----------------------------------------
---------  ,transcriber's note3         
,obvious typographic errors have been   
corrected4                              
----------------------------------------
---------          ,,civilisation3 ,,its
 ,,cause ,,and ,,cure    ,,and ,,other  
,,essays    7,,newly-,,enlarged ,,and   
,,complete ,,edition7    ,,by  ,,edward 
,,carpenter    ,,author ,,of ,,towards  
,,democracy1  ,,my ,,days ,,and         
,,dreams1 ,,etc4    ,illustration3 logo 
,,london3 ,,george ,,allen  ,,unwin     
,,ltd4  ,,ruskin ,,house1 #dj ,,museum  
,,street1 ,w4,c4#a      ,first ,edition1
 ,june #ahhi2 ,second ,edition1         
,december #ahij2  ,third ,edition1      
,november #ahic2 ,fourth ,edition1 ,july
 #ahie2  ,fifth ,edition1 ,september    
#ahig2 ,sixth ,edition1 ,october #aijj2 
,seventh ,edition1 ,july #aijb2 ,eighth 
,edition1 ,march #aijc2  ,ninth         
,edition1 ,january #aijf2 ,tenth        
,edition1 ,january #aijh2  ,eleventh    
,edition1 ,october #aiaj2 ,twelfth      

,edition1 ,dec4 #aiab2  ,thirteenth     
,edition1 ,aug4 #aiad2 ,fourteenth      
,edition1 ,june #aiaf2  ,fifteenth      
,edition1 ,sept4 #aiag2 ,complete       
,edition1 ,jan4 #aiba    7,all rights   
reserved7          ,,preface ,,to       
,,complete ,,edition    7#aibj7      ,in
 looking over this volume1 first        
published in #ahhi1 with a view to a    
final ,edition1 ,i am glad to note that 
after all there is not much in it       
requiring alteration4 ,considering that 
the original issue took place  more than
 #cj years ago1 ,i had thought that the 
great changes in  scientific and        
philosophic thought which have taken    
place during that  period would probably
 have rendered out of date a good deal  
of the  book4    ,as a matter of fact1  
the first paper--that on                
,civilisation--was given as  a lecture  
before the ,fabian ,society1 in #ahhh2  
and ,i shall not easily  forget the     
furious attacks which were made upon it 
on that occasion4 ,the  book--published 

as a whole in #ahhi--;came in for a very
 similar reception  from the            
press-critics4 ,they slated it to the   
top of their bent--except  in those not 
unfrequent cases when they ignored it as
 almost beneath  notice4 ,the whole     
trend of the thought of the time was    
against its  conclusions2 and it is     
perhaps worth while to recall these     
facts in  order to measure how far we   
have travelled in these #cj years4 ,for 
to-day  7,i think we may say7 these     
conclusions are generally admitted as   
correct2 and the views which seemed so  
hazarded and precarious at the  earlier 
date are now fairly accepted and        
established4    ,the word ,civilisation 
has undoubtedly during this period      
suffered an  ominous change of color4   
,it is no longer an easy term denoting  
all that  is ideal and delightful in    
social life1 but on the contrary1       
carries  with it a sense of doubt and of
 criticism1 as of something that is by  
no  means accepted yet1 but is rather on

 its trial--if not actually  condemned6 
,i am sorry to note1 however1 that the  
suggestion made more than once in  the  
course of my book--namely that the term 
7,civilisation7 should  properly be     
given an historical instead of ideal    
value1 as applicable  to a certain      
period only in the history of each      
people1 has not yet been  generally     
taken up4 ,yet a paper by some more     
competent person than  myself on the    
definite marks and signs of the         
civilisation-period in  ,history--their 
first appearance in the course of human 
progress and  evolution1 and their      
probable disappearance again at a later 
stage--would be greatly interesting and 
instructive4    ,my little essay on this
 subject was written at the time of its 
composition with a good deal of         
imaginative lan2 and is of course  open 
to criticism on that side1 as being     
mainly enthusiastic in  character and   
only slenderly supported by exact data1 
proofs1  historical illustrations1      

analogies1 and so forth4 ,but to largely
 alter  or amend the essay without      
seriously crippling it would be         
impossible2  and though the form may be 
hurried or inadequate1 yet as far as the
  actual contents and conclusions are   
concerned ,i still adhere to them       
absolutely1 and believe that time will  
show them to be fully justified4        
,with regard to my views on ,modern     
,science the last quarter of a century  
has curiously corroborated them4 ,for   
while on the one hand--as  expected--the
 progress in actual discovery and       
application of observed  facts has been 
enormous1 the theories on the other hand
 about all  these things have receded   
more and more into the background1 and  
have  passed almost out of sight4 ,while
 knowing1 for instance1 infinitely more 
about electrical actions and adaptations
 than we did1 we seem to be if  anything
 further off than ever from any valid   
theory of what ,electricity  is4 ,the   
same with regard to ,heat and ,light1 to

 ,astronomical1  ,biological and        
,geological laws1 and so forth4 ,on such
 matters ,modern  ,science is on the    
verge of confessing itself bankrupt1 but
 not wishing  to do that1 it keeps a    
discreet silence4    ,the ,atom1 which  
,i ventured 7to the disgust of my       
scientific friends7 to  make fun of #cj 
years ago1 has now exploded of itself as
 thoroughly as a  ,german coal-box2 and 
the fixed ,chemical ,elements of older  
days have of  late dissolved into       
protean vapours and emanations1 ions and
 electrons1  impossible to follow       
through their endless transformations4  
,as to the  numerous ,laws of ,nature   
which in the nineteenth century we were 
just  about to establish for all        
eternity1 it is only with the greatest  
difficulty that any of these can now be 
discovered--most of them having  got    
secreted away into the darkness of      
ancient text-books3 where they  lead    
forlorn and sightless existences1 like  
the fish in the caves of  ,kentucky4    

,here again--in my chapters on          
,science--though some expressions remain
  which are now out of date1 ,i have    
thought it best to leave them as        
originally written3 the meanings and    
general conclusions being still  valid  
and as they were4 ,it will be seen that 
the general drift of these  chapters is 
to point the moral that the true field  
of science is to be  found in ,life1 and
 that the best way to know things is to 
experience  their meaning and to        
identify oneself with them through      
,action4 ,from a  study on these        
principles will ultimately emerge a     
,science truly humane  and creative1    
masterful1 and capable of building a    
true home for  men--instead of the      
feverish1 spectral and self-deluding    
thing which has  usurped the name up to 
now4    ,something the same will happen 
with the conception of ,morality4 ,the  
abstract codes on this subject1 which   
have wrought so much havoc by  their    
fatal intrusion on the field of human   

,life1 are rapidly fading  away4 ,these 
ghosts1 like the ghosts of ,nature's    
,laws1 are receiving  their quietus4    
,and the general outline which was      
suggested in ,the  ,defence of          
,criminals has now been traced more     
positively in the chapter  on ,the ,new 
,morality inserted at the end of the    
present volume4  ,morality has at last  
to become truly human1 and the real     
expression of  our organic need4 ,man   
has to be liberated from the cramps and 
suppressions and fixations which have   
hitherto paralysed him in the  moral    
field4 ,he has to emerge from the       
swathing bands of his pupal stage  into 
the free air of heaven1 and to become in
 the highest sense  self-determining and
 creative4    ,thus three things1 7#a7  
the realisation of a new order of       
,society1 in  closest touch with        
,nature1 and in which the diseases of   
class-domination  and ,parasitism will  
have finally ceased2 7#b7 the           
realisation of a  ,science which will no

 longer be a mere thing of the brain1   
but a part of  ,actual ,life2 and 7#c7  
the realisation of a ,morality which    
will signalise  and express the vital   
and organic unity of man with his       
fellows--these  three things will become
 the heralds of a new era of            
humanity--an era  which will possibly   
prefer not to call itself by the name of
  ,civilisation4    ,in order to        
corroborate and confirm the first paper 
in the book an  ,appendix has now been  
added containing notes and data on the  
life and  customs of many uncivilised   
peoples2 for much of which ,appendix ,i 
am  indebted to the assistance of my    
widely-read and resourceful friend1 ,e4 
,bertram ,lloyd4    ,e4 ,c4             
,december1 #aibj4          ,,contents   
,,page  ,,preface ,,to ,,complete       
,,edition                               
#g    ,,civilisation3 ,,its ,,cause     
,,and ,,cure                        #ae 
,,modern ,,science3 ,a ,,criticism      
#gi    ,,the ,,science ,,of ,,the       

,,future3 ,a ,,forecast                 
#abj    ,,defence ,,of ,,criminals3 ,a  
,,criticism ,,of ,,morality             
#adc    ,,exfoliation3 ,,lamarck versus 
,,darwin                   #aha         
,,custom                                
#bjf    ,a ,,rational ,,and ,,humane    
,,science                          #bai 
,,the ,,new ,,morality                  
#bdc    ,,appendix--,,being ,,notes ,,on
 ,,some ,,of ,,the ,,characteristics    
,,and ,,customs ,,of ,,pre-,,civilised  
,,peoples                   #bfe        
,,civilisation3    ,,its ,,cause ,,and  
,,cure    ,the friendly and flowing     
savage1 who is he8 ,is he waiting for   
civilisation1 or is he past it1 and     
mastering it8--,,whitman4      ,we find 
ourselves to-day in the midst of a      
somewhat peculiar state of  society1    
which we call ,civilisation1 but which  
even to the most  optimistic among us   
does not seem altogether desirable4     
,some of us1  indeed1 are inclined to   
think that it is a kind of disease which

 the  various races of man have to pass 
through--as children pass through       
measles or whooping cough2 but if it is 
a disease1 there is this serious        
consideration to be made1 that while    
,history tells us of many nations  that 
have been attacked by it1 of many that  
have succumbed to it1 and of  some that 
are still in the throes of it1 we know  
of no single case in  which a nation has
 fairly recovered from and passed       
through it to a more  normal and healthy
 condition4 ,in other words the         
development of human  society has never 
yet 7that we know of7 passed beyond a   
certain  definite and apparently final  
stage in the process we call            
,civilisation2 at that stage it has     
always succumbed or been arrested4      
,of course it may at first sound        
extravagant to use the word disease in  
connection with ,civilisation at all1   
but a little thought should show  that  
the association is not ill-grounded4 ,to
 take the matter on its  physical side  

first1 ,i find that in ,mullhall's      
,dictionary of ,statistics  7#ahhd7 the 
number of accredited doctors and        
surgeons in the ,united  ,kingdom is put
 at over #bc1jjj4 ,if the extent of the 
national sickness is  such that we      
require #bc1jjj medical men to attend to
 us1 it must surely  be rather serious6 
,and they do not cure us4 ,wherever we  
look to-day1  in mansion or in slum1 we 
see the features and hear the complaints
 of  ill-health2 the difficulty is      
really to find a healthy person4 ,the   
state  of the modern civilised man in   
this respect--our coughs1 colds1        
mufflers1 dread of a waft of chill air1 
c4--is anything but creditable1  and it 
seems to be the fact that1              
notwithstanding all our libraries of    
medical science1 our knowledges1 arts1  
and appliances of life1 we are  actually
 less capable of taking care of         
ourselves than the animals are4         
,indeed1 talking of animals1 we are--as 
,shelley ,i think points out--fast      

depraving the domestic breeds4 ,the cow1
 the horse1 the sheep1 and even  the    
confiding pussy-cat1 are becoming ever  
more and more subject to  disease1 and  
are liable to ills which in their wilder
 state they knew  not of4 ,and finally  
the savage races of the earth do not    
escape the  baneful influence4 ,wherever
 ,civilisation touches them1 they die   
like  flies from the small-pox1 drink1  
and worse evils it brings along with    
it1 and often its mere contact is       
sufficient to destroy whole races4      
,but the word ,disease is applicable to 
our social as well as to our  physical  
condition4 ,for as in the body disease  
arises from the loss of  the physical   
unity which constitutes ,health1 and so 
takes the form of  warfare or discord   
between the various parts1 or of the    
abnormal  development of individual     
organs1 or the consumption of the system
 by  predatory germs and growths2 so in 
our modern life we find the unity  gone 
which constitutes true society1 and in  

its place warfare of classes  and       
individuals1 abnormal development of    
some to the detriment of  others1 and   
consumption of the organism by masses of
 social parasites4  ,if the word disease
 is applicable anywhere1 ,i should say  
it is--both in  its direct and its      
derived sense--to the civilised         
societies of to-day4    ,again1         
mentally1 is not our condition most     
unsatisfactory8 ,i am not  alluding to  
the number and importance of the lunatic
 asylums which cover  our land1 nor to  
the fact that maladies of the brain and 
nervous system  are now so common2 but  
to the strange sense of mental unrest   
which marks  our populations1 and which 
amply justifies ,ruskin's cutting       
epigram3  that our two objects in life  
are1 ,whatever we have--to get more2 and
  wherever we are--to go somewhere else4
 ,this sense of unrest1 of  disease1    
penetrates down even into the deepest   
regions of man's  being--into his moral 
nature--disclosing itself there1 as it  

has done  in all nations notably at the 
time of their full civilisation1 as the 
sense of ,sin4#a ,all down the          
,christian centuries we find this       
strange  sense of inward strife and     
discord developed1 in marked contrast to
 the  naive insouciance of the pagan and
 primitive world2 and1 what is          
strangest1 we even find people glorying 
in this consciousness--which1  while it 
may be the harbinger of better things to
 come1 is and can be in  itself only the
 evidence of loss of unity1 and         
therefore of ill-health1  in the very   
centre of human life4    ,of course we  
are aware with regard to ,civilisation  
that the word is  sometimes used in a   
kind of ideal sense1 as to indicate a   
state of  future culture towards which  
we are tending--the implied assumption  
being that a sufficiently long course of
 top hats and telephones will in  the   
end bring us to this ideal condition2   
while any little drawbacks in  the      
process1 such as we have just pointed   

out1 are explained as being  merely     
accidental and temporary4 ,men sometimes
 speak of civilising and  ennobling     
influences as if the two terms were     
interchangeable1 and of  course if they 
like to use the word ,civilisation in   
this sense they have  a right to2 but   
whether the actual tendencies of modern 
life taken in  the mass are ennobling   
7except in a quite indirect way         
hereafter to be  dwelt upon7 is1 to say 
the least1 a doubtful question4 ,any one
 who  would get an idea of the glorious 
being that is as a matter of fact  being
 turned out by the present process      
should read ,mr4 ,kay ,robinson's       
article in the ,nineteenth ,century for 
,may1 #ahhc1 in which he  prophesies    
7quite solemnly and in the name of      
science7 that the human  being of the   
future will be a toothless1 bald1       
toeless creature with  flaccid muscles  
and limbs almost incapable of           
locomotion6    ,perhaps it is safer on  
the whole not to use the word           

,civilisation in  such ideal sense1 but 
to limit its use 7as is done to-day by  
all writers  on primitive society7 to a 
definite historical stage through which 
the  various nations pass1 and in which 
we actually find ourselves at the       
present time4 ,though there is of course
 a difficulty in marking the            
commencement of any period of historical
 evolution very definitely1 yet  all    
students of this subject agree that the 
growth of property and the  ideas and   
institutions flowing from it did at a   
certain point bring  about such a change
 in the structure of human society that 
the new stage  might fairly be          
distinguished from the earlier stages of
 ,savagery and  ,barbarism by a separate
 term4 ,the growth of ,wealth1 it is    
shown1 and  with it the conception of   
,private ,property1 brought on certain  
very  definite new forms of social life2
 it destroyed the ancient system of     
society based upon the gens1 that is1 a 
society of equals founded upon          

blood-relationship1 and introduced a    
society of classes founded upon         
differences of material possession2 it  
destroyed the ancient system of         
mother-right and inheritance through the
 female line1 and turned the  woman into
 the property of the man2 it brought    
with it private ownership  of land1 and 
so created a class of landless aliens1  
and a whole system  of rent1 mortgage1  
interest1 etc42 it introduced slavery1  
serfdom and  wage-labour1 which are only
 various forms of the dominance of one  
class  over another2 and to rivet these 
authorities it created the ,state and   
the policeman4 ,every race that we know1
 that has become what we call           
civilised1 has passed through these     
changes2 and though the details may     
vary and have varied a little1 the main 
order of change has been  practically   
the same in all cases4 ,we are justified
 therefore in calling  ,civilisation a  
historical stage1 whose commencement    
dates roughly from  the division of     

society into classes founded on property
 and the  adoption of class-government4 
,lewis ,morgan in his ,ancient ,society 
adds  the invention of writing and the  
consequent adoption of written ,history 
and written ,law2 ,engels in his        
,ursprung der ,familie1 des             
,privateigenthums und des ,staats points
 out the importance of the  appearance  
of the ,merchant1 even in his most      
primitive form1 as a mark  of the       
civilisation-period2 while the ,french  
writers of the last century  made a good
 point in inventing the term nations    
polices  7policemanised nations7 as a   
substitute for civilised nations2 for   
perhaps there is no better or more      
universal mark of the period we are     
considering1 and of its social          
degradation1 than the appearance of the 
crawling phenomenon in question4        
,imagine the rage of any decent ,north  
,american ,indians if they had been told
 they required policemen to keep  them  
in order6    ,if we take this historical

 definition of ,civilisation1 we shall  
see that  our ,english ,civilisation    
began hardly more than a thousand years 
ago1  and even so the remains of the    
more primitive society lasted long after
  that4 ,in the case of ,rome--if we    
reckon from the later times of the      
early kings down to the fall of         
,rome--we have again about a thousand   
years4 ,the ,jewish civilisation from   
,david and ,solomon downwards           
lasted--with breaks--somewhat over a    
thousand years2 the ,greek  civilisation
 less2 the series of ,egyptian          
civilisations which we can now          
distinguish lasted altogether very much 
longer2 but the important points  to see
 are1 first1 that the process has been  
quite similar in character  in these    
various 7and numerous other7 cases1#b   
quite as similar in fact  as the course 
of the same disease in various persons2 
and secondly that  in no case1 as said  
before1 has any nation come through and 
passed  beyond this stage2 but that in  

most cases it has succumbed soon after  
the main symptoms had been developed4   
,but it will be said1 ,it may be true   
that ,civilisation regarded as a  stage 
of human history presents some features 
of disease2 but is there  any reason for
 supposing that disease in some form or 
other was any less  present in the      
previous stage--that of ,barbarism8 ,to 
which ,i reply1 ,i  think there is good 
reason4 ,without committing ourselves to
 the  unlikely theory that the noble    
savage was an ideal human being         
physically or in any other respect1 and 
while certain that in many  points he   
was decidedly inferior to the civilised 
man1 ,i think we must  allow him the    
superiority in some directions2 and one 
of these was his  comparative freedom   
from disease4 ,lewis ,morgan1 who grew  
up among the  ,iroquois ,indians1 and   
who probably knew the ,north ,american  
natives as  well as any white man has   
ever done1 says 7in his ,ancient        
,society1 p4  #de71 ,barbarism ends with

 the production of grand ,barbarians4   
,and  though there are no native races  
on the earth to-day who are actually in 
the latest and most advanced stage of   
,barbarism2#c yet1 if we take the  most 
advanced tribes that we know of--such as
 the said ,iroquois ,indians  of twenty 
or thirty years ago1 some of the ,kaffir
 tribes round ,lake  ,nyassa in ,africa1
 now 7and possibly for a few years more7
 comparatively  untouched by            
civilisation1 or the tribes along the   
river ,uaupes1 thirty  or forty years   
back1 of ,wallace's ,travels on the     
,amazon--all tribes in  what ,morgan    
would call the middle stage of          
,barbarism--we undoubtedly  in each case
 discover a fine and 7which is our point
 here7 healthy  people4 ,captain ,cook  
in his first ,voyage says of the natives
 of  ,otaheite1 ,we saw no critical     
disease during our stay upon the island1
  and but few instances of sickness1    
which were accidental fits of the       
colic2 and1 later on1 of the ,new       

,zealanders1 ,they enjoy perfect and    
uninterrupted health4 ,in all our visits
 to their towns1 where young and  old1  
men and women1 crowded about us 444 we  
never saw a single person  who appeared 
to have any bodily complaint1 nor among 
the numbers we have  seen naked did we  
once perceive the slightest eruption    
upon the skin1 or  any marks that an    
eruption had left behind4 ,these are    
pretty strong  words4 ,of course        
diseases exist among such peoples1 even 
where they have  never been in contact  
with civilisation1 but ,i think we may  
say that  among the higher types of     
savages they are rarer1 and nothing like
 so  various and so prevalent as they   
are in our modern life2 while the power 
of recovery from wounds 7which are of   
course the most frequent form of        
disablement7 is generally admitted to be
 something astonishing4 ,speaking  of   
the ,kaffirs1 ,j4 ,g4 ,wood says1 ,their
 state of health enables them to        
survive injuries which would be almost  

instantly fatal to any civilised        
,european4 ,mr4 ,frank ,oates in his    
,diary#d mentions the case of a man  who
 was condemned to death by the king4 ,he
 was hacked down with axes1  and left   
for dead4 ,what must have been intended 
for the coup de grce  was a cut in the  
back of the head1 which had chipped a   
large piece out  of the skull1 and must 
have been meant to cut the spinal cord  
where it  joins the brain4 ,it had1     
however1 been made a little higher than 
this1  but had left such a wound as ,i  
should have thought that no one could   
have survived 444 when ,i held the      
lanthorn to investigate the wound ,i    
started back in amazement to see a hole 
at the base of the skull1  perhaps two  
inches long and an inch and a half wide1
 and ,i will not  venture to say how    
deep1 but the depth too must have been  
an affair of  inches4 ,of course this   
hole penetrated into the substance of   
the brain1  and probably for some       
distance4 ,i dare say a mouse could have

 sat in  it4 ,yet the man was not so    
much disconcerted4 ,like ,old ,king     
,cole1 ,he  asked for a pipe and a drink
 of brandy1 and ultimately made a       
perfect  recovery6 ,of course it might  
be said that such a story only proves   
the  lowness of organisation of the     
brains of savages2 but to the ,kaffirs  
at  any rate this would not apply2 they 
are a quick-witted race1 with large     
brains1 and exceedingly acute in        
argument1 as ,colenso found to his cost4
  ,another point which indicates        
superabundant health is the amazing     
animal  spirits of these native races6  
,the shouting1 singing1 dancing kept up 
nights long among the ,kaffirs are      
exhausting merely to witness1 while  the
 graver ,north ,american ,indian        
exhibits a corresponding power of life  
in his eagerness for battle or his stoic
 resistance of pain4#e    ,similarly    
when we come to consider the social life
 of the wilder  races--however          
rudimentary and undeveloped it may      

be--the almost  universal testimony of  
students and travelers is that within   
its limits  it is more harmonious and   
compact than that of the civilised      
nations4  ,the members of the tribe are 
not organically at warfare with each    
other2  society is not divided into     
classes which prey upon each other2 nor 
is  it consumed by parasites4 ,there is 
more true social unity1 less of         
disease4 ,though the customs of each    
tribe are rigid1 absurd1 and often      
frightfully cruel1#f and though all     
outsiders are liable to be regarded  as 
enemies1 yet within those limits the    
members live peacefully  together--their
 pursuits1 their work1 are undertaken in
 common1 thieving  and violence are     
rare1 social feeling and community of   
interest are  strong4 ,in their own     
bands ,indians are perfectly honest4 ,in
 all my  intercourse with them ,i have  
heard of not over half-a-dozen cases of 
such theft4 ,but this wonderfully       
exceptional honesty extends no further  

than to the members of his immediate    
band4 ,to all outside of it1 the        
,indian is not only one of the most     
arrant thieves in the world1 but this   
quality or faculty is held in the       
highest estimation4 7,dodge1 p4 #fd47   
,if a man set out on a journey 7this    
among the ,kaffirs7 he need not  trouble
 himself about provisions1 for he is    
sure to fall in with some  hut1 or      
perhaps a village1 and is equally sure  
of obtaining both food  and shelter4#g  
,i have lived1 says ,a4 ,r4 ,wallace in 
his ,malay  ,archipelago vol4 ii4 p4    
#dfj1 with communities in ,south        
,america and the  ,east1 who have no    
laws or law courts1 but the public      
opinion of the  village 444 yet each man
 scrupulously respects the rights of his
  fellows1 and any infraction of those  
rights rarely takes place4 ,in such  a  
community all are nearly equal4 ,there  
are none of those wide  distinctions of 
education and ignorance1 wealth and     
poverty1 master and  servant1 which are 

the product of our civilisation4 ,indeed
 this  community of life in the early   
societies1 this absence of division     
into classes1 and of the contrast       
between rich and poor1 is now admitted  
on all sides as a marked feature of     
difference between the conditions of    
the primitive and of civilised man4#h   
,lastly1 with regard to the mental      
condition of the ,barbarian1 probably   
no one will be found to dispute the     
contention that he is more  easy-minded 
and that his consciousness of ,sin is   
less developed than in  his civilised   
brother4 ,our unrest is the penalty we  
pay for our wider  life4 ,the missionary
 retires routed from the savage in whom 
he can awake  no sense of his supreme   
wickedness4 ,an ,american lady had a    
servant1 a  negro-woman1 who on one     
occasion asked leave of absence for the 
next  morning1 saying she wished to     
attend the ,holy ,communion8 ,i have no 
objection1 said the mistress1 to grant  
you leave2 but do you think you  ought  

to attend ,communion8 ,you know you have
 never said you were sorry  about that  
goose you stole last week4 ,lor' missus1
 replied the  woman1 do ye think ,i'd   
let an old goose stand betwixt me and my
 ,blessed  ,lord and ,master8 ,but      
joking apart1 and however necessary for 
man's  ultimate evolution may be the    
temporary development of this           
consciousness of ,sin1 we cannot help   
seeing that the condition of the  mind  
in which it is absent is the most       
distinctively healthy2 nor can  it be   
concealed that some of the greatest     
works of ,art have been  produced by    
people like the earlier ,greeks1 in whom
 it was absent2 and  could not possibly 
have been produced where it was strongly
 developed4    ,though1 as already said1
 the latest stage of ,barbarism1 i4e41  
that  just preceding ,civilisation1 is  
unrepresented on the earth to-day1 yet  
we have in the ,homeric and other       
dawn-literature of the various nations  
indirect records of this stage2 and     

these records assure us of a  condition 
of man very similar to1 though somewhat 
more developed than1  the condition of  
the existing races ,i have mentioned    
above4 ,besides  this1 we have in the   
numerous traditions of the ,golden      
,age1#i legends  of the ,fall1 etc41 a  
curious fact which suggests to us that a
 great  number of races in advancing    
towards ,civilisation were conscious at 
some  point or other of having lost a   
primitive condition of ease and         
contentment1 and that they embodied this
 consciousness1 with poetical  adornment
 and licence1 in imaginative legends of 
the earlier ,paradise4  ,some people    
indeed1 seeing the universality of these
 stories1 and the  remarkable fragments 
of wisdom embedded in them and other    
extremely  ancient myths and writings1  
have supposed that there really was a   
general pre-historic ,eden-garden or    
,atlantis2 but the necessities of the   
case hardly seem to compel this         
supposition4 ,that each human soul1     

however1 bears within itself some kind  
of reminiscence of a more  harmonious   
and perfect state of being1 which it has
 at some time  experienced1 seems to me 
a conclusion difficult to avoid2 and    
this by  itself might give rise to      
manifold traditions and myths4      ,,ii
    ,however all this may be1 the       
question immediately before us--having  
established the more healthy1 though    
more limited1 condition of the          
pre-civilisation peoples--is1 why this  
lapse or fall8 ,what is the  meaning of 
this manifold and intensified           
manifestation of  ,disease--physical1   
social1 intellectual1 and moral8 ,what  
is its place  and part in the great     
whole of human evolution8    ,and this  
involves us in a digression1 which must 
occupy a few pages1 on  the nature of   
,health4    ,when we come to analyse the
 conception of ,disease1 physical or    
mental1  in society or in the           
individual1 it evidently means1 as      
already hinted  once or twice1 loss of  

unity4 ,health1 therefore1 should mean  
unity1  and it is curious that the      
history of the word entirely            
corroborates  this idea4 ,as is well    
known1 the words health1 whole1 holy1   
are from  the same stock2 and they      
indicate to us the fact that far back in
 the  past those who created this group 
of words had a conception of the        
meaning of ,health very different from  
ours1 and which they embodied           
unconsciously in the word itself and its
 strange relatives4    ,these are1 for  
instance1 and among others3 heal1       
hallow1 hale1 holy1  whole1 wholesome2  
,german heilig1 ,heiland 7the ,saviour72
 ,latin salus 7as  in salutation1       
salvation72 ,greek kalos2 also compare  
hail6 a salutation1  and1 less certainly
 connected1 the root hal1 to breathe1 as
 in inhale1  exhale--,french            
haleine--,italian and ,french alma and  
me 7the soul72  compare the ,latin      
spiritus1 spirit or breath1 and         
,sanskrit tman1 breath  or soul4        

,wholeness1 holiness 444 if thine eye be
 single1 thy whole body shall be  full  
of light4 444 thy faith hath made thee  
whole4    ,the idea seems to be a       
positive one--a condition of the body in
 which it  is an entirety1 a unity--a   
central force maintaining that          
condition2 and  disease being the       
break-up--or break-down--of that        
entirety into  multiplicity4    ,the    
peculiarity about our modern conception 
of ,health is that it seems  to be a    
purely negative one4 ,so impressed are  
we by the myriad presence  of           
,disease--so numerous its dangers1 so   
sudden and unforetellable its           
attacks--that we have come to look upon 
health as the mere absence of  the same4
 ,as a solitary spy picks his way       
through a hostile camp at  night1 sees  
the enemy sitting round his fires1 and  
trembles at the  crackling of a twig    
beneath his feet--so the traveller      
through this  world1 comforter in one   
hand and physic-bottle in the other1    

must pick  his way1 fearful lest at any 
time he disturb the sleeping legions of 
death--thrice blessed if by any means1  
steering now to the right and now  to   
the left1 and thinking only of his      
personal safety1 he pass by  without    
discovery to the other side4    ,health 
with us is a negative thing4 ,it is a   
neutralisation of opposing  dangers4 ,it
 is to be neither rheumatic nor gouty1  
consumptive nor  bilious1 to be         
untroubled by head-ache1 back-ache1     
heart-ache1 or any of  the thousand     
natural shocks that flesh is heir to4   
,these are the  realities4 ,health is   
the mere negation of them4    ,the      
modern notion1 and which has evidently  
in a very subtle way  penetrated the    
whole thought of to-day1 is that the    
essential fact of  life is the existence
 of innumerable external forces1 which1 
by a very  delicate balance and         
difficult to maintain1 concur to produce
 ,man--who  in consequence may at any   
moment be destroyed again by the        

non-concurrence of those forces4 ,the   
older notion apparently is that the     
essential fact of life is ,man himself2 
and that the external forces1           
so-called1 are in some way subsidiary to
 this fact--that they may aid  his      
expression or manifestation1 or that    
they may hinder it1 but that  they can  
neither create nor annihilate the ,man4 
,probably both ways of  looking at the  
subject are important2 there is a man   
that can be  destroyed1 and there is a  
man that cannot be destroyed4 ,the old  
words1  soul and body1 indicate this    
contrast2 but like all words they are   
subject to the defect that they are an  
attempt to draw a line where no  line   
can ultimately be drawn2 they mark a    
contrast where1 in fact1 there  is only 
continuity--for between the little      
mortal man who dwells here  and now1 and
 the divine and universal ,man who also 
forms a part of our  consciousness1 is  
there not a perfect gradation of being1 
and where 7if  anywhere7 is there a gulf

 fixed8 ,together they form a unit1 and 
each is  necessary to the other3 the    
first cannot do without the second1 and 
the  second cannot get along at all     
without the first4 ,to use the words of 
,angelus ,silesius 7quoted by           
,schopenhauer71 ,ich weiss dass ohne    
mich  ,gott nicht ein ,nu kann leben4   
,according then to the elder conception1
 and perhaps according to an  elder     
experience1 man1 to be really healthy1  
must be a unit1 an  entirety--his more  
external and momentary self standing in 
some kind of  filial relation to his    
more universal and incorruptible        
part--so that  not only the remotest and
 outermost regions of the body1 and all 
the  assimilative1 secretive1 and other 
processes belonging thereto1 but even   
the thoughts and passions of the mind   
itself1 stand in direct and clear       
relationship to it1 the final and       
absolute transparency of the mortal     
creature4 ,and thus this divinity in    
each creature1 being that which         

constitutes it and causes it to cohere  
together1 was conceived of as  that     
creature's saviour1 healer--healer of   
wounds of body and wounds of  heart--the
 ,man within the man1 whom it was not   
only possible to know1  but whom to know
 and be united with was the alone       
salvation4 ,this1 ,i  take it1 was the  
law of health--and of holiness--as      
accepted at some  elder time of human   
history1 and by us seen as thro' a glass
 darkly4    ,and the condition of       
disease1 and of sin1 under the same     
view1 was the  reverse of this4         
,enfeeblement1 obscuration1             
duplicity--the central  radiation       
blocked2 lesser and insubordinate       
centres establishing and  asserting     
themselves as against it2 division1     
discord1 possession by  devils4    ,thus
 in the body1 the establishment of an   
insubordinate centre--a boil1  a tumor1 
the introduction and spread of a germ   
with innumerable progeny  throughout the
 system1 the enlargement out of all     

reason of an existing  organ--means     
disease4 ,in the mind1 disease begins   
when any passion  asserts itself as an  
independent centre of thought and       
action4 ,the  condition of health in the
 mind is loyalty to the divine ,man     
within  it4#aj ,but if loyalty to money 
become an independent centre of life1 or
  greed of knowledge1 or of fame1 or of 
drink2 jealousy1 lust1 the love of      
approbation2 or mere following after any
 so-called virtue for  itself--purity1  
humility1 consistency1 or what          
not--these may grow to  seriously       
endanger the other4 ,they are1 or should
 be1 subordinates2 and  though over a   
long period their insubordination may be
 a necessary  condition of human        
progress1 yet during all such time they 
are at war  with each other and with the
 central ,will2 the man is torn and     
tormented1 and is not happy4    ,and    
when ,i speak thus separately of the    
mind and body1 it must be  remembered1  
as already said1 that there is no strict

 line between them2  but probably every 
affection or passion of the mind has its
 correlative  in the condition of the   
body--though this latter may or may not 
be  easily observable4 ,gluttony is a   
fever of the digestive apparatus4  ,what
 is a taint in the mind is also a taint 
in the body4 ,the stomach has  started  
the original idea of becoming itself the
 centre of the human  system4 ,the      
sexual organs may start a similar idea4 
,here are distinct  threats1 menaces    
made against the central                
authority--against the ,man  himself4   
,for the man must rule or disappear2 it 
is impossible to imagine  a man presided
 over by a ,stomach--a walking ,stomach1
 using hands1 feet1  and all other      
members merely to carry it from place to
 place1 and serve  its assimilative     
mania4 ,we call such a one an ,hog4 ,and
 thus in the  theory of ,evolution we   
see the place of the hog1 and all other 
animals1  as fore-runners or off-shoots 
of special faculties in ,man1 and why   

the  true man1 and rightly1 has         
authority over all animals1 and can     
alone  give them their place in         
creation4    ,so of the ,brain1 or any  
other organ2 for the ,man is no organ1  
resides in  no organ1 but is the central
 life ruling and radiating among all    
organs1 and assigning them their arts to
 play4    ,disease then1 in body or     
mind1 is from this point of view the    
break-up  of its unity1 its entirety1   
into multiplicity4 ,it is the abeyance  
of a  central power1 and the growth of  
insubordinate centres--life in each     
creature being conceived of as a        
continual exercise of energy or         
conquest1 by which external or          
antagonistic forces 7and organisms7 are 
brought into subjection and compelled   
into the service of the creature1  or   
are thrown off as harmful to it4 ,thus1 
by way of illustration1 we  find that   
plants or animals1 when in good health1 
have a remarkable  power of throwing off
 the attacks of any parasites which     

incline to  infest them2 while those    
that are weakly are very soon eaten up  
by the  same4 ,a rose-tree1 for         
instance1 brought indoors1 will soon    
fall a prey  to the aphis--though when  
hardened out of doors the pest makes    
next to  no impression on it4 ,in dry   
seasons when the young turnip plants in 
the  fields are weakly from want of     
water the entire crop is sometimes      
destroyed by the turnip fly1 which then 
multiplies enormously2 but if a  shower 
or two of rain come before much damage  
is done the plant will  then grow       
vigorously1 its tissues become more     
robust and resist the  attacks of the   
fly1 which in its turn dies4 ,late      
investigations seem to  show that one of
 the functions of the white corpuscles  
in the blood is  to devour disease-germs
 and bacteria present in the            
circulation--thus  absorbing these      
organisms into subjection to the central
 life of the  body--and that with this  
object they congregate in numbers toward

 any  part of the body which is wounded 
or diseased4 ,or to take an example     
from society1 it is clear enough that if
 our social life were really  vivid and 
healthy1 such parasitic products as the 
idle shareholder and  the policeman     
above-mentioned would simply be         
impossible4 ,the material  on which they
 prey would not exist1 and they would   
either perish or be  transmuted into    
useful forms4 ,it seems obvious in fact 
that life in any  organism can only be  
maintained by some such processes as    
these--by  which parasitic or infesting 
organisms are either thrown off or      
absorbed  into subjection4 ,to define   
the nature of the power which thus works
  towards and creates the distinctive   
unity of each organism may be           
difficult1 is probably at present       
impossible1 but that some such power    
exists we can hardly refuse to admit4   
,probably it is more a subject of  the  
growth of our consciousness1 than an    
object of external scientific           

investigation4    ,in this view1 ,death 
is simply the loosening and termination 
of the  action of this power--over      
certain regions of the organism2 a      
process by  which1 when these           
superficial parts become hardened and   
osseous1 as in  old age1 or irreparably 
damaged1 as in cases of accident1 the   
inward  being sloughs them off1 and     
passes into other spheres4 ,in the case 
of  man there may be noble and there may
 be ignoble death1 as there may be      
noble and ignoble life4 ,the inward     
self1 unable to maintain authority  over
 the forces committed to its charge1    
declining from its high  prerogative1   
swarmed over by parasites1 and fallen   
partially into the  clutch of obscene   
foes1 may at last with shame and torment
 be driven  forth from the temple in    
which it ought to have been supreme4    
,or1 having  fulfilled a holy and       
wholesome time1 having radiated divine  
life and  love through all the channels 
of body and mind1 and as a perfect      

workman  uses his tools1 so having with 
perfect mastery and nonchalance used all
  the materials committed to it1 it may 
quietly and peacefully lay these  down1 
and unchanged 7absolutely unchanged to  
all but material eyes7 pass  on to other
 spheres appointed4    ,and now a few   
words on the medical aspect of the      
subject4 ,if we accept  any theory 7even
 remotely similar to that just          
indicated7 to the effect  that ,health  
is a positive thing1 and not a mere     
negation of disease1 it  becomes pretty 
clear that no mere investigation of the 
latter will  enable us to find out what 
the former is1 or bring us nearer to it4
 ,you  might as well try to create the  
ebb and flow of the tides by an         
organised system of mops4    ,turn your 
back upon the ,sun and go forth into the
 wildernesses of space  till you come to
 those limits where the rays of light1  
faint with  distance1 fall dim upon the 
confines of eternal darkness--and       
phantoms  and shadows in the half-light 

are the product of the wavering conflict
  betwixt day and night--investigate    
these shadows1 describe them1  classify 
them1 record the changes which take     
place in them1 erect in  vast libraries 
these records into a monument of human  
industry and  research2 so shall you be 
at the end as near to a knowledge and   
understanding of the sun itself--which  
all this time you have left  behind you1
 and on which you have turned your      
back--as the investigators  of disease  
are to a knowledge and understanding of 
what health is4 ,the  solar rays        
illumine the outer world and give to it 
its unity and  entirety2 so in the inner
 world of each individual possibly is   
there  another ,sun1 which illumines and
 gives unity to the man1 and whose      
warmth and light would permeate his     
system4 ,wait upon the shining forth  of
 this inward sun1 give free access and  
welcome to its rays of love1  and free  
passage for them into the common world  
around you1 and it may  be you will get 

to know more about health than all the  
books of medicine  contain1 or can tell 
you4    ,or to take the former simile3  
it is the central force of the ,moon    
which  acting on the great ocean makes  
all its waters one1 and causes them to  
rise and fall in timely consent4 ,but   
take your moon away2 hey6 now the  tide 
is flowing too far down this estuary6   
,station your thousands with  mops1 but 
it breaks through in channel and runlet6
 ,block it here1 but it  overflows in a 
neighboring bay6 ,appoint an army of    
swabs there1 but to  what end8 ,the     
infinitest care along the fringe of this
 great sea can  never do1 with all      
imaginable dirt and confusion1 what the 
central power  does easily1 and with    
unerring grace and providence4    ,and  
so of the great 7the vast and wonderful7
 ocean which ebbs and flows  within a   
man--take away the central guide--and   
not #bj1jjj doctors1 each  with #bj1jjj 
books to consult and #bj1jjj phials of  
different contents to  administer1 could

 meet the myriad cases of disease which 
would ensue1 or  bolster up into        
wholeness the being from whom the single
 radiant unity  had departed4           
,probably there has never been an age1  
nor any country 7except  ,yankee-land87 
in which disease has been so generally  
prevalent as in  ,england to-day2 and   
certainly there has never 7with the same
 exception7  been an age or country in  
which doctors have so swarmed1 or in    
which  medical science has been so      
powerful1 in apparatus1 in learning1 in 
authority1 and in actual organisation   
and number of adherents4 ,how  reconcile
 this contradiction--if indeed a        
contradiction it be8    ,but the fact is
 that medical science does not          
contradict disease--any  more than laws 
abolish crime4 ,medical science--and    
doubtless for very  good reasons--makes 
a fetish of disease1 and dances around  
it4 ,it is 7as  a rule7 only seen where 
disease is2 it writes enormous tomes on 
disease2  it induces disease in animals 

7and even men7 for the purpose of       
studying  it2 it knows1 to a marvelous  
extent1 the symptoms of disease1 its    
nature1 its causes1 its goings out and  
its comings in2 its eyes are            
perpetually fixed on disease1 till      
disease 7for it7 becomes the main  fact 
of the world and the main object of its 
worship4 ,even what is so  gracefully   
called ,hygiene does not get beyond this
 negative attitude4  ,and the world     
still waits for its ,healer1 who shall  
tell us--diseased  and suffering as we  
are--what health is1 where it is to be  
found1  whence it flows2 and who having 
touched this wonderful power within     
himself shall not rest till he has      
proclaimed and imparted it to men4      
,no1 medical science does not1 in the   
main1 contradict disease4 ,the same     
cause 7infidelity and decay of the      
central life in men7 which creates      
disease and makes men liable to it1     
creates students and a science of  the  
subject4 ,the ,moon#aa having gone from 

over the waters1 the good  people rush  
forth with their mops2 and the untimely 
inundations1 and the  mops and the mess 
and the pother1 are all due to the same 
cause4    ,as to the lodgment of        
disease1 it is clear that this would    
take place  easily in a disorganised    
system--just as a seditious adventurer  
would  easily effect a landing1 and     
would find insubordinate materials ready
 at  hand for his use1 in a land where  
the central government was weak4 ,and   
as to the treatment of a disease so     
introduced there are obviously two      
methods3 one is to reinforce the central
 power till it is sufficiently  strong  
of itself to eject the insubordinate    
elements and restore order2  the other  
is to attack the malady from outside and
 if possible destroy  it--7as by doses  
and decoctions7--independently of the   
inner vitality1  and leaving that as it 
was before4 ,the first method would seem
 the best1  most durable and effective2 
but it is difficult and slow4 ,it       

consists in  the adoption of a healthy  
life1 bodily and mental1 and will be    
spoken  of later on4 ,the second may be 
characterised as the medical method1 and
  is valuable1 or rather ,i should be   
inclined to say1 will be valuable1  when
 it has found its place1 which is to be 
subsidiary to the first4 ,it  is too    
often1 however1 regarded as superior in 
importance1 and in this  way1 though    
easy of application1 has come perhaps to
 be productive of  more harm than good4 
,the disease may be broken down for the 
time being1  but1 the roots of it not   
being destroyed1 it soon springs up     
again in  the same or a new form1 and   
the patient is as badly off as ever4    
,the great positive force of ,health1   
and the power which it has to  expel    
disease from its neighborhood is a thing
 realised1 ,i believe1 by  few persons4 
,but it has been realised on earth1 and 
will be realised  again when the more   
squalid elements of our present-day     
civilisation  have passed away4         

,,iii    ,the result then of our        
digression is to show that ,health--in  
body or  mind--means unity1 integration 
as opposed to disintegration4 ,in the   
animals we find this physical unity     
existing to a remarkable degree4 ,an    
almost unerring instinct and selective  
power rules their actions and           
organisation4 ,thus a cat before it has 
fallen 7say before it has become  a very
 wheezy fireside pussy67 is in a sense  
perfect4 ,the wonderful  consent of its 
limbs as it runs or leaps1 the          
adaptation of its  muscles1 the         
exactness and inevitableness of its     
instincts1 physical and  affectional2   
its senses of sight and smell1 its      
cleanliness1 nicety as  to food1        
motherly tact1 the expression of its    
whole body when enraged1  or when       
watching for prey--all these things are 
so to speak absolute and                
instantaneous--and fill one with        
admiration4 ,the creature is whole or   
in one piece3 there is no mentionable   

conflict or division within  it4#ab     
,similarly with the other animals1 and  
even with the early man himself4  ,and  
so it would appear returning to our     
subject--that1 if we accept the         
doctrine of ,evolution1 there is a      
progression of animated beings--which1  
though not perfect1 possess in the main 
the attribute of ,health--from  the     
lowest forms up to a healthy and        
instinctive though certainly  limited   
man4 ,during all this stage the central 
law is in the ascendant1  and the       
physical frame of each creature is the  
fairly clean vehicle of  its            
expression--varying of course in        
complexity and degree according to  the 
point of unfoldment which has been      
reached4 ,and when thus in the  long    
process of development the inner ,man   
7which has lain hidden or  dormant      
within the animal7 at last appears1 and 
the creature  consequently takes on the 
outer frame and faculties of the human  
being1  which are only as they are      

because of the inner man which they     
represent2 when it has passed through   
stage after stage of animal life1       
throwing out tentative types and        
likenesses of what is to come1 and      
going through innumerable preliminary   
exercises in special forms and          
faculties1 till at last it begins to be 
able to wear the full majesty of        
manhood itself--then it would seem that 
that long process of  development is    
drawing to a close1 and that the goal of
 creation must be  within measurable    
distance4    ,but then1 at that very    
moment1 and when the goal is1 so to     
speak1 in  sight1 occurs this failure of
 wholeness of which we have spoken1 this
  partial break-up of the unity of human
 nature--and man1 instead of going      
forward any longer in the same line as  
before1 to all appearance  falls4       
,what is the meaning of this loss of    
unity8 ,what is the cause and purpose   
of this fall and centuries-long exile   
from the earlier ,paradise8    ,there   

can be but one answer4 ,it is           
self-knowledge--7which involves in a    
sense the abandonment of self74 ,man has
 to become conscious of his  destiny--to
 lay hold of and realise his own freedom
 and blessedness--to  transfer his      
consciousness from the outer and mortal 
part of him to the  inner and undying4  
,the cat cannot do this4 ,though perfect
 in its degree1 its interior  unfoldment
 is yet incomplete4 ,the human soul     
within it has not yet come  forward and 
declared itself2 some sheathing leaves  
have yet to open  before the divine     
flower-bud can be clearly seen4 ,and    
when at last  7speaking as a fool7 the  
cat becomes a man--when the human soul  
within  the creature has climbed itself 
forward and found expression1           
transforming the outer frame in the     
process into that of  humanity--7which  
is the meaning ,i suppose of the        
evolution theory7--then  the creature1  
though perfect and radiant in the form  
of ,man1 still lacks  one thing4 ,it    

lacks the knowledge of itself2 it lacks 
its own identity1  and the realisation  
of the manhood to which as a fact it has
 attained4    ,in the animals           
consciousness has never returned upon   
itself4 ,it radiates  easily outwards2  
and the creature obeys without let or   
hesitation1 and  with little if any     
self-consciousness1 the law of its      
being4 ,and when  man first appears on  
the earth1 and even up to the threshold 
of what we  call civilisation1 there is 
much to show that he should in this     
respect  still be classed with the      
animals4 ,though vastly superior to them
 in  attainments1 physical and mental1  
in power over nature1 capacity of       
progress1 and adaptability1 he still in 
these earlier stages was like an  animal
 in the unconscious instinctive nature  
of his action2 and on the  other hand1  
though his moral and intellectual       
structures were far less  complete than 
those of the modern man--as was a       
necessary result of the  absence of     

self-knowledge--he actually lived more  
in harmony with  himself and with       
nature1#ac than does his descendant2 his
 impulses1  both physical and social1   
were clearer and more unhesitating2 and 
his  unconsciousness of inner discord   
and sin a great contrast to our modern  
condition of everlasting strife and     
perplexity4    ,if then to this stage   
belongs some degree of human perfection 
and  felicity1 yet there remains a much 
vaster height to be scaled4 ,the human  
soul which has wandered darkling for so 
many thousands of years1 from  its tiny 
spark-like germ in some low form of life
 to its full splendor  and dignity in   
man1 has yet to come to the knowledge of
 its wonderful  heritage1 has yet to    
become finally individualised and free1 
to know  itself immortal1 to resume and 
interpret all its past lives1 and to    
enter in triumph into the kingdom which 
it has won4    ,it has in fact to face  
the frightful struggle of               
self-consciousness1 or  the             

disentanglement of the true self from   
the fleeting and perishable  self4 ,the 
animals and man1 unfallen1 are healthy  
and free from care1 but  unaware of what
 they are2 to attain self-knowledge man 
must fall2 he  must become less than his
 true self2 he must endure imperfection2
  division and strife must enter his    
nature4 ,to realise the perfect ,life1  
to know what1 how wonderful it is--to   
understand that all blessedness  and    
freedom consists in its possession--he  
must for the moment suffer  divorce from
 it2 the unity1 the repose of his nature
 must be broken up1  crime1 disease and 
unrest must enter in1 and by contrast he
 must attain  to knowledge4    ,curious 
that at the very dawn of the ,greek and 
with it the ,european  civilisation we  
have the mystic words ,know ,thyself    
inscribed on the  temple of the ,delphic
 ,apollo2 and that first among the      
legends of the  ,semitic race stands    
that of ,adam and ,eve eating of the    
tree of the  ,knowledge of good and     

evil6 ,to the animal there is no such   
knowledge1 to  the early man there was  
no such knowledge1 and to the perfected 
man of  the future there will be no such
 knowledge4 ,it is a temporary          
perversion1 indicating the disunion of  
the present-day man--the disunion  of   
the outer self from the inner--the      
horrible dual  self-consciousness--which
 is the means ultimately of a more      
perfect and  conscious union than could 
ever have been realised without it--the 
death  that is swallowed up in victory4 
,for the first man is of the earth1     
earthy2 but the second man is the ,lord 
from heaven4    ,in order then1 at this 
point in his ,evolution1 to advance any 
farther1  ,man must first fall2 in order
 to know1 he must lose4 ,in order to    
realise  what ,health is1 how splendid  
and glorious a possession1 he must go   
through all the long negative experience
 of ,disease2 in order to know  the     
perfect social life1 to understand what 
power and happiness to  mankind are     

involved in their true relation to each 
other1 he must learn  the misery and    
suffering which come from mere          
individualism and greed2  and in order  
to find his true ,manhood1 to discover  
what a wonderful  power it is1 he must  
first lose it--he must become a prey and
 a slave to  his own passions and       
desires--whirled away like ,phaethon by 
the horses  which he cannot control4    
,this moment of divorce1 then1 this     
parenthesis in human progress1 covers   
the ground of all ,history2 and the     
whole of ,civilisation1 and all crime   
and disease1 are only the materials of  
its immense purpose--themselves         
destined to pass away as they arose1 but
 to leave their fruits eternal4         
,accordingly we find that it has been   
the work of ,civilisation--founded  as  
we have seen on ,property--in every way 
to disintegrate and corrupt             
man--literally to corrupt--to break up  
the unity of his nature4 ,it  begins    
with the abandonment of the primitive   

life and the growth of the  sense of    
shame 7as in the myth of ,adam and      
,eve74 ,from this follows the           
disownment of the sacredness of sex4    
,sexual acts cease to be a part of      
religious worship2 love and desire--the 
inner and the outer  love--hitherto     
undifferentiated1 now become two        
separate things4 7,this  no doubt a     
necessary stage in order for the        
development of the  consciousness of    
love1 but in itself only painful and    
abnormal47 ,it  culminates and comes to 
an end1 as to-day1 in a complete divorce
 between  the spiritual reality and the 
bodily fulfilment--in a vast system of  
commercial love1 bought and sold1 in the
 brothel and in the palace4 ,it  begins 
with the forsaking of the hardy         
nature-life1 and it ends with a  society
 broken down and prostrate1 hardly      
recognisable as human1 amid  every form 
of luxury1 poverty and disease4 ,he who 
had been the free  child of ,nature     
denies his sonship2 he disowns the very 

