204 MARRIAGE AND HEREDITY 



by circumstances into the meek, submissive, police- 

 ridden householder and ratepayer, who, if he dared 

 to lift his hand to a disobedient son, would be punished 

 by the tribunals. Simultaneously with the emanci- 

 pation of women there has come about the disintegra- 

 tion of the family. In France and the Latin countries 

 generally, parental authority being intimately bound 

 up with the legal code, continues to be more or 

 less respected ; among the Anglo-Saxon communi- 

 ties it has become merely nominal. Englishmen are 

 apt to be amused at the reverence shown in French 

 drama and literature to the sacred names of " father " 

 and " mother.'* But in France the manifestation of 

 filial respect is as real as that of the contrary sentiment 

 in this country, where, on the stage at least, a man 

 who wept at parting from his parents, or who even con- 

 sulted them about his love affairs, would be laughed at. 

 Broadly speaking, the more highly developed 

 our social relations become, the more is the in- 

 dividual citizen subordinated to the community, 

 and the smaller is his power of initiative or right of 

 private judgment. The resident in a great town may 

 have his own ideas of adorning his dwelling or 

 ministering to his comfort ; but if these conflict with 

 the interests of the community, the State steps in 



