The whole stream of human life flows through the family organization. The same virtues which make for harmony in the household,—obedience, co-operation, loyalty, and service,—are the ones which mark good citizenship; therefore the home is the primary school of all the civic virtues. For this reason the collapse of the home and of home life would be nothing short of a human catastrophe. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Illustration: THE FAMILY. By Charles Sprague Pearce _From a Copley Print, copyright by Curtis & Cameron, Boston. Reproduced by permission._ ] THE FAMILY By Charles Sprague Pearce From the mural painting in the entrance pavilion of the North Hall, Library of Congress. This is the ancient family. The father has just returned from hunting. The mother holds up the baby to welcome him and his little daughter throws her arms about him. On the benches of stone at either side of the group sit the grandmother and grandfather, the latter with the air of a patriarch. By his side lies a scroll. Three generations are placed together in the idyllic environment of which the poets have so often written. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Sidenote: The clan.] =Other Social Groups.=—Out of the family grew the clan, or group of families united by ties of kinships. In early days the clan was a wandering group, like the gipsy bands of today; but ultimately each clan settled upon the land and became a community. In these communities men became trained in manual labor; they developed customs and the rudiments of a village government. Then came the next stage—several village communities joined together for defence against their mutual enemies. A loose confederation at first, this group of communities in time became a state, usually with a chieftain or a monarch at its head. In other cases a single village community grew in size to such an extent that it became a city state, like Athens or Sparta. The most notable example of this development is afforded by ancient Rome, where a small community grew into a World Empire. The family, the clan, the community, the confederation of communities, the state, and, ultimately, the nation—that is the general course of political evolution, although this line of development was not in all cases exactly followed. But the evolution was not confined to political institutions alone. Social and economic groups and institutions developed also. A variety of needs called forth one institution after another, the church, the school, the club, the industrial organization. Each has its own function in organized society. [Sidenote: Government is the guiding hand.]