286 Mr Beke on the Classification of Languages, 



several conditions of the hunter, the herdsman, and the agri- 

 culturist; or through states nearly corresponding with them; — 

 until, in this last state, an absolute property having been ac- 

 quired in the land, which was then first subjected to cultivation, 

 the residences of mankind became fixed and permanent ; whilst, 

 by the same progressive advancement, societies were formed, 

 which at first were simply patriarchal, but which, from their 

 subsequent increase and union, required the institution of laws 

 for their government and mutual protection ; whence ultimately 

 resulted the establishment of the various forms and conditions 

 of civil rule. 



This opinion of the gradual progress of civilization, whatever 

 ground it may have gained, is, at the best, purely hypothetical. 

 So far, indeed, is it from being borne out by facts, that it is ac- 

 tually at variance with the evidence of all history and experi- 

 ence ; for in the early historical remains, whether real or fabu- 

 lous, of all nations, — with the remarkable exception of those of 

 the progenitors of the Israelites, — we find that instruction and 

 improvement are considered to have been introduced from an 

 extrinsic source, by individuals possessed of a higher degree of 

 culture ; whilst among those savage people with whom civiliza- 

 tion may be said not to exist, there is not manifested even the re- 

 motest tendency towards progressive improvement, from the 

 exercise of that unaided reason, which, as the characteristic of 

 the human race, has been deemed to be entirely sufficient for 

 that purpose. 



It is to be considered, then, whether the direct converse of 

 the hypothesis here adverted to ought not rather to be main- 

 tained ; and whether, in fact, it will not be more in accordance 

 with the truth to assert, that the savage and uncultivated con- 

 dition of mankind, which has usually been designated the state 

 of nature, is, in reality, nothing else than a degeneration from 

 a previous social state, in which a high degree of culture and 

 of artificial attainments were possessed ; and that, consequently, 

 this latter condition (and not the former,) ought to be regarded 

 as the primitive condition of the present human race. 



However paradoxical such an hypothesis may at first sight 

 appear, there is, in reality, nothing unreasonable in it. If we 

 consider the history of the European settlements in the New 



