The Making of Humanity - Robert Briffault

T HE MA K I N G
OF H U MA N I T Y
R O B E RT B R I F FA U L T
LO NDO N : G E O R G E A LL E N U NW IN LT D .
RU SKI N H O U SE , 4 0 MU SE U M ST RE E T W . C . 1
C O NT E N T S
PAR T I
‘
I HE MEA N S AND T A SK S O F H U MAN
EV O L U T I O N
I . P R OG RE S S AS F A CT AND V A L U E
I . T H E DI W VE R Y O F MAN 0
II . C H ANG E E V O L UT I O N PR OG R E SS
, ,
III . PRO G Rm AS VA LUE
I N TE R P RE T A T I O N S O F H I S T O RY
I EN D OG E N OUS TH E O R I E S MI N D RACE
. .
,
II EXOGE NO US TH EO RI Es GE OG RA P H I CA L
. o AND ECO NO H I C
D E TE RH I NI SH o 0 0
III CAUSATIO N
. I N PROG R MSI VE P R OC ES SE S
III . RA T I O NA L T H OUG H T I TS O R I G I N AND FU N CT I O N

,
I MAN S A D A PTI VE VAR IA TI O N

.
’
II RAT I ONA L TH O U G HT AS MEAN S O P P RO G R ESS

.
III A DA PTI VE Ga m m a
.
Iv P R O G RE SSI V E C B ARACTE R
.
D I FF E REN C E S B E T WE EN H U M AN AN D O RG AN I C
E V O L UT I O N
I TH E B B ARE R OF H UM H ERE D I TY
.
II H UMAN I TY AS O RGAN ISM

.
C U S TO M T H OUG H T - AN D PO W ER T H OUG H T -
I
I C U ST O M TH O U G HT
-
II . PO WER TH O U GH T
-
III . T H E C O NFL I CT
4 1 1 655
m mg A
P GE
RE
»
TO M T H OUG H T AND P O W E R
‘
VI .
T HE : B AKI NG: O1? C US -
T H OUGH T .
I MATE R I AL P R OGR E SS
.
II D I FFUS I O N AND CR O SS F ERT I L I Z AT I ON

.
-
III S E G R E GAT E D E VOL U T I O N

.
PA RT II
T HE G E N EAL O G Y OF E U RO PE A N
C I V I L I Z A T I ON
TH E S E C RE T O F T H E EA S T
THE H E LL E N I C L I B E RAT I O N
PAX R O M ANA
B AR B AR I S M AND B Y Z AN T I N I S M
D AR AL -H I K M E T (T H E H O ME OF S C I E N C E )
T H E RE B I R T H O F E U R O P E
T H E S O I D I S AN T RE NA I SS AN C E
-
E L E M EN T S O F E U R O P E
PA RT III
EV O L U T I ON O F MO RA L O RD E R
M O RA L L AW AS L AW O F N ATU RE
w
1 " ’
.
I . M E AN I NG OF T H E SU PR E M A C Y OF E TH I C S
c l . M O R AL AND M AT E R I AL P R O G R E SS
III . P O WE R AND J U ST I CE
m N . TH E
‘
I NN AT E CO N SC I E N CE O F PO WE R
'
II . P RI M AR Y AND S E C O NDAR Y G E NE SI S O F M O RA L I TY 2 76
I P R I M A R Y G E N E S I S O P M O R AL I T Y
. 2 76
I I S E C O N D A RY G E N E S I S O F M O R AL I TY
. 27 9
III N E C E SSI TY O F I NTE LL E CT U AL PR E PA R AT I ON

. 2 83
Iv E U R O PE A N L I B E R A T I ON S
. 2 86
V E TH I C S AN D PO L I T I C S
. 2 94
C O N TE N T S 7
PAG E
III. M O RA LS AND C U LTU RE .
D I . SY M PATH Y ; AND RE A SO N
SENTI II E NT ,
m II . M O RAL ITY AN D C IVI LIZ AT I ON
III . CO R R UPTI ON
IV . T H E G U I L T OF O P I NI O N S
I D I LE MM A O F AM B U LATO RY M O RAL I TY
.
11 C U RRE NT O PI N I ON ON O PI NI ON S
.
“s III T H E W I C KE D N E SS OF T H E GOO D
.
‘ ’
Iv O U R T R I VI AL EST I MAT E O F UN PA R D O NAB L E

.
V . M O RA LS AND B E L I E F
I MO RA LS As CO fi EO RT
.
II T HE MI SO LO GI CAL FALLA C Y
-
.
III RATI ONAL T H O U GH T AN D N I H I L I SM

.
IV M O R AL S ON T H E M AR C H
.
P A RT IV
PREFAC E TO U T O PI A
I . M I S O L OG Y
II . TH E H O P E F U LNE SS OF P E SS I M I S M
II . TH E C O N T RO L OF H U M AN E V O L UT I ON
P A RT I
TH E MEA NS MAN
AND TA S K S OF H U
E VO LUT I ON
The Mking a of H u ma nity
CH APT E R I
PR O GR E SS AS F A CT AND VA L UE
TH E D I SCO V E R Y OF MAN
WOR M
" 73
1 35 0 4 3 ia
‘
xo f e v d y flp é vrov OcI V Or ep o v «a ka .
Antigone .
T H E inte llect ua l revolution of the nineteenth c e ntu r y has

trans formed our conce p tio ns of hu man history in much
w w
the same manner as the intelle ct u al revolution of the
seventeenth century Changed ou r V ie of the cosmic
w w
,
universe L ike the Ptolemaic orld our not ions con ce rn

. .
ing the care er of our race ere mi se rably stunted dingy , ,
a nd mea n .The date 4 0 0 4 B C a s gravely acce p ted . .
as the boundar y of our ret rospec t ; and long before
w w
reaching back to" it the conventional fable of history
w
hich like the p rim itive epic hence it evolved
,
chiefly concerned ith racial dynast ic a nd relig ious

a s
'
,
w
ww
, ,
e d ifica ti on faded into p ure legen d a nd mythology As
w
, .
hen a akening science cr ashed through t he tinsel vaults
fini t ie s amid w
of pu erile cosmologi es discovering the su n stre n ih
,
hich speeds ou r quiveri ng ea rth speck so

-
w
,
have t he mist s of le gend li fted before her radiant
w
progress a nd it is given us to V ie the p anorama
,
of man s long and

’
onderful caree r in something
w
.
of i ts Ii a tu r a l perspe ctive a nd proportion Th ose ‘
www
.
ages once peopled ith the myths and mon s ters

‘
w w
of fable no sho do n Ithe vista of teeming nati ons
ou r o n culture in the making E u r op a that is to be
borne on forked pro ed C retan galle ys that seam from
-
,
,
,
11
12 T HE MA K I N G OF HU MAN I T Y
N ile land a nd shores to I taly and S pain the
{E ge a n
w
-
,
midland s e a ; j ingling donkey caravans that he a r from -
the T in Rivers through the realm of the p ig tailed

,
-
H ittite to the E u x ine a nd Ph r ygia th e freight of a
w
,
cu ltu re that rea ches back be yond Archbi sh op U s her s ’
before it cam w
w w
date of the creation of the orld T e n thousand ye ars
e e s tering to S umer e se e the Ma gda
.
l e nia ns d e cki ng :
w
i t h fre scoe s a nd inscriptions their
w
temple caves and e irdly dancing their rites accoutred
-
,
in the masks of beasts prototypes of those hich Atti c
w
,
maidens shall d on at the shrine of A rtemis B rauronia ,
and Of those throug h hose bra z en mout hs shall be

’
chanted the lapidary lines of E s chyle a n choruses Yet
w
.
even that savage culture of the last ice age is but a
w
-
mature fruit the culmination of successive eras of s lo

,
gro th comp uted by hundreds of t housands of years .
B eyond stretch a eons of time as unsei z able to ou r

iIna gina tion as are the distan ces of side r eal space .
Transferred to the ope n va st ness of t hose e xpa nses
w
w
'
the entire p erspective the meaning itself of history is
ww
,
Changed . Ast in the geocentric t heor y, our vie a s not f
merely untrue it a s an accurate inversion of the t ruth .
The career of mank ind a s currently conceived as one

of continuous degeneration S avag es instead Of being
ww
.
,
regarded a s surviving vestiges re p resenting the condition

of primitive humanity ere held to be the descenda nts of ‘
w w
,
once noble a nd civili z ed races ho had by an inevitable
w
,
la of huma n nature lapsed into misera ble degrad ation

,
.
The Past a s the repository Of virtue a nd lost isdom

it stood e x alted in propo rtion to its antiquity above the
’
w m w
pun y Present and the c hief function of historical study ’
.
a s to hold up the e x cellence s of our d istant forbears
as a paradig to; a [ aning age
w I t is only a matter O f a generation or t o since

those qu aint vie s became untenable and the dust of
.
w
w w
,
the last rear gu ard act ions is hardly laid I n his gr eat
-
.
ork on P r imiti ve C u ltur e S ir Ed ard Tylor devotes

a lengthy chapter to the considerate and pa instaking
refutation of the theory O f degeneration a nd he has
, ,
’
in the Course of it occasion to cite long and hot passages

in its defence from distingu ished contemporaries a nd ,
D I S C O V E RY OE M AN 13
Tylo r s book
’
w
indigna n t onslaught s on the hypothesis O f progr e ss
a s p ublished in 1 8 7 1
a nd most fearless thinkers of th

O ne O f the noblest
e las t cen tu ry C arlyle
I .
.
w
, ,
feeling keenly as do a ll e arnest and generou s spirits

, ,
the faults and follies of t he orld about him could ,
perceive no hi gher aspiration to b e set as an ideal before

-
th Pr esent than the emu lation and imitation of the
w
e
Pa st. And t he past period Which he selected as a

‘
mod el and e x emplar a s the thirteenth cen tury " The
w w
notion of progress of the perfectibility o f the species ‘
3
w w
,
th bu tt of his most scornful sarcasms
w
a s e .
I t is no cu rrently kno n that the human orld has

risen ou t of barbarism a nd a nimalit y that its da n light
‘
,
shines on no heroi c o r golden ages but on nightmares
ww
,
to make us scream in ou r sl ee p D uring a n incalculable .
pe riod of time our ancestors ere savages r uder and more

brutal than the p r imitive races ho s e fast d ying rem
nants stil l survive Man s life a s as H obbes su rmi s ed ’
w
w
.
, ,
poor nasty brutish sh or t The first pathetic totterings
w w
.
, , ,
of culture ere onl y att ained through a tale of ages com

'
pa red to hi ch the hole narne and date period is of ne g

ligible amplitu de F ir e catt le herdi ng eaving pottery
- -
w w
w
-
.
, , , ,
tillage the metals horse taming a nd the going do n
ww w
-
, , ,
to the s e a in ships of men ith hearts of treble brass
w
,
ere orld shaking discoveries and adventu res hich at

-
w
,
millenniums O f inte r val commoved a be ildered human ity
w w
,
hich fou nd itself ra ised one giddy step above the brute
w
‘
.
Tho se tremendous revolutions ere cro ded in the last

fe hundred tho usand years
of its e x istence the human race h
Dur ing the greater pa rt
a s roamed the ild
ear th among other animal herds di ffering b u t little fr om
.
,
w
t hem in its mode of life driven by the same e x igencies
w
,
a nd pressu res by climate by cold a nd drought

, I ts, .
mentality a s not essentially di fferent ; the first faint
ww w
glimmers O f thought O pp ressed almost a s much a s they
aided it ma n a s urged by the self same iIn p u l s e s as
all other animality hich he a s only impe rceptibly
-
transcending .
The notion of human progr ess but dimly and fugi
w
,
ti v e ly p re figu r e d here a nd there by the thought

O f various a
ges that con ception
,
h ich the doct ri naire
14 THE MA K I N G OF HU MA N I TY
enthu s ia s m
of the e ight e e nt lf century the ,
”
fait h of
a Co ndorcet un der the ve ry knife of the guillotine
w
had procl a i med in the same abstract a nd im
, ,
“
a ginative
‘
manner as it dre fancy pictures of p rimitive society

. -
,
’
has from the domain Of p hilosophi zing the ory a n d pious

o pinion pas se d to t hat O f scientific description F r om .
the accumula te d r esul ts of biology a nd geo logy from the ,
arche ological e xhu mation O f t he pas t from pre histo rical
w
,
and anthropological research t he s p eculative doct r i ne
w
,
emerges — hatever dis p utes a nd ca stigations ma y gather
w
r o u nd its interpreta tion a s a itnes sed , concrete fact
-
A fact hich instea d of b eing the e x pression of a faith

13
,
itself the s ource of a ne faith a nd in s piration w w .

.
F or the fi rst shudder of fal se s h a me hich a s is

w
,
usual in such ca s e s g ree te d the b lu nt mdis cl os u r e of our

or I g I ns gives place to a feeling of ond er and e xulta
w
,
tion of tende rness and ins p iring hope as i n the pa t h
w
, ,
pu rsued by the human race from it s lo ly emergence
w
e perceive the unce a sing march O f a continuous a nd
marvellous gro th age long indeed if measured by ou r -
w
,
common standards of time b u t in t ru th more rapid and
w w w
,
mighty in its a chi e vements than the hole foregoing ,
evolution of animal life The entire orld of human.
things as it exists to day ith its marvels and its po ers

-
, ,
— —
its good a nd also its evil is the product o f that
evolu tion I t s elements did not m
,
ake their appear ance at
w
one bound they did not Come to m
.
a n from another sphere
w w w
, ,
no r ere they found by him as an integral part of the ,
orld in hich he a s born but de veloped b y littl e a nd

little from the c r udest beginn ings And since thus all
w
human things are ma n made s ince b u r orld is the out
,
gro th of the most p rimitive a nd ru dest hum a n com

,
.
w
mu nitie s every ste p of the interve ning progress is the
w
,
f r uit of human e ffo rt of human labo ur a nd human

, ,
courage every inch of tha t a dvance has been rested b y

ma n at the cost of su ffering a nd devotion and against a
w
mountain mass of di ffi culties the over helming nature of
-
hi ch o nly; a Close analysis can reveal from the dark

,
w ,
,
'
cha os of brutality a nd nescience

“
Ma n is descended fro m the monkeys That used "
.
’
to be a nd is stil l in some quart ers , the up roa riou s ly

,
D I S C O VE RY OF MAN
w
15
w
m
w
dr oll anticlima of the l a
x
the one su pe rnat a n t statement of that fundamental la
being of —
evo lution apa r t fro
w
of life hich had reached the a pprehension of t he semi
‘
m
ww
a b s ur d u w
educated multitu de It a s the m a n ifest r e d ucti o a d
a nd the most irresistible pe lting

.
eapon for
w
,
O xford bishops here ith to slay the nascent revelation
w ww
ith ridicule Even the most a rdent protagonists of the
.
doctrine felt some hat e mbarras sed by a fact in
w
ne
w w
su sceptible of be ing st ated ithout a : broad grin or
at least a humorous t inkle of the eye
one spe a k of monkey ancest ors
Ho could
ith bes eeming gravity ?
.
,
I t behoved us to have r ecourse to a l l ma nn er of shame
w w
.
faced apo logetic Circumlocutions to devise euphemistic

, ,
p hrases in order to refe r t o the fact ith s om e Sho of
M
de co rum
—
w —
. a n of course is not descend e d from
the monkeys not at lea st from monkeys no living oh
viou s ly b u t from extinct pithecoid progenitors
,
,
not from
,
,
a ny ape but from some anthropoid common ancestor of

,
li v ing primates and living me n An intractable .

’
couth grotesque fact Such are the fruits of material
w w
.
,
is ti c science destructive of all poet r y and sentiment

,
.
Well " speaking ith strictest a ccu racy there is not
w
,
in the entire u niverse O f kno n facts one s o pu rely

venerable so holly sublime in its gra n deur a s that
same grote s que fa ct
,
N ot the K antian onders not w

w
.
,
the st arry heav e ns not the conscience The starry , .
heavens that other rude blo of tmse nt ime nta l science

—
t o u —
h ma n dignit y are merely big The conscience, in so -
.
far as it is not a conve n ient n ame for prejudices is ,
but a fragment O f the larger p ortent The self creat ion
w
-
w
.
w
of t h e progeny of the a p e by the so le ope ra tion Of his
‘
inherent qualit ies a nd po ers by the unfolding of hat
w
,
a s in him the a p e t he b r ute the beast the savage
w
, , , , ,
unaided by a ny e x ternal p o er in the face of the bu ffets ,
O f hostile nat ure Of the intractabilitie s of his o n con

,
s t itu t ion into MAN the demi god the thinker the de
, ,
-
, ,
viser the aspirer aft er truth a n d justice greater in his
w
,
.
w
,
achievements and his ideals than all the gods he is
w y b o in s
—
ca p able of conceiving if there is a fact before hich
e may t rul o lemn reverence a n d silent onder w ,
16 THE MA K I N G OF HU MA N I T Y
The marvel of ma n the ess enti a l transcendency of
w
,
‘
the thinking reed over all the patib le qualities of
hat he contemplates is among the cheap common ,
places of meditat ive thought B u t that su p reme prod igy

is itself r em
w w w
.
oved to a n immea su rably loftier plane o f

su blimity hen it is perceived no longer a s a besto ed
,
” s
a nd pri vileged endo ment as a stolen fire an i llapse from
w w
, ,
a transhum an sphere but as the achievement the b u ilt

‘
w
,
u p product the slo ly painfully a nd toi l somel y r ought
wm w
, , ,
creation of his o n e ffo rt The tran scendency of the
w
.
human or l orth is not merely the

privilege O f ma n it is hi s —ork To the s u b lirnity of
w
.
,
the thing itse lf is s fip eI aTlHéd the far gr eater sublimity

T
'
'
' '
o f its production Those qualities a nd po ers those

.
,
devotions those enthusi asms those heroisms those aspi
w
, , ,
rations the sanct ities of justice a nd sel f s a cri fice that

,
-
,
mighty creative spirit hich ha s brought forth art poetry
w ww
,
eloquence Parthenons O dysseys Giocondas Hamlets

,
'
, , , ,
that masterful intellect hich sits O ver the orld hich
w w
,
harnesses its forces and tra n sforms it that sacred flame
w
,
hich rises above life and defies death d efies rong , ,

“ —
defies falsehood ills right is loyal to t r uth all that
w w
, ,
man is has been and aspires to b e is the accumu lated
w w
, , ,
produ ct O f a quality a nd po er inherent in himself hich ,
has rought from the lo est a n d dimmest rudiments

” w
,
pu rsued unrestingly the gradual paths of an aspiring

5 ‘
Change ,
w
built a n d created that d ignity hich set s him
on equal terms ith all the s u b lirnitie s of the universe
I n the pathetic life of t ha g ill favou red Caliban ith -
w .
the ung ainly stoo p ing form the mu zz le O f a got fl l a t he
w
, ,
melancholy light i n his eyes lacking the force a nd dignity
w w
,
of the lion or the grace of the ga z elle t here a s that
w w
,
hich even as a rudiment

,
r ought a nd brou ht forth
g ,
m
such fruits H e a s a little lo er th a n the beasts he
w w
.
,
ade himse lf a litt le higher tha n the angels .
An d the same ind elling po er that has brought a b out

m
that p rodigy tha t has created a n out of the brute
,
did not stop there I t has never ceased to be a t ork

i
.
to p u r s u e the same creative t ask to soar u p ards on the

w
ww
,
w w
,
same path O f t ra ns figu r ing exsurgent evolution I t d ells , .
in man it is at , ork in him to day The onde r of -

.
CH AN G E, E V O L U T I ON , PR O G R E S S 17
it is no less great in one pa rt of the creative process

than in a ny other in the b ir th of modern civili z ation than
,
~
in the birth of ma n
‘ That the brute ape should b e
.
-
the father of thinking ma n that is a p rodigy ; that the ,
gibbering savage should b e the fathe r of the Pe r iklea n

Greek tha t al so is a prod igy ; th a t the tenth century
w
‘
should be the fat her Of the t entiet h centu ry tha t is
w w
,
no less a p r odigy .
We are ont at times to think hat a puny ineffec tua l ,
thing is human life so fretful and ac hieving s o little
w
, ,
endin g in disillusion and disappointment and shame a n d ,
regret a n d ork left un done a tale told by an idiot
w
, ,
.
Well " b e hold the aggregate result the accum u lat ed ,
depos it t he net resulta nt of the lo

, liest a nd humbles t
human li ves " That is the act ual cash value in the
w orld risen out of chaos

—
universe of those fretful ine ffect ual careers the h ,
CH AN G E , E V O L U T I O N, PR O G R E S S
w
la
Writ large though it be in the StO I Y O f the race the
.
of human Evolution O f progress has by no mean s
yet established itself as a truism in current thought
, ,
‘ ’
F ar from it : I t is still on the contrary a n acutel y

w
.
, ,
controversial concep t ion one indeed hich the great , ,
bul k of current opinion of current literature is disposed,
to gainsay to raise innumerable doubts a b out

, The
theo ry of degeneration in its old form at least ca n
.
,
, ,
it is t rue no longer be upheld it has perforce tacitl y

,
lapse d into limbo F rom C r o Magnon to modern ma n
w
-
w
.
is Clearly and beyond a ll dispute a process of a ctive

evolution of progress
, hatever conception e ma y ,
2
18 THE -
MA K I N G OF HU MA N I T Y
a tt a ch
to the term Yet the acceptance of the fact as
a continuous proces s as a la
.
operating throughout
his toric times from the age of G reece to the present
,
w
m
ww
,
day the O ld yopic range of our his toric vision— is

— “
qualified a nd hedged ith all manner of reluctance ,
of doubt of O b jection O f do nright denial

, , .
The grounds of t hat s cepticism a re numerous and

div ers e ; rooted some o f t hem deep in ou r very nature ;
,
some in obscuring circu mstances by hich the unity

and form of the pro ces s" is d n u is e d some in di fficulties
,
,
w ‘
of thought inhere nt in t he concept ion itself .
A re
C hange e
w
w Ww
enti tled to p ronounce any 11509353 progressive ?
kno
e
evolution e kno ,
— more or le ss . ww ,
but progress ? hen H e r a cle itos proclaimed the u ni
w
versal fl ux that all things ev e r la st ingly Change a nd
,
become that e do not bathe t i ce in the same river w u
w
w
,
of e xperience he by no mea ns enunci a t e d a la of e v o
w
,
l u tion sti ll less did h

, e t estify to progress E ve n hen to .
the perc eption of me re change e ha t e added the furt her

fact that each successive phase of it is dete rm ined by
the foregoing that the forms of life in particular a re
w
,
thus derived evolved one from the other in continuous
w
,
sequence e have to be s ure gone a step beyond

the recognition of m
w
, , ,
e r e c ha nge a nd perceived a ne
feature of it in the process of evol ution ; but e ha ve
ww
.
not discove red progress .
C learly is not that a v a luation hich e irnp os e upo n "
”
the str eam of cha nge d ec lar ing it to be good ? E yolu
w
,
tion it has been said

'
w
W a t t itle have e to that dynamic Optimism pro
, ,
nou ncin g t hat

no t that but a w
hatsoever become s become s better ?" I s
a y of saying that our o n partic ula r
,
w
w
manner a nd outlook a re the standard of all excellence
and that hat leads the re t o is therefore a process of
bettering ?
,
Let us s uppose t hat in its infancy our race had

cherished a p rofound a nd unreasonable resp e ct for h uman
life a nd that the various Changes since t hat childli ke
state had even tua ll y led to this am
,
ong other results , ,

20 T H E MA K I N G OF H U MAN I TY
pa rtly from the analytic quality of ou r perception pa r tly
from the diversity of stimuli hich call them forth w ,
w
w
.
They are one and all directed to one end life hich , ,
by their failure ould cease O n those a nd on other .
grounds it is more reasonable to regard the m as aris ing

out of a single disposition than as a bundle of separate
,
faculties or p roperties e x isting a l ong s id e : one another
w
,
a mosaic of independent characte rs But that gelatinous .
speck does more than manifest those acts of life hich
ww w
you observe o r those more recondite and comple x bio
,
chemical manifestations hich go along ith them The

same disposition of energy hich does th ose thing s in
.
response to the action upon it of the surrounding medium
w w w
,
does more You are in a posi tion to cast your glance

.
up and do n the perspective of ages and

,
atchi ng , ,
that spot of slime hat do you s e e ? You s e e it

,
p r ocfiépus y l budding a n d changing and as in an , ,

w
A rab i an W a ssu ming va fie d and strange forms
' ’ '
—
changing into a hydra and a s e a squirt into a fis h ,
’
a nd into a serpent into a mole a nd into a squirrel

, ,
until at last it fantastically changes into you .
There is assuredly more in that strange disp la y of

metamorphosis than a mere orgy of change I t is as .
,
much as hunger procreation and the other phenomena
w
, ,
o f life ,
a function a nd character of its being a mani ,
fe s t a t io n of that disposition herein life consists That .
behaviour of living stu ff suggests indeed that even as “ ,
c ns ti tu t i on irnp e ls it to feed a nd increase so it
w
I ts ,
l i ke ms e s it to e x tend a n d build up its organi
w
_
za t ion in V ie of some intrinsic need no less imperative m
A gainst tlT t viévifl ho e ve r stan d s the

‘
than hunger
R
'
.
,
fact that the am oeba still e xists that not all life has ,
evolved that after the mconce iv a b le lapse of time since

,
it began its primitive fo rms survive u nchanged that , ,
in its outline at least the entire series in its various

,
stages is represented in coexistent fo rms at the present
w
time I n order to account for that unchanged survival
.
e must suppose that only in an infinitesimal p fop o r t ion
of living things has the process of evolution taken place ,
that the majority remain ed to a l l intents stationary .
Thus that faculty of development has only come into

w
C H A N GE , EV O L U T I O N PR O GRE S S
w
, 21
O peration as it e licited by favouring conditions hich

a s
b rought into play the intrinsic tendency of life to such

a process .
And such a tendency such a po er e kno indeed

to be inherent in a ll life
,
To e xist at all a livi ng

ww w
w
.
thing must b e a d a p te d to the exigencies of an environ

ment often di fficult a nd hostile I t s energiz ing
it does must be done in harmony ith conditions im
posed upon it by the e x ternal medi um hi c h exacts
,
hat .
ww ,
confo rmity from every act of life F eeding breathing
ww
.
, ,
breeding not onl y achi eve t heir end but do s o in relation

, ,
to ambient facts i t h hich they must accord to adapt

its act s is as muc h a function of life as to perform
them ; to achieve that adaptation is as much a part
of its essential mechanism as to ox ygenate its tiss ues “
as much a n impulse of it a s hunger and love
w
.
The amoeba since it e xists is as much adapted a s

, ,
ma n to e x ternal con di tion s But ith every adaptive ,
change e ffected in response to the ng cg s s it y imposed

or the
a n in cre a se m life s
offered by those changing conditions
ers
'
is b rought’
about th w
e fiel d
,
w w
p o
of its fa culties the freedom of their play is e xtended
,
.
The fin the limb a n d the cla are more idely e fficient

,
than the pseudopod the eye th a n the pigment patch,
or act inic skin the neuron than the irritability of
w
,
protoplasm The e ffect is cumulative

. The di fference .
bet een you and the amoeba on the stage of your

microscope is more than a mere di fference in adaptation ,
although it is in fa ct a n aspect a nd a consequence of
w
that adjustment Like the am oeba you contrive to exist
.
in conformity i th iin p os e d condit ion s ; but you do far

more you c nt rol those conditions your act ivities are
,
w
,
im me a s u r a b e ated a nd their range is e x tended
w
,
ou t of all kno ledge Most of the di fficulties against

.
hich li fe in the an imalcul e struggles and contends are

for you transcended
w
Life in you has conquered a
thousan d ne envi ronments proceeded to ne spheres
of action the scope and form of its p rimi tive needs
.
, w ,
its possibili ties and goals have be e n e xpanded a nd trans

figu r e d Such has been the constant c haract er of the
.
process throughout the s eries of change t hroughout ,

22 T H E MA K I N G OF HUM AN I TY
evolution Wh e the r it be essentially t he outcome of '
or t he s u mmm
.
a n innate dispos ition to development ion ,
of s u ccess i ve adaptations the result is in e ffect the

I t is not change alone it is m
,
same ore even than

cum
.
,
ulativ e chan ge ; it i s chan ge in t he direction of a

) .
constant achieveme t t h e increase of

n
w
,
M ong ol
M
and the cons e
"
eti vi t ,
quent ext ens ion of t heir sca p e a n d of t hat po er .
I t is at a supe rficial glan ce as though from the
w
, ,
first life had tended to a pre appointed goal But that

,
-
.
teleological notion is not in a ccordance ith fact s The .
process issue s in the ve rtebrates in the ma mtna ls in
w
, ,
humanit y b u t does not make direct ly and deli b erately

,
to ards them S cores hundreds of utterly di fferent

‘
.
,
types a nd line s of development have been tried before

evolution hit upon the vert ebrat e organi z ation or the
mammalian brain The fo rm of the process is not a ‘
ww w
.
single line a rising cu rve but a thickly co ngested

, .
, ,
ide sprea ing s tr ggl1ng b ran ot tree i n hich for

d
w
-
, __ , _ , ,
one cro n i ng top of su ccess there are thousands of ,
ithering boughs thousands of blind alleys of partial
w
,
success a nd failure There is no forecast or forethought
w w w
.
in the lo er stages or at any stage of the series o f

hat is to prove its cro ning consummation The .
proto z oon a s not predestined t he progress of evolution

has not been pre o rdained and planned but groping -
,
and fumbling
ww
.
H uman p rog res s is human evolution B et e en it and .
the development of o rga mc life t here a re a s e s hall ,
s ee , differences de ep in their nature and momentous in .
their irnp or t but progres s is neve r theless the con

t inu a t ion of the same v ita L process ; its driving force
w w
,
its ultimate tendencies are the same The disposition

m
.
of living energy hich is the oving po er of life s ’
w
reaction t o amb ient conditions in th
ise O perative in ma n
e proto z oon is like
ho is after all b iologically
considered but a n aggregate of protozoa
,
,
I n their «
w , ,
.
,
infinite variety and Complexities subtleties and sublima ,
tions human behaviour thoug ht history achieveme

,
w
hav e had gg__ ot her s p ri n g than the
nts, cu . "
,
~ QM , “ “
l M Gl u
,
a nd e ndeavours ,
.
A N GE EV O L U T I ON PR O G R ESS
w
CH , , 23
.
primordial te ndg ngies hic h a ct uate the
a nd
am oeba Th roughout evolution no ne im p u

create d ; the particulariz ed form in hich imp u ls e is
ls e has been
-
w w w
w
manifested is alone susceptible of change
in li fe e call at a loss for: a bett er ord tende ncy
For hat
w .
m
, , ,
‘
imp ul se ha s no spe ci fic form It onl y b ecomes
’
M
.
,
spe cified into to concrete o a l at

the cal l of e xp erien ce of a m g h the
M
de v M nsa hon of Cognitive perce p tion
ww
,
a nd co_11 cep t s I t is t he motley actual ity of that

.
co gnitive exp erience hic h li ke a d ome of many

_
coloured glass stain s the hite radian ce of life s im ’
w
,
mu ta b le e te rnity N 0 such particulari z ed form e x ists

z
in the Mp u ls e its e lf ; that is

.
hy no idea no concept
w
s
, ,
no thou ght ca n eve n be innate a nd p hysiolo gi cally trans
w w
,
mi tte d The hu nger of Tantalus ea rs the shape of

.
the overhanging apple to hi ch his desire is dra n ,
but t here is in the fundamental constit ution of life no
w
des ire for ap ples or for di atoms no hunge r e ven on
a n y of those appetences hich psy chologists classify as
, ,
w
primary impul ses nothi ng beyond the unspeci fied
reach ing ou t of its en ergy to ards its continuance e x e r
w
cise and expansion The desires th a t m
,
,
.ove you or any
human being h e ther for sci e nti fi c accuracy or
m w
Beethove n sy p honies for social r eform or rubber
,
w
,
shares for S atsuma are or philosophy a r e but the
w
, ,
shape and body hich the transformations of cognitive
w
po ers give to the original imp u lses or say rather
the original imp ulse
all life
—
hic h act uat es the a moebia a nd
,
w
.
The direct ion of human evolution and the measure

of its results are no less identical ith those of
itself t han the force that moves t he rn F or ma n ‘
.
,
for a ll life success devel op ment

increa sed c ontr ol n x eu hemoni tions ofwlite
, , ,
That .
dh vfou s enough in the ca se of me chanical progress ,
the developme nt of his mastery ov EF fBET d rc es of na tu re l ’ '
from eolithic Hints to H and ley Page planes
soever aspect w
the same ultimate obje ct all human acti v ities in hat 1
hether a s art thought religion ethica l
,
But to
,
-
,
.
,
w -
.
politics are no less definitel y dir ect ed

, B y the im .
TH E MA K I NG OF H UMAN I TY
w
24
’
measurable e xpansion of his c ognitive po ers the con ,
d itioning environment of life has in man been unfolded
w
a n d diversi fied into in finite comple x ities That e n viron
ment a s for rudimentary life comprised in the physical
and chemical qualities of the fluid it bathed in To
.
w w w
.
human life it ha s come to mean the universe and its

problems the huma n orld and all the ne forces hich
w
,
it has created the multiform needs a n d desires into

,
hich in ma n the ini p u l s e s of life have been ob j e ct ifie d

, ,
w
and broken up And to the condition s of man s develop
.
’
ment a s an individual has b een added t he most formid

able of all tasks the creation o f a ne type of polyz oic
organism, humanity involving the most comple x adj ust ,
ments of individual development to that of the larger

unit Control o ver the material conditions of e x istence
w
.
is thus but a small fraction of the task imposed upon

man by the nature of his po ers and the condition of
their action I t includes a ll the conditions of human
.
life in their infinite and tangle d diversity it is as comple x

’ ’
and subtly various in its aspects as is human life itself
ww
.
I t includes all that ma n has ever aspired to or desired
w
,
all that to ards hich his heart and mind have tended ,
every sec ret of his is tfu lne s s every fo rm of his dreams
w w
, ,
every ideal and every f a i th every loadstar every fl a me
w
w w ww w
, ,
of his life I t is to ards po er o f free developm e nt

.
,
po er of j oy po er of action po er of feeling po er
, , ,
of creation po er of understanding po er of cc ordi

"
-
, ,
nation and justice that h uman life is perpetually ,
,_reaching out
Thus it is that progress is s o varied so comple x s o
w
, ,
elusive a thing and that it is s o comtnonl y obscured

,
a nd misunderstood be cause e see in it so many mingled

,
forms s o many clashing seemingly inconsistent ten
w
, ,
d e ncie s I t includes the ideals of fift h century Greece

.
-
a nd those of t entieth century Ame r ica of ages of
w
-
,
dream and of ages of science of intellectual a nd of

material po er of hedoni s mand of self s a cr ifice Those
,
w
.
,
Prote a n aspirations and appetences not onl y contend

ith one ano ther they live under the perpetual strain
of the test of adaptation
,
of harmony it h the actual

facts of the univer s e a nd of life S o that there is a n
,
.
w
ww
C H A N GE , EV O L U T I O N , PR O GRES S 25
evolution as it ere
,
i thin an evolution a struggle
, ,
for existence among principles ideas desires and
w
, , ,
thoughts .
H ence may e pe rceive the fallacious futil i ty of those
w
endeavours to define the determinate nature a nd quality
herein coM e e xcellence g f_ any phase in the
w w
_
process of human pro gress above the foregoing ; of
w w w
those descriptions of it as a gro th in kno ledge or
material po er or refinement or morali ty by hich the
,
particular angle of vie " of the theorist rather than any

, ,
,
character of the process is illustrated Any such d e fini
w
.
tion is necessarily qui te artifi cial Eve ry such form
w w
a n d character is but a facet of human progress
includes them all and proceeds no in one direction

,
in another developing in one phase according to

hi ch
,
w
no ,
one type and ideal and in another phase according to

,
a di fferent and even holly O pposite type Yet those .
diverse and contradictory ideals all constitute progress
w
in s o far as they e x tend in one direction or t he other
the po er of human life to control its conditions They
ww
w
.
continue embodied in t he gro i ng hole a part of its

'
li v ing po er I t not unfrequently happens in the course

.
of the process that some quality appears to become

lost ; a deterioration in some particular aspect takes
w
)
p lace thus o ffering o ccasion for misleading comparisons

,
hich regard that one aspect only But like the initial .
,
sacrifices incident upon the inception of some great
w
enterprise they are only incurred to be repaid a hundre d
,
fold to re appear i th fuller po er u pon a hig her plane

,
H uman progress d oes not any more t han does organic

,
w .
evolution le a d along a direct line t o a teleologically

,
pre appointed goal “ I n the one case as in the other

-
the path of de velopment has been a halting and groping

one a n d any purposiv e ends have been at most short
ww
,
sighted F ailure has been a s common as achievement

.
s o that the path of progress is stre n ith tragic ruins
w
.
I t has o nly been achieved by successive trials and errors ,
errors for the most part edged at the very foundations
w
of man s successive structures s o that their rect i fica tion
'
w
,
ha s involved holesale r a ising and reconstruction Thus .
e se e human progress commonl

y pr oceed ing b y t he
w
26 TH E MA KING OF H UM A N I TY
of w
blotting ou t of civiliza tions by the des truction and reck
orlds
w w
,
ww
.
The old philoso p hle s W

‘
r
y hic h ere c o n ,
cerned ith the ideas of states of nations rather than
w
, ,
of b u rna nity d elt chiefl y upon the ris e a nd fall o f ‘
ww
, .
successive civiliz ations t he gro th a nd decay of ,
the ebb a nd fl o of culture C ont e mpo rary

‘
is similarly ob se ssed ith the conce ption of cycles

of civili z atio n
'
I t is customary since the days of Vico

.
, ,
to apply to the p henom e non the analogy of a n individual

l ife and to describe the r a p id e x p a ns ion a s a m
,
anifesta
'
tion of youthful vitalit y a nd the pro ces s of dec ay as

o ne of exhaustion and senility But those term s a re
w
in this connect ion no more than empty and meaningless
.
blesse d ord s They s tg rl ifL rp thing There is no
w
. .
g r ound or indication for the suggestion of any analogy

bet een the life of a race and that of an individual
unles s on the theory that indivi dual ageing consists in
ww
a gradual Clogging of the syst em by the accumulation
o f its o n aste products and e xcre tions But animal
w
-
.
races do not pe rish t hrough senility but through ,

’
failure of their means of adaptation to cope ith

changing co ndi tions and the competition of more
e fficiently adapted races H um
w
an races and societies
w
’
have constantly rene ed their evolutionary po ers and

taken their p lace in t he van of p rogres s after their
’
senile d e c a y had been confidently diagnosed The

‘
—
life of a society as such that is the only point o f
th
simile of s e nil ity d e p e nd s upon the free action of
e obsolete , the false a nd t he e fie te

~
i ts e x cretory functions upon its po er of casting off ,

w
.
Every form of human organi z ation and culture t hat

ha s hitherto e x isted rep resent s but a partial and im '
s
pe rfect adaptation to the imposed cond itions I t thrives .

,
develops in spite of inadaptations ; but the further it

proceeds the more hea vily does the congenital handicap
w
tell U pon t he possibilities of develop ment
time comes hen either those inadaptations those errors
H ence a
M
.
w
, ,
those defects those ge r ms o

, y
‘
o f our ph i lo
S ophical historians must be s h ,
ed o r that phase of gro t h ,
come to a n e nd T he society m
. u s t b e remodell e d e ither
MA K I N G
w
28 T HE OF H UMAN I TY
advance as a Whole a nd as it moves e s e e the s e p a r a te

,
currents tendin g more and more to fuse into b roader
w
confl uent streams F o r p r og ress is marked not by
‘
"
w
.
for ard motion only but by an eve r inc reasing
ww w
,
continuously tend ing to a rds t he in clusion
w
"
e x p a ns 1 on ,
of the entire race

, i thin the idenin g circles of a n
o rgani z ed correlat e d gro t h to ar ds the creat 1on not ,
o f br illiant civili z ations and re eminent cultures but of

p
-
,
a greater and higher hu manity . 1
w
PR O G RE SS A S VAL U E
To the question B y hat title do e du b that evolution

? thus assigning an
,
esthetic
w
ethical value
'
w
p r o g r e s s a a n ,
to its procedure d e claring it to be g ood to be a

process of b étte rm
, ,
tm t the ans e r is that such a valu a tion

‘
i s that of life itself and that there exists no other
w
'
ground or significance for any values O f all such .

,
good bad high l o n oble b ase life itself life

‘
\alone is the sole criterion a nd measure The re ali

, , , , , , ,
‘
z a t ion of life s intrinsic impulses constitutes go od

’
Whatsoever pr om
,
its failures evil otes that reali z a
w
.
tio n the efficiency of the e xp ansion of life s control

,
’
is good hatsoever frustrates and V itiates it is bad

ul
.
,
That is the only meaning the only foundation in fact
w
,
of those values of all values , Ap art from suc h .
meaning they stand as empty ords destitute of all

cont ent
Life itself you m
.
a y s a y may b e a colossal atroci ty

, , ,
a decep tion a gigantic b l under NVhe n you s a y s o
w w
J
, .
,
kindly obs erve that you are p lacing you r j u dgment

seat at some unkno n u nd e fine d and holly ima ginary
'
'
, ,
p oint o uts i d e life it sel f A n d the m e anin g o f the j

“,
ud g
PR O GRE S S A S V A L U E 29
ment you pas s is a s utterly vacuous as that of

th
p
e one time t hinkers
retended to sit
-
outside
h o
all
c ra zed
relations
ith me a p hys ics
and conditions
w , w .
,
a n d disc oursed of the A bsolute and the U ncondi tioned ,
of the thing in itself divest ed of its attributes

z
You ’
w
- -
ww
.
at liberty to re p udiate all va lues to score the
w
a re ,
ords good b ad high lo out o f your vocabulary

'
, , ,
though hi le you live you cannot dispe ns e ith u s i ng
w
, ,
those values every second of your active existen ce ; b ut

if you use the ords at a ll you can only validly d o
s o b y reference to the s ignificance hic h life it s elf w
in its innnu t a b l e tendencies has assigned to them
When a s i s constantly done the Whole orth and
,
achievement of human evolution are repudiat e d hen

,
ww ,
.
a N o r dau or a C arp enter denounces civili z ation as an

artifici al disease a nd advocates a re t urn to more ‘ ’
natural conditions that attitude i s not so much one of

rebellion against civiliz ation as against life
We are not happy Modern ma n is confr onted ith
di fficulties and p roblems far more distracting and
.
.
w
for midabl e than ever did or could trouble primitive
man To u s the life probl ems of the latter appea r
w
-
.
enviabl y simp le ; there are for us s ources of ang uish

a nd
w
despair l a chr ymce r e r um hich to our savag e
w w
‘
, ,
w
ancestors ere non e x istent a nd ould have b een quite
w
-
incompr ehensibl e That is precisely because e have

.
t ransce nded the orld of conditions in hic h they
ww
moved because the field of our endea vou rs is tr ansferred
,
to ne and immensely enlarged spheres Where as all

ww
w
, ,
po ers do they necessari ly meet i t h ne " op positions
w
, ,
entangled complexiti e s obs tacles a nd defeats That
ww
ne , .
w
is the penalty of all progres s D id We escape it e .
shou ld have a certain si gn t hat ou r g ro th: a s a r rested
w
,
t hat in us the forces of li fe e re dying out Wi th

'
w
.
th . e gro th a n d expansion of eve ry capacity is like

i s e developed the capacity tor pa in ; but in s p ite
w ww w
of the price life struggles for the pri z e
disciples of Rousseau ho ould pe rsuade us to alk

And those .
on all fours
w ould p robably be the first hastily to
decline to change places mentally and materiall y ith
a n idyllic S outh S ea c a nniba l
, ,
W 80
w
T H E MA K I N G OF H U MAN I TY
If
w w
take happiness a s the criterion of huma n
e
values hy should e s top at the natural conditi ons

of savage life ?
,
On that c riterion not only must the

sav a ge be plac e d above civili z ed man but also the ,
hog above the s a vage the am oeba doubtless ab ove ,

‘
, ,
the hog . The non-e x istent must to be strictly con

.
,
sistent b e p la ced above e very fo rm of struggling

, ,
aspiring existence The logica l goal of the repudiators

\
of human prog res s is not Tahiti b ot N irvana
.
w
, .
The divi ne disconten t hic h impe a ches and cond e mns

the pr esent and hich is in its rarer creative a sp e ct
.
,
the very stimulus of progr ess is in its commoner

w
w
‘
inveterate form a s a t rait of human lassitude the l a u s

,
ww w
, ,
te m hich tricks out the p st in the h ues

'
r or is ti
w
p a o [ a
o f its o n i stful pessimism filtering a ay its u ns ig ht li s
nes s a nd p re serving only: it s m

,
ello glamour a nd
charm The actual p resent gr ips us in every tender
.
and irritabl e nerv e ha s us on edge i s ful l of care and ‘
w
, ,
w
annoyance of trag edy and u glin ess We need at t ithes
, .
a l l ou r fortitude to bea r th it to stand u p t o the

‘ i
,
w
daily strain and press ure at every step We are re ady
‘
to succumb to blasphe me life the or ld the p i e s e nt

“
w w
, , , ,
a ctual .
not the Past the Pa st t hat e ma y ith
w
a s ,
delight ful and ref reshing relief con templ ate detachedly .
,
settin g and comp o s ing our pict ure of it i t h tastefu l

?
-
1
choice t he Past that leaves us alone that does not tu g
w
, ,
and na g a t u s and irritate our sus ceptible nerves ,
a s not the Past better ? The illusion is embodied in
w
the very sub stan ce of our Pro me thean cla y slak e d i n
ww
the ater of Lethe ; it is rooted in the deepe st nature
of life itself But eve n the dimm e s t critica l ray i n
w
.
the light und er hich: e envis a ge pa st history should
w
w
su ffice to di s pe l it I t is a ll v ery e l l to i m. a gine
w
ho e should en j oy and app r eciate and be vastly ,
interest e d in a C oo k s tour through time in a machin e
w
’
of M H G Wells s invention p rovid e d it h all our

’
r . .
,
present intellectual luggage and kno l ed ge and intere s ts .
“
But actually to transfer ourse lve s ba ck mind and bo d y , ,
into a ny of th os e pictures que p leasu re resorts o f ou r

.
w
PR O GRES S A S VA L U E 31
w
his torical fancy ould b e no C ook s to ur but an ’
expe rience some hat fuller of the doub ts uncertainties ‘
w ww
.
, ,
cares a nd anxieties and probl ems, a nd ignorances of
w
,
hich e compl ain than even the troubl esom e present .
N ot, only o uld the p icturesque di rt and squalor of

'
ww
life put even our tourist s good nature to a severe ’
strain but shou ld find that for us the hole
w
e
w
,
conditions of life ould be positively intolerable .
hat pe riod of t he Pa st shal l e see k refuge
w
In
‘
front the harrying p resent ? Where be take ourse lves

in our sea rch fo r the o rld of our ch oi ce ?
Greece the Athens of Pe r ikle s the A cropoli s t he
A
,
www w
, ,
w w w
°
g roves of cadem e ? A s e enter

‘
the u n
-
p a v e d J lane s of
the di r ty lit tle Le vantine to n e a re blinded ith du st .
O ur gorge rises as e pi ck our a y throu gh the

scattered refuse a nd the smells of fryi ng oi l are aft ed
,
to our nost ri ls fromthe booths here fl y covered st rings w w

w
-
of onions are hangin g in the s u n I n the sq uare lo
w
_
.
,
hovels ith their dun ghill he ap e d b y the figt tr e e at -
th e side e
,
w
shal l find no home no comfort 3 old
Euripides ho li ves like a troglodyte in his cave ove n
w
,
‘
w
,
at Sa lamis fuming there i th di sgu st at a desolating

‘
w w
,
o fdd is con s idera bly better ho u sed t han m o s t Athenians
www
.
,
An d e x istence is dreadfully un ce r tain

. e ne ve n kno .
hen e ma y ge t ours elve s into troub l e b e ex ile d o r
w
m
.
,
p r esent ed i t h a cu p O f he lo c k T h os e imm o rta l .
roducts of G re ce t h m E h l n plays n d
w
p e e s c y e a
, a ,
Pla tonic dialogues that Pa rt he no n t ho s e , e idian ,
that thought t ha t art tha t poet ry hose
w w
,
se e m
, ,
a crf s erenit y to brea t he into us the

spirit of a d iv ine ca lm e re all
,
ro u ght under
,
c onditions d ifie r ing lit t le from: a Re ign of Te rror ;

,
w w w w
tha t serenit y is the p rod uct of B olshevist condi
ww
tions And is al ays at t he ve ry gate s i th
w
a r
its inm
.
i ine nt po s s ibi lities Wa r a s but yes te rd a y a t

ww
.
our o n gates the most ho rri bl e a r e have got us e d

, ,
to repea ting in all history Ye s b ut e did not con

, .
,
te mp l ate that even H u n s chr a cka chkeit ould go s o

'
far a s to a nd r a p od ize Ip nd on in t he event of a

German conquest That meant po tting every ma n old
or young to t he s orfd a nd se lling the m o a nd
,
.
w ,
MA K I N G
w
H UM AN TY
32 TH E OF
I
children into s lavery T hat is the Wa y in hich Melos
w
w w
w
.
,
and S cione and H i s tia ea a nd other G reek to ns ere ' ‘
treat ed b y the A thenians that is the Wa y in hich they ,
calmly decided unde r the s hado of the A cropo li s to

tre a t Mytilene At be st a ll We re so l d into slavery
.
‘ ‘
,
fathers mothers b rothers sisters sepa rated a nd
w w
, , ,
scattered in the ma rkets of D elos a nd the brothels of '
That a s the Wa y in lhich tho s e god

w
“
the Levant l
w w w
, .
like Gree ks of the" Pe rikle a n a ge e re in the h abit

o f d e al ing ith a c aptured Greek to n The D a il y
w
.
;
Ma il ha s not yet suggested that the savage H uns ould

’
behave quite like those fello citi z ens of Euri p ide s and
w
-
Plato
w
.
S hall e choose instead for our ab od e imperial Rome .
in the hey d a y of that age of the Antonines hic h has
ww
-
been pronounced one of the most prospe rous and happy ,
in the history of mankind ? The narro i nding st reets
w
‘
w
,
are not very safe even in broad daylight, thieves a nd
w w w
pickpo ckets of eve ry type s a rm every here and even
w
pl ausible gentlemen it h fing ers c overed it h rings ’
w
ill be filching some tri fl e { hile they k iss you r ha nd
w
'
w
'
. .
And at nigh t it ould b e po sitively foolhardy to venture
w
ou t
w
ith clubs
ithout a goodly train of attendants ell armed
People disappe ar s p a r la ts ; and bands of
.
ba ndits actually t a ke pos session of the cit y henever

.
th
w ww
a garrison drive s them from the Pontine Ma rshes or
the Vu ltu rnu s H ere e have no a r e are en j oyin g
e great P a x Roma na
.
But j udgi ng from a ll the

'
.
,
‘
vexatious inquisitoria l regulations and offic ia l p ryings

’
into ou r p r ivacy, from

,
" the tax es on lu x uries ‘
w w
,
w
a nd registrations from the e x o rbi tant p rices of food
, ,
the; do nright famines henever the p recarious s e a
w
transpo rt fai ls a nd the food cards it ould really see m
,
as if e ha d" got back again under the re gil ne n of an

aggravated There is no p r ivacy ; and the
-
,
'
,
in every t avern even under the be st em

,
w
secret service the all p ervadi ng system" of spies a nd
informa nts of hi ch t here are s ome in every house
p e rors
-
is a
,
w
, ,
i i r r or i s m I is impossib l e to speak freely

’
p o s t ve t e t .
an y h e re There is a unanimous l amentation on that

.
score among all authors I t is imp o ssib le to think

‘
.
PRO GRE S S A S V A L U E 33
or e x pr ess oneself freely says Tacitus ;

not think of any innovation u nless one ishes death
One m us t ,
w
“
w
” w
,
says Philos tr a tu s By sho i ng a ny con fid ence to a ny

.
one says E pictetus

,
the un a ry f a ll into the traps ,
of the soldiery An o fficer in m ufti sits bes ide you
w
.
and begins to critici z e the emp e ror ; you in ord er t o ,
appear quite frank say hat you think and the result
’
ww
, ,
is that you find yourself cast in p rison a nd in irons
w
‘
N eed e try the D ar k A ges ? We s hall have oc casion ‘

'
w
to s e e la ter hat to t hin k? of them or sha ll e ca st
w
'
.
ou r lot in resurrecting Europe in t h e F lorence of D ante , ,
s a y? D ante d o es not s p e ak ell of it on the hole
w
,
dis tinctly d oe s not reco m mend it The R ome the Paris

w
-
w
.
, ‘
of the Renaissance of Cellini ; Tudor Lo ndon hen
w
,
the shado of the To e r a nd of the block lay ove r

‘
the life of every great on e a nd that of the ga llo s ,
acros s that of every p oo r appear e q ually to b e plac e s ,
to b e avoid ed
We come to the brink of the Mode rn ;World to the
.
w
,
seventeenth centu r y Le t u s at on ce se e k ou t the ve ry
w
.
centre of the ne lights the court of the Roi S olei l
ww
, ,
hich sets the tone of re finement a nd sple ndour to the

'
hole o rld The drains you mu st ex cuse are out

.
, ,
“
of order and the gentlemen ab o ut here suffer from
w
,
extensive attentions from th e ir apo the c aries ; t he Ki n g
w
‘
, ,
t oo and the fine ladies o f t h e C ourt are t r o u bled i th

’
h so that their breath is some hat o ff ensive
w
o
w
py r r a ea ,
a nd as the ladies do not s have their heads like the

men — ell one gets su rp rises
, Peo ple eat i th t hei r:
fingers an d the hat of Monsieur, hich he ears a t
' '
ta b le has got so me hat greasy at the b r im from much w

.
w w ‘
m
w
,
saluting B u t you are getting i patient :

. these are
mere p a lt r y details We are not co ncerned ith the m;
“
w
.
it is fre e dom intellectual lib e rty good taste the

‘ '
ww w
, , ,
stimulus of a beautifu l life a n d of hi gh ideals hich‘
e seek Then I th ink

. e have come altogether
, ,
to the rong p lace ;What th ere is of free intelle ct i s .
mostly to be found in the prisons of an omnipotent ‘
I gn orance and I ntolerance o r is burning it s manuscript s ,
fo r fear o f it or is hiding in H o lland ,

.
O ur choice is getting limited There is no t I fear .

, ,
3
w w
34 T H E MA K I N G OF H UMAN I TY
a single epoc h hic h on closer a cquaintance ill not
w
‘ '
shift to endure at all

,
Na y ho t ma ny of us
w
jar upon our susceptibilities and fill us ith disgu st
and indignation hich in fact , e of to d ay could make
o u ld ‘
,
ww w
w
.
,
consent t o step ba ck even into that p rint mid Victori an

'
orld that lies almo st Within our memorie s?
w w
‘
The cheap s coffs levelled at progress and ’
civiliz ation — ords vulgari z ed enough it is t rue , ,
and debased by the ha king eloquence of pr e ss and

o l i tic s ee m n g them as flimsy veneers e x ternal a nd
w
p
“
,
s i
sup e rficia l accretion s ob d u ce d over a fixed a nd u nr e

d e e ma b l e thing terme d
w
"
human nature ould seem ,
at the present mom ent to be barb e d i th hu ndredfold
ww
irony; amid the paro x ys m of all the forces of destruct ion '
w w ,
w w
and the r eck and jeopa rdy of a o r ld ‘
Wherefore a s that martyrdom accep ted ? herefore

a ged ? Wa s it not precisely in defence
w
a s th e fight
I
of] the heirloom of huma n p rogres s a nd in the ho pe

‘
of a be tter
world ? Those forces of Bedlam have
together i t h a thousand other abuses a nd diseases
“
the cursed relics of the Pa st existed simmered a nd , , ,

,
fe rtn e nte d in ou r im p e rfectly reali z ed humanity long

’
w
'
b e fore their m aterial erupt ion I t is in one of the .
great clima cteri c c r ises o f human e volution that e are

‘
‘
w w
livi ng a crisis none t he less a part of the process o f
3
up a rd gro t h b ecause it is in t he u ttno s t violence of

its dest ructive aspe ct and ith the most distractin g
and imp erative s te rnrie s s o f its S p h yn x riddles that it
,
w
confronts us
And no m w
w ww
ore urgentl y: t h an ever does it beh ove
’
“
us to understand to the utmost of o u r cap a city ,
the nature of that evolution hos e la sw sha p e the

de s tin ies oil t he i m
m
ma a
b ‘
d I n that a ful and M
su 5l1me pr ocess am1 d tragedies and horrors un s peak

'
ww
‘ ‘ ‘
ab le miseries untold mire so rdidness squalor basen es s

,
—
, , , ,
unavo ab le e se e m an fo r a ll his faults a nd follies

’
'
w
,
makin g himse lf ou t o f a brute into a demi god The

‘
-
.
o vious question thrusts itself upo n

b u s — H o 1 did he ,
do it ?
,
36 T H E MA K I N G OF H U M AN I TY
and Schelling to the transcendental unfolding of the
,
H egelian I dea in th e m i s t l a nd s o f the U nconditioned

‘
.
That calm disregard of the conditionin g me di a of

‘
w
human development has it s u p to date counterpart like
ise f —
Ge manic provenance in the e x altation of the
— - -
w
o r
ol d barbaric conqueror s p ride of race conceived as ’ ’
a n endo m ent of imm

,
w
utable stabilit y as the supreme ,
w
determinant in hum a n history O stentatiously arrayed .
in termi nology obt rusively scientific armed ith cep halic

”
'
indices a nd cross sections of hair ith Mendelian
w
-
, ,
characters a nd stat istic s of genius p e r square mile

, ,
a n d s u pp o rted ith heavy artillery b y the allied d e ifica

tion of heredit y to the e x clusion of environme nt b y
We is ma nnic biology the apostle of race proceeds to
w
,
demonstrate that everything of valu e and every notable

personality in t he orld have b een the produ ct of the
particula r race that claims his allegiance—Teutonic
w
,
Mediterranean N ordi c as the case may be ; that the

w
Greeks that Jesus that D ante e re Ge rmans ; or that
, ,
, ,
the Vikings ere I talians ; that civili z ation has proceeded

from north to south or from south to north is the , ,
result of purity of race or of c ross fertili zation of races ,

-
.
Race is everything the sea rch is at an end here "
w
, ,
lie the grand causes I t is the key to the interi

"
I
.
i of eve y historical fact The i

quarrels bet een ‘
w
p r e t a t o n r .
patricia n a nd plebeian for instance obv iou sly arose 3

,
"
,
‘
from the exist ence in Rome s ide by side of t o distinct

‘
w w
, ,
a nd clashing race s The splendid c onquistadores o i l J

’
“
the N e Wo rld one is interest e d to hear "
e re of
w
, ,
N ordic type but their pure s tock did not long surviv e
w w
,
their ne su rroundings and to day they h a ve vanished ,

-
u tt erly After co nsidering ell these facts e shall not

” w
.
have to search fu rther for the causes of the collapse

of S p ain 3 Clearly that ould be quit e superfluous
. .
F lat tering as it is to patrioti c p ride the doctrin e
w
,
ab ov e a ll r e commends itself by its labour saving econ omy -

,
hi ch enabl es us to acco u nt for Greece b y Gree k '
g e n i u s
"
for Rome by Roman ditto for E ngland b y ,
’
the genius ofi the Anglo Sa x on race for m

,
.
onotheism
‘ ’
-
, ,
Ta in H is t of E ngli s hL i tera tu re
e, . .
2 Ma d i son G r a nt The Pa ssi ng of the Grea t Ra ce p p I 3 9 a nd 1 7 4

, , . .
GE O GRA P H Y 37
by the Semitic genius for rel igion in t he same fu nda ,

’
me ntal manner as Moli ere s doctor elucidated the ’
dormitive virtue of O pium .
Ra ce or H ere dity is but the s umtna tion of

ances tral react ions to p a s t e nv ironme nt s and is only st able
‘
—
,
a nd pe rsistent under altere d conditions as the incon

v e nie nt facts br ushe d aside b y its p r otagonists indicate
'
—in proport ion to the depth of the original impressions

to the length of time during hich they have O pe rated w w
,
ww w
,
and to the relative force a nd duration of the ne influences

hich tend to modify th e m A s every here el se in the
.
organic orld races separated from o t hers in their de
w
,
v elo p m
.
e nt have become di fferentiated and have acquired
distinct ch a racters both physical a nd mental But o ing .

,
to the pe cu liar na ture of t he pr oducts of human evolu tion

a nd of t h e manner of the ir transmission the e ffects of a ,
very partial segregation on the leading st ocks o f man

kind are not comparab le in magnit ude o r stab ility to
those of segr egation in the a nimal orld w .
E X OG E N OU S THE O R I E S G E O G RAPH I CAL

.
AN D
E CO N O M I C D ET E RM I N I S M
w
A rea l sequence of cause e ffect first become s
apprehensible hen att entio n instead of being centred
a nd
w
,
on the mind and the race is dire ct ed to the
w
,
environme nt in relation to hic h t hey rea ct a nd

develop Buckle pointed out the relation bet een
w
.
a people s history a nd the geographical conditions of

’
its homeland .
w
While some of his illust rations ere of
Lamarckian crudity he a s on t he other hand t oo
moderate in his claims for he confined t hat influence to
, , ,
w
,
th e earlier st a es f developme nt The di rec t and para

' ‘
g o .
mou nt relation bet een the geography of Greece of ,

38 THE MA K I N G OF H UMAN I T Y
Egypt of H olland is obviou s a t a glance ; the like
w
,
holds go od of every country a nd is by no mea ns Con ,
fined to any one period of gro th N ot only is the

w
.
p olitical developme nt o f E ng nd and of its f r ee in

la
s t itu t ions a s a s long ago p oin ted out by the old Whig
“
w
,
theorists t he direct e ffect not of a ny racial cha racteristic
w
, , ,
but of England s insular position hich d eprived central

’
ize d po er of the prete x t for permanent ar mam e nts and

'
w
supremacy but almost every peculiarity of English
w
character is like ise traceable to t he consequences of
w
that circumst a nce
and D emo l ins have
cla r e d
,
H is tory as the follo ers of Rat z el
.
ith pa rdonabl e e x agge ration de

is a fu nction of geography
,
But the determining act ion of the environment is m uch

more intimate pe rvasive a nd far reaching than that
, ,
-
exercised on hu man relations by general geog raphical

conditions The li fe of ma n d epends in the last resort
w
.
u pon his bread a nd butt er a nd is conditioned by the

”
,
a y he obtains it The characte r of a comrnu nity a nd

'
.
,
the course of it s developme nt must need s vary in
w
,
w
like manner accord ing as it d epends for its s u s te n
ance u po n agriculture or co m
,
merce o r a r But not
w
.
, ,
o nl y is the hole mo d e of life of a society thus de ter

mined by the source of it s su s t e na nce c a ne order
of factors is set up b y the various divisions of labour
-
entailed in obtaining it We alth and po er tend to w

w
.
accu mula te in the h a n ds of certain classes and confl ict ,
ing s ets of inte rests are thu s established That ne
w
.
w
hu man environment in turn crea t es a n order of influences
hich moulds the entire order of society And t hose .
very f ea tu res of the ment al orld the types of those
w
,
ideas and ideal s fancifully su p posed by metaph ysical

,
theorists to rule the hol e process and to s oar far ,
above sordid ma t erial conditions are themse lves subject ,
t o the determining influence of those conditions The .
conceptions the notions the prej u dices the standards

, , ,
of judgment and of conduct t h e literat ure the p hilosophy

m
w
-
, , ,
the orality of the community are shaped and coloured ,
by the na tu re of the e stablished ru ling int e r e st s hich the fl
ma t e ria l cond it io
ns have de t e rmine d 1 .
E C O NO MI C DE TER MI N I S M
Thos e principles fir s t de finitely formulated by Ma rx
'
a nd Engels by recogniz ing in the m a n ifold conditions

,
e envir onment t h
“
of t h e t r ue d etermina n t of differentiation ,
mark the advent of a scientific me t ho d of hi storical .
interpretation The material ist ic or economic theory of
w
.
histo ry has been termed by its admirers one of the

greatest dis coveries of t he ni neteenth centu ry a n d hat ,
is much mo re significant its in fluence in spite of its overt
w
, ,
a nd reckless defian ce of the tender e st su sce p tibilities of
conventional sentiment a nd of the f ho le order of thought

d earest to a cademic decorum has r a pi l y m ade itse lf
d
‘
w
,
felt in all recent historical s t udies I t i s nearly every i .
here recogniz ed that the first indispensable foundation

to the clea r unders tanding of a ny given ep o cho r people ,
is not its metaphysi cal concept ions or ev en its political
w ww2
,
s itu ation but its economic conditions
w
.
,
But in regard to the p articular quest ion hich e e r

—
w
askin g B y hat means has human progress bee
e ffected ? or hat comes to the same thing What ha vr
,
been the cau se s of progressive development ? the e conorrnc

,
;
theory of history labours und e r a se rious disadvant a ge
it is entirely irrelevant I t d oes not supply any e xplana
‘
'
w
.
tion of the fact o f progres s T here is no perceptible or .
intelligible reason hy cha n ge in the condition s of p r o
w
duction and distribution should result in co nt inuous ‘
adva n ce. B rilliant a s is the light hich the principle
has shed upon the complex facts of history it a ffords
w
,
no insight into the greatest and most fund a mental fact o f
w
all
. So far a s I kno the e x ponents o f the theory
lay no claim to su p plying an explanation of continuous
progress N ay the various ch a nges hich t hey point
.
,
out as being direct e ffects of altered econo mic conditions
w
,
the su bverting of primitive communistic relations the ,
rise of various forms of class po er the development
w
,
of private propert y the s haping of political intellectu al
w
, , ,
a nd moral standards and conce p tions in accordanc e ith

dominat ing i nterest s are in every Cas e changes hich the y
,
deplore So far as a ny relation is m a nifes ted bet e en w

the comple x development of economic condi tions and
w
.
the great fact o f huma n progress the former ould ,
ap p ear to p la y the p art of a n obsta cle t a fhe r than tha t

40 T H E M A K I N G O F HU M AN I TY
me ans a nd efficient cause Prog ress appears to
' '
of a .
ha ve taken place in spite of rather than a s a cons e

u e nce of the m
,
q .
A U S AT I O N
C IN P RO G RE SS I V E PR OC E SS E S
seeking the cause of that p rog ressive character
In
w
‘
of development it is necessary to cl ea r ou r ground by

1
w
.
a more definite u nderstanding of hat in this connection , ,
e are to consider as a cau se The question of causation
w w
.
in human evolution and in all evolutiona r y pro cesses
w
, ,
is be s et ith the confusion hich att a ches to that terrible
w w w
ord cause to the notion of chance and to the brain
’ ’
, ,
hirling abysses hich they se t ya ning before the mind
w w
.
Tou ching the nature of ca u s a t ion in general the upshot

'
w w w
of the matter is th a t e do not kno at all the nexu s
bet een a cau se a nd its e ffect e only th
w
v 1e e
ww w
s e qu ence and it s const a ncy That there i s a nexus
.
,
e have from that constancy of sequence good grounds

, ,
for surmising and if e kne its na ture e sho u ld be

in possession of the inmo st s ecret of the unive r se
w
.
There is nothing so very abstru se about the notion

of
w
cha nce if e t ak e the troubl e to th ink cle arly
’
ww w
'
.
,
I t is constantly said a nd a ccepted as pure isdom

that hen e speak of chan ce e are me rely usin g
the term as a n expression of our igno rance of the true
w
cause of a sequence of events That is absolutely false
w
When e spe a k of a series of events as determined
. .
w
by chance in contra st ith a more spe ci fic determin a
,
tion e have a perfectly definite a n d correct distinction
w
,
in ou r mi nds We mean th a t amo ng the multitude of

.
circu mst a nces hich condition the occu rrence of the

ch a nc e e vent none bears a cons ta nt relat ion to the re su lt
, .
C AU S A T I O N 4-
1
ww
w
If e s p in
'
a b oin there is not among the numerous play

,
—
of forces hich condition the result head or tail any;one —
condition or set of conditions so related to the resu lt
, ,
head or to the res ult tail that it i ll constantly tend

,
’
,
’
to bring about the one rather than the other There is
w
.
no constant and necessa ry nex us no indisso luble con ,
ne ct ion of cause and effect bet een a ny of the determining

condi tions and one re sult rat her than the other any
w
,
one of those conditions may according to its combination
w
,
ith other circumstances turn the scale m favour of heads

, ,
or in favour of tails indi fferently The relation bet een .
each one of the ope rating causes and the given result
is not direct and indissoluble but absolutely indi fferent
w w
.
,
So mu ch s o that if the coin spinn i ng be repeated long -
enou gh those indifferent conditions ill neut ralize a nd

,
cancel one another so that the result head i ll come
w w
,
about as often as the result tail ’
w
.
But if e toss t he coin ma ny t ime s a nd the result

tu rns out to be al ays the sa me e at once begin to
w
,
have misgivings and to entertain a su spicion that the

,
conditions are not purely t hose of c hance If
w
e .
go on repeating the e x periment a great numbe r of times ,
and the coin persists in sho i ng he ads ou r suspicion ’
www
gradually be comes conve r ted into a conviction that there
is some cau se a t ork hich does not come under ou r
notion of chance a cause hich is directly related t o
coin to b e loaded
,
w
the co nstant result I f on exa mination e discover the
.
s hall no longe r spe ak of the

w '
w
e ,
.
effect a s due to ch a nce There is a direct constant con
w w
.
ne ct ion bet ee n the loading of the coin a nd the resu lt ,
here a s there is no such direct connect ion be t een a n y

of the other circu mstances and tha t result And the .
p resence o f that direct ly related cau se determines the

const ant te nd e ncy throu ghout the series Whenever a .
series of p henomena e xhibits a constant tendency there
ww
ww
must exist a const a n t cau se directly related to that
tendency a ca u se hich ill al ays act in the direction
w
,
of the particu lar result hatever b e the influence of o ther
w
,
conditions I ndifferent conditions cond it ions hich are
w
.
,
not constant and hich be a r no direct relation to a given

'
resu lt
, h ich ma y indi fferently brin g about th a t or any ,
w
42 TH E MA K I N G OF H UMAN I TY
other a cco rdin g to the manner in hic h t hey a r e
,
combined cannot gi ve rise t o a co ns tant tendency

, ,
they can onl y a nd must in the long run neut ralize one
w
, ,
another Ilhe y conditi on the result b u t cannot con st a ntly

f
.
,
determine it ; t hey ill at one time favou r it at other ,
times O ppose it The constant a nd direct f a ctor may

.
b e assisted or checked by those environing conditions ,
may avail itself of them or be pitted against them , ,
b ut the determina te a nd cons tant tendency depe nds upon

the determinate and constant factor not on indi fferent ,
conditions
w
.
Every river tends to the s e a ; the nature of the
l ace it w
cou ntry ill modify the nature of its course ; in one
w
ill fo m thro gh a narro er ded gorge in
w w
w
p a u o , ,
another ind t hrou gh a lo valley here spread itself ,
ou t over a ide p lain there le a p hu r tl ing over a granite

'
ledge ; the manner O f its course is conditioned by a

multitude O f circums tances but neither hills nor p lains
determine the i nvari a ble gravita
, , ,
o r graniti c ou tc rops
'
t iona l tendency to the s e a
w
.
Every process of evoluti on is a series of phenomena

in hich there is a const a n t tendency Like every other
'
series of p henomena it is cond itione d by i nnumera ble

circumst a nces They all affect the p rocess
. But the .
w
cau se O f the ev olutiona ry character of the series is
the cause of its constant tende ncy A ll others are but .
conditioning causes amid hich the p rocess operates

Profou ndly a s t hey ma y affect it they are not causes but
.
conditions The persistent co nfusion of nearly all the
w w
.
th e ories of hu ma n evolution has b een to ignore all

distinction bet een the t o orders of factors
w
.
N O possible combina ti on O f i ndete rminate and in
w
di fferent circu mstances capable O f acting this a y or
that a y bearing no constant and direct r elation to a
,
,
given i ssu e can d et ermine a co ntinu ou s s e r ie s o f events ’

-
w
,
having a const a n t tendency a continu ous motion a

, , ,
gro t h an a ge ylong p rogress a n e v olu t idn

"
w
, , .
We have it is t r ue in the theo ry t a tu r a l selec tion

, ,
a method hich is held by a n infl u ential school of
w w
«
b iologist s to a fford a complete e x planation of evolution

in the or anic o ld a nd hich cla im s to ex lain a
g r p p ro
MA K I NG
w
44 THE OF H UMAN I TY
As in t he idealistic and in the r acial theorie s e
'
mu st then seek for the progressive fact or in man him

sel f N o geogra phical or ec onomic determination can
w
.
supply that constancy of di rection F or they are but

.
conditions of the process a nd ,

hatever fu ndamental
,
influ ence they may ex ercise upon its cour s e they are
.
,
f rom the na ture of their act ion inca pable of imparting
w
to it a progres sive cha ract er But at the same time
.
,
no po er in man can ope rat e or d evelop irrespe ctively

,
w
of t hose and a l l othe r encomp ass ing conditions
those po ers are nou ght else t han po ers to act upon
I ndeed
w .
,
w
,
a nd in relat ion to them . Like every manifes tation of

life t hey have no e x istence b u t a s r ea ct ions of hich
the reacting orga n ism is b u t one term ; the other term
, ‘
w w
is re p resented by the infinite complexity of the ambient
.
mediu m t o hich it is life s necessit y to adap t itself

’
and hich it i s its a mbition to control .

,
RAT I ONAL TH OUGH T I TS OR I GI N AN D ,
FUN CT I ON
MAN S A D APT I V E AR I AT I O N
w
’
V
IT is I think fairly obvious that e s hal l obtain an

, ,
important cue to the means by hich h u man progress

ha s be en effect e d if w w
e turn in the first p l ace to t h
w
,
e
antecedent quest ion B Wha t means di d ma nkind come

into e xistence at a ll ? By vi rtue of hat qualities d id
the incipient and potent ial h u man race become di ffer
e n ti a t e d from i t s ani mal progenitors e merge distinctly
w
,
above its competitors establis h it s el f suc cessfully in the

,
orld a nd obtain a predominance a nd mastery over

,
its environment unparalleled in a ll previous evolution ?
w
There is to say the least a st ro ng presumption t hat the
,
sa me qualities hich in t he first instance ra ised man

above other animals placed MW
,
a n incomparable
w
,
level made him ma n continued to operate in the same
w w
, ,
direction a nd it h t he same success ; that the causes

hich determined his initial victory ere cl osely related
to his subsequent development
w We are it is t rue referri ng to a n event about hich

.
w
w
, ,
e pos s ess no direct information Yet the p roble m is
w
.
a simple one ; for t he cha ra cters and (g l i d es hi ch

ould confer on the most primitiv e a nd emergent human
race such a distin ct a d Y a nta ge over its ani mal com
m
.
p e t i t or s are s o
,
anifest as to leave little r oom for
doubt or difference of opini on
w
.
P rogress in organic evoluti on ha s consist e d in in

cr ea s ed po er to deal Wl t h the environment by means
of greater e fficiency in t he organs of sensation a nd of
action Sensation serves to direct the operation of the
means of action a nd thus e xtends imm
.
, e ns e ly their ,
45
T H E MA K I NG OF HU MAN I TY
w w
46
scope and e fficiency
eye a nd ear
w
,
The po er of Cla and fang
.
of limb and ing i s dependent upon the keenness of

B y the pe rfecting of those po ers of w
,
contro l over the environment the means of ma i ntaining

.
life of p roviding for its support of protect ing it

, ,
from adverse agencies of outd istan cing rival s in
w
,
the competition for e x isten ce have been mul tiplied ,

.
The means hich primitive brute man developed to that
w
-
end proved incomparably the most e fficient ever em

ployed in the an imal o rld
(
The y consisted in a .
particular e x tension of the functions of sensation F or
w w
w
.
most of the organs of sensation as a close and detailed ,
examination ould sho depend for their successful

,
Operation upon the po er of re calling past impressions ,
and of applying pas t e x periences to present situations a

thus interpreting the significance of the latter in reference
to the immediate future S igtht fo r in stan ce derives
w
'
w
.
,
its utility f rom the fact that it supplies information a s
wto hat ould b e the sen s at ions yielded by closer contact

-
ith the remote O bject perceived by the eye Thi s
w
.
can only be done by the association of an impression

of sight ith the memory of a past e x perience : the
sight of a t hreatening enem y or of an attra ctive victual
w
.
,
info rms the seeing animal by recalling past expe riences

of danger or O f gratificati on associa ted ith Similar
sensations from the eye The s ame I S true of all s e n
. .
s a t ions at a distance B y an e xtension of the same

.
proc ess thro u gh more elaborate ne r vous interconnect ions ,
the proc e dure can b e carried further Multitudes of .

