Montpelier examiner. [volume] (Montpelier, Idaho) 1895-1937, 1910-05-20

into Chinese. The influence OF European
governmental principles is strikingly IL
Illustrated by the fact that admiration for
them has broken down the iron barriers of
Moslem conservatism, so that their intro
duction has become a burning question in
Turkey and Persia; while the very unrest
the Impotence of European or American
control, in India, Egypt, or the Philip
pines. takes the form of demanding that
the government be assimilated more close
ly to what It is in England or the United
States. The deeds and works of any great
statesman, the preachings Of any great
ethical, social, or political teacher, now
find echoes in both hemispheres and in
every continent. From a new discovery in
science to a new method of combating or
applying Socialism, there is no movement
of note which can take place in any part
of the globe without powerfully affecting
masses of people in Europe, America. and
Australia, in Asia and Africa For veal
or for woe, the peoples of mankind are
knit together far closer than ever before.
So much for the geographical side of
the expansion of modern civilization. But
only few of the many and intense ac-
tivities of modern civilization have found
their expression on this side. The move
ment has been Just as striking in its con-
quest over natural forces, in Its searching
inquiry into and about the soul Of things.
Conquest over Nature.
Inc conquest over nature HAS tCluuOu
an extraordinary increase in every form
of knowledge of the world we live In, and
also an extraordinary increase in the now
er of utilizing forces of nature. IN beth
directions the advance mas been very
great during the past four or Ave CEN
turtles, and in both directions it has gone
on with ever increasing rapidity during
the last century. After the great age Of
Rome had passed, the boundaries Of
knowledge shrank, and in many cases 1t
was not until well-nlgh our own times
that her domain was once again pushed
beyond the ancient landmarks. About the
year $50 A. d. Ptoemy. the geographer.
published his map of central Africa and
resources of the Nile, and this map was
more accurate than any which we had as
late as 1850 A. D. More was known OF
physical science. and more OF the truth
about the physical world was guessed at
in the days of Pliny, than was known or
guessed until the modern movement be-
gan. The case was the same as regards
military science At the close of the Mid
die Ages the weapons were what they
had always been-sword, shield, bow,
spear: and any improvement in them was
more than offset by the loss in knowledge
OF military organization. in the science Of
war, and in military leadership since the
| days of Hannibal and Caesar.
hundred years ago, when this uni
versity was founded. the methods of
| transportation did not differ in the es-
sentials from what they had been among
the highly civilized nations of antiquity.
| Travellers and merchandise went by land
| In wheeled vehicles or on beasts of bur-
| den, and by sea In boats propelled by
| sails or by oars: and news was conveyed
as 1t always had been conveyed. grad
| uate of your university today can go to
| mid-Asia or mid-Africa with far less con-
seriousness of performing a feat of note
than would have been the case hundred
| years ago with a student who visited
| Sicily and Andalusia-
| Moreover, the invention and use of ma
| chinery run by steam or electricity have
| worked a revolution in industry as great
| as the revolution in transportation; &C
| that here again the difference between
| ancient and modern civilization is one not
| merely of degree but of kind. In many
| vital respects the huge modern city differs
| more from all preceding cities than any
| of these differed one from the other; and
the giant factory town is of and by itseli
one of the most formidable problems OF
| modern life.
Steam and electricity have given the
! race dominion over land and water such
| as IL never had before; and now the con
| quest OF the air is directly impending. Al
| books preserve thought through time. sc
| the telegraph and the telephone transmit
| 1t through the space they annihilate ant
therefore minds are swayed one by an
space and time which formerly forced
each community to work in comparative
isolation. 1t is the same with the body a.
with the brain. The machinery of the fac
tory and the farm enormously multipliel
bodily skill and vigor. Countless trained
intelligences are at work to teach us how
to avoid or counterfeit the effects o
waste.
In the Realm of Intellect.
The advances in the realm OF pure intel
lect have been of equal note, and the.
have been both intensive and extensive
Great virgin fields of learning and wis
dom have been discovered by the few
end at the same time knowledge hai
spread among the many to a degree neve
dreamed OF before Old men among II
have seen in their own generation tn
| rise of the first rational science of tn
evolution of life The astronomer and tn
chemist the psychologist and the his
torian, and all their brethren in many diff
ferent fields Of wide endeavor, work will
training and knowledge and metho'
I which are in effect instruments of pre-
| cisi0n differentiating their labors from
the labors OF their predecessors as tn
| rifle Is differentiated from the bow.
| The play of new forces is as evident Il
the moral and spiritual world as in tn
world OF the mind and the body.
One Danger Of Civilization.
One of the prime dangers of civilization
| mas always been 1tS tendency TO CauS
the loss of the virile fighting virtues, o
the fighting edge. When men get too com
Portable and lead too luxurious lives Their
Is always danger lest the softness eat lik
an acid into their manliness of fiber. Tn
barbarian. because Of the very condition
of his life, Is forced to keep and deveio
certain hardy qualities which the man 0
civilization tends to lose. whether he b
clerk, factory hand. merchant, or even
certain type of farmer. Now I will no
assert that in modern civilized societ
these tendencies have been wholly over
come: hut there has been a much NOR
successful effort to overcome them tina
was the case in the early civilizatio
This is curiously shown by the militar
history OF the Graeco-Roman period a
compared with the history OF the last fou
or Ave centuries here in Europe an
among nations OF European descent.
the Grecian and Roman military histor
the change was steadily from a citize
army to an army OF mercenaries. In tn
days Of the early greatness OF Athens
Thebes, and Sparta, in the days when tn
Roman republic conquered what world
knew. the armies were filed with citize
soldiers. But gradually the citizens re
fused to serve in the armies or becam
unable to render good service. The Gree
states described by Polybius, with but Re,
exceptions, hired others to do their fight
ing for them. The Romans of the days Q