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@@ -1,36 +1,4 @@ -Project Gutenberg's Civilisation: Its Cause and Cure, by Edward Carpenter - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: Civilisation: Its Cause and Cure - And Other Essays - -Author: Edward Carpenter - -Release Date: November 2, 2013 [EBook #44094] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CIVILISATION: ITS CAUSE AND CURE *** - - - - -Produced by Chris Curnow, Martin Pettit and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - - - - +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44094 *** +-------------------------------------------------+ |Transcriber's note: | @@ -118,7 +86,7 @@ evolution, and their probable disappearance again at a later stage--would be greatly interesting and instructive. My little essay on this subject was written at the time of its -composition with a good deal of imaginative _elan_; and is of course +composition with a good deal of imaginative _élan_; and is of course open to criticism on that side, as being mainly enthusiastic in character and only slenderly supported by exact _data_, proofs, historical illustrations, analogies, and so forth. But to largely alter @@ -358,7 +326,7 @@ and written Law; Engels in his _Ursprung der Familie, des Privateigenthums und des Staats_ points out the importance of the appearance of the Merchant, even in his most primitive form, as a mark of the civilisation-period; while the French writers of the last century -made a good point in inventing the term _nations policees_ +made a good point in inventing the term _nations policées_ (policemanised nations) as a substitute for civilised nations; for perhaps there is no better or more universal mark of the period we are considering, and of its social degradation, than the appearance of the @@ -423,7 +391,7 @@ of the Kaffirs, J. G. Wood says, "Their state of health enables them to survive injuries which would be almost instantly fatal to any civilised European." Mr. Frank Oates in his Diary[4] mentions the case of a man who was condemned to death by the king. He was hacked down with axes, -and left for dead. "What must have been intended for the _coup de grace_ +and left for dead. "What must have been intended for the _coup de grâce_ was a cut in the back of the head, which had chipped a large piece out of the skull, and must have been meant to cut the spinal cord where it joins the brain. It had, however, been made a little higher than this, @@ -549,8 +517,8 @@ These are, for instance, and among others: heal, hallow, hale, holy, whole, wholesome; German heilig, Heiland (the Saviour); Latin salus (as in salutation, salvation); Greek kalos; also compare hail! a salutation, and, less certainly connected, the root _hal_, to breathe, as in inhale, -exhale--French haleine--Italian and French alma and ame (the soul); -compare the Latin spiritus, spirit or breath, and Sanskrit atman, breath +exhale--French haleine--Italian and French alma and âme (the soul); +compare the Latin spiritus, spirit or breath, and Sanskrit âtman, breath or soul. Wholeness, holiness ... "if thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be @@ -1191,7 +1159,7 @@ were really the end of all, and the true Democracy, there were indeed little left to hope for. No words of Carlyle could blast that black enough. But this is no true Democracy. Here in this "each for himself" is no rule of the Demos in every man, nor anything resembling it. Here -is no solidarity such as existed in the ancient tribes and primaeval +is no solidarity such as existed in the ancient tribes and primæval society, but only disintegration and a dust-heap. The true Democracy has yet to come. Here in this present stage is only the final denial of all outward and class government, in preparation for the restoration of the @@ -1830,7 +1798,7 @@ Churchill's _Collection of Voyages and Travels_, 1724. MODERN SCIENCE: A CRITICISM -[Greek: panti logo logos isos antikeitai.] +[Greek: panti logô logos isos antikeitai.] It is one of the difficulties which meet anyone who suggests that modern @@ -1953,10 +1921,10 @@ move or even tend to move in ellipses, is obviously a most unwarrantable leap in the dark. Finally you argue that the leap is warranted because, by assuming that the moon and planets move in ellipses, you can actually foretell things that happen, as for instance the occurrences of -eclipses; and in reply to that I can only say that Tycho Brahe foretold +eclipses; and in reply to that I can only say that Tycho Brahé foretold eclipses almost as well by assuming that the heavenly bodies moved in epicycles, and that modern astronomers do apply the epicycle theory in -their mathematical formulae. The epicycles were an assumption made for a +their mathematical formulæ. The epicycles were an assumption made for a certain purpose, and the ellipses are an assumption made for the same purpose. In some respects the ellipse is a more convenient fiction than the epicycle, but it is no less a fiction. @@ -2229,7 +2197,7 @@ gravitation," is correct. It merely shows that it did well enough for this very brief step--brief indeed compared with the real problems of Astronomy, for which latter it is probably quite inadequate. -Tycho Brahe, excellent astronomer as he was, kept as we saw to the +Tycho Brahé, excellent astronomer as he was, kept as we saw to the epicycle theory. He imagined that the moon's path round the earth was a fixed combination of cycle and epicycle. Kepler introduced the conception of the ellipse. Later on the motion of the perigee and other @@ -2502,7 +2470,7 @@ vague. _It_--what is that? _Is_--do you mean _is_? or do you mean _feels_, _appears_? _Cold_--in what sense? Cold to yourself, or to other people, or to polar bears, or by the thermometer? And so on. Science therefore steps in with an air of authority and sets him right. -It says _the temperature is_ 30 deg. _Fahrenheit_, as if to settle the +It says _the temperature is_ 30° _Fahrenheit_, as if to settle the matter. But does this really settle the matter? _Temperature_--who knows what that is? What is the scientific definition of it? I find (Clerk-Maxwell's Theory of Heat, p. 2.) "the temperature of a body is a @@ -2524,13 +2492,13 @@ for all. What then is that thing? _What_ is temperature? say, what is it? We cudgel our brains in vain. Perhaps the remainder of the sentence -will help us. "The temperature is 30 deg. Fahrenheit." "The unknown thing is +will help us. "The temperature is 30° Fahrenheit." "The unknown thing is thirty degrees." What then is a degree? That is the next question. When the Theory of Heat went out from sensation and left it behind, one of its first landing places was in the expansion of liquids--as in thermometer tubes. Here for some time was thought to be a satisfactory register of "temperature." But before long it became apparent that the -degree--Fahrenheit, Reaumur, or what-not--was an entirely arbitrary +degree--Fahrenheit, Réaumur, or what-not--was an entirely arbitrary thing, also that it was not the _same_[28] thing at one end of the scale as the other, and finally that the scale itself had no starting point! This was awkward, so a move was made to the air thermometer, and there @@ -3263,7 +3231,7 @@ have it, and (notwithstanding their variety in size and boot-induced conformation) are generally accepted as the best absolute datum available. -Under the foot _regime_ the universe is generally conceived of as a +Under the foot _régime_ the universe is generally conceived of as a medley of objects and forces, more or less orderly and distinct from man, in the midst of which man is placed--the purpose and tendency of his life being "adaptation to his environment." To understand this we @@ -3299,7 +3267,7 @@ destination. This I suppose is expressed in the biological dictum, function of Man? And here we come back again to the meaning of the word "I." -Nothwithstanding then the prevalence of the foot regime, and that the +Nothwithstanding then the prevalence of the foot régime, and that the heathen so furiously rage together in their belief in it, let us suggest that there is in man a divine consciousness as well as a foot-consciousness. For, as we saw that the sense of taste may pass from @@ -3437,7 +3405,7 @@ emissary of the evil one! The poacher is as much in the right, probably, as the landlord, but he is not right for the time. He is asserting a right (and an instinct) belonging to a past time--when for hunting purposes all land was held in common--or to a time in the future when -such or similar rights shall be restored. Caesar says of the Suevi that +such or similar rights shall be restored. Cæsar says of the Suevi that they tilled the ground in common and had no private lands, and there is abundant evidence that all early human communities, before they entered on the stage of modern civilisation, were communistic in character. Some @@ -3451,7 +3419,7 @@ become the respectables of modern Society. And it is quite probable that in like manner the criminals of to-day will push to the front and become the respectables of a later age. -The ascetic and monastic ideal of early Christian and mediaeval ages is +The ascetic and monastic ideal of early Christian and mediæval ages is now regarded as foolish, if not wicked; and poverty, which in many times and places has been held in honour as the only garb of honesty, is condemned as criminal and indecent. Nomadism--if accompanied by @@ -3529,7 +3497,7 @@ bearing its fruit (as Plato throughout maintains is its nature) in united self-devotion to the country's good. The heroic Theban legion, the "sacred band," into which no man might enter without his lover--and which was said to have remained unvanquished till it was annihilated at -the battle of Chaeronaea--proves to us how publicly this passion and its +the battle of Chæronæa--proves to us how publicly this passion and its place in society were recognised; while its universality and the depth to which it had stirred the Greek mind are indicated by the fact that whole treatises on love, in its spiritual aspect, exist, in which no @@ -3717,7 +3685,7 @@ and could not well be discarded. Hence a number of writers, abandoning the attempt to draw a fixed line between virtuous and vicious passions, have boldly maintained that vices have their place as well as virtues, and that the true salvation lies in -the golden mean. The [Greek: epieikeia] and [Greek: sophrosune] of the +the golden mean. The [Greek: epieikeia] and [Greek: sôphrosunê] of the Greeks seem to have pointed to the idea of a blend or harmonious adjustment of all the powers as the perfection of character. Plutarch says (_Essay on Moral Virtue_), "This, then, is the function of @@ -3752,7 +3720,7 @@ immoral actions, and which therefore force us, if we are to find any ground of morality at all, to look for it in some further region of our nature. -Plato in his allegory of the soul, in the Phaedrus, though he apparently +Plato in his allegory of the soul, in the Phædrus, though he apparently divides the passions which draw the human chariot into two classes, the heavenward and the earthward--figured by the white horse and the black horse respectively--does not recommend that the black horse should be @@ -4217,7 +4185,7 @@ of his flesh; and in doing so he enters into a wider life, finds a more perfect pleasure, and becomes more really a man than ever before. Every man contains in himself the elements of all the rest of humanity. They lie in the background; but they are there. In the front he has his own -special faculty developed--his individual facade, with its projects, +special faculty developed--his individual façade, with its projects, plans and purposes: but behind sleeps the Demos-life with far vaster projects and purposes. Some time or other to every man must come the consciousness of this vaster life. @@ -4298,7 +4266,7 @@ exist. I say these higher orders of consciousness are in us waiting for their evolution; and, until they evolve, we are powerless really to understand anything of the world around us. -Meanwhile, since we _must_ have formulae and generalisations to think by, +Meanwhile, since we _must_ have formulæ and generalisations to think by, we are fain to accept our local views, and look on the world from this side or from that. Sometimes we are idealists, sometimes we are materialists; sometimes we believe in mechanics, sometimes in human or @@ -5000,7 +4968,7 @@ own special beliefs and practices; but the question that rather presses upon the ingenuous and inquiring mind is, whether any of us have got hold of much true life at all?--whether we are not rather mere multitudinous varieties of caddis-worms shuffled up in the cast-off -skins and clothes and debris of those who have gone before us, and with +skins and clothes and débris of those who have gone before us, and with very little vitality of our own perceptible within? How many times a day do we perform an action that is authentic and not a mere mechanical piece of repetition? Indeed, if our various actions and practices were @@ -5314,7 +5282,7 @@ contractions of the iris, by the altering convexities of the lens and the eyeball, and in a hundred other ways, it manages somehow to convey intelligence of Command, Control, Power, of Pity, Love, Sympathy, and all those myriad emotions which flit through the human mind--an endless -series--a perfect encyclopaedia. It is difficult even to imagine the eye +series--a perfect encyclopædia. It is difficult even to imagine the eye without this power of language. And what other functions it may have it is not necessary to inquire. Highly specialised though it is, it is already obvious enough that to call it a Machine for focussing rays of @@ -5679,7 +5647,7 @@ FOOTNOTES: [40] Afterwards reprinted in a modified form, as "Modern Science--a Criticism," in the first edition (1889) of the present book. -[41] Elisee Reclus, in his remarkable paper, _La Grande Famille_, points +[41] Elisée Reclus, in his remarkable paper, _La Grande Famille_, points out the wide-reaching _Friendship_, and free alliance for various purposes, of primitive man with the animals, existing long before the so-called "domestication" of the latter. See _Humane Review_, January, @@ -5924,7 +5892,7 @@ And on this ground-work, as I have hinted, Personal Affection and Sympathy would build a superstructure of their own; they would outline a society as much more beautiful, powerful and closely knit than the present one founded on the Cash-nexus, as, say, the Athenian society of -the time of Pericles was superior to that of the Lapithae who first +the time of Pericles was superior to that of the Lapithæ who first bitted and bridled the horse. While the general Life, equal, pervasive, and in a sense @@ -5991,7 +5959,7 @@ of Society, it must never be lost sight of that it is not the only element, and that it would be comparatively senseless and useless unless grafted on and complemented and completed by the others. -The method of the New Morality, then, will be to minimise formulae, and +The method of the New Morality, then, will be to minimise formulæ, and (except as illustrations) to use them sparely; and to bring children up--and so indirectly all citizens--in such conditions of abounding life and health that their sympathies, overflowing naturally to those around, @@ -6026,12 +5994,12 @@ complete activity in the sustentation of the personal self it now spreads its helpful energies into the lives of the other selves around. Altruism, in fact, in its healthy forms, is the overflow of abounding vitality. It is a morality without a code, and happily free from -limiting formulae.[49] +limiting formulæ.[49] And if it be again said that a morality of this kind, which rests on a principle and a mental attitude only, is a danger, let us pause for a moment to consider how much more dangerous is one which rests on -formulae. If morality without a code is a serious matter, how much more +formulæ. If morality without a code is a serious matter, how much more serious is one which is nailed up _within_ a code! For looking back on history it would sometimes seem that the black-and-white, the this-thing-right-and-that-thing-wrong morality has been the most wicked @@ -6095,7 +6063,7 @@ seriously, a public peril. Keep _within_ the code, within the letter; always speak the nominal -truth (whoever may suffer thereby); keep up the accepted formulae of +truth (whoever may suffer thereby); keep up the accepted formulæ of marriage and the sex-relation (though hearts may be bleeding and perishing); pay every respect to property, and so forth; and you may have the gratification of being looked upon as a bulwark of society. But @@ -6128,7 +6096,7 @@ because he knows there are situations in which that very Life arising within him, or even his own absolute necessity, will demand such actions, will compel him to the performance of them; but all the same he will in his ordinary existence carry out the principle which underlies -these formulae, and much more thoroughly, probably, than the formulae +these formulæ, and much more thoroughly, probably, than the formulæ themselves would demand. Similarly about such matters as sexual morality. There are outcries @@ -6140,7 +6108,7 @@ Clearly it is because they think the other forces which should guide these passions or give them a helpful and useful direction are too weak. And in this last respect they are right. The guiding and inhibiting forces in our present society are feeble--because they consist only in a -few conventional formulae, which are rapidly being undermined. We are +few conventional formulæ, which are rapidly being undermined. We are generating steam in a boiler which is already cankered with rust. The cure is not to cut off the passions, or to be weakly afraid of them, but to find a new, sound, healthy engine of general morality and @@ -6165,7 +6133,7 @@ and more gracious life of _personal affection_--which now alas! lies like a thing wounded and half dead. Its establishment will, I take it, mean the oncoming of a society which will liberate personal affection and love--will liberate forces hitherto artificially crippled because -their liberation would tear our current morality of formulae to mere rags +their liberation would tear our current morality of formulæ to mere rags and tatters. It means, I take it, the oncoming of a society whose main motive will no longer be the struggle for Bread (since that is ruled out by the enormous growth of our wealth-producing powers), but the desire @@ -6530,7 +6498,7 @@ these words must not be understood to imply anything in the nature of a monstrosity. Their reputation for hideousness, like their poisoned arrows and cannibalism, has long been a fallacy which, though widely popular, should now be exploded. The average heights of the men and -women are found to be 4 feet 103/4 inches, and 4 feet 71/4 inches +women are found to be 4 feet 10¾ inches, and 4 feet 7¼ inches respectively, and their figures, which are proportionately built, are very symmetrical and graceful. Although not to be described as muscular, they are of good development, the men being agile, yet sturdy, with @@ -6538,7 +6506,7 @@ broad chests and square shoulders." From E. H. Man on _The Aborigines of the Andaman Islands_, p. 14. - (Truebner, 1883.) + (Trübner, 1883.) "No idiots, maniacs or lunatics have ever yet been observed among them, and this is not because those so afflicted are killed or confined by @@ -6565,7 +6533,7 @@ some repugnance, wrote in my diary that they appeared to be removed by a very few steps from the brute creation. That was a very foolish and ignorant remark to make, and I have since found out that though Bushmen may possibly be to-day in the same backward state of material -development and knowledge as once were the palaeolithic ancestors of the +development and knowledge as once were the palæolithic ancestors of the most highly cultured European races in prehistoric times, yet fundamentally there is very little difference between the natures of primitive and civilised men, so that it is quite possible for a member @@ -7145,7 +7113,7 @@ their degradation, or without regret for the passing of the old days." +Slavery+ - From Waitz's _Anthropologie der Naturvoelker_, vol. ii, p. 281. + From Waitz's _Anthropologie der Naturvölker_, vol. ii, p. 281. (Leipzig, 1860.) "One finds that the fate of Slaves among the ruder peoples is much @@ -7276,7 +7244,7 @@ Women. Cr. 8vo, 5s. net. [_Fourth Edition._ INTERMEDIATE TYPES AMONG PRIMITIVE FOLK: a Study in Social Evolution. 8vo, 5s. net. [_Second Edition._ -IOLAeUS: an Anthology of Friendship. Cr. 8vo, 4s. 6d. net. +IOLÄUS: an Anthology of Friendship. Cr. 8vo, 4s. 6d. net. [_Fourth Edition Enlarged._ LOVE'S COMING OF AGE: on the Relations of the Sexes. 8vo, 4s. 6d. net. @@ -7298,7 +7266,7 @@ Pocket Edition, 5s. net. [_Thirteenth Edition._ TOWARDS INDUSTRIAL FREEDOM. Cr. 8vo. Cloth, 3s. 6d. net. Paper, 2s. 6d. net. [_Second Impression._ -A VISIT TO A GNANI. Large Cr. 8vo. Half Cloth, 3s. 6d. net. +A VISIT TO A GÑANI. Large Cr. 8vo. Half Cloth, 3s. 6d. net. PHOTOGRAVURE PORTRAIT OF EDWARD CARPENTER, with a facsimile autograph. 2s. 6d. net. @@ -7459,7 +7427,7 @@ this is, perhaps, the most interesting of his books. I recommend every one to read it."--G. K. CHESTERTON. -The History of Social Development BY DR. F. MUeLLER-LYER +The History of Social Development BY DR. F. MÃœLLER-LYER TRANSLATED BY ELIZABETH COOTE LAKE & H. A. LAKE, B.Sc.(Econ.) @@ -7468,7 +7436,7 @@ WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY PROFESSORS L. T. HOBHOUSE & E. J. URWICK _Demy 8vo._ _18s. net._ -This translation of Dr. F. Mueller-Lyer's famous book, "Phasen der +This translation of Dr. F. Müller-Lyer's famous book, "Phasen der Kultur," will appeal to all who are interested in labour problems at the present time. It contains a series of studies of the different economic phenomena of to-day, describing the gradual evolution of each from the @@ -7489,365 +7457,7 @@ RUSKIN HOUSE, 40 MUSEUM STREET, W.C.1 -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Civilisation: Its Cause and Cure, by +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Civilisation: Its Cause and Cure, by Edward Carpenter -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CIVILISATION: ITS CAUSE AND CURE *** - -***** This file should be named 44094.txt or 44094.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/4/0/9/44094/ - -Produced by Chris Curnow, Martin Pettit and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: Civilisation: Its Cause and Cure - And Other Essays - -Author: Edward Carpenter - -Release Date: November 2, 2013 [EBook #44094] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CIVILISATION: ITS CAUSE AND CURE *** - - - - -Produced by Chris Curnow, Martin Pettit and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - -+-------------------------------------------------+ -|Transcriber's note: | -| | -|Obvious typographic errors have been corrected. | -| | -+-------------------------------------------------+ - - - - -CIVILISATION: ITS CAUSE AND CURE - -_AND OTHER ESSAYS_ - -(NEWLY-ENLARGED AND COMPLETE EDITION) - -BY -EDWARD CARPENTER - -AUTHOR OF "TOWARDS DEMOCRACY," -"MY DAYS AND DREAMS," ETC. - -[Illustration: logo] - -LONDON: GEORGE ALLEN & UNWIN LTD. -RUSKIN HOUSE, 40 MUSEUM STREET, W.C.1 - - -First Edition, _June 1889_; Second Edition, _December 1890_; -Third Edition, _November 1893_; Fourth Edition, _July 1895_; -Fifth Edition, _September 1897_; Sixth Edition, _October 1900_; -Seventh Edition, _July 1902_; Eighth Edition, _March 1903_; -Ninth Edition, _January 1906_; Tenth Edition, _January 1908_; -Eleventh Edition, _October 1910_; Twelfth Edition, _Dec. 1912_; -Thirteenth Edition, _Aug. 1914_; Fourteenth Edition, _June 1916_; -Fifteenth Edition, _Sept. 1917_; Complete Edition, _Jan. 1921_ - -(_All rights reserved_) - - - - -PREFACE TO COMPLETE EDITION - -(1920) - - -In looking over this volume, first published in 1889, with a view to a -final Edition, I am glad to note that after all there is not much in it -requiring alteration. Considering that the original issue took place -more than 30 years ago, I had thought that the great changes in -scientific and philosophic thought which have taken place during that -period would probably have rendered "out of date" a good deal of the -book. - -As a matter of fact, the first paper--that on Civilisation--was given as -a lecture before the Fabian Society, in 1888; and I shall not easily -forget the furious attacks which were made upon it on that occasion. The -book--published as a whole in 1889--came in for a very similar reception -from the press-critics. They slated it to the top of their bent--except -in those not unfrequent cases when they ignored it as almost beneath -notice. The whole trend of the thought of the time was against its -conclusions; and it is perhaps worth while to recall these facts in -order to measure how far we have travelled in these 30 years. For to-day -(I think we may say) these conclusions are generally admitted as -correct; and the views which seemed so hazarded and precarious at the -earlier date are now fairly accepted and established. - -The word Civilisation has undoubtedly during this period suffered an -ominous change of color. It is no longer an easy term denoting all that -is ideal and delightful in social life, but on the contrary, carries -with it a sense of doubt and of criticism, as of something that is by no -means accepted yet, but is rather on its trial--if not actually -condemned! - -I am sorry to note, however, that the suggestion made more than once in -the course of my book--namely that the term (Civilisation) should -properly be given an _historical_ instead of ideal value, as applicable -to a certain period only in the history of each people, has not yet been -generally taken up. Yet a paper by some more competent person than -myself on the definite marks and signs of the civilisation-period in -History--their first appearance in the course of human progress and -evolution, and their probable disappearance again at a later -stage--would be greatly interesting and instructive. - -My little essay on this subject was written at the time of its -composition with a good deal of imaginative _élan_; and is of course -open to criticism on that side, as being mainly enthusiastic in -character and only slenderly supported by exact _data_, proofs, -historical illustrations, analogies, and so forth. But to largely alter -or amend the essay without seriously crippling it would be impossible; -and though the form may be hurried or inadequate, yet as far as the -actual contents and conclusions are concerned I still adhere to them -absolutely, and believe that time will show them to be fully justified. - -With regard to my views on Modern Science the last quarter of a century -has curiously corroborated them. For while on the one hand--as -expected--the progress in actual discovery and application of observed -facts has been enormous, the _theories_ on the other hand about all -these things have receded more and more into the background, and have -passed almost out of sight. While knowing, for instance, infinitely more -about electrical actions and adaptations than we did, we seem to be if -anything further off than ever from any valid theory of what Electricity -_is_. The same with regard to Heat and Light, to Astronomical, -Biological and Geological "laws," and so forth. On such matters Modern -Science is on the verge of confessing itself bankrupt, but not wishing -to do that, it keeps a discreet silence. - -The Atom, which I ventured (to the disgust of my scientific friends) to -make fun of 30 years ago, has now exploded of itself as thoroughly as a -German "coal-box"; and the fixed Chemical Elements of older days have of -late dissolved into protean vapours and emanations, ions and electrons, -impossible to follow through their endless transformations. As to the -numerous "Laws of Nature" which in the nineteenth century we were just -about to establish for all eternity, it is only with the greatest -difficulty that any of these can now be discovered--most of them having -got secreted away into the darkness of ancient text-books: where they -lead forlorn and sightless existences, like the fish in the caves of -Kentucky. - -Here again--in my chapters on Science--though some expressions remain -which are now out of date, I have thought it best to leave them as -originally written: the meanings and general conclusions being still -valid and as they were. It will be seen that the general drift of these -chapters is to point the moral that the true field of science is to be -found in Life, and that the best way to _know_ things is to _experience_ -their meaning and to identify oneself with them through Action. From a -study on these principles will ultimately emerge a Science truly humane -and creative, masterful, and capable of building a true home for -men--instead of the feverish, spectral and self-deluding thing which has -usurped the name up to now. - -Something the same will happen with the conception of Morality. The -abstract codes on this subject, which have wrought so much havoc by -their fatal intrusion on the field of human Life, are rapidly fading -away. These ghosts, like the ghosts of Nature's "Laws," are receiving -their _quietus_. And the general outline which was suggested in "The -Defence of Criminals" has now been traced more positively in the chapter -on "The New Morality" inserted at the end of the present volume. -Morality has at last to become truly human, and the real expression of -our organic need. Man has to be liberated from the cramps and -suppressions and fixations which have hitherto paralysed him in the -moral field. He has to emerge from the swathing bands of his pupal stage -into the free air of heaven, and to become in the highest sense -self-determining and creative. - -Thus three things, (1) the realisation of a new order of Society, in -closest touch with Nature, and in which the diseases of class-domination -and Parasitism will have finally ceased; (2) the realisation of a -Science which will no longer be a mere thing of the brain, but a part of -Actual Life; and (3) the realisation of a Morality which will signalise -and express the vital and organic unity of man with his fellows--these -three things will become the heralds of a new era of humanity--an era -which will possibly prefer _not_ to call itself by the name of -Civilisation. - -In order to corroborate and confirm the first paper in the book an -Appendix has now been added containing notes and _data_ on the life and -customs of many "uncivilised" peoples; for much of which Appendix I am -indebted to the assistance of my widely-read and resourceful friend, E. -Bertram Lloyd. - -E. C. - -_December, 1920._ - - - - -CONTENTS - - PAGE -PREFACE TO COMPLETE EDITION 7 - -CIVILISATION: ITS CAUSE AND CURE 15 - -MODERN SCIENCE: A CRITICISM 79 - -THE SCIENCE OF THE FUTURE: A FORECAST 120 - -DEFENCE OF CRIMINALS: A CRITICISM OF MORALITY 143 - -EXFOLIATION: LAMARCK _versus_ DARWIN 181 - -CUSTOM 206 - -A RATIONAL AND HUMANE SCIENCE 219 - -THE NEW MORALITY 243 - -APPENDIX--BEING NOTES ON SOME OF THE CHARACTERISTICS -AND CUSTOMS OF PRE-CIVILISED PEOPLES 265 - - - - -CIVILISATION: - -ITS CAUSE AND CURE - -The friendly and flowing savage, who is he? Is he waiting for -civilisation, or is he past it, and mastering it?--WHITMAN. - - -We find ourselves to-day in the midst of a somewhat peculiar state of -society, which we call Civilisation, but which even to the most -optimistic among us does not seem altogether desirable. Some of us, -indeed, are inclined to think that it is a kind of disease which the -various races of man have to pass through--as children pass through -measles or whooping cough; but if it is a disease, there is this serious -consideration to be made, that while History tells us of many nations -that have been attacked by it, of many that have succumbed to it, and of -some that are still in the throes of it, we know of no single case in -which a nation has fairly recovered from and passed through it to a more -normal and healthy condition. In other words the development of human -society has never yet (that we know of) passed beyond a certain -definite and apparently final stage in the process we call -Civilisation; at that stage it has always succumbed or been arrested. - -Of course it may at first sound extravagant to use the word disease in -connection with Civilisation at all, but a little thought should show -that the association is not ill-grounded. To take the matter on its -physical side first, I find that in Mullhall's Dictionary of Statistics -(1884) the number of accredited doctors and surgeons in the United -Kingdom is put at over 23,000. If the extent of the national sickness is -such that we require 23,000 medical men to attend to us, it must surely -be rather serious! And _they_ do not cure us. Wherever we look to-day, -in mansion or in slum, we see the features and hear the complaints of -ill-health; the difficulty is really to find a healthy person. The state -of the modern civilised man in this respect--our coughs, colds, -mufflers, dread of a waft of chill air, &c.--is anything but creditable, -and it seems to be the fact that, notwithstanding all our libraries of -medical science, our knowledges, arts, and appliances of life, we are -actually less capable of taking care of ourselves than the animals are. -Indeed, talking of animals, we are--as Shelley I think points out--fast -depraving the _domestic_ breeds. The cow, the horse, the sheep, and even -the confiding pussy-cat, are becoming ever more and more subject to -disease, and are liable to ills which in their wilder state they knew -not of. And finally the savage races of the earth do not escape the -baneful influence. Wherever Civilisation touches them, they die like -flies from the small-pox, drink, and worse evils it brings along with -it, and often its mere contact is sufficient to destroy whole races. - -But the word Disease is applicable to our social as well as to our -physical condition. For as in the body disease arises from the loss of -the physical unity which constitutes Health, and so takes the form of -warfare or discord between the various parts, or of the abnormal -development of individual organs, or the consumption of the system by -predatory germs and growths; so in our modern life we find the unity -gone which constitutes true society, and in its place warfare of classes -and individuals, abnormal development of some to the detriment of -others, and consumption of the organism by masses of social parasites. -If the word disease is applicable anywhere, I should say it is--both in -its direct and its derived sense--to the civilised societies of to-day. - -Again, mentally, is not our condition most unsatisfactory? I am not -alluding to the number and importance of the lunatic asylums which cover -our land, nor to the fact that maladies of the brain and nervous system -are now so common; but to the strange sense of mental unrest which marks -our populations, and which amply justifies Ruskin's cutting epigram: -that our two objects in life are, "Whatever we have--to get more; and -wherever we are--to go somewhere else." This sense of unrest, of -disease, penetrates down even into the deepest regions of man's -being--into his moral nature--disclosing itself there, as it has done -in all nations notably at the time of their full civilisation, as the -sense of Sin.[1] All down the Christian centuries we find this strange -sense of inward strife and discord developed, in marked contrast to the -naive insouciance of the pagan and primitive world; and, what is -strangest, we even find people glorying in this consciousness--which, -while it may be the harbinger of better things to come, is and can be in -itself only the evidence of loss of unity, and therefore of ill-health, -in the very centre of human life. - -Of course we are aware with regard to Civilisation that the word is -sometimes used in a kind of ideal sense, as to indicate a state of -future culture towards which we are tending--the implied assumption -being that a sufficiently long course of top hats and telephones will in -the end bring us to this ideal condition; while any little drawbacks in -the process, such as we have just pointed out, are explained as being -merely accidental and temporary. Men sometimes speak of civilising and -ennobling influences as if the two terms were interchangeable, and of -course if they like to use the word Civilisation in this sense they have -a right to; but whether the actual tendencies of modern life taken in -the mass _are_ ennobling (except in a quite indirect way hereafter to be -dwelt upon) is, to say the least, a doubtful question. Any one who -would get an idea of the glorious being that is as a matter of fact -being turned out by the present process should read Mr. Kay Robinson's -article in the _Nineteenth Century_ for May, 1883, in which he -prophesies (quite solemnly and in the name of science) that the human -being of the future will be a toothless, bald, toeless creature with -flaccid muscles and limbs almost incapable of locomotion! - -Perhaps it is safer on the whole not to use the word Civilisation in -such ideal sense, but to limit its use (as is done to-day by all writers -on primitive society) to a definite historical stage through which the -various nations pass, and in which we actually find ourselves at the -present time. Though there is of course a difficulty in marking the -commencement of any period of historical evolution very definitely, yet -all students of this subject agree that the growth of property and the -ideas and institutions flowing from it did at a certain point bring -about such a change in the structure of human society that the new stage -might fairly be distinguished from the earlier stages of Savagery and -Barbarism by a separate term. The growth of Wealth, it is shown, and -with it the conception of Private Property, brought on certain very -definite new forms of social life; it destroyed the ancient system of -society based upon the _gens_, that is, a society of equals founded upon -blood-relationship, and introduced a society of classes founded upon -differences of material possession; it destroyed the ancient system of -mother-right and inheritance through the female line, and turned the -woman into the property of the man; it brought with it private ownership -of land, and so created a class of landless aliens, and a whole system -of rent, mortgage, interest, etc.; it introduced slavery, serfdom and -wage-labour, which are only various forms of the dominance of one class -over another; and to rivet these authorities it created the State and -the policeman. Every race that we know, that has become what we call -civilised, has passed through these changes; and though the details may -vary and have varied a little, the main order of change has been -practically the same in all cases. We are justified therefore in calling -Civilisation a historical stage, whose commencement dates roughly from -the division of society into classes founded on property and the -adoption of class-government. Lewis Morgan in his _Ancient Society_ adds -the invention of writing and the consequent adoption of written History -and written Law; Engels in his _Ursprung der Familie, des -Privateigenthums und des Staats_ points out the importance of the -appearance of the Merchant, even in his most primitive form, as a mark -of the civilisation-period; while the French writers of the last century -made a good point in inventing the term _nations policées_ -(policemanised nations) as a substitute for civilised nations; for -perhaps there is no better or more universal mark of the period we are -considering, and of its social degradation, than the appearance of the -crawling phenomenon in question. [Imagine the rage of any decent North -American Indians if they had been told they required _policemen_ to keep -them in order!] - -If we take this historical definition of Civilisation, we shall see that -our English Civilisation began hardly more than a thousand years ago, -and even so the remains of the more primitive society lasted long after -that. In the case of Rome--if we reckon from the later times of the -early kings down to the fall of Rome--we have again about a thousand -years. The Jewish civilisation from David and Solomon downwards -lasted--with breaks--somewhat over a thousand years; the Greek -civilisation less; the series of Egyptian civilisations which we can now -distinguish lasted altogether very much longer; but the important points -to see are, first, that the process has been quite similar in character -in these various (and numerous other) cases,[2] quite as similar in fact -as the course of the same disease in various persons; and secondly that -in no case, as said before, has any nation come _through_ and passed -beyond this stage; but that in most cases it has succumbed soon after -the main symptoms had been developed. - -But it will be said, It may be true that Civilisation regarded as a -stage of human history presents some features of disease; but is there -any reason for supposing that disease in some form or other was any less -present in the previous stage--that of Barbarism? To which I reply, I -think there is good reason. Without committing ourselves to the -unlikely theory that the "noble savage" was an ideal human being -physically or in any other respect, and while certain that in many -points he was decidedly inferior to the civilised man, I think we must -allow him the superiority in some directions; and one of these was his -comparative freedom from disease. Lewis Morgan, who grew up among the -Iroquois Indians, and who probably knew the North American natives as -well as any white man has ever done, says (in his _Ancient Society_, p. -45), "Barbarism ends with the production of grand Barbarians." And -though there are no native races on the earth to-day who are actually in -the latest and most advanced stage of Barbarism;[3] yet, if we take the -most advanced tribes that we know of--such as the said Iroquois Indians -of twenty or thirty years ago, some of the Kaffir tribes round Lake -Nyassa in Africa, now (and possibly for a few years more) comparatively -untouched by civilisation, or the tribes along the river Uaupes, thirty -or forty years back, of Wallace's _Travels on the Amazon_--all tribes in -what Morgan would call the _middle_ stage of Barbarism--we undoubtedly -in each case discover a fine and (which is our point here) _healthy_ -people. Captain Cook in his first Voyage says of the natives of -Otaheite, "We saw no critical disease during our stay upon the island, -and but few instances of sickness, which were accidental fits of the -colic;" and, later on, of the New Zealanders, "They enjoy perfect and -uninterrupted health. In all our visits to their towns, where young and -old, men and women, crowded about us ... we never saw a single person -who appeared to have any bodily complaint, nor among the numbers we have -seen naked did we once perceive the slightest eruption upon the skin, or -any marks that an eruption had left behind." These are pretty strong -words. Of course diseases exist among such peoples, even where they have -never been in contact with civilisation, but I think we may say that -among the higher types of savages they are rarer, and nothing like so -various and so prevalent as they are in our modern life; while the power -of recovery from _wounds_ (which are of course the most frequent form of -disablement) is generally admitted to be something astonishing. Speaking -of the Kaffirs, J. G. Wood says, "Their state of health enables them to -survive injuries which would be almost instantly fatal to any civilised -European." Mr. Frank Oates in his Diary[4] mentions the case of a man -who was condemned to death by the king. He was hacked down with axes, -and left for dead. "What must have been intended for the _coup de grâce_ -was a cut in the back of the head, which had chipped a large piece out -of the skull, and must have been meant to cut the spinal cord where it -joins the brain. It had, however, been made a little higher than this, -but had left such a wound as I should have thought that no one could -have survived ... when I held the lanthorn to investigate the wound I -started back in amazement to see a hole at the base of the skull, -perhaps two inches long and an inch and a half wide, and I will not -venture to say how deep, but the depth too must have been an affair of -inches. Of course this hole penetrated into the substance of the brain, -and probably for some distance. I dare say a mouse could have sat in -it." Yet the man was not so much disconcerted. Like Old King Cole, "He -asked for a pipe and a drink of brandy," and ultimately made a perfect -recovery! Of course it might be said that such a story only proves the -lowness of organisation of the brains of savages; but to the Kaffirs at -any rate this would not apply; they are a quick-witted race, with large -brains, and exceedingly acute in argument, as Colenso found to his cost. -Another point which indicates superabundant health is the amazing animal -spirits of these native races! The shouting, singing, dancing kept up -nights long among the Kaffirs are exhausting merely to witness, while -the graver North American Indian exhibits a corresponding power of life -in his eagerness for battle or his stoic resistance of pain.[5] - -Similarly when we come to consider the social life of the wilder -races--however rudimentary and undeveloped it may be--the almost -universal testimony of students and travelers is that within its limits -it is more harmonious and compact than that of the civilised nations. -The members of the tribe are not organically at warfare with each other; -society is not divided into classes which prey upon each other; nor is -it consumed by parasites. There is more true social unity, less of -disease. Though the customs of each tribe are rigid, absurd, and often -frightfully cruel,[6] and though all outsiders are liable to be regarded -as enemies, yet _within those limits_ the members live peacefully -together--their pursuits, their work, are undertaken in common, thieving -and violence are rare, social feeling and community of interest are -strong. "In their own bands Indians are perfectly honest. In all my -intercourse with them I have heard of not over half-a-dozen cases of -such theft. But this wonderfully exceptional honesty extends no further -than to the members of his immediate band. To all outside of it, the -Indian is not only one of the most arrant thieves in the world, but this -quality or faculty is held in the highest estimation." (Dodge, p. 64.) -If a man set out on a journey (this among the Kaffirs) "he need not -trouble himself about provisions, for he is sure to fall in with some -hut, or perhaps a village, and is equally sure of obtaining both food -and shelter."[7] "I have lived," says A. R. Wallace in his _Malay -Archipelago_ vol. ii. p. 460, "with communities in South America and the -East, who have no laws or law courts, but the public opinion of the -village ... yet each man scrupulously respects the rights of his -fellows, and any infraction of those rights rarely takes place. In such -a community all are nearly equal. There are none of those wide -distinctions of education and ignorance, wealth and poverty, master and -servant, which are the product of our civilisation." Indeed this -_community_ of life in the early societies, this absence of division -into classes, and of the contrast between rich and poor, is now admitted -on all sides as a marked feature of difference between the conditions of -the primitive and of civilised man.[8] - -Lastly, with regard to the mental condition of the Barbarian, probably -no one will be found to dispute the contention that he is more -easy-minded and that his consciousness of Sin is less developed than in -his civilised brother. Our unrest is the penalty we pay for our wider -life. The missionary retires routed from the savage in whom he can awake -no sense of his supreme wickedness. An American lady had a servant, a -negro-woman, who on one occasion asked leave of absence for the next -morning, saying she wished to attend the Holy Communion? "I have no -objection," said the mistress, "to grant you leave; but do you think you -_ought_ to attend Communion? You know you have never said you were sorry -about that goose you stole last week." "Lor' missus," replied the -woman, "do ye think I'd let an old goose stand betwixt me and my Blessed -Lord and Master?" But joking apart, and however necessary for man's -ultimate evolution may be the temporary development of this -consciousness of Sin, we cannot help seeing that the condition of the -mind in which it is absent is the most distinctively _healthy_; nor can -it be concealed that some of the greatest works of Art have been -produced by people like the earlier Greeks, in whom it was absent; and -could not possibly have been produced where it was strongly developed. - -Though, as already said, the latest stage of Barbarism, _i.e._, that -just preceding Civilisation, is unrepresented on the earth to-day, yet -we have in the Homeric and other dawn-literature of the various nations -indirect records of this stage; and these records assure us of a -condition of man very similar to, though somewhat more developed than, -the condition of the existing races I have mentioned above. Besides -this, we have in the numerous traditions of the Golden Age,[9] legends -of the Fall, etc., a curious fact which suggests to us that a great -number of races in advancing towards Civilisation were conscious at some -point or other of having lost a primitive condition of ease and -contentment, and that they embodied this consciousness, with poetical -adornment and licence, in imaginative legends of the earlier Paradise. -Some people indeed, seeing the universality of these stories, and the -remarkable fragments of wisdom embedded in them and other extremely -ancient myths and writings, have supposed that there really was a -general pre-historic Eden-garden or Atlantis; but the necessities of the -case hardly seem to compel this supposition. That each human soul, -however, bears within itself some kind of reminiscence of a more -harmonious and perfect state of being, which it has at some time -experienced, seems to me a conclusion difficult to avoid; and this by -itself might give rise to manifold traditions and myths. - - -II - -However all this may be, the question immediately before us--having -established the more healthy, though more limited, condition of the -pre-civilisation peoples--is, why this lapse or fall? What is the -meaning of this manifold and intensified manifestation of -Disease--physical, social, intellectual, and moral? What is its place -and part in the great whole of human evolution? - -And this involves us in a digression, which must occupy a few pages, on -the nature of Health. - -When we come to analyse the conception of Disease, physical or mental, -in society or in the individual, it evidently means, as already hinted -once or twice, _loss of unity_. Health, therefore, should mean unity, -and it is curious that the history of the word entirely corroborates -this idea. As is well known, the words health, whole, holy, are from -the same stock; and they indicate to us the fact that far back in the -past those who created this group of words had a conception of the -meaning of Health very different from ours, and which they embodied -unconsciously in the word itself and its strange relatives. - -These are, for instance, and among others: heal, hallow, hale, holy, -whole, wholesome; German heilig, Heiland (the Saviour); Latin salus (as -in salutation, salvation); Greek kalos; also compare hail! a salutation, -and, less certainly connected, the root _hal_, to breathe, as in inhale, -exhale--French haleine--Italian and French alma and âme (the soul); -compare the Latin spiritus, spirit or breath, and Sanskrit âtman, breath -or soul. - -Wholeness, holiness ... "if thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be -full of light." ... "thy faith hath made thee _whole_." - -The idea seems to be a positive one--a condition of the body in which it -is an entirety, a unity--a central force maintaining that condition; and -disease being the break-up--or break-down--of that entirety into -multiplicity. - -The peculiarity about our modern conception of Health is that it seems -to be a purely negative one. So impressed are we by the myriad presence -of Disease--so numerous its dangers, so sudden and unforetellable its -attacks--that we have come to look upon health as the mere absence of -the same. As a solitary spy picks his way through a hostile camp at -night, sees the enemy sitting round his fires, and trembles at the -crackling of a twig beneath his feet--so the traveller through this -world, comforter in one hand and physic-bottle in the other, must pick -his way, fearful lest at any time he disturb the sleeping legions of -death--thrice blessed if by any means, steering now to the right and now -to the left, and thinking only of his personal safety, he pass by -without discovery to the other side. - -Health with us is a negative thing. It is a neutralisation of opposing -dangers. It is to be neither rheumatic nor gouty, consumptive nor -bilious, to be untroubled by head-ache, back-ache, heart-ache, or any of -the "thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to." These are the -realities. Health is the mere negation of them. - -The modern notion, and which has evidently in a very subtle way -penetrated the whole thought of to-day, is that the essential fact of -life is the existence of innumerable external forces, which, by a very -delicate balance and difficult to maintain, concur to produce Man--who -in consequence may at any moment be destroyed again by the -non-concurrence of those forces. The older notion apparently is that the -essential fact of life _is_ Man himself; and that the external forces, -so-called, are in some way subsidiary to this fact--that they may aid -his expression or manifestation, or that they may hinder it, but that -they can neither create nor annihilate the Man. Probably both ways of -looking at the subject are important; there is a man that can be -destroyed, and there is a man that cannot be destroyed. The old words, -soul and body, indicate this contrast; but like all words they are -subject to the defect that they are an attempt to draw a line where no -line can ultimately be drawn; they mark a contrast where, in fact, there -is only continuity--for between the little mortal man who dwells here -and now, and the divine and universal Man who also forms a part of our -consciousness, is there not a perfect gradation of being, and where (if -anywhere) is there a gulf fixed? Together they form a unit, and each is -necessary to the other: the first cannot do without the second, and the -second cannot get along at all without the first. To use the words of -Angelus Silesius (quoted by Schopenhauer), "Ich weiss dass ohne mich -Gott nicht ein Nu kann leben." - -According then to the elder conception, and perhaps according to an -elder experience, man, to be really healthy, must be a unit, an -entirety--his more external and momentary self standing in some kind of -filial relation to his more universal and incorruptible part--so that -not only the remotest and outermost regions of the body, and all the -assimilative, secretive, and other processes belonging thereto, but even -the thoughts and passions of the mind itself, stand in direct and clear -relationship to it, the final and absolute transparency of the mortal -creature. And thus this divinity in each creature, being that which -constitutes it and causes it to cohere together, was conceived of as -that creature's saviour, healer--healer of wounds of body and wounds of -heart--the Man within the man, whom it was not only possible to know, -but whom to know and be united with was the alone salvation. This, I -take it, was the law of health--and of holiness--as accepted at some -elder time of human history, and by us seen as thro' a glass darkly. - -And the condition of disease, and of sin, under the same view, was the -reverse of this. Enfeeblement, obscuration, duplicity--the central -radiation blocked; lesser and insubordinate centres establishing and -asserting themselves as against it; division, discord, possession by -devils. - -Thus in the body, the establishment of an insubordinate centre--a boil, -a tumor, the introduction and spread of a germ with innumerable progeny -throughout the system, the enlargement out of all reason of an existing -organ--means disease. In the mind, disease begins when any passion -asserts itself as an independent centre of thought and action. The -condition of health in the mind is loyalty to the divine Man within -it.