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Show 10G TTIE MONOGl~NJSTS AND of tho German orio-inal, or of Faye's French version, will hunt in vain for the long and noble paragraph above quoted l It is simply oxpu11gcd: probably not to shock the conservatism of tho Royal 8ocicty. Promotion might have been stopped, long ago, by the "lords spiritual and temporal," had an officer in II. M. Service dar d even to translate such heretical opinions as those avowed by tho brothers HuMDOLDT: the "For. Sec." would have soon ceased to be cretary at all, to any Royal Society. In tho second, we refer to 0TTE' translation; H learning from his pr face-" Tho present volumes differ from those of Mrs. Sabine in having all the foreign measures converted into English terms, in being published at considerably less than one-third of the price, and in being a translation of tho enti1·e workj for I have not conceived myself justi fied in omitting passages, simply because they might be deemed slightly obnoxious to our national p1·e;'udices." Fair enough this seems. That whi ·h routiuo and cxpoctancios naturally forbade tho oilicial to do, "into E11glish," might, one would suppose, be honestly performed by a private individual. Nevortbel ss, upon verification, wo discover this to bo, also, as Ta.lleyrand once observed to Oastler agh, "nne t1·es forte suppos-ition!" 13y pamplu·asis aud periphrasis, throuo-h dextrous substitutions of mil<l r tormf.l, and a hnppy adoption of eqnivocal interpretations, Mr. Ott6 has eflaced the precision of his author's language; obscnl'ing th.oreby both of t~? ~fum h?l~ts' f.l ·ientific deductions so cficetually, that their snppoAJtJtJOusly-; Jomt a.dvo acy of "all mankind's descent from Adam aud ·Eve," meets everywhere with tho gmtitude and applause of wondering thoologers! To re.ndcr this evident, I have chosen the French tmnslation, above cttod, as an appropl'iate epigl'aph and intt·oduction to t!JO subj cts developed in tho prcf.lent chapter. At foot tho reader will find OT·rf;'s English 12 rend riug of the German text; which is like-u Td.,-"1't·ILnslatod from tho Gorman, by E. C. O·l"rf.i," n.nd boforo oitod. J[111·pors' Now :or~< c<~itio n, 181i0. I wonder wb ctbcr it is the same, textually, ns BonN's; whiob doubt 1nclumt,on doos not now prompt mo to take some troublo in verifying. 12 Nxtrnct from O·r1'l::'s Ooamos, Amot·. od., pp. 854-5:- " Oeogr1tphionl invostigntions rogMding tho ancient seal, tho so-called ~radle of lite human ract, nt:o not devoid ~fa mythioo.l character. •We do not know,' Bl\ys Wilhelm von lfumh? ldt, 111 nn unpubltsbcd work On the Varieties of Langtwges and Nations, • either f1·orn htstory.o: frot~ o.uthc~1tio trn.clitioo, IHty period of time in which tho human rnco hns not been diVIded mto socml groups. Whether tho gregarious condition was original, or of ~ubs~quont oocurt·cnco, wo have no histot·io evidence to show. 'l'ho sopnrnto mythical relattons found to exist indopondontly of one nnother, in different parts of tho enrth appear to refute tho fir8t hypothesis; and concur in ascribing the generation of tho who!~ human race to tho nniol~ ?f one pnir. 'l'he gonoro.l prevalonco of this myth hBS cauRed it to be regarded ns a lrl\dtttouary record transmitted from tho primitive ml\u to his descend- TliE POLYGENJSTS. 