" [Footnote: Book
III, chap, I; book I, chap. XI.] And Marcus Aurelius writes, "Do not
think any word or action beneath you which is in accordance with nature;
and never be misled by the apprehension of censure or reproach. I will
march on in the path of nature till my legs sink under me. Philosophy
will put you upon nothing but what your nature wishes and calls for."
[Footnote: Book V.] Of this preaching Bishop Butler says that it is
"a manner of speaking, not loose and indeterminate, but clear and
distinct, strictly just and true." [Footnote: Preface to Sermons.]
In modern times this doctrine has taken the form of exhortation to
take our place in the evolutionary process. It is thought by some that
to grasp the trend of existing natural forces is to know the direction
of duty. We have only to keep in the current, to espouse heartily the
"struggle for existence" and rejoice in the "survival of the fittest,"
because it is nature's way. In a recent book by a Harvard professor
we read, "Whatever the order of the universe is, that is the moral
order...The laws of natural selection are merely God's regular methods
of expressing his choice and approval. The naturally selected are the
chosen of God...The whole life of [moral] people will consist in an
intelligent effort to adjust themselves to the will thus expressed."
[Footnote: T. N. Carver, The Religion Worth Having, pp. 84-89.] It
is easy enough to point out, however, that nature man to follow.
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