to have been skilful in magic arts, as well as men. Tacitus informs us, that the Germans had no other physicians but their women. They followed the armies, to staunch the blood, and

suck the wounds of their husbands* 1.123. He men∣tions a fact, that sets the German women in a conspicuous light, That female hostages bound the Germans more strictly to their engagements than male hostages. He adds,

"Inesse quin etiam sanc∣tum aliquid et providum putant: nec aut con∣silia earum aspernantur, aut responsa negligun∣tur† 1.124."

The histories and romances of the north represent women, and even princesses, acting as physicians in war.

Polygamy sprung up in countries where women are treated as inferior beings: it can never take place where the two sexes are held to be of equal rank. For that reason, polygamy never was known among the northern nations of Europe. Saxo Grammaticus, who wrote the history of Denmark in the twelfth century, gives not the slightest hint of polygamy, even among kings and princes. Crantz, in his history of the Saxonsk 1.125, affirms, that polygamy was never known among the nor∣thern nations of Europe; which is confirmed by every other writer who gives the history of any of those nations. Scheffer, in particular, who writes the history of Lapland, observes, that neither po∣lygamy

nor divorce were ever heard of in that country, not even during paganism.

We have the authority of Procopiusl 1.126, that the women in those countries were remarkable for beauty, and that those of the Goths and Vandals were the finest that ever had been seen in Italy; and we have the authority of Crantz, that chasti∣ty was in high estimation among the Danes, Swedes, and other Scandinavians. When these facts are added to those above-mentioned, it will not be thought strange, that love between the sexes, even among that rude people, was a pure and elevated passion. That it was in fact such, is certain, if history can be credited, or the sen∣timents of a people expressed in their poetical compositions. I begin with the latter, as evidence the most to be relied on. The ancient poems of Scandinavia contain the warmest expressions of love and regard for the female sex. In an ode of King Regner Lodbrog, a very ancient poem, we find the following sentiments:

"We fought with swords upon a promontory of England, when I saw ten thousand of my foes rolling in the dust. A dew of blood distilled from our swords: the arrows, that flew in search of the helmet, hissed through the air. The pleasure of that day was like the clasping a fair virgin in my arms."

Again,

"A young man should march early to the conflict of arms; in which consists the glory of the warrior. He who aspires to the love of a mistress, ought to be dauntless in the clash of swords."

These Hyperboreans, it would appear, had early learned to combine the ideas of love and of military prowess; which is still more conspicuous in an ode of Harald the Va∣liant, of a later date. That prince, who made a

figure in the middle of the eleventh century, tra∣versed all the seas of the north, and made pira∣tical incursions even upon the coasts of the Medi∣terranean. In this ode he complains, that the glory he had acquired made no impression on Elissir, daughter to Jarislas, King of Russia.

"I have made the tour of Sicily. My brown vessel, full of mariners, made a swift progress. My course, I thought, would never slacken—and yet a Russian maiden scorns me. The troops or Drontheim, which I attacked in my youth, ex∣ceeded ours in number. Terrible was the con∣flict: I left their young king dead on the field—and yet a Russian maiden scorns me. Eight exercises I can perform: I fight valiantly: firm is my seat on horseback: inured I am to swim∣ming: swift is my motion on scates: I dart the lance: I am skilful at the oar—and yet a Russian maiden scorns me. Can she deny, this young and lovely maiden, that near a city in the south I joined battle, and left behind me lasting monuments of my exploits?—and yet a Russian maiden scorns me. My birth was in the high country of Norway, famous for archers: but ships were my delight; and, far from the habitations of men, I have traversed the seas from north to south—and yet a Russian maiden scorns me."

in the very ancient poem of Ha∣vamaal, mentioned above, there are many ex∣pressions of love to the fair-sex.

"He who would gain the love of a maiden, must address her with smooth speeches, and showy gifts. It re∣quires good sense to be a skilful lover."

Again,

"If I aspire to the love of the chastest virgin, I can bend her mind, and make her yield to my desires."

The ancient Scandinavian chronicles present often to our view young warriors endea∣vouring to acquire the favour of their mistresses,

by boasting of their accomplishments, such as their dexterity in swimming and scating, their talent in po∣etry, their skill in chess, and their knowing all the stars by name. Mallet, in the Introduction to his History of Denmark, mentions many ancient Scandinavian novels, that turn upon love and heroism. These may be justly held as authentic evidence of the manners of the people: it is common to invent facts; but it is not common to attempt the invent∣ing manners.

It is an additional proof of the great regard paid to women in Scandinavia, that in Edda, the Scandinavian Bible, female deities make as great a figure as male deities.

Agreeable to the manners described, we find it universally admitted among the ancient Scandi∣navians, that beauty ought to be the reward of courage and military skill. A warrior was thought intitled to demand in marriage any young wo∣man, even of the highest rank, if he overcame his rivals in single combat: nor was it thought any hardship on the young lady to be yielded to the victor. The ladies were not always of that opini∣on; for the stoutest fighter is not always the hand∣somest fellow, nor the most engaging. And in the Histories of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, many instances are related, of men generously interpos∣ing to rescue young beauties from brutes, desti∣tute of every accomplishment but strength and boldness. Such stories have a fabulous air; and many of them probably are mere fables. Some of them, however, have a strong appearance of truth: men are introduced, who make a figure in the real history of the country; and many circumstances are related, that make links in the chain of that history. Take the following specimen: The am∣bassadors of Frotho, King of Denmark, commis∣sioned

to demand in marriage the daughter of a King of the Hunns, were feasted for three days, as the custom was in ancient times; and being ad∣mitted to the young Princess, she rejected the offer:

"Because,"

says she,

"your King has acquired no reputation in war, but passes his time effemi∣nately at home."

In Biorner's Collection of An∣cient Historical Monuments, mentioned above, there is the following history: Charles, King of Sweden, kept on foot an army of chosen men. His Queen had borne him a daughter, named Ingue∣gerda, whose lively and graceful accomplishments were admired still more than her birth and fortune. The breast of the King overflowed with felicity. Grymer, a youth of noble birth, knew to dye his sword in the blood of his enemies, to run over craggy mountains, to wrestle, to play at chess, and to trace the motions of the stars. He studied to shew his skill in the apartment of the damsels, be∣fore the lovely Inguegerda. At length he ventured to open his mind.

"Wilt thou, O fair Princess! accept of me for a husband, if I obtain the King's consent?"

"Go,"

says she,

"and sup∣plicate my father."

The courtly youth, respect∣fully addressing the King, said,

"O King, give me in marriage thy beautiful daughter."

He answered sternly,

"Thou hast learned to handle thy arms: thou hast acquired some honourable distinctions: but hast thou ever gained a victory, or given a banquet to savage beasts that re∣joice in blood?"

"Where shall I go, O King! that I may dye my sword in crimson, and render myself worthy of being thy son-in-law?"

"Hialmar, son of Harec,"

said the King,

"who governs Biarmland, has become ter∣rible by a keen sword: the firmest shields he hews in pieces, and loads his followers with booty. Go, and prove thy valour, by attack∣ing

that hero: cause him to bite the dust, and Inguegerda shall be thy reward."

Grymer, re∣turning to his fair mistress, saluted her with ardent looks of love.

"What answer hast thou received from the King?"

"To obtain thee I must deprive the fierce Hialmar of life."

Ingue∣gerda exclaimed with grief,

"Alas! my fa∣ther hath devoted thee to death."

Grymer se∣lected a troop of brave warriors, eager to follow him. They launch their vessels into the wide ocean: they unfurl their sails, which catch the springing gale: the shrowds rattle: the waves foam, and dash against the prows: they steer their numerous vessels to the shore of Gothland; bent to glut the hungry raven, and to gorge the wolf with prey. Thus landed Grymer on Gothland: and thus did a beauteous maiden occasion the death of many heroes. Hialmar demanded who the strangers were. Grymer told his name; adding, that he had spent the summer in quest of him.

"May your arrival,"

replied Hialmar,

"be fortunate; and may health and honour attend you! You shall partake of my gold, with the unmixed juice of the grape. Thy offers, said Grymer, I dare not accept. Prepare for battle; and let us hasten to give a banquet to beasts of prey. Hialmar laid hold of his white cuirass, his sword, and his buckler. Grymer, with a violent blow of his sabre, transfixes Hialmar's shield, and cuts off his left hand. Hialmar, enraged, brandishes his sword, and striking off Grymer's helmet and cuirass, pierces his breast and sides; an effusion of blood following the wounds. Grymer, rais∣ing his sabre with both hands, lays Hialmar pro∣strate on the ground; and he himself sinks down upon the dead body of his adversary. He was put on ship-board, and seemed to be at the last period of life when he landed. The distressed Princess

undertook his cure, and restored him to health. They were married with great solemnity, and the beauteous bride of Grymer filled the heart of her hero with unfading joy."

According to the rude manners of those times, a lover did not always wait for the consent of his mis∣tress. Joannes Magnus, Archbishop of Upsal, ob∣serves, in his history of the Goths, that ravishing of women was of old no less frequent among the Scandinavians than among the Greeks. He relates, that Gram, son to the King of Denmark, carried off the King of Sweden's daughter, whose beauty was celebrated in verses existing even in his time. Another instance he gives, of Nicolaus King of Denmarkm 1.127, who courted Uluilda, a noble and beautiful Norvegian lady, and obtained her consent. Nothing remained but the celebration of the nupti∣als, when she was carried off by Suercher, King of Sweden. We have the authority of Saxo Gram∣maticus, that Skiold, one of the first Kings of Denmark, fought a duel for a beautiful young wo∣man, and obtained her for a wife. That author relates many duels of the same kind. It was indeed common among the Scandinavians, before they be∣came Christians, to fight for a wife, and to carry off the desired object by force of arms. No cause of war between neighbouring kings was more fre∣quent. Fridlevus King of Denmark sent a solemn embassy to Hasmundus King of Norway, to de∣mand in marriage his daughter. Hasmundus had a rooted aversion to the Danes, who had done much mischief in his country.

