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Show The Genius of Nations Each nation has a trend in some dinstinctive direction, di-rection, in which it expands, develops, has freedom of expression, and wihch somes in time to more or less denote that race. For instance, the ancient Egyptian for the massive, mas-sive, time-resisting architecture, and his religion in the same trend time-resisting. The ancient Greek in the lively, imaginative expression ex-pression of beauty of form, be that form human, a temple or a statue. He served beauty. His soul was keyed to beauty. In writing, the beauty of Plato has kept it alive for twenty-five centuries. Germany for the slow, methodical, painstaking research work, which is expressed in its literature, its philosophy, its scientific progress, and in fact, its entire national soul. America for mass production; quick to think, inventive, in-ventive, running as a race to production in mass, industry on a scale commensurate, fortunes bloated bloat-ed in keeping with vast output. England, the pound sterling and its increment of earnings; colonies, and hence a scattered empire, which although locally much self-governing, yet in main, centering in London and contributing to the wealth of London. The. black race, conquered, ground down, held lowly, discriminated against, and as we know thm producers of "spirituals" not excelled by any race and outpouring of a heart captive, cruelly treated, and from that seeking outlet and surcease in plaintive plain-tive song, reflecting their inner consciousness. The American Indian for naturecraft; for knowledge knowl-edge of winds, rains, rivers, beasts and birds a man living in daily touch with all nature, and heeding heed-ing not all our self-created Mammon the fetich thought to build up a reserve; accumulate material means, measure success by enormity of hoarded counters. India for a great mind which plumbed the depths of intuitive -thought; a race which left nothing unsaid, un-said, in the opposite of our trend; which reached a height we can not follow, or disdain rather than attempt to follow. Each race as if moulded in a pattern, to which all individuals must in the main partake of its basic elements, however much individual expression, freedom of growth permitted, yet over all the one big law "Your trend is thus and so; be true to it." |
