Civilisation : Its Cause and Cure 



into history we find that almost every human 

 impulse has at some age been held in esteem 

 and allowed full play ; thus man came to recognise 

 its beauty and value. But then, lest it should 

 come (as it surely would) to tyrannise over the 

 rest, it has been dethroned, and so in a later age 

 the same quality is scouted and banned. Last 

 of all it has to find its perfect human use and to 

 take its place with the rest. Up to the age of 

 Civilisation (according to writers on primitive 

 Society) the early tribes of mankind, though 

 limited each in their habits, were essentially 

 democratical in structure. In fact, nothing had 

 occurred to make them otherwise. Each member 

 stood on a footing of equality with the rest ; 

 individual men had not in their hands an arbitrary 

 power over others ; and the tribal life and standard 

 ruled supreme. And when, in the future and on 

 a much higher plane, the true Democracy comes, 

 this equality which has so long been in abeyance 

 will be restored, not only among men but also, 

 in a sense, among all the passions and qualities 

 of manhood : none will be allowed to tyrannise 

 over others, but all will have to be subject to the 

 supreme life of humanity. The chariot of Man 

 instead of two horses will have a thousand ; but 

 they will all be under control of the charioteer. 

 Meanwhile it may not be extravagant to suppose 

 that all through the Civilisation-period the so- 

 called criminals are keeping open the possibility 

 of a return to this state of society. They are 

 preserving, in a rough and unattractive husk 



172 



