New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-10-27
OUR MORSE ANCESTORS
Mr.. Du CHAILLU'S NEW BOOK

c ss aneeN w hF sec Illustrations and maps In
,wo yoi,,mes Svo Vol. /, PIP. XIX, 59l. vol H.
mn SOC Charles Scribner's Sons
These luxuriousy printed and profuscly Illus
tra,ed volumes undoubtedly embody the fullest
and most detailed account OF our Morse ancestors
exfant MIR Du Chaillu has made ample use
OF the Sagas on the one hand and of the rich
stores of antiquities which have been brought to
ucht principally within the last thirty years.
Dnriuc that period the " finds" in burial mounds,
cairns and bogs have been so numerous and
important that from tic remains thus uncarthcd
il has become possible to reconstruct the Viking
age with fulncss rarely if ever equalled. What
the mound relics leave unexplained is in most
cases made clear by the Sagas, and so the patient
archaeoogist is enabled TO catalogue the manners,
customs attire, ornaments, weapons, pottery,
vehicles and means of navigation of people
who lived thousand years ago
Mr. Du Chaillu's researches tend strongly to-
wand a review OF the estimate Of the old Morse
men hitherto held, in respect of the stage or
civilization attained by them Certainly the
jewels, weapons pottery and glassware, worked
metals etc. so beautifully represented in these
volumes, testify TO an advance in several oil the
arts which may be thought Incompatible with
q condition of barbariSm. The evidence OF these
relics is however, not so conclusive as the author
would make it appear, and there are many
considerations which, notwithstanding all thar
may be inferred from the external culture wit
messed 10 thus p7irt to the com ptratlve backward-
ness Of the Nclsemen. The finds illustrated carry
us back TO the stone. the bronze and the iron
age though of course no clear line of demarcation
can be drawn between either Of those periods,
which overlap and coalesce. In the most advanced
stage. of which the mounds and bcgs have pre-
4la m
acceptance of Christianity in The North, the
manners of the people continue to show rude
ness and a ferocty inconsistent with even partial
civilization. II. 700, Mr.. Du Chaillu estimated
at their true value the so-called manly virtues
of the VilIings-that is to say, the turbulence,
bloodthirstiness, reckless contempt for human
lfe savage love Of slaughter for saughter's sake,
and constant inclination to appeal To the sword
lie would not have been able 10 assign them the
comparatively high position it is the object OF this
work 10 prove that they deserve
When come to look dispassonately into the
Sagas, we perceive that they are almost written in
blood. Battle murder and sudden death are al
ternated with fierce and prolonged dcbauches
The popular idea of poetry is ability 10 cXpatiate
upon sanguinary deeds and especially to compose
adulatory stanzas addressed TO the thirsty vanity
OF the principal persons in the company in which
the slSald happens 10 be. OF intellectual develop
ment there is during this long period, scarcely
trace. The history of the Morse people Is really
little more than that Of fierce animals. II is not
until their form Of government and laws are
studied that we perceive the germs of those con-
situations whose gradual Improvement and devcL
opmcnt has produced the freest and most enter
rrispg people of the present day In all the
domestic institutions, however, in the status of
nd in SyStar of 81 no q
true barbarians mast be recognized. The circum-
stance that the Morse women were accorded
certain independence and respect does not affect
TINS conclusion, for it will be found That in the
last resort woman's rights were always ignored
and subordinatcd TO mans will
In the Morse superstitons and in not n few
Of :hc customs-as for instance, that of foster
brothcrhood--an unmlStaltablc resemblance to par
alcl usages among many Central African tribes
of to-day, is exhibited. The Trolls may be COM
pared with the darker myths of several modern
savagns. and in the nimsincSs of the Morse arch
itctture-if so imposing a name may be given to
it-may be seen the evidence of a recent emergence
from "A very low state of development. 1t is In
decd not worth while for any one to attempt
such n mock rehabilitation OF the NOrSemen. Such
rs they really were. they did work which could
only have been performed by people in back
ward state We could only now establish their
better knowledge at the expense Of their moral
reputation for it is quite obvious that II they were
moro advanced intellectually than has hitherto
been supposed, they must have been very
wicked people. Ii is therefore better 10 leave
them in the perfectly natural and perfectly con-
sistent state in which their rude literature and
their monuments exhibit them. The Sagas and
the mound and bog finds when collated, give
IN, bpl sufficiently
,,cture OF the hardy Norseman Of old, and we can
examine him and his ways with pleasure and in
,ercst all the more that it is exceedingly difficult.
IL indeed il be possible 10 put ourselves in his
nIace At the distance OF thousand years, II
must be owned, lie appears in a picturesque guise
which he can hardly have worn for his contem-
norores for more turbulent, lawless, cruel,
greedy pirate robber and murderer never scourged
The nejghborng coasts or harried his feebler fel-
lows, The NOrseman was first OF all, hghtng
animal All his education was directed TO pre-
pare him for that supreme function. His mythol'
orv faithfully reflected his ruling passion, and he
believed that after death his time would be passed
in fighting all dag and drinking all night
As regards the drinking their creed was inferior
10 that OF the North American led Man, Tor the
latter, before the pale-face came bringing MS
brutalizing vices with him, was at least free from
intemperance, and in his Happy Hunting Ground
lie had visioned somewhat higher scheme OF
existence than is embodied in the northern val
halla But the trne extent Of Morse barbariSm Is
best gagged by study of the superstitons OF the
age. We cannot but admire the wealth of fancy
which peopled earth, ocean and air with SO
varied and we'll Disseminated a population
though even here it must be remembered that the
MOI semen did not invent but only enlarged and
mooifed their mythology. TO trace its origins
we should have 10 60 very far back and our
utmost researches would merely land Us among
the n;ste Of Chaldesn development, and compel
us IL take for granted practically unlimited
antece dent process o. evolution. But may
feel confident that n luXUriant mythology, cs-