THE GREEKS.
The Greeks, to whom our attention is now turned, are, as is manifest from their language, likewise of Aryan origin, and are consequently related to the Indians. The largely varied results of their culture have been attributed to manifold causes without any satisfactory explana tion having been really attained; for what we in the stricter sense term Greek civilization pertained only to a small portion of the people, and differences in race are insufficient to explain the immeasurable distance which separated Attic and Spartan culture, however much may be said of the opposite qualities of the Ionic and Doric characters.
The mobile inhabitants of Attica, whom their history represents as in ceaseless commotion, found it possible to display in all their creations their artistic tendencies in a manner that could scarcely be expected even in a calm and uninterrupted growth, while the Lacedxmonians, with all their sobriety of character, accomplished so little of positive value that we are tempted to doubt their real capabilities. The majority of the Greek tribes and states contributed scarcely anything noteworthy to the general culture, and yet when we ignore their boundaries their civilization appears as a universal power of imperishable influence. \\Thence comes it, we must ask, that the sense of form, which, whether ethical or xsthetic, is always based on that of proportion, became so specially developed in the Greek character, while among the Hindus every succeeding advance was eventually dissipated in excess? Whoever on the wondrous shores of the Mediterranean has had his conceptions of life not merely enlarged, hut intensified, by the impres sions of surrounding nature can understand that in such a place and under such a sky a realm of beauty might indeed arise; but for the perfection of Greek creations no natural conditions will account. Nothing of all that awakens our astonishment on the pEgean Archipelago was accom plished in the immediate neighborhood under circumstances perhaps quite as favorable) Origin and may be considered certain that the ances tors of the Greeks came from the East, and it is very probable that they found the country already inhabited. Slavery existed among them, but
there are few indications leading to the inference that it grew out of the subjugation of an inferior race. The narrow limits of the country must have precluded the possibility of a kingdom iu the ancient sense of the word: petty states especially adapted to these limits took its place. But that not even the slightest attempt at creating a predominant priesthood was ever made would be another enigma, were it not in accord with the entire phenomena.
In view of the fact that on the peninsula extending parallel with Hellas another tribe of the same race developed a civilization no less important than that of the Greeks, and yet so entirely different, and that in an unfavorable northern clime yet other branches of the Indo-European race have accomplished results still greater than those attained by the Indians, the Greeks, and the Romans, we might perhaps favor the theory of a universal aptitude of the Aryan races, which we should look upon as a specific superiority were it not more manifestly the result of advautges enjoyed by this particular part of the human race, which was thus enabled to develop itself into a fuller, purer humanity.
In this view Greek life appears only as a natural outgrowth, for human nature is above all directed to the beautiful—a fact which we, in our lives full of labor and concern, can only with difficulty understand. The enjoy ment of existence, the gladsome, unrestrained yielding to natural and unaffected being, precede the consciousness of care, and are in their nature rather than ethical. Natural causes may assist or hinder spiritual effects, but they are never a sufficient explanation of them. If the course be free, there is needed but a slight historic direction for the achievement of positive results; innate impulse is the most important factor.