i^f^if c.x^***'*^^ (j^^'^Jt^ LETTERS ON HISTORY. tSSk \ v"^ -^-»*^iV ^ ^% LETTERS THE STUDY AND USE OF Ancient and Modern History : CONTAINING OBSERVATIONS AND REFLECTIONS SES AND CONSfiCtUENCES OF THOSE EVENTS WHICH HAVE PRODUCED COJiTSPICUOUS CHANGES IN THE ASPECT OF THE "WORLD, AND THE GENERAL STATE OF HUMAN AFFAIRS. BY JOHN BIGLA?^, iutlior of " Reilsctions on tho Pvesarrection and ilscension." VriTH NOTES, By the Rev. JEDEDIAH MORSE, D. D. i iier ample page Rich vrith the spoils of Time. — q-ray. «HBBE W8»«i4»MUaj^ l A«Wlffl » Wi!»ayjjBy j a i .ttf>.jhtil8J8J&^^ PHILADELPHIA : PRINTED FOH W, W. ^VOOnWAr.O, NO. 52, COEJ^iA^ OF SECOND AND ClIESNrJT STREETS. mi^ Yi\ s. \ * % .-VA .DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA, to wit : ^ BE IT HEMEMSERED, that on the eigliteenth day of June, in the tbirty- iiinth year of the independence of the United Stptes of America, A. D. 1814, 'W. 1-7. 'Woodwaid, of the S3.i(] district, hath deposited in this office the title of a book, the right whereof he claims as proprietor, in the words following, to wit : Letters en the Study and Use of A ncient and Modern History : containing observations and reflections on the causes aad consequences of those events which have produced conspicuous clianges in the aspect of the world, and the general state of human affairs. Bv John Bigland, author of " Reflections on the Resur- vection and Ascension." With Notes, by the Rev. Jedediah Morse, D. D. Her ample page Rich with the spoils of Time. — gray. In conformity to the act of Congress of the United States, entitled, " An act '' for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of raaJDs, charts, and '■books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies during the times therein ■ mentioned. " And also to the act, entitled, " An act supplementary to an act, "■ entitled, " An act ibr the enccaragemeat of learning, by securing the copies oJ ' niaps, charts ana book?, to the authors and proprietors of such copies during the '■ titnes therein mentioned, and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of de- * j'-'ninr. engraving, and etching historical and otlier prints." DAVID CALDWELL, Clerk of the District of Fennsylvania-. Exchange 9 1 n5^^ %- THE FAVOURABLE SENTIMENTS OF THE LONDON REVIEWEKS. "MS. BIGLAND displays in this vo^ lume a well cultivated and comprehensive mind. His style is generally correct; his information is extensive ; and the many per- tinent remarks and inferences with which he has enriched this summary of general histo- ry, meet our cordial approbation." Monthly Review, June, 1804. " We are well pleased with this publica- tion, which, founded on the authority of the most celebrated historians, exhibits a Yerj useful manual for the younger student. It is written with great vigor and perspicuity ; nor do we see any sentiments obtrudec against which, as they relate either to reli gion or politics, it appears necessary to can A 2 •I ( 6 ) tioii the young reader. It is an useful un- dertaking well executed." British Critic, July, 1804- " This little historic digest, collected from most' unexceptionable authors, is executed >Yith great neatness and propriety. The divisions, or " periods," are clear and dis- criminate. The diiferent historic details are distinct and perspicuous ; the reflections are just and appropriate. On the whole, the letters cl$im our approbation." Critical Review, July, 1804. PREFACE. THE utility of historical information being universally acknowledged, an attempt to facilitate its acquisition cannot fail of meeting with the approbation of the public, and its ap- pearance in the world will be exempted from the necessity of apology. It may not, however, be amiss to exhibit a sketch of the plan. To comprise a history of the world, in a work of so limit- ed an extent, would appear a ridiculous attempt ; and yet, perhaps, so much as is worth retaining in the memory might be brought within a narrow compass. The most uninterest- ing narratives of battles and sieges, of desolation and carnage a thousand times repeated and swelled with a long train of well-authenticated, and often merely ideal circumstances, may amuse vulgar mindsj but can afford little entertainment to an viii PREFACE. intelligent reader, whose ideas are more enlarged, and who desires to form a comprehensive view of things. The in- quisitive mind, desirous of drawing from history a true pic- ture of human existence, contemplates the origin and pro- gress of the arts and sciences, of systems and opinions, and civilizatioD and commerce ; in fine, of the whole mass of hu- man improvements, and the progressive advancement of so- ciety. The details of those important affairs, are either totally wanting in the records of past ages, or obscure and uncertain. No more than general views can therefore be obtained. The reader who peruses history with a view to render it a source of general information, to acquire a facility of application and readiness of allusion to moral events, with their causes and consequences, and to the political, religious, and social society of mankind in the different periods of time, will endeavour to fix in his mind the leading facts, the out- lines and decisive turns of human affairs, the important events which have in a particular manner changed the aspect of the world, determined the opinions, or fixed the destiny of a con- siderable part of mankind. To facilitate the acquisition and remembrance of the most important, the most interesting, and indeed the only essential part of historical knowledge, is the design of the following essays. A summary of the leading facts of Ancient and PREFACE. ix Modern History is brought forward in chronological order, divided into ten distinct periods, of which the first inclmdeg the whole space of time from the earliest records to the sub- version of the Babylonian monarchy ; the second contains the space between the establishment of the Persian empire, by Cyrus, and its overthrow by Alexander ; the third com- prises the time which elapsed from the reign of Alexander to the coming of Christ; and the fourth begins at the Chris- tian sera, and ends at the elevation of Constantine to the so- vereignty of the Roman empire ; the reign of that prince, on account of its singular importance and conspicuous effects;, is distinctly considered as the fifth period ; from the death of Constantine to the final subversion of the empire constitutes the sixth period ; the seventh begins at the subversion of the Roman empire, and continues to the reign of Charlemagne ; the eighth begins at the death of Charlemagne, and continues till the fifteenth century, which was peculiarly characterized by the revival of letters, the invention of printing, the disco- very of America, the extension of commerce, &c. ; the ninth comprehends that age of enterprise and adventure which begins at the middle of the fifteenth, and continues to near the end of the sixteenth century ; and the tenth period com- mences from that important £era, and exhibits a general view of modern times. The historical basis of the work is found- X PREFACE. ed on the authority of the most intelligent historians. Among the moderns^ Dr. Riissel, Dr. Robertson, L'Abbe Raynal, Mr. Gibbon, Mr. de Messance, Mr. Du Cange, and M. de Montesquieu, besides a great number of others, have been consulted ; and nothing of an unauthenticated nature is ad- vanced. Reflections, rather than details of facts, constitute the historical summary, serving only as a necessary basis for observation. The intention of the author has been to render it conducive to the information of those who are but little acquainted with historical reading, and who have neither leisure nor inclination to peruse the numerous and prolix treatises which constitute the mass of historical information, as well as to make it an useful remembrancer to those who are conversant in history, and have perused more circum- stantial details of those things which are here exhibited in a general representation. The whole design is to exliibit a concentrated view of the history of mankind, to delineate the state of the human mind, under all its various modifications arising from external and adventitious causes. To perform this well, is, however, no easy task. The narrations ought to be concise and expressive, the representations just and picturesque, the investigations accurate and clear, the obser- vations applicable and striking, the reflections just and ap- propriate. How far the author has succeeded in his attempt, PREFACE. xi is left to the judgment of intelligent readers. The utility of the design will scarcely be called in question; the public must decide on the merits of the execution* COHTEHTS OF LETTERS on the Study and use of Ancient and Modern History ; containing observations and reflections on the causes and consequences of those events which have produced conspicuous changes in the aspect of the world, and tht general state of human affairs. BY JOHN BIGLAND, Author of "reflections on the resurhectioi^ and ascension/ Her ample page Rich with the spoils of Time. Gray, LETTER I. \yURIOSITY natural to man : importance of giving it a proper direction.-* Reading and conversation necessary for acquiring a knowledge of mankind. — Difference between poetry, romance, and history ; preference due to the latter. — General observations on the nature and use of history. — Neglect of the ancient historians relative to the most important matters j the progress of arts, sciences, literature, commerce, &c. 25 — SO LETTER II. Whether the study of history leave a tendency to instil a love of war : the rcasoM why it may sometimes have that effect on youthful minda. 3(^-35 B xiv CONTENTS. LETTER III. The use of historical knowledge in eradicating narrow and illiberal prejudi* cee, by displaying the influence of systems, and establishing opinions on the }mman mind. 35 — 38 LETTER IV. ' innumerable advantages resulting from the study of history : difficulty of discnml- nating between truth and fiction : the means to be used for that purpose : re- marks on the historical writings of the Greeks and Romans. — Remarks oa ; ecclesiastical history : circumstance which ought to be considered in estimating the probability of facts, and the general authenticity of historical informa- ^iion. 38—42 LETTER V. .Necessity of strict attention to geography and chronology, in reading history : geographical errors more easily corrected than historical mistakes and misrep- resentations. — An attention to geography and chronology extremely condu- cive to the easy retention as well as the perfect understanding, of historical information. 42—46 LETTER VL The knowledge of history and geography essential to liberal education. — The mi- nute details of history neither possible nor necessary to be kept in the memory : a general view of history necessary to be impressed on the mind : the great outlines, leading facts, and important events easy to be retained in the me- mory. 46—48 LETTER VII. A general ^•iew of the history of mankind : on the primeval ages : the period fixed for the commencement of profane history. — General view of the scriptural history : philosophical conjectures on the creation : The Mosaical account of Ihe creation, perfectly consistent with the known principles of natural philoso- phy r Uie consistency of the eix days work of creation, according to the Mosaic CONTENTS. xy representation with those principles, concisely examined and explained.— The books containing the scriptural history distinctly coniidered : occasional errors in the scriptural history, imply no impeacliment of their general authenticity, and aflford no solid argument against the Divine authority of the Christian religion. 43— 5'j LETTER IX.^ The view of scriptural history continued ; and particular remarks on the relation of Nebuchadneszar's insanity . 55—78 LETTER X. General view of mankind duj;ing the period of time included in the SLtcred history : the state of learning and commerce among the Jews, Egyptians, Tyrians, &c. : general remarks on the Egyptians and Babylonians : origin of Zabaism, or the worship of tlie celestial bodies in Babylon.— Origin of jaaicml astrology at Ba- bylon : the groundless futility of that science ; its consistency with the ideas of the Babylonians: and its inconsistency with natural philosophy ; its extensive spread and long : .utinued influence on the human mind. — Degeneracy of Zaba- ism into idolatry, at Babylon. — Obscurity of the Assyrian and Babylonian history. — Some conjectures on the national genius of the Babylonians. — De- scription of the observatory and tower of Belus. — Description of Babylon. — Observations on the advantages resulting from th^ open and rural plan of Baby- lon. — Degeneracy of the Babylonians after the death of Nebuchadnesjsar. — Conquest of Babylon by Cyrus. — General aspect of the world in the time of the Babylonian empire. — Foundation of Home. — Primitive state of Rome. 78 — U^ LETTER XL state of the Persian Monarchy: invasion of Greece by Darius Hjstaspes : by Xerxes ; retreat of Xerxes ; defeat of Mardonius at Platea. — Subsequent affiuis of Greece and Persia j elevation and character of Philip, king of Macedonia ; hie preparations for the Persian war ; his tragical death. — Observations on the IXj instead of VIII, appears a mistake of ike Author^ or English printer. xvi CONTENTS. general aspect and importance of the wars between the Greeks and Persisins. — Alexander's political and military character j undertakes the war ; the founda- tion of Alexandria 5 his death at Babj'lon. — General observations on the pro- gress of arts, fciences, literature, &c. among the Persians, Egyptians, Jews, and Greeks, during the period which elapsed between the conquest of Babylon by Cyrus and that of the Persian empire by Alexander ; with the state of Rome during the above period.^ — Savage state of Europe in those ages ; with general reflections on the vicissitudes of sublunary things, and the wonderful scheme of Diviae Providence. 82 — 100 LETTER XII. The consequences which followed Alexander's death : dissentions and the tragical fate of the Macedonian generals : the effect of the conquest of Persia considered. — Establishment of the Greek kingdom of Egypt by Ptoloray Lagus : Alexan- dria made the capital : foundation of the Alexandrian library by Ptolomy Phi- ^adelphus ; and the Septuagint translation of the scriptures by his order. — Af- fairs of tlie Jews : establishment of the Asmonean kingdom of the Jew s : the subversion of that monarchy by tlie Romans ; and its reinstatement in the fami- ly of Herod the Great ; final reduction of Judea to a Roman province. — Gradual but slow advancement of the Roman power : small extent of the Roman terri- tory : general manners of the first Romans : examination of Hannibal's conduct in not besieging Rome after the battle of Canna : rapid aggrandizement of Rome after the conquest of Carthage: Her intestine commotions, originating from the opposite factions of Patricians and Plebeians, which ended in the extinction of the republican system of governmeut. Establishment of the imperial govern- ment of Rome. — General aspect of the Roman empire ^ unhappy state of the Romans under the republican sj-stem ; and examination of what was falsely called Roman liberty. General state of society among the Romans : examina- tion of the question whether Rome ever grew more wealthy than in the reign of Augustus : progress of science and literature among the Romans during the republican government. — Asiatic luxury introduced into Rome. — The power- ful effects of ancient eloquence considered, and the causes of its force, in moving the passions, investigated. — View of the state of slavery among the ancients j especially the Romans j with the causes of its existence, and the gradual ame- lioration of that unhappy state ; with the causes of that amelioration. — Reflec- tions on the inhumanity of the Romans to their prisoners of war. View of the state of the human mind in regard to its religious ideas, previous to the promul- gation of Christianity: systems of the philosophers: popular opinions of the philosophers concerning the mediatorial and subordinate divinities, and a fu- ture state : origin ef Polvtheiym ; mythologies of the Greeks and Romans j CONTENTS. xvii origin of idol worship: necessity of a divine revelation. — Promulgation of Chris- tianity : reasons of its rejection by the Jews ; its progress among the Gentiles ; proofs of its divine authority, exhibited to the Gentiles of that and the suc- ceeding ages, in the final destruction of the city and temple of Jerusalem, and the final dispersion of the Jews, 100 — 1 ! t LETTER XIIL View of the Roman empire : summary of the most remarkable occurrences undef the imperial government ; political system of the imperial more pacific than that of the republican government; advantages of an extensive monarchy; ii^ subjects more happy than those of petty states : monarchy preferable to republi- canism ; the Romans more happy under the imperial than under the republican government. — Irruptions of the Quadi, Altemanni, Goths, &c. into the empire ; unprosperous reign of Gallienus ; the barbarians repulsed, and the empire re- stored to its former splendour by Claudius, Probus, Aurelianus, &c. — Division of the empire by Dioclesianus, Maximianus, &c. ; plan of that division : elcva-, tion of Constantine to the undivided sovereignty. — View of the Roman constitiv- tion under the 'iiperial government : military systems under the Emperors : pay and privileges of the legionary soldiers : establishment of the famous corps of Praetorian guards, their pay, &c^ their number, their final abolition. — la- crease of luxury and eiubeliishment of the city of Rome under the Emperor's : dress, amusements, &c. of the Romans ; decline of Roman literature during that period. — Amelioration of the condition of slaves under the imperial govcrnuieiit ; persecutions of the Christians under the imperial government : investigation of the real causes from Avhence those persecutions originated : exculpation of the Emperors : cessation of persecution at the elevation of Constantine. LETTER XIV. The reign of Constantine, an important and interesting period in tlie nificry of tlie world ; its influence in succeeding ages ; general view of the reinarkal>le, poli- tical, and military occurrences of this reign. — Investigation of the isiotives which induced Constantine to embrace and establish the christian religion : t!ie gTound of Mr. Gibbon's suppositions examined : critical enquiry concerning the authenticity of Constantine's celebrated vision; arguments adduced, whicn tend to invalidate the truth of the fact; other arguments equally weighfv, which corroborate it. 167— 1;3 B 2 ^Tiii CONTENTS. LETTER XV. State of religion during the reign of Constantiae ; origin of the differences of opinion among Christians ; Council of Nice : persecution of the Arians. — Build- ing of Constantinople., and removal of the seat of empire j the reasons of that transaction examined : situation of Constantinople, far preferable to that of Rome : some remarks on the situation of Constantinople, in regard to commer- cial advantages and disadvantages. — Consequences of the removal of the impe- rial residence examined : those consequences often misrepresented by histori- ans. — Domestic infelicity of Constantine ; and reflections on the domestic un- happiness of many who have enjoyed the greatest degree of prosperity in their public concerns. 179 — 193 LETTER XVI. Critical inqiiirj' info (hfi state of ancient Rome, in regard to extent, wealth and population : number of inhabitants in Rome in the reign of Theodosius ; re- marks on a note in a popular Treatise of Geography : comparison of Babylon, Rome; and London, in regard to extent and population : London, a commercial dty, Rome not commercial ; dJRcrimjnating circumstance in their mode of sup- pliej? : remarks on the common esiimates of the population of Constantinople, Cairo, Pekin, Moscow, and-Pet ersburgh, as commonly given in our geographi- cal books. 198—200 LETTER XVIL Political state of the Roman empire, from the death of Constantine to its final sub- version by tlve nortbein nations ; remaiks on the death of Julian ; admission of the Goths into the empire by Valens : consequences of that step : defeat and tragical death of Valens : reign of Theodosius : final division of the empire , J onseqpenres of that division : irruption of the nortliern nations : sack of Rome by x\+ - "ie : sanguinary reign of Attilla : total subversion of the western em- pire: investigation of the causes which brought about the subversion of the empire ; view of the state of the northern nations ; of the means whereby the vast population of civilized nations is supported ; these means shewn to be want- ing in those which are uncivilized : conjectures on the general state of the em- pire, and on that of the imperial city, previous to its final overthrow. CONTENTS. 1^ LETTER XVIII. Slate of religion after the death of Constantine : Arianism triumphant at Con- stantinople, and in most parts of the east, until the reign of Theodosius : tri- umph of the orthodox party : general council of Constantinople : Gregory Na^ zianzen, John Crysostome : suppression of Arianism in the Roman empire : to- tal abolition of Paganism by Theodosius : Arianism the religion of the Goths at that period : division of the Christian world into two great parties, the Or- thodox and the Arians.— Origin of monastic institutions ; their advantages and disadvantages considered in a religious and political point of view ; probability of their approaching abolition in all countries ; good effects of them in th? gothic ages. 212 — 221 LETTER XIX. State of Europe after the subversion of the empire : origin of the French monay- chy : establishment of the Saxons in Britain j Gothic kingdom of Italy ; con- quest of Italy by Bellisarius and Narses ; reign of Justinian ; his prosperity ; his character j comparison of his fortune with that of many others of the most pros- perous princes j his superiority of good fortune above that of any other : char- acters of Bellisarius and Narses : state of the eastern empire in the reign of Justinian^— State of the eastern empire after the death of Justinian: destruc- tive war between that empire and Persia ; remarkable events of that war ; gen- eral aspect of the world at that period. — Origin of Mahometanism : policy of Mahomet : plan and principles of Mahomet's systems ; extraordinary success of Alahomet and his successors, in consequence of the two empires of Constantino- ple and Persia being exhausted and debilitated by their mutual efforts against each other ; remarks on the destruction of the Alexandrian library : conquests of Mahometan Caliphs ; their military successes more wonderful than those df Alexander ; investigation of the causes to which those successes are to be ascrib- ed. — Political system of the empire of the Caliphs : some conjectures on the set- tlements of the Arabs, in the peninsula of India aod the oriental islands, 221—24,© LETTER XX. §fcetchof the genius and manners of the Arabs or Saracens; progress of science and literature under the Caliphate ; striking difference between their litera- ture and scientific pursuits and those of the Greeks and Romans : commerce of those ages. — General aspect of the world j of Europe ; of the eastern empire j of the Caliphate j wars between the two latter j invention of the Greek fire j XX CONTENTS. its effects. — State of the christian church : conversion of the Tyrian nations : in- troduction of images into churches : causes to which their introduction may be ascribed : fatal consequences resulting from that circumstance : rupture be- between tlie Greek and Latin churches on that subject : second council of Con- stantinople : second council of Nice. — View of Europe during the above men- tioned period : elevation of Pepin and Charlemagne : establishment of the western or German empire : efforts of Charlemagne for the restoration of learning. — Dismemberment of the empire of Charlemagne : rapid growth of the feudal system ; remarks on that system : origin of the Germanic constitution. — Dismemberment of the Caliphate : state of the eastern empire : origin and frequency of pilgrimages to Jerusalem : origin of the crusades : general view of those religious wars : conquest of Jerusalem : establishment and overthrow of the Christian kingdom of Jerusalem : capture of Constantinople, and subversion of that empire by the French and Venetian crusaders ; immense booty : estab- lishment of the Latin empire of Constantinople, and of the Greek empire of Nice : recovery of Constantinople by the Greeks, and subversion of the Latin empire. — Effects of the crusades : gradual abolition of the feudal system : general remarks. — Exorbitant elevation of the church ; of the Papal see : ani- mosity between the Greek and Latin churches ; attempts for their reconcilia- tion : causes of the animosity between the two churches investigated. — Great schism of the Latin church : enquiry into the causes of the extraordinary eleva- tion of the church, and of the Papal power. — State of Europe after the crusades ; state of the eastern empire, and of Byzantine learning : first historical intelli- gence of the Russian empire : revival of learning, and of the arts in Europe : state of the city of Constantinople ; of London ; and other European capitals : imperial palace of Constantineple.— Conquests of the Tartars under Zengis Khan and his successors, and under Tamerlane : declining state of the empire of Constantinople : capture of that city by the Turks. — Effects of the capture of Constantinople on European literature : introduction of the study of the Greek language into Europe. 240 — 275 LETTER XXI. Rapid progress of literature and the arts in Europe ; invention of printing ; incal- culable benefits arising from that discovery : rapid improvement of commerce : voyages of discovery made by the Portuguese ; discovery of the passage to India by the Portuguese ; state of the India trade previous to that event : discovery of America : conquest of Mexico and Peru by the Spaniards : general remarks. — Origin of the negro slave trade ; salutary effects of the establishment of Christianity,— On the system of slavery among the Romans : gradual disap- pe^ance of slavery in Europe j gradual ameiioration of the condition of CONTENTS. XXI negro slavery ; probabiHty of its future abolition : remarks on the revolt of St. Domingo. 276^299 LETTER XXII. Important consequences of the discovery of America: introduction of new aTtf- cles of luxury.— Influx of gold and silver from America into Europe, and its effects on the commercial and social system ; low value of European property prior to the discovery of the new continent.— General observations on the cir- culation of gold and silver in different ages and countries ; investigation of some curious and interesting questions arising from that subject.— Effects of the dis- covery of America in regard to the extension of Christianity.— Settlements made by the Portuguese in the east, under the celebrated General D' Albuquerque ^ vast commercial empire of the Portuguese ; its rise and fall.— Reformation of religion ; its causes, progress, and effects : inconsistency of religious perseci>> tion with reason and Christian charity j happy prevalence of the spirit of re- ligious liberty. 300-.3i.7 LETTER XXIII. General view of the progress of human improvements in modern times : re-- marks on the consequences of the invention of gun-powder : cursorj^ view of the leading transactions of modern times : aggrandizement of the house of Austria : its depression : revolt of the Low countries : establishment of the Batavian re- public : Spanish Armada : aggrandisement of France under Louis XIV ; civil- ization and aggrandisement of Russia.— Revolt of America : establishment of the American republic : remarks on the remote, but certain consequences of that event : changes which tliose consequences must produce on the commercial affairs of the old continent. — Observations on the rapid, extraordinary increase of the commerce and naval power of Great Britain : on the French revolution, and the war which ensued : extraordinary exertions of France and Great Bri- tain : different opinions concerning the propriety of that war examined : view of the consequences which might probably have ensued, if Britain had preserved a neutrality : difficult situation of the British ministry at that period : inconsi- derateness of those who presume to judge the conduct of their rulers, without knowing the motives of their conduct .—Remarks on the national debt, andoQ taxation ; taxation a subject little understood j the effects of it not such as they are generally supposed : examioation of the question, how far the national debt and high taxes tend to impoverish a nation : reciprocal effects of national wealth and high taxes, on each other, and on society : high taxes a Beces?ay3r xxir CONTENTS. consequence of great national wealth : exemplification of the subject in a ct)ra-, parison between Great Britain and Russia : British subjects better able to pay their taxes than those of any other country : influence of taxes on manu- factures. — Remarks on the consequences and tendency of war : advantages of the funding system : observations on the general diffusion of opulence and luxury in modern times : enquiry into the nature and consequences of what is called lux- ury. — Observations on the state of the nations of Asia and Africa : investiga- tions of the causes why some nations have so far excelled others in scientific and literary improvements, and why many are still in a savage state : particular re- marks on the Hindoos and Chinese, in regard to these important particulars : a general enquiry whether the difference we perceive in the state of the human mind in different parts of the world, proceeds from an essential differe nee in the species. 317—342 m LETTERS ON HISTORY. LETTER I. SIR, J.N compliance with your request, I take the liberty of lay- ing before you a few remarks on the use and importance of an acquaintance with history, accompanied with some re- flections on the manner in which it ought to be read, so as to render it an instructive and entertaining fund of general in- formation. The bent of your genius seems to lead you to the study of history. You wish to acquire a general knowledge of man- kind, and historical reading is the only effectual means of ob- taining it. In order to render you such assistance as the me- diocrity of my abilities enables me, I here present you with some reflections and observations on the causes and consequen- ces of the most remarkable events in the history of the world ; with an attempt to delineate the general condition of man- kind, in each remarkable period. Curiosity is inherent in man ; and, in some measure, accom- panies every degree of the human understanding, and every modification of the mind. From the philosopher to the pea- sant, scarcely anyone is found who is not desirous of infor- mation on one subject or another ; but this cuiiosity is di- rected to different objects, in different minds, in proportion to their degrees of elevation, or the extent of their pre- vious improvements. That great Colossus of literature and moral philosophy. Dr. Johnson, says, "Curiosity is one of the most permanent and certain characteristics of a vi- goi^-ds intellect." (Ramb. Vol. 2. p. 267 ;) and again, /vol. 3. p. 252) " Cmiosity is, in great and generous minds, C 26 LETTERS Let. L the first posilion and the last ; and, perhaps, always pre- dominates in proportion to the strength of the mental facul- ties." These are the encomiums which that great obser- ver of (he human mind bestows on this passion ; but with all deference to so respectable an authority, the praise is, perhaps, rather due to the direction it takes, than to the passion itself; for curiosity may be directed to the most in- significant as well as the most important objects. The un- cultivated peasant confines his enquiries to the affaiis of his own parish, while the man of a more improved understanding, and more extensive views, directs his attention to the af- fairs of the world at large, and is desirous of information relative to subjects which interest mankind in general ; the schemes of politicians, the stratagems of war, the fluctua- tions of commerce, and the progress of arts, sciences, or literature. This active curiosify of man may be gratified in many different ways ; but no gratification can ever satisfy it. The traveller, who goes to view a strange country, on ascending every eminence, amuses his mind in the expecta- tion of the prospect he shall enjoy from the summit ; but on gaining his point, his curiosity is so far from being extin- guished by gratification, that it operates with redoubled force, and excites his desires to contemplate the prospects which lie beyond his view ; and which, he expects, will yet diversify the scene, and amuse him in his farther pro- gress. In like manner, the man of a cultivated understanding, while lie investigates the wonders of art, or the phenomena of nature, finds his curiosity continually excited by new ob- jects ; and the village gossip, who turns her thoughts to iioilring farther than the doiiiestic concerns of her neighbours, finds tier curiosity as strongly and incessantly excited by the whispers of scandal, and the trifling concerns of the neii.hbonrhood, as does the philosopher who directs his at- tention to the most important and interesting phenomena of the physical, moral, or intellectual world. Since then curiosity is a passion inherent in the human mind, in every situations from the gilded palace to the mud- walled cottage, and operates with incessant activity upon every degree of the human understanding, it is an object of great utiHty and importance, in tiie right ordering of the mind, to direct the operation of so active a quality to such suljects of enquiry as may be conducive to real improve- Let. I. ON HISTORY. 27 ment, and lead us to the knowledge of mankind, that vast society, of which every individual is a member. To ac- quire this knowledge, we must have recourse to reading. The mind is nourished, improved, and carried forward to the perfection of its nature, by reading and instruction. The human understanding is a blank, which may be filled up with various kinds of matter ; and whatever degree of genius a man may naturally possess, he must be indebted to read- ing and reflection for his subsequent improvement. For v/ant of this, many Platos, Aristotles, and Ciceros, many Lockes and Newtons, are following the plough. Reading and Conversation are the two great vehicles of information ; but unless the former be cultivated, the lalter will be uninstructive. The man who has not ijnproved his mind by reading, will not be able to instruct in conversation, or to derive much instruction by that channel. It has been often, and justly remarked, that reading ale je is not sutR- cient to give a complete knowledge of mankind. In alio w= ingthe justness of this observation, we must, fiowever, con- sider that reading is the basis of all intellectual acquirements, and instructs us in the theory, as the incidents of real life and conversation with man teach us the practical part of what is called the knowledge of the world, or of mankind. In order to attain this kind of knowledge, history is more rec[uisite than any other kind of reading, and beyond comparison more effectually conducive to that end. Books are composed to suit the capacities and inclinations of every description of readers ; but we may, without hesitation, give the preference to historical, as a vehicle of general in- formation, when the term is understooel in the full extent of its signification ; for, as Cicero says, our education begins at the cradle, and ends only at the grave, comprehending the various kinds of information, which the mind imbibes through life, by all the means of acquiring knowledge ; so we may include, under the general denomination of history, every kind of knowledge we receive relative to matter of fact : and facts are the only means we possess of investigating the motives of human conduct, and of acquiring a knowledge of mankind. Poetry is adapted to amuse the fancy, to exalt the imagi- nation, and to move the passions, rather than to inform the understanding. The poet creates, in his own mind, and 28 LETTERS Let. L endeavours to form in the minds of his readers, an ideal world, often very different from the real world. His cha- racters and descriptions are fictitious. And romance, like poetry, is only an eifusion of the imagination. It paints, in glowing colours, the performances, the sufferings, or the successes of imaginary heroes. History, on the contrary, relates the actions of men who have really existed, shews what they have sitiFsred, and what they have done. Ro- mance describes men such as they might, or ought to have been : History represents them such as they really are, or have been. The former, like poetry, paints from fancy : the latter draws from nature. History is the exhibition of man, the display of human life, and the foundation of general knowledge. It expands "he ideas, enlarges the mind, and eradicates those narrow and illiberal prejudices which dim and corrupt the under- standing. By devek'ping the causes which influence and direct ike opinions and conduct of men, in different ages, in different conntries, in different situations of life, and under different political and religious establishments, it tends to inspire liberality of sentiiiient with a spirit of toleration and universal benevolence. While we contemplate the various phenomena of the moral world, and the infinitely diversified and complicated scenes of hmnan action, history exhibits, in successive or- der, as in a moving picture, all the generations of men. It displays the effects of political and religious systems, on na- tions and on individuals, and shews the rise and fall of em- pires, kingdoms, and states, with the causes of their pros- perity and decline. In perusing the history of nations, we have an opportunity of investigating the circumstances which gave rise to their existence, procured their aggran- dizement, precipitated them from their elevation, or effect* ed their final subversion. Unhappily the annals of every country develope such a tissue of fraud and violence, such a series of wars, battles, treasons, and stratagems, that some have denominated history a catalogue of the crimes and mis- eries of mankind. These things, however, are not unwor- thy of attention, as they shew in what manner the human passions operate in different situations and circumstances of life, and the consequences of their operation, the extreme instability of all sublunary things, and the uncertain nature Let. I. ON HISTORY. 29 of all human expectation ; but they are far from constitut- ing the most pleasing or valuable part of historical informa- tion. The most rational entertainment, as well as the most solid instruction, afforded by the study of history, arises from the opportunity it gives of contemplating the gradual improvement of the human mind, the origin, progress, and influence of arts and sciences, literature and commerce, of systems and opinions, the general state of mankind in differ- ent ages, and in different countries, and the progressive ad- vancement of man, from a savage life in woods and wilder- nesses, to the highest pitch of learning and civilization, dis- played in cities, colleges, courts, and senates. These are subjects w^hich furnish an inexhaustible fund of rational en- tertainment and interesting information to an enquiring and philosophical mind ; and, on this account, every reader of history ought, in a particular manner, to remark those im- portant events which form an epoch in human affair, which operate a lasting change in ihe condition of mankind, and from which a new order of things appears to hav e originat- ed. These important and interesting events ought to be ob- served with a penetrating eye, and their causes and conse- quences examined with accurate investigation. By study- hig history in this manner, a wide field will open itself to our observation. We shall see how men, stimulated by neces- sity, first invented the arts most necessary to their comfort and well being ; how, from the arts of necessity they advanc- ed to those of convenience, and gradually proceeded to ihe embellishments of luxury ; advancing, by progiessive de- grees of refinement, from the fig-leaf apron to the purple robe and embroidered cloak. A penetrating mind will dis- cover the effects which those arts of necessity, conveni- ency, and luxury, have produced on the condition of the human species, by giving rise to commerce, and to all that endless variety of employments which are so closely connect- ed as to be essentially and reciprocally necessary to each other ; and which contribute not a little to cement the fa- bric of civil society, by rendering men mutually dependent on one another. We shall observe,^ that men, as soon as they began to settle and multiply, discovered the necessity. of uniting in societies, of ascertaining the divisions, and se- curing the possession of property; of establishing a regular stib- ©fdination in society_, of restraining the operation of inoid> 30 LETTERS Let. IL nate desires by salutary laws, and of submitting themselves to a regular form of government ; and we shall see how those governments, establisjied for the genwal good, soon degene- rated into tyrannj ; and how, by continual encroachments, wars and conquests, one swallowing up another, numbers of them being united, formed powerful and extensive empires. If historians, especially those of ancient times, had given to those interesting particulars all the attention they might have done, instead of filling their volumes with little else than narratives of wars, battles, sieges, assassinations, usurpa- tions, and massacres, we might have had a far more accu- rate and interesting history of the human mind than we can at present boast of, or hope ever to collect ; but unfortunate- ly the ancient historians have neglected to investigate those important subjects, while they have detailed the annals of slaughter and desolation with the minutest accuracy ; as if they thought scenes of murder and bloodshed, the only sub- jects worthy the attention of mankind, and the only things that could give pleasure to their readers. If they had di- versified their blood-stained pages with colours of a milder hue, with curious dslineotions of commercial, scientific, and literary improvements, hi;story would be far more instruc- Hye, more interesting, and more delightful. I am, Sir, yours, Sec. J. B. LETTER IL SIR, YOU know it has been observed by many good judges of human nature, and even asserted by some who were qualifi- ed to speak experimentally on the subject, that the reading of history has a powerful tendency to excite martial ideas, and to determine youthful and inexperienced minds to a military life. It is related by some historians, that when the Goths had been converted to Christianity, and had the sacred scriptures translated into their language, it was thought advi- sable to omit, in that translation, the books of the Kings and the Chroniciess on account of the frequent relatic^as of war Let. II. ON HISTORY. 31 and slaughter, lest the perusal of such narratives should stim- ulate their warlike and savage minds to deeds of violence, to which they were naturally so inclined ; and lest, by a fatal mistake, they should think that war, conquest, and rapine, were sanctioned by the religion they had embraced. If this be true, it clearly shews the opinion which the enlightened men of that age had of the influence which narratives of mil- itary achievements have on ignorant and untutored minds. This influence, however, is founded not solely on the plan of narration which historians have so generally adopted ; but is, in a great measure, derived from the misconception of readers, or their want of reflection. The minds of youth may, indeed, easily be misled by that indiscriminate and unqualified praise too often given to those whose military talents have proved successful in the field; even sometimes when those talents, or those succes- ses, have been employed to enable them to usurp thrones to which they had no title, or to extend their conquests over countries where they could claim no right of sovereignty. But the reader must consider himself accountable for his own error, if he suffer himself to imbibe romantic ideas, or form erroneous conclusions, for want of making just and appro- priate reflections on the actions and events of human life and their consequences. A little reflection would not only give him a clear view of the crimes of many of the great charac- ters of history, but also convince him of the extreme uncer- tainty of military honours. We must allow, in its fullest extent, the intrinsic value and indisputable respectability of military talents, when rightly employed : it is the abuse alone of them that is con- demnable. The military station is, and ought to be honora- ble : but the necessity of its existence is a moral evil ; and to delight in war, is criminal. True courage consists in re- sisting misfortune or aggressions as much and as long as pos- sible ; and if further resistance be found impossible, in bear- ing adversity with a noble magnanimity, and suffering with a steady and unshaken fortitude ; but an inclination to inflict evil on others is not a characteristic of true courage, but of savage ferocity. We cannot too highly honor those, who, when called out to the defence of their country, distinguish themselves by their courage and conduct in ihe field. Mili- tary skill, and undamited presence of mind^ amidst the hor- 32 LETTERS Let. IL rors and dangers of war, united with an invariable love of peace, characterize the true hero ; while a sanguinary de- light in war and bloodshed is the unequivocal mark of a bar- barian, and consistent onlj with the character of an Attilla, a Bajazet, or a Tamerlane. If those who delight to peruse the history of military a- chievements, understood, or would consider the nature of war, they would perceive upon what an infinite variety of unforeseen and seemingly trivial accidents the success of a campaign, or a military expedition depends ; and discover that the combined exertions of a multitude of subordinate warriors, from the chief of a division, to the private soldier, must contribute to the success of the action, and the glory of the commander. If we make a just estimation of human actions, we shall find that the greatest part of the heroes of history merited the name of robbers and murderers, rather than the title of conquerors ; but the folly of mankind too often loads, with pompous applause, those characters which are worthy of their detestation, and, instead of holding any place in the re- membrance of posterity, should " Rest forgot with mighty tyrants gone, " Their statues mouldered, and their names unknown." We shrink with horror at the idea of the human sacrifices offered by the Phoenicians, the Carthaginians, and some other nations of antiquity ; by the Mexicans, not above three centuries ago ; and even at this day by several nations dis- persed over the islands of the Pacific Ocean, and recently discovered by our modern circumnavigators ; and we cannot but look with a mixture of pity, contempt, and abhorrence, on the people who offer those horrid oblations. By what strange delusion then does it happen, that when we see a man, on the altar of whose ambition and avarice more hu- man victims have been immolated, perhaps, in one day, than any of the above-mentioned nations sacrifice in half a centu- ry ; by what strange delusion, I say, does it happen, that we can willingly fall down and worship the blood-besmeared idol ? If, indeed, the Hero had, by the prowess of his sin- gle arm, hewn down the ranks of the enemy and laid his thousands and his tens of thousands in the dust, we might, perhaps, revere him as a superior, although a malevolent be- Let. II. ON HISTORY. 33 ing, and through the terror of his name fall down before the great destroyer. But, alas ! we see in the mighty conqueror no more than a man, weak and infirm like ourselves, who, in personal strength and courage, is perhaps inferior to several private soldiers in the ranks of his own and the enemies ar- mies, and possesses no natural endowment of body or mind, by which he could, in equal circumstances, distinguish him- self above many individuals among the unnoticed multitude which follows his standard. If the writers of history have dazzled the eyes of posteri- ty, by painting in brilliant colours the achievements of the celebrated destroyers of mankind, their readers often mislead themselves by not reflecting on the concomitant circumstan- ces of actions and events. In reading the exploits of an Alexander, a Scipio, a Hannibal, or a Caesar, or of other more modern warriors, we follow the chief with an attentive eye, we admire his martial abilities, and feel ourselves inter- ested in his fate, without so much as bestowing a thought on the nameless multitude of vulgar warriors fsilling by his side, or once reflecting on the numerous victims which are sacri- ficed, before the glittering idol is placed on the altar of fame. If every one, whose mind is fired with military enthusiasm, could promise himself the attainment of all the fame and glory he could desire, ambition would admit of some excuse ; but those who wish to obtain a name by the desolation of the world, and the destruction of their fellow-creatures, would do well to consider, that glory and fame cannot be the portion of all ; and that in the Roman legions there was but one Cae- sar, and only one Alexander in the army which conquered Persia. Of all the subordinate officers who served under these and other celebrated conquerors, how few are enroll- ed in the annals of military glory ! How few of their names have been transmitted to posterity! Although, without doubt, many of those secondary heroes were equal both in skill and courage to the commander in chief. The comman- ders of detachments and divisions, although the success of the general plan of operations depends, in a principal de- gree, upon their abihties, seldom are fortunate enough to have their names noticed by posterity, while that of the general stands high in the annals of the age. The eyes of mankind are always fixed on the commander in chief. Al- though Caesar, in his commentaries, is not backward in ac- 34 LETTERS Let. IL knowledging the merit, and relating the actions of his offi- cers, we know very little of their characters or their abilities. Much of the perils and fatigues of the Gallic war was theirs ; the glory of the conquest is all his own. The great com- manders, who served under Alexander, although they were men of consummate military abilities, soldiers of approved skill and courage, trained to arms ander the warlike banners, and instructed by the lessons of his father Philip, would scarcely have been heard of by posterity, had they not seiz- ed on, and divided among themselves, the dominions of their victorious master, exterminated his family, brought each other's grey hairs in blood to the grave, and rendered them- selves still more- conspicuous by their crimes than ^Jy their political and military abilities. If we studied history in a philosophical manner, we should, in reading the narrative of a campaign, instead of having our attention wholly fixed on the fate of the general, contemplate also the hardships undergone by the brave sol- diers who compose his army, and to whose valour and ex- ertions he stands indebted for his success and his glory. If we considered the nameless and numberless multitudes of warriors who fall, not only by the sword, but by sickness, famine, and fatigue, the inseparable concomitants of war, and sink into the grave undistinguished and unknown, we should be enabled to make a more exact estimate of the hor- rors of war, and should easily and clearly perceive, that those brilliant exploits which shine with such a dazzling lus- tre in the page of history, although they may be no more than amusing comedies to those who read or hear of them at a distance, are real tragedies to a very great number of the actors who are concerned in them, as well as to thousands of others, who are involved in their consequences. If history were studied as it ought, the most tragical rela- tions which disfigure its ensanguined pages might be made conducive to our instruction, and subservient to our rational amusement. If we did but reflect on the tears of the wid- ows and orphans, and imagine ourselves to hear the groans of the wounded and dying ; if we represented to ourselves the splendid and warlike appearance of an army, at its first taking the field, contrasted with the distressful spectacle of its shattered remains, after a hard fought battle, or a bloody campaign, we should be thunderstruck at the reflection, and Let. III. ON HISTORY. 35 contemplate with horror the dreadful effects of the human passions. A mind well organized, would, from such con- siderations, derive both instruction and entertainment; an entertainment tragical indeed ; but which, by exciting emo- tions of pity, gives pleasure to the feehng and compassionate mind. To derive instruction and pleasure from history, the rea- der must examine, reflect, and compare : and must Hkewise possess a feeling heart. The man who cannot feel another's woe, who cannot be affe'cte J with emotions of pity in con- templating the misfortunes of his fellow mortals, who cannot place himself in their situation, and consider in what manner he should have thought, felt, and acted, in the same circum- stances, does not possess a frame of mind adapted to the stu- dy of history, such at least as we have it ; for, in the manner in which all ancient, and the greatest part of modern history is written, almost every page contains a tragedy. When you have pondered these reflections in your mind, and examined their justness and propriety, I doubt not but they will meet with your approbation. In the mean while, a more agreeable field of speculation is ready to open itself to our view. At present I shall conclude, with assuring you, that, with every sentiment of respect and esteem, I am, dear Sir, your's, &c, J. B, LETTER III. DEAR SIR, A CURIOUS and interesting subject of speculation now presents itself to our view, in which a judicious perusal of history eminently contributes to develope the nature of the human mind, and to rectify our ideas and opinions. While the philosopher contemplates the almost endless va- riety of pvolitical and religious establishments existing in the world, and fhe current opinions of mankind in different ages, and in ^lifferent countries, history, in an eminent degree, comes to his aid ; and by enlarging his views, and extending 36 LETTERS Let. III. his ideas, extinguishes those illiberal prejudices which narrow the mind, which deaden the feelings, and obscure the un- derstanding. Error and prejudice have an almost universal influence over the minds of men ; and it is onlj in propor- tion to the light conveyed to the mind, by general informa- tion and extensive views of things, that this influence is weak- ened or annihilated. Certain prepossessions take hold of our minas, and domineer over our reason, from our infancy, from the first dawn of thoughts. They ^re inspired by sys- tems and establishments, by received customs, by current opinions, and by the conversation and the authority of those who are the nearest a,nd dearest to us, and have the greatest influence over us. Every nation, every religious sect, eve- ry class of society, has prejudices peculiar to itself ; these prejudices are strengthened by various circumstances ; they acquire a deeper root from the books we read, the country we live in, the persons with whom Ave converse, the station of life in which we are placed, and a thousand other inci- dents. If we should select a certain number of children, of capacities as nearly equal as possible, (for a perfect equality in this respect, perhaps, does not exist) if we should give them all the same education, and place them in^the same station of life, whatever trifling difference might be observed in their understandings or acquirements owing to the difterent degrees of their appHcation and intellectual exertion, or other incidental circumstances, we should still find in all of them (more or less) the same views, the same prejudices, the same current opinions and general ideas. But if, on the contrary, they should be differently educated and disposed of— if one should be made a soldier — another a sailor— the third a husbandman — the fourth a merchant — if another should be placed in a monastery and enter into one of the religious, orders ©f the church of Rome — another become a minister of some protestant church — if another should be sent into a Mahometan country, and, after a suitable educa- tion, become a Mufti of the mussulman religion—if another should be educated among the Bramins of India — and the mind of another be formed among the Lamas of Thibettian Tartary, or among the disciples of Confucius, or the wor- shippersof Foe, in Chinaor Japan, we should then see in their ditfevent prejudices, current opinions, and general ideas, the full force and influence of external and adventitious circum- Let. IIL ON HISTORY. BT stances upon the human intellect. If the minds of men could be rendered visible, what different pictures would those persons, m their maturer years, display! They would exhibit, in the most luminous, the most distinct, and the most striking point of view, the full power and effect of national, political, and religious prejudices upon the human mind. These prejudices, diversified by a thousand differ- ent shades, some more faintly, others more strongly mark- ed, influence, in ^ greater or less degree, almost every in- dividual of the human race ; but more especially the vulgar and illiterate, the slaves of systems, opinions, and fashions ; and their influence is hostile to the improvement of the hu- man mind, as well as to true religion and christian charity. They foster ignorance, and engender pride, and stron^y tend to weaken or destroy that universal philanthropy so forcibly inculcated by the great Author of the Christian re- ligion. Nothing has a greater tendency to eradicate narrow and illiberal prejudices than a general acquaintance with those circumstances and events, which, at different periods, have taken place in the world, and which have, in so decisive a manner, determined the condition and opinions of mankind ; and this knowledge the judicious perusal of ancient and mo- dern history communicates. Hence arise extensive views and just ideas, with which 'the spirit of persecution and in- tolerance is incompatible. While the bigotfed Protestant condemns, perhaps without examination, what he calls the absurdities of the church of Rome ; and the bigotted Catho- lic anathematizes the Protestant who refuses obedience to what the other deems the infallible church ; while the Calvin- ist condemns the Arminian, and the Arminian the Caivinist, because they happen to tliink differently respecting the mys- terious plan of redemption, and of the divine decrees : while bigots of every persuasion condemn and persecute one another, the enlightened philanthropist, of whatever deno- mination he may be, sees in every man a brother ; and re- gards the whole collective mass of mankind as one vast fa- mily, the children of one common Father. While the bi- got breathes nothing but intolerance and persecution against those who happen to have opinions different from himself, the enlightened and benevolent christian considers the differ- ent nations of Diankind as living under different dispensations. :38 LETTERS Let. IV. and resigns them all into the hands of the divine Being, who rules and disposes all things as he thinks fit, and in a man- ner which our feeble reason is not able to comprehend. Confident that these remarks will meet with your appro- bation, and that your sentiments relative to this subject will perfectly coincide with mine, I am, Sir, your's, &c. J. B. LETTER IV. SIK, FROM a judicious and methodical study of history more advantages will be derived than can readily be enumerated ; but to pursue this kind of study, in such a manner as may enable us to derive instruction and authentic information from it, we x)ught carefully to be on our guard against the mistakes as well as the impositions of historians. History is a noble and useful, but a very defective branch of literature. If we consider with what difficulty we arrive at the truth, in regard to affairs which are transacted in our own times, when the art of printing, so conducive to the general diffusion of knowledge, has opened the channels of information, and ren- dered both the communication of truth, and the detection of falsehood, more easy and expeditious than in former times, we cannot reasonably expect to find accurate accounts of the particular circumstances attending transactions and events which have taken place in former ages. If it were possible that historians could transmit to posterity the secret intrigues of courts and cabinets, and explore the true motives of hu- man actions, history would be much more valuable, as it woiild then display a more exact picture of the human mind, and develope more fully the secret causes of great events. But it cannot be supposed that they can obtain authentic in- formation concerning things which are generally transacted with the utmost secrecy ; and therefore, we must guard against the impositions of those historians, who, to embellish their works, have recourse to imagination, and make con- jqpture supply the place of authentic information. Such Let. IV. ON HISTORY. 8^ writers, not being able to inform us how their personages spoke and acted on certain occasions, make them speak and act as they, themselves would have spoken and acted in the same circumstances. The eloquent orations which appear in Livy, Josephus, Sallust, and other ancient historiogra- phers, embellish their works, amuse the reader, and display to advantage the talents of the writer ; but they are to be con- sidered, for the most part, as the speeches of the historian, and not of the persons to whom they are attributed. Some writers of history have the efFontery to pretend to give us a detail of the debates of privy councils, and of the most se- cret conversations and cabals of courtiers with as much for- mal precision as if they had been cabinet ministers in the courts of all the princes of the age concerning which ihey write ; and as if nothing had been transacted or determined without their privacy ; nor do they scruple to entertain us with a circumstantial account of a battle, a siege, or the operations of the whole campaign, with as much pretended accuracy as if they had taken the field with the army, and accompanied every detachment employed on different ser- vices during the whole contest. Such narratives ought always to be suspected ; generally speaking, they ought to be totally disregarded. Mr. Boswell relates, that Dr. Johnson used to say, " We talk of history, but let us consider how little history, I mean real authentic histery, we have. It is not to be questioned but such kings reigned, such battles were fought, such cities were taken, and such countries conquer- ed, as we find mentioned ; but all the colouring of history is mere conjecture." - In this Dr. Johnson is most certainly right : almost all the circumstantial details we meet with m history ought to be regarded as tlie effusion of the historians imagination. Their truiii ought always to be questioned^ although perhaps it may not be possible to prove their false hood. It is only the outlines of history, the leading and important facts, vrhich have been productive of great and conspicuous effects, which ought to attract our attentioiij excite our reflection, and hold a place in our remembrance. This method of studying history, will, indeed, coiftract its limits, and bring it within a narrower compass, but will much enhance its value by rejecting its errors and superfiuities, and selecting the genuine information it affords. In regard to historical detaiisy whenever the historian undertake? to 40 LETTERS Let. IV. offer theiii to the perusal of his reader, he ought, at the peril of his reputation for veracity, to discover how, or from whence, he obtained such accurate information, otherwise he must pardon the increduHtj of posterity, if they do not implicitly give credit to his bare word. As to ingenious and rational conjecture relative to the causes, the consequences, and circumstances of transactions and events, they are certainly admissible, and ev^en in many cpses desirable in history, as they may assist the reflections of the reader, by suggesting hints, which, perhaps, might not have readily occured to his mind ; but they ought to be given only as conjectures, and not as facts. The observa- tions and deductions of a sagacious and philosophical histo- rian, may exhibit a subject in a more luminous point of view than it would have immediately appeared in upon a bare re- cital of the fact ; but the reflecting reader must still consider his remarks only as conjectures, unless the probabilities be so strong as to stamp upon them the mark and value of un- ciuestionable authority. However, as it can hardly be ex- pected that historians should, at all times, be so scrupulous as to describe the means by which they have obtained their information ; and as such details would even seem tedious to most readers, we ought, when we peruse their works, to ex- amine and consider how much of their narratives bear the marks of truth ; huw much has the air of probability ; and how much ought to be esteemed only as conjectural; and always endeavour to discriminate between conjecture and re- ality. Many historians have written several centuries after the transactions they relate took place, and consequently have compiled their works from scattered records and frag- ments of other histories, of which they were not able to as^ certain the authenticity, or determine the degree of proba- bility; they often could neither prove the veracity of the original writer, nor examine his opportunities and means of acquiring intelligence concerning his subject, nor under what influence he composed his works. We know under what auspices Voltaire composed some of his historical tracts, and BO one can be ignorant, that Josephiis wrote his history of the wars of the Jews under Roman influence. Some have taken care to give their writings such a cast as they supposed would please their patrons, or procure them friends among persons of some particular class. Others have been in fear Let. IV. ON HISTORY. 41 of the resentment of men in power ; and others have been actuated by the desire of making everj thing redound to the honor of their own country, or their own party. The accounts we have of the Greek and Roman affairs, it is to be observed, were all written by Greeks and Romans ; we must, in consequence, suppose some degree of national par- tiality in their relations, with this degree of difference, in- deed, that the Greeks being divided into a number of inde- pendent and hostile states, the constant rivals of each other's glory, reputation, and prosperity; and writers being nu- merous among them, they were, in some measure, mutual checks upon one another, which rendered falsehood more liable to detection among them than among the Romans ; who, being united in one vast political body, and inspired with the strongest national prejudices, had a better opportu- nity of composing their history to their own taste, and telling their respective tales. However, if the national partiality of the Greeks did not tend so directly to one centre, as that of the Romans, the vivacity of their imagination, and their na« tural propensity to fiction, afforded an ample supply of mat- ter for the fabrication of fabulous narrative. Indeed the early Grecian histories can hardly be accounted any thing more than a tissue of fables. Many of these remarks on Greek and Roman history are also applicable, in a qualified degree, to the generality of historians of other nations, aod of other ages. Of all the departments of historical writing, ecclesiaslical history would be the most valuable, if we could rely on ii^ impartial authenticity ; but by a deplorable misforlune, a/id a strange perversion of things, that which ought to be the best is by far the worst ; for here, in addition to the misiafor mation, and other defects incident to history in general, re- ligious prejudices operate in a superlative degree. The an- nals of the church have been written almost wholly by ec- clesiastics, strongly attached to some theological system, the support of which they considered as an indispensable duty, and no small step towards their eternal salvation. We can- not, therefore, expect to see an authentic and impartial his- tory of the Christian Church produced by either Catholic or Protestant bigotry. If an impartial author should, at this day, undertake to write such an one, the documents he must compile it from are so tinctured with prejudice and D2 42 . LETTERS Let. V. the spirit of party, that he would soon perceive himself be- wildered in the intricate maze of religious contest, and find the truth so obscured by the cavils and contradictions of the- ological writers, as to present insurmountable obstacles to complete the execution of his design. The evil is conse- quently now irremediable. It may, however, be alleviated by the judgment and penetration of the reader, strictly ob- serving this general rule, that in estimating the intrinsic va- lue of the works of historians, politicians, and divines, but especially the last, we must, in the first place, endeavour to discover under what influence of prejudice, passion, or in- terest, they sat down to write, and then make proper allow- ances for the effects which such influence might justly be supposed to produce on their minds. This is the clue which must guide us through the labyrinth of contradictory asser- tions, jarring opinions, and different representations of the same circumstances and actions ; direct our judgment in ap- preciating the merit of authors, and determine the credibility of their testimony, and the deference due to their opinions. Without this exercise of the reasoning faculties, books will •ds often mislead as instruct us. In making an estimate of the authenticity of historical relations, three principal rules are to be observed, the probability or improbability of the facts recorded, the nature of the evidence attesting them, and in what degree they are corroborated or contradicted by Ihe general circumstances of the world in the period of time alluded to. On these principles the reader must exercise a discretionary power of yielding or suspending his behef ; but he ought carefully to avoid the two extremes of scepticism and credulity, v/hicli are equally inimical to the improve- ment of the human mind. I am, Sir, &c. LETTER V. SIR, ANOTHER consideration, of equal and still more evi- dent importance, must arise spontaneously in the mind of ev- Qvy reader. Let. V. ON HISTORY. 43 An accurate acquaintance with geography and chronology is essential to the knowledge of history. These are two great luminaries of history, which, without their lights, would only be a confused chaos. Without a due attention to the circumstances of time and place, no narrative of facts would be intelligible, nor could the causes and consequences of events be investigated. Geography is an instructive science, and the study of it peculiarly delightful ; but, like history, it is subject to a multiplicity of errors and defects. These, however, are less difficult to correct than the mistakes of history. The distance of a thousand miles, like the lapse of a thousand years, leaves considerable room for error, and gives great opportunity of imposing on the credulity of readers by ficti^ tious descriptions ; but these errors, or impositions, of geo- graphical writers, are liable to be remarked and corrected by each subsequent traveller ; and this consideration is sufficient ta deter any writer, who pays the least regard to his reputa- tion, from indulging in falsehood. In regard to the correction of errors, as well as to the sup- ply of defects, a remarkable and peculiar circumstance dis- criminates between tlie works of geographers and those of historians. Geography always lies open to improvement and correction, while the transactions and events of history, being past and gone, sink every day more and more into ob- security. The truth of geographical description may be sat- isfactorily ascertained, or its falsehood detected, by subse- quent enquiry ; but historicalfacts no longer exist, except in the records of the times and the remembrance of posterity. Countries may be revisited, but past transactions cannot be recalled and again exhibited to our inspection. Geographers may sometimes, in order to swell their volumes, or amuse their readers, indulge themselves a little in fiction, in their descriptions of countries little known and seldom visited ; but this cannot be done in regard to countries of general notice, without incurring the hazard and danger of immediate de- tection ; and all those parts of the world, which have been the theatre of the transactions of ancient and modern history, are so well known, and have been so often described, that no very material error or imposition is to be apprehended in that respect. The study of geography is extremely euter- taming, and the knowledge of that science is so easy to ac- 44 ' LETTERS Let. V, quire, that ignorance of it is unpardonable in any person who makes the least pretensions to literary or scientific attain- ments. It is also so superlatively useful, and so universally interesting, that every individual of mankind has some con* nection with it. A celebrated writer has said, that "every son and daugh- ter of Adam is more or less concerned with geography.'^ It is, indeed, a science so necessary to every person desirous of general information relative to the affairs of the world, that without a competent knowledge of it no historical relation can be well understood ; and, to a person ignorant of geo- graphy, even a common newspaper is unintelligible. In regard to the chronological part of history, it is far more to the purpose to fix in the mind a just arrangement of contemporary characters, and contemporary events, or at least of such as are nearly so, than to load the memory with a dry and burdensome list of dates. By this method a per- son may furnish his mind with a regular system of chronolo- gy, always ready for application, without troublesome re- search or laborious recollection. A person who has read history as it ought to be read, will, on calling to mind any remarkable character, circumstance, or sera, immediately recollect every other conspicuous contemporary character and event. If he reflect on any remarkable period in the history of any particular nation, the political, religious, and civil circumstances, not only of that, but of the surrounding nations, will immediately present themselves to his view. He will be able, at all times, and on every occasion, to place before his eyes a picture of the moral world, and, at one comprehensive glance, take a distinct survey of the ex- - isting circumstances and general condition of mankind in dif- ferent periods of time. In a similar manner, a person who has a just and comprehensive knowledge of geography, will find it easy to delineate instantaneously in his mind, as on a map, the whole known surface of the terraqueous globe, its natural and political divisions, and principal subdivisions, the seas, rivers, mountains, &c. with which it is diversified, as well as the cities of principal note, &c. It will not be amiss to observe, that it very much facilitates the acquisition of geographical knowledge, to accustom one self to remember what places are situated under, or nearly under, the same meridians and parallels. This contributes very much to the Let. V, ON HISTORY. 45 methodical arrangement of geographical ideas, and helps to fix in the mind a true representation of the earth. It may be objected, that such a methodical arrangement of historical and geographical knowledge in the mind is a la- borious task. The case is exactly the Contrary, as I can as- sert from my own experience. The acquisition is perfectly easy, and requires only a little method and reflection in pe- rusing such books as treat of these subjects. The easy and expeditious performance of work, of whatever kind it may be, depends in a great measure on going the right way about it. When the foundation is well laid, the superstructure is easy to raise ; method facihtafes every kind of business, and every kind of study ; and, by making it easy, makes it agreeable. Whether we study arithmetic or geometry ; whether mathe- matical or classical learning be the object of our pursuit, whatever we read, whatever science we study, unless we read and study methodically, we do little more than accu- mulate a confused assemblage of undigested ideas, which can never constitute knowledge. We find many persons, who have spent much time in reading, but have acquired little "knowledge, because they have read without method, and without reflection. Such readers commonly forget what they have read as soon as the book is laid out of their hands, and never fail to blame the weakness of their memory, or the mul- tiplicity of their avocations ; but the fault is rather to be at- tributed to the want of method than to a defect of memory ; for it is certain, that if a person studies any subject method- ically, if he contemplates it in every light in which it can possibly be exhibited, and considers it with all its combina- tions, connections, and dependencies, he acquires such a knowledge of it, as no multiplicity or variety of avocations, no length of time, or any circumstance, can wholly obliterate, excepting the case of a physical defect of memory, or a con- stitutional imbecility of mind. It must, indeed, be acknow- ledged, that a mutiplicity of pursuits or employments, in con- junction with lapse of time and cessation from study, will ef- face from the memory a great number of circumstantial minu- tiae ; but the general combination of ideas, and the general representations of things, still remain ; so that, although a per- son may, at the first thought, find himself a little at a loss, yet a very small degree of recollection will recal to his mind, and retrace in his memory, the obscured and dispersed, but 46 LETTERS Let. VI. not effaced ideas. A well combined and connected train of ideas may be compared to a chain, of which, if you draw one link after you, all the others will immediately follow. These observations are equally applicable to the study of every art and science, and equally hold good in regard to every sub- ject of human knowledge, and every incident of common life. They are exemplified, and their propriety demonstrated, by uniform experience. Whatever is once deeply impressed on the mind is never totally effaced from the memory. Every affair, every transaction, with which we have been perfectly acquainted, in connection with all its circumstances, always remains in our remembrance ; and, although ever so long un- noticed and unthought of, with a little recollection, becomes present to the mind, while things which have been little no- ticed by us, with which we have been but slightly acquaint- ed, and which have consequently made only a slight and transient impression, escape the memory, by having left only some faint and obscure traces, which are soon worn out, and cannot easily be recollected and re-arranged. I am, Sir, your's, &c. J. B. LETTER VL SIR, NOTWITHSTANDING the errors and defects to which history is liable, an acquaintance with it is indispensably ne- cessary to every person who desires to possess any share of general knowledge above the illiterate vulgar. This is so uni- versally acknowledged, that there has never been any dis- tinguished political or literary character who was unacquaint- ed with history, and also with geography, its inseparable con- comitant ; so far at least as those sciences were cultivated and understood in the age in which he lived ; and at this day, in every country where science and literature are known, no person, who is designed to make a conspicuous figure in let- ters, or in life, is left uninstructed in those sciences, which always constitute an essential part of a liberal education. The various imperfections of history, many of which pro- Let. VI. ON HISTORY. 