civilization. We behold the melancholy spectacle of the renewal of the great mass of society from the lowest classes, the highest classes to a great extent either not marrying or not having children. The floating population is always the scum, and yet the stream of life is largely renewed from this source. Such a state of affairs, sufficiently dangerous in any society, is simply suicidal in the democratic civilization of our day. A visitor from some more enlightened sphere, in looking at the great masses of our unfit and weak, might well ask, Why were these people born? what sort of a society is this which allows such beings to be born, and then spends its best energies in a vain endeavor to elevate them and alleviate their lot! Illness produced by direct violation of obvious laws of health, instead of being regarded in its true light as a sin and a crime, is too often regarded as a pitiable misfortune, and petted into chronic invalidism. Illness, to be sure, is sometimes, like homicide, justifiable; but the cases are almost as rare.

It is a truth which it is perfect folly for us to ignore, that our civilization is in the most vital part of its decadence, and unless some effective measures are soon adopted and strictly enforced, our case will be irremediable. Since natural selection fails so largely in the human species, resort must be had to artificial selection, and that very speedily. The drunkard, the criminal, the diseased, the morally weak, the brutish, should never come into society. Not reform, but prevention should be the cry. The axe must not be merely trimming the branches, it must be laid to the root of the tree. supreme importance of selection by repression of unsuitable births for the prevention of over-population and for the perpetuation and progress of human society must be made plain to every thinking man. When public sentiment is thoroughly aroused we may expect action, but at present many difficulties confront us in applying this only certain remedy for the evils of society.

The

In the first place, there is a marked timidity in discussing the most vital of social questions. A false fastidiousness and vicious delicacy prevents the open discussion which is so desirable and necessary. The breeding of men and the breeding of horses are subject to the same general principles, and what horse-breeder does not fully discuss the principles of his craft? He is always looking for valuable qualities and

for the best means for reproducing and strengthening them. He knows that blood counts, and he keeps himself perfectly conversant with lineage. Man must be his own breeder, and he must breed upon the same scientific principles so long applied in the case of the lower animals if he will save the race for the fullest development of its most desirable qualities. To this end discussion must be absolutely free, and society must ultimately restrain and direct reproduction by strict legislation.

But the chief obstacle lies in our modern individualism. This has so long asserted complete freedom in the matter of marriage and offspring that it is now simply assumed by the vast majority as an indisputable and inalienable right. Public sentiment, indeed, is sometimes repressive, and custom fixes barriers and lays down rules; but these are more likely to be wrong than right in their tendency. The evil results of this much-abused freedom are but too apparent in both the individual and society. How many most sorely regret their parentage as they feel in themselves hereditary disease and mental and moral perversities which had been avoided if they had been born of sounder parents, and yet passion and instinct lead them to perpetuate these very weaknesses! A reckless individualism is responsible for the sorest ills of modern life. Perfect freedom with reference to marriage and reproduction is a wild license which leads society into inevitable decadence and ruin. With birth the evolution is nine-tenths completed, therefore the most vital interests of society lie in caring for the unborn, not for the born; and it is insane folly to leave this to the ignorant and thoughtless desire of the individual. Landor thus emphasizes this vital importance of marriage: "Death itself to the reflecting mind is less serious than marriage. Death is not even a blow, even a pulsation; it is a pause. But marriage unrolls the lot of numberless generations." That Landor, despite this saying, was supremely foolish in his marriage, but exemplifies this evil of reckless individualism.

Another great difficulty in improving the human race is the tendency to sterility in those whose qualities are most desirable for reproduction. The pressure of high specialization tends to destroy both function and desire. It seems possible that specialization in the case of man may be ultimately carried to the same extent as in bees, where division

