25 



progress in the arts was as ancient as the 

 singular form of their governments, which 

 were unfavourable to individual liberty. 



The New Continent, like that of Africa 

 and Asia, presents several points of a pri- 

 mitive civilization, of which the mutual re- 

 lations are as unknown as those of Meroe, 

 Thibet, and China. The civilization of 

 Mexico emanated from a country situate 

 towards the north ; in South America, the 

 great edifices of Tiahuanaco have served as 

 models for the monuments which the Incas 

 erected at Couzco. Amidst the extensive 

 plains of upper Canada, in Florida, and in 

 the deserts bordered by the Orinoco, the 

 Cassiquiare, and the Guainia, dykes of a 

 considerable length, weapons of brass, and 

 sculptured stones, are indications that those 

 very countries were formerly inhabited by 

 industrious nations, which are now tra- 

 versed only by tribes of savage hunters. 



The unequal distribution of animals over 

 the surface of the globe has had a consider- 

 able influence on the fate of nations, and 



