The Destiny of Man. 89 



which the frontier was perpetually ex- 

 posed, the Roman government became a 

 despotism which gradually took on many 

 of the vices of the Oriental type. The 

 political weakness which resulted from this 

 allowed Europe to be overrun by peoples 

 organized in clans and tribes, and for 

 some time there was a partial retrogres- 

 sion toward the disorder characteristic of 

 primitive ages. The retrogression was but 

 partial and temporary, however ; the ex- 

 posed frontier has been steadily pushed 

 eastward into the heart of Asia ; the in- 

 dustrial type of society is no longer men- 

 aced by the predatory type ; the primeval 

 clan-system has entirely disappeared as a 

 social force ; and warfare, once ubiquitous 

 and chronic, has become local and occa- 

 sional. 



The third and highest method of form- 

 ing great political bodies is that of federa- 

 tion. The element of righting was essen- 

 tial in the two lower methods, but in this 

 it is not essential. Here there is no con- 



