om the rest of Nature, of
which he is truly a product and a part, then we may say that man is
Nature's rebel. Where Nature says 'Die!' man says 'I will live.'"[15]

To this it may be added that, under the influence of Christianity, man
goes a step further and says: "I will endeavour that as many others as
may be shall live, and live happy, healthy lives, and shall not untimely
die." The law of Natural Selection could not be met by more direct
opposition. I have said that this is under the influence of
Christianity, yet the impulse seems to be older than that, to be part of
that moral law which excited Kant's admiration, which he coupled with
the sight of the starry heavens, an impulse, we can scarcely doubt,
implanted in the heart of man by God Himself. It is a remarkable fact
that in many--some would say most--of the less civilised races of
mankind we find these social virtues, which some would have us believe
are degenerate features foisted on to the race by an enervating
superstition.

Dr. Marett has carefully examined into this matter, and his conclusions
are of the greatest interest.[16]

"My own theory about the peasant, as I know him, and about
people of lowly culture in general so far as I have learnt
to know about them, is that the ethics of amity belong to
their natural and normal mood, whereas the ethics of enmity,
being but 'as the shadow of a passing fear,' are relatively
accidental. Thus to the thesis that human charity is a
by-product, I retort squarely with the counter-thesis that
human hatred is a by-product. The brute that lurks in our
common human nature will break bounds sometimes; but I
believe that whenever man, be he savage or civilised, is at
home to himself, his pleasure and pride is to play the good
neighbour. It may be urged by way of objection that I
overestimate the amenities, whether economic or ethical, of
the primitive state; that a hard life is bound to produce a
hard man. I am afraid that the psychological necessity of
the alleged correlation is by no means evident to me. Surely
the hard-working individual can find plenty of scope for his
energies without needing, let us say, to beat his wife. Nor
are the hard-working peoples of the earth especially
notorious for their inhumanity. Thus the Eskimo, whose life
is one long fight against the cold, has the warmest of
hearts. Mr.