THE CONSTRUCTOR 233 



Moreover, a code of morals resting on the assumption 

 of supernatural authority seeks to enforce its decrees 

 by threats of penalties inflicted under supernatural 

 conditions, threats which are found to be feebly 

 operative upon conduct. Discarding such assump- 

 tion, the evolutionist appeals to more tangible mo- 

 tives ; to the fact that actions make or mar other 

 lives, and retard or quicken the progress of mankind. 

 He shows that the law of causation operates in the 

 moral sphere, and that the consequences of our deeds 

 are immediate, or, in large degree, measurable. The 

 brevity of life thus becomes a sharper spur to duty, 

 and the ultimate destiny of the race, as predicted by 

 science, a stimulus to smooth its career. 

 It may, Huxley says, 



be well to remember that the highest level of moral 

 aspiration recorded in history was reached by a few 

 ancient Jews — Micah, Isaiah, and the rest — who took 

 no count whatever of what might or might not happen 

 to them after death. It is not obvious to me whv 

 the same point should not by-and-by be reached by 

 the Gentiles. 1 



This all-important question of social ethics filled 

 much of his thought from the old Rotherhithe days to 

 the end. It inspired the noble Romanes Lecture, 

 concerning which he wrote to the founder, " Of 



1 II. 304. 



