Chapter I: Front Matter

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THE MORAL AND INTELLECTUAL DIVERSITY OF RACES.

With Particular Reference to Their Respective Influence in the Civil and Political History Of Mankind.

From the French of COUNT A. DE GOBINEAU:

With an Analytical Introduction and Copious Historical Notes. By H. Hotz.

To Which Is Added an Appendix Containing a Summary of the Latest Scientific Facts Bearing upon the Question of Unity or Plurality of Species. By J. C. Nott, M. D., of Mobile.

Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co. 1856.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1855, by J. B. Lippincott & Co., in the Office of the Clerk of the District Court of the United States in and for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

TO THE

STATESMEN OF AMERICA,

THIS WORK,

THE FIRST ON THE RACES OF MEN CONTEMPLATED FROM THE
POINT OF VIEW OF THE STATESMAN AND HISTORIAN
RATHER THAN THE NATURALIST,

IS

RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED

BY THE

AMERICAN EDITOR.

EDITOR'S PREFACE.

It has been truly observed that a good book seldom requires, and a bad one never deserves, a long preface. When a foreign book, however, is obtruded on the notice of the public, it is but just that the reasons for so doing should be explained; and, in the present case, this is the more necessary, as the title of the work might lead many to believe that it was intended to re-agitate the question of unity or plurality of the human species--a question which the majority of readers consider satisfactorily and forever settled by the words of Holy Writ. Such, however, is not the purpose of either the author or the editor. The design of this work is, to contribute toward the knowledge of the leading mental and moral characteristics of the various races of men which have subsisted from the dawn of history to the present era, and to ascertain, if possible, the degree to which they are susceptible of improvement. The annals of the world demonstrate beyond a doubt, that the different branches of the human family, like the individual members of a community, are endowed with capacities, different not only in degree but in kind, and that, in proportion to these endowments, they have contributed, and still contribute to that great march of progress of the human race, which we term civilization. To portray the nature of these endowments, to estimate the influence of each race in the destinies of all, and to point out the effects of mixture of races in the rise and fall of great empires, has been the task to the accomplishment of which, though too extensive for one man, the author has devoted his abilities. The troubles and sufferings of his native country, from sudden political gyrations, led him to speculate upon their causes, which he believes are to be traced to the great variety of incongruous ethnical elements composing the population of France. The deductions at which he arrived in that field of observation he subjected to the test of universal history; and the result of his studies for many years, facilitated by the experiences of a diplomatic career, are now before the American public in a translation. That a work, on so comprehensive a subject, should be exempt from error, cannot be expected, and is not pretended; but the aim is certainly a noble one, and its pursuit cannot be otherwise than instructive to the statesman and historian, and no less so to the general reader. In this country, it is peculiarly interesting and important, for not only is our immense territory the abode of the three best defined varieties of the human species--the white, the negro, and the Indian--to which the extensive immigration of the Chinese on our Pacific coast is rapidly adding a fourth, but the fusion of diverse nationalities is nowhere more rapid and complete; nowhere is the great problem of man's perfectibility being solved on a grander scale, or in a more decisive manner. While, then, nothing can be further removed from our intentions, or more repugnant to our sentiments, than to wage war on religion, or throw ridicule on the labors of the missionary and philanthropist, we thought it not a useless undertaking to lay before our countrymen the opinions of a European thinker, who, without straining or superseding texts to answer his purposes, or departing in any way from the pure spirit of Christianity, has reflected upon questions which with us are of immense moment and constant recurrence.

H. H.

PHILADELPHIA, _Nov. 1, 1855_.

CONTENTS.

ANALYTICAL INTRODUCTION.

The discussion of the moral and intellectual diversity of races
totally independent of the question of unity or plurality of
origin--Leading propositions of this volume, with illustrations and
comments.

CHAPTER I.

POLITICAL CATASTROPHES.

Perishable condition of all human societies--Ancient ideas concerning
this phenomenon--Modern theories 105

CHAPTER II.

ALLEGED CAUSES OF POLITICAL CATASTROPHES EXAMINED.

FANATICISM--Aztec Empire of Mexico.--LUXURY--Modern European States
as luxurious as the ancient.--Corruption of morals--The standard of
morality fluctuates in the various periods of a nation's history:
example, France--Is no higher in youthful communities than in old
ones--Morality of Paris.--IRRELIGION--Never spreads through all
ranks of a nation--Greece and Rome--Tenacity of Paganism 114

CHAPTER III.

INFLUENCE OF GOVERNMENT UPON THE LONGEVITY OF NATIONS.

