To see life as a whole is beyond the power of the generality of mankind. The outlook of the average man is bounded by the consideration of the welfare of the race or community to which he happens to belong. In the cycles that form the history of civilization man evolves and degenerates, and often his gain in the eyes of succeeding generations has been quite outweighed by a corresponding loss. Man sees no further than he sees; and ever and again the turn of the cycle has brought a period of cruelty, of intolerance, and of degeneration.