New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1907-05-25
SL1IVERY,
Its Fatal Touch Traced Throuob the
History of Nations.

THE NEMESIS OF NATIONS BY W. Romano
paterson. svo PIP. 34S. Z. P Dutton & 90
Inc study of history used to consist chiefly IN
The sometimes romantic but often ,adio,,. =.
sal of feuds between royaI houses ,r,,no,oi 80
Ii'iohs. glorious wars court life and tho data.
men princes We're born. baptized and assas
iia'eo' Inc reader was repeatedly troubled nv
me licoherence of such records: startling catas-
''piies seemed to fall out of skies serenely
clear while nations changed governments hroi.
Up and even emigrated on apparently no mora
provocation than the whims of a few prominent
men Inc whole world seemed TO be at the heck
ana call Of small number of men, while those
latter seemed to behave so unntegentIv thar
'Ile reader often wondered whether they had
brains or not
With the rise of economies the science of The
commonplace ana the sordid men began to
leaIlze that historys panoramic tapestry of poli-
'icS ana diplomacy gives picture of kings and
ouilS ou' NOT or Its own warp and wool Back
~ oil tne hhery and pomp of potentates the real
'oices that nave made and shattered crowns
ana kingdoms lie. The eternal fight for bread
the struggle for comfort-this is the kew to bis
'oiS discovered by political economists. 1t
opens doors to straight avenue through what
When those doors We're closed had heen @ +or+,
GUS labyrinth OF almost meaningless facts.
The author of the present volume of bis+or,oa,
studies endeavors to present the careers NJ nm
cleht empires as the outworking of economic
laws. he seeks 10 show how ignorance OF tbe,e
laws involved the oppression of the working
GLASSES ana hnaIly slavery so gigantic scale
uhat the most artificial and violent political
measures were inadequate TO maintain national
integrity The facts and theories advanced by
MI paterson are as he frankly admits, not
original with him: many historians studying the
past from Its economic side have collected the
interesting anecdotes here presented The
theory that slavery explains the downfall OF
Babylon, Greece and ofaome is already widely
enough known and accepted to find its place in
college textbooks. Nevertheless, Mr.. Paterson,s
book is by no means artistic superfuity: il
renders two genuine services by collecting
all the evidences about slavery heretofore
scattered throughout thousand archives and
by bringing TO life with startling yividnoss. .,
pen millions Of slaves and the vast evils worked
oy ano upon them The writer possesses the
rare gift OF an historical Imagination well har-
messed to facts. Without ignoring at any point
the influence great generals lawmakers geo.
graphical pecuarities religious ideas and other
great FORCES have exerted upon the prosperity of
nations. Mr. Paterson manages to make the
labor problem stand out clearly at every stage
in ancient history the most significant single
factor. the one factor. indeed, which gives unity
to world history.
-Four countries treated in the present vol
ume-which is, by the way. to be followed by a
similar study OF medieval and modern times
Hlndustan, Babylon. Greece and Rome. In
the four essays on the downfall OF these coun-
'tries. Mr.. Paterson brings together the most
recent discoveries OF archaeology and pholosy.
Inc STUDY ef Babylon is based upon the vast
fund Of information yielded by Assyrioogy; the
code Of Hammurabi alone supplies the writer
with more illumination than he can possibly
shed within his brief essay. And the same free
use is made Of comparative philology though
not always so wisely might be wished There
is. here and there an inclination to link the
West with ths East by the highly conjecturaI
ties Of common Aryan-Semitic words and names
Mr.. Paterson is particularly anxious TO over
throw the Greek bugaboo by proving that the
Greeks borrowed their culture almost bodily
from the Orient. But such congratulations are
probably on par with the most unhappy one
at the very beginning of his book in which Mr.
Paterson gravely assures that 'in the modern
world there is no room for those great racial
migrations which took place in ancient times
Modern peoples enjoy fxity OF abode" Modern
European emigration statistics evidently too
recent for the writer to believe.
In spite OF such apses, though, the main task
is admirably done. How religion and political
necessity haYe made castles. how castles have
brought manual labor into disrepute, and how
the soOrn of labor has led to slavery and an
artificial economic system-these vital points are
all clearly and correctly told. While absorbing
them the readers interest is constantly being
stimulated by stories from the slave market
mines. dungeons and slave quarters which
so vivid that the clank of chains and the cries
of the tortured be heard pronouncing a
curse upon the blindness and cruelty of men
shaved 10 luxury and false ambitions.