"Go,"

says he to the am∣bassadors,

"and demand a wife where you are less hated than in Norway."

The young lady, who had no aversion to the match, intreated leave to

speak.

"You seem,"

said she,

"not to consult the good of your kingdom in rejecting so potent a son-in-law, who can carry by force what he is now applying for by intreaties."

The father however continuing obstinate, dismissed the ambas∣sadors. Fridlevus sent other ambassadors, redoub∣ling his intreaties for a favourable answer. Has∣mundus said, that one refusal might be thought sufficient; and in a fit of passion put the ambassa∣dors to death. Fridlevus invaded Norway with a potent army; and, after a desperate battle, carried off the lady in triumph.

The figure that women made in the north of Europe by their courage, their beauty, and their chastity, could not fail to produce mutual esteem and love between the sexes: nor could that love fail to be purified into the most tender affection, when their rough manners were smoothed in the progress of society. If love between the sexes pre∣vail in Lapland as much as any where, which is vouched by Scheffer in his history of that country, it must be for a reason very different from that now mentioned. The males in Lapland, who are great cowards, have no reason to despise the females for their timidity; and in every country where the wo∣men equal the men, mutual esteem and affection naturally take place. Two Lapland odes commu∣nicated to us by the author mentioned, leave no doubt of this fact, being full of the tenderest senti∣ments that love can inspire. The following is a literal translation.

FIRST ODE.

I.

Kulnasatz my rain-deer, We have a long journey to go; The moors are vast, And we must haste; Our strength, I fear, Will fail if we are slow; And so Our songs will do.

II.

Kaigé, the watery moor, Is pleasant unto me, Though long it be; Since it doth to my mistress lead, Whom I adore: The Kilwa moor I ne'er again will tread.

III.

Thoughts fill'd my mind Whilst I through Kaigé past Swift as the wind, And my desire, Wing'd with impatient fire, My rain-deer, let us haste.

IV.

So shall we quickly end our pleasing pain: Behold my mistress there, With decent motion walking o'er the plain. Kulnasatz my rain-deer, Look yonder, where She washes in the lake: See while she swims, The waters from her purer limbs New clearness take.

SECOND ODE.

I.

With brightest beams let the sun shine On Orra moor: Could I be sure That from the top o' th' lofty pine I Orra moor might see, I to its highest bow would climb, And with industrious labour try Thence to descry My mistress, if that there she be.

II.

Could I but know, amid what flowers, Or in what shade she stays, The gaudy bowers, With all their verdant pride, Their blossoms and their sprays, Which make my mistress disappear, And her in envious darkness hide, I from the roots and bed of earth would tear.

III.

Upon the raft of clouds I'd ride, Which unto Orra fly: O' th' ravens I would borrow wings, And all the feather'd inmates of the sky: But wings, alas, are me deny'd, The stork and swan their pinions will not lend, There's none who unto Orra brings, Or will by that kind conduct me befriend.

IV.

Enough, enough! thou hast delay'd So many summer's days, The best of days that crown the year, Which light upon the eye-lids dart, And melting joy upon the heart:

But since that thou so long hast stay'd, They in unwelcome darkness disappear. Yet vainly dost thou me forsake; I will pursue and overtake.

V.

What stronger is than bolts of steel? What can more surely bind? Love is stronger far than it; Upon the head in triumph she doth sit; Fetters the mind, And doth control The thought and soul.

VI.

A youth's desire is the desire of wind; All his essays Are long delays: No issue can they find. Away fond counsellors, away, No more advice obtrude: I'll rather prove The guidance of blind love; To follow you is certainly to stray: One single counsel, tho' unwise, is good.

In the Scandinavian manners here described is dis∣covered a striking resemblance to those described by Ossian. And as such were the manners of the Scan∣dinavians in the first stage of society, it no longer remains a wonder, that the manners of Caledonia should be equally pure in the same early period. And now every argument above urged in favour of Ossian as a genuine historian has its full weight, without the least counterpoise. It is true, that Ca∣ledonian manners appear from Ossian to have been still more polished and refined than those of Scandi∣navia; but that difference may have proceeded from many causes, which time has buried in ob∣livion.

I make no apology for insisting so largely on Scan∣dinavian manners; for they tend remarkably to sup∣port the credit of Ossian, and consequently to ascer∣tain a fact extremely interesting, that our forefa∣thers were by no means such barbarians as they are commonly held to be. All the inhabitants of Britain were of Celtic extraction; and we have reason to believe, that the manners of Caledonia were the manners of every part of the island, before the in∣habitants of the plains were enslaved by the Ro∣mans. The only circumstance peculiar to the Caledonians, is their mountainous situation: being less exposed to the oppression of foreigners, and far∣ther removed from commerce, they did longer than their southern neighbours preserve their manners pure and untainted.

I have all along considered the poems of Ossian merely in an historical view. In the view of criticism they have been examined by a writer of distinguish∣ed tasten 1.128; and however bold to enter a field where he hath reaped laurels, I imagine that there still remain some trifles for me to glean. Two of these poems, Fingal and Temora, are regular epic po∣ems; and perhaps the single instances of epic poetry moulded into the form of an opera. We have in these two poems both the Recitativo and Aria of an Italian opera; dropped indeed in the translation, from difficulty of imitation. Ossian's poems were all of them composed with a view to music; though in the long poems mentioned it is probable, that the airs only were accompanied with the harp, the recitative being left to the voice. The poems of Ossian are singular in another respect, being pro∣bably the only work now remaining that was com∣posed

in the hunter-state. Some songs of that early period may possibly be remaining, but nothing like a regular work. One may advance a step farther, and pronounce, with a high degree of probability, that Fingal and Temora are the only epic poems that ever were composed in that state. How great must have been the talents of the author, beset with every obstruction to genius, the manners of his country alone excepted; a cold unhospitable cli∣mate, with such deformity on the face of the coun∣try as scarce to afford a pleasing object; and he himself absolutely illiterate! One, advancing still farther, may venture boldly to affirm, that such a poem as Fingal or Temora never was composed in any other part of the world under such disadvanta∣geous circumstances.

Tho' permanent manners enter not regularly in∣to the present sketch, I am however tempted to add a few words concerning the influence of soil upon the disposition of man, in order to show the wisdom of Providence, which fits the ground we tread on, not only for supplying our wants, but for improving our manners. The stupidity of the inhabitants of New Holland, mentioned above, is occasioned by the barrenness of their soil, yielding nothing that can be food for man or beast. Day and night they watch the ebb of the tide, in order to dig small fish out of the sand; and sleep in the intervals, without an hour to spare for any other occupation. People in that condition must for ever remain ignorant and brutish. Were all the earth barren like New Hol∣land, all men would be ignorant and brutish, like the inhabitants of New Holland. On the other hand, were every portion of this earth naturally so fertile as spontaneously to feed all its inhabitants, which is the golden age figured by poets, what would follow? Upon the former supposition, man

would be a meagre, patient, and timid animal: upon the latter supposition, he would be pampered, lazy, and effeminate. In both cases, he would be stupidly ignorant, and incapable of any manly exer∣tion, whether of mind or body. But the soil of our earth is more wisely accommodated to man, its chief inhabitant. Taking it general, it is neither so fertile as to supersede labour, nor so barren as to require our whole labour. The laborious occupa∣tion of hunting for food produced originally some degree of industry: and though all the industry of man was at first necessary for procuring food, cloath∣ing, and habitation; yet the soil, by skill in agri∣culture, came to produce plenty with less labour, which to some afforded spare time for thinking of conveniences. A habit of industry thus acquired excited many to bestow their leisure-hours upon the arts, proceeding from useful arts to fine arts, and from these to the sciences. Wealth, accumulated by industry, has a wonderful influence upon man∣ners: feuds and war, the offspring of wealth, call forth into action friendship, courage, heroism, and every social virtue, as well as many selfish vices. How like brutes do we pass our time, without once reflecting on the conduct of Providence operating even under our feet!