[10] But if loyalty to money become an independent centre of life, or -greed of knowledge, or of fame, or of drink; jealousy, lust, the love of -approbation; or mere following after any so-called virtue for -itself--purity, humility, consistency, or what not--these may grow to -seriously endanger the other. They are, or should be, subordinates; and -though over a long period their insubordination may be a necessary -condition of human progress, yet during all such time they are at war -with each other and with the central Will; the man is torn and -tormented, and is not happy. - -And when I speak thus separately of the mind and body, it must be -remembered, as already said, that there is no strict line between them; -but probably every affection or passion of the mind has its correlative -in the condition of the body--though this latter may or may not be -easily observable. Gluttony _is_ a fever of the digestive apparatus. -What is a taint in the mind is also a taint in the body. The stomach has -started the original idea of becoming itself the centre of the human -system. The sexual organs may start a similar idea. Here are distinct -threats, menaces made against the central authority--against the Man -himself. For the man must rule or disappear; it is impossible to imagine -a man presided over by a Stomach--a walking Stomach, using hands, feet, -and all other members merely to carry it from place to place, and serve -its assimilative mania. We call such a one an Hog. [And thus in the -theory of Evolution we see the place of the hog, and all other animals, -as fore-runners or off-shoots of special faculties in Man, and why the -true man, and rightly, has authority over all animals, and can alone -give them their place in creation.] - -So of the Brain, or any other organ; for the Man is no organ, resides in -no organ, but is the central life ruling and radiating among all -organs, and assigning them their arts to play. - -Disease then, in body or mind, is from this point of view the break-up -of its unity, its entirety, into multiplicity. It is the abeyance of a -central power, and the growth of insubordinate centres--life in each -creature being conceived of as a continual exercise of energy or -conquest, by which external or antagonistic forces (and organisms) are -brought into subjection and compelled into the service of the creature, -or are thrown off as harmful to it. Thus, by way of illustration, we -find that plants or animals, when in good health, have a remarkable -power of throwing off the attacks of any parasites which incline to -infest them; while those that are weakly are very soon eaten up by the -same. A rose-tree, for instance, brought indoors, will soon fall a prey -to the aphis--though when hardened out of doors the pest makes next to -no impression on it. In dry seasons when the young turnip plants in the -fields are weakly from want of water the entire crop is sometimes -destroyed by the turnip fly, which then multiplies enormously; but if a -shower or two of rain come before much damage is done the plant will -then grow vigorously, its tissues become more robust and resist the -attacks of the fly, which in its turn dies. Late investigations seem to -show that one of the functions of the white corpuscles in the blood is -to devour disease-germs and bacteria present in the circulation--thus -absorbing these organisms into subjection to the central life of the -body--and that with this object they congregate in numbers toward any -part of the body which is wounded or diseased. Or to take an example -from society, it is clear enough that if our social life were really -vivid and healthy, such parasitic products as the idle shareholder and -the policeman above-mentioned would simply be impossible. The material -on which they prey would not exist, and they would either perish or be -transmuted into useful forms. It seems obvious in fact that life in any -organism can only be maintained by some such processes as these--by -which parasitic or infesting organisms are either thrown off or absorbed -into subjection. To define the nature of the power which thus works -towards and creates the distinctive unity of each organism may be -difficult, is probably at present impossible, but that some such power -exists we can hardly refuse to admit. Probably it is more a subject of -the growth of our consciousness, than an object of external scientific -investigation. - -In this view, Death is simply the loosening and termination of the -action of this power--over certain regions of the organism; a process by -which, when these superficial parts become hardened and osseous, as in -old age, or irreparably damaged, as in cases of accident, the inward -being sloughs them off, and passes into other spheres. In the case of -man there may be noble and there may be ignoble death, as there may be -noble and ignoble life. The inward self, unable to maintain authority -over the forces committed to its charge, declining from its high -prerogative, swarmed over by parasites, and fallen partially into the -clutch of obscene foes, may at last with shame and torment be driven -forth from the temple in which it ought to have been supreme. Or, having -fulfilled a holy and wholesome time, having radiated divine life and -love through all the channels of body and mind, and as a perfect workman -uses his tools, so having with perfect mastery and nonchalance used all -the materials committed to it, it may quietly and peacefully lay these -down, and unchanged (absolutely unchanged to all but material eyes) pass -on to other spheres appointed. - -And now a few words on the medical aspect of the subject. If we accept -any theory (even remotely similar to that just indicated) to the effect -that Health is a positive thing, and not a mere negation of disease, it -becomes pretty clear that no mere investigation of the latter will -enable us to find out what the former is, or bring us nearer to it. You -might as well try to create the ebb and flow of the tides by an -organised system of mops. - -Turn your back upon the Sun and go forth into the wildernesses of space -till you come to those limits where the rays of light, faint with -distance, fall dim upon the confines of eternal darkness--and phantoms -and shadows in the half-light are the product of the wavering conflict -betwixt day and night--investigate these shadows, describe them, -classify them, record the changes which take place in them, erect in -vast libraries these records into a monument of human industry and -research; so shall you be at the end as near to a knowledge and -understanding of the sun itself--which all this time you have left -behind you, and on which you have turned your back--as the investigators -of disease are to a knowledge and understanding of what health is. The -solar rays illumine the outer world and give to it its unity and -entirety; so in the inner world of each individual possibly is there -another Sun, which illumines and gives unity to the man, and whose -warmth and light would permeate his system. Wait upon the shining forth -of this inward sun, give free access and welcome to its rays of love, -and free passage for them into the common world around you, and it may -be you will get to know more about health than all the books of medicine -contain, or can tell you. - -Or to take the former simile: it is the central force of the Moon which -acting on the great ocean makes all its waters one, and causes them to -rise and fall in timely consent. But take your moon away; hey! now the -tide is flowing too far down this estuary! Station your thousands with -mops, but it breaks through in channel and runlet! Block it here, but it -overflows in a neighboring bay! Appoint an army of swabs there, but to -what end? The infinitest care along the fringe of this great sea can -never do, with all imaginable dirt and confusion, what the central power -does easily, and with unerring grace and providence. - -And so of the great (the vast and wonderful) ocean which ebbs and flows -within a man--take away the central guide--and not 20,000 doctors, each -with 20,000 books to consult and 20,000 phials of different contents to -administer, could meet the myriad cases of disease which would ensue, or -bolster up into "wholeness" the being from whom the single radiant unity -had departed. - -Probably there has never been an age, nor any country (except -Yankee-land?) in which disease has been so generally prevalent as in -England to-day; and certainly there has never (with the same exception) -been an age or country in which doctors have so swarmed, or in which -medical science has been so powerful, in apparatus, in learning, in -authority, and in actual organisation and number of adherents. How -reconcile this contradiction--if indeed a contradiction it be? - -But the fact is that medical science does not contradict disease--any -more than laws abolish crime. Medical science--and doubtless for very -good reasons--makes a fetish of disease, and dances around it. It is (as -a rule) only seen where disease is; it writes enormous tomes on disease; -it induces disease in animals (and even men) for the purpose of studying -it; it knows, to a marvelous extent, the symptoms of disease, its -nature, its causes, its goings out and its comings in; its eyes are -perpetually fixed on disease, till disease (for it) becomes the main -fact of the world and the main object of its worship. Even what is so -gracefully called Hygiene does not get beyond this negative attitude. -And the world still waits for its Healer, who shall tell us--diseased -and suffering as we are--_what_ health is, where it is to be found, -whence it flows; and who having touched this wonderful power within -himself shall not rest till he has proclaimed and imparted it to men. - -No, medical science does not, in the main, contradict disease. The same -cause (infidelity and decay of the central life in men) which creates -disease and makes men liable to it, creates students and a science of -the subject. The Moon[11] having gone from over the waters, the good -people rush forth with their mops; and the untimely inundations, and the -mops and the mess and the pother, are all due to the same cause. - -As to the lodgment of disease, it is clear that this would take place -easily in a disorganised system--just as a seditious adventurer would -easily effect a landing, and would find insubordinate materials ready at -hand for his use, in a land where the central government was weak. And -as to the treatment of a disease so introduced there are obviously two -methods: one is to reinforce the central power till it is sufficiently -strong of itself to eject the insubordinate elements and restore order; -the other is to attack the malady from outside and if possible destroy -it--(as by doses and decoctions)--independently of the inner vitality, -and leaving that as it was before. The first method would seem the best, -most durable and effective; but it is difficult and slow. It consists in -the adoption of a healthy life, bodily and mental, and will be spoken -of later on. The second may be characterised as the medical method, and -is valuable, or rather I should be inclined to say, _will_ be valuable, -when it has found its place, which is to be subsidiary to the first. It -is too often, however, regarded as superior in importance, and in this -way, though easy of application, has come perhaps to be productive of -more harm than good. The disease may be broken down for the time being, -but, the roots of it not being destroyed, it soon springs up again in -the same or a new form, and the patient is as badly off as ever. - -The great positive force of Health, and the power which it has to -_expel_ disease from its neighborhood is a thing realised, I believe, by -few persons. But it _has_ been realised on earth, and will be realised -again when the more squalid elements of our present-day civilisation -have passed away. - - -III - -The result then of our digression is to show that Health--in body or -mind--means unity, integration as opposed to disintegration. In the -animals we find this physical unity existing to a remarkable degree. An -almost unerring instinct and selective power rules their actions and -organisation. Thus a cat before it has fallen (say before it has become -a very wheezy fireside pussy!) is in a sense perfect. The wonderful -consent of its limbs as it runs or leaps, the adaptation of its -muscles, the exactness and inevitableness of its instincts, physical and -affectional; its senses of sight and smell, its cleanliness, nicety as -to food, motherly tact, the expression of its whole body when enraged, -or when watching for prey--all these things are so to speak absolute and -instantaneous--and fill one with admiration. The creature is "whole" or -in one piece: there is no mentionable conflict or division within -it.[12] - -Similarly with the other animals, and even with the early man himself. -And so it would appear returning to our subject--that, if we accept the -doctrine of Evolution, there is a progression of animated beings--which, -though not perfect, possess in the main the attribute of Health--from -the lowest forms up to a healthy and instinctive though certainly -limited man. During all this stage the central law is in the ascendant, -and the physical frame of each creature is the fairly clean vehicle of -its expression--varying of course in complexity and degree according to -the point of unfoldment which has been reached. And when thus in the -long process of development the inner Man (which has lain hidden or -dormant within the animal) at last appears, and the creature -consequently takes on the outer frame and faculties of the human being, -which are only as they are because of the inner man which they -represent; when it has passed through stage after stage of animal life, -throwing out tentative types and likenesses of what is to come, and -going through innumerable preliminary exercises in special forms and -faculties, till at last it begins to be able to wear the full majesty of -manhood itself--_then_ it would seem that that long process of -development is drawing to a close, and that the goal of creation must be -within measurable distance. - -But then, at that very moment, and when the goal is, so to speak, in -sight, occurs this failure of "wholeness" of which we have spoken, this -partial break-up of the unity of human nature--and man, instead of going -forward any longer in the same line as before, to all appearance -_falls_. - -What is the meaning of this loss of unity? What is the cause and purpose -of this fall and centuries-long exile from the earlier Paradise? - -There can be but one answer. It is self-knowledge--(which involves in a -sense the abandonment of self). Man has to become conscious of his -destiny--to lay hold of and realise his own freedom and blessedness--to -transfer his consciousness from the outer and mortal part of him to the -inner and undying. - -The cat cannot do this. Though perfect in its degree, its interior -unfoldment is yet incomplete. The human soul within it has not yet come -forward and declared itself; some sheathing leaves have yet to open -before the divine flower-bud can be clearly seen. And when at last -(speaking as a fool) the cat becomes a man--when the human soul within -the creature has climbed itself forward and found expression, -transforming the outer frame in the process into that of -humanity--(which is the meaning I suppose of the evolution theory)--then -the creature, though perfect and radiant in the form of Man, still lacks -one thing. It lacks the knowledge of itself; it lacks its own identity, -and the realisation of the manhood to which as a fact it has attained. - -In the animals consciousness has never returned upon itself. It radiates -easily outwards; and the creature obeys without let or hesitation, and -with little if any _self_-consciousness, the law of its being. And when -man first appears on the earth, and even up to the threshold of what we -call civilisation, there is much to show that he should in this respect -still be classed with the animals. Though vastly superior to them in -attainments, physical and mental, in power over nature, capacity of -progress, and adaptability, he still in these earlier stages was like an -animal in the unconscious instinctive nature of his action; and on the -other hand, though his moral and intellectual structures were far less -complete than those of the modern man--as was a necessary result of the -absence of self-knowledge--he actually lived more in harmony with -himself and with nature,[13] than does his descendant; his impulses, -both physical and social, were clearer and more unhesitating; and his -unconsciousness of inner discord and sin a great contrast to our modern -condition of everlasting strife and perplexity. - -If then to this stage belongs some degree of human perfection and -felicity, yet there remains a much vaster height to be scaled. The human -soul which has wandered darkling for so many thousands of years, from -its tiny spark-like germ in some low form of life to its full splendor -and dignity in man, has yet to come to the _knowledge_ of its wonderful -heritage, has yet to become finally individualised and free, to know -itself immortal, to resume and interpret all its past lives, and to -enter in triumph into the kingdom which it has won. - -It has in fact to face the frightful struggle of self-consciousness, or -the disentanglement of the true self from the fleeting and perishable -self. The animals and man, unfallen, are healthy and free from care, but -unaware of what they are; to attain self-knowledge man must fall; he -must become less than his true self; he must endure imperfection; -division and strife must enter his nature. To realise the perfect Life, -to know what, how wonderful it is--to understand that all blessedness -and freedom consists in its possession--he must for the moment suffer -divorce from it; the unity, the repose of his nature must be broken up, -crime, disease and unrest must enter in, and by contrast he must attain -to knowledge. - -Curious that at the very dawn of the Greek and with it the European -civilisation we have the mystic words "Know Thyself" inscribed on the -temple of the Delphic Apollo; and that first among the legends of the -Semitic race stands that of Adam and Eve eating of the tree of the -Knowledge of good and evil! To the animal there is no such knowledge, to -the early man there was no such knowledge, and to the perfected man of -the future there will be no such knowledge. It is a temporary -perversion, indicating the disunion of the present-day man--the disunion -of the outer self from the inner--the horrible dual -self-consciousness--which is the means ultimately of a more perfect and -conscious union than could ever have been realised without it--the death -that is swallowed up in victory. "For the first man is of the earth, -earthy; but the second man is the Lord from heaven." - -In order then, at this point in his Evolution, to advance any farther, -Man must first fall; in order to know, he must lose. In order to realise -what Health is, how splendid and glorious a possession, he must go -through all the long negative experience of Disease; in order to know -the perfect social life, to understand what power and happiness to -mankind are involved in their true relation to each other, he must learn -the misery and suffering which come from mere individualism and greed; -and in order to find his true Manhood, to discover what a wonderful -power it is, he must first lose it--he must become a prey and a slave to -his own passions and desires--whirled away like Phaethon by the horses -which he cannot control. - -This moment of divorce, then, this parenthesis in human progress, covers -the ground of all History; and the whole of Civilisation, and all crime -and disease, are only the materials of its immense purpose--themselves -destined to pass away as they arose, but to leave their fruits eternal. - -Accordingly we find that it has been the work of Civilisation--founded -as we have seen on Property--in every way to disintegrate and corrupt -man--literally to corrupt--to _break up_ the unity of his nature. It -begins with the abandonment of the primitive life and the growth of the -sense of shame (as in the myth of Adam and Eve). From this follows the -disownment of the sacredness of sex. Sexual acts cease to be a part of -religious worship; love and desire--the inner and the outer -love--hitherto undifferentiated, now become two separate things. (This -no doubt a necessary stage in order for the development of the -_consciousness of love_, but in itself only painful and abnormal.) It -culminates and comes to an end, as to-day, in a complete divorce between -the spiritual reality and the bodily fulfilment--in a vast system of -commercial love, bought and sold, in the brothel and in the palace. It -begins with the forsaking of the hardy nature-life, and it ends with a -society broken down and prostrate, hardly recognisable as human, amid -every form of luxury, poverty and disease. He who had been the free -child of Nature denies his sonship; he disowns the very breasts that -suckled him. He deliberately turns his back upon the light of the sun, -and hides himself away in boxes with breathing holes (which he calls -houses), living ever more and more in darkness and asphyxia, and only -coming forth perhaps once a day to blink at the bright god, or to run -back again at the first breath of the free wind for fear of catching -cold! He muffles himself in the cast-off furs of the beasts, every -century swathing himself in more and more layers, more and more -fearfully and wonderfully fashioned, till he ceases to be recognisable -as the Man that was once the crown of the animals, and presents a more -ludicrous spectacle than the monkey that sits on his own barrel organ. -He ceases to a great extent to use his muscles, his feet become -partially degenerate, his teeth wholly, his digestion so enervated that -he has to cook his food and make pulps of all his victuals, and his -whole system so obviously on the decline that at last in the end of -time a Kay Robinson arises and prophesies as aforesaid, that he will -before long become wholly toothless, bald and toeless. - -And so with this denial of Nature comes every form of disease; first -delicatesse, daintiness, luxury; then unbalance, enervation, huge -susceptibility to pain. With the shutting of himself away from the -all-healing Power, man inevitably weakens his whole manhood; the central -bond is loosened, and he falls a prey to his own organs. He who before -was unaware of the existence of these latter, now becomes only too -conscious of them (and this--is it not the very object of the process?); -the stomach, the liver and the spleen start out into painful -distinctness before him, the heart loses its equable beat, the lungs -their continuity with the universal air, and the brain becomes hot and -fevered; each organ in turn asserts itself abnormally and becomes a seat -of disorder, every corner and cranny of the body becomes the scene and -symbol of disease, and Man gazes aghast at his own kingdom--whose extent -he had never suspected before--now all ablaze in wild revolt against -him. And then--all going with this period of his development--sweep vast -epidemic trains over the face of the earth, plagues and fevers and -lunacies and world-wide festering sores, followed by armies, ever -growing, of doctors--they too with their retinues of books and bottles, -vaccinations and vivisections, and grinning death's-heads in the rear--a -mad crew, knowing not what they do, yet all unconsciously, doubtless, -fulfilling the great age-long destiny of humanity. - - -In all this the influence of Property is apparent enough. It is evident -that the growth of property through the increase of man's powers of -production reacts on the man in three ways: to draw him away namely, (1) -from Nature, (2) from his true Self, (3) from his Fellows. In the first -place it draws him away from Nature. That is, that as man's power over -materials increases he creates for himself a sphere and an environment -of his own, in some sense apart and different from the great elemental -world of the winds and the waves, the woods and the mountains, in which -he has hitherto lived. He creates what we call the artificial life, of -houses and cities, and, shutting himself up in these, shuts Nature out. -As a growing boy at a certain point, and partly in order to assert his -independence, wrests himself away from the tender care of his mother, -and even displays--just for the time being--a spirit of opposition to -her, so the growing Man finding out his own powers uses them--for the -time--even to do despite to Nature, and to create himself a world in -which she shall have no part. In the second place the growth of property -draws man away from his true Self. This is clear enough. As his power -over materials and his possessions increases, man finds the means of -gratifying his senses at will. Instead of being guided any longer by -that continent and "whole" instinct which characterises the animals, -his chief motive is now to use his powers to gratify this or that sense -or desire. These become abnormally magnified, and the man soon places -his main good in their satisfaction; and abandons his true Self for his -organs, the whole for the parts. Property draws the man outwards, -stimulating the external part of his being, and for a time mastering -him, overpowers the central Will, and brings about his disintegration -and corruption. Lastly, Property by thus stimulating the external and -selfish nature in Man, draws him away from his Fellows. In the anxiety -to possess things for himself, in order to gratify his own bumps, he is -necessarily brought into conflict with his neighbor and comes to regard -him as an enemy. For the true Self of man consists in his organic -relation with the whole body of his fellows; and when the man abandons -his true Self he abandons also his true relation to his fellows. The -mass-Man must rule in each unit-man, else the unit-man will drop off and -die. But when the outer man tries to separate himself from the inner, -the unit-man from the mass-Man, then the reign of individuality -begins--a false and impossible individuality of course, but the only -means of coming to the consciousness of the true individuality. With the -advent of a Civilisation then founded on Property the unity of the old -tribal society is broken up. The ties of blood relationship which were -the foundation of the gentile system and the guarantees of the old -fraternity and equality become dissolved in favor of powers and -authorities founded on mere possession. The growth of Wealth -disintegrates the ancient Society; the temptations of power, of -possession, etc., which accompany it, wrench the individual from his -moorings; personal greed rules; "each man for himself" becomes the -universal motto; the hand of every man is raised against his brother, -and at last society itself becomes an organisation by which the rich -fatten upon the vitals of the poor, the strong upon the murder of the -weak. [It is interesting in this connection to find that Lewis Morgan -makes the invention of a written alphabet and the growth of the -conception of private property the main characteristics of the -civilisation-period as distinguished from the periods of savagery and -barbarism which preceded it; for the invention of writing marks perhaps -better than anything else could do the period when Man becomes -_self-conscious_--when he records his own doings and thoughts, and so -commences History proper; and the growth of private property marks the -period when he begins to sunder himself from his fellows, when therefore -the conception of sin (or separation) first enters in, and with it all -the long period of moral perplexity, and the denial of that community of -life between himself and his fellows which is really of the essence of -man's being.] - -And then arises the institution of Government. - -Hitherto this had not existed except in a quite rudimentary form. The -early communities troubled themselves little about individual ownership, -and what government they had was for the most part essentially -democratic--as being merely a choice of leaders among blood-relations -and social equals. But when the delusion that man can exist for himself -alone--his outer and, as it were, accidental self apart from the great -inner and cosmical self by which he is one with his fellows--when this -delusion takes possession of him, it is not long before it finds -expression in some system of private property. The old community of life -and enjoyment passes away, and each man tries to grab the utmost he can, -and to retire into his own lair for its consumption. Private -accumulations arise; the natural flow of the bounties of life is dammed -back, and artificial barriers of Law have to be constructed in order to -preserve the unequal levels. Outrage and Fraud follow in the wake of the -desire of possession; force has to be used by the possessors in order to -maintain the law-barriers against the non-possessors; classes are -formed; and finally the formal Government arises, mainly as the -expression of such force; and preserves itself, as best it can, until -such time as the inequalities which it upholds become too glaring, and -the pent social waters gathering head burst through once more and regain -their natural levels. - -Thus Morgan in his "Ancient Society" points out over and over again that -the civilised state rests upon territorial and property marks and -qualifications, and not upon a personal basis as did the ancient _gens_, -or the tribe; and that the civilised government correspondingly takes on -quite a different character and function from the simple organisation -of the gens. He says (p. 124), "Monarchy is incompatible with -gentilism." Also with regard to the relation of Property to Civilisation -and Government he makes the following pregnant remarks (p. 505): "It is -impossible to over-estimate the influence of property in the -civilisation of mankind. It was the power that brought the Aryan and -Semitic nations out of barbarism into civilisation. The growth of the -idea of property in the human mind commenced in feebleness and ended in -becoming its master passion. Governments and Laws are instituted with -primary reference to its creation, protection and enjoyment. It -introduced human slavery as an instrument in its production; and after -the experience of several thousand years it caused the abolition of -slavery upon the discovery that a freeman was a better property-making -machine." And in another passage on the same subject, "The dissolution -of society bids fair to become the termination of a career of which -property is the end and aim; because such a career contains the elements -of self-destruction. Democracy is the next higher plane. It will be a -revival in a higher form of the liberty, equality and fraternity of the -ancient gentes." - -The institution of Government is in fact the evidence in social life -that man has lost his inner and central control, and therefore must -resort to an outward one. Losing touch with the inward Man--who is his -true guide--he declines upon an external law, which must always be -false. If each man remained in organic adhesion to the general body of -his fellows, no serious dis-harmony could occur; but it is when this -vital unity of the body politic becomes weak that it has to be preserved -by artificial means, and thus it is that with the decay of the primitive -and instinctive social life there springs up a form of government which -is no longer the democratic expression of the life of the whole people; -but a kind of outside authority and compulsion thrust upon them by a -ruling class or caste. - -Perhaps the sincerest, and often though not always the earliest, form of -Government is Monarchy. The sentiment of human unity having been already -partly but not quite lost, the people choose--in order to hold society -together--a man to rule over them who has this sentiment in a high -degree. He represents the true Man and therefore the people. This is -often a time of extensive warfare and the formation of nations. And it -is interesting in this connection to note that the quite early "Kings" -or leaders of each nation just prior to the civilisation period were -generally associated with the highest religious functions, as in the -case of the Roman _rex_, the Greek _basileus_, the early Egyptian Kings, -Moses among the Israelites, and Druid leaders of the Britons, and so on. - -Later, and as the central authority gets more and more shadowy in each -man, and the external attraction of Property greater, so it does in -Society. The temporal and spiritual powers part company. The king--who -at first represented the Divine Spirit or soul of society, recedes into -the background, and his nobles of high degree (who may be compared to -the nobler, more generous, qualities of the mind) begin to take his -place. This is the Aristocracy and the Feudal Age--the Timocracy of -Plato; and is marked by the appearance of large private tenures of land, -and the growth of slavery and serfdom--the slavery thus outwardly -appearing in society being the symbol of the inward enslavement of the -man. - -Then comes the Commercial Age--the Oligarchy or Plutocracy of Plato. -Honour quite gives place to material wealth; the rulers rule not by -personal or hereditary, but by property qualifications. Parliaments and -Constitutions and general Palaver are the order of the day. -Wage-slavery, usury, mortgages, and other abominations, indicate the -advance of the mortal process. In the individual man gain is the end of -existence; industry and scientific cunning are his topmost virtues. - -Last of all the break-up is complete. The individual loses all memory -and tradition of his heavenly guide and counterpart; his nobler passions -fail for want of a leader to whom to dedicate themselves; his industry -and his intellect serve but to minister to his little swarming desires. -This is the era of anarchy--the democracy of Carlyle; the rule of the -rabble, and mob-law; caucuses and cackle, competition and universal -greed, breaking out in cancerous tyrannies and plutocracies--a mere -chaos and confusion of society. For just as we saw in the human body, -when the inner and positive force of Health has departed from it, that -it falls a prey to parasites which overspread and devour it; so, when -the central inspiration departs out of social life, does it writhe with -the mere maggots of individual greed, and at length fall under the -dominion of the most monstrous egotist who has been bred from its -corruption. - -Thus we have briefly sketched the progress of the symptoms of the -"disease," which, as said before, runs much (though not quite) the same -course in the various nations which it attacks. And if this last stage -were really the end of all, and the true Democracy, there were indeed -little left to hope for. No words of Carlyle could blast that black -enough. But this is no true Democracy. Here in this "each for himself" -is no rule of the Demos in every man, nor anything resembling it. Here -is no solidarity such as existed in the ancient tribes and primæval -society, but only disintegration and a dust-heap. The true Democracy has -yet to come. Here in this present stage is only the final denial of all -outward and class government, in preparation for the restoration of the -inner and true authority. Here in this stage the task of civilisation -comes to an end; the purport and object of all these centuries is -fulfilled; the bitter experience that mankind had to pass through is -completed; and out of this Death and all the torture and unrest which -accompanies it, comes at last the Resurrection. Man has sounded the -depths of alienation from his own divine spirit, he has drunk the dregs -of the cup of suffering, he has literally descended into Hell; -henceforth he turns, both in the individual and in society, and mounts -deliberately and consciously back again towards the unity which he has -lost.[14] - -And the false democracy parts aside for the disclosure of the true -Democracy which has been formed beneath it--which is not an external -government at all, but an inward rule--the rule of the mass-Man in each -unit-man. For no outward government can be anything but a make-shift--a -temporary hard chrysalis-sheath to hold the grub together while the new -life is forming inside--a device of the civilisation-period. Farther -than this it cannot go, since no true life can rely upon an external -support, and, when the true life of society comes, all its forms will be -fluid and spontaneous and voluntary. - - -IV - -And now, by way of a glimpse into the future--after this long digression -what is the route that man will take? - -This is a subject that I hardly dare tackle. "The morning wind ever -blows," says Thoreau, "the poem of creation is uninterrupted--but few -are the ears that hear it." And how can we, gulfed as we are in this -present whirlpool, conceive rightly the glory which awaits us? No limits -that our present knowledge puts need alarm us; the impossibilities will -yield very easily when the time comes; and the anatomical difficulty as -to how and where the wings are to grow will vanish when they are felt -sprouting! - -It can hardly be doubted that the tendency will be--indeed is already -showing itself--towards a return to nature and community of human life. -This is the way back to the lost Eden, or rather forward to the new -Eden, of which the old was only a figure. Man has to undo the wrappings -and the mummydom of centuries, by which he has shut himself from the -light of the sun and lain in seeming death, preparing silently his -glorious resurrection--for all the world like the funny old chrysalis -that he is. He has to emerge from houses and all his other hiding -places wherein so long ago ashamed (as at the voice of God in the -garden) he concealed himself--and Nature must once more become his home, -as it is the home of the animals and the angels. - -As it is written in the old magical formula: "Man clothes himself to -descend, unclothes himself to ascend." Over his spiritual or wind-like -body he puts on a material or earthy body; over his earth-body he puts -on the skins of animals and other garments; then he hides this body in a -house behind curtains and stone walls--which become to it as secondary -skins and prolongations of itself. So that between the man and his true -life there grows a dense and impenetrable hedge; and, what with the -cares and anxieties connected with his earth-body and all its skins, he -soon loses the knowledge that he is a Man at all; his true self slumbers -in a deep and agelong swoon. - -But the instinct of all who desire to deliver the divine _imago_ within -them, is, in something more than the literal sense, towards unclothing. -And the process of evolution or exfoliation itself is nothing but a -continual unclothing of Nature, by which the perfect human Form which is -at the root of it comes nearer and nearer to its manifestation. - -Thus, in order to restore the Health which he has lost, man has in the -future to tend in this direction. Life indoors and in houses has to -become a fraction only, instead of the principal part of existence as it -is now. Garments similarly have to be simplified. How far this process -may go it is not necessary now to enquire. It is sufficiently obvious -that our domestic life and clothing may be at once greatly reduced in -complexity, and with the greatest advantage--made subsidiary instead of -being erected into the fetishes which they are. And everyone may feel -assured that each gain in this direction is a gain in true life--whether -it be the head that goes uncovered to the air of heaven, or the feet -that press bare the magnetic earth, or the elementary raiment that -allows through its meshes the light itself to reach the vital organs. -The life of the open air, familiarity with the winds and waves, clean -and pure food, the companionship of the animals--the very wrestling with -the great Mother for his food--all these things will tend to restore -that relationship which man has so long disowned; and the consequent -instreaming of energy into his system will carry him to perfections of -health and radiance of being at present unsuspected. - -Of course, it will be said that many of these things are difficult to -realise in our country, that an indoor life, with all its concomitants, -is forced upon us by the climate. But if this is to some small--though -very small--extent true, it forms no reason why we should not still take -advantage of every opportunity to push in the direction indicated. It -must be remembered, too, that our climate is greatly of our own -creation. If the atmosphere of many of our great towns and of the lands -for miles in their neighbourhood is devitalised and deadly--so that in -cold weather it grants to the poor mortal no compensating power of -resistance, but compels him at peril of his life to swathe himself in -greatcoats and mufflers--the blame is none but ours. It is we who have -covered the lands with a pall of smoke, and are walking to our own -funerals under it. - -That this climate, however, at its best may not be suited to the highest -developments of human life is quite possible. Because Britain has been -the scene of some of the greatest episodes of Civilisation, it does not -follow that she will keep the lead in the period that is to follow; and -the Higher Communities of the future will perhaps take their rise in -warmer lands, where life is richer and fuller, more spontaneous and more -generous, than it can be here. - -Another point in this connection is the food question. For the -restoration of the central vigour when lost or degenerate, a diet -consisting mainly of fruits and grains is most adapted. Animal food -often gives for the time being a lot of nervous energy--and may be -useful for special purposes; but the energy is of a spasmodic feverish -kind; the food has a tendency to inflame the subsidiary centres, and so -to diminish the central control. Those who live mainly on animal food -are specially liable to disease--and not only physically; for their -minds also fall more easily a prey to desires and sorrows. In times -therefore of grief or mental trouble of any kind, as well as in times of -bodily sickness, immediate recourse should be had to the more elementary -diet. The body under this diet endures work with less fatigue, is less -susceptible to pain, and to cold; and heals its wounds with -extraordinary celerity; all of which facts point in the same direction. -It may be noted, too, that foods of the seed kind--by which I mean all -manner of fruits, nuts, tubers, grains, eggs, etc. (and I may include -milk in its various forms of butter, cheese, curds, and so forth), not -only contain by their nature the elements of life in their most -condensed forms, but have the additional advantage that they can be -appropriated without injury to any living creature--for even the cabbage -may inaudibly scream when torn up by the roots and boiled, but the -strawberry plant _asks_ us to take of its fruit, and paints it red -expressly that we may see and devour it! Both of which considerations -must convince us that this kind of food is most fitted to develop the -kernel of man's life. - -Which all means cleanness. The unity of our nature being restored, the -instinct of bodily cleanness, _both_ within and without, which is such a -marked characteristic of the animals, will again characterise -mankind--only now instead of a blind instinct it will be a conscious, -joyous one; dirt being only disorder and obstruction. And thus the whole -human being, mind and body, becoming clean and radiant from its inmost -centre to its farthest circumference--"transfigured"--the distinction -between the words spiritual and material disappears. In the words of -Whitman, "objects gross and the unseen soul are one." - -But this return to Nature, and identification in some sort with the -great cosmos, does not involve a denial or depreciation of human life -and interests. It is not uncommonly supposed that there is some kind of -antagonism between Man and Nature, and that to recommend a life closer -to the latter means mere asceticism and eremitism; and unfortunately -this antagonism does exist to-day, though it certainly will not exist -for ever. To-day it is unfortunately perfectly true that Man is the only -animal who, instead of adorning and beautifying, makes Nature hideous by -his presence. The fox and the squirrel may make their homes in the wood -and add to its beauty in so doing; but when Alderman Smith plants his -villa there, the gods pack up their trunks and depart; they can bear it -no longer. The Bushmen can hide themselves and become indistinguishable -on a slope of bare rock; they twine their naked little yellow bodies -together, and look like a heap of dead sticks; but when the chimney-pot -hat and frock-coat appear, the birds fly screaming from the trees. This -was the great glory of the Greeks that they accepted and perfected -Nature; as the Parthenon sprang out of the limestone terraces of the -Acropolis, carrying the natural lines of the rock by gradations scarce -perceptible into the finished and human beauty of frieze and pediment, -and as, above, it was open for the blue air of heaven to descend into it -for a habitation; so throughout in all their best work and life did they -stand in this close relation to the earth and the sky and to all -instinctive and elemental things, admitting no gulf between themselves -and them, but only perfecting their expressiveness and beauty. And some -day we shall again understand this which, in the very sunrise of true -Art, the Greeks so well understood. Possibly some day we shall again -build our houses or dwelling places so simple and elemental in character -that they will fit in the nooks of the hills or along the banks of the -streams or by the edges of the woods without disturbing the harmony of -the landscape or the songs of the birds. Then the great temples, -beautiful on every height, or by the shores of the rivers and the lakes, -will be the storehouses of all precious and lovely things. There men, -women and children will come to share in the great and wonderful common -life, the gardens around will be sacred to the unharmed and welcome -animals; there all store and all facilities of books and music and art -for every one, there a meeting place for social life and intercourse, -there dances and games and feasts. Every village, every little -settlement, will have such hall or halls. No need for private -accumulations. Gladly will each man, and more gladly still each woman, -take his or her treasures, except what are immediately or necessarily in -use, to the common centre, where their value will be increased a hundred -and a thousand fold by the greater number of those who can enjoy them, -and where far more perfectly and with far less toil they can be tended -than if scattered abroad in private hands. At one stroke half the labour -and all the anxiety of domestic caretaking will be annihilated. The -private dwelling places, no longer costly and labyrinthine in proportion -to the value and number of the treasures they contain, will need no -longer to have doors and windows jealously closed against fellow men or -mother nature. The sun and air will have access to them, the indwellers -will have unfettered egress. Neither man nor woman will be tied in -slavery to the lodge which they inhabit; and in becoming once more a -part of nature, the human habitation will at length cease to be what it -is now for at least half the human race--a prison. - -Men often ask about the new Architecture--what, and of what sort, it is -going to be. But to such a question there can be no answer till a new -understanding of life has entered into people's minds, and then the -answer will be clear enough. For as the Greek Temples and the Gothic -Cathedrals were built by people who themselves lived but frugally as we -should think, and were ready to dedicate their best work and chief -treasure to the gods and the common life; and as to-day when we must -needs have for ourselves spacious and luxurious villas, we seem to be -unable to design a decent church or public building; so it will not be -till we once more find our main interest and life in the life of the -community and the gods that a new spirit will inspire our architecture. -Then when our Temples and Common Halls are not designed to glorify an -individual architect or patron, but are built for the use of free men -and women, to front the sky and the sea and the sun, to spring out of -the earth, companionable with the trees and the rocks, not alien in -spirit from the sunlit globe itself or the depth of the starry -night--then I say their form and structure will quickly determine -themselves, and men will have no difficulty in making them beautiful. -And similarly with the homes or dwelling places of the people. Various -as these may be for the various wants of men, whether for a single -individual or for a family, or for groups of individuals or families, -whether to the last degree simple, or whether more or less ornate and -complex, still the new conception, the new needs of life, will -necessarily dominate them and give them form by a law unfolding from -within. - -In such new human life then--its fields, its farms, its workshops, its -cities--always the work of man perfecting and beautifying the lands, -aiding the efforts of the sun and soil, giving voice to the desire of -the mute earth--in such new communal life near to nature, so far from -any asceticism or inhospitality, we are fain to see far more humanity -and sociability than ever before: an infinite helpfulness and sympathy, -as between the children of a common mother. Mutual help and combination -will then have become spontaneous and instinctive: each man contributing -to the service of his neighbor as inevitably and naturally as the right -hand goes to help the left in the human body--and for precisely the same -reason. Every man--think of it!--will do the work which he _likes_, -which he desires to do, which is obviously before him to do, and which -he knows will be useful, without thought of wages or reward; and the -reward will come to him as inevitably and naturally as in the human body -the blood flows to the member which is exerting itself. All the endless -burden of the adjustments of labour and wages, of the war of duty and -distaste, of want and weariness, will be thrown aside--all the huge -waste of work done against the grain will be avoided; out of the endless -variety of human nature will spring a perfectly natural and infinite -variety of occupations, all mutually contributive; Society at last will -be free and the human being after long ages will have attained to -deliverance. - -This is the Communism which Civilisation has always _hated_, as it hated -Christ. Yet it is inevitable; for the cosmical man, the instinctive -elemental man accepting and crowning nature, necessarily fulfils the -universal law of nature. As to External Government and Law, they will -disappear; for they are only the travesties and transitory substitutes -of Inward Government and Order. Society in its final state is neither a -Monarchy, nor an Aristocracy nor a Democracy, nor an Anarchy, and yet in -another sense it is all of these. It is an Anarchy because there is no -outward rule, but only an inward and invisible spirit of life; it is a -Democracy because it is the rule of the Mass-man, or Demos, in each unit -man; it is an Aristocracy because there are degrees and ranks of such -inward power in all men; and it is a Monarchy because all these ranks -and powers merge in a perfect unity and central control at last. And so -it appears that the outer forms of government which belong to the -Civilisation-period are only the expression in separate external symbols -of the facts of the true inner life of society. - -And just as thus the various external forms of government during the -Civilisation-period find their justification and interpretation in the -ensuing period, so will it be with the mechanical and other products of -the present time; they will be taken up, and find their proper place and -use in the time to come. They will not be refused; but they will have to -be brought into subjection. Our locomotives, machinery, telegraphic and -postal systems; our houses, furniture, clothes, books, our fearful and -wonderful cookery, strong drinks, teas, tobaccos; our medical and -surgical appliances; high-faluting sciences and philosophies, and all -other engines hitherto of human bewilderment, have simply to be reduced -to abject subjection to the real man. All these appliances, and a -thousand others such as we hardly dream of, will come in to perfect his -power and increase his freedom; but they will not be the objects of a -mere fetish-worship as now. Man will use them, instead of their using -him. His real life will lie in a region far beyond them. But in thus for -a moment denying and "mastering" the products of Civilisation, will he -for the first time discover their true value, and reap from them an -enjoyment unknown before. - -The same with the moral powers. As said before, the knowledge of good -and evil at a certain point passes away, or becomes absorbed into a -higher knowledge. The perception of Sin goes with a certain weakness in -the man. As long as there is conflict and division within him, so long -does he seem to perceive conflicting and opposing principles in the -world without. As long as the objects of the outer world excite emotions -in him which pass beyond his control, so long do those objects stand as -the signals of evil--of disorder and sin. Not that the objects are bad -in themselves, or even the emotions which they excite, but that all -through this period these things serve to the man as indications of -_his_ weakness. But when the central power is restored in man and all -things are reduced to his service, it is impossible for him to see -badness in anything. The bodily is no longer antagonistic to the -spiritual love, but is absorbed into it. All his passions take their -places perfectly naturally, and become, when the occasions arise, the -vehicles of his expression. Vices under existing conditions are vices -simply because of the inordinate and disturbing influence they exercise, -but will cease again to be vices when the man regains his proper -command. Thus Socrates having a clean soul in a clean body could drink -his boon companions under the table and then go out himself to take the -morning air--what was a blemish and defect in them being simply an added -power of enjoyment to himself! - -The point of difference throughout (being the transference of the centre -of gravity of life and consciousness from the partial to the universal -man) is symbolised by the gradual resumption of more universal -conditions. That is to say that during the civilisation-period, the body -being systematically wrapped in clothes, the _head_ alone represents -man--the little finnikin, intellectual, _self-conscious_ man in -contra-distinction to the cosmical man represented by the entirety of -the bodily organs. The body has to be delivered from its swathings in -order that the cosmical consciousness may once more reside in the human -breast. We have to become "all face" again--as the savage said of -himself.[15] - -Where the cosmic self is, there is no more self-consciousness. The body -and what is ordinarily called the self are felt to be only parts of the -true self, and the ordinary distinctions of inner and outer, egotism and -altruism, etc., lose a good deal of their value. Thought no longer -returns upon the local self as the chief object of regard, but -consciousness is continually radiant from it, filling the body and -overflowing upon external Nature. Thus the Sun in the physical world is -the allegory of the true self. The worshiper must adore the Sun, he must -saturate himself with sunlight, and take the physical Sun into himself. -Those who live by fire and candle-light are filled with phantoms; their -thoughts are Will-o'-th'-wisp-like images of themselves, and they are -tormented by a horrible self-consciousness. - -And when the Civilisation-period has passed away, the old -Nature-religion--perhaps greatly grown--will come back. This immense -stream of religious life which, beginning far beyond the horizon of -earliest history, has been deflected into various metaphysical and other -channels--of Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, and the like--during the -historical period, will once more gather itself together to float on its -bosom all the arks and sacred vessels of human progress. Man will once -more _feel_ his unity with his fellows, he will feel his unity with the -animals, with the mountains and the streams, with the earth itself and -the slow lapse of the constellations, not as an abstract dogma of -Science or Theology, but as a living and ever-present fact. Ages back -this has been understood better than now. Our Christian ceremonial is -saturated with sexual and astronomical symbols; and long before -Christianity existed, the sexual and astronomical were the main forms of -religion. That is to say, men instinctively felt and worshiped the great -life coming to them through Sex, the great life coming to them from the -deeps of Heaven. They deified both. They placed their gods--their own -human forms--in sex, they placed them in the sky. And not only so, but -wherever they felt this kindred human life--in the animals, in the ibis, -the bull, the lamb, the snake, the crocodile; in the trees and flowers, -the oak, the ash, the laurel, the hyacinth; in the streams and -water-falls, on the mountain-sides or in the depths of the sea--they -placed them. The whole universe was full of a life which, though not -always friendly, was _human_ and kindred to their own, _felt_ by them, -not reasoned about, but simply perceived. To the early man the notion of -his having a separate individuality could only with difficulty occur; -hence he troubled himself not with the suicidal questionings concerning -the whence and whither which now vex the modern mind.