262 THE GOSPEL, AND THE SOCIAL CREED OF SCIENCE. 



supposes. They cannot easily change its structure at 

 all, but good changes are far more difficult of accom- 

 plishment than mischievous ones. The latter they can 

 make if they choose, if they are foolish enough, but the 

 former they cannot. It would be extremely difficult to 

 materially alter the structure of modern society, so 

 complex and connected in all its parts, with its many 

 and mutually dependent functions, all pre-supposing 

 each other, all acting upon each other, as in the physical 

 organism ; with established economic, as well as political, 

 civil, religious organizations, all the slow evolution of 

 ages, and answering to experienced social wants and 

 necessities. You could not materially and at the same 

 time suddenly alter even the economic constitution of 

 society, the thing chiefly aimed at by socialism, because 

 the production and distribution of wealth depends on 

 causes not to be easily altered: the first on laws of 

 physical and of human nature conjointly; and the 

 second on facts or sentiments of human nature; the 

 one class of facts or laws being unalterable quite, and 

 the other but slowly so. You cannot in the latter case 

 quickly change hereditary sentiments respecting property, 

 or general notions as to the right of each to the ownership 

 and disposal of whatever his own ability, industry, or 

 good fortune may bring. You cannot arbitrarily compel 

 men to regard each other as equal, where Nature has 

 set her ineffaceable stamp of inequality ; or force men to 

 regard each other with feelings of love and brotherhood, 

 where the feelings do not exist in the heart. You can- 

 not do these things, and men cannot make the above 

 changes; but without them no sudden regeneration of 

 society is possible, and no scheme of socialism that has 

 yet been suggested is workable. 



Before you can change society materially for the 



