Lives of Alcyone

Life XXXIII
Twelve thousand years before the Christian era there existed
in the country which we now call Peru one of the most remarkable
civilisations that the world has ever seen. This is not the place to
give a full account of it; that may be found in the book Man: Whence,
How and Whither. Here it must suffice to say that under an absolute
autocrat who reigned by divine right, we find in full operation all that
is intelligent in the ideas propounded by the Socialists of to-day, with
the result that poverty was entirely unknown, and the general
average of public health and happiness was out of all proposition
higher than in any country at the present day. The organisation was
so perfect that death occurred almost only from old age or accident,
that no one needed to work after the age of forty-five, that there was
practically no law but that of public opinion, and no punishment
except the expulsion from the community of anyone who by
uncivilised behaviour was considered to have forfeited the privilege
of belonging to it.
This most marvellously successful of civilisations lasted
unchanged for thousands of years, much as did that of Egypt; but
eventually it became effete, as do all races after a sufficient lapse of
time, and the degenerate descendants of its mighty heroes were
overcome by another and far less developed nation. The
conquerors, though in many respects far inferior to those whom they
displaced, had the grace to recognise the advantages of that ideal
form of government, and tried to carry it on as far as they could. But