Mexico Missouri message., 1910-06-09
ROMANES LECTURE GIVEN
BY THEODORE ROOSEVELT
Event Postponed by Kings Death Attracts a
Large Audience at OxfOrd---LOrd CurzOn
Introduces the Distinguished American.

and England The differences between
these new" American and these "old"
| European nations are not as great as those
| which separate the new" nations one
from another and the "old" nations one
from another. There are In each case
very real differences between the new and
| the old nation-diherences both for good
| and 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,
after the pioneer stages are passed, the
| problems TO be solved in spite Of superb
| ctal differences, are in their essence the
same; they are those that confront all
civilized peoples, not those that confront
| peoples struggling from barbarian into
| civilization.
So, when we speak OF the death" Of
| a tribe, nation OF a civilization, the term
may be used for either one or two totally
| different processes; the analogy with
what occurs IN biological history being
| complete. Certain tribes OF savages. the
| Tasmanians, for 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
/
! introduced by these white intruders; so
| that In reality they are merely being
| transformed into something absolutely
different from what they were.
A like wide diversity in fact may be
| covered In the statement that a civiliza-
ton has died out"
Phenomena That Puzzle.
In dealing, not with groups OF human
| beings In simple and primitive relations,
| but with highly complex, highly special
lied. civilized. or semi-cvllized societies,
| there is need OF great caution In drawing
| analOgies with what has occurred in the
| development of the animal world. Yet
even in these cases II is curious to sec
how 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 q bond OF
| blood, show periods of extraordinary
| growth, and again OF sudden or lingering
decay2 In some cases we can answer
readily enough; in other cases we cam
not as yet even guess what me proper
answer should be. II in any such case
| the centrifugal forces overcome the CEN
| tripetal, the nation will OF course fly to
| pieces, and the reason for its failure to
| become a dominant force is patent TO
| every one. The minute that the spirit
| which finds its healthy development In
local self government. and in the antidote
| TO the dangers OF an extreme centraliza-
| ton, develops into mere partlcularism,
| into Inability to combine effectively for
| achievement Of a common end, then II is
| hopeless to expect great results. Poland
| ana 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 a byword of
| derision, II the forces OF union had not
| triumphed in the civil war. So the
| growth OF soft luxury after II has reached
| certain point becomes a national danger
| patent to all. Again, II needs but little OF
| the vision Of a seer to foretell what must
happen In any community II the average
woman ceases to become the mother of a
| family of healthy children. II the average
| man loses the will and the power to work
up TO old age and to fight whenever the
| need arises. II the homely commonplace
virtues die out, II strength of character
| vanishes in graceful self-indulgence, II the
virile qualities atrophy, then the nation
| has lost what no material prosperity can
| offset.
But there are plenty OF other phenom-
ena wholly or partially ineXplicable. 1t is
| easy 20 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 sensualty 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 liveli-
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 Htera-
ture, at another time as regards architec-
! ture, at another time as regards city
building. WeNannot 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 a
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
lions SO vastly her superior in territory
and population as to make II Inevitable
that sooner or later she must fail from the
glorious and perllous eminence to which
she had been raised by her own indomita-
bic soul. Her fall came; IL could NOT
have been indefinitely postponed; but Il
came far quicker than 1t needed to come
because of shortcomings on her part "a
] WHICH DOlu GItdL 1oIlldln ana the United
States would be wise to pay heed. Her
government was singulariy ineffective, the
| decentralization being such as often e
permit the separatist, the particularist
spirit Of the provinces 10 rob the centra
authority of all efficiency. This was baC
enough. But the fatal weakness was thai
so common In rich, peace-loving societies
where men hate 10 think OF war as posi-.
BILE, and try TO justify their own reluctance
TO face It either by high-sounding mora
plautudes or else by philosophy OF
short-sighted materialism. The Dutch
were very wealthy. They grew to be-
lieve that they could hire others TO Dc
their lighting for them on land: and or
sea, where they did their own hghting
and fought very well. they refused IN
time OF peace TO make ready fleets so ef-
hcient as 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 "a
secure ease in the present at the almost
certain cost OF disaster In the future.
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