Misgovernment defined--Athens, China, Spain, Germany, Italy, etc.--Is
not in itself a sufficient cause for the ruin of nations. 138

CHAPTER IV.

DEFINITION OF THE WORD DEGENERACY--ITS CAUSE.

Skeleton history of a nation--Origin of castes, nobility,
etc.--Vitality of nations not necessarily extinguished by
conquest--China, Hindostan--Permanency of their peculiar
civilizations. 146

CHAPTER V.

THE MORAL AND INTELLECTUAL DIVERSITY OF RACES IS NOT THE RESULT OF POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS.

Antipathy of races--Results of their mixture--The scientific axiom of
the absolute equality of men, but an extension of the
political--Its fallacy--Universal belief in unequal endowment of
races--The moral and intellectual diversity of races not
attributable to institutions--Indigenous institutions are the
expression of popular sentiments; when foreign and imported, they
never prosper--Illustrations: England and France--Roman
Empire--European Colonies--Sandwich Islands--St. Domingo--Jesuit
missions in Paraguay 172

CHAPTER VI.

THIS DIVERSITY IS NOT THE RESULT OF GEOGRAPHICAL SITUATION.

America--Ancient empires--Phenicians and Romans--Jews--Greece and
Rome--Commercial cities of Europe--Isthmus of Darien 201

CHAPTER VII.

INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY UPON MORAL AND INTELLECTUAL DIVERSITY OF RACES.

The term Christian civilization examined--Reasons for rejecting
it--Intellectual diversity no hindrance to the universal diffusion
of Christianity--Civilizing influence of Christian religion by
elevating and purifying the morals, etc.; but does not remove
intellectual disparities--Various instances--Cherokees--Difference
between imitation and comprehension of civilized life 215

INTRODUCTORY NOTE TO CHAPTERS VIII. AND IX.

Rapid survey of the populations comprised under the appellation
"Teutonic"--Their present ethnological area, and leading
characteristics--Fondness for the sea displayed by the Teutonic
tribes of Northwestern Europe, and perceptible in their
descendants 234

CHAPTER VIII.

CIVILIZATION.

Mr. Guizot's and Mr. W. von Humboldt's definitions examined. Its
elements 246

CHAPTER IX.

ELEMENTS OF CIVILIZATION--CONTINUED.

Definition of the term--Specific differences of
civilizations--Hindoo, Chinese, European, Greek, and Roman
civilizations--Universality of Chinese civilization--Superficiality
of ours--Picture of the social condition of France 272

CHAPTER X.

QUESTION OF UNITY OR PLURALITY OF RACES.

Systems of Camper, Blumenbach, Morton, Carus--Investigations of Owen,
Vrolik, Weber--Prolificness of hybrids, the great scientific
stronghold of the advocates of unity of species 312

CHAPTER XI.

PERMANENCY OF TYPES.

The language of Holy Writ in favor of common origin--The permanency
of their characteristics separates the races of men as effectually
as if they were distinct creations--Arabs, Jews--Prichard's
argument about the influence of climate examined--Ethnological
history of the Turks and Hungarians 336

CHAPTER XII.

CLASSIFICATION OF RACES.

Primary varieties--Test for recognizing them; not always
reliable--Effects of intermixture--Secondary varieties--Tertiary
varieties--Amalgamation of races in large cities--Relative scale of
beauty in various branches of the human family--Their inequality in
muscular strength and powers of endurance 368

NOTE TO THE PRECEDING CHAPTER.

The position and treatment of woman among the various races of men a
proof of their moral and intellectual diversity 384

CHAPTER XIII.

PERFECTIBILITY OF MAN.

Imperfect notions of the capability of savage tribes--Parallel
between our civilization and those that preceded it--Our modern
political theories no novelty--The political parties of Rome--Peace
societies--The art of printing a means, the results of which depend
on its use--What constitutes a "living" civilization--Limits of the
sphere of intellectual acquisitions 391

CHAPTER XIV.

MUTUAL RELATIONS OF DIFFERENT MODES OF INTELLECTUAL CULTURE.

Necessary consequences of a supposed equality of all races--Uniform
testimony of history to the contrary--Traces of extinct
civilizations among barbarous tribes--Laws which govern the
adoption of a state of civilization by conquered
populations--Antagonism of different modes of culture; the Hellenic
and Persian, European and Arab, etc. 414

CHAPTER XV.

MORAL AND INTELLECTUAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE THREE GREAT VARIETIES.

Impropriety of drawing general conclusions from individual
cases--Recapitulatory sketch of the leading features of the Negro,
the Yellow, and the White races--Superiority of the
latter--Conclusion of volume the first 439