When at last cities began to coalesce into nations
there was another breaking down of barriers which separated
groups of men. The larger and broader differences of color, hair
and physical proportions were not by any means ignored, but
myriads of minor differences disappeared, and the sociological
and historical races of men began to approximate the present
division of races as indicated by physical researches. At the
same time the spiritual and physical differences of race groups
which constituted the nations became deep and decisive. The
English nation stood for constitutional liberty and commercial
freedom; the German nation for science and philosophy; the
Romance nations stood for literature and art, and the other race
groups are striving, each in its own way, to develop for
civilization its particular message, it particular ideal, which
shall help to guide the world nearer and nearer that perfection
of human life for which we all long, that
"one far off Divine event."
This has been the function of race differences up to the
present time. What shall be its function in the future?
Manifestly some of the great races of today–particularly the
Negro race–have not as yet given to civilization the full
spiritual message which they are capable of giving. I will not
say that the Negro-race has yet given no message to the world,
for it is still a mooted question among scientists as to just
how far Egyptian civilization was Negro in its origin; if it was
not wholly Negro, it was certainly very closely allied.
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