I. 



EVOLUTION AND ETHICS. 



PROLEGOMENA. 

 [1894.] 



It may be safely assumed that, two thousand 

 years ago, before Caesar set foot in southern 

 Britain, the whole country-side visible from the 

 windows of the room in which I write, was in 

 what is called " the state of nature." Except, it 

 may be, by raising a few sepulchral mounds, such 

 as those which still, here and there, break the flow- 

 ing contours of the downs, man's hands had made 

 no mark upon it; and the thin veil of vegetation 

 which overspread the broad-backed heights and 

 the shelving sides of the coombs was unaffected 

 by his industry. The native grasses and weeds, 

 the scattered patches of gorse, contended with one 

 another for the possession of the scanty surface 

 soil; they fought against the droughts of summer, 

 the frosts of winter, and the furious gales which 

 swept, with unbroken force, now from the Atlan- 

 213 1 



