408 DIFFERENCES IN 



frame and the moral and intellectual phenomena of man be 

 entirely independent of each other, their deviations will ex- 

 hibit no coincidence : the noblest characters and most dis- 

 tinguished endowments may be conjoined with the mean- 

 est organization : if, on the contrary, the intellectual and 

 moral be closely linked to the physical part, if the former be 

 the offspring and result of the latter, the varieties of both 

 must always correspond. 



The different progress of various nations in general civi- 

 lization, and in the culture of the arts and sciences ; the dif- 

 ferent characters and degrees of excellence in their literary 

 productions, their varied forms of government, and many 

 other considerations, convince us, beyond tlie possibility 

 of doubt, that the races of mankind are no less characterized 

 by diversity of mental endowments, than by those differences 

 of organization which I have already considered. So power- 

 ful, however, has been the effect of gov^ernment, laws, edu- 

 cation, and peculiar habits, in modifying the mind and cha- 

 racter of men, that we experience great difficulty in distin- 

 guishing between the effects of original difference, and of 

 the operation of these external causes. 



From entering at large and minutely Into this interesting 

 subject, I am as much prevented by want of the necessary 

 information, as by the immediate object and limited length 

 of these Lectures. To pass it over in silence, would be 

 omitting the most important part of the natural history of 

 our species — one of the most interesting views in the com- 

 parative zoology of man. I shall therefore submit a few re- 

 marks, to illustrate the point of view in which the pheno- 

 mena have appeared to myself; and shall be happy if they 

 incite any of my readers to a further prosecution of the 

 inquiry. 



The distinction of colour between the white and black 

 races is not more striking, than the pre-eminence of the 

 former in moral feelings and in mental endowments. The 

 latter, it is true, exhibit generally a great acuteness of the 

 external senses, which, in some instances, is heightened by 

 exercise to a degree nearly incredible. Yet they indulge^ 



