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30 chapters
THE AUTHOR'S APOLOGY
THE AUTHOR'S APOLOGY
T HIS is not a stiff and learned work, written by a professor for professors, but a human book, written in humanity's behalf by a man, for men and women. I shall not fret you with strange and stilted language, nor weary you with tedious and irksome science, nor gall you with far-fetched theories, nor waste your time in any vain word-twisting nor splitting of hairs. A plain-dealing man, speaking frankly and simply to honest and plain-dealing readers, I shall trust to common sense and common knowl
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CHAPTER ONE—THE LAWS OF GOD
CHAPTER ONE—THE LAWS OF GOD
D IVINE law says that certain acts are good, and that certain acts are evil; and that God will reward those who do well, and will punish those who do ill. And we are told that God will so act because God is just . But I claim that God cannot justly punish those, who disobey, nor reward those who obey His laws. Religious people tell us that God is "The Great First Cause": that God created all things—mankind, the universe, nature and all her laws. Who is answerable for a thing that is caused: he w
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CHAPTER TWO—THE LAWS OF MAN
CHAPTER TWO—THE LAWS OF MAN
C OMMON law and common usage all the world over hold men answerable for their acts, and blame or punish them when those acts transgress the laws of custom. Human law, like the divine law, is based upon the false idea that men know what is right and what is wrong, and have power to choose the right. Human law, like divine law, classifies men as good and bad, and punishes them for doing "wrong." But men should not be classified as good and bad, but as fortunate and unfortunate, as weak and strong.
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NOW, WHAT DO WE MEAN BY "HEREDITY"?
NOW, WHAT DO WE MEAN BY "HEREDITY"?
Heredity is "descent," or "breed." Heredity, as the word is here used, means those qualities which are handed down from one generation to the next. It means those qualities which a new generation inherits from the generation from whom it descends. It means all that "is bred in the bone." If a man inherits a Grecian nose, a violent temper, well-knit muscles, a love of excitement, or a good ear for music, from his father or mother, that quality or feature is part of his heredity. It is "bred in hi
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WHY WE ARE NOT ALL ALIKE
WHY WE ARE NOT ALL ALIKE
The cause of variation can be easily understood. Variation is due to the fact that every child has two parents. If these two parents were exactly alike, and if their ancestors had been all exactly alike, their children would be exactly like each other and like their parents. But the father and mother are of different families, of different natures, and perhaps of different races. And the ancestors of the father and mother—millions in number—were all different from each other in nature and in des
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WHY THE CLOCK OF DESCENT SOMETIMES GOES BACKWARD
WHY THE CLOCK OF DESCENT SOMETIMES GOES BACKWARD
"Atavism," or "breeding back," or "reversion," may reach back through thousands of generations, and some trait of the cave-man, or the beast, may reappear in a child of Twentieth Century civilisation. Darwin, in The Descent of Man , Chapter II, gives many instances of "atavism," or breeding back, by human beings to apish and even quadrupedal characteristics. Alluding to a case cited by Mr. J. Wood, in which a man had seven muscles "proper to certain apes," Darwin says: It is quite incredible tha
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THE MYSTERY OF DESCENT MADE EASY
THE MYSTERY OF DESCENT MADE EASY
Now, take a bottle of red beads, and call it male. Take a bottle of blue beads, and call it female. From each bottle take a portion of beads; mix them in a third bottle and call it "child." We have now a child of a red father and a blue mother; and we find that this child is not all red, nor all blue, but part red and part blue. It is like the father, for it has red beads; it is like the mother, for it has blue beads. It is unlike the father, for the father has no blue, and it is unlike the moth
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WHERE DO OUR NATURES COME FROM?
WHERE DO OUR NATURES COME FROM?
For the scientific explanation of this fact I must refer you to The Germ Plasm , by Weissmann. For our purposes it is enough to know that brothers and sisters do vary from each other, and that they so vary because the ancestral qualities are not evenly distributed amongst the "sperms" and the "ova." On this head our own knowledge and observation do not leave any room for doubt. It is as if in the case of our marriage of Red-Blue and Black-Yellow there were three child-bottles, of which one got m
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|WHAT do we mean by the words "sin" and "vice," and "crime"?
|WHAT do we mean by the words "sin" and "vice," and "crime"?
Sin is disobedience of the laws of God. Crime is disobedience of the laws of men. Vice is disobedience of the laws of nature. I say that there is no such thing as a known law of God: that the so-called laws of God were made by men in God's name, and that therefore the word "sin" need trouble us no more. There is no such thing as sin. I say that since there are bad laws as well as good laws, a crime may be a good instead of a bad act. For though it is wrong to disobey a good law, it may be right
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WHERE DID MORALS COME FROM?
WHERE DID MORALS COME FROM?