[16] For what -causes these questions to be asked is simply the wretched feeling of -isolation, actual or prospective, which man necessarily has when he -contemplates himself as a separate atom in this immense universe--the -gulf which lies below seemingly ready to swallow him, and the anxiety to -find some mode of escape. But when he feels once more that he, that _he_ -himself, is absolutely indivisibly and indestructibly a part of this -great whole--why then there is no gulf into which he can possibly fall; -when he is sensible of the fact, why then the _how_ of its realisation, -though losing none of its interest, becomes a matter for whose solution -he can wait and work in faith and contentment of mind. The Sun or Sol, -visible image of his very Soul, closest and most vital to him of all -mortal things, occupying the illimitable heaven, feeding all with its -life; the Moon, emblem and nurse of his own reflective thought, the -conscious Man, measurer of Time, mirror of the Sun; the planetary -passions wandering to and fro, yet within bounds; the starry destinies; -the changes of the earth, and the seasons; the upward growth and -unfoldment of all organic life; the emergence of the perfect Man, -towards whose birth all creation groans and travails--all these things -will return to become realities, and to be the frame or setting of his -supra-mundane life. The meaning of the old religions will come back to -him. On the high tops once more gathering he will celebrate with naked -dances the glory of the human form and the great processions of the -stars, or greet the bright horn of the young moon which now after a -hundred centuries comes back laden with such wondrous associations--all -the yearnings and the dreams and the wonderment of the generations of -mankind--the worship of Astarte and of Diana, of Isis or the Virgin -Mary; once more in sacred groves will he reunite the passion and the -delight of human love with his deepest feelings of the sanctity and -beauty of Nature; or in the open, standing uncovered to the Sun, will -adore the emblem of the everlasting splendour which shines within. The -same sense of vital perfection and exaltation which can be traced in the -early and pre-civilisation peoples--only a thousand times intensified, -defined, illustrated and purified--will return to irradiate the redeemed -and delivered Man. - - -In suggesting thus the part which Civilisation has played in history, I -am aware that the word itself is difficult to define--is at best only -one of those phantom-generalisations which the mind is forced to employ; -also that the account I have given of it is sadly imperfect, leaning -perhaps too much to the merely negative and destructive aspect of this -thousand-year long lapse of human evolution. I would also remind the -reader that though it is perfectly true that under the dissolving -influence of civilisation empire after empire has gone under and -disappeared, and the current of human progress time after time has only -been restored again by a fresh influx of savagery, yet its corruptive -tendency has never had a quite unlimited fling; but that all down the -ages of its dominance over the earth we can trace the tradition of a -healing and redeeming power at work in the human breast and an -anticipation of the second advent of the son of man. Certain -institutions, too, such as Art and the Family (though it seems not -unlikely that both of these will greatly change when the special -conditions of their present existence have disappeared), have served to -keep the sacred flame alive; the latter preserving in island-miniatures, -as it were, the ancient communal humanity when the seas of individualism -and greed covered the general face of the earth; the former keeping up, -so to speak, a navel-cord of contact with Nature, and a means of -utterance of primal emotions else unsatisfiable in the world around. - -And if it seem extravagant to suppose that Society will ever emerge from -the chaotic condition of strife and perplexity in which we find it all -down the lapse of historical time, or to hope that the -civilisation-process which has terminated fatally so invariably in the -past will ever eventuate in the establishment of a higher and more -perfect health-condition, we may for our consolation remember that -to-day there are features in the problem which have never been present -before. In the first place, to-day Civilisation is no longer isolated, -as in the ancient world, in surrounding floods of savagery and -barbarism, but it practically covers the globe, and the outlying -savagery is so feeble as not possibly to be a menace to it. This may at -first appear a drawback, for (it will be said) if Civilisation be not -renovated by the influx of external Savagery its own inherent flaws will -destroy society all the sooner. And there would be some truth in this if -it were not for the following consideration, namely, that while for the -first time in History Civilisation is now practically continuous over -the globe, now also for the first time can we descry forming in -continuous line _within its very structure_ the forces which are -destined to destroy it and to bring about the new order. While hitherto -isolated communisms, as suggested, have existed here and there and from -time to time, now for the first time in History both the masses and the -thinkers of all the advanced nations of the world are consciously -feeling their way towards the establishment of a socialistic and -communal life on a vast scale. The present competitive society is more -and more rapidly becoming a mere dead formula and husk within which the -outlines of the new and _human_ society are already discernible. -Simultaneously, and as if to match this growth, a move towards Nature -and Savagery is for the first time taking place from within, instead of -being forced upon society from without. The nature movement begun years -ago in literature and art is now, among the more advanced sections of -the civilised world, rapidly realising itself in actual life, going so -far even as a denial, among some, of machinery and the complex products -of Civilisation, and developing among others into a gospel of salvation -by sandals and sunbaths! It is in these two movements--towards a complex -human Communism and towards individual freedom and Savagery--in some -sort balancing and correcting each other, and both visibly growing up -within, though utterly foreign to--our present-day Civilisation, that we -have fair grounds, I think, for looking forward to its cure. - - -NOTES - - (See p. 26) The following remarks by Mr. H. B. Cotterill on the - natives around Lake Nyassa, among whom he lived at a time, 1876-8, - when the region was almost unvisited, may be of interest. "In - regard of merely 'animal' development and well-being, that is in - the delicate perfection of bodily faculties (perceptive), the - African savage is as a rule incomparably superior to us. One feels - like a child, utterly dependent on them, when travelling or hunting - with them. It is true that many may be found (especially amongst - the weaker tribes that have been slave-hunted or driven into barren - corners) who are half-starved and wizened, but as a rule they are - splendid animals. In _character_ there is a great want of that - strength which in the educated civilised man is secured by the - roots striking out into the Past and Future--and in spite of their - immense perceptive superiority they feel and acknowledge the - superior force of character in the white man. They are the very - converse of the Stoic self-sufficient sage--like children in their - 'admiration' and worship of the Unknown. Hence their absolute want - of _Conceit_, though they possess self-command and dignity. They - are, to those they love and respect, faithful and devoted--their - faithfulness and truthfulness are dictated by no 'categorical - imperative,' but by personal affection. Towards an enemy they can - be, without any conscientious scruples, treacherous and inhumanly - cruel. I should say that there is scarcely any possible idea that - is so foreign to the savage African mind as that of general - philanthropy or enemy-love." - - "In _endurance_ the African savage beats us hollow (except trained - athletes). On one occasion my men rowed my boat with 10 foot oars - against the wind in a choppy sea for _25 hours at one go_, across - Kuwirwe Bay, about 60 miles. They never once stopped or left their - seats--just handed round a handful of rice now and then. I was at - the helm all the time--and had enough of it!... They carry 80 lbs. - on their heads for 10 hours through swamps and jungles. Four of my - men carried a sick man weighing 14 stones in a hammock for 200 - miles, right across the dreaded Malikata Swamp. But for _sudden_ - emergencies, squalls, etc., they are nowhere." - - - (See p. 27) "So lovely a scene made easily credible the suggestion, - otherwise highly probable, that the Golden Age was no mere fancy of - the poets, but a reminiscence of the facts of social life in its - primitive organisation of village and house-communities." (J. S. - Stuart-Glennie's _Europe and Asia_, ch. i. Servia.) - - - (See p. 72) "It was only on the up-break of the primitive - socialisms that the passionate desire of, and therefore belief in, - individual Immortality arose. With an intense feeling, not of an - independent individual life, but of a dependent common life, there - is no passionate desire of, though there may be more or less of - belief in, a continuance after death of individual existence." - (_Ibid_, p. 161.) - - - Following is an extract from a letter from my friend Havelock - Ellis, which he kindly allows me to reprint. The passage is - interesting as indicating _one_ cause, at any rate, of the failure - of the modern civilisations. "Your remark that you are - re-publishing _Civilisation: its Cause and Cure_ has led me to read - it once again, and I see how well adapted it is for reissue just - now when there is so widespread a discontent with 'civilisation.' I - do not see any reason for changing the essay, though, no doubt, - much might be added to supplement it. What has, however, struck me - is that you leave out of account the _reason_ for the greater - health, vigour, and high spirit of savages (when such conditions - exist), and that is _the more stringent natural_ selection among - savages owing to the greater hardness of their life. You doubtless - know ch. xvii of Westermarck's _Moral Ideas_, where he shows how - widespread among savages (when they have got past the first crude - primitive stage), and in the ancient civilisations, was the - practice of infanticide applied to inferior babies and the habit of - allowing sick persons to die. That was evidently the secret of the - natural superiority of the savage and of the men of the old - civilisation, for the Greeks and Romans were very stringent in this - matter. The flabbiness of the civilised and the prevalence of - doctors and hygienists, which you make fun of, is due to the modern - tenderness for human life which is afraid to kill off even the most - worthless specimens and so lowers the whole level of 'civilised' - humanity. Introduce a New Hardness in this matter and we should - return to the high level of savagery, while the doctors would - disappear as if by magic. I don't myself believe we _can_ introduce - this hardness; and that is why I attach so much importance to - _intelligent_ eugenics, working through birth-control, as the only - _now possible_ way of getting towards that high natural level you - aim at."--HAVELOCK ELLIS (1920). - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[1] It is interesting to note that the "sense of Sin" seems now (1920) -to have nearly passed away. And this fact probably indicates a -considerable impending change in our Social Order. - -[2] For proof I must refer the reader to Engels, or to his own studies -of history. - -[3] Say like the Homeric Greeks, or the Spartans of the Lycurgus period. - -[4] _Matabele Land and the Victoria Falls_, p. 209. - -[5] A similar physical health and power of life are also developed among -Europeans who have lived for long periods in more native conditions. It -is not to our _race_, which is probably superior to any in capacity, but -to the state in which we live that we must ascribe our defect in this -particular matter. - -[6] See Col. Dodge's _Our Wild Indians_. - -[7] Wood's _Natural History of Man_. - -[8] See Appendix. - -[9] See Note at end of this chapter. - -[10] No words or theory even of morality can express or formulate -this--no enthronement of _any_ virtue can take its place; for all virtue -enthroned before our humanity becomes vice, and worse than vice. - -[11] It is curious that this word seems to have the same root as the -word Man, the original idea apparently being Order, or Measure. - -[12] And with regard to disease, though it is not maintained that among -the animals there is anything like immunity from it--since diseases of a -more or less parasitic character are common in all tribes of plants and -animals--still they seem to be rarer, and the organic instinct of health -greater, than in the civilised man. - -[13] As to the unity of these wild races with Nature, that is a matter -seemingly beyond dispute; their keenness of sense, sensitiveness to -atmospheric changes, knowledge of properties of plants and habits of -animals, etc., have been the subject of frequent remark; but beyond -this, their strong _feeling_ of union with the universal spirit, -probably only dimly self conscious, but expressing itself very markedly -and clearly in their customs, is most strange and pregnant of meaning. -The dances of the Andaman Islanders on the sands at night, the wild -festival of the new moon among the Fans and other African tribes, the -processions through the forests, the chants and dull thudding of drums, -the torture-dances of the young Red Indian bravos in the burning heat of -the sun; the Dionysiac festivals among the early Greeks; and indeed the -sacrificial nature-rites and carnivals and extraordinary powers of -second-sight found among all primitive peoples; all these things -indicate clearly a faculty which, though it had hardly become -self-conscious enough to be what we call religion, was yet in truth the -foundation element of religion, and the germ of some human powers which -wait yet to be developed. - -[14] There is another point worth noting as characteristic of the -civilisation-period. This is the abnormal development of the abstract -intellect in comparison with the physical senses on the one hand, and -the moral sense on the other. Such a result might be expected, seeing -that abstraction from reality is naturally the great engine of that -false individuality or apartness, which it is the object of Civilisation -to produce. As it is, during this period man builds himself an -intellectual world apart from the great actual universe around him; the -"ghosts of things" are studied in books; the student lives indoors, he -cannot face the open air--his theories "may prove very well in -lecture-rooms, yet not prove at all under the spacious clouds, and along -the landscape and flowing currents"; children are "educated" afar from -actual life; huge phantom-temples of philosophy and science are reared -upon the most slender foundations; and in these he lives defended from -actual fact. For as a drop of water, when it comes in contact with -red-hot iron, wraps itself in a cloud of vapor and is saved from -destruction, so the little mind of man, lest it should touch the burning -truth of Nature and God and be consumed, evolves at each point of -contact a veil of insubstantial thought which allows it for a time to -exist apart, and becomes the nurse of its self-consciousness. - -[15] See Alonso di Ovalle's _Account of the Kingdom of Chile_ in -Churchill's _Collection of Voyages and Travels_, 1724. - -[16] See Notes at end of this chapter. - - - - -MODERN SCIENCE: A CRITICISM - -[Greek: panti logô logos isos antikeitai.] - - -It is one of the difficulties which meet anyone who suggests that modern -science is not wholly satisfactory, that it is immediately assumed that -the writer is covertly defending what Ingersoll calls the "rib-story," -or that he wishes to restore belief in the literal inspiration of the -Bible. But, religious controversy apart, and while admitting that -Science has done a great work in cleaning away the kitchen-middens of -superstition and opening the path to clearer and saner views of the -world, it is possible--and there is already a growing feeling that -way--that her positive contributions to our comprehension of the order -of the universe have in late times been disappointing, and that even her -methods are only of limited applicability. After a glorious burst of -perhaps fifty years, amid great acclamations and good hopes that the -crafty old universe was going to be caught in her careful net, Science, -it must be confessed, now finds herself in almost every direction in -the most hopeless quandaries; and, whether the rib-story be true or not, -has at any rate provided no very satisfactory substitute for it. And the -reason of this failure is very obvious. It goes with a certain defect in -the human mind, which, as we have pointed out (note, p. 57), necessarily -belongs to the Civilisation-period--the tendency, namely, to separate -the logical and intellectual part of man from the emotional and -instinctive, and to give it a _locus standi_ of its own. Science has -failed, because she has attempted to carry out the investigation of -nature from the intellectual side alone--neglecting the other -constituents necessarily involved in the problem. She has failed, -because she has attempted an impossible task; for the discovery of a -permanently valid and purely _intellectual_ representation of the -universe is simply impossible. Such a thing does not exist. - -The various theories and views of nature which we hold are merely the -fugitive envelopes of the successive stages of human growth--each set of -theories and views belonging organically to the moral and emotional -stage which has been reached, and being in some sort the expression of -it; so that the attempt at any given time to set up an explanation of -phenomena which shall be valid in itself and without reference to the -mental condition of those who set it up, necessarily ends in failure; -and the present state of confusion and contradiction in which modern -Science finds itself is merely the result of such attempt. - -Of course this limitation of the validity of Science has been -recognised by most of those who have thought about the matter;[17] but -it is so commonly overlooked, and latterly the notion has so far gained -ground that the "laws" of science are immutable facts and eternal -statements of verity, that it may be worth while to treat the subject a -little more in detail. - -The method of Science is the method of all mundane knowledge; it is that -of limitation or actual ignorance. Placed in face of the great -uncontained unity of Nature we can only deal with it in thought by -selecting certain details and isolating those (either wilfully or -unconsciously) from the rest. That is right enough. But in doing so--in -isolating such and such details--we practically beg the question we are -in search of; and, moreover, in supposing such isolation we suppose what -is false, and therefore vitiate our conclusion. From these two radical -defects of all intellectual inquiry we cannot escape. The views of -Science are like the views of a mountain; each is only possible as long -as you limit yourself to a certain standpoint. Move your position, and -the view is changed.[18] - -Perhaps the word "species" will illustrate our meaning as well as any -word; and, in a sense, the word is typical of the method of Science. I -see a dog for the first time. It is a fox-hound. Then I see a second -fox-hound, and a third and a fourth. Presently I form from these few -instances a general conception of "dog." But after a time I see a -grey-hound and a terrier and a mastiff, and my old conception is -destroyed. A new one has to be formed, and then a new one and a new one. -Now I overlook the whole race of civilised dogs and am satisfied with my -wisdom; but presently I come upon some wild dogs, and study the habits -of the wolf and the fox. Geology turns me up some links, and my -conception of dog melts away like a lump of ice into surrounding water. -My species exists no more. As long as I knew a few of the facts I could -talk very wise about them; or if I limited myself arbitrarily, as we -will say, to a study only of animals in England at the present day, I -could classify them; but widen the bounds of my knowledge, the area of -observation, and all my work has to be done over again. My species is -not a valid fact of Nature, but a fiction arising out of my own -ignorance or arbitrary isolation of the objects observed. - -Or to take an instance from Astronomy. We are accustomed to say that the -path of the moon is an ellipse. But this is a very loose statement. On -enquiry we find that, owing to perturbations said to be produced by the -sun, the path deviates considerably from an ellipse. In fact in strict -calculations it is taken as being a certain ellipse only for an -instant--the next instant it is supposed to be a portion of another -ellipse. We might then call the path an irregular curve somewhat -resembling an ellipse. This is a new view. But on further enquiry it -appears that, while the moon is going round the earth, the earth itself -is speeding on through space about the sun--in consequence of which the -actual path of the moon does not in the least resemble an ellipse! -Finally the sun itself is in motion with regard to the fixed stars, and -_they_ are in movement too. What then is the path of the moon? No one -knows; we have not the faintest idea--the word itself ceases to have any -assignable meaning. It is true that if we agree to ignore the -perturbations produced by the sun--as in fact we _do_ ignore -perturbations produced by the planets and other bodies--and if we agree -to ignore the motion of the earth, and the flight of the solar system -through space, and even the movement of any centre round which that may -be speeding, we may then _say_ that the moon moves in an ellipse. But -this has obviously nothing to do with actual facts. The moon _does_ not -move in an ellipse--not even "relatively to the earth"--and probably -never has done and never will do so. It may be a convenient view or -fiction to say that it would do so under such and such -circumstances--but it is still only a fiction. To attempt to isolate a -small portion of the phenomena from the rest in a universe of which the -_unity_ is one of Science's most cherished convictions, is obviously -self-stultifying and useless. - -But you say it can be proved by mathematics that the ellipse would be -the path under these conditions; to which I reply that the mathematical -proof, though no doubt cogent to the human mind (as at present -constituted in most people), is open to the same objection that it does -not deal with actual facts. It deals with a mental supposition, _i.e._, -that there are only two bodies acting on each other--a case which never -has occurred and never can occur--and then, assuming the law of -gravitation (which is just the thing which has to be proved), it arrives -at a mental formula, the ellipse. But to argue from this process that -the ellipse is really a thing in Nature, and that the heavenly bodies do -move or even tend to move in ellipses, is obviously a most unwarrantable -leap in the dark. Finally you argue that the leap is warranted because, -by assuming that the moon and planets move in ellipses, you can actually -foretell things that happen, as for instance the occurrences of -eclipses; and in reply to that I can only say that Tycho Brahé foretold -eclipses almost as well by assuming that the heavenly bodies moved in -epicycles, and that modern astronomers do apply the epicycle theory in -their mathematical formulæ. The epicycles were an assumption made for a -certain purpose, and the ellipses are an assumption made for the same -purpose. In some respects the ellipse is a more convenient fiction than -the epicycle, but it is no less a fiction. - -In other words--with regard to this "path of the moon" (as with regard -to any other phenomenon of Nature)--our knowledge of it must be either -absolute or relative. But we cannot know the absolute path; and as to -the relative, why all we can say is that it does not exist (any more -than species exists)--we cannot break up Nature so; it is not a thing in -Nature, but in our own minds--it is a view and a fiction.[19] - -Again, let us take an example from Physics--Boyle's law of the -compressibility of gases. This law states that, the temperature -remaining constant, the volume of a given quantity of gas is inversely -proportional to its pressure. It is a law which has been made a good -deal of, and at one time was thought to be true, _i.e._, it was thought -to be a statement of fact. A more extended and careful observation, -however, shows that it is only true under so many limitations, that, -like the ellipse in Astronomy, it must be regarded as a convenient -fiction and nothing more. It appears that air follows the supposed law -pretty well, but not by any means exactly except within very narrow -limits of pressure; other gases, such as carbonic acid and hydrogen, -deviate from it very considerably--some more than others, and some in -one direction and some in the opposite. It was found, among other -things, that the nearer a gas was to its liquefying point, the greater -was the deviation from the supposed law, and the conclusion was jumped -at that the law was true for _perfect_ gases only. This idea of a -perfect gas of course involved the assumption that gases, as they get -farther and farther removed from their liquifying point, reach at last a -fixed and stable condition, when no further change in their qualities -takes place--at any rate for a very long time--and Boyle's law was -supposed to apply to this condition. Since then, however, it has been -discovered that there is an ultra-gaseous state of matter, and on all -sides it is becoming abundantly clear that the change in the condition -of matter from the liquid state to the ultra-gaseous state is perfectly -continuous--through all modifications of liquidity and condensation and -every degree of perfection and imperfection of gasiness to the utmost -rarity of the fourth state. At what point, then, does Boyle's law really -apply? Obviously it applies _exactly_ at only one point in this long -ascending scale--at one metaphysical point--and at every other point it -is incorrect. But no gas in Nature remains or can be maintained just at -one point in the scale of its innumerable changes. Consequently, all we -can say is that out of the innumerable different states that gases are -capable of, and the innumerable different laws of compressibility which -they therefore follow, we could theoretically find one state to which -would correspond the law of compressibility called Boyle's law; and -that, _if_ we could preserve a gas in that state (which we can't), -Boyle's law really _would_ be true just for that case. In other words, -the law is metaphysical. It has no real existence. It is a convenient -view or fiction, arising in the first place out of ignorance, and only -tenable as long as further observation is limited or wilfully ignored. - -This then is the Method of Science. It consists in forming a law or -statement by only looking at a small portion of the facts; then, when -the other facts come in, the law or statement gradually fades away -again. Conrad Gessner and other early zoologists began by classifying -animals according to the number of their horns! Political Economy begins -by classifying social action under a law of Supply and Demand. When -people believed that the earth was flat, they generalised the facts -connected with the fall of heavy bodies into a conception of "up and -down." These were two opposite directions in space. Heavy bodies took -the "downward"; it was their nature. But in time, and as fresh facts -came in, it became impossible to group animals any longer by their -horns; "up and down" ceased to have a meaning when it was known that the -earth was round. Then fresh laws and statements had to be formed. In the -last-mentioned case--it being conceived that the earth was the centre of -the universe--the new law supposed was that all heavy bodies tended to -the centre of the earth as such. This was all right and satisfactory for -a while; but presently it appeared that the earth was _not_ the centre -of the universe, and that some heavy bodies--such as the satellites of -Jupiter--did not in fact tend to the centre of the earth at all. Another -lump of ignorance (which had enabled the old generalisation to exist) -was removed, and a new generalisation, that of universal gravitation, -was after a time formed. But it is probable that this law is only -conceived of as true through our ignorance; nay it is certain that -belief in its truth presents the gravest difficulties. - -In fact here we come upon an important point. It is sometimes said that, -granting the above arguments and the partiality and defectiveness of the -laws of Science, still they are approximations to the truth, and as each -fresh fact is introduced the consequent modification of the old law -brings us _nearer and nearer_ to a limit of rigorous exactness which we -shall reach at last if we only have patience enough. But is this so? -What kind of rigorous statement shall we reach when we have got _all_ -the facts in? Remembering that Nature is _one_, and that if we try to -get a rigorous statement for one set of phenomena (as say the lunar -theory) by isolating them from the rest, we are thereby condemning -ourselves beforehand to a false conclusion, is it not evident that our -limit is at all times infinitely far off? If one knew all the facts -relating to a given inquiry except two or three, one might reasonably -suppose that one was near a limit of exactness in one's knowledge; but -seeing that in our investigation of Nature we only know two or three, so -to speak, out of a million, it is obvious that at any moment the fresh -law arising from increased experience may completely upset our former -calculations. There is a difference between approximating to a wall and -approximating to the North Star. In the one case you are tending to a -speedy conclusion of your labours, in the other case you are only _going -in a certain direction_. The theories of Science generally belong under -the second head. They mark the direction which the human mind is taking -at the moment in question, but they mark no limits. At each point the -_appearance_ of a limit is introduced--which becomes, like a mirage in -the desert, an object of keen pursuit; but the limit is not really -there--it is only an effect of the standpoint, and disappears again -after a time as the observer moves. In the case of gravitation there is -for the moment an appearance of finality in the law of the inverse -square of the distance, but this arises probably from the fact that the -law is derived from a limited area of observation only, namely the -movements (at great distances from each other) of some of the heavenly -bodies.[20] The Cavendish and Schehallien experiments do not show more -than that the law at ordinary distances on the earth's surface does not -vary _very_ much from the above; while the so-called molecular forces -compel us (unless we make the very artificial assumption that a variety -of attractions and repulsions co-exist in matter alongside of, and yet -totally distinct from, the attraction of gravitation) to suppose very -_great_ modifications of the law for small distances. In fact, as we saw -of Boyle's law before--the Newtonian law is probably metaphysical--true -under certain limited conditions--and the appearance of finality has -been given to it by the fact that our observations have been made under -such or similar conditions. When we extend our observation into quite -other regions of space, the law of the inverse square ceases to appear -as even an approximation to the truth--as, for instance, the law of the -inverse _fifth_ power has been thought to be nearer the mark for small -molecular distances. - -And indeed the state of the great theories of Science in the present -day--the confusion in which the Atomic theory of physics finds itself, -the dismal insufficiency of the Darwin theory of the survival of the -fittest; the collapse in late times of one of the fundamental theories -of Astronomy, namely that of the stability of the lunar and planetary -orbits; the cataclysms and convulsions which Geology seems just now to -be undergoing; the appalling and indeed insurmountable difficulties -which attach to the Undulatory theory of Light; the final wreck and -abandonment of the Value-theory, the foundation-theory of Political -Economy--all these things do not seem to point to very near limits of -rigorous exactness! An impregnable theory, or one nearing the limit of -impregnability, is in fact as great an absurdity as an impregnable -armour-plate. Certainly, given the cannon-balls, you can generally find -an armour-plate which will be proof against them; but given the -armour-plate, you can always find cannon-balls which will smash it up. - -The method of Science, as being a method of artificial limitation or -actual ignorance, is curiously illustrated by a consideration of its -various branches. I have taken some examples from Astronomy, which is -considered the most exact of the physical sciences. Now does it not seem -curious that _Astronomy_--the study of the heavenly bodies, which are -the most distant from us of all bodies, and most difficult to -observe--should yet be the most perfect of the sciences? Yet the reason -is obvious. Astronomy is the most perfect science _because we know least -about it_--because our ignorance of the actual phenomena is most -profound. Situated in fact as we are, on a speck in space, with our -observations limited to periods of time which, compared with the -stupendous flights of the stars, are merely momentary and evanescent, we -are in somewhat the position of a mole surveying a railway track and the -flight of locomotives. And as a man seeing a very small arc of a very -vast circle easily mistakes it for a straight line, so we are easily -satisfied with cheap deductions and solutions in Astronomy which a more -extensive experience would cause us to reject. The man may have a long -way to go along his "straight line" before he discovers that it is a -curve; he may have much farther to go along his curve before he -discovers that it is not a circle; and much farther still to go before -he finds out whether it is an ellipse or a spiral or a parabola, or none -of these; yet _what_ curve it is will make an enormous difference in his -ultimate destination. So with the astronomer; and yet Astronomy is -allowed to pass as an exact science![21] - -Well then, as in Astronomy we get an "exact science," because the facts -and phenomena are on such a tremendous scale that we only see a minute -portion of them--just a few details so to speak--and our ignorance -therefore allows us to dogmatise; so at the other end of the scale in -Chemistry and Physics we get quasi-exact sciences, because the facts and -phenomena are on such a _minute_ scale that we overlook _all the -details_ and see only certain general effects here and there. When a -solution of cupric sulphate is treated with ammonia, a mass of -flocculent green precipitate is formed. No one has the faintest notion -of all the various movements and combinations of the molecules of these -two fluids which accompany the appearance of the precipitate. They are -no doubt very complex. But among all the changes that are taking place, -one change has the advantage of being visible to the eye, and the -chemist singles that out as the main phenomenon. So chemistry at large -consists in a few, very few, facts taken at random as it were (or -because they happen to be of such a nature as to be observable) out of -the enormous mass of facts really concerned: and because of their -fewness the chemist is able to arrange them, as he thinks, in some -order, that is, to generalise about them. But it is certain as can be -that he only has to extend the number of his facts, or his powers of -observation, to get all his generalisations upset. The same may be said -of magnetism, light, heat, and the other physical sciences; but it is -not necessary to prove in detail what is sufficiently obvious. - -But now, roughly speaking, there is a third region of human -observation--a region which does not, like Astronomy (and Geology), lie -so far beyond and above us that we only see a very small portion of it; -nor, like Chemistry and Physics, so far below us and under such minute -conditions of space and time that we can only catch its general effects; -but which lies more on a level with man himself--the so-called organic -world--the study of man, as an individual and in society, his history, -his development, the study of the animals, the plants even, and the laws -of life--the sciences of Biology, Sociology, History, Psychology, and -the rest. Now this region is obviously that which man knows most of. I -don't say that he generalises most about it, but he knows the facts -best. For one observation that he makes of the habits and behaviour of -the stars, or of chemical solutions--for one observation in the remote -regions of Astronomy or Chemistry--he makes thousands and millions of -the habits and behaviour of his fellowmen, and hundreds and thousands of -those of the animals and plants. Is it not curious then that in this -region he is least sure, least dogmatic, most doubtful whether there be -a law or no? Or, rather, is it not quite in accord with our contention, -namely that Science, like an uninformed boy, is most definite and -dogmatic just where actual knowledge is least. - -It will however be replied that the phenomena of living beings are far -more complex than the phenomena of Astronomy or Physics--and that is -the reason why exact science makes so little way with them. Though man -knows many million times more about the habits of his fellow-men than -about the habits of the stars, yet the former subject is so many million -times more complicated than the latter that all his additional knowledge -does not avail him. This is the plea. Yet it does not hold water. It is -an entire assumption to say that the phenomena of Astronomy are less -complicated than the phenomena of vitality. A moment's thought will show -that the phenomena of Astronomy are in reality infinitely complex. Take -the movement of the moon: even with our present acquaintance with that -subject we know that it has some relation to the position and mass of -the earth, including its ocean tides; also to the position and mass of -the sun; also to the position and mass of every one of the planets; also -of the comets, numerous and unknown as they are; also the meteoric -rings; and finally of all the stars! The problem, as everyone knows, is -absolutely insoluble even for the shortest period; but when the element -of Time enters in, and we consider that to do anything like justice to -the problem in an astronomical sense we should have to solve it for at -least a million years--during which interval the earth, sun, and other -bodies concerned would themselves have been changing their relative -positions, it becomes obvious that the whole question is infinitely -complex--and yet this is only a small fragment of Astronomy. To debate, -therefore, whether the infinite complexity of the movements of the -stars is greater or less than the infinite complexity of the phenomena -of life, is like debating the precedence of the three persons of the -Trinity, or whether the Holy Ghost was begotten or proceeding: we are -talking about things which we do not understand. - -Nature is one; she is not, we may guess, less profound and wonderful in -one department than another; but from the fact that we live under -certain conditions and limitations we see most deeply into that portion -which is, as it were, on the same level with us. In humanity we look her -in the face; there our glance pierces, and we see that she is profound -and wonderful beyond all imagination; what we learn there is the most -valuable that we can learn. In the regions where Science rejoices to -disport itself we see only the skirts of her garments, so to speak, and -though we measure them never so precisely, we still see them and nothing -more. - -There is another point, however, of which much is often made as a plea -for the substantial accuracy of the scientific laws and generalisations, -namely that they enable us to _predict_ events. But this need not detain -us long. J. S. Mill in his "Logic" has pointed out--and a little thought -makes it obvious--that the success of a prediction does not prove the -truth of the theory on which it is founded. It only proves the theory -was good enough for that prediction. - -There was a time when the sun was a god going forth in his chariot every -morning, and there was a time when the earth was the centre of the -universe, and the sun a ball of fire revolving round it. In those times -men could predict with certainty that the sun would rise next morning, -and could even name the hour of its appearance; but we do not therefore -think that their theories were true. When Adams and Leverrier foretold -the appearance of Neptune in a certain part of the sky, they made a -brief prediction to an unknown planet from the observed relations of the -movements of the known planets; that does not show, however, that the -grand generalisation of these movements, called the "law of -gravitation," is correct. It merely shows that it did well enough for -this very brief step--brief indeed compared with the real problems of -Astronomy, for which latter it is probably quite inadequate. - -Tycho Brahé, excellent astronomer as he was, kept as we saw to the -epicycle theory. He imagined that the moon's path round the earth was a -fixed combination of cycle and epicycle. Kepler introduced the -conception of the ellipse. Later on the motion of the perigee and other -deviations compelled the abandonment of the ellipse and the supposition -of an endless curve, similar to an ellipse at any one point, and -maintaining a fixed mean distance from the earth, but never returning on -itself or making a definite closed figure of any kind. Finally the -researches of Mr. George Darwin have destroyed the conception of the -fixed mean distance, and introduced that of a continually enlarging -spiral. Certainly no four theories could well be more distinct from -each other than these; yet if an eclipse had to be calculated for next -year it would scarcely matter which theory was used. The truth is that -the actual problem is so vast that a prediction of a few years in -advance only touches the fringe of it so to speak; yet if the fulfilment -of the prediction were taken as a proof of the theory in each of these -different cases, it would lead in the end to the most hopelessly -contradictory results. - -The success of a prediction therefore only shows that the theory on -which it is founded has had practical value so far as a working -hypothesis. As working hypotheses, and as long as they are kept down to -brief steps _which can be verified_, the scientific theories are very -valuable--indeed we could not do without them; but when they are treated -as objective facts--when, for instance, the "law of -gravitation"--derived as it is from a brief study of the heavenly -bodies--has a universal truth ascribed to it, and is made to apply to -phenomena extending over millions of years, and to warrant unverifiable -prophecies about the planetary orbits, or statements about the age of -the earth and the duration of the solar system--all one can say is that -those who argue so are flying off at a tangent from actual facts. For as -the tangent represents the direction of a curve over a small arc, so -these theories represent the bearing of facts well enough over a small -region of observation; but as following the tangent we soon lose the -curve, so following these theories for any distance beyond the region -of actual observation we speedily part company with facts.[22] - - -To proceed with a few more words about the general method of Science. -Science passes from phenomena to laws, from individual details which can -be seen and felt to large generalisations of an intangible and -phantom-like character. That is to say, that for convenience of thought -we classify objects. How is this classification effected? It is effected -through the perception of identity amid difference. Among a lot of -objects I perceive certain attributes in common; this group of common -attributes serves, so to speak, as a band to tie these objects together -with--into a bundle convenient for thought. I give a name to the band, -and that serves to denote any unit of the bundle by. Thus perceiving -common attributes among a lot of dogs--as in an example already given--I -give the name foxhound to this group of attributes, and thenceforth use -the name foxhound to connect these objects by in my mind; again -perceiving other common attributes among other similar objects, I -invent the word greyhound to denote these latter by. The concept -foxhound differs from the objects which it denotes, in this respect that -these latter are (as we say) _real_ dogs with thousands and thousands of -attributes each: one of them has a broken tooth, another is nearly all -white, another answers to the name "Sally," and so on; while the concept -is only an imaginary form in my mind, with only a few attributes and no -individual peculiarities--a kind of tiny G.C.M. arising from the -contemplation of a long row of big figures. - -Now having created these concepts "foxhound," "greyhound," and a lot of -other similar ones, I find that they in their turn have a few attributes -in common and thus give rise to a new concept "dog." Of course this -"dog" is more of an abstraction than ever, the concept of a concept. In -fact the peculiarity of this whole process is that, as sometimes stated, -the broader the generalisation becomes the less is its depth; or in -other words and obviously, that as the number of objects compared -increases, the number of attributes common to them all decreases. -Ultimately as we saw at the beginning, when a sufficient number of -objects are taken in, the concept ("dog" or whatever it may be) fades -away and ceases to have any meaning. This therefore is the dilemma of -Science and indeed of all human knowledge, that in carrying out the -process which is peculiar to it, it necessarily leaves the dry ground of -reality for the watery region of abstractions, which abstractions -become ever more tenuous and ungraspable the farther it goes, and -ultimately fade into mere ghosts. Nevertheless the process is a quite -necessary one, for only by it can the mind deal with things. - -To dwell for a moment over this last point: it is clear that every -object has relation to every other object in the world--exists in fact -only in virtue of such relation to other objects; it has therefore an -infinite number of attributes. The mind consequently is powerless to -deal with such object--it cannot by any possibility think it. In order -to deal with it, the mind is forced to single out a _few_ of its -attributes (the _method of ignorance_ or abstraction already alluded -to)--that is a few of its relations to other objects, and to think them -first. The others it will think afterwards--all in good time. In thus -stripping or abstracting the great mass of its attributes from our -object, and leaving only a few, which it combines into a concept, the -mind practically abandons the real article and takes up with a shadow; -but in return for this it gets something which it can handle, which is -light to carry about, and which, like paper-money, _for the time and -under certain conditions_ does really represent value. The only danger -is lest it--the mind--carried away by the extensive applicability of the -partial concept which it has thus formed, should credit it with an -actual value--should project it on the background of the external world -and ascribe to it that reality which belongs only to objects -themselves, _i.e._, to things embodying an _infinite_ range of -attributes. - -The peculiar method of Science is now clear to us, and can be abundantly -illustrated from modern results. Our experience consists in sensations, -we feel the weight of heavy bodies, we see them fall when let go, we -have sensations of heat and cold, light and darkness, and so forth. But -these sensations are more or less local and variable from man to man, -and we naturally seek to find some common measure of them, by which we -can talk about and describe them _exactly_, and independently of the -peculiarities of individual observers. Thus we seek to find some common -phenomenon which underlies (as we say) the sensations of heat and cold, -or of light and darkness, or something which explains (_i.e._, is always -present in) the case of falling bodies--and to do this we adopt the -method of generalisation above described, _i.e._, we observe a great -number of individual cases and then see what qualities or attributes -they have in common. So far good. But it is just here that the fallacy -of the ordinary scientific procedure comes in; for, forgetting that -these common qualities are mere abstractions from the real phenomena we -credit _them_ with a real existence, and regard the actual phenomena as -secondary results, "effects" or what-not of these "causes." This in -plain language is putting the cart before the horse--or rather the -shadow before the man. Thus finding that a vast number of variously -shaped and coloured bodies tend to fall towards the earth, we erect -this common attribute of falling into an independent existence which we -call "attraction" or "gravitation"--and ultimately posit a universal -gravitation _acting_ on all bodies in Nature!--or finding that a number -of different substances, such as water, air, wood, etc., convey to us -the sensation we call sound, and that in all these cases the common -element is vibration, we detach the attribute vibration, credit it with -a separate existence, and speak of it as the cause of sound. But though -we may thus _think_ of the shadow as separate from the man, the shadow -cannot _be_ separate from the man; and though we may try to think of the -falling or the vibration as separate from the wood or the stone, such -falling and vibration cannot exist apart from these and other such -materials, and the effort to speak of it as so existing ends in mere -nonsense. More strange still is the fatuity, when, as in the case of the -undulatory Theory of light or the Atomic theory of physics, the concepts -thus erected into actualities are composed of purely imaginary -attributes--of which no one has had any experience--an undulatory ether -in the one case, a hard and perfectly elastic atom in the other. The -total result is of course--just what we see--Science landing itself in -pure absurdities in every direction. Beginning by detaching the -attribute of falling from the bodies that fall--beginning that is by an -abstraction, which of course is also a falsity--it generalises and -generalises this abstraction till at last it reaches a perfectly -generalised absurdity and thing without any meaning--the law of -gravitation.[23] The statement that "every particle in the universe -attracts every other particle with a force proportional to the mass of -the attracting particle and inversely proportional to the square of the -distance between the two" is devoid of meaning--the human mind can give -no definite meanings to the words "mass," "attract," and "force," which -do not overlap and stultify each other. The law in every way baffles -intelligence. Newton, who invented it, declared that no philosophic mind -would suppose that bodies could thus act on one another "without the -mediation of anything else by and through which their action might be -conveyed;" scientific men to-day are fain to see that a material -mediation of this kind would only make the law still more remote from -our comprehension than it already is, while, on the other hand, an -immaterial mediation or a fourth-dimensional mediation, such as some -propose, would simply remove the problem out of the regions of -scientific analysis.[24] Again, the form of the law is declared to be -the inverse square of the distance; but this is the law by the nature of -space itself of any perfect radiation, and if true of gravitation -involves the conclusion that that radiation of force (whatever its -nature may be) takes place without loss or dissipation of any kind. This -would make gravitation absolutely unique among phenomena. More than -this, its propagation is supposed to be _instantaneous_ over the most -enormous distances of space, and to take place always unhindered and -unretarded, whatever be the number or the nature of the bodies between! -What can be more clear than that the law is simply metaphysical--a -projection into a monstrous universality and abstraction, of partially -understood phenomena in a particular region of observation--a -Brocken-shadow on the background of Nature of the observer's own -momentary attitude of thought? - -Again, the undulatory theory of Light. Studying the phenomena of a vast -number of coloured and bright bodies, Science finds that it can think -about these phenomena--can generalise and tie them into bundles best by -_assuming_ that the bodies are all in a state of vibration; a vibration -so minute that (unlike the vibrations connected with Sound) it cannot be -directly perceived. So far good. There is no harm in the assumption of -vibration, as long as it is understood to be a mere assumption for a -temporary convenience of thought. But now Science goes farther than -this, and not only supposes a common attribute to all visible bodies, -but credits this common attribute with a real existence independent of -the visible bodies in which it was supposed to inhere--and makes this -the _cause_ of their visibility! Obviously now a common and universal -medium is required for this common and universal assumed vibration (just -as Newton required a medium for his universal "falling")--and so, hey -presto! we have the Undulatory Ether. And having got it we find that to -fulfil our requirements it must have a pressure of 17 million million -pounds on the square inch, and yet be so rare and tenuous as not to -hinder the lightest breath of air; that while it is thus rare enough to -surpass all our powers of direct scrutiny, its vibrations must yet be -capable of agitating and breaking up the solidest bodies; that it must -pass freely through some dense and close structures like glass, and yet -be excluded by some light and porous, like cork, and so on and on! In -fact we find that it is unthinkable. Against this adamantine, impalpable -Ether, as against this instantaneous, untranslatable gravitation, -Science bangs its devoted head in vain. Having created these absurdities -by the method of "personification of abstractions"[25] or the -"reification of concepts,"[26] it seriously and in all good faith tries -to understand them; having dressed up its own Mumbo Jumbo (which it once -jeered at religion for doing) it piously shuts its eyes and endeavours -to believe in it. - -The Atomic Theory affords a good example of the "method of ignorance." -When we try to think about material objects generally--to generalise -about them--that is, to find some attribute or attributes common to -them, we are at first puzzled. They present such an immense variety. But -after a time, by dint of stripping off or abstracting all such -attributes or qualities as we think we perceive in one body and not in -another--as for example, redness, blueness, warmth, saltness, life, -intelligence, or what not--we find an attribute left, namely resistance -to touch, which is common to _all_ material bodies. This quality in the -body we call "mass," and since it is only known by motion, mass and -motion become correlative attributes which we find useful to class -bodies by, not because they represent the various bodies particularly -well, but because they are found in all bodies; just as you might class -people by their boots--not because boots are a very valuable method of -classification, but simply because every one wears boots of one kind or -another. So far there is no great harm done. But now having by the -method of ignorance _thought away_ all the qualities of bodies, except -the two correlatives of mass and motion, we set about to _explain_ the -phenomena of Nature generally by these two "thinks" that are left. We -credit these "thinks" (mass and motion) with an independent existence -and proceed to derive the rest of phenomena from them. The proceeding of -course is absurd, and ends by exposing its own absurdity. Thinking of -mass and motion as existing in the various bodies _apart_ from colour, -smell, and so forth--which of course is not the case--we combine the two -attributes into one concept, the atom, which we thus assume to exist in -all bodies. The atom has neither colour, smell, warmth, taste, life or -intelligence; it has only mass and motion; for it came by the method of -divesting our thought of everything _but_ mass and motion. It is a -projection of a "think" upon the background of nature. And it is an -absurdity. No such thing exists in all the wide universe as mass and -motion divested from colour, smell, warmth, life and intelligence. The -atom is unthinkable. It is perfectly hard and it is perfectly -elastic--which is the same as saying that it bends and it doesn't bend -at the same time; it has form, and it hasn't form; it has affinities and -yet is perfectly indifferent. To justify to men the ways of their Mumbo -Jumbo has sorely exercised the votaries of the Atom. One philosopher -says that it is mere matter, passive, exercising no force but -resistance; another says that it is a centre of force, without matter; a -third suggests that it is not itself matter, but only a vortex in other -matter! All agree that it is not an object of sense, and there remains -no conclusion but that it is nonsense![27] - -And so on in all directions. Human thought flying off at its tangents -from Nature lands itself in infinite nothings afar off, poor ghostly -skeletons and abstractions from Nature--which indeed is all right, for -human thought as yet can only see ghosts and not realities; but let -there be no mistake, let these ghosts not be mistaken for realities--for -they are not even compatible with each other. The Atom that suits the -physicist does not suit the chemist. The Ether that does for the vehicle -of Light will not do for the vehicle of universal Gravitation. - - -It would be hardly worth while entering into these criticisms, were it -not evident that Science in modern times, either tacitly or explicitly, -has been seeking, as I said at the beginning, to enounce facts -independent of Man, the observer. Seeing that the ordinary statements of -daily life are obviously inexact and relative to the observer--charged -with human sensation in fact--Science has naturally tried to produce -something which should be exact and independent of human sensation; but -here it has of course condemned itself beforehand to failure; for no -statement of isolated phenomena or groups of phenomena _can_ be exact -except by the method of ignorance aforesaid, and no statement obviously -can be really independent of human sensation. When a man says _It is -cold_, his statement, it must be confessed, is deplorably human and -vague. _It_--what is that? _Is_--do you mean _is_? or do you mean -_feels_, _appears_? _Cold_--in what sense? Cold to yourself, or to -other people, or to polar bears, or by the thermometer? And so on. -Science therefore steps in with an air of authority and sets him right. -It says _the temperature is_ 30° _Fahrenheit_, as if to settle the -matter. But does this really settle the matter? _Temperature_--who knows -what that is? What is the scientific definition of it? I find -(Clerk-Maxwell's Theory of Heat, p. 2.) "the temperature of a body is a -quantity which indicates how hot or how cold the body is." This sounds -very much like saying, "the colour of a body is a quantity which -indicates how blue, red, or yellow the body is." It does not bring us -much farther on our way. But in the next paragraph Maxwell shows the -object of his definition (which of course is only preliminary) by -saying, "By the use, therefore, of the word temperature, we fix in our -minds the conviction that it is possible not only to feel, but to -_measure_, how hot a body is." That is to say he clearly maintains that -it is possible to find an absolute standard of hotness or coldness--or -rather of the unknown thing called temperature--outside of ourselves and -independent of human sensation. When the man said he was cold he was -probably just describing his own sensations, but here Science indicates -that it is in search of something which has an independent existence of -its own, and which therefore when found we can measure exactly and once -for all. What then is that thing? _What_ is temperature? say, what is -it? - -We cudgel our brains in vain. Perhaps the remainder of the sentence -will help us. "The temperature is 30° Fahrenheit." "The unknown thing is -thirty degrees." What then is a degree? That is the next question. When -the Theory of Heat went out from sensation and left it behind, one of -its first landing places was in the expansion of liquids--as in -thermometer tubes. Here for some time was thought to be a satisfactory -register of "temperature." But before long it became apparent that the -degree--Fahrenheit, Réaumur, or what-not--was an entirely arbitrary -thing, also that it was not the _same_[28] thing at one end of the scale -as the other, and finally that the scale itself had no starting point! -This was awkward, so a move was made to the air thermometer, and there -was some talk about an absolute zero and absolute temperatures; it was -thought that the Unknown thing showed itself most clearly and simply in -the expansion of air and other gases, and that the "degree" might fairly -be measured in terms of this expansion. But in a little time this kind -of thermometer--chiefly because no gas turned out to be "theoretically -perfect"--broke down, absolute zero and all, and another step had to be -made--namely, to the dynamical theory. It was announced that the Unknown -thing might be measured in terms of mechanical energy, and Joule at -Manchester proclaimed that the work done by any quantity of water -falling there a distance of 772 feet is capable of raising that water -one degree Fahrenheit.