,the ,new ,optimism          ,the       
,new ,optimism      ,by    ,h4 de ,vere 
,stacpoole      ,illustration           
,london3 ,john ,lane1 ,the    ,bodley   
,head4 ,new ,york3    ,john ,lane       
,company    ,toronto3 ,bell  ,cockburn  
,,mcmxiv      ,,copyright1 #aiad1 ,,by  
,,john ,,lane ,,company                 
,,publishers ,,printing ,,company1 ,,new
 ,,york1 ,u4 ,s4 ,a4    ,the ,new       
,optimism        ,the ,new ,optimism    
,,part ,i    ,,on ,,the ,,beach         
,sidenote3 ,the ,beach ,we ,came ,from  
,i was standing by the sea-wall1        
watching the green water foaming round  
the stakes of the breakwater1 when my   
companion1 a charming and elegant       
woman1 turned to me3    8,what is there 
in water that fascinates one80 she      
asked4    8,do you feel the             
fascination80    8,yes40    8,do you not
 know why you feel it80    8,no40       
8,shall ,i tell you80    8,yes40        
8,because you were once a swimming      
reptile40    8,thank you40    8,oh1     

there is nothing to thank me for1 though
 the fact is the most  glorious in the  
universe40    8,the fact that ,i was    
once a reptile80    8,precisely40       
,she pondered on this for a moment1 and 
then3    8,i don't see where the glory  
comes in10 said she4    8,nevertheless1 
it is there1 for the fact is the master 
key to the  meaning of the universe1 the
 one light that shines in a world of    
darkness1 and the one sure hope in a    
world of doubt40    8,the fact that ,i  
was once a reptile80    8,and ,i--yes4  
,i would not give what the webbing      
between my fingers tells  me for all the
 promises of all the religions of all   
the countries on  earth40    8,ancestral
 pride is evidently not your strong     
point40    8,i don't know about that2   
but up to a year ago mental darkness was
 my  portion4 ,i had no religion40      
8,and have you any now80    8,no1 but ,i
 have a certainty40    8,of what80      
8,of the fact that the world has a      
meaning and life an aim4 ,shall we sit  

down on this seat and talk for a while1 
if ,i am not boring you8--and may  ,i   
light a cigarette80    8,you are not    
boring me--yet4 ,and if you can prove   
what you say1 ,i shall  not mind even if
 you bore me4 ,but ,i must tell you1    
first of all1 that1  to me1 the world   
seems absolutely without a meaning and  
life without an  aim4 ,i mean1 of       
course1 the general life of the world1  
which implies1  as far as ,i can see1   
general suffering4 ,if suffering did    
people good1  then ,i could understand  
that we were placed here to grow and    
develop2  but suffering and poverty1 as 
far as ,i can see1 only stunt and twist 
and spoil everything they touch40       
8,precisely40    8,then1 if you admit   
that1 you must admit that the meaning   
and aim of  the world is far from being 
glorious40    8,never4 ,that is what ,i 
wish to disprove40    8,then disprove   
it40      ,sidenote3 ,the ,growth of the
 ,world    8,tell me10 ,i said4 8,why is
 it that an ordinary human being placed 

before a flower sees only a flower and  
nothing of the wonder that is in  it80  
8,because flowers are so common40       
8,more than that--because a flower is of
 such slow growth4 ,if one could  see a 
seed sprouting1 a stalk rising1 a bud   
forming1 bursting1 and  expanding all in
 five minutes1 the wonder of the thing  
would bring one  on one's knees4 ,the   
world is just the same4 ,we do not see  
the splendour  and magnificence and     
meaning of it1 because the growth has   
been so  slow1 because every-day jargon 
has blinded our eyes1 and scientific    
jargon has dulled the poetic perception 
of the miracle in its entirety4  ,it is 
by looking at bits of the world that men
 have come to confusion1  instead of    
fixing their eyes on the world from its 
very beginning40    8,ah1 but who can do
 that80    8,you can1 and so can ,i1 and
 so can anyone who has studied the      
development of the world from the very  
beginning40    8,but ,i have never      
studied the development of the world40  

8,well1 then it is high time you began2 
and to assist you in your  studies1 ,i  
will give you a vague sketch of the     
facts1 and when ,i  have sketched those 
facts1 ,i will expound to you in a few  
words the  deduction which ,i draw from 
them and the reason why ,i have implicit
  faith that earth has a meaning and    
life an aim--both equally glorious4     
8,now1 mind1 ,i have nothing to do with 
fancies1 only facts4 ,hard1 dry  facts  
that no one can refuse40    8,first1    
then1 before the beginning of time there
 was neither sun1 moon1  nor planets2   
the whole of the solar system was a zone
 of incandescent  gas40    8,how do you 
know that80    8,i know it because all  
philosophy points to it1 and because in 
the  depths of space the telescope shews
 to me hundreds of solar systems in  the
 process of making4 ,perhaps you will   
take my word for the fact40    8,yes4   
,go on40    8,this sea of gas1 floating 
lost in the universe1 was possessed of  
two  movements3 the movement of the     

atoms buzzing round each other1 and a   
movement of rotation by which the whole 
sea whirled round its central  point4   
,millions of years went by1 and during  
those years our gaseous  sea began to   
cool and shrink4 ,but it did not shrink 
evenly4 ,the great  outer ring of the   
sea was left behind1 still whirling and 
cooling and  condensing1 but it did not 
remain in the form of a ring4 ,the atoms
 drew  together1 sucked toward a common 
point from every part of the ring1 and  
the result was that a globe began to    
form like a great tumour on the         
attenuated ring2 and as years went on1  
the ring gave up more and more  atoms to
 the globe1 till at last there was      
nothing left but the globe  whirling    
along the path once occupied by the     
ring4 ,this globe was the  first and    
outermost planet1 ,neptune4             
8,meanwhile1 the sea of gas was still   
contracting1 and again the same  thing  
happened4 ,the outermost edge of the sea
 was left behind1 in the  form of a     

ring1 a globe was formed and that globe 
was ,uranus1 the  second furthest planet
 from us4 ,again the same thing         
happened1 and  ,saturn was formed3 and  
yet again1 and ,jupiter was formed3 and 
yet  again1 and ,mars was left behind in
 the shape of a whirling globe of  fire1
 and then the ,earth4    8,the sea      
continued contracting1 leaving ,venus   
behind and then ,mercury2  and still it 
continued contracting1 but now it was   
too small to throw  off any more rings1 
and it consolidated to form one great   
central  globe1 the sun4    8,the first 
great act of creation was accomplished1 
and on that vast  day when1 ,mercury    
left definitely behind1 the budding of  
worlds was  finished1 the sun and the   
planets around it might have been seen  
like  a golden bee surrounded by its    
golden children1 shining in the night of
  space4    8,the earth was a much      
brighter place then1 for it was simply a
 globe  of incandescent vapour1 and yet 
that glowing vapour held everything4    

,man and woman1 and love and war1 beauty
 and sorrow4 ,art1 poetry1 music1       
hunger1 and cruelty4    8,that mixture  
of the abstract and the concrete sounds 
like rant1 but  it is not4 ,it is a bald
 statement of facts4 ,every thought that
 man has  ever thought1 every dream that
 man has ever dreamed was lying unborn  
yet in the essence of that globe of     
incandescent vapour4 ,every form  that  
ever sketched itself on earth was there1
 too--from the daisy to the             
hippopotamus4 ,but as yet there was     
nothing definite1 nothing but the  dance
 of the atoms and the atoms themselves4 
8,from the first moment of its separate 
existence this world in posse1          
consisting as yet of incandescent       
vapour1 began to cool and shrink1  and  
after the first million years or so it  
began to exhibit the first  symptoms of 
thought and to storm at its own         
shrinking40    8,excuse me for a moment1
 but what do you mean by the first      
symptoms of  thought80    ,sidenote3    

,the ,germ of ,thought    8,the first   
and only symptom of thought is action1  
arising from opposing  forces1 and when 
the world1 now condensed into a liquid  
form1 began to  exhibit tides and storms
 of molten matter1 it began to exhibit  
action  arising from opposing forces2   
and here let me say that the amount of  
work done by the world before life ever 
appeared upon it1 the amount of  work   
done by what we call senseless matter1  
and the amount of thought  and ingenuity
 expended on that work put the much     
trumpeted wonder of  life in the shade4 
8,long1 long before the first germ of   
life began to form1 matter in  its own  
mind had worked out the problem of the  
mountains and the  seas2 matter had     
kneaded the moon in its #8dull' hands   
and flung it  up into the sky to be a   
lamp and a tide-maker2 matter had worked
 out  the whole problem of lighting and 
watering and warming the earth1 so  that
 when life appeared in its first humble 
and rudimentary form1 it  found a house 

built for it1 water laid on for it1 and 
all the lighting  arrangements perfect4 
8,yes1 to me1 sometimes1 all that work  
done by matter on its own account  is   
even more wonderful than all the work   
done by ,life1 for even had  life never 
appeared on the world1 the labours of   
#8dull matter' and  #8brute force' would
 still have created the house of the    
earth40    8,it was created for ,life to
 live in80    8,i do not think so4 ,i   
think the creation of the world was the 
result of  the first vague struggle of  
the spirit of matter toward higher      
things4  ,the senseless ferocity of     
blazing gas had calmed down1 and the    
mind of  matter1 if ,i may use the term1
 had reached the dignity of expressing  
itself in form2 and you will mark that  
the advance toward higher  things was on
 the road from ferocity to kindliness2  
that the triumph  of matter was not so  
much in the creation of the forms of    
hills and  plains and mountains and seas
 from whirling oceans of molten         

material1  as in the creation of those  
conditions of mildness necessary for the
  existence of life4    8,yes1 before   
life ever appeared1 matter had developed
 abstract  qualities1 the benign had    
separated itself from the malignant1    
and1  under the influence of the benign1
 ,life first peeped out4    8,we date   
everything from that first budding of   
matter into what we  call life4 ,yet in 
reality it was the last stage of a long 
journey1 the  last act of a long series 
of actions and reactions1 the last      
triumph  of benignity over ferocity in  
the first stage of the evolution of the 
world40    ,sidenote3 ,the ,benign      
8,what do you mean by ,benignity80      
8,i use the word ,benignity for all that
 makes for development of the  simple   
into the complex1 and the word          
,malignity for all that retards  it4 ,i 
will use the words ,good and ,evil if   
you like them better1 and  say that     
,good in those days was anything that   
helped forward the  evolution of matter1

 ,evil anything that retarded it4 ,the  
sunray falling  on the first jelly-fish 
was good1 the storm that injured it was 
evil2  and ,good was good just because  
it enabled matter to build one storey   
higher1 and ,evil was evil just because 
it tried to pull that storey  down4     
8,now you have followed me from the very
 beginning of the world to the  first   
beginnings of life4 ,have ,i impressed  
you logically with one  simple fact1    
that the journey of atoms from a mass of
 blazing gas to a  world where life was 
just beginning to bud was along one     
path1 and one  path only1 the path of   
development80    8,of course it was40   
8,and of the other fact are you equally 
assured8--that the journey from  a      
whirling lava storm to a solid world of 
comparatively quiet seas and  hills and 
plains and mountains was a glorious     
journey and a benign80    8,yes40       
8,then we will start with matter on the 
new journey on which it set  forth a    
million million years ago1 using for its

 carriage the first  jelly-fish40       
,sidenote3 ,life ,appears    8,it had   
laboured dimly to form the hills1 the   
plains1 and the seas1 but  that part of 
it which had laboured to form the seas1 
now that they were  formed1 found       
something more to do1 found itself      
developing in a new  and strange        
direction--that of life4    8,the energy
 of matter that had already constructed 
the solar system  and had evolved the   
rocks and the sea found itself at last  
held up1  cribbed1 cabined and confined1
 with nothing to do4    8,men ask how   
did life appear in the world4 ,for      
myself1 ,i believe that  life was       
created by the explosion1 so to speak1  
of this world energy1  which1 bound down
 by the limitations it had reached in   
the inorganic  world1 burst the rigid   
bonds of its prison and found a new     
field for  its labour in the            
construction of the higher organic      
world4--,and1 in  parenthesis1 let me   
say that ,i believe when this same      

energy reaches  rigid limitations in the
 organic world1 it will burst those     
limits and  find its field in a world as
 yet unknown4    8,however that may be1 
,i propose to deal only with known      
facts1 and the  surest fact on earth is 
this1 that when the first vague sketches
 of  life appeared in the sea1 they     
existed not by the virtue of chemistry1 
nor the virtue of the life that was in  
them1 but by the virtue of the  steadily
 working benignity of the world energy  
that had constructed  their home4       
,sidenote3 ,conditions    8,to me more  
wonderful than the creation of life is  
the creation of  those external         
conditions that made life possible4     
,they collectively  formed the mould in 
which life was cast4    8,now1 in my    
sketch of the creation of the sun and   
planets ,i have just  hinted what the   
brain can scarcely guess--the scenes of 
fiery storm and  horror that preceded   
the welding of the world into a solid   
whole and  the birth of the conditions  

that made life possible4 ,but these are 
less  halting to thought than the scenes
 of ferocity that filled the earth  when
 life awoke1 raging and tempestuous1 and
 form began to devour form  as though   
the world energy were eating its way    
through all forms to  reach the form of 
man4 ,and that is1 in fact1 the truth4  
,man has been  reached by teeth just as 
the hills have been reached by fire4    
,and not  only man4 ,the dove that was  
once a pterodactyl1 the dog that was    
once a  wolf1 the cat that was once a   
tiger1 and a thousand other things once 
terrible1 thoughtless and ferocious1 all
 these have come along the very  path   
that the hills and the seas came along  
in their making--the path  from negation
 and through ferocity to the benign4    
8,now1 can you not see why the fact that
 ,i was once a swimming  reptile1--just 
as you were--devouring other reptiles1  
is a fact that  ,i would not barter for 
all fancies8 for by its light and by    
what  astronomy and geology and the     

other sciences tell me ,i can see that  
the  world1 taken as a whole1 has a     
glorious and definite meaning4          
,sidenote3 ,the ,world ,spirit    8,and 
the gist of the meaning is this3 that   
side by side with the  evolution of     
world forms1 from the liquid lava wave  
to the solid rock1  from the rock to the
 saurian1 and from the saurian to man1  
has gone the  evolution of world        
character and the development of a world
 spirit2  and that the beauty of        
kindliness and benignity and good       
receives  its deep1 deep significance   
from the fact that all the labour of the
  world since the first cooling of its  
fires has been directed along the  path 
leading to these three gods4 ,nothing is
 more clear than that1  and nothing can 
be more definitely proved4 ,there is no 
use at all in  fixing your eyes on the  
,jurassic period and saying1 #8,what    
monsters are  here6' or on a ,london    
slum and saying1 #8,how terrible life   
is6 ,it can  have no meaning6' ,there is

 no use in fixing your eyes on a        
thousand  years of history and saying1  
#8,i see no development4 ,men were as   
good  then as they are now4' ,you must  
take a billion years in your purview1   
to see the amazing and glorious thing as
 it is1 and then what you will  see will
 be strangely like the growth and       
unfolding of a flower--or the  flowering
 of a bramble40      ,sidenote3 ,hard   
,facts    8,i believe in dreams1 but ,i 
have no faith except in hard facts4     
,those  hard facts tell me that the sun1
 toward which everything grows to-day1  
is the same sun toward which the seas   
and the hills and the rocks grew  before
 life exhibited itself first1 and toward
 which life has grown  since its birth2 
and that sun is the sun of              
,amelioration1 ,benignity1  ,good1 and  
,gentleness4 ,let us call it by the     
great good word that  embraces all these
 things3 ,good4 ,well1 then1 the world1 
since the  beginning1 has grown toward  
,good40    8,do you deny the soul80     

