Chap. Vlir. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 20 



CHAP. VII f. 



What the Mind of Alan is in the Natural State^ or in the FirJI Ages 

 of Civility^ beft hioivn by being compared ui^lth the Minds of 

 Men more ad'vanced in Social Lfe. — The Underjlanddng of Men 

 depends upon the Progrefs they have made in the Arts. — This the 

 Renfon tvhy thofe Nations 'who have made little Progrefs in Arts 

 appear quite fupid and brutifb. — The Progrefs in Arts depends up- 

 on the Country and Climate in vuhich the People Live. — Great Dif- 

 ference^ in this refpe5i^ betivixt South America or the Wefl India 

 Iflands^ and North A7nerica. — 77?^ Indians of North America the 

 befl living Example of ivhat Men are in the Firfl Ages of Society. 

 — A particular Account of them. — Of the Morlacchi, a People of 

 Dalmatia. 



r 



WE cannot, I think, form a true judgment of the Mind of Man 

 in the natural Rate, or in the firll ages of civiHty, except by- 

 comparing it with the Minds of Men in the more advanced ftages of 

 fociety. In the firft ages of civil life, a Man cannot be far removed 

 from a Brute ; for he muft be ignorant of all thofe arts and fciences 

 which improve our underftanding fo much, and may indeed be faid 

 to create it, or, at leaft, to bring it into exertion, and call it forth 

 from the latent ftate in which it was before. It is evident there- 

 fore, that the intelligence of men in civil life muft depend upon the 

 progrefs they have made in arts ; fo that, if they have made little 

 or no progrefs, they muft appear to be very ftupid and brutilh. And 

 this will account for the defcriptions given us, both by antient au- 

 thors and modern travellers, of nations who had the ufe of very few 



arts. 



