10 Cbc Conservative.
them to kill the aged and infirm by
throwing them off bridges as a sacrifice
to the river gods. The oldest sou upon
his marriage became the head of the
family. In the heroic age of Greece we
notice that Ulysses is king of Ithaca
while his father , Liertes has but an es
tate by the courtesy in the kingdom.
Besides , during the period of migration ,
which may have lasted a thousand
years or so , and the nomadic pursuits of
the Teutonic races , the conditions were
not conducive to the establishment and
maintenance of an ancestral tomb. At
any rate Tacitus found the spirit of per
sonal independence the paramount char
acteristic of the Germanic tribes.
The Latin races seem to have no am
bition to break away from their tradi
tions , from their notions of the old fam
ily religion. They seem satisfied with
the thought that whatever was is , and
forever will be. The Teutonic races
have not completely broken away , in a
* *
I * I sense , from their auciout worship ; but
: -v. there has been a mighty and continuous
struggle to discover just what this an
% cient family worship is ; and in this pro
cess of evolution the dross has been cast
off , and these races have come nearer
and nearer to the truth and thus have
become better , stronger , nobler , higher
iuR and nearer to God.
The Roman Church.
The institutional identity of the Ro
man Catholic church and the ancient
family is readily apparent. The pope is
the connecting link , in the male line ,
between the worshipers of his religious
family and God. The "pater familias"
of the church is the exclusive authori
tative source of truth and of power. Like
his ancient prototype he belongs to him
self only. Being the fountain of all
* i things he is irresponsible to anyone.
The images of saints around the altar
and hearthstones are the successors of
the Lares and Penates , the manes of the
days of old. The burning of incense
corresponds to the sacred fire , and the
money paid for masses for the repose of
departed souls is the substitute for the
sacrificial offerings on the ancestral
tomb. Holy water is not unlike the an
cient lustral waters in its uses. Vestal
virgins have their followers in the fe
male orders of the church. Burial in a
consecrated cemetery is still essential in
order that the manes may enjoy the
favors that flow from the ceremonial at
the tomb. Claiming to be universal it
believes itself the only family that has
any business on earth , and has a monopoly
Sffl ely of the truth. "Thou shalt have no
other God before me. " Any person
who dies without the pale of the church
is foredoomed to a fate like that of a
manes without descendants. The
1
church , too , is like a corporation. It
never dies. All the earnings of its
members were wont to bo turned over to
it as trustee. All members strive to
A
s minister to the church. They are for
fj
the church , not the church for them.
Do the names of great philosophers
ndorii the aunals of her history ?
Does one rmuie grace her lists who has
ever preached the gospel of the rights of
inau ? The grandeur of the God-like
nobility of the individual man , in the
contemplation of whose immortality all
artificial institutions pale into insigni
ficance ?
The spirit of the "patria potestas"
has created a peculiar conception of law
in the minds of those peoples who have
come under its influence. Law , having
its source in the father is purely his own
will. There is nothing superior to him.
it is not an external agency that affects
high and low alike. "The will of the
emperor has the force of law , " is the
maxim of the civil law. "I am the
state , " exclaimed Louis XIV ; "Mich
uud Gott , " says the emperor of Ger
many. Possessed of such conceptions a
successful revolutionist is not conscious
of violating law. Ho has substituted
himself for the former dictator and is
then a law unto himself. There is no
consciousness , no moral force , no auth
ority above him. He cannot commit a
wrong.
The contrast of the
Anglo-Saxon con
ception of law brings out this peculiarity
very distinctly. Law , as we compre
hend it , is the reflection of the collective
thoughts upon order and regulation of
all men ; is an authority superior to the
will of any one man ; and all , king and
vassal , are alike its subjects. King
John to his sorrow ran amuck this dis
tinction at Ruuuymede. The Latin con
ception is not conducive to law and
order. It is not firmly grounded in the
moral consciences of the race as any
thing stable or permanent. I think this
explains the cause , to some extent , of
the frequent revolutions among Latin
races. The individual does not feel that
his thought is an integral part of the
law ; the lack of which feeling predis
poses indifference if not disrespect for
law. Again he must be more or less
conscious of subserviency to the whim
or caprice of the "pater. " This mental
attitude develops a sentiment of depend
ence on external agencies , a moral , men
tal and physical unfitness for the strug
gle for existence. China has been sta
tionary for 4,000 years , Spain for 200
years , and even Franco seems to be on
the high road to national decadence.
With their conception of law , of ethics ,
the French cannot hope to produce men
who can cope with the sturdy , self-re
liant and aggressive Anglo-Saxon across
the channel , and in due time will be
Fashodaed off the face of the earth.
Non-Evolutionary.
Where freedom of thought and liberty
of conscience are smothered evolution is
inoperative and progress is a myth. To
the Latin the idea of local self-govern-
ment is a pure mental abstraction. He
needs regeneration. It is probable that
in the tropics self-governing institutions
will never be able to maintain them
selves on account of the climate. If the
history of civilization has demonstrated
one thing it is that no race which is in
capable of self-government is fit to gov
ern other races. It 1ms likewise demon
strated that nations built upon the prin
ciples of the "patria potestas" may have
"first freedom , then glory , then corrup
tion , then decay. "
Federal Paternalism.
But so long as belief wields such pow
erful influence over the mind of man no
race will ever wholly break away from
paternalism. It is grounded on relig
ion , the strongest emotion in man. It is
part of our very nature. We may observe
its influence in the social , religious and
political life of the United States. There
is a largo , and apparently a growing ,
class of persons , who by some mental
process make themselves believe that
congress and the president constitute a
huge "pater familias ; " that this mod
ern "pater" has superior wisdom to that
of any voter ; knows better how the in
dividual should conduct his business ;
where to sell his butter and eggs ; where
to buy his books ; how to make con
tracts ; where and with whom he should
exchange the products of his toil ; that
there is magic in legislative acts ; that
somehow the individual must huve "pa
ternal" laws to protect himself against
the consequences of his own conduct.
As a result we have tariff laws to en
hance wages , immigration laws to keep
out of our "family" the barbarians of
Europe. We do not want the English ,
Germans or French to come sneaking
around our hearths , our sacred fires , and
to pollute our lustral waters with their
foreign notions. America for the Amer
icans. These foreigners have other
gods , other prayers , other governments ;
therefore , if free trade is good for the
barbarian English it would necessarily
be injurious to us. No foreigner shall
present himself at our worship ; it would
be impious and a sacrilege to the manes
of Hamilton and Clay. But by the an
cient process of arrogation and adoption ,
now called annexation , behold the met
amorphosis ! the barbarian becomes ipso
facto an American and free trade with
his former brothers would kill him.
Our reciprocity commissioner is an
arch priest at the shrine of the "patria
potestas. " By his dispensation we are
permitted to trade with the hated bar
barians on terms we are confessedly
unfit to make ourselves. In fact if we
did it would warrant the "pater" to
prohibit our worship at the shrine of our
ancestors unless we pay the prescribed
penalty for such sacriligious acts.
Some invoke the thunder of the
"pater" to frighten us from drinking
beer. Again , others wish the aid of the
paternal power to coerce free men into