The CURSE OF IGNORANCE A History of Mankind From primitive times to the end of the Second ...

625 Pages·2009·1.98 MB·English

by  Carlos Sylvanstoke

The
CURSE OF IGNORANCE
A History of Mankind
From primitive times to the end of the
Second World War
BY
ARTHUR FINDLAY
IN TWO VOLUMES

Ignorance is the curse of God. Knowledge is the wing wherewith we fly to
heaven.”—SHAKESPEARE

VOLUME ONE
CONTENTS
FIRST VOLUME
Foreword
CHAPTER I
Happiness Or Misery? ......................................................................... 7
Education, The Hope Of The Human Race............................................. 12
Knowledge Is Essential To Ethical Progress........................................... 21
CHAPTER II
Religion Or Ethics? .............................................................................. 29
Righteousness And Wisdom Come From Mental Development............... 38
First Place Must Be Given To The Virtues.............................................. 50
The Key To The Correct Understanding Of History.................................. 55
CHAPTER III
Primitive Man........................................................................................ 59
Man’s Place In The Universe.................................................................. 60
From The Prehistoric Age To The Beginning Of Civilisation.................... 74
CHAPTER IV
The Oldest Civilisations......................................................................... 91
Sumerian, Babylonian And Assyrian Civilisations (3000—332 B.C.)...... 96
Egyptian Civilisation (3000—332 B.C.).................................................. 111
Indian Civilisation (2500-126 B.C.)........................................................ 121
Chinese Civilisation (2356 B.C.—A.D. 384)............................................ 134
CHAPTER V
Hebrew Civilisation (1800 B.C.—A.D. 614.) ........................................... 142
Early Tradition Of The Children Of Israel .............................................. 142
The Rise And Fall Of The Kingdom Of Israel.......................................... 150
The Jews, From The Captivity To Their Final Dispersal.......................... 159
CHAPTER VI
Greek Civilisation (2500—146 B.C.) ...................................................... 170
Aryan Nomads Become Known As Greeks ............................................. 173
The Political, Social, And Religious Life Of Greece.................................. 176
Greece Saves Europe From A Persian Invasion...................................... 188
The Intellectual Life Of Greece............................................................... 195
Greece Is Devastated By Civil War......................................................... 208
Education Spreads From Greece Throughout The Roman Empire.......... 210
Alexander Conquers Much Of The Civilised World................................. 216
The Decline And Conquest Of Greece .................................................... 223
Contribution Greece Made To The Christian Religion............................. 226
CHAPTER VII
ROMAN CIVILISATION........................................................................... 233
The Republic, From Its Inception To Its First Dictator............................. 237
Julius Caesar, And The Emperors To Marcus Aurelius.......................... 250
Rome’s Contribution To The World’s Mental Wealth............................... 263
The Tragic History Of The God-Emperors.............................................. 274
The Origin And Growth Of The Christian Church.................................. 277
From Constantine To The Collapse Of The Empire................................. 304
CHAPTER VIII
CHRISTIAN CIVILISATION..................................................................... 321
The Rise To Power Of The Christian Church.......................................... 326
The Beginning Of Christian Civilisation................................................. 342
Europe Before And After The Fall Of The Roman Empire....................... 360
The Middle East After The Collapse Of The Roman Empire.................... 368
CHAPTER IX
Moslem Cilivisation............................................................................... 376
Mahomet Sets The Arab World Ablaze................................................... 379
The Rise And Fall Of The Arabian Empire.............................................. 385
The Turks Become A Great Power.......................................................... 393
India During Moslem Rule..................................................................... 403
Moslem Spain Becomes A Beacon In Europe's Night.............................. 405
CHAPTER X
CHRISTIAN CIVILISATION..................................................................... 417
Europe Takes Shape as Separate Kingdoms.......................................... 424
Christendom’s Holy War On The Moslems............................................. 436
Germany And Italy Iin The Middle Ages................................................. 454
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France During the Crusades................................................................. 467
England Becomes A United Nation........................................................ 474
Chinese Civilisation .............................................................................. 496
CHAPTER XI
Christian Civilisation ............................................................................ 504
England And France At War for Over A Hundred Years.......................... 507
The Kings Of Europe Command And The Servile People Obey................ 528
Spain Under Christian Rule.................................................................. 538
Exploration And Colonisation Beyoung The Sea .................................... 542
The Torch Of Knowledge Begins To Glow In Europe............................... 563
The Basis Is Laid For Parliament And Education In England................. 591
Europe Prior To The Reformation .......................................................... 597
End Of Volume І ................................................................................... 615

