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University of California • Berkeley

THE LIBRARY

OF THE UNIVERSITY

OF CALIFORNIA

PRESENTED BY

PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID

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THE TJEMFJLE OF NATURE .

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ORIGIN OF SOCIETY: A POEM,

WITH PHILOSOPHICAL NOTES.

BY

ERASMUS DARWIN, M.D. F.R.S.

AUTHOR OF THE BOTANIC GARDEN, OF ZOONOMIA, AND OF

PHYTOLOGIA.

Unde hominum pecudumque genus, vitaeque volantum, .

Et quae marmoreo fert tnonstra sub aequore pontus?

Igneus est illis vigor, & cxlestis origo. VIRG. JEa. VI. 728.

LONDON: PRINTED .FOR J. JOHNSON, ST. PAUL'S CHURCHYARD,

BY T. BENSLEY, BOLT~COURT, FLEET STREET. 1803.

PREFACE.

THE Poem, which is here offered to the Public, does not pretend to instruct by deep researches of reasoning; its aim is simply to amuse by bring- ing distinctly to the imagination the beautiful and sublime images of the operations of Nature in the order, as the Author believes, in which the progressive course of time presented them.

The Deities of Egypt, and afterwards of Greece, and Rome, were derived from men famous in those early times, as in the ages of hunting, pasturage, and agriculture. The histories of some of their actions recorded in Scripture, or celebrated in the heathen mythology, are introduced, as the Author

PREFACE.

hopes, without impropriety into his account of those remote periods of human society.

In the Eleusinian mysteries the philosophy of the works of Nature, with the origin and pro- gress of society, are believed to have been taught by allegoric scenery explained by the Hierophant to the initiated, which gave rise to the machi- nery of the following Poem.

PRIORY NEAR DERBY, Jan. 1, 180:2.

ORIGIN OF SOCIETY.

CANTO L

PRODUCTION OF LIFE.

C O N T E N T S.

I. Subject proposed. Life, Love, and Sympathy 1. Four past Ages, a fifth beginnings. Invocation to Love 15. II. Bowers of Eden, Adam and Eve 33. Temple of Nature 65. Time chained by Sculpture 75. Proteus bound by Menelaus 83. Bowers of Plea- sure 89. School of Venus 97. Court of Pain 105. Den of Obli- vion 113. Muse of Melancholy 121. Cave of Trophonius 125. Shrine of Nature 129. Eleusinian Mysteries 137. III. Morn- ing 155. Procession of Virgins 159- Address to the Priestess 167. Descent of Orpheus into Hell 185. IV. Urania 205. GOD the First Cause 223. Life began beneath the Sea 233. Repulsion, Attraction, Contraction, Life 235. Spontaneous Production of Minute Animals 247. Irritation, Appetency 251. Life enlarges the Earth 265. Sensation, Volition, Association 26"9. Scene in the Microscope; Mucor, Monas, Vibrio, Vorticella, Proteus, Mite 281. V. Vegetables and Animals improve by Reproduction 295. Have all arisen from Microscopic Animalcules 303. Rocks of Shell and Coral 315. Islands and Continents raised by Earthquakes 321. Emigration of Animals from the Sea 327. Trapa 335. Tadpole, Musquito 343. Diodon, Lizard, Beaver, Lamprey, Remora, Whale 351. Venus rising from the Sea, emblem of Organic Nature 371. All animals are first Aquatic 385. Fetus in the Womb 389. Animals from the Mud of the Nile 401. The Hiero- phant and Muse 42 1 —450.

CANTO I.

PRODUCTION OF LIFE.

I. BY firm immutable immortal laws Impressed on Nature by the GREAT FIRST CAUSE, Say, MUSE! how rose from elemental strife Organic forms, and kindled into life; How Love and Sympathy with potent charm Warm the cold heart, the lifted hand disarm; Allure with pleasures, and alarm with pains, And bind Society in golden chains.

Four past eventful Ages then recite, And give the fifth, new-born of Time, to light; 10 The silken tissue of their joys disclose, Swell with deep chords the murmur of their woes;

4 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO i.

Their laws, their labours, and their loves proclaim, And chant their virtues to the trump of Fame.

IMMORTAL LOVE! who ere the morn of Time, On wings outstretch'd, o'er Chaos hung sublime; Warm'd into life the bursting egg of Night, And gave young Nature to admiring Light! — You ! whose wide arms, in soft embraces hurl'd Round the vast frame, connect the whirling world! 2O Whether immers'd in day, the Sun your throne, You gird the planets in your silver zone; Or warm, descending on ethereal wing, The Earth's cold bosom with the beams of spring; Press drop to drop, to atom atom bind, Link sex to sex, or rivet mind to mind; Attend my song! — With rosy lips rehearse, And with your polish'd arrows write my verse ! — So shall my lines soft-rolling eyes engage, And snow-white fingers turn the volant page; 30

CANTO i. PRODUCTION OF LIFE. 5

The smiles of Beauty all my toils repay, And youths and virgins chant the living lay.

II. WHERE EDEN'S sacred bowers triumphant sprung, By angels guarded, and by prophets sung, Wav'd o'er the eafl in purple pride unfurl'd, And rock'd the golden cradle of the World;

Cradle of the world, 1, 36. The nations, which possess Europe and a part of Asia and of Africa, appear to have descended from one family; and to have had their origin near the banks of the Mediter- ranean, as probably in Syria, the site of Paradise, according to the Mosaic history. This seems highly probable from the similarity of the structure of the languages of these nations, and from their early possession of similar religions, customs, and arts, as well as from the most ancient histories extant. The two former of these may be collected from Lord Monboddo's learned work on the Origin of Language, and from Mr. Bryant's curious account of Ancient My- thology.

The use of iron tools, of the bow and arrow, of earthen vessels to boil water in, of Avheels for carriages, and the arts of cultivating wheat, of coagulating milk for cheese, and of spinning vegetable fibres for clothing, have been known in all European countries, as long as their histories ha\ e existed ; besides the similarity of the texture of their languages, and of many words in them; thus the word sack is said to mean a bag in all of them, as a-axxov in Greek, saccus in Latin, sacco in Italian, sac in French, and sack in English and German.

Other families of mankind, nevertheless, appear to have arisen in

6 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CAXTO i.

Four sparkling currents lav'd with wandering tides

Their velvet avenues, and flowery sides;

On sun-bright lawns unclad the Graces stray'd,

And guiltless Cupids haunted every glade; 40

Till the fair Bride, forbidden shades among,

Heard unalarm'd the Tempter's serpent-tongue;

Eyed the sweet fruit, the mandate disobeyed,

And her fond Lord with sweeter smiles betray'd.

Conscious awhile with throbbing heart he strove,

Spread his wide arms, and barter'd life for love ! —

Now rocks on rocks, in savage grandeur roll'd,

Steep above steep, the blasted plains infold;

The incumbent crags eternal tempest shrouds,

And livid light'nings cleave the lambent clouds; 50

other parts of the habitable earth, as the language of the Chinese is said not to resemble those of this part of the world in any respect. And the inhabitants of the islands of the South-Sea had neither the use of iron tools, nor of the bow, nor of wheels, nor of spinning, nor had learned to coagulate milk, or to boil water, though the domesti- cation of fire seems to have been the first great discovery that dis- tinguished mankind from the bestial inhabitants of the forest.

CANTO i. PRODUCTION OF LIFE. 7

Round the firm base loud-howling whirlwinds blow, And sands in burning eddies dance below.

Hence ye profane ! — the warring winds exclude Unhallow'd throngs, that press with footstep rude; But court the Muse's train with milder skies, And call with softer voice the good and wise. — Charm'd at her touch the opening wall divides, And rocks of crystal form the polish'd sides; Through the bright arch the Loves and Graces tread, Innocuous thunders murmuring o'er their head; 6O Pair after pair, and tittering, as they pass, View their fair features in the walls of glass ; Leave with impatient step the circling bourn, And hear behind the closing rocks return.

HERE, high in air, unconscious of the storm, Thy temple, NATURE, rears it's mystic form; From earth to heav'n, unwrought by mortal toil, Towers the vast fabric on the desert soil;

8 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO i.

O'er many a league the ponderous domes extend, And deep in earth the ribbed vaults descend; JO

A thousand jasper steps with circling sweep Lead the slow votary up the winding steep; Ten thousand piers, now join'd and now aloof, Bear on their branching arms the fretted roof.

Unnumber'd aiies connect unnumber'd halls, And sacred symbols crowd the pictur'd walls;

With pencil rude forgotten days design,

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And arts, or empires, live in every line.

Pictured watts, 1. 76. The application of mankind, in the early ages of society, to the imitative arts of painting, carving, statuary, and the casting of figures in metals, seems to have preceded the discovery of letters; and to have been used as a written language to convey intelligence to their distant friends, or to transmit to pos- terity the history of themselves, or of their discoveries. Hence the origin of the hieroglyphic figures which crowded the walls of the temples of antiquity; many of which may be seen in the tablet of Isis in the works of Montfaucon; and some of them are still used in the -sciences of chemistry and astronomy, as the characters for the metals and planets, and the figures of animals on the celestial globe.

CANTO r. PRODUCTION OF LIFE. o

While chain'd reluctant on the marble ground, Indignant TIME reclines, by Sculpture bound; 80

And sternly bending o'er a scroll unroll'd, Inscribes the future with his style of gold. — So erst, when PROTEUS on the briny shore, New forms assum'd of eagle, pard, or boar; The wise ATRIDES bound in sea-weed thongs The changeful god amid his scaly throngs; Till in deep tones his opening lips at last Reluctant told the future and the past.

HERE o'er piazza'd courts, and long arcades, The bowers of PLEASURE root their waving shades; QO Shed o'er the pansied moss a checker'd gloom, Bend with new fruits, with flow'rs successive bloom.

So erst, when Proteus, 1. 83. It seems probable that Proteus was the name of a hieroglyphic figure representing Time; whose form was perpetually changing, and who could discover the past events of the world, and predict the future. Herodotus does not doubt but that Proteus was an Egyptian king or deity ; and Orpheus calls him the principle of all things, and the most ancient of the gods; and adds, that he keeps the keys of Nature, Danet's Diet, all which might well accord with a figure representing Time.

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10 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO i.

Pleas'd, their light limbs on beds of roses press'd, In slight undress recumbent Beauties rest; On tiptoe steps surrounding Graces move, And gay Desires expand their wings above.

HERE young DIONE arms her quiver'd Loves, Schools her bright Nymphs, and practises her doves; Calls round her laughing eyes in playful turns, The glance that lightens, and the smile that burns; 100 Her dimpling cheeks with transient blushes dies, Heaves her white bosom with seductive sighs; Or moulds with rosy lips the magic words, That bind the heart in adamantine cords.

Behind in twilight gloom with scowling mien The demon PAIN, convokes his court unseen; Whips, fetters, flames, pourtray'd on sculptur'd stone, In dread festoons, adorn his ebon throne; Each side a cohort of diseases stands,

And shudd'ring Fever leads the ghastly bands; 110

,*

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CAN TO i. PRODUCTION OF LIFE. 11

O'er all Despair expands his raven wings,

And guilt-stain'd Conscience darts a thousand stings.

Deep-whelm'd beneath, in vast sepulchral caves, OBLIVION dwells amid unlabell'd graves; The storied tomb, the laurell'd bust o'erturns, And shakes their ashes from the mould'ring urns. — No vernal zephyr breathes, no sunbeams cheer, Nor song, nor simper, ever enters here; O'er the green floor, and round the dew-damp wall, The slimy snail, and bloated lizard crawl; 120

While on white heaps of intermingled bones The muse of MELANCHOLY sits and moans; Showers her cold tears o'er Beauty's early wreck, Spreads her pale arms, and bends her marble neck.

So in rude rocks, beside the JEgean wave, TROPHONIUS scoop'd his sorrow- sacred cave;

Trophonius scoop' d, 1. 126*. Plutarch mentions, that prophecies of evil events were uttered from the cave of Trophonius ; hut the allegori- cal story, that whoever -entered this cavern were never again seen to

12 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO i.

Unbarr'd to pilgrim feet the brazen door, And the sad sage returning smil'd no more.

SHRIN'D in the midst majestic NATURE stands, Extends o'er earth and sea her hundred hands; 130 Tower upon tower her beamy forehead crests, And births unnumber'd milk her hundred breasts; Drawn round her brows a lucid veil depends, O'er her fine waist the purfled woof descends ; Her stately limbs the gather'd folds surround, And spread their golden selvage on the ground.

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From this first altar fam'd ELEUSIS stole Her secret symbols and her mystic scroll;

smile, seems to have been designed to warn the contemplative from considering too much the dark side of nature. Thus an ancient poet is said to have written a poem on the miseries of the world, and to have thence become so unhappy as to destroy himself. When we reflect on the perpetual destruction of organic life, we should also recollect, that it is perpetually renewed in other forms by the same materials, and thus the sum total of the happiness of the world con- tinues undiminished; and that a philosopher may thus smile again on turning his eyes from the coffins of nature to her cradles.

Fam'd Eleusis stole, 1. 1 37. The Eleusinian mysteries Avere invented

CANTO i. PRODUCTION OF LIFE. 13

With pious fraud in after ages rear'd Her gorgeous temple, and the gods rever'd. 140

— First in dim pomp before the astonish'd throng, Silence, and Night, and Chaos, stalk'd along; Dread scenes of Death, in nodding sables dress'd, Froze the broad eye, and thrill'd the unbreathing breast. Then the young Spring, with winged Zephyr, leads The queen of Beauty to the blossom'd meads;

in Egypt, and afterwards transferred into Greece along with most of the other early arts and religions of Europe. They seem to have consisted of scenical representations of the philosophy and religion of those times, which had previously been painted in hieroglyphic figures to perpetuate them hefore the discovery of letters; and are well explained in Dr. Warburton's divine legation of Moses; who believes with great probability, that Virgil in the sixth book of the JEneid has described a part of these mysteries in his account of the Elysian fields.

In the first part of this scenery was represented Death, and the destruction of all things; as mentioned in the note on the Portland Vase in the Botanic Garden. Next the marriage of Cupid and Psyche seems to have shown the reproduction of living nature; and afterwards the procession of torches, which is said to have constituted apart of the mysteries, probably signified the return of light, and the resuscitation of all things.

Lastly, the histories of illustrious persons of the early ages seem to have been enacted ; who were first represented by hieroglyphic figures, and afterwards became the gods and goddesses of Egypt, Greece, and Rome. Might not such a dignified pantomime be con- trived, even in this age, as might strike the spectators with awe, and at the same time explain many philosophical truths by adapted imagery, and thus both amuse and instruct?

14 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO i.

Charm'd in her train admiring Hymen moves, And tiptoe Graces hand in hand with Loves. Next, while on pausing step the masked mimes Enact the triumphs of forgotten times, 150

Conceal from vulgar throngs the mystic truth, Or charm with Wisdom's lore the initiate youth; Each shifting scene, some patriot hero trod, Some sainted beauty, or some saviour god.

III. Now rose in purple pomp the breezy dawn, And crimson dew-drops trembled on the lawn; Blaz'd high in air the temple's golden vanes, And dancing shadows veer'd upon the plains. — Long trains of virgins from the sacred' grove, Pair after pair, in bright procession move, 1 60

With flower-fill'd baskets round the altar throng, Or swing their censers, as they wind along. The fair URANIA leads the blushing bands, Presents their offerings with unsullied hands;

CANTO i. PRODUCTION OF LIFE. 15

Pleas'd to their dazzled eyes in part unshrouds The goddess-form;— the rest is hid in clouds.

" PRIESTESS OF NATURE! while with pious awe Thy votary bends, the mystic veil withdraw; Charm after charm, succession bright, display, And give the GODDESS to adoring day! 170

So kneeling realms shall own the Power divine, And heaven and earth pour incense on her shrine.

** Oh grant the MUSE with pausing step to press Each sun-bright avenue, and green recess; Led by thy hand survey the trophied walls, The statued galleries, and the pictur'd halls;

The statued galleries, 1. 176. The art of painting has appeared in the early state of all societies before the invention of the alphabet.. Thus when the Spanish adventurers, under Cortez, invaded America, intelligence of their debarkation and movements was daily trans- mitted to Montezuma, by drawings, which corresponded with the Egyptian hieroglyphics. The antiquity of statuary appears from the Memnon and sphinxes of Egypt; that of casting figures in metals from the golden calf of Aaron; and that of carving in wood from the idols or household gods, \vhich Rachel stole from her father

16 ORIGIX OF SOCIETY. CANTO i.

Scan the proud pyramid, and arch sublime, Earth-canker'd urn, medallion green with time, Stern busts of Gods, with helmed heroes mix'd, And Beauty's radiant forms, that smile betwixt. 180

"

Waked by thy voice, transmuted by thy wand, Their lips shall open, and their arms expand; The love-lost lady, and the warrior slain. Leap from their tombs, and sigh or fight again. — So when ill-fated ORPHEUS tuned to woe His potent lyre, and sought the realms below; Charm'd into life unreal forms respir'd, And list'ning shades the dulcet notes admir'd. —

" LOVE led the Sage through Death's tremendous porch, Cheer'd with his smile, and lighted with his torch; — 1QO

Laban, and hid beneath her garments as she sat upon the straw. Gen. c. xxxi. v. 34.

Love led the Sage, 1. 189- This description is taken from the figures on the Barbarini, or Portland Vase, where Eros, or Divine Love, with his torch precedes the manes through the gates of Death, and reverting his smiling countenance invites him into the Elysian fields.

CANTO i. PRODUCTION OF LIFE. 17

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Hell's triple Dog his playful jaws expands, Fawns round the GOD, and licks his baby hands; In wondering groups the shadowy nations throng, And sigh or simper, as he steps along; Sad swains, and nymphs forlorn, on Lethe's brink, Hug their past sorrows, and refuse to drink; Night's dazzled Empress feels the golden flame Play round her breast, and melt her frozen frame; Charms with soft words, and sooths with amorous wiles, Her iron -hearted Lord, — and PLUTO smiles. — 200 His trembling Bride the Bard triumphant led From the pale mansions of the astonish'd dead; Gave the fair phantom to admiring light, — Ah, soon again to tread irremeable night!"

IV. HER snow-white arm, indulgent to my song, Waves the fair Hierophant, and moves along. —

Fawns round the God, 1. 192. This idea is copied from a paintino- of the descent of Orpheus, by a celebrated Parisian artist.

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18 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO i.

High plumes, that bending shade her amber hair, Nod, as she steps, their silver leaves in air; Bright chains of pearl, with golden buckles brac'd, Clasp her white neck, and zone her slender waist; 210 Thin folds of silk in soft meanders wind Down her fine form, and undulate behind; The purple border, on the pavement roll'd, Swells in the gale, and spreads its fringe of gold.

" FIRST, if you can, celestial Guide! disclose From what fair fountain mortal life arose, Whence the fine nerve to move and feel assign'd, Contractile fibre, and ethereal mind:

" How Love and Sympathy the bosom warm, Allure with pleasure, and with pain alarm, 220

With soft affections weave the social plan, And charm the listening Savage into Man."

CANTO i. PRODUCTION OF LIFE. 19

«* GOD THE FIRST CAUSE! — in this terrene abode Young Nature lisps, she is the child of GOD. From embryon births her changeful forms improve, Grow, as they live, and strengthen as they move.

" Ere Time began, from flaming Chaos hurl'd Rose the bright spheres, which form the circling world ;

God thcjirst cause, 1. 223.

A Jove principium, musae! Jovis omnia plena. VIRGIL.

i

In him we live, and move, and have our being. ST. PAUL.

Young Nature lisps, 1. 224. The perpetual production and in- crease of the strata of limestone from the shells of aquatic animals; and of all those incumbent on them from the recrements of vegeta- bles and of terrestrial animals, are now well understood from our improved knowledge of geology; and show, that the solid parts of the globe are gradually enlarging, and consequently that it is young; as the fluid parts are not yet all converted into solid ones. Add to this, that some parts of the earth and its inhabitants appear younger than others; thus the greater height of the mountains of America seems to show that continent to be less ancient than Europe, Asia, and Africa; as their summits have been less washed away, and the wild animals of America, as the tigers and crocodiles, are said to be less perfect in respect to their size and strength ; which would show them to be still in a state of infancy, or of progressive improvement. Lastly, the progress of mankind in arts and sciences, which continues slowly to extend, and to increase, seems to evince the youth of human society; whilst the unchanging state of the societies of some insects, as of the bee, wasp, and ant, which is usually ascribed to in- stinct, seems to evince the longer existence, and greater maturity of those societies. The juvenility of the earth shows, that it has had a

20 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO i.

Earths from each sun with quick explosions burst,

«

And second planets issued from the first. 230

Then, whilst the sea at their coeval birth, Surge over surge, involv'd the shoreless earth; Nurs'd by warm sun-beams in primeval caves Organic Life began beneath the waves.

" First HEAT from chemic dissolution springs, And gives to matter its eccentric wings;

beginning or birth, and is a strong natural argument evincing the existence of a cause of its production, that is of the Deity.

Earths from each sun, 1. 229. See I3otan. Garden, Vol. I. Cant. I. 1. 107.

First Heat from chemic, 1. 235. The matter of heat is an ethereal fluid, in which all things are immersed, and which constitutes the general power of repulsion ; as appears in explosions which are pro- duced by the sudden evolution of combined heat, and by the expan- sion of all bodies by the slower diffusion of it in its nncombined state. Without heat all the matter of the world would be condensed into a point by the power of attraction; and neither fluidity nor life could exist. There are also particular powers of repulsion, as those of magnetism and electricity, and of chemistry, such as oil and water; which last may be as numerous as the particular attractions which constitute chemical affinities; and may both of them exist as atmospheres round the individual particles of matter; see Botanic Garden, Vol. I. additional note VII. on elementary heat.

CANTO i. PRODUCTION OF LIFE. 21

With strong REPULSION parts the exploding mass, Melts into lymph, or kindles into gas. ATTRACTION next, as earth or air subsides, The ponderous atoms from the light divides, 240

Approaching parts with quick embrace combines, Swells into spheres, and lengthens into lines. Last, as fine goads the gluten-threads excite, Cords grapple cords, and webs with webs unite; And quick CONTRACTION with ethereal flame Lights into life the fibre-woven frame. —

Attraction next, 1. 239. The power of attraction may be divided into general attraction, "which is called gravity; and into particular attraction, which is termed chemical affinity. As nothing can act where it does not exist, the power of gravity must be conceived as extending from the sun to the planets, occupying that immense space ; and may therefore be considered as an ethereal fluid, though not cognizable by our senses like heat, light, and electricity.

Particular attraction, or chemical affinity, must likewise occupy the spaces between the particles of matter which they cause to ap- proach each other. The power of gravity may therefore be called the general attractive ether, and the matter of heat may be called the general repulsive ether; which constitute the two great agents, in the changes of inanimate matter.

