The Perennial Controversy

( Originally Published 1920 )

SIR, The atmosphere has been electrified during the past few months in consequence of the Romanes Lecture delivered by the Dean of St. Paul's, and the thunder has been echoed and re-echoed from the churches and the clouds, so much so that the Clerks of the Weather in Fleet Street, in gauging the climatic conditions of public opinion, have been more than sorely perplexed by the persistency of the effects.

Sir Ray Lankester, in reviewing Professor J. B. Bury's " History of Progress " in a recent number of Nature, deals with the same topic in a scientific light. For Lord Acton's successor at Cambridge has also done much, perhaps, to maintain the oscillations of discourse in rapid vibration. Whether we are making progress or not at the present time is an open question. But, as Sir Ray Lankester points out, there is not the slightest doubt that the human race has done so in the past, and I feel sure it is doing so and will continue to do so in the future. But we must think in aeons in such matters. During the last 500,000 years man has unquestionably developed from the anthropoid ape to the civilised, cultured, intellectual, and scientific servant of Nature's laws, the master of himself and her resources. But the perennial controversy as to whether the influence of his environment, so far as civilisation and education are concerned, has altered his innate character and hereditary qualities rages once again, as the meeting of the British Association at Cardiff attests.

Educational, like all acquired characteristics, are not transmitted. And the child of the civilised man of to-day, if brought up in the wild state of Nature, would be as barbarous in his instincts as any savage. To our sorrow, indeed, the past few years have proved that this is true even of some civilised races when the constraints of the ordered state of society are removed. Nevertheless there can be no doubt that civilisation on the whole is tending to eliminate the worst types, and though the process be slow, and necessarily slow, the movement on the whole is upward, for the utterly unfit for the environment which civilisation has created must gradually be sifted out. Though degeneration so far as grappling single-handed with the crude forces of Nature may to some extent ensue, the social instincts and amenability to civilised conditions are factors that as a matter of necessity must result, unless some great upheaval wrecks the fabric of society. Lessons from history during the comparatively short range of historically recorded time teach little. And generalisations based upon them are as dangerous as they are unscientific. The student of sociology must bear in mind the limitations of his knowledge, for it proves far too little in such matters.

But whether, as Dean Inge maintains, religion based upon the " Sermon on the Mount," which has done so much to spread the ethical principles of Christianity, though derived as they have largely been from the religions of the East, can serve to guide the onward march of human progress towards ideal perfection, much will depend upon the utility of its doctrines. The exhortations to sell all and give it to the poor have long since been disregarded, even by those who admit and admire the perfection of its precepts. Example is in fact the best guide and counsel of perfection. There are no doubt still some well-meaning, pious, and self-sacrificing monks who persevere in the practice of their precepts. But celibacy has robbed, and is robbing, the human race of countless such types of the ideal Christian character.

Today we can only hope for the progress of man-kind towards ideal perfection, in his adjustment to his environment, and in the creation of an environment intended to elevate his mind and character in this direction. Education based on accurate know-ledge and veracity, with that respect that is due to our fellow-men, will tend to eliminate in time those unfitted to civilised surroundings ; and to lift men, and women too, to the true ideals embodied in the Service of Humanity; the Religion of Self-Sacrifice, through the Spirit of Love, for our fellow-men ; and the unbending veneration of Truth, as inculcated by Science.

In this they will follow Christ in the very essence of His teaching on the Mount ; or be cast out, even in this world, into utter darkness. For, as the pariahs of the civilised State seek vengeance upon it, so will they be suppressed. This is the sole guarantee of progress amongst us. But it must necessarily be an extremely slow process ; not slower perhaps than that which has witnessed the Evolution of Man to his present state ; and more rapid, I am sure, than some of us imagine it to be. Faithfully yours,

JOHN BUTLER BURKE, M.A.

Royal Societies Club, St. James's Street, S.W.