284 THE PRESENT IMPORTANCE OF SCIENCE 



unsuccessful does not mean that the ideal of democracy is 

 unsound. 



In taking this position with reference to democracy, we 

 are not insensible to the claims of aristocracy. The inequal- 

 ity of men is a biological fact, but it is also a fact that men 

 resemble one another in their more essential particulars of 

 mind as well as body, hence the genus Homo. It appears 

 from biological studies that intellectual ability is widely 

 distributed, and chance Mendelian combinations may at 

 any time give rise to genius in peasant hut or city slum. The 

 indictment of aristocracy is that it degrades the masses; 

 while among the few that are elevated, a large proportion 

 are maintained in their position by hereditary advantage 

 and not by personal worth. The relation of servant to master 

 is beautiful in a way, if the master be a just one and the 

 servant faithful. But the finer human qualities are not 

 developed by those who are submissively obedient, nor by 

 those who assume the obedience of others to be their right. 

 It is when men contend with men in a fair field with no fa- 

 vors that the virile qualities of the human spirit make their 

 appearance. Those who cry that men should think on 

 duties not on rights forget that duty means submission, and 

 that while submission may be necessary at times it should 

 be regarded as a means to an end not an end in itself. 



An established aristocracy must always be founded upon 

 certain unfair advantages. These advantages may be the 

 visible splendor of vast estates and palaces or they may be 

 the prestige which makes great splendor unnecessary to 

 command the respect of inferiors. The industrial aristocracy 

 of the modern community is a case where the visible founda- 

 tion is in evidence, while the German Junker, whose income 

 from his land was far from lucrative, was a case where pres- 

 tige was substituted for more impressive possessions. From 

 now on, it would seem impossible for any form of society 

 to endure which does not tend toward equal opportunity 

 among the people as a whole. True, the attempts at de- 



