Montpelier examiner. [volume] (Montpelier, Idaho) 1895-1937, 1910-06-10
ROMANES LECTURE GIVEN
BY THEODORE ROOSEVELT
Event Postponed by Kings Death Attracts a
Large Audience at Oxford lord Curzon
Introduces the Distinguished American.


these new" American and these "old.'
european nations are not as great as those
which separate the new nations one
from another and the '.oid" nations one
from another. There are in each case
very real differences between the new and
the old nation-dffferences both for good
ana for evil: but in each case there is
the same ancestral history to reckon with,
the same type of civilization, with its at
tendant benefits and SHORTCOMINGS; and,
aIter the pioneer stages are passed, the
problems to be solved, in spite of superb
cfal differences, are In their essence the
same: they are those that confront all
ciVlnzed peoples, not those that confront
peoples struggling from barbarism into
civilization
80. when we speak of the death" of
tribe, q nation or a civilization the term
may pc used for either one or two totally
Wlerent processes; the analogy, with
what occurs in biological history being
complete Certain tribes of savages, the
aasLhanlans Tor Instance, and various lit
tie clans of American Indians, have within
the last century or two completely died
out; all OF the individuals have persisted.
leaving no descendants, and the blood has
disappeared. Certain other tribes of
Indians have as tribes disappeared or
are now disappearing; but their blood
remains, being absorbed into the veins Of
.he white intruders. or of the black men
that In reality they are merely being
transformed into something absolutely
uiHerent from what they WERE
like wide diversity In fact may be
covered in the statement that civilixa-
ton has died out"
Phenomena That Puzzle.
In dealing. not with groups of human
beings In simple and primitive relations,
out with highly complex, highly special
lied. civilized, or semi-civilfzed societies.
there is need of great caution In drawing
anatogies with what has occurred in the
development Of the animal world Yet
even In these cases IL is curious to SEE
now some Of the phenomena In the
growth and disappearance OF these COM
pick, artificial groups of human beings
resemble what has happened In myriads
OF instances in the history of life ON this
planet.
Why do great artificial empires whose
citizens are knit by bond of speech and
culture much more than by a bond Of
blood. show periods of extraordinary
growth, and again of sudden or lingering
decay? In some cases we can answer
readily enough in other cases we cam
not as yet even guess what the proper
answer should be. If in any such case
the centrifugal forces overcome the cen
tripetai. the nation will of course fly to
pieces, and the reason for its failure TO
become dominant force is patent to
every one. The minute that the spirit
which finds Its healthy development In
local selI-goYernment and in the antid0te
to the dangers of an extreme centraliza-
ton, develops into mere narticuiarfsn
into inability to combine effectively for
achievement of common end. then II is
hopeless to expect great results. Poland
and certain republics of the western
hemisphere are the standard examples OF
failure of this kind: and the United States
would have ranked with them and its
name would have become q byword of
derision. II the forces of union had not
triumphed In the civil war. So the
growth of soft luxury after 1t has reached
a certain point becomes a national danger
patent to all. Again, it needs but little of
the vision OF seer to foretell what must
happen IN any community Ii the average
woman ceases to become the mother of d
family OF healthy children, IL the average
man loses the will and the power to work
up to old age and to fight whenever the
need arises. IL the homely commonplace
virtues die out, IL strength of character
Vanfshes in graceful seff-induIgence II the
Viflie Qualities atrophy. then the nation
has lost what no material prosperity can
Offset.
But there are plenty OF other phenom-
ena wholly or partially inexpicable. 1t Is
easy to see why Rome trended downward
when great slave-tilled farms spread over
what had once been a countryside of
peasant proprietors, when greed and lux
ury and sensuality ate like acids into the
fiber of the upper classes. while the mass
OF the citizens grew to depend not upon
their own exertions but upon the state.
for their pleasures and their very llveu-
hood. But this does not explain why the
forward movement stopped at different
times. so far as different matters were
concerned; at one time as regards litara
ture. at another time as regards archttec-
ture. at another time as regards clty
building. We cannot even guess WHY the
springs OF one kind of energy dried up
while there was yet no cessation Of an
other kind
Holland as an Example.
Take another and smaller instance. that
OF Holland. For a period covering n
little more than the seventeenth century.
Holland. like some of the Italian city
states at an earlier period, stood on the
dangerous heights of greatness beside ma
tons SO vastly her superior In territory
and population as to make 1t inevitahIe
that sooner OF later she must fall from the
glorious and periious eminence to which
she had been raised by her own indomita-
BILE soul Her fall came. 1t could not
have been indefinitely postponed; but n
came far quicker than 1t needed to come
hecause of shortcomings on her part to
which both Great Britain and the United
States would be wise TO pay heed. Her
government was singularly ineffective. the
decentralization being such as often to
permit the separatist. the particuIarist.
spirit of the provinces to rob the central
authority Of all efficiency. This was bad
enough But the fatal weakness was that
SO common In Zach. peace-ioving societies.
where men hate to think OF war as posi-
ble and try to justify their own reluctance
to face II either by high-sounding moral
platitndes or else by a philosophy of
short-sighted materialism The Dutch
were very wealthy. They grew to be-
lieve that they could hire Others to do
their fighting for them on land; and on
sea. where they did their own fighting.
and fought very well. they refused in
time of peace to make ready fleets so eff
ficient az either to insure the Dutch
against the peace being broken or else
to give them the victory when war
came. To be opulent and unarmed Is to
secure ease In the present at the almost
certain cost OF disaster In the future.
1t 10 therefore easy to see why Holland
lost when she did her position among the
powers; but Ii Is far more difficult to ex
plain why at the same time there Should
have come at least a partial loss OF posi-
ton In the world of art and letters Some
spark of divine fire burned itself out in
the national soul. AS the line of great
statesmen. of great warriors. by land and