322 THE ETHICAL KINSHIP 



of the doctrine has passed away. This is eminently 

 true of that misconception which has come down 

 to us regarding the nature and origin of man and 

 his relations to the rest of the universe. Darwin 

 has lived, shed his light over the world, and passed 

 back to the dust whence he came. Men no 

 longer believe that other races and other worlds 

 were really made for them. But they continue to 

 ' act in about the same manner as they did when 

 ; they did believe it. This assertion applies not 

 simply to those half-baked intelligences who have 

 only the rudest and most antiquated notions about 

 anything but also to thousands of men and women 

 who pretend to have up-to-date conceptions of 

 themselves and the universe — men and women 

 noted even for their activity in reminding others 

 of their inconsistency — men and women who 



• Compound for sins they are inclined to, 

 By damning those they have no mind to.* 



The doctrine of Universal Kinship is not a new 

 doctrine, born from the more brilliant loins of 

 modern understanding. It is as old almost as 

 human philosophy. It was taught by Buddha 

 twenty-four hundred years ago. And the teach- 

 ings of this divine soul, spreading over the plains 

 and peninsulas of Asia, have made unnumbered 

 millions mild. It was taught also by Pythagoras 

 and all his school of philosophers, and rigidly 

 practised in their daily lives. Plutarch, one of 

 the grandest characters of antiquity, wrote several 

 essays in advocacy of it. In these essays, as well 