And quick Contraction, 1. 245. The power of contraction, which exists in organized bodies, and distinguishes life from inanimation, appears to consist of an ethereal fluid which resides in the brain and! nerves of living bodies, and is expended in the act of shortening

22 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO i.

Hence without parent by spontaneous birth

Rise the first specks of animated earth ;

From Nature's womb the plant or insect swims,

And buds or breathes, with microscopic limbs. 250

" IN earth, sea, air, around, below, above, Life's subtle woof in Nature's loom is wove;

their fibres. The attractive and repulsive ethers require only the •vicinity of bodies for the exertion of their activity, but the contrac- tive ether requires at first the contact of a goad or stimulus, which appears to draw it off" from the contracting fibre, and to excite the sensorial power of irritation. These contractions of animal fibres are afterwards excited or repeated by the sensorial poM-ers of sensation, volition, or association, as explained at large in Zoonomia, Vol. I.

There seems nothing more wonderful in the ether of contraction producing the shortening of a fibre, than in the ether of attraction causing two bodies to approach each other. The former indeed seems in some measure to resemble the latter, as it probably occasions the minute particles of the fibre to approach into absolute or adhe- sive contact, by withdrawing from them their repulsive atmospheres; whereas the latter seems only to cause particles of matter to ap- proach into what is popularly called contact, like the particles of •fluids; but which are only in the vicinity of each other, and still re- tain their repulsive atmospheres, as may be seen in riding through shallow water by the number of minute globules of it thrown up by the horses feet, which roll far on its surface; and by the difficulty with which small globules of mercury poured on the surface of a quantity of it can be made to unite with it.

Spontaneous birth, 1. 247. See additional Note, No. I.

CANTO i. PRODUCTION OF LIFE. 23

Points glued to points a living line extends,

Touch'd by some goad approach the bending ends;

Rings join to rings, and irritated tubes

Clasp with young lips the nutrient globes or cubes;

And urged by appetencies new select,

Imbibe, retain, digest, secrete, eject.

In branching cones the living web expands,

Lymphatic ducts, and convoluted glands; 2(30

Aortal tubes propel the nascent blood,

And lengthening veins absorb the refluent flood;

Leaves, lungs, and gills, the vital ether breathe

On earth's green surface, or the waves beneath..

In branching cones, 1. 259. The whole branch of an artery or vein < may be considered as a cone, though each distinct division of it is a cylinder. It is probable that the amount of the areas of all the small branches from one trunk may equal that of the trunk, otherwise the velocity of the blood would be greater in some parts than in others, which probably only exists when a part is compressed or inflamed.

Absorb the refluent flood, 1. 262. The force of the arterial impulse appears to cease, after having propelled the blood through the capil- lary vessels; whence the venous circulation is owing to the extremi- ties of the veins absorbing the blood, as those of the lymphatics absorb the fluids. The great force of absorption is well elucidated by Dr. Hales's experiment on the rise of the sap-juice in a vine- stump • see Zoonomia, Vol. I. Sect. XXIII.

24 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO r.

So Life's first powers arrest the winds and floods, To bones convert them, or to shells, or woods; Stretch the vast beds of argil, lime, and sand, And from diminish'd oceans form the land!

" Next the long nerves unite their silver train, And young SENSATION permeates the brain; 270

Through each new sense the keen emotions dart, Flush the young cheek, and swell the throbbing heart.

And from diminish' d oceans, 1. 268. The increase of the solid parts of the globe by the recrements of organic bodies, as limestone rocks from shells and bones, and the beds of clay, marl, coals, from de- composed woods, is now well known to those who have attended to modern geology; and Dr. Halley, and others, have endeavoured to show, with great probability, that the ocean has decreased in quantity during the short time which human history has existed. Whence it appears, that the exertions of vegetable and animal life convert the fluid parts of the globe into solid ones; which is probably effected by combining the matter of heat with the other elements, instead of suffering it to remain simply diffused amongst them, which is a curious conjecture, and deserves further investigation.

And young Sensation, 1. 270. Both sensation and volition consist in an affection of the central part of the sensorium, or of the \vhole of it; and hence cannot exist till the nerves are united in the brain. The motions of a limb of any animal cut from the body, are there- fore owing to irritation, not to sensation or to volition. For the de- finitions of irritation, sensation, volition, and association, see addi- tional Note II.

CANTO i. PRODUCTION OF LIFE. 25

From pain and pleasure quick VOLITIONS rise, Lift the strong arm, or point the inquiring eyes; With Reason's light bewilder'd Man direct, And right and wrong with balance nice detect. Last in thick swarms ASSOCIATIONS spring, Thoughts join to thoughts, to motions motions cling; Whence in long trains of catenation flow Imagined joy, and voluntary woe. 280

" So, view'd through crystal spheres in drops saline, Quick- shooting salts in chemic forms combine; Or Mucor-stems, a vegetative tribe, Spread their fine roots, the tremulous wave imbibe. Next to our wondering eyes the focus brings Self-moving lines, and animated rings;

Or Mucor-stems, 1. 283. Mucor or mould in its early state is properly a microscopic vegetable, and is spontaneously produced on the scum of all decomposing organic matter. The Monas is a mov- ing speck, the Vibrio an undulating wire, the Proteus perpetually changes its shape, and the Vorticella has wheels about its mouth, with which it makes an eddy, and is supposed thus to draw into its throat invisible animalcules. These names are from Linneus and Muller; see Appendix to Additional Note I.

E

26 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO i.

First Monas moves, an unconnected point, Plays round the drop without a limb or joint; Then Vibrio waves, with capillary eels, And Vorticella whirls her living wheels; 2QO

While insect Proteus sports with changeful form Through the bright tide, a globe, a cube, a worm. Last o'er the field the Mite enormous swims, Swells his red heart, and writhes his giant limbs.

V. " ORGANIC LIFE beneath the shoreless waves Was born and nurs'd in Ocean's pearly caves;

Beneath the shoreless waves, I. 295. The earth Avas originally covered with water, as appears from some of its highest mountains, consisting of shells cemented together by a solution of part of them, as the limestone rocks of the Alps; Ferber's Travels. It must be therefore concluded, that animal life began beneath the sea.

Nor is thi« unanalogous to what still occurs, as all quadrupeds and mankind in their embryon state are aquatic animals; and thus may be said to resemble gnats and frogs. The fetus in the uterus has an organ called the placenta, the fine extremities of the vessels of which permeate the arteries of the uterus, and the blood of the fetus becomes thus oxygenated from the passing stream of the mater- nal arterial blood ; exactly as is done by the gills of fish from the stream of water, which they occasion to pass through them.

But the chicken in the egg possesses a kind of aerial respiration, since the extremities of its placental vessels terminate on a membra-

CANTO i. PRODUCTION OF LIFE. 27

First forms minute, unseen by spheric glass,

Move on the mud, or pierce the watery mass;

These, as successive generations bloom,

New powers acquire, and larger limbs assume; 300

Whence countless groups of vegetation spring,

And breathing realms of fin, and feet, and wing.

" Thus the tall Oak, the giant of the wood, Which bears Britannia's thunders on the flood; The Whale, unmeasured monster of the main, The lordly Lion, monarch of the plain, The Eagle soaring in the realms of air, Whose eye undazzled drinks the solar glare,

nous bag, which contains air, at the broad end of the egg; and in this the chick in the egg differs from the fetus in the womb, as there is in the egg no circulating maternal blood for the insertion of the extremities of its respiratory vessels, and in this also I suspect that the eggs of birds differ from the spawn of fish; which latter is im- mersed in water, and which has probably the extremities of its respi- ratory organ inserted into the soft membrane which covers it, and is in contact with the water.

First forms minute, 1. 297. See Additional Note I. on Sponta- neous Vitality.

38 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO r.

Imperious man, who rules the bestial crowd,

Of language, reason, and reflection proud, 310

With brow erect who scorns this earthy sod,

And styles himself the image of his God;

Arose from rudiments of form and sense,

An embryon point, or microscopic ens!

" Now in vast shoals beneath the brineless tide, On earth's firm crust testaceous tribes reside; Age after age expands the peopled plain, The tenants perish, but their cells remain; Whence coral walls and sparry hills ascend From pole to pole, and round the line extend. 320

An embryon point, \, 314. The arguments showing that all vege- tables and animals arose from such a small beginning, as a living point or living fibre, are detailed in Zoonomia, Sect. XXXIX. 4. 8. on Generation.

Brineless tide, 1. 315. As the salt of the sea has been gradually accumulating, being washed clown into it from the recrements of animal and vegetable bodies, the sea must originally have been as fresh as river water; and as it is not saturated with salt, must be- come annually saline. The sea-water about our island contains at this time from about one twenty-eighth to one thirtieth part of sea salt, and about one eightieth of magnesian salt; Brownrigg on Salt.

Whence coral walls, 1. 319. An account of the structure of the

CANTO i. PRODUCTION OF LIFE. £9

" Next when imprison'd fires in central caves Burst the firm earth, and drank the headlong waves; And, as new airs with dread explosion swell, Form'd lava-isles, and continents of shell; Pil'd rocks on rocks, on mountains mountains raised, And high in heaven the first volcanoes blazed; In countless swarms an insect-myriad moves From sea-fan gardens, and from coral groves;

earth is given in Botanic Garden, Vol. I. Additional Notes, XVI. XVIII. XIX. XX. XXIII. XXIV.

Drank' the headlong waves, 1. 322. See Additional Note III.

An insect-myriad moves, 1. 327. After islands or continents were raised above the primeval ocean, great numbers of the most simple animals would attempt to seek food at the edges or shores of the new land, and might thence gradually become amphibious; as is now seen in the frog, who changes from an aquatic animal to an amphibious one; and in the gnat, which changes from a natant to a volant state.

At the same time new microscopic animalcules would immediately commence wherever there was warmth and moisture, and some organic matter, that might induce putridity. Those situated on dry land, and immersed in dry air, may gradually acquire new powers to preserve their existence; and by innumerable successive reproduc- tions for some thousands, or perhaps millions of ages, may at length have produced many of the vegetable and animal inhabitants which now people the earth.

As innumerable shell-fish must have existed a long time beneath the ocean, before the calcareous mountains were produced and elevated; it is also probable, that many of the insect tribes, or less

30 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO i.

Leaves the cold caverns of the deep, and creeps

On shelving shores, or climbs on rocky steeps. 330

As in dry air the sea-born stranger roves,

Each muscle quickens, and each sense improves;

Cold gills aquatic form respiring lungs,

And sounds aerial flow from slimy tongues.

it.

So Trapa rooted in pellucid tides, In countless threads her breathing leaves divides,

complicate animals, existed long before the quadrupeds or more complicate ones, which in some measure accords with the theory of Linneus in respect to the vegetable world; who thinks, that all the plants now extant arose from the conjunction and reproduction of about sixty different vegetables, from which he constitutes his natural orders.

As the blood of animals in the air becomes more oxygenated in their lungs, than that of animals in water by their gills; it becomes of a more scarlet colour, and from its greater stimulus the sensorium seems to produce quicker motions and finer sensations; and as water is a much better vehicle for vibrations or sounds than air, the fish, even when dying in pain, are mute in the atmosphere, though it is probable that in the water they may utter sounds to be heard at a considerable distance. See on this subject, Botanic Garden, Vol. I. Canto IV. 1. 176, Note.

#0 Trapa rooted, 1. 335. The lower leaves of this plant grow under water, and are divided into minute cqpillary ramifications; while the upper leaves are broad and round, and have air bladders in their footstalks to support them above the surface of the water. As the

CANTO i. PRODUCTION OF LIFE. 31

Waves her bright tresses in the watery mass,

And drinks with gelid gills the vital gas;

Then broader leaves in shadowy files advance,

Spread o'er the crystal flood their green expanse; 340

And, as in air the adherent dew exhales,

Court the warm sun, and breathe ethereal gales.

" So still the Tadpole cleaves the watery vale With balanc'd fins, and undulating tail;

aerial leaves of vegetables do the office of lungs, by exposing a large surface of vessels with their contained fluids to the influence of the air; so these aquatic leaves answer a similar purpose like the gills of fish, and perhaps gain from water a similar material. As the material thus necessary to life seems to be more easily acquired from air than from water, the subaquatic leaves of this plant and of sisymbrium, oenanthe, ranunculus aquatilis, water crow-foot, and some others, are cut into fine divisions to increase the surface, whilst those above •water are undivided ; see Botanic Garden, Vol. II. Canto IV. 1. 204, Note.

Few of the water plants of this country are used for economical purposes, but the ranunculus fluviatilis may be worth cultivation; as on the borders of the river Avon, near Ring-wood, the cottagers cut this plant every morning in boats, almost all the year round, to feed their cows, which appear in good condition, and give a due quantity of milk; see a paper from Dr. Pultney in the Transactions of the Linnean Society, Vol. V.

So still the Tadpole, 1. 343. The transformation of the tadpole from an aquatic animal into an aerial one is abundantly curious.

32 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO i.

New lungs and limbs proclaim his second birth,

Breathe the dry air, and bound upon the earth.

So from deep lakes the dread Musquito springs,

Drinks the soft breeze, and dries his tender wings,

In twinkling squadrons cuts his airy way,

Dips his red trunk in blood, and man his prey. 350

..

So still the Diodons, amphibious tribe, With two-fold lungs the sea or air imbibe;

when first it is hatched from the spawn by the warmth of the season, it resembles a fish; it afterwards puts forth legs, and resembles a lizard; and finally losing its tail, and acquiring lungs instead of gills, becomes an aerial quadruped.

The rana temporaria of Linneus lives in the water in spring, and on the land in summer, and catches flies. Of the rana paradoxa the larva or tadpole is as large as the frog, and dwells in Surinam, whence the mistake of Merian and of Seba, who call it a frog fish. The esculent frog is green, with three yellow lines from the mouth to the anus; the back transversely gibbous, the hinder feet palmated; its more frequent croaking in the evenings is said to foretell rain. Linnei Syst. Nat. Art. rana.

Linneus asserts in his introduction to the class Amphibia, that frogs are so nearly allied to lizards, lizards to serpents, and serpents to fish, that the boundaries of these orders can scarcely be ascertained.

The dread Musquito springs. 1. 347- See Additional Note IV.

So still the Diodon, 1. 351. See Additional Note V.

CANTO i. PRODUCTION OF LIFE. S3

Allied to fish, the lizard cleaves the flood

With one-cell'd heart, and dark frigescent blood;

Half-reasoning Beavers long-unbreathing dart

Through Erie's waves with perforated heart;

With gills and lungs respiring Lampreys steer,

Kiss the rude rocks, and suck till they adhere;

The lazy Remora's inhaling lips,

Hung on the keel, retard the struggling ships; 360

With gills pulmonic breathes the enormous Whale,

And spouts aquatic columns to the gale;

Sports on the shining wave at noontide hours,

And shifting rainbows crest the rising showers.

" So erst, ere rose the science to record In letter'd syllables the volant word;

At noontide hours, 1. 363. The rainbows in our latitude are only seen in the mornings or evenings, when the sun is not much more than forty-two degrees high. In the more northern latitudes, where the meridian sun is not more than forty-two degrees high, they are also visible at noon.

34 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO r.

Whence chemic arts, disclosed in pictured lines,

Liv'd to mankind by hieroglyphic signs;

And clustering stars, pourtray'd on mimic spheres,

Assumed the forms of lions, bulls, and bears; 370

— So erst, as Egypt's rude designs explain,

Rose young DIONE from the shoreless main;

Type of organic Nature! source of bliss!

Emerging Beauty from the vast abyss!

Sublime on Chaos borne, the Goddess stood,

And smiled enchantment on the troubled flood;

As Egypt's rude designs, 1.371. See Additional Note Vl.

Rose young Dione, 1. 372. The hieroglyphic figure of Venus rising from the sea supported on a shell by two tritons, as well as that of Hercules armed with a club, appear to be remains of the most remote antiquity. As the former is devoid of grace, and of the pictorial art of design, as one half of the group exactly resembles the other; and as that of Hercules is armed with a club, which was the first weapon.

The Venus seems to have represented the beauty of organic Nature rising from the sea, and afterwards became simply an emblem of ideal beauty ; while the figure of Adonis was probably designed to repre- sent the more abstracted idea of life or animation. Some of these hieroglyphic designs seem to evince the profound investigations in science of the Egyptian philosophers, and to have outlived all M-ritten language; and still constitute the symbols, by which painters and poets give form and animation to abstracted ideas, as to those of strength and beauty in the above instances.

CAXTO i. PRODUCTION OF LIFE. S5

The warring elements to peace restored, And young Reflection wondered and adored."

4

Now paused the Nymph, — The Muse responsive cries, Sweet admiration sparkling in her eyes, 380

" Drawn by your pencil, by your hand unfurl'd, Bright shines the tablet of the dawning world; Amazed the Sea's prolific depths I view, And VENUS rising from the waves in You!

" Still Nature's births enclosed in egg or seed From the tall forest to the lowly weed,

* .

Her beaux and beauties, butterflies and worms,

Rise from aquatic to aerial forms.

Thus in the womb the nascent infant laves

Its natant form in the circumfluent waves; 3QO

With perforated heart unbreathing swims,

Awakes and stretches all its recent limbs;

Awakes and stretches, 1. 392. During the first six months of ges- tation, the embryon probably sleeps, as it seems to have no use for

36 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CAVTO i.

With gills placental seeks the arterial flood,

And drinks pure ether from its Mother's blood.

Erewhile the landed Stranger bursts his way,

From the warm wave emerging into day;

Feels the chill blast, and piercing light, and tries

His tender lungs, and rolls his dazzled eyes;

Gives to the passing gale his curling hair,

And steps a dry inhabitant of air. 400

" Creative Nile, as taught in ancient song, So charm'd to life his animated throng; O'er his wide realms the slow- subsiding flood Left the rich treasures of organic mud ;

voluntary power; it then seems to awake, and to stretch its limbs, and change its posture in some degree, which is termed quickening.

With gills placental, 1. 393. The placenta adheres to any side of the uterus in natural gestation, or of any other cavity in extra- uterine gestation; the extremities of its arteries and veins probably permeate the arteries of the mother, and absorb from thence through their fine coats the oxygen of the mother's blood; hence when the placenta is withdrawn, the side of the uterus, where it adhered, bleeds; but not the extremities of its own vessels.

His dazzled eyes, 1 398. Though the mem'brana pupillaris described by modern anatomists guards the tender retina from too much light; the young infant nevertheless seems to feel the presence of it by its frequently moving its eyes, before it can distinguish common objects.

CANTO i. PRODUCTION OF LIFE. 37

While with quick growth young Vegetation yields

Her blushing orchards, and her waving fields;

Pomona's hand replenish'd Plenty's horn,

And Ceres laugh'd amid her seas of corn. —

Bird, beast, and reptile, spring from sudden birth,

Raise their new forms, half-animal, half-earth; 410

The roaring lion shakes his tawny mane,

His struggling limbs still rooted in the plain;

With flapping wings assurgent eagles toil

To rend their talons from the adhesive soil;

The impatient serpent lifts his crested head,

And drags his train unfinished from the bed. —

As Warmth and Moisture blend their magic spells,

And brood with mingling wings the slimy dells;

As warmth and moisture, 1, 417.

In eodem corpora ssepe

Altera pars vivit; rudis est pars altera tellus. Quippe ubi temperiem sumpsere humorque calorque, Concipiunt; & ab his oriuntur, cuncta duobus.

OVID. MET. 1. 1. 430.

This story from Ovid of the production of animals from the mud of the Nile seems to be of Egyptian origin, and is probably a poetical

38 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO i.

Contractile earths in sentient forms arrange,

And Life triumphant stays their chemic change." 420

Then hand in hand along the waving glades The virgin Sisters pass beneath the shades; Ascend the winding steps with pausing march, And seek the Portico's susurrant arch; Whose sculptur'd architrave on columns borne Drinks the first blushes of the rising morn, Whose fretted roof an ample shield displays, And guards the Beauties from meridian rays. While on light step enamour'd Zephyr springs, And fans their glowing features with his wings, 430

%

Imbibes the fragrance of the vernal flowers, And speeds with kisses sweet the dancing Hours.

account of the opinions of the magi or priests of that country; show- ing that the simplest animations were spontaneously produced like chemical combinations, but were distinguished from the latter by their perpetual improvement by the power of reproduction, first by solitary, and then by sexual generation; whereas the products of natural chemistry are only enlarged by accretion, or purified by filtration.

CANTO i. PRODUCTION OF LIFE. 39

Urania, leaning with unstudied grace, Rests her white elbow on a column's base; Awhile reflecting takes her silent stand, Her fair cheek press'd upon her lily hand; Then, as awaking from ideal trance, On the smooth floor her pausing steps advance, Waves high her arm, upturns her lucid eyes, Marks the wide scenes of ocean, earth, and skies; 440 And leads, meandering as it rolls along Through Nature's walks, the shining stream of Song.

First her sweet voice in plaintive accents chains The Muse's ear with fascinating strains; Reverts awhile to elemental strife, The change of form, and brevity of life; Then tells how potent Love with torch sublime Relights the glimmering lamp, and conquers Time. — The polish'd walls reflect her rosy smiles, And sweet-ton'd echoes talk along the ailes. 450

END OF CANTO I.

ORIGIN OF SOCIETY.

CANTO IL

REPRODUCTION OF LIFE.

CON T E N T S.

1. Brevity of Life 1. Reproduction 13. Animals improve 31. Life and Death alternate 37. Adonis emblem of Mortal Life 45. II. Solitary reproduction 61. Buds, Bulbs, Polypus 65. Truffle; Buds of trees how generated 71. Volvox, Polypus, Tamia, Oysters, Corals, are without Sex 83. Storge goddess of Parental Love; First chain of Society 92. III. Female sex produced 103. Tulip bulbs, Aphis 125. Eve from Adam's rib 135. IV. Hereditary diseases 159. Grafted trees, bulbous roots degenerate 167. Gout, Mania, Scrofula, Consumption 177. Time and Nature 185. V. Urania and the Muse lament 205. Cupid and Psyche, the deities of sexual love 221. Speech of Hymen 239- Second chain of Society 250. Young Desire 251. Love and Beauty save the world 257- Vegetable sexes, Anthers and Stigmas salute 263. Vegetable sexual generation 271. Anthers of Vallisneria float to the Stigmas 279- Ant, Lampyris, Glow- Worm, Snail 287. Silk- Worm 293. VI. Demon of Jealousy 307. Cocks, Quails, Stags, Boars 313. Knights of Romance 327. Helen and Paris 333. Connubial love 341. Married Birds, nests of the Linnet and Nightingale 343. Lions, Tigers, Bulls, Horses 357. Triumphal car of Cupid 36 1. Fish, Birds, Insects 371. Vegetables 389- March of Hymen 411. His lamp 419. VII. Urania's advice to her Nymphs 425. Dines with the Muse on forbidden Fruit 435. Angels visit Abraham 447 — 458.

