knocking at the doors of the distinguished writers mentioned, and so it is quite natural that their interest should have been wholly absorbed by the two instincts which exhibit such enigmatic and paradoxical tenacity.

We saw in the preceding chapter how disharmonious is the sexual instinct which often only develops at, and nearly always persists until, a period of life when its normal and regular functional activity is no longer possible. We saw, too, the ill resulting from this disharmony in the reproductive apparatus. The ill, however, although serious, only amounts in that case to an inconvenience which can be endured.

Far worse is the disharmony of the instinctive love of life which manifests itself when death is felt to be near at hand. It is then incomprehensible and particularly terrible, and humanity, from time immemorial, has sought the key to the tragic puzzle, and tried by all the means in its power to unravel the mystery. The religions of all times have been concerned with the problem. "Religion," says Guyau,* "consists for the most part of meditation upon death. If we had not to die to die there would probably be still more superstitions among men, but there would probably be no systematised superstitions nor religions." Philosophy also has tried to solve the question of death. Some ancient philosophers held the opinion that philosophy is only a meditation upon death. Socrates and Cicero † have well said that "the life of a philosopher is a continual meditation upon death." In our own day Schopenhauer developed the same theory. "Death," he said,‡ “is the real inspiring genius of philosophy. . . . Without death it

* "L'Irreligion de l'Avenir," Sixth Edition, p. 449, Paris, 1895. "Tusculanes," vol. I., chap. 30.

"Die Welt als Wille un Verstellung," vol. II., p. 527.

is doubtful if philosophy would exist at all. It is therefore quite natural that a special essay on Death should preface the last, the most serious, and the most important of my books."

Judging from the facts set forth in the last three chapters, there can be no doubt but that the human constitution, although in many ways perfect and sublime, exhibits numerous and serious disharmonies, which are the source of all our troubles. Not being so well adapted to the conditions of life as orchids are, for example, in the matter of their fertilisation by the mediation of insects, or the burrowing wasps for the protection of their young, humanity resembles rather those insects the instinct of which guides them towards the flame which burns their wings.

Even at a time when humanity had attained no definite knowledge of itself, a vague suspicion prevailed as to the existence of disharmonies, and an effort was made to remedy the evil. The following chapters will show what man has done with a view to remedying the natural disharmonies of his constitution.

PART II

ATTEMPTS TO DIMINISH THE ILLS ARISING FROM THE DISHARMONIES OF THE HUMAN

CONSTITUTION

(RELIGIOUS AND PHILOSOPHICAL SYSTEMS)

CHAPTER VII

RELIGIOUS ATTEMPTS TO COMBAT THE ILLS ARISING FROM THE DISHARMONIES OF THE HUMAN CONSTITUTION

Animism as the foundation of primitive religions-The Jewish religion in relation to the doctrine of immortality of the soul-The religions of China-Ancestor worship in Confucianism-The conception of immortality in Taoism -The persistence of the soul in the Buddhist religion-The paradise of the Chinese Buddhists-Ancestors worshipped as gods-Influence of religious faith on the fear of deathPessimism of the doctrine of Buddha-The meaning of Nirvana-Resignation as preached by Buddha-Objections to the immortality of the soul--Irritability of the tissues and cells of the body-Religious hygiene-Religious means of controlling the reproductive functions and of preventing diseases-Failure of religions in their attempts to combat the ills arising from the disharmonies of the human constitution HUMANITY did not await the discovery by science of the existence of disharmonies before trying to find remedies for them. The will to live, to preserve health, to satisfy the instincts and to make them act in unison, have driven mankind, in the very earliest days of reflection, to invent remedies for the imperfection of the human constitution.

I have shown that, even in the case of animals, the instinct as to choice of food does not save them from certain harmful substances. Man himself has for long recognised that this instinct of his is no safe guide, and has tried to discover surer methods of distinguishing between substances that are