330 THE ASCENT OF MAN 



chosen instrument for carrying on the Struggle for 

 the Life of Others. Man's life, on the whole, is 

 determined chiefly by the function of Nutrition ; 

 Woman's by the function of Reproduction. Man 

 satisfies the one by going out into the world, and 

 in the rivalries of war and the ardours of the chase, 

 in conflict with Nature, and amid the stress of 

 industrial pursuits, fulfilling the law of Self-preser- 

 vation ; Woman completes her destiny by occupying 

 herself with the industries and sanctities of the home, 

 and paying the debt of Motherhood to her race. 



Now out of this initial difference — so slight at 

 first as to amount to no more than a scarcely per- 

 ceptible bias — have sprung the most momentous 

 issues. For by every detail of their separate 

 careers the two original tendencies — to outward 

 activity in the man ; to inward activity, miscalled 

 passivity, in the woman — became accentuated as 

 time went on. The one life tended towards sel- 

 fishness, the other towards unselfishness. While 

 one kept Individualism alive, the other kept 

 Altruism alive. Blended in the children, these two 

 master-principles from this their starting-point acted 

 and reacted all through history, seeking that mean 

 in which true life lies. Thus by a Division of 

 Labour appointed by the will of Nature, the 

 conditions for the Ascent of Man were laid. 



