458 APPENDIX, 



and have cer ftiown thcm'elvcs ''pirited in cafe of alarms, &c. In t#» 

 gard to provifior.s, thccour.tiv i' fertiic, but new. and confideiahlp emi- 

 grations from other flates to Vermonr. — THe lec^ifliiure at tnei'- fefTion m 

 Oftdber lall, Icvird a tax on the inhabiiants Tufficient for viftsalling opS 

 ifaoii'^jod fivehiin red trocios mthc field for twelve mnnths, and we are of 

 opiniou a large ftore ntiay be in tlie fame manner co.lftied theenfuing zn' 

 tumn. 



No. XII. 



The Improvement luhick the Man nf Europe fits received in America. Chap. 

 XI If. p. 430. 



IT has h<*en an ooinion of'cn adopted by ' he hiflofinns and philofopSers 

 of Europe, 'hat all the animjls in America are inferior in everv tniog 

 which con*'iii'e> their propf^ perfftion. 'o thofe of the fame (prcies ia 

 Europe. M. de BufFon has av'-ved this ferr.imer.t in its fulieft extent : 

 Copying from h'm, m'ft of the European writers have embraced and 

 rcpea'cd th* fame hypotbcfis. To add fomething; new to the conjefiore, 

 the Ab -r Ravnal has wifhed to fi.id iome ma:ks of degradation in ihe 

 Europears thprnfclvcs, when rcmrved into 'America ; that he might from 

 thafcirfumftaice deduce a conclusion, that there was fomething natuially 

 deficient and degrading in the \mcrican climate with regard to the pro- 

 duftions and powe s otanimsl lite. 



Among "ther pa!T;ges, the followia^ arc remarkable for the finpularity 

 of the feniiment and exp^effion : — " While tyranny and perleculion 

 " were deflfoying popula'ion in Europe, Brlciih America w.is beginning 

 " to be peopled with three forts of mhabitants. The liril clafs confifts ot 

 "freemen : It is the rnoif numerous, but hitherto it has vifibly degen- 

 " crated. The C'coles. in general, though habiruated tothe climate from 

 *' their cr?.dle, are not fo robuR and fit for l^hou^, nor fo powerful in war, 

 *' as the Europcns; whether it be ihat thev have not the improvemenrs of 

 " education, or that they arc .ofiened by nature. In that foreign clime 

 *' the mind is erervat'-d as well as the body ; Endued wiih a quicknefs 

 *' and early penelra'ion, it eafily apprchrnds, but wants fteadinefs, and 13 

 •' not nled to continued thought. It mull be a matter of aflonifhment tf» 

 *' find, that America has not yet produced a good poet, an able mathc- 

 •' matician, or a man of genius in anv finglc art or fcience. They pofTcfs, 

 *' in general, a leadinefs foi acquiring ihe knowledge of every art or fci- 

 *' encc, but not one of them (hews a decifivs talent for one in particular. 

 •' Is it polfiblc that, although the Creoles educated with us have every one 

 *' of them good fenfe, or at lead the moft'pan of tiiem, yet not one fhould. 

 " have at ifeii to any great degree of perfeAion in the flightefl purfuit : 

 ♦' And that, among fuch as have f'aid in their own country, no one has 

 *' diftinguifhed himfelf by a confirmed luperiority in ihofe talents which 

 «' lead to fame ? Has nature then puniihed them for having crofTed the 

 «' ocean ? Are they a people degenerated bv tranfplanting, by growth, andi 

 «« by mixture ?"* 



Such i.« the account which the Abbe Raynal gives of the degradation 

 ■which has come upon the defcendants of Europe in America. It may 

 afford amufementto an inquifitivc mind to examine the obfervationt, and 



* Rayval's Hi/lory of the lajl and Wejl India, vol. vi. p. 80, 81 , edit. 1 783. 