8,i do not4 ,i know nothing about it4 ,i
 am quite content to live in a  world   
that is slowly and steadily developing  
in benignity1 and to  assist that       
development in my small way by trying to
 develop the  benignity in myself4      
8,i do not trouble about my soul one    
iota1 but ,i am deeply concerned to     
keep on that upward path along which    
earth is ascending40    ,sidenote3 ,the 
,imitation of ,earth    8,ah1 but how   
can one do that80    8,by copying what  
the earth has done2 by freeing oneself  
as much as  possible from ferocity1     
hatred1 lust1 and cruelty40    8,but you
 are neither ferocious nor cruel80      
8,perhaps not actively1 but just as ,i  
carry in my material brain the  eye of  
the extinct monster ,i once was1 so do  
,i carry in my mind the  remnants of the
 passions of the reptile that once was  
me1 the lust of  the reptile and the    
hatred4 ,i do not tear other human      
beings with my  teeth1 but ,i have torn 
them by deeds and words4 ,i have been   

cruel--who  has not8 lustful--who has   
not8 inspired by hatred--who has not8 ,i
 have  regretted these things--who has  
not8--and forgotten them--who has not80 
8,but since ,i have taken a broad view  
of the world1 since ,i have seen  that  
all these things are part and parcel of 
the malignity from which  earth is      
freeing herself in her journey toward   
the ,benign1 ,i have come  to hate those
 things as a man on the road to some    
brilliant festival  might hate the      
obstacles on his path40    8,but since  
you have no surety that you possess an  
individual soul1 you  have no surety of 
ever reaching the festival40    8,i     
cannot help that4 ,my immediate aim is  
to keep up with the  procession4 ,i     
leave the rest to chance40              
,sidenote3 ,the ,universal ,brain       
8,all that10 said she1 8seems true4 ,no 
one can deny that the world has         
developed2 no one can deny that the     
world has developed along the path  that
 leads to gentleness and good4 ,the     

world is like a big head1 isn't  it8    
,with all its brains on the outside40   
8,just4 ,it began to think like a       
jelly-fish2 then it went on to the      
consciousness of the first reptile2 then
 it went on till it thought  like an    
animal1 and finished by thinking like a 
man4 ,the world1 as you  say1 is a big  
head1 with its brains on the outside4   
,but during the last  hundred years an  
astounding development has taken place  
in the world  of ethics4                
,philosophically speaking now1 there is 
no such thing as an  individual brain2  
every brain in the western world is only
 a cell in  the universal brain4 ,and   
the universal brain is developing on    
lines  of its own1 and in precisely the 
same way as the individual brain        
developed4    8,a hundred--or shall we  
say eighty8--years ago1 the brain of the
 world  consisted of a number of        
isolated thought centres4 ,a thought    
took six  months to reach ,australia    
from ,england1 and two days to reach    

,london  from ,manchester4 ,then came   
railways1 the printing-press1 and the   
electric telegraph2 and in a hundred    
years the universal brain has  developed
 from almost nothing into a highly      
complex organism4    8,this new power of
 man to think universally has not been  
recognized by  philosophers for what it 
is4 ,it is practically the fusion of all
 brains  into one great brain and the   
creation of a new organism4 ,formerly   
there  were men in the world--now there 
is ,man4 ,roughly speaking1 every brain 
in the western world is joining1 now1   
with every other brain1 and the         
universal brain thinks as a whole4 ,you 
remember1 ,i defined the ,benign  as    
that which assists the elevation of the 
simple to the complex1 and  if1 as ,i   
fully believe1 all evolution is the     
child of the ,benign1 ought  we not to  
look at this evolution of the universal 
brain with a critical  eye1 to discover 
whether it is following in the same path
 as the world  followed in its          

development from seas of fire to hills  
and plains2 and  as the individual brain
 followed in its evolution from the     
brain of  the saurian to the brain of   
the civilised man8    8,what do we find8
    8,we find that the development of   
the universal brain has followed  in    
exactly the same path that all matter   
has followed from the very  beginning of
 things4 ,the development has been      
extraordinarily rapid  and the stride   
toward ,good has been mathematically in 
keeping with the  development4 ,and it  
is absolutely truthful to say that since
 joining  this great confederation of   
thought the individual brain of man has 
advanced on the road of ethical progress
 more in the last hundred years  than in
 all the years between the birth of     
,christ and the eighteenth  century4    
8,to see what has really happened1 let  
us look far back over the  civilisations
 of the world4 ,egypt was great1 and    
vanished2 ,athens  brought art and      
philosophy and culture to their highest 

pitch1 and  died2 ,rome arose1 and fell 
thundering in ruins into the night of   
the  ,middle ,ages4 ,for all these      
civilisations were in reality segregated
  communities1 and even in the          
communities themselves thought was not  
universal4 ,and if you watch            
civilisation rising from the mist of the
  ,middle ,ages1 you will see that it   
rose not by the power of the word  or of
 precept1 but of the printing-press1 the
 telegraph1 and the  train--that is to  
say1 by the universalisation of thought4
    8,a hundred years ago men were still
 half bogged in the ,middle ,ages4      
,men1 compared to what men are now1 were
 stupid1 brutal1 and merciless4  ,brains
 there were1 and clever brains1 but the 
universal brain was not  born4 ,the     
individual brain has reached its limit  
of development as an  individual brain  
and was preparing for its great         
development as a part  of the universal 
brain4    8,what happened was this4     
,from the printing-press1 from the      

steam-engine1 and from the electric     
telegraph station all sorts of  threads 
began to spin1 joining mind to mind4    
,the minds of ,birmingham  became linked
 up with the minds of ,london1 those of 
,london with ,paris4  ,the remotest     
country village to-day thinks with the  
greatest town4  ,a giant of thought has 
suddenly arisen in the place of a       
thousand  pigmies2 he has developed in  
the short space of eighty or a hundred  
years1 and his development has been on  
the line leading to ,beneficence4  ,and 
this giant is a new creation1 as        
important as the creation of earth  from
 fire1 and of life from earth4          
8,there have been1 in fact1 three       
creations4 ,the creation of the         
material earth2 the creation of life1   
which reached its ultimate form  in men2
 and the creation of ,man from the      
scattered tribes of men4  ,man the giant
 7whose brain extends to ,china and     
,peru1 and which will  eventually       
include ,china and ,peru71 and who feels

 in the ,london part  of his brain a    
pain that exists in the ,congo or       
,putumayo part of his  brain4 ,man1 who1
 though a giant1 is still in his infancy
 and who1 when  he has reached his      
teens1 will be a much more perfect being
 than he is  now4    8,ah1 but will he80
    8,look back at the earth struggling 
up from chaos1 and always and always    
advancing toward the good2 set back now1
 perhaps1 for a million years  by the   
ferocity of life fighting for its       
foothold in the age of the  saurians and
 the monsters1 breaking past that       
fearful period till those  terrible     
forms are utterly destroyed and there is
 moulded from them the  kindlier        
animals1 and1 from them1 animals more   
kindly still2 and until  among them are 
seen the first vague forms of men4      
8,then look at these forms of men1 how  
steadily they have advanced  in         
perfection and toward the good4         
,steadily1 ,i say1 though at times  the 
advance has been set back for perhaps a 

thousand years--till the  highest       
development of individual man was       
reached4 ,that is to say1 the  highest  
development that men could reach toward 
the good as individual  entities4       
8,then what happened8 ,from purely      
material causes all these individual    
entities have become1 or are becoming1  
fused into one great universal  entity4 
,the struggle of the world spirit to    
higher things found itself  held up by  
the individual brain1 just as before the
 birth of organic  life it found itself 
held up by the limits of the inorganic  
world4 ,it  burst that boundary1 and now
 it has burst the narrow limit imposed  
by  the individual mind and has found a 
new outlet for its energies in the  mind
 universal4    8,and that mind1 though  
recently formed1 is developing hugely in
 the  direction of the good4 ,it may    
receive set-backs1 but even in the      
hundred years since its birth1 look at  
the beneficence displayed in its        
working1 and look at the effect of that 

beneficence on the lives of the         
individual men it has taken into its    
great keeping4    8,since ,man has      
arisen to take charge of the world1     
,justice and ,mercy  have marked his    
dealings with men4 ,all things have     
improved1 and  ferocity and injustice   
have found themselves under the sway of 
a cruel  tyrant who is turning them into
 the wilderness to keep company with    
the tigers and the remnants of a world  
that was once all ferocity and  cruelty4
    8,since ,man has arisen1 he has     
taken war in his hand2 he is weighing it
  and finding it wanting4 ,he has taken 
superstition and is pulling its  vile   
wings off4 ,he is taking the unjust     
magistrate by his shoulders and  shewing
 him the door2 and he has put his heel  
on the tyrant king4 ,he  is freeing the 
individual man from the odious idea that
 the individual  man is made of mud1 to 
be burnt forever in hell if there is a  
flaw in  his making4 ,and he has taught 
humanity at large that it is an infamous

  thing to hang a poor devil for the    
theft of a sheep4    8,man is only a    
hundred years old1 and he has done all  
that since his  birth4    8,the world   
spirit has been only a hundred years on 
this new path of  development4 ,can you 
doubt1 then1 seeing its progression     
during a  billion years1 and how it has 
spread over ever new fields1 that it    
will  continue so to progress and so to 
spread into fields newer still80    8,i 
can not40      ,sidenote3 ,the ,craving 
for ,truth    8,you are a philosopher10 
she said4    8,no4 ,i am a man who is   
sick of philosophy1 at least            
transcendental  philosophy4 ,i want     
matter under my feet all the time4      
,philosophers make  me giddy1 swinging  
like spiders on threads over abysms of  
nothing1 and  weaving words into webs to
 catch--words which they mistake for    
thoughts4    8,i am sick of religious   
theories1 doctrines and dogmas1 and     
gods4 ,i  want ,truth that a plain man  
can understand4 ,i never could          

understand  the ,christian creed as     
distinct from the teachings of ,christ1 
and1 what  is more1 ,i believe no one   
else can4 ,mahommedanism revolts me4    
,buddhism  attracts me1 yet ,i feel it  
to be as unfeeding to the truth-craving 
part of my nature as a soap-bubble to a 
starving man4 ,materialism that  denies 
a god revolts me40    8,but you say you 
are sick of gods40    8,yes1 but ,i am  
more sick of materialists--all the rest 
of the religions  are pretty much the   
same2 they don't satisfy me4 ,nothing   
has ever  satisfied me but the faith ,i 
have struck out for myself and the      
philosophy that a little child can      
understand40    8,and that faith80      
,sidenote3 ,the ,essential ,goodness of 
the ,world    8,is simply in the        
essential goodness of the world4 ,that  
is what ,i have  been driving at all the
 time since we began our conversation40 
8,but doesn't ,christianity believe in  
that80    8,no2 ,christianity believes  
in the essential badness of the world40 

8,of course6--,i forgot4 ,all men are   
sinners40    8,yes1 that's it4          
,christianity believes that the world is
 bad to the  core1 and yet it believes  
that a ,god ,who is all goodness made   
man  right at once and thoroughly bad2  
left him in this condition for an       
indefinite time1 and then sent ,his son 
down to redeem him4    8,now1 ,i have a 
great reverence for other people's      
religious beliefs1  but ,i have a       
greater reverence for honest thought1   
and ,i cannot--though  ,i worship       
,christ--believe that the world followed
 that line of  development40    8,you   
worship ,christ1 yet you deny him60     
8,no--,i worship ,christ because ,he was
 entirely lovable4 ,he shines  entirely 
alone in the world of the ,western      
peoples1 just as ,buddha  shines in the 
world of the ,eastern4 ,he was goodness 
itself made visible  and audible4 ,i    
worship all ,i can understand of ,him4  
,i cannot worship  ,him as a mystical   
figure sent suddenly to earth to be put 

to a cruel  death in order that ,i might
 be saved1 simply because my brain      
cannot  understand that process and     
proceeding1 and ,i cannot worship what  
,i  cannot understand4 ,it is my defect1
 perhaps1 but that defect is shared  by 
numerous people4    8,and ,i speak for  
those people when ,i say that faith with
 us is  impossible unless based on a    
sure foundation of reason2 that we must 
understand before we can worship1 that  
we do not deny ,god1 but that  we do not
 see ,him1 and that if ,he1 the maker of
 the world1 does  exist as an individual
 entity1 we have implicit faith that ,he
 is the  fountain and origin of all     
goodness1 and that goodness is ,his     
robe2  that we worship goodness and     
humbly believe that if ,he does exist   
beyond the ken of our purblind eyes1 ,he
 takes our worship of ,his robe  as     
homage to ,himself far more profound    
than homage exacted by fear or  by      
superstition1 and equal to the homage   
which great and saintly souls  lay at   