[29] Here seemed something definite. To measure -temperature by mass and velocity, to measure a degree by the flight of a -stone, or the heat in the human body by the fall of a factory -chimney--if rather roundabout and elusive of the main question--seemed -at any rate promising of exact results! Unfortunately the difficulty was -to pass from the theory to its application. The complicated nature of -the problem, the "imperfection" of the gases and other bodies under -consideration, the latent and specific heats to be allowed for, the -elusive nature of heat in experiment, and the variable value of the -degree itself--all render the conclusions on this subject most -precarious; and the general equations connecting the Fahrenheit or other -temperatures with a thermo-dynamic scale--while they become so unwieldy -as to be practically useless--are themselves after all only approximate. - -Finally, to give a last form to the mechanical theory of heat, the -conception of flying atoms or molecules was introduced, and a number of -neat generalisations were deduced from dynamical considerations. Of -course it was inevitable, having once started with a mechanical theory, -that one should arrive at the Atom some time or other--and (from what -has already been said) it was also inevitable that the result should be -unsatisfactory. It is sufficient to say that the molecular theory of -heat is _not_ in accordance with facts. Such things as the law of -Charles and the law of Boyle, which according to it should be strictly -accurate and of general application, are known to be true only over a -most limited range. This failure of the theory may be said to arise -partly from its being pursued by the statistical method; but if, on the -other hand, we were to try and follow out the individual movement of -each molecule we should be landed in a problem far exceeding in -complexity the wildest flights of Astronomy, and should have exchanged -for the original difficulty about "temperature" a difficulty far -greater. - -The result of all this has been that notwithstanding the talk about -energy and atoms, Science has sadly to confess that it can still give no -valid meaning to the word temperature: the unknown thing is still -unknown, the independent existence round the corner still escapes us. By -the very effort to arrive at something independent of human sensation, -Science has, in a roundabout way, arrived at an absurdity. When the man -said he was cold, his statement--deplorably vague as it certainly -was--had some meaning; he was describing his feelings, or possibly he -had seen some snow or some ice on the road; but when, in the endeavour -to leave out the human and to say something absolute, Science declared -that the temperature was thirty degrees, it committed itself to a remark -which possibly was exact in form, but to which it has never given and -never can give any definite meaning.[30] - -Similarly with other generalities of Science: the "law" of the -Conservation of Energy, the "law" of the Survival of the Fittest--the -more you think about them the less possible is it to give any really -intelligible sense to them. The very word Fittest really begs the -question which is under consideration, and the whole Conservation law is -merely an attenuation of the already much attenuated "law" of -Gravitation. The Chemical Elements themselves are nothing but the -projection on the external world of concepts consisting of three or four -attributes each: they are not more real, but very much less real than -the individual objects which they are supposed to account for; and their -"elementary" character is merely fictional. It probably is in fact as -absurd to speak of pure carbon or pure gold, as of a pure monkey or a -pure dog. There are no such things, except as they may be arrived at by -arbitrary definition and the method of ignorance. - -In the search for exactness, then, Science has been continually led on -to discard the human and personal elements in phenomena, in the hope of -finding some residuum as it were behind them which should not be -personal and human but absolute and invariable. And the tendency has -been (hitherto) in all the sciences to get rid of such terms as blue, -red, light, heavy, hot, cold, concord, discord, health, vitality, right, -wrong, etc., and to rely on any less human elements discoverable in each -case; as for instance in Sound, to deal less and less with the judgments -and sensations of the ear, and to rely more and more on measurements of -lengths of strings, numbers of vibrations, etc. Each science has been -(as far as possible) reduced to its lowest terms. Ethics has been made a -question of utility and inherited experience. Political Economy has been -exhausted of all conceptions of justice between man and man, of charity, -affection, and the instinct of solidarity; and has been founded on its -lowest discoverable factor, namely self-interest. Biology has been -denuded of the force of personality in plants, animals, and men; the -"self" here has been set aside, and the attempt made to reduce the -science to a question of chemical and cellular affinities, protoplasm, -and the laws of osmose. Chemical affinities, again, and all the -wonderful phenomena of Physics are emptied down into a flight of atoms; -and the flight of atoms (and of astronomic orbs as well) is reduced to -the laws of dynamics--which the student sitting in his chamber may write -down on a piece of paper. Thus the idea, formulated by Comte, of a great -scale of sciences arising from the simplest to the most complex, has -tacitly underlain modern scientific work. It--Science--has sought to -"explain" each stage by reference to a lower stage--"blueness" by -vibrations, and vibrations by flying atoms--the human always by the -sub-human. Going out from humanity dissatisfied, it has wandered through -the animal and vegetable kingdoms, through the regions of Chemistry and -Physics, into that of Mechanics. "Here at last, in Mechanics, is -something outside humanity, something exact in itself, something -substantial," it has said. "Let us build again on this as on a -foundation, and in time we shall find out what humanity is." This I say -has been the dream of Modern Science; yet the fallacy of it is obvious. -We have not got outside the human, but only to the outermost verge of -it. Mass and motion, which in this process are taken to be real entities -and the first progenitors of all phenomena, are simply the last -abstractions of sensible experience, and our emptiest concepts. The -_material_ explanation of the universe is simply an attempt to account -for phenomena by those attributes which appear to us to be common to -them all--which is, as said before, like accounting for men by their -boots:--it may be possible to get an exact formula this way, but its -contents have little or no meaning. - -The whole process of Science and the Comtian classification of its -branches--regarded thus as an attempt to explain Man by Mechanics--is a -huge vicious circle. It professes to start with something simple, exact, -and invariable, and from this point to mount step by step till it comes -to Man himself; but indeed it starts with Man. It plants itself on -sensations low down (mass, motion, etc.), and endeavours by means of -them to explain sensations high up, which reminds one of nothing so much -as that process vulgarly described as "climbing up a ladder to comb your -hair." In truth Science has never left the great world, or cosmos, of -Man, nor ever really found a _locus standi_ without it; but during the -last two or three centuries it has gone in this _direction_, outwards, -continually. Leaving the central basis and facts of humanity as too vast -and unmanageable, and also as apparently variable from man to man and -therefore affording no certain consent to work upon, it has wandered -gradually outwards, seeking something of more definite and universal -application Discarding thus one by one the interior phases of -sensation--as the sense of personal relationship, the sense of justice, -duty, fitness in things or what-not (as too uncertain, or perhaps -developed to an unequal degree in different persons, embryonic in one -and matured in another), drifting past the more specialised bodily -senses, of colour, sound, taste, smell, etc., as for similar reasons -unavailable--Science at last in the primitive consciousness of muscular -contraction and its abstraction "mass" or "matter" comes to a pause. -Here in this last sense, common probably to man and the lowest animals, -it finds its widest, most universal ground--its farthest limit from the -Centre. It has reached the outermost shell, as it were, of the great -Man-cosmos. - -Even this shell is partially human; it is not entirely osseous, and so -far not entirely exact and invariable; but Science can go no -farther--and there, for the present, it may remain! - -Some day perhaps, when all this showy vesture of scientific theory -(which has this peculiarity that only the learned can see it) has been -quasi-completed, and Humanity is expected to walk solemnly forth in its -new garment for all the world to admire--as in Anderssen's story of the -Emperor's New Clothes--some little child standing on a door-step will -cry out: "But he has got nothing on at all," and amid some confusion it -will be seen that the child is right. - - -NOTE - - "I fear I have very imperfectly succeeded in expressing my strong - conviction that, before a rigorous logical scrutiny, the Reign of - Law will prove to be an unverified hypothesis, the Uniformity of - Nature an ambiguous expression, the certainty of our scientific - inferences to a great extent a delusion." (Stanley Jevons, - _Principles of Science_, p. ix.) - -FOOTNOTES: - -[17] See note, p. 119. - -[18] Since the above was written there has certainly been a great -change, and the dogmatic confidence in the verity of the scientific -"laws" has now (1920) almost disappeared. - -[19] Such fictions, however, are (I need not say) quite necessary as our -only means of thinking out, however imperfectly, the problems before us -(1920). - -[20] It is not generally realised how feeble a force gravitation is. It -is calculated (Encycl. Brit., Art. Gravitation) that two masses, each -weighing 415,000 tons, and placed a mile apart, would exert on each -other an attractive force of only one pound. If one, therefore, was as -far from the other as the moon is from the earth, their attraction would -only amount to 1/57,600,000,000th of a pound. This is a small force to -govern the movement of a body weighing 415,000 tons! and it is easy to -see that a slight variation in the law of the force might for a long -period pass undetected, though in the course of hundreds of centuries it -might become of the greatest importance. - -[21] As another instance of the same thing, let me quote a passage from -Maxwell's _Theory of Heat_, p. 31; the italics are mine: "In our -description of the physical properties of bodies as related to heat we -have begun with solid bodies, as those which we can _most easily -handle_, and have gone on to liquids, which we can keep in open vessels, -and have now come to gases, which will escape from open vessels, and -which are generally _invisible_. This is the order which is most natural -in our first study of these different states. But as soon as we have -been made familiar with the most prominent features of these different -conditions of matter the most _scientific_ course of study is in the -_reverse_ order, beginning with gases, on account of the greater -simplicity of their laws, then advancing to liquids, the more complex -laws of which are much more imperfectly known, and concluding with the -little that has been hitherto discovered about the constitution of solid -bodies." That is to say that Science finds it easier to work among -gases--which are invisible and which we can know little about--than -among solids, which we are familiar with and which we can easily handle! -This seems a strange conclusion, but it will be found to represent a -common procedure of Science--the truth probably being that the laws of -gases are not one whit _simpler_ than the laws of liquids and solids, -but that on account of our knowing so much less about gases it is easier -for us to _feign_ laws in their case than in the case of solids, and -less easy for our errors to be detected. - -[22] All our thoughts, theories, "laws," etc., may perhaps be said to -_touch_ Nature--as the tangent touches the curve--at a point. They give -a direction--and are true--at that point. But make the slightest move, -and they all have to be reconstructed. The tangents are infinite in -number, but the curve is one. This may not only illustrate the relation -of Nature to Science, but also of Art to the materials it uses. The poet -radiates thoughts: but he sets no store by them. He knows his thoughts -are not true in themselves, but they _touch_ the Truth. His lines are -the envelope of the curve which is his poem. - -[23] See the report of the joint meeting of the Royal Society and the -Royal Astronomical Society, November 6, 1919, when Einstein's theory was -discussed. - -[24] It is obvious that the Einstein theory, in which Time enters as a -kind of fourth dimension in relation to Space, removes us at once out of -the whole field of ordinary scientific reasoning and lands us, so to -speak, in a new world. The nature of Space (or of the universal medium, -whatever it is) in any region--its possible fundamental accelerations -there, its "curvature" or non-Euclidean character, and so forth--is -supposed, according to this theory, to vary with the amount of matter -in, or density of, that region; and the movements of bodies are -consequently supposed to take on the characters (accelerations, etc.,) -which we ascribe to the action of Gravitation. Gravitation in fact in -any region is the manifestation in Time of the attributes of the -universal Medium in that region--which latter again is dependent on the -degree of Matter present. Thus, Matter, Time, and Space are _one -phenomenon_. - -The whole Einstein theory, in fact, is a device to present these three -Protean and variable elements of all material existence (Matter, Time -and Space) as so far involved and interlaced in each other that they -form always an absolute and complete unity. As such the theory is no -doubt suggestive, and along the line of future speculation: but it -awaits corroboration. If corroborated it will point the way to a new -conception of the Universe. - -[25] J. S. Mill. - -[26] See Stallo's excellent _Concepts of Modern Physics_. - -[27] See, for instance, the last new thing in this style--the Helmholtz -molecule as improved upon by Sir William Thomson; it is described as -follows: "A heavy mass connected by massless springs with a massless -enclosing shell; or there may be several shells enclosing each other -connected by springs with a dense mass in the centre (far more dense -than the ether)." It is not, of course, seriously maintained that this -nonsensical creation exists--but that if it did exist it would account -for certain unexplained phenomena in the dispersion of light, etc. - -Later still (1920) we have the following delightful verdict on the -Structure of the Atom, given by Sir Ernest Rutherford--and which I -commend to all lovers of clear thinking:-- - -"The Bakerian Lecture was delivered yesterday before the Royal Society -by Sir Ernest Rutherford, whose subject was 'The Nuclear Construction of -the Atom.' He said that during recent years much attention had been paid -to the nature and structure of atoms. The atomic theory of matter had -been definitely proved. The mass of the individual atoms, and the number -in any given weight of matter, were now known with considerable -accuracy. Not only was matter known to be made up of atoms, but -electricity was also atomic in nature, and there was a definite unit of -electrical charge which could not further be subdivided. The negative -electron, which was a constituent of all atoms of matter, was probably -nothing more than an isolated unit of negative electricity, and its -small mass was electrical in origin. It had long been considered -probable that the atom is an electrical structure, consisting of -positive and negative particles, held in equilibrium by electric or -magnetic forces. In recent years evidence had accumulated that an atom -consists of a positively charged nucleus surrounded at a distance by a -distribution of electrons to make it electrically neutral." (From _The -Morning Post_ of June 4, 1920.) - -[28] The very fact alone that the degrees on a thermometer are _equal_ -space divisions shows that they must bear a _varying_ relation to the -total volume of liquid as that expands from one end of the tube to the -other. - -[29] A statement obviously applying--from what has been already said--at -only one point in the scale. - -[30] I am not, of course, here arguing against the use of thermometers -or other instruments for practical purposes. This is certainly the -legitimate field of Science. But (as in the case of _prediction_ before -mentioned) the exactness of results obtained is a very different matter -from the truth of the generalities which are supposed to underlie these -results. In using a thermometer you need not even mention the word -"temperature." - - - - -THE SCIENCE OF THE FUTURE: A FORECAST - -Once let that [the human ideal] slip out of the thought, and science is -of no more use than the invocations in the Egyptian papiri.--RICHARD -JEFFERIES. - - -It would appear then, from the preceding paper, that in some sense a -mistake has been made in the method of modern scientific work; not that -the vast amount of labour expended in it has been altogether wasted, for -in return for this there is a mass of practical results and detailed -observations to show; but that in attempting to solve the problem of -science by the intellect alone, a radical mistake has been made which -_could_ only land us in absurdity, and that this mistake has for the -time being also vitiated the results that have been attained. For--in -reference to this last point--the divorce of the intellectual from the -emotional has caused a great portion of our scientific observations to -become merely pedantic and trifling; while it has turned the practical -results--as industrial and military machinery, etc.--into engines of -evil as often as into engines of good. - -Science in searching for a permanently valid and purely intellectual -representation of the universe has, as already said, been searching for -a thing which does not exist. The very facts of Nature, as we call them, -are at least half feeling. If we try to clean the feeling out of a fact -and to produce a statement which shall be devoid of the human or sense -element, it simply amounts to cleaning the meaning out; and though our -resulting statement may be exact it is nugatory and of no value. We -might as well try to take the clay out of a brick. It must never be -forgotten that the logical processes--important as they are--cannot -stand by themselves, have no standing ground of their own. They -presuppose assumptions and are the expression of things that are -unreasoning, perhaps illogical. The strictest logic is a mere hooking -together of links in a chain, and the last link is of no use--you can -put no stress on it--unless the first is secured somewhere. The strength -of the intellectual chain is no greater than that of the staple from -which it hangs--and that is a human feeling The strength of Euclid is no -greater than that of the axioms--and _they_ are feelings; they are -unreasoning statements of which all that we can say is, "I _feel_ like -that." In fact all the propositions of Geometry are nothing but the -analysis and elaborate expression, so to speak, of these primary -convictions--and the Geometry-structure stands and falls with them. -There is no such thing as intellectual truth--that is, I mean, a truth -which can be stated as existing apart from feeling. If, for instance, a -proposition in Geometry can be really shown to be based on the axioms, -it is true, not intellectually or absolutely, but as an expression of my -primary Geometrical sense; and if my giving a few pence to a crossing -sweeper is based not on a mere impression of duty, or an anxiety to -appear charitable, or wish to escape his importunity, but on genuine -regard for the man, then it is true, not in any absolute signification, -but just as an expression of what it professes to represent--namely my -primary sense of humanity. Indeed the truest truth is that which is the -expression of the deepest feeling, and if there is an absolute truth it -can only be known and expressed by him who has the absolute feeling or -Being within himself. - -This being so--and the nature of the intellectual processes being, like -the links in a chain, transitional--it becomes obvious that the -intellectual results may figure as a _means_ but never as an end in -themselves. To hang any weight of reliance on them in the latter sense -is like the Chinese Trick--described by Marco Polo--of throwing a rope's -end up in the air and then climbing up the rope. Hence it appears that -our scientific theories are perfectly legitimate, as long as they are -formed as a means towards _practical_ applications. In that sense they -are transitional; they are formed, not as substantial truths, but merely -as links in a chain towards some definite practical result. For this -purpose we may form whatever theories are convenient: if we are -calculating the strength of bridges, we may adopt what generalisations -we like concerning mechanical structure, as long as they give us actual -and practical results; if we are predicting eclipses, we may make use of -any theory that will do. The theory does not matter, as long as it hauls -the practical result after it, just as it does not matter whether your -cable is of iron or hemp or silk, as long as you can get your ship into -dock with it. In this sense our Modern Science is, I conceive, -admirable. For practical results and brief predictions it affords a -quantity of useful generalisations--shorthand notes and conventional -symbols and pocket summaries of phenomena--which bear about the same -relation to the actual world that a map does to the country it is -supposed to represent. It cannot be said to have any resemblance to the -real thing--but, when you understand the principle on which it is -formed, it is exceedingly useful for finding your way about. As long as -Science therefore keeps the practical end in view, and starting from -sense seeks to return to sense again, its intermediate theorising is -perfectly legitimate; but the moment it credits its theory with a -positive and authoritative existence, as an actual representation of -facts--and endeavours to pass by means of it into unverifiable and -abstract regions, as of invisible germs or atoms, or far distances of -space, or the remote past or future--it is simply throwing its rope's -end into the sky and trying to climb up! That "the wish is father to the -thought" is in its wide sense profoundly true. In the individual, -feeling precedes thinking--as the body precedes the clothes. In history, -the Rousseau precedes the Voltaire. There is, I believe, a physiological -parallel; for behind the brain and determining its action stands the -great sympathetic nerve--the organ of the emotions. In fact here the -brain appears as distinctly transitional. It stands between the nerves -of sense on the one hand and the great sympathetic on the other. - -Change the feeling in an individual, and his whole method of thinking -will be revolutionised; change the axiom or primary sensation in a -science, and the whole structure will have to be re-created. The current -Political Economy is founded on the axiom of individual greed; but let a -new axiomatic emotion spring up (as of justice or fair play instead of -unlimited grab), and the base of the science will be altered, and will -necessitate a new construction. - -So when people argue (on politics, morality, art, etc.) it will -generally be found that they differ at the _base_; they go out, perhaps -quite unconsciously, from different axioms and hence they _cannot_ -agree. Occasionally of course a strict examination will show that, while -agreeing at the base, one of them has made a false step in deduction; in -that case his thought does _not_ represent his primary feeling, and when -this is pointed out he is forced to alter it. But more often it is found -that the difference lies deep down at a point beyond the reach of -reason; and they disagree to the end. In this case neither is right and -neither is wrong. They simply feel differently; they are different -persons. - -The Thought then is the expression, the outgrowth, the covering of -underlying Feeling. And in the great life of Man as a whole, as in the -lesser life of the individual, his continual new birth and inward growth -causes his thought-systems also continually to change and be replaced by -new ones. Like the bud-sheaths and husks in a growing plant or tree they -give form for a time to the life within; then they fall off and are -replaced. The husk prepares the bud underneath, which is to throw it -off. The thought prepares and protects the feeling underneath, which -growing will inevitably reject it; and when a thought has been formed it -is already _false_, _i.e._, ready to fall. - -We are now, then, in a position to come back to the question of a -genuine Science, truly so-called. - -As there is no invariable and absolute datum on the fringe of -Humanity--no definable flying atom on which we can found our -reasonings--and as Modern Science, considered as an actual -representation of the universe, falls miserably to pieces in -consequence--is it possible that we have made a mistake in the -_direction_ in which we have sought for our datum; and may it be that we -should look for that in the very Centre of Humanity instead of in its -remotest circumference? In that direction evidently, if we could -penetrate, we should expect to find, not a shadowy intellectual -generalisation, but the very opposite of that--an intense immutable -_feeling_ or state, an axiomatic condition of Being. Is it possible that -here, blazing like a sun (if we could only see it--and the sun is its -allegory in the physical world), there exists within us absolutely such -a thing--the one _fact_ in the universe, of which all else are shadows, -_to_ which everything has relation, and round which, itself -unanalysable, all thought circles and all phenomena stand as indirect -modes of expression? - -Is it possible? That is the question--the question which each one of us -has to solve. At any rate, let us throw this out as a suggestion. Let us -suggest that as we have got nothing satisfactory by cleaning the -sense-element out of phenomena, we should take the opposite course and -put as much sense into them as we can! - -"Facts" are, at least, half feelings. Let us acknowledge this and not -empty the feeling out of them, but deepen and enlarge that which we -already have in them. Who knows whether we have ever _seen_ the blue -sky? Who knows whether we have ever seen each other? Is it not a -commonplace to say that one man sees in the common objects of Nature -what another is wholly unconscious of? "The primrose on the river's brim -a yellow primrose is to him--and nothing more." To what extent may the -facts of Nature thus be deepened and made more substantial to us--and -whither will this process lead us? - -Do we not want to feel _more_, not less, in the presence of -phenomena--to enter into a living relation with the blue sky, and the -incense-laden air, and the plants and the animals--nay, even with -poisonous and hurtful things to have a keener _sense_ of their -hurtfulness? Is it not a strange kind of science, that which wakes the -mind to pursue the shadows of things, but dulls the senses to the -reality of them--which causes a man to try to bottle the pure atmosphere -of heaven and then to shut himself in a gas-reeking, ill-ventilated -laboratory while he analyses it; or allows him to vivisect a dog, -unconscious that he is blaspheming the pure and holy relation between -man and the animals in doing so? Surely the man of Science (in its -higher sense, that is) should be lynx-eyed as an Indian, keen-scented as -a hound--with all senses and feelings trained by constant use and a pure -and healthy life in close contact with Nature, and with a heart beating -in sympathy with every creature. Such a man would have at command, so to -speak, the keyboard of the universe; but the mechanical, unhealthy, -indoor-living student--is he not really _ignorant of the -facts_?--Certainly, since he has not felt them, he is. - -The process of the true Science consists first in the naming and -defining of phenomena (_i.e._, the facts of human consciousness), and -secondly, in the discovery of the true relation of these phenomena to -each other; and since the definitions of phenomena and their relations -keep varying with the standpoint of the observer, the process evidently -involves all experience, and ultimately the discovery of that last fact -of experience to which and through which all the other facts are -related. It is therefore an age-long process, and has to do with the -emotional and moral part of man as well as with the logical and -intellectual. It is, in fact, the discovery of the nature of Man -himself, and of the true order of his being. - -Modern Science--though seeking for a unity in Nature--fails to find it, -because, from the nature of the case, any large body of knowledge in -which all people will agree is limited to certain small regions of human -experience--regions in which very likely no unity is discoverable. It -takes the emerald, and breaks it up; treats of its colour and -light-refracting qualities on the one hand; of its crystalline structure -and hardness on the other; of its weight and density; and of its -chemical properties; all separately, and producing long strings of -generalisation from each aspect of the subject. But how all these -qualities are conjoined together, what their relation is which -_constitutes_ the emerald--yea, even the smallest bit of emerald -dust--it (wisely) does not attempt to say. It takes the man and dissects -him; treats of his blood, his nerves, his bones, his brain; of his -senses of sight, of touch, of hearing; but of that which binds these -together into a unity, of their true relation to each other in the man, -it is silent. - -Yet the man knows of himself that he _is_ a unity; he knows that all -parts of his body have relation to _him_, and to each other; he knows -that his senses of sight and hearing and touch and taste and smell are -conjoined in the focus of his individual life, in his "I am;" he knows -that all his faculties and powers, however much they may belong to -different planes, spiritual or material, or may come under the -inquisition of different Sciences, have an order of their own among each -other--that there _is_ an ultimate Science of them--even though he be -not yet wholly versed in it. And he knows, moreover, that in a grain of -dust, or in an emerald, or in an orange, or in any object of Nature, the -different attributes of the object--which the Sciences thus treat of -separately--are only the reflexion of his different senses; so that the -problem of the conjunction of different attributes in a body comes back -to the same problem of the union of various senses and powers in -himself--each individual object being only a case, externalised as it -were, and made a matter of consciousness, of the general relation to -each other of his own sensations and feelings. Knowing all his--I -say--he sees that the understanding of Nature in general and of the laws -or relations which he thinks he perceives among external things must -always depend on the relations and laws which he tacitly assumes, or -which he is directly conscious of, as existing between the various parts -of his own being; and that the ultimate truth which Science--the divine -Science--is really in search of is a moral or psychologic Truth--an -understanding of what man is, and the discovery of the true relation to -each other of all his faculties--involving all experience, and an -exercise of every faculty physical, intellectual, emotional and -spiritual, instead of one set of faculties only. - -Not till we know the law of ourselves, in fact, shall we know the law of -the emerald and the orange, or of Nature generally; and the law of -ourselves is not learnt, except subordinately, by intellectual -investigation; it is mainly learnt by life. The relation of gravity to -vitality is learnt not so much by outer experiment in a laboratory as by -long experience within ourselves from the day when as infants we cannot -lift ourselves above the floor, through the years of the proud strength -of manhood scaling the loftiest mountains, to the hour when our -disengaged spirits finally overcome and pass beyond the attraction of -the earth; and just as the sense of weight--which first appears as a -quite external sensation--is thus at last found to stand in most -pregnant relation with our deepest selves, so of the other senses which -feed the individual life--the senses of light, of warmth, of taste, of -sound, of smell. Taste, which begins as it were on the tip of the -tongue, becomes ultimately, if normally developed, a sense which -identifies itself with the health and well-being of the whole body; the -pleasure of taste becomes vastly more than a mere surface pleasure, and -its discrimination of food more than a mere regard for the nutrition of -the ordinary corporeal functions. The sense of Light, which begins in -the material eye, grows and deepens inwardly till the consciousness of -it pervades the whole body and mind with a kind of inward illumination -or divine Reason, showing the places of all things and enfolding the -sense of beauty in itself. The sense of Warmth in the same manner is -related to and leads up to Love; and Sound, in the voices of our friends -or the divine chords of music, has passed away from being an external -phenomenon and has established itself as the language of our most tender -and intimate emotions. - -All the senses thus, as they develop and deepen, are found to unite in -the very focus of individual life. Slowly, and through long experience, -their relation to each other, _their very meaning_ unfolds, or will -unfold; and as this process takes place the man knows himself _one_, a -unity, of which the various faculties are the different manifestations. -Then further through his less localised feelings or more glorified -senses the individual finds his relation to other individuals. Through -his loves and hatreds, through his senses of attraction, repulsion, -cohesion, solidarity, order, justice, charity, right, wrong and the -rest--these feelings, each like the others deepening back more and more -as time goes on--he gradually discovers his true and abiding -relationship to other individuals, and to the divine society of which -they all form a part--and so at last, if we may venture to say so, his -relationship to the absolute and universal. At present, since our most -important relation to each other is conceived of as one of rivalry and -Competition, we of course think of the objects of Nature as being -chiefly engaged in a Struggle for Existence with each other; but when we -become aware of all our senses and feelings, and of ourselves as -individuals, as having relation to the Absolute and universal, -proceeding from it, as the branches and twigs of a tree from the -trunk--then we shall become aware of a Divine or absolute science in -Nature; we shall at last understand that all objects have a permanent -and indissoluble relation to each other, and shall see their true -meaning--though not till then. - -Is it possible then that Science, having hitherto--and we shall see in -time that this process has been really most valuable and important--gone -outwards from the centre towards the very fringe of Humanity--emptying -facts as far as possible as it went of all feeling, and reducing itself -at last to the most shadowy generalisations on the very verge of sense -and nonsense--is it possible, I say, that it will now return, and -_first_ filling up facts with feeling as far as practicable (that is, by -direct and the most living contact with Nature in every form, learning -to enter into direct personal sense-relationship with every phenomenon -and phase), will so gradually ascend to the great central fact and -feeling, and then at last and for the first time become fully conscious -of a vast organisation--absolutely perfect and intimately knit from its -centre to its utmost circumference--(the true cosmos of Man--the -conceptions of man and god combined)--existing inchoate or embryonic in -every individual man, animal, plant, or other creature--the object of -all life, experience, suffering, and toil--the ground of all sensation, -and the hidden, yet proper, theme of all thought and study? - -For this is it possible that Science will, speaking broadly, have to -leave the laboratory and become one with Life; or that the great -currents of human life will have to be turned on into these often Augean -stables of intellectual pruriency?--the investigation of Nature no -longer a matter of the intellect alone, but of patient listening and the -quiet eye, and of love and faith, and of all deep human experience, -bearing not superciliously its weight towards the interpretation of the -least phenomenon--every "fact" thus deepened to its utmost--all -experience (rather than experiment) courted, and filial walking with -Nature, rather than tearing of veils aside--the life of the open air, -and on the land and the waters, the companionship of the animals and the -trees and the stars, the knowledge of their habits at first hand and -through individual relationship to them, the recognition of their voices -and languages, and listening well what they themselves have to say; the -keenest education of the senses towards the physical powers and -elements, and the acceptance of _all_ human experience, without -exception--till Science become a reality. - -Is it possible that in some sense, instead of reducing each branch of -Science to its lowest terms, we shall have to read it in the light of -its _highest_ factors, and "take it up" into the Science above--that we -shall have to take up the mechanical sciences into the physical, the -physical into the vital, the vital into the social and ethical, and so -forth, before we can understand them? Is it possible that the phenomena -of Chemistry only find their due place and importance in their relation -to living beings and processes; that the phenomena of vitality and the -laws of Biology and Zoology--Evolution included--can only be "explained" -by their dependence on self-hood--both in plants and animals; that -Political Economy and the Social Sciences (which deal with men as -individual selves) must, to be understood aright, be studied in the -light of those great ethical principles and enthusiasms, which to a -certain extent override the individual self; and that, finally, Ethics -or the study of moral problems is only comprehensible when the student -has become aware of a region beyond Ethics, into which questions of -morality and immorality, of right and wrong, do not and cannot enter? - -Of this reversal of the ordinary scientific method Ruskin has given a -great and signal instance in his treatment of Political Economy; it -remains, perhaps, for others to follow his example in the other branches -of Science.[31] - -With regard to the absolute datum question we have seen that Science -has two alternatives before it--either to be merely intellectual and to -seek for its start-point in some quite external (and imaginary) thing -like the Atom, or to be divine and to seek for its absolute in the -innermost recesses of humanity. We have two similar alternatives in the -doctrine of Evolution, which looks either to one end of the scale or the -other for its interpretation--either to the amoeba or to the man--to -something it knows next to nothing of, or to that which it knows most -of. Goethe, when gazing at a fan-palm at Padua, conceived the idea of -leaf-metamorphosis, which he afterwards enunciated in the now accepted -doctrine that all parts of a plant--seed-vessel, pistil, stamens, -petals, sepals, stalk, etc.--may be regarded as modifications of a leaf -or leaves. In this view the distinctions between the parts are effaced, -and we have only one part instead of many--but the question is "what is -that part?" It is of course arbitrary to call it a leaf, for since it is -continually varying it is at one time a leaf, and at another a stalk, -and then a petal or a sepal, and so forth. What then is it? For the -moment we are baffled. - -So with the doctrine of Evolution as applied to the whole organic -kingdom up to man. Like the doctrine of leaf-metamorphosis it -obliterates distinctions. Geoffroy St. Hilaire proposed to show the -French Academy that a Cephalopod could be assimilated to a Vertebrate by -supposing the latter bent backwards and walking on its hands and feet. -There is a continuous variation from the mollusc to the man--all the -lines of distinction run and waver--classes and species cease to -exist--and Science, instead of many, sees only _one_ thing. What then is -that one thing? Is it a mollusc, or is it a man, or what is it? Are we -to say that man may be looked upon as a variation of a mollusc or an -amoeba, or that the amoeba may be looked on as a variation of man? Here -are two directions of thought; which shall we choose? But the plain -truth is, the Intellect can give no satisfactory answer. Whichever, or -whatever, it chooses, the choice is quite arbitrary--just as much so as -the choice of the "leaf" in the other case. There is no answer to be -given. And thus it is that _the appearance of the doctrine of Evolution -is the signal of the destruction of Science_ (in the ordinary -acceptation of the word). For Evolution is the successive obliteration -of the arbitrary distinctions and landmarks which by their existence -_constitute_ Science, and as soon as Evolution covers the whole ground -of Nature inorganic and organic (as before long it will do)--the whole -of Nature runs and wavers before the eye of Science, the latter -recognises that its distinctions _are_ arbitrary, and turns upon and -destroys itself. This has happened before, I believe--ages back in the -history of the human race--and probably will happen again. - -The only conceivable answer to the question, "What is that which is now -a mollusc and now a man and now an inorganic atom?"[32] is given by man -himself--and his answer is, I fear, not "scientific." It is "I Am." "I -am that which varies." And the force of his answer depends on what he -means by the word "I." And so also the only conceivable answer to the -absolute datum question is to be found in the meaning of the word -"I"--in the deepening back of consciousness itself. Man is the measure -of all things. If we are to use Science as a minister to the most -external part of man--to provide him with cheap boots and shoes, -etc.--then we do right to seek our absolute datum in his external part, -and to take his _foot_ as our first measure. We found a science on feet -and pounds, and it serves its purpose well enough. But if we want to -find a garment for his inner being--or, rather, one that shall fit the -_whole_ man--to wear which will be a delight to him and, as it were, a -very interpretation of himself--it seems obvious that we must not take -our measure from outside, but from his very most central principle. The -whole question is, whether there _is_ any absolute datum in this -direction or not. There have been men through all ages of history (and -from before) who have declared that there is. They have perhaps been -conscious of it in themselves. On the other hand there have been men -who, starting from their feet, declared that consciousness itself was a -mere incident of the human machine--as the whistle of the engine--and -thus the matter stands. On the whole, at the present day, the _feet_ -have it, and (notwithstanding their variety in size and boot-induced -conformation) are generally accepted as the best absolute datum -available. - -Under the foot _régime_ the universe is generally conceived of as a -medley of objects and forces, more or less orderly and distinct from -man, in the midst of which man is placed--the purpose and tendency of -his life being "adaptation to his environment." To understand this we -may imagine Mrs. Brown in the middle of Oxford Street. 'Buses and cabs -are running in different directions, carts and drays are rattling on all -sides of her. This is her environment, and she has to adapt herself to -it. She has to learn the laws of the vehicles and their movements, to -stand on this side or on that, to run here and stop there, conceivably -to jump into one at a favourable moment, to make use of the law of its -movement, and so get carried to her destination as comfortably as may -be. A long course of this sort of thing "adapts" Mrs. Brown -considerably, and she becomes more active, both in mind and body, than -before. That is all very well. But Mrs. Brown has a _destination_. -(Indeed how would she ever have got into the middle of Oxford Street at -all, if she had not had one? and if she did get there with no -destination at all, but merely to skip about, would there be any Mrs. -Brown left in a short time?) The question is, "What is the destination -of Man?" - -About this last question unfortunately we hear little. The theory is (I -hope I am not doing it injustice) that by studying your environment -sufficiently you will find out--that is, that by investigating -Astronomy, Biology, Physics, Ethics, etc., you will discover the destiny -of man. But this seems to me the same as saying that by studying the -laws of cabs and 'buses sufficiently you will find out where you are -going to. These are ways and means. Study them by all means, that is -right enough; but do not think _they_ will tell you where to go. You -have to use them, not they you. - -In order therefore for the environment to act, there must be a -destination. This I suppose is expressed in the biological dictum, -"organism is made by function as well as environment." What then is the -function of Man? And here we come back again to the meaning of the word -"I." - -Nothwithstanding then the prevalence of the foot régime, and that the -heathen so furiously rage together in their belief in it, let us suggest -that there is in man a divine consciousness as well as a -foot-consciousness. For, as we saw that the sense of taste may pass from -being a mere local thing on the tip of the tongue to pervading and -becoming synonymous with the health of the whole body; or as the blue of -the sky may be to one person a mere superficial impression of colour, -and to another the inspiration of a poem or picture, and to a third--as -to the "god-intoxicated" Arab of the desert--a living presence like the -ancient Dyaus or Zeus; so may not the whole of human consciousness -gradually lift itself from a mere local and temporary consciousness to a -divine and universal? There is in every man a local consciousness -connected with his quite external body; that we know. Are there not also -in every man the makings of a universal consciousness? That there are in -us phases of consciousness which transcend the limit of the bodily -senses, is a matter of daily experience; that we perceive and know -things which are not conveyed to us by our bodily eyes or heard by our -bodily ears, is certain; that there rise in us waves of consciousness -from those around us, from the people, the race, to which we belong, is -also certain; may there not then be in us the makings of a perception -and knowledge which shall not be relative to this body which is here and -now, but which shall be good for all time and everywhere? Does there not -exist, in truth, as we have already hinted--an inner Illumination--of -which what we call light in the outer world is the partial expression -and manifestation--by which we can ultimately see things, _as they are_, -beholding all creation, the animals, the angels, the plants, the figures -of our friends and all the ranks and races of human kind, in their true -being and order--not by any local act of perception but by a cosmical -intuition and presence, identifying ourselves with what we see? Does -there not exist a perfected sense of Hearing--as of the morning-stars -singing together--an understanding of the words that are spoken all -through the universe, the hidden meaning of all things, the word which -is creation itself--a profound and far pervading sense, of which our -ordinary sense of sound is only the first novitiate and initiation? Do -we not become aware of an inner sense of Health and of Holiness--the -translation and final outcome of the external sense of taste--which has -power to determine for us absolutely and without any ado, without -argument and without denial, what is good and appropriate to be done or -suffered in every case that can arise? - -And so on; it is not necessary to say more. If there are such powers in -man, then there is indeed an exact science possible. Short of it there -is only a temporary and phantom science. "Whatever is known to us by -(direct) consciousness," says Stuart Mill in his System of Logic, "is -known to us beyond possibility of question;" what is known by our local -and temporary consciousness is known _for the moment_ beyond possibility -of question; what is known by our permanent and universal consciousness -is permanently known beyond possibility of question.[33] - -FOOTNOTES: - -[31] Thus the study of Geometry would be primarily an education of the -eye, and the mind's eye, to the perception of geometrical forms and -facts, the judgment of angles, etc.--and secondarily only a process of -deductive reasoning--a body of empirical knowledge strengthened and tied -together by bands of logic; the study of Natural History would be -primarily an affectionate intimacy with the habits of animals and -plants, and classification would be treated as a secondary matter and as -a help to the former; Physiology would be studied in the first place by -the method of Health--the pure body--becoming gradually transparent with -all its organs to the eye of the mind--and dissection would be used to -corroborate and correct the results thus attained; and so on. - -[32] Compare the Sphinx-riddle: What is that which goes on four legs, -etc. - -[33] See for continuation of this subject the chapter on "A Rational and -Humane Science," p. 219 _infra_. - - - - -DEFENCE OF CRIMINALS: - -A CRITICISM OF MORALITY - -The State is the actually existing realised moral life. For it is the -unity of the universal essential Will with that of the individual, and -this is "Morality."