The free citizen. (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1874-1876, 1875-10-16
MAN NOT EEGENTRiTING.
The Modern Fey pfian Ri. :,s The
Egyptian of ThotIstnIis of Years t:p
The Modern English man Kir:cr
Than hi. Ancestors

EsSr.i'" Of ,Ti"":Ma;is "r Y1nrs .s".
'rlnn his Ancestors.
There never WIS adcluson with les cvi-
dcncc Tor 1t, except 4 permanent impress
sion among mankjnI which j. often the
result. not OF accumulated experiences
but of an ever rcncwin. discomfort with
the actual state Of things. There j. not
The slightest evidence anywhere that man
SWaS ever bigger, stronger. swiflcr, q
more enduring undt. the same cundir
tions of food and climate than he iS now :.
AS to the bigncss, the evidence is pos
tive. Modern Egyptians are a$ biz rs
the mummir> who were conqurror> in
their day, and modern En"liShmrn are
bigger. There are not in existence Il
Thousand coats of Hrmor which IN i.uw-
lishman regiment could put on. Very
few mndcrns can use ancient swords he
cause The hits are too small for their
hands Endless wealth and skill were
expended in pirkiu" gladial"r>, and
there is II" evidence that Il man among
them WAS aS big or rs strong a> Shaw
No skeleton, no statue, no pictures, in
dlcatcS that men IN general were
bigger. The Jews Of to-day are a> large
as they were in Egvpt, or larger The
people of the Romagma have all the
bearing and more than the size of the
Roman >nllicry. No feat is recorded is
usual with Greek athletes which English
.acrobal> could not perform NOW.
There is no naked savage tribe which
naked CorniShmcn or Horkshircmrn
could not strauglc. No race exists of
which Il thousand men similarly armed
would defeat IN English or German. or
Russian regiment OF equal numirrS.
Nothing is recorded of our lorcf:lthcrs
here in Engln, which l.n-liShmcn
could not do, unless it hr some fcatS nf
archery, which were the results OF Il lonw
training of the eve continued for genera
tions. The most civilized and luxurious
family that ever existed, the European
royal casts, is physically as big, healthy,
and as p"wcrtul rs any people Of
whom we have any account that science
can accept. Theirs Frcncl,n;n in
CnSar,s Gaul in all bodily conditions,
and with IN increased power Of kcruing
alive, which may he partly owing to
improved conditions of living, hut is
mpDably owing still more to developed
vitality. There Is no evidence that
rvcn the feeble races are iccbicr than
..-!'- hcrnnc aftcT their first accllmatlZa-
tiCn!
The Bcngalcc was what we know linn
Twelve hundred wears ago, and the CHI
naIncn was represented on porcelain
Just as he is now before the birth of
Christ. No race ever multiplied like
the An"lo-SaXon, which has had no uI-
vantagc of climate, and till ll,cly no
particular advantage OF food. Physical
condition depends ON physical c"ndi
tions, and why should Il race better fed
b,t H., T.. 4
ever was before degenerate because i,
eats corn instead of berries. Compare
the California and the Digger Indian.
of clothes, if bur'lcnSome which the cN-
pericnce Of army doctors in India a, 10
the best costume for marching makes cy-
ccssivclv doubtful, they declaring unan-
imously that brccchlcSs men suffer from
do not must operate as Il permanent
physical training. You carry weigh,
halitually. Because they keep indoors ?
Compare English professionals with TaS-
manlan s;lvagcS, living in idcnticalv the
same climate. but living ont of doors
The conditions ot' civilization not only
q" not prohibit Capt. Webb. who would
nave h'lt-walkcd, ont-swllm, or stranwlcd
amy German that racitu> ever ronl:ln,rd
about, but they enabled him To live to
seventy instead of dying at fnrtv-tivc, as
two thousand years ago he, then probably
= slave bred for the arena, would have
done.
That the human race, even under The
best conditions, advances very little in
Phy>icll capacities is true, hut then ii is
true also that those conditions are not
latal |" the most powerful of the old i'm
PROV NJ forces, the survival of the tittrSt
SUI an advance Is pcrccptiblc in vital
power, and we question whether Il Greek
swimmer would ever have crossed from
Dove. t" Calais, Just as strongly aS we
question whether the ancient world ever
pnsscss;l Il horse which would have
achcTcd Il place AT Epson. Why should
men crow feeble in civilization any more
than horses. Lon,Ion Sj'rchdt0r.