407 wise subjoined. Unfortunately, want of familiarity with the latter tongue precludes personal comparison of this translation with the original; but, for the accuracy of itB French interpretation, wo ants. But this very circumstnnco seems rather to provo thtLt it has no historical foundation, but hns simply arisen from nn identity iu tho modo of intellectunl conception, which lms everywhere led man to adopt tho same conclusion regarding identical phonomonn; in the aame manner as many myths have doubtless arisen, not from any hi~toriov.l connootion existing botweon them, but from 1111 identity in humnn thought nnd imnginv.tion. Anolhl'r ovidonco in favor of tho purely mythical nature of this belief, is afforded by tbc fnct that tho first origin of mankincl-a phenomenon which is wholly beyond tho sphoro of experience- is oxpl!Lincd in perfect conformity with existing views, being con~idorcd on tho principle ol' tho colonization of somo desert island or remote mountainous valley, at a period when mankind had akoacly existed for thousands of yonrs. It is in vain that wo d.irect our thoughts to tho solution of tho groat problem of tho first origin, since mau is too intim1Ltely associntod with his own rnce, and with tho rolntions of time, to conceive of tho existence of nh individurLI indopondontly of n prooodi.ng goncmtion o.nd ago. A solution of those di{!icult questions, whiclt can not be dotorminccl by inductive rensoning or by oxporionce- whothor tho bolio!' in this presumed traditional condition be actually bttsed on historical evidence, or whether mankind inb1tbitod tho OfLrth in grogttriou~ nssociationR ft·om tho origin of tho rnco-cannot, thoroforo, bo dotorminocl ft·om philological do.ta; nud yo~ its olucidlLlion ought not to be sought for from otbor sources.' " "Die googrophischon Forschungon ubor don alten Sitz, die sogcnnnnto W i o go des Mensch on go a c h 1 o o h t s hnb011 in dor 'l'hat cinon rein mytbischcn Charnktcr. 'Wir kcnncn,' Sl\gt Wilhelm von Humboldt in oinor noch ungcdruckton Arbcituber clio Verschieclonhoit dor Sprachcn und Volkor, 'gcschichtlich odor nuch nur durch irgend aichero Uobcrlioforung keinou Zoitpuukt, in wolchern do.s Monscbottgc8cblocht uicbt in Volkorbnufon gotronnt gowoson wii.ro. Ob diosor l!:ustnnd dor ut·spri.inglicho wat· otlcr ot·st spiitor ontstan<l, liiszt ~iclt dnhor goscltichtlich nicht ontschoiclcn. Einzolno, nn aehr vcrsohiodonon Punl<ten dor Ertle, obno irgend sichtbnron Zusv.mmcnhaug, wicdorkoht·ondo Rt\gon verncinon dio orstoro Annnhmo, und lnsscn dns go.nzo Monschcngoschlccht von Einom Monschcnpnnro v.bst!Lmmen. Die woito Vorbroitung diosor Sago hat sio biswoilen fUr oino UJ·orinnorung dot· Monsclthcit hnlton lassen. Oomtlc dicscr Umstand nbor bewoist violmehr dlLSZ ihr koino Uoborliofornng und nichts geRchichLiichos zum Orunclo lug, sondorn nur die Gloichhoit dot· monsohliohon Vorstollungswoiso zu clcrsolbcn Erkliirung dor gloicbon Et·schcinung fi.ihrto: wio gowisz violo Mython, ohno goschichtliohcn Zusammcnhang, bloss aus dor Oloichhoit dos monsoltliohen Dichtens untl Ori.ibclns entstandon. Jcno Sogo triigt 11noh d1Lrin ganz d1\S Oopriigo monschlichcr Erfindung, dnsz sic die auszer allor Brt'!Llmtug liogondo Et·sohoinung des craton Entstohons dos Monsohongoschlochts auf cine ilwcrhnlb hcutigor Erfahrung liogondo Weise, und so Ot·kliiron will, wio in lr.oitcn, wo das gan~o Monsohongosohlooht schou Jnh1·tnusonde hindurch bestnntlon b11tto, cine wi.istc Insel odor cin 1\bgosondortos Oobirgsthl\1 mllg bcvolkert worden aoiu. Vorgcblioh wi.irdo aich dl\s Nachdonkou in d~tij Problem jcner orston l•:ntstobung vortiuft Jmbon, dn dot' Mensch so an Hein Ooschlocht und an dio l!:oit gobundon is~, dnsz Hich oin F.iuzolncr ohno vorbauuones Ooscblecht und oltno Vot·gnngcnhcit gat· nicht in monsohlichom DI1Scin ft\SSeu lltszt. Ob also in diesor wodo1· auf dom Wcgo der Gednnkon noch clor Erfahrung zu ontschoidcndon Frogo wirklich jonor nngoblich trnditionollo Zustnntl tlcr goscbichtlicho war, odor oh dne Monschongcschlooht von seinom Doginnon 1111 volkcrwoise don Erbdo<.lon bewolmte? darf die Spracbkundo wcdor nus sich bostimmon, noob, dio l':ntschcitlung tmdorswohor nehmond, zum Erlclii.rungsgrundo itir sich brauchon wollco.' " (" Ko8moa. :J!;ntwurf oinor phy~ichen WoltboschJ·eibung," ' '011 AM:XANDim VON lluMuor. oT. Fi.infto Lioforung, StuttgtLrd Uti(! 'l'i.ibingon, pp. 1181-2.) |