1 10 Life and Letters of Francis Galton 



become able to look after hiti own iiit«'re))t<< in nn incomparably more fur-siKhtod manner, than 

 in the old prehistoric days of barliarism and flint knives ; he is already able to act on the ex- 

 periences of the pH8t> to coinbim* closely with distant allies, and to prepare for future wants, 

 known only through the intcllif^i-nce, long Iwfore their pressure has iK-coiiie felt. He has intro- 

 duced a va.st deal of civilisation and hygiene which intluence, in an immense degree, his own 

 well-being and that of his children; it remains for him to bring other jtolicius into action 

 that shall tell on the natural gift-s of his race,'' (p. 352.) 



"How consonant it is t«> all analogj- and experience to expect that the control of the nature 

 of future generations should Ik* as much within the power of the living, us the health and 

 well-being of the individual is in the power of the guardians of his youth." (p. 351.) 



Galton puts on one side such social arrangements as existed in Sparta 

 "as alien and repulsive to modern feelings"' and confines his discussion to 



"agencies that are actually at work, and upon which there can be no hesitation in speaking." 

 (p. 352.) 



He now takes in succession a series of factors which aifect the natural 

 ability of nations. He first stre.sses differential fertility and says that the 

 wisest policy is that which retards marriage among tlie weak and ha«tens it 

 among the vigorous classes. He was the first, I believe, to draw attention 

 to the fact that many social agencies have l)een " strongly and banefuUy 

 exerted in the precisely opposite direction." He points out how a very slight 

 difference in fertility of two classes of the community will in one or two 

 centuries enormously change the constituents of a jxjpulation. He indicates 

 that early marriage not only increases fertility, but by causing more over- 

 lapping of generations largely increases population apart from increased 

 fertility. After referring to the rapidly waning influence of any subsection 

 of a race which postpones marriage, Galton continues : 



"It is a maxim of Malthus that the |>eriod of marriage ought to be delayed in order that 

 the earth may not lie overcrowded by a. ])opulution for whom there is no place at the great 

 table of nature. If this decline influenced all cla8.se8 alike, I should have nothing to say about 

 it here, one way or another, for it would hardly affect the discu.ssions in this book ; but as it is 

 put forward as a rule of conduct for the prudent part of mankind to follow, whilst the im- 

 prudent are necessarily left free to disregard it, I have no hesitation in saying that it is a most 

 pernicious rule of conduct in its bearing U|K)n race. Its efliect would Ix; such as to cause the 

 race of the prudent to fall, after a few centuries, into an almost incredible inferiority of numbers 

 to that of the imprudent, and it is therefore calculated to bring utter ruin on the breed of any 

 country where the d(x;trine prevailed. I protest against the abler races being encouraged to 

 withdraw in this way from the struggle for existence. It may seem monstrous that the weak 

 should be crowded out by the strong, but it is still more monstrous that the races licst fitted 

 to play their part on the stage of life should be crowded out by the incompetent, the ailing, 

 ami the desponding. 



The time may hereafter arrive, in far distant years, when the population of the earth .shall 

 be kept as strictly within the bounds of numl>er and suitability of race, as the sheep on a well- 

 ordered moor or the plants in an orchard-hou.se ; in the meantime, let us do what we can to 

 enconrage the multiplication of the races lK>.st fitted to invent and conform to a high and 

 generous civilisation, and not, out of a mistaken instinct of giving support to the weak, prevent 

 the incoming of strong and hearty individuals." (pp. 356-7.) 



' This point is very im|X)rtant, for superficial critics of eugenics liav(? inserted that (ialton 

 advoe«t«l 'Spartan' metho<is of mating. The creation of a suptTior intellectual caste, with a 

 rel: 'ing against mating outside it, and a national encouragement of its early marriage 



aim ility formed Galton 's policy. The adequate endowment of superior motherlio<xl so 



that women of mark('<l intelligence shall have greater freedom in the choice of the father of 

 their children is possibly the only considcrnlile additimi which ha-s Ihh-ii miule since liy cautious 

 eugenists to Ualton's positive policy. 



