New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-06-13
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
THE PRIMITIVE COMMUNITY.

" Geo. -e Lawrence CONNIE, F. g: A. with maps
HS Illustrations. 1smo' pp' S'' '''''"''
The question Of the origin of the village com
k.unity really underes all theories Of the growth
bf civilization. 1t is only during the past nan
century that any scientific research has been OIL
rooted 70 this vital problem and though several
well-areued hypothesis have been advanced our
ing that period the volume before us would atone
suffice TO demonstrate that the question Is sui uii-
determined Mr.. CONNIE, in fact, may almost "
aid 10 traverse the theories of all his prcdeceS-
sors. and the evidence which he brings In support
AZ his own beliefs is so strong and manifold thao
his work compels a reconsideration OF severai
points which most people may have regarded as
settled. Mr.. CONNIE goes for light upon the
primitive village community to the only piao
where at the present time examples Of that form a
Locial organization can still be observed. The
most favorable field of exploration is, OF course,
India but in examining the Aryan village COM
munties Of that country the author is led to new
tivercence from the views of earlier anthropoio-
FISTS. and one, moreover, of great significance
For he succeeds in showing that it is not safe TO
assume an Aryan origin for the village communl-
xies of India: that 'non-Aryan and pre-Aryan In
fiuences are clearly visible in the arrangement
that modern savage tribes in Africa and Oceamca
exhibit almost precisely the same village customs
and laws Of land tenure, fealty, marriage, euc''
and that the Indian village community. when
studied by the light of comparative anthropology'
Is seen to be a complex and not simple organGa-
tion ia seen to show an Aryan overlordship and
RELIGIOUS cult imposed upon non-Aryan, aoo-
hginal community.
The broad generalization involved is to the
Effect that the village community, wherever eN-
amined exhibits so many analogies and paraiiel-
isms as to justify the belief that the form OF or
aanizatjon is not a result of special modes OF
progress but that it is the natural manifestation
of all human intelligence at certain stage OF de-
velopment The problem is studied to the great
est advantage in India, because there primitive
customs have persisted more than anywhere else
hnd because also both Aryan and non-Aryan lnstl-
buttons can be seen there side by SIDE or in various
stages of blending. The argument derived from
the Indian. African and Island analysis, therefore,
is very strong, and must be said to go lar In
vSustifying the line taken by Mr.. CONNIE Inc
probability that mankind generally has gone
through the village community stage of clvlilza-
sion much in the same way and that the stage
occurs much earlier as a rule than has been COM
monly supposed, is certainly strengthened at
every page as the study develops. In returning
10 Britain the author encounters the authoritative
bpinion of distinguished historians and arcnaeolo-
RlStS TO the effect that the uOmlndHb inHuehOe 1"
that country was Roman, and this has TO be met
Ind overcome preliminary to reconstrucuioh'
One of the most ingenious and best supported ar
ruments in the book follows. 1t is directed to the
demonstration of the essential distinctions between
the pre-Roman and the Roman civilizations as
Exhibited in the character of the social
arrangements Mr.. Gomme's contention is
that whereas the Roman civilization was essen
TALLY expansive, depending upon transportation
facilities free openings to commerce and the sell
ting up and maintenance of an active clrculation-
the principle underlying the pre-Celtc village
communities of Britain was that of concentration
hnd exclusion
The primitive village community, that is to
Say, was little World within itself, beyond the
relations of mutual support against any powerful
common enemy which in times of invasion caused
the clans to cease from the internecine war which
WAS their normal condition Now nothing in the
Roman civilization could have tended TO preserve
br sustain this clannishness which was in fact
wholly opposed by the very constitution of Roman
boIicv and practice. Yet this same eyclusiveness
has survived every trace of Roman influence, and
may be detected even to-day in the hostility TO
strangers as strangers which exists in many an
obscure and secluded English or Welsh village.
OF old the stranger was en- hypothese an enemy.
The presumption against him from the nrst,
and the onus of proving his innocence lay upon
him. Among savages and barbarians this print
tive feeling has always been strong, and for the
obvious reason that the protection of the village
community is involved in it, At a later period,
when there has ceased to he any need of protec-
lion the dislike of strangers still survives, prob
hbly rather in an instructive than in a rational
form Punch" some years ago. illustrated this
archaic enmity in picture of two black country
miners who meet well dressed stranger. where
upon the following dialogue ensues:
~Whoi i'm. Bill? ?"
stranger
",EAve arf brick at inn"
To heave half brick at a man simply and
solely because he was stranger seemed to BITS
companion the most natural course possible, ana
that the sketch was not overdrawn probably
many persons who have explored English bywayS
since that time could testify. The primitive,
pre-C Celtic village community then lived to and
by itself The Roman civilization was in direct
imposition 10 this scheme of life and necessarily,
since the Roman the more advanced clVlllza-
zion. But Mr.. CONNIE holds that another proof OIL
the way the village community operated may DE
found in that perpleXing decay OF London winch
followed the decline of the Roman power Ill Britain
The Romans had built London up to Importance
and commercial prosperity. When they went
away it's prosperity dwindled, and for TWO cen
tures ii lay under an eclipse winch no historian
has been able to explain satisfactorily MI
Gomme's theory is that inasmuch as the develop
ment of London had been caused by the Roman
circulatory system, which fed it from long dis
tances and connected it with far removed settle
ments. its fall was caused by the recrudescence
of the village communities, which upon the decline
Of the Roman power quickly blocked all the
arteries of trade literally blockaded London with
a circle of sef-supporting villages which would
have none of its traffic, and so choked it to
death. or at least insensibility. This theory, of
course, involves the other, that the ancient
village community refused to be. or 10 remain,
modified by the Roman civilization; that it re-
turned 10 it's original form the moment pressure