CANTO II. REPRODUCTION OF LIFE.

I. " How short the span of LIFE! some hours possessed, Warm but to cool, and active but to rest! — The age-worn fibres goaded to contract, By repetition palsied, cease to act;

How short ike span of Life, 1. 1. The thinking few in all ages have complained of the brevity of life, lamenting that mankind are not allowed time sufficient to cultivate science, or to improve their intellect. Hippocrates introduces his celebrated aphorisms with this idea; " Life is short, science long, opportunities of knowledge rare, experiments fallacious, and reasoning difficult." — A melancholy reflec- tion to philosophers !

The age-worn fibres, 1. 3. Why the same kinds of food, which enlarge and invigorate the body from infancy to the meridian of life, and then nourish it for some years unimpaired, should at length gradually cease to do so, and the debility of age and death supervene, would be liable to surprise us if we were not in the daily habit of observing it; and is a circumstance Avhich has not yet been well understood.

Before mankind introduced civil society, old age did not exist in the world, nor other lingering diseases; as all living creatures, as soon as they became too feeble to defend themselves, were slain and eaten

44 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO u.

When Time's cold hands the languid senses seize, Chill the dull nerves, the lingering currents freeze; Organic matter, unreclaim'd by Life, Reverts to elements by chemic strife. Thus Heat evolv'd from some fermenting mass Expands the kindling atoms into gas; 1O

Which sink ere long in cold concentric rings, Condensed, on Gravity's descending wings.

" But REPRODUCTION with ethereal fires New Life rekindles, ere the first expires; Calls up renascent Youth, ere tottering age Quits the dull scene, and gives him to the stage; Bids on his cheek the rose of beauty blow, And binds the wreaths of pleasure round his brow; With finer links the vital chain extends, And the long line of Being never ends, 20

by others, except the young broods, who were defended by their mother; and hence the animal world existed uniformly in its greatest strength and perfection; see Additional Note VII. But Reproduction, 1. 13. See Additional Note VIII.

CANTO ii. REPRODUCTION OF LIFE. 45

«« Self-moving Engines by unbending springs May walk on earth, or flap their mimic wings; In tubes of glass mercurial columns rise, Or sink, obedient to the incumbent skies; Or, as they touch the figured scale, repeat The nice gradations of circumfluent heat. But REPRODUCTION, when the perfect Elf Forms from fine glands another like itself, Gives the true character of life and sense, And parts the organic from the chernic Ens. — 30 Where milder skies protect the nascent brood, And earth's warm bosom yields salubrious food; Each new Descendant with superior powers Of sense and motion speeds the transient hours; Braves every season, tenants every clime, And Nature rises on the wings of Time.

*' As LIFE discordant elements arrests, Rejects the noxious, and the pure digests;

Unbending springs, 1. 21. See Additional Note 1. 4.

•46 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO rr.

Combines with Heat the fluctuating mass,

And gives a while solidity to gas; 40

Organic forms with chemic changes strive.

Live but to die, and die but to revive!

Immortal matter braves the transient storm,

Mounts from the wreck, unchanging but in form. —

Combines with Heat, 1. 39. It was shown in note on line 248 of the first Canto, that much of the aerial and liquid parts of the terra- queous globe was converted by the powers of life into solid matter; and that this was effected by the combination of the fluid, heat, with other elementary bodies by the appetencies and propensities of the parts of living matter to unite M'ith each other. But when these appetencies and propensities of the parts of organic matter to unite with each other cease, the chemical affinities of attraction and the aptitude to be attracted, and of repulsion and the aptitude to be repelled, succeed, and reduce much of the solid matters back to the condition of elements; which seems to be effected by the matter of heat being again set at -liberty, which was combined with other matters by the powers of life; and thus by its diffusion the solid bodies return into liquid ones or into gasses, as occurs in the pro- cesses of fermentation, putrefaction, sublimation, and calcination. Whence solidity appears to be produced in consequence of the dimi- nution of heat, as the condensation of steam into water, and the con- solidation of water into ice, or by the combination of heat with bodies, as with the materials of gun-powder before its explosion.

Immortal matter, 1. 43. The perpetual mutability of the forms of matter seems to have struck the philosophers of great antiquity; the system of transmigration taught by Pythagoras, in which the souls of men were supposed after death to animate the bodies of a variety of animals, appears to have arisen from this source. He had observed the perpetual changes of organic matter from one creature to another, and concluded, that the vivifying spirit must attend it.

CANTO ii. REPRODUCTION OF LIFE. 47"

" So, as the sages of the East record In sacred symbol, or unletter'd word; Emblem of Life, to change eternal doom'd, The beauteous form of fair ADONIS bloom'd. — On Syrian hills the graceful Hunter slain D^ed with his gushing blood the shuddering plain; 50 And, slow-descending to the Elysian shade, A while with PROSERPINE reluctant stray'd; Soon from the yawning grave the bursting clay Restor'd the Beauty to delighted day; Array'd in youth's resuscitated charms, And young DIONE woo'd him to her arms. —

Emblem of Life, 1. 47. The Egyptian figure of Venus rising from the sea seems to have represented the Beauty of organic Nature;: which the philosophers of that country, the magi, appear to have^ discovered to have been elevated by earthquakes from the primeval ocean. But the hieroglyphic figure of Adonis seems to have signified the spirit of animation or life, which was perpetually wooed or courted by organic matter,, and which perished and revived alter- nately. Afterwards the fable of Adonis seems to have given origin to the first religion promising a resurrection- from the dead; whence his funeral and return to life were celebrated for many ages in Egypt and Syria, the ceremonies of which Ezekiel complains as idol- atrous, accusing the women of Israel of lamenting over Thammus; which St. Cyril interprets to be Adonis, in his Commentaries on Isaiah; Danet's Diction.

48 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO n.

Pleased for a while the assurgent youth above Relights the golden lamp of life and love; Ah, soon again to leave the cheerful light,

I

And sink alternate to the realms of night. 60

II. "HENCE ere Vitality, as time revolves, , Leaves the cold organ, and the mass dissolves; The Reproductions of the living Ens From sires to sons, unknown to sex, commence. New buds and bulbs the living fibre shoots On lengthening branches, and protruding roots; Or on the father's side from bursting glands The adhering young its nascent form expands ; In branching lines the parent-trunk adorns, And parts ere long like plumage, hairs, or horns. JO

" So the lone Truffle, lodged beneath the earth, Shoots from paternal roots the tuberous birth;

So the lone Truffle, 1. 71. Lycoperdon tuber. This plant never rises above the earth, is propagated without seed by its rpots only,

CANTO ir. REPRODUCTION OF LIFE. 49

No stamen-males ascend, and breathe above,

No seed-born offspring lives by female love.

From each young tree, for future buds design'd

Organic drops exsude beneath the rind;

While these with appetencies nice invite,

And those with apt propensities unite;

New embryon fibrils round the trunk combine

With quick embrace, and form the living line: 8O

Whose plume and rootlet at their early birth

Seek the dry air, or pierce the humid earth.

" So safe in waves prolific Volvox dwells, And five descendants crowd his lucid cells; So the male Polypus parental swims, And branching infants bristle allJiis limbs;

and seems to require no light. Perhaps many other fungi are gener- ated without seed by their roots only, and without light, and ap- proach on the last account to animal nature.

While these with appetencies, 1. 77. See Additional Note VIII.

Prolific Volvox, 1. 83. The volvox globator dwells in the lakes of Europe, is transparent, and bears within it children and grandchildren to the fifth generation; Syst. Nat.

The. male polypus. 1. 85. The Hydra viridis and fusca of Linneus

H

50 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO it.

So the lone Taenia, as he grows, prolongs

His flatten'd form with young adherent throngs;

Unknown to sex the pregnant oyster swells,

And coral-insects build their radiate shells; QO

dwell in our ditches and rivers under aquatic plants; these animals have been shown by ingenious observers to revive after having been dried, to be restored when mutilated, to be multiplied by dividing them, and propagated from portions of them, parts of different ones to unite, to be turned inside outwards and yet live, and to be propa- gated by seeds, to produce bulbs, and vegetate by branches. Syst. Nat.

The lone Tcenia. 1. 87. The tape-worm dwells in the intestines of animals, and grows old at one extremity, producing an infinite series of young ones at the other; the separate joints bave been called Gourd-worms, each of which possesses a mouth of its own, and organs of digestion. Syst. Nat.

The pregnant oyster. 89. Ostrea eclulis dwells in the European oceans, frequent at the tables of the luxurious, a living repast! New- born oysters swim swiftly by an undulating movement of fins thrust out a little way from their shells. Syst. Nat. But they do not after- wards change their place during their whole lives, and are capable of no other movement, but that of opening the shell a little way : whence Professor Beckman observes, that their offspring is probably produced without maternal organs; and that those, who speak of male and female oysters, must be mistaken: Phil. Magaz. March 1800. It is also observed by H. I. le Beck, that on nice inspection of the Pearl oysters in the gulf of Manar, he could observe no distinction of sexes. Nicholson's Journal. April 1800.

And coral insects. ]. £0. The coral habitation of the Madrepora of Linneus consists of one or more star-like cells; a congeries of which form rocks beneath the sea; the animal which constructs it is termed Medusa; and as it adheres to its calcareous cavity, and thence cannot

CANTO ir. REPRODUCTION OF LIFE. 51

Parturient Sires caress their infant train, And heaven-born STORGE weaves the social chain; Successive births her tender cares combine, And soft affections live along the line.

" On angel-wings the GODDESS FORM descends, Round her fond broods her silver arms she bends; White streams of milk her tumid bosom swell, And on her lips ambrosial kisses dwell. Light joys on twinkling feet before her dance With playful nod, and momentary glance; 100

Behind, attendant on the pansied plain, Young PSYCHE treads with CUPJD in her train.

III. " IN these lone births no tender mothers blend Their genial powers to nourish or defend;

travel to its neighbours, is probably without sex. I observed great masses of the limestone in Shropshire, which is brought to Newport, to consist of the cells of these animals.

And heaven-born Storge. 1. 92. See Additional Note IX.

52 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO H.

No nutrient streams "from Beauty's orbs improve

These orphan babes of solitary love;

Birth after birth the line unchanging runs,

And fathers live transmitted in their sons;

Each passing year beholds the unvarying kinds,

The same their manners, and the same their minds. 1 1O

Till, as erelong successive buds decay,

And insect- shoals successive pass away,

Increasing wants the pregnant parents vex

With the fond wish to form a softer sex;

Whose milky rills with pure ambrosial food

Might charm and cherish their expected brood.

A softer sex. I. 114. The first buds of trees raised from seed die annually, and are succeeded by new buds by solitary reproduction; which are larger or more perfect for several successive years, and then they produce sexual flowers, which are succeeded by seminal re- production. The same occurs in bulbous rooted plants raised from seed; they die annually, and produce others rather more perfect than the parent for several years, and then produce sexual flowers. The Aphis is in a similar manner hatched from an egg in the vernal months, and produces a viviparous offspring without sexual inter- course for nine or ten successive generations ; and then the progeny is both male and female, which cohabit, and from these new females are produced eggs, which endure the winter; the same process probably occurs in many other insects.

CANTO ii. REPRODUCTION OF LIFE. 53

The potent wish in the productive hour

Calls to its aid Imagination's power,

O'er embryon throngs with mystic charm presides,

And sex from sex the nascent world divides, 120

With soft affections warms the callow trains,

And gives to laughing Love his nymphs and swains;

Imaginations power. 1. 118. The manner in which the similarity of the progeny to the parent, and the sex of it, are produced by the power of imagination, is treated of in Zoonomia. Sect. 39. 6. 3. It is not to be understood, that the first living fibres, which are to form an animal, are produced by imagination, with any similarity of form to the future animal; but with appetencies or propensities, which shall pro- duce by accretion of parts the similarity of form and feature, or of sex, corresponding with the imagination of the father.

His nymphs and swains. 1. 122. The arguments which have been adduced to show, that mankind and quadrupeds were formerly in an hermaphrodite state, are first deduced from the present existence of breasts and nipples in all the males ; which latter swell on titillation like those of the females, and which are said to contain a milky fluid at their birth; and it is affirmed, that some men have given milk to their children in desert countries, where the mother has perished; as the male pigeon is said to give a kind of milk from his stomach along with the regurgitated food, to the young doves, as mentioned in Additional Note IX. on Storge.

Secondly, from the apparent progress of many animals to greater perfection, as in some insects, as the flies with two wings, termed Diptera; which have rudiments of two other wings, called halteres, or poisers j and in many flawers which have rudiments of new stamina, or filaments without anthers on them. See Botanic Garden, Vol. II. Curcuma, Note, and the Note on 1. 204 of Canto I. of this work.

54 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO n.

Whose mingling virtues interweave at length The mother's beauty with the father's strength.

..

So tulip-bulbs emerging from the seed, Year after year unknown to sex proceed; Erewhile the stamens and the styles display Their petal-curtains, and adorn the day; The beaux and beauties in each blossom glow

•

With wedded joy, or amatorial woe. 1 30

It has been supposed by some, that mankind were formerly qua- drupeds as well as hermaphrodites ; and that some parts of the body are not yet so convenient to an erect attitude as to a horizontal one; as the fundus of the bladder in an erect posture is not exactly over the insertion of the urethra; whence it is seldom completely evacuated, and thus renders mankind more subject to the stone, than if he had preserved his horizontaTity : these philosophers, with BufFon and Helvetius, seem to imagine, that mankind arose from one family of monkeys on the banks of the Mediterranean; who accidentally had learned to use the adductor pollicis, or that strong muscle which consti- tutes the ball of the thumb, and draws the point of it to meet the points of the fingers; which common monkeys do not; and that this muscle gradually increased in size, strength, and activity, in successive ge- nerations; and by this improved use of the sense of touch, that mon- keys acquired clear ideas, and gradually became men.

Perhaps all the productions of nature are in their progress to greater perfection! an idea countenanced by modern discoveries and de- ductions concerning the progressive formation of the solid parts of the terraqueous globe, and consonant to the dignity of the CYeator of all things.

THE CREATION* OF EVE .

""•Jirrm r/ a - _ ,/Jaai/ en

' A- .it*'r s/t

/A.vy/,

..vy///-w j-rt-*^ .

ttfry />/<fi t* / /*>

CANTO ii. REPRODUCTION OF LIFE. 55

Unmarried Aphides prolific prove

For nine successions uninform'd of love;

New sexes next with softer passions spring,

Breathe the fond vow, and woo with quivering wing.

"' So erst in Paradise creation's LORD, As the first leaves of holy writ record, From Adam's rib, who press'd the flowery grove, And dreamt delighted of untasted love, To cheer and charm his solitary mind, Form'd a new sex, the MOTHER OF MANKIND. 140

— Buoy'd on light step the Beauty seem'd to swim,

»

And stretch'd alternate every pliant limb; Pleased on Euphrates' velvet margin stood, And view'd her playful image in the flood ^ Qwn'd the fine flame of love, as life began, And smiled enchantment on adoring Man. Down her white neck and o'er her bosom roll'd, Flow'd in sweet negligence her locks of gold;

The mother of mankind. 1. 140. See Additional Note X.

56 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO it.

Round her fine form the dim transparence play'd, And show'd the beauties, that it seem'd to shade. 150 — Enamour'd ADAM gaz'd with fond surprise, And drank delicious passion from her eyes; Felt the new thrill of young Desire, and press'd The graceful Virgin to his glowing breast. — The conscious Fair betrays her soft alarms, Sinks with warm blush into his closing arms, Yields to his fond caress with wanton play, And sweet, reluctant, amorous, delay.

»

IV. "WHERE no new Sex with glands nutritious feeds, Nurs'd in her womb, the solitary breeds; IdO

No Mother's care their early steps directs, Warms in her bosom, with her wings protects; The clime unkind, or noxious food instills To embryon nerves hereditary ills; The feeble births acquired diseases chase, Till Death extinguish the degenerate race.

Acquired diseases. 1. 165. See Additional Note XL

CANTO ii. REPRODUCTION OF LIFE. 57

" So grafted trees with shadowy summits rise, Spread their fair blossoms, and perfume the skies; Till canker taints the vegetable blood, Mines round the bark, and feeds upon the wood. 170 So, years successive, from perennial roots The wire or bulb with lessen'd vigour shoots; Till curled leaves, or barren flowers, betray A waning lineage, verging to decay; Or till, amended by connubial powers, Rise seedling progenies from sexual flowers.

" E'en where unmix'd the breed, in sexual tribes Parental taints the nascent babe imbibes; Eternal war the Gout and Mania wage With fierce uncheck'd hereditary rage;. 180

So grafted trees, 1. 167. Mr. Knight first observed that those apple and pear trees, which had been propagated for above a century by ingraftment were now so unhealthy, as not to be worth cultiva- tion. I have suspected the diseases of potatoes attended with the curled leaf, and of strawberry plants attended with barren flowers, to be owing to their having been too long raised from roots, or by solitary reproduction, and not from seeds, or sexual reproduction, and to have thence acquired those hereditary diseases.

I

58 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO n.

Sad Beauty's form foul Scrofula surrounds With bones distorted, and putrescent wounds; And, fell Consumption! thy unerring dart Wets its broad wing in Youth's reluctant heart.

" With pausing step, at night's refulgent noon, Beneath the sparkling stars, and lucid moon, Plung'd in the shade of some religious tower, The slow bell counting the departed hour, O'er gaping tombs where shed umbrageous Yews On mouldering bones their cold unwholesome dews ; 1 QO While low aerial voices whisper round, And moondrawn spectres dance upon the ground; Poetic MELANCHOLY loves to tread, And bend in silence o'er the countless Dead; Marks with loud sobs infantine Sorrows rave, And wring their pale hands o'er their Mother's grave;

And, fell Consumption, 1. 183.

. Hseret lateri lethalis arundo. VIRGIL.

CANTO ir. REPRODUCTION OF LIFE. 5.9

Hears on the new-turn'd sod with gestures wild

•

The kneeling Beauty call her buried child; Upbraid with timorous accents Heaven's decrees, And with sad sighs augment the passing breeze. 200 * Stern Time,' She cries, ' receives from Nature's womb Her beauteous births, and bears them to the tomb; Calls all her sons from earth's remotest bourn. And from the closing portals none return 1'

V. URANIA paused, — upturn'd her streaming eyes, And her white bosom heaved with silent sighs; With her the MUSE laments the sum of things, And hides her sorrows with her meeting wings; Long o'er the wrecks of lovely Life they weep, Then pleased reflect, " to die is but to sleep;" 210 From Nature's coffins to her cradles turn, Smile with young joy, with new affection burn.

And now the Muse, with mortal woes impress'd, Thus the fair Hierophant again address'd.

60 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO n

— " Ah me! celestial Guide, thy words impart

Ills undeserved, that rend the nascent heart!

O, Goddess, say, if brighter scenes improve

Air-breathing tribes, and births of sexual love?" —

The smiling Fair obeys the inquiring Muse,

And in sweet tones her grateful task pursues. 220

" Now on broad pinions from the realms above Descending CUPID seeks the Cyprian grove; To his wide arms enamour'd PSYCHE springs, And clasps her lover with aurelian wings. A purple sash across His shoulder bends, And fringed with gold the quiver'd shafts suspends; The bending bow obeys the silken string, And, as he steps, the silver arrows ring.

Enamoured Psyche, 1.223, A butterfly was the ancient emblem of the soul after death as rising from the tomb of its former state, and becoming a winged inhabitant of air from an insect creeping upon earth. At length the wings only were given to a beautiful nymph under the name of Psyche, which is the greek word for the soul, and also became afterwards to signify a butterfly probably from the po- pularity of this allegory. Many allegorical designs of Cupid or Love warming a butterfly or the Soul with his torch may be seen in Spence's Polymetis, and a beautiful one of their marriage in Bryant's Mytho- logy ; from which this description is in part taken.

CANTO ii. REPRODUCTION OF LIFE. 61

Thin folds of gauze with dim transparence flow O'er HER fair forehead, and her neck of snow; 230 The winding woof her graceful limbs surrounds, Swells in the breeze, and sweeps the velvet grounds; As hand in hand along the flowery meads His blushing bride the quiver'd hero leads ; Charm'd round their heads pursuing Zephyrs throng, And scatter roses, as they move along; Bright beams of Spring in soft effusion play, And halcyon Hours invite them on their way.

" Delighted HYMEN hears their whisper'd vows, And binds his chaplets round their polish'd brows, 240 Guides to his altar, ties the flowery bands, And as they kneel, unites their willing hands.

* Behold, he cries, Earth! Ocean! Air above,

* And hail the DEITIES OF SEXUAL LOVE!

* All forms of Life shall this fond Pair delight,

* And sex to sex the willing world unite;

68 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO n.

' Shed their sweet smiles in Earth's unsocial bowers, 1 Fan with soft gales, and gild with brighter hours; ' Fill Pleasure's chalice unalloy'd with pain, * And give SOCIETY his golden chain.' 250

..

Now young DESIRES, on purple pinions borne, Mount the warm gales of Manhood's rising morn; With softer fires through virgin bosoms dart,

,

Flush the pale cheek, and goad the tender heart.

Ere the weak powers of transient Life decay,

And Heaven's ethereal image melts away;

LOVE with nice touch renews the organic frame,

Forms a young Ens, another and the same;

Gives from his rosy lips the vital breath,

And parries with his hand the shafts of death; 260

While BEAUTY broods with angel wings unfurl'd

O'er nascent life, and saves the sinking world.

While Beauty broods, 1. 26 1.

Alma Venus! per te quoniam genus omne animanfcum Concipitur, visitque exortum lumina coeli. LUCRET.

CANTO n. REPRODUCTION OF LIFE. 63

" HENCE on green leaves the sexual Pleasures dwell, And Loves and Beauties crowd the blossom's bell; The wakeful Anther in his silken bed O'er the pleased Stigma bows his waxen head; With meeting lips and mingling smiles they sup Ambrosial dewdrops from the nectar'd cup; Or buoy'd in air the plumy Lover springs, And seeks his panting bride on Hymen-wings. 2/0

From the nectar'd cup, \. 268. The anthers and stigmas of flowers are probably nourished by the honey, which is secreted by the honey- gland called by Lumens the nectary; and possess greater sensibi- lity or animation than other parts of the plant. The corol of the flower appears to be a respiratory organ belonging to these anthers and stigmas for the purpose of further oxygenating the vegetable blood for the production of the anther dust and of this honey, Avhich is also exposed to the air in its receptacle or honey-cup; which, I suppose, to be necessary for its further oxygenation, as in many flowers so complicate an apparatus is formed for its protection from insects, as in aconitum, delphinium, larkspur, lonicera, woodbine; and because the corol and nectary fall along with the antliers and stigmas, when the pericarp is impregnated.