,his feet by virtue1 perhaps1 of their  
truer sight of ,him4    8,but we deny1  
utterly1 the essential badness of man1  
and our denial is  based on the sure    
fact that as man grows in stature1 so1  
pari passu1  he grows in goodness4 ,we  
believe that man1 unaided by miracles1  
can  increase in goodness just by the   
virtue of the goodness that is in  life1
 a seed in the cave man1 a flower in the
 civilised2 we believe  that the        
printing-press1 the telegraph1 and the  
steam-engine have  produced better      
ethical result than all the teaching of 
the ,apostles1  simply because those    
great fibres of communication have      
enabled men to  develop by mutual touch 
and the good in each individual man to  
rush  upward and find a vast field of   
new growth in the field of universal    
good1 a field that shines now1 like a   
star galaxy above the hell of  darkness 
of a hundred years ago4    ,sidenote3   
,left-offs and ,fissures    8,we believe
 that the minds of men1 like the bodies 

of men1 are filled  with old left-offs  
and fissures1 and that just as some men 
are born  with the gills of fishes1     
through whose forms their beings once   
passed1 so some men are born with the   
thoughts of the reptiles they  once     
were1 and that the hells of the priests 
and the sensuous and  painted heavens1  
the asceticism that kills joy1 the      
persecutions and  mutilations1 and      
mummeries and terrors under which men   
have groaned  for two thousand years    
have arisen1 not from ,religion1 but    
from old  defects in the mind of man    
equivalent to defects in his body1 like1
  for instance1 the vermiform appendix4 
,these defects have taken the  good food
 that ,christ gave the mind of man and  
turned it1 not into  nourishment1 but   
into causes of inflammation4 ,saurian   
hatred is bound  up with ,religion2     
superstitions from the time of the cave 
men1 a spirit  of simian persecution    
from the times of the tree men1 and     
lust2 all  these vile left-overs        

clinging to the mind of the individual  
man1 as  the ,pineal eye and vermiform  
appendix cling to his body1 have made   
,religion an impossible food for the    
advancement of ethics beyond a  certain 
point4    8,now mark this4 ,the         
universal mind knows not lust2 hates    
persecution2  abhors cruelty1 and is    
preparing to free itself from           
superstition4    8,how do ,i prove this8
 ,take the press of the civilised world1
 which is  an expression of the         
universal mind4 ,where is the place of  
lust there8  ,where is the place of     
,cruelty8 ,where is the place of ,hate8 
,where is the  place of ,tyranny8 ,i    
tell you this1 that the mind universal  
is as far  above the mind individual as 
the mind of a man is above the mind of a
  chimpanzee--in ethics4    8,an        
ordinary man dare not advance into the  
pure world of the mind  universal one   
half of the thoughts1 nay1 one-fourth of
 the thoughts  that fill his individual 
mind4 ,he dare not preach the hatred    

that is  in him or shew the lust that is
 in him1 or the spirit of persecution1  
or even the spirit of intolerance2 and  
the restraint upon him is  not so much  
the fear of the police1 or the fear of  
public censure1  as a certain           
recognition in his own soul of ethical  
values and an  instinctive horror of    
putting forth into pure light his       
deformities1--a  recognition1 in short1 
of the essential goodness of the world4 
,of  course there are extraordinary men 
not so affected--so are there  murderers
 and thieves4    ,sidenote3 ,the ,new   
,religion    8,now1 ,i wish to be       
perfectly explicit about ,religion1 or1 
rather1  about the new ,religion which  
the world has received from ,man4 ,the  
new  ,religion which has advanced the   
world more in a hundred years than all  
the priest-ridden religions advanced it 
since the dawn of ,time4    8,its       
miraculous qualities arise from one     
fundamental fact4 ,it knows not         
,individualism4    8,it is a simple     

recognition of fundamental ,rights4 ,it 
is not the  individual laying down the  
law for other individuals 7as in the    
churches72 it is the universe of ,man   
recognising the laws that brought  it   
into being1 and imposing those laws on  
the individual4 ,it does not  teach2 it 
accepts4    8,the great teachers of the 
world laid down precepts1 they          
formulated  rules of conduct1 and their 
scholars took precepts and formul and   
boiled men alive with them for coining1 
and hanged men with them for  stealing1 
and burned women with them for          
witchcraft1 and persecuted  men with    
them for making the sign of the         
cross--or not making it1 and  twisted   
and bedevilled those precepts and formul
 into every shape that  an individual   
mind could imagine4    8,the new        
,religion does not discard these        
precepts4    8,its decalogue1 in fact1  
is longer and more highly developed in  
parts  than the old1 but it does not    
preach its laws1 it breathes them and   

lives by them4    8,more than that3 it  
lives by the spirit of good1 not by the 
letter4    8,the universal mind1 for    
instance1 denounces ,theft1 yet it      
recognizes  that theft is a multifaced  
thing1 some faces being almost innocent1
  others hideously cruel4 ,a hundred    
years ago1 a thief had only one face1   
one head1 and one neck1 by which he was 
hanged1 if the theft amounted  to more  
than--six-and-eightpence1 was it8       
8--,so1 to come to the end of the       
matter1 we have evolved a secular       
morality that knows no more of creeds1  
or threats of future  punishments1 or   
promises of future bliss than ,i know of
 ,hindustanee2  which lives above all   
men1 yet touches all men2 which abhors  
lust and  cruelty and oppression2 which 
teaches the kindness of ,christ to men  
and  of ,buddha to animals1 and before  
which ,atheists and ,christians1 ,jews  
and ,gentiles all bow4 ,a morality      
which1 by the influence of the press1   
the telegraph1 and the steam-engine1    

those three ,apostles1 will spread  to  
the uttermost depth of ,china and to the
 last temple of that hideous  black     
blot1 ,india2 and which1 in the course  
of ages1 will change the  individual    
brain of man and raise it ethically far 
above its present  advanced position4   
,no2 development has not ceased4        
,development has only  begun4 ,give the 
world a thousand years more40    8,a    
thousand years60    8,i do not want to  
be unduly optimistical4 ,i foresee      
set-backs even  in the world of         
universal thought4 ,give it a thousand  
years under  this new influence1 and ,i 
foresee ,man1 individual man1 on the    
heights  immeasurably above us40        
8,and then80    8,and then--who knows8  
,the world spirit that has reached so   
many limits1  and broken through them to
 higher things1 will reach the limit of 
perfection in man4 ,if there is a field 
of perfection beyond1 it will  break    
those limits and flow on40    8,and if  
there is no field beyond80    8,then    

this whole business would be as         
senseless as a farce by ,m4  ,crebillon 
the younger--whom ,i hope you have never
 read40          ,,part ,,ii    ,,the   
,,home ,,as ,,the ,,highest ,,point     
,,yet ,,reached ,,in ,,the ,,development
 ,,of ,,the  ,,world      ,sidenote3    
,the ,advance on ,material ,lines    8,i
 cannot deny the truth of what you have 
told me10 she said4 8,i can  see clearly
 the different steps up which the world 
has come1 but  does it not seem that    
this new universal mind which is the    
latest  great stage in the advance of   
the world has1 according to you1 been   
produced by purely material causes8 ,it 
is as much as to say that the           
printing-press1 the telegraph1 and the  
steam-engine have created  ,good--that  
they1 surely1 never could do80    8,they
 have not2 they have only circulated    
thought2 they have only  created the    
platform for thought to spread on4 ,they
 have only created  conditions          
favourable to collective thinking4      

,collective thought1  infinitely more   
powerful and complex than individual    
thought1 has  worked purely on the      
material given to it by individual      
brains4 ,it  had no other origin or     
food4 ,had that material been           
essentially evil1  or if the evil in it 
had been excessive in comparison with   
the good1  the printing-press1 the      
telegraph1 and the steam-engine would   
have  increased the evil in the world4  
8,but you have indicated one point ,i   
would like to dwell on4 ,the  absolute  
essentiality of material objects and    
conditions now in the  advance of the   
#8spiritual' and intellectual world1 and
 the absolute  necessity of discarding  
dreams and fallacies4 ,in the last great
  advance1 ,hoe's machine has done what 
all the doctrines could never  have     
done1 yet ,hoe's object was not to      
construct a machine for the  improvement
 of ethics4 ,he was1 in his labours1 a  
materialist1 pure  and simple2 his      
object was the improvement of a machine 

for the rapid  production of printed    
stuff4 ,he did not work at all in the   
matter with  an eye to great and        
abstract improvements4 ,he just did his 
little job  well and with all his       
energy4    8,stephenson1 ,watt1         
,wheatstone1--and ten thousand of       
others1 including  the whole army of    
,science1 ,invention1 and ,labour--whose
 combined work  has produced the        
,universal ,mind1 who have1 in fact1    
created ,man1 each  one of these had    
only one object3 the extension of       
material knowledge  and the improvement 
of certain material objects and         
conditions4 ,they  were not idealists1  
they were not teachers2 they laboured to
 produce  no doctrines or airy formul4  
,they were honest workmen in the cause  
of  material progress1 each with his eye
 fixed on his job4    8,contrast with   
these the preachers and teachers--all   
excellent1 mind  you1 and making1 in    
their way1 for good1 yet all1 by their  
combined  efforts1 useless for the great

 uplift that was coming and that could  
only come through the work of           
,scientific men in the field of         
,science1  and ,mechanicians in the     
field of material improvement4    8,and 
this fact is a perfect lamp for all who 
would join in the work of  world        
development4 ,he who would assist in the
 development of the world  must work not
 in the field of dreams and theories1   
but in the field of  matter4 ,that is   
the doctrine of the spirit of the world 
whose great  hands laboured to make the 
hills and seas1 and flung the moon to   
the  skies for a lamp and a tide-maker1 
who moulded the chimpanzees into  men1  
and men into civilised men4 ,dreams and 
theories and doctrines1  preachers1     
transcendental philosophers and         
teachers1 and even  priests--we want all
 of them1 but they are by-products4 ,the
 work of the  world remains the         
essential thing1 and the pioneers of the
 world are  the workers1 not the        
dreamers4    8,for1 though the universal

 brain has subordinated the individual1 
as the whole organism subordinates the  
cell1 the universal brain  lives1 alone1
 by the individual1 and can only grow   
through material  means4 ,and though the
 universal brain is better1 infinitely1 
than the  individual1 it can only       
exercise its power for good on the      
individual  through material means4     
8,that an individual brain may          
participate in the life and light of    
the brain universal and feed on and     
increase with that life1 and feed  and  
increase that life1 it must first of all
 receive that light and  life2 and1     
secondly1 it must be in a condition to  
receive it1 and  this can only be done  
by material means4 ,and ,i will show you
 what ,i  mean by an instance4 ,the man 
who is crushed beneath ruinous labour1  
the man whose poverty condemns him not  
to think1 the man who shivers  without a
 fire1 who goes with an empty           
stomach--all of that vast crowd  of what
 we call the ,poor--each one of these is

 cut off1 more or less1  from the mind  
universal and can never receive its     
light except through  material means4   
,preaching and teaching1 dreams and     
theories are useless  to these4 ,to     
participate in universal thought--which 
is universal  good--they must first have
 the time to think in1 they must be     
defended  from the wolves that prey on  
thought1 ,cold and ,hunger2 they must be
  preached to practically by the two    
great ,apostles1 ,wheat-flour and       
,firewood2 they must be treated as ,hoe 
treated the dull steel that made  his   
press--lifted materially4    8,having   
lifted them thus with food and firewood1
 let ,education have its  say1 and      
,eugenics1 up to a certain point4 ,but  
education is as useless  to a           
work-broken or starving man as algebra  
to an ass4 ,since ,man has  awakened to 
life1 he has begun to recognize this4   
,the old religions of  men looked on the
 poor as a necessary evil4 8,the poor   
are always with  us40 ,but man1 though  

still only a hundred years old1         
perceives that the  ,poor are his       
disease1 that the criminals are his     
disease1 and that the  idle are his     
disease4    8,the universal mind rejects
 ,poverty just as it has rejected ,hate1
 and  ,lust1 and ,intolerance2 and its  
teaching in this respect is1 #8,the poor
  shall not be always with us4' ,that is
 one of the greatest triumphs of  the   
great good giant born of the fusion of  
intelligences2 even though1  as yet1 the
 means toward this great end have not   
been discovered40    ,sidenote3         
,socialism    8,what about ,socialism80 
8,socialism1 ,anarchism1 and            
,syndicalism are as yet the most        
obtrusive  results of this              
universal-mind disturbance1 due to      
recognition of the  evils that affect   
the body of ,man4 ,the giant1 on opening
 his eyes1 is  furious at his rags and  
tatters1 and the sores which they       
disclose4  ,man1 newly awakened1 is     
disgusted at his general condition--and 

that  disgust is at the bottom of all   
the #8revolutionary' unrest which we see
  to-day in the western world4    8,i   
spoke to you of set-backs4 ,should that 
unrest develop into a storm1  the       
progress of the world would receive one 
of the set-backs it is well  accustomed 
to40    8,what do you mean by a storm80 
8,i mean a revolution4 ,an attempt by   
sudden and violent means to tear  up the
 rags and heal the ulcers of ,man4 ,for 
instance1 were ,socialism in  its       
extreme form to become the directing    
power of ,man to-morrow1 were  every man
 in the world to be equalized           
materially1 the world would be  put back
 on its path of progress immeasurably40 
8,why80    8,because the ,socialists'   
plan is constructed on a fallacy1 and   
were  it to be followed by ,humanity1 it
 would mean utter disruption of all     
social communities40    8,what is the   
fallacy80      ,sidenote3 ,the ,fallacy 
8,the fallacy is this3 ,the idea that   
the individual is the essential  cell of

 the community1 and that the energy and 
life of any community  spring from the  
individual4 ,this is not so4 ,the       
essential cell of the  community is the 
,family1 or1 in other words1 the ,home1 
and all the  energy and life of the     
community spring from the ,home4        
8,the reason of this is simple4 ,the    
,home is bisexual1 the individual       
unisexual4    8,all the vitality of a   
community arises from the interplay of  
the two  sexes one upon the other1 and  
this interplay1 to be productive of     
communal life and good1 must take place 
in the ,home4 ,individual men and       
individual women utterly divorced from a
 home of any sort lose force  and       
deteriorate1 and become warped and      
dwarfed4    8,sexual force1 that is to  
say1 the force that draws man to woman1 
that  produces ,love and ,children1 and 
love of children1 and the love of       
children for their parents and for each 
other--sexual force1 the fiery          
grandfather of affection and filial     

love1 can only be developed as a  force 
for communal good and individual good in
 the ,home4    ,sidenote3 ,the ,home ,is
 ,everything    8,the ,home is          
everything4    8,it is the foundation of
 the community1 it is the essential cell
 of the  world4 ,you cannot injure the  
community without injuring the home1 and
  you cannot injure the home without    
injuring the community4 ,you cannot     
improve the condition of the community  
radically by pooling all the  money and 
distributing it among the homes1 or by  
pooling all the means  of production and
 wealth creation and distributing work  
tickets to the  ,home-makers4 ,such a   
distribution of the means of living     
would leave  utterly untouched the      
diseases that prey on the homes of the  
nation and  would touch with a killing  
hand the vitality of the ,home40        
8,what do you mean by that80            
,sidenote3 ,its ,construction           
8,simply this4 ,every home is a tiny    
nation built exactly on the plan of  the