Diversity of manners, at the same time, enters into the plan of Providence, as well as diversity of talents, of feelings, and of opinions. Our Maker hath given us a taste for variety; and he hath pro∣vided objects in plenty for its gratification. Some soils, naturally fertile, require little labour: some soils, naturally barren, require the extremity of labour. But the advantages of such a soil are more than sufficient to counterbalance its barrenness: the inhabitants are sober, industrious, vigorous; and consequently courageous, so far as courage depends

on bodily strength* 1.129. The disadvantages of a fer∣tile soil, on the contrary, are more than sufficient to counterbalance its advantages: the inhabitants are rendered indolent, weak, and cowardly. Hin∣dostan may seem to be an exception; for though it be extremely fertile, the people however are indus∣trious, and export manufactures in great abundance at a very low price. But Hindostan properly is not an exception. The Hindows, who are prohibited by their religion to kill any living creature, must abandon to animals for food a large proportion of land; which obliges them to cultivate what remains with double industry, in order to procure food for themselves. The populousness of their country con∣tributes also to make them industrious. Arragon was once the most limited monarchy in Europe, England not excepted: the barrenness of the soil was the cause, which rendered the people hardy and courageous. In a preamble to one of their laws, the states declare, that were they not more free than other nations, the barrenness of their coun∣try would tempt them to abandon it. Opposed to Arragon stands Egypt, the fertility of which ren∣ders the inhabitants soft and effeminate, and conse∣quently an easy prey to every invader† 1.130. The

fruitfulness of the province of Quito in Peru, and the low price of every necessary, occasioned by its distance from the sea, have plunged the inhabitants into supine indolence, and excessive luxury. The people of the town of Quito in particular have aban∣doned themselves to every sort of debauchery. The time they have to spare from wine and women is employed in excessive gaming. In other respects also the manners of a people are influenced by the country they inhabit. A great part of Calabria, formerly populous and fertile, is at present covered with trees and shrubs, like the wilds of America; and the ferocity of its inhabitants correspond to the rudeness of the fields. The same is visible in the inhabitants of Mount Etna in Sicily: the country and its inhabitants are equally rugged.

SKETCH VIII.

Progress and Effects of LUXURY.

THE wisdom of Providence is in no instance more conspicuous than in adjusting the con∣stitution of man to his external circumstances. Food is extremely precarious in the hunter-state; some∣times superabounding with little fatigue, sometimes failing after great fatigue. A savage, like other ani∣mals of prey, has a stomach adjusted to that varie∣ty: he can bear a long fast; and gorges voracious∣ly when he has plenty, without being the worse for it. Whence it is, that barbarians, who have scarce any sense of decency, are great and gross feeders* 1.131. They are equally addicted to drunkenness; and pe∣culiarly fond of spirituous liquors. Drinking was a fashionable vice in Greece, when Menander, Phi∣lemon, and Diphilus, wrote, if we can rely on the translations or imitations of those writers by Plautus and Terence. Diodorus Siculus reports, that in his time the Gauls, like other barbarians, were much addicted to drinking. The ancient Scandinavians, who, like other savages, were intemperate in eating and drinking, swallowed large cups to their gods,

and to such of their countrymen as had fallen brave∣ly in battle. We learn from the 25th fable of the Edda, which was their sacred book, that to hold much liquor was reputed an heroic virtue. Coata∣rini the Venetian ambassador, who wrote ann. 1473, says, that the Russians were abandoned to drunkenness; and that the whole race would have been extirpated, had not strong liquors been dis∣charged by the sovereign. The Kamskatkans love fat; and a man entertains his guests by cramming into their mouths fat slices of a seal, or a whale, cutting off with his knife what hangs out.

A habit of fasting long, acquired as above in the hunter-state, made meals in the shepherd-state less frequent than at present, though food was at hand. Anciently people fed but once a-day, a fashion that continued even after luxury was indulged in other respects. In the war of Xerxes against Greece, it was pleasantly said of the Abderites, who were bur∣dened with providing for the King's table, that they ought to thank the gods for not inclining Xerxes to eat twice a-day. Plato held the Sicilians to be glut∣tons for having two meals a-day. Arriana 1.132 observes, that the Tyrrhenians had a bad habit of two meals a-day. In the reign of Henry VI. the people of England fed but twice a-day. Hector Boyes, in his history of Scotland, exclaiming against the growing luxury of his cotemporaries, says, that some persons were so gluttonous as to have three meals a-day.

Luxury undoubtedly, and love of society, tended to increase the number of meals beyond what na∣ture requires. On the other hand, there is a cause that abridged the number for some time, which is, the introduction of machines. Bodily strength is essential to a savage, being his only tool; and with

it he performs wonders. Machines have rendered bodily strength of little importance; and as men labour less than originally, they eat less in propor∣tion* 1.133. Listen to Hollinshed the English historian upon that article:

"Heretofore there hath been much more time spent in eating and drinking than commonly is in these days; for whereas of old we had breakfasts in the forenoon, be∣verages or nuntions after dinner, and thereto rear suppers when it was time to go to rest; now these odd repasts, thanked be God, are very well left, and each one contenteth himself with dinner and supper only."

Thus, before cookery and luxury crept in, a moderate stomach, occasioned by the abridging bodily labour, made eating less frequent than formerly. But the mo∣tion did not long continue retrograde: good cook∣ery, and the pleasure of eating in company, turn∣ed the tide; and people now eat less at a time, but more frequently.

Feasts in former times were carried beyond all bounds. William of Malmsbury, who wrote in the days of Henry II. says,

"That the English were universally addicted to drunkenness, conti∣nuing over their cups day and night, keeping open house, and spending the income of their estates in riotous feasts, where eating and drink∣ing were carried to excess, without any ele∣gance."

People who live in a corner imagine, that every thing is peculiar to themselves: what Malmsbury says of the English, is common to all nations, in advancing from the selfishness of savages to a relish for society, but who have not yet learn∣ed

to bridle their appetites. Lelandb 1.134 mentions a feast given by the Archbishop of York at his installation, in the reign of Edward IV. The following is a specimen: 300 quarters of wheat, 300 tons of ale, 100 tons of wine, 1000 sheep, 104 oxen, 304 calves, 304 swine, 2000 geese, 1000 capons, 2000 pigs, 400 swans, 104 peacocks, 1500 hot venison pasties, 4000 cold, 5000 cus∣tards hot and cold. Such entertainments are a picture of manners. At that early period, there was not discovered in society any pleasure but that of crouding together in hunting and feasting. The delicate pleasures of conversation, in communi∣cating opinions, sentiments, and desires, were to them utterly unknown. There appeared, how∣ever, even at that early period, a faint dawn of the fine arts. In such feasts as are mentioned above, a curious desert was sometimes exhibited, termed SUTTEITIE, viz. paste moulded into the shape of animals. On a saint's day, angels, prophets, and patriarchs were set on the table in plenty. A feast given by Trivultius to Lewis XII. of France, in the city of Milan, makes a figure in Italian his∣tory. No fewer than 1200 ladies were invited; and the Cardinals of Narbon and St. Severin, with many other prelates, were among the dancers. After dancing followed the feast, to regulate which there were no fewer employed than 160 master∣households. Twelve hundred officers, in an uni∣form of velvet, or satin, carried the victuals, and served at the side-board. Every table, without distinction, was served with silver plate, engraved with the arms of the landlord; and, beside a pro∣digious number of Italian lords, the whole court, and all the household of the King, were feasted. The bill of-fare of an entertainment given by Sir

Watkin Williams Wynn to a company of 1500 persons, on his coming of age, is a sample of an∣cient English hospitality, which appears to have nothing in view but crouding and cramming merely. The following passage is from Hollinshed:

"That the length and sumptuousness of feasts formerly in use, are not totally left off in England, not∣withstanding that it proveth very beneficial to the physicians, who most abound where most excess and misgovernment of our bodies do ap∣pear."

He adds, that claret, and other French wines, were despised, and strong wines only in re∣quest. The best, he says, were to be found in monasteries; for

"that the merchant would have thought his soul would go straightway to the devil, if he should serve monks with other than the best."

Our forefathers relished strong wine, for the same reason that their forefathers relished brandy. In Scotland, sumptuous entertainments were common at marriages, baptisms, and burials. In the reign of Charles II. a statute was thought necessary to confine them within moderate bounds.

Of old, there was much eating, with little va∣riety: at present, there is great variety, with more moderation. From a houshold-book of the Earl of Northumberland, in the reign of Henry VIII. it appears, that his family, during winter, fed mostly on salt meat, and salt fish; and with that view there was an appointment of 160 gallons of mustard. On flesh-days through the year, break∣fast for my Lord and Lady was a loaf of bread, two manchets, a quart of beer, a quart of wine, half a chine of mutton, or a chine of beef boiled. On meagre days, a loaf of bread, two manchets, a quart of beer, a quart of wine, a dish of butter, a piece of salt fish, or a dish of buttered eggs. Dur∣ing lent, a loaf of bread, two manchets, a quart of beer, a quart of wine, two pieces of salt fish, six

bacon'd herring, four white herring, or a dish of sproits. There was as little variety in the other meals, except on festival-days. That way of liv∣ing was at the time high luxury: a lady's waiting∣woman at present w uld never have done with grumbling at such a table. We learn from the same book, that the Earl had but two cooks for dressing victuals to more than two hundred domes∣tics. In those days, hen, chicken, capon, pigeon, plover, partridge, were reckoned such delicacies, as to be prohibited except at my Lord's tablec 1.135.

But luxury is always creeping on, and delicacies become more familiar. Hollinshed observes, that white meats, milk, butter, and cheese, formerly the chief food of his countrymen, were in his time degraded to be the food of the lower sort; and that the wealthy fed upon flesh and fish. By a roll of the King of Scotland's household-expence, anno 1378, we find, that the art of gelding cattle was known. The roll is in Latin, and the gelt hogs are termed porcelli eunuchi. Mention is also made of chickens, which were not common on English tables at that time. Olive oil is also mentioned.