breasts that  suckled him4 ,he          
deliberately turns his back upon the    
light of the sun1  and hides himself    
away in boxes with breathing holes      
7which he calls  houses71 living ever   
more and more in darkness and asphyxia1 
and only  coming forth perhaps once a   
day to blink at the bright god1 or to   
run  back again at the first breath of  
the free wind for fear of catching      
cold6 ,he muffles himself in the        
cast-off furs of the beasts1 every      
century swathing himself in more and    
more layers1 more and more  fearfully   
and wonderfully fashioned1 till he      
ceases to be recognisable  as the ,man  
that was once the crown of the animals1 
and presents a more  ludicrous spectacle
 than the monkey that sits on his own   
barrel organ4  ,he ceases to a great    
extent to use his muscles1 his feet     
become  partially degenerate1 his teeth 
wholly1 his digestion so enervated that 
he has to cook his food and make pulps  
of all his victuals1 and his  whole     

system so obviously on the decline that 
at last in the end of  time a ,kay      
,robinson arises and prophesies as      
aforesaid1 that he will  before long    
become wholly toothless1 bald and       
toeless4    ,and so with this denial of 
,nature comes every form of disease2    
first  delicatesse1 daintiness1 luxury2 
then unbalance1 enervation1 huge        
susceptibility to pain4 ,with the       
shutting of himself away from the       
all-healing ,power1 man inevitably      
weakens his whole manhood2 the central  
bond is loosened1 and he falls a prey to
 his own organs4 ,he who before  was    
unaware of the existence of these       
latter1 now becomes only too  conscious 
of them 7and this--is it not the very   
object of the process872  the stomach1  
the liver and the spleen start out into 
painful  distinctness before him1 the   
heart loses its equable beat1 the lungs 
their continuity with the universal air1
 and the brain becomes hot and  fevered2
 each organ in turn asserts itself      

abnormally and becomes a seat  of       
disorder1 every corner and cranny of the
 body becomes the scene and  symbol of  
disease1 and ,man gazes aghast at his   
own kingdom--whose extent  he had never 
suspected before--now all ablaze in wild
 revolt against  him4 ,and then--all    
going with this period of his           
development--sweep vast  epidemic trains
 over the face of the earth1 plagues and
 fevers and  lunacies and world-wide    
festering sores1 followed by armies1    
ever  growing1 of doctors--they too with
 their retinues of books and bottles1   
vaccinations and vivisections1 and      
grinning death's-heads in the rear--a   
mad crew1 knowing not what they do1 yet 
all unconsciously1 doubtless1           
fulfilling the great age-long destiny of
 humanity4      ,in all this the        
influence of ,property is apparent      
enough4 ,it is evident  that the growth 
of property through the increase of     
man's powers of  production reacts on   
the man in three ways3 to draw him away 

namely1 7#a7  from ,nature1 7#b7 from   
his true ,self1 7#c7 from his ,fellows4 
,in the first  place it draws him away  
from ,nature4 ,that is1 that as man's   
power over  materials increases he      
creates for himself a sphere and an     
environment  of his own1 in some sense  
apart and different from the great      
elemental  world of the winds and the   
waves1 the woods and the mountains1 in  
which  he has hitherto lived4 ,he       
creates what we call the artificial     
life1 of  houses and cities1 and1       
shutting himself up in these1 shuts     
,nature out4  ,as a growing boy at a    
certain point1 and partly in order to   
assert his  independence1 wrests himself
 away from the tender care of his       
mother1  and even displays--just for the
 time being--a spirit of opposition to  
her1 so the growing ,man finding out his
 own powers uses them--for the          
time--even to do despite to ,nature1 and
 to create himself a world in  which she
 shall have no part4 ,in the second     

place the growth of property  draws man 
away from his true ,self4 ,this is clear
 enough4 ,as his power  over materials  
and his possessions increases1 man finds
 the means of  gratifying his senses at 
will4 ,instead of being guided any      
longer by  that continent and whole     
instinct which characterises the        
animals1  his chief motive is now to use
 his powers to gratify this or that     
sense  or desire4 ,these become         
abnormally magnified1 and the man soon  
places  his main good in their          
satisfaction2 and abandons his true     
,self for his  organs1 the whole for the
 parts4 ,property draws the man         
outwards1  stimulating the external part
 of his being1 and for a time mastering 
him1 overpowers the central ,will1 and  
brings about his disintegration  and    
corruption4 ,lastly1 ,property by thus  
stimulating the external and  selfish   
nature in ,man1 draws him away from his 
,fellows4 ,in the anxiety  to possess   
things for himself1 in order to gratify 

his own bumps1 he is  necessarily       
brought into conflict with his neighbor 
and comes to regard  him as an enemy4   
,for the true ,self of man consists in  
his organic  relation with the whole    
body of his fellows2 and when the man   
abandons  his true ,self he abandons    
also his true relation to his fellows4  
,the  mass-,man must rule in each       
unit-man1 else the unit-man will drop   
off and  die4 ,but when the outer man   
tries to separate himself from the      
inner1  the unit-man from the mass-,man1
 then the reign of individuality        
begins--a false and impossible          
individuality of course1 but the only   
means of coming to the consciousness of 
the true individuality4 ,with the       
advent of a ,civilisation then founded  
on ,property the unity of the old       
tribal society is broken up4 ,the ties  
of blood relationship which were  the   
foundation of the gentile system and the
 guarantees of the old  fraternity and  
equality become dissolved in favor of   

powers and  authorities founded on mere 
possession4 ,the growth of ,wealth      
disintegrates the ancient ,society2 the 
temptations of power1 of  possession1   
etc41 which accompany it1 wrench the    
individual from his  moorings2 personal 
greed rules2 each man for himself       
becomes the  universal motto2 the hand  
of every man is raised against his      
brother1  and at last society itself    
becomes an organisation by which the    
rich  fatten upon the vitals of the     
poor1 the strong upon the murder of the 
weak4 ,it is interesting in this        
connection to find that ,lewis ,morgan  
makes the invention of a written        
alphabet and the growth of the          
conception of private property the main 
characteristics of the                  
civilisation-period as distinguished    
from the periods of savagery and        
barbarism which preceded it2 for the    
invention of writing marks perhaps      
better than anything else could do the  
period when ,man becomes                

self-conscious--when he records his own 
doings and thoughts1 and so  commences  
,history proper2 and the growth of      
private property marks the  period when 
he begins to sunder himself from his    
fellows1 when therefore  the conception 
of sin 7or separation7 first enters in1 
and with it all  the long period of     
moral perplexity1 and the denial of that
 community of  life between himself and 
his fellows which is really of the      
essence of  man's being4    ,and then   
arises the institution of ,government4  
,hitherto this had not existed except in
 a quite rudimentary form4 ,the  early  
communities troubled themselves little  
about individual ownership1  and what   
government they had was for the most    
part essentially  democratic--as being  
merely a choice of leaders among        
blood-relations  and social equals4 ,but
 when the delusion that man can exist   
for himself  alone--his outer and1 as it
 were1 accidental self apart from the   
great  inner and cosmical self by which 

he is one with his fellows--when this   
delusion takes possession of him1 it is 
not long before it finds  expression in 
some system of private property4 ,the   
old community of life  and enjoyment    
passes away1 and each man tries to grab 
the utmost he can1  and to retire into  
his own lair for its consumption4       
,private  accumulations arise2 the      
natural flow of the bounties of life is 
dammed  back1 and artificial barriers of
 ,law have to be constructed in order to
  preserve the unequal levels4 ,outrage 
and ,fraud follow in the wake of the    
desire of possession2 force has to be   
used by the possessors in order to      
maintain the law-barriers against the   
non-possessors2 classes are  formed2 and
 finally the formal ,government arises1 
mainly as the  expression of such force2
 and preserves itself1 as best it can1  
until  such time as the inequalities    
which it upholds become too glaring1 and
  the pent social waters gathering head 
burst through once more and regain      

their natural levels4    ,thus ,morgan  
in his ,ancient ,society points out over
 and over again that  the civilised     
state rests upon territorial and        
property marks and  qualifications1 and 
not upon a personal basis as did the    
ancient gens1  or the tribe2 and that   
the civilised government correspondingly
 takes on  quite a different character  
and function from the simple            
organisation  of the gens4 ,he says 7p4 
#abd71 ,monarchy is incompatible with   
gentilism4 ,also with regard to the     
relation of ,property to ,civilisation  
and ,government he makes the following  
pregnant remarks 7p4 #eje73 ,it is      
impossible to over-estimate the         
influence of property in the            
civilisation of mankind4 ,it was the    
power that brought the ,aryan and       
,semitic nations out of barbarism into  
civilisation4 ,the growth of the  idea  
of property in the human mind commenced 
in feebleness and ended in  becoming its
 master passion4 ,governments and ,laws 

are instituted with  primary reference  
to its creation1 protection and         
enjoyment4 ,it  introduced human slavery
 as an instrument in its production2 and
 after  the experience of several       
thousand years it caused the abolition  
of  slavery upon the discovery that a   
freeman was a better property-making    
machine4 ,and in another passage on the 
same subject1 ,the dissolution  of      
society bids fair to become the         
termination of a career of which        
property is the end and aim2 because    
such a career contains the elements  of 
self-destruction4 ,democracy is the next
 higher plane4 ,it will be a  revival in
 a higher form of the liberty1 equality 
and fraternity of the  ancient gentes4  
,the institution of ,government is in   
fact the evidence in social life  that  
man has lost his inner and central      
control1 and therefore must  resort to  
an outward one4 ,losing touch with the  
inward ,man--who is his  true guide--he 
declines upon an external law1 which    

must always be  false4 ,if each man     
remained in organic adhesion to the     
general body of  his fellows1 no serious
 dis-harmony could occur2 but it is when
 this  vital unity of the body politic  
becomes weak that it has to be preserved
  by artificial means1 and thus it is   
that with the decay of the primitive    
and instinctive social life there       
springs up a form of government which   
is no longer the democratic expression  
of the life of the whole people2  but a 
kind of outside authority and compulsion
 thrust upon them by a  ruling class or 
caste4    ,perhaps the sincerest1 and   
often though not always the earliest1   
form of  ,government is ,monarchy4 ,the 
sentiment of human unity having been    
already  partly but not quite lost1 the 
people choose--in order to hold society 
together--a man to rule over them who   
has this sentiment in a high  degree4   
,he represents the true ,man and        
therefore the people4 ,this is  often a 
time of extensive warfare and the       

formation of nations4 ,and it  is       
interesting in this connection to note  
that the quite early ,kings  or leaders 
of each nation just prior to the        
civilisation period were  generally     
associated with the highest religious   
functions1 as in the  case of the ,roman
 rex1 the ,greek basileus1 the early    
,egyptian ,kings1  ,moses among the     
,israelites1 and ,druid leaders of the  
,britons1 and so on4    ,later1 and as  
the central authority gets more and more
 shadowy in each  man1 and the external 
attraction of ,property greater1 so it  
does in  ,society4 ,the temporal and    
spiritual powers part company4 ,the     
king--who  at first represented the     
,divine ,spirit or soul of society1     
recedes into  the background1 and his   
nobles of high degree 7who may be       
compared to  the nobler1 more generous1 
qualities of the mind7 begin to take his
  place4 ,this is the ,aristocracy and  
the ,feudal ,age--the ,timocracy of     
,plato2 and is marked by the appearance 

of large private tenures of land1  and  
the growth of slavery and serfdom--the  
slavery thus outwardly  appearing in    
society being the symbol of the inward  
enslavement of the  man4    ,then comes 
the ,commercial ,age--the ,oligarchy or 
,plutocracy of ,plato4  ,honour quite   
gives place to material wealth2 the     
rulers rule not by  personal or         
hereditary1 but by property             
qualifications4 ,parliaments and        
,constitutions and general ,palaver are 
the order of the day4  ,wage-slavery1   
usury1 mortgages1 and other             
abominations1 indicate the  advance of  
the mortal process4 ,in the individual  
man gain is the end of  existence2      
industry and scientific cunning are his 
topmost virtues4    ,last of all the    
break-up is complete4 ,the individual   
loses all memory  and tradition of his  
heavenly guide and counterpart2 his     
nobler passions  fail for want of a     
leader to whom to dedicate themselves2  
his industry  and his intellect serve   

but to minister to his little swarming  
desires4  ,this is the era of           
anarchy--the democracy of ,carlyle2 the 
rule of the  rabble1 and mob-law2       
caucuses and cackle1 competition and    
universal  greed1 breaking out in       
cancerous tyrannies and plutocracies--a 
mere  chaos and confusion of society4   
,for just as we saw in the human body1  
when the inner and positive force of    
,health has departed from it1 that  it  
falls a prey to parasites which         
overspread and devour it2 so1 when  the 
central inspiration departs out of      
social life1 does it writhe with  the   
mere maggots of individual greed1 and at
 length fall under the  dominion of the 
most monstrous egotist who has been bred
 from its  corruption4    ,thus we have 
briefly sketched the progress of the    
symptoms of the  disease1 which1 as said
 before1 runs much 7though not quite7   
the same  course in the various nations 
which it attacks4 ,and if this last     
stage  were really the end of all1 and  

the true ,democracy1 there were indeed  
little left to hope for4 ,no words of   
,carlyle could blast that black  enough4
 ,but this is no true ,democracy4 ,here 
in this each for himself  is no rule of 
the ,demos in every man1 nor anything   
resembling it4 ,here  is no solidarity  
such as existed in the ancient tribes   
and primval  society1 but only          
disintegration and a dust-heap4 ,the    
true ,democracy has  yet to come4 ,here 
in this present stage is only the final 
denial of all  outward and class        
government1 in preparation for the      
restoration of the  inner and true      
authority4 ,here in this stage the task 
of civilisation  comes to an end2 the   
purport and object of all these         
centuries is  fulfilled2 the bitter     
experience that mankind had to pass     
through is  completed2 and out of this  
,death and all the torture and unrest   
which  accompanies it1 comes at last the
 ,resurrection4 ,man has sounded the    
depths of alienation from his own divine

 spirit1 he has drunk the dregs  of the 
cup of suffering1 he has literally      
descended into ,hell2  henceforth he    
turns1 both in the individual and in    
society1 and mounts  deliberately and   
consciously back again towards the unity
 which he has  lost4#ad    ,and the     
false democracy parts aside for the     
disclosure of the true  ,democracy which
 has been formed beneath it--which is   
not an external  government at all1 but 
an inward rule--the rule of the         
mass-,man in each  unit-man4 ,for no    
outward government can be anything but a
 make-shift--a  temporary hard          
chrysalis-sheath to hold the grub       
together while the new  life is forming 
inside--a device of the                 
civilisation-period4 ,farther  than this
 it cannot go1 since no true life can   
rely upon an external  support1 and1    
when the true life of society comes1 all
 its forms will be  fluid and           
spontaneous and voluntary4      ,,iv    
,and now1 by way of a glimpse into the  

future--after this long digression  what
 is the route that man will take8       
,this is a subject that ,i hardly dare  
tackle4 ,the morning wind ever  blows1  
says ,thoreau1 the poem of creation is  
uninterrupted--but few  are the ears    
that hear it4 ,and how can we1 gulfed as
 we are in this  present whirlpool1     
conceive rightly the glory which awaits 
us8 ,no limits  that our present        
knowledge puts need alarm us2 the       
impossibilities will  yield very easily 
when the time comes2 and the anatomical 
difficulty as  to how and where the     
wings are to grow will vanish when they 
are felt  sprouting6    ,it can hardly  
be doubted that the tendency will       
be--indeed is already  showing          
itself--towards a return to nature and  
community of human life4  ,this is the  
way back to the lost ,eden1 or rather   
forward to the new  ,eden1 of which the 
old was only a figure4 ,man has to undo 
the wrappings  and the mummydom of      
centuries1 by which he has shut himself 

from the  light of the sun and lain in  
seeming death1 preparing silently his   
glorious resurrection--for all the world
 like the funny old chrysalis  that he  
is4 ,he has to emerge from houses and   
all his other hiding  places wherein so 
long ago ashamed 7as at the voice of    
,god in the  garden7 he concealed       
himself--and ,nature must once more     
become his home1  as it is the home of  
the animals and the angels4    ,as it is
 written in the old magical formula3    
,man clothes himself to  descend1       
unclothes himself to ascend4 ,over his  
spiritual or wind-like  body he puts on 
a material or earthy body2 over his     
earth-body he puts  on the skins of     
animals and other garments2 then he     
hides this body in a  house behind      
curtains and stone walls--which become  
to it as secondary  skins and           
prolongations of itself4 ,so that       
between the man and his true  life there
 grows a dense and impenetrable hedge2  
and1 what with the  cares and anxieties 

connected with his earth-body and all   
its skins1 he  soon loses the knowledge 
that he is a ,man at all2 his true self 
slumbers  in a deep and agelong swoon4  
,but the instinct of all who desire to  
deliver the divine imago within  them1  
is1 in something more than the literal  
sense1 towards unclothing4  ,and the    
process of evolution or exfoliation     
itself is nothing but a  continual      
unclothing of ,nature1 by which the     
perfect human ,form which is  at the    
root of it comes nearer and nearer to   
its manifestation4    ,thus1 in order to
 restore the ,health which he has lost1 
man has in the  future to tend in this  
direction4 ,life indoors and in houses  
has to  become a fraction only1 instead 
of the principal part of existence as it
  is now4 ,garments similarly have to be
 simplified4 ,how far this process  may 
go it is not necessary now to enquire4  
,it is sufficiently obvious  that our   
domestic life and clothing may be at    
once greatly reduced in  complexity1 and

 with the greatest advantage--made      
subsidiary instead of  being erected    
into the fetishes which they are4 ,and  
everyone may feel  assured that each    
gain in this direction is a gain in true
 life--whether  it be the head that goes
 uncovered to the air of heaven1 or the 
feet  that press bare the magnetic      
earth1 or the elementary raiment that   
allows through its meshes the light     
itself to reach the vital organs4  ,the 
life of the open air1 familiarity with  
the winds and waves1 clean  and pure    
food1 the companionship of the          
animals--the very wrestling with  the   
great ,mother for his food--all these   
things will tend to restore  that       
relationship which man has so long      
disowned2 and the consequent            
instreaming of energy into his system   
will carry him to perfections of  health
 and radiance of being at present       
unsuspected4    ,of course1 it will be  
said that many of these things are      
difficult to  realise in our country1   

that an indoor life1 with all its       
concomitants1  is forced upon us by the 
climate4 ,but if this is to some        
small--though  very small--extent true1 
it forms no reason why we should not    
still take  advantage of every          
opportunity to push in the direction    
indicated4 ,it  must be remembered1 too1
 that our climate is greatly of our own 
creation4 ,if the atmosphere of many of 
our great towns and of the lands  for   
miles in their neighbourhood is         
devitalised and deadly--so that in  cold
 weather it grants to the poor mortal no
 compensating power of  resistance1 but 
compels him at peril of his life to     
swathe himself in  greatcoats and       
mufflers--the blame is none but ours4   
,it is we who have  covered the lands   
with a pall of smoke1 and are walking to
 our own  funerals under it4    ,that   
this climate1 however1 at its best may  
not be suited to the highest            
developments of human life is quite     
possible4 ,because ,britain has been    

the scene of some of the greatest       
episodes of ,civilisation1 it does not  
follow that she will keep the lead in   
the period that is to follow2 and  the  
,higher ,communities of the future will 
perhaps take their rise in  warmer      
lands1 where life is richer and fuller1 
more spontaneous and more  generous1    
than it can be here4    ,another point  
in this connection is the food question4
 ,for the  restoration of the central   
vigour when lost or degenerate1 a diet  
consisting mainly of fruits and grains  
is most adapted4 ,animal food  often    
gives for the time being a lot of       
nervous energy--and may be  useful for  
special purposes2 but the energy is of a
 spasmodic feverish  kind2 the food has 
a tendency to inflame the subsidiary    
centres1 and so  to diminish the central
 control4 ,those who live mainly on     
animal food  are specially liable to    
disease--and not only physically2 for   
their  minds also fall more easily a    
prey to desires and sorrows4 ,in times  

therefore of grief or mental trouble of 
any kind1 as well as in times of  bodily
 sickness1 immediate recourse should be 
had to the more elementary  diet4 ,the  
body under this diet endures work with  
less fatigue1 is less  susceptible to   
pain1 and to cold2 and heals its wounds 
with  extraordinary celerity2 all of    
which facts point in the same direction4
  ,it may be noted1 too1 that foods of  
the seed kind--by which ,i mean all     
manner of fruits1 nuts1 tubers1 grains1 
eggs1 etc4 7and ,i may include  milk in 
its various forms of butter1 cheese1    
curds1 and so forth71 not  only contain 
by their nature the elements of life in 
their most  condensed forms1 but have   
the additional advantage that they can  
be  appropriated without injury to any  
living creature--for even the cabbage   
may inaudibly scream when torn up by the
 roots and boiled1 but the  strawberry  
plant asks us to take of its fruit1 and 
paints it red  expressly that we may see
 and devour it6 ,both of which          

considerations  must convince us that   
this kind of food is most fitted to     
develop the  kernel of man's life4      
,which all means cleanness4 ,the unity  
of our nature being restored1 the       
instinct of bodily cleanness1 both      
within and without1 which is such a     
marked characteristic of the animals1   
will again characterise  mankind--only  
now instead of a blind instinct it will 
be a conscious1  joyous one2 dirt being 
only disorder and obstruction4 ,and thus
 the whole  human being1 mind and body1 
becoming clean and radiant from its     
inmost  centre to its farthest          
circumference--transfigured--the        
distinction  between the words spiritual
 and material disappears4 ,in the words 
of  ,whitman1 objects gross and the     
unseen soul are one4    ,but this return
 to ,nature1 and identification in some 
sort with the  great cosmos1 does not   
involve a denial or depreciation of     
human life  and interests4 ,it is not   
uncommonly supposed that there is some  

kind of  antagonism between ,man and    
,nature1 and that to recommend a life   
closer  to the latter means mere        
asceticism and eremitism2 and           
unfortunately  this antagonism does     
exist to-day1 though it certainly will  
not exist  for ever4 ,to-day it is      
unfortunately perfectly true that ,man  
is the only  animal who1 instead of     
adorning and beautifying1 makes ,nature 
hideous by  his presence4 ,the fox and  
the squirrel may make their homes in the
 wood  and add to its beauty in so      
doing2 but when ,alderman ,smith plants 
his  villa there1 the gods pack up their
 trunks and depart2 they can bear it  no
 longer4 ,the ,bushmen can hide         
themselves and become indistinguishable 
on a slope of bare rock2 they twine     
their naked little yellow bodies        
together1 and look like a heap of dead  
sticks2 but when the chimney-pot  hat   
and frock-coat appear1 the birds fly    
screaming from the trees4 ,this  was the
 great glory of the ,greeks that they   

accepted and perfected  ,nature2 as the 
,parthenon sprang out of the limestone  
terraces of the  ,acropolis1 carrying   
the natural lines of the rock by        
gradations scarce  perceptible into the 
finished and human beauty of frieze and 
pediment1  and as1 above1 it was open   
for the blue air of heaven to descend   
into it  for a habitation2 so throughout
 in all their best work and life did    
they  stand in this close relation to   
the earth and the sky and to all        
instinctive and elemental things1       
admitting no gulf between themselves    
and them1 but only perfecting their     
expressiveness and beauty4 ,and some    
day we shall again understand this      
which1 in the very sunrise of true      
,art1 the ,greeks so well understood4   
,possibly some day we shall again  build
 our houses or dwelling places so simple
 and elemental in character  that they  
will fit in the nooks of the hills or   
along the banks of the  streams or by   
the edges of the woods without          

disturbing the harmony of  the landscape
 or the songs of the birds4 ,then the   
great temples1  beautiful on every      
height1 or by the shores of the rivers  
and the lakes1  will be the storehouses 
of all precious and lovely things4      
,there men1  women and children will    
come to share in the great and wonderful
 common  life1 the gardens around will  
be sacred to the unharmed and welcome   
animals2 there all store and all        
facilities of books and music and art   
for every one1 there a meeting place for
 social life and intercourse1  there    
dances and games and feasts4 ,every     
village1 every little  settlement1 will 
have such hall or halls4 ,no need for   
private  accumulations4 ,gladly will    
each man1 and more gladly still each    
woman1  take his or her treasures1      
except what are immediately or          
necessarily in  use1 to the common      
centre1 where their value will be       
increased a hundred  and a thousand fold
 by the greater number of those who can 

enjoy them1  and where far more         
perfectly and with far less toil they   
can be tended  than if scattered abroad 
in private hands4 ,at one stroke half   
the labour  and all the anxiety of      
domestic caretaking will be annihilated4
 ,the  private dwelling places1 no      
longer costly and labyrinthine in       
proportion  to the value and number of  
the treasures they contain1 will need no
  longer to have doors and windows      
jealously closed against fellow men or  
mother nature4 ,the sun and air will    
have access to them1 the indwellers     
will have unfettered egress4 ,neither   
man nor woman will be tied in  slavery  
to the lodge which they inhabit2 and in 
becoming once more a  part of nature1   
the human habitation will at length     
cease to be what it  is now for at least
 half the human race--a prison4    ,men 
often ask about the new                 
,architecture--what1 and of what sort1  
it is  going to be4 ,but to such a      
question there can be no answer till a  

new  understanding of life has entered  
into people's minds1 and then the       
answer will be clear enough4 ,for as the
 ,greek ,temples and the ,gothic        
,cathedrals were built by people who    
themselves lived but frugally as we     
should think1 and were ready to dedicate
 their best work and chief  treasure to 
the gods and the common life2 and as    
to-day when we must  needs have for     
ourselves spacious and luxurious villas1
 we seem to be  unable to design a      
decent church or public building2 so it 
will not be  till we once more find our 
main interest and life in the life of   
the  community and the gods that a new  
spirit will inspire our architecture4   
,then when our ,temples and ,common     
,halls are not designed to glorify an   
individual architect or patron1 but are 
built for the use of free men  and      
women1 to front the sky and the sea and 
the sun1 to spring out of  the earth1   
companionable with the trees and the    
rocks1 not alien in  spirit from the    

sunlit globe itself or the depth of the 
starry  night--then ,i say their form   
and structure will quickly determine    
themselves1 and men will have no        
difficulty in making them beautiful4    
,and similarly with the homes or        
dwelling places of the people4 ,various 
as these may be for the various wants of
 men1 whether for a single  individual  
or for a family1 or for groups of       
individuals or families1  whether to the
 last degree simple1 or whether more or 
less ornate and  complex1 still the new 
conception1 the new needs of life1 will 
necessarily dominate them and give them 
form by a law unfolding from  within4   
,in such new human life then--its       
fields1 its farms1 its workshops1 its   
cities--always the work of man          
perfecting and beautifying the lands1   
aiding the efforts of the sun and soil1 
giving voice to the desire of  the mute 
earth--in such new communal life near to
 nature1 so far from  any asceticism or 
inhospitality1 we are fain to see far   

more humanity  and sociability than ever
 before3 an infinite helpfulness and    
sympathy1  as between the children of a 
common mother4 ,mutual help and         
combination  will then have become      
spontaneous and instinctive3 each man   
contributing  to the service of his     
neighbor as inevitably and naturally as 
the right  hand goes to help the left in
 the human body--and for precisely the  
same  reason4 ,every man--think of      
it6--will do the work which he likes1   
which he desires to do1 which is        
obviously before him to do1 and which   
he knows will be useful1 without thought
 of wages or reward2 and the  reward    
will come to him as inevitably and      
naturally as in the human body  the     
blood flows to the member which is      
exerting itself4 ,all the endless       
burden of the adjustments of labour and 
wages1 of the war of duty and  distaste1
 of want and weariness1 will be thrown  
aside--all the huge  waste of work done 
against the grain will be avoided2 out  

of the endless  variety of human nature 
will spring a perfectly natural and     
infinite  variety of occupations1 all   
mutually contributive2 ,society at last 
will  be free and the human being after 
long ages will have attained to         
deliverance4    ,this is the ,communism 
which ,civilisation has always hated1 as
 it hated  ,christ4 ,yet it is          
inevitable2 for the cosmical man1 the   
instinctive  elemental man accepting and
 crowning nature1 necessarily fulfils   
the  universal law of nature4 ,as to    
,external ,government and ,law1 they    
will  disappear2 for they are only the  
travesties and transitory substitutes   
of ,inward ,government and ,order4      
,society in its final state is neither a
  ,monarchy1 nor an ,aristocracy nor a  
,democracy1 nor an ,anarchy1 and yet in 
another sense it is all of these4 ,it is
 an ,anarchy because there is no        
outward rule1 but only an inward and    
invisible spirit of life2 it is a       
,democracy because it is the rule of the

 ,mass-man1 or ,demos1 in each unit     
man2 it is an ,aristocracy because there
 are degrees and ranks of such  inward  
power in all men2 and it is a ,monarchy 
because all these ranks  and powers     
merge in a perfect unity and central    
control at last4 ,and so  it appears    
that the outer forms of government which
 belong to the  ,civilisation-period are
 only the expression in separate        
external symbols  of the facts of the   
true inner life of society4    ,and just
 as thus the various external forms of  
government during the                   
,civilisation-period find their         
justification and interpretation in the 
ensuing period1 so will it be with the  
mechanical and other products of  the   
present time2 they will be taken up1 and
 find their proper place and  use in the
 time to come4 ,they will not be        
refused2 but they will have to  be      
brought into subjection4 ,our           
locomotives1 machinery1 telegraphic and 
postal systems2 our houses1 furniture1  

clothes1 books1 our fearful and         
wonderful cookery1 strong drinks1 teas1 
tobaccos2 our medical and  surgical     
appliances2 high-faluting sciences and  
philosophies1 and all  other engines    
hitherto of human bewilderment1 have    
simply to be reduced  to abject         
subjection to the real man4 ,all these  
appliances1 and a  thousand others such 
as we hardly dream of1 will come in to  
perfect his  power and increase his     
freedom2 but they will not be the       
objects of a  mere fetish-worship as    
now4 ,man will use them1 instead of     
their using  him4 ,his real life will   
lie in a region far beyond them4 ,but in
 thus for  a moment denying and         
mastering the products of ,civilisation1
 will he  for the first time discover   
their true value1 and reap from them an 
enjoyment unknown before4    ,the same  
with the moral powers4 ,as said before1 
the knowledge of good  and evil at a    
certain point passes away1 or becomes   
absorbed into a  higher knowledge4 ,the 

perception of ,sin goes with a certain  
weakness in  the man4 ,as long as there 
is conflict and division within him1 so 
long  does he seem to perceive          
conflicting and opposing principles in  
the  world without4 ,as long as the     
objects of the outer world excite       
emotions  in him which pass beyond his  
control1 so long do those objects stand 
as  the signals of evil--of disorder and
 sin4 ,not that the objects are bad  in 
themselves1 or even the emotions which  
they excite1 but that all  through this 
period these things serve to the man as 
indications of  his weakness4 ,but when 
the central power is restored in man and
 all  things are reduced to his service1
 it is impossible for him to see        
badness in anything4 ,the bodily is no  
longer antagonistic to the  spiritual   
love1 but is absorbed into it4 ,all his 
passions take their  places perfectly   
naturally1 and become1 when the         
occasions arise1 the  vehicles of his   
expression4 ,vices under existing       

conditions are vices  simply because of 
the inordinate and disturbing influence 
they exercise1  but will cease again to 
be vices when the man regains his proper
  command4 ,thus ,socrates having a     
clean soul in a clean body could drink  
his boon companions under the table and 
then go out himself to take the  morning
 air--what was a blemish and defect in  
them being simply an added  power of    
enjoyment to himself6    ,the point of  
difference throughout 7being the        
transference of the centre  of gravity  
of life and consciousness from the      
partial to the universal  man7 is       
symbolised by the gradual resumption of 
more universal  conditions4 ,that is to 
say that during the civilisation-period1
 the body  being systematically wrapped 
in clothes1 the head alone represents   
man--the little finnikin1 intellectual1 
self-conscious man in                   
contra-distinction to the cosmical man  
represented by the entirety of  the     
bodily organs4 ,the body has to be      

delivered from its swathings in  order  
that the cosmical consciousness may once
 more reside in the human  breast4 ,we  
have to become all face again--as the   
savage said of  himself4#ae    ,where   
the cosmic self is1 there is no more    
self-consciousness4 ,the body  and what 
is ordinarily called the self are felt  
to be only parts of the  true self1 and 
the ordinary distinctions of inner and  
outer1 egotism and  altruism1 etc41 lose
 a good deal of their value4 ,thought no
 longer  returns upon the local self as 
the chief object of regard1 but         
consciousness is continually radiant    
from it1 filling the body and           
overflowing upon external ,nature4 ,thus
 the ,sun in the physical world is  the 
allegory of the true self4 ,the         
worshiper must adore the ,sun1 he must  
saturate himself with sunlight1 and take
 the physical ,sun into himself4  ,those
 who live by fire and candle-light are  
filled with phantoms2 their  thoughts   
are ,will-o'-th'-wisp-like images of    

themselves1 and they are  tormented by a
 horrible self-consciousness4    ,and   
when the ,civilisation-period has passed
 away1 the old                          
,nature-religion--perhaps greatly       
grown--will come back4 ,this immense    
stream of religious life which1         
beginning far beyond the horizon of     
earliest history1 has been deflected    
into various metaphysical and other     
channels--of ,judaism1 ,christianity1   
,buddhism1 and the like--during the     
historical period1 will once more gather
 itself together to float on its  bosom 
all the arks and sacred vessels of human
 progress4 ,man will once  more feel his
 unity with his fellows1 he will feel   
his unity with the  animals1 with the   
mountains and the streams1 with the     
earth itself and  the slow lapse of the 
constellations1 not as an abstract dogma
 of  ,science or ,theology1 but as a    
living and ever-present fact4 ,ages back
  this has been understood better than  
now4 ,our ,christian ceremonial is      

saturated with sexual and astronomical  
symbols2 and long before  ,christianity 
existed1 the sexual and astronomical    
were the main forms of  religion4 ,that 
is to say1 men instinctively felt and   
worshiped the great  life coming to them
 through ,sex1 the great life coming to 
them from the  deeps of ,heaven4 ,they  
deified both4 ,they placed their        
gods--their own  human forms--in sex1   
they placed them in the sky4 ,and not   
only so1 but  wherever they felt this   
kindred human life--in the animals1 in  
the ibis1  the bull1 the lamb1 the      
snake1 the crocodile2 in the trees and  
flowers1  the oak1 the ash1 the laurel1 
the hyacinth2 in the streams and        
water-falls1 on the mountain-sides or in
 the depths of the sea--they  placed    
them4 ,the whole universe was full of a 
life which1 though not  always friendly1
 was human and kindred to their own1    
felt by them1  not reasoned about1 but  
simply perceived4 ,to the early man the 
notion of  his having a separate        

individuality could only with difficulty
 occur2  hence he troubled himself not  
with the suicidal questionings          
concerning  the whence and whither which
 now vex the modern mind4#af ,for what  
causes these questions to be asked is   
simply the wretched feeling of          
isolation1 actual or prospective1 which 
man necessarily has when he             
contemplates himself as a separate atom 
in this immense universe--the  gulf     
which lies below seemingly ready to     
swallow him1 and the anxiety to  find   
some mode of escape4 ,but when he feels 
once more that he1 that he  himself1 is 
absolutely indivisibly and              
indestructibly a part of this  great    
whole--why then there is no gulf into   
which he can possibly fall2  when he is 
sensible of the fact1 why then the how  
of its realisation1  though losing none 
of its interest1 becomes a matter for   
whose solution  he can wait and work in 
faith and contentment of mind4 ,the ,sun
 or ,sol1  visible image of his very    

,soul1 closest and most vital to him of 
all  mortal things1 occupying the       
illimitable heaven1 feeding all with its
  life2 the ,moon1 emblem and nurse of  
his own reflective thought1 the         
conscious ,man1 measurer of ,time1      
mirror of the ,sun2 the planetary       
passions wandering to and fro1 yet      
within bounds2 the starry destinies2    
the changes of the earth1 and the       
seasons2 the upward growth and          
unfoldment of all organic life2 the     
emergence of the perfect ,man1  towards 
whose birth all creation groans and     
travails--all these things  will return 
to become realities1 and to be the frame
 or setting of his  supra-mundane life4 
,the meaning of the old religions will  
come back to  him4 ,on the high tops    
once more gathering he will celebrate   
with naked  dances the glory of the     
human form and the great processions of 
the  stars1 or greet the bright horn of 
the young moon which now after a        
hundred centuries comes back laden with 

such wondrous associations--all  the    
yearnings and the dreams and the        
wonderment of the generations of        
mankind--the worship of ,astarte and of 
,diana1 of ,isis or the ,virgin  ,mary2 
once more in sacred groves will he      
reunite the passion and the  delight of 
human love with his deepest feelings of 
the sanctity and  beauty of ,nature2 or 
in the open1 standing uncovered to the  
,sun1 will  adore the emblem of the     
everlasting splendour which shines      
within4 ,the  same sense of vital       
perfection and exaltation which can be  
traced in the  early and                
pre-civilisation peoples--only a        
thousand times intensified1  defined1   
illustrated and purified--will return to
 irradiate the redeemed  and delivered  
,man4      ,in suggesting thus the part 
which ,civilisation has played in       
history1 ,i  am aware that the word     
itself is difficult to define--is at    
best only  one of those                 
phantom-generalisations which the mind  

is forced to employ2  also that the     
account ,i have given of it is sadly    
imperfect1 leaning  perhaps too much to 
the merely negative and destructive     
aspect of this  thousand-year long lapse
 of human evolution4 ,i would also      
remind the  reader that though it is    
perfectly true that under the dissolving
  influence of civilisation empire after
 empire has gone under and  disappeared1
 and the current of human progress time 
after time has only  been restored again
 by a fresh influx of savagery1 yet its 
corruptive  tendency has never had a    
quite unlimited fling2 but that all down
 the  ages of its dominance over the    
earth we can trace the tradition of a   
healing and redeeming power at work in  
the human breast and an  anticipation of
 the second advent of the son of man4   
,certain  institutions1 too1 such as    
,art and the ,family 7though it seems   
not  unlikely that both of these will   
greatly change when the special         
conditions of their present existence   

have disappeared71 have served to  keep 
the sacred flame alive2 the latter      
preserving in island-miniatures1  as it 
were1 the ancient communal humanity when
 the seas of individualism  and greed   
covered the general face of the earth2  
the former keeping up1  so to speak1 a  
navel-cord of contact with ,nature1 and 
a means of  utterance of primal emotions
 else unsatisfiable in the world around4
    ,and if it seem extravagant to      
suppose that ,society will ever emerge  
from  the chaotic condition of strife   
and perplexity in which we find it all  
down the lapse of historical time1 or to
 hope that the  civilisation-process    
which has terminated fatally so         
invariably in the  past will ever       
eventuate in the establishment of a     
higher and more  perfect                
health-condition1 we may for our        
consolation remember that  to-day there 
are features in the problem which have  
never been present  before4 ,in the     
first place1 to-day ,civilisation is no 

longer isolated1  as in the ancient     
world1 in surrounding floods of savagery
 and  barbarism1 but it practically     
covers the globe1 and the outlying      
savagery is so feeble as not possibly to
 be a menace to it4 ,this may at  first 
appear a drawback1 for 7it will be said7
 if ,civilisation be not  renovated by  
the influx of external ,savagery its own
 inherent flaws will  destroy society   
all the sooner4 ,and there would be some
 truth in this if  it were not for the  
following consideration1 namely1 that   
while for the  first time in ,history   
,civilisation is now practically        
continuous over  the globe1 now also for
 the first time can we descry forming in
  continuous line within its very       
structure the forces which are  destined
 to destroy it and to bring about the   
new order4 ,while hitherto  isolated    
communisms1 as suggested1 have existed  
here and there and from  time to time1  
now for the first time in ,history both 
the masses and the  thinkers of all the 

advanced nations of the world are       
consciously  feeling their way towards  
the establishment of a socialistic and  
communal life on a vast scale4 ,the     
present competitive society is more  and
 more rapidly becoming a mere dead      
formula and husk within which the       
outlines of the new and human society   
are already discernible4                
,simultaneously1 and as if to match this
 growth1 a move towards ,nature  and    
,savagery is for the first time taking  
place from within1 instead of  being    
forced upon society from without4 ,the  
nature movement begun years  ago in     
literature and art is now1 among the    
more advanced sections of  the civilised
 world1 rapidly realising itself in     
actual life1 going so  far even as a    
denial1 among some1 of machinery and the
 complex products  of ,civilisation1 and
 developing among others into a gospel  
of salvation  by sandals and sunbaths6  
,it is in these two movements--towards a
 complex  human ,communism and towards  

individual freedom and ,savagery--in    
some  sort balancing and correcting each
 other1 and both visibly growing up     
within1 though utterly foreign to--our  
present-day ,civilisation1 that we  have
 fair grounds1 ,i think1 for looking    
forward to its cure4      ,,notes       
7,see p4 #bf7 ,the following remarks by 
,mr4 ,h4 ,b4 ,cotterill on the          
natives around ,lake ,nyassa1 among whom
 he lived at a time1 #ahgf-h1       when
 the region was almost unvisited1 may be
 of interest4 ,in       regard of merely
 'animal' development and well-being1   
that is in       the delicate perfection
 of bodily faculties 7perceptive71 the  
,african savage is as a rule            
incomparably superior to us4 ,one feels 
like a child1 utterly dependent on them1
 when travelling or hunting       with  
them4 ,it is true that many may be found
 7especially amongst       the weaker   
tribes that have been slave-hunted or   
driven into barren       corners7 who   
are half-starved and wizened1 but as a  

rule they are       splendid animals4   
,in character there is a great want of  
that       strength which in the        
educated civilised man is secured by the
       roots striking out into the ,past
 and ,future--and in spite of their     
immense perceptive superiority they feel
 and acknowledge the       superior     
force of character in the white man4    
,they are the very       converse of the
 ,stoic self-sufficient sage--like      
children in their       'admiration' and
 worship of the ,unknown4 ,hence their  
absolute want       of ,conceit1 though 
they possess self-command and dignity4  
,they       are1 to those they love and 
respect1 faithful and devoted--their    
faithfulness and truthfulness are       
dictated by no 'categorical             
imperative1' but by personal affection4 
,towards an enemy they can       be1    
without any conscientious scruples1     
treacherous and inhumanly       cruel4  
,i should say that there is scarcely any
 possible idea that       is so foreign 

to the savage ,african mind as that of  
general       philanthropy or           
enemy-love4         ,in endurance the   
,african savage beats us hollow 7except 
trained       athletes74 ,on one        
occasion my men rowed my boat with #aj  
foot oars       against the wind in a   
choppy sea for #be hours at one go1     
across       ,kuwirwe ,bay1 about #fj   
miles4 ,they never once stopped or left 
their       seats--just handed round a  
handful of rice now and then4 ,i was at 
the helm all the time--and had enough of
 it6444 ,they carry #hj lbs4       on   
their heads for #aj hours through swamps
 and jungles4 ,four of my       men     
carried a sick man weighing #ad stones  
in a hammock for #bjj       miles1 right
 across the dreaded ,malikata ,swamp4   
,but for sudden       emergencies1      
squalls1 etc41 they are nowhere4        
7,see p4 #bg7 ,so lovely a scene made   
easily credible the suggestion1         
otherwise highly probable1 that the     
,golden ,age was no mere fancy of       

the poets1 but a reminiscence of the    
facts of social life in its             
primitive organisation of village and   
house-communities4 7,j4 ,s4             
,stuart-,glennie's ,europe and ,asia1   
ch4 i4 ,servia47           7,see p4 #gb7
 ,it was only on the up-break of the    
primitive       socialisms that the     
passionate desire of1 and therefore     
belief in1       individual ,immortality
 arose4 ,with an intense feeling1 not of
 an       independent individual life1  
but of a dependent common life1 there   
is no passionate desire of1 though there
 may be more or less of       belief in1
 a continuance after death of individual
 existence4       7,ibid1 p4 #afa47     
,following is an extract from a letter  
from my friend ,havelock       ,ellis1  
which he kindly allows me to reprint4   
,the passage is       interesting as    
indicating one cause1 at any rate1 of   
the failure       of the modern         
civilisations4 ,your remark that you are
       re-publishing ,civilisation3 its 

,cause and ,cure has led me to read     
it once again1 and ,i see how well      
adapted it is for reissue just       now
 when there is so widespread a          
discontent with 'civilisation4' ,i      
do not see any reason for changing the  
essay1 though1 no doubt1       much     
might be added to supplement it4 ,what  
has1 however1 struck me       is that   
you leave out of account the reason for 
the greater       health1 vigour1 and   
high spirit of savages 7when such       
conditions       exist71 and that is the
 more stringent natural selection among 
savages owing to the greater hardness of
 their life4 ,you doubtless       know  
ch4 xvii of ,westermarck's ,moral       
,ideas1 where he shows how              
widespread among savages 7when they have
 got past the first crude               
primitive stage71 and in the ancient    
civilisations1 was the       practice of
 infanticide applied to inferior babies 
and the habit of       allowing sick    
persons to die4 ,that was evidently the 

secret of the       natural superiority 
of the savage and of the men of the old 
civilisation1 for the ,greeks and       
,romans were very stringent in this     
matter4 ,the flabbiness of the civilised
 and the prevalence of       doctors and
 hygienists1 which you make fun of1 is  
due to the modern       tenderness for  
human life which is afraid to kill off  
even the most       worthless specimens 
and so lowers the whole level of        
'civilised'       humanity4 ,introduce a
 ,new ,hardness in this matter and we   
should       return to the high level of
 savagery1 while the doctors would      
disappear as if by magic4 ,i don't      
myself believe we can introduce         
this hardness2 and that is why ,i attach
 so much importance to       intelligent
 eugenics1 working through              
birth-control1 as the only       now    
possible way of getting towards that    
high natural level you       aim        
at4--,,havelock ,,ellis 7#aibj74        
,,footnotes3    #a ,it is interesting to

 note that the sense of ,sin seems now  
7#aibj7  to have nearly passed away4    
,and this fact probably indicates a     
considerable impending change in our    
,social ,order4    #b ,for proof ,i must
 refer the reader to ,engels1 or to his 
own studies  of history4    #c ,say like
 the ,homeric ,greeks1 or the ,spartans 
of the ,lycurgus period4    #d ,matabele
 ,land and the ,victoria ,falls1 p4     
#bji4    #e ,a similar physical health  
and power of life are also developed    
among  ,europeans who have lived for    
long periods in more native conditions4 
,it  is not to our race1 which is       
probably superior to any in capacity1   
but  to the state in which we live that 
we must ascribe our defect in this      
particular matter4    #f ,see ,col4     
,dodge's ,our ,wild ,indians4    #g     
,wood's ,natural ,history of ,man4    #h
 ,see ,appendix4    #i ,see ,note at end
 of this chapter4    #aj ,no words or   
theory even of morality can express or  
formulate  this--no enthronement of any 

virtue can take its place2 for all      
virtue  enthroned before our humanity   
becomes vice1 and worse than vice4      
#aa ,it is curious that this word seems 
to have the same root as the  word ,man1
 the original idea apparently being     
,order1 or ,measure4    #ab ,and with   
regard to disease1 though it is not     
maintained that among  the animals there
 is anything like immunity from         
it--since diseases of a  more or less   
parasitic character are common in all   
tribes of plants and  animals--still    
they seem to be rarer1 and the organic  
instinct of health  greater1 than in the
 civilised man4    #ac ,as to the unity 
of these wild races with ,nature1 that  
is a matter  seemingly beyond dispute2  
their keenness of sense1 sensitiveness  
to  atmospheric changes1 knowledge of   
properties of plants and habits of      
animals1 etc41 have been the subject of 
frequent remark2 but beyond  this1 their
 strong feeling of union with the       
universal spirit1  probably only dimly  

self conscious1 but expressing itself   
very markedly  and clearly in their     
customs1 is most strange and pregnant of
 meaning4  ,the dances of the ,andaman  
,islanders on the sands at night1 the   
wild  festival of the new moon among the
 ,fans and other ,african tribes1 the   
processions through the forests1 the    
chants and dull thudding of drums1  the 
torture-dances of the young ,red ,indian
 bravos in the burning heat of  the sun2
 the ,dionysiac festivals among the     
early ,greeks2 and indeed the           
sacrificial nature-rites and carnivals  
and extraordinary powers of             
second-sight found among all primitive  
peoples2 all these things  indicate     
clearly a faculty which1 though it had  
hardly become  self-conscious enough to 
be what we call religion1 was yet in    
truth the  foundation element of        
religion1 and the germ of some human    
powers which  wait yet to be developed4 
#ad ,there is another point worth noting
 as characteristic of the               

civilisation-period4 ,this is the       
abnormal development of the abstract    
intellect in comparison with the        
physical senses on the one hand1 and    
the moral sense on the other4 ,such a   
result might be expected1 seeing  that  
abstraction from reality is naturally   
the great engine of that  false         
individuality or apartness1 which it is 
the object of ,civilisation  to produce4
 ,as it is1 during this period man      
builds himself an  intellectual world   
apart from the great actual universe    
around him2 the  ghosts of things are   
studied in books2 the student lives     
indoors1 he  cannot face the open       
air--his theories may prove very well in
  lecture-rooms1 yet not prove at all   
under the spacious clouds1 and along    
the landscape and flowing currents2     
children are educated afar from  actual 
life2 huge phantom-temples of philosophy
 and science are reared  upon the most  
slender foundations2 and in these he    
lives defended from  actual fact4 ,for  

as a drop of water1 when it comes in    
contact with  red-hot iron1 wraps itself
 in a cloud of vapor and is saved from  
destruction1 so the little mind of man1 
lest it should touch the burning  truth 
of ,nature and ,god and be consumed1    
evolves at each point of  contact a veil
 of insubstantial thought which allows  
it for a time to  exist apart1 and      
becomes the nurse of its                
self-consciousness4    #ae ,see ,alonso 
di ,ovalle's ,account of the ,kingdom of
 ,chile in  ,churchill's ,collection of 
,voyages and ,travels1 #agbd4    #af    
,see ,notes at end of this chapter4     
,,modern ,,science3 ,a ,,criticism      
,greek3 panti log logos isos antikeitai4
      ,it is one of the difficulties    
which meet anyone who suggests that     
modern  science is not wholly           
satisfactory1 that it is immediately    
assumed that  the writer is covertly    
defending what ,ingersoll calls the     
rib-story1  or that he wishes to restore
 belief in the literal inspiration of   

the  ,bible4 ,but1 religious controversy
 apart1 and while admitting that        
,science has done a great work in       
cleaning away the kitchen-middens of    
superstition and opening the path to    
clearer and saner views of the  world1  
it is possible--and there is already a  
growing feeling that  way--that her     
positive contributions to our           
comprehension of the order  of the      
universe have in late times been        
disappointing1 and that even her        
methods are only of limited             
applicability4 ,after a glorious burst  
of  perhaps fifty years1 amid great     
acclamations and good hopes that the    
crafty old universe was going to be     
caught in her careful net1 ,science1  it
 must be confessed1 now finds herself in
 almost every direction in  the most    
hopeless quandaries2 and1 whether the   
rib-story be true or not1  has at any   
rate provided no very satisfactory      
substitute for it4 ,and the  reason of  
this failure is very obvious4 ,it goes  

with a certain defect in  the human     
mind1 which1 as we have pointed out     
7note1 p4 #eg71 necessarily  belongs to 
the ,civilisation-period--the tendency1 
namely1 to separate  the logical and    
intellectual part of man from the       
emotional and  instinctive1 and to give 
it a locus standi of its own4 ,science  
has  failed1 because she has attempted  
to carry out the investigation of       
nature from the intellectual side       
alone--neglecting the other             
constituents necessarily involved in the
 problem4 ,she has failed1  because she 
has attempted an impossible task2 for   
the discovery of a  permanently valid   
and purely intellectual representation  
of the  universe is simply impossible4  
,such a thing does not exist4    ,the   
various theories and views of nature    
which we hold are merely the  fugitive  
envelopes of the successive stages of   
human growth--each set of  theories and 
views belonging organically to the moral
 and emotional  stage which has been    

reached1 and being in some sort the     
expression of  it2 so that the attempt  
at any given time to set up an          
explanation of  phenomena which shall be
 valid in itself and without reference  
to the  mental condition of those who   
set it up1 necessarily ends in failure2 
and the present state of confusion and  
contradiction in which modern  ,science 
finds itself is merely the result of    
such attempt4    ,of course this        
limitation of the validity of ,science  
has been  recognised by most of those   
who have thought about the matter2#ag   
but  it is so commonly overlooked1 and  
latterly the notion has so far gained   
ground that the laws of science are     
immutable facts and eternal  statements 
of verity1 that it may be worth while to
 treat the subject a  little more in    
detail4    ,the method of ,science is   
the method of all mundane knowledge2 it 
is that  of limitation or actual        
ignorance4 ,placed in face of the great 
uncontained unity of ,nature we can only

 deal with it in thought by  selecting  
certain details and isolating those     
7either wilfully or  unconsciously7 from
 the rest4 ,that is right enough4 ,but  
in doing so--in  isolating such and such
 details--we practically beg the        
question we are  in search of2 and1     
moreover1 in supposing such isolation we
 suppose what  is false1 and therefore  
vitiate our conclusion4 ,from these two 
radical  defects of all intellectual    
inquiry we cannot escape4 ,the views of 
,science are like the views of a        
mountain2 each is only possible as long 
as you limit yourself to a certain      
standpoint4 ,move your position1 and    
the view is changed4#ah    ,perhaps the 
word species will illustrate our meaning
 as well as any  word2 and1 in a sense1 
the word is typical of the method of    
,science4 ,i  see a dog for the first   
time4 ,it is a fox-hound4 ,then ,i see a
 second  fox-hound1 and a third and a   
fourth4 ,presently ,i form from these   
few  instances a general conception of  

