Man m tJie Light of Evolution 



and fame or social distinction to pay much at- 

 tention to anything so unimportant as the needs 

 and possibilities of their children. The children 

 in the large families of our ancestors educated 

 one another to an extent which we can hardly 

 appreciate. The only child Is a " vanity and 

 vexation of spirit." But the evolutionist can 

 comfort himself with the thought that the di- 

 vorced pair and the only child are necessary 

 Incidents in the beneficent process of natural 

 selection. Such abortive families leave few de- 

 scendants to cumber the ground. These excep- 

 tions only prove the rule that the great mass of 

 the people live healthily In happy homes, where 

 sturdy morality and mutual helpfulness prevail, 

 and where children grow up in an atmosphere 

 of love, kindliness, and mutual forbearance, if 

 not of courtesy. The power of early environ- 

 ment, of a mother's love, cheerfulness, courtesy, 

 calmness, courage, hopefulness, and other vir- 

 tues, cannot be overestimated. It Is second only 

 to heredity, with which we sometimes confuse it. 

 The third great power for progress is the 

 school. This Is a comparatively new institution. 

 It always faces shifting conditions and new prob- 

 lems as new needs arise and as family training 



196 



