304 THE PRINCIPLES OF HEREDITY 



almost impenetrable wall of prejudice. It will inflict on 

 them premature mental senility, for in all things which fall 

 within its range the minds of the young will be rendered 

 almost as incapable of acquirement as those of the aged. It 

 will be associated with a state of society stagnant and 

 inefficient, and because inefficient, corrupt. Few great men 

 will arise under its influence, for genius, having little scope, 

 will be stunted, and ordinary men will be nearly as non- 

 receptive as insects. To be great in any useful sense it is 

 not enough that the worker should possess great powers 

 which he uses greatly. It is necessary also that his great 

 achievements should be recognized and appreciated by his 

 compatriots. Newton would have been ignored during the 

 Dark Ages, Darwin would have been burnt. 



481. The incalculable stupidity which may result from 

 vicious methods of teaching is well illustrated by the fact 

 that for ten or twenty centuries the adherents of two rival 

 religions, only one of which can be true, will dwell side by 

 side, and dispute acrimoniously the whole time, and yet be 

 unable to come to a common understanding by the mutual 

 elimination of error. I imagine that no sincerely religious 

 man will deny the existence of this excessive mental inertia. 

 If he will not admit it as regards the members of his own 

 sect, he will at least admit it as regards other sects, the 

 adherents of which, as he conceives, are prevented only by 

 lack of intelligence from perceiving the truth which to him 

 is so clear. The ecclesiastics of every religion hold the same 

 beliefs as the laity; but they are much more thoroughly 

 trained dogmatically. They are supposed to be learned and 

 wise, and to have the best intentions. Yet notoriously of 

 all men they are the least open to the influence of fresh 

 evidence no matter how conclusive it may be. For instance, 

 it was not till the truth had been known for centuries that 

 the majority of European ecclesiastics admitted the spherical 

 shape of the world. Here, therefore, it was not the doctrines, 

 but the way in which they were held, that was the principal 

 obstacle to the advanpement of knowledge. 



482. For the purpose of our discussion we will assume 

 that all the doctrines held at the present day by reasonably 

 cultured Christians are true. It follows that there should 

 be much truth in the kindred religions of Judaism and 

 Mahomedanism, and even some truth in Buddhism. But in 

 the ancient Pagan religion there can have been little truth. 

 It is agreed, indeed, on all hands, that the doctrines of the 

 latter were false. Its gods were merely mythical human 



