In favor of the permanence of any existing order however, there has always been one conserving factor-- habit. Prof. J. M. Baldwin in his instructive work, " Mutual Development," calls authority " that most tremendous thing in our moral environment," and obedience " that most magnificent thing in our moral equipment." Psychologists also tell us that habit, one of the phenomena of consolidation, indicates downward growth. With the race, as with the individual, habit, or what Bagehot calls " the solid cake of custom," has been one of the impediments to progress. Yet, governments have progressed from generation to generation. There has always been enough of the vis viva to leaven social heredity. Little by little, that part of the race, whose progress has not been arrested, has outgrown the superstition of a divinity that "doth hedge a king." More and more the functions once held by kingcraft have been grasped by the people ; the race steadily moving toward the ideal self-government. Every agency that made for enlightenment and uplift led to this goal. The great social heritage of the past has been the evolution of law and order. There has been through the ages a sweep of collective forces that has taught men self-control, and has constantly raised the ethical standard. A damnosa hereditas of ferocity, selfishness, and brutality, has been a part of the heritage ; but there has been enough of salt in the general character to rescue liberty and justice even in the most reactionary times. The Democratic Ideal is based upon the three great principles