ps enlarged to full national
life. This third stage finally passed to the larger idea of
international usage, and is prospective of a world state. These four
stages of human society, so sweeping in their generalization, still
point to the idea of the slow evolution of social order.

_The Development of Family Life_.--Starting with the hypothesis that
man at one time associated in a state of promiscuity, he passed through
the separate stages of polyandry and polygamy, and finally reached a
state of monogamy and the pure home life of to-day. Those who have
advocated this doctrine have failed to substantiate it clearly so as to
receive from scholars the recognition of authority. All these forms of
family life except the first have been observed among the savage tribes
of modern life, but there are not sufficient data to prove that the
human race, in the order of its development, must have passed through
these four stages. However, it is true that the modern form of
marriage and pure home life did not always exist, but are among the
achievements of modern civilization. There certainly has been a
gradual improvement in the relations of the members of the household,
and notwithstanding the defects of faithlessness and ignorance, the
modern family is the social unit and the hope of modern social progress.

_The Growth of Political Life_.--Many have seen in this the only true
measure of progress, for it is affirmed that advancement in civil life
is the essential element of civilization. Its importance in
determining social order makes it a central factor in all progress.
The _primitive family_ represents the germ {43} of early political
foundation. It was the first organized unit of society, and contained
all of the rudimentary forms of government. The executive, the
judicial, the legislative, and the administrative functions of
government were all combined in one simple family organization. The
head of the family was king, lord, judge, priest, and military
commander all in one. As the family expanded it formed the _gens_ or
_clan_, with an enlarged family life and more systematic family
government. The religious life expanded also, and a common altar and a
common worship were instituted.

A slight progress toward social order and the tendency to distribute
the powers of government are to be observed. Certain property was held
in common and certain laws regulated the family life. The family
groups continued to