the general direction op progress 187 



Exaltation of the Individual 



Althougli centralization curbs freedom, still, with 

 advancing civilization, a different phase of society 

 has been developing, by which the individual is less 

 and less called upon to sacrifice himself for the 

 benefit of the community. Far down in the scale of 

 animals the production of offspring results in the 

 destruction of the parent. Most low animals die as 

 soon as they mature their eggs. Each animal is 

 sacrificed to the necessity of perpetuating the species. 

 Eeproduction is the end of life. Even among the 

 low races of savages this is, to a large extent, true, 

 especially for the female sex. The savage wife sacri- 

 fices all her individual interests to her one duty of 

 rearing children. But as we pass through the stages 

 of civilization we find that the necessity for this sacri- 

 fice becomes less and less. In the higher stages of 

 society we no longer recognize that such a necessity 

 exists at all. In modern society the perpetuation of 

 the race is an incident, but not the end of life. The 

 individual counts for more than the offspring. In 

 modern society the purpose of existence is life, not 

 reproduction. 



In still another direction are less frequent calls 

 made upon the individual for the sacrifice of his 

 interests. Whereas with savages and with ancient 

 nations the king had the right, universally recog- 

 nized, of demanding the life of his subjects, in 

 modern times, among all Western nations, this right 

 is no longer recognized. Even the absolute monarch 

 of Eussia is no longer in a position where his word 

 is regarded as sufficient excuse for the execution of 

 his subjects; it must at least have a semblance of 



