THE EVOLUTION OF A FATHER 399 



avenge a Family insult in countries where this pre- 

 vails was a sacred duty to all the relatives, and 

 even the last surviving member willingly gave up 

 his life to vindicate its honour. So strong indeed 

 sometimes has grown the power of individual 

 Families that the more desirable spread of Altruism 

 to the Nation was threatened, and wider interests 

 so much forgotten that the Family became the 

 enemy of the State. Nothing could more forcibly 

 show the tremendous power of self-development 

 contained within the Family circle, and the solidity 

 and strength to which it can grow, than that, time 

 after time in history, it has had to be crushed 

 and broken up by all the forces of the State. 



Among other elements in human nature fostered 

 in the Family is one of exceptional interest. The 

 attempt has been made to show that from the 

 inevitable relations of early Family life, the sense 

 of Duty first dawned upon the world. The theme 

 is too great, too intricate, and too dangerous to 

 open under the limitations of the present inquiry, 

 for these deny us the appeal to Society, to Re- 

 ligion, and even to the Conscience of the higher 

 Man. But it is due to the Father, whose Evolu- 

 tion we are tracing, that the share he is sup- 

 posed by some authorities to take in it should 

 be at least named. 



