NATURAL SELECTION AND ENVIRONMENT 165 



But there is a far grosser, more deadly materialism 

 of the heart and will. It sits unrebiiked in the front 

 pews of our churches and controls alike church and 

 parish, caucus and legislature. It calls on us all to 

 fall down and worship, promising the world if we 

 obey, the cross if we refuse. And we bow to it ; and 

 that is all it asks, for a nod on our part makes us its 

 slaves. It is the idolatry of money, position, shrewd- 

 ness, learning — in one word, of success. It takes all 

 the strength out of our morality, loyalty and obedi- 

 ence to God out of our religion, and makes cowards 

 and liars of us, who should be heroes. It makes our 

 religion a byword with honest unbelievers. And if 

 they are honest scientific minds, waiting for evidence 

 of the practical value of our religion, why should they 

 believe, when we live so successfully down to the re- 

 ligion which we would scorn to openly profess ? Our 

 fathers may have been narrow or straight-laced ; they 

 were not cross-eyed from trying to keep one eye on 

 God and the other on the main chance. What is the 

 use of whispering, " Lord, Lord," Sundays, if we 

 shout, " Oh, Baal, hear us," all the rest of the week. 

 Let us at least be honest, and " if Baal be god, follow 

 him," and avow it. And worst, and most hideous, of 

 all, we are not so much hypocrites as self -deceived. 

 Let us not forget the old Greek doctrine of Ate, god- 

 dess of judicial blindness, sent down only upon those 

 who were living the unpardonable sin of indifference. 



But supposing that there is in environment some- 

 thing more and other than material, can we possibly 

 know anything about it ? 



I am in a boat near the mouth of a river. The boat 

 is tossed by the waves, driven by currents of wind. 