 big nation1 of which it forms a unit   
and which1 in fact1 is its  counterpart 
in large4    8,the home has its head1   
just as the nation has its head4 ,like  
the  nation1 it is bisexual2 it has its 
exchequer1 its fighting force1 its      
ethical laws1 its ambitions1 its        
alliances1 and its frontiers4 ,it       
trades with other homes and combinations
 of homes just as the nation  trades    
with other nations4 ,it has its imports 
and its exports4 ,it  has its foreign   
loans and national credit4 ,it has its  
internal and  external politics4 ,it has
 all these1 whether it be a man and wife
  living in rooms or a family of twenty1
 and it is the facsimile of the  nation 
simply because the nation is not a      
differentiation of it but an            
aggregation of it4 ,what is done to the 
nation is done to the home4             
,sidenote3 ,its ,power    8,a home1 or a
 family1 if you like the term better1 is
 a ganglion of  forces4 ,love and       
,pride1 ,economy 7or the saving         

instinct7 and ,ambition1  not to speak  
of ,affection1 are the best of these    
forces1 just as the  best forces in the 
nation are ,love1 ,pride1 ,ambition1 not
 to speak of  ,patriotism4              
8,inseparably connected with these fine 
forces are other most  powerful forces3 
,greed1 ,ostentation1 ,chauvinism 7for a
 family can be  ,chauvinistic as well as
 a nation71 ,love of ,domination1 etc4  
,sidenote3 ,its ,death ,blow    8,now1  
the forcible toeing the line by each    
family to a fixed income  and ambition  
would hit the life of the home a death  
blow4    8,i will give you one instance4
 ,ambition would be tom up by the roots4
  ,god only knows all the fine things   
that are clinging to the roots of       
,ambition4 ,man knows a few of them4    
,fathers of families deny themselves    
and work hard that they may see their   
sons and daughters advance in  the      
world2 knowing1 as they do1 that        
material advance is bound up with  good 
conduct1 they look to their own conduct 

and the teaching of their  children4    
,mothers do the same4    8,look at life 
as you know it1 and tell me frankly1 is 
not this true8  ,that the destruction of
 ,ambition in the family would tend     
largely to  destroy the energy and life 
of the family and its power as a centre 
of  force40    8,it is true40    8,yet  
your ,advanced ,socialist1 with his eyes
 fixed on what he calls #8the  ,state1' 
does not reckon on this1 and his theory1
 were it turned to  practice1 would     
destroy ,ambition4    8,then1 again1    
,pride1 not pride in high deeds1 but    
pure1 low-down1  material pride--how    
nasty it is1 but what a tremendous force
 it is6  ,from the cock that crows to   
the ,state that prospers1 it is         
ubiquitous  as sodium4 ,it is purely    
human and animal1 yet it is one of the  
major  forces that hold the family      
together and make it living4    8,yet1  
if ,ambition goes1 material ,pride must 
go--absolutely4 ,then take  the         
,hoarding ,instinct4 ,this would be     

absolutely destroyed by your  ,advanced 
,socialist1 yet without the ,hoarding   
,instinct1 which1 in a  more or less    
attenuated form1 is the ,saving         
,instinct1 family morality  would cut a 
poor show4 ,self-denial would vanish and
 that demi-virtue1  ,carefulness4       
8,you will notice that ,i am keeping    
entirely to material instincts and      
things1 and ,i will rise to the height  
of saying that the teaching of  the     
destruction of the ,hoarding ,instinct  
by ,socialists is a blasphemous         
teaching1 and the blasphemy is against  
the ,holy ,spirit of ,good4 ,i  have    
left the individual for the family1 but 
the destruction of this  instinct would 
wreck the individual as well as the     
family4    8,ambition1 ,pride1 the      
,hoarding ,instinct1 are not passions2  
they are  ,laws that govern the growth  
of life1 and they are as immutable as   
the  laws of gravity4    8,without going
 further1 ,i shall content myself with  
the destruction of  ,ambition1 ,pride1  

and the ,hoarding ,instinct1 and leave  
the family robbed  of them by the       
,advanced ,socialist--and withered in   
its growth4 ,i shall  come back to the  
point ,i started from--the ,home4 ,your 
,socialist talks of  the ,state4    8,i 
say again--,there is absolutely no such 
thing4 ,there is only a  collection of  
homes4    8,behind the word ,state he   
hides his absolute ignorance of         
fundamentals4  ,he fancies1 as ,i said  
before1 that the nation is an           
aggregation of  individuals1 and on that
 assumption he concludes that each      
individual  should be tuned to the pitch
 of the mass1 so that all should sing in
  harmony4    8,but the nation in       
reality is not an aggregation of        
individuals at  all2 it is an           
agglutination of ,families or ,homes4   
8,the word ,state1 as implying a        
homogeneous and isolated power1 is      
philosophically meaningless4 ,the ,state
 is not a separate entity  from the     
,home4 ,it is only1 in the              

administrative sense1 a name for  the   
common executive which the homes of the 
nation have created to  conduct their   
external affairs individually as between
 themselves1 and  collectively as       
between other common governments or     
executives4    8,when the ,advanced     
,socialist talks of the welfare of the  
,state he is  talking of the welfare of 
the majority of individuals4 ,when he   
talks  of the ,state seizing the common 
wealth1 he means that the majority  of  
individuals will seize it and distribute
 it among themselves and  the minority4 
,he has absolutely forgotten those      
separate hives of sex  life1 industry1  
ambition1 antagonism to other hives1 and
 energy1 which  are the real units of   
the nation1 the ,families1 which are by 
their  constituent vices and virtues the
 breeding-grounds of all social energy  
and virtues4    8,and he would advance  
the world on its progress by seizing    
with the  brute force of individuals    
dominion over the homes of the nation4  

,he  would allow an executive created by
 force to dictate to each home its      
foreign and domestic policy2 he would   
limit its imports and exports1  destroy 
its ambitions1 plunder its hoard1 and   
make slaves of its  individuals4        
8,that is ,socialism pure and simple4   
,arsenic could not be simpler or  purer 
as a poison to the common good and the  
vitality of any social  community40     
,sidenote3 ,building1 ,not ,breaking    
8,and you80    8,i would push the world 
on1 as ,i said before1 by building from 
below  and by purely material means4    
,instead of hitting the family a blow in
  its vital part1 ,i would foster its   
wellbeing4 ,i would give it drains  and 
ventilation2 ,i would1 from the common  
fund that all the families  have pooled 
in the taxes1 make better the houses2 ,i
 would even call  upon the more         
prosperous families to help the poorer1 
but my one aim  and object would be the 
protection of the family in all that    
makes for  its vitality4    8,i would   

foster family ambition and the saving   
and hoarding instinct1  and cooking and 
household management and everything that
 would keep  heads of families by the   
hearth instead of talking ,syndicalism  
in  pot-houses and scandal in clubs4 ,i 
can not say all ,i would do1 but        
broadly ,i would do everything possible 
for material betterment and  everything 
possible for the betterment of ,family  
,life4    8,and that is what will       
happen1 ,socialism or no ,socialism4 ,we
 began by  talking of the world as a    
globe of fire2 we went on to hills and  
seas1  saurians1 animals1 men1 civilised
 men1 ,man with a universal mind4       
8,we have reached the world as it is--a 
collection of families or  molecules1   
constituting ,man with a universal mind4
    ,sidenote3 ,the ,danger of ,dreams  
8,that mind1 new-born1 is filled with   
dreams and illusions3 ,anarchism1       
,socialism1 ,syndicalism1 and so forth4 
8,let ,man remember this3 ,he was built 
out of facts1 not theories2  matter1 not

 fancies2 families1 not individuals2 and
 that to grow in the  fashion that these
 new theorists would have him grow1 he  
would have to  destroy the molecules    
that constitute him and resolve himself 
into his  original atoms40    8,what is 
a molecule80    8,a molecule is a family
 of atoms40      ,sidenote3 ,the ,human 
,equation    8,you are1 then1 opposed to
 any fixed plan for the betterment of   
the  world4 ,you would simply work by   
bettering material conditions80    8,i  
am not opposed to any fixed plan4 ,i    
only say this1 that all the  fixed plans
 ,i have seen are unworkable1 and from  
one cause40    8,what is that80    8,the
 framers of them have forgotten that any
 plan for betterment of  the world is   
absolutely unworkable that leaves out   
the ,human ,equation4    8,that is not a
 saying of mine4 ,it is a ,law4 ,and1   
what is more1 it is  part of a universal
 law4 ,you cannot improve the condition 
of vegetation  unless you allow for the 
weakness as well as the virtues and     

strength  of vegetable life1 nor can you
 improve the condition of mankind unless
  you allow for its weaknesses and sins 
and follies as well as for its  virtues 
and its strength4    8,what ,i have said
 to you about ,socialism is not an      
ex-parte statement  by a man opposed to 
,socialism4 ,i am opposed to nothing but
 error1 and  when ,i see ,laws as fixed 
and as immutable as ,bode's ,law or the 
law of  gravity disregarded by men who  
are proposing to reform the world1 and  
when ,i point out these fatal flaws in  
their reasoning1 that does not  mean    
that ,i am opposed to all plans for     
reforming the world1 but it  does mean  
that ,i would test by everyday logic any
 plan for everyday use4    8,will it    
work8 ,will it perform the work for     
which it was invented as a  kinetic     
engine8    8,those are the two questions
 on which the capitalist satisfies      
himself  first before he invests his    
money in any invention in mechanics4    
8,then he asks1 will it wear without    

undue destruction of parts8    8,then he
 satisfies himself as to its economics4 
,any plan of world  reform which leaves 
out the ,human ,equation is equivalent  
to an  engineering plan which leaves out
 of consideration details like the ,law 
of the ,dead ,centre or the ,law of     
,expansion and contraction of metals4   
8,if you will examine any great         
engineering plan1 whether it be the plan
  for a bridge or a marine engine1 you  
will find that it is a simple  bouquet  
of natural laws1 all brought together by
 the engineer for a  definite purpose1  
and every law is stamped with the  or - 
stamp of  nature4 ,they are the laws of 
weakness and the laws of strength1 and  
these wonderful laws that preside over  
matter so interpenetrate one  another   
that you cannot divorce them one from   
the other4 ,they may be  said to form   
alloys4 ,thus the law that rules over   
the breaking strain  is at once the law 
of strength and weakness4 ,the giant    
that lives in  water springs into steam 

under the conditions of the  law that   
gives  him strength1 but never for a    
moment does he escape from the - law of 
condensation which is ever ready to     
reduce him to water again in a          
twinkling4 ,and so on4    8,now1 the    
task of the engineer is not to eliminate
 the - laws from  nature1 but to account
 for them1 and1 if possible1 to make    
them1 by a  trick of genius1 work for   
him4 ,the engineer does not attempt to  
destroy  ,inertia1 the weakness that    
lives in the dead centre of things2 he  
counteracts the idleness of inertia by  
means of the fly-wheel4    8,the        
weakness of ,steam under the law of     
condensation becomes in  the hands of   
the engineer the strength of the        
steam-engine4 ,the  bursting power of   
steam1 which is ever at war with the    
weakness of  the boiler metal1 he       
counteracts by the safety-valve4 ,he    
must allow  for everything1 or his      
machine either will not work or bursts  
into a  thousand fragments4    8,and do 

you imagine for a moment that human     
passions and energy1  strength and      
weakness1 are less potent than the      
forces and weaknesses  which the        
engineer has to account for in his plan8
 ,do you fancy that  ,inertia is        
confined to metals1 and friction to     
working parts of  machinery8 ,do you    
fancy that the social engineer1 dealing 
with powerful  and explosive forces1 can
 plot out a social machine without      
taking into  consideration the          
weaknesses which are complementary to   
the forces with  which he has to deal8  
8,yet1 in all the plans ,i have         
examined1 from ,socialism to            
,syndicalism1  not one engineer has     
submitted to me a plan in which human   
passions and  energy1 strength and      
weakness1 are allowed for4    8,that is 
a fact4    8,i shall give you just one  
little instance1 taken from             
,syndicalism4    8,we shall destroy all 
businesses1 says the ,syndicalist1 by   
vexatious  strikes4 ,the capitalist1    

having vanished 7struck out71 the hands 
will  work the business4    ,sidenote3  
,syndicalism    8,just so4 ,but he      
forgets that all businesses1 like all   
men1 die in  time4 ,suppose all         
businesses were converted into          
,syndicalist businesses  worked by all  
the hands1 in a world of ,syndicalist   
businesses--they  would not escape from 
the law of decay and death which hangs  
over  everything material4 ,businesses  
would die1 and new businesses  would    
have to be born under ,syndicalism1 just
 as in our world4 ,the  competition     
would be just as keen and the factors of
 death just as  potent4 ,but the factors
 of life would not be as potent4 ,how   
would a new  business be born to live   
under ,syndicalism8    8,let us suppose 
that six men1 by energy1 hard work1 a   
little money1  and self-denial 7all     
necessary71 found a small business4 ,it 
grows and  prospers1 and in a year's    
time they find that they must introduce 
new  labour to cope with the work4 ,but 

the new hands are all ,syndicalists4    
,they don't want wages1 they must have  
their share in the business4 ,they  are 
taken on1 six of them4    8,we now have 
twelve men working a growing and        
prospering concern4  ,unless they are   
absolute fools1 they must recognize that
 expansion to  them means simply more   
danger and worry1 for expansion is      
impossible  without more labour1 and all
 the new labour introduced only sops up 
the  profits like a sponge1 and even    
were the profits to increase out of     
proportion to the total labour employed1
 that increase of individual  profit    
would in the majority of businesses be  
small--in numerous  businesses it would 
be non-existent4 ,why should they expand
 and risk  what they have got--for all  
expansion in business means risk--simply
 to  benefit potential labourers8       
8,the law of ,inertia comes at once into
 play1 without any flywheel to          
counterbalance it4 ,the business ceases 
to grow1 and1 a hundred to one1  dies4  