‘
diverse impressions ca n be gathered together a nd

variously combined the record of pas t e x perience ca n
,
be perfected and generalized and this greatl y elaborated

past e xperience can be more e ffi ciently brought to bear
upon the impressions of prese nt circumstance s givin g ,
t hem an e x tended significance Thus the beari ng o f

the present upon either the immediate or more remote
ww
.
interest s of the individual acquire a vastly ide r s cope 5

and his efficiency in dealing to his advantage ith his
w
environment is c o r r e sp ond ingl y raised and extende d his
po ers indefini tely m u ltiplied a nd increased T hat pro
c ess is that of ra tional thought “
.
i t
. .
.
,
R A T I ONA L T H O UG H T 7
4-
I us e the t erm r ational t hought in preference to ’
reason because the latter is t oo closely associated

w
’
, ,
i n th e po pular mind ith the old fall acious conception

of a
ww
faculty, a s o rt of Special organ having an isolated
w
’
e xisten ce a nd endo ed ith myste r ious po ers pe culiar

w
‘
to itself I n accordance ith that fantastic psychology
w
.
,
‘
people currently speak of using t heir reason or of
,
not using it of using their feelings their il l or their

, , ,
imagin ation inst ead of their reason Rationality is not f "
ww
.
a n organ but a quality, a character of thought

,
In .
the circui t bet een e xperience a nd action feeling and
w
,
reaction there is al ays interposed in ma n a process
w w
,
of mental digestion in hich feelin g and experience

are che ed a n d transfo r med into the stuff hence action
w
is made into the supposition the belief the conviction
w
,
upon hic h action proceeds That inte rmediary process

‘
is al ays present to a greater or lesser extent : it

.
, ,
constitutes thou ght An d that thoug ht is in its mode

.
of O peration in its method rational to a greater o r
w
, ,
less extent I t is neve r ent irely i rr ational ; b e cause it s

.
very function the purpose hic h constitutes the origin

,
of its e xistence is to a ct rationally But that function

,
.
—
is commonly pe rformed impe rfectl y the thought is not
adequately rational A ma n does not use any other .
facu lty ins tead o f hi s reason : he uses his brain

‘ "
cells more or less rationally
w
The conditions of the e fli cie nt ope ration of that po er
.
w
w
are consistency i th past and present experience and
ith itself That is it must possess adequate a nd
w
.
,
adequately correct e xperien ce be faithful to it and not
w w
, ,
contradict itself in dra ing inferences from it The .
reason hy suc h a process is e fficient in dra ing from
w
the past and the present conclusions as to the fu ture
w
( or f rom the kn o n to t he un kno n ) and in the refore
empo ering the individual to adapt his act ion to those
w ,
’
present a n d future condi tions is that the course o f

w
'
, _
nature is uniform that simila r conditions are follo ed
w
,
by corresponding sequels that all things a nd appe ar ‘
w
, .
a nce s in the orld are rigidl y and accuratel y inter
w
connected s o that there is al ays a defini te a n d const ant ‘
*
relation be t een a ny one a s p e ct a nd all ot hers Which

'
.
,
T H E MA K I N G OF H UMAN I TY
w w
48 ,
ww
by the a y is but another a y of saying that all things
w w
,
are bound up in one that the orld in its infinite variety
w w w
,
is one great unity I f that e re other i se if the orld
w
.
,
ere incongruous and la less if its pa r ts ere inde
ww w w
.
, ,
pendent entities hi ch could take the bit in their teet h ,
and act ithout reference to one another this a y to

“
day and that a y to morro if the un conditioned the
w w
-
, , ,
arbitrary could break through the course of events ,
rational thought ould be entirely useless It ould
w
.
never have re ceived from the e x ternal environment a ny

‘
w
stimulus to develop at all ; it ould never have been
selected it ould never have come int o e x istence .
w
Rational thought is an adaptation of the organism to
the most general a nd fundamental charact er of ma n s ’
external env ironment
w w
.
The tendency to ards such a n adaptation e xisted in

the animal o rld lon g; be fo re ma n I t r e s t s f a s e .
have j ust noted upon the same or ga mc principle as

,
the higher forms of sensation But its tap root sinks
w
-
.
much deeper in the method of all animal behaviour

,
and reaction from its very da n in the react ion of
w
,
all life That method is t hat of Trial and Error You

. .
have seen some foragin g beetle i th its burden come

suddenly upon an unexpected obstacle repeatedly e n ,
d e a vou r to surmo u nt it se ek a pass a ge fi rst in one ,
d irection then in another explore half the points o f

the compass and after long minutes of pe rsevering and
, ,
fruitless attempts hit at last upon some path through
w
,
o r round the obstacle That is the universal tactical.
principle of all vital action Bet een the method of .
trial and error a nd that of rational thought there is
w
no line of demarcation the one merges into the other .
Trial and error is a pe r fect ly sound rational p rocess ;

it arrives by a some hat lengthy and laborious pro
ce d u r e at a result hi ch orks www
hic h fits in i t h ’
w
w
,
the fact s The reject ion b y the a tnoeb a by the beast

‘
'
.
, ,
o f a line of action hich has proved ine fficient fruitless
ww
, ,
o r dangerou s is the e x clusion of an exploded opinio n
w w
, ,
and is exactly similar t o that of critical thought hich
w
,
narro s do n its choice by the e x clusion of a vi e

hich is found to be untenable Rational thought is .
R A T I O N A L T H OU G H T 49
-
,
w
but a labour saving pe rfect ed met hod of o bt aini ng the
same correspond e nce ith facts ; j ust a s al geb raic al or
di fferential calculation is a labour saving development
‘
-
' ‘
o f the proces s o f r easonin g The primi tive a nd u n iversa l

.
method of t rial a n d error p a ssed by slo degrees in to

the more perfect one of ra t ion a l thought hich is quite
w
w
comm
w
,
only used by the higher animals The entire class .
of mamma ls o es indeed , its evolutionary success as

, ,
does ma n to brain development

,
That develop .
ment fir s t reached in the anthropoid race a degree

'
-
. ww w
capable of react ing th ro ugh its e ffect s a nd activiti e s
upon its o n gro t h and a s thus stimulated to a n
ex pansion advancing in geometrical progress ion
,
w w
.
The brute man first bethought himself of using his
w w
-
br ain as a handle to his t ools and eapons It
w
a s .
that po er that adaptation it a s solely the exercise

, ,
of rational thought hich gave him his paramount

v ictory That and nothi ng else H e possessed no other
qualification to supremacy ove r other mammals no other
w
. .
advantage comm
w
,
ensurate ith his achievements The .
one or t o distinctive anatomical peculiarities o f the
human animal are by comp ar ison trifling Moreover

ww
w
.
, , ,
thou gh unt i l lately it: a s an interesting sub j ect of

anth ropological speculation hether the erect attitude
has preceded and assisted brain development or vice ,
versa ; the recent great e x tensions of our kno ledge

of human ancestry have virtuall y settled t hat ques
tion. B rain development a s the first and only pre
-
dominant character of di fferentiation ; and the erect

w
w
att itude a n d consequent development of the hand
,
follo ed only much la ter in correlation ith the e ffect s w ,
w
,
arising out of the primary c haracter The very bodi ly .
form of man is a n effect of the po er of rati onal
Exclusively through that po er hich superseded a ll

other tool s organic contrivances a n d eapons
,
'
hich
www w , ,
rendered obsolete all other methods of supremacy
w w
’
hitherto produced by organic evolution he became man

The lordship of the earth a s his and hat later came wm , .
w
,
to appear as a n impassable gu lf bet een hi and a ll

other creatu res a s e s tablished Whatever other .
4
50 TH E MA K I N G OF
'
H UMA N I TY
c haracters may be mentioned as peculiar to a nd .
,
distinctive of man at the present day such as various '
developments of feeling emotion senti ment moral sense

,
, , , ,
so cial organization it is clearly not through any of those
w
,
that the differen tiation of the human race from its animal
pro genitors a s e ffe ct ed The incipient anthropoid race
.
did not establi sh itself t hrough a high er morality o r ,
refinement o f feeling or poetical imagination or sublime
w
, ,
ideals o r economic arrangements

,
Those characters .
ould obvi ously have been ab solutely useless in the

circumstances And moreover they did not exist ; t hey
.
are subseque nt developments they o e the possibility w ‘
w
,
of their existence to the position establ ished by the

po er of rational thought Without human rational
.
thought no human morality no human religious senti

, ,
ments no ideals no high aspirations no social organi
w
, , ,
za tion s o r obligations Rational thought had to make

.
man fi rst had to O pen the a y for all subsequen t

,
developments and possibilities .
RAT I O NAL TH OU G HT A S MEAN S OF PR O G RE SS

That being the means b y hi ch the human race has w
w
w w
achieved the first transcendent evolutionary victory to
hic h it o es its e x istence and the fact is hardly O pen ‘
,
w
-
—
to dispute there is clearly a considerable a p r i or i p re
sumption that the same po er has a l s o be en co ncerned
t
in its subsequent evolution That o riginal factor has
.
in its proved e ffi ciency in the first stages a prior claim
w
__
to be regarded before any other explanati on is put

, “
for ard as not inadequate to a ccount also for the

e sa m
,
s ubsequent hases of t h e process Ther e is no

p
.
wof the most favourable to hu man development ; yet

ithout autocracy and despotism civili z ation could not
whave arisen at all ; it has ha d its birth in abs olute

po er has constantly been promoted by autocratic and
,
aristocratic despotism and large masses of ma nkind
w
,
by remaining in a state of tribal freedom have b een
l po w
irremediably condemned to arrested gro th
er e x ercises in general a profoun dl
ence on development yet ars of pure aggression and
y perniciou
w s in fl u
.
w
,
conquest have been amo ng the most potent a nd

momentous factors hich have assisted human progress .
D
t y si i i o n of labour is one of the most fertile sources
of efficiency but it has also been the means of b r inging
w w
,
about O ppression a nd the most hopeless stagnation .
I he r e are fe influences hich have been more fatal

‘
F
to intellec tual advance and human development than
[ theological dogmatism yet it has at t i mes
, e x ercised
irnp or t a nt b e ne fice nt influences has proved a stimulus ,
through its c hallenges has assisted progress by estab ,
li s h
'
ing a common bond and medium of thought Even
w
.
intellec tual culture itself though it might loosely be ,
regarded as coe x tensive ith rational d evelopment ma y , ,
if disdainful O f it be a check t o progre ss instead of

,
a means a nd manifestation of it Thus it is that the .
task of advocacy is so smooth that the a d voca t us d ia b olz
w
'
is enabled to make ou t an e x cellent case for every

abomination t o e x hibit to he ildered publics the in
,
v alu a ble benefits of despotism and slavery the almost
w
,
in d ispensable advantages of murder the redemption of ,
the orld by lies the b e ne fice nt e ffects Of fraud and t he
w
, ,
incalculable valu e of disea s e Dedu ctions are constantly
w
.
d ra n from an apparent s imi1a 1fity O f conditions politi cal
w
, ,
economic social in situations

, ,
here history it is ,
thought repeats itself hil e those conditions may as
w
, , ,
a matter of fact have totally di fferent results a ccordin g
ww
,
to the stage of human evolution in hich they O perate
w
.
Although no one perhaps ill di rectly demur to the

statement ,
hen put in so many ords that man is
first and f oremost homo s a p iens t hat all his po ers
are dependent upo n the rationality ith www
hich he
,
,
e m loys th e m a nd that he succeeds or fa i ls accord i n

p , g
T HOU G H T A D A PT I VE 53
as he thinks a nd acts rationall y or irrationally yet

many are q u ite prepared to uphold vie s di rectly w ,
w
plyin g a n entirely di fferent estimate of the sources of
human po er and there is a deeply roo t e d a nd id e w
w
,
spread dispo sition to dispar a ge rational thought and ,
ex alt at its exp en se other suppo sed po ers and methods

as the t a l isnra ns of progress a nd t rue huma n de v elop v -
ment .
A D APT I VE C HARA CTER
w
Rational thought is man s means of adaptation
w
’
.
The rld hi ch he ha s made is t he outt hro of his

mind The stones of his cities and the steel of his
w w
.
engines are made of thou ghts ; they are moved like ,
his battalions of industry and of a r like t he pulses ,
of h is life by hi s ide a s That life tha t o rld must
w
, .
, ,
like every form and manifestation of life be adapted ,
to the conditions hi ch the u nb en d ing nature of th ings

l '
the unrepe aled facts of the universe impo se That is .
the fundam ental condition of their e x istence a s of all
w w
,
existence of their development a s of a ll development
w
, ,
.
The ex tent to hich man can e x ercis e hi s po e rs
w
,
control life to his ill and pu r po se depends upon the ,
measure in hich he conforms to e x isting facts H ence
w
.
it depends in the last reso rt upo n the accuracy Of hi s

perception of them He i ll fail in the measure that
.
that: perception is fals e succeed in th e measure that

,
'
it is true Progress depends upon truth

. .
Tha t adaptation is the func tion a n d u tili ty o f ratio nal

thought . Rationality of thou ght simp l y means the
54 TH E MA K I NG OF HU MAN I TY
confo rm it y O f human ideas a nd thou ght to the actual
relation of man to his environment Greater accuracy
w
.
i the operation f that function means gr eater adapta
w
n O
-
t ion . T he aim man has i n V ie

. in using a ration al
p r ocess is precisely to se cure that correspon d ence bet e e n;
his thoughts and the actual relation a nd s equence of

events .Rational thought developed b y virtu e of that
correspondence a nd man uses the method because his
,
x erience teaches him " that that co rresp ondence c n
w
a
ep
thus be att ained
w
.
it ou ld be ingenuous to supp o s e that huma n ‘
evolution has been e ffected by the p u rp o s e ap plica '
tion o f rational thought to pro gr essive end s The
w
.
w
actu al process is by no means s o s irnp le To con ceive .
it thus as a gradual gro t h of rational thought engaged
w w
,
in build ing the huma n orld is b u t a form O f the old ,

'
fallacy hich s a in human history t he b ea t ific vision

of an unfolding mind pr oceedin g in u nconditione d
independence of the hard exigenci es of a n untracta ble '
u n i verse
Ma n has on ly been in an infini tesima l me a sure

.
rational H e has
. muddle d through in all so r ts of ’
ha p ha za rdf Ways H e ha s O ften ac hi e ved adapt ation a nd

’
‘
‘
'
w
.
progress quite ir rationall y C asual j udgment a nd .
thou ghtles s conduct may b e in harmony ith fact ;

intentionally rational thought may fail from a thousand '
sources of error But even the fortuitous success in

.
,
,
far as it is ad aptive must b e rationally val 1d
w
so ,
Whether as the fruit of a d elibe rately ra tional pr ocess
w w
o f thought or b ecause ho soever arising a course of
, ,
action a V ie o r ild e a does in fact corre s po nd to external

w w
,
la s and events it is in t o s om
w
, ,
e hat di fferent senses
w
, ,
rational ; in the one case ith r e fe r e nce to the intent ion a

,
in the o ther it h reference t o the result .
. T he p rimo rd ial b iologica l method of tr i al and erro r

has continued to operate in human evolution as through
out the evolution 0 f life I ft is the original horse sense
~
.
-
I t is the me thod o f experience

q
of living thi ngs you

'
learn by your mistakes you fail and try again ; your
w
,
la ter a t te I np ts pro fit by the lesso ns Of previous disasters ,
until b y a p r oces s of e x haustion and by follo in g up

,
’
T H O U G H T A D A PT I VE 55
the clues a fforded by unsuccessful o r part ially s u ccessful ,
ww w
attempts success is at last ac hieve d
,
‘ .
The me th od of trial a nd e rror is a pe rfectly valid
wa nd legitimate one ; it orks But it is costly and

asteful I t is cheape r to b e i se if e ca n before the
.
event than after it Rationa l thought is the huma n im .

.
, ,
provement on the biolo gi cal me thod of trial a nd e rror

a p erf ec ted economical immensely more effe ctua l form
, ,
of it I f one course of action p ro ves suc cessful and
w
another fails the r e is a mum for i t
.
I f sufficient
w w
.
.
kno led ge had been available if su fficient trouble had
ww ww
,
been taken it ould have bee n pos sible to kno

,
be forehand hich the rational a nd hich the
w
a s
irrational course The success ful result is tha t to hich
w
.
e fficient thought o uld have led ha d it been a p plied

mm
,
.
the gro t h of ra ti onality the development of
w
,
exp e rience of availab l e data a nd of the ha bit of ra tiona l

, ,
‘
thought its po ers contri b ute more a nd more to the
w
'
result s of the me thod of tria l a nd error s horten a nd
w
,
facili tate and economi ze i ts aste in a n in creasing

degree The sphere of that method becomes narro ed
.
’
,
that of rational thought ex tended The mo re efficient
w w w
.
method of ada p tation tends constantly t o p revail .
Eve ry idea every ne point of vi e

, ev e ry ne ,
procedure arises recommends itself p roves vital a nd , ,
gains influence is select e d b y v irtue of the fact ’
w w
, ,
that it is more rat ional that is b etter adapt ed more
w
, , ,
in ha rmony i th facts and e x pe rience more cons istent
w
, ,
more e fli cie nt than that hich it seeks to sup pl ant

’
w m ell kno n pas s age Mi ll i ip m

.
In a -
gn s the d ictum that
truth al ays triump hs ; hu t his a r gument from instances
w w
O f successfully supp r essed t ruth is practically nullifi e d
by the qualify ing admission t ha t although hat is true
w w
,
may b e p u t do n by opposition a nd pe rsecution once ,
t i ce or many times it comes fo r a r d again a nd aga in ,
w
u ntil it ultimately triumphs I t arises again and a ga in .
pr ecisely b ecause the p rocess of rational thought is
w
,
the only const antly operatin g fa ct o r of gro th in huma n '
affairs a nd the po sitions to hic h tha t process leads
w
,
mus t: consequently be of necessi ty reached again no ,
matter ho O ften they have been abandoned I n poi nt .

56 TH E M AKI N G OF H UMAN I TY
of fact rational development is invariabl y v iolentl y
resist ed a nd very generally p u t do n and defeated w
w
w
, ,
for the s impl e reason t hat it is al ays oppos ed to the

establ ish e d vie s and a p pa rent interests of the majority .
,
B u t it is at the same time inevitabl y predestin e d to
,
‘
p revail Truth is.at once s u r e o f d efeat and? of ,
victory .
PR O G RE SS I V E C HARA CTER
Ratio nal thought is the only p r o gressive eleme nt in
the huma n World U nlike all other alleged factors of
.
huma n evolution the operation of rational thou ght
w
,
w
contains the inherent principles of continuous develop
ment While there is no pe rceivable re aso n hy cha nge
.
of any kind hether of economi c geo graphical o r

, , ,
.
ethnical conditions {s hou ld result in such a p henomenon

,
'
‘
as constant pr ogres s rational thou ght necessarily
w
,
involves progre s s E v e ry ad v ance a ccomplished lays

’ ‘
d o n at the sam
.
e tirne th e b a si s O f a further a nd greater
w
advance b y e x tend ing the foundations of e xp e rien ce a nd
kno ledge The results of rational thought multipl y in
geometrical pro gr ession
.
B u t e v e r yg r a tion a l process of thought is above all

i
“
essentially progressive in its ope ration because it can
w
never stop sho r t O f its ulti m
,
a te lo gica l consequences
w
. .
A ne i dea or princip le never p roceeds at onc e to

its ultima te conclusion it is al ays only in p art r tional ; ,
a .
it is more rational than its pr ed ecesso rs b ut still ,
irnp e r fe ct ly adap t ed timid incons istent only to a small
w
.
, , ,
degree emancipa ted from those traditional errors and

a b uses hich it O pposes Yet once it has arisen nothing .
,
T H OU G H T PR O GRESS I VE
is more inevitabl e than t hat it shall p roc e ed to its last
stop half ay w
consequences I t is a logica l p rocess a nd logic cannot
.
That development may b e holly um

,
.
w
w
.
foreseen at the origin of the proc es s ; the most direct

and O bvious irnp lica t ions of the ne p rinciple may not
w
only be entirely foreign to the thou g ht of t hose ho w
to w
advance it but holly abhorre nt to them The stimulus
hich they react proceeds usually fro m some par
,
ti cu la r a s pect or from: some grossly prominent e x cess

'
of ex isting ir ra t iona l ity ; and apart fro m that aspe ct

,
v
,
the innovators a re a s muc h und er the spell a nd in fl uence
w w
of the tra di tional ord e r of ideas a s are their opp onents ;
thei r attitude to ard s the most O b vious logical co n
sequ ences of the principle hich they champion, is
w
"
ne w
exactly the same as t hat of their O p ponents to ards the
r nciple itself The reformers t he revolutionaries
w
p i .
, ,
the innovators the here tics the radicals the ico noclasts of
ww w
, , ,
former days ould stand aghast before the consequences

,
of their o n o rk and ould occupy to day the ranks
w
-
,
of the most determined o p po nents of the fruits o f those

very principles hich t hey devoted their energies and
w
,
the i r li ves to es tab lish Yet nothing can arrest the
w w
.
.
p r ocess A.s the consequence s follo inevitably in the

order of logica l thought so like i s e d o they follo ,
inevitably in the order of human d evelopment T he .
no tions of compr omise mod erati on the avoidance of , ,
extreme s and e x c e s ses are entirely irrelevant and ,
meaningles s in the rational process Such a pr o cess .
can only be at fault through defect never throu gh

:
exces s of rat ionality A qu ali fi e d and incomp lete

.
m
application of r a tional p rinci ples can only b e provisio nal ;
from the mo ent that the principle is rec ogniz ed the
ultimate recognition of its most remote implication s is
as sured even though the deduction may take centuries
w
,
to take effect I t is impo ssi b l e to ado p t a rational

—
.
,
p inciple
r i th th proviso Thus far sh a lt t hou go
e
and no further .
We constantly s ee a rational p rinciple accept e d

w
,
pro b a bly after much ini tial o p position recogni z ed at
w
,
last and emb rac e d it may be i th sincere enthusiasm

, ,
by a large section of those ho at first distrusted it ;

MA K I NG
w
TH E
w
58 OF H UM AN I TY
b u t:
is no w
direc ted w
the same O pp o siti on it h hich they greet e d it
i th equa l fie r ce ne ss
immediate consequences A p arty al ays exists hich
against its
‘
w w
w
.
thinks to estab lish a comfortable a n d pe rma nent resting

lace the mid t the advancin tide hile they
m w
in o f g
w
p s ; ,
accept the accomplis hed fact and di sclaim the r e s is ,

‘
tance hich they once O ffered to its co ing '
hile ,
they s peak much of truth and op en mind edness a n d
w w
‘ ’
-
p r ogress of the
, evils of b i gotry a n d b lin d ness th e ir I
,
w
attitu de to ards the position hic ht hat id ea ha s reached
w
by the t ime that their firs t opp osition is ove rc ome is
w
the same as that hich they ado p t e d) to ards it s e arlier
,
form S o that f hile they take credit for their enlighten

.
,
ment progressivene ss and li berality in ac cept ing hat

,
can no longer b e dispu ted or opposed they are still

'
'
w
w
,
in re lation to the marc h of the idea ex actly in the

same po siti on as t hey ere before
w
moderation are the o rds constantly on their lips and
all sub s equent advance beyond the milestone he r e the y
Tempe rance .
w ,
,
w w
happen to b e halting is lamented as ex cess intemperat e ,
a nd e x treme opinion Fr om stage to stage of the

.
inevitable gr o th of one and the s a me p rinciple e
w
find the same situation repe ated Suc his the ex perie n ce
’
hi ch daily mee ts us yet me n appea r unab le to profit
w
w
f
,
w
,
by its almost te di ous repe tition .
We can here trust the la hi ch govern s human

evolution as irnp licit ly a s a ny physica l la and foresee ,
future development as confidently a s a n astronomer

p redicts an eclip se I t is as imp oss ib l e to a rrest the
.
cours e of a rational p r oce ss or princi p le before its
w
uttermost consequences have been e xhaust e d as it is ,
w
fon a falling st one to remain su s pend e d in mid air -
.
Logi cal p rocess e s kn o neither comp romis e no r

temperance or moderation Thus onl y the ex tr e me vi e
,
. .
is right is d estined to survive

, .
”
j
g b
60
ut
T H E MA K I N G
ideas methods thoughts habits theorie s devices
social organ izations
, ,
They are not anatomical b u t

OF
,
H U MAN I T Y
, , ,
w
.
psychological
That circu mstance is fraught ith consequences of
gigantic import The u nprecedented nature of the means
.
and p roduct s of hum a n evolution carries ith it an equally

peculiar method for their trans mission fr omone generation
w "
t o another
w
.
Those products are not a nd cannot b e transmitte d by ,
a y O f physiological reproduction Each successive .
generation mu st acquire them d e novo during its life
ww
time I t acquires them solely through the hum a n environ
w
.
ment in hich it is born and dev elops I t s ideas its .

,
conceptions its ays of thought its habits its aims
w
, , , ,
its motives its morals a re handed do n to it b y t he
w
, ,
human orld by the human circumstances the so cial

, ,
condition the literature the state of society in hich its
w
, ,
development takes pla ce The evolutiona r y grade of .
develo p ment of the ne generation is determined no t ,
by physiological processes fnot by i t s place in the
w w
,
genealogical t ree of the race but by the nature of the
w
,
hu man orld as a hole by a ll the human in fl uence s ,
hich a r e brought to bear upon it by the entire race
w
.
C ert a i n aptitudes capacities of easy acquisition , ,
educability predisposit ions to ard s ce rtain types of

,
’
react ion are doubtless physiologically transmitted ; but
w
,
the actu al results of evolution the actual significant
w
,
achievements hich constitu te its p roducts ca n onl y be

acqu ired through the agency of the hole human environ
ment . I f a n English baby ere p u t to nurse ith a
C entral A fric a n tribe in e x change for a nigger baby
w w
w ww
,
and the latt er very carefully brought up in England ,
the n igger baby hen he gre u p ould be a civili z ed
w
, ,
ma n substantially in possession of the fruits of European

evolut ion and the English bab y o uld be a savag e?
w
3
ww
,
O f co urse the civiliz e d nigger ould not be q uite

on a level ith the equally educated Europe an and
w
,
the English savage ould di ffer in some respects from

his A frican companions There ould b e in both .
characteristics due to physiological heredity not to human ,
environment But the effect o f tho s e physiologi cally ln

.
HU MA N H ERED I TY
w
61
he r ite d characterist ics ould

even in so ext reme a n "
,
instance be as nothing compared to the e ffects o f

,
education by the environment So far as the ac tual
w
.
fruits of human p rogress and part i cipation in the p r oce ss
w
,
w”
are concerned their respe ctive sit uations ould be r e
,
versed The nigger ould be in a position to take a share
w
.
in civilized life and the Englishma n ould not

, .
There is idely cu rrent a vague be lief justly r e ,
marks D r W McD ou g a l l
. . that the national ,
l
cha racteristics of the people of a n y cou ntry are in the

main innate characters But there can be no serious
‘
.
quest ion that this popula r assumption is erroneous and

t hat national characteristics are in the main ex
pres sions of di fferent traditions Relatively to the .
national pecu liarities acquired by each individual in virtue

of his par ticipation in the tradi tions of his country the ,
innate peculiariti es are slight and are almost completely

obscu red m each individual by these supe rimposed
acquired charact ers Suppose that throughout a
w w
.
period of half a centu ry every child born of English
w
parents a s at once e x changed ( b y the po er of a
magician s and ) for an infant of the F rench nation
'
w
.
Soon aft er the close of this period the English nation

ould be composed of individuals of F rench e x tr a ction ,
a n d the F rench nation of individuals of English extraction
w w w
.
I t is I think cl ear that in s p ite o f this complete e x change

, , ,
of innate characters bet ee n the t o nations there ould
w
,
be but litt le immediate ch a nge of national characteristics
w w
.
The F rench people ould still speak F rench a nd the
ww w
,
English ould speak English ith all the loc a l diversities ,
to hich e are accu stomed and ithout pe rceptible
w
change of pronunciation The religion of the F rench
w
ou ld still be predominantly Roman C atholic and the
English people ould st ill present the sa me diversities
.
w
of Protestant creeds
a nd habits of the peoples

The course of political institutions
.
w
ou ld have su ffered no profound change the conditions
ou ld exhibit only such changes
,
a s might be a ttributed to the lapse of time
w
inhabitants of F rance ould still be F r e richme n and
the inhabitants of England Engli shmen to a n out ard
The .
w
S ocia l P sychology p ,
.
3 9
2 .
62 T H E M AK I N G OF H U MA N I TY
w
seeming save that the p hysical appeara nces of the t rim
peo ples ould be transposed
What is t r ue of even the minor trai ts hich distinguish
.
”
w
one civilized nation from another is of cou rse even , ,
more clearly a nd momentou sly true of civilization itself ,
o f the ac ual fruits of the pro cess of human development

t
and progress
w
.
We hear a great deal abo ut the imp rovement of the

race b y sci entific breeding I n consonance ith the
w
.
current pseudo s cie ntific do gma of race there is

-
,
’
no h u morous imbec ility from hich the criers of

the panacea of bre ed can be rest raine d Through
w
.
the selection and regulation of b reeding as intelli gently
w
applied as in the case of domestic animals l( man ) ill
”
control his o n destiny and attain mor a l heights a s
yet u nimagined 1
,
I t is more th a n questionable hethe r

,
w
ww
.
,
except a s regards the stamping ou t of pathological taints

( hich are amenable t o other remedies ) eugenists if
w
, ;
they ere given carte bl a n che could achieve a nything ,
t
desirable B u t the evolutiona ry products hich are de
w w
.
pendent upon ph ysiolog i cal heredit y are altogether in

considerable compared ith those hich are not dependent
u pon that process There is something tra ically pathetic
w
.
g
in the z eal displayed for improving the race by the
w
\
control of p hysiologi cal heredity hile at the sa me time
w
,
the means by hich the pro d u cts of human evolution

are in fact transmitted and hich a r e direct ly and easily
,
amenable to human forethought a n d management are ,
under present condit ions a nd under a s o t e rme d s ys t e m: , -

’
of alm
,
o f education ost troglodyt ic crudity abandoned ,
to the mercy of chance o r rather s t u l tifie d a nd perverted
w w w
,
t o defeat the ends of e v olu t ion Sl
w
-
'
If e are superior t o o u r oad painte d a ncestors it -

’
w w
,
is not s o much that e are born ith higher qualities but

that e are bo rn in a hum
,
a n enviro nment in hich the
w
achieved results of rational thought have be en from
w w
generat ion to generation h a n ded do n And tho s e very
qualities hich are physiological and hereditary are them
.
w
selves correlated
a cc u mulated products of
ith conditions arising from the
rational po e r and human
1 MG
. ra nt , The P a i
s s ng o
f the Gr ea t Ra ce ,
p . 8 5,
H U MA N H ERED I TY 63
control
w
. So that even if t hos e slight physiologica l modi
fica t ions could be cultivated , w
hile non physiologi ca l p ro
w
-
gress a s arrested through entire negl ect the i mprove
w w
,
ment of tho se slight p roducts themselves ould tend to
w
.
cease through the drying up of the source hence fl o

the conditio ns hich produced them
w
.
The product s of human evolution are not incl uded
w
at
in the characters hich p hysiological heredity transmits
w w
.
The huma n orld in a ll its aspects including every race
w
,
a nd nat ion hich exercises a n infl u ence over others hich ,
excha nges thought op inions a nd kno ledge contri b utes

, ,
w
arts a nd inventions including eve r y current est imate a nd
‘
conception and eve r y revolutionary thought the customs
w
, , ,
manners a nd habits hich are in vogu e t he soc ial or ,
g a ni za t ion h i ch obtains all the conditions

, arising out o f
it the forms of government the insti tutions the beliefs
w
, , , ,
a n d abo ve all th e types a n d systems of ideas the s tandards ,
of honour and of conduct the po int of vie the no r ms
w
, ,
o f judgment the sanctions bias e s and prejudices shaped
w
, ,
in accordance ith the relations and interests attaching

to those conditions that hu ma n environment
,
supplies all the contents a nd po ers shape s all the

t e ndencies of every mind Which is born and ma tures in
‘ hich
w ,
—
it s midst t hat is the carrier of heredity in hu man
evolution 3
.
H U MAN I T Y A S O R G AN I S M
w
The ord humanit y is habitu ally rece ive d
defensive sneer as if so me qu estionable piece of hollo
-
w
w
,
rhetoric savouring of Ana cha r s is Kl oot z a nd eighteenth

”
,
centu ry a nthrO p omo rp hism ere be ing foisted upon ,
Is t here su cha t hing as humanity ? I s the I

one .
64 TH E M A K I N G OF H UMAN I TY
'
w
s imilitude of a n organism a pplied to the collect ion of
human individuals hich together make up the human
race anyt hing more th a n a convenient figu re of spe ech ?
What is humanity b eyond the sum of its comp onent l
.
individuals ?
I n regard to the a ll important fu nction of transmission
-
the conception of hu manity a s an organ i c hole is no

metaphoric abstraction no loose verbal expression but
w
w w
, ,
a sobe r a nd accurate scientific fact H umani ty a s a

.
,
hole is the onl y organism hich tra nsmits the p roducts

,
of human evolution A ma n does not derive them from

w
.
his parents ; they contribu te almost nothing in that

res p ect . Every ma n is born a ild little animal
susceptible of developing into a ho ling savage a man w
w ww
w
,
of the fifth cent ury of the fifteenth century of the
w
, ,
t entieth or of the t enty fifth I t is the va st orga nism
w
-
.
, ,
the human orld hich makes him hat he is and

, ,
det ermines to hat stage of huma n evolution he shall
Y ou ca nnot actually perceive h u manity a s a physical

or ganism ? Try t hen, to perceive individual
mere physical organ ismapa r t from huma nity
w
,
I n order .
to do so you must ima gine ou r ne bo rn baby or -

,
a dozen of t hem tran sferred at birth not to a
w
, ,
savage tribe this t ime but to a desert island a nd
w
, ,
miraculously enabled to subsist and gro up What
ww
.
ill become of the products of human evolution in

'
their case ? H o
w w ill individual mfan minus huma nit y
compare ith the lo est Au stralian A runta ? F ailing
the trans mission by hu ma nity of the p roducts of the
, ,
evolu tion of hu manity that metaphor ical abstraction

—
o u have nothing left but a very pitiable and impossible
y ,
—
physical abstraction the individual man Ou r com
'
"
w
.
—
po nent i ndividual let him be for choi ce eugenically
m
w
, , ,
bred a nd furnished ith the most superior kind of ger

plasm — ill be at the C alib an stage of human
w w
evolution .
We are ont to recognize in a loose Casual a y that w

w w
,
are indebted for certain material advantages and
w
e
w
conveniences to the huma n orld e live in to society
that e are supplied ith clothes a nd food and houses ,
,
, ,
H U MAN I TY 65
w
and policemen a nd books if e have a mind for such
,
a deb t hich it is only fair e s h

w
w
ould re p a y by some
,
little service But it is not ou r clothes or our food

.
or the roof ove r our heads that e o e to huma nity ww w , ,
w
,
it is our being itself Let that inheritance hi c h

.
humani ty has besto ed on you b e b y a ma g ic ,
stro ke cancell ed a nd instantaneously you cease to

, ,
exist you shrivel and disso lve like Ri der H aggard s

,
’
She at the lifting of the spe ll that gave her eternal

youth ; you sink and disappear into a blank dumb
'
w
,
animal N or is it ob se rve from a n y soci al u nit t he

.
,
'
, ,
State your count ry hich sends you in its bill for house
, ,
a nd po l iceman and c laims grati t ude that yo u derive

, ,
your e x istence as a p roduct of evol ution ; but from :
not hing less t han the human race To say not hi ng of the .
contributions of the remote past from prehistoric cul ture , ,
from Egypt or Greece or Rome at least as much has

, , ,
been contribu ted to ou r English life to day to every -

,
ex t ernal and internal aspect of our being by F ran ce , ,
by I taly ye s a nd by Ge rmany as by England I t is

—
w
«
.
, ,
not a question of gratitude a nd debts to be paid ,
quite d etesta b le as ell a s admir able ite ms are included

—
w
in the heritage a ny more than your birth is a
ground of gratitude to ards your parent s it is merely
a question of fa ct A man s p o er s of life are ’
w
w w
.
born ou t of the loins of human ity .
And the gro th and development of those po ers

can only proceed in relation to t hat human medium
w w
.
I f he carries the process of evolution a step fu rther ,
if he breaks a a y from the circle of ideas in hich he
w w
fi
finds himself a nd casts aside the standards of judg

,
ment hich he ha s inherited the ve r y impulse hich ,
animates him is derived from his environment and its ,
rang e and direct ion a r e themselves determ ined by t he

condit ions a nd spirit of the t ime s The reach of his
w
.
pra ctical condu ct is even more directly limited th a n that
wm
of his thought F or hat he j udges to be right in the
.
relations be t een a n a nd man cannot be given e ffect

to by himself alone he must ad a pt himself to the orld w
w
,
as he fin ds it H i s ideals a n d aspirations require for

. ,
their realiz ation the co ope ration of the hole race I t-

.
5
T H E M AK I N G OF H UMAN I TY
w
66
is impossible for one ma n to be i se in a

of fools
orld w
w
.
O ne of the floundering notions of p ie s cient ific -
historical philosophizing a s the preposterous theory that

hist ory is the biography of grea t men I t i s pre
"
m
.
1
p o s t e r ou s because gr ea t e n like all other men,
a r e ,
the products of their human environment ; and if by
w
,
virt ue of the character of that environment they are ,
e nabled t o go a litt le a y beyond it in clea r ness of sight ,
they ca n only in fl uence their age mo dify their hu man ,
env ironment ( to retain the biological phrase ) by ap p eal
w w
,
—
ing to qu alities and tendencies much more com p lex than
a ny evolution of hi ch the individu a l is capable
a r e a lready present and ripe in the medium
d u ce d them
s
ww
N o a days e are coming to realize t hat a
.
— h ich
hich pro w
much more impor tant question than Who Wa s the ‘
w w w
,
originator the inventor of that idea of t hat device ? is

, ,
H o came that idea to gr o ? What is the history of its
w
.
development ? What are the steps by hich that discove r y
w
,
that invent ion evolved ? I n t he case of the men hose -
names are ass ociated ith the most revolutionary changes

in human histor y and ideas such as Gautama Mu ha m
w
ma d Luther Columbus Copernicus N e ton Wa tt
, ,
D ar in s o long and idesp read is the mental genealogy w

,
,
,
w ,
, ,
w
,
of p recursory i deas s o thoroughly is the influen ce they

,
e x ercised in harmony ith the tendencies and ideas ripen

ing in the me ntal atmosphere and conditions of their
w
times that it is often di fficult to s a y ith certa int y
,
hich is t heir individu al contribution a nd hi ch that of

w
ww
the collective agencies of the a ge ; and that e may in
w
'
many cases doubt Whether those revolutio ns ould not ‘
have taken place in much the same Wa y and at the same

H
s u p c rm
‘ en hose co l ossal w
time had they been absent from the s tage Even those
figures
w
traditionall l o om d
.
w
y
as the very embodiment of overpo ering individualism ,
violating fate itself diverting ith their strong hand the
w w
,
co u rse of history seizing mankind by the hair and curb

,
ing the age to their o n ma s terfu l ill a C a esar a , ,
N a p o l e on ca n on a closer sc r utiny be seen to h a ve

,
I
S e e F e rr e r o Gi u lio Ce sa r e a nd A V a nd a l L a véném
’
t
, , e nt d c .
,
B ona pa r te ;
T H E MA K I N G OF H UMA N I TY
w
68
hich they had themse lves brought into being to the
w
environment of humanity Apart from that strange ne
,
w
w w
.
organism those po ers are non existent -
And yet bet een it a nd ind ivid u a l man ith his vast
‘ ‘
as pirati ons of develo p ment there is of necessity a ragi ng

conflict The human environment impo s es its exigencie s
.
w
a nd conditions u pon the activity and gro
divid u al ith a tyranny a s ruthless and as unbending as

th of the in w
any other form of environment The categorical im
w
.
p e r a t iv e of it s t erms presses up o n m a n no less inexorably

than that of any p hysical su rroundings i nd flood , , ,
cold a nd famine upon t he most gelatinous fir s t born of

, ,
-
life s broods H e may no less save at his peril ignore

’
.
, ,
them .
That conflict that imposed process of adapta tion and
w
,
adj u stment is the pe rvading task of human evolution .
I n t hat p rocess there are in fact t o evolutions the
ww
,
evolution of man a nd that of huma nity The task of
w
.
the latter is no other than the shap ing of a ne organism
w
,
of a ne form and st ructure of life I t ans ers in
w w
.
m a ny respect s to that hich in the course of organic ,
evolution life achieved hen i s ola ted protozoa dre
w
,
gradua lly together into groups into polyzoic or
w
,
g a n i s m s hen
,
di fferen t iation of fu nct ion to o k place
a mong t h e individual cells hen a multi cell ular organism
, ,
such as is man him self emerged at last from the long
w
,
equilibration But the human task is greatly more com

.
ple x I ts magnitude and d i fficu lty ove r s ha d o all othe r

.
'
problems and all other tasks H ence the paramount .
place of ethics in human life
w
.
We sha ll s e e that it is precisely throu gh man s failure ’
to perceive ith clear consciou sness the reality of that

relation a nd the natu re of that task that by far the
largest proportion of his disasters of the breakdo ns
o f his organi z ations of h is miseries and of his perp le x ities
,
,
,
w
has arisen .
C HAPTER V
CU STO MTHOUGH T
-
AN D PO WER
TH OUGHT
CU S T OM TH OU G HT
w
-
WI T H the charact e r of man s po ers of evolution the

’
inev i table cumulative ac tion of rational thought the
w w
,
inherently p rogressive direction of its path in clea r ,
vie it is the ir failure to ac hieve more lr a t he r than
w w
, ,
their success hi ch stan d s in need of e xp lanation and

,
e se em ca lled upon to look not so much for the

manner in hich progress ha s resulted as fo r the cause s
w
,
that have de layed and ob structed it And it is ind e ed

3
w w
.
, ,
the feeling of that contras t bet ee n the conceptio n

hich rational thought so clearly presents of possible
progress of
w
hat ought to be a nd huma n conditions
‘ ’
, ,
a s they ac tually are hich is the chief and deepest

,
source of scepticis m as to the real ity of progres s .
Ma n ha s e x isted in much the same state of organi c

development for fifty thousand years or more ; and
y e t during much the greater part of that t ime he
ha s remained a miserable savage During the five .
or s ix thousand yea rs that he has enjoyed some

m e asure of civiliz ed org anization all his arrangements ,
have remained to a gre at e x tent p rimitive hi s thoughts ,
have been for the mo st part delusions and he is still ‘
w
,
at the presen t day in every aspect of his existence the
w
victim of self impos e d conditions
-
hich hi s thought
herever it is even in the slightest degree rational ly
m
applied utterly conde ns and repudiates 3
i
,
w
.
,
That the e x tent of human progress and the rate at
wwhich it ha s taken place do not correspond to the

po e r hi ch rational thought places at the disposal
as
70 THE MA K I N G OF H UMA N I TY
of the r a ce is apparent from the general charact er of
that progress
occasions , w
,
We find in fact that on a fe given

. .
i
hen a conjunction of circums tan ces favour

, ,
-
w
able to the act ion of rational thought has existed a
marked and rapid development has taken place the
w www
,
’
vigour and fertility of hich astonish us hen e com

pare them to the general rate of advance 3 What e
w
'
are in the habit of regarding as the beginning of civili

z a t ion in
w
the N ear East makes its appearance ith
considerable suddenness and s iftly attains its maximum
of gro th .I n Egypt
w
ww
here e can t race continuously
,
the evolution of human culture fro m the most p rimitive
w
stages to a high pitc h of development the transition
bet een rude pre d yna sti c t ifne s and the height of N ilo tic
' ‘
‘
,
ww
occupied more than a very fe centuries I n B abylonia
w w
civi li z ation in the I Vth and Vth dynasties cannot have
ww
, ,
here e first meet ith a fully developed civiliz ation

and have found no primitive stages at all e assume ,
that the first steps in culture have taken place else here ,
and that its elements have been transplanted e i the r fr om ’
I r a n or more probably from the immediate neighbour

, , ,
hood ih the valleys of Elam But even on that supposi .
tion the development has been a rapid a sudden one
w
.
,
The first A ryan civiliz ation of I ndia presents much the

s am e feature W hen e come to the outburst of H ellenic
w ww
.
culture the rapidity of the gigantic development is one

hich has never ceased to excite onder The I sl a mi c
w
.
A rabs developed in the course of a fe years a culture

w
w
hich has influenced all the subsequent development s
of Europe and hich even hen e allo for the ww w w
cultural irnp u ls e hich it inherite d from
w w
, ,
1 Persia a s ,
marvellous in the rapidity of its gro th O ur o n .
modern civiliz ation ha s r isen out of darkest barb a r ism

in the course of three or four centuries
w
.
The rate of advance o f human progress is not uniform
w w
.
h i s a succession of phases of rapid gro t h and e x p a n

sion hich gradually die do n and cease That is a .
familiar feature I t furnishes the theme of most current

.
theorie s a nd civilization is said to p ro ceed by cycles
w
.
,
W e shall s e e tha t there is a definite reason for both

r
the rapid gro t h a nd the a rrest Wheneve r there .

C US T O MT HOU G H T
-
71
w w w
is a rapid development of culture there are special
conditions hich favour a ne activity and freedom
of action of thought henever there is a slo ing do n
,
ww
a nd an arrest t here are causes that tend to put an
'
e n d to a n d ch e ck the activit y :
wI f then rational thought has not achi eved more it

, ,
is not o ing to any intrinsic defe ct in the method of

its action but beca use its po er has only been exercised w
,
w w
,
in a very li mited measure Ma n did not suddenly

www w
.
appear in the orld a s the possessor of a ne tali s manic

po er ith hi ch he forth i th pro ceeded to conquer '
it ; he has onl y very graduall y learned to use his po er

w w
a nd
him . w
to recogniz e the might hich it conferred upon
H is gro th and progress have proceeded not
in re l ation to the formidable possibilities of the in s t ru
,
ment at his disposal but in relation to the progress of
ww
,
his gradual apprenticeship in its use .
Aocu s tome d though are to thinking e volu
w
e no
tiona ll y the t a i nt of the ancient notion of sudden fu ll

, ,
gro n creation still deeply discolours our conceptions

of human origins We ask When did ma n firs t appe ar
.
,
‘
on the earth ?
. as if the creature ma n ever did thus
suddenly appear S o far as pre s ent evidence points
.
’
the stock dest ined to develop into the human race must
have become separated from all even the more closely ,
related animal stocks so far bac k a s the Miocene period

,
’
.
I f you insi s t upo n trying to attach some definite measure

of time to such a stat ement you may say something
w
,
w
like tvvo millions of years ago But that does not
w w
.
mean that our progenitors of t o mi ll ion or even of
w w
, .
on e m il hon years a go ere hat e s ho u ld ca ll men '
w
.
,
Their chief characteri stic a s a brain some hat large r
w
.
t han is to be met ith in any non human animal a nd"
w
-
,
some hat s mall er than that of a n y e xi sting man T he .

‘
ans er to the question When did the p ro to huma n -

'
w
,
stock become huma n ? is a purely arbitrary one The
w
. .
brain increased in siz e but at hat point preci s ely that

,
gradual in crease a s such as to justify t he name ma n ’
s o tha t o ne m
,
.
i ght s a y H e re the brute ends a nd ma n

begins is no t at all a ma tter of objective fact b u t
,
’
one of arbitraryvalues And as in a ll organic e volu

, ,
MA K I N G
w
TH E OF H U MAN I T Y
re many
w
‘
tion there e trials and errors many
w
, ,
ine ffe ctual evolutions leading no here The N eanderthal .
—
race of Europe fo r example large enough brained ell ,
,
skilled in flint knapp ing and harbouring some spe e n -
lative theological notions though still horribly ape like
w
-
,
in form is generally thought to be such a cul de sac

— L - -
of human develop m e nt hich ended in complete e xt inc
w w ww
tion Even the crudest human brain took hundreds of
.
thousands of years to g ro ith little to sho in the w

w
,
a y o f out a rd effects of creat e d hum an e nviron

‘
ments ; tena tiv e ly hal tingly slo ly painfully mostl y
A w
, , , ,
ine ffe ctu a l bi
w w
.
s ith the biological aspect of man so it has been
w
,
ith his dist inguishing po er No human faculty ‘ ’
m w
.
suddenly came into the or ld no flashing incarnation
w
,
of reason
‘
Proto a n a s at the pinnacle of organic
’ ‘
w
-
.
evolution its most successful typ e not because he a s

, ,
possessed of a fa cu lt y b f re a son but be cause he a s

’
’
just a little but onl y a very little more mte llige nt

, ,
than other animals B y virt ue of that infinitesimal
w
.
margin of rationality in his dim mental p rocesses his

further evolution a s secured and acco p lished
"
But m
w
.
_
again that must not be understood to mean that primitiv e

man a s rationa l thought t o fa ny e x t ent at a ll r ationally
O nly in an extremely limited sphere , only no a nd
‘
again only once perhaps m a g enerat ion did a rational

,
, _
,
w .
quality i n his thought actuall y manifest itself and

e ffectually pierce t hrough to some little achievement
w
,
thenceforth to be a permanent inheritance of the race
w
,
a step in h uman progress What progress a s achieved
w
. 1
,
a s achieved thus but i b a t only ha p p e ned very sel dom
Generall y speaking i n all but a fe e x ceptional circum

ww w
.
,
.
,
stances and in a fe rare i ndividuals tho u ght a s not

, ,
by any means rational a s not guided by rationality ,
a t all .
c
A sk p rimitive man as you still may in the hinter
w
,
lands of Australia in the jungle of C e ylon in the J

, ,
“
N ilgi r r i H ills of Southern I nd ia f hy he sets about doing

such a nd such a thing eat catch fi sh make butter
w
, , , ,
in just that uncouth fa s hionf a mid all sorts of fr it te ri ng s

"
of energy of irre le vant procedures he i ll invariably
,
.
C U ST OM T H OU G H T
w
73
w
-
ans er I t is do ne thus he ill give you to under
w
,
stand that no other procedure ca n occur to a man
ww
save that hich is the custom the strange sugges tion
of any othe r a y ould not onl y stri ke hi m as exce n t ric
to you the suggestion that you should alk do n
‘
w w ,
w
a s
Piccadi lly in a p o nchofb u t po sitively d e p r a v e d fa s some

L
w
thing horri bly unavo able unnat ural revolting
And in that ans er he has told you one of the
, ,
.
w
inmost secrets of all human his tory of the evolution
of the human mind I t s lesson is t ofold Early ma n
a s
.
onl y infini te s ima lly rational '

All visions of the
a
.
w ,
primitive hunter sitt in g at the mouth of his cave after

the day s chase at the coming ou t of the stars and
’
Q
, ,
meditating on the Great uestions all notions of the

free and noble sav a ge perpetrating Social Pact s "
a ll ass u mp t ions of delibe ration conscious exercise and
w
,
application of thought in primitive man are the most ,
fantastic anachronic fancies E ven to day not a fe

.
-
eminent a nt hr Op ol ogi s ts misled no doubt by the tangle d
w
,
accumulation of successive strata in the palimpsest of

,
w
custom are disposed to credit primitive man ith a
comple x mentality ith processes of ratiocination hich
,
are I venture to believe extravagant anachronisms

w
w
.
, ,
D uring by far the longest period of m a n s development ’
the question Ho ? or Why? simp l y did not

enter his head H is procedure in life sought no assist
w
.
ance or sanction from any conscious rationality Of .
course no and again in speci al crises by the dim
w
, ,
horse se nse of the mob or the particul a r cereb ration

-
w w
,
of some old ise head human action did get rough
w
-
,
he n in some vaguely rational a y and even custom ,
w
a s transgres sed a nd transcended ; else there could
have been no change no progress , But that action .
of rational thought a s in the highest measure e x ce p

t iona l. P rimitive ma n does not think at all unless
driven by di res t need he does not think a step beyond
the actual a nd immediate n e ces sities of the case No .
spark of thought ever issues from his reluctant brain
w
unl ess under the insistent hammer strokes of urgent
w
-
reali ties
m
.
And in the s eco nd

p lace e learn t hat hat , f ro
M AK I N G O F H UMAN I TY
w
74 TH E .
w
the very beginning stood in the a y of the develop m
of rational thought a s no intrinsic impotence nor con
ent
w w
,
fronting complexity of its task but a monstrous obstacle

hich i ts o n rudimentary perce ption had s e t up F rom
w w
,
. .
the very fi r st man s t e mfne d the gro th of hi s o n

thought by absolute surrender to established custom .
The direst despotism ever imposed upon the human Imind ‘
by the dogmatis m of a D ominican I nquisition is mild
w
, ,
a n d lax compared to the unrelenting grip of that tyranny
w
to hich throughout its early development the human
race a s bond
born s laves “
,
.
I n the state of nature all men are
.
N o procedure in human life no a ct no

,
, ,
juxtaposition of ideas in man s mind had any othe r '
sanction a ny other motive or mental basis than the

, ,
uncha llenged authority of precedent The bare possi
w w
.
b ility of departure from it did net as a rule occur at , ,
all ; but if it did it a s an unavo able thought in

, , ,
spiring a shudder of horror as somethin g unspeakably
w
,
indecent a s in against nature

We are of course familiar ith the incubus of custom
.
,
.
, ,
a n d herd thought amongst ourselves

-
B u t salient as .
,
the t rait still is in ou r psy chology it is only dimly
w
,
representative o f the bondage o the savage mind O ur

f 3 .
'
conformity has generally speaking gro n more
w
, ,
conscious a n d motived ou r assent to custom more
w
,
voluntary ; e submit to it in things that matter

little e submit to it through a conscious desire not
w ww
,
to be strange a n d conspicuous not to give offence
w
, ,
or from a n intentional ish to hunt ith the pack .
With primitive ma n the bondage a s absolute it a s

an unconscious r eaction an innate ine r tia a total absence
, ,
.
of initiative I t did not govern thought but stood as
w
.
,
?
a substitute in its stead I n the b e ginning all thought
a s a revolt and a sacrilege .
I n trying to e xp ress in our mod e rn l a ngu a ge that
ww
tyrannous autho rity of custom in p rimitive psychology
the ord sacred naturally occurs to us ;
that custom a s sa cred
‘
‘
e
And that of course s uggests

’
sa y w ,
w
.
the idea of reli gion A s a matte r o f fact the imitative

.
,
ness of primitive man has just as much to do i th

reli gi on a s the im itat ive ness of a m onke y p layin g tric ks ,
M A K I N G OF H UMA N I TY
w
76 TH E
above that herd equality nor a s t here any inducement

-
'
w
; .
to do so We a re in the habit of assuming that human
w
.
society has al ays been organized in all essential ,
respects in very much the same manner as it is no
ww
.
,
That is pure illusion The present order and all thos e

fea tures hich e regard as fundamental of it are
w
.
l ~
comparatively recent Primiti v e society a s constitut e d ‘
w
.
o n an altogether di fferent basis We S peak of the .
family as the foundation of society e imagine vaguely
the first human associations a s form e d by the for

gatherin g of family groups of fathers mothers a nd ,
chil d ren such as those still customary among arboreal

,
apes . A ll that is erroneous neologistic fancy Ma n .
kind did not begin or propagate in families but like
w
, ,
all hunting animals in herds or packs Ma n like his
ww
.
, ,
nearer congeners a s o riginally a vegetarian The

,
.
hunting and ea ting of animals a s probably o ne of

the first fruits of his intelligence and it a s the source
w
,
of his social organi z ation H e could not advantageously
w ww
.
u s e his superior cunning ithout assistance he co u ld

not for all his ne fangled stone eapons and cleverly
w
-
,
contrived pitfall s conveniently t a ck le a oolly rhinoceros

'
w
.
,
or a bison or a ild ass single handed And if he did
w w
-
.
succeed in killi ng such game it a s not likely that ,
the hungry humanity about him ould allo him to

e a t it by himself
,
w w
More over he could not count on
w
continuous luck ; it a s his ob v ious interest to share
.
,
inst inct or
w
and b e allo ed to partake ith others
her d a s a nece ssary conse quence not of any social
gregariousness
The human
and desire fo r com

‘ ’
,
. .
w w
,
p a n ions hip but of the hard fac

,
t s of food quest The -
.
human society of the bison men and ild a s s men a s — - -
one of food groups strictly determined by the available
w
quarry o r tot e m and the means of procuring it
The animal ho supplied man ith this ne delight
ful and invigorating food a s like ise his first god
,
w w
w w ww
.
The pleasant a n d beneficial effects of the ne diet ere

ascribed by man to the assimilation not of the animal s ’
w
,
proteids but of his strength his life his spirit

,
F or , , .
the lord of creation

‘
a s totally unconscious o f his
soverei gnt y a nd thou ght on the contra ry that th

, e huge , , ,
w
C U ST O M T H OU G H T
w w w
-
77
than a poor lanky eak naked semi monkey like him w

sno rting robust s ift ild anim a l a s a (far finer fello
, ,
ww
-
, , , ,
se lf And quite rightly too The na nv e denizen of
w
. .
the ild a s in every obvious respect fa r better adapted

to his surroundings than the arboreal animal ho had
left the jungle to hunt him Primitive ma n believed
w w
.
in evolution from se lf conceit ; he W i s h ed to be lieve -
th a t he a s descende d fr orm n i he bison or the ass

strength and ag ility b e admire d a nd he a s ambitious
ho s e
w w
w w
,
to be like him The countless pict ures of animals hi ch

.
'
e meet ith in pal a eolithic caves are not sporting

ictures but religious pic ures Eat i g the god i
"
w
t n n
w
p ,
j .
common in order to b e li ke him to partake of h is l
ww
,
spirit a s the first religious rite a nd it a s the con secr a

, ,
tion of the tribal bond S acrifice a s not origi nally .
o ffered to the god but the god himself a s sacrificed
w
,
a nd gave his life to his people The first origin of .
reli gi on a s not animistic but gastronomic ?

Anirnis m
w
,
belongs to a more advanced stage of development .
Primitive ma n e a re told by some anthropologists is
w
, , ,
like the chi ld spontaneo usly animistic as cribes to all

, ,
e xt e rnal objects a like personality to his o n That .
may be s o but that spontaneous animism d oes not come

,
into play unl ess cal led forth by circumstances And .
primit ive ma n does not think at all beyond the immediate
w
suggestion of the matt er in hand does not go out of
his a y to spin theories a nd fai r y tales H is first
,
w
w w w
.
interest is in his food And the first thing hich he .
regards ith interest ith love ith reverence all those —
w
, ,
p sychological distinctions merge into one vague senti

—
ment in rudimentary mentality the first sacred thing
w
in short is his food , the anima l hich he eats as late r
,
‘
w
,
it ill be the corn the brea d he lives by and also his , ,
eapon his axe

, Later the idea of sanctity attached
.
to the totem anima l leads ma n to abstain from killing

—
it or eating t ex cept ceremoniously on special occa
i
ww
sions but the ceremonial eati ng the commun ion se r vice
al ays survives to ma r k the original meaning I t is
,
w
,
w
.
only hen he came to r e a hz e that he a s really supe rior

to the animals hen he had t a med a nd domesticated
them that a ny anim
,
, istic ideas entered into his head ,

78 T H E M A K I N G OF H UMA N I TY
w
that he be came anthrop omorphic a nd began to make ,
w
gods in his o n image .
F or some reason that has not yet been satisfactoril y

e xplained — hether to avoid perpetual conflicts or from
the fascination o f the strange oman the custom — w ,
‘
obtained in the totemic tribe of marrying out of it
w
The tribe the food group that fe d to ge the r a s th w .
w
,
-
e ,
family its females ere sisters a nd tabu its membe r s

, ,
ere brothers and one flesh t he flesh of the totem ,

.
H ence the absolute equality hence the closeness a nd
ww w
,
sacredness of the bond of custom tho u ght that sacred -
ness linked ith the vital interests of food a nd

'
ww
a s
existence hi ch hung on the obse r vance of tabus and

t
conformity of a ction Life a s a series o f Obse r vances
.
,
like our supers titions mot to alk un d er a ladder

‘
—
w
,
to s it t hirteen at table to raise one s ha t ’
w w
no t
to a magpie or to the ne m
,
oon not to cut short
w
,
bread ith a knife e tc S uch a s t he mode of operation
w
.
, .
of the mind of p rimitive m an the iron circle in hich,
he moved And it is against the crushing eight of

w
.
custom irrationalism that the primitive evolution of
ww
.
humanity ha s taken place 3 C a n it be ondered that

.
it a s slo a nd prolonged ?
w
P OWER TH OU G HT
-
C ustom - thought ho ever been the only

ha s not ,
by a ny means the chief obstacle to the dev e lop m
, ,
ent of
rational thought
w
.
The most gigantic revolution in human history

revolution s urpa s s ing in m
,
a a gnitud e \the ild e st

P O W ER T H OU G H T -
79
delirium of reconstructive imagination took place so me
ww
s ix thousand years ago hen in some parts of the orldw w w ,
hat e call the civiliz ed state a s established

immemorial o rder under hic h mankind had e x iste d for w
w
The .
hundre ds of mill enniu ms a s completely broken up and

transformed from its foundation The tribe w
w
a s .
supplanted as a social unit by t he p rivate fami ly
w
,
communism by p rivate o nership a nd p rivate herit a ge ,
herd equality by class a n d individual po e r
w w
-
.
I t is out of that revolution and out o f the di fferentia
w
tion of po ers a nd int erests hich it brought a b ou t '
,l
tha t a ne obs tacle to ratio nal thought arose even
w
'
ww
more formid able than customthought
Po er ield ed b y ma n over his fello men constitutes
a means of control ove ri life beyond all comparison
-
,
.
more potent than all the forces at the disposal of

individu al ma n and all the instruments he ca n devise .
w
T o ha ve your dinner br ought to you is hugely more
.
sati sfactory than to go ou t on to the moors and catch

it
.
.
U seful as are flint ax es bone need les eapons , ,
a n d tools hand and brain to get other peo ple to use
w
, ,
them: for you is a n enormous i mp rovement on using

the myourself N ot tools and eapo ns b u t men them
ww w
’
.
,
selves become the instruments of the holde r of po er
w
.
With that discovery i th the po ssi b ili ty of its practi cal

w w
,
w
a p plication a gi gantic ne force a nd ne factor over
m
, ,
sh a do all othe s introduced in the evolution of
w
g r a s ,
humanit y I a ld a b o th the god of po er entere d the
w
.
, ,
o rl d and t ook p o s s e s s 1 on o f it The e fli cie ncy a nd
ww
.
advantages of human instruments of po er over too ls

a nd eapons are so enormous that the supreme con
w
,
sideration hich takes pre cedence over a ll others is to ,
maintain and increase t hat invalua b le po er that ,
au thority ; to use not the o rigi nal e nd o e nt s a nd

instruments of victory of the creature ma n not rational
w
thought not the control hich is by virt ue o f its adaptive
,
po er to facts exe rci sed over the orld ma n lives in

w w
,
w w w ww
'
b u t to use me n .
1
can that be effecte d ho " is po er ie lded
w
Ho ,
ov er me n ho ca n
, the y be used as inst r uments ?
.
'
I nnum erab le a re th e forms a nd de r ee s of s uc h po e r ;

‘
g
80 T H E MA K I N G OF HU MAN I TY
wthe natural commanding supe riority of t he leader his

isdom his valour kno ledge ra nk of birth the w ,
ww w
, , , ,
physical force o f the race of conquerors divine authority

' ‘
w
, ,
w
po er i th the gods property ealth the cons tituted
w
, , ,
w
authority of the social order the delegat e d po er of ,
o ffi ce But hatsoever that fo rm; that fact of po er
w
.
,
an idea an order of ideas on hi ch it re s ts a nd by

,
hich it is justified lies a t its foundation Est a blished

,
.
authority over men is like every other pr oduct of human
w
,
evolution the embod ied manifestation of tho ught “

,
A ne mechanism is hence introd uced in the operation

o f the human mind I n the p rimitive he rd if thought
.
,
is unconceivably sluggish if it is an utter slave t o custom , ,
it is uniform and single eyed There is no conflict or
w
-
. .
di s crepancy in its motives I ts uniformity ma y b e the .

,
uniformity of apa thy but hen it is by circumstances ,
stimulated to action its motive the interest at play is , ,
th e same for every member of the herd I ndividual
w w
.
interest and herd interest are identic al I t is my interes t

-
w
.
tha t e should secure a good bag of game in hich

e shall all share But as soon as p rimitive equa lity
.
w ,
w
is broken u p a n d di fferentiatio n of po e r takes place ,
th comes abo ut a corresponding d i fferentiation of
w
e re
interests The interests of the po e r holde rs are no

.
-
longer identical ith those of the herd A nd accordingly .
a corresponding divergence arises in the motivation in ,
the object and function of thought .
The utilitarian function of thought is to enlighten
wman as corre ctly as po ssible as to his situation and his
w
‘
ays a nd means I t must in order to discharge that
w
.
,
function d e s ir e to achieve correspo ndence ith facts

' ‘
w
.
, ,
desire to judge and discover hat relation actually do e s

ob tain bet een him and his environment T hat is . .
rational thought that is its pu rpose a nd function But :
w
, .
fro m the moment that di fferentiation of interest s a nd

po ers is introduced that function is radically
w w
disturbed I t is not the facts of the environment hich
t ar e no
.
man s eapons and tools

’
hich have to b e
,
'
w w
w w
,
d iscover e d and used but men men s minds N ot to

, ,
’
.
harmonize and correspo nd ith facts as they are is no

the ob j ect Of thou ght but to ha rmoni z e a nd correspond
.
,
P O W ER T H OU G H T
w w
81
w
-
ith the o rde n of idis a s on hich po e r a nd au tho rity

‘
rest That fundamental ord er of ideas be comes the m

. eces
sary postulate of all thought H enceforth the criterion of
w
.
,
every mental p rocess is not its intrinsic validity but
w
.
its relation to that idea , to that situation o f po er and

authority That is the sole touchstone by hich eve ry
. ,
judgment every value every thou ght is t e sted

, ,
A ll .
t ha t tends to undermine it is false bad ; all that ,
t ends to consolidate and confirm it is true good The , .
motive the criterion o f thought is change d in its fou nd a '
w
,
tion its function is d iverted and transformed I ts

a ima n d p urpose is n o
.
,
not to fulfil its original cog

niti v e function but to frustra te it Though t su ffers
w
.
,
from a functional disease I t is no longer, rational .
thought it is po er thought
w
-
.
,
There is of course in every man that contaminatio n
w
, ,
of thought by irrelevant emotion and fatherin g ish that ‘
personal equation hich insidiously deflects a nd V itiates

judgment But those ido ls of the cave are c ompara
w
.
ti v e ly unimportant U nimpo rtant and negligible beside

.
the formidabl e force hich has defo r med and distorted
ment .
values has bee n shaped and moulded by it

w
hu man thought throughout the course of its develop
The entire orl d of human ideas language , ,
w
.
,
That tragic infirmity is no congenital disea se of the

mind no constitut ional eakness ; it is an artifact a
, ,
manufactured p ro duct of the huma n order of human ,
so ciety like its inst itution s armies thrones and temples
w
, , ,
.
I t is li ke those a product ari sing out of the cr ys t a lliza

tion of po er and intere st around domi nant s e ct ions of
the soci a l organism .
T he disease is a b so lutely inevitable and incurable
w
.
N o amount of good intentions can save the holder of

w
any form of po er from its fatal ravag es
a ques ti on of ickedness o r unscrupulousness it is a
I t is not .
w
w
,
ques tion of rigid ps ychological mechanics The po er .
holder ca n no mo re divest himself of po e r thoug ht -
than the rich ma n can enter the kin gdom of heaven

Th w
ques tion in hat measure the falsific a tion is
.
w
e
de li be rate a nd conscious tho u gh intere sting is not ,
An e normous a m
,
es sential o unt of fa lsifi e d o er

p .
.
6
82 TH E MA K I N G OF HUMAN I TY
w
thought by far the larg est proportion is sincere s u b con
,
scious ell intentioned self deception an hypertrophied

personal equation
,
-
But e are too p rone I think ww -

,
,
,
a y—euphemism
.
, ,
in ou r tole rant eu p hemi stic and
w
,
historical tolerance are themselves forms of self defensive
w
-
po e r thought in a ge s of criticism to minimi z e in that
w
- -
p roces s the part o f deliberate fraud W h erever e .
have acces s to detailed historical eviden ce e co me

u po n delibe rate
little of the
fraud
ob s erving the p rocess in our o n midst
And opportunity abounds of
s u b conscious
There is very
fo r instance in the
-
.
w ’
.
directions of a Prussian govern ment to its university

, ,
w
professors or of a F leet S treet editor to hi s leader
vested interes ts
,
,
riter or in all the ed ucatio n of public opinio n by

There is from the itc h doctor and
‘
ww ’
w
-
w
.
,
the Pompeian priest s speaking t rumpet do n to ou r ’
w
"
w
,
o n da y a vast amount of intellectual fraud hich

‘
holl y e mp he mize d a ay
w
is not t o be The old '
w
‘
imposture theo ry has perhaps been unduly dis
‘
cr e dit e d B ut it is in general imp ossible to dr a any

.
, ,
sharp line o f demarcation bet een conscious and

u ncon s cm u s f a lsification o f thought I mp osture may
mean no m
w
.
ore than that ingenious opi nions have a

tendency to fl o i n t he channel ofd nte r es t l T he p riestly
'
w
,
class is favourab l y inclined to myt h ology in the same ,
a y as kings are usually roya lists and stock jo b bers '

-
w
'
are not Eommonly social reformers

,
D aily We may .
eve ry here about us I a lda b othu enga ged in his

‘
see ,
Procrustean ta sk ; facts argume nts val uations are , ,
a djusted lo p ped o r stretched suppr essed or sugges ted

, ,
on the iron bed o f his interests O lder and immemorial .
fa ls i fica t ions have arisen in much the same manner

imm
w w
,
and have long become utable principles ’
w
,
truths ideals for hi ch me n are illing to la y

‘ ’ ‘ ’
w
e
, ,
do n their lives .
Po er thought is fully justified to itse lf is a duty
w
-
, ,
a virtue The sanctity of sound principles the prin
w
.
,
c i le s upon hich the e x isti ng order rests is manifest
w
p
ww
, .
w
It ould b e clearly culpa ble to abe t dangerous
tendencies of t hought to d ell on facts hich mi ght
im p re s s m
,
is lea di n gly hic h pe op le in their eakn es s , ,

w
84 TH E MA K I N G OF HUMAN I TY
w
evolved hic h e x tend their influence not only here
w w w
the original interests are involved b u t over multitudes ,
w
hose mental gr o t h has taken pl ace i thi n that
w w
environment
There is on e quarter at least here po er —
w
.
th o ught
w w
is a l ays and absolutely sincere ith tho se name ly on
ww w
hom the po er is e xe rcised I t is of course chiefl y in
vie o f the m that po er thought ope ra tes ; al though
.
,
, ,
w
-
.
th er holder him elf desire and requires h
w
e p o - s s t e
c ountenance o f p o er thought :I t s rimary o b je t is

m
w
p
-
c .
to influence the inds of t hose ho are us e d as the

ins tru ments of po e r they must be made to s e e
"
w
,
the advantages the justness the reaso nabl e ness the
w
, , ,
necessity of the arrangements by virtue of hich
w w ,
“
authority is held the harmony of the m i th the order
w w
of the universe the falsity the ick e dness of any vie
,
out of harmony i th that au tho rity An d po e r thought

'
,
ww
-
.
is brilliant l y justified b y the s incerity the conviction
w
, ,
the enthusiasm ith hich it i s acce p ted and honoured

:
ww
,
b y the servants of po er by the d evotion a nd loyalty ,

‘
w w
,
ith hich they a re prepared to d ie in its defen ce .
So complete is the success t hat even the very o p ponents

and criti cs of po er thought hen such arise are
-
, ,
th e mselves s o stee p ed in it that it is quit e i mp ossible
w w
for them to shake thems elve s free of it s in fl uence ; the
ww
‘
hole formation of their mind is found to b e the
w
product of po er thought a nd the very e apons Which
-
they ould d irect agai nst the holders of po er recoil

,
w
upo n themselves .
The sphere of po e r thought is the choir of heaven

-
w
and fu rniture of the e a rth the entire edifice o f human ’
w
,
thought kno ledge and valuation ‘
The holders of .
po er have been the civilizers of mankind its teac hers

, ,
, ,
its educators ; its conceptions language ideas are in
w ww
, , ,
an enormous measure their creation F rom our mothers .

’
lips e have learned po e r thought and our youth -

" “
has been thrill ed ith its echoes fro m the mouths of

,
‘
THE C ONF L I C T 85
I II
TH E CO N F L I CT
w
The evo lution of rati o nal th ought then has not be en a
w
process of g rad ual gr o th a nd unfolding o f its po e r of
deal ing it h the natural problem s of i ts task b ut a
,
'
,
w
w w
'
contest against non rational thought aga in st the a ccu mu

-
,
l a ted force of custom thought a nd po er thought

-
w
-
.
The na tural d ifficulties of ra tional thoug ht ere in

t hems elve s su ffi ciently great The instrument hich had
.
evolved fro m s ifch humbl e beginnin gs as i n elabora
w
,
tion o f the organs of sen s e as a tactica l method of
w
,
fencing i th the simple rna t e r ia l contin gen c i es of

‘
animal existence became confronted i th p roblems of
w
,
far other compl exity a nd vas tness p r ob lems seeming ly
ww
,
pe rtaining to another order I t a s ca lled upo n to dea l

.
ith the p roblems of life not the mor e organi c life
w w
,
of the i ld , but life trans muted by virtue of that very

vision hic h looked before and a ft e r darted beyond
w
“
w
,
the here and no

’ ‘
to in finity and eternity brought
w
,
tears a nd laughter into the o r ld tinging it ith the '
hues of ne emotions ; life expa nded out of all recog
w w
nition,
w ravell ed b e yond all cal culation by a : thousand

relations Problems that gr e ever more complex
w w
ne
w
.
,
roblem adj s ments and ord nations of

'
p s o f n e u t cc i -
,
a ne po ly z oic organism hi ch out of m an a s be in g ‘
w
,
fashioned into huma ni ty prob l ems imp lica ting in their

’
,
i d e ning circle ever fu rther problems po siting at last as

'
a po stulate to their inte rpretation li fe t he universe their

.
, , ,
nature a nd meaning
w w w
.
W a s that poo r p edestrian quality of thought at a ll

,
competent to deal ith that ne am azing orld? it had '
w w
,
ca lle d up ? S trictly spe aking yes The sit u ation does

, .
'
not e xist in hich rational thought is not possible ;

not by omnipotently ans e ring all ques tions but by
w ww
,
severely assessing the legi timacy and vali dity of its
w
—
ans er e ven though that ans er b e as in man y ca ses
w
,
it needs mu st be ,
I do not kno
‘
and resolutely -
repudiating the validity of all othe r ans e r s I n t hat .
sense is a ratio nal ans er possi b l e to every ra tiona l

86 TH E MA K I N G OF H UMA N I TY
question ; the estima te o f the orde r of ce rtainty
w
,
probabilit y greater o r less consistency of the hypothesis

,
ith larger or smaller arrays of ascertained facts be ing ’
a [p art integr a l of every rational j u d gtme nt
ww w
And the ' '
.
’
method of reaso n having evolved and a p proved itself
w
'
by unbroken correspondence it h relations not ith ,
entities ap p lies ith equal v a lid ity hatsoe ver the sp he re

,
.
o f its action .
w
;To suc h j u dicial rectitude of p u rp o se the original
'
rudimentary rationality of man cou ld of course only , ,
attain through a long and la borious evolution

‘
‘
There '
ne ed ed the s lo garnering o f empirical data age long ,
exp erience the gradua l p er fecting of me thod s t he c ostly

,
“
,
w
unm asking o f countless p itfal ls b e s e tt ingt the pa th of
‘
thought a n d foredoomi ng it to fall acies only to b e
w
, I
refin ed a ay b y suc cess ive lustr a l Waves of critica l

discipline To cope at all e ffectual ly i th the complex
w w
. .
t a s k im
w
upon it thought has had to battle
'
d
‘
p o
"
s e ,
against formidab le difficul ties to restle griml y i t h
w
,
its o n intractab ilit ie s to gain stren gth a nd confid e nd e ,

‘
by a pr olonged process of gr o t h .
But in human evolution the essential feature that

'
w
ac t ually presents itself to us is not that proces s of
gro th I t is not t hat b a ttle of ra tional thought
. i th; w
w ww
the natura l di fficulties of its task S e l dom indee d has ’
'
w
‘
. .
such good fortune befallen man as to be pe rmitt e d to '
age that straightfor a rd fight ; henever it has been

granted him he has acquitted hims elf ith singu lar
,
“
ease and the issue has b een for him a triump hant
,
‘
victory H uman evolution has i nd e éf been a long
w
.
and arduous battle but against quite other forces It

, .
is against o b stacles hich it has itself erected that

'
the mind of man has be en fated to Wa r and struggle ‘
N ot the d i fli cu ltie s of the p r ob lems set before it no t

'
‘
the in firmi tie s of reason have resist ed and crip pl e d its

action [b ut ma n made artificial obs t acles deformities
,
-
, ,
forcibly traumatically in flicted upon it in a constant
w
,
and d ete rmi ned effort to p aralyse it I n; the co nflict .
hich constitutes the evolution of humanity the

’
w
, ,
antagonist o f ra”tiona l t hou ght ha s b een thought falsifie d

‘ e
by custom a n d by the i nter ests of po er .

TH E C ONF L I C T 87
wThat conflict is the theme of history F r om the =
w
.
da n of civilization to this d a y under innumerable ,
aspe cts and names and in every field the avering , , ,
age long b attle ha s ra ge d Politics a n d rel gi on indu st ry

'
i
'
‘
-
a nd comm
.
,
erce sci ence art philosophy hte r a tu r e life
w
, , , , , ,
love have bee n convu ls ed in the thro e s and vi cissitude s
w
,
of the ceasele ss contest A g a i nst the sole po er and .
means hic h ma n possesses of gaugi ng hi s pos ition ,
of directi ng his action have b en arrayed all the ideas

“
,
e
,
all the conceptions all the traditional judgments a n d
wm w
,
valuations shaped b y the desire a nd interests of those
w
,
to ho those int e re st s a nd desires not the la s that ,
consti tute its validity and e fficiency e re the tests of

'
w
,
ww
thought
w
.
I t i s not bet een E rror a n d Trut h that the secula r

contest is aged — hat is Trut h? Who s o imbued i th
w w
error a s to dee m himself p ure therefrom ? I t is not
w
those figme n ta lly abstracted enti ties hic h throu g h the
w ww
ages face one another in the orld of min d ; b u t t o
ethi cs o f the mind t o methods of conduct t o ays
w
, ,
of p utting to human use man s instrument of tho u ght ’
—the one concern e d

w ith the dis charge of i ts fu nction
the other ith tu rning its edge a nd deflecting it from
that function in o rd er to place it in the servic e of
,
,
'
‘
,
another purpose
w
.
Ma n has had much to learn but he has had even '
more to unlearn I t is not so mu ch i th the riddles
w w
.
po sited by the Sphinx of life that t hought ha s had to ,
deal as ith ans ers a nd s olutions al ready; establis he d

,
in possession and strenuously proclaimi ng their v a lid ity .
H ence the function of rati onal thought h a s b een c ritical

‘
rather than constructive Man s chief task has not .

’
been to build b ut to destroy But such have
w
, .
been the conditions of hu man e vo lution tha t to tear
ww
do n is to discover to de s troy is t o libe rate H uman
thought has sho n itself comp etent enough t o fulfi l
its funct ion he ne v e r it has be en s e t free
,
F re e dom .
.
is not as it has become t he fashi on to cons ider

, ,
a n emp ty S hibbol eth but the condition of human ,
develo p ment .
CH APT E R VI
TH E B R E AK I NG THOUGH T
OF CUS T OM -
AND P O WER THOUGHT -
”
ww
MAT E R I AL
ww
www
P R OG R E SS
IN t ays and s o far as I kno in t o ays only
w
o , , .
, ,
ha s any process ever b e en initiated by hich the alls

and fett e rs of custo m
a nd po e r thought have come to
'
-
b e broken : by the materi a l produ cts of discovery a nd

invention and b y the cross fert iliz a tion of cu ltures
“
w
-
w
.
,
I nventions 2 1 nd discoveries are the one form of attack
before hich the yielding of conservative forces is s ift

and their struggle feeble We kno ho modern science
.
has been throu ghout it s ca reer p e r s ist e htly cried do n

ww _
w
,
first as unclean magic and black art later a s impiet y ,
and pride of intel lect at best d e sp 1 s e d as vain irrelevant

,
'
specu lation N othing is more certain than that natural
w
.
scienc e ha d its function be en confined to inq uiry and

,
ww
interpretation to increase of kno led ge to perfecting
, ,
man 5 means of thou ght and u nd e r s ta rid ing

'
w
in this unive r se ould never have su rvi v e d the op position
,
hich confronted it I t a s saved from the first by its
w
. .
utilitarian bearing and ma t e rial fruits The develo p .
ment of mathematics and astronomy hich at first s u b ‘ '

’
,
s erved the uses of agriculture r endered com m ercial and
w Experim
,
imperia list ic expansion possib le ental science
w
.
i n the form of al hemy s u n1 ve r s a l ly tho ht to hold
w w w
a ug
c
ou t the promi se of no less ealth The ult imate triumph
w w
.
o f science a s achieved hen its po ers revolu tionized
w w
the material a n d economi c orld and created every here "
ne
w w
physical and ealth producing faculti es A s thought
-
as a contribution to t he inter p retation of the orld as

a eapon of the int ellect no “order of ideas could have ,
.
,
,
88
MA TER I AL P R O G RE S S 89
arou sed more rancorous detestation no abomination

could call more clearly for vigorous a nd ruthless stamp
ing ou t But it s material gifts could not be rej ected
w
. .
I t laid golden eggs Even that most detestable a nd

.
pe rniciou s of all o ffences to cu stom thought a nd po er -
t hou ght had perforce t o be tolerated to be to some
w
,
e x te nt r e s p e cte d j t o be in some e x cruciating manner r e ‘
w
concil e d ith a n d reluctantly and pain fully a ccepted
’
.
, .
As ith modern science a s a means of utilitarian

w
discovery a n d invention so it ha s b een from the v ery
first ith eve ry step of material progres s
,
w
Whatever
ww
.
the sa nct ity of custom hatever the shuddering horror

,
it h hich any depart ure from its hard a nd fast estab

l is he d precedent is regarded the s a crilege is e x cused the
horror is silently overcome henever a clear material a d
ww w , ,
w
vant age presents it self The t a le is told ho the D yaks of
r
Borneo hose cross grain met hod of fellin g) trees a s hel d
w
-
,
as rit u ally sacred and not to be departed from save under
ww
dire penalty adopt e d the European a y of cutting out
,
edges he n no one a s looking I n the same manner w

w
.
has every utili tarian inventive sacrilege prevailed The
w
.
discovery of the means of producing fire a s a dopted ,
though silent disapproval a s signified by colle ges of
w w
priest s a nd vest a l s cont inuing to tend the sacred hearth
Met als ere adopted t hough a protest a s lodged b y con
.
w
.
t inu ing to use st one tools for a ll ritu al purposes sacrifices
w
w w w
, ,
circumcision embalming The invention of the b o a nd
ww
.
,
arro a s a d o p ted though it ,

a s denounced a s a eapon ‘
only fit fo r treache rous co ards like the insulting

archer Paris just as firearms ere a dopted t hough
'
a n invention o f the devil destr u ctive of all nobilit y ’
, ,
a nd chival r y . 1
N or is the dis r uptive action of materi al inventions

by any means confi ned to the mere fact of their accept
ance its effect e x tends in far reaching and u nd r ea rne d -
A s the industrial revolution brought
w
of co nsequences .
abo ut by modern science ha s transformed not only the

mater ial but every aspect of the social and mental orld
,
w
redist ribu ting all po ers a nd authorities a nd hurling
successive tides of destruct ive critic is m against all es tab
,
,
l ishe d values and systems o f thought s o almost every ,

w
90
w
ne
T H E M AK I N G OF H UMAN I TY
invention has in all ages been the cau s e of a similar
w w
orld shaking revolut ion The domestication of a nimals
-
d ealt the death blo to totemic society a nd probably

.
w
ww
-
w
,
led the a y to a nirnist ic a nt hr Op o morp hism The b o .
and arro the me tal s upset ever y balance of po er
ww
, , ,
changed the la s of human distribution on the pla net ,
and raised the issues bet een a r lord and p riest that
w
-
sha ll lead to C a no ss a zand K ultu r kamp f The perfecting

i .
of riting m ade l arge empires possible N avigation m a de

l
.
and unma de them created and transformed cultures

,
.
A griculture changed the fa ce of the earth a nd of human

relations more completely than did steam and e lectrici ty .
Material progress is the produ ct of rational thought ,
w
a nd it alone
of .
O f all fields of hu man activity that o f mechanical
w
,
advance is the only one here rationality does not admit '
of being t r ifl e d ith You cannot introdu ce the gentle

.
arts of So p histry and self de ception into a mechanical -
device You r machine is abs olutely impe rvious to the

.
influ ence of fine theories sacrosanct conventions high , , ,
consecr ated sentiments A ll the su btle misrepr e senta tion s ‘
w
.
,
the conspiracies of silence the eloquent appeals to pre ,

-
judice the plausible phrases the bland casuistries hich

, , ,
‘
have such fine scope in every other field of human thought ,
are here ru dely a nd inexorably debarred A machine
w
.
is an irreclaimable rationalist I t is obdurately a n d .
shockingly ind ifl e re nt to the obvious distinctions bet een

respectable a nd vu lgar moral and immoral opinions ,
.
I t refuses to b e bamboo z led There is no o r thodoxy o r .
heterodoxy in mechanics there is no conscien ce clause

there is utter disregard of the s a cred rights of opin ions
entitled t o respect of the s usceptibilities of tend er feel
w
-
z
”
,
ings H ence the horror of certain minds for machinery ;

’
w
.
hence are the ords mechanical and mechanism
w
the orst terms of obloquy in the language
w
ish to obtain a certain mechanical resu lt you mu s t
strictly and absolutely and ith no saving p hrases or
I f you
,
.
w w w
,
reservations conform to facts as they are

,
I f you do .
not it is your o n loss : y our machine ill not ork .

