more cruel and more heavy even than the 

 dainty marquis of the old regime. So long 

 as war remains, the burden of France can- 

 not be shifted. 



In the evolution of races and of nations we 

 find at the outset two general laws, the one 

 self-evident, the other not apparent at first 

 sight, but equally demonstrable. The blood of 

 a nation determines its history. This is the first 

 proposition. The second is. The history of a 

 nation determines its blood. As for the first, no 

 one doubts that the character of men con- 

 trols their deeds. In the long run and with 

 masses of mankind this must be true, how- 

 ever great the emphasis we may lay on indi- 

 vidual initiative or on individual variation. 



Equally true is it that the present character 

 of a nation is made by its past history. Those 

 who are alive to-day are the resultants of the 

 stream of heredity as modified by the vicis- 

 situdes through which the nation has passed. 

 The blood of the nation flows in the veins 

 of those who survive. Those who die with- 

 out descendants can not color the stream of 

 heredity. It must take its traits from the 

 actual parentage. 



The 

 Human 



Harvest 



Blood de- 

 termines 

 history 



[39] 



