The patriot believes that his country is intrinsically a fundamental value. It is a cause that is worthy. He sees various things in the country that furnish the bases for this belief. Sometimes he beholds in the state a sacred or semi-sacred institution. A philosophy which put the theory of the state in such a way as to furnish a basis for this belief was that of Hegel. For Hegel, the state was the development of the absolute Idea in the world. The state did not arise in response to the needs of men, as philosophers like Mill and Spencer[105] have held, and as would probably be held by the patriot who looks upon the country as protector or expression of himself. Hegel said, “It is a very distorted account of the matter when the state, in demanding sacrifices from the citizens, is taken to be simply the civic community, whose object is merely the security of life and property. Security cannot possibly be obtained by the sacrifice of what is to be secured.... The nation as a state is the spirit substantively realized and directly real. Hence, it is the absolute power on earth.”[106] Hegel felt that way about the Prussian State. And others have felt almost the same way about their state. The desire for a solid and immutable condition of life that the view represents is a fundamental one. And when Hegel or any one else takes that view of his state, he is at once likely to be a devoted patriot. The popular parallel to Hegel’s conclusion is the belief that the country comes from God. Men seem to want to feel that their origins are worthy of reverence, and that they are especially favored. In ancient times most people traced their ancestry back to their God. The Japanese do the same thing in modern times, and have a religion which is the expression of that belief. The Shinto religion inculcates reverence for the sovereign, ancestral memory, filial piety, nature worship, and the belief that the imperial family, which is descended from their god, is the fountain head of the whole nation. These elements have been infused into Bushido, which Nitobe calls _The Soul of Japan_, and which embodies and inculcates the Japanese national ideals. But the belief in the semi-sacred character of the nation is common in all countries. How often do we hear it said that America is God’s Modern Chosen People. And at least one of the sovereigns of Europe does not cease to mention the patriotism of his tutelary god not only in his prayers, but also in his proclamations.