92 T H E MA K I N G OF H U MAN I TY
”
advance F irst the great land mi grations the advent
w
,
.
of N eolithic race s the invasions of the bearers of brass
w
then the rise of seafaring ith the Minoans
,
a nd of iron ,
'
its inheritance a nd development by Phoenicians and .
Greeks its further momentous e xtension at the time

,
of the rebirt h of Europe b y the Arab s hic h a s
w w
, ,
Minoan seaman shi p had led to Greek culture contacts -
a nd gro th b rought about th , e ne e ra of Portugues e ,
Spanish a nd I talian navigation a nd the e xpansion of

, ,
Europe to the four continents F inall y the abolition of
w w w ww
.
distance in the modern age .
Even the great ars of conquest hich e have gr o n
w
to regard as the su preme scour ge of a martyred
hich for u s are no longer enhaloed in the splendour
o f apotheosis and glory a nd e m
, ,
bla z oned i th the pomp

orld
, w
,
of pageant r y but appear on the contrary as apocal yptic
w
, , ,
visions of devastation and death riding a m id confl a gr a t ion ‘

‘
and ruin f a mine and pestilence over the mo n cor p ses

, ,
of a slaughtered h u manity — have a s a m a t t e r of fact
w
, ,
been factors of progress of the first moment tearing ,
do n the barriers of fatal isolation forcibly bringing
w
,
together the scattered me mbers of humani ty a nd di ffusing ,
the heritage of thought The Persian e mp i re elded the
w
.
Asiatic cultures the Ale x andrian e mp ire created the H e1

,
~
le nist ic orld and fertili z ed it for ever the Roman empire
p rogress w
furnished the indispe nsable condition of a ll subsequent
ww w a n d made the modern orld po sible the
w
s ;
N apoleonic ars a akened E u rope from its feudal a nd
w w
dynastic slumbers gave it ne life and a ne conscious
ww
ness a nd initiated a ne p hase of its gro t h
,
,
Every here e se e pro gress born of t he conjunction a nd

.
cross fe r tili z at ion of cultures from the clash of outloo ks
w
-
,
and i deas U nder the dominant obs ession of the racial

.
vie of histor y the d oct rine ha s been put forth tha t '
w
suc ces s in civil iz ation i s the result o f the intermixture of ~
races W hat gr ound o r logica l pretex t there is fo r su ch

.
a hypothesis H eaven a nd Professor Pe t fie only kno I I t

is suggested I s u ,
some remote reminiscence
of the process of re r odu ct 1on in certain flo ering plants w
w
w
.
The facts belie it at eve ry t urn ; for hile there is

'
, ,
no s uch t h
"
ing as a pure race e find races of r e s

.
,
D I S S E M I NA T I O N 93
l a t iv e ly cons picuous purity as fore m ost cont ributors

to progress alongside of the most obviously mix e d ‘
races and vice versa The ancient Greeks the gre atest
w w
’
.
, ,
b u ilders of civili z ation ere in spite of vie s to the

, ,
contrary arising out of the mu ltitude of tribal names
w
,
o f no more significan ce t h an t he term Al p hans a com ‘

,
p a r a t iv e ly pu re race ; hile the medi a eval and modern

G r eeks p e rhaps the most striki ng e a np l e of falling
,
ofl from ancestral e x cellence are profoundl y het e r o ,
g e n e o u s . The Egy p tians t he C hald ae ans the , ,
Romans the Japanese are a ll comparatively pure
w
, ,
ra ces The S icili a ns the S paniards the Balkan peoples

.
, , ,
no ne of hom appear as races as prominent Contribu tors
w
, ,
to civiliz ation are e x tre me e x amples of mi xed races

,
.
F or most oi those on the other hand to hom purity

-
, ,
of race is t he O pen sesame of human evolution the
w
,
t a ll long skulled fai r h a i red blue eyed northerner is the

- - -
ideal be arer of all the o rld s a chieve ments and value s

, , ,
’
a nd it is rightly agreed that this incomparable human

stock is t o d ay and has for ages been found in its
w w
,
greatest purity in the S candinavian peni nsul a a n ex ,
t re m el v estima ble country hi ch ho ever there appears , ,
no reason for numbering among the leading lights

of human p rogress I t is not from the intermi x ture
'
of ra ces that in some recondite unintelligible ma nner

, , ,
cultural developme nt and huma n achieveme nt arise but , ,
for ve ry obvious a nd apprehensible reasons from the

.
,
‘
intermixture a nd cross fertilization of cultures of ci v ili -

,
za ti ons of ideas
, .
S E G RE G ATE D EV OLU T I ON
It is a direct consequence the most momentous cons e ,
qu ence of th e, pecu l iar mode of tr a ns mi s sion of t he

94 TH E MA K I N G OF HUMA N I TY
products of human evolution that that evolution cannot
proceed in a sporadic isolated segregated form by a y
of individuals
,
of races of states or nations of civili

,
, ,
w
w w
, , ,
za t ions ,
of esoteric a nd c la ss cultures N othing short .
o f the cc ordinated gro th of humanity as a hole can
w
-
satisfy the conditions of the process
w w
.
,
f I n every form of evolution active p rogress is at ork
w w
in a limited minor ity on ly there is some here a gro
'
ing point hich is but an infi nitesimal fra ction of the

-
hole 8 0 that as Sir H enry Maine puts it progress is
ww
-
.
, ,
the exception stagnation is the rule

,
But t hat exception .
is itself a r ule in this sense that it is a l a ys the r e All
w
'
.
,
evolution from the amoeba, from the ne b ula on ard is
w
,
w
the outcome of ex ceptions of minorities ; the hole ,
orld is the product of the millionth seed I t is that .
exception that minority hich is the determining fact

,
of the universal process
w w
.
The same is in a sense t rue of human as of all
w
, , ,
evolution I t is the direct

. ork of a fe races of a ,
fe individuals in those races But here the peculiar .
character of human evolution a n d of its means comes
w ww
into play The reproductive b e ar er o f its products is
.
the hole human orld and as a consequence

every limitation hich that reproductive function su ff ers
,
ith , ,
w ,
a corres ponding fatal injury and disability is inflicted

upo n the process of development itself
The operation of that la is inexorable I t is now .
w
.
exaggeration to say that to neglect and defiance of i t

every failure hatsoever in the process of human de
v e lo p m e nt every disability and every disaster every mis
, ,
birt h of history and the bulk of hum a n su ffering in
w w w
, ,
capacity and foll y are primarily a nd directly due The

, .
la is manifested u nder t o forms hich although aspe cts ,
of the same necessity differ conspicu ousl y in their

,
historical appearance according as the sporadic a n d

,
isolated evolution is that of ( I ) a social grou p a sta te , ,
a na tion or ( 2 ) of a s ection or class

,
.
The evolution of tribal communities 1 8 n gid ly limited ;
w
it ca n only t a ke p lace up to a certain sharply define d
lev e l h ich const itu tes a n impa s sa ble boundary Unl ess .
SEGRE G A T I ON 95
a complete cha n ge of social organiz ation come s to be

e ffect ed unl ess noma dic or se mi n omadic tribes s u b -
w
.
sist ing by the chase by pastora l pursuits a nd rudimentary

, ,
forms of agriculture outgr o those conditions become , ,
transformed into settled comm u niti e s a nd fused into

larger groups their developme nt is s t rictly confined to
,
a definite level of cul ture present ing strik ingly s imi lar
w w w
,
featu res and characterized by exactly similar achieve

ments herever met it h and hich is never over
w
, ,
stepped I f they continue in that state if no ci rcumstance

.
,
take place to ch a n ge it if they remain iso lated from
w
,
contact ith organized nations they rema in savages
w w
, ,
doomed for ever to arrested gro t h in that condition
ww
,
like the tribes hich European exp a n sion ha s met ith all
over the orld
w w ho at an early stage became cu t off

,
from those regions here civili z ation ha s develop e d I t

has been sho n by Mr Sutherla n d that to the numerical .
1
.
'
size of su ch tribal grou p s there corresponds a definite

grade of primitive cu lture t hat other things being equal , , ,
the degree of development of a hu man gr oup its control
w
,
over the conditions of li fe is a fu nction of its nu mbers
w
, .
B u t the in trinsic develo p m e nt of a society ho eve r ,
civilized apa rt from the intera ction bet e e n it and other

,
civiliz ed societies is no less strictly limited N o isolated
w
, .
human civiliz ation ha s ever proceeded through its

o n un
w aided forces beyond a given limit

comes very speedily hen t hat limit is reached and
The time .
w
,
complete arrest and st agnation take place .
O f such secl uded g ro th the civili z ation of C hina is
www ww
,
of course the flagran t inst a n ce

, N or certainly is it .
, ,
one to ards hich e ca n afford to be merely con

te m
p l ew w
t
p
e
tu
asw
ou s
from
.I t
our
s isolation
o n
ho
exclusive
ever
estern
a s never
standpoint
so com
,
e are
,
w w
.
prone to conceive W rapped in dense obscurity as are its

m
ww
.
origins they derive d e may ell suppose fro more th a n

, , ,
one focus even if e look no farther than the vast East
w
.
,
Asian ex panses that ere first in the third century B C '
w w
. .
brou ght under the s ay of the Ts in and H ang dynasties ’
t o su ch distinct cradles at least e discern on the upper
reaches of the H oang ho a nd Yang tse respectively

Q
1r igm a nd Gr o th o
.
f the M om " I n
-
s tin ct w -
.
.
w
96 TH E M A K I N G OF H UM AN I TY
It has been sought to connect those beginnings ith
those o f Western A sia of Babylon for inst ance ; there , ,
is no solid evidence in su pport a nd none abs olu tely ex
w
,
clu s iv e of su ch conject ures But from the West C hina
ww
.
,
a s never in earliest times cut o ff Schliemann found? K

.
/
in the S econd C ity of Troy a n a x e of hite jad e tha t
could only have come from C hina Chinese ares silk
ww
.
, ,
iron furs figured in the marts of B abylon F rom the
w
, ,
.
Greek ki ngdom of B actria much e kno passed into
w w
, , ,
C hina music mathematical instruments ater cl ocks
w
-
, , , ,
viticulture and much else doubtless of hich e have no
ww
record A s fa r b a ck as e ca n look a brisk trade is plied
.
bet een the C hina coast a nd I ndia a nd through the
w
,
latter ith Arabia S yria Egypt I n the second century
w
.
, ,
e hear in C hinese annals of Syrian traders a nd of a
w
,
certa i n K ing Ah Tun ho sent some kind of mission

-
w
~
there in A D 1 6 6 hose name it is not d iflicu lt to
ww
.
,
r e tra nslate
-
Antoninus I ntercourse ith Rome fo l .
’
lo ed a t first chiefly the imni e mor i a l land route through
w
-
Parthia hich had been that of Persian commerce later

,
the sea route p revailed and A lexandria a s the emporium
w w w
-
.
The development and product iveness of China appea r

closely to fol lo those periods of i dest contact ith
“
Bactria Parthia I ndia and the Roma n West a nd it
w
, , ,
reached its cultural apo gee under the S z ma rulers of -
the third centu ry from hich time dates also as a
w
,
political d octrine its pu rposive isolation and the cessation

,
of its gro th There re ma ins the broad fact that ou n
w w
~
.
most conspicuous e x ample of segregated development

furnishes like ise our b y ord for cultural arrest a nd
.
‘ -
doddering stagnation .
N o society can con tinue in a state of p rogressive civi

l iza tion in the midst of savage uncivili z ed races unless
w
, ,
it ca n put an end to that si t uation by conquering them

and imparting to them its o n civili z at ion A me re
m
.
island of culture in the midst of a sea of barbaris

is a physical impossibility I t must either destroy i ts
w w
.
barbarian neighbours or absorb the m a nd rais e them to

its o n level or else b e ov e r he lrne d and absorbed
’
w
,
by them
But the p o er of a civi li z ed comm
.
unity to o vercom e ,
SE G REG A T I O N
w
97
or even successfully hold its o n agains t b ar b aria n
w
neighbours necessitates a nd constitutes an intolerable
drain upon its po er of culture and development W a r
like spirit military virtues disciplin e the qualities hich
.
w
w
, , ,
make for success and e fficiency in the employment of

force are direct ly opposed to those hich make for
,
civi liz ation a nd rational development They are part .
of the organic struggle of animal competition C ivi

'
.
,
liza t ion requires the elevat ion of the race above th e
level of that struggle ; truly human evolution pre .
supposes the setting asid e of mere animal evolutionary

strife . l n propo rtion as a community is qualified fo r
success in the one sphere it is by so much disqualified
w w
,
in t h e other C ivi lization . it is true rnla y furnish , ,
more e ffective eapons of arfare and more e fficient

organization ; but even the possession of those a d
vantages cannot free a community from the necessity of
directing its d ev e 10 p me nta l ener i e s and resources into
i ’Q
w
.
the channel of milit a r y/ e f fh

ii c1e ficy 1f1l te a d of that of
S G ‘
l
rational gro th
civiliz ation saps the
I t is a current commonplace that
.
manly qualities upon

militar y success and expans i on depend
hich
O f course it
w
does ; it saps a ll the barbaric characte r s in h u ma n
.
‘ ’
nature .The mihta

is not compat ible is 111
no part of civiliz ation
conflict ith it We w ,
w w
,
.
constantly read in history of communities
w
“
succumbing o ing to gro ing corruption But that
w
.
corruption means exact ly the same thing as hat

e call civiliz ation We are a tho usand times more
w
.
corrupt than Sib a ris or Rome at a n y stage Ancient

’
,
‘
ri ters called civili zation corruption beca use it did
w
corrupt the martial quali tie s of a pe ople All civilization
hen me naced by barbarism is in that sense corrup t
C iv ili zations fall before barbarism be cause t hey are t oo
.
.
’
ci v iliz ed And on the other hand barbarism fall s t oo
w
.
, ,
in the end b ecause it gets mo re a n d mo re barbarou s

, .
Babylon fe ll beca use it a s to o civiliz ed to fight N ineveh

fe ll because it a te u p a ll its industries a nd agricu lture
.
t o feed its mi litarism .
I n that fact lies one cause of the decay and fall ‘
of empires Th em pires and kingdom of th

’
e . s e
7
.
TH E MA K I N G OF H U MA N I TY
w
98
ancient East
by more barbaric and
ere constantly sei z ed a nd subjugated
warli ke neighb ou rs But w

w
.
the invader a s g enerally in a position to ab s orb the
w
civilization of the conquered a Civili z ation hich as
“
w
shall s e e had alre ady come to a standstill from
,
w w
,
w
e ,
other causes The hole G r ae co Roman

. orld a s -
destroyed because large as it seemed it a s bu t a n
w w
, ,
island o f civilization in the midst of a barbaric humanity .
Europe a s once ithin an ace of becoming a province

o f C hina
by a yello peril
W illiam H ohenzollern
aw
and is still thought by s ome to be menaced
,
phrase by the a y coined by

That ho ever is an illusion
-
.
,
,
w w ,
,
,
,
bec a use in absorbing Western ideas Eastern races in
w
, ,
variably adopt them in their higher and more advanced

form d isdaining the e ffete ones hose influence surv ives
w
,
in t he lands of their o r 1g 1n and th ey are therefore too
w ise no t to percei ve v ery clearly the futility of mere

a r made empire s
-
The hole of Western c ivilization
is at the present moment reeling under the effects of
,
. w
th e most titanic struggle of forc es in all history because ,
one community in its midst retained in its ruling classes
the barbaric conceptions of the Middle A ges and its ,
robber barons ha ve he l d in their grip a nd trained a

-
i ,
people eminently capable of high culture to the ide a ls ,
of the a ge of Barbarossa .
I n proportion as a community is under the necessity

of c ultivating those ideals does it remain barbaric at
heart And not only is it doomed soo ner o r later in
w ww
.
the course of human evolution to su ffer humiliation

and perish by the s ord but hatever civili z ation it ,
may attain to is inevitably a rped and falsified by t he

all pervading he of its patriot ic glorification of self
-
and of might
w w
.
I n proportion as a civilization shuts itself o ff b ehind a

all of national pride and isol a t ion is its gro th stunted
and condemned in proportion as it lives in free and
w w
'
w
constant intercourse ith its neighbours and ith all
the orld does it progress a nd thrive
H uman evolution requires not only advance but ex
.
p a n s ion
highest
That civili
hich covers th
.z
w
ation
e
is almost invariably
idest are a on t he map
the
w .
M AK I N G OF U MAN I T Y
w
1 00 TH E H
'
it is its object t o promote N o culture hich is the .
product and privilege of a class can co ntinue in that

form The ideal o f an exalted ruling class achieving
.
human progress by me ans of and at the e x p e ns e of ‘
w
.
,
an excluded slave class that ideal s o b
w w
,
in o u r o n day by N ietzsche is an s s ib 1 ht a
w
,
conception hich runs counter to the d 1b le l a s

hich govern human evolution ma ster class
'
If a .
.
achieves complete control over a slave class it must ,
end in stagnation because the conditions of that control ,
require an ever increasing subservience o f the moments

-
o f progress to their maintenance the development is

fr Om the first deflected and distorted by the n e cessity
o f maintaining existing co n d itions
w the entire fabric of

the human orld is shaped and coloured not by rational
thought not by pure desire for truth a nd for true
,
,
progress but by the artificial interes ts the in v iolable

, ,
foundations of the privileges of the ru ling class And .

.
the domination of those motives like a p arasite on a
w
,
noble tree entirely stifles and s u p p l a rit s the p rogressive

,
irnp u ls e The entire culture of t he rulin g class hat
w w
.
,
ever fo rc e and noble qualities it ma y once have

po ssessed s iftly dege nerates into a dead orld of mere
"
form
,
ulas and shams all sincerity all s e ns e of truth a nd
w
,
jus tice every element of vitality depart s lfr om it If
w w
.
,
it continues to exist if no force comes to s eep it ,

~
a a y e n t ir e l y from the orld it lives Only a mummified

'
life I f on the other hand the control the subjection
w
.
, , ,
o f the servile class is not complete if t ha t class is no t
w
.
rigorously excluded from the me nt a l or ld o f the master

'
class the progre ssive irnp u ls e sets to ork in the s u b

,
d class also I s O peration act s against the existing

j ec t e t .
order of things Th e falsification of the cultural

.
elements of t he threatened master class becomes even

more pronounced ; the intensity of the bias produced
b y its interests is propo rtionate to the forces
menace them I t is determined to s e e things a s they
hich w
w
.
are not and consequently b e c omes totally unadap ted

,
to things as they are An d the conflict hich is s e t up
w
.
can only end in the subversio n of the ex ist ing o rde r

'
Those are the see d s of decay hi ch ma ny suppose

SE GRE G A T I O N .
“
to reside in eve ry culture Theya re ; p resent fiylie gcgver
.
,
that culture a n d its advantages a re t hrough

th
o f a group of individuals to w
e entire social bo dy b u t are correlated t o the interests
,
hose development the

lives of the majority are rendered subservient That
w
.
injury to one port ion of the soc ial body react s upon
wthe hole the collective organism cannot be healthy

hen one part seeks to thrive t o the detriment o f another
w
.
Both su ffer equally the d omma n ce of the one is bought

at the expen s e of its o n deterioration.
Such an .
organism violates the conditions of organic existence ,
and the ne mesis is that it must also violate the conditions

of hu man adaptation and development I t cannot de .
v e lo
p by the force of rational thought but strives to ,
live by s ti fli ng the O peration of that force I t is in the .
nature of things foredoomed
ww
.
That honesty is the best policy is an adage '
repeated ith uncertain convict ion That truth is the
w
.
b est policy is a l a of human development the necessary
w w
,
consequence of man s situation in the orld Everything

’
w
.
.
hich makes for that truth ill promote his success fu l

,
ww
adaptation eve rything hich tends to vitiate his judg
ment and deflect his mind from its function ill ine vi t
w
ably result in inadaptation to the facts amongst hich
he lives and check his po e r of evolution Throughout
w w
, .
the entire course o f hu man cul t u re the vitali ty the , ,
po er the energy the orth the success of a civiliza
ww
, , ,
tion mean its sincerity its honesty o f thought senility

, , ,
decay corruption the doomed and do n ard path

, , ,
me a n mend a city and dishonesty .

C HAPTER I
TH E SE CRE T OF TH E EAST
W H E N nomadic humanity in search for pastures came

Upon t h alluvial plains of the great A siatic ater
w w
w
e
courses and discovered that

,
ith but little labour , ,
bounteous nat u re yielded a b undant inter food for cattle
w
—and it soon occurred for men also — it ceas ed to
, ,
ander became agricul tural a nd settled into permanent

,
a b odes F rom the slime of the Jaxartes the Ganges

w
.
, ,
the Yang tse the Euphrates a nd the N ile civilization

-
, , ,
a s born N ature a fforded leisure relieved man from

.
,
the hand to mouth strugg le for food ; leisure gave
w w
- -
O pportunity for thought a n d devi ce .
But the sa me conditions hich gave permanent abode
o f new
and secure sustenance furnished like ise the occasion
struggles .
,
I n a community that lives on fis h

o r game no decided advantage can accrue to any indi
vidual or group from domination over the rest under

purely pastoral conditions the cattle is the common
property of the trib e and hile one tribe may steal
,
another s herds there is neither inducement no r facility

’
,
w
w
,
fo r indivi dual appropriation from the common flock
w w
.
But here the land itself permanently occ upied is the
w w w
, ,
source of sustenance and ealth here the needful
w
,
ork can be pe rformed a s ell by the labourer orking

fo r another as fo r himself here leisure renders s u rplus
ww
,
production possi b le the advantage s t o be derived from
ww
,
po er ielded over ma n and from individual possession , ,
are obvious and sub stantial The claim to o nership .
of the soil if it ca n be made good places the o ner

, ,
in possess ion o f men also and the ir la b our .
1 05
1 06 TH E MA K I N G OF H UMAN I T Y
The influence of the medicine man the magician the
w
-
, ,
priest the relatives and representatives of the god on

, ,
hose incantations and ritual s more even than on human
w
,
care the fertil ity of the soil is believed to depend

,
that influence assumes ith the agricultural people

—
enormous proportions And it is thus not through a ny
w
.
raci a l genius fo r religi on —that the Asiatic a nd

N ilo t ic lands of riv ers have ever been the great b re i ng
vats o f religious fermentation ; and that the map o f
the alluvial plains o f A sia and N orth Africa is a lso that
w
o f the cr a d l e of every religion save one Zt h a t has counted
'
in the or ld Is man naturally and incurably pre

disposed to put his trust in mummeries a n d magic rites
w
.
w
,
to m a ke corn and cabb a ges gro rather than in hoeing
w
, ,
and ploughing a nd so ing as ou r anthropologists labour
w ww
, ,
to impress o n u s ? I t appears so m e hat incredi b le .
But any disposition to ards such a notion ould
ww
e ,
may be sure not be unduly discou ra ged by the r e p r e

,
s e n t a t iv e s o f the co m g o d and they ould ith greater

-
authority and nimbler fancy than the simple boor pre ,
scribe and develop rituals and mythologies
w
.
The fact that ha s most impressed the d iggers and

decipherers of tha t early civili z ation the form o f hich ,
ha s but lately been emerging fro m the mounds o f
w
‘
Mesopotamia is the magnitude a n d all pervasiveness of

,
-
its piety A ccustomed a s e are t o the unity o f religion

.
and of life in all primi tive culture s early Babylon ,
transcends all e x amples I t cannot fo r a morne nt escape .
from the orbit of religious thought Y ou cannot take .
a step in t ha t ma gic circle move a shovelful of earth
w
‘
w
, ,
make a brick eat a mouthful take a bre ath give a
w
, , ,
sneeze , ithout being brought into dire ct contact i th

the S upernat ural That is the atmosphere in hich
.
the oriental mind ha s been fo r med .
”
The fertile alluvial soil is a gift o f the g od ;
earth is the Lord s the Lord is the landlord a nd rent
’
,
the
‘
accordingly fir s t fruits a nd tithes must b e paid to him

'
-
.
, ,
Payment of rent is one of the most essential and e fficient

pr opitiatory rituals The priest the family o f the god
w
.
, ,
pay rent t o themselves H ence one inevita b le genesis

.
o f landed o ne r ship .
MAK I N G
w w w
1 08 TH E OF HUMA N I TY
landers fr om Elam periodic aves o f ild Bed a in from ‘
w
,
the des e rt Akkad ian C anaanite A ram a e an Semi tic
w w
, , ,
s arms K assite horsemen and the terrible H ittite from

, ,
C appadocia come s eeping do n over the p r omised land

, ,
the mother of civilization But all those inroads have .
little other effect t han to extend and spread her be ne fice nt
w w w
influence T he conditions remain unchanged I n vain
.
the gods of B abylon are carried a a y to the hills the ir

po er remains ith the rivers and their priests S emite
.
w
.
may supplant Sumerian but the p r iest and his civiliz a
w w w w
,
t ion remains a nd absorb s the ild conqu eror When the
w
.
arrior attempts to thro o ff the spell to take po er ,
into his o n strong hand hen the S halma ne s e r s and

'
-
,
As s h u r n a s i rp a l s a n d Sennacheribs
,
the lords of C alah ,
and N ineveh t r y like medi a eval empe r o rs to shake o ff

, ,
’
the dominance of t he arrogant priests of As s h11 r and \

‘
Baby lon to oppose their privileges to question t heir

, ,
imme morial claim to exemption fro m taxation to lay
w
,
hand on the temp le lands they find t he ms e l ve s in the
w
i
end orsted til l the A ssy ri an em

,
w
p ire excommunicated ,
and a bandoned by all goes do n before the Mede am id ,
the curse o f t he nation s And hen in anothe r age .

, ,
the Gree k Xenophon ma r ches astoni s hed through the
w
ruins o f N ineve h his gu ides a re unabl e to tell him
the name hich they once bore
,
w
.
NVi th terri torial extension goe s a corresponding

increase in the character o f despotic po er “
The
w w
.
original theocratic rule of the pa tesi the vicar of go d , ,
great as it a s holding the a e d and helpless multitude

,
'
as its mercy becomes even more supe rhuman a s it

,
stre tches over vast regions The kings of Ba b ylon .
and those o f Memp his gathered milli ons of men from

every « part of their dominions to build a temp le palace -
o r a pyramid
w .
A some hat un p leasant admission has to b e made

r
w
.
That i nevi table sequence of events that absolutism o f ,
the great empires o f the morni ng land ‘s that hole s ale
ww
-
,
su b jugation o f human herds that unresisted tyranny
w
,
hich founded in the very heart o f the s la ve
w
‘
a s ,
in mental prostration b efore divine po er that fearful , ,
il ling loyal a b jection that ki s me t o f the river lands

, ,
-
,
S E C RE T OF TH E E A ST
w
1 09
that terrible secret o f the E ast— a s the foundation
w
,
the indispe nsable foundation of civil ization W i t hout
w
.
it Greece Europe ould have be e n impossi b le

, I call
‘
.
it an unpleasant admission because it ould be fine "
to be able to s a y that human civilization is the child

of freed om that it is incomp a tible
a nd slavery
, i th tyranny
As a ma tter o f fact men never b e thought
'
w
w
.
themselves o f bu ilding decent home s for themselves until

they had seen gorgeous pa laces and temples bu ilt ith
the tears and blood o f thousands ; they never bethought
had w
themselves of living in reasonab le comfort until they
itnes sed the o p ulence and luxurious orgies of
satraps and kings ; they never be thought themselves
of controlling the forces o f nature till herds o f human
w
chattels under the ku rb ia s h o f their slave drivers had -
dug cana ls and artificial lakes embanked rivers and
w
quarrie d mountains ; they neve n kne s cientific curiosity
, ,
w
,
the po ers of the mind the greatness and might of ,
kno ledge the glories of intellect be fore leisured

,
parasite priests created culture

-
Totally emancipated .
for the firs t time fro m the material organic struggle

’
commanding the resources o f the land commanding
w
,
inexhaustible supp lies o f forced labour ready at hand

to carry ou t their ill the priests of Sume r a nd Babylon
'
a nd Egyp t devised cont e mp lated thou ght di scovered ;

, , ,
ww
the y brought forth architectural and pi ctorial arts crafts , ,
industries taught men to chisel stone ha mmer and

, ,
inlay metals glaze pottery and tiles b lo glass eave

, , ,
rich fabrics and impart to the m gorgeo us dyes ; they '
w
laid the foundations of mathema tical and mechanica l
kn o ledge measured the land divided the year ma p pe d
w
, , ,
out the heavens traced the course of the su n and
w
,
p lanets through the z o diacal belt they invented riting

’
committe d vast s tores of kno led ge and ex p erien ce to
w
innumerable clay tablets and pa pyrus rolls formulated
la s established the foundations of all culture and
,
ci v ilization .
‘
,
Ever g lo rious a nd venera ble to e ve ry loVe r o f .
man mus t b e those first out bursts of civili zation and
w
culture . But behold a stranger thing than even their
s if t emergence out of savage ry F rom their very .
TH E MAK I N G OF HU MA N I TY
w
‘
1 10
w
infancy they are smitten ith a hidden malady They
shoot u p ith astonishing rapidity m a d im distant age
w
.
w
,
a revelation f u ll o f light and p romi s e ; and fort h ith

a spe ll is cast upon them their gro th is arrested
‘
their creative imp u ls e num

.
, ,
b e d a pa l sy cr eep s over them , ,
they stand still petrified They d o not die ; they live
w
, .
on and on century after century from one millen
w
, . ,
nium t o another a charmed eird sepulchral li fe

, , , ,
in a trance unchanging as if under s ome a ful

, ,
curse
w w
.
I n Babylonia all native culture has p rodu ced it s best ,
—
its all s ave fo r hat the fastuous po e r o f an A sshur
—
m
w
b a nip a l can imp art to it o O pulence before the ea rly
f
days of the fi r st B abylonian emp i re of K ham ura b i . .
F o r the finest p e r iod o f B abylonian art e must

go back to a ti me some centuries before the foundi ng
”
of the B ab ylonian monarchy
added B abylonian science
N othing essential is
hic h ha s su p plie d the ww
.
1
w
.
,
germ o f all s cience to the Wo r ld a s exac tly a s far
w
,
advanced in the nebulo u s da n days o f the Sumerian

city states a s nea rly four thousand years later hen
w
-
Greeks came to gather its crumbs A s the le gend .
hich B e r os s u s tran s mits to u s exp re s ses i t O a mr e s , ,
the fis h g od that came out of the A rab ia n s e a
ww
-
,
taught people all the things that make up civili

za t ion
any more
and nothing ne
,
.
” a s i nvented a fte r that .
I n the isolati on of Egypt t he spectacle is no less strik
ww
ing C ulture i s actually mo re advanced under t he p yr a
.
n
mid builders o f the I Vth dynasty than at any time during

-
the three a nidJ a half mi llenniums during h ich t enty

- - - I .
fiv e dynasties succeeded them N ot even the brief

w w
.
freedom o f development under the heretic pharaoh .
Akhenaten or the cultura l contacts hich unde r the "

,
X I l th d ynasty p roduced Beni H a s san a nd the je e llery -
and S carabs o f the pe r iod can recapture the first

fin e rapture of the art of the O l d E m
,
pire Th e
civili z ation of the The ban Em
w
.
pire at its height
w
,
though immeasurably more e althy and commandi ng

vastly greater resources falls conspi cuously belo that ,
L W Ki ng S u me r a nd Akka d p 8 3
l
1
. . . .
, ,
112 TH E MA K I N G OF H U MA N I T Y
quent systems of thought The East has b een .
‘
unchangi ng fo r the simple reason that everything
‘
that exists i n i t is s a cr e d and to touch it is therefore
ww
’
, , ,
sacrilege .
C hald ae an civilization is the oldest that e kno
w
.
I t is not only the typ e o f the develo p ment o f a ll

'
w
,
eastern phases o f culture b u t the focus hence that ,
type has impose d itself on the oriental o r ld The
w
.
cult u re of the Sumerian city states be came that o f -
Bab ylon and As s hti r In h a t measu r e it influenced

’
w
.
that o f Egy p t is still a discussed po int The military .
empi re of As syria di ffused it far and i de among the

motley populations of S yr ia a nd As ia Mi nor a nd th ro ugh ,
Philistine a nd Ph oen ic ia n to C ypr us a nd C rete through

'
w
,
B abylonian traders to the upla nd s of C a ppa docia a n d

.
-
.
to I r an And hen C yrus kin g o f Anshan created the

w
.
, ,
Persian E mp i re the suc cessor o f N ineveh the culture
w
, ,
of that first World emp ire hich extended from the
ww
-
,
w
confines of China and I ndia to Gre e ce and a s ,
the great politic a l fact of the ancien t orld a s th e
w
,
civilization o f B abylon rit large The Persian satra p ies
w
.
o f I ndia hich sup p lied in gold dust one third of the - -
revenue o f the treasury of Ecbatana and hose archers ,
fought at Plat a ea p lanted the Babylonian civili z ation
w
,
of Pe rsia l n the Maga d h a n kingdom o f the U pp e r
w
Ganges ; and) hen after A le x ander s raid C handra ’
, ,
g upta overthre the N andas the firs t great I ndian
w
,
Em p ire of Maurya Which rose to its height under K ing
w
,
Asoka a s mo de lled upon th a t of Pe rsia a nd its capital

,
"
,
Pa ta lip u t r a ( the modern P tna ) copy f
w
a a s a o
Persepolis
great J e w w w
.
Among the o ffthr o s of Cha ld a ean culture

Bib le hose poetry and myths ca p tiv e s
a s th e
“
w
w
, ,
repatriated by C yrus brought ith them from B abylon

together ith the deep C hald ae an rel igi ous fervour To
w
the elevating in fl uence of Persian conc e ptions e re
.
w
w
,
e like to be lieve ar tly due those high de v elopm ents
w
p ,
hich the ancient thought o f the venerable mother
w w
culture of the land o f Shinar under ent at the hands ’
of the tribesmen of Beni I srael N ot to any such -

.
caus e s as Professor F alta de Gr a cia ould invoke ho ,

SE C RET OF TH E E A ST
so a b s urdly conceives that Vlfi hile among the gent le
w
w ww
,
C hald a eans each tri b al god a s in the h a bit o f pa yin g
courtesies to the gods o f nei g hbouring tri b es i nv iting
w
,
them to the inaugurati on of any ne temp l e p r oviding ,
the m ith side — chapels the I sraelitish Bed a in e re
w
, ,
after t he colla p se o f the t rumpe ry little kingdom they

ha d s e t u p s o maddened
, i th impo tent r a ge and
bruise d pride that thei r ne b i e re moved to dec lare
,
that no other god but Yaveh should be orshipp e d ;

w w
and in order to ensure against hi s be in g carried o ff
,
by in di gna nt ne ig hb o u r a they abo lished his seven horned -
images and fetish stones and decreed the su p pression ,
of all pictorial arts Thus amid the lyric hate o f the
w
.
,
prophet bards of Judah soaring to quite sublime hei ghts
w
-
ww
,
o f vi tupe ration a s I ntole rance ushered into this st ricken

,
orld . The learned Professor ha s here e think , ,
allo ed himself to be carried off his feet to quite

uncalled fo r su b lime heights
-
.
’
Early B abylon fixed for ever the mould of the
w
easte rn mind of t he Eastern World
a s
,
And that mo u ld
that of theocracy the a b so lut e intellectual
supremacy o f the priest the repres entative of the
,
.
.
ww
,
g o d ,
the magician the myst ic ; t he identification
,
of a ll fo rms o f rule and p o er ith t hat original
w w
Theoc racy in the E ast has no t been intellect ually
.
tyrannical or coercive We do not fin d there the
w
.
o b scurantism the ho ld ing d o n of thou ght the pe rpetual
ww
, ,
a rfare against intellec t ual revolt hich is s u ch a ,
familiar feature of the European o rld it h Greec e a nd ,
Rome at its back An d that fo r a simple rea s on :

.
the re has been no intellectual revolt The true
w
.
inte ll ectual imp ulse never arose at all The age long .
-
ha b it of religi ous po e r thou ght ha s sunk too d ee p
w
-
in the cons titution The only changes the only mental

.
,
contests kno n to the East are religious changes ;

'
re ligious thought can only be supplanted there b y
w
re ligious thought Whereas in Greece intell e ctual
.
a akening and criticism of ex istin g religi ous ideas took

the form of philosophies o f thought pure ly sec u la r
‘
.
,
’
a n d intellectual ; in the East o n the contrary cr itic is m , ,
8
MA K I N G U MA N I TY
w
114 TH E OF H
of existing r e lig ions thought ho e ver intellectual in

its inception has invariably taken the fo rm of ne
rel igi ons
,
Thus criticism of primitive Magian rel igion

’
,
w
cr itici s m o f
.
,
b y Z a rathustra became Z oroastrianism ,
B rahmism b y G a utama and by Mahavi ra became

Bud d hism and Jainism; the p urely secular thought s .
o f Lao T s ii beca me
-
Taoism ; and e ven the explicitly
unmetaphysical mora lizing of K ong fu tse became - -
C on fucianism
O f p urely secular clear cut sharp ly focussed thought
,
-
, ,
the ori e ntal mind is inca p able I t s very langua ge s are .
u n fitte d for the expression of precision and accuracy '
o f thou ght ; they have no terms fo r menta l fac ts they ,
can only b e ex p res s e d b y material images : T o the .
Oriental Greek po etry is unintellig ibly fr igtid because '
w
'
w
,
the motions and states o f the mind are ex p ress e d b y

ords not b y a string o f metaphors ; they do not kno
,
the use o f inversion they m ark emphasi s b y r e peating

,
‘
a thing three times over ; they have no syntax no
w
,
means of ex p ressing the varyi ng relations and connec

tions bet een thought s propositions are strung togethe r
like beads and the only conjunction is and
, and
a nd reiterated t o infinity The human mind
h
.
a d to break through the g yves of suc h a mental

conformation ere it could a p p ly rational thought to
the higher p roblems of its situation and destiny And
w
'
.
that mental c onstitution that inca pa c ity hich is the ,

"
central fact of eastern culture is the inevitab le p r od uct ,
o f the mode o f bi rt h o f that culture I t is the fruit

w
.
the lordly leisure and b undless d omination

'
f o f
w
o o a
—
small clas s holding multitudes in mental submission by
virtue of the religious sanction o f their po er Raised .
above all material struggles the p riestly ruling class
w
[
,
built itself an intellectual man s ion exalted above t he
ww
herd But their mind s e r e sa tisfied as soon as they
ww w
~
ere housed ; they consecrated their home lay do n
w w
, ,
and ent to slee p The mental b r ld hich they ‘
w
.
created a s itself ine x orabl y dominated b y their

position Their po e r their
. e a lth their leisure
, , ,
their O ppo rtunity of intellectual achievement their ,
v ery life a nd being depended upo n t he s a nct it y

, J
116 TH E MA K I N G O F H U MAN I TY
a nd W est .
, w
w
respo nsive note in us and make u s forge t for a moment
,
the interval of time and the di ffer e nce bet een E ast
And that desicc a ted a b or ted o rld has
,
lived on i ts mummified li fe through the a ges in s e n ile

,
infancy for ever inca p a b le o f g r t h

,
.
C HAPT E R II
TH E H E LLE N I C LI BER AT I O N
A T I ME w
came hen the quaint archai c fruits of oriental
cu lture disseminated and trans p lanted among many
,
'
w
,
various populations reache d certain very act ive and in

,
te l l ige nt tri b es o f pirates These ere not organized

.
into large em p ires of slaves and theocratic despots b u t ,
in sma ll clans scattered over islands and s inu ous cli ff

shores and every indivi d ual had to bear to a smaller '
or
pe rils of the tribe w

larger extent a share of the cares fo r tu nes a n d
H ence they ere not under a n y
, ,
w
w
.
ne cessity of preserving the sanctity of traditional ays
w
.
Thu s arose Greek thought thus a s laid the foundation

,
of the modern orld
w
.
I n the mi dst o f that day dreaming cata leptic O rient

-
w
, ,
at once infantile and senile hich must needs rema i n
w
'
alien a nd exot ic to the estern mind Greece like her
w w
, ,
g oddess At h en e appears to rise panopli e d and fu l l gro n

, ,
a nd almo st i thout a transition e find ourselves trans

,
w
por t e d as if by the stro ke o f her magic spea r into a
modern atmosphere Bet een an age o f dim fable and
,
w
.
the height of Atheni an intellec tual splendour scarcely

'
t o hundred years have elapsed ; th o ug h in reality the
d evelopment of H ellas ha s be en silently proceeding for
some e ight centuries
w ww w
.
I n passing from Egypt A ssyria Ba b ylon Persia

, , , ,
Jud ae a into Greece e step into a orld hich is actua lly

, ,
closer to u s than are the ten centuries intervening bet een
ww w
the pass ing of H e lle nism a n d the rebirt h o f Europe
a orld hich is est ern and modern in hich e ww ,
w w
,
move among t he to p ics probl e m s tend encie d iscu s s 1ons

, ,
s
, ,
criticis ms , hich occupy ou r o n thought I t is n o t

merely because ou r intellectu a l heritage is Grecian that
11 1
MA K I N G OF UMA N I TY
w
118 TH E H
e feel at home there it is no t merely that the structure

,
of ou r id eas of ou r conceptions ou r modes of expression
w w
, , ,
the forms of ou r literature are the progeny of Greek
w
,
tho u ght ; it is because Greece o ed its o n life as
ww w
w
,
e ours to the liberation of the human mi nd from

,
the gyves and shackles hich eighed it do n in the

theocratic East G reece made the E u ropean orld I t
w w w
. .
is i naccurat e to s a y that s he saved it from the encroaching

East There a s no Euro p e an orld There a s only
w
. .
one form o f civilization that of the O rient and Greece
w
, ,
a s not separated by any geographical convention from
the O rient but a s a s much pa r t of it as is C onstanti
w
,
nople Greec e did not save Europe s he created it

.
,
.
Before Greece there a s no E u rope Greece brought it
w
into being by breaking the spe ll exorcizing the fatal
w w
charm hich had fallen upo n all human evolution
When e tu rn ou r attention to Greek history e are
,
not merely cu riously inquiring into the annals of certain

very small city states in the Levant That history con
'
-
.
s t i tu te s by far the most momentous grand climacteric -
in the e volution of hu manity The history of Greece .
is not a chapter in historical annals it is a tu rning ,
po int ih evolution Speaking purely a s a scientific

.
anthropologist D r Ma r e tt says
~
T o br e ak through
w
.
,
cu stom by the sheer force of reflection and t o make ,
rational progress possible the intel lectual feat
w
a s ,
o f one people the ancient Greeks ; and it is at leas t ‘
w ”
,
highly doubtful if ithout their leade rship a progressive

, ,
civilization ould have existed to day -

.
The phenomenon of Greece the mirac le of Greece ,
as it is often called , ha s appeared s o marvellous that i t
fo r it w
is one of the standing pu z z les of criticism to a ccount
I n the t o o r three centur ies of Greek activity
w w
.
the course of human evolution seems rather to have
w
taken a sudden leap than follo ed t he sl o path o f
w
a proces s of gro th Within that short space of time
ww
.
the intellectual po er of Greece has bla z ed the tracks

hich all human thought and creation has subsequently
follo ed in literat ure in art in phi losophy in criticism
logic politics ; so that e very path hich the h u man
,
,
An thr op ology p
,
,
. 1 85 .
w , ,
120 TH E M A KI N G OF H U MA N I TY
w
may eas ily be exaggerated It a s a courtl y culture
hich exploited the reso urces o f eastern civilization
. w
and o f Mediterranean local industries for the pleasure
and gr a t ifiCa t ion of po erful autocr ats ; a n d w
hile it w
w
»
trans mitted t o Greece the all important factor of sea

'
‘
po er many material and arti s tic sugges tions and

, ,
perhaps some thing o f its p leasure loving he d onis tic reck
w
-
,
lessne ss a nd ins ou cza n ce it contained like the similar

'
w ww
, ,
and s imilarly formed Tyrrhenian culture hose last
w
,
remnants died ou t ith Etruscan po er no great i ntrinsic ,
element of ne progress no r aught of hat make s up ,
the distinctive qu a lities of Greece Greece does no t .
hold the place it does in the history of humanity b y

vi r tu e of its pottery o r of the type of its decorativ e
designs Minoan civilizat ion co u ld not transmit hat w
w
.
it did not possess
w
The most important do ry of Minoa n civilization to
Greece a s its ships D ra n over a s e a a y made eas y w ww
w
-
.
by cou ntl ess stepping stones and hich brought them

-
,
at the end of every radius of their course in touch ith

an existi ng civilization the Greek be came a se a rover -
w
, ,
and like his national hero O dysseus many men s citie s " ‘ ’
w
, , ,
he s a a nd learned their mind “ H e mixed and com .
p e t e d ith the merchants o f Tyre and S id on ; he me t
w
Babylonian caravans in the bazaars of Lydi a a nd S ynop e
he ent as merch a nt o r mercenary to Syria and to
Egypt fou ght in the armies of N e b uchadnezzar and
,
sacked Je rusalem in the armies Df the Pharaohs and ‘
w
,
.
scratched his name on the colossi o f Ab fi S imoe l met

’ -
w w
Phrygian Lydian and A ssyrian
,
And he n Persian
po er gathered up all the old civi lizations of the O rient
.
w
w
,
the Greek a s in daily clo s e and b y no me a ns al ays
w
, , _
unfrie ndly r elation ith the great cosmopolitan empire
ww
.
H e absorbed every cu lture of the E astern orld The .
first book of history p u blished l n Greece a s no t a

history of Greece but of all the barb a rians hom ‘ ’
w
,
the Greek found s o very intere s t ing ; and in a later

'
ww w
,
age Plutarch rote a pamphlet t o vent his patriotic

,
indignation against H e r od ot o s ho a shamele s s

” a s
pro barbarian l o an ex tent quite inconsistent ith

-
,
respectable patriotism .
H ELLE N I C L I BER A T I O N
w
1 21
w
But all those varied culture contacts ould have availed
little they ere little more t han Phte nicia n and Minoan
—
w
-
w w
—
had enjoyed ha d they not orked U pon a material o f
ne qu ality The Greeks ere as none of thos e pe ople '
w
.
,
had been almo st completely prote cted f r om the infl u ence

,
o f tradition a nd from every form of po er thought
w
-
.
Therein lies the di ff erentiating character of the reaction .
N o sacre dness attached i n their eyes to the cu l ture hich
ww
they took over from C retan a n d Mycenea n And thos e
with hich they ca me into relation through their inter

.
ww w
co u r s e i th Persian Ph oenician Egyptian Babylonian
,
ere app ro a ched it h curiosity interest acquisitiveness

bu t ith no superstitious reverence
,
,
,
, ,
w w
.
When the Greeks came u nder those influence s they

e re in that primitive tri b al pha se of society hich
w ww
,
in culture and orga nization is very much the sa me ,
herever it is me t i th he the r amon g Ge rmanic tribes

, , ,
or American I ndians or C entral A frican o r Polynesian
w
, ,
tri b al commu nities I t ha s of course nothing to do

.
, ,
ith r ace but is a cult u re phase neces sarily co mmon to
w
,
all races before the establishme nt of large fixed com
w w
mu nit ie s and agriculture The older
Ro b ertson a nd Guizot ere deeply struck ith the r e
semblanc e bet een the soc ial condition and character
riters like
.
w
of the ancient Germans and those of the Red I ndians
w w
the onl y su rv iving tribal communi ties then at all ell
kno n and someone even rote a book to prove that w w ,
the Redskins ere Germans O nly the b linding tradition .
of elegant p seudo classicism ha s prevented the same like

- '
ness from being perceived sooner i n the H omeric Greek '

,
and t he pictures of the I l ia d from being at once recogni z ed

a s obvio u sly taken from F e nirn or e C oope r s novels
w
’
.
Their clans ge noi p hr a t e r ie s ere not as Grote and

, , , ,
Maine have imagined grou ps of families but fami ly

, ,
groups in a state of transition from matriarchal kin

m
,
ship group marriage exogamy and tri b al co muni sm

,
-
, ,
'
t o the patriarchal state Large constituted interests
w w w
.
,
class privilege a nd gover nment traditio ns of a b s olu t isrn
ww
, ,
ere then ho lly unkno n t o the m Their basileis
w
.
ere never either then or later kings at all in the

, ,
sen se hich the title ha s acqu ired but a r chiefs subjec t ,

-
,
TH E MA K I N G OF H U MA N I T Y
w
1 22
to
w ww
the natural authori ty of the ho le tri b e convened
in cou ncils in hich the people ere influenced in their
,
d ecisions not by the po er o r prestige of authorit

y
w
,
b u t by the tongue of their orators o r demag ogues ; and

here they signified their approval or disse nt by mu rmurs
o r shouts and the rattling of their spe ars on their shields
w
.
A ll ou r histories o f G reece are rendered thoroughly ,

’
unintelligi b le by the notion that Greece began ith

monarchies
w
A t most the me a sure of authority
‘ ’
ww w
.
acquired by their chi e fs a s that exercised b y the leader,
of a band of pirates ho holds his po er at t he discretion

o f his men I n H omer the ord basileus d Oe s not mean
w w
.
king but prince

,
’
there are fami lies o f basileis in
every tribe T hat po er tended continuously to d indle
.
the bas ileus became the archon at firs t elected fo r life
w
, ,
then decennially finally annually And it is strikingly

,
.
charact eristic that hile in the ripari a n civilizations of

,
the East the priestly functio n de veloped into the para
w
'
mo u nt autocracy of ki ngly despotism among the Greek ,
tri b es the kingly a r leader sank into the insigni ficant

-
o ffice of the priest the second archon a s in Rome he
w
, ,
became the r e x s a cr i ficu l u s .
Th e spirit of tr ibal democracy a s never supplanted

b y the spirit of mo narchy
no t invent democr acy

w
reverential a e divine r ight lo yalty
,
by courtly abasements
The Greeks did
as ou r school hi s tories su p po sed
,
,
‘
.
’
,
w
,
they never had occasion to abandon their original con

dition of tribal democrac y W hat they did a s to e n
w
.
d e a v ou r to maintain that original democr a tic state under
a mid w
civilized conditions in spite of all the factors hich
,
ealth and cu lture make for class privileges and

,
w
,
usurpation .
There ere p lenty of attempts to establish privilege

and oppression i n Greece E up atrid claims t yr a nnoi ‘ ’
w
. .
,
— —
The earlier and much of the later history of Gr e ek
"
w
cities is entirely taken up ith struggles against desperate
efforts of various po ers to establish themselves
the C he ckmating of atte mpts at usurpation But those
ith ’
,
w .
w
.
ve r y st ruggles testify t o the untamed force of the p g mitLe

D
equalitarian spirit The constitution of Solo n a s ne ce s s v
.
r
t a te d by the most terrible condition of p lu tocratic

1 24 TH E MA K I N G OF H U MA N I TY
nd having paid a certain fix e d propor tion of produce
w w
'
ww
a
to the landlord could do h a t he liked ith the rest '
the industrial slave assisted his mas ter ho orked as ,
hard as him s elf a nd D emosthenes could claim that s laves

in A ttica enjoyed greater freedom t han citizens i n many
another land H ence slavery in A thens never a ffecte d
w
.
her intellectual development through any anxiety a b ou t

the mainten a nce o f po er That it did no t a ffect it
w w
.
by producing idleness is attested by the fact that in the
w
t ime o f Perikl es the numbe r o f citizens ho could no t
’
a f ford to lose a da y s ork to serv e on the juries

’
a s
so great that he introduced the p ayme nt of jurymen
w
,
.
As a mat ter o f fact most of the crafts and indu s tries of
w
.
At hens ere carried o n by free labour not by slaves t he , ,
former being cheaper and better N o slave labour a s .
employed in the buildi ng of the templ e s of the Acropolis
w
.
S lavery did exercise a pro foundly perniciou s e ffect upon

Greek culture and ultimately contributed to its do n
But neither in Greece no r in Ro m
,
f a ll . e d i d it
ever seriously a ffect the complexion o f social a nd
po litical thought compel it as in the East to adapt
w
, , ,
itself to the interests o f oppressio n because the slaves

ere impo rted foreigners a fluctuating population lying
,
outsid e the social community no t oppres s ed citizens no t
w
, ,
the pe ople thems elves reduced to su b jection The soci a l
w
.
and intellectual questions developed in Greece be t een

ci tizens and ci tizens not bet een ma sters and slaves
,
.
The p rimi ti ve Gr e eks had like every other race their , ,
religious traditions and cust oms their ri tuals and their
w
,
mythology ; a nd many eastern cults became inevita b ly
l a t ions
w
acclimatized among them But religion ith the Greek
tribes as ith the N orse the German ic the Latin p O p u
, ,
stands fo r something altogether di fferent as

,
.
regards its character and the p lace it oc cupies in human

life from t he religions of the eastern river lands And -
w w
.
,
the difference depends upon the circumstance that the

ho le sphere of religious thought in the East a s from
w
the first indissolubly bound up ith the chief source w
w w
w w
of cla s s p o er and privilege ;
w
it a s the religion of a
theocracy hose po er and au thority re s ted holly upo n
religious idea s a nd hose culture accordingly moved
,
H ELLE N I C L I BER A T I ON
w w
1 25
exclusively ithin the orb it of religion N othing of
w
.
the ki nd oc curred else here Reli gi on as the a l l in all .
of hu ma n life engross ing the hole of man s thought ’
w
,
and activities dominating supreme in every sphere ex
w
, ,
cluding every other point o f vie religion in t he sense in
w
,
hich it is still understood is a product of the East ,

.
I t assumed that hype rtrophic development only here

the life o f the people depe nded u po n the supe rnatural
,
tive of the Su pernat ura l po er consequently controlled

ww
fe rtility o f the land a n d here the p riest the representa ,
w
,
every sou rce of human exist ence The religious rites
w w
.
and bel iefs o f the Gre eks ere like those of other
'
w
,
people chiefly associated ith the fe r tility of the soil
w
, ,
ith the ope ratio ns of agri culture ith se ed time a nd

'
-
,
harvest But then the Greeks ere no t an agricultural
w
.
peop le Except in Thessaly B oeotia and Messenia there
w
.
, , ,
a s no good agricultural land in Greece And those

w w
.
dist ricts Thessaly the mo ther of itches and B oeo tia

, ,
the home of oracles al ays rema i ned the mos t b ac k ard

,
in Greek civilization The goodness of the land

’
.
,
Thucydides significa ntly observes 3 favoured the
w
,
aggrandizement o f particular individuals and thus

”
w
created faction hich p roved a prolific source of ruin
,
.
Attica on the contrary from the poverty of its soil

, , ,
enjoyed a cont inuous deve lopment W ith the Greeks .
the supernatural a s mere ly an att empt at explanation
w
,
a form of specu lation issued from the p oq mind
w w
.
It a s demo cratic ; it had no vest ed interest at ;i t s

ba ck no consecrated gu ardians atchful ith all the
w
, ,
force o f self preservative instinct s for the inviolate pro

-
w w
,
t e ct io n of its sanct ity The poets ere at libe rty and

.
elcome to remodel traditional fa b les t o p lay i th
ww w
,
po pular myt hology as their fancy dict ated N o ine v it .
a b le co nnection a s even recognized bet ee n morality
,
ww w
and religion ; there ere rites due to the gods a nd to
the dead b u t relations ith the living ere a matter of
nat u ral justice C learly it ould ha ve been impossible
.
fo r the sacerdotal C haldaean or Egyptian th inker to look
w w w ww
u pon the pro b lems of nature and o f life from a purely
secular po i nt of V ie to ask hat the orld a s made of

,
hether of one kind of su b stance ass u ming many form s

,
,
TH E MA K I N G OF H UMAN I TY
w
1 26
of the combina tion of a fe elementary substances

w w ww
'
or ,
o r of atoms and hat rea lly a s the nature o f the
w
,
changes continually taking place in the orld hether ,
they ere real o r only apparent Such speculations . ,
entirely divorced from a ny reference t o the autho rity

of the gods could not occur t o the theoc rat ; far less
could they be put forth by him as hypotheses inviting

discussion C ompare the mythopoe tic at titude of the
w
.
oriental priest of the Egypti a n before the fact o f death
w
, ,
ith the su b lime agnost icism of the dying Socrates

Whether life o r death is better is kno n to God and
w
,
G od only F rom such a n attitude of thought the eastern

w
.
theo crat a s absolu tely debarred I t is not o b serve that
w w
.
, ,
the Greek a s more i ngenious cleverer b u t simp ly th a t , ,
he a s a b le to look at things secu larly that is ith

his m
w w
, ,
ind di s sociated from the ob session of religio us

traditions a nd vie s F or the religious oriental tha t a s .
impossi b le The oriental priests laid the foundations

.
o f s cience by their patience of obse rv ation and attention
t o details and the Greeks had not pa tience enough for
w
,
the me r e ob s e rva t ion and coll e ct ion of fact s and noting
ww
'
w
of details
w
but hen i t ca me to use and inte rpr et facts
’
it a s the Greek ho a s scientifi c and the oriental ho
ww w
could no t be s o Wh en some o ne brought to Perikles a
w w
ram s head ith a CU I l OU S single horn gro ing in the
’
.
’
,
w www
middle o f its bro a soothsayer a s p rompt ith his
int e rpretation dra ing omens and prophecies from the
circumstance But Anaxagoras
,
ho happened to be
,
w
.
,
.
present split the skull in WW and sho ed ho the
w
,
monstrosity a s the natural e ffect of a mal development -
in t he b ones o f the skull I t a s in Greece for the first .
ti me that the mind could move free ly out s ide the cha rmed
'
’
w w w
circle o f authoritative tabus and mysticisms
Thus it a s that hen the Gre ek tribe s came in Contact
ith and culled the fr u its o f the o ld c i vilizations the
.
ww w
, ,
civilizations of the O ri e nt they transformed them into ,
a ne po er a ne phase of hu man e volution ,

.
w It
formed
a s
.
in Greece that the H ellenic mind a s
no t
The miracle o f Greece took place in A sia
‘
. w
.
MA K I N G OF H UMA N I T Y
w
1 28 TH E
ended t heir j ourney came Thales fully equi p ped ith ,
the lore of Egypt a nd C halda ea and first introduce d
w
,
mathematics and astronomy and phil osoph ical S pecul a tion
ww w
to Greek lands and Anaximenes ho tho u ght all land
w
an imals including man ere descended from fishes ; and
H e ca ta ios
,
ho travelled oriental lands and

,
rote a
w w
de s cription of the orld half a century be fore H e r od ot os
w
of H a l ica m a s s os follo ed in his foo tste p s and A na x i
www
mander ho first dre map s such as that brass tab le
ith hich his countryman A r ist a gor a s astonished the
,
w w
Spa r tans hen he s ought to induce them to attack Lydia
w ith all the seas and all the rivers s e t d o n

upon it He said too to have invented the
,
w w
. a s
gnomon but that had bee n in u s e for ages at Ba b ylon
w
, ,
and it a s cu stoma r y to cre dit the first Greek ho

introduced an Egy p tian or Ba b ylo nian invention ith
w w
its discovery just as in the Middle A ges every Ara bian
,
inv ention a s credited to ho msoever in E u rope fir st
ww
happened to mention o r u s e it F rom" piney C olophon
came X enophanes railing at the gods hom H omer a nd
.
w
H esiod had pictured immoral and hom oxes and horses
w w
”
ou ld hav e pictured bovine or equine and taught
Parmenides of E lea from hom Plato learn e d F ro m
,
C la zome nae came the great Anaxagoras ho brought

I onian science t o A thens and taught his friend Euri p ides
w w
,
atheism F rom Ephesos came H e r a cle it os that I onian

'
’
.
,
N iet zsche ho in prou d scorn denounced the v ulgar in
w w
s ti nct s
w
o f the her d ho like asses preferred cha ff t o
gold and the ma n made valu es hich it mistook for
,
-
, ,
w
,
et ernal realities hile N ature and her uns e r ving force s

,
of perpet u al change and b e coming ere beyond good
w
and evil a nd From the Milesian colon y o f A bdera ;came
D e moc r i to s ho conceived mat ter as co mposed of atoms ;
w
and [from S a mos P yt hagoras half scientific geni u s half
crank ,
hom tradition perhaps t oo lightly dismiss e d
made the pupil no t only of C halda ean and Egyp tian
,
, ,
w w w
,
priests but of Persian and I ndian teachers

,
.
Thus a s the o l d ine of the O rient put into the ne
w
bottles o f Gree k icri ti cis m and rationalism
‘
w
.
It a s that concour se of exc e p tionally favourable con
d it ions hi ch mou ld e d tho s e qualities of the Greek mind

H ELLE N I C L I BER A T I O N 1 29
w
.
by
w
w w
virtue of hich a l l the evolutiona ry forces of the
w
race ere liberated and the orld transformed The
w w
.
hich brought a bout t hat lea p for ard o f human

’
'
a ge ncy
e volution
w
in H ellas
w
a s the s elf sa me agency hich
,
produced that other for ard bound in the last three

—
ce ntu ries o f the modern orld unfettered criticism and
-
ratio nal thought .
dest ructive as ell as const ructive w

G reece b uilt the Europe an orld ; but her t a sk a s
It a s
’
not s o
w . w w
much at Marathon at Salamis at Pl a tze a at Myca l e
w
, , , ,
that Greece overcame the O rient her chief victo ry over
w
it took place in the proce ss of her mental gro th The
East a s beaten ere a single soldier slave of the Great
K ing had s e t foot across the H ellespont
-
.
w
.
The many n a tione d hosts of Persia a nd her Tyrian

-
w
fleets ere by no means the so le nor the chief menace
hich Greece had to enco u nter A t one time the
,
w
.
fate of Europe the fate o f h u man evolution had b een
w
,
in ev en more grievous peril than hen Xerxes stood
w w
,
ith the blaz ing a n d smoking ruins of the old A cropolis

behind him on the rocky bro that fro ns o er sea ’
w
,
bo rn Salamis A century earlier the destinies of the

w
.
orld had fo r a moment ev en more fearfully and

, ,
momentously trembled in the balance And it a s not .
the hop li tes and seamen of Greece that saved them

then but a handful of g r u fl old men in I onia solitar ily
,
thinking and revolving in their mi nds unpract ical

things .
As the barbar c A ch ae an trib es gre unde r fertili z ing

i
contacts into the H e l lenes their myths a n d gods had

'
w
,
concurrently be en shedding all trace of supernatural

solemnity a n d sinki ng to the level of good humoured
rustic tales O ld H esiod had only made matters orse
.
by his endeavour to shape into a na i ve theology under

-
w
Babylonian inspiration the tangle of po pular folk lore
a n d to the H omeric bards the court o f O lympus
but the feudal court of a joyous Ach ae an Chieftain and

a s
-
w
his b oon companions
-
The native {E ge a n deities a d
.
mitte d on s u fl e r a n ce into the conquero r s pantheon helpe d ’
9
130 T H E MAK I N G OF H UMA NI TY
to bring disc redit upon it by bein g allotted the parts of
me fe hangers o u and bu ffoons the honest blacksmith
ww
-
H ephaistos g ot nothing but kicks from Z e us and a

pretty ife ho m a de him a laughi ngst o ck the great
'
‘
d Pan had to take his place in the train f the young
ww w w
g o o
Dionysos H ermes became a signpost to set travellers

,
on their a y T o the ne . mind of H ellas the o ld

tribal mythology hich it had outgro n became as a
w w w
,
religion utterly unadapted and unadaptable

,
.
I n the orld before Greece a s in the oriental orld
w
, ,
only one thing could under those circumstances have
w
, ,
happened A ne . a higher more , s p l r itu a l ,

’ ‘ '
religion ould have evolved and take n her place at

the h
w w w
e l m of the mind o f the race H a d that come a b out
'
w
.
there ould have been no H ellenic mind as e kno

,
w w
it no estern civilization built upon the foundation o f
w
that extra religious development
-
And it a s in fact
only by the narro e st margin that that catastrophe a s
.
.
averted and Europe made pos sible
w
religi ous ideas of the East lay as it ere on the
O n all sides the .
w
w
, ,
atch for the oppo r tunity that o ffered F rom the dark .
bosom o f Mo ther eart h that i nvisible nether orld that

-
,
-
holds the supreme mystery of fr u ctifica tion and genera

tion o f the eternal recurrence of life and death and
, , ,
rebirth arose the veiled phantasmal shape s of the

, ,
chthonic deities D emeter and Persephon e H ades

, , , ,
and H ecate and H ermes psychopompos the lords o f
w
, ,
the resurrection and the life everlasti ng A t Eleusis .

,
returned merch a nts had brou ght ne light out of the
ww
land of O siris and the elect cleansed of all impurities
,
by ritual aters a s initiated in the Egyptian hyp ostyle

,
w
,
hall of the Telesterion to the mysteries of religion and ,
admitted to partake of the mystic meal at hich the

high priest successor and representative of T r yp t ole mo s
,
raised the holy symbol of the heat ear the bread o f w -

,
ww
,
life the body of the ever dying and resurrecting god

,
- .
Eleusinian religion establ ished itself as e kno pretty
w
, ,
fi rmly in Greek life and all A thens set forth by t orch

,
light on the night of the i nter solstice to celebrate

the feast of the N ativity
I n the r u d e r N or th another god of the nether
'
.
orld -
w ,
T H E MA K I N G OF H U MAN I TY
w
132
some O rphic passag es H e had ho ever the
w
,
.
,
misfortune to be caught red handed at the old game -
o f forg ing documents some poems hich he sought to
w
-
father on Mu s a eo s And instead o f regarding the pious

-
fraud in a bro a d minded sympatheti c a y as some

-
, ,
quite respectable va riety o f religious experience the ’
w
,
A th e nians had the bad taste to prono u nce hint a li ar

a nd a scamp and O noma cri to s a s di scredited and
w w
,
disgraced .
So indeed a s afte r a bri ef suspense the hole O rphic
w
, ,
religious moveme nt It ha d see med indeed a s if G reece
w
.
, , ,
er e on the point of being submerged as if inevitably ,
th e dead hand o f a theocracy ere abo ut to b e laid
o f the w
upon the cradle of human thought and the liberation
orld be fo r ever stifled o r indefinitely prorogu ed
w w
,
w ww
.
F ortunately Greek thought a s already a ake The .
names of the heroes ho then saved the o rld ere

no t Miltiades Themistocles Pausanias but Thales
, , , ,
Xenophanes H e r a cle itos The thinkers o f I onia had
w ww
.
,
not thought and spoken in vain they had revealed to “
th e ne w
man a ne dignity and a ne p o er in himself A gainst
ma dness in particular against those ignorant
.
w
,
“
ex ploiters of ig norance the preaching god bearers the
w
-
, ,
most pestilent brood I ot of as A then ae us a gleaner , ,
of o ld texts calls them save perhaps those ho go
w
, , , ,
round collecting subscriptions fo r the D em eter against

all the hosts of unreason their voice a s raised in hot ,
and indign ant protest .
And Greece the better instinct of Greece heard the

sum
, ,
mons and rallie d round its thinkers E v en before .
th people of C roton summarily put an end to the
w
e
Pythagorean mystic b rotherhood O rpheus had slunk ,
a ay ou t of sight and Greece had pe remptoril y ,
given to all mys tagogues notice to quit and ce ase

from fooling O f mnce r ta int y and mystery there
is by Zeus enough in this strange rich li fe and
,
to spare But ho
,
w
shall the myths and mum
.
, ,
w ww
.
me rie s of a barbarian priest help it or ma ke it less;

w
w w
,
or other ise ? What can b e kno n e shall seek to

'
w w
‘
kno ith all the might of the honest means of kno

ledge hereof e dispose and hat e cannot kno ww w
ELLE N I C L I BER A T I ON
ww w w
H 1 33
e shall face fearlessly ith no less honest ignorance

But hile po er remains to the mind of H ellas the
.
thought of ma n shal l at least be free and to the gene ,
rations to come s o long as they can hear her voice
w w
, ,
H ell as shall be queath that heritage of

When ith lan guid half condescending curio s ity e
,
-
seek to gather from the survi v ing fragments a n d muti

lated relics collected in D iels s bo ok so me notion o f the
w
’
ideas a nd conce ptions often to us some hat na 1 ve a nd

,
crude of the early thinkers of I onia ho many of us w

w ww
, ,
rea li z e clearly o r at a ll that if it is given to u s to day -
w
, ,
to face t h e orld and its problems ith open eyes
w
,
ith so me small measure o f adequate po e r of clear

judgment a nd some armoury of accumulated kno ledge
a nd
,
under s tanding it is to those men ho to most w

w
, ,
are little more than empty names to the m in the fi rst
w ww
,
place and b eyond all others ho have subsequently

util iz ed the freedom they on that e o e it ? ,
w w
The Greeks ere the most purely rationalistic people
ww
that ever lived They ere s o t o a far greater extent
w
.
than e are be cause o u r mode rn thought has operated
w
,
only by thro i ng o ff la b oriously and ith only partial
w w
success the superincumbent
w w ww
tradition and prejudice ;
eight o f accumulated
hereas ith the Greeks
there a s virtually no such eight to be thro n o ff
w
.
T herein lies the unique perennial cha rm hich pe rvades
w w
,
a ll Greek thought and literature I n perusing it
w ww
e .
m e et ith much that is crude ith some ideas that a re ,
absur d ith others hich from the vantage point o f
ww
,
our present kno ledge are hopelessly erroneous and

p uerile
w
but e never come across
w
o b durate
p rejudice We al ays feel that e are in the presence
.
of open minds in hich the gro t h of thought the

,
inveterate
w
,
inqui rin g spiri t is never choked supplanted by dead
w
, , ,
hardened formulas by immovab le b linding dogmatic

, , ,
preconceptions C ompare old H e r od o to s ho is by
w
.
,
n o means a Xe no p h a n ic sceptic b u t on the contrary
w
,
a rather pious pe rson ith the tur gi d b om b astic loyal

, , ,
annalists of I ndia Assyria E gypt o r Jud a ea

, ho , , ,
134 T H E M A K I N G OF H UM A N I TY
ww
fo r thousands
w
invariably rote thousands for hundreds and illions
and in
,
ho m e have t o e x ca
,
m
~
vate every fact from under an imp e netrable moundi
w w
o f miracle mongering and nauseating
-
pa n e g yr i c l
ever H e r od o to s meets ith the m ira culous and supe r

W hen
w w w
natural or even ith patriotic exagg e ration he is filled
w
,
ith distrust and determined scepticism

a dove speak ith human voice ?
Ho
he asks hen to ld
could .
,
ww w
~
the legend of the prie s tess o f D odona ; the ravi ne '
Peneios a s caused b y Poseidon striking the e a rth ith

hi s trident he a s told but it appears evident to me
w
, ,
that it is the e ffect o f a n earthquake the Persi a n

fleet a s tossed about for three days until the Magi
ww ” w
quelled the storm by o ffering prayers and sacrifices
o r else it slackened o f its o n accord Even hen '
,
w
.
he recounts the most glo ing moments in the glories of

his o n people he j 1b s at any i mprobability When
ww ww
.
,
for instance he relates the story o f S cyll ia s o f S cio ne

, ,
the famous d iver ho a s said to have s u m e ighty
w
,
stadia to give the A theni a n fleet at A rtemisium arn

ing of the coming Persians he adds simply I f ho
, , ,
e ver I may o ffer an opinio n in the matter it i s th a t
w w
, , ,
he came in a boat I t is not that his intelligenc e

.
a s abnormally acute — a s it r eally more acute t h an
w w
that of those genia l and learned Egyptian a n d B ab y
w ww
Ionian priests ith ho m he conve rsed ? but becau s e
there ere no influences in the Greek orld hich
-
'
~
w
branded disbelief in the miraculous o r in a du latory
w
exaggerations as icked The Greek mind developed ’
ww
.
no t because it had essentially more po er but b ecause ,
that po er a s not crippled
w
.
A passion fo r rationalism became its supreme charac

t e r i s t ic
delight
.
.
T o reason t o argue t o di scuss ;
Politics government ha d ,
meant discussion conflicts of arguments not uk ases ;

,
ith them al ays

a s their,
w w
w
, , fl
and they extended the habit t o every p hase o f life
w
.
They ere the first t o rationalize ( in the theological

sense ) to criticize and t o reject their o n religious
w
, ,
traditions They con s tructed formal logic ; they r e
w
.
d u ce d dialectics t o a science eloquence ith them

meant argument a nd they orshipped eloquence a b ove
,
MA K I NG i O F
w
T HE H UMAN I T Y
w
136 "
e eo hi tion the human raceof
ww
i t a s
unfol d ed the ings o f the huma n mind create d ma n

hom o s a p ie ns an e
'
.
Greece ho
initiated a nd made possible a ll sub

. .
w
,
sequent evolution of t he r a ce
w
i
w
,
.
\
I t need cause no
. onder that the career of Greece
r
a s s o brief the onde r is not t ha t t he greatness of
w
.
Greece failed to maintain itself longer b u t t ha t it

.
,
f
succe e ded in maintaining itself at all It a s a .
premature birth only rendered possi b le by an e x ce p
ww w
,
t ion a l l y propitious concou r s e of circumstances : The
w
.
orld a s not in a c ondition to allo of any ration a l

«
socie ty human experience a s utterly insu fficient to

se r ve as an adequate basis fo r such an uncompromisingly
rational attitude as that of the Gre eks Politically .
they had managed to p r e s e nve the essential spirit of .
primitive t ribal democracy throughout all the altered
w
.
. .
conditions of adv anced civilization in spite o f the ,

'
numberless agencies hich in the ord inary course of
w
human circumstances necessarily put a n end to it They
ha d ithstood and overcome the encroachments of a r
,
. ,
w
chiefs the prete nsions of nobles the almost irresistib le
,
,
despotism o f money po er the corruption of forei gn

'
gold t he a r me d po er of the Persian

. They had by w
-
w ,
,
radical and elaborate contrivances endeavoured to adapt
w
democracy to the changed conditions But that achieve
w
ment a s almost a parado x a state o f unstabl e e q u ili
b r ium hich could not in the nature of things be kept
,
.
up indefinitely
w w
.
With some people s decad ence sets in insidiously

.
through the O peration of inherent faults hich slo ly

cre ep and extend and eat them up others lose their
balance at the very h eight of their s u cce s s a nd through
w w w
,
,
those very virtues and qua lit ies that made it The .
latter a s the case i th Gre ece o r hat is for us the
w
,
same thing A the ns A fter the repulse of the Persians
w
.
,
the A thenians gre intensely self conscious of their g r eat -
ness and glory a n d b e came infested ith the tox a emi a .
o f j ingo patriotism -
Patriotism is a n altruistic virtue
.
it means the sub ordination of individual self interest
w
-
,
to tha t of the community But then it all depends upo n .
ha t p r e cis e ly is unde rstood by the communi ty To ‘ ’

.
H ELLE N I C L I BER A T I O N
w w
137
w w
be patriotic to ards say Manchester may conceiva bly
w
mean to be unpatriot ic to ards England Athens a s
, ,
w
.
patriotic to ards Athe ns a n d unpatriotic to ards Greece .
That incu rable separatism those anton fatal bickerin gs

m
, ,
of hal f a dozen t ru m r y vi llages appear to us unspeak
w
,
a b ly foo li s h and ab surd and only to b e exp lained b y ,
s ome pecu l iar individualistic t ist o f the Greek

‘
w w
character But that separatism and interstate anarchy
.
ere as anton and foolish a s European separa tism and
w w
anarchy no more a nd no less Size is merely relative
w
,
and has nothing to do ith the mat ter ; the city

state a s the political unit of the Greek orld as the
'
.
nation state is of the European and even in his U topia

-
,
Plato could no t conceive of any other politic a l unit
w w
.
A league of Greek nations s u ch as the C ynic and ,
C yrenaic philosophers a dvocated a s all very ell b efore
w
,
th e instant menace of Pers i an aggression but a s a
w
,
pe rmanent order it a s an unpractical dream outside

the sphere of po litical realities I t ould fo r one thing
w
.
, ,
mea n the giving up o f the comma nd of the s e a a nd ,
that of course a s not even t o b e thought of So
w
, .
,
A theni ans stuck t o the empire and stood up fo r ‘ ’
w
,
A thens first A thens right o r rong The nemesis came
ww w
.
,
sharp a n d s if t in the quarries of Syracuse and on

the sands o f ZE gO Sp ot a mi a nd hen the traitor A lki
b ia d e s b razenly asked the A thenians hether it ould
’
pay them better to accept Persian gold as the price
w
in silence
,
w
of d emocracy or peris h utterly they hung their heads
w
And hen the Spartan Age s ila os act ually
,
w
.
”
ent forth in one last at tack against Pe rsia he a s driven
w
,
back he said b y thirty thousan d bo m en meanin g
ww
, , ,
th e golden darics stamped ith the figure of the Great

K ing as an archer ith hi ch the G reeks at home had
,
b e en b ribed a nd b ought and his r e ca ll secured ,

.
H ellas torn and exhausted b y incurable petty
w
, ,
patriotisms a n d jealousies and strifes and all the name
w w
,
less corruption and igno b le selfishness and lying hich

such contests breed a s
w w
it a s clear t o every one
,
f a st sin king lo er and lo er ; and the Peace o f

, ,
Ant a lkid a s
w
made her virtually a subject state o f the
Great K ing fro m hom the Gree k states a b jectly took
,
-
13 8 T H E MAK I N G OF HU MAN I TY
w
www
their orders The blossom a s drooping and ithering w
w
.
on its stem Ho long ould it be before the closing

tides of barb aris m hich ere already strangling the
w
.
w
,
Greek colonies in I taly and the i r resistible po er of ,
Persia before hich like a shivering bird hypnotized
w ww
, ,
by a serpent H ellas lay a doo med and helpless p rey
w
, ,
ould make an end of H ellenic civilization ? H o much

o f it ,
if anything at all ould su r vi ve ? Those ere ,
obviously the only q uestions When behold a strange
w
.
, ,
thing suddenly happened : instead of dying H ellenic
w
,
civilization co nquered the orld
w
.
—
There ere some Greek tribes probably as purely
w
Greek not i thstanding Pe on ia n and I llyrian admixtures
,
as the A thenians and ilesians

‘
M
w — ho had remained in
,
w
,
the back aters o f the Southern Balkans cut o ff from ,
the operation o f the influences hich p roduced I onia

and H ellas N ot e once more the true relative values
.
o f race and envi r onment : they remained insignificant

barbarians in e x actly the same condit ion as the early
w
Greek tribes Their mediocre little barbaric kingd om
.
a s o f no account until one of their kings sou ht to
introduce Greek culture and d re to his court artists

g
w '
and poets from the south Z euxis the famous painte r , ,
H ippocrates the physician possibly Thucydides the ,
histori a n Timotheos o f Mile to s the poet a nd musician

, ,
Agathon the tragi c poet and another far greate r and

w w
,
more tragic poet also Euripides by name a very s a d
w w
, ,
and very eary ol d man ith his faith in humanity
w w
,
sorely brui s ed and shaken ho ent thither t o die
ww
, ,
and be fore dyin g

,
r ote there his s an song the
,
-
,
B a ccha z The successor of K ing A r che la o s ho a s

.
b r ought up at Thebes perceived the possi b ilities pre

sented by the disintegration of the Greek city states
‘
-
,
systematically trained an army and after defeating ,
A thens and The b e s at C h a eronea es tablished a kind ,
o f sphere o f influence over all Greece getting himself

‘ ’
appointed a r chis t r a te go s o r as one might say in L a tin
w
, , ,
irn p e r a t o r o f the H ellenes H is s on even more carefully .
—
educated his chief tutor a s A ristotle landed a ve ry
e fficiently t rained and equip p ed little army t he e quivalent ,
o f some four modern div i sions on the plain o f Troy , ,

1 40 TH E M A K I N G OF H UMA N I TY
and s he has made the name of Greek seem no longe r
a badge o f b lood b u t o f mind and men are called ,
Greeks more because they have part in ou r culture

”
than because they come o f a common stock
She succumbed t o the very po er hich s he despise d
The early giants had att e mpted the su b lime task of
ww .
casting o ff all assumption and convent ion of founding ,
the mind o f man upon no other found a t ion than rational

thought
w
That quixotic attempt in a n age h a rdly
.
emerged from barb aric nescience a s no t in vain but w

w
,
.
it a s of course hopeless in its audacity They had

, ,
.
n o basis no facts no systematized experience hereon

, ,
to build A nd their successors in the pride of pure

. -
reason c a me more a n d more to reject and d espise mere
w w
o b servation and inqu iry t o cast as ide the germ s of the
,
scientific sp 1 r 1 t upon hose fou nd a tions s ca n t y as they
w w
y
ere the early thinkers had built

,
A ll the forces o f .
m ysticism ill to b elieve and fine sentiments

,
- -
,
ere ,
battering at the door like Persi a n hosts round
,
w
Thermopyl a e Thought l acking the armoury o f exact
.
data a s incapable o f o ffering resistance to the oriental

hordes o f nebulous visions and opium dreams hich w
.
,
w
steadily crept over the ground reclaimed b y rational
thought Plato s hines ( i th a splendour hich is alre ady
in large measu re p hosphoric F rom Platonism to N eo .
w
Platonism is b u t a step A s Greece had trans muted ‘
w
.
the bar b aric tinsels of the O rient into rich gold s o
w w
,
the East once more seized up on the je els of Greece

and ove them into my s t ic cabalistic ebs into it s , ,
gnosticisms a n d th e ol og ie s .
CH APT E R I II
PAX RO MA N A
S UP E R F I C I A LL Y the origi n of Rome some hat resembles

—
that of Greece small t ribes ( g e nte s ) in hom a jealous
w
w
spirit of indepe ndence is inveterate
w
fa mil ia s ho t the t ribal a r chiefs are the natural rulers
,
ieldi ng stern famili al authority and ill become the

w
H ere the p a tr e s
-
,
.
w
www
,
p a tre s c on s cr ip ti a n d the ruling patrician aristocracy .
As in Greece pha ses o f kingship

,
ere s e pt a ay ‘
by the insubordin ate fo r ces of tri b al democracy As

w
.
in Greece violent struggles and conflicts took place
w w
,
b et een patric ian a nd ple beian and here again the forces ,
of self defence proved too po erful to allo of any

-
complete triumph on the part of encroaching pri vilege .
A s Athens had its Solonian and K le is the ne a n revolutions

w
,
s o Rome had its Secessions to the Sacred H ill a nd its ,
Licinian la s
w
.
But under that superficial similarity lay di fferences

hich could scarcely be more profound
Greek of po verty st ricken H ellas a s perforce a s e a
W hile the
w .
w
-
rover a pirate an adventurer tasting o f all the 1 ich

,
of stay a t home fa r mers

- -
,
fruits of the eastern orld the Romans ere a tribe ww

ith a ll the peasant s limita,
,
,
tion of outlook conservatism stolid abstemiousness plod

, , ,
—
din g stubb ornness his close fis te d ne s s and keen eye for
w
,
the main chance The nece ssity of defending the ir crops

.
'
and of settling boundary disputes ith neigh b ouring

tribes made it a routine of their lives to be periodically
,
called ou t on comma nd o But they ere not tempera ww w

w w
.
mentally bellicose nor part icularly liked a r for its o n

sake . They aged it ith cool business like meth od -
and calculation and ea rl y learnt to atta in their ends

,
by negotiation alli ance s and hard dri v en bargains They

,
-
.
intense ly distrusted and di sliked adventure .
1 41
MAK I N G U MA N I TY
w
OF H
w
1 42 TH E
It a freakish paradox of fate hich thrust upon
w w
a s
w
tho s e cautious unim agina tive I tal ian Boers the part of
‘
orld conquerors When first dra n into ide foreign

-
.
embroilme nts after the first Punic Wla r they proclaimed ,
a policy of no annexations ( and large indemnities )
w
.
S cipio expressed the general a nd deep traditional feel ing

hen he advocated a Monroe doctrine deprecati ng all
,
w
e x pansion beyond the Tuscan A pennine and the
peninsula ; and e find the same caution recurring
even s o late as the political testament of Augustus and
w w
,
in H adrian s renouncement of the conquests o f Trajan

’
w
.
O nly hen their peasants eyes e re s e t agape at the ’
sight o f the undreamed o f ealth bro ught from Pontus -
a n d Syria by Lucullus and Pompey did they lose the ir
h e ads and be come i nfe cted i th the get r ich quick fe ver
What drove them to go empire building a s not a ny
w w -
,
- -
.
romantic ambition o r love of glory or vanity such as

might actuate an oriental despot o r a ny hollo ideal
o f empire and passi on fo r ru l ing but purely and simply
w ,
, .
,
w
,
the desire t o make money t o make money quickly ,

.
The conquests a s they soon s a,

o ffered plenty o f ,
opportunities ; the farm ing of taxes a r my contracts the , ,
financing o f p olitical as p irants money le nding at ex
w ww
-
,
orbitant rates and richest prize o f all the government

, , ,
o f a province hen the raising of the tribute a s left
w w
,
to the proconsul a nd no questions asked Those ere
w
.
,
the chief ays of making large fortunes ; there ere
w
no great industri a l enterprises then no rail ays o r o il
ells no great commercial organizations
,
had t o be invested and as there ere no industrial

The money
,
w .
w
,
a nd commer ci a l shares or gilt edged secu r i ties the

,
-
,
only possible form of permanent in v estment a s land .
They invested t heir money in land The origina l s mal l .
farmer being more a nd more frequently absent on active
w w
and a fe slaves
,
w
service his farml eft t o the care o f some elderly relatives
w
,
ent to r ack and ru in

.
He a s
w w
.
,
easily mortgaged or bought ou t I taly a s thus s oon
w w
.
divided into vast estates hich ere productively a nd
w
economically orked by means of slave labour hich
w
the a rs supplied in abundance A fter I taly the foreign
provinces soon follo ed I n the famous irnp e a chme nt.
.
-
144 TH E MA K I N G OF H UMA NI TY
Greek culture ,
w
hich they at first fie rcely resisted
did not su fficiently t ransform the enriched peasants to
.
,
enable them to continue it or use it a s the sta rt ing
w
,
point of o r ig ina l d e v e lop me nt The influx o f civilization

'
tended i th them in general to coarseness to the ,
vulgarity a nd megalomania of the nou ve a u r i che

'
In .
the pict orial arts they remained sterile save for the ,
—
prod uction of the realistic po rtrait bust the id e a l iziri g -
w
Greek never ca r ved a real portrait
hile carrying to high development the engineering
aspect of construction as in the arch and the dome
I n architect ure
,
.
-
,
—
they perpet rated and unfortunate ly perpetuated a s —
regards the purely artistic a nd dec orative aspect the
'
'
most appalling horrors of bad taste such as the pilaster ,
and the use of mixed orde r s G reek drama bored them ; .
they preferred mimes bu ffoons and acrobats ,

.
T o the end a stodgy pedestrianism remained the mark
w
o f their mentality
a s never theirs
The sacred fire the divine folly
.
The very b rief a nd evanescent g r a nd

,
w
.
s i écl e o f their literature did not contribute a single
w
creator to the O lympus of orld inspirers scarcely a
'
—
ork of genuine orig inal inspiration Lucretius t he ex
'
ponent of Epicurus and C atullus t he lover of C laudia
w w
, ,
Metella are the nearest approach to exceptions The

,
.
first brief outgush of imitative production a s follo e d
w
by an almost unbroken sterility Roman intellect tended
forth ith to settle into a rut of cultural traditionalism
.
w
w
it lived under the oppressive eight of the g reat ‘
models ho ha d s e t the standard of attainable excel

w
’
‘
lence The goal of literature a s to approximate as
w
.
closel y a s possible t o the form and language of those
wQ
consecrated g r e a t one s ho had fixed the ideal for all
‘
time In hat is calle d the silver age t he“ rococo ’
w w w
.
,
Renaissance of uintillian and Pliny literary art consisted ,
in imitating C icero hose language a s a s dead

,
‘
then a s durin g the I talian Renais sance O ther riters
w
.
,
like F ronto and Apuleius har ked b ack to s till old e r ,

- '
archaisms Ma tti e x a lie no s e culo p etunt er b a :

d uod e ci m ta b u l a s l oq u u m
.
‘
ur ( Seneca E p 1 1 4 , , ,
I n the last stages of the empire th e surviving cul tural
elements exhibi t exactly the same spirit and a ttitude

P AX R O MA N A
w
1 45
w hich centuries later

,
e
w
find in the grammarian
humanist the antiquity orsh ippe r of the Renaiss ance
-
.
Li ke him they lived upon the past Symmachus
w
.
,
Ausonius a nd their contemporary b elles le tt ri s ts might

,
-
be transferred ithout a single mental change from

th
s ame
w
w w
e fourth to the fi fteenth century 1
w
the ideal of refined
culture a s exactly the same in the t o pe ri ods the
hich still lingers on to our o n day in the
,
in t he a y of
w —
academic tradi tion of classical scholarship to indite
w w w
correctly C iceronian periods to compose a s eet thing
,
ell td rne d Virgi lian hexameters or ,
H oratian Verses clothed l n f o zy mythological language

r ,
to elaborate the obvious i n elegant conversation on
w
polit : literature to take a c hildish delight in paradin g
‘ ’
w w
,
one s familiarity ith the authors by a plentiful b e

’
sprinkling of quotations t o rehearse ith b e a t ific mental

,
vacuity the consecrated phrases to look do n from ,

‘
the heights of scholarship upon the common herd .

