The more one studies current life， the more he is inclined to look upon superficiality as its least tractable defect.
The new conditions demand also a thorough， yet diversified and adaptable， system of training for the individual who is to share in this freer and more exigent society While democracy as a spirit is spontaneous， only the fullest development of personal faculty can make this spirit effectual on a great scale.Our confidence in our instincts need not be shaken， but our application of them must be enlarged and enlightened.We must be taught to do some one thing well， and yet never allowed to lose our sense of the relation of that one thing to the general endeavor.
The general or public phase of larger consciousness is what we call Democracy.I mean by this primarily the organized sway of public opinion.
It works out also in a tendency to humanize the collective life， to make institutions express the higher impulses of human nature， instead of brutal or mechanical conditions.That which most inwardly distinguishes modern life from ancient or mediaeval is the conscious power of the common people trying to effectuate their instincts.All systems rest， in a sense， upon public opinion； but the peculiarity of our time is that this opinion is more and more rational and self-determining.It is not， as in the past， a mere reflection of conditions believed to be inevitable， but seeks prineiples， finds these principles in human nature， and is determined to conform life to them or know why not.In this all earnest people， in their diverse ways， are taking part.
We find， of course， that but little can be carried out on the highest moral plane； the mind cannot attend to many things with that concentration which achieves adequate expression， and the principle of compensation is ever at work.If one thing is well done， others are overlooked， so that we are constantly being caught and ground in our own neglected mechanism.
On the whole， however， the larger mind involves a democratic and humanistic trend in every phase of life.A right democracy is simply the application on a large scale of principles which are universally felt to be right as applied to a small group梡rinciples of free cooperation motived by a common spirit which each serves according to his capacity.Most of what is characteristic of the time is evidently of this nature； as， for instance， our sentiment of fair play， our growing kindliness， our cult of womanhood， our respect for hand labor， and our endeavor to organize society economically or on "business principles."And it is perhaps equally evident that the ideas which these replace梠f caste， of domination， of military glory， of "conspicuous leisure" and the like梥prang from a secondary and artificial system， based on conditions which forbade a large realization of primary ideals.
May we not say， speaking largely， that there has always been a democratic tendency， whose advance has been conditioned by the possibility， under actual conditions， of organizing popular thought and will on a wide scale？
Free cooperation is natural and human； it takes place spontaneously among children on the playground， among settlers in new countries， and among the most primitive sorts of men梕verywhere， in short， where the secondary and artificial discipline has not supplanted it.The latter， including every sort of coercive or mechanical control is of course， natural in the larger sense， and functional in human development； but there must ever be some resistance to it， which will tend to become effective when the control ceases to be maintained by the pressure of ex--pediency.Accordingly we see that throughout modern history， and especially during the past century， there has been a progressive humanism， a striving to clear away lower forms of cooperation no longer essential， and to substitute something congenial to natural impulse.
Discussion regarding the comparative merits of monarchy， aristocracy and democracy has come to be looked upon as scholastic.The world is clearly democratizing； it is only a question of how fast the movement can take place， and what， under various conditions， it really involves.Democracy， instead of being a single and definite political type， proves to be merely a principle of breadth in organization， naturally prevalent wherever men have learned how to work it， under which life will be at least as various in its forms as it was before.
It involves a change in the character of social discipline not confined to politics， but as much at home in one sphere as another.With facility of communication as its mechanical basis， it proceeds inevitably to discuss and experiment with freer modes of action in religion， industry， education， philanthropy and the family.The law of the survival of the fittest will prevail in regard to social institutions， as it has in the past， but the conditions of fitness have undergone a change the implications of which we can but dimly foresee.
Endnotes Pages 169， 171.F.S.Dellenbaugh， The North Americans of Yesterday， 416.J.R.Green， History of the English People， i， 13.J.Donovan， The Festal Origin of Human Speech.Mind， Octover 1891."Jura neget sibi nata， nihil non arroget armis."桯orace， A~E Poet.， 122.J O.Dorsey， Omaha Sociology， 315， 316.A publication of the US Bureau of Ethnology.Quoted by Gibbon， Decline and Fall， Milman-Smith edition， i， 194， 195.The Spirit of Laws， book ix， chap.1.Democracy in America， vol.i， chap.24.One of many illuminating phrases introduced by T.V.Veblen in his work on The Theory of the Leisure Class.
