THE PURPOSE OF LIFE 185 



body ; returning in fact to the ranks of the animal 

 world whence they have emerged, to find themselves 

 at last, in their pleasures and pains, a little lower, a 

 little less self-respecting than the beasts. In the 

 second place, there is always the possibility of a con- 

 spiracy, more or less intentional, on behalf of societies 

 which have advanced to a certain level, to arrest the 

 movement of progress, to destroy the abler and more 

 progressive stocks, to eliminate all individuality that 

 makes the majority of mankind realize its own in- 

 feriority and the necessity of a further struggle to 

 justify their continued existence. Every individual, 

 dimly comprehending that he himself may be among 

 the less favoured members of the community, may 

 enter into this conspiracy, and secure his own im- 

 munity by a decree of universal toleration and absolute 

 equality of opportunity and treatment. The citizen 

 who wished to banish Aristides because he was tired 

 of hearing him called " the just " was probably not sure 

 that he himself was a just man. He is frequently to 

 be met with in our modern social organization. It is 

 invidious to specify nations or professions, where so 

 many countries and types of character are gravely 

 involved ; but it is almost impossible to watch French 

 politics without fearing that for any man to succeed 

 above his fellows is a sure sign for some combination 

 to be set in motion which will secure his downfall. 

 Modern states are highly complex organisms, needing 

 a wide range of specialized faculties, distributed in 

 different sections of the population, to enable them to 

 survive. It is perhaps doubtful judging from present 

 tendencies whether any democracy will be able to pre- 