’
Literature tho u ght life itself b ecame a k ind o f ritual
w
, , , ,
a round of prescribed formulas and duties se rene ly ,
detached from the throb b ing actualities o f the orld ,
a breviary of correct things t o b e said thought

‘
, ,
a n d done correctly .
ww
But side b y side ith the fossiliz ation of an i mi tativ e
g row w
intellec tual culture there ent on a pr ocess of gen uine
th o ne h ich a p a rt
,
from the po litic al lega cy of
w
, ,
Rome a nd no t altogether distinct even from that con

, ,
s t itu te s her most momentous contribution t o the orld
w
,
and the most fundamental and distinctive feature of

her mental development That continuous p rocess hose
w
.
course runs unb roken from the first naturalization of

culture do n to the final sub mersion o f its last lingering
remnants is one of moral d eve lo pment I n Greec e ith
,
the first onse t of symp to ms o f eariness in t he w w

. w
metaphysical effort p hilosophical thought had sho n
w
,
a tendency to con centrate upon the purely human

ro b lems of li fe and conduct But it chie fl y i
w
p a s n
w
.
Rome t hat the tendency developed and mat ured Tha t .
e th ical aspe ct a s the only one hich appe aled to

10
1 46 TH E MAK I N G OF H U MA N I T Y
the Romans ; of metaphysics they took no account
ww
.
A love of solemn moralizing a Po lonius like senten ,

-
tiou s ne s s a s al ays a trait of their peasant ps ychology .
The creed of Stoicis m so congenial in its a ffinity to ,
the old austere Latin s p irit became their lay religion ‘
w
, ,
the dominant vein of Roma n thought I t s identification
w
.
ith the chief intellectual occupa tion of the cultivated

classes the sphere of la
,
the development of juris ,
prudence led to the greatest and most permanent
ww
,
concrete achievement o f Rome A ll Roman thinkers .
ere la yers ; the ultimate goal and p ractical applica

tion of their education their literary their rhetorical
w
their philosophic training a s the la courts
a s a natural consequence o f the administrative tasks
,
,This w w ,
-
.
,
It w
and pro b lems thrust upo n them b y the expanding empire
a s the great discovery o f their cautious ma tter
.
w
,
of fact minds om ni u m vir t u tu m e t u tzl zta tu m r a p a

’ ’
cis s im i — that the only really effective a y to man a ge

1
'
and rule me n is by a cer tain amount o f fairness and

justice that honesty i s an asset in business even if
, ,
that bu siness b e the most atrociously immoral exploita

tion They ha d long recogni z ed that the p rinciple o f
.
freedom and j ustice to conquered populations a s the

most practically e fficient as ell as fiscally the most w w
w
,
p rofitable I n those circumstances the o ld code o f
w
.
the T elve Ta b les required constant adap tation and

supp lementing b y means of case la ; heterogeneous
population s had to b e dealt ith under the princi p les o f
'
the ins ge nti u m that is legal normis common to all

w
nations ; and this in ti m
, ,
e gave rise and p lace to the ’
to some i deal
w
conception o f a j u s na tur a l e natural p rinciples of equity
a notion hich although vagu ely su p posed to refe r
,
state o f nature simply amounted t o

‘
,
,
’
,
this that all privilege and social d istinctions all

, ,
~
arbitrary traditional usages must be r egarded as ,
w
artificial conventions and that justice rests therefore ,
upon the necessary postulate o f unsophisticated equalit y .
F ifteen centuries b e fore Rp u s s e a u a nd the D r a fts d e '
l hom me U lpi an laid do n the p rinc iple that A ll

’
,
men a r e b o r n free a nd equal'
F ro m that g reat and .

s
Pl i n, H i s t
‘
. Na t . 2 5 , 3 , 4 .
M A K I N G OF H U MA N I TY
w
148 TH E
w w w
hose rules and tenets have b e en d escrib e d to us by
Epictetus They ere vo ed to po verty and celibacy
w
.
,
m
they ere fathers to all e n be ing thei r s pi ritual sons ,
and omen their daughters in G od they p reached as
w
,
messengers from God the gospe l o f renunciation a nd
w
repentance they ere to su ffer ca l ml y s coffs insults
m
a nd b l o
,
s a nd to love the that d id them r ong and

persecuted them
,
.
"
w ,
I n the closing centu ries of the We stern Em p ire the
w
1
moralizing spi rit te nd ed l ike the literary to settle into
ww
, ,
an esta b lish ed vein of consecrated s e ntirne nt gro ing ‘
some hat fro z y a nd conventional The ty p ical Roman
w
.
gentleman of the d ecadence espe cial ly in the p rovince s
w
,
the life of a ll large and Wealth y cities is al ays '
immoral
w
‘
a confirmed puritan the model of
‘
a s -
,
staid bourgeois virtues and as morally correct in his
w
,
sentiments as in his literary tastes H e and his omen .
folk ere quite early Victorian in their st odgy b es eem -
ingne s s strait lac e d p ropriety a nd serious earnestness

,
-
,
w
on the subj e ct of moral platitudes H e subscri b ed .
w w w
to charities and read family p rayers to the servants
w
‘
, .
I f he did not adopt C hri stianity it a s because his
w
'
settled toryism a s some hat s hy of ne fangled la b els ; '
w
he a s not quite sure that the c ha pe l people e re
'
“
quite the thing and he disapp roved o f the u nd ignifie d
‘ ’
w
,
excesses of his friend s ho took to miona s ticis m and

hair shi rts But in mora l sen time nt he a s quint
w w w
-
.
essentially C h r istian or r a the r his C hr ist ian neighb our s ’

'
moral sentiments ere nought else than his o n pa gan

righteousness associated ith extraneous mystic and
dogmatic elements .
The intellectua l culture of the ancient orld even w

ww w
.
,
at I t s be st su ffered from a fundamental disa b ility and

,
1 ‘
eakness I t lacked a s olid a nchor hold in concrete
w
-
w
.
kno led ge I t a s p r e s cie nti fic

.
-
.
The po er of rationa l thought de pends upon t o

.
elements its me thod and its data Without adequate

,
’
‘ .
P AX R OMA N A
w
1 49
da ta ithout exp e rience consistency and rational ity are
w
, ,
o f small avail The pa tient investigation o f details

.
,
toilsome inquiry and resea rch the s lo accumulatio n ,
o f facts on the one ha nd a nd the b r oad judgments of
w
, ,
generali zing thought on the othe r are unfortunately
w w w
, ,
the attributes of t o di fferent type s of mi nd T he
w
.
spe cialist ho d el ls in a little orl d of little details

gro s to be satisfied and to take p leasure in those
p w w ww
minuti a e ; o ne little fact exact ly ascert a ined is the
rize to
wards hich hi s mental activities
su ffic es him he is not fl r a n to ards broad and ne
’
,
tend ; it
hori zons he is not at home in the t hi nner a trno s p he r e

'
'
w
,
o f generalizations The thinker on the ot he r hand

.
, .
,
chafes at t ri fl e s a nd details ; he ho is accustomed to
w
fly on the p inions of thought cannot su ffer to be confined
w
a n d cra l am ong the dust o f isolated fact s To numbe r
‘
the hairs on the appendages of a ne spe cies of shrimp

,
w ww
,
is a tas k belonging to an o rder of mind dis tinct from that
w w
hich is dra n to ards the great p r o b lems o f life a nd ’
of the universe ; a n inferior if you i ll humdrum , , ,
myopic round shouldered order o f mind O nly hen
w w
-
, ,
.
the multiplicity of facts and details be comes illu minated “
by a generali zin g theory hen each sma ll fact a n d cac h

,
‘
small detail is transformed into a i tness to a great

and uni versal significance d o they acq uire va lue and ,
interest to the higher type of intellect .
I n the exultant confidence o f its di alectic freedom

and suppleness the Greek mind never develope d any
w
,
consciousness o f the sacred ness of o b se rv e d fact It .
a s a b stract A ccuracy of thought meant fo r it

.
accuracy in the O pe ration of discursive rea s on logic ; ,
but it never formed any conce p tion of accuracy in

the basis of the reasoning process in the materials
a n d data of thought in asce rtain e d exp e rience
,
ready to disp o rt itself in the dialectica l game on any

It a s
,
. w
,
w
given theme on any gi ven premises ; but so long as .
those p remises ere logically d efin ed it d id not trou b le

ve ry much as to t heir intrins ic vali dity I t had curiosity
w
‘
.
,
bu t no t the thirst fo r hoard ing u p the coins of kno ledge
w
'
not the pr eoccupation for submitting their value to

cruci al test The hole intellect of the G re eks Wa s
.
1 50 TH E MAK I N G OF H UMA N I T Y
concentrated upon the intellectua l p rocess itself to the
almost entire neglect o f t he materia l s upo n hich that w ,
process ope rates

w
I t navigated a dventurously the seas
w
‘
of speculation but ith neither comp ass no r loadstar ;

,
it s e t ou t in search of strange lands but ithout any
w w
,
means of taking its be arings
w
.
I n the hole o f classical literature e cannot find

above t o d oubtful mentions of anythin g like a scientific
expe riment ; that o f Pythagoras o n the vibr ation o f
a cord and that o f Ptolemy on refra ction
,
encycloped ia o n the natural kno led ge of his day Pliny

I n his
w .
w
, ,
among a host o f grotesque hea rs ays does not once use ,
the ord expe rime nt in ou r sense

‘
I n the most
’
w w
.
methodical thinkers of G reece in A ristotle for instance , ,
e meet ith the most astounding carelessness in

matters of easiest verification H e states for instance .
, ,
that there is onl y one bone in a lion s neck that ’
w
,
ma n has eight rib s that me n have more teeth than,
omen that men only ha Ve a be ati ng he a r t that female

'
w
, ,
skulls unlike those of males have a circular sutur e

, , ,
that eggs float on s e a Water that if s e a ater be -

,
-
collected in a Wa x vessel it b e come s dr inkable The
w w
.
Greeks in short ha d no science a nd no scientific s p irit

, , , .
I t is science a nd the scientific spirit hich constitutes
ww w
.
the distinction be t een the ancient and the modern

orld .
It a s indeed on the foundation of the fe f acts

, ,
and methods gathered b y C hal d a ean and E gypt ian ' ‘
science that G reek thought first arose ; and the early

I onian thinkers came ne a r e n to the scientifi c spirit than
w w
w
almost any Gr eek in su b sequent times But even ith .
ww
them the chief interest lay i th th e final synth e s is ‘
the generalization ; a nd ith brilliant divination they

, ,
used that faculty of in s p i re d guess o rk hic h is one
w
-
w
o f the mos t valuab l e instruments of science and its
cro ning triu mph but hich has little plac e in its
w
w w
'
begin nings Thereaf ter the only formof science hi ch

,
w w
‘ '
w
.
,
a s at all cultivat e d b y the G reek s a s ma thematics ,
hich is a for m of logic and in hich they ere

' ‘
w
.
interested as l ogic a nd music not as an instrume nt ‘

,
’
of research Plat o ould have none b ut ma the ma

.
‘
1 52 TH E MAK I N G OF H U MA N I TY
ma n
ho
'
—
w w
w
hand o urselves
w
.Ho
’
The prope r study of mankind is
ise and sensible that all sounds " And
that strai ght fo r ard common se nse has al ays
.
w '
captured the approval o f the plain ma n And yet it .

‘
is an utter and pe rnicious fallacy I t is through that
w
.
star gazing that ma n has first been p laced in a position

-
to measure at all his o n stature the p ropo rtion and
w
,
significance o f his life in the universe That natural .
history as it used to be called that harmle ss some hat

’
w
, , ,
child ish hob b y o f collecting moths o f studyin g birds ,

‘
a nd trees of botanizin g and bir d nesting that some hat
'
w
, ,
absurd trifling pastime ha s 10 and behold " develop ed
ww
, ,
into a s cience o f biology and the hole conception the
w
,
hole significance o f man of his life of his be ing
w
, , ,
o f his orld has b een utterly t r a ns figu r e d Ma n e nt .
abo ut fo r centuries ith I mb flt O a v r év on his S ignet ring ’ ' ' -

,
studying hims elf studyin g humanity p leasantly talking
w
, ,
and talking round and round in old circles to no
w
,
p u r pose And be. hold the only real kno ,

ledge the , .
,
only illumination the only revelation hich ha s come ,
w
about hims elf has come from that un p racti cal star
,
gazing and studying o f be asts a nd plants H e thought
w w
.
to begin at the beginnin g by attendin g to hat lay

closest at hand his o n self ; and he a s in reality
w
,
in vain and futile e ffor t t ryin g to begin at the top He

could no t righ tly understand hi m
w
;
,
s elf at all ithout first

trying to understand the orld he lived in Through
w
.
that remote irrelevant inquiry lay in fact the main

,
road to self kno ledge -

.
A s all their scientific notions had the roaming by

I onians been der ived fro m Egy t and C ha ld m s o the
w
'
” p a ,
on ly organized scientific movement in the hole of

classical antiqui ty that of th e Ptole maic U n iv e rs ity of
‘
,
’
A lexandria took p lace on the foundations unde r the

ww
, ,
influence on the ve r y soil o f Egypt iWCl th only one or

, .
t o notable exce p tions A le x andrian science occupi e d
w
itself ith systemati z ation and compilation rather than
ith original discovery and development of method
The first oc cupa nt of the chair of ma thematics Euclid ,
’
.
did little more than order and gather together the

P AX RO MA N A 1 53
s cattered geometrica l th e orems of his I onian p re

d e ce s s o r s H ipp ocrates o f C hios
,
in particular and
w
E u d ox os of Cnid os the friend of the priests o f H eliopolis
ww
, ,
Whose mantle the A pis bu ll had li cked Th e only .
w
mechanical device hich e ac tua lly kno to ha ve bee n
use d b y A rchimed es the pupil of Euclid s su ccessor ,
’
w
C onon the A rchimede an sc r e had be en in use on the
w ww
, ,
ww
N ile be fore Greece e xisted The greatest systematizer
w
.
of astronomical kno led g e a s H i p p a r cho s hose ork ,
only kno through the clums y com p ilation of
w w
e
w
C laudi us Ptolem ae us a ork fu ll of astrological fancies ’
, ,
hich pe rp etuated for centuries the un ieldy m ethods ‘
and doctrines o f epi cycles A r is ta r chos of S amos ho .

,
first suggested the simp lification o f all astronomy on

the theory o f a central s u n and moving earth could ,
no t get a hearing
ww w
.
I t is a nota b le and striking fact that G reece and ,
Rome ; ho s o comp letely transfo rmed the o rld and

op ened u p a ne universe o f civilization d id not produce ,
a single p ractical invention or industrial discovery of

any imp o rtance
o f the ancient
glass glazed po rcelain
.
w w
A lmost a ll the crafts and industries
orld textile fa b rics dyes pa pyrus
e re oriental discoveries and
, , , ,
w
, ,
remained es sentially oriental products F rom t he early .
days o f B a b ylon and Egyp t there is no ne ma terial ‘
discovery o f i m
w
po rtance to re co rd until the introduction
w
ww
of pape r d and the mariner s compass into ’
g u np o
,
t e r ,
Europe by the A rabs The genius hichl cou ld create .
a ne
‘
orld of intellect di ffe ring fro m that of the

'
'
w w
,
O rient as noonda y from midnight appeared incapable ,
of extending in any a y the material po e rs and

r esources o f life So far as material pr ocesses are
.
concerned the Roma ns excelled the G reeks : they did

,
excel in engi neerin g and the building arts in road .

,
m aking drainage mining : the G reeks never got so

’
w
, ,
w
far as ma king a road or bui ldin g an aqueduct The .
pr actical a nd realisti c Rom an mind a s really more

‘
w
dispose d to ards observation and research t han the
Greek but it a s entirely governed by the influe nce
,
of Greek tradition ; and hen C ae sar ished to reform w w

the calendar mathe matici a ns and astronomers ha d to
,
1 54 THE MAK I N G OF H U MA N I TY
be fetched
‘
fr o m Egypt
The G ra e co Roman civiliz a
i
.
-
tion rema ined p r e s cie nt ific
w
-
.
F ailing that necessary in gredient no real p ro gr ess

w
in the po e rs o f the hu man intellect be yond a s e t
limit a s po ss i b le \ A dozen success ive Athens could
w
w w
.
no t have carried i t any f urther I t co uld ander this .
a y and tha t a y circle round to its starting poin t

,
-
,
but it cou ld never estab l ish its advance by any pe rma nent
occupation of the conquere d territory A nd it remained .
,
in spi te o f all the splendid rationalism" o f Greece and

Rome es sentially destitute o f any solid p rotection o r
w
,
security against the i mp in gin g curre nts and tides o f

irrationalism Modern expe rience has sho n time and
.
again the insecurity a nd po e rlessness of the most

brilli a nt ab s tract intellectual achievement until it is
l
w ,
grounded in the solid b asis of demonstration and um

shakable evide nce I t has become a co m
w
science that the true d iscoverer is no t the man ho
. mon p lace o f
w
w w
formulates b u t he ho substantiates not the brilliant
thinker ho first glimpses the vision of truth but the
,
w
'
humd ru m plodder ho accumulates such a foun da tion

‘
o f facts that all the orld cannot shake it

Be s ides that fundamental limi ta tion ancie n t culture a s
.
w
inadequately di ffused Al though it had no esote r i c s p 1 r 1 t
w
.
w ww
ww
-
the ruling class did no t o e their po er t o tradition ,
—
but to ealth altho ugh its circulation a s fre e the circle
w
,
of men in the Roman Emp ire ho ere at all ab r east

of the mental resources o f the age
tre m el
y
ww
w
restricted E v en a mong the
.
a s in reality ex
ealthy
propo r tion ere ne and vu lg a r rich idlers zng e ny i
a large w ,
'
w
, , ,
self made men

-
ho cared fo r none of these things
,
.
There a s no organi z ed pr ovi s ion fo r general educatio n ,
and no agency like the p rinti ng pre s s to make u p for

,
-
,
the deficiency I n a ti ny com p a ct conun u ni ty like

.
,
A thens every citizen came more or l e s s under the in

,
fl u e nce of existing culture I n the teeming hetero
w w
.
,
n shifting population o f vast empire the case
w w
g e eo u s ,
a ,
a s very different Those s arming masses o f humanity
w
.
ere no t mere herds o f crush e d ori e ntal slaves ith
w
,
chi ld like mind p atiently slumbering in a t i light of

-
, .
'
tradition ; but as s o many ars in ou r o n civilization

,
MA K I N G UMAN I TY
ww
TH E OF H
w
1 56
from C hald aea onder orkers from Egypt H ebre

,
-
,
caba li sts Persian magicians S yrian sorcerers I ndian

, , ,
fakirs the O rient po ured legion after legion of grave
w w w
, ,
stealthy tonsured and mitred p riests sent religion afte r

, ,
religion t o take possession of the orld city -

.
T o the p hilosophic moralists of Rome ho esche e d ,
metaphysics their ethical convictions aspirations and

,
endeavours needed no external dogmatic or emotional

,
w w w
support sought no othe r religion than the divinity
w
‘
w
,
ithin their o n breast The kingdo m o f G o d a s

.
’
ithin them They looked ith disgust and abhorrence
w m
.
on those barbaric and effemi nate su p erstit io ns a nd strove ,
long to put them do n and exclude them But the minds
w w
.
of the ignorant and troubled asses and above all the ,
omen found exact ly hat they thirsted fo r in the

,
'
mystery of those eastern cults A marv e llous pea ce
w w
w m
.
fell upo n them in the extra undane atmosphere of the -
as from a dist ant sphere no

,
ww w
dim s a nctuaries sounding i th solemn mu s ic no
w
afted
eepi ng ith the tender
,
ness of human sorro presently b ursting for th into trans

,
,
figu r e d ecsta s is of trium p hant hope The grave rituals .

,
the chanted hymns and litanies the solem n intonation
ww w
,
of the Mithraic clergy as they called u pon the Lamb

of God that taketh a ay the sins o f the orld soothed
w w
,
their troubled passions as ith a delightful balm ; and

they ere thrilled ith a strange excitement as the
tinklin g he ll of the acolytes announ ced the culminating
w
myst ery o f the servi ce and amid c l ouds of incense the
w w
, ,
w
o ffi ciating priest tu rned to the kneeli ng cro d and raised
w w w w
breast high the sacred chalice filled ith the ine of
-
life They ere born again t o a ne life as the cleans
w w w
.
ing bapt ismal aters ashed a ay the stains of misery
w
and s in ; and hat emoti on over helmed them hen
-
a fter a stern preparation of fast and penance they ere

,
w w
,
admitted to pa r take of the sacramental communion o f
w
,
the consecrated bread hich a s the ve r y body of the
w
Go d 1 The
Qw w
omen found ine ffable comfort in unburden
ing their so rro s before the u een of H eaven ho bore
w
in her arms he r D ivine S on and ho se emed to mingle her ‘
,
tears ith theirs as s he mou rned over the Dead God .
The thought of death itself lost its sting for the

P AX R O MA N A
w
1 57
votar ies ho received the assurance of eternal life from

the Saviou r and Mediator ho had triumphed over the
grave .
w
East and West have not only met again a nd again
w
,
they have ind is so lu n commingled

’
I n the H el lenistic ;
O rient of the Macedonian Empi re t he d a n myths and '

-
hieratic rituals of the East and the dialectics a nd meta

physics of Gre ece had come togethe r and b rought fort h
s trange hybrid chimeras ; ne religions innumerable w ,
w
,
countles s illumi nated and asce t ic s ects Essenic and
w
,
E b ionitic N azarene a n d T he r a p e u t r id s arm e d from the

, ,
ancient bre i ng vat And in Antioc h and Al e x andria all

-
w
.
the mysticism occultism t r is me g is ta l p hilo s op hume na

, , ,
and a b racadabra s o f Je ry ma gi c Egypt a nd O rp hic , ,
pseudo H ellas held their Sa b bath of U nreason Platonism

-
,
.
ha d become Plotini sm philosophy theosophy metaphysics
w
, ,
gnos is The Word had become God
w
. .
The I siac and Serapic cults of Rome e re no more

the religion of ancient Egypt Mithraism a s no more
the Ma zd a e a nis mo f Persia than C hristianity a s Judaism
,
w
Religi ons interchan ged their sy m
w
.
,
bo ls and rituals be came
w
,
transformed into a ne syncretic uniformity more homo

g e n e ou s than t he prim itive seasonal rites
had sp r ung a nd the orshipper passed from shrine to
,
shrine as he might from one saint s chapel to the

w hence the y
'
adjoining one
w w
.
A s once the cor ru p ted fragments of H ellenic thought
w
,
s o like ise the ethi cal spirit of Rome a s absorbed in

the po pular ferments o f mysticism and blended ith
ww w
,
the ascetic fe r vo u r o f the East The guilds a nd b rother .
ho ods hich ere attached to each cu lt fostered the
w
feelings of human fello ship and mutual help Mithraism
in pa rticu lar o ing t o its Avestic origin the s implest
.
w
, ,
and therefore the purest of popular cults add r essed
w
,
itself to the po or the lo ly a nd disinherited the m a ster

, ,
knelt b e side his slave in the mysteries and a s not ,
infrequently called upon to regard him a s his spi r itual

su perior That cult seemed a b out to absor b a nd super
.
sede all others and to b e come u nde r the impe rial
w
,
patronage of Au relian the o ffic ial religion of the Roman

orld .
TH E MA K I N G OF U MA N I TY
ww
1 58 H
That position a s ho ever ultimately assumed by a
w
, ,
cult that be came the most luxuriant syncretic pr oduct

o f the
w
H ellenisti c East sheltering i thin the mystic
shad o s of its dens e veget a tion of rich allu siveness every
religiou s idea and every t heO SO p hic thought that the orl d
,
w
had ever brou ght forth I t came like Mithraism from
Antioch but from the Je ish instead of from the Persian
.
w , ,
w
,
elements of the eastern metrop olis or as some think , , ,
originally from Jud a e a itself here the nucleus of it s ,
ideals ha d indeed long develope d in the monastic com
w
mu nit ie s of the Essenes and N az arenes H ence as
formerly the Je s had violently re p udiated their spiritual
.
,
de b ts to Babylon and Persia it insisted on its exclusive

ness refused to recognize in any a y and even denounced
,
its creditors While in an ev en higher deg ree than

,
w ,
w
.
,
other cults it gave voice and eru p ha s is to the reigning
w
,
ethical spirit and a s like them an a g a p e a religion of

, ,
love it a s unfortunately distinguished from them b y

,
the darkling taint the old d e lir i u mheb r a icum of u ncom
w w
, ,
promising intolerance Professor F alta de Gracia goe s

.
ce rtainly t oo far hen he say s that it a s the religion of

hate but it gave expres s ion to t he seething discon
tent of hu m an su ffering t o the detest a tion o f the intole r
able order o f the established orld to all the ina r ticu
,
w
w w
,
late forces o f hostility against the Roman government ;

that od i um g e ne r is hu mtcm
,
a nd it i hich gave it
‘
a s
an immeasurable significance a nd advantage over all ,
competitors
The fall of the Roman Empire ha s ever been the

grand theme of historical philosophizing The event
w
.
is generally held t o be accounted fo r by utter
w
‘
ing the ord co r ru p t ion

‘
So far as political co r ’
w
t .
r uption goe s Roman administration a s a s corrupt in
w
,
the days of Ma riu s he n a petty A frican chief Ju gurtha

'
w w
, , ,
bou ght ith gold every envoy a nd every gene ral that
a s sent t o p u t him do n a s at any subsequent time
‘
not excepting the fou r th and fifth centuries And as ” ,
.
,
for moral corru p tion since the primitive dour austerity

, ,
disappeared in large measu re aft er the second Punic

M A K I N G OF H UMAN I TY
w
1 60 TH E
class vain o fficial voices ere raised t o a p peal to

. In
their patriotis m t o their duty of helping and defend
’
w
, ,
ing and saving the S tate Those appeals left them

‘ ’
w
, .
pe rfectly cold and indi fferent ; they ans ered bluntly

that they felt no patriotis m hatever that the co l d ‘ ‘
w
,
monster the State might look after, itself They became

,
’
.
C hristians They made u p their o n little organizations
w
.
fo r mutual help a nd protection and resistance against ,
the St a te They utterly diso ned it and denounced

‘
i t they refused to serve it ; i t might go to pe rdition

,
for all they cared it a s no country no patria o f

theirs their kingdom a s not of this orld I n Gaul in
,
, w
w w ,
the third centu r y the peasants the coloni broke ou t , ,
into open revolt into anarchy and plu nder just as the y
w
, ,
did later at the time of t he j a cq a en e s and o f the

'
F rench Revolution Though partially put do n for a

time b y Ma x imia n the B a ga a d insurrection continue d
till the e nd .
.
,
'
w
Whe n things got most despe rate the Roman govern
ment had the good fortu ne t o find a strong man of
extraordinary a b ility a nd energy D iocletian H e set , .
to consolidating e veryt hing in the most vigorou s manner
w
,
raised the army to four times its strength and reorganized

it strengthened the entire net ork of administration a nd
w
,
centra l government and made the la tter absolute H is
ww
.
aim a s to stay all further disintegration by rigidly

pinning things d o n ith iron b onds in their existing
state When a social st r ucture visibly threatens to topp le
w w w
.
o ver rulers try to prevent it f rom falling by p revent

,
'
ing it from moving The hole of Roman society a s .
fixed in a system of castes no one a s to cha nge his

avocation the s on must continue in the calling of his
w .
,
father Sedition discontent di s loyalty ere dealt ith

,
ith a strong hand Though part ial t o many C hristian

,
w w ,
w
.
religious ideas a nd counting many pe rsona l friends in

the sect he even decided t o put do n C hristianity H i s
,
.
su ccessor C onstantine tried the O pposite policy that
w
, , ,
o f conciliation a n d concessions had the inge ni ous idea ,
t o avail himself of the admirable net ork of C hrist ian

organi zat ion C hristian trade unions to assist a nd
,
-
,
.
s treng then the gov e rnment .

PA X R OMA NA 161
But evils secularly deve loped a nd lying at the very .
root of a socia l order are not to b e remedied at a stroke

by either vigorous or ingenious po litical mea sures
of exploited population a nd t h
w
W hether vigorously put do n or conci liated the masse s
e municipia re m ained in
,
.
different a nd hostile
'
a nd joined
,
it h themw w
When the barbarian flood broke
w w
.
through they not only did not resist but e lcome d them
The p o erfu l decide hat the
, ,
poor have to pay

”w
The poor thirs t fo r freedom a nd
.
have to endure e x treme se rvitude rites S a lv ia nu s
w
,
in the fifth cent u r y I Wonder only tha t a l l the poor and
w
, ,
needy d o not run a ay except that they are loath to
w w w
,
a b andon their land a nd families Should e Roma ns
w
.
ma rvel that e cannot res ist the Goths hen Roman ,
citizens had rather live ith them than ith us ? The

Romans in the Gothic kingdo ma re so attached to the
w
Roman gove rnment that they pre fer to remain p oor under
the Goths to being ell off among the Roma n s and
w w
-
,
be a r the heavy b u rdens of taxation Wi th unfailin g
w
.
instinct the clergy sa in the ild B arbarians a better
w
,
promise of po e r a nd infl u e nCe fo r the Ch u rch than in

the o ffic ial ly convert e d Roma n Empire hic h in s pite ,
of Constantine and Theodosius remained the Beast , ,

’
the enemy They accordingly smile d on the invader
w
.
,
encouraged him fl attered him The Roman clerg y
w
.
, ,
ere undisguisedly p ro Ge rma n The y resolutel y

-
.
,
i nked at a n d m i nimi z ed any atrociti e s H a d there
w
.
,
been a ma ssacre ? We ll men had to die sooner; or

, .
later An d hen Al a r ic put Rome to the sack looting

i
ww
.
, ,
burning and ravishing St Augustine emp loyed himself
ww
.
, ,
in composing a dissertation on the quest ion hether or

no the outraged virgins o uld be entitled to the cro n
o f m aidenhood in the ne x t
'
orld .
HA PTER
C IV
B ARB AR I S M AND B YZAN TI N I SM
tVVE have s o far seen three b roadly di stinguished stages
w
mark the course of human evolut ion F irst the long
w
primitive tri b al stage in hich custom thought ruled
.
, .
ww w
-
absolute broken only no a nd again and only to b e

, ,
rene ed ith but slightly eakened force b y material ,
discov eries and t he cl a s h of cultures T 0 that original
w w w
/
. 1
phase succeeded that of the g reat orient al civilizations

holly domi nated by theoc ra tic po er though t hose -
w ww
absolutism is only occasionally and ineffectuall y challenged
by military po er a nd hich o in g t o i ts greater su btle ty
o f direction a nd
, ,
el a sticity of interpretation v ir t ually ,
nu l l ifie s t he disruptive e ffects of cross fert ilization
w w w
-
.
;Thirdly comes the extraordi narily felicitou s accident o f

Greece hi ch at a blo a l most completely liberates the
w
,
hu man mind fromcustom and po er thought and raises
w
~ -
,
it t o undreamed of heights of po er a nd unfettered

-
e fficiency But hile it utilizes a l l the avai lable data
ww
.
of rational thought i t con t ri b utes little to their increase
w
, ,
a nd it s po verty in that r espect cripples the p o e r hicl t

it derives from freedo m {The orld contains a s yet too
“
.
w
much barbarism and too much orientalism ; and the '
G r a e co Rom an phase of civilization succum b s at last to
w
-
a gigantic tide of those elements hich submerge a n d
ww
.
ove r helm it I t is event u a lly succeeded b y a fou r th

.
ph a s e the one in hich e live
w
,
m
That phase is sharply separated from t he foregoi ng one
ww
.
by the tre endou s catacl ys m out of hich it arose ‘
w
.
I t is largely o ing to that circumstance that the process
w
.
o f hu m a n progress ,
hen est i ma ted by the narro parallax
o f ou r ordinary historic pu r vie is not obviousl y and
,
indisputably recogni z a ble That short s p ace of t ime is

.
'
T H E M AK I N G HUM AN I TY
ww
1 64 OF
do nfall a s a process of t ransit ional thou gh rapid , ,
disintegration rather than a sudden and violen t cataclysm
w
although the cont e mporaries of Alaric and of R omulus
ww
Au gu s t u lu s ere scarcely a are of hat a s happenin g
—
that a orld a s dropp ing into chao s ye t no civili z at ion
w ww ,
ever su ffe red mo re complete o bli teration I t is the most
w
.
appalling catast rophe in h i story H uman civili z ation

’
www
,
.
seemingly po e rful a nd securely established embracin g ,
the kno n orld in one large orga nized peaceful , pros
ww
,
p e r ou s societ y a s complet e ly blotted out A ll that .
hu manity had achieved seemed to be s ept a ay a nd set
w
at nou ght .Athens a nd Rome had raised ma nkind to
a ne p la ne ; the y had set it higher above the old
ww
civili z ations of the E a st than the troglodyte of pre
history a s above the ape : they ha d created a truly
w
w
human orld matu re and conscious
w ,
,
And no of all
that gro th of all that glorious evo lution practica lly
nothing a s left The hands of the c loc k had sprung back
.
.
t o darkness a nd s avagery .
The depth of that r uin i s not generally re a li z ed in
ww
its full horror The records of the peri od are eked out
. .
ith the na mes of barbarian chiefs and their ars a nd

do not d ell on the pict u re of the e x isting or ld B y a n ww .
,
optical illu sion the light that shines before and afte r
tends to di ffu se over the dark ga p F rom the fifth to
w w w
.
the tenth ce ntury Europe la y sunk i n a night of barbarism
ww
,
hich gre da rker a nd darke r It barbarism ’
w
a s a .
far more a fu l and horrible t ha n that of the primitive

s avage for it a s the de compos ing b ody of hat ha d
w
,
been a gr eat civili zation

"
The fe at ure s a nd impres s
.
of that civ ili z ation ere all b u t completely e ffaced
w
.
Where its development ha d b een fullest in I tal y a nd in ,
Gau l all a s ruin squalor d e solation The la nd ha d

dropped ou t of cu lt iva t ionw
. .
, , ,
t re a nd shrubs rapidl y
w
; es
encroached u pon t he once cultivated land rivers over
w w
,
w
fl o e d their broken a nd neglect e d b a nks ; the fores t
a n d the m
w
alarial s amp regained their s ay ov er vast
tracts o f c ount ry hich had been covered it h pro sp e ro us w
w w
w
farms a nd aving fie lds The ord za r e ma s ilderness ‘
.
, ,
recurs ith signi ficant frequency in me d ia v a l land chart s ‘ ‘

.
C ities had pra ctically disappea red Where the re is no .

B A RB A R I SM
w w
1 65
trade there ca n be no cities They ere pulled do n a n d
w
used as quarr ies and only the cent r al pa rt alle d in
,
hen a bishop or a baron e st ablished hi mself there ho

.
ww
th w w
cou l d afford some protection
e remai ns of the population d

I n N imes for instance
elled in huts built among
.
, ,
a n d deserted w www
the ruins of the amp hitheatre O thers f e r e completely
abandoned Mant u a Wa s submerged by stagnant aters
.
The Germans ho regarded alled cities

.
.
a s a badge of se r vitude hastened to pull t hem do n O f

,
.
all the prosperou s citi e s built by the Roma ns on the
w
ban ks of the Rhine not one remained in the ninth century
ww w
The ruin and t he scattered settlements e re vi sited b y
s
.
w w
herds of pro ling olves boars and e ven by b ears ,
The ,
.
atri a of the Roman villas hen not converted into ,
C loist ers ,
ere fi lled in ith hovels and dunghills the ,
surrounding living rooms serving a s quarries and r a m
w
-
parts C lad in the skins of b easts and in coarse sack
w
.
,
sha pe d oollen g a rments the enormously r e duced p op u ,
lation l ived in thatched ooden huts hud d led for ,
prot ection a t the foot of the barons lairs or round ‘ ’
w
,
mona s t eries Ev ery such li ttle group manufact ured i ts

.
o n materi als a n d clothing and supported its miserable ,
existence by scan ty cultiv ation of s ma ll patches of ground

round t heir hovels
a nd plagues w ere chroni c

w
They did not dare to go further
w
.
afield for fear of ild be as ts a nd of marauders F a mines

there ere ten devastating
.
w
famin es a n d thirteen plagues in t he course of the tenth
w w w
century alone C ases of can ni balism ere not uncommon
.
there ere ma n hunts not ith a vie to plunder b u t
w w
'
w
-
, ,
for food it is on record that at T ou mu s on the Sa one , ,
hu man flesh a s publicly put up for sale I t a s irn

‘
'
w w
.
ww
possibl e to vent u re abroad ithout a strong armed e scort
ww
robber bands roamed every here Water tra ffi c a s put a
stop to by the p r acti ce of recking hi ch a s actually
.
w w w
,
encouraged by cha rters Anarchy a s absolute and u m '
w
.
checked ; there a s no la but the arbitrary ill of
w w
the barons a nd their men a t arm s ; none had po er to
w
'
- -
check them They lived in their to ers in rush stre n

.
-
halls hic h frequently serve d also a s stables for their
w
,
horses They had no ot her occupation but brigandage

.
,
p rivat e ars a nd r iot, .

166 TH E MA KI N G OF H UMAN I TY
B ecause
ci vili z ation
ou t of t hat abyss of darkness a nd des ola tion
did ultim ately emerge ane
, the fact is
generally a ccepted Wi th careles s in di fference as if it Were
w ,
'
qui te natural a nd inevitable I t used to be in the popular

.
co nception of histo r y held t o be su fficiently accounted

for b y a referen ce to the Renaissan ce and the r e s t or a
.
‘
tion of classical literature after the fall of Constantinople
w
.
O bviously a mer e be gging of the question for there is

little to be ex plained in the fa ct that the Europe hich
had alrea dy produced Dante should proceed to bring
forth Messer P e trarca and a n I talia n Ren a i ssance It
ww w
.
has graduall y become more clearly recogni z ed t hat it .
a s in the period bet een the end of the tenth and that
w
of the t elfth cen tury that Euro p e eme rged out of the
night . The old misconception a nd confusi on is per

p e tu a t e d by o u r current histori cal rub rics hich includ e
m
,
both that period a nd the D ark A g e s under the te r

Middle Ages and appl y the n a me of Renaissance
w
’
w w
,
t o the fourt e enth and fi fteenth cen turi e s hose culture ,
but the ripe fruit of ant e cedent gro th a fruit
w
a s ,
no t only ripe ,
but in many respects rotten That civili .
za t ion should h ave gro n at all ou t of the troglodytic

Europe of the ninth century far from b eing quite n a tural
, ,
is a ver y rem arkable fact .
w
The various Ge rma ni c hordes that trod do n the w
could help to build a ne
'
o ne w
an cient civilization brought ith them no q u a lities that
The p a negyri cal tvva dd le
.
that pe rvades all ou r histories a b out the young virile

‘
w ”
,
Teutonic races regenerating the effete a nd decrepit
w
'
Roman orld i s a brazen effrontery o f racial historical

,
-
mendacity of the same order as the besto ing of the ‘
benefits of Teutoni c Kultur b y Prussian j unk erdom

'
w
.
The cultural condi tion of the primitive triba l st a te i s “

a s e have already noted rigorously precluded from,
advancing beyond a definite limit O nly in exceptionally .
favourable circumstances a s happened in the case of

,
Greece suckled at the ma ny breast s of oriental cu ltures
w
,
,
can tribal societ y become an agency of progress

«
, .
The b a rb a ric tribes of E urope ere s ave for p osse s sion ,

w
THE MAKI NG OF H UMA N I TY
w
168
his re alm beca u se he alked ith an upright he a rt

,
before the Lord a nd di d hat a s a cceptable in H is eyes ww

w
.
C harlemagne s son Louis the Piou s tears ou t the eyes of

’
hi s brother Pe p in s s on dra n to his cou r t under s a fe ’
conduct Loui s s s on Lotha i r vents his jea l ousy of his

’
w
.
, ,
half brother by s ei z ing the li ttle da ughter of his guardian

-
from a convent fa s tening her up in a cask and thro ing
w w
,
her into the river The Lomba rd court of the drunken .
A lboin assassinated by his ife Rosmunda hom he

ha d co m
w w
, ,
pelled to drink ou t of he r murdered father s ’
skull and ho a fte r ards married her a ccomplice and

, ,
in turn murdered him pre sents the same vile spect a cle ,
a s the F ranki s h court I n B urgundy the king G u nd e b a ld
w
.
, ,
consol idat e d his th r one by killing his three brothe r s .
Theodoric himself ho represented mo re creditably than
w
,
a ny other barbar ian the e ffe ct of a Roma n education ,

“
broke out after a t ime a s imp erfect ly tamed ild a nimals
w
,
are apt to do into p rimal fero city Each of the Gothic

kings ho succeed e d himmu r dered his prede cessor
.
,
w ww
.
I f a ny of the Teutonic Chieftains rose at all a bove

'
w
the lo e st b arbari c le vel it a s o i ng to spe cial con
tact i th C r a s co Roman ci vili z ation : A laric O doacre
Theodoric had been b ro ught up in the Roma n legions
.
,
-
,
, ,
But no barbarians have ever proved themselves more

refract or y to all civilizing influence s than the virile
Teutons
w
I nstead of absorbing an ythi ng of the civili
w w
’
. .
za t ion hich they overth r e they became , ith the means
w
,
and O pportunities of indulgence considerabl y mo re brutal ,
than they ere before They regarded their conquest s .
a s occasions for sottish riot and bestial tyr a nny When .
they became C hristi a ni z ed they converted the monasteries

into Walha llas oi drunken orgy
’
The appalling con
w
.
dition of the C hurch a nd mona s teries in the eighth ,
ninth and tenth c e nturies a s not due to the corru ption
w
,
of t he Roman clergy so much as to the influx of barbarian

prie sts and monks The convents resounded i t h riot
'
through the night C apitularies of the C arolingian
w
’
pe ri od ena ct a m
w
.
ong othe r ru les that priests shall

’
no t have more t han one i fe they lay do n ,
d eta il ed regulations concern ing incest they forbid ,
monks to sp en d t he ir time in taverns a nd o rdain ,

B A RB A R I S M 1 69
that on no a ccount s h abbot gouge out the

w
"
a ll a n
eyes of his monks or mutila te them hatever '

,
fault they may have committed Ee gis l a t ion testifies .

I
to the uni versal prevalence of female d runkenness and

St Bo ni f a ce cornp la ins that under p retext of pilgrimages
.
a trail of Teutonic prostitut e s

o f Europe .
2
a s left o v er every part
Regar ding as they did physical strength

,
w ,
a nd combat ive qualities a s t h e supreme human vir tues
w
,
th e contempt of the barbarian invaders fo r the pacific
population kne no bounds They ascribed that ignoble
w
. .
e fl emina cy to culture a nd education and consequently ,

“
refused to all o their children to be educated for edu
.
,
cation tends to corrupt enervate and depress the mind 3 ,

.
"
The fabric of the Roman E mpire had left one great

representative Europe o es a perennial debt to the w w
w
.
C hrist ian C hur ch ; it const it uted a bond hich united ‘
w
th e conge r y of kingdoms and domains into hich the
orld ha d been b ro ken up into the theoretical b ody of
C hristendom H ence t h
. e development of ou r civili z a tion
,
ha s not been I talian or F rench or German but European
w
.
, , ,
The la ngu age of Rome some reli cs and traditions of her ,
admi nistrati ve order and ideas ere part of the uniting
w
,
bond preserved in the Roma n C hurch
w w
.
The civili z in g influence hich the C hurch thus

ex ercised a s chie fly o ing to its position as the r e p r e
,
s e n ta ti v e of Roman civili z ation as impo sing the tradi
w
,
tion the a s soc iations the id e as the lan g uage the general
, , , ,
a trno s p h e re o f the latter i th the particul a r insistence
w
, ,
p rivilege and authority of a proselyti z ing creed It
w
.
p lay e d the p a rt of a civilizing agent not be cause it a s ,
C hristian b u t because it a s Roma n The religion of
w
, .
Rome untouched in its self assertive dignity and claims

,
-
b y the vicissi tudes of the emp ire a s all that s tood

'
'
fo r the glam
w w
,
our of the Roman name and t he barbarian
w
could ithout derogation become a citizen o f that ne
Rome hile he trod the rem a in s of Roma n po er w
B a l zi i Ca p i t R g F r a nc C p M te ns e
u . e . . a . e .
Ep i t l
3 ii i a p Mon G r m H i t
s . xxv , . . e . s .
3 Pr ocop . D e B e ll , Goth . I ,
4 .
w
1 70 TH E MA K I N G OF HU MAN I TY
under his heel H e a s disposed to a ccept the Roman
.
religion chicfl y becaus e of its a s sociation

'
pr estige the dignity and grandeu r hic h the name of

ith the
w w .
w w
'
Rome possessed even for its bitterest enemy very much

in the same a y as the s avage of to day is i lling to -
listen to the missionary not on account o f any meta ,
physical or e thical persuasiveness in the latter s creed ’
w
,
but because he is the re p resentative of the magical

po e r of European civi li z ation The barbarian felt .
flattered b y adopting the creed of the Roman man
w w
,
as the savage feels flattered b y adopt in g the creed of
w
.
the hite ma n I t a s Peri kles and Plato H e r a cle itos

.
‘
,
‘
and A ristotle C ato C a esar a nld Tra j an the hard ra tional

, , , ,
thought o f H ellas the shre d a b ility of R ome not Paul
w w
, ,
o r Athanasi u s that converte d the barba rian t o Christ

,
i a nit y The ords Roma n and Christian ere

‘
during the earl y Midd le A ges used as synonyms
w
.
P riests alone could read and some cou ld r ite

K ings and rulers a ffix ed to the various charters hich
w
?
w .
they enacted s ignu m cr u cis ma r p r op r ia p r o ig nor a

ti one lite r a r a m
instead of subs cribing‘
H ence e still speak of
‘
. signing
The or d clerk denoted
l ’ ’
ww
.
w w
.
ind i fl e r e ntly a priest or a pe rson abl e to read But
ww
not even all the clergy could rite ; there e re many
.
w
.
w
bishop s ho ere unable to sign their names to the
canons of the council s on hic h the y s a t O ne of the ' ‘
ww
.
questions p u t to persons ho Were candidates for orders

hether they could read the gospels and epistles
w
a s .
and e x plain the sense of these at least literally
w
.
,
K ing A lfred comp lained that there a s not a p riest

from the H umber to the s ea ho understood the
liturg y in his mother ton gue or could trans late the -
,
.
easiest p iece of Latin
w
T he gli m
.
'
me r of literacy in the monasterie s isolated
in oods a nd o n the crags of sa vage lands di d not
w
,
in general go b e yond those elementary attainments

,
.
w
Accordi ng to Benvenuto d a I mola grass gre in mo st ,
of t h e libra r ies and the literary activities of the m b nks

'
mostly co n siste d inJ scrapi ng a a y the litera t u res of

‘ ‘
G reece a nd Rom e to m a ke r oo m
; for the legends of the .
1 72 T H E MA K I N G OF H UMA N I TY
the half is I I I the thi rd is I I and the six th p art
of VI ,
w w ,
w
I T he perfect C reator therefore ho made all thin gs
w
.
, ,
very good c reat e d the orld in si x days in order

,
to sho that everythin g that he ha d fo rme d a s pe rfect

of its kin d When the hu man race after the fl ood
.
replenished the earth they o ri ginated from? the numbe r
w
,
VI I I ;
~
thus indicating that the se cond race is less
perfect than the first hich ha d been creat e d in the ,
'
number VI The si x t y quee ns and eighty concu

.
bines ( me ntioned in t he S ong of S olomon ) a r e the me me

i
'
w
bers of the H oly; C hu rch e t c e t c Even the stud y
w
" ' ’
. .
, ,
of theolog y to hic h all ot her lea rning a s st rictly

‘
w
.
subor din ate m u st not sugge s t to us any subtle diale ctical

exercises ; by theology a s meant p u rely and simp ly
the capacity to quote from H oly Wa i t and from the
F athers ; the authority of a te x t Wa s the sole conceivable
ww
form of argument
hich ,e
O f such kind a s the learning
.
are told survived and a s p r ese rv e d in ,

w
w
the mon a steries .
w a s also the d ead e ight o f its in fl uence

'
w
But if ba re liter a cy e x isted in t he C hurch only it
. hich paral ys ed w ,
www
intellect and culture I t is di fficult for us to reali z e
.
the effect of that incu b us in that age the comp letenes s '
ith hich it su cce eded in s nu flin g out the huma n mind

'
N ot only a s religi ous dog ma the thought o f hell fir e ‘ ‘
,
-
,
an exclusive constant d a i ly ob session ; but any d is t r a c

, ,
tion of the attention any deviation of the mental ga z e
w
,
from that one ob ject of hypnotic contemp lation any ,,
w
other interes t a s denounced as in itself a deadly
,
imp i ety T he C hu rch it is i mportant to observe Wa s
w
. .
, ,
not then opposed to kno ledge on the ground that

it
w
w dangerous that it imperille d t he faith Tha t
’ ’
a s ,
.
vie a s a fruit of later e xp erience I n the p rimi tive
w
.
w
simplicity of dogmati c confidence the though t hardly
occurred that a ny kno led ge could be dangerous
could conflict i th ho ly truth K no le dge mi ght on
the contra ry be plausibly valued as a n adornment of
,
. w ,
‘
,
the C hurch as enhancing the d ignity of; its

, as
contributing to t he greater glory of the faith And
t hat n otion did e x ist in s ome m
.
inds ; mo nks li ke the

’
B A RB A R I S M
w w
1 73
Ben e dicti nes cultivated ha t kno ledge they cou ld ,
regarding it a s a tribu te to religi on as its natural
w
,
app anage But that notion Wa s in general vigorously

.
denounced and repressed S ecula r reading a s con
w
. .
d emne d not as a n occupation dangerous to reli gion but
ww
,
as an oc cupation othe r than religi on I t a s an imper
w
~
.
missible ithdra al of the mind fro m its one legi timate
w
cynosure The attitude of the C hristian mi nd to a rds
.
culture a s that of S t Jerome ho though naturally

.
devoted to literature renounced it utterly b y an act of

,
w ,
'
se lf discipline a s if cas tin g off a temp tation of Sa tan

-
, ,
as if purging hi mself from a s tate of s in Alcuin .
systematically discouraged se cu lar study I n a lette r: .
to a former p u pil that egr egious ed u cator takes h im
w
to tas k for reading Vergil ; “the four Gospe ls he ,
says ,
not the t elve l/E ne a ds ( s ic) s hould fill your ,
mind T he same attitude is found throughout the
w ww
.
Dark Ages A t a much later date Edmund Ri ch

.
,
one o f the founders of O x ford hile studyi ng mathe

,
ma tica l dia grams ha s a v is ion of his mot he r ho dra s

” ”
,
three interlaced Circl es re p rese nting the Trinity ; Be
w
.
these s he bi d s him henceforth thy di agrams Pope
w
, , .
Gregory burn t a ll the o rks of Livy a nd of Cicero on

hich he could lay his hands Th rumour having '
e .
reache d him that B isho p D es ide rius of Vi enne had rea d
ww w
some discourse on a literary s ub lj e ct he Writes to him
ith some embarrassment : A fact ha s come to ou r
ears hic h e cannot menti on ithout a blush that
. w
,
,
.
you my brother lecture on literatur e I hope to hear

, , .
w
that you are not really intereste d i n such ru b b is h
na g zs e t s e cu l a r i b a s
w w
Even attention to the
’
s t udy of civi l la
w
a s as late as the t
w elfth cen tury

‘
violently denounced by S t Be rnard

w w
the courts are busy ith the la s of Justinian the
ho be ails that
.
—
,
confining themsel ves to the la s of G od w

pandects of Ama lfi had just bee n discovered—inste a d of
.
w w
There a s among the c hief men of those tim e s some
w
.
se nse of the terrible rec k a nd rui n of things The ‘
vi sion the memory of Rome a nd he r civili z ed or ld

.
, ,
1 74 TH E MA K I N G OF H UM AN I TY
wa s great a nd too near not to re ma in p resent
too
before their eyes a nd impr ess the m ith a strong sense w
w w Modern h istorians of the
.
of the existing d egradation

'
D ark Ag es emp 10 y th e ms e lve s ith d esc ri bing the succes
w
\
sive e fforts that ere made by barbari c rulers to intro
w
d uce some rudiments of o r der n into the e lterin g ch
Theodoric did all he could had l a s co d ified endeavou red

aos ;
w w w
, ,
to estab l ish some ki nd of adminis t ratio n ; the Lombards ,
the Burgu ndians like i se got codes ri tten do n
w
,
app ointed o fficials issu e d edicts C harle m a gne the
w w w
, .
,
pious barbarian fightin g missionary ho converted his

fello barbarians to Christian ity by fire and s o rd
-
,
and ou t o f hom ecclesiastical gratitude has manu

'
w
fa ctu r e d a legendary hero and gr eat man tried in
co op e r a tic m
-
ith the Roman Chur ch to co nstruct a
'
C hristian H oly R oman Empire Various Chieftai ns after

,
w
. .
him carved ou t little kin gdoms each mak ing desp erate ,
-
e fforts at organization la a d ministration , , .
But one net result stands ou t of the recital of t hose
. w w
various political enterp r ises They are a ll utterly futile
The la s organizations, constitutions as
,
exist e d merely on pa rchment

e shou ld
S tates king doms
.
,
.
w w
sa y , ,
w
.
,
H oly E m p ires a r e b r ought into

, existence at the point
o f the s ord and i th pa p al bl essings but they are
, ,
mer e ca rd castles ; that come tumbling do n as fast as
w w
they a r e set u p We may gauge the real valu e of the
ell meaning e fforts of C harlemagne hich are r e p r e w
.
w
-
,
sented in detailed accounts as a reorganization o f the

. orld a renais s ance b y the fact that the mo ment
, ,
’
he is laid in the crypt of A achen not a t ra ce is to
w
, .
be found o f it all U nde r all those fictitious o fli cia l

. .
titles and codes tho s e politica l s hu ffl ing s hich help
w w
,
to fill the c hronicle the act ual facts of human society ,
remain unaltered they run their s e e t course utterl y ,
una ffect ed a nd unchanged : b rigan d chiefs a rring
a nd plu ndering murders a nd outra ges decimated

,
pop ulations of miserabl e re tches Clustering round for w ‘

,
protection .
The trut his that you cannot make la s or organi z e w

w
, ,
or do anyth in g Wi th m a sses of hu m anit y if culture is

non e x istent
-
Y ou may go on devising pa rchment la s
.
1 76 T H E M A K I N G OF HUMAN I TY
of prostrate princes ami d the smoke of incense t he
, ,
blaze of hanging can delabra the rust le of go l d fron d s , ,
and the peals o f the silver organs surrounde d b y ,
hierarchies of p atrician s and p rotos p a tha r ia ns by the
w w
,
s ch o l a r ic guard s in their silver b reast plates a nd -

,
w
e x cu b it or s ith their golden shields ; the ma z e of
its Sacre d Palaces i th their ivo ry d oors rising in
, ,
tiers o f splendour on the e ncha nte dl shore h e nce from ‘
marbl e terraces the eye roam e d ove r a pa noram

,
w w
, a of
unmatched lovelines s the Marmora a nd the Pr inkipo '
w
,
islands the aving hills covere d ith groves and
w
, ,
gardens ith palaces a nd vill a s the Pala ce of F ountains

, , ,
C hr ysopolis on the A siati c shore a nd B ryas here stood ,
w
a replica of the K asr a t Taj of B aghdad B la che rna e on -
,
the Golden H orn the private imperial harbou r of

,
B ou ko le on here scarlet a n d gold dromon s rode at

,
- -
anchor ; the glint of the po ly chro ma ti c churches their

’
w
'
clusters of airy do mes hung as if b y a golde n chain

,
from heaven the H ipp o drome dec ked i t h the ob e

lisks of Thebes the tr p ods of D e lphi and the statu es i
P raxiteles—o ffered a spe ctacle of dreamland

w
, ,
of
w
fastuousness never perhaps e x celle d, and hich n e ed ed
n ot to be contrasted ith the squalo r and desolation
w
w w
.
o f the barbarous We st B y z antiu m a s the natural .

"
e mp orium of the or ld s trad e ; i ts industries ere ’
flourishing ; its dominions e x tended over the richest

provinces of A sia it con trolled the granaries and
ti mb er yards of the
- w
orld ; i t po ssessed the only
disciplined and scie nti fical ly trained a rmies ; thein
o fficers carried the tactical ma nuals of Maurice a nd L e o
the Wise i n their have rsack s ; they ere e quippe d ith the
'
w w
w w w
.
equivalent of an artillery the dreaded Gr ecia n fir e ,
some kind of fl a mme n e r /er of hic h they had the '
secret While a l l the rest of C hristendo m ere b rutal

,
‘
w
.
savages the pr inces a nd citi z ens of the E astern E mpire

,
ere marked b y courtlines s a nd polishe manners r e ne n

d fi -
w w
,
ment in their tastes a nd mode of life By zantin e cu lture .
the sole he i r and repo sitory of the Greek a nd
w
‘
a s
w
H e llen is tic or l d ; it p roduced s cho l ars poets ma th e
w
, ,
ma ticia ns N ot ithstanding its lu x urious opulence

.
its c ourt Wa s i t h sin gu larl y fe ex ce ptions and bri e f

‘
,
BY ZA N T I N I S M 1 77
wcrime
ell be haved
It . a s on
,
the w
out b reaks exceptionally free from] vice corr uption and
whole a decent orderly

,
e ll intentioned society I t s elab orately

,
w ,
,
, ,
ww
-
ww
-
.
,
organiz ed ad mi nistration the rep resentative of Roman ,
orke d smoothly I t s rule rs ere generally just
w
la ,
.
,
generally pa triotic care q of publi c elfare con
w
, ,
s cie n ti ou s to a scru p le Ho ma ny rulers has the
w
. .
orld since seen setting the mselves to Write army

manuals or co mpendi u ms of la
, li ke B asil I or an ,
account of thei r d o mi nions o r a treatise on dip lo macy ,
and the a dministration o f the e mp i re like Constantine
w w
Porphyrogenitus ? They invariably le d their armies in
person they e re their o n finance mi nisters pe rsonally
w
, ,
attended to the admini stration of the treasury a nd never ,

“
once allo ed the coinage to become debased .
Thus d uring ten long centuries the B y z antine Empire
w w
.
stood the guardian of culture the a r k of civilization

‘
w
, , ,
hile the C hristian o rld around it crumbled to

p r imor di al anarchy and rose ag ain to life I t ould .
no t b e p ossible to s e t forth con d itions in appearance
more favourable to the d evelop ment of a great glorious
w
,
and mighty huma n society the leader of progr ess the , ,
guide of civilization the light of the o rld , .
And yet that civilization the pa mp e red favourite of ,
fortune ha s r e mained be fore the consider e d judgment
ww
,
of history in s pite of the attempts of some B yza ntop hile s

,
to rehab i litate it hat it a s to its contemp o ra ries
w
,
an o b ject o f cont emp t S o insignificant that a lmost .
w
one is a p t to overlook and i gnore it in a pu rvie of
‘
the developm
-
ent of humanity I t has contributed .
nothing to human g ro th ; it lies outside the stream of

mankind s evoluti on a r e l ic a mummified surviva l a
’
, , ,
failure I n those thousand yea rs o f existence it d id

.
not exhibit a spark of progress scarce ly of life , .
Surrounded by po pulations struggli ng ou t of darkness

and calling for rescue and rede mp tion it taug ht them
no thing and it learnt nothing
,
o fl the seas by the A rabs ;

I ts flee ts
its co mm
e re s
erce a s captur e d
ept .
,
w
w w ,
first by the A rabs then b y the C atalans Genoe s e an d

, ,
Venetians ; its army though it did save the e mpi re ,
a gain a nd agai n ultimately came to be d e spise d b ot h

,
12
MA K I N G O F H U MA N I TY
w
1 78 TH E
by F rank and S aracen ; its literatu re a s pu erile a ,
model of b a d taste of nauseous euphuistic pseudo , ,
mythologi z ing rubbis h a nd grote s que miracle tales ; it

'
w
,
remains unreadable save for the fable distorted records
ww
-
,
of its sel f contemp lating history ; its fe scholars

-
w w
there e r e not many s uch as Leo the Grammarian ,
Photius e re the me rest compilers scholiasts and
w
, , ,
pedants the only orks of any utili ty hic h they have
no t h o w
left us are the catalogues of the li br a ries they kne
to use and the dictionary of S u id a s
, I n the
bountiful p r odi gality of the ad vanta ges hich it enjoyed w .
and in their utter fut il ity t he B yzantine Empire o ffers
w
, ,
a s I said a spectacle unique in history
w
.
,
If e inquire into the causes of the p h enomenal
w
sterility e find that they fa ll mainly under three heads
F irst the real po er o f the B y z antin e Empire a s i eld ed ww .
w w
,
ww
b y a host of ignorant and fanatical monks They
ww
.
s armed th roughout e very province a nd e v e r y to n ;
I n C onstantinopl e hole districts Were fi ll e d ith ro s

of monasteries ; there ere over a hundred ; that of .
S tou dion alone contain e d a thousand m Mount

w w
onks
w
.
Athos Mount I d a O lympus the islan d s of the Marmora

, , ,
and the A rchipe lago ere covered it h conglome ra ,
tions o f monasteries You could not go ten steps i thout
w w
.
meeting those lon g h a i red short skirt e d Ras p utin like

- - -
figures round ho mthe pe ople cr o d ed to kiss their

, ,
w Every noble every merchant every ma n of

w
,
hands .
, ,
ealth every pious l ady ei t her founded or endo ed
w
, ,
a monastery The Empe ror N icop he r os thou gh himself
w
'
.
.
,
w
leadin g the life of a monk earin g a hair shirt and ,
'
-
s leeping on b are b o a rds a s so alarme d at the d e p op u la ,
tion of the empi re at the fl o of its We sa lth into the

,
'
'
monasteries at the consequent re cruiting and fis cal
w
,
di fficu lties that he attempte d to check the evil by

The long contest over the I mages hi ch
w
,
legislation .
appears to us s o paltry a s b u t a vain struggl e of t he ,
emp erors to s hake themselves free of the intolerable

domination of the monks
the nobility ; they fed them

They exercised complete
control over the minds of the p eople o f the omen of
ith ond er tales and
.
ww w .
,
-
,
miracles and lives of saints Th e o logy and even hel l

, .
1 80 THE M A KI N G
w
refusing to recogni z e it or ackno le d ge its aut hority in
OF
ww H UM AN I T Y
any form a s the bitterest pill hic h the prid e

w w
’
w
, ,
.
a m b ition a nd gree d of t h e papac y had to s allo

'
w
.
The hardene d and recalcitrant schismati cs e re a s ,
usually happens re ga rd e d I
it h more ardent hatred
w w
,
than even the pagan infid e ls Detraction of the m .

’
inculcated every here b y the s pi ritual guides of
w
a s
Europe The Latins and Ge rmans looke d upon the
w
.
e ffeminate Gri ffins ith as much contempt as these

did upon the estern savages
a ccu sed them
_
The latter constantly
mostly quite unjustly i t a s at best a
.
w
w w
‘
w
’ -
,
case of p o t and kettle —o f p e r fid iou s: treachery L ike .
ou r o n rough sold ie r s in t h e G allipol i e x pe dition hile
w
,
they recogniz e d henever they came into di re ct Contact
ww
,
ith him the Muslim a s an honourable foe a nd coul d
w
‘
—
, ,
not b u t be impressed ith his e lfnigh quixotic chival ry

l
w
a
,
they scorn e d the G reek a s a base sneaking fello , .
The s p lendour the ealt h the d a zz ling luxury the

, , ,
civili z ation of B y z antium excit e d in them not admi ration
ww w w
,
and emu lation b u t only covetousnes s and cupidity

, .
They ere al ays in t o mind s hether to red e em the

H oly Land o r fall upo n the G reek Em p ire and loot it ,
as in the fourth C rusade they ultimately did Thus .
B yzantine civilization IWa s as e ffectually insulated b y a
w
barrier of mutual contem p t and hatred a s by any Chi na
all or s ilver streak
I t lived —
.
and this is the third aspect of its sterility

‘
,
draped in the pride of its origin a nd e x clusiveness

The heterogeneous me dley of a ll race s hich con
w w .
stituted its ruling clas s es e r e the Romans for they
Roman Empire
f —
despised the name o Greek thei r empire a s t he
they alone had cultu r e good
w -
,
‘
—
government true religion a n exclusive ly national church
w
,
far supe rior to the s o called C hristianity of be nighted -

'
foreigners a nd o in g no humiliatin g al legi ance to a ny

,
I talian bishop N othing calle d fe r change in that

w w
.
”
highly d esirab le sublime historic holy condition of
w
, , ,
a ffairs Their attitude to ard s things as they e re
w
,
.
a s that of ou r old Tories of ou r C a s tle re a ghs and ,

-
Wellingtons of ou r Mor ning P os t to a r ds ou r

, ,
g lorious constitution T h ey h a d in herited

. the c
i o n
B Y ZAN T I N I S M 181
of t he Roman Empi re as refashioned in the
w
s ti tu ti on
thi rd century by Dioc letian ; and its ideal of rigid nu ,
chan gin g s tability of formin g the hole pop u lation into

,
ca s te s s o that one generation might step into the place

,
of another a nd nothing b u t the human material be
w w
,
changed . Their culture the gr eat Greek liter ature

.
, ,
of hich B y z antium: a s the reliquary the y came to ,
rega r d not at all as a stimulus a nd a n inspi ra tion but
w
,
as a hierati c fo rmula an exercise of scholarship a

, ,
w
litany i thout meaning o r interest They mos tly despised .
it a s pagan and read live s of saints instead

‘
w
.
,
U nder the paint and ename l of its out ard ci viliz ation
it remained a t hea r t cold ly b a r b a r ou s and s t eadily g r e
w
_ ,
in barbarism from age to age Wi th its stodgy con .
s cie n tiou s ne s s and prim virtue ent the cool a nd
revolutions w
custo mar y p rac tice of the mo st atroc ious cruelty Palace
ere dramas of un mitigated horr or the
Empress The op ha no O pe ni ng the door to t he emperor s
.
— ’
I rene w
murderers Z oe po isoning her husba nd ; the Empres s
w,
,
ho founde d churches monasteri e s a nd o rphanages

and a s canoni z ed by the G reek Chu nch go uging out t he
,
,
,
eyes of her s on after lurin g him f r om the throne b y

appeals to fil ial a ffe ction To gouge ou t the eyes cu t
w
.
,
ou t the tongue emasc u late imp a le crucify and flay ali ve

, , , ,
ere the forms of pu nishment habituall y inflicted The
w
.
C halke gate of the Palace on the Au gu s te o n like those
w w w
,
of the Seraglio of Turki sh sultans ere usually ,
decorated ith blackeni ng heads ; the a l ls" of Con
w w
s t a n t inO p le after a vict ory over the Ru ssians
,
garlanded ith festoons of several hands ; one o f the

fe naval victories over the Saracens a s celebrated by
en
w w
, .
adorni ng the coast from Ad r a myt os to St ro b ilos ith the

impaled bo dies of the captives ; a nd after surprising
the Bulgars in the gorge of K imb a long o B asil I I put out
,
,
the eyes of fifteen thousand p risoners spari n g one eye t o
w
,
every hundredth man that the groanin g bleeding mul ti
w
, ,
tude might grope their a y b ac k to their king t e n
w
.
pr ovinces like A r menia revolte d they er e punished

by holesale massacres rape and devastation a nd
w w
'
, , ,
pyramids o f severed heads ere s e t up as a arning .
The lapse of centuries did not b ring about a trace of

1 82 TH E MA K I N G O F H UMA N I T Y
w
mor a l and humanitarian development ; and the Turks
ho took over much of the usages a nd traditions of ‘
,
the B yzantine court are blamed to d ay for the barbarity

w
’
-
,
of the B y z antine pe o p les over hom it has b een their
w
misfortune to rule
w
.
Thus id id Byzantium proceed for te n cen turies u n

; ,
changing i th its head t u rn e d b ack a rds

, But for .
the g lassy corusca tions of its hieratic mosaics the ,
g ems a n d e namel s o f its ciboria the g old o f i ts ,
scapularies the lily pillars and peacock panels the
w
, , ,
w
mar b l e tracery of its transe nn a e the sep u lchral splendour
,
of its d ecorative craft hich a t once fascinates and

chills us l ike the beauty of a dea d oma n ; but for
some insignificant d etails of bu reaucrati c administra
tion for the age of Justi nian is to be ac counte d Rio ma n
—
—
rather than B y z antin i t has contributed nothin g to
w
e
hu man culture a nd civilization nothing to the r e s u r r e c

,
w
tion o f Eur ope T o those countries
, . hich developed
und er its influence to Russia and to the Balka n pe ople
, ,
it has be queath e d thos e elem e nts hi ch c onstitute not -
their civilization but t heir barba rism

, .
w
Such a s the nature of that civilization in hich by
unbroken continuity and in the fu lle s t e nj oymen t o f
'
'
w
w
every conceivab l e a dvantage the Roman Empire and‘
.
C hristianity resulted such a s the product of the fixed
the other
ww
conservatism of the one and the theocr atic dogmatism of
w H istori ans no adays lab our to sho that w

w
.
there a s no break bet een the ancient and the modern

orld to minimize the darkness of the D ark A ges to
, ,
exhibit Europe arising out of them by a continuous '
and uninterrupted pr ocess The e ffect of such con

. ,
tinu i t y is visibl e i n the Byzan ti ne Emp ire F ree cities .
arose in the We s t ou t of re lics o f Roman municipia trade
w w
,
g l ii l d s o u t o f the Roman associations ; but anteriorly

to the development of ealth and trade there ere
w
and there lcou ld be no free cities and no guilds Medi a e val
’
culture gre on the soil of Greek a nd Roman literature
w
,
b u t under dogmatic domination and amid universal

illiteracy those literature s ere abolished and before
'
,
C HAPT E R V
D AR AL -
H I K MET
( TH E M
HO E on S CI E N C E )
w
T HE w
Semitic people ho raised the banner of I slam
,
w
ere like Europe und er the Sp e ll o f a the ological
,
dogma and it a s in its name tha t they; rose fr om

,
their desert tents a nd in a remarkably short space of

‘
w
,
tim e conq uered a n emp i re vast e r than that of Ro me ,
hich stretched from K a s hgha r a nd the P a n jab to the

'
w
'
Atlanti c a nd the South of F rance But in addition to .
the vital contrast bet een the ri ch luxu r ian ce of the

'
C hristian do gma its stately a n d el a b orate hierarchical

,
,
organ ization and the bare bald t he is rmof I slam

its negation of sys tem a tic theol ogy of myt h of
, ith ,
w
w w
, ,
tradition almost destitute of ritual a nd above all

, , , ,
entirely ithout pr ie sthood there ere othe r and even

,
-
more fundamental diffe re nces

w
.
N o conception could be remoter from the truth than

that hich commonly pict ures the coming of I slam as
w
‘
a sort of Ma hdi rising a jihad of i ld d a r vis hes fired
w
to fren z y b y religious fanaticism The e xperiences from
w
,
hich suc h a pi cture is dra n Muslim fanaticism one
w
, ,
might almost s a y Mu s limfa it h all belong to a subsequent

‘
'
age hen I slam s civilization ha d sunk to dust a nd its

'
w
.
,
.
cree d had {b e come trans fo rme d by A sha r ite the ology ‘
w
.
,
i
I t s origi n and its ha lcyon days e re far di fferent .
The K fir a is h commu nity in hose mi dst it fi r st arose
w
,
thou gh un touched in the pa triarchal simpl icity of it s con
w
It w
s titu tion
w w w
a s
a s by no means p rimitive in it s mentality
,
a society of ealthy and travelled merchants

ell in touch ith the outer orld cultivat ing fine ,
.
manners de lighting in social inte rcourse in cultured

, ,
1 84
D AR H I K MET
w
AL -
1 85
female society in poetry already gro n art ificial and
w w
,
frivolous in tourn aments of song ; a so ciety t hat had

,
axed too or lid ly and sc e p tical for serious convictions
w w
,
having like the more p r imitive Arab t rib e s aroun d it

outgro n the conglomerate of traditional cults hi ch
it conventi onally continued to profess The s irnp le .
minded earnestness of one of the ir commerci al trav e ll e rs ,
Muh a mmad ma d e upon that so cie t y mu ch the same

ww
,
sort of impres sion a s a unitarian missionary might expe c t
w
to make in Mayfair
w
The prevalent .feeling.
voiced a s rather one of rationalistic dissatisfaction it h

hich he
the out orn palimpse st of cults than the enthusiasm

Of a r e hgi ou s revelation
m
And it a s in fact as a very
hu an destroyer of idols in the broadest sense as a
. w ,
p r otester a gain st all religious supe rstructu re ab ove the

generaliz ed idea of theism reduced to its simplest ex
pression that Muh a mma d like a sort of C h anning i th
’
w
w
, , ,
out a n y thaumatu rgic or s upernatural pretensions in ,
the most undisgui sedly com mofnp la oe human a y pr e '
w
, ,
s ented his ideas of refo r m .
There a s Of course a nucleus O f g enuine fe rvour a n d
ww
w
enthusiasmin the closer a s sociates of the prophet around '
hich ere lat e r formed t he S hi i te a nd Sunnite par ti es '

.
there e re leaders li ke the gr e a t O ma r the S t Paul ‘

,
.
of I sla m the moving spirit of its e x pan sion and organi

,
za tion in a se nse its t ru e founder B ut a ll t hose elements

‘
, .
became a lmost immedi ately submer ged and reduced to
po rtance The ww
a subordinate position destitute of influen ce or im
hole subse q uent development and
w ww
.
marvell ous expansion a s not a r e hgi ou s but a political

movement one hose sole aim in fact a s conquest
w
, , ,
a nd p lunder The mass of Muslim tribes kne a nd

.
cared nothing about sla m amusement a s caused on

I —
more than one occasion by their inabili ty to recite a
single p raye r beyond the O pening formu l a
” B is mil l a h
w w
,
er ra h
-
ma n e r r a him ,
The dazzlin g rapidity; of the
-
.
‘
co nquest a s chiefly due not to Muslim p r o ess or to ,
Byzantine ine fficiency but to the assistance and fr ie nd li

,
ness of the C hrist ian popu l ations of Syria and Egyp t sick
w
,
to death of theocratic oppressio n and of theology .
After the first days o f the orthodo x K hal i fs hen ,

18 6
w
TH E MAK I N G O F HUM AN I TY
the Commander of the Fa i thful a s pointed out to
astonished pilgrims in the streets of Med ina clad in
w
,
a tattere d j u b b a eating sesame b read and onions and ,
hen the great O mar journeyed on a camel to recei ve

‘
w
the homage O f c onquered Jerusalem a ccomp anie d by a
single a ttendant and ith a bag of dat es fo r luggage
,
w
,
the K hal i fate passe d to the K uraish U ma yya d s the

‘
ho made no secret of
,
bitterest O pponents of I slam
w
,
the purely political nature of their adhesion and claims
w
,
and overtly fl a u nte d th e i r i ndi fference N eve r a s a

. .
religi on propagated i th s o little religious fait h We
ww
w
.
have in fact in I slam the rat her e x traordinary spect acle

of a professedly religious mo vement hich hile it
w
,
gave rise later in its u t ter decadence to a idespread

and earn est religious faith of g r e a t v it a lit y a s in its
w w
,
origin and throughout its hey day utterly indifferent to
w w w
-
religi on a m ovement in hich large populations ere
w
,
i llingly converted by luke arm and unbelieving
ww
apostles and hose final triu m
,
ph as a religion a s
e ffected by hordes of barb arian invaders ho destroyed
it as a civili z ation That peculiar evolution a s the
w
.
e x a ct converse of that O f C hristianity
w
.
The Abb a ssid p rince s ho be came the founders of

‘
I slam
wic culture o ed their triumph over the U ma yya d s
,
chiefly to the support of Persia here they had been
w w
reared
Sassanids
. The glorious a nd ancient empire of the
hich had al ays been the great trysting
ww
,
place of H ellenistic and orient a l commerce and cult u re ,
had hen conquered to I slam b y O thm an just r ea che d

,
‘ ‘
under the t o Chos ro e s the c l ima x of a rich and large

minded culture Gatheri ng and inviting all the intel
.
lectual and industrial pro ducts of I ndia and C hina it ,
also o ffered the only e x isting hospitabl e refuge to perse

cu te d C hristian s e cts ; a n d the N estorians driven by ,
fanaticism from their school at Edessa had been e n ,
cou r a g e d to found an even more b rilliant one at Jundi
w w
Shap ur I n that tolerant latitu di narian atmosphere o f
Persia hi ch had s ee n s o ma n y: ne religions I sla m
,
.
a s accepted in a philosophic spirit

,
hich soon further

w
w ,
’
attenuat e d its already simplified theology into a mild

w
th e istic rationalism kno n t o I slami c pietists as the
,
w
1 88 T H E M AK I N G OF H U M AN I TY
se riousne ss mindful hile it quaffed the d i p that it a s
but a small matter a nd a frail tenure resting upon the
w
w
,
caprice Of kismet The incorruptible treasures and de

.
l ights of intel lectual culture ere accounted by the

princes of B a ghda d S hira z and C ordova the t ru e st a nd
proudest pomps of their courts
,
But it a s not as
,
ww
w ww
.
a mere appanage of princely vanity that the onderful

gro th O f I slamic sc ience a nd learning a s fostered '
by their patronage They pursued culture ith the

.
w
personal ardour of an overmastering craving N ever .
before a n d never since on such a s oale has the spe ctacle

, , ,
bee n i tnessed of the ruling classes throughout the

length and breadth of a vast e mpire given over entirely
to a frenzied passion for t he a cquirement of kno ledge
Learning seemed to have become it h the m the chief w w .
w
business of life K hal i fs and Emirs hurried from their
.
di ans to closet themselves in their libraries and oh

servatories ; they negle ct ed their a ffairs of state — hi ch w
they in general sorely misma naged to a tite nd lectures
w
a n d converse on mathematical problems
science ; caravans l aden ith manuscripts and botanical

ith men of
-
w
w
spe cimens plied from B okhara to the Tigris f r om Egypt
to Andalusia ; emba s sies ere sent to Constantin ople
»
and to I ndia for the sole purpose of obtaining books

,
t ingu is h w
and teachers a colle ction of Greek authors or a dis
e d mathematician a s eagerly demanded as the
w
a school w ww
ransom of an empire To every mosque a s att a ched
.
a z irs vied ith their masters in establ ishing

publi c libraries endo ing college s founding bursaries
, ,
'
for impecunious students Me n o f learning irrespectivel y

w w w
.
,
o f race o r religion took preced ence over all others ;

,
honours a nd riches ere sho ered upon them they e re ,
appointed to the government of provinces a retinue ,
o f professors a nd a camel train of books a cc e m ni ed
w
p a
the K hal i fs in their journeys and expeditions

a s under the influence of the A rabian and M
.
It oorish
revival of culture and not in the fifteenth cent u ry that
,
the real Renaiss a nce took place Spain not I taly a s

,
w
w w
. .
, ,
the cradle of the rebirth o f Europe A fter stead il y

w
.
sinking lo er and lo er into barbarism it had reached ,
the darkest depths of ignorance and degradation hen

D AR A L H I KM ET
w
-
1 89
C ordova Toledo w ww
the ci ties of the Saracenic orld B aghdad C airo
e re gro ing? ce ntre s o f civili z ation
, ,
w
,
ww w w
, ,
a nd intelle ctual act ivity It there that the ne
w
a s .
life arose hich a s to gro into a ne phase of hum a n

evolution . F rom the time hen the influence O f their
cultur e made itself felt began the stirring of a ne life
,
The fact has been se t fort h again a n d agai n ‘

w .
But it ha s been neve rtheless s t ubbornly ignored a nd

pe rsistently minimized The debt of Europe to the
.
hea t hen dog could of cour se find no place in the

, ,
scheme of C hristian history and the garbled fa l s ifica ,
tion ha s irnp os e d itse lf on all subsequent conceptions

'
w
.
Even Gibbon treated I slam depreciating ly an instance ,
of the po er of conventional tra dition upon its keenest

Opponents U ntil the last century the re did not even
.
exist an ything approaching accurate kno ledge of S ar a w

ww
cenic history a nd culture Those accounts of Mahomet
and I slam hich ere published in Europe before the
.
beginning of the ni neteent h century a re no t o be r e

‘
w
ww w
. .
.
garded s irnp ly as literary curiosities At the present .

