construct a river-dam without the help of others.

However much a farmer might dislike his neighbors he disliked getting
drowned even more and he was obliged to call upon the entire
country-side when the water of the river began to rise and threatened
him and his wife and his children and his cattle with destruction.

Necessity forced the people to forget their small differences and soon
the entire valley of the Nile was covered with little combinations of
people who constantly worked together for a common purpose and who
depended upon each other for life and prosperity.

Out of such small beginnings grew the first powerful State.

It was a great step forward along the road of progress.

It made the land of Egypt a truly inhabitable place. It meant the end of
lawless murder. It assured the people greater safety than ever before
and gave the weaker members of the tribe a chance to survive. Nowadays,
when conditions of absolute disorder exist only in the jungles of
Africa, it is hard to imagine a world without laws and policemen and
judges and health officers and hospitals and schools.

But five thousand years ago, Egypt stood alone as an organized state and
was greatly envied by those of her neighbors who were obliged to face
the difficulties of life single-handedly.

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