316 SOCIAL HEREDITY AND SOCIAL EVOLUTION 



Cavour created free Italy and Bismarck imperial 

 Germany. Throughout human history single indi- 

 viduals may be seen to be guiding the evolution of 

 society. This is an absolutely new phase in the his- 

 tory of the world; for such a condition never has 

 and never could have occurred among any animals 

 lower than man. It is clearly the new force of social 

 heredity that has brought into existence this new 

 mighty influence, which has been felt in all ages since 

 man began to unite into societies, and which is felt 

 to-day with even greater force than ever, since with 

 higher civilization the single individual becomes ca- 

 pable of doing greater works because he can control 

 the actions of larger associations of men. Social 

 heredity, by furnishing the exceptional individual 

 with almost unlimited powers, has thus called into 

 existence perhaps the most mighty force that has 

 contributed to the evolution of the social organism. 



Civilization and Intelligence Have Developed 



Together 



We may notice next that the new force of social 

 heredity explains the recognized fact that intelli- 

 gence has developed as civilization has advanced. 

 That the intellectual possibilities of twentieth cen- 

 tury man are far above those of primitive man will 

 not be questioned. As long as science held the view 

 of heredity accepted before Weismann it was natural 

 to suppose that intelligence should advance with 

 civilization. As long as it was supposed that the 

 characters acquired by one generation could be 

 transmitted to the next it would follow that the 

 results of the accumulating experiences of the race 

 would be handed on from age to age, so that the 