J
day hen ider a nd more e x act kno ledge is becoming

,
accessible scarcely any history of the Middl e Ages gives

,
I slami c culture more t han an o ff h a n d a nd patronizing
ww
-
r e cognition The history of the rebirt h of E u rope from
w
.
”
barbarism is constantly b eing ritten ithout a ny refer
ence hatsoever except to mention the triumphs of
”
,
the C ross over the C rescent a nd the re clamation

,
of Spain from the Mooris h yoke to the influence of ‘
w w w
,
—
A rab civiliz ation t he history of the P rince of Denmark
ithout H a ml e t D r O sbo rn Taylor has even achi eved
w
. .
the feat O f r iting t o large volumes on the develop

ment of The Me d i e va l Mind ithout betraying by a
hint the existe nce of Muh a mmadan culture .
That a b rilliant and energetic civili z ation full of
w w
creative energy should have existed side by side and
in constant relation ith populations sunk in barbarism
w
,
ithout exercising a profound a nd vital influence upon

their development ould be a manifest anomaly That
rel a tion b et een w

,
no such suspension O f natural l a

I slam and Europe
w
w
a s involved in the
is ab undantl y
.
Pr ofee sor B ev a n Ca mb Me d H i s t
, . . ,
1 90 TH E MA K I N G OF H UMA N I TY
attested in spite of the conspirin g of every circumstance
to suppres s defo rm and obliterate the reco rd s of that
, ,
relation I ts extent and import ance have been beyond

.
doubt far greater than it is t o day p ossible to demon -
w
strate in detail L ike the geological record of extinct
.
life ou r kno ledge in the matter is derived from the
w
.
scattered a nd acciden tall y preserved fragments o f

evidence hich have been spa re d b y forces uni
v e r s a ll y t endin g
w
to blot th e m ou t W hen those '
conditions hen the obliteration of evi d ence its d is
w
, ,
t o r tion ,
the persistent prejudice and misrepre sentation
hich fastens upon every single fact are borne in mind , ,
there can be no doubt that ou r estimate of that influence

must err on the side of under rather than of over
estimation I t is highly probable that but for the A rabs
.
modern Europe a n civili z ation oul d never have arisen w

w w
at a l l ; it is a bsolutel y ce rtain tha t but fo r the m it
ould not have assumed that character
enabled it to transcend all previous phases of evolution
hich has
,
ww w
.
F or although there is not a single aspect o f European

gro th in hich the decisive influence of I slamic culture
m
ww w
is not traceable no here is it s o clear and omentous
,
as in the genesis of that po er hich constitutes the

paramount distinctive fo rce o f the modern orld and
—
the supreme source of its victor y natural science and
the scientific spirit
I t must be adm
w
.
itte d that in recoil f rom the general
w w
,
conspiracy of silen ce o f ou r histories several riters ,
ho have sought to vindicate the claims of A rab culture

have some hat e x aggerated the achievements of A rabian
science Against such loose panegyrics it has been
w
.
objected that A rab science produced no surpassing

,
genius and no trans cending discovery that it a s de

rived from extraneous sources That is substantially
w w w
.
true but entirely irrelevant A rab astronomy did not

w
.
,
forestall C opernicus o r N e ton though ithout it there
w
,
ould have been no C opernicus a nd no N e t on

'
A lthough the comple xity of the Ptolemaic syste m a s

.
repeatedly critici z ed by Moorish astronomers although

“
Al Z a r kya l declared t h
-
e planeta ry orbits to be ellipse s
a nd not circl es although t he o rbit of Me rcury is in
,
1 92 TH E M AK I N G OF HUMAN I TY
A ra h cOllect ors the obj e ct of their interest Were
nd
w
‘
'
a
very di fferent O f the poets and hist orians of Greece
w
.
,
beyond satisfying their curiosity by a fe samples they
w
,
took little account Their object a s info rmat ion and .
besides the ritings of the philosophers from Thales to
w
Apollonius of [Tyana and the textbooks of medical science
it a s above all to the r itin gs of the Al exandrian
'
,
w ,
h n t Theon A po
w
A cademy the astronomy and geograp hy of Ptolemy
the ma thematical orks of Euclid A rch ime des D io
,
llonius of Perga that they devoted

, ,
,
ww
p a e s
, , ,
their attention F or speculative theories a n

. d broad
generalizati ons they sho ed litt le aptitude valuing as
w
,
they did information for its o n sake and as a me a n s

to the e x tension of kno ledge rather than as the basis
w
,
of generalizing induction Th e y accepted the conclusions .
of the Greeks as orking theories necessary to the

"
w
pursuit oi scientific inquiry only venturing to criticiz e
w
-
o r modify them as the expansion of kno ledge forced
them to adapt them to ne fa cts

w They have b e en
reproached it h imposing a dogmatic spirit in science
.
w
upon Europe C hristian Europe had little to learn in
‘
the a y of dogma tis m and those theories such as the ,
P tolemaic system the geographic a l doctrine of
w w
,
climates the doctrine of alchemical transmutation

’
w
, ,
hic h it received fro m the A rabs ere not A ra b ic
w
, ,
but Greek B ut the sp i rit in hich the A rabs made
w
.
use of e x isting materials a s the exact opposite of

that of the Greeks
w w I t supplied preci sely
been the eak and defect ive aspect of Greek genius
h a t had .
w
.
F o r the G r eeks it a s in theory a n d generaliz ation that
w
the interes t lay they ere neglectful and careless of
fact the A rabian inquirers z eal on the contrary
,
’
w
a s , ,
careless of theory and directed t o t he accumula tion of ,

.
concrete facts and to giving to thei r kno ledge a pre
w
.
cise and quantitative form W hat makes all the di fference .
bet een fruitful enduring science and mere loose scientific

,
curiosity is the quantitative as against the qua l itative

,
”
statement the an x iety for the utmost atta inable a ccurac y
in m easurem
w
,
I n that spirit of objec tive rese arch
w
ent ‘
w
.
and q u a n titative accuracy the hole of the vast

s cie ntific o rk of the Arab s a s co nducted The y ,
,
D AR AL -
H I K MET 1 93
accepted Ptolemy s cosmology but not his catalogue

’
w w
,
of stars or his planetary table o r hi s measurements ,

.
They dre up nume rous ne star catalogues correcting
w
,
and greatly amp lifying the Ptolemaic one ; they com

piled n e sets of planetary tables o b tained more
w
,
accurate values for the obliquity O f the ecliptic and the

precession of equ inoxes checked by t o independent ,
measurements of a meridi a n the estimates of the size

of the ea rt h They devised fo r the carrying ou t o f
those observations elaborate inst ruments superior to those
.
O f the G reeks and exceedin g i n accur a cy those manu

w
.
fa ct u r e d in the fifteenth century at the famous N uremberg

factory Each observer took up the ork independently
w
. . ,
sought t o eliminate the personal equation and the
w
,
method of continuous O bservation a s systematicall y

—
carried ou t some observations extending over t elve
—
years a r the observatories o f D ama scus B aghdad and
w
, ,
C airo . S o much imp ort ance did they attach to accuracy

in their records that those of special in terest ere
formally signed on oath in legal form .
The same O bjective and quantitative spirit is mani

fe s t e d in all their acti v ities W hen Al Mam un ordered
w
-
.
his post mast e r I b n t i r d a d b e h t o dra up an account

-
w
, , ,
of his domi nions and of all the s e a and land routes

—
w
in use the first of those nu me r ou s g e og r a p h i ca l orks
ww w
'
w
of the A rabs hich O pened a ne V ie of the orl d '
(1 a geogr a ph y — h e insisted that each place s houl d

'
n
m
'
e
be localized b y accurately deter ined longitudes and

lati tudes Al B yr finy travelle d forty years to collect
-
w w
.
mineralogical spe cime ns ; and his tables of sp e cific

eights O btained by di fferential eighin g are found t o
w ww
be correct I b n B a it a r collected bo tanical specimen s
‘
from the hole Mu s lim o rld a nd compa re d the fl or a s
Meyer
w
of I ndia and Persia
his ork d e scrib in g

1
it h those Off G r eece and Spai n ;
a monu ment of industry

plants is pronounced b y
C ontrast that
"
w
.
spirit of scient ific minuteness a nd perseverance in
w w
‘
ww
observation ith the speculative methods of the
ancients
totl e w ho
ho scorned mere empiricism ;
rote on physics
I Ge s ch de af B ota
.
ith A ris
ithout performin g
n ilg, 11 . 2 33
f
T H E MA K I N G OF HU MAN I TY
w
1 94
a single and on natu ra history ithout
w
taking the trouble t O a s ce rt a in the most easily verifiable
ww
v
facts ho calmly states that men have more teeth than
ww w
,
omen hile Galen the greatest classica l authority on
w
, ,
anatomy informs us that the lo er j a consists of t o

,
bones a statement hich is accepted unchallenged till
w w
,
‘
Abd a l L e tif takes the trouble to e x amine human skulls
-
w
.
The A rabs gathered their kno ledge from hateve r

sources ere at hand The bulk O f their astronomy
.
a n d so me of their mathematics came from Greek and
H ellenistic sources That ancient science of the Greeks

.
had itself been originally derived from the Babylonians

migrants from A rabia to Mesopotamia like the Arabs
w
,
ww ww
.
,
Thus that ancient science hich the latter restored to

Europe a s its elf t he a chi eveme nt of their o n a ncient
cousins from hom the Greeks had once borro ed it
w
.
But by a singular good fortune another source of

scientific kn o ledge had become a vailable I n the
ww
.
Gupta Renaissance of the fifthcentury in I ndia a notable

intellect ual movement had taken place T o riters .
in particular Ar yo Bhatta and B rahm agu pta had pro ‘
w
-
w
, ,
d u ce d importan t novelties in mathematics I n the hands
w
.
of the A rabs those ne methods became combined ith

the un ieldy and i m practical methods of the Greek
mathematicians and further elaborated
w While the
highest mathe matical kno ledge of the C hristian West
,
.
did not e x tend beyond a labou red use of the rule of three
and the s iin p le s t operations of arithmetic ere performed
—
by means of the abacus the same device of i res a nd
ww ,
—
beads that is used in our kinderga rtens the A rabs p e r
fe cte d t he decimal system of notation by introducing
the use of the cipher o r z ero ( A r zir r ) they created.
A lgebra and carried it to the solution of equations of

the fourth degree and trigonometry substituting sines
w
, ,
and tangents for the chord of the Greeks and thus ,
multip lied a thousandfold the po e rs of human i nqu i ry
ww
.
N ot only did the A rabs create those mathe matics

hich ere to be the indispensable instrument O f
w
'
scientific analysis they laid the foundation of those
w
,
methods O f e x p e r iine nta l research hich in conjunct ion

ith mathe matical analysis gave birth to mo de rn science .
w
M A KI N G O F H UMA N I TY
w
1 96 TH E “
have be en pursued I t a s rightly considered a ork
w w w w
.
, ,
ing hypothesis a s good as cou l d be d evised in the absence

o f the kno ledge to hich it a s itself t o lead the
human mind A ll bodies and substances ere conceived
.
t o consist of a uniform and universal materi a prima
elements ,
w
diversified by the admixture o f the four A ristotelian
ater ea r th air and fire
, ,
presence and combination O f those elements ith primi

But from the .
w
tive matter could not be deduced the pecu liar properties
oi
'
,
substances ; he nce t he y ere ascribed to occult “

w
ww
ww
'
virtues connect e d i n some a y i th the seven metals ,
hich ere imagined to he a r some relation to the seven
w
planets ; a nd in or de n to discover those prope rties o r
w
'
virtues there a s no other a y but to study subs tances

in themselves a nd in their various combinations to
endeavour to purge them from the masking elements
,
a nd
w
reduce them to their pure state to discover the
proces ses and reagents hich could bring about in them
the observed transformations I t should be noted that .
,
among A rabian and medi a eval scientific inqu ire rs the
t a ine d facts vari ed w

relative importance attached to mystic theory and a s ce r
idely in eve ry d e gree fromthat o f
w
,
vulgar charlatanism intent on exploiting popular super

,
w
s titi on to that of the in tellectual inq u i r e ri concerned
results and to ho m speculative t heo r y had only the

ith ,
w
,
interest o f an hypothesis Though to the medi a eval
w
.
popular mind all science a s magic and the A rab

s cientists ere spoken of as necromancers the most
w
,
w
,
distinguished of them rose ell above that atmosphere
w
.
Thus ith all the g r e a t Ar a b ia n astronomers observ ation

'
and analysis of results a s the thing of importance to
w
,
the e x clusion of the trade in horoscopes a nd astrological

prediction hich they left to the vulgar practitioner
w
.
,
And in the case of alchemical ideas that premat ure ,
evolutionary theory a s strongly contested by several
w
leading A rabian chemists and in the eleventh centu ry
.
the dispute bet een its defender s and opponents de

v e 10 p e d into a lively controvers y So great an authority
ww
.
as I b n Sina himself said : Those O f the chemical

craft k no ell that no change can be e ffected in
th e d i ffe rent s p e cies Of substances though the y can '
,
D AR A L H I K MET
w
- 1 97
produce the a ppearance of s uch change Europe here .

,
the Lateran C ouncil of 1 2 1 5 had proclaime d the dogma

of transubstantiation genera lly adopted the theory of
transmutation of metals hich had fallen into discr edit
,
w
w w
,
among the A rabs Theosophy and mysticism says
w
.
,
Sir Ed ard T horp e ere first impo r ted into Alchemy

,
I
not by the A rabs bu t by C hristian

,
orkers .
S cience is not a tradition but the essence of pro
w
,
g r e s s i v e thought The science o f one generation is
w w
.
consequen tly looked d o n upon by succeeding ones from

th
to raise them
w w
es e very heights of kno ledge to hich it has helped
O ur o n physiological and biological
w
.
theories ill probably appear as quaint to our de
ww
s ce nd a nt s as do the conceptions in
of science a s s addled
time has it cast them O ff w
hich the infancy
N o t until a quite recent
K epler dre horoscopes
.
w
.
,
C opernicus accounted for planetary motions by pro
w
pelling angels N e ton him self applied his mathematical
,
genius to the orking ou t of the astrological prophecies
w
in the Book O f Daniel
w
the doct rine of alchemi cal trans
mutation a s firml y held by Robert Boyle by v on
w
,
H elmont by Boerhaave by N e ton by Leibnitz and

, , , ,
by Stahl ; Priestley obsessed i th the theory of
w w
,
phlogiston refused t o recognize the significance o f his
w
,
o n discovery of oxygen It a s not till the eve of .
the F rench Revolution t hat thanks to Lavoisie r ne
w
conceptions of the various forms of matte r supplanted
, ,
the hypotheses under hich fro m the days o f the A ra b s

.
, ,
chemical analysis and the e xperimental investigation of

nature had p r ocee ded
I n the n e w w
methods hich they introduced in that
.
w w
w
,
star gazing in those alembics in that ne lore uncouth

- —
w
, ,
and larded it h gro ss fancies as much of it a s

hich differed s o entirely in temper from the O ld classic
culture and long preceded the revival of its study in
,
E u r O p e l a y the future of the

,
after a maturation O f several centuries

orld the germ hence
a s to burst
w ww,
,
,
forth the titanic force of modern science .
1 H is t . o f Che mi s tr y p , 36 .
T H E M A K I N G OF H UMAN I TY
w
1 98
A rabian kno ledge began at arly date to percolate an e

into C hristian Europe I f there be any ground of fact
w
.
in the legend of the alchemical pursuits of St Dunstan
w
.
,
A rab ian lore must have b een much more idely di ffused
in the tenth cent ury than ca n be sho n by surviving
records U nder absolute religious tolerance C hristians
.
,
enj oyed complete freedom in the Spanish K hal if a te they ‘
w w
had their oWn bishop ; several monasteries e x ist ed in
the outskirt s of t he capital hich served as hostels for
travellers and monks ere commonly seen in the streets
F ro m all parts of Europe numerous
,
of C o r djo v a
w ww
.
stu dents betook themselves to the great A rab seats o f

learning in search O i the light hich onl y there a s to
be found
ninth century :
A lvaro a C ordovan bishop
.
,
r ites in the
All the young Christians ho distin

guish thems elves by the i r mt a le nt kno the language ww ,
,
and literature O f the A rabs read and study pas
w ”w
,
s iona t e l y the A ra b books gather at g r eat e x pense great
w
,
libraries of these a nd every here proclaim ith a loud

,
voice ho admirable is tha t literature The famous .

1
G e r b e r t of Aurillac brought from Spa in some rudiments

of astronomy and mathematics a n d taught his astonish e d
w w
,
p upils from terrestrial and celestial globes T hough his .
learning a s not deep and it is probably erroneously

,
that he is credited ith introducing the decimal notation
w
— he still used the Ro man abacus —his keen taste for
kno ledge stolen from the Saracen in W illiam of
w
,
Malmesbury s phrase made him a s Pop e S ylvester I I

’
, ,
a
the hero of fantas t ic F aust legends idely po p ular
w
throughout the Middle Ages
,
During the next t o centuries the process of di ffusion
s t a n t ine w w
as sumed an extensive scale An African monk C on
ho had acted as secretary to Robert Guiscard
.
,
w
, ,
devoted hims elf ith enthusiasm to the translation of

A rab textbo oks and to introducing the ne learning
w
into the mother hou se of the Benedict ines at Monte '
C assino hence the path lay ope n for its transmissio n
w
,
to the far fl u ng houses o f the ord er

-
An othe r .
Benedict ine Ad e lha r d o f B ath brought ith him from

,
‘
,
I nd icu l u s l u min osa s, i n F l or e z , E sp a iza

’
Sa g md a ,
v ol . xi .
200 TH E MA K I N G OF H UM AN I TY
learning prevailed upon their religious p re j u d ice s I
w
.
F rench and German monk s obtain from the m the text

books of the ne sciences ; a nd even literary nuns in
H ros it h w
Thuringian convents such (as the famous H ildega r d a nd
did not disdain t o avail the mselves of their
,
w
a ,
learning They esta b lished numerous schools such as
ww w
.
,
that of t he K imhis and of Ben Esra a t N arbonne here ’ '
A ra b ian science a s po pularized and A rabic b ooks tra n s

lated N umerous Je s follo ed William of N ormandy
w
.
to England and enjoyed his protect ion building there the ,
first stone burgher houses hich may still b e seen at
w
.
Lincoln and St E dmu nd s b u r y and establishing a sc hool .

,
o f science at O xford ; it a s under their successors at
that O xford school that Roger Bacon learned A rabic

a nd A ra bic science N either Roger B acon nor his later .
wll h A te mor e tha n ect

’
1
p a ss a ge o f J oi n vil l e s , o f in re st in o ne r e s p ,
is
or t ci t i n g in f llu in t i s h conn ecti on . I s li gh t ly mod e r ni ze the
sp e ing : 11 [ S t . Lo u is
] m e con t a q u e il eu t u ne gr a n d e
d i sp u ta ti on d e l
c e r cs e t d e J u i fs a u mou s ti e r (mon a s t er e ) d e l C u ny .
La es ta it nu C h q ui
eva li a
a b b e a v a i t d onn
er l e p a i n l a p ou rl ’
é
D ie u e t r e ,
q u it a l ’
a b b e q u e i l li l e ss a s t d i r e l a p r e i er e p a r ol e ce u i m , q l ’
l ui oct r oya a p e in e . l
E t or s i l s e e v a e t s a p p u ya s u r sa cr osse e t l ’
d i t q u e l u i li f a is t v e ni r
l e p u s gr a v e l l
C erc e t le p l us gr a nt e st r e m
d es ui s J f
et s i fir e n t il s E t l u i fis t . u ne d e ma nd e q u i fu t te ll e
mnd
,
M es t r e , fis t l e C h ev a li er, je vo us de a e si vo us cr o ye z
q ue l a
V i e r ge Ma r i e q u i D i e u p ort a e n s e s fia n cs e t en s es b ra s, e n fa n t a t
V i e r ge , et q u e e ll e s oit m er e d e D i e u E t le . J i f ép
u r ond i t que de
t ou t ce la il n e cr oya it r ie n ép ond i t q e mou l t
. E t le C h ev a li er li r u
a va it f i t q u e fol ,
a q a n t il m 10 c oya it ni me la l a moit e t s ta i t nt é
u e r e e r
m
, ,
d a ns s on ou s t i e r t e n s a ma i s on
e E t v a i men t fis t l e C h e a li e . r e , v r,
v ou s l e p a ye r e z e t or s i l a u ca s a p o t e n ce e t f ér i l e uil p r es d e h J f
’
l o r e i ll e e t l e p ort a p a r t e r r e E t le s u i s t ou ér e nt e n u i t e e t . J f m f ,
em p o r t er e n t e ur e s t r l
e t ou t b l éci é ; e t a i ns i d e m o u r a 1a d i s u ta ti on
p m .
L or s v in t l
a b b e a u C e v a i e r , e t l u i d is t
’
u i a h
a i t a i t gr a n d e oli e l q ’
l v f f .
E t le C h v li
e a er di t q u e e ncor e a v oi t il f it p l
a us g a
r nd e f lio e,
d
’
es se mb le r te ll e d is p u t a ti on ; ca r a v a nt q u e l a d i s p u t a t i on ou s f t
me n ée a fin ,
a va i t i l c a n s gr a é nd foi s on s d e b on s chr éti cns q u i s e ,
f u r e nt p a rt i t ou s me scr éa nt s , p a r ce qu
’
i ls n
’
e u r e nt mie b ie n e nt e nd u
l es J if
u s . A u s s i , v ou s d is -
j e, fis t l e r oy, q u e nu l , s
’
il
’
n e s t t r es b on
l me ma is l h omme l a i c q u a nt i] oye
,
’
c e r c, d oi t d is p u ter a v ec e u x ; ,
méd i e d e l a l oi chr ét i nn e ne d oit p a s d éfie nd r e la loi ch r éti e nn e

r e
”
,
d e q u oi i l d oi t d onne r p a r m
,
i le v e nt r e d e d a ns
ww
’
s i non d e l e s p ée ,
t ou t comme e ll
,
y p e u t e n t r e r I n t o l e r a nce aen d p er s ecu t i on o f .
J e s a s a fe a t u re of t he l a t e r r a the r t h a n of the e a rlie r Mi d d l e ,
Ages .
D AR A L —
HI K MET
w w
201
na me sake has a ny title to be credited ith having intro

'
d u ce d the experimental method Roger B acon a s no
w
.
more than one of the apostles of Musli m science and
w w
method to C hristian Europe ; a nd he never earied of
w w
declaring that a kno ledge o f A rabic and Arabian science
a s for his contemporaries the only
ledge . ww a y to t rue kno
D iscussions as to ho a s the originator of

the e x pe rimental method like the foste ring of every
w
,
Arab discovery o r inve ntion on t he first Europe an

ho happe ns to mention it such as the invention of
w
,
the compass to a fa b ulous F lavio Gioj a o f Ama l fi o f
w
,
alcohol t o A rnold of Villeneuve of lenses and gunpo der ,
to Bacon or S ch a rtz are part of the colossa l mis
w
,
representation of the origins of European civiliz ation
w
.
The experimental method of the A ra b s a s by Bacon s ’
t ime idespre ad a n d eagerly cultiva ted throughout

Europe ; it had bee n proclai med by Ad elha r d o f
Bath by Alexander of N e cka m by Vincent of Beauvais
,
by A rnold of Villeneuve by B ernard Silv e st r is

.
,
entitles his manual E x p e r ime nta r i us by Thomas o f

ho
,
,
w ,
C a nt imp r é by Albe rtus M

w
,
agnus '
w
.
,
-
I n t he hands of Je ish doctors trained in A rab schools ,
here medical art had been ca rried far beyond that of

the ancients the pract ice a nd tea ching of medici ne r e
w
,
mained th roughout the Middle Ages The pharma .
c0 p oeia created by the A rabs is virtu a ll y that hich ,
b u t for the recent synthet i c and organotherapi e prepara

tions is in use at the present day our common drugs
,
'
such as nux vomi ca senna rhubar b aconite gentian

, , , , ,
myrrh calomel and t h e struct ure of our pre s criptio ns
w
, , ,
b e long to A ra b ic medicine The medical s chool o f
w w mw
.
Mont pellier a s founded on the pattern of that of C ordova

and later at Pisa w
und er J e doctors The e x a m e a s imitated at Padua
.
here together ith the C a nons o fi
w
,
Avicenna ( I b n Sina ) and th e S u r ge r y of Ab fi l K asim

’
w
-
,
hich until the seventeenth centu r y remained the text .
b ooks of medical science throughout Europe ere taught
w ww
,
the mathematics and ast ronomy of the Moors ” Those .
ere the nurseries hich ere o ne day t o bring fo r th

,
ww
F allopius Vesalius C ardan H arvey Gal ileo
,
That po er hich ha s transformed the material and

, ,
.
w
202 T H E M A K I N G OF HUMAN I T Y
mental o rld is the p roduct by direc t fil ia t ion of th e
science of the astrologers alchemists and of the m edical
w
, ,
schools of the later Middle A ges and t hose arose dire ctly
w w
and solely as a res u l t of A rabian Civiliz a tion
to the fifteenth century
Do n
hatever scientific activity existed
.
w a s engaged in assimilating A rab learning

.
in Euro p e
w w
ithout greatly adding to it Prince H enry of Portugal
.
established under Arab and Je ish teachers his great
w
nautical academy at C ape St Vincent .
the a y for Vasco da Gama and fo r the expansion of

,
Europe to the uttermost ends of the earth

hich p repared
The first
,
mathematical treatise printed in Europe ( 1 4 9 4 ) is but

a p arap hrase and in parts a transcription of Leonardo
F ib ona cci s translations by L uc a Pa ciol i the fri end o f
w
’
—
a nother Leonard o Leona r do da Vinci I t a s from AI
‘
w
.
B a ta ni s tables that Re giomonta nu s constructed the

’
w
f
Ephemerides hich made the voyage of C olumbus

possible ; K eple r carried ou t his ork by means of
the H a ke mite tables of I b n Yunis V esalius translated ;
Al R a z i The spirit p f science passed through t h

-
. e period
o f the C lassical Renaissance Without be in g influenced by
it and developed in seclusion independently of classi

, ,
cizing influences
w
Science is the most momentous contribution of A rab
w w
.
civiliza tion to the modern orld but it s fruits ere slo
w
,
in ripening N ot until long after Moorish culture had
w w
.
sunk b ack into da rkness did the gi a nt to hich it had

given birth rise i n his might I t a s not science hich
.
b rought Europe b ack to life O ther and manifold in ‘
w
.
fl u e nce s from the civili z at i on o f I slam communicated

it s first glo to European life .
w” w
fro m Co rdova some hite as sno others red
’
ww
, ,
another o ffered me carpets .

I
The cities of Southern I t a ly next follo ed ; Ama lfi '
w
,
Salerno N ap les and G a e ta rising gradually to ealth

and freedom thro ugh commerce ith their Musl im neigh
, ,
‘
ww
bours of Sicily and gradually extending their connections
,
in conjunct ion ith A rab traders to Af rica and S yria

The Emperor Lud i g I I accused N aples of being a s
.
Muh a mmadan as Palerm o Ama lfi and the first I talian

w
'
w
.
free ci ties o f S outhern I taly entered into alliance ith t he

Muslims of Sicily ( 8 7 5 ) and actually assisted them hen
w
they advanced to the gates of Rome defying the ex
communications of Pope John V I I I A nd hen a crusade
,
w
w w
.
a s moved against I slam they refused to bear arms ,
against the people ho had help ed them to ealth and

greatness Pisa Genoa a n d Veni ce used the oppo rtunity
t o outreach Am
.
a l fi and N aples
,
Pisa hich the ch r onicle

,
ww w
”w
.
,
of D onizo describ e s in 1 I 1 4 as unc le an i th s arm

ing Sar a ce ns ,
w
Turks L yb ia ns a nd Chald a eans
possessed a hole quarter of the ci ty kno n as K in
ho
,
w ,
w w
,
rose like Genoa to importance by trade

, ,
ith S araceni c Sa r dinia Such a s the destitute .

‘
condition of Europe prior to the development of

that commerce that having neither native products
no r money to e xchange for the
, ,
ares o f the
A rabs the first I talian merchant adventurers kidnapped -
w
w
,
the children of neighbouring v illages and p aid for their
w w
,
goods ith cargoes of human flesh Genoa and Pisa
w
.
joined forces to conquer S ardinia hich produced the
ww w
,
finest ool that of England e x cepted ; the ool trade

,
pas sed thence to Lucca here t he a r t of eavi ng had
w
,
b een brought from ;Palermo a nd hence af ter the sack
w w
, ,
of the to n by U guccione della F a g gi ol a the master
w
,
eavers established themselves in F lore nce Thus a s
w
.
laid the foundation of that F lorentine ealth a nd great

ness,
hich before long made the Tuscan merchants
the bankers of Europe .
The A rab s opened up the l a nd routes to I ndia to Chi na -
Malacca a nd Timb uctoo the emporium of C entral

, ,
, ,
Mon G r m H i t P oet La t I 4 99
t
. e . s , . . . .
M a t o i Ant Med A v d i s 3
2 ur r , . . e .
,
s . 0 .
REB I RT H OF E U R O PE 205
A frican tr a de and sent thei r caravans to the ri ch lands

'
beyond the S ahara long before the Portuguese doubled

C ape Verde They held t he monopo ly of the s e a routes
.
-
t o I ndia a n d the E m
,
os a id s founded along the eastern
coast of Africa a line of trading colonies from the Sudan
coast and Socotra to Momba za Mo z ambique Zanzibar , ,
and Madagascar .
They improved the art of shipbuilding taught
w
,
Mediterranean seamen t o construct lighter sailing ships

w
-
o r caravels ( gr fi)
i r a t o 5
caulk thei r b o,
a ts i t h" tar
still kno n in Roma nce lan guages by the A rabic

name of g a tr cin ( F r g ou d r on ’
I t cdl tr a me ) to
.
—
,
.
handle sails and cable s ( A r ha b l ) Moorish mer ’
w
. .
chan ts established their ffind a ks in the C hristian ports

‘
plied b e t een the gr eat sea po rts o f Andalusia Va le ncia “
w
-
, ,
A lmeria and Ma laga t o those of P rovence a n d the South

,
o f F rance brought their ares to the markets of Mont

,
p e l li e r and N arbonne A rab d i nd rs are to this . day

found as far north as the shores of the N ort h Sea a n d
the Baltic in greater abundance than Roman coins o r
Greek besants They introduced the system of b ills
w
.
of exchange and the commerce of the Mediterranean

,
a s regulated by the institution of sea consuls first -
adopted at B arcelona
w
.
The fine linens the co ttons the silks the delicate and
, , ,
gorgeo us fabrics of t he S aracenic orld satins and ,
sa r cenets Persian taffetas damasks from D amascus bau ,

“
dekin from B aghdad muslin from Mosul gauzes from

, ,
‘
, ,
Gaza grenadines from Grena da moires cr epes and

, , ,
ch rag but diaphanous h from

‘ ’
i fl ons ( no t c , i ff
Tripoli ) chamle ts karsies and r a d zirn ir s created a
,
'
, , ,
demand for fine raiment among the coarsely clad p op u

l a t ions of Europe
a na ch r oni cly adorns herself
I n the N ibelung lay K rimhild
ith
.
w
Di e
u nd e
a ra
v on
b is c h
Za
e n s id e n
za ma nc
wliz a s o d er
d e r gr u e n e n s o d e r klé
s n e,
V on Ma r r ock
ll
de m l a nd e u n d ou c h
v on L ib ia n
mér w”
w
d ie i e
w
d ie a er b e s t e n s id e n ge a n .
I
The A r a b ia n lk
si h h it e a nd t f om Z ma n
w
s no
w
s a s , os e r a za
gr ee n a s t he l
c ov e r le f a f m l M ro t he a nd o f or occo a n d a l s o f om
r
Le b a non , t h e s
b set ilk s t h a t e re e v er on .
w
206 TH E M A K I N G O F H U M A N I TY
w w wThe looms of S yr ia and Spain of f hich six teen

thousand ere at ork in S eville alone and
,
w
w w
,
here a hundred and thirty thousand silk orkers -
ere employed at C ordova ove the materials for
w
,
the garments of nobles and the sacra mental vest

ments of Christian p relates ; and it a s not an
w
uncommon spec tacle to s e e a bishop celebrating mass
chasuble
’
T he om w
ith an ri ya l of the K ur a n elegantly emb roide red on his
e n o fl Europe learnt to ear an w
w w w
.
.
A ra b ka mis ( chemise ) and j u b ba ( jup e jupo n ) The ,

.
arriors of C hrist endom ere eager to ield blades forged

‘
w
in Damascus A lmeria or Toledo and to ride in C o rdovan
w w
,
saddles The sugar cane a s in troduced and Euro p eans

.
-
first tasted confe ctioneries s eetme ats and sorbets By

,
w
.
,
and by the manufactures of the East ere i ntroduced and
l is he d in N orma n S icily w
imitated in Christian Europe , S ilk looms ere estab
Venice copied ith the aid o f
.
nat ive cra f tsmen the g la s a r e of Antioch ; Lyons the

.
-
d amasks Paris the

w
tapis sarrasins a n d R heims the
‘ ’ '
w w w
, ,
linen of S yria The rich dyes of the E ast ere brought
w
.
to B ruges ,
here they ere used to p repare English
ool for the market The ares o f S pain and
w
.
Maj orca led to the establishment of I talian factories

for the manufacture of majolica S ugar factories ere .
transferred from S icily to I t a l y and from S pain to the

South of F rance
ww w
w
.
The A rabs introduced three inventions into Europe
w ww w
,
each of hich a s to bring about a orld transforming -
revolution : the mariner s compass hich a s to expand ’
Europe to the ends of the earth gunpo der hich a s
w
to bring to an end the supremacy of the armoured knight
and paper hich pre p are d the a y for the printing w
w
press . The revolution e ffected by the introduction of
m
pape r a s scarcely less i port ant than t hat brought about
by printing The ex treme scarcity of books a s in a ww
ww w
.
large measure due t o the scarcity of parchment ;
w
e ,
kno ho the texts of ancient m a nuscripts e re erased

again and again t o supply materials for riting missals
and legends of saints s o that scarcely a manuscript
w
,
older than the eleventh century survives to day The -

.
price of books a s co nse qu ently prohibitiv e a C ountes s

2 08 TH E M AK I N G OF H UMAN I TY
crossed the Pyrenee s at the inv itation o f Suleim a n a l
w w
A rab i a r ebel against the fir s t Abd a l Rah man ’
-
w
, ,
a s returning laden ith C h r istian booty and

ithout having fought a Moor Christian s a n d Moors ,
had constantly fou gfht side by side and lent each

other support in their complex internecine quarrels .
Spanish prin ces ma r ched at the head of Moorish troops

’
l ent to them b y a M uslim ally to recover their domains ,
Moorish Emi rs led Christian troops against their rivals .
C ompanies of soldiers o f fortune both C hristian and

Muslim hired themselves t o masters of either religion
w w
.
The most brilliant o f Moorish generals Al Mans ur ,

-
,
on his vict orie s and sacked the shrine o f C om

,
t l l ith C hristian troops The famous Rodr igo
w
p o s e ,
a .
Diez de Bivar transformed by l e gend into the
w
,
doughty champ ion o f the fai th a s a cond ottie r e

,
ho fought at least as often on the side of the

Moors a s o n that o f the C atholics remain e d
w
,
s even years in the service of t he Emir of S aragossa

‘
,
looted churches ith as much gusto a s mosques usually
w
,
dre s sed in Moorish costume p u t his faith in a Moorish

,
bodyguard and is kno n to fame by the A rabic

,
appellation of the Cid I t is no mere fiction like the

.
,
trans mutation of the ignominious expedition of C harle
w
magne in Spain into an heroic epic and its adornment s
ith the magicians knight errants d arfs dragons and
-
,
w
w
, , ,
enchanted palaces of A rabian roma nce but an accurate ,
tradition hich represents in the tal es and poems of

chivalry C h r istian and Moori sh knights as freely co n
,
sorting on friendly terms joining together in jousts a nd

,
tourna ments and enterta ining each other as honoured

guest s Spanish and Mo orish princes and their retinues
.
of men o f science and minstrels constantly resided at

each other s courts C hri stian rulers entrusted the
w
’
w
.
education of their sons to A rabian tutors ; and hen

a fflicted ith some obstinate disorder betook themselves
w
t o C ordova to consult the most emin
w
en t physici a n s Even
bet een C hristian ecclesiastics and Moori sh prin ces there
a s friendly intercourse ; the tra n slation of the Arab
.
w
Almanack by B ishop H arib a nd a history of the '
m
,
ranks ritten i A rabi b B is ho G b of

’
F n c
y p o a r ,
REB I RT H OF E U R O PE 209
Gerona w
ere dedicated to K hal i f H akim
marriage common among the people
,
,
a s
I nter
not in ,
w .
frequent among the nobil ity and even K ing Alfonso V

i s s ister in marriage t o Muh a mmad K ing
,
.
of Leon gave h ,
of Toledo a nd A lfonso VI ma rried P r incess Z ayda

, _ ,
the daughter of I b n A bet Kin g of Seville Al
ww
.
,
Ma ns fir married Teresa the dau ghter of Be rmudo I I

w w
,
ho,
ith the consent of her family adopted her ,
hus b and s fa i th Moorish pri nces ho ackno ledged the

’
.
suzerainty of the Kin g o f C astile sat in the Spanish C ortes .
The lustre of Moo rish eleg a n ce circulated unim p eded

throughout the peninsula a n d the South of F rance A
w
.
shi ft ing po pu lation of Mozarabia n s ( Muslim Spaniards )

a nd Je s passed cont inually from A nda lu s ia t o C atalonia
w w
’
and Languedoc the papal legate charge d the C ounts of

Provence ith harbouring Moors Je s and all ma nner
w
o f infid e l s Provence here the Moors had d e lt w w , ,
w w w
.
,
nearly t o hundred years became united to the Spanish ,
March here the same language a s spoken hen Ray

, ,
a
mond Berenger Count of Barcelona marrie d Douce the
w w
, , ,
daughter of Gilbert of G evaudan the la st scion of the ,
C oun ts of Provence The re and then it a s that the first
w
.
e fll o r e s ce nce of European culture a nd elegance hich ,
so tragically b lott ed ou t in b lood in the ghastly

'
a s
Al b igensi an C rusade blossomed fort h under the stimulus

w
,
of Moorish civilization
w
.
Rude illiterate un ashed robber barons gave place
w w
-
, ,
to men ho delighted in po etry a n d musi c and fo r
ww
,
gathered in tournaments of song Loo se o olle n g o ns .
and leather jerkins ere exchanged for close fitt ing
w
-
braided pourpoints first kno n as gip ons ( A r j u b b a ), .
a nd mantels of shi mme ring silk the fashion for hi ch ,
gradually ex tended to N orthern Europe Women joined .
equ als as in Moorish Spain in the intell ectual
ww w
a s , ,
interes ts and artistic tastes of men They discarded nun .
like habits for fine apparel a nd je els develo p ed a aist
w
,
and rustled silk en trains instead of earing their hair
ww
in long plaits they did it up elegant ly a ch a nge
to be kno n in the N ort h as cheveux a la Proven cale

hich ca me
w
,
they ore emb roidered a nd je elled Persian tiaras o f

ce nd a l ( A r ca nd a l ) hich in the fou r te e nth century
.
'
, w 14
,
MA K I N G OF H UM AN I TY
wx w
210 TH E
ere e chang d for the sugar loaf and horned head

e -
dresses kno n as bonnets a la S y r ienne ‘

A n A ra b ’
w
’
w
.
author I b n J ob a i r thus describes the appearance of the
w w
, ,
omen of the period They ent fort h clad in robes o f
ww
silk the colour o f gold
w w
rappe d in elegant mantles
covered i th many coloure d veils shod ith g ilt shoes -
,
,
,
”
laden i th coll a r s j a d o r ne d ith kohl and pe rfumed ith
attar exactly in the costume o f ou r Muslim ladies Such
w w
.
,
dalliance d id not fail t o call forth the shrill denuncia
slunk a ay in im w
tions o f monks ho else here supreme arbiters o f life , ,
w
potence before the indiffere nce o f the
w w
people and the s ir ve nte s of the poets
music hich fil led the rose gard e ns of And alusia here
Song a nd .
w
-
, ,
every cour t rang ith the sound of romances a nd quat
mw
rains here po e ts and musicians fo rmed p art o f the
w
,
retin ue of every Moorish prince and every E i r here

skill in v e r s ifica tion a s counted an i ndispe nsable a ccom
,
l i shm nt o f eve y knight and every lady spread to
w w
p e r ,
the adj ace nt lands o f C astile C atalonia and Provence ,

.
S t ringed musical instruments hich a r e throughout the ,
Middle Ages spoken of as mauresques ere first intro ‘ ’
w
,
du ce d into Eu r ope the lute o r laud ( A r 01 ,

the .
viol or violin kno n at fi rst as ru b e b ( A r r a b a b ) the

,
.
‘
psaltery ( A r s a ntyr ) ancestor of the piano the z ither
w
.
, , ,
the tabor and the g uitar ( A r kuitr a )
w ww
. .
,
Exact ly to hat degree the C atalonia n and Proven

ca l poetry hich a s sung to the accompaniment o f
that Mooris h musi c a s moulded by that o f A rab
‘
Spain is the subject of controversy among specialist
w
, .
scholars What measure of prejudice may enter into

.
the conclusions of those ho pronounce t he literature of

Provence to have been
w
an extraordinary instance of
w
‘
5
w
spontaneous gro th may pardonably be suspected hen
the mann er in hich every other contribu tion of Arab
,
in mind w
cult ure has been treated by European scholarship is borne
w
There a s a popular vernacular poetry in
.
‘
Provence a s every here else but only there d id a

,
w
-
courtly fashion fo r verse appear distinct from popular
w
,
song and court singers identical in function ith the

,
-
i h of Moorish courts Rhyme of a rude kind had

‘
ru c .
previousl y been us e d in monkish doggerel but its '

,
w w
21 2 T H E M AK I N G OF H UMA N I TY
and equal rights and liberties ; and s o illingly ere
the terms carried ou t in letter and spi rit that Roger
w w
the first K ing of the T o S icilie s and his successors w , ,
w
,
ere not ithout good ground accu se d of being more

, ,
Muslim than Christian Sicily do n to the last
w
.
H ohenstaufen rulers rema ined a centre of Muslim"
It w —
w w
culture and b ecame the focus o f a akening civili z ation
s trange irony of fa t e l b y Musli m troops that
.
w
a s -
Pope H ildebr an d a s rescued from C astle S An gelo
w
.
hen H enry I V sought to i pe ou t the shame of

.
C anossa . N o t only ere the troops the religion and , ,
to a large extent the administration o f the Muslim

,
‘
retained u nder the N ormans and S u a b ia ns but the po sts

‘
of honour and command remained in M oorish hands
w
.
I heir a myr a l b a hr became in latini z ed for m a mmir a ti

-
,
or a d m ir a l s their d i a ns o r government o ffice s b ecame

‘
‘
, ,
d oha nos o r d ou a ne s Sicilian administration served as

a model to Europe
w w
.
The English: fiscal system like
w w
.
,
the name hich it bears to d a y the Exchequer '
ww
m
a s -
,
derived fro m Muslim S icily hence Thomas B run ho ‘
, ,
served as Kha i d under Roger I I introduced it hen b e
w
,
transferred his services to ou r H enry I I B et e e n
w
.
N orman E ngland and N orman Sicily ther e a s con

tinu ou s intercourse through hich ma ny elements of
Muslim culture came directly to distant B ritain I t s
w
.
great and far reaching civili z in g influence over ba rbaric

-
Europe reached i ts height hen the kin gdo m passed ‘
F rederic I I w
into the han ds o f the g reat I talian born Emperor
ww hose radiant fi gure fi lled the Middle

-
w
,
A ges ith on d er I f the name of any European

.
,
sovereign d eserves to b e s p ecially associat e d ith the

’
red emption o f C hristendo m from ba rbarism and igno r
w
ance it is not that of C harlema gne the travesty of
,
hom in the character o f a civilizer is a fulsome

,
p atriotic and e cclesiastical fiction b ut that

enlightened and enthusi a stic ruler ho ado p ted S aracenic
civi lization and did more than any sov ereign t o stimulate
of the
w ,
i t s di ffusion .
H i s b rilliant court w
here under the stalactite roofs
w w
,
of Moorish hall s and ami d orienta l gardens adorned

,
ith murmuring fountains and aviaries filled ith rare ,

:
REB I RT H OF E U RO PE 21 3
birds and menageries of stran ge animals the gifts o f

, ,
friendly K hal i fs the professors of A rab ian science

,
forgathered as hono ured guests and discus sed mathe
w
,
ma tica l p robl e ms a nd questions of natural history ;

here troubadours from P rovence and Mooris h
‘
minstrels sang to the music of lutes and tabors a nd

inspired the fir s t fruits of I talian poetry ; that onder w ,
w
-
court the seat of learning r efineme nt and bea uty s o
w w w
, , ,
utterly contrasting i th the gloomy r u sh littered halls
w
-
,
of other Europe an po tentates hic h s armed ith

‘
monks and vermin ignorance a nd superstition
w
,
a s ,
an obje ct of astonishment and malicious rage Amon g
w w
.
the accu sations and denunciations that ere hurled

against Fr e deric it a s alle ged i th horror that he
,
'
—
in dulged in a daily bath e ven on Sundays He .
'
establishe d universities in N aples Messina Padua
w
, , ,
renovated the o ld B y z antine medical s chool of S alerno

in accordance i th the advances of A rab medicine e n
'
cou r a ge d by h i s patronage Plato o f Tivoli a nd Lorenzo

,
w
F ibonacci t he founders o f European mathematics ;
gathe r ed Je i sh and A rab scholars to undertake trans
l ation of every procurable A rabic b ook sent his friend
w
'
Mic ha el S cot us t o Cordova to ob t a i n the latest orks of

Averroe s and distributed co p ies to every e x istin g s chool
w
.
,
T he course not only of political histo ry b u t of
w
, ,
w w
European d evelopment a nd culture ould doubt less have
b een very di ffe rent had he a s his dream uni ted
‘
ww
a s , ,
Europe under a ne e mp ire i t h its capital in I taly .
But the oppo sing forces of ecclesiastica l po er ere

as yet too strong The po pe s moved heaven and ea r t h ‘
w
.
against the H ohenstaufen Emperor G regory I X stirr e d .
the Lomb ard cities to revolt a nd re a rded and

' '
w
,
s ecured their loyalty b

y settin g up the I nquisition in
their mids t a nd b urning a fe
, hundreds of their
citizens p ou r e ncour a ge r l e s a u t r e s 'Me nd icant monks
— ’
.
’
p e netrat e d into t he very palace o f the E mp e no r ,
threatened a n d b ribed hi s closes t friends and thrus t ,
dagge rs and po ison into their hands
w
.
ww
The C hurch dreade d no less t ha n a u nited I taly
,
and the loss of it s temp o ral dominions the ne ,
intellectual light hich a s being flashed across the

21 4 TH E MA K I N G O F HUM A N I TY .
darkness of Europe Gregory dec lared F rederic to ‘
w
‘ ‘
That pe stilent ki ng “Wrote the

.
be the Antichrist .
,
Pope a ffirms that the o r l d has been deceived by
w
:
,
three impo stors Moses Jesus a nd Mahomet He ,

.
—
,
further pr oclaims i th a lo ud voice he dares to utter
w
lies to the extent of saying] that none but fools can
b elieve that the all po e rful C reator of the orl d a s ww
w
-
born of a virgin H e maintains the heresy that no
w m
.
man can b e born ithout the concourse of a a n and
w w w”
a oman And he adds to those b la s p he mie s that
‘
l
.
hat is proved by the la s of thi ngs and natural reason

’
w
, ,
is alone orthy of be lief The su p porters of the
w w
. .
Emperor throu ghout I taly e re regard ed as infid e ls ,
the n a me of Ghi b e lline synonymous i th
w
a s .
epicurean the current designation of the time for

‘ ’
w
,
w
p hilosophic unbelievers ; and en Guid o C a va l canti —
alked throu gh the streets of F lorence a b sorb e d in ,
thought the po pulace Bocc accio tells us

, hispered , ,
that he Wa s thinking ou t argumen ts to prove t hat

The interd icts the anathema s the
w
there is no God
w
,
repeated excommunications of the C hurch proved a

,
.
more fo rmidab le eapon than even the s ords of the

Guelp hs Van quish e d ba ffled be trayed haras sed dis
.
’
, , , ,
hearten e d emb ittered by lon g years of strife and daily

pe ril the Em p eror crav e d fo r term mhis implacable
,
,
. s fr o
foe ; he a g reed to depa rt from I taly on a c rusade to

Palestine ; and b e taking himself to Jerusal e m tha t
stran gest of crusaders a s there re ceive d as a n honou red w w
,
friend b y the Sultan Melik a l K am il

w
A s he alke d
'
- '
arm in a r m i th the noble a nd learned Melik on the

terrace of the mosque o f O ma r discoursing o f the ‘
w w
,
latest a d vances in his beloved ma thematical scienc e s ,
and of the folly of men ho like darknes s rathe r than

,
w
light he cast a scornful glance o n the fanatical cro ds
that c ra l ed on their knees before the gates of the
H oly Sep u lchre
“
H appy Sultan ho kno s no pope " w w w
and e x claimed like Philip Auguste ,
As a token
,
-
,
of his regard Melik presented him it h a marvellous ,
clock in the form of a large d omed tent i n hich the

w w
w
, ,
s u n a nd moon ere moved by mechanism and ma de to ,
rise and s e t sho ing the hours , ,

T H E M AK I N G OF H U MA N I TY
w
21 6
Boniface hile eng a ged in C hris tiani z in g Germa ny

,
encountered nothing but trouble i th his I ri s h assistan ts

O ne B rother Vergi l had the assurance to spe ak of ' ’
w ,
,
antipode s F ather C lement flatly s cor ne d the authority
w w
‘
of Jerome Augustine and Gregory and even t hat of
w
‘
, , ,
the C anon and aired vie s about marria ge ith a
w
,
deceased ife s sister and the ma rriage of bishops ’
w
, ,
hich made one s hair stand on end F athe r Ma ca ri u s '
w
.
a s n o b ett e r than a p a ntheis t a nd he set th e devil loose ,
in the monastery of C orbie he nce p resent ly F ather ,
R a t r a m came forth denying t he miracle of the
w
Eucharist But the boldest and greatest of those I rish
w
.
idi s tu r b e r s o f the F aith Wa s Joh n E r ige na a supe rior
ww
'
w
s
,
man ho had travell e d in the E ast and kne Greek
w
.
, ,
a nd ho ith great po er a nd learning endorse d
w
,
R a t r a ms vie of the ma ss a ccounting it a mere

’
w
:
,
s ymbol and expr essed purely pantheistic vie s There

, . .
w
a s no one in that day at all capa ble of even
ap p reciatin g the magn itude of his heresies mu ch less o f ,
making any sho of argumentative fight against the .
w
terrib le I rishman Theology merely consist e d in the .
submissive reading of the S cri p tures and the Latin

F athers a nd had no eapo n b u t their au thority The
w w
, .
eucharistic heresy smou ldered for over a century in

—
the Benedictine monasterie s until it a s i t a s hope d
w w
—ad equately laid at rest by A rchbishop Anselm of
ww
C anter b u ry B ut that hOp e a s cruelly shattered by
.
w
Ro s ce llin ho hanselle d the ne
,
eapo n of Aristotelian
‘
logic lately come from S p ain in his fierce onslau ght upon
ww
Anselm O ne of the disciples of Ro s ce llin a s the
.
gre at Peter Ab él a rld ho ith imp assione d eloquence
w
,
proclaimed not only that reaso n had a right to examine all
w
authority but that it a s the sup reme a nd s ole autho rity
w
Exactly in
,
hat measure the earlier disputes of

.
w ww
pre scholastic scholasticism e re influenced by
‘ ’
-
Muslim thought e have little means of kno ing ith

w w w
accuracy The firs t system
,
. atic body of heretical doctrine

ithin the Roman C hurch hich resulted in ides p read
w
‘
theological controversy arose in Muslim S p ain and ’
w w
, ,
originated in the ninth century ith B isho p E lip a nd u s

of Toledo ho infested ith the A doptionist heresy
,
RE B I RT H OF E U R O PE 21 7
the clergy of the South o f F rance

p hilosophy an ti theology ha d e kno
Muh a mmadan
been
the Benedic tine monasteries through the Je s and the
carried
,
to , w ww .
metropolitan house of Monte C assino and Alvaro of

C ordova tells us that many C hristians in the ninth century
h
”
not al ays he addsw
studi ed the Muh a mmadan theologians and p hilos o
significantly ith a vie w w
ww
p e rs, ,
t o ,
refuting the m Peter the Venerable the Abbot of C luny

.
, ,
ith hom Abelard too k refu ge af ter his condemnation

' ’
by the C ouncil of Sens lamented that during his stay in, ,
Sp a in he had seen t roops of students from F rance

,
’
Germ a n y, England flockin g to the Moorish seats o f

,
lear n ing I n order to do some thi ng, to stem the tide he

.
‘
had the K ur a n translated into Latin na i vely remarking ,
that the te xt of such like inspi re d books constitutes ‘
w
-
their most e ffe ctu a ll refutation The exact pa rallelism .
b et een Mus lim a nd C hristian theologi cal controversy

"
.
is too close to be accounted fo r by simi larity o f

si tuations and the coinci d ences are too fundamental
,
a nd numerous to b e acce p te d as no more th a n

coincidences A single meta p hysical quib ble rais ed in ‘
w w
.
the I s a g og m e of Porp hyry conce rning universals ‘
supp lie d the cardin al fo rmula about hich the hole

e di fice
ww
of controversia l
C hristendo m a s rais ed
thought bo th in I slam and
The same questions the same
w
.
,
issues hich occupi ed the theologica l s chools o f

Damascus ere afte r an interval of a century repeated
,
’
in identical te rms in those of Pa ris .
The culture of the courts of Damascus and B a ghdad
whad been eye d askance by the z e alots of I slam ; and

hen Al Ma mfin established his famous school of trans
-
lators the D a r a l H ikmet o r H ome of S cience he ‘ ’
w
-
, ,
had to pl a cate the pi etis t con s cience b y assurances that

‘
it a s merely a college of househol d p hysicians To .
the Musli m faithful a nd their U lama the Whole cul tural ’
movement remained from first to last a thing accursed ;

H a rfin and Al Ma mfin had sold their souls ; and in
w
-
w
Moorish Sp ain there e re const a nt outbursts of fana tic
w
zeal in
the flames
hi ch the b ooks of science e re consign ed to
w
The attitude o f religious ardour to ards
.
in te llectual culture a s preci sely the same in the Muslim

w
w w
T H E MA K I N G OF HUMAN I TY
'
21 8
in the C hristi a n o rld O nly t here Wa s this di ffer
w
a s .
ence that in the former it the intelle ctual s
w
a s
w
,
w
and heretics ho for a time held the Whi p hand o f -
po er ; the p i ous ha d perforce to rest content ith

sour looks a nd su p p r ess e d gro ls a nd to Wait patiently ,
until the Turk the Be rb e r and the Spa niard came to

their assistance and p lunged I slamb ack into the pu rity
, ,
w
,
of faith and the da r kness and ignorance of b arbaris m
w
.
If hile in the tent h century Europe an a s pirants to
w
,
kno led ge sou ght the schools of the le arned Mo ors in
w
,
the t entiet h century Professo r West e rmarck journeys
ww w
to Morocco to study the ays o f p rimitive barbarism
it is because in the t o orlds the contest bet een light
,
w
and darknes s had o p po site issues ; in the one case
dog ma a s defeated by rational thou ght in the ot her it
prev a iled over it
,
ww
.
A lthough the intellectual energy of the A ra b s

employe d itself b y preference ith ob j e ctive mathe
ma tica l a nd s cientific pu rs uits it a s inevitable that ,
it should be app li e d to the interpretation of reli gion
w
.
F ro m their N e s tor ia n teachers and from Galen they '
d erived a p rofound v e neration fo r A ristot le
w
and encycloped ic cast of mind chime d ith their di s po
hos e orderly
w ,
s it ion . He
the philoso p her
a s
a nd
a l the
pilg rima ges
,
suppose d tomb in Palermo as to the shrine of a saint

divine A ristotle
ere made to his ‘
w ,
The A rab app lied his termi nology metaphysical ideas

and classifications and lo gi cal method to the endeavour
,
to elucidate ma king more definite and p recise r e ducin g

, ,
t o a rational order to a science the dog mas of their

, ,
’
reli gi on A maze like stru ct ure arose out of the subtle

.
-
disputations of theology d l ka ta n the s cience of the ,

-
,
W ord And intellectual thought set about the endless

.
’
task o f reconci ling religious dogma and rational

thought A l F ara b i par a phras e d A ri stotle enumerated
.
-
,
the principles of being elaborated the doct rine of ‘
,
’
the d ouble aspe cts of the in tellect and the qu e stio n of
w
'
univers a ls l b n Sina sought upon the basis of F arabi s

.
t
,
’
ork to spi rituali z e the naturalism" of A ristotle b y a
w
,
free ad mixture of mystic neo Platonism derived from -
e ish nd A le x a n d rian s ources O thers r tion li z ed th

J a a a e .
2 20 THE MA K I N G OF H UMA N I TY
of
.
w
mutations The same Muslim infide l I b n S ina furn ish ed
both the ef t of the T omis tic or o fficial p hi los op hy
the C atholic C hurch a n d the text b ook of the
,
, ,
w
-
w
,
medical schools ; nurtured the Vatican and the H oly

O ffice ith one hand and Galileo ith the othe r We ,
.
are accustomed to th ink o f A ristotelian authority a nd "

the schools as the foes a ga inst Which t he
w
‘
of
'
European intellect had to
w
i n its victory
science and modern thought at last unfolded t heir ings
ith Galileo a nd Descartes it a s b y the overthro
Wthe n
w
_
.
ww
w w
,
w
of A ristotle and his authority that tha t first li b eration
marke d B u t at an earlier sta ge it those
w
a s a s
w
.
same authorities h ich the A ra b s ha d transmitted to
w
Europe i t a s that very A ristot le hich ha d stood
w
, ,
for intell e ctual freedom for reason against o b s curantism

,
and mysticism A ristotle a s the shield unde r hich
w
.
in the universities and the medical sch oo ls thought
w w
,
a n d science er e brooding and maturing W hen the .
humanists o f the Renaissance hen Petrarch hen
w w
, ,
Erasmus invei ghe d against A ristotle and Averroes it
w
,
no t do gm a tism or authori ty hic h rous e d their

'
a s
ire but science impiety materialism

‘
They e re ’ ‘ ’
w w
.
, , ,
oc cupying the same po si tion as the O pponents of
ww
C ope rnicus o f D a r in of that science
, hose Chrysali s
,
w
a s rapped in the authoriti e s of the A rabs
Scholasticism like Greek Sophism is one of those
, ,
w
vanquished thi ngs hose name has be en indelibly
branded b y the triump h of its opponents N e ve r the
w
.
less those argumentative contests hi ch seem to us

absurd and unint elligible ere the first stirrings of ,
the mind in Europ e a fter the death like trance and -
C immerian darknes s that Went b efore I n the hair
w w w
.
splitting subtleties and grotesque disputes of the schools ,
the eapo ns e re temp er e d that e re to arm the human

mind for the battles of its liberation and trium p h
wthe S choolmen J S Mill rightly observes

To
ww
.
ww
,
. . e o e ,
h a tever accuracy of thought and lucidity of logic
w
, ,
e can b oast We ma y laugh at some of the problems
w
.
-
hich the s cholastic dispu tants exercised their it
w w
on
hether divine essence engender ed the F athe r or ,
a s engendered b y the F at h er ; hether attributes or

RE B I RT H OF E U R O PE 22 1
wsub s tance d etermine pe rsons ( P ter Lombard )

’
e o r
w
,
“
he ther the H oly G host appeared as a real dove ;
ww
‘
hether Adam and Eve had navels Whethe r C hr ist

took any clothe s ith him to heaven ( Thomas
A quinas ) ; but the laugh b u ld not be alto gether on
1
ou r sid e if some of the pa ralogisms hich sometimes

w w
pas s to day as arguments i th unt raine d and slovenl y
w
‘
thinkers cou ld b e submitted to the medi ae val orship pers

,
o f A ristotle F ormal lo gi c is p edant ic and the ’
m
.
,
syllogis is not the su m of rational metho d ; b u t

the y have su p plied a very b en e fice nt and useful
training And it is by passing through the mill o f s
.
scholasticis m th a t the Europe an mind ha s acq u ired that

app reciation of a ccuracy that habi t of precision that
care in the use and definition o f ords that p rotective
,
w ,
w w
,
w w w
immunity against plausib le fa llaci es that indisposition ,
to b e in g p u t o ff i th irrelevant and lofty p hrases hich ,
have be en its strength a nd to hi ch it o e s its gro th ‘
w w
,
a nd achievements .
And it { a s t hat unflinchin g appl ication of logic hich

in the days o f Ros ce l li n and Ab elard had struck te rro r
in the champi ons of dogma and tradition hi chulti matel y w
w w w
( ,
shook o ff the ir intellectual tyranny in s pite of their

’
w
,
attemp t to p res s the t o e d ge d e apon into their o n

'
w w
s
defence ; and hich p roduced Ro ge r B acon and Wi lliam

of O ccam ho dealt the death b lo to the phantasms
,
-
o f dogmatic abs traction and po int e d to the methods of ,
accurate ob s ervation inquiry exp e ri ment a nd mathe
w
, , ,
ma tica l analysis introduced into the World b y A rabian

‘
science as the basis of rational judgment and kno ledge
w
.
,
B y the e nd of the thirteenth century among the ‘
w w
,
propositions hich the Paris S orb c nne Wa s called upo n

to censure find the follo i ng : The discourses :
w
e ,
of theolo gians are foun de d on fables

? True ‘
kno ledge is ma de irnp os s ib le b y theology
w w
The
C hristian religion is an o b stacle to education .
The s p e ll hich had he ld the hu ma n mind ca p ti ve

during the D ark A ges a s broken for ever .
1
It is , of cou r s e , on t he or t h od ox or
“ r e a is t l s id e of
schol a s ti cis m tha t suc h s p e cu l a t i ve ge ms a re to b e met .

CHA PT E R V I I
TH E SOI D I SANT RE NAI SSAN CE

-
IT is in the first three c e nturies of the p rese nt millennium

that the re b i r th o f Europe took place The term
‘
Renaissance applied to the I talian and I tali anate
’
culture of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries is a

'
misnomer stamp e d upon ou r notions b y the traditions of
w w
tha t culture itsel f The gaudier splendour of Europe an
.
life at that e poch a s the outspre ading o f overblo n

blossoms hose buds the previous centu r ies had called
w
w w
to life and unfolded T o that antecedent imp u l s e it
“ f
. at
"
o ed its orth The invention of pri nting t o a far
.
,
greater extent than the study of ancient literature ,
strengthened and accelerated the process
w w w
.
The paramount p art played b y A rab culture in the

akening of Europe on hic h I ha ve d elt at some
w
a ,
—
length proportionat e to the grossness and insistence of ,
—
current misr e prese ntation it ould be di fficult sto ex
w
aggerate But there is no need to magnify the intrinsic
.
orth and quality of that culture Admirable a s a s

that q uality and supremely momentous as its action
. w
w
,
and influence proved it did not possess the principle
w w
,
of indefinite development and gro t h H a d it not .
succumbed to fanatici sm it is doubtful hether it ould
w
-
have pursued a career of prolonged progress Europe
w
.
,
making use of hat it acquired from I slam outstripped
w w
,
it as Greece had surp assed the oriental cultures h ence
w
,
hers a s derived There a s in point of fact something
w
.
,
some particular qu ality in the European mind hich
ww w w A rabiz ed kno ledge in passing into

'
I sl a m lacked . .
Europe ho ever barbaric b ec ame European

,
estern
, , ,
acquired some ne virtue hich vitalized and fertilized

,
it That something that quality of the European mind

.
, ,
is not a n intangible and u nd e fina b le r a cial mystery '
.
TH E MA K I N G UM AN I TY
w
22 4 OF H
w
the mental structure hich even in the me d i a eva l C hurch ‘
'
and language deriv e d fro mGreece

w
,
a nd l a
'
.
The humanism of the Renaissance gave a ne impe tus

to the perusal of the only secular literature then existin g
w w
,
and thus helped to establish the dominion of secular

thought in the modern orld
o f Greece a nd
The republished orks
Rome did not b ring life a nd po er
.
w
by virtue of their specific contents by vi r tue of any
w
particular contribution t o kno le d ge or ideas of any w ,
w
,
concrete i sdom o r any forgotte n and regenerating

,
’
inspiration hich they transmitted but purely and simply
w
,
by helping in virtue of t he ir secu lar character to sever

, ,
the bonds hich had held the human min d fettered in

the b ul gia of ecclesiastical thought .
But everything that can ungrudgingly be set to the
w
credit of R e n a is s a n cie humanism is more than counter
‘
w eighed by in fluences the most baneful and pernicious

hich it e x ercised on the development o f Europe
,
w
.
I t may be doubted justly rema rks an historian ‘
w
, ,
hether the human mind has g a i ned by ceasing to

develop along the path upon hi ch it had been s e t
w
during the Middle A ges and by suffering that revolution
hich is called the Renaissance
w
,
w
While it cro ned
’
w
w
.
the antecedent gro t h of the t elfth and thirteenth

centuries the I talian Renaissance a s in reality a phase
w
,
w
and manifestation of essential rottenness and decay I t .
a s i n l Il t l l Il S l C respects as muc h a set b a ck a nd a fa lling

‘
‘
-
o ff as the rule of the petty usurpe rs hose auli c influence
w
,
fostered the literary vendors of fl attery and iminor ‘ ‘
tality a s a fall ing o ff fr om l the vitality and spirit o f
ww
the commune s a n d rep u blics they smothere d A v a i ling
w
itself of the po ers hich a healthier and more creative
age had developed it asted and prostituted them a n d
,
. .
remained essentially sterile .
The literature and thought of Greece and Rome are

among the greatest most glorious and most momentous
, ,
achievements of humanity But Renaissance humanism .
and its far reaching e fl e ct s afford a conspicuous illust ra

-
VVa hl i n L a v is s e e t Ra m b a u d H i s t Génemk ;
’
t
.
, ,
ww
SO I -
D I S AN T RE NA I S S AN CE 225
tion of the truth that no mat te r ho e x cellent a thing ma y .
be in itself its in fl uence is re ndered holl y p ernicious
w
,
,
from the moment that it become s a n obje ct of idolatry , ,
a n d is invested ith a sacred and superstitious authori ty
ww
w
.
I nstead of be ing Vitali z ing a n d inspiring it be comes

deadly and paralysing The ancients a nd hat a s
w
.
conceived by the huma nists to be ancient taste ere

by the m set up as idols
‘
L amps ere s e t alight
'
b efore the bust of P lato ; Alfonso of N aples sent

B e cca re lli to Padua to beg for an a rm bone of Livy -
.
Th cul t of t he ant ique be came a delirious and

’
e
paralysing supersti tion A spirit of intellect ual parasitism

'
.
more abject than that of the schoo lmen for the ip s is s ima
w
ve r b a of A ristotle e xte nde d" a ca n oni ca l au thority to all
the ne ly consecra ted classics

,
Plato or rather a ’
.
w
.
,
mysti c farrago of N eo Pl atonism supplanted Arist otelian
ww
'
-
,
authority So completely a s intellect dulled by slavish
w
.
deference that it a s scarcely capable of even disce rning
shipped .
information
w
the in compatibili ties bet een the authoriti es it o r
w
I nte llectual vie s theo ries ideas thoughts
ere indeed of little or no concern to the
,
, , , ,
pedants of I talian humanism They cared for none .
o f those things ; the only things that ma ttered the
ww
,
things of real impo r tan ce the supreme obje ct of intel
w
,
lectual interest and of c u ltu re ere ords syntax style
ww w
.
, , ,
It a s not as thinkers as c reators a s co gitatin g beings

, ,
that the classics ere canoniz ed a nd orshipped and
ww
their authori ty set up it
de alers in ords a nd peri ods
a s simply a nd solely as
,
The Greeks had

’
w ww w
.
been con cerne d i th ideas the Arabs a nd A rabist s ,
i th facts the pedants of the Renaissance ere con
w
,
cerned i t h o rd s .
I t had been the very plausible ideal of th ose ho in
w
‘
ages of semi darkne s s turned like Pet rarch to the litera
w
-
, ,
t ure of Rome ta re vive th e culture hich ha d e x isted
w
.
in t he past a nd e xiste d no lo nge r hile the em

,
‘ bryo
ww w
,
o f a ne cultur e Wa s on l y t h en struggli ng int o fe eble ,
thou gh healthy l ife They e re inspired by the ish
w
.
to b ring back the glo ries of Rome hat they brought
w
“
back a s the palsy of its dotage The revival o f learn
. .
ing a s th reviv a l of peda ntry The spirit o f t he

’
15
T H E M AK I N G OF H UMAN I T Y
w w
'
2 26
w
cultu re that a s set up by the humanists a s preci sely
w
‘
,
that of their teachers the By z antines round hom t he y
w
,
cro ded to learn Greek it had in it as much of the

elements of p r og re s s and life as that culture hich ha d
for ten centuries rotted in its mummy cloths on the
ww
.
B osporus I t very nearly succeeded in smothering the
w
w
.
young life of the Eu r opean intellect hich a s moving

in the ne orld
N ever e x cept in the last phases of Rome a nd in
.
the B yz antine Empire ha ve the contents of the human
w w
,
mind b e en s o completely displaced and supplanted by

borro ed verbal vacuities and holl o prese ntments of
ideas O f rational thought of even a tenden cy to a r ds
.
a critica l a nd independent attitude there is among the

,
,
w
pundits of I talian learning in the fifteenth a n d sixteenth
centuries hardly a trace W hatever serio u s intellectual
activity e xisted in I taly during those t o centur i es i n
men like Telesio Giordano B runo C M p a ne lla Pompo
.
w ,
w
, , ,
na zzi stood apart from the humanistic mo vement

,
had ,
no connection ith it and except as regards the
ww
, ,
last exercised no influence A lone among the I talian

,
.
humanists Lodovico Valla ,

ho a s thought cold ,
and aloof regarded Latin and Greek scholarship as

,
means to greate r ends and he ma yj be said to .

