134 THE FAMILY AND THE NATION 



reach maturity, those who will not marry, and those 

 who, although married, will have no children, on the 

 average, out of a number of such families, two children 

 in each, equal to the number of the parents, will be 

 left to continue the race. 



What is true of the nation as a whole is true of any 

 section of it. Four children to each fertile marriage is 

 the least that will enable any particular stock to main- 

 tain itself relatively to its surroundings, provided they 

 also remain at a constant level. Less than four children 

 means the slow and certain breeding out of existence of 

 that particular strain, with its potentialities of good and 

 evil ; families of more than four are responsible for a 

 gradual increase of their especial characteristics. The 

 average character of the race is but the average char- 

 acter of the individuals which compose it. By an 

 analysis of the birth-rate for different sections of the 

 community, we can discover whether the nation be 

 recruiting itself from its better or from its worse stocks. 



Here it is necessary to make an assumption. In 

 order to have some guide in our investigations, some 

 touchstone wherewith to test our material, we shall 

 consider that success in life indicates ability, and that 

 ability is a desirable possession for a race. Either of 

 these two propositions may be controverted. We may 

 say with every truth that success in life depends also 

 on character, health, power of personality (whatever 

 that means), and that ability may show itself in the 

 shape of a keen understanding of the weaknesses and 

 vices of the human race, and success result from playing 

 on the one and pandering to the other. But good 

 health and character count with ability among the 



