32 EVOLUTION AND ETHICS. I 



duct; however confident one may be that average 

 men may be thoroughly depended upon not to 

 carry it out to its full logical consequences; it 

 is nevertheless desirable to recognise the fact 

 that these consequences are incompatible with 

 the existence of a civil state,, under any circum- 

 stances of this world which have obtained, or, 

 so far as one can see, are, likely to come to 



For I imagine there can be no doubt that the 

 great desire of every wrongdoer is to escape from 

 the painful consequences of his actions. If I put 

 myself in the place of the man who has robbed me, 

 I find that I am possessed by an exceeding desire 

 not to be fined or imprisoned; if in that of the 

 man who has smitten me on one cheek, I contem- 

 plate with satisfaction the absence of any worse 

 result than the turning of the other cheek for like 

 treatment. Strictly observed, the " golden rule " 

 involves the negation of law by the refusal to put 

 it in motion against law-breakers; and, as regards 

 the external relations of a polity, it is the refusal 

 to continue the struggle for existence. It can be 

 obeyed, even partially, only under the protection 

 of a society which repudiates it. Without such 

 shelter, the followers of the " golden rule " may 

 indulge in hopes of heaven, but they must reckon 

 with the certainty that other people will be mas- 

 ters of the earth. 



What would become of the garden if the gar- 