,
have initiated historical criticism" b y his ex posure

of —
the frauds a nd forge ries the d e Cr e t a l s th
w
e ,
pseudo D yonisiu s the donation of Constantine the

-
, ,
Apostles C reed ’
— hich constituted the cr e dent ials o f
i he C atholic C hurch The greatest mind of all brooded .
in complete silence and solitude I a m no humanist

"
"
declared Leonardo da Vinci .
But one may look in vain among the great lights

o f the time in Poliziano F icino Poggio B racciolini
, , , ,
F ilelfo for a spa r k of spontaneous thought N othing

w w
.
,
can match the utter intellectual impotence a nd sterility

’
the crass stupidity there is no other ord for it —o f

,
—
the authors of that stra nge revival o f learning ho
’
w
,
p r i d ed t heums e l ve s upon their Latin style and Greek

he x ameters and ma de the great discovery that hat
w
,
the y have dub b ed scholarship is the supreme .
goal of the hu ma n int e lle ct (I he yJ ere arid pe d ants

'
‘
'
.
,
TH E MA K I N G OF H U MAN I TY
w
228
the po ers and revenues of the C hurch remained secure

O f dogmatic z eal a nd persecuting spirit there a s little w .
in the hig her I talian clergy They smiled on a de clar e d

.
atheist as long a s he paid his C hurch dues and a s

no t an earnest p mp a ga nd i st
.
N icholas V appointed
.
. ,
w
Valla to a post at his court Leo X invi ted Pomp ona z zi
a n d he and his advisers al lo w

to discourse before him on the mo rtality of the soul ;
w ed Luther to gain time
w ww
and ground through their avo ed indifference to the
theological issue O nly hen political po er a s at
w
.
stake did heresy call forth severity An d the courtly
w
.
sceptici sm of the Renaissance hile it la ughed at ,
dogmas and ridiculed monks perfectly loyal t o
w w
a s ,
the C hurch as a social a nd political institution Me n .
like Ma chiavelli ho treated religious dogma ith
w
scepticism and r i dicule did not do so b ecause o f a ny
‘
w
, .
shock to their intellect ual conscience They ere utterl y
w
.
devoid of such a sense To the relation bet een dogma

.
and truth they ere absolute ly indi fferent The passion .
for truth the ma rk of all real intellectual ac tivity even

, ,
the most languid interest in abst ra ct t ruth are things ,
conspicuous by their ab s ence in the I talian mind of

the Renaissance I t believed as lit tle in reason as
w
.
it did in inspiration and in genera l assumed religion to “ ‘
w
,
be an e xpedient and on the hole benefi cent a nd even

'
w w
, , , ,
necessar y institution 3 at the ors t a necessary e vi l That
w
.
there is a ny connection bet een tru th and hat is
ww
practically desirable and e x pedient is an idea hich
a s not thought of That good ca n come ou t of a
,
w w
.
lie a s never doubted The p r actica l conce rn of t he
w
.
I talian intellect a s not to distinguish be t e en trut h and
falsehood but bet een the respect ive ex pedienc y and

,
d esirability of va r ious lies

Thus the pseudo scepticis mof the I t a lia n R e na is s a nce
w
.
never approached to anything like consistency I t a s
w
.
quite common for the commonpla ces of sceptical ridi
w w
cule to b e c ombined ith a p ract ical b elief in the essential
.
doctrine on hich the po er of the C hurch a s founded

—fear of hell Lorenz o de Medici s coffed a s freely as
.
’
w
any one yet cringed in terr or on his d eat h bed and -
sought a b soluti on fro mSa vona mla

, ,
the onl y p r ie s t he
"
'
,
w
SO I D I S A N T RE NA I S S AN C E 229
ww w
‘
-
kn e ho a s not a hypocr ite Even t he grossest

popular supe rstition a s by no mean s incompatible ith
.
.
w
that superficial s ce p ticis m; Machiavelli himself believed
w w
'
r
in ghosts There is no length of incongruity to hic h

that o r thless a nd irrational scepticis m could not p r o
.
'
cee d . A reti no cite d is s e ma t d ogrmn fu or ché d i D io ’

,
s cus a n d os i col d in N on l o conos co compos e d ’
w w B l a sphem
_ ,
manuals of devoti on y like murder and

.
,
t reachery the out come of mo ral unscrupulous
w
, a s
nes s a nd abs olution a s sought for the one as for the

,
othe r The ri ters of the C inquecento pass b y a quite
ww
.
natural tr a nsition from religious satire to prayer P u lci '
hose poem gastronomical parodies of t he Cr e d o

.
,
in
alternate ith hymn s t o the Madonna may by his tone ,
seem a distant progenitor of Voltaire but the r e
w
semblance is only super ficial Mocking s cofl ing Voltaire
‘
w
a s in grim a n d deadly e a rne s t ;
.
,
-
the sceptics of the f
I talian Re na i ss ance neve r ere .
In
w
F rance in Germany in England the same tedious
,
foolery ent on as in I taly L ati n verses a nd S apphic

odes epistles sp u n of plati tudes and comi nonp la ce s ere
,
.
'
w
w
,
pro fusely e x changed dedications prefaces testimonies , ,
of learning in L atin verse a nd pros e e re com

’
w
,
pos e d for each other by the members of a mutual
w
admiration s ociety in hich every scribbler of sham
Latin verse s a s a modern H orace and every com ‘ ’
w
piler of a cornp e ndiu m combined the elegance of S allust
,
‘
it h the feli ci t y of Livy e xercises divers ified b y p r o

’
w
,
lon ged controve rsies conduct ed for the entertainme nt of

the republi c of le t ters a nd a d orne d it h the amenities
a nd
w ponde rous fa ce ti ce of classica l bill ingsgate in

hich each vir d octis s i ma s became us ina s igna r a s
But in the northern lands hu ma nis m did assume a
.
,
mo re serious co mp le xion than in I t a l y tending in general

w
'
w
'
I t thus be cam
,
to theology . e mostly associated ith
w
the Reformation initiated by F riar Luther ho de ,
nou n ce d in the same el e gant terms both Rome a nd

reaso n D ie
w
e r fl a chte H uhr e Ve r nu nft
E u ropean orld fl ood e d fon the first time i th bo ok s
,
I n the .
w
28 0 TH E M A K I N G OF H UMAN I TY
by the multiplying press t hought circulated and fer
me nt e d and the revival of thought hic h rapidly super
,
s e de d t he
,
outloo k of the anci ent orld proceeded in

,
w
w
spite of the revi val of learni ng and t he reformation ‘
w ww
’
o f religion
’
But in the land here it s ayed unmodified the pro

.
du cts of the humanistic movement ere intellectual death

and corruption The blight of mere artificial imit a t ive
ww
a
.
ness fastened on men s minds and the I talian intellect ’
never fully recovered from the hollo and false spirit

m
’
of the Renaissance
w
the glory of I talian
This Wa s it
w
hi ch da pe d
w
.
its that nothin g ha d be en

ritten there no these many years b u t fl a tte r y and
,
'
fu S tla n . t
Torrents of nonsense have been and are still daily
w
.
gushed forth about the I talian Renaissance The charm .
of the period in a land hich lay closer to the old

s prings of culture that e fflo r e s cing b r ill ia n cy and pagan
w w
'
opulence of artistic p roduct ion hich still a ffectionately
w
holds us ere not the fruit of huma nis m but of the
,
time hen the I talian mind a s stimulated by the culture ww ,
w
of the M oors and of Proven ce hen the I talian sp irit
a s s tir r e d t o vigorous life in the struggle for freedom
’
,
w
w
aga inst Pope Emp eror and feudal lords
,
age hich produced D ante a nd Giotto and brought to

It a s th e .
w
life I talian art a nd literature Their resources ere
deliberately used as a political me ans of po er and
.
ww
diversion b y the ambition of the princes ho crushed
ww
'
liberty a nd the cou r se of their development hich ha d

b egun in freedoman d vital energy though borne on a rd
, ,
w
’
for a short time b y t he initial impulse after they had ,
become the crea tures of aulic patronage a s one of ,
rapid paraboli c decline I taly has produced no second .
D ante N 0 I talian poet after hi m can be named in the

.
s ame breath I nstead of the D i vine C om e dy the
w
.
Renaissance produce d S a nna za ro 5 Ar ca d ia N o t only

’
.
did the I talian Renaissance produce no Dante it a s

” w
,
absolutely incapable of appre ciating him ; it s e t him

a s ide and disparaged him banished him in the ord s
o f o ne o f the h um
w
, ,
a nists of the time from the a s sem b l ies

‘ ‘
n m
,
o th
f e lear n ed a d ade him over to o ol -card
e r s a nd
w
23 2 T H E MA K I N G OF H UMAN I TY
of appreciation for anti quity hich inspired its
w
’
,
pat rons and arbiters t he p a p a l princes to tear do n

, ,
the ve nerable historic basilica of S t Peter 3 and set '
Michel Angelo a nd Raphael quarryi ng the sacr ed remains

.
,
Im
w
of the Roman F orum in order to erect t h
w
pile of overgro n hideousness on the Vatican hill "
mediately its transmitted impulse a s spent the
em into that
w w
culture of classi cal hum a n ism resolved itself into its
elements and issued in the basest degradation of lit e ra

,
ture and a rt hich t he orld ha s looked upon barroqu e —
w w
cl assicis ma nd r ococo taste I f it ha s cont ributed any
’
.
spark to the fire hi ch li t the ne life of Europe
w
,
almost e ve rything that is b ase a n d false in the ideals
w w w
a nd tas t e s hich for nigh three centuries have O ppressed
'
“
it a nd arp ed its g r o t h is like i se to be t raced to
w
,
Renaissance huma nism T hat pestilent pseudo classic
w
-
.
elegance hi ch infe sted Europe d uring the seven

tee nt h a nd ei gh t e e nt h centuries that co ld bligh t h ich
'
‘
ww
'
poisoned the li terature of F rance in t he cr itical period

of its gro t h a nd it s in fl uence so t h at its men of talent
, .
lay palsied for t o ce nturi e s gibbering a hou t Cupid s ‘ ’
th
w
Muse s a nd divine
‘
darts , the Gra ces ,
’
e 3
,
’
C hloe that corruption hich degrade d the tongue

of Villon and Rabelais into that of Vauvenargues and ,
the H otel Rambouillet E li z abethan English into that
w
,
o f A ddi son and Pope t hat deformity of literary ideals
w
hi ch pra i sed Racine a nd s corned S hakespeare ; that
baseness and blindness hich covered Europe i th w
w w
1
l l o n é W r n arch i tect ure a rtificial ruins ’
w
p e r r u q u e s a g e
,
s e , ,
and classic colonna des ith furbe lo ed Romans

'
w w
,
striking Raphaelesque attitudes i th out spread fingers ,
and godd e s ses spra ling on clouds a nd of hich a l l
w
,
that is artistically mean and hideous in the modern
ww
1
orld is the outcome ; the unspeakable absurdity in

nofions of polite education hich eighs to this day
up on the most vital functions of our culture a nd life
w
all those things are the legacy of I talian huma nism
We o e if nothing else to Ruskin that he first boldly
w
.
w
, ,
e x posed the contemptible orthlessness of that Renais

sance t aste hose tyrannous influence s o blinde d our
randfat h e s t h at ev n a G o e the could o into e csta sie s
‘
'
g r e g
SO I -
D I S A N T RE NA I S S AN C E 23 3
over the sugary counterfeits of Palladi o and pass by

the genuine glories of I talian Got hic snatch at the tinsel
,
and cast aside the gold That base ness is but the
w w
.
r e fl e cu on in art of the imitative a r tificia l it y and unreality
in hich the pedantry of humanism moved and hich ,
utt erly e x tinguished in it eve r y irnp u ls e of rational a nd

critical thought .
C HA PTER VI I I
ELEMEN TS OF EUR O PE
IN the motle y multifarious orld of Europe every form w

ww
w
,
ever assume d by ru ling po er a s represented in its

full vigour A theoc ratic po er more strongly organiz ed
than any the East had seen m
.
ww
or e u nt r a ns a ctingl y jealou s
,
.
of its claims to control over men s affairs their lives ’
, ,
their thoughts seemed at fi rst to to er over all a nd

, ,
aimed in fact at that absolute supremacy hich the

C hurch of H ildebrand a n d Benedict V I I I regarded as
w
the logical right of its divine authority Beside it stood
w
w w
.
the po er of the kings The barbaric tribes had origi
w
.
nally no kings The style a s assumed by the a r

.
lords ho led them in thei r conflict s ith Rome and

raised their kingdom s on its ruins in imitation of that
w
,
of its emp erors The C hurch sought t o set up an actual
w
.
successor to the Roman empero rs of the W est ho
ww
as her m
, ,
andato ry a n d s e cular a rm should ield temp or al ,
po er over C hristendom But a strong central govern
ww
.
ment a s impossible in barba ric Europe The actual .
temporal rulers ere the feudal chiefs dukes counts
w ww
, , ,
barons margraves or hatever they might call them

, ,
selves among hom Europ e a s pa r celled out into
w
,
domains varyi ng 1n s 1ze from the fe acres round their

castles to pr ovin ces as large as kin gdoms ; a nd ho
w w
,
“
besides the actual possession of the soil exercised ,
unrestrained arbitrary po er over its inhabitants as their
w w w
vi lleins and serfs The manner in hich barbarism
w
.
a s fir s t broken by commerce ith the ci vilization of
ww w
'
I slam gave rise to a fou r th form o f po er that o f

, ,
the traders the po er of money They ere enabled
w w
.
,
to defy other po ers to ring charters fro m them to

, ,
s e t u p communes
.
Their e x ample a s follo ed every
.
934
MA K I N G O F H U MAN I TY
ww
TH E
w
23 6
po er gathered round hifrr I t a s found t hat instea d

of fighting private w
ars on one s o n a ocount it a s
. ,
’
,
w
w
,
quite as advantageous to lend one s serfs a nd vassals

,
’
to fi ght in the king s ars a nd to s hare the spoils in the

’
,
‘
form of royal favours a nd gift s ; hence the phrase to

3
w
fight for king and country H en ry V I I I consolidated .
’
II u d or despotism by giving his nob les the C hu rch land s

’
w
" -
to loot I n F rance in S pain the central po er gradually

gre a nd e x tended by marriage alli ances conquests and
.
,
w
-
,
purchases in Eng land it ha d b e en uni fied b y the

N orm
ww
a n C onquest ; I taly a s kept fragmented by the
(
Balance of Po er maintained by the Pope a nd Germany

,
w
,
by the po e r of t he elector p rinces and bishops The
w
.
C hurch h , aving utt erly eakened the terrible emp erors

hom it had so thoughtlessly helped to set up found
w
it to be to its interest to make comi non cause a nd identify
w
,
itself ith all kings The advantage a s mutual {The

kings received their cr o ns from p riests a nd be ca me
.
w w
.
w
'
the anointed of G od the rep resentati ves of D ivine po e r

w
'
w w
, ,
sacred persons that could do no rong ans erable to ,
G od only and the people

,
ere taught the duty of
submissio n to the D ivine Right of kingly po er Even
w
.
the burghers after ma ny desperate st ruggle s against
w
,
other po ers found it advantageous to range themselves

,
on their side and t o make common cause

, i th king and
“
noble and C hurch I n England this fastness built
w
.
,
by N ature for herself Against infect ion a nd the hand

of a r This preci ous stone set in t he silver sea Which
serves it in the o ffi ce of a a l l Against the env y of
less happier lands large a rm i es ere unnecessary fo r
,
ww ,
w w
-
,
defensive purposes and therefore e xpensive F or the

purpose s of the king s o ffensi ve ars money had con
.
,
’
st a nt l y to be obtained and the b urghers ho held the

w
‘
h had therefo e to be treated i th consideration
w
p r s e r
The parliam
.
e nt of embarrasse d and O pen mout hed -
burghers hic h Simon de Montfort the s on of the

,
leader of the Albigensian crusade ha d s e t up against
w
,
the king ac quired extraordinary imp o rtance England s

,
.
’
chief means of aggression moreover as ell as of
w
, ,
defence l a y in a nav y rathe r t han in an army ; and

,
.
s hi s
p ere chiefly the p roperty of t he tradin g c l a s s
ww
ELE M E N TS OF E U R O PE 23 7
w
ho
, t hat Vasco da Gam
no a and C olumbus had
changed the channels of the orld s comi ne rce served w
w
’
w
,
a ll interests as ell as their o n by supplying the ,
S paniards ith slaves and relieving them of gold gall eons
w
,
and by buildi ng empires overseas Thus the trading
w
.
classes of moneyed burghers rose to great po er in

England hi ch accordin gly became an e xemplar of free
,
insti t utions to less happier lands ‘

The I ndustrial ’
w w
.
Revolution of the eighteenth century and its develop
w
ments further transformed the relation of po er holders
The po er of money of capital came to overshado
-
.
w w w w w
.
, ,
a nd render more or les s obsolete all other fo rms of

po er Theocrati c po er kingly po er landed po er ’
w
.
, , ,
military po er bec ame to a large e x tent dependent
w
,
on t he po er of money But they remained never
w
e le s s e x trem
.
,
th ely use fu l ad j uvants to it Military po e r;
w
.
,
for e x ample ould seem amid the enormous source s

,
of po er developed by the a r ts of peace the most

‘
w w w
obsolete serving no fu rther purpose Wa rs in spit e of
,
the popular a x ioms that there have al ays been ars

that human nature hich ou r b e a tific ignorance
,
"
.
.
,
,
’
is taught to repeat are a relatively re cent invention in
w
,
the history of mank ind H uma n nature has acquired
w w
.
the habit as a means of acquiring propert y i thin the

last five thousand years or so ; it a s unkno n to
w w
.
human nature du ri ng hundreds of t hou s a nd s of years

q
,
and is still unkno n to most primitive races
w
But as
w
. a
a ma tter of fact mi litaris m a s found to be a most

irnp o r t a nt ally of financial po er openin g up ne ,
markets fe e ding vast industries stimulating patriotism

, , ,
discipline obedience a nd all sorts of subtly and
ww
, ,
essentially useful virtues An d s o of all other forms .
of po er The upshot of the process of development
ww
.
through hich Europe has passed is that the e x tra

‘
ordinarily inco ngruous m

,
edley of rival po e rs hich ,
in its ori gin stru ggle d for mastery tor e one anot her
‘
, ,
to pieces turne d Europe in to t he cockpit of their

,
.
d esp e rate r ivalries a nd conflic ts ha ve come to b e ,
firmly unit e d houn d fast toget her by a common

s p irit common tho u ghts a nd co m
w
,
,
mon interests throne ,
,
altar the s ord the pen a nd the guinea s tand

, , , ,
‘
23 8 T H E M AK I N G OF H UMAN I TY
firmly si d e by side in one huge indi s soluble H oly ,
A lliance
w
.
A strikin g ins ta nce of that p r ocess is presented by
ww
1
Germany I n no pa rt of Europe has the conflict bet een
w
.
the va r ious po ers been more desperate a nd more pro

longed . The po er of the elective empe rors
jealously resisted and kept do n by the popes ; that
a s
ww
w
of the ter ritorial lords a n d bishops in hom the elective
rights ere vested inevitably came to overshado com ww
p l e
w w
t e l y that o f t he nominal ruler
destitute of revenues ; C harles V s predecessor
The emperor a s
w
.
w
a s
kno n as Maximilian the moneyless and the great ,

’
C harles himself a s eve r at a loss to c ope ith his pe nury
w
.
Every rood of land of the imp erial domains e v entually
w
passed a ay in bribes to the Elect ors
cities of the H ansa thre off all allegiance to empe ror
or territorial lords
The t rading
Germany became ultimately fr a g

.
mente d b y the incurable separatist tendencies of its

.
con di tions and ruined and devastat e d b y the fier ce

ness of its conflic ts
,
It a s re nt asunder by three
. w w
w
d i fferent r e hgiou s Every form of po er that of
.
,
empe ror priests b arons a nfd bu r ghers b ecame cr ippled

, , ,
a nd exhausted b y the p e rpetual con fl icts bet een

them all
w w w
.
Yet on the e v e of Germany s fatal bid fort We l tma cht ’
w
O d e r N ie a er g a ng hat do e find ? All those po ers
' ’
,
hich for centuries had been eng aged in a d eath st rugg le -
against one another are fi rml y united in the bonds of '
common ambitions and interests The K aiser r ep r e
w
.
,
s e nt a t iv e of the medi a eval ideals of D ivine Right and
empire is at one ith the Junk ers successors of the
w
, ,
Teutonic K nights a nd robbe r barons the financial in -
t e r e s t s the F rankfort b ankers the H amburg shi po ners

the industrialists the E ssen steel magnates representa
, , ,
'
, ,
t iv e s of the trading burghers assisted and p romoted by
w
,
K aiser and militarists make the aims and s chemes of ,
th e l a t t e r as much t h
, e ir ‘o n a s co u rt a n d camp even
the Vatican is not altogether unsusp e cted of having a
finger in the plot
w
So united have been all forms of
.
modern po er in their aims and action t hat it becomes

a matter o f con s iderable di fficu lt y to dis entangle the ir
‘
,
2 40 T H E MA K I N G OF H UM AN I TY
picturesque ruins in the Pal ati nate The settling of hi s
ww ww
w
'
w
ou t . .
family in Madrid gave rise to a Europea n a r hich
w ent on until every one a s ea ry a n d forgot ha t it

a s about e x ce t M
p
of commissions from th
, arlbo ro u gh h o protra c te d it
e army contra ct ors ; it left the
in vi e w ,
w
w
-
map unchanged and t he chief profit to England of her
ww
most glorious vict ories a s the monopoly of the slave
,
trade hich a s se cured to her by the Asiento Contract

w w
‘
.
,
F renchme n first became acquainted it h Russian
w
mou j iks on the Vistula because S tanislas L e cs zins ki a s
not p ers ona gr a ta ith the Russian C z ar a nd the Austri a n
,
Emperor I n order to find a n income for her children

Eli z abeth of Pa rma ith the help of the gardener s s on
.
A lberoni kept Eu rope on tenter hooks for t elve years

'
, w w
’
w
- .
,
Another litt le fam ily arrangement of the Aust rian Emperor

w
C harles VI —for the sake of hich he sold the trade of
Belgium to England ho in tu rn besto ed S erbia on w
w
ww w
, ,
Austria a nd Gre ece on Turkey at Pa s s a r o itz started —
ww
a European a r hich lasted seven yea rs But the orst
evi l hich the blundering C harles VI inflict e d upon
.
ww
w
Europe a s to save the life of F r ederick H ohenzoll er n
ho a s ab out to be shot b y his father and hose first
act a s to attack a nd r ob the dau ghter of his preserver
‘
,
w ,
She refused S ir Thomas Robinson s pre ss ing o ffer to join ’
w
England a nd P rus sia a ga inst F rance a nd dried he r
S ilesian tears ith a share of the l oot of Pola nd The
,
w
.
robber of P ot sd am a ssisted by Engl ish s ubsidi es of money '
w
,
and me n ran amu ck and ke pt Eu rope ell occupied

, ,
hile he created the German Empire thus enabling his ,
English p artner to crea t e the B ritish Empire .
The kings had calle d themselves England -

,
’
F rance Spain a s our bishops ca l l the mselves

’ ’
w w
, ,
C anterbu ry York Winche ster

,
’
More recently ,
’
.
'
J b
'
Je h a b en kno n t ll themse l v s
w
o u rg s ve e o ca e
England The issue s of those contests correspon ded

.
’
to no huma n cause or inte rest hether racial ,

‘
‘
n at ional Ra ce as the term is used and abused nations
’
w
.
, , ,
are but the p roduct of the estab lishment of centralized

po ers in Europe A t the outset thanks to ( e cumenical
w
.
,
tradition of the Roman Empire a nd of the C hurch Europe

t of a s a singl e com munity ;
, ,
C hr istend a s though
ELE M E N TS OF E U R O PE
w w
24 1
po rtion of it a s shut off from the rest or gre in
w
no ,
i so lation Conside ring the cond itions of the ea rly Mid d le
w
. ,
Ages the closeness a nd e x tent of intercourse a s remark
in our o n tim w
able it a s relatively c loser and more e x tensive than
es Monks from I re land and E ngland
.
travelle d and se ttled in Ge rmany F rance and I taly ; ,
I talian priests became archbishops of C anterbury a n d

Chance llors of E ngland and an Englishm a n became
chancellor of S icily ; a n I rishma n a s t he friend of
,
w
w
the Emp e ror and studied in Spain every Englis hman
ho cared about such ed ucation a s a s obt ainable ent
at least as far as t he Pa ris schools ; the early univer
w w
Vienna O x ford
,
e re w
sities in Paris Bologna Padua N aples Mont pel lier
d ivided into N ations
,
of
, , ,
w
, ,
students gathere d from every part of Europe F rench
w
'
men s a rme d in England S paniards travelled in Ge rma ny ‘
w w
, ,
Ge rmans in S pain There a s the close s t cb ns t a nt inte r

. . ~
course b et een t he N orma n courts of Winchester Rouen

.
and Palermo ; b e t een the courts of B arcelo na and
w
Toulouse o f C arolingian F rance a nd Ge rm a ny of N aples
‘
, ,
and Vienna and bet een every country and the papal
w ww
court of Rome or A v ignon Mercha nts spent their lives
trudging back ard s and for ards from I taly ove r the
B renner Pass through S i t z erland and along the Rhine
.
w w
,
to the H ansas and F landers and vice ver sa pos ta l corre

‘
www w
,
s p ond e nce a s un satisfactory so people ent themselves , .
Priests poets students and Je s andered every here

, , ,
‘
w
pilgrims from N ormandy or I reland ent to Rome to
w
,
the H oly Land to the shrines of S outhern I taly The

, .
population of the elevent h, t elfth, add thirteent h
w
’
l
centuries ere far greater travellers considering the ,
different conditions than those of the age of rail a ys

, .
That early unity only disappeared and that intercourse
w
,
a nd cultura l communion became more and more r estricted
a s th e variou s centrali z ed po ers became s tronger The

w
'
w
-
.
nations gro u ped about the consolidated thrones ith

dre more and more into thems elve s The tendencies
w w w
I
. .
,
th e self determinati on of the pe oples themselves hen

-
w
,
ever they hav e been able to sho them freely have ,
in general been to ards grea ter unity a nd e have had

Pan G e rma n Pan S lavic and Pa n I talian movements
,
- - -
, ,
. .
16
24 2 T H E MA K I N G OF H UMAN I TY
O nly the su fferings of countri e s govern e d a s conquered
dependencies such a s Polan d; Bohemia H ungary I r e
, , ,
land have given ri s e to separatist tendencies a n d to
w w w
, ,
the ideal of setting up house for themselve s Eu rope a n .
ars took pla ce bet een po er sys tems compo s e d p f
w
-
agglomerat ions for the m ost part heterogeneo us in re g ard

to race language , and religion ; and ere large ly con
w
,
ducted by means of hired mercenaries or the troops
ww ww
.
,
lent by allied p o ers C har les V I I I and F rancis I fou ght

.
ith S iss and even ith Turkish troops ; the Burgundia n

C harles V sa cked Rome ith S panish a nd Ge rman troops
led by a F renchm a n ; th e a r mies of Tilly Wall ens tein
ww
Ma x imi lian Mansfeld Chri s tia n of B runs i ck Gustavus
,
Adolphus hich e ll nigh blotted out civili zation from

,
,
-
‘
w ,
,
,
C entral Europe Were composed of adventurers from every
w ”
,
country rai s ed ou t of the scum of the pe ople b y prin ce s

’ ‘
w ww
,
ho have no dominion over them as Lord C hich ester
w
,
rote ho passed as occasion o ffered from one side to

,
.
the other ere paid a nd fed b y plunder and ere more
w w
, ,
dreaded by their fri ends than by their foes The ‘ ’
w
.
Pru ssian army a s founded by F rederick William ith

,
‘
likely looking fello s ki d napped by his recruit in g officers

-
from Scandinavia to Transylvania from the Lifl e y to

'
ww
,
the N ie me n and of F r e d e rick s a rmies in the Seve n ’
Years Wa r a nd at Rossbach
’
here they defeated a
m w
, .
thoroughly Ge rma n ar y no t one half ere P russ ians

Q
.
,
The ueen of H ungary defended he r self i t h I talian
w
tr0 0ps ; a n d En gland garrisoned Gibra l tar Minorca a n d
,
, ,
I ndia ith Germans .
The domai n of Europe a n civili z ation has been turned
ww
int o a c ockpit for fiv e centuries a nd more for reasons
hich not a single group of its inhabitants cared t o
w ww
w
stra s about or even comprehended The a rs of reli gio n
,
are some hat of a relief in the midst of dyna s tic ars

Religious fa n at icism is at least sincere ; it may b e d e
.
p l o r a b le but
, by the side of naked greed
But as a matter of fact the ars of religion ere so
it
ww wis
w respectable .
w
, ,
ine xtricably mixed ith purely po l itic a l motives that the
w
,
religious ferv our of the fe a s b u t a tool o f the intrigues

‘
a nd sc ra mbles of rulers for possessi on and po er The .
Prot est a nt H oll a nde rs c a lled t h e C a tholic Fre nch u nder

“
wm
TH E MA K I N G O F H UMAN I TY
'
24 4
that t he onl y m ea ns by hicli a nkind ca n b e orga ni z e d l
is b y fairness equity j ustice
w
, , .
But the conflict of cupidities in the barbarian born
w
-
“
orld of E u rope is uninformed b y though t: a nd u nre lie v e d
'
by its or ga niznig po e r I t s baseness is on the contrary .

, ,
made mo r e vile by the abhorrent disgu i se of simulated

v ir tue by the travesty of every purpose a nd every motive
w
,
in the hypocrisy of self righteous a nd ful s ome i dealism
w w
-
.
Reared under the dominance o f theocratic po er

‘
thought hic h ho ever sincere must needs clothe

, ,
all its aims in the t e rm s of its ethi cal and spiritual
conventions European s ociet y has from the first

,
been t rain e d to gi ve to ever y a Ct a nd purpose the ’
garb of moral self righteousness Priest s often m ere
w
-
.
,
b a rbarians raised to eccles iastical o ffices b y kings

’
and dukes ere the first ministers and diplomatists

,
.
of Europe an S tates To them fe ll the task of .

‘
translating into beseeming and unct uous lan guage

the unscrupulous lusts and sh a meless trea cheries of bar
barian Chieftains Dissimulation and perjury ere the w
w
.
.
ordinary adj uvants of force The traditions of European .
statecr a ft gre up in an atmos phere of p e rfid y a nd

s anctimony O f those arts of statecraft and diplomacy
.
,
the Ro man court c a me to b e the recognl ze d mistress and
w
'
model . T he task of keeping the petty I talia n princi

w
w
p a l it ie s divi ded among th e mselve s of ardi ng off po erful ,
influen ces from t he peninsula o f maintaining the
w
,
B alance of Po er in order to safegua rd the couple of

,
’
provinces hi ch the Popes claimed a s th e ir temporal

‘ ‘
w
domain developed craft intrigue a nd deceit into a fine
art hich becam
,
e the atmosphere of I talian political
thought a nd its ab sorbing s tudy and interes t in the

,
si x teenth a nd se venteenth centuries

Machi avelli has come to b e indissolubly linked ith that
The n a me of
politi ca l ra scality and unscrupulous fraudul ence a nd he

.
‘
w
,
is rather unjustly b randed as the originator of

, ,
p e rnicious doctr ines of systema t ic depravity But .
the Pr ince is nothing more than a simple e x p o s i

tion of the ordinary accepte d p rin ciples of political
action in the I tal y of his d a y The industrious
w
“
F lo rentine s ecretary o u ld probabl y have b een ,

ELE M E N T S OF E U R O PE 24 5
greatly astonished at being regarded as the theorist of
w w
po litica l pe r versity on the score of the journalistic task
he had u nde r ta ken of setting do n the cur rent app roved
max ims of government All Eu ropea n po ers have like
.
F rederick of P r u ssia loudly diso ned a nd denounced a s

,
thei r scapegoat Machiavel lian principles and se dulously

w ,
,
practised them I talian st a tec raft b e ca rnc the admir ed
w
.
model of governments The hea rt of Louis XI so melt ed

.
ith t ender admiration for F rancesco S for za the per
w
,
fe ct ion of political rascality th a t ,

he refraine d from
robbing h im Thomas C rom e ll prided hi mself in ca rr y
.
,
ing ou t nthe policies of Wolsey a nd H en r y V I I I on ’
w
,
hi s I tal ian t raining and carried the P r ince in his

‘
al let Women na turally became the competitors of
w
.
princes a nd prelates in the a rts of mendacit y Louise o f

Savoy a nd Margaret of A ustria sho ed at C ambrai equal
C atheri ne de Medici to w
to any envoy in the arts of haggling and overreaching
hose gra n dfather Machiavelli
.
w
had de di cate d his manual , Mary S tu a rt the p up il of the
,
w
,
Guise s ,
ere onl y surpassed by E li z abeth in the
t ortuosities of deceit on hich the latter s o highly plumed
herself
t rigu e s
.
w
The intric a cies of crooked s chemes plots in
and machinations ere to such a degree the
, ,
w
,
habitual means of po litical action that rulers be ca me

actuall y bli nd henever an obvious and straight means of
achi eving their ends pre s ented itself M en by the death
of C harles th e Bold
.
the chi ef pri z e hich the K ing of

,
F r a n ce had for years sch e me d to obtain a s ready to

ww ,
of obtaining it
circuitous machinations
w
drop i nto his mouth he lost Burgundy because the me a ns
,
ere so obvious t hat he devised ins tead

I n the same manner a s
w
.
,
B isma rck decla r e d t he most assured and insidious me ans

,
of dissimulation a s to speak t h e truth H istorians have

.
long conceive d it to be the ir chief fun ction a nd e n

d e a vou r t o penetrate through the ma nifold palimpsest
'
history had in vie

w
of ostensible pretexts and intrica te
w
mendacities to the
act ua l purpose hich the chief actors on the stage of
.
Thus have the traditio ns of European diplomacy a nd
wp olitics b een formed that

,
h a u fe d ip l om a ti e
ebs of combi nations a nd intrigu e s tha t polished a nd

those
,
sapient ,
MAK I N G
w
24 6 THE OF H UMAN I T Y
pun ctilious fraudu lence t hose cat s p a schemes a nd ’
w
-
,
over reaching myst ifica t ions the felicitou s phrasing of
w w
-
,
formulas that enable unavo able vileness to utter

’
itself in ords and convenient crime and cool atrocity

,
t o be glossed over ith simulated rect itude t hat de corous

rascality that stinks in the grand m
w
,
ww
a nner those oblique ,
a nd secret transactions of pilfering designers in hich the

destinies of mankin d are playe d a ay ith loaded dice
—t hus hit h
of ana rchic
e r to has the government o f the huma n race
b e en constituted I n the year 1 6 4 8 the Po er States
. =
Europe e x h a ust ed depop ulated ruined

w -
w
, , , ,
fatigued and unnerv e d by thirty years of the most de

va s t a t ing of ars sent their delegates to the first
European Peace Conference at Miins te r and O snabruck
,
/
,
that some se ttlement might be e ffected But even in

’
w
.
the e x tremity of universal need a nd suffering the domi nant

anx iety o f great and small a s not at all to settle
anythin g but to scra mb le for loot for N a b oths vine
, ,
’
yards for satisfactions compensations ind e mni

’ ’
, , ,
ties and t o seek increase a nd profit ou t of the misery

,
’
o f humanit y .
D ivested of those decent veils it h hich its na kedness ww w

w w
is cust omarily disguised b y the reflections of po er
thought the purvie of European history app ears to
,
be conducive t o a Ya hoo vie of humanity I t ma y not
w
. ; .
un naturall y be aske d I f the elements of t he m odern

‘
w w
,
orld a r e s o much baser than those of the civilization

it s upplanted hat then becomes of ou r la of human
w
,
progress ?
T here ,
more brightly illuminates that la

p
w
i s as a matter of fact no as ect of history hich
i n all its splendo u r
The t ruly su b lime fact is t hat through a ll that na me

,
w
less slough of mire and so rdidness there runs a trail ’
of gro i ng light a sight of the stars ,

I t is no . .
ambiguous and debatable value sentimentally interpreted

‘
into questionab le histo ry but the precious adamantine ,
core of life that lies indestructi ble under a ll friable
w
incrustations of murk and clay N ot only has that
European r or l d b e en the m ediumof hu m an e volution
.
,
24 8 T H E M AK I N G OF H UMAN I T Y
I n no other culture have those sharp divisions e x ist e d ‘
w w
.
The oriental priest the Gree k philosopher the lover of
w
, ,
i s dom regarded all kno ledge a nd all a rt as their

,
province like them the Muslim s ages ere universalists

a nd j oined the cultivation of astronomy to tha t of poetry
w
,
of metaph ysics to that of medicine and music Whethe r .
such universalism is no either needful or pos sible is

no t th e p oint I t i s i mpossib le not so much because of
w
.
,
the e xp ansion of ou r omne s ci b ile but rather because ,
e have p ra ctically thre e o r four tota lly separate

cultures coe x isting side by s ide but in their essence ,
ali en unrelated immiscible di ffering not in their scope

, , ,
alone but in t he ir s t a nd a rd s a nd outlo oks influencing each
w ww
, ,
other but only as might the cultures of di fferent civili
w
,
z a t ions cultures hich have gro n along separate lines

ithout mix ing almost ,
the vest ige of the theocr atic thought w

ithout meeting
controlled all thought standing apart from every ,

We have
hich once
.
other realm of the human mi nd from historical thought

from metaphysics fro m s cience from the cu r rents of
, ,
w
, ,
educated thought surviving in another universe We have

, .
orld the offspring of Renai s s a nce humanism
w
a n academic
w
, ,
b e a tifica ll y repeating its fort nu l a s living amid its
w
,
o n peculiar li ke s and dislikes and controlling hat
ww
,
e are pleased to term education h e lp ing t o keep secret
the fa ct th a t the orld has m

,
ove d since the fi fteenth
ww
century We have s ome here or other a philosophical
,
.
ww
orld ho se function should be to unify all thought and
mould and guard its unity but hich o ing to its u m
ww w
, ,
fortunate development partly at the breast of theology ,
partly in d e s p e ra te t confl ict ith it has proved holly
w ww w
,
abortive a misera ble misb irth hose e xistence is not

’
, ,
certainly kno n in the living orld We have a orld .
of science that has gro n in solitary seclusion and
wisolation fromall othe r culture despised a nd abu s ed

hich has only comp assed toleration a nd some measure
of influence through the ci rcum s tance that
“
as a b y
,
w w
,
product of its activi ties it has acted as the j i nnee slave
w
-
hich has tran sform

,
ed the material orld and it has

continued on the hole secluded silent and alien to
surroundi ng thought We have a vast billo ing flood
. .
,
,
w
ELE ME N TS OF E U R O PE 24 9
of
ww
popular li terature ephemeral press fiction pam p hlets ,
w
, ,
and clap trap a literature hi ch might be termed the

-
,
Literature of I gno r a nce hos e first ob j ect is to get itself

,
printe d a nd sold hi ch l ives acco r dingly by tickling a nd
w
,
pandering a nd re p rese nts t he mentali t y of the multitude
w w
,
hose i ntellectual p a b u lu rn it provides That condition .
of our European culture ith its ater tight c ompart -
me nt s its theology ignoring philosophy and science and

,
literature its abortive p hilosophy ignorant of science

it s science ignorant of philosophy a nd despising literature
synta x a nd the i sdo m of the ancients w

its e ducational literature ignorant of eve rything save Greek
literature ignorant oi all else save the arts of the pimp

its general
a nd the pander — that I sa y is not at all a natural state

, ,
of things but a n a b normality indeed a monstrous ,
defo rmity of ou r ex isting intellect u a l dev e lopment .
I f i nte rmix tu re v ar iety diversity of cultures a nd ideas

, ,
are beneficial a nd neces sa ry they a r e o nly so to the full
w
,
on condition tha t they become truly intermixed unified

assim
w
, ,
ilated into a n harmonious hole Greek assimi .
lation of a ll previous civilization a s only so master
w
full y su ccessful because it absor b ed and assimil ated
them into a onderfully homogeneous unity filtered
w
w
,
throu gh its cr itical attitude stamped ith the impress ,
of its o n lo gi ca l spirit O ur civilization our intell ectual

.
,
cult ure rich a s it is from the multitude of its component

,
elements a nd the va riety of its ex perience su ffers pro ,
fou nd l y (from the fundament a l accident that those elements

have remained in a large measure unble nde d and unu nifie d .
O ur culture ou r cultures I sho uld s a y are unassi milated

, , , ,
undigested O ur civilization ha s hence remained in its

.
st ructure heterogeneous u nbal a nced disorderly unequal
w
, , , ,
l a cking equilib ri um to s uch a n e x tent that its elements

and principles are const antly toppling do n over one
another in the confusion uO f inconsistenc y
wAt the outset as e s a th ww w

o rld of theological
.
ww
, e , ,
thought a s supre me The S criptures or the F athers

.
,
ere t he sole admi ssible source of ideas of t hought
w
'
, ,
o f kno ledge The attitude o f the European mind

.
a s that ascribed to Amr in the doubtful anecdote ‘

t
of the dest ru ction of the Ale x andri an library That

T H E MA K I N G OF HUM AN I TY
w ww
25 0 1
kno ledge hich is al r eady contained in the K ur a n is

superfluous that hich conflicts ith it is f alse
,
that fatal s itua tio n Europe ha s b een saved by the po e r

F rom w .
w
o f the se cular civili z ation of Greece and Rome .
exclusion of se cular thought c ould not be maintained
w against that influence secular thought often in co nflict

ith often c r ippled by theological thought, could not
,
be kept ou t ; it made the develo p me nt of Europe

,
possible
w
.
But t hat de velopme nt in its mental aspe ct d ifl e r e d
w
, ,
totall y from that of the ancient orld Secularism did

‘
not supplant the original theocratic thought but gre
w
.
,
alongside it in straine d adaptation and conflict An
w
.
entirely ne element mo reover entered the European

, ,
mind setting a di fference be t een it and all previous
w
,
thought
w
.
Wi th the effect s of that ne elemen t quite foreign

—
,
—
to classical culture the scienti fic S pirit e are in ,
their grosser asp e ct s t ritely fa milia n The e x pansion

,
.
by its means of European civili z ation to the four

quarters of the glo be transformation of
w
,
i t s material as p ects t he ,
r ia l is m the con se ,
quent r edistrib ution of a ll po ers the multiplica tion ,
o f the means of interco m munication a nd t he ensuing

dissemina tion of thought are results as commo nplace ,
in their ob v iou s nes s as they are gigantic in their

l .
w
significance Scarcely less so is the transformation b y
w
.
science of man s ideas the revelation of the universe

’
w
,
and of man s and his orld s place i thin it the con

“ ’ ’
w
,
ce p t ions o f natural l a o f the conse rvation of energy
w
, ,
of e v oluti on hich have transmute d the outlooks o f

,
w
“
“
the human mind and sapp e d as no other po e r could
,
the foundations of all W e r thought and authority

, ,
-
.
B ut the action of that ne influenc e eu ts eve n d e epe r

'
w
and more subt ly into the ver y nature of the Europe an
mind a nd of its gr o t h When expe ri ental research m
w
.
,
the investigation of nature b y the observation of details

and exact measurement hen mathematical anal ysi s ,
w
w
,
w
a n d also scholastic dispu tation fine spun on t h e e b 'of -
A rist telian dial ectic began at the very da n of its

o ,
f
,
a akeni ng from the nig ht o f the dark centu rie s to

'
,
TH E MA KI NG H U M AN I T Y
w
25 2 OF
ho ever destroy e d in dismay on hearing o f the impeach

ment of Galilei
hilosop h ical
,
thought
The a y in
presented
hich th e tasks of
themselves to
.
the first
w w .
w
p
'
European philosopher at once marks the deep set radical
w
-
,
ee n mo dern and Gre e k thought
w
contrast b et On
‘
coming to e x amine the various thin gs hich I had
w
be en taught a nd suppo sed I kne ’
Desca rtes said ’
w
‘
, ,
I found t hat
'
in truth I cou ld not be said to
, ,
.
'
kno any of them ; that my information and my vie s

had been taken on trust and that I had no guarantee '
w
t
of their accuracy and validity F indin g that no single .
item of my su p p o s e d kno ledge coul d stand the tes t

of c ritical e x amination, I resolved to reject and di scard
it altogether and to Start again from the beginning
to endeavour to discover
w
,
hat things I coul d regard

' w
w
t
as really kno n I decide d therefore not to a cc ept
w
.
, ,
any tru th hats oever unless I had thoroughly satis fied

myself of its validity and s a it b e yond doubt quite ,
clearly and d istinct ly Tha t con ception of the task .

’
of philosophi cal thou ght di ffers c ompletely from t hat
w
of the ancients No longer to b uild u p a rounded
w
.
and complete system of the universe presenting at all

cost a purvie of harmonious contemp lation a s th
w w
e ,
ob ject of the thinker but to assure himself of t he
w
,
validity of the le gitimate nature of hatever kno

,
ledge he in the p roces s of thou ght

, a s called upon ,
to use ; to test the value of his currency to cast
w
,
asi de all such coins of the mind as d id not give the

‘
sterlin g ring of soli d orth ; no t to b e construct ive'

‘
That in the d evelopment o f his t hou ght s

’
b u t critical . .
Descartes fe ll far short of the rules and p r inci p l e s he

ha d s e t himself is of no essential relevance Of
‘
.
, .
immeasurably g reater imp o rtance even t han any products

and results of thought is the desire that animates
,
w
it its aim its method ,
A l ays and every here it is
not bet een Trut h a rfid E rror in th e fruits o f thou ght
“
.
'
w w
w
.
that the essential conflict the s ignifica nt contrast lies “ '

‘
, ,
w
but bet een the truth and e rror in the aim of thought ,
in the nature of its sanct ions and validities
w
‘
The aim of phi losophical activity then ith Descartes , ,
and i th the European thin kers Locke Berkeley , ,

“
,
w
E LE M E N T S OF E UR O PE
w
25 3
H ume , K ant as { i t h
ho succeed hiin is no longer
“
, , ,
th e anci ents satisfying harmony beauty interpretative

, , ,
completeness but a ccur a cy of thought The fu nction of ’
w
.
,
p h ilo ophy is not to const uct but to test
w
s r , .
Philoso p hy metaphysics are e have m ade up our
w
, ,
minds to conside r remote and detached back aters of

,
the human o rld I t is hardly to tho se dusty volumes

.
on the top shelves that the throbb ing life the ex cite
w
,
ments a nd events the po litical the soci a l developments

, ,
of Europe are to b e traced In hat me a sure th e .
vo gue of C artesian ph ilosophy the ac ade mic e nthu s i ,
a sm s a nd cont r o v e r s ie s of D utch uni versities

fl
of Paris ,
w
a n d O x ford the gushi n g dilettantism of fine gentlemen
,
a nd fine ladi es of my lord v a n Z u itlichen of E li z ab eth

Q
w w
, , ,
Prin cess Palatine o r ueen C hristin a of S e den have

, ,
ha d any bearing on the orld s course in hat measure ’
a ll philosophic a l ideas percolating d oa a r d s t hrou gh
all the strata of thought may tinge a n d pe r fuse eve n

the thought of the street to hi c h phi losop hy a nd
philosophers are unheard of exotics it is not need
,
-
w ,
,
ful to discuss here Phi losophi cal thought if it .

,
is not the sou r ce a n d guide philosophers if they , ,
are not the l e ade r s are at least like all else the , , ,
expression and the p r od uct of the ti mes the index of ,
their moo ds a nd characters .
NVha t has been illustrated by reference to philosophic
w
tho ught is distinctive of all European a s contras ted
i th foregoing thought The conditions in hi ch it w
w
.
ha s forme d and developed have stamped upon it that

,
e very tendency of its gro w

critical questioning testing character hich ha s marked
w
,
th and e x pa nsion F rom its
w
.
dogmatic cradle here only the relative authority of

authorities a s in dispute th rough t he various sta ges
w
,
of its liberation from authority of its seculari zation to , ,
the gro ing challenge it casts as se cula r thought to
w
, ,
all sanctions the prog ressive accentuation of that

,
critical attitude is evinced F ollo a nd comp are
w
.
,
for instance in one train of tho u ght the attitude
ww
,
of mind in say Augustine or A quinas

, , ith that
of H ooker and that again ith hat it ha s be come
,
in H o b b e s a n d from H obbes to Montes quieu fro m

’
, ,
25 4 TH E MA K I N G OF HUMAN I TY
’
Montesquieu to Mill o r Bent ham; a nd from themto the

same train of thought as it p resents itself to day What -
.
successive metamorphic changes in the character of

thought no les s startling: tha n any transmutation of
w
,
w
spe cies Throug hout the modern pe riod the spirit that
manifests itself in hatsoever sphere of mental attitude
is the s a me U ltimately it pr oce e ds to a rd s a challenge
.
to every existin g? fact and e stimate to j ust ify i ts e lf c
on rational grounds B y de grees eve ry consecrat e d

.
opinion every theory every foregone ju d gment every

, , ,
venerab le institution is brought to question The tabu .
of traditional inviolable unquestionable and u n
w
, ,
questione d sacredness and taking for granted has ‘
b een ruthlessly torn from every established po e r

institution O pinion a nd conception
, fi
does this thing rest that po er stand ? U p. hat sanc
i on hat title
w .
‘
w
w
,
w
,
tion is that fact assumed that b eli ef held that custom ,

‘
ackno ledg e d that notion a ccept e d that claim advanced

, , ,
that estimate founde d ? I f it can give a n a ccount ofl ‘
w
itself in clear terms of rea son Well a nd good But if it ' '
, ,
c a n put for ard no bette r title than venerable antiquity ,
establi s he d use a nd Wont ancient tradition hitherto u n , , .
d isputed accept ance and sa nctity it ha s no c la im to '
,
‘
ou r deference I mmemorial recognition constitutes in
w ww
.
itself no title C a n it justify itself rationall y to day ?

.
,
~
Wou l d e on apprehensible rational gro u nds a ccept the

estimate to day
w ould e choose tha t as the b est
-
,
w
w
pos sible a y o f managing the matte r o r could e
w
’
, ,
w
devise a b etter ? I f the thing is rationally accept ab l e .
,
it m a tters not hether it be ne or o ld if it b e not .

’
rationally accept a b le its age and origi n like i se a r e

irrelevant Mere custom mere undi sturbed reputation
.
of inviolable sanctity have nothin g to do i th the case

,
w
w
.
, ,
constitute no claim no title and no sanction Such
ww
’
.
, ,
w
“
is the s p irit in hich the mod ern age has faced t he .
order of es tablished thing s n the huma n orl d hether

i i ‘
,
astrono mi cal Vie s o r religious o p inions p o li ti ca l ins titu ’
w
,
tions or moral estimates , thoughts or t hings th e ories
w
.
,I
S te p by ste p it ha s thro n its
w
or privileges
challenge to every as sumption ho ever old im
,
.
memorially ,
consecrat e d ho ever a x iom

,
, a t ica lil y a ccept e d The s cop e ,

T H E M A K I N G OF HUMAN I T Y
w
26 0
The customary traditional gr ounds from hic h su ch

a judgm ent p roceeds ma y b e more than di sp utable
m
.
The judg ent itse lf is s trange to s a y co rrect The , ,

. .
ethical criterion is supreme I t s tands as t he measure .
of human development and its achievements paramount ‘
over all other values
w
.
O ur confidence and assuran ce in the fou ndations of

ou r moral jud gments are no ada ys sorely sh a k en The . .
w
cat e gorical imperative no longer car r ies conviction .
We look round in vain for some so lid p e g of fac t

hereon to han g those co lossally s a nctifie d ideas of ri ght
w
‘ ’
e seemto s e e none ;
,
‘
of righteousness In nature
”
.
nature is cruel and cold ; the gods as H e r a cle itos "
w
.
,
lon g a go used t o say are b eyon d go od a nd evil

‘ ‘
w
, .
I n the hole universe no trace of this colossal thing
w w
,
this supreme morality is d isce r nib le ; look as e may
w
,
e can d i s cov e n among the la s of nature no trace
w
o f this moral l a Only in the traditions of men
‘ ’
w
.
can e find it uncertainly formulated va r iously t e edited -
w
, ,
according to time and latit ud e I t is e are driven .

,
t o conclude but a man made convention ; not a l a
w
-
,
of nature
(
and somethin g sacrosanct a nd Wonderful, b u t
w w
,
at most a police b y l a as sacred a nd no more -

,
‘
as yonder notice that arns us that Trespassers ill
w
be prosecuted ’
.
Ho comes it then to have usurpe d such a n ou t

, ,
rageously large p la ce in human thought in huma n ,
life ? Fo r many illegitimate reasons doubt less But
w w
,
.
also a nd a b ove a ll for a very le giti mate a nd r e a l

‘
reason That moral l a

. is in fact after a ll a l a , , ,
o f nature Tha t supremacy of ethics d oes correspond

.
in truth to a very rea l and supremely i mportant fact in

human development .
And that fact is the one hi ch e have a lr eady

not e d that the pecu liar means a nd conditi ons of human
ww “
p b y a y. of w
development necessitate that that d evelopment shall take
lace not individuals but by a y
entire human race that t he grade of evolu tion o f ea ch
of the , ,
w
individual is the re sultant of that (e cume nical d ev e lop
ment that the race alone is the b e a rer of the heredita ry
”
transmission of the p roduct s of t hat evo lution ; that the
S U PRE MA C Y OF ET H I C S 26 1
task necessarily impo sed upon man b y the conditions of

hi s evolution is the creation of a ne organism that w
w
,
of humani t y ; that the developmen t of his individual

po e rs ca n only take pla ce in rela tion to that larger
organism ; that it is rigorously conditioned by that
necessity and must a s a n indispe nsable pre requisite
,
-
,
be adjust e d to it ; t hat b y that task in its di fficulty
w
,
w
and magni t u de all other issues of hum a n development
,
are overshado ed .
The making of humani ty I that is the b urden of man s ’
e v o lution
w And that is the solid nay some hat ha rd
w
’ ’
.
, ,
fact of hich the moral l a ‘

is the vaguely conscious
’
w
,
ex p r e s sion I t is no throbbing impulse of altruism no
w
.
,
ins p iration of ge nerosi ty for its o n sake b ut a hea v y ,
e ight of necessity laid upo n man s development b y ’
w
the unbending con d itions that govern it And the .
sup remacy the paramount chara c ter of morality corre
w
,
s p on d s to the overshado ing magnitude o f th e e v olu

t i ona ry task hi ch it expr e sses a n d of the di fficulties, '
that be set it The questions a nd problems comprised

u nder the terms ethics and morality are no othe r
than the p roblems arising from that task The necessity .
of ethical consideratio ns is no o ther than the hard
w w
-
necessity of adapt ation to fa cts a s the y are There are
w
.
in the relations be t e en man and ma n condi tions hich

are and others hich a re not adapt ed to actual fa cts
ww
, .
The unadapt e d result in failure the ada p ted in e volu
w
,
w w
tiona r y gro t h a nd h fe .
Ma n b y the la of his development seeks po er

over his fello s But no the pe culiar human situation
arises .
element in t he human Wo rld

.
The exploited competitor is a fello ma n a n

The inevitable co u se
.
w
-
,
q u e nce o f that situation is that the con dition of the
w
w w
exploited reacts upon the e xploiter himself
w
exploiter can only ield po er over his competitor at
the expe nse of his o n evolutionary po er and of that
The .
of the race .
w ww
The necessary concomitant of po er exer cis e d b y
the s p here of et hical values

w
man over ma n is po er tho u ght ; and no here is the
falsification of po er thou ght more profound than in
Th
-
e most
-
impo rtant
.
M AK I NG OF 4 H U MA NI T Y
w
26 2 THE
product of po er thought consists precise ly in fa lse

,
-
values in false ethical systems Man s orld is thereby

‘
falsified in regard" to the most essential and vital as p ects
.
’
w
of his evolution That evolution is inevi tably vi tiated
.
at its very source .
I n the case of the individu al himself the nemesis

is unfortunately not st rikingly and immedi ately con
s p i cu ou s I t is no less real b e cause his
. hole develop
ment his idea ls his values are falsi fie d a nd deba s e d ;
, ,
, w
www
they cannot b e the fu ll qua lity of life s high est values ’ ‘
.
B ut that real li fe does not e xhi b i t the id ea l retribution ,
the poetic j ustice hich a s once the commonplace of
w
dramatist and novelist tha t ickedness is not punished
nor virtu e re a rde d that on the contrary in j ustice
fraud O p pression do commonly triump h in e x ultant
,
,
,
, ,
,
enjoyment of the fruits of their assault upo n right “

,
a nd that right goes unrighted to the e nd ha s become
w
,
in turn a pl atitude What really h a ppens is that the

.
w
phase of society the order of things in ,
hi ch
disregard of righ t is habitua l a nd a c cept ed ine vitably ,
deteriorates a nd pe rishes H o ever much th e individual
w w
.
may temporarily benefit by iniqu ity the social organism ,
of hich he is a p art a n d the very clas s hich en j oys ,
the fruits of that iniquity su ffer inevitable deteriora
w
‘
tion thro u gh its operation They are unadapted to the .
facts of their envi ronment The ages of s in is death .

,
ww
by the inevitable ope ration of natural se lection .
The ineludib le fac t is that recognition of the rea l

'
‘
conditions of his environment a nd confo rmity ith them
w
w
is the sole means of development a nd of rea l po e r o f
hich man di s po ses I f he chooses to set aside the
po ers and conditio ns of human evolution a nd to rely
.
, .
instead upon force a nd false doctrine upon b ludgeons , ,
w w
a n d intellectual a nd mor a l chloroform the result must
‘
—
,
correspond to the mean s it is not evolution it is not ,
development of human po e r it is not progress If
w w
.
ww
,
he abdicates the only mea ns of human p o e r an d ado p ts
w
those of brute po er his pr ogress is not to ards h uman
po er but back ard s to ards b rutality
,
,
N iet z sche having pe rceived the invalidity and

,
.
anarchy o f current ethical notions c onclude d that the ,

26 4 T H E M A KI N G OF H UMAN I TY
should be still in the early si x teenth century ; or rather

w w
w
We should b e in the con d itio n in hi ch S p ain a s under
'
C arlos I I as a result of the perfectly successful

w
w w
‘ ’
.
a p p lication of those prin ciple s he n it a s the proud ,
boas t of her rulers that there a s not a s ingle her e tic

or a single disloyal pe rson in the realm ; hen in
w
,
the midst of a desolate and depopu lated country sunk
w
,
to the lo est de p ths of abject misery and d e gradation

‘
w
hic h a ny land" once civili z e d has ever tou ched the
‘
imbecile kin g himself a s unable to obta in a s u fl icie ncy
w
,
w w w
of food such are the ultimate fruit s of po e r )
iT he mor a l la is a l a of nat ure Like every
.
governi ng living organism

w
.
,
.
other l a . s in is a co ndi ,
tion of a d aptation to facts U nli ke a physic a l la

.
,
it can be transgresse d ; b ut it is transgresse d only at

th e pe ril o f the race at the sacrifice of its most
,
intimate and vital interes ts at the sacrifice of its

“
evolu tion ustice i s the condition of h uman adap a

J
w
. t
t ion to t h e facts of human life I t is not me r ely .
a deman d o f self interest a cry of the-

,
e a k -for
protection ; it is the call of the pa ramount interests
w
of the rac e it is an e xp r ession of that fs p i r it of that
,
agency hi ch ac tuates its evolution And it is as Emu ch

a rational aim that is one co rresp o ndin g to the de man ds
.
,
of existing facts as is that of any hum

, , .
,
an device for ‘
the better control of the conditions of e x isten ce .
M O RA L AN D MATER I AL P RO G RE SS
With the notio n of an innate moral sense
w
categorical imperative ent the incredib l e delusion that
no essential progress has ta ke n p la ce in the mor a l Sphere
a nd
,
MO R A L PR O GRES S
w
26 5
that the pr inciples of right a nd ron g became obvious .
long ago a nd have remained immutable That delusion

,
. .
is d u e in pa r t to the circumstance that moral injun e

tions are indefinitely elastic A s long as there have
been a ny moral no tions at all some such la ha s been
r ecogni z ed as O ne ought to be good
.
and it might
w
w
be all ege d that nothing essential ha s ever b een added
w
to it But ithin the terms of such a sentiment is of
.
,
course included every po ssi b le type of e thical standard
w
,
from that of the pr imitive H ebr e a nd the Thu g to
w w
,
that of Plato and of mo de r n man ; and the orst

‘
ww
f
atrocities hich the orld has seen have been committe d
w
by men ho ere intent on being good The moral ’
.
pr inciple that it is rong to commit mur d er is doub t less
ww
very o ld But in early Jud a ea to s a cr ifice the fir s t ‘
w
.
born a s not murder ;1 in the sevente ent h century no t
w ww
to suffer a i t ch to live no t murde r ; in the
’
w
a s
t e nt ieth century a r i s no t murder The moral precep t .
that it is rong to steal is ancie nt ; b u t it ha s al ays

been held g lorious for military states to steal from
on e another a nd right and p rope r for every po
,
clas s to stea l from those be lo i t ; a nd doubt s till

e rfu l
ww .
‘
w
exis ts in the mi nd s of some as to hethe r the present
social order is not founded on legali z ed theft Every
w w
.
“
ethical princ iple has be en he ld at fi rst to be applicable
a n d valid only i thin a certain restricted sphere hile ,
in other cases its direct contravention has bee n regarded
w
a s not only pe rmissi b le but right a nd laudable
the virtue of religious toleration
,
just
hen first d is w '
w
a s ,
covered a s
,
as a matter of course assumed to be
holly inapplicable t o non C h r istians A bstract precepts
w
-
.
are of very little si gnificance in the ethi cal history

of manki nd ; it is their concrete interpretation hic h
has varied The mere utterance and ite ration of moral
.
p latitudes is almost entirely irrelevant as a n index o r

factor of mora l evolution Pe ople uttere d the same
w
.
unctuous moralities in the thi rteent h centu ry as they

do to day and e re quite as blin d to the actual
w
-
,
e nor m i ne s around them a s dealers in co p y b oo k max ims

'
are to day to the p atent immorali ties hic h stare them

-
in the face F ac ts not fine ma x ims are the measure

.
, ,
26 6 THE MA KI NG OF H U MANI T Y
w
of moral evolution
hen they are ne ww
P rincipl es are of significance o nly
.
he n they are ge nuine moral
w
,
d iscoveries traversing the current and ac ce pt e d code s ‘

,
and therefore represen tin g a real mental a akening .
Justice has been preached in the name of tyranny
w
,
liberty in that of op pression and men holdin g the Gospel

‘
w w
,
w
in one han d have ith the other p u t Europe t o the
s ord just as th e olo gians have been kno n to
,
e x press d issatisfaction ith the conc lusivene s s of mathe ’
ma tica l reasoning and I talia n priests to condemn super

,
‘
s ti tion Moralists have done compa rat ively little for

,
morality I t s p ro g re ss has be en promote d by quite
w
.
other agencies unconnected in a p p ea ran ce and in name
w
,
ith p rofessed morality Morality has be en thought to .
remain stationary be cause henever it has a dvanced .
it has been called by some other name .
Moral
w
ideas a nd mor a lity it is to d ay pretty gen er a lly
‘
.
,
recogniz ed sho change and advance are aspects of
w
, ,
" evolution and of progress in at least the same degree

as material development intellectual progress kno
w
ledge or any other face of human gro t h But hile
it may
,
ithout difficulty be admi tted that othe r

,
w w .
,
that vie
to m .
w
w
aspects of progress are the result of rational thought
ill be pronounced preposterous hen applied
o r a l evolution I t is on t h e contrary
. commonl y ,
w ,
,
held that moral e x celle nce is totall y distinct in its

nature and in its source s from any form of intel
w
'
lect ual development I t is assumed as an axiom that
w
.
the t o things mor a L e xcélle nce and intellect ual

'
u
,
”
d evelopment are holly
, unrelated that the one
“
ca n 6675163 independently of the other ; that a
society may be rich in the product s of the intellect
and poor in mora li ty or rude in point of civi l iz ation
and culture and e x alted from the point of vie o f
,
‘
w
w
’
w w
'
ethics that there e x ists no direct co nnection bet een

the t o orders of qualities There is even a i dely
w w
.
,
d iffused notion that t hey are direct ly antagonistic that

“
,
mo ral excellence goes ith a lo ly intellectual state ,
that high culture and intell e ctual development corrup t

it that advanced c ivilization is ge ne rally unfavourable
,
26 8 T H E M A K I N G OF H UMAN I TY
so universall y arraigned and condemned a t the bar of
public O pinion The claims of right and righteousness
.
,
o f high and earnest standards O f life and conduct have
w
,
never been even in the -most puritanical communities
w
, ,
s o strongly felt Al l existing evil ho ever gross is

.
, ,
conscious as it never a s before O f the force o f rep ro

bating moral O pinion Even the strongest prompti ngs .
O f indiyid u a l and class interest dare not openly profess

ind ifl e re nce to any form of O ppression su ffering and ,
dissoluteness
An d m o re firmly a nd more cl e a rly than in any sentiment
‘
o r O pinion the ethical development O f the age is mani

fe s te d in the conc r ete fa cts of hu m
,
an relations We
w w w
. .
frequently contrast the material marvels of ou r present

civiliz ation ou r net ork of rail ay s a nd s ift steamships
w
, ,
ou r telegraphs a n d e th h our elect ric light a nd
w w
e r gr a
'
p s ,
po er our automobiles a nd aeroplanes the abo lishing

, ,
.
of distance the onders of industry t he contrivance s

, ,
a n d comforts of our d a ily life ith the material civili é -
w
,
za t ion of Europe s a y a hundre d and fifty years ago

, ,
.
But the contrast bet een the greatest ma r ve ls of modern '
machinery a nd the lumbering conveyances the gutterin g

, ,
candles the filthy streets the dista ffs and looms t he

’
w
, , ,
crude hand irnp le me nt s O f the eighteent h century is ,
not s o great as that bet een the co mmon notions a nd
w
.
é i O f justice and huma n ity at the present day
w w
p r a t ce s
.
and those hich obtained in Europe even at that not

very distant period The slave trade a s in full s in g ;
w
-
. ,
hundreds O f slave ships sailed fro m Liverpool ; petty -

,
larceners ere sold to the American colonies at five

shill ings a head ; public e x ecutions at Tyburn the
victims O ften being omen convict ed of shopliftingw . ,
w
,
offered frequent occasions for popular festivities ;

'
publishers of heretical books ere pl aced in the
Exchange and ere handed over to the populace to w

pill ory at C haring C ross at Temple B ar at the Royal , ,
w
,
be pelte d and stoned p ress gangs scoured the country
w
-
,
men ere seized in the street in their homes at their
w w
, , ,
eddings and sent in chains to the K ing s or the ’
w
,
I ndia C ompany s n a vy ; omen and children orke d

’
half naked in coal mines coalminers and salt orkers

- -
w
MO RA L PR O GRES S 2 69
in Sco t land ere le g a llf

y in th e position o f predial slaves
the cockpit a nd the priz e ring o ffered to English gentle -
me n their daily amusement ; the English government

to plunder ”
w w
under the elder Pitt issued letters of ma rque to pri vateers
ww w the
peace ith that country
shipping of H olland hile it
O n the Continent the state
a s a t
w w
.
of things a s even orse the feudal system and all
w w
,
its abuses ere in force the rack and the boot er e
w
,
at ork in Paris l ettr e s d e ca che t ere i ssued ‘
w w
, ,
every product of independent thought a s visited upo n

,
w w
its author ith persecution the galleys ere full the
w
I nquisition sat i n Spain a nd a utos d a fé e re s t ill a l ig ht
,
‘
,
www
- s
,
.
Those revolting p ondi tions hich e have s o t om ,

'
p l e te l y outgro n that e are no longer able to conceive

them distinct ly ere those of comparatively recent
w
,
times ; and they stand I say in far more complete , ,
contrast i th the conditions of civili ze d European coun
w
tries to day than doe s a modern e xpress train to the
-
,
stage coaches in hich ou r grandfathers journeyed And
w w ww
-
.
that enormous ethical development has gone hand in

hand ith the decay O f all the influences hich have
b een credited ith fostering the moral sense a n d i th
w
,
‘the O eration of all the critical and rational forces

p
hich have been supposed to be unfavourable to its
w
high development But in t ruth t hat moral progress “
.
is connected ith the critical attitude of the moder n

age not accidentally a nd circumstantially but as directly
, ,
as are its scientific discoveries and its mechanical

a ch
~t ie ve me nt s Both changes the material change and
.
,
the moral change are the e ffect s of the same cause

The abolition of the horrors of fe u dalism the abolition
, .
of gross iniquity a nd inhumanity are as much result s

of the critical attitude of rationalis m as is the abolition
,
of the Ptolema ic system or that of the degenerat i on

theory That intolerance of abuse and rong that
.
irnp e r a ti v e insistence upon justice a nd h u manity hich

.
’
{
ww ,
place the present age from a mora l standpoint above
w
, ,
all its predecessors are the dire ct p roducts of the same

,
inte llectual processes hich have given us the steam

en gine a nd the d ynamo .
.
27 0 T H E M A K I N G OF H U MAN I TY
III
‘
b’
POW ER AN D J U S T I CE
The ethical spirit of the modern a g e it must be ,
noted is above all charact eri z ed by the ideas of justice
w
, ,
fairness fair play rathen than by those of abnegation

- '
hich ma rk ed
, , ,
self s a cri fice and emotional sentime nts
w
-
, ,
the morality of religious periods .
No in the first place the pract ice and att it ude of
w
,
justice is essentially a matter of e x act judgment The .
at titude of fairness the judicial attitude hich requires

, ,
all relevant circums tances to be taken into cogniz ance ,
every case to be regarded ob j ectively the elimination ,
of all preconception and pre judice the minimi z ing of
w
,
the personal equation is precisely the mental attitude ,
hich critical judgment demands The j u d icial mind
ww w
.
is the essential qu a l ification of the scientist no less ,
than of the judge The man to hom e turn hen
w w
.
looking for fair deal ing fearless rectitude and impartial
w w
,
judgment is he hom e deem capable of taking a
www w
‘
,
broad unbiased a ell informed a nd logical vie of

, ,
-
,
the case the ma n ho ill not be s ayed b y pre

,
conceived unp r e s s ions ca r ried a ay by impulse blinded

by customa nd tradition ruled by emotions They are
, ,
w w
, .
qualities of the intellect both in regard to fullness o f ,
adequate kno ledge and to critical and disc r iminating

,
use of it they are qualities hich constitute inte llectu al

honesty a nd comp etence ; they are the essential and
fund a me ntal conditions of rational thought
B u t the connection is e shall see still closer
postulate lies at the foundation of all notions of j ustice
A ,
w ,
.
the equal claim of all individuals B ut that postulate .
though a ffirma tive in form re a ll y embodies a series of

,
'
negations I t rests upon the repudiation of all claims

.
to privileged conduct and privileged dealing Those
w
.
claims can produce no o ther title to recognition than
cl a irns w
traditions consolidated assump tions established po e r
,
hi ch are utterly in capable of bearing the test

of critica l e x amination hich cannot make good their w
, ,
w
,
pretensions on the ground of rational sanction I t has

'
be en as a direct result of the gro t h Of the critical

27 2 TH E M A K I N G OF HU MAN I T Y
concrete rights they are defe nding moral Right
,
’
righteousn e ss Their interests and those of abstract
w w
.
w
morality necessarily coin cide
-
F rom the nature of the .
'
case rebe l s are al ays right Kin gs ere right against

pope a nd em
w
.
o n barons a nd priests e re right again st

p e r
kings the middle class ere right against barons and
ww
priests ; the proletarians are right against the middle
w w
class The eaker are morally right
w w
. .
And the po erful are al ays morally rong
w w
.
Primarily po er and rong are coextensive All

w
.
po er ielded by man over man is an aggression That
w ww
.
po er the O bject of human competition seeks the profit

, ,
o f the strong at the cost of the eak ; all po er

encroaches on equity is unjust oppressive Eve n hen , ,
.
expedient as an administrative funct ion or necessary
w w
,
as guidance a nd prote ction o r beneficial and blessed as ,
leadership po er of its o n nature inevitably tends
w
, , ,
and turns to abuse and oppression
w
.
I t has long been discovered that absolute p o er is

intrinsically bad no matter ho exercises it The Eng
w w w
.
,
lish came to pe r ceive very definitely that t o give absolute
w
po er to a saint ould m
o f hell
w
ean thro ing open the ga tes
Absolute po er has been abolished not because
w w
.
rulers are bad men but because absolute po er is
w
,
necessarily bad Lord A cton ell said Po er tends
w w
.
,
w
t ocorrupt and absolute po er corrupts absolutely Grea t .
men ( meaning po erful men ) are almost al ays bad
w
me n even hen they e x ercise influence a nd not authorit y;
,
still more hen you superadd the tendency or certainty

of corruptio n by authority I n E ng lis h history there
1
w
. .
is scarcely a sovereign from Will iam I to George I
w
,
w
ho tried on the count of mu rd er alone by the same
standards as common delinquents
the gallo s
ould have escaped ,
w w
.
I t is not at all a question of deliberately abusing
w w
po er of yielding to the tempta tion s of po er it is ’
, ,
not a question of ickedness ] I t is an inevitabl e
w w
consequence of t he fact that po e r tho u ght is inseparab le
from the e x ercise of po er that the mind of the po er
-
w
,
holder ceases to move in t he or b it of rational thought '
th at his mental processes become inevitably s t ricken ith

P O W ER 27 3
y w
w
the dise ase of falsification b po er thought H e ma y
ww ith all the force of his intention earnestly e x ercise his

-
.
po er in the service of humanity yet he can only do so

by po er thought ; he ields po er therefore he is w
w w ,
w
-
,
r ig ht in the manner he ield s it The very best moral
w
.
intentions in un checked po er are s tu l ti fie d by the very

fact of po er in the se r vice O f individual O pinion a nd
w
.
,
by the falsi fication of judgment in separable from that

fact . The sa int and the phi losophe r are ever y hit
w
as pe rnicious in possession of absolute po e r as the
ra ving despot Louis I X of F rance a s canoniz ed not
w
w www
.
only by the C hurch but by universal O pinion as the

, ,
ideal O f a cro ned saint hose sole end a s righteous
w
ness a nd his people s g ood yet he a s in fact a vi llainous
’
ww
,
persecutor and e have already had occasion to note
w
,
in h is o n ords his amiable conce ption of his duties
w
.
It ould be di fficult to point in the Renaissan ce per iod

to a fi g ure more perfectly admirable in its quiet i sdom
w
,
idealism and gentle hero ism than t hat of Sir Thomas

,
More yet his one b rief spell of po er as C hancellor

o f Englan d is m a rked by blood y a nd heinous p e r se cu
ww
Wha t is true of ab solute po er is co rrespondingl y w
w w
t
true of all po e r hatsoever in every form a nd in eve ry

.
‘
degree hether it be the po er of privi lege or of t he
w
,
strong hand of money of mere intellect ual authori t y

, , ,
het her it be that of a r uler or of a Jack in o the e of
w w w
- -
,
priest or demagogue I t results in in j ustice not because

.
me n are icked but because po er co rrupts moral

w
.
,
judgment The po er of a n autocrat is not indeed

.
b y a ny means the orst e vil F ar more deeply perni cious .
is that Of a class for the authority of the approved

moral ity it create s is p ropo rtionate to the numerical
strength of that class
immoral t yranny is that of a m
The very orst a nd m
ajo ri ty
.
os t w
w
.
Padd y s proverb ial at titude of bein g

’
agin the
g
w
overnment is the e x p ression of the universal
all po er no matter by hom e xercised tends to abuse
a nd injustice
,
l
the chan ces are therefore al ays t e n to

a
w
that
‘
,
’
,
, w I
one that in order to be on the side Of right you mu s t b e
agin the governme nt .

’
H "
27 4 TH E MA K I N G DE H UM AN I TY.
TH E I NNATE CO N SCI E NCE OF P O WER
Primarily and essentially moral ity is nothing else than

protest and resistance against po er I n a mere state ww
w
.
of nature the strong man has it in his po er to cudgel
maltreat reave r ob despoil and kill the eak What

,
w
, , ,
.
is to prevent him fro m s o doing ? Anteriorly to the
w
development of a moral tradition nothing hatev e r no ,
sentiment or categ o r ical imperative o r sympathy

, ,
.
m
conscie n
w
th n
“
fi fi fror by a ny
’
is g g
'
e s t r on a
conscien ce that on the contrary his feel ings are highly
w w w
, ,
flattered by the consci ousness and e x hibition of his

po e r H is Wig am is hung it h the scalps of his
w
.
vi ct ims the spoils of his depredations are ostentatiously

displayed The praises of his stren gt h hich none dare
.
resist a re sung by his po ets H e is the hero the .

‘
,
’
strong man celebrated by the b ards from A ch a e an court

' ‘
'
to I celandic hall the noble the aristocrat of the historian

, ,
till in another age he b e co mes the successful man

‘ ’
ww
, , ,
the self helper of Sir Samuel S miles Seldom hast thou .
w
provi ded olves i th hot meat scornfull y exclaims the ,
’’
coy daughter O f t h e Ja rl in the idyll of the S aga spurn ,

“
ing the suit O f Egil for a hole autumn no raven has t
4
w
,
thou seen croaking over the Carnage but the hero
ww ww
conci liates and ins her by p roudly singi ng :
marched ith my bloody s ord a nd the raven has
I have
w w
,
follo ed me Fu r iou s ly e fought the fire passed O ve r
w
the d ellings of m
.
,
a nd those ho kept the gates
w
en
e have sent to sleep in blood H e roic a nd mag
w
.
ni fice nt not in their o n sight alone is the boundl e ss

, ,
fie nd i s hne s s and trea chery of the i ld beasts Of the

I talian fourteenth a nd fifteenth centuries o f the S forzas ,
the Vi s conti the B a glionis the Malatestas Matarazz o

,
.
, , ,
the chronicler O f the Baglioni e xhausts eve r y epithet “
w
,
giving vent to his admiration for tho se ru fii a ns ‘
ho for no other motiv e than a m

.
G r ifo ne t te ,
bition ,
PR I MAR Y AND S E CONDARY GE N E S I S
OF MO RALI TY
PR I MAR Y G ENE S I S OF MO RA L I T Y
H
the
OW , in a
e x erci se
O f oppression
ww
humanity that is gratified and flattered by
of po e r hose conscience exults in the act
,
is li ke all nature like a ll animality
w w
, , , ,
cruel and dec lares force a nd craft to be admi rable

,
ho ca n a mor a l conscience ari se at all ? H o ca n
a ny restraining idea giving the lie direct to nature
the inevitable judgments and values of p o er thought

to '
w ,
w
-
introduce itself come into e x istence and develop ?

,
That strange phenomenon has had t o distinct suc ce s ,
sive origins : one p r ima r y in t he primitive he rd t he ,
other s econdary in di fferentiated society
w
.
The primary genesis of morality has taken place in

a quite automatic and inevitable a y in the primitive
human herd The p r opensity of the str ong ma n to
w
.
bully and kill is very soon and very naturally felt t o;

be a peril to all eaker men H e is a danger to all
w
. .
H e must be stopped he mu s t be punished Even the

' ’
,
.
strong man can be overpo ere d by numbers if he runs '
amuck And as every member O f the t r ibe even the

‘
w
.
,
strongest may at any time find hims elf in a position

,
O f disadvantage ith regard to another it very soon ,
becomes a tacit l y accepted principle that one member

must not kill or do violence to another
com tna nd m e nt w
The sixt h
as like i se t he seventh ( the female
,
’
being one of the earliest forms of property ) a nd the

.
eighth are automatica lly established conditions of gre

,
g a r i ou s e x istence They establish

. thems elves by t he
force of ci r cumstances even before the ap p earance of

276
PR I MA RY M O R A L I TY 277
spok en language a nd formulated thought even before ,
the appearance of humanity They are immediate
w
.
necessary results of gregariousness .
The se lf protect ive putting do n of a dan gerous ind i

-
vi dual evolves v ery natu rally from a feeling o f fear

‘
and prudence into one of ange r of righteous indig ’
w
, ,
nation The dangerous man becomes the b ad the ’

'
.
,
icked man The deterrent dread of t he community s
w
’
. .
anger be come s on the other hand a shrinking from , ,
its disapproval The ma n ho is tempted to use

'
his advantage to the d et riment Of another is p rimitively

'
w
,
'
restrained b y fear of the consequences But has he not .
himself been i t h the rest o f the tribe righteously

“
indignant at a cts of despotis min others ? H a s he not

denounce d others as bad ? To the fea r of the con ’
sequence is a d ded a sense of consistent shame ; t he

dete rrent motive becomes cons cience self respe ct a ’
-
point of honour When the strong m

w
, ,
. a n finds him self

in a position to take advantage of the eak his self ,
esteem his jealousy of his good name ( a type of feeling
w
,
very keenly developed in primitive ma n as in children ) 1
i ll restrain him H e does not like being called .
‘
bad : he shrinks from being a n ob j ect of public
’
indignation .
3
The point of honour as a moral motive is b e it ,
in cidentally noted fa r O lder and more p rimi tive than ,
a ny fee li ng O f sympathy and humanity Among the .
Se e W e st erm
1 a rck : Or igi n of Mor a l I d ea s v ol ii p p 1 3 8—9 .
Th a t ot h e r e le ment s e nt er int o the p rimi ti ve e vol t ion of t he

. . .
,
w w
u
mora l d et er r ent I a m q i te p e p a r ed t o a d mi t I a m he r e
,
u r .
conce r ne d on l y i th s et ti ng for t h ha t I con s id e r t o b e the

l f
e ss e n t i a m l f a nd h u nd a e nt a t u r e of t t e v olu ti on l
R e i gi ous
h w F
ea a .
y
id ea s p la l a n e a r y a n d cons p icu ou s p a r t in t h As ha s
w
e p r ocess .
b e e n s o n b y r a ze r (P syche s Ta s k) , d r ea d o f t he ghos t of a
’
m
wy
m
u r d e r ed
a nd so lik e
B u t i t is e a s h
h
h
f m
a n cons ti t u t e s a
l
i d es p r ea d or of d et er r e n t
. e e l in g ;
i s e d o t he t a b u s a t t a c in g t o p r op e r ty a n d s e x r el a t i ons
t o p e r ce iv e t a t t os e r e i gi ou s i d e a s a r e b u t a
f
.
m f
of mmt he wh wl m Th ylf
a n i es t a t i on a n d e x p r e s s i on of t he s e
u nity
p
to
r ot ec t i ve
a rds
os til e a t ti t u d e
v i o e nce
-
h
s econ d a r y a nd
wf ll ly w w
co . e a re
The god s p u ni s
d e ri v a ti v e ha t R e ligi ou s fe elings
w
. e n r es e nt .
p o e r u
yf r m
e i n o r ch
e o r a li t —
y as en the
‘
ba d ma n is l ook ed
u p on n ot onh i t indi gna ti on , b u t i th s u p er s ti tious hr o r or —b ut
y
the d o not; cr ea t e i t .
“
278
’
-
w
,
ith the mos t cal lous ferocity ; a s

,
of honour as in the la s of hospital ity may coe x istw

S emites for in stance the rigid obser va nce of the cod e
hen the robber w ,
Yac ub in a nocturnal ra id on the treasure house of the -
P rince of S istan stumbled ove r a lump of sal t the symbol
w
of hospitality a nd b y c h
,
ance tas tin g it retired forth ith

,
'
ithout spoil The mere fact of stu mb lin g over a: tent

,
,
w
ww
.
rope neces sitates t hat a stran ge r even" if he belon g to ,
a tribe ith hich a blood feud exist s should be con
w
-
,
s id e re d a nd t reated as a sacred guest and s o forth
w
I
.
,
S o in the barbaric ages of Europe e const antly meet
a nd the sam
com m i tted
w
ith acts of ostentatious magnanimity conjoined in one
e perso n ith ghoulish de ed s un scrupulously
,
The s imp le natura l mech a nism of the primary genesis
w
of morality is vividly demonst rated by the fact that
here such relations and causes have not ope rat ed no
w
,
morality no idea of morality no co nscience has develop ed
w
, ,
at a l l The cau se s hich have automatically given

.
rise to those idea s hen opera ting on t he in d ividuals
w
of a comrnu ni ty did not ex ist and did not operate in
,
the re lations be t ee n tribe a nld t r i b e na tion and n a tion '

’
w
.
,
H ence t here is no such thing a s interna tional mor a lity .
The comb ination of the eak aga i nst the strong is here
.
much more di fficult and uncerta in O ne tribe or S tate
w w
.
w
could not clearly reali z e that aggression agai nst some
other dista n t tribe a s a me nace again st itself it a s
not its bu siness to meet tr ouble half a y and convert -
the pos sibility of conflict into a certainty To organize
w w
.
a n a l li a n ce of mena ced S tat es against a possible aggres s or
a s a comple x diplomatic ope ratio n a nd there a s in

most cases no guarantee that the combination ould
b e strong enoug h to ensure its obje ct
,
Gon se .
w
quently such a t hing as international morality has never
’
develope d ; those huma n r elations remain, or have

remained u ntil quite lately abso lutely crudely and ,
primitiv ely u nmoral The very acts condemned by social

.
S ee for m
, a ny f u r ther e x a mp l es W R ob e rt s on S m
, . i t h K i n hip ,
s
w w
w
28 0
fello m-
w
do a s he pleases ith those hom he holds in hi s po er
w wQw
N o restraint ill arise from the action or opinion of his
a s ters uite on the contrary it is their interest
.
'
,
.
that their o n po er a nd p rivilege should be upheld ,
a nd it is most strenuously upheld by every notion es tim ate , ,
system of moral values obtaining amongst them
w
.
Established opini on that is the opinion the morality

, , ,
of the domina nt clas s ill emphaticall y j ustify a nd
w
, ,
sanction the aggressor
w
.
NVe have then to do i th a se cond genesis of morality ,
quite distinct from that hich is the automatic outcome
w
of the gregariou s state
o ers n d prero g atives

When a s yste m of dominant
upheld and sanctioned
.
b y
w
p a ,
a n equally consolidated body of opinion supp lants the ,
promiscuous equalitarian community the p rimitive la ,
of mutual ab stention ceases to be op erative .
That primary morality of gregarious origin a ct uall y
ww ww
favours the immorality introduced by the di fferentiation of
po er F or it supplies it ith the al ready e x istent moral
ww
.
values ith the portentous o r ds good a nd bad " ’
w
, ,
right and rong hich it ha s created And those .
values are at once sei z ed upon by po er thought a nd
w
-
transformed S o that they act u ally come t o be used
w
.
a s its eapons in the service a nd validation of its immoral

position The established po er at once becomes
ww w
.
goo d a nd right a nd it is the re s is ter the ins u b or

'
,
’
dim ate the rebel ho becomes b ad icked

‘
’
It
’
.
, , ,
is he not the oppress o r

,
ho come s to su ffer from a ,
bad conscience I ’
w u i —
H ere then is a sit at on a nd it is that of the constituted
orld of human relationships above the most rudi mentary
phase s —far more desperate for the prospe cts of moral
develo p ment N ot only is necessarily immoral po er in w
w
.
the saddle fairly secure against a ny self defensive action

,
-
,
but the very moral values tr ansformed by its po er
w
,
th ou gh t a r e deflected from their origi nal s igni ficance a n d

'
w w
,
are no on its si de They a re transposed W rong is
w
. . .
right and ri ght is rong Ho ca n that falsification
w
.
re ctify itself ho ca n the original values reassert them

,
selves ho ca n the second genesis of mo ral ity take

,
.
l
p a ce ?
SE C O ND AR Y M O R A L I TY
w
28 1
U ltimately in only I n t h s w me y as
w
w
y one e a
a a
w
.
p rimiti ve morality ii n p o s e d itself in the same a y as
w
,
the po erful have irnp o se d their i ll and their morality ,
in the only possible a y —b y physical force A s the .

