176 SOCIAL HEREDITY AND SOCIAL EVOLUTION 



centralizing tendencies, positively refuse to recognize 

 a centralized authority sufficient to produce despot- 

 ism. Russia is an instance of a communal Aryan 

 race upon which the patriarchal idea of absolutism 

 has been secondarily engrafted. To-day it retains 

 much of its absolutism and still remains a great and 

 powerful nation. But Russia up to the present time 

 has not been a great force in the world 's history. We 

 are to-day wondering as to the future of this great 

 nation, and sometimes ask if it is to become the 

 world power of the twentieth century. But our ex- 

 pectations on this score are based upon the fact 

 that it is a nation of so many millions of people. 

 Judging, however, from the past history of thei 

 Aryan race, and, indeed, from the past history of 

 the world, no nation which has been under the control 

 of an absolute monarch has long been able to hold its 

 own in the struggle for existence with other Aryan 

 nations. This race has refused to submit perma- 

 nently to absolutism. Hitherto absolute monarchy in 

 Europe has contained seeds of failure; and Russia, 

 since she is an absolute monarchy, is by no means 

 sure of remaining a world power. Its absolutism is 

 an inherent weakness and has produced already the 

 internal corruption which, hitherto, has always been 

 the beginning of decay. Russia's chance of ruling 

 the twentieth century would be much greater if all 

 authority had not become so centered as to crush 

 out the individual. 



We thus reach two seemingly opposite conclusions. 

 We learn that centralization and organization are 

 influences of irresistible power which have produced 

 all the strong nations, since no nation that has 

 refused to be centralized has long continued to exist 



