In the mighty East, where civilization goes back into the most distant and dim antiquity, _the laws_ which underlie organized governments and customs, and which give form and life to communities, are very different, and sometimes antagonistic. It is certain, therefore, that man, really the same everywhere, has, in the course of ages, evolved from his own and surrounding nature very different forms of social life in the East and in the West. Man and nature radically the same, have, in different conditions, grown and put forth very dissimilar shapes of growth. The tree and the fruit are rooted in similar soil, have grown in similar air, sun, and rain. Even the trees are not wholly unlike, nor the fruit; yet, most unlike, when duly considered; and, when regarded with a view to usefulness and to perpetuation, _one_ may demand the axe, and the _other_ only the nice pruning-knife [quin-tse]. But a difference so great implies a different seed-germ--not necessarily; for, from the same germ, one may have a bitter, even a poisonous fruit, which finer culture can make sweet and healthful. If we assume, then, the same germ, whence so great diversity? In my poor mind, when, among the Barbarians, sad and bewildered by the disorder, confusion, and complexity, this question tediously presented itself--"Is man a creature of chance--is there no perfect rule?" I would say, "Is his _growth_ fortuitous like plants, beginning with similar germs and yet dissimilar--so, growing according to the hidden differences and the differing circumstances? Is there no common standard--no fixed measure--no absolute truth?" But, in my poor thought, I also said, "The Sovereign Lord lives in his children, and moral truth (_divine illumination_) must be. _It is simply true_, and can be no other. Human _forms_ of social being must be measured by it; and, however complexed and confused, _are so measured_, and will not long exist if radically inconsistent. Yet these forms may be bad without being wholly rootless, and grow _deformed_, strange, and noxious." In looking upon the disorderly and complex features of Barbarian life, two things prominently strike my poor mind. One is, _a restless activity_, accompanied with love of personal distinction and admiration of strength. The other, is the singular _position of women_. To the former, may be charged the selfish greed, the callous indifference, the delight in forays and plunder. To the latter, that aspect of dissolute disorder, that curious complexity of ideas and principles, which render the whole Barbarian Society a marvel--I liked to have said _a disgust_--to one unaccustomed to it. The position of women, as it affects _the family_, no doubt has an all-pervading influence--if that position be wrong, we have, at once, a grand source of evil.