dog4 ,but after a time ,i see a         
grey-hound and a terrier and a mastiff1 
and my old conception is  destroyed4 ,a 
new one has to be formed1 and then a new
 one and a new one4  ,now ,i overlook   
the whole race of civilised dogs and am 
satisfied with my  wisdom2 but presently
 ,i come upon some wild dogs1 and study 
the habits  of the wolf and the fox4    
,geology turns me up some links1 and my 
conception of dog melts away like a lump
 of ice into surrounding water4  ,my    
species exists no more4 ,as long as ,i  
knew a few of the facts ,i could  talk  
very wise about them2 or if ,i limited  
myself arbitrarily1 as we  will say1 to 
a study only of animals in ,england at  
the present day1 ,i  could classify     
them2 but widen the bounds of my        
knowledge1 the area of  observation1 and
 all my work has to be done over again4 
,my species is  not a valid fact of     
,nature1 but a fiction arising out of my
 own  ignorance or arbitrary isolation  
of the objects observed4    ,or to take 

an instance from ,astronomy4 ,we are    
accustomed to say that the  path of the 
moon is an ellipse4 ,but this is a very 
loose statement4 ,on  enquiry we find   
that1 owing to perturbations said to be 
produced by the  sun1 the path deviates 
considerably from an ellipse4 ,in fact  
in strict  calculations it is taken as  
being a certain ellipse only for an     
instant--the next instant it is supposed
 to be a portion of another  ellipse4   
,we might then call the path an         
irregular curve somewhat  resembling an 
ellipse4 ,this is a new view4 ,but on   
further enquiry it  appears that1 while 
the moon is going round the earth1 the  
earth itself  is speeding on through    
space about the sun--in consequence of  
which the  actual path of the moon does 
not in the least resemble an ellipse6   
,finally the sun itself is in motion    
with regard to the fixed stars1 and     
they are in movement too4 ,what then is 
the path of the moon8 ,no one  knows2 we
 have not the faintest idea--the word   

itself ceases to have any  assignable   
meaning4 ,it is true that if we agree to
 ignore the  perturbations produced by  
the sun--as in fact we do ignore        
perturbations produced by the planets   
and other bodies--and if we agree  to   
ignore the motion of the earth1 and the 
flight of the solar system  through     
space1 and even the movement of any     
centre round which that may  be         
speeding1 we may then say that the moon 
moves in an ellipse4 ,but  this has     
obviously nothing to do with actual     
facts4 ,the moon does not  move in an   
ellipse--not even relatively to the     
earth--and probably  never has done and 
never will do so4 ,it may be a          
convenient view or  fiction to say that 
it would do so under such and such      
circumstances--but it is still only a   
fiction4 ,to attempt to isolate a  small
 portion of the phenomena from the rest 
in a universe of which the  unity is one
 of ,science's most cherished           
convictions1 is obviously               

self-stultifying and useless4    ,but   
you say it can be proved by mathematics 
that the ellipse would be  the path     
under these conditions2 to which ,i     
reply that the mathematical  proof1     
though no doubt cogent to the human mind
 7as at present  constituted in most    
people71 is open to the same objection  
that it does  not deal with actual      
facts4 ,it deals with a mental          
supposition1 i4e41  that there are only 
two bodies acting on each other--a case 
which never  has occurred and never can 
occur--and then1 assuming the law of    
gravitation 7which is just the thing    
which has to be proved71 it arrives  at 
a mental formula1 the ellipse4 ,but to  
argue from this process that  the       
ellipse is really a thing in ,nature1   
and that the heavenly bodies do  move or
 even tend to move in ellipses1 is      
obviously a most unwarrantable  leap in 
the dark4 ,finally you argue that the   
leap is warranted because1  by assuming 
that the moon and planets move in       

ellipses1 you can actually  foretell    
things that happen1 as for instance the 
occurrences of  eclipses2 and in reply  
to that ,i can only say that ,tycho     
,brah foretold  eclipses almost as well 
by assuming that the heavenly bodies    
moved in  epicycles1 and that modern    
astronomers do apply the epicycle theory
 in  their mathematical formul4 ,the    
epicycles were an assumption made for a 
certain purpose1 and the ellipses are an
 assumption made for the same  purpose4 
,in some respects the ellipse is a more 
convenient fiction than  the epicycle1  
but it is no less a fiction4    ,in     
other words--with regard to this path of
 the moon 7as with regard  to any other 
phenomenon of ,nature7--our knowledge of
 it must be either  absolute or         
relative4 ,but we cannot know the       
absolute path2 and as to  the relative1 
why all we can say is that it does not  
exist 7any more  than species           
exists7--we cannot break up ,nature so2 
it is not a thing in  ,nature1 but in   

our own minds--it is a view and a       
fiction4#ai    ,again1 let us take an   
example from ,physics--,boyle's law of  
the  compressibility of gases4 ,this law
 states that1 the temperature  remaining
 constant1 the volume of a given        
quantity of gas is inversely            
proportional to its pressure4 ,it is a  
law which has been made a good  deal of1
 and at one time was thought to be true1
 i4e41 it was thought  to be a statement
 of fact4 ,a more extended and careful  
observation1  however1 shows that it is 
only true under so many limitations1    
that1  like the ellipse in ,astronomy1  
it must be regarded as a convenient     
fiction and nothing more4 ,it appears   
that air follows the supposed law       
pretty well1 but not by any means       
exactly except within very narrow       
limits of pressure2 other gases1 such as
 carbonic acid and hydrogen1  deviate   
from it very considerably--some more    
than others1 and some in  one direction 
and some in the opposite4 ,it was found1

 among other  things1 that the nearer a 
gas was to its liquefying point1 the    
greater  was the deviation from the     
supposed law1 and the conclusion was    
jumped  at that the law was true for    
perfect gases only4 ,this idea of a     
perfect gas of course involved the      
assumption that gases1 as they get      
farther and farther removed from their  
liquifying point1 reach at last a  fixed
 and stable condition1 when no further  
change in their qualities  takes        
place--at any rate for a very long      
time--and ,boyle's law was  supposed to 
apply to this condition4 ,since then1   
however1 it has been  discovered that   
there is an ultra-gaseous state of      
matter1 and on all  sides it is becoming
 abundantly clear that the change in the
 condition  of matter from the liquid   
state to the ultra-gaseous state is     
perfectly  continuous--through all      
modifications of liquidity and          
condensation and  every degree of       
perfection and imperfection of gasiness 

to the utmost  rarity of the fourth     
state4 ,at what point1 then1 does       
,boyle's law really  apply8 ,obviously  
it applies exactly at only one point in 
this long  ascending scale--at one      
metaphysical point--and at every other  
point it  is incorrect4 ,but no gas in  
,nature remains or can be maintained    
just at  one point in the scale of its  
innumerable changes4 ,consequently1 all 
we  can say is that out of the          
innumerable different states that gases 
are  capable of1 and the innumerable    
different laws of compressibility which 
they therefore follow1 we could         
theoretically find one state to which   
would correspond the law of             
compressibility called ,boyle's law2 and
  that1 if we could preserve a gas in   
that state 7which we can't71  ,boyle's  
law really would be true just for that  
case4 ,in other words1  the law is      
metaphysical4 ,it has no real existence4
 ,it is a convenient  view or fiction1  
arising in the first place out of       

ignorance1 and only  tenable as long as 
further observation is limited or       
wilfully ignored4    ,this then is the  
,method of ,science4 ,it consists in    
forming a law or  statement by only     
looking at a small portion of the facts2
 then1 when  the other facts come in1   
the law or statement gradually fades    
away  again4 ,conrad ,gessner and other 
early zoologists began by classifying   
animals according to the number of their
 horns6 ,political ,economy begins  by  
classifying social action under a law of
 ,supply and ,demand4 ,when  people     
believed that the earth was flat1 they  
generalised the facts  connected with   
the fall of heavy bodies into a         
conception of up and  down4 ,these were 
two opposite directions in space4 ,heavy
 bodies took  the downward2 it was their
 nature4 ,but in time1 and as fresh     
facts  came in1 it became impossible to 
group animals any longer by their       
horns2 up and down ceased to have a     
meaning when it was known that the      

earth was round4 ,then fresh laws and   
statements had to be formed4 ,in the    
last-mentioned case--it being conceived 
that the earth was the centre of  the   
universe--the new law supposed was that 
all heavy bodies tended to  the centre  
of the earth as such4 ,this was all     
right and satisfactory for  a while2 but
 presently it appeared that the earth   
was not the centre  of the universe1 and
 that some heavy bodies--such as the    
satellites of  ,jupiter--did not in fact
 tend to the centre of the earth at all4
 ,another  lump of ignorance 7which had 
enabled the old generalisation to exist7
  was removed1 and a new generalisation1
 that of universal gravitation1  was    
after a time formed4 ,but it is probable
 that this law is only  conceived of as 
true through our ignorance2 nay it is   
certain that  belief in its truth       
presents the gravest difficulties4      
,in fact here we come upon an important 
point4 ,it is sometimes said that1      
granting the above arguments and the    

partiality and defectiveness of the     
laws of ,science1 still they are        
approximations to the truth1 and as each
  fresh fact is introduced the          
consequent modification of the old law  
brings us nearer and nearer to a limit  
of rigorous exactness which we  shall   
reach at last if we only have patience  
enough4 ,but is this so8  ,what kind of 
rigorous statement shall we reach when  
we have got all  the facts in8          
,remembering that ,nature is one1 and   
that if we try to  get a rigorous       
statement for one set of phenomena 7as  
say the lunar  theory7 by isolating them
 from the rest1 we are thereby          
condemning  ourselves beforehand to a   
false conclusion1 is it not evident that
 our  limit is at all times infinitely  
far off8 ,if one knew all the facts     
relating to a given inquiry except two  
or three1 one might reasonably  suppose 
that one was near a limit of exactness  
in one's knowledge2 but  seeing that in 
our investigation of ,nature we only    

know two or three1 so  to speak1 out of 
a million1 it is obvious that at any    
moment the fresh  law arising from      
increased experience may completely     
upset our former  calculations4 ,there  
is a difference between approximating to
 a wall and  approximating to the ,north
 ,star4 ,in the one case you are tending
 to a  speedy conclusion of your        
labours1 in the other case you are only 
going  in a certain direction4 ,the     
theories of ,science generally belong   
under  the second head4 ,they mark the  
direction which the human mind is taking
  at the moment in question1 but they   
mark no limits4 ,at each point the      
appearance of a limit is                
introduced--which becomes1 like a mirage
 in  the desert1 an object of keen      
pursuit2 but the limit is not really    
there--it is only an effect of the      
standpoint1 and disappears again  after 
a time as the observer moves4 ,in the   
case of gravitation there is  for the   
moment an appearance of finality in the 

law of the inverse  square of the       
distance1 but this arises probably from 
the fact that the  law is derived from a
 limited area of observation only1      
namely the  movements 7at great         
distances from each other7 of some of   
the heavenly  bodies4#bj ,the ,cavendish
 and ,schehallien experiments do not    
show more  than that the law at ordinary
 distances on the earth's surface does  
not  vary very much from the above2     
while the so-called molecular forces    
compel us 7unless we make the very      
artificial assumption that a variety  of
 attractions and repulsions co-exist in 
matter alongside of1 and yet  totally   
distinct from1 the attraction of        
gravitation7 to suppose very  great     
modifications of the law for small      
distances4 ,in fact1 as we saw  of      
,boyle's law before--the ,newtonian law 
is probably metaphysical--true  under   
certain limited conditions--and the     
appearance of finality has  been given  
to it by the fact that our observations 

have been made under  such or similar   
conditions4 ,when we extend our         
observation into quite  other regions of
 space1 the law of the inverse square   
ceases to appear  as even an            
approximation to the truth--as1 for     
instance1 the law of the  inverse fifth 
power has been thought to be nearer the 
mark for small  molecular distances4    
,and indeed the state of the great      
theories of ,science in the present     
day--the confusion in which the ,atomic 
theory of physics finds itself1  the    
dismal insufficiency of the ,darwin     
theory of the survival of the  fittest2 
the collapse in late times of one of the
 fundamental theories  of ,astronomy1   
namely that of the stability of the     
lunar and planetary  orbits2 the        
cataclysms and convulsions which        
,geology seems just now to  be          
undergoing2 the appalling and indeed    
insurmountable difficulties  which      
attach to the ,undulatory theory of     
,light2 the final wreck and  abandonment

 of the ,value-theory1 the              
foundation-theory of ,political         
,economy--all these things do not seem  
to point to very near limits of         
rigorous exactness6 ,an impregnable     
theory1 or one nearing the limit of     
impregnability1 is in fact as great an  
absurdity as an impregnable             
armour-plate4 ,certainly1 given the     
cannon-balls1 you can generally find  an
 armour-plate which will be proof       
against them2 but given the             
armour-plate1 you can always find       
cannon-balls which will smash it up4    
,the method of ,science1 as being a     
method of artificial limitation or      
actual ignorance1 is curiously          
illustrated by a consideration of its   
various branches4 ,i have taken some    
examples from ,astronomy1 which is      
considered the most exact of the        
physical sciences4 ,now does it not seem
  curious that ,astronomy--the study of 
the heavenly bodies1 which are  the most
 distant from us of all bodies1 and most

 difficult to  observe--should yet be   
the most perfect of the sciences8 ,yet  
the reason  is obvious4 ,astronomy is   
the most perfect science because we know
 least  about it--because our ignorance 
of the actual phenomena is most         
profound4 ,situated in fact as we are1  
on a speck in space1 with our           
observations limited to periods of time 
which1 compared with the  stupendous    
flights of the stars1 are merely        
momentary and evanescent1 we  are in    
somewhat the position of a mole         
surveying a railway track and the       
flight of locomotives4 ,and as a man    
seeing a very small arc of a very  vast 
circle easily mistakes it for a straight
 line1 so we are easily  satisfied with 
cheap deductions and solutions in       
,astronomy which a more  extensive      
experience would cause us to reject4    
,the man may have a long  way to go     
along his straight line before he       
discovers that it is a  curve2 he may   
have much farther to go along his curve 

before he  discovers that it is not a   
circle2 and much farther still to go    
before  he finds out whether it is an   
ellipse or a spiral or a parabola1 or   
none  of these2 yet what curve it is    
will make an enormous difference in his 
ultimate destination4 ,so with the      
astronomer2 and yet ,astronomy is       
allowed to pass as an exact science6#ba 
,well then1 as in ,astronomy we get an  
exact science1 because the facts  and   
phenomena are on such a tremendous scale
 that we only see a minute  portion of  
them--just a few details so to          
speak--and our ignorance  therefore     
allows us to dogmatise2 so at the other 
end of the scale in  ,chemistry and     
,physics we get quasi-exact sciences1   
because the facts and  phenomena are on 
such a minute scale that we overlook all
 the  details and see only certain      
general effects here and there4 ,when a 
solution of cupric sulphate is treated  
with ammonia1 a mass of  flocculent     
green precipitate is formed4 ,no one has

 the faintest notion  of all the various
 movements and combinations of the      
molecules of these  two fluids which    
accompany the appearance of the         
precipitate4 ,they are  no doubt very   
complex4 ,but among all the changes that
 are taking place1  one change has the  
advantage of being visible to the eye1  
and the  chemist singles that out as the
 main phenomenon4 ,so chemistry at large
  consists in a few1 very few1 facts    
taken at random as it were 7or  because 
they happen to be of such a nature as to
 be observable7 out of  the enormous    
mass of facts really concerned3 and     
because of their  fewness the chemist is
 able to arrange them1 as he thinks1 in 
some  order1 that is1 to generalise     
about them4 ,but it is certain as can be
  that he only has to extend the number 
of his facts1 or his powers of          
observation1 to get all his             
generalisations upset4 ,the same may be 
said  of magnetism1 light1 heat1 and the
 other physical sciences2 but it is  not

 necessary to prove in detail what is   
sufficiently obvious4    ,but now1      
roughly speaking1 there is a third      
region of human  observation--a region  
which does not1 like ,astronomy 7and    
,geology71 lie  so far beyond and above 
us that we only see a very small portion
 of it2  nor1 like ,chemistry and       
,physics1 so far below us and under such
 minute  conditions of space and time   
that we can only catch its general      
effects2  but which lies more on a level
 with man himself--the so-called organic
  world--the study of man1 as an        
individual and in society1 his history1 
his development1 the study of the       
animals1 the plants even1 and the laws  
of life--the sciences of ,biology1      
,sociology1 ,history1 ,psychology1 and  
the rest4 ,now this region is obviously 
that which man knows most of4 ,i  don't 
say that he generalises most about it1  
but he knows the facts  best4 ,for one  
observation that he makes of the habits 
and behaviour of  the stars1 or of      

chemical solutions--for one observation 
in the remote  regions of ,astronomy or 
,chemistry--he makes thousands and      
millions of  the habits and behaviour of
 his fellowmen1 and hundreds and        
thousands of  those of the animals and  
plants4 ,is it not curious then that in 
this  region he is least sure1 least    
dogmatic1 most doubtful whether there be
  a law or no8 ,or1 rather1 is it not   
quite in accord with our contention1    
namely that ,science1 like an uninformed
 boy1 is most definite and  dogmatic    
just where actual knowledge is least4   
,it will however be replied that the    
phenomena of living beings are far  more
 complex than the phenomena of          
,astronomy or ,physics--and that is  the
 reason why exact science makes so      
little way with them4 ,though man  knows
 many million times more about the      
habits of his fellow-men than  about the
 habits of the stars1 yet the former    
subject is so many million  times more  
complicated than the latter that all his

 additional knowledge  does not avail   
him4 ,this is the plea4 ,yet it does not
 hold water4 ,it is  an entire          
assumption to say that the phenomena of 
,astronomy are less  complicated than   
the phenomena of vitality4 ,a moment's  
thought will show  that the phenomena of
 ,astronomy are in reality infinitely   
complex4 ,take  the movement of the     
moon3 even with our present acquaintance
 with that  subject we know that it has 
some relation to the position and mass  
of  the earth1 including its ocean      
tides2 also to the position and mass of 
the sun2 also to the position and mass  
of every one of the planets2 also  of   
the comets1 numerous and unknown as they
 are2 also the meteoric  rings2 and     
finally of all the stars6 ,the problem1 
as everyone knows1 is  absolutely       
insoluble even for the shortest period2 
but when the element  of ,time enters   
in1 and we consider that to do anything 
like justice to  the problem in an      
astronomical sense we should have to    

solve it for at  least a million        
years--during which interval the earth1 
sun1 and other  bodies concerned would  
themselves have been changing their     
relative  positions1 it becomes obvious 
that the whole question is infinitely   
complex--and yet this is only a small   
fragment of ,astronomy4 ,to debate1     
therefore1 whether the infinite         
complexity of the movements of the      
stars is greater or less than the       
infinite complexity of the phenomena  of
 life1 is like debating the precedence  
of the three persons of the  ,trinity1  
or whether the ,holy ,ghost was begotten
 or proceeding3 we are  talking about   
things which we do not understand4      
,nature is one2 she is not1 we may      
guess1 less profound and wonderful in   
one department than another2 but from   
the fact that we live under  certain    
conditions and limitations we see most  
deeply into that portion  which is1 as  
it were1 on the same level with us4 ,in 
humanity we look her  in the face2 there

 our glance pierces1 and we see that she
 is profound  and wonderful beyond all  
imagination2 what we learn there is the 
most  valuable that we can learn4 ,in   
the regions where ,science rejoices to  
disport itself we see only the skirts of
 her garments1 so to speak1 and  though 
we measure them never so precisely1 we  
still see them and nothing  more4       
,there is another point1 however1 of    
which much is often made as a plea  for 
the substantial accuracy of the         
scientific laws and generalisations1    
namely that they enable us to predict   
events4 ,but this need not detain  us   
long4 ,j4 ,s4 ,mill in his ,logic has   
pointed out--and a little thought  makes
 it obvious--that the success of a      
prediction does not prove the  truth of 
the theory on which it is founded4 ,it  
only proves the theory  was good enough 
for that prediction4    ,there was a    
time when the sun was a god going forth 
in his chariot every  morning1 and there
 was a time when the earth was the      

centre of the  universe1 and the sun a  
ball of fire revolving round it4 ,in    
those times  men could predict with     
certainty that the sun would rise next  
morning1  and could even name the hour  
of its appearance2 but we do not        
therefore  think that their theories    
were true4 ,when ,adams and ,leverrier  
foretold  the appearance of ,neptune in 
a certain part of the sky1 they made a  
brief prediction to an unknown planet   
from the observed relations of the      
movements of the known planets2 that    
does not show1 however1 that the  grand 
generalisation of these movements1      
called the law of  gravitation1 is      
correct4 ,it merely shows that it did   
well enough for  this very brief        
step--brief indeed compared with the    
real problems of  ,astronomy1 for which 
latter it is probably quite inadequate4 
,tycho ,brah1 excellent astronomer as he
 was1 kept as we saw to the  epicycle   
theory4 ,he imagined that the moon's    
path round the earth was a  fixed       

combination of cycle and epicycle4      
,kepler introduced the  conception of   
the ellipse4 ,later on the motion of the
 perigee and other  deviations compelled
 the abandonment of the ellipse and the 
supposition  of an endless curve1       
similar to an ellipse at any one point1 
and  maintaining a fixed mean distance  
from the earth1 but never returning on  
itself or making a definite closed      
figure of any kind4 ,finally the        
researches of ,mr4 ,george ,darwin have 
destroyed the conception of the  fixed  
mean distance1 and introduced that of a 
continually enlarging  spiral4          
,certainly no four theories could well  
be more distinct from  each other than  
these2 yet if an eclipse had to be      
calculated for next  year it would      
scarcely matter which theory was used4  
,the truth is that  the actual problem  
is so vast that a prediction of a few   
years in  advance only touches the      
fringe of it so to speak2 yet if the    
fulfilment  of the prediction were taken

 as a proof of the theory in each of    
these  different cases1 it would lead in
 the end to the most hopelessly         
contradictory results4    ,the success  
of a prediction therefore only shows    
that the theory on  which it is founded 
has had practical value so far as a     
working  hypothesis4 ,as working        
hypotheses1 and as long as they are kept
 down to  brief steps which can be      
verified1 the scientific theories are   
very  valuable--indeed we could not do  
without them2 but when they are treated 
as objective facts--when1 for instance1 
the law of  gravitation--derived as it  
is from a brief study of the heavenly   
bodies--has a universal truth ascribed  
to it1 and is made to apply to          
phenomena extending over millions of    
years1 and to warrant unverifiable      
prophecies about the planetary orbits1  
or statements about the age of  the     
earth and the duration of the solar     
system--all one can say is that  those  
who argue so are flying off at a tangent

 from actual facts4 ,for as  the tangent
 represents the direction of a curve    
over a small arc1 so  these theories    
represent the bearing of facts well     
enough over a small  region of          
observation2 but as following the       
tangent we soon lose the  curve1 so     
following these theories for any        
distance beyond the region  of actual   
observation we speedily part company    
with facts4#bb      ,to proceed with a  
few more words about the general method 
of ,science4  ,science passes from      
phenomena to laws1 from individual      
details which can  be seen and felt to  
large generalisations of an intangible  
and  phantom-like character4 ,that is to
 say1 that for convenience of thought   
we classify objects4 ,how is this       
classification effected8 ,it is effected
  through the perception of identity    
amid difference4 ,among a lot of        
objects ,i perceive certain attributes  
in common2 this group of common         
attributes serves1 so to speak1 as a    

band to tie these objects together      
with--into a bundle convenient for      
thought4 ,i give a name to the band1    
and that serves to denote any unit of   
the bundle by4 ,thus perceiving  common 
attributes among a lot of dogs--as in an
 example already given--,i  give the    
name foxhound to this group of          
attributes1 and thenceforth use  the    
name foxhound to connect these objects  
by in my mind2 again  perceiving other  
common attributes among other similar   
objects1 ,i  invent the word greyhound  
to denote these latter by4 ,the concept 
foxhound differs from the objects which 
it denotes1 in this respect that  these 
latter are 7as we say7 real dogs with   
thousands and thousands of  attributes  
each3 one of them has a broken tooth1   
another is nearly all  white1 another   
answers to the name ,sally1 and so on2  
while the concept  is only an imaginary 
form in my mind1 with only a few        
attributes and no  individual           
peculiarities--a kind of tiny ,g4,c4,m4 

arising from the  contemplation of a    
long row of big figures4    ,now having 
created these concepts foxhound1        
greyhound1 and a lot of  other similar  
ones1 ,i find that they in their turn   
have a few attributes  in common and    
thus give rise to a new concept dog4 ,of
 course this  dog is more of an         
abstraction than ever1 the concept of a 
concept4 ,in  fact the peculiarity of   
this whole process is that1 as sometimes
 stated1  the broader the generalisation
 becomes the less is its depth2 or in   
other words and obviously1 that as the  
number of objects compared  increases1  
the number of attributes common to them 
all decreases4  ,ultimately as we saw at
 the beginning1 when a sufficient number
 of  objects are taken in1 the concept  
7dog or whatever it may be7 fades  away 
and ceases to have any meaning4 ,this   
therefore is the dilemma of  ,science   
and indeed of all human knowledge1 that 
in carrying out the  process which is   
peculiar to it1 it necessarily leaves   

the dry ground of  reality for the      
watery region of abstractions1 which    
abstractions  become ever more tenuous  
and ungraspable the farther it goes1 and
  ultimately fade into mere ghosts4     
,nevertheless the process is a quite    
necessary one1 for only by it can the   
mind deal with things4    ,to dwell for 
a moment over this last point3 it is    
clear that every  object has relation to
 every other object in the world--exists
 in fact  only in virtue of such        
relation to other objects2 it has       
therefore an  infinite number of        
attributes4 ,the mind consequently is   
powerless to  deal with such object--it 
cannot by any possibility think it4 ,in 
order  to deal with it1 the mind is     
forced to single out a few of its       
attributes 7the method of ignorance or  
abstraction already alluded  to7--that  
is a few of its relations to other      
objects1 and to think them  first4 ,the 
others it will think afterwards--all in 
good time4 ,in thus  stripping or       

abstracting the great mass of its       
attributes from our  object1 and leaving
 only a few1 which it combines into a   
concept1 the  mind practically abandons 
the real article and takes up with a    
shadow2  but in return for this it gets 
something which it can handle1 which is 
light to carry about1 and which1 like   
paper-money1 for the time and  under    
certain conditions does really represent
 value4 ,the only danger  is lest       
it--the mind--carried away by the       
extensive applicability of the  partial 
concept which it has thus formed1 should
 credit it with an  actual value--should
 project it on the background of the    
external world  and ascribe to it that  
reality which belongs only to objects   
themselves1 i4e41 to things embodying an
 infinite range of  attributes4    ,the 
peculiar method of ,science is now clear
 to us1 and can be abundantly           
illustrated from modern results4 ,our   
experience consists in sensations1  we  
feel the weight of heavy bodies1 we see 

them fall when let go1 we  have         
sensations of heat and cold1 light and  
darkness1 and so forth4 ,but  these     
sensations are more or less local and   
variable from man to man1  and we       
naturally seek to find some common      
measure of them1 by which we  can talk  
about and describe them exactly1 and    
independently of the  peculiarities of  
individual observers4 ,thus we seek to  
find some common  phenomenon which      
underlies 7as we say7 the sensations of 
heat and cold1  or of light and         
darkness1 or something which explains   
7i4e41 is always  present in7 the case  
of falling bodies--and to do this we    
adopt the  method of generalisation     
above described1 i4e41 we observe a     
great  number of individual cases and   
then see what qualities or attributes   
they have in common4 ,so far good4 ,but 
it is just here that the fallacy  of the
 ordinary scientific procedure comes in2
 for1 forgetting that  these common     
qualities are mere abstractions from the

 real phenomena we  credit them with a  
real existence1 and regard the actual   
phenomena as  secondary results1 effects
 or what-not of these causes4 ,this in  
plain language is putting the cart      
before the horse--or rather the  shadow 
before the man4 ,thus finding that a    
vast number of variously  shaped and    
coloured bodies tend to fall towards the
 earth1 we erect  this common attribute 
of falling into an independent existence
 which we  call attraction or           
gravitation--and ultimately posit a     
universal  gravitation acting on all    
bodies in ,nature6--or finding that a   
number  of different substances1 such as
 water1 air1 wood1 etc41 convey to us   
the sensation we call sound1 and that in
 all these cases the common  element is 
vibration1 we detach the attribute      
vibration1 credit it with  a separate   
existence1 and speak of it as the cause 
of sound4 ,but though  we may thus think
 of the shadow as separate from the man1
 the shadow  cannot be separate from the

 man2 and though we may try to think of 
the  falling or the vibration as        
separate from the wood or the stone1    
such  falling and vibration cannot exist
 apart from these and other such        
materials1 and the effort to speak of it
 as so existing ends in mere  nonsense4 
,more strange still is the fatuity1     
when1 as in the case of the  undulatory 
,theory of light or the ,atomic theory  
of physics1 the concepts  thus erected  
into actualities are composed of purely 
imaginary  attributes--of which no one  
has had any experience--an undulatory   
ether  in the one case1 a hard and      
perfectly elastic atom in the other4    
,the  total result is of course--just   
what we see--,science landing itself in 
pure absurdities in every direction4    
,beginning by detaching the  attribute  
of falling from the bodies that         
fall--beginning that is by an           
abstraction1 which of course is also a  
falsity--it generalises and  generalises
 this abstraction till at last it       

reaches a perfectly  generalised        
absurdity and thing without any         
meaning--the law of  gravitation4#bc    
,the statement that every particle in   
the universe  attracts every other      
particle with a force proportional to   
the mass of  the attracting particle and
 inversely proportional to the square of
 the  distance between the two is devoid
 of meaning--the human mind can give  no
 definite meanings to the words mass1   
attract1 and force1 which  do not       
overlap and stultify each other4 ,the   
law in every way baffles  intelligence4 
,newton1 who invented it1 declared that 
no philosophic mind  would suppose that 
bodies could thus act on one another    
without the  mediation of anything else 
by and through which their action might 
be  conveyed2 scientific men to-day are 
fain to see that a material  mediation  
of this kind would only make the law    
still more remote from  our             
comprehension than it already is1 while1
 on the other hand1 an  immaterial      

mediation or a fourth-dimensional       
mediation1 such as some  propose1 would 
simply remove the problem out of the    
regions of  scientific analysis4#bd     
,again1 the form of the law is declared 
to be  the inverse square of the        
distance2 but this is the law by the    
nature of  space itself of any perfect  
radiation1 and if true of gravitation   
involves the conclusion that that       
radiation of force 7whatever its  nature
 may be7 takes place without loss or    
dissipation of any kind4 ,this  would   
make gravitation absolutely unique among
 phenomena4 ,more than  this1 its       
propagation is supposed to be           
instantaneous over the most  enormous   
distances of space1 and to take place   
always unhindered and  unretarded1      
whatever be the number or the nature of 
the bodies between6  ,what can be more  
clear than that the law is simply       
metaphysical--a  projection into a      
monstrous universality and abstraction1 
of partially  understood phenomena in a 

particular region of observation--a     
,brocken-shadow on the background of    
,nature of the observer's own  momentary
 attitude of thought8    ,again1 the    
undulatory theory of ,light4 ,studying  
the phenomena of a vast  number of      
coloured and bright bodies1 ,science    
finds that it can think  about these    
phenomena--can generalise and tie them  
into bundles best by  assuming that the 
bodies are all in a state of vibration2 
a vibration  so minute that 7unlike the 
vibrations connected with ,sound7 it    
cannot be  directly perceived4 ,so far  
good4 ,there is no harm in the          
assumption of  vibration1 as long as it 
is understood to be a mere assumption   
for a  temporary convenience of thought4
 ,but now ,science goes farther than    
this1 and not only supposes a common    
attribute to all visible bodies1  but   
credits this common attribute with a    
real existence independent of  the      
visible bodies in which it was supposed 
to inhere--and makes this  the cause of 

their visibility6 ,obviously now a      
common and universal  medium is required
 for this common and universal assumed  
vibration 7just  as ,newton required a  
medium for his universal falling7--and  
so1 hey  presto6 we have the ,undulatory
 ,ether4 ,and having got it we find that
 to  fulfil our requirements it must    
have a pressure of #ag million million  
pounds on the square inch1 and yet be so
 rare and tenuous as not to  hinder the 
lightest breath of air2 that while it is
 thus rare enough to  surpass all our   
powers of direct scrutiny1 its          
vibrations must yet be  capable of      
agitating and breaking up the solidest  
bodies2 that it must  pass freely       
through some dense and close structures 
like glass1 and yet  be excluded by some
 light and porous1 like cork1 and so on 
and on6 ,in  fact we find that it is    
unthinkable4 ,against this adamantine1  
impalpable  ,ether1 as against this     
instantaneous1 untranslatable           
gravitation1  ,science bangs its devoted

 head in vain4 ,having created these    
absurdities  by the method of           
personification of abstractions#be or   
the  reification of concepts1#bf it     
seriously and in all good faith tries   
to understand them2 having dressed up   
its own ,mumbo ,jumbo 7which it once    
jeered at religion for doing7 it piously
 shuts its eyes and endeavours  to      
believe in it4    ,the ,atomic ,theory  
affords a good example of the method of 
ignorance4  ,when we try to think about 
material objects generally--to          
generalise  about them--that is1 to find
 some attribute or attributes common to 
them1 we are at first puzzled4 ,they    
present such an immense variety4 ,but   
after a time1 by dint of stripping off  
or abstracting all such  attributes or  
qualities as we think we perceive in one
 body and not in  another--as for       
example1 redness1 blueness1 warmth1     
saltness1 life1  intelligence1 or what  
not--we find an attribute left1 namely  
resistance  to touch1 which is common to

 all material bodies4 ,this quality in  
the  body we call mass1 and since it is 
only known by motion1 mass and  motion  
become correlative attributes which we  
find useful to class  bodies by1 not    
because they represent the various      
bodies particularly  well1 but because  
they are found in all bodies2 just as   
you might class  people by their        
boots--not because boots are a very     
valuable method of  classification1 but 
simply because every one wears boots of 
one kind or  another4 ,so far there is  
no great harm done4 ,but now having by  
the  method of ignorance thought away   
all the qualities of bodies1 except  the
 two correlatives of mass and motion1 we
 set about to explain the  phenomena of 
,nature generally by these two thinks   
that are left4 ,we  credit these thinks 
7mass and motion7 with an independent   
existence  and proceed to derive the    
rest of phenomena from them4 ,the       
proceeding of  course is absurd1 and    
ends by exposing its own absurdity4     

,thinking of  mass and motion as        
existing in the various bodies apart    
from colour1  smell1 and so forth--which
 of course is not the case--we combine  
the two  attributes into one concept1   
the atom1 which we thus assume to exist 
in  all bodies4 ,the atom has neither   
colour1 smell1 warmth1 taste1 life or   
intelligence2 it has only mass and      
motion2 for it came by the method of    
divesting our thought of everything but 
mass and motion4 ,it is a  projection of
 a think upon the background of nature4 
,and it is an  absurdity4 ,no such thing
 exists in all the wide universe as mass
 and  motion divested from colour1      
smell1 warmth1 life and intelligence4   
,the  atom is unthinkable4 ,it is       
perfectly hard and it is perfectly      
elastic--which is the same as saying    
that it bends and it doesn't bend  at   
the same time2 it has form1 and it      
hasn't form2 it has affinities and  yet 
is perfectly indifferent4 ,to justify to
 men the ways of their ,mumbo  ,jumbo   

has sorely exercised the votaries of the
 ,atom4 ,one philosopher  says that it  
is mere matter1 passive1 exercising no  
force but  resistance2 another says that
 it is a centre of force1 without       
matter2 a  third suggests that it is not
 itself matter1 but only a vortex in    
other  matter6 ,all agree that it is not
 an object of sense1 and there remains  
no conclusion but that it is            
nonsense6#bg    ,and so on in all       
directions4 ,human thought flying off at
 its tangents  from ,nature lands itself
 in infinite nothings afar off1 poor    
ghostly  skeletons and abstractions from
 ,nature--which indeed is all right1 for
  human thought as yet can only see     
ghosts and not realities2 but let  there
 be no mistake1 let these ghosts not be 
mistaken for realities--for  they are   
not even compatible with each other4    
,the ,atom that suits the  physicist    
does not suit the chemist4 ,the ,ether  
that does for the vehicle  of ,light    
will not do for the vehicle of universal

 ,gravitation4      ,it would be hardly 
worth while entering into these         
criticisms1 were it  not evident that   
,science in modern times1 either tacitly
 or explicitly1  has been seeking1 as ,i
 said at the beginning1 to enounce facts
  independent of ,man1 the observer4    
,seeing that the ordinary statements of 
daily life are obviously inexact and    
relative to the observer--charged  with 
human sensation in fact--,science has   
naturally tried to produce  something   
which should be exact and independent of
 human sensation2 but  here it has of   
course condemned itself beforehand to   
failure2 for no  statement of isolated  
phenomena or groups of phenomena can be 
exact  except by the method of ignorance
 aforesaid1 and no statement obviously  
can be really independent of human      
sensation4 ,when a man says ,it is      
cold1 his statement1 it must be         
confessed1 is deplorably human and      
vague4 ,it--what is that8 ,is--do you   
mean is8 or do you mean  feels1 appears8

 ,cold--in what sense8 ,cold to         
yourself1 or to  other people1 or to    
polar bears1 or by the thermometer8 ,and
 so on4  ,science therefore steps in    
with an air of authority and sets him   
right4  ,it says the temperature is #cj 
,fahrenheit1 as if to settle the        
matter4 ,but does this really settle the
 matter8 ,temperature--who knows  what  
that is8 ,what is the scientific        
definition of it8 ,i find               
7,clerk-,maxwell's ,theory of ,heat1 p4 
#b47 the temperature of a body is a     
quantity which indicates how hot or how 
cold the body is4 ,this sounds  very    
much like saying1 the colour of a body  
is a quantity which  indicates how blue1
 red1 or yellow the body is4 ,it does   
not bring us  much farther on our way4  
,but in the next paragraph ,maxwell     
shows the  object of his definition     
7which of course is only preliminary7 by
  saying1 ,by the use1 therefore1 of the
 word temperature1 we fix in our  minds 
the conviction that it is possible not  

only to feel1 but to  measure1 how hot a
 body is4 ,that is to say he clearly    
maintains that  it is possible to find  
an absolute standard of hotness or      
coldness--or  rather of the unknown     
thing called temperature--outside of    
ourselves and  independent of human     
sensation4 ,when the man said he was    
cold he was  probably just describing   
his own sensations1 but here ,science   
indicates  that it is in search of      
something which has an independent      
existence of  its own1 and which        
therefore when found we can measure     
exactly and once  for all4 ,what then is
 that thing8 ,what is temperature8 say1 
what is  it8    ,we cudgel our brains in
 vain4 ,perhaps the remainder of the    
sentence  will help us4 ,the temperature
 is #cj ,fahrenheit4 ,the unknown thing 
is  thirty degrees4 ,what then is a     
degree8 ,that is the next question4     
,when  the ,theory of ,heat went out    
from sensation and left it behind1 one  
of  its first landing places was in the 

expansion of liquids--as in  thermometer
 tubes4 ,here for some time was thought 
to be a satisfactory  register of       
temperature4 ,but before long it became 
apparent that the  degree--,fahrenheit1 
,raumur1 or what-not--was an entirely   
arbitrary  thing1 also that it was not  
the same#bh thing at one end of the     
scale  as the other1 and finally that   
the scale itself had no starting point6 
,this was awkward1 so a move was made to
 the air thermometer1 and there  was    
some talk about an absolute zero and    
absolute temperatures2 it was  thought  
that the ,unknown thing showed itself   
most clearly and simply in  the         
expansion of air and other gases1 and   
that the degree might fairly  be        
measured in terms of this expansion4    
,but in a little time this kind  of     
thermometer--chiefly because no gas     
turned out to be theoretically          
perfect--broke down1 absolute zero and  
all1 and another step had to be         
made--namely1 to the dynamical theory4  

,it was announced that the ,unknown     
thing might be measured in terms of     
mechanical energy1 and ,joule at        
,manchester proclaimed that the work    
done by any quantity of water  falling  
there a distance of #ggb feet is capable
 of raising that water  one degree      
,fahrenheit4#bi ,here seemed something  
definite4 ,to measure  temperature by   
mass and velocity1 to measure a degree  
by the flight of a  stone1 or the heat  
in the human body by the fall of a      
factory  chimney--if rather roundabout  
and elusive of the main question--seemed
  at any rate promising of exact        
results6 ,unfortunately the difficulty  
was  to pass from the theory to its     
application4 ,the complicated nature of 
the problem1 the imperfection of the    
gases and other bodies under            
consideration1 the latent and specific  
heats to be allowed for1 the  elusive   
nature of heat in experiment1 and the   
variable value of the  degree           
itself--all render the conclusions on   

this subject most  precarious2 and the  
general equations connecting the        
,fahrenheit or other  temperatures with 
a thermo-dynamic scale--while they      
become so unwieldy  as to be practically
 useless--are themselves after all only 
approximate4    ,finally1 to give a last
 form to the mechanical theory of heat1 
the  conception of flying atoms or      
molecules was introduced1 and a number  
of  neat generalisations were deduced   
from dynamical considerations4 ,of      
course it was inevitable1 having once   
started with a mechanical theory1  that 
one should arrive at the ,atom some time
 or other--and 7from what  has already  
been said7 it was also inevitable that  
the result should be  unsatisfactory4   
,it is sufficient to say that the       
molecular theory of  heat is not in     
accordance with facts4 ,such things as  
the law of  ,charles and the law of     
,boyle1 which according to it should be 
strictly  accurate and of general       
application1 are known to be true only  

over a  most limited range4 ,this       
failure of the theory may be said to    
arise  partly from its being pursued by 
the statistical method2 but if1 on the  
other hand1 we were to try and follow   
out the individual movement of  each    
molecule we should be landed in a       
problem far exceeding in  complexity the
 wildest flights of ,astronomy1 and     
should have exchanged  for the original 
difficulty about temperature a          
difficulty far  greater4    ,the result 
of all this has been that               
notwithstanding the talk about  energy  
and atoms1 ,science has sadly to confess
 that it can still give no  valid       
meaning to the word temperature3 the    
unknown thing is still  unknown1 the    
independent existence round the corner  
still escapes us4 ,by  the very effort  
to arrive at something independent of   
human sensation1  ,science has1 in a    
roundabout way1 arrived at an absurdity4
 ,when the man  said he was cold1 his   
statement--deplorably vague as it       

certainly  was--had some meaning2 he was
 describing his feelings1 or possibly he
  had seen some snow or some ice on the 
road2 but when1 in the endeavour  to    
leave out the human and to say something
 absolute1 ,science declared  that the  
temperature was thirty degrees1 it      
committed itself to a remark  which     
possibly was exact in form1 but to which
 it has never given and  never can give 
any definite meaning4#cj    ,similarly  
with other generalities of ,science3 the
 law of the  ,conservation of ,energy1  
the law of the ,survival of the         
,fittest--the  more you think about them
 the less possible is it to give any    
really  intelligible sense to them4 ,the
 very word ,fittest really begs the     
question which is under consideration1  
and the whole ,conservation law is      
merely an attenuation of the already    
much attenuated law of  ,gravitation4   
,the ,chemical ,elements themselves are 
nothing but the  projection on the      
external world of concepts consisting of

 three or four  attributes each3 they   
are not more real1 but very much less   
real than  the individual objects which 
they are supposed to account for2 and   
their  elementary character is merely   
fictional4 ,it probably is in fact as   
absurd to speak of pure carbon or pure  
gold1 as of a pure monkey or a  pure    
dog4 ,there are no such things1 except  
as they may be arrived at by  arbitrary 
definition and the method of ignorance4 
,in the search for exactness1 then1     
,science has been continually led on  to
 discard the human and personal elements
 in phenomena1 in the hope of  finding  
some residuum as it were behind them    
which should not be  personal and human 
but absolute and invariable4 ,and the   
tendency has  been 7hitherto7 in all the
 sciences to get rid of such terms as   
blue1  red1 light1 heavy1 hot1 cold1    
concord1 discord1 health1 vitality1     
right1  wrong1 etc41 and to rely on any 
less human elements discoverable in each
  case2 as for instance in ,sound1 to   

deal less and less with the judgments   
and sensations of the ear1 and to rely  
more and more on measurements of        
lengths of strings1 numbers of          
vibrations1 etc4 ,each science has been 
7as far as possible7 reduced to its     
lowest terms4 ,ethics has been made a   
question of utility and inherited       
experience4 ,political ,economy has been
  exhausted of all conceptions of       
justice between man and man1 of charity1
  affection1 and the instinct of        
solidarity2 and has been founded on its 
lowest discoverable factor1 namely      
self-interest4 ,biology has been        
denuded of the force of personality in  
plants1 animals1 and men2 the  self here
 has been set aside1 and the attempt    
made to reduce the  science to a        
question of chemical and cellular       
affinities1 protoplasm1  and the laws of
 osmose4 ,chemical affinities1 again1   
and all the  wonderful phenomena of     
,physics are emptied down into a flight 
of atoms2  and the flight of atoms 7and 

of astronomic orbs as well7 is reduced  
to  the laws of dynamics--which the     
student sitting in his chamber may write
  down on a piece of paper4 ,thus the   
idea1 formulated by ,comte1 of a great  
scale of sciences arising from the      
simplest to the most complex1 has       
tacitly underlain modern scientific     
work4 ,it--,science--has sought to      
explain each stage by reference to a    
lower stage--blueness by  vibrations1   
and vibrations by flying atoms--the     
human always by the  sub-human4 ,going  
out from humanity dissatisfied1 it has  
wandered through  the animal and        
vegetable kingdoms1 through the regions 
of ,chemistry and  ,physics1 into that  
of ,mechanics4 ,here at last1 in        
,mechanics1 is  something outside       
humanity1 something exact in itself1    
something  substantial1 it has said4    
,let us build again on this as on a     
foundation1 and in time we shall find   
out what humanity is4 ,this ,i say  has 
been the dream of ,modern ,science2 yet 

the fallacy of it is obvious4  ,we have 
not got outside the human1 but only to  
the outermost verge of  it4 ,mass and   
motion1 which in this process are taken 
to be real entities  and the first      
progenitors of all phenomena1 are simply
 the last  abstractions of sensible     
experience1 and our emptiest concepts4  
,the  material explanation of the       
universe is simply an attempt to account
  for phenomena by those attributes     
which appear to us to be common to  them
 all--which is1 as said before1 like    
accounting for men by their  boots3--it 
may be possible to get an exact formula 
this way1 but its  contents have little 
or no meaning4    ,the whole process of 
,science and the ,comtian classification
 of its  branches--regarded thus as an  
attempt to explain ,man by              
,mechanics--is a  huge vicious circle4  
,it professes to start with something   
simple1 exact1  and invariable1 and from
 this point to mount step by step till  
it comes  to ,man himself2 but indeed it

 starts with ,man4 ,it plants itself on 
sensations low down 7mass1 motion1      
etc471 and endeavours by means of  them 
to explain sensations high up1 which    
reminds one of nothing so much  as that 
process vulgarly described as climbing  
up a ladder to comb your  hair4 ,in     
truth ,science has never left the great 
world1 or cosmos1 of  ,man1 nor ever    
really found a locus standi without it2 
but during the  last two or three       
centuries it has gone in this direction1
 outwards1  continually4 ,leaving the   
central basis and facts of humanity as  
too vast  and unmanageable1 and also as 
apparently variable from man to man and 
therefore affording no certain consent  
to work upon1 it has wandered  gradually
 outwards1 seeking something of more    
definite and universal  application     
,discarding thus one by one the interior
 phases of  sensation--as the sense of  
personal relationship1 the sense of     
justice1  duty1 fitness in things or    
what-not 7as too uncertain1 or perhaps  

developed to an unequal degree in       
different persons1 embryonic in one  and
 matured in another71 drifting past the 
more specialised bodily  senses1 of     
colour1 sound1 taste1 smell1 etc41 as   
for similar reasons                     
unavailable--,science at last in the    
primitive consciousness of muscular     
contraction and its abstraction mass or 
matter comes to a pause4  ,here in this 
last sense1 common probably to man and  
the lowest animals1  it finds its       
widest1 most universal ground--its      
farthest limit from the  ,centre4 ,it   
has reached the outermost shell1 as it  
were1 of the great  ,man-cosmos4        
,even this shell is partially human2 it 
is not entirely osseous1 and so  far not
 entirely exact and invariable2 but     
,science can go no  farther--and there1 
for the present1 it may remain6    ,some
 day perhaps1 when all this showy       
vesture of scientific theory  7which has
 this peculiarity that only the learned 
can see it7 has been  quasi-completed1  

and ,humanity is expected to walk       
solemnly forth in its  new garment for  
all the world to admire--as in          
,anderssen's story of the  ,emperor's   
,new ,clothes--some little child        
standing on a door-step will  cry out3  
,but he has got nothing on at all1 and  
amid some confusion it  will be seen    
that the child is right4      ,,note    
,i fear ,i have very imperfectly        
succeeded in expressing my strong       
conviction that1 before a rigorous      
logical scrutiny1 the ,reign of         
,law will prove to be an unverified     
hypothesis1 the ,uniformity of          
,nature an ambiguous expression1 the    
certainty of our scientific             
inferences to a great extent a delusion4
 7,stanley ,jevons1       ,principles of
 ,science1 p4 ix47    ,,footnotes3      
#ag ,see note1 p4 #aai4    #ah ,since   
the above was written there has         
certainly been a great  change1 and the 
dogmatic confidence in the verity of the
 scientific  laws has now 7#aibj7 almost

 disappeared4    #ai ,such fictions1    
however1 are 7,i need not say7 quite    
necessary as our  only means of thinking
 out1 however imperfectly1 the problems 
before us  7#aibj74    #bj ,it is not   
generally realised how feeble a force   
gravitation is4 ,it  is calculated      
7,encycl4 ,brit41 ,art4 ,gravitation7   
that two masses1 each  weighing #dae1jjj
 tons1 and placed a mile apart1 would   
exert on each  other an attractive force
 of only one pound4 ,if one1 therefore1 
was as  far from the other as the moon  
is from the earth1 their attraction     
would  only amount to                   
#a_/eg1fjj1jjj1jjjth of a pound4 ,this  
is a small force to  govern the movement
 of a body weighing #dae1jjj tons6 and  
it is easy to  see that a slight        
variation in the law of the force might 
for a long  period pass undetected1     
though in the course of hundreds of     
centuries it  might become of the       
greatest importance4    #ba ,as another 
instance of the same thing1 let me quote

 a passage from  ,maxwell's ,theory of  
,heat1 p4 #ca2 the italics are mine3 ,in
 our  description of the physical       
properties of bodies as related to heat 
we  have begun with solid bodies1 as    
those which we can most easily  handle1 
and have gone on to liquids1 which we   
can keep in open vessels1  and have now 
come to gases1 which will escape from   
open vessels1 and  which are generally  
invisible4 ,this is the order which is  
most natural  in our first study of     
these different states4 ,but as soon as 
we have  been made familiar with the    
most prominent features of these        
different  conditions of matter the most
 scientific course of study is in the   
reverse order1 beginning with gases1 on 
account of the greater  simplicity of   
their laws1 then advancing to liquids1  
the more complex  laws of which are much
 more imperfectly known1 and concluding 
with the  little that has been hitherto 
discovered about the constitution of    
solid  bodies4 ,that is to say that     

,science finds it easier to work among  
gases--which are invisible and which we 
can know little about--than  among      
solids1 which we are familiar with and  
which we can easily handle6  ,this seems
 a strange conclusion1 but it will be   
found to represent a  common procedure  
of ,science--the truth probably being   
that the laws of  gases are not one whit
 simpler than the laws of liquids and   
solids1  but that on account of our     
knowing so much less about gases it is  
easier  for us to feign laws in their   
case than in the case of solids1 and    
less easy for our errors to be detected4
    #bb ,all our thoughts1 theories1    
laws1 etc41 may perhaps be said to      
touch ,nature--as the tangent touches   
the curve--at a point4 ,they give  a    
direction--and are true--at that point4 
,but make the slightest move1  and they 
all have to be reconstructed4 ,the      
tangents are infinite in  number1 but   
the curve is one4 ,this may not only    
illustrate the relation  of ,nature to  

