88 Life and Letters of Francis Galton 



evolution merely as a contribution to academic biology; for him the type of 

 "sport" of greatest interest and value was that embracing the human moral 

 or intellectual "sports," and he desired at once to know how we might per- 

 petuate for the service of mankind such supermen as might appear. Evolution 

 according to him was providing for the survival of the physically and mentally 

 more vigorous members of the race, and he desired to see this achieved with 

 greater rapidity and less pain to the individual. In 1894 a book entitled Social 

 Evolution, written by Benjamin Kidd, was published, and created for a time 

 some stir as dealing with the relation of supernatural, or at least ultra-rational 

 religion to the social evolution of man. It was not written from the scientific 

 standpoint and contained little of permanent value. It led Galton, however, 

 to publish a rather remarkable article on " The Part of Religion in Human 

 Evolution*." Kidd's thesis may be briefly summarised as follows : Intra-group 

 struggle for existence is the sine qud non of social progress; this beneficent 

 working of the struggle for existence is so painful to existing men that they 

 would not, if they were rationalists, pay the price for it; to check the anti- 

 social and anti-evolutionary force of reason religion has been evolved to 

 provide an ultra-rational sanction for moral conduct. 



Galton starts his paper by suggesting that superstitions in barbaric 

 times, such illusions as totems, tutelar deities, and we may add tribal and 

 national gods, gave cohesive force and compactness to a group and tended 

 to render it successful against other groups, which on rational grounds had 

 begun to question such illusions. Galton recognises the important part 

 religion may play in determining national stability. Even after men of 

 education have realised the irrationality of a national creed, it may be 

 unwise precipitately to destroy it. 



"The social system of every nation, including its religion, whatever that may be, has ad- 

 justed itself into a position of stability which is dangerous to disturb. Deep sentiments and 

 prejudices, habits and customs, all more or less entwined with the established religion of each 

 nation, are elements of primary importance to its social fabric. It is true that vast changes 

 become obvious in the social system of every progressive people, whenever its habits and customs 

 at one period are compared with those of another long after, but, as a rule, the changes are 

 piecemeal- Each change is primarily confined to a single part, the remainder adapting itself to 

 the new condition with a comparatively small shift of the position of the centre. Commonsense 

 teaches how much can be thus done with safety at any given time. Great and sudden changes 

 in religion are hardly to be attempted except when the stability of the existing system is 

 tottering and on the point of falling." (p. 758.) 



Whatever views we may take about religion, whether we regard it as a 

 supernatural revelation or not, we can agree that one of its chief functions is 

 to curb selfishness in the individual, to inculcate altruism, and by restraining 

 human passions to help the stabilisation of society. With this end in view 

 religion from the earliest times has been the guardian of tribal custom in 

 regard to marriage, birth and death. It has therefore concerned itself with 

 matters which from our present knowledge of the laws of natural selection 

 and heredity we recognise as bearing on human evolution. It is impossible — 



* The National Review, August 1894, pp. 755-765, 