47 ceed from causes absolutely unavoidable, depreciate its value, without, however, superseding the necessity of an acquaint- ance with it. If it be not such as it ought to be, we must stu- dy it such as it is. Mature reflection and just reasoning will often tend much to remedy its defects, and direct our judg- ment in examining motives and actions, in tracing causes and eflfects, and in estimating the preponderance of opposite evi- dences and varying probabihties. History constitutes so essential a part of the Belles Let- tres, that no literary acquirements can be complete without the knowledge of it. The orator, the poet, the moralist, and the divine, make frequent allusions to historical subjects, to celebrated transactions, remarkable events or institutions, customs or manners, of different ages, and different countries. A person, therefore, who is unacquainted with history, can- not well undev stand either rhetorical or poetical compositions ; or the works of the moral philosopher, or the theologian. It is not, however, to be supposed, that it is necessary to retain in the memory all that mass of uhinteresting, or unau- thenticated, circumstances and conjectural details with which historians have swelled their volumes ; the greatest part of those imaginary relations, even supposing them indisputably true, would hardly be worth a place in the memory. The conspicuous outlines of history ; leading facts of unquestion- able authenticity, corroborated by evident consequences, and the existing circumstances of the world ; great and important events, which have had a decided and visible influence on the general aspect of human affairs ; distinguished characters, who have been principal agents in important transactions ; the origin and influence of political, civil, and religious estab- lishments ; the general condition of mankind, in different pe- riods of time, these are the subjects which claim the reader's attention, and ought to occupy a place in his remembrance. Distinguished characters and memorable events are a kind of historical land-marks, to which causes and consequences may be referred, and by which the chronological order of a number of subordinate and dependent circumstances may be regulated and remembered. A general and comprehensive view of the history of the human species, delineated from these leading traits and marked outlines, would be equally instructive and entertain- ing. It would present to the eye of contemplation a picture 4g LETTERS Let. VIL of human affairs, and of the moral aspect of the world in suc- cessive pei'iods ; and, by concentrating the most valuable parts ©f historical information, prove an useful and conveni- ent summai'y, after a person has travelled through the pon- derous volumes of ancient and modern history. I have conceived a design of this kind, and shall attempt to carry it into execution, in the course of future correspon- dence. In the mean time, while most respectfully, I am, &c. J. B. LETTER VII. SIR, IN contemplating those great outlines of history, the me- morable and important events which have determined the condition of mankind, and rendered the aspect of the moral and intellectual world such as we see it at this day, we shall find ample matter for observation and reflection. In many cases we shall be obliged to have recourse to conjecture, founded on different degrees of probability, and some of those probabilities may be so corroborated, by general ex- isting circumstances, as to amount almost to certainty. Of the primeval state of mankind we know little from his- torical information, and can enlarge our ideas of it only from conjecture, founded on the nature of things. It is reasona- ble to suppose, that men had long existed before they began to write the history of what passed among them. Their whole attention would, at first, be engrossed by studying the means of supplying their physical wants, and rendering their existence, in some degree, comfortable. In that state of simple nature they would hardly think of transmitting an ac- count of their actions to posterity, nor could they have any thing worth recording. Here our knowledge of human na- ture, and of human wants, will supply the deficiency of history. From the experience of our wants, and of the means of supplying them, we may form a conjecture, more than probable, that houses, or at leasl huts, would be built as a shelter from the inclemency of the weather. Some at- Let. VII. ON HISTOHY. 49 tention would be paid to agriciiUiire, in order to make the earth bring forth such productions as were necessary for the nourishment of the body: cattle would be tamed and made subservient to the will of man. These things would natural- ly be attended to ; and the arts most essential to the comfort- able existence of the human species, Avould be invented be- fore letters were brought into use, and the thoughts of the ' mind committed to writing. From all tliese circumstances we maj reasonably suppose, that the first rude sketch of history would be the traditionary tales delivered from father to son, through successive generations ; and these, in fact, constitute the basis of the first historical records. Such are the fabulous relations of the first historians among the Greeks. They had adopted the historical legends of the Egyptian priests, who were accustomed to cover their religion and their learning with the mystical veil of allegory; and the Greeks, in many cases, mistaking their mode of allegorizing the early periods of history, have presented us with an ab- surd and monstrous tissue of fabulous narrative of kings who never reigned, and heroes of celestial descent. Superstition being natural to mankind, before their raind is enlightened by philosophy, it is no wonder that the first historians stuff- ed their works with narratives of the communication of gods and demi-gods with mankind, and the frequent interference of supernatural agents in human affairs. The lively imagina- tion of the early Greek writers, heated with superstition, and unrestrained by philosophy, branched out into wild exuber- ance, and fabricated the most absurd tales. On this ac- count the period of time which elapsed from the establish- ment of political and civil society in Greece, to the Trojan war, may be justly denominated the fabulous age ; and, in- deed, the greater part of what is related concerning that war,, has evident marks of fiction stamped upon it : for all the his- torical accounts we have of it are originally founded on the poetical eifusions of Homer's creative fancy. Strictly speaking, there is nothing that can lay claim to- the title of a history of Grecian afiaiis before the Peloponnesan war. As to the history of the other heatlien nations, they were not less fabulous and absurd than those of the Greeks ; and, indeed, all we are told of their historic has been transmitted to us through the medium of Greek writers, E oO LETTERS Let. VII. When we consider the general state of the world, in the earlj ages, in regard to political, commercial, and literary communication ; however we may amuse ourselves with pe- rusing the accounts transmitted to us of the transactions of remote antiquity ; reason tells us, that nothing we read, of that kind, can deserve any other name than that of fiction or historical romance ; — until the Greeks, those celebrated in- ventors, or at least improvers of arts and sciences, whose li- terary efforts have been the means of diffusing knowledge through the world, had attained to a considerable height of opulence and civilization ; and until the arts of necessity be- ing brought to a tolerable degree of perfection, those of con- veniency, luxury, and elegance, began to flourish among them ; a period which cannot be fixed any long time before the Peloponnesan war, which took place about four hundred and thirty years before Christ. This may be fixed as the epoch of the commencement of profane history ; as for all that can be learned concerning the stafe of mankind, and the events which took place in the world before that period, we must have recourse to the sa- cred writings of the Jews for ijiformation relative to those particulars. ^Fliis consideration naturally leads us to turn om' attention to those records of the Jewish nation, always esteemed sacred by that people, and of which the authenti- city has been acknowledged by the most considerable and the most enlightened part of mankind. It would, indeed, be unpardonable, in a survey of ancient history, not to at- tejiipt to make a just estim.alion of the value of those celebrat- ed records which have so long attracted the veneration of christians, and excited the ridicole of infidels. The Jewish annals are by far the most ancient of any that have come down to us ; and, without drawing any advan- tage from tlieif djvjiie authority, the most intrinsically ra- tio/ial and probiible. They likewise contain a series of trans- actions aiid ev*'??«f3 equally curious and interesting.- In these writings we mi: I I he only rauonal account of the creation of the world, and ihe heginoing of things ; of the dispersion of ma?ildnd, aod the origin of ancient: nations : and strict impar- tiali;-^ Lii::-; 'C:::r;:\;::;. iliut liie relation of these events, inde- peiidejrr ol the high authority by which it is sanctioned, bears intr'tiS^ca! m^rVs of probability. The scriptural ac- coi^jit of trt . ; .■[].;ii Is incomparably more rational than the Let. VII. ON HISTORY. 51 absurd cosmogonies of the Greeks ; and when annalized, ap pears not only probable, but strictly philosopkical. The scriptural account of the creation represents the separation of these luminous and volatile parts of matter which consti- tute light, from those v^liich are more heavj and opaque, as the first work of creation ; or, in other words, the first op- eration of nature, after the command of the Supreme and Eternal Being had put in motion (he vast chaos of unformed matter, floatiiig in the immensity of space; and so it must have been, according to every probability of philosophical coniec ture. Tlie second period is represented as that in v;hicli (he v/aters being separated from the earth, a firmameiit was erected, dividing the waters from the waters ; an expressioB,. which, to our conception at this time, appears obscure and almost unintelligible ; but of which the meaning seems to be, that the terrene particles having sunk into solid globes, the aqueous particles being lighter, floated on the top, and co- vered the whole surface of the earth and other opaqoe bo- dies ; and that the waters thus overflowing, the planets w ere separated by the intervening expanse of air, called the iinna- ment. The third process of creation, was the descent of the waters into the vallies, or lowest parts of the earth, and planets, w'hereby seas and lands were formed ; and the land, being left dry, acquired its vegetative power, and began to bring forth its various productions. The fourth period is described as that in w-hich the volatile particles of hght were formed into compact bodies, constituting the sun and fixed stars, which are different suns, enlightening different sys- tems. The fifth and sixth periods are distinguislied by the creation of animal life ; and last of all, man, the master-piece of nature, was formed ; and this could not be until the earth had attained to the perfection of its vegetative power, so as to produce what wa& necessary for the subsistence of men and animals* This hypothesis of natural philosophy, and the properties of matter, are precisely such as a philosopher might suppose the gradual process of nature to ha^ e been, when tlie Almighty Fiat had given to the various parts of matter their different properties, and put in motion tjie innu- merable atoms which compose the universe, however long or short we may suppose the different periods of this process to have been. For it is doubted whether those periods were natural days, marked by the rotation of the earth upon its r 52 LETTERS ' Let. VIL axis ; as, doring the tliree first periods or days, ike light is represented onlj as separated from the darkness, or the ki- oiiiious Yrom (he opaque particles, and lioating at random in the vast expanse ; and the sun, and ether hiiriioous orbs, not behig fonr.ed imtil the fourth period, dsy aod night could not, before that time, have been discriminated bj the appearing and disappeaiog of the celestial orbs. As to what follows, re- lating to ilie garden of Edeo, if it be taken as a real narrative of lacts, it contains nothing improbable or incredible. Of the ion2;evitv of tiie Antediluvians, if we have no collateral proofs, no concurrent circumstances, to corroborate the scrip- tural account, it is evident that none such can be expected, and we have no contradictory evidence to invalidate its an- thenticitj ; and it was, undoubtedly, as easy to the Sove- reign Disposer of all things, to frame the constitution of the iiUFiiaii body to continue nine hundred as only ninety years. The book of Genesis, whether or not written by Moses, which at least is highly probable^ as it relates almost entirely lo things which were done before any written history exist- ed, must have been communicated to the author, whoever he was, eidier by tradition or revelation ; and if it be sup- posed a traditionary account, some slight variety in names and dates might creep in, without tending in the least to invalidate the general authenticity of the book. Of the subsequent writings of Moses, the book of Exodus is partly historical and partly legislative; and that of Leviticus whol- ly of the latter kind. The book of Numbers is mostly histori- cal ; and that of Deuleionomy consists of a repetition of ma- ny of the laws promuii^ated in the two former books, w'ith some additional ones, intermixed with eloquent exhortations to obedience ; but contains little historical matter, except the relation of the death of Moses, added by some succeeding writer. In all these books, Moses positively declares, that the laws and ordinances he gives to the people, are the com- mands of the Supreme Being, expressly and miequivocally revealed to him ; but, in regard to historical facts, he appeals sometimes to the testimony of their own knowledge, and sometimes to the evidence of tradition received from their fathers. The book of Joshua contains a narrative of the conquest of Canaan by the Israelites, and was probably writ- ten by Joshua hiruself, or at least by his direction ; but it is unknown by whom the book of the Judges was composed ; Let. VII. ON HISTORY. 5'6 most probably by different persons at different times ; as it appears to be a collection of detached pieces of history, in which the chronological order is not strictly observed, and in some places is not easy to adjust. These accounts re* late to a period exceedingly tumultuous and troublesome ; a period of bai-barism, ignorance, and anarchy; in which the Israelites, almost continually harrassed by intestine commotions, oppressed by foreign enemies, or employed in repelling their aggressions, had little leisure to attend to the accuracy of their national annals. When we come to the books of Samuel, the prospect begins to grow a little clearer. The affairs of the Israelites began, under the admin- istration of that judge and prophet, to assume a more settled appearance ; and the scriptural historians seems to ha% e written in a more connected manner. The books of the Kings and Chronicles display an exactness, in regard to chronology, and the other essential requisites of history, which gives them, in this respect, a superiority over all the other records of remote antiquity. The age of each uf the Idngs of Judah, at his accession, and the duration of his reign, are expressly mentioned, so that not only the whole term of each of their lives, but also the whole duration of the Jewish monarchy, from the accession of David to the Babylonian captivity, may be easily calculated. All the outlines and leading facts are so clearly exhibited, and so firmly corrobo- rated, by collateral evidence, by the perpetual observance cf solemn festivals, instituted in commemoration of important events, and by their connection with the contemporary cir- cumstances of other nations, (particularly the Egj^ptians and Babylonians) that, considered as a history of political occur- rences and national events, the Jewish records ha^e a claiiii to authenticity, infinitely superior to what can be allowed, in that respect, to any other history of the same antiquity. The history of the Israelitish nation during the period of its exist- ence, at first in one, and then divided into two separate king- doms, is simple, clear, connected, and chronologically cohe- rent ; and with the exception of a few dates and numbers, which might be easily mistaken in transcribing, bears indis- putable marks of authenticity, while it exhibits the transac- tions of a period in which the Greeks were only just emeig- ing from barbarism ; and during which their histories consist of nothing butlyinss legends of gods and heroes, and ficlitious E2 M LETTERS LeTc TIL tales of sovereigns who never reigned, and of persons who never existed. It has been remarked, that the Jewish historians frequent- ly impute their national calamities to the vices of their mon- archs. If, however, we examine the dreadful denunciations of the prophets against the nobles, the opulent inhabitants, and especially against the priests, we shall find reason to conclude, that the calamities sometimes imputed by their his- torians to the crimes of their princes, might with equal pro- priety have been attributed to the Divine vengeance on the sins of the priests and people. The imputation, however, is not incompatible with moral equity. It is a position con- sistent with reason, and confirmed by experience, that the misconduct of rulers is detrimental to the nation at large, by the natural operation of natural causes. The same re- mark may be made on the denunciations, or rather the predic- tions of calamity to the children for the vices of their parents. This is the same thing as if v/e should say to a person in af- fluent circumstances, whose expeoces are greater than his fortune can bear : " You may probably never experience want yourself, but you cannot fail of entailing poverty upon your posterity." The calamities brought on posterity, by the criines and misconduct of their forefathers, are not incon- sistent with morahjusliee, as some infidels pretend, but neces- sarily result from the invariable connexion between causes and consequences, as might be exemplified by innumerable instances. Several of the kings of Israel and Judah, as many other princes have done, alienated, by their moral or political vices, the minds of their subjects, or otherwise brought oh such a train of uiifavourabie circumstances, as, in the end, proved fatal to their posterity; and it is unnecessary to travel far io the walks oi" history, or to extend much the sphere of our own observations, to perceive that this has been the case with many persons in private as well as in pub- lic life. Besides all this, by a figurative expression, the vi- ces of the nation may, on some occasions, be called the vices of the king, its representative and head ; or this mode of speaking may sometimes be used to denote the prevalent vices of the reign, and not altogether the personal vices of the prince alone. I am, &c. J. a Let. IX LETTER IX. 55 LETTER IX, SIR, THE reign of David is illustrious and interesting i It shews us, a man raised from an obscure station to the throne of Israel, after experiencing a variety of fortune ; and when placed in that exalted station, aggrandizing his power by a strong military force extending his dominions by conquest, and enriching himself and his subjects by the spoils of their enemies. It also displays a prospect far more interesting to a reader, who delights in contemplating the prosperity of a numerous people, rather than in tracing the bloody footsteps of a conqueror. It exhibits to our view the establishment of a monarchy hitherto tottering and precarious ; the institution of civil and religious regulations and ordinances, and the ra- pid advancement to tranquillity and opulence of a people but just emerged from obscurity and anarch}^. The succeeding reign of Solomon presents us with a brilliant view of the king- dom of Israel in the zenith of its opulence, felicity and splen- dor ; and enjoying all the sw^eets of tranquility, in such a manner and for such a length of time, as that nation had never before experienced, either since the establishuient of monar- chical government, or at any time previous to that period. The kingdoai of Israel now stood high in the political scale of nations. It gave the law^ to all the lietty kingdoms, be- tween the Euphrates and the Levant, called, in scripture, the great Sea ; and held the balance betw een the two great mon- archies of Egypt and Assyria. ThSH^^hannels of commerce were opened^ and their sources explored, in a manner, which at that early period, must appear extraordinary. The fleets of Israel, under the direction of Tyrian mariners, traded to the land of Ophir, which some conjecture to have been the coast of India, or some of the Oriental islands; while others place it on the eastern coast of Africa ; and by their lucrative voyages augmented the wealth of the nation w hich David had alrea- dy enriched with the spoils of war. This agreeable and brilliant prospect does not, however, long continue. Solo- mon, infatuated, it seems, by uninterrupted prosperity, set no bounds to his magnificence and luxury, and laid heavy taxes on th€ people, in order to support so exorbitant an expendi- 5Q LETTERS Let. IX. ture. These burdensome imposts created disaffectien in the minds of his subjects ; and towards the end of his reign, gave rise to a dangerous and potent faction, which, on the ac- cession of his son, broke out into open rebelhon, and ended in the revolt of the ten tribes from their allegiance to the house of David. The revolted tribes having elected Jero- boam for their king, the monarchy was split into the sepa- rate kingdoms of Israel and Judah. The state policy of the new king of Israel produced a religious, as well as a political separation ; for Jeroboam, apprehending that while the kings of Judah held the temple where the sacrifices were offered, and whither all the people were obliged, at stated times to re- sort, they would always have an ascendancy over the king- dom of Israel, unless some measures should be taken to pre- vent those frequent visits of his subjects to the metropolis of Judaho The priests, the Levites, and all who were concern- ed in the ministry of religion, were firmly attached to the house of David ; and Jeroboam supposed that they would na- turally make use of the ascendency which religion gave them over the people, in order to alienate their affection from his government, and bring them again to their allegiance to that family. Jeroboam, in order to prevent those almost inevitable consequences of the continuance of his subjects in religious communion with the house of David, and kingdom of Judah, sacrificing the interest of religion to his political views, built a new temple, instituted a new priesthood, and thus produ- ced a schism among the followers of the Mosaical law, which was never extinguished. The religion of the ten tribes, soon after this separation, deviating more and more from the ori- ginal institutions of the law, became, in a little time, a mix- ture of Judaism and Pagan idolatry, and such it ever after continued. After this memorable epoch of the Israelitish history, scarcely any thing more is found in the annals of that nation, but such transactions and events as are the ordinary subjects of political histories. The histories of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, like those of all other ancient nations, presents us with little else than a continued scene of uninteresting wars, massacres, murders, rebellions, and usurpations ; which last were very frequent in the kingdom of Israel, although that of Judah adhered, with an unalterable attachment, to the lineal descendants of Dayid. The history, m fine, of both nations? Let. IX. ON HISTOKY. 57 from the period of their separation, is little else than an unin- teresting catalogue of the crimes and the calamities of a de- clining people, till at last we see the total extinction of the kingdom of the ten tribes^ who were transported into Assyria, and dispersed into different parts of the country, from whence they never returned ; and the common people who where left in the country, were intermixed with strangers; from Avhich mixture of different nations sprung that motley race, afterwards known by the name of Samaritans. This event happened about A. C. 844. The tottering kingdom of Ju- dah still continued to enjoy a precarious existence ; invaded at different times by the Babylonians, rendered tributary, and at last entirely subjugated; its metropolis and temple rased to their very foundations by Nebuchadnezzar, A. C. 608, and all the principal persons and useful hands transport- ed to Babylon. If we consider the barbarous manners of the age, and the sanguinary mode of making war then in use, it will appear that the king of Babylon acted, in this conquest, with as much lenity as could be expected, after the repeated provocations he had received from Zedekias, Nebuchad- nezzar had placed the crown of Judah upon the head of that prince, after deposing his nephew Jechonias. He had not imposed upon him any hard conditions. He had not required any change in the national religion or laws. He had not obliged him to receive a Babylonian garrison into Jerusalem, or any of the fortresses of J udah. He had not deprived him of the management of the national revenue and expenditure, nor of the administration of pubhc affairs. Under the easy r.onditions of tribute and alliance, Zedekias had received from the hand of the Babylonian monarch a sceptre, which, with- out his favour and powerful support, he never would have swayed; yet, notwithstanding so signal a favour, he after- wards renounced the friendship of that prince, and entering into a confederacy with Egypt, the enemy and rival of the Babylonian greatness, manifested the most determined and rancorous hostility against his great benefactor, from whom he had received his crown and kingdom, and to whom he had sworn fidelity in the name of the God of Israel ; thus con- summating his guilt by adding perjury to treason. It is, therefore, no matter of wonder, that an ambitious and power- ful conqueror should give the world a terrible example of his' vengeance on a perfidious prince, whose conscience oaths 58 LETTERS Let. IX. could not bind ; whose fidelity no favours could engage ; and from whom he had received such ungrateful treatment. However, notwithstanding the provocations which Nebu- chadnezzar had received from the Jewish nation and its king, it does not appear that he made the people the object of his vengeance. The guiltj monarch was made a sig;nal example of Divine and human vengeance, on the detestable crimes of perjury and ingratitude ; and the punishment of death was immediately inflicted on all the principal oHicers of his court and army, who had been the counsellors or abettors of his re- volt ; but the guilt of those men being expiated by their blood, the remaining part of the inhabitants were treated with lenity. The principal citizens, and most skilful artists, of every description, were removed to Babylon, where they en- joyed considerable privileges; and the husbandmen and common people had lands assigned them, which they rented, although we are not informed upon what terms, of the Baby- lonians. Some remarkable events which took place during the cap- tivity are related in the book of Daniel ; in particular, the erection of the statue of Belus, in the plain of Dura, either in the environs, or within the city of Babylon ; and the adven- ture of Shadrach, Meshech, and Abednego, in consequence of their refusing to worship the idol. Here we may observe, that although, perhaps, thousands of Jews then in Babylon did not join in this idolatrous worship, it does not appear that they were called in question on that account ; and it seems that the three men abovementioned being persons of distinc- tion, employed by the king, and in his favour, they were sin- gled out on that occasion by some intriguing courtiers, and accused of disobedience to the king's command, while the conduct of others was connived at. Indeed, as the Jews were always allowed liberty of conscience in Babylon, and, unless in this particular instance, do not appear ever to have been compelled to conform to tha idolatrous worship estab- lished in that place, there is reason to think that the gene- rdlity of the king's edict was the contrivance of a cabal of courtiers, who had counselled the king to issue it, in order to implicate some individuals who were obnoxious to them. The insanity of Nebuchadnezzar is another very remarka- ble circ'jmstance, and is related in language so strongly figu- rative, that it has perplexed many common readers not con- auET. IX. ON HISTORY. 59 versant with scripture phraseology. There is no ground, however, to call the fact in question. It is perhaps a vain attempt to endeavour to reconcile the contradictory compu- tations of chronologers relative to many occurrences which happened in the ages of remote antiquity. Jerusalem was taken in the 1 9th year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign, and the term of tjie captivity was 70 years ; but it is not possible to ascertain the duration of this reign : and it is equally impossi- 'ble to discover exactly at what time the books of the scrip- ture were collected and arranged : but it is well known that it happened soon after the return of the Jews from the capti- vity. From these circumstances, therefore it seems prob- able, that this extraordinary history was written within about fifty years after the thing happened. Nebuchadnezzar was the greatest monarch, as well as the most distinguished political and military character of the age in which he lived, and in every respect the most conspicuous personage that had appeared upon the theatre of the world. Some of the Jews who returned from the captivity, as well as some of the aged inhabitants of Babylon, could, perhaps, when this account was written, remember his reign, and the circum- stance of his insanity. At least his reign could not fail, at that time, to be fresh in the memory of the inhabitants of those^ countries. So remarkable a circumstance, in the his- tory of so conspicuous and celebrated a character, must have been universally known and publicly talked of, both by the Jews and the Babylonians. In such circumstances a fabrication of tliat nature must have been immediately de- tected. The sacred historians relate, that Nebuchadnezzar, walk- ing in the garden of his palace, and having his thoughts ab- sorbed in the contemplation of his own greatness and power, and insensible to whom he was indebted for them, his reason suddeiily departed from him. This is no physical improba- bility. Thousands of similar cases may be found in the annals I jof medical experience, and produced from the same cause—- pride and vain glory. They then tell us, that from a man he was transformed into a beast; a strongfigurative expression, used to , signify his deprivation of reason, the distinguishing characteristic |of human nature, which discriminates man from the brute crea- Ition. By the representation of his hair growing like eagles' Heathers, and his nails like birds' ckws^ that deformity of his ro LETTERS Let. IX. exterior appearance, which must naturally be the consequence of so dreadful a state of insanity, is hyperbofically express- ed. As to his running wild with the beasts of the field, &c. it is probable that the unfortunate maniac spent the greatest part of his time in wandering about in the parks and forests belonging to the royal palace, though under the inspection of persons appointed to take care of him. It appears that during the monarch's indisposition, Evil- merodach, his son and successor, had governed the kingdom in the quality of regent. Nebuchadnezzar, by his political and military talents, his extensive conquests and stu* pendous works, both in Babylon and the adjacent country, had undoubtedly acquired a powerful ascendency over the minds of his subjects ; and on his restoration to the posses- sion of his intellectual faculties, his regal power was deliver- ed to him inviolate. The monarch, on the recovery of hijs reason, appears to have made suitable reflections on his crimes and sufferings, and to have acquired just ideas of the weakness and insufficiency of man, (although ever so highly exalted) of the instability of all human power and grandeur, and of the absolute subjection of the greatest monarchs to the will of that supreme and omnipotent Being, who, ac- cording to the irresistible decrees of his providence, disposes all things as he pleases. This is the genuine representation of the fact related in this remarkable story. We come now to that interesting period of the Jewish history which is marked by their restoration to their liberty, their country, and their national existence, through the fa- vor of the Persian monarchs, who, in a most liberal and mu- nificent manner, opened the royal treasury, in order to give them the pecuniary assistance they stood in need of for the rebuilding of the temple and city. In the subjugation of the Jews, and the destruction of Jerusalem, by Nebu- chadnezzar, brought into a contrasted point of view with their restoration by Cyrus and the succeeding kings of Persia, we have a luminous display of the wonderful man- ner in which the Divine Providence, by an irresistible con- trol, directs and governs all human affairs. Nebuchadnez- zar is constantly represented, by the scriptural historians and prophets, as the chosen minister of God's vengeance on a crimioEil nation ; and Cyrus is also, in the most explicit inanner, declared the tHStrument of his clemency to be dis- Let. IX. ON HISTORY. 6i played in its restoration ; but we are not ^o imagine that ! any such consideration influenced the political measures of ' the cabinets of Babylon and Persia. iSl ebuchadnezzar, in his conquest of Judea, as in all his other enterpiises, was stimulated hy ambition, avarice, and revenge, against a prince who had most ungratefully treated him, and thereby had given him a plausible pretext for aggrandizing his power, by the total subjugation of that country, and lor appropriat- ing to himself the wealth of the metropolis and the temple. Similar motives, no doubt, actuated Cyrus in the war against the Babylonians, and the subversion of their monarchy. That prince, as well as his successors, seems to have been favorable to the Jewish religion, as the Persians detested the image worship of the Babylonians. They might, probably, fancy some affinity between that religion and their own, on account of the sacred fire kept burning by the Jewish priests in the temple, as the Persians esteemed that element a sym- bol of the divinity. But it may be conjectured, with a very great appearance of probability, that the Persian kings looked with a jealous eye on the strength and population of Babylon, and the aversion of its inhabitants to the Persian government, which afterwards broke out in a dangerous and obstinate re- volt, in the reign of Darius Hystaspes ; and the departure of so great a number of the Jews, who, after so long a residence, were become almost naturalized in Babylon, might be con- sidered as one of the most effectual means or weakening and bringing gradually to decay that disaffected city, which seems always to have been one of the political maxims of the Persian court. Thus we see, that alliiough both Nebuchad- nezzar and Cyrus were actuated only by their own political 1 views, yet those views, and the enterprize originating from them, were under a direction which they couid not see; and thus it is that Divine Providence renders tiie operation of human passions subservient to its impeoetrable designs, and governs all by an absolute control; legulatifig all mundiioe affairs according to the vast and complicated plan of causes and effects existing through everlasting ages, in the elernai prescience of God, v/iihout infringing the hhei'j or rea^.■a(il- ing the free will of man. The whole series of causes and effects, the infinitely diversified train of physical and moral circumstances, and the continued succession of events, are, from all eternity, present to the Divine intellect ; but all. F 62 LETTERS Le i. X. events are produced by a train of causes and consequences, by a combination of circumstances,, so closely connected, that without one another cannot exist. The history of the world is nothing less than the history of God's eternal Pro- vidence ; and although some of its pages may be beyond the reach of our comprehension, it is, nevertheless, our duty to study the mysterious and interesting volume. I am. Sir, &c. J. B. LETTER X. SIR, OF all the curious and interesting prospects which liistory opens to our view, the progressive advancement of the hu- man mind, in the improvement of its faculties, is the most agreeable. The destructive exploits of conquerors may daz- zle for a moment, but the silent labours of the student and the artist, of the architect and the husbandman, which em- bellish the earth, and convert it into a terrestrial paradise, although they do not shine with so conspicuous a glare, di- versify the prospect with milder colours and more beautiful shades. The arts and sciences embellish the world, and the investigation of their origin and progress would be the noblest ornament of history. How great then is the misfor- tune, thai the ancient historians have almost entirely over- looked so grand and pleasing a subject ; and that all the knowledge we can acquire concerning those things, must be gleaned from, broken fragments and scattered hints labori- ously picked out fiom a multifarious and confused mass of nniiJiportant parficulars ! It is, however, the part of every reader, to endeavour, as much as possible, to acquire some general knowledge of the history of the human mind, and of civiiized society. Let us, therefore, cast a glance, and only a transient i^lance it can be, over the period already travers- ed, and which is, indeed, v^ilhin the limits of the scriptural history. This period includes the whole space of time from the creation initil the subversion of the Babylonian monarchy. Let. X. ON HISTORY. 63 During this long succession of ages, a great varictj of politi- cal, civil, and religious estabiishmentSj had been formed ; tne rudiments of several arts and sciences had been in^ anted ; the human mind had, in some countries, been much improved; and the earth cultivated and embellished widi large cides and stately edifices : of these interesting subjects few particulars have been transmitted to us, except such as relate to the Jewish laws and institutions, some scattered hints relative to ancient commerce, and some excellent specimens of waiting in the Prophets and Psalms. In those venerable monuments of antiquity, the sacred writings, we trace the Israelites, from the patriarchal ages, through the turbulent times of bar- baric ignorance, to a considerable degree of civilization and efin^ment. Of their civil and religious institutions we have a clear and explicit account. As to their skill in the arts and sciences we have but little information ; nor do anj circumstances appear w^hich can give a very exalted idea of it. The Jews do not seem ever to have been a scientiilc or philosophical nation. They appear to have been well skilled in all the arts of necessity and of conveniency, but not to have made any remarkable progress in those of luxury and embellishment. Of their hteratui'e we can form a more ex- act estimation. Some excellent specimens we have remaiiv- ed transmitted to us in the scriptures, especially in the wri- tings of the Prophets, and in the Psalms. In the historical parts of the scriptures we find a remarkable plainness of style and conciseness of narrative, and a wonderful perspi- cuity in the didactical pieces. The writings of their pro- phets are, for the most part, composed in a poetical style, but very different one from another, and all of theni ori^ari- als. Most of them abound with the most elevated ideas and sentiment, expressed with the greatest energy of diction, and embellished with tlie most brilliant ornaments of Oiien-rl imagery. Isaiah, in particular, to comprehension of thought and splendor of ideas, joins a style at once so euev^iic, --md so sweetly harmonious and flowing, that he has often been called tlie Demosthenes of the Hebrews: and his writ!ny:s. are sufficient to give us an exalted opinion of the Hebrew il;- erature. As to the commerce of those eaily ages we can form no more than a very imperfect idea ; and, to form any idea of it, w^e must have recourse to the observation of gen- eral circumstances, occabional intiipationSi^ and oiten to corr^ 64 LETTERS Let. X, ject?ire. It is, liowever, observable, that eveii m the patri- 3'TJiaiages coUiDierce was so far known, that gold and siiver sveve used as the inediam whereby itv/'cme- diatorial divinities ; and they supposed each orb to be the habitation of an intelligent and powerful being, delegated by the Supreme and Eternal Author of all things, to inspect and govern human atFairs. The priests were astronomers; they diligently observed the revolutions and various appear- ances of the celestial bodies, and assigned to them the gov- Let. X. ON HISTORY. ri ernment and direction of particular days in regular rotation ; and pretended, by their various positions and configurations, to foretel future events. Thus the fallacious science of ju- dicial astrology took its rise, in the perversion of astrono- my to the purposes of priestcraft. Babylon was the cradle of astrology, from whence it passed into Egypt. Some ra- ther suppose thc?.t it originated in the latter country, and from thence was ir:troduced into Chaldea. Which of these two suppositions is right, is a question which cannot now be determined. The former opinion, however, is tlie most pro- bable. But it is certain, that in an early period, it existed in both countries ; and it is not a little surprising, that it be- came so universal almost throughout the world, and that it attracted so much the attention, and influenced so powerful- ly the hopes and fears of mankind, in almost every age and every country, under almost every political and religious system, although discountenanced and condemned by the doctrines of Christianity. Even at this very day numbers of the vulgar, in every country of Europe, are strongly per- suaded of the possibility of foretelling future events, by the ■ configurations of the planets. This can only be accounted for by considering the prying curiosity of man, ever desirous of enquiring into his future destiny. Of late, sound philos- ophy, and just ideas of astronomical subjects, have explod- ed the absurdities and inconsistencies of judicial astrology ; and yet there are some who would gladly revive that pre- tended science, and restore it to its former credit, by attri- Ibuting to the planets an influence over physical and moral events, by the operation of natural causes. But sound phi- losophy and uniform experience concur to shew, that in the system of nature every thing is influenced by causes placed within a certain degree of approximation, and not by causes so exceedingly remote; and an accurate knowledge of as- tronomy had ascertained the distance of the celestial bodies to be such as leaves no room to suppose that they can have any considerable influence on physical, and much less on moral circumstances, in our world, either in regard to nations or individuals. Supposing the reality of a planetary influ- ence on the affairs of nations and communities, it would be necessary, in order to determine its nature and extent, that we should be in possession of a correct and well authentica- ted astrological history of the world ; but no such work is 72 LETTERS Let. X. any where to be met with. AhcI if the effects of this influ- ence on the affairs of nations and collective bodies of men could be ascertained, it would still be impossible to deter- mine in what manner individuals might be implicated in them. When we contemplate the direful efiects of public calamities, of plagues and earthquakes, or the destruction of the human species in battles or sieges, where thousands fall in one day, it requires a degree of credulity, very little consistent with either philosophy or reason, to imagine that so many individ- uals, ®f different ages, collected out of different countries, and involved in one general misfortune, were born under the same planetary influence, and that their fate was determined by the same configurations of the celestial bodies. A pretend- ed skill in this imaginary science, has, however, notw^ith- standing its incompatibility with the dictates of reason, and the principles of true philosophy, been an useful instrument in the hands of impostors, in every age, and in every country, for the purpose of turning to their own advantage the igno- rance and credulity of the vulgar; as it was among the Ba- bylonian priests, whose religion, like that of the Egyptians, appears to have been an intricate and mysterious juggle, cal- culated for the acquisition of wealth and power, and for ob- taining an unlimited ascendency over the minds of the peo- ple. The history of mankind does not afford a more striking instance of the extensive and lasting effects of established systems and generally received opinions, on the operations of the human intellect, than this remarkable prepossession in favour of judicial astrology, which, probably, would never have been thought of, had it not been invented by the priests pf Babylon, with whose theological system it was essential- ly interwoven, and by whose sanction and authority it was brought into credit among a credulous and superstitious peo- ple, with whose philosophical and religious ideas it was per- fectly consistent. At a very early period astrology had spread from Baby- lon into all the eastern countries, and, in process of time, throughout the whole civilized world. The establishment of Christianity diminished its credit, but did not extirpate it with the other numerous superstitions of paganism. Al- though the christian religion condemned the study of this ideal and fallacious science, it gained ground in such a man- Let. X. ON HISTORY. fS ner, that it was held at last in almost as high estimation, among christians, as it had been among pagans ; and was not exploded even among persons of no inconsiderable li'erarjr attainments before the commencement, or rather the middle, of the sixteenth centurj ; and even at this time a large pro- portion of the common people of this christian country sin- cerely believe that the book of fate may be unsealed by the study of judicial astrology. That an imaginary science, ori- ginating from an erroneous and absurd hypothesis, fabricated by the Babylonian priests, should have had so extensive a spread, and so universal an influence over the minds of men, is a remarkable and striking circumstance in the history of the human intellect. The Zabian, or Babylonian religion, which, according to Dr. Russel, and other accurate investigators of antiquity, consisted principally in the adoration of the celestial orbs, as the visible deities, who, as they imagined, ruled the world in subordination to the sovereign will of one Eterzial Infi- nite and All-pervading Spirit, degenerated by degrees into the worship of images, erected as symbols and representa- tives of those celestial divinities. However, St. Jerome, and others, suppose that idolatry, or the worship of images, took its rise from the erection of statues to the honour of kings and heroes, which, in process of time, became the ob- jects of this adoration; and assert, that the statue of Belus, the successor of Nimrod, and king of Babylon, was the first object of this kind of worship. Perhaps both these circum- stances might concur to produce this effect ; it cannot be supposed that things of such remote antiquity are capable of being fully ascertained. From the time of the foundation of Babylon and Nineveh, history leaves us almost as much in the dark, concerning the political occurrences which took place in the ancient empire of the Assyrians, as it does in regard to their laws, institu- tions, and manners, until the extinction of that empire by the revolt of the governors of Media and Babylon, and the death of Sardanapulas. What is told us of Belus, Nhios, and Semi- ramis, is so ill authenticated, that nothing like genuine infor- mation can be collected from it : and even after that event, the history of those nations is so confused, that it cannot be relied on. It would be an endless, as well as a useless task, to attempt to reconcile the discordances of historians and G t4 LETTERS Let. X chronologers relative to the succession and reigns of the kings of Babylon, both before and after Nehuchadnezzar. Each different writer has framed an hypothesis of his own, and la- boured to support it ; and modern chronologers have often employed a great deal of laborious research in order to col- lect something like truth from their contradictory accounts. However, after perusing all the relations of the ancients, and the researches of the moderns, we only know, that after the death of Sardanapulas, the empire of the Assyrians and Ba- bylonians, which is always accounted the same, was some- times united, and sometimes divided, until the city of Nine- veh was, by reason of its revolt, entirely destroyed, in the manner so pathetically described by the prophet Nahum, of which transactions we have no particulars in history, and consequently can form no idea of it, but from the striking and highly coloured picture given of it by the prophet. Of the victorious and splendid reign of Nebuchadnezzar we have no succinct and coherent account, but are obliged to collect the trausactions from fragments of sacred and profane histo- ry ; and yet, of all the Babylonian kings, he is the only one of •/'hom we have any knowledge. Of the genius and national manners of the Babylonians, we may, perhaps, form some tolerably just idea from the obser- vation of well known and obvious circumstances. They had certainly made no inconsiderable progress in the sciences ; but their minds were, in the highest degree, tinctured with superslition, which their religion was calculated to inspire and to cherish. Of this their cultiA^ation of astrology, and all the other arts of divination, with an assiduity and attachment beyond any example to be met with in the history of other nations of antiquity, is an incontestable proof. Their astrono- mers liad made a considerable progress io this science, and had discovered and ascertained the revolutions of the celes- tial orbs, so far as to be able to calculate the eclipses. Some of the first Greek philosophers travelled to Babylon for in- fonoation i elalive to astronomy and other branches of know- ledge ; and, in this respect, Babylon claims a share with Egypt of the honour of having instructed Greece. The uni- form and eM'^eosive plain in which Babylon was situated, and the clearoefis o'l the atmosphere during a great part of the year, was a considerable advantage to the Chaldean astrono- mers. The Egyptians possessed VnQ advantages of an un- Let. X. ON HISTORY. 75 clouded atmosphere, in an equal, or, perhaps, a superior de- gree ; but the plains of Egypt not being in every direction so extensive ^as those of Chaldea, did not display so wide an horizon ; nor had the Egyptian, or, indeed, any other nation ancient or modern, an observatory of so stupendous an alti- tude as the great tower of the temple of Belus. Some wri- ters tell us, that the perpendicular height of this protligions structure was not less than one mile ; but who belies es it ? That elegant and ingenious writer. Dr. Russel, (who has collected and accurately examined the descriptions given of it by those ancient authors, who had seen it, and carefully informed themselves of its dimensions) says, that the temple was a complete square, each of whose sides was 1200 feet. By this description we must suppose he means, that the tem- ple was of a cubical form, otherwise his description is not clear, by leaving the height undetermined. From the mid- dle of this 'edifice the tower rose six hundred feet square, and as many high. On the top of this tower, which accoi d- Ing to this computation of its altitude, the most moderate Aat has ever been made, arose to the enormous lieight of eighteen hundred feet, the celebrated Babylonian observa- tory was placed where the priests made their astronomical I observations. From this stupendous elevation the astrono- ' mer saw the earth and the heavens displayed in one wide and uninterrupted view, which, according to mathematical calcu- lations, allowing for the curvature of the earth's convex sur- face, could not extend to a less distance, over that uniform and level country, than fifty miles every way, from the place of observation, ^ and must consequently have taken in con- siderably more than the whole tract inclosed within the differ- * This supposed estimate of the extent of the prospect seen from the Babylonian observatory, on the top of the tower of Belus, is founded on mathematical princi- ples. The method of discovering at what distance the regular curvature of the earth's surface permits objects to be seen upon it, from any given height, or vice versa, is this :— To the earth's diameter add the height of the eye, multiply the sura by that height, then the square root by the product gives the distance sought In the present case thus : — Diameter of the earth, in feet, ac- ? tt • i *. r 4.1, v *. cording to Sir Isaac Newton. \ "^^S^* ^^ ^^^ observatory. 41798117 1800=752.39850600 and 75239850600=274298 feet=51 miles, 7 fur. 132 yards, 2 feet This method is useful at sea, to discover the distance of any object of a known height, as soon as it appears in the horizon. And although no part of the land h L supposed to present a surface so uniformly level as an expanse of water, yet, in so \ fiat a country as the environs of Babylon, and the whole province of Chaldea, H "annot be far from tlie truth. "^6 l.ETTERS Let. X. ent branches of the Enphraleg and Ihe Tigris. Above and beneath the vast expanse presented a ma,s;nificent and exten- sive prospect, calculated to fili the mind of the spectator with the most avrfiii an^i exalted idea of the grandeur of the nni- vei'He^ and alfcrded the Babylonian astronomers an opportu- nity of cbserTi:!-- the courses o^ihe celestial orbs, for a long space of (irr.e, id their passa,^^e from the eastern to the west- f^m edge of so vfide an horizon. The prodigious height of Uiis tovver, although attested by all historians and ancient Iravellers, seems ahnost to sta.gger the credulity of modern limes. Howe/er, if it was not quite so high as it has been generally represeoied by ancient writers, it must have been of an extraordinary and stupendous altitude to authorize such bold exaggerations ; for no traveller would have ventured to give it such an almost incredible elevation, had not its height been in reality such as to astonish the spectator. The genius of the Babylonians, as far as we can judge of it from known circumstances, appears to have been inclined to superstition, and their system of religion tended ta en- courage and strengthen that turn of mind. The great num- ber of their astrologers, soothsayers, diviners, &c. however, shews their intellectual faculties to have been active, and their minds full of curiosity and the spirit of enquiry. His- tory does not, with any degree of precision, inform us how far they carried their attainments in astronomy, the study to which they were most addicted. Their proficiency, how- ever, was such as to enable them to calculate eclipses, and to attract the Greeks to Babylon for the acquisition of astro- nomical knowledge. They seem, upon the whole, to have been a people addicted to the pursuit of knowledge, although, like the Egyptians, and other nations of antiquity, they form- ed many vague and absurd ideas and opinions. Their taste seems to have been turned to ostentatious splendour in their appearance, and bulky magnificence in their architecture, as may be conjectured not only from that prodigious struc- ture, the vtempie of Belus, but also from the extent of the royal palace, and the vast circuit and bulk of the walls of the city. The plan, the fortifications, and embellishments ©f Babylon, do honour to the authors of them, whoever -they were, and give us an exalted idea of the power and greatness of a people that executed works of such prodi- gious magnitude. We cannot but gbserve how much the wri- Let. X. ON HISTORY. 77 ters, who have transmitted to us a description of this ancient and celebrated city, disagree among themselves in regard to its extent and the height of its walls ; and their relations con- cerning those particulars maj be considered as striking in- stances of the uncertainty of history, in regai^ to circum- stantial details. Diod. Siculus says the walls of Babylon were 45 miles in circuit. Clitarchus describes them as 365 feet high, and fortified with 150 towers. Strabo tells us, that their circuit was 488 miles. Quintus Curfius says their height was 1 50 feet, thickness 32 feet, and circuit 46 miles. Herodotus asserts their height to have been 300 feet, their thickness 75 feet, and their circuit 60 miles; and although the last mentioned author is almost universally accused of eX" aggeration, and a proneness to fiction, not only in this des- cription, but in many others of his narratives, the ingenious Dr. Russel seems inclined to give the preference to his des- cription ; because, of all the authors who have written on this subject, he alone had seen Babylon in the zenith of its splendor and magnificence. It is, however, impossible to re- concile those defective and disagreeing accounts, but from them, taken collectively, we may discover that the city was of an immense extent, and the walls of an astonishing height and thickness. As to the different accounts of the height of those celebrated walls, we must remember, that Darius Hystaspes is said to have reduced it to the half of what it had formerly been, in consequence of the revolt of the city against the Persian government ; so that the descriptions given by those who visited Babylon before and after that event, must in consequence be very different. And M. D' Anville, who is called by many, and especially by Mr. Gib- bon, the prince of geographers, says, that when the ancient texts, which describe the extent of Babylon and of Thebes, in Egypt, are settled, the exaggerations rethiced, and the measures ascertained, it will be found that those famous ci- ties^ filled the great, but not incredible extent of 25 or 30 miles ; an hypothesis widely different from what has com- monly been believed* Mem, de V Academie, Sec, Thus,, from the concurrent testimony of all ancient historians, and their modern commentators, although widely disagreeing in regard to particulars, we may conclude that Babylon far sur- passed in extent the largest of our European cities ; and in that particular^ as its form was nearly squarcj it was equal 2 V 78 LETTEBS Let. X. to any two of them ; but as the houses were not contiguous and the streets wide and far asunder, forming by their intersec- tions large squares of garden, and arable, and meadow groundg it cannot be supposed to have been nearly equal to either Lon- don or Paris in population. The plan, whether it had been the effect of sagacious design, or of caprice, was grandj beautiful, and useful, and equally conducive to the secnrity, the pleasure, and the health of the inhabitants. The Ba- bylonian monarchs, desirous of. rendering their capital im- pregnable to every mode of attack, at that time known or thought of, had surrounded it with walls of an immense height and thickness, and ditches of a proportionable width and depth, constantly supplied with water by the Euphrates, which ran through the middle of the city. The streets were laid out in right lines, the whole length and breadth of the city, crossing one another at right angles ; so that, from every in- tersection, four gates of the city might be seen, every street forming a Qiost magnificent vista, very unlike the narrow and crooked streets of our European cities. The vast extent of the place admitted large squares of garden and arable land between the intersecting streets, so that every house might have a small field behind it. This contrivance contributed exceedingly to render the city proof against the assaults of famine, if it was blockaded and its supplies intercepted, as its impregnable walls and unfordable ditches rendered it ii> vnlnerable against the assaults of an enemy. Another cir- cumstance of exceeding great utihty and advantage, which has not been generally remarked, was involved in this plan. It was in a particular manner adapted to the local circum- stances of the situation and the nature of the climate ; for if such a city, surrounded with walls of so prodigious a height, situated in «o sultry a climate, and so damp a soil, in the midst of so low and level a country, had been close crouded in a narrow compass, like our modern cities., it would have been a mere sink of pestilential contagion. The height of the walls would have prevented the circulation of the air from the open country, and have rendered the atmosphere c^ the city in the highest degree noxious and fatal to its inhabit- ants ; all which pernicious effects were obviated by the open and rural plan on which it was constructed, so that we can- iiot but remark, that Ihe great purposes of magnificence, strength, and salubrity, were combined in the plan, a circum- Let. X. ON HISTORY. 79 stance which must attract our attention, and excite our adnii* ration, in contemplating the transactions of so earlj a period. Nebuchadnezzar, undoubtedly, expecting no less than to establish a monarchy as durable as the world itself, com- pleted the fortifications and embellishments of the city. All his vast projects, however, were soon brought to nothing, by that Providence which rules and governs all, and can, at any time, confound the wisdom of the wise ; arranging with wisdom unsearchable that uninterrupted train of causes and effects which determines the success of all human projects^ The wealth and power of the Babylonians soon produced a careless security joiaed to the most extravagant luxury : Masters of the best part of the world, the Babylonian kings^ successors of the great Nebuchadnezzar, instead of following jhm example, and pursuing the same vigorous measures, ad- dicted themselves to indolence and luxurious effeminacy. They paid no attention to political or military affairs, and a total relaxation of discipline introduced itself into the army. The Babylonian troops, who, under Nebuchadnezzar, had appeared irresistible, were so degenerated, that in the war against the Medes and Persians, they were unable to face the enemy in the field, and experienced a continued succes- sion of defeats. History affords but little information that can be relied on concerning the immediate causes and par- ticular transactions of that war. All we can collect on the subject is, that (he Babylonians, almost constantly defeated, having seen the subjugation of all their vast dominions, were at length obliged to shut themselves up in their capital, where the whole remaining force of their empire being concentrated, they supposed that the height and strength of their walls would ensure their safety against all attacks of the enemy, while their vast magazines, with the resources afforded by the fields and gardens within the city, w ould enable them to bid defiance to all attacks of famine. The court, lulled into fi fatal security, and immersed in sensual luxury, took little precaution for defence. The Dowager Q,ueen had the ad- ministration of public affairs ; and Belshazzar, the reigning king, was a stranger to state affairs. Things being in this situation, Cyrus was informed, that on a certain approaching festival the whole city would be plunged in the most riotous scenes of drunkenness and debauchery. On receiving this intelligence he formed the project of cutting tlje banks of the no LETTERS Let. X. Euphrates a little above the city, and turning its current in- to the vast reservoirs which Nebuchadnezzar had made for the purpose of receiving the superabundant ^'^ aters of that ri- ver, which, in the times of great floods, brougiit down such a quantity of water from the mountains of Media and Armen- ia, as used to inundate the country, and sometimes the city itself. Having carried this plan into execution, in the evening preceding the festival, the river was quickly dried, and he marched his troops up the channel directly into the city, and either finding the brazen gates descending to the river open, or else forcing them, he entered the city without op- position, and found the inhabitants, the soldiery, and the court, engaged in scenes of debauchery and intemperance. There advancing to the royal palace, he soon forced an en- trance, and put the king and all his courtiers to the sword, in the midst of their drunken revels. Thus fell Babylon, the most celebrated city of the ancient world, in the reign of Servius TuUius, king of Rome ; an event which constituted the first great revolution and transfer of power and property among mankind ; for the Assyrian and Babylonian monar- chies are always accounted the same ; the latter being only a continuation of the former, under a different dynasty of princes. During the period of time in which the banks of the Nile, the Tigris, and the Euphrates, weie the grand theatre of hu- man action, and the countries where civilization, science, and luxury had principally made their appearance, ail Europe, except Greece, was buried in savage ignorance, without the knowledge of any of the arts or conveniences of civilized so- ciety. Of all the Europeans the Greeks were the only peo- ple who had begun to emerge from barbarism. As early as the age of Moses the Greeks had begun to strike out the rude ouf lines of government and civil poHty ; and during the period which elapsed between the egress of the Israelites out of Egypt, and the establishment of the monarchy in the house of David, their different kingdoms and states had assumed a regular and systematical appearance ; and from that time, to the aera marked by the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, they had made gradual advances in science and civilization. It was not, however, until nearly the commencement of Nebuchadnez- zar's reign, that the Greek philosophers, travelling into Egypt and Chaldea^ began to import into their own country Let. X. ON HISTORY. 81 the learning of foreign nations ; and tliis may be fixed as the epoch of Grecian philosophy. This memorable jera is mark- ed by such a constellation of great and illustrious characters as no preceding age perhaps could boast 5 for Nebuchadnez- zar, who may, without any impropriety, be called the foun- der of the Babylonian monarchy, and was in the strictest sense the author of its greatness, was contemporary with Cy- rus, who overthrew that splendid political structure, and founded the Persian empire upon its ruins. Cyrus, accord- ing to the most approved chronology, being born in the fourth year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign, A. C. 600v In this age Periander ruled at Corinth, and Pisistratns in Athens ; Solon also, and Daniel, as well as the philosophers Anaxi- mander and Pithagoras were contemporary with the above- mentioned conspicious political characters. While Greece was making considerable advances in science and legislation, a nation was formed in Italy which was designed by Provi- dence to bear rule over the whole civilized part of mankind. Rome, the destined mistress of the world, was founded by Romulus, in the reign of Achaz, or Ahaz, king of Judah, A. C. 752, and 148 years before the commencement of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, according to the most generally received systems of chronology. We are not, however, to suppose those computations relative to the events of a remote, and obscure antiquity to be exactly ascertained ; we can on- ly regard them as approximations to truth ; but anachronisms of a few years are of little importance in a view of ancient history, where historians and chronologers themselves, after the most laborious researches, cannot agree. The city of Rome, when newly built on the Palatine Mount, contained about a thousand houses or huts, built of mud, and thatched with reeds ; and the palace of its king was of the same materials. The number of its inhabitants, who were able to bear arms, were about three thousand, and the whole Roman territory was about eight miles across. The inhabilants consisted of lawless vagabonds, debtors, outlaws, and malefactors, collected together by its warlike and savage founder ; and, in order to increase the number of citizens, it was made a sanctuary for all persons of a similar description. From so despicable a beginning arose the greatest and most powerful empire the world has ever seen* 82 LETTERS Let. XL Among the savage citizens of infant Rome, we cannot, however, but observe a stead j and prudent disposition of mind, as well as a warlike and enterprising genius. Wise laws were enacted, and prudent regulations, suitable to a newlj formed state, were adopted in the reign of Romulus. Numa Pompilius, his successor, and second king of Rome, was a lover of peace ; and in his long and peaceful reign he regu- lated, with the most minute exactness and attention, the civil and religious institutions of the Romans ; so that he maj, with the greatest propriety, be called the author of their reli- gion and laws. Romulus was the David, and Numa the Solo- mon of the Romans. The general aspect of the world, at the close of the period we have been contemplating, w as this : the Persian empiie, founded on the rums of the Babylonian greatness, uniting the richest, the most populous, and best cultivated parts of the world under its dominions ; the Greek republics considerably advanced in the knowledge of legisla- ture, civil government, and the military art : Rome, in its in- fancy, under a regal government, but as yet scarcely emerg- ed from barbarism, little known, and holding no conspicuous rank in the scale of nations ; and all the rest of Europe in a state similar to that of the savage tribes of America when first discovered by the Spaniards. Having endeavoured to display as distinct a view of this long and dark period of history, which may properly be call- ed the infancy of science and civilization, as the obscurity of the subject permits, I beg leave to subscribe myself with sincere esteem and profound respect, Sir, your's, &c. J. B. LETTER XL SIB, WE now begin to have a view of a more interesting, as well as a more luminous period, commencing and ending with the Persian empire, and affording ample matter of spec- ulation to a curious observer of events. Persia from an obscure and dependent kingdom, exalted Let. XI. ON HISTORY. 83 upon the ruins of the Babylonian empire to the highest pitch of opulence, power, and splendor, soon began to deviate from the vigorous plan of administration of the great Cyrus. Her monarchs, placed on the summit of human greatness, degene- rated from the virtues which had placed their victorious an- cestor on the throne, and adopted the pride, the pomp, the ostentatious pageantry, and effeminating luxury of the Baby- Ionian monarchs, which had caused the downfal of their pow- er, the subversion of their empire, and the extinction of their race. This awful lesson had no effect on the Persian kings. Persia, keeping up her splendor, declined in power. The administration grew corrupt, the government feeble and inef- ficacious, and the mihtary discipline relaxed and neglected. The monarch generally a stranger to public affairs, and the monarchy resting more on its ancient fame than on its pre- sent power, while the rival and hostile Greeks, daily improv- ing in arts and arms, began openly to bid defiance to the power of the great King, and his numerous but undisciplin- ed armies. Some of the Persian monarchs, it is true, seem- ed to awake from their lethargy and shew a spirit of en- terprize, which, for a moment, promised the revival of their glory and the re-establishment of their declining power ; but these attempts were no more tharr transient exertions, the efforts of expiring strength. Darius Hystaspes was the first monarch of Persia who undertook a war against the Greeks ; but the bloody plains of Marathon taught him how to appre- ciate the courage, the discipline, and military skill of his European enemies ; and after a disgraceful termination of [a war maiked with defeat and disaster, on the part of the Persians, that prince, with his crown, bequeathed to his successor, Xerxes, his animosity against Greece, and his de- sire of effacing the disgrace of Persia. Xerxes caused the trumpet of war to sound through every province of his vast dominions, and after extraordinary preparations, at- tacked Greece, A. C. 481, with the most formidable armament mentioned in history. Herodotus estimates the forces of Xerxes at one million seven hundred thou- sand foot, and eighty thousand horse. Trogus gives the number at only one million foot, and eighty thousand horse. The number of gallies is rated at two thousand two hundred and eight, and the transport vessels at three thousand. Historians, however, disagree very much in regard to the 84 LETTERS Let. XL number of the Persian troops, as they do upon every other subject whenever they pretend to give an exact account of number, and other minute particulars, which they take for the most part from common report, and not from correct in- formation. The disagreement of historians respecting this great and important transaction, is only similar to innumei-a- ble other instances of historical uncertainty, in regard to cir- cumstantial minutiae, with which it is almost morally impos- sible that the historian should be perfectly acqaainted ; and it ought to operate as a caution against too easy a credulity when we find historians pretending to tell us what it is evi- dent that they cannot possibly know. Notwithstanding those unavoidable errors and discordan- ces, there is, however, no reason to doubt of this armament having been the most formidable the world has ever seen ; and it evidently displays the vast resources of the Persian em- pire, and its irresistible power, if those resources had been well managed ; but numbers could not supply the want of courage, military discipline, and patriotism. Greece was at that time an assemblage of independent and often hostile states ; but foreign invasion impelled them to adopt unani- mous counsels, and to take decisive measures. The Greeks, setting aside all subjects of discontent and animosity among themselves, made the common interest the common cause. AH the different states, except the Thebans, who were inva- riably attached to the Persian interest, entered into a confed- eracy, founded upon their common interest, in repelling a foreign invasion, which threatened nothing less than sub- jugation and servitude to Greece. Historians pretend not only to detail the most minute par- ticulars of this war, but also to amuse us with circumstantial narratives of the debates which took place in the councils of war, held both among the Greeks and Persians ; the parti- cular opinions of Mardonius, nephew of Xerxes, and com- mander of the land forces ; of Artabazus and of Xerxes him- self, and the arguments used by them for and against under- taking this grand expedition ; with many other minute par- ticulars, which we may consider as embellishments of histo- ry, but can hardly esteem them real narratives of facts, un- less historians had condescended to inform us by what means they had obtained the knowledge of what passed in those mil- itary councils of the Greek and Persian commanders. Re- Let. XI. ON HISTORY. 