In this progress, cooks, we may believe, came to make a figure. Hollinshed observes, that the nobility, rejecting their own cookery, employ'd as cooks musical-headed Frenchmen and strangers, as he terms them. He says, that even merchants, when they gave a feast, rejected butcher's meat as unworthy of their tables; having jellies of all co∣lours, and in all figures, representing flowers, trees, beasts, fish, fowl, and fruit. Henry Wardlaw Archbishop of St. Andrew's, observing the refine∣ments in cookery introduced by James I. of Scot∣land, who had been eighteen years a prisoner in England, exclaimed against the abuse in a parlia∣ment

held at Perth 1433: he obtained a law, re∣straining superfluous diet; and prohibiting the use of baked meat to any under the degree of gentle∣men, and permitting it to gentlemen on festival-days only; which baked meat, says the bishop, was never before seen in Scotland. The peasants in Sicily regale themselves with ice during summer. They say, that a scarcity of snow would be more grievous to them than a scarcity of corn, or of wine. Such progress has luxury made, even among the populace. People of fashion in London and in Paris, who employ their whole thoughts on luxu∣rious living, would be surprised to be told, that they are still deficient in that art. In order to advance luxury of the table to the ACME of perfection, there ought to be a cook for every dish, as there was in ancient Egypt a physician for every disease.

Barbarous nations, being great eaters, are fond of large joints of meat: and love of show retains great joints in fashion, even after meals become more moderate: a wild boar was roasted whole for a supper-dish to Antony and Cleopatra; and when stuffed with poultry and wild-fowl, it was a favou∣rite dish at Rome, termed the Trojan boar, in al∣lusion to the Trojan horse. The hospitality of the Anglo-Saxons was sometimes exerted in roasting an ox whole. Great joints are left off gradually, as people become more and more delicate in eating. In France, great joints are less in use than former∣ly; and in England, the voluminous surloin of roast beef, formerly the pride of the nation, is now in polite families relegated to the side-board. In China, where manners are carried to a high degree of refinement, dishes are composed entirely of minc∣ed meat.

In early times, people were no less plain in their houses than in their food. Toward the end of the sixteenth century, when Hollinshed wrote, the

people of England were beginning to build with brick and stone. Formerly houses were made of posts wattled together, and plaistered with clay to keep out the cold: the roof was straw, sedge, or reed. It was an observation of a Spaniard in Queen Mary's days,

"These English have their houses of sticks and dirt, but they fare as well as the King."

Hollinshed mentioning multitudes of chimnies lately erected, observes, upon the autho∣rity of some old men, that in their younger days there were not above two or three, if so many, in most uplandish towns of the realm, religious houses and manor-places of their lords excepted; but that each made his fire against a rere-dosse in the hall, where he dined, and dressed his meat. From Lord Northumberland's household-book, it would seem, that grates were unknown at that time, and that they burnt their coal upon the hearth: a certain sum is allotted for purchasing wood; because, says the book, coals will not burn without it. There is also a certain sum allotted for purchasing char∣coal, that the smoke of the sea-coal might not hurt the arras. In the fourteenth century, the houses of private persons in Paris, as well as in London, were of wood. The streets of Paris, not being paved, were covered with mud; and yet for a woman to travel those streets in a cart, was held an article of luxury, and as such prohibited by Philip the Fair. Paris is enlarged two thirds since the death of Henry IV. tho' at that time it was perhaps not much less populous than at present.

They were equally plain in their household-fur∣niture. While money was scarce, servants got land instead of wages. An old tenure in England binds the vassal to find straw for the King's bed, and hay for his horse. From Lord Northumber∣land's household-book, mentioned above, it ap∣pears, that the linen allowed for a whole year

amounted to no more than seventy ells; of which there were to be eight table-cloths (no napkins) for his Lordship's table, and two towels for washing his face and hands. Pewter vessel was prohibited to be hired, except on Christmas, Easter, St. George's day, and Whitsunday. Hollinshed men∣tions his conversing with old men who remarked many alterations in England within their remem∣brance; that their fathers, and they themselves formerly, had nothing to sleep on but a straw pal∣lat, with a log of timber for a pillow; a pillow, said they, being thought meet only for a woman in childbed; and that if a man in seven years after marriage could purchase a flock-bed, and a sack of chaff to rest his head upon, he thought himself as well lodged as the lord of the town; who, perad∣venture, lay seldom on a bed entirely of feathers. Another thing they remarked, was change of house∣hold-vessel from timber plates into pewter, and from wooden spoons into tin or silver.

Nor were they less plain in their dress. By an act of parliament in Scotland, anno 1429, none were permitted to wear silk or costly furs, but knights and lords of 200 merks yearly rent. But luxury in dress advanced so fast, that by another act, anno 1457, the same dress was permitted to aldermen, bailies, and other good worthy men within burgh. And by a third act, anno 1471, it was permitted to gentlemen of L. 100 yearly rent. By a sumptuary law in Scotland, anno 1621, cloth of gold and silver, gold and silver lace, velvet, satin, and other silk stuffs, were prohibited, except to noblemen, their wives and children, to lords of parliament, prelates, privy counsellors, lords of manors, judges, magistrates of towns, and to those who have 6000 merks of yearly rent. Such dis∣tinctions, with respect to landed rent especially, are invidious; nor can they ever be kept up.

James, the first British monarch, was, during infancy, committed to the care of the Dowager-Countess of Mar, who had been educated in France, The King being seized with a cholic in the night∣time, his household servants flew to his bed-cham∣ber, men and women, naked as they were born; the Countess alone had a smock.

During the reign of Edward III. the imports into England were not the seventh part of the exports. Our exports at that time were not the seventh part of our present exports; and yet our luxury is such, that with all our political regulations, it is with difficulty that the balance of trade is preserved in our favour.

Men in different ages differ widely in their no∣tions of luxury: every new object of sensual grati∣fication, and every indulgence beyond what is usual, are commonly termed luxury; and cease to be luxury when they turn habitual. Thus, every historian, ancient and modern, while he inveighs against the luxury of his own times, wonders at former historians for characterising as luxury what he considers as conveniencies merely, or rational improvements. Hear the Roman historian, talk∣ing of the war that his countrymen carried on suc∣cessfully against Antiochus King of Syria:

"Lux∣uriae enim peregrinae origo ab exercitu Asiatico invecta urbem est. Ii primum lectos aeratos, vestem stragulam pretiosam, plagulas et alia textilia, et quae tum magnificae supellectilis ha∣bebantur, monopodia et abacos Romam advexe∣runt. Tunc psaltriae, sambusistriaeque, et con∣vivalia Iudionum oblectamenta addita epulis▪ epulae quoque ipsae et cura et sumptu majore ad∣parari coeptae: tum coquus, vilissimum antiquis mancipium estimatione et usu, in pretio esse; et, quod ministerium fuerat, ars haberi coepta. Vix tamen illa, quae tum conspiciebantur, femina

erant futurae luxuriae* 1.136d 1.137."

Household-furni∣ture at Rome must at that period have been ex∣ceedingly plain, when a carpet and a one-footed table were reckoned articles of luxury. When the gelding of bulls and rams was first practised, it was probably considered as abominable luxury. Gal∣vanus Fiamma, who in the fourteenth century wrote a History of Milan, his native country, com∣plains, that in his time plain living had given way to luxury and extravagance. He regrets the times of Frederic Barbarossa and Frederic II. when the inhabitants of Milan, a great capital, had but three flesh meals in a week, when wine was a rarity, when the better sort made use of dried wood for candles, and when their shirts were of serge, linen being confined to persons of the highest rank.

"Matters,"

says he,

"are wonderfully changed: linen is a common wear: the women dress in silk, ornamented frequently with gold and silver; and they wear gold pendants at their ears."

An historian of the present times would laugh at Fi∣amma, for stating as articles of luxury what are no more but decent for a tradesman and his wife.

John Musso, a native of Lombardy, who also wrote in the fourteenth century, declaims against the luxury of his time, and particularly against the luxury of the citizens of Placentia, his countrymen.

"Luxury of the table,"

says he,

"of dress, of houses and household-furniture, in Placentia, begun to creep in after the year 1300. Houses have at present halls, rooms with chimneys, porticos, wells, gardens, and many other con∣veniencies unknown to our ancestors. A house that has now many chimneys, had none in the last age. The fire was placed in the middle of the house, without any vent for the smoke but the tiles: all the family sat round it, and the victuals were dressed there. The expence of household-furniture is ten times greater than it was sixty years ago. The taste for such expence comes to us from France, from Flanders, and from Spain. Eating-tables, formerly but twelve inches long, are now grown to eighteen. They have table-cloths, with cups, spoons, and forks, of silver, and large knives. Beds have silk co∣verings and curtains. They have got candles of tallow or wax, in candlesticks of iron or copper. Almost every where there are two fires, one for the chamber and one for the kitchen. Confec∣tions have come greatly in use, and sensuality regards no expence."

Hollinshed exclaims against the luxury and effeminacy of his time.

"In times past,"

says he,

"men were contented to dwell in houses builded of sallow, willow, plumtree, or elm; so that the use of oak was dedicated to churches, religious houses, princes palaces, noblemens lodgings, and navigation. But now these are rejected, and nothing but oak any whit regarded. And yet see the change; for when our houses were builded of willow, then had we oaken men; but now that our houses

are made of oak, our men are not only become willow, but many, thro' Persian delicacy crept in among us, altogether of straw, which is a fore alteration. In those days, the courage of the owner was a sufficient defence to keep the house in safety; but now, the assurance of the timber, double doors, locks and bolts, must de∣fend the man from robbing. Now have we many chimneys, and our tenderlings complain of rheums, catarrhs, and poses. Then had we none but rere-dosses, and our heads did never ake. For as the smoke in those days was sup∣posed to be a sufficient hardening for the timber of the house; so it was reputed a far better me∣dicine to keep the goodman and his family from the quack or pose, wherewith very few were then acquainted."

