Nor are the earth,
water, and other elements, examined by Aristotle, and Hippocrates,
more like to those which at present lie under our observation than the
men described by Polybius and Tacitus are to those who now govern
the world.
Should a traveller, returning from a far country, bring us an
account of men, wholly different from any with whom we were ever
acquainted; men, who were entirely divested of avarice, ambition, or
revenge; who knew no pleasure but friendship, generosity, and public
spirit; we should immediately, from these circumstances, detect the
falsehood, and prove him a liar, with the same certainty as if he
had stuffed his narration with stories of centaurs and dragons,
miracles and prodigies. And if we would explode any forgery in
history, we cannot make use of a more convincing argument, than to
prove, that the actions ascribed to any person are directly contrary
to the course of nature, and that no human motives, in such
circumstances, could ever induce him to such a conduct. The veracity
of Quintus Curtius is as much to be suspected when he describes the
supernatural courage of Alexander, by which he was hurried on singly
to attack multitudes, as when he describes his supernatural force
and activity, by which he was able to resist them.
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