New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-03-22


necessarily indicate successive stages OF culture
The Brtons at the time of Cesars invasion, had al
ready reached their iron age, and the savages Oh
Central Africa to-day work in iron. The most I'M
portant result from these considerations Is that ne
ANTIQUITIES of each country must be studied py
themselves number of stone objects considered
in Denmark to be of great antiquity, are III use IN
Scotland to-day, such as fshemen's sihAeiS'
weayers' smoothing stones, and the Ike =,
Tn the last lecture of the first course are consid-
ered SEVERAL old but still existent superssltons;
CARRYING fire around houses and fields 10 promo'o
fertility burying live cock as cure LOT epilepsy
worshipping wells; drinking water nom inc sAuii
of q suicide or drinking the blood OF a murderer.
also for the cure of epilepsy and the conversion u
q whorlsn arrow.heads and similar objects into
charms
The second course may be regarded as pointing
the moral On To sneak. of the curious facts with
their inferences previously discussed. Nhlle ao-
centing or Mt least admitting tie force OF the law OF
natural selection among the lower animals man
is held to he In perpetual warfare with that law
Civilization is the outcome of the war winch ilan
in society wages against the law OF natnrai seiec-
ton and the measure of success in thar ngnt Is tne
measure of civilization attained. There is no evil
dence that the most ancient man OF whom we know
was inferior mentally or physically TO tho laVesU
and most highly civilized, that man mas not peen
what we now see him ever since his origin. He has,
since the ealiest period of which we have any III
formation. combined in societies, by means OF CO.
narration and the division of labor to resist the
working of the law Of natural selection, and he
escapes the operation of that law by his own
efforts The most noticeable result of this resist
ance is the survival of the unit well as the lt
The civilization of bIutes is rendered Impossible
by their inability to cooperate in any sucn way us
man can and does. The societies OF beavers, ants
and bees are sometimes held to present examples OF
cooperation. But it is to be noticed that IN the
case of all of the there is never any progress ade
So far as is known, beavers bulld their dams anu
bees their cells precisely as they have always doe
Civilization, if we call it such, among them must
therefore be fixed and Interchangeable; with man 1t
is forever shifting In the case of domesticated
animals holding place among human assocla-
tions. and to n certain extent united with man in
tho division of labor it is easy to see that as mere
animals they are not improved though certain
alities are highly cultivated and they are there
by rendered more valuable. But If they should
suddenly be restored to their natural condltlons'
they would be found less able than their ancestors
or relatives TO maintain the struggle for existence
in accordance with the law of natural selection.
Again. man in an isolated condition cannot be
civilized He may bt highly cultured, but culture
is not civilization. Culture is personal possession
while civilization affects the aggregate and belongs
to it. In combinations, therefore, man may resist
the law of natural selection. and by so doing attain
to civilization; in isolation, though he may ac-
oure or carry with him, culture, he must fall
under the operation of that law, and civilization
becomes impossible.
This view comes naturally into conflict with the
theory that mankind must necessarily advance IN
civilization We know that the centres of cIvllZa-
ton shift constantly. Any particular society may
retrogradc in civilization, and there is strong evil
dence going to show that most of tho lowest known
savages of to-day arc in state OF degradation ana
consequently cannot be used point to states from
which mankind has advanced. They are simply IN
states into which 1t has fallen.
Finally. religious beliefs have very decided
effect upon civilization. Where each society has
its own special god, the large aggregations oil man
kind which produce the highest forms of ciYilza-
ton are prevented Mt least hinGered, and human
associations ere limited. That great nations have
been formed out OF societies having these special
gods-as the Roman Empirc-does not, Dr. Mitchell
holds. weaken this view, for at the time OF their
widest extension the people had lost their old
faiths Here, VIC think exception may be taken TO
Dr. Mitchcls argument. /. is unsafe to assume
that because the leaders had lost their faith the
people had done so likewise. As well claim that
because the present day is particularly productive
of religions controversy, the faith OF the general
people is materially shaken. But it may he ques-
toned if the Roman people were not. substantially
believers in one universal divinity, the divinity oil
Rome herself. Be that as it may, universal fath
is doubtless necessary to the attainment oil the
highest form of civilization.