264 FOOT-NOTES TO EVOLUTION. 
is knowing what one ought todo next. Virtue is do- 
ing it. Doing right becomes habit if it is pursued long 
enough. It becomes a “second nature,” or a higher 
heredity. The formation of a higher heredity of wis- 
dom and virtue, of knowing right and doing right, is 
the basis of character-building. 
The moral character is based on knowing the best, 
choosing the best, and doing the best. It can not be 
built up on imitation. By imitation, sug- 
gestion, and conventionality the masses 
are formed and controlled. To build 
up a man is a nobler process, demanding materials and 
methods of a higher order. The growth of man is 
the assertion of individuality. History is the record of 
the acts of robust men. 
The first relation of the child to external things is 
expressed in this: What can I do with it? What is its 
relationto me? The sensation goes over 
into thought, the thought into action. 
Thus the impression of the object is built 
into the little universe of hismind. The 
object and the action it implies are closely associated. 
As more objects are apprehended, more complex rela- 
tions arise, but the primal condition remains, What can 
I do with it? Sensation, thought, action, this is the 
natural sequence of each completed mental process. As 
volition passes over into action, so does science into art, 
knowledge into power, wisdom into virtue. 
It is thus evident that, with an animal as with an 
army, /ocomotion demands direction. The sensorium is 
built up as a director of motion. Natu- 
ral selection causes the survival of those 
whose sensorium is adequate for the safe control of 
movement. The animal which conducts its life pro- 
cesses in insecurity perishes. The existence of an or- 
Robust men 
make history. 
The relation of 
the child to the 
environment. 
The sensorium. 
