Force, Energy ^ and Will 247 







^^ersuaded that it would; but however that may be, one 

 '^■ling is certain. Since the belief in responsibility has been 

 ^^itherto generally accepted and acted on, this fact alone 

 constitutes a sufficient proof, for those with whom I am 

 arguing, that the delusion was beneficial for the race, since 

 they must admit that otherwise it could never have arisen 

 through the survival of the fittest. In harmony with this 

 view, Mr. Herbert Spencer fully admits that a society or 

 nation may get free of its faith too easily for its own safety. 

 How then can it be certain that it may not be the same for 

 the whole human race ? 



If the doubts here expressed are well founded, there 

 would surely be much wisdom in the saying attributed to 

 Voltaire, * ^i Dieu nexistait pas, il faudrait Vinventer ' ; and 

 it appears to me that the philanthropist who declines the 

 postulate here advocated should pause before propagating 

 his negative convictions. It may, to say the least, be far 

 more philanthropic in such a one, instead of seeking to tear 

 down systems the congruity of which with human welfare 

 experience has demonstrated, to select from amongst what 

 he deems the mythologies of his day, that which he considers 

 the most calculated to promote human happiness, and to, 

 more or less, energetically support it. I think I hear the 

 indignant protests of some utilitarian and non-theistic friends 

 at the ' immorality ' of such a doctrine. Though it is impos- 

 sible not to smile at the logic of such protesters, I should be 

 the last to refuse them a tribute of warm admiration for 

 their rectitude of sentiment, showing as it does, yet once 

 again, how much better than their creeds good men may be ; 

 and yet, if that is ' moral ' which * tends to increase the 

 happiness of men,' how can that be 'immoral' which ex 

 hypothesi has that very tendency? Appeal may be made, 

 however, to the authority of writers whom our opponents 



