Biological Point of View 17 



confessed that the logic of the system was not 

 nearly so plain to the dull minds of the peas- 

 antry as it was to the acute and trained minds 

 of the lawyers versed in the traditions of the 

 conquerors. ]\Iany were the related systems so 

 developed — Egyptian, Babylonian, Assyrian, 

 Greek, and Roman. To the militaristic, com- 

 mercial civilization of the Romans, so expert 

 in the centralization of power and wealth, is 

 given the credit for bequeathing to modern 

 Europe the fundamentals of the system of jus- 

 tice it now enjoys. It may be worth while to 

 observe that as a result of the obtuseness of 

 the peasants to the philosophies of their lords, 

 they came to be looked down upon as a lower 

 species, fundamentally lacking in initiative, 

 enterprise, and wit. 



6. Present-day Society 



Because of the greatly increased production 

 of wealth in modern times, we are apt to con- 

 clude superficially that now at least the biologi- 

 cal factors as seen in evolution and history 

 have spent themselves as ruling forces. But 

 the evolutionist again insists that we face the 

 unpleasant facts. The modern era has seen 

 a blossoming of feudalism into empires of busi- 



