32 EVOLUTION AND ETHICS. i 



duct; however confident one may be that average 

 men may be thoroughly depended upon not to 

 carry it out to its full logical consequences; it 

 is nevertheless desirable to recognise the fact 

 that these consequences are incompatible with 

 the existence of a civil state, under any circum- 

 stances of this world which have obtained, or, 

 so far as one can see, are, likely to come to 

 pass. 



For I imagine there can be no doubt that the 

 great desire of every wrongdoer is to escape from 

 the painful consequences of his actions. If I put 

 myself in the place of the man who has robbed me, 

 I find that I am possessed by an exceeding desire 

 not to be fined or imprisoned; if in that of the 

 man who has smitten me on one cheek, I contem- 

 plate with satisfaction the absence of any worse 

 result than the turning of the other cheek for like 

 treatment. Strictly observed, the " golden rule " 

 involves the negation of law by the refusal to put 

 it in motion against law-breakers; and, as regards 

 the external relations of a polity, it is the refusal 

 to continue the struggle for existence. It can be 

 obeyed, even partially, only under the protection 

 of a society which repudiates it. Without such 

 shelter, the followers of the "golden rule" may 

 indulge in hopes of heaven, but they must reckon 

 with the certainty that other people will be mas- 

 ters of the earth. 



What would become of the garden if the gar- 



