pared, and its main result was that the Church, or, rather, the Churches, were separated from the State. In the West, in Europe as well as in America, the tendency towards the separation of the Churches from the State gradually became general. Religion lost nothing by it; on the contrary, it gained, as politics gained; and, like the State, public institutions and social arrangements shed, little by little, their ecclesiastical character. Science and Philosophy, Education, Ethics and, largely, even Religion were divorced from the Church. In regard to the State which, after the Reformation, had assumed the leadership of the community and, like the Church before it, had become absolutist, the French Revolution proclaimed the principles of “Freedom, Equality, Fraternity.” The rights of men and of citizens were enunciated and codified, France and America became Republics, England—and, presently, for a time—France also, became a constitutional monarchy. Against the old aristocratic system—monarchism is but a form of that system—Democracy developed in various shapes, degrees and qualities.
The revolutionary process was not exhausted in the French Revolution. A series of revolutions followed; and we are still in the midst of this phase of development, for other revolutions arose in and through the world war. Not in the political sphere alone but in all domains the revolutionary tendency showed itself as a perennial phenomenon. Yet it is possible that, in the world war, the transitional period of revolution came to an end, not the old régime alone.
The ideal of the French Revolution was humanity, that is to say, ethical sympathy, respect of men for their fellow-men, a recognition of human personality, the principle that human beings must not be used merely as tools or chattels by other human beings. Politically and socially, these principles imply equality between all citizens of a State, and the bringing of nations and States nearer to each other on the basis of a common humanity. Juridically, the existence of an equal natural right to freedom and equality was believed in; and individuals, as well as communities and nations, were recognized as possessing this right. The idea of natural right is ancient. We inherited it from the Greeks and the Romans, and it was sanctified by the Church and the Churches. Gradually its essence was defined, politically and socially. And closely bound up with the humanitarian ideal was the yearning for enlightenment, knowledge and culture. Hence the general recognition of Science during the past century and the efforts
