THE EVOLUTION OF SOCIETY 



ties held in virtual federation — not by interna- 

 tional codes, but by the possession of guiding 

 principles of conduct more or less heartily rever- 

 enced by all — is chiefly the work of the Roman 

 Church. Here, finally, we have reached a sys- 

 tem whose structure bears in the highest degree 

 the marks of permanence. It is sustained by 

 the ever-deepening sentiments of cosmopolitan 

 philanthropy and universal justice, — the most 

 cohesive of social forces, as the spirit of local 

 selfishness was the most disruptive. 



Here it might seem that we have obtained 

 all the data requisite for enunciating our law of 

 social progress. But something is still wanting. 

 Our law of progress, if now enunciated, would 

 be too general. It would cover alike the phe- 

 nomena of social and of organic life. In both 

 there is an advance from indeterminate uni- 

 formity to determinate multiformity ; in both 

 there is a continuous adaptation of the organism 

 or the community to its environment ; and in 

 both there is a continuous integration, entail- 

 ing an advance from incoherence to coherence 

 of structure. We must now start in search of 

 that all-important clause which shall express the 

 essential difi^erence between organic and social 

 progress. 



In the ancient family community, as deline- 

 ated by Sir Henry Maine, the separate exist- 

 ence of the individuals was almost submerged 

 3^3 