8,that is only one of the flaws in the  
,syndicalist's design4 ,his machine  has
 not been constructed with a view to    
this and other human weakness4  ,in a   
world of automata it might work2 in a   
world of flesh and blood it  wouldn't4  
,in short1 ,syndicalism could destroy   
all the businesses of the  world quite  
easily1 but it could not build them     
again4    ,sidenote3 ,the ,theories     
8,syndicalism1 ,socialism1 ,anarchism   
cannot stand for a moment under the  eye
 of analysis without tumbling to pieces 
as practical inventions4    8,they seem 
daring and ingenious1 but they are      
dishonouring to virile  thought4        
8,let us change for a moment and ask    
ourselves1 not what we would say  to the
 engineer who disregarded natural laws1 
but what would we say of  a playwright  
who proposed to present life to us in a 
play constructed  without a proper view 
to human passions1 weaknesses1 and      
fallibility1  as well as to human       
virtue1 altruism1 etc48    8,we would   

say at once3 ,it is not possible4 ,he   
may write such a play1  but it would    
have this fault3 it would represent no  
society that ever  lived in the world1  
and in a thousand years hence it would  
be as  valueless as it is to-day4       
8,and that is1 in fact1 what you might  
say of all the ,theorists in  ,humanity 
,i know4 ,they have written plays for   
men to act in that are  quite valueless 
to-day1 would have been quite valueless 
a thousand  years ago1 and will be quite
 valueless a thousand years hence4      
8,they have left out ,human ,nature40   
,sidenote3 ,the ,laws of ,nature        
8,the ,statesman who would leave the    
world better than he found it must  take
 ,human ,nature as it is1 and1 instead  
of attempting to make it grow  in direct
 violation of the laws that rule it1 he 
must assist it to grow  in accordance   
with those laws4    8,those laws are in 
the main good4    8,as ,i have pointed  
out to you1 they are the laws that      
cultivated  crocodiles so that at last  

they became men1 that cultivated a hell 
of  fire until it became a habitable    
world1 and that will cultivate men      
until they become better than           
present-day men4    8,the ,reformer must
 study those laws4 ,he must look at the 
world  generously and widely1 and from  
the very beginning of things4 ,he must  
have communion with the great earth     
spirit which has brought all of us  to  
where we are1 and1 humbling himself to  
the dust1 study the working  of that    
spirit through the ages4    8,he will1  
unless he is blind1 inevitably see one  
truth3 that this great  spirit has never
 meddled with the growth of life and    
thought1 but has  laboured ,titanically 
to prepare the conditions favourable to 
that  growth4    8,it led life by the   
fin and claw till life developed hands  
and a mind  wherewith to develop its own
 conditions favourable to growth4 ,and  
all  the improvements of the world since
 then have followed that law1 the  ,law 
of ,improvement of ,conditions1 not any 

vague ,law for the ,improvement  of     
,life4    8,when ,life left the trees   
and found or dug caves to live in1 it   
left  behind it1 as a record of its     
first shelter and home and improved     
condition1 the first vague scratchings  
of ,art4 ,you may be sure that  could it
 have found a record we would discover  
also in those caves some  sign of the   
first glimmer of ,love4    8,the cave   
was the first home of the germ of       
civilisation1 and the man  who built the
 first hut laid the foundations of all  
the palaces and  cathedrals of earth4   
8,the man who improved the condition of 
the first square yard of land  laid the 
foundation of all worldly prosperity1   
and the man who made the  first hinge of
 hide for the first door destroyed a    
barricade and laid  down the first      
condition for hospitality4    8,whenever
 man has fallen away from the teaching  
of this law1 he has  always fallen4     
,sidenote3 ,athens1 ,egypt1 ,rome       
8,athens rose to the heights of the     

,acropolis1 but she failed in the       
furtherance of those conditions         
necessary for the development of  the   
world--witness her streets4 ,rome rose  
to splendour and fell in  ruins simply  
because of her failure in the           
development of material  conditions to  
feed and foster ,progress--witness her  
roads--made for  armies to march on4    
,egypt destroyed herself with dreams of 
mysticism  and power useless to the     
development of life--witness the        
,pyramids and  the ,sphinx4             
,sidenote3 ,the ,work of the ,barbarians
    8,all these so-called civilizations 
failed because they were inhuman in  the
 path of progress4    8,they were not   
developments1 but essays in development4
 ,their  civilizations had no relation  
to the broad ,human ,family1 and gave no
  platform for that family to develop   
on4 ,athens1 ,rome1 ,egypt carried      
,arts1 ,power1 ,mysticism to the        
heights1 while down on the plains the   
tillers of the soil1 the serfs1 and the 

barbarians carried on ,human  ,nature4  
8,athens1 ,rome1 and ,egypt1 like some  
modern philosophers1 took no  account of
 human weaknesses4 ,examine their laws  
and codes1 their  policy1 and their     
view-points1 and you will at once see   
that their  platform was so narrow that 
only a class could stand on it1 and that
  their atmosphere was stifling to ,man4
 ,human nature could not develop in  it4
 ,there was no liberty for growth4      
,human nature had reached a certain     
point2 it made blind attempts to rise   
higher4 ,it rose to heights of          
,egyptian power and mysticism1 and fell2
 to heights of ,athenian art and        
philosophy1 and fell2 to heights of     
,roman splendour1 and fell4 ,it was     
like an animal trying to leave a sea1   
and falling back at each attempt  by    
reason of the crumbling of the shore    
under its weight4    8,it had not found 
the resting-place of solid rock4 ,the   
hard rock of  ,liberty and material good
 and material ,reason and material      

development4    ,sidenote3 ,bacon       
8,at last it found the rock by the man's
 hand that could only find  and cling to
 that rock4 ,that hand was ,bacon's4 ,it
 was so essentially  material and human 
that it could distinguish rock from     
friable sand1  and so powerful that1    
having found a hold1 it never let go4   
8,bacon was the first modern man to     
seize the earth spirit's law that       
development is only possible when       
conditions for development have been    
already prepared4    8,his #8,fruit' was
 another word for conditions4    8,his  
genius recognized intuitively that the  
only way to develop ,man is  to let ,man
 develop1 and the only way to let him   
develop is to give him  liberty1        
mentally and physically1 and a safe and 
sheltered platform4    8,better his     
material conditions40           99      
99       99       99    8,you asked me1 
was ,i opposed to any #8plan' for the   
,development of  ,humanity1 and ,i      
replied1 and reply1 in effect1 that ,i  

am not1 always  providing that it       
allowed for human development along     
human lines4    8,that is the sum total 
of the matter1 and the first essential  
of ,man in  his relation to the world40 
,,part ,,iii    ,,woman ,,in ,,relation 
,,to ,,man      ,sidenote3 ,no ,such    
,thing as ,woman    8,and what about    
woman's relationship to the world80     
8,there is no such thing as woman40     
8,oh6 ,oh60    8,there are only women4  
,to talk of ,woman as a being apart from
 man is  absurd4 ,when ,i used the word 
,man in talking of the universal mind1  
,i  included women4 ,the word ,man as   
used to represent men is a falsity in   
that it excludes women4 ,the word ,woman
 is absurd1 however you take it4        
8,men and women are cut out of the same 
piece of stuff--,human ,nature4 ,the    
woman is cut a bit smaller1 and her     
outline is a bit different1 that is     
all4    8,mentally it is just the same  
as physically4 ,she is cut1 as a rule1 a
  bit smaller1 and the outline of her   

mind is a bit different4 ,but it is     
only a difference in size and outline4  
,the stuff is the same4 ,and the        
outline of the one is complementary to  
the outline of the other2 where  the    
woman's outline sinks in the man's      
sticks out1 and vice versa4  ,mentally  
and physically it is the same2 they are1
 in fact1 the two  parts of that great  
jig-saw puzzle1 ,humanity4    8,the     
,male and ,female are not a necessity of
 ,life4 ,they are only a  necessity of  
higher vegetable and animal life4 ,a    
large number of lower  organisms        
propagate unsexually--the monera1 the   
amoeb1 foraminifera1  radiolara1 etc4   
,these increase either by splitting in  
two or putting  out buds4 ,the ,male and
 ,female are not1 then1 a radical       
necessity of  life1 but they are a      
radical necessity in development and in 
progress  from a lower to a higher form 
of life4 ,the ,male and ,female are not1
 as  ,i will try to point out1 of the   
essence of life1 but of the essence of  

the forms of life4    8,we must imagine 
that the first germ of life was sexless1
 a cellular  structure that multiplied  
by splitting in two4 ,we must imagine   
that  because the rigid law of advance  
from the simple to the complex imposes  
on us the assumption that the first form
 of life must have been the  simplest1  
and the simplest is the organism that   
develops by fission4    8,there was a   
tremendous moment1 then1 when all       
earthly life lived and  moved without   
sign of sex2 cellular forms all alike1  
all developing  alike1 and by the same  
method4    8,had all these forms        
continued unchanged1 the world would now
 be just  as then4 ,but a change came1  
due1 we must suppose 7from analogy71 not
 to  a change in the radical nature of  
these organisms1 but to a change in  the
 external conditions affecting some of  
them4 ,the food environment1  or the    
temperature environment1 or the         
electrical environment  surrounding some
 of these organisms1 or some other      

unknown but always  external influence1 
wrought a change in some of these lowly 
forms of  life4 ,the mother of          
,form--,differentiation--was the result4
    8,the organisms affected by         
,differentiation had to reproduce       
themselves  by producing other organisms
 in a slightly different form1 either   
lower  than themselves1 or on the same  
plane as themselves1 or higher than     
themselves4    8,had they taken the     
first course1 ,differentiation would    
have meant  destruction and death to all
 the organisms it touched4 ,the second  
course was absolutely impossible4 ,a    
simple organism cannot alter itself     
without ascending or descending2 if it  
becomes the least degree more  complex1 
it ascends2 if it becomes the least     
degree less complex1  it descends4 ,it  
cannot alter its nature or its form in a
 horizontal  direction4 ,it is          
absolutely condemned to the vertical1   
and must go up  or down4    8,these     
basic simple organisms1 then1 that      

formed the foundation for all  life1    
must have responded to their change in  
environment by ascending1  that is1 by  
becoming more complex4 ,they must have  
done this1 or else  have descended to   
death4 ,they were making for the great  
goal1 ,sex4    8,how they reached that  
goal may be a story yet to be read by   
,science1  but reach it they did on the 
day that two of these simple-minded     
organisms reproduced themselves1 not by 
individual fission1 but by  mutual      
union4    8,it was not a radical change 
in the life of the organisms2 it was    
only  a radical change in the method by 
which that life was reproduced4    8,it 
was a change in business methods4 ,it   
was co-operation1 pure and  simple1     
between two organisms in the production 
of other organisms4  ,before that day1  
the whole business had to be done by one
 individual2  after that day it was done
 by partners1 one called ,male1 the     
other  ,female4    ,sidenote3 ,sex a    
,partnership    8,now1 what is the      

essence of partnership8 ,mutual         
assistance4 ,in a  labour partnership   
where the business is in the least      
complex1 two men  would be of very      
little assistance to each other who     
insisted always  on doing the same job1 
or the same part of a job4 ,there must  
always be  a top sawyer and a bottom    
sawyer1 a man who does what the other   
cannot  do1 or gives what the other has 
not got4    8,it is exactly the same in 
the business of life-production1 and the
  instant that ,form could demonstrate  
them1 the two partners appeared1  and   
the instant that the new business of    
,life originated by this  partnership   
became acute and competitive1 the       
partners found themselves  leagued      
together not only for the production of 
life1 but for the  defence of that life4
    8,but that carries us beyond my     
immediate point1 which is that the      
terms ,male and ,female do not connote  
separate origins for the objects  they  
apply to1 nor essential differences     

between those objects4 ,the  two        
partners are essentially the same1 only 
that one has got his hands  horny from  
doing the rough jobs of the partnership 
and the other has  kept her hands soft2 
one has developed mammary glands by     
doing her  business in the partnership1 
the other has developed his biceps in   
doing his4 ,one has developed certain   
attributes of mind in fighting the      
world1 the other certain other          
attributes in keeping the home4 ,one has
  developed certain organs for          
reproduction1 the other--others40       
8,yet you deny the existence of ,woman40
    8,absolutely4 ,but ,i do not deny   
the existence of ,sex1 always holding   
that1 though ,sex is the most powerful  
factor in development1 it has  nothing  
to do with the essence of life4 ,if it  
had1 you would find men  and women      
different from one another in           
essentials4 ,they are not4    8,as human
 beings they are exactly the same1 only 
that you find some  passions and        

attributes more developed in men1 others
 more developed in  women4 ,but there is
 not a passion or attribute belonging to
 men that  is not shared in by women1   
and vice versa40    8,but there is a    
vast difference between women and men40 
8,of course there is1 but it is only a  
difference1 not a division2  moreover1  
it is only a surface difference1 for the
 deeper you go into  their natures1 the 
less apparent is that difference4 ,use  
the touchstone  of the profound         
emotions4 ,who has not seen a strong man
 weep like a  woman1 or a weak woman    
show the heroism of a man8 ,does sorrow 
affect  men less than women8 ,does great
 joy affect women more than men8    8,is
 love a thing apart from man1 and is it 
woman's whole existence8 ,it  is not4   
,that claptrap was born of ,fancy1 and  
the passion for saying  a catchy thing4 
,the love of men for women is just as   
powerful and as  intimately connected   
with their existence as the love of     
women for men4  ,fidelity1 the only true

 sign of real love1 is exhibited by men 
in just  the same proportion 7allowing  
for the greater temptations of men7 as  
it  is by women4    8,no2 men and women 
are absolutely the same as human beings 
in all  things essential1 and the man   
who denies that is the man who sees the 
world with only one eye1 and only uses  
the surface of his brain4    8,men and  
women are partners4 ,partners in a      
difficult business4 ,they  have been    
partners for millions of years1 and the 
differences between  them are caused by 
the exigencies of the partnership4      
,sidenote3 ,men--,women1 and            
,women--,men    8,even in those surface 
mental differences that mark sex a man  
will  often approximate to a woman in   
some particulars1 and a woman to a man4 
,these surface differences are not      
unalterable4    8,take the love of      
gossip4 ,listen to the talk of army men 
and navy men  and club men4    8,take   
,vanity1 and look at the nuts and the   
dudes and the macaronis4    8,take      

curiosity1 and remember ,coventry4 ,take
 love of dress--0    8,and remember ,mr4
 ----10 said she1 laughing4             
8,exactly4 ,and let any one who would   
controvert me consider his friends  and 
relations critically1 and tell me1 with 
his hand on his heart1 are  the males   
destitute of female attributes and the  
females of male8    8,they are not4     
,they are all human beings1 and to class
 them  philosophically under the two    
divisions1 ,woman and ,man1 is a        
profound  error and a commonplace error4
    8,it has led men to look on women as
 mysterious beings with essential       
motive springs and essential mental     
clockwork quite different from that  of 
men4    8,it has led to frightful       
volumes of gas being generated in       
certain  skulls1 like the skull1 for    
instance1 of ,x----1 and some of the    
leaders  of the ,feminist movement1 and 
the escape of this gas is making an     
alarming noise4    8,when ,ellen ,key1  
for instance1 says that #8,human souls  

