Animism itself was a form of belief which came to higher issues in the social intercourse of man with man. The belief which man came to hold as to the animistic character of all objects whatsoever attained to vividness and certainty when applied to his fellow-men. In this sphere there was cer- tainty, for was there not the interchange of in- fluence, of feeling and thought, between himself and his fellows ? Mutual help, power of working together, concerted action with friends and against enemies, the need of increased adaptation to the conditions of life, all conspired to raise belief in one's fellow-men to a dominant height. Out of this social co-operation have arisen the sciences, the arts, the philosophies, and especially the in- stitutions of civilized life. But in considering the rise and growth of these achievements of human life, we must always remember that they are the outcome of the striving of conscious beings. This has been so well put by Professor Villa that we quote his statement.
* The mainspring of the mental development of the individual and the species thus consists in two contrary forces, on whose equilibrium both individual and social progress depend. One— namely, " imitation " — is a conservative, the other — " invention " —is a progressive force. The former corresponds to biological heredity, and is responsible for social and individual habits and instincts ; the latter corresponds to the biological law of varia- tions, and finds its highest expression in "genius." The naturalistic and positive schools of the nineteenth century were too much inclined to consider social development as a purely natural and unconscious evolution, and omitted accordingly to take these two forces into consideration. Instead of considering social institutions, ideas, and phenomena as spontaneous pro- ducts of the nameless multitude, modern Psychology rightly considers them the outcome of individual genius, subsequently consolidated, diffused, and presented for the whole species by imitation. This idea, admirably developed by Tarde, on which Baldwin founds his studies of social Psychology,-, has transformed the theories which were current with regard to tlie evolution of the collective mind, which is thus presented in the light of a conscious, and not of an unconscious evolution like that of geological phenomena. Genius, therefore, is not to be under- stood as .". degeneration, a violation of the natural and consen-a- tive law of heredity, but as the integrating factor of the latter, e-vpressive of variation, impulse, and motion, as a dynamic force, without which evolution itself would be impossible' {Contemporary Psychology, by Guido Villa, Eng. tr. p. 256).
Thus the whirligig of time brings about its revenges, and the uniform tradition of history as to the influence of great personalities on the race is being justified by modern Psychology. In this tradition every movement of advance was ascribed to great men. Advances in the prac- tical control of nature, the making of tools, the use of tire, the sowin" of grain, and so on, are in the tradition of the race ascribed to indi- vidual men. More particularly is this the case with regard to the founders of cities, the makers of laws, the founders or the reformers of religions, and the framers of institutions. The 19th cent, was celebrated for its endeavours to disintegrate great men, to minimize their influence, and to trace great historic movements to a process and not to a person. How much influence this predilection has had on historic criticism we shall not here inquire. But in the light of modem Psychology, perhaps, Romulus, Numa Pompilius, Solon, Lycurgus, and manj- others may be looked at as real persons, benefactors of the race, whose names represent real forces in the development of humanity. Perhaps modem Psychologj' may help men to have some real apprehension of Moses, as ancient
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Psychology had so much to do with his disintegra- tion.
In the sphere of religious belief we have clear and overwhelming evidence of the weight and influence of personality in the shajiing of belief, and in the acfvance of men to clearer thought and purer embodiment of the religious ideals. It has been through the striving, the toil, the agony of great men tliat the ideals of religion have attained to form and reality. To them it was given to toil for the race, and the vision they saw and the moral and spiritual truth tliey won became the inheritance of other men, and through them were conserved for the good of the race. Nor is it the fact that the work and influence of great person- alities on other persons have been of a narrow and cramping kind. On the contrary, all the religious truth we possess may be traced back to the moral, spiritual, and intellectual insight of great men, just as every great discovery of science is associ- ated with some CTeat historic name. This personal element in our belief is of universal validity. As a matter of fact, only those religions which have had a personal founder have become universal, or at least international. For, after all, personality is our highest category of tliought and life.
Belief in great personalities may be liistorically and scientifically vindicated. They were needed to make the new departure, they were the first to see the vision, they made the discovery, or thought out the truth ; but those unfitted to be pioneers may be quite able to think over again what is made plam to them by him who was the first to think out that truth. The insight of a great man may be verified by the experience of other men. In fact, we have daily illustrations of this in our own experience. We use telephones, we drive by means of steam or electricity, we command nature by using the means which others have placed at our disposal, though we may not have the power of making these discoveries. Plato, Aristotle, Kant opened out paths on which the feet of others may safely tread, and we may rise to the height of the vision of Dante, and rejoice in the univer- sality of Shakespeare, though these would have remained undiscovered countries had not those great personalities opened the gates of entrance to us.