--HEGEL. - - -A criminal is literally a person accused--accused, and in the modern -sense of the word convicted, of being harmful to Society. But is he -there in the dock, the patch-coated brawler or burglar, really harmful -to Society? is he more harmful than the mild old gentleman in the wig -who pronounces sentence upon him? That is the question. Certainly he has -infringed the law: and the law is in a sense the consolidated public -opinion of Society: but if no one were to break the law, public opinion -would ossify, and Society would die. As a matter of fact Society keeps -changing its opinion. How then are we to know when it is right and when -it is wrong? The Outcast of one age is the Hero of another. In -execration they nailed Roger Bacon's manuscripts out in the sun and -rain, to rot crucified upon planks--his bones lie in an unknown and -unhonoured grave--yet to-day he is regarded as a pioneer of human -thought. The hated Christian holding his ill-famed love-feasts in the -darkness of the catacombs has climbed up to the throne of S. Peter and -the world. The Jew moneylender whom Front-de-Boeuf could torture with -impunity is become a Rothschild--guest of princes and instigator of -commercial wars; and Shylock is now a highly respectable Railway -Bondholder. And the Accepted of one age is the Criminal of the next. All -the glories of Alexander do not condone in our eyes for his cruelty in -crucifying the brave defenders of Tyre by thousands along the sea-shore; -and if Solomon with his thousand wives and concubines were to appear in -London to-morrow, even our most frivolous circles would be shocked, and -Brigham Young by contrast seem a domestic model. The judge pronounces -sentence on the prisoner now, but Society in its turn and in the lapse -of years pronounces sentence on the judge. It holds in its hand a new -canon, a new code of morals, and consigns its former representative and -the law which he administered to a limbo of contempt. - -It seems as if Society, as it progresses from point to point, forms -ideals--just as the individual does. At any moment each person, -consciously or unconsciously, has an ideal in his mind toward which he -is working (hence the importance of literature). Similarly Society has -an ideal in its mind. These ideals are tangents or vanishing points of -the direction in which Society is moving at the time. It does not reach -its ideal, but it goes in that direction--then, after a time, the -direction of its movement changes, and it has a new ideal. - -When the ideal of Society is material gain or possession, as it is -largely to-day, the object of its special condemnation is the thief--not -the rich thief, for he is already in possession and therefore -respectable, but the poor thief. There is nothing to show that the poor -thief is really more immoral or unsocial than the respectable -money-grubber; but it is very clear that the money-grubber has been -floating with the great current of Society, while the poor man has been -swimming against it, and so has been worsted. Or when, as to-day, -Society rests on private property in land, its counter-ideal is the -poacher. If you go in the company of the county squire-archy and listen -to the after-dinner talk you will soon think the poacher a combination -of all human and diabolic vices; yet I have known a good many poachers, -and either have been very lucky in my specimens or singularly prejudiced -in their favour, for I have generally found them very good fellows--but -with just this one blemish that they invariably regard a landlord as an -emissary of the evil one! The poacher is as much in the right, probably, -as the landlord, but he is not right for the time. He is asserting a -right (and an instinct) belonging to a past time--when for hunting -purposes all land was held in common--or to a time in the future when -such or similar rights shall be restored. Cæsar says of the Suevi that -they tilled the ground in common and had no private lands, and there is -abundant evidence that all early human communities, before they entered -on the stage of modern civilisation, were communistic in character. Some -of the Pacific Islanders to-day are in the same condition. In those -times private property was theft. Obviously the man who attempted to -retain for himself land or goods, or who fenced off a portion of the -common ground and--like the modern landlord--would allow no one to till -it who did not pay him a tax--was a criminal of the deepest dye. -Nevertheless the criminals pushed their way to the front, and have -become the respectables of modern Society. And it is quite probable that -in like manner the criminals of to-day will push to the front and become -the respectables of a later age. - -The ascetic and monastic ideal of early Christian and mediæval ages is -now regarded as foolish, if not wicked; and poverty, which in many times -and places has been held in honour as the only garb of honesty, is -condemned as criminal and indecent. Nomadism--if accompanied by -poverty--is criminal in modern Society. To-day the gipsy and the tramp -are hunted down. To have no settled habitation, or worse still, no place -to lay your head, are suspicious matters. We close even our outhouses -and barns against the son of man, and so to us the son of man comes not. -And yet--at one time and in one stage of human progress--the nomadic -state is the rule; and the settler is then the criminal. His crops are -fired and his cattle driven off. What right has he to lay a limit to the -hunting grounds, or to spoil the wild free life of the plains with his -dirty agriculture? - -As to the marriage relation and its attendant moralities, the forms are -numerous and notorious enough. Public opinion seems to have varied -through all phases and ideals, and yet there is no indication of -finality. Modern investigations show that in primitive human societies -the affinities admitted or barred in marriage are most various--the -relation of brother and sister being even in cases allowed; in the -present day such a bond as the last-mentioned would be considered -inhuman and monstrous.[34] Polyandry prevails among one people or at one -time, polygyny prevails among another people or at another time. In -Central Africa to-day the chief offers you his wife as a mark of -hospitality, in India the native Prince keeps her hidden even from his -most intimate guest. Among the Japanese, public opinion holds young -women--even of good birth--singularly free in their intercourse with -men, _till they are married_; at Paris they are free after. In the Greek -and Roman antiquity marriage seems, with some brilliant exceptions, to -have been a prosaic affair--mostly a matter of convenience and -housekeeping--the woman an underling--little of the ideal attaching to -the relationship of man and wife. The romance of love went elsewhere. -The better class of free women or Hetairai were those who gave a -spiritual charm to the passion. They were an educated and recognised -body, and possibly in their best times exercised a healthy and -discriminating influence upon the male youth. The respectful treatment -of Theodota by Socrates and the advice which he gives her concerning her -lovers: to keep the insolent from her door, and to rejoice greatly when -the accepted succeed in anything honourable, indicates this. That their -influence was at times immense the mere name of Aspasia is sufficient to -show; and if Plato in the Symposium reports correctly the word of -Diotima, her teaching on the subject of human and divine love was -probably of the noblest and profoundest that has ever been given to the -world. - -With the influx of the North-men over Europe came a new ideal of the -sexual relation, and the wife mounted more into equality with her -husband than before. The romance of love, however, still went mainly -outside marriage, and may, I believe, be traced in two chief forms--that -of Chivalry, as an ideal devotion to simple Womanhood; and that of -Minstrelsy, which took quite a different hue, individual and -sentimental--the lover and his mistress (she in most cases the wife of -another), the serenade, secret amour, etc.--both of which forms of -Chivalry and Minstrelsy contain in themselves something new and not -quite familiar to antiquity. - -Finally in modern times the monogamic union has risen to -pre-eminence--the splendid ideal of an equal and life-long attachment -between man and wife, fruitful of children in this life, and hopeful of -continuance beyond--and has become the great theme of romantic -literature, and the climax of a thousand novels and poems. Yet it is -just here and to-day, when this ideal after centuries of struggle has -established itself, and among the nations that are in the van of -civilisation--that we find the doctrine of perfect liberty in the -marriage relationship being most successfully preached, and that the -communalisation of social life in the future seems likely to weaken the -family bond and to relax the obligation of the marriage tie. - -If the Greek age, splendid as it was in itself and in its fruits of -human progress, did not hold marriage very high, it was partly because -the ideal passion of that period, and one which more than all else -inspired it, was that of comradeship, or male friendship carried over -into the region of love. The two figures of Harmodius and Aristogiton -stand at the entrance of Greek history as the type of this passion, -bearing its fruit (as Plato throughout maintains is its nature) in -united self-devotion to the country's good. The heroic Theban legion, -the "sacred band," into which no man might enter without his lover--and -which was said to have remained unvanquished till it was annihilated at -the battle of Chæronæa--proves to us how publicly this passion and its -place in society were recognised; while its universality and the depth -to which it had stirred the Greek mind are indicated by the fact that -whole treatises on love, in its spiritual aspect, exist, in which no -other form of the sentiment seems to be contemplated; and by the -magnificent panorama of Greek statuary, which was obviously to a large -extent inspired by it. In fact the most remarkable Society known to -history, and its greatest men, cannot be properly considered or -understood apart from this passion; yet the modern world scarcely -recognises it, or if it recognises, does so chiefly to condemn it.[35] - -Other instances might be quoted to show how differently moral questions -are regarded in one age and another--as in the cases of Usury, Magic, -Suicide, Infanticide, etc. On the whole we pride ourselves (and justly I -believe) on the general advance in humanity; yet we know that to-day the -merest savages can only shudder at a civilisation whose public opinion -allows--as among us--the rich to wallow in their wealth, while the poor -are systematically starving; and it is certain that the vivisection of -animals--which on the whole is approved by our educated classes (though -not by the healthier sentiment of the uneducated)--would have been -stigmatised as one of the most abominable crimes by the ancient -Egyptians[36]--if, that is, they could have conceived such a practice -possible at all. - -But not only do the moral judgments of mankind thus vary from age to age -and from race to race, but--what is equally remarkable--they vary to an -extraordinary degree from class to class of the same society. If the -landlord class regards the poacher as a criminal, the poacher, as -already hinted, looks upon the landlord as a selfish ruffian who has the -police on his side; if the respectable shareholder, politely and -respectably subsisting on dividends, dismisses navvies and the -frequenters of public-houses as disorderly persons, the navvy in return -despises the shareholder as a sneaking thief. And it is not easy to see, -after all, which is in the right. It is useless to dismiss these -discrepancies by supposing that one class in the nation possesses a -monopoly of morality and that the other classes simply rail at the -virtue they cannot attain to, for this is obviously not the case. It is -almost a commonplace, and certainly a fact that cannot be contested, -that every class--however sinful or outcast in the eyes of -others--contains within its ranks a large proportion of generous, -noble, self-sacrificing characters; so that the public opinion of one -such class, however different from that of others, cannot at least be -invalidated on the above ground. There are plenty of clergymen at this -moment who are models of pastors--true shepherds of the people--though a -large and increasing section of society persist in regarding priests as -a kind of wolves in sheep's clothing. It is not uncommon to meet with -professional thieves who are generous and open-handed to the last -degree, and ready to part with their last penny to help a comrade in -distress; with women living outside the bounds of conventional morality -who are strongly religious in sentiment, and who regard atheists as -_really_ wicked people; with aristocrats who have as stern material in -them as quarry-men; and even with bondholders and drawing-room loungers -who are as capable of bravery and self-sacrifice as many a pitman or -ironworker. Yet all these classes mentioned have their codes of -morality, differing in greater or lesser degree from each other; and -again the question forces itself upon us: Which of them all is the true -and abiding code? - -It may be said, with regard to this variation of codes within the same -society, that, though various codes may exist at the same time, one only -is really valid, namely, that which has embodied itself in the law--that -the others have been rejected because they were unworthy. But, when we -come to look into this matter of law, we see that the plea can hardly be -maintained. Law represents from age to age the code of the dominant or -ruling class, slowly accumulated, no doubt, and slowly modified, but -always added to and always administered by the ruling class. To-day the -code of the dominant class may perhaps best be denoted by the word -Respectability--and if we ask why this code has to a great extent -overwhelmed the codes of the other classes and got the law on its side -(so far that in the main it characterises those classes who do not -conform to it as the criminal classes), the answer can only be: Because -it _is_ the code of the classes who are in power. Respectability is the -code of those who have the wealth and the command, and as these have -also the fluent pens and tongues, it is the standard of modern -literature and the press. It is not necessarily a better standard than -others, but it is the one that happens to be in the ascendant; it is the -code of the classes that chiefly represent modern society; it is the -code of the Bourgeoisie. It is different from the Feudal code of the -past, of the knightly classes, and of Chivalry; it is different from the -Democratic code of the future--of brotherhood and of equality; it is the -code of the Commercial age--and its distinctive watchword is property. - -The respectability of to-day is the respectability of property. There is -nothing so respectable as being well-off. The Law confirms this: -everything is on the side of the rich; justice is too expensive a thing -for the poor man. Offences against the person hardly count for so much -as those against property. You may beat your wife within an inch of her -life and only get three months; but if you steal a rabbit, you may be -"sent" for years. So again, gambling by thousands on Change is -respectable enough, but pitch and toss for half-pence in the streets is -low, and must be dealt with by the police; while it is a mere -commonplace to say that the high-class swindler is "received" in society -from which a more honest but patch-coated brother would infallibly be -rejected. As Walt Whitman has it, "There is plenty of glamour about the -most damnable crimes and hoggish meannesses, special and general, of the -feudal and dynastic world over there, with its personnel of lords and -queens and courts, so well-dressed and handsome. But the people are -ungrammatical, untidy, and their sins gaunt and ill-bred." - -Thus we see that though there are, for instance in the England of -to-day, a variety of classes and a variety of corresponding codes of -public opinion and morality, one of these codes, namely that of the -ruling class whose watchword is property, is strongly in the ascendant. -And we may fairly suppose that in any nation from the time when it first -becomes divided into well-marked classes this is or has been the case. -In one age--the commercial age--the code of the commercial or -money-loving class is dominant; in another--the military--the code of -the warrior class is dominant; in another--the religious--the code of -the priestly class; and so on. And even before any question of division -into classes arises, while races are yet in a rudimentary and tribal -state, the utmost diversity of custom and public opinion marks the one -from the other. - -What, then, are we to conclude from all these variations (and the far -greater number which I have not mentioned) of the respect or stigma -attaching to the _same_ actions, not only among different societies in -different ages or parts of the world, but even at any one time among -different classes of the same society? Must we conclude that there is no -such thing as a permanent moral code valid for all time; or must we -still suppose that there is such a thing--though society has hitherto -sought for it in vain? - -I think it is obvious that there is no such thing as a permanent moral -code--at any rate as applying to _actions_. Probably the respect or -stigma attaching to particular classes of actions arose from the fact -that these classes of actions were--or were thought to be--beneficial or -injurious to the society of the time; but it is also clear that this -good or bad name once created clings to the action long after the action -has ceased in the course of social progress to be beneficial in the one -case, or injurious in the other; and indeed long after the thinkers of -the race have discovered the discrepancy. And so in a short time arises -a great confusion in the popular mind between what is really good or -evil for the race and what is reputed to be so--the bolder spirits who -try to separate the two having to atone for this confusion by their own -martyrdom. It is also pretty clear that the actions which are beneficial -or injurious to the race must by the nature of the case vary almost -indefinitely with the changing conditions of the life of the race--what -is beneficial in one age or under one set of conditions being injurious -in another age or under other circumstances--so that a permanent or -ever-valid code of moral action is not a thing to be expected, at any -rate by those who regard morality as a result of social experience, and -as a matter of fact is not a thing that we find existing. And, indeed, -of those who regard morals as intuitive, there are few who have thought -about the matter who would be inclined to say that any _act_ in itself -can be either right or wrong. Though there is a superficial judgment of -this kind, yet when the matter comes to be looked into, the more general -consent seems to be that the rightness or wrongness is in the _motive_. -To kill (it is said) is not wrong, but to do so with murderous intent -is; to take money out of another person's purse is in itself neither -moral nor immoral--all depends upon whether permission has been given, -or on what the relations between the two persons are; and so on. -Obviously there is no mere act which under given conditions may not be -justified, and equally obvious there is no mere act which under given -conditions may not become unjustifiable. To talk, therefore, about -virtues and vices as permanent and distinct classes of actions is -illusory: there is no such distinction, except so far as a superficial -and transient public opinion creates it. The theatre of morality is in -the passions, and there are (it is said) virtuous and vicious -passions--eternally distinct from each other. - -Here, then, we have abandoned the search for a permanent moral code -among the actions; on the understanding that we are more likely to find -such a thing among the passions. And I think it would be generally -admitted that this is a move in the right direction. There are -difficulties however here, and the matter is not one which renders -itself up at once. Though, vaguely speaking, some passions seem nobler -and more dignified than others, we find it very difficult, in fact -impossible, to draw any strict line which shall separate one class, the -virtuous, from the other class, the vicious. On the whole we place -Prudence, Generosity, Chastity, Reverence, Courage among the -virtues--and their opposites, as Rashness, Miserliness, Incontinence, -Arrogance, Timidity, among the vices; yet we do not seem able to say -that Prudence is always better than Rashness, Chastity than -Incontinence, or Reverence than Arrogance. There are situations in which -the less honoured quality is the most in place; and if the extreme of -this is undesirable, the extreme of its opposite is undesirable too. -Courage, it is commonly said, must not be carried over into -foolhardiness; Chastity must not go so far as the monks of the early -Church took it; there is a limit to the indulgence of the instinct of -Reverence. In fact the less dignified passions are necessary sometimes -as a counterbalance and set-off to the more dignified, and a character -devoid of them would be very insipid; just as among the members of the -body, the less honoured have their place as well as the more honoured, -and could not well be discarded. - -Hence a number of writers, abandoning the attempt to draw a fixed line -between virtuous and vicious passions, have boldly maintained that vices -have their place as well as virtues, and that the true salvation lies in -the golden mean. The [Greek: epieikeia] and [Greek: sôphrosunê] of the -Greeks seem to have pointed to the idea of a blend or harmonious -adjustment of all the powers as the perfection of character. Plutarch -says (_Essay on Moral Virtue_), "This, then, is the function of -practical reason following nature, to prevent our passions either going -too far or too short.... Thus setting bound to the emotional currents, -it creates in the unreasoning part of the soul moral habits which are -the mean between excess and deficiency." - -The English word "gentleman" seems to have once conveyed a similar idea. -And Emerson, among others, maintains that each vice is only the "excess -or acridity of a virtue," and says "the first lesson of history is the -good of evil." - -According to this view rightness or wrongness cannot be predicated of -the passions themselves, but should rather be applied to the use of -them, and to the way they are proportioned to each other and to -circumstances. As, farther back, we left the region of actions to look -for morality in the passions that lie behind action, so now we leave the -region of the passions to look for it in the power that lies behind the -passions and gives them their place. This is a farther move in the same -direction as before, and possibly will bring us to a more satisfactory -conclusion. There are still difficulties, however, the chief ones lying -in the want of definiteness which necessarily attaches to our dealings -with these remoter tracts of human nature; and in our own defective -knowledge of these tracts. - -For these reasons, and as the subject is a complex and difficult one, I -would ask the reader to dwell for a few minutes longer on the -considerations which show that it is really as impossible to draw a -fixed line between moral and immoral passions as it is between moral and -immoral actions, and which therefore force us, if we are to find any -ground of morality at all, to look for it in some further region of our -nature. - -Plato in his allegory of the soul, in the Phædrus, though he apparently -divides the passions which draw the human chariot into two classes, the -heavenward and the earthward--figured by the white horse and the black -horse respectively--does not recommend that the black horse should be -destroyed or dismissed, but only that he (as well as the white horse) -should be kept under due control by the charioteer. By which he seems to -intend that there is a power in man which stands above and behind the -passions, and under whose control alone the human being can safely -move. In fact, if the fiercer and so-called more earthly passions were -removed, half the driving force would be gone from the chariot of the -human soul. Hatred may be devilish at times--but, after all, the true -value of it depends on what you hate, on the use to which the passion is -put. Anger, though inhuman at one time, is magnificent at another. -Obstinacy may be out of place in a drawing-room, but it is the latest -virtue on a battle-field, when an important position has to be held -against the full brunt of the enemy. And Lust, though maniacal and -monstrous in its aberrations, cannot in the last resort be separated -from its divine companion, Love. To let the more amiable passions have -entire sway notoriously does not do: to turn your cheek, too literally, -to the smiter, is (_pace_ Tolstoi) only to encourage smiting; and when -society becomes so altruistic that everybody runs to fetch the -coal-scuttle, we feel sure that something has gone wrong. The -white-washed heroes of our biographies, with their many virtues and no -faults, do not please us. We have an impression that the man without -faults is, to say the least, a vague, uninteresting being--a picture -without light and shade--and the conventional semi-pious classification -of character into good and bad qualities (as if the good might be kept -and the bad thrown away) seems both inadequate and false. - -What the student of human nature rather has to do is not to divide the -virtues (so-called) from the vices (so-called), not to separate the -black horse and the white horse, but to find out what is the relation of -the one to the other--to see the character as a whole, and the mutual -interdependence of its different parts--to find out what that power is -which constitutes it a unity, whose presence and control makes the man -and all his actions "right," and in whose absence (if it is really -possible for it to be entirely absent) the man and his actions must be -"wrong." - -What we call vices, faults, defects, appear often as a kind of -limitation: cruelty, for instance, as a limitation of human sympathy, -prejudice as a blindness, a want of discernment; but it is just these -limitations--in one form or another--which are the necessary conditions -of the appearance of a human being in the world. If we are to act or -live at all we must act and live under limits. There must be channels -along which the stream is forced to run, else it will spread and lose -itself aimlessly in all directions--and turn no mill-wheels. One man is -disagreeable and unconciliatory--the directions in which his sympathy -goes out to others are few and limited--yet there are situations in life -(and everyone must know them) when a man who is _able and willing_ to -make himself disagreeable is invaluable: when a Carlyle is worth any -number of Balaams. - -Sometimes again vices, etc., appear as a kind of raw material from which -the other qualities have to be formed, and without which, in a sense, -they could not exist. Sensuality, for instance, underlies all art and -the higher emotions. Timidity is the defect of the sensitive imaginative -temperament. Bluntness, stupid candor, and want of tact are -indispensable in the formation of certain types of Reformers. But what -would you have? Would you have a rabbit with the horns of a cow, or a -donkey with the disposition of a spaniel? The reformer has not to -extirpate his brusqueness and aggressiveness, but to see that he makes -good use of these qualities; and the man has not to abolish his -sensuality, but to humanise it. - -And so on. Lecky, in his "History of Morals," shows how in society -certain defects necessarily accompany certain excellences of character. -"Had the Irish peasants been less chaste they would have been more -prosperous," in his blunt assertion, which he supports by the contention -that their early marriages (which render the said virtue possible) "are -the most conspicuous proofs of the national improvidence, and one of the -most fatal obstacles to industrial prosperity." Similarly he says that -the gambling table fosters a moral nerve and calmness "scarcely -exhibited in equal perfection in any other sphere"--a fact which Bret -Harte has finely illustrated in his character of Mr. John Oakhurst in -the "Outcasts of Poker Flat;" also that "the promotion of industrial -veracity is probably the single form in which the growth of manufactures -exercises a favorable influence upon morals;" while, on the other hand, -"Trust in Providence, content and resignation in extreme poverty and -suffering, the most genuine amiability, and the most sincere readiness -to assist their brethren, an adherence to their religious opinions which -no persecutions and no bribes can shake, a capacity for heroic, -transcendent, and prolonged self-sacrifice, may be found in some -nations, in men who are habitual liars and habitual cheats." Again he -points out that thriftiness and forethought--which, in an industrial -civilisation like ours, are looked upon as duties "of the very highest -order"--have at other times (when the teaching was "take no thought for -the morrow") been regarded as quite the reverse, and concludes with the -general remark that as society advances there is some loss for every -gain that is made, and with the special indictment against -"civilisation" that it is not favorable to the production of -"self-sacrifice, enthusiasm, reverence, or chastity." - -The point of all which is that the so-called vices and defects--whether -we regard them as limitations or whether we regard them as raw materials -of character, whether we regard them in the individual solely or whether -we regard them in their relation to society--are necessary elements of -human life, elements without which the so-called virtues could not -exist; and that therefore it is quite impossible to separate vices and -virtues into distinct classes with the latent idea involved that one -class may be retained and the other in course of time got rid of. -Defects and bad qualities will not be treated so--they clamour for their -rights and will not be denied; they effect a lodgment in us, and we -have to put up with them. Like the grain of sand in the oyster, we are -forced to make pearls of them. - -These are the precipices and chasms which give form to the mountain. Who -wants a mountain sprawling indifferently out on all sides, without angle -or break, like the oceanic tide-wave of which one cannot say whether it -is a hill or a plain? And if you want to grow a lily, chastely white and -filling the air with its fragrance, will you not bury the bulb of it -deep in the dirt to begin with? - -Acknowledging, then, that it is impossible to hold permanently to any -line of distinction between good and bad passions, there remains no -course for us but to accept both, and to _make use_ of them--redeeming -them, both good and bad, from their narrowness and limitation by so -doing--to make use of them in the service of humanity. For as dirt is -only matter in the wrong place, so evil in man consists only in actions -or passions which are uncontrolled by the human within him, and -undedicated to its service. The evil consists not in the actions or -passions themselves, but in the fact that they are inhumanly used. The -most unblemished virtue erected into a barrier between one self and a -suffering brother or sister--the whitest marble image, howsoever lovely, -set up in the Holy Place of the temple of Man, where the spirit alone -should dwell--becomes blasphemy and a pollution. - -Wherein exactly this human service consists is another question. It may -be, and, as the reader would gather, probably is, a matter which at the -last eludes definition. But though it may elude exact statement, that is -no reason why approximations should not be made to the statement of it; -nor is its ultimate elusiveness of intellectual definition any proof -that it may not become a real and vital force within the man, and -underlying inspiration of his actions. To take the two considerations in -order. In the first place, as we saw from the beginning, the experience -of society is continually leading it to classify actions into beneficial -and harmful, good and bad; and thus moral codes are formed which eat -their way from the outside into the individual man and become part of -him. These codes may be looked upon as approximations in each age to a -statement of human service; but, as we have seen, they are by the nature -of the case very imperfect; and since the very conditions of the problem -are continually changing, it seems obvious that a final and absolute -solution of it by this method is impossible. The second way in which man -works towards a solution is by the expansion and growth of his own -consciousness, and is ultimately by far the most important--though the -two methods have doubtless continually to be corrected by each other. In -fact, as man actually forms a part of society externally, so he comes to -know and _feel_ himself a part of society through his inner nature. -Gradually, and in the lapse of ages, through the development of his -sympathetic relation with his fellows, the individual man enters into a -wider and wider circle of life; the joys and sorrows, the experiences, -of his fellows become his own joys and sorrows, his own experiences; he -passes into a life which is larger than his own individual life; forces -flow in upon him which determine his actions, not for results which -return to him directly, but for results which can only return to him -indirectly and through others; at last the ground of humanity, as it -were, reveals itself within him, the region of human equality--and his -actions come to flow directly from the very same source which regulates -and inspires the whole movement of society. At this point the problem is -solved. The growth has taken place from within; it is not of the nature -of an external compulsion, but of an inward compunction. By actual -consciousness the man has taken on an ever-enlarging life, and at last -the life of humanity, which has no fixed form, no ever-valid code; but -is itself the true life, surpassing definition, yet inspiring all -actions and passions, all codes and forms, and determining at last their -place. - -It is the gradual growth of this supreme life in each individual which -is the great and indeed the only hope of Society--it is that for which -Society exists: a life which so far from dwarfing individuality enhances -immensely its power, causing the individual to move with the weight of -the universe behind him--and exalting what were once his little -peculiarities and defects into the splendid manifestations of his -humanity. - -To return then for a moment to the practical bearing of this on the -question before us, we see that so soon as we have abandoned all codes -of morals there remains nothing for us but to put _all_ our qualities -and defects to human use, and to redeem them by so doing. Our defects -are our entrances into life, and the gateway of all our dealings with -others. Think what it is to be plain and _homely_. The very word -suggests an endearment, and a liberty of access denied to the -faultlessly handsome. Our very evil passions, so called, are not things -to be ashamed of, but things to look straight in the face and to see -what they are good for--for a use can be found for them, that is -certain. The man should see that he is worthy of his passion, as the -mountain should rear its crest conformable to the height of the -precipice which bounds it. Is it women? let him see that he is a -magnanimous lover. Is it ambition? let him take care that it be a grand -one. Is it laziness? let it redeem him from the folly of unrest, to -become heaven-reflecting, like a lake among the hills. Is it -closefistedness? let it become the nurse of a true economy. - -The more complicated, pronounced, or awkward the defect is the finer -will be the result when it has been thoroughly worked up. Love of -approbation is difficult to deal with. Through sloughs of duplicity, of -concealment, of vanity, it leads its victim. It sucks his sturdy -self-life, and leaves him flattened and bloodless. Yet once mastered, -once fairly torn out, cudgeled, and left bleeding on the road (for this -probably has to be done with every vice or virtue some time or other), -it will rise up and follow you, carrying a magic key round its neck, -meek and serviceable now, instead of dangerous and demoniac as before. - -Deceit is difficult to deal with. In some sense it is the worst fault -that can be. It seems to disorganise and ultimately to destroy the -character. Yet I am bold to say that this defect has its uses. Severely -examined perhaps it will be found that no one can live a day free from -it. And beyond that--is not "a noble dissimulation" part and parcel of -the very greatest characters: like Socrates, "the white soul in a satyr -form"? When the divine has descended among men has it not always, like -Moses, worn a veil before its face? and what is Nature herself but one -long and organised system of deception? - -Veracity has an opposite effect. It knits all the elements of a man's -character--rendering him solid rather than fluid; yet carried out too -literally and pragmatically it condenses and solidifies the character -overmuch, making the man woodeny and angular. And even of that essential -Truth (truth to the inward and ideal perfection) which more than -anything else perhaps _constitutes_ a man--it is to be remembered that -even here there must be a limitation. No man can in act or externally be -quite true to the ideal--though in spirit he may be. If he is to live in -this world and be mortal, it must be by virtue of some partiality, some -defect. - -And so again--since there is an analogy between the Individual and -Society--may we not conclude that as the individual has ultimately to -recognise his so-called evil passions and find a place and a use for -them, society also has to recognise its so-called criminals and discern -their place and use? The artist does not omit shadows from his canvas; -and the wise statesman will not try to abolish the criminal from -society--lest haply he be found to have abolished the driving force from -his social machine.[37] - -From what has now been said it is quite clear that in general we call a -man a criminal, not because he violates any eternal code of -morality--for there exists no such thing--but because he violates the -ruling code of his time, and this depends largely on the ideal of the -time. The Spartans appear to have permitted theft because they thought -that thieving habits in the community fostered military dexterity and -discouraged the accumulation of private wealth. They looked upon the -latter as a great evil. But to-day the accumulation of private wealth is -our great good and the thief is looked upon as the evil. When however we -find, as the historians of to-day teach us, that society is now probably -passing through a parenthetical stage of private property from a stage -of communism in the past to a stage of more highly developed communism -in the future, it becomes clear that the thief (and the poacher -before-mentioned) is that person who is protesting against the -too-exclusive domination of a passing ideal. Whatever should we do -without him? He is keeping open for us, as Hinton I think expresses it, -the path to a regenerate society, and is more useful to that end than -many a platform orator. He it is that makes Care to sit upon the Crupper -of Wealth, and so, in course of time, causes the burden and bother of -private property to become so intolerable that society gladly casts it -down on common ground. Vast as is the machinery of Law, and multifarious -the ways in which it seeks to crush the thief, it has signally failed, -and fails ever more and more. The thief will win. He will get what he -wants, but (as usual in human life!) in a way and in a form very -different from what he expected. - -And when we regard the thief in himself, we cannot say that we find him -less human than other classes of society. The sentiment of large bodies -of thieves is highly communistic among themselves; and if they thus -represent a survival from an earlier age, they might also be looked upon -as the precursors of a better age in the future. They have their pals in -every town, with runs and refuges always open, and are lavish and -generous to a degree to their own kind. And if they look upon the rich -as their natural enemies and fair prey, a view which it might be -difficult to gainsay, many of them at any rate are animated by a good -deal of the Robin Hood spirit, and are really helpful to the poor. - -I need not I think quote that famous passage from Lecky in which he -shows how the prostitute, through centuries of suffering and ill-fame, -has borne the curse and contempt of Society in order that her more -fortunate sister might rejoice in the achievement of a pure marriage. -The ideal of a monogamic union has been established in a sense directly -by the slur cast upon the free woman. If, however, as many people think, -a certain latitude in sexual relations is not only admissible but, in -the long run, and within bounds, desirable, it becomes clear that the -prostitute is that person who against heavy odds, and at the cost of a -real degradation to herself, has clung to a tradition which, in itself -good, might otherwise have perished in the face of our devotion to the -splendid ideal of the exclusive marriage. There has been a time in -history when the prostitute (if the word can properly be used in this -connection) has been glorified, consecrated to the temple-service and -honoured of men and gods (the hierodouloi of the Greeks, the kodeshoth -and kodeshim of the Bible, etc.) There has also been a time when she has -been scouted and reviled. In the future there will come a time when, as -free companion, really free from the curse of modern commercialism, and -sacred and respected once more, she will again be accepted by society -and take her place with the rest. - -And so with other cases. On looking back into history we find that -almost every human impulse has at some age been held in esteem and -allowed full play; thus man came to recognise its beauty and value. But -then, lest it should come (as it surely would) to tyrannise over the -rest, it has been dethroned, and so in a later age the same quality is -scouted and banned. Last of all it has to find its perfect human use and -to take its place with the rest. Up to the age of Civilisation -(according to writers on primitive Society) the early tribes of mankind, -though limited each in their habits, were essentially democratical in -structure. In fact, nothing had occurred to make them otherwise. Each -member stood on a footing of equality with the rest; individual men had -not in their hands an arbitrary power over others; and the tribal life -and standard ruled supreme. And when, in the future and on a much higher -plane, the true Democracy comes, this equality which has so long been in -abeyance will be restored, not only among men but also, in a sense, -among all the passions and qualities of manhood: none will be allowed to -tyrannise over others, but all will have to be subject to the supreme -life of humanity. The chariot of Man instead of two horses will have a -thousand; but they will all be under control of the charioteer. -Meanwhile it may not be extravagant to suppose that all through the -Civilisation-period the so-called criminals are keeping open the -possibility of a return to this state of society. They are preserving, -in a rough and unattractive husk it may be, the precious seed of a life -which is to come in the future; and are as necessary and integral a part -of society in the long run as the most respected and most honoured of -its members at present. - -The upshot then of it all is that "morals" as a permanent code of action -have to be discarded. There exists no such permanent code. One age, one -race, one class, one family, may have a code which the users of it -consider valid, but only they consider it valid, and then only for a -time. The Decalogue may have been a rough and useful ready-reckoner for -the Israelites; but to us it admits of so many exceptions and -interpretations that it is practically worthless. "Thou shalt not -steal." Exactly; but who is to decide, as we saw at the outset, in what -"stealing" consists? The question is too complicated to admit of an -answer. And when we _have_ caught our half-starved tramp "sneaking" a -loaf, and are ready to condemn him, lo! Lycurgus pats him on the back, -and the modern philosopher tells him that he is keeping open the path to -a regenerate society! If the tramp had also been a philosopher, he would -perhaps have done the same act not merely for his own benefit but for -that of society, he would have committed a crime in order to save -mankind. - -There is nothing left but Humanity. Since there is no ever-valid code of -morals we must sadly confess that there is no means of proving ourselves -right and our neighbours wrong. In fact the very act of thinking -whether _we_ are right (which implies a sundering of ourselves, even in -thought, from others) itself introduces the element of wrongness; and if -we are ever to _be_ "right" at all, it must be at some moment when we -fail to notice it--when we have forgotten our apartness from others and -have entered into the great region of human equality. Equality--in that -region all human defects are redeemed; they all find their place. To -love your neighbour _as_ yourself is the whole law and the prophets; to -feel that you are "equal" with others, that their lives are as your -life, that your life is as theirs--even in what trifling degree we may -experience such things--is to enter into another life which includes -both sides; it is to pass beyond the sphere of moral distinctions, and -to trouble oneself no more with them. Between lovers there are no duties -and no rights; and in the life of humanity, there is only an instinctive -mutual service expressing itself in whatever way may be best at the -time. Nothing is forbidden, there is nothing which may not serve. The -law of Equality is perfectly flexible, is adaptable to all times and -places, finds a place for all the elements of character, justifies and -redeems them all without exception; and to live by it is perfect -freedom. Yet not a law: but rather as said, a new life, transcending the -individual life, working through it from within, lifting the self into -another sphere, beyond corruption, far over the world of Sorrow. - -The effort to make a distinction between acting for self and acting for -one's neighbor is the basis of "morals." As long as a man feels an -ultimate antagonism between himself and society, as long as he tries to -hold his own life as a thing apart from that of others, so long must the -question arise whether he will act for self _or_ for those others. Hence -flow a long array of terms--distinctions of right and wrong, duty, -selfishness, self-renunciation, altruism, etc. But when he discovers -that there is no ultimate antagonism between himself and society; when -he finds that the gratification of every desire which he has or can have -may be rendered social, or beneficial to his fellows, by being used at -the right time and place, and on the other hand that every demand made -upon him by society will and must gratify some portion of his nature, -some desire of his heart--why, all the distinctions collapse again; they -do not hold water any more. A larger life descends upon him, which -includes both sides, and prompts actions in accordance with an unwritten -and unimagined law. Such actions will sometimes be accounted "selfish" -by the world; sometimes they will be accounted "unselfish"; but they are -neither, or--if you like--both; and he who does them concerns himself -not with the names that may be given to them. The law of Equality -includes all the moral codes, and is the standpoint which they cannot -reach, but which they all aim at. - -Judged by this final standard then, it may doubtless fairly be -said--since we all fall short of it--that we are all criminals, and -deserve a good hiding; and even that some of us are greater criminals -than others. Only of this real criminality the actual moral and legal -codes afford but ineffectual tests. I may be a far worse or more -self-included ("idiotic" or brutal) man than you, but the mere fact that -I have violated the laws and been clapped into prison does not prove it. -There may be, probably is, a real and eternal difference represented by -the words Right and Wrong, but no statement that we can make will ever -quite avail to define it. One use, however, of all these laws and codes -in the past, imperfect though they were, may have been to gradually -excite the consciousness in the individual of his opposition to society, -and so prepare the way for a true reconcilement. As Paul says, "I had -not known sin, but by the law," and, if we had not been cudgeled and -bruised for centuries by this rough bludgeon of social convention, we -should not now be so sensitive as we are to the effect of our actions -upon our neighbours, nor so ready for a social life in the future which -shall be superior to law. - -Of course, the ultimate reconcilement of the individual with society--of -the unit Man with the mass-Man--involves the subordination of the -desires, their subjection to the true self. And this is a most important -point. It is no easy lapse that is here suggested, from morality into a -mere jungle of human passion, but a toilsome and long ascent--involving -for a time at any rate a determined self-control--into ascendancy over -the passions; it involves the complete mastery, one by one, of them all, -and the recognition and allowance of them only because they are -mastered. And it is just this training and subjection of the -passions--as of winged horses which are to draw the human chariot--which -necessarily forms such a long and painful process of human evolution. -The old moral codes are a part of this process; but they go on the plan -of extinguishing some of the passions--seeing that it is sometimes -easier to shoot a restive horse than to ride him. We however do not want -to be lords of dead carrion, but of living powers; and every steed that -we can add to our chariot makes our progress through creation so much -the more splendid, providing Phoebus indeed hold the reins, and not the -incapable Phaeton. - -And by becoming thus one with the social self, the individual, instead -of being crushed, is made far vaster, far grander than before. The -renunciation (if it must be so called) which he has to accept in -abandoning merely individual ends is immediately compensated by the far -more vivid life he now enters into. For every force of his nature can -now be utilised. Planting himself out by contrast he stands all the -firmer because he has a left foot as well as a right, and when he acts, -he acts not half-heartedly as one afraid, but, as it were, with the -whole weight of Humanity behind him. In abandoning his exclusive -individuality he becomes for the first time a real and living -individual; and in accepting as his own the life of others he becomes -aware of a life in himself that has no limit and no end. That the self -of any one man is capable of an infinite gradation from the most petty -and exclusive existence to the most magnificent and inclusive seems -almost a truism. The one extreme is disease and death, the other is life -everlasting. When the tongue for example--which is a member of the -body--regards itself as a purely separate existence for itself alone, it -makes a mistake, it suffers an illusion, and descends into its pettiest -life. What is the consequence? Thinking that it exists apart from the -other members, it selects food just such as shall gratify its most local -self, it endeavours just to titillate its own sense of taste; and living -and acting thus, ere long it ruins that very sense of taste, poisons the -system with improper food, and brings about disease and death. Yet, if -healthy, how does the tongue act? Why, it does not run counter to its -own sense of taste, or stultify itself. It does not talk about -sacrificing its own inclinations for the good of the body and the other -members; but it just acts as being one in interest with them and they -with it. For the tongue _is_ a muscle, and therefore what feeds it feeds -all the other muscles; and the membrane of the tongue _is_ a -prolongation of the membrane of the stomach, and that is how the tongue -knows what the stomach will like; and the tongue _is_ nerves and blood, -and so the tongue may act for nerves and blood all over the body, and so -on. Therefore the tongue may enter into a wider life than that -represented by the mere local sense of taste, and experiences more -pleasure often in the drinking of a glass of water which the whole body -wants, than in the daintiest sweetmeat which is for itself alone. - -Exactly so man in a healthy state does not act for himself alone, -practically cannot do so. Nor does he talk cant about "serving his -neighbors," etc. But he simply acts for them as well as for himself, -because they are part and parcel of his life--bone of his bone and flesh -of his flesh; and in doing so he enters into a wider life, finds a more -perfect pleasure, and becomes more really a man than ever before. Every -man contains in himself the elements of all the rest of humanity. They -lie in the background; but they are there. In the front he has his own -special faculty developed--his individual façade, with its projects, -plans and purposes: but behind sleeps the Demos-life with far vaster -projects and purposes. Some time or other to every man must come the -consciousness of this vaster life. - -The true Democracy, wherein this larger life will rule society from -within--obviating the need of an external government--and in which all -characters and qualities will be recognised and have their freedom, -waits (a hidden but necessary result of evolution) in the constitution -of human nature itself. In the pre-Civilisation period these vexed -questions of "morals" practically did not exist; simply because in that -period the individual was one with his tribe and moved (unconsciously) -by the larger life of his tribe. And in the post-Civilisation period, -when the true Democracy is realised, they will not exist, because then -the man will know himself a part of humanity at large, and will be -consciously moved by forces belonging to these vaster regions of his -being. The moral codes and questionings belong to Civilisation, they are -part of the forward effort, the struggle, the suffering, and the -temporary alienation from true life, which that term implies.