85 garding, however, these circumstantial details merely as his- torical ornaments, the real authentic relation of this Qiemora- ble expedition merits, in an eminent degree, the remembrance and attention of posterity. The Persian king, with his innu- merable miiltitiTdes, passed the Hellespont out of Asia into Europe. The Greeks were obliged to retreat before an ar- my which seemed irresistible ; but the gallant and almost un- paralleled defence of the straits of Thermopylae, anarron de- file among the momitains of Thessafy, by Lecnidas aiiu his >Spartans, gave the Persians a formidable specimen of Grecian valour and discipline. The Spartan king, with his valiant detachment, having fallen overpowered with numbers in that ever memorable action, the Persians gained an unobstructed entrance into the interior of Greece ; and the Athenians, unable to defend their city, retired to their ships. Xerxes advancing with his enormous army, plundered and destroyed the country in the most deplorable manner, levelled w ith the ground the temples of the gods of Greece, and burnt Athens in the sight of its terrified citizens, who, from their ships, were indignant spectators of the flames which reduced their city to ashes, and in volvedtheir temples and possessions in on« general conflagration. The Persian fleet at the same time advanced, but was totally defeated by the Greeks, who after- wards ventured to attack the Persians by land. The for- tune of the war was then changed. The Persians defeated, hatrassed, and disheartened, began to retreat. The Greeks, on this occasion, adopted a plan worthy to serve as a lesson to every nation in similar circumstances, instead of cutting off* the retreat of the terrified enemy, which they might easi- ly have done, they gave him every opportunity of eifecting it. They wiselj considered, that such a numerous host, of armed foes, shot iip in their country, without a possibility of retreating, might, through necessity, adopt vigoroiiS measures and grow courageous through despair ; and, indeed, before such a number of enemies could have been cut otFor subdu- ed, the whole country must have been rendered an entire scene of slaughter and desolation. If they had even surren- dered prisoners, their numbers were sufScient to produce a famine in a country of so inconsiderable an exien' as Greece. Through these considerations the Greeks contrived to spread a rumor in the enemy's camp, that they had resoivod to des- troy the bridge of boats which the Persians had laid over the H S6 LETTERS Let. XL- Hellespont, a measure which they never intended to ta^e. It is even said, that Themistocles, commander of the Athe- nian fleet, gave private information of this determination to the Persian king, under colour of friendship. The consequence, however, was, that Xerxes, panic-struck, immediately re- treated ; and having left an army of 400,000 men, under the command of Mardonius, he himself, with the rest of his army^ crossed the Hellespont into Asia. Mardonius was totally defeated the next campaign by the Greeks, himself slain, and his numerous army, which was apparently fully suffi- cient for the conquest of all Greece, was almost entirely an- nihilated. In this manner, the most powerful armament ever fitted out by any nation, experienced nothing but defeat and disgrace. This memorable expedition deservedly makes a conspicuous jSgure in history, and is worthy of particular re- mark. It exhibits a warlike and patriotic people repelling a most formidable invasion from an enemy, whose numbers and resources were in more than a tenfold proportion superior to theirs, and shews, in the most striking point of view, the con- trast between patriotism and military discipline, on the one side, and luxury, effeminacy, and mismanagement on the oth- er. The succeeding wars, between Greece and Persia, were Cariied on with various success ; but, upon the whole, in a manner favourable to the Greeks. The Persians soon found them terrible and dangerous enemies, and considered them as the aspiring rivals of their power. The Persian monarchs, after this, adopted the policy of turning the arms of the Greek republics one against another, by a seasonable distribution of bribes, among the most active chiefs and persons of the greatest power and influence ; and Persian gold, during a long time, agitated Greece with intestine wars and commo- tions. At length a period arrived, in which the affairs of Greece took a turn, Vvhich proved equally fatal to the liber- ties of that coirntrj^, and the existence of the Persian monar- chy. Philip, king of Macedonia, a small and hitherto un- noticed kingdom, had in his youth been an hostage among the Thebans, and in that situation had received an education suitable to his rank. He had studied philosophy and rhetoric, under the ablest masters, and had been trained to arms under the great Epaaiioondas. Being endowed by nature with a great and aspiring genius, and an excellent understanding, he had profited in a supereminent degree by the instructions of Let. XL ON HISTORY. Of those great men ; and coming to the throne of Macedoniaj with these personal advantages, he soon began to form the most extensive plans for aggrandizing his power. By a train of the most profound and successful politics he procured liimself to be recognized a member of the Amphjctionic council, or general assembly of the Greeks, which seems to have resembled the Diets of the German empire. Having; gained that point, he soon afterwards, by his arms and his iti- trigiies, obtained a decided ascendency over the differeiii states of Greece ; and by artfully bribing the leading nieni- hers, and employing every engine of force and fraud, subject- ed them entirely to his dominion, so that, although they still retained the name of republics, Piiilip was, in effect, sove- reign of Greece. The reign of Philip is remarkable, and the transactions which took place in it are curious and interest- ing ; but, however splended his political and military talents may appear, his moral character is detestable. We see in this prince the most shining abilities converted to the worst of purposes. He was not only a philosopher, but also a con- summate orator ; and, beyond all manner of doubt, one of the greatest politicians and generals that any other age has ever produced. All these brilliant accomplishments he employed for the aggrandizement of his own power, at the expence of the liberties of his neighbours; and his whole life exhibits a complete specimen of unconscientious policy and unprinci- pled conduct. The most laudable feature of Philip's charac- ter, was his love of literature ; and the most commendable ac- .tion of his life was the great care he took of the education of |his son Alexander. He made choice of an elegant palace, in a retired situation, as the most proper for that purpose, and engaged the great Aristotle to be his preceptor in philosophy and literature, while he hisself trained him to arms under his own invincible banners. If the life of Philip be woithv of the attention of the historical student, his death is not less in- teresting and remarkable. It affords a most striking instance of the instability of all hu;na!i power and of the uncertainty of ail human projects. Philip had resolved on the invasion of the Persian empire, with the whole confederate force of Greece and Macedonia ; a measure extremely popular among the Greeks, who were elated wiih the hopes of retaliating upon that empire the evils they had suffered from the invasion of Xerxes. He accordingly summoned the general council of the Grecian 88 LETTERS Let. XL states. The quota to be furnished by each state was determin- ed, and Fiiiiip being declared generalissimo of the confederate Greeks esertei'. himself with extraordinarv activity and dili- gence in making the most formidable preparations for that great expedition. His whole armj was in readiness to cross the Hel- lespont io the most perfect state of military discipline and equip- ment, and nothing appeared to de}Ry his entering on the im- portant contest ^yliich was to decide the fate of Greece and Persia. In this promising situation of affairs, so flattering to his anibliion, Philip resolved to display his ponip and splendor before the assembled Greeks in solemnizing the nup- tials of his daughter ; but how uncertain is all terrestrial pow- er and grandeur : in the midst of the most brilliant spectacle Greece had ever beheld surrounded by his guards and the principal officers of the Grecian states, who were paying him little less than divine honours, Philip was stabbed to the heart by a desperate assassin, and immediately expired, bury- ing in the grave with himself all his flattering prospects of iioiversal monarchy, and leaving his grand expedition against the Persian empire to be carried into execution by Alexander, his son and successor. Thus ended the important reign of Philip, king of Macedonia, whose extensive plans, joined to his extraordinary abilities in the cabinet and the field, intro- duced the srreatest clianse of affairs the world had at that time ever experienced. His projects were carried into effect by Alexander, his son, in the manner with which every one is acquainted. This Prince, in about twelve years, had con- quered the Persian empire, and made that celebrated inroad into India so much spoken of by historians ; and, after return- ing from that famous expedition, died at Babylon in the thir- ty-third or thirty-fourth year of his age, A. C. 324. The for- tune and successes of Alexander had been the most brilliant of any recorded in history, and his reign constiiutes a mostremark- able epoch in human affiirs, having displayed a new scene of things, and produced an extraordinary and important change in the political aspect of the world. The subversion of the Persian empire by Alexander and his Greeks, developes a train of causes and effects extremely worthy the attention of the historian, the politician, and the philosopher. The whole scene of the wars between Greece and Persia is of a more interesting nature than any other wars which had hap- pened before that time. During the whole period which had Let. XL ON HISTORY. 89 elapsed, between the first invasion of Greece, by Darius Hystaspes, and the extinction of the Persian monarchy, wiiich took place on the defeat and death of Darius Codo- mannus, A. C. 330, we see the contrast between a rising and a falling people ; between a nation weak in resources, but warlike, active, and enterprising, and a nation numerous and opulent possessing vast resources but luxurious and ef- feminate ; whose power was apparent rather than real, whose numerous armies kept up a fallacious appearance of military strength, and the ostentatious parade of whose court dazzled the eyes of the neighbouring nations with a false show of power. The object of those wars was in the highest degree important and interesting. Asia had till then been the theatre of all the great transactions which had taken place among men ; and, together with Egypt, had been the seat of arts and sciences, of literature and commerce, and the only quarter of the globe where extensive political plans had been formed, and powerful kingdoms established. Europe had till that time been unnoticed, but was now just emerging from bar- barity. Greece had received from Egypt and Babylon the rudiments of civilization, and acquired some knowledge of the sciences. Her active, ingenious, and enterprising inhabitants, had established colonies in Italy, Spain, and the southern coast of Gaul, as well as in the islands of the Mediterranean, and begun to extend tlieii' commerce, as well as to improve their philosophy and literature. These circumstances the Greeks had by their active and enterprizing genius, turned Ito such advantage as soon to become the rivals of that po- 'tent empire, v;hich ruled all the then known parts of Asia. The wars between the Greeks and Persians were to decide the grand point, whether Asia or Europe should have Ihe ascendancy. After a long contest, the balance turned in favour of Europe, which then gained a superiority over Asia and has maintained it to this day. Th:? grand and decisive contest, was, therefore, of greater iiiipyrtance in every political and moral point of view : and involved con- sequences of greater magnitude and interest than any which had preceded it. Alexander's expedition against ihe Per- sian empire is the most celebrated military eiiterprize re- corded in history, and its success the most brilliant. It affect- ed the second great revolution of power that has marked the history of mankind and has conferred on AlexandeA the nnques- H2 90 LETTERS Let. XL tionable title of the greatest and most successful conqueror the world has ever seen ; whether he can claim the appel- lation of the consuffiinate politician and general is somewhat more problematical. His abilities in these respects, have, notwithstanding the brilliancy of his successful career, which has so much dazzled the eyes of posterity, been variously es- timated and represented. By some be has been called a mad- man, by others a hero. Some have admired his magnanimi- ty and heroism, and esteemed him the greatest of warriors, while others have represented him as a plunderer of nations and a destroyer of mankind. In appreciating his character, a just medium, however, ought to be observed. In his in- vasion of Asia he most certainly had a better pretext than the generality of those, who at different times, have made hostile aggressions on their neighbours. If the affair be con- sidered in a national point of view, it was the most popular enterprize that could have been enterea on, as it perfectly coincided with the sentiments of resentment entertained by the Greeks on account of the insults and injuries they had re- peatedly suffered from the Persians. In regard to the situa- tion in which Alexander was placed, it was certainly such as imposed on him the necessity of undertaking the war, unless he had resolved to forfeit the esteem of his ssbjects, the confederate Greeks and Macedonians. His father, Fhiiip, had projected the entejprize, and made ai] the nec^sary preparations for carrjing it into execution. He had trained an army, superior in military skill and discipline, to any the world had ever seen ; and Alexander had scarcely any thing leh to do, but to put himself at its head, and lead it to victory and conquest. In that situation he was under an almost absolute necessity of executing an enterprize which Philip had concerted ; for which he had made every ad- equate preparation, and which, if death had not frustrated his aspiring views, he would undoubtedly have carried in- to full effect. In such circumstances Alexander could not have desisted from the undertaking, without exhibiting him- self an example of pusillanimity to his own and all future ages ; and consequently, in his attack on Persia, he nrost stand justified, or at least excused, in the mind of every one who knovvs how to observe and reflect, as h^ did no more than what every man of an ordinary share of courage m.ust, in such circumstances, have found himself compelled to dp. Let. XI. ON HISTORY. 91 His subsequent conduct, on many occasions, both during the course of that war, and in his other enterprizes, was such, however, as cannot be ascribed to any other principle than an overbearing ambition, and an enthusiastic love of fame, and would have been stigmatised by posterity with the name of extravagant rashness, if success had not stamped upon it the title of magnanimity. The circumstances, however, which imposed upon Alexander the necessity of being a conqueror, tend very much to diminish or at least to obscure his reputation as a general in the eyes of an intelligent obser- ver. Philip had concerted his plans in such a manner, had trained such an army, and had made such preparations, as could hardly fail of ensuring success. Some writers of that age say, that every private soldier in the army was qualified to be an officer, and that every officer possessed miHtary skill sufficient for a commander in chief. In such general as- sertions it is proper to make some abatement ; it was custo- mary among the Greeks to exaggerate. However when eve- ry allowance is made for such exaggerations, it is certain that the bulk of Alexander's army was composed of veterans, trained to arms by that great master of tactics and military discipline, king Philip, v/ho had formed the impenetrable Macedonian phalanx in such a manner that it was almost im- possible to break its closely compacted ranks. His success, therefore, is not to be wondered at, leading such an army against a luxurious, effeminate, and unwarlike enemy ; whose forces, though numeious, were ill commanded and undisci- plined. If Alexander had not been at the head of such an army, and been assisted by the councils and exertions of such commanders as Parmenio, Lysimachus, Antigonus, Per- diccas, Craterus, Ptolemy, and others ; or if he had turned his arms westu ard against the warlike Romans instead of the eiFeminate Persians, his affairs would, in all probability, have assunied-a very different aspect, and he would scarcely have shined in the page of history as the invincible conqueror. But every observing and intelligent reader of history cannot but see, that in this war the circumstances of the two bell^ gerent nations, and the state of their armies were such, that a general of ordinary abilities in Alexander's place could hardly have failed of success. Possessing all the advanta- ges of an excellent literary and military education, and ei*- dowed by nature with courage, magnanimity, and genius, 92 LETTERS Let. XL Alexander appears to have been capable of the greatest things ; but we can onlj estimate his political and military character by what he actually performed ; and in this esti- mation we must allow, that every circumstance duly consi- dered, Alexander's achievements were a much less arduous task than those of many other warriors, whose successes have been far less brilliant, and whose names shine with a much less dazzling lustre. It must, however, be confessed, that some of Alexander's projects are characteristic of a political and commercial, as well as a warlike genius, and redound more to his honor than his mad career of conquest. His foundation of the city of Alexandria, in a situation so extremely favorable to commerce seems to indicate an extensive view of the advantages accru- ing from ^ trade ; and the flourishing state of that city, both while it continued the capital of an independent kingdom, and afterwards under the Roman and Byzantine empires, displays the justness of his understanding in the choice of so excellent a situation for a great mercantile city. His sending out his admiral Nearchus to explore the coasts of Persia and India, also shews that he was actuated by a spirit of discov- ery, as well as an avidity of conquest ; and if he had attained to an advanced age, it is not possible to conceive what he might have performed, when the best parts of the world be- ing subdued, conquest could no longer have presented to him the same allurements. Historians have entertained us with strange and contradic- tory accounts of the causes of the death of this conqueror. Many of them ascribe it to the effect of poison, an opinion, which, if we consider his arbitrary conduct, in many respects so disagreeable to the Greeks and Macedonians, and above all the unprincipled ambition of his generals, is not at all impro- bable ; but they have related many improbable and romantic circumstances concerning the affair, which may be seen in Plutarch, and other authors. The opinion of others is, that he died of disease contracted by drunkenness and intemperance. All, however, that we can collect from these contradictory relations is, that he died of a fever at Babylon, about A. C. 324, and about two hundred and fifteen years after the conquest of Babylon and the establishment of the Persian empire by Cyrus. Let. XL ON HISTORY. 93 Haying been impelled by the nature of the subject to make reiMarks somewhat at large on a war the most impor- tant, and terminated with the most splendid success of any recorded in the annals of military enterprize, as well as on the circumstances and character of the most celebrated con- queror mentioned in history, let us now take a general view of the progress of arts, sciences, and hterature, during the period of two hundred and fifteen years which elapsed dur- ing the existence of the Persian empire, from its estab]is|h- ment on the ruins of that of Babylon by Cyrus, about A. C. 540, to its final subversion by the Greeks under Alexanders A. C. 330. On turning our eyes upon Greece, during this interesting period, a noble and most delightful prospect of the rapid advancement of the human mind, in every depart- ment of scientific and literary acquisition, presents itself to our view. The rudiments of philosophy and civil polity, and of almost every ait and science, v/hich Greece had re- ceived from Egypt, were so well cultviated and improved by the active and penetrating genius of her people, that in the space of less than three centuries, from their first application to the arts and embellishments of civilized society, the Greeks had made so extraordinary a progress in architecture, paint- ing, statuary, and other ornamental arts, as well as in every kind of literary composition, that they have never yet been surpassed. Their performances in ail these kiads have al- ways been esteemed models of excellence ; and their writings, in every branch of composition, have, in all ages, to this very day, been looked up to as the standard of literary perfection. In sublimity of thought, and accuracy of reasoning, their phi- losophers attract our adoiiration ; and their poets and orators, if ever they have been equalled, have most certainly never been excelled by any, either in ancient or modern times. In the time of Alexander, or rather of his father Philip, and th» age immediately preceding, Greece exhibited a most inter- esting spectacle of the highly cultivated state of the human intellect. The education of youth was one of the principal objects attended to by persons of opulence, as without it no one could hope for advancement to civil or military offices, which by reason of the many different states into which Greece was divided, were very numerous. These considerations were powerful incitements to industry and emulation. The frequent wars which the Greek states wag^ 94 LETTERS Let. XL ed one aj^ainst another, as well as against their potent adversa- ly, the Persian monarch, stimulated them to the study of tac- tics and the practice of military discipline : so that arts and arms, literature and politics, were equally cultivat- ed, and opened numerous roads to promotion and hon- or. In the age immediately preceding the reign of Philip of Macedonia, Greece, displays the striking pic- ture of a country which offered every possible stimulus to the exertion of every faculty, and of a people making every effort to advance the human intellect to the higliest degree of perfection. In contemplating, however, the aspect of the world at large, we find that Greece alone afforded a prospect so pleasing, the rest of the world immersed in effeminate lux- ury, or barbaric ignorance, presented a deplorable and dis- gusting contrast. Persia wallowing in riches and luxury, studious only of ostentatious magnificence and splendid pa- geantry, declined from her former power and greatness as rapidly as Greece advanced to the meridian of her glory. Egypt had lost her ancient splendor, and was in subjection to Persia. In those countries the sciences, no doubt, were still cultivated ; in Persia by the magi, and in Egypt by the priests ; but where genius and learning are not considered as the means of acquiring wealth, or of obtaining honor and pro- motion, they generally soon decline. They seldom flourish- much when the national taste takes a contrary turn. Under a despotic government the sciences seldom flourish, unless when an intelligent prince sits on the throne who knows how to appreciate and reward genius and learning. If, however, the Egyptians and Persians still retained some knowledge of and taste for the arts and sciences, they were eclipsed in arts, as well as in arms, by the superior attainments of the Greeks. Only this remark is requisite to make, that the rise of Greece effecting the downfal of Persia, all our monuments of ancient learning have de«cend6d down to us from the former. None of the works of the Persian magi, or of the priests of ancient Egypt, or Babylon, have been transmitted to us. Lapse of time, and the destructive revolutions which so often desolated or changed the Ikcc of the ancient world, have produced an universal wreck ol all ancient learning, which exist- ed prior to the flourishiiog ?eraof Grecian literature. Whatever might have been the s«ate of learning among the Babyloni- ans, Egyptians and Persians, none of their literary monuments Let. XI. ON HISTORY. 0i have descended down to us. AH the acconnta we have of those nations, of their history, their political state, their reli- gion their scientific and literary attainments, and general man- ners, except such lights as are occasionally afforded relative to those subjects in the Hebrew Scriptures, have been transmitted to us through the medium of Greek writers. The Greeks plundered the literary treasures of all nations, and whatever learning they found among them they made it their own. Thus we have no exact criterion by which we can judge of the literary progress of other nations ; and of the vast mass of Greek science and learning, it is impossible to determine how much is of their own growth, and how- much of it was imported from abroad. Of all the nations of remote antiquity, the Jews are the only people whose litera- ry monuments have, by an extraoriJinary and providential combination of circumstances, descended down to modern times. Notwithstanding this universal annihilation of all the mon- uments of Babylonian, Egyptian and Persian literature, it ap- pears certain, from general circumstances, that those nations had made no inconsiderable advances in mental improvement. The learning of the Babylonians and Egyptians is often spo- ken of in the Scriptures. So early as in the age of Moses the scientific attainments of the Egyptians are spoken of, and the Hebrew legislator is said to have been instructed in all the learning of the Egyptians. And the prophet Jeremiah, in addressing himself to Babylon says, " Thy wisdom, and thy learning, hath perverted thee," &c. These, and many other expressions, and circumstantial hints, which may be collect- ed from the Hebrew Scriptures, point out the Babylonians as a people studious of intelleclual improvement, although plung- ed in superstition, and bewildered in error, like all the an- cient pagans whose religion was not under the light and gui- dance of Divine revelation, and whose philosophy was whol- ly founded on conjecture, and not on experiment. As to the Egyptians, the Greeks themselves are not ashamed to be- stow the highest encomiums on their philosophy and learn- ing. The magnificent remains of Thebes do not more strongly attest the ancient splendor of Egypt, than the ruins of Persepoiis prove that Persia was once the seat of the arts, and of elegant magnificence ; and if the literary productions of the Persians had passed down to us^ like those of the 96 LETTERS Let. XL Greeks, we should have not only juster ideas, but, perhaps, a higher opinion of the state of intellectual improvement among the former than we commonly accustoi/i ourselves to entertain. The fatal issue of their last contest with Greece, ho\¥ever, after making every allowance for Greek partiality and national prejudice, demonstrably proves the bad state of their political administration and military discipline. One grea.t fault in the Persian system of government was, the di- vision of their empire into a number of unconnected and al- most independent governments, the governors of which attend- ed only to the affairs of their own provinces, without think- ing themselves obliged to take any measures for the general safety of their empire, of which the history of their traiisac- tions with the Greeks furnishes many instances ; and all their military operations, in the war against Alexander, evidence the greatest unskilfulness in tactics, as well as the greatest re- laxation of discipline. Their numerous armies seemed to march to a parade rather than to battle, every thing in their equipment being calulated more for ostentatious shew, than for real utility. If we leave the affairs of the Greeks and Persians, the two principal nations which command our notice during the peri- od we are now contemplating, and cast a glance on the Jews and Romans, we see the former a tributary people under the Persian monarchy, enjoying their own laws and religion, and living peaceably under its protection ; the Romans had lived under a monarchical government during the space of 245 years from the foundation of their city, during which time se- ven kings had successively swayed the sceptre ; but the Ro- mali monarchy seems always to have been under limitations, and the senate and people were not without some share of the government. Having expelled the last of their kings, Lucius Tarquinius, surnamed Superbus, or the Proud, on account of the rape committed by his son on Lucretia, a Roman lady, as well as for various other acts of despotism and oppression, they had established a republican government about A. C. 508, about twenty-eight years before the invasion of Greece by Xerxes, and one hundred and seventy-nine years before the subversion of the Persian empire by Alexander. The Romans had already begun to aggrandize themselves by war and conquests, but their conquests were as yet but of small extent and importance. It was long before they extended Let. XI. ON HISTORY. %r their dominions far beyond the environs of their mud-^fJi^d city ; and at the time when Alexander conquered the F :•-- sian empire, the Roaisn territory did not consist of a inL« I: greater part of Italy than the present Camp.\2,iila di Roma ; and Rome, afterwards the mistress oi the worid, was not then considered of any importance in the polificai scale of r,al!>,m3. The Romans at that period had made no progresF. m the arts, nor in hteratme. We hear of their orators, an«i of their spee- ches, but their eloquence was that of a clear and vigorous, but uncultivated understanding; without any of that artificial ar- rangement of argument and layiguage, of that studied elo- quence called rhetoric, so much cultivated and esteemed a- mong the Greeks. As [to the Jews, they have never been esteemed a scientific people ; but during this period they ad- dicted themselves to the study of philosophy, so far aa to in- termix many of the opinions of the oriental philosophers with their religious tenets. From this circumstance the two op- posite sects of the Pharisees and Sadducees originated, which were unknown during the existence of the Jewish monarch v, before the Babylonian captivity. Of these two celebrrited sects, the Sadducees pretended to adhere strictly to th?. law of j\Joses, while the Pharisees, besides a number of Jtwish traditions, had adopted opinions which they had imbibea by their connections with the Babylonians and Persians, duriuji the time of the captivity. A third sect, called the Esbenesg, had also risen among the Jews. The celebrated historian, Flavins Josephus, gives a circumstantial detail of the pa* tic- ular tenets of those Jewish sects. After this attempt to trace a picture of the political, moral, and intellectual world, as it appeared among the Persians, the Jews, the Greeks, and the Romans, during the period which elapsed bet wen the reigns of those two celebrated conquer- ors, Cyrus, and Alexander, and which comprised the whole duration of the Persian empire, it is requisite lo turn our eyes upon the general state of the most remarkable countries of the modern world, during this interesting period of antiquity. All Europe, except Greece, and a very small part of Itniy, was then imnoticed and unknown. The countries novy o flourishing in arts and arms, where all the useful and ornaK;- r.= tal sciences are brought to so high a state of pert'ec(i(^n, 'v^ ere every branch of literature is so assiduously cultivated, wh^^e all the channels of commerce are so indusinously expioreti, I 98 LETTERS Let. XL where every elegance of social life is to be found, where luxury reigns in all its variety of forms, where large and populous ci- ties abound, and where universities and academies are so numer- ous and so flourishing ; those countries which now send forth their fleets to collect the productions of every climate, and establish colonies on the farthest shores of the globe, were yet immersed in savage obscurity, and as little known to the then civilized world as the deserts of Arabia and Tartary, or the interior parts of Africa, are to us at this day. This was the state of the countries of greatest note in the iriodern world, at a period when Greece had attained to the summit of her splendor, and when her ingenious inhabitants had made so astonishing a progi^ess in the various departments of hu- man knowledge When Athens was the seat of science and lit- erature, abounding in seminaries of learning, and crowded with philosophers, orators, legislators, and heroes, London and Paris, at this time the two central points of all that is great and elegant, were iiothing but woody swamps ; and if any of the human species made those places their residence, they were only savages wandering in those then desert wildernes- ses, at that time totally unknown to civilized m.an. What a won- derful change ! In the age of Philip and Alexander, Italy^ Spaio, and France, were to Greece what America is to us ; and all the rest of Europe, unless, perhaps, the southern coasi of Britain, was as little known as America was in the days of Columbus, and as New Zealand is at this time. Ger- many, Poland, Russia, Denmark, and Sweden, were then nothing but an immense extent of woods and v»^ildernesses, of vast and impassable morasses and trackles deserts, in- iiabited by beasts of prey, or men in the most savage state of uncultivated riatare, not superior to the inost uncivilized tribes discovei ed in America, New Zealand, and the other .islands in the South Seas, by our late voyagers and circum- navia;ator3. What a wonderful chmige has time produced ! lugypt, where xhe rudirneiits of arts and sciences were in- veiiied, ivhere philosophy was first studied, where civil poli- ty was first reduced to a regular system, where human gran- deur v/as displayed lu evecy variety of form ; and Greece, where ^lie learning of Egypt was improved, corrected, and Riethodized, and where e\ery art and science that could em- bellish a nation, and improve the human intellect, was carried fo a degree of perfection, whicii has excited the admiration cf Let. XL ON HISTORY. 99 all succceexling ages, are now plunged in fbe grossest baibar ity and ignorance, and their magnificent edifices laid in ru- ins. Even the situation of some of the largest and most cele- brated cities of the ancient world cannot, at this time be ascer= (ained. Nineveh, so long the capital of the Assyrian empire, and Babjion, " the glory of nations and the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency,""^ have long ago been so complefely annihilated, that it can not be exactly determined where they stood ; and as to the celebrated city of Memphis, long the metropolis of Egypt, and the royal residence of the Pha- raohs, although we have the most unquestionable evidence of its extent, which some say was seventeen, and others nine- teen miles in circuit, as also of its strength and magnificence, yet the most curious antiquarians and geographers are not able to ascertain the place of its situation. Scarcely any cir- cumstance of ancient geography has been more critically dis- cussed, or given rise to a greater variety of opinions, than the situation of this celebrated city. Modern travellers, as Dr. Pocock, Capt. Norden, and Mr. Savary, and many others, have attempted to solve the diflScully ; and each of iheiii have given plausible reasons for his own hypothesis, williout being able to come to any agreement among themselves. We are assured by the concurrent testimonies of all ancient au- thors who have mentioned Memphis, that it stood on the west side of the Nile ; but while some of the moderns suppose it to have been situated where Gize now stands, opposite to Cairo, others place its situation fifteen, and others seventeen miles further to the south ; and Capt. Noiden thinks the largest of the pyramids stood within its walls. Many other noted cities of the ancient world have bad a similar destiny : and innumerable momimenis of the grandeur and magnifi- cence of the Babylonians, Egyp-piecviied accosding to its utility, was beco^Tie the seat of spkoior, of opukmce, arsd luxury, which daily increase..;, -h:. ; r' la?i ro.je (o a p!t-:h of which the history of the world sitfords no similar ir!2lGiK:e. This mixture of Asiatic laxury, wl^h Ro*;san a;vbi-56n, g-ve an increased vigor to the dilF^rent faciions whicli hj.a al- L 122 LETTERS Let. XIL ways existe<] in the republic. Many of Ihe ciiizens of Rome equalled sovereign princes in opulence and splendor, and were enabled to pursue the same methods of aci» iring an influ- ence over the people, which the Senate had so long and so successfully practised ; and the heterogeneous mataS of jhe Roman populace were ready to follow any leader who enter« tained them with sumptuous feasts, and distributed large sums of money among a lazy and factious multitude. The Roman soldiery, ever ready to follow the standard of a Ma- lius, oi a Sylla, a Caesar or a Pompey, an Octavius or a Mark Anfhony, became the soldiers of a party, and devot- ingl themselves to the interest of some factious demagogue, forgot that they were citizens and soldiers of the republic. In this depraved state of national character and manners, it is no wonder that the discordant factions, which had so long agitated the commonwealth, at last buist forth in a volcano, which almost threatened the annihilation of Rom«, and ac- tually terminated in the extinction of the republican system of government. The Roman power, excepting* some trifling conquests, made under the Emperors, had attained to the zenith of its greatness, and the empire had acquired its full extent at the time when the abolition of the republican, and the es- tablishment of the imperial, government took place; but whe- ther the city had attained to its highest degree of population, extent, ind opulence, is somewhat problesnatical. No histo- rical documents exist, which determine this point ; but if we recV:,jon from appearances, fiom general circumstances, and lujiibrm experience of moral and political causes and effects, aa!jon. Excepting ihe provincial trib- yte^, ihe ?ipoib o^ s.aiioiis had, in a great measure, ceased to fivvv H.'to liei Cd.'ficrs, 'dmi her arjrsies had ceased so frequent- ly to rsh^rn liden will? plunder. Wars now became less fre- quent, and tliei'e were no enemies to conquer who possessed Let. XII. ON HISTORY. 123 any thing that could enrich the conquerors. From these cir^ cumstar.ces it seems reasonable to suppose, (hat (he age iiiinie' diately succeeding this long continued scene of this priedato- ry acquisition, was the time when Rome possessed the great- est mass of wealth. Afterwards, when tjie channels of ac- quisition were in a great measure exhausted, and every mode of dissipation and extravagant expence daily gaining ground, a considerable part of the wealth concentrated in Rome, would necessarily begin to flow back info the provinces which, by their industry, administered to the luxury of the raelropolis. The reverse is (he case in the capitals of mod- ern Europe. In these, commerce and wealth increase in pro- portion as luxury increases. But Rome v/as not commercial. Her wealth was not acquired by commerce, but by war and conquest, by rapine and spoil ; nor does it appear, that Rome, even in her most Nourishing and most pacific a2;es, was ever a very mercantile city. Alexandria was the grand emporium of Roman commerce. Pliny observes, how much the trade of India, carried on by the port of Aiex;tndri:i, «lrain- ed the wealth of Rome ; and it appears by a moltiplicitj of circumstances, that the commerce of the imperi;-] city was generally of such a nature as tended rather to dirninish fhiui augment her riches, so that, although Rome was exceedingly embellished, and, perhaps, enlarged under the emperors, it does not seem very probable that her opulence \ras ever in- creased after the dictatorship of Julius Caesar, or, at least, af- ter the reign of Augustus. And, whatever might be the con- dhion of the vast collective mass of people who inhabifed Rome, it is beyond all m.anner of doubt, that notwilhstanduig the immense riches of some overgrown individuals, a very great part of the Roman citizens were poor, as plainly ap- pears from the calculations which have been transmitted to us of the number of poor ciijzens, both in the metropolis, and other cities of the empire, who were supported by the tribu- tary donations. The extinction of Caithage 20 years after the building of Rome, 198 years after the conquest of the Persian empire, by the Macedonians, and about 1 32 years before the Chris- tian jera, constitutes the memorable epoch, fsom which the colossal power of Rome might date its commencement, and the event from which her immense opulence originated ; ah fliough it was the conquest of the Greek lungdoms of Mace 124 . LETTERS Let, XIl. donin, Sjri.i, a3 inas;'^ v/i weah'h wlikih pro«'i'oced a total chv>n7e in the JiiaBriecs of her clilzews. R6me, hy the deslrucsion of Caj'{haic:e, her p'>'ent iivd\, had rjgi^n superior ^o all he,- ene- mies, and hdd little left to do, but lo pioceed iiom conquest to coi"ji|(jest, mid soon bccaine rich widi il\e spoils of Ih-e -na- tioijis she 6itb(i?ie\i. The conquest of Macedoniaj, and the Gceoiaji do/riinions of Asia,, introdaced/die hjxurj of Asia along wifh its IreHSiues, -iniia tasle'lbr luxury and splendor, became univef-suih' prevHlent at 'Rome. From 1 he time of ihe ih'st Iriumviride of Jallus Cfesiir, Fompej, aad IH* Crass- ly ub, or a little belore that period, the splendid and costly feasts of the Soirians, t heir pompons eqiiipai^cs, their nunieroiis iolioues, the magnificence of their public exhibitions, and the dazzling splendor of their triumphs, would far ex-- ceed the bounds of credibiHty, were they not unanimously attested by historians of unquestionable veracity, and the au- iheoticity of (heir relations confirmed by a thousand corro- borating coincidences, which stamp upon them characters of irulh, which cannot be called in question. Accurate de- scriptions of all these things are now extant, written by au- thors who were perfectly acquainted with every circumstance. The things theiiiselves were of too public a nature to be lia- ble to misrepresentation, and consequently the authors who have described them, coiud not be exposed to the danger of misinformation or risistake ; nor could they have had the ef- frontery to impose upon the world fictitious representations of things of universal notoriety. From the time of the first Iriiimvirate to the subversion of the empire, the Roman his- tory is fcir n:tore luminous than that of any other ancient na^- lioi}, by reason of the flourishing state of the empire, and the celebrity of the events which took place in it, in connection whh a multiplicity of collateral circumstances, as well as on account of the number of writers, not only historians, but poets, orators, and moralists, who all make frequent alhjsions to ihe general political and moral circumstances of the Roman peoj)le. If luxury, like a torrent, rushed into RomiC as soon as she had by conquest and rapine amassed the wealth of the plundered world, we musl at least contemphde with pleasure die progress of arts, science, and literature among her citti zens» If we must condemn the corruption of their morals^ Let. XII. OlSf HISTORY. 12^- we cannot at the same time, refrain from applauding and ad- miring the improvement of their intellectual faculties. In conquering Greece the Romans imbibed a taste for the arts of that country, and Grecian learning and elegance, as well as Asiatic luxury, were introduced among the Romans. All the citizens of Rome, who had any expectatioH of advance- ment in public life, completed their studies in the schools of philosophy and rhetoric at Athens, or other cities of Greece. No Roman, of rank or opulence, could be found who did not poi^sess the advantages of a learned education ; and Rome soon rivalled Athens itself in the different departments of literature. Rhetoric was the favourite study of the Romans, and had indeed, ever since the establishment of the republican government, been considered as the most important part of a Roman education. As all the offices of the republic were elective, and as every public affair, having been debated in the Senate, was proposed to the people whose decision was final, eloquence of speech was essentially necessary to those who desired to qualify themselves for offices in the state, of indeed to acquire any kind of distinction. To shine in the Senate, by a dazzling and brilliant eloquence, and to excite the passions and commaijd the suffrages of the peop-e, by bold, persuasive and energetic harajigues, was the great ob- ject of literary exertion, and the summit of perfection among tiie Romans. After the\ flowers of Grecian rhetoric had been engrafted on the simple and manly energy of Roman eloquence, the oratorial art had attained to its ne plus ultra of perfection. This was in the time of Cicero, who, togetfier with Julius C^sar, M. Anthony, and many others, formed such a constellation of eloquent orators, as had never before adorned the Senate or ihe rostriini. Greece and Rome were the native soil of eloquence, where it was first cultivated, and where it was carried to the ultimate point of perfection. The popular form of their governments rendered it abe^olnitv ly necessary. Eloquence of speech and military talents were the high roads to wealth and honour among both the Greeks and Romans. And it is observable thai allhou'ih the experience and researches of' the moderns have mav'e many great discoveries in physical, mathematical and me- chanical knowledge, yet none have excelled them in elegaiit writing, and it is questionable whether anj have equalled them in the art of speaking. In the modern governments L2 126 LETTERS Let. XIL where every thing is more regulated by fixed principles, rhetoric is not so necessary to a person in public life, as it was under (he popular system of Greece and Rome. In considering ihe powerful elfects of ancient oratory, our eiiiiosity is naturally excited to examine from what principles and circumstances it derived so extraordinary a force in moving the passions and swaying the resolutions and actions of men. We may reasonably suppose that the effects of an- cient rhetoric, as weW as those of ancient poetry, may have been painted in the most glowing colours, and transmitted to us in a style somewhat exaggerated ; but, however, when evsry allowance is made for the exaggerations of writers, we cannot but acknowledge that eloquence had a power and ef- fect among ihe ancients which we cannot imagine it would, in its greatest perfection, have among the moderns. This must undoubtedly be ascribed to the different state of the human mind in ancient and modern times. Whatever no- tions v;e may have of the state of science, literature and gen- eral information among the ancients, we must consider those advantages as limited to a small number of individuals of ge- nius, rank and opulence. The philosophers, poets and orators of Greece and Rome, make a splendid figure in the annals of literature ; and thtf celebrity of their names with the elegance of their literary compositions, impose upon our minds an ex- alted, and in one sense a very erroneous idea of the learning of the Greeks and Romans. Many of their men of letters merited all the applause which after-ages have bestowed upon them ; but it is beyond every possibility of doubt, that the great mass of the people were in a state of unlettered ig- norance. This was and must necessarilv have been the case with the populace of every country before the invention of prmting. Before that important 8sra, which stands so con- spicuous in the history of the human intellect, it was impossi- ble that knowledge should be diffused among the vulgar. The time required to v rite manuscripts rendered them too dear to be purchased by persons in narrow circumstances ; and learning being confined to so small a number of individu- als, and books so exceexlingly dear, were circumstances which had a constant and reciprocal influence on the general state of literature, the effects of which it was impossible to prevent or remedy ; for the excessive scarcity and dear- uess of books rendered the acquisition of learning impossible Let. Xlf. ON HISTORY. 127 to the bulk of the people, and this circumstance confining the knowledge of letters to a small number of persons, and those generally of an elevated rank, or of distinguished opulence, there were none to write books or to teach the use of them, but such as would expect to be well paid. These circum- stances, reciprocally and necessarily acting, were an insur- mountable obstacle to the hterary pursuits of the lower clas- ses, and powerfully concurred to place the acquisition of knowledge oat of the reach of the great mass of mankind throughout the world. These observations will enable us to make a just estimate of the general state of intellectual improvement among all the civilized nations of antiquity, and from evident and well known circumstances, to draw this infallible conclusion ; that notwithstanding the boasted learning of the Greeks and Romans, those celebrated instructors of mankind, the great mass of the people of both these famous nations were beyond comparison more ignorant than the lowest class of people in thisi and many other European countries, who can most of them at least read ; and even those who do not enjoy that advantage, require some degree of information by daily converse with those who have at least some tincture of learn- ing ; for knowledge, like commerce, once put in motion, dif- fuses itself by innumerable channels, divided into an endless diversity of ramilications, and running in an infinity of direc- tions. This state of the human intellect, among the nations of an- tiquity, gave the ancient orators an advantage which those of modern times can never possess ; and contributed perhaps more than ^^ny other circumstance, to give an extraordinary effect to their eloquence. The orators of Greece and Rome, in their popular assemblies, addressed a curious and inquisitive, but unlettered multitude, desirous of political information, but possessing few means of acquiring it, except from the mouths of their orators, and at the same time entertaining an exalted opinion of their own im.portance in the state. In our times thsre are so many channels of information, that few people are entirely ignorant concerning any subject of debate. The newspapers circulated in almost every village are now a chan- nel of information open to every one ; and almost every man either reads them, or hears something of their contents, when any political measure of importance is in debate. The pub- 128 LETTERS. Let. Xll lie mind is then in some measure prepared, and if popular orations were made by our statesmen as among the Oreeks and Romans, the previous information which the greatest part of the audience would possess would render their pas- sions more difficult to rouse, and modern orators would find it more necessary to address the reason and understanding of their auditors. The people of our age, would not, in gen- eral, make so hasty a decision as the Greek and Roman po- pulace ; they would rather be inclined to suspend their judg- ment till they had calmly considered the subject, and a num- ber of papers and popular addresses would be circulated on both sides of the question : but the mass of the Greek and Roman citizens, wanting those means of information which the moderns possess, had not the opportunity of discussing any political subject, until they heard it delivered from the rostrum, exhibited in that point of view in which (he orator chose to place it, painted in such colours as he }>leased to give it, and the whole supported, seconded and embellished by the most dazzling and energetic eloquence. The oration fell like a flash of lightning on the minds of the multitude ; their passions v*'ere roused : their ears were flattered, and their reason overpowered with the reiterated sounds of the majesty of the people, the glory of the republic, the good of their country and other phrases of a similar nature, of which politicians have always a suitable collection in store and of which factitious demagogues never fail to make use, in order to render the thoughtless multitude their instruments in the execution of their designs. Having carried forward our observations on the celebrated republic of Rome, from its first establishment to the period of its extinction, when it assumed the monarchical form, and taken a retrospect of its origin and progress, in conjunction with a general view of the manners of its citizens, their pover- ty, simplicity and patriotism in the first ages of the republic, and their luxury, splendor and opulence in latter times ; an observer, who would turn his attention to the general condi- tion of the human species, cannot dismiss the subject without contemplating the condition of a numerous and unhappy class of ^people, who composed a very considerable part of the inhabitants of the Roman dominions, and examining from what causes a state of life originated, it is impossible to con- template without hprror. Let. XII. ON HISTORY. 129 III conlemplatiiig the enormous power and dazzling splen- dor of the iloiriari state, we must not forget that there always existed within its bosom a numerous and unfortunate class of human beings, who were excluded from every privilege of so- ciety, and from every blessing of life. It is computed by Mr. Gibbon that the slaves composed onehalf of the inhabi- tants of th'.\t extensive empire ; and as the inhabitants of the Koiiian empire, could not be fewer in number than those of modein Europe, which by general calculation amount to 120,000,00(); consequentlj the number of Roman slaves coidd not be less than sixty millions ; a circumstance which exlilbits, in the most striking point of view, the tyranny of man over man. Those unhappy beings, dependent on the caprice of imperious masters, and unprotected by the laws, had the most rigorous laws enacted against them, to which they were obnoxious for the slightest misdemeanors. The government, conscious of the hardships of their situation, con- sidered them as a dangerous body of men, justly appre- hended that thdr desperate condition might stimulate them to desperate measures, and therefore endeavoured by eve- ry method to depress them as much as possible. They were left entirely at the disposal of their masters, who might treat them in what manner they pleased. Every master was invested with an absolute authority and power over his slaves. He might torture, maim, or put them to death, in what manner soever his caprice or his cruelty dictated. He was amenable to no laws for his conduct towards them ; no- thing could restrain his tyranny but the dictates of humanity w ithin his own breast, or a sense of his own interest in their preservation. It is a melancholy consideration, that a state of slavery existed among all the nations of antiquity, of whom we have any knowledge, and originated from various causes. One of these causes was the absolute power possessed by pa- rents over their children, in several ancient nations, which au- thorized them to put their children to death, sell them into slavery, or dispose of them as ihey pleased. This detestable law, which rendered the parent uncontroled arbiter of the fate of their offspring, was among the first of the Roman institutions, being established by Romulus, immediately after the founda- tion of Rome ; continued a considerable time in force among the Romans, and was almost general in the times of remote antiquity ; except among the Jews, who by their law, could 130 LETTERS Let. XIL not put their children to death without an appeal to the ma- gistrates ; nor was it permitted to sell anj Hebrew to a foreign nation. The punishment of crimes was another source of slavery, as was also the insolvency of debtors. These pun- ishments of criminality and insolvency were subject to differ- ent regulations in different countries ; among the Jews ihe jubilee was a time of general release ; in many other nations the slavery arising from those two circumstances was perpet- ual, and even the wives and children of the criminal, or the insolvent, were involved in his punishment. These were, in some measure, so many dilTerent cauFses, from w^hence origin- ated the horrid system of renderiog one man the property of another ; but the capture of prisoners, in time of wai", was the greatest and most fertile somce of slavery, especially among the Romans, during the v/hole period of time in which the re- publican government of Rome existed : that restless state was engaged in continual hostilities with the surrounding na- tions, and every victory, and every conquest augmented ihe number of Roman slaves ; and as slavery was entailed from generation to generation, we cannot wonder at the extraor- dinary number of slaves in Rome, and other parts of the ter- ritories of the republic. There are now no historical documents extant, which give any authentic information of the manner in which slaves were treated among the Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, and other nations of remote antiquity. AVe may, from the sacred writings, collect some knowledge of their treatment among the Jews, where they were not left entirely at the mercy of ar- bitrary and cruel masters ; but, as human beings, although in a depressed situation, and as children of the universal parent, they were placed under the protection of the law, which, in many places, not only recommends, but absolutely enjoins the exercise of benevolence and compassion towards the bond slave and the stranger. These repeated injunctions of universal benevolence in tlie Mosaical lavvs, most strikingly display th^ superior ex- cellence of its moral doctrines, when compared with the in- stitutions of the most celebrated Pagan legislators, and affoi d no unreasonable presumption in favour of its divine original. If, however, we are ignorant of the manner in v^iiich slaves were treated in ihe nations just mentioneci, i isiorical evi- dence affords indisputable and melancholy proots, that this Let. XII. ON HISTORY. 181 unfortunate class of mankind were used with extreme rigor among the Greeks and Romans, and especially the latter, as • we have just observed. It is a shocking, but, perhaps, loo just a reflection, which has been made by many judicious observers and accurate investigators of the history of man- kind, that those nations which enjoyed the greatest share of freedom have generally been the most cruel in the treatment of their slaves. If this be true, which, however, is not easy to prove, the circumstance can hardly have originated from the constitutional liberty of their respective governments, but must be ascribed to some other cause, difficult, and, per- haps, at this distance of time, impossible to trace. The changes which happened in the political and moral circumstances of the Romans, however, effected a material change in the condition of slavery ; and while we cannot but lament that the progressive aggrandizement of Rome, by her victorious arms, continually augmented the number of her slaves, we have at least the pleasure of observing, that the opulence and luxury introduced by her contjuest, ameliorat- ed exceedingly their condition. In the first ages of the re- public, while the Romans were indigent, but warlike, equally strangers to opulence and luxury, and intent upon acquisi- tion rather than enjoyment, the slaves were treated with ex- treme rigor, and were employed in the most laborious drudg- ery, in combination with every kind of hardship which can embitter human life. In the more advanced state of civiliza- tion, when the victories of Rome, and her conquest of the Asiatic kingdoms, as far as the Euphrates, had inspired her citizens with a taste for luxury and splendor, in proportion to their acquisitioB of wealth, and philosophy and literature bad at the same time humanized their minds, the nunierous body of Roman slaves soon began to experience the beneficial effects of the opulence and luxury of their masters. Instead of being worn out with painful labour and scanty food, great numbers of them were employed as agents and ministers of luxury in the capacity of cooks, confectioners, butlers, valets, and evGvy other department in the houses of the Roman grandees, and, like the domestics in modern times, were as well fed and clothed as their masters. Instances are not wanting of three or four hundred of those we!i-fed slaves be- ing maintained in some particular houses of the opulent Ro- man citizens. 132 LETTERS Let. XII. If was a circumstance extremely favourable to the condi- tion of slavery, that the public distributions ot the provincial tributes, in the flourishing state of the republic, had placed the poorest Roman citizens above the necessity of labour or servitude. For as a citizen of Rome would have thought it a debasement to become a menial servant to a fellow citizen, and as the public donations exempted them from the neces- sity of entering into such a state for subsistence, consequent- ly the great and opulent were obliged to employ slaves and strangers as domestics, and the bulk of the domestics, in the houses of the great, both in the metropolis and other parts of the Roman dominions, were slaves. Another cause might also contribute, in no small degree, to soften the condition of slavery. It must be supposed, that the ac- cumulated posterity of slaves must, in process of time, have become exceedingly numerous. In the early ages of Rome, the slaves who were almost entirely prisoners taken in war, were of daring minds and of an untractable disposi- tion. Those iSerce and warlike barbarians, inferior indeed in discipline and military skill, were not inferior in daring and enterprising courage to the Romans themselves ; and accus- tomed, as they had been, to a life of military enterprise and lawless rapine, could not be expected patiently to submit to a state of laborious drudgery, under tyrannical and imperious masters; and, on that account, they were kept as much as possible in a state of depression, and exposed to every hard- ship. In after times the vast body of Roman slaves did not consist so much of prisoners actually taken in war, as of the posterity of those unfortunate persons who had undergone that fate; and their decendanfs, being long domesticated among the Romans, and familiarised with their manners, did not inherit the resentment and ungovernable disposition of their ancestors, but became, when treated with lenity, trac-r table and faithful servants ; a circumstance which could not fail of disposing the minds of their masters to kindness and indulgence ; and several instances are met with of fidelity and attachment in the slaves, and of kindness in the masters. In the latter times the affiancliisement of slaves, sometimes as a reward for faithful services, oftener perhaps for other reasons, was grown so common, that tlie senate thought it necessary to restrain this indulgence of masters. As a slave had no country of his own, he was, after hi^ affranchisement, deem- Let. XII. ON HISTORY. 138 ed free of the country of which his master was a citizen ; and this circumstance might piobablj induce several masters to give freedom to their slaves, in order to have at their de- votion a number of freemen, who, through motives of grati- tude or interest, commonly attached themselves to the party of their former m.asters. However, as affranchisement from slavery conferred also the freedom of the city, the republic enacted laws to exclude those aifranchised slaves, and their descendants, to a certain number of generations, from the public ofiices of this state. This amelioration of the condition of slavery is one of the most pleasing consequences that flowed from the increased opulence and luxury of Rome, and a circumstance on which the compassionate mind must delight to reflect. Indeeci it gives pleasure, in reading the Roman history, to find that be- foie the xtinction of the republic, sorrie opulent cilizenSj such as T. P. Atficus, M. Crassus, and others, bestowed a liberal education on such of their slaves, as m.anifes1ed an ap- pjferance of genius and talents ; and we are informed, that-^^a, Crassus acquired a considerable part of his immense riches "^ by giving an excellent education to his slaves, and then dis- posing of them to great adi antag;e ; for a slave of abilities and learning Was held in great esteem, and valued at a high price. Such were employed as stewards and agents in almost every kind of business, and many of them taught grammar, and otlier rudiments of literature, and the sciences. Many e^ en of the ])hysicians and apothecaries of Rome were slaves f and there cannot exist a o>ore evident proof, that vakiable slaves were, at this period, highly esteemed and vrell treated, than that in cases of the greatest danger, by sickness or accident, the grandees of Rome frequently entrusted their lives in the hands of slaves. .Notwithstanding the splendor, opulence, elegance of taste slid literary attain ixients of the Romans, we find in the gene« ral delifieation of their manners, even in the most polished ages, some traits which do not appear, to a modern observer, the characteristics of a civilized people. The delight which the Romans always took, in the combats of the gladiatoi'S and slaves, appears in a disgusting view to the eye of human- ity. Such, however, was the general taste of the people ; and the moie enlightened and humane gave way to its prev:a- lence. Those horrid amusements were, no doubt, originally M 134. LETTERS Let. XIL instituted by the Roman rulers, for the purpose of inuring the people to scenes of blood, and exciting them to delight in war and slaughter ; and long custom had rendered them agreeable to the multitude, and almost an essential part of their political system. Their cruel treatment of their pri- soners of war, is another circnmstance disgraceful to the Ro- man name ; but this species of barbarity was common to all the nations of antiquity, almost without exception, and strikingly displays the superior humanity of the moderns. Some in- stances of a contrary conduct are found among the ancients, of which Alexander's treatment of the Persian captives is one of the most illustrious. Those, however, are so rare, that they appear as deviations from their fixed principles. Of all the nations of antiquity, the civilized and highly polish- ed Romans were, perhaps, the most uniformly cruel in this respect. Scarcely any examples are found in their history, of generous treatment to their prisoners, especially during the existence of the republic. The sovereign princes, and principal commanders, of the enemy, who had the misfortune to fail into their hands, after having been exposed, loaded with chains, to adorn the triumphs of their conquerors, were generally condemned to a cruel death ; while those of infe- rior rank were either obliged to destroy one another in single combat, or condeuuied to fight with wild beasts, for the amusement of the barbarous multitude, who boasted of the title of Roman citizens, or condemned to perpetual slavery. If a modern European had seen the splendor of a Roman tri- wn-ph, whatever idea he might have conceived of the power and grandeur of the repubhc, in viewing the military pomp of such a spectacle, what would have been his feelings in con- teinplating the unhappy lot of so m.any warriors, perhaps not less brave, although less fortunate, than their insulting ccriquerors ? When the barbarity of the Romans towards their prisoners of war is compared with the hismanity of the ci- vilized nations ofmodern Europe in this respect, the contiast is stri singly in favour of the latter, and displays a horrid and dis- giisling picture of the inhumanity of the ancients, and especial- ly of thellomans, those polished masters of the ancient world. ^I'he picture here given, is perhaps as just and as accu- rate a delmeation of the political and social state of ancient Rome, in a general view, as any historical documents now ex- tant can furnish ; to attempt a more particular investigation Let. XII. ON HISTORY. 13^ would be more tedious than useful, Rome was, at this period, in the meridian of her power and greatness, and the civ- ilized world, after ages of war and bloodshed, revolutions and political convulsions, from the earliest period of histori- cal record, reposing in profound peace under the shade of her victorious banners ; such was ihe state of things when the world was about to experience a revolution of a different nature from any it had undergone before, a total and funda- mental revolution in the religious and moral ideas of mankind. A most important event was about to take place, which was to influence the condition of mankind to the latest posierilv, and to act with undiminished force to the end of time. The christian revelation was about to be announced. The whole world was at this time immersed in the gross- est religious errors ; and except the Jews, and, perhaps, we may add the Persians, the whole coilecti\ e roasB of man- kind was bewildered in the intricate maze of unintelligible mythologies, and infatuated with the absurdities of idolatry. The Persians, as far as we can collect from history, had nev- er adopted any kind of idol-worship, nor admitted any re- presentations of the Supreme Being, except the s!in, and his symbol the lire ; for which they had a particular veneration, as the lively emblem of him who is ihe great Crea,tor and Source of Light. And, unless this eniblemalicai worship he deemed idolatry, the Persians cannot be classed among the idolatrous nations. In whatever light this superstitious ven- eration of the fire may be considered, it is, however, an un- questionable fact, that the Persians, like the Jews, wherever their arms prevailed, abolished the worship of all such re- presentations of the Supreme Being as were made by human art and workmanship. Xerxes demolished the temple of Greece, and destroyed the images of their god ; nor was he more indulgent to the Babylonians, but plundered and de- stroyed the celebrated temple of Belus, which Cyrus, Cam- byses, and Darius Hystaspes, undoubtedly from political mo- tives, had spared. The religion of the Persians seems to have approached nearer to deism than idolatry ; or, perliaps, it might most properly be deemed a medium between the two systems. The philosophy of other nations, especially the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans, had formed divers systems, and adopted different opinions. Some of them had conceiv- ed the most exalted ideas of the essence and attributes of 136 LETTERS Let. XII. the supreme and universal Being ; but (he multitude in every nation, the great mass of mankind throughout the world, was wholi}^ unacquaiuted with those siiblime speculations, and entertained the most absurd ideas of divine things. From the time when men began to exercise thsir thinking faculties, notwithstanding the weakness of their reason, thej could not fail of perceiving the mysterious circumstances of their existence. They would naturally reflect on the situa- tion in Vvhicli they saw themselves placed, and endeavour to investigate their origin, and to discover the cause which had given existence to man, and to the world, in which his resi- dence was fixed. And they could not avoid reflecting on the shortness and precarious nature of hnmao life. Afler pow- erful monarchies had been established, had aggrandized them- selves by conquest, and then had fallen a prey to other con* querors ; after a variety of revolutions had astonished the in- quisitive minds of those who attentively observed the fluc- tuations of all human affairs, and the innumerable and cease- less vicissitudes of all things here below ; after experience and observation had convinced mankind of the instability of all human power and greatness, men would naturally be still more excited to discover the first great cause which had given existence to the world, and continued to govern it viith an irre- sistible control. The uniform experience of mankind would convince them that the days of man are numbered, and the period of mortal existence fixed by a power whose will is ir- resistible ; and that neither crowns, nor sceptres, nor the highest exaltation of hnmaa greatness, can procure an ex- emption from the universal law, nor prolong hfe beyond the limits assiaoed by that Being who possesses an unlimhed control over universal nature. These considerations would naturally prompt the contemplative mind to enquire, wheth- er death vvere a total extinction of being, or whether it were only a change, after which man was still to exist with contin- ued or renovated powers in some future state. While the philosophical part of mankind, endeavoured to trace out those great truths, the most untutored capacity would discover that some great and universal cause existed, from which all things originated ; some powerful Being, who, with an absolute sway, governs and disposes all things accord- ing to his will ; and men w^ould conse€|uently think it their interest, as well as their duty, to render him some kind of homage and adoration. Let. XII. ON HISTORY. 13r In a general view of the history of the human mind, the prevailing systems of the philosophers of antiquity form a striking part of the picture, and shew how far unassisted reason is capable of advancing in divine science, though they differed in their ideas and forms of worship. We have al- ready remarked the Zabaism of the Chaldeans, consisting in the worship of the celestial bodies, a system which had an extensive spread, and was received in Egypt and in most parts of Asia. Mankind, in all ages, conscious of their owa unworthiness, to approach the throne of the Supreme Being, felt their need of some Mediator : and the Babylonians, whose principal study was astronomy, imagined the heaven* ly bodies to be inferior deities, acting as mediators between the All-perfect Being and men his creatures ; and conse- quently it soon became an essential part of their religion to endeavour to render them propitious by sacrifices and the performance of certain rites. The religion of the Egyptians was a tissue of allegorical representations. They exhibited the divine attributes, as well as the pha^nomena of nature, un- der the veil of allegory and symbol, and this gave rise to the worship of different animals, especially of the ox, the most useful and most beneficial to man of all the brute creation. Hermes, the Egyptian, supposed to have been nearly con- temporary with Moses, as also Zoroaster, the Persian ; and among the Greeks, Orpheus, Anaximenes, Anaxagoras, Em- pedocles, Melissus, Pherecydes, Thales, P3 thagoras, Plato, Aristotle and many others, found, in the necessity of invinci- ble reason one eternal and infinite Being, the Parent of the Universe. " All these men's opinions," says Lactantius, "amount to this, that they agree upon one Providence, whether the same be nature, or light, or reason, or under- standing, or fate, that is the same which we call God." In regard to the oriu^io of the universe, some believed it to be an eternal emanation of the Deity ; of this opinion Aristotle was, if not founder, at least the principal supporter ; but Plato, and the whole sect of the Platonists, supposed it to have been created at some particular period of time, according to an archetype or model eternally existing in the divine n?ii**I* Anaxa-^oras, a philosopher of Clazomena, and preceptor to Pericles, the Athenian hero, held the unity of the Su- preme Being, and was looked on in Greece as an Atheist, becauae he denied that the stars and planets were gods. M2 138 LETTERS Let. XIL Vide Plato, de leg. P. 886. Afiaxagoras maintained that the former were suns, and the latter habitable worlds. So far is the system of a plurality of worlds from being of mo- dern origin, as many imagine. On the other side, Anaximander, who was contemporary with Pythagoras, and lived about 600 years before Christ, and in the time of the Babylonian captivity, was the first we know of who denied the existence of a Supreme Intelligence, and pretended to account for every thing by the action of an immense matter necessarily assuming all sorts of forms. His doctrine was embraced by Leucippiis, Democritus, Ep icm'us, Lucretius, &c. and opposed by Pythagoras, Anaxa- goras, Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, and a number of other great men. These two sects, the theists and the atheists, a long time divided Greece. Pyrrho then formed another- sect, whose great principle was to doubt of every thing. This principle they carried to the highest pitch of extravagance, so far even as to maintain that every thing we see is an illu- sion, and life a perpetual dream. Zeno next founded the sect of the stoics. He maintained that the Supreme Being is an in- finite and all-perfect intelligence ; but that his essence is a pure eether, or, in other words, that God is material. In regard to a future state, most of the philosophers of an- tiquity held the doctrine of the pre-existence of souls, and ihek fall ; and tayght that all souls will be restored to their primitive state. This doctrine of the pre-existence of souls was held by some of the ancient Fathers. It is also suppos- ed to have given rise to the doctrine of transmigration, uni- versally held by the Asiatics of old, as well as by most of them at this day, in those parts of Asia where the Mahome- tan religion does not prevail. Although many of the philosophers, among the heathens, entertained tolerable just ideas of the essence and attributes of the Supreme Being, ihey had in general formed an errone- ous opinion of his mode of governing the world ; and, almost without exception, admitted a number of inferior Deities, to whom he had committed the government of the different de- partments of the universe. This doctrine is unequivocally taught by Aristotle, who says, " All must be referred to one principal and primitive Being, and to several inferior beings, governing in subordination to Him ; and this (he says) is the genuine doctrine of the ancients*" And Plutarch, one of Let. XII. ON HISTORY. 139 the most learned of all the ancients in the Pagan mythology, says, " As the sun is common to all the world, although call- ed by different names in different places, so there is but one sole supreme mind, and one and the same Providence that governs the world, although he be worshipped under differ- ent names, and has appointed certain interior powers for his ministers." Some suppose that this doctrine of the exist- ence of inferior deities arose from mistaking the allegorical mode of representing the different attributes of the Deity used by the Egyptians ; others suppose it originated from man's consciousness of his own unworthiness and need of a mediator before the throne of the great Ruler of the uni- verse ; and that it first prevailed in Babylon, where the priests, being accustomed to the contemplation of the heav- enly bodies, fixed on them as the established mediators be- tween God and man. Among others. Dr. Russel seems to be of this opinion, and says, " that the substance of this doc- trine, variously modelled, may be traced in most of the reli- gious systems of the Pagans, and that the twelve greater gods of the Greeks and Romans represent the seven planets, and the four elements, governing all in subordination to the one Great Supreme, according to the Chaldean hypothesis.'* While the philosophers were forming various hypotheses, and bewildering themselves in the maze of abstruse specula- tion, the great mass of mankind had neither leisure, inclina- tion, nor abilities, for disquisitions. Polytheism, however, was too well adapted to the depraved taste and capacities of the multitude, who were unable to comprehend the govern- ment and energy of an universal Being pervading all parts of the immense creation; and, perhaps, the same diSc 'Ity presenting itself to the minds of the philosophers, 'a.iip:h-, in no small degree, contribute to their general admisBjoii of ■ le "hypothesis of a number of inferior divinities ruling in the tifi- ferent departments of the world, in subordination to the one sovereign Being. The system of poly theism thus adinitted by the philosophers, and so well adapted to the conceptious of vulgar minds, was universally established in the pM^an world, but with this distinction, that amon; the pbilosopaeis, polytheism was subordinate to theism. Taey generally ac- knowledged one supreme and uni^ ers.il Bein,^, the father of gods and men, while the m^j|ii?irJe los: the ideas oi one sovereign being ^oog a crowd of. Merior deities. The 140 LETTERS Let. XIL poets adopted the system as furnishing a grand and beautiful machinery for the embellishment of their poems, and imagi- nation multiplied god;^ without number. Every part of the universe was peopled with imaginary deities. Celestial, ter- restrial and infernal gods were created by the inventive fancy of the Greeks ; and household gods, gods of the rivers, of foun- tains, of the forest, and of the field, were admitted into the number ; and satyrs, nymphs, and fawns, with the souls of deceased heroes, helped to compose the monstrous system. Thus the mythologies of the Pagans, especially of the Greeks and Romans, became complicated and unintelligible systems of mysterious absurdities, and composed a mere celestial phantasmagoria of ideal beings. In what manner, and with what various modifications, the speculations of philosophers, and this variegated mass of poet- ical imagery, were interwoven in the popular religions of dif- ferent Pagan nations, it is impossible exactly to determine. Politicians varied the scenery according to the different moral and physical circumstances of the people they had to govern ; and consequently their systems were so varied, and original ideas so disguised or distorted, that to trace them to their first principles, would be as impossible as it would be useless. But as the systems of philosophers had Httle influ* ence on the multitude, who were unable to comprehend them, and the fictions of the poets were no more than ideal repre- sentations, existing only in the mind, the legislators and fra- mers of religions systems, among the ancients, invented the method of instructing the peaple through the medium of the senses, by the use of visible representations, and this was the origin of idol worship. Emblematical representations of the attributes of the Supreme Being are supposed to have been first used by the Egyptian priests, who covered all their knowledge under the veil of allegory, and expressed both their philosophical and theological ideas by hieroglyphical symbols. Some, however, rather suppose, that visible re- presentations of the attributes of the Deity, or at least of subordinate divinities, were first invented at Babylon, and that idol worship originated in that city ; but whether it took its J ise from the Egyptians, or Babylonians, is a problem of which the solution is equally difficult and useless ; for it is certain that the hypothesis of a plj^rality of inferior deities governing the world in subordination to the one Great Sa- Let. XIL ON HISTORY. 