The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1910-05-12
WORLD MOVEMENT.
CONTINUED from Page one.)

NCOuNAH4C'A AACAAt -@7O
movements of civiIfzation-for, properly
speaking, there was no one movement
were very slow, were local in space
and were partial in the sense that eacn
developed along but few lines OF the
numberless years that covered these
early stages we have no record 1nSy
were the years that saw such eAlrd-
ordinary discoveries and inventions a.
fire and the wheel, and the DOW, anu
the domestication of animals so local
were these inventions that at the pres
ent dav there vet Hnger savage tr1oes'
still fixed in the half-bestial life OF an
Infinitely remote past, who know none
of them except fire-and the alsco' S ely
and use of fire may have marked not
the beginning of civilization, put ire
beginning Of the savagery which sepa-
rated man from brute.
Even after civilization and culture
had achieved a relatively high position,
tbe,, were still purely local, and from
this fact subject to violent snockS-
Modern research has shown the exist
ence in prehistoric, or at least proto-
historic times of many peoples VINO, II
given localities, achieved nlgn anu
peculiar culture, a culture that was
later so completely destroyed that 1t Is
difficult to say what, if any, traces IL
left on the subsequent cultures out d
which we have developed our own,
while 1t is also difficult to say exactly
fuenced any other. In many cases, as
where invaders with weapons of bronze
or iron CONQUERED the neolithic peoples,
the higher civilization completely de-
stroved the lower civilization, or bar
barisrn with which it came in contact
In other cases, while superiority IN
culture gave its pOSSesSorS at the pe-
ginning a marked military and govern
mental superiority over the neighboring
peoples. vet sooner or later there &C
cOmuauied il a certain sOftnesS or ener-
waiting quality which left the cultured
folk at the mercy of the stark and
greedy neighboring tribes. in whose
sa-age souls cupidity gradually over
came terror and awe. Then the people
that had been struggling upward would
be engulfed. and the leveling waves or
barbarfsm wash over them. But we
are not yet in position to speak def
nitely on these matters. It is only tho
researches Of recent years that have
enabled us so much as to guess at the
course of events in prehistoric Greece;
while as yet We can hardly even hazard
a guess as to how. for instance, the
Haustadt culture rose and fell. or as to
the history and fate of the builders Of
those strange ruins of which Stone
henge is the type.
The Historic Past
The first civilizations which left
behind them clear records rose in that
hoary historic past which geoIogically
is part of the immediate preSent-and
which is but SPANS length from the
present even when compared only
with the length of time that man has
lived on this planet. These first civil
lizations were those which rose in
Mesopotamia and the Nile valley
some six or eight thousand years ago.
As far as we can see, they were we'll
nigh independent centers of cultural
development, and our knowledge is
not such at present as to enable Gull
tural movements in southwestern Eu
rope on the one hand, or in India on
the other. or with that Chinese civili-
zation which has been so profoundly
affected by Indian influences.
Compared with the civilizations
with which We are best acquainted,
the striking features in the Mesopot-
amian and Nilotic civilizations were
the length of time they endured and
their comparative changelesSneSs. The
kings, priests, and peoples who dwelt
by the Nile or Euphrates are found
thinking much the same thoughts,
doing much the same deeds, leaving
at least very similar records, while
time passes in tens of centuries. Of
course there was change; of course
there was action and reaction in in
fiuence between them and their neigh
bors; and the movement of change,
OF development. material, mental,
spiritual, was much faster than any
thing that had occurred during the
aeOns of mere savagery. But in con-
tradistinctiOn to modern times the
movement was very slow indeed, and.
moreover. in each case it was strong
" localized; while the field of endeay-
or was narrow. There were certain
COnquests by man over nature; there
were certain conquests in the domain
OF pure intellect; there were certain
extensions which spread the area of
civilized mankind. But it would be
hard TO speak of it as a world move
ment" at all; for by far the greater
part Of the habitable globe was not
only unknown, but its existence IN
guessed at, so far as peoples with any
civilization whatsoever were con-
cerned.
With the downfall of these ancient
civilizations there sprang into prom
inence those peoples with whom our
own cultural history may be said to
begin. Those ideas and influences in
our lives which we can consciously
trace back at all are in the great ma
jority of instances to be traced to the
Jew. the Greek. or the Roman; and
the ordinary man. when he speaks of
the nations OF antiquity, has in mind
specifically these three peoples-al-
though. judged even by the history Of
which we have record. theirs is a very
modern antiquity indeed
The Case of the jew.
The case of the Jew was quite ex-