elfishness that it
has survived. It is because love is stronger and sweeter than greed that
its influence has deepened and spread. From the love of the animal for
its mate, from the love of parents for their young, sprang the ties of
kindred and the loyalty of friendship; and these in time developed
into tribal, and thence into national patriotism. And these stages of
altruistic evolution may be seen among the brutes. It remained for Man
to take the grand step of embracing all humanity as one brotherhood and
one nation.

But the root idea of fraternity and mutual loyalty was not planted by
any priest or prophet. For countless ages universal brotherhood has
existed among the bison, the swallow, and the deer, in a perfection to
which humanity has not yet attained.

For a fuller account of this animal origin of fraternity I recommend the
reader to two excellent books, _The Martyrdom of Man_, by Winwood Reade
(Kegan Paul), and _Mutual Aid_, by Prince Kropotkin (Heinemann).

But the Christian claims that Christ taught a new gospel of love, and
mercy, and goodwill to men. That is a great mistake. Christ did not
originate one single new ethic.

The Golden Rule was old. The Lord's Prayer was old. The Sermon on
the Mount was old. With the latter I will deal briefly. For a fuller
statement, please see the R.P.A. sixpenny edition of Huxley's _Lectures
and Essays_, and _Christianity and Mythology_, by J. M. Robertson.

Shortly stated, Huxley's argument was to the following effect:

That Mark's Gospel is the oldest of the Synoptic Gospels, and that
Mark's Gospel does not contain, nor even mention, the Sermon on the
Mount. That Luke gives no Sermon on the Mount, but gives what may be
called a "Sermon on the Plain." That Luke's sermon differs materially
from the sermon given by Matthew. That the Matthew version contains one
hundred and seven verses, and the Luke version twenty-nine verses.

Huxley's conclusion is as follows:

"Matthew," having a _cento_ of sayings attributed--rightly or
wrongly it is impossible to say--to Jesus among his materials,
thought they were, or might be, records of a continuous discourse
and put them in a place he thought likeliest. Ancient historians
of the highest character saw no harm in composing long speeches
which never were spoken, and putting them into the mouths of
statesmen and warriors; and I presume that whoever is represented
by "Matthew" would ha