THE ORIGIN OF MAN 253 



might be useful to put to death the aged, the insane, 

 the deformed and helpless, and thus to relieve socie- 

 ty of great burdens, but no one claims that we ought 

 to do this. 



Duty may not be useful to the doer; it may demand 

 great sacrifices and even death, and yet it speaks with 

 no uncertain voice. Duty looks to no earthly power 

 to give it authority, nor does it seek the paths of 

 pleasantness. 



Conscience sits enthroned in the soul, ever active, 

 ever seeking to guide the life in the way of righteous- 

 ness. No external threats nor internal decrees can 

 silence its voice. When we would have it silent, then 

 it speaks loudest; if we would deceive it by false 

 logic, it laughs us to shame; if we would flee from it, 

 it goes with us ; when we awake, hoping that it may 

 have departed while we slumbered, we hear it whis- 

 pering in the soul. It is ever present, ever clamoring 

 to be heard — the voice of the Infinite calling us to 

 duty. 



Spencer uses the expression, " experiences of util- 

 ity," in trying to account for the evolution of con- 

 science. This does not necessarily involve even the 

 existence of mind, much less any mental conception 

 of the useful. 



Plants have for millions of years been unconscious- 

 ly doing work useful to the individuals, doing the 

 work and serving to propagate their species. All ani- 

 mals have of necessity been having " experiences of 

 utility " throughout the long history of animal life on 

 the earth. Are we to conclude that " experiences of 

 utility" have organized the various nervous systems 

 of all the different kinds of animals? 



How can the experience of an animal that has no 

 nervous system whatever enable it to give birth to 

 an animal that has a nervous system? 