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DEDICATED
TO ALL WHO HAVE DIED OR SUFFERED IN
THE CAUSE OF HUMAN FREEDOM
AND LIBERTY
FOREWORD
The aim of this book is to increase knowledge, as only by education,
along the path of what we know to be true, can ethical conduct the world over
rise to a level which will bring to everyone security, peace, contentment, and
happiness. Most of our troubles come from ignorance, and from lack of
knowledge of how we all should live together wisely, happily and contented, free
from sickness, poverty and war. As ignorance is the root of most of the
misfortunes which beset us, nothing is more important than the increase of
knowledge, because this leads to wisdom, the source of happiness.
Ignorance has been the curse of the human race, from the time our
primitive ancestors evolved into the creature which we call man. Away back in
the far distant past, the mind which controlled sub-man, then the most
advanced of the animal species, decided that it would strike out along a path of
its own, and leave the jungle for the open spaces, there to find sustenance for
its physical habitation. By so doing it entered an uncharted sea, abounding
with rocks and shoals on which it was for ever foundering, but, by leaving
safety behind, and seeking danger, it developed until it reached the stage of
civilised man. Had this urge for change and exploration been lacking, man
would never have risen above the beast.
The course set by early man led him against repeated dangers which had
to be overcome if he were to survive, and if he had not developed memory,
which to him was his compass, he would have foundered and been destroyed.
Fortunately, by remembering his past mistakes, he did not always repeat them,
and thus mind developed and reasoned thought took the place of instinct.
From the time of primitive man to the present day, millions upon millions of
causes and effects have evolved the human mind to its present standard,
countless millions of thoughts remembered having raised us to the position we
now occupy in the realm of life this earth supports.
Beginning in the darkness of ignorance, mind has gradually won its way,
to some degree, into the light of knowledge. Forever cursed by ignorance, the
struggle has been slow and uncertain, and only by finally remembering
repeated mistakes did the blackness of ignorance give place to the light of
knowledge. There is, however, still a long road to travel before the goal is
reached, as many past mistakes have not yet been sufficiently remembered to
prevent their repetition. Much knowledge must yet be accumulated, and
greater wisdom must still be acquired, before man can secure the state of
harmony and happiness he longs to attain. His life is still surrounded by
hidden rocks into which he continually blunders, as he cannot yet remember
sufficiently well the wounds and bruises they have already caused him. His
compass of memory is still far from perfect, and much greater knowledge and
experience must yet come his way before the curse of ignorance is finally
removed.
1
This book has been written to help, in some small degree, the further
removal of this sinister failing which brings so much sorrow and trouble in its
train. Its subject is the long, long story of man’s upward climb from ignorance
to knowledge, and its object is still further to increase knowledge, so that past
mistakes may be remembered and not repeated. No better way can be found to
remove our present troubles than by learning about the mistakes of our
ancestors, of how’ many were remembered and not repeated, and of how those
continually forgotten involved them in sorrow, suffering and disappointment.
Though experience has taught mankind much, and much has been
remembered, one past evil experience is still being constantly forgotten, to his
sorrow and impoverishment. Instead of learning that misery and poverty too
often come from theft and the desire for domination, man still pursues the
methods of his jungle ancestors who grabbed and fought to secure what they
wanted. This human weakness is kept in check within each nation by the
police and the law, but we have so far discovered no means to prevent one
nation from using all its resources to conquer another which it wishes to
subdue to its will and pleasure. Nevertheless there is a remedy, and it will be
stressed in the pages which follow.
This age-old evil, which we call war, is still with us today, and never
before has greater destruction, misery and suffering followed in its wake.
Nearly a thousand separate wars have been fought in Europe over the past
2500 years, and within the last 4000 years the world has enjoyed peace for
only 268 years. Within the lifetime of some people living today twenty-three
major wars have been waged, with the accompanying waste of wealth and
energy, misery and suffering to all concerned. Besides these major wars
numerous minor wars have been fought against native communities, such as
Zulus, Matabele, Kaffirs, Sudanese, and on the frontier of India. Considering
only the important wars since 1864, we find that during these last eighty-two
years war was raging somewhere on earth for forty-six years, from which
followed destruction of property, great misery and suffering, and the loss of
valuable lives.1
This is an impressive example of human combativeness, cruelty and
stupidity, and should give cause for serious thought. The suffering which the
human family has endured from war over the past eighty years is but a small
fraction of the misery it has caused since the time of primitive man, and, as we
study the story of the past, we have cause to think deeply of the meaning of it
all. Is war an infliction which the human race must bear, or, as with the

