ome
from the parents, for the simple reason that it does not exist in them."

Inaccurate thinking may create much confusion in this domain. It is still
worse when those who hold the second view are set down by the supporters
of the first as opponents of what is, after all, borne out by "ascertained
facts." But it may well be that the latter have not the slightest
intention of denying the truth or value of those facts. For instance, they
see that a definite mental aptitude or predisposition is "inherited" in a
family, and that certain gifts accumulated and combined in one descendant
result in a remarkable personality. They are perfectly willing to
acquiesce when it is said that the most celebrated name seldom stands at
the beginning but at the end of a line of descent. But it should not be
taken amiss if they are compelled to form very different opinions on the
subject from those of people who are determined to accept nothing but
material evidence. To the latter it may be said that it is true a man
shows the characteristics of his ancestors, because the "spirit-soul",
which enters upon physical existence at birth, draws its bodily substance
from that which heredity bestows on it. But this says nothing more than
that a being shows the peculiarities of the body into which it has
descended.

It is no doubt a singular--a trivial--comparison, but the unprejudiced
person will not deny its justification, when one says that a human being,
who shows the qualities of his forefathers, proves the origin of the
personal qualities of that human being as little as the fact that man is
wet because he has fallen into the water, proves something regarding his
inner nature. And it may further be said that if the most celebrated name
stands at the end of a line of family descent, it shows that the bearer of
that name needed that particular ancestry to build the body necessary for
the expression of his whole personality. But it is no proof that his
actual personal qualities were transmitted to him: such a statement is, on
the contrary, opposed to sound logic. If personal gifts were inherited,
they would be found at the beginning of a line of descent,(7) and starting
from that point be transmitted to the descendants. As, however, they stand
at the end, it is evident that they are _not_ transmitted.

Now it is not to be denied that those who speak of a spiritual causality
in life have contributed no less to bringing about confusion of thought