,science1 but also of ,art to the       
materials it uses4 ,the poet  radiates  
thoughts3 but he sets no store by them4 
,he knows his thoughts  are not true in 
themselves1 but they touch the ,truth4  
,his lines are  the envelope of the     
curve which is his poem4    #bc ,see the
 report of the joint meeting of the     
,royal ,society and the  ,royal         
,astronomical ,society1 ,november #f1   
#aiai1 when ,einstein's theory was      
discussed4    #bd ,it is obvious that   
the ,einstein theory1 in which ,time    
enters as a  kind of fourth dimension in
 relation to ,space1 removes us at once 
out of  the whole field of ordinary     
scientific reasoning and lands us1 so to
  speak1 in a new world4 ,the nature of 
,space 7or of the universal medium1     
whatever it is7 in any region--its      
possible fundamental accelerations      
there1 its curvature or non-,euclidean  
character1 and so forth--is  supposed1  
according to this theory1 to vary with  
the amount of matter  in1 or density of1

 that region2 and the movements of      
bodies are  consequently supposed to    
take on the characters 7accelerations1  
etc417  which we ascribe to the action  
of ,gravitation4 ,gravitation in fact in
  any region is the manifestation in    
,time of the attributes of the          
universal ,medium in that region--which 
latter again is dependent on the  degree
 of ,matter present4 ,thus1 ,matter1    
,time1 and ,space are one  phenomenon4  
,the whole ,einstein theory1 in fact1 is
 a device to present these three        
,protean and variable elements of all   
material existence 7,matter1 ,time  and 
,space7 as so far involved and          
interlaced in each other that they  form
 always an absolute and complete unity4 
,as such the theory is no  doubt        
suggestive1 and along the line of future
 speculation3 but it  awaits            
corroboration4 ,if corroborated it will 
point the way to a new  conception of   
the ,universe4    #be ,j4 ,s4 ,mill4    
#bf ,see ,stallo's excellent ,concepts  

of ,modern ,physics4    #bg ,see1 for   
instance1 the last new thing in this    
style--the ,helmholtz  molecule as      
improved upon by ,sir ,william ,thomson2
 it is described as  follows3 ,a heavy  
mass connected by massless springs with 
a massless  enclosing shell2 or there   
may be several shells enclosing each    
other  connected by springs with a dense
 mass in the centre 7far more dense     
than the ether74 ,it is not1 of course1 
seriously maintained that this          
nonsensical creation exists--but that if
 it did exist it would account  for     
certain unexplained phenomena in the    
dispersion of light1 etc4    ,later     
still 7#aibj7 we have the following     
delightful verdict on the  ,structure of
 the ,atom1 given by ,sir ,ernest       
,rutherford--and which ,i  commend to   
all lovers of clear thinking3--    ,the 
,bakerian ,lecture was delivered        
yesterday before the ,royal ,society  by
 ,sir ,ernest ,rutherford1 whose subject
 was ',the ,nuclear ,construction of    

the ,atom4' ,he said that during recent 
years much attention had been paid  to  
the nature and structure of atoms4 ,the 
atomic theory of matter had  been       
definitely proved4 ,the mass of the     
individual atoms1 and the number  in any
 given weight of matter1 were now known 
with considerable  accuracy4 ,not only  
was matter known to be made up of atoms1
 but  electricity was also atomic in    
nature1 and there was a definite unit of
  electrical charge which could not     
further be subdivided4 ,the negative    
electron1 which was a constituent of all
 atoms of matter1 was probably  nothing 
more than an isolated unit of negative  
electricity1 and its  small mass was    
electrical in origin4 ,it had long been 
considered  probable that the atom is an
 electrical structure1 consisting of    
positive and negative particles1 held in
 equilibrium by electric or  magnetic   
forces4 ,in recent years evidence had   
accumulated that an atom  consists of a 
positively charged nucleus surrounded at

 a distance by a  distribution of       
electrons to make it electrically       
neutral4 7,from ,the  ,morning ,post of 
,june #d1 #aibj47    #bh ,the very fact 
alone that the degrees on a thermometer 
are equal  space divisions shows that   
they must bear a varying relation to the
  total volume of liquid as that expands
 from one end of the tube to the  other4
    #bi ,a statement obviously          
applying--from what has been already    
said--at  only one point in the scale4  
#cj ,i am not1 of course1 here arguing  
against the use of thermometers  or     
other instruments for practical         
purposes4 ,this is certainly the        
legitimate field of ,science4 ,but 7as  
in the case of prediction before        
mentioned7 the exactness of results     
obtained is a very different matter     
from the truth of the generalities which
 are supposed to underlie these         
results4 ,in using a thermometer you    
need not even mention the word          
temperature4          ,,the ,,science   

,,of ,,the ,,future3 ,a ,,forecast      
,once let that the human ideal slip out 
of the thought1 and science is  of no   
more use than the invocations in the    
,egyptian papiri4--,,richard            
,,jefferies4      ,it would appear then1
 from the preceding paper1 that in some 
sense a  mistake has been made in the   
method of modern scientific work2 not   
that  the vast amount of labour expended
 in it has been altogether wasted1 for  
in return for this there is a mass of   
practical results and detailed          
observations to show2 but that in       
attempting to solve the problem of      
science by the intellect alone1 a       
radical mistake has been made which     
could only land us in absurdity1 and    
that this mistake has for the  time     
being also vitiated the results that    
have been attained4 ,for--in  reference 
to this last point--the divorce of the  
intellectual from the  emotional has    
caused a great portion of our scientific
 observations to  become merely pedantic

 and trifling2 while it has turned the  
practical  results--as industrial and   
military machinery1 etc4--into engines  
of  evil as often as into engines of    
good4    ,science in searching for a    
permanently valid and purely            
intellectual  representation of the     
universe has1 as already said1 been     
searching for  a thing which does not   
exist4 ,the very facts of ,nature1 as we
 call them1  are at least half feeling4 
,if we try to clean the feeling out of a
 fact  and to produce a statement which 
shall be devoid of the human or sense   
element1 it simply amounts to cleaning  
the meaning out2 and though our         
resulting statement may be exact it is  
nugatory and of no value4 ,we  might as 
well try to take the clay out of a      
brick4 ,it must never be  forgotten that
 the logical processes--important as    
they are--cannot  stand by themselves1  
have no standing ground of their own4   
,they  presuppose assumptions and are   
the expression of things that are       

unreasoning1 perhaps illogical4 ,the    
strictest logic is a mere hooking       
together of links in a chain1 and the   
last link is of no use--you can  put no 
stress on it--unless the first is       
secured somewhere4 ,the strength  of the
 intellectual chain is no greater than  
that of the staple from  which it       
hangs--and that is a human feeling ,the 
strength of ,euclid is no  greater than 
that of the axioms--and they are        
feelings2 they are  unreasoning         
statements of which all that we can say 
is1 ,i feel like  that4 ,in fact all the
 propositions of ,geometry are nothing  
but the  analysis and elaborate         
expression1 so to speak1 of these       
primary  convictions--and the           
,geometry-structure stands and falls    
with them4  ,there is no such thing as  
intellectual truth--that is1 ,i mean1 a 
truth  which can be stated as existing  
apart from feeling4 ,if1 for instance1 a
  proposition in ,geometry can be really
 shown to be based on the axioms1  it is

 true1 not intellectually or absolutely1
 but as an expression of my  primary    
,geometrical sense2 and if my giving a  
few pence to a crossing  sweeper is     
based not on a mere impression of duty1 
or an anxiety to  appear charitable1 or 
wish to escape his importunity1 but on  
genuine  regard for the man1 then it is 
true1 not in any absolute signification1
  but just as an expression of what it  
professes to represent--namely my       
primary sense of humanity4 ,indeed the  
truest truth is that which is the       
expression of the deepest feeling1 and  
if there is an absolute truth it  can   
only be known and expressed by him who  
has the absolute feeling or  ,being     
within himself4    ,this being so--and  
the nature of the intellectual processes
 being1 like  the links in a chain1     
transitional--it becomes obvious that   
the  intellectual results may figure as 
a means but never as an end in          
themselves4 ,to hang any weight of      
reliance on them in the latter sense  is

 like the ,chinese ,trick--described by 
,marco ,polo--of throwing a rope's  end 
up in the air and then climbing up the  
rope4 ,hence it appears that  our       
scientific theories are perfectly       
legitimate1 as long as they are  formed 
as a means towards practical            
applications4 ,in that sense they  are  
transitional2 they are formed1 not as   
substantial truths1 but merely  as links
 in a chain towards some definite       
practical result4 ,for this  purpose we 
may form whatever theories are          
convenient3 if we are  calculating the  
strength of bridges1 we may adopt what  
generalisations  we like concerning     
mechanical structure1 as long as they   
give us actual  and practical results2  
if we are predicting eclipses1 we may   
make use of  any theory that will do4   
,the theory does not matter1 as long as 
it hauls  the practical result after it1
 just as it does not matter whether your
  cable is of iron or hemp or silk1 as  
long as you can get your ship into  dock

 with it4 ,in this sense our ,modern    
,science is1 ,i conceive1  admirable4   
,for practical results and brief        
predictions it affords a  quantity of   
useful generalisations--shorthand notes 
and conventional  symbols and pocket    
summaries of phenomena--which bear about
 the same  relation to the actual world 
that a map does to the country it is    
supposed to represent4 ,it cannot be    
said to have any resemblance to the     
real thing--but1 when you understand the
 principle on which it is  formed1 it is
 exceedingly useful for finding your way
 about4 ,as long as  ,science therefore 
keeps the practical end in view1 and    
starting from  sense seeks to return to 
sense again1 its intermediate theorising
 is  perfectly legitimate2 but the      
moment it credits its theory with a     
positive and authoritative existence1 as
 an actual representation of  facts--and
 endeavours to pass by means of it into 
unverifiable and  abstract regions1 as  
of invisible germs or atoms1 or far     

distances of  space1 or the remote past 
or future--it is simply throwing its    
rope's  end into the sky and trying to  
climb up6 ,that the wish is father to   
the  thought is in its wide sense       
profoundly true4 ,in the individual1    
feeling precedes thinking--as the body  
precedes the clothes4 ,in history1  the 
,rousseau precedes the ,voltaire4 ,there
 is1 ,i believe1 a physiological        
parallel2 for behind the brain and      
determining its action stands the  great
 sympathetic nerve--the organ of the    
emotions4 ,in fact here the  brain      
appears as distinctly transitional4 ,it 
stands between the nerves  of sense on  
the one hand and the great sympathetic  
on the other4    ,change the feeling in 
an individual1 and his whole method of  
thinking  will be revolutionised2 change
 the axiom or primary sensation in a    
science1 and the whole structure will   
have to be re-created4 ,the current     
,political ,economy is founded on the   
axiom of individual greed2 but let a    

new axiomatic emotion spring up 7as of  
justice or fair play instead of         
unlimited grab71 and the base of the    
science will be altered1 and will       
necessitate a new construction4    ,so  
when people argue 7on politics1         
morality1 art1 etc47 it will  generally 
be found that they differ at the base2  
they go out1 perhaps  quite             
unconsciously1 from different axioms and
 hence they cannot  agree4 ,occasionally
 of course a strict examination will    
show that1 while  agreeing at the base1 
one of them has made a false step in    
deduction2 in  that case his thought    
does not represent his primary feeling1 
and when  this is pointed out he is     
forced to alter it4 ,but more often it  
is found  that the difference lies deep 
down at a point beyond the reach of     
reason2 and they disagree to the end4   
,in this case neither is right and      
neither is wrong4 ,they simply feel     
differently2 they are different         
persons4    ,the ,thought then is the   

expression1 the outgrowth1 the covering 
of  underlying ,feeling4 ,and in the    
great life of ,man as a whole1 as in the
  lesser life of the individual1 his    
continual new birth and inward growth   
causes his thought-systems also         
continually to change and be replaced by
  new ones4 ,like the bud-sheaths and   
husks in a growing plant or tree they   
give form for a time to the life within2
 then they fall off and are  replaced4  
,the husk prepares the bud underneath1  
which is to throw it  off4 ,the thought 
prepares and protects the feeling       
underneath1 which  growing will         
inevitably reject it2 and when a thought
 has been formed it  is already false1  
i4e41 ready to fall4    ,we are now1    
then1 in a position to come back to the 
question of a  genuine ,science1 truly  
so-called4    ,as there is no invariable
 and absolute datum on the fringe of    
,humanity--no definable flying atom on  
which we can found our  reasonings--and 
as ,modern ,science1 considered as an   

actual  representation of the universe1 
falls miserably to pieces in            
consequence--is it possible that we have
 made a mistake in the  direction in    
which we have sought for our datum2 and 
may it be that we  should look for that 
in the very ,centre of ,humanity instead
 of in its  remotest circumference8 ,in 
that direction evidently1 if we could   
penetrate1 we should expect to find1 not
 a shadowy intellectual  generalisation1
 but the very opposite of that--an      
intense immutable  feeling or state1 an 
axiomatic condition of ,being4 ,is it   
possible that  here1 blazing like a sun 
7if we could only see it--and the sun is
 its  allegory in the physical world71  
there exists within us absolutely such  
a thing--the one fact in the universe1  
of which all else are shadows1  to which
 everything has relation1 and round     
which1 itself  unanalysable1 all thought
 circles and all phenomena stand as     
indirect  modes of expression8    ,is it
 possible8 ,that is the question--the   

question which each one of us  has to   
solve4 ,at any rate1 let us throw this  
out as a suggestion4 ,let us  suggest   
that as we have got nothing satisfactory
 by cleaning the  sense-element out of  
phenomena1 we should take the opposite  
course and  put as much sense into them 
as we can6    ,facts are1 at least1 half
 feelings4 ,let us acknowledge this and 
not  empty the feeling out of them1 but 
deepen and enlarge that which we        
already have in them4 ,who knows whether
 we have ever seen the blue  sky8 ,who  
knows whether we have ever seen each    
other8 ,is it not a  commonplace to say 
that one man sees in the common objects 
of ,nature  what another is wholly      
unconscious of8 ,the primrose on the    
river's brim  a yellow primrose is to   
him--and nothing more4 ,to what extent  
may the  facts of ,nature thus be       
deepened and made more substantial to   
us--and  whither will this process lead 
us8    ,do we not want to feel more1 not
 less1 in the presence of  phenomena--to

 enter into a living relation with the  
blue sky1 and the  incense-laden air1   
and the plants and the animals--nay1    
even with  poisonous and hurtful things 
to have a keener sense of their         
hurtfulness8 ,is it not a strange kind  
of science1 that which wakes the  mind  
to pursue the shadows of things1 but    
dulls the senses to the  reality of     
them--which causes a man to try to      
bottle the pure atmosphere  of heaven   
and then to shut himself in a           
gas-reeking1 ill-ventilated  laboratory 
while he analyses it2 or allows him to  
vivisect a dog1  unconscious that he is 
blaspheming the pure and holy relation  
between  man and the animals in doing   
so8 ,surely the man of ,science 7in its 
higher sense1 that is7 should be        
lynx-eyed as an ,indian1 keen-scented as
  a hound--with all senses and feelings 
trained by constant use and a pure  and 
healthy life in close contact with      
,nature1 and with a heart beating  in   
sympathy with every creature4 ,such a   

man would have at command1 so to  speak1
 the keyboard of the universe2 but the  
mechanical1 unhealthy1  indoor-living   
student--is he not really ignorant of   
the  facts8--,certainly1 since he has   
not felt them1 he is4    ,the process of
 the true ,science consists first in the
 naming and  defining of phenomena      
7i4e41 the facts of human               
consciousness71 and  secondly1 in the   
discovery of the true relation of these 
phenomena to  each other2 and since the 
definitions of phenomena and their      
relations  keep varying with the        
standpoint of the observer1 the process 
evidently  involves all experience1 and 
ultimately the discovery of that last   
fact  of experience to which and through
 which all the other facts are  related4
 ,it is therefore an age-long process1  
and has to do with the  emotional and   
moral part of man as well as with the   
logical and  intellectual4 ,it is1 in   
fact1 the discovery of the nature of    
,man  himself1 and of the true order of 

his being4    ,modern ,science--though  
seeking for a unity in ,nature--fails to
 find it1  because1 from the nature of  
the case1 any large body of knowledge in
  which all people will agree is limited
 to certain small regions of human      
experience--regions in which very likely
 no unity is discoverable4 ,it  takes   
the emerald1 and breaks it up2 treats of
 its colour and  light-refracting       
qualities on the one hand2 of its       
crystalline structure  and hardness on  
the other2 of its weight and density2   
and of its  chemical properties2 all    
separately1 and producing long strings  
of  generalisation from each aspect of  
the subject4 ,but how all these         
qualities are conjoined together1 what  
their relation is which  constitutes the
 emerald--yea1 even the smallest bit of 
emerald  dust--it 7wisely7 does not     
attempt to say4 ,it takes the man and   
dissects  him2 treats of his blood1 his 
nerves1 his bones1 his brain2 of his    
senses of sight1 of touch1 of hearing2  

but of that which binds these  together 
into a unity1 of their true relation to 
each other in the man1  it is silent4   
,yet the man knows of himself that he is
 a unity2 he knows that all  parts of   
his body have relation to him1 and to   
each other2 he knows  that his senses of
 sight and hearing and touch and taste  
and smell are  conjoined in the focus of
 his individual life1 in his ,i am2 he  
knows  that all his faculties and       
powers1 however much they may belong to 
different planes1 spiritual or material1
 or may come under the  inquisition of  
different ,sciences1 have an order of   
their own among each  other--that there 
is an ultimate ,science of them--even   
though he be  not yet wholly versed in  
it4 ,and he knows1 moreover1 that in a  
grain of  dust1 or in an emerald1 or in 
an orange1 or in any object of ,nature1 
the  different attributes of the        
object--which the ,sciences thus treat  
of  separately--are only the reflexion  
of his different senses2 so that the    

problem of the conjunction of different 
attributes in a body comes back  to the 
same problem of the union of various    
senses and powers in  himself--each     
individual object being only a case1    
externalised as it  were1 and made a    
matter of consciousness1 of the general 
relation to  each other of his own      
sensations and feelings4 ,knowing all   
his--,i  say--he sees that the          
understanding of ,nature in general and 
of the laws  or relations which he      
thinks he perceives among external      
things must  always depend on the       
relations and laws which he tacitly     
assumes1 or  which he is directly       
conscious of1 as existing between the   
various parts  of his own being2 and    
that the ultimate truth which           
,science--the divine  ,science--is      
really in search of is a moral or       
psychologic ,truth--an  understanding of
 what man is1 and the discovery of the  
true relation to  each other of all his 
faculties--involving all experience1 and

 an  exercise of every faculty physical1
 intellectual1 emotional and  spiritual1
 instead of one set of faculties only4  
,not till we know the law of ourselves1 
in fact1 shall we know the law of  the  
emerald and the orange1 or of ,nature   
generally2 and the law of  ourselves is 
not learnt1 except subordinately1 by    
intellectual  investigation2 it is      
mainly learnt by life4 ,the relation of 
gravity to  vitality is learnt not so   
much by outer experiment in a laboratory
 as by  long experience within ourselves
 from the day when as infants we cannot 
lift ourselves above the floor1 through 
the years of the proud strength  of     
manhood scaling the loftiest mountains1 
to the hour when our  disengaged spirits
 finally overcome and pass beyond the   
attraction of  the earth2 and just as   
the sense of weight--which first appears
 as a  quite external sensation--is thus
 at last found to stand in most         
pregnant relation with our deepest      
selves1 so of the other senses which    

feed the individual life--the senses of 
light1 of warmth1 of taste1 of  sound1  
of smell4 ,taste1 which begins as it    
were on the tip of the  tongue1 becomes 
ultimately1 if normally developed1 a    
sense which  identifies itself with the 
health and well-being of the whole body2
 the  pleasure of taste becomes vastly  
more than a mere surface pleasure1 and  
its discrimination of food more than a  
mere regard for the nutrition of  the   
ordinary corporeal functions4 ,the sense
 of ,light1 which begins in  the        
material eye1 grows and deepens inwardly
 till the consciousness of  it pervades 
the whole body and mind with a kind of  
inward illumination  or divine ,reason1 
showing the places of all things and    
enfolding the  sense of beauty in       
itself4 ,the sense of ,warmth in the    
same manner is  related to and leads up 
to ,love2 and ,sound1 in the voices of  
our friends  or the divine chords of    
music1 has passed away from being an    
external  phenomenon and has established

 itself as the language of our most     
tender  and intimate emotions4    ,all  
the senses thus1 as they develop and    
deepen1 are found to unite in  the very 
focus of individual life4 ,slowly1 and  
through long experience1  their relation
 to each other1 their very meaning      
unfolds1 or will  unfold2 and as this   
process takes place the man knows       
himself one1 a  unity1 of which the     
various faculties are the different     
manifestations4  ,then further through  
his less localised feelings or more     
glorified  senses the individual finds  
his relation to other individuals4      
,through  his loves and hatreds1 through
 his senses of attraction1 repulsion1   
cohesion1 solidarity1 order1 justice1   
charity1 right1 wrong and the           
rest--these feelings1 each like the     
others deepening back more and more  as 
time goes on--he gradually discovers his
 true and abiding  relationship to other
 individuals1 and to the divine society 
of which  they all form a part--and so  

at last1 if we may venture to say so1   
his  relationship to the absolute and   
universal4 ,at present1 since our most  
important relation to each other is     
conceived of as one of rivalry and      
,competition1 we of course think of the 
objects of ,nature as being  chiefly    
engaged in a ,struggle for ,existence   
with each other2 but when we  become    
aware of all our senses and feelings1   
and of ourselves as  individuals1 as    
having relation to the ,absolute and    
universal1  proceeding from it1 as the  
branches and twigs of a tree from the   
trunk--then we shall become aware of a  
,divine or absolute science in  ,nature2
 we shall at last understand that all   
objects have a permanent  and           
indissoluble relation to each other1 and
 shall see their true  meaning--though  
not till then4    ,is it possible then  
that ,science1 having hitherto--and we  
shall see in  time that this process has
 been really most valuable and          
important--gone  outwards from the      

centre towards the very fringe of       
,humanity--emptying  facts as far as    
possible as it went of all feeling1 and 
reducing itself  at last to the most    
shadowy generalisations on the very     
verge of sense  and nonsense--is it     
possible1 ,i say1 that it will now      
return1 and  first filling up facts with
 feeling as far as practicable 7that is1
 by  direct and the most living contact 
with ,nature in every form1 learning  to
 enter into direct personal             
sense-relationship with every phenomenon
  and phase71 will so gradually ascend  
to the great central fact and  feeling1 
and then at last and for the first time 
become fully conscious  of a vast       
organisation--absolutely perfect and    
intimately knit from its  centre to its 
utmost circumference--7the true cosmos  
of ,man--the  conceptions of man and god
 combined7--existing inchoate or        
embryonic in  every individual man1     
animal1 plant1 or other creature--the   
object of  all life1 experience1        

suffering1 and toil--the ground of all  
sensation1  and the hidden1 yet proper1 
theme of all thought and study8    ,for 
this is it possible that ,science will1 
speaking broadly1 have to  leave the    
laboratory and become one with ,life2 or
 that the great  currents of human life 
will have to be turned on into these    
often ,augean  stables of intellectual  
pruriency8--the investigation of ,nature
 no  longer a matter of the intellect   
alone1 but of patient listening and the 
quiet eye1 and of love and faith1 and of
 all deep human experience1  bearing not
 superciliously its weight towards the  
interpretation of the  least            
phenomenon--every fact thus deepened to 
its utmost--all  experience 7rather than
 experiment7 courted1 and filial walking
 with  ,nature1 rather than tearing of  
veils aside--the life of the open air1  
and on the land and the waters1 the     
companionship of the animals and the    
trees and the stars1 the knowledge of   
their habits at first hand and  through 

individual relationship to them1 the    
recognition of their voices  and        
languages1 and listening well what they 
themselves have to say2 the  keenest    
education of the senses towards the     
physical powers and  elements1 and the  
acceptance of all human experience1     
without  exception--till ,science become
 a reality4    ,is it possible that in  
some sense1 instead of reducing each    
branch of  ,science to its lowest terms1
 we shall have to read it in the light  
of  its highest factors1 and take it up 
into the ,science above--that we  shall 
have to take up the mechanical sciences 
into the physical1 the  physical into   
the vital1 the vital into the social and
 ethical1 and so  forth1 before we can  
understand them8 ,is it possible that   
the phenomena  of ,chemistry only find  
their due place and importance in their 
relation  to living beings and          
processes2 that the phenomena of        
vitality and the  laws of ,biology and  
,zoology--,evolution included--can only 

be explained  by their dependence on    
self-hood--both in plants and animals2  
that  ,political ,economy and the       
,social ,sciences 7which deal with men  
as  individual selves7 must1 to be      
understood aright1 be studied in the    
light of those great ethical principles 
and enthusiasms1 which to a  certain    
extent override the individual self2 and
 that1 finally1 ,ethics  or the study of
 moral problems is only comprehensible  
when the student  has become aware of a 
region beyond ,ethics1 into which       
questions of  morality and immorality1  
of right and wrong1 do not and cannot   
enter8    ,of this reversal of the      
ordinary scientific method ,ruskin has  
given a  great and signal instance in   
his treatment of ,political ,economy2 it
  remains1 perhaps1 for others to follow
 his example in the other branches  of  
,science4#ca    ,with regard to the     
absolute datum question we have seen    
that ,science  has two alternatives     
before it--either to be merely          

intellectual and to  seek for its       
start-point in some quite external 7and 
imaginary7 thing  like the ,atom1 or to 
be divine and to seek for its absolute  
in the  innermost recesses of humanity4 
,we have two similar alternatives in the
  doctrine of ,evolution1 which looks   
either to one end of the scale or the   
other for its interpretation--either to 
the amoeba or to the man--to  something 
it knows next to nothing of1 or to that 
which it knows most  of4 ,goethe1 when  
gazing at a fan-palm at ,padua1         
conceived the idea of                   
leaf-metamorphosis1 which he afterwards 
enunciated in the now accepted  doctrine
 that all parts of a plant--seed-vessel1
 pistil1 stamens1  petals1 sepals1      
stalk1 etc4--may be regarded as         
modifications of a leaf  or leaves4 ,in 
this view the distinctions between the  
parts are effaced1  and we have only one
 part instead of many--but the question 
is what is  that part8 ,it is of course 
arbitrary to call it a leaf1 for since  

it is  continually varying it is at one 
time a leaf1 and at another a stalk1    
and then a petal or a sepal1 and so     
forth4 ,what then is it8 ,for the       
moment we are baffled4    ,so with the  
doctrine of ,evolution as applied to the
 whole organic  kingdom up to man4 ,like
 the doctrine of leaf-metamorphosis it  
obliterates distinctions4 ,geoffroy ,st4
 ,hilaire proposed to show the  ,french 
,academy that a ,cephalopod could be    
assimilated to a ,vertebrate by         
supposing the latter bent backwards and 
walking on its hands and feet4  ,there  
is a continuous variation from the      
mollusc to the man--all the  lines of   
distinction run and waver--classes and  
species cease to  exist--and ,science1  
instead of many1 sees only one thing4   
,what then is  that one thing8 ,is it a 
mollusc1 or is it a man1 or what is it8 
,are we  to say that man may be looked  
upon as a variation of a mollusc or an  
amoeba1 or that the amoeba may be looked
 on as a variation of man8 ,here  are   

two directions of thought2 which shall  
we choose8 ,but the plain  truth is1 the
 ,intellect can give no satisfactory    
answer4 ,whichever1 or  whatever1 it    
chooses1 the choice is quite            
arbitrary--just as much so as  the      
choice of the leaf in the other case4   
,there is no answer to be  given4 ,and  
thus it is that the appearance of the   
doctrine of ,evolution  is the signal of
 the destruction of ,science 7in the    
ordinary  acceptation of the word74 ,for
 ,evolution is the successive           
obliteration  of the arbitrary          
distinctions and landmarks which by     
their existence  constitute ,science1   
and as soon as ,evolution covers the    
whole ground  of ,nature inorganic and  
organic 7as before long it will do7--the
 whole  of ,nature runs and wavers      
before the eye of ,science1 the latter  
recognises that its distinctions are    
arbitrary1 and turns upon and  destroys 
itself4 ,this has happened before1 ,i   
believe--ages back in the  history of   

the human race--and probably will happen
 again4    ,the only conceivable answer 
to the question1 ,what is that which is 
now  a mollusc and now a man and now an 
inorganic atom8#cb is given by man      
himself--and his answer is1 ,i fear1 not
 scientific4 ,it is ,i ,am4 ,i  am that 
which varies4 ,and the force of his     
answer depends on what he  means by the 
word ,i4 ,and so also the only          
conceivable answer to the  absolute     
datum question is to be found in the    
meaning of the word  ,i--in the         
deepening back of consciousness itself4 
,man is the measure  of all things4 ,if 
we are to use ,science as a minister to 
the most  external part of man--to      
provide him with cheap boots and shoes1 
etc4--then we do right to seek our      
absolute datum in his external part1    
and to take his foot as our first       
measure4 ,we found a science on feet    
and pounds1 and it serves its purpose   
well enough4 ,but if we want to  find a 
garment for his inner being--or1 rather1

 one that shall fit the  whole man--to  
wear which will be a delight to him and1
 as it were1 a  very interpretation of  
himself--it seems obvious that we must  
not take  our measure from outside1 but 
from his very most central principle4   
,the  whole question is1 whether there  
is any absolute datum in this  direction
 or not4 ,there have been men through   
all ages of history 7and  from before7  
who have declared that there is4 ,they  
have perhaps been  conscious of it in   
themselves4 ,on the other hand there    
have been men  who1 starting from their 
feet1 declared that consciousness itself
 was a  mere incident of the human      
machine--as the whistle of the          
engine--and  thus the matter stands4 ,on
 the whole1 at the present day1 the feet
  have it1 and 7notwithstanding their   
variety in size and boot-induced        
conformation7 are generally accepted as 
the best absolute datum  available4     
,under the foot rgime the universe is   
generally conceived of as a  medley of  

objects and forces1 more or less orderly
 and distinct from  man1 in the midst of
 which man is placed--the purpose and   
tendency of  his life being adaptation  
to his environment4 ,to understand this 
we  may imagine ,mrs4 ,brown in the     
middle of ,oxford ,street4 ',buses and  
cabs  are running in different          
directions1 carts and drays are rattling
 on all  sides of her4 ,this is her     
environment1 and she has to adapt       
herself to  it4 ,she has to learn the   
laws of the vehicles and their          
movements1 to  stand on this side or on 
that1 to run here and stop there1       
conceivably  to jump into one at a      
favourable moment1 to make use of the   
law of its  movement1 and so get carried
 to her destination as comfortably as   
may  be4 ,a long course of this sort of 
thing adapts ,mrs4 ,brown  considerably1
 and she becomes more active1 both in   
mind and body1 than  before4 ,that is   
all very well4 ,but ,mrs4 ,brown has a  
destination4  7,indeed how would she    

ever have got into the middle of ,oxford
 ,street at  all1 if she had not had    
one8 and if she did get there with no   
destination at all1 but merely to skip  
about1 would there be any ,mrs4  ,brown 
left in a short time87 ,the question is1
 ,what is the destination  of ,man8     
,about this last question unfortunately 
we hear little4 ,the theory is 7,i  hope
 ,i am not doing it injustice7 that by  
studying your environment  sufficiently 
you will find out--that is1 that by     
investigating  ,astronomy1 ,biology1    
,physics1 ,ethics1 etc41 you will       
discover the destiny  of man4 ,but this 
seems to me the same as saying that by  
studying the  laws of cabs and 'buses   
sufficiently you will find out where you
 are  going to4 ,these are ways and     
means4 ,study them by all means1 that is
  right enough2 but do not think they   
will tell you where to go4 ,you  have to
 use them1 not they you4    ,in order   
therefore for the environment to act1   
there must be a  destination4 ,this ,i  

suppose is expressed in the biological  
dictum1  organism is made by function as
 well as environment4 ,what then is the 
function of ,man8 ,and here we come back
 again to the meaning of the word  ,i4  
,nothwithstanding then the prevalence of
 the foot rgime1 and that the  heathen  
so furiously rage together in their     
belief in it1 let us suggest  that there
 is in man a divine consciousness as    
well as a  foot-consciousness4 ,for1 as 
we saw that the sense of taste may pass 
from  being a mere local thing on the   
tip of the tongue to pervading and      
becoming synonymous with the health of  
the whole body2 or as the blue of  the  
sky may be to one person a mere         
superficial impression of colour1  and  
to another the inspiration of a poem or 
picture1 and to a third--as  to the     
god-intoxicated ,arab of the desert--a  
living presence like the  ancient ,dyaus
 or ,zeus2 so may not the whole of human
 consciousness  gradually lift itself   
from a mere local and temporary         

consciousness to a  divine and          
universal8 ,there is in every man a     
local consciousness  connected with his 
quite external body2 that we know4 ,are 
there not also  in every man the makings
 of a universal consciousness8 ,that    
there are in  us phases of consciousness
 which transcend the limit of the bodily
  senses1 is a matter of daily          
experience2 that we perceive and know   
things which are not conveyed to us by  
our bodily eyes or heard by our  bodily 
ears1 is certain2 that there rise in us 
waves of consciousness  from those      
around us1 from the people1 the race1 to
 which we belong1 is  also certain2 may 
there not then be in us the makings of a
 perception  and knowledge which shall  
not be relative to this body which is   
here and  now1 but which shall be good  
for all time and everywhere8 ,does there
 not  exist1 in truth1 as we have       
already hinted--an inner                
,illumination--of  which what we call   
light in the outer world is the partial 

expression  and manifestation--by which 
we can ultimately see things1 as they   
are1  beholding all creation1 the       
animals1 the angels1 the plants1 the    
figures  of our friends and all the     
ranks and races of human kind1 in their 
true  being and order--not by any local 
act of perception but by a cosmical     
intuition and presence1 identifying     
ourselves with what we see8 ,does  there
 not exist a perfected sense of         
,hearing--as of the morning-stars       
singing together--an understanding of   
the words that are spoken all  through  
the universe1 the hidden meaning of all 
things1 the word which  is creation     
itself--a profound and far pervading    
sense1 of which our  ordinary sense of  
sound is only the first novitiate and   
initiation8 ,do  we not become aware of 
an inner sense of ,health and of        
,holiness--the  translation and final   
outcome of the external sense of        
taste--which has  power to determine for
 us absolutely and without any ado1     

without  argument and without denial1   
what is good and appropriate to be done 
or  suffered in every case that can     
arise8    ,and so on2 it is not         
necessary to say more4 ,if there are    
such powers in  man1 then there is      
indeed an exact science possible4 ,short
 of it there  is only a temporary and   
phantom science4 ,whatever is known to  
us by  7direct7 consciousness1 says     
,stuart ,mill in his ,system of ,logic1 
is  known to us beyond possibility of   
question2 what is known by our local    
and temporary consciousness is known for
 the moment beyond possibility  of      
question2 what is known by our permanent
 and universal consciousness  is        
permanently known beyond possibility of 
question4#cc    ,,footnotes3    #ca     
,thus the study of ,geometry would be   
primarily an education of the  eye1 and 
the mind's eye1 to the perception of    
geometrical forms and  facts1 the       
judgment of angles1 etc4--and           
secondarily only a process of  deductive

 reasoning--a body of empirical         
knowledge strengthened and tied         
together by bands of logic2 the study of
 ,natural ,history would be  primarily  
an affectionate intimacy with the habits
 of animals and  plants1 and            
classification would be treated as a    
secondary matter and as  a help to the  
former2 ,physiology would be studied in 
the first place by  the method of       
,health--the pure body--becoming        
gradually transparent with  all its     
organs to the eye of the mind--and      
dissection would be used to  corroborate
 and correct the results thus attained2 
and so on4    #cb ,compare the          
,sphinx-riddle3 ,what is that which goes
 on four legs1  etc4    #cc ,see for    
continuation of this subject the chapter
 on ,a ,rational and  ,humane ,science1 
p4 #bai infra4          ,,defence ,,of  
,,criminals3    ,a ,,criticism ,,of     
,,morality    ,the ,state is the        
actually existing realised moral life4  
,for it is the  unity of the universal  

essential ,will with that of the        
individual1 and  this is                
,morality4--,,hegel4      ,a criminal is
 literally a person accused--accused1   
and in the modern  sense of the word    
convicted1 of being harmful to ,society4
 ,but is he  there in the dock1 the     
patch-coated brawler or burglar1 really 
harmful  to ,society8 is he more harmful
 than the mild old gentleman in the wig 
who pronounces sentence upon him8 ,that 
is the question4 ,certainly he has      
infringed the law3 and the law is in a  
sense the consolidated public  opinion  
of ,society3 but if no one were to break
 the law1 public opinion  would ossify1 
and ,society would die4 ,as a matter of 
fact ,society keeps  changing its       
opinion4 ,how then are we to know when  
it is right and when  it is wrong8 ,the 
,outcast of one age is the ,hero of     
another4 ,in  execration they nailed    
,roger ,bacon's manuscripts out in the  
sun and  rain1 to rot crucified upon    
planks--his bones lie in an unknown and 

unhonoured grave--yet to-day he is      
regarded as a pioneer of human  thought4
 ,the hated ,christian holding his      
ill-famed love-feasts in the  darkness  
of the catacombs has climbed up to the  
throne of ,s4 ,peter and  the world4    
,the ,jew moneylender whom              
,front-de-,boeuf could torture with     
impunity is become a ,rothschild--guest 
of princes and instigator of  commercial
 wars2 and ,shylock is now a highly     
respectable ,railway  ,bondholder4 ,and 
the ,accepted of one age is the         
,criminal of the next4 ,all  the glories
 of ,alexander do not condone in our    
eyes for his cruelty in  crucifying the 
brave defenders of ,tyre by thousands   
along the sea-shore2  and if ,solomon   
with his thousand wives and concubines  
were to appear in  ,london to-morrow1   
even our most frivolous circles would be
 shocked1 and  ,brigham ,young by       
contrast seem a domestic model4 ,the    
judge pronounces  sentence on the       
prisoner now1 but ,society in its turn  

and in the lapse  of years pronounces   
sentence on the judge4 ,it holds in its 
hand a new  canon1 a new code of morals1
 and consigns its former representative 
and  the law which he administered to a 
limbo of contempt4    ,it seems as if   
,society1 as it progresses from point to
 point1 forms  ideals--just as the      
individual does4 ,at any moment each    
person1  consciously or unconsciously1  
has an ideal in his mind toward which he
  is working 7hence the importance of   
literature74 ,similarly ,society has  an
 ideal in its mind4 ,these ideals are   
tangents or vanishing points of  the    
direction in which ,society is moving at
 the time4 ,it does not reach  its      
ideal1 but it goes in that              
direction--then1 after a time1 the      
direction of its movement changes1 and  
it has a new ideal4    ,when the ideal  
of ,society is material gain or         
possession1 as it is  largely to-day1   
the object of its special condemnation  
is the thief--not  the rich thief1 for  

he is already in possession and         
therefore  respectable1 but the poor    
thief4 ,there is nothing to show that   
the poor  thief is really more immoral  
or unsocial than the respectable        
money-grubber2 but it is very clear that
 the money-grubber has been  floating   
with the great current of ,society1     
while the poor man has been  swimming   
against it1 and so has been worsted4 ,or
 when1 as to-day1  ,society rests on    
private property in land1 its           
counter-ideal is the  poacher4 ,if you  
go in the company of the county         
squire-archy and listen  to the         
after-dinner talk you will soon think   
the poacher a combination  of all human 
and diabolic vices2 yet ,i have known a 
good many poachers1  and either have    
been very lucky in my specimens or      
singularly prejudiced  in their favour1 
for ,i have generally found them very   
good fellows--but  with just this one   
blemish that they invariably regard a   
landlord as an  emissary of the evil    

one6 ,the poacher is as much in the     
right1 probably1  as the landlord1 but  
he is not right for the time4 ,he is    
asserting a  right 7and an instinct7    
belonging to a past time--when for      
hunting  purposes all land was held in  
common--or to a time in the future when 
such or similar rights shall be         
restored4 ,csar says of the ,suevi that 
they tilled the ground in common and had
 no private lands1 and there is         
abundant evidence that all early human  
communities1 before they entered  on the
 stage of modern civilisation1 were     
communistic in character4 ,some  of the 
,pacific ,islanders to-day are in the   
same condition4 ,in those  times private
 property was theft4 ,obviously the man 
who attempted to  retain for himself    
land or goods1 or who fenced off a      
portion of the  common ground and--like 
the modern landlord--would allow no one 
to till  it who did not pay him a       
tax--was a criminal of the deepest dye4 
,nevertheless the criminals pushed their

 way to the front1 and have  become the 
respectables of modern ,society4 ,and it
 is quite probable that  in like manner 
the criminals of to-day will push to the
 front and become  the respectables of a
 later age4    ,the ascetic and monastic
 ideal of early ,christian and medival  
ages is  now regarded as foolish1 if not
 wicked2 and poverty1 which in many     
times  and places has been held in      
honour as the only garb of honesty1 is  
condemned as criminal and indecent4     
,nomadism--if accompanied by            
poverty--is criminal in modern ,society4
 ,to-day the gipsy and the tramp  are   
hunted down4 ,to have no settled        
habitation1 or worse still1 no place  to
 lay your head1 are suspicious matters4 
,we close even our outhouses  and barns 
against the son of man1 and so to us the
 son of man comes not4  ,and yet--at one
 time and in one stage of human         
progress--the nomadic  state is the     
rule2 and the settler is then the       
criminal4 ,his crops are  fired and his 

cattle driven off4 ,what right has he to
 lay a limit to the  hunting grounds1 or
 to spoil the wild free life of the     
plains with his  dirty agriculture8     
,as to the marriage relation and its    
attendant moralities1 the forms are     
numerous and notorious enough4 ,public  
opinion seems to have varied  through   
all phases and ideals1 and yet there is 
no indication of  finality4 ,modern     
investigations show that in primitive   
human societies  the affinities admitted
 or barred in marriage are most         
various--the  relation of brother and   
sister being even in cases allowed2 in  
the  present day such a bond as the     
last-mentioned would be considered      
inhuman and monstrous4#cd ,polyandry    
prevails among one people or at one     
time1 polygyny prevails among another   
people or at another time4 ,in  ,central
 ,africa to-day the chief offers you his
 wife as a mark of  hospitality1 in     
,india the native ,prince keeps her     
hidden even from his  most intimate     

guest4 ,among the ,japanese1 public     
opinion holds young  women--even of good
 birth--singularly free in their        
intercourse with  men1 till they are    
married2 at ,paris they are free after4 
,in the ,greek  and ,roman antiquity    
marriage seems1 with some brilliant     
exceptions1 to  have been a prosaic     
affair--mostly a matter of convenience  
and  housekeeping--the woman an         
underling--little of the ideal attaching
 to  the relationship of man and wife4  
,the romance of love went elsewhere4    
,the better class of free women or      
,hetairai were those who gave a         
spiritual charm to the passion4 ,they   
were an educated and recognised  body1  
and possibly in their best times        
exercised a healthy and  discriminating 
influence upon the male youth4 ,the     
respectful treatment  of ,theodota by   
,socrates and the advice which he gives 
her concerning her  lovers3 to keep the 
insolent from her door1 and to rejoice  
greatly when  the accepted succeed in   

anything honourable1 indicates this4    
,that their  influence was at times     
immense the mere name of ,aspasia is    
sufficient to  show2 and if ,plato in   
the ,symposium reports correctly the    
word of  ,diotima1 her teaching on the  
subject of human and divine love was    
probably of the noblest and profoundest 
that has ever been given to the  world4 
,with the influx of the ,north-men over 
,europe came a new ideal of the  sexual 
relation1 and the wife mounted more into
 equality with her  husband than before4
 ,the romance of love1 however1 still   
went mainly  outside marriage1 and may1 
,i believe1 be traced in two chief      
forms--that  of ,chivalry1 as an ideal  
devotion to simple ,womanhood2 and that 
of  ,minstrelsy1 which took quite a     
different hue1 individual and           
sentimental--the lover and his mistress 
7she in most cases the wife of          
another71 the serenade1 secret amour1   
etc4--both of which forms of  ,chivalry 
and ,minstrelsy contain in themselves   

something new and not  quite familiar to
 antiquity4    ,finally in modern times 
the monogamic union has risen to        
pre-eminence--the splendid ideal of an  
equal and life-long attachment  between 
man and wife1 fruitful of children in   
this life1 and hopeful of  continuance  
beyond--and has become the great theme  
of romantic  literature1 and the climax 
of a thousand novels and poems4 ,yet it 
is  just here and to-day1 when this     
ideal after centuries of struggle has   
established itself1 and among the       
nations that are in the van of          
civilisation--that we find the doctrine 
of perfect liberty in the  marriage     
relationship being most successfully    
preached1 and that the  communalisation 
of social life in the future seems      
likely to weaken the  family bond and to
 relax the obligation of the marriage   
tie4    ,if the ,greek age1 splendid as 
it was in itself and in its fruits of   
human progress1 did not hold marriage   
very high1 it was partly because  the   

ideal passion of that period1 and one   
which more than all else  inspired it1  
was that of comradeship1 or male        
friendship carried over  into the region
 of love4 ,the two figures of ,harmodius
 and ,aristogiton  stand at the entrance
 of ,greek history as the type of this  
passion1  bearing its fruit 7as ,plato  
throughout maintains is its nature7 in  
united self-devotion to the country's   
good4 ,the heroic ,theban legion1  the  
sacred band1 into which no man might    
enter without his lover--and  which was 
said to have remained unvanquished till 
it was annihilated at  the battle of    
,chrona--proves to us how publicly this 
passion and its  place in society were  
recognised2 while its universality and  
the depth  to which it had stirred the  
,greek mind are indicated by the fact   
that  whole treatises on love1 in its   
spiritual aspect1 exist1 in which no    
other form of the sentiment seems to be 
contemplated2 and by the  magnificent   
panorama of ,greek statuary1 which was  

obviously to a large  extent inspired by
 it4 ,in fact the most remarkable       
,society known to  history1 and its     
greatest men1 cannot be properly        
considered or  understood apart from    
this passion2 yet the modern world      
scarcely  recognises it1 or if it       
recognises1 does so chiefly to condemn  
it4#ce    ,other instances might be     
quoted to show how differently moral    
questions  are regarded in one age and  
another--as in the cases of ,usury1     
,magic1  ,suicide1 ,infanticide1 etc4   
,on the whole we pride ourselves 7and   
justly ,i  believe7 on the general      
advance in humanity2 yet we know that   
to-day the  merest savages can only     
shudder at a civilisation whose public  
opinion  allows--as among us--the rich  
to wallow in their wealth1 while the    
poor  are systematically starving2 and  
it is certain that the vivisection of   
animals--which on the whole is approved 
by our educated classes 7though  not by 
the healthier sentiment of the          

uneducated7--would have been            
stigmatised as one of the most          
abominable crimes by the ancient        
,egyptians#cf--;if1 that is1 they could 
have conceived such a practice  possible
 at all4    ,but not only do the moral  
judgments of mankind thus vary from age 
to age  and from race to race1 but--what
 is equally remarkable--they vary to an 
extraordinary degree from class to class
 of the same society4 ,if the  landlord 
class regards the poacher as a criminal1
 the poacher1 as  already hinted1 looks 
upon the landlord as a selfish ruffian  
who has the  police on his side2 if the 
respectable shareholder1 politely and   
respectably subsisting on dividends1    
dismisses navvies and the  frequenters  
of public-houses as disorderly persons1 
the navvy in return  despises the       
shareholder as a sneaking thief4 ,and it
 is not easy to see1  after all1 which  
is in the right4 ,it is useless to      
dismiss these  discrepancies by         
supposing that one class in the nation  

possesses a  monopoly of morality and   
that the other classes simply rail at   
the  virtue they cannot attain to1 for  
this is obviously not the case4 ,it is  
almost a commonplace1 and certainly a   
fact that cannot be contested1  that    
every class--however sinful or outcast  
in the eyes of  others--contains within 
its ranks a large proportion of         
generous1  noble1 self-sacrificing      
characters2 so that the public opinion  
of one  such class1 however different   
from that of others1 cannot at least be 
invalidated on the above ground4 ,there 
are plenty of clergymen at this  moment 
who are models of pastors--true         
shepherds of the people--though a  large
 and increasing section of society      
persist in regarding priests as  a kind 
of wolves in sheep's clothing4 ,it is   
not uncommon to meet with  professional 
thieves who are generous and open-handed
 to the last  degree1 and ready to part 
with their last penny to help a comrade 
in  distress2 with women living outside 

the bounds of conventional morality  who
 are strongly religious in sentiment1   
and who regard atheists as  really      
wicked people2 with aristocrats who have
 as stern material in  them as          
quarry-men2 and even with bondholders   
and drawing-room loungers  who are as   
capable of bravery and self-sacrifice as
 many a pitman or  ironworker4 ,yet all 
these classes mentioned have their codes
 of  morality1 differing in greater or  
lesser degree from each other2 and      
again the question forces itself upon   
us3 ,which of them all is the true  and 
abiding code8    ,it may be said1 with  
regard to this variation of codes within
 the same  society1 that1 though various
 codes may exist at the same time1 one  
only  is really valid1 namely1 that     
which has embodied itself in the        
law--that  the others have been rejected
 because they were unworthy4 ,but1 when 
we  come to look into this matter of    
law1 we see that the plea can hardly be 
maintained4 ,law represents from age to 

age the code of the dominant or  ruling 
class1 slowly accumulated1 no doubt1 and
 slowly modified1 but  always added to  
and always administered by the ruling   
class4 ,to-day the  code of the dominant
 class may perhaps best be denoted by   
the word  ,respectability--and if we ask
 why this code has to a great extent    
overwhelmed the codes of the other      
classes and got the law on its side  7so
 far that in the main it characterises  
those classes who do not  conform to it 
as the criminal classes71 the answer can
 only be3 ,because  it is the code of   
the classes who are in power4           
,respectability is the  code of those   
who have the wealth and the command1 and
 as these have  also the fluent pens and
 tongues1 it is the standard of modern  
literature and the press4 ,it is not    
necessarily a better standard than      
others1 but it is the one that happens  
to be in the ascendant2 it is the  code 
of the classes that chiefly represent   
modern society2 it is the  code of the  

,bourgeoisie4 ,it is different from the 
,feudal code of the  past1 of the       
knightly classes1 and of ,chivalry2 it  
is different from the  ,democratic code 
of the future--of brotherhood and of    
equality2 it is the  code of the        
,commercial age--and its distinctive    
watchword is property4    ,the          
respectability of to-day is the         
respectability of property4 ,there is   
nothing so respectable as being         
well-off4 ,the ,law confirms this3      
everything is on the side of the rich2  
justice is too expensive a thing  for   
the poor man4 ,offences against the     
person hardly count for so much  as     
those against property4 ,you may beat   
your wife within an inch of her  life   
and only get three months2 but if you   
steal a rabbit1 you may be  sent for    
years4 ,so again1 gambling by thousands 
on ,change is  respectable enough1 but  
pitch and toss for half-pence in the    
streets is  low1 and must be dealt with 
by the police2 while it is a mere       

commonplace to say that the high-class  
swindler is received in society  from   
which a more honest but patch-coated    
brother would infallibly be  rejected4  
,as ,walt ,whitman has it1 ,there is    
plenty of glamour about the  most       
damnable crimes and hoggish meannesses1 
special and general1 of the  feudal and 
dynastic world over there1 with its     
personnel of lords and  queens and      
courts1 so well-dressed and handsome4   
,but the people are  ungrammatical1     
untidy1 and their sins gaunt and        
ill-bred4    ,thus we see that though   
there are1 for instance in the ,england 
of  to-day1 a variety of classes and a  
variety of corresponding codes of       
public opinion and morality1 one of     
these codes1 namely that of the  ruling 
class whose watchword is property1 is   
strongly in the ascendant4  ,and we may 
fairly suppose that in any nation from  
the time when it first  becomes divided 
into well-marked classes this is or has 
been the case4  ,in one age--the        

commercial age--the code of the         
commercial or  money-loving class is    
dominant2 in another--the military--the 
code of  the warrior class is dominant2 
in another--the religious--the code of  
the priestly class2 and so on4 ,and even
 before any question of division  into  
classes arises1 while races are yet in a
 rudimentary and tribal  state1 the     
utmost diversity of custom and public   
opinion marks the one  from the other4  
,what1 then1 are we to conclude from all
 these variations 7and the far  greater 
number which ,i have not mentioned7 of  
the respect or stigma  attaching to the 
same actions1 not only among different  
societies in  different ages or parts of
 the world1 but even at any one time    
among  different classes of the same    
society8 ,must we conclude that there is
 no  such thing as a permanent moral    
code valid for all time2 or must we     
still suppose that there is such a      
thing--though society has hitherto      
sought for it in vain8    ,i think it is

 obvious that there is no such thing as 
a permanent moral  code--at any rate as 
applying to actions4 ,probably the      
respect or  stigma attaching to         
particular classes of actions arose from
 the fact  that these classes of actions
 were--or were thought to be--beneficial
 or  injurious to the society of the    
time2 but it is also clear that this    
good or bad name once created clings to 
the action long after the action  has   
ceased in the course of social progress 
to be beneficial in the one  case1 or   
injurious in the other2 and indeed long 
after the thinkers of  the race have    
discovered the discrepancy4 ,and so in a
 short time arises  a great confusion in
 the popular mind between what is really
 good or  evil for the race and what is 
reputed to be so--the bolder spirits who
  try to separate the two having to     
atone for this confusion by their own   
martyrdom4 ,it is also pretty clear that
 the actions which are beneficial  or   
injurious to the race must by the nature

 of the case vary almost  indefinitely  
with the changing conditions of the life
 of the race--what  is beneficial in one
 age or under one set of conditions     
being injurious  in another age or under
 other circumstances--so that a         
permanent or  ever-valid code of moral  
action is not a thing to be expected1 at
 any  rate by those who regard morality 
as a result of social experience1 and   
as a matter of fact is not a thing that 
we find existing4 ,and1 indeed1  of     
those who regard morals as intuitive1   
there are few who have thought  about   
the matter who would be inclined to say 
that any act in itself  can be either   
right or wrong4 ,though there is a      
superficial judgment of  this kind1 yet 
when the matter comes to be looked into1
 the more general  consent seems to be  
that the rightness or wrongness is in   
the motive4  ,to kill 7it is said7 is   
not wrong1 but to do so with murderous  
intent  is2 to take money out of another
 person's purse is in itself neither    

moral nor immoral--all depends upon     
whether permission has been given1  or  
on what the relations between the two   
persons are2 and so on4  ,obviously     
there is no mere act which under given  
conditions may not be  justified1 and   
equally obvious there is no mere act    
which under given  conditions may not   
become unjustifiable4 ,to talk1         
therefore1 about  virtues and vices as  
permanent and distinct classes of       
actions is  illusory3 there is no such  
distinction1 except so far as a         
superficial  and transient public       
opinion creates it4 ,the theatre of     
morality is in  the passions1 and there 
are 7it is said7 virtuous and vicious   
passions--eternally distinct from each  
other4    ,here1 then1 we have abandoned
 the search for a permanent moral code  
among the actions2 on the understanding 
that we are more likely to find  such a 
thing among the passions4 ,and ,i think 
it would be generally  admitted that    
this is a move in the right direction4  