Not many years above fifty, French wine, in the Edinburgh taverns, was pre∣sented to the guests in a small tin vessel, measuring about an English pint. A single drinking-glass served a company the whole evening; and the first persons who insisted for a clean glass with every new pint were accused of luxury. A knot of high∣landers benighted, wrapped themselves up in their plaids, and lay down on the snow to sleep. A young gentleman making up a ball of snow, used it for a pillow. His fathere 1.138, striking away the ball with his foot,

"What, Sir,"

says he,

"are you turning effeminate?"

Crantz, describing the kingdom of Norway, and the manners of the people, has the following reflection.

"Robustis∣simus educat viros, qui, nulla frugum luxuria moliti, saepius impugnant alios quam impugnan∣tur* 1.139."

In the mountainous island of Rum, one

of the western islands of Scotland, the corn produ∣ced serves the inhabitants but a few months in win∣ter. The rest of the year they live on flesh, fish, and milk; and yet are healthy and long-lived. In the year 1768, a man died there, aged 10••, who was 50 years old before he ever tasted bread. This old man frequently harangued upon the plain fare of former times, finding fault with his neighbours for indulging in bread; and upbraiding them with their toiling like slaves for the production of such an unnecessary article of luxury.

Thus every one exclaims against the luxury of the present times, judging more favourably of the past; as if what is luxury at present, would cease to be luxury when it becomes customary. What is the foundation of a sentiment so universal? In point of dignity, corporeal pleasures are the lowest of all that belong to our nature: and for that reason, persons of delicacy dissemble the pleasure they take in eating and drinkingf 1.140. When corporeal plea∣sure is indulged to excess, it is not only low, but mean. But as in judging of things that admit of degrees, comparison is the ordinary standard, every refinement in corporeal pleasure beyond what is cus∣tomary, is held to be an excess, blameable as below the dignity of human nature. Thus every improve∣ment in living is pronounced to be luxury while re∣cent, and drops that character when it comes into common use. For the same reason, what is mode∣ration in the capitol, is esteemed luxury in a coun∣try town. Doth luxury then depend entirely on comparison? is there no other foundation for distin∣guishing

moderation from excess? This will hardly be maintained.

This subject is thrown into obscurity by giving different meanings to the term luxury. A French writer holds every sort of food to be luxury, but raw flesh and acorns, which were the original food of savages; and every sort of covering to be luxury but skins, which were their original cloathing. Ac∣cording to that definition, the plough, the spade, the loom, are all of them instruments of luxury; and in that view he justly extols luxury to the skies. Let every man enjoy the privilege of giving his own meaning to words: at the same time, when a man deviates so far from their usual meaning, the neglect to define them is inexcusable. In common lan∣guage, and in common apprehension, luxury al∣ways implies a faulty excess; and upon that account is condemned by all writers, such only excepted as affect to be singular.

This is clearly one branch of the definition of luxury. Another is, that the excess must be habi∣tual: a single act of intemperance, however faulty, is not denominated luxury: reiteration must be so frequent as to become a confirmed habit.

Nor are these particulars all that enter into the definition of luxury. There are many pleasures, however intemperate or habitual, that are not brand∣ed with that odious name. Mental pleasure, such as arises from sentiment or reasoning, falls not with∣in the verge of luxury, to whatever excess indulged. If to relieve merit in distress be luxury, it is only so in a metaphorical sense: nor is it deemed luxury in a damsel of fifteen to peruse love-novels from morn∣ing to evening. Luxury is confined to the external senses: nor does it belong to every one of these; the fine arts have no relation to luxury. A man is not even said to be luxurious, merely for indulging in dress, or in fine furniture. Hollinshed inveighs

against drinking-glasses as an article of luxury. At that rate, a house adorned with fine pictures or sta∣tues would be an imputation on the proprietor. Thus passing in review every pleasure of external sense, we find, that in proper language the term luxury is not applicable to any pleasure of the eye or ear. That term is confined to the pleasures of taste, touch, and smell, which appear as existing at the organ of sense, and upon that account are held to be merely corporealg 1.141.

Having thus circumscribed our subject within its proper bounds, the important point that remains to be ascertained is, Whether we have any rule for determining what excess in corporeal pleasure may justly be denominated faulty. About that point we are at no loss. Though our present life be a state of trial, yet our Maker has kindly indulged us in every pleasure that is not hurtful to the mind, or to the body; and therefore it can only be hurtful ex∣cess that falls under the censure of being luxurious. It is faulty as a transgression of self-duty; and as such it is condemned by the moral sense. The most violent declaimer against luxury will not affirm, that bread is luxury, or a snow-ball used for a pillow; for these are innocent, because they do no harm. As little will it be affirmed, that dwelling-houses more capacious than those originally built ought to be condemned as luxury, since they contribute to chearfulness as well as to health. The plague, some centuries ago, made frequent visits in London, promoted by air stagnating in narrow streets, and small houses. After the great fire anno 1666, the houses and streets were enlarged, and the plague has not once been known in London.

Man consists of soul and body, so intimately con∣nected, that the one cannot be at ease while the

other suffers. In order to have

"mens sana in corpore sano,"

it is necessary to study the health of both: bodily health supports the mind; and nothing tends more than chearfulness to support the body, even under a disease. To preserve this complicated ma∣chine in order, certain exercises are proper for the body, and certain for the mind; which ought ne∣ver to encroach the one on the other. Much mo∣tion and bodily exercise tend to make us robust; but in the mean time the mind is starved: much reading and reflection sortify the mind, but in the mean time the body is starved. Nor is this all: excess in either is destructive to both; for exercise too violent, whether of mind or body, wears the machine. Indolence, on the other hand, relaxes the machine, and renders it weak or languid. Bo∣dily indolence breeds the gout, the gravel, and ma∣ny other diseases: nor is mental indolence less per∣nicious, for it breeds peevishness and pusillanimity. Thus health both of mind and body is best preserved by moderate exercise. And hence a general propo∣sition, That every indulgence in corporeal pleasure, which favours either too violent or too languid ex∣ercise, whether of mind or body, is hurtful, and consequently is luxury in its proper sense. It is scarce necessary to be added, that every such indul∣gence is condemned by the moral sense; for every man can bear testimony of this from what he him∣self feels.

Too great indulgence in corporeal pleasure seldom prompts violent exercise; but instances are without number of its relaxing even that moderate degree of exercise which is healthful both to mind and body. This in particular is the case of too great indulgence in eating or drinking: such indulgence creates an habitual appetite, which demanding more than na∣ture requires, loads the stomach, depresses the spi∣rits, and brings on a habit of listlessness and inacti∣vity,

which renders men cowardly and effeminate* 1.142. And what does the epicure gain by such excess? In the grandest palace the master occupies not a greater space than his meanest domestic; and brings to his most sumptuous feast perhaps less appetite than any of his guests. Satiety withal makes him lose the relish even of rarities, which afford to others a poignant pleasure. What enjoyment then have the opulent above others? Let them bestow their riches in making others happy: such benevolence will double their own happiness, first, in the direct act of doing good; and next, in reflecting upon the good they have done, the most delicate of all feasts.

Had the English continued Pagans, they would have invented a new deity to preside over cookery. I say it with regret, but must say it, that a luxuri∣ous table, covered with every dainty, seems to be their favourite idol. A minister of state never with∣stands a feast; and the link that unites those in op∣position is, the cramming one another† 1.143. I shall not be surprised to hear, that the cramming a mis∣tress has become the most fashionable mode of court∣ship. That sort of luxury is not unknown in their universities; and it is perhaps the only branch of education that seldom proves abortive. It has not escaped observation, that between the years 1740 and 1770 no fewer than six mayors of London died in office, a greater number than in the preceding 500 years: such havock doth luxury in eating make

among the sons of Albion. How different the man∣ners of their forefathers! Bonduca their Queen, ready to engage the Romans in a pitched battle, encouraged her army with a pathetic speech, urg∣ing in particular the following consideration:

"The great advantage we have over them is, that they cannot, like us, bear hunger, thirst, heat, nor cold. They must have fine bread, wine, and warm houses: every herb and root satisfies our hunger; water supplies the want of wine; and every tree is to us a warm househ 1.144* 1.145."

The indulging in down-beds, soft pillows, and easy seats, is a species of luxury, because it tends to enervate the body, and to render, it unfit for fatigue. Some London ladies employ an operator for pairing their nails. Two young women of high quality, who were sisters, employed a servant with soft hands to raise them gently out of bed in a morning. Nothing less than all-powerful vanity can make such persons submit to the fatigues of a toilet: how can they ever think of submitting to the horrid pangs of child-bearing? In the hot cli∣mates of Asia, people of rank are rubbed and chaf∣fed twice a-day; which, beside being pleasant, is necessary for health, by moving the blood, in a hot country, where sloth and indolence prevail. The Greeks and Romans were curried, bathed, and oiled, daily; though they had not the same ex∣cuse for that practice: it was luxury in them, though not in the Asiatics.

