Page:The Native Races of the Pacific States, volume 2.djvu/825

Rh pages inform us aright, then were the Nahuas, the Mayas, and the subordinate and lesser civilizations surrounding these, but little lower than the contemporaneous civilizations of Europe and Asia, and not nearly so low as we have hitherto been led to suppose. Whatever their exact status in the world of nations—and that this volume gives in esse and not in posse—they are surely entitled to their place, and a clear and comprehensive delineation of their character and condition fills a gap in the history of humanity. As in every individual, so in every people, there is something different from what may be found in any other people; something better and something worse. One civilization teaches another; if the superior teaches most, the inferior nevertheless teaches. It is by the mutual action and reaction of mind upon mind and nation upon nation that the world of intellect is forced to develop. Taking in at one view the vast range of humanity protrayed in this volume and the preceding, with all its infinite variety traced on a background of infinite unity, individuality not more clearly evidenced than a heart and mind and soul relationship to humanity everywhere, the wide differences in intelligence and culture shaded and toned down into a homogeneous whole, we can but arrive at our former conclusion—that civilization is an unexplained phenomenon, whose study allures the thoughtful and yields results pregnant with the welfare of mankind.