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About The independent. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1902-1907 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 10, 1903)
DECEMBER 10, 1903. THE NEBRASKA INDEPENDENT II Rome: The Mother of States A Ravltw of Dtl Mar'" niddl AgM Rvblt4." The Middle Ages Revisited; or the Roman Government and Re- , ligion from Augustus to the Fall of Constantinople- By Alex. Del Mar; 8vo., pp. 400. The Cam bridge Encyclopedia Publishing Co., 240 West Twenty-Third St., New York. Net, ?3. The author of this work, formerly, a bureau "officer of the United States treasury, delegate to Russia, etc., is rapidly rising into public esteem as an historical writer. His preparation for this difficult eminence wag a ripe ' scholarship and 15 years of close study iti. the British Museum and Biblio theque Nationale, during which time he issued several monographs on clas sical literature, Roman, history, arch aeology, ancient manuscripts . and ioins; all of which obtained, imme diate recognition . in England, and France as works , of the latest ant most complete research. His first appearance as an historian' of that theme 6f themes, the Roman. Empire, ,was in "Ancient Britain' "in. the Light of Modern,.Archaeological Discover iesJL hich work the British criti- store of information neglected by our selves and garnered by a scholarly American. He reconstructs -Roman Britain, a country, full of busy cities, seaports and industrial centers con nected by fine highways, of majestic temples and villas, and of splendidly organized commerce." His " second work in the same role is the one be fore us, "The Middle Ages Revisited." We defer our opinion of this work until, after some review of its con tents; a task which, 'owing to its im mense scope, its brevity of style and the grandeur of the theme, is sufficient to tax all the resources of condensa tion. . Perhaps this j may best be ac complished by placing ourselves as it were somewhat in the attitude of the author. -, ' In describing the Roman govern ment and religion and their relation to the states of the modern world it; will scarcely fail to appear that tne constitution oi the empire, the Chrlstianizatiori of its institutes and the? position' of the medieval empire and the provinces, until the latter become independent kingdoms, is the key to all modern -history; that it has its practical im- portance and conveys its .lessons for the future. In weighing the evidences which throw light upon these, sub jects, the author is compelled to trace the ancient systems of mythology and religion. It is evident that he would gladly have avoided a subject of so much contention; but thjs was found ' impracticable. Society is to some ex tent the product of religious belief. To appreciate the spirit of the laws under which we live and must, act, it becomes necessary to follow the evo- . lution of religious systems, Says; the author; "We have entered the arcana of the Sacred College, not to profane its mysteries, but to fill our pitchers at its holy fount." When civil strife had so much ex hausted the Romans that they were unable to prevent the overthrow of their republican institutes, or resist the erection of , a pagan hierarchy, they accepted, from their tyrants a form of religion so impious and de grading as to speedily disgust the bet ter classes of citizens and turn them against a government in whose sup port they had formerly taken an active rnd prominent part. "Caesar claims to be a god," cried Cicero. "He has Lis temples, steeples, priests and chor isters," and the orator sealed his In dignation with his blood. This feel ing found popular echo in distant provinces like Judea and Britain, where it occasioned those frequent in surrections which distinguished the first century of our aera. The religion which fomented these insurrections was the worship of Caesa as the Su preme Being. Though it led to Caes ar's assassination by a party of Ro man patricians, ho was supplanted by Augustus, who, after his conquest of the Roman world, adopted precisely the same Impious pretension. Were not Ptolemy, Antonlua, Seittts Pom pejus, Delotaurus and many other sovereigns, who were destroyed by Augustus, worshipped by their sub J'u aa god; and rould Augustus be all. who had extended the Roman era lire from Ude to India and from Britain to th extremities of the known world? In the reign of Trajan, th rarrful Tacltim could afford to write; "The reverent duo to the (mhLmiO god m no longer esclu alte, Austui claimed rqul wor ship. Temp!?! werv ronrevrated and linage envied to him; a mortal man wiw worshipped; and prlt and rn tlffa tr appointed to pay h!m Im pious homage." But there im a dread interval of nearly a century when to have written as much would have cost the historian his life, subjected his relatives to banishment and confis cated his and their patrimonies. Our author shows upon a body of