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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



that he should not have used such 

 wor<K 



Up to this point we have been examr 

 inim: what Dr. Hill offers as his proofs 

 that Herbert Spencer advises us " to fol- 

 low our own interest without concern 

 for others " ; it remains now to glance 

 at a few of the numerous passages which 

 show in the most positive and conclu- 

 sive manner that Herbert Spencer holds 

 no such principle as that imputed to 

 him, but, on the contrary, earnestly de- 

 sires that we should concern ourselves 

 for one another, and that sympathy 

 should govern in all human relations. 

 It is very singular indeed that these pas- 

 sages should have missed, if they did 

 miss, Dr. Hill's scrutiny; and more sin- 

 gular still, if he was cognizant of them, 

 that he should not have considered that 

 any of them had a bearing on the ques- 

 tion at issue. We must devote the re- 

 mainder of our space mainly to quota- 

 tions. To show what he understands 

 by moral motives, Mr. Spencer says 

 (Data of Ethics, page 121) : " The man 

 who is moved by a moral feeling to help 

 another in difficulty, does not picture to 

 himself any reward here or hereafter, 

 but pictures only the better condition he 

 is trying to bring about. One who is 

 morally prompted to fight against a so- 

 cial evil has neither material benefit nor 

 popular applause before his mind; but 

 only the mischiefs he seeks to remove, 

 and the increased well-being which will 

 follow their removal." Then take the 

 following as indicating his ideal of social 

 life: "A society is conceivable formed 

 of men living perfectly inoffensive lives, 

 scrupulously fulfilling their contracts, 

 and efficiently rearing their offspring, 

 who yet, yielding to one another no ad- 

 vantages beyond those agreed upon, fall 

 short of that highest degree of life which 

 the gratuitous rendering of services 

 makes possible. . . . The limit of evo- 

 lution of conduct is consequently not 

 reached until, beyond avoidance of di- 

 rect and indirect injuries to others, there 

 are spontaneous efforts to further the 



welfare of others " (Data of Ethics, page 

 147). " Sympathy is the root of both jus- 

 tice and benevolence " (do., page 148). 



Any one wishing to know what scope 

 Mr. Spencer allowed to the altruistic 

 principle would naturally turn to the 

 chapter in his Data of Ethics entitled 

 Altruism versus Egoism. Dr. Hill did 

 net find it in the interest of his argu- 

 ment to make any quotations from that 

 chapter ; we must, therefore, be allowed 

 to produce a few : " That any one should 

 have formulated his experience by say- 

 ing that the conditions to success are a 

 hard heart and a good digestion is mar- 

 velous, considering the many proofs that 

 success, even of a material kind, greatly 

 depending as it does on the good offices 

 of others, is furthered by whatever cre- 

 ates good-will in others. The contrast 

 between the prosperity of those who to 

 but moderate abilities join natures which 

 beget friendships by their kindliness, and 

 the adversity of those who, though pos- 

 sessed of superior faculties and greater 

 acquirements, arouse dislike by their 

 hardness or indifference, should force 

 upon all the truth that egoistic enjoy- 

 ments are aided by altruistic actions. 

 This increase of personal benefit achieved 

 by benefiting others is but partly achieved 

 where a selfish motive prompts the seem- 

 ingly unselfish act ; it is fully achieved 

 only when- the act is really unselfish. 

 . . . Those (services) which bring more 

 than equivalents are those not prompted 

 by any thoughts of equivalents. For 

 obviously it is the spontaneous outflow 

 of good nature, not in the larger acts of 

 life only, but in all its details, w r hich 

 generates in those around the attach- 

 ments prompting unstinted benevo- 

 lence" (page 211). Not bad for a man 

 who is credited in an article written by 

 a college president, and selected by a 

 bishop for the reading of young people 

 whose opinions are in course of forma- 

 tion, with advising us "to follow our 

 own interest without concern for oth- 

 ers " ! Not so bad this either : " If we 

 contrast early poetry, occupied mainly 