‘
exist ing system of human relations is in i ts immoral ,
aspect representat ive of the cold s teel of oppres sion

, ,
s o in its moral a s pect it is represent ative of the cold s teel
w
,
of revolt Every human right every step in the develo p

.
,
ment of justice in human re lations ha s been rested ,
by actual physical force from t he grasp of the holders of
w
But a far greater difficulty presents itself Estab
’
w
.
li she d po er is p rotect ed b y a much more formidable
w w
defence tha n a ny physical force of hich it can dispose
I t is protect ed by po er thought by its falsifica tion of
values a eapon so fo rmidable that it renders physica l
-
,
.
w
,
force itself almost super fl uous Just a s the oppressors
ww
.
could never bring themselves to ackno ledge t he real

foundation of t heir po er to admi t that it rested on ,
physical force but have al ays insist e d on justify
w
,
ing it on regarding it as founded upon r ight righteous
w
, ,
ness ; so like ise the op p ress ed so l ong a s they have ,
remained under the influence of po er thought have r e -
mained loyal to their oppressors they have looked upon
w ‘
it as a sa cr ed du ty a n hono ur a nd a glo ry to toil to
,
fight to lay do n their li ves fo r the m The slave the

,
s erf the o r iental or feudal vassal may su ffer a nd lament

. .
,
,
,
w
, , ,
but he does not dispute the authority of his oppress or o r
w
,
rebe l against it O n the contrary he ould be sh a med
w
.
,
a nd scanda li zed at a ny att ack on that po er H e laments
w
.
his mi sfortunes a s he ould those ari s ing from an earth
w
quake or a sto rm ithout a thou ght o f blas p hemy The
,
physica l force ielded by oppressors ha s mostly been

.
w
that lent to them by the loyal ty of their victims
is through the po er of in telle ctual and moral theo ries
that they have held a nd e x ercised their mastery The
It .
w w
.
w
peasant armies s laughtering one another in the dynastic
quarrels of their ma sters are glo ing i th p a tr i otis m
www
.
The Vend ean peasant is fille d ith heroic rage a gainst

.
those ho ould liberate him from hi s tyrants The .
Russian s erf ors hips his little fath e r There is ‘

.
’
MA NI T Y
i
28 2 T H E M A K I N G OF HU
nothing more tra gically patheti c tha n the pe rsistent loyalty
ww
of the O ppressed to thei n oppressors
To d ay hen the rum bli ngs of prolet a rian revolt are
clearly audible e are some hat o ffended by the crude
’
w
.
ww w
, ,
irrev erence of the rebe ls their b rutal discard o f all res pect
, ,
the ir bad ma nne rs But the real onder is the old

’
w w
-
w
.
humility and deference of the poo r the harro ing s eet
w ww
,
reasonableness of the retch ho kno s his place ’
w
,
ho kn o s hat is d ue to his betters his g ratitude and '
w
,
re sp e ct for the gentle folks O ur fee li ngs are ounde d

‘
.
’
by the b ru tal cynicism of the rebel but ho coul d our ,
feelings endure the coals of fire heape d upon the head s

“
of the rich and educat e d by the deference of the poor
w
and ignorant ? As if forsooth their p o verty a nd ig norance
'
ere not the most sti nging of reproaches
w
.
S o long as the ex tra rationa l foundations of privilege

-
ere unquestioningly accepted claims to equality to r ght i
w
, , ,
to justice could not a nd did not ari se S o long a s the

, , .
divine nature of kingship a s undisp uted every abuse
ww
,
of tyrann y could exist unchal lenge d so long as f eudal
w
,
po er a s looked upon as part of a superhumanly estab
w
.
lis he d ord er every exces s to hich un che c ke d auth ority
w
,
gives rise could proceed unqu e stioned I t is only hen
w w ww
.
they have come to percei ve that hat they regarded as

a sacred tru t h a s a li e, that hat they had been taught
to look upon a s right a s iniquitous rong it is then onl y
w
,
that the injured have reb e lled I t is the exposure of the
w
.
b a sic irrationality of the j ustifying lie hich brings
w
, ,
about the overthro of the abuse The o p p ressed have
w
.
only revolted agai nst tyranny or injustice ho ever ,
atrocious ,
hen they have clearly learn e d to perceive
it a s irrational mendacious fa l se
, , .
TH E MA K I N G O F HUMAN I TY
w w
28 4
po er the po er of money
,
The opposition o ffered .
by the commercial classes by Lombard F lorentine , , ,
F lemish H anseatic English merchants in the later

w
, , ,
Middle Ages and the Renaissance against the exactions ,
of im perial feudatories nobles and kings a s one of the , , ,
mai n checks on tyranny one of the chief seeds of liberty ,

.
The enormous part played by interested purpo ses of

the most fulsome ki nd by sheer covetousness in all
w w
, ,
the movements of the Reformation is fa miliar to all ,

.
I n Ge rmany the secession from Rome a s brought about
land the success of Z ingli a s o ing to the appropria

tion by Z urich and other cities of the domains of the
w ww
b y the appe tite of rulers for C hurc h lan d s ; in S it z er
C hu fch The found a tion of the A n glican Ch ur ch is one
w w
.
long story of the most utterly sordi d avarice and nu

mitigat ed g reed a nd bribery And e find every here
w
.
,
in every emancipating movement the Same selfish cal , ,
culating mercenary s pi rit at ork The M erica n Revo
w w
.
,
lu tion arose from the reluct ance of shopk e epers to part

ith tax money Even the F rench Revolution
w
-
.
. a s
initiated not by starving and o p p ressed millions but by

, ,
p r o fite e r in g merchants a nd speculators ho ob j ected to
be ing t a xe d .
But those facts are apt to b e p rofoundly mi sappre

hended The exponents of economi c determinism find
w
.
it easy to use them in repre s enting a varice and interest

as the sole agents at ork i n a ll those movements
w
.
But those agencies have never operated until intellectu al

criticism had done its ork
As long a s the w
orld qu a il ed in terror under the one
.
could dra w
paramount exclusive thought of hell fir e the C hurch
w
,
into its ubiquitous suckers the entire s u b

-
,
w w
st a nce of Europe There a s no p rotest no resi stance
ww
N ot unt il the t elfth century
.
hen the ice began to '

, .
crack ,
uni v ersal
hen unqu e stioning faith had ceased to be
hen Europe rapidly became riddled ith
,
heresy did the lan d h u nge r of pr iests and monks b e gin

,
-
w
to be opposed a nd curbed and kings and ba rons to ,
cry H ands o ff N o t hought of sei z ing C hu rc h goods

.
’
of arresting the bl ee din g of the ir domains by Rome

;
ever occu rred to Ge rm

,
an p rinces till H uss a nd Luth e r , ,

I N TELLE C T UA L PREP A R AT I ON
w
28 5
a nd Z i ngli had formulated clearly the outrageousness

of papal pretensions H enry V I I I could do nothing
.
but for Er a smus and C olet and the Lollard ry smoulder

ing a mong the people T he interests a nd cupidities of
ww
w
.
prin ces have merely b e en po erful auxiliaries in the

ba ttles of emancipa tio n auxiliaries hi ch have often ,
determi ned the victory b ut e re themselves but tools of
w
,
the int ellect ual forces The actual su fferers t he crushed

.
a n d oppressed h en they have

,
ri s en a g a ms t tyranny ,
and barbarity and injustice have be en interested not

, , ,
theoretically inspired by abst ract p rinciples but those

.
intereste d motives could not operate until the c r itical
ww
u nmaski ng of irrationa l claims h a d taken p lace I ill '
.
then all the forces hi ch ma ke for justice are paralysed .
Every one is familiar ith the accounts of the misery ,
of the F rench people on the e v e of the Revoluti on
w w ww
,
the crushing exactions feudal dues dimes gabe ls Church
w
, , , ,
tithes hic h holly s allo ed up their substance the
w w
, ,
chronic fami ne a nd destitution hi ch sent haggard ghosts

andering ove n the desolate land I t is obvious
w
e .
,
think that such a state of things could not endure ;

,
it must inevitabl y result in rebe llion But t hin gs e re
w
.
”
“
just as b a d at the death of Louis X I V; a s at that

of Louis X V and there
conditions
in F rance
ere ww a s no rebe llion
,
orse in G e rmany than the y er e

O n the ot he n side of the Pyrenees a
The .
w
w w w
.
,
hundred years earlier the o p p re ssion a nd misery of

,
the peo p le a s even orse the country a s depopulat e d

,
w
by famine deso lated by utter anarchy and by exactions
the pe ople ere bo nd slave s the starving population
r
www w
-
w
,
fled from the vi llages at the ap p roach of the tax

gatherers hile these tore do n the retched d e llings
,
to se ll the ma teri als ; armed cro ds fought for bread

before the bakers sho p s more fiercely than they did
’
in Paris the unp aid household troops be gged for food

in the streets and at the doors of monaste ries And .
yet beyond some demonst rations against the ministers

,
in Madrid nothing happened O r rather the mos t extra
w ww
.
, ,
ordi nary thing continued to happe n ; the starving
w
,
spo liated and tortured populace a s filled ith the most

,
pa ssionate loya lty to ards its oppressors it a s rea dy

w w
28 6 TH E MA K I N G OF HU MAN I TY
w
to die fo r th r one an d altar A fe : years late r hen
w
‘ ‘
'
the po er of the Bourbons a s being hum

.
,
bled by Ma rl
I taly ww
borough a nd Prince E ugene in G erma ny, F landers a nd
hen Peterborough a nd S tan hope scattere d before
w
,
them the ret ched armi es of S pa i n the same victims ,
of mi srule rose every here in defence of their king ,
the plundered vi llagers scrap ed together a ll the money
w
they c ould lay thei r hands on a nd brought it to the
kin g ith tears of passionate devotion and the p easants
of C asti le and Andalusia neutralized by their obstinate
,
w
,
heroism the triumphs of B lenheim and Ramillies

There a s no rational thought no c ritici sm of the
w
.
situation in their ca s e no glim

,
mer of light hereby to

,
discern the sou rce of their evils in their t rue aspect I t
w
.
is that purely intellectual pr ocess of enlightenment a nd

criticism hich 1 8 the indispensab le condition of the protest
of the oppressed U ntil it has ta ken place their ethical
.
conceptions are as immoral a s thos e of their opp ressors

,
w
their loyalty their devotion their endurance their venera
tion t heir bo ing submission to the divinely appo inted
,
order thei r contentm ent

, i th the station in
'
,
w
hich
,
w
Prov idence has placed them are the counterpar t of the
w
,
ruthless injustice the tyranny the rap a city the cruelty

, , , ,
th e barbarity of the holders of po er .
E U RO PEAN L I B ERAT I ON S
But furthermore the revolt of the o p pressed although
w
, ,
instigated by the crude facts of self interest is never -

,
vie ed by th em for long u nder t ha t a s p ect alone

.
It .
28 8 TH E M AK I N G OF H UMAN I TY
on w —
important t hough not the sole form of justifying theory
—
hich constituted despotism founds itself D ivine
w
w
.
Right is the type of sanc tion to po er ~ H ence rel igious , .
heresy a nd criticism has al ays led to resist a nce against

tyranny H ereti cal thought ha s invariably be en a ccom
p a n
lis h
i,
e d
.
e d po
o r
erw
immediately follo ed by revo l t against es
The bo ld teac hing of A b elard resulte d
t a b w
w
.
in the revolt of his pupil A rnaldo d a B rescia a nd t he

‘
w
, ,
proclamation of a republic in Rome ; Wycliff a s

follo ed by John B all and the Lollard s ; John H uss
by the revolt of B oh e mi a ; a nd ith the Lutheran
reformation all the forces of social revo lt ere let l oos e
ww
wthe great Peasant Wa r of Ge rmany the Dutch rebellion
ere its immed iate result s
.
With the one glorious exception of the N etherlands

.
,
all those e ffo rts of re sistance on the con tinent of
w
Eu rope bore scarcely any fruit The fo rces of coer
cion ere too mighty re volt e x tinguished in blood and
fire onl y tightened the fetters of opp re ssi on Many of
,
.
the most atrocious fe atures of the feudal syste m date
w
,
fr om the Jacquerie and the Pe asant Wa r The U nited .
Provinces hi ch cel eb r ated their deliverance from
w
,
Spanish tyranny a nd obscura ntism by foundi ng the U ni

of Ley d e n a nd U tre c ht ; and here round
'
v e r s ities
w
,
w
jolly Roemer Vis s che r, a nd his accomplished daughters ,
there gathere d a comp an y hich included Vossi us the ,
great Grotius author of I nfer na t i ona l L a

, a nd The .
F r e e d om of the S e a B re d e roo th comic poet v a n
w
e
w
, ,
Vondel t he dramatist D e s ca nte s Ba ruch Spino z a , , ,
S ammerdam t he first biologist va n Leeu enhoek the

’
”
founder of microscopic a l s cience H uygens the physicist
ww
, ,
Rembr andt , F ran z H a ls b e came the se e d be d of all ,

- -
w
liberal thought and prepared the a y for English
,
a nd all subsequent politi ca l development O in g to the
w w
'
.
‘
inabili ty of unarmed English rii le r s to enforce la .
a nd orde n England s la s and England s political order

’ ’ ’
w
, ,
became a n envied e x ample to the orld N early every
w w
.
step in the st ruggle hi ch built u p English liber ties
w
,
ore a reli gious aspect B u t thos e struggles ere frui tful
w
.
of results not b ecause they ere reli gious but because

they ere Protestant C atholic reli gious enthusias min
, ,
.
E U R O PE A N L I B E R A T I O N S 28 9
F rance ,
.
,
b u t St Bartho lome s q u e m
,
a d e r os
w
Spain in England produced not l i b erty
in
w w
b u t tyranny not C ommon e a lt h a nd D ec laration of Right
and B loody Maries
,
x
,
,
,
Protestantism meant so far as it ent criticism rational
w w
, , ,
revolt against dogma tic authorit y attacks by private judg ,
ment hether ackn o ledged in principle or not on con
w
, ,
sti t u ted lies The attitude of P rotestan tism of N o
w ww
,
.
Popery — hatever dogmas and fanati cisms it might hug

a s to ards the audacious unvera cities o f the old
w w
orthodoxy to ards p riestcraft hocus po cus ( hoe e s t
,
ith t ha t hich rational criticism ould

have adopt ed The Lo llards and I ndependents treated the
,
-
w
w
.
sa cred and holy things of the es tablished cult in exact ly

the same b lasphemous and sacril egious a y as the s a ns
ca l otte s .
w
The Protestant spea ks of C atholi cism in the
self same ords as the most v ulga r a nd o ffensive
-
mi li tant atheist The thro ing off of injustice and

. w ,
’
despoti sm and later as a necessary consequence the

, , ,
extension of huma nitarian princi p les ha s be en a ccom
ww
,
p li sh e d in England by the Protestants a n d by thos e ,
shades of Protestantism in parti cular hich ere furthes t

removed from consti tuted reli gious authority by I nde ,
pendents di s s enters p u ritans nonconf ormists evan
w
, , , ,
li l W higgism and li bera l i m are traditional l y
w
g e ca s . s
a ssociated i th nonconformity The cont emporary pietist
w
.
,
ho states that England s greatness is due to the Bible

’
i s not altoge ther rong it is due to the Bible in s o far

a s th e Bible stood as the s ymbol of the right to private
interpretation as against theocratic a b solutism

, Wihile . .
Euro p e still la y sunk in medi a eval barbarism England pre
w w
,
s ented b y contrast the spectacle of a land o f freedo m a nd
w
,
a s not
,
ithout right cons cious o f supe rior righteousness
,
.
But the libe ratin g force o f Protestan tism hich had

made the Revolution o f 1 6 4 9 reac he d the term imposed
by its i nherent and necessary limitations
w
development mean h i le did not stop at the phase hi ch
I ntellectual .
w
had found exp ressio n in the Protestant Re format ion
w
The pr ocess of seculari zation e nt on apace no longe r w .
ere the iss u e s theological b u t p urely secular F rom

the g r eat schoo l of Padua here from the fourteenth
century A ristotelian tradition and that of Arabic ex p e ri
,
,
w .
19
29 0 T H E MA K I N G OF HU MA N I T Y
me ntal science and mathematics ha d c o mming led and
'
w w
struggled and the contest had at l a st resulted i n the
w
triumph of the latter and a ne conception o f the sph e res
w
.
and methods of kno le dge a

w ave had s ept over
Europe on the crest of hi ch rose D e scartes and G a s s endi
W illiam H arvey had no t only pro fited there from the
,
lessons of F a b r iciu s i of Aqu a p e ntle nt e but even more

‘
perhaps from those o f the professo r of physics Galilei
w
, .
Pascal prosecuting the researches o f Galilei s pupil

,
’
Torricelli had eighed the air

,
See king refuge on .
the C ont inent from the tumults of the P uritan R e volution
w
,
B acon s secretary H obbes ha d met G a li leo Gassendi and

’
, ,
Mersenne a nd hen the Me rry Monarch in the re action

,
‘
w w
-
,
against puri tanical tyranny r e entered London the fi rst
w
-
w w
, ,
person he greeted a s hi s old tutor ho not only furnished
w
,
him ith the d octrine of his o n omn ip otence in the

L e via tha n bu t ,
ith a lively interest in the ne
:
develo pments of the expe rimental philosophy That
w
.
interest became a universal fashion ; not only the K ing
w ”
,
but Buckingha m peers pre lat es had their o n
w
, ,
“
chemical laboratories It . a s almost ne cessary in ,
the ords of Macaulay to the cha racter of a fine gentle

,
man to have something to s a y about air p umps and tele -
sc opes and the beauties of Whitehall drove to the

Gresham la b oratories to s ee expe rime nts in static
w
elect ricity and magnetism Tha t dilettantism a s the
out ard ma nifestation o f deepe r a nd more momentous
. , w
developments of the spirit o f the times in Restoration
—
H a l l a y Ne t on T h
,
English science
ww
England the Royal S ociety Robert Boyle H ooke
e e ffl o r e s ce nce o f seventeenth century
.
a s ,in turn but an asp e ct of t he

, ,
-
,
ope ration of the same spirit in every field of thought .
O ne o f the members of the Royal Society Sir W illiam
w
,
Petty created the science of P oli ti ca l Ar i thme ti c the
w
, ,
precurso r of p olitical e conomy and sho ed the
w
,
agricultural la b ourer s age to be fairly fixed at four

’
w
shillings a eek As Puritan Protestantism ha d produced
the Revolution of 1 6 4 9 the ne s e cular matter of fact
w
w
- -
,
nes s pr oduced the Whi g Revolution of 1 6 8 8 of hich
mw
a s the philo s ophic apologist as M
,
J ohn Locke ilton had

been tha t of the Com on ealth .
29 2 TH E MAK I N G OF H U MAN I TY
w
unchangeable authorities : hen ou r appetite is fo r w ”
ww
fossils e go back to the Stone A ge fo r ou r textbook s
,
When e ish to study physical science e do not go

to Prevost and F ourier and C oulomb or Lavoisier
, e , ,
w w .
stud y Prevost s the o ry of exchanges F ourier s theorem

’
,
’
C oulomb s bala nce a nd La voisier s di s c overies in modern

’ ’
scientific langu age a nd modern textbo oks
w
.
A s in seventeenth century E ngl and sc ience ex p anded

-
in eighteenth century F rance i de ly and eage rly culti

v a te d
-
popularized in cro ded lecture rooms and a s w ,
w
w ww
-
, ,
there shape d for t he first time into that organized body

o f kno ledge and systematiz ed inqui ry hich a s to
bear immediate fruit in the conquests of the nineteenth
century I n all the intellectual act ivity of that active
w w w
.
t il ne — even the most seemingly trifling and fl ip p a nt and
w
, ,
s u p e r fici a l — a ne quality a terrible ne dangerous ,
virtue be came a ake W hen the K ing s pe r mission a s .

’
requested for the performance of Beauma r chais com edy ’
The Ma r r i a ge of F ig a r o he exclaimed
“
But Me s
sieurs if pe rmission is granted to perform this play
w
, , ,
w
, ,
on e — —
ought to be quite consistent to pull do n the
B astille " F ig a r o ent through sixty eight p e r
w
-
w
for ma nce s — and the Bastille did duly get pulled do n .
,
It b y those men B ayle Montesq uieu Voltaire
w
'
. a s , , , ,
D iderot D Ale mb e rt Volney H olbach C ondorcet and

'
’
w
, , , , ,
their contemporaries ho cast a side all conventional
w w
,
formu las resolved to think for themselves and

,
,
hat , ,
is more , to spe ak ou t boldly hat they thought to o n
w
,
no other sanction or criterion than rational thought that ,
the orld has been transformed Behind them and

aro u nd the m stood medi a evalism in all its ignorance
.
a nd darkness a nd tyranny over life and mind for all ,
the superficial veneer of refinement lai d over it b y the
w
Renaissance and the Grand Si ecle
w w
a changed orld the modern orld I t a s those men
.
,
A fter them is
ho thre open the po rtals from the one into the other
w w .
.
—
The Revolution the product and culmination of the
.
a n history
—
giganti c intellectual battle stands alone among the
w
events of hum The antagonist hich it faced
“
a s unredeemed feudalism and absol u t ism, in the most
. w
consolidated and ugliest form of its iniquity nu ,
E U R O PE A N L I BERA T I O N S 293
adulterated a nd untouched by any evolution O n t hat

one oc ca sion in history there a s no t inkering o r veiled ‘
w .
w
,
issues or compromises or expe di ent formulas or semi
w
, , ,
logic in the cr y of protest a nd the : ork of re fo rm O nly

,
.
for a moment in 8 9 and the C onstitution o f 9 1 ’

a s
’
w
, ,
there a ny such genteel mealy mouthed good m a nnered - -
w
, ,
rese rve in dealing ith evil After that first moment .

,
things ere actually called by their name s and treated ,
accordingly— s a ns p hr a s e s W ith a ra dicalism and .
drastic tho roughness de st ined t o strike everlast ing horror

in future ages not only gross enormities and injus tices
m
w
, ,
feudalis Divine Right Sacred Majesty but the entire
w
, , ,
orld system of lies and a rt ificia lit ie s irr ationalities root
w w w
-
w
, ,
a nd branch bag and b aggage do n even to stupid

’
w w
, ,
eights a nd measures a nd calendars ere s e p t a a y
w ww
,
at one fell s oop Those ne ly e mancipated feudal .
vassals ere no t content ith glori ous constitutions ,

’
ballot boxes liberal re forms ithin the sphere o f

’
w
,
practical politics they called in plain ringing u n , ,
measured ords fo r the last consequences of ratio nal

tho ught for pla in uncompromising justice fo r equality
,
fo r the total and final abolition

,
ithout te rms or r e
serves of humb u g and injustice in its mil li on forms
,
,
w , ,
N ay they called fo r it no t only fo r" the State not

, ,
‘ ’
only for F ran ce but for the human race

,
w
.
,
O f course they failed E v e r y European govern

‘
.
’
z
ment England i th its Puritan and Whig libe rties and
w w
, ,
model constitution at the head o f them ro s e in arms ,
to put do n the unuttera b le scandal Ho ragged
w
.
R evolution held its ground against them all a n d against

‘
priest le d peasan ts and s arming traitor ve rmin in its
w
-
midst and humbled them t o the dust is one of the

,
, ,
onders of history But in the end many o f t he ghosts .
of the Past came back to sit t o this day in poss e ssion
w
a n d pour their venomo n the pages of history
,
a nd turn
w
,
up the hites o f their eyes over the horrors o f the ‘
w
F rench Revolution ( More men ere killed on St ’
w
. .
Bartholome s day by throne and altar than dur ing

’
the hole Revolution Septemb er massacres Terror a n d
w
, ,
all ) W hat those audac ious ho t heads those e nr a g és

.
-
hat Marat and the H e b e r t is t s aimed at still remains

, ,
,
2 91 MA K I N G OF H U MA N I T Y
ww
TH E
in U topia N evertheless the o rld hich they left b e
w
.
hind them, is a realized U t opia compared t o the evil

dream hich they fo r ever dispelled
'
ET H I CS P OL I T I CS
w
AN D
w I
ww
may seem t o be confusing politics ith ethics social
ith moral issues But t he real confusion i s that hereby
,
w
.
such an obj ect ion is offere d and such a distinct ion dra n
w w
.
Mankind has been upli fted ou t of a past eltering

ith cruelty a nd injustice a p ast in hi ch four fifths -
w
, ,
o f the population o f Europe Endured under the heels o f
w w w
their to rmentors such treatment as ould to day raise
a storm of indignation ere it infl ict ed on dogs hen
-
w w
men in thousands ere l egally flayed impaled quart ered
w w
roasted boile d '
hen London a s called the city o f

,
‘
, ,
w
,
g ibbets h en none but tyrannous princes and p riests

’
had human right s ; hen the producers of food ere
w w
made to pay fo r the right to u s e their implements ;
w
hen the infamy o f nameless injustice a s imperturbably
w
sanctified by l a
by religion
acquiesced in by literat u re upheld
,
hen no murmur could be uttered a gainst

,
w
it save at the price of martyrdom Yet no elab oration
w ww w
o f professed morality has had anything to do
triumph of justice hic h has s ept a ay that hideous

.
ith the
w
nightmare N o great ne ethic a l principle has been
.
discovered or proclaimed bet een the age of the Tudors

and that o f Victoria W riting in the latter period
w
.
,
Buckle co u ld actually ma intain the time honoured “
w w w
no n e w
doctrine that morality never changes
w
N o ne
moral l a no ne creed has burst upon the
,
orld ; old codes o l d mora l la s old creeds have

,
code
,
.
,
instead been shaken t o their foundations .

TH E MA K I N G OF H UMA N I TY
w w
29 6
An d that is w
and claim redres s fro m rong '
w
sible hen to every ma n belongs the po e r to resist
That is democracy
hy clumsy in e fli cie nt confused eak
.
‘
w .
w
, , , ,
a n d easily misguided as it is it is the only form o f

,
government hich is mora lly permissible The ideal .
form o f government is an enlightened and benevolent

despotism but that is an a b solutely unrealizable dream
much more visionary than any d emoc ratic U topia There . .
can never be an adequately enlightened and justly

b enevolent despot
practical success .
Your philosopher king is not a
.
Put a S ir Thomas More in po e r

and you have a Torquemada your ine ffectual Ma rc us
w ,
Aurelius is succeeded by a C ommodus Justice is only

possible through the di ffusion of po e r and it is in point
of fact by the progress o f democratic po er that the
ww ,
.
And justice i s the

is to inflict w w
progress of justice has been b rought about .
hole o f morality T o do rong

rong to injure
, There is no other .
.
.
w
immorality than injustice So manifest is that t ruth
w
.
that it never occu r red to the ancients in their best
ww w wm
days to rega rd it as other i se than self evident a nd
the connotation of the ords Sma mh and j us titt a
a s ith the m equivalent to that of ou r terms virtue
-
,
’
righteousness morality I t has taken centuries o f
w
.
,
oriental ethi cs to obscure that simple truth .
All forms a n d aspects o f morality hich are not

mere conventional figment and immoral pseudo mor —
a l i t ie s
t o do
are in tru th but aspect s o f justice rights that
have to be defended against the encroachm
w
,
ent o f po e r
rong rights oppressed by irrationalities and lies
,
,
w .
Sentiments of humanity respect fo r hum an life com '
ww
, ,
passion fo r su ffering are in fact forms o f the spirit o f

justice and all rongs hich o fl e nd against those feel
w
,
ings are acts o f injustice countenanced in the fi rst

instance by the morality of dominant po er .
I t is commonly assumed that the moral condition of

a comrnu nity is the result and expression of moral ideas
but the order of causation is in general the exact reverse
-
moral ideas are the result of moral conditions
long a s unresisted predominant po er predom inant inte
rest are free to perpetrate rong that rong is m
,
w
w w
So
eces ,
,
.
ET H I C S A ND POLI T I CS 29 7
w
sa r il ycountenan ce d a nd co nsecrated as right
w
hole moral life o f a community is nece ssarily deter
mined by the standard hich as a concrete system o f
The .
ethics upheld and sanctified by accredited opini on is
w
, ,
in act ual O peration I f the organization of a society be

.
unjust if it be founded upon the interests o f po er
w
,
holding clas s es it is vain to seek fo r absolute standards
ww
,
o f justice even here those dominant interests are not

,
directly involved The mental l a hich sets the seal
w ww
.
o f authoritative approval on the esta b lished order and ,
pronounces it moral hke i s e shapes every ethical

estimate under that order Divine l a al ays conforms
to the type of establi shed hu man l a w
So me barba r i
.
w
.
ties have not be en dire ct act s of encroachment on
character of those encroachments

,
w
the part o f a dominant po er a nd subservient to its
M ediate interests but they ere countenanced by the
And it is through
w
.
the action of rational critici s m that barb aric custom

a nd inhumanity like the abuses o f legitimized po e r
, ,
are eliminated .
C HAPTER III
MO R ALS AN D CULT UR E
S E N T I ME N T ,
SY MPA T H Y ,
A ND R E A SO N
TH E favourite doctrin e that moral sentiments have arisen
ou t o f a natural feeling o f sym athy or comm
p
adopted b y S chopenhauer and b y Dar in as the chief
'
factor in the genesis of ethics is I believe entirely

iseration
,
w ,
,
erroneous F eelings of sympathy of commiseration o f

.
, ,
humanity in s tead of being the source are on the contrary

, ,
the product of moral ju d gmen t The mor a l fe e l ing is .
posterior t o the fact of moral pr a ctice I t is afte r a .
course o f conduct has become est a b lished as right after ,
an injusti ce and inhuma nit y has been a b olished that the ,
correspondin g feelings o f pity sympathy become de

.
'
w
, ,
v e 10 e d
p . W hat is r e garded as right and prope r o r ,
even merely a s cu s tomary does not a aken co mmisera
w
,
tion and s ymp athy Those feelings if any germ o f

themexists at all are dismissed and suppressed hen the
w
.
,
w w w
,
tra nsa ction is unquestioningly a ccepted as praise o rthy

Q w ww
.
If ueen Louisa of Spain a s touched ith pity hen

sh
w ww
e turned her head a ay at the harro ing appeal of
the Je ish girl ho ith a number of others a s led t o
,
the stake amid the festivities o f the royal marri a ge the ,

,
passing feeling must have been severely Che cked as a

"
sinful thou g ht
w ww
.
N othing is more remarkable in this connection than .
the fact that itch pers ecution passed a ay ithout a

single protest ever being raised against it on the ground
o f morality N ot a voice heard in denunciationw
w
. a s
o f the most hideous form o f murderous savagery in

human annals more b rutal than any gladiatorial sho s
o r religious persecutions
,
b ecause its victims

,
most helpless o f hum a n b eings And it a s in Scotl a nd

ere the
. w w ,
2 95
TH E MA K I N G OF H UMA N I TY
w
3 00
the desired object —

t ribal safety prosperity etc
be certainly assured by the proced u re men ould n ot
ould , ,
w —
w
,
b e likely to forgo a direct means of se curing" tho se ,
irnp or t a nt objects ; they ould have been great fools

had they done s o
—
as ked a human life —
.
ww w
The very greatness of the pric e
a s a sort o f guarant ee o f the
return
b orn
.
‘
T he early H ebre
through the fire t o Moloch w
father ho sent his fir s t
w probab l y a ’
w
. a s
kind father ; just as the F ijian ho b rained his aged

mother a s a dutiful s on The supe r stitious theory .
takes precedence in every case over any sentiment o r
w
feeling The decay of human sacrifice and cannibalism
v el o m
.
a s not the e ffect of any myst erious and uncause d
nt o f moral sentiment b t a be inning

de
of ’
'
,
p e u
g ,
religious scepticism .
Moral prog ress has in every case consisted not in a

development of feeling but m a dev elopment of/ thought
w
,
the rational evolution has preceded and brought about

the ethical evolution O f course hen once injustice
.
has been rendered obsole te b y the pressure of rational

revolt in a particular case a precedent a principle is
w w
, ,
created a sentiment becomes established just as in the

, ,
case o f the physical po er of oppression hich becomes

converted into r ig h loyalty a all the othe r
’
t -
, ,
principles of O ppressor morality here successful
w
.
resistance has continuously asserted itself against in

justice the principle of justice becomes itself a a r
,
cry the moral sentiment becomes naturally extended

,
.
But nothing is more conspicuous than the fe e fb le ne s s the ,
impotence of abstract moral sentiment as such U nless .
there be a real material interest di s guised under it o r ,
it be the expression of a clear rational process mere
w w
,
moral principle has s carcely achieved anything at all

in the betterment o f the o rld A ll history be ars i tness
w w
.
w w
to the tragic futility o f pure abstract moral p r inciple .
The morality hich confronts evil ithout allie s merely ,
in the name of morality ha s al ays b een a ved aside ,
as irre levant impracticable quixo tic inexped ient it has
w
, , ,
never succe e d ed in entering the sphere o f practical ‘
w
pol itics The prote s t against negro slave ry hich arose
w
’
-
.
in England here f re edom had b een on under religiou s

,
S E N T I ME N T A ND RE A S O N 3 01
ba nners a s w
ww w
for a lon g time a hopeless cause ; the
,
enthusiasts ho espoused it ere near losing heart .
N egro slavery a s abolished as an inevi table logical

consequence of the rationali stic thought of the F rench
’
e ighteenth cent ury philosophers and W ilberforce ,
lamented bitterly in the H ouse of C ommons that it

had been left to
w
atheistical and anarchic F rance
to accomplish that fo r hich he had s o long striven
in vain Duelling did not die ou t in England on mor a l
ww
.
grounds but because it came to be thought foolish and

,
absurd And it is very manifest that a r ill ulti

ma tely b e abo lished no t because it is an atrocio us crime
.
but because it is an intolerable nuisance .
If I do not discuss a province of morali ty hich by

a fantastic usage commonly monopoliz es in popular
w
language the connotation of the term namely sexual , ,
morality it is not only because the theme is too far
w
,
and deep reachin g in its manifold bearings to be

-
adequately dealt i th here but because no evolution

,
is as yet to be traced in regard to it for the simp le

reason that from time immemorial to the present day
ce p t ion o f w
sexual morality has been entirely dominated by the con
oman as a prop rietary article a nd the
w w
,
breeder of heirs to prope rty and caste The infli ction .
of countless rongs upon ome n the shifting upon them
w
,
of every bu r den of factitious disaster arising from

p assion as
, ell a s its unn atural sti mulation by the
entire a ppara tus of prudery modesty restrictions
‘ ’
w
, , ,
clothes are all alike p roduct s of the institution of

,
despotic prop rietary possession hich in turn is t he
neighbour s i fe ’
-
a s ww w
foundation stone of our social order To covet thy
as i cked as to covet his ox
.
w
,
or his ass or anythi ng that is his nay more s o for

'
, , ,
is not every oma n the possible mother of an heir to

property ? H ence must her body be regarded as sinful ,
tabu a n d be carefully veiled a nd hidden The root
w
.
, ,
injustice never having altered there is lit tle to choose

m
,
b et een the sexual orality of one pe r iod and that of

another O rgies of purity have naturally alte rnated
.
w
3 02
it h orgies o f enhanced licentio usness but no process

o f rational evolution ca n be exhibited B ut no that
,
w
w
.
the momentous question is happily coming to be debated
w
in all its aspects and that oman like man is claiming
,
po er of protest and resistance this much at least must

O e of se tting right the m
w
,
—
a ppear clea n that a l l h ount a i n
p
mass o f evil su ffering and injustice fo r. hich it stands
, ,
lies solely in the resolute facing o f facts a s they a re ;

in the ruthless disre gard of tradition and convention
prejudice shams and spurious values no matter ho w
w
,
w
, ,
rnmemo ri a l ly consecrated, a nd in resistance t o the ers

t
’
-
p o
fo unded upon such The l a of moral progress is the

same here as else here the abolition of injusti ce
—
.
through the de st ruct ion of lies by rational thought

w .
M O RA L I TY L I Z AT I O N
w
AN D C I V I
The t o things inte lle ct u a l development and moral

s
w
,
development far from being as is commonly pretended
w w
, , ,
t o tota lly distinct and unrelated aspects of human

gro th follo ing each its separate course irrespectively
w
,
of the other are on the contrary found e ve r y here

,
and al ays indiss olubly associated B arbarism does no t

w
w
.
only mean a rude material li fe a primitive fashion o f ,
cl o t he s f and d ellings rough tools ignorance illi teracy

‘
, , , ,
superstition it means also inhumanity cruelty and in
w
, ,
justice . C ulture and do not represent ar ts ,
material comfo rts kno ledge and intellectual i nte nt

,
and achievements only but a greater me a s u r e of equ ity , ‘ ,
humanity and justice in the life and relations of men .
The moral development of a people in all ages bears

a h e x act p roportion to ( its degree of intellectual com
w
3 04 TH E OF H
be aut y of his body hich insp ired Praxiteles and

Po lycle i to s The ethica l: thought of Greece like all
.
‘
w
.
,
else that s he has put forth ha s fe d a ll that came after

‘ ' '
w w
,
her A s in art a nd5 in literature so here also the

w
.
,
foundations and p rinciples hich s he laid do n have

be en the standard s hich have shaped the orld s ’
thought N ay to a far greater extent than in either

w w
.
,
art or literature the results o f Greek thought upon the

,
question o f right conduct o f just life hich s he a s
w w
, ,
the first to make the objec t of discussion have rema ined

the high ater ma r k of hat man has been able to
w
,
'
w
-
think upon that su b j ect u p to the coming of qui te ne .
conditions of kn o led ge have indeed been in advance ,
of his capa city for many su b s equent ages .
Ye t s o long? has our Europe an thought been under a n
w w
influence committed to the depr eciation o f that aspe ct
‘
w
of the legacy o f G reece i th a vie to the extolment
an d glorification of hat pa sse s for the Semitic ideal
,
w w w
,
that the ethical a chievement of H eflla s ha s been pr evented

’
from to e ring on ou r horizon ith the same t r a nsce n
w
dence as the other fruits of her creative po e r Even
a Matthe A rnold and a Seeley could under th e heavy
incubus of that influence p lay upon the l e i t moti v of
,
-
.
w
,
the superiority of H ebraic over H ellenic ethical inspira

tion We shall prese ntly have occa sion to note ho
.
radically false is that traditional estimate .
Ethical thought manifestin g itself in p rinciple and
w
,
recept i I have said no t the true measure f ’
w
p s a s o
ww
,
moral development B u t the case is some hat di fferent

,
hen e have to do no t ith the unctuous profession
w w
,
o f fine sentiments consecrat e d b y secular standards but

'
w
,
i th principles propounded fo r the first time hich are ,
w
accordi ngly the living expr ession o f real gro t h That ’
w
.
H e llenic ethical thought like her p hilosophi c and s cie n

,
ti fic thought a s not decisive a s an inevita b le con s e
w w
, ,
q u e nce of the lack o f s cientific data and o f the conditions

of the ancient orld O nly the modern age ith its
'
.
,
systemati z ed expe rience and its adequate p erception of

universal p rocesses a nd relations is in a po sition to
w w
,
a p p roach the root of those prob l ems Witho ut anthropo

“
.
logical data i thout the conc e ption of evolu tion i thout

,
t
,
M O RA LS A N D CI VI LI ZATI O N
w w
3 05
co ordi nated natural kno le d ge it o uld b e as futile

-
,
to expe ct to find the Greek thinker seizing upon the

essent ia l meanin g a nd relations of ethics as to expect
w
,
Pytha goras o r Archimedes to discover catho dic rays
w w
.
B u t a p art from extensions and reconsiderations hich

,
w
are only j ust no be ginning to be po ssi b le it a s
Greek thought hi ch cr e ate d all those ideals hich have w ,
a n d it w
up to the p resent constitut e d the moral sense of Europe ;
ent indeed far b eyond even the pr ofes sed and
theoretical expr ession o f European morali ty fo r many
w
centuries We are apt to fail i n app reciating the e v o lu “
w
.
ti o n of hat is to us trite a nd common p lace and to ‘
w
,
realize hat an achievement lay in its b i rth into the

orld
ww
G reece no t only enounced the paramountcy o f
.
moral ri ght o ve r all huma n goods hatsoever b u t in

a orld hich implicitly ackn o ledg ed the [ e x ta li onis ww ,
w w
,
a n eye for an eye a n d a tooth fo r a too th a ffirmed
w w
, ,
“
that it i s rong t o requite injustice ith injustice ,
to inflict evi l upo n any ma n

‘ hatever e may have ,
suffered at his hand The dying Peri kles rejoiced

.
above all his claims to honour that no Athenian ha d

”
ever mourned on his acco u nt and the dying Socrates
t hat he felt no anger against those ho ha d voted fo r
,
w ’
his death .
w
An d consider fo r ex a mp le the attitude o f
Gree k thought to ards the not ion of pun ishment that
since all evil pr oce e ds from ignorance and folly it
, ,
calls like a di sea se for the heal in g hand o f the moral '
ww
.
, ,
phys ician a nd no t for senseless retrib ution ; t o punish

is in the Greek spee ch to make just
w S a t ofiv
‘ ‘
to ,
make tempe rate a

¢p o v f§e t u I t has taken t enty
ce n t u ries fo r C hristian Europe to catch u p to that plane
of judgment And those conce p tions founded them
w
.
selves upo n faith in the natural excellence o f man fo r ,
no man is naturally icked and sought no external
w
,
sanction but only t he honour o f that ma nhood self

reverence self kno ledge se lf control
,
-
,
-
.
Like all her produc ts the et hical thought of G re e ce

'
w
,
suffered from over abstraction from a t o o d etached

-
,
intellectualism It a s first a nd foremost as thought
w
.
pure and s irnp le rathe r t han as thought struck o u t

,
from t he sha rp contact ith expe rience and life that ,
20
MA K I N G UM AN I TY
w
THE OF H
w
3 06
it t ook shap e I t a s only later in the or ld co n tact s
ww
-
.
,
of the concrete Roman mind that it attained the full ,
glo and fertility of its ripeness Yet origi nally as
w
.
, ,
the C r e e k a s the intelle ctual supe rior of the Roman
w
,
so a s he his ethical supe rior also The hard nes s o f .
R ome her coarse tastes her gladiatorial sho s ; never

, ,
could acclimatize themselves on H ellenic soil I ntell e ct
w
.
told inevitably on the moral nature of the Greek even ,

.
though it a s essentially an a b stract fruit o f thou ght

rather than of life that hi s ethical s p irit d eve lope d
w
.
The moral philosop her the representative Greek a

‘
, ,
Socrates a Peri kles a Euripides ith all their thought

, , ,
detachment d o not present themselves to us as pi ous
w w
,
black guards like a D avid or a S olomon

'
Wi t h the .
e fl u lge n t g r o th of the G reek min d there ent a quiet
w
, ,
great and real moral redemption the D raconian code

a s but a softened redaction o f the usage
of the primitive Greek tribes and to full gro n

Greece it became a proverbial b y ord of ferocious
the morality
,
'
-
w
,
-
w
brutality
w
,
I t is under the influ ence of Gre ece tha t both

inte llectual c u lture a nd humanitarian spirit g r e on Latin
w
soil The one accomp anied the other from the day
'
. .
hen C arneades in the interval of a diploma tic mission
w
, ,
lectured on justice and initiated the Gre ek conques t

‘
w
,
of Rome The a b original vir tus o f Rome hose
w
.
,
energy a s abs orbe d in struggle domination and organ , ,

~
iza tion valour and patrioti sm filial a n d civic
w
a s , ,
disci p line and issued forth i n a cer tain gra nd puncti lio
,
ww
o f honour in he r dealings ith foes and conquere d
w
pe op le as fo r instance in the rule never to attack
'
.
, , ,
ithout p revious declaration of a r in the strict and ,
at times h e roic kee p in g of faith I t a s as H ellenic

‘
.
influence became more and more compl ete as all the ,
w
mental culture a nd inspiration o f Ro me became G re e k
ww
,
ceas e d to b e antagoni z ed by the native s ternn ess of

the fight e r and a s felicitously combined i th he r native
'
.
,
orderly g enius fo n organi z ation government la her , , ,
natural seriousne ss a nd S toicism and her lon g habi t
w
,
of ba lancing conflicting claims that t he great and ,
g lorious gro th of Roman morality humanitar i an ,

MA K I N G
w
3 08 TH E OF H UMAN I TY
w
'
of knightl y demeanour and dignity hich t entieth

century England might
r u ffia nl y C r usaders
i t h profit perpend
ere shame d by the grandeur of w w
The .
,
w
.
conduct and generosity of S aladin and his chivalry ‘

l
w
.
,
The ideal of knightly virtue a s adopted the tradition of
ww
,
nob l e s s e o b l ige a s esta b lished Poetry and romances .
deeply tinge d i th A rabian ideas formed the only

.
'
secular litera ture

popular imagination ; and a ne
hich circulated and appealed to
w
conception o f the w
place and dign it y o f oma n passed into Europe th rough
the courts of Pr e ve nce fro m the Moorish o rld here
sh shared the intel lect ual i ntere sts a nd pleasures
ww .
w
e
o f man .
There neve r. a s an age of chivalry

.
Li ke the '
.
’
g olden age i t has only existed as a mirage di mly

located in the va gue distances o f an imag i nary pa st
ww
’
. .
Poetic imagi nation has associat e d it i th the bru tal

”
and barbaric times of C harle magne o r ith the , ,
legendary figu res o f a K in g A rthur or a Parsif a l But

'
w
. .
,
the ideal o f kni ghtliness o f courtes y and honou n ,
a s throughout the iniquities and abominations o f

1
ins ta
Of
n ce
t h
s
a
h ll
t
a
c on t r a s t ,
su ffi I ce .
w
h h
v
ic
gi e
migh t
i t in t he
be
ww so mp l y illu s t r a t e d one
a
or d s o f P r o fes s or Pa l me r
,
f om B e sa nt:
r a nd P l m
’
j le m : It g e d t h a t t he
wvh
a er s e r u sa a s a r e
li v es a nd p r op e r t
y of t he de fe nd e r s of A h l cr e s ou d b e sp a re d
on cond i t i on o f t h e irp y g i n t a o un dr e d t h o u sa n d d i na rs , l
r e e a s in g
fiv e h u nd r e d t i a nd gi ing os s e s s i on of t he T
w
ca p v e s ru e
,
up p
C r os s . T he fir s t i n s t a l m e nt o f a h u nd r e d t h ou sa n d d i na r s
gi v e n b ut Sa l a d in re u sedf to p t h r e s t , or to h a n d ov e r
w w
a s u
p , a y e
t he ca p t i v u nt i l he ha d r ece i ve d me nt e e h tt t he
m y ww
es so gu a r a a
C h r is t i a ns l d p er f m th e ir a r t of t he con t ra ct , a nd ll t he
w
ou or a o
p
p r i s on e r s o f A t f T he i gh d ou t
wM
cr e o
g o re e . on e a s e e
a n d p a ce d b el fo Sa l a d in t he t i v d y t o b e gi
wv
re s en u p
,
ca p v e e re rea ,
a nd t he T ru e C r os s a s a l so d i s p a ye d l . Ri ha c r d (C oe u r d e L i on)
a s e nca mp e d clos e b y t he er j
’
A ytt n ,
'
a nd ha d ca u s e d t he Ac re
ca p ti es to b e ra n ed
g hi m on t he n e ighb ou r in g hills id e
b e in d h .
S u d d e nl y , a t a s igna l f rom t he K ing t he Ch ris t i a n sol d ie r s t u rne d ,
u p on t he un h a ppy a nd h lp l pet i v e s s ca e s , a nd ma s s a cr ed t h e m a ll in
cold b l d oo . E ven a suc h m m nt a
d i n d id n ot or ge t
t a o e s h
t is Sa l a f
hi h m n
s u a e d is p os i t ion a n d h i s p r i nce y c a r a ct e r T he p r ou d l h .
S l din d i d
a a s a in e d t o s u
y h i s o n o u r b y a i n g ll
r e p ri s a s u p on t he h mk l
m
e d p r i son e r s a t his s i d e ; he s imp y r e u s e d t o gi v e u p t he l f
w
u na r
m on ey or t he cr o s s , a n d s e n t t h
a s t he P a ynim
e p ri s one r s t o D a
,
a nd w
a s cu s
h h
W ich
ic t he C h r i s t ia n , t h en
m . h
C O RR U PT I O N 3 09
feudal and tyrann i c Europe the o ne source of

substantial concrete mora l qualities
,
That g r a n .
bb nt d d e ca va l i e r i a nti c/t i force d b y t h sheer moral

'
’
e
supe riority o f the Moors upo n the b r igand no b i lity o f

’
'
w
,
w
Europe b e came the so le redeeming ethi cal grace of
C hrist endo m a nd the tra di tion has bee n handed do n
,
to o u r o n day in the notion s o dear to the Engl ish ‘
w
'
mind o f a ge ntlema n Thus shoc ki n g as the paradox

.
’
may b e to o u r t ra ditional not ions it ould p robably ,
b e only strict t ru th to s a y that Mu ha mrrija d a n culture has

‘
co n tri b ute d at least a s largel y to t he act ual practica l

"
, ,
concrete mora lity o f Europe as man y a more sublimated

ethical doctrine
w
.
.
That
“
w refini ng humanizing influence ,
’
hich men
have al ays ascribe d to culture is no t a mystic obscure
‘
and vague e ffec t o f elegant taste and ae s the ti c effemi nacy

, ,
w
I
,
b u t the d irect and inevitable resul t of inte lli ge nce

'
kno le d ge and ra tionality o f thought upon the tounda

, ,
tio ns of a ll: ethical estimates Where p e opl e are .

.
ww
ignorant uncritical a n d irrational they are unjust cruel
, ,
’
, , ,
ready to pe r petrat e and to tolerate abus e s o f u n

scrupulous a nd u nche cke d po er Those abuses those
‘
‘
,
.
injustices tho se c ruelties be come hen their minds are

’ ‘
w
, ,
en lightened as i nto le r a b fle and impo ssible to acce pt as

,
the p uerile conce p tions a nd crude orld theories of the -
ba rbarian a nd the savage

‘ .
CO RR U PT I ON
But some phase s of highly develope d culture it is ,
ob jected have been profoundly immoral

,
D eca d ent .
Rome and the I talian Re naissance are consecrated

T H E MA K I N G HUMAN I TY
w
3 10
‘
OF
instances
w
hich fl ash be fore the mind Those
ww .
w
phenomena hen analysed illustrate the la
,
hich ,
ww w
they a p pe ar to infringe The immorality the violence
w w
.
, ,
the unscr upulousness hi ch are adverted to in such

,
epo chs , e r e the e ff ect o f great po er a nd ealth in

ruling classe s hich hile commandi ng the fruits o f
w w w
, ,
culture a nd pr essing them into the servic e o f their

self indulgence and luxury ere no i se associated ith
-
its creative impulse or ith any form of its pro gressiveww ,
w
.
ww w
ac tivity That corrupt ion a s the e ffect of po er no t
of intellectual gro th That hi ch o ffen d s us in thos e
,
w
.
pe rio ds is to be met ith not amon g the Sen e cas o r

Leonardos but in; the surfeited master classes hich
w
,
had reached the limit of p o We r to indulge their passions

and a p pe tites in I mperial and in Papal H ome
the product not of gr o mg culture but of t he cul
mination of personal po e n in the Empire and in the
It a s
w
w ,
.
Papacy .
w
. T he phenomenon of cultured depravity is a character
is tic o f peri ods of transition C ulture intellec tu al
w
.
,
development greatly increas e the means of po er o f
w
, ,
gratification and self indulgence in po e n holders They
w
- -
.
w
supply them ith e x tended m eans of pleasure luxury
w
'
w
,
a nd dis p lay H ence that result takes p lace henever
w
.
a class po ssessing gr eat po er a nd e al th coexists ith ‘
w w
a cond ition o f high cult ure hich it did not p rod uce a ‘
'
situation hich as e have seen is invariably one
w
‘
, ,
o f unstable equilibrium That culture may be as .

,
ith Rome the legacy o f a former period of intel
w
,
lectual activity or as in the Renaissance the firs t fru it
w
, , ,
o f ne circumstances leading to a n influx of culture .
I t is never associated ith ac tual intellec tual activity
w
in the morally corrupt class
Some hat the same situation has recurre d in various
.
wpe riods in F rance before the Revolution for instance

,
hen modern culture a s bursti ng through her se ed w ,
w
,
ww
coverings but feudalism though doomed
, a s still in , ,
full vigour Even to day some thing of the same

.
-
phenomenon may b e seen i n the unintellectual ealthy '
c lasses ( affording an oppor tunity for preachers to d ell

on the ma te rialism of the age T o a larg e extent
1
3 12 TH E MA K I N G OF H UM A N I TY
simplicity o f life o f the ol d pe asant commun ity
Among the exam p le s hich they think most scan
says F errero are many hich t o us appear
w w ‘
.
ww
d a l ou s , ,
.
innocent enough ; as for instance the impo rtation fro m , ,
Pontus o f certain s a usage s a n d salt fis h hich ere it
w
,
seems excellent to eat t he intro d uctio n from Greece
ww
, ,
into I taly o f the a r t of battenin g fo l Even the dr ink . .
ing of Greek ines a s d uring many centuries considered
w
occasions w
a luxury to b e indul ged in onl y o n the most solemn
w
I n 1 8 B C A u g ustus g o t a sump tuary la
w
. . .
p assed hich ma d e it ille gal to sp e nd more than t o .
hundred s e s te r cia ( abo ut t o po unds ) on a banquet on

ordina r y days three hundred s e s te r cia ( three po unds )
w w w
,
o n C a le nd and I d e d ays and o ne thousand ( ten po unds ) ,
fo r edding dinners Even allo ing fo r the di fference
w w
. :
in the value o f money the masters of the orld feasted
w
,
at a cost hich e shoul d consider a b surdly mode r ate ‘

.
Silk a s looke d upon askance even in the

most opulent periods of the empi re as a luxury o f ,
w
questiona b le taste because it s ho We d o ff too p rominen tly
w
I
the li nes of the body L o llia Paulina s name ha s been

w
’
.
handed do n because s he o ned s o many j e els that

their value amounte d to some four thousand po unds .
There are s o many L ol lia Paulinas to day tha t none -
can buy immortality at s o small a cost The boon .
companions o f N ero and E liog a b a lu s Would be da z zled
w
'
if they cou ld come b ack to life in any of the large

ho tels of Paris London o r N e , Yo rk They had ,
seen more beautifu l thin gs but never such reckless

“ ‘
w w w
,
luxury Rome even at the height o f her s p lendour
w w
.
,
w
poor compare d i th ou r cities There ere far
w
a s
w ww
.
fe er theatres a nd amusements Man y vic es hich are
w w
.
idely di ffused t o day ere unkno n to the ancients

-
they kne fe i nes they had no alcohol no tea no
w w
, , ,
co ffee no to b acco
, They ere ever; Spartans com
.
pared to us even hen they thought t he y e re indulging
w
,
themselves T he R o ma ns cons i der e d it quite a n ordi nary
w w
. .
p recauti on to kee p a atch on th e. i n d ividual citizen

ithin the alls of his hom e to see that he did no t
w
,
get d runk o r eat t oo much o r in cur d e bt s o r spend

, , ,
to o much o r covet his n e igh ib o u r s ife I n th age ’ ’
,
e .
C O RR U PT I O N 3 13
w
of Au gu stus exile and confiscation of a third o f their
w
pr ope rty a s the pe nalty impo sed on Roman citizens
me n or omen for adultery and any one a s free to
, , w w ,
b ring a charge against the de l inquents The la
w
.
remained in force fo r centuries .
I dle i gn oran t rich and insane autocrats ere in
w
, ,
a state o f moral di ssolution in I mpe rial Rome a s they

have been every here and in all age s ; but though
w
.
the annals o f every count ry can furnish N eros and

D omi tia ns in a b undance ho many ca n pa rallel the ’
w
‘
figu res of suc h rulers as Trajan or Marcus A urelius ?
w
.
As e have already had occasion to note Roman civiliza ,
tion hi ch b y a strange and pa thetic irony ha s been
w
'
b randed in the popu lar ima g ination a s the example o f

moral corru p tion a s on the contrary fo r nothing more
,
notable than a s the period of mos t active ethical
w
enthusiasm and moral development in the history of the
orld and the outstanding legacy o f Roman genius to
,
humanity has been one o f moral asp iration and

re demptio n .
I
Renaissan ce to sho that it ha d in it more of corrupt ion
than of re a l; culture
w
have said enough about the cha racter of the I tali an
‘
I n its social aspe ct it mark ed

.
the po uncing o f be asts of prey u p on the materia l a nd
w
intellectual heritage o f the race and if it co incided
also i th development s of the first mome nt for human
,
evolution it is be cause there Wa s also in itiat e d th e n the

,
w w
fiercest round of: the struggle in hich mank ind has
striven to rest that heritage from her despo ilers It
w '
.
need therefo re no ise surprise us that that pe riod ‘
w
, ,
should be for utter moral corrup tion unscrupulousness , ,
a n d b rutal selfishness ithout a paral lel in human an nals ,
a n d that the patrons o f that false vain a n d in sincere , ,
culture shou ld have been a Leo X an Al exan d er VI

, , , ,
a C a esar Borgia a Lodovico Sforza a Loren z o the , ,
Ma gni ficent protector of the arts author of elegant

, ,
and vile C a nti C a r na s cia fe s chi sacker of Volterra

’
, ,
w ww
d espo iler of orphans murderer traitor and tyrant , , ,
.
l
ILor en o ha s I a m a a r e b e n d ly hi t e a s h ed b y s u ndr y
z , ,
e u
r ecen t a u t h ors ; th e i r i d e nc s a r e nconv in ing

ev e u c .
w
3 14 TH E OF H
O ne character b y; hich perha p s the I talian

w
'
Ren a i ssance exercises most fascination , b y co ntrast ith

the tinsel a r ti ficia l ity o f its intellectual fruits , is the
‘
very boldness a nd naturalness o f its depravity its
w
,
unashamed individualistic animality its undisguise d
ww
,
rascality disdainful of reticence and hypocrisies hich

,
s o congenially b lend ed ith the more sensuous aspec ts
w
o f the p agan s p irit
w
And. e find a ce rtain charm in
ww
the s ash buckl e r b l a ckgtu a r d is m o f a Cellini and in
- '
the orld of gilded r u ffia nis m hic h he so ingenuously

,
reflected .That aspec t at least a s u nmincin g ly

sincere .
MA K I N G OF HU MA N I TY
w
3 16 TH E
God d efender o fl the fai th ould have b ee n a pillar ,
of the E sta b lishment and a z e a l ous sup po rter o f religi ous .
education but he Would no t have hammered nails in
w
,
John F i a n s finge r ti p s The mor e s the p u b lic opinion

’
w
-
.
,
of Plantagenet England ere pe r fectly accustomed to
w
orse N orman atroci ties t han K ing Richard s a N o rma n ’
w
ki ng o r b aron ho di d no t devise some egr eg ious cruelt y
or treachery o uld have been an obj e c t o f amazement ;
and K ing Philip Augustus of F ran ce a s nothing loath w
,
to retaliate by treati ng fifte en English knights in

the same manner as Richard ha d treated the F rench
ww
.
ww
Public opinion in En gland in the sixteenth century quite
"
appr ove d o f torturing persons suspected of itchcraf t .
Yet hil e e are thus accustomed to s e t do n the

atrocities and revolt ing moral judgments o f men in the
past to the barbarism and i gnorance o f the current
op inions o f their day
rofess the do ma that

e at the same time continue to
moral g o d and
,
mor l
w
evil are
w
p g o a
intimate pe rsonal attributes o f individual character and ’
ww
,
to regard opinions and intellectual judgments as holly

outside the spher e of moral values The t o vie s .
stand of cour s e in as flat contradiction to one another
w
, ,
as is possi b le They are the r e d a ctiot a d a b s u r d u m o f
w
‘ ‘ ‘
.
the p rinci p les hic h govern ou r moral judgments If
ww
.
in o ne a g e the g rossest iniquities ere committed by

men ho o u ld certainly no t have pe r pe trated them
w
had they li ved in another a ge the attri b ute o f moral ,
‘
badness belongs no t at a ll to their personal characte r ,
but to thei r opinions I f Si r Thomas B ro n e IW hO

:
w
.
,
picturesquely s e t his face against ambulatory morality ‘ ’
w
,
and S ir Matthe H ale no less fluent in ethical theorizing

, ,
cou ld a s sist in convictin g o ld Women of i tchcr aft iff
w ww
,
Shakespeare could callously countenance the p illoryin g
w
of the memory of Joan o f A rc
w
it a s no t Sir Thoma s
B ro ne Sir Matthe H ale a nd Shakespeare ho ere
,
w w w
, ,
morally pe rverse b u t the irra tional current opinions
w hich they accepte d I t a s no t bad m

,
ho burned
ww
. en
omen alive but the Christia nity o f the sixteenth century

,
.
Y ou cannot have it both ays Either the conscientious
ww
.
intention is b a d or the opinion hich justifies it either

Sir Thomas B ro ne a s immoral or the verse of E xodus
OPI N I O N O N O PI N I ON S 317
w
and the ignorance hich ac ce p ted its autho r it y ; eit her
evil doe rs are morally reprehensi b le and no generally
-
,
accepted opinion can b e morally cond emned or the stigma
w
,
o f moral good ness and badness atta ches to t hose

O pinions and no t to th e men ho act upon t hem .
O ur current e t hics are here reduced to impotent

ti tubation
w
.
O n the one h and ou r ethical theories justify a s blame

less all conduct hi ch proceeds from good intentio ns a
w
,
good conscience steadfast principles O ur traditional
w w
,
.
,
moral estimates a re qonce rne d ith judging actions ‘
i t h reference to pu nishment or re ard A b a d action .
in terms of those notio ns means a p u ni s ha bi e a ction And
w
.
,
th e chi ef the o nly relevant considerations in an assessment

,
—
of p uni shment o r re ard o r their equivalent blame o r ,
—
pr ai se a re the motives o f the individual his conscience , ,
hi s responsi b ility h is intentio ns
w
.
,
The current doctrine on the other hand is that opinions

, ,
are ethically irrelevant that hatever their nature pro
w
,
vi d e d o nly they be sincere they are entitled to respect
w
,
that they are private personal concerns for hich the

holder is not ans era b le to any ma n that pe rtaini ng ,
as the y d o to the domai n of the inte llect they lie

'
en tirely outside that of morality ; and that no stigma

of moral reprob atio n ca n attach t o any O pinion as such ,
is held in good fai th .
CU RR E NT O P I NI O N O N O PI N I ON S
At
w w
time hen rationall y irrespo nsible dogma and
o ne ,
authori ty ere claimed to b e the foundations of belie f the ,

TH E MA K I N G OF H U MAN I TY
w
318
w
directly opposite doctrine a s held The grossest evils
ww .
ww
w
from hi ch the Europe an orld has suffered have b een ,
the results of attempts to put do n op inions hich ere

regarded as icked a nd im moral The enormities of
dogmatic intolerance pr oduced a revolt to hich it a s
found expedient to yield The reverse doctrine thus
.
w w
w
. .
—
received tacit assent that a ll O p inions are equ a ll y
w w
entitled to respect and consideration I n other o rds
hen i t a s fo u nd no longer po ssi b le to enforce the
.
,
w
standard o f arbitrary a uthori ty superior to reason the
assumption a s encouraged t hat no definite standard
of right o p inion exists It a s thus possible to elude
. w
,
the necessity of recognizing the real standard of valid

—
O pinion ratio nal thought a nd intellectual honest y The .
,
tyrannical medi ae val doctrine of intolera nce and the
w
modern illogical doctrine of tolerance are at one in
refusi ng to ackn o ledge rational thought as the sole va lid
,
w
sanction of op inion I rrational authority having lost
.
the po er of e ffectually exerci sing intolerance claimed

the benefits of tolerance findi ng it impo s sible to main
,
tain the absolu te su p rem a cy a nd universal recognition
w
,
o f irrational sanctions it secured the best terms of s u r

,
render by obtaining for them equality of status i th

,
‘
ratio nal sa nctions But it did more than secure the

.
acceptance o f the outrageous doctri ne that irrational

opinions have exactl y the s ame moral status as
rational opinions . S ince t he supporters of irrational
authority had treated the O p inions of their opponents
,
as morally reprehensi b le it came to be professed that
w
,
no opinions are mora lly reprehensi b le thus the alter

native infe rence a s el uded that irr ational opinions are
w
,
themselves morally reprehensi b le .
Thus it is that the modern attitude t o ards opinions

has ari sen Rational and irrational O pinions b e ing exactly
.
on the same footing no standard o f vali d o p inion

,
no ,
standard o f intellectual ethics no stan d a r d o f right ,
judgment is recognized O pinions are sacred a n d

.
inviolable individual rights Their sa nctity is as jea lously

.
protected as that o f property The grossest i r r a t ion .
a lity is secure in that protect ion Every folly a nd patent .
i diocy can claim the same respe ct as the most stri ngent
‘
THE WI CK E D N E SS OF THE G OO D
But as a matter of fact the g ood a nd the bad i n

, ,
hu man history have no t at all proceeded from the
w
goodness o r bad ness o f men but f r om t heir
w
‘ ‘ ’
w
, .
vie s and opinions The men ho have inflicted
w w
.
the orst calamities upon the human race op p os ed ,
it s elfare by e ve ny means in their po er obstru ct ed
w w
,
its advance betrayed its destinies drenched the

, ,
‘
orld in blood oppre ssed it
,
ith injustice the ,
foes o f hu manity have not been men o f b a d
w
,
intentions bad men ; t hey have been purely and

— .
simply men ho have held Wrong that is irratio nal , ,
opinions F ar from desiring to inflict injury they have
w
.
,
for the mo st part b e en actuat e d b y a sincere and d is
w
interested sense of duty to ards mankind Torquemada
ho died in the conv iction that he had given his b est
,
—
'
inde ed hi s all t o the service o f G o d a s a good ,

.
w ‘
,
man he loved hu manity he Wa s anima ted no t by , ,
any personal and selfish motives but b y a perfer vid
ww
,
sense o f duty : he roasted a li v e ten thousand men and

'
omen ith the sincere purpo se of benefiting them a nd

—
the human ra ce a nd quite consistently C alvin ho w
ww
.
,
mur dere d Servetus under circumstances of aggravated

treache r y and atrocity a nd John K nox ho demanded
ww w
, ,
the slaught e r o f every C atholi c in S cotland ere men
w
,
hose hole lives ere dedi cated to a pa ramount ethical

ideal C harles V ho decre e d that every heretic should
.
, .
b e be headed burn e d o r burie d alive and

, , ho put fro m
fifty to a hundred thousand pe ople t o de a th in H olland
,
w
w
alone had as his supreme o b ject the maintenance b f
,
true reli gion and a s clement beyond ex a mple

,
Read the expressions of Roman C atholic opin ion in ’

.
”
instigation and in prai s e of the massacres of the
H uguenots the p a eans o f exultation over the glorious
,
'
and meritorious deed the p ious hope s t hat i t might
w
,
prove but the b eginning o f more extensive butcheries '
and mark the a akening of C hristian p rinces to a sense

W I C K E D N ESS OF TH E ‘
G OO D
’
3 21
the i r highest moral duty Those men spo ke like

‘
of .
p il lars of moral conviction their l a n gu age i s that of

,
consci ous rectitude and dignified sense of right O ne .
might be reading a leadin g a r ticle in The Ti me s W e
w w
.
call them b loody murderers infamo us monsters ; but ,
t hey ere in their o n sight pre eminently virt uous The
w
-
w
w
.
min d of Gregory X I I I cele b rating a Te D e a m over

th e St Bar tholome a s su ffused ith a s much right eous
w
.
pride and joy as t hat of T homas C larkson on hearing
w
o f the aboliti on o f the slave trade I t is dou b tful hethe r
-
.
e could even call the mcruel : o ne F ren ch bishop o n
being informed o f the plot nearly fainted from physical

horror but yi elded to a sense of moral duty
,
The upholders of feudali sm ere inspired by hat w .
w
w
a p peared to them the most no b le and sacred ideals Read
ww
their memoirs ; se e in hat light their hideous cause
appeared to them ith hat sense of playing the be a u .
.
l e they fought ag a i nst the li b eratio n of human ity from
w w w
ro
the mo s t outrage ous cruelty and injustice Their roma n t ic .
young omen ere fired i th heroic inspiration ready ,
t o shed the i r b lood t o bring back t h e rack and t he

Ba s till e the cor v ée misery famine a nd spoliation ready
, , , , ,
‘
to di e fo r the i n king ’
w
.
A ll the tyrants the oppressors the kin gs the p riests

w
, , , ,
the inquisitors the reactiona ries of all ages ho have
w
, ,
striven to check human gro th to mainta in the ugly ,
past t o crush mankind ho have upheld and pe rpetrated
ww
, ,
every infamy and abomi nation have had in their minds ,
the lofti est sentiments and on their lips the ords hich
w
,
—
they accounted most sacred truth re li gion morals , , ,
honour loyalty An d the thi ngs hich they fought tooth

,
.
and nail b ore in their l a nguage the ugliest names— error
w
,
b l a s p he my s e d it ion disloyalty treason infidelity anarchy

,
_
, , , , ,
atheism Those distorted terminologies ere no t mere
w
.
rhetorical pretences a n d controversial tags ; they as a
w w w
,
g eneral rule truly re p resented the po i nt of vi e o f those
w
,
ho used them Very fe men indeed have ever ith a ny
w
.
vigour es p oused and defended a bad cause kno ing it
w w
,
to be bad '
A ll the evi l hich the y have inflicted on

.
’
th e human race h a s been rought ith a clea r and a p p rov

ing con s cien ce The deepest a nd mos t atrocious cr ime s
.
21
3 22 THE MA K I N G OF H U MA N I T Y
w
in the N e gate C alenda r o f hi s tory are as s oci a ted ith w
w
good intentions and conscientious pu r poses
good men ho ha ve al ays been the true evil doers
the most pe rnicious and dangerous foe s of the race
It
w is
'
.
-
,
w ww w
,
and the blackest traitors to its highest and most vital

interests And the evil hi ch they have rought hen
. .
they have acted as the organs of rong o p ini ons has ,
been in e x act proportion to their goodness to their ‘

,
’
zeal sinceri ty and consci e ntiousness
w w
, .
The hell of human su ffering evil and oppression is
w
, ,
paved i th good intentions The men ho have most
w
.
injured and oppressed humani ty ho ha ve most deep ly
ww
,
si nned against it ere according to their s tandards
www
, ,
and their conscience good men hat a s b a d in them

, ,
hat rought moral evil and cruelty trea son to truth and ,
progress a s no t at a ll in their intent ions in their purp os e
w
, , ,
in their personal character but in their O pinions

“
,
.
The plain truth is that vi e s a nd opinions are the
w
only et hically s ignifi cant the only mora l a n d immora l
w
thi ngs I t is not hat men do kno ing and j u dging it
.
to be bad and ick e d but hat they do consideri ng

,
w
,
w
w w
,
it to be highly moral con scientiously believi ng it t o be

“
w w
,
good hich is ans erabl e fo r by far the larg e st measure
w
,
of the rongdoing ;a nd injustice in the orld The .
calamities hich have a fflicted the human race the crime s ,
of hi story do not arise from malignant intentions but

, ,
from excellent and erroneous intentions The true police «
ww w
.
function of morality should be not to re strain bad me n
w
,
a in good m
but to r e s tn en The i cked ma n of the
w
.
N icoma chea n ethics ho calmly d oe s rong ho

’
ww
t ,
habitually and systematical ly does hat he apprehends

to be rong is a ra re monster
,
‘
H e is eithe r .
a miserable eakling or a pathological pervert H e is .
excepti onal C onscious intentional and se lf condemned

.
,
-
iniquity i s as a drop in the oce a n of conscientious
w
,
approved iniquity
w w
.
A nd moral rong is conscientious and approved because

it rests upon rong o p inions I .
The moral reformer ho attacks a glaring injustice

and perversion of the moral se ns e invariab l y finds that
his real adve rsary is not at a ll a fals e sentiment or a
3 24 THE M
A K I NG OF H U MA N I TY
w ww
'
rong h ich e enj oy is the fruit o f some intellec tual

truth .The suppos e d line of demarcation bet een the
intellectual and the moral is a fiction I t is to intellect ual .
w
products that moral values are applicable
w
.
That is true of individual Opinions but it is even more
w w
,
momentously and tragically true of those opi nions ' hich

are idely prevalent
constitute public opinion

hich constit u te the establi shed
,
standards of a peo ple of a n e p och o r of a p arty hich

,
Morality mode s is custom ’

, ,
w
w
.
, , ,
in the sense that it is depe ndent upon the nature o f

ackno ledged and curre nt opinions I ndividual good
w
.
ness good int e ntion deliberate righteousness a goo d

’
w
, , ,
conscience simply mean conformi ty ith the constituted

,
opi nions and vie s of the age And the constituted .
opinions of various ages hav e coun tena nced and supported

every crime under the s u n I f those opinions b e bad
unjust irrational no d egree of conscientiousness of ell
, ,
meani ng and en thusiasm for vir tue can make an

.
,
w
,
w w
,
individual s conduct and attitude moral

’
.
There are at all times evil do e rs ho s tand condemn e d -
—
by the accepted standar ds of th e ir age ho far their
immorality is the e ffect o f the irra tional provision s and
arrangements of the a g e of its injustice is another
w
, ,
question But the ethical measure of evil resulting from
w
.
that immorality is as nothing by comp arison ith that

,
hich i s inherent in the accep ted a nd approved opinions

of the age .
w
w
I t is public moral ity p u blic opinion accepted vie s
, ,
and b eli efs approved standa rds of judgment and no t
w ww
, ,
at all indi vidual cha racter and malig nant intentio ns hich
are responsible for over helming the orld ith blood
and injustice Those are the real culprits those are
w
.
,
the criminals those are the actual malefactors

,
The .
immorality hich has a fflicted humanity is not a matter of

sentiments of b roken comman dments o f mor a l ins e ns i
w
, ,
b ili ty ; it resolves itself into intellectual ignorance into
w
,
irrationality hich renders possible the uncritical fou nd a

tions of rong I t is in that supposedly intellectual ?
w
.
field that the real mo ral reform takes pla ce ; progress
w w
in morality takes place through the overthro of some
vi e or theory hich in itself is regarded a s having
T H E U N P A RD ONA B LE SI N
w
3 25
nothing to d o ith moralit y We are no t under the
w
:
influence of a higher ethical code than ou r forefathers
w
,
e are not animated b y a more intense and loftier moral
pu rpose than Sir Thomas Bro ne o r Melanchthon o r , ,
John C alvin but the field of ra tional thought ha s enlarged

,
.
I f D ominicans no longer b urn h e retics judges no longe r
w
,
u se th question tyrants no longer exercise fa ntasti c

’
e ,
forms o f oppression i t is not because e have received

”
,
some su b li me moral enlightenment O ur moral ity has

improved b ecause ou r intellectual d eva opM
.
O U R T R I V I AL ES T I MAT E O F U NPAR D O NA B L E SIN
w
The anarchy of ou r ethi cs the s tu l tifica t ion o f our
,
moral judgments hich renders po ssi b le the glorification

,
of scoundrels b y historians o f F rederick I I fo r ex a mple
w
, , ,
b y C arlyle of H en r y V I I I b y F roude is most cruci a lly
w
, ,
expo sed hen the del inquent is s o m e rely through the

natural consequence of o p inions to hich even to this
day no defi ni te moral stigma is held to attach
w w Q
.
Take as an illus tratio n the case of ueen Marie
w
Antoinette She a s a oman of considera b le charm
.
and the eakne s s of her personal character t hat s he a s w ,
w w
,
appallingly i gnorant and frivolous that those entrusted ,
i th her education ere com p elled to give up the task
w
in despair that s he could never read any book except
w
,
the mo s t trashy novels h ich she took ith her to church w

w w
,
b ound as prayer b oo ks t o
-
h il e the t e d iu m o f the service ,
t hat she a s vain and ple a s ure lo ving ere no more

- ~ -
8 26 TH E MA K I N G OF H U MA N I TY
w
than the ordinary faults co mmon to most fashi onable
ome n of her day and ours I n a cour t notorious for
w
.
the looseness of its sexual moralit y her conduct st a nds
w
,
decidedly above the average and above hat might have
w
,
been expected of her Though scandal a s ever viru
w
-
.
le ntly busy ith her name the demonstrably s landerous
w w
,
nature of most of its allegations bears itness to the

slight jhold hich her conduct ga ve to defaming tongue s .
Lauzun and F ersen ere possibly her lovers but the fact
w
,
is by no means established I n the d ays o f trial s he
w
proved a devo ted ife and a good mother
.
There i s .
nothing in the eaknesses of her private life that can

detract from the tragic pity of her career from throne
w w
to scaffold or that can lessen the sympathy
,
su fferings hich s he bore i th dignity and fortitude

hich the w
w w
naturally excite
Q w w w
.
But if e judge the ueen b y the part hich s he played

—
in the events amid hich her lot a s c a st and on hat
w w
other ground is a ny historical judgment p ossi b le o r val id ?
— O ur vie must close ly coincide i th the fierc e s t inv e c
t iv e s o f t h
wF rench Republicans against fa p a nthér e ‘
e
a u tr i ch
ww
S he a s the soul and cen tre o f all the
’
ie nne .
forces arrayed against that Revolution hich a s the

greatest a nd (mos t fert ile impulse o f regeneration r e d e mp
w
,
tion and emancipation in the caree r o f the human race t he
ww
, ,
so urce of all that mankind ha s o n o f fre e dom and justice

in the last century She a s vo ed t o implacable hatred
.
and hostility against it and in order to O ppose and defe at

,
it every means appeared justified in her s ight She .
enc ouraged the K ing to break his pledges s he en gi ne ered ,
his dese rtion to the enemies of his country s he u nr e
w
,
mit tingly urged and inci te d those en e mies against the

w w
country hich s he represented and against the li b erties
hich her people had on s he supplied the foe ith w
w
every informa tion and assistance she poured all the gold
of F rance on hich s he could lay hands into the a r w
w w w
chests of Austria and Prussia F or one tithe of those
treasons any individual ould according t o a l l existing
codes be summarily shot I f the orkman ho made the
.
w w w
.
,
iron safe is to b e b eli e ved s he did no t stop at mu rder

'
ith he r o n hand Even that a s justified in her eyes

.
'
MA K I N G O F HUM AN I TY
w
3 28 TH E
the y are still ith us standing in the s a me relation as ,
of yore to the cause of human destinies
w
.
A nd the same is true of the moral issues at stake

in the present orld and O f men s attitude and conduct
'
,
’
in regard to them as of the most violent actions The
w
, .
dete rmi ning fa ctors of constituted immorality in the ag es

o f darkest tyranny a re t h e sa me hich operate to day -
in appa r ently b u t o nly a p p a r e ntly mor e inn ocu ous

— fi
forms W e have amongst us the same delusions of
w
.
gr oss immorali ty b e lieving itself conscientiously moral

as in the days of inquisitions and itch hunts
Murder and torture ho ever valida ted and sanctified w -
.
w
,
by exis ti ng opinion are unmistaka b ly recogn ized as ev il

,
hen those O pinions have lost their force But other .