can be divided  into organic and        
inorganic1' and that #8,ibsen makes the 
masculine soul  inorganic1 definitive1  
finished1 determined2 the feminine soul1
 on the  other hand1 he more often makes
 organic1 growing in evolution1' what   
does she mean8    8,all this loose talk 
about souls being organic and inorganic 
,i would  not exchange for one small    
concrete fact--such as that ,mrs4 ,jones
 is a  better man than her husband1 or  
that ,john ,smith #8ought to have been  
born a girl1' facts that help to prove  
that not only are men's and  women's    
bodies and #8souls' made of the same    
stuff1 but that the sex  difference is  
so unfixed a quality that we find women 
who are to all  intents and purposes    
men1 and men women4    8,i will be bold 
enough to lay down a law based on       
experience1 ,history1  and              
,common-sense4    8,there is not a      
womanly attribute of either body or soul
 that has  not been born of the stuff   
that men are made of1 and there is not  

an  attribute of women that has not been
 developed to its womanly pitch  not by 
virtue of any mysterious energy rising  
from the source of  #8woman1' but by    
purely external conditions4 ,and the    
same with regard  to men4    ,sidenote3 
,conditions1 ,again    8,there you have 
the old #8conditions' coming up again4  
,let us get at  facts4    8,the sthetic 
sense is pre-eminently womanly4 ,you    
will say1 at once1  #8,this is not so4  
,women are rarely as good artists as    
men4' ,i was not  talking of art1 but of
 the sthetic sense4    8,every male     
artist inherits this sense from his     
mother4 ,i am speaking  from long       
observation and experience4 ,it is the  
woman in the artist  that paints2 the   
woman in the poet that feels2 the woman 
in the  novelist that colours the work4 
,every man has the sthetic sense more   
or less developed1 but women have it1 as
 a mass1 more developed than  men4 ,who1
 for instance1 puts the flowers in the  
cottager's window8    8,i do not believe

 that the sthetic sense in the greatest 
artist is  more developed than it is in 
hundreds of thousands of women who never
  touch art4 ,his power of              
craftsmanship1 purely material and      
mechanical1  and his power of           
constructive imagination raise him to   
the heights1 and  these powers only come
 from the superior conditions favourable
 to them  under which men have dwelt4   
8,go into any house1 and you can tell if
 a woman lives there4 ,some  delightful 
trace or touch betrays the fact4 ,it may
 be a few flowers--it  may be this or   
that1 but the sthetic touch is there2   
and in the home  it is chiefly the woman
 who brings it4 ,now1 why has woman     
developed  this delightful attribute8   
,it is a property of the mind2 but men  
have  it1 too4 ,why has she developed it
 out of proportion to the man's         
development in this particular8         
8,since she shares it with the man1 it  
is a common attribute1 and it is  the   
purest common-sense to believe that she 

developed it simply because  the        
conditions affecting her life were more 
favourable to its growth  than the      
conditions affecting the life of the    
man4    8,though the first scratchings  
of art in the cave-men's dwellings were1
  most likely1 the work of a man1 who   
gave him the sthetic basis of his       
artistic sense8 ,arguing from what we   
know--his mother4    8,and why did his  
mother cultivate this sense more than   
his father8    8,if you had seen his    
father tearing through forests after1   
and  sometimes in front of1 infuriated  
wild beasts1 while his mother kept  cave
 and looked after the children1 you     
would have a complete and  pictorial    
answer to that question4    8,even the  
weariness of the chase is disastrous to 
the sthetic sense4  ,look at all the    
hunting men and women you know1 if you  
doubt what ,i say4    8,so1 then1       
without any transcendental talk about   
#8souls' being organic  or inorganic1 we
 may say1 arguing common-sensically1    

that women have  developed one of the   
most distinguishing #8womanly'          
attributes1 not  because she is a woman1
 but because she is a human being1 and  
the  conditions under which she has     
always lived have tended toward that    
development4    8,again--the love of a  
mother for her offspring1 the one       
attribute of all  attributes most       
distinctly and profoundly #8womanly'3 is
 it different  in kind or essence from  
the love of a father for his offspring8 
,surely  not1 but it is more complex1   
more intimate1 and more tender and more 
lovable1 simply because the conditions  
under which it has grown have  been more
 favourable to the development of this  
complexity1 intimacy1  and tenderness4  
8,it is the same beautiful thing1 but   
more peculiarly cultivated1 and it  has 
grown in complexity while the man has   
been hunting1 or trading1 or  fighting  
the world in some other way4    8,go    
through the whole category of those     
attributes whose superior  development  

makes woman the flower of the earth4    
,you will find not  one which has       
developed on its own account owing to   
some mysterious  chemistry of being     
peculiar to ,woman1--all have developed 
from the  common soil of humanity1 owing
 to the superior conditions for their   
development in women4    8,and the chief
 of those conditions has been           
,protection4 ,the old  conditions come  
up again4 ,the man when he was hunting  
and killing  beasts for his wife and    
children1 and fighting for their        
existence1  never imagined that he was  
by his labours founding ,art and        
,poetry4 ,he  was4 ,he was giving their 
germs conditions to grow in4 ,love1     
tenderness1  gentleness1 affection1     
morality3 all were there in the cave    
with the  woman4 ,she suckled them with 
her children2 she trained them in their 
growth with kisses--and slaps4 ,they    
were the man's no less than the         
woman's1 common to both their natures1  
but he left them in the cave  with her  

to take care of1 while he went hunting4 
8,conditions have made woman what she   
is3 the best and most beautiful  thing  
in the world4 ,and now ,feminists want  
to change those conditions1  just as    
,socialists want to change the          
conditions affecting man4    8,both     
strike at the ,home40      ,sidenote3   
,feminism    8#8,woman must have a freer
 life4'    8#8,to evolve her genius1    
woman has but one need--,freedom4'      
8#8,she must be free to form her own    
ideas and morals4'    8#8,woman must    
reorganize the mind and soul of         
humanity1 for man has  disintegrated    
it4'    8,those are some of the         
teachings of the ,apostles of ,feminism4
 ,i take  them from the work of a clever
 ,american woman1 and they are a fair   
statement of the case for ,feminism4    
8,to the first ,i give an unqualified   
assent4    8,freedom1 within limits1 is 
the basic condition of growth4    8,but 
what does the ,feminist mean by         
,freedom8    8,the third dictum answers 

that4    8#8,she must be free to form   
her own ideas and morals4'    8,one     
would fancy from that that #8woman' was 
an animal capable of  evolving ideas and
 a moral code different from man4 ,since
 woman is just  the same human animal1  
we may put this aside1 and ask again    
what the  ,feminist means4    8,she     
asks1 in fact1 that women may be free to
 change their morals 7we  shall leave   
the talk about ideas aside for the      
present7 in any way they  please4       
8,now1 morals cannot be changed in a    
horizontal direction4 ,it's up1 or      
down1 or stationary4 ,any change in     
morals is for the better or for the     
worse4    8,does the ,feminist ask for  
freedom to change her morals for the    
better8  ,she has perfect freedom to do 
that2 most men will applaud her1 and    
most  women1 too4    8,does she ask for 
freedom to change her morals for the    
worse8    8,if she is making that       
demand1 let her frankly avow that what  
she wants  is license1 not freedom4     

8,there is a lot of difference between  
the two4    8,i am not arguing to get   
the ,feminist in a hole1 but simply to  
clear  the ground of brambles4    8,she 
does want license1 as a matter of fact2 
one would be blind who  looked at her   
programme and did not see that4    8,and
 the license she wants is not the       
license to steal1 or lie1 or  murder1 or
 commit arson4 ,when she talks of       
forming her own morals1 she  has one    
morality entirely and solely in         
view--the morality that presides  over  
,love2 and when she asks for license1 it
 is license in ,love4    8,men have more
 license in this matter than women4     
,that is undoubtedly  so4    8,men1     
since the beginning of the world1 have  
had more license than  women2 but that  
license is a relic of barbarism4 ,it was
 useful once1  but it is becoming less  
useful every day1 and pari passu men are
  becoming more moral40    8,useful     
once80    8,in this way4 ,men in the    
past were the fertilisers of the world4 

,who  brought ,roman blood to ,england1 
,norman blood1 ,norse blood8 ,men4      
,roman1  ,norman1 and ,norse women had  
nothing to do with the matter4 ,their   
duty  was to stay at home and be moral4 
,armed and roaming men fertilised the   
world1 just as bees fertilise a field of
 clover1 crossed the races1 and  made   
the vitality of them4    8,roman1       
,norse1 and ,norman virtues that make   
,england great were born  of ,roman1    
,norse1 and ,norman license4 ,the same  
fact applies to all  ,europe4 ,but the  
day of the free-lance in love is gone4  
,he who was once  a world-maker is now a
 world-curse4 ,he is not now a          
world-maker1 but a  ,home-wrecker and a 
woman-wrecker4    8,nations no longer   
require him for a fertiliser4 ,men no   
longer travel  in masses1 armed with    
spears2 they go in railway carriages1   
accompanied  by their families1 and the 
world can get all the fertilisation it  
wants  by immigration4    8,license     
still lives among men1 but it lives as a

 reptile2 among men  it is dying1 yet   
,feminists1 when they ask for license1  
would give this  dying thing a new birth
 among women4 ,they forget that what was
 once a  bad necessity is now a hideous 
and dying superfluity4      ,sidenote3  
,the ,right of ,motherhood    8,i have  
heard it stated by ,feminists that      
motherhood is the right of  every woman4
    8,so is fatherhood the right of     
every man1 and on that plea a man might 
base a very wide scheme of immorality4  
8,as a matter of fact1 there is         
something else3 the right of the child4 
8,a woman has no right to motherhood    
unless she can provide a home for  her  
child4 ,a father has no right to        
fatherhood who cannot do likewise4  ,and
 by a home ,i do not mean shelter and   
food2 ,i mean everything sacred  that   
lies in that word ,home4 ,love1         
affection1 self-restraint1 mutual       
respect1 and family respect4    8,of    
course1 if the ,feminist says1 ,destroy 
the home1 one has nothing  more to say4 

,she is logical4    8,but to say1 ,i    
shall increase license among women      
without injuring or  destroying the     
home1 at once reduces her to a person   
who is not logical4    8,as a matter of 
fact1 the ,feminist movement1 as far as 
its moral side  goes1 is confined to a  
certain number of men who desire the    
extension  of license2 to a certain     
number of women who do likewise2 and to 
a  certain number of women who feel     
acutely that women are put upon by men  
in the matter of morals4 ,that men have 
set up a rule of conduct for  women     
which they don't obey themselves4       
8,this is not so4 ,the sternest         
moralists are women1 and the morality of
  these moralists is not an abstract    
quality2 it arises from a profound  and 
intuitive motherhood instinct that tells
 them that license is death  to the     
welfare of the child1 whether it        
develops and is shown in the  mother or 
the child4    8,the child must restrain 
itself and not steal the jam2 the woman 

must  restrain herself and not let her  
honour be stolen40    8,and1 you will   
say1 the man must restrain himself and  
not steal her  honour80    8,certainly4 
8,and every man1 who is a man and not a 
cur1 obeys that law as far as in  him   
lies4    8,man1 you must remember1 has a
 lot to fight against1 and nothing so   
much as the old rules of license under  
which he has lived for ages4    8,they  
used to be a royal robe2 they are now a 
beggar's tatters4 ,he is  ashamed to be 
seen in them nowadays2 he only puts them
 on in private2  yet they are always    
crying to him to put them on1 just as   
filth is  always crying to a dog1 ,roll 
in me4    8,that is all ,i have to say  
about the moral side of the ,feminist   
people4  ,their claim for equal freedom 
with man in other respects is far more  
pleasant to notice4 ,and it comes to    
this3    8,since the mass of women is   
just the same as the mass of men1 in the
  name of ,humanity1 why should not the 
woman mass have the same freedom  in    

affairs as the man1 politically and     
socially8    ,sidenote3 ,social and     
,political    8,why should the women of 
the nation not be free to expand their  
mental  and bodily energy in every      
social and political path in which the  
men  expand it8    8,certainly they     
ought4 ,but they can't4    8,they could1
 in a nation whose units were           
individuals2 they can't1 in a  nation   
whose units are homes4    8,every woman 
is a potential or actual queen-bee4 ,her
 duty is to found a  hive1 not to make  
honey4 ,like a man1 she has only a      
limited quantity of  energy4    8,the   
little nation of the hive or home1 which
 is1 in very fact1 the  nation itself   
writ small1 makes vast calls upon the   
man's energy and  the woman's4 ,here    
alone is the national life as distinct  
from the  national affairs4    8,it is  
the germinal spot and centre of all     
national activity2 it is  the primary   
school of all morality2 and it is the   
supreme province of  the woman4 ,here   

she is a world ,builder4    8,this is   
her kingdom4 ,her duties here are not   
only family1 but  national4 ,there are  
no humble duties in a home3 they are all
 great and  national duties1 directly   
determining the advancement of the      
world4  ,like all great duties1 they    
imply great outputs of energy1          
self-denial1  and restraint1 and it is  
impossible for her to use her energies  
effectively in two directions4 ,she     
cannot be at the hub of the wheel  and  
the tire both at the same time4 ,in     
other words1 she cannot be at  home and 
in parliament or the law courts1 or the 
council chambers of  the nation1 or the 
studios or dentists' parlours at one and
 the same  time4    8#8,woman must be   
free to create her own conduct and to   
seek her own  experiences for           
self-development1' runs another dictum  
of our ,feminist  sage4    8,in the home
 she is only free to create her own     
conduct in a manner  conducive to the   
well-being of the home4 ,if she swerves 

from this law1  she is a defaulter and  
an enemy to good4 ,the same may be said 
of her  freedom in self-development4    
8,certainly she must be free to develop 
herself1 and so must the man be  free to
 develop himself4    8,but the man who  
develops his muscles in golf at the     
expense of  his business time and energy
 is a slacker and a defaulter and a     
home-injurer4 ,and the woman who        
develops her political instincts or her 
mind power at the expense of her home   
time and energy is the same40           
,sidenote3 ,the ,world-,builders    8,it
 seems to me10 said my audience1 8that  
you look on women as though  they were  
all married and with household duties to
 perform40    8,i look on women as      
though they were all married women1 or  
women  preparing to enter that state4   
,no other women are of any account at   
all  as world-builders4    8,they may be
 delightful1 charming1 pleasant1 true   
women in every way1  but if they are not
 married they are not true women-factors