141 preme Being, generally admitted, the politicians and legisla- tors of antiquity, considering that mankind are the most pow- erfully affected by such things as immediately and forcibly strike the senses, caused stalutes to be erected as represen- tations of those subordinate divinities ; and the institution of solemn festivals, with pompous sacrifices and ceremonies to their honor, inspired the people with veneration both for the ideal divinities and their material representations ; and thus rivetted idolatry, as well as polytheism, in the minds of man- kind. But a distinction, I have remarked, is to be made between the religion of the multitude and that of the philosophers, who acknowledged one supreme eternal and self-existing Be- ing, although they made no scruple of conforming to the es- tablished religious ceremonies of their respective countries, which they regarded only as political institutions, calculated to amuse the vulgar, and render the multitude more governa- ble by being united with the bonds of religion. The testi- monies of Eusebius, Lactantius, St. Augustine, and other fathers of the primitive church, unanimously prove this fact. In the age immediately preceding the coming of Christ, the philosophy of Epicurus had gained the ascendency at Rome. It was of an easy and accommodating kind, and suited the libertinism of a polite, but immoral age. Corrup- tion of manners and religious scepticism, were at their full height ; and most of the greatest and most learned men wa- vered between the theistical and atheistical system ; among whom may be reckoned the illustrious Cicero, although he seems to incline to the former. Man, left to himself without a guide, had lost himself in the labyrinth of speculation, and the imagination had launched out into all the extravagan- cies of which it is capable, when reason, overpowered, leaves it to run into wild exuberance. Such a state of the moral and intellectual world as is here delineated, and no one will say that the picture is distorted, clearly points out the necessity of a Divine Revelation, which, by giving supernatural aid to the feeble efforts of human rea- son, might fix the wanderings of the mind, and furnish man with certain information concerning what it is so much his in- terest to know, his most important and e\ erlasting concerns. This grand purpose was to be accomplished by the Christian Revelation, which was tp instruct mankind in forming right no- 14« LETTERS Let. XIL tions of the Supreme Being, of his attributes and agency, of the means of pardon, and the most acceptable mode of wor- shipping Him. Of ail the various revolutions which had ever taken place in the world, this was far the most important, ana its effects the most wonderful, extensive and durable. The rise and fall of the Assyrian, Persian, and Grecian em- pires, and the immense aggrandizement of Rome, were tri- fling events, which sink into insignificancy when put into the scale of comparison with the establishment of Christianity, that great and important event, which was destined to effect a fundamental revolution in the ideas of mankind, and to pro- duce a total change in the moral aspect of the world. Every one is so well acquainted with the circumstances related in the gospel, that any mention of them here woul d be entirely misplaced. It is well known, that its first pro- pagators, inspired with a courage and perseverance, which, in their circumstances, nothing earthly could be supposed to give, dispersed themselves into different countries to an- nounce the glad tidings of salvation* In this attempt, too great for any human abilities, they met with all the difnculties and opposition that such an undertaking could be supposed to produce. Indeed it could not happen otherwise. Poor, despised, and illiterate, destitute of all human advantages, they undertook to propagate, and establish a doctrine dia- metrically opposite to every religious opinion received and venerated among men; a doctrine^ which militated in the highest degree against the passions as Well as the prejudices of mankind ; a doctrine, in fine, subversive of every religious establishment, and of every thing which from time immemo- rial had been revered and held sacred. The Christian reli- gion was first preached at Jerusalem, which had been the theatre of Christ's passion, as well as of many of the prin cipal actions of his life. Some converts were made and an infant church established, in that metropolis of Judea ; but the new system was rejected by the great body of the Jewish nation, as might, indeed, be expected. After their cruel and unjust treatment of its Founder, during his life, there was little probability that they would, after his death, ac- knowledge him for their Prince and Saviour ; especially, considering how much their minds were filled w ith the ex- pectation of a martial and conquering Messiah, under whose Yictorious banners they should shake off the Roman yoke. Let. XII. ON HISTORY. 143 and establish a powerful empire, like the Babylonians, Per- sians, &c. of old, or like the Romans of that age ; or, at least, restore their nation to its ancient splendor and ascendency, under the prosperous reigns of David and Solomon. This being the general expectation of the priests, the rulers, and almost the whole body of the Jewish nation, it was in the hi,:;hest degree improbable that they shoidd acknowledge for their Messiah a person whom they had seen living in the most humble and indigent circumstances of humanity, and expiring in torments as a contemptible and seditious male- factor, in pursuance of the sentence which they themselves had passed, or at least procured to be unjustly passed upon him. The gospel dispensation, therefore, being rejected by the Jews, was carried among the Gentiles. Conveits were made, and churches established, in almost every city of the Roman empire, in Antioch, Damascus, Philippi, Corinth, Athens, Alexandria, Ephesus, Thessalonica, and in Rome itself; where, according to the best historical information, the apostles, Peter and Paul, suffered martyrdom in the first imperial persecution under Nero, who was the first Roman persecutor, and enacted a sanguinary decree against the Christians ; avowedly not through enmity against their reli- gious doctrine, but on an accusation of having set fire to the city, being desirous of removing the imputation of that horrid act from himself by fixing it upon them. Christianity con- tinued, however, to make a rapid progress, and some philo- sophers and men of learning saw good reasons for embrac- ing its doctrines, and following its precepts. The system soon acquired a new proof of its divine authority, in the well known destruction of the city and temple of Jerusalem, and the dispersion of the Jewish nation ; an event circumstantial- ly foretold by Christ almost fifty years before it took place. The circumstances of that scene of desolation and carnage are eloquently related by Flavins Josephus, w ho, being first a commander in that war, and afterwards a prisoner to the Romans, was perfectly acquainted, not only with the princi- pal occurrences which took place in it, but also with the se- cret springs and causes from whence it originated ; as he had many times attended in the great council at Jerusalem, in w hich the war was resolved on, and the necessary measures concerted for carrying it on with vigor. He had also been a spectator of all the occurrences which took place during 144 LETTERS Let. XIIL the last siege of Jerusalem; and we must confess that he see?nB to have related things with great accuracy, and with a considerable degree of impartiahtj, although we cannot be ignorant, that he composed his celebrated works under Ro- man influence. The destruction of the temple, and entire desolation of the city of Jerusalem, afforded a strong argu- men-: in favour of Christianity. It was visible to mankind, that a sign d judgment had fallen upon that people, and that, accoiiling to every appearance, their hopes of retrieving their naiional glory, and of acquiring a preponderancy in the poli- tical scale of nation"^, were forever exitinguished. These considerations, in connection with Christ's remarkable pro- phf^cy, and a number of other collateral circuoistances, cojld not fail of mas^^ifig a deep impression on the minds of thmking men, who knew how to reHect and reason on moral causes and events. And as the dispersion of the Jews, and the ex- tinction of their hopes of te npora'i sovereignty, formed at tliat tine no SiOall piesumplion in favoar of Christianity, the sin^^ilar conlin nation of that people in the same circum- stances has exceedingly coiroboi ated that presumption, in succeeding ages, down to the present day ; their continued existence, as a distinct people, thus dispersed among all na- tions, and mixed among the inhabitants of all countries, with- out being incorpo ated with any, exbibiting a moral and po- litical phsenomenon, to which nothing parallel or similar is found in the history of mankind. Having exhibited, I believe, a tolerably just representa- tion of the state of the human mind, in regard to its religious ideas previous to the promulgation of Christianity, and taken a slight view of the first propagation of a system so pregnant with great effects, I shall concfude, with asuring you, that, I remain. Dear Sir, yours, &c. J. B. LETTER XIIL 8IK, I RESUIME the pen, at this period, in order to continue my observations and reflections on the history of the human Let. Xm. ON HiBTOBY. 14o mind, and likewise idke the liberfj of oirering them to jour perusal. Being now arrived at ihe period when the Christian reve- lation had been proaiiilgated, and in some measure propagat- ed in the world, but as yet remaining in silent obscitritj, let us direct oar attention to the state of the Roman einpire, which forms the most conspicuous object of the times we aiC now exploring. The whole series of political and militarj transactions, which took place under the imperial governmerit, has been so minutely related by historians, that no person who is ac- quainted with the Belles Lettres can want any information on that subject. In delineating a general picture, it may, however be remarked, that the empire OouriBhed in the ple- nitude of power, and in a state of grandeur and magniliceace, unparalleled in the annals of nations, from the establishment of the imperial government by Augustus Caesar, until after the death of Constantine ; or, we nmy even extend this pe- riod of political greatness to the death of Theodosics, and the last fatal division of the empire between his two sons, Ar- cadius and Honorius, in which latter period are included about four hundred and forty years. In this long interval of time the prosperity of the empire suffered several transient interruptions from the revolts of commanders of armies, in- testine commotions, the vices and incapacity of emperors, and the inroads of foreign enemies; but the Kornan power, impregnable to every mode of attack, surmounted every dif- ficulty, and always rose-siipei-ior to every disaster.*" Dtiring the space of almost two hundred year>?, from the accession of Augustus to the death of Antonirms Fii^s, the Roman power continued stationary in if s full meridian blaze, and the empire enjoyed a state of political prospeilty and felicity which has seldom fallen to the lot of any nation. Comprising within her vast dominions all the nations skilled in arts and arms, famed for the valour and discipline of her invijicible legions, and possessing those immertse resources, E.012 e. by ihe terror of her naine, held the barbarous nations in avve ; and it Avas seldom th-a.t ?Lny of them durst provoke the dis- play of her victorious sagles. Wheoever they hazarded such a step, the contest was soon terminated ; the victories of Rome were lirilliant, her triumphs were glorious, and the dis- comfiture of her enemies decisive and fatal. As none of the N 146 LETTERS Let. Xlli. neighboiiring nations presented any object that could be a temptation to avarice, the Romans could now have no in- ducement to war, but either the acquisition of glorv, or the repelling of the predatory inroads of barbaiians on the fion- tier?. The political system of the emperors was, in general, more pacific than thai of the republic had ever been ; and, e>; cep^lng the war of Vespasian and Titus against the Jews, and that of Trajan against the Parthians, we meet with few inipc/rtant scenes of carnage and devastation during the above ir.ent!oned period. Three unhappy circumstances alone may be considered, however, as an abatement of the felicity the Roman world would otherwise have then enjoyed ; namely, the personal vices of some of the emperors, as Nero, Vitel* lius, and Domitian ; the existence of slavery, and the frequent persecutions of the Christians. Much has been said by many wriiers against the pernicious effects of extensive empire, but many argiinieiits may also be adduced in its favor. The union of a numerous mass of people in one political system is one of the surest preventives of w^ar, as the division of countries into a great number of independent states is a never-failing source of predatory hostilities, of blood shed, rapine, and an- archy. Wherever a country is thus divided, such a multi- plicity of jarring interests arise, and so many objects of ani- bifion present themselves, as cannot fail of producing contin- ual scenes of contention, originating in the ambition, the ava- rice, and Ihe jarring interests of the rulers or the subjects, which involve the people in all sorts of calamities. Instances, without number, might be adduced, but a glance at ihe state of England, dot ing the time of the heptarchy, will suffice to exemplify the propriety of this observation. In an extensive monarchy tJiere is only one gieat political interest, and the obiecis of a;i(bition, however splendid and attractive, are fewer, and cooseqaently within the reach of a Sinaller num- ber of persons : \n such a state all tends to one central point, instead of deviating to diiferent centres. The vast collective mass of the people is united in one polifical system, and in one gener,;] interest ; and the difTereiit provinces which com- pose the einpiie enjoy the advantages of a free and U5iinter- rupted coaiinerce ; a circumstance of incalculable benefit, both to individuals and to the whole conimunity. Supposing e^ en an exteirsive monarchy to be despotic, and the raon- 'aich hiiisseif a saisguinary and unfeeling tyrant, yet, by rea- Let. XIII. ON HISTORY. 147 son of the extent of bis dominions, onlj a few individuah who most of thern voluntarify bring tlieioselves into contact with him, feel the effects of his crueltv" and despotism. Those who, from motives of ambition or interesi, approach his person, and serve him as the instruments of his tyranny, are the persons who principally feel the heavy hand of the tyrant. The great mass of the people feel its pressure in a much lighter degree. Distance of situation, and tlie great multitude of subjects, cause individuals to escape his notice. The reverse is the case in pettj^ stales, wiiere the eyes ol* the tyrant is always upon the individuals of his contract- ed dominions ; and a tyrant, at the distance of a thousand miles, is infinitely preferable to a tyrant at home, at our very doors. The history of mankind affords a multiplicity of proofs, that extensive monarchies are more conducive to the tranquillity of the world, and the general intcjes's of humaii- ity, than petty states ; and the Roman history furnishes ma- ny convincing arguments, that a monarchical is preferable to a republican governm.ent. Some of the emperors were mon- sters of vice and cruelty ; yet if Vve consider and compare llie condition of Rome, and her extensive empire under the re- publican and imperial governments; if we consider the resllcso and harassed stale of her citizens in the lime of the republic, Iheir compulsive military conscriptions, their tiimulfs, their intestine commotions and unceasing hostilities, witJi the ^ur~ roimding nations, and then contemplate her |>acific ppleodor under the imperial government ; ii we coiiNidei e * ery cir- cumstance, and make a just estimate of thin-^s, we Bl'.aii n;.^ perhaps, hesitate to pronounce the Romans-moie happy, irniier the very woist of their emperors, than nncler the republican system. It is at least an unquestionable trutl), that ihey sometimes enjoyed m»re public tranquillity in the space of one reign ; as, for instance, in those of Augustus, of Tiberius, of Adrian, and of Antoninus Pius, than they had experience ed during the v.'hole period of the existence of ilie republi- can system. Several, even of those emperors wlio are stig- matized Vvith the names of tyrants, were beloved not only by the soldiery, but by the people : if they were tyrants, the senate, that proud aristocratic body, which had so long op- pressed the people, was the principal object of their tyi&nny. The most flourishing and pacific period of the imperial government ended with the reign of An^onifuis. In the tijne UB LETTERS Let. XIIL of Marcus Aiirellas, his successor, the O.nadi, Altemanni, &c. who iohabited souie parts of Austria, Ba^ aria, and other dis- tricts of Geirtsanyjoo the iiorlh siue of Ihe Danube, made dread- m\ irrwpticns iiiio the empire ; as did afterwards the Daci- ims, who iiiliabifsd Moldavia, Transjh ani'i, and most of that inivt of Hrnuicirv wliich lies on ihe north side of the Biinube. Atii^y ihese the Gjyihs proved terrible enemies to the Roman erripiie. This nation, so celebrated in the history of imperial Bomo ; ;ind '? hkh acted so con^ipiciious a part in the subver- --0': '-i :';r ^;':aph-e, wns orkin^dly fixed in Scandinavia, the modci-'i :"UvnUc;: ->;; J Norway, and emigrated from thence as eany as ihc .Chi'islian ©ra. Id the time of Antoninus they weve sealed in prMs'^ia and Pomerania, about the mouth of ■ he \lhtidn; azia at -lis same time the Vandals were seated inthe northern parts of Gerrnany, along the coasts of the Bal- tic, extending aa far westward as the Elbe. The Goths again emigrated more to the south-east, and took possession oithe Ukraine : and moving still farther southward, subdued the Dacians, and fixed their residence in Dacia, where they proved siicli formidable enemies to Rome. The dominions of the Goths, were boonded on the east by the Eiixine sea, on the south by the Danube, and they were divided into two kingdoms, that of Ihe eastern, or Ostrogoths, and that of the westerii, or Visigoths. Their ferritoiies comprised part of HiroQTirj to the went, but how far they extended northwards caooot be delermined, 8S the Gothic empiie sometimes'com' prehended a great part of Poiaiid and Germany, and at other periods was coidracted wi(hin much narrower bounds. It is, indeed, iasposfiibie to assign the limits of those barbarous na- tions, Vvdiose whole history, if it could be had, would display nothing; but successive scenes of emigration, conquest, blood- shed, and p'uiiiler. The Goihs having seated themselves in Dacia, ia the rel2;o of Philip (he Arabian, and having crossed the Danube in ih^d of his succcessor the emperor Decius, made their first inroad into ihe Roman empire. The Empe- ror Decius, having coriie to an engagement wifh them, was defeated and slain, and his body was never found, and his successor, Gallus, concluded an ignom.inious peace. The restless and enterprising Goths, notv.djhstanding, in ihe reign of Galiienus, crossing the Euxine in three grand divisions, plundered the city of Nicomedia, and ail Asia Minor. They also sailed down the Hellespont, look Athens, and plunder* Let. XIIL ON HISTORY. Ui9 ed all Greece ; and their reiterated irruptions, at that period. seemed to threaten nothing less than the entire conquest or desolation of the finest provinces of the empire. A particular detail of transactions and events with whicli every one who has perused the history of the Roman empire is acquainted, would here be unnecessary. Such a summary as is necessary to preserve the concatenation of events and con- centrate the substance of historical information is all that is re- quisite in a general view. It suffices therefore to observe tlmt those barbarous nations, although generally defeated, and often with prodigious slaughter, whenever the Roman armies could bring them to an engagement, notwithstanding their bloody de- feats incessantly renewed their depredations, and in the reign of Gallienus their irruptions were so numerous and their attacks so general on almost every part of the Roman frontiers, that the dissolution of the empire seemed to be at hand. In addition lo the calamities occasioned by foreign wars, many of the coni- maaders of armies, and governors of provinces erected the stan- dard of revolt, and the Roman empire became an entire scene of anarchy, and exhibited as finished a picture of political in- felicity as it had formerly done af prosperity and splendor. The reign of Gallienus was not only exceedingly disastrous 1]>ut likewise peculiarly disgraceful to the Roman name ; for the emperor Valerian, father of Gallienus, was at tliis calami- tous period a prisoner in the hands of Sapores, king of Persia, who is said by historians to have treated him with great indig- nity, obliging tiie unfortunate emperor to stoop down, and present his bended body as a footstool, when the insulting \ictor mounted his horse. Sapores is also said to have at last comuianded him to be flayed after his death, some say while he was alive, and his skin to be hung in the hall of au- dience, and kept as a monument to shew that ihe Romans were not invincible. If these circumstances be irue^ Vvliich however are questioned by some, they are exceedingly dis- graceful to ihe Iloman name, and especially to Gallienus, the worthless and unfeeling son of a brave, but unfoitunate fa- ther. It is, however, certain that Valerian was nevei- liliera- ted ; and his deplorable fate is one of the many thoispajid of instances, which history affords, of the vicissitudes of fortune, and the precarious and transitory nature of human greatness. In this disastrous reign, the civil and foreign wars, which ra- ged throughout the whole Romafi v/orld. produced a famine ; N2 150 LETTERS Let. XllL which was succeeded by so dreadful a pestilence, that during a considerable time above five thousand persons are said to have died daily in the city of Rome ; and. according to the calculations of some authors, although there be some reason to suspect them of exaggeration, nearly haii of the inhabitants of the empire perished by the united calamities of war, fa- mine, and pestilence. The reign of Galiienus stands, unfortunately, distinguish- ed as the most calamitous period which Rome eyer saw, from the sera of the second pimic war to the reign of Honorius. Claudius, a soldier of mean exiraction, and originally a peasant of Uiyricura, a province situated on the south side of the Danube, and to the east of the northern extremity of the Adriatic Sea, being elected emperor, did as much as could be done in a short reign of three years, to retrieve the glory of the empire ; and the sacceediog vigorous and military reigns, of Probus and Aurelianos, both of them hke Claudi- us, originally Illyrian peasants, restored Rome to her former power and grandeur. The victories of Probus equalled those of the greatest heroes of antiquity ; and the reign of Aureli- anus was a continued scene of military operation, and of the most brilliant successes. In his time, the Altemanni cross- ing the Danube, penetrated as far as Milan ; and finding their retreat intercepted by the Emperor at the head of a pow- erful army, they n?ade so dreadful an irruption into Italy, that the imperial citj itself was thrown into the utmost con- sternation. At that alai ming crisis the inhabitants of Rome inclosed the city, aTid part of the suburbs, with that celebrat- ed wall called the wall of Aurelian. That warlike Empe- ror having, however, repulsed and almost totally extermi- nated tiie invading army, was assassinated on his march against the Persians. Although the glory of the empire was thus retrieved, and its territories restored to their former ex- tent, by tliose illustrious peasants from the banks of the Da- nube, jet we cannot but suppose that it must have considera- bly suffered from such scenes of war and anarchy. The nations of the northern side of the Danube, from its source to its entrance into the Euxine sea, having become more ac- quainted with the wealth of the Roman emf)ire, were contin- lially hovering upon the frontiers, ready to seize every oppor- tunity of bursting, like a torrent, into the provinces. The fate of Romej however, was suspended, and her eneniies Let. XIII. ON HISTORY. 151 held at defiance by the irresistible valour and discipline of her invincible legions, under the conduct of a series of illus° trious commanders, as Dioclesian, Maximian, Galerius Con- stantius, Chlorus, and others, who had been trained under those warlike emperors, Claudius, Aurelianus, and Probus ; and who, being most of them persons of an obscure original, had, by passing through all the gradation of militay promo- tion, risen from poverty and obscurity to the empire of the world. During the space of an hundred years, immediately preceding the reign of Constantine, the Roman empire exhi- bited a political picture of a remarkable and extraordinary na- ture, of which the prominent features, were the frequent revo° lutions in the imperial command, with the sudden advance- ment, degradation, and assassination of emperors ; the revolt of commanders ; and, upon the whole, the empire frequently a scene of anarchy and rent with intestine commotions, yet presenting on every side a formidable and terrific front to its foreign enemies. Nevertheless, there is little reason to doubt but the collective mass of the inhabitants enjoyed, even in this confused state a greater share of happiness than under the republican government. In the times of which we are now speaking, the internal commotions and frequent re- volutions in the imperial government, chieSy affected the mili- tary men. They were the actors, and they were the princi- pal sufferers in those transactions ; the people took little part in them ; and the inroads of barbarians w^ere temporary and adventitious calamities ; but under the republican governmentj war was interwoven with the constitution, and almost essen- tial to its existence. Every citizen was a soldier, and Rome resembled a camp. Hostilities were continual ; every pro- vince exhibited a scene of devastation and rapine, until it ob- tained tranquillity by its subjugation. The system of the senate was to keep the people in a state of continual warfare ; that of the Emperors was rather to soften their military dis- position, and they rather chose to trust their own safety, and that of the empire, to the support of standing armies, accus- tomed to their commands, attached to their persons, and re- cruited from all the different classes of their subjects, than to military conscriptions of proud and refractory citizens. During the space of fifty-six years, which elapsed between the death of Gallienus, and the accession of Constantine to the undivided empire of the world, a series of warlike Em- 152 LETTERS Let.XIIL perors had every where repulsed the barbarians, and retriev- ed the glory of the Roman name. Tlie empire had re- sumed its former splendor, and displayed the same exterior show of power and grandeur as in the first ages after the reign of Augustus ; but during the last thirty-seven years of this period the imperial command was in a divided state. Dio- clesian making Maximian his associate in the imperial dignity, those Emperors made a division of the empire, the former governing the east and the latter the west. This system was continued ; and the divisions and subdivisions were multi- plied, so that at one period the empire was governed by six emperors, Constantine, Maxentius, and Maximianus, in the west, and Licinius, Maximinus, and Galerius, in the east. In this singular system each of 4he Emperors exercised the sovereign authority in \m own part of the empire, but their joint authority extended over the whole ; and all public edicts were issued in the name of all the Emperors, 'this division of the empire continued until the joint Emperors, regarding one another as rivals, at last became open enemies, and in- volved the empire in civil wars, which ended in the elevation of Constantine to the united sovereignty of the whole. That Emperor having, by his signal military achievements, in a series of successful wars, and the successive defeats of Maxentius, and Licinius rendered himself sole master of the Roman world, tm-ned his victorious arms against the he- reditary enemies of Rome. Crossing the Danube, he pene- trated into the inmost recesses of Dacia, and reduced the Goths, and other barbarous nations of those quarters, to such extremities, that during tlie greatest part of his reign, no ene- my durst make an attack upon the empire, which then en- joyed a profound tranquillity, and displayed a degree of pow- er and splendor unequalled since the reign of Antoninus. After this summary of events, from the reign of Augustus to that of Constantine, the general political and social state of the Romans, during that period, in the next place claims our at- tention. The political system of Rome, under the imperial govern- ment, was singular and unprecedented ; and the empire might justly be defined a despotic monarchy under the form of a republic. The senatorial and consular dignities still existed, and all the republican forms remainedc The offices of ^.dile^ Let. Xil. ON HISTORY. 153 Praetor, &c. remained as during the existence of the republic; but under the imperial government those offices were only nominal ; and Augustus had the address to unite most of them in his own person, a piece of policy which proves that consummate statesmen not to have been ignorant how much mankind are influenced by names. The greatest and v»i&est of his successors followed his example, and all the Emperors, who knew and consulted their own interests, affected to respect those republican forms : and during the first age of the imperial government, if the election of the Empe- ror v/as not made in the first place by the senate, the author- ity and approbation of that body was deemed necessary to sanction the election and render it valid. In process of time, however, the military thought themselves alone entitled to the right of electing their Emperors, and became the sole ar- biters of their destiny. The Emperors were elected or dis- posed by the sole authority of the army ; and the senate, in order to maintain at least the appearance of an authority, which it no longer possessed, hastened to ratify those milita- ry elections. The Praetorian guards first arrogated this right to themselves, and their example was soon followed by the Legionaries. This military mode of election was once car- ried to such a Jbeight of extravagant and shameless effrontery, that the Praetorian guards, having deposed and murdered the Emperor Alius Pertinax, disposedof the imperial dignity by public sale, exhibiting an instance of military usurpation and licentiousness unparalleled in the history of the world : the sovereignty of the greatest and most powerful empire that ever existed sold by public auction to the best bidder ! The price for which they sold it to Didius Juhanus, was, accord- ing to Mr. Gibbon, 6250 drachmas, amounting to about 2001. sterling per maa. The imperial consitution of Rome was entirely a system of military despotism. The imperial title and dignity were of a military nature, and after the reign of C)ommodus, the soldiery had the entire disposal of them, and were, in fact, the only sovereigns of the empire, neither the senate nor the people having any share in the government, or in the election of their Emperors, only the name of the senate seemed to give a legal sanction and constitutional validity to the military elections. It seems, that after popular assem- blies were abolished, on the accession of Tiberius, the osten- sible constitution of the imperial government was, that the 154 LETTERS Let. XIL Emperor should be elected by the senate as generalissimo of the whole armed force of the empire ; or, as the Romans still called it, of the republic ; that the senate should be the sole legislative body, but that the executive power should be committed to the Emperor. But the actual constitution wa?, that the Emperors were elected and supported by the mili- tary, who were the real sovereigns, and the Emperor their agent, exhibiting a specimen of Ihe very worst kind of elect- ive monarchies ;^ no Emperor, how great soever might be his virtue, or his abilities, being'able to maintain his standing unless he took care to conciliate the favour of the army. The Emperors possessing the executive power, with the whole military force ^of the empire at their disposal, set aside the legislative authority of the senate. Until the reign of Ad»- rian, the Emperors promulgated their law^s in the character of Roman m-agistrates, authorised by the senate ; but Adrian constituted himself the fountain of the law ; and after his reign, not only the public administration, but also the private juiis- prudence of the empire, w^as modelled by the will of the Emperor. We have already observed, that the Romans had, in the latter times of the republic, departed from those maxims, which excluded persons of an inferior class from admission into the army. We have remarked, that C. Marius was the first who enlisted persons of such a description, and that his example was followed by other ambitious leaders. In- deed it could hardly be supposed, that either a Sylla, a Cae- sar, or a Pompey, w^ould exclude from their armies any that were Avilling, and appeared able, to render them effective service; and, consequently, before the extinction of the re- publican system, a considerable change had, in that respect, taken place. After the establishment of the imperial government, the Emperors, as before observed, preferring regular standing ai*- mies, levied in the provinces, to military conscriptions of citizens, adopted the mode of recruiting from the lowest class- es of the people, and admitting persons of eYery description to the honour of being qualified to enlist in the Roman le- gions ; and also conferred on such as enrolled themselves, the privileges of Roman citizens, which, by reason of exemption from the tributary taxes paid by the provincials, and (he pub- lic donations of money, &c. already mentioned, were very Let. XII. ON HISTORY. 15^ great, and had been rather augmented than diminished un- der the Emperors. The annual stipend of the legionaries, as fixed by Domitian, who had sonievvhat augmented their pav, was twelve pieces of gold, a sum nearly equivalent to ten pounds sterling ; and each legionary soldier, after twen- ty years service, received about an hundred pounds sterling, or its equivalent in land. The famous corps, called the Praetorian guards, was es- tablished by Augustus for his body guards, and for the de- fence of the capital Their pay and perquisites were the doable of those of the legionaries. At first they consisted of about ten thousand wen. Of these, three cohorts were quar- tered in Rome, and the rest in the environs. They were all assenibled at Rome, by Tiberius, and fixed in a permanent camp under the walls. Vitellius augmented their number to fifteen thousand. These Praetorian guards were recruit- ed from the flower of the Italian youth, until the reign of Septimhis Severus, who cashiered them as a punishment for the murder of the Emperor Pertinax, and their presumptu- ous sale of the empire by public auction. Severus then form- ed a new body of Praetorian guards, amounting to the num- ber of fifty thousand, and composed of the best soldiers, se- lected out of every legion. That Emperor increased the pay and perquisites of the soldiery beyond all former exam- ple, and taught them to expect, and finally to claim, extraor- dinary donatives on every occasion of public festivity or dan- ger. Dioclesian and Maximianus dismissed the Praetorian corps from their former station of body guards, and called to that duty two regiments of Illyrians, whom they named Jo- vians and Herculeans, as they themselves assumed the names of Jovius and Herculeus; willing, it seems, to make their subjects believe that they ranked among the gods, or at least were of celestial descent. Conatantine, after his vic- tory over Maxentius, conceiving it to be impolitic to suffer the existence of so dangerous a corps, finally abolished the Prfetoiian guards ; and having, in consequence of their re- sistence, forced their fortified camp under the wails of Rome, dispersed them among the troops of the provinces. Thus was broken and dispersed that celebrated military corps, which had so often disposed of the empire of the world. When we concluded our observations at the period marked by the reign of Augustus, we contemplated Rome in the ze- 156 LETTERS Let. XIII. nithof her glory, mistress of the world, the centre of power, wealth, and learning, as well as of luxuiy and dissipation ; her wealth and power had scarcely any further opportunity of augmentation; but her luxury, ahhough like her greatness it seemed to have arrived at its ultimate pitch, was consider- ably increased under the imperial government. Her citizens no longer thought of conquest and plunder, but of tranquilli- ' ty and enjoyment. Her wars, as already ©bserved, were beyond comparison less frequent than under the republican system, and were oftener undertaken for defence than for ag- grandisement of power, or extension of dominion. This change, fiom a system of perpetual warfare, to a love of peace, proceeded partly from the pacific dispositions of se- veral of the Emperors, and the depression of the senate, who no longer possessed the power of dragging the people out to arms under the specious pretext of asserting the glory of the republic, and the majesty of the Roman people : and, per- haps, most of all, from the circumstance of the empire hav- ing nothing to gain, but much to lose by hostilities, the state of the surrounding nations being such that the conquest of them could aflbrd no prospect of gratification to the ambition, the avarice, and luxury of the Romans. The splendid exhibitions of the Circus were more pom- pous, and the public games were celebrated with greater magnificence, under the imperial, than they had been under the republican government ; and the triumphs of several of the Emperors, especially of Vespasian, and his s.on Titus, also those of Trajan, Probus, and Aurelian, exhibited scenes of unparalleled magnificence. It seems to have been the policy of the Emperors, as it had formerly been of the senate, to keep the restless populace in humour by amusing them with pom- pous spectacles, and indulging them with liberal donations ; and by embellishing the city, which almost every Emperor, whose reign was of any considerable duration, ornamented with some superb edifice, as a permanent mark of his gran- deur, and of his affection for the jjloraan people. The city was consequently exceedingly embellished under the impe- rial government. The most magnificent edifices, and other stupendous works, which have attracted the admiration of posterity, and of which the venerable ruins to this day at- test the instability of hum-an power and grandem-, were the works of the Emperors; such were the amphitheatres of Let. XIIL ON HISTORY. 157 Nero and Titus — the triumphal arches — I he column of Tra- jan — the mausoleum of Adrian, now the castle of St. Ange- lo — the bafhs of Bioclesian, and many others, which it would be tedious to enumerate. During this period the chy was undoubtedly enlarged as well as embellished. And as the case is in all wealthy and luxurious capitals, it may be supposed that great numbers of artisans and traders of every .ilescription would flock to a place which was the centre of wealth, and the seat of dissipation. This supposition is pro- bable ; but, however, some suppose that Rome wa^ never more populous, nor much more extensive, than in the reign of Augustus ; a supposition which does not seem compatible with the existing circumstances of those times. This is a point, however, which it is now impossible to determine, as historians have left us in the dark concerning those important particulars, while they have told us all they knew, and more than they knew, of battles, sieges, rebellions, and usurpations ; and filled their pages with narratives of slaughter and desola- tion which disgrace human nature. These things they pre- tend to relate with as much minute accuracy as if they had been spectators of each bloody scene, and privy to every dis- graceful crime they relate ; while, in regard to the literary, scientific, and commercial improvements of nations, they leave us to guess what we can from broken hints which have ca- sually dropt from their pens, by reason of their being in con- nection with circumstances of inferior magnitude, which it has pleased them to relate. An acquaintance with history is, however, absolutely necessary to every one who pretends to any degree of general information and know ledge of mankind. It must be studied, such as it is, and we must make the best of it we can. An author who was contemporary with the Emperors Constantine, Constantius, and Julian, has left us a striking pic- ture-of Roman luxury in that age. The grandees of Rome, he says, shewed their rank and consequence by the loftiness of their chariots, which were many of them of maf^sy silver, curiously carved, and the trappings of their horses and mules richly embossed and ornamented with gold, and made an ostentatious display of their opulence in the ponderous magnificence of their dress. Their long robes ofpuiple silk floating in the wind, as they were n^oved by art or acrideot, occasionally discovered their rich tunics, gorgeously em- O 158 LETTERS Let. XIII. broidered with the figures of divers animals. Tbe example of the nobles was followed by the matrons and ladies, with the wealth/ plebeians, whose superb carriages were contin- uallj driving round the immense extent of Jhe city and su- burbs. In fine, luxury was, in the latter ages of the empire, car ied to an exirenie in Rome. . The tragic and comic Kiuses had remained almost silent since the extinction of the repnbhc. Under the imperial government their places v/ere occupied by licentious farce, etiemniate music, and splendid paueaiitry ; and the panto- mime was much in fashion amonr>, the Romans of the latter aies. The spacious and magnificent theatres of Rome were filled by three thousand female dancers, and three thousand mn£;ers, with the masters of the different chorusses. But the principal and most splendid amusement of the Roman people corj^lsted in the frequent exhibitions of the public games and spectacles in the Circus* To these m.ay be added, the pub- lic baths, to which persons of all ranks had access at a very moderate expence ; the price of admission not much exceed- ing one eightxh of an English penny. No other city ever af- forded such a multiplicity of magnificent exhibitions and sperKJid asnusements, at so cheap a rate, as Rome furnished to her numerous inhabitants ; and in no other metropolis, of the ancient or modern world, have luxury, dissipation, and ostentatious parade, been carried to such an height of extra- vagance. While we contemplate the unparalleled magnificence and splendor of Rome, and the unexampled luxury and dissipa- tion of her inhabitants, under the imperial government, we cnnnot, however, but lament the decline of learning during tliC sa'Tje period. Popular assemblies were discountenanced by A'.r;;'.sfus and totpdly abolished at the accession of Tibe- ri'is. Etjqiieoc^, therefore, tlie grand object of Roman, as it had formerly been of Grecian study, lost its utility and im- portance, and even in the senate was of Hi tie advantage to its po^.sessor or to the public. Whatever foj-ms might s'^ill exist, tliC conitiiution was to^aiiy ch.anged. JNothing could be ef- fected by influencing the minds of the senators, or moving the passions of the people, by the charms of eloq^ience. All was at t!ie disposal of a military comm.ander, di<:nilied with the ti-le of Inspeuator, or Oenevul, which we tran la^e Emperor; a. title, which, among the Romans, literally signified General- Let. Xm. ON HISTORY. 159 issimo, or Commander in Chief of the whole armed force of the repubhc, as the Roman empire was still improperly call- ed. Eiocpience having therefore lost its influence, the cuhi-* vadon of letters was no longer pursued with the same avidiij as tormerly. It was, indeed, perhaps iippossible (o cany philological learning beyond the point to which it had been carried in the latter times of the republic, as the most eiegiiiit writers among the moderns have not been able to sm-pass the compositions of Cicero, and the writers of the Augiislao age. Roman hterature, however, did not long remain station- ary, but soon began to decline. During that piosperous and luminous period, which elapsed between the estab- lishment of the imperial government and the reign <)[ M. Au- reiius, the decline of learning, and the arts, was less percep- tible ; for although senatorial and forensic eloqueiic e had lost .power and utility, a taste for letters was neveiihtless kept up by the munificence and examples of the Ei»>pe:o;.s, v ho were most of them men of letters, and some oi' them, particii- larly Augustus, Adrian, Antonius, and M. Aorelius, we-e great patrons and promoters of learning. After this period, science and literature rapidly fell into a declining state. i7ia- ny of the succeeding Emperors were illiterate peasants, who, by a train of favourable circumstances had, from the louest class of people, been raised to the imperial purple, and held literary pursuits and acquirements in low estimation. i\o lar- ther progress in science had been made beyond tiie attahi- ments of the Augustan age. The philosophy of the ancienJs Chaldeans, Egyptians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans^ jJiief- ly consisted in moral observations, rides, and piecepfs ; or in subtle questions and abstruse speculations, io wliich the human mind, after it had arrived at a certain piniit^ coidd pro ceed no farther on any fixed piinciples, unu lost ilseif in wild conjecture. They vrere not acquainted with that kind of phi- losophy founded on experiment, by which the moderns have ascertahied so many doubtful points, and made such niniie- rous and important- discoveries. Before the reign of Conslan- tine every kind of science and learning had sunk far beiow its former pitch. That Emperor, however, gave great en- couragement to men of genius, and although destitute of a literary education himself, made every possible elibrt for the revival of a taste for learning, and the fine arts, especially the latter, of which he found a want for the embellishment of 160 LETTERS Let. XIIL Constantinople ; but the decline was too great to be retriev- ed in the space of one reign, and the succeeding ages proved iintav curable io their culiure. The reign of Constantine, liowever, produced, or fosind already formed, soaie men of cxiraordifiiu y talents and erudition among the Christians, par- ticiiiarly the elociueot Lactantius, and Ihe famous Eusebins, bishop of Cegarea, a man of imcoKiiuon enidilion, as may be discovered in his writings; for in one of his works, the Prep. Evangelica, he quotes no fewer than four hundred Greek Anthois. In this age the stndj of clivinitj began to be the pievaiJing (aate in the literary world. Tiie amelioration of the condition of slavery is not the least pleasing subject of contemplation afforded by imperial Rome. it lias already been observed, that the general change in the political and social circumstances of the Roaians, had proved extremely favourable to their slaves ; and that, from the con- curreoce of various causes, ihe condition of slavery was ex- ceedingly meliorated before the extinction of the republican government. The same combination of causes, existing in a still greater exieniy operated also with greater efficacy in fa- vour of that oppressed class of mortals under the imperial system ; as luxury, which had proved so favourable to the Roman slaves, still increased ; and the pacific system of the Emperors, from the establishment of the imperial government, i-otii the incursions of the barbadians roused them to arms, with the traiiquillity the empire had in general enjojed from the accession of Augustus to that of M. AureliriS, had caused the influx of slaves to be inconsiderable; a circumstance which necessarily rendered them, more valuable, and caused (hem to be more highly prized. The republican ideas of the Romans, aud the tributary distributions to the poorer class of the citizens, precluded among the higher ranks the inclina- tion, and aiiiong the lower class the necessity of undertaking those employments, which, among the moderns, are so far fi'om being disgraceful, Ihat ihey are esteemed honourable ; and those offices of honour and emolument, which in modern courts are conferred on ihe higher rank of subjects, were, in the imperial court of Rome, generally filled with slaves. In- deed the E.asperors themselves had many good reasons to iirefer slaves before Roman citizens in the offices of their household. Some of ihe Emperors also promulgated laws in favour of that unhappy class of people. The Emperor &T. XQL ONHISTOKY. 161 Adiian, in particular, deprived masters of their arbitrary power over their slaves, which thej had possessed from the building of Rome to that time, and put the persons of the slaves under the protection of the law, which is an instance, among many thousands of others, that might be adduced to prove that monarchical government is generally more favour- able to the lower orders of the people than republicanism : for in all the boasted ages of (what is called) Roman liberty, no regulations had been made in favour of that unfortunate race of mortals, who, during the whole period of the repubU- can government, iiad been without legal protection. We have already observed, that in the opulent and luxurious times of the republic, the enfranchisement of slaves, either front liberality of sentiment, ostentation, or interested motives, had become fashionable. The senate enacted laws for the exclu- sion of enfranchised slaves and their descendants from the public offices of the state. These laws, however, in time, became obsolete, and were disregarded under the imperial government; when enlistment into the army conferred the rights of citizenship on persons of every description. The distance between slavery and freedom gradually lessened, and Dioclesian, the son of an enfranchised slave, and even supposed to have been born while his father was in the state of slavery, having enrolled himself in one of the Roman le- gions, and passed through the various gradations of military promotion, seized the imperial purple, was proclaimed Empe« ror by the army, recognized by the senate, and reigned wilh> distiuauished reputation over the Roman world. l^e circumstance which had contributed, above all otherFj to exhibit the imperial government of Rome to the eyes of posterity, as the most iniquitous system of tyranny, and to stigmatize many of the Emperors, with the epithets of the most sanguinary tyrants that ever disgraced a sceptre, was the frequent and cruel persecutions of the Christians : bv.t if we examine with accuracy, and make a just statement of the case, perhaps many of the Emperors will, in some measure, stand exculpated in the eye of impartial decision; for it is to be remarked, that, notwithstanding the cruel and uiijust pei- secutions of the Christians under the imperial governriieiitj few of the Emperors were persecutojs from inclinatiosi. Many of those who issued the most sanguinary edicts against the Christians, are known to have shewn no particular a,ei- 02 162 LETTERS Let. XIIL sion against Christianity, or ils professors ; but even to have frequently promoted them to oSices of honour and emolu- ment, until thej were misled by evil counsellors, who either had an aversion against the christian doctrine, or a personal pique against some individuals of that religion. This was the case with Valerian, who, in the commencement of his reign, was particularly favourable to Christians, and advanced many of them to the most honourable and lucrative employments, until, on the inroads of Sapores, king of Persia, into the Ro- man provinces, he suifered himself to be persuaded by de- signing priests and intriguing courtiers, that all the calamities w hich the empire suffered, and with which it was threatened, proceeded froni the vengeance of the gods for suffering a sect of people to exist who Avere the professed enemies of their worship. This was commonly the lure by which the Pagan priests drew the Emperors into the snare, and, work- ing upon their superstiiious prejudices, instigated them to sanction, by their aiithoiity, those persecutions which they themselves had projected If the persecutions raised against the Christians were traced to their oii\.^inal source, they might, undoubtedly, be ascribed to three ps incipal causes ; the private piques and jealousies of persons in power, or such as Avished to be so ; the interest- ed suggestions of the Pagan priests, and others interested in the support of Paganism; and, lastly, the superstition of the people. It requires no very extensive reading, nor a xevy w ide sphere of observation, to trace the operation, and calcu- late the effects of these causes. Every one who is in a mo- derate degree acquainted with the history of courts and cour- tiers, knows the jealousies of favourites, and of candidates for favour, and the means they frequently make use of to alien- ate the mind of the great personage on Vv'hom their hopes de- pend, from all such as they know to be their rivals, or sus- pect of any design of becoming such. When persons of this description saw Christians advanced, to offices, which they themselves desired to fill, and could find no ground of accusation, either of treason or misconduct, against them, they would naturally have recourse to their last expedient, and accuse them of impiety, as enemies and contemners of the gods of the empire. Such was the conduct of the Babylo- nian courtiers, in regard to Shadrac, Meshec, and Abednego, and of the Persians towards Daniel. The first, wlien they Let. XIIL ON HISTORY. 16^ perceived the three men above mentioned to be in favour with Nebuchadnezzar, endeavoured to effect their destruc- tion by accusing them to that prince of not worshipping the gods that he worshipped, and of refusing to adore the image which he had erected ; and the latter, from similar motives, impeached Daniel of disobedience to the king's command. Every one, who, hy reading or observation, is acquainted w ith court intrigues, will easily perceive that the Babylonians did not accuse the three favourites from any motives of religion. Some of them, perhaps, had as little veneration for the image in the plain of Dura, as those Jews themBelves had. The true reason was, the favour and influence they had with the monarch, and the honour to which they ^aw them advanced. In like manner the grandees of Persia did not impeach Daniel of contempt for the king's command from any extraordinary respect they themselves had for it, but to procure his destruc- tion, which they found themselves unable to eflect by any oilier means. And if we reason fiom the analogies of moral experience, we may safely presume, that, under the Roman Emperors, persecutions were sometimes excited or promoted by persons, wholly indilfereni to religious matters, but not in- different to the honours and emolumenis to which they saw their rivals in powder and favour advanced. When those ri- vals happened to be Christians, as was often the case, under many of the Pagan Emperors, those jealous candidates for fa- vour and promotion, when they could not otherwise ruin the individual, attacked the profession in imitation of the Babylo- nian and Persian courtiers of old. It is easy to conceive how^ much the priests of a pom- pous ceremonious religion were interested in the support of a system which procured them honour, emolument, and in- fluence. The priests of Paganism could not but see the grad- ual encroachments which Christianity was making upon that system on which their credit and fortune depended. They could not fail of perceiving the decrease in the number of their votaries and offerings, the diminution of their credit, and, in fine, all the evils w hich menaced their declining reli- gion. The philosophers also foresaw, in the overthrow of their systems, the destruction of their credit, and the extinc- tion of their fame. Their interests coincided with those of the priests, and the view s of both were seconded by all that numerous tribe of artisans, and others concerned in the em-^ !64 LETTERS Let. XHE bellishments of their temples, of which we have a striking in- stance in the conduct of Demetrius, the silversmith, of Ephesus. Paganism was a splendid, pompous, and ceremo- nious religion ; calculated not only to strike the eyes, and impose on the minds of the vulgar, but also to attach a very considerable number of men of talent and ingenuity to its in- terest and support. The number and magniticence of its temples, the superb statues of its gods, and the curious and costly utensils used in its sacrifices and ceremonies, gave em- ployment to numbers of ingenious artisans, and its frequent and splendid festivals afforded an agreeable entei tainment to the populace. It is, therefore, no wonder that a numerous body of people, throughout the whole empire, should be ready to support a system from wdience they derived so many advantages, and desirous of depressing a religion which threatened its overthrow. Of ail this interested assemblage, the priests formed the van, and seized every opportunity of kindling the flames of persecution, when any disaster, as pes- tilence, famine, or unsuccessful war, afflicted or menaced the empire. On these occasions they never failed to ascribe the pubhc calamities to the progress of Christianity, and to per- suade the Emperors that the wrath of the gods could be ap- peased only by the blood of the Christians. The represen- tations of the priests, seconded by a numerous body of per- sons, of different descriptions, interested in the support of Paganism, could not fail of operating on the minds of the Em- perors, several of whom had, by military merit, intrigue, or usurpation, been raised from indigence and obscurity to the imperial purple, and knew their own standing to be exceed- ingly precarious. The superstition of the people may also justly be supposed to have contributed to excile a spirit of intolerance, and persecution against a sect of men, who were represented to them by their priests as the persons who, by their contempt of the gods, drew down the wrath of heaven ypon the whole empire. It requires only a very little know- ledge of the effects of superstition, upon vulgar minds, to con- ceive that such notions, inculcated by their priests, would ex- cite the public voice against the Christians, as long as Pagan- ism continued the established and predominant religion of the empire. It appears, on perusing the histories of the different persecutions, that many of the governors of cities and pro- Tiaces were compelled by popular fury, to carry the laws Let. XIII. ON HISTORY. 165 enacled against the Christians into execution more rigorously than thej would otherwise have done. Thus it appears, that different causes concurred to pro- duce those persecutions which filled the calendar with mar- tyrs, and peopled heaven with saints. The Supreme sjid ail-wise Being had, in the mysterious dispensations of his providence, ordained that the cruelty of wicked and uncon- scientious men should bring into light the courage and fortitude of his faithful worshippers, and shew that all the pow- er and policy of miankind, combined against Christianity, should only tend to demonstrate the feebleness of all human efforts acting in opposition to the Divine will. The blood of the martyrs was like seed sown in a fertile soil ; and the num- ber of Chrittians rapidly increased, notwithstanding the ha- •vock made among them by persecutors. In the latter part of the third century the church had enjoyed a long repose from persecution, and during this period of tranquillity had begun to grow opulent and conspicuous. The clergy had already begun to learn the art of exchanging their spiritual merchandise for the temporal riches of those who w^ere un- der their direction, and some of the prelates lived in splendor and opulence, as appears from the case of Paul, of Samosata. The Christians had lived in tranquillity, and enjoyed all the privileges of the other Roman subjects during the space of forty years, and were exceedingly favoured by the Emperor Dioclesian, w^hen a storm burst over their heads which seem- ed to threaten the entire extinction of Christianity. As pro- fessors had grown so numerous, and were so much favoured by that Emoeror, that the whole mass of the interested adherents and supporters of Paganism were alarmed at the increasing prevalence of a religion, which threatened its overthrow, and loudly called upon ihe Emperor to avert, by the extermination of the Christians, the vengeance of the gods ready to be poured upon the empire for tolerating the professed despi- sers of their worship. The Emperor, although he had pass- ed his life in camps, and was little versed in the principles and tendency of religious systems, was at first decidedly averse to intolerant measures It is asserted by several historians, that the infernal project was, during six months, in agitation, before he could be prevailed upon to give it the sanction of the imperial authority. The irnportunites of the priests, and the solicitationB of their abettors, grew daily more pressing ; 166 LETTERS Let. XIIL but the Emperor resisted them a long time with inflexible firmness, and could not, without horror, look forward to the consequences of letting loose the blood-hounds of perse- cution against so great a number of his unoifending subjects. Maximin, whom he had made his colleague in the imperinl dignity, had already consented to the solicitations of (he ene- mies of Christianitj^, and Dioclesian, thus reluctantly signed the bloody edict. It was not long before the horrid execu- tion began to take place, and eveiy s|>ecies of cruelty which the infernal spirit of persecution could invent was exercised upon the professors of tha.t religion. / This was the most rig- orous persecution the church had ever experienced ; and it is supposed that a greater number of Christians suliered mar- tyrdom in this than in all the other persecutions.^ Britain was the only province of the empire that was free from its etlects* In this country the Christians found tranquillity and protect tion imder the equitable government of Constantius Chlorus,w father of the great Constantine, v/ho, although a Pagan, w^as decidedly averse to every kind of intolerance in religious matters, it being with him a fixed principle, that considering the variety of opinions concerning the most acceptable mode of worshipping the Supreme Being, all men being the chil- dren of one common Father, every one had an indisputable right to render his homage to the Universal Parent in the manner he himself thought the best. This just and liberal turn of mind in that Emperor afforded protection to the Chris- tians in that part of (he empire, w hich was under his imme- diate government, until Constantine, his son, having acquired the entire douiinion of the west, with Ijicinius, his colleague in the east, issued at Milan their famous edict of universal liberty of coiiScience, which immediately put a stop to the horrors of persecution in every part of the Roman world.. At this remarkable period of the history of (he church, we may pause a while in order to prepare for the contemplation of a new and extraordinary display of Divine Pro\ idence in the triumph of Christianity. I am, Sir, &Cc ^. B. Let. XIV. ON HISTORY. 167 LETTER XIY. SIR, OUR observations are now to be directed to a new and interesting scene, which began to be opened in the world, by the establishnient of Christianity in the Roman empire. When we contemplate the new and extraordinary aspect of human aiFairs at that momentous crisis, we cannot but consider the age of Constantine, as a distinct and most im- portant period in the history, both of the Roman empire and of the Christian religion. The reign of that Emperor forms the line of demarkation between the Pagan and the Christian world, between the predominance of that system of Poly- theism and idol-worship, which had during so many ages, dis- graced the reason and obscured the understanding of man, and the triumph of Christianity, which has ever since, in a more or less luminous manner shed its benign and irradiating influence on the human intellect. It may be asserted be- yond all possibility of contradiction, that the reign of Con- stantine has, by the establishment of Christianity, acquired a more extensive and lasting influence over the moral condi- tion of mankind, and the general ideas of the human mind, in all succeeding ages, than that of any other monarch who has ever appeared on the political theatre of the world. The Roman empire, v/hich Constantine governed, when in the acme of its greatness is now no more ; and the city of Con- sfantioople, which he founded, in order to perpetuate the glory of his reign, is now in the hands of a people who are enemies to the rehgion he so assiduously exerted himself to establish, and who, in his days were a nation totally unknown ; but, in the estabHshm.ent of Christianity, he has erected to his own memory a monument, more durable than brass or marble, a fabiic which will never fall to ruin, and which expe- rience shews, that no human efforts can overturn. Without entering into tedious details, it sulSces, in a gen- eral view of the occurrences of this important reign, to ob- serve, that Constantine, receiving intelligence of the sick- ness of Constantius Chlorus, his father, took this journey, or rather made his escape fromi Nicomedia, v^ here he then 168 LETTERS Let. XI V. resided with Galerius, and travelling with extraordinaiy speed, arrived at York just in time to close the eyes of his dying parent, and to receive his last instructions, in which he is said to have exhorted him to rule with justice and cle- mency, and to have particularly recommended to his pro- tection the injured and oppressed Christians. Oonstantius being dead, Constantine was immediately proclaimed Emperor by the soldiery at York ; where, having receiv- ed ttie imperial purple, and performed the funeral rites, and the apotheosis of his deceased father, according to the Pa- gan custom, he set out for Gaul. It is inconsistent with our present purpose to attempt a particular detail of the circum- stances which concurred to make Constantine sole master of the Roman world. Historians have circumstantially related his signal victory over Maxentius, near the Milvian bridge, without the gates of Rome ; the two civil wars between him and Licinius ; the great battle of Adrianople, where Con- stantine is said to have performed prodigies of valour, unex- ampled in the annals of military exertion and achievement, and in their full extent, as related by historians, the avowed enemies of his fortune and his fame, absolutely incredible ; the siege of Byzantium ; the forcing of the passage of the Hellespont ; and the final defeat of Licinius at the battle of Chrysopolis, now Scutari, on the coast of Asia minor, oppo- site to Constantinople, are events of which no one is ignorant who has perused the narratives of the historians of that age. The motives which induced Constantine to embrace and establish Christianity, after he had waded through seas of blood to the sovereignty of the world, are variously delineat- ed by different writers, and merit, in an eminent degree, the attention of the historian and the moral philosopher. It is, indeed, extremely difficult, at this distance of time, to de- velope the motives which induced him to take so decided a step ; jei from general existing circumstances, accurately ex- amined, and justly estimated, we mpy, perhaps, form con- jei^tures mounting to the highest dgree of probability, and faimg but httle short of certainty. It has ever been the general opinion, that a conviction of the divine truth of the Christian religion was the motive, which impelled Constantine to embrace its doctrines, and to establish Christianity under the sanction of the imperial au- thority. However, Mr. Gibbon, and some other writers of Let. XIV. O?^ HISTOEY. f69 these latter times, seem willing to excise a si?spicion, ll'at in- duce iienis of a political i;Htu<:e might bave vieierfrriiiei- Liiii in lli\oi!i- of that e:djaordin-iry measure. Vv iihoui p:e.S:nd- ina to iiivestigate ihe ^secret movements of the n hia ot a Diinee '/.ho rei.ned fciiitecti huivdred arid seveitiy years ago, a vriiiciy oi c; •^rariStaoces authorize us to question the p'o- piie.ty of Ml. Gibbon's supposition. That elegant ^Vl•:.'e^ imagines, that Constantine, reflectijig on the lUijovernable disposition of the Soojaiis, and the pjecarious tenure of the imperial purple, and obseryiog at the same ih;=e the peace- able manners of the Christians, might have supposed, that by establishing Cliristianity, the bloody reYohjtioos, which had brought so many ot the Empe.ors to an vnliniely death, might in a i^j eat measure be prevented ; and that by attach- ing the Christians to his iaterest, he n^ighi claim the sove- reignty of the empire by divine right for*1iimseh^ and his de- scendants, in imhation of the kings of Jiidah, who had, by that title, so kmg preserved iliQ crown in the family of David ; while the kings of Israel, who held the sovereignty by popu- lar favour, had frequently experienced the sanie fate as the Roman Emperors, w^hose power, hke theirs, was founded on popular, or rather on military election and support. In fa^ vourof this supposition, Mr. Gibbon harangues, tvithhis usii- . al fforidity of style, and fertility of imagination, as a person in love withhisown conjectures ; and supposes the Christian ora- tors, among whom Lactantiiis was the rrtost eloqoent, repre- senting to Constantine that he would be the David of the Ro- mans, and by the claim of Divine ri|iit, lay in his family the foundation of an empire to be tramsUiitted to r" ^ ' ^'i pos- terity. Isijpartial candor mii^t, however, coi _ ^ , aMhe existing circumstances, of the '^'o^: ■■:; empire, in that i^ge, were not such as authorize r.^ ;ja4hat Con^ii^intwe inn- braced the Christian reli^jo!] . . .-::v polificarr} O'h"'^' '"" in- ducements of a temporal nature ; v' ^ n< ■ - itii^lar-i ; o-o- quent, but romantic reayonng ( i :on, tlie disativan- tages-of such a measure, conside^euin a poliiiral view, ovv^r- balanced the advantages. At Constant Ine's accepjsion, and during the whole time of his reign, paganism was the idi.;!on of a vast majority of ihe empire, and a far greater pru t of its military strength lay among the pagans than among the Christians. According to the computation jn3ade bv Mr. Gibbon himself, the number of Christians lii Constantine's P 170 LETTERS Let. XIV. reign -kl not exceed one twentieth part of the inhabitants of the empire ; a calcuiation which affords verj Wtiie ground to sup- pose that the Emperor should think of embracing, and estab- lishing Christianilj in order to render his sovereignf j more secure. It is even a circumstance that must excite the won- der of posteritj, that no revolt of the Pagans took place in consequence of this remarkable change ; and that expiring paganism, with so vast a superiority of strength on its side, made not one single struggle to avert its impending fate. It is certainly a phsenomenon in the history of the Roman em- pire which cannot be accounted for by any remarks that his- tory enables iis to make on the conduct of mankind on any similar occasion, and which can hardly be ascribed to any other cause under Divine providence, than the entirely des- potic slate of the Roman government, the great military re- putation of the Emperor, the inviolable attachment of the sol- diery to him during his life, and the extraordinary respect which they had for his memory after liis dcE^th. We cannot omit to remark, that the very supposition, that Constantine expected, by establishing the Christian religion, to reign by the title of ]3iviiie fight ; and to perpetuate that claim in his f\^mily, can hardly imply less than his conviction of the Di- vine authority of that religion, in consequence of which he might expect from heaven that support, which his estab- lishment of Christianity was not in the least calculated to pro- cure him from his Pagan subjects, in whom the principal strength of his empire consisted. If the celebrated vision of Constantine, which he is said to have seen in his march against Maxentius, and which, in connexion with his subsequent dream, is generally believed to have been the principal cause of his conversion, was a real fact, and not a religious fiction ; that circumstance alone is sufficient to deteniiine the question, and to silence all the arguments of those who would insinuate that he embraced ' Christiiiriity from temporal motives. It is, perhaps, as cu- rious a piece of his lory as any recorded in the annals of the v/oild, and merits, iirtlie highest degree, the attention of the critic and the philosopher. We are informed that Constauiine, being in Gaul, was in- vited by the senate and ciiizens of Rome to undertake a war against Maxentius, who ruled in a tyrannical manner the ca- pital and the province which constituted his part of the em- Let. XIV. ON HISTORY. 171 pire. Constantine, on receiving this iuvilalion, which he probably had solicited, irnmediatelj began his march lowaids the capital of the world. His troops consisted of veteran soldiers, but were far inferior in number to those he knew Maxentius would bring against hirn. He was marching against an enemy, from whom, according to the rules of v/ar among the rival Emperors and Generals of Rome, he was, in case of defeat, to expect no mercy. The enterprize in which he was engaged was of the most hazardous naljire, and the object of singular magnitude and importance. The point to be determined was, whether he should be sole Emperor of the west, or expelled from that part of the empire already under his dominion, and ambition prompted him to make the trial. One of our ecclesiastical historians fixes on ih'm criti- cal period of Constantine's life, to delineate the state of liis mind respecting religious matters, liis ideris of the nature of the Supreme Being, and his reflections on hm providential government and absolute disposal of all things ; as -riso on the mode of worship the most asceptable to Him. The deline- ation is curious and interesting', and althoufrh meiely con jectural, is not iffiprobable,( He saySj thai Constantine, med- itating on his perilous enterprise, the superior force he had to contend with, and the great uncertainty of success, began to make serious reflections on the Divine Providence, and the supernatural interposition of some great and unseen povver, w^hich has tBd ^sposal of human affairs; obssrving, attbe saoje time, that mosf of the Emperors, who adhered lo the wor- ship of that multifarious plurality of gods which the Parcan world adored, had come to a tragical end ; but that his father, Constantine, who it appe?irs had, like all the pL'ilosor liera, been rather a deist than an idolater, alivays worshipped one only Supreme Being and Sovereign of the universe, through whose all-powerful support he had been invariably Ruccesa- ful in his undertakings. In consequence of these reSectiong, says the historian, Constantine being in extreme uncertainty of ?iiind respecting the proper object of adoration, and the most acceptable mode of worshipping him, poured out the anxiety of his soul before the Lord of the universe, calling him to witness the sincerity of his heart, and beseeching him to enlighten his mind in regard to the right aianner of invok- ing his protection and assistance, whether through the me- dium of a plurality of divinities, according to the established ir2 LETTERS Let. XIV. rules of Pagan worship, or as oiie eteriTalPciK] undivided Uni- ty^ m conCofmity lo the precepts of the Chiistian religion. Tiiese are ingenioija coniecfures, bvA they are only con- jectures ; (he pfopriefjof Ihem may, however, be exrimined, and the iiivesligalion inerifs (he attention of the conleDipla- (ive observer, who delights to trace the causes and conse- qiieiices of great eveh.Uj and deveiope ihe operations of the human mind. In the precarions situation in vvhich Constantinethen stood, on uie point of decidirig a contest of snch importancCj on the issue of which his all depended, it is not difficult to conceive that he must have revolved in his mind reflections of a seri- ous nitnre ; and as it was the custom among Pagans more, I believe, than among niodernXJhristians, to look up for Divine assistance, it is not improbable, that the different, and indeed totally opposite opinion of the Christians and Pagans, relative to supernatural things, might excite some doubt in the mind of a thinking man, who found himself in a situation so much needing the protection of heaven, without knowing in what manner to ask it : for it is extremely probable that Constan- tino, and many other Pagans of that age, although not convin- ced of the truth of Christianity, haiJ but little coohdence in the gods they v/orshipped, and began shrewdly to suspect that the whole system of paganism was nothing more than an imposition on the minds of men. In that critical period, when paganism v^as on the decline, ancl rapidly lo|inlp credit, and Christianity not yet established, it is reasonable to suppose that the minds of men must have been much agitated in re- gard to religious subjects. Oil a survey of existing circum- stances of that age, we may, V>dthout hazard, conclude this to have been the case, unless we can suppose the nature and composition of the hsiman mind, at that time, to have been essentially different from what we experience it to be in our days, and from what it has been in every age, when matters of extraordinary impoitance, whether religious or political, liave been in an unsettled state. On the one hand they saw a system, which, from time immemorial, had attracted the veneration of mankind, frilling into disrepute, except among ils priests and other interested adherents. They" discovered that this system could gi^ e no satisfactory solution to that grand problem, the most important, the most difficult, and the most interesting of all others, whether death be a total ex- Let. XIV. ON HISTORY. 