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absorption of strangers from outside。 Meantime； the land tends to
become the true basis of the group； it is recognized as of
pre…eminent importance to its vitality； and it remains common
property； while private ownership is allowed to show itself in
moveables and cattle。 In the true Village…Community； the common
dwelling and common table which belong alike to the Joint Family
and to the House…Community； are no longer to be found。 The
village itself is an assemblage of houses； contained indeed
within narrow limits； but composed of separate dwellings； each
jealously guarded from the intrusion of a neighbour。 The village
lands are no longer the collective property of the community； the
arable lands have been divided between the various households；
the pasture lands have been partially divided； only the waste
remains in common。 In comparing the two extant types of
Village…Community which have been longest examined by good
observers； the Russian and the Indian； we may be led to think
that the traces left on usage and idea by the ancient collective
enjoyment are faint exactly in proportion to the decay of the
theory of actual kinship among the co…villagers。 The Russian
peasants of the same village really believe； we are told； in
their common ancestry； and accordingly we find that in Russia the
arable lands of the village are periodically re…distributed； and
that the village artificer； even should he carry his tools to a
distance； works for the profit of his co…villagers。 In India；
though the villagers are still a brotherhood； and though
membership in the brotherhood separates a man from the world
outside； it is very difficult to say in what the tie is conceived
as consisting。 Many palpable facts in the composition of the
community are constantly inconsistent with the actual descent of
the villagers from any one ancestor。 Accordingly； private
property in land has grown up； though its outlines are not always
clear； the periodical re…division of the domain has become a mere
tradition； or is only practised among the ruder portions of the
race； and the results of the theoretical kinship are pretty much
confined to the duty of submitting to common rules of cultivation
and pasturage； of abstaining from sale or alienation without the
consent of the co…villagers； and （according to some opinions） of
refraining from imposing a rack…rent upon members of the same
brotherhood。 Thus； the Indian Village…Community is a body of men
held together by the land which they occupy： the idea of common
blood and descent has all but died out。 A few steps more in the
same course of development and these the English law is
actually hastening will diffuse the familiar ideas of our own
country and time throughout India； the Village…Community will
disappear； and landed property；in the full English sense； will
come into existence。 Mr Freeman tells us that Uffington；
Gillingham； and Tooting were in all probability English
village…communities originally settled by the Uffingas；
Gillingas； and Totingas； three Teutonic joint…families。 But
assuredly all men who live in Tooting do not consider themselves
brothers； they barely acknowledge duties imposed on them by their
mutual vicinity； their only real tie is through their common
country。
The 'natural communism' of the primitive cultivating groups
has sometimes been described of late years； and more particularly
by Russian writers； as an anticipation of the most advanced and
trenchant democratic theories。 No account of the matter could in
my judgment be more misleading。 If such terms as 'aristocratic'
and 'democratic' are to be used at all； I think it would be a
more plausible statement that the transformation and occasional
destruction of the village…communities were caused； over much of
the world； by the successful assault of a democracy on an
aristocracy。 The secret of the comparatively slight departure of
the Russian village…communities from what may be believed to have
been the primitive type； appears to me to lie in the ancient
Russian practice of colonisation； by which swarms were constantly
thrown off from the older villages to settle somewhere in the
enormous wastes； but the Indian communities； placed in a region
of which the population has from time immemorial been far denser
than in the North； bear many marks of past contests between the
ancient brotherhood of kinsmen and a class of dependants outside
it struggling for a share in the land； or for the right to use it
on easy terms。 I am aware that there is some grotesqueness at
first sight in a comparison of Indian villagers； in their
obscurity and ignorance； and often in their squalid misery； to
the citizens of Athens or Rome； yet no tradition concerning the
origin of the Latin and Hellenic states seems more trustworthy
than that which represents them as formed by the coalescence of
two or more village…communities； and indeed； even in their most
glorious forms； they appear to me throughout their early history
to belong essentially to that type。 It has often occurred to me
that Indian functionaries； in their vehement controversies about
the respective rights of the various classes which make up the
village…community； are unconsciously striving to adjust； by a
beneficent arbitration； the claims and counter…claims of the
Eupatrids and the Demos； of the Populus and the Plebs。 There is
even reason to think that one well…known result of long civil
contention in the great states of antiquity has shown itself
every now and then in the village…communities； and that all
classes have had to submit to that sort of authority which
assumed its most innocent shape in the office of the Roman
Dictator； its more odious in the usurpation of the Greek Tyrant。
The founders of a part of one modern European aristocracy； the
Danish； are known to have been originally peasants who fortified
their houses during deadly village struggles and then used their
advantage。
Such commencements of nobility as that to which I have just
referred