,there are  difficulties however here1  
and the matter is not one which renders 
itself up at once4 ,though1 vaguely     
speaking1 some passions seem nobler  and
 more dignified than others1 we find it 
very difficult1 in fact  impossible1 to 
draw any strict line which shall        
separate one class1 the  virtuous1 from 
the other class1 the vicious4 ,on the   
whole we place  ,prudence1 ,generosity1 
,chastity1 ,reverence1 ,courage among   
the  virtues--and their opposites1 as   
,rashness1 ,miserliness1 ,incontinence1 
,arrogance1 ,timidity1 among the vices2 
yet we do not seem able to say  that    
,prudence is always better than         
,rashness1 ,chastity than               
,incontinence1 or ,reverence than       
,arrogance4 ,there are situations in    
which  the less honoured quality is the 
most in place2 and if the extreme of    
this is undesirable1 the extreme of its 
opposite is undesirable too4  ,courage1 
it is commonly said1 must not be carried
 over into  foolhardiness2 ,chastity    

must not go so far as the monks of the  
early  ,church took it2 there is a limit
 to the indulgence of the instinct of   
,reverence4 ,in fact the less dignified 
passions are necessary sometimes  as a  
counterbalance and set-off to the more  
dignified1 and a character  devoid of   
them would be very insipid2 just as     
among the members of the  body1 the less
 honoured have their place as well as   
the more honoured1  and could not well  
be discarded4    ,hence a number of     
writers1 abandoning the attempt to draw 
a fixed line  between virtuous and      
vicious passions1 have boldly maintained
 that vices  have their place as well as
 virtues1 and that the true salvation   
lies in  the golden mean4 ,the ,greek3  
epieikeia and ,greek3 sphrosun of the   
,greeks seem to have pointed to the idea
 of a blend or harmonious  adjustment of
 all the powers as the perfection of    
character4 ,plutarch  says 7,essay on   
,moral ,virtue71 ,this1 then1 is the    
function of  practical reason following 

nature1 to prevent our passions either  
going  too far or too short4444 ,thus   
setting bound to the emotional currents1
  it creates in the unreasoning part of 
the soul moral habits which are  the    
mean between excess and deficiency4     
,the ,english word gentleman seems to   
have once conveyed a similar idea4  ,and
 ,emerson1 among others1 maintains that 
each vice is only the excess  or        
acridity of a virtue1 and says the first
 lesson of history is the  good of evil4
    ,according to this view rightness or
 wrongness cannot be predicated of  the 
passions themselves1 but should rather  
be applied to the use of  them1 and to  
the way they are proportioned to each   
other and to  circumstances4 ,as1       
farther back1 we left the region of     
actions to look  for morality in the    
passions that lie behind action1 so now 
we leave the  region of the passions to 
look for it in the power that lies      
behind the  passions and gives them     
their place4 ,this is a farther move in 

the same  direction as before1 and      
possibly will bring us to a more        
satisfactory  conclusion4 ,there are    
still difficulties1 however1 the chief  
ones lying  in the want of definiteness 
which necessarily attaches to our       
dealings  with these remoter tracts of  
human nature2 and in our own defective  
knowledge of these tracts4    ,for these
 reasons1 and as the subject is a       
complex and difficult one1 ,i  would ask
 the reader to dwell for a few minutes  
longer on the  considerations which show
 that it is really as impossible to draw
 a  fixed line between moral and immoral
 passions as it is between moral and    
immoral actions1 and which therefore    
force us1 if we are to find any  ground 
of morality at all1 to look for it in   
some further region of our  nature4     
,plato in his allegory of the soul1 in  
the ,phdrus1 though he apparently       
divides the passions which draw the     
human chariot into two classes1 the     
heavenward and the earthward--figured by

 the white horse and the black  horse   
respectively--does not recommend that   
the black horse should be  destroyed or 
dismissed1 but only that he 7as well as 
the white horse7  should be kept under  
due control by the charioteer4 ,by which
 he seems to  intend that there is a    
power in man which stands above and     
behind the  passions1 and under whose   
control alone the human being can safely
  move4 ,in fact1 if the fiercer and    
so-called more earthly passions were    
removed1 half the driving force would be
 gone from the chariot of the  human    
soul4 ,hatred may be devilish at        
times--but1 after all1 the true  value  
of it depends on what you hate1 on the  
use to which the passion is  put4       
,anger1 though inhuman at one time1 is  
magnificent at another4  ,obstinacy may 
be out of place in a drawing-room1 but  
it is the latest  virtue on a           
battle-field1 when an important position
 has to be held  against the full brunt 
of the enemy4 ,and ,lust1 though        

maniacal and  monstrous in its          
aberrations1 cannot in the last resort  
be separated  from its divine companion1
 ,love4 ,to let the more amiable        
passions have  entire sway notoriously  
does not do3 to turn your cheek1 too    
literally1  to the smiter1 is 7pace     
,tolstoi7 only to encourage smiting2 and
 when  society becomes so altruistic    
that everybody runs to fetch the        
coal-scuttle1 we feel sure that         
something has gone wrong4 ,the          
white-washed heroes of our biographies1 
with their many virtues and no  faults1 
do not please us4 ,we have an impression
 that the man without  faults is1 to say
 the least1 a vague1 uninteresting      
being--a picture  without light and     
shade--and the conventional semi-pious  
classification  of character into good  
and bad qualities 7as if the good might 
be kept  and the bad thrown away7 seems 
both inadequate and false4    ,what the 
student of human nature rather has to do
 is not to divide the  virtues          

7so-called7 from the vices 7so-called71 
not to separate the  black horse and the
 white horse1 but to find out what is   
the relation of  the one to the         
other--to see the character as a whole1 
and the mutual  interdependence of its  
different parts--to find out what that  
power is  which constitutes it a unity1 
whose presence and control makes the man
  and all his actions right1 and in     
whose absence 7if it is really  possible
 for it to be entirely absent7 the man  
and his actions must be  wrong4    ,what
 we call vices1 faults1 defects1 appear 
often as a kind of  limitation3 cruelty1
 for instance1 as a limitation of human 
sympathy1  prejudice as a blindness1 a  
want of discernment2 but it is just     
these  limitations--in one form or      
another--which are the necessary        
conditions  of the appearance of a human
 being in the world4 ,if we are to act  
or  live at all we must act and live    
under limits4 ,there must be channels   
along which the stream is forced to run1

 else it will spread and lose  itself   
aimlessly in all directions--and turn no
 mill-wheels4 ,one man is  disagreeable 
and unconciliatory--the directions in   
which his sympathy  goes out to others  
are few and limited--yet there are      
situations in life  7and everyone must  
know them7 when a man who is able and   
willing to  make himself disagreeable is
 invaluable3 when a ,carlyle is worth   
any  number of ,balaams4    ,sometimes  
again vices1 etc41 appear as a kind of  
raw material from which  the other      
qualities have to be formed1 and without
 which1 in a sense1  they could not     
exist4 ,sensuality1 for instance1       
underlies all art and  the higher       
emotions4 ,timidity is the defect of the
 sensitive imaginative  temperament4    
,bluntness1 stupid candor1 and want of  
tact are  indispensable in the formation
 of certain types of ,reformers4 ,but   
what  would you have8 ,would you have a 
rabbit with the horns of a cow1 or a    
donkey with the disposition of a        

spaniel8 ,the reformer has not to       
extirpate his brusqueness and           
aggressiveness1 but to see that he makes
  good use of these qualities2 and the  
man has not to abolish his  sensuality1 
but to humanise it4    ,and so on4      
,lecky1 in his ,history of ,morals1     
shows how in society  certain defects   
necessarily accompany certain           
excellences of character4  ,had the     
,irish peasants been less chaste they   
would have been more  prosperous1 in his
 blunt assertion1 which he supports by  
the contention  that their early        
marriages 7which render the said virtue 
possible7 are  the most conspicuous     
proofs of the national improvidence1 and
 one of the  most fatal obstacles to    
industrial prosperity4 ,similarly he    
says that  the gambling table fosters a 
moral nerve and calmness scarcely       
exhibited in equal perfection in any    
other sphere--a fact which ,bret  ,harte
 has finely illustrated in his character
 of ,mr4 ,john ,oakhurst in  the        

,outcasts of ,poker ,flat2 also that the
 promotion of industrial  veracity is   
probably the single form in which the   
growth of manufactures  exercises a     
favorable influence upon morals2 while1 
on the other hand1  ,trust in           
,providence1 content and resignation in 
extreme poverty and  suffering1 the most
 genuine amiability1 and the most       
sincere readiness  to assist their      
brethren1 an adherence to their         
religious opinions which  no            
persecutions and no bribes can shake1 a 
capacity for heroic1  transcendent1 and 
prolonged self-sacrifice1 may be found  
in some  nations1 in men who are        
habitual liars and habitual cheats4     
,again he  points out that thriftiness  
and forethought--which1 in an industrial
  civilisation like ours1 are looked    
upon as duties of the very highest      
order--have at other times 7when the    
teaching was take no thought for  the   
morrow7 been regarded as quite the      
reverse1 and concludes with the  general

 remark that as society advances there  
is some loss for every  gain that is    
made1 and with the special indictment   
against  civilisation that it is not    
favorable to the production of          
self-sacrifice1 enthusiasm1 reverence1  
or chastity4    ,the point of all which 
is that the so-called vices and         
defects--whether  we regard them as     
limitations or whether we regard them as
 raw materials  of character1 whether we
 regard them in the individual solely or
 whether  we regard them in their       
relation to society--are necessary      
elements of  human life1 elements       
without which the so-called virtues     
could not  exist2 and that therefore it 
is quite impossible to separate vices   
and  virtues into distinct classes with 
the latent idea involved that one  class
 may be retained and the other in course
 of time got rid of4  ,defects and bad  
qualities will not be treated so--they  
clamour for their  rights and will not  
be denied2 they effect a lodgment in us1

 and we  have to put up with them4 ,like
 the grain of sand in the oyster1 we are
  forced to make pearls of them4        
,these are the precipices and chasms    
which give form to the mountain4 ,who   
wants a mountain sprawling indifferently
 out on all sides1 without angle  or    
break1 like the oceanic tide-wave of    
which one cannot say whether it  is a   
hill or a plain8 ,and if you want to    
grow a lily1 chastely white and  filling
 the air with its fragrance1 will you   
not bury the bulb of it  deep in the    
dirt to begin with8    ,acknowledging1  
then1 that it is impossible to hold     
permanently to any  line of distinction 
between good and bad passions1 there    
remains no  course for us but to accept 
both1 and to make use of them--redeeming
  them1 both good and bad1 from their   
narrowness and limitation by so         
doing--to make use of them in the       
service of humanity4 ,for as dirt is    
only matter in the wrong place1 so evil 
in man consists only in actions  or     

passions which are uncontrolled by the  
human within him1 and  undedicated to   
its service4 ,the evil consists not in  
the actions or  passions themselves1 but
 in the fact that they are inhumanly    
used4 ,the  most unblemished virtue     
erected into a barrier between one self 
and a  suffering brother or sister--the 
whitest marble image1 howsoever lovely1 
set up in the ,holy ,place of the temple
 of ,man1 where the spirit alone  should
 dwell--becomes blasphemy and a         
pollution4    ,wherein exactly this     
human service consists is another       
question4 ,it may  be1 and1 as the      
reader would gather1 probably is1 a     
matter which at the  last eludes        
definition4 ,but though it may elude    
exact statement1 that is  no reason why 
approximations should not be made to the
 statement of it2  nor is its ultimate  
elusiveness of intellectual definition  
any proof  that it may not become a real
 and vital force within the man1 and    
underlying inspiration of his actions4  

,to take the two considerations in      
order4 ,in the first place1 as we saw   
from the beginning1 the experience  of  
society is continually leading it to    
classify actions into beneficial  and   
harmful1 good and bad2 and thus moral   
codes are formed which eat  their way   
from the outside into the individual man
 and become part of  him4 ,these codes  
may be looked upon as approximations in 
each age to a  statement of human       
service2 but1 as we have seen1 they are 
by the nature  of the case very         
imperfect2 and since the very conditions
 of the problem  are continually        
changing1 it seems obvious that a final 
and absolute  solution of it by this    
method is impossible4 ,the second way in
 which man  works towards a solution is 
by the expansion and growth of his own  
consciousness1 and is ultimately by far 
the most important--though the  two     
methods have doubtless continually to be
 corrected by each other4 ,in  fact1 as 
man actually forms a part of society    

externally1 so he comes to  know and    
feel himself a part of society through  
his inner nature4  ,gradually1 and in   
the lapse of ages1 through the          
development of his  sympathetic relation
 with his fellows1 the individual man   
enters into a  wider and wider circle of
 life2 the joys and sorrows1 the        
experiences1  of his fellows become his 
own joys and sorrows1 his own           
experiences2 he  passes into a life     
which is larger than his own individual 
life2 forces  flow in upon him which    
determine his actions1 not for results  
which  return to him directly1 but for  
results which can only return to him    
indirectly and through others2 at last  
the ground of humanity1 as it  were1    
reveals itself within him1 the region of
 human equality--and his  actions come  
to flow directly from the very same     
source which regulates  and inspires the
 whole movement of society4 ,at this    
point the problem is  solved4 ,the      
growth has taken place from within2 it  

is not of the nature  of an external    
compulsion1 but of an inward            
compunction4 ,by actual  consciousness  
the man has taken on an ever-enlarging  
life1 and at last  the life of humanity1
 which has no fixed form1 no ever-valid 
code2 but  is itself the true life1     
surpassing definition1 yet inspiring all
  actions and passions1 all codes and   
forms1 and determining at last their    
place4    ,it is the gradual growth of  
this supreme life in each individual    
which  is the great and indeed the only 
hope of ,society--it is that for which  
,society exists3 a life which so far    
from dwarfing individuality enhances    
immensely its power1 causing the        
individual to move with the weight of   
the universe behind him--and exalting   
what were once his little  peculiarities
 and defects into the splendid          
manifestations of his  humanity4    ,to 
return then for a moment to the         
practical bearing of this on the        
question before us1 we see that so soon 

as we have abandoned all codes  of      
morals there remains nothing for us but 
to put all our qualities  and defects to
 human use1 and to redeem them by so    
doing4 ,our defects  are our entrances  
into life1 and the gateway of all our   
dealings with  others4 ,think what it is
 to be plain and homely4 ,the very word 
suggests an endearment1 and a liberty of
 access denied to the  faultlessly      
handsome4 ,our very evil passions1 so   
called1 are not things  to be ashamed   
of1 but things to look straight in the  
face and to see  what they are good     
for--for a use can be found for them1   
that is  certain4 ,the man should see   
that he is worthy of his passion1 as the
  mountain should rear its crest        
conformable to the height of the        
precipice which bounds it4 ,is it women8
 let him see that he is a  magnanimous  
lover4 ,is it ambition8 let him take    
care that it be a grand  one4 ,is it    
laziness8 let it redeem him from the    
folly of unrest1 to  become             

heaven-reflecting1 like a lake among the
 hills4 ,is it  closefistedness8 let it 
become the nurse of a true economy4     
,the more complicated1 pronounced1 or   
awkward the defect is the finer  will be
 the result when it has been thoroughly 
worked up4 ,love of  approbation is     
difficult to deal with4 ,through sloughs
 of duplicity1 of  concealment1 of      
vanity1 it leads its victim4 ,it sucks  
his sturdy  self-life1 and leaves him   
flattened and bloodless4 ,yet once      
mastered1  once fairly torn out1        
cudgeled1 and left bleeding on the road 
7for this  probably has to be done with 
every vice or virtue some time or       
other71  it will rise up and follow you1
 carrying a magic key round its neck1   
meek and serviceable now1 instead of    
dangerous and demoniac as before4       
,deceit is difficult to deal with4 ,in  
some sense it is the worst fault  that  
can be4 ,it seems to disorganise and    
ultimately to destroy the  character4   
,yet ,i am bold to say that this defect 

has its uses4 ,severely  examined       
perhaps it will be found that no one can
 live a day free from  it4 ,and beyond  
that--is not a noble dissimulation part 
and parcel of  the very greatest        
characters3 like ,socrates1 the white   
soul in a satyr  form8 ,when the divine 
has descended among men has it not      
always1 like  ,moses1 worn a veil before
 its face8 and what is ,nature herself  
but one  long and organised system of   
deception8    ,veracity has an opposite 
effect4 ,it knits all the elements of a 
man's  character--rendering him solid   
rather than fluid2 yet carried out too  
literally and pragmatically it condenses
 and solidifies the character  overmuch1
 making the man woodeny and angular4    
,and even of that essential  ,truth     
7truth to the inward and ideal          
perfection7 which more than  anything   
else perhaps constitutes a man--it is to
 be remembered that  even here there    
must be a limitation4 ,no man can in act
 or externally be  quite true to the    

ideal--though in spirit he may be4 ,if  
he is to live in  this world and be     
mortal1 it must be by virtue of some    
partiality1 some  defect4    ,and so    
again--since there is an analogy between
 the ,individual and  ,society--may we  
not conclude that as the individual has 
ultimately to  recognise his so-called  
evil passions and find a place and a use
 for  them1 society also has to         
recognise its so-called criminals and   
discern  their place and use8 ,the      
artist does not omit shadows from his   
canvas2  and the wise statesman will not
 try to abolish the criminal from       
society--lest haply he be found to have 
abolished the driving force from  his   
social machine4#cg    ,from what has now
 been said it is quite clear that in    
general we call a  man a criminal1 not  
because he violates any eternal code of 
morality--for there exists no such      
thing--but because he violates the      
ruling code of his time1 and this       
depends largely on the ideal of the     

time4 ,the ,spartans appear to have     
permitted theft because they thought    
that thieving habits in the community   
fostered military dexterity and         
discouraged the accumulation of private 
wealth4 ,they looked upon the  latter as
 a great evil4 ,but to-day the          
accumulation of private wealth is  our  
great good and the thief is looked upon 
as the evil4 ,when however we  find1 as 
the historians of to-day teach us1 that 
society is now probably  passing through
 a parenthetical stage of private       
property from a stage  of communism in  
the past to a stage of more highly      
developed communism  in the future1 it  
becomes clear that the thief 7and the   
poacher  before-mentioned7 is that      
person who is protesting against the    
too-exclusive domination of a passing   
ideal4 ,whatever should we do  without  
him8 ,he is keeping open for us1 as     
,hinton ,i think expresses it1  the path
 to a regenerate society1 and is more   
useful to that end than  many a platform

 orator4 ,he it is that makes ,care to  
sit upon the ,crupper  of ,wealth1 and  
so1 in course of time1 causes the burden
 and bother of  private property to     
become so intolerable that society      
gladly casts it  down on common ground4 
,vast as is the machinery of ,law1 and  
multifarious  the ways in which it seeks
 to crush the thief1 it has signally    
failed1  and fails ever more and more4  
,the thief will win4 ,he will get what  
he  wants1 but 7as usual in human life67
 in a way and in a form very  different 
from what he expected4    ,and when we  
regard the thief in himself1 we cannot  
say that we find him  less human than   
other classes of society4 ,the sentiment
 of large bodies  of thieves is highly  
communistic among themselves2 and if    
they thus  represent a survival from an 
earlier age1 they might also be looked  
upon  as the precursors of a better age 
in the future4 ,they have their pals in 
every town1 with runs and refuges always
 open1 and are lavish and  generous to a

 degree to their own kind4 ,and if they 
look upon the rich  as their natural    
enemies and fair prey1 a view which it  
might be  difficult to gainsay1 many of 
them at any rate are animated by a good 
deal of the ,robin ,hood spirit1 and are
 really helpful to the poor4    ,i need 
not ,i think quote that famous passage  
from ,lecky in which he  shows how the  
prostitute1 through centuries of        
suffering and ill-fame1  has borne the  
curse and contempt of ,society in order 
that her more  fortunate sister might   
rejoice in the achievement of a pure    
marriage4  ,the ideal of a monogamic    
union has been established in a sense   
directly  by the slur cast upon the free
 woman4 ,if1 however1 as many people    
think1  a certain latitude in sexual    
relations is not only admissible but1 in
  the long run1 and within bounds1      
desirable1 it becomes clear that the    
prostitute is that person who against   
heavy odds1 and at the cost of a  real  
degradation to herself1 has clung to a  

tradition which1 in itself  good1 might 
otherwise have perished in the face of  
our devotion to the  splendid ideal of  
the exclusive marriage4 ,there has been 
a time in  history when the prostitute  
7if the word can properly be used in    
this  connection7 has been glorified1   
consecrated to the temple-service and   
honoured of men and gods 7the           
hierodouloi of the ,greeks1 the         
kodeshoth  and kodeshim of the ,bible1  
etc47 ,there has also been a time when  
she has  been scouted and reviled4 ,in  
the future there will come a time when1 
as  free companion1 really free from the
 curse of modern commercialism1 and     
sacred and respected once more1 she will
 again be accepted by society  and take 
her place with the rest4    ,and so with
 other cases4 ,on looking back into     
history we find that  almost every human
 impulse has at some age been held in   
esteem and  allowed full play2 thus man 
came to recognise its beauty and value4 
,but  then1 lest it should come 7as it  

surely would7 to tyrannise over the     
rest1 it has been dethroned1 and so in a
 later age the same quality is  scouted 
and banned4 ,last of all it has to find 
its perfect human use and  to take its  
place with the rest4 ,up to the age of  
,civilisation  7according to writers on 
primitive ,society7 the early tribes of 
mankind1  though limited each in their  
habits1 were essentially democratical in
  structure4 ,in fact1 nothing had      
occurred to make them otherwise4 ,each  
member stood on a footing of equality   
with the rest2 individual men had  not  
in their hands an arbitrary power over  
others2 and the tribal life  and        
standard ruled supreme4 ,and when1 in   
the future and on a much higher  plane1 
the true ,democracy comes1 this equality
 which has so long been in  abeyance    
will be restored1 not only among men but
 also1 in a sense1  among all the       
passions and qualities of manhood3 none 
will be allowed to  tyrannise over      
others1 but all will have to be subject 

to the supreme  life of humanity4 ,the  
chariot of ,man instead of two horses   
will have a  thousand2 but they will all
 be under control of the charioteer4    
,meanwhile it may not be extravagant to 
suppose that all through the            
,civilisation-period the so-called      
criminals are keeping open the          
possibility of a return to this state of
 society4 ,they are preserving1  in a   
rough and unattractive husk it may be1  
the precious seed of a life  which is to
 come in the future2 and are as         
necessary and integral a part  of       
society in the long run as the most     
respected and most honoured of  its     
members at present4    ,the upshot then 
of it all is that morals as a permanent 
code of action  have to be discarded4   
,there exists no such permanent code4   
,one age1 one  race1 one class1 one     
family1 may have a code which the users 
of it  consider valid1 but only they    
consider it valid1 and then only for a  
time4 ,the ,decalogue may have been a   

rough and useful ready-reckoner for  the
 ,israelites2 but to us it admits of so 
many exceptions and  interpretations    
that it is practically worthless4 ,thou 
shalt not  steal4 ,exactly2 but who is  
to decide1 as we saw at the outset1 in  
what  stealing consists8 ,the question  
is too complicated to admit of an       
answer4 ,and when we have caught our    
half-starved tramp sneaking a  loaf1 and
 are ready to condemn him1 lo6 ,lycurgus
 pats him on the back1  and the modern  
philosopher tells him that he is keeping
 open the path to  a regenerate society6
 ,if the tramp had also been a          
philosopher1 he would  perhaps have done
 the same act not merely for his own    
benefit but for  that of society1 he    
would have committed a crime in order to
 save  mankind4    ,there is nothing    
left but ,humanity4 ,since there is no  
ever-valid code of  morals we must sadly
 confess that there is no means of      
proving ourselves  right and our        
neighbours wrong4 ,in fact the very act 

of thinking  whether we are right 7which
 implies a sundering of ourselves1 even 
in  thought1 from others7 itself        
introduces the element of wrongness2 and
 if  we are ever to be right at all1 it 
must be at some moment when we  fail to 
notice it--when we have forgotten our   
apartness from others and  have entered 
into the great region of human equality4
 ,equality--in that  region all human   
defects are redeemed2 they all find     
their place4 ,to  love your neighbour as
 yourself is the whole law and the      
prophets2 to  feel that you are equal   
with others1 that their lives are as    
your  life1 that your life is as        
theirs--even in what trifling degree we 
may  experience such things--is to enter
 into another life which includes  both 
sides2 it is to pass beyond the sphere  
of moral distinctions1 and  to trouble  
oneself no more with them4 ,between     
lovers there are no duties  and no      
rights2 and in the life of humanity1    
there is only an instinctive  mutual    

service expressing itself in whatever   
way may be best at the  time4 ,nothing  
is forbidden1 there is nothing which may
 not serve4 ,the  law of ,equality is   
perfectly flexible1 is adaptable to all 
times and  places1 finds a place for all
 the elements of character1 justifies   
and  redeems them all without exception2
 and to live by it is perfect  freedom4 
,yet not a law3 but rather as said1 a   
new life1 transcending the  individual  
life1 working through it from within1   
lifting the self into  another sphere1  
beyond corruption1 far over the world of
 ,sorrow4    ,the effort to make a      
distinction between acting for self and 
acting for  one's neighbor is the basis 
of morals4 ,as long as a man feels an   
ultimate antagonism between himself and 
society1 as long as he tries to  hold   
his own life as a thing apart from that 
of others1 so long must the  question   
arise whether he will act for self or   
for those others4 ,hence  flow a long   
array of terms--distinctions of right   

and wrong1 duty1  selfishness1          
self-renunciation1 altruism1 etc4 ,but  
when he discovers  that there is no     
ultimate antagonism between himself and 
society2 when  he finds that the        
gratification of every desire which he  
has or can have  may be rendered social1
 or beneficial to his fellows1 by being 
used at  the right time and place1 and  
on the other hand that every demand made
  upon him by society will and must     
gratify some portion of his nature1     
some desire of his heart--why1 all the  
distinctions collapse again2 they  do   
not hold water any more4 ,a larger life 
descends upon him1 which  includes both 
sides1 and prompts actions in accordance
 with an unwritten  and unimagined law4 
,such actions will sometimes be         
accounted selfish  by the world2        
sometimes they will be accounted        
unselfish2 but they are  neither1 or--if
 you like--both2 and he who does them   
concerns himself  not with the names    
that may be given to them4 ,the law of  

,equality  includes all the moral codes1
 and is the standpoint which they cannot
  reach1 but which they all aim at4     
,judged by this final standard then1 it 
may doubtless fairly be  said--since we 
all fall short of it--that we are all   
criminals1 and  deserve a good hiding2  
and even that some of us are greater    
criminals  than others4 ,only of this   
real criminality the actual moral and   
legal  codes afford but ineffectual     
tests4 ,i may be a far worse or more    
self-included 7idiotic or brutal7 man   
than you1 but the mere fact that  ,i    
have violated the laws and been clapped 
into prison does not prove it4  ,there  
may be1 probably is1 a real and eternal 
difference represented by  the words    
,right and ,wrong1 but no statement that
 we can make will ever  quite avail to  
define it4 ,one use1 however1 of all    
these laws and codes  in the past1      
imperfect though they were1 may have    
been to gradually  excite the           
consciousness in the individual of his  

opposition to society1  and so prepare  
the way for a true reconcilement4 ,as   
,paul says1 ,i had  not known sin1 but  
by the law1 and1 if we had not been     
cudgeled and  bruised for centuries by  
this rough bludgeon of social           
convention1 we  should not now be so    
sensitive as we are to the effect of our
 actions  upon our neighbours1 nor so   
ready for a social life in the future   
which  shall be superior to law4    ,of 
course1 the ultimate reconcilement of   
the individual with society--of  the    
unit ,man with the mass-,man--involves  
the subordination of the  desires1 their
 subjection to the true self4 ,and this 
is a most important  point4 ,it is no   
easy lapse that is here suggested1 from 
morality into a  mere jungle of human   
passion1 but a toilsome and long        
ascent--involving  for a time at any    
rate a determined self-control--into    
ascendancy over  the passions2 it       
involves the complete mastery1 one by   
one1 of them all1  and the recognition  

and allowance of them only because they 
are  mastered4 ,and it is just this     
training and subjection of the          
passions--as of winged horses which are 
to draw the human chariot--which        
necessarily forms such a long and       
painful process of human evolution4     
,the old moral codes are a part of this 
process2 but they go on the plan  of    
extinguishing some of the               
passions--seeing that it is sometimes   
easier to shoot a restive horse than to 
ride him4 ,we however do not want  to be
 lords of dead carrion1 but of living   
powers2 and every steed that  we can add
 to our chariot makes our progress      
through creation so much  the more      
splendid1 providing ,phoebus indeed hold
 the reins1 and not the  incapable      
,phaeton4    ,and by becoming thus one  
with the social self1 the individual1   
instead  of being crushed1 is made far  
vaster1 far grander than before4 ,the   
renunciation 7if it must be so called7  
which he has to accept in  abandoning   

merely individual ends is immediately   
compensated by the far  more vivid life 
he now enters into4 ,for every force of 
his nature can  now be utilised4        
,planting himself out by contrast he    
stands all the  firmer because he has a 
left foot as well as a right1 and when  
he acts1  he acts not half-heartedly as 
one afraid1 but1 as it were1 with the   
whole weight of ,humanity behind him4   
,in abandoning his exclusive            
individuality he becomes for the first  
time a real and living  individual2 and 
in accepting as his own the life of     
others he becomes  aware of a life in   
himself that has no limit and no end4   
,that the self  of any one man is       
capable of an infinite gradation from   
the most petty  and exclusive existence 
to the most magnificent and inclusive   
seems  almost a truism4 ,the one extreme
 is disease and death1 the other is life
  everlasting4 ,when the tongue for     
example--which is a member of the       
body--regards itself as a purely        

separate existence for itself alone1 it 
makes a mistake1 it suffers an illusion1
 and descends into its pettiest  life4  
,what is the consequence8 ,thinking that
 it exists apart from the  other        
members1 it selects food just such as   
shall gratify its most local  self1 it  
endeavours just to titillate its own    
sense of taste2 and living  and acting  
thus1 ere long it ruins that very sense 
of taste1 poisons the  system with      
improper food1 and brings about disease 
and death4 ,yet1 if  healthy1 how does  
the tongue act8 ,why1 it does not run   
counter to its  own sense of taste1 or  
stultify itself4 ,it does not talk about
  sacrificing its own inclinations for  
the good of the body and the other      
members2 but it just acts as being one  
in interest with them and they  with it4
 ,for the tongue is a muscle1 and       
therefore what feeds it feeds  all the  
other muscles2 and the membrane of the  
tongue is a  prolongation of the        
membrane of the stomach1 and that is how

 the tongue  knows what the stomach will
 like2 and the tongue is nerves and     
blood1  and so the tongue may act for   
nerves and blood all over the body1 and 
so  on4 ,therefore the tongue may enter 
into a wider life than that  represented
 by the mere local sense of taste1 and  
experiences more  pleasure often in the 
drinking of a glass of water which the  
whole body  wants1 than in the daintiest
 sweetmeat which is for itself alone4   
,exactly so man in a healthy state does 
not act for himself alone1  practically 
cannot do so4 ,nor does he talk cant    
about serving his  neighbors1 etc4 ,but 
he simply acts for them as well as for  
himself1  because they are part and     
parcel of his life--bone of his bone and
 flesh  of his flesh2 and in doing so he
 enters into a wider life1 finds a more 
perfect pleasure1 and becomes more      
really a man than ever before4 ,every   
man contains in himself the elements of 
all the rest of humanity4 ,they  lie in 
the background2 but they are there4 ,in 

the front he has his own  special       
faculty developed--his individual faade1
 with its projects1  plans and purposes3
 but behind sleeps the ,demos-life with 
far vaster  projects and purposes4 ,some
 time or other to every man must come   
the  consciousness of this vaster life4 
,the true ,democracy1 wherein this      
larger life will rule society from      
within--obviating the need of an        
external government--and in which all   
characters and qualities will be        
recognised and have their freedom1      
waits 7a hidden but necessary result of 
evolution7 in the constitution  of human
 nature itself4 ,in the                 
pre-,civilisation period these vexed    
questions of morals practically did not 
exist2 simply because in that  period   
the individual was one with his tribe   
and moved 7unconsciously7  by the larger
 life of his tribe4 ,and in the         
post-,civilisation period1  when the    
true ,democracy is realised1 they will  
not exist1 because then  the man will   

know himself a part of humanity at      
large1 and will be  consciously moved by
 forces belonging to these vaster       
regions of his  being4 ,the moral codes 
and questionings belong to              
,civilisation1 they are  part of the    
forward effort1 the struggle1 the       
suffering1 and the  temporary alienation
 from true life1 which that term        
implies4#ch    ,,footnotes3    #cd ,yet 
there is no doubt that lasting and      
passionate love may exist  between two  
persons thus nearly related4 ,the danger
 to the health of the  offspring from   
occasional in-breeding of the kind      
appears to arise  chiefly from the      
accentuation of infirmities common to   
the two parents4  ,in a state of society
 free from the diseases of the          
civilisation-period1  such a danger     
would be greatly reduced4    #ce ,modern
 writers fixing their regard on the     
physical side of this  love 7necessary  
no doubt here1 as elsewhere1 to define  
and corroborate  the spiritual7 have    

entered their protest as against the    
mere obscenity  into which the thing    
fell--for instance in the days of       
,martial--but have  missed the profound 
significance of the heroic attachment   
itself4 ,it is1  however1 with the      
ideals that we are just now concerned   
and not with  their disintegration4     
#cf ,in the later ,egyptian centuries   
vivisection apparently became an        
approved practice4    #cg ,the          
derivation of the word wicked seems     
uncertain4 ,may it be  suggested that it
 is connected with wick or quick1       
meaning alive8    #ch ,for further on   
the same subject see the last chapter1  
infra1 on  ,the ,new ,morality4         
,,exfoliation         ,creation's       
incessant unrest1 exfoliation4          
,,whitman4      ,i think it may perhaps 
be agreed1 once for all1 that the human 
mind is  incapable of really defining   
even the smallest fact of nature4 ,the  
simplest thing1 or event1 baffles us at 
the last4 ,it is like trying to  look at

 the front and back of a mirror at the  
same time4 ,the utmost  squinting avails
 not4 ,the ego and the non-ego dance    
eluding through  creation4 ,to catch    
them both in any mortal object and pin  
them there1  surpasses our powers4 ,and 
yet they are there4 ,montaigne quotes   
somewhere  the words of ,s4 ,augustine3 
,modus quo corporibus adhaerent spiritus
 444  omnino mirus est1 nec comprehendi 
ab homine potest2 et hoc ipse homo  est4
 ,the manner whereby spirits adhere to  
bodies is altogether  wonderful1 and    
cannot be conceived of by men2 and yet  
this is man4  ,man himself contains1 or 
rather is1 the reconcilement of this and
  numberless other contradictions4 ,we  
actually every day perform and  exhibit 
miracles which the mental part of us is 
utterly powerless to  grapple with4 ,yet
 the solution1 the intelligent solution 
and  understanding of them is in us2    
only it involves a higher order of      
consciousness than we usually deal      
with--a consciousness possibly which    

includes and transcends the ego and the 
non-ego1 and so can envisage  both at   
the same time and equally--a            
fourth-dimensional consciousness to     
whose gaze the interiors of solid bodies
 are exposed like mere  surfaces--a     
consciousness to whose perception some  
usual antitheses like  cause and effect1
 matter and spirit1 past and future1    
simply do not  exist4 ,i say these      
higher orders of consciousness are in us
 waiting for  their evolution2 and1     
until they evolve1 we are powerless     
really to  understand anything of the   
world around us4    ,meanwhile1 since we
 must have formul and generalisations to
 think by1  we are fain to accept our   
local views1 and look on the world from 
this  side or from that4 ,sometimes we  
are idealists1 sometimes we are         
materialists2 sometimes we believe in   
mechanics1 sometimes in human or        
spiritual forces4 ,the science of the   
last fifty years has1 as pointed  out in
 a preceding paper1 looked at things    

more from the mechanical than  the      
distinctively human side--from the point
 of view of the non-ego1  rather than of
 the ego4 ,reacting from an extreme     
tendency towards a  subjective view of  
phenomena1 which characterised the older
  speculations1 and fearing to be swayed
 by a kind of partiality towards        
himself1 the modern scientist has       
endeavoured to remove the human and     
conscious element from his observations 
of ,nature4 ,and he has done  valuable  
work in this way--but of course has been
 betrayed into a  corresponding         
narrowness4    ,in fact the main        
scientific doctrine of the day1         
,evolution1 is obviously  suffering from
 this treatment1 and the following      
remarks are merely a  few notes by way  
of suggestion of some things which may  
be said on its  more specially human    
side4 ,for since each man is a part of  
nature1 and  in that sense a part also  
of the evolution-process1 his own       
subjective  experience ought at least to

 throw some light on the conditions     
under  which evolution takes place1 and 
to contribute something towards an      
understanding of the problem4    ,if the
 question is3 ,what is the cause of     
,variation among animals8 some          
approximation towards an answer ought to
 be got by each person asking  himself1 
,why do ,i vary8 ,why--he might say--am 
,i a different person  from what ,i was 
ten years ago1 or when ,i was a boy8    
,why have ,i varied in  one direction   
and my brothers and sisters from the    
same nest in other  directions8 ,though 
my individual consciousness only covers 
the small  ground of my own life1 and   
does not extend back to that of my      
father or  forward to that of my son1   
still the intimate knowledge that ,i    
have of  the forces acting on me during 
that short period may help me to an     
understanding of the forces that bring  
about the modification of men and       
animals at large1 and the discovery of  
some laws of my own growth may  reveal  

to me the laws of race-growth4    ,in   
answer to such a question1 it would     
speedily appear that there were  two    
general causes determining direction of 
change or growth in the  individual1    
which might be conveniently             
distinguished from each  other--an      
external and an internal4 ,in the first 
place the supposed  person might say1   
,external conditions forced me along    
these lines4 ,my  father was a town     
artisan1 but he apprenticed me to a     
farmer4 ,i grew up  a farmer's boy1 and 
became an agricultural type as you see4 
,i did not  particularly care for       
farming1 sometimes indeed ,i would have 
been glad  to be out of it2 but         
practically ,i succumbed to             
circumstances1 and here  ,i am4 ,but in 
the second place he might answer        
thus3--,my father was  himself a farmer2
 ,i was early used to the craft1 and    
should no doubt  have grown up in it1   
had ,i not hated it like poison4 ,i     
loved music1  broke away from home1     

joined a band1 got on the musical staff 
of a small  theatre1 and am now a       
professional musician4 ,my frame is     
comparatively  slight1 and my hands are 
of the nervous type1 as you see4 ,of    
course1 ,i  have some of the old        
agricultural stock left in me1 but ,i   
feel that that  is dying out4 ,the one  
cause would be a change of external     
conditions1  forcing the man to         
accommodate himself to them2 the other  
would be a  change of internal          
conditions1 an inward growth1 expressing
 itself first  in the form of an intense
 desire1 and compelling the man to      
change  himself and probably also his   
environment in obedience to it4 ,two    
such  general sets of causes1 ,i say1   
could be roughly distinguished from each
  other2 and probably indeed are        
recognised less or more distinctly by   
everyone as acting to modify his life4  
,nor can the life of a man at any  time 
be said to be ruled by one of these     
forces alone4 ,no man is  modified by   

external conditions alone1 without any  
play or reaction of  inner needs and    
desires and growth from within2 nor is  
any man  transformed in obedience to an 
inner expansion without sundry lets and 
hindrances from without4 ,the two forces
 are in constant play upon one  another2
 but in some ways that would appear to  
be the more important  which proceeds   
from the ,man 7or creature7 himself1    
since this is  obviously vital and      
organic to him1 and therefore the most  
consistent  and reliable factor in his  
modification1 while the external        
force--arising from various and remote  
causes--must rather be regarded  as     
discontinuous and accidental4    ,i     
propose1 therefore1 in these few pages  
to consider especially this  inner force
 producing modification in man and      
animals--to try and find  out of what   
nature it is1 what is the law1 and what 
are the limits of  its action--premising
 always1 as already suggested1 that this
  distinction between inner and outer1  

which is convenient and easy to  handle 
on certain planes of thought1 may       
ultimately1 and in the last  resort1    
prove very difficult or even impossible 
to maintain4    ,it is often said by    
,biologists that function precedes      
organisation--that is1 man fights with  
his fellows before he makes  weapons to 
fight with2 the rudimentary animal      
digests food 7as in the  case of the    
amoeba7 before it acquires a stomach or 
organ of digestion2  it sees or is      
sensitive to light before it grows an   
eye2 in society  letters are carried by 
private hands before an organised postal
 system  is created4 ,such facts        
properly considered are of vital        
importance4 ,they  show us1 as it were  
by a sign-post1 the direction of        
creation4 ,they show  how any new thing 
or modification of an old thing may come
 into being4  ,they may be supplemented 
by a second statement--namely that      
desire  precedes function4 ,that is1 man
 desires to injure his fellow before he 

actually fights with him2 he experiences
 the wish to communicate with  distant  
friends before ever he thinks of sending
 such a thing as a  letter2 the amoeba  
craves for food first1 and circumvents  
its prey  afterwards4 ,desire1 or inward
 change1 comes first1 action follows1   
and  organisation or outward structure  
is the result4    ,in man this order of 
creation1 if it may so be called1 i4e41 
from  within outwards1 is very marked4  
,whenever a man creates anything new he 
pursues it2 when he builds a house1 for 
instance1 or composes a poem or  piece  
of music1 or designs an ,alpine tunnel1 
or whatever it may be4 ,the  order seems
 to be3 first1 a feeling--a dim want or 
desire2 then the  feeling becomes       
conscious of itself1 takes shape in     
thought2 the thought  becomes more      
defined and issues in a distinct plan2  
the plan is  committed to paper1 models 
are made1 etc42 and finally the actual  
work  is begun and completed4 ,the      
process appears as a movement from      

within  outwards--the earliest and most 
authentic discernible source of the     
movement being a feeling--7though there 
may lie something behind that74  ,even  
in ordinary action the same order is    
manifest2 for1 though of  course every  
action is not preceded by desire--since 
we know that  actions soon become       
habitual and more or less               
unconscious--still a vast  number of    
them are immediately so preceded2 and in
 the case of any  action that is new1   
either to the individual or to the race1
 its  inception is generally accompanied
 by effort so painful that it would  not
 be exerted unless the desire were very 
strong4 ,the difficulty which  a man    
experiences in learning any new art1 and
 the records of the many  failures1     
struggles1 oppositions1 persecutions1   
etc41 which have  attended every new    
invention or innovation of any kind in  
human history1  afford plenty of        
evidence of this last point4 ,certainly 
the effort that  accompanies a new      

action is not always faced so much from 
sheer desire  of the new thing itself as
 from fear perhaps of something else--as
 it  may be contended that monkeys did  
not take to climbing trees because  they
 loved trees1 but because they feared   
the beasts below1 or that the  giraffe  
did not stretch its neck because it     
particularly desired to feed  on leaves1
 as because it could not get food any   
other way--but still1  even in these    
cases the desire may be said to exist1  
though it is  secondary--being founded  
upon another and more elementary        
desire--the  desire namely of escaping  
pain or obtaining food4 ,in either case 
a  desire of some kind is a precedent   
condition of the new action4 ,and so  as
 we know of no case of a new action     
coming into play without being  preceded
 by desire1 we seem to be justified in  
supposing that all our  actions when    
they were first initiated 7in our       
forefathers1 if not in  ourselves7 were 
so preceded4 ,if this is so1 then1 since

 function is  always preceded by desire1
 and organisation is preceded by        
function1  organisation must necessarily
 be preceded by desire4 ,and if this is 
the  order of creation in man1 should we
 not reasonably look in this  direction 
for the key to the variation of animals 
and the order of  creation in           
general8#ci    ,if a farmer's son is    
occasionally born who hates farming and 
loves  music1 and who ultimately through
 the force of his desire 7driving him   
into oppositions and difficulties and   
penurious struggles7 transforms  himself
 into a musician1 is it not also likely 
that occasionally an  animal is born who
 hates the customs of his tribe1 and at 
last 7also  through struggles7          
transforms himself into something else8 
,even if he  does not succeed 7the      
animal7 in entirely transforming        
himself1 he  likely transmits the desire
 in some degree to his descendants1 and 
the  transformation is thus carried on  
and completed later4 ,for everywhere    

among the animals there is desire1 of   
some kind or another1 obviously  acting2
 and if in man1 by our own experience1  
desire is the precursor  and first      
expression of growth1 is there any      
reason why it should not  also be so    
among animals8 ,lamarck gives the       
instance--among others--of a            
gasteropod2 how the need or desire of   
touching bodies in front of it as  it   
crawled along would result in the       
formation of tentacles4 ,the            
gasteropod1 he says1 would keep making  
efforts to feel with the front of  its  
head1 and the determination of          
consciousness that way would be         
accompanied by a supply of nervous and  
other fluids1 which would nourish  the  
part and cause growth there--the form of
 the growth continuing in  the same way 
to be determined by need--till at last  
two or more  tentacles would appear4    
,true1 the inward determinations of     
consciousness  may not be so vivid and  
varied in animals as they are in men2   

but they  are persistent1 and by the    
very cumulative force of habit which is 
so  strong in animals1 must at length   
penetrate down through function into    
organisation and external form4 ,who    
shall say that the lark1 by the mere    
love of soaring and singing in the face 
of the sun1 has not altered the  shape  
of its wings1 or that the forms of the  
shark or of the gazelle are  not the    
long-stored results of character leaning
 always in certain  directions1 as much 
as the forms of the miser or the        
libertine are among  men8    ,such      
modification as this is very different  
from the survival of the  fittest of the
 ,darwinian evolution theory4 ,we may   
fairly suppose that  both kinds of      
modification take place2 but the latter 
is a sort of easy  success won by an    
external accident of birth--a success of
 the kind that  would readily be lost   
again2 while the former is the uphill   
fight of a  nature that has grown       
inwardly and wins expression for itself 

in spite  of external obstacles--an     
expression which therefore is likely to 
be  permanent4 ,if the progenitors of   
man took to going upright on two legs   
instead of on all fours1 merely because 
a few of them by chance were  born with 
a talent for that position1 which       
enabled them to escape the  fanged and  
pursuing beasts1 then when this danger  
was removed they might  have plumped    
down again into the old attitude2 but if
 the change was  part and parcel of a   
true evolution1 the fulfilment of a     
positive desire  for the upright        
position1 a true unfolding of a higher  
form latent  within--an organic growth  
of the creature itself1 then1 though the
  moment of the evolution of this       
particular faculty might be determined  
by the fanged beasts1 the fact of such  
evolution could not be determined  by   
them4 ,besides1 are we to suppose that  
,man1 the lord and ruler of the         
animals1 came merely by way of escape   
from the animals8 ,do lords and  rulers 

generally come so8 ,was it fear that    
made him a man8 ,were it not  likelier  
that in that case he would have turned  
into a worm8 ,he would  have escaped    
better perhaps that way4 ,is it not     
rather probable that it  was some nobler
 power that worked transforming--some   
dim desire and  prevision of a more     
perfect form1 the desire itself being   
the first  consciousness of the urge of 
growth in that direction--that prompted 
him  to push in the one direction rather
 than the other when he had to hold  his
 own against the tigers8 ,in fact is it 
not thus to-day1 when a man  has to meet
 danger1 that the ideal which he has    
within him determines  how he shall meet
 that danger1 and others like it1 and so
 ultimately  determines the whole       
attitude and carriage of his body8      
,on the whole then1 judging from man    
himself 7and it seems most cautious  and
 scientific to derive our main evidence 
from the being that we are  best        
acquainted with71 it certainly seems to 

me that1 though the  external conditions
 are a very important factor in         
,variation1 the  central explanation of 
this phenomenon should be sought in an  
inner law  of ,growth--a law of         
expansion more or less common to all    
animate nature4  ,partly because1 as    
said before1 the unfolding of the       
creature from its  own needs and inward 
nature is an organic process1 and likely
 to be  persistent1 while its           
modification by external causes must be 
more or  less fortuitous and accidental 
and sometimes in one direction and      
sometimes in another2 partly also       
because the movement from within        
outwards seems to be most like the law  
of creation in general4 ,under  this    
view the external conditions would be   
considered a  secondary--though         
important cause of modification2 and    
regarded rather  as the influences that 
give form and detail to the great primal
 impulse  of growth from within2 while  
the creature's own ingenuity and good   

luck  would occupy the ground between   
the two--as the means whereby the       
external conditions in each individual  
case would be turned to account  to     
satisfy the inner needs1 or the inner   
life would be accommodated to  the      
external conditions4    ,if we take the 
external view of ,variation--which is   
the one most  favoured by modern        
science--modification or race-growth    
appears as an  unconscious or accretive 
process1 similar to the formation of a  
coral  reef4 ,there is no line of growth
 native in the race itself1 but at any  
moment it is supposed to have an equal  
tendency to vary in any  direction4     
,surrounding conditions act selectively2
 and by a process of  weeding out       
certain types survive2 small successive 
modifications are  thus accumulated2 and
 gradually and in the lapse of ages a   
more pliable  and differentiated        
creature1 and more adaptable to a       
variety of  conditions1 is produced--in 
whom however mind is incidental1 and has

  played but small part in the          
creature's evolution4 ,this in the main 
is  the ,darwinian-evolution theory4    
,if we take the internal view1 growth is
 from the first eminently  conscious4   
,every change begins in the mental      
region--is felt first as a  desire      
gradually taking form into thought1     
passes down into the bodily  region1    
expresses itself in action 7more or less
 dependent on  conditions71 and finally 
solidifies itself in organisation and   
structure4 ,the process is not          
accretive1 but exfoliatory--a continual 
movement from within outwards4 ,when the
 desire or mental condition1  which at  
first was painfully conscious1 has      
overcome opposition and  established    
itself in altered bodily structure1 it  
has done its work1  and becomes         
unconscious--the bodily function        
continuing for a long  period to act    
automatically1 till finally it is thrown
 off to make room  for some later       
development4 ,thus race-growth or       

,variation is a process  by which change
 begins in the mental region1 passes    
into the bodily  region where it becomes
 organised1 and finally is thrown off   
like a  husk4 ,this may be called the   
theory of ,exfoliation4    ,to          
illustrate our meaning4 ,let us take the
 development of an eye4 ,in the  amoeba 
there is a dim pervasive sensitiveness  
to light over the whole  body1 but there
 is no eye1 nothing that we should call 
vision4 ,still  this vague sensitiveness
 is of use to the amoeba4 ,the shadow of
 its prey  falling upon the creature and
 exciting a sensation hardly yet        
differentiated from touch helps to guide
 its movements4 ,on this dim  sensation 
it relies to some extent2 its attention 
is directed towards  it4 ,gradually1 and
 in some descendant form1 there comes to
 be a point on  the body on which this  
attention is most specially             
concentrated4 ,the  faculty is          
localised2 and from that moment a change
 is effected there1 a  differentiation  

and a special structure2 everything that
 favours  sensitiveness is encouraged at
 that place1 everything that dulls it is
  removed2 and before long--there is a  
rudimentary eye4 ,to-day we use our     
perfected eyes1 and are hardly conscious
 that we are doing so2 but every  power 
of vision that we have was thus won for 
us by some lowlier  creature1 step by   
step1 with effort and with              
concentration4 ,or to take  an          
illustration from society4 ,to-day      
society is ill at ease2 a dim  feeling  
of discontent pervades all ranks and    
classes4 ,a new sense of  justice1 of   
fraternity1 has descended among us1     
which is not satisfied  with mere       
chatter of demand and supply4 ,for a    
long time this new  sentiment or desire 
remains vague and unformed1 but at last 
it resolves  itself into shape2 it takes
 intellectual form1 books are written1  
plans  formed2 then after a time        
definite new organisations1 for the     
distinct  purpose of expressing these   

ideas1 begin to exist in the body of the
 old  society2 and before so very long  
the whole outer structure of society    
will have been reorganised by them4     
,after a few centuries the ideas for    
whose realisation we now fight and      
struggle with an intense  consciousness 
will have become commonplace1 accepted  
institutions1 more  or less effete and  
ready to succumb before fresh mental    
births taking  place from within4       
,the modern evolution theory would      
maintain that among many amoebas and    
descendant forms1 one would at last by  
chance be born having the usual         
sensitiveness localised in a particular 
spot1 and1 surviving by force of  this  
advantage1 would transmit this eye to   
its posterity2 or that in  the progress 
of society1 new economic conditions     
having arisen1 that  people would       
prosper best which most effectually and 
rapidly adapted  itself to them4 ,but   
though there is doubtless truth in this 
view1 yet it  seems1 when all has been  

said1 to be inadequate and even feeble2 
it  omits at least one half of the      
problem4 ,if we look at ourselves1 as   
already pointed out1 we see the two     
forces--the inner and the  outer--acting
 and re-acting on each other4 ,may it   
not be so in animals8  ,lamarck1 poorly 
off1 blind1 derided1 was a true poet4   
,animals vary from  low and primitive   
types chiefly by dint of wishing--and   
the world  laughed and still laughs4    
,but it was his deep sympathy even with 
the  worms and insects 7which he studied
 till he could discern them with his    
mortal eyes no longer7 that led ,lamarck
 to see the human nature and the  human 
laws that moved within them2 and as his 
outward sight grew dim  there arose     
before him the inward vision of the true
 relationship which  binds together all 
living creatures--which was indeed a    
vision of divine  things1 and as        
different from the mere mechanism-theory
 of the survival  of the fittest as the 
sight of the starry heavens is different

 from a  governess's lesson on the use  
of the globes4    ,on the theory of     
,exfoliation1 which was practically     
,lamarck's theory1  there is a force at 
work throughout creation1 ever urging   
each type  onward into new and newer    
forms4 ,this force appears first in     
consciousness in the form of desire4    
,within each shape of life sleep  needs 
and wants without number1 from the      
lowest and simplest to the  most complex
 and ideal4 ,as each new desire or ideal
 is evolved1 it  brings the creature    
into conflict with its surroundings1    
then gaining  its satisfaction          
externalises itself in the structure of 
the creature1  and leaves the way open  
for the birth of a new ideal4 ,if then  
we would  find a key to the             
understanding of the expansion and      
growth of all  animate creation1 such a 
key may exist in the nature of desire   
itself  and the comprehension of its    
real meaning4 ,it is not certain that it
 can  be found here2 but it may be4     

