ALTRUISM 271 



recognize as belonging to the heritage of man. He 

 gave up his life to his sense of duty. Many a man 

 to-day devotes his life from early manhood to the 

 service of the poor, to persons far below him in intel- 

 ligence and value; and in such cases there is no 

 possible question of any recompense during his life. 

 His life is spent in poverty and discomfort when his 

 abilities would easily enable him to obtain comforts. 

 If he only put his efforts in the direction of self- 

 seeking instead of sacrifice, comforts and even lux- 

 ury might be his. A soldier gives his life to his 

 country, and when called upon to lead a forlorn hope 

 offers it cheerfully with no thought of recompense. 

 In all these cases there is no possible claim of a 

 temporary sacrifice for a future good unless we find 

 that good in a future life. To society it is a per- 

 manent advantage, but to the individual it is often a 

 direct disadvantage to follow the dictates of ethics. 

 The principle of altruism, which rules the higher 

 races of man, demands that mankind make sacrifices, 

 and the sacrifices it demands are actual ones. Only 

 by sacrifice can we follow the dictates of ethics. 



The Relation of Religion to the Evolution of 



Civilization 



Universality of Religion. — By no means can our intel- 

 ligence, or even our instincts, be brought to believe 

 that justice can demand one individual to yield his 

 interests to another, without at the same time pro- 

 viding for a proper recompense. While we feel that 

 the law of sympathy and love, which demands sacri- 

 fice, is fundamental in the nature of man, we feel 

 with no less positiveness that the laws of justice are 

 inherent in the nature of things. Justice insists 