evidence drawn largely from contem poraneous inscriptions, coins and cus toms, that it was upon this pivot, the worship of the Caesars, , that turned the history of Rome for centuries; because even after the impious belief was rejected by the educated classes, iv. was- cherished by the vulgar. jYet only the faintest allusions to it ;will he found in our standard works of reference. In Mr. Del Mar's work It is brought into relief. It is then per ceived that the true grandeur of Chris tianity . and the ' moral lessons of its conquest over paganism have been hidden :from the light by a false his tory of the Roman religion and its development. ",No greater struggle &as ever fought and none so belit tled by petty conceits and fables. Not only this, but if the edifice by which the aims of civilization are supported,, eontinues'to be poised upon the flimsy foundations which the meaieval monks constructed, it is exposed to the risk of being injured by the attacks which modern criticism and satire may make upon these childish and vulnerable elements," Passing from the religion to the civil institutes of the Roman empire, the author challenges the accepted origin and spirit of the feudal system, The views of Robertson, Hallam, Gui zot, Buckle, Bishop Stubbs and oth ers, are examined with a justice and acumen that belong to tho highest or der of historical criticism. Their at tribution of feudalism to a barbarian origin, their fixing it upon the basis of military service, ,; their treatment of beneiicium and commendatio, are scat tered into thin air. Feudal systems have been found In India, Japan, Egypt, and Mexico, countries which had nothing in commoL with the in stitutions of medieval Europe, except their hierarchical governments. Feud alism Is even to be discerned in the early days of the Roman empire, in the charters of Julius and Augustus, in the laws of Diocletian and Justin ian, in the land tenures ana customs whose roots were buried in the Sacred College of paganism. We will not di vest our author of the interest with which h3 has invested this problem by anticipating its solution. We rec ommend its treatment as the best specimen of historical writing which has appeared since the publication of Gibbon's immortal work, The institutes of the Roman em pire; the rise of Christianity; the Christianization of these institutes; the rise of the medieval empire; the lost treaty of Seltz (between Charle magne and Nicephort-s, defining their respective boundaries, powers and prerogatives); the constitution of the medieval (German) empire; the fall of the Roman (Byzantine) empire in 1204; the Guelf and Ghibelline wars; and the legal and actual position of the Roman provinces during these changes, are told with a force of dic tion, an elegance of style and a wealth of illustration, which leaves nothing to be desired by the reader. The work is a revelation. It proves that the archaelogical finis of the past half century have placed at our command a store of learning which only needs scholarship, mental digestion and charm of style to render it of absorb ing interest and practical value to the reading world. These arc Jhe ma terials which our author brings to his great task. The scaffolding of the work is hid from sight; one sees only the perfected edifice, In which there are no awkward joints, no evidences of patching, no tiresome digressions, no second-hand evidences, no unneces sary foot-notes. A perfect grasp and critical sifting. of original evidences; a ripe judgment in the selection and arrangement of materials; a modest, but complete, mastery of his subject; thorough assimilation of its elements; and a practiced hand In wielding the pen. Such are the impressions which the work conveys; a work which we venture to say nust place ila author upon a very high literary pedestal. There it but one fault we have to find with It. lt title. In full, In 'The Middle Agm Bet lulled or the Roman (Jovernment and Religion and their Relation to Britain." and w are bound to aay the work l faithful to the Ml. But why only Britain! Why nut "And their Relation tu Modern tatea?" The author ahowa very con rluiivwlf that Britain, long after the Mine, when, aordln la relvtsl hl t ry, It wm an Independent monsmhy. a In fact merely a proving of th Merarthy, gowned varl.nuly at Treves, All U ChaMl or Rome, ( cording m tnrdttrat empervr or pope i ne Best Place to Buy J ' ' ' -, V . . ... r 1 Your Christmas Gifts JLA? Ml Lincoln's Progressive Store 1 mm 1 Absolutely the largest variety and lowest priced collection of Holiday Novelties ever brought to Lincoln. Fine China, Cut Glass, L'amps, Dinnerware, Leather Goods, Handkerchiefs, Kid Gloves, Jewelry, Fans, Fancy Art Goods, etc.. an un 11111 V ft, equalled showing, and besides we give Red Premium Checks with every purchase, redeemable at any time and in any quantity. The purchase of your Xmas goods at this store will entitle you to many further articles