With respect to exercise, the various machines that have been invented for executing every sort of work, render bodily strength of less importance than formerly. This change is favourable to men∣tal operations, without hurting bodily health. The travelling on horseback, though a less vigorous ex∣ertion of strength than walking, is not luxury, be∣cause it is a healthful exercise. I dare not say so much for wheel-carriages: a spring-coach, rolling along a smooth road, gives no exercise; or so little, as to be preventive of no disease: it tends to ener∣vate the body, and in some measure also the mind. The increase of wheel-carriages within a century is a pregnant proof of the growth of luxurious in∣dolence. During the reign of James I. the English judges rode to Westminster on horseback, and probably did so for many years after his death. Charles I. issued a proclamation, prohibiting hack∣ney-coaches to be used in London, except by those who travel at least three miles out of town. At the restoration, Charles II. made his public entry into London on horseback, between his two bro∣thers, Dukes of York and Gloucester. We have Rushworth for our voucher, that in London, not above a hundred years ago, there were but twenty hackney-coaches; which at the same time did not ply on the streets, but were kept at home till called for. He adds, that the King and Council publish∣ed a proclamation against them, because they raised the price of provender upon the King, nobility, and gentry. At present, one thousand hackney-coaches ply on the streets of London, beside a great number of stage-coaches for travelling from Lon∣don to all parts of the kingdom. The first coach with glasses in France was brought from Brussels to Paris, anno 1650, by the Prince of Condé. Sedan∣chairs were not known in England before the year 1634. Cookery and coaches have reduced the mi∣litary

spirit of the English nobility and gentry to a languid state: the former, by overloading the bo∣dy, has infected them with dispiriting ailments; the latter, by fostering ease and indolence, have banished labour, the only antidote to such ailments. Too great indulgence in the fine arts consumes part of that time which ought to be employed on the important duties of life: but the fine arts, even when too much indulged, produce one good effect, which is, to soften and humanize our manners: nor do they harm the body, if they relax not that degree of exercise which is necessary for supporting it in health and vigour.

The enervating effects of luxury upon the body are, above all, remarkable in war. The officers of Alexander's army were soon tainted with Asiatic manners. Most of them, after bathing, had ser∣vants for rubbing them, and, instead of plain oil, used precious ointments. Leonatus, in particular, commissioned from Egypt the powder he used when he wrestled, which loaded several camels. Alexan∣der reproved them mildly:

"I wonder that men who have undergone such fatigues in war, are not taught by experience, that labour produces sweeter and sounder sleep than indolence. To be voluptuous, is an abject and slavish state. How can a man take care of his horse, or keep his armour bright, who disdains to em∣ploy his own hands upon what is dearest to him, his own bodyi 1.146?"

When we attend to the mind singly, manifold are the pernicious effects of luxury. Corporeal pleasures, being all of them selfish, tend, when much indulged, to make selfishness the leading principle. Voluptuousness, accordingly, relaxing

every sympathetic affection brings on a beastly sel∣fishness, which leaves nothing of man but the exter∣nal figure. Luxury, beside, renders the mind so effeminate, as to be subdued by every distress: the slightest pain, whether of mind or body, is a real evil: and any higher degree becomes a severe tor∣ture. The French are far gone in that disease. Pictures of deep distress, which attract English spectators, are, to the French, insupportable: their aversion to pain overcomes the attractive power of sympathy, and debars from the slage every distress that makes a deep impression on the heart. The British are gradually sinking into the same weakness of mind: Venice Preserved collects not such numbers as it did originally; and would scarce be endured at present, were not our sym∣pathy blunted by familiarity: a new play upon a similar plan would not take. The gradual decay of manhood in Britain appears from their fune∣ral rites. Formerly the deceased were attended to the grave by relations and friends of both sexes, and the day of their death was preserved in re∣membrance with solemn lamentations, as the day of their birth was, with exhilerating cups. In England a man was first relieved from attending his deceased wise to the grave, and afterward from attending his deceased children; and now such ef∣feminacy of mind prevails there, that instantly upon the least groan, the deceased, abandoned by every relation, is delivered to an undertaker by profession, who is left at leisure to mimick the funeral rites. In Scotland, such refinement has not yet taken place: a man is indeed excused from attend∣ing his wife to the grave; but he performs that duty in person to every other relation, his children not excepted. I am told, that people of high fashion in England begin to leave the care of

their sick relations to hired nurses, and think they do their duty in making short visits from time to time.

Hitherto I have considered Luxury with re∣spect to those only who are infected with it; and did its poisonous effects spread no wider, the case perhaps would be the less deplorable. But unhap∣pily, where luxury prevails, the innocent suffer with the guily. A man of oeconomy, whether a merchant or manufacturer, lays up a stock for his children, and adds useful members to the state. A man, on the contrary, who lives above his for∣tune, or his profits, accustoms his children to luxury, and abandons them to poverty when he dies. Luxury, at the same time, is a great ene∣my to population: it enhances the expence of liv∣ing, and confines many to the bachelor-state. Luxu∣ry of the table, in particular, is remarkable for that effect:

"L'homme riche met toute sa gloire à consommer, toute sa grandeur à perdre en un jour à sa table plus de biens qu'il n'en faudroit pour faire subsister plusieurs familles. Il abuse également et des animaux et des hommes; dont le reste demeure affamé, languit dans la misére, et ne travaille que pour satisfaire, à l'appétit immodéré, et à la vanité encore plus insatiable, de cet homme; qui detruisant les autres par la disette, se detruit lui-même par les excesk 1.147* 1.148."

To consider luxury in a political view, no re∣finement of dress, of the table, of equipage, of habitation, is luxury in those who can afford the expence; and the public gains by the encourage∣ment that is given to arts, manufactures, and com∣merce. But a mode of living above a man's an∣nual income, weakens the state, by reducing to poverty, not only the squanderers themselves, but many innocent and industrious persons connected with them. Luxury is above all pernicious in a commercial state. A person of moderation is satis∣fied with small profits: not so the luxurious, who despise every branch of trade but what returns great profits: other branches are ingrossed by foreigners, who are more frugal. The merchants of Amsterdam, and even of London, within a century, lived with more oeconomy than their clerks do at present. Their country houses and gardens make not the greatest articles of their ex∣pence. At first, a merchant retires to his country-house, on Sundays only and holydays: but begin∣ning to relish indolent retirement, business grows irksome, he trusts all to his clerks, loses the thread of his affairs, sees no longer with his own eyes, and is now in the high way to perdition. Every cross accident makes him totter; and in labouring circumstances he is tempted to venture all, in hopes of re-establishment. He falls at last to downright gaming; which, setting conscience aside, is a pru∣dent measure: he risks only the money of his creditors, for he himself has nothing to lose: it is now with him,

"Caesar aut nihil† 1.149."

Such a man never falls without involving many in his ruin.

The bad effects of luxury, above displayed, are not the whole, nor indeed the most destructive. In all times, luxury has been the ruin of every state where it prevailed. But that more important branch of the subject is reserved to particular sketches, where it will make a better figure.

In the savage state, man is almost all body, with a very small proportion of mind. In the maturity of civil society, he is complete both in mind and body. In a state of degeneracy by luxu∣ry and voluptuousness, he has neither mind nor body* 1.150.

Notes

• a 1.1

  Montesquieu.
• b 1.2

  Exod. xxii. 2.
• * 1.3

  Many animals are remarkable for cleanliness. Beavers are so, and so are cats. This must be natural. Tho' a taste for cleanliness is not remarkable in dogs, yet, like men, they learn to be cleanly.
• * 1.4

  The plague, pestilential severs, and other putrid diseases, were more frequent in Europe formerly than at present; especially in great cities, where multitudes were crowded together in small houses, and narrow streets. Paris, in the days of Henry IV. occupied not the third part of its present space, and yet contained nearly the same number of inhabitants; and in London the houses are much larger, and the streets wider, than before the great fire, 1666. There is also a remarkable alteration in point of diet. Formerly, people of rank lived on salt meat the greater part of the year: at pre∣sent, fresh meat is common all the year round. Pot∣herbs and roots are now a considerable article of food: about London, in particular, the consumption at the Revolution was not the sixth part of what it is now. Add the great consumption of tea and sugar, which I am told by physicians to be no inconsiderable antiseptics. But the chief cause of all is cleanliness, which is grow∣ing more and more universal, especially in the city of London. In Constantinople, putrid diseases reign as much as ever; not from unhealthiness in the climate, but from the narrowness and nastiness of the streets.
• c 1.5

  Elements of Criticism, chap. 10.
• d 1.6

  Epist. 432.
• * 1.7

  Till the year 1760, there was not a privy in Ma∣drid, tho' it is plentifully supplied with water. The ordure, during night, was thrown from the windows into the street, where it was gathered into heaps. By a royal proclamation, privies were ordered to be built. The inhabitants, tho' long accustomed to an arbitrary government, resented this proclamation as an infringe∣ment of the common rights of mankind, and struggled vigorously against it. The physicians were the most violent opposers: they remonstrated, that if the filth was not thrown into the streets, a fatal sickness would ensue; because the putrescent particles of air, which the filth attracted, would be imbibed by the human body.
• e 1.8

  Lib. 3. cap. 4.
• f 1.9

  Procopii Historia Vandalica, lib. 2.
• g 1.10

  Chap. 2. part 6.
• * 1.11

  Quotiens bella non ineunt, non multum venatibus; plus per otium transigunt, dediti somno, ciboque. For∣tissimus quisque ac bellicosissimus nihil agens, delegata domus et penatium et agrorum cura feminis senibusque, et infirmissimo cuique ex familia, ipsi hebent; mira di∣versitate naturae, cum iidem homines sic ament inertiam, et oderint quietem.