 in the  progress of the world4 ,simply 
because they have no hand in the        
physical  building of the future4       
8,the child is the future made visible  
and concrete4 ,when you lay your  finger
 on a child you are touching not flesh  
only1 but future ages4    8,the         
unmarried woman-genius may influence the
 art or the thought of  her time2 the   
labourer's wife who produces a bouncing 
boy that lives  has produced the future4
 ,more than that1 she has sent forth her
 own  attributes to dwell in the future4
 ,more than that1 by her care and       
education of that child she is laying   
the foundation for vast world  effects4 
8,that is the woman's triumphant        
position in the scheme of things4 ,she  
is a partner in world-building1 and the 
duties lying on her share of  the       
partnership are patent and obvious to   
the meanest intelligence4    8,they are 
both moral and material1 and they imply 
in their performance  one supreme       
virtue3 self-sacrifice4 ,not freedom to 

develop according to  inclination2 not  
freedom to alter her morals2 not freedom
 to imitate  the worst faults of men2   
but slavery in the interests of her     
children1  her husband1 and her home4   
8,and what happy people these slaves    
are6 ,just as happy as the  men-slaves  
who1 under the dominion of good conduct1
 love1 and the hive  instinct1 often    
work themselves to death1 like the bees1
 that others  may live and prosper4     
8,but1 as you say1 all women cannot be  
mothers4 ,yet it is essential that  the 
mothers of the nation should be         
protected at all costs from the  disease
 which lurks under the specious word    
#8,feminism4'0      8,they have come a  
long journey together1 the ,man and the 
,woman1 and all  through that long      
journey across the ages they have been  
leading the  child by the hand4    8,and
 if the wicked and blasphemous people   
who talk of sex-hate had but  the       
scientific and poetic perception        
enabling them to see those three  grand 

and mysterious figures as they are on   
the shores of ,time1 we  would be       
spared1 perhaps1 from the poisonous     
blight of sexisms40      8,you are so   
positive10 said she1 8that ,i often     
haven't dared to  interrupt you1 and you
 talk so quickly that all you have said1
 though ,i  understood it at the time1  
is now a jumble in my mind40    8,i am  
positive1 because there is no use at all
 in being negative4  ,people who believe
 in what they say are usually           
positive--even though  they may be      
wrong4    8,if ,i have talked too       
quickly1 ,i shall write out what ,i have
 said and  send it to you2 then you can 
pick it to pieces as much as you        
please40      ,,the ,,end      ,,note   
,,to ,,part ,i ,,of ,,the ,,book    ,in 
my experience1 judging from the men ,i  
have met in life and the men  whose     
lives ,i have read about1 the really    
strong men of the world have  been men  
of strong belief--and mostly men with a 
strong belief in a  personal ,god4      

,faith is a very wonderful thing1 call  
it what you please4 ,there is in  ,faith
 an enormous dynamic energy the origin  
of which1 analyse it as  much as ,i     
will1 leaves me utterly baffled and     
bewildered4    ,one might say that it is
 an orientation of the mind1 a pointing 
of all  the thoughts in one definite    
direction by which the mind1 as a       
machine1  gains harmony which is        
expressed in power of action1 and ,i    
believe the  co-ordination of the       
functions of the mind under a common    
governing  belief does1 in part1 explain
 the miraculous power conferred on men  
by  ,faith4    ,also one might say that 
the mind capable of great faith is      
essentially  a positive mind1 a direct  
mind1 and a constructive mind4    ,also 
one might say a great many things1 and  
yet leave the foundation of  the        
question as deeply involved in darkness 
as ever1 and the mind of a  ,newman1 a  
,gladstone1 or a ,cromwell the same     
towering mystery4    ,but the fact      

remains clear that the man without      
belief in something  above and beyond   
this world1 or in something in this     
world1 some  tide1 or core1 or essence  
of which his own little life is a part1 
loses  the alliance of that power which 
we indicate in the word ,faith4         
,there is no doubt at all that the      
western world has lost power1 and  that 
,england is losing power daily by the   
steady loss of ,faith4    ,the crude1   
hard faith in a personal ,god which is  
vanishing from among  us is a dynamic   
force that is passing away1 and it is   
being replaced by  what8    ,it is being
 replaced by a good many excellent      
things3 by an increase  of tolerance and
 sympathy2 an increased consideration   
for the  oppressed1 and a re-valuation  
of all the considerations that come     
under  the title ,justice2 but all these
 and many more good things that have    
sprung to growth in the universal mind  
leave the individual mind still  lacking
 ,faith4    ,darwinism it was that      

struck the first real blow at a personal
 ,god1 and  men1 in their minds at      
least1 have nearly extinguished the     
chemical  hell4    ,and ,darwinism1     
destroying the old rigid1 childlike     
faith1 handed the  world not ,atheism1  
but a new ,faith1 which the world never 
seems to have  grasped4    ,the ,faith  
in a world ever progressing toward the  
good4    ,once you have grasped the     
great truth that your life is a part of 
this  miracle of growth1 as long as you 
conform as far as in you lies to the    
growth of good in yourself1 you will    
have a ,faith that will fill you  with  
new force4    ,and it is a faith that no
 one can refuse1 for its teaching is    
written  across the rocks and the stars1
 and so plainly that a child can read   
it1 once it is pointed out to him4      
,appendices          ,,appendix ,a      
,i have said very little about          
,anarchism--merely mentioned it by name2
  yet the inquiries ,i have made into   
this subject reveal an organisation  and

 a literature astonishing to the        
everyday mind4 ,to use the words of     
that ardent bibliophile1 ,h4 ,bourdin3  
8,to most people the word ,anarchy is   
evil-sounding1 but it is not the  same  
to learned men and to collectors and    
lovers who acquire the desire  of       
accumulating documents for history's    
sake4    8,the ,anarchist literature has
 not a determined origin1 being not the 
expression of a system invented and     
progressively elaborated1 but the       
negation of all systems1 produced by the
 desire to batter down the  despotic in 
all its forms1 the rules and duty       
imposed by prejudice or  by force1 and  
to give impulse to the free development 
of humanity4  ,all acts which have been 
accomplished and all words which have   
been  pronounced in hatred of this      
constraint and in favour of this freedom
  are consciously or unconsciously the  
production of ,anarchy4    8,it is      
astonishing when one glances at the huge
 quantity of literature  of all kinds   

which has been printed in the space of  
the last  half-century for the          
exposition of their ideal thought2 no   
other party  or sect1 for whatever cause
 they had to defend1 can be compared to 
this1 except ,christianity1 which has   
taken about #b1jjj years over it4       
,consider the difficulty which they have
 met in publishing clandestinely  their 
periodicals1 broadsides1 etc41 hunted by
 society as wild beasts2  domiciliary   
perquisitions destroyed their works1    
which were merely  their thoughts40     
,m4 ,bourdin has courteously allowed me 
to inspect the huge library  of         
,anarchistical literature which he has  
collected1 consisting of  journals1     
broadsides1 pamphlets1 volumes1 songs1  
theatrical plays1 etc4    ,to give you  
an idea of the extent and nature of the 
,anarchistical  press1 ,i enumerate a   
few of the journals3    ,l',anarchie1   
,journal de l',ordre1 ,may1 #ahej4      
7,in #ahej1 ,anarchy had already a      
press47    ,le ,libertaire1 #aheh-ahfa4 

,l',egalit1 #ahfi-ahgb4                 
,l',internationale1 #ahgj-ahgc4    ,la  
,rvolution ,sociale1 #ahga-ahgb4        
,l',ami du ,peuple 7,lige71 #ahgc-ahge4 
,ni ,dieu ni ,matre1 #ahhj4 7,you see we
 are getting on in titles47    ,la      
,rvolution ,sociale1 #ahhj4    ,le      
,drapeau ,noir1 #ahhc4    ,l',emeute1   
#ahhc-ahhd4    ,la ,lutte1 #ahhc4    ,le
 ,dfi1 #ahhd4    ,la ,guerre ,sociale1  
#ahhe4 7,brussels74    ,la ,rvolte1     
#ahid4    ,l',antipatriote1 #ahii4 7,cat
 out of the bag47    ,le ,tocsin1       
#ahib-ahid4    ,la ,dbcle1 #ahic4       
,l',insurg 7,lyons71 #ahic4    ,le      
,cyclone 7,buenos ,aires71 #ahie-ahif4  
,la ,cravache1 #ahih4    ,le            
,cravacheur1 idem4    ,le ,cri de       
,rvolte1 #ahih-i4    ,les ,crimes de    
,dieu1 #ahih4    ,la ,bastille1 #aijb-c4
    ,germinal1 #aijd-aiaj4              
,l',anarchie1 #aije4    ,l',anarchiste1 
#aijg4    ,l',action ,directe1          
#aijg-aijh4    ,la ,mre ,peinard1 #aijh4
    ,la ,rvolution1 #aiji4    ,les      

,rvolts1 #aiji4    ,la ,bataille        
,syndicaliste1 #aiaa4    ,the ,anarchist
 7,glasgow71 #aiab4    ,and these are   
only a few of the journals in the great 
,bourdin  collection499 ,i have only    
mentioned some of the ,french journals  
devoted to the cause2 there are ,english
 and ,german as well1 and there  are    
sure to be ,russian and ,spanish and    
,italian journals to match4      99     
,this collection is for sale1 ,i        
believe4    ,it is a big movement4 ,give
 me the literature of a movement1 and ,i
 will  feel its pulse and tell you about
 its constitution4 ,the literature of   
,anarchism tells that it is very much   
alive4    ,what is ,anarchism8 ,it is   
really unconstructive ,socialism and    
,syndicalism4    ,the ,anarchists want  
to destroy society as it is1 and let    
,human ,nature  ramp on the remains4    
,the ,socialist wants to destroy        
society1 and build it again on an       
anti-,human-natural plan4    ,the       
,syndicalist wants to destroy the       

,business ,world and to erect a new     
business world on an unbusinesslike     
basis4    ,of the three1 ,i prefer      
,anarchy4    ,it is the only one of the 
three dreams based on common-sense1 for 
it  frankly aims at ,anarchy1 and       
,anarchy is exactly what it would get   
were  it to succeed4           99       
99       99       99    ,i have said    
8,the three dreams10 and though ,i have 
permitted myself  to sneer at some      
points in the philosophy of some of     
these dreamers1  ,i have no sneers at   
all to expend on their energy1 and on   
their  wholeheartedness4 ,they are all  
trying to express something1 and that   
something is the ,poverty and the       
,misery of the world4    ,socialism1    
,syndicalism1 and ,anarchism are all one
 voice speaking in  different tones4    
,and that voice is growing and must be  
answered1 not by ,repression1 but  by   
,philosophy4    ,the world is not all   
wrong1 but it is not all right4 ,man is 
speaking  in no uncertain tones1 and he 

wants some reply more apposite to his   
argument than the glib chirrup of       
,pippa4          ,,appendix ,b    ,a    
,,passage ,,from ,,haeckel99      ,under
 the title of ,design in the ,living    
,organism1 the famous  embryologist1    
,carl ,ernst ,baer1 published a work in 
#ahgf which1 together  with the article 
on ,darwinism which accompanied it1     
proved very  acceptable to our          
opponents1 and is still much quoted in  
opposition to  evolution4 ,it was a     
revival of the old teleological system  
under a new  name1 and we must devote a 
line of criticism to it4 ,we must       
premise  that1 though ,baer was a       
scientist of the highest order1 his     
original  monistic views were gradually 
marred by a tinge of mysticism with the 
advance of age1 and he eventually became
 a thorough dualist4 ,in his  profound  
work on ,the ,evolution of ,animals     
7#ahbh71 which he himself  entitled     
,observation and ,experiment1 these two 
methods of  investigation are equally   

applied4 ,by careful observation of the 
various phenomena of the development of 
the animal ovum1 ,baer succeeded  in    
giving the first consistent presentation
 of the remarkable changes  which take  
place in the growth of the vertebrate   
from a simple  egg-cell4 ,at the same   
time1 he endeavoured1 by far-seeing     
comparison  and keen reflection1 to     
learn the causes of the transformation1 
and  to reduce them to general          
constructive laws4 ,he expressed the    
general  result of his research in the  
following thesis3 8,the evolution of    
the individual is the story of the      
growth of individuality in every        
respect40 ,he meant that 8the one great 
thought that controls all the  different
 aspects of animal evolution is the same
 that gathered the  scattered fragments 
of space into spheres1 and linked them  
into solar  systems4 ,this thought is no
 other than life itself1 and the words  
and  syllables in which it finds        
utterance are the varied forms of living

  things40      99 ,this translation    
from ,haeckel's 8,the ,riddle of the    
,universe0 is taken from an edition     
published by ,the    ,rationalist ,press
 in ,england1 and ,harper  ,brothers in 
the    ,united ,states of ,america1     
,copyright #aijj1 to whom grateful      
acknowledgment is made for permission   
for its use in this    volume4    ,baer1
 however1 did not attain to a deeper    
knowledge of this great  genetic truth  
and a clearer insight into the real     
efficient causes  of organic evolution1 
because his attention was exclusively   
given to  one-half of evolutionary      
science1 the science of the evolution of
 the  individual1 embryology1 or1 in a  
wider sense1 ontogeny4 ,the other half1 
the science of the evolution of species1
 phylogeny1 was not yet in  existence1  
although ,lamarck had already pointed   
out the way to it in  #ahji4 ,when it   
was established by ,darwin in #ahei1 the
 aged ,baer was no  longer in a position
 to appreciate it2 the fruitless        

struggle which he  led against the      
theory of selection clearly proved that 
he understood  neither its real meaning 
nor its philosophic importance4         
,teleological  and1 subsequently1       
theological speculations had            
incapacitated the  aging scientist from 
appreciating this greatest reform of    
biology4  ,the teleological observations
 which he published against it in his   
,species and ,studies1 in his           
eighty-fourth year1 are mere repetitions
  of errors which the teleology of the  
dualists has opposed to the  mechanical 
or monistic system for more than #b1jjj 
years4 ,the 8telic0  idea1 which1       
according to ,baer1 controls the entire 
evolution of the  animal from the ovum  
is only another expression for the      
eternal 8idea0  of ,plato1 and the      
entelecheia of his pupil1 ,aristotle4   
,our modern biogeny gives a purely      
physiological explanation of the  facts 
of embryology1 in assigning the         
functions of heredity and  adaptation as

 their causes4 ,the great biogenetic    
law1 which ,baer  failed to appreciate1 
reveals the intimate causal connection  
between  the ontogenesis of the         
individual and the phylogenesis of its  
ancestors2 the former seems to be a     
recapitulation of the latter4  ,nowhere1
 however1 in the evolution of animals   
and plants do we find any  trace of     
design1 but merely the inevitable       
outcome of the struggle for  existence1 
the blind controller1 instead of the    
provident ,god1 that  affects the       
changes of organic forms by a mutual    
action of the laws of  heredity and     
adaptation4 ,and there is no more trace 
of 8design0 in the  embryology of the   
individual plant1 animal1 or man4 ,this 
ontogeny  is but a brief epitome of     
phylogeny1 an abbreviated and condensed 
recapitulation of it1 determined by the 
physiological laws of heredity4    ,baer
 ended the preface to his classical     
,evolution of ,animals 7#ahbh7  with    
these words3 8,the palm will be awarded 

