before any trace can be found of the inhabitants of the rest of
the world having emerged from the rudest barbarism, we can
perceive that mighty and brilliant empires flourished in the
Asiatic continent. They appear before us through the twilight of
primeval history, dim and indistinct, but massive and majestic,
like mountains in the early dawn.

Instead, however, of the infinite variety and restless change
which have characterised the institutions and fortunes of
European states ever since the commencement of the civilization
of our continent, a monotonous uniformity pervades the histories
of nearly all Oriental empires, from the most ancient down to the
most recent times. They are characterised by the rapidity of
their early conquests; by the immense extent of the dominions
comprised in them; by the establishment of a satrap or pacha
system of governing the provinces; by an invariable and speedy
degeneracy in the princes of the royal house, the effeminate
nurslings of the seraglio succeeding to the warrior-sovereigns
reared in the camp; and by the internal anarchy and
insurrections, which indicate and accelerate the decline and fall
of those unwieldy and ill-organized fabrics of power. It is also
a striking fact that the governments of all the great Asiatic
empires have in all ages been absolute despotisms. And Heeren is
right in connecting this with another great fact, which is
important from its influence both on the political and the social
life of Asiatics. "Among all the considerable nations of Inner
Asia, the paternal government of every household was corrupted by
polygamy; where that custom exists, a good political constitution
is impossible. Fathers being converted into domestic despots,
are ready to pay the same abject obedience to their sovereign