Page:George Archdall Reid 1896 The present evolution of man.djvu/204

192 the material products of it, than in an acceptance of the civilization itself: thus the Turks borrow our big guns, but not our ideas; our ironclad ships, but not our modes of thought and motives for action; thus savages accept our rifles and alcohol, but are not thereby civilized. A change from a lower to a higher civilization consists, in fact, in a mental change, a change in knowledge and in ways of thinking and motives for acting, not in material things, for a savage who possesses a bottle of rum, a quick-firing rifle, a silk hat, a mirror, and a piano, is just as much a savage as he is without them; whereas the Englishman or the Frenchman, who is cast ashore, destitute of all the things of civilization, on a desert island, is just as much a civilized being as the dweller in London or Paris.

The supreme importance of the mental traits acquired under the influence of religion is extremely well shown in the case of conquered nations. To take once more the example of the Mahomedans: all those nations which were conquered by them, and which adopted the Maliomedan religion, have received the impress of the Mahomedan civilization; but all those which did not adopt the Mahomedan religion, have quite different modes of thought and motives for action, quite a different civilization—such are the Greeks, the Bulgarians, the Servians, and the Roumanians, who adhere to the religion, and, though of diverse races, possess the civilization of the Greek Church.

History affords numerous examples of races changing their characteristics, and with their characteristics their civilization; but in every case such change was associated with and preceded by a change of religion. For instance, much of Asia Minor and Northern Africa anciently held the Pagan Roman religion and possessed the splendid Roman civilization. Subsequently the in-