COSMIC PHILOSOPHY 



the arguments which have formed the woof of 

 our chapters on sociology. If there is any con- 

 vincing power in the multitude of mutually har- 

 monious proofs which were there accumulated, 

 we must be already convinced that men are civ- 

 ilized, not by a mere change in their formulas 

 of belief, but only by a change in their type of 

 character which can be effected only through a 

 considerable lapse of time. This is the reason 

 why civilizations cannot be made, but must grow. 

 We differ from the ancient Angles and Saxons, 

 not so much because we know more than they 

 knew, as because we have undergone fifteen cen- 

 turies more of social discipline which has per- 

 ceptibly modified our character, and with it our 

 moral ideals. If Comte had ever firmly grasped 

 the theorem " that society is to be reorganized 

 only by the accumulated effects of habit upon 

 character," he would have held himself aloof 

 from projects which could have no meaning save 

 on the hypothesis that society can be reorgan- 

 ized by philosophy. He would have seen that 

 though the fruit of the tree of knowledge may 

 make us like gods, knowing good and evil, it is 

 only the tree of life which can renovate our souls 

 and fit us for Paradise. 



But now, since society grows, but is not 



made, — since men cannot be taught a higher 



state of civilization, but can only be bred into 



it, — it follows that the whole Comtean attempt 



3,44 



