EDITOR'S TABLE. 



409 



EDITOR'S TABLE. 



SOCIAL EVOLUTION. 



A RECENT writer, whose work 

 has been very much discussed, 

 tells us that social evolution depends 

 more on the kind of religion a com- 

 munity possesses than on any other 

 circumstance. A given community, 

 provided with a suitable religion, will 

 far outstrip in civilization another 

 more richly endowed intellectually 

 but with an inferior religion. Like 

 all new formulas, this one has been 

 having considerable vogue ; and 

 many persons whose strong point is 

 not intellectuality are gratified to 

 think that a snub has been admin- 

 istered to that aggressive quality. 

 What we should like the able author 

 to do would be to supplement his 

 generalization by telling us how the 

 suitability of a religion for purposes 

 of social evolution is to be deter- 

 mined, and also how a community 

 that is not in possession of the right 

 kind of religion is to get into posses- 

 sion of it. Another question which 

 the work undoubtedly suggests is 

 how the right kind of religion is to be 

 maintained in authority against the 

 intellectual influences which the 

 writer seems to say tend to under- 

 mine all religions. As Greece and 

 Rome both reached a very high level 

 in civilization, we must presume 

 their religions were relatively supe- 

 rior at least in the sense of being 

 favorable to social evolution to those 

 of less distinguished races; but their 

 religions decayed. Was any one to 

 blame in the matter ? Or was the 

 decay in each case inevitable ? Was 

 it a needful preparation for the ad- 

 vent of a still higher form of re- 

 ligion ? If so, what is to be done 

 when other forms of religion seem 

 about to undergo transformation ? 



Should we try to arrest the process, 

 or let things take their course ? 



These are entirely practical ques- 

 tions, on none of which does the 

 author to whom we are referring* 

 throw, or attempt to throw, any 

 light. They are not only practical 

 questions, but they are questions 

 which any thoughtful man finds it 

 impossible not to ask when con- 

 fronted with Mr. Kidd's formula ; 

 and which he feels must be answered 

 in a very definite manner before it 

 can prove of any utility either for 

 the interpretation of history or for 

 guidance in the present. What we 

 would suggest would be an amend- 

 ment to the formula which we think 

 would greatly increase its applicabil- 

 ity both to the past and to the pres- 

 ent course of events. If we are al- 

 lowed to understand by religion the 

 ideal of social duty, then it seems 

 to us very true that social evolution 

 will, in the long run, be mainly de- 

 pendent thereon. What made Rome 

 great was the social cohesion be- 

 tween her citizens. How this supe- 

 rior degree of social cohesion was 

 in the first place produced would be 

 one of the most obscure of historical 

 problems; but that it existed and was 

 largely the cause of the growth of 

 the Roman power can not be doubt- 

 ed. Devotion to the state and faith 

 in its fortunes were in reality the 

 most important elements in the re- 

 ligion of an ancient Roman. His 

 gods were in the fullest sense civic 

 gods, and as civic that is to say, 

 local gods merely he regarded those 

 of other races. The virtues which 

 he esteemed and reverenced were 

 those which made for the strength 



* Kidd. Social Evolution. 