Dr. B. S. Barton in the American Transactions has lately shown, that the honey collected from some plants is intoxicating and poisonous to men, as from rhododendron, azalea, and datura ; and from some other plants that it is hurtful to the bees which collect it; and that from some flowers it is so injurious or disagreeable, that they do not collect it, as from the fritillaria or crown imperial of this country.

64 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO 11.

f

" The Stamen males, with appetencies just, Produce a formative prolific dust; With apt propensities, the Styles recluse Secrete a formative prolific juice; These in the pericarp erewhile arrive, Rush to each other, and embrace alive. — Form'd by new powers progressive parts succeed, Join in one whole, and swell into a seed.

" So in fond swarms the living Anthers shine Of bright Vallisner on the wavy Rhine; 280

With appetencies just, 1. 271. As in the productions by chemical affinity one set of particles must possess the power of attraction, and the other the aptitude to be attracted, as when iron approaches a magnet; so when animal particles unite, whether in digestion or reproduction, some of them must possess an appetite to unite, and others a propensity to be united. The former of these are secreted by the anthers from the vegetable blood, and the latter by the styles or pericarp; see the Additional Note VIII. on Reproduction.

Of bright Vallisner, 1. 280. Vallisneria, of the class of dioecia. The flowers of the male plant are produced under water, and as soon as their farina or dust is mature, they detach themselves from the plant, rise to the surface and continue to flourish, and are wafted by the air or borne by the current to the female flowers. In this they resemble those tribes of insects, where the males at certain seasons

CANTO ii. REPRODUCTION OF LIFE. 65

Break from their stems, and on the liquid glass Surround the admiring stigmas as they pass; The love- sick Beauties lift their essenced brows, Sigh to the Cyprian queen their secret vows, Like watchful Hero feel their soft alarms, And clasp their floating lovers in their arms.

" Hence the male Ants their gauzy wings unfold, And young Lampyris waves his plumes of gold; The Glow- Worm sparkles with impassion'd light On each green bank, and charms the eye of night; 2QO While new desires the painted Snail perplex, And twofold love unites the double sex.

acquire wings, but not the females, as ants, coccus, lampyris, pha- Isena, brumata, lichanella; Botanic Garden, Vol. II. Note on Vallis- neria.

And young Lampyris, 1. 288. The fire-fly is at some seasons so luminous, that M. Merian says, that by putting two of them under a glass, she was able to draw her figures of them by night. Whether the light of this and of other insects be caused by their amatorial passion, and thus assists them to find each other; or is caused by respiration, which is so analogous to combustion; or to a tendency to putridity, as in dead fish and rotten wood, is still to be investi- gated; see Botanic Garden, Vol. I. Additional Note IX.

K

66 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO 11.

" Hence, when the Morus in Italia's lands To spring's warm beam its timid leaf expands; The Silk- Worm broods in countless tribes above Crop the green treasure, uninform'd of love; Erewhile the changeful worm with circling head Weaves the nice curtains of his silken bed; Web within web involves his larva form, Alike secured from sunshine and from storm; 300 For twelve long days He dreams of blossom'd groves, Untasted honey, and ideal loves;

Untasted honey, 1. 302. The numerous moths and butterflies seem to pass from a reptile leaf-eating state, and to acquire Avings to flit in air, with a proboscis to gain honey for their food along with their organs of reproduction, solely for the purpose of propagating their species by sexual intercourse, as they die when that is completed. By the use of their wings they have access to each other on different branches or on different vegetables, and by living upon honey pro- bably acquire a higher degree of animation, and thus seem to resem- ble the anthers of flowers, which probably are supported by honey only, and thence acquire greater sensibility; see Note on Vallisneria, 1. 280 of this Canto.

A naturalist, who had studied this subject, thought it not impossi- ble that the first insects were the anthers and stigmas of flowers, which had by some means loosened themselves from their parent plant, like the male flowers of vallisneria, and that other insects in process of time had been formed from these, some acquiring wings,

CANTO ii. REPRODUCTION OF LIFE. 67

Wakes from his trance, alarm'd with young Desire, Finds his new sex, and feels ecstatic fire ; From flower to flower with honey'd lip he springs, And seeks his velvet loves on silver wings.

VI. «« The Demon, Jealousy, with Gorgon frown Blasts the sweet flowers of Pleasure not his own, Rolls his wild eyes, and through the shuddering grove Pursues the steps of unsuspecting Love; 310

Or drives o'er rattling plains his iron car, Flings his red torch, and lights the flames of war.

Here Cocks heroic burn with rival rage, And Quails with Quails in doubtful fight engage ;- Of armed heels and bristling plumage proud, They sound the insulting clarion shrill and loud,

others fins, and others claws, from their ceaseless efforts to procure food or to secure themselves from injury. He contends, that none of these changes are more incomprehensible than the transformation of caterpillars into butterflies; see Botanic Garden, Vol. I. Additional Note XXXIX.

68 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO 11.

With rustling pinions meet, and swelling chests, And seize with closing beaks their bleeding crests; Rise on quick wing above the struggling foe, And aim in air the death-devoting blow. 320

There the hoarse stag his croaking rival scorns, And butts and parries with his branching horns; Contending Boars with tusk enamell'd strike, And guard with shoulder-shield the blow oblique;

There the hoarse stag, 1. 321. A great want of one part of the animal world has consisted in the desire of the exclusive possession of the females; and these have acquired weapons to combat each other for this purpose, as the very thick shield-like horny skin on the shoulder of the boar is a defence only against animals of his own species, who strike obliquely upwards, nor are his tushes for other purposes, except to defend himself, as he is not naturally a carnivo- rous animal. So the horns of the stag are sharp to offend his adver- sary, but are branched for the purpose of parrying or "receiving the thrusts of horns similar to his own, and have therefore been formed for the purpose of combating other stags for the exclusive possession of the females, who are observed, like the ladies in the times of chivalry, to attend the car of the victor.

The birds, which do not carry food to their young, and do not therefore marry, are armed with spurs for the purpose of fighting for the exclusive possession of the females, as cocks and quails. It is certain that these weapons are not provided for their defence against other adversaries, because the females of these species are without this armour; Zoonomia, Sect. XXXIX. 4, 8.

CANTO ii. REPRODUCTION OF LIFE. 69

While female bands attend in mute surprise, And view the victor with admiring eyes. —

" So Knight on Knight, recorded in romance, Urged the proud steed, and couch'd the extended lance; He, whose dread prowess with resistless force, O'erthrew the opposing warrior and his horse, 330 Bless'd, as the golden guerdon of his toils, Bow'd to the Beauty, and receiv'd her smiles.

" So when fair HELEN with ill-fated charms, By PARIS wooed, provoked the world to arms,

|

Left her vindictive Lord to sigh in vain

For broken vows, lost love, and cold disdain;

Fired at his wongs, associate to destroy

The realms unjust of proud adulterous Troy,

Unnumber'd Heroes braved the dubious fight,

And sunk lamented to the shades of night, 340

70 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO 11.

" Now vows connubial chain the plighted pair, And join paternal with maternal care; The married birds with nice selection cull Soft thistle-down, gray moss, and scattered wool, Line the secluded nest with feathery rings, Meet with fond bills, and woo with fluttering wings. Week after week, regardless of her food, The incumbent Linnet warms her future brood; Each spotted egg with ivory lips she turns, Day after day with fond expectance burns, 350

Hears the young prisoner chirping in his cell, And breaks in hemispheres the obdurate shell.

The incumbent Linnet, 1. 348. The affection of the unexperienced and untaught bird to its egg, which induces it to sit days and weeks upon it to warm the enclosed embryon, is a matter of great difficulty to explain ; See Additional Note IX. on Storge. Concerning the fabrication of their nests, see Zoonomia, Sect. XVI. 13. on instinct.

Hears the young prisoner, 1. 351. The air-vessel at the broad end of an incubated egg gradually extends its edges along the sides of the shell, as jthe chick enlarges, but is at the same time applied closer to the internal surface of the shell ; when the time of hatching approaches the chick is liable to break this air-bag with its beak, and thence begin to breathe and to chirp; at this time the edges of the enlarged air-bag extend so as to cover internally one hemisphere of the egg ;

CANTO ii. REPRODUCTION OF LIFE. 71

Loud trills sweet Philomel his tender strain, Charms his fond bride, and wakes his infant train ; Perch'd on the circling moss, the listening throng Wave their young wings, and whisper to the song.

" The Lion-King forgets his savage pride, And courts with playful paws his tawny bride; The listening Tiger hears with kindling flame The love-lorn night-call of his brinded dame. 360

Despotic LOVE dissolves the bestial war, Bends their proud necks, and joins them to his car;

and as one half of the external shell is thus moist, and the other half dry, as soon as the mother hearing the chick chirp, or the chick itself wanting respirable air, strikes the egg, about its equatorial line, it breaks into two hemispheres, and liberates the prisoner.

And whisper to the song. I. 356. A curious circumstance is men- tioned by Kircherus cle Musurgia, in his Chapter de Lusciniis. " That the young nightingales, that are hatched under other birds, never sing till they are instructed by the company of other nightin- gales." And Johnston affirms, that the nightingales that visit Scot- land, have not the same harmony as those of Italy, (Pennant's Zoo- logy, octavo, p. 235), which would lead us to suspect, that the sing- ing of birds, like human music, is an artificial language rather than a natural expression of passion.

72 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO IT.

Shakes o'er the obedient pairs his silken thong, And goads the humble, or restrains the strong. —

Slow roll the silver wheels, — in beauty's pride

i

Celestial PSYCHE blushing by his side. —

The lordly Bull behind and warrior Horse

With voice of thunder shake the echoing course,

Chain'd to the car with herds domestic move,

And swell the triumph of despotic LOVE. 370

** Pleased as they pass along the breezy shore In twinkling shoals the scaly realms adore, Move on quick fin with undulating train, Or lift their slimy foreheads from "the main.

With undulating train. 1. 373. The side fins of fish seem to be chiefly used to poise them ; as they turn upon their hacks immediately when killed, the air-bladder assists them perhaps to rise or descend by its possessing the power to condense the air in it by muscular con- traction; and it is possible, that at great depths in the ocean the air in this receptacle may by the great pressure of the incumbent water become condensed into so small a space, as to cease to be useful to the animal, which was possibly the cause of the death of Mr. Day in his diving ship. See note on Ulva, Botan. Card. V. II.

The progressive motion of fish beneath the water is produced principally by the undulation of their tails. One oblique plain of a

CANTO ir. REPRODUCTION OF LIFE. 73

High o'er their heads on pinions broad display'd The feather'd nations shed a floating shade;

part of the tail on the right side of the fish strikes the water at the same time that another oblique plain strikes it on the left side, hence in respect to moving to the right or left these percussions of the water counteract each other, but they coincide in respect to the progres- sion of the fish ; this power seems to be better applied to push forwards a body in water, than the oars of boats, as the particles of water recede from the stroke of the oar, whence the comparative power acquired is but as the difference of velocity between the striking oar and the receding water. So a ship moves swifter with an oblique wind, than with a wind of the same velocity exactly behind it; and the common windmill sail placed obliquely to the wind is more powerful than one which directly recedes from it. Might not some machinery re- sembling the tails of fish be placed behind a boat, so as to be moved with greater effect than common oars, by the force of wind or steam, or perhaps by hand ?

On pinions broad display' 'd. 1. 375. The progressive motion of birds in the air is principally performed by the movement of their wings, and not by that of their tails as in fish. The bird is supported in an element so much lighter than itself by the resistance of the air as it moves horizontally against the oblique plain made by its breast, ex- panded tail and wings, when they are at rest ; the change of this obliquity also assists it to rise, and even directs its descent, though this is owing principally to its specific gravity, but it is in all situa- tions kept upright or balanced by its wings.

As the support of the bird in the air, as well as its progression, is performed by the motion of the wings ; these require strong muscles as are seen on the breasts of partridges. Whence all attempts of men to fly by wings applied to the weak muscles of their arms have been ineffectual; but it is not certain whether light machinery so con- trived as to be moved by their feet, might not enable them to fly a little way, though not so as to answer any useful purpose.

L

74 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO n.

Pair after pair enamour'd shoot along. And trill in air the gay impassion'd song. With busy hum in playful swarms around Emerging insects leave the peopled ground, 380

Rise in dark clouds, and borne in airy rings Sport round the car, and wave their golden wings. Admiring Fawns pursue on dancing hoof, And bashful Dryads peep from shades aloof; Emerging Nereids rise from coral cells, Enamour'd Tritons sound their twisted shells; From sparkling founts enchanted Naiads move, And swell the triumph of despotic LOVE.

" Delighted Flora, gazing from afar, Greets with mute homage the triumphal car; 3QO On silvery slippers steps with bosom bare, Bends her white knee, and bows her auburn hair; Calls to her purple heaths, and blushing bowers, Bursts her green gems, and opens all her flowers;;

CANTO ir. REPRODUCTION OF LIFE. 75

O'er the bright Pair a shower of roses sheds, And crowns with wreathes of hyacinth their heads. — — Slow roll the silver wheels with snowdrops deck'd, And primrose bands the cedar spokes connect; Round the fine pole the twisting woodbine clings, And knots of jasmine clasp the bending springs; 400 Bright daisy links the velvet harness chain, And rings of violets join each silken rein ; Festoon'd behind, the snow-white lilies bend, And tulip-tassels on each side depend. — Slow rolls the car, — the enamour'd Flowers exhale Their treasured sweets, and whisper to the gale; Their ravelled buds, and wrinkled cups unfold, Nod their green stems, and wave their bells of gold; Breathe their soft sighs from each enchanted grove, And hail THE DEITIES OF SEXUAL LOVE. 410

" ONWARD with march sublime in saffron robe Young HYMEN steps, and traverses the globe;

76 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO ir.

O'er burning sands, and snow-clad mountains, treads,

Blue fields of air, and ocean's briny beds;

Flings from his radiant torch celestial light

O'er Day's wide concave, and illumes the Night.

With dulcet eloquence his tuneful tongue

Convokes and captivates the Fair and Young;

His golden lamp with ray ethereal dyes

The blushing cheek, and lights the laughing eyes; 420

With secret flames the virgin's bosom warms,

And lights the impatient bridegroom to her arms;

With lovely life all Nature's frame inspires,

And, as they sink, rekindles all her fires."

VII. Now paused the beauteous Teacher, and awhile Gazed on her train with sympathetic smile.

* Beware of Love ! she cried, ye Nymphs, and hear

* His twanging bowstring with alarmed ear; ' Fly the first whisper of the distant dart,

* Or shield with adamant the fluttering heart; 430

CANTO ir. REPRODUCTION OF LIFE. 77

* To secret shades, ye Virgin trains, retire, ' And in your bosoms guard the vestal fire." — The obedient Beauties hear her words, advised, And bow with laugh repress'd, and smile chastised.

Now at her nod the Nymphs attendant bring Translucent water from the bubbling spring;

With laugh repressed. 1. 434. The cause of the violent actions of laughter, and of the difficulty of restraining them, is a curious subject of inquiry. When pain afflicts us, which we cannot avoid, we learn to relieve it by great voluntary exertions, as in grinning, holding the breath, or screaming; now the pleasurable sensation, which ex- cites laughter, arises for a time so high as to change its name, and become a painful one; and we excite the convulsive motions of the respiratory muscles to relieve this pain. We are however unwilling to lose the pleasure, and presently put a stop to this exertion ; and immediately the pleasure recurs, and again as instantly rises into pain. Which is further explained in Zoonomia, Sect. 34. 1. 4. When this pleasurable sensation rises into a painful one, and the customs of so- ciety will not permit us to laugh aloud, some other violent voluntary exertion is used instead of it to alleviate the pain.

With smile chastised. 1.434. The origin of the smile has generally been ascribed to inexplicable instinct, but may be deduced from our early associations of actions and ideas. In the act of sucking, the lips of the infant are closed round the nipple of its mother, till it has filled its stomach, and the pleasure of digesting this grateful food suc- ceeds; then the sphincter of the mouth, fatigued by the continued action of sucking, is relaxed; and the antagonist muscles of the face gently acting, produce the smile of pleasure, which is thus during our lives associated with gentle pleasure, which is further explained in Zoonomia, Sect. 16. 8. 4.

78 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO n.

In crystal cups the waves salubrious shine,

Unstain'd untainted with immodest wine.

Next, where emerging from its ancient roots

Its widening boughs the Tree of Knowledge shoots; 440

Pluck'd with nice choice before the Muse they placed

The now ,no longer interdicted taste.

Awhile they sit, from higher cares released,

And pleased partake -the intellectual feast.

Of good and ill they spoke, effect .and cause,

Celestial agencies, and Nature's laws.

So when angelic Forms to Syria sent Sat in the cedar shade by ABRAHAM'S tent; A spacious bowl the admiring Patriarch fills With dulcet water from the scanty rills; 450

Sweet fruits and kernels gathers from his hoard, With milk and Gutter piles the plenteous board ; While on the heated hearth his Consort bakes Fine flour well kneaded in unleaven'd cakes.

CANTO ir. REPRODUCTION OF LIFE. 79

The Guests ethereal quaff the lucid flood, Smile on their hosts, and taste terrestrial food; And while from seraph-lips sweet converse springs*. Lave their fair feet, and close their silver wings.

END OF CANTO II.

ORIGIN OF SOCIETY.

CANTO III.

PROGRESS OF THE MIND.

CONTENTS.

I. Urania and the Muse converse 1. Progress of the Mind 42. II. The Four sensorial powers of Irritation, Sensation, Volition, and Asso- ciation 55. Some finer senses given to Brutes 93. And Armour 108. Finer Organ of Touch given to Man 121. Whence clear ideas of Form 125. Vision is the Language of the Touch 131. Magic Lantern 139- Surprise, Novelty, Curiosity 145. Passions, Vices 149. Philanthropy 159. Shrine of Virtue 1 60. III. Ideal Beauty from the Female Bosom 163. Eros the God of Sentimental Love 177. Young Dione idolized by Eros 186. Third chain of Society 206. IV. Ideal Beauty from curved Lines 207. Taste for the Beautiful 222. Taste for the Sublime 223. For poetic Melancholy 231. For Tragedy 241. For artless Nature 247. The Genius of Taste 259- V. The Senses easily form and repeat ideas 269. Imitation from clear ideas 279- The Senses imitate each other 293. In dancing 295. In drawing naked Nymphs 279. In Architecture, as at St. Peter's at Rome 303. Mimickry 319. VI. Natural Language from imitation 335. Language of Quails. Cocks. Lions. Boxers 343. Pantomime Action 357- Verbal Lan- guage from Imitation and Association 363. Symbols of ideas 371. Gigantic form of Time 385. Wings of Hermes 391. VII. Recol- lection from clear ideas 395. Reason and Volition 401. Arts of the Wasp, Bee, Spider, Wren, Silk-Worm 411. Volition concerned about Means or Causes 435. Man distinguished by Language, by using Tools, labouring for Money, praying to the Deity 438. The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil 445. VIII. Emotions from Imitation 461. The Seraph; Sympathy 467. Christian Morality the great bond of Society 483 — 496.

\

CANTO III.

*

PROGRESS OF THE MIND,

I. Now rose, adorn'd with Beauty's brightest hues, The graceful HIEROPHANT, and winged MUSE; Onward they step around the stately piles, O'er porcelain floors, through laqueated ailes, Eye Nature's lofty and her lowly seats, Her gorgeous palaces, and green retreats, Pervade her labyrinths with unerring tread, And leave for future guests a guiding thread.

First with fond gaze blue fields of air they sweep, Or pierce the briny chambers of the deep; 10

Earth's burning line, and icy poles explore, Her fertile surface, and her caves of ore;

84 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO irr.

Or mark how Oxygen with Azote-Gas

Plays round the globe in one aerial mass,

Or fused with Hydrogen in ceaseless flow

Forms the wide waves, which foam and roll below.

Next with illumined hands through prisms bright Pleased they untwist the sevenfold threads of light ; Or, bent in pencils by the lens, convey To one bright point the silver hairs of Day. 20

Then mark how two electric streams conspire To form the resinous and vitreous fire;

How Oaygen, I. 13. The atmosphere which surrounds us, is com- posed of twenty-seven parts of oxygen gas and seventy-three of azote or nitrogen gas, which are simply diffused together, but which, when, combined, become nitrous acid. Water consists of eighty-six parts oxygen, and fourteen parts of hydrogen or inflammable air, in a state of combination. It is also probable, that much oxygen enters the composition of glass; as those materials which promote vitrification, contain so much of it, as minium and manganese; and that glass is hence a solid acid in the temperature of our atmosphere, as water is a fluid one.

Two electric streams, 1. 21. It is the opinion of some philosophers, that the electric ether consists of two kinds of fluids diffused together or combined; which are commonly known by the terms of positive and negative electricity, but are by these electricians called vitreous and resinous electricity. The electric shocks given by the torpedo

CANTO in. PROGRESS OF THE MIND. 85

Beneath the waves the fierce Gymnotus arm, And give Torpedo his benumbing charm; Or, through Galvanic chain-work as they pass, Convert the kindling water into gas.

How at the poles opposing Ethers dwell, Attract the quivering needle, or repel. How Gravitation by immortal laws Surrounding matter to a centre draws; 30

How Heat, pervading oceans, airs, and lands, With force uncheck'd the mighty mass expands; And last how born in elemental strife Beam'd the first spark, and lighten'd into Life.

and by the gymnotus, are supposed to be similar to those of the Gal- vanic pile, as they are produced in water. Which water is decom- posed by the Galvanic pile and converted into oxygen and hydrogen gas; see Additional Note XII.

The magnetic ether may also be supposed to consist of two fluids, one of which attracts the needle, and the other repels it; and, per- haps, chemical affinities, and gravitation itself, may consist of two kinds of ether surrounding the particles of bodies, and may thence attract at one distance and repel at another; as appears when two insulated electrised balls are approached to each other, or when two small globules of mercury are pressed together.

86 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO in.

Now in sweet tones the inquiring Muse express'd Her ardent wish; and thus the Fair acldress'd. " Priestess of Nature! whose exploring sight Pierces the realms of Chaos and of Night ; Of space unmeasured marks the first and last, Of endless time the present, future, past; 40

Immortal Guide! O, now with accents kind Give to my ear the progress of the Mind. How loves, and tastes, and sympathies commence From evanescent notices of sense ? How from the yielding touch and rolling eyes The piles immense of human science rise? — With mind gigantic steps the puny Elfr And weighs and measures .all things but himself!"

The indulgent Beauty hears the grateful Muse, Smiles on her pupil, and her task renews. 50

Attentive Nymphs in sparkling squadrons throng, And choral Virgins listen to the song;

CANTO in. PROGRESS OF THE MIND. 87

Pleased Fawns and Naiads crowd in silent rings, And hovering Cupids stretch their purple wings.

