186 ORGANIC EVOLUTION — MENTAL 



will probably be uncleanly : that a child reared by the 

 slothful -will probably be slothful ; that a child reared 

 by the energetic will probably be energetic ; that a 

 child reared by the dishonest and immoral will probably 

 be dishonest and immoral ; that a child reared by the 

 superstitious will probably be superstitious ; that a 

 child reared by the brave and enterprising will probably 

 be brave and enterprising ; that a child reared by the 

 timid and cautious will probably be timid and cautious ; 

 that, in fact, the mind of one generation imprints itself 

 on the mind of the next generation, not racially but 

 educationally ; but there is a general failure to realize 

 that the aggregation of individuals called a race or a 

 nation is governed in this respect by the same laws and 

 conditions as an individual, and therefore if one gener- 

 ation be slothful the next will also be slothful i; if one 

 generation be active the next also will be active, and so 

 forth ; but hereiin lies the key to the distinguishing 

 peculiarities of nations and races, and to much of the 

 history of the world. 



Diverse educational influences produce diverse know^ 

 ledge, modes of thought, and motives for acting, and 

 since races are aggregations of individuals, and the 

 aggregation of individual efforts moulds the destinies 

 of the race, I can best explain what I mean by taking 

 as examples three individuals, one of whom is a 

 scientist, the second a manufacturer, and the third a 

 monk. Though they may all be of equal powers, yet 

 their different knowledge, ways of thinking, and motives 

 for acting will lead to very different results. The 

 labours of the scientist will result in an increase of 

 knowledge, the manufacturer will produce an increase 

 of wealth, whereas there will be no tangible result, at 

 any rate on earth, to the labours of the monk. But if 

 early influences had caused the scientist to be a monk, 

 the monk to be a manufactui-er, and the manufacturer 



