New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1910-05-13

/,
t-as shoWn the existence in prehistoric, or
al least proto-prehistoric, times % MANY
peoples who in given localities achieved a
! high and peculiar culture. a culture that
! was later SO completely DESTROYED that II is
! oirlcu't TO say what IL any. traces II left
On the subsequent cultures out of which
We have developed our own: while it is also
Z difficult 10 say exactly how much any one
I or these cultures influenced any other In
many cases, as where invaders with weap-
ons or bronze OF iron conquered the neo-
/ lthlc peoples, the higher civilization COM
pletely destroyed the lower civilization. or
! SarbarlsTIl, with which il came in contact.
In other cases, while superiority in culture
save Its possesso-s at the beginning a
! marked military and governmental superb
orlty over the neighboring peoples, yet
sooner or later there accompanied il a Ger
Z tain softness or enervating quality which
left the cultured folk az the mercy of the
stark and greedy neighboring tribes. in
whose savage souls cupidity gradually over
came terror and awe. Then the people that
{ had been struggling upward would be en-
quilted and the dwelling waves OF barbarism
wash over them. But we are not yet in
position TO speak definitely on these mat
tiers It l. only the researches of recent
years that have enabled us so much 10
guess at the course of events in prehistoric
/ Greece. while as yet we can hardly even
hazard guess as to how. for instance. the
( Hallstadt culture rose and fell. OF as to the
history and fate of the builders of those
strange ruins Of which Stonehenge is the
type,
Civilization in Early Ages.
/ The first civilizations which left behind
them clear records rose in that hoary his
toric past which geologically 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
civilizations were those which rose in Meso-
potamia and the Nile Valley some six OF
eight thousand years ago. AS far as we
can see, they were wellnigh Independent
centres OF cultural development, and our
knowledge is not such az present as TO en-
able US to connect either with the early
cultural movements in Southwestern Eu-
rope on the one hand or in India on the
ether. or with that Chinese civilization
! which has been SO profoundly affected by
Indian influences
Compared with the civilizations with
which we are best acquainted, the striking
civilizations were the length of time they
endured and their comparative changeless-
ness. 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 influence between them and their neigh
bors and the movement Of change, Of de-
velopment. material. mental spiritual, was
much faster than anything that had oc-
CURED during the icons Of mere savagery-
But in contTadistinction TO modern times
the movement was very slow indeed, and.
moreover, n each case il was strongly
localized, while the field OF endeavOr was
narrow. There were certain conquests by
man over nature: there were certain con-
quests 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
rnent' al all. for by far the greater part
OF the habitable globe was not only IN
( known but its existence Unguessed at, so
far as peoples with any civilization what
soever were concerned.
Beginning of To-day's Culture
With the downfall Of these ancient civ
ilizations there sprang into prominence
those peoples with whom our own cultural
+ history may be said 10 begin. Those ideas
and influences in our lives which we can
I consciously trace back al all are in the
! great ma iority 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 peopIes-although, judged even
( by the history of which We have record,
theirs is a very modern antiquity. indeed.
The case of the Jew was quite excep-
tional His was q small nation, Of little
more consequence than the sister nations
! OF Moab and Damascus until all three and
the other petty states of the country fell
under the yoke Of the alien. Then he sur
vived, while all his fellows died In the
spiritual domain he contributed a religion
which has been the most potent Of all
/ factors in its effect on the subsequent his
tory CT mankind, but none of his other con-
/ tributions compare with the legacies left US
! by the Greek and the Roman
Spread of intellectual Life.
! The Grace Roman world saw a civil
zation far more brilliant, far more varied
and intense than any that had gone before
3 L.
/ of the worlds surface. For the first time
/ there began TO be something which at least
! foreshadowed q world movement in the
/ sense that it affected a considerable portion
Of the worlds surface and that il repre-
scented what was incomparably the most
/ important OF all that was happening IN
world history at the time. In breadth and
depth the field Of intellectual interest had
greatly broadened at the same time that
the physical area affected by the civiliZa-
ton had similarly extended. Instead OF 8
civilization affecting only one river valley
or one nook Of the Mediterranean there
was a civilization which directly or indi-
rectIy Influenced mankind from the Desert
Of Sahara TO the Baltic, from the At
lantic Ocean 80 the westernmost mountain
chains that spring from the Himalayas.
Throughout most of this region there began
10 work certain influences which though
with widely varying intensity, did never
theless tend TO affect a large portion OF
mankind In many Of the forms of science,
in almost all the forms Of art, there was
great activity In addition to great sol
diers there were great administrators and
statesmen whose concern was with the
fundamental questions Of social and civil
I life.
Rone's intellectual Influence.