Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 74.djvu/293

Rh children and his fellow men, and which will not permit him to make them unhappy without making himself unhappy also. This feeling of human affection is the real basis of morals. It does not depend on religious beliefs; it will persist even though all religious belief perishes. It has been greatly stimulated by science and it is on account of the development of science that the world has grown better, while its religious beliefs have weakened. And, furthermore, anything which hinders or opposes the development in each individual and each nation of this feeling is seen to be necessarily immoral. From this point of view all obstacles to free trade, free intercourse and friendly relations between nations and individuals may be shown to have an importance in general morality.