  Tacitus, De moribus Germano∣rum, cap. 15.—[In English thus:

  "While not engaged in war, they do not often spend their time in hunting, but chiefly in indolence, minding nothing but their sleep and food. The bravest and most warlike among them, having nothing to do, pass the time in a slug∣gish stupidity, committing the care of the house, the family, and the culture of the lands, to women, old men, and to the most weakly. Such is the wonder∣ful diversity of their nature, that they are at once the most indolent of beings, and the most impatient of rest."]
• h 1.12

  Book 2. sketch 1.
• i 1.13

  Odyssey, book 23.
• k 1.14

  Book 6. & 7.
• l 1.15

  Book 10.
• m 1.16

  Odyssey, book 15.
• n 1.17

  Odyssey, book 19. & 20.
• * 1.18

  Pope, judging it below the dignity of Achilles to act the butcher, suppresses that article, imposing the task upon his two friends. Pope, it would appear, did not consider, that from a lively picture of ancient man∣ners proceeds one of the capital pleasures we have in perusing Homer.
• o 1.19

  See sketch 3.
• p 1.20

  See Historical Law-tracts, tract 1.
• q 1.21

  See this more fully handled, book 2. sketch 1.
• r 1.22

  Book 6. of the Iliad.
• s 1.23

  Iliad, book 6••
• t 1.24

  Book 15.
• u 1.25

  Book 22.
• x 1.26

  2 Samuel, xii. 29.
• y 1.27

  l. 1. Cod. cap. De patria potestate.
• z 1.28

  l. 10. eod.
• * 1.29

  It required the ferocity and cruelty of a barbarous age to give currency to a Mahometan doctrine, That the sword is the most effectual means of converting men to a dominant religion. The establishment of the In∣quisition will not permit me to say, that Christians never put in practice a doctrine so detestable: on the contra∣ry, they surpass the Mahometans, giving no quar er to heretics, either in this life, or in that to come. The eternity of hell torments is a doctrine no less inconsistent with the justice of the Deity, than with his benevo∣lence.
• * 1.30

  The present Empress has laid an excellent founda∣tion for civilizing her people, which is a Code of laws, founded on principles of civil liberty, banishing slavery and torture, and expressing the utmost regard for the life, property, and liberty, of all her subjects, high and low. Peter I. reformed many bad customs: but being rough in his own manners, he left the manners of his people as he found them. If this Empress happens to enjoy a long and prosperous reign, she may possibly ac∣complish the most difficult of all undertakings, that of polishing her people. No task is too arduous for a wo∣man of such spirit.
• a 1.31

  Book 4.
• * 1.32

  C'est de cet esclavage de negres, que les Crèoles tirent peut-être en partie un certain caractere, qui les fait paroitre bizarres, santasques, et d'une société peu goûtée en Europe. A peine peuvent-ils marcher dans l'enfance, qu'ils voient autour d'eux des hommes grands et robustes, destinés à deviner, à prevenir leur volonte. Ce premier coup d'oeil doit leur donner d'eux-mémes Popinion la plus extravagante. Rarement exposés a trouver de la résistance dans leurs fantaisies même injus∣tes, ils prennent un esprit de présomption. de tyrannie, et de mépris extrême, pour une grande portion du genre humain. Rien n'est plus insolent que l'homme que vit presque toujours avec ses inferieurs; mais quand ceux∣ci sont des esclaves, accoutumées à servir des enfans, à craindre jusqu' à des cris qui doivent leur attirer des châtimens; que peuvent devenir des maîtres qui n'ont jamais obéi, des méchans qui n'ont jamais été punis, des foux qui mettent des hommes à la chaîne?

  Histoire Philosophique et Politique des Etablissemens des Euro∣péens dans les Deux Indes, l. 4. p. 201.—[In English thus:

  "It is from this slavery of negroes, that the Creoles derive, in a great measure, that character which makes them appear capricious and fantastical, and of a style of manners which is not relished in Europe. Scarcely have the children learned to walk, when they see around them tall and robust men, whose province it is to guess their inclinations, and to prevent their wishes. This first observation must give them the most extravagant opinion of them∣selves. From being seldom accustomed to meet with any opposition, even in their most unreasonable whims, they acquire a presumptuous and tyrannical disposi∣tion, and entertain an extreme contempt for a great part of the human race. None is so insolent as the man who lives almost always with his inferiors; but when these inseriors are slaves, accustomed to serve insants, and to fear even their crying, for which they must suffer punishment, what can be expected of those masters who have never obeyed, profligates who have never met with chastisement, and madmen who load their fellow-creatures with chains?"]
• * 1.33

  In England, slavery subsisted so late as the six∣teenth century. A commission was issued by Queen Elizabeth, anno 1574, for enquiring into the lands and goods of all her bondmen and bondwomen in the coun∣ties of Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, and Gloucester, in order to compound with them for their manumission or freedom, that they might enjoy their own lands and goods as freemen.
• b 1.34

  Julius Capitolinus, in the Life of Albinus.
• c 1.35

  Socrates, Hist. Eccl. lib. 5. cap. 18.
• * 1.36

  Corpus Christi tenentes in manibus, (says the ca∣non), ac si dicerent, Quid mihi vultis dare, et ego eum vobis tradam?

  —[In English thus:

  "Holding the body of Christ in their hands, as if they said, What will you give me for this?"]
• d 1.37

  Act of Sederunt, 21st February, 1663.
• e 1.38

  Gen. xliii. 34.
• f 1.39

  Odyssey, b. 8. v. 513. b. 15. v. 156.
• g 1.40

  Odyssey, b. 8. v. 519.
• h 1.41

  Odyssey, b. 2.
• i 1.42

  See 17th & 18th books of the Odyssey.
• * 1.43

  Such kindliness in an enemy from whom nothing is expected but mischief, is an illustrious instance of hu∣manity And a similar instance will not make the less figure that it was done by a man of inferior rank. When Mons. Thurot, during our late war with France; ap∣peared on the coast of Scotland with three armed ves∣sels, the terror he at first spread soon yielded to admi∣ration inspired by his humanity. He paid a rull price for every thing he wanted; and in general behaved with so much affability, that a countryman ventured to com∣plain to him of an officer who had taken from him fifty or sixty guineas. The officer acknowledged the fact; but said, that he had divided the money among his men. Thurot ordered the officer to give his bill for the money, which, he said, should be stopped out of his pay, if they were so fortunate as to return to France. Com∣pare this incident with that of the great Scipio, celebra∣ted in Roman story, who restored a beautiful bride to the bridegroom, and it will not suffer by the comparison. Another instance is no less remarkable. One of his of∣ficers gave a bill upon a merchant in France, for the price of provisions purchased by him. Thurot having accidentally seen the bill, informed the countryman that it was of no value, reprimanded the officer bitterly for the cheat, and compelled him to give a bill upon a mer∣chant who he knew would pay the money. At that very time, Thurot's men were in bad humour, and were disposed to mutiny. In such circumstances, would not Thurot have been excused, for winking at a fraud to which he was not accessary? But he acted all along with the strictest honour, even at the hazard of a mutiny. Common honesty to an enemy is not a common practice in war. Thurot was strictly honest in circumstances that made the exertion of common honesty an act of the highest magnanimity. These incidents ought to be held up to princes as examples of true heroism. War carried on in that manner would, from desolation and horror, be converted into a fair-field for acquiring true military glory, and for exercising every manly virtue. I feel the greatest satisfaction in paying this tribute of praise to the memory of that great man. He will be kept in remembrance by every true-hearted Briton. tho' he died fighting against us But he died in the field of honour, fighting for his country.
• * 1.44

  The populace of Spain, too low game for the in∣quisition, are abundantly chearful, perhaps more so than those of France.
• * 1.45

  Postquam divitiae honori esse coeperent, et eas gloria, imperium, potentia sequebatur; hebescere virtus, pauper∣tas probro haberi, innocentia pro malevolentia duci, coepit, Igitur ex divitiis juventutem luxuria, atque avaritia, cum superbia invasere.

  Sallust. Bell. Cat. c. 12.—[In English thus:

  "After it had become an honour to be rich, and glory, empire, and power, became the at∣tendants of riches, virtue declined apace, poverty was reckoned disgraceful, and innocence was held secret malice. Thus to the introduction of riches our youth owe their luxury, their avarice, and pride."]
• i 1.46

  About L. 150,000 Sterling.
• * 1.47

  "In two days he completed the affair, by the means of one slave, a gladiator. He sent for him, and by promises, wheedling, and large gifts, he gain∣ed his point. Good God, to what an infamous height has corruption at length arrived! Some judges were rewarded with a night's lodging of certain la∣dies; and others, for an illustrious bribe, had some young boys of Noble family introduced to them."
• k 1.48

  Lib. 1. epist 13.
• k 1.49

  Lib. 3. cap. 11.
• * 1.50

  Manners and fashions seldom change, where wo∣men are locked up.
• l 1.51

  De Moribus Germanorum, cap. 24.
• * 1.52

  "For their last throw, they stake their liberty and life."
• m 1.53

  Mr. Macpherson.
• * 1.54

  In the Isle of Sky, the ruins of the castle of Duns∣caich, upon an inaccessible rock hanging over the sea, are still visible. That castle, as vouched by tradition, belonged to Cuchullin, Lord of that Isle, whose history is recorded in the Poem of Fingal. Upon the green be∣fore the castle there is a great stone, to which, according to the same tradition, his dog Luath was chained.
• n 1.55

