Behind, and far transcending, the particular causes of this and that development lies the operation of great biological laws, selecting a type for survival, transforming the mind and body of men slowly but surely.

Whether due to the natural selection of circumstance, or to the inward urge of vital force, there seems to be no doubt that the average intellect, not of leading thinkers or of select groups, {13} but of the European races as a whole, has been steadily growing greater at every period during which it can be measured.

Moreover, the monastic vow of chastity tended to sterilize and thus to eliminate the religiously-minded sort.

Operating over a long period, and on both sexes, this cause of the growing secularization of the world, though it must not be exaggerated, cannot be overlooked.
SECTION 2.

THE CHURCH Over against "the world," "the church.".