of labor is brought to its acme. The great body of mankind in the fierce competition of the near future, when the earth is practically peopled, may tend to become specialized working neuters, the breeding to be done by a few highly differentiated forms. The tendency to infertility in many of the best specimens of mankind of both sexes should certainly be checked. As only the best should perpetuate themselves, society is bound to conserve the strength of these as carefully as possible, to remove all over-pressure, and to encourage by all legitimate means the rearing of children. In the true golden age, which lies not behind but before us, the privilege of parentage will be esteemed an honor for the comparatively few, and no child will be born who is not only sound in body and mind, but also above the average as to natural ability and moral force. In order to the improvement of any stock the breeder knows that an above the average must be struck for new individuals, and no permanent improvement can come to man, as a whole, except by the application of this simple law. It is a grave question whether the average is really being raised, in the case of the human race, by our tardy post-natal methods, whereas by thorough scientific selection and by the most scientific care for the whole pre-natal period, progress would be most evidently rapid. Where the field is perfectly open and control perfect, as, for instance, in the case of the trotting horse evolved in one hundred years, we see in short spaces of time marvellous results. By a like selection of the fittest and special care for them man would quickly attain wonderful results in his own development in special directions. The only force of any magnitude acting at present is the imperfect, unregulated natural selection of competition.

The more we observe and reflect, the more we are forced to conclude that society is spending much of its most precious energies in unavailing efforts to help the helpless and reform the incorrigible. The most careful and persistent culture will not raise good fruit from bad seed. What we most need is not new methods of culture but new seed. Since the character of society depends in such a paramount measure upon the nature of the individuals born into it, and since unconscious natural selection has become so weak in modern civilization, it is absolutely necessary to the salvation of society that artificial selection based on scientific

principles be carried out. Through voluntary organizations and ultimately by State management, men and women must be bred for the highest qualities. We believe most firmly that it is high time for civilized and mature men in a scientific period to put away all childish romanticism and sentimentalism as to the marriage relation. The destiny of mankind should not be left to ignorant caprice and romantic fancies, or to merely utilitarian considerations of rank and money. The most important matter in society, the inherent quality of the members which compose it, should be regulated by trained specialists. It is passing strange that our most trivial interests are confided to the specialists, while the interest of supreme importance is left to the desire of the individual, but slightly regulated by the ready-made law of public opinion. The essential superficiality of popular methods of reform must be made manifest, and action will follow. If a tithe of the energy which is spent in such a movement as the Prohibition agitation was turned toward the radical reform we have discussed, the temperance question would solve itself. In fact, the prime object in all social reforms is not to remove the temptation, but the temptable. It cannot be repeated too often, or emphasized too strongly, that the safety and progress of our civilization will not be assured by reformatory measures of any kind, but only by a radical change in public opinion and action as regards the scientific regulation of marriages and births.

*EONIAN PUNISHMENT.

BY REV. CHARLES HOLLAND KIDDER.

A FRIEND of mine, à physician of great ability, recently placed in my hands a copy of THE ARENA for April, and requested me to read Dr. Manley's article on Eternal Punishment, an article which had caused him much disquietude. He felt that if all the statements contained in the article were accurate, his religious instructors had been either knaves or fools—knaves if they taught what they did not believe— fools if they believed what they taught. It is to be regretted that this unhappy dilemma has been introduced into the discussion, for it brings in a personal element, and is more likely to arouse the odium theologicum than to aid in the discovery of truth. Let it be distinctly understood that I shall avoid entirely the "Tu quoque" argument, which would call for a counter-accusation against Dr. Manley of wilful fraud or improper motives in his treatment of his subject.

It is sufficient for my present purpose if I show that the defenders of the ordinary view are not so thoroughly unscholarly as would appear from the doctor's representations, and if a part of the testimony come from avowed rationalists, or from men of great liberality of thought, so much the better; they, at least, were not prejudiced in favor of traditional opinions. The proof of this point will carry with it an exculpation from the charge of "wilful perversion of the record by men of eminence in the Church" (page 545),— the accused were simply using their "right of private judgment, in choosing among various interpretations that which, in their opinion, accorded best with the teachings of the Church. It will be seen that there is another side to the question that the man is not necessarily swayed by prejudice or interest, who prefers the orthodox interpretation of a passage touching on the special Sonship of our Lord or the allusions to

The word " Eonian" (see Tennyson's In Memoriam, xxxv. 3) is used simply to vary the title, it being an exact English reproduction of the debatable word "aionios."