II. " FIRST the new actions of the excited sense, Urged by appulses from without, commence; With these exertions pain or pleasure springs, And forms perceptions of external things. Thus, when illumined by the solar beams, Yon waving woods, green lawns, and sparkling streams, In one bright point by rays converging lie 6l

Plann'd on the moving tablet of the eye ; The mind obeys the silver goads of light, And IRRITATION moves the nerves of sight.

And Irritation moves, 1. 64. Irritation is an exertion or change of some extreme part of the sensorium residing in the muscles or organs of sense in consequence of the appulses of external bodies. The word perception includes hoth the action of the organ of sense in consequence of the impact of external objects and our attention to that action; that is, it expresses both the motion of the organ of sense, or idea, and the pain or pleasure that succeeds or accompanies it. Irritative ideas are those which are preceded by irritation, which is excited by objects external to the organs of sense: as the idea of that tree, which either I attend to, or which I shun in walking near it without attention. In the former case it is termed perception, in the latter it is termed simply an irritative idea.

88 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO HI.

*' These acts repeated rise from joys or pains, And swell Imagination's flowing trains; So in dread dreams amid the silent night Grim spectre-forms the shuddering sense affright;; Or Beauty's idol-image, as it moves, Charms the closed eye with graces, smiles, and loves; 70 Each passing form the pausing heart delights, And young SENSATION every nerve excites.

..

Oft from sensation quick VOLITION springs, When pleasure thrills us, or when anguish stings;

And young Sensation, 1. 72. Sensation is an exertion or change of the central parts of the sensorium or of the whole of it, beginning at some of those extreme parts of it which reside in the muscles or organs of sense. Sensitive ideas are those which are preceded by the sensation of pleasure or pain, are termed Imagination, and constitute our dreams and reveries.

Quick Volition springs, \. 73. Volition is an exertion or change of the central parts of the sensorium, or of the whole of it terminating in some of those extreme parts of it which reside in the muscles and organs of sense. The vulgar use of the word memory is too unlimited for our purpose: those ideas which we voluntarily recall are here termed ideas of recollection, as when we will to repeat the alphabet backwards. And those ideas which are suggested to us by preceding ideas are here termed ideas of suggestion, as whilst we repeat the

CANTO in. PROGRESS OF THE MIND. 89

Hence Recollection calls with voice sublime

Immersed ideas from the wrecks of Time,

With potent charm in lucid trains displays

Eventful stories of forgotten days.

Hence Reason's efforts good with ill contrast,

Compare the present, future, and the past; 80

Each passing moment, unobserved restrain

The wild discordancies of Fancy's train;

But leave unchecked the Night's ideal streams,

Or, sacred Muses! your meridian dreams.

alphabet in the usual order; when by habits previously acquired B is suggested by A, and C by B, without any effort of deliberation. Reasoning is that operation of the sensorium by which we excite two or many tribes of ideas, and then reexcite the ideas in which they differ or correspond. If we determine this difference, it is called judgment; if we in vain endeavour to determine it, it is called doubting.

If we reexcite the ideas in which they differ, it is called distin- guishing. If we reexcite those in which they correspond, it is called comparing.

Each passing moment, 1.81. During our waking hours, we per- petually compare the passing trains of our ideas with the known system of nature, and reject those which are incongruous with it; this is explained in Zoonomia, Sect. XVII. 3. 7. and is there termed Intuitive Analogy. When we sleep, the faculty of volition ceases to act, and in consequence the uncompared trains of ideas become incongruous and form the farrago of our dreams; in which we never experience any surprise, or sense of novelty.

N

90 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO ni,

" And last Suggestion's mystic power describes Ideal hosts arranged in trains or tribes. So when the Nymph with volant finger rings Her dulcet harp, and shakes the sounding strings; As with soft voice she trills the enamour'd song, Successive notes,, unwill'd, the strain prolong; QO

The transient trains ASSOCIATION steers, And sweet vibrations charm the astonish'd ears.

" ON rapid feet o'er hills, and plains, and rocks,. Speed the scared leveret and rapacious fox; On rapid pinions cleave the fields above The hawk descending, and escaping dove; With nicer nostril track the tainted ground The hungry vulture, and the prowling hound ;

Association steers, 1. 91. Association is an exertion or change of some extreme part of the sensorium residing in the muscles and organs of sense in consequence of some antecedent or attendant fibrous contractions. Associate icteas, therefore, are those •which are preceded by other ideas or muscular motions, without the interven- tion of irritation, sensation, or volition between them; these are also termed ideas of suggestion.

CANTO in. PROGRESS OF THE MIND. 91

Converge reflected light- with nicer eye

The midnight owl, and microscopic fly; 100

With finer ear pursue their nightly course

f

The listening lion, and the alarmed horse.

" The branching forehead with diverging horns Crests the bold bull, the jealous stag adorns; Fierce rival boars with side4ong fury wield The pointed tusk, and guard with shoulder- shield; Bounds the dread tiger o'er the affrighted heath Arm'd with sharp talons, and resistless teeth; The pouncing eagle bears in clinched claws The struggling lamb, and rends with ivory jaws; 110 The tropic eel, electric in his ire, Alarms the waves with unextinguish'd fire;

The branching forehead, 1. 103. The peculiarities of the shapes of animals which distinguish them from each other, are enumerated in Zoonomia, Sect. XXXIX. 4. 8. on Generation, and are believed to . have been gradually formed from similar living fibres, and are varied by reproduction. Many of these parts of animals are there shown to have arisen from their three great desires of lust, hunger, and security.

The tropic eel, 1. 111. Gymnotus electricus.

92 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CAKTTO m.

The fly of night illumes his airy way, And seeks with lucid lamp his sleeping prey; Fierce on his foe the poisoning serpent springs, And insect armies dart their venom'd stings.

?

" Proud Man alone in wailing weakness born, No horns protect him, and no plumes adorn; No finer powers of nostril, ear, or eye, Teach the young Reasoner to pursue or fly. — 120 Nerved with fine touch above the bestial throngs, The hand, first gift of Heaven! to man belongs;

The fly of night, 1. 113. Lampyris noctiluca. Fire-fly.

The hand, Jirst gift of Heaven, 1. 122. The human species in some of their sensations are much inferior to animals, yet the accuracy of the sense of touch, which they possess in so eminent a degree, gives them a great superiority of understanding; as is well observed by the ingenious Mr. Buffon. The extremities of other animals termi- nate in horns, and hoofs, and claws, very unfit for the sensation of touch; whilst the human hand is finely adapted to encompass its object with this organ of sense. Those animals who have clavicles or collar-bones, and thence use their fore-feet like hands, as cats, squirrels, monkeys, are more ingenious than other quadrupeds, ex- cept the elephant, who has a fine sense at the extremity of his pro- boscis; and many insects from the possessing finer organs of touch have greater ingenuity, as spiders, bees, wasps.

CANTO in. PROGRESS OF THE MIND. 93

Untipt with claws the circling fingers close,

With rival points the bending thumbs oppose,

Trace the nice lines of Form with sense refined,

And clear ideas charm the thinking mind.

Whence the fine organs of the touch impart

Ideal figure, source of every art;

Time, motion, number, sunshine or the storm,

But mark varieties in Nature's form. 130

Trace the nice lines of form,}. 125. When the idea of solidity is excited a part of the extensive organ of touch is compressed by some external body, and this part of the sensorium so compressed exactly resembles in figure the figure of the body that compressed it. Hence when we acquire the idea of solidity, we acquire at the same time the idea of figure; and this idea of figure, or motion of a part of the organ of touch, exactly resembles in its figure the figure of the body that occasions it; and thus exactly acquaints us with this property of the external world.

Now, as the whole universe with all its parts possesses a certain form or figure, if any part of it moves, that form or figure of the whole is varied. Hence, as motion is no other than a perpetual vari- ation of figure, our idea of motion is also a real resemblance of the motion that produced it.

Hence arises the certainty of the mathematical sciences, as they explain these properties of bodies, which are exactly resembled by our ideas of them, whilst we are obliged to collect almost all our other knowledge from experiment; that is, by observing the effects exerted by one body upon another.

Si ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO TIT.

•*' Slow could the tangent organ wander o'er The rock-'built mountain, and the winding shore; No apt ideas -could the pigmy mite, Or embryon emmet to the touch excite; But as each mass the solar ray reflects, The eye's clear glass the transient beams collects; Bends to their focal point the rays that swerve, And paints the living image on the nerve. So in some village-barn, or festive hall The spheric lens illumes the whiten'd wall; 140

O'er the bright field successive figures fleet, And motley shadows dance along the sheet. — Symbol of solid forms is colour'd light, And the mute language of the touch is sight

The mute language of the. touch, 1. 144. Our eyes observe a dif- ference of colour, or of shade, in the prominences and depressions of objects, and that those shades uniformly vary when the sense of touch observes any variation. Hence when the retina becomes stimu- lated by colours or shades of light in a certain form, as in a circular spot, we know by experience that this is a sign that a tangible body is before us; and that its figure is resembled by the miniature figure of the part of the organ of vision that is thus stimulated.

Here whilst the stimulated part of the retina resembles exactly

CANTO in. PROGRESS OF THE MIND. 95

44 HENCE in Life's portico starts young Surprise With step retreating, and expanded eyes;.

the visible figure of the whole in miniature, the various kinds of stimuli from different colours mark the visible figures of the minuter parts; and by habit we instantly recall the tangible figures.

So that though our visible ideas resemble in miniature the out- line of the figure of coloured bodies, in other respects they serve only as a language, which by acquired associations introduce the tangible ideas of bodies. Hence it is, that this sense is sa readily deceived by the art of the painter to our amusement and instruction. The reader will find much very curious knowledge on this subject in Bishop Berkeley's Fssay on Vision, a work of great ingenuity.

Start* young Surprise, 1. 145. Surprise is occasioned by the sud- den interruption of the usual trains of our ideas by any violent stimulus from external objects, as from the unexpected discharge of a pistol, and hence does not exist in our dreams, because our external senses are closed or inirritable. The fetus in the womb must expe1- rience many sensations, as of resistance, figure, fluidity, warmth, motion, rest, exertion, taste; and must consequently possess trains both of waking and sleeping ideas. Surprise must therefore be strongly excited at its nativity, as those trains of ideas must instantly be dissevered by the sudden and violent sensations occasioned by the dry and cold atmosphere, the hardness of external bodies, light, sound, and odours; which are accompanied with pleasure or pain; according to their quantity or intensity.

As some of these sensations become, familiar by repetition, other objects not previously attended to present, themselves, and produce the idea of novelty, which is a less degree of surprise, and like that is not perceived in our dreams, though for another reason; because in sleep we possess no voluntary power to compare our trains of ideas with our previous knowledge of nature, and .do not therefore perceive their difference by intuitive analogy from what usually occurs.

As the novelty of our ideas is generally attended with pleasurable sensation, from this arises Curiosity, or a desire of examining a variety

96 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO in.

The virgin, Novelty, whose radiant train

Soars o'er the clouds, or sinks beneath the main,

With sweetly-mutable seductive charms

Thrills the young sense, the tender heart alarms. 150

Then Curiosity with tracing hands

And meeting lips the lines of form demands,

Buoy'd on light step, o'er ocean, earth, and sky,

Rolls the bright mirror of her restless eye.

While in wild groups tumultuous Passions stand,

And Lust and Hunger head the Motley band;

Then Love and Rage succeed, and Hope and Fear;

And nameless Vices close the gloomy rear;

Or young Philanthropy with voice divine

Convokes the adoring Youth to Virtue's shrine; 160

of objects, hoping to find novelty, and the pleasure consequent to this degree of surprise; see Additional Note VII. 3.

And meeting lips, 1. 152. Young children put small bodies into their mouths, when they are satiated with food, as well as when they are hungry, not with design to taste them, but use their lips as an organ of touch to distinguish the shape of them. Puppies, whose toes are terminated with nails, and who do not much use their fore- feet as hands, seem to have no other means of acquiring a knowledge of the forms of external bodies, and are therefore perpetually playing with things by taking them between their lips.

CANTO in. PROGRESS OF THE MIND. 97

Who with raised eye and pointing finger leads To truths celestial, and immortal deeds.

III. " As the pure language of the Sight commands The clear ideas furnish'd by the hands; Beauty's fine forms attract our wondering eyes, And soft alarms the pausing heart surprise. Warm from its cell the tender infant born Feels the cold chill of Life's aerial morn ; Seeks with spread hands the bosoms velvet orbs, With closing lips the milky fount absorbs; 170

And, as compress'd the dulcet streams distil, Drinks warmth and fragrance from the living rill; Eyes with mute rapture every waving line, Prints with adoring kiss the Paphian shrine, And learns erelong, the perfect form confess'd, IDEAL BEAUTY from its Mother's breast.

Seeks with spread hands, 1. 169. These eight beautiful lines are copied from Mr. Bilsborrow's Address prefixed to Zoonomia, and are translated from that work ; Sect. XVI. 6.

Ideal Beauty, 1. 176. Sentimental Love, as distinguished from the

O

98 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO in.

" Now on swift wheels descending like a star Alights young EROS from his radiant car; On angel-wings attendant Graces move, And hail the God of SENTIMENTAL LOVE. 180

animal passion of that name, with which it is frequently accompanied, consists in the desire or sensation of beholding, embracing, and sa- luting a beautiful object.

The characteristic of beauty therefore is that it is the object of love; and though many other objects are in common language called beau- tiful, yet they are only called so metaphorically, and ought to be termed agreeable. A Grecian temple may give us the pleasurable idea of sublimity, a Gothic temple may give us the pleasurable idea of variety, and a modern house the pleasurable idea of utility; music and poetry may inspire our love by association of ideas; but none of these, except metaphorically, can be termed beautiful, as we have no wish to embrace or salute them.

Our perception of beauty consists in our recognition by the sense of vision of those objects, first, which have before inspired our love by the pleasure, which they have afforded to many of our senses; as to our sense of warmth, of touch, of smell, of taste, hunger and thirst; and, secondly, which bear any analogy of form to such objects.

Alights young Eros, 1. 178. There were two deities of Love belong- ing to the heathen mythology, the one said to be celestial, and the other terrestrial. Aristophanes says, "Sable-winged Night produced an egg, from which sprung up like a blossom Eros, the lovely, the desirable, with his glossy golden wings." See Botanic Garden, Canto I. 1.412. Note. The other deity of Love, Cupido, seems of much later date, as he is not mentioned in the works of Homer, where there were so many apt situations to have introduced him.

f

CANTO in. PROGRESS OF THE MIND. R<i

Earth at his feet extends her flowery bed, And bends her silver blossoms round his head; Dark clouds dissolve, the warring winds subside, And smiling ocean calms his tossing tide, O'er the bright morn meridian lustres play, And Heaven salutes him with a flood of day.

" Warm as the sun-beam, pure as driven snows, The enamour'd GOD for young DIONE glows; Drops the still tear, with sweet attention sighs, And woos the Goddess with adoring eyes; 1QO

Marks her white neck beneath the gauze's fold, Her ivory shoulders, and her locks of gold; Drinks with mute ecstacy the transient glow, Which warms and tints her bosom's rising snow. With holy kisses wanders o'er her charms, And clasps the Beauty in Platonic arms;

Earth at his feet, 1. 181.

Te, Dea, te fugiunt venti, te nubila cceli, Adventumque tuum ; tibi suaves da?dala tellus Submittit flores; tibi rident zequora ponti; Placatumque uitet diffuse lumine ccelum. Luc RET.

100 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO in.

Or if the dewy hands of Sleep, unhid, O'er her blue eye-balls close the lovely lid, Watches each nascent smile, and fleeting grace, That plays in day-dreams o'er her blushing face; 200 Counts the fine mazes of the curls, that break Round her fair ear, and shade her damask cheek; Drinks the pure fragrance of her breath, and sips With tenderest touch the roses of her lips; — O'er female hearts with chaste seduction reigns, And binds SOCIETY in silken chains.

IV. " IF the wide eye the wavy lawns explores, The bending woodlands, or the winding shores,

The wavy lawns, 1.207- When the babe, soon after it is born into this cold world, is applied to its mother's bosom ; its sense of per- ceiving warmth is first agreeably affected; next its sense of smell is delighted with the odour of her milk; then its taste is gratified by the flavour of it; afterwards the appetites of hunger and of thirst afford pleasure by the possession of their objects, and by the subsequent di- gestion of the aliment; and lastly, the sense of touch is delighted by the softness and smoothness of the milky fountain, the source of such variety of happiness.

All these various kinds of pleasure at length become associated with the form of the mother's breast ; which the infant embraces with

CANTO in. PROGRESS OF THE MIND. 101

Hills, whose green sides with soft protuberance rise,

Or the blue concave of the vaulted skies; — 210

Or scans with nicer gaze the pearly swell

Of spiral volutes round the twisted shell;

Or undulating sweep, whose graceful turns

Bound the smooth surface of Etrurian urns,

When on fine forms the waving lines impress'd

Give the nice curves, which swell the female breast;

The countless joys the tender Mother pours

Round the soft cradle of our infant hours,

In lively trains of unextinct delight

Rise in our bosoms recognized by sight ; 220

its hands, presses with its lips, and watches with its eyes; and thus acquires more accurate ideas of the form of its mother's bosom, than of the odour and flavour or warmth, which it perceives by its other senses. And hence at our maturer years, when any object of vision is presented to us, which by its waving or spiral lines bears any simi- litude to the form of the female bosom, whether it be found in a land- scape with soft gradations of rising and descending- surface, or in the forms of some antique vases, or in other works of the pencil or the chisel, we feel a general glow of delight, which seems to influence all our senses; and if the object be not too large, we experience an at- traction to embrace it with our arms, and to salute it with our lips, as we did in our early infancy the bosom of our mother. And thus

102 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO in.

Fond Fancy's eye recalls the form divine, And TASTE sits smiling upon Beauty's shrine.

" Where Egypt's pyramids gigantic stand, And stretch their shadows o'er the shuddering sand; Or where high rocks o'er ocean's dashing floods Wave high in air their panoply of woods; Admiring TASTE delights to stray beneath With eye uplifted, and forgets to breathe; Or, as aloft his daring footsteps climb, Crests their high summits with his arm sublime. 23O

we find, according to the ingenious idea of Hogarth, that the waving lines of beauty were originally taken from the temple of Venus.

With his arm sublime, 1. 230. Objects of taste have been generally divided into the beautiful, the sublime, and the new ; and lately to these have been added the picturesque. The beautiful so well ex- plained in Hogarth's analysis of beauty, consists of curved lines and smooth surfaces, as expressed in the preceding note; any object larger than usual, as a very large temple or a very large mountain, gives us the idea of sublimity; with which is often confounded the terrific, and the melancholic: what is now termed picturesque in- cludes objects, which are principally neither sublime nor beautiful, but which by their variety and intricacy joined with a due degree of regularity or uniformity convey to the mind an agreeable sentiment of novelty. Many other agreeable sentiments may be excited by vi- sible objects, thus to the sublime and beautiful may be ackle<l the

CANTO in. PROGRESS OF THE MIND. 103

" Where mouldering columns mark the lingering wreck Of Thebes, Palmyra, Babylon, Balbeej The prostrate obelisk, or shatter'd dome,. Uprooted pedestal, and yawning tomb, On loitering steps reflective TASTE surveys* With folded arms and sympathetic gaze; Charm'd with poetic Melancholy treads O'er ruin'd towns and desolated meads;

i

Or rides sublime on Time's expanded wings*

And views the fate of ever-changing things* 240

«(

When Beauty's streaming eyes her woes express, Or Virtue braves unmerited distress;

terrific, tragic, melancholic, artless, &c. while novelty superinduces a charm upon them all. See Additional Note XIII.

Poetic melancholy treads, 1. 237. The pleasure arising from the con- templation of the ruins of ancient grandeur or of ancient happiness, and here termed poetic melancholy, arises from a combination of the painful idea of sorrow with the pleasurable idea of the grandeur or happiness of past times; and becomes very interesting to us by fixing our attention more strongly on that grandeur and happiness, as the passion of Pity mentioned in the succeeding note is a combination of the painful idea of sorrow with the pleasurable one of beauty, or of virtue.

104- ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO in.

Love sighs in sympathy, with pain combined, And new-born Pity charms the kindred mind; The enamour'd Sorrow every cheek bedews, And TASTE impassion'd woos the tragic Muse.

" The rtish-thatch'd cottage on the purple moor, Where ruddy children frolic round the door, The moss-grown antlers of the aged oak, The shaggy locks that fringe the colt unbroke, 250

The tragic Muse, 1. 246. Why we are delighted with the scenical representations of Tragedy, which draw tears from our eyes, has been variously explained by different writers. The same distressful circum- stance attending an ugly or wicked person affects us with grief or dis- gust ; but when distress occurs to a beauteous or virtuous person, the pleasurable idea of beauty or of virtue becomes mixed with the pain- ful one of sorrow and the passion of Pity is produced, which is a com- bination of love or esteem with sorrow; and becomes highly interest- ing to us by fixing our attention more intensely on the beauteous or virtuous person.

Other distressful scenes have been supposed to give pleasure to the spectator from exciting a comparative idea of his own happiness, as when a shipwreck is viewed by a person safe on shore, as mentioned by Lucretius, L. 3. But these dreadful situations belong rather to the terrible, or the horrid, than to the tragic ; and may be objects of curiosity from their novelty, but not of Taste,' and must suggest much more pain than pleasure.

•CANTO nr. PROGRESS OF THE MIND. 105

The bearded goat with nimble eyes, that glare Through the long tissue of his hoary hair; — As with quick foot he climbs some ruin'd wall, And crops the ivy, which prevents its fall; — With rural charms the tranquil mind delight, And form a picture to the admiring sight. While TASTE with pleasure bends his eye surprised In modern days at Nature unchastised.

" The GENIUS-FORM, on silver slippers born, With fairer dew-drops gems the rising morn; 260 Sheds o'er meridian skies a softer light, And decks with brighter pearls the brow of night;

Nature unchastised, 1. 258, In cities or their vicinity, and even in the cultivated parts of the country we rarely see undisguised nature; the fields are ploughed, the meadows mown, the shruhs planted in rows for hedges, the trees deprived of their lower branches, and the animals, as horses, dogs, and sheep, are mutilated in respect to their tails or eai's; such is the useful or ill-employed activity of mankind! all which alterations add to the formality of the soil, plants, trees, or animals; whence when natural objects are occasionally presented to us, as an uncultivated forest and its wild inhabitants, we are not only amused with greater variety of form, but are at the same time en- chanted by the charm of novelty, which is a less degree of Surprise, already spoken of in note on 1. 145 of this Canto.

106 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO in.

