acter was formed because none
but people with, a Spartan make of mind could endure a Spartan
existence. The early Roman character was so formed too. Perhaps all
very marked national characters can be traced back to a time of rigid
and pervading discipline. In modern times, when society is more
tolerant, new national characters are neither so strong, so featurely,
nor so uniform.

In this manner society was occupied in pre-historic times,--it is
consistent with and explicable by our general principle as to savages,
that society should for ages have been so occupied, strange as that
conclusion is, and incredible as it would be, if we had not been taught
by experience to believe strange things.

Secondly, this principle and this conception of pre-historic times
explain to us the meaning and the origin of the oldest and strangest of
social anomalies--an anomaly which is among the first things history
tells us--the existence of caste nations. Nothing is at first sight
stranger than the aspect of those communities where several nations
seem to be bound up together--where each is governed by its own rule of
law, where no one pays any deference to the rule of law of any of the
others. But if our principles be true, these are just the nations most
likely to last, which would have a special advantage in early times,
and would probably not only maintain themselves, but conquer and kill
out others also. The characteristic necessity of early society as we
have seen, is strict usage and binding coercive custom. But the obvious
result and inevitable evil of that is monotony in society; no one can
be much different from his fellows, or can cultivate his difference.

Such societies are necessarily weak from the want of variety in their
elements. But a caste nation is various and composite; and has in a
mode suited to early societies the constant co-operation of contrasted
persons, which in a later age is one of the greatest triumphs of
civilisation. In a primitive age the division between the warrior caste
and the priestly caste is especially advantageous. Little popular and
little deserving to be popular now-a-days as are priestly hierarchies,
most probably the beginnings of science were made in such, and were for
ages transmitted in such. An intellectual class was in that age only
possible when it was protected by a notion that whoever hurt them would
certainly be punished by heaven. In this class apart discoveries were
slowly made