342 ARISTOCRA C Y AND E VOL UTION 



Book iv those of the men who now oppose it, had been 

 killed by the frosts of ignorance, and never allowed 



wrong medical , . 



treatment. tO DlOSSOm. 



But the But the commonest examples of talent that is 



is wholly mischievous are afforded by certain classes 

 of politicians and social agitators. There is a 

 large number of men whose potential activity is 

 considerable, and whose intellect has a natural 

 nimbleness which will enable them, when stimulated 

 by education, to seize on plausible fallacies and 

 impose them both on themselves and others. 

 Politicians of this class are familiar figures enough. 

 The social agitator, whose mental equipment is 

 similar, is more familiar still. Many attempts 

 have been made to give a scientific explanation 

 of those constant attacks on the existing organ- 

 isation of society which are common to all civil- 

 ised countries, and go by the name of socialism. 

 Socialism is said by some to be the protest of in- 

 creasing poverty against increasing wealth ; by 

 some to be the natural voice of highly organised 

 labour, which has come at last to be capable of self- 

 government ; and by some to be an embodiment of 

 the esoteric philosophy of Hegel. In reality it is 

 the embodiment of the results of indiscriminate 

 education on talents which are exceptional, but at 

 the same time inefficient. The avowed object of 

 socialism is a redistribution of wealth ; but the most 

 striking characteristic of all the socialistic leaders 

 has been an incapacity to produce the thing which 

 they are so anxious to distribute. The wish to re- 



