Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1910-06-09
ROMANES LECTURE GIVEN
BY THEODORE ROOSEVELT
Event Postponed by Kings Death Attracts q
Large Audience at 0ford---Lcrd Curzon
Introduces the Distinguished American.

Oxford. England-Before an audi
ence Of distinguished men and stu
dents Of Oxford university. Theodore
Roosevelt on June : delivered the
Romanes lecture. his subject being
biological Analogies in History The
lecture bad been scheduled for delivery
on May IS. but Of course was post
poned on account Of King Edwards
d~nai--- II was given IN the snefaon.
IAN theater and Lord Curzon, as chan.
eellor Of the university. presided and
introduced the lecturer.
In seeking to penetrate the causes
OF the mysteries that surruund not
only mankind but all life. both IN the
present and the past. said Mr.. Roose-
velt. Ne see strange analogies In the
phenomena Of life and death. Of birth
growth and change. between those
physical groups ot animal life which
Ee designate as species. forms. races
and the highly complex ard eomposits
entities which rise before our minds
when We speak Of nations and civi-
lizatious. II Is this study. he assert
ed. that has given science its present
day prominence. and the historian %
mankind must work In the scientific
spirit and use the treasurehouses %
science.
To Illustrate. the lecturer took sew
eral instances OF the Development %
new species and the extinction OF spe-
cies in the history OF mammalian life.
showing that in some cases the causes
can be traced with considerable accu-
racy. and IN other cases We cannot 50
much as hazard n guess as 10 why a
given change occurred.
Anslosies In human History.
Continuing. Mr.. Roosevelt said IA
part:
Now. ~ % an % these rnenor,-na n fh-
evolution % species. thers are Y not
houcloEfes at least certain anaioefes. IN
the history % human soci@ties. In ths
history % the rise % prumfneuce- q th-
development and change. of the tern
TcrlrV dnrnfnance. and death nr trans
formation. q The groups % varying kind
which form races Or nations
As y biology. - IN human history q
TOW form may result from tire spsriaiiaa-
tor % a lens-existirg ana hitherto very
sioNir-chanEinE Eenerauzet or uun-
Specialized form. a.. TO- inatanee. vhsn
a harbaric race frun 4 variety x n 1sss
s1ddenly deveiop. a more cnmplsx cui;i-
vaton ard CIVILIZATION That - whaf &C.
curred fnr lrsfarre. N western EErcpe
during the centuries q th@ rsutnuic anii
Later the Seandinavtan ethuie aEerfioWs
from tii@ inertia Al ths modern councfes
of western Eurspe arr descends-i from ths
states created BY fhsss ucrthern iuvae-r-.
new er =ya1ng~ states Ia the srms~
rat part or al q re people cunurasin<
then We-e descsndesf from rte~@ thaf
hitherto had nur been cfviline.f AZ all. and
that therefore far fh@ ar-f tine entered
- fhe rnresr = cirfiIref runnnnuniff-s
n TIE southern part - western E.uruue
the rev stafes thus formed consisted in
bulk q the Inhabitants already In the Land
under ta> E1u1H empire aat u vas
he-- fhat TIE rev kingdoms nrst took
shape Through a reflex action their
influence then exfsnfief hack Into the cold
forests from which the invaders had come
and Germany and Scandinavia witnessed
tre rise Of communities with essentially
the same civilization ~ their southern
neigh hors. though IN those communion
uulike fhe southern communities. there
case the new civilized nation which sralii-
ally developed was composed entirely Of
members Of the sane are which IN the
same region had for agrs lived the life Of
a slowly changing hsrbarisrs- The SANE
was true % the Slavs and the Slavonizet
Films % eastern Eurupe. When an infi-
tratfnn df Scandinavian leaders from th-
north AMI innitrafion of Bvxantins
culture from the south Joined 70 produce
the changes which have gradually. out nt
the uftie SiAv communities % the forest
ant the sfsppe. formed the mighty Russian
smpire q today.
New" ard ~Yourg- Nations.
Again. tire new form may represent
-erely a splitting OF from 4 long -essab-
nsh-d. highly developed ard specialized
natfou- IN tais case the nation Is usually
spoken OF ax young. and Is correctly
spoken Of as a new nation. but th-
term should always - used with a clear
s~ns- Of the differences between What IS
described n such case. Aad what Is de-
scr1h@d BY the sane term IN speaking or
. civilized nation Just developed from
harbarism. Carthage and Syracuse were
neW cities compared with Tyre and Cor
NTH but tire Greek or Phoenician rae- vas
IN every sense Of IN. word as old IN the
new city as IN the old city. 50. nowadays.
Victoria or Manitoba Is a rev community
the ancestral type CT civilization and eul-
cure IS as old IN ore case as IN the other
I OF course DO not mean for a riarnen,
that great changes are not produced By
the mere fact that the cid civilized race
Is suddenly placed In surroundings where
II has again 70 90 through the work Of
tanning the wilderness. a work finished
many centuries before IN the original
home OF the race; / merely mean that
the ancestral history Is the same In each
case. We can rightly use the phrase "a
rev people" In speaking Of Canadia1s
or Australians. Americans or AfrikanGers
But we use IL IN an entirely different
sense from that IN which we use Il when
speaking Of such communities as those
founded by the rorthmen and their de-
scendanfs during that period Of astoaish-
ing growth which saw the descendants OF
the Morse sea-thieves conquer and trans
form Normandy. Sicily. and the British
Islands. we use II in an entirely different
sense from that in which We use Il when
speaking Of the new states that grew up