A state, however, is not only composed of citizens. There must be a few men who execute the laws and who, in case of an emergency, take command of the entire community. Therefore no country has ever been able to endure without a single head, be he called a King or an Emperor or a Shah (as in Persia) or a President, as he is called in our own land. [Illustration: THE FERTILE VALLEY.] In ancient Egypt, every village recognized the authority of the Village-Elders, who were old men and possessed greater experience than the young ones. These Elders selected a strong man to command their soldiers in case of war and to tell them what to do when there was a flood. They gave him a title which distinguished him from the others. They called him a King or a prince and obeyed his orders for their own common benefit. Therefore in the oldest days of Egyptian history, we find the following division among the people: The majority are peasants. All of them are equally rich and equally poor. They are ruled by a powerful man who is the commander-in-chief of their armies and who appoints their judges and causes roads to be built for the common benefit and comfort. He also is the chief of the police force and catches the thieves. In return for these valuable services he receives a certain amount of everybody's money which is called a tax. The greater part of these taxes, however, do not belong to the King personally. They are money entrusted to him to be used for the common good. But after a short while a new class of people, neither peasants nor king, begins to develop. This new class, commonly called the nobles, stands between the ruler and his subjects. Since those early days it has made its appearance in the history of every country and it has played a great role in the development of every nation. I must try and explain to you how this class of nobles developed out of the most commonplace circumstances of everyday life and why it has maintained itself to this very day, against every form of opposition. To make my story quite clear, I have drawn a picture. It shows you five Egyptian farms. The original owners of these farms had moved into Egypt years and years ago. Each had taken a piece of unoccupied land and had settled down upon it to raise grain and cows and pigs and do whatever was necessary to keep themselves and their children alive. Apparently they had the same chance in life. How then did it happen that one became the ruler of his neighbors and got hold of all their fields and barns without breaking a single law? [Illustration: THE ORIGINS OF THE FEUDAL SYSTEM.]