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Article HISTORICAL VIEWS OF PROGRESS. ← Page 3 of 4 →
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Historical Views Of Progress.
needed , destroying , slaying , plundering—was the natural germ of that vast empire clothed in imperial purple , cased in steel , which never recognised a broader national right than could be written on the edge of a sharpened sword . Romulus and Remus , sucking the she-wolf , grew into that people , which , wolf-like , revelled in the blood of all men , ami , with worse than wolf-like ferocity , gave its captives as a prey to the beastsor set fettered life against life" to make a Roman holiday . "
, , The acorn grows into the oak . Nature could not so violate her own laws as to make mercy , gentleness , and peace , spring from such a source as old Rome . To forms of government we must not endeavour to trace the characteristics of Rome . Her only settled principle was force . Now rejoicing in the most ample liberty—now the prey of licentious patricians —now the spoil of a military dictator—now the serf of a despotic tyrant , Rome was still the same—still the representative of physical courage
and brute force . Neither must we seek to discover in her arts or her philosophy the secret of her being . Beside the productions of Greece they would not win a glance . She did not bear a harvest of philosophic fancies or abstract theories . Her public buildings , her forum , her amphitheatre , her pillars and triumphal arches , would not bear comparison with the temples and monuments of old Greece . They were vastgorgeous
, , grand , and dignified . They wanted grace ; but they had that which was impressed upon the people from whom and among whom they sprung—the idea of strength and power . The public monuments of a nation tell its character . Those of artistic Greece speak of beauty ; of warlike Rome , of force ; those of commercial and comfort-loving England
of convenience . Rome was more practical than Greece—we are more practical than cither . Rome had no poet to compare with Homer . Poets , and great ones too she had—no great nation was ever without them ; but like her arts , her poetry grew out of her rather as an excrescence than as a natural and harmonious part of the great body . We must not divert our attention by looking to the national religion of Rome . She was not original . Her faith was not part of herself . It had not the elements of stability . It was too gross , too directly based
upon mere superstition , too utterly without a firm foundation of principle , to outlive , as a faith , ( whatever might be the case as a form ) the lowest mental ignorance . It was not a faith , but a priestcraft . No , Rome cannot be said to represent art or science , faith , poetry , civilization , elegance , or refinement . Material luxury she bad—the spoils of conquered nations made her rich—but luxury , although produced by her power , produced her ruin . The measure of her gain was the
measure of her loss . Her reward was the cause of her punishment . '' Our pleasant vices are made the lash wherewith to scourge us "—the indulgences she won enervated her grasp , till her softened hand could no longer hold the chain of steel wherewith she bound the world , the links loosened , and the empire dissolved . But throughout the history of old Rome , amid all her injustice , fierceness , and oppressions , there runs a redeeming strain of ruggedsternunyielding honour , a contempt of
, , craft , an untiring energy , a noble self-reliance , which even now often distinguish those who are strong of hand ; and the devotion of her old citizens to their country , while it lasted , bound them together as strongly as ever the . twelve tribes were united by the band of faith . The power by which Rome rose , was the power by which she fell . Her civilization availed her nothing . It was not her weapon ; she had thrown it aside ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Historical Views Of Progress.
needed , destroying , slaying , plundering—was the natural germ of that vast empire clothed in imperial purple , cased in steel , which never recognised a broader national right than could be written on the edge of a sharpened sword . Romulus and Remus , sucking the she-wolf , grew into that people , which , wolf-like , revelled in the blood of all men , ami , with worse than wolf-like ferocity , gave its captives as a prey to the beastsor set fettered life against life" to make a Roman holiday . "
, , The acorn grows into the oak . Nature could not so violate her own laws as to make mercy , gentleness , and peace , spring from such a source as old Rome . To forms of government we must not endeavour to trace the characteristics of Rome . Her only settled principle was force . Now rejoicing in the most ample liberty—now the prey of licentious patricians —now the spoil of a military dictator—now the serf of a despotic tyrant , Rome was still the same—still the representative of physical courage
and brute force . Neither must we seek to discover in her arts or her philosophy the secret of her being . Beside the productions of Greece they would not win a glance . She did not bear a harvest of philosophic fancies or abstract theories . Her public buildings , her forum , her amphitheatre , her pillars and triumphal arches , would not bear comparison with the temples and monuments of old Greece . They were vastgorgeous
, , grand , and dignified . They wanted grace ; but they had that which was impressed upon the people from whom and among whom they sprung—the idea of strength and power . The public monuments of a nation tell its character . Those of artistic Greece speak of beauty ; of warlike Rome , of force ; those of commercial and comfort-loving England
of convenience . Rome was more practical than Greece—we are more practical than cither . Rome had no poet to compare with Homer . Poets , and great ones too she had—no great nation was ever without them ; but like her arts , her poetry grew out of her rather as an excrescence than as a natural and harmonious part of the great body . We must not divert our attention by looking to the national religion of Rome . She was not original . Her faith was not part of herself . It had not the elements of stability . It was too gross , too directly based
upon mere superstition , too utterly without a firm foundation of principle , to outlive , as a faith , ( whatever might be the case as a form ) the lowest mental ignorance . It was not a faith , but a priestcraft . No , Rome cannot be said to represent art or science , faith , poetry , civilization , elegance , or refinement . Material luxury she bad—the spoils of conquered nations made her rich—but luxury , although produced by her power , produced her ruin . The measure of her gain was the
measure of her loss . Her reward was the cause of her punishment . '' Our pleasant vices are made the lash wherewith to scourge us "—the indulgences she won enervated her grasp , till her softened hand could no longer hold the chain of steel wherewith she bound the world , the links loosened , and the empire dissolved . But throughout the history of old Rome , amid all her injustice , fierceness , and oppressions , there runs a redeeming strain of ruggedsternunyielding honour , a contempt of
, , craft , an untiring energy , a noble self-reliance , which even now often distinguish those who are strong of hand ; and the devotion of her old citizens to their country , while it lasted , bound them together as strongly as ever the . twelve tribes were united by the band of faith . The power by which Rome rose , was the power by which she fell . Her civilization availed her nothing . It was not her weapon ; she had thrown it aside ,