The Columbus journal. (Columbus, Neb.) 1874-1911, 1910-06-08
ROOSEVELT GIVES
ROMANESLECTURE
Former President of United
States at Oxford
LORD cURZON IN THE CHAIR
Sheidoniar Theater Crowded With
Distinguished People When Amer
lean Talks on theological An
aioqies In History"

Oxford. Engiand.-The Romanes
lecture by Theodore Roosevelt. which
was to have been delivered on May IL.
but which was postponed on account
of the death OF King Edward. was
given on June by the distinguished
American. The SheldOnian theater
Was filled to its capacity by notable
persons and Oxford students and the
lecture. which was on biological
Anaiogies in History" was we'll re-
ceived. Lord Curzon. chancellor OF the
university. presided.
Ia seeking To penetrate the causes
Of the mysteries that surround not
only mankind but all life. both In the
present and the past. said Mr. Roose-
Welt. We see strange analOgieS In the
Phenomena OF life and death. of birth
growth and change between those
physical groups OF animal life which
Ne designate as species. forms, races
and the highly complex and composite
entities which rise before our minds
when we speak Of nations and civil
ed. that has given science its present
day prominence. and the historian OF
mankind must work in the scientific
spirit and use the treasure-hOuses OF
science
To illustrate. the lecturer took sew
eral instances of the development OF
new species and the extinction of spe-
showing that in some cases the causes
can be traced with considerable accu-
raCy. and in other cases We cannot so
much as hazard guess as to why a
given change occurred.
Anaiouies in Human History.
Continuing. Mr. Roosevelt said in
part:
Now as to all Of these phenomena In the
evulutiun of sp',-i'S. there are. n not
horHologirs at least certain anrl""ies. In
rhr history of human so"i"tI''S in the
history Of the rise tn prOnIn"u''.' "f TIE
Development and chang. of t"'' tn
T,r4ry dominance. and death OF tr.':S-
formation. "f the groups Of varying kint
uhirh form races or nations.
As I'm biology. 80 in human history. a
new form may result from "a" sp'',ializa-
a
slowly changing EeucraliZ"d or nom
rgr.-cia lied form. as. for instance. when
haTh.sr.C race from a variety Of causes
suddenly develops a NOR" complex Culi-
Walton and civilization, That Is what oc-
Cured. for instance. IN western Europe
during the centuries OF the Tcutonic and
later tls,. Scandinavian rthniC oVerNows
from the north. All the modern countries
OF western Europe are descended from the
states created by tht.s'. northern invaders.
when first created they could be called
new young states in the sense
that part or all OF the people composing
them were descended from races that
hitherto Rad not been civilized AT all. and
tl.at therefore for the first time entered
"n the career ~ civilized communities.
In the southern part Of western Europe
the new states thus formed consisted In
bulk Of the inhabitants already in the land
under tie Roman empire: and il
'"rc that the rev kingdoms first took
shape. Through reflex action their
influence then extended back into the cold
forests from which the invaders had come.
Hnd Germany and Scandinavia witnessed
the rise OF communities with essentially
Che same civilization As their southern
neiehborS: though In those communities.
unlike the southern communities. there
MAS no infusion ~ Now blood. and In each
case the new civilized nation which Gradu
ally Developed was composed entirely OF
members OF the same race which IN the
same region had for ages lived the life OF
a slowly changing harharism. The same
was true Of the Slavs and the Slavonized
Firms Of eastern Europe. when infil-
trayion OF Scandinavian leaders from the
north and infiltratiOn OF Byzantine
,ulture from the south Joined 10 produce
NE changes which hav" gradually. out OF
the uttlv Siav comm antilles az the forest
and tie steppe. formed the mighty Russian
empire OF today.
New" and Young" Nations.
Again the new form may represent
merely splitting off from a long
Yshed highly developed and specialized
nation In this case the nation Is usually
spoken OF As young" and is correctly
spoken OF new. nation. bat the
Term should always I've used with a clear
sense. Of the difference between what IS
described In such case. and what is de-
scrib,d by the same term In speaking OF
a civilized nation inst Developed from a
harbarisn. Carthage and Syracuse were
new cities compared with Tyre and Cor
irth: but the Greek or rhoenCian race was
in every sense Of the word as old In the
new city as ia the old city. So. nowadays.
Victoria or Manitoba is a new community
compared with England OF Scotland: but
The ancestral type Of siviliza ton and Gull
lure Is as old in one case az in the other.
I of course do not mean for a moment
that great changes are not produced by
fh, mere fact that the old civilized race
g. Suddenly placed In surroundings where
Il has again to 70 through the work Of
tanning the wilderness. work finished
MANY centuries before in the original
home Of the race. I merely mean that
fF,. ancestral HISTORY IS the same IN each
case. We can rightly Use the phrase "a
new reoplr'' in SreakinC NJ Canadians
or Australians. Americans or Afrikanders.
Rr.t we use IL in entirely different
sense from that In which We use IL when
Speaking Of such communities as those
founded by the mortimer and their de-
s,.u.'auts during that period Of astOnish-
ting growth which saw the descendants OF