estors lashed upon his breast when he went to fight for his country;
the skin of a porcupine, dried with the quills on, which this same
savage pulled over his orthodox head, up to the shirts of mail, that
were worn in the Middle Ages, that laughed at the edge of the sword and
defied the point of the spear; up to a monitor clad in complete steel.

I saw at the same time, their musical instruments, from the
tom-tom--that is, a hoop with a couple of strings of raw hide drawn
across it--from that tom-tom, up to the instruments we have to-day, that
make the common air blossom with melody.

I saw, too, their paintings, from a daub of yellow mud, to the great
works which now adorn the galleries of the world. I saw also their
sculpture, from the rude god with four legs, a half dozen arms, several
noses, and two or three rows of ears, and one little, contemptible,
brainless head, up to the figures of to-day--to the marbles that genius
has clad in such a personality that it seems almost impudent to touch
them without an introduction.

I saw their books--books written upon skins of wild beasts--upon
shoulder-blades of sheep--books written upon leaves, upon bark, up to
the splendid volumes that enrich the libraries of our day. When I
speak of libraries, I think of the remark of Plato: "A house that has a
library in it has a soul."

I saw their implements of agriculture, from a crooked stick that was
attached to the horn of an ox by some twisted straw, to the agricultural
implements of this generation, that make it possible for a man to
cultivate the soil without being an ignoramus.

While looking upon these things I was forced to say that man advanced
only as he mingled his thought with his labor,--only as he got into
partnership with the forces of nature,--only as he learned to take
advantage of his surroundings--only as he freed himself from the bondage
of fear,--only as he depended upon himself--only as he lost confidence
in the gods.

I saw at the same time a row of human skulls, from the lowest skull
that has been found, the Neanderthal skull--skulls from Central Africa,
skulls from the Bushmen of Australia--skulls from the farthest isles of
the Pacific sea--up to the best skulls of the last generation;--and I
noticed that there was the same difference between those skulls that
there was between the _products_ of those skulls, and I said to myself,
"After all, it is a simple question of intellectual development." There