173 tinction of being, oi;only a passage to a future state of exhi- ence. On the other hand, Ihey saw a new religion sprung up in the empire diametrically opposite to the rncient sys- tem ; a religion which inculcated infinitely morelunvinous and rational ideas of the nature and attributes of the Supreme Be- ing, and of the religious and moral duties of man, than pagan- ism had ever given ; and which, above ail, professed to solve the great problem of the future and final destiny of the human race, by teaching that the present life is only a state of pro- batioH, that all mankind are destined to a future and far more perfect state of being ; and that all, without distinction, most appear at the bar of the eternal Judge, to give an account of his conduct in this probationary state of existence, and r^.- c€ive the reward due to his works. The solution of tills most important problem, which had so long baffled the elForts of human reason, led to the unravelling of many others, which had exercised the genius, and eluded the researclies of the greatest philosophers of every age. The existence of evil, under the government of a Being infinitely wise, powerful, and good, was easily accounted for on this princi- ple of the probationary nature of this slate of mortal exist- ence, and the remuneration of moral good, with the punish- ment of moral evil in a future state, where all the seeming disorder of things here below shall terminate. The Chris- tian revelation unravelled those intricate and diiScuIt prob- lems, to which all the genius and learning of pliilosophers could give no satisfactory solution, and it laid claim to Divine authority to sanction its doctrines. The Pagans had seen ihe constancy, the fortitude, and even the cheerfulness with which the Christians suifered the most cruel tortures k^r their religion ; a circumstance for which they were unable to account, and which they would have deemed incredible, md they not been eye-witnesses. The thinking part of the Pa- gan world could not but be struck with the contemplation of so wonderful a moral phenomenon, and began to think that there might be something in Christianity with wlsich iliey were unacquainted. It is not possible to fix a more in- teresting period in the history of the human mind, tftn the fourth century, comprizing nearly that portion of i'lmej which elapsed between the commencement of the great persecvition under Dioclesian and Pvlaximian, to the total abo^i'ion of pa- ganism in the reign of Theodosius the great. During the P2 ^r4 LETTERS hm. XtV. whole of tbis period, but more especiall^'^ during the reign of Conri tannine, the Hoiiian world was fluctuating between two religious systems, diametiicaliy opposite to each other; for it must be observed that alihough Christianily was the reli- gion of the imperial court, from the time of Constantine, ex- cept in the short reign of Julian, yet the majority of the peo- ple continued Paj:ans till the reign of Theoclosius. It must, above ail, be considered, that the question which agitated the niinls of men in those days, was not merely concerning phi- lov.:phi-!'al opinions, like those disputes which exercised the reasoning faculties of the learned and ingenious in the preced- ing ages'; nor concerning forms and ceremonies, subordi- nate doctiines, verbal diiFerences, and such other non-essen- tials as have excited the cavils of theologians in latter times. The question related to essentials, to fundamental doctrines am' ideas ; and in line, to matters of the utmost impoitance to mankind. In this iliictaating and uncertain'state of the ii'j.man utide; standinii-. in regard to the most sei'ious and in- teresiing concerns of the species, it may, with great pioba- bility, be supposed that a man of vii^orous intellect, like Consfantine, wlio, ai{!ToiiK,h he had>been much :a;ore instructed in iMcticR flan philosophy, was iutored by experience in an elevated station, must have so netimes reflecfcd on siibjects of such sini;iilar importance, both in a political and moral Yhw. He could not have been an i-mobsei-ving spectator of what was going; forward in ihe vv'orld. and of the revolution which v/as taking; Dlace in the ideas of mankind. Wis cir- cumstances in lliat moment' -its crisis of his aliairs, when about to dispu-e the posgessiori of the metropolis of tlie world, the importance of the congest, and the magnitude of the object, were sufUcient to excite reflection, and. to induce a person so circumstanced to look up to a power possessing an unlimited eont' ol o\ er all mundane events. . When we contemplate the ci itical situation of Constantine, in ihe point of time alluded to, and presume to hazard con- jecture on the state of his mind, as influenced by such a com- bination of circumstances, we must allow this delineation of if, given by historians, to be perfectly consistent with proba- bihty, and extremely appropriate to such a character, in such a situation ; and in this critical moment the miraculous event @f that Emperor's celebrated vision is said to have happen- ed, whichj although it has obtained general credit through a Lkt. XIV. ON HISTORY. 17 b long succession of ages, has of late been called in question by several historians and critics ; especially by the enemies of Christianity, with whose tenets its authenticity is incompatible. Every circumstance in the life of so conspicuous a char- acter as Constanline must be interesting. The singular and important event which is supposed to have determined the conduct of that Emperor, In what has had the most decided influence on the condition of mankind, in all succeeding ages, merits in a pre-eminent degree, the. attention and examination of postei'ity. It is dilEcuit, it is perhaps impossible, either to ascertain the realit}' of the fact, or to prove it a fiction, with such foice of evidence, or even with such probability of conjecture, as may appear satisfactory to an ■ impartial in- quirer. All that can be done, is to bring forward to distinct inspection the chcumstances and arguments which seem ta stamp the mai'ks of authenticity upon the relation, as well as those wliich appear to diminish its credibility. Every one mu t, from the examination of circumstances and appearances, dra'v his own conclusions re-npectin^ the authenticity of this extraordinary narrative, which, in substance, is thus related : ■ — -Constanline being on his march towards Rome, and re- volving in his mind the hazardous nature of his enterprize, and the iiiysterioiis dispensations of the Divine Providence, and fully convini ed of the all-con troliog power of an Omni- potent Being, whose name he knew not how to invoke, and whose favour he knew not how to ask, discovered in the air the figure of a resplendent cross, with this inscription legibly conspicuous : In hoc signo vinces. *'By this sign thou shalt overcome." Both he and his army v, ere astonished at the sight ; but not knowing how to interpret the celestial omen, and finding no satisiactory assurance from the established rules of Pagan interpretation he still remained in the utmost agitation of iniod, between hope and fear, between faith and unbelief. However it is added, that in the succeeding night Christ himself appeared to the Emperor in his sleep, display- ing before his eyes the same triumphant banner of the cross which he had seen in the air the day before, and unequivo^ caliy promised him victory over his antagonist, under its au- spices. Constanline immediately adopted the cross as his standard, aod caused its figure to be engraven on the shields of his soldiers ; and it is certain, that the Labarum, or cross, with the mysterious monogram, expressive of the name of ire LETTEKS Let. XIV. Christ, inclosed in a sort of crown, and placed on the top was used as the imperial standard, both during the reign of Constantine, and those of his successors. After this mira- culous vision and dream, Constantine, full of confidence, marched towards the capital of the world, and at the very gates of Rome gained that signal victory over Maxentius, which ended in the destruction of the tyrant, and placed the conqueror above all o pposition. The success of Constan- tine is certain, however doubtful the miracle preceding it may be esteemed. Eusebius bishop cf Caesarea, an historian of great and de- served celebrity, and generally esteemed of unimpeachable veracity, a man of extraordinary erudition, and an intimate confidant of Constantine, is the author of this narrative; and asserts, that he had the relation of that extraordinary circum- stance from the Emperor's own mouth, in private conversa- tion : so far the history seems to bear such a stamp of au- thenticity as few historical relations can boast. Few his- torians can produce such respectable authority for what they relate. The assertion of so celebrated an author, who declares that he received the whole nEirrative from the mouth of so great an Emperor, w^ho was a spectator of the prodigy and the very person for whose information it appeared, who was the principal actor in the undertaking of which it was intended to prognosticate the success, and who appears to have modelled his future conduct by the impressions he received from its appearance, stamps upon the relation al- most as indubitable a mark of truth as human testimony can give; andconsideringitonly in this point of view, and under these circumstances of probability, scepticism itself could scarcely doubt of the reality of the miracle. But after exam- ining the affirmative side of the question, if we turn the re- verse, it will appear that Eusebius related the circumstance some years after the death of Constantine, when he could neither attest the truth, nor expose the falsehood of the story. This circumstance, at least, if the narrative of Eusebius gave the first intelligence the world ever received of Constantine's vision, diminishes very much its credibility ; for it would, hideed, be very strange, if that emperor had never mention- ed so extraordinary an incident to any other person ; and, admitting this to be the case, we must confess the whole sto» Let. XIV. ON HISTORY. 177 ly has so much fhe^kppearance of a pious fraud, that it can hardly claim a place in the historical creed of posterity. But are those, who call in question the veracity of Euse- blus, certain that the public were not intorined of this extra- ordinary vision before that writer undertook to transmit the partic (liars of it to posterity ? Does it not rather seem that the fact had been pubhshed, and had acquired a general notoriety before Eusebios wrote his narrative? The whole circum- stance appears to have been of such a nature as to be inca- pable of concealment. It is represented as having been visi- ble to the whole army, composed of a mixed number of Christians and Pagans ; and he is said to have consulted the Pagan priests and soothsayers, as well as the Christian di- vines, concerning the meaning of the mysterious omen. We are told that the Christians whom he consulted on the sub- ject of this celestial prodigy, having promised him certain victory under the invincible banner of the cross, he caused the Labafum to be made^ which he adopted for his military standard. If this be a just representation of the case, the thing was of such a nature, that it could not fail of being pub- licly known and talked of. Indeed it seems that if it had not been a fact of pretty general notoriety, Eusebius durst not have ventured to impose upon the world so romantic a tale, especially in connection with circumstances of so public a natui e, and so open to investigation ; that supposing it to have been fictitious, it must have been soon exploded and ridi- culed, both by Pagans and intelligent Christians. It appears, therefore, that the opponents of this miracle have given a wrons: statement of the case in. assertins that Eusebius first published it to the world. May it not rather be presumed, that the whole circumstance had before been publicly known, and that he being desirous of more accurate information than he could gather from common report, relative to an occur- rence of so extraordinary and so important a nature, had in- quired of the Emperor himself, for the purpose of obtaining a circumstantial account of it from his own mouth; and, con- sequently, that when Eusebius wrote his history, he only gave a more correct account of a thing well known before. This is neither a new nor extraordinary case. An author may undertake to transmit to posterity an event of general noto- riety, at the time in which he writes, and yet not be wiUing to rely on popular report for the source of his informatioH. irs LETTERS Let. XIV • He ought, if he would act Ihe part of a judicious and accu- rate historian, to consult such persons, if he knows where to find them, as are perfectly acquainted with the matter. In that respect Eusebius might be, and undoubtedly was, the first who published it to the world ; only if it was generally known before, which, if true, it must have been, he relates it not according to ihe common and popular accounts of it, but as he received it from the Emperor's own mouth. If the case be as it is here supposed, and as it appears extremely probable, the publication of this extraordinary circumstance, several years after Constantine's death, in the manner in which he heard it relatecl by him when living, has nothing uncommon in it, and consequently cannot authorize any im- peachment of the author's veracity. It appears from pretty good historical evidence, that the Labarum was not adopted by Constantine, as his military standard, until many years after this event. Constantine not being jet sole Emperor, he might, probably, for some parti- cular reasons, think it not proper to make any alteration in the military ensigns of the empire. Without attempting to fix the exact time when the LabariuD was first brought into use as the imperial standard, unbiassed reason must per- ceive, and candid impartiality must confess, that this is not an affair of such importance as to be of any weight in esti- mating the authenticity of the history in question ; for when the government of the empire was divided among a plurality of Emperors, it would have been an inconsistent, and, perhaps, a dangerous innovation to adopt the cross for the military en- sign of one division of the empire, while the eagles were dis- played in another. The most proper time for adopting the cross, as the imperial standard, was certainly after a Christian had become sole master of the empire. One important consideration, however, which tends, in no small degree, to render the whole affair of this celebrated miracle and vision somewhat doubtful, presents itself in a striking manner to the mind of the judicious and impartial in- quirer. It is a singular and inexplicable circumstance, that Constantine took no effectual measures to render so extraor- dinary an event as public as possible. A miracle of so une- quivocal, and so important a nature, exhibited in a moment so critical, in regard to the particular interests and political views of Constantine, as well as to the general interests of the Let. XV. ON HISTORY. 179 empire, and of Cbristianitj, ought to have been made univer- sally knovTn, by ail the means which the master of the Roman world could use. If Conslantine had well considered 6f what importance an accurate and authentic information of so stu- pendous a miracle v ould have been to the interests of Chris- tianity, and how much il concerned posterity to have unqsies- tionab(\? evidence of the fact, he would certainly have caused monuments to be erected in all the principal cities of his vast dominions, to commemorate the event, with inscriptions to explain the matter to hm Pagan subjects, and transmit to pos- terity the particulars of so meaiorabie ^ circumstance of his reign. It does not, however^ appear, that any thing of the kii;d was done ; and the reasons why it was not, must for ever remain auion^ those numerous historical uncertainties, which no criticism can decide, and which no sagacity of conjecture can develope. Those uncertainties may authorize us to doubt, but not to deny ; for, after the most minute and criti- cal investigation of this important piece of history, the most sagacious and impartial inquirer will find the varying proba- biUties so numerous and strong, and lying in such opposite directions, as to render it a difHcult task to discover on which side of the question the prepdnderancy of evidence lies. With this inquiiy concerning the authenticity of a miracle, which has excited the attention of all succeeding ages, I shall conclude this epistle; and although the matter in question cannot be positively determined, I can, at least, confidently assure you, that with unfeigned respect, I am, Sir, yours, &c. J. B. LETTER XV. SIR, AFTER endeavouring to investigate the motives which determined Constantino to embrace Christianity, and estab- lish it in the Roman empire, by the imperial sanction, those who delight to trace the history of the human nn'nd, will natu- rally feel their curiosity excited to inquire into the state of religion during the remainder of this memorable reign ; and 180 LETTERS Let. XT. will, in the course of their inquiries, find abundant matter for observation and reflection. During the three first centuries, Ghristianitj had, in its gradual progress, as a sjstefn uniting a body of men under certain rules and ordinances, undergone divers changes, although its fundamental doctrines continued invariably the sanse. Principles, founded on the basis ol eternal truth, must for ever remain true. Neiiher lapse of time, nor any change in the circumstances and opinions of men, can make any al- teration in the nature of what is intrinsically true. But a number of forms, cei eiiicnies, and subordinate opinions, are naturally connected wi^h those fixed principles, which con- stitute the basis of religion; and these are variable. In every community, reli;^ions or political, certain laws and re- gulations are necessary for the welfare of its members. The laws and regulations of political goverument aj e calculated for the particular circumstances, moral or physical, of each com- munity, and must be varied in conformity to the variation of circumstances, and the vicissitudes of human affairs. Hence arises the difference of political systems. The ceremonial part of religion, with its particular institutions and ordinances, may Hkewise be varied according to the various circumstances of different ages, and of different nations ; and have always been considered, by moderate and liberal minded men, as va- riable without any detriment to leading doctrines and funda- mental truths. This marks the distinction between essen- tials and non-essentials in religion. In the commencement of Christianity, when its professors were few in number, and t^ie general tranquillity of the church undisturbed by the jarring interest of its members, the ecclesiastical system, was, as it may reasonably be supposed, of the simplest kind. In proportion as the number of Christians increased, the vari- ous regulations, for the maintenance of order, were necessa- rily multiplied. The dignitaries of the church were, at first elected by the joint suffrages of the clergy and the people ; but, in process of time, the tumult and disorder attending popular elections, caused the suffrages of the people to be laid aside, and the clergy alone claimed and exercised the right of electing their bishops, but after Constantine had giv- en to the Christian religion tJie sanction and support of the im- perial authority, the election of its prelates came directly, or indirectly, under the control of the emperor. During the ^ Let. XV. ON HISTORY. 181 reigns of the Pagan Emperors, the Christians had become a tolerably opulent class of people ; but when their religion had received the imperial sanction, a new scene opened in the church under the auspices of Conslan(ine. This w^as the golden age of Ecclesiastics. Before that important period some churches had been liberally supported by the devo- tion and zeal of wealthy individuals : but yet the situation of the clergy was insecure and contemptible in the eyes of the Pagan world ; but after*?, ards they Hved in princely splendor, honored and esteemed as the first rank of men in the empire. Formerly they had been sunk in the gloom of obscurity, but now they basked in the bright sujishine of honour, wealth, and imperial favour ; the contrast between their present and former situations giving their prosperity a higher relish. To a person who contemplates the aspect of the Roman empire, in that agCj^a new world seems to appear. The system of polytheism and idol-worship, which, from time immemorial had, by its pompous ceremonies and splendid festivals, commanded the veneration of mankind, fallen into disrepute; and Christianity, which had so long been the object of universal contempt, and frequently of cru- el persecution, at last triumphed over ail opposition, and the established religion of the masters of the world. The Ro- man empire saw magnificent churches erected for the wor- ship of the crucified God, whose name had so long been de- spised, and the rites of the Christian religion celebrated with a pomp and solemnity, equal, if not superior to what had been displayed in the Pagan temples. A total revolution was taking place in the texture of religious opinions, and the coinbination of human ideas. What a scene would this have appeared to a Chiistian of the apostolic age, or of that which immediately succeeded ! And how wonderful and striking a spectacle must it have exhibited to those who had lived in the time of the last dreadful persecution under DIoclesian, Maximin, and Galerio?, and had witnessed the contempt in which the Christian religion had been held, as well as the ab- ject state of its professors! To such observers, however, an- other part of the scene must have appeared no less extraor- dinary. They would view, with no small astonishment, the new ly acquired opulence and splendor of churchmen. They would see ecclesiastics possessing princely fortunes, and living in a luxurious manner. What would a Christian, whose 162 LETTERS Let. XV. mind had been formed, whose religious ideas had been mod- elled, by the simple and disinterested maxims of primitive Christiaiiitj, think, on seeing the ministers of the humble and lowlj Jesus, who had not a place wherein to shelter his head,/ displaj the magnificence of sovereign princes ? And what must have been his reflections, on contempiating a sjsteoj of honour and emolument, set up by the proiessed followers of one whose whole life was a continued scene of poverty and sufferings, and whose preaching and practice were entirely calculated to inspire all those who embraced his doctrine, with a sovereign contempt for the things of this v/orld. In the reign of Constantine the church was enriched; but it evidently appears that the spirit of genuine Chidstianity was, in a great measure, extinguished. The Emperor an- nexed pr incely salaries tci the different prelacies ; and the pre- lates, and other ecclesiastics, ijjpou began to lose sight, not on- ly of that humility and contempt of the world, of which the great Author of their religion had given so striking an exam- ple, but also of that difilisive charity and universal benevo- leDce v/hich Christianity so strongly inculcates. Ecclesi- astical history, which hat! hitherto exhibited an horrible and sanguinary scene of the sufferings of the church, under Pagan persecalors, then began to display a not less disgusting view of the persecution of Christians by the hand of Christians, carried on with a cruelty hide short, in some instances, of that which the Pagans had before exercised against them. Before the expiration of the apostolic age, different opin- ions in religious matters began to arise among Christians. . It is Dot, at ihh distance of time, an easy task to develope the opinions mi^ tenets of those ai^ciesit heretics, as most of their Writiogs have been long since lost or destroyed ; conse- quently the knowledge we can have of them most be col- lected froiu tiift representations of their enemies of the ortho- dox par(y ; and daily experience shews how much contro- versial writers are prone to misrepresent the doctrines of their oppoiKvnts. Some of their opinions, however, have been trans-aiiied to o:?, perhaps, without ■ any consider- able ^'.didleralion, and even adopted by modern sectaries. Cerinthiis, a heretic, as he is styled, who lived before the ex- piration of the iii'ai century, is supposed to be the first who broached thedoctriiie of the millennium, founded on some dif- ficult and obscure passages of the Apocalypse. This opin- Let. XV. ON HISTORY. 183 ion has travelled down to our own times, and is held by a great number of learned, respectable, and pious people ; but not with those extravagancies attributed to the Cerinlhians. The Manicheans, who taught the co-eternal existence of a good and an evil principle, were also a conspicuous sect in the pri- mitive ages; and the seism of the Donatists long divided the church into two opposite parties. The difFeient sects of- Christians, who have been branded with the name of heretics, are two numerous to be mentioned in a general view of things ; much less is it possible to investigate their tenets, as thej un- doubtedly branched out into a variety of ramifications, which has ever been the case in regard to religious opinions. It may, however, be remarked, that one great, and perhaps principal cause of those various opinions among Christ iaiis, was their attempting to blend the speculations of Pagan phi- losophj'^, and the prejudices of Jewish tradition, with the doc- trines of Christianity. It is an observation which ought not to escape our notice, that all the proselytes to fjlnietiarric y having been educated in the Jewish or Pagan religions, arid many of them, advanced in years at the time of their conver- sion, it is perfectly consistent with the nature of the hum an mind, that they should still retain many of their ancient pre- judices, and ■ ct many Jewish and Pagan notions, or meta- physical subjects, would be introduced into the Christian system. Ideas once deeply impressed, and remaining long in the mind, are not easily eradicated. Besides, when a niun- ber of individuals think and reason on any abstract s abject, it is, perhaps, impossible that they should all think alike. It is, indeed, hardly possible, in regard to things which may be brought under the inspection of the senses. The ideas and operations of the human m.ind are influenced by a thousand adventitious circumstances ; diiTerent men see things in cif- ferent points of view, and consequently form different com-- binations of ideas. By this reason different opinions in reli- gious matters must always exist. During the predominance of Paganism those quarrels among Christians were held under restraint : while Cbris» tians of every description, orthodox or heterodox, without distinction, saw the sword of persecution drawn against them, or at least suspended over their heads, their mutual rancour was, if not softened, at least confined to the efforts of the Dcn OX the anathemas of intolerant zeal ; but as soon as Chris*- 184 LETTERS Let. XV. tianity, triumphant over the comtnon enemy, had obtained the sanction, and could claim the support of the imperial au- thority, the ditfevent sects of Christians bes^an to manliest to- wards one another a degree of animosity almost equal to the rancoor of the pagan persecution. The diiference of opinion on theological subjects, which caused the greatest division in the church, a division of the longest duration, and which makes the most conspicuous fig- ure io the history of the Christian religion, of any that had happened prior to the reformation begun by Luther, was that which is commonly known by the rsame of the Arian heresy. Of ail the philosophers of autiqup-, Plato bad permitted his sublime gejiius to take the most daring fiighis, in attempting to explore the incomprehensible nature of fbe Supreme Be- ing, the great first cause and self-existent Author of all exist- ence. This Athenian philosopher having elevated his mind to the contemplation of the Deity, could not otherwise com- prehend the divine essence than under the threefold modifi- cations of infinite power, perfect wisdom, and dilTusive good- ness. Those conceptions he expressed by the names of the Great t'irst Cause, or Origin of AH — the eternal Reason or Wisdom, which he called Logos — and the Soul or Spirit, which pervades and animates the universe. His poetical im- agination personified those abstract ideas ; and in the piatonic system those three original principles are represented as three distinct beings, of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness; co- equal, co-eternal and indissolubly united, forming a mjsteri- ous triad in one incomprehensible unity. This sublime and mysterious definition of the Divine na- ture is denominated the Trinity of the Platonists, and comes nearer to the fundamental doctrines of revelation than could be expected from the eiForts of unassisted reason. St. Au- gustine, with othersof the primitive fathers, admiring the sub- lime conception of Plato, says, that with a trifling change, that great philosopher might be deemed a Christian ; and the Pla- tonists asserted, that the beginning of St. John's gospel was an exact transcript of his principles. The sanction given by scriptural testimony to the funda- mental principles of Plato's theology was a strong induce- ment to the learned Christians, of the second and third cen- turies, to study ihe writings of that incomparable philosopher, whose penetrating and comprehensive genius was supposed Let. XV« ON HISTORY. 185 to have anticipated the doctrines of revelation, and formed those conceptions of the divine essence which the Christian system sanctioned and confirmed. The remote consequen- ces, and possible inferences, of Plato's hypothesis were inves- tigated in all their rannlications ; and subtle and inexplicable questions were raised and agitated concerning the nature, equality, and distinction of the Divine Persons of the indivi- sible triad and mysterious unity, questions undoubtedly above the comprehension of the most exalted human understanding ; but yet the prying and restless curiosity of philosophers ex- cited them to explore the secrets of the profound abyss ; and the same spirit of curiosity actuated the Christian theologians, and the Pagan philosophers, in the schools of Athens and Alexandria. Those inquiries, concerning the mysterious and incompre- hensible nature of the Deity, had exercised the minds of the learned Pagans merely as philosophical speculations. The case was altered wlien the same inquiries began to engross the attention of Christian divines. When the eternal Logos, the Word, or the Son of God, had been revealed as the ob-^ ject of the faith and religious worship of mankind, and the basis of their hopes, a clear conception, or rather an implicit belief of these unfatliomable mysteries, was deemed essential lo their eternal interests. These subtle disquisitions became general, agitating the minds of Christians every where, and at last threw the whole church into a state of confusion and discord. Christians were in doubt what opinion they ought to entertain concerning the nature and person of Christ. These points had not yet been determined by the autho! itj of the united and universal church; and every one modelled his opinion by the light of his own understanding. The ma- jority held the doctrine of the Divine Nature of Christ, and the perfect equality of the three Persons of the Trinity ; while a very numerous body, with Arius, a priesf, of Con- stantinople, at their head, maintained that the Son is essen- tially distinct from the Father, and subordinate to him ; that he is a spontaneous and dependent being, created by the su- preme will of the Father, and begotten before all worlds ; that the Father had impressed upon him the effulgence of his glory, and transfused into him the fulness of his spirit ; that he was the framer of the world, and that he govesns ihe uni- verse in obedience mid subordination to the first Person of Q2 *86 LETTERS Let. XT. the Trinity, his Father and Soveieign. Such were the ab- struse doctrines and intricate questions which agitated the Christian world and disturbed the tranquilHty of the church, during the long period of almost three hundred years ; but es- pecially in the fourth century, when the worshippers of the God of mercy and love, the pretended imitators of the peace- able and benevolent Redeemer, having acquired the support of secular power, divided themselves into opposite and hostile parties, thundering out curses against each other in the name of him, who from heaven descended upon earth to bless man- kind. It may easily be conceived, that Constantine, on seeing the professors of Christianity divided into two opposite factions, could not, without regret, conte.T.piate those divisions which rent the church, and disgraced that religion which he had made it so much the object of his endeavours to establish. In order to settle the dispute, and ascertain the real principles of the Christian faith, he convoked the celebrated Council of Nice, A. D. 3*25, which consisted of 318 bishops and other ecclesiastics, to the number of 2048. After a session of two months, in which the Emperor frequently assisted in person, the opinions of Arius were condemned, the equahty of the three Persons of the Diviie Trinity was declared the triie doctrine, and the resolutions of this council, comprised in the Nicene Creed, were published, as the obligatory and only or- tliodox Creed of the Christian church. Constantine had, before he embraced the Christian reli- gion, established liberty of conscience upon the broadest and most rational basis ; nor does it appear that he ever exevcised any kind of persecution against the Pagans, nor would such a measure, indeed have been consistent with good poHcy, as, during the v/hole of his reign, they composed a vast majority of his sribiects. Hov/ever, soon after the Council of Nice, he began to persecute the Arians. He banished Arius into II- lyrium, and excluded the Arian clergy from the reward? and immunities so liberally bestowed on the Catholics. He af- terwards issued an edict, absolutely prohibiting all assemblies of Arians, and other dissenters, under pain of confiscation of property. This was the first disausting instance of the per- secution of Christians by Christians armed with secular pow- er ; fjiit the example has been followed by a long train of im- itations. There is ao doubt, however, of the Emperor's conr Let. XV. ON HISTORY. UT duct, in this respect, being swayed by the insinuations of ec- clesiastics, whose secret motives he was not able to discover and better skilled in marshalling and conducting an army, than in the stratagems of theological warfare, he might easily be impelled by their counsels to violent and even contradic- tory measures. In fact, we see him, at the instigation of a faction of bishops, recalling Arius ; and so far misled by an exhibiti#n of false charges, as to persecute Athanasius, the champion of the council of Nice, and the strenuous assertor of its doctrines, which the Emperor zealously supported, and considered as the orthodox representation of the Christian faith. The reign of Constantine teems with great and important events; among which may be reckoned, the building of Con- stantinople on the site of the ancient Byzantium, and the re- moval of the seat of empire from Rome to that new Capital. The residence of the Imperial Court had, in fact, been remov- ed from Rome abo it thirty years before. The associate Emperors, Dioclesian and Maximin, did not reside at Rome : he formerly resided at Nicoraedia, and the latter mostly at Milan^ Galernis resided at Nicomedia ; Constantius Chlo- rus at York ; and during the space of thirty years before the foundation of Constantinople, Rome had seldom enjoyed the presence of her emperors. The removal of the imperial residence from Rome to Con- stantinople has been exceedingly censured by many writers, and assigned as one of the principal causes of the downfal of the empire. This point is, however, very difficult to deter- mine. We cannot be assured ; we cannot, from general ap- pearances, even suppose that the subversion of the empire would not have happened as soon if the imperial residence had continued at Rome. The reason which induced Con- stantine to fix it at Byzantium, in preference to Rome,, are equally unknown. Jt is supposed that Dioclesian and Max- imin havina: concerted a plan of administration, more regular- ly and systematically despotic than any of the preceding Em- perors, and being; desirous of abolishing all the republican forms which stili existed, and of setting entirely aside the noTi» inal authority which the senate still possessed, had fixed their residence at a distance from the ancient metropolis of the em- pire, in order to avoid being incommoded by the petitions, representations, and remonstrances of that august body. 188 LETTERS Let. XT- Constantine was, probably, actuated in some degree by the same aiotives ; for his adjuinistration was still more despotic than that of Dioclesian and Maxinain ; and he completed that system of despotism which those Emperors had begun. Be- fore the joint reign of the above-mentioned E.nperors, the se- nate had generally been consulted, at least for the sake of' form, although that did not alter the real despotism of the go- vernment ; for the senate scarcely ever failed of being confor- mable to the will of the Emperor, while the Emperor himself was at the disposal of the praetorian guards, or the legionary soldiers. Dioclesian, soon after his accession, adopted the mode of transacting affairs without the formality of consulting the senate ; and after Constantine had removed the seat of empire to Constantinople, the senatorial dignity was no oiore than an honorary title, and the senate could scarcely be reckoned a constituted order in the state. Some attribute Constantine's , choice of a new capital to a dislike he had taken against Rome, on account of the enthusiastic attachment of the city to Pagan- ism. It must, however, be confessed, that the situation of Constantinople was, in almost every respect, infinitely pre- ferable to that of Rome ; and, in taking a view of the extent, situation, and circumstances of the Roman dominions, Con- stantinople and Milan must have presented themselves as the most eligible stations for the commanders of the military force of the empire. Milan, situated near the northern frontier of Italy, was a post peculiarly adapted for that purpose ; for there the Emperor might a.lways be in readiness to repel tiie predatory inroads of the German nations ; who, in the reign of Aurelianus, had thrown Rome itself into a state of alarm and consternation. And Constantinople was the most eligible sit- uation in the whole empire, both as a check to the Persians, and as a barrier against the incursions of the Goths, those ter- rible enemies of Rome, who, in their wicker boats, issuing from the mouths of the Danube, frequently sailed through the Bosphorus and the Hellespont, plundering and desolating Greece, and Asia Minor; and, in the reign of Gallienus, threatened nothing less than an entire devastation of all the eastern parts of the empire, from the Euphrates to the Adri- atic sea. That formidable invasion was notj without great difficulty, and prodigious slaughter, at last repelled by the military abilities and vigorous efforts of the Emperor Claudi- fis ; and in the reign of Probus, the Germans having made a Let. XV. ON HISTORY. 189 dreadful eruption into Gaul, were driven out by that Empe- ror with an incredible slaughter. From that time, however, the Goths and Germans were terrible enemies to the Roman empire. Having tasted the rich plunder of its provinces, they never failed to seize every opportunity of making preda- torv incursions. For that reason the residence of the Empe- rors, with the main body of the military force, at Milan, or in some station in the eastern provinces, not far from the Dan- ube and the Euxine sea, was more necessary, and more con- ducive to the safety of the empire, than if it had always been fixed at Rome. If we consider, not only the geographical position, but also the topographical situation of Constantinople, with a beautiful and picturesque arrangement of the land and water which form its environs, we shall easily be convinced of the eligibil- ity of its situation, and of the preference due to it when com- paied with that of Rome. They are both in a temperate chmate, Rome being situated in 41**, 50', North latitude; and Constantinople in 4 1 *^, 10' North latitude. Constantino- ple is situated on an elevated ground, consisting of gently swelling eminences, rising like terraces one above another, without any of those deep vallies which separate the seven hills on which Rome is situated ; and which, together with the marshes adjoining to the Tyber, rentier the air unwhole- some. The city was Md out in a triangular form, and fill- ed the triangle formed by the harbour, the Bosphorus, and the Proponiis, or Sea of Marmora. The harbour on the north side of ^he city, is secure and capacious, being five hun- dred yards vvide at its entrance, from the Bosphorus, and runs seven miles into the land. From the Euxine sea to the Se- raglio point, the whole length of the Bosphorus extends about 18 miles, and its ordinary breadth about a mile and a half; but in many places somewhat broader, and in some much narrower, with several beautiful windings. In sailing up the Propontis, towards Constantinople, the most enchanting pros- pects charm the eye of the navigator, who, from every part of that, may discover the high lands of either Thrace or By- thisica, and ne\er loses sight of Mount Olympus, till at last the city itself, rising from the strand, attracts his view, and exhibits the most magnificent appearance. Constantinople may, by its situation, command the comiricrce of the vast regions of the North, by means of the Euxine sea, and the 190 LETTERS Let. XT. rivers Don and Dnieper, which discharge themselves into it. By the streight of the Hellespont, which forms the commu- nication between the Propontis and the Mediterranean, as the Bosphorus opens a passage from the Euxine sea to the Pro- pontis, it is equally well situated for the trade of the south and west ; and when Egypt is under its dominion, its posi- tion is extremely advantageous in respect of the trade to In- dia and the eastern coasts of Africa. In fine, geographers commonly tell us, that Constantinople is tlie most eligible sit- uation for commerce that can any where be found ; and when we cast our eyes upon the map, its geographical position seems to indicate the same. We may, however, be impos- ed on by iinquaiiiied descriptions, and general appearances. Geographers, as well as historians, are not always correct; and the omission of one single circumstance will sometimes alter very much the description, as the want or the distor- tion, of one single object, changes materially the appearance of the picture or landscape. The situation of Constantino- pie, considered in a commercial point of view, has one great defect, and is, in that respect, much inferior to London, Lis- bon and several other ports. The length of the Hellespont is not less then sixty miles, and its ordinary breadth not more than three miles, but in many places much narrower. A strong current sets through the Bosphorus, the Propontis, and the Hellespont, from the Euxine sea, into the Grecian Archipeia2;o, and a strong north wind often blows in that re- gion during several months ; which, together with a strong current setting in the same direction, through so narrow a streight, sometimes render Constantinople, for a long time to- gether, almost inaccessible to vessels coniing fiom the Med- iterranean. Those ports, which are situated on the ocean, or on large rivers, which have an immediate communication with it, have a great advantage over those which are situat- ed on the inland seas; such as the Mediterranean, Euxine, Baltic, &c. or on the rivers which fall into them, in having the tides to facilitate the approach and entrance of vessels, in case of a calm or contrary winds; whereas the latter, in similar cases, possess not that advantage ; and if a strong wind sets in the same direction, with a strong current, their aggregate force is so great, that it is almost impossible to nTake head against it. This is the great disadvantage of the commercial situation of Constantinople, which the strong Let. XV. ON HISTORY. 191 north winds, that often blow in those parts, the rapid cur- rent alwajs setting from the Euxhie, and the long and nar- row strieght of the Hellespont, all combine, at certain times, to render it almost unapproachable. It must, however, be granted, that Constantinople enjoys an excellent commercial situation, although not the best that can be found, as it has been often asserted. Its position was also the most eligible that Constantine could have chosen for his new capital, it be- ing a most commanding post for repelling the attacks of the enemies of the. empire, and almost unequalled in regard to the pmenitj and beauty of its situation. Although historians may conjecture, that the removal of the imperial residence contiibuted to hasten the downfal of the empire, it is a certain fact, that the fixing of it at Con- stantinople, put a final period to the passage of the barbari- ans through the Bosphorus, who could never after force that insurmountable barrier ; and Greece, as well as Asia Minor, was secure from their ravages, until Valens unadvisedly suf- fered the Goths to pass the Danube, and received their arm- ed b^nds into the heart of the empire. In after ages Con- stantinople presented j^n insurmountable obstacle to the pro- gress of the Persians, under Chosroes, and resisted all the attacks of the Avans, the Goths, and other northern enemies. During the existenc®^f the Caliphate, that city was the bul- wark of Europe against the Saracens ; and fell a prey to the Turks so late as, A. D. 1453, one thousand and forty- three years after Rome was taken and plundered by Alaric, and nine hundred and seventj^-seven years after the entire subversion of the Trestern empire. Indeed, no good reason can be given why the empire might not have been as well de- fended, when Constantinople was the capital, as if Rome had always retained that prerogative ; and it is no improbable conjecture, that if the imperial residence had not been re- moved to Constantinople, all the eastern part of the empire would have fallen a prey to the Persians, on the one hand, and to the Goths on the other, without prolonging, for any considerable time, the existence of the western empire. Among the reflections which naturally arise from the con- templation of a period so important, and so interesting to posterity, as the reign of Constantine, it is impossible not to remark, that, while he governed the Roman empire with a more distinguished lustre than most of his predecessors, and 192 LETTERS Let. XVe was uniformly successful in every political measure, as he had invariably been in every military enterprise, his person- al tranquillity was considerably disturbed by the disputes of theologians, and the intrigues of ecclesiastics. His domestic felicity also suffered a melancholy abatement, from the neces- sity he found, or imagined that he found himself under, of putting to death his son Crispus, a prince of the most pro- mising accomplishments ; whose mind had been formed by the precepts of the learned and eloquent Lactantius ; \vho had been trained to arms under the victorioiis banners of his imperial father, and had signalized his courage and conduct, in so conspicuous a manner, in the memorable forcing of the passage of the Hellespont, in the last and decisive contest between Constantine and Licioius. The particulars of this melancholy transaction are variously related by historians ; and the whole aiiair seems to have been conducted in so mysterious a manner, that we can be certain of nothing but the fact itself, without being die to deveiope the circumstan- ces which wei'e the cause of it. This reflection, however, we cSiUiot b!it make, that it was either a great crime on Constantine, or a great misfortune to him. Hard must his heajt have been, if he could thus destroy so accomplished and promising a son, without a full conviction of the absolute necessity of so severe a measure ; and ke must be pronounc- ed extremely unfortunate, if such necessity did really exist. It is, however, a remarkable fact, that some of the greatest men, both in ancient and modern times, have been extreme- ly imhappj in their domestic concerns. The rebellion of Absalom against his Father David, and its tragical issue ; the murder of Sennacherib, in the temple of the god Nis- roch, by the hands of his ow n sons Adrammelie and Share- zar; the severities which Augustus Cassar was obliged to use against his only child, his daughter Julia, on account of her scandalous life ; and the havoc which Herod the Great made in his own family, by the execution of his beautiful and bebved wife Mariamne, his two most promising sons, and otiieis of his near relatives, may be adduced as instances, ar!iong a great number of others which occur in ancient his- to' y, that ihe highest degree of human power, exaltation, and splendor, do not always exempt their possessors from do Ae^tic mfp.Vic'iiy, no more than from personal misfortune, and the ordinary sufferings of moitaiiiy. To these instan- Let. XVI. ON HISTORY. rs.S ces, and many others in ancient history, may be added, a number of a similar naiure, in modern times ; among whirh, the iragical catastrophe of Don Carlos, son of Philip the Second, of Spain ; and that of the Czarowitz, son of the im- mortal Peter the Great, of Russia, stand as conspicuous and distinguished proofs of the uncertain and fluctuating nature of all human ielicity. I am, Sir, yours, &c. J. B. LETTER XVL SIR, I CONCLUDED my last with some serious and striking reflections on the imcertainty of human greatness, as a source of personal felicity. The subsequent state of Rome, from this epoch of its unparalleled power and grandeur, which we have just been contemplating, will exhibit a memorable instance, that the greatness of nations, as well as of individ- uals, is liable to the most melancholy and striking vicissi- tudes ; and that national, as well as individual prosperity and felicity, are of an uncertain tenure. Our observations being now brought forward to that period, when Rome no being longer considered as the seat of em- pire, had passed the meridian of her splendor, and saw her glory begin to diminish, our curiosity is naturally exciiea to examine the state of that celebrated city, when in the acme of its gTeatness. It would be a pleasing gratification, if , any of the ancient writers had furnished us with the means of comparing the most remaikable cities of the ancient world, with those of modern times, especially io regard to popula- tion. This is a desideratum io history which cannot be ob- tained ; and it is particularly surprising (bat none of the lit- man historians have left us any accoimt of the population of Rome. It could not, indeed, be supposed, that th;jii- ca'ctf- lations, in this respect, would have been exact; biit thoy might.^certainly have met with authentic documertts, snfBcient to have enabled them to come to a tolerabl} jear approxi- mation, in computing the number of the inhabituiits r°- " ^ R 194 LETTERS Let. XVL celebrated metropolis of the world ; and if their computa- tioBS had not been very wide of the truth, they might, at least, have regulated our conjectures. The moderns, who huve examined the subject, andgiven us the resnlt of their research- es, have differed so widely in their opinions on the subject, that their conjectures tend rather to mislead than to disect us in forming any conclusion. To point out a few of them,' will shew how widely they disagree, and how litde we can depend on their representalions. Mr. Martin, says, in his jtravels, that, in the reign of the first Claudius, the inhabitants of Rome amounted to 6,986,000 ; but, says he, those of the subuibs must be taken into the reckoning, and they extend- ed to the distance of forty miles. The same author then tells us, that the city is about 1 3 miles in circuit, round the walls ; some say fifteen. He then adds, that Rome, before the time of Aarelian, was only nine miles in circuit, and had undergone vevy little alteration in that respect since the reign of Servios Tuliius. In Mr. Martin's statement of the popula- tion of Rome, there must be a gross error, unless he include, in his accomit of the suburbs, most of the towns and villages of the Campagnia. His mistake seems to have originated from the census of the Roman citizens, taken m the reign of Claudius, who succeeded Cahgula in the empire. This cen- sus amounted to about 6,945,000 ; but it is to be observed that this was not the number of inhabitants in the city of Rome, but that of the free Roman citizens, dispersed throughout Ihe v.d3ole empire ; and which, as Mr. Gibbon observes, might with a proportionate number of wom.en and children, amount to about 20.000,000. Mr. Gibbon, describing the ci- ty of Rome, as it existed under the imperial government, says, " The circuit of the walls was accurately measured by the mathematician Amm-ooius, and found to be twentyone miles, and lying almost in a circular form« The architect, Vitru- vh??, who flousished in the reign of Augustus, says, that the innumerable habitations of the Roman people Vrould have spread themselves far beyond the limits of the city ; and that the ground being contracted on every side by the villas and gardens of the opnient citizens, suggested the com- mon expedient of raising the houses to an exceeding great heiaht ; so that it was repeatedly enacted, by Augustus and Nero, that private edifices should not exceed the height of seventv feet froio the ground ; but the successive testimo- Let. XVI. ON HISTORY. 1^5 nies of Pliny, and others, prove the insufficiency of those edicts to restrain the inhabitants of Rome from carrying their/^ liouses to an enormous height. Many families were lodged in one house, or insulag, as at Paris, a different family occupj- ing each story. Some modern authors assert, that, in the reign of Augustus, Rome was fifty miles in circuit, and con- tained 453,000 men able to bear arms ; which, with a pro* portionate number of women, children, old men, &c. would I make the whole number of inhabitants not less than three mil- lions. That accurate writer, Bl. de Messance in his Recherches sur la Po]mlcdio7iy assigns to Paris, 23,565 houses, 71,12 4 families and 576,000 inhabitants ; and Pvlr. Gibbon says, that if we calculate the number of the inhabitants of ancient Rome, according to the principles of M. de Messance, we may estimate theni^bout the number of 12,000,000, a calcu- lation not improbable ; a number not excessive for that metio- polis of the world, although much exceeding the population of the greatest cities of modern Europe. Fiorn ali llicse disagreeing accounts, and random conjectures, no calculalion, in the least degree approximating to exactness, can be made. The total number of houses is, however, accurately stated in a description of Rome, composed in the reign of TlieodosiuSj between fifty and sixty years after the translation of the seat of empire to Constantinople, and consequently at a time when the ancient capital must be presumed to have been on the decline. In that statement, the number of domus orhouseSg of the grandees, was IT'S® ; and the number of insula?, or plebeian habitations, was 46,602. In esiimalihg the popu- lation of Home, the best ground we have to go upon, is the mode of building, which was to carry their houses to an enormous height, as already observed ; the extent of the ci- ty, and ike number of houses and streets. If the wall of Anreiian inclosed the vast circuit of twenty-one miles, the city was of a vast extent ; and if its form had been perfe >i.'y circular, as it rrearly was, would have contained thirty-seven square miles and three quarters, within that circumference, a space nearly twice as large as that occupied by London, and its suburbs. So great an extent, with houses carried to such an height, indicates a vast population ; but the streets of Rome were few in number, not exceeding four h^mdred and twenty-four ; a circumstance v/hich makes it appear, that a considerable quantity of ground was taken up by the back? 196 LETTERS Let. XVL yards and other appurtenances. The number of houses, however, of which we have an exact account, as taken in the reign of Theodosiiis, seems to shew that there could not be much waste ground ; for according to this description, the extent of Rome was not twice as much as that of Paris ; and yet tliC houses in the former city were more than double the number of those in the latter. In an octavo edition of one of our popular books of p;eographj, where the population of London is estimated at one million, or eleven hundrjed thou- sand, which, however, has been found to be an exaggerated calcaiation, liiis marginal note is ann^^xed : — " neither of the ancient ci'ies of Babylon, nor Nineveh, nor even ancient Konie i:seif, had ever a commerce sutHcient to employ and supply so vast a nnmber of inhabitants." This, however, is reasoning upon very random suppositions. Of Nineveh we know little or nothing, except what mayl>e gathered fiom the book of the prophet Jonas, where it is described as an exceeding great city, of three days journey ; but whether in length or in circuit, we are not informed, although we must suppose that the latter is meant; and that it contained per- sons who could not distinguish between the right-hand and the left, which must be understood of young children. If Nineveh was three days journey in circuit, we must suppose it to have been built on an open and extensive plan, like Babylon, or, perhaps, still more open ; and this indeed was most probably the case ; and whether the hint given in the above mentioned place of its population ought to be under- stood in a hteral sense, or regarded as an hyperbolical ex- pression, in the oriental style, every one is at liberty to form his own opinion. Of Babylon we know as little, in regard to its population, or its means of supply and employment for its inhabitants, as we do of Nineveh, except that the great quantity of open ground within the squares, formed by the inti rsections of the streets, furnished a considerable supply of the necessaries of life ; but the open plan of that city af- fords an unquestionable proof, that its population could bear no proportion to its extent, according to our notions of the population of large towns ; and that the inhabitants could not be so nume'ous, nor perhaps, half so numerous, as those of London. But, from the extent of Rome, and the number of habitations it contained, which amounted to more than dou- ble the number of those in Paris, the number of its inhabi- Let. XV. ON HISTORY. l^T tants must have consitlerablj exceeded the population of any city of (he modern world ; for whatever romantic stories we have read in our common books of geography, concerning the population of Constantinople, Cairo, and Pekin, it is certaiiv that not one of those cities is equal to London in the number of inhabitants. By the most authentic documents, on which we can found a calculation, it plainly appears, that Constan- tinople cannot contain more people than Paris ; and thaf nei^- ther of them contains so many as London, including the sub-- urbs, and the city of Westminster. Peldn is now, undoubt- edly, the largest city in the world. Mr. Anderson, in his relatiq;! of Lord Macartney's embassy to China, says, " that it is a square of nine miles every way ;" but he adds, " that the streets are 140 feet wide, and houses, except those of the Mandarins, only one story high ;" from which circumstance we may easily conclude, that notwithstanding its immense ex- tent, its population cannot equal that of London; and it is a strange misapprehension of some, who, while they suppose that neither Nineveh, Babylon, nor Rome, could have a trade sufficient to employ and supply so many inhabitants as Lon- don contains, give to Pekin, the inland situation of which is still less favourable to^commerce, a population twice as number- ous as that of our metropolis. It would only be a reasonable question to ask those writers, how Pekin provides employ- ment and supplies for two millions of hihabitants, if ancient Rome, the mete*opolis of the civilized world, could not em- ploy and supply the half of that number. But the popula- tion of great cities is estimated strangely at random, in many of our geographical books. Some compute the population of Paris, at 800,000, others at 500,000, and others at 600,000, whicli last calculation seems to be the nearest approximatiori fo truth. The number of inhabitants in Moscow, which, ex- cepting Pekin, is perhaps the most extensive city of tlie mod» ■ ern world, has been much exaggerated, even to the incredi- ble number of a million ; and even those of PetersBurgh have frequently been reputed at 400,000 ; but Mr. Cox, a most hitelligent traveller and accurate observer, a&signs 130,000 to Petersburgh, and 400.000 to Moscow. Butancient Rome, as far as we can form an idea, f.oia the imperfect descriptions of it yet extant, especially from the number of its houses, the best criterion whei>eby to es- timate its population, appears to have been built on a verr R 2 198 LETTERS Let. TVt different plan from that of Moscow or Pekin ; as also, from that of Babjlon of old ; and seems to have been as much crowded with inhabitants as either London or Paris ; and if we maj be permitted to hazard a conjecture, from existing circumstances collectively coasidered, its population cannot be supposed to have been much less than Ihat of these two cities taken together, and which amounts to about one mil- lion and a half. As to the observation in the marginal note before alluded to, that Rome had not a commerce sufficient to employ and maintain so vast a number, it appears to be found- ed on t\ie erroneous supposition, that ancient Rome was a commercial city, like London, and subsisted in the same manner bj trade ; whereas the case was directly the con- trary. London draws a great part of its wealth frosn com- merce ; but Ecme acquired the whole of hers from \iolence and rapine. Loodon is an emporium of commerce ; Rome was, in plain lan-:;:uage, a den of robbers, the residence of the plunderers of the world. London, however, as nmch as it is enriched by foreign traffic, is also as much enriched, aod its nnrnerous inhabitants obtain as much, or even more e'liploy- nient from its internal commej-ce, from the circumstance of its being the residence of the coiirS and of th(t nobility and gen- try ; and in consequence of its being the capital of England, would be a large, t ich, and populous city, without the advanta- ges of foreign hafiic. Tiie capital of y wealthy and exten- sive emv-\ e, w ei e an oDulent and splended nob'lity nx their resicttnce, aiisst always have a brisk trade within itself, and attract a great iiijmber of inhabitants, to whom it gives employment, in providing for the conveniences and luxuries of the opulent. It is chiefly this inlernal trade that gives employment to the numerous innkeepers, shopkeepers, and mechanics, of our metropolis. Paris afibrds a striking illus- tration of this argument That great capital is so situated as to possess no commercial advantages ; and yef, in splen- dor and shew, it surpasses every other city in the world, and is inferior to none, except London, in population. This ari- ses entirely from its having long been the metropolis of a great and flourishing nation, the residence of a brilliant court, and a numerous and opulent nobility ; and the general resort of the nobility and gentry of other countries. All these ad- vantages appertained in an eminent degree to Rom.e. The city, during almost seven hundred years of successful war Let. XVI. on HISTORY. 199 and rapine, had accumulated the wealth of all the surround- ing nations. No one, who has the least acquaintance with historj, can be ignorant of the immense riches, and extrava- gant expenditure of some of her prinicipal citizens. The luxurious and splendid style in which the grandees of Rome lived, and the superb edifices every where erected, would necessarily employ a great number of artisans of every kind. The countries, of wliich London and Paris are the capitals, are of small extent and population, when. compared with the Roman empire. London is the metropolis of a country en- riched by commerce ; and her merchants vie, in opulence, with the nobility of most countries ; but it is very doubtful whether the wealth of London, including all her rich traders, be equal to that of the opulent citizens of ancient Rome. There is no doubt but the persons of landed property in Ro ne, were far more numerous, and possessors of far greater estates, than those who reside in any modern capital. In re- gard to emploj^ment and supplies, the poorer class of citizens were not only free from taxes, but drew almost an entire maintenance from the tributary donations; and the opulence and iuxuTy of the wealthy would give employment and sup- port to a ni?merous mixed mass of people froQi the provin- ces, who, acquiriiag fortunes, would in time vie with the g; andees themselves, as it is frequently seen in great cities. From these principles of reasoning, grounded on well known circumstances, aod aotiiorized by a mass of authentic histo- rical evidence, it plainly appears, that any comparison be- tween Rome and London, founded on the respective com- merce of those two cities, must be absurd. There is not the least resemblance in their Dolilical or social circumstan- ces, their economy or mode of supplies. London iflourish- es by commerce, Rome flourished by her former rapine ; and, like London, Paris, and all other great capitals, could not fail of having within herself a very brisk internal trade, of which the effects cannot be calculated with any degree of accuracy. These observations on the population of ancient Rome, will, I believe, be not ill grounded ; at least they carry the appearance of strong probability. With every sentiment of imjfeigned respect, I am, Sir, yours, &c. J. B. 200 LKTTSRS Let. XVII. LETTER XYIL SIR, AFTER endeavouring, from the broken hints and scatter- ed fragoienls of historians, to delineate the aspect of the Ro- man empire, from the commencement of the imperial govern- ment, under Augustus, as far as to the end of the briliiant and important reign of Constantine, let us now proceed to take a general view of the events which took place after the death of that Emperor, in order to trace not onlj the political history of the empire, but also the revolution of human ideas. It is well known, that Constantine, supposing undoubted!/ that the Roman empire was sufficiently extensive to furnish an ample patrimony for all his descendants, incurred the fatal mistake of dividing its vast domain among his three sons, Con- stantius, Constans, and Constantine. Within three years after their father's death, Constans invaded the dominions of his brother Constantine, who being drawn into an ambuscade, and slain, left Constans in possession of two-thirds of the Roman W03*ld : but soon affer, Magnentius revolting against Constans, surprised him in hunting^^, and put him to death; and Magnenllus being, in the next place, defeated by Constantius, terminated his life by suicide ; and thus, by the disastrous fate of his brothers, Constantius became sole Emperor, A. D. 3.53. It is, at this time, to little purpose to exarnine the particular circumstances which gave rise to those civil wars, or deter- mined their issue ; this, however, we can but observe, that by those fatal divisions the strength of the empire was exhausted^ and Roman valor antl discipline turned against itself, instead of being employed against the enemies of the state. Constantius dying, A. D. 361, Julian, commonly call- ed the Apostate, son of Julius Constantius. and nephew of the great Constantine, assumed the imperial purple. The ishort reign of this Emperor displays a signal instance of the w^onderful dispensations of Providence in favour of the Chris- tian religion, which merits the attention and observation of posterity. This Emperor, marching agaiust tlie Persians^ Let. XVII. ON HISTORY. 201 was so infatuated by his ideas and expectation of conquest, as to destioj the fleet of boats which he had upon the ^l igris, and j ashlj' shut himself up in the Persian territories, where he suiiered himself to be allured by spies, who feigned them- selves to be deserters from the king of Persia, to advance far into the Persian territories ; being made vainly to believe that the kmg diust not face him in the field, but was flying be- fore him. This farce was carried on until the Roman army, having advanced very far into an unknown country, was, at last, involvea m the midst of sandy deserts, and began to teel the eitecfs of famine. At this critical juncture their guides suddenly disappeared, and the Persian menarch made his ap- peal ance wilh the whole military force of his kingdom. The improvident Emperor then discovered his error. The want of provisions rendered a retreat necessary ; betwixt that mea- sure, and perishing with famine, there was no alternative. The retreat was accordingly begun, during which they were continually harrassed by the Persians, who carefully avoided any close engagement. The heavy armed legions were nei- ther accustomed to, nor equipped for, this desultory mode of fighting, and could make no impression on the Persian caval- ry, which made incessant attacks, and precipitate retreats, and were no sooner repulsed than they immediately rallied and renewed the engagement. The Roman army, which, at its entrance into Persia, was one of the finest the empire had ever sent out, now exhibited a shocking spectacle of distress. In those disastrous circumstances the Romans at last gained the banks of the Tigris, which, for want of their boats which Julian had madly destroyed, they could not pass. Military history does not record, and imagination itself can hardly con- ceive, a more distressful situation than that of the Roman ar- my, exhausted with fatigue, and perishing with hunger ; a deep and rapid river in front, and the whole armed power of Persia in their rear. In those circumstances the Persian king made, in the night, a general assault on the Roman camp. All was a scene of tumultuous confjision and promiscuous slaughter, until at last Roman valor proved successful in re- pulsing the enemy ; but, amidst the confusion of that dreadful night, the Emperor received a mortal wound, which in a few hours terminated his existence, and compelled him to appear before the tribunal of that Judge whose worship he had re- solved to abolish, and whose name he had designed to oblit- 202 LETTERS Let. XVII. erate from the minds of men. We have been told that Juli- an took a handful of his own blood, threw it up towards hea- ven, exclaiming, Vicisti GalilxB vicisti ; — " Thou hast con- quered, Galil^ean ; Thou hast conquered;" Galilaean being the name by which he contemptuously called Christ. This story has been universally circulated, and pretty generally believed. It hath sometiiing of a romantic cast, but is not, on that account, the less probable, as it was suited to the char- acter of that Emperor. However, although this story be not in itself improbable, when we consider Julianas aversion against the name and religion of Jesus, is a thing concerning which historians might easily be misinformed, among the va- rious reports which would undoubtedly be cnxulated relative to an event of such importance as the death of Julian, in a situation so critical and interesting to the empire, and espe- cially to the Christian party. This consideration ought to render us cautious how we admit, as indubitable truths, such assertions as have, perhaps, no other bails than a vague re- port, or mere imagination. The death of the Emperor Juli- -an, is, however, an event which merits particular notice ; and, perhaps, contributes not a little to influence the religious state of Europe at this day. There is no doubt but he had con- ceived the design of extirpating the Christian religion ; and if Providence had permitted his reigo to have been long and prosperous, like those of Constantine, and some few more of the Emperors, it is impossible to calculate how fatal its e^ fects might have been to Christianity ; for one very import- ant circumstance distinguishes JuHan from all the former persecuting Emperors. -^ It has already been observed, that, among all the Pagan Emperors, very few, if any, had been persecutors from personal inclination. Some of them were favourably disposed to the Christians ; and others were indif- ferent about the matter, and would never have turned their attention to the professors of Christianity, had they not been- influenced by the suggestions of prie^sts. and other interested persons. Julian, on the contrary, was a persecutor from principle. He had been educated in the Christian religion, and had not only apostatized from its doctrines, but manifest- ed the most rooted a\ ei slon against Christianity, Avhich he had already begun to take the most decisive, and apparently the most eiTeciual measure to extirpate. From such an ene- my the church had reason to expect a more determined ancV Let. XVII. ON HISTORY. 203 persevering hostility than from these Pagan Emperors, who, had no personal enfr.itj against Christianity, or its professors. The death of a man, in so critical a moment, may, therefore, be looked upon as a distinguished link in that mysterious chain of causes and eflects which constitutes the plan of Di- vine providence. It is impossible to calculate exactly the possible etFects of moral causes. It is even difficult to deve- lope their actual consequences, through all their various com- binations. Had not, however, the circumstances of the modern world been influenced by the events which took place in the reign of Constantine, and by the disastrous fate of Julian, we might, at this day, have bended the knee before the gods of Pagan Rome, or prostrated ourselves before the Woden, Thor, and other grim idols of the northern nations. It ma}^ be remarked, that if Julian had appointed, or the army elected another Emperor, of principles equally averse to Christianity, his death would not have dispelled the storm w^hich was gathering in the Christian horizon; but Julian's superstitious opinion, that his untimely fate was a mark of the wrath of the gods, would not presume to incur their fur- ther displeasure, by presuming to nominate a successor ; and Jovian, a Christian ©fficer, was elected Emperor , who, in the perishing situation of the army, was obliged to conclude a dis- advantageous peace with Persia, and to purchase a safe re- treat by the cession of Mesopotamia, the strong city of Nisi- bis, &c. We are not informed of any objection being made against Jovian's religion by the soldiers, nor have we any historical documents whereby to judge, whether the Christians or the Pagans composed the majority of the army. It is, however, certain, that a \evy great number of Christians served under the banners of Julian, the avowed enemy of Christianity^ as a numerous mass of Pagans followed the standard of Constantine, the subverter of their religion ; and as we have already observed it to be a matter of surprise, that no revolt of the Pagans ever happened in the time of Constantino, so it appears equally remarkable, that the Chris- tians never manifested any disposition to oppose the measures of Julian. It seems as if the doctrines of non-resistance and passive obedience had .been the common creed of both Christia^is and Pagans, in that early age. The Emperor, Jovian, dying soon after his election, emd the conclusion of the peace with Persia, Valentinian, another 204 LETTERS Let. XVIL Christian commander, was decorated with the imperial pur- ple, and associated his bi other Valens as his colleague in the empire, assigning to him the eastern part, while he himself ruled the west. In the reia;n of Valens, a singular event took place, which U, by many juaicious historians, esteemed the first step in the subversion of the empire. The Huns, a Tartar nation, being di iven out of their own country by the Siem.pi, afier a number of migrations, came like a torrent upon the Goths, on the north side of the Danube. The country being subdued, an immense crowd of Goths presented them- selves on the banks of that river, requesting an asylum in the Roman dominions. This being granted, on condition of de- livering up their arms and their children : the children, at least those of rank, were accordingly delivered up as hostages ; but through the mismanagement, or malpractices, of the Ro- man governors of those provinces, they were suffered to re- tain their arms. The number of Goths who passed the Danube, on this occasion, was computed at about 200,000 armed men, with their wives and children along with them. Another army of Goths then appeared on the banks of the river, requesting an asylum : this was refused, but they pass- ed without leave, and being ill supplied with provisions, all the Goths united, and commenced a war against the empire ; and, after various skirmishes, the Emperor Valens, although his nephew Gratian was on his march to join him, being un- willing to share his glory with another, gave battle to the Goths in the plains of Adrianople, and was totally defeated. The loss on the side of the Romans was exceeding great, and this defeat was considered as the most severe stroke they had felt since the battle of Cannse. The Emperor Valens was never more seen, and Vt^as supposed to have been con- sumed in the flames of a cottage, where he had taken refuge, A. D. 378. After this dreadful disaster, Theodosius, a native of Spain, was made Emperor of the east, and in four years and a half terminated the Gothic war, in which he displayed consum- mate abilities and prudence. The Goths had lands assigned them in the Roman provinces, and submitted to the Roman government ; but were governed by their own laws, forming an Imperium in Imperio. Theodosius was, in every re- spect, a second Constantine. Like him, he rendered the em- pire triumphant over all its enemies, extinguished intestine Let. XVII. ON HISTORY. 205 commotions J and estaljlished orthodox CbrisHanify upon a solid basis ; and, finally, in ioiifation of his exain|j|ie, divided the eiiipire between his two sons, Arcadius and flonoiious ; assigning to the former (he eastern, and to the latter the western part. This was the last and fatal division of the Roman empiie, which, from thai period, is generallj distin- guished by writers as two separate and independent states ; and this seesiis to have been the leading canse which preci- y pitafed its doWnfa|._ The two different monarchies inl'.