With finer blush the vernal blossom glows, With sweeter breath enamour'd Zephyr blows, The limpid streams with gentler murmurs pass, And gayer colours tinge the watery glass, Charm'd round his steps along the enchanted groves Flit the fine forms of Beauties, Graces, Loves.

V. " Alive, each moment of the transient hour, When Rest accumulates sensorial power, 270

When rest accumulates, 1. 270. The accumulation of the spirit of animation, when those parts of the system rest, which are usually in motion, produces a disagreeable sensation. Whence the pain of cold and of hunger, and the irksomeness of a continued attitude, and of an indolent life : and hence the propensity to action in those confined animals, which have been accustomed to activity, as is seen in the motions of a squirrel in a cage; which uses perpetual exertion to ex- haust a part of its accumulated sensorial power. This is one source of our general propensity to action ; another perhaps arises from our curiosity or expectation of novelty mentioned in the note on 1. 145. of this canto.

But the immediate cause of our propensity to imitation above that of other animals arises from the greater facility, with which by the sense of touch we acquire the ideas of the outlines of objects, and afterwards in consequence by the sense of sight; this seems to have been observed by Aristotle, who calls man, " the imitative animal;" see Zoonomia, Vol. I. Sect. XXII.

CANTO HI. PROGRESS OF THE MIND. 107

The impatient Senses, goaded to contract, Forge new ideas, changing as they act; And, in long streams dissever'd, or concrete In countless tribes, the fleeting forms repeat. Which rise excited in Volition's trains, Or link the sparkling rings of Fancy's chains; Or, as they flow from each translucent source, Pursue Association's endless course,

" Hence when the inquiring hands with contact fine Trace on hard forms the circumscribing line; 280

Which then the language of the rolling eyes From distant scenes of earth and heaven supplies; Those clear ideas of the touch and sight Rouse the quick sense to anguish or delight; Whence the fine power of IMITATION springs, And apes the outlines of external things ; With ceaseless action to the world imparts

All moral virtues, languages, and arts.

All moral virtues, 1. 288. See the sequel of this canto 1, 453. on

108 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO in.

First the charm'd Mind mechanic powers collects, Means for some end, and causes of effects; 2QO

Then learns from other Minds their joys and fears, Contagious smiles and sympathetic tears..

i " What one fine stimulated Sense discerns,

Another Sense by IMITATION learns. —

So in the graceful dance the step sublime

Learns from the ear the, concordance of Time.

So, when the pen of some young artist prints

Recumbent Nymphs in TITIAN'S living tints;

The glowing limb, fair cheek, and flowing hair,

Respiring bosom, and seductive air, 300

sympathy; and 1. 331 on language; and the subsequent lines on tire arts of painting and architecture.

Another sense, 1. 294. As the part of the organs of touch or of sight; which is stimulated into action by a tangible or visible object, must resemble in figure at least the figure of that object, as it thus con- stitutes an idea; it may be said to imitate the figure of that object; and thus imitation may be esteemed coeval with the existence both of man and other animals : but this would confound perception with imitation; which latter is better defined from the actions of one sense, copying those of another.

CANTO in. PROGRESS OF THE MIND. 109

He justly copies with enamour'd sigh From Beauty's image pictured on his eye.

4<

Thus when great ANGELO in wondering Rome Fix'd the vast pillars of Saint Peter's dome, Rear'd rocks on rocks sublime, and hung on high A new Pantheon in the affrighted sky. Each massy pier, now join'd and now aloof, The figured architraves, and vaulted roof,

Thus when great Angela. 1. 303. The origin of this propensity to imitation has not been deduced from any known principle; when any action presents itself to the view of a child, as of whetting a knife, or threading a needle; the parts of this action in respect of time, motion, figure, are imitated by parts of the retina of his eye; to per- form this action therefore with his hands is easier to him than to in- vent any new action; because it consists in repeating with another set of fibres, viz. with the moving muscles, what he had just performed by some parts of thfe retina; just as in dancing we transfer the times of the motions from the actions of the auditory nerves to the muscles of the limbs. Imitation therefore consists of repetition, which is the easiest kind of animal action ; as the ideas or motions become presently associated together; which adds to the facility of their production; as shown in Zoonomia, Vol. I. Sect. XXII. 2.

It should be added, that as our ideas, when we perceive external objects, are believed to consist in the actions of the immediate organs of sense in consequence of the stimulus of those objects ; so when we think of external objects, our ideas are believed to consist in the re- petitions of the actions of the immediate 'organs of sense, excited by the other sensorial powers of volition, sensation, or association.

110 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO in.

Ailes, whose broad curves gigantic ribs sustain,

Where holy echoes chant the adoring strain; 310

The central altar, sacred to the Lord,

Admired by Sages, and by Saints ador'd,

Whose brazen canopy ascends sublime

On spiral columns unafraid of Time,

Were first by Fancy in ethereal dyes

Plann'd on the rolling tablets of his eyes;

And his true hand with imitation fine

Traced from his Retina the grand design.

" The Muse of MIMICRY in every age With silent language charms the attentive stage; 320

The Muse of Mimicry, 1. 319- Much of the pleasure received from the drawings of flowers finely finished, or of portraits, is derived from their imitation or resemblance of the objects or persons which they represent. The same occurs in the pleasure we receive from mimicry on the stage; we are surprised at the accuracy of its enacted resemblance. Some part of the pleasure received from architecture, as when we contemplate the internal structure of gothic temples, as of King's College chapel in Cambridge, or of Lincoln Cathedral, may arise also from their imitation or resemblance of those superb avenues of large trees, which were formerly appropriated to religious ceremonies.

CANTO in. PROGRESS OF THE MIND. ill

The Monarch's stately step, and tragic pause, The Hero bleeding in his country's cause, O'er her fond child the dying Mother's tears, The Lover's ardor, and the Virgin's fears; The tittering Nymph, that tries her comic task, Bounds on the scene, and peeps behind her mask, The Punch and Harlequin, and graver throng, That shake the theatre with dance and song, With endless trains of Angers, Loves, and Mirths, Owe to the Muse of Mimicry their births. 330

" Hence to clear images of form belong The sculptor's statue, and the poet's song, The painter's landscape, and the builder's plan, And IMITATION marks the mind of Man.

Imitation marks, 1. 334. Many other curious instances of one part of the animal system imitating another part of it, as in some con- tagious diseases; and also of some animals imitating each other, are given in Zoonomia, Vol. I. Sect. XXII. 3. To which may be added, that this propensity to imitation not only appears in the actions of children, but in all the customs and fashions of the world; many thousands tread in the beaten paths of others, who precede or accom- pany them, for one who traverses regions of his own discovery.

112 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO IIT.

VI. " WHEN strong desires or soft sensations move The astonish'd Intellect to rage or love; Associate tribes of fibrous motions rise, Flush the red cheek, or light the laughing eyes. Whence ever-active Imitation finds The ideal trains, that pass in kindred minds; 340 Her mimic arts associate thoughts excite And the first LANGUAGE enters at the sight.

And the first Language, 1. 342. There are two ways by which we become acquainted with the passions of others: -6 rst, by having ob- served the effects of them, as of fear or anger, on our own bodies, we know at sight when others are under the influence of these affec- tions. So children long before they can speak, or understand the language of their parents, may be frightened by an angry counte- nance, or soothed by smiles and blandishments.

Secondly, when we put ourselves into the attitude that any pas- sion naturally occasions, AVC soon in some degree acquire that passion; hence when those that scold indulge themselves in loud oaths and violent actions of the arms, they increase their anger by the mode of expressing themselves; and, on the contrary, the counterfeited smile of pleasure in disagreeable company soon brings along with it a portion of the reality, as is well illustrated by Mr. Burke. (Essay on the Sublime and Beautiful.)

These are natural signs by which we understand each other, and .on this slender basis is built all human language. For without some natural signs no artificial ones could have been invented or under- stood, as is very ingeniously observed by Dr. Reid. (Inquiry into :the Human Mind.)

CANTO in. PROGRESS OF THE MIND. 113

" Thus jealous quails or village-cocks inspect Each other's necks with stiffen'd plumes erect; Smit with the wordless eloquence, they know The rival passion of the threatening foe. So when the famish'd wolves at midnight howl, Fell serpents hiss, or fierce hyenas growl ;. Indignant Lions rear their bristling mail, And lash their sides with undulating tail. 350

Or when the Savage-Man with clenched fist Parades, the scowling champion of the list; With brandish'd arms, and eyes that roll to know Where first to fix the meditated blow; Association's mystic power combines Internal passions with external signs.

'* From these dumb gestures first the exchange began Of viewless thought in bird, and beast, and man; And still the stage by mimic art displays Historic pantomime in modern days; 360

114 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO in.

And hence the enthusiast orator affords Force to the feebler eloquence of words.

"Thus the first LANGUAGE, when wefrown'd or smiled, Rose from the cradle, Imitation's child; Next to each thought associate sound accords, And forms the dulcet symphony of words ; The tongue, the lips articulate; the throat With soft vibration modulates the note; Love, pity, war, the shout, the song, the prayer Form quick concussions of elastic air. 370

" Hence the first accents bear in airy rings The vocal symbols of ideal things,

Hence the first accents, 1. 371. Words were originally the signs or names of individual ideas; but in all known languages many of them by changing their terminations express more than one idea, as in the cases of nouns, and the moods and tenses of verbs. Thus a whip suggests a single idea of that instrument; but "to whip," suggests an idea of action, joined with that of the instrument, and is then called a verb; and " to be whipped," suggests an idea of being acted upon or suffering. Thus in most languages two ideas are suggested

CANTO in. PROGRESS OF THE MIND. 115

Name each nice change appulsive powers supply

To the quick sense of touch, or ear or eye.

Or in fine traits abstracted forms suggest

Of Beauty, Wisdom, Number, Motion, Rest;

Or, as within reflex ideas move,

Trace the light steps of Reason, Rage, or Love.

The next new sounds adjunctive thoughts recite,

As hard, odorous, tuneful, sweet, or white. 380

by one word by changing its termination ; as amor, love ; amare, to love; amari, to be loved.

Nouns are the names of the ideas of things, first as they are received by the stimulus of objects, or as they are afterwards re- peated; secondly, they are names of more abstracted ideas, which do not suggest at the same time the external objects, by which they were originally excited ; or thirdly, of the operations of our minds, Avhich are termed reflex ideas by metaphysical writers; or lastly, they are the names of our ideas of parts or properties of objects; and are termed by grammarians nouns adjective.

Verbs are also in reality names of our ideas of things, or nouns, with the addition of another idea to them, as of acting or suffering; or of more than one other annexed idea, as of time, and also of exist- ence. These with the numerous abbreviations, so well illustrated by Mr. Home Tooke in his Diversions of Purley, make up the general theory of language, which consists of the symbols of ideas repre- sented by vocal or written words; or by parts of those words, as their terminations ; or by their disposition in respect to their order or succession; as further explained in Additional Note XIV.

116 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO in.

The next the fleeting images select Of action, suffering, causes and effect; Or mark existence, with the march sublime O'er earth and ocean of recording TIME.

*' The GIANT FORM on Nature's centre stands, And waves in ether his unnumber'd hands; Whirls the bright planets in their silver spheres, And the vast sun round other systems steers; Till the last trump amid the thunder's roar Sound the dread Sentence " TIME SHALL BE NO MORE!"

•** Last steps Abbreviation, bold and strong, 3Q1 And leads the volant trains of words along; With sweet loquacity to HERMES springs, And decks his forehead and his feet with wings.

VII. " As the soft lips and pliant tongue are taught With other minds to interchange the thought;

CANTO in. PROGRESS OF THE MIND. 117

And sound, the symbol of the sense, explains

In parted links the long ideal trains;

From clear conceptions of external things

The facile power of Recollection springs. 400

" Whence REASON'S empire o'er the world presides, And man from brute, and man from man divides;

In parted links, 1. 398. As our ideas consist of successive trains of the motions, or changes of figure, of the extremities of the nerves of one or more of our senses, as of the optic or auditory nerves; these successive trains of motion, or configuration, are in common life divided into many links, to each of which a word or name is given, and it is called an idea. This chain of ideas may be broken into more or fewer links, or divided in different parts of it, by the customs of different people. Whence the meanings of the words of one language cannot always be exactly expressed by those of another; and hence the acquirement of different languages in their infancy may affect the modes of thinking and reasoning of whole nations, or of different classes of society; as the words of them do not accurately suggest the same ideas, or parts of ideal trains; a circumstance which has not been sufficiently analysed.

Whence Reason's empire, 1. 401. The facility of the use of the voluntary power, which is owing to the possession of the clear ideas acquired by our superior sense of touch, and afterwards of vision, distinguishes man from brutes, and has given him the empire of the world, with the power of improving nature by the exertions of art.

Reasoning is that operation of the sensorium by which we excite two or many tribes of ideas, and then reexcite the ideas in which they -differ or correspond. If we determine this difference, it is

118 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO m.

Compares and measures by imagined lines

Ellipses, circles, tangents, angles, sines;

Repeats with nice libration, and decrees

In what each differs, and in what agrees;

With quick Volitions unfatigued selects

Means for some end, and causes of effects;

All human science worth the name imparts,

And builds on Nature's base the works of Arts. 410

" The Wasp, fine architect, surrounds his domes With paper-foliage, and suspends his combs;

called judgment; if we in vain endeavour to determine it, it is called doubting.

If we reexcite the ideas in which they differ, it is called distin- guishing. If we reexcite those in which they correspond, it is called comparing.

The Wasp, fine architect, 1.411. Those animals which possess a better sense of touch are, in general, more ingenious than others. Those which have claviculse, or collar-bones, and thence use the forefeet as hands, as the monkey, squirrel, rat, are more ingenious in seizing their prey or escaping from danger. And- the ingenuity of the elephant appears to arise from the sense of touch at the extremity of his proboscis, which has a prominence on one side of its cavity like a thumb to close against the other side of it, by which I have seen him readily pick up a shilling which was thrown amongst the straw he stood upon. Hence the excellence of the sense of touch in

CANTO in. PROGRESS OF THE MIND. 119

<

Secured from frost the Bee industrious dwells,

And fills for winter all her waxen cells;

The cunning Spider with adhesive line

Weaves his firm net immeasurably fine;

The Wren, when embryon eggs her cares engross,

Seeks the soft down, and lines the cradling moss;

Conscious of change the Silkworm-Nymphs begin

Attach'd to leaves their gluten-threads to spin; 420

Then round and round they weave with circling heads

Sphere within Sphere, and form their silken beds.

— Say, did these fine volitions first commence

From clear ideas of the tangent sense ;

From sires to sons by imitation caught,

Or in dumb language by tradition taught?

Or did they rise in some primeval site

Of larva-gnat, or microscopic mite;

many insects seems to have given them wonderful ingenuity so as to equal or even excel mankind in some of their arts and discoveries; many of which may have been acquired in situations previous to their present ones, as the great globe itself, and all that it inhabit, appear to be in a perpetual state of mutation and improvement; see Addi- tional Note IX.

120 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO in.

And with instructive foresight still await

On each vicissitude of insect-state? — 430

Wise to the present, nor to future blind,

They link the reasoning reptile to mankind!

— Stoop, selfish Pride! survey thy kindred forms,

Thy brother Emmets, and thy sister Worms!

" Thy potent acts, VOLITION, still attend The means of pleasure to secure the end;

Thy potent acts, Volition, 1. 435. It was before observed, how much the superior accuracy of our sense of touch contributes to increase our knowledge; but it is the greater energy and activity of the power of volition, that marks mankind, and has given them the empire of the world.

There is a criterion by which we may distinguish our voluntary acts or thoughts from those that are excited by our sensations: " The former are always employed about the means to acquire plea- surable objects, or to avoid painful ones; while the latter are em- ployed about the possession of those that are already in our power."

The ideas and actions of brutes, like those of children, are ahnost perpetually produced by their present pleasures or their present pains; and they seldom busy themselves about the means of procuring future bliss, or of avoiding future misery.

Whilst the acquiring of languages, the making of tools, and the labouring for money, which are all only the means of procuring plea- sure ; and the praying to the Deity, as another means to procure happiness, are characteristic of human nature.

CANTO in. PROGRESS OF THE MIND.

To express his wishes and his wants designed

Language, the means, distinguishes Mankind;

For future works in Art's ingenious schools

His hands unwearied form and finish tools; 440

He toils for money future bliss to share,

And shouts to Heaven his mercenary prayer.

Sweet Hope delights him, frowning Fear alarms,

And Vice and Virtue court him to their arms.

" Unenvied eminence, in Nature's plan Rise the reflective faculties of Man ! Labour to Rest the thinking Few prefer! Know but to mourn! and reason but to err! — In Eden's groves, the cradle of the world, Bloom'd a fair tree with mystic flowers unfurl'd ; 450 On bending branches, as aloft it sprung, Forbid to taste, the fruit of KNOWLEDGE hung; Flow'd with sweet Innocence the tranquil hours, And Love and Beauty warm'd the blissful bowers.

182 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO in.

Till our deluded Parents pluck'd, erelong,

The tempting fruit, and gather'd Right and Wrong;

Whence Good and Evil, as in trains they pass,

Reflection imaged on her polish'd glass;

And Conscience felt, for blood by Hunger spilt,

The pains of shame, of sympathy, and guilt! 460

VIII. " LAST, as observant Imitation stands, Turns her quick glance, and brandishes her hands, With mimic acts associate thoughts excites, And storms the soul with sorrows or delights; Life's shadowy scenes are brighten'd and refin'd, And soft emotions mark the feeling mind.

And gather'd Right and ff^rong, 1. 456. Some philosophers have believed that the acquisition of knowledge diminishes the happiness of the possessor; an opinion which seems to have been inculcated by the history of our first parents, who are said to have become miser- able from eating of the tree of knowledge. But as the foresight and the power of mankind are much increased by their voluntary exertions in the acquirement of knowledge, they may undoubtedly avoid many sources of evil, and procure many sources of good ; and yet possess the pleasures of sense, or of imagination, as extensively as the brute or the savage.

And soft emotions, 1. 466". From our aptitude to imitation arises

CANTO in. PROGRESS OF THE MIND. 123

" The Seraph, SYMPATHY, from Heaven descends, And bright o'er earth his beamy forehead bends; On Man's cold heart celestial ardor flings, And showers affection from his sparkling wings; 470 Rolls o'er the world his mild benignant eye, Hears the lone murmur, drinks the whisper'd sigh; Lifts the closed latch of pale Misfortune's door, Opes the clench'd hand of Avarice to the poor, Unbars the prison, liberates the slave, Sheds his soft sorrows o'er the untimely grave, Points with uplifted hand to realms above, And charms the world with universal love.

what is generally understood by the word sympathy, so well ex- plained by Dr. Smith of Glasgow. Thus the appearance of a cheerful countenance gives us pleasure, and of a melancholy one makes us sorrowful. Yawning, and sometimes vomiting, are thus propagated by sympathy; and some people of delicate fibres, at the presence of a spectacle of misery, have felt pain in the same parts of their bodies, that were diseased or mangled in the object they saw.

The effect of this powerful agent in the moral world, is the foun- dation of all our intellectual sympathies with the pains and pleasures of others, and is in consequence the source of all our virtues. For in what consists our sympathy with the miseries or with the joys of our fellow creatures, but in an involuntary excitation of ideas in some measure similar or imitative of those which we believe to exist in the minds of the persons whom we commiserate or congratulate!

124 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO in

" O'er the thrill'd frame his words assuasive steal, And teach the selfish heart what others feel; 480

With sacred truth each erring thought control, Bind sex to sex, and mingle soul with soul; From heaven, He cried, descends the moral plan, And gives Society to savage man.

" High on yon scroll, inscribed o'er Nature's shrine, Live in bright characters the words divine. " IN LIFE'S DISASTROUS SCENES TO OTHERS DO, WHAT YOU WOULD WISH BY OTHERS DONE TO YOU." — Winds! wide o'er earth the sacred law convey, Ye Nations, hear it! and ye Kings, obey! 4QO

High on yon scroll, 1. 485. The famous sentence of Socrates " Know thyself," so celebrated by writers of antiquity, and said by them to have descended from Heaven, however wise it may be, seems to be rather of a selfish nature; and the author of it might have added " Know also other people." But the sacred maxims of the author of Christianity, "Do as you would be done by," and "Love your neighbour as yourself," include all our duties of benevolence and morality; and, if sincerely obeyed by all nations, would a thousand- fold multiply the present happiness of mankind.

CANTO HI. PROGRESS OF THE MIND. 125

" Unbreathing wonder hush'd the adoring throng, Froze the broad eye, and chain'd the silent tongue; Mute was the wail of Want, and Misery's cry^ And grateful Pity wiped her lucid eye; Peace with sweet voice the Seraph-form address'd, And Virtue clasp'd him to her throbbing breast."

END OF CANTO III.

ORIGIN OF SOCIETY.

CANTO IV.

OF GOOD AND EVIL.

CONTENTS.

I. Few affected by Sympathy 1. Cruelty of War 11. Of brute ani- mals, Wolf, Eagle, Lamb, Dove, Owl, Nightingale 17. Of insects, Oestrus, Ichneumon, Libellula 29. Wars of Vegetables 41. Of fish, the Shark, Crocodile, Whale 55. The World a Slaughter- house 66. Pains from Defect and from Excess of Stimulus 71. Ebriety and Superstition 77. Mania 89. Association 93. Avarice, Imposture, Ambition, Envy, Jealousy 97. Floods, Volcanoes, Earthquakes, Famine 109. Pestilence 1 17. Pains from Sympa- thy 123. II. Good outbalances Evil 135. Life combines inani- mate Matter, and produces happiness by Irritation 145. As in viewing a Landscape 159- In hearing Music 171. By Sensation or Fancy in Dreams 183. The Patriot and the Nun 197. Howard, Moira, Burdett205. By Volition 223. Newton, Herschel 233. Archimedes, Savery 241. Isis, Arkwright 253. Letters and Print- ing 265. Freedom of the Press 273. By Association 291. Ideas of Contiguity, Resemblance, and of Cause and Effect 299- An- tinous 319. Cecilia 329- III. Life soon ceases, Births and Deaths alternate 337. Acorns, Poppy-seeds, Aphises, Snails, Worms, Tad- poles, Herrings innumerable 347. So Mankind 36~9- All Nature teems with Life 375. Dead Oi'ganic Matter soon revives 383. Death is but a change of Form 393. Exclamation of St. Paul 403. Happiness of the World increases 405. The Phoenix 41 1. System of Pythagoras 4 17. Rocks and Mountains produced by Organic Life 429. Are Monuments of past Felicity 447. Munificence of the Deity 455. IV. Procession of Virgins 46"9. Hymn to Hea- ven 481. Of Chaos 489. Of Celestial Love 499. Offering of Urania 5 17— 524.

CANTO IT.

