Page:The age of Justinian and Theodora (Volume 1).djvu/323

 *hood that it will ever again recede from a territory where it has once been established. At all times scarcity of the necessaries of life, real or conventional, tends to initiate a contest; nor is it possible to foresee an age when, in the absence of a struggle for existence, the world will subside into a condition of perpetual peace.

In the sixth century, among the Byzantines, the public mind was still oppressed with a sense of the supreme importance of religion. That orthodox Christianity must prevail remained the passion of the day; and in the view of each dissentient sect their creed alone was orthodox. Hence government became an instrument of hierarchy, politics synonymous with sectarianism, and the chief business of the state was to eradicate heresy. Mediaevalism was created by this spirit; in the East the Emperor became a pope; in the West the Pope was to become a sovereign. The conception of being ruled from the steps of an altar was foreign to the genius of classical antiquity, and Christianity almost effected a reversal of the political spirit of the ancient world.

In the midsummer of 518 occurred the death of Anas-*

and their gradual extinction is due to the restrictions imposed on them by civilization or to their becoming addicted to its vices. The decrease of the U. S. Indians (303,000, 1880; 266,000, 1900; previous decrease unknown) and of the Maoris (100,000, 1780; 46,000, 1901) is partly due to conflicts with the whites, but that of the Hawaiians (200,000, 1780; 31,000, 1900) results solely from the immigration of higher races. Similarly the Tasmanians have become extinct in the last half of the nineteenth century. The peaceful pioneer of civilization, perhaps a missionary, is more deadly to the native races than periodical invasions by an armed force.]
 * [Footnote: aborigines, but the numbers of them who fall in war would soon be regenerated