to the fortunate scientist  who succeeds
 in reducing the constructive forces of 
the animal body  to the general forces  
or life-processes of the entire world4  
,the tree  has not yet been planted     
which is to make his cradle40 ,the great
  embryologist erred once more4 ,that   
very year1 #ahbh1 witnessed the  arrival
 of ,charles ,darwin at ,cambridge      
,university 7for the purpose of         
studying theology67--the 8fortunate     
scientist10 who richly earned the  palm 
thirty years afterward by his theory of 
selection4    ,in the philosophy of     
history--that is1 in the general        
reflections which  historians make in   
the destinies of nations and the        
complicated course  of political        
evolution--there still prevails the     
notion of a 8moral  order of the        
universe40 ,historians seek in the vivid
 drama of history  a leading design1 an 
ideal purpose1 which has ordained one or
 other  race or ,state to a special     
triumph1 and to dominion over the       

others4  ,this teleological view of     
history has recently become more        
strongly  contrasted with our monistic  
view in proportion as monism has proved 
to be the only possible interpretation  
of inorganic nature4 ,throughout  the   
whole of astronomy1 geology1 physics1   
and chemistry there is no  question     
to-day of a 8moral order10 or a personal
 ,god1 whose 8hand hath  disposed all   
things in wisdom and understanding40    
,and the same must be  said of the      
entire field of biology1 the whole      
constitution and history  of organic    
nature1 if we set aside the question of 
man for the moment4  ,darwin has not    
only proved by his theory of selection  
that the orderly  processes in the life 
and structure of animals and plants have
 arisen  by mechanical laws without any 
preconceived design1 but he has shown   
us in the 8struggle for life0 the       
powerful natural force which has        
exerted supreme control over the entire 
course of organic evolution for         

millions of years4 ,it may be said that 
the struggle for life is the  8survival 
of the fittest10 or the 8victory of the 
best02 that is only  correct when we    
regard the strongest as the best 7in a  
moral sense74  ,moreover1 the whole     
history of the organic world goes to    
prove that1  besides the predominant    
advance toward perfection1 there are at 
all  times cases of retrogression to    
lower stages4 ,even ,baer's notion of   
8design0 has no moral feature whatever4 
,do we find a different state of things 
in the history of peoples1 which  man1  
in his anthropocentric presumption1     
loves to call 8the history of  the      
world08 ,do we find in every phase of it
 a lofty moral principle  or a wise     
ruler guiding the destinies of nations8 
,there can be but one  answer in the    
present advanced stage of natural and   
human history3 ,no4  ,the fate of those 
branches of the human family1 those     
nations and races  which have struggled 
for existence and progress for thousands

 of years1  is determined by the same   
8eternal laws of iron0 as the history of
 the  whole organic world which has     
peopled the earth for millions of years4
    ,geologists distinguish three great 
epochs in the organic history of  the   
earth1 as far as we can read it in the  
monuments of the science of             
fossils--the primary1 secondary1 and    
tertiary epochs4 ,according to a  recent
 calculation1 the first occupied at     
least #cd1jjj1jjj1 the second           
#aa1jjj1jjj1 and the third #c1jjj1jjj   
years4 ,the history of the family  of   
vertebrates1 from which our own race has
 sprung1 unfolds clearly  before our    
eyes during this long period4 ,three    
different stages in  the evolution of   
the vertebrate correspond to the three  
epochs3 the  fishes characterised the   
primary 7palozoic7 age1 the reptiles the
  secondary 7mesozoic71 and the mammals 
the tertiary 7cnozoic74 ,of  the three  
groups the fishes rank lowest in        
organisation1 the reptiles  come next1  

and the mammals take the highest place4 
,we find1 on nearer  examination of the 
history of the three classes1 that their
 various  orders and families also      
advanced progressively during the three 
epochs  toward a higher stage of        
perfection4 ,may we consider this       
progressive  development as the outcome 
of a conscious design or a moral order  
of the universe8 ,certainly not4        
7,certainly yes4 ,progression toward    
the benign is the core of all           
morality4--,h4 de ,v4 ,s47 ,the theory  
of  selection teaches us that this      
organic progress1 like the earlier      
organic differentiation1 is an          
inevitable consequence of the struggle  
for existence4 7,struggle for improved  
conditions4--,h4 de ,v4 ,s47  ,thousands
 of beautiful and remarkable species of 
animals and plants  have perished during
 those #dh1jjj1jjj years1 to give place 
to stronger  competitors1 and the       
victors in this struggle for life were  
not always  the noblest or most perfect 

forms in a moral sense4 7,no1 but they  
were  the best condition-builders4--,h4 
de ,v4 ,s47    ,it has been just the    
same with the history of humanity4 ,the 
splendid  civilisation of classical     
antiquity perished because              
,christianity1  with its faith in a     
loving ,god and its hope of a better    
life beyond  the grave1 gave a fresh1   
strong impetus to the soaring human     
mind4 ,the  ,papal ,church quickly      
degenerated into a pitiful caricature of
 real  ,christianity1 and ruthlessly    
scattered the treasures of knowledge    
which the ,hellenic philosophy had      
gathered2 it gained the dominion  of the
 world through the ignorance of the     
credulous masses4 ,in time  the         
,reformation broke the chains of this   
mental slavery1 and assisted  reason to 
secure its right once more4 ,but in the 
new1 as in the  older period1 the great 
struggle for existence went on in its   
eternal  fluctuation1 with no trace of a
 moral order4    ,and it is just as     

impossible for the impartial and        
critical observer  to detect a 8wise    
providence0 in the fate of individual   
human beings  as a moral order in the   
history of peoples4 ,both are determined
 with  iron necessity by a mechanical   
causality which connects every single   
phenomenon with one or more antecedent  
causes4 ,even the ancient ,greeks       
recognised ananke1 the blind heimarmene1
 the fate 8that rules  gods and men10 as
 the supreme principle of the universe4 
,christianity  replaced it by a         
conscious ,providence1 which is not     
blind1 but sees1  and which governs the 
world in patriarchal fashion4 ,the      
anthropomorphic  character of this      
notion1 generally closely connected with
 belief in  a personal ,god1 is quite   
obvious4 ,belief in a 8loving ,father10 
who  unceasingly guides the destinies of
 #a1ejj1jjj1jjj men on our planet1  and 
is attentive at all times to their      
millions of contradictory  prayers and  
pious wishes1 is absolutely impossible2 

that is at once  perceived on laying    
aside the coloured spectacles of 8faith0
 and  reflecting rationally on the      
subject4    ,as a rule1 this belief in  
,providence and the tutelage of a       
8loving  ,father0 is more intense in the
 modern civilised man--just as in the   
uncultured savage--when some good       
fortune has befallen him3 an escape     
from peril of life1 recovery from a     
severe illness1 the winning of the      
first prize in a lottery1 the birth of a
 long-delayed child1 and so  forth4     
,when1 on the other hand1 a misfortune  
is met with1 or an ardent  wish is not  
fulfilled1 8,providence0 is forgotten4  
,the wise ruler of the  world           
slumbered--or refused his blessing4     
,in the extraordinary development of    
commerce in the nineteenth century  the 
number of catastrophes and accidents has
 necessarily increased  beyond all      
imagination2 of that the journal is a   
daily witness4  ,thousands are killed   
every year by shipwreck1 railway        

accidents1 mine  accidents1 etc4        
,thousands slay one another every year  
in war1 and the  preparation for this   
wholesale massacre absorbs much the     
greater part  of the revenue in the     
highest civilised nations1 the chief    
professors  of 8,christian charity40    
,and among these hundreds of thousands  
of annual  victims of modern            
civilisation strong1 industrious1       
courageous workers  predominate4 ,yet   
the talk of a 8moral order0 goes on4    
,since impartial study of the evolution 
of the world teaches us that  there are 
no definite aim and no special purpose  
to be traced in it1  there seems to be  
no alternative but to leave everything  
to 8blind  chance40 ,this reproach has  
been made to the transformism of        
,lamarck and  ,darwin1 as it has been to
 the previous systems of ,kant and      
,laplace2  there are a number of dualist
 philosophers who lay great stress on   
it4  ,it is1 therefore1 worth while to  
make a brief remark upon it4    ,one    

group of philosophers affirms1 in       
accordance with its teleological        
conception1 that the whole cosmos is an 
orderly system1 in which every          
phenomenon has its aim and purpose2     
there is no such thing as chance4  ,the 
other group1 holding a mechanical       
theory1 expresses itself thus3  ,the    
development of the universe is a        
monistic mechanical process1 in  which  
we discover no aim or purpose whatever  
7except that it is ever  growing toward 
the good4--,h4 de ,v4 ,s473 what we call
 design in the  organic world is a      
special result of biological agencies2  
neither in  the evolution of the        
heavenly bodies nor in that of the crust
 of our  earth do we find any trace of a
 controlling purpose 7,o blindness6     
before the wonder of development4--,h4  
de ,v4 ,s47--all is the result of       
chance4 ,each party is right--according 
to its definition of chance4  ,the      
general law of causality1 taken in      
conjunction with the law of  substance1 

teaches us that every phenomenon has a  
mechanical cause2  in this sense there  
is no such thing as chance4 ,yet it is  
not only  lawful1 but necessary1 to     
retain the term for the purpose of      
expressing  the simultaneous occurrence 
of two phenomena1 which are not causally
  related to each other1 but of which   
each has its own mechanical cause1      
independent of that of the other4       
,everybody knows that chance1 in this   
monistic sense1 plays an important part 
in the life of man and in the  universe 
at large4 ,that1 however1 does not      
prevent us from recognising  in each    
8chance0 event1 as we do in the         
evolution of the entire  cosmos1 the    
universal sovereignty of nature's       
supreme law1 the law of  substance4     
,a ,,note ,,on ,,the ,,passage ,,from   
,,haeckel    ,i do not suggest1 ,i      
affirm1 with the support of all science 
at my  elbow and all reason at my side1 
that the world in its development has   
exhibited only one constant direction1  

and that direction is toward  what we   
call the good or1 in other words1       
progression toward the  complex4        
,that the development of forms by       
natural selection is only a part of  the
 real business of the universe1 whose   
mighty labours have1 from the  very     
beginning of earthly things1 been       
directed toward one distant  ideal4     
,what is the ,ideal8 ,who knows8 ,we    
only know that on the covering          
directions of the sealed orders1 which  
man may not open till he is fit  to read
 them1 are the words3 ,advancement1     
,love1 ,mercy1 ,kindliness1             
,protection1 and every other word which 
the mind of man has marshalled  under   
that mysterious and general term1 ,the  
,good4    ,blind matter carried those   
sealed orders in its body and the first 
fishes carried them under their fins1   
the first claw was made to catch  them  
and to carry them through ferocious     
times1 till the hand of the  first      
monkey seized them4 8,advancement0 was  

the only word on the cover  then2 but1  
age after age1 hitherto invisible       
directions began to  appear letter by   
letter1 till 8,love0 stood out1 and     
8,mercy10 and all  those other words    
that form the basis of ,progress4       
,accident and the stress of growth have 
sometimes obliterated those  words for  
years and centuries4 ,civilisations have
 misinterpreted  some of those words and
 barbarisms have rubbed them out1       
schools of  ,religions and schools of   
thought have meddled with them and      
altered  them1 yet they have always     
returned1 and not only returned1 but    
brought  other words with them4    ,the 
aim and object of life1 ,haeckel1 are   
the carriage of those sealed  orders1   
and the implicit obedience of the       
directions that appear age by  age on   
their envelope1 till1 who knows1 some   
day the word 8,open0 may be  found      
there1 and some glimpse of the great    
,ideal be permitted to the  eyes of man4
          ,,appendix ,c    ,,the        

,,mystery ,,of ,,analogy ,,and ,,simile 
,my companion likened the present-day   
world to a big head with the  brains on 
the outside4 ,the idea is absolutely    
just2 we have even  the two hemispheres 
of the brain in the eastern and western 
world4  ,in future years1 when          
telegraphy and telephony are more highly
  developed--and1 who knows1 telepathy  
also--the idea will even be more  true  
than it is to-day4    ,in this          
connection3 have you ever considered the
 deep mystery that lies  in ,analogy8   
,in the universe of mind and matter1 why
 do we see the same idea  repeated in   
widely different forms4 ,the whole world
 of structure is a  world of plagiarism4
 ,the skull and a nut are the structural
 outcome  of the same idea1 so are the  
cockle and the almond--but imitations of
  structure are nothing to the fact that
 root ideas1 like that governing  the   
structure of the vertebrates1 strike    
upward into the worlds of  thought and  
action4 ,we have vertebrates in         

businesses1 business with  brains1      
spinal cords1 sympathetic nervous       
systems all complete4 ,in  states1      
armies1 and more vaguely in             
philosophies1 policies1 and all         
structures of thought1 whether they be  
theories1 or poems1 or plays1 or        
novels1 the vertebrate idea is found4   
,why is the life history of a man so    
extraordinarily like the life  history  
of a nation1 and the story of a man's   
day a little poetical  simile of a man's
 life8    ,why does the poetical simile 
satisfy the mind when1 for instance1 we 
talk of a sea that smiles1 or compare a 
sunset to the fading of a  fortune8     
,is it because we have struck1          
half-unconsciously1 on the key to the   
riddle of the universe2 that the        
conditions upon which the universe  of  
mind and matter clings1 as snow clings  
to branches and twigs1 are  exceedingly 
few--are derived from the same trunk and
 strike upward1  through the material   
and spiritual world1 just as tree       

branches and  twigs strike upward       
through denser and lighter layers of    
air4    ,the main trellis or branch     
conditions that run through everything  
are  the conditions of ,life1 ,death1   
,growth1 and ,decay4 ,these are the four
  master branches4 ,all others are the  
twigs subsidiary and derived from       
these4 ,think1 if you can find a        
conception of the mind1 exclusive of    
mathematical concepts1 that does not    
embody these four in its essence1  and  
is not1 in fact1 the child of these4    
,and yet1 these four are only  one4 ,for
 death is complementary to life2 it is  
the absolutely faithful  shadow of life4
 ,nay1 it is life itself1 for life is   
perpetual change1  and the essence of   
death is not death1 but change4    ,and 
growth1 what is it8--change2 and decay1 
what is it8--change4    ,change1 then1  
is the one master idea1 the trunk from  
which all ideas  spring--and what is the
 soul of change8--motion4    ,and what  
is motion8--it is the soul of the       

,universe4