112 Life and Letters of Franc! a Galion 



Huguenots perislied in prison, at the galleys, on the Kciitlold or in attempting 

 to escape, and an equal number emigrated. The Huguenots 



"were able men, and profodndly influenced for good both our breed and our history." 

 This cruel policy degraded future generations, for it brought 



"thooMtnds of the foremost thinkers and men of political aptitudes to the aciiflbid, or imprisoned 

 them during a large part of their manhood or drove them as eniigmnts to other lands." 



Thus it came about that the Church, 



"having first captunxl all the gentle natures and eondemne<l them to celibacy, made another 

 sweep of her huge nets, this time fishing in stirring waters, to cnt<;h those who were the most 

 feftrless, truth-seeking and intelligent in their modes of thought, and therefore the most suitable 

 parents of a high civilisation, and put a strong check, if not a direct stop, to their progeny. 

 Those she reserved on these occasions, to breed the generations of the future, were the servile, 

 the indifferent and again the stupid. Thus as she — to repeat my expression — brutalised human 

 nature by her system of celibacy applie<l to the gentle, she demoralised it by her system of per- 

 secution of the intelligent, the sincere, and the free. It is enough to make the blood lx)il to 

 think of the blind folly that has causeil the foremost nations of struggling humanity to Ix) the 

 heirs of such hateful ancestry, and that has so bre<l our instincts as to keep them in an un- 

 neceasarily long-continued antagonism with the essential requirements of a steadily advancing 

 civilisation." (pp. 358-9.) 



Such is Galton's terrible indictment of the effect of the Roman ecclesi- 

 auticul policy. It has not been refuted, and it cannot be, except either by 

 denying the value of original thinking to mankind, or demonstrating that 

 originality of mind is not an hereditary characteristic. It is little wonder 

 that eugenics has met with small appreciation from Catholic writers. Yet 

 the charge has no longer other than historic value ; the will to persecute 

 may still exist in the ecclesiastically minded, but there is little force liehind 

 it ; the old religions, except in savage races, have lost their hold on tribal 

 imiigination ; we are seeking new religious ideals. And, as for the Roman 

 Catholic celibacy, it may now, with a few if notable exceptions, be looked 

 upon as a eugenic rather than a dysgenic factor. 



Gralton finally points out how in a young colony 



"the strong arm and enterprising brain are the most appropriate fortunes for a marrying man," 



but in an old civilisation the factors at work are far more complex. 



"Among the active ambitious classes, none but the inheritors of fortune are likely to marry 

 young." 



Men of moderate but more than average ability will not do so because 

 "their future is not assured except through a good deal of self-denial and effort." 



Men of great tibility, even if they marry young, think of social position 

 and desire to foui»d families and are attracted by wealth in the first place. 

 Thus Galton holds that in an old civilisation there is a steady check on the 

 fertility of the abler classes, so that the race gradually deteriorates, until 



"the whole political and social fabric caves in, and a greater or less relapse to barbarism takes 

 place, during the reign of which the race is ]>crliaps able to recover its tone." (p. .362.) 



"The best form of civilisation in respect to the improvement of the race would l>e one in 

 which society was not costly; where incomcH were cliietly derived from professional sources, 

 and not much through inheritance; where every lad had a chance of showing his abilities, and, 

 if highly-gifted, was enabled to achieve a first-class education and entrance into professional 