OF GOOD AND EVIL. ;,,,(, ;m;

I. " How FEW," the MUSE in plaintive accents cries,.

And mingles with her words pathetic sighs. —

" How few, alas! in Nature's wide domains

The sacred charm of SYMPATHY restrains I

Uncheck'd desires from appetite commence,.

And pure reflection yields to selfish sense !

— Blest is- the Sage, who learn'd in Nature's laws

With nice distinction marks effect and cause;

Who views the insatiate Grave with eye sedate,

Nor fears thy voice, inexorable Fate !. 10:

Blest is the Sage, 1. 7.

Felix, qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas; Quique metus omnes, et inexorabile fatum, Subjecit pedibus, strepitumque Acherontis avari.

VIRG. Georg. II. 49(L S

130 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO iv.

" WHEN War, the Demon, lifts his banner high, And loud artillery rends the affrighted sky; Swords clash with swords, on horses horses rush, Man tramples man, and nations nations crush ; Death his vast sithe with sweep enormous wields, And shuddering Pity quits the sanguine fields.

" The wolf, escorted by his milk-drawn dam, Unknown to mercy, tears the guiltless lamb; The towering eagle, darting from above, Unfeeling rends the inoffensive dove; 20

The lamb and dove on living nature feed, Crop the young herb, or crush the embryon seed. Nor spares the loud owl in her dusky flight, Smit with sweet notes, the minstrel of the night; Nor spares, enamour'd of his radiant form, The hungry nightingale the glowing worm;

The towering eagle, 1. 19.

Torva lea?na lupum sequitur, lupus ipse capellam, Florentem cytisum sequitur lasciva capella. VIRG.

CANTO iv. OF GOOD AND EVIL. 131

i

Who with bright lamp alarms the midnight hour, Climbs the green stem, and slays the sleeping flower.

" Fell Oestrus buries in her rapid course Her countless brood in stag, or bull, or horse; 30

Whose hungry larva eats its living way, Hatch'd by the warmth, and issues into day. The wing'd Ichneumon for her embryon young Gores with sharp horn the caterpillar throng.

Fell Oestrus buries, 1.29. The gadfly, bot-fly, or sheep-fly: the larva lives in the bodies of cattle throughout the whole winter; it is ex- tracted from their backs by an African bird called Buphaga. Adher- ing to the anus it artfully introduces itself into the intestines of horses, and becomes so numerous in their stomachs, as sometimes to destroy them; it climbs into the nostrils of sheep and calves, and pro- ducing a nest of young in a transparent hydatide in the frontal sinus, occasions the vertigo or turn of those animals. In Lapland it so attacks the rein deer that the natives annually travel with the herds from the woods to the mountains. Lin. Syst. Nat.

The wing'd Ichneumon, 1. 33. Linneu* describes seventy-seven species of the ichneumon fly, some of which have a sting as long and some twice as long as their bodies. Many of them insert their eggs into various caterpillars, which when they are hatched seem for a time to prey on the reservoir of silk in the backs of those animals designed for their own use to spin a cord to support them, or a bag to contain them, while they change from their larva form to a butterfly; as I have seen in above fifty cabbage-caterpillars. The ichneumon larva then makes its way out of the caterpillar, and spins itself a small

132 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO iv.

The cruel larva mines its silky course,

And tears the vitals of its fostering nurse.

While fierce Libellula with jaws of steel

Ingulfs an insect-province at a meal;

Contending bee-swarms rise on rustling wings,

And slay their thousands with envenom'd stings. 40

" Yes! smiling Flora drives her armed car Through the thick ranks of vegetable war;

cocoon like a silk Avorm ; these cocoons are about the size of a small pin's head, and I have seen about ten of them on each cabbage cater- pillar, which soon dies after their exclusion.

Other species of ichneumon insert their eggs into the aphis, and into the larva of the aphiclivorous fly: others into the bedeguar of rose trees, and the gall-nuts of oaks; whence those excrescences seem to be produced, as well as the hydatides in the frontal sinus of sheep and calves by the stimulus of the larva; deposited in them.

While farce Libellula, \. 37. The Libellula or Dragon-fly is said to be a most voracious animal; Linneus says in their perfect state they are the hawks to naked winged flies; in their larva state they run beneath the water, and are the cruel crocodiles df aquatic insects. Syst. Nat.

Contending bee-swarms, 1. 39. Stronger bee-swarms frequently at- tack weak hives, and in two or three days destroy them and carry- away their honey; this I once prevented by removing the attacked hive after the first day's battle to a distinct part of the garden. See Phytologia, Sect. XIV. 3. 7.

CANTO iv. OF GOOD AND EVIL. 133

Ferb, shrub, and tree, with strong emotions rise

For light and air, and battle in the skies;

Whose roots diverging with opposing toil

Contend below for moisture and for soil;

Round the tall Elm the flattering Ivies bend,

And strangle, as they clasp, their struggling friend;

Envenom'd dews from Mancinella flow,

And scald with caustic touch the tribes below; 50

Dense shadowy leaves on stems aspiring borne

With blight and mildew thin the realms of corn;

And insect hordes with restless tooth devour

The unfolded bud, and pierce the ravell'd flower.

" In ocean's pearly haunts, the waves beneath Sits the grim monarch of insatiate Death; The shark rapacious with descending blow Darts on the scaly brood, that swims below;

The shark rapacious, 1. 57. The shark has three rows of sharp teeth within each other, which he can bend downwards internally to admit larger prey, and raise to prevent its return ; his snout hangs

154 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO iv.

The crawling crocodiles, beneath that move, Arrest with rising jaw the tribes above; 60

With monstrous gape sepulchral whales devour Shoals at a gulp, a million in an hour. — Air, earth, and ocean, to astonish'd day One scene of blood, one mighty tomb display j From Hunger's arm the shafts of Death are hurl'd, And one great Slaughter-house the warring world!

so far over his mouth, that he is necessitated to turn upon his back, when he takes fish that swim over him, and hence seems peculiarly formed to catch those that swim under him.

The crawling crocodiles, 1. 59. As this animal lives chiefly at the bottom of the rivers, which he frequents, he has the power of open- ing the upper jaw as well as the under one, and thus with greater facility catches the fish or water-fowl which swim over him.

One great slaughter-house, 1. 66. As vegetables are an inferior order of animals fixed to the soil; and as the locomotive animals prey upon them, or upon each other; the world may indeed be said to be one great slaughter-house. As the digested food of vegetables consists principally of sugar, and from this is produced again their mucilage, starch, and oil, and since animals are sustained by these vegetable productions, it would seem that the sugar-making process carried, on in vegetable vessels was the great source of life to all organized beings. And that if our improved chemistry should ever discover the art of making sugar from fossile or aerial matter without the assistance of vegetation, food for animals would then become as plentiful as water, and they might live upon the earth without preying on each other, as

CANTO iv. OF GOOD AND EVIL. 135

" THE brow of Man erect, with thought elate, Ducks to the mandate of resistless fate; Nor Love retains him, nor can Virtue save Her sages, saints, or heroes from the grave. While cold and hunger by defect oppress, Repletion, heat, and labour by excess,

thick as blades of grass, with no restraint to their numbers but the want of local room.

It would seem that roots fixed in the earth and leaves innumerable waving in the air were necessary for the decomposition of water and air, and the conversion of them into saccharine matter, which would have been not only cumberous but totally incompatible with the loco- motion of animal bodies. For how could a man or quadruped have carried on his head or back a forest of leaves, or have had long branch- ing lacteal or absorbent vessels terminating in the earth? Animals therefore subsist on vegetables; that is they take the matter so pre- pared, and have organs to prepare it further for the purposes of higher animation and greater sensibility.

While cold and hunger, 1. 71. Those parts of our system, which are in health excited into perpetual action, give us pain, when they are not excited into action : thus when the bands are for a time immersed in snow, an inaction of the cutaneous capillaries is induced, as is seen from the paleness of the skin, which is attended with the pain of coldness. So the pain of hunger is probably produced by the inaction of the muscular fibres .of the stomach from the want of the stimulus of food.

Thus those, who have used much voluntary exertion in their early years, and have continued to do so, till the decline of life commences, if they then lay aside their employment, whether that of a minister of state, a general of an army, or a merchant, or manufacturer;

136 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO iv.

The whip, the sting, the spur, the fiery brand,

And, cursed Slavery! thy iron hand;

And led by Luxury Disease's trains,

Load human life with unextinguish'd pains.

" Here laughs Ebriety more fell than arms, And thins the nations with her fatal charms, With Gout, and Hydrops groaning in her train, And cold Debility, and grinning Pain, 80

With harlot's smiles deluded man salutes, Revenging all his cruelties to brutes! There the curst spells of Superstition blind, And fix her fetters on the tortured mind; She bids in dreams tormenting shapes appear, With shrieks that shock Imagination's ear,

they cease to have their faculties excited into their usual activity, and become unhappy, I suppose from the too great accumulation of the sensorial power of volition; which wants the accustomed stimulus or motive to cause its expenditure.

Here laughs Ebriety. 1. 77.

Sasvior armis

Luxuria incubuit, victumque ulciscitur orbem. HORAC.

CANTO iv. OF GOOD AND EVIL. 137

E'en o'er the grave a deeper shadow flings,

And maddening Conscience darts a thousand stings.

" There writhing Mania sits on Reason's throne, Or Melancholy marks it for her own, QQ:

Sheds o'er the scene a voluntary gloom, Requests oblivion, and demands the tomb. And last Association's trains suggest Ideal ills, that harrow up the breast,.

E'en over the grave, 1. 87. Many theatric preachers among the Methodists successfully inculcate the fear of death and of Hell, and live luxuriously on the folly of their hearers : those who suffer under this insanity, are generally most innocent and harmless people, who are then liable to accuse themselves of the greatest imaginary crimes; and have so much intellectual cowardice, that they dare not reason about those things, which they are directed by their priests to believe. Where this intellectual cowardice is great, the voice of reason is in- effectual; but that of ridicule may save many from these mad-mak- ing doctors, as the farces of Mr. Foot; though it is too weak to cure those who are already hallucinated.

And last association, 1. 93. The miseries and the felicities of life may he divided into those which arise in consequence of irritation, sen- sation, volition, and association; and consist in the actions of the extremities of the nerves of sense, which constitute our ideas; if they are much more exerted than usual, or much less exerted than : usual, they occasion pain; as when the finger is burnt in a candle; or when we go into a cold bath: while their natural degree of exertion,

T\

138 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO iv.

Call for the dead from Time's o'erwhelming main, And bid departed Sorrow live again.

" Here ragged Avarice guards with bolted door His useless treasures from the starving poor; Loads the lorn hours with misery and care, And lives a beggar to enrich his heir. 100

Unthinking crowds thy forms, Imposture, gull, A Saint in sackcloth, or a Wolf in wool.

produces the pleasure of life or existence. This pleasure is nevertheless increased, when the system is stimulated into rather stronger action than usual, as after a copious dinner, and at the beginning of intoxi- cation; and diminished, when it is only excited into somewhat less activity than usual, which is termed ennui, or irksomeness of life.

Ideal ills, 1. 94. The tooth-edge is an instance of bodily pain occa- sioned by association of ideas. Every one in his childhood has re- peatedly bit a part of the glass or earthen vessel, in which his food has been given him, and has thence had a disagreeable sensation in his teeth, attended at the same time with a jarring sound : and ever after, when such a sound is accidentally produced, the disagreeable sensation of the teeth follows by association of ideas ; this is further elucidated in Zoonomia, Vol. I. Sect. XVI. 10.

Enrich his heir, 1. 100.

Cum furor haud dubius, cum sit manifesta phrenitis, Ut locuples moriaris, egenti vivere fato. JUVENAL.

A Wolf in wool, 1. 102. A wolf in sheep's clothing.

CAXTO IT. OF GOOD AND EVIL. 139

While mad with foolish fame, or drunk with power, Ambition slays his thousands in an hour; Demoniac Envy scowls with haggard mien, And blights the bloom of other's joys, unseen; Or wrathful Jealousy invades the grove, And turns to night meridian beams of Love \

" Here wide o'er earth impetuous waters sweep, And fields and forests rush into the deep; 110

Or dread Volcano with explosion dire Involves the mountains in a flood of fire; Or yawning Earth with closing jaws inhumes Unwarned nations, living in their tombs; Or Famine seizes with her tiger-paw, And swallows millions with unsated maw,

" There livid Pestilence in league with Dearth Walks forth malignant o'er the shuddering earth,

146 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO iv.

Her rapid shafts with airs volcanic wings,

Or steeps in putrid vaults her venom'd stings. 120

Arrests the young in Beauty's vernal bloom,

And bears the innocuous strangers to the tomb! —

*' AND now, e'en I, whose verse reluctant sings The changeful state of sublunary things, Bend o'er Mortality with silent sighs, And wipe the secret tear-drops from my eyes, Hear through the night one universal groan, And mourn unseen for evils not my own, With restless limbs and throbbing heart complain, Stretch'd on the rack of sentimental pain ! 1 30

With airs volcanic, I. 119. Those epidemic complaints, which are generally termed influenza, are believed to arise from vapours thrown out from earthquakes in such abundance as to affect large regions of the atmosphere, see Botanic Garden, V. I. Canto IV. 1. 65. while the diseases properly termed contagious originate from the putrid effluvia of decomposing animal or vegetable matter.

Sentimental pain, 1. 130. Children should be taught in their early education to feel for all the remediable evils, which they observe in others; but they should at the same time be taught sufficient firmness

CANTO iv. OF GOOD AND EVIL. 141

•

— Ah where can Sympathy reflecting find One bright idea to console the mind? One ray of light in this terrene abode To prove to Man the Goodness of his GOD?"

II. " HEAR, O YE SONS OF TIME!" the Nymph replies, Quick indignation darting from her eyes; 44 When in soft tones the Muse lamenting sings, And weighs with tremulous hand the sum of things; She loads the scale in melancholy mood, Presents the evil, but forgets the good. 140

of mind not intirely to destroy their own happiness by their sympa- thizing with too great sensibility with the numerous irremediable evils, which exist in the present system of the world: as by indulging that kind of melancholy they decrease the sum total of public hap- piness ; which is so far rather reprehensible than commendable. See Plan for Female Education by Dr. Darwin, Johnson, London, Sect. XVII.

This has been carried to great excess in the East by the disciples of Confucius; the Gentoos during a famine in India refused to eat the flesh of cows and of other animals to satisfy their hunger, and save themselves from death. And at other times they have been said to permit fleas and musquitoes to feed upon them from this erroneous sympathy.

142 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO IT.

But if the beam some firmer hand suspends, And good and evil load the adverse ends; With strong libration, where the Good abides, Quick nods the beam, the ponderous gold subsides.

tc HEAR, O ye Sons of Time! the powers of Life Arrest the elements, and stay their strife; From wandering atoms, ethers, airs, and gas, By combination form the organic mass; Aijd, — as they seize, digest, secrete, — dispense The bliss of Being to the vital Ens. 150

Hence in bright groups from IRRITATION rise Young Pleasure's trains, and roll their azure eyes.

From wandering atoms, 1. 147. Had those ancient philosophers, who contended that the world was formed from atoms, ascribed their com- binations to certain immutable properties received from the hand of the Creator, such as general gravitation, chemical affinity, or ani- mal appetency, instead of ascribing them to a blind chance; the doc- trine of atoms, as constituting or composing the material world by the variety of their combinations, so far from leading the mind to atheism, would strengthen the demonstration of the existence of a Deity, as the first cause of all things; because the analogy resulting from our perpetual experience of cause and effect would have thus been exemplified through universal nature.

CANTO rv. OF GOOD AND EVIL. US

I

" With fond delight we feel the potent charm, When Zephyrs cool us, or when sun-beams warm; With fond delight inhale the fragrant flowers, Taste the sweet fruits, which bend the blushing bowers, Admire the music of the vernal grove, Or drink the raptures of delirious love.

" So with long gaze admiring eyes behold The varied landscape all its lights unfold; 160

Huge rocks opposing o'er the stream project Their naked bosoms, and the beams reflect;

The varied landscape, 1. 160. The pleasure, we feel on examining a fine landscape, is derived from various sources; as first the excite- ment of the retina of the eye into certain quantities of action ; which when there is in the optic nerve any accumulation of sensorial power, is always agreeable. 2. When it is excited into such successive ac- tions, as relieve each other; as when a limb has been long exerted in one direction, by stretching it in another; as described in Zoonomia, Sect. XL. 6. on ocular spectra. 3. And lastly by the associations of its parts with some agreeable sentiments or tastes, as of sublimity, beauty, utility, novelty; and the objects suggesting other senti- ments, which have lately been termed picturesque as mentioned in the note to Canto III, 1. 230 of this work. The two former of these sources of pleasure arise from irritation, the last from association.

144 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO iv.

Wave high in air their fringed crests of wood, And checker'd shadows dance upon the flood; Green sloping lawns construct the sidelong scene, And guide the sparkling rill that winds between; Conduct on murmuring wings the pausing gale, And rural echoes talk along the vale; Dim hills behind in pomp aerial rise, Lift their blue tops, and melt into the skies. 1 JO

" So when by HANDEL tuned to measured sounds The trumpet vibrates, or the drum rebounds; Alarm'd we listen with ecstatic wonder To mimic battles, or imagined thunder. When the soft lute in sweet impassion'd strains Of cruel nymphs or broken vows complains ; As on the breeze the fine vibration floats, We drink delighted the melodious notes.

We drink delighted, 1. 178. The pleasure we experience from music, is, like that from viewing a landscape, derived from various sources; as first from the excitement of the auditory nerve into certain quan-

CANTO iv. OF GOOD AND EVIL. 145

But when young Beauty on the realms above Bends her bright eye, and trills the tones of love; 180 Seraphic sounds enchant this nether sphere; And listening angels lean from Heaven to hear.

•

" Next by SENSATION led, new joys commence From the fine movements of the excited sense; In swarms ideal urge their airy flight, Adorn the day-scenes, and illume the night. Her spells o'er all the hand of Fancy flings, Gives form and substance to unreal things;

tities of action, when there exists any accumulation of sensorial power. 2. When the auditory nerve is exerted in such successive actions as relieve each other, like stretching or yawning, as described in Botanic Garden, Vol. II, Interlude the third, these successions of sound are termed melody, and their combinations harmony. 3. From the repetition of sounds at certain intervals of time ; as we hear them with greater facility and accuracy, when we expect them ; because they are then excited by volition, as well as by irritation, or at least the tympanum is then better adapted to assist their production ; hence the two musical times or bars; and hence the rhimes in poetry give pleasure, as well as the measure of the verse : and lastly the pleasure we receive from music, arises from the associations of agreeable sen- timents with certain proportions, or repetitions, or quantities, or times of sounds which have been previously acquired ; as explained in Zoonomia Vol. I. Sect. XVI. 10. and Sect. XXII. 2.

U

146 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO iv.

With fruits and foliage decks the barren waste,

And brightens Life with sentiment and taste; 1QO

Pleased o'er the level and the rule presides,

The painter's brush, the sculptor's chissel guides,

With ray ethereal lights the poet's fire,

Tunes the rude pipe, or strings the heroic lyre :

Charm'd round the nymph on frolic footsteps move

The angelic forms of Beauty, Grace, and Love.

" So dreams the Patriot, who indignant draws The sword of vengeance in his Country's cause; Bright for his brows unfading honours bloom, Or kneeling Virgins weep around his tomb. 200

So holy transports in the cloister's shade Play round thy toilet, visionary maidl Charm'd o'er thy bed celestial voices sing, And Seraphs hover on enamour'd wing.

" So HOWARD, MOIRA, BURDETT, sought the cells, Where want, or woe, or guilt in darkness dwells;

THE POWER OF FA!N"€lf IN J0RE AMS

• /r mtvu

-9vz^ L/e&a,A&4

CANTO iv. OF GOOD AND EVIL. 147

With Pity's torch illumed the dread domains, Wiped the wet eye, and eased the galling chains; With Hope's bright blushes warm'd the midnight air, And drove from earth the Demon of Despair. 210 Erewhile emerging from the caves of night The Friends of Man ascended into light; With soft assuasive eloquence address'd The ear of Power to stay his stern behest; At Mercy's call to stretch his arm and save His tottering victims from the gaping grave. These with sweet smiles Imagination greets, For these she opens all her treasured sweets, Strews round their couch, by Pity's hand combined, Bright flowers of joy, the sunshine of the mind; 220 While Fame's loud trump with sounds applausive breathes And Virtue crowns them with immortal wreathes.

" Thy acts, VOLITION, to the world impart The plans of Science with the works of art;

148 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO iv.

Give to proud Reason her comparing power, Warm every clime, and brighten every hour. In Life's first cradle, ere the dawn began Of young Society to polish man ; The staff that propp'd him, and the bow that arm'd, The boat that bore him, and the shed that warm'd, 230 Fire, raiment, food, the ploughshare, and the sword, Arose, VOLITION, at thy plastic word.

" By thee instructed, NEWTON'S eye sublime Mark'd the bright periods of revolving time; Explored in Nature's scenes the effect and cause, And, charm'd, unravell'd all her latent laws. Delighted HERSCHEL with reflected Hghf Pursues his radiant journey through the night; Detects new guards, that roll their orbs afar In lucid ringlets round the Georgian star. 240

v.

CANTO iv. OF GOOD AND EVIL. 149

" Inspired by thee, with scientific wand Pleased ARCHIMEDES mark'd the figured sand; Siezed with mechanic grasp the approaching decks, And shook the assailants from the inverted wrecks. — Then cried the Sage, with grand effects elate, And proud to save the Syracusian state; While crowds exulting shout their noisy mirth, * Give where to stand, and I will move the earth.' So SAVERY guided his explosive steam In iron cells to raise the balanced beam; 250

The Giant-form its ponderous mass uprears, Descending nods and seems to shake the spheres.

Mark'd thejlgur'd sand, 1. 242. The ancient orators seem to have spoken disrespectfully of the mechanic philosophers. Cicero men- tioning Archimedes, calls him Homunculus e pulvere et radio, allud- ing to the custom of drawing problems on the sand with a staff.

So Savery guided, 1. 249. Captain Savery first applied the pressure of the atmosphere to raise water in consequence of a vacuum pre- viously produced by the condensation of steam, though the Marquis of Worceser had before proposed to use for this purpose the expan- sive power of steam; see Botanic Garden, Vol. I. Canto I. 1. 253. Note..

150 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO iv.

" Led by VOLITION on the banks of Nile Where bloom'd the waving flax on Delta's isle, Pleased Is is taught the fibrous stems to bind, And part with hammers from the adhesive rind; With locks of flax to deck the distaff-pole, And whirl with graceful bend the dancing spole. In level lines the length of woof to spread, And dart the shuttle through the parting thread. 260 So ARKWRIGHT taught from Cotton-pods to cull, And stretch in lines the vegetable wool; With teeth of steel its fibre-knots unfurl'd,

And with the silver tissue clothed the world.