> which the Roman enripire was now divided, gradually became stran- gers to each other, and even regarded each other's prosi- perity with a jealous eye When the western empire was hard pressed on every side by the northern invaders, tlie eastern empire seemed quite unmoved by its calamities, and made no efibrt tc avert its impending doom. This aliena- tion appeared more visibly in every successive reign; and after a long train of disasters, of which the melancholy nar- ratives have crowded the ensanguined page of history, Rome, so long the mistress of the world, fell a prey to Gothic plun- der, while Constantinople appeared totally unconcerned at the event. Before the imperial city was ransacked by fo- reign enemies, the western empire had long shev/n every symptom of a .ed society; or else their superfluous numbers must Imve been successively cut off in wars with the Romans. The physical and moral circumstances of the case admitted jio other alternative. The vast countries extending norih- waixi, liom the Rhine, the Dannl>e, and the Euxine, compre- hending Germany, Poland, Russia, Sweden, Denmark and Norway, foroied an im-iiense nursery for the human species. The more northern nations moving southward, and over- whelming the more southern tribes, resembled a vast deluge, w^ave compeliiog wave in continual succession, until the great mass of barbarians was accumulated upon the Roman frontier, ^as we have seen in the case of the Goths and the Huns, in the reign of the Emperor Valens. Duiing the latter ages of the empire, those invasions had followed one another in almost continual succession. We have seen, that in the reign of Gailienus, the empire seemed to be verging towards its disso- lution. It was, at that time, preserved from destruction by the consummate abilities, and vigorous efforts, of tho^e war- like Emperors, Claudius, Probus, and Aurelian; and its greatness maintained, with difficult}', by Dioclesiauj Maximin, Let. XVIL ON HISTORY. 211 Galeriiis, and others. Constantine had restored it to the highest pitch of its former power and grandeur, and his great military fame, with the real or apparent energy of his govern- ment, restrained the attempts of all the enemies of Rome. But in the joint reign of Valentinian and Yalens, the Goths, and other nations of the north, renewed their invasions ; and, during a space of almost a whole century, scarcely ever ceased from attacking the empire in every point, the whole length of the northern frontier, from the mouth of the Rhine to that of the Danube. The eastern empire firmly maintaining itself against the invaders, they almost all turned their arms against the west, until the Roman power sunk under their reiterated attacks, and the imperial city itself fell a pi ey to the invaclers. To have maintaiued the Roman empiie against such swarms of enemies, it ought to have remained undivided, and the Em- peror should always have been a Claudius, or a Probus, an Aurelian, or a Constantine. We have observed the wealth, the luxury, and splendor, and endeavouieu to estimate the extent and population of Rome, while in the zenith of her greatness. Of her state, in those unprosperous times of her declining power, it is some- what ditlicult to form a conjectine ; whether the imperial city had much declined in opulence and luxury, between the reign of Tiieodosius the Great, and its capture by Alaric, is not easy to determine. It is, however, natural to suppose, that this must have been the case, and that the decline of the metiopolis must have accompanied the general dechne of the empire. By the loss of its provinces, one after another, and consequent fy its tributes, not only the empire w^ould suffer a great defalcation of revenue, but the Roman citizens, of whom the poorer sort had been maintained by the tributary dona- tions, must have felt a great deficiency in their supplies. Many of the grandees of Rome would lose their estates in the provinces occupied by the enemy ; but yet we do not find that the luxury of that city was much diminished, at least during a considerable time. In a city where the principal wealth of the world had been concentrated, a great derange- ment might take place in public affairs, and likewise a great diminution of private opulence, before a luxurious people would display any visible symptoms of poverty. Besides it is no improbable conjecture, that many of the opulent indi- viduals in the provinces, exposed to the inroads of the ene- 212 LETTERS Let. XV IL my, would remove their property, and take refuge in the capital ; which, besides the gratification of every desire, held out also a prospect of security ; and on that account a consi- derable part of the remaining wealth of the empire would be concentrated in the imperial city, which, for that reason, would not, perhaps, exhibit symptoms of decline so early as the provinces. It may, however, without any hazard of forming an erroneous conjecture, be supposed, that Rome must have declined ever after Constantinople was made the seat of government, although it contained 48,502 houses in the reign of Theodosius, sixty years after the removal of the imperial residence. It is reasonable to suppose, that a num- ber of the opulent and ambitious citizens of Rome would, on that occasion, leave the old metropolis, and remove to Con- stantinople, especially as Constantine held out great induce- ments, by the grant of estates, and other privileges, to such as fixed their residence in his new capital. If we consider also, that Ravenna, after the imperial court of the western empire had been removed thither, grew a flourishing place, by the afflux of the great and opulent Romans ; and that its impassable barrier of morasses held out a greater prospect of security than the metropolis itself; one cannot hesitate to conclude, that Rome must have exceedingly declined from her former wealth and splendor, before it finally fell a prey to Gothic plunder. In regard to the general manners of the Romans, we can only observe, that they had exceedingly degenerated under the imperial government. We find still more evident marks of that degeneracy during the period which followed the reign of Constantine. Scarcely any instances of Roman pa- triotism are to be found in the succeeding reigns, and the public spirit seems to have been extinguished. Want of energy in the government, and luxury, effeminacy, and a general depravity of manners among the people in that age, characterized the Roman empire. Having dehneated a view of the Roman empire, in its de- clining state, and traced the events which preceded, as well as the causes which produced its downfal, it will not be amiss to defer, to another opportunity, an investigation of the state of religion during the above-mentioned period. I shall, there^ fore, conclude, at present, with subscribing myself, Sir, yours, &c« J« Bo Let. XVIIL ON HISTORY. 213 LETTER XVm. SIR, THE religions history of the Roman empire, after the death of Constantine, merits attention. The state of religion, true or false, is an important subject in the history of the hu- man mind. Every thing must, therefore, be peculiarly in- teresting that relates to a system, which, to this day, influ- ences the pohtical and moral world, gives a particular direc- tion to our ideas, and forms the basis of our hopes. No sooner was Constantine deposited in the tomb, than his fa- vourite council of Nice began to lose its authority and in- fluence, and Arianism became triumphant. The orthodox party was discountenanced, and almost all the great ecclesi- astical dignities, throughout the eastern empire, were confer- red on the Arians. We have already observed the danger- ous situation of Christianity in the reign of Julian, and its providential deliverance from persecution, by the fall of that Emperor in the Persian war. From that period no Pagan was ever decorated with the imperial purple ; but Valens, the eastern Eiiiperor, adhered strongly to Arianism, and perse- cuted the orthodox. After the disastrous fate of Valens, at the battle of Adiianople, in the Gothic war, the great Theo- dosifis was elected Enperor of ihe east. He firmly adhered to t'hQ orthodox faith of the trinity, and deprived the Arians of their ecclesiastical preferments, beside other rigorous pro- ceediijgs against them ; and if he did not extirpate, at least he entirely subdued that heresy, whiclf never more lifted up its head in the Roman empire. This Emperor becoming sole m.aster of the Roman world, abolished idol worship in every part of the empire ; and, in his reign, the Roman senate em- braced Christianity, A. D. 388. During a period of forty years, which had elapsed from the death of Constantine to the triumph of orthodoxy under Theodosius, Constantinople had been the seat of Arianism ; and the faith of the emperors, the prelates, and the people of that metroplis, was rejected in the theological schools of Rome and Alexandria. The celebsated Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, from whom the Athanasian creed takes its Baiiie, was the strenuous assertor of the Catholic doctrine of 214 LETTERS Let. XVIII. the trinity, and suffered many persecutions on that account. Religious controversy was the grand object of attention, and the prevailing taste among the lazy multitude of Con- stantinople ; and not only the mechanics, but even the very slaves, were all profound theologians, and pretended to inves- tigate the mystery of the trinity, and the incomprehensible nature of the Supreme and Eternal Being. The history of the church, during this period, exhibits a disgusting scene of faction, pesecution, and anarchy ; bishop condemning bishop, and synod condemning synod, with all the virulence of pride and fanaticism. The elevation of Gregory Nazianzen to the archiepiscopal see of Constantinople, A. D. 380, marked the triumph of the orthodox party. The Emperor Theodosius, himself conducted Gregory through the streets, and placed him on the archiepiscopal throne, and the Arians were expelled from the churches by military force. As soon as the archbishop began to preach the doctrine of the trinity, and the divinity of Christ, a motley band of monks and vagabonds assaulted the church and were not, without difficulty, compelled to re- tire. Theodosius, in order to cut off all pretext for dispute, or doubt concerning those questions of the nature of the Divine Persons of the trinity, assembled at Constantinople a council of one hundred and fifty bishops, in which the theological system of the council of Nice was illustrated and explained ; and the Divinity of the Holy Ghost, concerning which some doubts had arisen, was established as an essential article in the creed of the Christian church. This council of Constan- tinople ranks as the second general council, and completely established and explained the orthodox faith of the trinity. In the reign of Theodosius, and that of Arcadius, his son, several great characters flourished in the Christian church, particularly Gregory Nazianzen, and Julian Chrysostome, both of them successively archbishops of Constantinople. The corruption of language is visible in most of the Latin fa- thers of that age ; but the composition of Gregory Nazianzen and Chrysostome are deemed equal to the most elegant mod- els of attic eloquence ; Chrysostome especially has always been esteemed the most elegant writer, as he certainly was the most eloquent preacher, of all the primitive fathers. He was originally a priest of Antioch, and after he was made af chbishop of Constantinople he w as persecuted and driven Let. XVIII. ON HISTORY. 21^ into exile by the Empress Endoxia, A. D. 404 ; not without an insurrection of the people in his favor, which he, notwith- standing, disapproved, and '.ith difficulty dispersed. This great man died in exile, A. D. 407, and his relics \', ere, with great solemnity, translated to Constantinople by the Emperor Theodosins the Second, A. 13. 438. After the reign of Theodosins the Great had effected the de- pression of Aiianism, the ortho«iox faith of the trinity contin- ued to be the creed of the whole Roman empire. The Goths, and several o^her nations bordering on the Roman em- pire, had already been wholly, or m part, converted to the Christian faith ; but as they i'ad received their religion prin- cipally from ihe Arians, who bad been expelled by the ortho- dox parly, in the reign of Constantino, or by the missionaries of Constantinople, during the reii^n of the Arian Emperors, his successors, the religion they had embraced was Arianism. In consequence of the persecution of the Arians, under The« odosius, and the expulsion of the bishops, and other clergy, who refused to subscribe the artictes of faith dictated by the councils of Nice and Constantinople, a sreat number of those churchmen took refuge amon gthe Gothic nations, where their doctrines were looked upon as the true creed of the Christian church. Thei?e expelled ecclesiastics were well received among the barbarous nations, revered as sufferers in the cause of religion, and met with extraordinary success in the propagation of their doctrines ; so that Arian Christianity became the religion of all the northern nations, who were con- verted before the subversion of the Roman empire. Thus omitting the different sects, which, from time to time, made their appearance in the church, and have been stigmatized with the name of heresies, it may suffice to remark, that the Christian world was divided into two great parties, the ortho- dox and the Arians ; the one asserting the divinity of Christ, with the co-equality and co-essentiality of the Divine Per- sons of the trinity : and the other teaching the subordination of the Son, and the essential superiority of the Father. The former was the creed of the v/estern, and the latter that of the eastern empire, from the reign of Constantine to that of The- odosius ; and after that period the Catholic doctrine of the trinity was the faith of the whole Roman world, and Arian- ism the religion of all the other nations which had embraced Christianity ; until after the subversion of the empire, when 3816 LETTERS Let. XVTIL they bescan, one after another, to enibrace the Roman reli- gion, and adopt the doctrine of the trinity, in conformity to the decrees of the councils of Nice and Constantinople. In the ages of which we are now speaking, an order of men arose, who have male a conspicuous figure on the political, as well as religions theatre of the world, and whose notions of serving the t>eity form a distinguished and striking feature in the history of the human mind. In that tremendous period of persecution, vvhich commenced in the joint reign of Diocle- sian and >laximin, a new mode of professing the Christian re- ligion, and of practising its precepts, began to take place in the church. Anthony and Paul, two Egyptian hermits, had so ne tiine before sequestered themselves from the world, and devoted their lives to contemplation and prayer in the des- erts of Thebais. Several otheis, either desirous of avoiding the horrors of persecution, or of shunning the snaresof a sin- ful world, or, perhaps, th'-ough a natural inclination for a con- templative life, retired to the deserts, separating themselves from the society of men, in order to enjoy an uninterrupted communication with the Deity. Anthony collected a num- ber of those, and united them in regular societies, about A. D. 305. A great number of persons, of a pious and contem- plative turn of mind, embraced this way of life, and some of them adopted exceedingly strict and rigorous rules, believing a life of voluntary mortification to be an acceptable homage to the Supreme Being. To trace the origin, or examine the rules and institutions of the various religious orders, which were, at different periods, established in the church, would far exceed the limits appropriated to a general view of the his- tory of mankind. It suffices to observe, that in the reign of Con- stantine, and his successors, the ascetic liie grew into a pre- vailing mode, and monasteries were established by Hilarion in Palestine, about A. D. 328; at Rome, A. D. 341 ; by Basil, in Pontus, \. D. 360 ; by Martin, in Gaul, A. D. 3r0 ; and, after a short time, in all parts of the Christian world. These religious, by their real or apparent sanctity, soon grew into great repute. They were drawn from their solitudes, and introduced into large cities and towns, and had superb monasteries founded for their abode, with magnificent church- es erected for the celebration of divine service. In process of time, piety, or superstition, endowed those foundations, with great revenues and possessions. Thus those pious de- LuT. XVm. ON HISTORY. 217 votees, who had renounced the world, and made a vow of pov- erty, became masters of vast possessions ; and although indi- vidually poor, possessing all things in common, they formed wealthy communities. In speaking of a class of religious persons, which make a distinguished figure in history, it may not, perhaps, be deem- ed unpardonable to outrun the order of time, and to antici- pate gome remarks, which, although they might be postponed fo another period, yet, for the sake of uniformity in the sub- ject, can be no where better placed than here. It is not diffi- cult to perceive, that how great soever might be the venera- tion in which the monastic life was held some centuries ago, it is not much adapted to the taste of modern times. Those nations which have embraced the reformed religion, have en- tirely rejected all monkish institutions. In the Roman Ca- tholic countries they are much lesr respected than formerly. In most of those countries their number is considerably di- minished. In France they are totally abolished. And, if we may hazard a conjecture, from existing appearances, there will scarcely be any monastery found remaining in any coun- try of the Roman Catholic communion, at the end of the pre- sent century : nor is there much room to doubt of their abo- lition, in process of time, among those of the Greek church, which, in that particular, will probably follow the example of that of Rome. In regard to the merits of these institutions, many reasons are alleged against their propriety, some found- ed on good grounds, and others erroneous principles and mis- representations. A candid inquirer will, however, examine and judge impartially, without passion or prejudice, and en- deavour to view things, not through the medium of party spirit, but in their true light and native colours. In order to investigate the propiiety of monastic institutions^, we must consider them both in a religious and a political point of view, as they regard the worship of the Almighty, and as they are connected with the interests of society. In regard to the religious worship of the Supreme Being, monastic in- stitutions seem to be wholly a matter of indifference. That infinite Being, who pervades the universe, and fills immensity with his presence, may be worshipped in all places, and in every situation, within the walls of a monastery, or amidst the crowd of a city, in the tumult of a camp, or amidst the splendor of a court. Neither the retirement of the cloisterj T 2 1 8 LETTERS Let. X VIIL nor the bustle of the crowd, can facilitate or impede his ac- t^eptation of the sincere homage of his creatures. If, there- fore, a company of persons can agree to associate themselves together, in order to employ their tiiae in contemplation and prayer, under such rules and regulations as they think appro- priate to such a situation, and conducive to their mutual con- Teniemce, such a measure cannot, on any principle of religion, be condemnahle, any more than literary or other societies ; tut they are not, in any respect, essential to religion, and perhaps, very little conducive to its general interest. Monastic institutions, when impaitiaiiy considered, without any bias of party prejudice, appearing a matter of total indif- ference in regard to religion, it remains to examine how far they may appear, in a poiidcal view, conducive to the bene- fit of society, or detrimental to its intei ests, which must, in a great measure, depend on the difierent ciicumstances of dif- ferent ages and countries. Religious houses iiave often been represented as the asy- lums of indolence, and tlje iiionks as persons leading a life useless to society. This argument is plausible in appear- ance, but fallacious in fact, because founded on a representa- tion, whicli, being undeisiood as universal, is erroneous. Admitting, however, the repiesentation to be true, as it cer- taioly is, in pait, we must likewise observe, that religious hoi.ses aie not the only asyluins of laziness in a state. How Eiany such asylums are there not forrned in private families? The crowds of tiomestics composing the retinues of the great and cpidei)!, m e\eiy cormiry, are of little service to the public, except by contribiiiing to the general consumption of the produce of the conntiy, and thereby helping to give ac- tivity to industiy and comiiierce ; and the monks contribute, 20 ths same n}p:Bner, to stimulate the activity of society. In every country, and under every political system, there are great numbers of individuals who do not employ themselves in miy iisefoi labour. Every man is not obliged to labour. Those \s ho have property and possessions sufficient to sup- port them, and even to enable ihem to live in an elegant man- ner, will seldom employ themselves in cultivating the lands, or ccnfuie themselves to the manufacturing loom, for the sake of making their labours beneficial to the public. From this prinelple of reasoning, which uniform experience shews to be just, it is evident, that if the lands annexed to the monasteries Let. XVIIL ON HISTORY. 219 did not maintain lazy monks, ihey would maintain lazj lay- men. But the monastic possessions cannot, any more tlian the estates of lay proprietors, be cultivaled without labour ; and consequently they must, like all other lands, support in- dustrious husbandmen, as well as lazy monk». Mankind are loo prone to be carried away by first tlipughts, without slop- ping to make serious reflections. If we were certain that every person in those religious houses, would, if he vras abroad in the world, employ hiaiself in something beneficial to Ihe public, it would be well if no such places existed ; but this is very far from being certain. In every country there are numbers of persons, whose time and talents are still less usefully employed than those of the monks. It is supposed, that, befoie the revolutioii, the number of religious, of both sexes, in the convents of France, was, not less than two hun- dred thousand. All tliese were unemployed in any thing useful to the state ; but, at the same time, there were, per- haps, twice as many persons in that country as useless to so- ciety as they, and much less ioolFensive. The number of religious houses, in France, was certainly very great ; but if many more Frenchmen had been employed, some years ago, in contemplation ahtl prayer, it would, perhaps, have been no worse, either for themselves, or for Europe. In England itself there are, undoubtedly, many thousands of persons who would be better employed in a convent, than they employ themselves. The general representation of ihe monks, as an indolent and useless class of people, is a ful.'^e delineation of character. That many of them are persons of that description is not to be doubted ; but others of them aie to be ranked in a very diiferent class. The monks not only were the preservei's of learning, amidst the barbarism of the Gothic ages ; but many of them have been great promoters of modern science, and actively instrumental in ihe revival of learning, and in dispel- ling the gloom of barbaric ignorance, which, during so many centuries, enveloped the powers of the liuman intellect. Had not the monks collected and preserved what remained of the universal wreck of literature, all ancient learning would have been irretrievably lost, and the history of ancient times for- gotten. We should have wanted the compositions of ihe poets and oiators of Greece and Rome, those noble specimens qf genius and eloquence, which we so much admire, had they 22© LETTERS Let. XVIIL not been preserved and transmitted to us by the monks ; who, on this account, are (o be regarded as benefactors to mankind, and considered as an order of men possessing a claim to the gratitude of posterity. The disorders prevalent in many religious houses have been exhibited by some writers in the darkest colours : yet we have incontestible historical authority to prove, that some cf the monks were pious, as well as learned; and, in both these respects, ornaments to the age in which ihey lived, and to human nature. That many of them have been otherwise is ecjually unquestionable. This is the case in all communi- ties of men, A military corps is not to be condemned, be- cause there may happen to be some cowards in it ; nor the morals of a whole nation impeached, because some malefac- tors die by the hand of the executioner. That all the monkiS were pious, or that all the nuns were chaste, reason forbids us to believe ; but it would be equally unreasonable and un- eharitable, to suppose that they were all impious and unchaste. Prejudice ought not so far to influence our judgment, as to induce us to implicate a whole comiiuuiity in the criminality of some of its members ; and sound reasoning ought not to be led astray by the false colouring of misrepresentation. We ought, io all caseSj to judge itii partially, and examine both sides of the question, before we give unqualified approbation, or proceed to an indiscriminate censure of our fellow- mortals, of what sect, parly, or denomination soever they may hap- pen to be. Upon the whole, it appears that monastic insti- tutions, not being founded upon any divine precept, constitute no part of religion, and consequently can only be regarded merely as huoian iostitufions ; and that, like other political and civil establishments, their propriety and merit ought to be estimated according to their adaptation to human circum- stances, in different ages and countries. Viewing them in this light, they might be well adapted to the circumstances of the times in which they flourished most ; but they certainly are not so to the circumstances of modern times. It seems, indeed, that during the Gothic, and those called the middle ages, when the whole Christian world, or at least that part of it which constituted the western, or Latin church, was in- volved in barbarism and unlettered ignorance, and agitated with perpetual commotions ; when the incessant alarms of war, and the general military state of Europe deprived iU in- Let. XIX. ON HISTORY. 221 habitants of the leisure, as well as the inclination to cultivate the sciences, and addict themselves to those studies Avhich enlighten and embellish the human mind. When such were the circumstances of the Christian world, it seems to have been highly proper, that an order of men, separated from the bustle of the world, and secured by the public veneration from the apprehension of violence, were left at leisure to at- tend to the improvement of the human intellect, to preserve the remains of ancient learning, and to instruct the ignorant multitude. The secular clergy were too much embroiled in the commotions of those turbulent and unsettled times, to turn their attention to literature and the sciences ; and hardly any thing could have been better calculated for that purpose, in such times, than monastic institutions ; but as such times no longer exist, those establishments are now of no utility, and very probably will soon be universally abolished. With this general view of the rehgious aspect of the Chris- tian world, as it exhibited itself during the period which elapspd between the death of Constantine and the subversion of the western empire, I shall conclude, by assuring you, that with unfeigned respect, I am, Sir, yours, &c. J. B. LETTER XIX. SIR, IN compliance with your desire I again present to you a train of observations and refiecjions which will give you but little pleasure ; for not many reflections of an agreeable kind can arise from the period which now offers itself to our con- templation. After the subversion of the Roman empire a gloomy period succeeds, which seems to form a vast chasm in the history of the human mind. From that memorable epoch to the reign of Charlemagne, the history of Europe, dur- ring a period of more than three centuries, displays a contin- ued scene of bloodshed and anarchy. The pages of histor y recount nothing else, during this dark and calamitous period, but the incessant and bloody revolutions which took place T2 222 LETTERS Let. XIX, in the kingdoms and states which the northern nations had formed out oi the ruins of th6 Ronjan empire; and the writerSy who treat of those times, crowd their narratives with ill-au- theiiticated details of battles, sieges, treasons, and assassina- tions, which are not worth the attention of posterity, any fur- ther than as they serve to exhibit a general view of the for- mation of the kingdoms and slates of modern Europe. The Goths had established their kingdom in Spam, about A. D. 472 ; and Clovis established the French monarchy about the end of the fifth century. The Saxons had entered into Eng- land so early as A. D. 440. And the sixth century is dis- tinguished by the establishment of the Saxon heptarchy in this coi!ntry ; the con^juest of Burgundy and Acquit ain by the French, and the complete establishment of the French monarchy. The kingdom of Idoacer, in Italy, was conquer- ed by Theodoric, king of the Goths, who was subsidized and commissioned by the Court of Constantinople, and reigned king of Italy under the sanction and authority of the eastern Emperor, to whom he acknowledged himself a vassal. The- cdoric is represented as a prince of great political virtues, hut so ignorant of letters that he could not sign his name. Italy, howei .'. , (louiisjied under his reign ; he preserved the Goths and lialians, as two distinct nations, reservujg the former for the em^)loyments of war, and the latter for those of peace. On the death of Theodoric his kingdom devolved upon his beautiful and accomplished daughter, Analasontha, whose exile and death happened A. D. 535. Theodoric had reigned under the sanction of the imperial court of Con- st antioople, and, although king of Italy, had always acknovy- iedged hin>selfthe ally and dependent of the eastern empire ; hut after the exile and death of his daughter, the Goths of Italy refused t« acknowledge the paramount authority of the imperial court, and renounced all dependence on, and con- nection with, the empire. Justinian then reigned over the east, and dispatched his general, Belisarius, into Italy. Bel- isarius enteied Rome, where he was besieged by the Goths. His gallant and ahnost incredible defence of the city, with only 5000 veterans, against a numerous army of Goths com- maiided by Yitiges, their king, during the space of a whole 3 ea?-, A D. 537, is deemed one of the most signal military exploits recorded in Isistory ; although it may not be unreasona- ke 10 suppose, that our account of it is somewhat exaggerated. Let. XIX. ON HISTORY. 223 as it is related by Procopius, an author partial to the inter- ests and the fame of Belisarius. The military achievements oi that great general, are however sufficiently authenticated to iuidioitalize his name. Belisarius made many daring and suc- cessful sallies out of Rome, and the Goths are said to have lost 30,000 men in one general assault. They were obliged to raise the siege on the arrival of fresh troops from Constan- tinople. Belisarius at length subdued the Gothic kingdom of Italy ; Vitiges, their king, surrendermg on conditions, was sent to Constantinople, and Justinian assigned him for his maintenance a rich estate in Asia minor ; and, on his conform- ing to the Athanasian creed, conferred on him the rank of partrician and senator, which still continued as honorary ti- tles, in the empire. Gulimer, king of the Vandals, had also an ample estate assigned him, but could not enjoy any hono- rary title, that being incompatible with his professing Arianism. The Goths again revoltedunder the command of Tetiia, whom they had elected king, on which Belisarius, a second time entered Italy. Rome was taken by the Goths, A. D. 546, and retaken by Belisarius, A. D. 548. Belisarius be- ing recalled, Rome was again captured by the enemy. The command of the army of Italy then was conferred on Narses, the eunuch, a person of consummate military skill, and the most daring courage. This general defeated and slew Te- tiia, the Gothic king, and made himself master of Rome, A. D. 55*2. He also defeated and slew Teias, who had succeeded Tetiia, as king of the Goths, A. D. 553. Im- mediately after followed a formidable invasion of Italy by the Franks and Altemanni, whose vast armies poured in Hke a deluge ; but those invaders were defeated by Narses, with pro- digious slaughter, A. D. 554. Italy was then made a pro- vince of the eastern or Byzantine empire, and a government established under the denomination of the exarchate, of which the eunuch Narses, who had distinguished himself by the most signal display of military talents, and dauntless cour- age, was the first exarch. The long and bloody series of reiterated invasions and repulses, of plunder, desolation, and butchery, which, from the reign of Honorius, in the west, to that of Justinian, in the east, during a space of nearly a hundred and fifty years, desolated Italy, and fill the volumes of historians of that calamitous period, would rather deserve to be buried in eternal oblivion, than to be recalled 224 LETTERS Let. XIX. to the remembrance of after ages, did not a cursory view of them contribute to shew the gradual downfal of the Ro- man empire, with the scenes of war and slaughter which took place before the northern nations could establish their do- minion on the ruins of that colossal power. The history of these times, however, among all its dis- gusting scenes, exhibits some great and extraordinary charac- ters, which merit a place in the memory of posterity ; parti- cularly the Emperor Justinian, and his celebrated generals, Belisarius and Narses. Fortune seems to have singled out Justinian in an extraordinary manner, as the object of her favours. He owed his elevation to his uncle Justin, who was born of an obscure family of peasants in Dacia ; on the north side of the Danube, and, with two other peasants of the same village, deserting the profession of husbandry, and with a scanty provision of biscuit in their sacks, travelled to Con- stantinople, to try their fortune in that capital, which was then the central point of human action, and the most conspicuous theatre for the display of every kind of talents. There is not, perhaps, in the history of mankind, any thing more agreeable, or more striking, than the exhibition of extraordi- nary characters, and the display of those singular vicissitudes which have marked the lives of some exti'aordinary person- ages, who seem to have been selected by the Divine Provi- dence to act a distinguished part on the great theatre of the world. Justin, on his arrival at Constantinople, v;'as, by rea- son of his strength and stature, received into the body guards of the Emperor Leo. Under the two succeeding reigns, Justin emerged from poverty and obscurity to wealth and promotion. Having distinguished himself in the war against the Persians, his merit advanced him to the successive ranks of military preferment. He was at the last dignified with the title of Senator, and obtained the command of the imperial guards. Being in this favourable situation, at the death of the Emperor Anastassius, he seized that opportunity of rais- ing himself to the soverei2;nty of the eastern empire ; and, by means of his advantageous post, and his influence over the soldiery, seated himself on the imperial throne, at the ad- vanced age of sixty-eight. Justin, like Theodoric, king of Italy, was totally illiterate; and it may be regarded as a cir- l^cumstance somewhat singular, that two of the most powerful contemporary monarchs in the world, were wholly ignorant Let. XIX. ON HISTORY. 225 of letters : Justin drew his nephew, Justinian, from the same village, and the same obscure employment in which he him- self had been bred. Thus was that fortunate youth drawn out of rustic obscurity, and acknowledged as presumptive heir of the eastern empire. He received an excellent lite- ra.y education at Constantinople, and, with every advantage in his favour, ascended the imperial throne on the death of his uncle. By the conquest of Italy and Africa, he gave to the eastern, or Byzantine empire, an aggrandizement and ex- tension, which it had never before possessed, since its sepa- ration fi om the western empire ; and distinguished himself by the display of consummate political and legislative abilities, during a long reign of thirty-eight, and a life of eighty-three years ; exhibiting, every circumstance considered, the most extraordinary instance of long continued personal prosperity, that is, perhaps, any where met with in history. Several of the Roiiian Emperors, as Claudhis, Probus, Aurelianus, Dio- clesian, Maximin. Galerius, and others, had risen from the most obscure condition to the empire of the world; but their elevation had been the hard-earned reward of merit, and sometimes the consequence of their crimes. Those Empe- rors had spent the flower of their age in the hardships and dangeis of a military life ; some of them, during a long time, in subordinate situations, without ever having had an oppor- tunity of obtaining an education suitable to the exalted station to which they were afterwards raised. The same observa- tions may be made in regard to some other Emperors of the east, after Justinian, and particularly Basil, the Macedonian. We have alfeo, in the last century, seen Nadir Shah, com- monly called Kouli Khan, from a captain of robbers, become the sovereign of Persia, the conqueror of the Mogul empire, and the domineering rival of the Ottoman power. None of the successful adventurers here mentioned, had the advan- tages of a liberal education, a prosperous life, and a glorious reign, like Justinian. He found e\ery advantage thrown in his way, in early youth, without the labour of acquisition ; and, without exertion, hazard, or criminality, w^as advanced from the lowest state of obscurity to the most exalted station of human greatness, which he held, with distinguished splen- dor and reputation, during the course of a very long life. The hard-earned, and short-lived glory of other Emperors, who, like him, had risen from obscurity, followed military 226 LETTERS Let. XIX. merit, displayed in a life of hardships and danger ; but the good fortune of Justinian rushed upon him before he had dis- tinguished himself by the exertion of his abilities, and only served to display his great talents to the view of the world. To render Justinian a complete pattern of human felicity, na- ture had endowed him witii an excellent genius, a sound and vigorous unc!erstanding, a robust constitution, and ^almost un- interrupted health. There are sorrje writers, who, in deli- neating Justinian's public and private character, endeavour obliquely to diminish kis reputation in the eyes of posterity. This is frequently atteoipled by the enemies of Cln istianity, with whom he is not a favoiite character ; as he not only dis- tinguished his piety and zeal for religion, in building the su- perb cathedral of St. Sophia, bs^t also, in being the strenuous assertor of the doctrines of the church against all such opinions as were stigmatized with the name of beresies. It appears, indeed, that bigotry was the greatest and almost the only blemish in Justinian's character ; and from that he cer- tainly was not free, as he gave himself no small trouble. in tlie vain attempt to bring all men to be of one ofinion, in regard to religion. The mosi; partial enemies of his fame aci?:uow- ledge his merit as a philosopher, a politician, and a legislator ; as well as his acquaintance with literature and the arts. He has left a noble monument of his legislative abilities in his code of laws, which is esteemed the foundation of the civil juris- prudence of modei'n Europe, although variously modified, according to the exigencies of various circumstances. The magnificent cathedral of St. Sophia, now a Mahometan mosque, of which he himself was one of the principal archi- tects, remains a no less noble monument of his skill in archi- tecture. His acquisition of knowledge was the elFect of steady application in the exertion of a poweiful genius. He was abstemious in his diet, and still more so in the measure of his sleep. After the repose of a single hour he frequently arose, and sludied until the morning. With an excellent ge- nius, seconded by such intense application, and such restless activity of mind, joined to a vigorous constitution, and uniii-* terrupted health, during the course of so long a life, it is not surprisin,^ that Justinian's intellectual attain'iients were very considerable. His political talents were manifested in the manner in whi er a determined and daring ^band, whose courage he excited by the promise of a paradise, filled with all maiisier of sensual delights, to all his foUoivers ; but especislly to those who fell m his cause : he assaidted and Ci?ptured Mecca, and siibdiieiL one after anothei', all the Arabian tribes. In exaipinini/ ai^d ei^<- timating the character 'of this extraordinary iiian, the iiicsl narrow-minded |j.re;udice cennot refuse to do iuistice fo his political abilities, particularly his extraordinary tnieyt of loin:- ing a nght judgment of mankind. Re knew the scnriaal disposition of his countrymen, the Arabiar^s, arid of the peo- ple of the neighbouring countries ; and he iiivenied a para- dise exacHy suitable to their taste, and calculated to gain them over to hh cause. He was' not unacquainted with ihe p. 'opensity of mankind to flatter themselves with the hope of obTaiijiog what they earnestly desire, and the accuston^ed energy ol their en-ieavours to obtain it ; and on those ]>ri5Ki" pies he planned hi^ reli.ioiis system, in order to inspire his followers with courage and resohition to carry into execution the project of con(|uest which he had meditated. CoiiBiuei- 282 LETTERS Let. XIX. i iig the volTipfiioiisdisposition of the people of those coun- tries, he aliovved poligarnj to his follov/ers ; but strictly pro- hibiieci the use of wine, mm ail intoxicating liquors, to which the people of that climate had no very strong piopensity, and of which thej could more contentedly sutler the pnvation. ^lahomet is said to have adopted this prohibition of the use of wine from his experience of the dangerous consequences ©I intoxication, having, on a certain occasion, been surprised by the enemy ^ and in imminent danger of being cut off with his iiliie tjoop, when his followers had been indulgiiig too freely in the use of wine. Whetlier this circumstance be true, and (he iniiiiediate motive to his prohibition of the use ©f inebria!iag liquors, or not, it seems that Mahomet deemed intoxication a vice which degraded human nature, and hab- its of drunkenness as incompatible with a capacity for great undertakings ; and for this reason resolved, by taking away the temptation, to prevent the introduction of so dangerous a vice among his followers. Distinguishing with acute and penetrating sagacity between the propensities which are im- planted by nature, and those which are acquired by habit, he gave the most extensive indulgence to the former, but none to the latter. His religious system appears also to have been fra!iied on an extensive observation of human circum- stances, -cmd a sagacious estimate of human propensities, pre- judices, and general ideas. He observed, that the belief of one only God was the creed of the Jev/s and Christians, and that this belief had trioiijphed over all the different sj^stems of Paganism esfabli-.hed among the ancients. Although Ma- li r^jiet was totally illiterate, he had, undoubtedly, by his long and extejisive acquaintance wiih. the Christians of Palestine, and more e?pecia.lly by the instruction of his coadjutor, Ser- gius, the monk, obtained a knowledge of the Christian his- tory, of the circumstances of its propagation and establish- ment, and its ultimate triumph over Paganism. He might, Yery probably, also consider the unity of the Supieme Be- ing as so rational a doctrine, that it could not fall, in the end, to triumph over every system of polytI^&>;m and idol wor- ship ; and, consequently, that no religious system could ever make its way in the world, imless it was founded upon that leading principle. He had also observed, that the Chris- tians, although loose and profligate in their morals, and di- vided into many diSeient sects and parties, had, not withstand- Let. XIX. ON HISTORY. 233 ing, so great and general a veneration for the name of Christ, that he should make few converts among them, if he entirely rejected the belief of his divine mission. He, Ibcre- fore, acknowledged the divine authoiitj of Jesus Christ's mis- sion, but rejected the doctrine of the divinity of his person. This latter, indeed, he could not cor.^^istentij wiii his plan admit, as such an acknowledgment would have been incoai- patible with his design of setting up himself as the gseatest of all the prophets which had ever appeared in the world. Setting out upon these principles, Mahomet declared himself the last and greatest prophet of the Most High, ordained to preach the unity of the Divine Nature, and the tiue worship of the Supreme Being. After he had associnted (o himself a considerable number of followers, and found himself suiS- ciently strong for offensive measures, he declared that his di- vine commission extended to the use not only of per- suasive, but also of compulsive measures in the propagation of his religion. The ordinances he published on that sub- ject asserted, that he and his faithful followers, were invest- ed with a rightof making use of armed force, in order to corn- pel mankind to embrace the doctrines of the Koran, or word, which he publicly declared to have been conveyed to him from heaven by the angel Gabriel ; and that, on their refu- sal, they should, if they were Jews, or Christians, be allow- ed the free exercise ofiheir religion, on the conditioa of pay- ing tribute. I^o Pagans lis did not ail<3W the same privilege of conditional toleration, and left them no other alternative than conversion or death. Mahomet's arms being every where successfiil, all Arabia vras soon conquereii ; knt althou2;h he entered into a war with the eastern empire, about three years before his death, which happened in the 64ih year of his age, A. D. 632, he did not extend his power much beyond the limits of Arabia. His successor, Abjibe- kar, commenced a war against Persia, which had not yet re- covered itself from the confusion into which it hail heeu thrown by the dreadfci contest with the easlesn empire, m the reign of Chosroes, which terminated so fatally to that priflce, and to his kingdom. AbubelLar diefJ, A. -K 634, after a short reign of two years, and was succeeded by Omar, io whose reign of ten years ve= y corjsiderayle conquests were niaile from thc^ ea'^tecn or Hyrdutme empire,. Syiia i as conquered bj Cakdaud Abu-Obeidaj lieutenants of Om&i'; mid Amroii^ f T 9. •234 LETTERS Let. XVHV another lieutenant of the same prince, conquered Egypt, A. I). 63o. These were fatal strokes to the eastern empire, v^hich nevei' niOiC recovered its former power and greatness. The loss of Egypt could not but be severely felt by the people of Constant ihopie, as that country was always esteemed the granary of the capital ; and aii Syria being in the possession of the eneniy, opened a way into Asia Minor, and laid all the pos- sessi<->ns m ihe Byzantine empire in Asia exposed to invasion* The events which took pLice in the reign of Heraclius ex- hibit a strikiijig iiiatance of the uncertainly oi political science, and the contracteci sphere of human foresight. The By- zantine emphe saw, or at least thought itself delivered from all danger, hy its triumph over an implacable, a powerful, and for a long time, a victorious enemy ; by whose vigorous ef- forts it had been, at one time, brought to the verge of de- struction ; and Persia was reduced to so feeble and exhausted a state, as not to seem likely, at least during a long time, to give any cause of apprehension or alarm. In this prosperous siiuatioo Constantinople seemed to have gained every point, and to have reached ihe summit of political happiness and security, ty tlie entire depression of her great and dangerous rival; but tliis depression of Persia was one great step to- wards the aggranc izemeiit of the Suacen empire. The sig- nal success of Pleraclius against Chosroes, by weakening, exhausting and throwing into confusion, the Persian mon- archy, caused it to fall a prey to the Mahometan Caliphs ; wl]o, by the acfjuisition of so vast a territory, became after- w^ards more formidable to the eastern empire than the Per- sians had ever been. If ihe war between Heraclius and t'iiosroes had not exhausted the resources of the Byzantine and Persian empires, the Saracens, in all probability, would never liave becoiiie so powerful. If the Persian monarchy had coi^nni?ed in its full strength and power, as in the reign of Chosioes, before the commencement of that disastrous war, it woisld have served to balance the pow^er of the Caliphate, whicii would, therefore, have been far less formidable to the eastern eiupire. When Heraclius had, by almost unparal- leled eiioris, entirely broken the pov/er of Persia, it might have been conjectured, with a very great appearance of pro- bability, that the eujpire of Constantinople was delivered from its most potent and dangeious enemy, and had not any thing more to apprehend on the Asiatic side ; when, contrary to ali expectation, the depression of Persia gave a formidable Let. XIX. ON HISTORY. 235 accession of strength to a rising power, which often threaten- ed the subversion of the eastern empire, and actuallj reduced its dominions within a narrow compass. Ahuost every scholar is acquainted with the story of the destruction of the famous Alexandrian library, by Amrou, after the capture of that city. Theie is, however, some rea- son to doubt of its authenticity. Eutychius, patriarch of Alexandria, who wrote a circumstantial narrative of the Sa- racen conquest, does not mention the conflagration of the Alexandrian library ; and some good mndern critics say, that Abulpharagius, who composed his history six hundred years after the event, and at the distance of six hundred miles from the place where it happened, was the only author of the sto- ry. It is, however, impossible to ascertain the documents from which this author compiled his narrative ; and the si- lence of Eutychius, who was prior to Abulpharagius, although it may weaken, does not completely invalidate the testimony of the latter. An author may sometimes, through forgetful- ness, inattention, or from some other cause, omit in his rela- tion an important circumstance, which is not the less true on account of such omission. The authenticity of the univer- sally known, and generally believed story of the conflagration of the Alexandrian librarv, bv the Saracens, cannot now be either ascertaiued or invalidated ; but it is very certain, that this celebrated collection of human knowledge had been much diminished long before that time. In the time of the Ptole- mies, if is said by some to have consisted of 500,000, and by others. of 700,000 volumes. It was, at that time, the great- est repository of literature and science existing in the world, and probably contained a vast collection of the learning of the ancient Egyptians. It is now impossible to trace the causes which occasioned its decline, but it is certain that many of the volumes of ancient learning perished in the time of Caesar's Alexandrian war, when they could no more be restored. The Caliph Omar died A. D. 644 ; and in the . reign of Othman, his successor, \\-\^ conquest of Persia was completed by Caled. In this reign, Abdallah, one of the lieutenants of Othman, invaded the African provinces, jt.\ subject to Con- stantinople; and part of Africa, which had formerly been under the doaiinion of the Roman, and afterwards of the eastern, or Byzantine ejupire, and which extended from Egypt to the Atlantic, and from the Mediterraneap to the 286 LETTERS Let. XIX. great Desert, fell under the power of the Mahometan Ca- liphs, A. D. r09. The invasion of Spain, by Tarik, lieute- nant of Musa, who governed Afiica, in quaiitj of viceroy, for the CaHph VVeled, took place A. D. 710; and before the completion of A. D. 713, the conquest of the whole kingdom was completed, except some of the mountainous parts to- wards the north-west, to which some Spanish chiefs retired with their followers, and bravelj maintained their indepen- dence. The history of the world had not, previous to that period, been able to record so extraordinary a series of conquests as those of the Mahometan Caliphs, who, within eightj-one years after the death of Mahomet, had conquered Persia, Sy- ria, Egypt, ail the northern countries of Africa, together with the kingdom of Spain, and extended their empire from the Indus to the Atlantic ocean. The conquests of Alexander had, indeed, been more rapid, and almost as extensive, but far less singular and extraortiinary in their nature. The politi- cal and military circumstances of the Greeks, who conquered the Persian empire, were widely ditferent from those of ihe Arabs, or Saracens, who subjugated so considerable a part of the world. Alexander, at the head of the combined Ma^ cedonians and Greeks, as it has been aheady remarked, com- manded an army, which, in discipline, uiiliiary skill, and com- plete equipment, equalled, or rather surpassed, any thing of the kind v/hich the world had ever seen. But the Arabians, emerging from their parched deserts, were neither nu/nerous nor well disciplined. The Greeks had long been famed, above all the other nations of the earth, for the superiority of their skill in arms ; and the Macedonians had, by their talents, and exertions of their politic and warlike king Philip, acquir- ed a reputation, for discipline and tactical skill, equal, if not ■superior, to that of the Greeks themselves. But the Sara- cens of the desert, and the untutored tribes which inhabited the different parts of Arabia, had never been ranked in the class of wa. like nations. They had no martial exploits to boast of. Their nation was not mentioned in the annals of war. Their history recorded no conquests. To what cause then must the rapid and irresistible progress of their arms, at that memorable period, be ascribed? This is an inquiry which the intelligent reader of history is natnrally prompted I® make ^ and in contemplating the state ©f thii)gs, a^ thai Let. XIX. ON HISTORY. 237 time, it will be discovered, that two conspicuous and remark- able causes concurred to produce this singular phenomenon. In consequence of the ruinous contest so long carried on be- tween lieraclius and Chosroes, with an obstinacy seldom pa- ralleled in the history of nations, the Persian monarchy was thrown into a state of weakness and anarchy ; and the By- zauiine empire, although at the last triumphant, had, during se\eral years before, tottered on the brink of destruction, and, after the successful termination of the war, found her resources quite exhausted, in consequence of her extraordinary efforts. Thus those two powerful empires, which held the political balance in the east, being quite exhausted and debilitated by their violent exertions, laid open to the attacks of a new and unexpected eneaiy. Persia fell a conquest to the Caliphate, and the eastern empire found itself destitute of energy to check the progress of a desperate and enthusiastic invader. The deDiiitated state of the Byzantine and Persian em- pires, at that critical juncture, was the great political cause which facilitated the progress of the Saracen caliphs, in ex- tending their conquests, and propagating their religion. The enthusiasm with which Mahomet had found means to inspire his followers, was tlie essential and active cause of the rapid progress of their aims ; and is an interesting circumstance in the iiisiory of the human mind. Numerous instances may be met with, of the surprising effects of enthusiasm on the mind of individuals ; but they are the most conspicuous and strik- ing when it animates whole nations and communities. Reli- gious and military enthusiasm may, in certain circumstances, be prociuctive of the most noble and laudable effects, and rouse the mind to the most glorious actions; but this kind of enthusiasm is, notwithstanding, exceedingly dangerous, and generally hostile to the tranquillity of mankind. The enthu- siasm of the Saracen conquerors, is, perhaps, the most re- markable instance of the kind recorded in history. It had its foundation in their religious principles. The system which Mahomet had framed, was peculiarly calculated to ex- Cite both religious and roilitary enthusiasm ; and may be con- sidered as the most masterly plan of proselytism, and con- quest, which had ever been concerted by any legislator or conqueror. By flattering the hopes and the inclinations of his followers with the prospect of a paradise of sensual de- lights ; a paradise accommodated to human comprehension, 238 LETTERS Let. XIX. and adapted to human feeling;s ; and by promising to all who should fall in the support of his cause, and the propagation of his doctrines, an immediate entrance into this heaven of sen- sual felicity, he instilled into their minds the most powerful stimulus to courage and exertion. And at the same time, by inculcating the doctrine of absohite predestination, or unavoid- able fatality, he extinguished the first pi inciple, and strongest motive of cowardice, by persuading them that pusilanimity could not prolong their days, and ih-Ai the greatest caution in shunning danger would not retard the apjiroach of death. These principles formed the basis of that enthusiasm w-bich rendered the Arabs of the desert invincible, while the ex- hausted state of the Byzantine and Persian empires laid their dominions open to the attack of those enthusiastic conquerors. During the space of forty-two years, which elapsed between the conquest of Spain and the revolt of that kingdom, which completed the triple division of the Caliphate, the Saracen empire flourished in the plenitude of united power and undi- vided empire. The lust of conquest subsided. And as it has ever been the case, especially among those nations who owe their greatness to conquest and rapine, the eagerness of acquisition gave place to the desire of enjoyment. The change is natural. Experience shew^s that this has ever been the case, and reason tells us that it ever will be so. Among individuals some exceptions may be found, owning to peculiar- ity of taste and excentricily of character; but in regard to nations, the great social machine is moved by the taste of the majority ; and in every nation the majority act in conformity to the uniform propensities of human nature. This is an ob- servation which will always hold good. The political system ef the Caliphate was absolute mon- archy. Tiie authority of the Caliphs was, undoubtedly, as despotic as any that ever existed, as the supreme power, boih spiritual and temporal, resided in the person of the monarch, who was, at the san^e ihne, king and high priest of the Maho- metan religion, and consequeotlv possessed all the authority that can give to man power and influence over man. We do in)t, however, find tha^ the Caliphs exercised their authority in an unjust, crueS, or oppressive manner. They were the inierpre^ers of the la'.v, but not its so!;rce. The Koran was the universal and obligatory law which was to govern the con- duct Qi the sovereign as well as that of the subject. In G^- Let XTX. ON HISTORY. 239 aminiiss the political and religions principles of the Caliphate, it appeaiS tiiat ihe govein;aen{, aiihoiigii despotic, was tunUa- mcijlaiiv of Ihe patiiaicLal kind. Tne Caliph did not con- sider hi iiseif bai-eiy as the soveieign oi a gie;>t and poweriul people, but also as the hij,h priest of his reh^ion, arid the iiduei o( t'iie fui Juui. A\ haiiitu the depajtine of the Caliphs fioin these piliicipies, or any tjrannicai excicih^e oi ihein, v^as ihe canse of the sevott of their pLOviaces, aiiu the diSiJtem- bei'inent of their eafpire, is a matter of which history gives no certain iiuorniatiori ; for we have only a few of the most eonspicuouHOiiUines of the hib^orj of the Caliphate, and know veij tittle of the political intrij^nes and inleiiiai circumstances of that empire. What we know with certainty of these things, is, that afler tiie revolt of Egypt, the dominions of the Cahphate, in Spain, followed the example, and a tiiple division of the empire took place about A. D. 755, forty-tvo yeaiS after the completion of the Saracen conquests. The three distinct Caliphates, however, fionrished during the space of about 180 years; but about the middle of the tenth century, the eastern Caliphate, of v/hich Bagdat, on the Ti- gris, was the seat of government, was broken, and its tempo- ral power w^holly annihilated by the revolt of its provinces under factious chiefs; and af^er that period the Caliphs pos- sessed no more than an empty title, and their office was con- fined to the atiairs of religion; and at last their spiritual, as well as temporal authority, was extinguished. The history of the Caliphate is very imperfectly known, nor do any authentic documents exist which can throw any consiiierable light on the subject. A remarkable circum- stance, which has been brought to light in later times, exhi- bits a proof that our know ledge of the Arabian history is veiy defective. When the Portuguese, under Vasco di Gaoia, sailing round the Cape, explored the coasts of Africa and India, they found both the eastern coasts of Africa, and the coast of Malabar, possessed by nations professing: the Maho- metan religion ; speaking a dialect of the Arabic kngiiage, and shewing every mark of an Arabian origiiial ; and lrtt\ing neither the same manners, nor the same language, as the Mo- guls or Mahometans of Hindostan, who were evidently a dif- ferent people. Succeeding discoveries have shewn, that the state of the different islands in the fncian seas was, and to this day is, the same as that of the Malabar coast. The 240 LETTERS Let. XX. coasts of almost all those islands were possessed by Maho- metans, speaking a corrupt Arabic, and be} ond all manner of doubt of Arabian original; while the inteiior parts were in- habited by Pagans of a diiFerent complexion, and speaking a diiTerent language. Whether these eiiiio.ations of tlie Arabs have taken place, and the coasts of Africa, India, and the oriental islands, have been thus colonised hj enlerpi ising ad- venturers, during the flourishing stale of the Caliphate em- pire ; or whether those establit^hments have been made by emigrants, who left their country when the Caliphate had fallen into a state of anarchy, and become a prey to tyran- nical usurpers and foreign enemies, is a question which no historical documents now extant can decide. The circum- stance, however, evidently shews, that interesting events have taken place among the Arabs with which we are totally unacquaiuiedo Having taken a view of the rise and progress of Mahomet- anism, and of the rapid successes of the first Caliphs, succes- sors of Mahooiet; and also of the causes which produced such a spirit of enterprise, and facilitated its success, it will not, in the next place, be amiss to turn our attention to the genius and manners of the Arabians, and the state of litera- ture and science among them under the Caliphate. These particulars will furnish the subject of our next correspond- ence. I am, Sir, yours, &c. J* S* LETTER XX. Sir, IN attempting to delineate a sketch of the genius, man- ners, and intellectual attainments of the Arabians, under the successors of Mahomet, it will be proper to observe, that after the Caliphate was grown powerful and flourishing, the lust of conquest began to subside, and the impulse of enthu- siasm was weakened. This change produced another not less important and interesting. The Arabians, previous to that epoch, illiterate, and despisers of all intellectual pursuits and acquirements, began to cultivate tlie sciences, particu- Let. XX. ON HISTORY. 241 • iarlv natural philosophy, chemislrr, &c. and to improve their mental fiiculties, by the ^Uiily of literature. Tiicir slndieSj hou'ever, appear to have lui;en a ditterent direction from those of the Greeks and Romans. In their scientific and litei asy pmsiats, their taste iras, probably, deterrnined by their re- li.ii:ioiis principles, which v/ere diaaietricaliy opjjosite to those of the Greeks and Romans, and of ail the olher Pagan nations of antiquity: the mythology of the Pagans was a splendid and variegated system, calciilated to fill the irind wilh beanti- ful, although romantic and superstil ions ideas ; and the system of idol-worship afforded great encouragement to ilie study of statuary, sculpture, architecture, and painting. The Arabs were, by their religion, prohibited the cultivation of those imitative arts ; it being absolutely forbidden by the Koran to make or use the representation of any living creature what- ever. Nature had endued the Arabians wilh a lively and poetical imagination; but their poetry was of a different cast from tfiat of the Greeks, and other nations which had copied after the Grecian model. They could not, consistently with the rigor of their religious pi-inciples, adopt the mythological machinery of gods and heroes, with v;hich tile Pagans embel- lished their poems, and which the Christians, less scrupulous, and less enthusiastical, than the ]>iahometans, have not hesi- tated to adopt, not thinking it of any danr^erous tendcKcy, since the extinction of Paganism ; although it is certain, that during the first three or four centuries, the Christians would have been as scrispulous as the Mahometans in this respect; and that before Pagaoisni, as a religious system, was entirely exploded, and its rights abolished, no Christian would have invoked Apollo, or the Muses, or have decorated his poems with the intervention of gods and heroes, or demi-gods. The taste, the ideas, and manxners of men, are modelled by cir- cumstances. The poetry of the Arabians reseiubled that of the Hebre'vs, far more than that of the Greeks and Romans ; and instead of introducing the ideas of Pagan n^ythologv, they embellished their poetry with allusions to the grand and beautiful objects of nature. This has ever been the taste of the orientals ; and whoever observes the grar^d and beautiful imagery displayed in many parts of the sacred writings, par- ticularly the Prophecies and Psalms, which are, for the most part, poetical compositions, will confess it to be more natural, more instrisctive, and more interesting, than that of the X iJ42 LETTERS Let. XX. Greeks, which exhibits notliing else than a fictitious sceiieiy, a mere phantasiiiagoria of ihasory represento.tion. The poiilical system of the Caliphate, itifiuenced, in no sniail degree, the hterarj taste and piu sdits of the Arabians. The otatoi ical eloquence of the Greeks and Romans, v, iiich, among them, was the Q;rand object of a literary education, and of ah literary puisuit;'-, was of. no use, and conseqnen'iy held hi no esteem among those people who lived under the despotic government of a monarch, in wliose person all spi- ritual and temporal authority resided, and who was ihe sii- pren^e ihterpi eter of the law, as well as ihe sovereign judge of his people. This despotism of their government was a good reason for the neglect of the study of rhetoric among the Saracens, who had so litUe use for public speaking. Tiieir principal literary piirsuils v/ere history and poetry, vritli some comments on the Koran ; but their theological studies were circmnscribed within very narrow limits; for tlie Calipli, by his ofiice of high priest, and supreme ruler in gpirituyj, as temiporal allr.irs, was the judge and arbitrator of exevy thing written on the subject of religion, and his sanction, or disapprobation, determined the fate of every such perform- ance. In natural philosophy, medicine and chemistiy, how- ever, some useful discoveries were made by ihe Arabians. They also made a great proficiency in the study of algebra; and we are indebted to them for the a: ifhmetical figures^ or characters, now in use, and which are beyond comparison riiore convenientjand better adapted to numerical calculations, than the letters of the alphabet, which, before the invention of cyphers, by the Arabians, Vs^ere used in arithmetical operations. As' to what we can learn of the social manners of tlie Ara- biajiSj from the scanly iohirmalioo that history affords, it ap- pears that t'iiey were polished and humane, at least when coii^pareu with tho^^e of the Europeans of that period; and th:\i^ In the nioiit iloui-ishing state of their empire, they never plunged in'o th'xt excess of luxury which has prevailed a^'nong the iuciito-i pirc cf poverfol and wealthy nations. In regoid lO the co-nmerce of tliose ages, it may, in gene- ral term:-', be aa?d to have been wholly in the hands of the Caliphate and the Byztmtine empire, both of them situated in the centre of the cunticeut, and possessing ail the channels of coiiariynicLhoiri l>euveen the easlern and the western parts of the iLJobe. Before the rise of the Caliphate, the eastern Let. XX. O^ HISTORY. ^iti empire possessed the cominerce of the world, and Constan- tinople and Alexandria were the 2;reat marts of every kind of tralEc. After the Caliphs had conquered Egypt nnd Sjria, the communication between Constantinople and the east was entirelj cut off. It was, therefore, necessary to explore sorae other route to India; and a new channel ci communication ivas opened with the east by the \?ay of tTie Euxine, then over land to the Caspian sea and the river Oxos. By this long, tedious, and expensive route, the rich meichandise oi' India found, diirip.g many centuries, its-vray to Constantino- ple. The Arabians possessing Egypt, enjoyed an excolient situation for the commerce of tliQ east ; and, in order to open a comnianication with the Red sea and the Medi^ei'ranean, c?":! a canal from the Nile to the F^ed sea. This canal passed directly through the city of Cairo, v/hich was briilt by. t!ie Saracens; but, like all the other canals, cot for tliHt purpose by diiFerent kings of Egypt, it does not appear that it had ever completely answered the pisrpose foi' which it was in- tended. Egypt, however, by its central slfiration betwf'eo the eastern and western parts of the continent, po-^ess^ng advantages superior to those of eyery other coiuitry, con- tinued under the eorpire of the Ca'iphs, to eniross a ve; y considerable part of the commerce then carried on in the w^orld. Winle Enrooe, not yet recovered from tlie confi?." sion into which it had been thrown by the siibYer-^;h>n of t:?e Roman empire, and the establishment of so in..;:'/ ;;■' -. =:'.^g- doms and principalities upon its rnins, every \v':::-,::e ;:::ef'^ijted a scene of barbarism and anarchy. The e ;>■ .c of '.he Ca- liphs (ionrishing in literature and science, JU'ki U:e ?>. • 'ripal station in the political system. The Bysandoe c :^ i ■ . din- ing the same period, although sometimes hard ::,.;>^.r:.; f:y the Caliphate, vigorously repulsed all attacks, anJ rj^t rndv presented a formidable ft'ont to its enemies, bnt inmukihicd the appearance of grandeur and power ; and duriiig t !?e who^e period of the existence of the Saracen empire, w;i3 iB only rival and most formidable enemy. Constantinople v:?:-^ in fact, the bulwark of Christendom, as:ainst the exorbitairt kow- er of the , Caliphate. During the contest between the (wo powers, the Saracens tvvlce laid siege to that cspitaL. In their first attempt it v,'a3 blockaded on the side of the Frd- pontis by the Saracen fleet, from A. .D- 668 to A. 1). 675. The second siege of Constantinople was rendered memorable 244 LETTERS Let. XX, by the invenfioii of the Greek (ire, a discovery which makes a disilaguished %ure in military history. This was a bitii- mifioos composition, which biunt with increasing furj in the WAier, and co;dd nol be quenched but with urine or sand. ft was inveoled by Calinlt«.!s, an engineer of Hierapolis, in Syria; or. as scj-x'^. rather tliink, of lieliopolis, in Egypt, and was long kept a nocret at Constantinople, and esteemed one of the gi'eat and vahjable arcana of government.. It was,' hov-i'erer, in ])rocess of time, communicated to the Saracens and other nadons ',:f those quarters ; and the Crusaders expe- rienced its destructive effecis^ From the relations of those who retoroed from tiie crusades, i( appears that the mode of using it was to eject it iiom large v^esaels, or tabes of metal, in a iriafiDer soi/ielliiog siiiillar to the discbarge of modern ar- tillery. It coniinaed in use among the Greeks and Saracens unlii it was superseded by Vne invention of gun-powder; but it does not appear that the secret was ever communicated to the western nations. In this memorable siege the Saracens had passed the Hellespont, and, with a numerous army, at- tacked the city on the land side, which was at the same tiirie blockaded with a formidable fleet. The Saracen fleet, con- sisting of about eighteen hundred sail, was totally destroyed, and Constantinople saved by the newly invented Greek fire, A. D. 7] 6. The enemy was compelled to raise the siege, with prodigious io^, and afterwards to conclude a disadvan- tageous peace. The history of the Christian church does not, during those dark and tumultuary times, aftbrd any pleasing view. T^he progress of Mahometanism was an event not less inimical to the interests of Christianity, than fatal to tlie greatness and splendor of the eastern empire; for previous to that event, Christianity had been the religion of ail those countries which afterward composed the enipi-e of the Caiiphs, except Ara- bia and Persia. To counterbalance this loss, orthodoxy had triumphed over Arianism, and witnessed its fall, by the con- quest of the Vandal kingdom of Africa ; soon after which event, Becared, king of the Visigoths, in Spain, with his peo- ple, renounced Arianism, and embraced the orthodox doc- trine. We have already observed, that after the reign of Theodosius the Great, the orthodox doctrine of the Trinity was the faith of the whole Roman empire, Arianism being, at the same time, the creed of all the other nsitious which had L^T. XX. ONHISTOEY. 245 embraced Christianitj ; but diirinr^ Ihe time which had elaps- ed since the subversion of the western empire, ali the natioos which had estabhshed themselves upon its ruins, h'c;d adopted its reh^ion, among whom the Visi^^otlis, of SpaiD, were the last, having renounced Arianisra A. D. 586, and confornied to the doctrines of the Catholic church, as establiBhed and defined by the decrees of the general councils cfNice and Constantinople. From that epoch the orthodox doctrine of the Trinity, and of ike divinity of Christ, was the creed of the whole Christian world. Many subordinate doctrines and ordinances, not in use in the primitive ages, had gradually introdsiced themselves into the church. Religions, as well as political system.s, not being of a fixed and invariable na- ture, unless in regard to fmidamental principles, admit of va- rioos regulations and ordinances in conformity with the varia- tions of human circumstances. Among these siibordinate institutions, or religious customs, one of the most remarkable, on account of the division it made in the church, was the in- troduction of images ; an institution w hich has, in almost all ages of the church, divided the opinions of Christians, and of which, the propriety or improprietj', whJch can only depend ■on existing circumstances, has been esteemed a subject of discussion of the utmost importance. The introduction of images into c hurches, undoub^ c g' > origi- nated in the real or supposed propriety and utilit}^ of i r prcbe^jt- ing absent objects, by visible symbols, for tlieinsiriiclion of I he ignorant, who were not thoi:ight capable of represeritiijo; 'hem to their own minds, -by ihe operation of the iDtesIectual p-ov:- ers. in the ages which elapsed before the invention ef the art of printing, the inidJilnde, in every country, wercj sr it has been already observed, extremely ignorant, and theii: means of acquiring knowledge exceedingly contracted. If was, and ever w^ill be found, a diScult task lo iiisiriict per- sons, who have no ideas, except such as were iiiipre;?r;ed on their minds by the most familiar objects. The diiScidty cf inculcating abstract ideas into uncultivated mindn, has been- experienced by every person who has undertaken t:.ie iask^ If, frorr; these considerations, we undertake to kr,-M, wsihoul being hiiiueuced by prejudice, an accurate judgment of ir.e 'Conduct d those ep.rly guides of the church, whose office it was to direct the human mind in the i •iportard altair of: reli- gion, and to inculcate the mysteries of Christianity into X'^ 246 LETTERS Let. XX. gross minds of an ignonant and unlettered multitude, tlieii' situation, and the arduous task they had undertaken, wij^ offer some apology for their suppositions of the utility of some kind of symbols, or visible representations of Christ and the saints, as an easy method of calling to their remembrance the sufferings and the sanctity of those glorified personages, whi> were now removed from their sight ; and this, no doubt, was all that was originally intended by such representations, not- withstanding the abuse of them, in some places, by the craft of the priests, and the superstitions of the people. The ad- versaries of images, however, alleged weighty reasons against their admission into places of religious worship, as an incite- ment to idolatry. In our days, all reformed churches, with- out exception, reject every idea of any superstitious venera- tion of those A isible representations ; but the greatest part of them make no scruple of admittiag them as ornaments into their churches, as well as into their gardens and palaces. The eastern churches reject the use of images in their places of reliiiiious worship, but commonly have them crowded with pictures. Whether a visible representation in colours, be either more holy, or less criiriinal, than if it wa« exhibited in the more dmabie materials of bras? or stone, it most certainly requires a skilful theologian to determine. The church of Rome admits of both images and paintings in her places of religious worship, as a means of instructing the ignorant, by a ready and instantaneous impression on the mind, through the nieuiura of the eye, which, together with the embellish- ment of tht; churches, was, undoubtediy, the original reason of their introduction. That church also permits a sort of respect and veneration for those representations, such as we are iiiclined to have for the picture of a friend whom we love, or of a, prince whom v,-e revere ; but disavows every idea of renflering them religious worship, whatever abuse of them may be observed in some places among ignorant and superstitious persons, such as are found in every religious community; for superstition is not confmed to any one sect or denomination of men^ but casts its gloomy veil over the illiterate vulgar of every religion, and of every nation, although the supersti- tions ^f ditfereot sects take a different direction, and exhibit tlifferent shades of colouring. This dispuie concerning the use and veneration of images is here exi>ibited in im historical view? merely as a circum« Let. XX. ON HISTORY. 