Page:Proofs of the Enquiry into Homer's Life and Writings.pdf/20

Rh BOEOTUM in crasso jurares aëre natum.

At the same time it is as generally allowed, that there are Men from all Countries and Climates who are pretty much on a Level, are of the same Reach, and have the same Passions. The Influence therefore of Climates and Soils upon the Constitutions, and consequently upon the Manners of Men, must be one of the most difficult Subjects. It is cautiously touched upon in the Enquiry ; the Author has produced the Authority of Plato, Galen and Curtius, for the Power of Climates in general; and the Testimony of Hippocrates, Mimnermus and Herodotus, the best Judges and best acquainted with that Country, to prove the Excellency of Asia in particular. The fullest Testimony is the Physician's,

P. 6. (?} 6(i)

'Now, says he, I will give my Opinion concerning Asia and Europe, and mew how far they differ from one another in every particular. Asia, I say, differs exceedingly from Europe, in all kind of Productions, both as to the Nature of the Soil, and the Constitution of the Inhabitants: Every thing comes finer and larger in Asia. It is a milder Country than the other, and the Manners of the People are more humane and beneficent : The Cause of these things is the Temperature of the Seasons; because it lies in the middle, from the Sun's rising towards the East, and removed