«
evils may b e in fl icted on humanity be sides homic ide a nd

gross ins tant tyranny Lord Acton seeking a fi x ed
w
.
,
stan d ard of historical moral judgment made homicide
w ww
,
the criterion But if e loo k at hu man a ffairs fro m

.
the point of vie of the actual n a tural la s hich govern

them even human li fe is not the most impo rtant con
,
sideration Even the sacrifice of many human lives is

.
no t so great an evil as the se tting ba ck o f the cours e of

ev olution for centuri e s The ends of the great process .
manifested in the development O f humanity the fulfilment
w
,
o f i t s destinies the compassing O f justice are O bjects

, ,
even more sacred than hu man lif e I ndividuals are illing
w
.
t o sacrifice life fo r those things the race doe s not hesitate

'
w
to cast a ay lives in thousands in millions t o sac rifice a
w hole generation fo r the sake of those Objects H umanity

,
w
,
w w
.
,
hi ch has b een bl e eding t o death o uld think its b lood
ww
,
ell spe nt if the goal of its e fforts ere thereby b r ought

neare r if the orld ere ma de substantiall y better b y
w
, ,
the sacrifice .
Yet a ma n may stand in O pe n and avo e d
w
opposition to those issues more sacred tha n huma n life
,
itself ithout in the least degree forfeiting his mora l

character The o ne t r uly unpardona b le s in imp iety
ww
.
, ,
treason against t he one supreme Div ine F act and pur
w
po se e kno is a matter of respecta b le di fference of
,
ill but no t a matter of morality

,
,
opinion of pol itics o f cree d O f expediency o f hat you

, ,
.
,
w
TH E U N P A RD O N A BLE SI N
w
3 29
We d o not burn pe ople a live e have no Torque

,
madas or E zze lins among us t o day B u t in the cod e

-
ww
.
o f natural moral values the re are b lacker crimes than
homicide . T he benevolent O ld gentleman ith hom

you di ned last night is intent o n frustrating H uman
Evolution on circumventing and defeating the Purpose
,
o f the r a ce The villa ins i n the D ivine C omedy O f
w
.
humanity are su ch be nevolent O ld gentlemen .
The confl ict and struggle o f hi ch human good
w w
and human progress have been the outcome a nd
hich is daily b eing age d for the same O b jects is
,
w w
. ,
nor a b attle against men b u t aga inst O p inions It
w
.
,
is not r ecognized immorality hich needs to b e com
w ,
w
b ated b u t recognized moral ity .
w
N ot hat is kno n
as rong but hat pa s ses for right An d the fou nd a
w
.
,
tion o f that immorality and o f that ro ng is a structure ’
reared not b y reason b u t b y po er thought The task

)
.
,
O f the forces Of moral progress is an intellectual one

it d oes no t call so much fo r greater purity of purpos e
as for more critic a l intellectual rectitude .
"
MO RALS AND B EL I E F
MO RA LS A S CO MFO RT
w
E T H I CA L thought su ffered early from a radical confu s i on ‘
hich almost complet e ly s tu lt ifie d its ope r a tion ; and ‘
w
that confus ion s till O b tains I t became s tu l ti fie d and
sterilized hen its point of V ie became shifted from
humanity t o man from human relations in ge neral
,
.
w ,
their significance as a social q u estion t o the excl usive ,
consideration of personal a nd individual charact er .
W hen the Greek t hink ers in the first flush a nd b loom '
of their enthusiasm fo r rational thou g h t be gan to co n
w
sider the question of right conduct their first notion
w a s justice thei r first ideal the just ma n A fter ard s

w
,
w
w
.
, ,
hen in the Mediterranean orld Gree k rationali s m

became diluted adulterated and ultimately s amped
, ,
w
by the influences o f the O rient that ideal b ec a me
w
,
changed under the Stoics and E p i cu r e a ns into tha t

,
-
o f the is e man ise that 15 i n contriving to arm
ww
, , ,
and protect himself by mental fence s a gains t t he hard

ships and sufferings of life The t o actual religions .
of the cultivated Roman and H ellenic orld S toic i sm

and Epicurea nis m had a like fo r th e 1 r a 1 m not the
w
,
‘
w
‘ , ,
regulation O f the relations be t een man and man b u t ,
the formation of individual character in such a a y

that the individua l might h imself enjoy a compara tive '
d egr ee of immu ni ty from the e ff e cts o f the trials and

,
vi cissitudes O f life ; teaching him to make the be s t “
of things comfor ting him

,
na tu r a l ite r C hr i s tia na s
They produced a ni mu s
T he proces s
.
a s carried a step w
w
.
further and the ideal o f the current p hilo s o p hical

,
rel ig ions the i se man develope d in to th a t of the

, ,
THE M A K I NG OF H U MAN I T Y
w
332
r ong I n demanding immunity f rom the m

.
’
man ,
demands only a s he puts it his r i ght

, . That ri gh t
, .
,
although not founded o n the sanction o f any con tract
w
,
no c demonstrabl e b y any legal formula although if

r b itrary cl a i m r ega rd ed as a d or m
, ,
y o u f i ll quite,
an a — “
.
constitutes the fun d amental demand the root and es s ence
w
,
the significance o f morality I t is right as dis .

"
,
"
he elimina t ion o f r ong I S

morali ty Whatever lofty .
superstructure of ideal ethical emo tion b e r e ared ab ove

t hat irred uci b le minimum it counts for no thing s o long
w
,
t as the p rimary essentials of r ight are no t secured ,
s o long as ron g is u p hel d Such a superstructure i s

.
no t moral at all I n order that a man o r a s ocie ty
w
.
of men should have any claim t o be regarded as moral ,
they must cease to do rong I t is of no avail that .
they should entertain sublime emotions that they s hould
w
,
liv e in a sustained ecstasis O f exal ted f e eling if they

’
,
d o no t fulfil the primary condition o f forgoin g rong

doi ng o i ceasing t o be unjust
w
.
,
N ot only is the prime function o f morality o b scured

and overshado ed by the personal and ascetic ideal ,
but a radi cally conflicting and oppo s i te fu nction b ecomes

substituted fo r it N o t right b u t renounce ment is the
.
ideal o f Stoicism not abs t e ntio n from r on g b u t t he

O
,
O
,
w w ,
p ro tection f the individual from the ff t f o n
w
e e c s r g .
The O bject O f morality i s no longe r to re s ist evil b u t ,
to su b mit to it ; n ot to advance jus tice but to b o ,
to and ignore injustice The basal funct ion o f

.
all morality becom e s inverted ; it actually b ehoves to

resist not e vil Thro ugh such a perver s ion the
.
’
e ffe ct O f ethical emotion instead o f being to pro mot e

,
the de velo p ment o f the race come s t o b e the exac t ,
o p posi t e I t loses all concern fo r the human future

.
,
w
for t he means o f achievement the e fforts O f p rogress ,
.
All those things i t reject s and denounces as the

'
orld it comes t o place its ideal precisely in the

comp leteness o f i t s d e tachment from all that hich
.
cons titute s the evolu tionary fo rce and life o f human ity
w .
I t no t only does not contri b u te to them but des p ises

,
,
them resists a b hors th e m

, ,
.
MO RA L S A S CO MFO R T 3 33
w Thus it i s that those epochs those soc ieties in d

a n ;
hich that idea l has been in the ascendant in spite ,
o f any humanitarian cha racter the y ma y present in ,
spite o f any auste rity ha ve no t only b een phases O f ,
harshness and c ru e lty but phases of stagnation in the,
course o f human progre ss and have promote d neither ,
free dom nor justice .
I t is a reproach commonly urg ed against C hristianity
w
that throughout its history it has constantly asso c iated
itse lf ith a n d S upp orted po er and oppression that
except in those rare ins tances here the cause o f the
w
ww , ,
O pp resse d happened to coincide

,
ith the political
in terests of the C hurch the po er O f the latter ha s
been g enerally ine fficiently exe rcised in the cause o f
,
,
w
freedom in the lib eration and u p lifting o f classes
w
, ,
in the rectification O f intol e rable Wron gs but has o n the , ,
contrary been the consistent bul ark of privile ge
w
, ,
despotism and esta b lished abuse The O ld claim that ’
w
.
C hristi a nity abol ished slavery can no no longer b e
w
ins isted on : slavery in the ancient orld d isa p pe ar e d
w
o in g to the failure o f the su p ply and C hristiani ty
’
w
,
had a s little to d o i th the fail u re of the su p ply o f

slaves as i t has to d o a t the presen t day ith the
w w
'
failure O f the su p p ly o f domestic servants I t is not .
altogether f a i r to charge C hristianit y it hthe su p port o f

Divine R i ght feudalism and all estab lished po e rs and
,
a b uses Motives O f policy influenced no t by the s p irit
w
.
,
O f C hristianity b u t by human avarice a nd greed for

w
,
po er the corruption of relig ious o ffi ces and idea ls

,
in hierarchical p rinces and p o erful monks no t those ,
id eals themselves have be en responsible fo r the part
w
,
played b y C hris tian C hurches in O pposin g every mani .
fes t a tion o f li b erty an d progress But hile t hat .

,
distinction should be duly b orne in mind it must never ,
th e l e s s be admitted that that chara cteristic attitude h a s

only b e en rendered possible b ecause t he idea o f
justice is necessarily thrust into the background by
ascetic ideals .
My friend D r F alta de Gracia indeed in his usual

.
, ,
"
jaundiced and O ffensive manner goes even further
The no tion of justice
. says the famous Spanish ,
” .
334 TH E MA K I N G OF H U MA N I TY
Professor is as entirely fore ign to the spir it O f
w
,
C hristianity as is that o f intellectual honesty It .
lies holly outside the field O f its ethical vision
ww
.
C hristianity —J am no t referrin g to interp retatio ns

hich ma y b e disclai m ed as corru p tions o r applica
tions hich may be set do n to frailty and error but
t o the mo s t idealized conc e ption of its subs tance and
w ,
—
the most exalted manifestations o f its spirit C hr istianity
ha s O ffered comfort a nd consolation to men ho suffered w
under injustice but O f that injus t ice itse lf i t has rema ined
abs olu tely inco gnizant
,
I t has called upon the eary w

w
.
a n d heavy laden upo n the su ffering and the a ffl icted

, ,
it has p roclaime d to them the la of love the duty o f
w
,
mercy a nd forgiv en ess the F a the r hood: of G o d ; but in

’
that torrent of religious a nd e thical emotion hic h has

‘
impresse d men as the summit of the su b lime and b e en ,
held to transcen d all other ethic a l ideals common ,
justice common honesty have no p lace The i deal
w
.
,
C hristian the saint is seen desc endi ng l ik e an a nge l from

, ,
heaven amid the elter of human misery among the ,

.
w
victims o f ruthless oppression and injus tice brin g ing ,
to them the comfort and consolation of the Paraclete
w
,
o f the Religion o f Sorro But the cause o f that misery
w
.
lies holly outside the range of his consciousness ; no

g limmer
w o
his vie O f it
f any notion O f right and ron g enters
I t is the establishe d order of thin gs the
.
divinely a p pointed government of the orld the t rial laid

i nto
w ,
,
upon sinners b y divine ordinance S t Vincent de Paul

'
. .
visits the livin g he ll O f the F rench galleys he proclaims

'
the message of love and calls sinners to repe ntance ;

b u t to the iniquity w
hich creates a n d maintains that
hell he remain s abs olutely indi fferent H e is appo inted
w
.
,
Grand Almoner to H is Most C hristian Majest y Th e

-
.
orld might groan in m1 s e r y under the despotism -
of o p pres s ors men s lives and men s minds might be

’ ’
w w
,
w
enslaved crushed and blighted ; the sp i rit O f C hrist
,
ould go for th a nd comfor t them b u t it ould
w
ia nity ,
never occur to it to redre s s a si ngle one of those rongs
w
.
I t has rem a ined unconscious of them To those ron gs .

,
to men s righ t to be deliver e d from them it a s by

’ “
,
n ature completely blind I n respe ct to j u s t ice to rig h

. t ,
'
336 TH E MA K I N G OF H U MA N I TY
ho w’
far delusive co mfor t is ultimately be nefic ial o r false

consolation expedient — b u t they are no t morality They
w
are no t morality espe cially hile t he question of r ight
a nd rong is entirely s e t aside and discarded C omfort
w ‘
.
.
and consolation forgiveness a nd lov ing kindness a d mir

,
‘ -
,
a ble thou gh they be no more const itu te morality than

‘
w
,
d o the o p i a tes a n d na r cotics sometimes administered

to the victims o f the H oly O ffi ce be fore they ere
stretched o n the r a ck" o r sent to the stake B y ta ll .
means let us have comfor t and lovin g kindness a n d

.
-
mercy but let us have justice first le t us have r ight
w w
, , .
The failure s o unfortunately charge d aga inst C hrist

ia n ity to discriminat e bet ee n established
manifest right is no t holly unconne cted
rong and
ith a n ww ww
incapacity it has sometimes sho n of d iscerning b et een
error and truth U nconsciou s ness o f ri ght and rong
of
.
justice of the elementary moral value s is the

, ,
w ,
inevitab le co r relative of unconsciousness of intellec tual

values .
w
The t o things intellectual hones ty and justice are
in fact d irect ly connected t o aspec ts of one a nd the
,
w ,
w
,
same mental quality The feeli ng fo r truth and the
w
.
feeling fo r ri g h t the judicial atti tud e to ards human

.
re lations and the judicial atti tude to ards fac ts and

‘
w
intel lect ual relations are but the s ame condition o f the ,
w w
mind under sli ghtly different aspe cts I t is impossible
w
.
fo r the man ho is destitute o f the sense of intellec tual

honesty ho can p alter i th facts circumvent his o n
, ,
reason delibe rately p u t ou t his mind s eye blink at ’
w
, ,
the data o f truth manufac ture a nd manipulate evidence

, ,
for the se lf deceiver ; fo r him ho is insuscept ible to
w w w
-
,
the morality o f truth and falsehoo d to pe rceive au ght ,
o f the distinction bet een right and rong bet een

l
,
justice and injustice H i s judgmen t on the moral p lane
w
.
is inevitably the same as his ju dg ment o n the intellec tual

plane Moral rectitude is incompatible ith intellectual
w w
.
obliquity
w
.
I n the lo state of moral development in hich

'
the notio n of hones ty of thou gjht is unkno n honesty -

,
A FA LL A C Y 337
\
in the relations o f man to man is also u np e r

ce i v a b le ; jus ti ce the rudiments o f morality are u n
w ww
,
apprehe nsib le H onesty o f t hought honesty O f moral
ww
.
,
judgment— the t o issu es that hich e call intellectual

,
a n d that hich e call moral a r e inextricab ly united , ,
are in re ality inseparab le .
MI SO L O G I C AL FA L LA CY
w
TH E
Lurki ng at the root o f the misconception hich

entirely severs moral conduc t from intellect a n d reason
is a ps ychological confusion O f thought of ider im p ort
than even the p resent question for it involves ou r hole
ww '
,
estimate of the po sition an d significance o f rational

thought . An d it is the more pe rnicious be cause it
contains a nucleus of t ruth .
S t r ictly s peaking all cond u c t all action arises ou t
w
, ,
of desire feelin g and their concomitant emotion

, ,
Thought hether rational o r n o t can o f i tself supply
w
, ,
n o motive of act ion but only fu rnish the means O f

,
attai nin g a n end hich is given b y extra rational desire
w
-
.
Whatever line o f action b e ado p ted there is an ultima te ,

/
end assumed in it hich lies outside the sphere o f

the intellect and of rational thought I f I take up my
w
.
hat a nd um b rell a my act is ra tional b ecause it is my

,
ish to g o ou t ; if I ta ke a conveyance to the city ,
the fact tha t I have a b usines s ap pointment t o keep
at last you ask me the reason hy I should attend to w

a fford s a rationa l justification O f my be haviour But if
w w
b usin ess I ca n only ans er that I must live ; and the
,
.
strict logician is entitled to say i th a far b etter right ,
than the fin a nce minister o f the anecdote

-
I fail to s ee ,
22
w w
33 8
'
here the necessity comes in

ww w
A nd no matter hat
course of action e invest igate e sooner o r later come
up agai nst the b lind all of an ultimate mo tive hich
.
w
is extra rational -
.
. The Operation of rational thought is en tirely con fine d

to 1 ts informin g function the reac tion o f the orga nism
w
,
t o the environment thus pe rceiv e d d e pe nds upon the

emotional colourin g the desire hich the pe rception
, , ,
evokes S O that conduct can only b e strictly descri b ed

.
as rational o r irrational in s o far as it e mtp l oys means

a p p ropriate o r inappropriate to the attainment O f an
extra rational O bject
-
of feeling o f appetite
,
Thus it is that the nature o f
conduct is quite correctly liable to be vie e d as a matt e r
o f sentiment
.
an d qui te outside
, ,
w .
the sphere o f rational processes

But the contrast is in reality illusory F or the nature
o f motives o f desires o f sentiments is holly deter
.
w
w
, , ,
mine d by the rang e of the pe rc e p tions of the individual ,
o f the im p ressio n hich he ha s O f his relations to the

environment I f I start at the si ght o f a lion my
.
,
—
actual motive is an e x tra rational ins tinct o f self
preservation ; but in order " that it should O pe rate I
must first realize the nature of the danger If
I took to b e a li on is on l y a p o odle my absurd behaviour
hat
,
. w
‘
5 no t the result of perverted instinct b u t of inaccurate
w w
,
p erception I t is.the nature of a man s impression ’
o f the orld about him hich determines the p lay o f

motive A man s conduc t depends upon extra rational’
-
instinct e m
w
.
otions des ires ; but these are themselve s
w
, ,
in turn determined b y his vie his estimate of the ,
orld he lives in b y his b eliefs his o p inions, , .
An d that im p ression the ran ge and complexion of
w w w
,
his perception is a ma tter of in tellec tual development

, ,
of kno ledg e Wha t the o rld is to him

. hat ,
determines his a ppetites a n d desi re s is the product o f

his intell e ctual reach a n d outlook “
.
The gigantic fallacy that p ain and pleasure are the
w
simple ultimate determinants o f all cond uct that fallacy
hich ha s dominate d b o th po pu lar and phil osophical
,
theories is the sheerest confusion O f th ou g ht

We endeavour to do
,
w Tha t
hat We like a n d avoid doin g hat
.
. w
3 40 TH E MA K I N G OF H U MA N I T Y
carry to its most e fficient de gree that p erc e p tion does ,
det e rmin e the in dividual s rea ction his conduct

m
The ’ ‘
,
.
ore perfect the perception the tr u er the b elief the

,
, ,
more perfect the desire the more adap t e d the conduct , .
C onduct depends upon desire feelin g emotion b u t , , ,
desire feeling emotion depe nd in turn upon the nature

, ,
o f th e percep tion /
The O ld discredited notion o f me di a e val C hrist
man ww
i a ni t y that the supremely important fact about a
a s hat he b e lie ve d that accordin g as t ha t
w
w
,
belief that creed that O pinion a s true o r false he
w w w
, , ,
himself a s to b e coun te d good o r bad that his ,
moral orth his conduct ere b u t the ou t ard reflection

,
of h i s intellectual atti tude that notion that has come ,
to b e branded as infamous and a b horrent Wa s as a

“
matter O f fact str ctly and incontrover tibly correc t

i
w
.
, .
O nly the incongruity and incons istency O f the

historical situation hich b r ou gtht about t he a d v o
r t
,
cacy and spe cial plea dings o f Lo cke Bayle Voltai r e , ,
fo r the
‘
toleration o f freedo m the toleration o f
’
,
‘ ’
rationality o f thought and red uced the values and ,
foundations o f all opinions to the same level a b olishing
w
,
all d istinctions o f validity and invalidity legi timacy o r
w
,
illegitim acy right o r r ong thus giving r ise t o that

'
‘
outrageous and intolerab le \m

, ,
odern tolerance hich

regards every O pinion a s equally r espec table could divest ,
intellectual b elief o f moral value and sign ificance .
RA T I O NA L TH O U G HT A ND N I H I L I SM
w
There is a strange irony in the circumstance th a t
those ho most indi gnantly reject as a de gradation of ‘
N I H I LI SM 3 41
h moral ideal any dependence

t e morali ty on rational
thought are precisely those ho complain that the foun w of
w
,
dations O f mora lity are being sapped b y rational crit icism
w
.
What they mean hen they s a y that the foundat io ns of

morali ty are sapped is that the motive of re ard the , ,
motive of future li fe is dest r oyed and that consequently

, , ,
morality can n o lon ger b e rationalized into a formula

o f self interest but is reduced t o the emotional response
-
,
of the human mind to the perception o f fact s as they
a re
th
to pure detached mor a lity
,
e foundations o f m oralit y
to be r a tionalized
T O do that is to s a p
o f morality hich is not
b u t is a spi r itual emotion Self
,
.
w
w
.
,
contradictory inconsistency could hardly g o further .
An d yet I ould not b e t oo hard on those inconsistent
ww
ones
If e
There is a germ o f truth in their contention
.
e re positively certain that o u r transient be ing

.
w ww
ends in complete annihilation in every possible sense
of the ord ; if e ere convinced that the hole
,
w
w
human race itself after its struggles its evolution ould
w
,
be some day as if it had never b een that ou r orld

, ,
w
w
,
ould roll th rough spa ce a frozen mor gu e ca rryin g

'
, ,
ith it the final and net result o f a ll that the life of

the race has achieve d and striven for t hat ,
Y ea
An d
,
w
h h
lk h
a
i
the gr e a t g ob e it s e
ll
e
i c it in e ri t s
l
t is i n s u b s t a n ti a
h ,
lf ,
h ll d i l
a
l p g nt f a ea
ss o v e
a d ed
,
L ea k b ehi nd ;
w
n ot
w
ve a ra c
such a certainty ould make a di fference It ould
w
.
n o t make s o great a difference as might at fi rst b e
w
usw
imagin ed because the , i ll O f the race is too strong in
because e are only to a cert ain extent individuals
w
.
,
It ould not extinguish the aspirations and progress o f
w
the race any more than it ould extinguish the repro
d u ctiv e impulse Me n ould still in spite of themselves
w
ww
.
, ,
take a keen interest in humanity ; they ould still be
w
intent on so in g hat they cannot hope to reap they
w
ould still yi eld to the attraction O f the future the pull
of evolution ; they ould still feel quite justly that ,
,
to b e dominated by that race s pirit to surrender one s ,

’
individual ends to i t is the keenest form o f life the .

,
THE MAK I N G OF H UMA N I TY
w w
3 42
best li fe orth livin g ; they ould still be ready to
fying quality w
sacrifice themselves to give their life for the intensi
hich the race ideal alo ne can impart
to it fo r t r uth for justice as mothers are ready to
,
w
, , ,
give their life fo r their O ffspring I t has happened
w
.
before and ould happen still

,
Me n utterly d is b e .
lieving in any form of su r vival have alked firmly to

the stake fo r truth s sake And at the present day ’
ww w
.
,
in the transit ional confusion o f thought there a r e many ,
men ho hile holding the abov e vie devote the ir

lives enthusiastically to huma n progress to the cause
ww
,
o f disinterested truth But still I admit that the certainty .

,
o f complete a nd universal annihilation ould in the
w
,
a b sence of adequate organi z ed training a ct a s a p o e rful ,
motive on certain minds that it ould strongly co nfirm
w
,
th e m in the temptation to cry Ap r és moi l e d el u g e
ww
'
to scramble re ckles s ly for po er and material pleasure ;
But such a certainty ould be quite irrational It .
can never b e a certainty and e are very far from ,
having any logic a l justification fo r entert aining it even

as a probabilit y That ou r p r ese nt mode of exi s t .
ence o u r individual consciou s ness depends “ ? “certain

, E ,
co m binations O f for c es constituting ou r physiological
w
,
organism a nd that it must the re fore come to an

,
end hen that combina tion is dissolv ed does no t
w ww w
,
a dmit of any practical doubt But it do es not .
follo that that mode of existence hich e alone kno ,
is the only form The universe e x ist s though it is no t

a physiological organism What is the nature O f it s
.
e x istence ? O ne thing is absolutely clear ; the notion

matter such as it is cur rently conceived such as
w
‘
of
’
, ,
it has necessarily al ays been conceived by uncritic a l

ma n as a d ead thing is as much a delusio n and an
, ,
absurdity as the grossest and most primitive mytho

logical fable
‘
m atter
'
w
To s a y that t here is a thing called
.
hich e xists independently of ou tf feeling it

and that the nature O f its e x istence — hen e d o not ww ,
w w
feel i t is to be extended impenetrable m
or in othe r ords that hat there is of it hen e do
,
assive etc
not feel it consists pur ely a nd essentiall y in feltness

,
,
,
,
ww ,
‘
,
.
,
,
is to contradict oneself flatly in one and the same

3 44 TH E MA K I NG OE HU MA N i T Y
tissue cells nerve cells b rain cells ( hich latter d o not w
w
, ,
di ffer in any essential respect eithe r in ch a racter o r
w w
function from any other amoeboid cells ) and hat on the
w
other h a nd e kno as feeling as conscious existence
w ww
, ,
are no t t o things di fferin g totally in their mode o f
w ww
existence but the same thing o f hich e are made
,
a are from t o entirely di fferent p o mt s of vie from
w
,
the outside as it ere and from the inside

, ,
.
We have then t o conclusions the o ne an absolute ,
certainty the other a highly prob a ble scientific hypo

,
thesis I ) that the notion o f mat ter as me rely de a d

,
‘
feltness is an absurdity absolutely inadmi ssible in

-
w
,
rational thinking ; ( 2 ) that it is h ighly probable that

the kind of existence hich it has independently o f o u r
feeling is mu ch more like ou r o n feeling existence w '
w
w
than like a dead unfeelin g one
w
‘
ww w
.
No e should be careful no t t o take those t o solid
rational conclusio ns — hich ould be recognized a s uni

v e r s a l l y as the motion o f the ea rth
w w
e re it
the peculiar play o f p r ejudices hich domin a tes such

—
questions fo r anythi n g mo re than is r eally arranted
not for ,
by their rational basis They have been s o much abused
w w
.
that rationally minde d people have go t t o distru st them .
When no adays a philosopher disp roves the notion o f

‘
d ead
’
matter he ill in the m a jori ty of cases b y
ww
,
and by prove t o you t he Tlhir ty nine A r ti cle s

‘
Or u -
,
.
else people ho ould like to prove the Thirty nine -
w
A rticles hail him as a saviou r a nd deliverer and thrust
‘
him triumphantly do n the throat o f the detestable

materialists C onsequently many people prefer quite
.
—
excusably under the circums t a nces t o stick t o—
‘
materialism pure and simple and n ot to look too
’
w
,
curiously into the me ta p h ysics o f the no tion o f ma tte r ,
than to have a n ythin gi to d o i th s uch hocus pocus -
w
.
F rom the more than legitimate conclusion that the

kind of thing of hich the universe is re ally made is
mu ch more likely to be akin in nature to ou r o n living
mind than to any self -contradictory nonsense like
w
dead feltness people at once jump to the notion o f
w
,
pantheism to saying that the universe is a mind

rese m
,
b ling ou r o n That supposition di ffers totally

.
N I H I L I SM 345
w
from the conclusion in questio nand is no t at all arr a nt w
a b le by it Al l that e are entitled to s a y is that ou r
w
.
mode o f existence represents in a general a y more w

w
truly hat is meant by existence than any other conce p
tion e can form and that ce rtainly dead feltne ss ‘ ‘
w
,
is not a possible mode of existence But the conception
w
.
that the universe is like o u r o n mi nd is not only

un arranta b le b u t untena b le
,
Sensation fo r instance .
, ,
could me a n nothing in the case o f the universe for
w
,
the s ini p le reason that there is noth ing outside o f it to

fee l Thought
.
to the universe
,
.
like it a means to an end can like ise not be attributed,
N o definition by hich o u r o n
.
ww w
hich is but ela b orated sensation a nd ,
form of mind is commonly characterized could a pply to a

universal mind .
We are thus faced ith t o possible alternatives

1 ) either the u nive rs e ( matter ) is some lo
ww w
er more rudi
,
w w
,
t
mentary fo rm o f m ind o r ( 2 ) it is a higher fo rm of

,
mi nd So far a s I ca n s e e e have no ground hatever

.
t o enable u s t o pronou nce in favour of the probability

'
of o ne hypothesis rather than the other .
I must point out one more conside ration We are .
in the habit of speakin g o f the uniformity o f nature as

necessity
‘
That is quite incorrect
.
’
The notion o f .
necessity can properly onl y be applied to logical imp li
w w w
cations s uch as that a thing cannot at the same time b e
w ww w
,
and not be that t o and t o make four hich in spite of

,
hat J S Mill says ould hold good in a ny universe

. .
, ,
,
.
But there is no necessity hatever hy a stone should
w w
fa ll to the ground The fact that a given cause is
.
al ays follo ed by a given effe ct and that the sequence
o ne w ww
holds good throughout all ete rnity does not make it
hit more necessary ‘
F o r au ght that
uni form sequence might be a form of uniform volition
e kn o
.
’
w w
.
I have been obliged to slip into this metaphysical

digression because it a s necessary in order to sho
that the notion that the dissolution o f ou r individuality
ww w
,
that is the redistribution of the indestructible energy

,
of hich e are composed necessarily means that e ,
have no permanent stake in the univers e is not and , ,
n e ver can become a rational certainty And therefore .

346 TH E M A K I N G OF H U M AN I T Y
the progress and development of rational thought the ,
di ffusion of its method the confidence in its authority

, ,
can never make fo r nihilism and the outlook o f nihilism

can never be that of a hu manity conscious of its
allegiance to the sole valid foundations o f its kno
ledge and beliefs
-
w
MO RA LS ON MA RCH
w
TH E
To —
day,
w w
ith the Mene Tekel U phar s in o f coming
change blazing upon every all a s of old in just such
a groaning labouring orld the ol d re me dies are presse d
,
ww
, ,
upon u s the cultivation of personal vi r tues self

-
renouncement Reform yourselves and the orld ill be

,
reformed .
’
I t is precisely to such remedies t o the diverting o f ,
attention from the essential conditions and r equire ments

o f the human social organism to inte llectually easier ,
and more slothful moral palliatives to personal virtues
w
,
protectively cultivated and emphasized to the neglect
w w
and exclusion of rational e ffo rt and ill t o justice that
those very failures are due hich no s o sternly call us
to account I t is not by any comp lacent individua listic
,
w
.
self cultivation it is not by abnegations and re n ounc e
w
-
,
ments and ascetic e csta s ies that hat s oever p rogress

, ,
has been effected in ou r social o r de r a s brought about
w
:
but by hard thinking and devising by fearless fac ing ,
the foundations of r ong a nd by resis ting it I t is not
w
,
, .
by the reformation of t he ind ividual b u t b y the r efor T

.
w
mation of the orld s thought of the me diu m mental
,
’
, ,
and material in hich man develops of the conditions ,
of his life and the quality of his thought that the ,

348 THE M A K I N G OF H U MA N I TY
p e l le d on ard by w
from animality and savage r y to ou r present state im
an irresistible natural po er ruled
ww w ,
w
, ‘
by definite and indeflectible la s hich nothing can

evade and hich ca n be relied upon to operate in the
future as in the past as inevitably as the l a
governs the course o f the planets is a ne conception
hich
www
w w
.
,
There has been nothing like it as a generally di ffused ,
belief in the orld b e fore There have been U topias

,
.
b u t a U topia is but a is tful dream o f sta g nant p e r
w
fe ct ion There have be e n conce ptio ns o f national
"
ww
.
millenniums as s ociated ith the Messianic ideas o f

the Je s o r ith the Roman Empi r e in the Augustan
w
,
age ; but all such ideas di ffer totally fro m that of
wwww
progress regarded and recognized as a natural l a
The process o f inevitable gro th hich constitutes the
life of the hu ma n race hich has created it fashioned
.
w
, ,
it raised it to its present po ers ove rcome seemingly
w w w w
, ,
insuperable obstacles turned them to i ts o n advantage
w
, ,
hich daily leaves the past behind and thro s open ne ,
futures ,
hich can only cease ith the extinction o f
,
the human spirit that c onception is a revelation o f

,
to d ay .
An d as that revelation becomes clearer fuller a nd
w
,
more familiar to ou r thoughts the fact is ever more ,
clearly i mp ressed upon u s individuals tha t e are , ,
particles of that gre a t stream moment s in that grea t
w
,
process O ur thoughts ou r feelings ou r desire s o u r
w
.
, , ,
joys and sorro s o u r interests , o u r a ims ou r entire

, ,
being is the slo ly accumulated product o f all the

generations o f the past o u r life is the fruit o f millions
,
o f lives o f countless e fforts

,
a s p 1 r a t 1on s and strug gles
,
.
We are no t isol a ted entities but a parcel of h u man ,

:
existence ; ou r self is the resultant of all the pas t

‘ ’
w
.
O ur individuality is an illusion I t is but a resultant
w
.
and comp onent of the larger life of the race hich
w
,
.
moves on ard impelled by the same spirit the same ,
desires hich move us O ur thoughts are not ou r.
thoughts the remotest past has gone to the buildin g

,
of them The length of ou r individual tether ou r

.
,
capacity for going m a ybe a little b eyond the expressed

thought of the age is itself dete rmined by the sta ge
,
MO R A LS ON TH E MAR CH 3 49
ww
ww
of evolution hich e happen to have reached O ur
very p 1e a s u r e s e v e n hat e call ou r egoist ic fee li ngs
.
w
‘
a n d tastes are the expression of the life o f the race
w
.
,
The individual cannot present a single fe at u re hich

is not the direct outcome of the social org anism in hich
he a nd his ancestors have lived We are nothing apart
ww
.
from humanity
w
:
I n attacks of orld eariness it is com mon for
w
-
passionate and sensitive natures t o be fi lled ith a

fee ling of b oundless di sgust fo r the human orld a b out
them its ugliness its vulgarity its shams its falsehoods
, , , , ,
it s ignorance its injus tice it s b rutality ; their souls

, ,
are racke d b y the seemin g hopelessness o f its prejudices

‘
and coarse instincts they shrink from the besmirching
w
contact o f the b arbarians ph ilist ines populace
hich it is peopled they are sickened by the exultant
ith , ,
w
triumph of crass ignorance irn p os t u re and resp e ctab le
infamy They long to fly from that ugly human orld
.
t o seek refuge in solitude in the midst o f nature on the

, ,
w ,
w
, ,
majestic heights of the uncontaminated mountains there
w
,
to fi ll themselves ith the V italizing a n d su b lime in fl u

e n ce s o f na t ural beauty to possess their thought orld
w
-
,
in freedom unsulli ed a nd untroubled b y the meanness
w
,
and degradation of the orld of ma n But they d o no t .
kno ,
or d o not reflect that those very aspirati ons ,
those soaring ideals those high sentiments those im , ,
pul ses and delights of the mind that very sensitiveness
w w
_
,
to the faults ab out them and to the e x a l te d irnp r e s si on s
w
o
of nature that orld o f thought and ideals in hich
w w
,
they long to d ell alone are the child and product of ,

-
that same human or ld from hich they recoil in horror
w w w
and contempt as from a thing unclean I t is in such
a orld that the su b stance of their souls a s conceived
.
w w w
a n d b orn there that it a s created it is that humanity
,
i th all its faul ts a nd passions hich has through its

,
w ww w w
daily l ife o f strifes and restlings b rought t o b e in g
that spirit hich li fts them up ard s , it is that hum a nity
hich has endo ed them ith the sublime seeing a n d
and the common life o f huma nity
m
conquering mi nd
ww
through millions of years immeasurably darker
horri b le a nd more ugly than the orld hich surrounds
ore ,
3 50 TH E M A K I N G OF H U MA N I T Y
w
them has fa s hioned every one o f those thoughts and
,
feelings in hich they ould proudl y ithdra them w ww

w
selves
w An d as
.
e are b u t the r esultant o f all past generations
w
,
s o too are the makers of the f uture evolution o f
ww
e
the race as the funct ion o f the pa s t a s to make us

hat e are s o the future is dependent upon ou r being
,
and doing
w
.
riddle of existence the great object ive
w w w
,
universe hich encomp asses us its natu r e and meaning
w
, ,
ill pro b ably re main fo r ever unkno n to us But e
w w
.
are beginning to pe r ceive that that impossi b le k no
w w
w w
ledge is no t s o es sential as e had been ont t o believe
w w ww
O f one thing e may be p e rfectly ce r tain if e kne
the ord of the enigma could not kno more
.
w
e
w
,
certainly than e do no that ou r part in the gre a t
o f our race w
w w
cosmos is holly contained ithin t he life and destiny
We can be no less certain no than e
w
.
,
should be if the l a st veil of the mystery ere torn
w w
,
Open that o u r task our function ou r duty is i th the

, , ,
’
human race that e are not con ce rned ith alterin g
w w www
, ,
the courses of the stars o r kindling the brooding fires

of the nebula b u t ith building the human orld ith
w
, ,
making it better greate r i th fulfilling the l a of
w
, ,
untiring effort and ceaseless imp rovement hi ch g overns

the entire process of that racial life o f hich ours is
w ww
,
a part and parcel
w
.
Ho far and in hat sense ou r being is transie nt

or permanent ho much is momentary ho mu ch im
ww
~
, ,
perishable in the comb ination of unive rsal and inde

s t r u ct ib le
w forces hich call o u r self does not ’

e
ww w
,
fundamentally affect the issue The thing that flo s .
through us the thing e are has its source in the

, ,
untold receding ages and ill fl o on We are it it , .

,
is us Whether o r no t the exact mode of ou r indi ‘
w ww w w
.
v id u a l it y s
’
relation t o that u nb r oken stream is such s
a s ould satisfy o u r ishes could e apprehend it t he
w w
, ,
fact remains that e cannot ish think act outside the
w w w
, ,
current of t hat s tream o f hich e are a portion If -

.
m
e have any int erest if e have any aspiration if e
, ,
have a ny pe r anent stake in the universe they are ,

3 52 TH E M A K I N G OF HU MA N I T Y
definite values they are re a l n atural va lues all others
are artificial and ar b itrary hether e like it o r n ot
I n the natural scale that a ct ion is good hich contri butes
w w
w,
,
.
,
w
to the proce ss of human development that act is evil
hich tends to imp ede retard oppos e that process ;
that individua l life is ell de serving hich is in the w
,
ww ,
,
direct lin e of that evolution that is futile hich lies
w
,
outside the course o f its advance that is condemned ,
hich endeavours to oppose the current That is the .
natural the absolute and actual standard o f moral
w
,
values N ature does not value the most saintly and
w w
.
charitable life hich brings no contribution t o huma n

gro th as much as a singl e act hich permanently
promotes the evolution o f the race I n the b ook o f
N ature s recording angel more is s e t do n t o the credit
’
w .
o f Gutenberg a n d o f Rousseau than to St
A ssisi The only me asure of orth o f hich N ature

F rancis o f
w w .
w
.
' —
take s any a ocou n t b y p e r pe tuati ng i t is the co ntr ib u
-
.
tion o ffered to a r ds the building up o f a higher

humanity
w
.
A s the true re lation o f human individuality becomes

apprehended as e come to realize the nature o f the
,
great process t hat made us of hich ou r life is a w

w w w
,
product and a par cel that proces s o f humanity making ,

-
,
the most onderful and su b lime i t hin ou r ken it is ,
hard to escape the i sh that our life shall be indeed a
w
particle o f tha t gre at stream not merely as a p a s s iv e ‘
w
v
product but in ho soever infinitesimal a degree a s an
ww w w
‘
w
,
active factor also animated by the same impulse hich

made us hat e are and hich ill b ring forth ne
,
humanities
ww w w
We cannot but feel a sense o f o b ligation
w
. .
to contribut e s omething to a r ds that gro th o f hic h
w w
o u r b eing is the f ru it e cannot b u t b e at one ith
the exsurgent spirit hich leads the destinies of the
,
w
race A ne ethical sen s e the true and natural ethi cal
w
sp 1 r1 t hose vagu ely conscious operat i on has created
,
o f human gro t h w
mankin d is inevitably developing T o be ith t he forces
,
to be truly a living part and no t a

.
w w
, ,
mere dead exc retion o f the creative impulse of the ,
race that is the o b l igation hich if e have indeed

, ,
’
apprehe nde d ou r r e a l rel a tion is inevita b ly l a id upon us , .

P A RT I V
PREFACE TO UT OP I A
3 56 T H E M A K I N G OF H UM A N I TY
for th ex pedi ency the u ti lity the beauty of lies b ut
w
e , , ,
l aborious philosophers addicted to its subtlest e x erci se

v ie in im pea ching a nd discre diting reason in sho ing by , ,
th e producti on of cogent reaso ns that it is unreasonable
to b e reaso nable in performing the Munchausen like
w
-
,
f eat of li fting them s elves out of the bed of their dogmatic

slu mbers by their o n hair of discrediting r ational
w
,
thought by means of rati onal criticism and i n delighting

us i th t he d i s covery that no t ruth ha s ever been dis
cover e d but
,
de and manufa ctur ed C olumbus
having thus uf
c reated the
p la n e t U ranus .
h
F rom t phi o oph rs cav e s to he market place the ’
e l s e t -
e ch oes of le a rned misology are propagated in joyful r e
percussio n And e v e ry occa s ion a nd prete x t is eagerly

.
em braced to set s ome othe r source of jud gm e nt a nd

g u i
w
dance a n
,
d c o ndu c t le s
i shes a nd inves te d ith the glamour of mystery and

,
w
s e x acting more pliable to ,
ww
w
ou r ,
ininte ll ig ib il it y in the pla c e of the po er

, hich ma de
ma n a n d by hich he rules I ntuition inspiration ih
w
.
, ,
s tinct divination s u bli mina l co ns ciousne ss illative sen s e
w
,
d irec t kno le dge p ra gm

, , ,
a tism u nde r countless a nd variou s
w ww
, ,
names a nd descriptio ns ith the solemnity of the dog
w
,
ma ri st a nd ith the flip p a ncy of the i t it h the
w
, , ,
a ssertivene s s of ign orance and ith academic appar atus ,

,
in the most oppos ite ays and in the name of the mo st ,
co nfli cting opinions as inquis itor or as scientist a s tyrant

, ,
o r a s revolutionary m a n has pursued his ques t for s u b
w
,
s tit u te s for r a tiona l th ou ght Most patheti c sight of a ll .

,
th e very soldiers ho are fighting the Wa r of Libera

t ion o f H umanity
a r e at one
t heir dis dain for

w
combating unreason and injustice
mere ra tionality
,
ith the obscurantist in giving expression to

f
logi c; grinding ,
’
-
'
,
”
,
in tellectualism the fetish of consistency

,
’
.
’
Reason it has been preposterousl y demonstrated, is

,
fallible .T hat of co urse is not s o

’
. , Reason is not , .
fallible reason is infallible There is no instance of
w
.
,
.
the failure o f r ational thought The re is a ruefu l record . .
o f the disastrous failure s reck ruin incomputable

desolation agony a nd misery d ue to irrational thought s
, , ,
, , ,
t o substitutes for r ea son The ch i ef t a sk of rati onal

, .
w
M I S O L O GY 3 57
thoug ht has bee n to re scu e ma n fromthe ove r he hni ng;

‘ ’
disasters b rought about by tho se su bstitutes .
The e x travagant spe ctacle of hi s incongru ou s at titude

—
of persistent suicide as if a ra ce of A ristophanic birds
s houl d invei gh against the p o e r of flight on a
‘
society of electrical engineers devote their e vening s

.
w ,
to expressing their s corn of the notorious useless ness

— ww
w
of electricity becomes less paradox ica l hen e r e fl e c t
that irrational thoug ht is the ne cess a ry e xpression of all ,
established orde r hi ch depends for it s continua nce on '
the prevention of fatal change evol ution progres s S o
w
'
w
.
, ,
that rational t hought is the ete rnal enemy a nd a s su ch ’

,
must according to all rules of a r he discredited
www
’
, , ,
vilified and conte mned

,
.
The irrational po e r t hought it h hic h every issu e
ww
-
.
is fenc ed a b b u t a ga i nst reas on is not a s e are l ed t o , ,
suppo se an infirmity of prejudice i th hich human ‘
w
, ,
na ture is ine v itan a ffl i cted it is the natural me ans of

d efence of all the po ers inter e s t ed gi n clinging for their
w
o
existence to estab li she d conceptions a mid the p e r pet u al ,
menace of the forces hi ch are destructive of li e s I t is
w w
.
a n artifact And there is in the na ture of things no

w w
.
ground ha tever hy it should not b e elimina t e d from

the orld People are not born ith p rejudi ces they
.
’
, ,
are taught them And the artificial deformation of men s

.
’
minds is no more necessa ry a nd una v oidable than i s

that of C hi nese ladies feet
w w
There is nothing more ’
ww
.
visionary in the con ception of a orld ithout prej u dice

than in that of a o rld ith out t yphoid or small po x -
.
I t is conceivable that: a st op might be put to the teachin g
w
of prejudi ce
w -
.
Po e r thought is an inevitable di s ease of po er and

po er in some form po er of guidan ce lea dership talent w w ,
w w
, , ,
is necessary desira ble pre cious indi s pe ns able Yes; but

, , ,
.
that b e ne ficent po er is not the so rt of po er that ei th e r

naturally f ee ds or thrives on pudd ing N a tur a l inequali ty
,
aristocracies of talent of i sd om of t rue in sight l e t w .

,
w w
, , ,
us by all me a ns pray for let us ha ve lea de rs But t o .
o ffer high age s for lea dership is precis e ly the a y not

to ge t it Give n de ce nt fullnes s of life to a l l it is you r
.
tru e lea d e f that can be st dispe nse i thhigh ages The w w ,
.
3 58 THE MA K I N G OF HU MAN I TY
ww
“
true difficulty and problem of di fferenti a tion of fu nct ion
in the human orld is not so much to allot lea d ership
w w
,
as to allot the dirty ork U nder rational conditi ons .
o f equal oppo rtunities your leader ill soon appe ar hen
w
,
you cease advertisin g fo r him connecting his function by
w
.
,
ith the image of a Pe rsian sa tra p

,
a n ob sessing atavism
To preserve human beings from beco m

w w
. .
i ng brutes hen :p u t
'
t o th
d i fficulty
e
. w w
di rty ork of the orld t hat is the greater
w
To them the high ages Po er dissociated
from p udding ill no longer ne cessarily b rkze d pes tilence
,
a nd infection
c onceivably evolve
.
w w w
A process out of hi ch the cure of po er thought may
should not be o verloo ked, Po er
-
thought has of course under pres sure a nd compulsi on

, ,
become li be rali zed it has of necessity had to undergo

t ransform
w
,
ation a t the point of the b a yp ne t s of rational

'
t hought
p e ll e d
.
t iona r y of to day
to adopt o r to
-
pretend ,to adopt

, w w w
I t is l ess homicidal than it once a s The re a o
ith the vie s and conduct he is com
ould a hundred ,
.
y ears ago have been hanged and quartered as a raving

revolutionary T he ani mal instincts of s elf preservation
.
‘
‘
-
a re full of craft produce protective colorati ons a nd

,
mimicries Rea ction speak s in the name of li b eral

.
i deas of freedom of progress

,
O ur Tories are the loudest
,
.
advocates o f reform our obscurantists of education ’ ’
—
, ,
of enli ghtenment More the s elf protective instinct

’
w
.
,
has learned by e xperience it has learned better than to

a it s tupidly to have reform thrust upon it by revolt
I t has learned to meet it half

"
hen inevitable to ww w .
w
a y -
,
fore sta ll it to turn reformer and a void t he orst All

“
'
ww
.
,
t hat is but self protective mimicry and is taken for

-
hat
i t is orth But all the same it c ome s to this that the
w
.
, , ,
s ight of po er interest is compe lled to take a l onge r

-
.
v ie its sight is lengthening Suppose a further l e ng then
w w
,
.
i ng ma y not truth may not j ustice loom at last int o

w
,
vie a s its o n u ltima te interest ? Ma y I a ld a b oth not

make the di scover y that his po er thought for all its
w
-
,
cunni ng , a ni mal self preserv ative instinct has not onl y

,
-
,
d e solat e d a nd ruined hu m anity but like ise hims elf?

,
,
w w
3 60 T H E M A K I N G OF H U MAN I TY
The p rinciple of the Po er S tate posses sin g immora l
ww
.
-
,
interes t s a nd s tanding outside ethical la s the shibboleths ,
of nationality and military p o er ha ve material iz ed in
w
,
thei r logical issue and convu l sed the orld i n a ma elistnonr

,
'
of ruin d a r fing the re cords of its bloodstain e d anna ls .
S e xual li fe is pe r verted and tortured by notions and
of omw
institutions founded upon the primi tive chattel es tima te
an Man s intell e ctua l life is cha os Moloch;
.
as of old i ca ll s for the lit tl e ones t o come unt o

’
.
it claim
, . .
, s and e x erci ses the right of mental infan ti

cid e u E very organi z ed a nd recogni z ed channel of
w
.
ideas press schoo l public u ttera nce and opinion,

, , ,
‘
i s d eli b eratel y fed ith falseh ood The entire de . .
v e lo m n t of the human m in d during its long nd
w
p e a
glorious progress is sedulously put aside concea le d sup , , ,
res ed garrotted n d silenc d so t hat in an h en

‘
w
p s a e ; a g e
'
, , ,
a s never yet man is in po ssession of the means a nd data
ww
,
of far reaching rational t hink ing

-
hen a s never be fore he , , ,
is in a posi tion to kno to think { to judge it is virtually , , ,

, .
i mpossible for a man to kno , think, or j udge save by ,
subreptitious perso nal e ffort in oppo sition and defianc e ,
of all establi shed and approv e d formulas of thought ‘
I n its racial economic familial mo ral religious in

.
, , , , ,
t e ll ect ua l organi z ation the entire fabric of e x isti ng civili ,
za t ion pre sents a consistent stru cture of blunder of
ww w
,
folly of ignorance of fal s eh ood and of i ni q u ity
w
‘
w
, .
, ,
T he a r ith all its monstrous manifestations hich

, ,
fi lls our consciousness to day ith distracted be ilder -
ment is not an accidental cataclysm a fortuitou s p he

, ,
nom e non All the crim ina l absurdities all the hypocris ies
w
.
, ,
and blasphemi es a nd false hoods a ll the ca llou s nes s a ll
ww
, , , .
the verti ginous aste and d ement e d des truction o f huma n

li fe po er
ww
ealth all the bedl a m insanity of it all
w
'
, , , ,
e xi sted every one of them in our pre a r European
w
-
, ,
civili zat ion The a r a s b u t the visible ava ta r the
ww
. ; ,
ma t erial iz ed out thro of the multitudinous a b ominations

-
ami d hich e lived I t ha s but torn t he mask . .
m ntai n
ou
Ye t w
m
w hile
-
contem
e plate ith un fli nchin eye tha t
g
ass of evil and false hood ou r faith i n humanit y
w , ,
HO PE FU L PE S S I M I S M
w
361
a nd in its d est inies if e have clea rly appreh e nd e d the

course of past developmen t and the f or ces b y hich it
,
w w ‘
has be en brought a b out ill stand unshake n Such a s

it is this sore smi t ten o rld does yet surpas s eve ry pre
,
-
ceding pha se in the up ard struggle of the race Eve r y

w
w
,
.
w w
.
one of those a b uses every aspe c t of that folly of tha t
ww
, ,
i niquity of tha t ignorance under the eight o f hich
w
,
ou r present orld appea rs to be i rred e emably floundering
w w
,
re p resents but the hi ttled re mnant of the incu b us hich

has formerly eighed upon its gro th Gros s a nd in
tolerable hardy and defiant as ever y avatar of the po ers
,
of darkn ess appears to day it is but the s ha d o i of a ww .
w w
,
tyr ann y once i mmeasurably greater I t pu ts a s trai n on .
our imagination e complain to conceive a orld p u rged

, ,
from those secular evi ls but it is in real ity even more
w w
,
di fficult to form a duly vivid conception of the conditions
w
,
ma terial a nd mental of tho s e phases hic h our orld has ,
outgro n And on the other hand all evi l is to da y

.
, ,
-
,
ne ver be fore sharply a c centuated b y our clearer
w
a s
w
,
i nsight into its abs urdity its iniquity its o b s olescence , , ,
its anton needlessness

. The time is no more hen .
ana chr oni sms could pas s imnot ice d as on a Shakespearean

or an Addisonian stage » O ut o f date stupi d ity and ini
'
w
- -
q u i ty sta nd out m
w
w
ore clearly visible be cause
ne ss of hat is ise a nd right is in fini tely more lucid
N ever a s the contrast bet een ou r kno le dge ou r
our co nscious
w w .
w
,
conscience and existent fact s o strident ; never before
w
,
ha s there been so clashing an an ti thesis bet een man s

’
w
thought and that upon hich rests the orders of his
orld
w
w
.
And it is preci sely that contras t hich is the s u r e s t -

‘
to ken of the future The orld of man is built out of
w w
.
hi s mind is the materiali z ed expression thereof it is by

,
his thought that it has gr o n into hat it is it is his
ww
,
thought tha t has gradually cast out evi l The reali z at ion
w
.
of man s rati onal conclusion of hat he perceives to be

’
true of hat he perceives to be right of hat he percei ves
w w
, ,
to be just is as inevitable a s the proces s of the stars

, .
Th e greater th e antithesis bet ee n man s orld a nd his ’
s p irit
Th e
,
a r e www
the greater the a ss uran ce of the fu ture
ere told threatened the existen ce and
, ,
.
T H E M AK I N G OF HUM A N I TY
w
3 62
w w
fu ture of our ci vili z ation
w
But in realit y hat lies in
.
mortal jeopardy is not civili z ation b u t a r Wa r and

.
w ww w
, .
all the unmasked forces hi ch have made t he a r possibl e ‘
of hicht he a r a s the visible embodiment and logical
w
.
w
result I n the mi dst of it the orld ha s never been more
w
.
eirenic be en more clearly in sight of the p a s s in g a a y of
w
,
all a r barba ri sms A nd hat is true of t hat represent a

.
“
tive ana chronism is equally true of all ot hers The p o ers
ww w
.
o f darkness and reaction loom most d a n ge rous the nearer
the term of their do n ar d course ; hen e xistence i s
p e w
imperi lle d all finer modesties a nd abs tentions are dis
n
ww
s
d efended
e d ith purp o ses
,
are
ith t enfold defian ce
laid bare and e x istence
But inconsistency and
.
is
incompatibility ith the pr e sent is but accentu ated b y all

apparent triumphs and humanity is brou ght nearer to
w
,
deli verance .
H o ever impredicable and uncertain t h e immediate

issues the ultimate issues are certain a nd inevitable
,
.
Delays adjournments the victory of reaction the triu mph

, , ,
of folly th e
,
in solence of privilege the arr ogance of ,
confuted li es ruin cataclysms are immateria l in the
ww
, , ,
general course of the natural proces s They are but .
transient accidents a nd e kno that the evolutionary
w w
,
forces turn accidents a nd obsta cles to profit and account .
Destructi on involves hat is doomed frees hat is d ea t h
w
,
l ess. S uch ha s been the invariable result of a ll the

disasters hi ch have seemed to j eopa rdi z e the evolution of
humani ty .
I n the light of a clear apprehension of past develop

ment all current scepticisms and cynici sms b e come n eg li
w
,
i b l The idiotic cry f U topia is but

‘
foolis h
’
g e . o
g ibb e ring To a
. n y o ne ho has at all adequately rea li z ed
the signifi can ce of the past evolution of m a nki nd a ll ,
ou r h lti ng millennial d reams are b y compa rison puny a nd

a
i mpotent ; the retrospective vision of accomplished fact
w
i s the most fantastic of all U t o p ias
the tas ks hich our limited vision ca n se e lying ahead

of us are singularly simple
Com
.
par ed to it .
3 64 T H E MA K I N G OF H U MAN I TY
v i va l
w
means not onl y an obstacle removed b u t the set ting
free of all the force hi ch had been e ngag e d in st ruggling
against it H uge sources of po er a ait liberation in
. ww
,
calculable sto res of energy lie as yet untapped .
But if all the re sults of human e v ohrtion have hithert o
w
been achi eved by means that are only a fraction of tho s e
in the po er of humanity hich are b u t in par t rea l ized w
w
,
and purpo sively a p plied; there is one asp e ct o f tha t e v olu

tion hich hu man effort has as yet done fv irtu a ll y noth i ng
at all to assist and control And that aspect constitutes .
half the evolutionary process name ly the transmi ssion , ,
w
of its results from one generation to another
W hen progr e ss reform re cons t ruct ion are di scuss e d
.
w w
, , , ,
the scepticism of the more moderate s ett ers forth of orld -
isdom usually finds expression in s ome such commen ts
ww w
.
as the follo ing

Those co nsummations hich e all devoutly ish
w w
,
the casting off ana chronism abs urdities gross a nd
w w
,
palpable ould b e a simple enoughma tte r ould in d eed
w
, ,
come about automatica lly ere everybody — ell like
w
, ,
you and me ere the majority of huma n b e ings amena b le

,
to reason pervious to the obvious if they e r e at all
w
, ,
capable of the simplest thi nking if they ca red at a l l
w
,
for any of those thi ngs C learly there ould be no folly if
w w
.
there ere no f oo l s But my dear si r cast your eyes
w
.
, ,
herever you please upon the act ual cro d of men a nd
w w w
omen consider for a moment the concrete individual
w
,
human b eings hich make up that aggregate in hich

you ould se e the agent of intelli gent endea vour hich
'
you ethereali z e into the germ of an e xalted humanity .
That huma nit y; is the g reengrocer r ound the co r ner
w
,
the habe rdas her the thief the beadle that j ockey t rain e r
ww w
, , , ,
that lean clerk that adipose gove rnme nt offici al i pin g
w
,
th e s eat of his pompo sity from h is bro th a t country
w
'
g e ntleman i th arterio s cl e rosis sod den it h s q uire
w
- ~
,
ar chical t radition those youth s ho s e one d rea d
w w
,
in the orld is the risk of b e ing bo r ed b y thei r

o n company ho s e minds re volve in the orbit
,
of the mu s i c hall the restaurant rugger a nd
ww
, ,
s ocker the oss ified Eton O xfor d b ra i n t he sordid

,
-
,
. d inginess of those su b u rbans care or n ith t he

C O N TR O L OF TR AN S M I S S I ON 365
pe tti est individual problems t he tragic ma n kind of our “ (
he a r t r ending comic artis ts t he Phi l Ma y the George

,
-
, ,
Belche r people a nd a ll the unspeakable dumb submerged

, ,
at the bo okst alls at thei r lite rature t heir pres s consider
w
, ,
th e food of thei r dim me n tality M a t thoughts are .
thei rs ? What rationa l impul se to ar ds even the most

tr i vi a l p la t itu de of progress c a n you look to ssue t hi enc ?
’
W hat force save the ha bit ual cla p t r a p that is a pp ro

,
u
priately employed is capable of movi ng that m a ss of
w w
,
hopeless inerti a ?
il l go fu rther Your p rogress is ha tever
‘
I .
,
y o u may sa y in a ,
great measure ill us o ry A part f r om its .
material aspect s it ha s only e ffected a n y essen tial change
w
,
a ny real evolutio n in a n infinit e s im a l ly small percentage o f

'
th e race .That ide r visio n thos e ex pa nded hor iz ons tha t , ,
c leare r co nsci ousne ss a nd m nsd e nce a re the heirloom ,
o f b u t a sma ll fraction of t h e hu ma n ra ce even though it

'
w
,
be large r tha n in past ages e v en thoughit no longer con ,
s ti tu tes an es o teric class Though the ho le community.
unconsci ously b e ne fits by the conque st s of ju st iée a nd of
w
thought ju st as it doe s by t he develop me nt of mater ial
po er stil l t he vas t m a ss of ma nkin d rema ins to day
w
.
-
, ,
unde r the e x terna l appearance of tr ansforming ci viliz ation ,
a t he a rt mu ch ha t they have be en in the rudest ages ,
b a rbarian s a s un thinking a s nes c ient a s mental ly h e lp
w
»
, , ,
l ess a pr ey to s imilar superstitions and formu las b lindly

, ,
g o ve r ned b y the same unmo di fied pa ssions i th m inds ,
a nd he arts a n d lives revolving in th e same cram p ed sphere
as the sava ge and the ba rbarian a n d lia ble to brea k ,
o u t at any time through all their v eneers into primitive
savage r y a nd barbarism
w
’
.
Ruefu ll y must tha t justification of the veneer vie

o f ci vili z ation b e adm itted {We live in a ce r t a i n p ha s e of
human evolut ion termed t e ntieth century
.
hich stands w
w w
w
-
for a certai n achi eved gro th of the huma n mind its ,
po ers its experience a nd att it ude But the vast majority
w
.
,
d o not be long t o t hat pha se at all I n the populati on
w
.
,
high a nd l o of the pre s ent day ev ery phase of human
w w
,
e voluti on is represented from th e S tone Age on ar d

, T he .
a ctual m en e see about us are not t entieth century -

3 66 TH E M AK I NG OF H UMAN I T Y
w
men at a ll but Mou s te ria ns men of the fifteenth century
i th Master of A rts d egr e e e orma n Chieftains Tudor
, ,
w
,
w
,
men Victorians They travel in rail ays fl y in planes
w
.
-
, , , ,
use telephones do not s ettle their family disp utes ith

, ,
stone hatche ts do not eat i th their fingers ; b u t all

,
.
t hat is but veneer Ess ent ially in all that reall y

.
’
,
.
counts as marking their place on the g ene alogical tree

of human evo lution in their m , ind in their ideas the y , , .
apperta i n not to this but to some remot e and primitive

,
period . C ivili z ation is so far as they are con ce rned

, ,
w
but a material set t ing of no mo re significance than the
,
cut of their clothe s .
But ha t does t hat fact actually sign ify a nd amo unt

to ? To this : that the results the prod ucts o f hum an ,
evolution since p al a eolithic Tudor Victorian d ays have , ,
no t been transmitted to them ; have not be en transmitted

by the only agency that can pe rform tha t func tion by ,
hu man en vir onment human organi z ation Tha t
w
, .
function has been pe rforme d pa rtially a nd imperfectly or
w
,
not at all The Ca rrier of E vol ution upo n hich the y, '
w
.
are holly depe nde nt for their human he re dity has trans
mi tte d to them rail ays a nd police men but the actual ,
ess e ntials of the accompli shed evolution it ha s e ntirely

failed to transmit I t is no incu ra ble hu an nature
. m
that i s at fault no irredeema ble stupidity or folly but
, ,
the mech a nism of human evolution I t is not their prot o .
plasm or the ir b loo d that is to blame if they are troglodyte s
w w
.
o r barbarians they cannot be anything el s e b u t for the

handing do n by human or ga ni z ati on of the gro th of
huma ni ty since troglodytism and barba rism H uma n .
purpose has as a matter of fact never yet so much as

, ,
bethought itse l f of exercising a ny co ntrol over tha t

function ; no steps have been taken b y the human race
to tra nsmit i t s evolution Mankind has neve r deliberatel y .
orga mze d its reproductive me chanism .
We have it is true some thing spoken of a nd con

, , ,
s id e r a b ly spoken of as f e ducation But it is s ca rcely ’

.
,
possi b le to contemplate it s e rid u s ly as a rationa l

endeavour to discharge t he a b ove named function So .
grossly ludicrous so fantas ti call y archaic is it t hat one

, ,
can har d ly employ t he same te r m to de s i gna te it a nd

3 68 THE MA K I N G "
OF H UMAN I TY
fifteenth cen tury and by no means up to the leve l of
w w
.
. .
even the best fift e e nth century mentality -

F ift ee n t h .
century kno ledge is not t he means to t e nti eth century
w
-
w
thought .
A s to t he e ducation supplie d to the lo e r classes “ ’
hile b y the omission of some of the tradi tio ns of the

church s choo ls it is more real a n d he althier i n tone
.
.
‘
s o far a s it g oes t han that of the e xp e ns iv e s chools it
w
~
, ,
is s o rudimentary a s scarcely to amount to more than .
me r e li teracy pr oviding the pupil i th suffi cient letter s

,
to read s hi ll ing shocke r s ( instead of si x shilling ones -

,
like his more fortunate b rother brought up on Ve r gil

’
and X eno p hon ) and su ffici ent fi gu ring to shop or che at

,
, The tra n s mis sion of the p roducts of mankind s men tal ’
evolution takes pla ce to day in s pite of any system of -
education in direct confl ict With it by resol ute indi

’ '
, ,
w
vid ual discard i n g of its influe nce almost solely throug h ,
the b road scatterin g of the pr in ted p a g e

-
.
I t is u nne cessary t o d e ll here upo n a n un s pe a ka b le

a bsu r dity s o g r oss t hat it has b e co me a recogniz ed
w
"
scandal currently co mment e d upon I t may ho e ver .

, ,
.
not be ou t of p l a ce to po int out that mu ch of the

‘
criticism directed agai nst it s tu l t ifie s itself a n d lends .
a hand le to the guardi ans of tradition b y setting up

.
,
in opp osition to i ts hieratic unrealities the i deal o f a
w
,
util itarian educa t ion ’
w
.
I t is reasonable a nd rig ht that every man should ith
w
'
all available kn o ledg e and training be fitted for the

particular o rk he is intended t o perform but that is
no t the fi rs t ob j ect of e d t1 ca tion I t is not in the .
p rope r sense e ducation at a ll T he c a rpenter should . b e

tr a i ned in carpe nterin g, the doctor in medical s cien ce ,
the far mer in agriculture But a ma n bes ide s being

.
a carpente r a do ct or or a fa rmer is fi rst and foremost
w
, , ,
a ma n . I n addition to carp enterin g or doctorin g or

‘
, ,
farming in a d dition to having to dea l i th the pr oblems
w
,
o f materials a nd const ruction or of pa tholog y or o f
ww w
. .
, ,
the chemistry of soils he is co nf ronted i th the »
pr o b l ems of life ith the proble m

.
,
s of? t h e living o r ld
w
, .
I n addition to be in g a orking member in t h e divisi on
o f the orld s lab our, he is a living mind H e is the

’
.
C ON TR O L OF TR A NS M I SS I O N 369
w
heir of all the a ges of the c omple x o r g a ni sm o f hum a nity
,
w
through hich the evolu tiona ry pr ocess is mo ving ; he
ha s a ri ght to h
of h
i s h u ma n inherit ance to the develo p ment
i s po e rs to t he full e x ten t
makes possible
hich tha t inheritan ce
H e is the builder of the future a nd
w ,
w
.
cont r i b utes as a citiz en of humanity in his measure to

its g ro t h E ducation is the impa rtin g to every b e ing
ww
.
of the means a n d methods of r a tio nal thought .
An y ade quate discussion of hat such a n organi z ed

'
w w
t ransmission of h u man po e r to the rising ge nera t ion
ould entail ould he out of p ropo r tion i t h ou r w
w
s
,
present pu r pose I must leave the reader to conceive

'
a r e al system of education hich shall not be a subor

d ina t e side track o f human orga nization but its ch iefest
w
-
paramount sphere of action a nd endeavour ; in hich

,
w ,
the gro t h of the chi ld a nd the develo p ment of hi s

w
w
min d s hall take p lace as the concern of the hole race , ,
a m i d all the influences of heal thfulness a n d b eauty that

h u man resource ca n d e vise ; in hi ch the schools shall
a d o r ne d w
be the templ es ; t he palaces the treasure houses of the
ith all that human art a nd eal t h ca n
,
-
ww
w
' ‘
r a ce ,
lovingly lavis h of beautiful an d pr e cious ; in hi ch the
thought ; in hi ch he s hall b e fit te d w
child sha ll be disciplined to h e al th to ork a nd to
e ffi ciency for his appoin te d ork but shall first a nd

'
ith u tmost
'
w .
,
w ,
w ww
,
foremost be fitted to be a ma n and a citiz en of humanity

in hi ch the free develo p m e nt of his po e rs and judg
ment shall not b e a dr u d ge r y but a joy ; in hi ch his
mi nd shall b e taught and furnished i t h the da ta of
compe ten cy t hrough eve ry avenue of the senses by
-
,
w ,
hi s life and surroundings b y pi ctorial a rt collections ;
w
, ,
the theatre the cinematograph by music by travel
w w
, , , ,
b y und o gmatic spo ken ord and unlimited access to
w
,
books ; in hich he shall a cquire by daily conta ct a

fir s t hand acquaintance
-
wi th most subject s and kno

ledge of some and hi le hi s mi nd s hall b e tra ined in
w
, ,
essen tials and represen ta tive sphe res it shall not remain ,
a stranger in any ; in hich he may learn Greek p rosody
w
b y a ll mea ns if he be so minded or it bears upon his
life ork but shall in any ca s e learn the beauty of t he
-
,
Greek spirit a nd its freedom and something of the

,
24
U MA N I TY
w
3 70 T H E M A K I N G OF H
w
spirit a nd achievement of all the ages to hich he is
the heir hat they have done for him hat they have
w w
w
, ,
be queathed to his life ; in h ich he sha ll learn s omething
w w
of the orld he lives in [be hold its infinite gr eatnes s ,
through the telescope and its min ute perfecti on t hrough

,
the microscope learn something of hat is kno n of
w w
,
life a n d its functions be hold the evolution of its fo r ms ;

,
of hich a period of travel a nd a n e x change ith the

chi ld ren of other countries shall be a pa rt a nd he
w
,
shall learn Greek if he chooses in Gr e e ce and F ren ch

, , ,
ww w
in F rance ; in hich repr esentatives of all typ es of
thought a nd opinion shall be free to place the ir inter
retations efore him hen he is old enou h h
“
p b , g a n d e ,
shall b e free to choose ; in hich hi s po ers s hal l be
w
:
exercised a nd teste d by ex p ression debate a nd d is , ,
cu s s ion among his" fello learners a nd the deba tin g ,
room shall be the examin ation hall leadin g by continuou s
ww
.
,
stage s to the councils of citi z ens a n d of nations ; in

hi ch,
hile he shall be p rovided for fed clothed a n d
cared for on princely s cale b y t he community of hich
, ,
w
w
'
he is the pr ecious heir he sha ll front t he first contribut e
w w
,
hi s labour a nd take his share of o rk sha ll be trained
ww
,
w
to d isci p line a nd endurance as e ll a s to j oy and po e r ;
, .
w
in hich ork a nd the training of body a nd mind shall
go hand in h a n d and that t r ainin g sha ll not e nd ith
,
a ny period of childhood
. b u t shall be available a nd
,
ren dered desirabl e throu gh life ; in hich the pupil

shall be come accustomed to the meanest task a nd to
the highest thou ght ; in hich the only meanin g of
human equality shall b e reali z e d —
w
e qual oppo rtunity of
free dev elopment to all .
so
To forecast the future gr o th of that human orl d
— “
rich as yet for all our bruised o p t imisms a nd
w w
—
defeated moods ih potentialities a nd ex pat i ating s a p
w
,
is b e side ou r p r esent scope O ur concern has b een
w
.
to trace that gro t h in the past a nd to t rack throu gh

its gnarled and ragged form the mounting forces hich
hav e pushed after all ever l ight a rd creative in suffer
i ng and in joy
, ,
Regarding thos e e ancipations a nd

.
wm ’
,
L ib ra r y of Philosop hy
G e ne ra l E d itor : PRO FESSO R J H MUI RH E AD LL D
w
. .
, . .
A NA L YT I C PS YC H O L OG Y By G P STO UT T o Vol
APP E ARAN C E AND R E A L I T Y By F H B u n r
ATT E NT I ON By P of W B P IL LSB URY
Edi ti on m net
othEdi tion u
r
6d n t
I zs 6d n t
. .
. .
.
.
.
w .
s
.
.
s .
.
. e
e
.
w
. . .
C O N T E MP O RAR Y PS Y C H O L O G Y By P of G VIL LA u s 6d net r
w
. . . . . .
H I STO R Y O F E ST H E T I C By D B B os gu zr 4thR a ga n
.
mMm r . . . e . .
H I ST O R Y O F E N G L I S H UT I L I TAR I AN I S M By P of E A nn m 64 nét r . . . .
H I ST O R Y O F P H I L O S OP H Y By D J E E nmm n r . . . .
Vol I A N CIE NT AND M E DI E VAL 4thE d hom mt

w
. .
z
M O DE R N 6thEdition
.
.
Vol I I . . . .
Vol I I I S I N C E H EG E L sthE d t n
. .
Is na . z .
s . .
’
H I ST O RY O F PSYC H O L OG Y AN CI E NT AND PATRI STI C B y G S B RETT :

MA
.
,
.
1 23 . 6d net .
.
MA TT E R AND M E MO R Y B v H EN RI B ERG SON T ns l ted b y N M P A UL ra a

a nd W S PA L MER 3 d E d ti on
. . .
. .
1 23 6d not
. r z .
.
N AT U RA L R I G H TS By P of D G e cnrz 3 d Ed t on mi 6d a t r . . . . r i i . . . fl .
P H I LOSO P H Y AND P O L I T I CA L E CO N O MY By D J BO N AR u 6d n t
w
r . . . s . . e .
RAT I O NA L TH EO L OGY S I N CE KA NT By P of O P F L E I DERER zs 6d n t

w
r . . . I e .
T HE P H E NOME N O LO G Y O F M I N D By G F HE G E L T n l t d by ra
J B B A I LLIE T o Vols
s a e
5 m
. . . .
-2
. . .
t .
s . a .
T H O U G H T AND T H I N G S ; O R G EN ET I C LOG I C By P of M BAL D WIN , r . . .
Vol I FU N CTI ON A L L OG I C
. .
EXPERI MENTAL LOG IC

.
Vol I I . . 1 64 " a k .
23 -
Vol III R EAL LOG I C ( L G EN ET I C E PISTEMO L OG Y)

”
. .
, .
T I M E AN D F R E E W I LL By HE N RI B ERG SON T ra ns la t d b y F L P OG SON

3 d E dm
. e . . .
r on .
1 23 6d d . . ,
VA L UA T I O N T H E T H E O R Y O F VALU E
: By Prof W M U RB AN . .
mt
. .
I zs . 6d .
:
.
TH E P SY C H O LO G Y O F T H E R E L I G I O U S LI F E B y P of G r M
S TRATTON
. . .
. 1 25 6d n t . e
TH E G R E AT P R O B L E M S B y Pr of B ER N A R D I N O VAR ISC O T nl td b ra s a e
P of R C L O DG E
. .
r . . . I
. 6d zs .
K N O W T HY S E L F B y Pr of B ERN ARD I NO VARIS C O T an la ted b y D . . r s r.

G L G LI I
’
L MO S ALVADO RI . 1 23 . 6d .
E L E ME N TS O F F O L K PS Y C H O LO G Y By W W UN DT T n la ted b y D ra s r.
E DW AR D L SC H A UB
. .
.
ss n t . 1 . e .
G I A M B A TT I STA V I C O By B E N ED ETTO C RO C E T ns l a t d b y R G
« ra e
C O LL I N G W OO D
. .
1 23 6d n t e
w
. .
. .
E L E ME NTS O F C O N ST R U CT I V E P H I L O S O P H Y
I By Prof J S MA C KE NZ I E . . . .
z ud I mp r ess n . 1 53 net.
rSO CI AL P U R PO S E By Prof H: J W H ETH ERI N G TO N a nd Prof J H

M I R H E AD
. . . . .
.
U . 1 0s . 6d . ncf .
II NT RO D U CT I O N T O MA T H E MA T I C AL P H I LO S O P H Y By B ERTRA N D
R
USS , F RS E LL . . . I os . 6d . n et.
G O D AND P E RS O N A L I TY (G IFFO RD a ) B y Cr a n e r C m J
2
33
r unas . . 53 .
1 05 . . n
‘
N DON : G E O RG E AL L E N U NW I N L I MI T E D .

The Making of Humanity - Robert Briffault

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

The Making of Humanity - Robert Briffault

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

T HE MA K I N G

III . PRO G Rm AS VA LUE

III . RA T I O NA L T H OUG H T I TS O R I G I N AND FU N CT I O N

I MAN S A D A PTI VE VAR IA TI O N

II RAT I ONA L TH O U G HT AS MEAN S O P P RO G R ESS

II H UMAN I TY AS O RGAN ISM

II D I FFUS I O N AND CR O SS F ERT I L I Z AT I ON

III S E G R E GAT E D E VOL U T I O N

III N E C E SSI TY O F I NTE LL E CT U AL PR E PA R AT I ON

III. M O RA LS AND C U LTU RE .

Iv O U R T R I VI AL EST I MAT E O F UN PA R D O NAB L E

III RATI ONAL T H O U GH T AN D N I H I L I SM

T H E inte llect ua l revolution of the nineteenth c e ntu r y has

universe L ike the Ptolemaic orld our not ions con ce rn

ing the care er of our race ere mi se rably stunted dingy , ,

a nd mea n .The date 4 0 0 4 B C a s gravely acce p ted . .

as the boundar y of our ret rospec t ; and long before

chieﬂy concerned ith racial dynast ic a nd relig ious

e d iﬁca ti on faded into p ure legen d a nd mythology As

hen a akening science cr ashed through t he tinsel vaults

hich speeds ou r quiveri ng ea rth speck so

have t he mist s of le gend li fted before her radiant

of man s long and

of i ts Ii a tu r a l perspe ctive a nd proportion Th ose ‘

ages once peopled ith the myths and mon s ters

midland s e a ; j ingling donkey caravans that he a r from -

the T in Rivers through the realm of the p ig tailed

H ittite to the E u x ine a nd Ph r ygia th e freight of a

cu ltu re that rea ches back be yond Archbi sh op U s her s ’

in the masks of beasts prototypes of those hich Atti c

maidens shall d on at the shrine of A rtemis B rauronia ,

and Of those throug h hose bra z en mout hs shall be

chanted the lapidary lines of E s chyle a n choruses Yet

even that savage culture of the last ice age is but a

mature fruit the culmination of successive eras of s lo

gro th comp uted by hundreds of t housands of years .

B eyond stretch a eons of time as unsei z able to ou r

Transferred to the ope n va st ness of t hose e xpa nses

the entire p erspective the meaning itself of history is

Changed . Ast in the geocentric t heor y, our vie a s not f

merely untrue it a s an accurate inversion of the t ruth .

The career of mank ind a s currently conceived as one

regarded a s surviving vestiges re p resenting the condition

once noble a nd civili z ed races ho had by an inevitable

la of huma n nature lapsed into misera ble degrad ation

The Past a s the repository Of virtue a nd lost isdom

a s to hold up the e x cellence s of our d istant forbears

as a paradig to; a [ aning age

w I t is only a matter O f a generation or t o since

ork on P r imiti ve C u ltur e S ir Ed ard Tylor devotes

in the Course of it occasion to cite long and hot passages

a nd most fearless thinkers of th

feeling keenly as do a ll e arnest and generou s spirits

the faults and follies of t he orld about him could ,

perceive no hi gher aspiration to b e set as an ideal before

th Pr esent than the emu lation and imitation of the

Pa st. And t he past period Which he selected as a

mod el and e x emplar a s the thirteenth cen tury " The

th bu tt of his most scornful sarcasms

I t is no cu rrently kno n that the human orld has

shines on no heroi c o r golden ages but on nightmares

to make us scream in ou r sl ee p D uring a n incalculable .

pe riod of time our ancestors ere savages r uder and more