Civilization is largely a warfare against natural impulses. The natural tree and the natural herb do not produce good fruit. Neither does the natural animal nor the natural man produce the best results. It is only by domestication that wild plants and animals and men are cultivated and tamed and reclaimed from the state of nature. Certain lowly grasses have been raised by cultivation into wheat, barley, oats, and rye, so that they have become the main supports of civilization, giving plentiful supplies annually, and rendering possible our densely packed populations. It is the same with our garden vegetables, fruits, and flowers. From the wild, primary species, man has also developed superior types of the horse, cow, fowl, and dog, and many other animals of extreme usefulness or beauty. By the use of pure reason he has artificially produced innumerable new forms in a remarkably short space of time. If by grafting and budding new scions on the native stock we can with nice precision get new fruit, we should then learn to apply the lesson to ourselves so far as certain limitations allow. In view of the wonderful transformations and improvements which are being made in the plant and animal worlds, there is a good deal of discussion about applying the same methods to the human race. But man is too slow a breeder to permit the ideas of one generation to show much result. With flowering annuals, or with guinea-pigs, or pigeons, the naturalist can bring about wonderful variations within his lifetime. With horses and cattle he can accomplish less, and with elephants, which begin to breed at thirty and have few offspring, he has done nothing. Mankind is but little better suited for such treatment than the elephant tribe, not to mention a score of difficulties by way of tractability, inclination, and consent. The Spartans did in fact succeed in making "good animals" of themselves, but they aimed alone at the physical development which was suited to a militant nation, and their brains became inert. The splendid women did no doubt bring forth strong and splendid sons, but gave the training of them to others. Such hypertrophic physical development naturally caused them to neglect intellectual pursuits and industries. The later Greeks aimed at culture of the mind alone, at the expense of their bodily powers. Both methods failed, and, having neglected to recognize the harmony which exists between all the organs of the body, a grand stock faded away. The Romans saw the advantage of having "a sound mind in a healthy body", but failed to follow up the principle in regard to themselves and their children. Similarly they degenerated.
Certainly much can be done to raise the physical level of one's family, or to depress it by the bad choice of a partner, so that stunted, weak, and stupid children, and miseries on all sides may follow improvident marriage. Therefore some should exercise negative parental emotion and abstain from marriage altogether, or, wholly for the sake of posterity, keep away from particular persons whom they may love; for matrimony, with all its symbolical rites, nevertheless resolves itself wholly into a well-ordered method of reproduction. The rational man will have as his most important moral attribute the power Of self control, and this will chiefly distinguish him from lower grades of men. He will not be impulsively swayed hither and thither by each desire, nor will he be lacking in the resolution and hardihood to be supreme over feelings and acts which are fundamentally hostile to the betterment of the race; and morality will be organic and innate in him. The welfare of the generations to come depends largely upon the personal sacrifices which we are willing to make for them, and at the very least it is incumbent on us to maintain the standard of excellence which we have inherited. But as we are older in the line of descent than our ancestors, and presumably further specialized, and born in a better era, we are plainly called upon to rise to a higher plane. A man's family represents an expansion of his individual life, and transgressions upon this domain seduction, rape, adultery, kidnapping are severely punished. He claims for himself alone all rights over the members of his household. The excellence of the human race would improve by leaps and bounds if reasonable sacrifices were made for the good of the species. But restraint will be exercised to the greatest extent where it is least needed, that is, among the best citizens. Mothers are frequently invalided by the exhaustion of too frequent child bearing. If gaps of about two and a half, or three years are not interposed between births, and if the bottle is substituted for the breast, then there will be damage to the mother, or offspring, or both. If regulation of births is not controlled by temperance, but by mechanical devices and immoralities akin to prostitution, ill results are liable to follow. The good counsels of the intellect will often, of course, be over ruled by freakish and powerful passions which browbeat into silence the rational, but weaker feelings. In fact there seems to be a sexual "idiotic area" in the brain, as there is a "blind spot" in the eye. Lower types of men will not "look before and after" in all the activities of life, and to the least degree in the most important of them all.
Everything which conduces to good results for the race calls for approbation, and everything which produces contrary results calls for reprobation. It does not require a very lively imagination to see that there can be no moral power without the purpose of attaining some useful and adequate end, and that if mere feeling and blind passion lead men to do without purpose highly important acts, then those acts are wrong. But it is too much to ask for morality from those who are on the way to their moral deathbeds and extermination; from those who pursue life carelessly; or from those who do not wish for uprightness. Thus all pure codes of morality will appear visionary in proportion to the degree of degradation of society. If human nature had reached a high plane the sane conduct of citizens would be recognized as practicable and binding. But as things now are it would be positive proof that any code of ethics was not of the highest excellence if it were practicable for all the flippant multitude. The low state of our morals is due to ourselves, and entirely under our control. In proportion as we keep the sexual stream pure and undenled as it flows through the generations of men, so far, and no farther, can we hope to grow to our natural stature. Or, conversely, we can annul this hope, and sink to something worse than the wild man of the woods, the wild man of the city. In part we obey reason; but fractional obedience will never suffice, especially in departments of extraordinary consequence. A new thrill of morality must surely agitate all who can be brought to a realization of this truth.