,what then is desire in ,man8 ,here we  
come back again1 as suggested at the    
outset1 to ,man himself4 ,though we see 
pretty clearly that desire is at  work  
in the animals1 and that it is the same 
in kind as exists in man1  still1 among 
the animals it is but dim and inchoate1 
while in man it is  developed and       
luminous2 in ourselves1 too1 we know it 
immediately1 while  in the animals only 
by inference4 ,for both reasons1        
therefore1 if we  want to know the      
nature of desire--even to know its      
nature among  animals--we should study  
it in ,man4 ,what then is this desire in
 ,man1  which seems to be the           
instigation and origin of all his growth
 and  development8 ,at first it seems a 
hydra-headed senseless thing without    
rhyme or reason2 but the more one       
regards it the more clearly one sees    
that even in its lowest forms it is     
steadily building up and liberating  all
 the functions of the human being4 ,in  
its most perfect form--as in  what we   

call ,love--it is the sum and solution  
of human activities1 that  in which they
 converge1 for which they all exist1 and
 without which  they would be considered
 useless4 ,the more you look into this  
matter1  the plainer it becomes4 ,the   
lesser desires--the self-preservation   
desires--hunger1 thirst1 the desire of  
power--exist1 but when they are         
satisfied they empty themselves into    
this one2 they find their               
interpretation in it4 ,the other desires
 are nothing by themselves--the  most   
absorbing1 avarice1 ambition1 desire of 
knowledge1 taken alone1  stultify       
themselves--but love perpetuates itself2
 it is a flame which  uses all the rest 
as its fuel4 ,and this ,love1 which is  
the culmination  of desire1 does it not 
appear to us as a worship of and desire 
for the  human form8 ,in our bodies a   
desire for the bodily human form2 in our
  interior selves a perception and      
worship of an ideal human form1 the     
revelation of a ,splendour dwelling in  

others1 which--clouded and dimmed  as it
 inevitably may come to be--remains     
after all one of the most real1  perhaps
 the most real1 of the facts of         
existence8 ,desire1 therefore--as  it   
exists in man1 look at it how you       
will--as it unfolds and its  ultimate   
aim becomes clearer and clearer to      
itself1 is seen to be the  desire and   
longing for the deliverance and         
expression of the real human  ,being4   
,may it not1 must it not1 be the same   
thing in animals and all  through       
creation8 ,beginning in the most        
elementary and dim shapes1 does  it not 
grow through all the stages of organic  
life clearer and more and  more         
powerful1 till at last it attains to    
self-consciousness in humanity  and     
becomes avowedly the leading factor in  
our development8    ,the desire which   
runs through creation is one desire4    
,rudimentary at  first and hardly       
conscious of itself1 throwing out a     
tentacle here1 a  foot there1 developing

 an eye1 a claw1 a nostril1 a wing1 it  
seeks in  innumerable shapes and with   
ever partial success to realise the     
image it  has dimly conceived4 ,the     
animal kingdom is the gymnasium1 the    
school1  the antechamber1 of humanity2  
to walk through a zoological garden is  
to  see the inchoate types of man1      
perched on branches1 or browsing grass1 
or boring holes in the ground2 it is to 
witness a grand rehearsal of  some      
stupendous part1 whose character we do  
not even yet fully see or  understand4  
,from such half-conscious beginnings the
 desire grows1 its  aim becomes clearer1
 till in the higher animals--the horse1 
the dog1 the  elephant1 the bird1 and   
many others--it becomes a marked and    
unmistakable force drawing them close to
 man1 uniting them to him in a  kind of 
acknowledged kinship1 and as obviously  
at work modifying their  structure as   
can be4 ,finally in man himself it      
becomes an absorbing  power2 love       
becomes a conscious worship of the      

divine form2 generation  itself is the  
means whereby1 in time1 the supreme     
object of desire is  realised4 ,when at 
last the perfect ,man appears1 the key  
to all nature is  found1 every creature 
falls into its place and finds its      
,interpreter1  and the purpose of       
creation is at last made manifest4      
,the ,theory of ,exfoliation then       
differs from that very specialised form 
of ,evolution which has been adopted by 
modern science1 in this  particular     
among others3 that it fixes the         
attention on that which  appears last in
 order of ,time1 as the most important  
in order of  causation1 rather than on  
that which appears first2 and recalls to
 us  the fact that often in any         
succession of phenomena1 that which is  
first  in order of precedence and       
importance is the last to be            
externalised4  ,thus in the growth of a 
plant we find leaf after leaf appearing1
 petal  within petal--a continual       
exfoliation of husks1 sepals1 petals1   

stamens  and what-not2 but the object of
 all this movement1 and that which in a 
sense sets it all in motion1 namely the 
seed1 is the very last thing of  all to 
be manifested4 ,or when a volcano breaks
 out--first of all we have  a cracking  
and upheaval of superficial layers of   
ground1 then of layers  below these1    
then the outflow of lava1 and last of   
all the uprush of  the inner fires and  
forces which set it all agoing4 ,what   
appears first  in time1 or in the outer 
world is--in the case of the building of
 a  house1 the making of bricks2 in the 
case of the flower1 the outermost       
bracts2 in the case of a volcano1 the   
stirring of the surface of the  ground2 
and in the case of ,life on the ,earth1 
the appearance of  protoplasms and      
primordial cells4 ,the bricks are not   
the cause of the  house 7if indeed the  
word cause should be used here at all7  
but rather  the house--or the conception
 of the house--is the cause of the      
bricks2  and the cells are not the      

origin of ,man1 but ,man is the original
 of the  cells4 ,the rationale of       
sea-anemones and mud-fish and flying    
foxes and  elephants has to be looked   
for in man3 he alone underlies them4    
,and man  is not a vertebrate because   
his ancestors were vertebrate2 but the  
animals are vertebrate1 because or in so
 far as they are forerunners and        
offshoots of ,man4    ,it has been      
frequently said that great material     
changes are succeeded by  intellectual  
and finally by moral revolutions--as the
 conquests of  ,alexander passed on into
 the literary expansion of the          
,alexandrian  schools and thence into   
the establishment of ,christianity1 or  
as the  mechanical developments of our  
own time have been followed by immense  
literary and scientific activities1 and 
are obviously passing over now  into a  
great social regeneration2 but a        
reconsideration of the matter  might1 ,i
 take it1 lead us not so much to look on
 the later changes as  caused by the    

earlier1 as to look on the earlier as   
the indications  and first outward and  
visible signs of the coming of the      
later4 ,when a  man feels in himself the
 upheaval of a new moral fact1 he sees  
plainly  enough that that fact cannot   
come into the actual world all at       
once--not  without first a destruction  
of the existing order of society--such a
  destruction as makes him feel satanic2
 then an intellectual revolution2  and  
lastly only1 a new order embodying the  
new impulse4 ,when this new  impulse has
 thoroughly materialised itself1 then   
after a time will come  another inward  
birth1 and similar changes will be      
passed through again4  ,so it might be  
said that the work of each age is not to
 build on the  past1 but to rise out of 
the past and throw it off2 only of      
course in  such matters where all forms 
of thought are inadequate it is hard to 
say  that one way of looking at the     
subject is truer than another4 ,as      
before1  we should endeavour to look at 

the thing from different sides4    ,we  
are obliged to use images to think      
by--e4g4 the opening of a flower  or the
 accretive growth of a coral reef--and  
possibly it would save a  good deal of  
trouble if we did not disguise by long  
words the truth that  all our theories  
in science and philosophy are simply    
metaphors of this  kind--but the fact   
still lies behind and below them4       
,perhaps1 if we are to use the word     
,cause at all1 we should do well to  use
 it in the old sense in which the final 
cause and the efficient  cause are one  
7the eidos of ,aristotle7--to use it not
 so much to link  phenomena or externals
 to each other as to link each          
phenomenon in a  group to the thought or
 feeling which underlies that group4    
,the notes in  the ,dead ,march in      
,saul1 for instance4 ,we cannot say that
 one note is the  cause of another1 but 
we might say that each note stands in a 
causal  subordination to the feeling    
which inspired the piece--which is the  

origin of the piece and the result of   
its performance--the alpha and  omega of
 it4 ,similarly1 the ground floor in a  
house is not the cause of  the first    
floor1 nor the first floor of the second
 floor1 nor that of  the roof2 but these
 actualities and the whole house itself 
stand in  strict relationship to a      
mental something which is not in the    
same  plane with them at all1 nor an    
actuality in the same sense4            
,according to this view the notion that 
one configuration of atoms or  bodies   
determines the next configuration turns 
out to be illusive4 ,both               
configurations are determined by a third
 something which does not belong  to    
quite the same order of existence as the
 said atoms or bodies4 ,chance  laws of 
succession may doubtless be found among 
physical events1 and  are valuable for  
practical purposes1 but at any          
moment--owing to their                  
superficiality--they may fail4 ,thus1 an
 insect observing the expansion  of the 

petals of a chrysanthemum might frame a 
law of their order of  succession in    
size and colour1 which would be valid   
for a time1 but  would fail entirely    
when the stamens appeared4 ,or1 to take 
another  illustration1 physical science 
acts like a man trying to find direct   
causal relations between the various    
leaves of a tree1 without first  finding
 the relations of these to the branches 
and trunk--and so solving  the problem  
indirectly4 ,it deals only with the     
surface of the world of  ,man4    ,in   
thinking about such matters1 ,music1 as 
,schopenhauer shows1 is  wonderfully    
illustrative1 because in creating music 
man recognises that  he is creating a   
world of his own--apart from and not to 
be confused  with that other world of   
,nature 7in which he does not recognise 
any of  his handiwork74 ,supposing a    
non-musical person were to examine and  
analyse the score of a ,beethoven       
symphony1 he would be in the same       
position as a man examining and         

analysing ,nature by purely scientific  
or intellectual methods4 ,he would      
discover the recurrence of certain      
groups among the notes1 he would        
establish laws of their sequences1      
would make all kinds of curious         
generalisations about them1 and point   
out some remarkable exceptions1 would   
even very likely be able to  predict a  
bar or two over the page2 his treatise  
would be very learned1  and from a      
certain point of view interesting also1 
but how far would he  be from any real  
understanding of his subject8 ,let him  
change his  method3 let him train his   
ear1 let him hear the symphony          
performed1 over  and over1 till he      
understands its meaning and knows it by 
heart2 and  then he will know at any    
rate something of why each note is      
there1 he  will see its fitness and feel
 in himself the law of its occurrence1  
and possibly in some new case will be   
able to predict several bars over  the  
page6 ,the symphony is not understood by

 examination and comparison  of the     
notes alone1 but by experience of their 
relation to deepest  feelings2 and      
,nature is not explained by laws1 but by
 its becoming--or  rather being felt to 
be--the body of ,man2 marvellous        
interpreter and  symbol of his inward   
being4    ,there is a kind of knowledge 
or consciousness in us--as of our bodily
  parts1 or affections1 or deep-seated  
mental beliefs--which forms the  base of
 our more obvious and self-conscious    
thought4 ,this systemic  knowledge grows
 even while the brain sleeps4 ,it is not
 by any means  absolute or infallible1  
but it affords1 at any moment in man's  
history1  the axiomatic ground on which 
his thought-structures1 scientific and  
other1 are built4 ,thus the axioms of   
,euclid are part of our present         
systemic knowledge1 and afford the      
ground of all our geometry  structures4 
,but as the systemic consciousness      
grows1 the ground shifts  and the       
structures reared upon it fall4 ,all our

 modern science1 for  instance1 is      
founded on the acceptation of mechanical
 cause and effect  as a basic fact of   
consciousness2 but when that base gives 
way the  entire structure will cave in1 
and a new edifice will have to be       
reared4  ,similarly1 when the human form
 becomes distinctly visible to us in the
  animals--as an unavoidable part of our
 consciousness--this consciousness  will
 form a new base or axiom for all our   
thought on the subject1 and  the theory 
of evolution1 as hitherto conceived by  
science1 will be  entirely transformed4 
,thus1 although the experimental        
investigatory coral-reef accretion      
method of modern science is very        
valuable within its range1 it must not  
be forgotten that the human mind does   
not progress more than temporarily  by  
this method--that its progression is a  
matter of growth from within1  and      
involves a continual breaking away of   
the bases of all  thought-structures2 so
 that1 while this latter--i4e41 the     

progression  of the systemic            
consciousness of man--is necessary and  
continuous1 the  rise and fall of his   
thought-systems is accidental1 so to    
speak1 and  discontinuous4    ,it is    
then finally in ,man--in our own deepest
 and most vital  experience--that we    
have to look for the key and explanation
 of the  changes that we see going on   
around us in external ,nature1 as we    
call  it2 and our understanding of the  
latter1 and of ,history1 must ever      
depend from point to point on the       
exfoliation of new facts in the         
individual consciousness4 ,round the    
ultimate disclosure of the essential    
,man all creation 7hitherto groaning and
 travailing towards that perfect  birth7
 ranges itself1 as it were1 like some   
vast flower1 in concentric  cycles2 rank
 beyond rank2 first all social life and 
history1 then the  animal kingdom1 then 
the vegetable and mineral worlds4 ,and  
if the outer  circles have been the     
first in fact to show themselves1 it is 

by this  last disclosure that light is  
ultimately thrown on the whole plan2    
and1  as in the myth of the             
,eden-garden1 with the appearance of the
 perfected  human form that the work of 
creation definitely completes itself4   
,,footnote3    #ci ,this does not1 of   
course1 preclude the action of external 
conditions1 or imply that organisation  
is determined by desire alone4  ,in fact
 organisation may be regarded as the    
expression of desire acting  under      
conditions--as in the cases of the      
monkey and giraffe above4               
,,custom    ,whatever is off the hinges 
of custom is believed to be also off the
  hinges of reason2 though how          
unreasonably1 for the most part1 ,god   
knows4--,,montaigne4      ,every human  
being grows up inside a sheath of       
custom1 which enfolds it  as the        
swathing clothes enfold the infant4 ,the
 sacred customs of its  early home1 how 
fixed and immutable they appear to the  
child6 ,it surely  thinks that all the  

world in all times has proceeded on the 
same lines  which bound its tiny life4  
,it regards a breach of these rules     
7some of  them at least7 as a wild step 
in the dark1 leading to unknown dangers4
    ,nevertheless its mental eyes have  
hardly opened ere it perceives1 not     
without a shock1 that whereas in the    
family dining-room the meat always      
precedes the pudding1 below-stairs and  
in the cottage the pudding has a  way of
 coming before the meat2 that1 whereas  
its father puts the manure  on the top  
of his seed-potatoes in spring1 his     
neighbor invariably  places his potatoes
 on top of the manure4 ,all its         
confidence in the  sanctity of its home 
life and the truth of things is upset4  
,surely  there must be a right and a    
wrong way of eating one's dinner or of  
setting potatoes1 and surely1 if any    
one1 father or mother must know  what is
 right4 ,the elders have always said    
7and indeed it seems only  reasonable7  
that by this time of day everything has 

been so thoroughly  worked over that the
 best methods of ordering our           
life--food1 dress1  domestic practices1 
social habits1 etc41 have long ago been 
determined4  ,if so1 why these          
divergencies in the simplest and most   
obvious matters8    ,and then other     
things give way4 ,the sacred            
seeming-universal customs in  which we  
were bred turn out to be only the       
practices of a small and  narrow class  
or caste2 or they prove to be confined  
to a very limited  locality1 and must be
 left behind when we set out on our     
travels2 or  they belong to the tenets  
of a feeble religious sect2 or they are 
just  the products of one age in history
 and no other4 ,and the question forces 
itself upon us1 ,are there really no    
natural boundaries8 has not our life    
anywhere been founded on reason and     
necessity1 but only on arbitrary  habit8
 ,what is more important than food1 yet 
in what human matter is  there more     
unaccountable divergence of practice8   

,the ,highlander  flourishes on oatmeal1
 which the ,sheffield ironworker would  
rather  starve than eat2 the fat snail  
which the ,roman country gentleman once 
so  prized now crawls unmolested in the 
,gloucestershire peasant's garden2      
rabbits are taboo in ,germany2 frogs are
 unspeakable in ,england2  sauer-kraut  
is detested in ,france2 many races and  
gangs of people are  quite certain they 
would die if deprived of meat1 others   
think spirits  of some kind a necessity1
 while to others again both these things
 are an  abomination4 ,every country    
district has its local practices in     
food1 and  the peasants look with the   
greatest suspicion on any new dish1 and 
can  rarely be induced to adopt it4     
,though it has been abundantly proved   
that  many of the ,british fungi are    
excellent eating1 such is the force of  
custom that the mushroom alone is ever  
publicly recognised1 while  curiously   
enough it is said that in some other    
countries where the  claims of other    

agarics are allowed the mushroom itself 
is not used6  ,finally1 ,i feel myself  
7and the gentle reader probably feels   
the same7  that ,i would rather die than
 subsist on insects1 such is the        
deep-seated disgust we experience       
towards this class of food4 ,yet it is  
notorious that many races of respectable
 people adopt a diet of this  sort1 and 
only lately a book has been published   
giving details of the  excellent        
provender of the kind that we habitually
 overlook--tasty  morsels of            
caterpillars and beetles1 and so forth6 
,and indeed1 when one  comes to think of
 it1 what can it be but prejudice which 
causes one to  eat the periwinkle and   
reject the land-snail1 or to prize the  
lively  prawn and proscribe the cheerful
 grasshopper8    ,it is useless to say  
that these local and other divergencies 
are rooted  in the necessities of the   
localities and times in which they      
occur4  ,they are nothing of the kind4  
,for the most part they are mere        

customs1  perhaps grown originally out  
of some necessity1 but now perpetuated  
from  simple habit and inherent human   
laziness4 ,this can perhaps best be     
illustrated by going below the human to 
the kingdom of the animals4 ,if  customs
 are strong among men they are far      
stronger among animals4 ,the  sheep     
lives on grass1 the cat lives on mice   
and other animal food4 ,and  it is      
generally assumed that the respective   
diets are the most natural  in each     
case1 and those on which the animals in 
question will readiest  thrive1 and     
indeed that they could not well live on 
any other4 ,but  nothing of the kind4   
,for cats can be bred up to live on     
oatmeal and milk  with next to no meat2 
and a sheep has been known to get on    
very  comfortably on a diet of port wine
 and mutton chops6 ,dogs1 whose  natural
 food in the wild state is of the animal
 kind1 are undoubtedly  much healthier  
7at any rate in the domestic state7 when
 kept on  farinaceous substances with   

little or no meat1 and indeed they take 
so  kindly to a vegetable diet that they
 sometimes become perfect nuisances  in 
a garden--eating strawberries1          
gooseberries1 peas1 etc41 freely off    
the beds when they have once learned the
 habit4 ,any one1 in fact1 who  has kept
 many pets knows what an astonishing    
variety of food they may be  made to    
adopt1 though each animal in the wild   
state has the most  intensely narrow    
prejudices on the subject1 and will     
perish rather than  overstep the customs
 of its tribe4 ,thus pheasants will eat 
fern-roots  in winter when snow covers  
the ground1 but the grouse don't eat    
fern-roots1 and die in consequence4 ,a  
wolf of an inquiring turn of mind  would
 probably find strawberries and peas as 
good food as a dog does1  but it is     
practically certain that any ordinary   
member of the genus  would perish in a  
garden full of the same if deprived of  
his customary  bones4    ,all this seems
 to indicate what an immensely important

 part mere custom  plays in the life of 
men and animals4 ,the main part of the  
power which  man acquires over the      
animals depends upon his establishing   
habits in  them which1 once established1
 they never think of violating3 and the 
almost insuperable nature of this force 
in animals throws back light on  the    
part it plays in human life4    ,of     
course1 ,i am not contending in the     
above remarks upon food that there  is  
no physiological difference between a   
dog and a sheep in the matter  of their 
digestive organs1 and that the one is   
not by the nature of its  body more     
fitted for one kind of food than the    
other2 but rather that we  should not   
neglect the importance of mere habit in 
such matters4 ,custom  changed first2   
the change of physiological structure   
followed slowly  after4 ,what happened  
was probably something like this4 ,some 
time in the  far back past a group of   
animals1 driven perhaps by necessity1   
took to  hunting in packs in the woods2 

it developed a modified physical        
structure in consequence1 and special   
habits which in the course of time      
became deeply fixed in the race4        
,another group saved its life by taking 
to grazing4 ,grass is poor food2 but it 
was the only chance this group  had1 and
 in time it got so accustomed to eating 
grass that it could not  imagine any    
other form of diet1 and at first would  
refuse even oysters  when placed in its 
way6 ,another group saw an opening in   
trees2 it  developed a long neck and    
became the giraffe4 ,but the fact that  
the  giraffe lives on leaves1 and the   
sheep on grass1 and the wolf on animal  
matter1 and that custom is in each so   
strong that at first the creature  will 
refuse any other kind of diet1 does not 
of itself prove that that  diet is the  
best or most physiologically suitable   
for it4 ,in other  words1 it is an      
assumption to suppose that adaptation to
 environment  is the sole or even the   
main factor in the constitution of      

well-marked  varieties or genera2 for   
this is to neglect 7among other things7 
the  force of mere use or wont1 which   
has about the same import in            
race-growth that momentum has in        
dynamics2 and causes the race1 once     
started in any direction1 to maintain   
its line of movement--and often in      
despite of its environment--even for    
thousands of years4    ,returning to man
 we see him enveloped in a myriad       
customs--local  customs1 class customs1 
race customs1 family customs1 religious 
customs2  customs in food1 customs in   
clothing1 customs in furniture1 form of 
habitation1 industrial production1 art1 
social and municipal and  national life1
 etc42 and the question arises1 ,where  
is the grain of  necessity which        
underlies it all8 ,how much in each case
 is due to a  real fitness in nature1   
and how much to mere otiose habit6 ,the 
first  thing that meets my eye in       
glancing out of the window is a tile on 
a  neighboring roof4 ,why are tiles made

 ,s-shaped in some localities and  flat 
in others8 ,surely the conditions of    
wind and rain are much the same  in all 
places4 ,perhaps far back there was a   
reason1 but now nothing  remains        
but--custom4 ,why do we sit on chairs   
instead of on the floor1 as  the        
,japanese do1 or on cushions like the   
,turk8 ,it is a custom1 and  perhaps it 
suits with our other customs4 ,the more 
we look into our life  and consider the 
immense variety of habit in every       
department of  it--even under conditions
 to all appearances exactly similar--the
 more  are we impressed by the absence  
of any very serious necessity in the    
forms we ourselves are accustomed to4   
,each race1 each class1 each  section of
 the population1 each unit even1 vaunts 
its own habits of life  as superior to  
the rest1 as the only true and          
legitimate forms2 and  peoples and      
classes will go to war with each other  
in assertion of their  own special      
beliefs and practices2 but the question 

that rather presses  upon the ingenuous 
and inquiring mind is1 whether any of us
 have got  hold of much true life at    
all8--whether we are not rather mere    
multitudinous varieties of caddis-worms 
shuffled up in the cast-off  skins and  
clothes and dbris of those who have gone
 before us1 and with  very little       
vitality of our own perceptible within8 
,how many times a day  do we perform an 
action that is authentic and not a mere 
mechanical  piece of repetition8        
,indeed1 if our various actions and     
practices were  authentic and flowing   
from the true necessity1 perhaps we     
shouldn't  quarrel with each other over 
them so often as we do4    ,and then to 
come to the subject of morals4 ,these   
also are  customs--divergent to the last
 degree among different races1 at       
different times1 or in different        
localities2 customs for which it is     
often difficult to find any ground in   
reason or the fitness of things4        
,thieving is supposed to be             

discountenanced among us1 yet our       
present-day  trade-morality sanctions it
 in a thousand different forms2 and the 
respectable usurer 7who can hardly be   
said to be other than a thief7  takes a 
high place at the table of life4 ,to    
hunt the earth for game has  from time  
immemorial been considered the natural  
birthright and  privilege of man1 until 
the landlord class 7whom wicked         
,socialists now  denounce67 invented the
 crime of poaching and hanged men for   
it4 ,as to  marriage customs1 in        
different times and among different     
peoples1 they  have been simply         
innumerable4 ,and here the sense of     
inviolability in  each case is most     
powerful4 ,the severest penalties1 the  
most stringent  public opinion1 biting  
deep down into the individual           
conscience1 enforce  the various codes  
of various times and places2 yet they   
all contradict  each other4 ,polygamy in
 one country1 polyandry in the next2    
brother and  sister marriage allowed at 

one time1 marriage with your mother's   
cousin  forbidden at another2           
prostitution sacred in the temples of   
antiquity1  trampled under foot in the  
gutters of our great cities of to-day2  
monogamy respectable in one land1 a mark
 of class-inferiority in  another2      
celibacy scorned by some sections of    
people1 accepted as the  highest state  
by others2 and so on4    ,what are we to
 conclude from all this8 ,is it         
possible1 once we have  fairly faced the
 immense variety of human life in every 
department of  arts1 manners1 and       
morals--a variety1 too1 existing in a   
vast number of  cases under conditions  
to all intents and purposes quite       
similar--is it  possible ever again to  
suppose that the particular practices   
which we  are accustomed to are very    
much better 7or1 indeed1 very much      
worse7  than the particular practices   
which others are accustomed to8 ,we have
  been born1 as ,i said at first1 into a
 sheath of custom which enfolds us  with

 our swaddling-clothes4 ,when we begin  
to grow to manhood we see what  sort of 
a thing it is which surrounds us4 ,it is
 an old husk now4 ,it does  not bear    
looking into2 it is rotten1 it is       
inconsistent1 it is  thoroughly         
indefensible2 yet very likely we have to
 accept it4 ,the  caddis-worm has grown 
to its tube and cannot leave it4 ,a     
little spark of  vitality amid a heap of
 dead matter1 all it can do is to make  
its  dwelling a little more convenient  
in shape for itself1 or 7like the  coral
 insect7 to prolong its growth in the   
most favourable direction for  those    
that come after4 ,the class1 the caste1 
the locality1 the age in  which we were 
born has determined our form of life1   
and in that form  very likely we must   
remain4 ,but a change has come over our 
minds4 ,the  vauntings of earlier days  
we abandon4 ,we1 at any rate1 are no    
better  than anybody else1 and at best1 
alas6 are only half alive4    ,if these1
 then1 are our conclusions1 is it not   

with justice that  children and early   
races keep so rigidly to the narrow path
 that custom  has made for them8 ,have  
they not an instinctive feeling that to 
forsake  custom would be to launch out  
on a trackless sea where life would     
cease  to have any special purpose or   
direction1 and morality would be utterly
  gulfed8 ,custom for them is the line  
of their growth2 it is the  coral-branch
 from the end of which the next insect  
builds2 it is the  hardening bark of the
 tree-twig which determines the         
direction of the  growing shoot4 ,it may
 be merely arbitrary1 this custom1 but  
that they do  not know2 its appearance  
of finality and necessity may be quite  
illusive2 but the illusion is necessary 
for life1 and the arbitrariness  is just
 what makes one life different from     
another4 ,till he grows to  manhood1 the
 human being1 he cannot do without it4  
,and when he grows to manhood1 what     
then8 ,why he dies1 and so becomes      
alive4 ,the caddis-fly leaves his tube  

behind and soars into the upper  air2   
the creature abandons its barnacle      
existence on the rock and swims  at     
large in the sea4 ,for it is just when  
we die to custom that1 for the  first   
time1 we rise into the true life of     
humanity2 it is just when we  abandon   
all prejudice of our own superiority    
over others1 and become  convinced of   
our entire indefensibleness1 that the   
world opens out with  comrade faces in  
all directions2 and when we perceive how
 entirely  arbitrary is the setting of  
our own life1 that the whole structure  
collapses on which our apartness from   
others rests1 and we pass easily  and at
 once into the great ocean of freedom   
and equality4    ,this is1 as it were1 a
 new departure for man1 for which even  
to-day the  old world1 overlaid with    
myriad customs now brought into obvious 
and  open conflict with each other1 is  
evidently preparing4 ,the period of     
human infancy is coming to an end4 ,now 
comes the time of manhood and  true     

vitality4    ,possibly this is a law of 
history1 that when man has run through  
every  variety of custom a time comes   
for him to be freed from it--that is1 he
  uses it indifferently according to his
 requirements1 and is no longer a  slave
 to it2 all human practices find their  
use1 and none are forbidden4  ,at this  
point1 whenever reached1 morals come to 
an end and humanity  takes its          
place--that is to say1 there is no      
longer any code of action1  but the one 
object of all action is the deliverance 
of the human being  and the             
establishment of equality between       
oneself and another1 the entry  into a  
new life1 which new life when entered   
into is glad and perfect1  because there
 is no more any effort or strain in it2 
but it is the  recognition of oneself in
 others1 eternally4    ,far as custom   
has carried man from man1 yet when at   
last in the  ever-branching series the  
complete human being is produced1 it    
knows at  once its kinship with all the 

other forms4 ,i have passed my spirit in
  determination and compassion round the
 whole earth1 and found only  equals and
 lovers4 ,more1 it knows its kinship    
with the animals4 ,it sees  that it is  
only habit1 an illusion of difference1  
that divides2 and it  perceives after   
all that it is the same human creature  
that flies in the  air1 and swims in the
 sea1 or walks biped upon the land4     
,the two following chapters--though not 
part of the original work--are  included
 in the present edition because they    
form continuations or  expansions of the
 chapters which criticise modern        
,science and modern  ,morality          
respectively4 ,the chapter entitled ,a  
,rational and ,humane  ,science is in   
fact a reprint of an address given      
before the  ,humanitarian ,league in    
,london in #ahif4 ,it was first included
 in the  present volume in #aijf4 ,the  
chapter entitled ,the ,new ,morality is1
 with  slight alterations1 a reprint of 
an article which appeared in the        

,albany ,review in ,september1 #aijg1   
under the title ,morality under         
,socialism2 and it now appears in the   
present book for the first time4        
,a ,,rational ,,and ,,humane ,,science  
,in bringing before you this subject of 
a ,rational and ,humane ,science you    
will perhaps forgive me if ,i dwell for 
a few moments on some points of         
personal history in relation to it4     
,after reading mathematics for some     
four years at ,cambridge1 it happened to
 me for the next ten years or so  to be 
engaged in the study of the physical    
sciences1 and in lectures on  these     
subjects4 ,naturally1 during the earlier
 part of this period ,i  accepted the   
current methods and conclusions without 
any question4 ,but  as time went on ,i  
became aware of a certain               
dissatisfaction2 ,i felt that  many of  
the laws of ,science1 enounced as       
universal truths1 were of very  limited 
application only1 that many of the      
conclusions1 so strongly  insisted on1  

were of quite doubtful validity2 and at 
last this  increasing dissatisfaction   
culminated in a rather violent attack or
  criticism of ,modern ,science which ,i
 wrote and published about the year     
#ahhd4dj    ,now1 looking back1 at this 
interval of time1 though ,i admit that  
my  attack was somewhat hasty and crude 
in detail1 ,i feel that in its main     
contention it was thoroughly justified1 
and ,i do not feel the least  inclined  
to withdraw it4    ,what was that main  
contention8 ,it was as follows4 ,modern 
,science is an  attempt 7and no doubt it
 would accept this definition of itself7
 to  survey and classify the phenomena  
of the world in the pure dry light of   
the intellect1 uncoloured by feeling2   
and so far is an effort to  separate the
 intellectual in man from the merely    
perceptive1 the  emotional1 the moral1  
and so forth4 ,it was in this very fact 
that my  criticism lay2 for ,i contended
 that such a separation was in the long 
run quite impossible4    ,but before    

proceeding to defend this position1 let 
me admit at once that  this attempt of  
,modern ,science to get rid of human    
feeling and to look  at everything in   
the dry light of the intellect was in   
some respects a  very grand one4 ,when  
you consider what the ,old-time ,science
 was1 with  its fancies and prejudices1 
its dragons pasturing upon the sun and  
moon  in eclipses1 its immolations of   
hundreds of human beings to appease some
  god of pestilence or earthquake1 its  
panics1 its superstitions1 and its      
incapability of regarding anything      
except from the point of view of that   
thing's influence on man's own comfort  
and his little hopes and fears1  it was 
indeed a grand advance to try and see   
facts1 uncoloured and for  themselves   
alone4 ,it was an effort of ,man as it  
were to rise above  himself1 to which ,i
 accord the fullest credit and honour4  
,and yet1 during the time spoken of1 it 
kept growing on me3 first1 that  the    
attempt was an impossible one2 secondly1

 that the ,science so-called  was not a 
true ,science2 and thirdly1 that in its 
pretence to an  intellectual exactitude 
which it did not really possess1 this   
,modern  ,science was leading to a      
narrow-mindedness and a dogmatism as bad
 as the  old4    ,there is in fact 7so  
,i think7 a fallacy in the attempt4 ,but
 how shall ,i  describe it8 ,our        
relations to the world may1 quite       
roughly speaking1 be  divided into three
 groups--those that are sensuous and    
perceptional1  those that are purely    
intellectual1 and those that are of an  
emotional  and moral order4 ,take any   
object of ,nature--a bird1 for instance4
 ,we may  look upon the bird as an      
object of sense-perceptions--its form1  
its  colour1 its song1 and so forth4    
,some people attain to extraordinary    
skill and quickness in this department1 
recognising in a moment the note  or    
even the flight of a songster4 ,then    
again we may look upon the bird  from   
the intellectual side--we may study it  

in relation to its  surroundings--the   
form of its wings1 the length of its    
leg1 the  character of its beak1 and    
their adaptation to its habits1 to its  
locality1 to its food1 and so forth4    
,thus we may get a whole series of      
purely intellectual results--relations  
of the bird to the world in which  it   
lives4 ,this is the special field of the
 present-day ,science4 ,but1  again1 we 
may regard the bird in its emotional and
 moral relations to  us4 ,one man at the
 sight of it may be affected with       
admiration of its  beauty1 with         
tenderness towards it1 or sympathy2     
another may be  stimulated to wonder    
whether he can kill it1 or whether it is
 good to  eat6 ,modern ,science is      
indifferent to what this last set of    
relations  may be2 it does not concern  
itself much with the first2 but it takes
 the  middle term1 the purely           
intellectual1 and seeks to abstract that
 from  the others1 to study the bird1 or
 whatever the object may be1 in the one 

aspect only4 ,but can that really be    
done8 ,the answer is1 of course1 ,no4   
,to show my general meaning1 and why ,i 
consider the claim an impossible  one1  
let us imagine a little cell--one of the
 myriads which constitute  the human    
body--professing in the same sort of way
 to stand outside the  body and explain 
the laws of the other cells and the body
 at large4 ,it  is obvious that the     
little cell1 swept along in the currents
 of the body  and swayed by its         
emotions1 in close proximity and contact
 with some  portions of the organism1   
and far remote from others1 cannot      
possibly  pretend to any such impartial 
judgment4 ,it is obvious not only that  
it  would not have all the clues of the 
problem at its command1 but that its    
own needs and experiences would         
prejudice it frightfully in the         
interpretation of such clues as it had4 
,yet man is such a little cell in  the  
body of ,nature1 or1 if you like1 in the
 body of the ,society of which  he forms

 a part4    ,there is1 however1 one way1
 it seems to me1 in which a cell in the 
human body might come to an adequate    
understanding of the body2 and  that    
would be rather through experience than 
through direct reasoning4  ,it is       
conceivable that there might be some    
cell in the body which1  through the    
nerves1 etc41 was in actual touch and   
sympathetic  relationship with every    
other cell4 ,then it certainly would    
have the  materials of the required     
solution4 ,every change in other parts  
of the  body would register itself in   
this particular cell2 and its little    
brain  7if it had one71 without exactly 
making any great effort1 would reflect  
sympathetically the structure of the    
whole body--would become1 in fact1  a   
mirror of it4 ,this will perhaps give   
you the key to my notion of what  a true
 ,science might be4    ,but before      
proceeding to that1 ,i want to go a     
little more in detail into  the fallacy 
of the absolute intellectual view of    

,science4 ,i say1 first1  that a        
complete summary of any object or       
process in ,nature is  impossible2      
secondly1 that such summary as we do    
make is1 and must  inevitably and       
necessarily be1 coloured by the         
underlying feeling with  which we       
approach that phase of ,nature4    ,to  
take the first point4 ,you say1 ,why is 
a complete summary not  possible8 ,a    
watch or other machine may be completely
 described and  defined2 why should not 
7with a little more knowledge7 a        
fir-tree1 or  the human eye1 or the     
solar system1 be completely described   
and defined8    ,and this brings us to  
what may be called the ,machine-view of 
,science4  ,it is curious 7and yet ,i   
think it will presently be seen that it 
is  quite what might have been expected7
 that during this century or so1 in     
which ,machinery has played such an     
important part in our daily and  social 
life1 mechanical ideas have come to     
colour all our conceptions of  ,science 

and the ,universe4 ,modern ,science     
holds it as a kind of ideal  7even      
though finding it at times difficult to 
realise7 to reduce  everything to       
mechanical action1 and to show each     
process of ,nature  intelligible in the 
same sense as a ,machine is             
intelligible4 ,yet this  conception1    
this ideal1 involves a complete fallacy4
 ,for the moment you  come to think of  
it1 you see that no part of ,nature     
really even  resembles a machine4       
,what is a machine in the ordinary      
sense8 ,it is an aggregation of parts   
put together to fulfil certain definite 
actions and no others4 ,a               
sewing-machine fulfils the purpose of   
sewing1 a watch fulfils that of  keeping
 time1 and they fulfil those purposes   
only4 ,all their parts  subserve those  
actions1 and in that sense may be       
completely  described--as far as just   
their mechanical action is              
concerned--the same  by a thousand      
mechanicians4 ,but ,i make bold to say  

that no object in  ,nature fulfils just 
one action1 or series of actions1 and no
 others4 ,on  the contrary1 every object
 fulfils an endless series of actions4  
,let us take the ,human ,eye4 ,and ,i   
choose this as an instance most adverse 
to my position1 for there is no doubt   
that the ,human ,eye is one of the  most
 highly specialised objects in creation4
 ,helmholtz1 as you know1 is  said to   
have remarked concerning it that if an  
,optician had sent him an  instrument so
 defective he should have returned it   
with his compliments4  ,helmholtz was a 
great man1 and ,i will not do him the   
injustice to  suppose that he did not   
know what he was saying4 ,he knew that1 
regarded  as a machine for focussing    
rays of light1 the eye was decidedly    
defective2 but then he knew well enough1
 doubtless1 why it was                  
defective--namely1 because it is by no  
means merely such a machine1 but  a     
great deal more4    ,the ,eye1 in fact1 
not only fulfils the action of focussing

 rays of  light--like an ,opera ,glass  
or a ,telescope--but it might be        
compared to  another instrument1 a      
,photographic ,camera1 in respect of the
 fact that  it forms a picture of the   
outer world which it throws on a        
sensitive  plate at the back--the       
,retina4 ,but then1 again1 it is unlike 
any of  these machines1 in the fact that
 it was never made by any ,optician1    
human or divine1 for any one definite   
purpose4 ,on the contrary1 as we  know1 
it has grown1 it has evolved2 it has    
come down to us over the  centuries1 and
 over thousands and thousands of        
centuries1 from dim  beginnings in the  
lowliest organisms who first conceived  
the faculty of  ,sight1 continually     
modified1 continually shapen by small   
increments in  various directions1 in   
accordance with the myriad needs of a   
myriad  creatures1 living1 some of them 
in water1 some of them in air1 requiring
  some of them to see at close quarters1
 some at great distances1 some by  one  

kind of light1 some by another1 and so  
forth4 ,so that to-day it not  only     
contains a great range of inherited1 yet
 latent1 faculties1 but it  is actually1
 in its complex structure1 an epitome   
and partial record of  its own          
extraordinary history4    ,as an        
instance of this last point1 let me     
remind you that ,sight was  originally a
 differentiation of ,touch4 ,the light1 
the shadows1 falling  on the sensitive  
general surface of a primitive organism 
provoke a  tactile irritation4 ,in the  
course of evolution this sense          
specialises  itself at some point of the
 surface into what we call ,sight4 ,now1
  to-day1 when the little picture formed
 by the fore-part of the ,human ,eye    
falls upon the ,retina at the back1 it  
falls upon a screen formed by the       
myriad congregated finger-tips1 so to   
speak1 of the optic nerve--the  rods and
 cones1 so-called--which cover like a   
mosaic the whole ground of  the ,retina1
 and feel with their sensitive points   

the images of the  objects in the outer 
world4 ,and so ,sight is still          
,touch--it is the power  of feeling or  
touching at a distance--as one sometimes
 in fact becomes  aware in looking at   
things4    ,but then again on and beyond
 all these things--beyond the focussing 
and  photographing of rays1 beyond the  
latent adaptations to the needs of      
innumerable creatures1 and the          
epitomising of ages of evolution--the   
,human ,eye has faculties even more     
far-reaching perhaps and wonderful4 ,it 
is the marvellous organ of human        
,expression4 ,by the dilatations and    
contractions of the iris1 by the        
altering convexities of the lens and    
the eyeball1 and in a hundred other     
ways1 it manages somehow to convey      
intelligence of ,command1 ,control1     
,power1 of ,pity1 ,love1 ,sympathy1 and 
all those myriad emotions which flit    
through the human mind--an endless      
series--a perfect encyclopdia4 ,it is   
difficult even to imagine the eye       

without this power of language4 ,and    
what other functions it may have it  is 
not necessary to inquire4 ,highly       
specialised though it is1 it is  already
 obvious enough that to call it a       
,machine for focussing rays of  light is
 monstrously and ludicrously            
inadequate--even as it would be to  call
 the ,heart 7the very centre of emotion 
and life1 and the symbol of  human love 
and courage7 a common ,pump4    ,nature 
is an infinitude1 and can at no point be
 circumscribed by the  human intellect4 
,nor obviously is there any sense in    
taking one little  portion of ,nature   
and isolating it from the rest1 and then
 describing it  exhaustively as if it   
really were so isolated4 ,a thousand    
mechanicians  will agree1 as ,i have    
said1 in their description of a machine1
 because  in fact they will agree to    
view the machine just in the one aspect 
of  its particular action2 but ask a    
thousand people to describe one and the 
same face--or1 better still1 get a      

thousand portrait-painters1 skilled  in 
their art1 to paint portraits of the    
same face--and you know  perfectly well 
that all the likenesses will be         
different4 ,and why will  they be       
different8 ,simply because every face1  
however rude1 has infinite  sides1      
infinite aspects1 and each painter      
selects what he paints from  his own    
point of view4 ,and the same is true of 
every object and process  in ,nature4   
,then if these things are true 7you ask 
again7 how is it that scientific  men do
 arrive at definite conclusions1 and do 
agree with each other so  far as they   
do8    ,it is1 and obviously must be1 by
 the method of isolation2 by the method 
of selecting certain aspects of the     
problems presented to them1 and         
ignoring others4 ,for since all the     
relations of any phenomenon of  ,nature 
cannot possibly be compassed1 the only  
way must be to ignore  some and         
concentrate attention on others2 and    
when there is a kind of  tacit agreement

 as to which aspects shall be passed    
over and which  considered1 there is    
naturally an agreement in the results4  
,thus by this  method1 waiving all other
 aspects of the problem1 the ,eye may be
  described and defined as an optical   
instrument1 the ,heart as a common      
,pump1 and the ,solar ,system as a neat 
illustration of certain mechanical  laws
 discovered by ,galileo and ,newton4    
,on the subject of the ,solar ,system   
and ,astronomy ,i will dwell for a few  
moments1 as here--in this great example 
of the perfection of ,modern            
,science--we have again a case          
apparently most adverse to my           
contention4  ,the generalisations by    
which ,newton established the nature of 
the  planetary orbits has been a wonder 
to succeeding generations2 the          
positions of the planets can be         
foretold1 eclipses can be calculated    
with amazing accuracy4 ,yet every tyro  
in ,mathematics knows that the          
equations which give these results can  

only be solved by what is called        
neglecting small quantities--that is1   
the problems cannot be solved in  their 
entirety1 but by leaving out certain    
terms and elements1 which do  not appear
 important1 a solution can be           
approached4 ,and naturally it has  been 
an important point to show that these   
small quantities may be  safely         
neglected4 ,in the case1 for instance1  
of the orbits of the  planets round the 
sun1 and of the moon round the earth1 it
 was for a  long time taken as proved   
that the small variations in the shape  
and  position of each elliptic orbit    
would never be accompanied by any       
permanent increase or diminution in its 
size--that is1 that the mean  distances 
of the planets from the sun1 and of the 
moon from the earth1  would always      
remain within certain limits4 ,of late  
years however  ,professor ,george       
,darwin1 taking up one of these poor    
little neglected  quantities in the     
theory of the moon1 found that it       

indicated after all  very vast and very 
permanent1 though of course very slow1  
changes in her  mean distance from the  
earth2 so that now it appears probable  
that the  ,moon's true orbit1 instead of
 being a limited ellipse1 is a          
continually  though gradually enlarging 
,spiral1 which may some day carry the   
,moon to  a great distance from the     
earth4 ,if an eclipse were calculated   
for  twenty years in advance on the     
,elliptic theory or the ,spiral theory1 
it  would probably--so slow would be the
 divergence--make no perceptible        
difference2 but in a hundred centuries  
the two theories would lead to  results 
utterly different4    ,thus the         
certitude of ,astronomy as a ,science   
arises largely from the  fact that our  
times are so brief compared with        
,celestial periods4 ,the  proper periods
 of ,celestial changes are to be        
reckoned by thousands1  perhaps         
millions1 of years2 but we1 ignoring    
that aspect of the  problem1 fix our    

observations on one little point of     
time1 and are quite  satisfied with the 
result6    ,as another illustration of  
my meaning1 consider the ,fixed ,stars1 
so-called4 ,these stars in their groups 
and clusters1 which we know so  well by 
sight1 have remained apparently in the  
very same1 or nearly the  same1 relative
 positions during all the #b1jjj or     
#c1jjj years that we  have any record of
 the shapes of the ,constellations4 ,yet
 now by minute  telescopic and          
spectroscopic examination we know that  
they are moving1  and have been moving  
all the time1 in various differing      
directions with  great velocities1      
amounting to miles per second4          
,nevertheless1 so great  are the spaces 
concerned1 so great the times1 that all 
this long period  has not sufficed to   
bring them into any greatly changed     
attitude with  regard to each other6    
,what would you think of an intelligent 
foreigner  who1 coming to ,england to   
study the game of cricket1 remained on  

the  cricket field for a quarter of a   
minute--during which time the players   
would have hardly changed their         
positions--and having noted a few       
points1 went away and wrote a volume on 
the laws of the game8 ,and what  are we 
to think of poor little ,man who1 having
 noted the stars for a  few centuries1  
is so sure that he understands their    
movements1 and that  he is versed in all
 the ordinances of heaven4    ,thus it  
would appear that every ,nature-problem 
is so enormously complex  that it can   
only be got at by what we have called   
the ,method of  ,ignorance4 ,let us take
 a practical ,science problem like that 
of  ,vaccination4 ,the question here1   
put in its simplest terms1 seems to be1 
,whether ,vaccination1 with calf or     
human lymph1 prevents or alleviates     
,smallpox2 and if it does1 whether it   
does so without engendering other  evils
 at least as great4 ,at first sight this
 may appear to you a very  simple       
question1 and easy to solve2 but the    

moment you come to think  about it1 you 
see its extreme complexity4 ,in the     
first place1 it is  obvious that in a   
question like this1 individual cases    
afford no test4  ,it is obvious that the
 fact that ,a4 is vaccinated and has not
 taken  small-pox proves nothing1 for   
there is nothing to show that he would  
have taken it if he had not been        
vaccinated4 ,and when you have got      
people vaccinated by the hundred and the
 thousand1 you still are not  certain2  
for these people may belong to a certain
 class1 or a certain  locality1 or may  
have certain habits and conditions of   
life1 which may  account for their      
comparative immunity1 and these causes  
must be  eliminated before any definite 
conclusion can be reached4 ,thus it is  
not  till the great mass of the         
population is vaccinated that we can    
expect  reliable statistics4 ,but the   
introduction of a practice of this kind 
on  so great a scale necessarily takes a
 long period of years1 and meanwhile    

changes are taking place in the habits  
of the people1 ,sanitation is  being    
improved1 customs of ,diet are altering1
 possibly 7as so often  happens in the  
history of an epidemic7 the disease1    
having run its  course1 is beginning    
spontaneously to decline4 ,and thus     
another series  of possible causes has  
to be discussed4    ,then1 supposing the
 question1 notwithstanding all these    
difficulties1 to  be so far settled in  
favour of the present system--there     
still arises  that whole other series of
 difficulties with regard to the        
possibility  of the spread of other     
diseases by the practice1 and with      
regard to  the extent of such spread1   
before we can arrive at any finale4     
,this  series of questions is almost as 
complex as the other2 and it includes   
that great element of uncertainty--the  
question what interval of time  may     
elapse between inoculation with a       
disease and its actual appearance4  ,for
 if in several cases children break out 

with erysipelas immediately  after      
vaccination1 of course there is a       
certain presumption that  vaccination   
has been the cause2 but if the          
erysipelas only appears some  years     
after1 its connection with the operation
 may1 though real1 be  impossible to    
trace4    ,the matter standing thus1 it 
seems to us almost a mystery how it was 
that the medical authorities of the     
early days of ,jennerism were so        
cocksure of their conclusions--until we 
remember that in arriving at  those     
conclusions they practically ignored all
 these other points  that ,i have       
mentioned1 like changes of ,sanitation1 
spontaneous decline  of ,small-pox1 the 
spread of other diseases1 etc41 and     
simply limited  themselves to one small 
aspect of the problem4 ,but now1 after  
this  interval of time1 when the        
neglected facts and aspects have        
meanwhile  forced themselves on our     
attention1 how remarkable is the change 
of  attitude as evidenced by the finding

 of the late ,royal ,commission6        
7#ahif74    ,from all this do not       
understand me to deride ,science--for ,i
 have no  intention of doing that2 on   
the contrary1 ,i think the debt we owe  
to  modern investigation quite          
incalculable2 but ,i only wish to warn  
you how  complex all these problems are1
 how impossible that notion of settling 
even one of them by a cut-and-dried     
intellectual formula4    ,but you will  
ask 7for this is the second point ,i    
mentioned some little  time back7 how   
people's emotions and feelings come in  
to colour their  scientific conclusions8
 ,and the answer is--very simply1 namely
 by  directing their choice as to what  
aspects of the problem they will  ignore
 and what aspects they will envisage2 by
 determining their point  of view1 in   
fact4 ,to return to that illustration of
 several  portrait-painters painting the
 same face2 just as each painter is led 
by  his feeling1 his sympathies1 his    
general temperament1 to select certain  

points in the face and to pass over     
others1 so each group of scientific  men
 in each generation is led by its       
sympathies1 its idiosyncrasies1 to      
envisage certain aspects of the problems
 of the day and to ignore  others4      
,the whole history of ,science          
illustrates this4 ,we are all familiar  
with  the way in which the predilections
 of religious feeling in the time of    
,copernicus and ,galileo retarded the   
progress of astronomical ,science4 ,as  
long as people believed that a divine   
drama of redemption had been  enacted on
 this earth alone1 they naturally       
concluded that this earth  was the      
centre of the universe1 and refused to  
look at facts which  contradicted their 
conclusion4 ,when ,galileo turned his   
newly-made  telescope on ,jupiter and   
saw it circled by its satellites1 he saw
 in  this an image of the ,copernican   
system and of the planets circling round
  the central ,sun2 but when he asked   
others to share his observation and  his

