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bears its testimony, it is plain that man’s mental power has not increased. 
Here comes in the distinction which has been so well laid down between 
man’s material, and his moral and mental civilization. Of course material 
civilization is capable of large progression, because each generation takes up 
the discoveries which have been already made, and improves upon them. But 
no such thing occurs in mental or moral civilization. Our present degree of 
mental power, as shown by the present condition of man, does not exceed what 
it was 2,400 years ago. I apprehend that there is no community of human 
beings who have produced such an enormous quantity of great men in propor- 
tion to their number as the people inhabiting the small state of Athens. When 
we consider the number of great minds produced by a population of 20,000 
Athenian citizens, we may well say that that population has produced far more 
great men than any similar population on the face of the globe. This is a 
strong indication that men have not made any progress towards developing 
themselves into beings of a higher mental power. If we survey the question 
still further, the argument is quite conclusive. Look at the general growth 
of nations in their civilization. So far as I have studied ancient history, I 
believe that mankind have developed their national civilization in a sort 
of ideal type. As an instance let me quote the Egyptian civilization, 
which was developed after a certain peculiar type, and when that type was 
realised the civilization stood still for some time, and afterwards made a 
retrogressive movement ; and if you make the inquiry, you will find that this 
has been the fate of all the chief nations of the earth. The Assyrian nation 
would not be so good an instance, because it was destroyed by foreign 
conquest ; but take the .Chinese and the Hindoos as an example. It is 
evident that their civilizations formed themselves on a certain type, and after 
they had realized that type it became to a certain extent stationary, and then 
retrogressed to its present form. Take the nation of Greece, in which civili- 
zation developed itself on the highest possible type of beauty, in poetry, in 
the fine arts, and in philosophy. If you look into the history of Greece, you 
will find that that development went on by slow and gradual changes until 
it realized a certain ideal. It then remained stationary for 200 or 300 years, 
and ultimately a retrogression set in. Perhaps it will be said that the modern 
Greeks are not the lineal descendants of the ancient Greeks. This is true 
to some extent, but you may trace the movement through a long succession 
of ages, and that is perhaps the most remarkable example that has ever ap- 
peared among mankind. You can easily apply the same principle to the 
Roman empire ; but it would only be to go over the same ground. If any one 
will look into the history of these ancient nations, he will find that the prin- 
ciples I have laid down are substantially correct in every instance. Christi- 
anity in its action upon moral life has had a very remarkable influence, 
especially when embraced by young races. It did not impart fresh principles 
of civilization int6 either the old expiring Greek or Roman races but how 
long it prolonged their national existence I am not prepared to say. But 
* Probably because not fully embraced. — Ed. 