1 Prussian-Danish war 1864, Prussian-Austrian war 1866, Prussian- French war 1870—71, Serbian-
Turkish war 1876, Russian-Turkish war 1877—8, First Boer war 1881, Serbian-Bulgarian war 1885-6,
Italian-Abyssinian war 1887, Chinese-Japanese war 1894, Italian-Abyssinian war 1896, Grecian-Turkish
war 1897, Spanish-American war1898, Second Boer war 1899—1902, Russian-Japanese war 1904—5,
Italian-Turkish war 1911-12, First and Second Balkan wars 1912—13, First World War 1914—18,
Russian Civil war 1919-20, Paraguayan-Bolivian war 1932—4, Italian-Abyssinian war 1935—6, Spanish
Civil war 1936—8, Chinese-Japanese war 1937—45, Second World War 1939—45.

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plague, is it possible to find a remedy so that the great majority of mankind
who love peace and hate war may be able to live in peaceful security? That is
one of the problems this book sets out to solve.
Every war in the past can be traced to selfishness, greed, fear, or
intolerance; in fact, in the ultimate analysis, the cause of war can be resolved
into ignorance. If we think out the remedy for this curse of ignorance which
afflicts mankind, we shall arrive at the conclusion that by education future
generations could prevent a repetition of all these past tragedies, if taught the
wisdom and importance of unselfishness and compromise, besides being given
a thorough grounding in history for the purpose of emphasizing the follies and
mistakes of our ancestors. Only by education along these lines will it be
possible to build up a stable organisation; to which all nations will loyally
contribute, for the purpose of ensuring the future peace of the world. Peace
within the nation can only be maintained by force, and likewise international
peace can only be so upheld until the ethical development of the race rises to
such a level that force becomes unnecessary.
If there were no power within the nation to maintain peace there would
be chaos, as boundaries would be for ever overrun by those who are always
ready to take what does not belong to them. What applies to the nation likewise
applies to the world community of nations. We have solved the problem of
national peace, and we have now to set to work to solve the problem of
international peace, but before this is possible the minds of the people must
rise to a higher level. This can only come about by increased knowledge, and
an advance in our ethical standards.
Until the human family can find a way to live together in peace we are
little better than civilised animals. We may accomplish much in other spheres
of activity, but, if we cannot find the means to live at peace one with another,
all our other conquests of the forces of nature are relatively of little importance.
Only wisdom and knowledge can bring to us the peace and happiness we all
desire, and it should therefore be the aim of everyone to increase in wisdom
and accumulate greater knowledge.
This, then, is the conclusion reached in the pages which follow, and the
next question to be answered is how to bring home to everyone throughout the
world this knowledge, from which will come increased wisdom. Surely the best
way is to tell every child, in every school, in every land, honestly and simply,
the story of the past achievements and mistakes of their ancestors, so that they
may learn to emulate all that was good and avoid all that was evil. We have a
record of the past experiences of the race from which to profit, and, if this is
put forward for all to read in an attractive form, the lessons it has to teach will
some day be learned, to the lasting happiness of all mankind.
That is what this book attempts to do. If it also succeeds in throwing
further light on the cause of and the remedy for, the greatest curse which
afflicts the human race, its purpose will be served, and the labour of writing
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this book will not have been expended in vain. A knowledge of history, and the
great latent power behind education, are the two forces which will finally
destroy the dragon of war. History, however, must be honestly taught, and
education must also include ethical instruction if these two influences are to
have the desired effect, as, if misused, they can be equally employed for evil
purposes. The future historian must write as a world citizen, as one who
belongs to no country, professes no creed and has no party politics, and this is
the policy I have tried to follow throughout this book.
What has been omitted, or glossed over, in other history books is here
included, as only the truth can make us free, free from ignorance and all that it
entails, namely, war, cruelty, poverty, suffering and misery. Both politicians
and priests have misled the people in the past, and will continue to do so until
knowledge increases. A prominent British politician, a member of the Cabinet,
for instance, broadcast over the radio on Empire Day (1942) a fulsome story of
the rise of the British Empire, which he was at great pains to emphasise was
not won by conquest! Leading ecclesiastics likewise, during the Second World
