Eugenics strengthens the sense of social duty in so many important
particulars that the conclusions derived from its study ought to find a
welcome home in every tolerant religion. It promotes a far-sighted
philanthropy, the acceptance of parentage as a serious responsibility,
and a higher conception of patriotism. The creed of eugenics is founded
upon the idea of evolution; not on a passive form of it, but on one that
can to some extent direct its own course. Purely passive, or what may be
styled mechanical evolution, displays the awe inspiring spectacle of a
vast eddy of organic turmoil, originating we know not how, and
travelling we know not whither. It forms a continuous whole from first
to last, reaching backward beyond our earliest knowledge and stretching
forward as far as we think we can foresee. But it is moulded by blind
and wasteful processes, namely, by an extravagant production of raw
material and the ruthless rejection of all that is superfluous, through
the blundering steps of trial and error. The condition at each
successive moment of this huge system, as it issues from the already
quiet past and is about to invade the still undisturbed future, is one
of violent internal commotion. Its elements are in constant flux and
change, though its general form alters but slowly. In this respect it
resembles the curious stream of cloud that sometimes seems attached to a
mountain top during the continuance of a strong breeze; its constituents
are always changing, though its shape as a whole hardly varies.
Evolution is in any case a grand phantasmagoria, but it assumes an
infinitely more interesting aspect under the knowledge that the
intelligent action of the human will is, in some small measure, capable
of guiding its course. Man has the power of doing this largely so far as
the evolution of humanity is concerned; he has already affected the
quality and distribution of organic life so widely that the changes on
the surface of the earth, merely through his disforestings and
agriculture, would be recognisable from a distance as great as that of
the moon.
* * * * *
As regards the practical side of eugenics, we need not linger to re-open
the unending argument whether man possesses any creative power of will
at all, or whether his will is not also predetermined by blind forces or
by intelligent agencies behind the veil, and whether the belief that man
can act independently is more than a mere illusion. This matters little
in practice, because men, whether fatalists or not, work with equal
vigour whenever they perceive they have the power to act effectively.
Eugenic belief extends the function of philanthropy to future
generations, it renders its action more pervading than hitherto, by
dealing with families and societies in their entirety, and it enforces
the importance of the marriage covenant by directing serious attention
to the probable quality of the future offspring. It sternly forbids all
forms of sentimental charity that are harmful to the race, while it
eagerly seeks opportunity for acts of personal kindness, as some
equivalent to the loss of what it forbids. It brings the tie of kinship
into prominence and strongly encourages love and interest in family and
race. In brief, eugenics is a virile creed, full of hopefulness, and
appealing to many of the noblest feelings of our nature.
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[Illustration: _ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE HERBERT SPENCER LECTURE 1907._]