that will cost you nothing. A chance to obtain many little gifts for Xmas given absolutely free of char Premium check8 are redeemable for anything in our entire China Department, Ribbon and Handkerchief Department, Fancy Goods and Jewelry, A great list of your checks buy the same articles your dollars buy. maintained the paramountship of the slowly dying empire of Caesar. This position was as true of i ranee as of Berlin. Why not then have embraced France in those - chapters on the "Earliest exercise of eertain regalian rights," "The i Birth of the Indepen dent Monarchy," etc., which close this memorable volume? ' Mr. Del Mar's earlier works have been translated into French, and -have a wide reading in France. Has he not, in this in stance, unwittingly t cut himself off from a friendly market? Our public libraries will peculiarly appreciate Mr.; Del Mar s work. It Is printed in bold type (old style, ten point, leaded, with eight point notes), on clear stout paper and copiously in dexed. One of its chief features for the librarian !: Is the bibliography, which takes up 14 pages of eight-point type and includes a number of rare works, of which only a st"dent in the great libraries of Europe would be likely to have any knowledge. To such works, the author attaches a brief descriptive notice, which will be useful to book collectors not having access to the originals; and to all of them he appends the shelf number of the British museum library; in order to save the student the trouble of searching its immense catalogue, in itself a library, we believe, of several thousand volumes. Boston Public Li brary Bulletin, July, 1901. Christmas If you will cut out this ad. and send us 11.20 money order or stamps we will send you 10 Elberta Peach trees postpaid. We sell direct to tho planter and save them agents commission. No better trees grown. Write for catalogue, Chattanooga Nurseries, Chattanooga, Tenn. Nebraska's heavenly twins have had their noses put out of joint. It's triplets nowDietrkh, Millard and Weston. There were only twenty football players killed during the season that ended last Thursday. The number seriously maimed has not been re ported. The grani Jury got Heaator DirlrWh and the sheriff got Auditor Wmton, and the question U, What 1I Ne braska do for efflrera if thU thins ttm on much longer? The republican l.'nlted 8Utr sena tor and the republican atate auditor are both la the hand of the iherlHi. The ttomtr'' ar having a hard lime of it. Railroad. frHghta r to be larrtly I nerved in the southern ft? ty meana of tfw UAin.-ati'n The managers Rive aa a r'am for thh increase that those states have greatly increased taxation of the roads and that is the only way the roads have of getting the money to , pay the in crease in taxes. That is the way the roads have generally raised the mon ey to pay increased taxes, but thjs is the first time that they have frankly; acknowledged it. , The, receivers have been discharged and Dowie Is again In charge of Zion and all its industries. From what oc curred in court it appears - that the , forcing of. Dowle Into involuntary bankruptcy was all spite work and, malice. He is, and has been all the time, perfectly solvent. No matter what Dowle's freaks may be, before the law he should be treated the same as all other men. The citizens of Hdye Park, which ia part of Chicago, held a monster mass meeting and adopted a resolution, making a vigorous protest against sensational ' newspaper accounts of; crimes and of the prison life and od the trials and hangings of criminals.1 The Standard Oil trust was proven guilty of bribery at Peoria last Tues day. Its agents bribed clerks in an Independent company to furnish in-, formation. Let the young men hasten with their subscriptions to the Rocke feller temple so that it can always stand as an incentive to form trusts, get rebates from railroads and in duce young people to become bribe takers. The Chicago dailies, and they are' no worse than those of New York, have so demoralized the whole pop ulation that the only amusement of the children is to play that they are bandits in a cave, or detectives net ting shot. Such publications should be banished from every American home. Some of the New York naoers hav got up enough courage to remark that I'latt Is suspected of a Tammanv leaning In municipal affairs. Tho In dependent was the only paper in the. United States to tell the truth lhnntt the matter in the first nlace. If Odll sucteedii In unhomlriff the "ruv bo'' then the New York nanera will come out and tell the whole truth about the defeat of Low. otherwlaa they will not. There are aeveral hun urei voter in N?w York who rely; upon The Independent for their news Initrad of the daMea In their reatf rlty. Scnaiblt Social!! IMitOf Independent: Kneloned find pratoffiee order fur i While I am m. ftMMM I eny reading Th Indepm en very mult and wUh sou all th. timm to)bl. OKO. A. 1.ITTI.U. famht'trr, N. ,