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and try to imagine yourself in the position of your own great…
great…grandchildren who will take your place in the year
10；000。 They too will learn history。 But what will they
think of those short four thousand years during which we have
kept a written record of our actions and of our thoughts？
They will think of Napoleon as a contemporary of Tiglath
Pileser； the Assyrian conqueror。 Perhaps they will confuse
him with Jenghiz Khan or Alexander the Macedonian。 The
great war which has just come to an end will appear in the light
of that long commercial conflict which settled the supremacy
of the Mediterranean when Rome and Carthage fought during
one hundred and twenty…eight years for the mastery of the sea。
The Balkan troubles of the 19th century （the struggle for
freedom of Serbia and Greece and Bulgaria and Montenegro）
to them will seem a continuation of the disordered conditions
caused by the Great Migrations。 They will look at pictures
of the Rheims cathedral which only yesterday was destroyed
by German guns as we look upon a photograph of the Acropolis
ruined two hundred and fifty years ago during a war
between the Turks and the Venetians。 They will regard the
fear of death； which is still common among many people； as a
childish superstition which was perhaps natural in a race of
men who had burned witches as late as the year 1692。 Even
our hospitals and our laboratories and our operating rooms
of which we are so proud will look like slightly improved
workshops of alchemists and mediaeval surgeons。
And the reason for all this is simple。 We modern men and
women are not ‘‘modern'' at all。 On the contrary we still
belong to the last generations of the cave…dwellers。 The foundation
for a new era was laid but yesterday。 The human race
was given its first chance to become truly civilised when it took
courage to question all things and made ‘‘knowledge and
understanding'' the foundation upon which to create a more
reasonable and sensible society of human beings。 The Great
War was the ‘‘growing…pain'' of this new world。
For a long time to come people will write mighty books to
prove that this or that or the other person brought about the
war。 The Socialists will publish volumes in which they will ac…
cuse the ‘‘capitalists'' of having brought about the war for ‘‘commercial
gain。'' The capitalists will answer that they lost infinitely
more through the war than they madethat their children
were among the first to go and fight and be killedand
they will show how in every country the bankers tried their
very best to avert the outbreak of hostilities。 French historians
will go through the register of German sins from the
days of Charlemagne until the days of William of Hohenzollern
and German historians will return the compliment and
will go through the list of French horrors from the days of
Charlemagne until the days of President Poincare。 And
then they will establish to their own satisfaction that the other
fellow was guilty of ‘‘causing the war。'' Statesmen； dead and
not yet dead； in all countries will take to their typewriters and
they will explain how they tried to avert hostilities and how
their wicked opponents forced them into it。
The historian； a hundred years hence； will not bother about
these apologies and vindications。 He will understand the real
nature of the underlying causes and he will know that personal
ambitions and personal wickedness and personal greed had very
little to do with the final outburst。 The original mistake； which
was responsible for all this misery； was committed when our
scientists began to create a new world of steel and iron and
chemistry and electricity and forgot that the human mind is
slower than the proverbial turtle； is lazier than the well…known
sloth； and marches from one hundred to three hundred years
behind the small group of courageous leaders。
A Zulu in a frock coat is still a Zulu。 A dog trained to ride
a bicycle and smoke a pipe is still a dog。 And a human being
with the mind of a sixteenth century tradesman driving a 1921
Rolls…Royce is still a human being with the mind of a sixteenth
century tradesman。
If you do not understand this at first； read it again。 It
will become clearer to you in a moment and it will explain
many things that have happened these last six years。
Perhaps I may give you another； more familiar； example；
to show you what I mean。 In the movie theatres； jokes and
funny remarks are often thrown upon the screen。 Watch the
audience the next time you have a chance。 A few people seem
almost to inhale the words。 It takes them but a second to read
the lines。 Others are a bit slower。 Still others take from
twenty to thirty seconds。 Finally those men and women who
do not read any more than they can help； get the point when
the brighter ones among the audience have already begun to
decipher the next cut…in。 It is not different in human life；
as I shall now show you。
In a former chapter I have told you how the idea of the
Roman Empire continued to live for a thousand years after
the death of the last Roman Emperor。 It caused the establishment
of a large number of ‘‘imitation empires。'' It gave the
Bishops of Rome a chance to make themselves the head of the
entire church； because they represented the idea of Roman
world…supremacy。 It drove a number of perfectly harmless
barbarian chieftains into a career of crime and endless warfare
because they were for ever under the spell of this magic
word ‘‘Rome。'' All these people； Popes； Emperors and plain
fighting men were not very different from you or me。 But
they lived in a world where the Roman tradition was a vital
issue something livingsomething which was remembered
clearly both by the father and the son and the grandson。 And
so they struggled and sacrificed themselves for a cause which
to…day would not find a dozen recruits。
In still another chapter I have told you how the great religious
wars took place more than a century after the first open
act of the Reformation and if you will compare the chapter
on the Thirty Years War with that on Inventions； you will see
that this ghastly butchery took place at a time when the first
clumsy steam engines were already puffing in the laboratories
of a number of French and German and English scientists。
But the world at large took no interest in these strange
contraptions； and went on with a grand theological discussion
which to…day causes yawns； but no anger。
And so it goes。 A thousand years from now； the historian
will use the same words about Europe of the out…going nine…
teenth century； and he will see how men were engaged upon
terrific nationalistic struggles while the laboratories all around
them were filled with serious folk who cared not one whit for
politics as long as they could force nature to surrender a few
more of her million secrets。
You will gradually begin to understand what I am driving
at。 T