Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1910-06-10
HARDNESS OF HEART
IS NO WORSE THAN
SOFTNESS Of HEAD
So Declares MIR. Roosevelt in
Notable Address at Oxford
University on "BioIogiCaI
AnaIogieS in History"

LONDON. June T.-Colonel Roosevelt
found a defense for British and Ameri-
can imperialism in the Biological Anal
ogies in History" on which he spoke at
Oxford university today.
The an-important ractor in national
greatness is national character" was his
final analysis.
He described the chief dangers threat
sning England and the United States as
'.the growth in luxury. in love OF ease,
in taste for vapId and frivolous excite
ment." and in the diminutiOn OF the
birthrate, a diminution so great that II
II continues for the next century all the
more highly civilized people will be sta
tionary."
He closed a discussion Of modern So
sial problems. in which he attacked So
cialiSm. with the statement that though
hardness OF heart is an evil, il Is no
greater than softness Of head"
The ethnfc makeup OF our people is
slowly changing. so that constantly the
race tends to become more and more
akin TO that OF those Americans who.
like myself. are of the old stock but not
mainly OF English stock. Yet 1 think
that. as time goes by. mutual respect
understanding and sympathy among the
English speaking peoples grow greater
and not less. Common heirship in the
things OF the spirit makes a closer bond
than common heirship in the things Of
the body.
studying the history Of life on this
planet we see strange analogies in the
phenomena of life and death, OF birth,
growth and change. between those physi~
cal groups Of animal life which we desig-
nate as species. forms, races. and the
highly complex and composite entities
which rise before our minds when We
speak OF nations and civilizations.
Tt Is this study which has given
science its present prominence. AS re-
cards that attitude which would treat
history as merely one branch OF scientific
study. we must o. course cordially. agree
that accuracy in recording facts and ap-
probation OF their relative worth are just
as necessary in historical study as in any
other kind OF study. The fact that
book. though interesting. is untrue. of
course removes IL from the category OF
history But the converse also holds. at
least 20 the extent that a book which is
written 10 be read should be readable.
This rather obvious fact seems to have
been forgotten by some OF the more
xealous scientific historians.
SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE
Now I am willing that history shall be
treated as a branch Of science. but only
on condition that IL also remains branch
OF literature. We need a literature OF
science which shall be readable. So far
from doing away with the school OF
PoIybius. Tacitus. Gibbon and Macauley,
xse need merely that future writers Of
history. without losing the qualities which
>aave made these men great. shall also
iffIiz4 the new facts and methods which
scEarSe has put at their disposal. Dry
'ess Is not Of itself a measure OF value.
of course there Is no exact parallel
SIN between the birth. growth and death
y species In the animal world and the
nth. growth and death Of societies in
[. world OF man Yet there is certain
earaIIeIism- There are strange analogies:
n may be that there are hOmologies. He
who would fully treat of man must know
at least something OF biology. and espe-
cially OF that science Of evolution which
Is inseparably connected with the great
meme Of Darwin
The anthropoIogist and the historian
OF today realize much more clearly than
their predecessors how artificial most
great natiOnalities are. and how loose is
the Technology usually employed to de-
scribe them The northern Frenchman
Is In blood and physical type more
nearly allied to his German speaking
neighbors than TO the Frenchman Of the
Mediterranean seaboard. who In turn is
nearer the Catalan But in essential char
acteristics. in The qualities that tell in
the makeup OF nationality. these French
r7en feel keenly that they are one and
are different from all outsiders. Why do
great artificial empires. whose citizens
are knit with a bond OF speech and cul-
ture 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 The minute that the spirit
which finds it's healthy development in 10
ca self-government. and is the antidote
~ the dangers of extreme Capitalization.
lively for the achievement OF a common
end, then II is hopeless TO expect great
develops an inability TO combine effect
results Poland and certain republics Of
the western hemisphere are standard ex-
amples Of failures OF this kind.
LUXURY \ SOURCE OF DANGER
so the growth Of soft luxury after II
has reached a certain point becomes
national danger patent TO all. Again II
needs but little Of the vision Of a seer
TO foreten what must happen in any COM
munity IL the average woman ceases to
become the mother Of family Of healthy
children. IL the average man loses the
and 10 fight whenever the need arises If
the homely. commonplace virtues die out,
then the nation has lost what no mate
rial prosperity viii offset
But there are plenty Of other phe-