THE EVOLUTION OF A FATHER. 311 



Family and remain an utter egoist. His interests are 

 perforce divided, and though the Family group is a 

 small surface for unselfishness to spread to and to 

 practise on, no greater feat could as yet be attempted, 

 and Evolution never runs risks of too rapid develop- 

 ment or over-strain. With the incorporation of the 

 Family into a Clan or Tribe the area will presently 

 be extended, and the necessity of controlling self- 

 interest^more thoroughly, or merging it in a wider 

 interest, become more obligatory. But to prepare the 

 altruistic sentiment for so great an abnegation, the 

 simpler discipline of the Family was required. How 

 firmly Families in time became welded together in 

 mutual interest and support, and how much crude 

 Altruism this implies, is evident from the place of 

 Family fejids and the power of great Families and 

 Houses both in ancient and modern history. A strik- 

 ing instance is the Vendetta. To avenge a Family 

 insult in countries where this prevails was a sacred 

 duty to all the relatives, and even the last surviving 

 member willingly gave up his life to vindicate its 

 honor. So strong indeed sometimes has grown the 

 power of individual Families that the more desirable 

 spread of Altruism to the Nation was threatened, and 

 wider interests so much forgotten that the Family 

 became the enemy of the State. Nothing could more 

 forcibly show the tremendous power of self-develop- 

 ment contained within the Family circle, and the 

 solidity and strength to which it can grow, than 

 that, time after time in history, it has had to be 

 crushed and broken up by all the forces of the 

 State. 

 Among other elements in human nature fostered in 



