Yet that it is a very important aspect will now be shown by a hasty survey of the world according to geographical regions.
* * * * * Let us begin with Europe, so as to proceed gradually from the more known to the less known.

Lecky has spoken of "the European epoch of the human mind." What is the geographical and physical theatre of that epoch?
We may distinguish--I borrow the suggestion from Professor Myres--three stages in its development.

Firstly, there was the river-phase; next, the Mediterranean phase; lastly, the present-day Atlantic phase.

Thus, to begin with, the valleys of the Nile and Euphrates were each the home of civilizations both magnificent and enduring.

They did not spring up spontaneously, however.