22 STUDIES OF NATURE. 



the heart of Man. I mud obferve, that theie ap- 

 propriations of Love to the Nations of the South, 

 and of Courage, to the Nations of the North, have 

 been imagined by our Philofopers, as efFefts of 

 Climate, applicable only to foreign nations : for 

 they unite thefe two qualities, as efFeds of the 

 fame temperament, in thofe of our heroes to whom 

 they mean to pay their court. According to them, 

 a Frenchman great in feats of love, is likewife great 

 in feats of w^ar ; but this does not hold as to other 

 Nations. An Afiatic, with his feraglio, is an eife- 

 minatc coward ; and a Ruffian, or any other fol- 

 dier of the North, whofe Courts give penfions, is a 

 fécond Mars. But all thefe diftindlions of temper- 

 ament, founded on Climate, and fo injurious to 

 Mankind, vanilh into air, before this fimple quef- 

 tion : Are the turtle-doves of Ruffia lefs amorous 

 than ihofe of Afia ; and are the tigers of Afia lefs 

 ferocious than the white bears of Nova Zembla ? 



Without going to feek among men objects of 

 comparifon and contraft, from difference of place, 

 we (liail find greater diverfuy in manners, in opi- 

 nions, in habiliments, nay, in phyfiognomy, be- 

 tween an opera-ador and a capuchin-friar, than 

 there is between a Swede and a Chinefe. What a 

 contraft is the talkative, flattering, deceitful Greek, 

 fo fondly attached to life, to the filent, ftately, ho- 

 neft Turk, ever devoted to death ! Thefe men, fo 



very 



