Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Originality In Dr. Robertson And Mr. Gibbon.
ORIGINALITY IN DR . ROBERTSON AND MR . GIBBON .
It is a maxim of the wise man , that "< there is nothing new under the sun Ingenious and novel as many things appear to us , we frequently find others who have known them before ; and the condi-U u ° ,-J human mind - is such > that ^ is hardly to be wondered at , that different people should have the same ideas , at very remote periods . Dr . Robertsonin hisHistory of America dwells deal
, . , a great on an hypothesis , which he thinks to be ori ginal , viz . that America was peopled from the Nortb-West part of Tartary . - And Mr . Gibbon , in his Roman History , has decked , in all the beauty and elegance of language , Ins comparison of the irruptions of the northern nations into Europe , to the waves of the sea impelling each other along . Now both these ideas , applied to nearl y the same subjects , are to be met with in work at the
a , published beginning of this century , from which the extract that follows is taken : « We say then , that the world was first peopled from the East , as noiy writ assures , and history and reason persuades ; arts and arms first flourished there , almost innumerable armies ap eaiino- in early times ; whence repeated swarms or inundations still in
issuing the same course with the sun , thrust on one another from place to place , and island to island , we mean those less remote from the continent , and which in clear weather mi ght be seen from it , and ships easily get thither : for whatever other authors say , we are sure there was shipping as early as Noah ; but what ' s this to those more remote , as Americawhen the was not inventedfirst let that be
, compass ; proved an island , and then we'll dispute further on it ; in the mean time we shall take the liberty to suppose on , that' ' twas peopled from the Nortb-West part of Tartary , which , if not a continent , must yet be much nearer to those parts than our side of the world "
As to the second enquirj * , beasts mi ght pass the same way , and perhaps easier than men : if ' tis all land , through inaccessible snows and woods ; if only some strait and narrow sea separates , nothing more common than for sailors , in that part of the world , to find great numbers of living beasts floating upon the ice ; and this way , as well as others , wild beasts might be driven over , or be there without so much troubleif admit this
, we following hypothesis , wherein I can oresee no absurdity . That there were islands before tbe flood can ' t He proved b y history or reason : Let ' s suppose , therefore , there were none , but some actually made by its fury and violence ; other parts of the continent , only disposed or prepared for islands , continuing joined b small isthmus while that remained
y a very ; , there was a bridge large enough for the beasts to go over , which being in process of time worn away , whereof tradition , observation , and history giye us instances , those peninsulas were thereby transformed into compleat islands . " Uu 2
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Originality In Dr. Robertson And Mr. Gibbon.
ORIGINALITY IN DR . ROBERTSON AND MR . GIBBON .
It is a maxim of the wise man , that "< there is nothing new under the sun Ingenious and novel as many things appear to us , we frequently find others who have known them before ; and the condi-U u ° ,-J human mind - is such > that ^ is hardly to be wondered at , that different people should have the same ideas , at very remote periods . Dr . Robertsonin hisHistory of America dwells deal
, . , a great on an hypothesis , which he thinks to be ori ginal , viz . that America was peopled from the Nortb-West part of Tartary . - And Mr . Gibbon , in his Roman History , has decked , in all the beauty and elegance of language , Ins comparison of the irruptions of the northern nations into Europe , to the waves of the sea impelling each other along . Now both these ideas , applied to nearl y the same subjects , are to be met with in work at the
a , published beginning of this century , from which the extract that follows is taken : « We say then , that the world was first peopled from the East , as noiy writ assures , and history and reason persuades ; arts and arms first flourished there , almost innumerable armies ap eaiino- in early times ; whence repeated swarms or inundations still in
issuing the same course with the sun , thrust on one another from place to place , and island to island , we mean those less remote from the continent , and which in clear weather mi ght be seen from it , and ships easily get thither : for whatever other authors say , we are sure there was shipping as early as Noah ; but what ' s this to those more remote , as Americawhen the was not inventedfirst let that be
, compass ; proved an island , and then we'll dispute further on it ; in the mean time we shall take the liberty to suppose on , that' ' twas peopled from the Nortb-West part of Tartary , which , if not a continent , must yet be much nearer to those parts than our side of the world "
As to the second enquirj * , beasts mi ght pass the same way , and perhaps easier than men : if ' tis all land , through inaccessible snows and woods ; if only some strait and narrow sea separates , nothing more common than for sailors , in that part of the world , to find great numbers of living beasts floating upon the ice ; and this way , as well as others , wild beasts might be driven over , or be there without so much troubleif admit this
, we following hypothesis , wherein I can oresee no absurdity . That there were islands before tbe flood can ' t He proved b y history or reason : Let ' s suppose , therefore , there were none , but some actually made by its fury and violence ; other parts of the continent , only disposed or prepared for islands , continuing joined b small isthmus while that remained
y a very ; , there was a bridge large enough for the beasts to go over , which being in process of time worn away , whereof tradition , observation , and history giye us instances , those peninsulas were thereby transformed into compleat islands . " Uu 2