CXXTI ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT [eth. ann. JO 



men learn to deleg-ate their power to representative men chosen 

 for their wisdom. 



Tlie first presentation of the true nature of representative 

 government is recorded in the hterature of Greece. In Phito's 

 Repubhc we find romance deahng with ideal government. 

 The old philosopher dreamed of a state of society in which the 

 conduct of ffovernmeut should be relegated to the wisest and 

 best of mankind. Further, he attempted to set forth the con- 

 ditions under which the wise men should rule by delineating 

 their marriage relations and their property rights in terms that 

 seem strange and even bizarre to modern thought. Alas, he 

 did not ])roperly comprehend the method by which the wise 

 men could be selected. His theory of government by the wise 

 and <>ood became the ecclesiastical uolitv of the two g-reat 

 churches of earlv civilization — the Roman church and the 

 Greek church, which were organized to secure the rule of the 

 wise and good, and by both civil affairs were made sul)ordinate 

 to ecclesiastical affairs. 



While Plato thus became potent in founding tlie policies of 

 these churches, Aristotle was more influential in founding their 

 philosophies. The role which these two great thinkers ])laved 

 in the history of early civilization was profound, for thev cast 

 the thought of centuries into molds of learning, and these 

 molds gave figure and structure to philosophy and to church 

 polity which has lasted until modern times, when the molds 

 were broken only by the blows of science. 



We have stated that to Plato we owe the earliest compre- 

 hension of the principles of rej)resentative government. These 

 principles we must now set forth. 



It is an inherent principle in society that the man}' follow 

 where the few lead. Knowledge is always born of one and 

 diffuses to the many. The annals of science are the record of 

 the disco\eries of individuals. Advances are made by discov- 

 erers and the world of science is dependent upon intellectual 

 leaders. A new thought may lie dormant until it finds clear 

 expression. It often happens that new thoughts gain accept- 

 ance only when they are presented by some person who has 

 the genius of expression, but when they come to be deftly 

 expressed thev are speedilv diffused among mankind. 



