The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-07-20
FIRST CIVILIZATIONS.
Or. Chamberlain Discusses the Character
Istcs of Persians, Arabs and Hebrews. .

Dr. Chamberlain continued his talR
on First civilizations and their ideals,
and said in part:
1t is probable that Persian civilization
began not more than 1000 years before
our era. Most of the tribes which
wandered among the mountains along
the Persian gulf and the Caspian sea
were probably very much like the peo-
pie we know as Kurds today.
But the mountain region of Persia
a civilization did arise, that had the
idea Of the duality of the universe, ant
it is probable that the Jews got theil
idea of the devil from this. Persian
philosophy believed in a conflict be-
tween the good and bad going on al
the time and that everything on eartf
had to decide on one or the other side
They were a people who had a great
ideal. They were universalists in the
broadcast sense of that term. Theil
civilization, when it came in contac
with the Hebrew, almost turned the
philosophy of the Jew, and their history
is full of the struggle to prevent the
adoption of the Persian influence, anC
| yet to some extent it was adopted
The Persians, as can be seen by theil
modern representatives, had no mor'
than the veneer of civilization. Mr.
Hale holds that the modern Persian!
are the best representatives of wha
the Aryans once were, for nowhere elst
do we see such absolute cruelties, sucf
respect for the truth and so much lacl
of honor. Persian literature was pure
and chaste, extolling virtue and advis
ing moderation. Woman, while She
was taught to be obedient, was not com.
| PEELED to sink her personality in thai
of her husband. The Persians had {
fear of mingling the pure with the i'm
pure.
Among the Persians, to be a good
| farmer was perhaps the best thing in
the world While they were devoted to
| agriculture, they were devoted to COM
| merce, and the best representatives OF
| old Persia are to be found among the
Parsees of Bombay in India. The mod
ern Parse is an Individual whose fear
| of duplicity is almost a special fear In
Hany respects he is a. typical man of
| commerce such as we know not in this
| country, and on looking back one can
not help thinking how grand was the
ethical civilization which could develop
such a pure man of business.
The next civilization is one that needs
vast amount of time, vast amount
of thought such as we cannot give here.
| 1t is the civilization that we associate
| with the Semitic name. We must look
upon it as development of the north
ern races Of Arabs, probably, who, un-
der Abraham, as the Bible tells us,
went among the Chaldees, which was
a people of his own kin. The civiliza-
ton which was smouldering, rose
! again. The Semitic has all of the temp
| erament of the people of the north Of
Africa; has some of the Egyptian love
l n hn Il 70 AI.4x
| the Babylonian's disregard of it,
| Their experience had been hard; they
| had learned to hate physical work
| they had learned to disregard the love
Of war They had acquired a quickness
and they had acquired an industry and
an industry of Justice. Strong develop
ment had taken place in their family
| ties. In the desert these ties grew
| stronger, and before they entered or
their era of civilization they knew
| many of the peoples of the world.
The Arabs were close kindred of the
| Hebrew, and we do not know where the
| Arab begins and ends. We know that
| Arabia was not always the peninsula
as we know it now. The great genius
| which caused the great kings and great
poets was not dead in southern Arabia
| for when the queen of Sheba came tc
visit Solomon it was but the sister
coming to claim her own. For few
centuries in southern Arabia civiliza-
ton existed very much like theii
neighbor which we call the Semitic
| It is interesting to know that two
| great civilizations as these We're made
| from two wandering tribes. The Arat
| and the Hebrew are both noted for
| physical endurance. Their tempera-
| ment was idealistic. They added little
| in the way of invention, they did not
| do much in architecture; men were
| hired to build the temple; they cared
| but little for art; they have not made
| stories and dramas. Their life was
rather of dreams than of action.
| If there are two names which are t.
| be put together as opponents of
form of pure living, they are Jesus anC
Mahomet: the one taught to conque
the world by peace, and the other by
war. The real Semitic dream is Thu
| first and best one, for the Semitic wa,
essentially a people Of peace. OF course
the belief in one God, is the other gift
of the Semitic to the world Putting TO
gether the gift of monotheism and tn,
| gift of world of peace, the Hebrew
has given more to the world than al
| the other races.
| But, with all his dreams, the Hebrew
was not without worldlinesS. 1t il
| strange that the race which gave III
such dreams should become a factor il
| commerce. He is a wandering Jew
| but he is wandering with a purpose
The Jew has created for himself nam,
| in learning, music in all great things
| No people so abandoned, so derelicts OF
the sea of the world, with nothing bu
dream of the future, has ever liyet
and grown as the Hebrews. One find
! in the history of the Jew a ciyilfzatio,
dead, but the genius of the people aliy,
the lone example of the perpetuatiol
of all that goes to make the genius o
a nation.
But we need not wonder when w,
think what the Jew did before il
civilization. DIR. Brinton said that w,
should pool together with the Jew: fax,
down all barriers that exist, and whe1
the genius that produced Jesus ant
that which produced the Anelo-Saxo,
are united, there will be such a ciyiliza
ton of which no dream could foretelI
Greek civilization was in many re
spects the antithesis of Hebrew ciyiIiza
| ton. The Jew believed in the beauty q
holiness; the Greek believed in the holi
ness of beauty. The Greeks wrote tha
the earth was beauty, and the Hehreyy,
wrote that the heart of man wa
beauty, and there was holy of holies
| of which the Greek could not conceive
| The Hebrews devoted more time to IN,
identifying of their soul; the Greeks t,
| developing their language. The Greek
were not afraid of life nor of the wors
things of life. The Hebrew did no
fear these things, but shrank from then
with an instinct greater than fear
Greek civilization was touched in IN,
beginning by Semitic thought, and w,
can only regret that the contact di,
not last all the time.