Morals do not come by revelation, but by evolution. Morals are not based upon the commands of God, but upon the nature and the needs of man. Our churches attribute the origin of morals to the Bible. But the Egyptians and Babylons had moral codes before Moses was born or the Bible written. Thousands of years, tens of thousands of years, perhaps millions of years before Abraham, there were civilisations and moral codes. Even before the coming of man there were the beginnings of morals in the anima
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THE BEGINNINGS OF MORALS
THE BEGINNINGS OF MORALS
In the Buddhist "Kathâ Sarit Sâgara" it is written: "Why should we cling to this perishable body? In the eye of the wise the only thing it is good for is to benefit one's fellow creatures." And another Buddhist author expresses the same idea with still more force and beauty: "Full of love for all things in the world, practising virtue in order to benefit others—this man alone is happy." But even when the moralists did not lay down the "Golden Rule," they taught that the cause of sin and of suffe
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OUR POSSIBILITIES
OUR POSSIBILITIES
We know very well that some qualities may make either for good or bad. Strength, ability, courage, emulation, may go to the making of a great hero, or a great criminal.. If a man's bent, or teaching, be good, he will do better, if it be evil he will do worse by reason of his talents, his daring, or his resolution. Dirt has been defined as "matter in the wrong place": badness might be often defined as goodness misapplied. Courage ill-directed is foolhardiness; caution in excess is cowardice; firm
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"THE BORN CRIMINAL"
"THE BORN CRIMINAL"
Speaking strictly, there are no "born criminals"; but there are some unfortunate creatures born with a nature prone to crime, just as there are others born with a nature prone to disease. These "born criminals," regarded by their better-endowed or luckier brothers and sisters as "wicked," are the victims of "atavism" or of "degeneracy." They are as much to be pitied, and as little to be blamed, as those born with a liability to insanity or consumption. Atavism, as we have seen, is a reversion to
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|WHAT is environment?
|WHAT is environment?
When we speak of a man's environment we mean his surroundings, his experiences; all that he sees, hears, feels, and learns from the instant that the lamp of life is kindled to the instant when the light goes out. By environment we mean everything that develops or modifies the child or the man for good or for ill. We mean his mother's milk; the home, and the state of life into which he was born. We mean the nurse who suckles him, the children he plays with, the school he learns in, the air he bre
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MORALS AND DISEASE
MORALS AND DISEASE
The brain is the mind. When the brain is diseased the mind is diseased. When the brain is sick the mind is sick. But the brain is part of the body. We see, hear, smell, feel, and taste with the brain. The nerves of the toes and fingers are connected with the brain; they are like twigs on a tree, of which the brain is the root. The same blood which circulates through the heart and limbs circulates through the brain. It is only a figure of speech to speak of the mind and the body as distinct from
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WOMEN IN THE METROPOLIS OF THE WORLD
WOMEN IN THE METROPOLIS OF THE WORLD
"Have you any reverence for womanhood? Are you men? If you come here and look upon these women, you shall feel a burning scorn for the blazoned lies of English chivalry and English piety and English Art. "Drudging here in these vile stews day after day, night after night; always with the wolf on the poor doorstep gnashing his fangs for the clinging brood; always with the black future, like an ominous cloud casting its chill shadow on their anxious hearts; always with the mean walls hemming them
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BRITONS NEVER, NEVER, SHALL
BRITONS NEVER, NEVER, SHALL
"In the chain shops of the Black Country the white man's burden presses sore. It presses upon the women and the children with crushing weight. It racks and shatters and ruptures the strongest men; it bows and twists and disfigures the comeliest women, and it makes of the little children such premature ruins that one can hardly look upon them without tears or think of them without anger and indignation. "At Cradley I saw a white-haired old woman carrying half a hundredweight of chain to the fogge
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EDUCATION
EDUCATION
There are many who under-rate the power of environment But there are few who deny the value of education. And education is environment. All education, good or bad, in the home or the school, is environment. And we all know, though some of us forget, that good education makes us better and that bad education makes us worse. And we all know, though some of us forget, that we have to be educated by others, and that those others are part of our environment. For even in the case of self-education we
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PERSONAL INFLUENCES
PERSONAL INFLUENCES
Of home influences it is hardly necessary to speak. The blessing of a wise and good mother; the disaster of an ignorant, vicious, or neglectful mother call for no reminder. The influence of husbands and wives upon each other; the transformation wrought by a fortunate or unfortunate love passion in the life of a woman or a man are equally obvious and well understood. So with friendship: most men have known at least one friend whose counsel, conversation, or example has affected the entire current
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CHAPTER SEVEN—HOW HEREDITY AND ENVIRONMENT WORK
CHAPTER SEVEN—HOW HEREDITY AND ENVIRONMENT WORK
T HERE are many who have some understanding of heredity and of environment when taken separately who fail to realise their effects upon each other. The common cause of the stumbling is easy to remove. It is often said that two men are differently affected by the same environment, or what seems to be the same environment, and that therefore there must be some power in men to "overcome" their environment. I have dealt with this argument already, showing that the contest between a man and his envir
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|THERE are many who always think of environment as something bad.
|THERE are many who always think of environment as something bad.