 inference1 they would not4 ,o1 my dear 
,kepler1 he writes in a  letter to his  
fellow astronomer1 how ,i wish we could 
have one hearty  laugh together4 ,here  
at ,padua is the principal ,professor of
 ,philosophy1  whom ,i have repeatedly  
and urgently requested to look at the   
moon and  planets through my glass2 but 
he pertinaciously refuses to do so4     
,what  shouts of laughter we should have
 at this glorious folly6    ,and though 
we laugh at the folly of those before   
us1 we do the same  things ourselves    
to-day4 ,take the science of ,political 
,economy4 ,a  revolution has taken place
 in that1 almost comparable to the      
change from  the geocentric to the      
heliocentric view in ,astronomy4 ,during
 the  distinctively commercial period of
 the last #ajj years1 the leading       
students of social science1 being       
themselves filled with the spirit of    
the time1 have been fain to look upon   
the acquisition of private wealth  as   
the one absorbing motive of human       

nature2 and so it has come about  that  
the economists1 from ,adam ,smith to    
,john ,stuart ,mill1 have founded  their
 science on self-seeking and            
competition1 as the base of their       
analysis4 ,to-day another series of     
economists coming to the front--their   
minds preoccupied with the great facts  
of ,community of life and               
,co-operation--have discovered that     
,society is in the main an  illustration
 of these latter principles1 and have   
evolved a quite new  phase of the       
science4 ,it is not that ,society has   
changed so much during  this period1 as 
that the altered point of view of the   
students of  ,society has caused them   
simply to fix their attention on a      
different  aspect of the problem and a  
different range of facts4    ,i have    
alluded already to the way in which the 
prevalent use of  ,machinery in         
practical life has affected our mental  
outlook on the  world4 ,it is curious   
that during this mechanical age of the  

last #ajj  years or so1 we have not only
 come to regard ,society in a mechanical
  light1 as a concourse of separate     
individuals bound together by a mere    
cash-nexus1 but have extended the same  
idea to the universe at large1  which we
 look upon as a concourse of separate   
atoms1 associated together  by          
gravitation1 or possibly by mere mutual 
impact4 ,yet it is certain  that both   
these views are false1 since the        
individuals who compose  ,society are   
not separate from each other2 and the   
theory that the  universe1 in its       
ultimate analysis1 is composed of a vast
 number of  discrete atoms is simply    
unthinkable4    ,when we come to a      
practical and modern question like      
,medicine1 the  influence of the spirit 
in which it is approached on the course 
of the  science is very easy to see4    
,for if the science of ,medicine is     
approached 7as it perhaps mostly is     
to-day7 in a spirit of combined ,fear   
and ,self-indulgence--fear for one's own

 personal safety1 combined with a  kind 
of anxiety to continue living in the    
indulgence of habits known to  be       
unhealthy--if it is approached in this  
uncomfortable and  contradictory state  
of mind1 it is pretty obvious that its  
course will  be similarly uncomfortable3
 that it will consist for the most part 
in a  search for drugs which shall1     
without effort on our part1 palliate the
  effects of our misconduct2 in the     
discovery1 as in a kind of nightmare1   
that the air round us is full of        
billions of microbes2 in a terrified    
study of these messengers of disease1   
and in a frantic effort to ward  them   
off by inoculations1 vaccinations1      
vivisections1 and so forth1  without    
end4    ,if1 on the other hand1 the     
science is approached from quite a      
different  side--from that of the love  
of ,health1 and the desire to make life 
lovely1 beautiful and clean2 if the     
student is filled not only with  this1  
but with a great belief in the essential

 power of ,man1 and his  command in     
creation1 to control not only all these 
little microbes  whose name is ,legion1 
but through his mind all the processes  
of his  body2 then it is obvious enough 
that a whole series of different facts  
will arise before his eyes and become   
the subject of his study--facts of      
sanitation1 of the laws of cleanly life1
 diet1 clothing and so forth1  methods  
of control1 and the details and practice
 of the influence of the  mental upon   
the physical part of man--facts quite   
equally real with the  others1 equally  
important1 equally numerous perhaps and 
complex1 but  forming a totally         
different range of science4    ,in      
conclusion1 you begin to see doubtless  
that ,i do not believe in a  science of 
mere ,formulas1 which can be poured from
 one brain to another  like water in a  
pot4 ,i believe in something more       
organic to  ,humanity--which shall      
combine ,sense1 ,intellect and ,soul2   
which shall  include the keenest        

training of the ,senses1 the exactest   
use of the  ,brain1 and the             
subordination of both of these to the   
finest and most  generous attitude of   
,man towards ,nature4    ,to come to    
quite practical aspects1 ,i think that  
,physical ,science1 and  for that matter
 ,natural ,history too1 ought to be     
founded on the closest  observation and 
actual intimacy with ,nature4 ,it is    
notorious that in  many respects the    
perceptions1 the ,nature-intuitions1 of 
savage races  far outdo those of        
civilised man4 ,we have let that side go
 slack1 and  too often the man of       
science when he comes out of his study  
is a mere  baby in the external world4  
,i look back with a kind of shame when  
,i  think that ,i studied the           
mathematical side of ,astronomy for     
three or  four years at ,cambridge and  
absolutely at the time hardly knew one  
star  from another in the sky4 ,but such
 are the methods of teaching that have  
been in use4 ,they ought however to be  

reversed1 and practical  acquaintance   
with the facts should come a long way   
first1 and then be  succeeded by        
inductive and deductive reasoning when  
the difficulties of  the subject have   
forced themselves on the student's mind4
    ,then in ,natural ,history and      
,botany ,i think that we have hitherto  
not  only neglected the perceptive side1
 but also what may be called the        
intuitive and emotional aspects4 ,if any
 one will attend to the subject1  ,i    
believe they will perceive that there   
are dormant in the mind the  finest     
intuitions and instincts of relationship
 to the various animals  and            
plants--intuitions which have played a  
far more important part in  the life of 
barbaric races than they do to-day4#da  
,primitive peoples  have a remarkable   
instinct of the medicinal and dietetic  
uses of herbs  and plants--an instinct  
which we also find well developed among 
animals--and ,i believe that this kind  
of knowledge would grow largely  if1 so 

to speak1 it were given a chance4 ,the  
formal classification of  animals and   
plants--which now forms the main part of
 these  sciences--would then come in    
simply as an aid and an auxiliary to the
  more direct and human study4          
,again1 let us take the science of      
,physiology4 ,at present this is mainly 
carried on by means of ,dissection or   
,vivisection4 ,but both these methods   
are unsatisfactory4 ,dissection1 because
 it amounts to studying the             
organisation of a living creature by the
 examination of its dead  carcase2 and  
,vivisection1 because it is not only    
open to a similar  objection1 but       
because it necessarily violates the     
highest relation of  man to the animal  
he is studying4 ,there is1 ,i believe1  
another method--a  method which has been
 known in the ,east for centuries1      
though little  regarded in the          
,west--which may perhaps be called the  
method of ,health4  ,it consists in     
rendering the body1 by proper habits of 

life1 pure and  healthy1 till it        
becomes1 as it were1 transparent to the 
inner eye1 and  then projecting the     
consciousness inward so as to become    
almost as  sensible of the structure and
 function of the various internal       
organs1  as it usually is of the outer  
surface of the body4 ,of course this is 
a  process which cannot be effectuated  
at once1 and which may need help and    
corroboration by external methods of    
study1 but ,i believe it is one  which  
will lead to considerable results4      
,there is no doubt that many of  the    
,yogis of ,india attain to great skill  
in it4    ,similarly1 from what we have 
already said about ,political ,economy1 
it  is obvious that satisfactory results
 in that science must depend  immensely 
on the high degree of social instinct   
and feeling with which  the student     
approaches it1 and on the thoroughness  
of his acquaintance  with the actual    
life of a people2 and that the          
development of these  factors is fully  

as important a part of the science as   
that which  consists in the logical     
ordering and arrangement of the material
  obtained4    ,i need not1 ,i think1 go
 any further into detail of new methods 
in each  ,science4 ,you remember what ,i
 said at the beginning about the ,cell  
studying the ,body of which it formed a 
part4 ,we may imagine1 if we like1      
three stages in this process4 ,in the   
first stage the ,cell regards the  other
 cells and the ,body simply from the    
point of view of how they  affect it1   
and its comfort and safety4 ,this might 
be taken to  correspond to the ,old-time
 ,science4 ,in the second stage the     
,cell1 with  its tiny experience of the 
other cells and the small part of the   
body in  which it is placed1 becomes    
highly intellectual1 and professes to   
lay  down the laws of the structure of  
the body generally4 ,this corresponds   
to the attitude of ,modern ,science4 ,in
 the third stage the ,cell1 growing  and
 evolving1 and coming daily into closer 

sympathetic relationship with  all parts
 of the body1 begins to find its true   
relation to the other  cells1 not to use
 them1 but to fulfil its part in the    
whole4 ,gradually  drawing all the      
threads together and coming more and    
more1 so to say1  into a central        
position1 it at last in its little brain
 spontaneously  and inevitably reflects 
the whole1 and becomes the mirror of it4
 ,this  would answer to what we have    
called a really rational and humane     
,science4    ,man has to find and to    
feel his true relation to other         
creatures and  to the whole of which he 
is a part1 and has to use his brain to  
further  this4 ,science is1 as we all   
know1 the search for ,unity4 ,that is   
its  ideal4 ,it unites innumerable      
phenomena under one law2 and then it    
unites  many laws under one higher2     
always seeking for the ultimate complete
  integration4 ,but 7is it not obvious87
 ,man cannot find that unity of  the    
,whole until he feels his unity with the

 ,whole4 ,to found a ,science  of       
one-ness on the murderous ,warfare and  
insane ,competition of men with  each   
other1 and on the ,slaughter and        
,vivisection of animals--the search  for
 unity on the practice of disunity--is  
an absurdity1 which can only  in the    
long run reveal itself as such4    ,i do
 not know whether it seems obvious to   
you1 but it does to me1 that  ,man will 
never find in theory the unity of outer 
,nature till he reaches  in practice the
 unity of his own4 ,when he has learnt  
to harmonise in  himself all his powers1
 bodily and mental1 his desires1        
faculties1  needs1 and bring them into  
perfect co-operation--when he has found 
the  true hierarchy of himself--then    
somehow ,i think that ,nature round him 
will reflect this order1 and range      
itself in clear and intelligible        
harmony about him4    ,but ,i can say no
 more4 ,i have dragged you by the neck1 
as it were1  through a recondite and    
difficult subject2 and even so ,i do not

 feel  that ,i have by any means done   
justice to it4 ,but it is possible1     
perhaps1 that ,i have cast the germ of  
an idea among you1 which1 if you  think 
over it at leisure1 may develop into    
something of value4    ,,footnotes3     
#dj ,afterwards reprinted in a modified 
form1 as ,modern ,science--a            
,criticism1 in the first edition 7#ahhi7
 of the present book4    #da ,elise     
,reclus1 in his remarkable paper1 ,la   
,grande ,famille1 points  out the       
wide-reaching ,friendship1 and free     
alliance for various  purposes1 of      
primitive man with the animals1 existing
 long before the  so-called             
domestication of the latter4 ,see       
,humane ,review1 ,january1  #aijf4      
,,the ,,new ,,morality      ,the        
tendency of the ,evolution ,theory1 as  
it penetrates human thought1 is  to rub 
out lines--the old lines of formal      
classification4 ,we no longer  now put  
in a class apart those animals which    
have horns or cloven  hooves1 because we

 find that continuous descent and close 
kinship weave  relations which are not  
bounded by horns or hooves4 ,and1 for a 
not  dissimilar reason1 modern thought1 
based on the theory of evolution1 is    
tending to rub out the hard and fast    
lines between moral ,right and          
,wrong--the old formal classifications  
of actions as some in their  nature     
good1 and some in their nature bad4     
,the ,eastern1 or at least ,indian1     
thought and religion rubbed out these   
lines long ago4 ,its philosophy indeed  
was founded on a theory of              
,evolution--the continuous evolution or 
emanation of the ,many from the  ,one4  
,it could not therefore regard any class
 of beings or creatures as  essentially 
bad1 or any class of actions as         
essentially wrong1 since  all sprang    
from a common ,root4 ,the only essential
 evil was ignorance  7avidya7--that is1 
the fact of the being or creature not   
knowing or  perceiving its emanation    
from1 or kinship with1 the ,one--and of 

course  any action done under this      
condition of avidya1 however outwardly  
correct1 was essentially wrong2 while on
 the other hand all actions  done by    
beings fully realising and conscious of 
their union with the ,one  were         
necessarily right4    ,of this attitude 
towards ,right and ,wrong there are     
abundant instances in  the ,upanishads4 
,the choice of the path does not lie    
between ,good and  ,bad1 as in the      
,pilgrim's ,progress1 but it lies above 
and in a region  transcending them both4
 ,by the serenity of his thoughts a man 
blots out  all actions1 whether good or 
bad4#db ,he does not distress himself   
with the thought1 ,why did ,i not do    
what is good8 ,why did ,i do what is    
bad8#dc ,all religions indeed1 by the   
very fact of their being  religions1    
have indicated a sphere above morality1 
to which their  followers shall and must
 aspire4 ,what else is ,st4 ,paul's     
reiterated  charge to escape from the   
dominion of sin and law1 into the       

glorious  liberty of the children of    
,god8 ,and in all ages the great        
mystics--those  who stand near the      
fountain-sources of evolution and       
emanation--have  seen and said the same4
 ,says ,spinoza3--,with regard to good  
and evil1  these terms indicate nothing 
positive in things considered in        
themselves1 nor are they anything else  
than modes of thought1 or  notions which
 we form from the comparison of one     
thing with another4  ,for one and the   
same thing may at the same time be both 
good and evil1  or indifferent4#dd      
,here indeed1 in these pregnant words1  
we come upon the very root of the       
matter4 ,a thing1 an action1 may be     
called good or bad in respect to a      
certain purpose or object2 but in       
itself1 ,no4 ,wine may be good for the  
encouragement of sociability1 but may be
 bad for the liver4 ,the  ,sabbath-day  
may be pronounced a beneficial          
institution from some points  of view1  
but not from others4 ,a scrupulous      

respect for private property  may       
certainly be a help to settled social   
life2 but the practice of  thieving--as 
recommended by ,plato--may be very      
useful to check the lust  of private    
riches4 ,to speak of wine as in its     
nature good or bad is  manifestly       
absurd2 and the same of a pious respect 
for private property  or the            
,sabbath-day4 ,these things are good    
under certain conditions or  for certain
 purposes1 and bad under other          
conditions or for other  purposes4 ,but 
of course it belongs and goes with the  
brute externalising  tendency of the    
mind1 to stereotype the actual material 
thing--which  should be only the vehicle
 of the spirit--and give it a character 
and  a cult as good or bad4 ,the        
,sabbath ceases to be made for man1 and 
man is  made for the ,sabbath4 ,law1    
,custom1 ,pharisaism1 and               
,self-righteousness  spring up and usurp
 the sphere of morality1 and all the    
histories of  savage and civilised      

nations1 with their endless fetishes and
 taboos  and superstitions and          
ceremonies1 and caste-marks and         
phylacteries1 and  petty regulations and
 proprieties1--including bitter scorn   
and  persecution of those who do not    
fulfil them1--are but illustrations of  
this process4    ,all the prophets and  
saviours of the world have been for the 
,spirit as  against the letter--and the 
teachings of all religions have in their
  turn become literalised and           
fossilised6 ,perhaps there has been no  
greater anti-literal than ,jesus of     
,nazareth1 and yet perhaps no religion  
has become more a thing of forms and    
dogmas than that which passes under  his
 name4 ,even his counsels of ,gentleness
 and ,love--which one would  indeed have
 thought might escape this process--have
 been corrupted into  mere prescriptions
 of morality1 such as those of          
,non-resistance1 and of  philanthropic  
,altruism4    ,it seems strange indeed  
that so great a man as ,tolstoy should  

have lent  himself to this process--to  
the pinning down of the excellent spirit
 of  ,christ 7who by the way was man    
enough to drive the money-changers out  
of  the ,temple7 to a mere formula1 as  
one might pin a dragon-fly to a         
labelled card--,thou shalt not use      
,violence3 thou shalt not ,resist6 ,and 
all the while to cleave to a formula    
only means to admit the evil in  some   
other shape which the formula does not  
meet--to forswear the stick  only means 
to resort to rebuke and sarcasm in      
self-defence1 which may  inflict more   
pain and a deeper scar1 and in some     
cases more injury1  than the stick2 or  
if self-defence in any shape is quite   
forsworn then  that only means to resign
 and abandon one's place in the world   
completely4    ,and the same of the     
somewhat spooney ,altruism1 which was at
 one time  much recommended as the maxim
 of conduct4 ,for all the while it is   
notorious that the specially altruistic 
people are as a rule painfully  dull and

 uninteresting1 and afford far less life
 and charm to those  around them than   
many who are frankly egotistic2 and so  
by following a  formula of ,altruism it 
seems they wreck the very work they set 
before  themselves to do--namely1 that  
of making the world brighter6           
,against these weaknesses of            
,christianity ,nietzsche was a healthy  
reaction4 ,it was he insisted on the    
terms good and bad being  restored to   
their proper use1 as terms of           
relation--good for what8  bad for what8 
,but his reaction against maudlin       
altruism and  non-resistance led him    
towards a pitfall in the opposite       
direction1  towards the erection of the 
worship of ,force almost into a formula1
 ,thou  shalt use ,violence1 thou shalt 
,resist4 ,his contempt for the feeble   
and the spooney and the knock-kneed and 
the humbug is very delightful  and      
entertaining1 and1 as ,i say1 healthy in
 the sense of reaction2 but  one does   
not get a very clear idea what the      

strength which ,nietzsche  glorifies is 
for1 or whither it is going to lead4    
,his blonde beasts and  his laughing    
lions may represent the ,will to ,power2
 but ,nietzsche seems  to have felt1    
himself1 that this latter alone would   
not suffice1 and so  he passed on to his
 discovery or invention of the          
,beyond-man1--i4e4 of  a childlike being
 who1 without argument1 affirms and     
creates1 and  before whom institutions  
and conventions dissolve1 as it were of 
their  own accord4#de ,this was a stroke
 of genius2 but even so it leaves       
doubtful what the relation of such      
,beyond-men to each other may be1 and   
whether1 if they have no common source  
of life1 their actions will not  utterly
 cancel and destroy each other4    ,the 
truth is that ,nietzsche never really   
penetrated to the realisation  of that  
farther state of consciousness in which 
the deep underlying  unity of man with  
,nature and his fellows is perceived and
 felt4 ,he saw  apparently that there is

 a life and an inspiration of life      
beyond all  technical good and evil4    
,but for some reason--partly because of 
the  natural difficulty of the subject1 
partly perhaps because the ,eastern     
outlook was uncongenial to his mind--he 
never found the solution which  he      
needed2 and his outline of the ,superman
 remains cloudy and uncertain1  vague   
and variously interpreted by followers  
and critics4    ,the question arises1   
,what do we need8 ,we are to-day1 in    
this matter1  in a somewhat parlous     
state4 ,the old codes of ,morality are  
moribund2 the  ,ten ,commandments       
command only a very qualified assent2   
the ,christian  religion as a real      
inspiration of practical life and       
conduct is dead2  the social conventions
 and ,mrs4 ,grundy remain1 feebly       
galling and  officious4 ,what are we to 
do8 ,are we to bolster up the old codes1
 in  which we have largely ceased to    
believe1 merely in order to have a      
code8--or are we to let them go8    ,of 

course1 if we have decided what the     
final purpose or life of ,man is1  then 
we may say that what is good for that   
purpose is finally good1  and what is   
bad for that purpose is finally evil4   
,the ,eastern  philosophy1 as ,i have   
said1 deciding that the final purpose of
 ,man is  identification with ,brahm1   
declares all actions to be evil 7even   
the  most saintly7 which are done by the
 self as separate from ,brahm2 and all  
actions as good which are done in the   
condition of vidya or conscious  union4 
,but here1 though a final good and evil 
are allowed and  acknowledged1 as       
existing respectively in the conditions 
of vidya or  avidya1 those conditions   
altogether escape any external rule or  
classification4    ,mr4 ,gilbert        
,chesterton1 taking up this subject not 
long ago in a  criticism#df of ,mr4     
,orage's little book on ,nietzsche1 said
 that all  this talk about beyond good  
and evil was nonsense2 that we must have
  some code2 and that in effect1 any    

code1 even a bad one1 was better than   
none4 ,and one sees what he means4 ,it  
is perfectly true1 in a sense1 that  the
 harness1 the shafts1 and the blinkers  
keep a large part of the  world on the  
beaten road and out of the ditch1 and   
that folk are always  to be found who1  
rather than use their higher faculties1 
will rely on  these external guides2 but
 to encourage this kind of salvation by 
blinkers seems the very reverse of what 
ought to be done2 and one might  even   
ask whether salvation by such means is  
salvation at all--whether  the ditch    
were not better6    ,besides1 what can  
we do8 ,it is not so much that we are   
deliberately  abandoning the codes as   
that they are abandoning us4 ,with the  
gradual  infiltration of new ideas1 of  
,eastern thought1 of ,darwinian         
philosophy1  of customs and creeds of   
races other than our own1 with ,bernard 
,shaw  lecturing on the futility of the 
,ten ,commandments1 and so forth1 it is 
not difficult to see that in a short    

while it will be impossible to          
rehabilitate any of the ancient codes or
 to give them a sanction and a  sense of
 awe in the public mind4 ,if with       
,gilbert ,chesterton we should  succeed 
in bolstering up such a thing for a     
time--well1 it will only be  for a time4
    ,and the question is1 whether the   
time has not really come for us to      
stand up--like sensible men and         
women--and do without rules2 whether  we
 cannot trust ourselves at last to throw
 aside the blinkers4 ,the  question is  
whether we cannot realise that solid and
 central life which  underlies and yet  
surpasses all rules4 ,for truly1 if we  
cannot do this1  our state is           
pitiable--having ceased to believe in   
the letter of  ,morality1 and yet unable
 to find its spirit6    ,it is here1    
then1 that the ,new ,morality comes in1 
as more or less  clearly understood and 
expressed by the progressive sections   
to-day4  ,modern ,socialism1 in effect1 
taking up a position in its way somewhat

  similar to that of ,eastern           
philosophy1 says3 ,morality in its      
essence is  not a code1 but simply the  
realisation of the ,common ,life2#dg and
 that  is a thing which is not foreign  
and alien to humanity1 but very germane 
and natural to it--a thing so natural   
that without doubt it would be  more in 
evidence than it is1 did not the        
institutions and teachings of  ,western 
civilisation tend all along to deny and 
disguise it4 ,to liberate  this instinct
 of the ,common ,life1 freeing it from  
hard and cramping  rules1 and to let it 
take its own form or forms--grafted on  
and varied  of course by the personal   
and selective element of ,affection and 
,sympathy--is the hope that lies before 
the world to-day for the solution  of   
all sorts of moral and social problems4 
,and the more this position is thought  
over1 the more1 ,i believe1 will it     
commend itself4 ,the sense of organic   
unity1 of the common welfare1 the       
instinct of ,humanity1 or of general    

helpfulness1 are things which run in    
all directions through the very fibre of
 our individual and social  life--just  
as they do through that of the          
gregarious animals4 ,in a  thousand     
ways3 through heredity and the fact that
 common ancestral blood  flows in our   
veins--though we be only strangers that 
pass in the street2  through psychology1
 and the similarity of structure and    
concatenation in  our minds2 through    
social linkage1 and the necessity of    
each and all to  the others' economic   
welfare2 through personal affection and 
the ties of  the heart2 and through the 
mystic and religious sense which1 diving
 deep  below personalities1 perceives   
the vast flood of universal being--in   
these and many other ways does this     
,common ,life compel us to recognise    
itself as a fact--perhaps the most      
fundamental fact of existence4    ,to   
teach this simple foundational fact and 
what flows from it to every  child--not 
only as a theory1 but as a practical    

habit and inspiration of  conduct--is   
not really difficult1 but easy4         
,children1 having this sense  woven into
 their very being1 grow up in the spirit
 and practical  habitude of it1 and from
 the beginning possess the inspiration  
of what  we call ,morality--far more    
effectually indeed than copy-book maxims
 can  provide4 ,respect for truth1      
consideration towards parents and       
elders1  respect for the reasonable     
properties1 dignities1 conveniences of  
others1 as well as for one's own needs  
and dignities1 become perfectly  natural
 and habitual4 ,and that this is no mere
 hypothesis the example of  ,japan has  
lately shown where every young thing is 
brought up so far  drenched in the      
sentiment of community that to give     
one's life for one's  country is looked 
upon as a privilege4#dh ,the general    
lines1 ,i say1 of  morality would be    
secure1 and much more secure than they  
now are1 if we  could only bring the    
children up in an educational and       

practical  atmosphere of that solidarity
 which as a matter of fact is demanded  
to-day by socialism and the economic    
movement generally4    ,and on this     
ground-work1 as ,i have hinted1         
,personal ,affection and  ,sympathy     
would build a superstructure of their   
own2 they would outline a  society as   
much more beautiful1 powerful and       
closely knit than the  present one      
founded on the ,cash-nexus1 as1 say1 the
 ,athenian society of  the time of      
,pericles was superior to that of the   
,lapith who first  bitted and bridled   
the horse4    ,while the general ,life1 
equal1 pervasive1 and in a sense        
undifferentiated1 is a great fact which 
has to be acknowledged2 so this         
personal ,love and ,affection1 choosing1
 selecting1 and giving outline and  form
 to that life1 is equally a fact1       
equally undeniable1 equally  sacred--and
 one which has to be taken in           
conjunction with the other4    ,i say   
equally sacred3 because there has been a

 tendency 7no doubt due to  certain     
causes7 to look upon personal affection1
 in its various phases  from slight     
inclinations of sympathy to the stronger
 compulsions of  passion1 as something  
rather dubious in character1 at best an 
amiable  weakness not to be encouraged4 
,tolstoy1 in one of his writings1       
figures  the case of a little household 
in days of famine not really having     
bread  enough for their own wants4 ,then
 a stranger child comes to the door and 
pleads for food4 ,tolstoy suggests that 
the mother ought to take the  scanty    
crust from her own child to feed the    
stranger withal1 or at least  to share  
the food equally between the two        
children4 ,but such a  conclusion seems 
to me doubtful4    ,whatever ought may  
mean in such a connexion1 we know pretty
 well that  such never will be the rule 
of human life1 we may almost say never  
can  be2 perhaps we should be equally   
justified in saying1 never ought to  be4
 ,for obviously there must be           

preferences1 selections4 ,our           
affections1  our affinities1 our        
sympathies1 our passions1 are not given 
us for  nothing4 ,it is not for nothing 
that every individual person1 every     
tree1  every animal has a shape1 a shape
 of its own4 ,if it were not so the     
world would be infinitely1              
inconceivably1 dull4 ,yet to ask that a 
mother  should in all cases treat       
strange children exactly the same as her
 own1  that a man from the oceanic      
multitude should single out no special  
or  privileged friends1 but should love 
all alike1 is to ask that these folk  in
 their mental and moral nature should   
become as jellyfish--of no  distinct    
shape or satisfaction to themselves or  
any one else4 ,profound  and            
indispensable as is the ,law of         
,equality--the law1 namely1 that there  
is a region within all beings where they
 touch to a common and equal  life--the 
other law1 that of ,individual          
predilection1 is equally  indispensable4

 ,try to reduce all to the one motive of
 the general  interest1 and you might   
have a perfect morality1 but a morality 
woodeny1  hard and dull1 without form   
and feature4 ,try to dispense with this1
 and  to found society on individual    
affection and love1 and on individual   
initiative1 without morals1 and you     
would have a flighty1 unstable  thing1  
without consistency or backbone4    ,my 
contention1 then1 is that our hope for  
the future society lies in its          
embodiment of these two great principles
 jointly3 7#a7 the recognition of  the  
,common ,life as providing the          
foundation-element of general morality1 
and 7#b7 the recognition of ,individual 
,affection and ,expression--and to a    
much greater degree than hitherto--as   
building up the higher groupings  and   
finer forms of the structure4 ,and in   
proportion as 7#a7 provides a  solider  
basis of morals than we have hitherto   
had1 so will it be  possible to give to 
7#b7 a width of scope and freedom of    

action hitherto  untried or untrusted4  
,conjointly with the strengthening of   
these  principles of ,solidarity and    
,affection in society must of course    
come  the strengthening of              
,individuality--the right and the desire
 of every  being to preserve and develop
 its own proper shape1 and so to add to 
the richness and interest of life--and  
this involves the right of  ,resistance1
 and 7once more7 the relegation of the  
formula of  non-resistance into the     
background4    ,these considerations1   
however1 are leading us too far afield1 
and away  from the special subject of   
our paper4 ,i mention them chiefly in   
order  to show that while we are        
considering ,morality as a              
foundation-element  of ,society1 it must
 never be lost sight of that it is not  
the only  element1 and that it would be 
comparatively senseless and useless     
unless  grafted on and complemented and 
completed by the others4    ,the method 
of the ,new ,morality1 then1 will be to 

minimise formul1 and  7except as        
illustrations7 to use them sparely2 and 
to bring children  up--and so indirectly
 all citizens--in such conditions of    
abounding life  and health that their   
sympathies1 overflowing naturally to    
those around1  will cause them to       
realise in the strongest way their      
organic part in  the great whole of     
society--and this not as an intellectual
 theory1 so  much as an abiding         
consciousness and foundation-fact of    
their own  existence4 ,make this the    
basis of all teaching4 ,make them       
realise--by  all sorts of habit and     
example--that to injure or deceive      
others is to  injure themselves--that to
 help others somehow satisfies and      
fortifies  their own inner life4 ,let   
them learn1 as they grow up1 to regard  
all  human beings1 of whatever race or  
class1 as ends in themselves--never to  
be looked upon as mere things or        
chattels to be made use of4 ,let them   
also learn to look upon the animals in  

the same light--as beings1 they  too1   
who are climbing the great ladder of    
creation--beings with whom  also we     
humans have a common spirit and         
interest4 ,and let them learn to        
respect themselves as worthy and        
indispensable members of this great     
,body4 ,thus will be established a true 
,morality--a morality far more          
searching1 more considerate of others1  
more adaptive and more genuine  than    
that of the present day--a morality1 we 
may say1 of common-sense4    ,for it may
 indeed be said that ,morality--taking a
 downright and almost  physiological    
view of it--is simply abundance of life4
 ,that is1 that  when a man has so      
abounding and vital an inner nature that
 his  sympathies and activities overflow
 the margin of his own petty days and   
personal advantage1 he is by that fact  
entering the domain of morality4        
,before that time and while limited to  
the personal organism1 the  creative    
life in each being is either non-moral  

like that of the  animals1 or simply    
selfish like that of the immature man2  
but when it  overflows this limit it    
necessarily becomes social1 and moves to
 the  support and consideration of the  
neighbour4 ,having formerly found its   
complete activity in the sustentation of
 the personal self it now  spreads its  
helpful energies into the lives of the  
other selves around4  ,altruism1 in     
fact1 in its healthy forms1 is the      
overflow of abounding  vitality4 ,it is 
a morality without a code1 and happily  
free from  limiting formul4#di    ,and  
if it be again said that a morality of  
this kind1 which rests on a  principle  
and a mental attitude only1 is a danger1
 let us pause for a  moment to consider 
how much more dangerous is one which    
rests on  formul4 ,if morality without a
 code is a serious matter1 how much more
  serious is one which is nailed up     
within a code6 ,for looking back on     
history it would sometimes seem that the
 black-and-white1 the                   

this-thing-right-and-that-thing-wrong   
morality has been the most wicked  thing
 in the world4 ,it has been an excuse   
for all the most devilish  deeds and    
persecutions imaginable4 ,a formula of  
the ,sabbath-day1 a  formula about      
,witchcraft1 a formula of ,marriage     
7regardless of the real  human          
relation71 a formula concerning ,theft  
7regardless of the dire need  of the    
thief7--and burnings1 hangings1         
torturings without mercy6 ,the  terrible
 thing about this ,right-and-,wrong     
morality is not only that it  leads to  
these dreadful reprisals2 but that it   
brands upon the victim as  well as upon 
the oppressor the fatuous notions that a
 certain thing is  right or wrong1 and  
that what one has to do is to save      
oneself--two  notions both of which are 
directly contrary to true ,morality4 ,a 
boy  tells a verbal lie--perhaps through
 fear1 perhaps through inadvertence4    
,he has broken a formula and is         
immediately caned4 ,moral3 he will keep 

to  verbal truth afterwards--however    
mean or insidious it may be--and be     
pharisaically self-satisfied2 but he    
will never realise that the  importance 
of truth and lies rests not in the      
words1 but in the  confidence and mutual
 trust which they either create or      
destroy4 ,the  peculiarly ,english      
worship of ,duty is open to the same    
objection4  ,lilies that fester smell   
far worse than weeds1 and splendid as is
 the  conception and practice of ,duty1 
as a self-oblivious inspiration and     
enthusiasm1 it becomes a truly revolting
 thing when it takes the  all-too-common
 form ,i have done my ,duty1 ,i'm all   
right6 ,i am going  to do my ,duty1     
whatever becomes of you4 ,can anything  
be imagined more  disintegrating to     
society1 more certain to split it up    
into a dustheap  of self-regarding      
units1 than a formula of this kind8 ,it 
is my painful  ,duty to condemn you to  
be hanged by the neck until you are     
dead1 says  the ,judge to the wretched  

girl who1 in a frenzy of despair1 has   
drowned  her baby4 ,what he really means
 is that while he perfectly recognises  
the  monstrosity of the ,law which he   
has sworn to administer1 and the        
soul-killing effect on the girl which   
his sentence may have1 yet in  order to 
save himself from the risk or the wrong 
of breaking that ,law1  he is willing   
and ready to pronounce that sentence4   
,it is my duty to  burn you1 says the   
,inquisitor to the heretic2 and the     
implication is  really1 ,i am afraid    
that if ,i do not burn you ,i shall get 
burnt myself1  in the next world4       
,the sooner an end can be made of this  
sort of morality1 the  better--which    
under the cloak of public advantage or  
benefit is only  thinking about         
self-promotion and self-interest1 either
 in this world  or the next1 and which  
truly is calculated not to further human
  solidarity but to destroy it4 ,it runs
 and trickles through all of modern     
society1 poisoning the well-springs of  

affection1 this morality which1  having 
paid its domestic servants their regular
 wages1 is quite  satisfied with itself1
 and expects them to do their duty in   
return1  but is silent about their real 
needs and welfare2 which treats its     
wage-workers as simple machines for the 
grinding out of profits1 and  lifts its 
eyebrows in serene surprise when they   
retaliate against such  treatment2 which
 can only regard a criminal as a person 
who has broken a  formula1 and in return
 must be punished according to a        
formula2 and a  pig as an animal for    
which you provide reasonable provender  
and a stye1  and which in return you are
 entitled to eat4 ,pharisaical1         
self-centred  and self-interested1      
materialistic to the last degree1 and   
really  senseless in its outlook1 this  
current morality is indeed1 and very    
seriously1 a public peril4              
,thou shalt not steal3 an empty feat1   
,when it's so lucrative to cheat4       
,keep within the code1 within the       

letter2 always speak the nominal  truth 
7whoever may suffer thereby72 keep up   
the accepted formul of  marriage and the
 sex-relation 7though hearts may be     
bleeding and  perishing72 pay every     
respect to property1 and so forth2 and  
you may  have the gratification of being
 looked upon as a bulwark of society4   
,but  none the less it is probable that 
you are undermining and corrupting  that
 society to the core4 ,your outlook is  
merely on the surface1 while  you are   
condoning deep-seated ill4    ,of course
 the ,new ,morality--to look within1 to 
feel and refer to the  needs of others  
almost as instinctively as to one's own1
 to refuse to  regard any thing as in   
itself good or bad1 and to look upon all
  beings1 oneself included1 as ends in  
themselves and not as a means of        
personal self-advancement and           
glorification--while it is the more     
natural1 is also the more difficult in a
 sense1 as providing no set  pattern or 
rule4 ,but surely the time has arrived  

for its adoption4 ,it is  the morality  
which must underlie the freer1 more     
varied forms of the  society of the     
future2 and it is the only escape from  
the corruption of  the old order4    ,to
 take particular examples4 ,truth1 in   
word or act1 is--we all  feel--very     
important1 very fundamental4 ,it is the 
basis of the common  understanding of   
which ,i have spoken4 ,it is the basis  
of the expression  of oneself1 and of   
the recognition of others4 ,any one who 
is deeply  imbued with the consciousness
 of the common life will necessarily    
have a  deep respect for the ,truth2 he 
will also have a deep respect for the   
,life1 the ,property1 the good ,name1   
the ,affections1 and so forth1 of       
others1 as well as for his own similar  
attributes4 ,he will not be able  to    
say1 as a formula3 ,i will never deceive
 another 7tell a lie72 ,i  will never   
take the life of others1 man or animal  
7kill72 and so on1  because he knows    
there are situations in which that very 

,life arising  within him1 or even his  
own absolute necessity1 will demand such
  actions1 will compel him to the       
performance of them2 but all the same he
  will in his ordinary existence carry  
out the principle which underlies  these
 formul1 and much more thoroughly1      
probably1 than the formul  themselves   
would demand4    ,similarly about such  
matters as sexual morality4 ,there are  
outcries  against ,lady-,godiva-shows   
and living statuary--apparently because 
folk  are afraid of such things rousing 
the passions4 ,no doubt the things may  
act that way4 ,but why1 we may ask1     
should people be afraid of rousing      
passions which1 after all1 are the great
 driving forces of human life8  ,clearly
 it is because they think the other     
forces which should guide  these        
passions or give them a helpful and     
useful direction are too weak4  ,and in 
this last respect they are right4 ,the  
guiding and inhibiting  forces in our   
present society are feeble--because they

 consist only in a  few conventional    
formul1 which are rapidly being         
undermined4 ,we are  generating steam in
 a boiler which is already cankered with
 rust4 ,the  cure is not to cut off the 
passions1 or to be weakly afraid of     
them1 but  to find a new1 sound1 healthy
 engine of general morality and         
common-sense within which they will     
work4 ,and this is what in the future   
we must try to do4    ,this morality1   
this organic1 vital1 almost             
physiological morality of the  common   
life--which means a quick response of   
each unit to the needs of  the other    
units1 and much the same in the body    
politic as health means  in the physical
 body--must underlie and be the basis of
 the societies of  the future4 ,it will 
mean the liberation of a thousand and   
one instincts1  desires and capacities  
which since our childhood's days have   
lain buried  within us1 concealed and   
ignored because we have thought them    
wrong or  unworthy1 when really all they

 have wanted has been recognition and   
the  opportunity to become healthy by   
recognition--by the process in fact  of 
balancing against each other1 and       
against opposing and complementary      
elements1 and so finding their places in
 the ,whole4 ,on this new ,morality  of 
acceptance and recognition and          
wide-reaching redemption1 it will be    
possible1 as ,i have already said1 to   
graft not only a stronger  expression of
 individuality all round1 but also a    
higher and more varied  and more        
gracious life of personal               
affection--which now alas6 lies  like a 
thing wounded and half dead4 ,its       
establishment will1 ,i take it1  mean   
the oncoming of a society which will    
liberate personal affection  and        
love--will liberate forces hitherto     
artificially crippled because  their    
liberation would tear our current       
morality of formul to mere rags  and    
tatters4 ,it means1 ,i take it1 the     
oncoming of a society whose main  motive

 will no longer be the struggle for     
,bread 7since that is ruled out  by the 
enormous growth of our wealth-producing 
powers71 but the desire  for the        
satisfaction of the ,heart--thus        
preparing no doubt new and  unforeseen  
difficulties and sufferings1 yet filling
 life with such  beautiful things that  
the motives of greed and the mean       
pursuit of  money1 which now weigh upon 
the world1 will be like an evil         
nightmare of  the ,past from which the  
dawn delivers us4    ,,footnotes3    #db
 ,maitrayana-,brahmana-,upanishad1 vi4  
#cd1 #d4    #dc ,taittiriyaka-,up1 ii4  
#i1 etc4    #dd ,spinoza's ,ethic1 part 
iv4    #de ,it must be remembered that  
,nietzsche supposes three stages of the 
spirit--7#a7 the ,camel1 7#b7 the ,lion1
 and 7#c7 the ,child4 ,and the          
,beyond-man properly corresponds to the 
last stage4    #df ,daily ,news1        
,december #bi1 #aijf4    #dg ,i need    
hardly say that this does not mean1 as  
,nietzsche so often  and sardonically   

suggests1 the realisation of the        
common-place life1  but something very  
different4    #dh ,many ,japanese       
committed suicide on account of not     
being allowed to  join in the ,russian  
,war4 ,see also ,lafcadio ,hearn's      
description of the  habitual dignity and
 courtesy of the youth of ,japan4--,life
 and  ,letters1 vol4 i1 pp4 #ab1 #aac4  
#di ,this morality1 indeed1 may be said 
to be implicit in much of the  teaching 
of ,christ2 yet1 curiously enough1 it   
has never been seriously  adopted by the
 ,churches4 ,and as to the regard for   
animals as ends in  themselves1 the     
,roman ,catholic ,church1 ,i believe1   
positively repudiates  any such         
attitude4          ,,appendix      ,as  
the author's attacks in the body of this
 book upon the ,civilisation  peoples   
have sometimes been regarded as extreme 
and unjustified1 it has  been thought   
appropriate1 here in the ,appendix1 to  
collect a few notes  from reliable      
authorities on the characteristics and  

customs of  pre-civilised men--not so   
much of course with the object of       
proving the  latter always superior to  
the former1 as of bringing to light the 
many  admirable virtues of the early    
peoples1 which a cheap modern           
civilisation has neglected or somewhat  
contemptuously ignored4    ,no one would
 deny that there are many cases of      
primitive folk--folk  unclean and       
ignorant and absurdly superstitious--who
 can hardly be said  to command our     
admiration4 ,on the other hand there are
 a vast number of  cases of an opposite 
sort--cases which present to us the     
realisation of  some remarkable human   
characteristic or social capacity well  
worthy of  consideration or even of     
imitation4 ,if our ,civilisation is ever
 to move  on to some form better than   
the present1 it is these latter cases   
which  ought to be of assistance2 for   
they not only direct our attention to   
human possibilities1 but by showing what
 has been realised in the past  assure  

us that such ideals are by no means     
unattainable now4    ,it is therefore   
with a view to cases of this kind that  
the following  ,appendix has been       
framed4    ,e4 ,c4      ,civilisation   
does not ,engross all the ,virtues4     
,quotations from ,herman ,melville's    
,typee1 pp4 #bbe1 etc4 7,john           
,murray1 #ahfa47    ,civilisation does  
not engross all the virtues of humanity3
 she has not  even her full share of    
them4 ,they flourish in greater         
abundance and  attain greater strength  
among many barbarous people4 ,the       
hospitality of  the wild ,arab1 the     
courage of the ,north ,american ,indian1
 and the  faithful friendships of some  
of the ,polynesian nations1 far surpass 
anything of a similar kind among the    
polished communities of ,europe4 ,if    
truth and justice1 and the better       
principles of our nature1 cannot exist  
unless enforced by the statute-book1 how
 are we to account for the  social      
condition of the ,typees8 ,so pure and  

upright were they in all the  relations 
of life1 that entering their valley1 as 
,i did1 under the most  erroneous       
impressions of their character1 ,i was  
soon led to exclaim in  amazement3 ',are
 these the ferocious savages1 the       
bloodthirsty cannibals  of whom ,i have 
heard such frightful tales6 ,they deal  
more kindly with  each other1 and are   
more humane1 than many who study essays 
on virtue  and benevolence1 and who     
repeat every night that beautiful prayer
  breathed first by the lips of the     
divine and gentle ,jesus4' ,i will      
frankly declare1 that after passing a   
few weeks in this valley of the         
,marquesas1 ,i formed a higher estimate 
of human nature than ,i had ever  before
 entertained4 ,but alas6 since then ,i  
have been one of the crew of  a         
man-of-war1 and the pent-up wickedness  
of five hundred men has nearly          
overturned all my previous theories4    
99       99       99       99       99  
,how little do some of these poor       

islanders comprehend1 when they look    
around them1 that no inconsiderable part
 of their disasters originate  in       
certain tea-party excitements1 under the
 influence of which  benevolent-looking 
gentlemen in white cravats solicit alms1
 and old  ladies in spectacles1 and     
young ladies in sober russet low gowns1 
contribute sixpences towards the        
creation of a fund1 the object of which 
is to ameliorate the spiritual condition
 of the ,polynesians1 but whose  end has
 almost invariably been to accomplish   
their temporal destruction6    ,let the 
savages be civilised1 but civilise them 
with benefits1 and not  with evils2 and 
let heathenism be destroyed1 but not by 
destroying the  heathen4 ,the           
,anglo-,saxon hive have extirpated      
,paganism from the greater  part of the 
,north ,american continent2 but with it 
they have likewise  extirpated the      
greater portion of the ,red race4       
,civilisation is  gradually sweeping    
from the earth the lingering vestiges of

 ,paganism1  and at the same time the   
shrinking forms of its unhappy          
worshippers4    ,among the islands of   
,polynesia1 no sooner are the images    
overturned1  the temples demolished1 and
 the idolaters converted into nominal   
,christians1 than disease1 vice1 and    
premature death make their  appearance4 
,the depopulated land is then recruited 
from the rapacious  hordes of           
enlightened individuals who settle      
themselves within its  borders1 and     
clamorously announce the progress of the
 ,truth4 ,neat  villas1 trim gardens1   
shaven lawns1 spires1 and cupolas arise1
 while the  poor savage soon finds      
himself an interloper in the country of 
his  fathers1 and that too on the very  
site of the hut where he was born4      
99       99       99       99       99  
,during my whole stay on the island ,i  
never witnessed a single quarrel1  nor  
any thing that in the slightest degree  
approached even to a dispute4  ,the     
natives appeared to form one household1 

whose members were bound  together by   
the ties of strong affection4 ,the love 
of kindred ,i did not  so much perceive1
 for it seemed blended in the general   
love2 and where  all were treated as    
brothers and sisters1 it was hard to    
tell who were  actually related to each 
other by blood4    ,let it not be       
supposed that ,i have overdrawn this    
picture4 ,i have not  done so4 ,nor let 
it be urged that the hostility of this  
tribe to  foreigners1 and the hereditary
 feuds they carry on against their      
fellow-islanders beyond the mountains1  
are facts which contradict me4  ,not so3
 these apparent discrepancies are easily
 reconciled4 ,by many a  legendary tale 
of violence and wrong1 as well as by    
events which have  passed before their  
eyes1 these people have been taught to  
look upon  white men with abhorrence4   
,the cruel invasion of their country by 
,porter  has alone furnished them with  
ample provocation2 and ,i can sympathize
 in  the spirit which prompts the ,typee

 warrior to guard all the passes to  his
 valley with the point of his levelled  
spear1 and1 standing upon the  beach1   
with his back turned upon his green     
home1 to hold at bay the  intruding     
,european4      ,influences of          
,civilisation         ,from ,r4 ,l4     
,stevenson's ,in the ,south ,seas1 p4   
#dc4 7,chatto and       ,windus1 #aijh47
    ,it is asked ,was not the           
,polynesian always unchaste8 ,doubtless 
he was  so always3 doubtless he is more 
so since the coming of his remarkably   
chaste visitors from ,europe4 ,take the 
,hawaiian account of ,cook3 ,i have  no 
doubt it is entirely fair4 ,take        
,krusenstern's candid1 almost innocent  
description of a ,russian man-of-war at 
the ,marquesas2 consider the            
disgraceful history of missions in      
,hawaii itself 444 add the practice of  
whaling fleets to call at the ,marquesas
 and carry off a complement of  women   
for the cruise 444 and bear in mind how 
it was the custom of the  adventurers1  

and we may almost say the business of   
the missionaries1 to  deride and infract
 even the most salutary tapus 7taboos74 
,captain ,cook at ,owyhee in #agii      
,from his ,life and ,voyages1 p4 #cgi4  
7,george ,newnes1 #aijd47    ,in the    
progress of the intercourse which was   
maintained between our  voyagers and the
 natives1 the quiet and inoffensive     
behaviour of the  latter took away every
 apprehension of danger1 so that the    
,english  trusted themselves among them 
at all times and in all situations4 ,the
  instances of kindness and civility    
which our people experienced from  them 
were so numerous that they could not    
easily be recounted4 ,a society  of     
priests1 in particular1 displayed a     
generosity and munificence of  which no 
equal example had hitherto been given3  
for they furnished a  constant supply of
 hogs and vegetables to our navigators1 
without ever  demanding a return1 or    
even hinting at it in the most distant  
manner4  ,of the island of ,wateeoo 7p4 