[38] - -FOOTNOTES: - -[34] Yet there is no doubt that lasting and passionate love may exist -between two persons thus nearly related. The danger to the health of the -offspring from occasional in-breeding of the kind appears to arise -chiefly from the accentuation of infirmities common to the two parents. -In a state of society free from the diseases of the civilisation-period, -such a danger would be greatly reduced. - -[35] Modern writers fixing their regard on the physical side of this -love (necessary no doubt here, as elsewhere, to define and corroborate -the spiritual) have entered their protest as against the mere obscenity -into which the thing fell--for instance in the days of Martial--but have -missed the profound significance of the heroic attachment itself. It is, -however, with the ideals that we are just now concerned and not with -their disintegration. - -[36] In the _later_ Egyptian centuries vivisection apparently became an -approved practice. - -[37] The derivation of the word "wicked" seems uncertain. May it be -suggested that it is connected with "wick" or "quick," meaning _alive_? - -[38] For further on the same subject see the last chapter, _infra_, on -"The New Morality." - - - - -EXFOLIATION - - "Creation's incessant unrest, exfoliation." - WHITMAN. - - -I think it may perhaps be agreed, once for all, that the human mind is -incapable of really defining even the smallest fact of nature. The -simplest thing, or event, baffles us at the last. It is like trying to -look at the front and back of a mirror at the same time. The utmost -squinting avails not. The ego and the non-ego dance eluding through -creation. To catch them both in any mortal object and pin them there, -surpasses our powers. And yet they are there. Montaigne quotes somewhere -the words of S. Augustine: _Modus quo corporibus adhaerent spiritus ... -omnino mirus est, nec comprehendi ab homine potest; et hoc ipse homo -est_. "The manner whereby spirits adhere to bodies is altogether -wonderful, and cannot be conceived of by men; and yet this _is_ man." -Man himself contains, or rather is, the reconcilement of this and -numberless other contradictions. We actually every day perform and -exhibit miracles which the mental part of us is utterly powerless to -grapple with. Yet the solution, the intelligent solution and -understanding of them _is_ in us; only it involves a higher order of -consciousness than we usually deal with--a consciousness possibly which -includes and transcends the ego and the non-ego, and so can envisage -both at the same time and equally--a fourth-dimensional consciousness to -whose gaze the interiors of solid bodies are exposed like mere -surfaces--a consciousness to whose perception some usual antitheses like -cause and effect, matter and spirit, past and future, simply do not -exist. I say these higher orders of consciousness are in us waiting for -their evolution; and, until they evolve, we are powerless really to -understand anything of the world around us. - -Meanwhile, since we _must_ have formulæ and generalisations to think by, -we are fain to accept our local views, and look on the world from this -side or from that. Sometimes we are idealists, sometimes we are -materialists; sometimes we believe in mechanics, sometimes in human or -spiritual forces. The science of the last fifty years has, as pointed -out in a preceding paper, looked at things more from the mechanical than -the distinctively human side--from the point of view of the non-ego, -rather than of the ego. Reacting from an extreme tendency towards a -subjective view of phenomena, which characterised the older -speculations, and fearing to be swayed by a kind of partiality towards -himself, the modern scientist has endeavoured to remove the human and -conscious element from his observations of Nature. And he has done -valuable work in this way--but of course has been betrayed into a -corresponding narrowness. - -In fact the main scientific doctrine of the day, Evolution, is obviously -suffering from this treatment, and the following remarks are merely a -few notes by way of suggestion of some things which may be said on its -more specially human side. For since each man is a part of nature, and -in that sense a part also of the evolution-process, his own subjective -experience ought at least to throw some light on the conditions under -which evolution takes place, and to contribute something towards an -understanding of the problem. - -If the question is: What is the cause of Variation among animals? some -approximation towards an answer ought to be got by each person asking -himself, "Why do I vary?" Why--he might say--am I a different person -from what I was ten years ago, or when I was a boy? Why have I varied in -one direction and my brothers and sisters from the same nest in other -directions? Though my individual consciousness only covers the small -ground of my own life, and does not extend back to that of my father or -forward to that of my son, still the intimate knowledge that I have of -the forces acting on me during that short period may help me to an -understanding of the forces that bring about the modification of men and -animals at large, and the discovery of some laws of my own growth may -reveal to me the laws of race-growth. - -In answer to such a question, it would speedily appear that there were -two general causes determining direction of change or growth in the -individual, which might be conveniently distinguished from each -other--an external and an internal. In the first place the supposed -person might say, "External conditions forced me along these lines. My -father was a town artisan, but he apprenticed me to a farmer. I grew up -a farmer's boy, and became an agricultural type as you see. I did not -particularly care for farming, sometimes indeed I would have been glad -to be out of it; but practically I succumbed to circumstances, and here -I am." But in the second place he might answer thus:--"My father was -himself a farmer; I was early used to the craft, and should no doubt -have grown up in it, had I not hated it like poison. I loved music, -broke away from home, joined a band, got on the musical staff of a small -theatre, and am now a professional musician. My frame is comparatively -slight, and my hands are of the nervous type, as you see. Of course, I -have some of the old agricultural stock left in me, but I feel that that -is dying out." The one cause would be a change of external conditions, -forcing the man to accommodate himself to them; the other would be a -change of internal conditions, an inward growth, expressing itself first -in the form of an intense desire, and compelling the man to change -himself and probably also his environment in obedience to it. Two such -general sets of causes, I say, could be roughly distinguished from each -other; and probably indeed are recognised less or more distinctly by -everyone as acting to modify his life. Nor can the life of a man at any -time be said to be ruled by one of these forces alone. No man is -modified by external conditions alone, without any play or reaction of -inner needs and desires and growth from within; nor is any man -transformed in obedience to an inner expansion without sundry lets and -hindrances from without. The two forces are in constant play upon one -another; but in some ways that would appear to be the more important -which proceeds from the Man (or creature) himself, since this is -obviously vital and organic to him, and therefore the most consistent -and reliable factor in his modification, while the external -force--arising from various and remote causes--must rather be regarded -as discontinuous and accidental. - -I propose, therefore, in these few pages to consider especially this -inner force producing modification in man and animals--to try and find -out of what nature it is, what is the law, and what are the limits of -its action--premising always, as already suggested, that this -distinction between "inner" and "outer," which is convenient and easy to -handle on certain planes of thought, may ultimately, and in the last -resort, prove very difficult or even impossible to maintain. - -It is often said by Biologists that _function precedes -organisation_--that is, man fights with his fellows before he makes -weapons to fight with; the rudimentary animal digests food (as in the -case of the amoeba) before it acquires a stomach or organ of digestion; -it sees or is sensitive to light before it grows an eye; in society -letters are carried by private hands before an organised postal system -is created. Such facts properly considered are of vital importance. They -show us, as it were by a sign-post, the direction of creation. They show -how any new thing or modification of an old thing may come into being. -They may be supplemented by a second statement--namely that _desire -precedes function_. That is, man desires to injure his fellow before he -actually fights with him; he experiences the wish to communicate with -distant friends before ever he thinks of sending such a thing as a -letter; the amoeba craves for food first, and circumvents its prey -afterwards. Desire, or inward change, comes first, action follows, and -organisation or outward structure is the result. - -In man this "order of creation," if it may so be called, _i.e._, from -within outwards, is very marked. Whenever a man creates anything new he -pursues it; when he builds a house, for instance, or composes a poem or -piece of music, or designs an Alpine tunnel, or whatever it may be. The -order seems to be: first, a feeling--a dim want or desire; then the -feeling becomes conscious of itself, takes shape in thought; the thought -becomes more defined and issues in a distinct plan; the plan is -committed to paper, models are made, etc.; and finally the actual work -is begun and completed. The process appears as a movement from within -outwards--the earliest and most authentic discernible source of the -movement being a feeling--(though there may lie something behind that). -Even in ordinary action the same order is manifest; for, though of -course _every_ action is not preceded by desire--since we know that -actions soon become habitual and more or less unconscious--still a vast -number of them are immediately so preceded; and in the case of any -action that is _new_, either to the individual or to the race, its -inception is generally accompanied by effort so painful that it would -not be exerted unless the desire were very strong. The difficulty which -a man experiences in learning any new art, and the records of the many -failures, struggles, oppositions, persecutions, etc., which have -attended every new invention or innovation of any kind in human history, -afford plenty of evidence of this last point. Certainly the effort that -accompanies a new action is not always faced so much from sheer desire -of the new thing itself as from fear perhaps of something else--as it -may be contended that monkeys did not take to climbing trees because -they loved trees, but because they feared the beasts below, or that the -giraffe did not stretch its neck because it particularly desired to feed -on leaves, as because it could not get food any other way--but still, -even in these cases the desire may be said to exist, though it is -secondary--being founded upon another and more elementary desire--the -desire namely of escaping pain or obtaining food. In either case a -desire of some kind is a precedent condition of the new action. And so -as we know of no case of a new action coming into play without being -preceded by desire, we seem to be justified in supposing that all our -actions when they were first initiated (in our forefathers, if not in -ourselves) were so preceded. If this is so, then, since function is -always preceded by desire, and organisation is preceded by function, -organisation must necessarily be preceded by desire. And if this is the -order of creation in man, should we not reasonably look in this -direction for the key to the variation of animals and the order of -creation in general?[39] - -If a farmer's son is occasionally born who hates farming and loves -music, and who ultimately through the force of his desire (driving him -into oppositions and difficulties and penurious struggles) transforms -himself into a musician, is it not also likely that occasionally an -animal is born who hates the customs of his tribe, and at last (also -through struggles) transforms himself into something else? Even if he -does not succeed (the animal) in entirely transforming himself, he -likely transmits the desire in some degree to his descendants, and the -transformation is thus carried on and completed later. For everywhere -among the animals there _is_ desire, of some kind or another, obviously -acting; and if in man, by our own experience, desire is the precursor -and first expression of growth, is there any reason why it should not -also be so among animals? Lamarck gives the instance--among others--of a -gasteropod; how the need or desire of touching bodies in front of it as -it crawled along would result in the formation of tentacles. The -gasteropod, he says, would keep making efforts to feel with the front of -its head, and the determination of consciousness that way would be -accompanied by a supply of nervous and other fluids, which would nourish -the part and cause growth there--the _form_ of the growth continuing in -the same way to be determined by need--till at last two or more -tentacles would appear. True, the inward determinations of consciousness -may not be so vivid and varied in animals as they are in men; but they -are persistent, and by the very cumulative force of habit which is so -strong in animals, must at length penetrate down through function into -organisation and external form. Who shall say that the lark, by the mere -love of soaring and singing in the face of the sun, has not altered the -shape of its wings, or that the forms of the shark or of the gazelle are -not the long-stored results of character leaning always in certain -directions, as much as the forms of the miser or the libertine are among -men? - -Such modification as this is very different from the "survival of the -fittest" of the Darwinian evolution theory. We may fairly suppose that -both kinds of modification take place; but the latter is a sort of easy -success won by an external accident of birth--a success of the kind that -would readily be lost again; while the former is the uphill fight of a -nature that has grown inwardly and wins expression for itself in spite -of external obstacles--an expression which therefore is likely to be -permanent. If the progenitors of man took to going upright on two legs -instead of on all fours, merely because a few of them by _chance_ were -born with a talent for that position, which enabled them to escape the -fanged and pursuing beasts, then when this danger was removed they might -have plumped down again into the old attitude; but if the change was -part and parcel of a true evolution, the fulfilment of a positive desire -for the upright position, a true _unfolding_ of a higher form latent -within--an organic growth of the creature itself, then, though the -moment of the evolution of this particular faculty might be determined -by the fanged beasts, the fact of such evolution could not be determined -by them. Besides, are we to suppose that Man, the lord and ruler of the -animals, came merely by way of _escape_ from the animals? Do lords and -rulers generally come so? Was it fear that made him a man? Were it not -likelier that in that case he would have turned into a worm? He would -have escaped better perhaps that way. Is it not rather probable that it -was some nobler power that worked transforming--some dim desire and -prevision of a more perfect form, the desire itself being the first -consciousness of the urge of growth in that direction--that prompted him -to push in the one direction rather than the other when he had to hold -his own against the tigers? In fact is it not thus to-day, when a man -has to meet danger, that the ideal which he has within him determines -_how_ he shall meet that danger, and others like it, and so ultimately -determines the whole attitude and carriage of his body? - -On the whole then, judging from man himself (and it seems most cautious -and scientific to derive our main evidence from the being that we are -best acquainted with), it certainly seems to me that, though the -external conditions are a very important factor in Variation, the -central explanation of this phenomenon should be sought in an inner law -of Growth--a law of expansion more or less common to all animate nature. -Partly because, as said before, the unfolding of the creature from its -own needs and inward nature is an organic process, and likely to be -persistent, while its modification by external causes must be more or -less fortuitous and accidental and sometimes in one direction and -sometimes in another; partly also because the movement from within -outwards seems to be most like the law of creation in general. Under -this view the external conditions would be considered a -secondary--though important cause of modification; and regarded rather -as the influences that give form and detail to the great primal impulse -of growth from within; while the creature's own ingenuity and good luck -would occupy the ground between the two--as the means whereby the -external conditions in each individual case would be turned to account -to satisfy the inner needs, or the inner life would be accommodated to -the external conditions. - -If we take the external view of Variation--which is the one most -favoured by modern science--modification or race-growth appears as an -unconscious or accretive process, similar to the formation of a coral -reef. There is no line of growth native in the race itself, but at any -moment it is supposed to have an equal tendency to vary in any -direction. Surrounding conditions act selectively; and by a process of -weeding out certain types survive; small successive modifications are -thus accumulated; and gradually and in the lapse of ages a more pliable -and differentiated creature, and more adaptable to a variety of -conditions, is produced--in whom however mind is incidental, and has -played but small part in the creature's evolution. This in the main is -the Darwinian-evolution theory. - -If we take the internal view, growth is from the first eminently -conscious. Every change begins in the mental region--is felt first as a -desire gradually taking form into thought, passes down into the bodily -region, expresses itself in action (more or less dependent on -conditions), and finally solidifies itself in organisation and -structure. The process is not accretive, but exfoliatory--a continual -movement from within outwards. When the desire or mental condition, -which at first was painfully conscious, has overcome opposition and -established itself in altered bodily structure, it has done its work, -and becomes unconscious--the bodily function continuing for a long -period to act automatically, till finally it is thrown off to make room -for some later development. Thus race-growth or Variation is a process -by which change begins in the mental region, passes into the bodily -region where it becomes organised, and finally is thrown off like a -husk. This may be called the theory of Exfoliation. - -To illustrate our meaning. Let us take the development of an eye. In the -amoeba there is a dim pervasive sensitiveness to light over the whole -body, but there is no eye, nothing that we should call vision. Still -this vague sensitiveness is of use to the amoeba. The shadow of its prey -falling upon the creature and exciting a sensation hardly yet -differentiated from touch helps to guide its movements. On this dim -sensation it relies to some extent; its attention is directed towards -it. Gradually, and in some descendant form, there comes to be a point on -the body on which this attention is most specially concentrated. The -faculty is localised; and from that moment a change is effected there, a -differentiation and a special structure; everything that favours -sensitiveness is encouraged at that place, everything that dulls it is -removed; and before long--there is a rudimentary eye. To-day we use our -perfected eyes, and are hardly conscious that we are doing so; but every -power of vision that we have was thus won for us by some lowlier -creature, step by step, with effort and with concentration. Or to take -an illustration from society. To-day society is ill at ease; a dim -feeling of discontent pervades all ranks and classes. A new sense of -justice, of fraternity, has descended among us, which is not satisfied -with mere chatter of demand and supply. For a long time this new -sentiment or desire remains vague and unformed, but at last it resolves -itself into shape; it takes intellectual form, books are written, plans -formed; then after a time definite new organisations, for the distinct -purpose of expressing these ideas, begin to exist in the body of the old -society; and before so very long the whole outer structure of society -will have been reorganised by them. After a few centuries the ideas for -whose realisation we now fight and struggle with an intense -consciousness will have become commonplace, accepted institutions, more -or less effete and ready to succumb before fresh mental births taking -place from within. - -The modern evolution theory would maintain that among many amoebas and -descendant forms, one would at last by chance be born having the usual -sensitiveness localised in a particular spot, and, surviving by force of -this advantage, would transmit this "eye" to its posterity; or that in -the progress of society, new economic conditions having arisen, that -people would prosper best which most effectually and rapidly adapted -itself to them. But though there is doubtless truth in this view, yet it -seems, when all has been said, to be inadequate and even feeble; it -omits at least one half of the problem. If we look at ourselves, as -already pointed out, we see the two forces--the inner and the -outer--acting and re-acting on each other. May it not be so in animals? -Lamarck, poorly off, blind, derided, was a true poet. "Animals vary from -low and primitive types chiefly by dint of wishing"--and the world -laughed and still laughs. But it was his deep sympathy even with the -worms and insects (which he studied till he could discern them with his -mortal eyes no longer) that led Lamarck to see the human nature and the -human laws that moved within them; and as his outward sight grew dim -there arose before him the inward vision of the true relationship which -binds together all living creatures--which was indeed a vision of divine -things, and as different from the mere mechanism-theory of the survival -of the fittest as the sight of the starry heavens is different from a -governess's lesson on the use of the globes. - -On the theory of Exfoliation, which was practically Lamarck's theory, -there is a force at work throughout creation, ever urging each type -onward into new and newer forms. This force appears first in -consciousness in the form of _desire_. Within each shape of life sleep -needs and wants without number, from the lowest and simplest to the -most complex and ideal. As each new desire or ideal is evolved, it -brings the creature into conflict with its surroundings, then gaining -its satisfaction externalises itself in the structure of the creature, -and leaves the way open for the birth of a new ideal. If then we would -find a key to the understanding of the expansion and growth of all -animate creation, such a key may exist in the nature of desire itself -and the comprehension of its real meaning. It is not certain that it can -be found here; but it may be. - -What then is desire in Man? Here we come back again, as suggested at the -outset, to Man himself. Though we see pretty clearly that desire is at -work in the animals, and that it is the same in kind as exists in man, -still, among the animals it is but dim and inchoate, while in man it is -developed and luminous; in ourselves, too, we know it immediately, while -in the animals only by inference. For both reasons, therefore, if we -want to know the nature of desire--even to know its nature among -animals--we should study it in Man. What then is this desire in Man, -which seems to be the instigation and origin of all his growth and -development? At first it seems a hydra-headed senseless thing without -rhyme or reason; but the more one regards it the more clearly one sees -that even in its lowest forms it is steadily building up and liberating -all the functions of the human being. In its most perfect form--as in -what we call Love--it is the sum and solution of human activities, that -in which they converge, for which they all exist, and without which -they would be considered useless. The more you look into this matter, -the plainer it becomes. The lesser desires--the self-preservation -desires--hunger, thirst, the desire of power--exist, but when they are -satisfied they empty themselves into this one; they find their -interpretation in it. The other desires are nothing by themselves--the -most absorbing, avarice, ambition, desire of knowledge, taken alone, -stultify themselves--but love perpetuates itself; it is a flame which -uses all the rest as its fuel. And this Love, which is the culmination -of desire, does it not appear to us as a worship of and desire for the -human form? In our bodies a desire for the bodily human form; in our -interior selves a perception and worship of an ideal human form, the -revelation of a Splendour dwelling in others, which--clouded and dimmed -as it inevitably may come to be--remains after all one of the most real, -perhaps the most real, of the facts of existence? Desire, therefore--as -it exists in man, look at it how you will--as it unfolds and its -ultimate aim becomes clearer and clearer to itself, is seen to be the -desire and longing for the deliverance and expression of the real human -Being. May it not, must it not, be the same thing in animals and all -through creation? Beginning in the most elementary and dim shapes, does -it not grow through all the stages of organic life clearer and more and -more powerful, till at last it attains to self-consciousness in humanity -and becomes avowedly the leading factor in our development? - -The desire which runs through creation is one desire. Rudimentary at -first and hardly conscious of itself, throwing out a tentacle here, a -foot there, developing an eye, a claw, a nostril, a wing, it seeks in -innumerable shapes and with ever partial success to realise the image it -has dimly conceived. The animal kingdom is the gymnasium, the school, -the antechamber, of humanity; to walk through a zoological garden is to -see the inchoate types of man, perched on branches, or browsing grass, -or boring holes in the ground; it is to witness a grand rehearsal of -some stupendous part, whose character we do not even yet fully see or -understand. From such half-conscious beginnings the desire grows, its -aim becomes clearer, till in the higher animals--the horse, the dog, the -elephant, the bird, and many others--it becomes a marked and -unmistakable force drawing them close to man, uniting them to him in a -kind of acknowledged kinship, and as obviously at work modifying their -structure as can be. Finally in man himself it becomes an absorbing -power; love becomes a conscious worship of the divine form; generation -itself is the means whereby, in time, the supreme object of desire is -realised. When at last the perfect Man appears, the key to all nature is -found, every creature falls into its place and finds its Interpreter, -and the purpose of creation is at last made manifest. - -The Theory of Exfoliation then differs from that very specialised form -of Evolution which has been adopted by modern science, in this -particular among others: that it fixes the attention on that which -appears last in order of Time, as the most important in order of -causation, rather than on that which appears first; and recalls to us -the fact that often in any succession of phenomena, that which is first -in order of precedence and importance is the last to be externalised. -Thus in the growth of a plant we find leaf after leaf appearing, petal -within petal--a continual exfoliation of husks, sepals, petals, stamens -and what-not; but the object of all this movement, and that which in a -sense sets it all in motion, namely the seed, is the very last thing of -all to be manifested. Or when a volcano breaks out--first of all we have -a cracking and upheaval of superficial layers of ground, then of layers -below these, then the outflow of lava, and _last of all_ the uprush of -the inner fires and forces which set it all agoing. What appears first -in time, or in the outer world is--in the case of the building of a -house, the making of bricks; in the case of the flower, the outermost -bracts; in the case of a volcano, the stirring of the surface of the -ground; and in the case of Life on the Earth, the appearance of -protoplasms and primordial cells. The bricks are not the cause of the -house (if indeed the word "cause" should be used here at all) but rather -the house--or the conception of the house--is the cause of the bricks; -and the cells are not the origin of Man, but Man is the original of the -cells. The rationale of sea-anemones and mud-fish and flying foxes and -elephants has to be looked for in man: he alone underlies them. And man -is not a vertebrate because his ancestors were vertebrate; but the -animals are vertebrate, because or in so far as they are forerunners and -offshoots of Man. - -It has been frequently said that great material changes are succeeded by -intellectual and finally by moral revolutions--as the conquests of -Alexander passed on into the literary expansion of the Alexandrian -schools and thence into the establishment of Christianity, or as the -mechanical developments of our own time have been followed by immense -literary and scientific activities, and are obviously passing over now -into a great social regeneration; but a reconsideration of the matter -might, I take it, lead us not so much to look on the later changes as -_caused_ by the earlier, as to look on the earlier as the indications -and first outward and visible signs of the coming of the later. When a -man feels in himself the upheaval of a new moral fact, he sees plainly -enough that that fact cannot come into the actual world all at once--not -without first a destruction of the existing order of society--such a -destruction as makes him feel satanic; then an intellectual revolution; -and lastly only, a new order embodying the new impulse. When this new -impulse has thoroughly materialised itself, then after a time will come -another inward birth, and similar changes will be passed through again. -So it might be said that the work of each age is not to build _on_ the -past, but to rise _out_ of the past and throw it off; only of course in -such matters where all forms of thought are inadequate it is hard to say -that one way of looking at the subject is truer than another. As before, -we should endeavour to look at the thing from different sides. - -We are obliged to use images to think by--_e.g._ the opening of a flower -or the accretive growth of a coral reef--and possibly it would save a -good deal of trouble if we did not disguise by long words the truth that -all our theories in science and philosophy are simply metaphors of this -kind--but the _fact_ still lies behind and below them. - -Perhaps, if we are to use the word Cause at all, we should do well to -use it in the old sense in which the _final_ cause and the _efficient_ -cause are one (the _eidos_ of Aristotle)--to use it not so much to link -phenomena or externals to _each other_ as to link each phenomenon in a -group to the thought or feeling which underlies that group. The notes in -the Dead March in Saul, for instance. We cannot say that one note is the -cause of another, but we might say that each note stands in a causal -subordination to the feeling which inspired the piece--which is the -_origin_ of the piece and the _result_ of its performance--the alpha and -omega of it. Similarly, the ground floor in a house is not the cause of -the first floor, nor the first floor of the second floor, nor that of -the roof; but these actualities and the whole house itself stand in -strict relationship to a mental something which is not in the same -plane with them at all, nor an actuality in the same sense. - -According to this view the notion that one configuration of atoms or -bodies determines the next configuration turns out to be illusive. Both -configurations are determined by a third something which does not belong -to quite the same order of existence as the said atoms or bodies. Chance -"laws" of succession may doubtless be found among physical events, and -are valuable for practical purposes, but at any moment--owing to their -superficiality--they may fail. Thus, an insect observing the expansion -of the petals of a chrysanthemum might frame a law of their order of -succession in size and colour, which would be valid for a time, but -would fail entirely when the stamens appeared. Or, to take another -illustration, physical science acts like a man trying to find direct -causal relations between the various leaves of a tree, without first -finding the relations of these to the branches and trunk--and so solving -the problem indirectly. It deals only with the _surface_ of the world of -Man. - -In thinking about such matters, Music, as Schopenhauer shows, is -wonderfully illustrative, because in creating music man recognises that -he is creating a world of his own--apart from and not to be confused -with that other world of Nature (in which he does not recognise any of -his handiwork). Supposing a non-musical person were to examine and -analyse the score of a Beethoven symphony, he would be in the same -position as a man examining and analysing Nature by purely scientific -or intellectual methods. He would discover the recurrence of certain -groups among the notes, he would establish laws of their sequences, -would make all kinds of curious generalisations about them, and point -out some remarkable exceptions, would even very likely be able to -predict a bar or two over the page; his treatise would be very learned, -and from a certain point of view interesting also, but how far would he -be from any real understanding of his subject? Let him change his -method: let him train his ear, let him hear the symphony performed, over -and over, till he understands its meaning and knows it by heart; and -then he will know at any rate something of why each note is there, he -will see its fitness and feel in himself the "law" of its occurrence, -and possibly in some new case will be able to predict several bars over -the page! The symphony is not understood by examination and comparison -of the notes alone, but by _experience_ of their relation to deepest -feelings; and Nature is not explained by laws, but by its becoming--or -rather being felt to be--the body of Man; marvellous interpreter and -symbol of his inward being. - -There is a kind of knowledge or consciousness in us--as of our bodily -parts, or affections, or deep-seated mental beliefs--which forms the -base of our more obvious and self-conscious thought. This systemic -knowledge grows even while the brain sleeps. It is not by any means -absolute or infallible, but it affords, at any moment in man's history, -the axiomatic ground on which his thought-structures, scientific and -other, are built. Thus the axioms of Euclid are part of our present -systemic knowledge, and afford the ground of all our geometry -structures. But as the systemic consciousness grows, the ground shifts -and the structures reared upon it fall. All our modern science, for -instance, is founded on the acceptation of mechanical cause and effect -as a basic fact of consciousness; but when that base gives way the -entire structure will cave in, and a new edifice will have to be reared. -Similarly, when the human form becomes distinctly visible to us in the -animals--as an unavoidable part of our consciousness--this consciousness -will form a new base or axiom for all our thought on the subject, and -the theory of evolution, as hitherto conceived by science, will be -entirely transformed. - -Thus, although the experimental investigatory coral-reef accretion -method of modern science is very valuable within its range, it must not -be forgotten that the human mind does not progress more than temporarily -by this method--that its progression is a matter of growth from within, -and involves a continual _breaking away of the bases_ of all -thought-structures; so that, while this latter--_i.e._, the progression -of the systemic consciousness of man--is necessary and continuous, the -rise and fall of his thought-systems is accidental, so to speak, and -discontinuous. - -It is then finally in Man--in our own deepest and most vital -experience--that we have to look for the key and explanation of the -changes that we see going on around us in external Nature, as we call -it; and our understanding of the latter, and of History, must ever -depend from point to point on the exfoliation of new facts in the -individual consciousness. Round the ultimate disclosure of the essential -Man all creation (hitherto groaning and travailing towards that perfect -birth) ranges itself, as it were, like some vast flower, in concentric -cycles; rank beyond rank; first all social life and history, then the -animal kingdom, then the vegetable and mineral worlds. And if the outer -circles have been the first in fact to show themselves, it is by this -last disclosure that light is ultimately thrown on the whole plan; and, -as in the myth of the Eden-garden, with the appearance of the perfected -human form that the work of creation definitely completes itself. - -FOOTNOTE: - -[39] This does not, of course, preclude the action of external -conditions, or imply that organisation is determined by desire _alone_. -In fact organisation may be regarded as the expression of desire acting -under conditions--as in the cases of the monkey and giraffe above. - - - - -CUSTOM - -"Whatever is off the hinges of custom is believed to be also off the -hinges of reason; though how unreasonably, for the most part, God -knows."--MONTAIGNE. - - -Every human being grows up inside a sheath of custom, which enfolds it -as the swathing clothes enfold the infant. The sacred customs of its -early home, how fixed and immutable they appear to the child! It surely -thinks that all the world in all times has proceeded on the same lines -which bound its tiny life. It regards a breach of these rules (some of -them at least) as a wild step in the dark, leading to unknown dangers. - -Nevertheless its mental eyes have hardly opened ere it perceives, not -without a shock, that whereas in the family dining-room the meat always -precedes the pudding, below-stairs and in the cottage the pudding has a -way of coming before the meat; that, whereas its father puts the manure -on the top of his seed-potatoes in spring, his neighbor invariably -places his potatoes on top of the manure. All its confidence in the -sanctity of its home life and the truth of things is upset. Surely -there must be a right and a wrong way of eating one's dinner or of -setting potatoes, and surely, if any one, "father" or "mother" must know -what is right. The elders have always said (and indeed it seems only -reasonable) that by this time of day everything has been so thoroughly -worked over that the best methods of ordering our life--food, dress, -domestic practices, social habits, etc., have long ago been determined. -If so, why these divergencies in the simplest and most obvious matters? - -And then other things give way. The sacred seeming-universal customs in -which we were bred turn out to be only the practices of a small and -narrow class or caste; or they prove to be confined to a very limited -locality, and must be left behind when we set out on our travels; or -they belong to the tenets of a feeble religious sect; or they are just -the products of one age in history and no other. And the question forces -itself upon us, Are there really no natural boundaries? has not our life -anywhere been founded on reason and necessity, but only on arbitrary -habit? What is more important than food, yet in what human matter is -there more unaccountable divergence of practice? The Highlander -flourishes on oatmeal, which the Sheffield ironworker would rather -starve than eat; the fat snail which the Roman country gentleman once so -prized now crawls unmolested in the Gloucestershire peasant's garden; -rabbits are taboo in Germany; frogs are unspeakable in England; -sauer-kraut is detested in France; many races and gangs of people are -quite certain they would die if deprived of meat, others think spirits -of some kind a necessity, while to others again both these things are an -abomination. Every country district has its local practices in food, and -the peasants look with the greatest suspicion on any new dish, and can -rarely be induced to adopt it. Though it has been abundantly proved that -many of the British fungi are excellent eating, such is the force of -custom that the mushroom alone is ever publicly recognised, while -curiously enough it is said that in some other countries where the -claims of other agarics are allowed the mushroom itself is not used! -Finally, I feel myself (and the gentle reader probably feels the same) -that I would rather die than subsist on _insects_, such is the -deep-seated disgust we experience towards this class of food. Yet it is -notorious that many races of respectable people adopt a diet of this -sort, and only lately a book has been published giving details of the -excellent provender of the kind that we habitually overlook--tasty -morsels of caterpillars and beetles, and so forth! And indeed, when one -comes to think of it, what can it be but prejudice which causes one to -eat the periwinkle and reject the land-snail, or to prize the lively -prawn and proscribe the cheerful grasshopper? - -It is useless to say that these local and other divergencies are rooted -in the necessities of the localities and times in which they occur. -They are nothing of the kind. For the most part they are mere customs, -perhaps grown originally out of some necessity, but now perpetuated from -simple habit and inherent human laziness. This can perhaps best be -illustrated by going below the human to the kingdom of the animals. If -customs are strong among men they are far stronger among animals. The -sheep lives on grass, the cat lives on mice and other animal food. And -it is generally assumed that the respective diets are the most "natural" -in each case, and those on which the animals in question will readiest -thrive, and indeed that they could not well live on any other. But -nothing of the kind. For cats can be bred up to live on oatmeal and milk -with next to no meat; and a sheep has been known to get on very -comfortably on a diet of port wine and mutton chops! Dogs, whose -"natural" food in the wild state is of the animal kind, are undoubtedly -much healthier (at any rate in the domestic state) when kept on -farinaceous substances with little or no meat, and indeed they take so -kindly to a vegetable diet that they sometimes become perfect nuisances -in a garden--eating strawberries, gooseberries, peas, etc., freely off -the beds when they have once learned the habit. Any one, in fact, who -has kept many pets knows what an astonishing variety of food they may be -made to adopt, though each animal in the wild state has the most -intensely narrow prejudices on the subject, and will perish rather than -overstep the customs of its tribe. Thus pheasants will eat fern-roots -in winter when snow covers the ground, but the grouse "don't eat -fern-roots," and die in consequence. A wolf of an inquiring turn of mind -would probably find strawberries and peas as good food as a dog does, -but it is practically certain that any ordinary member of the genus -would perish in a garden full of the same if deprived of his customary -bones. - -All this seems to indicate what an immensely important part mere custom -plays in the life of men and animals. The main part of the power which -man acquires over the animals depends upon his establishing habits in -them which, once established, they never think of violating: and the -almost insuperable nature of this force in animals throws back light on -the part it plays in human life. - -Of course, I am not contending in the above remarks upon food that there -is no physiological difference between a dog and a sheep in the matter -of their digestive organs, and that the one is not by the nature of its -body more fitted for one kind of food than the other; but rather that we -should not neglect the importance of mere habit in such matters. Custom -changed first; the change of physiological structure followed slowly -after. What happened was probably something like this. Some time in the -far back past a group of animals, driven perhaps by necessity, took to -hunting in packs in the woods; it developed a modified physical -structure in consequence, and special habits which in the course of time -became deeply fixed in the race. Another group saved its life by taking -to grazing. Grass is poor food; but it was the only chance this group -had, and in time it got so accustomed to eating grass that it could not -imagine any other form of diet, and at first would refuse even oysters -when placed in its way! Another group saw an opening in trees; it -developed a long neck and became the giraffe. But the fact that the -giraffe lives on leaves, and the sheep on grass, and the wolf on animal -matter, and that custom is in each so strong that at first the creature -will refuse any other kind of diet, does not of itself prove that that -diet is the best or most physiologically suitable for it. In other -words, it is an assumption to suppose that "adaptation to environment" -is the sole or even the main factor in the constitution of well-marked -varieties or genera; for this is to neglect (among other things) the -force of mere use or wont, which has about the same import in -race-growth that momentum has in dynamics; and causes the race, once -started in any direction, to maintain its line of movement--and often in -despite of its environment--even for thousands of years. - -Returning to man we see him enveloped in a myriad customs--local -customs, class customs, race customs, family customs, religious customs; -customs in food, customs in clothing, customs in furniture, form of -habitation, industrial production, art, social and municipal and -national life, etc.; and the question arises, Where is the grain of -necessity which underlies it all? How much in each case is due to a -real fitness in nature, and how much to mere otiose habit! The first -thing that meets my eye in glancing out of the window is a tile on a -neighboring roof. Why are tiles made S-shaped in some localities and -flat in others? Surely the conditions of wind and rain are much the same -in all places. Perhaps far back there was a reason, but now nothing -remains but--custom. Why do we sit on chairs instead of on the floor, as -the Japanese do, or on cushions like the Turk? It is a custom, and -perhaps it suits with our other customs. The more we look into our life -and consider the immense variety of habit in every department of -it--even under conditions to all appearances exactly similar--the more -are we impressed by the absence of any very serious necessity in the -forms we ourselves are accustomed to. Each race, each class, each -section of the population, each unit even, vaunts its own habits of life -as superior to the rest, as the only true and legitimate forms; and -peoples and classes will go to war with each other in assertion of their -own special beliefs and practices; but the question that rather presses -upon the ingenuous and inquiring mind is, whether any of us have got -hold of much true life at all?--whether we are not rather mere -multitudinous varieties of caddis-worms shuffled up in the cast-off -skins and clothes and débris of those who have gone before us, and with -very little vitality of our own perceptible within? How many times a day -do we perform an action that is authentic and not a mere mechanical -piece of repetition? Indeed, if our various actions and practices were -authentic and flowing from the true necessity, perhaps we shouldn't -quarrel with each other over them so often as we do. - -And then to come to the subject of morals. These also are -customs--divergent to the last degree among different races, at -different times, or in different localities; customs for which it is -often difficult to find any ground in reason or the "fitness of things." -Thieving is supposed to be discountenanced among us, yet our present-day -trade-morality sanctions it in a thousand different forms; and the -respectable usurer (who can hardly be said to be other than a thief) -takes a high place at the table of life. To hunt the earth for game has -from time immemorial been considered the natural birthright and -privilege of man, until the landlord class (whom wicked Socialists now -denounce!) invented the crime of poaching and hanged men for it. As to -marriage customs, in different times and among different peoples, they -have been simply innumerable. And here the sense of inviolability in -each case is most powerful. The severest penalties, the most stringent -public opinion, biting deep down into the individual conscience, enforce -the various codes of various times and places; yet they all contradict -each other. Polygamy in one country, polyandry in the next; brother and -sister marriage allowed at one time, marriage with your mother's cousin -forbidden at another; prostitution sacred in the temples of antiquity, -trampled under foot in the gutters of our great cities of to-day; -monogamy respectable in one land, a mark of class-inferiority in -another; celibacy scorned by some sections of people, accepted as the -highest state by others; and so on. - -What are we to conclude from all this? Is it possible, once we have -fairly faced the immense variety of human life in _every_ department of -arts, manners, and morals--a variety, too, existing in a vast number of -cases under conditions to all intents and purposes quite similar--is it -possible ever again to suppose that the particular practices which _we_ -are accustomed to are very much better (or, indeed, very much worse) -than the particular practices which others are accustomed to? We have -been born, as I said at first, into a sheath of custom which enfolds us -with our swaddling-clothes. When we begin to grow to manhood we see what -sort of a thing it is which surrounds us. It is an old husk now. It does -not bear looking into; it is rotten, it is inconsistent, it is -thoroughly indefensible; yet very likely we have to accept it. The -caddis-worm has grown to its tube and cannot leave it. A little spark of -vitality amid a heap of dead matter, all it can do is to make its -dwelling a little more convenient in shape for itself, or (like the -coral insect) to prolong its growth in the most favourable direction for -those that come after. The class, the caste, the locality, the age in -which we were born has determined our form of life, and in that form -very likely we must remain. But a change has come over our minds. The -vauntings of earlier days we abandon. _We_, at any rate, are no better -than anybody else, and at best, alas! are only half alive. - -If these, then, are our conclusions, is it not with justice that -children and early races keep so rigidly to the narrow path that custom -has made for them? Have they not an instinctive feeling that to forsake -custom would be to launch out on a trackless sea where life would cease -to have any special purpose or direction, and morality would be utterly -gulfed? Custom for them is the line of their growth; it is the -coral-branch from the end of which the next insect builds; it is the -hardening bark of the tree-twig which determines the direction of the -growing shoot. It may be merely arbitrary, this custom, but that they do -not know; its appearance of finality and necessity may be quite -illusive; but the illusion is necessary for life, and the arbitrariness -is just what makes one life different from another. _Till he grows to -manhood_, the human being, _he cannot do without it_. - -And when he grows to manhood, what then? Why he dies, and so becomes -alive. The caddis-fly leaves his tube behind and soars into the upper -air; the creature abandons its barnacle existence on the rock and swims -at large in the sea. For it is just when we die to custom that, for the -first time, we rise into the true life of humanity; it is just when we -abandon all prejudice of our own superiority over others, and become -convinced of our entire indefensibleness, that the world opens out with -comrade faces in all directions; and when we perceive how entirely -arbitrary is the setting of our own life, that the whole structure -collapses on which our apartness from others rests, and we pass easily -and at once into the great ocean of freedom and equality. - -This is, as it were, a new departure for man, for which even to-day the -old world, overlaid with myriad customs now brought into obvious and -open conflict with each other, is evidently preparing. The period of -human infancy is coming to an end. Now comes the time of manhood and -true vitality. - -Possibly this is a law of history, that when man has run through every -variety of custom a time comes for him to be freed from it--that is, he -uses it indifferently according to his requirements, and is no longer a -slave to it; all human practices find their use, and none are forbidden. -At this point, whenever reached, "morals" come to an end and humanity -takes its place--that is to say, there is no longer any code of action, -but the one object of all action is the deliverance of the human being -and the establishment of equality between oneself and another, the entry -into a new life, which new life when entered into is glad and perfect, -because there is no more any effort or strain in it; but it is the -recognition of oneself in others, eternally. - -Far as custom has carried man from man, yet when at last in the -ever-branching series the complete human being is produced, it knows at -once its kinship with all the other forms. "I have passed my spirit in -determination and compassion round the whole earth, and found only -equals and lovers." More, it knows its kinship with the animals. It sees -that it is only habit, an illusion of difference, that divides; and it -perceives after all that it is the same human creature that flies in the -air, and swims in the sea, or walks biped upon the land. - - -_The two following chapters--though not part of the original work--are -included in the present edition because they form continuations or -expansions of the chapters which criticise modern Science and modern -Morality respectively. The chapter entitled "A Rational and Humane -Science" is in fact a reprint of an address given before the -Humanitarian League in London in 1896. It was first included in the -present volume in 1906. The chapter entitled "The New Morality" is, with -slight alterations, a reprint of an article which appeared in the_ -Albany Review _in September, 1907, under the title "Morality under -Socialism"; and it now appears in the present book for the first time_. - - - - -A RATIONAL AND HUMANE SCIENCE - - -In bringing before you this subject of a Rational and Humane Science you -will perhaps forgive me if I dwell for a few moments on some points of -personal history in relation to it. After reading mathematics for some -four years at Cambridge, it happened to me for the next ten years or so -to be engaged in the study of the physical sciences, and in lectures on -these subjects. Naturally, during the earlier part of this period I -accepted the current methods and conclusions without any question. But -as time went on I became aware of a certain dissatisfaction; I felt that -many of the laws of Science, enounced as universal truths, were of very -limited application only, that many of the conclusions, so strongly -insisted on, were of quite doubtful validity; and at last this -increasing dissatisfaction culminated in a rather violent attack or -criticism of Modern Science which I wrote and published about the year -1884.