We hear a good deal about men who "rise above their environment"; but we seldom hear of men who are uplifted by their environment. Yet, as I have shown, no man rises above bad environment unless he is helped by good environment. Those who dread the power of environment cannot have given much thought to the subject. Instead of being a menace to the human race, the power of environment is the source of our brightest hope. Environment has shaped evolution, and has raised man above the beasts. Envir
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THE ORIGIN OF CONSCIENCE
THE ORIGIN OF CONSCIENCE
Now, it was wrong to burn heretics, and pillory reformers, and work babies to death in the mill and the mine in those days, or it is right to do the same things now. But conscience now condemns as wrong the same acts which it once approved as right; it now approves as right what it once condemned as wrong. Conscience, then, differs in different ages. Conscience tells two quite different tales at two different times. And if we want to find out which tale is the true one we have to use our reason
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SCIENCE AND CONSCIENCE
SCIENCE AND CONSCIENCE
I will quote first from Darwin, "Descent of Man," Chapter 4: The following proposition seems to me in a high degree probable, namely, that any animal whatever, endowed with well-marked social instincts, the parental and filial affections being here included, would inevitably acquire a moral sense or conscience as soon as its intellectual powers had become as well, or nearly as well, developed as in man.... Secondly , as soon as the mental faculties had become highly developed, images of all past
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WHAT HAD FREE WILL TO DO WITH IT?
WHAT HAD FREE WILL TO DO WITH IT?
We are told that every man has a free will, and a conscience. Now, if Williams had been Robinson, that is to say if his heredity and his environment had been exactly like Robinson's, he would have done exactly as Robinson did. It was because his heredity and environment were not the same that his act was not the same. Both men had free wills. What made one do what the other refused to do? Heredity and environment. To reverse their conduct we should have to reverse their heredity and environment.
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CHAPTER ELEVEN—SELF-CONTROL
CHAPTER ELEVEN—SELF-CONTROL
T HE subject of self-control is another simple matter which has been made difficult by slovenly thinkers. When we say that the will is not free, and that men are made by heredity and environment, we are met with the astonishing objection that if such were the case there could be no such things as progress or morality. When we ask why, we are told that if a man is the creature of heredity and environment it is no use his making any effort: what is to be, will be. But a man makes efforts because h
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ALL PRAISE AND ALL BLAME.
ALL PRAISE AND ALL BLAME.
Let us take some revolting action as a test. A tramp has murdered a child on the highway, has robbed her of a few coppers, and has thrown her body into a ditch. "Do you mean to say that tramp could not help doing that? Do you mean to say he is not to blame? Do you mean to say he is not to be punished?" Yes. I say all those things; and if all those things are not true this book is not worth the paper it is printed on. Prove it? I have proved it. But I have only instanced venial acts, and now we a
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GUILTY OR NOT GUILTY?
GUILTY OR NOT GUILTY?
The tramp has murdered a child for her money. What is his defence? I appear for the prisoner, and claim that he is not responsible for his act. (Cries of shame! bosh! lynch him!) I will first of all remind the court of the reasons upon which I base my claim. (Gentleman in white tie rises and declaims vehemently against the immorality of the defence. Talks excitedly about the flood gates of anarchy, and the bulwarks of society, and is with difficulty persuaded to resume his seat.) Clerical enviro
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TO WHAT DOES ALL THIS EVIDENCE TEND?
TO WHAT DOES ALL THIS EVIDENCE TEND?
From the day of Sir Thomas More to the present hour, it has been claimed by wise and experienced men that punishment is not only unjust, but worse than useless. And the statistics of crime have always supported the claim. There was more crime in the fifteenth century, when penalties were so severe, than there is to-day. There were worse crimes. There was more brutality. The abolition of cruel punishments has diminished crime. The abolition of flogging in the army and navy has not injured either
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CHAPTER FOURTEEN—SOME OBJECTIONS ANSWERED
CHAPTER FOURTEEN—SOME OBJECTIONS ANSWERED
T HE upholders of the doctrine of free will commonly fall into the error of considering heredity and environment apart from each other. Father Adderley, in a lecture given at Saltley, told his hearers that "all our great scientists agree that people have the power to overcome their hereditary tendencies." Perhaps: but they can only get that power from environment; and if the environment is bad they will not get that power. But the most surprising example of this mental squinting is afforded by t
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CHAPTER FIFTEEN—THE DEFENCE OF THE BOTTOM DOG
CHAPTER FIFTEEN—THE DEFENCE OF THE BOTTOM DOG
F RIENDS, I write to defend the Bottom Dog. It is a task to stagger the stoutest heart. With nearly all the power, learning, and wealth of the world against him; with all the precedents of human history against him; with law, religion, custom, and public sentiment against him, the unfortunate victim's only hope is in the justice of his case. I would he had a better advocate, as I trust he some day will. The prosecution claim a monopoly of learning, and virtue, and modesty. They may be justified
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