THE HISTORY OF INSTITUTIONS. 127 



lowest stage there is the childish copying of 

 strange modes of dress and habits, which is so 

 common among savages and in fashionable 

 society doing a thing simply because others 

 do it without any reason for it. Higher than 

 this comes that learning from enemies which 

 made the Romans stru^alin^ with the Cartha- 

 ginians become a naval power through con- 

 scious imitation for a deliberate purpose. 

 When they came in contact with the Greeks,, 

 their old customs began to vary, and they 

 learnt much good and some evil. It is more 

 than a mere figure of speech if we call Virgil's 

 poetry the offspring of a marriage between 

 Italy and Greece. Similarly the Alexandrian 

 culture was the child of East and West. Even 

 temporary contact, whether of alliance or 

 hostility, may produce lasting effects. The 

 Crusaders brought back Saracenic culture to the 

 western world. The Peninsular war introduced 

 cigars into England ; the Crimean war intro- 

 duced cigarettes. These were new "variations " 

 in England. The effect of contact is generally 

 some compromise some product that is alto- 

 gether new, the child, not of one parent, but of 

 two, or of many. 



