An Ethnologist's View of History. Daniel G. (Daniel Garrison) Brinton

advances the same opinion in the words, “Humanity as a whole developes like a child.”6

      The error of this view was clearly pointed out some years ago by Dr. Tobler.7 There has been no growth of humanity at large at all comparable to that of the individual. There are tribes to-day in the full stone age, and others in all stages of culture above it. The horizons of progress have been as local as those of geography. No solidarity of advancement exists in the species as a whole. Epochs and stadia of culture vary with race and climate. The much talked of “law of continuity” does not hold good either in national or intellectual growth.

      Such are the criticisms which may be urged against the historical methods now in vogue. What, you will ask, is offered in their stead? That which I offer is the view of the ethnologist. It is not so ambitious as some I have named. It does not deal in eternal laws, nor divine the distant future. The ethnologist does not profess to have been admitted into the counsels of the Almighty, nor to have caught in his grasp the secret purposes of the Universe. He seeks the sufficient reason for known facts, and is content with applying the knowledge he gains to present action.

      Before stating the view of the ethnologist, I must briefly describe what the science of Ethnology is. You will see at once how closely it is allied to history, and that the explanation of the one almost carries with it the prescription for the other.

      1

      In his epochal essay “Die Aufgabe des Geschichtschreibers.” Gesammelte Werke, Bd. I., s. 13. It was republished with a discriminating introduction by Professor Steinthal in Die Sprachphilosophischen Werke Wilhelm von Humboldt’s (Berlin, 1883).

1

In his epochal essay “Die Aufgabe des Geschichtschreibers.” Gesammelte Werke, Bd. I., s. 13. It was republished with a discriminating introduction by Professor Steinthal in Die Sprachphilosophischen Werke Wilhelm von Humboldt’s (Berlin, 1883).

2

“Der Zweck-Begriff bewirkt nur sich selbst, und ist am Ende was er im Anfange, in der Unsprünglichkeit, war.” Encyclopädie der philosophischen Wissenschaften. Theil, I., § 204.

3

“Die Weltgeschichte ist der blosse Ausdruck einer vorbestimmten Entwicklung.” (Quoted by Lord Acton.)

4

“Die Menschheit hat sich aus natürlicher, tierischer Grundlage auf rein natürliche mechanische Weise entwickelt.” Anthropolgische Beiträge, s. 21.

5

A Lecture on the Study of History, p. 1 (London, 1895).

6

See his article “The Relation of Anthropology to the Study of History,” in The American Journal of Sociology, July, 1895.

7

Ludwig Tobler, in his article “Zur Philosophie der Geschichte,” in the Zeitschrift für Völkerpsychologie, Bd. XII., s. 195.

6

See his article “The Relation of Anthropology to the Study of History,” in The American Journal of Sociology, July, 1895.

7

Ludwig Tobler, in his article “Zur Philosophie der Geschichte,” in the Zeitschrift für Völkerpsychologie, Bd. XII., s. 195.