THE HAMILTON ASSOCIATION. 31 



according to their breed, and we buy a two-year colt on the strength 

 of its pedigree. 



Can we consistently admit nobility among horses and dogs and 

 deny it among men ? I reply, if the same methods are not adopted 

 to secure it we have no right to look for it. True, individual speci- 

 mens ot humanity will occasionally appear, with an innate nobility 

 in mind, mien and form, that compels acknowledgment from all who 

 come, in contact with them, where no design was used to secure it ; 

 but it is not permanent in their line, as is the case where selection 

 has been carefully attended to. This is the kind of occurrence that 

 is unscientifically called ' accidental,' but would be termed among 

 breeders of stock, if appearing there, as ' a fortunate hit,' from a 

 want of a knowledge of the combination of causes that were at work 

 in producing it. 



One irreverent scribe has gone so far as to say, " there is no 

 other such mongrel breed on the face of the earth as man, and that 

 a large portion of the present scrub race should never have been 

 born, and have no right to be allowed to transmit their deficiencies." 

 This is going to the root of the trouble with a vengeance. Will the 

 time come when a free people, in their zeal for the improvement of 

 the race, shall demand the appointment of a governmental inspector 

 of marriage-matches, upon whom shall devolve the responsibility of 

 selecting, eliminating and rejecting ? Then we would be warranted 

 in effecting a steady improvement of the race, in appearance at least ; 

 but this would in the course of time lead to uniformity. Now there 

 can be no doubt that a genius is the result of some fortunate com- 

 bination of diverse elements, and as one genius is of more import- 

 ance to the world's advancement than a thousand common-place 

 individuals, can we afford to run the risk of loosing our geniuses for 

 the sake of a general uniform rise in the standard of the race ? But 

 more, we know that man can improve his stock out of existence ; 

 when he has got any one of his organisms up to about the point of 

 perfection, he finds that its constitution has become so enfeebled 

 that it is necessary for him to fall back on cross-fertilization to secure 

 its continuance. So in this, as in many other things, we may find it 

 better to endure the ills we have than fly to those we know not of. 