/

" Ages remote by thee, VOLITION, taught Chain'd down in characters the winged thought; With silent language mark'd the letter'd ground, And gave to sight the evanescent sound.

The waving far, 1. 254. Flax is said to have been first discovered on the banks of the Nile, and Isis to have been the inventress of spinning and weaving.

So Arkwright taught, 1. 261. See Botanic Garden, Vol. II. Canto II. 1. 87, Note.

CANTO iv. OF GOOD AND EVIL. 151

Now, happier lot! enlighten'd realms possess The learned labours of the immortal Press; 270

Nursed on whose lap the births of science thrive, And rising Arts the wrecks of Time survive.

(t

Ye patriot heroes ! in the glorious cause Of Justice, Mercy, Liberty, and Laws, Who call to Virtue's shrine the British youth, And shake the senate with the voice of Truth; Rouse the dull ear, the hoodwink'd eye unbind, And give to energy the public mind;

The immortal Press, 1. 270. The discovery of the art of printing has had so great influence on human affairs, that from thence may be dated a new *ra in the history of mankind. As by the diffusion of general knowledge, both of the arts of taste and of useful sciences, the public mind has become improved to so great a degree, that though new impositions have been perpetually produced, the arts of detect- ing them have improved with greater rapidity. Hence since the introduction of printing, superstition has been much lessened by the reformation of religion; and necromancy, astrology, chiromancy, witchcraft, and vampyrism, have vanished from all classes of society; though some are still so weak in the present enlightened times as to believe in the prodigies of animal magnetism, and of metallic trac- tors; by this general diffusion of knowledge, if the liberty of the press be preserved, mankind will not be liable in this part of the world to sink into such abject slavery as exists at this day in China.

152 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO iv.

While rival realms with blood unsated wage

Wide-wasting war with fell demoniac rage ; 280

In every clime while army army meets,

And oceans groan beneath contending fleets;

Oh save, oh save, in this eventful hour

The tree of knowledge from the axe of power ;

With fostering peace the suffering nations bless,

And guard the freedom of the immortal Press !

So shall your deathless fame from age to age

Survive recorded in the historic page;

And future bards with voice inspired prolong

Your sacred names immortalized in song. 2QO

*' Thy power ASSOCIATION next affords Ideal trains annex'd to volant words, Conveys to listening ears the thought superb, And gives to Language her expressive verb;

Her expressive verb, I. 294. The verb, or the word, has been so called from its being the most expressive term in all languages; as it suggests the ideas of existence, action or suffering, and of time; see the Note on Canto III. 1. 371, of this work.

•

CANTO iv. OF GOOD AND EVIL. 153

Which in one changeful sound suggests the fact At once to be, to suffer, or to act; And marks on rapid wing o'er every clime The viewless flight of evanescent Time.

" Call'd by thy voice contiguous thoughts embrace In endless streams arranged by Time or Place; 300 The Muse historic hence in every age Gives to the world her interesting page; While in bright landscape from her moving pen Rise the fine tints of manners and of men.

CalTd by thy voice, 1. 299- The numerous trains of associated ideas are divided by Mr. Hume into three classes, which he has termed contiguity, causation, and resemblance. Nor should we wonder to find them thus connected together, since it is the business of our lives to dispose them into these three classes; and we become valu- able to ourselves and our friends as we succeed in it. Those who have combined an extensive class of ideas by the contiguity of time or place, are men learned in the history of mankind, and of the sciences they have cultivated. Those who have connected a great class of ideas of resemblances, possess the source of the ornaments of poetry and oratory, and of all rational analogy. While those who have connected great classes of ideas of causation, are furnished with the powers of producing effects. These are the men of active wisdom who lead armies to victory, and kingdoms to prosperity; or discover and improve the sciences which meliorate and adorn the condition of humanity.

X

154 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO iv.

" Call'd by thy voice Resemblance next describes Her sister- thoughts in lucid trains or tribes; Whence pleased Imagination oft combines By loose analogies her fair designs; Each winning grace of polish'd wit bestows To deck the Nymphs of Poetry and Prose. 310

" Last, at thy potent nod, Effect and Cause Walk hand in hand accordant to thy laws; Rise at Volition's call-, in groups combined, Amuse, delight, instruct, and serve Mankind;

Polish'd wit bestows, 1. 309. Mr. Locke defines wit to consist of an assemblage of ideas, brought together with quickness and variety, wherein can be found any resemblance or congruity, thereby to make up pleasant pictures and agreeable visions in the fancy. To which Mr. Addison adds, that these must occasion surprise as well as delight; Spectator, Vol. I. No. LXII. See Note on Canto III. 1. 145. and Additional Note, VII. 3. Perhaps wit in the extended use of the word may mean to express all kinds of fine writing, as the word Taste is applied to all agreeable visible objects, and thus wit may mean descriptive sublimity, beauty, the pathetic, or ridiculous, but when used in the confined sense, as by Mr. Locke and Mr. Addison as above, it may probably be better defined a combination of ideas with agreeable novelty, as this may be effected by opposition as well as by resemblance.

CANTO iv. OF GOOD AND EVIL. 155

Bid raised in air the ponderous structure stand, Or pour obedient rivers through the land; With cars unnumber'd crowd the living streets, Or people oceans with triumphant fleets.

" Thy magic touch imagined forms supplies From colour'd light, the language of the eyes ; 320 On Memory's page departed hours inscribes, Sweet scenes of youth, and Pleasure's vanish'd tribes. By thee AN TI NOUS leads the dance sublime On wavy step, and moves in measured time; Charm'd round the Youth successive Graces throng, And Ease conducts him, as he moves along; Unbreathing crowds the floating form admire, And Vestal bosoms feel forbidden fire.

" When rapp'd CECILIA breathes her matin vow, And lifts to Heaven her fair adoring brow; 330

From her sweet lips, and rising bosom part Impassion'd notes, that thrill the melting heart;

156 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO iv.

Tuned by thy hand the dulcet harp she rings, And sounds responsive echo from the strings; Bright scenes of bliss in trains suggested move,. And charm the world with melody and love.

III. " SOON the fair forms with vital being bless'd, Time's feeble children, lose the boon possess'd; The goaded fibre ceases to obey, And sense deserts the uncontractile clay; 340

While births unnumber'd, ere the parents die, The hourly waste of lovely life supply ; And thus, alternating with death, fulfil The silent mandates of the Almighty Will; Whose hand unseen the works of nature dooms By laws unknown — WHO GIVES, AND WHO RESUMES.

" Each pregnant Oak ten thousand acorns forms

Profusely scatter'd by autumnal storms;

The goaded jibre, 1. 339- Old age consists in the inaptitude to motion from the inirritability of the system, and the consequent want of fibrous contraction; see Additional Note VU.

CANTO iv. OF GOOD AND EVlt. 157

Ten thousand seeds each pregnant poppy sheds . Profusely scatter'd from its waving heads; 3.5O

The countless Aphides, prolific tribe, With greedy trunks the honey'd sap imbibe;

Ten thousand seeds, 1. 349. The fertility of plants ia respect to seeds is often remai'kable; from one root in one summer the seeds of zea, maize, amount to 2000; of inula, elecampane, to 3000; of helianthus, sunflower, to 4000; of papaver, poppy, 3£000; of nicotiana, tobacco, to 40320; to this must be added the perennial roots, and the buds. Buds, which are so many herbs, in one tree, the trunk of which does not exceed a span in thickness, frequently amount to 10000; Lin. Phil. Bot. p. 86.

The countless Aphides, 1. 351. The aphises, pucerons, or vine- fretters, are hatched from an egg in the early spring, and are all called females, as they produce a living offspring about once in a fortnight to the ninth generation, which are also all of them females; then males are also produced, and by their intercourse the females become oviparous, and deposite their eggs on the branches, or in the bark to be hatched in the ensuing spring.

This double mode of reproduction, so exactly resembling the butls and seeds of trees, accounts for the wonderful increase of this insect, Avhich, according to Dr. Richardson, consists often generations, and of fifty at an average in each generation ; so that the sum of fifty multiplied by fifty, and that product again multiplied by fifty nine times, would give the product of one egg only in countless millions ^ to which must be added the innumerable egg& laid by the tenth generation for the renovation of their progeny in the ensuing spring.

The honey'd sap, 1. 352. The aphis punctures with its fine proboscis the sap-vessels of vegetables without any visible wound,, and thus- drinks the sap-juice, or vegetable chyle, as it ascends. Hence on, the twigs of trees they stand with their heads downwards, as I have observed, to acquire this ascending sap-juice with greater facility,.

153 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO iv.

Swarm on each leaf with eggs or embryons big, And pendent nations tenant every twig. Amorous with double sex, the snail and worm, Scoop'd in the soil, their cradling caverns form; Heap their white eggs, secure from frost and floods, And crowd their nurseries with uncounted broods. Ere yet with wavy tail the tadpole swims, Breathes with new lungs, or tries his nascent limbs; 3(30 Her countless shoals the amphibious frog forsakes, And living islands float upon the lakes.

The honey-dew on the upper surface of leaves is evacuated by these insects, as they hang on the underside of the leaves above; when they take too much of this saccharine juice during the vernal or midsummer sap-flow of most vegetables ; the black powder on leaves is also their excrement at other times. The vegetable world seems to have escaped total destruction from this insect by the number of flies, which in their larva state prey upon them; and by the ichneu- mon fly, which deposits its eggs in them. Some vegetables put forth stiff bristles with points round their young shoots, as the moss-rose, apparently to prevent the depredation of these insects, so injurious to them by robbing them of their chyle or nourishment.

The tadpole swims, 1. 359. The progress of a tadpole from a fish to a quadruped by his gradually putting forth his limbs, and at length leaving the water, and breathing the dry air, is a subject of great curiosity, as it resembles so much the incipient state of all other quadrupeds, and men, who are aquatic animals in the uterus, and become aerial ones at their birth.

CANTO ir. OF GOOD AND EVIL. 159

The migrant herring steers her myriad bands From seas of ice to visit warmer strands ; Unfathom'd depths and climes unknown explores, And covers with her spawn unmeasured shores. — All these, increasing by successive birth, Would each o'erpeople ocean, air, and earth.

" So human progenies, if unrestrain'd, By climate friended, and by food sustain'd, 370

O'er seas and soils, prolific hordes! would spread Erelong, and deluge their terraqueous bed; But war, and pestilence, disease, and dearth, Sweep the superfluous myriads from the earth. Thus while new forms reviving tribes acquire Each passing moment, as the old expire; Like insects swarming in the noontide bower, Rise into being, and exist an hour; The births and deaths contend with equal strife, And every pore of Nature teems with Life; 380

160 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO iv.

Which buds or breathes from Indus to the Poles, And Earth's vast surface kindles, as it rolls!

" HENCE when a Monarch or a mushroom dies, Awhile extinct the organic matter lies; But, as a few short hours or years revolve, Alchemic powers the changing mass dissolve; Born to new life unnumber'd insects pant, New buds surround the microscopic plant ; Whose embryon senses, and unwearied frames, Feel finer goads, and blush with purer flames; 3QO

Which buds or breathes, 1. 381. Organic bodies, besides the carbon, hydrogen, azote, and the oxygen and heat, which are combined with them, require to be also immersed in loose heat and loose oxygen to preserve their mutable existence; and hence life only exists on or near the surface of the earth; see Botan. Garden, Vol. I. Canto IV. 1.419. ^organization, le sentiment, le movement spontane, la vie, n'existent qu'a la surface de la terre, et dans les lieux exposes a la lumiere. Traite de Chimie par M. Lavoisier, Tom. I. p. 202.

Born to new life, 1. 387. From the innumerable births of the larger insects, and the spontaneous productions of the microscopic ones, every part of organic matter from the recrements of dead vege- table or animal bodies, on or near the surface of the earth, becomes again presently reanimated; which by increasing the number and quantity of living organizations, though many of them exist but for a short time, adds to the sum total of terrestrial happiness.

CANTO iv. OF GOOD AND EVIL. 161

Renascent joys from irritation spring,

Stretch the long root, or wave the aurelian wing.

" When thus a squadron or an army yields, And festering carnage loads the waves or fields; When few from famines or from plagues survive, Or earthquakes swallow half a realm alive; — While Nature sinks in Time's destructive storms,

i

The wrecks of Death are but a change of forms;

Emerging matter from the grave returns,

Feels new desires, with new sensations burns; 400

With youth's first bloom a finer sense acquires,

And Loves and Pleasures fan the rising fires. —

Thus sainted PAUL, * O Death!' exulting cries,

* Where is thy sting? O Grave! thy victories?'

Thus sainted Paul, 1. 403. The doctrine of St. Paul teaches the resurrection of the body in an incorruptible and glorified state, with consciousness of its previous existence; he therefore justly exults over the sting of death, and the victory of the grave.

162 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. ' CANTO iv.

" Immortal Happiness from realms deceased Wakes, as from sleep, unlessen'd or increased; Calls to the wise in accents loud and clear, Sooths with sweet tones the sympathetic ear; Informs and fires the revivescent clay, And lights the dawn of Life's returning day. 410

" So when Arabia's Bird, by age oppress'd, Consumes delighted on his spicy nest; A filial Phcenix from his ashes springs, Crown'd with a star, on renovated wings; Ascends exulting from his funeral flame, And soars and shines, another and the same.

And lights the dawn, I. 410. The sum total of the happiness of organized nature is probably increased rather than diminished, when one large old animal dies, and is converted into many thousand young ones; which are produced or supported with their numerous progeny by the same organic matter. Linneus asserts, that three of the flies, called musca vomitoria, will consume the body of a dead horse, as soon as a lion can; Syst. Nat.

So when Arabia's bird, 1. 411. The story of the Phrenix rising from its own ashes with a star upon its head seems to have been an hiero- glyphic emblem of the destruction and resuscitation of all things; see Botan. Garden, Vol. I. Canto IV. 1. 389.

CANTO iv. OF GOOD AND EVIL. 163

" So erst the Sage with scientific truth In Grecian temples taught the attentive youth; With ceaseless change how restless atoms pass From life to life, a transmigrating mass; 420

How the same organs, which to day compose The poisonous henbane, or the fragrant rose, May with to morrow's sun new forms compile, Frown in the Hero, in the Beauty smile. Whence drew the enlighten'd Sage the moral plan, That man should ever be the friend of man ; Should eye with tenderness all living forms, His brother-emmets, and his sister-worms.

" HEAR, O ye Sons of Time! your final doom, And read the characters, that mark your tomb: 430

So erst the Sage. 1. 417. It is probable, that the perpetual transmi- gration of matter from one body to another, of all vegetables and animals, during their lives, as well as after their deaths, was observed by Pythagoras ; which he afterwards applied to the soul, or spirit of animation, and taught, that it passed from one animal to another as

164 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO iv.

The marble mountain, and the sparry steep, Were built by myriad nations of the deep, — Age after age, who form'd their spiral shells, Their sea-fan gardens and their coral cells; Till central fires with unextinguished sway Raised the primeval islands into day ; — The sand-flird strata stretch'd from pole to pole; Unmeasured beds of clay, and marl, and coal,

a punishment for evil deeds, though without consciousness of its pre- vious existence; and from this doctrine he inculcated a system of morality and benevolence, as all creatures thus became related to each other.

The marble mountain, 1.431. From the increased knowledge in Geology during the present century, owing to the greater attention of philosophers to the situations of the different materials, which compose the strata of the earth, as well as to their chemical proper- ties, it seems clearly to appear, that the nucleus of the globe be- neath the ocean consisted of granite; and that on this the great beds of limestone were formed from the shells of marine animals during the innumerable primeval ages of the world; and that whatever strata lie on these beds of limestone, or on the granite, where the limestone does not cover it, were formed after the elevation of islands and con- tinents above the surface of the sea by the recrements of vegetables and of terrestrial animals; see on this subject Botanic Garden, Vol. I. Additional Note XXIV.

CANTO iv. OF GOOD AND EVIL. 165

Black ore of manganese, the zinky stone,

And dusky steel on his magnetic throne, 440

In deep morass, or eminence superb,

Rose from the wrecks of animal or herb ;

These from their elements by Life combined,

Form'd by digestion, and in glands refined,

Gave by their just excitement of the sense

The Bliss of Being to the vital Ens.

#•

" Thus the tall mountains, that emboss the lands, Huge isles of rock, and continents of sands, Whose dim extent eludes the inquiring sight, ARE MIGHTY MONUMENTS OF PAST DELIGHTJ 450

Are, mighty monuments. 1. 450. The reader is referred to a few pages on this subject in Phytologia, Sect. XIX. 7- 1, Avhere the felicity of organic life is considered more at large; but it is probable that the most certain way to estimate the happiness and misery of organic beings; as it depends on the actions of the organs of sense, which constitute ideas; or of the muscular fibres which perform locomotion; would be to consider those actions, as they are produced or excited by the four sensorial powers of irritation, sensation, volition, and association. A small volume on this subject by some ingenious writer,

166 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO iv.

Shout round the globe, how Reproduction strives With vanquish'd Death, — and Happiness survives; How Life increasing peoples every clime, And young renascent Nature conquers Time ;

might not only amuse, as -an object of curiosity ; but by showing the world the immediate sources of their pains and pleasures might teach the means to avoid the one, and to procure the other, and thus contribute both ways to increase the sum total of organic happiness.

How Life increasing, 1. 453. Not only 'the vast calcareous pro- vinces, which form so great a part of the terraqueous globe, and also whatever rests upon them, as clay, marl, sand, and coal, were formed from the fluid elements of heat, oxygen, azote, and hydrogen along with carbon, phosphorus, and perhaps a few other substances, which the science of chemistry has not yet decomposed; and gave the pleasure of life to the animals and vegetables, which formed them; and thus constitute monuments of the past happiness of those organized beings. But as those remains of former life are not again totally de- composed, or converted into their original elements, they supply more copious food to the succession of new animal or vegetable beings on their surface; which consists of materials convertible into nutriment with less labour or activity of the digestive powers ; and hence the quantity or number of organized bodies, and their im- provement in size, as well as their happiness, has been continually increasing, along with the soVid parts of the globe; and will proba- bly continue to increase, till the whole terraqueous sphere, and all that inhabit it shall dissolve by a general conflagration, and be again reduced to their elements.

Thus all the suns, and the planets, which circle round them, may again sink into one central chaos; and may again by explosions pro-

CANTO iv. OF GOOD AND EVIL. 167

— And high in golden characters record

The immense munificence of NATURE'S LORD! —

" He gives and guides the sun's attractive force, And steers the planets in their silver course ; With heat and light revives the golden day, And breathes his spirit on organic clay; 4(50

With hand unseen directs the general cause By firm immutable immortal laws/'

Charm'd with her words the Muse astonish'd stands,

" ^ • -»• - Tt f ' * -If •" '"..

The Nymphs enraptured clasp their velvet hands; Applausive thunder from the fane recoils, And holy echoes peal along the ailes; O'er NATURE'S shrine celestial lustres glow, And lambent glories circle round her brow.

duce a new world; which in process of time may resemble the pre- sent one, and at length again undergo the same catastrophe! these great events may he the result of the immutable laws impressed on matter by the Great Cause of Causes, Parent of Parents, Ens Entium!

168 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO iv.

IV. Now sinks the golden sun, — the vesper song Demands the tribute of URANIA'S tongue; 470

Onward she steps, her fair associates calls From leaf- wove avenues, and vaulted halls. Fair virgin trains in bright procession move, Trail their long robes, and whiten all the grove; Pair after pair to Nature's temple sweep, Thread the broad arch, ascend the winding steep; Through brazen gates along susurrant ailes

%

Stream round their GODDESS the successive files;

Curve above curve to golden seats retire,

And star with beauty the refulgent quire, 480

AND first to HEAVEN the consecrated throng With chant alternate pour the adoring song, Swell the full hymn, now high, and now profound, With sweet responsive symphony of sound. Seen through their wiry harps, below, above, Nods the fair brow, the twinkling fingers move;

CANTO iv. OF GOOD AND EVIL. 169

Soft- warbling flutes the ruby lip commands, And cymbals ring with high uplifted hands.

To CHAOS next the notes melodious pass, How suns exploded from the kindling mass, 4QO

Waved o'er the vast inane their tresses bright, And charmed young Nature's opening eyes with light. Next from each sun how spheres reluctant burst, And second planets issued from the first. And then to EARTH descends the moral strain, How isles, emerging from the shoreless main, With sparkling streams and fruitful groves began, And form'd a Paradise for mortal man.

Sublimer notes record CELESTIAL LOVE,

. «

And high rewards in brighter climes above; 500

To Chaos next. 1. 489-

Namque canebat uti magnum per inane coacta Semina terrarumque, animseque, marisque fuissent; Et liquid! simul ignis; ut his exordia primis Omnia, et ipse tenermundi concreveriCorbis.

VIHG. EC. VI. 1. 31,

z

170 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO iv.

How Virtue's beams with mental charm engage Youth's raptured eye, and warm the frost of age, Gild with soft lustre Death's tremendous gloom, And light the dreary chambers of the tomb. How fell Remorse shall strike with venom'd dart, Though mail'd in adamant, the guilty heart; Fierce furies drag to pains and realms unknown The blood- stain'd tyrant from his tottering throne.

y •

By hands unseen are struck aerial wires, And Angel- tongues are heard amid the quires; 510 From aile to aile the trembling concord floats, And the wide roof returns the mingled notes, Through each fine nerve the keen vibrations dart,

Pierce the charm'd ear, and thrill the echoing heart. — i

MUTE the sweet voice, and still the quivering strings, Now Silence hovers on unmoving wings. — — Slow to the altar fair URANIA bends Her graceful march, the sacred steps ascends,

CAVTO IY. OF GOOD AND EVIL. 171

High in the midst with blazing censer stands,

And scatters incense with illumined hands: 520

Thrice to the GODDESS bows with solemn pause,

With trembling awe the mystic veil withdraws,

And, meekly kneeling on the gorgeous shrine,

Lifts her ecstatic eyes to TRUTH DIVINE! 524

END OF CANTO IV.

CONTENTS OF THE NOTES.

CANTO I.

Line.

36 Origin of European Nations.

76 Early use of Painting and Hiero- glyphics.

83 Proteus represents Time. 126 Cave of Trophonius. 137 Eleusinian Mysteries. 176 Antiquity of Statuary, casting Fi- gures, and Carving. 224 Infancy of the present World. 235 Of Heat. 239 Of Attraction. 245 Of Contraction. 259 Arteries not conical.

Line.

262 Venous Absorption. 268 Decrease of the Ocean. 270 Sensation and Volition. 283 Mucor, Vibrio. 295 Animals are first aquatic. 315 Sea, originally was not Salt. 327 Animals from the Sea. 335 Aquatic Plants.

343 FroSs-