War, were permitted to use the radio to give listeners a glowing account of the
benefits which Christian civilisation had brought to Christendom. The motive
behind all these misrepresentations of facts was to create a favourable effect,
and not for the purpose of instruction in what is true.
As, however, most people accept what they hear without much
knowledge, or reasoned thought to guide them, they carry through life many
misconceptions which bias their judgment and affect their comprehension. To
counteract these misunderstandings, and to increase knowledge, I have written
my various books, the idea of writing for gain being entirely absent. This fact
enables me always to express myself freely on all subjects, because I am not
restricted by the feeling that unpopular opinions will retard their circulation.
Fortunately I am able to give the necessary time and thought to this effort, no
other reason influencing me than the advancement of understanding so as to
bring about an increase in the happiness of mankind.
Much of my time during the past six years has been occupied writing this
book, The Curse of ignorance. It, and its immediate predecessor, The Psychic
Stream, embrace the religious, political and social history of mankind from
primitive times to the present day. The compilation of both these books has
been a long, and arduous undertaking, to which I have given much time and
thought during the past ten years when I could find the necessary leisure from
my many other duties. My labour, however, will be amply rewarded if, by a
study of their contents, my aim of greater mental enlightenment is
accomplished.
The pages which follow comprise the history of mankind from the age
when our ancestors, the submen, pelted their enemies with stones from the
tree tops, to the time when their descendants climbed into the heavens on
wings and dropped high explosive bombs on helpless men, women and
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children. Indeed some of its earlier chapters were written when these latter
conditions prevailed in close proximity to my home.
The war, to my wife and myself, as it did to others, brought unexpected
changes. When it began we offered our home, Stansted Hall, as a gift to the Red
Cross for the duration of the war, if they would use it as a Convalescent Home.
This offer was accepted in December 1940, and from then until the close of
hostilities over 5500 soldiers, recovering from accidents, wounds and illness,
recuperated within its walls and enjoyed the beauties and pleasures of its
surroundings.
As the Red Cross required the entire house we had to seek a war-time
home, and I had to give up my duties as Chief Warden for North-West Essex,
there being then no other house available in the neighbourhood because so
many people from London had sought refuge in the country from the nightly air
raids. We were, however, fortunate to be able to rent part of Rockingham Castle
in Northamptonshire for the duration of the war, and there I wrote most of this
book, having by then come to the definite conclusion that war would never
cease to recur until the mental level of the people everywhere was raised to a
higher standard, by means of greater knowledge and a much improved system
of ethical education.
No more suitable place could have been found to write a history of the
past, as this historic edifice has sheltered many who have been famous in our
island’s history. Doomsday Book mentions that it was originally a Saxon
stronghold, and William the Conqueror transformed it into a castle. There, in
1095, his son William II, surrounded by his leading church men and nobles, in
the Great Hall, disputed for two days with Anselm, the recently appointed Arch
bishop of Canterbury, who insisted on receiving his robe of office from a Pope
whom the King had not yet recognised, there being then two claimants to the
Holy See.
Until 1485 the castle was a royal residence, “The Windsor Castle of the
Midlands”, to become in after years the home of men prominent in British
history. On its walls hang portraits of some of Britain’s famous rulers, while, in
the Great Hall, still stands an iron trunk said to have been left there by King
John before he set out to cross the Wash, where disaster, caused by the rising
tide, overtook what remained of his baggage. An iron chest, which is said to
have belonged to Henry V, stands nearby. In the room where part of this book
was written, Charles Dickens, in 1849—50, wrote David C and about the castle
he weaved the setting of another of his stories.
Throughout the years of peace and war, the Wars of the Roses, and the
Civil War, when the Roundheads took possession of the castle, its ancient walls
have stood, and still give shelter to a descendant of the family which obtained
possession of the property from King James I. What better setting could the
historian desire to stimulate his thoughts when recording the deeds of the past,
as from my study window I surveyed the ancient keep and battlements which
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