New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-07-08

Of the most elaborate arguments yet made Tor
the essential unity of prehistoric culture. lie Is
not votary of the notion advocated by many
that a custom 10 be primitive requires merely 10
be found among modern savages. on the cons
trary there appears to him an important as
tinction between races that had in them the
capacity of advancement and races that have
practically remained unchanged. Thus tT"'
of negroes or red men or Australian black fellows
may be used by way Of illustration Du' II cah"o'
be asserted of either of the two great Civilized
races without positive proof. Some one has al
ready seized upon that sentence in "eneSiH'
."rhe sons of God saw the daughters OF men tha'
tbev were fair as an indication Of the primal
avision bet-yeen the black haired people ana the
,ight-haired people. in whom by turns the WhoIe
history of the world has been absoroeu' 1t -
this simple classification which Mr. SimcoN ac-
cents. To the black headed men belongs inc CIVIL
ization that preceded the invention oi '"' "'P""
het 10 the lght-haired nations belongs the 'u'-
ture of Europe and America ana A'E'"' i'r'"
and Persia The Chinaman OF to-day - ''V
contemporary Of the Babylonlan o. 'V'V H'"''
600 ca far as language and manner or Ile "''
concerned Moreover he owes his clViIHa''o" ~
oxoctlv the same causes 70 which must De AZ
,,hrted the corresponding culture Of the Hu-
nbratos and the Nile. If China did not Oo'roN
frono Rabvlon II was settled by those WIZ """
learned the same things as the ChaludV""S -!
common home Mr.. SimcoX does not assert ''''
&c nroved but he holds II to be the DeS' oP''''"
IN the light Of all the facts. lie leans aiSo 10 '
view that Egypt owed its ciVilzauo" 10 ''"''-
western Asia and not TO Africa ana Una. II ''-
1900 rotbar than preceded Babylon in the way
~ culture. such hints point. as he says TO inc
CENTRAL Asian highlands as the cradle Of 'l'
-, I'D o,bers southwark Those VINO went
.a,,,bu,ord and westward mingled with the pil"-
10, fairba;red people. and the result was 'he
e..,,,.,o race ON the one hand and the typicai
$500, roco on the other. At least this is hd'u"I
,,farorca from The language which he uses anu
,ha bvnothesis which he works upon. lie SHOWS
,o+ eort Of a race must originate lT"i" '"'
,,n,or Of these primitive races by the "re'n'
,anders children of white men ana r'Sl".''''
Zen wbom Nansen describes as OF southern
onnoarance. in many cases with features strongly
Semitic ~ o.,,;,,,o rocos
rossblv presented an appearance VaSuN "'''0'
from, that known t. history. the 9ah"'" ""'
tho waste of Cobb may have been sh'"'" "''
"a, soos instead Of deserts. In that case ne
1,o,ld have been very unlike what II II "'" go
Central Asia But It is needless 70 o''"'V ~"
possibilities The facts are that t"e'' - %"
extraordinary likeness among the customs -
far az known. of the Egyptians. the bApYlo''''''7
and the Chinese which is suggestive. H. III '''
far future when European CIVILIZATION 9""' 10
disappeared relics Of il are also 1ouha III N''''''"
and perhaps living survival IN Aus''"''' '.''''
will be no need 10 argue whether 'h'S' ''-''7'
belong together. Yet we are asked S'''''''-i''' -
tolo, thar the most intimate correlations among
a ,1,7ar \
tions are accidental. Separate tribes are SUD
800 20 have hit upon the same ideas over and
over again. Yet It is plain that invention IS
ono ~ the rarest of human faculties. Mr.. SIM
cox holds that the theory Of common origin Is
hotter than any hypothesis which makes clvlh-
cation the outcome Of number Of disconnected
accidents
However much modern culture-that IS culture
which began with Greece and Rome-may have
borrowed from that which preceded H. II never
theless started from a wholly new thought. II
was public and political Bui the ancient cVlh-
cation of the East was and is domestic anu
neighborly. As the characteristic OF Greek cV'-
lzation was the public meeting-place % the pe'-
pie. so the type Of Chinese, as well as Egyptian
life is the field cultivated by a family set OF
from its neighbors by paths always laid out in
accordance with traditional system. one is al
most tempted to imagine that the Turanians IN
vented the family in all It's notifications, 50
clearly do all their habits and prejudices and
ideas gather about IT, Take away the supreme
government from most Western Nations, and the
Immediate result is anarchy. But China would
be just the same without an Emperor. providing
the priestly duties attached to the Crown could
be performed by one Of the required training and
heredity. Mr.. Simcox even goes So far as TO
Imagine that the country could be converted
into a federal republic without difficulty. The
only thing imperative would be to lefve I'M
changed the present land system which, IL its
divisions. exactly reproduces geographically the
lines within which family is set off from family.
neigh borhood from neghbOrhoOd. village from
village, city from city, and province from PROV
ince. In these the Chinamln, like the old Egyp-
tan, is interested. But ne cares little as the
Egyptian did who rules him in prosperity, and
ne has no use for a ruler in adversely except as
one who must take on his shoulders the blame
of all public calamity. Fortunately for him and
for those whom Mr.. Simcox deems his rela-
tives in Mesopotamia and in the basin Of the
Nile. they all hit upon fine lands for their ex-
periments in civilization The valleys of the
Chinese rivers are fertile beyond the possibility
of exhaustion, and the bounty Of nature 10 the
Euphrates lowlands as we'll as to the Egyptians
is a matter of legendary renown well Of
sober history. Without this fertility Of soil, men
might have missed the comfort and content, the
earthly happiness which in Mr.. Simcox's recital
g,ows with the sheen Of the lost golden age.
But in any case the central fact Of the pre-alpha
bette civilization must have been the same. The
whole mystery OF Babylon and Egypt and China
revolves about motherhood. Whatever pecuar-
ties either nation may have developed for Itself,
all can be traced back step by step, TO the one
fact that where the mother was there the home
must be--the headquarters Of the family. What
is known as Mother Law Ghe Mutterrecht Of the
German ethnologists) is held by the author 10
be an exclusive product Of the black-head civil
zation. II traces Of it are found among the
Greeks or other light-haired. blue-eyed nations,