m 
VIEWS OF LOUISIANA. 
i’ily have been defective; the Egyptians could lay but little better 
claim to authenticity. The simple fact of the emigration to the 
country of the Oimecs, or Touitecs, may be relied on, but as to 
the time and circumstances, we must look for very slender ac¬ 
counts. It is only since the invention of letters that we can form 
a well grounded hope of the permanency of human institutions, 
of the certainty of history, and of the uninterrupted progress of 
improvements. Had this noble invention been unknown, how 
many of our most useful arts would have been lost during that 
night of barbarism, called the dark ages! 
A French writer has fancifully observed, that civilization 
arises, de la fermentation dune nombreUse peupiade , and that it 
would be as idle to expect this result without a numerous po¬ 
pulation, as to think of making wine by the fermentation of a 
■single grape. Experience shews, that a numerous population 
will always be attended with some degree of improvement, be¬ 
cause, as Mr. Jefferson observes, the chances of improvement 
are multiplied. It is not without reason, that the Creator gave 
his command to increase and multiply, since many of the intel¬ 
lectual faculties would noi otherwise be completely unfold¬ 
ed. It is not every country, however, which can of itself attain 
the full extent of the population of which it may be rendered 
susceptible. In unfriendly soils and climates, nature must be 
forced by the arts and labors of agriculture, to afford sustenance 
for a numerous population. The inhabitants of such have there¬ 
fore been usually found in wandering tribes, engaged in con¬ 
stant Wars, and probably unable ever to originate their own ci¬ 
vilization. A mighty warrior, at the head of his own tribe, 
might subdue the tribes around him, and form a little empire, 
and peace being secured to a great proportion of his subjects, 
their numbers would increase, but it would fall into fragments, 
long before the useful arts could be invented. It has ever been 
in the mildest climates, gifted by nature with plenty, that civili¬ 
zation has had its origin. Egypt and fruitful Asia, first became 
possessed of a numerous population, and first cultivated the arts 
and sciences. In America civilization first appeared, in similar 
climates, where nature, with little help from man, produces 
abundance of food. In both the old and the new world, the 