247 stance which merits attention in the history of religion, and of the human mind. The theological part of the question must be left to the discussion of divines. It must, however, be lamented, that Christians, in all ages, have been more in- clined to exercise themselves in theological disputes, than in the practice of that universal charity and benevolence which constitutes the characteristic and principal excellence of the Christian religion, and was invariably preached and practised by its Divine Author. This contest, however, between the advocates of the use of images^ and their opponents, was car- ried to as great a height as any that had ever agitated the church; and is particularly remarkable on account of its having occasioned the first schism between the Greek and Latin churches, and being the origin of those differences^ which, in the end, produced their final separation. The Christian church had, since the extinction of Arian- ism, in the sixth century, enjoyed tranquillity and union. In all ages, it is true, many different opinions, in religious mat- ters, will exist among men ; but when those opinions do not extend their influence beyond the breasts of individuals, or the regulations of some small society, they are not noticed by the historian. It is only when they influence the general state of the hierarchy, or disturb the tranquillity of the gen- eral system, that, like all other circumstances, which have an important eflect on the ideas and condition of mankind, they hold a distinguished place in the history of the human mind. The dispute concerning the prdpriety of the use of ima- s;es broke out about A. D. 720, in the reign of Leo, the Isaurian, who is distinguished in history as th& first of the Iconoclast emperors. As the dispute could not be amicably settled, a council was held at Constantinople, A. D. 754, consisting of 338 prelates of the eastern empire. In this council, all visible representations, or symbols of Christ, ex- cept in the eucharist, were condemned as heretical, and or- dered to be destroyed, A. D. 754. This celebrated dispute was not only the first step towards the separation of the Greek and Latin churches, but also, in a great measure, the immediate cause of the separation of Italy from the eastern empire, which revolted in the tenth year of the reign of Leo thfi Iconoclast; when anew Roman republic was establish- cdj which ijot being able to maintain its independence against 248 LETTERS Let. X"X. the LombardF5, was delivered fro ra their oppression bj Pe- pin, king of France, whose son and successor, Charlemagne, received from Pope Adrian IV. the title and dignity of Em- peror of the Romans, which gave rise to the new empire of the west, now called the Gerraan, or in diplomatic language, the Roman empire. The decrees of the conncil of Constantinople, however, did not long maintain their authority. Irene, an Athenian vir- gin, for her beauty and accomplishments, had been ad- vanced to the imperial bed and throne, in conjunction with her son Constantine VL to reign at Constantinople, A. D. 7S0. This Empress, infamous for her ambition, which so far overcame maternal affection, as to instigate her to cause the eyes of her son Constantine to be put out, that she might reign sole Empress of the east, was a strong advocate for the restoration of images. The second council of Nice, com- monly entitled the seventh general council, was held, in which the council of Constantinople was condemned, and im- ages restored, A. D. 787. This dispute, however, although terminated in favour of images, which were always held in respect by the Latin church, having at first caused a tempo- rary schism, paved the way, by the animosities it excited, for a total and final separation. Indeed, the two churches of the east and west were never more cordially united. The eastern church had, indeed, restored the use of images ; but Constantinople had not restored to the Bee of Rome the Ca- labrian estates, thelllyrian tliocess, which had been seised by the Iconoclast emperors and patriarchs dining the coolest. In the dark and gloomy ages which succeeded the subver- sion of the !^oman empire, scarcely any thing occurs in the history of Europe which h w^ortby to arrest the atteiiiion of the hisiorian, or of the reader of history. It may, in general terms, be observed, that the Franks, a natioi! originally in- habiting the farther banks of the Rhine, had so early as A. D. 400 begun to make irruptions into Gaol, and soon be- gan to establish themselves in that province, under the Mero- vingian race of kings. Clovis, the first Christian king of France having, by conquest, annexed the Gothic kingdom of Thoulouse to his monarchy. A.. D. 508, made Paris the cap- ital of his kingdom, and at his death divided his dominions among his four sons. After this the French rnocarchy was alternately united, or divided^ under the descendants of Clo- Lei^. XX. ON HISTORY. 249 vis ; but the most striking features of the history of France, is the exh'?rbitant power acquired by those ministers, called Mkyors of the Palace. The monarch fell into a sort of siipineness, and neglect of pubHc affairs, and committed the sole administration of them to those officers. Pepin d'Heristal, so called from his palace'of Heristal, on the banks of the Meuse, having aggrandized himself, at the expence of his sovereign, had in effect acquired the regal authority, and wanted nothing but the regal title, while the monarch was nothing more than a mere pageant of power. Charles Mar- tel, so famous for his signal defeat of the Sai'acens, A. D. 732, succeeded his father in the office of Maire de Palais, which those aspiring ministers had found means to render hereditary, and dying A. D. 741, was succeeded by his son Pepin, afterwards king of France. Pepin having caused his sovereign to be shut up in a monastery, ascended the throne, in which he was succeeded by his son Charlemagne, whose active and prosperous reign forms an epoch in the his- tory of Europe. Having subdued the kingdom of the Lom- bards, in the north of Italy, together with the best part of Germany, and, by the conquest of Italy, deliv^ered Rome from oppression, he was crowned Emperor of the Romans, by Pope Adrian the Fourth, A. D. 800 ; and Charlemagne being king of France, reigned over Germany and Italy as Emperor of the Romans. Here we see, at the same time, the origin both of the present German, or Roman empire, and of the temporal power of the Popes. Charlemagne stands conspicuous in the annals of Europe, as a distinguish- ed and illustrious character. He lived in the darkest times of Gothic ignorance, and was above forty years old before he learned to write, a convincing proof of the ignorance of those barbarous times. But he encouraged literature and learned men wherever he could find them. He founded the univer- sity of Paris, and many other seminaries of learning, in dif- ferent parts of his extensive dominions, and did all in his pow- er to effect the revival of learning, but the cloud which over- spread the human intellect was too thick to be dispelled. The efforts of Charlemagne, and some other illustrious pa- trons of learning, had no great, extensive, or durable effect. And some men of genius and erudition, who, by their litera- ry acquirements, distinguished themselves in those dark ages, were only as transient meteors, whicli burst through the i^50 LETTERS Let. XX. universal gloom, and after glittering for a moment, soon disap- peared. Charlemagne did, perhaps, as much as could be done by one prince, in an age of such universal barbarism, towards effecting a revival of learning ; but the general cir- cumstances of Europe were such as counteracted his endea- vours, and prevented them from having any lasting eliect. The reign, ^therefore, of this prince was only a transient gleam of light; after which, the gloom which obscured tlie iitera'ry hemisphere, set in as thick as before. The state of the world, during the space of three centu- ries, had been singaiarly deplorable. Europe in a stale of anarchy aiad barbarism ; and the eastern empire alone exhib- iting the marks of civilized society, and for a while flourish- ing in power, but afterwards curtailed of half of its dominions, by the conquests of the Mahometan Caliphs. The four cen- tuiies which elapsed between the death of Theodosius the Great, and the reign of Charlemagne, may certainly be reckoned the most calamitous period in the history of man kind, and fatally distinguished by the greatest effusion of human blood, as well as by the most reniarkable rev- olution of power and property, which the annals of the world exhibit to the view of posleriiy. In the reign of Charlemagne the world had assumed a more settled and a more splendid aspect than it had done for a long time before. The whole known world, at that time, was divided between three great powers ; the eastern empire of Constaiir. tinople, the Caliphate, which, although at this time divided,. may from exact similarity of manners, religion and origin, b^ reckoned one people; and the western empire, established by Chariemagne. Of these three empires the Caliphate stood the highest in literary attainments ; and Constantino- ple, although much declined in that respect, since the days of Nazianzen and Ghrysostome, stiH held the second place in the literary scale, and only came one degree short of her Arabian neighbours. Europe was making some advances in the same route, which a combination of unfavourable circum- stances rendered abortive. Tiie poliiical and social circum- stances of Europe were such, as, at that time, counteracted every attempt for the restoration of learning, and the general state of the human mind, in that quarter of the globe, was such as baffled the efforts of some iiluBtrious individuals, who exerted themselves without effect^for that beneficial purpose. Let. XX. ON HISTORY. 251 Within a century after the death of Charlemagne, Europe began to fall into the sairie state of political anarchy as be- fore his reign. That prince following the pernicious exam- ples of Constantine and Theodosifjs, in dividing the old Ro- man empire, made, in like manner, a partition of his new empire among his sons. Within lidie more than a century the family of diarlemagne had almost disappeared, and the nobles, who had been considerably restrained by the vigor- ous hand of that Emperor, began, under his weak successors, io render themselves almost independent of their sovereigns, and to oppress the people in the most tyrannical manner. Whatever the condition of the great body of the people had before been, it became now completely miserable. The feudal system was first completely established in France and Germany. Under the weak descendants of Charlemagne, the nobles of those countries assumed little less than sove- reign power, in their respective districts, and reduced the monarch to a m.ere pageant of state, leaving him the title alone of king, v/hile they themselves exercised an almost absolute authority over the people. It seems that the feudal system had, from time immemorial, existed in some degree among most of the nations of the north ; but as this, like every other political system, is susceptible of various modifications, it is impossible to know to what extent it was carried, under what regulations it existed, and what changes might take place in it, among a barbarous and unlettered people, during a long succession of ages. We are wholly unacquainted with the history of those nations until the time when they were brought into notice by their irruptions into the Roman empire; and then their social manners, and civil institutions, underwent a \ery considerable, although gradual, alteration from the adop- tion of Roman customs, Roman religion, and Roman ideas. These changes, however, v;ere slowly introduced, and the most prominent features of northeEU institutions, and of Gothic manners, long remai^ied. After the extinction of the race of Charlemagne, the feudal system arose to its greatest height. The usurpation of Hugh Capet rivetted its power in France, that prhice being obliged to grant, or confirm, every privi- lege the nobles claimed, or had already usurped. In Ger- many and Italy the case was perfectly similar. The nobles taking advantage of the weakness of the Emperors, and the contini?al differences between them and the Popes, rendered 252 LETTERS Let. XX. themselves independent sovereigns, acknowledging onlj a no- minal allegiance to the Emperor, as their common head, whom thej opposed or obeyed, as it best suited their caprice or their interests. Many of the prelates of the empire adopted the same measures, and rendered themselves the sovereigns of their respective ^iioceses ; and some cities and towns act- ing on the same principles, rendered themselves independent republics. From these contests, and from this fluctuating state of the sovereign authority, the numeious small princi- palities of Italy originated. Hence also arose the present Germanic constitution, which consist of a number of eccle- siastical and temporal states, and sovereignties, individually independent, but united in a political confederacy under one common head. Such, with some trifling shades of difference, was the state of France, until the reign of Louis the Eleventh, who first broke the exorbitant power of the nobles; and whose measures were pursued, until their dangerous indepen- dence was annihilated, by the vigorous, although sanguinary, measures of Cai dina! Richelieu, in the middle of the seven- teenth century. In Poland the same system existed even in our days, in its full extent, and clothed in all its horrors, until a considerable part of its unhappy people were, in some de- gree, delivered from its horrors, and freed from its oppression, by what was most absurdly called, by some, the extinction of Polish liberty, by the three partitioning powers. Nothing, indeed, could be more absurd than to denominate that seizure and partition an extinction of liberty, because there is, no doubt, but those parts of Poland which fell under the do- minion of Austria, Russia, or Prussia, are happy in the en- joyment of a greater portion of liberty nnder those govern- ments, than under their own feudal system. If we contemplate the aspect of Europe, during the middle ages, we can hardly view a more disgusting picture. Kings, whose power was little more than nominal, and whose situa- tions were precarious and uncertain. Nobles continually at war with one another, or in rebellion against the sovereign. The people oppressed, attached to the soil, disposed of like cattle, and lying at the mercy of the great. The country every where crowded with castles, the nurseries of rebellion,, the dens of the lazy and profligate, the retreat of plunderers, and the seats of riot ,and debauchery. Let those who have perused the histories of the middle ages, say whether this be Let. XX. ON HISTORY. 253 an exaggerated description; or rather let tbem say, whether it be possible to overcharge the picture, or to paint, in co- lours 100 glaring, ?he scenes of disorder which prevailed in those unhappy times, li does not appear, that the feudal system ever arose to that established independence on the C» own, in England, as in soine other countries ; but, in re- gard to the depression of the people, it was litde or nothing behind them ; and our his^o; ies iiiroroi us, that, at the com- mencement of Henry the Second's reign, there was niore than a thousand fortified castles in this cormtry. Let us, for a rao'ijent, compare the modern state of Europe with its state in the middle ages. It cannot be denied, that wars have been very frequent in modern tiQies. Perpetual peace is, perhaps, incompatible with the imperfect nature of man ; but the calamities of war are not the less to be deplored. In the modern system of Europe, however, the power of the sword is restrained to a small number of great potentates ; and the operations of war are carried on by an order of men, who devote themselves to the study and practice of the mili- tary art. Those places alone, where the theatie of war hap- pens to fall, experience its calamities, and even these are con- siderably softened by the humanity of modern warriors, when compared v/ith the horrid barbarities of ancient war- fare. The tranquillity of the other parts of the country re- mains undisturbed ; and the other orders of the community, who do not make the military life their profession, enjoy, in the midst of war, the calm security of peace. To the na- tions at large the calamities of war are chiefly perceptible in the increase of taxes, or the diminution of commerce. In the tenth and eleventh centuries, ?Siev the extensive empire of Charlemagne was broken into many independent and luis^ tile states, the regal title being assumed by the most povver- ful chiefs, their revolt was followed l>y a long siibordiualion of anarchy. The lord of each castle assumed the character of a sovereign, and disdaining the aiitijoiity of lav/s, reteried all to the decision of the sword. Every peasant Vr a:-; then a soldier, and every village a fortification ; c\ery field was tinged with blood, and every wood and valley exhlbiied scenes of murder and rapine. Such was the deplorable state of society, in this quarter of the globe, during the middle ages. Let then the inhabitants of modern Europe learn to set a just value on the tranquiliity and security they enjoyv y iJ54 LETTERS Let. XX. Let Englishmen in particular justlj appreciate their excellent constitution under which they enjoy not only a state of tran- quillily, but also a protection and security for their persons and property, unknown not only under the feudal system, but also under the boasted republican governments of Greece and Rome. While the political and social picture of Erirope was such as it is here delineated, the state of the Cahplrate did not afford a much more agreeable prospect. In the tenth cen- tury, the Empire of the Saracens being, like that of Charle- magne, broken, by the rcYoIt of faptiojus and ambitious chiefs, mtr. a number of independent states, at last had a fate not a little resembling that of the Roman empire of old ; for the Empire of the Mahometans Caliphs, at last, fell a prey to the Seijukian Turks, and other barbarous nations of the north of Asia, (who, in overturning its power, adopted its religion) in the same manner as that of Rome fell under the dominion of the northern nations of Europe, who, while they demolished the political fabric, embraced the religion of the RomaRS. The subversion of the Caliphate produced nearly the same wreck of Arabian learning, as the downfal of the Roman em- pire had done of the arts and literature of Rome. The nor- thern barbarians of Asia, like those of Europe, despising every embellishment of the mind, and every ptu'suit which tended to improve and enlighten the human understanding. The eastern empire was then the seat of all the learning which remained in the world; and Constantinople, the centre of all that was worthy of notice in literature, commerce, and the other arts and embellishments of civilized society ; and such it continued until nearly the time of its falling under the Otto- man do.'ninion. The political and social state of Europe remained without much alteration during several centuries, after the establish- ment of ihe piincipal kingdoms into which it was at last divi- ded, offering nolliing to the eye of contemplaticoi but such ,sceiies as ail poiiticai histories affos-d, and agitated by such commotions aa commonly occur among nations only half civi- lized, and under such an unsettled system of government. A new and most romantic scene, howevei', began^to be display- ed about A. 1). 1096. In those age?, the fashion of making riil2;rima^inrement. T])e sciences began also to make some small i nprovecsent. Some men of extraordinary genius and eru- dition appeared at dilf<3rent intervals, and shone with a daz- F^'na; lustre, amidst the gloomy darkness of those ages. Among these, the illustrious friar, Roger Bacon, was an honour at once to the English natioja, and to the i^^iversity of Paris, Let. XX. ON HISTORY. 267 where he completed his studies. Peter Lambert, Abelard, and other men of extensive erudition, were at different pe- riods the ornaments of that university, which sseefos to have been, in those ages, the principal seminary and centre of Eu- ropean learning. But it was long before the efforts of those learned individuals produced any material change in the lit- erary aspect of Europe. The condensed gloom was not sud- denly to be dispelled. During the long period of darkness which obscured Eu- rope, and, afler the extinction of the Caliphate, overspread in like manner the countries which had formed that empire, Constantinople, although continually declining, was the poiiit where the learning and science of the world was chiefly con- centrated. The tenth century, which, in the western coun- tries, was one of the darkest periods of Gothic ignorance, constituted the most flourisliing a^ra of the Byzantine learn- ing, under the reigns of Leo, the philosopi^er, and his son Constantine Porphyrogenilus. The former compiled an elaborate treatise of tactics, and the latter a very extensive and particular description of ihe empire, in regard to its geo- graphical and political state, the ceremonial of the court, and every other minute particular. In this admin istr at io imperii of Constantine Porphyrogenitus, we find the first mention of the Russians that is any where met wifh in history. The Russian empire then extended from the Euxine to the Baltic; Kiow in the Ukraine, and Novogorod in the North, were the capitals of the empire, and the two centres of its co.n- merce. It was then powerful and flourishing, but altet- wards fell under the dominion of the Taiiars, an e\ent which totally eclipsed its greatness. It is to be obsei ved, that the Russians embraced Christianity about A. Y). 988, in the reign of the great Duke Wolodomir ; and as \hey had their religion from Constantinople, and not from Roaje, like the nations of western Europe, they never sub/intted to ihe papal authority, nor were united in communion with llie La- tin church. In the reign of this great Duke Wolodoaiir, a body of Russian adventurers entered into the service of tlie Greek Emperor, and were employed as body guards, under the name of Varangians. And it is a curious circumstance, and not unworthy the notice of those who delight in conlem- plating the migrations of men, and the vicissitudes of fortune, that a body of English, who fled from this kingdom at ihe- / 268 LETTERS Let. XX| tirae of fhe Norman conquest, also entered into the service of the Byzantine empire. How long these two militarj »:orps of Russians and English subsisted in the Greek em- pire is not knovi^n, but they both acted a conspicuous part in the famous battle of Durazzo, when the Einperor Alexius Comoienus was defeated by Robert Guischard, the Norman, Duke of Apulcia, A. IL 1081. The repeated eftbrts of hidividuals of consummate erudi- tion and genius, v» ho from time to time cast a gleam of light over the gloosny ignorance of Europe, began at last to dispel the cloud which had so long obscured the literary hemisphere. Those iilustrious, men who had, by their laborious studies, endeavoured to dissipate the ignorance of the times, had all arisen, almost without exception, amongst the clergy, especial- ly the monks, who in their cloistered retreats enjoyed a leis- ure, which the anarchy, mostly reigning in the middle ages, had generally denied to ihe secular clergy. But, as govern* ment began to be somewhat more settled, and the habits of civilized life began gradually to gain ground, the successive and multiplied elForts of the promoters of learning began to be successful. A number of favourable circumstances began to concur towards giving a different turn to the manners and taste of Europe. Constantinople had, during the long period of Eu- ropean barbarism, been not only the seat of learning, but of wealth, commerce, and splendor. The Crusaders who vi' Ued that metropolis were astonished at its riches, magnifi- cence, trade, and pop'Jiation, which could not fail of appear- ing to them in a striking point of view, when compared with the mean appearance of London, Paris, a^id other European capitals, of which the streets, in those times, were narrow, crooked, and irregular ; and the houses,, except those of some principal grandees, univ^ersaliy built of wood, and chimnies entirely unknown, as that useful part of architecture was not yet introduced into the houses of London so late as A. Db^ 1 160. During the middle ages, the stone-built castles of the great barons and princes were nothing more than huge, ir- regular and gloomy piles, calculated rather for defence, than for ornament or conveniency. The age of the crusaders, how- ever, or that immediately succeeding, seems to have intro- duced a new and more magnificent taste in European archi- tecture, as may be observed in our ancient cathedrals. The mode of architecture then introduced, which seems far too Let. XX. ON HISTORY. 26{J heavy and gloomy for the construction of palaces, appears peculiarly adapted to that of the temples of religion; for, notwithstanding its gloomy cast, it is not only calculated for strength and duration, but has an air of solemn magnificence, tending more to inspire the mind with a religious awe than the most elegant orders of Grecian architecture ; and it may be looked on as particularly characteristic of the genius of the people of the middle ages, which was gloomy, bold and romantic. Constantinople had ail along maintained a degree of splendor, far surpassing any thing seen in the half-civilized countries of Europe, The imperial palace was, during ele- ven centuries, the admiration of all travellers who visited the east. It stood between the Hyppodrome and the church of St. Sophia; and its superb gardens descended by several rows of terraces to the shore of the Propontis. The primi- tive edifice erected by Constantine was made to rival the im- perial residence of ancient Rome, which was built upon the Palatine Mount; and the improvements made by his succes- sors still added to its magniiiGence. In the tenth century, Luitprond, bishop of Cremona, ambassador from the Empe- ror Otho, to Nicephorus Phceas, thus speaks of it — " The im- perial palace of Constantinople excels, not only in beauty and magnificence, but also in strength, all the palaces and castles I have ever seen." After that ffira the emperors of the Comnenian dynasty still continued to embellish it, so that it is not to be wondered at that we-find such encomiurxis of it in the writings of those who visited it in those ages. After tlie liafia conquest, the pillage of the city, and the conSagra- tions which took place at that disastrous period, Constanti- nople never more recoveied its former splendor : and the power of the empire as well as the brliiiancy and opulence of the capital, rapidly declined. During the declining ages of the eastern, or Byzantlfie empire, while ignorance, barbarism, superstition, and feudal- anarchy prevailed in the western countries of Eorope, al- most every part of Asia was agitated with extraordinary convulsions ; of which the effects weie felt in the remotest parts of that extensive continent. The history of those na- tions, or tribes, who inhabited the vast regions of the north of Asia, is very little known ; and notwithstanding the labo- rious investigations of some learned modern historians, noth- ing of an authentic nature, relative to the subject, caii be Z 2 270 LETTERS Let. XX. discovereti, except a very few striking outlines, formed by those extraordinary emigrations and conquests which have pioduced important revolutions in the more southern coun- tries, of which the history is somewhat better known. The ancients comprehended those immense regions which extend- ed over the north of Asia, and part of the north of Europe, from that part of 4he Paciiic Ocean, called by our nioderg discoverers, the northern Archipelago, as far westward as the Baltic sea ; and from the Euxine and Caspian seas, and the frontiers of Persia, India, and China, a« far as the utter- most habitable Units of the north, were by the ancients comprehended under the general denomination of Scythia, and the inhabitants of all tliose countries were designated by the appellation of Scythians. The Russians, who, ever sini e the ninth or even the fifth century, in which the cities of Kiof, in the Ukraine, and Novogorod were founded, have been making a gradual, and in those latter times, a rapid and extraordinary progress in civilization, are of a Scythian ori- ginal ; and their empire now extends over the greatest part of the ancient Scytliia; the diiFerent nations and tribes of which they have united in one vast pohtical i^ystem. Of the an- cient state of those extensive coimtries, of the original, the migrations, intermixtures, wars, and revolutions, which have taken place among those numerous and wandering tribes, for- meri)' comprised nnder the general denomination of Scythi- ans, and in latter tiaies known by the appellation of Tartars, we know little or nothing, history furnishing no authentic documents relative to their ailairs. At certain periods their eaiigraiions and conquests have made a conspicuous figure in the political history of mankind, and produced revolutions, of which the effects have been extensive and permanent. The Turks, who made so distinguished a figure in the fif- teenth, Bixteenth, and seventeenth centuries, and whose em- pire is yet so rich, extensive and populous, are originally^ Tartar tribe ; as are also the Moguls or Moors of India. The most memorable occurrence in the history of the ancient Scythians, which has come to the knowledge of pos- terity, is the grand expedition of that people into the south- ern countries, which, according to the computations of the best historians, happened in the reign of Josiah, king of Ju- dah. The true time of this great emigration and conquest caanotj however, be ascertained, no mor^ than the extent to Let. XX. ON HISTORY. 2ri which those mvaders carried their conquests. It is, indeed, generally asserted, that they ruled over Asia Minor during the space of twenty -eight years, and oppressed exceeding- ly the Medes and Babylonians, Although it be a fact of in- dubitable authenticity, that this great Scythian expedition and conquest did take place, the particular circumstances at- tending it are totally unknown. If, however, it be true, that the power of the Scythians expired about a year or two be- fore the commencement of Nebuchadnezzar's reign in Ba- bylon, it is not an improbable conjecture of Sir W. Raleigh, that, after their power was broken, and many of them re- turned into their native re dons in the north, several of their warhke bands entered into tlie service of that prince, and con- tributed considerably to that career of victory a'^id siiccess by which he carried the powei and grandeur of the Babylo- nian empii-e to such an un|»re( edented height. This opin- ion is also coiToborated by the scriptural expressions of the nations of the north, followiag the slariJard of Nebuchadnez- zar, which cannot with propriety be understood of the Ba- bylonians, Assyrians, or other native subjects of that mon- arch. The most remarkable periods of the history of the Tartars, descendarits of the ancient Scythians, are those which are distinv;i5ished by the conquests of Zinghis Khan, and his successors, in the thirteenth ; and by those of Taaierlane in the laiter end of the fourteenth and the commencement of the fifteenth century. Zinghis Khan began his career of conquest A. D. 1206, and having conquered part of China, Persia, &c. died A. D. 1*227. His successors, during the period which elapsed from that tiaie to A. D. 1272, con- quered all China, Persia, Asia Minor, the kingdoms into w hich the empire of the Caliphs was broken, Russia, Poland and Hungary ; and penetrated as far as Neustad, in Austria, wliich was the hmit of their conquests westward. Tamer- lane, who, like Zinghas Khan, was of the Mogul tribe, the most enterprising and celebrated of the Tartar nations, be- gan his reign about A. D. 1370, and died at the age of about sixty-three, A. D. 1405 ; during which period he conquered Persia, Turkestan, the greatest part of Russia, a great part of Hindostan, and Syria; sacked Aleppo, Bag- datl, and Damascus ; conquered Asia Minor, and took Baja- zet. Emperor of the Turks, prisoner at the battle of An^o* /2r2 LETTERS Let. XX. ra ; after which he returned to Samarchand, the capital of his empire, and having projected an expedition against Chi- na, died on his march towards that country. Thus it appears, that the northern invaders have been as troublesome in Asia as in Europe, and have produced re- volutions equally great in themselves, although not equally striking to us, by reason of the little knowledge we have of the nations which were agitated by those bloody commo- tions, which totally changed the face of Asia ; and are par- ticularly remarkable on account of their having overturned the ancient Hindoo empire in India, and rendered that cele- brated country, ever since that period, a theatre of anarchy. The empire of the Mogul Tartars, it is certain flourished exceedingly during two centuries. In the time of Tamer- lane, Samarchand was the capital; but it is not well known where the seat of the empire was fixed in the reigns of Zing- his and his successors. Many conjectures have been form- ed on the subject, hut without grounds sufficient to stamp upon them any higher marks of authority, than mere conjec- ture. The opinion of Mr. Pallas, who, from the rich bury- ing places, supposes the principal seat of the Mogul, or Tar- tar empire, to have been between the rivers Yaik and Irtish, to the southward of Tobolski, seems to be the best founded ; the most valuable tombs have been found in that district ; and the learned Mr. Muller, of the academy of Moscow, is of the same opinion. It is however extremely little that we know of ilie history of those nations. We have in general terms, been informed of their most remarkable emigrations and conquests, and of tlia effects tliey have produced ; but any farther particulars are mere conjecture. Indeed, when Vie cast our eyes on the conlinent of Asia, and contemplate the ancient, rich, and extensive nations in the eastern parts, we are surprised that our historical knov/ledge should hardly reach farther than the banks of the Tigris. Such, however, is the case. A line of total and perpetual separations seems to have been drawn between the eastern and western parts of Asia. Our histories make no mention of the affairs of the Indians, or the Chines^e ; nor afford us any knowledge of what passed in those oriental nations, whose religious and social ideas and institutions are for the most part as different from those of the western nations, both ancient and modern, as if a total disruption of human opinions, and modes of thinking, had Let. XX. ON HISTORY. SfS taken place between the eastern and western parts of this continent ; and until the discovery of the passage round the Cape of Good Hope, the geography of the eastern parts of Asia was as little known as their history ; a circumstance which we shall have occasion to remark more particularly, in the course of our observations on the changes of human af- fairs. If we withdraw our eyes from the revolutions which con- vulsed Asia, in consequence of the Tartar conquests, and turn our attention to the Greek, or Constantinopolitan em- pire, we must there contemplate the melancholy spectacle of a state, without energy, and verging towards its downfal. Constantinople, which, during so many ages, had proved impregnable against every attack, and bidden defiance to all the hostile efforts of the Goths, the Huns, the Avars, and the Saracens, had, by its intestine factions, and the crimes of its rulers, exposed itself to the pillage of the crusaders, and the empire had fallen a prey to a band of French and Italian adventurers. After that fatal stroke, although the empire was re-^established, and the capital recovered by the Greeks, yet the former was too much weakened to regain its former power and energy, and the latter was too much im- poverished to resume its former opulence and splendor. In- deed, the Byzantine empire had, ever since the fall of the Comnenian dynasty, been extinct, by the inhuman, although perhaps justly deserved murder of the Emperor Andronicus, the last of that race, had exhibited the picture of fallen pow- er and exhausted resources of a government without vigor, and a people without virtue, the unequivocal marks ©f a de- clining state. Amidst the general decline, political and moral vices, instead of diminishing, continually increased. Soon afier the accession of Bajazet to the Ottoman throne, about the coinmencement of the fifteenth century, the Greek empire was so much reduced as to be confined to a narrow corner, between the Propontis and the Euxine, containing not more than fifteen hundred square acres, a territory little larger than one half of the county of Lincoln ; yet this con- tracted spot, the melancholy remains of the most powerful and extensive empire the world had ever seen, was the the- atre of crimes and political factions, and so it continued dur- ing (he space of about 50 years, until A. D. 1453, when Constantinople, after a siege of 53 days, was taken by the 274 LETTERS Let. XX. Turks, under Mahomet IL The milifarj force which the Turks brought against that celebrated metropolis is different- ly estimated bj historians, as it is commonly the case in de- scribing such transactions. Phiielphus does not think that the whole force of the Turks could exceed 60,000 foot and 20,000 horse. It is magnified by Ducas Chalcondyles, and Leonard, of Chios, to above 300,000 ; but Phranza, who was a near spectator, states the Turkish army at 258,000. Whatever the forces of the enemy might be, it is, however, certain, that the force which the minister was able to enrol by the Emperor's command, for the defence of the city, was exceedingly insignificant, and strikingly shews the ex- treme degeneracy of that people, who still arrogated to them- selves the tifie of Romans, and dignified the narrow corner they possessed with the title of the empire. Phranza says he was not able to enrol more than 4,970 volunteers, and that, including the Italian auxiliaries, the whole defensive force of the city did not exceed eight thousand men. The Emperor Constantine Paleologus made an exceedingly vigorous de- fence ; and when the city was at last carried by assault, af- ter having bravely, but rashly, refused very advantageous terms of capitulation, nobly fell in the breach by which the enemy entered the city. Phranza pathetically describes the shocking scene which followed. The persons and property of the citizens were, by Mahomet, given up to the disposal of the army ; and the terrified people having fled to the ca- thedral of St. Sophia, and other asylums, were dragged forth, and, without any distinction of sex or rank, chained together, driven through the streets like beasts, and more than sixty thousand of them sold into slavery, a circumstance shocking to humanity, and which displays, in the most strik- ing point of view, the contrast between the indescribable ca- lamities of ancient Avarfare, and the mitigated evils of war be- tween the civilized nations of modern times. Such was the dreadful catastrophe of Constantinople, once the capital, and long the sole existing remnant of the Roman empire. x4Lnd thus, as it had formerly been the seat of the Romans, it now became that of the Ottoman empire, A. D. 1454, and has ever since held that station. The Greek empire of Constantinople had so long been tot- tering on its basis, and the symptoms it had shewn of its ap- proaching extinction, ^ere so unequivocal, that no person of Let. XX. ON HISTORY. the least discernment could mistake in forming a conjecture^ of its impending fate. Many of the literati, and others, therefore, considered it highlj eecessary to think of seeking some establishment or asylum in other countries, in order to avoid being involved in the ruin of their own, which had long appeared not only inevitable, but exceedingly near; for the existence of the Greek empire was, by the concurrence of various unforeseen ciicumstances, prolonged to a later pe- riod than from general appearances could reasonably have been expected ; and its extinction would most certainly have tak^n place almost fifty years sooner, if the designs of Baja- zet had not been frustrated by the successes of Tamerlane. Among the literati of Constantinople, who began to dis- perse themselves among the Latins, was Leo Pilatuai, who was the first Greek professor at Florence, and the first who brought the study of that language into fashion in the west, about A. D. 1360. Manuel Chrysolorius established the study of the Greek language upon a soUd foundation in Italy, and it soon became an object of gej?eral pursuit among the Italian literati. Some illustrious patrons of learning now be- gan to appear among the princes and great men of Europe, especially in Italy. Cosmo and Lorenzo di Medicis were, in the fifth century, the patrons equally of learning and the arts ; and the efforts of the sovereign pontiff, Nicholas V. for the revival of learning, were not less vigorous, or less ef- fectual, at Rome, than those of the Medici at Florence. We are now, after travelling a long time in the obscure shades and rugged paths of Gothic ignorance and barbarism, just emerging into the broad sunshine of a period of learning, civilization, and commerce, which infinitely excels the most brilh'ant ages of antiquity. I shall, therefore, for the present, conclude these observations until a favourable opportunity shall occur for renewing our correspondence. Most respectfully, J am, Sir, &c. J. B, re LETTERS Let. XXL LETTER XXL SIR, THE period which now presents itself to our view, being infinitely more pleasin,^, as well as more interesting, than that which we have jnst been contemplating, I shall not make an / apology for troubling you with my further remarks and reflections. The period we now enter upon teems with great events, which are so many memorable epochs in human aflfairs. The place of the dififerent nations of Europe, in the political scale, was now in a great measure fixed, and the balance of power was beginning to be in some degree established ; so that we no more meet with mighty empires rising to an ex- orbitant pitch of greatness and power, and swallowing up all the neighbouring states in their tremendous vortexes, like those of former ages. The most remarkable events of these latter times are of a different nature from those of antiquity, but they are not less interesting. The revival and rapid pro- gress of arts, sciences, and letters — the invention and im- provement of manufactures — the survey of the terraqueous globe — the discovery of countries formerly unknown — the extension of commerce — and the progressive advancement of civilization, with all its concomitant arts, embellishments, and conveniences, eminently characterize the period which has elapsed since about the middle of the fifteenth century, an a5ra in which the revival of learning, and the resuscitation of the fine arts, began to grow conspicuous, and which was particularly distinguished by one of the most memorable events which occurs in the history of mankind. This was the invention of the art of printing, the only means which could have been discovered of drawing the great mass of mankind from that profound abyss of ignorance, in which they had, even in the most enlighlene dages and nations, ever been immersed, previous to the invention of that superexcel- lent art. This was a discovery wanted in the flourishing ages of Greek and Roman literature, when, as it has already been observed, none but fpersons of rank and property could acquire any knowledge of letters; and the great Let. XXI. ON HISTORY;. 277 Biass of the people in those countries, cclebratec! for the seats of ancient literatiite, v/a« buried in profound and un- avoidable ignorance. This had ever been, and must ever have continued to be, the case with the multitude of every nation, had not the invention of printing, by i^educing books to less than an hundredth part of their former price, facilitated the means of diiriigitig knowledge among the people. We have it from good authority, that about A. D. 1215, the Countess of Anjou paid two hundred sheep, five quar- ters of wheat, and the same quantity of rye, for a volume of sermons; so scarce and dear were books at that time; and although the Countess might, in this case, have possibly been imposed on, we have it on Mr. Gibbon's authority, that the value of manuscript copies of the i>ibles, for the use of the monks and clergy, comriicnly was from four to five hundred crowns, at Paris, which, according to the relative value of money at that time and now in our days, could not, at the most moderate calculation, be less than as many pounds ster- ling at this time. These manuscripts were upon parchment, and undoubtedly executed in a superior style of elegance; 'but, in making every allowance, the value of books, previous to the invention of the typographic art, cannot, according to the most moderate comjpritatiou, have r>een less than a hun- dred times as much as at present. The dirrlculty oi acquu'- ing knowledge, on account of the scaiclty and dearness of books, necessarily caused a scarcity of teachers, and these accumulated difficuhies presented insurm.oiinfable obstacles to the diffusion of knowledge ; so tliat, how mucii soever a taste for learning might prevail, the advantage was entirely confined to the sre^t and opulent, and to the monks, who had the use of the libraries of their monasteries ; while an insurnwuntable barrier precluded the people from the acquisition of know- ledge. How trifling would be the literary atlainn-ents of the people of this and other countries of modern Europe, and how very contracted would be the Mh^ion of knowledge among the multitude, if these dimculties of acquisition yet existed f These obstacles, which, in all former ages, had been msur- mountable, were suddenly and elfectuaiiy removed by the introduction of printing. The inventors of the typogiaphic art have contributed infinitely more to the improvement of the human mind, and the general civilization of the species, than all the speculative philosophers of antiquity, and the cavii- • A a J^ LETTERS Let. XXL ling theologians of later times ; and if their characters be esti- mated according to their intrinsic value, and their merits ap- preciated by their utility to mankind, their names ought to stand in the registers of fame far above those of C«sar and Alexander, and other conquerors celebrated in history for their success in destroying mankind, and depopulating the world. Indeed, if ever the benefactors of mankind deserved to have statues erected to their honour, the inventors of the art of printing are certainly the men. Of all the events which iiave ever happened among mankind, the invention of print- ing constitutes, next to the estabhshmenf of Christianity, the most interesting and important. The invention of this excellent and useful art was followed by another event not much less interesting and important, allhoiigh of a different nature. This was the discovery of Ainerica, an event which has operated a total change in the political and commercial s^ysteras of Europe. The discove- ry of the properties of the magnetic needle, and the invention of the mariner's compass, in the beginning of the fourteenth century, by a native or inhabitant of Amalfi, a mercantile town in the kingdom of Naples, bad rendered distant naviga- tions comparatively safe, commodious, and expeditious, by obviating a great number of those difficulties, dangers, and delays,^ which attended long voyages in the earlier ages. Fiom that time continual improvements were m.ade in the'art of navigation, especially by the Venetians, the Genoese, and oihsr Kalians. The Pottuguese soon began to emulate the maritime powers oi iialy, and the situation of Spain was such that she could not be far behind. Tlie Portuguese, however, fisst conceived the project of making distant discoveries! The monarchs of Portugal seeing their kingdom of little weight in the political balance of Europe, and every oppor- tunity oi exertion and aggrandisement on the continent denied the-iu, by the sidratioii of tlieir dominions, which consisted of oCiiV a narrow shred of land on the coast of the Atlantic con- ceived tiic noble design of raising their kingdom and people to wealth and importance, by promoting a spirit of discovery and commerce. So early as A. D. 1412, John I. king of Portugal, equipped a fleet for discovery. Many other at- tempis, of a siii;iiar nature were successively made, which be- ing all diiected towards the south, the Portuguese made gra- dual advances in their discoveries along the coast of Africa^, Let. XXI. ON HISTORY. 27^ and at last proceeded as far as the southernmost extremity ; but the boisterous winds and tempestuous weather thej there met with, prevented them from doubling that promoiitoiy, which, for that reason, they named Cabo des !os Tormenios,"a name which was afterwards changed to the more auspicious one of Cabo dis bon Esperanza, or the Cape of Goo J iiope. This southernmost promontojy of tlie African continent was discovered by Barthol Diaz, in the reign of Jo.hn 1). whof at the same time that his fleets were exploring the western coast of Africa, directed also his schemes of discovery and commerce towards the eastern parts of that continent, by sending an embassy to the Em.peror of Abjsinia, about A. J). 1486. While the kings of Portugal, inspired with an eager desire of fame and aggrandizement, inliniiely moie ra- tional and more worthy of a place in the breast of a monarcli than that extravagant and criminal thirst for glory whick characterized most of the sanguinary heroes of anticpfity^ weie thus endeavouring to explore the distant and iinknov.'o parts of the globe, and to open new channels of coninierce and wealth to their subjects, Christopher Colnmbns, a native of Genoa, had formed the most daring and adventurous pro- ject ever conceived in the mind of man. The coriimerce of India had, in all ages, been considered as an object of i}w first magnitude and importance, and had always attracted, in a particular manner, the attention of the mercantile world. The Tyrians and Egyptians, and also the Jews, in the tUn^ of Solomon, were no strangers to this trainc. The Red 'ica, and the Persian gulph, were the channels by wliich the In- dian trade was always chiefly carried on; and Syria and Egypt, the countries which, hy their geographicrd posinoi-. formed (he centre of commun-.ation between the eastern and western parts of the globe. During the time of ihe prcspcr- ity of Tyre, that city rivalled Egypt in the eastern trade, but afterwards the Egyptians engrossed the most coiisideia- ble part of it. The central situation of Egvot is, indeed, pe- culiarly adapted to the ifiii^a of India ; and if thai country was possessed by an active, intelligent, commercTt)!, and en- terprising people, it might at present, as well as in ancient times, monopolize the commerce of the east. Under the dynasty of the Ptolemies, and also after the extinction of that dynasty, and the reduction of the kingdom to a Roman pro- ¥iDce, Egypt continued the centre of the commerce carricU 230 LETTERS Let. XXL on between the ea^'tcrn and western parts of the world; and Alexandria was tlie great emporium of the Indian trade. The t^raSic with the east was carried on by the Egyptian and Ara- bian merchants ; and the mercliandizeof India, imported from Masiris, a mart lor that traftic, on the coast of Malabar, into Bxyp<5 wad forwarded to Alexandria, by canals cut all, or ihe i'^vQ'dieii part of the way, from the Red sea fo the Nile, or else by hivA carriage, as the distance was no more than iroiri two to three days journey, and the comtnodities not very bidky. AJeKandria maintaified ihi?^ pre-eminent station m the commercial world from the establishment of the Gre- cian kingdo. p. c'l Eizj\itj by Plokmy I^agiis, about A. C. 310, until toe time oi lis capture by Amron, lieutenant of the Ca- liph Omar, A- D. 63C, including a period of about 948 years ; and, before the building of Coj>stantinople, was always rec- lioned, both in e'jitent, population, magnificence, and opu- lence, the second city of the Roman empire. After its sub- jection to the Saracens, the troubles and various revolutions ?yliich ensued exceedingly injured its commerce. The fre- quent wars between the eastern empire and the Caliphate, impelled the merchants of Constantinople to open a new but incommodious channel for a trade wdth Indra through the Euxine, then across the land between that and the Caspian sea, and afterwards by the river Oxus, to which the Indian traders brought their merchandise. This long, difficult, and Incommodious cojiveyance, could not, however, fail of en- hancing very mucli the vahie of Indian commodities at Con- .srantinople, aoti the commerce of the east at last fell into its ancient and natural channel. Tiie Saracens had a genius for «.."ommerce, and the Caliphs encouraged commercial pnrsuiss ; but daring the fionrishing period of the Caliphate, Europe was uncommercial aral almost uociviiized. The in(estine eomrnotions udiich rent asunder the empire of the Caliphs, and agitated Egypt in particular, with various and frequent revolutions, prevented that country from taking the rank in the commercial Bcale, for which nature seemed to have de- gi."-n8d it. As soon, bow^ever, as the Italian states began to recover a little fro n the anarchy and barbarism of the Gothic ages, they began to open a trade with Egypt. The Vene- tians and Genoese, in particular, turning their attention in an active and spirited manner to maritime and commercial affairs, soon engrossed the commerce of Egypt and India. Alexan- Let. XXI. ON HISTORY. 281 dria became once more the emporium of eastern commerce, and the Venetians and Genoese, by the monopoly of that trade, rose to a height of opulence and power that astonislied the world. The other nations of Europe, gradually emerg- ing from barbarism to civilization, began to turn their atten» tion to commercial pursuits, and undoubtedly would have been glad to have discovered some means of acquiring a share of that commerce, which had raised (he formerly in- considerable states of "^ enice and Genoa to such wealth and importance. The Portuguese, however, w^ere the first who conceived the design of rivalling those Italians in this lucra- tive traffic, by opening some other channel of communication with India. This was the grand object of all the voyages of discovery which were undertaken towards the latter part of the fifteenth century. But while the Portuguese w ere gra- dually advancing southwards, along the coast of Africa, Co- lumbus conceived the great design of sailing to India by a direct course across the Atlantic. It is somewhat remarkable, that this grand projex^t was founded on a general mistake of the geographers of that, as well as of all preceding ages, in regard to the situation of In- dia, and the other eastern countries of Asia. The geographers of Greece and Rome had never obtained any true know- ledge of the situation of those countries, nor could any such acquisition of geographical knowledge be expected in the Gothic or middle ages. Marinus Tyrius supposes the country of the Seres, or China, to be situated fifteen hours, or 2'2> degrees, to the east of the first meridian, passing through the fortunate islands, or Canaries.^ Ptolemy, who flourished in the second century of the Christian asra, reduced the longi- tJ^de of China to twelve kours or 180 degrees ; but the true longitude of the western frontier of China is now known to be no more than seven hours, or 105 degrees, east fiom the Canaries. Some adventurous travellers of the middle ages, particularly Benjamin, a Jew, of Tudela, in Navarre, about A. D» 1160; and Marco Polo,, a noble Venetian, about A. D. 1265, had penetrated to the easternmost extremities of Asia ; but it appears, that those enterprising adventureis had either been destitute of the necessary mathematical skill, or unprovided with the instruments requisite for ascertairsing the longitude of the places they visited ; aod the notions oil geographers relative to the sitmatioii of those couiiLiieSj,, slip .o>. a. A- 282 LETTEliS Let. XXI* coniiniied confused and erroneous. They had also formed erroneous opinions of the extent, as well as the geographical position, of the eastern countries of Asia, and imagined that they extended far more to the east than they really do. Aristotle had, many ages before, conceived the same opin- ion, and thought it probable that India was not far distant from the streights of tiibraltar. Aristotle de Cseto, Lib. ii. Art 1 4. and Seneca had adopted the same hypothesis, with so much ardor, as to affirm, that with ^ fair wind it was pos- sible to sail from Spain to India in a few days. Columbus had made cosmography and navigation the grand subjects of his studies, and had acquired a knowledge of them equal at least to that which any person of his age possessed ; but mis- led by established opinions, and the erroneous positions and distorted extent of the eastern countries (jf Asia, in all tha maps of that age, he persuaded himself that it would not be avery long voyage to sail to India directly by the west. He followed the hghts which that age afforded him, and his con- fJiisioiis were justly made, but founded on erroneous prin- ciples. If the geography of the eastern countries had been as well known in the tiaie of Columbus, as in the present age, neilher he nor any per-^on wcukl ever have conceived the design of sailing to India across the Atlantic ; for the length of the voyage would liave infallibly proved fatal to those who ghould have made such an attempt* It is generally sup- posed, diat Columbus (houc^ht that some immense tract of land wns plrsced m that quaiter of the globe which lies wes- terly fioin liliirope and Africa, and reaches to tlie eastern parts of Asia. This, however, is only a conjecture, and it rather appear:?, tliat the chief or only expectation of that i;rea< discoverer was that of falling in with some of the easfou 4?ountrics of Asia, wliicii he tor several reasons supposed to fextend towards the east, and consequently to be not very remote from the western coasts of Europe and Africa. In- deed this opinion so universally prevailed, that as land was discovered, Columbus imagined it to be a part of India, until the poverty and savage state of the inhabitants convinced him of the contrary. In all the succeeding discoveries of the different islands and countries on the continent of Ame- rica, the same opinion prevailed ; and it seems to have been a long time before the Europeans could determine th^ Let. XXI. ON HISTORY. 28S question whetlier America was in reality another continent, or only an extension of the continent of Asia. In estimating the character of Columbus, we cannot hesi- tate to pronounce him one of the greatest of men. He was certainly endowed with a capacity to conceive, and a courage to execute the greatest designs. A patient perseverance, which no disappointments could tire out ; a dauntless cour- age, which no dangers could intimidate, and a calm composure, which no difficulties could disconcert, were the distinguish- ing characteristics of his firm and steady mind. If we com- pare his achievements with the exploits of most of the heroes mentioned in history, we must allow to his merit a decided pre-eminence. His enterprizes were planned for the im- provement of knowledge and the extension of commerce, and not for the destruction of mankind, and tended to explore, not to depopulate the globe. If his discoveries have been follow,ed by consequences destructive to the human species, it was what he, did not intend, and could not foresee. When we compare the undertaking of Columbus with the voyages of our modern circumnavigators, we must confess, that after an impartial examination and estimate, his performances will hold the higher place in the scale of comparison. Succeed- ing discoveries have had his footsteps for their guidance. None of themi lauched into an unknown world, none of them ventured to traverse an immense ocean, of which the boun- daries were totally unknown, as he did. The navigation across the vast Pacific Ocean, first performed by the Span- iards, was a great attempt ; but when this was undertaken, the longitudes of Acapulco and Manilla, were already knov;n, and consequently the distance from the oriental islands to the western coast of Mexico ascertained by astronomical ob- servations. These fixed principles were wanting to Colum- bus. The age in which he lived did not afford him those lights. Geographical knowledge, as far as it could with certainty be depended on, was confined within narrow limits, and all be- yond that contracted circle v/as mere conjecture and ideal representation. The art of navigation was yet in a very im- perfect state, when compared to that degree of perfection to which it is carried by modern improvements and experience ; so that, xvithout depreciating the merit, or detracting, in any degree, from the praise of our modern discoverers and cir- cumnavigators, on whom too great encgmiums most certainly 284 LETTERS Let. XXL cannot be bestowed, candour will oblige us to confess that considering the superior geographical and nautical knowledge of the present age, as well as their superior equipment, none of their performances are characterised wilh that daring spir- it of adventurous enterprise which disinguisbes the expedi- tion of Columbus; to which posterity is indebted for the d is- covery of a new world, and the production of a new com- mercial and political system, as well as a multiplicity of new modes and arrangements in almost every department of so- ciety. -^ r After eight years of tedious solicitation and unsuccessful applications to the different maritime powers of Europe, by most of whom his project was considered as romantic and ex- travagant, all the force which he was able, after a long series of disappointments and delays, to procure from the court of fepam, consisted of three small vessels, manned with ninety men, mostly sailors, and the rest gentlemen adventurers; yet, with a mind superior to every embarrassment, he undertook with this slender equipment to cross the vast and unexplored Atlantic, of which the boundaries were then unknown, exhib- iting an example of the most dauntless resolution that ever resided in the breast of man. The particulais of this inter- esting expedition, the most remarkable instance of adventu-^ rous enterprise recorded in the annals of the world, are known to every one, and its consequences form an impor- tant subject in the history of succeeding times. After the return of Columbus from the discovery of a new world, new scenes began to appear, a new field for adventurous exertion was opened, which excited a romantic spirit of enterprise and adventure, first in Spain, and afterwards throughout all Europfe. Daring adventurers from Spain went to exert their abilities and try their fortune on this new theatre. Colonies were established. Hispaniola, Cuba, and other islands, were colonized ; and at last Mexico was conquered by Fer- dinando Cortez, after a series of adventures and successes un- paralleled in history, or even in romance. The conquest of Mexico was completed by the capture of the metropolis, af- ter a siege of seventy-five days, A. D. 1521 ; and twelve years after Peru was also conquered by Francis Pizarro and Diego Almagro, in conjunction with Ferdinando Lugues, an ecclesiastic, whose department was to provide recruits and supplies. The conquest of Peru, although it was in its com- Let. XXL ON HISTORY. 285 mencement, impeded bj innumerable difficulties, and attend- ed with scenes of uncommon distress, was accomplished with far less difficulty and danger than that of Mexico; but the differences which arose between the conquerors themselves, at last proved fatal to them. A civil war ensu- ed, in which Almagro, being taken prisoner, was put to death by Pizarro : three years afterwards, Pizarro himself was as- sassinated in his palace at Lima by young Almagro ; and in the space of one year more, the young Almagro was taken prisoner by Yaco di Castro, and beheaded at Cusco, 1542, Niignez Yela was defeated and slain by Gonzalo Pizarro, A. D. 1 546, and this latier, the brother of Panels Pizarro the con- queror, and who had himself acted a very conspicuous part in the conquest of Peru, as well as in the civil wars which ensued, being deserted by his soldiers, was taken prisoner, and with the Brave Francis Carjoval pot to death, A. D. L548, by Pedro de la Gasca, an ecclesiastic, sent from Spain, with a commission to reduce the rebels of Peru, and to govern the country in quality of Viceroy. Thus all the principal persons concerned in the conquest of Peru fell by the hands of each other, either in battle, on the scaffold, or by conspiracy and assassination. It is somewhat remarka- ble, that the persons who undertook this important conquest, at their own expence and risk, were every one of them up- wards of sixty years of age when they engaged^ in this haz- ardous enteiprfse, in which their fortune was similar to that of the Macedonians and Greeks, who, mider Alexander, con- quered Persia. The Spaniards who conquered Peru, like the Macedonian coni^aerors of Persia, acquired immense weaKh, and extensive power, but like tliem they embrorled themselves in a train of civil wars, which embittered the re- maining part of their lives, and ultimately terminated in their destruction. The daring and hazardous enterprise in which the conquerors of Peru embarked, at so advanced a period of life, is a remarkable instance of that inordinate avarice and ambition which actuated the first adventurers in the new world, as well as of that restless spirit of enterprise which par- ticularly characterised the fifteenth century, and which the discovery of America had eminently contributed to excite. The age which immediately succeeded the discovery of America, and of the passage to India by the Cape of Good Hope, may, with the greatest propriety, be entitled the age 286 LETTERS Let. XXI. of enterprise and adventure ; these two great discoveries hav- ing inspired men of desperate fortunes and daring minds, in almost everj part of Europe, with a spirit of restless activity and romantic expectation. The spirit of adventure operated with such singular activitj, that an empire more extensive than half of Europe, and containing a greater quantitj of gold and silver than ail the rest of the world, was, before the middle of the fifteenth century, annexed to the crown of Spain solely, by the exertions of enterprising individuals, at their own expence, without any other assistance fiooi the government, than commission to undertake those conquests, which brought such an accession of wealth and territory to the Spanish empire. And thus Charles V. who was af the same time Emperor of Germany, king of Spain, and sove- reign of the Netherlands, as well as a great part of Italy, be- came by the conquest of Mexico, Peru, and the other countries of Spanish America, master of richer and more extensive dominions than any monarch had ever before possessed, without issuing a shilling from his own coffers, until the co- lonies were in a condition to repay to government the ex- pence of the fleets and garrisons sent to protect them. The hardships and distresses which the first Spanish adventurers suffered, the difficulties they had to encounter, the steady resolution, the persevering courage, and the undaunted spi- rit of enterprise which characterized those desperadoes, have scarcely any parallel in history. Some of them, however, acquired immense wealth. Not one of the Spaniards who conquered Peru acted as a mercenary soldier, although many of them received advance money in order to furnish their eqnipment. In dividing the ransom of the. Jnca each foot-soldier received 4,000 pesoes, a sum far more than equi- valent to as many pounds sterling in tlie present age ; each horseman received 8,000 pesoes,"and the officers in propor- tion ; and Ilerrera saj?, that the phmder of the city of Cusco amounted to 4,000 pesoes per m.an- Besides this immense booty the whole country was parcelled out among the con- querors, each Spaniard becoming possessor of landed estates in proportion to his rank. The discovery of a new world not only excited a spirit of enterprise and adventure among the people of Europe, but gave rise to new scenes of almost evevy kind, and to a mul- tiplicity of opportunities of active and industrious exertion^ Let. XXL ON HISTORY. 287 Almost every part of the old world had long been peopled, and had undergone various revolutions. The establishment of settlements in distant countries was a new scene, and the colonization of America afforded new incitements to peaceful industry, as its conquests and plunder had done to military exertion. The general mode of colonization, used by the Spaniards, and sanctioned by the government, was according to the Abbe Raynal thus regulated. In the distribution of lands among the eonqi.erors of the new world, each foot-sol- dier received ,'>,000 square feet for the purpose of building, 1,885 square toises for garden ground, r,543 square toises for orchards, 94,288 square toises for European corn, and 1,448 square toises for Indian corn, besides the ground ne- cessary for keeping ten hogs, twenty goats, an hundred sheep, twenty horned cattle, and five horses. The share of each horseman was double the quantity of building ground, and the quintuple of the rest. The towns were built by active and opulent individuals, under conditions and restrictions planned by the court, which conferred certain privileges on them, and on such persons as came to reside in them, to whom the circumjacent lands were distributed by a propor- tional division among the founders and the inhabitants. The remaining undivided lands of those immense territories were left to be possessed by the natives, who were as soon as possi- ble assembled in villages, and governed by their own caciques, according to the colonial laws, planned by the council of the Indies in Spain, under the authority of the court. The oth- er nations who established colonies in the Islands, or on the continent of America, proceeded upon nearly the same gen- eral principles, with particular variations, according to the variation of circumstances, and numerous colonies were, in process of time, established in different parts of the new world. The history of the discovery, the conquest and colo- nization of America, is peculiarly interesting and curious. It displays the gradual piogress of cultivation and com- merce in countries before uncultivated, and covered with impervious woods and impassable morasses. Colonization was a process which had, at one time or another, taken place in every part of the globe ; and the wilds of Amei ica exhib- ited an exact representation of what every country of the old continent had once been. Angjent history is wholly 288 LETTERS Let. XXI. silent concerning the Herculean labours of converting the earth from an immense wilderness into a terrestrial paradise, by the process of drainage and cultivation ; or, at the most, briefly says, that in the reign of certain princes some marshes were drained, certain embankments were made, &c. If the priests of Egypt had left us an accurate account of the pro- cess of drainisg and rendering habitable that country, which, before the Nile was embanked by the efforts of human labour and industry, was, as is evident from its situation, nothing else than one immense morass^, over which that river spread its waters without regtraint, such a narrative would have been more worthy of our perusal and attention, than all the allegorical tales and lying legends in which they instructed the Greeks. All the particulars relative to the first peopling and cultivating of the different countries of the old continent, are buried in perfect oblivion ; and it is in the history of the new world alone, that we have an opportunity of contemplat- ing scenes of this kind. The histories of America, written by Dr. Robertson, and Rev. Mr. Winterbotham, *' are excellent and instructive compositions, and contain a vast fund of information ; but M. I'Abbe Raynal, in his Philoso- phical View of the European settlements, exhibits in the most explicit and circumstantial manner the particulars of the establishment of the different colonies. The discovery of America furnished a variety of new objects to the con- templation of both the naturalist and the m.oral philoso- pher. In the new world almost every object was ditfer- entfrom those seen in Europe, f Birds, beasts, trees, and plants, totally different from any thing seen before, attracted the attention of those who visited Jhe new continent; and human nature v/as there exhibited under modifications, to which the world afforded no parallel instance. No country *The History of Rev. Mr. W'interbotham, here referred to, is a mere compila- tion ff'-in many original authors, a great part of some of whose works he inserted verbatim. It is therefore an " excellent and instructive composition," not of Mr. W. who has here the credit of it ; but of the various authors, many of whom are Americans, from whose works he has simply put together what is called, improper- ly, his historj^. The Abbe Raynal, in his work here also referred to, is not an authority in all instances to be relied on. In many things, which he relates as history, he is theoretic, fajiciful, and ill-informed ^ J- Morse. f It is not correct to say, that " almost every ohjectm the new world was differ- ent from those seen in Europe," It is not true tiiat ^' most things^'' were different. Many things were, but most tilings unquestionably were like those on the other side of the Atlantic. Let. XXI. ON HISTORY. 239 with which ihe Europeans had hitherto been ncquairstecl af- foiiied an oppottunity of contempladiig; na.n 'm a state ol na- ture. This tiAhibilion of liUtiian iial=i fc could only be seen in Ametica. The ide-is of those n.a5iii'i2;s of naUiie were found totally differ ent from those of the inhabitants of civil- ized countries, as might well be expected ; and the first uis- coverers, who were no philosophers, atfribufed their want of ipacity, not furnished them with an opportunity of forming any ideas but such as were naturally uKpressedon their oiinds by ihe most familiar objects. This was particularly observa- ble, whenever any attempt was made to instruct tliem in the Christian religion. They readily embiaced that religion^ and willingly attended its v/orship ; but it was clearly per- ceived that they were not able to comprehend its doctrine^'. The powers of their uncultivated understandings were so limited, their observations and reflections reached so little beyond the mere objects of sense, that they seerried scarce- ly to have the capacity of forming abstract ideas, and posses- sed no terms of language to express them. To minds in such a state, the sublime doctrines of Christianity, as well as every other kind of abstract knowledge, were incomprehen- sible. Few, therefore, of the natives of America were by the Spanish ecclesiastics thought capable of being admitted to the privilege of the sacraments of the church. A synod, held at Lima, pronounced the Americans to be, through a de- ficiency of understanding, incapacitated from receiving the Eucharist ; and accordingly decreed their e.xchision from Man, in a .tta.ie of nature, was to be seen in Europs, in its nortliarn regions, as as well as iti America. Whatever was the fact concerniDg the native Indians of Soutli America, to whom Mr. B. appears to limit his obsei-vations, in respect to their cajbacil;. to un- derstand the doctrines of Christianity, and to become real Christians, it was not so with respect to the North A^merican tribes. P/Iany among tiieae tribes, eiabraced the Christian religion ; were formed into regular churches : had pastors iVora among themselves, maintained a good degree of order and di.«ciplipe ; and the usual proportion of their professors, were exemplary for their piety and good mor- als. This was the case particularly in the early history cf New- England; in the ehurches formed by the apostolic Eliot. If, as has been ascert/Jned, the Hoifm- tots are capable of receiving Christianity, and becoming real disciples of Christ, we may saTely presume, what is doubtl-.'ss fact, that the whale human roct, with- «nt any exception, are capable of becoming real christians, and inheriting -jterxial life. J.MoRSjBk Bb 290 LETTERS Let. XXL that privilege. The sovereij^n Ponfif, Paul III. however, de- ckling with better judgiitent and iireater libeiiJilj of opinion and sentiment, in bis ian'Oiis BuH of A. 1). »637, declared the Americans to be rational t reatures, entifled to all the rights oi iiuman nature, and the benefits of society in common with other men, and capable of being admitted to ihe sacra- ments, of enieiiflg into holy orders, and of enjoying all the privileges ot (he church. To this day, however, A'^ery ^ew of ihe Indians are admitted into holy Oiders, and fewer still advanced to any dignided station in the church, a ciicimi- statjce which may perhaps be attributed rather to their want oi iti-erest to procure those sacred eoioluments, which ihe Spaniards desire to keep to themselves, than to any deficien- cy of understanding; as it is well iinown, that the li'erary attainments of some of them who have had the advantage of a liberal education, have been far from deserving to be deem- ed inconsideral>le. Another, and indeed the very worst of all the consequen- ces of the discoverv of the new continent, was the intioduc- tion of negro slavery. The first Spanish adventurers treating the iinfortunate inhabitants of the newly discovered coun- tries like beasts of burden. They divided among them- selves the lands of the new world, and with the lands the ill-fat- ed inhabitants also, whom thev reduced to a state of the most abiect slavery, and imposed upon them labours which their delicate constitotions were not able to bear. The natives of ail those parts of America, com|uered by the Spasiiards, inhabited coontries where the fertility of the soii spont?H3eoiisIy produced what was necessary to their support, and tlie uniform wainith of the climate precluded the neces- sity of clothing. In sach a state the natives of America, stran- gers to the wants and conveniences of civilized life, were U!iaccoSiOnied to any active or laborious exertions, either of body or mind. This habitual indolence, with the relaxing lieatof tlie cltsiiate, enervated their bodily frame, and render- ed theii; toitilly i^niit for labour. The diilerence of bodily £tren2.;rh aiul coostilulion between the Anierican natives, within the torrid zone, snd the Europeans, was so remarkably. conspicnoua, that one Spaniard was lOimd able to perform as mucli laborious work, ai]d also required as great a quanti- ty of n iciuals, as five or six Indians ; and the natives of Ameiica were astonidjed at the quantity of provisions which Let. XXI. ON HISTORY. 