  Lathmon.
• * 1.56

  Love of fame is a laudable passion, which every man values himself upon. Fame in war is acquir∣ed by courage and candour, which are esteemed by all: it is not acquired by fighting for spoil, because ava∣rice is despised by all. The spoils of an enemy were dis∣played at a Roman triumph, not for their own sake, but as a mark of victory. When nations at war dege∣rate from love of fame to love of gain, stratagem, de∣ceit, breach of faith, and every sort of immorality, are never-failing consequences.
• o 1.57

  Lathmon.
• p 1.58

  The death of Cuchullin.
• q 1.59

  Temora.
• * 1.60

  Several of Ossian's heroes are described as fight∣ing in cars. The Britons in general fought in that manner. Britanni dimicant non equitatu modo, aut pedite, verum et bigis et curribus. (Pomponius Mela, l. 3.)—[In English thus:

  "The Britons fight, not only with cavalry, or foot, but also with cars and chariots."]
• r 1.61

  Berrathon.
• t 1.62

  Fingal.
• u 1.63

  Calthon and Colmar.
• x 1.64

  Fingal.
• y 1.65

  Lathmon.
• z 1.66

  Lathmon.
• a 1.67

  Lathmon.
• b 1.68

  Lathmon.
• c 1.69

  Croma.
• d 1.70

  Fingal.
• e 1.71

  Lathmon.
• g 1.72

  Temora.
• h 1.73

  Croma.
• i 1.74

  Carthon.
• k 1.75

  Temora.
• l 1.76

  Carrie-thura.
• m 1.77

  Calthon and Colmal.
• n 1.78

  Fingal, book 3.
• o 1.79

  Fingal, book 6.
• p 1.80

  Berrathon.
• q 1.81

  Temora.
• r 1.82

  Calthon and Colmal.
• s 1.83

  Fingal, book 1.
• t 1.84

  Temora.
• u 1.85

  Temora.
• x 1.86

  Temora.
• y 1.87

  Temora.
• z 1.88

  Fingal, book 4.
• a 1.89

  Fingal, book 5.
• b 1.90

  Fingal, book 5.
• c 1.91

  Fingal, book 5.
• d 1.92

  Fingal, book 5.
• e 1.93

  Carthon.
• f 1.94

  Lathmon.
• g 1.95

  Fingal, book 1.
• h 1.96

  Fingal, book. 1.
• i 1.97

  Croma.
• k 1.98

  Lathmon.
• l 1.99

  Pomponius Mela. Ammianus Marcellinus.
• * 1.100

  "It is reported, that the Gauls frequently lent money to be paid back in the infernal regions, from a firm persuasion that the souls of men were immor∣tal. I would have called them fools, if those wear∣ers of breeches had not thought the same as Pythago∣ras who were a cloak."
• m 1.101

  Lib. 2.
• n 1.102

  Lib. 5.
• o 1.103

  De beilo Africo.
• * 1.104

  "The Gauls are of an open temper, not at all in∣sidious; and in fight they rely on valour, not on stratagem."
• p 1.105

  Lib. 3.
• q 1.106

  Lib. 4.
• † 1.107

  " You too, ye bards! whom sacred raptures fire, " To chant your heroes to your country's lyre; " Who consecrate in your immortal strain, " Brave patriot souls, in righteous battle slain. " Securely now the tuneful task renew, " And noblest themes in deathless songs pursue."ROWE.
• r 1.108

  Diodorus Siculus, lib. 5. Athenaeus, lib. 13.
• * 1.109

  "They made no distinction of sex in conferring authority."
• s 1.110

  Vita Agricolae, cap. 16.
• † 1.111

  "The Britons even followed women as leaders in the field."
• t 1.112

  Annalium lib. 14.
• u 1.113

  Athenaeus, lib. 10.
• x 1.114

  Lib. 15.
• * 1.115

  Polydore Virgil says,

  Hiberni sunt musicae peritissimi.

  —[in English thus:

  "The Irish are most skilful in music."

  —Ireland was peopled from Britain; and the music of that country must have been derived from British bards. The Welsh bards were the great cham∣pions of independence; and in particular promoted an obstinate resistance to Edward I. when he carried his arms into Wales. And hence the tradition, that the Welsh bards were all slaughtered by that King.
• y 1.116

  Saxo Grammaticus.
• d 1.117

  Paulus Diaconus.
• e 1.118

  Nicolaus Damascenus.
• f 1.119

  Saxo Grammaticus.
• g 1.120

  Book 1.
• h 1.121

  Olaus Magnus.
• i 1.122

  Procopius, Historia Gothica, lib. 2.
• * 1.123

  The expression of Tacitus is beautiful:

  "Ad matres, ad conjuges, vulnera serunt: nec illae nume∣rare aut exsugere plagas pavent: cibosque et horta∣mina pugnantibus gestant."

  —[In English thus:

  "When wounded, they find physicians in their mo∣thers and wives, who are not afraid to count and suck their wounds. They carry provisions for their sons and husbands, and animate them in battle by their exhortations."]
• † 1.124

  "They believe that there is something sacred in their character, and that they have a foresight of fu∣turity: for this reason their counsels are always respected; nor are their opinions ever disregarded."
• k 1.125

  Lib. I. cap. 2.
• l 1.126

  Historia Gothica, lib. 3.
• m 1.127

  Book 18.
• n 1.128

  Doctor Blair, professor of Rhetoric in the college of Edinburgh.
• * 1.129

  That a barren country is a great spur to industry, appears from Venice and Genoa in Italy. Nuremberg in Germany, and Limoges in France. The sterility of Holland required all the industry of its inhabitants for procuring the necessaries of life; and by that means chiefly they become remarkably industrious. Cambden ascribes the success of the town of Halifax in the cloth∣manufacture, to its barren soil.
• † 1.130

  Fear, impressed by strange and unforeseen accidents, is the most potent cause of superstition. What then made the ancient Egyptians so superstitious? No other country is less liable to strange and unforeseen accidents: no thunder, scarce any rain, perfect regularity in the seasons, and in the rise and fall of the river. So little notion had the Egyptians of variable weather as to be surprised that the rivers of Greece did not overflow like the Nile. They could not comprehend how their fields were watered: rain, they said, was very irregular; and what if Jupiter should take a conceit to send them no rain? The fertility of the soil, and the inaction of the inhabitants during the inundation of the river, enervat∣ed both mind and body, and rendered them timid and pusillanimous. Superstition was the offspring of this character, as it is of strange and unforeseen accidents in other countries.
• * 1.131

  In the Iliad of Homer, book. 9 Agamemnon calls a council at night in his tent. Before entering on busi∣ness. they go to supper, (line 122.). An embassy to Achilles is resolved on. The ambassadors again sup with Achilles on pork-griskins, (line 271.) Achilles rejects Agamemnon's offer; and the same night Ulysses and Diomed set out on their expedition to the Trojan camp: returning before day, they had a third supper.
• a 1.132

  Lib. 4. cap. 16.
• * 1.133

  Before fire-arms were known, people gloried in address and bodily strength, and commonly fought hand to hand. But violent exercises becoming less and less necessary, went insensibly out of fashion.
• b 1.134

  Cellectanea.
• c 1.135

  Household-book above mentioned.
• * 1.136

  "For the Asiatic soldiers first introduced into Rome the foreign luxury. They first brought with them beds ornamented with brazen sculptures, painted co∣verings, curtains and tapestry, and what were then esteemed magnificent furniture, side-boards, and tables with one foot. Then to the luxury of our feasts were added singing girls, female players on the lute, and morris-dancers: greater care and expence were bestow∣ed upon our entertainments: the cook, whom our foresathers reckoned the meanest slave, became now in high esteem and request; and what was formerly a ser∣vile employment was now exalted into a science All these however scarcely deserve to be reckoned the seeds or buds of the luxury of after-times."
• d 1.137

  Tit. Liv. lib. 39. cap. 6.
• e 1.138

  Sir Evan Cameron.
• * 1.139

  "It produces a most robust race of men, who are enervated by no luxury of food, and are more prone to attack and harass their neighbours than subjected to their attacks."
• f 1.140

  Elements of Criticism, vol. 1. p. 356. edit. 5.
• g 1.141

  See Elements of Criticism, Introduction.
• * 1.142

  Luxury and selfishness render men cowards. Peo∣ple who are attached to riches, and sensual pleasure, cannot think of abandoning them without horror. A virtuous man considers himself as placed here in order to obey the will of his Maker: he performs his duty, and is ready to quit his post upon the first summons.
• † 1.143

  This was composed in the year 1770.
• h 1.144

  Dion Cassius.
• * 1.145

  Providence has provided the gout as a beacon on the rock of luxury to warn against it. But in vain: during distress, vows of temperance are made: during the intervals, these vows are forgot. Luxury has gained too much ground in this island to be restrained by admo∣nition.
• i 1.146

  Plutarch.
• k 1.147

  Buffon.
• * 1.148

  "The sole glory of the rich man is, to consume and destroy; and his grandeur consists in lavishing in one day, upon the expence of his table, what would procure subsistence for many families. He abuses equally animals and his fellow creatures; a great part of whom, a prey to famine, and languishing in misery, labour, and toil, to satisfy his immoderate desires, and insatiable vanity; who, destroying others by want, destroys himself by excess."

  .
• † 1.149

  "Caesar or nothing.
• * 1.150

  In ancient Egypt, execution against the person of a debtor was prohibited. Such a law could not obtain but among a temperate people, where bankruptcy hap∣pens by misfortune, and seldom by luxury or extra∣vagance.