160 THE DESCENT OF MAN. 



in other characters. The Greeks may have retrograded 

 from a want of coherence between the many small states, 

 from the small size of their whole country, from the 

 practice of slavery, or from extreme sensuality; for they did 

 not succumb until " they were enervated and corrupt to 

 the very core." * The western nations of Europe, who now 

 so immeasurably surpass their former savage progenitors 

 and stand at the summit of civilization, owe little or none 

 of their superiority to direct inheritance from the old 

 Greeks, though they owe much to the written works of that 

 wonderful people. 



Who can positively say why the Spanish nation, so domi- 

 nant at one time, has been distanced in the race. The 

 awakening of the nations of Europe from the dark ages is 

 a still more perplexing problem. At that early period, as 

 Mr. Galton has remarked, almost all the men of a gentle- 

 nature, those given to meditation or culture of the mind, 

 had no refuge except in the bosom of a Church which 

 demanded celibacy; f and this could hardly fail to have had 

 a deteriorating influence on each successive generation. 

 During this same period the Holy Inquisition selected with 

 extreme care the freest and boldest men in order to burn or 

 imprison them. In Spain alone some of the best men 

 those who doubted and questioned, and without doubting 

 there can be no progress were eliminated during three 

 centuries at the rate of a thousand a year. The evil which 

 the Catholic Church has thus effected is incalculable, 

 though- no doubt counterbalanced to a certain, perhaps to 

 a large, extent in other ways; nevertheless, Europe has 

 progressed at an unparalleled rate. 



The remarkable success of the English as colonists, com- 

 pared to other European nations, has been ascribed to 

 their " daring and persistent energy;" a result which is 

 well illustrated by comparing the progress of the Canadians 

 of English and French extraction; but who can say how 

 the English gained their energy ? There is apparently 



*Mr. Greg, "Fraser's Magazine," Sept., 1868, p. 357. 



f" Hereditary Genius," 1870, pp. 357-359. The Rev. F. W. 

 Farrar (" Fraser's Mag.," Aug. 1870, p. 257) advances arguments on 

 the other side. Sir C. Lyell had already (" Principles of Geology," 

 vol. ii, 1868, p. 489) in a striking passage called attention to the evil 

 influence of the Holy Inquisition in having, through selection, 

 lowered the general standard of intelligence in Europe. 