[40] - -Now, looking back, at this interval of time, though I admit that my -attack was somewhat hasty and crude in detail, I feel that in its main -contention it was thoroughly justified, and I do not feel the least -inclined to withdraw it. - -What was that main contention? It was as follows. Modern Science is an -attempt (and no doubt it would accept this definition of itself) to -survey and classify the phenomena of the world in the pure dry light of -the intellect, uncoloured by feeling; and so far is an effort to -separate the intellectual in man from the merely perceptive, the -emotional, the moral, and so forth. It was in this very fact that my -criticism lay; for I contended that such a separation was in the long -run quite impossible. - -But before proceeding to defend this position, let me admit at once that -this attempt of Modern Science to get rid of human feeling and to look -at everything in the dry light of the intellect was in some respects a -very grand one. When you consider what the Old-time Science was, with -its fancies and prejudices, its dragons pasturing upon the sun and moon -in eclipses, its immolations of hundreds of human beings to appease some -god of pestilence or earthquake, its panics, its superstitions, and its -incapability of regarding anything except from the point of view of that -thing's influence on man's own comfort and his little hopes and fears, -it was indeed a grand advance to try and see _facts_, uncoloured and for -themselves alone. It was an effort of Man as it were to rise above -himself, to which I accord the fullest credit and honour. - -And yet, during the time spoken of, it kept growing on me: first, that -the attempt was an impossible one; secondly, that the Science so-called -was not a true Science; and thirdly, that in its pretence to an -intellectual exactitude which it did not really possess, this Modern -Science was leading to a narrow-mindedness and a dogmatism as bad as the -old. - -There is in fact (so I think) a fallacy in the attempt. But how shall I -describe it? Our relations to the world may, quite roughly speaking, be -divided into three groups--those that are sensuous and perceptional, -those that are purely intellectual, and those that are of an emotional -and moral order. Take any object of Nature--a bird, for instance. We may -look upon the bird as an object of sense-perceptions--its form, its -colour, its song, and so forth. Some people attain to extraordinary -skill and quickness in this department, recognising in a moment the note -or even the flight of a songster. Then again we may look upon the bird -from the intellectual side--we may study it in relation to its -surroundings--the form of its wings, the length of its leg, the -character of its beak, and their adaptation to its habits, to its -locality, to its food, and so forth. Thus we may get a whole series of -purely intellectual results--relations of the bird to the world in which -it lives. This is the special field of the present-day Science. But, -again, we may regard the bird in its emotional and moral relations to -_us_. One man at the sight of it may be affected with admiration of its -beauty, with tenderness towards it, or sympathy; another may be -stimulated to wonder whether he can kill it, or whether it is good to -eat! Modern Science is indifferent to what this last set of relations -may be; it does not concern itself much with the first; but it takes the -middle term, the purely intellectual, and seeks to abstract that from -the others, to study the bird, or whatever the object may be, in the one -aspect only. But can that really be done? The answer is, of course, No. - -To show my general meaning, and why I consider the claim an impossible -one, let us imagine a little cell--one of the myriads which constitute -the human body--professing in the same sort of way to stand outside the -body and explain the laws of the other cells and the body at large. It -is obvious that the little cell, swept along in the currents of the body -and swayed by its emotions, in close proximity and contact with some -portions of the organism, and far remote from others, cannot possibly -pretend to any such impartial judgment. It is obvious not only that it -would not have all the clues of the problem at its command, but that its -own needs and experiences would prejudice it frightfully in the -interpretation of such clues as it had. Yet man is such a little cell in -the body of Nature, or, if you like, in the body of the Society of which -he forms a part. - -There is, however, one way, it seems to me, in which a cell in the -human body _might_ come to an adequate understanding of the body; and -that would be rather through experience than through direct reasoning. -It is conceivable that there might be some cell in the body which, -through the nerves, etc., was in actual touch and sympathetic -relationship with every other cell. Then it certainly would have the -materials of the required solution. Every change in other parts of the -body would register itself in this particular cell; and its little brain -(if it had one), without exactly making any great effort, would reflect -sympathetically the structure of the whole body--would become, in fact, -a mirror of it. This will perhaps give you the key to my notion of what -a true Science might be. - -But before proceeding to that, I want to go a little more in detail into -the fallacy of the absolute intellectual view of Science. I say, first, -that a complete summary of any object or process in Nature is -impossible; secondly, that such summary as we do make is, and must -inevitably and necessarily be, coloured by the underlying _feeling_ with -which we approach that phase of Nature. - -To take the first point. You say, Why is a complete summary not -possible? A watch or other machine may be completely described and -defined; why should not (with a little more knowledge) a fir-tree, or -the human eye, or the solar system, be completely described and defined? - -And this brings us to what may be called the Machine-view of Science. -It is curious (and yet I think it will presently be seen that it is -quite what might have been expected) that during this century or so, in -which Machinery has played such an important part in our daily and -social life, mechanical ideas have come to colour all our conceptions of -Science and the Universe. Modern Science holds it as a kind of ideal -(even though finding it at times difficult to realise) to reduce -everything to mechanical action, and to show each process of Nature -intelligible in the same sense as a Machine is intelligible. Yet this -conception, this ideal, involves a complete fallacy. For the moment you -come to think of it, you see that _no_ part of Nature really even -resembles a machine. - -What is a machine in the ordinary sense? It is an aggregation of parts -put together to fulfil certain definite actions and no others. A -sewing-machine fulfils the purpose of sewing, a watch fulfils that of -keeping time, and they fulfil those purposes only. All their parts -subserve those actions, and in that sense may be completely -described--as far as just their mechanical action is concerned--the same -by a thousand mechanicians. But I make bold to say that _no_ object in -Nature fulfils just one action, or series of actions, and no others. On -the contrary, every object fulfils an endless series of actions. - -Let us take the Human Eye. And I choose this as an instance most adverse -to my position, for there is no doubt that the Human Eye is one of the -most highly specialised objects in creation. Helmholtz, as you know, is -said to have remarked concerning it that if an Optician had sent him an -instrument so defective he should have returned it with his compliments. -Helmholtz was a great man, and I will not do him the injustice to -suppose that he did not know what he was saying. He knew that, regarded -as a machine for focussing rays of light, the eye was decidedly -defective; but then he knew well enough, doubtless, _why_ it was -defective--namely, because it is by no means merely such a machine, but -a great deal more. - -The Eye, in fact, not only fulfils the action of focussing rays of -light--like an Opera Glass or a Telescope--but it might be compared to -another instrument, a Photographic Camera, in respect of the fact that -it forms a picture of the outer world which it throws on a sensitive -plate at the back--the Retina. But then, again, it is unlike any of -these "machines," in the fact that it was never made by any Optician, -human or divine, for any one definite purpose. On the contrary, as we -know, it has grown, it has evolved; it has come down to us over the -centuries, and over thousands and thousands of centuries, from dim -beginnings in the lowliest organisms who first conceived the faculty of -Sight, continually modified, continually shapen by small increments in -various directions, in accordance with the myriad needs of a myriad -creatures, living, some of them in water, some of them in air, requiring -some of them to see at close quarters, some at great distances, some by -one kind of light, some by another, and so forth. So that to-day it not -only contains a great range of inherited, yet latent, faculties, but it -is actually, in its complex structure, an epitome and partial record of -its own extraordinary history. - -As an instance of this last point, let me remind you that Sight was -originally a differentiation of Touch. The light, the shadows, falling -on the sensitive general surface of a primitive organism provoke a -tactile irritation. In the course of evolution this sense specialises -itself at some point of the surface into what we call Sight. Now, -to-day, when the little picture formed by the fore-part of the Human Eye -falls upon the Retina at the back, it falls upon a screen formed by the -myriad congregated finger-tips, so to speak, of the optic nerve--the -rods and cones, so-called--which cover like a mosaic the whole ground of -the Retina, and _feel_ with their sensitive points the images of the -objects in the outer world. And so Sight is still Touch--it is the power -of feeling or touching at a distance--as one sometimes in fact becomes -aware in looking at things. - -But then again on and beyond all these things--beyond the focussing and -photographing of rays, beyond the latent adaptations to the needs of -innumerable creatures, and the epitomising of ages of evolution--the -Human Eye has faculties even more far-reaching perhaps and wonderful. It -is the marvellous organ of human Expression. By the dilatations and -contractions of the iris, by the altering convexities of the lens and -the eyeball, and in a hundred other ways, it manages somehow to convey -intelligence of Command, Control, Power, of Pity, Love, Sympathy, and -all those myriad emotions which flit through the human mind--an endless -series--a perfect encyclopædia. It is difficult even to imagine the eye -without this power of language. And what other functions it may have it -is not necessary to inquire. Highly specialised though it is, it is -already obvious enough that to call it a Machine for focussing rays of -light is monstrously and ludicrously inadequate--even as it would be to -call the Heart (the very centre of emotion and life, and the symbol of -human love and courage) a common Pump. - -Nature is an infinitude, and can at no point be circumscribed by the -human intellect. Nor obviously is there any sense in taking one little -portion of Nature and isolating it from the rest, and then describing it -exhaustively _as if_ it really were so isolated. A thousand mechanicians -will agree, as I have said, in their description of a machine, because -in fact they will agree to view the machine just in the one aspect of -its particular action; but ask a thousand people to describe one and the -same face--or, better still, get a thousand portrait-painters, skilled -in their art, to paint portraits of the same face--and you know -perfectly well that all the likenesses will be different. And why will -they be different? Simply because every face, however rude, has infinite -sides, infinite aspects, and each painter selects what he paints from -his own point of view. And the same is true of every object and process -in Nature. - -Then if these things are true (you ask again) how is it that scientific -men _do_ arrive at definite conclusions, and do agree with each other so -far as they do? - -It is, and obviously must be, by the method of isolation; by the method -of selecting certain aspects of the problems presented to them, and -ignoring others. For since _all_ the relations of any phenomenon of -Nature cannot possibly be compassed, the only way _must_ be to ignore -some and concentrate attention on others; and when there is a kind of -tacit agreement as to which aspects shall be passed over and which -considered, there is naturally an agreement in the results. Thus by this -method, waiving all other aspects of the problem, the Eye may be -described and defined as an optical instrument, the Heart as a common -Pump, and the Solar System as a neat illustration of certain mechanical -laws discovered by Galileo and Newton. - -On the subject of the Solar System and Astronomy I will dwell for a few -moments, as here--in this great example of the perfection of Modern -Science--we have again a case apparently most adverse to my contention. -The generalisations by which Newton established the nature of the -planetary orbits has been a wonder to succeeding generations; the -positions of the planets can be foretold, eclipses can be calculated -with amazing accuracy. Yet every tyro in Mathematics knows that the -equations which give these results can only be solved by what is called -"neglecting small quantities"--that is, the problems cannot be solved in -their entirety, but by leaving out certain terms and elements, which do -not appear important, a solution can be approached. And naturally it has -been an important point to show that these small quantities _may_ be -safely neglected. In the case, for instance, of the orbits of the -planets round the sun, and of the moon round the earth, it was for a -long time taken as proved that the small variations in the shape and -position of each elliptic orbit would never be accompanied by any -permanent increase or diminution in its _size_--that is, that the _mean -distances_ of the planets from the sun, and of the moon from the earth, -would always remain within certain limits. Of late years however -Professor George Darwin, taking up one of these poor little neglected -quantities in the theory of the moon, found that it indicated after all -very vast and very permanent, though of course very slow, changes in her -mean distance from the earth; so that now it appears probable that the -Moon's true orbit, instead of being a limited ellipse, is a continually -though gradually enlarging Spiral, which may some day carry the Moon to -a great distance from the earth. If an eclipse were calculated for -twenty years in advance on the Elliptic theory or the Spiral theory, it -would probably--so slow would be the divergence--make no perceptible -difference; but in a hundred centuries the two theories would lead to -results utterly different. - -Thus the certitude of Astronomy as a Science arises largely from the -fact that our _times_ are so brief compared with Celestial periods. The -proper periods of Celestial changes are to be reckoned by thousands, -perhaps millions, of years; but we, ignoring _that_ aspect of the -problem, fix our observations on one little point of time, and are quite -satisfied with the result! - -As another illustration of my meaning, consider the Fixed Stars, -so-called. These stars in their groups and clusters, which we know so -well by sight, have remained apparently in the very same, or nearly the -same, relative positions during all the 2,000 or 3,000 years that we -have any record of the shapes of the Constellations. Yet now by minute -telescopic and spectroscopic examination we know that they are moving, -and have been moving all the time, in various differing directions with -great velocities, amounting to miles per second. Nevertheless, so great -are the spaces concerned, so great the times, that all this long period -has not sufficed to bring them into any greatly changed attitude with -regard to each other! What would you think of an intelligent foreigner -who, coming to England to study the game of cricket, remained on the -cricket field for a quarter of a minute--during which time the players -would have hardly changed their positions--and having noted a few -points, went away and wrote a volume on the laws of the game? And what -are we to think of poor little Man who, having noted the stars for a -few centuries, is so sure that he understands their movements, and that -he is versed in all the "ordinances of heaven." - -Thus it would appear that every Nature-problem is so enormously complex -that it can only be got at by what we have called the Method of -Ignorance. Let us take a practical Science problem like that of -Vaccination. The question here, put in its simplest terms, seems to be, -Whether Vaccination, with calf or human lymph, prevents or alleviates -Smallpox; and if it does, whether it does so without engendering other -evils at least as great. At first sight this may appear to you a very -simple question, and easy to solve; but the moment you come to think -about it, you see its extreme complexity. In the first place, it is -obvious that in a question like this, individual cases afford no test. -It is obvious that the fact that A. is vaccinated and has not taken -small-pox proves nothing, for there is nothing to show that he would -have taken it if he had not been vaccinated. And when you have got -people vaccinated by the hundred and the thousand, you still are not -certain; for these people may belong to a certain class, or a certain -locality, or may have certain habits and conditions of life, which may -account for their comparative immunity, and these causes must be -eliminated before any definite conclusion can be reached. Thus it is not -till the great mass of the population is vaccinated that we can expect -reliable statistics. But the introduction of a practice of this kind on -so great a scale necessarily takes a long period of years, and meanwhile -changes are taking place in the habits of the people, Sanitation is -being improved, customs of Diet are altering, possibly (as so often -happens in the history of an epidemic) the disease, having run its -course, is beginning spontaneously to decline. And thus another series -of possible causes has to be discussed. - -Then, supposing the question, notwithstanding all these difficulties, to -be so far settled in favour of the present system--there still arises -that whole other series of difficulties with regard to the possibility -of the spread of _other_ diseases by the practice, and with regard to -the _extent_ of such spread, before we can arrive at any finale. This -series of questions is almost as complex as the other; and it includes -that great element of uncertainty--the question what interval of time -may elapse between inoculation with a disease and its actual appearance. -For if in several cases children break out with erysipelas immediately -after vaccination, of course there is a certain presumption that -vaccination has been the cause; but if the erysipelas only appears some -years after, its connection with the operation may, though real, be -impossible to trace. - -The matter standing thus, it seems to us almost a mystery how it was -that the medical authorities of the early days of Jennerism were so -cocksure of their conclusions--until we remember that in arriving at -those conclusions they practically _ignored_ all these other points -that I have mentioned, like changes of Sanitation, spontaneous decline -of Small-pox, the spread of other diseases, etc., and simply limited -themselves to one small aspect of the problem. But now, after this -interval of time, when the neglected facts and aspects have meanwhile -_forced_ themselves on our attention, how remarkable is the change of -attitude as evidenced by the finding of the late Royal Commission! -(1896). - -From all this do not understand me to deride Science--for I have no -intention of doing that; on the contrary, I think the debt we owe to -modern investigation quite incalculable; but I only wish to warn you how -complex all these problems are, how impossible that notion of settling -even one of them by a cut-and-dried intellectual formula. - -But you will ask (for this is the second point I mentioned some little -time back) _how_ people's emotions and feelings come in to colour their -scientific conclusions? And the answer is--very simply, namely by -directing their choice as to what aspects of the problem they will -ignore and what aspects they will envisage; by determining their point -of view, in fact. To return to that illustration of several -portrait-painters painting the same face; just as each painter is led by -his feeling, his sympathies, his general temperament, to select certain -points in the face and to pass over others, so each group of scientific -men in each generation is led by its sympathies, its idiosyncrasies, to -envisage certain aspects of the problems of the day and to ignore -others. - -The whole history of Science illustrates this. We are all familiar with -the way in which the predilections of religious feeling in the time of -Copernicus and Galileo retarded the progress of astronomical Science. As -long as people believed that a divine drama of redemption had been -enacted on this earth alone, they naturally concluded that this earth -was the centre of the universe, and refused to look at facts which -contradicted their conclusion. When Galileo turned his newly-made -telescope on Jupiter and saw it circled by its satellites, he saw in -this an image of the Copernican system and of the planets circling round -the central Sun; but when he asked others to share his observation and -his inference, they would not. "O, my dear Kepler," he writes in a -letter to his fellow astronomer, "how I wish we could have one hearty -laugh together. Here at Padua is the principal Professor of Philosophy, -whom I have repeatedly and urgently requested to look at the moon and -planets through my glass; but he pertinaciously refuses to do so. What -shouts of laughter we should have at this glorious folly!" - -And though we laugh at the folly of those before us, we do the same -things ourselves to-day. Take the science of Political Economy. A -revolution has taken place in that, almost comparable to the change from -the geocentric to the heliocentric view in Astronomy. During the -distinctively commercial period of the last 100 years, the leading -students of social science, being themselves filled with the spirit of -the time, have been fain to look upon the acquisition of private wealth -as the one absorbing motive of human nature; and so it has come about -that the economists, from Adam Smith to John Stuart Mill, have founded -their science on self-seeking and competition, as the base of their -analysis. To-day another series of economists coming to the front--their -minds preoccupied with the great facts of Community of life and -Co-operation--have discovered that Society is in the main an -illustration of these latter principles, and have evolved a quite new -phase of the science. It is not that Society has changed so much during -this period, as that the altered point of view of the students of -Society has caused them simply to fix their attention on a different -aspect of the problem and a different range of facts. - -I have alluded already to the way in which the prevalent use of -Machinery in practical life has affected our mental outlook on the -world. It is curious that during this mechanical age of the last 100 -years or so, we have not only come to regard Society in a mechanical -light, as a concourse of separate individuals bound together by a mere -cash-nexus, but have extended the same idea to the universe at large, -which we look upon as a concourse of separate atoms, associated together -by gravitation, or possibly by mere mutual impact. Yet it is certain -that both these views are false, since the individuals who compose -Society are _not_ separate from each other; and the theory that the -universe, in its ultimate analysis, is composed of a vast number of -discrete atoms is simply unthinkable. - -When we come to a practical and modern question like Medicine, the -influence of the spirit in which it is approached on the course of the -science is very easy to see. For if the science of Medicine is -approached (as it perhaps mostly is to-day) in a spirit of combined Fear -and Self-indulgence--fear for one's own personal safety, combined with a -kind of anxiety to continue living in the indulgence of habits known to -be unhealthy--if it is approached in this uncomfortable and -contradictory state of mind, it is pretty obvious that its course will -be similarly uncomfortable: that it will consist for the most part in a -search for drugs which shall, without effort on our part, palliate the -effects of our misconduct; in the discovery, as in a kind of nightmare, -that the air round us is full of billions of microbes; in a terrified -study of these messengers of disease, and in a frantic effort to ward -them off by inoculations, vaccinations, vivisections, and so forth, -without end. - -If, on the other hand, the science is approached from quite a different -side--from that of the love of Health, and the desire to make life -lovely, beautiful and clean; if the student is filled not only with -this, but with a great belief in the essential _power_ of Man, and his -command in creation, to control not only all these little microbes -whose name is Legion, but through his mind all the processes of his -body; then it is obvious enough that a whole series of different facts -will arise before his eyes and become the subject of his study--facts of -sanitation, of the laws of cleanly life, diet, clothing and so forth, -methods of control, and the details and practice of the influence of the -mental upon the physical part of man--facts quite equally real with the -others, equally important, equally numerous perhaps and complex, but -forming a totally different range of science. - -In conclusion, you begin to see doubtless that I do not believe in a -science of mere Formulas, which can be poured from one brain to another -like water in a pot. I believe in something more organic to -Humanity--which shall combine Sense, Intellect and Soul; which shall -include the keenest training of the Senses, the exactest use of the -Brain, and the subordination of both of these to the finest and most -generous attitude of Man towards Nature. - -To come to quite practical aspects, I think that Physical Science, and -for that matter Natural History too, ought to be founded on the closest -observation and actual intimacy with Nature. It is notorious that in -many respects the perceptions, the Nature-intuitions, of savage races -far outdo those of civilised man. We have let that side go slack, and -too often the man of science when he comes out of his study is a mere -baby in the external world. I look back with a kind of shame when I -think that I studied the mathematical side of Astronomy for three or -four years at Cambridge and absolutely at the time hardly knew one star -from another in the sky. But such are the methods of teaching that have -been in use. They ought however to be reversed, and practical -acquaintance with the facts should come a long way first, and then be -succeeded by inductive and deductive reasoning when the difficulties of -the subject have forced themselves on the student's mind. - -Then in Natural History and Botany I think that we have hitherto not -only neglected the perceptive side, but also what may be called the -intuitive and emotional aspects. If any one will attend to the subject, -I believe they will perceive that there are dormant in the mind the -finest intuitions and instincts of relationship to the various animals -and plants--intuitions which have played a far more important part in -the life of barbaric races than they do to-day.[41] Primitive peoples -have a remarkable instinct of the medicinal and dietetic uses of herbs -and plants--an instinct which we also find well developed among -animals--and I believe that this kind of knowledge would grow largely -if, so to speak, it were given a chance. The formal classification of -animals and plants--which now forms the main part of these -sciences--would then come in simply as an aid and an auxiliary to the -more direct and human study. - -Again, let us take the science of Physiology. At present this is mainly -carried on by means of Dissection or Vivisection. But both these methods -are unsatisfactory. Dissection, because it amounts to studying the -organisation of a living creature by the examination of its dead -carcase; and Vivisection, because it is not only open to a similar -objection, but because it necessarily violates the highest relation of -man to the animal he is studying. There is, I believe, another method--a -method which has been known in the East for centuries, though little -regarded in the West--which may perhaps be called the method of Health. -It consists in rendering the body, by proper habits of life, pure and -healthy, till it becomes, as it were, transparent to the inner eye, and -then projecting the consciousness _inward_ so as to become almost as -sensible of the structure and function of the various internal organs, -as it usually is of the outer surface of the body. Of course this is a -process which cannot be effectuated at once, and which may need help and -corroboration by external methods of study, but I believe it is one -which will lead to considerable results. There is no doubt that many of -the Yogis of India attain to great skill in it. - -Similarly, from what we have already said about Political Economy, it -is obvious that satisfactory results in that science must depend -immensely on the high degree of social instinct and feeling with which -the student approaches it, and on the thoroughness of his acquaintance -with the _actual life_ of a people; and that the development of these -factors is fully as important a part of the science as that which -consists in the logical ordering and arrangement of the material -obtained. - -I need not, I think, go any further into detail of new methods in each -Science. You remember what I said at the beginning about the Cell -studying the Body of which it formed a part. We may imagine, if we like, -three stages in this process. In the first stage the Cell regards the -other cells and the Body simply from the point of view of how they -affect _it_, and its comfort and safety. This might be taken to -correspond to the Old-time Science. In the second stage the Cell, with -its tiny experience of the other cells and the small part of the body in -which it is placed, becomes highly intellectual, and professes to lay -down the laws of the structure of the body generally. This corresponds -to the attitude of Modern Science. In the third stage the Cell, growing -and evolving, and coming daily into closer sympathetic relationship with -all parts of the body, begins to find its true relation to the other -cells, not to use _them_, but to fulfil its part in the whole. Gradually -drawing all the threads together and coming more and more, so to say, -into a central position, it at last in its little brain spontaneously -and inevitably reflects the whole, and becomes the mirror of it. This -would answer to what we have called a really rational and humane -Science. - -Man has to find and to _feel_ his true relation to other creatures and -to the whole of which he is a part, and has to use his brain to further -this. Science _is_, as we all know, the search for Unity. That is its -ideal. It unites innumerable phenomena under one law; and then it unites -many laws under one higher; always seeking for the ultimate complete -integration. But (is it not obvious?) Man cannot find that unity _of_ -the Whole until he feels his unity _with_ the Whole. To found a Science -of one-ness on the murderous Warfare and insane Competition of men with -each other, and on the Slaughter and Vivisection of animals--the search -for unity on the practice of disunity--is an absurdity, which can only -in the long run reveal itself as such. - -I do not know whether it seems obvious to you, but it does to me, that -Man will never find in theory the unity of outer Nature till he reaches -in practice the unity of his own. When he has learnt to harmonise in -himself all his powers, bodily and mental, his desires, faculties, -needs, and bring them into perfect co-operation--when he has found the -true hierarchy of himself--then somehow I think that Nature round him -will reflect this order, and range itself in clear and intelligible -harmony about him. - -But I can say no more. I have dragged you by the neck, as it were, -through a recondite and difficult subject; and even so I do not feel -that I have by any means done justice to it. But it is possible, -perhaps, that I have cast the germ of an idea among you, which, if you -think over it at leisure, may develop into something of value. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[40] Afterwards reprinted in a modified form, as "Modern Science--a -Criticism," in the first edition (1889) of the present book. - -[41] Elisée Reclus, in his remarkable paper, _La Grande Famille_, points -out the wide-reaching _Friendship_, and free alliance for various -purposes, of primitive man with the animals, existing long before the -so-called "domestication" of the latter. See _Humane Review_, January, -1906. - - - - -THE NEW MORALITY - - -The tendency of the Evolution Theory, as it penetrates human thought, is -to rub out lines--the old lines of formal classification. We no longer -now put in a class apart those animals which have horns or cloven -hooves, because we find that continuous descent and close kinship weave -relations which are not bounded by horns or hooves. And, for a not -dissimilar reason, modern thought, based on the theory of evolution, is -tending to rub out the hard and fast lines between moral Right and -Wrong--the old formal classifications of _actions_ as some in their -nature good, and some in their nature bad. - -The Eastern, or at least Indian, thought and religion rubbed out these -lines long ago. Its philosophy indeed was founded on a theory of -Evolution--the continuous evolution or emanation of the Many from the -One. It could not therefore regard any _class_ of beings or creatures as -essentially bad, or any _class_ of actions as essentially wrong, since -all sprang from a common Root. The only essential evil was ignorance -(_avidya_)--that is, the fact of the being or creature not knowing or -perceiving its emanation from, or kinship with, the One--and of course -any action done under this condition of _avidya_, however outwardly -correct, was essentially wrong; while on the other hand _all_ actions -done by beings fully realising and conscious of their union with the One -were necessarily right. - -Of this attitude towards Right and Wrong there are abundant instances in -the Upanishads. The choice of the path does not lie _between_ Good and -Bad, as in the _Pilgrim's Progress_, but it lies above and in a region -transcending them both. "By the serenity of his thoughts a man blots out -_all_ actions, whether good or bad."[42] "He does not distress himself -with the thought, Why did I not do what is good? Why did I do what is -bad?"[43] All religions indeed, by the very fact of their being -religions, have indicated a sphere above morality, to which their -followers shall and must aspire. What else is St. Paul's reiterated -charge to escape from the dominion of sin and law, into the glorious -liberty of the children of God? And in all ages the great mystics--those -who stand near the fountain-sources of evolution and emanation--have -seen and said the same. Says Spinoza:--"With regard to good and evil, -these terms indicate nothing positive in things considered in -themselves, nor are they anything else than modes of thought, or -notions which we form from _the comparison of one thing with another_. -For one and the same thing may at the same time be both good and evil, -or indifferent."[44] - -Here indeed, in these pregnant words, we come upon the very root of the -matter. A thing, an action, may be called good or bad in respect to a -certain purpose or object; but in itself, No. Wine may be good for the -encouragement of sociability, but may be bad for the liver. The -Sabbath-day may be pronounced a beneficial institution from some points -of view, but not from others. A scrupulous respect for private property -may certainly be a help to settled social life; but the practice of -thieving--as recommended by Plato--may be very useful to check the lust -of private riches. To speak of wine as in its nature good or bad is -manifestly absurd; and the same of a pious respect for private property -or the Sabbath-day. These things are good under certain conditions or -for certain purposes, and bad under other conditions or for other -purposes. But of course it belongs and goes with the brute externalising -tendency of the mind, to stereotype the actual material thing--which -should be only the vehicle of the spirit--and give _it_ a character and -a cult as good or bad. The Sabbath ceases to be made for man, and man is -made for the Sabbath. Law, Custom, Pharisaism, and Self-righteousness -spring up and usurp the sphere of morality, and all the histories of -savage and civilised nations, with their endless fetishes and taboos -and superstitions and ceremonies, and caste-marks and phylacteries, and -petty regulations and proprieties,--including bitter scorn and -persecution of those who do not fulfil them,--are but illustrations of -this process. - -All the prophets and saviours of the world have been for the Spirit as -against the letter--and the teachings of all religions have in their -turn become literalised and fossilised! Perhaps there has been no -greater anti-literal than Jesus of Nazareth, and yet perhaps no religion -has become more a thing of forms and dogmas than that which passes under -his name. Even his counsels of Gentleness and Love--which one would -indeed have thought might escape this process--have been corrupted into -mere prescriptions of morality, such as those of Non-resistance, and of -philanthropic Altruism. - -It seems strange indeed that so great a man as Tolstoy should have lent -himself to this process--to the pinning down of the excellent spirit of -Christ (who by the way was man enough to drive the money-changers out of -the Temple) to a mere formula, as one might pin a dragon-fly to a -labelled card--_Thou shalt not use Violence: thou shalt not Resist!_ And -all the while to cleave to a formula only means to admit the evil in -some other shape which the formula does not meet--to forswear the stick -only means to resort to rebuke and sarcasm in self-defence, which may -inflict more pain and a deeper scar, and in some cases more injury, -than the stick; or if self-defence in any shape is quite forsworn then -that only means to resign and abandon one's place in the world -completely. - -And the same of the somewhat spooney Altruism, which was at one time -much recommended as the maxim of conduct. For all the while it is -notorious that the specially altruistic people are as a rule painfully -dull and uninteresting, and afford far less life and charm to those -around them than many who are frankly egotistic; and so by following a -formula of Altruism it seems they wreck the very work they set before -themselves to do--namely, that of making the world brighter! - -Against these weaknesses of Christianity Nietzsche was a healthy -reaction. It was he insisted on the terms "good" and "bad" being -restored to their proper use, as terms of relation--"good" for what? -"bad" for what? But his reaction against maudlin altruism and -non-resistance led him towards a pitfall in the opposite direction, -towards the erection of the worship of Force almost into a formula, Thou -_shalt_ use Violence, thou _shalt_ Resist. His contempt for the feeble -and the spooney and the knock-kneed and the humbug is very delightful -and entertaining, and, as I say, healthy in the sense of reaction; but -one does not get a very clear idea what the strength which Nietzsche -glorifies is for, or whither it is going to lead. His blonde beasts and -his laughing lions may represent the Will to Power; but Nietzsche seems -to have felt, himself, that this latter alone would not suffice, and so -he passed on to his discovery or invention of the Beyond-man,--_i.e._ of -a childlike being who, without argument, _affirms_ and creates, and -before whom institutions and conventions dissolve, as it were of their -own accord.[45] This was a stroke of genius; but even so it leaves -doubtful what the relation of such Beyond-men to each other may be, and -whether, if they have no common source of life, their actions will not -utterly cancel and destroy each other. - -The truth is that Nietzsche never really penetrated to the realisation -of that farther state of consciousness in which the deep underlying -unity of man with Nature and his fellows is perceived and felt. He saw -apparently that there is a life and an inspiration of life beyond all -technical good and evil. But for some reason--partly because of the -natural difficulty of the subject, partly perhaps because the Eastern -outlook was uncongenial to his mind--he never found the solution which -he needed; and his outline of the Superman remains cloudy and uncertain, -vague and variously interpreted by followers and critics. - -The question arises, What do _we_ need? We are to-day, in this matter, -in a somewhat parlous state. The old codes of Morality are moribund; the -Ten Commandments command only a very qualified assent; the Christian -religion as a real inspiration of practical life and conduct is dead; -the social conventions and Mrs. Grundy remain, feebly galling and -officious. What are we to do? Are we to bolster up the old codes, in -which we have largely ceased to believe, merely in order to have a -code?--or are we to let them go? - -Of course, if we have decided what the final purpose or life of Man is, -then we may say that what is good for that purpose is finally "good," -and what is bad for that purpose is finally "evil." The Eastern -philosophy, as I have said, deciding that the final purpose of Man is -identification with Brahm, declares _all_ actions to be evil (even the -most saintly) which are done by the self as separate from Brahm; and all -actions as good which are done in the condition of _vidya_ or conscious -union. But here, though a final good and evil are allowed and -acknowledged, as existing respectively in the conditions of vidya or -avidya, those conditions altogether escape any external rule or -classification. - -Mr. Gilbert Chesterton, taking up this subject not long ago in a -criticism[46] of Mr. Orage's little book on Nietzsche, said that all -this talk about "beyond good and evil" was nonsense; that we must have -some code; and that in effect, any code, even a bad one, was better than -none. And one sees what he means. It is perfectly true, in a sense, that -the harness, the shafts, and the blinkers keep a large part of the -world on the beaten road and out of the ditch, and that folk are always -to be found who, rather than use their higher faculties, will rely on -these external guides; but to encourage this kind of salvation by -blinkers seems the very reverse of what ought to be done; and one might -even ask whether salvation by such means is salvation at all--whether -the ditch were not better! - -Besides, what _can_ we do? It is not so much that we are deliberately -abandoning the codes as that they are abandoning us. With the gradual -infiltration of new ideas, of Eastern thought, of Darwinian philosophy, -of customs and creeds of races other than our own, with Bernard Shaw -lecturing on the futility of the Ten Commandments, and so forth, it is -not difficult to see that in a short while it will be impossible to -rehabilitate any of the ancient codes or to give them a sanction and a -sense of awe in the public mind. If with Gilbert Chesterton we should -succeed in bolstering up such a thing for a time--well, it will only be -for a time. - -And the question is, whether the time has not really come for us to -stand up--like sensible men and women--and _do without rules_; whether -we cannot trust ourselves at last to throw aside the blinkers. The -question is whether we cannot realise that solid and central life which -underlies and yet surpasses all rules. For truly, if we cannot do this, -our state is pitiable--having ceased to believe in the letter of -Morality, and yet unable to find its spirit! - -It is here, then, that the New Morality comes in, as more or less -clearly understood and expressed by the progressive sections to-day. -Modern Socialism, in effect, taking up a position in its way somewhat -similar to that of Eastern philosophy, says: Morality in its essence is -not a code, but simply the realisation of the Common Life;[47] and that -is a thing which is not foreign and alien to humanity, but very germane -and natural to it--a thing so natural that without doubt it would be -more in evidence than it is, did not the institutions and teachings of -Western civilisation tend all along to deny and disguise it. To liberate -this instinct of the Common Life, freeing it from hard and cramping -rules, and to let it take its own form or forms--grafted on and varied -of course by the personal and selective element of Affection and -Sympathy--is the hope that lies before the world to-day for the solution -of all sorts of moral and social problems. - -And the more this position is thought over, the more, I believe, will it -commend itself. The sense of organic unity, of the common welfare, the -instinct of Humanity, or of general helpfulness, are things which run in -all directions through the very fibre of our individual and social -life--just as they do through that of the gregarious animals. In a -thousand ways: through heredity and the fact that common ancestral blood -flows in our veins--though we be only strangers that pass in the street; -through psychology, and the similarity of structure and concatenation in -our minds; through social linkage, and the necessity of each and all to -the others' economic welfare; through personal affection and the ties of -the heart; and through the mystic and religious sense which, diving deep -below personalities, perceives the vast flood of universal being--in -these and many other ways does this Common Life compel us to recognise -itself as a fact--perhaps the most fundamental fact of existence. - -To teach this simple foundational fact and what flows from it to every -child--not only as a theory, but as a practical habit and inspiration of -conduct--is not really difficult, but easy. Children, having this sense -woven into their very being, grow up in the spirit and practical -habitude of it, and from the beginning possess the inspiration of what -we call Morality--far more effectually indeed than copy-book maxims can -provide. Respect for truth, consideration towards parents and elders, -respect for the reasonable properties, dignities, conveniences of -others, as well as for one's own needs and dignities, become perfectly -natural and habitual. And that this is no mere hypothesis the example of -Japan has lately shown where every young thing is brought up so far -drenched in the sentiment of community that to give one's life for one's -country is looked upon as a privilege.[48] The general lines, I say, of -morality would be secure, and much more secure than they now are, if we -could only bring the children up in an educational and practical -atmosphere of that solidarity which as a matter of fact is demanded -to-day by socialism and the economic movement generally. - -And on this ground-work, as I have hinted, Personal Affection and -Sympathy would build a superstructure of their own; they would outline a -society as much more beautiful, powerful and closely knit than the -present one founded on the Cash-nexus, as, say, the Athenian society of -the time of Pericles was superior to that of the Lapithæ who first -bitted and bridled the horse. - -While the general Life, equal, pervasive, and in a sense -undifferentiated, is a great fact which has to be acknowledged; so this -personal Love and Affection, choosing, selecting, and giving outline and -form to that life, is equally a fact, equally undeniable, equally -sacred--and one which has to be taken in conjunction with the other. - -I say equally sacred: because there has been a tendency (no doubt due to -certain causes) to look upon personal affection, in its various phases -from slight inclinations of sympathy to the stronger compulsions of -passion, as something rather dubious in character, at best an amiable -weakness not to be encouraged. Tolstoy, in one of his writings, figures -the case of a little household in days of famine not really having bread -enough for their own wants. Then a stranger child comes to the door and -pleads for food. Tolstoy suggests that the mother ought to take the -scanty crust from her own child to feed the stranger withal, or at least -to share the food equally between the two children. But such a -conclusion seems to me doubtful. - -Whatever "ought" may mean in such a connexion, we know pretty well that -such never _will_ be the rule of human life, we may almost say never can -be; perhaps we should be equally justified in saying, never "ought" to -be. For obviously there must be preferences, selections. Our affections, -our affinities, our sympathies, our passions, are not given us for -nothing. It is not for nothing that every individual person, every tree, -every animal has a _shape_, a shape of its own. If it were not so the -world would be infinitely, inconceivably, dull. Yet to ask that a mother -should in all cases treat strange children exactly the same as her own, -that a man from the oceanic multitude should single out no special or -privileged friends, but should love all alike, is to ask that these folk -in their mental and moral nature should become as jellyfish--of no -distinct shape or satisfaction to themselves or any one else. Profound -and indispensable as is the Law of Equality--the law, namely, that there -is a region within all beings where they touch to a common and equal -life--the other law, that of Individual predilection, is equally -indispensable. Try to reduce all to the one motive of the general -interest, and you might have a perfect morality, but a morality woodeny, -hard and dull, without form and feature. Try to dispense with this, and -to found society on individual affection and love, and on individual -initiative, without morals, and you would have a flighty, unstable -thing, without consistency or backbone. - -My contention, then, is that our hope for the future society lies in its -embodiment of these two great principles jointly: (1) the recognition of -the Common Life as providing the foundation-element of general morality, -and (2) the recognition of Individual Affection and Expression--and to a -much greater degree than hitherto--as building up the higher groupings -and finer forms of the structure. And in proportion as (1) provides a -solider basis of morals than we have hitherto had, so will it be -possible to give to (2) a width of scope and freedom of action hitherto -untried or untrusted. Conjointly with the strengthening of these -principles of Solidarity and Affection in society must of course come -the strengthening of Individuality--the right and the desire of every -being to preserve and develop its own proper _shape_, and so to add to -the richness and interest of life--and this involves the right of -Resistance, and (once more) the relegation of the formula of -non-resistance into the background. - -These considerations, however, are leading us too far afield, and away -from the special subject of our paper. I mention them chiefly in order -to show that while we are considering Morality as a foundation-element -of Society, it must never be lost sight of that it is not the only -element, and that it would be comparatively senseless and useless unless -grafted on and complemented and completed by the others. - -The method of the New Morality, then, will be to minimise formulæ, and -(except as illustrations) to use them sparely; and to bring children -up--and so indirectly all citizens--in such conditions of abounding life -and health that their sympathies, overflowing naturally to those around, -will cause them to realise in the strongest way their organic part in -the great whole of society--and this not as an intellectual theory, so -much as an abiding consciousness and foundation-fact of their own -existence. Make this the basis of all teaching. Make them realise--by -all sorts of habit and example--that to injure or deceive others is to -injure themselves--that to help others somehow satisfies and fortifies -their own inner life. Let them learn, as they grow up, to regard all -human beings, of whatever race or class, as ends in themselves--never to -be looked upon as mere things or chattels to be made use of. Let them -also learn to look upon the animals in the same light--as beings, they -too, who are climbing the great ladder of creation--beings with whom -also we humans have a common spirit and interest. And let them learn to -respect _themselves_ as worthy and indispensable members of this great -Body. Thus will be established a true Morality--a morality far more -searching, more considerate of others, more adaptive and more genuine -than that of the present day--a morality, we may say, of common-sense. - -For it may indeed be said that Morality--taking a downright and almost -physiological view of it--is simply _abundance of life_. That is, that -when a man has so abounding and vital an inner nature that his -sympathies and activities overflow the margin of his own petty days and -personal advantage, he is by that fact entering the domain of morality. -Before that time and while limited to the personal organism, the -creative life in each being is either non-moral like that of the -animals, or simply selfish like that of the immature man; but when it -overflows this limit it necessarily becomes social, and moves to the -support and consideration of the neighbour. Having formerly found its -complete activity in the sustentation of the personal self it now -spreads its helpful energies into the lives of the other selves around. -Altruism, in fact, in its healthy forms, is the overflow of abounding -vitality. It is a morality without a code, and happily free from -limiting formulæ.[49] - -And if it be again said that a morality of this kind, which rests on a -principle and a mental attitude only, is a danger, let us pause for a -moment to consider how much more dangerous is one which rests on -formulæ. If morality without a code is a serious matter, how much more -serious is one which is nailed up _within_ a code! For looking back on -history it would sometimes seem that the black-and-white, the -this-thing-right-and-that-thing-wrong morality has been the most wicked -thing in the world. It has been an excuse for all the most devilish -deeds and persecutions imaginable. A formula of the Sabbath-day, a -formula about Witchcraft, a formula of Marriage (regardless of the real -human relation), a formula concerning Theft (regardless of the dire need -of the thief)--and burnings, hangings, torturings without mercy! The -terrible thing about this Right-and-Wrong morality is not only that it -leads to these dreadful reprisals; but that it brands upon the victim as -well as upon the oppressor the fatuous notions that a certain _thing_ is -right or wrong, and that what one has to do is to save _oneself_--two -notions both of which are directly contrary to true Morality. A boy -tells a verbal lie--perhaps through fear, perhaps through inadvertence. -He has broken a formula and is immediately caned. Moral: he will keep to -verbal truth afterwards--however mean or insidious it may be--and be -pharisaically self-satisfied; but he will never realise that the -importance of truth and lies rests not in the words, but in the -confidence and mutual trust which they either create or destroy. The -peculiarly English worship of Duty is open to the same objection. -"Lilies that fester smell far worse than weeds," and splendid as is the -conception and practice of Duty, as a self-oblivious inspiration and -enthusiasm, it becomes a truly revolting thing when it takes the -all-too-common form "I have done _my_ Duty, I'm all right!" "I am going -to do _my_ Duty, whatever becomes of you." Can anything be imagined more -disintegrating to society, more certain to split it up into a dustheap -of self-regarding units, than a formula of this kind? "It is my painful -Duty to condemn you to be hanged by the neck until you are dead," says -the Judge to the wretched girl who, in a frenzy of despair, has drowned -her baby. What he really means is that while he perfectly recognises the -monstrosity of the Law which he has sworn to administer, and the -soul-killing effect on the girl which his sentence may have, yet in -order to save _himself_ from the risk or the wrong of breaking that Law, -he is willing and ready to pronounce that sentence. "It is my duty to -burn you," says the Inquisitor to the heretic; and the implication is -really, "I am afraid that if I do not burn you I shall get burnt myself, -in the next world." - -The sooner an end can be made of this sort of morality, the -better--which under the cloak of public advantage or benefit is only -thinking about self-promotion and self-interest, either in this world -or the next, and which truly is calculated not to further human -solidarity but to destroy it. It runs and trickles through all of modern -society, poisoning the well-springs of affection, this morality which, -having paid its domestic servants their regular wages, is quite -satisfied with itself, and expects them to do _their_ duty in return, -but is silent about their real needs and welfare; which treats its -wage-workers as simple machines for the grinding out of profits, and -lifts its eyebrows in serene surprise when they retaliate against such -treatment; which can only regard a criminal as a person who has broken a -formula, and in return must be punished according to a formula; and a -pig as an animal for which you provide reasonable provender and a stye, -and which in return you are entitled to _eat_. Pharisaical, self-centred -and self-interested, materialistic to the last degree, and really -senseless in its outlook, this current morality is indeed, and very -seriously, a public peril. - - - Thou shalt not steal: an empty feat, - When it's so lucrative to cheat. - - -Keep _within_ the code, within the letter; always speak the nominal -truth (whoever may suffer thereby); keep up the accepted formulæ of -marriage and the sex-relation (though hearts may be bleeding and -perishing); pay every respect to property, and so forth; and you may -have the gratification of being looked upon as a bulwark of society. But -none the less it is probable that you are undermining and corrupting -that society to the core. Your outlook is merely on the surface, while -you are condoning deep-seated ill. - -Of course the New Morality--to look _within_, to feel and refer to the -needs of others almost as instinctively as to one's own, to refuse to -regard any _thing_ as in itself good or bad, and to look upon all -beings, oneself included, as ends in themselves and not as a means of -personal self-advancement and glorification--while it is the more -natural, is also the more difficult in a sense, as providing no set -pattern or rule. But surely the time has arrived for its adoption. It is -the morality which must underlie the freer, more varied forms of the -society of the future; and it is the only escape from the corruption of -the old order. - -To take particular examples. Truth, in word or act, is--we all -feel--very important, very fundamental. It is the basis of the common -understanding of which I have spoken. It is the basis of the expression -of oneself, and of the recognition of others. Any one who is deeply -imbued with the consciousness of the common life will necessarily have a -deep respect for the Truth; he will also have a deep respect for the -Life, the Property, the good Name, the Affections, and so forth, of -others, as well as for his own similar attributes. He will not be able -to say, as a formula: I will _never_ deceive another (tell a lie); I -will _never_ take the life of others, man or animal (kill); and so on, -because he knows there are situations in which that very Life arising -within him, or even his own absolute necessity, will demand such -actions, will compel him to the performance of them; but all the same he -will in his ordinary existence carry out the principle which underlies -these formulæ, and much more thoroughly, probably, than the formulæ -themselves would demand. - -Similarly about such matters as sexual morality. There are outcries -against Lady-Godiva-shows and living statuary--apparently because folk -are afraid of such things rousing the passions. No doubt the things may -act that way. But why, we may ask, should people be afraid of rousing -passions which, after all, are the great driving forces of human life? -Clearly it is because they think the other forces which should guide -these passions or give them a helpful and useful direction are too weak. -And in this last respect they are right. The guiding and inhibiting -forces in our present society are feeble--because they consist only in a -few conventional formulæ, which are rapidly being undermined. We are -generating steam in a boiler which is already cankered with rust. The -cure is not to cut off the passions, or to be weakly afraid of them, but -to find a new, sound, healthy engine of general morality and -common-sense within which they will work. And this is what in the future -we must try to do. - -This morality, this organic, vital, almost physiological morality of the -common life--which means a quick response of each unit to the needs of -the other units, and much the same in the body politic as health means -in the physical body--must underlie and be the basis of the societies of -the future. It will mean the liberation of a thousand and one instincts, -desires and capacities which since our childhood's days have lain buried -within us, concealed and ignored because we have thought them wrong or -unworthy, when really all they have wanted has been recognition and the -opportunity to become healthy _by_ recognition--by the process in fact -of balancing against each other, and against opposing and complementary -elements, and so finding their places in the Whole. On this new Morality -of acceptance and recognition and wide-reaching redemption, it will be -possible, as I have already said, to graft not only a stronger -expression of individuality all round, but also a higher and more varied -and more gracious life of _personal affection_--which now alas! lies -like a thing wounded and half dead. Its establishment will, I take it, -mean the oncoming of a society which will liberate personal affection -and love--will liberate forces hitherto artificially crippled because -their liberation would tear our current morality of formulæ to mere rags -and tatters. It means, I take it, the oncoming of a society whose main -motive will no longer be the struggle for Bread (since that is ruled out -by the enormous growth of our wealth-producing powers), but the desire -for the satisfaction of the Heart--thus preparing no doubt new and -unforeseen difficulties and sufferings, yet filling life with such -beautiful things that the motives of greed and the mean pursuit of -money, which now weigh upon the world, will be like an evil nightmare of -the Past from which the dawn delivers us. