Among the most false of theories which sane minds ever gave themselves over to believing, has been that which claims that the democratic system, if only put on trial, will work among any people at any time. Indeed, many persons otherwise well informed still accept this folly. They believe that democracy is a sort of "universal truth." All that we must do is to preach it to all mankind as a sort of saving gospel. All the heathen need do is to accept it, believe it, and forthwith practice it. Oh, vanity of vanities! It has been three hundred years since the English Bill of Rights was signed by King James First and nearly one hundred and fifty years since our American Declaration of Independence. And now the Great War has ended with our seeking to ram democracy down the throats of nations which do not want it. What blows in the face our optimism receives from the simplest facts of history! One hundred and thirty years ago the French revolutionists attempted to pull down every throne in Europe and plant democracy in every land. And then only seven years ago the hosts of the Kaiser made their plunge toward Paris in order to destroy the French Republic and establish absolutism and kultur in its place. No! The practice of democracy does not spread around the world as rapidly as we can tell people how nice it is and how much we like it ourselves. Democracy has been a slow, delicate and perishable growth among a specific group of Europeans. These peoples have been much favored through a peculiar heritage. No doubt, ages ago, it took the ancestors of man a long, long time to stand upright. Some quadrupeds seem to have tried but never could learn the new method, so they still amble along half the time on all fours. So to-day it seems to take a considerable period for the masses to learn how to rule themselves successfully. Yet we ought not to be utterly discouraged. If the facts indicate that some peoples can never learn, that is no reason at all why we should surrender our own learning and growth in order to be equal again with the weaker brethren.