154 Life and Lettern of Franch Gal ton 



capitalist was forthcoming to fructify it by a valuable, if far from fully 

 atleuuate, endowment? 



There is one last citation which I must make from this chapter, beaiuse 

 it has as much bearing on our nation to-day as it had fifty years ago; also it 

 conveys Galton's views on those "social duties" which not a little fell to his lot : 



"Tlie inHuences which we have been considering are those wliicli urge men to pursue science 

 rmther than lit<»ratiirf, poHtics, or other cAreers; but we must not forget that there are deep 

 and oUiourc inovements of national life, which may ()uicki'n or depress the effective ability of 

 the nation as a whole, I have not considered tlie reasons why one jx'rio<l is more priKluctive 

 of great men than anotlier, my inquiry Ix'ing limited, for the reasons statetl in the first pages 

 of tliin lHK)k, to one p«'riod and nation. But it may Ije remarked, that the national condition 

 mo«t favourable to general efficiency is one of self-confidence and eager l)elief of great works 

 capable of accomplishment. The opposite attitude is indifferentism, founded on sheer un- 

 certainty of what is best to do, or on despair of being strong enough to achieve useful nwults; 

 a feeling such as that which has generally existed in i-ecent ye^rs among wealthy men in 

 respect to pauperism and charitable gifts. A common effect of indifferentism is to dissipate the 

 energy of the nation upon trifles; and this tendency seems to ixi a crying evil of the present 

 day in our own country. In illustration of this view, I will ijuote the following extract from 

 a letter of one of my correspondents, who I should add is singularly well ijualified to form a 

 just opinion on the matter to which he so forcibly calls attention: — 'The principal hindrance 

 to inquiry and all otlier intellectual progress in the peojile of whom I see much, is the elalxirate 

 machinery for wasting time which has tieen invent«-d and recommended under the name of 

 "social duties." Considering the mental and nmterial capital of which the richer clas.ses have 

 the dis|iosal, I ))elieve that much more than half the progressive force of the nation runs to 

 waste from this cause'." (pp. 227-8.) 



The evils pointed out by Galton have intensified rather than diminished 

 since 1874, and especially since the Great War. Scientists have become 

 more and more profe8.sional, that is there are fewer and fewer men of means, 

 who pursue science lor the pleasure of it. Science is now almost entirely one 

 of the professional roads to a living. An examination of the testamentary 

 dispositions published from day to day in the newspapers shows how little 

 the meaning of science for national welfare, how little the social value of 

 knowledge, nave i)enetrated the minds of the wealthy. 'Conscience money' 

 is amply provided for a variety of charities, many of which are with high 



1)robaoility anti-social in their effects. There Ls small doubt that salvation 

 )y 'good works' is still dominant in the minds of many, and 'good works' 

 are still identified with charity by the majority of testators. A wealthy man 

 will breed pheasants for sport, or dogs and jiigs for j)rize points', but he 

 would not spend a fraction of the money in striving to discover the laws of 

 heredity, which might, if we had knowledge of them, aid not only national 

 agriculture, but what Galton termed viriculture. The ' social duties ' 

 demand flowere, vegetables and fruit, and these a large establishment of 

 gardenei-s and their underlings. Hut it is left to the florists to discover and 

 make new varieties, and horticulture is part of the menial service of the 

 esUiblishment, not an intellectual pursuit of the proprietor; while his dog- 

 and cattle-breeding follow narrow conventional lines, and their success is 

 measured by the number of silver cups on a sideboard. 



' Usually settletl by liie ignorant with a total disreganl of the usefulness of the animal and 

 in complete ignorance of it.s natural history. 



