56 DABWINI8M TESTED BY 



quence thereof that language developed 

 itself in a like manner in the case of like 

 men. For the method which we have 

 developed above, namely to conclude from 

 the known to the unknown, does not allow 

 us to suppose any other laws of life, in 

 any period which lies beyond the range of 

 our observation, than those which we have 

 remarked over the course of observation to 

 which we have had access. 



Under different circumstances languages 

 develop themselves also in a different 

 manner ; nay, it is highly probable that the 

 diversity of languages is in direct ratio to 

 that of the conditions of man^s life in 

 general. The original dispersion of the 

 languages over the earth must therefore have 

 been a very regular one ; neighbour-idioms 

 must have more resembled each other than 

 the vernaculars of men who lived in different 

 parts of the world. Issuing from a certain 