#cji71 the inhabitants are very         
numerous1  and many of the young men    
were perfect models in shape4           
,natives of ,tahiti         ,from       
,havelock ,ellis' ,sex in relation to   
,society1 p4 #adh4 7#aiaj47    ,the     
example of ,tahiti is instructive as    
regards the prevalence of  chastity     
among peoples of what we generally      
consider low grades of  civilisation4   
,an early explorer1 ,j4 ,r4 ,forster    
7,observations made on a  voyage round  
the ,world1 #aggh71 speaks of the fine  
climate and the  beauty of the females1 
as inviting powerfully to the enjoyments
 and  pleasures of love4 ,yet he is over
 and over again impelled to set down    
facts which bear testimony to the       
virtues of these people4 ,though rather 
effeminate in build they are athletic1  
he says4 ,moreover in their wars  they  
fight with great bravery and valour4    
,they are1 for the rest1  hospitable4   
,he remarks that they treat their       
married women with great  respect1 and  

that women generally are nearly the     
equals of men1 both in  intelligence and
 social position2 he gives a charming   
description of the  women4 ',in short   
their character1' he concludes1 'is as  
amiable as that  of any nation that ever
 came unimproved out of the hands of    
,nature'6444    ,when ,cook1 continues  
,ellis1 who visited ,tahiti many times1 
was among  this 'benevolent1 humane'    
people1 he noted their esteem for       
chastity1  and found that not only were 
betrothed girls strictly guarded before 
marriage1 but that men also who had     
refrained from sexual intercourse  for  
some time before marriage were believed 
to pass at death immediately  into the  
abode of the blessed4      ,radack--one 
of the ,caroline ,islands         ,from 
,chamisso's ,reise um die ,welt1 p4     
#ahc4 7,leipzig47    ,thus we made      
acquaintance with a people who have     
endeared themselves to  me more than any
 others of the children of ,earth4 ,the 
very weaknesses of  the ,radack folk    

removed mistrust on our side2 their very
 gentleness and  goodness caused them to
 be trustful towards us1 the            
all-powerful  strangers2 we became      
declared friends4 ,i found among them   
simple1  unsophisticated manners1 charm1
 natural grace1 and the pleasant bloom  
of modesty4 ,in the matter1 certainly1  
of strength and manly independence  the 
,o-,waihier ,owyhees are greatly their  
superiors4 ,my friend1 ,kadu1  who1     
though not belonging to this            
island-group1 attached himself to us1   
was one of the finest characters ,i have
 ever met and one of the most  dear to  
me of human beings2 and he afterwards   
became my instructor with  regard to    
,radack and the ,caroline ,islands4     
,adaptation of ,early ,peoples to       
,surroundings         ,,the ,,dinkas    
7,central ,africa73 from ,grogan's ,cape
 to ,cairo1 p4 #bgh4       7,hurst      
,blackett1 #aijj47    ,every one in     
,dinka-land carries a long spear1 or    
pointed fish-spear1  and a club made of 

a heavy purple wood1 while the more     
important  gentlemen wear enormous ivory
 bracelets round their upper arm2 strict
  nudity is the fashion1 and a marabout 
feather in the hair is the essence  of  
chic4 ,they are all beautifully built1  
having broad shoulders1 small  waist1   
good hips1 and well-shaped legs4 ,the   
stature of some is colossal4  ,it was   
most curious to see how these ,dinkas1  
living as they do in the  marshes1      
approximate to the type of the          
waterbird4 ,they have much the  same    
walk as a heron1 picking their feet up  
very high and thrusting them  well      
forward2 while their feet are enormous4 
,their colossal height is  indeed a     
great advantage in the reed grown       
country in which they live4  ,the       
favourite pose of a ,dinka 7on one foot1
 with the other foot resting  on the    
knee7 is in reality the favourite pose  
of a water bird4444 ,they  are the      
complete antithesis of the pigmy1 as the
 country in which they  live is the     

complete antithesis of the dense forest 
which is the home of  the dwarfs4444    
,our camp was near a large village where
 there were at  least #a1ejj head of    
cattle1 besides sheep and goats1 and the
 chief  brought me a fine fat           
bull-calf--which settled the nervous    
question of  food for two days4444 ,the 
rambling village with its groups of     
figures  and long lines of home-coming  
cattle1 dimly seen in the smoke of a    
hundred fires as ,i approached at       
sunset1 was very picturesque4      ,,the
 ,,pigmies3 from ,cape to ,cairo1 pp4   
#add and #afa4    ,the pigmies have no  
settled villages1 nor do they cultivate 
anything4  ,they live the life of the   
brute in the forests1 perpetually       
wandering in  search of honey or in     
pursuit of elephant2 when they succeed  
in killing  anything1 they throw up a   
few grass shelters and remain there till
 all  the meat is either eaten or dried4
 ,they depend upon the other natives    
for the necessary grain1 which they     

either steal or barter for elephant     
meat or honey4 ,all their knives1       
spearheads and arrow-heads they         
likewise purchase from other people1 but
 they make their own bows and  arrows4  
,so well are these made that they are   
held in great esteem by the  surrounding
 people4 444 ,an hour later ,i met an   
elderly pigmy in the  forest and managed
 to induce him to talk4 ,he was a       
splendid little  fellow1 full of        
self-confidence1 and gave me most       
concise information1  stating that the  
white man with many belongings had      
passed near by two  days before1 and had
 then gone down to the lake-shore1 where
 he was  camped at that moment4 ,these  
people must have a wonderful code of    
signs  and signals1 as despite their    
isolated and nomadic existence they     
always  know exactly what is happening  
everywhere4 ,he was a typical pigmy as  
found on the volcanoes--squat1 gnarled1 
proud1 and easy of carriage4 ,his  beard
 hung down over his chest1 and his      

thighs and chest were covered  with wiry
 hair4 ,he carried the usual pigmy bow  
made of two pieces of  cane spliced     
together with grass1 and with a string  
made of a single  strand of a rush that 
grows in the forests4 ,the pigmies are  
splendid  examples of the adaptability  
of ,nature to her surroundings2 the     
combination of strength and conciseness 
enabling them to move with  astonishing 
rapidity in the pig-runs that form the  
only pathway through  the impenetrable  
growth1 and to endure the fatigue of    
elephant-hunting4      ,,natives ,,in   
,,ruanda 7near ,lake ,kivu73 ,cape to   
,cairo1 p4 #aah4    ,society in ,ruanda 
is divided into two castes1 the ,watusi 
and the  ,wahutu4 ,the ,watusi are the  
descendants of a great wave of ,galla   
invasion  that reached even to          
,tanganyika4 ,they still retain their   
pastoral  instincts1 and refuse to do   
any other work than the tending of      
cattle2  and so great is their affection
 for their beasts1 that rather than     

sever  company they will become slaves1 
and do the menial work of their beloved 
cattle for the benefit of their         
conquerors4 ,this is all the more       
remarkable when one takes into account  
their inherent pride of race and        
contempt for other peoples1 even for the
 white man4444 ,many signs of  superior 
civilisation1 observable in the peoples 
with whom the ,watusi  have come into   
contact1 are traceable to this ,galla   
influence4    ,the hills are terraced1  
thus increasing the area of cultivation1
 and  obviating the denudation of       
fertile slopes by torrential rains4 ,in 
many  cases irrigation is carried out on
 a sufficiently extensive scale1 and    
the swamps are drained by ditches4      
,artificial reservoirs are built with   
side troughs for watering cattle4 ,the  
fields are in many cases fenced in  by  
planted hedges of euphorbia and thorn1  
and similar fences are planted  along   
the narrow parts of the main cattle     
tracks1 to prevent the beasts  from     

straying or trampling down the          
cultivation4    ,there is also an       
exceptional diversity of plants         
cultivated1 such as  hungry rice1 maize1
 red and white millet1 several kinds of 
beans1 peas1  bananas1 and the edible   
arum4 ,some of the higher growing beans 
are even  trained on sticks planted for 
the purpose4 ,pumpkins and sweet        
potatoes  are also common2 and the      
,watusi own and tend enormous herds of  
cattle1  goats and sheep4 ,owing to the 
magnificent pasturage the milk is of    
excellent quality1 and they make large  
quantities of butter4 ,they are         
exceedingly clever with their beasts1   
and have many calls which the  cattle   
understand4 ,at milking time they light 
smoke-fires to keep the  flies from     
irritating the beasts4444 ,they are tall
 slightly built men of  graceful        
nonchalant carriage1 and their features 
are delicate and  refined4 ,i noticed   
many faces that1 bleached and set in a  
white collar1  would have been          

conspicuous for character in a ,london  
drawing-room4 ,the  legal type was      
especially pronounced4 444    ,the      
,wahutu are their absolute antithesis4  
,they are the aborigines of  the        
country1 and any pristine originality or
 character has been  effectually stamped
 out of them4 ,hewers of wood and       
drawers of water1  they do all the hard 
work1 and unquestioning in abject       
servility give up  the proceeds on      
demand4 ,their numerical proportion to  
the ,watusi must be  at least a hundred 
to one1 yet they defer to them without  
protest2 and  in spite of the obvious   
hatred in which they hold their over    
lords1  there seems to be no friction4  
,natives of the ,andaman ,islands       
,the following extracts1 about the      
,andaman-islanders of the ,bay of       
,bengal1 the ,bushmen of ,south ,africa1
 and the ,eskimo tribes of ,northern    
latitudes1 are specially interesting    
because they deal with peoples  whose   
present-day culture is undoubtedly on a 

par with1 and in all  probability       
directly inherited from1 the peoples of 
a long-past ,stone  ,age4 ,thus we get  
indirectly a glimpse of what the culture
 of the ,stone  ,ages was--both in its  
material acquisitions and its grade of  
social and  psychological evolution4    
,from ,in the ,andamans and ,nicobars1  
p4 #ahd1 by ,c4 ,boden ,kloss4          
7,murray1 #aijc47    ,the ,andaman      
,islands are inhabited by people of pure
 ,negrito blood1  members of perhaps the
 most ancient race remaining on the     
earth1 and  standing closest to the     
primitive human type4444 ,it would be   
impossible  to find anywhere a race of  
purer descent than the ,andamanese1 for 
ever  since they peopled the islands in 
the ,stone ,age1 they have remained     
secluded from the outer world4444 ,in   
stature they are far below the  average 
height2 but although they have been     
called dwarfs and pygmies1  these words 
must not be understood to imply anything
 in the nature of a  monstrosity4 ,their

 reputation for hideousness1 like their 
poisoned  arrows and cannibalism1 has   
long been a fallacy which1 though widely
  popular1 should now be exploded4 ,the 
average heights of the men and  women   
are found to be #d feet #aj inches1 and 
#d feet #g inches  respectively1 and    
their figures1 which are proportionately
 built1 are  very symmetrical and       
graceful4 ,although not to be described 
as muscular1  they are of good          
development1 the men being agile1 yet   
sturdy1 with  broad chests and square   
shoulders4           ,from ,e4 ,h4 ,man 
on ,the ,aborigines of the ,andaman     
,islands1 p4 #ad4       7,trbner1       
#ahhc47    ,no idiots1 maniacs or       
lunatics have ever yet been observed    
among them1  and this is not because    
those so afflicted are killed or        
confined by  their fellows1 for the     
greatest care and attention are         
invariably paid  to the sick1 aged and  
helpless4    ,mr4 ,man also remarks     
7,journ4 ,anthrop4 ,inst4 ,,xii1 #ib73  

,it has been  observed with regret by   
all interested in the race1 that        
intercourse  with the alien population  
has1 generally speaking1 prejudicially  
affected their morals2 and that the     
candour1 veracity1 and self-reliance    
they manifest in their savage and       
untutored state are1 when they become   
associated with foreigners1 to a great  
extent lost1 and habits of              
untruthfulness1 dependence and sloth    
engendered4      ,the ,bushmen          
,extract from ,f4 ,c4 ,selous' ,african 
,nature-,notes1 pp4 #cdd and #cdg4      
7#aijh47    ,when ,i met with the first 
,bushmen ,i ever saw1 on the banks of   
the  ,orange ,river in #ahgb1 ,i was a  
very young man1 and1 regarding them with
  some repugnance1 wrote in my diary    
that they appeared to be removed by a   
very few steps from the brute creation4 
,that was a very foolish and  ignorant  
remark to make1 and ,i have since found 
out that though ,bushmen  may possibly  
be to-day in the same backward state of 

material  development and knowledge as  
once were the palolithic ancestors of   
the  most highly cultured ,european     
races in prehistoric times1 yet         
fundamentally there is very little      
difference between the natures of       
primitive and civilised men1 so that it 
is quite possible for a member  of one  
of the more cultured races to live for a
 time quite happily and  contentedly    
amongst beings who are often described  
as degraded savages1  and from whom he  
is separated by thousands of years in   
all that is  implied by the word        
'civilisation4' ,i have hunted a great  
deal with  ,bushmen1 and during #ahhd ,i
 lived amongst these people continuously
 for  several months together4 ,on many 
and many a night ,i have slept in their 
encampments without even any ,kafir     
attendants1 and though ,i was entirely  
in their power ,i always felt perfectly 
safe among them4 ,as most of the  men   
spoke ,sechwana ,i was able to converse 
with them1 and found them very          

intelligent1 good-natured companions1   
full of knowledge concerning the  habits
 of all the wild animals inhabiting the 
country in which they  lived4444 ,i have
 never seen their women and children    
ill-treated by  them1 and ,i have seen  
both the men and the women show         
affection for  their children4          
,elsewhere ,selous speaks of ,john--a   
member of the close-related ,korana     
clan--who was in his service1 as of a   
pale yellow-brown colour1  beautifully  
proportioned1 with small delicately made
 hands and feet4           ,from preface
 by ,henry ,balfour to the book ,bushmen
 ,paintings       ,copied1 by ,helen    
,tongue4    ,it is certain that the     
designs representing animals1 etc41     
which are  painted upon the walls of    
their caves and rock-shelters1          
frequently  exhibit a realism and       
freedom in treatment which are quite    
remarkable in  the art of so primitive a
 people4 ,the skill with which many of  
the  characteristic ,south ,african     

animals are portrayed testifies not only
 to  unusual artistic efficiency1 but   
also to a close observance of and an    
intimate acquaintanceship with the      
habits and peculiarities of the  animals
 themselves4444 ,the paintings are      
remarkable not only for the  realism    
exhibited by so many1 but also for a    
freedom from the limitation  to         
delineation in profile which            
characterises for the most part the     
drawings of primitive peoples1          
especially where animals are concerned4 
,attitudes of a kind difficult to render
 were ventured upon without  hesitation1
 and an appreciation even of the        
rudiments of perspective is             
occasionally to be noted4               
,note from the same book1 by ,s4 ,bleek1
 daughter of the well-known       ,dr4  
,bleek1 of the ,grey ,library at ,cape  
,town 7#ahgj74    ,bushmen are called   
liars and thieves all over the ,colony1 
but all those  who stayed with us were  
truthful and very honest4 ,on no        

occasion did  they steal even a         
pocket-knife lost in the garden1 or     
fruit from the  trees4 ,they might have 
taken sheep from hostile farmers1 but   
they would  never rob a friend or       
neighbour4 ,they were cleanly in their  
habits1 and  most particular about      
manners4444 ,as a people they were      
grateful and  revengeful1 independent in
 spirit1 excellent fighters--who        
preferred  death to captivity4444       
,captives were sometimes made servants1 
but not  often well-treated1 nor did    
they take to a settled life easily4     
,even  kind masters found their longing 
for freedom hard to conquer4      ,the  
,nechilli ,eskimo         ,from         
,amundsen's ,north ,west ,passage1 vol4 
i1 p4 #bid4 7,constable1       #aijh47  
,we were suddenly brought face to face  
here with a people from the ,stone      
,age3 we were abruptly carried back     
several thousand years in the advance   
of human progress1 to people who as yet 
knew no other method of  procuring fire 

than by rubbing two pieces of wood      
together1 and who with  great difficulty
 managed to get their food just         
lukewarm1 over the  seal-oil flame on a 
stone slab1 while we cooked our food in 
a moment  with our modern cooking       
apparatus4 ,we came here1 with our most 
ingenious  and most recent inventions in
 the way of firearms1 to people who     
still  used lances1 bows and arrows of  
reindeer horn4444 ,however1 we should be
  wrong if from the weapons1 implements1
 and domestic appliances of these       
people we were to argue that they were  
of low intelligence4 ,their  implements1
 apparently so very primitive1 proved to
 be as well adapted  to their existing  
requirements and conditions as          
experience and the  skilful tests of    
many centuries could have made them4    
,ugpi1 an ,eskimo         ,from         
,amundsen vol4 i1 p4 #aij4    ,ugpi or  
,uglen 7the ',owl'7 as we always called 
him1 attracted immediate  attention by  
his appearance4 ,with his long black    

hair hanging over his  shoulders1 his   
dark eyes and frank honest expression1  
he would have been  good-looking if his 
broad face and large mouth had not      
spoilt his beauty  from a ,european     
standpoint4 ,there was something        
serious1 almost dreamy1  about him4     
,honesty and truthfulness are           
unmistakably impressed on his  features1
 and ,i would never have hesitated for a
 moment to entrust him  with anything4  
,during his association with us he      
became an exceptionally  clever hunter  
both for birds and reindeer4 ,he was    
about thirty years old  and was married 
to ,kabloka1 a very small girl of       
seventeen4      ,eskimo and             
,civilisation         ,from ,amundsen   
vol4 ii1 p4 #dh4    ,during the voyage  
of the ,gjoa1 we came into contact with 
ten  different ,eskimo tribes in all 444
 and ,i must state it as my firm        
conviction that the ,eskimo living      
absolutely isolated from civilisation   
of any kind are undoubtedly the         

happiest1 healthiest1 most honorable    
and most contented among them4 ,it must 
therefore be the bounden duty of        
civilised nations who come into contact 
with the ,eskimo to safeguard  them     
against contaminating influences1 and by
 laws and stringent  regulations protect
 them against the many perils and evils 
of so-called  civilisation4 ,unless this
 is done they will inevitably be        
ruined4444 ,my  sincerest wish for our  
friends the ,nechilli ,eskimo is that   
,civilisation  may never reach them4    
,high ,standard of ,tribal ,morality    
among the ,aleoutes         ,witnessed  
to by the ,russian missionary1          
,veniaminoff4 ,see ,mutual       ,aid1  
pp4 #ii and #ajj1 by ,p4 ,kropotkin4    
,the high standard of the tribal        
morality of the ,eskimos has often been 
mentioned in general literature4        
,nevertheless the following remarks upon
  the manners of the ,aleoutes--nearly  
akin to the ,eskimos--will better       
illustrate savage morality as a whole4  

,they were written1 after a ten  years' 
stay among the ,aleoutes1 by a most     
remarkable man--the ,russian            
missionary1 ,veniaminoff4 ,i sum them   
up1 mostly in his own words3--          
,endurability 7he wrote7 is their chief 
feature4 ,it is simply colossal4  ,not  
only do they bathe every morning in the 
frozen sea1 and stand naked  on the     
beach1 inhaling the icy wind1 but their 
endurability1 even when  at hard work on
 insufficient food1 surpasses all that  
can be imagined4  ,during a protracted  
scarcity of food1 the ,aleoute cares    
first for his  children2 he gives them  
all he has1 and himself fasts4 ,they are
 not  inclined to stealing2 that was    
remarked even by the first ,russian     
immigrants4 ,not that they never steal2 
every ,aleoute would confess  having    
sometime stolen something1 but it is    
always a trifle2 the whole  is so       
childish4 ,the attachment of the parents
 to their children is  touching1 though 
it is never expressed in words or       

pettings4 ,the ,aleoute  is with        
difficulty moved to make a promise1 but 
once he has made it he  will keep it    
whatever may happen4 7,an ,aleoute made 
,veniaminoff a gift of  dried fish1 but 
it was forgotten on the beach in the    
hurry of the  departure4 ,he took it    
home4 ,the next occasion to send it to  
the  missionary was in ,january2 and in 
,november and ,december there was a     
great scarcity of food in the ,aleoute  
encampment4 ,but the fish was never     
touched by the starving people1 and in  
,january it was sent to its             
destination47      ,home ,life of the   
,eskimo         ,by ,villialm           
,stefansson4 ,from ,harper's ,monthly1  
,october1 #aijh4    ,stefansson lived   
for thirteen months in the household of 
a ,chief1  ,ovaynak1 on the ,mackenzie  
,river1 and knew his subject well4 ,he  
says3--    ,with their absolute equality
 of the sexes and perfect freedom of    
separation1 a permanent union of        
uncongenial persons is well-nigh        

inconceivable4 ,but if a couple find    
each other congenial enough to  remain  
married a year or two1 divorce becomes  
exceedingly improbable1  and is much    
rarer among the middle-aged than among  
us4 ,people of the age  of twenty-five  
and over are usually very fond of each  
other1 and the  family--when once it    
becomes settled--appears to be on a     
higher level of  affection and mutual   
consideration than is common among us4  
,in an ,eskimo  home ,i have never heard
 an unpleasant word between a man and   
his wife1  never seen a child punished1 
nor an old person treated               
inconsiderately4  ,yet the household    
affairs are carried on in an orderly    
way1 and the good  behaviour of the     
children is remarked by practically     
every traveller4    ,these charming     
qualities of the ,eskimo home may be    
largely due to their  equable           
disposition and the general fitness of  
their character for the  communal       
relations2 but it seems reasonable to   

give a portion of the  credit to their  
remarkable social organisation2 for they
 live under  conditions for which some  
of our best men are striving--conditions
 that  with our idealists are even yet  
merely dreams4      ,religious ,beliefs 
among the ,eskimos         ,from        
,rasmussen's ,people of the ,polar      
,north1 pp4 #abe and #abg4              
7#aijh47    ,their religious opinions do
 not lead them to any sort of worship of
 the  supernatural1 but consist--if they
 are to be formulated in a creed--of a  
list of commandments and rules of       
conduct controlling their relations     
with unknown forces hostile to man4     
,a wise and independent thinking        
,eskimo1 ,otag the ,magician1 said to me
  of death3 ',you ask1 but ,i know      
nothing of death2 ,i am only acquainted 
with life4 ,i can only say what ,i      
believe3 either death is the end of     
life1 or else it is the transition into 
another mode of life4 ,in neither  case 
is there anything to fear4 ,nevertheless

 ,i do not want to die1  because ,i     
consider that it is good to live4' ,this
 calm way of envisaging  death is not   
unusual2 ,i have seen many pagan        
,eskimos go to meet certain  death      
without a trace of fear4                
,periodical ,distributions to ,obviate  
,accumulations of ,wealth         ,from 
,kropotkin's ,mutual ,aid1 p4 #ig4      
7,heinemann1 #aijh47    7,the ,eskimos7 
have an original means for obviating the
 inconveniences  arising from a personal
 accumulation of wealth--which would    
soon destroy  their tribal unity4 ,when 
a man has grown rich he convokes the    
folk of  his clan to a great festival1  
and after much eating1 distributes among
  them all his fortune4 ,on the ,yukon  
river ,dall saw an ,aleoute family      
distributing in this way ten guns1 ten  
full fur dresses1 two hundred  strings  
of beads1 numerous blankets1 ten wolf   
furs1 two hundred beavers  and five     
hundred zibellines4 ,after that they    
took off their festival  dresses1 and   

putting on old ragged furs1 addressed a 
few words to their  kinsfolk1 saying    
that1 though they are now poorer than   
any one of them1  they have won their   
friendship4#ej ,like distributions of   
wealth appear  to be a regular habit    
with the ,eskimos1 and to take place at 
a certain  season1 after an exhibition  
of all that has been obtained during the
  year4 ,in my 7,kropotkin7 opinion1    
these distributions reveal a very old   
institution1 contemporaneous with the   
first apparition of personal  wealth2   
they must have been a means for         
re-establishing equality among  the     
members of the clan1 after it had been  
disturbed by the enrichment  of the few4
 ,the periodical redistribution of land 
and the periodical  abandonment of all  
debts1 which took place in historical   
times with so  many different races     
7,semites1 ,aryans1 etc471 must have    
been a survival  of that old custom4    
,the ,samoyedes         ,from ,icebound 
on the ,kolguev1 p4 #chd1 by ,a4        

,trevor-,battye4       7,constable1     
#ahie47    ,family affection among the  
,samoyeds is very strongly developed4   
,it  would be impossible to find greater
 evidence of this among any people4     
,another extremely marked character     
among them is family order4 ,all        
everyday offices and occupations are    
carried out by a well-defined  method   
and subdivision of labour4 ,i never saw 
a single instance of  anything          
approaching a family quarrel4444 ,they  
are very handy sailors1  patient and    
successful hunters and fishermen1 and   
admirable workmen with  such tools as   
they understand4 ,no man can repair a   
damaged boat more  quickly than a       
,samoyed1 and from the roughest         
drift-wood 7such as an  ,english        
carpenter would throw on the fire71 they
 fashion bows1 arrows1  sleighs1 spoons1
 drinking-cups1 bullet-moulds1 and a    
variety of articles  of everyday use4   
,the ,belle of ,kolguev         ,from   
,icebound on the ,kolguev1 p4 #acj4     

,her sister-in-law ,ustynia was really1 
if you accept the type1 a pretty        
girl4444 ,her eyes were bright1 and a   
pleasant smile played about her  lips4  
,when she laughed--and these people are 
always laughing--she  betrayed the most 
perfectly beautiful teeth it is possible
 to imagine4  ,indeed all these people1 
even old ,uano1 had most wonderful      
teeth--white1  regular and perfectly    
shaped4 ,on her fingers ,ustynia wore   
heavy rings of  white and yellow metal1 
and her hands1 like those of all        
,samoyeds1 were  faultless in shape and 
extraordinarily supple4 ,if you add to  
this a  dress reaching to the knees1    
formed of young reindeer skin1 worked in
  many stripes of white and brown1 the  
skirt banded with scarlet cloth and     
dogskin fur1 and foot and leg coverings 
of soft patterned skin reaching  above  
the knee--there you have ,ustynia1 the  
belle of ,kolguev4      ,the ,todas     
,quoted from ,the ,todas1 by ,w4 ,h4    
,rivers 7#aijf74    ,these people live  

on a very lofty and isolated plateau of 
the ,nilgiri  ,hills in ,south ,india2  
and are especially interesting to us    
because till  #ahab they were absolutely
 unknown to ,europeans1 and developed   
their  own customs untouched by ,western
 civilisation4 ,they are a purely       
pastoral people1 limiting their         
activities almost entirely to the care  
of their buffaloes and to the           
complicated ritual which has grown up in
  association with these animals4 7p4   
#f7 444 ,they have a completely         
organised and definite system of        
polyandry4 ,when a woman marries a man1 
it is understood that she becomes the   
wife of his brothers at the same  time4 
,when a boy is married to a girl1 not   
only are his brothers usually  regarded 
as also the husbands of the girl1 but   
any brother born later  will similarly  
be regarded as sharing his older        
brother's rights4 7p4  #eae47    ,the   
men are strong and very agile2 the      
agility being most in evidence  when    

they have to catch their infuriated     
buffaloes at the funeral  ceremonies4   
,they stand fatigue well1 and often     
travel great  distances4444 ,in going   
from one part of the hills to another a 
,toda  always travels as nearly as      
possible in a straight line1 ignoring   
altogether the influence of gravity1 and
 mounting the steepest hills  with no   
apparent effort4 ,in all my work with   
the men it seemed to me  they were      
extremely intelligent4 ,they grasped    
readily the points of any  enquiry on   
which ,i entered1 and often showed a    
marked appreciation of  complicated     
questions4444 ,i can only record my     
impression1 after several  months'      
intercourse with the ,todas1 that they  
were just as intelligent  as one would  
have found any average body of educated 
,europeans4444 ,the  characteristic note
 in their demeanour is their absolute   
belief in their  own superiority over   
the surrounding races4 ,they are grave  
and  dignified1 and yet thoroughly      

cheerful and well-disposed towards all4 
7pp4 #ah-bc47      ,nudity         ,,the
 ,,pelew ,,islands3 from ,j4 ,g4 ,wood  
7vol4 ,america1 p4 #ddg74 ,see          
,captain ,h4 ,wilson1 who was wrecked   
there in #aghc4    ,the inhabitants are 
of a dark copper colour1 well-made1     
tall1 and  remarkable for their stately 
gait4 ,they employ the tattoo in rather 
a  curious manner1 pricking the patterns
 thickly on their legs from the  ankles 
to a few inches above the knees1 so that
 they look as if their  legs were darker
 in colour than the rest of their       
bodies4 ,they are  cleanly in their     
habits1 bathing frequently and rubbing  
themselves with  coco-nut oil1 so as to 
give a soft and glossy appearance to the
 skin4444  ,the men wear no clothing1   
not even the king himself having the    
least  vestige of raiment1 the tattoo   
being supposed to answer the purposes of
  dress4444 ,in spite1 however1 of the  
absence of dress1 the deportment of  the
 sexes towards each other is perfectly  

modest4 ,for example1 the men  and women
 will not bathe at the same spot1 nor   
even go near a bathing  place of the    
opposite sex unless it be deserted4     
,natives of the ,amazon ,region         
,alfred ,russell ,wallace1 in his       
,travels on the ,amazon 7#ahec71 speaks 
most warmly about the aborigines of that
 district--both as to their  grace of   
form1 their quickness of hand1 and their
 goodnatured  inoffensive disposition4  
,he says 7chap4 xvii73 ,their figures   
are  generally superb2 and ,i have never
 felt so much pleasure in gazing at  the
 finest statue as at these living       
illustrations of the human form4  ,in   
his ,my ,life1 vol4 ii1 p4 #bhh1 he     
says3 ,their whole aspect and  manner   
were different 7from the semi-civilised 
tribes72 they walked with  the free step
 of the independent forest-dweller 444  
original and  self-sustaining as the    
wild animals of the forest 444 living   
their own  lives in their own way1 as   
they had done for countless generations 

before ,america was discovered4 ,the    
true denizen of the ,amazonian  forests1
 like the forest itself1 is unique and  
not to be forgotten4           ,from    
,the ,putumayo1 or ,devil's ,paradise4  
,by ,w4 ,e4 ,hardenburg       7#aiab74  
,the ,huitotos are a well-formed race1  
and although small1 are stout and       
strong1 with a broad chest and a        
prominent bust2 but their limbs1        
especially the lower1 are but little    
developed4444 ,that repugnant sight1  a 
protruding abdomen1 so common among the 
'whites' and half-breeds on  the        
,amazon1 is very rare among these       
aborigines4444 ,notwithstanding some    
defects it is not rare to find among    
these women many who are really         
beautiful--so magnificent are their     
figures1 and so free and graceful  their
 movements4 7p4 #aeb74    ,unions are   
considered binding among the ,huitotos1 
and it is very rarely  that serious     
disagreements arise between husband and 
wife4 ,the women  are naturally chaste1 

and it was not till the advent of the   
rubber  collectors that they began to   
lose this primitive virtue--so generally
  met with among people not yet in      
contact with white men 7p4 #aed74       
,n4,b4--,these were some of the people  
so villainously tortured--men1  women   
and children--for the collection of     
rubber1 by commercial  scoundrels1 whose
 atrocities were exposed by ,roger      
,casement and others4  ,e4,c4      ,fine
 ,figures and ,features of the ,dyaks   
,quotations from ,beccar's ,in the      
,forests of ,borneo1 pp4 #cbe and       
#cbi4 7,constable #aijd47    ,on the    
morning of ,october #ai1 as previously  
arranged1 ,ladja1 with eight  other     
,dyaks1 came to the fort duly equipped  
for the journey4 ,ladja was a  handsome 
young man1 tall like most of his        
companions1 slender1 and  beautifully   
made4 ,his profile was nearly regular1  
the nose perfectly  straight1 but the   
cheek bones rather too prominent and the
 chin rather  pointed4 ,his complexion  

was very light4 444 ,our ,arno boatmen  
in  ,florence always pole where the     
river is shallow1 and use their poles   
exactly as the ,dyaks do theirs1 only   
they certainly cannot compare with  the 
latter in the length of the journeys    
thus performed with their light  canoes4
 ,ours literally flew over the water    
handled with incomparable  dexterity by 
my six young savages4 ,there is to my   
mind no lighter and  more pleasant mode 
of progression1 and certainly no kind of
 work  displays so well the elegant     
movements and perfect proportions of    
these  young ,dyaks1 who1 practically   
unencumbered with clothing1 are truly   
splendid specimens of humanity4         
,from ,ida ,pfeiffer's book ,meine      
zweite ,weltreise1 vol4 i1 p4 #aaf4     
7,vienna1 #ahef47    ,i must confess    
that ,i would gladly have journeyed     
longer among the free  ,dayaks4 ,i found
 them wonderfully honourable1 gentle and
 modest2 indeed  in these respects ,i   
put them above any people that ,i have  

as yet become  acquainted with4 ,i could
 leave all my things about1 and go away 
for  hours together1 and never was the  
least thing missing4 ,they begged me    
occasionally for many an object they    
saw1 but immediately gave way when  ,i  
explained that ,i needed it myself4     
,they were never over-pressing or       
tiresome4 ,it will be said1 in denial of
 this1 that the beheading of  corpses   
and preservation of skulls does not look
 exactly like  gentleness2 but it must  
be remembered that this sad custom is   
chiefly  the result of rude and ignorant
 superstition4 ,i stick to my opinion1  
and  as a further proof1 would cite     
their domestic and thoroughly           
patriarchal  mode of life1 their morals 
and manners1 the love that they have for
  their children1 and the respect their 
children show to them4      ,a ,rodiya  
,boy    ,ernst ,haeckel in his ,visit to
 ,ceylon1 describes the devotion to him 
of  his ,rodiya serving-boy at ,belligam
 near ,galle4 ,the keeper of the        

rest-house there was an old man whom    
,haeckel1 from his likeness to a        
well-known head1 called by the name of  
,socrates4 ,and ,haeckel continues3  ,it
 really seemed as though ,i should be   
pursued by the familiar aspects  of     
classical antiquity from the first      
moment of my arrival at my idyllic      
home4 ,for as ,socrates led me up the   
steps of the open central hall of  the  
rest-house1 ,i saw before me1 with      
uplifted arms in an attitude of  prayer1
 a beautiful naked brown figure1 which  
could be nothing else than  the famous  
statue of the ',youth ,adoring4' ,how   
surprised ,i was when the  graceful     
bronze statue suddenly came to life1 and
 dropping his arms fell  on his knees1  
and after raising his black eyes        
imploringly to mine bowed  his handsome 
face so low at my feet that his long    
black hair fell on the  floor6 ,socrates
 informed me that this boy was a        
,pariah1 a member of the  lowest caste1 
the ,rodiyas1 who had lost his parents  

at an early age4 ,he  was told off to my
 exclusive service1 and in answer to the
 question what  ,i was to call my new   
body-servant1 the old man informed me   
that his name  was ,gamameda4 ,of course
 ,i immediately thought of ,ganymede1   
for the  favorite of ,jove himself could
 not have been more finely made1 or have
  had limbs more beautifully            
proportioned and moulded4    ,among the 
many beautiful figures which move in the
 foreground of my  memories of the      
,paradise of ,ceylon1 ,ganymede remains 
one of my dearest  favorites4 ,not only 
did he fulfil his duties with the       
greatest attention  and                 
conscientiousness1 but he developed a   
personal attachment and  devotion to me 
which touched me deeply4 ,the poor boy1 
as a miserable  outcast of the ,rodiya  
caste1 had been from his birth the      
object of the  deepest contempt of his  
fellow-men1 and subjected to every sort 
of  brutality and ill-treatment4 ,he was
 evidently as much surprised as         

delighted to find me willing to be kind 
to him from the first4444 ,i owe  many  
beautiful and valuable contributions to 
my museum to ,ganymede's  unfailing zeal
 and dexterity4 ,with the keen eye1 the 
neat hand1 and the  supple agility of   
the ,cinghalese youth1 he could catch a 
fluttering moth  or a gliding fish with 
equal promptitude2 and his nimbleness   
was really  amazing when1 out hunting1  
he climbed the tall trees like a cat1 or
  scrambled through the densest jungle  
to recover the prize ,i had killed4  7p4
 #bjj47      ,second ,sight             
,native diviners in ,south ,africa1 from
 ,the ,spiritualism of the       ,zulu1 
by ,c4 ,h4 ,bull1 of ,durban4    ,many  
years ago ,i was riding transport       
between ,durban and the ,umzimkulu4  ,i 
checked my loads at ,durban and found   
them correct with the waybill1  but when
 ,i reached my destination ,i discovered
 that ,i was one case  short1 for which 
,i had to pay4 ,on my return to my farm1
 ,i mentioned the  fact to my brother1  

who proposed1 more in the spirit of fun 
than  anything else1 that we should     
visit a diviner1 and endeavour to       
discover  what had become of it4 ,i     
consented1 and together we repaired to a
 native  diviner4 ,he immediately       
informed us of the object of our visit1 
although1 so far as ,i can tell1 it was 
morally impossible for him to  have     
known it through any ordinary channels1 
and then he went on  speaking as though 
in a dream3 ',i see a waggon loaded with
 cases  climbing up the ,umgwababa      
,hill2 there has been a lot of rain and 
the  roads are slippery4 ,half way up   
the hill the rains have washed a gully2 
into this the waggon lurches1 displacing
 a small case1 which falls to  the      
ground1 but the driver1 who is busy     
urging his team up the hill1  does not  
notice it4 ,now the waggon has passed   
out of sight1 but ,i see a  ,kaffir     
coming up the hill4 ,when he reaches the
 spot where the case is  lying1 he stops
 for a few moments to examine it1 and   

then proceeds to  the top of the hill1  
where he stands for a few moments       
shading his eyes  with his hand1 as     
though looking beyond4 ,now he returns  
to where the  case is lying1 and lifting
 it up1 crosses the road1 and pushing   
his way  through some tall tambootie    
grass1 he reaches a large indonie tree2 
under the tree there is a stunted clump 
of wild bananas4 ,he places the  case in
 the centre of the clump1 and after     
concealing it with some of  the dry     
leaves1 he goes on his way4 ,the case is
 still there4'    ,though wholly        
incredulous of the truth of the vision1 
,i sent two 'boys'  to the spot         
indicated1 and they returned bringing   
with them the lost  case1 having found  
it exactly where the diviner said that  
he saw it4      ,the ,zulus             
,,the ,,zulus3 ,quotations from ,general
 ,sir ,w4 ,butler's ,naboth's           
,vineyard1 p4 #bfc 7given in ,blyden's  
,african ,life and ,customs1 p4         
#dc74    ,in all the sad history of     

,south ,africa few things are sadder    
than the  ,zulu question4 ,where the    
,zulu came 7in those days71 no lock or  
key were  necessary4 ,no man who knew   
the ,zulu--not even the white colonist1 
whose  rage was largely the result of   
his being unable to get servile labour  
from him--could say that he had not     
found the ,zulu honest1 truthful1       
faithful2 that the white wife and child 
had not been entirely safe from  insult 
or harm at the hands of this black man2 
or that money and  property were not    
immeasurably more secure in ,zulu charge
 than in that  of ,europeans or         
,asiatics4      ,from ,blyden's ,african
 ,life and ,customs1 p4 #cg4    ,there  
are to-day hundreds of so-called        
civilised ,africans who are  coming back
 to themselves4 ,they have grasped the  
principles underlying  the ,european    
social and economic order and reject    
them as not equal to  their own as means
 of making adequate provision for the   
normal needs of  all members of society 

both present and future--from birth all 
through  life to death4 ,they have      
discovered all the waste places1 all the
  nakedness of the ,european system1    
both by reading and travel4 ,the great  
wealth can no longer dazzle them1 or    
conceal from their view the vast  masses
 of the population living under what    
they once supposed to be the  ideal     
system--who are of no earthly use to    
themselves or to others4444  ,under the 
,african system of communal property and
 co-operative effort1  every member of a
 community has a home and a sufficiency 
of food and  clothing and other         
necessaries of life--and for life2 and  
his children  after him have the same   
advantages4 ,in this system there is no 
workhouse  and no necessity for such an 
arrangement4      ,over-government      
,from ,wallace's ,malay ,archipelago1 p4
 #ccf4 7#ahid edition47    ,this motley1
 ignorant1 bloodthirsty1 thievish       
population 7,papuans1  ,javanese1       
,chinese1 etc471 live here without the  

shadow of a government1  with no police1
 no courts1 and no lawyers2 yet they do 
not cut each  other's throats2 do not   
plunder each other day and night2 do not
 fall  into the anarchy such a state of 
things might be supposed to lead to4 ,it
  is very extraordinary6 ,it puts       
strange thoughts into one's head about  
the mountain-load of government under   
which people exist in ,europe1 and      
suggests the idea that we may be        
over-governed4 ,think of the hundred    
,acts of ,parliament annually enacted to
 prevent us1 the people of  ,england1   
from cutting each other's throats1 or   
from doing to our  neighbours as we     
would not be done by4 ,think of the     
thousands of  lawyers and barristers    
whose whole lives are spent in telling  
us what  the hundred ,acts of           
,parliament mean1 and one would be led  
to infer that  if ,dobbo has too little 
law ,england has too much4      ,society
 without ,government         ,from      
,morley's ,rousseau1 vol4 ii1 p4 #bbg1  

note4 7,eversley       edition1 #aiaj47 
,jefferson1 who was ,american minister  
in ,france from #aghd to #aghi1 and     
absorbed a great many of the ideas then 
afloat1 writes in words that  seem as if
 they were borrowed from ,rousseau3 ',i 
am convinced that those  societies 7as  
the ,indians71 which live without       
government1 enjoy in  their general mass
 an infinitely greater degree of        
happiness than those  who live under    
,european governments4 ,among the former
 public opinion is  in the state of law1
 and restrains morals as powerfully as  
laws ever did  anywhere4 ,among the     
latter1 under pretence of government1   
they have  divided the nation into two  
classes1 wolves and sheep4 ,i do not    
exaggerate2 this is a true picture of   
,europe4' 7,from ,tucker's ,life of     
,jefferson1 vol4 i1 p4 #bee47           
,security without ,government    ,from  
,tafilet1 p4 #cec4 ,by ,w4 ,b4 ,harris4 
7,blackwood1 #ahie47    ,the ,moors have
 a proverb1 and it is a very true one1  

that safety and  security can only be   
found in the districts where there is no
  government--that is to say1 where the 
government is a tribal one4             
,degradation through ,civilisation      
,from ,the ,spiritualism of the ,zulu4  
,by ,c4 ,h4 ,bull1 of ,durban4          
,thirty-two years ago1 ,i lived for some
 time in a district in ,natal1  then    
thickly populated with natives1 still   
conforming to the primitive  customs of 
their race1 yet honest1 manly and       
intelligent people1 with  very definite 
ideas in regard to moral questions4     
,after an absence of  thirty years1 just
 prior to my sailing for ,england1 ,i   
again visited the  district and was     
amazed to observe the change which had  
taken place in  the people2 their       
habits1 characters and physique4 ,sordid
 poverty1  dressed in mean rags or      
tawdry finery1 suggestive of service to 
vice1  had displaced the old dignity1   
born of conscious physical strength and 
symmetry of form1 which once1 though    

attired only in the trappings that      
simple art could devise from the rough  
products of nature1 was  characteristic2
 whilst drunkenness1 dishonesty and     
immorality sought  shelter under the    
meagre cloaks of the religion dispensed 
by the  different sections of belief1   
established in the little iron1 or      
wattle  and daub churches1 which        
everywhere disfigured the country side4 
,the  change was complete and           
deplorable1 nor were the natives        
unconscious of  their degradation1 or   
without regret for the passing of the   
old days4      ,slavery         ,from   
,waitz's ,anthropologie der ,naturvlker1
 vol4 ii1 p4 #bha4       7,leipzig1     
#ahfj47    ,one finds that the fate of  
,slaves among the ruder peoples is much 
happier than among the civilised2 indeed
 it seems to grow worse and  worse in   
proportion to the civilisation of the   
ruling folk4 ,strange and  incredible as
 at first sight this seems1 the         
following facts establish  it beyond    

doubt4 ,and indeed it is not difficult  
to explain4 ,the chief  reason is that  
with the increase of merely material    
culture1 ,time and  ,labour-force are   
more and more prized1 and consequently  
always more  violently and              
unscrupulously exploited1 while on the  
contrary among  primitive people in     
general a lesser value is placed on     
these things4      ,the ,fraud of       
,western ,civilisation         ,extract 
from ,a ,letter to a ,chinese           
,gentleman1 by ,leo ,tolstoy4           
7,published in ,saturday ,review1       
,december #a1 #aijf47    ,amongst all   
these ,western nations there unceasingly
 proceeds a strife  between the         
destitute exasperated working people and
 the government and  wealthy1 a strife  
which is restrained only by coercion on 
the part of  deceived men who constitute
 the army2 a similar strife is          
continually  waging between the         
different states demanding endlessly    
increasing  armaments1 a strife which is

 any moment ready to plunge into the    
greatest catastrophes4 ,but however     
dreadful this state of things may be1   
it does not constitute the essence of   
the calamity of the ,western  nations4  
,their chief and fundamental calamity is
 that the whole life of  these nations  
who are unable to furnish themselves    
with food is entirely  based on the     
necessity of procuring means of         
sustenance by violence and  cunning from
 other nations1 who like ,china1 ,india1
 ,russia and others  still preserve a   
rational agricultural life4             
,constitutions1 protective tariffs1     
standing armies1 all this together  has 
rendered the ,western nations what they 
are--people who have  abandoned         
agriculture and become unused to it1    
occupied in towns and  factories in the 
production of articles for the most part
 unnecessary1  people who with their    
armies are adapted only to every kind of
 violence  and robbery4 ,however        
brilliant their position may appear at  

first sight  it is a desperate one1 and 
they must inevitably perish if they do  
not  change the whole structure of their
 life founded as it now is on deceit    
and the plunder and pillage of the      
agricultural nations4           ,from   
,o',brien's ,white ,shadows in the      
,south ,seas4 7,new ,york1 #aiai47    ,a
 hundred years ago there were #afj1jjj  
,marquesans in these ,south ,sea        
,islands4 ,to-day their total number    
does not reach #b1ajj4 ,o',brien        
describes the bad effects of            
,christianity on these savages4 ,for he 
says the so-called superstitions of     
these races had a great vitalising      
influence4 ,their dancing1 their        
tattooing1 their religious rites1 their 
chanting and their warfare gave them a  
zest in life4 ,but to-day all           
,polynesians from ,hawaii to ,tahiti are
 dying because of the suppression  of   
the play-instinct that had its          
expression in most of their customs  and
 occupations4 ,and they are now nothing 

but joyless machines and  tired of life4
      ,failure of ,our ,civilisation    
,for a searching comparison between our 
social conditions and those of  the many
 savage communities visited by him--and 
much to the general  advantage of the   
latter--see ,a4 ,r4 ,wallace's ,malay   
,archipelago 7#ast  ed4 #ahfi71 pp4     
#def1 #g 7ed4 #ahid74 ,and he ends the  
book by saying3    ,until there is a    
more general recognition of this failure
 of our  civilisation--resulting mainly 
from our neglect to train and develop   
more thoroughly the sympathetic feelings
 and moral faculties of our  nature1 and
 to allow them a larger share of        
influence in our  legislation1 our      
commerce1 and our whole social          
organisation--we shall  never1 as       
regards the whole community1 attain to  
any real or important  superiority over 
the better class of savages4 ,this is   
the lesson ,i have  been taught by my   
observations of uncivilised man4    ,i  
now bid my readers--,farewell6          

,,footnote3    #ej ,dall1 ,alaska and   
its ,resources1 ,cambridge1 ,u4,s41     
#ahgj4      ,printed in ,great ,britain 
by    ,,unwin ,,brothers1 ,,limited     
,,woking ,,and ,,london                 
,,advertisements      ,,books ,,by      
,,edward ,,carpenter      ,,angels'     
,,wings3 ,essays on ,art and its        
,relation to ,life4 ,illustrated4       
,large ,cr4 #hvo1 #fs4 #f;d4 net4       
,fifth ,edition4    ,,art ,,of          
,,creation1 ,,the3 ,essays on the ,self 
and its ,powers4 ,cr4 #hvo1 #es4  net4  
,fourth ,edition4    ,,chants ,,of      
,,labour3 a ,songbook for the ,people1  
with frontispiece and cover  by ,walter 
,crane4 7,reprinting47       ,fifth     
,edition4    ,,civilization3 ,,its      
,,cause ,,and ,,cure4 ,essays on ,modern
 ,science4  ,cr4 #hvo4 ,original        
,edition4 ,cloth1 #cs4 #f;d4 net1 and   
,limp ,cloth1 #bs4 #f;d4  net4          
,sixteenth ,edition4    ,new and much   
enlarged ,edition4 ,cr4 #hvo4 ,cloth1   
#gs4 #f;d4 net4    ,,days ,,with ,,walt 

,,whitman4 ,cr4 #hvo1 #es4 net4         
,second ,edition4    ,,the ,,drama ,,of 
,,love ,,and ,,death3 a ,study of ,human
 ,evolution and  ,transfiguration4 ,cr4 
#hvo1 #fs4 net4      ,second ,edition4  
,,england',s ,,ideal4 ,cr4 #hvo4 ,cloth1
 #cs4 #f;d4 net1 and ,limp ,cloth1  #bs4
 #f;d4 net4      ,ninth ,edition4       
,,from ,,adam',s ,,peak ,,to            
,,elephanta3 ,sketches in ,ceylon and   
,india4  ,large ,cr4 #hvo4              
7,reprinting47      ,third ,edition4    
,,healing ,,of ,,nations1 ,,the4 ,cr1   
#hvo4 ,cloth1 #cs4 #f;d4 net4 ,paper1   
#bs4 #f;d4 net4      ,sixth ,edition4   
,,the ,,intermediate ,,sex3 a ,study of 
some ,transitional ,types of ,men and   
,women4 ,cr4 #hvo1 #es4 net4            
,fourth ,edition4    ,,intermediate     
,,types ,,among ,,primitive ,,folk3 a   
,study in ,social  ,evolution4 #hvo1    
#es4 net4      ,second ,edition4        
,,iol,,us3 an ,anthology of ,friendship4
 ,cr4 #hvo1 #ds4 #f;d4 net4  ,fourth    
,edition ,enlarged4    ,,love',s        

,,coming ,,of ,,age3 on the ,relations  
of the ,sexes4 #hvo1 #ds4 #f;d4 net4    
,eleventh ,edition4    ,,my ,,days ,,and
 ,,dreams3 being ,autobiographical      
,notes with ,portraits and              
,illustrations4 ,demy #hvo1 #gs4 #f;d4  
net4       ,third ,edition4    ,,pagan  
,,and ,,christian ,,creeds4 ,demy #hvo1 
#ajs4 #f;d4 net4    ,,the ,,promised    
,,land3 a ,drama of a ,people's         
,deliverance4 ,a new and  revised       
edition of ,moses4 ,cr4 #hvo1 #cs4 #f;d4
 net4    ,,the ,,simplification ,,of    
,,life4 ,cr4 #hvo1 #cs4 #f;d4 net4      
,,towards ,,democracy4 ,library         
,edition1 #fs4 net4      ,ninth         
,edition4  ,pocket ,edition1 #es4 net4  
,thirteenth ,edition4    ,,towards      
,,industrial ,,freedom4 ,cr4 #hvo4      
,cloth1 #cs4 #f;d4 net4 ,paper1  #bs4   
#f;d4 net4      ,second ,impression4    
,a ,,visit ,,to ,a ,g,,ani4 ,large ,cr4 
#hvo4 ,half ,cloth1 #cs4 #f;d4 net4     
,,photogravure ,,portrait ,,of ,,edward 
,,carpenter1 with a  facsimile          

autograph4 #bs4 #f;d4 net4              
,government and ,industry    ,,by ,c4   
,,delisle ,,burns    ,author of         
,political ,ideals    ,demy #hvo4       
,about #afs4 net4    ,this is a         
description of the existing relations   
between ,british  government and the    
industrial system4 ,the present         
tendencies are shown  to indicate the   
formation of an organized economic      
community1 based  upon the ,state       
organization but distinct from it4 ,the 
dominant  conception operating in this  
economic community is that of public    
service4 ,the theory expressed in the   
book1 however1 is subordinated to a     
description of actual facts--the        
administrative treatment of labour      
conditions1 unemployment1 commerce and  
finance1 which will be found  valuable  
even by those who do not agree with the 
theory1 since the  description is the   
only one which covers contemporary      
post-war  administration4      ,karl    
,marx ,,by ,,achille ,,loria            

,,translated ,,by ,,eden ,,and ,,cedar  
,,paul    ,cr4 #hvo4  ,limp ,cloth1 #bs4
 #f;d4 net4    ,at the present moment   
when ,marxianism is so prominently      
before the  public1 it is useful to have
 a translation of this monograph1 which 
makes clear ,loria's affiliation to1 and
 difference from1 the famous  author of 
',kapital4'--,times4      ,the ,practice
 and ,theory of ,bolshevism    ,,by     
,,bertrand ,,russell1 ,f4,r4,s4    ,cr4 
#hvo4  #fs4 net4    ,an ,account of ,mr4
 ,russell's recent visit to ,russia4    
,a powerful and conclusive book 444 as  
trenchant and original as  anything he  
has written4--,daily ,news4    ,there   
have been few more incisive and         
penetrating criticisms of all  forms of 
,communism than ,mr4 ,russell's candid  
admissions4--,times4      ,roads to     
,freedom3 ,socialism1 ,anarchism and    
,syndicalism    ,,by ,,bertrand         
,,russell1 ,f4,r4,s4    ,,new ,,and     
,,cheaper ,,edition    ,cr4 #hvo4       
,cloth1 #es4 net2 ,limp1 #cs4 #f;d4 net4

    ,a remarkable book by a remarkable  
man4--,times4      ,our ,social         
,heritage    ,by ,,professor ,,graham   
,,wallas    ,demy #hvo4  #abs4 #f;d4    
net4    ,the ,social ,heritage discussed
 in this book is the whole body of      
knowledge and habit which is handed down
 from one human generation to  another  
by teaching and learning4 ,men have been
 for so many generations  dependent for 
their existence on this heritage that   
they have become  biologically unfitted 
to live without it1 and its conscious   
criticism  and revision has become the  
main problem of human organization4     
,the chapters deal first with the       
socially inherited expedients used in   
individual work and thought1 and then   
with the expedients used in group1      
national and international co-operation1
 with special reference to the          
educational problems involved and to the
 present conflict between  democracy and
 vocationalism4 ,the book ends with a   
discussion of the  efficiency as means  

of human co-operation of the conceptions
 of ,liberty  and ,science1 and of the  
institutions of ,constitutional         
,monarchy and  the ,church4 ,the method 
used throughout is the same kind of     
psychological  analysis as that used in 
the ,author's ,human ,nature in         
,politics 7#aijh7  and ,the ,great      
,society 7#aiad74      ,problems of a   
,new ,world    ,,by ,j4 ,a4 ,,hobson    
,cr4 #hvo4  #gs4 #f;d4 net4    ,events  
of the last few years have shaken our   
political and economic  systems to their
 foundations4 ,the old guarantees of    
order and progress  no longer suffice4  
,the problems of #aibj are not those of 
#aiad4 ,human  ,nature itself1 as an    
operative force1 has changed4    ,these 
chapters discuss the revelations and    
describe the new ideals that  are       
struggling to get themselves realized in
 the new ,industry1 the new  ,state1 and
 the new ,world-,order4      ,principles
 of ,revolution    ,,by ,c4 ,,delisle   
,,burns    ,cr4 #hvo4  #es4 net4        

,this is a statement of the general     
principles underlying modern  programmes
 for a radical transformation of        
society4 ,revolution is taken  to mean  
the method by which such a              
transformation may be secured2 and it   
is therefore opposed to chaos or        
violence and contrasted with piecemeal  
reforms4 ,the description of the ideal  
is given as the interpretation of       
certain contemporary movements and not  
as propaganda for any political  party4 
,this book1 therefore1 aims not at an   
advocacy of revolution but  at an       
explanation of the grounds which lead   
men to desire it4      ,modern ,english 
,statesmen    ,,by ,g4 ,r4 ,,stirling   
,,taylor    ,demy #hvo4  #ajs4 #f;d4    
net4    ,in a series of historical      
character studies1 this book reconsiders
 the  position of modern statesmanship  
since the ,stuart ,rebellion4 ,taking   
the  accepted facts of the latest       
historians1 but using evidence to which 
they rarely give its due weight1 the    

author maintains that many of the       
orthodox opinions are not logical       
deductions from the data4 ,the book  is 
a charge that since the days of ,lord   
,burghley statesmanship has too  often  
degenerated into politics4 ,it is an    
attempt to estimate some  typical public
 men in the light of a colder reason1   
which shows1 for  example1 that ,oliver 
,cromwell was a founder of modern       
,plutocracy1 while  ,benjamin ,disraeli 
was the defender of ,democracy4      ,a 
,guildsman's ,interpretation of ,history
    ,,by ,a4 ,j4 ,,penty    ,demy #hvo4 
#abs4 #f;d4 net4    ,mr4 ,penty is      
certainly one of the most interesting of
 living men1 and  this is1 perhaps1 the 
most interesting of his books4 ,i       
recommend every  one to read it4--,g4   
,k4 ,,chesterton4      ,the ,history of 
,social ,development ,,by ,,dr4 ,f4     
,m,,ller-,,lyer    ,,translated ,,by    
,,elizabeth ,,coote ,,lake  ,h4 ,a4     
,,lake1 ,b4,sc47,econ47    ,,with ,,an  
,,introduction ,,by ,,professors ,l4 ,t4

 ,,hobhouse  ,e4 ,j4 ,,urwick    ,demy  
#hvo4  #ahs4 net4    ,this translation  
of ,dr4 ,f4 ,mller-,lyer's famous book1 
,phasen der  ,kultur1 will appeal to all
 who are interested in labour problems  
at the  present time4 ,it contains a    
series of studies of the different      
economic  phenomena of to-day1          
describing the gradual evolution of each
 from the  earliest times1 with an      
indication of the probable trend of     
future  developments4 ,the              
inter-connection of the different       
conditions so  described is well        
illustrated1 and each chapter ends with 
a brief  summary of its subject matter4 
,the accounts of the various stages of  
food production1 of clothing1 of housing
 and of the use of tools contain  in a  
brief and readable form the results of  
the investigations of the  past century1
 and ,part ,,iii1 ,the ,history of the  
,evolution of ,labour1  will be read    
with especial interest4      ,,london3  
,,george ,,allen  ,,unwin ,,limited     

,,ruskin ,,house1 #dj ,,museum ,,street1
 ,w4,c4#a