s ourselves to the task of living, that we and
others may live better.

These gloomy views come from Huxley with such weight and authority
that even in a sketch of his life and opinions it may be noticed that
they do not seem necessary deductions from the evolutionary conception
of the world. The first count adduced against the cosmic process is
its connection with suffering. It may be doubted, so far as the animal
world is concerned, if Huxley has not exaggerated the gravity of this.
The two greatest contributors to the modern conception of evolution
are not in agreement with him. Alfred Russel Wallace wrote:

"On the whole, then, we conclude that the popular idea of the
struggle for existence entailing misery and pain on the animal
world is the very reverse of the truth. What it really brings
about is the maximum of life and of the enjoyment of life with
the minimum of suffering and pain. Given the necessity of death
and reproduction--and without those there could have been no
progressive development of the animal world--and it is difficult
even to imagine a system by which a greater balance of happiness
could have been secured."

This view was evidently that also of Darwin himself, who thus
concluded his chapter on the struggle for existence: "When we reflect
on this struggle, we may console ourselves with the full belief that
the war of nature is not incessant, that no fear is felt, that death
is generally prompt, and that the vigorous, the healthy, and the happy
survive and multiply." As for man himself, though it be true that in
him the consummation of pain is reached, still this is no isolated
fact of far-reaching ethical importance. It is in direct dependence on
the increased physical and mental development of man, and these are
equally necessary for and equally susceptible to increased pleasure
and increased happiness. It is not necessary to regard the cosmic
process as evil. Even when man, in various ages, had elaborated the
conception of abstract goodness, and had endeavoured to make his
justice a doling out of reward and punishment according to merit, it
was not inevitable to bring in a verdict of guilty against the Cosmos.
It is quite true that, in all the ages, man has seen the sun shine on
the unjust as on the just. But it is an easy reflection that the world
could not turn round on individual merit, and if few are so guilty as
to deserve the agonies of grie