S80 LAr. Gregory on 
afforded us by the writer of that article, 
fo far as relates to the Le&tures of the 
Gentleman at Vienna; but, when he 
fpeaks of the collegtion of the celebrated 
Gottingen Proteflor, BLUMENBACH, there 
is an ambiguity of expreffion, the proba- 
ble effects of which it is the object of this 
letter to remove: and this I fhallattempt, 
without pretending to determine, whether 
fhe ambiguity itfelf is the refult of acci- 
dent, or of defign. 
When mentioning Blumenbach’s collec- 
tion, the writer makes ufe of this lan- 
guage :—<“* From a comparative exami- 
nation of thefe various fkulls, the Profef- 
for has drawn important refults relative to 
the different races and tribes into which 
mankind are divided. An attentive exa- 
mination of this fine colle&tion almoft con- 
vinces the fpectator, that, at the beginning, 
there muft have been, feveral original 
frocks, whence the various races of man 
have. fprung.”’ Now, what is the idea 
that will moft naturally prefent itfelf to 
the mind of a reader on the perufal of 
this pafiage? Is it, that the curfory ex- 
arminer of this collection would, at a firft 
view, be convinced there muft have been 
feveral original flocks? Or is it, that, 
not merely the occafional fpetator, but 
Blumenbach himfelf, from a careful com- 
parative examination of thefe fkulls, has 
been led, among his ‘¢ important refults,” 
to adopt the fame opinion? The latter 
appeared to others, as well as myfelf, to 
be the natural {cope of the paflage. Be 
this, however, as it may, I truft it will not 
be thought improper, if I thew, from Blu- 
menbacnh’s late writings, that, whatever 
may be the inferences drawn by any fpec- 
tator from a view of his colleétion, the 
Profeflor’s decided opinion is completely 
in unifon with that fuggeited inthe Mofaic 
Hiftory of the origin of Man. 
In the Magazin fir das Neuefte aus der 
Plyfik, vol. iv. this eminent phyfiologift 
has given Obfervations on the Bodily Con- 
formation, and Mental Capacity, of the 
Negroes ; in which he has affigned vari- 
ous reafons, which convince him of the 
truth of the two following propofitions :— 
<* That between one Negroe and another 
there is as much (if not more) difference 
in the colour, and particularly in’ the line- 
ments of the face, as between many real 
Negroes, and other varieties of the human 
fpecies. 2. That the Negroes, in regard 
to their mental faculties and capacity, 
are not inferior to the reft of the human 
race.” He“fays, ** ‘Phe: three Negro 
fiulls, which I have now before me, afford, 
by the very firiking gradation with which 
{ Dee. f, 
the lineaments pafs¥from the one to the 
other, a very evident proof of the firft 
propofition.”” And, after affigning many 
other reafons on this point, he proceeds 
to the next, and fays, ** The teftimonies 
and examples, which ferve. to prove the 
truth of the fecond propofition, refpetting 
the mental faculties, natural talents, and 
ingenuity of the Negroes, are equally nu- 
merous and incontrovertible.’” Many of 
thefe are enumerated. 
In the fixtn volume of the fame work, 
the Profeflor enters more minutely and 
fully into the fubje&t: he there lays down 
what may very properly be called ‘* im- 
portant refults:’* he adduces cogent and 
intelligible arguments to fhew the weak~- 
nels of the popular objection againft the 
opinion, that there was but one original ° 
ftock—arguments, which I wiil venture to 
fay, mult carry conviction to the minds of 
all who are not the victims of a lament- 
able and invincible prejudice. His mode 
of argumentation fhall be ftated as briefly 
as poffiole: ** Some late writers on Na- 
tural Hiftory (fays Blumenbach) feem 
doubtful, whether the numerous diftinét 
races of men ought to be confidered as 
mere varieties, which have arifen from de- 
generation ; or, as fo many fpecies alto- 
gether different. ‘The caufe of this feems 
chiefly to be, that they took too narrow a 
view in their refearches ; feleéted, perhaps, 
two races the moft different from each 
other poffible, and, overlooking the inters 
mediate races that formed the connecting 
links between them, compared thefe two 
together; or, they fixed their attention 
too much on man, vsaithout examining other 
Species of animals, and comparing their va- 
rieties and degeneration with thofe of the 
human fpecies. "The firft fault is, when 
one, for example, places together a Sene- 
gal Negro and an European Adonis, and 
at the fame time forgets that there is not 
one of the bodily differences of thefe two 
beings, whether hair, colour, features, 
&c. which does not gradually run into the 
fame thing of the other, by fuch a variety 
of fhades, that no phyfiologift or natura~ 
lift is able to eftablifh a certain boundary 
between thefe gradations, and confequent- 
ly between the extremes themfelves. The 
fecond fauit is, when people reafon as if 
man were the only organized being in 
nature, and confider the varieties in his 
fpecies to be ftrange and problematical, 
without reflecting that all thefe varieties 
are not more ftriking, or more uncommon, 
than thefe with which fo many thoufands 
of other f{pecies of organized beings de- 
generate, as it were, before our eyes. As 
my 
Blumenbach, Ses 