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[42] _Maitrayana-Brahmana-Upanishad_, vi. 34, 4. - -[43] _Taittiriyaka-Up_, ii. 9, etc. - -[44] Spinoza's _Ethic_, part iv. - -[45] It must be remembered that Nietzsche supposes three stages of the -spirit--(1) the Camel, (2) the Lion, and (3) the Child. And the -Beyond-man properly corresponds to the last stage. - -[46] _Daily News_, December 29, 1906. - -[47] I need hardly say that this does not mean, as Nietzsche so often -and sardonically suggests, the realisation of the _common-place_ life, -but something very different. - -[48] Many Japanese committed suicide on account of not being allowed to -join in the Russian War. See also Lafcadio Hearn's description of the -habitual dignity and courtesy of the youth of Japan.--_Life and -Letters_, vol. i, pp. 12, 113. - -[49] This morality, indeed, may be said to be implicit in much of the -teaching of Christ; yet, curiously enough, it has never been seriously -adopted by the Churches. And as to the regard for animals as ends in -themselves, the Roman Catholic Church, I believe, positively repudiates -any such attitude. - - - - -APPENDIX - - -As the author's attacks in the body of this book upon the Civilisation -peoples have sometimes been regarded as extreme and unjustified, it has -been thought appropriate, here in the Appendix, to collect a few notes -from reliable authorities on the characteristics and customs of -pre-civilised men--not so much of course with the object of proving the -latter always superior to the former, as of bringing to light the many -admirable virtues of the early peoples, which a cheap modern -civilisation has neglected or somewhat contemptuously ignored. - -No one would deny that there are many cases of primitive folk--folk -unclean and ignorant and absurdly superstitious--who can hardly be said -to command our admiration. On the other hand there are a vast number of -cases of an opposite sort--cases which present to us the realisation of -some remarkable human characteristic or social capacity well worthy of -consideration or even of imitation. If our Civilisation is ever to move -on to some form better than the present, it is these latter cases which -ought to be of assistance; for they not only direct our attention to -human possibilities, but by showing what has been realised in the past -assure us that such ideals are by no means unattainable now. - -It is therefore with a view to cases of this kind that the following -Appendix has been framed. - -E. C. - - -+Civilisation does not Engross all the Virtues.+ - - Quotations from Herman Melville's _Typee_, pp. 225, etc. (John - Murray, 1861.) - -"Civilisation does not engross all the virtues of humanity: she has not -even her full share of them. They flourish in greater abundance and -attain greater strength among many barbarous people. The hospitality of -the wild Arab, the courage of the North American Indian, and the -faithful friendships of some of the Polynesian nations, far surpass -anything of a similar kind among the polished communities of Europe. If -truth and justice, and the better principles of our nature, cannot exist -unless enforced by the statute-book, how are we to account for the -social condition of the Typees? So pure and upright were they in all the -relations of life, that entering their valley, as I did, under the most -erroneous impressions of their character, I was soon led to exclaim in -amazement: 'Are these the ferocious savages, the bloodthirsty cannibals -of whom I have heard such frightful tales! They deal more kindly with -each other, and are more humane, than many who study essays on virtue -and benevolence, and who repeat every night that beautiful prayer -breathed first by the lips of the divine and gentle Jesus.' I will -frankly declare, that after passing a few weeks in this valley of the -Marquesas, I formed a higher estimate of human nature than I had ever -before entertained. But alas! since then I have been one of the crew of -a man-of-war, and the pent-up wickedness of five hundred men has nearly -overturned all my previous theories. - - * * * * * - -"How little do some of these poor islanders comprehend, when they look -around them, that no inconsiderable part of their disasters originate -in certain tea-party excitements, under the influence of which -benevolent-looking gentlemen in white cravats solicit alms, and old -ladies in spectacles, and young ladies in sober russet low gowns, -contribute sixpences towards the creation of a fund, the object of which -is to ameliorate the spiritual condition of the Polynesians, but whose -end has almost invariably been to accomplish their temporal destruction! - -"Let the savages be civilised, but civilise them with benefits, and not -with evils; and let heathenism be destroyed, but not by destroying the -heathen. The Anglo-Saxon hive have extirpated Paganism from the greater -part of the North American continent; but with it they have likewise -extirpated the greater portion of the Red race. Civilisation is -gradually sweeping from the earth the lingering vestiges of Paganism, -and at the same time the shrinking forms of its unhappy worshippers. - -"Among the islands of Polynesia, no sooner are the images overturned, -the temples demolished, and the idolaters converted into _nominal_ -Christians, than disease, vice, and premature death make their -appearance. The depopulated land is then recruited from the rapacious -hordes of enlightened individuals who settle themselves within its -borders, and clamorously announce the progress of the Truth. Neat -villas, trim gardens, shaven lawns, spires, and cupolas arise, while the -poor savage soon finds himself an interloper in the country of his -fathers, and that too on the very site of the hut where he was born. - - * * * * * - -"During my whole stay on the island I never witnessed a single quarrel, -nor any thing that in the slightest degree approached even to a dispute. -The natives appeared to form one household, whose members were bound -together by the ties of strong affection. The love of kindred I did not -so much perceive, for it seemed blended in the general love; and where -all were treated as brothers and sisters, it was hard to tell who were -actually related to each other by blood. - -"Let it not be supposed that I have overdrawn this picture. I have not -done so. Nor let it be urged that the hostility of this tribe to -foreigners, and the hereditary feuds they carry on against their -fellow-islanders beyond the mountains, are facts which contradict me. -Not so: these apparent discrepancies are easily reconciled. By many a -legendary tale of violence and wrong, as well as by events which have -passed before their eyes, these people have been taught to look upon -white men with abhorrence. The cruel invasion of their country by Porter -has alone furnished them with ample provocation; and I can sympathize in -the spirit which prompts the Typee warrior to guard all the passes to -his valley with the point of his levelled spear, and, standing upon the -beach, with his back turned upon his green home, to hold at bay the -intruding European." - - -+Influences of "Civilisation"+ - - From R. L. Stevenson's _In the South Seas_, p. 43. (Chatto and - Windus, 1908.) - -[It is asked] "Was not the Polynesian always unchaste? Doubtless he was -so always: doubtless he is more so since the coming of his remarkably -chaste visitors from Europe. Take the Hawaiian account of Cook: I have -no doubt it is entirely fair. Take Krusenstern's candid, almost innocent -description of a Russian man-of-war at the Marquesas; consider the -disgraceful history of missions in Hawaii itself ... add the practice of -whaling fleets to call at the Marquesas and carry off a complement of -women for the cruise ... and bear in mind how it was the custom of the -adventurers, and we may almost say the business of the missionaries, to -deride and infract even the most salutary _tapus_ (taboos)." - - -+Captain Cook at Owyhee in 1799+ - - From his _Life and Voyages_, p. 379. (George Newnes, 1904.) - -"In the progress of the intercourse which was maintained between our -voyagers and the natives, the quiet and inoffensive behaviour of the -latter took away every apprehension of danger, so that the English -trusted themselves among them at all times and in all situations. The -instances of kindness and civility which our people experienced from -them were so numerous that they could not easily be recounted. A society -of priests, in particular, displayed a generosity and munificence of -which no equal example had hitherto been given: for they furnished a -constant supply of hogs and vegetables to our navigators, without ever -demanding a return, or even hinting at it in the most distant manner." -Of the island of Wateeoo (p. 309), "the inhabitants are very numerous, -and many of the young men were perfect models in shape." - - -+Natives of Tahiti+ - - From Havelock Ellis' _Sex in relation to Society_, p. 148. (1910.) - -"The example of Tahiti is instructive as regards the prevalence of -chastity among peoples of what we generally consider low grades of -civilisation. An early explorer, J. R. Forster (_Observations made on a -voyage round the World_, 1778), speaks of the fine climate and the -beauty of the females, as inviting powerfully to the enjoyments and -pleasures of love. Yet he is over and over again impelled to set down -facts which bear testimony to the virtues of these people. Though rather -effeminate in build they are athletic, he says. Moreover in their wars -they fight with great bravery and valour. They are, for the rest, -hospitable. He remarks that they treat their married women with great -respect, and that women generally are nearly the equals of men, both in -intelligence and social position; he gives a charming description of the -women. 'In short their character,' he concludes, 'is as amiable as that -of any nation that ever came unimproved out of the hands of -Nature'[!]"... - -"When Cook," continues Ellis, "who visited Tahiti many times, was among -this 'benevolent, humane' people, he noted their esteem for chastity, -and found that not only were betrothed girls strictly guarded before -marriage, but that men also who had refrained from sexual intercourse -for some time before marriage were believed to pass at death immediately -into the abode of the blessed." - - -+Radack--one of the Caroline Islands+ - - From Chamisso's _Reise um die Welt_, p. 183. (Leipzig.) - -"Thus we made acquaintance with a people who have endeared themselves to -me more than any others of the children of Earth. The very weaknesses of -the Radack folk removed mistrust on our side; their very gentleness and -goodness caused them to be trustful towards us, the all-powerful -strangers; we became declared friends. I found among them simple, -unsophisticated manners, charm, natural grace, and the pleasant bloom -of modesty. In the matter, certainly, of strength and manly independence -the O-Waihier [Owyhees] are greatly their superiors. My friend, Kadu, -who, though not belonging to this island-group, attached himself to us, -was one of the finest characters I have ever met and one of the most -dear to me of human beings; and he afterwards became my instructor with -regard to Radack and the Caroline Islands." - - -+Adaptation of Early Peoples to Surroundings+ - - THE DINKAS (Central Africa): from Grogan's _Cape to Cairo_, p. 278. - (Hurst & Blackett, 1900.) - -"Every one in Dinka-land carries a long spear, or pointed fish-spear, -and a club made of a heavy purple wood, while the more important -gentlemen wear enormous ivory bracelets round their upper arm; strict -nudity is the fashion, and a marabout feather in the hair is the essence -of _chic_. They are all beautifully built, having broad shoulders, small -waist, good hips, and well-shaped legs. The stature of some is colossal. -It was most curious to see how these Dinkas, living as they do in the -marshes, approximate to the type of the waterbird. They have much the -same walk as a heron, picking their feet up very high and thrusting them -well forward; while their feet are enormous. Their colossal height is -indeed a great advantage in the reed grown country in which they live. -The favourite pose of a Dinka (on one foot, with the other foot resting -on the knee) is in reality the favourite pose of a water bird.... They -are the complete antithesis of the pigmy, as the country in which they -live is the complete antithesis of the dense forest which is the home of -the dwarfs.... Our camp was near a large village where there were at -least 1,500 head of cattle, besides sheep and goats, and the chief -brought me a fine fat bull-calf--which settled the nervous question of -food for two days.... The rambling village with its groups of figures -and long lines of home-coming cattle, dimly seen in the smoke of a -hundred fires as I approached at sunset, was very picturesque." - - -THE PIGMIES: from _Cape to Cairo_, pp. 144 and 161. - -"The pigmies have no settled villages, nor do they cultivate anything. -They live the life of the brute in the forests, perpetually wandering in -search of honey or in pursuit of elephant; when they succeed in killing -anything, they throw up a few grass shelters and remain there till all -the meat is either eaten or dried. They depend upon the other natives -for the necessary grain, which they either steal or barter for elephant -meat or honey. All their knives, spearheads and arrow-heads they -likewise purchase from other people, but they make their own bows and -arrows. So well are these made that they are held in great esteem by the -surrounding people." ... "An hour later I met an elderly pigmy in the -forest and managed to induce him to talk. He was a splendid little -fellow, full of self-confidence, and gave me most concise information, -stating that the white man with many belongings had passed near by two -days before, and had then gone down to the lake-shore, where he was -camped at that moment. These people must have a wonderful code of signs -and signals, as despite their isolated and nomadic existence they always -know exactly what is happening everywhere. He was a typical pigmy as -found on the volcanoes--squat, gnarled, proud, and easy of carriage. His -beard hung down over his chest, and his thighs and chest were covered -with wiry hair. He carried the usual pigmy bow made of two pieces of -cane spliced together with grass, and with a string made of a single -strand of a rush that grows in the forests. The pigmies are splendid -examples of the adaptability of Nature to her surroundings; the -combination of strength and conciseness enabling them to move with -astonishing rapidity in the pig-runs that form the only pathway through -the impenetrable growth, and to endure the fatigue of elephant-hunting." - - -NATIVES IN RUANDA (near Lake Kivu): _Cape to Cairo_, p. 118. - -"Society in Ruanda is divided into two castes, the Watusi and the -Wahutu. The Watusi are the descendants of a great wave of Galla invasion -that reached even to Tanganyika. They still retain their pastoral -instincts, and refuse to do any other work than the tending of cattle; -and so great is their affection for their beasts, that rather than sever -company they will become slaves, and do the menial work of their beloved -cattle for the benefit of their conquerors. This is all the more -remarkable when one takes into account their inherent pride of race and -contempt for other peoples, even for the white man.... Many signs of -superior civilisation, observable in the peoples with whom the Watusi -have come into contact, are traceable to this Galla influence. - -"The hills are terraced, thus increasing the area of cultivation, and -obviating the denudation of fertile slopes by torrential rains. In many -cases irrigation is carried out on a sufficiently extensive scale, and -the swamps are drained by ditches. Artificial reservoirs are built with -side troughs for watering cattle. The fields are in many cases fenced in -by planted hedges of euphorbia and thorn, and similar fences are planted -along the narrow parts of the main cattle tracks, to prevent the beasts -from straying or trampling down the cultivation. - -"There is also an exceptional diversity of plants cultivated, such as -hungry rice, maize, red and white millet, several kinds of beans, peas, -bananas, and the edible arum. Some of the higher growing beans are even -trained on sticks planted for the purpose. Pumpkins and sweet potatoes -are also common; and the Watusi own and tend enormous herds of cattle, -goats and sheep. Owing to the magnificent pasturage the milk is of -excellent quality, and they make large quantities of butter. They are -exceedingly clever with their beasts, and have many calls which the -cattle understand. At milking time they light smoke-fires to keep the -flies from irritating the beasts.... They are tall slightly built men of -graceful nonchalant carriage, and their features are delicate and -refined. I noticed many faces that, bleached and set in a white collar, -would have been conspicuous for character in a London drawing-room. The -legal type was especially pronounced." ... - -"The Wahutu are their absolute antithesis. They are the aborigines of -the country, and any pristine originality or character has been -effectually stamped out of them. Hewers of wood and drawers of water, -they do all the hard work, and unquestioning in abject servility give up -the proceeds on demand. Their numerical proportion to the Watusi must be -at least a hundred to one, yet they defer to them without protest; and -in spite of the obvious hatred in which they hold their over lords, -there seems to be no friction." - - -+Natives of the Andaman Islands+ - -The following extracts, about the Andaman-islanders of the Bay of -Bengal, the Bushmen of South Africa, and the Eskimo tribes of Northern -latitudes, are specially interesting because they deal with peoples -whose present-day culture is undoubtedly on a par with, and in all -probability directly inherited from, the peoples of a long-past Stone -Age. Thus we get indirectly a glimpse of what the culture of the Stone -Ages was--both in its material acquisitions and its grade of social and -psychological evolution. - - - From _In the Andamans and Nicobars_, p. 184, by C. Boden Kloss. - (Murray, 1903.) - -"The Andaman Islands are inhabited by people of pure Negrito blood, -members of perhaps the most ancient race remaining on the earth, and -standing closest to the primitive human type.... It would be impossible -to find anywhere a race of purer descent than the Andamanese, for ever -since they peopled the islands in the Stone Age, they have remained -secluded from the outer world.... In stature they are far below the -average height; but although they have been called dwarfs and pygmies, -these words must not be understood to imply anything in the nature of a -monstrosity. Their reputation for hideousness, like their poisoned -arrows and cannibalism, has long been a fallacy which, though widely -popular, should now be exploded. The average heights of the men and -women are found to be 4 feet 10¾ inches, and 4 feet 7¼ inches -respectively, and their figures, which are proportionately built, are -very symmetrical and graceful. Although not to be described as muscular, -they are of good development, the men being agile, yet sturdy, with -broad chests and square shoulders." - - - From E. H. Man on _The Aborigines of the Andaman Islands_, p. 14. - (Trübner, 1883.) - -"No idiots, maniacs or lunatics have ever yet been observed among them, -and this is not because those so afflicted are killed or confined by -their fellows, for the greatest care and attention are invariably paid -to the sick, aged and helpless." - -Mr. Man also remarks (_Journ. Anthrop. Inst._ XII, 92): "It has been -observed with regret by all interested in the race, that intercourse -with the alien population has, generally speaking, prejudicially -affected their morals; and that the candour, veracity, and self-reliance -they manifest in their savage and untutored state are, when they become -associated with foreigners, to a great extent lost, and habits of -untruthfulness, dependence and sloth engendered." - - -+The Bushmen+ - - Extract from F. C. Selous' _African Nature-Notes_, pp. 344 and 347. - (1908.) - -"When I met with the first Bushmen I ever saw, on the banks of the -Orange River in 1872, I was a very young man, and, regarding them with -some repugnance, wrote in my diary that they appeared to be removed by a -very few steps from the brute creation. That was a very foolish and -ignorant remark to make, and I have since found out that though Bushmen -may possibly be to-day in the same backward state of material -development and knowledge as once were the palæolithic ancestors of the -most highly cultured European races in prehistoric times, yet -fundamentally there is very little difference between the natures of -primitive and civilised men, so that it is quite possible for a member -of one of the more cultured races to live for a time quite happily and -contentedly amongst beings who are often described as degraded savages, -and from whom he is separated by thousands of years in all that is -implied by the word 'civilisation.' I have hunted a great deal with -Bushmen, and during 1884 I lived amongst these people continuously for -several months together. On many and many a night I have slept in their -encampments without even any Kafir attendants, and though I was entirely -in their power I always felt perfectly safe among them. As most of the -men spoke Sechwana I was able to converse with them, and found them very -intelligent, good-natured companions, full of knowledge concerning the -habits of all the wild animals inhabiting the country in which they -lived.... I have never seen their women and children ill-treated by -them, and I have seen both the men and the women show affection for -their children." - -Elsewhere Selous speaks of "John"--a member of the close-related Korana -clan--who was in his service, as "of a pale yellow-brown colour, -beautifully proportioned, with small delicately made hands and feet." - - - From preface by Henry Balfour to the book _Bushmen Paintings - Copied_, by Helen Tongue. - -"It is certain that the designs representing animals, etc., which are -painted upon the walls of their caves and rock-shelters, frequently -exhibit a realism and freedom in treatment which are quite remarkable in -the art of so primitive a people. The skill with which many of the -characteristic South African animals are portrayed testifies not only to -unusual artistic efficiency, but also to a close observance of and an -intimate acquaintanceship with the habits and peculiarities of the -animals themselves.... The paintings are remarkable not only for the -realism exhibited by so many, but also for a freedom from the limitation -to delineation in _profile_ which characterises for the most part the -drawings of primitive peoples, especially where animals are concerned. -Attitudes of a kind difficult to render were ventured upon without -hesitation, and an appreciation even of the rudiments of perspective is -occasionally to be noted." - - - Note from the same book, by S. Bleek, daughter of the well-known - Dr. Bleek, of the Grey Library at Cape Town (1870). - -"Bushmen are called liars and thieves all over the Colony, but all those -who stayed with us were truthful and very honest. On no occasion did -they steal even a pocket-knife lost in the garden, or fruit from the -trees. They might have taken sheep from hostile farmers, but they would -never rob a friend or neighbour. They were cleanly in their habits, and -most particular about manners.... As a people they were grateful and -revengeful, independent in spirit, excellent fighters--who preferred -death to captivity.... Captives were sometimes made servants, but not -often well-treated, nor did they take to a settled life easily. Even -kind masters found their longing for freedom hard to conquer." - - -+The Nechilli Eskimo+ - - From Amundsen's _North West Passage_, vol. i, p. 294. (Constable, - 1908.) - -"We were suddenly brought face to face here with a people from the Stone -Age: we were abruptly carried back several thousand years in the advance -of human progress, to people who as yet knew no other method of -procuring fire than by rubbing two pieces of wood together, and who with -great difficulty managed to get their food just lukewarm, over the -seal-oil flame on a stone slab, while we cooked our food in a moment -with our modern cooking apparatus. We came here, with our most ingenious -and most recent inventions in the way of firearms, to people who still -used lances, bows and arrows of reindeer horn.... However, we should be -wrong if from the weapons, implements, and domestic appliances of these -people we were to argue that they were of low intelligence. Their -implements, apparently so very primitive, proved to be as well adapted -to their existing requirements and conditions as experience and the -skilful tests of many centuries could have made them." - - -+Ugpi, an Eskimo+ - - From Amundsen vol. i, p. 190. - -"Ugpi or Uglen (the 'Owl') as we always called him, attracted immediate -attention by his appearance. With his long black hair hanging over his -shoulders, his dark eyes and frank honest expression, he would have been -good-looking if his broad face and large mouth had not spoilt his beauty -from a European standpoint. There was something serious, almost dreamy, -about him. Honesty and truthfulness are unmistakably impressed on his -features, and I would never have hesitated for a moment to entrust him -with anything. During his association with us he became an exceptionally -clever hunter both for birds and reindeer. He was about thirty years old -and was married to Kabloka, a very small girl of seventeen." - - -+Eskimo and Civilisation+ - - From Amundsen vol. ii, p. 48. - -"During the voyage of the _Gjoa_, we came into contact with ten -different Eskimo tribes in all ... and I must state it as my firm -conviction that the Eskimo living absolutely isolated from civilisation -of any kind are undoubtedly the happiest, healthiest, most honorable -and most contented among them. It must therefore be the bounden duty of -civilised nations who come into contact with the Eskimo to safeguard -them against contaminating influences, and by laws and stringent -regulations protect them against the many perils and evils of so-called -civilisation. Unless this is done they will inevitably be ruined.... My -sincerest wish for our friends the Nechilli Eskimo is that Civilisation -may _never_ reach them." - - -+High Standard of Tribal Morality among the Aleoutes+ - - Witnessed to by the Russian missionary, Veniaminoff. See _Mutual - Aid_, pp. 99 and 100, by P. Kropotkin. - -The high standard of the tribal morality of the Eskimos has often been -mentioned in general literature. Nevertheless the following remarks upon -the manners of the Aleoutes--nearly akin to the Eskimos--will better -illustrate savage morality as a whole. They were written, after a ten -years' stay among the Aleoutes, by a most remarkable man--the Russian -missionary, Veniaminoff. I sum them up, mostly in his own words:-- - -Endurability (he wrote) is their chief feature. It is simply colossal. -Not only do they bathe every morning in the frozen sea, and stand naked -on the beach, inhaling the icy wind, but their endurability, even when -at hard work on insufficient food, surpasses all that can be imagined. -During a protracted scarcity of food, the Aleoute cares first for his -children; he gives them all he has, and himself fasts. They are not -inclined to stealing; that was remarked even by the first Russian -immigrants. Not that they never steal; every Aleoute would confess -having sometime stolen something, but it is always a trifle; the whole -is so childish. The attachment of the parents to their children is -touching, though it is never expressed in words or pettings. The Aleoute -is with difficulty moved to make a promise, but once he has made it he -will keep it whatever may happen. (An Aleoute made Veniaminoff a gift of -dried fish, but it was forgotten on the beach in the hurry of the -departure. He took it home. The next occasion to send it to the -missionary was in January; and in November and December there was a -great scarcity of food in the Aleoute encampment. But the fish was never -touched by the starving people, and in January it was sent to its -destination.) - - -+Home Life of the Eskimo+ - - By Villialm Stefansson. From _Harper's Monthly_, October, 1908. - -Stefansson lived for thirteen months in the household of a Chief, -Ovaynak, on the Mackenzie River, and knew his subject well. He says:-- - -"With their absolute equality of the sexes and perfect freedom of -separation, a permanent union of uncongenial persons is well-nigh -inconceivable. But if a couple find each other congenial enough to -remain married a year or two, divorce becomes exceedingly improbable, -and is much rarer among the middle-aged than among us. People of the age -of twenty-five and over are usually very fond of each other, and the -family--when once it becomes settled--appears to be on a higher level of -affection and mutual consideration than is common among us. In an Eskimo -home I have never heard an unpleasant word between a man and his wife, -never seen a child punished, nor an old person treated inconsiderately. -Yet the household affairs are carried on in an orderly way, and the good -behaviour of the children is remarked by practically every traveller. - -"These charming qualities of the Eskimo home may be largely due to their -equable disposition and the general fitness of their character for the -communal relations; but it seems reasonable to give a portion of the -credit to their remarkable social organisation; for they live under -conditions for which some of our best men are striving--conditions that -with our idealists are even yet merely dreams." - - -+Religious Beliefs among the Eskimos+ - - From Rasmussen's _People of the Polar North_, pp. 125 and 127. - (1908.) - -"Their religious opinions do not lead them to any sort of worship of the -supernatural, but consist--if they are to be formulated in a creed--of a -list of commandments and rules of conduct controlling their relations -with unknown forces hostile to man." - -"A wise and independent thinking Eskimo, Otag the Magician, said to me -of death: 'You ask, but I know nothing of death; I am only acquainted -with life. I can only say what I believe: either death is the end of -life, or else it is the transition into another mode of life. In neither -case is there anything to fear. Nevertheless I do not want to die, -because I consider that it is good to live.' This calm way of envisaging -death is not unusual; I have seen many pagan Eskimos go to meet certain -death without a trace of fear." - - -+Periodical Distributions to Obviate Accumulations of Wealth+ - - From Kropotkin's _Mutual Aid_, p. 97. (Heinemann, 1908.) - -"(The Eskimos) have an original means for obviating the inconveniences -arising from a personal accumulation of wealth--which would soon destroy -their tribal unity. When a man has grown rich he convokes the folk of -his clan to a great festival, and after much eating, distributes among -them all his fortune. On the Yukon river Dall saw an Aleoute family -distributing in this way ten guns, ten full fur dresses, two hundred -strings of beads, numerous blankets, ten wolf furs, two hundred beavers -and five hundred zibellines. After that they took off their festival -dresses, and putting on old ragged furs, addressed a few words to their -kinsfolk, saying that, though they are now poorer than any one of them, -they have won their friendship.[50] Like distributions of wealth appear -to be a regular habit with the Eskimos, and to take place at a certain -season, after an exhibition of all that has been obtained during the -year. In my (Kropotkin) opinion, these distributions reveal a very old -institution, contemporaneous with the first apparition of personal -wealth; they must have been a means for re-establishing equality among -the members of the clan, after it had been disturbed by the enrichment -of the few. The periodical redistribution of land and the periodical -abandonment of all debts, which took place in historical times with so -many different races (Semites, Aryans, etc.), must have been a survival -of that old custom." - - -+The Samoyedes+ - - From _Icebound on the Kolguev_, p. 384, by A. Trevor-Battye. - (Constable, 1895.) - -"Family affection among the Samoyeds is very strongly developed. It -would be impossible to find greater evidence of this among any people. -Another extremely marked character among them is family order. All -everyday offices and occupations are carried out by a well-defined -method and subdivision of labour. I never saw a single instance of -anything approaching a family quarrel.... They are very handy sailors, -patient and successful hunters and fishermen, and admirable workmen with -such tools as they understand. No man can repair a damaged boat more -quickly than a Samoyed, and from the roughest drift-wood (such as an -English carpenter would throw on the fire), they fashion bows, arrows, -sleighs, spoons, drinking-cups, bullet-moulds, and a variety of articles -of everyday use." - - -+The Belle of Kolguev+ - - From _Icebound on the Kolguev_, p. 130. - -"Her sister-in-law Ustynia was really, if you accept the type, a pretty -girl.... Her eyes were bright, and a pleasant smile played about her -lips. When she laughed--and these people are always laughing--she -betrayed the most perfectly beautiful teeth it is possible to imagine. -Indeed all these people, even old Uano, had most wonderful teeth--white, -regular and perfectly shaped. On her fingers Ustynia wore heavy rings of -white and yellow metal, and her hands, like those of all Samoyeds, were -faultless in shape and extraordinarily supple. If you add to this a -dress reaching to the knees, formed of young reindeer skin, worked in -many stripes of white and brown, the skirt banded with scarlet cloth and -dogskin fur, and foot and leg coverings of soft patterned skin reaching -above the knee--there you have Ustynia, the belle of Kolguev." - - -+The Todas+ - - Quoted from _The Todas_, by W. H. Rivers (1906). - -These people live on a very lofty and isolated plateau of the Nilgiri -Hills in South India; and are especially interesting to us because till -1812 "they were absolutely unknown to Europeans," and developed their -own customs untouched by Western civilisation. "They are a purely -pastoral people, limiting their activities almost entirely to the care -of their buffaloes and to the complicated ritual which has grown up in -association with these animals." (p. 6) ... They have a completely -organised and definite system of polyandry. When a woman marries a man, -it is understood that she becomes the wife of his brothers at the same -time. When a boy is married to a girl, not only are his brothers usually -regarded as also the husbands of the girl, but any brother born later -will similarly be regarded as sharing his older brother's rights." (p. -515.) - -"The men are strong and very agile; the agility being most in evidence -when they have to catch their infuriated buffaloes at the funeral -ceremonies. They stand fatigue well, and often travel great -distances.... In going from one part of the hills to another a Toda -always travels as nearly as possible in a straight line, ignoring -altogether the influence of gravity, and mounting the steepest hills -with no apparent effort. In all my work with the men it seemed to me -they were extremely intelligent. They grasped readily the points of any -enquiry on which I entered, and often showed a marked appreciation of -complicated questions.... I can only record my impression, after several -months' intercourse with the Todas, that they were just as intelligent -as one would have found any average body of educated Europeans.... The -characteristic note in their demeanour is their absolute belief in their -own superiority over the surrounding races. They are grave and -dignified, and yet thoroughly cheerful and well-disposed towards all." -(pp. 18-23.) - - -+Nudity+ - - THE PELEW ISLANDS: from J. G. Wood (vol. _America_, p. 447). _See_ - Captain H. Wilson, who was wrecked there in 1783. - -"The inhabitants are of a dark copper colour, well-made, tall, and -remarkable for their stately gait. They employ the tattoo in rather a -curious manner, pricking the patterns thickly on their legs from the -ankles to a few inches above the knees, so that they look as if their -legs were darker in colour than the rest of their bodies. They are -cleanly in their habits, bathing frequently and rubbing themselves with -coco-nut oil, so as to give a soft and glossy appearance to the skin.... -The men wear no clothing, not even the king himself having the least -vestige of raiment, the tattoo being supposed to answer the purposes of -dress.... In spite, however, of the absence of dress, the deportment of -the sexes towards each other is perfectly modest. For example, the men -and women will not bathe at the same spot, nor even go near a bathing -place of the opposite sex unless it be deserted." - - -+Natives of the Amazon Region+ - -Alfred Russell Wallace, in his _Travels on the Amazon_ (1853), speaks -most warmly about the aborigines of that district--both as to their -grace of form, their quickness of hand, and their goodnatured -inoffensive disposition. He says (chap. xvii): "Their figures are -generally superb; and I have never felt so much pleasure in gazing at -the finest statue as at these living illustrations of the human form." -In his _My Life_, vol. ii, p. 288, he says: "Their whole aspect and -manner were different (from the semi-civilised tribes); they walked with -the free step of the independent forest-dweller ... original and -self-sustaining as the wild animals of the forest ... living their own -lives in their own way, as they had done for countless generations -before America was discovered. The true denizen of the Amazonian -forests, like the forest itself, is unique and not to be forgotten." - - - From _The Putumayo, or Devil's Paradise_. By W. E. Hardenburg - (1912). - -"The Huitotos are a well-formed race, and although small, are stout and -strong, with a broad chest and a prominent bust; but their limbs, -especially the lower, are but little developed.... That repugnant sight, -a protruding abdomen, so common among the 'whites' and half-breeds on -the Amazon, is very rare among these aborigines.... Notwithstanding some -defects it is not rare to find among these women many who are really -beautiful--so magnificent are their figures, and so free and graceful -their movements." (p. 152). - -"Unions are considered binding among the Huitotos, and it is very rarely -that serious disagreements arise between husband and wife. The women -are naturally chaste, and it was not till the advent of the rubber -collectors that they began to lose this primitive virtue--so generally -met with among people not yet in contact with white men" (p. 154). - -[N.B.--These were some of the people so villainously tortured--men, -women and children--for the collection of rubber, by commercial -scoundrels, whose atrocities were exposed by Roger Casement and others. -E.C.] - - -+Fine Figures and Features of the Dyaks+ - - Quotations from Beccar's _In the Forests of Borneo_, pp. 325 and - 329. (Constable 1904.) - -"On the morning of October 19, as previously arranged, Ladja, with eight -other Dyaks, came to the fort duly equipped for the journey. Ladja was a -handsome young man, tall like most of his companions, slender, and -beautifully made. His profile was nearly regular, the nose perfectly -straight, but the cheek bones rather too prominent and the chin rather -pointed. His complexion was very light." ... "Our Arno boatmen in -Florence always pole where the river is shallow, and use their poles -exactly as the Dyaks do theirs, only they certainly cannot compare with -the latter in the length of the journeys thus performed with their light -canoes. Ours literally flew over the water handled with incomparable -dexterity by my six young savages. There is to my mind no lighter and -more pleasant mode of progression, and certainly no kind of work -displays so well the elegant movements and perfect proportions of these -young Dyaks, who, practically unencumbered with clothing, are truly -splendid specimens of humanity." - - - From Ida Pfeiffer's book _Meine zweite Weltreise_, vol. i, p. 116. - (Vienna, 1856.) - -"I must confess that I would gladly have journeyed longer among the free -Dayaks. I found them wonderfully honourable, gentle and modest; indeed -in these respects I put them above any people that I have as yet become -acquainted with. I could leave all my things about, and go away for -hours together, and never was the least thing missing. They begged me -occasionally for many an object they saw, but immediately gave way when -I explained that I needed it myself. They were never over-pressing or -tiresome. It will be said, in denial of this, that the beheading of -corpses and preservation of skulls does not look exactly like -gentleness; but it must be remembered that this sad custom is chiefly -the result of rude and ignorant superstition. I stick to my opinion, and -as a further proof, would cite their domestic and thoroughly patriarchal -mode of life, their morals and manners, the love that they have for -their children, and the respect their children show to them." - - -+A Rodiya Boy+ - -Ernst Haeckel in his _Visit to Ceylon_, describes the devotion to him of -his Rodiya serving-boy at Belligam near Galle. The keeper of the -rest-house there was an old man whom Haeckel, from his likeness to a -well-known head, called by the name of Socrates. And Haeckel continues: -"It really seemed as though I should be pursued by the familiar aspects -of classical antiquity from the first moment of my arrival at my idyllic -home. For as Socrates led me up the steps of the open central hall of -the rest-house, I saw before me, with uplifted arms in an attitude of -prayer, a beautiful naked brown figure, which could be nothing else than -the famous statue of the 'Youth Adoring.' How surprised I was when the -graceful bronze statue suddenly came to life, and dropping his arms fell -on his knees, and after raising his black eyes imploringly to mine bowed -his handsome face so low at my feet that his long black hair fell on the -floor! Socrates informed me that this boy was a Pariah, a member of the -lowest caste, the Rodiyas, who had lost his parents at an early age. He -was told off to my exclusive service, and in answer to the question what -I was to call my new body-servant, the old man informed me that his name -was Gamameda. Of course I immediately thought of Ganymede, for the -favorite of Jove himself could not have been more finely made, or have -had limbs more beautifully proportioned and moulded. - -"Among the many beautiful figures which move in the foreground of my -memories of the Paradise of Ceylon, Ganymede remains one of my dearest -favorites. Not only did he fulfil his duties with the greatest attention -and conscientiousness, but he developed a personal attachment and -devotion to me which touched me deeply. The poor boy, as a miserable -outcast of the Rodiya caste, had been from his birth the object of the -deepest contempt of his fellow-men, and subjected to every sort of -brutality and ill-treatment. He was evidently as much surprised as -delighted to find me willing to be kind to him from the first.... I owe -many beautiful and valuable contributions to my museum to Ganymede's -unfailing zeal and dexterity. With the keen eye, the neat hand, and the -supple agility of the Cinghalese youth, he could catch a fluttering moth -or a gliding fish with equal promptitude; and his nimbleness was really -amazing when, out hunting, he climbed the tall trees like a cat, or -scrambled through the densest jungle to recover the prize I had killed." -(p. 200.) - - -+Second Sight+ - - Native "diviners" in South Africa, from _The Spiritualism of the - Zulu_, by C. H. Bull, of Durban. - -"Many years ago I was riding transport between Durban and the Umzimkulu. -I checked my loads at Durban and found them correct with the waybill, -but when I reached my destination I discovered that I was one case -short, for which I had to pay. On my return to my farm, I mentioned the -fact to my brother, who proposed, more in the spirit of fun than -anything else, that we should visit a diviner, and endeavour to discover -what had become of it. I consented, and together we repaired to a native -diviner. He immediately informed us of the object of our visit, -although, so far as I can tell, it was morally impossible for him to -have known it through any ordinary channels, and then he went on -speaking as though in a dream: 'I see a waggon loaded with cases -climbing up the Umgwababa Hill; there has been a lot of rain and the -roads are slippery. Half way up the hill the rains have washed a gully; -into this the waggon lurches, displacing a small case, which falls to -the ground, but the driver, who is busy urging his team up the hill, -does not notice it. Now the waggon has passed out of sight, but I see a -Kaffir coming up the hill. When he reaches the spot where the case is -lying, he stops for a few moments to examine it, and then proceeds to -the top of the hill, where he stands for a few moments shading his eyes -with his hand, as though looking beyond. Now he returns to where the -case is lying, and lifting it up, crosses the road, and pushing his way -through some tall tambootie grass, he reaches a large indonie tree; -under the tree there is a stunted clump of wild bananas. He places the -case in the centre of the clump, and after concealing it with some of -the dry leaves, he goes on his way. The case is still there.' - -"Though wholly incredulous of the truth of the vision, I sent two 'boys' -to the spot indicated, and they returned bringing with them the lost -case, having found it exactly where the diviner said that he saw it." - - -+The Zulus+ - - THE ZULUS: Quotations from General Sir W. Butler's _Naboth's - Vineyard_, p. 263 (given in Blyden's _African Life and Customs_, p. - 43). - -"In all the sad history of South Africa few things are sadder than the -Zulu question. Where the Zulu came (in those days), no lock or key were -necessary. No man who knew the Zulu--not even the white colonist, whose -rage was largely the result of his being unable to get servile labour -from him--could say that he had not found the Zulu honest, truthful, -faithful; that the white wife and child had not been entirely safe from -insult or harm at the hands of this black man; or that money and -property were not immeasurably more secure in Zulu charge than in that -of Europeans or Asiatics." - - -From Blyden's _African Life and Customs_, p. 37. - -"There are to-day hundreds of so-called civilised Africans who are -coming back to themselves. They have grasped the principles underlying -the European social and economic order and reject them as not equal to -their own as means of making adequate provision for the normal needs of -all members of society both present and future--from birth all through -life to death. They have discovered all the waste places, all the -nakedness of the European system, both by reading and travel. The great -wealth can no longer dazzle them, or conceal from their view the vast -masses of the population living under what they once supposed to be the -ideal system--who are of no earthly use to themselves or to others.... -Under the African system of communal property and co-operative effort, -every member of a community has a home and a sufficiency of food and -clothing and other necessaries of life--and for life; and his children -after him have the same advantages. In this system there is no workhouse -and no necessity for such an arrangement." - - -+Over-government+ - - From Wallace's _Malay Archipelago_, p. 336. (1894 edition.) - -"This motley, ignorant, bloodthirsty, thievish population (Papuans, -Javanese, Chinese, etc.), live here without the shadow of a government, -with no police, no courts, and no lawyers; yet they do not cut each -other's throats; do not plunder each other day and night; do not fall -into the anarchy such a state of things might be supposed to lead to. It -is very extraordinary! It puts strange thoughts into one's head about -the mountain-load of government under which people exist in Europe, and -suggests the idea that we may be over-governed. Think of the hundred -Acts of Parliament annually enacted to prevent us, the people of -England, from cutting each other's throats, or from doing to our -neighbours as we would _not_ be done by. Think of the thousands of -lawyers and barristers whose whole lives are spent in telling us what -the hundred Acts of Parliament mean, and one would be led to infer that -if Dobbo has too little law England has too much." - - -+Society without Government+ - - From Morley's _Rousseau_, vol. ii, p. 227, _note_. (Eversley - edition, 1910.) - -"Jefferson, who was American minister in France from 1784 to 1789, and -absorbed a great many of the ideas then afloat, writes in words that -seem as if they were borrowed from Rousseau: 'I am convinced that those -societies (as the Indians), which live without government, enjoy in -their general mass an infinitely greater degree of happiness than those -who live under European governments. Among the former public opinion is -in the state of law, and restrains morals as powerfully as laws ever did -anywhere. Among the latter, under pretence of government, they have -divided the nation into two classes, wolves and sheep. I do not -exaggerate; this is a true picture of Europe.'" (From Tucker's _Life of -Jefferson_, vol. i, p. 255.) - - -+Security without Government+ - -From _Tafilet_, p. 353. By W. B. Harris. (Blackwood, 1895.) - -"The Moors have a proverb, and it is a very true one, that safety and -security can only be found in the districts where there is no -government--that is to say, where the government is a _tribal_ one." - - -+Degradation through "Civilisation"+ - - From _The Spiritualism of the Zulu_. By C. H. Bull, of Durban. - -"Thirty-two years ago, I lived for some time in a district in Natal, -then thickly populated with natives, still conforming to the primitive -customs of their race, yet honest, manly and intelligent people, with -very definite ideas in regard to moral questions. After an absence of -thirty years, just prior to my sailing for England, I again visited the -district and was amazed to observe the change which had taken place in -the people; their habits, characters and physique. Sordid poverty, -dressed in mean rags or tawdry finery, suggestive of service to vice, -had displaced the old dignity, born of conscious physical strength and -symmetry of form, which once, though attired only in the trappings that -simple art could devise from the rough products of nature, was -characteristic; whilst drunkenness, dishonesty and immorality sought -shelter under the meagre cloaks of the religion dispensed by the -different sections of belief, established in the little iron, or wattle -and daub churches, which everywhere disfigured the country side. The -change was complete and deplorable, nor were the natives unconscious of -their degradation, or without regret for the passing of the old days." - - -+Slavery+ - - From Waitz's _Anthropologie der Naturvölker_, vol. ii, p. 281. - (Leipzig, 1860.) - -"One finds that the fate of Slaves among the ruder peoples is much -happier than among the civilised; indeed it seems to grow worse and -worse in proportion to the civilisation of the ruling folk. Strange and -incredible as at first sight this seems, the following facts establish -it beyond doubt. And indeed it is not difficult to explain. The chief -reason is that with the increase of _merely material culture_, Time and -Labour-force are more and more prized, and consequently always more -violently and unscrupulously exploited, while on the contrary among -primitive people in general a lesser value is placed on these things." - - -+The Fraud of Western Civilisation+ - - Extract from "A Letter to a Chinese Gentleman," by Leo Tolstoy. - (Published in _Saturday Review_, December 1, 1906.) - -"Amongst all these Western nations there unceasingly proceeds a strife -between the destitute exasperated working people and the government and -wealthy, a strife which is restrained only by coercion on the part of -deceived men who constitute the army; a similar strife is continually -waging between the different states demanding endlessly increasing -armaments, a strife which is any moment ready to plunge into the -greatest catastrophes. But however dreadful this state of things may be, -it does not constitute the essence of the calamity of the Western -nations. Their chief and fundamental calamity is that the whole life of -these nations who are unable to furnish themselves with food is entirely -based on the necessity of procuring means of sustenance by violence and -cunning from other nations, who like China, India, Russia and others -still preserve a rational agricultural life. - -"Constitutions, protective tariffs, standing armies, all this together -has rendered the Western nations what they are--people who have -abandoned agriculture and become unused to it, occupied in towns and -factories in the production of articles for the most part unnecessary, -people who with their armies are adapted only to every kind of violence -and robbery. However brilliant their position may appear at first sight -it is a desperate one, and they must inevitably perish if they do not -change the whole structure of their life founded as it now is on deceit -and the plunder and pillage of the agricultural nations." - - - From O'Brien's _White Shadows in the South Seas_. (New York, 1919.) - -"A hundred years ago there were 160,000 Marquesans in these [South Sea] -Islands. To-day their total number does not reach 2,100." O'Brien -describes the bad effects of Christianity on these "savages." For he -says the so-called superstitions of these races had a great vitalising -influence. Their dancing, their tattooing, their religious rites, their -chanting and their warfare gave them a zest in life. But "to-day all -Polynesians from Hawaii to Tahiti are dying because of the suppression -of the play-instinct that had its expression in most of their customs -and occupations." And they are now "nothing but joyless machines" and -"tired of life." - - -+Failure of Our Civilisation+ - -For a searching comparison between our social conditions and those of -the many savage communities visited by him--and much to the general -advantage of the latter--_see_ A. R. Wallace's _Malay Archipelago_ (1st -ed. 1869), pp. 456, 7 (ed. 1894). And he ends the book by saying: - -"Until there is a more general recognition of this failure of our -civilisation--resulting mainly from our neglect to train and develop -more thoroughly the sympathetic feelings and moral faculties of our -nature, and to allow them a larger share of influence in our -legislation, our commerce, and our whole social organisation--we shall -never, as regards the whole community, attain to any real or important -superiority over the better class of savages. 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You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: Civilisation: Its Cause and Cure - And Other Essays - -Author: Edward Carpenter - -Release Date: November 2, 2013 [EBook #44094] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CIVILISATION: ITS CAUSE AND CURE *** - - - - -Produced by Chris Curnow, Martin Pettit and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - -</pre> - +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44094 ***</div> <div class = "mynote"><p class="center">Transcriber's Note:<br /><br /> Obvious typographic errors have been corrected.<br /></p></div> @@ -7561,384 +7522,6 @@ will be read with especial interest.</p> <p class="center">LONDON: GEORGE ALLEN & UNWIN LIMITED<br /> RUSKIN HOUSE, 40 MUSEUM STREET, W.C.1</p></div> - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Civilisation: Its Cause and Cure, by -Edward Carpenter - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CIVILISATION: ITS CAUSE AND CURE *** - -***** This file should be named 44094-h.htm or 44094-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/4/0/9/44094/ - -Produced by Chris Curnow, Martin Pettit and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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