to any great historical work, and still more to any philosophical or imaginative purpose. It appears, then, from the nature of barbarous language, when it is merely spoken, and from the attempts made at recording events in a more advanced stage, that the intellectual condition of the savage is far inferior to that of the civilized man. Hitherto we have considered the state of savage nations in man as an individual: but such a condition is confessedly unnatural,—all agree that some form of association is necessary to humanity. The first and most simple form is the domestic state. A general state of promiscuous intercourse between the sexes never existed but in the fanciful imaginings of poets, or in the wild speculations of philosophers, who possessed the madness of poetry without the inspiration. Such persons, whose notions of the state of nature appear to have been derived from the brutes, inform us that no permanent unions are formed by the lower animals. The reason is obvious: with them the season of infancy is short; the young soon acquire vigour and agility; the tenderness of the mother, with little, and sometimes with no assistance, is adequate to the care of the brood. But even among animals, we find the union continued so long as it is necessary to the conservation of the young. Few observers of nature have failed so see the male bird sharing the task of incubation; and when the young are clamorous for food, He hears their cry, he grants their hoarse request, Even the denizens of cities may have observed the sparrows teaching their young to make the first trial of their wing, and both parents sharing the task of guiding them to food. Among animals, the length of union between the parents is directly proportioned to the duration of the state of infancy. But the infancy of man is more protracted, feeble, and helpless than that of any other animal; he is dependent for a much longer period on the care and foresight of his parents; their desires and unions do not depend on the extrinsic circumstances of times and seasons. If a state of promiscuous intercourse ever existed, it could not be protracted beyond one generation, for the race would become extinct. Domestic union being natural and necessary to man, we have next to inquire what are the conditions that render it most advantageous. Judging from all experience, we should say, mutual confidence, and mutual respect based on mutual equality. The relations between master and slave are equally disastrous to both; the blighting effects of bondage are discoverable in the taskmaster as well as in the serf; the experience of America too fatally shews that the social inferiority of the negro is reflected in the moral degradation of the planter. Many of the more dark and severe pictures of the American slave-owners may be exaggerated, but strong features of resemblance still serve to identify the caricature. The more intimate and close are the relations, the more pernicious is the result of great inequality. Domestic slavery existing as rigidly as predial slavery is a fearful aggravation of the evil. So obvious is this truth, that among all slave-holding communities, we find the lot of the domestic slave rendered less onerous. Horace, for instance, threatens it as a severe punishment to an insolent slave, that he would be transferred from the house to the farm. But communities have existed, in which the tyranny of the dwelling rivalled, or even surpassed, the tyranny of the field; and in such cases, vice and misery held joint sway to an extent of which it is scarcely possible to form a conception. In the married state of savages some differences may be observed. When provisions are scanty, and the means of procuring subsistence not easily attainable, the man confines himself to one wife. In warmer regions, where food is more abundant, and nutritious vegetables grow spontaneously, several wives are often taken by one husband. The permanence of the tie also varies: in some countries, marriages are deemed permanent; in others divorces are common on the slightest pretext, and often without any assignable cause. But, however the obligation of the contract is viewed, whether as confined to one or extended to more, whether as permanent or perpetual, the condition of women in barbarous nations is equally humiliating and miserable. Her very first step in life is one of suffering and degradation; she is either stolen, or sold like the beast of the field. The Hon. Mr. Murray, in his very interesting travels, gives us the following account of the daily labours of an Indian woman among the Pawnees of North America:— "She rises an hour before daylight, packs up the dried meat, the corn, and other bales, strikes the tent, loads and saddles all the horses and mules, and at dawn the march commences; they generally go from twelve to fifteen miles before their mid-day halt; the husband rides; some animals are loaded, many run loose; she travels on foot, carrying on her back either a child or a package of a considerable size; in one hand a bundle or can of water, with the other leading one or two packhorses. On arriving at the campingplace, she unpacks the animals and proceeds to pitch the tent or lodge as before described. But, in order to appreciate the extreme labour of this apparently simple operation, it must be borne in mind that she has to force eight or ten poles, sharpened at the point, into ground baked nearly as hard as brick by a vertical sun, they requiring to be driven nearly six inches deep by the mere strength of her arms, as she is not assisted by the use of any iron-pointed instrument, or any mallet. As soon as the tent is pitched and arranged, she goes in search of wood and water; the latter is generally within half a mile of the camping-place selected, but the former, I can positively affirm from my own observation, she frequently has to seek and carry on the back three or four miles. From mingled commiseration and curiosity, I once or twice raised these wood bundles thus brought in, and am afraid to hazard a conjecture as to their weight, but I feel confident that any London porter would charge high for an extra load, if he was desired to carry one of them halfa-mile: she then proceeds to light the fire, cut up the meat, and pound the corn, for which latter purpose she is obliged to use a heavy club, round at the extremity, and a mortar hollowed by herself from the trunk of a walnut tree. As soon as the meal is finished, she has to strike the tent, reload the horses, and the whole foregoing work has to be repeated, except that the after noon walk is generally not more than eight or nine miles. "This is the ordinary routine of a travelling day; but on the day of a hunt, and on its successor, her labour varies in kind, not much in degree, as besides bringing wood and water, cooking, etc., she has to cut up all the meat into thin flakes or layers to be dried in the sun; to dress the skins or robes, the mode of doing which I shall have to notice presently; to make the mocassins, leggins, and in short whatever clothing is wanted by any part of the family. To perform this incredible labour, there were only three women in our lodge, and I never saw any of the three either grumble or rest a moment, although plagued with the additional care and ceaseless crying of the two before-mentioned brats. Lest it may be supposed, that in the permanent or winter lodge, they enjoy more rest, it is as well to mention, that in addition to their domestic duties, the whole of the agricultural labour, in their coarse system of raising maize, falls to their share." A courtship in Australia is a very striking affair. The lover selects for his mistress the maiden of another tribe, and watches her incomings and outgoings with all the pertinacity of affection. At length he tracks her to some retired spot, the solitude of which seems to afford a favourable opportunity for the declaration of his passion; he rushes forward, strikes her to the earth with a club or wooden sword, and continues beating her about the head, until repeated blows have rendered her senseless. After this very impressive and feeling commencement, he drags the victim, streaming with blood, to the haunts of his own tribe, where she is |