291 the Spaniards, who are the most abstemious people of Eu- rope, devoured, as well as at the qiianlijj of work they were able to perform. Men accustomed to so indolent a mode of hfe, and so scahlj a diet, were totally incapable of support- ing the labours of culti\ating the ground, and working in the mines, which the colonists imposed upon them. Unable to sustain the grievous burdens with which their oppressors af- flicted them, muliitu{ies of those unhappy mortals were by death released from all their earthly suiierings. Ilispanicla, Cuba, and other islands, were almost depopulated before the court of Spain was sufficiently apprised of the mailer, to in- terest itself in the suifering of the Autericans. The tyranny of the unprincipled and avaricious colonists excited the ab- horrence, and the miseries of the nau\ es, stimulated the com- passion of several huinane and benevolent Spaniards, bo!h l-iy- menand ecclesiastics, who had been witnesses of those scenes of horror. Among those friends of mankind the name of Fa- ther Bartkoloiiiew de las Casas will never be forgotten. This humane ecclesiastic, whose courage no dan[;er could appal, and whose steady and resolute perseverance no diincuUies could overcome, had been an iiidignaat spectator of the ty- ranny exercised by the colonists go the UDfortunate natives. He had loudly declaimed against tl>eir inhumanity and op-. pression. Passing from America to Spain, his ersdeavoured by every possible means to excite the public voice, as well as the humanity and compassion of the court, in favour of his oppressed feliov.^-crealures. This ber.evolerit idoH, \\hose name will ever be dear to humanity, ornined iio'hiiig which he thought cond«ci\e to the emaEcipation oi ?be r.a- lives of x4.merica from the tyranny of their oppressors ; and representing to the sovereign Fontif, in the iiiost cjowin >; co- lours, the sufferings of the unhappy Americaus, uruler ti e in- human oppressions of the colonists, he left no stone unliirjied to excite the compassion of both Spain and Roi]>e in behalf of those unfortunate sufferers, and to rouse the tliunder of the church, as well as the indit:;nation of the Spanish . court, against those Christian tyrants and butchers of the human species. The colonists, on their part, were not inactive. They represented the Americans as an infe. ior race of be- ings, born for slavery, incapable of comprehending the {kH> trines of Christianity! This degredation of the Arriei leans;, from the. rank of rational beings, was, hov^ever, universaUy -292 LETTERS Let. XXI. exploded and condemned by the , decision of Home and Spaia, where the piiijHc indignation was roused against the inhunianitj of the colonial tyrants ; Father de las Casas, and «)ihei" friends ofliuuianity, were indefatigable in tlieir efforts ; anJ it Is a pleasing object of contemplation io see Spanish ecclesiastics of the fifteenth century stand forth the avowed advocates' and assertors of the rational and inalienable rights *>r mankind. The court of Spain interested ilself warndy in tne cause of the oppressed Americans, and resolved to take emuittve measures for pntlins; an end to the disorders v/liich prevailed in the colosiies. The colonists, on their part, find- ing their caase daily losing ground, and seeing reason to ap- prehend the anathemas of the church, as well as the effective resentment of the mother country, took a new ground, and discovered a post which they supposed, and which actually- proved, in some degree impregnable. They represented the necessity of having hands to cultivate the new settle- ijients, and to work the mines, without which they must be abandoned, and all hopes of drav/ing any advantage from the discovery and conquest of those rich countries be for ever extinguished ; and they represented the natives as an indolent race, whom no wages, no rewards, could induce to w^ork, and whom nothing bat absolute compulsion could oblige to apply- to any kind of osefai labour. This representation indeed was not untrue. Their indolent and inactive life had render- ed them eqnally unable and unwilling to apply to any kind of labour. Unaccustomed as they had ever been to the ele- gancies and luxuries of civilized life, and ignorant of their use, they could not suppose them v/orth the trouble of acquisition, aud were astonished that the Europeans should either work themselves, or desire others to labour, for the possession of tilings not immediately necessary for the support of life ; gold and silver were things of no value among them. TJiey had never made use of those metals, except such pieces as they had accidentally found and used merely as ornaments ; and they cpuid not conceive by what infatuation the Spaniards could be induced to ransack the bowels of the earth, and to establish a system of laborious employment for the acquisi- tion of tliose metals, which appeared to them of so little use, and which they could do so Avell without. It is very evident, that men of such ideas, and accustomed to so simple a state of life, could not be induced to labour for the sake of gain ; Let. XXL ON HISTORY. 293 for it is an invariable principle of human naf nre not to labour for the acquisition of any thing of which the possession is es- teemed of no raiue. This plea, therefore, of the colonists, was unanswerable. The prospect of immense wealth from the new world could not be abandoned. Hands were neces- sary to cultivate ihe soil and work the mines. The natives would not work for wages ; nothing but compulsory means could induce them to employ themselves in labour. These circumstances precluded the possibility of emancipating the Americans. The exertions of the friends of humanity were rendered abortive, in regard to the accomplishment of their grand object ; but they were not, however, without a benefi-^ cial effect. The court of Spain seriously studied to amelio- rate the condition of the Americans ; and different plans were formed, and different measures adopted, for that purpose. Every new regulation relative to colonial affairs was favora- ble to the cause of those oppressed people. As it was not possible to draw any advantage from the mines, unless they were wrought, and the Americans would not work for hire, a circumstance which imposed the necessity of using coercive measures, it was at length determined, that they should be freed from the tyrannical oppression of their imperious task- masters, and only obliged to work by coivees in rota- tion, and to receive fixed wages for the days they were oblig- ed to work. This was indeed the most rational method of gradually overcoming their habitual indolence and rooted a- version to labour, and of making them industrious and useful members of society. At present the regulation is, that in ca- ses of necessity, in mining or agriculture, the Indians may be called out to work by corvees of 1 B days, in ro- tation, for a fixed salary. In Peru the seventh part, mul in Mexico the twenty-fifth part of a colony may be called out at once, to work in rotation at such mir.es as are situated within thirty miles of their residcRce ; and for these corvees they receive wages to the amount of about 2s. 3d. sterlinic per diem, which does not appear contemptible wages, but of v»'hich we are not able to estimate the intrinsic value, u)^e' s we were acquainted with the comparative vshie of money in proportion to that of the necessaries of life in Mexico and Peru, However, as those are the countries where gold and silver abound above all others, we may reasonably presume, that money is of less value there, than in any other pail ®f the worlds B b 2 294 LETTERS Let. XXL Notwilhstanding the rational and humane measures adopt- ed bj liie court of Spain, the advocates of American hbeity were not fully satisfied; and Father de las Casas, whose character is strongly marked by that determined resolution which no opposition can disconcert, and that ardent zeal which can never abandon a favourite project, was firmly bent on trying every expedient in order to accomplish the complete emancipation of the natives of the new world; and in his zeal, fur so good a cause, unfortunately hit upon the desperate expedient of neg^o slavery, thus alleviating the miseries of America by hurling them upon Africa. liislory presents to the eye of reason and humanity the shocking spectacle of an extensive system of slavery exist- ing among the nations of antiquity. We have, in a general yiei^' of the social system of Rome, under the republican and imperial governments, seen the rigorous treatment of slaves in the early ages, and contemplated with pleasure the ame- lioration of their condition in the latter tiroes of the republic, and under the government of the Empej'ors. This happy change ia the condijionof slavery, proceeded, as already ob- served, from a variety of causes ; and the estabhshment of Chiisfianity at lengili added its benign influence to soften the condition of those unfortunate mortals, who were placed in that abject and depressed state. The Christian religion was, indeed, peculiarly calculated 1o produce this happy effect. By teaching thar the slave and his master must appear with- out disiincHon before the tribunal of the impartial Judge of all mankind, it held out to the former a strong ioducement to a patient acquiescence io his condition, while it inspired the latter with sentiments of humanity and benevolence towards those whom Providence had thus placed under his authority. And although the system of slavery was not absolutely abol- ished on the establishment of Christianity, its hardships v.'ere considerably mitigated ; for certainly no Christian, who was v/orthy of the name, could treat his slaves with unpro- voked cruelty, or unnecessary rigour. The subversion of the empire by the northern nations, by reducing the slaves and their masters for the most part to the same state of vil- lanage, under the feudal system, in a great measure annihi- lated the system of absolute personal slavery, as it had exist- ed among the Romans. The Turks, and other nations, who «ubvef led tlie empire of the Caliphs, again introduced th.e Let. XXI. ON HISTORY. ^ 295 Roman custom of condemning to slavery their prisoners of war ; and the same S;ystem was, by way of retahation, adopt- ed by the crusaders. After the enthusiastic frenzy of the rehgious wars had subsided, in proportion as the minds of men became more enlightened, as reHgion became better un- derstood, and better practised, and as the advancement of commerce and civiHzation diffused wealth among the people, the system of slavery gradually disappeared, and the feudal system itself was, by a concurrence of causes, at last abol- ished in several parts of Europe. It is, however, a melan- choly circumstance, that the extinction of slavery in Europe was as soon followed by its establishment in America. We have seen that various causes concurred, in such a manner, as rendered the effect inevitable. Jn this life evil is invariably mixed witligood, and we finite creatures are notable to com- prehend the designs of a Providence, infinitely wise in permitting those scenes of misery which the world so abun- dantly displays. Slavery is a bitter cup, and we see what niiiltitudes of mankind have been compelled to drink it, which naiurally gives rise to this question ; — What right can be claimed by man to exercise this tyranny over man, his fel- low creature? To Christians this is a question of the most serious importance, which they ought to endeavour to answer to their own conscience?, as they believe that it must one day be answered before the tribunal of the eternal Judge, whose integrity all the gold and silver brought from the mines of America cannot bribe, whose omniscience no cun- ning can elude, and whose omnipotence no power can resist. Nothing but a combination of circumstances, which render- ed the establishment of the slave-trade absolutely necessary, could have given a sanction to its existence. Father de las Casas, Cardinal Xiaienes,| and other illustrious advocates of Amerian liberty, had undoubtedly the best intention in pro- jecting and promoting the system of negro slavery. If the na- tives of America could have been by any rewards induced to apply themselves to labour, die humanity and justice of the court of Spain would have put them on {he footing of Europe- an labourers and the importation of slaves from Africa would never have been thought of; but it plainly appeared that their unconquerable aversion to labour could not be diminished, and that the compulsion necessary to oblige them to work, was likely to entirely extej* juinate the whole race. The 296 ^ LETTERS Let. XXL projectors of the slave trade, who were undoubtedly humane and benevolent men, imagined, that by importing from Afri- ca a number of slaves, taken prisoners in the wars, which frequently took place among the savage nations of that conti- nent, or such as were malefactors, convicted of crimes against society, they might make useful labourers of many on whom the punishment of death or slavery would otherwise be m- flicted in Africa, in consequence of martial law or judicial sen- tence. They might also with no small probability of con- jecture, imadne that slaves procured from a distant country, and purchased at a great expence, would be better treated and taken care of by their interested masters than the unfor- tunate natives, whose lives appeared of no value in the eyes of the colonists. It was also considered, that the negroes had not that rooted aversion to labour which so strongly charac- terised the natives of the new continent, and that their robust coastitutions, and the strongly compacted frame of their bo- dies, rendered them capable of undergoing those labours and fatigues which threatened the extirpation of the whole race of the natives of America. To all these considerations there might, perhaps, be add- ed, the expectation that the introduction of a number of robust slaves into the colonies would in time be productive of a race of active and industrious labourers, aad that in two or three generations, the Americans, becoming accustomed to a civilized life, and acquainted with its conveniences, would gradually lose their aversion to employment, which has, indeed, been in some degree the case, and that tlie ne- cessity of slavery would in time be superseded by tlie in- crease of voluntary labourers. These considerations might, and many of them undoubtedly did, present themselves to the minds of the first projectors of the African slave trade, and sufficiently evince the rectitude of their intentions. The consequences, it is true, have been in many respects shocks ing to humanity, but these they did not, and, indeed, could not foresee. Man is liable to error, and some men are so circumstanced, that the slightest mistake in their conduct cannot fail of producing the most fatal consequences, either to themselves or to others ; a condition too hard for a finite capacity ; yet, if we carefully peruse the history of man^ kind, or extend our observations abroad in the world, we may easily perceivej that many persons are placed in «uch a m Let. XXI. ON HISTORY. 297 situation, among whom the first projectors of the slave trade may, wifh 2;reat propriety, be numbered. it was, indeed, impossible that the persons who planned the system of neg?o slavery, in order 1o alleviate the suffer- ings of humanity in America, should forsee in their full ex- tent the calamities which their project would bring upon the people of Africa. It is computed by M. FAbbe Raynal, that between eight and nine millbns of negroes have been imported into the American Colonies, and that one million and an half do not now rem.ain."^ If this calculation be just, or nearly so, it exhibits a destruction of the human spe- cies, of which the history of mankind affords few examples, and which must proceed from a series of sufferings shocking to humanity. .It cannot be attributed to the "change of cli- mate, for the countries from whence the negroes are brought, are situated within the torrid zone, and in the same climate as most of tJie American settlements into which they are irii' ported ; and, excepting Batavia, scarcely any countries can be found on the surface of the globe where the air is more sultry and insalubrious than in Negroland and Guinea. This singular and shocking destruction of the unhappy Africans, may therefore without doubt, be chiefly attributed to their violent separation from their country and their connections, and that depression of spirits inseparable from a state of sla- very. The miseries of the unhappy Africans have, however, been very much alleviated by the humane regulations of the different European powers who are concerned in the slave trade. Among those, the benevolent and well judged meas- ures adopted, at different times, by the British Parliament, hold a conspicuous place, and strikingly exhibit the wisdom, the equity, and the humanity of that august body. The question of the propriety of an entire abolition of the slave trade has been amply discussed in that illustrious senate, and all the powers of argumentation have been displayed on both * The computation of tlie Abbe Raynal, both in regard to the amount of negroes imported into the American colonies, and the " number which now remain," is, I conceive, loose, and incorrect. The number supposed to have been imported is exaggerated ; and more remain than is here stated.* The number destroyed, of course, is in. both ways diminished. After all, the destruction of this unhappy race of beings by means of their slavery will appear sufficiently large to shock the feelings of the humane, and excite an abhorrence of this vile traffic. — J. Morse. * The number of negroes in the United States alonein 1810, was l,377,OO0i 298 LETTERS Let. XXI. sides. A total abolition of that traffic has unfortunately been found impracticable, or calculated to produce evils of a great- er magnitude than those it was intended to remedy. These parliamentary discussions, however, have not been without the most beneficial effect, in giving rise to a number of hu- mane and judicious arrangements in the system of the slave trade ; and there is no doubt but further steps will still be taken to alleviate the miseries of slavery, in poportion as cir- cuiJistances appear favorable to the propriety and safety of such measures.* It is to be hoped, and may, indeed, with every degree of probability be expected that slavery will be gradually abolished in America, as it has been in Europe ; and that in process of time the circumstances of the Colonists will render its existence unnecessary. Every friend of man- kind wishes for the speedy approach^of that desirable mo- ment. Several members of the British Parliament, not less illustrious for their senatorial abilities, than for their philan- throphy^nd liberality of sentiment, have, in different sessions, distinguished themselves in the noblest cause that ever came before a national senate, or ever called senatorial talents into exertion ; and although the moment marked m the volume of Divine Providence, for the accomplishment of this great work, was not yet arrived, there is no doubt but their benevolent intentions and endeavours have received a re- ward : — " Which nothing earthly gives^ or can destroy '* The soul's calm sunshine and the heart-felt joy/' Such friends of humanity will never be wanting in tlie British Senate ; for we are not to imagine that those mem- bers of that enlightened body, who opposed the abolhion of the African slave trade were actuated by sentiments less hu- mane, or were less desirous of the general welfare of the hu- man species, than those who so strenuously supported the motion. There is not the least reason to doubt, but the op- ponents of the abolition would have been happy to join with the advocates of that measure if they could have persuaded * The abolition of the slave trade, as respects the British Empire, has since Mr. B. published his work, been accomplished, through the philanthropic labours, and persevering efforts of Grenville Sharp, Esq. and the Hon. Wm. W'ilbervorce and others. This very important Act, received the sanction of royalty on the 25th of March 1807, a day never to be forgotten ia the annals of the British Em- pire. ' J'. M'JRSii, Let. XXr. ON HISTORY. 2Sr» themselves of the possibility of carrying it into effect with safety. "^ The transactions which have taken place in St. Domingo, have given reason to augur less favourably on the emancipa- tion of the negroes than many had formerlj done, and will, undoubtedly, for a long tiaie be remembered to their disad- vantage. The insurrection of the enfranchised slaves of that once flourishng colony is, indeed, an unfortunate circumstance, which will operate very much to the disadvantage of the African cause in all the different European settlements ; but it ought also to be considered, that France emancipated her slaves at a tijne when the unsettled state of both the colonies and the mother count rj rendered them extremely unfavoura- ble to such a measHre. If the abolition of negro slavery had taken place in the French colonies in a time of public tran- qitillity, eiiher under the former monarchical or the present consular government, and the attention of the emancipated negroes been directed to the employments and puj suits of peaceful industry, instead of putting arms in their hands, as was done in St. Domingo, there is every reason to suppose that no such tragical effects would have been produced by their emancipation, as that island has unfortunately exhibited. It is, therefore, to be hoped, that the rebellion of the French colonies will not in future discussions of the important question t)f the abolition of slavery, be allowed to have greater weight in the scale of argumentation than existing circumstances re- ally give it. It is to be hoped, and even without pretending to a spirit of prophecy, may be predicted, that every species of slavery will in time be abolished in all the European set- tlements. I am fully convinced that those reflections, on so interest- ing a subject of human history as the slave trade, will not seem tedious to you ; and I am sufficiently acquainted with the native benevolence of your heart, to believe that you will contemplate with pleasure every probability of its future abo- lition. Joining, therefore, with you in every sentiment on that subject, I am, Sir, &c. J. B. * Tlie apolosrj'^ here made for- those, who opposed the abolition of the African Slave Trade in the " British Senate," is an instance of ecttreme randir. It woula hfive beea quite enough to liave passed them in silence, and without direct censure. J. MOBSE. 300 LETTERS Let. XXIL LETTJER XXIL We come now to investigate one of the most important tonsequemes of the di:^cover} of Anterica, (viz.) its influence on the prices of the necessaiies of life, in this and the other counti ies oi Europe. The discovery of America is one of those important events which have operated an extraordinary and lasting change in the system of human affairs. It has been already observed, that this remarkable event soon excited a spirit of enterprize and adventure, before unknown, and produced a system of colonization, with which the world had long been unacquaint- ed ; and that it has given rise to a new system of slavery which humanity must deplore and abhor, although il can- not perhaps, without great difficulty, nor without waiting for a favorable coincidence of circumstances, now be abolished. American agriculture has also rendered cheap and plentiful a number of the conveniences and luxuries of life, which before were exceedingly scarce and dear ; and introduced many oth- ers before wholly unknown. The sugar cane had been cul- tivated from time immemorial in some parts of Asia and Af- rica ; and sugar was one of those articles of luxury with which the traffic of the port of Alexandria supplied Rome and the other parts of the Empire. Sugar was known to the Romans by the name of Saccharum, but was very scarce and dear, and used only in medicine, or at the tables of the opulent. The cultivation of the sugar cane was introduced into Sicily about the middle of the twelfth century. From Sicily it was brought into the southern provinces of Spain. From thence it was carried into Madeira and the Canaries, and from those islands into America, where the soil and climate were found so favorable to the production of that article of commerce, that it became a staple commodity in several of the colonies. Coffee, a native of Abyssinia, had at an early period been transplanted into Arabia; and, like sugar, consti- tuted an article of the Alexandrian commerce, but was little known in ancient Europe. This was also introduced into Let. XXll. ON HISTORl. 301 America, where it prospered exceedingly ; and the profits arising fiom these two articles inciting the colonists to an ex- tensive cultivation of them, the quantities imported into Eli- rope rendered them cheap and plentiful. Tobacco was also unknown in these parts of the world until it was introduced into England by Captain Lane, who brought back some per- sons sent by Sir Walter Raleigh to make a settlement in Virginia. This, like sugar, is now become an article of com- mon use. /J'he introduction of many articles of luxury, unknown to the Greeks and Romans, as well as the bringing into com- mon use many others, which, by reason of their scarceness and enormous price, could be obtained only by the great axd wealthy among the ancients, was not, however, the most important alteration produced on the commercial and social system of Europe by the discovery and colonization of the new world. The vast and continual influx of gold and sil- ver from the American mines into Europe, by rendering those metals beyond all comparison more plentiful than for- merly, and consequently diminishing their value, advanced the prices of every kind of European produce, and, in gen- eral, of every kind of property. This extraordinary ad- vancement of the value of European property, which, after the importation of American wealth had begun to take place, was soon augmented in a three or fourfold, and at last, in many instances, in more than a tenfold proportion, is the peculiar characteristic, which, in this respect, distinguishes the discovery of the new world above every other event which has ever happened. It does not appear that any very remarkable advancement in the prices of provisions, &c. had, except, in seasons of extieaie scarcity, taken place during several centuries, although some small and gradual augmen- tation be perceptible, in proportion as civilization increased, and commerce was more extended. The augmentation, how- ever, and diffusion of wealth, had procee»:ed so slowly in Europe, before the influx of gold and silver from America had begun to produce its effects on the commercial sj stem, that so late as A. D. 1531, when the concinest ®f Peru was not completed, and that of Mexico, as well as Terra-Firma, and other rich countries, so recently accomplished, as not yet to have poured anv considerable quantity of their wealth C c 302 LETTERS Let. XXIK into Europe, a great feast being held at Ely-House, London, Mr. Peniiant gives us the following bill of fare, viz. I. s. d, 24 Beaves or bullocks, at-*--l 6 8 each. 1 Ox, from the shambles - - - - 1 4 100 Fat sheep, at 2 10 each. 51 Large calves, at -----048 each. Best pullets 24 apiece. Common pullets -----002 apiece. Pigeons, 37 doz. at-*-----0 2 per. dos. Larks, 350 doz. at ----- 5 ditto. Minutiae omitted. This feast was honoured with the presence of King Henry Vlll. and his Q,ueen Catharine of Arragon ; and Mr. Pen- nant has, in his history of London, favoured us with the bill of expeiiCes, which to us, at this tioie, would seem almost inoedible, if we were not acquainted with the circoaistances which have produced so extraordinary a change since that time. The same author also informs us, that A. D. 1536, the mills belonging to the Priory of Bermondsey were let for 6L which was the estimated value of 18 quarters of good wheat, i. e. 6s. Sd. per quarter. Without, however, enter- ing into tedious details, it suffices to observe, that a great num- ber of authentic historical documents exist, both in this and other countries, which shew the little value of landed property and its produce, in Europe, during the middle ages, and its slov*' advancement, until the discovery and colonization of the new world had taken place ; or, in other words, the scarcity of gold and silver before the American mines had begun to pour their w^eahh into the old world. The circulation of gold and silver in different ages and in the different parts of xhe world, is a cuiious and interesting, but in some respects a difncult subject of investigation. It appears that those metals w^ere used as a medium of com- merce 31 early as in the titiie of Abraham, and that they serv- ed as ornainenlal articles of dress, in a period little less re- mote ; and, indeed, although we have no authentic informa- tion relative to this particular, it is extremely probable that gold and silver were used as ornaments before they were es- tablished as a medium of commerce, and the standard where- by to estimate the comparative value of other articles. We Let. XXIL ON HISTORY. Soa maj collect from sacred history, that gold and silver, as well as divers kinds of precious stones, were sufBciently pfeiififul in Egypt at the time of the egress of the Israelites, and the valiiai>le offerings of the people, for the construction of the tabernacle, with all the rich liiaterials of which that sfrncture was composed, as well as those irsed for the Hidi Priest's garments, and in the whole apparatus of religion, were fui" nislied ont of those treasures which they had carried on? of that country; for no other channel can be dirscovered, or even with any appearance of probability imagined, by which- the Israelites could at tliat period be supplied wiiji sitch pleti- iy of ^hose valuable commodities ; for they had not then ob- tained any wealth by the phnider of enensies ; the spoils of Midian being the first considerable acquisition of IhJs kind aftar their departure fi'om Egypt; and the Midianilith war was an event posterior to the construction of the tafiernacle. In regard to commerce, there is no where any meet ion iwdde, nor the least appearance of any being carried on by the Is- raelites, whereby they could have obtained siub a sfoc].: <»f valuable materials, so soon after their entrance into the u ii- derness. In their conquests of the land of Canaan, they ap~ pear to have sometimes made a considerable booty ; bnt it is not imtil the reign of David that we observe that prcfiision of wealth, which seems astonishing in a period of such re- mote antiquity. And the abundance of gold and silver which Jerusalem displayed in the succeeding reign of Solo- man has staggered the Ciechdity of some readers of the Jewish nation. It appear?, hov;ever, that those metals were at that time very plentiful in Egypt, and several covrntiits of Asia. The history of David's wars and conquesis makes it appear that Yevy considerable quantities of a:old and silver had, by some means, been introduced into the coun- tries situated between the Euphrates and the Levant Sea; and it seems that this influx of wealth mnst, (as has already been observed in speaking of the commerce of the ancient world,) have been in a great measure ihe effect of the trade carried on by the Tyrians and Egyptians with the eastein and southern parts of the world. The commercial connec- tions between Solomon and the Tyrians, with the wealth they produced, have also been already noticed ; and it ap- pears, from both sacred and profane history, that there was abundance of both gold and silver in Egypt, in the western 304 LETTERS Let. XXIi. parts of Asia on this side of the Euphrates, and in Assyria and Chaldea, before tiie conquest of Bardis and Babylon had traiisferred a great part of the wealth of those countries into the hands of the Perjsians, who, before that period, do not appear to have possessed any gs-eat riches, and only then emerged from poverty and obscurity to wealth and eminence. No historical documents, however, exist, which can give iis any certain information by what channels those vast quanti- ties of goid and silver had entered into the countries just mentioned, and we are equally left in the dark respecting the parts from whence those riches weve brought, as there cannot be found in history, either ancient or modern, sacred or profane, the least hint that any mirjes of those metals ex- isted in any of those countries ; nor does history inform us In what part of the world they were found. In this, as in many other historical subjects, we are entirely left to con- jecture; and the most probable conjecture is, that the gold and silver of the ancient world was the produce of Africa, where those metals, especially gold, is known to abound both in the iBterlor and the eastern parts ; especially in Mo- iiomopata, Monoemugi, and Sofala, which last is by many sup- posed to be the land of Ophir, to which Solomon's fleets used to sail ; although others, with less probability, suppose it to have been the island of Ceylon, or some other part of India, or the oriental islands. In whatever parts of Africa or Asia these metals were found, it is, however, highly probable that they were introduced into Egypt, and the western parts of Asia, by the Arabian, Egyptian, and Tyrian merchants* The Egyptians especially might bring a considerable part of them by their caravans, wliich, from time immemorial, used to travel into Ethiopia, under which name all the interior and southern parts of Africa were formerly comprehended ; as ^ the Ethiopian caravans in like manner traded into Egypt. In the Hourisfiing ages of Greece, gold and silver began to be plentifully introduced into that country, particularly af- ter the conquest of Persia by Alexander^ which caused the wealth of that empire to circulate westward. All this while Home was exceedhigly poor, and her warlike citizens pos- sessed a very small quantity of those valuable metals, until the conquest of Macedonia, and the Grecian kingdoms of Asia, caused the riches of the east to flow into her bosom. After the Goths, and other northern nations, began to make Let. XXII. ON HISTORY. 305 successful inroads into the Roman empire, the phinder of its provinces put them in possession of part of its riches, and gold and silver, wilhi which they had before been almost wholly unacquainted, began, by those pra^datory wars, to be intro- duced among them. After the total subversion of the wes- tern empire, those riches which Rome had accumulated by so many centuries of successful rapine, were, by degrees, diffused over all Europe, and gold and silver introduced in- to the regions of the north. The abundance of gold and sil- ver, which, as history informs us, was displayed with p.o^ fusion, in the palaces, the dress, the arms, &c. of the an- cients, seems astonishing, and almost incredible to modern readers ; and a person who examines the subject only in a superficial manner, is ready to ask this question — What is become of that abundance of those metals which was display- ed in certain countries; for example, in Jerusalem and Ju- dah, in ancient times ; and why do we not see the same pro- fusion of gold and silver in the present age, especially as the mines of America have produced 'such abundance? The question is not of a difficult solution, and the answer is ob- vious. In the ages of antiquity gold and silver were not so extensively diffused, nor so generally circulated as at pre- sent. In the times here under consideration, and in the countries of which our histories treat, wealth was concentrat- ed within a contracted circje. Egypt, and that small dis- trict of Asia which extended from the Levant sea, and the Grecian Archipelago, to the Euphrates, with Assyria and Chaldea, were tjie only countries where history, either sa- cred or piofar.e, mentions any such abundance of gold and silver. Those metals had not then circulated any farther from the countries where they were produced, and they were lodged in a few hands. They remained chiefly aiiioiig. the princes and grandees. Commerce had not at that pe- riod branched out into a sufficient number of raiiiiiicatioriS to- disseminate them among tlie people at large. This is the reason why such a profusion of them was seen in some pai ticular palaces^ and with some particular pcisons. Vi read of the importation of those metals into tiie Israeliti:-..}! dominions by Solomon's fleets ; but it is highly probably that this trade was monopolized by the crown ; and, not with- standing the extraordinary display of wealth in Jerusalem, WQ are not to suppose that so great a quantity of gold ani. C c ^ / 306 LETTERS Let. XXIL silver t^^as in circulation an>ong the farmers, tradesmen, and mechanics of Israel, as among those of several European countries; nor that the whole quantity accumulated in Solo- mon's kingdom would bear anj comparison with the amount of the circulating cash of England or France. The wealth then accumulated in one narrow corner was afterwards dis- persed among the Persians, then among the Greeks and Gar- thagenians, next among the Romans ; and at last throughout ^ Europe, where no gold or silver harinces of her communion ; and the sovereign Pontiff is now perfectly convinced that those who profess his religion, do oot much regard his authority, and that whatever deference iiiey may have for him as a spiritual director, they will not, i;2 this enlightened age, submit to spiritual usurpation. •The effects of the reformation, like those of almost every oawr great event, involved a mixture of good and evil, a com- bination almost inseparable from the present state of humani- ty. Go the one hand, the obstinacy of the opposite parties, \; iio. instead of being actuated by Christian charity, and en- deavouring to conciliate differences, continually laboured to widen the breach, and render it irreparable ; excited the most deadly aoimosities, attended by the most fatal conse- Q^jeoces, Temporal considerations, as is commonly the esse in religious contests, covered themselves with spiritual pretexts ; and whatever might be tha intentions of some pious aed disiRterested individuals on both sides, who were actuat- ed bj a sinceie zeal for v» hat they thought to be the true reli- gion of Christ, many of each party, while they made the glory &f God, and tlie purity of religion, the ostensible object of their po! sviit, acted from the ioipulse of very different mo- wes. The leading mernber? of the reformation were desi- roiis to shake off th^ yoke of Roirie, while that court was re- snlvcd to cse CTery violent method to reduce them to sub- jecuo:'t» Fro?o tliisjnlernperance of party zeal, stimulated bj avarice a-iid aiDiiitioo, consequences shocking to retro- snectioo easoed. Rome thundered oot her anathemas, and Let. XXIL ON HISTORY. 31.^ kindled the flames of persecution, in order to extirpate, or at least to reduce to subjection those who opposed her aulhorify ; and the reformed party too often retaliated when ihey foimd themselves in possession of sufficient power. A scene of persecution displayed itself in almost eTery part of Europe, and the Protestants, divided into several diOerent seels, per- secuted one another, in some instances, with an animosity equal to that which they manifested against papal usurpation. The religious wars of Germany and France, as also the revolt of England, in the reign of the unfortunate Charles I. are me- lancholy proofs of the fanaticism of the sixteenth and aeven- teenth centuries, and of that spirit of persecution so contrary to Christianity, which actuated the different sects of Chris- tians. On contemplating the effects of the reformation, in another point of view", we shall, however, perceive that this remarkable event, after the first commotions it occaoiQiied had subsided, conttibuted in no small f^s^'re^ to 'uie improve- jEsent of the hiymzn mmcl, not only by setting it free from fae uncontrolable authority formerly exercised over it by spirit- ual judges, but also by the profound and learned investiga- tions which arose from those religious disputes; as in every subject of disquisition the collision of opposite opinions strikes out new sparks of genius, and affords new lights to the in- quisitive mind. Difficult investigations of coiiiplicated suf> jects, by exercising the mental faculties, ripen and invigo- rate the understanding. Things are viewed in new iighTs in v^^hich they would never have been seen, had they r:-leaders of sedition have never faika to Loake the burden of the taxes a subject of declama- tiin, in oider to impose upon the igiiorant multitude, and to cover their own shiister designs with the specious pretext of * It sliO'ild be observed, that these letters were written in the short interval of ijeaci^ between the iu^t and Lsreseut war. Let. XXIII. ON HISTORY. 327 redressing public grievances. It is an undeniable fact, that taxes have an immediate influence on ihe articles of the pub- lic consumption, whether of necessity, or convenieiic}^, or luxury ; for the value of the whole national corisumptioii is always augmented by the aggregate sum of the interest of th-3 national debt, and the annual expenditure. This augmenta- tion of the value of the national cousumption is the piincipal and most determinate effect of taxation. The supposition that high taxes impoverish a nation is a mistake. Whaler er taxes are levied in any country, if they be expended m tlie national produce, cannot impoverish it; ihey only cause ::. more vigorous circulation, as the money tl-iis levied m ihc. country flows back into it by a thousand diffeient clianiiels. This is in a great measure the case with England. In peace and war the bulk of the money raised by taxation flows back into the country. The produce of our own country, and it^ colonies, furnisli most of the articles used in the equipment and victualling of our fleets and armies. The salaries of almost all w^bo hold employments under goveniment are expended at home, in some part of the British dominioos ; and the building of our ships, as well as the maoufactisdrsg of arms, &c. employs numbers of our mechanics. It is tvuef we import masts, cordage, hemp, iron, and several other arti- cles used in the construction of vessels; hut this contributes to stimulate trade, and create a market for our osvu produce and manufactures, which foreign nations could not afford to take off our hands, if we in return did not rake a proporfioaaie quantity of theirs. The effects of taxes, in advancing the prices of articles of consumption cannot be denied ; but the nation is not on that account any poorer, nor the low^er classes of the people moie oppressed ; for the value of produce, and the price of labour, will advance in proportion. This delineation of the case is obviously founded in reason, and its truth is confirmed by experience; for it is an unquestionable fact, that since the existence of a great national debt, and the increase of taxes, the middling and lower classes of the people live much bet- ter than they did before. It has already been observed, and is, indeed, too obvious a fact to escape observation, that the influx of gold and siivrr from America was the principal and primary cause of the ex traordinary advancement, which has, since the discovery of S2U LETTERS Let. XXIll. that t'02]tiiie?if, taken plare in ihe x-hie of European producQ, which, ::::; rl .;u:st :;; r,>i: : ,; • e ^he case, advanced in proportion as the hiciease oi ihe qiuuiiify of gold and siivej* cansed a din-inifjbn in the relative Talue bt* -hose meta!^. From i}ih clicuu\A\:inc2 it h eyideat, tlmt if the qnantifj qi circdalifig cash weie doused, (lie value of property, iti gen- eral, would also be Jynble^; bnl if It were diminished, in that or any ofiif^;- ralm, the general vabie of property would de- ^f^asd hi ihe sa-iie proportioo; tlic> activity of commerce is giTected cot oiily by the existing €piantiiy. of money in circd- lation, but also by any tiling used to represent it; and estafe- iished credit operaies in ihis respect in the same manner as circLiiatino' cash, of which, not only the public funds, of which the securities are transferable, but also every kind of paper currency is a substitute and representation, and all contribute to facilitate commerce, and to stimulate exertion. It has by some been remai'ked, that the national debt of Great Britain, amounting to so vast a sum, and consequently her annual expenditure being very great, a larger sum must foe raised by taxation in this coimtry than in any other of the same population and extent. AdmittiRg this to be true, it is, liGweyer, a truth not less worthy of observation, that the ex- penditure of a nation, as well as its ability, to support this ex- penditure, depeqCiS on its wealth, and not on the population, much less on the extent of its territories. The reason why the expences of Great Britain are greater than those of other nations is evidently becau.ae she is more wealthy. In coun- tries where money is scarce, and trade lein^ui^^hiiig, every thing is cheap, the stipend of ihe soldier h low, as well, as the wages of the mechanic and the labourer ; the salaries an- nexed to public employmeiifs of every description are small, and every article of the national expences is low in propor- tion. In countries where one shilliog will go as far as three in England, the same civil and miliiary establishments may be kept up at one third of the expence requisite for that pur^ pose in this country; but one shilling paid in taxes by the subject is as heavily felt as three shillings by an P^nglishman? This is exemplified in the most luminous manner by the tej spective revenue and expenditure of England and Kussia^ The revenue of the latter is, by Mr. Cox, one of the most intelligent and observing of our miodern travellers, and a ju- dicious writer, estimated at the amount of 6,200,000/. ster- Let. XXIII. ON HISTORY. 829 ling, and cannot be computed at more than seven miilions sterling. Yet, with this revenue, which does not amount to one fourth of the annual revenue of Great Britain, Russia is able to maintain an army of about 400,000 cavalrj and iz> fantr J, exclusive of her fleets, which are not inconsiderate ; and not only to maintain a preponderating influence in the political balance of Europe, and to carry on the operations of war and government with energy, and on the most extea- Bive scale, but also to expend immense suaas on the erection of magnificent edifices, and to exhibit an appearance of pjib- lie splendor at least equal to that of any in Europe ; besides having enough left for the reward of merit, the promotion of arts and sciences, and literature, and every other purpose deserving the attention of government. If the produce of the farmer, the wages of the artisan and the labourer, and the stipend of the soldier were as high, or, in other words, if money were as plentiful in Russia as in England, the govern- ment of that empire would be obliged to levy four or five times as great a sum upon its subjects as it does at present^ and still be scarcely able to cover its expenditure, and to make such wonderful exertions as it has frequently made in the pursuits both of war and peace. From the foregoing considerations, it evident !y appearSj even beyond a possibility of contradiction or dippiite, that the enormous height of the taxes of Gicat Britain are a iw^ cessary consequence of her immense wealthy and that no peo pie whatever have so little right to murmur against xh&r taxes as the Biitish subject, because none are so able io yrj them: and also, because Britons, in return for the 'jioo'^'v they pay for the support of their government, enjoy a seci- rity, and protection of person and property, unlncwn under any of the ancient, and equal at least, if not supenoij to any advantages of the kind to be met with under any of the rijo- dern governments. It is also to be observed, that the BAihh subjects, not to mention the privilege they enjoy of luipos'iig their own taxes by the voice of their represeniatives, arc, i?i a great measure, left to their own choice to deternihie hwv much they will pay ; for, excepting the land-tax, which is un- avoidable, the other taxes being mostly laid upon the ai ticks of consumption, or of optional use, the subject may at any time, by diminishing his consumption, or leaving oiF the ijs?e of certain coBveniences, or luxuries, diffiinish the aincunt of Ee 2 330 LETTERS Let. XXIIL bis taxes, which could not be done iintlcr the system of capi- tation assessment, instituted among the Romans, and in use in some modern nations. And if the national debt were ex- tinguished, and taxes conkl be abolished, it is questionable whether the coijntrj would, on that account, be much richer. The value of the natio*ial prodiice and national property would be diminished ; but the lower classes of the community would not derive any advantage from that circumstance, as the price of labour would suffer a proportionate decrease. it would therefore seem, that the nioney levied by taxa- tion, if spent in the produce of the country, flows back to the sources from which it was originally drav.-n, and as that part of it which is spent in foreign produce tends to give ac- tivi-ty and vigour to commerce, a great national debt, and the increase of taxes, which must be the necessary consequence if the poyment of a grea.t%nnual interest, Zive evils of a much less ma^^iiiliide than they are generally represented. Perhaps it might, upon a critical and accurate investigation, be made to appear, that the principal and almost the only real and r.crisider&LIe evil of taxes consists in their efFectg on home produce and oianufaclures, by their iiTesistible tendency to advance (he pri-ce of prorhlocs ; ibi' it is an obvious case, that ihe artizao or msDulactLirer, who cannot, while working up his article, support hiiijjselt tor le^s than half a crown per diem, will not be able to afiurd the manufactured commodity, at so low a price a3 he who can maintain himself for eighteen pence or a shliling, supposing they both pay the same price for the raw ma'erial; and consequently, when the goods are ^:rc-;;-:t to c^arks;, lh:3 latter wiO, by underselling, take away the trade of the former, who cannot stand against such a competitor, unless he can coujite£;balarice the disadvantage by the superiority of workmanship ; or else, by the posses- sion of a large capital, and a well established trade, be ena- bled (o carry on his business on a niore commodious and ex- tensive scale, and coiiseqitenily to trade for less clear profit, on account of ilia extenslveness of his sale. As the same chcnmhjtances must operate in the same manner on the la- boLirs of a Diiilicn of workmen, as on those of a single indi- vidual,, the meat dangerous consequence, therefore, to be apprehended from high taxes, is, 'that the nation which is highly taxed, shoLdd, by reason of the advanced price of the necessaries of life, be iijiable to sell its manufactures and Let. XXIII. ON HISTOR¥. 331 other exports at the same price in foreign markets as other nations among whom the rate of living is lower. Whenever two trading nations, thus circumstanced, are rivals in the same kind of manufactures, and export the same species of merchandise, whose workmen cannot be maintained but at an expensive rate, that will be un('erstood in the foreign mar- kets bj its rival, whose artizans and manufacturers can be more cheaply supported ; unless, as in the case of individu- als, the disadvantage be counterbalanced by superior skill in workmanship, or by a greater capital, and more extensive trade. This is at present the case with Great Britain ; her manufacturers work at a higher rate than those of other coun- tries, but they do a greater quantity of work, and do it bet- ter ; and for this reason her manufactures are held in great esteem, and fetch good prices in foreign countries. The commerce of Britain is also supported by an immense capital,, and carried on upon a more extensive scale than that of any other nation. She has likewise this advantage, that if the high price of labour obliges her to sell her productions and manufactures to foreigners at a high rate, her opulence and extensive trade enable her to afford them good prices for such of their commodities as she imports for her own con- sumption. That a great national debt, and high taxes, its inseparable concom-ilants, originate chiejBy from the expences incur- red by waa", is an undeniable fact ; and these are generally esteemed the most pernicious consequences which a system cf hostility produces. If therefore it be made to appear that these are nominal, rather than real evils, or at least evils of a much less magnitude than is commonly supposed, the question will naturally be asked, — How then can war be so dreadful a calamity as it is generally represented? This question, however, might, with great propriety, be answered by asking another to the following purport : — Is the efinsioii of human blood a trivial matter? the destruction of the hu- man species a concern of little importance ? are the tears of widows and orphans trifles, which merit not attention? or is the account which every one, who commences or promotes hostilities merely from motives of avarice, ambition or seif- aggrandisement, must render to that Supreme Judge, who, " at the hand of every man's brother, will require the life of man," to be esteemed a subject of trifling consideration ? 332 BETTERS Lej, XXIIL In a political, as well as a moral view, the evils of war are far from being inconsiderable. The wealth and prosper- ity of a state must necessarilj be increased in proportion as its subjects are exercised in useful and profitable employ- ments ; and the riches of every community will be augment- ed in proportion to the number of its members who are thus employed. It must then certainly be a deplorable misfor- tune to mankind, that in every period, from the earliest ages, so considerable a number of the most active and useful sub- jects of every state should have been employed in no other business than the destruction of their fellow-creatures. To the loss of so much useful labour, which might have been of the greatest benefit to the community, may also be added, that of great quantities of provisions, &c. which are often de- stroyed by the enemy, or by being transported from place to place, and laid up for a long time in magazines, are render- ed useless, and consequently are not consumed but wasted. In perusing the ensanguined page of history, the feeling reader cannot but lament the horrible effects of those war« which have so often desolated the finest countries, and in- volved numbers of unhappy sufferers in a widely extended scene of calamity. It seems, however on considering the circumstances of the world, and the imperfections of human nature, that frequent hostiliUes are an evil inseparable from the present state of humanity. In particular states and com^ munities there exists a legislative authority which enacts laws and regulations, in order to restrain the inordinate passions and reconcile the jarring iuterests of its members, and like- wise an executive power to enforce obedience. It is evi- dent, that without such restraints society could not subsist. But when disputes arise between nations, there is no su- preme tribunal on earth to which they can appeal. The decision must consequently be by the sword. It appears, therefore, that wars may be ranked among those mysterious dispensations of Providence, by which the restless passions of mankind, in their baneful effects, produce their own punishment. However, as war is so deplorable a calamity, and the wanton destruction of the human species, a crime for which the Sovereign Ruler of the universe, the Creator and Judge of man, has expressly declared, that he will not fail to take vengeance, nothing but imperious neces- sity call justify human beyigs in the infliction of so dreadful Let. XXIIL ON HISTORY. 333 an evil on their fellow mortals. Present war must have for its object the insurance of future tranquillity ; and if its operation be offensive, its principle must be defensive, or else it is unjust. The funding system \s one of those discriminating features which distinguish the modernii^system of politics from that of the ancients, and is, in many respects, far preferable. In the ancient system, both the ordinary and extraordinary ex- pences were collected at the time when they were wanted, and, on great emergencies, fell heavy upon the subjects, who were often ill prepared to maet those extraordinary and unexpected requisitions. Sometimes it was found impossi- ble to raise the sums requisite for the service of the state ; and v/e frequently hear of armies being disbanded in the most critical moments of public exigency, and even on the eve of vic- tory and conquest, for want of the means of supporting and paying them. The national treasures, when thus collect- ed, were also liable to be seized by usurpers and rebels, of which we have several instances in ancient history. These, and many other evils, are either wholly removed, or at least exceedingly diminished, by the funding . system, which es- tablishes a regular mode of proportioning the national reve- nue to the public expenditure, and providing for any extraor- dinary exigency of the state, without making oppressive, ex- orbitant, and unexpected demands on the subject, with which it might, perhaps be, in some cases, impossible to comply. It may be objected, that the natural operation of the fund- ing system is to impose the increasing burdens on posterity. This objection, however, loses all its force, when it is con- sidered, that together with the national debt, the greatest na- tional advantages are also transmitted to succeeding genera- tions. In conjunction with an increased public debt, each existing generation transmits to that succeeding it, the inher- itance of a mass of political and social advantages, a country more highly cultivated, a commerce more extended, arts and sciences more improved, society more civilized, and the possession of all those blessings secured by an excellent con- stitution, founded on the surest principles of public justice and rational liberty. On succeeding to so noble an inheri- tance, posterity cannot murmur at finding it encumbered with a mortgage, which does not diaiinish its real value, •^34 LETTERS Let. XXIII. and which has been contracted with a view of improving the patrimony. As the funding sjstem is peculiar to modern finance, and was unknown to the ancients, so has the balance of power, ever since the extraordinary aggrandisement of the house of Austria, under Charles Y. been ?. leading consideration in the general sjstem of European politics, and an object for which oceans of blood have been spilt. Thousands, and it may, without ejtaggeration, even be said, millions of human victims have been sacrificed on the altar of this phantom, which seems now to have disappeared. The smaller, and, indeed, some of the gieater powers, appear to have little in- fluence in the political system ; and Great Britain, France, and Russia seem to be the only three powers, which, in time to come, will cast the political scale and determine the fate of the world, until the North American empire shall acquire the same ascendency in the new world, which those powers appear likely to possess on the old continent. As those already mentioned are some of the most con- spicuous features in the political aspect of ^e World, so does the rapid progress of civilization, and all its appendages, make a distinguished figure in the picture of modern society. We have already seen how a conrpllcated traim of causes have operated, through a long succession of ages, to ad- vance or retard the civilization and improvement of the hu- man species. The progress of liberty, the advancement oi knowledge, the invention or improvement of arts, sciences, and manufactures, the extension of commerce, the discovery of America, and the influx of wealth from that quarter, con- stitute a combination of causes, which, by a reciprocal and united operation, have produced this great effect, the civili- sation of modern Europe. One visible and necessary consequence of this general civilizatiouj is the diffusion of opulence, and consequently of luxury, among the people. The prevalence of luxury, among al! ranks of people, in modern Europe, has furnished an ample subject of declamation to self authorised reformers, moralists, and petty politicians. In reality, it is, however, BO more than a natural consequence of the advancement of ^civilization, and the acquisition of richest, in co-operation with that universal principle of human nature, which excites men to enjoy wht^t they posaess, Tho^e declaimers remind usj Let. XXIIL ON HISTORY. 335 that luxury caused the downfall of the greatest empires of the ancient world, and from thence would infer, that its effects will be the same on the nations of modern Europe ; but it does not appear to have been the luxury of the people, but that of an effeminate court, which occasioned, or at least, ac- celerated the fall of the Babylonian, Persian, and some other mcnarchies. That species of luxury which is diffused throughout a whole nation, and exists among the middle and lower classes of the people, has not that fatal tendency ; but is, on the contrary, the prin cipal support of trade and manu- factures, and the grand stimulus of national and individual in- dustry. There is also another essential difference between the governments and political systems of the ancients and those of the moderns ; the former, for the most part, owed their opulence, as well as their aggrandizement, to conquest ; and when the military enthusiasm, to which they owed their greatness, had subsided, they often fell a prey to the first barbarous invader. The nations of modern Europe^ on the contrary, ov*^e their wealth, and most of their advantages, to commerce ; and if luxury produce indolence among a people, w hose genius and politics are entirely military, it excites in- dustry, and rouses exertion, in a commercial nation. It is not luxury, therefore, but supineness and indolence, which are baneful to a state. The luxury and splendor of a court are not incompatible with an attention to public affairs ; nor the luxury of individuals inconsistent with the management of their private affairs. The popular declaimers against the Apolitical and moral vices of the times would do well to con- sider, that as luxury cannot properly be defined, any thing else than an extravagant expenditure, too great for the cir- cumstances of the party on whom the imputation is fixed, it is not easy to determine what is luxury in different situations of life ; for what is luxury in one is bare convenience in anoth- er. Luxury always begins where convenience ends, but it is often difficult to fix the line of demarkation. After contemplating the state of that part of the moral sys- tem, with which we are the most acquainted, and in which we are the most interested, if we extend our observations still far- ther, and take a more comprehensive view of human nature, "influenced and modified by political and religious systems, in- tellectiral theories, and social habits ; although we see Chria- 336 LETTERS Let. XXili tianity daily acquiring a greater extension, bj reason of the vast empire on the Spaniards, and the increasing power of the Noi th American republic beyond the Atlantic, as also by the aggrandizement of the Russian empire, which now ex- tends over all the northern regions of Asia, as well as by the colonies and missionaries of Great Britain, and other Euro- pean nations ; yet we see the greatest part of Asia, and almost the whole of Africa, under the power of despotism and th(?, influence of superstition. All the norlhern parts of Africa, with Egypt, Arabia, the Turkish dominions, Persia, a great part of India and Tartary, are in the profession of the Maho- metan religion, while a still greater part of the Indians and Tartars adhere to those of the Bramins, and of the Lama of Thibet. The inhabitants of the vast and populous coun- tries of China, Japan, Tonquin, and Cochin China, adhere to the various systeais of Foe or Confucius, or else to that of Thibet ; and each of the systems, established among these oriental nations, branches out into a number of subdivisions. The extensive countries of Siam, Pegu, Av^, &c. situated to the east of the bay of Bengal, have systems of their own equally absurd; and the vast interior and southern parts of Africa, except the empire of Abyssinia, where the religion is composed of a mixture of Judaism and Christianity, and perhaps of some Mahometao superstitions, are immersed in the depths of religious and intellectual barbarism. We know but little of the political and religious systems established in many of the countries just mentioned. They are seldom vi- sited by intelligent travellers, and history aiTords us no infor- mation relative to the origin or reformation of their different religious or political systems. We know, however, enough to see, that after such a long succession of ages, mankind emerge but slowly from barbarism and ignorance ; and that the illuminating radiance of Christianity, as yet, shines only on a small part of the human race. Among the innumerable historical and moral questions which might be propounded, and v.'hich it is impossible to solve, the reason might be demanded why there exists such a difference in the intellectual improvements of different na- tions, and why the arts and sciences, literature and civiHza- tion, have made so great a progress in some, countries, while others have scarcely yet emerged from their primeval igno- rance. The most remaj'kable links of that 2:reat chain of Let.xxiil on history. sar causes and effects, which has produced this distinction among the nations, ancient and modern, with whose history we have any acquaintance, are tolerably conspicuous. The circumstances which caused the rise, the progress, and the decHne of the arts and sciences, and literary know- ledge, in Babylon and Egypt, as well as among the Greeks and Romans, and since among the modern Euro- peans, are sufficiently distinguishable among the crowd of moral occurrences which fill the pages of history ; and by the effects they have produced, diversify, with innumera- ble shades, the ever varying picture of human existence. Of the history of many other nations, however, we are to- tally ignorant ; but some of them do not appear to have ever made any advancement beyond the arts of necessity ; in some we perceive a regard to conveniency, and in others a certain degree even of luxury, but with a very small pro- gress in intellectual improvement. Some nations, ag the Hindoos and Chinese, appear to have made considerable advances in scientific and literary knowledge, and in the arts and embellishments of civilized life, at a very early period. It is beyond a doubt, that those oriental nations had made no inconsiderable improvements in those things before almost any marks of civilization were disceverable among the most polite of the modern nations of Europe, and in^all probabili» ty before the Romans, or the Greeks themselves, had made any great progress in knowledge ; yet neither scientific nor literary improvements were ever carried to such a pitch among the Eastern nations as among the Greeks, the Ro- mans, and the modern Europeans; but, on the contrary, seem to have long remained stationary in those coimtries. The decline of the Hindoo learning, in the latter ages, may readily be accounted for, by the circumstance of the sub- version of their political power and importance, and their subjection to the yoke of the Tartar invaders, who estab- lished the Mahometan religion, and the Mogul empire in In- dia, and rendered that celebrated country for many ages a theatre of revolutions and of crimes. But it is difficult to find a satisfactory reason, why the Chinese, after having, at a very early period, made greater progress in science and literature than most, if not any of the western nations, should, as it were, have stopped at a fixed point of improvements^ without advancing any farther during a period of many cea- Ff 338 LETTERS Let. XXIlL turies. It is somewhat difficult to account for this pheno*' Hienon ; perhaps, if we were better acquainted with the an- cient and modern history of that celebrated people, the dif- ficulty might either vanish, or be considerably lessened; and this remarkable circumstance in the history of the hu- man mind be ascribed to its true cause. The Chinese, ac- cording to the histories of that nation, transmitted to us by their own writers, have been less exposed to foreign inva- sion, less harassed by external wars, and less agitated by internal commotions, than almost any other nation ; and scarcely any great empire has, during so long a period of political existence, undergone so few revolutions ; for the Tartar conquest, one of the greatest and most important re- volutions which ever happened in China, was no more than a transfer of the sovereignty from one family to another, and made little or no alteration in the national institutions, and the genius of the people, as the Tartars adopted the manners of the Chinese, in every particular, even to their dress, instead of compelling them to conform to the customs ^nd usages of the conquerors ; in which, circumstances con- sidered, the Tartars displayed a masterpiece of sound sense and good policy. This view of the Chinese history, delineated from the ac^ counts of their own writers, appears, on considering the local circumstances of that country, a pretty just representation. China, at an early period, replenished with inhabitants, and organized in a regular political system, was far the most pop- ulous and most powerful empire in the eastern parts of Asia, Separated by immense deserts from the western countries, it had seldom any attack to apprehend from that quarter. The nations to the south, or south-west, were far inferior in strength, and for the most part under the power, or at least the influ- ence, of the Chinese empire. On the east the sea was its barrier, and consequently the northern frontier was the only vulnerable part on which China apprehended and actually experienced an invasion from foreign enemies. This fron^ tier they fortified with that celebrated wall, which has beeii so much talked of, and which, although it exists a remarka- ble monument of the industry of the Chinese nation, was not found sufficient to resist the assaults of the Tartars, the only enemy that empire ever had to fear. The invasion and con* quest of that country, by the successors of Zinghis Khm, tET. XXIIL ON HISTORY. 53» was, however, of a desultory nature, and does not appear to have produced any very considerable revolution in the ge- nius, manners, and general state of the people ; and the last Tartar conquest, as already observed, was productive of as little alteration in this respect. In such a state of local secu- rity and political stability, joined to the advantages of a fer- tile soil and happy climate, it is somewhat wonderful that the Chinese, after having at so early a period displayed the acti- vity of the national genius, by as great a progress in arts, science^ and philosophy, as any of the nations of antiquity, ivithout exception, should have so soon arrived at the ne pins ultra of their intellectual and scientific attainments, and have remained to this day, in that respect, in the very same state in which they were many centuries ago. It is impossible, with the imperfect knowledge which the Europeans have of the Chinese, and their history, to assign with any degree of certainty the true cause of this singular circumstance. If we should hazard a conjecture, it seems hardly possible "to attribute it to any thing else than a slavish attachment to es- tablished systems, customs, and current opinions, which ex- tinguishes the spirit of inquiry and improvement in both reli- gion and philosophy, and in every department of human science, and of which the effects are discoverable at one pe^ riod or another in the history of almdst every people. Whether the Creator and Supreme Disposer of all, who^ in filling up the immensity of his plan, peopled the earth with various orders of beings, from man down to the lowest insect, has, in his infinite wisdom, thought proper to distinguish dif- ferent nations and races of men by a different measure of m- tellectual powers ; we, who see human nature modified and influenced by a thousand external and adventitious ciicum- stances, are not competent to determine. It is almost equally difficult to conceive in what degree physical circimistaares may operate on the mental facullies of the inhabitants of dif- ferent climates. If we contemplate and compare the ancient and present state of Italy and Greece, as well as of all the na- tions of modern Europe, and make just refiections on the de- cline of Grecian literature, and Roman valor, as well as on the extraordinary advancement of the formeilv barl>arous nations of Europe, in every species of inlellectua] improvement, it will appear that the faculties of the human mind, are much Tiiore strongly influence, and its piogress in kr^owledge more 340 LETTERS Let. XXIII decidedly determined by moral than physical circumstances. In regard to bodily strength and constitution, physical causes ma}^ probably have a more powerful influence. The inha- bitants of the southerly climates are generally described as inferior in strength and courage to those of the more northern countries ; but, notwithstanding this general representation, a number of exceptions must be admitted. Perhaps the gene- ralily of the case maybe called in question ; and it is far from being certain, that the people of Africa, and some of the soutliern parts of Asia, are inferior in bodily strength to the Europeans and northeni Asiatics. It is, however, certain, that warm climates relax the springs of action, and render the inhabitants less inclined to vigorous exertions of either body or mind. The wealth and abundance generally fur- nished by the luxuriant soil and genial climate of the south- ern regions, are often supposed to have given the natives a j^, taste for luxury, but this is certainly an erroneous hypothe- ^'' Bis. The nations of the south do not live more, but less lux- uriously than those of the north ; their luxury is of a differ- ent cast, and more tinctured with eiFeminacy and indolence. This is imagined to be the true reason why the southern na- tions have so often been conquered by those of the north. It may indeed be remarked, that the greatest and most re- markable migrations of the human race have been made from the nortliern towards the southern regions, and that the lat- ter have commonly fallen a prey to the northern conquerors ; wlicreas the people of warmer climates have never, in any one instance, extended their conquests very far to the north. Neither the Babylonians, the Persians, nor the Saracens, t'le most southerly of any of the great conquering nations Kientioned in history, ever proceeded far to the northward ; I ui \t must also be considered, that they had no inducement to cany their arms that way. The northern nations had niany and strong inducements to migrate and seek for con- quest and riches in ihe pleasant, fertile, and wealthy coun- tries of the south ; hut the people of those countries could have no temptation to alhire them into the imper- vious wildernesses and morasses of the northern regions ; and this may probably be one reason why the northern na- tions were never conquered by those of the south, and which may liave operated as powerfully in that respect as Let. XXIII. ON HISTORY. 341 the supposed inferiority of strength and courage, and other martial qualifications, in the people of the southern climates. If we could clearly see all the different combinations of circumstances which have, through a succession of ages, di- versified and determined the condition of nations, we should, perhaps, find that a train of moral causes, forming them- selves, into an infinity of combinations, and operating with an infinite variety of influences, has determined the degree of intellectual perfection to which they can reach, as well as the place they must hold in the political scale, and that no essential physical difference between the different nations, into which the human species is divided, exists ; but that all seeming distinction of that kind, ail apparent intellectual pre- eminence or inferiority, depend upon a combination of caus- es, under the direction of that Providence which has marked out the course of human affairs, and set to both nations and individuals their bounds, which they cannot pass. In taking a retrospective view of the long revolution of ages, filled by the successive generations of mankind, and contem- plating the variegated scene of human existence, the mind is astonished at the wonderful exhibition, and cannot refrain from making serious reflections on the transitory state of all sublunary things. When we contemplate the subversion of empires, the fall of conquerors, the extinction of their families, and the inefficacy of all their projects and performances, we perceive the short-lived nature of all the objects of human am- bition. The kings, the heroes, and conquerors of antiquity are no more ; their very bones are long aga reduced to dust, and their names, which are all that is left of them in this world, are only an empty sound. Their posterity is either long since extinct, or their descendants are mixed with the great mass of ihe vulgar, undistinguished and unknown. Many lin- eal descendants of the most celebrated personages of antiqui- ty are among the number of poor labourers and mechanics of the present day ; and while their progenitors bore rule over mankind, the ancestors of the princes, the philosophers and . literati of the modern world, were leading a wandering and \savage life in the immense wildernesses of Denmark, Norway, iS'.veden, Russia, Poland, and Germany ; countries which were ali in a state of barbarism, while Greece and Rome were flourishing in arts and arms, and in the meridian of their glo- ry. So completely has all human power been overturned. m2 LETTERS, &c. Let. XXIIJ that om of the most celebrated Writers in the last century sayg that not one farniijcan be found, either in Rome, or any othe part of Italy, which can with certainty trace its genealoo-^ from the ancient Romans. Such are the vicissitudes "o this ever changing scene, exhibited on the moral theatre o the world. The philosopher, who takes a retrospective view of the history of mankind, and conte^nplates, with a spirit of obserVa^ tion and reflection, the complicated and interesting drama oi human existence throughout all its successive and varieo-ated scenes, from the earliest period of historical record to the present day, will, perhaps, find no difficulty in perceiving that imperious circumstances fix the destiny of nations and indi- viduals ; that various combinations of physical and moral Gatises, incalculably numerous, and extremely complex, deter« mine the political, religious, intellectual, and social condition of mankind; that all things concur to the accomplishment of one vast and mysterious plan ; and that the history of human affairs, and the history of Divine Providence, are essentially" the same. These observations and reflections, on the history of our ipecies, are offered to your consideration by an affectionate friend, at your own request; and you will undoubtedly make this further reflection on the vicissitudes of sublunary things, thatj however exalted the st-ation of any individual may be, or however extensive and conspicuous his sphere of ac- tion, its duration is extremely short ; and that the revolution of a few years puts an end to all artificial distinctions, and places the high and the low, the rich and the poor, the victor and the vanquished, on the same level. And you will be ready to make this conclusion, that, as in a dramatic represen- tation, it is of little consequence to the actors which of them appears is the character of the prince, or which in tliat of the peasant, since all are equal as soon as the play is ended ; so it is an affair of trifling importance what part we are destined to perform in the drama of human life ; the great point of con- sequence to lis is, h®w our respective parts are acted. I am, vSir, yours, &c. THE END.